potheryadj.

1696 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth iv. 289 That Pothery and Sultry, that Frosty and Congealing Weather, which alternately in Summer and Winter, at the Line and the Poles we usually now feel.

1790 W. Marshall Agric. Provincialisms in Rural Econ. Midland Counties II. 441 Poothery, close, muggy, sultry; spoken of the weather.

1846 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. in Wks. II. 168/2 They [sc. Shakespeare's Sonnets] are hot and pothery; there is much condensation, little delicacy.

1855 E. C. Gaskell Let. Feb. (1966) 332 It is so puthery here, I can hardly walk.

1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. 333 It wuz mighty pothery about three o'clock this ōnder—I thought we shoulden a 'ad thunder, but it cliered off.

1896 G. F. Northall Warwickshire Word-bk. 185 Puthery, very warm, close, as ‘A puthery day’.

1969 D. Griffiths Talk of my Town 28 Puthery, humid; sultry.

2002 Re: Morning in uk.people.silversurfers (Usenet newsgroup) 21 Apr. The air feels puthery as though we're due some thunder.

1799 J. Trusler Pract. Husbandry (ed. 4) xx. 95 Sheep with the staggers, are seized with a vertigo or swimming in the head, keep turning round, and die in a few days. Lambs so afflicted, are called poddery. There is no cure for this.

1838 W. Holloway Gen. Dict. Provincialisms Puthery, or Pothery, a sheep that has water on the brain, which causes it to fall down, or move in a very weak, tottering, and uncertain manner, is said to be Pothery.

1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. Pothery, affected by a disease to which sheep and pigs are liable; it makes them go round and round, till at last they fall down.