queern.2
/kwɪə/, U.S. /kwɪ(ə)r/ 1. With the: that which is queer (in various senses). rare.
ΚΠ
1826 W. Scott Woodstock II. viii. 202 His appearance bordered..upon what is vulgarly called the queer.
1932 W. H. Auden in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1978) Aug. 294 An underground cottage frequented by the queer.
1995 J. Halberstam Skin Shows vi. 143 [It] transforms the category of monster itself into an orgiastic celebration of the queer and the dangerous.
2. colloquial (frequently derogatory). A homosexual; esp. a homosexual man.Although originally chiefly derogatory, since the late 1980s it has been used as a neutral or positive term, originally by some homosexuals (see queer adj.1 3, and cf. quot. 19522).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male
badlingeOE
nan1670
molly1708
Miss Molly1754
Miss Nancy1824
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
Mary Ann1868
pretty-boy1881
cocksucker1885
poofter1889
queer1894
fruit1895
fairy1896
homosexualist1898
puff1902
pussy1904
nance1910
quean1910
girl1912
faggot1913
mouser1914
queen1919
fag1921
gay boy1921
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
punk1933
queerie1933
gobbler1934
jocker1935
queenie1935
iron1936
freak1941
swish1941
flit1942
tonk1943
wonk1945
mother1947
fruitcake1952
Mary1953
twink1953
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
arse bandit1961
leather man1961
booty bandit1962
ginger beer1964
bummer1965
poofteroo1966
shirtlifter1966
battyman1967
dick-sucker1968
mo1968
a friend of Dorothy1972
shim1973
gaylord1976
twinkie1977
woofter1977
bender1986
knob jockey1989
batty boy1992
cake boy1992
1894 Marquess of Queensberry Let. 1 Nov. in R. Ellmann Oscar Wilde (1987) xvi. 402 I write to tell you that it is a judgement on the whole lot of you. Montgomerys, The Snob Queers like Roseberry & certainly Christian hypocrite Gladstone.
1914 in Jrnl. Hist. Sexuality (1995) 5 593 Fourteen young men were invited..with the premise that they would have the opportunity of meeting some of the prominent ‘queers’.
1936 L. Duncan Over Wall xx. 277 There was even a little room..where the ‘fairies’, ‘pansies’, and ‘queers’ conducted their lewd practices.
1952 A. Wilson Hemlock & After i. iii. 58 I quite like queers if it comes to that, so long as they're not on the make.
1952 D. Warth in Sunday Pictorial 25 May 6/1 Most people know that there are such things as ‘pansies’—mincing, effeminate young men who call themselves ‘queers’.
1965 Spectator 19 Feb. 239/1 Smith pursues Lulu in Valletta only to discover that she is a queer.
1975 Amer. Notes & Queries 13 146/2 Evidence that Sir Thopas is a ‘pansy’ or a ‘queer’, who would be ridiculed as a homosexual.
1988 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) (Nexis) 1 July c2 The march, organized by the newly founded Queers United Against Closets, protested the ‘systematic censorship of news concerning gay and lesbian issues’, a statement by the group said.
1995 Time Out 6 Dec. 111/3 (advt.) Famously busy mixed gay club night, open to male and female queers.
2006 Daily Telegram (Superior, Wisconsin) (Nexis) 19 Sept. When push comes to shove, they use the Bible to hide the fact that they just don't like queers.
Derivatives
ˈqueerdom n. the state or condition of being homosexual; homosexuals collectively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun]
sexual inversion1883
inversion1891
homosexuality1892
uranism1893
Uranianism1909
homoeroticism1915
homoerotism1916
queerness1925
homoism1927
homophiliaa1942
gayness1954
queerdom1961
poofdom1972
gaydom1978
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > collectively
queerdom1961
gay1966
1961 C. MacInnes in Partisan Rev. Jan. 146/1 (heading) English queerdom.
1965 New Statesman 9 July 58/1 Its climactic evocation of high Hapsburg queerdom at its annual drag ball.
1994 This Mag. (Toronto) Nov. 14/3 Elena's idea of queerdom is a polymorphously perverse, all-inclusive left-of-centre community.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
queeradj.1
/kwɪə/, U.S. /kwɪ(ə)r/ 1.
a. Strange, odd, peculiar, eccentric. Also: of questionable character; suspicious, dubious. Cf. quare adj.Some early examples may perhaps belong at or overlap with queer adj.2In common use in this sense until the establishment of sense 3, since when it has become relatively rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > [adjective] > of doubtful reputation
queer?a1513
questionable1788
equivocal1790
shy1849
dingy1855
demi-reputable1897
off-white1951
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > crookedness > [adjective] > and dubious
queer?a1513
fishy1840
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > [adjective] > odd
quaintc1325
awkc1440
queer?a1513
odd1578
quaintish1594
odd-conceiteda1616
odd-ceited1652
whimsical1675
singulara1684
eccentric1685
oddish1705
rummish1709
comical1713
odd-like1718
rum1750
queerish1775
funny1793
quare1805
rummy1828
kinky1844
quirkish1848
quirky1873
odd-gates1906
funny-peculiar1916
antrin1925
off-brand1929
fanciful-
a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 207 Heir cumis our awin queir clerk.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid viii. Prol. 43 The cadgear..Calland the colȝear ane knaif and culroun full queyr.
1551 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 2nd Pt. f. xxi Ye Chronycles..contayne muche more truthe than their quere legendes.
1598 J. Marston Certaine Satyres in Metamorph. Pigmalions Image 30 Show thy queere substance, worthlesse, most obsurd.
1621 W. Yonge Diary 27 Aug. (1848) 43 The emperor is in that quer case, that he is not able to bid battle.
1663 J. Heath Flagellum 109 That the world may see what queer hypocrites his attendants were.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxii. 224 I have heard of many queer Pranks among my Bedfordshire Neighbours.
1793 T. Pennant Lit. Life 20 Crossing and jostling came queer men of G–d, In rusty brown coats, and waistcoats of plaid.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxxix. 162 It was a queer fancy..but he was a queer subject altogether.
1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. xx Ethel was very queer and unformed, and could do nothing by herself.
1870 H. Smart Race for Wife i. 4 In the queer old room with its still queerer attempts at decoration.
1885 Cent. Mag. May 43/2 It is queer, at this distance, to see the methods of Scott and Coleridge applied to the Indian legendary of Maine.
1915 J. Turner Let. 19 Apr. in C. Warren Somewhere in France (2019) 6 I am finding out much more what a jolly queer customer is your friend and my dug-out partner F. F. Esq.
1930 W. Faulkner As I lay Dying 115 He don't say nothing; just looks at me with them queer eyes of hisn that makes folks talk.
1958 J. Kesson White Bird Passes vi. 83 Quiet monks in brown cassocks chanting their queer, Latin words.
1993 F. Collymore Twin-Ending 37 Yes, it's queer you disagree. But it's even queerer that you agree upon all the others. It's a queer thing anyhow, this twin business.
b. Scottish and Irish English. As an intensifier: = quare adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > much/a great amount/quantity of
mickleeOE
muchc1200
greata1325
felea1400
muchee1722
queer1865
lotta1870
mucho1870
lotsa1890
1865 G. R. Wynne Overton's Question 73 Aye, I'm a hignorant chap, as has never been to school, but I'm up to a queer lot of moves, and mother says I mayn't do bad.
1880 W. Aitken Rhymes & Readings 19 And, losh, it was a tousy toon, And after nicht was queer an' rough tae.
1921 Hawick Express 12 Aug. There must bei a queer lot o' money in th' world yet—notwithstandin' short time an' bad trade.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 223/1 A queer deal, a great amount.
1990 B. Roche Poor Beast in Rain i. i. 9 We were queer and lucky not to be sent up the river that time boy.
1998 S. O'Connell Angel Bird 46 The cold was queer and fierce.
2. Out of sorts; unwell; faint, giddy. Formerly also (slang): †sore, painful (obsolete); †drunk (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > disordered or out of sorts
out of estatec1400
disordainedc1430
out of order1530
mistempered?1541
untemperate1541
so-soa1592
indisposed1598
discomposed1603
out of sorts1621
disorderly1655
queerish1684
out of one's gears1699
disordered1708
uneasy1725
seedy1729
queer1749
scaly1803
quisby1807
under the weather1827
all nohow1852
toneless1854
nohowish1867
chippy1868
fishy1868
off-colour1876
dicky1883
on-and-offish1888
cheap1891
crook1916
lousy1933
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk
fordrunkenc897
drunkena1050
cup-shottenc1330
drunka1400
inebriate1497
overseenc1500
liquor1509
fou1535
nase?1536
full1554
intoxicate1554
tippled1564
intoxicated1576
pepst1577
overflown1579
whip-cat1582
pottical1586
cup-shota1593
fox-drunk1592
lion-drunk1592
nappy1592
sack-sopped1593
in drink1598
disguiseda1600
drink-drowned1600
daggeda1605
pot-shotten1604
tap-shackled1604
high1607
bumpsy1611
foxed1611
in one's cups1611
liquored1611
love-pot1611
pot-sick1611
whift1611
owl-eyed1613
fapa1616
hota1616
inebriated1615
reeling ripea1616
in one's (or the) pots1618
scratched1622
high-flown?1624
pot-shot1627
temulentive1628
ebrious1629
temulent1629
jug-bitten1630
pot-shaken1630
toxed1635
bene-bowsiea1637
swilled1637
paid1638
soaken1651
temulentious1652
flagonal1653
fuddled1656
cut1673
nazzy1673
concerned1678
whittled1694
suckey1699
well-oiled1701
tippeda1708
tow-row1709
wet1709
swash1711
strut1718
cocked1737
cockeyed1737
jagged1737
moon-eyed1737
rocky1737
soaked1737
soft1737
stewed1737
stiff1737
muckibus1756
groggy1770
muzzeda1788
muzzya1795
slewed1801
lumpy1810
lushy1811
pissed1812
blue1813
lush1819
malty1819
sprung1821
three sheets in the wind1821
obfuscated1822
moppy1823
ripe1823
mixed1825
queer1826
rosined1828
shot in the neck1830
tight1830
rummy1834
inebrious1837
mizzled1840
obflisticated1840
grogged1842
pickled1842
swizzled1843
hit under the wing1844
obfusticatedc1844
ebriate1847
pixilated1848
boozed1850
ploughed1853
squiffy?1855
buffy1858
elephant trunk1859
scammered1859
gassed1863
fly-blown1864
rotten1864
shot1864
ebriose1871
shicker1872
parlatic1877
miraculous1879
under the influence1879
ginned1881
shickered1883
boiled1886
mosy1887
to be loaded for bear(s)1888
squiffeda1890
loaded1890
oversparred1890
sozzled1892
tanked1893
orey-eyed1895
up the (also a) pole1897
woozy1897
toxic1899
polluted1900
lit-up1902
on (also upon) one's ear1903
pie-eyed1903
pifflicated1905
piped1906
spiflicated1906
jingled1908
skimished1908
tin hat1909
canned1910
pipped1911
lit1912
peloothered1914
molo1916
shick1916
zigzag1916
blotto1917
oiled-up1918
stung1919
stunned1919
bottled1922
potted1922
rotto1922
puggled1923
puggle1925
fried1926
crocked1927
fluthered1927
lubricated1927
whiffled1927
liquefied1928
steamed1929
mirackc1930
overshot1931
swacked1932
looped1934
stocious1937
whistled1938
sauced1939
mashed1942
plonked1943
stone1945
juiced1946
buzzed1952
jazzed1955
schnockered1955
honkers1957
skunked1958
bombed1959
zonked1959
bevvied1960
mokus1960
snockered1961
plotzed1962
over the limit1966
the worse for wear1966
wasted1968
wired1970
zoned1971
blasted1972
Brahms and Liszt?1972
funked up1976
trousered1977
motherless1980
tired and emotional1981
ratted1982
rat-arsed1984
wazzed1990
mullered1993
twatted1993
bollocksed1994
lashed1996
1749 M. Collyer Lett. Felicia to Charlotte II. xxxv. 132 I must confess that I was in a very queer situation of mind: I was far from being easy.
1750 E. Kimber Life Joe Thompson II. l. 182 All on a sudden, my Wife complained she was sick, and both myself and Sir Thomas found ourselves very queer and qualmish.
1781 S. Crisp Let. 1 Mar. in W. H. Hutton Burford Papers (1905) 60 I have been very queer for some time, sleepless and indigestion.
1810 W. B. Rhodes Bombastes Furioso i. 7 We feel ourselves a little queer.
1816 J. Silvester Notebk. (BL MS Egerton 3710) f. 51 A List of Cant Words with their Meaning... A Queer Pin—a sore Leg. A Queer Morley—a sore head.
1826 Sporting Mag. 18 285 Galloping..with a rummish team, and himself queer.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xliv. 486 Legs shaky—head queer—round and round—earthquaky sort of feeling—very.
1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat i. 14 So I set my face against the sea trip. Not, as I explained, upon my own account. I was never queer. But I was afraid for George.
1904 H. James Golden Bowl I. xi. 197 I suppose people at the court of the Borgias may have watched each other begin to look queer after having had the honour of taking wine with the heads of the family.
1922 ‘R. Crompton’ Just—William xi. 213 ‘I jus'—jus' came over queer,’ he ended, remembering a phrase he had heard used recently by the charwoman.
1952 A. Christie Mrs. McGinty's Dead iv. 28 Either the husband's taken queer, or the old mother... With old McGinty, at least it was only she herself who came over queer.
1978 ‘F. Parrish’ Sting of Honeybee iv. 43 Jake's off queer, wi' a rumblin' stummick.
2003 Times (Nexis) 20 Dec. 23 I also can't eat eggs as they make me feel queer.
3. colloquial (originally U.S.). Of a person: homosexual (frequently derogatory and offensive). In later use: denoting or relating to a sexual or gender identity that does not correspond to established ideas of sexuality and gender, especially heterosexual norms. Cf. earlier queer n.2 2.Although originally chiefly derogatory (and still widely considered offensive, esp. when used by heterosexual people), from the late 1980s it began to be used as a neutral or positive term (originally of self-reference, by some homosexuals; cf. Queer Nation n. and also quot. 19522 at queer n.2 2) in place of gay or homosexual, without regard to, or in implicit denial of, its negative connotations. In some academic contexts it is the preferred adjective in the study of issues relating to non-traditional ideas of sexuality and gender (cf. queer theory n. at Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [adjective]
camp1909
queer1914
fairy1925
nancy1931
nance1933
gay1934
faggot1948
moffie1954
pink1972
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [adjective] > homosexual
inverted1870
Uranian1883
homosexual1892
homogenic1894
camp1910
homosex1913
queer1914
homoerotic1915
homosexualist1920
homo1923
faggoty1928
tapette1930
fag1932
gay1934
so1937
same-sex1938
faggy1949
ginger beer1959
that waya1960
that way inclineda1960
ginger1965
minty1965
pink1972
leather1990
1914 Los Angeles Times 19 Nov. ii. 10/5 He said that the Ninety-six Club was the best; that it was composed of the ‘queer’ people... He said that the members sometimes spent hundreds of dollars on silk gowns, hosiery, etc.... At these ‘drags’ the ‘queer’ people have a good time.
1915 in A. Bennett Jrnl. 26 Mar. (1932) 550 An immense reunion of art students, painters, and queer people. Girls in fancy male costume, queer dancing, etc.
1919 in M. Duberman et al. Hidden from Hist. (1991) 304 Half the world is queer and the other half trade.
1936 J. G. Cozzens Men & Brethren i. 24 ‘He's not queer, or something, is he?’ ‘Lord, no! Worse than that. He's a convert.’
1939 C. Isherwood Goodbye to Berlin 296 Men dressed as women?.. Do you mean they're queer?
1945 W. S. Burroughs in W. S. Burroughs & J. Kerouac And Hippos were boiled in their Tanks (2008) ix. 101 We went to MacDonald's Tavern, which is a queer place, and it was packed with fags all screaming and swishing around.
1960 F. Raphael Limits of Love i. v. 70 ‘Great thing about gay people...’ ‘Gay?’ Tessa said. ‘Bent, queer, you know. Homosexual.’
1987 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 12 Oct. a6/3 Marchers..laughed when they saw one woman holding a sign that read ‘We're here because we're queer.’
1992 Nation (N.Y.) 16 Mar. 326/1 The ad..is thoroughly offensive to queer readers.
2006 Advocate 20 June 40 When TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer wrapped in 2003, many queer viewers mourned the loss of its endearing gay witch, Willow.
Phrases
P1. U.S. colloquial. to be queer for: to be fond of or keen on; to be attracted to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > amorous love > be in love or infatuated with [verb (transitive)]
loveOE
paramoura1500
to love with1597
to be sweet on (upon)1740
to be cracked about or on1874
to be stuck on1878
mash1881
to be shook on1888
to go dingy on1904
to fall for ——1906
lurve1908
to have or get a crush on1913
to be soppy on1918
to have a pash for (or on)1922
to have a case on1928
to be queer for1941
1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? viii. 204 Well, Al, I don't know whether I'm just getting soft or whether I'm queer for you. But I'm going to give you one more chance.
1953 W. S. Burroughs Junkie ii. 28 She began talking about Jack. ‘I'm queer for Jack,’ she said. ‘He works at being a thief just like any job.’
1957 M. Shulman Rally round Flag, Boys! iv. 51 When..the cellars were finally snug and dry, Waldo promptly persuaded the homesteaders to fill them with..a huge, gleaming variety of tools. This took no great persuasion, for..the average commuter was queer for tools.
1971 V. Lake Veronica 201 I always included blueberry picking as part of the children's daily activity because I'm queer for blueberries.
1991 J. Sales Los Gusanos xxii. 233 The yanquis are fed up now that Fidel is queer for Khrushchev.
P2. (as) queer as a coot (slang): conspicuously or flamboyantly homosexual; (also) conspicuously odd or peculiar. Cf. coot n.1 2b.
ΚΠ
1949 K. Williams Diary 24 Feb. (1993) 39 Met this film agent, Brophy. Queer as a coot—film is to be made in Cocos Islands, obviously pornographic—I'm having nothing to do with it.
1961 N. Coward Diary 5 Mar. (2000) 466 I do wish that years ago Cyril had faced up to the fact that he was as queer as a coot.
1963 N.Y. Times 14 Apr. (Book Review section) 26/3 Mistress of the cliché, penny-pinching, queer as a coot, dirty as a blanket Indian, Mrs. Green reared her children in actual poverty.
1975 Times 9 July 14/2 Bombus fragrans..sprinkles himself..with attar of roses, and..is as queer as a coot.
2004 J. Gathorne-Hardy Half an Arch i. 20 A good-looking young man came towards him. Salisbury stopped and turned and followed the young man with his eyes. ‘Obviously queer,’ said Bob... ‘Queer as a coot.’
Compounds
C1. Parasynthetic and similative, as in queer-tempered, queer-looking, etc., adjectives.
ΚΠ
1747 B. Hoadly Suspicious Husband iv. iv. 62 He was but a queer looking Son of a Bitch of a Surgeon.
1789 G. Parker Life's Painter in J. S. Farmer Musa Pedestris (1964) 67 Fancy queer-gamm'd smutty Muns Was once my fav'rite man.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan II. 171 A little, modest, queer-looking brown girl.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby x. 94 You are..the..longest-headed, queerest-tempered old coiner of gold and silver ever was.
1895 T. Hardy Tess (rev. ed.) xliii. 371 The queer-shaped flints.
1918 M. A. Lowndes Out of War? vi. 91 The odd-tempered and queer-natured naval officer whom Fate had flung across her path.
1974 J. Seymour Fat of Land (new ed.) i. 19 As I dig in the garden I find medieval hand-wrought nails, old tiles, and queer-sized bricks, some without frogs.
2001 J. Boyle Galloway Street 35 I can't understand a word they're saying anyway, it's all these queer-sounding words I've never heard before.
C2.
queer fellow n. (a) chiefly Irish English and Nautical, an odd or eccentric person, a ‘character’; (b) slang (originally Military), a person in command or in charge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > [noun] > oddness > odd person
singularist1593
singularitan1615
queer fellow1712
oddity1731
unaccountable1748
character1773
rum1788
eccentric1832
card1835
card1853
hard case1892
queer shot1900
rummy1909
hard thing1918
hardshot1924
quaint1939
odd bod1942
oddball1943
joker in the pack1963
quirky1975
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > [noun] > sailor with specific quality
run1695
queer fellow1883
fowl1937
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > types of sailor > [noun] > eccentric sailor
queer fellow1883
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > overseer or foreman > one who happens to be in charge
queer fellow1910
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 474. ⁋2 Let me be known all at once for a queer Fellow, and avoided.
1814 F. Burney Wanderer II. xxvii. 186 I merely meant to play upon that confounded queer fellow, Riley. He's so cursed troublesome, and so confounded free, that I hate him horribly.
1883 J. F. T. Keane On Blue-water 212 Remembering that incident, the ‘queer-fellow's’ disappearance didn't alarm me very much.
1910 D. W. Bone Brassbounder 64 D'ye think th' queer-fella' is goin' t' pay them prices for 'is kit?
1932 J. W. Harris Days of Endeavour 17 No matter what ship you serves your time in, you'll find there'll be a queer-feller.
1958 M. Procter Man in Ambush xii. 134 Mobsters, queer fellows, bar flies and layabouts.
1961 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) II. 1240/2 The queer fella, the person that happens to be in command: Regular Army: late c. 19–20.
1962 W. Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 93/2 Queer fella, any merchant seaman who does not conform to the average type. A nautical eccentric.
1966 ‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse ii. 87 Whur's ther queer feller? Where is the boss or foreman whose name I don't know?
1990 B. Roche Poor Beast in Rain i. 5 Big Red O'Neill tossed his jersey out into the crowd after the Leinster Final and the queer fella here was the one that caught it.
Queer Street n. (also with lower-case initials) [an alternative derivation of this phrase < the name of Carey Street in London, site of the bankruptcy court, is unlikely, since the court was not located there until after 1840, and the phrase was apparently not originally restricted to financial difficulties] slang (originally British) an imaginary street where people in difficulties (esp. financial ones) are supposed to reside; (hence) the fact of being in a difficult position, in trouble, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > [noun]
waedlec888
wanspeedc893
wanea1100
wandrethc1175
miseasea1200
povertya1225
lowness?c1225
needc1225
orcostc1225
poorness?a1300
unwealtha1300
defaultc1300
porailc1325
straitnessa1340
poorhead1340
mischiefa1375
miseasetya1382
needinessa1382
misterc1385
indigencec1386
scarcitya1387
noughtc1400
scantnessc1400
necessity?1406
penurya1425
povertnessa1434
exilitya1439
wantc1450
scarcenessc1475
needinga1500
povertiesa1500
penurity?a1505
poortith?a1513
debility1525
tenuity1535
leanness1550
lack1555
Needham1577
inopy1581
pinching1587
dispurveyance1590
egency1600
macritude1623
penuriousness1630
indigency1631
needihood1648
necessitousness1650
egestuosity1656
straitened circumstancesa1766
unopulence1796
Queer Street1811
lowliness1834
breadlessness1860
unwealthiness1886
out-of-elbowness1890
secondary poverty1901
Short Street1920
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > tribulation, trouble, or affliction
teeneOE
harmOE
sourc1000
trayOE
angec1175
wosithc1200
ail?c1225
barrat?c1225
misease?c1225
passion?c1225
troublec1230
sorenessc1275
grievancea1300
cumbermentc1300
cumbering1303
thro1303
angera1325
strifea1325
sweama1325
encumbrancec1330
tribulationc1330
threst1340
mischiefa1375
pressc1375
unhend1377
miseasetya1382
angernessc1390
molestc1390
troublancec1400
notea1425
miseasenessc1450
cumber?a1513
tribule1513
unseasonableness?1523
troublesomeness1561
tribulance1575
tine1590
trials and tribulations1591
pressure1648
difficulty1667
hell to pay1758
dree1791
trial and tribulation1792
Queer Street1811
Sturm und Drang1857
a thin time1924
shit1929
crap1932
shtook1936
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > difficult state of things > predicament or straits
needfulnessc1350
kankedortc1374
pressc1375
needfultya1382
briguec1400
brikec1400
plightc1400
taking?c1425
partyc1440
distrait1477
brakea1529
hot water1537
strait1544
extremes1547
pickle1562
praemunire1595
lock1598
angustiae1653
difficulty1667
scrape1709
premune1758
hole1760
Queer Street1811
warm water1813
strift1815
fix1816
plisky1818
snapper1818
amplush1827
false position1830
bind1851
jackpot1887
tight1896
squeeze1905
jam1914
1811 Lexicon Balatronicum Queer Street, wrong, improper, contrary to one's wish. It is queer street, a cant phrase, to signify that it is wrong or different to our wish.
1821 P. Egan Real Life in London I. xi. 186 Limping Billy was also evidently in queer-street.
1862 G. A. Sala Seven Sons Mammon II. vi. 158 ‘When I saw him last, he seemed gêné and embarrassed, and spoke of the scarcity of money.’ ‘Surely he can't be travelling to Queer Street.’
1886 R. L. Stevenson Strange Case Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde i. 11 The more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask.
1936 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 18 Apr. 9/1 Kirkpatrick was on queer street shortly after the opening bell when Clark let him have a right to the button.
1952 A. Wilson Hemlock & After iii. i. 208 He enjoys a little flutter..and if he finds himself in Queer Street now and again, I'm sure no one would grudge him his bit of fun.
1980 J. Wainwright Man of Law xlvii. 222 If Patsold talks, Webb's in queer street.
2003 Timaru (N.Z.) Herald (Nexis) 12 Apr. 6 If you are suddenly faced with increased costs and a third knocked off your income, you are stranded in queer street.
queer theorist n. (also with capital initials) originally U.S. an advocate or exponent of queer theory.
ΚΠ
1991 Differences 3 4 Although, as a queer theorist, I eschew generational models of history, [etc.].
1992 K. Plummer Mod. Homosexualities i. i. 15 It feeds into a radical re-visioning, a task already started by the new Queer Theorists.
2000 A. Moreton-Robinson Talkin' up to White Woman ii. 44 Some queer theorists include other desires within this framework, such as fetishism..while others reject such inclusion.
2009 M. A. Fineman in M. A. Fineman et al. Feminist & Queer Legal Theory (2016) Introd. 1 Queer theorists tend to acknowledge their intellectual debts to feminist theory, and women's studies and feminist theorists recognize the broadening influence of queer theory.
queer theory n. (also with capital initials) originally U.S. an approach to social and cultural study which seeks to challenge or deconstruct traditional ideas of sexuality and gender, esp. the acceptance of heterosexuality as normative and the perception of a rigid dichotomy of male and female traits.
ΚΠ
1990 Representations No. 32. 131 [The paper] was first presented..during the conference she organized on ‘Queer Theory’..in February 1990.
1995 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 June 2 (advt.) It is required reading for everyone interested in Foucault's thought..as well as everyone interested in Queer Theory.
1997 J. Phelan in P. Rabinowitz Before Reading (new ed.) p. xi I imagine a text by an ethnic writer and one particularly illuminated by the insights of queer theory.
2003 Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Nov. 15/2 The overriding priority for queer theory is to get rid of the idea that some kinds of people, and some forms of sex, are more natural than others.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
queeradj.2n.1
/kwɪə/, U.S. /kwɪ(ə)r/α. 1500s quyer, 1500s quyere, 1500s–1600s quire, 1500s–1600s quyre, 1600s quier.
β. 1600s queere, 1700s quare, 1700s quer, 1700s– queer.
Criminals' slang.
A. adj.2† 1. Bad; contemptible, worthless; untrustworthy; disreputable. Obsolete.The exact sense varies with the noun to which the adjective refers; many of the commonest uses are separately defined in B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew (1699).Quot. 1575 may also contain an allusion to quire (choir n.).In quot. 1865 with mixture of sense A. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > worthlessness > [adjective]
forcouthc888
goodlesseOE
undoughtya1225
voidc1380
bare1399
stark naught1528
worthilessa1542
queer1567
worthless1573
hilding1577
baggage1580
arrant1581
offal1588
lorel1590
losel1601
ragamuffin1602
loselled1606
loselly1611
valuelessa1616
ragamuffa1626
good-for-nothing1706
ne'er-do-well1773
rotten1813
neat1824
scamping1832
good-for-naught1835
no good1838
scampish1847
ne'er-do-wellish1890
no good1904
upter1919
never-do-well1933
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [adjective] > contemptible
unworthc893
unwrastc893
littleOE
narrow-hearteda1200
wretcha1200
unworthya1240
wretchedc1250
un-i-wrastc1275
bad1276
lechera1300
feeblea1325
despisablea1340
villain1340
contemptiblec1384
lousyc1386
caitiff1393
brothelyc1400
roinousa1425
poor1425
sevenpennyc1475
nasty1477
peakish1519
filthy1533
despectuous1541
beggary1542
scald1542
shitten?1545
disdainfula1547
contemptuous1549
despicable1553
skit-brained?1553
contemniblea1555
vile1560
sluttish1561
queer1567
scornful1570
scallardc1575
tinkerly?1576
worthless1576
beggarly?1577
paltry1578
halfpenny1579
dog bolt1580
pitiful1582
sneaking1582
triobolar1585
wormisha1586
baddy1586
dudgeon1592
measled1596
packstaff1598
roguey1598
roguish1601
contemptful1608
grovelling1608
lightly1608
disdainable1611
purulent1611
snotty-nose1622
vilipendious1630
cittern-headed1638
wormy1640
pissabed1643
triobolary1644
disparageable1648
blue-bellied1652
unestimable1656
scullion1658
piteous1667
dirty1670
shabbed1674
shabby1679
snotty1681
snotty-nosed1682
mucky1683
bollocky1694
scoundrel1700
scaldeda1704
sneaking1703
ficulnean1716
unsolid1731
pitiable1753
scrubby1754
inimitable1798
scrubbish1798
worm-likea1807
small1824
lowlife1827
ketty1828
skunkish1831
yellow-bellied1833
scaly1843
cockroachya1845
wutless1853
nigger1859
trashy1862
low-down1872
cruddy1877
shitty1879
tinhorn1886
blithering1889
motherfucking1890
snidey1890
pilgarlicky1894
shitass1895
shoddy1918
yah boo1921
bitching1929
shit-faced1932
turdish1936
fricking1937
jerk-off1937
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
snot-nosed1941
jerky1944
mother-loving1948
scroungy1948
fecking1952
pissant1952
shit-kicking1953
shit-eating1956
bumboclaat1957
rassclaat1957
shit-headed1959
farkakte1960
shithouse1966
daggy1967
dipshit1968
scuzzy1969
bloodclaat1971
bitch ass1972
wanky1972
streelish1974
twatty1975
twattish1976
dweeby1988
douchey1991
wank1991
cockish1996
1567 T. Harman Caueat for Commen Cursetors (new ed.) Peddelars Frenche sig. Giiiv To cutte quyre whyddes, to geue euel wordes or euell language.
1575 J. Awdely Fraternitye of Vacabondes (new ed.) sig. A2v A Quire bird is one that came lately out of prison.
1652 R. Brome Joviall Crew iv. ii. sig. M1v The Quire Cove and the Harmanbeck.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Queere, base, Roguish, naught.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. viii. xii. 260 Follow but my Counsel, and I will shew you a Way to empty the Pockets of a Queer Cull, without any Danger of the Nubbing Cheat . View more context for this quotation
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 200 Queer-bail, Persons of no repute, hired to bail a prisoner in any bailable case.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. i. 4 Concerning that bill-broking branch of the business... What queer bills are to be bought, and at what prices?
2. Of coins or banknotes: counterfeit, forged.queer screen: see screen n.2
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > counterfeiting > [adjective]
falsec1000
badc1405
counterfeit1556
queer1740
forged1817
wild cat1838
bogus1839
smashing1857
counterfeited1886
1740 Ordinary of Newgate, his Acct. 7 May 15/1 Instead of returning the good Guinea again, they used to give a Queer One.
1753 Discoveries J. Poulter (ed. 5) 41 The Sharper has a quare Ned or Six ready to change, so keeps in the good, and gives the bad one to the Flat.
1811 Lexicon Balatronicum at Screen Queer screens; forged bank notes.
1830 E. Bulwer-Lytton Paul Clifford III. vii. 128 Bill Fang..was stretched for smashing queer screens.
1867 R. Jones Hidden Hand i. ii. 9 Cap. Why, this bill is bogus!—it's queer! Hur. Bogus!—queer! Cap. It's a bad bill.
1873 G. W. Perrie Buckskin Mose (1890) ii. 34 At the same time he pulled out of his pocket a lot of ‘queer’ or counterfeit bills.
1941 R. Chandler in Detective Story Mag. Sept. 52 If it was discovered to be queer money, as you say, it would be very difficult to trace the source of it.
1990 Newsday (N.Y.) (Nexis) 22 Nov. 2 The printer played with queer money. I can't remember his name right here, but after he was caught, he wrote a humorous book on counterfeiting.
2001 Argus Leader (Sioux Falls, S. Dakota) (Nexis) 10 Dec. 1 a Her office has received a teletype on the fraudulent bills known as reproduction notes, including fake $3 or ‘queer’ bills that feature a man winking.
B. n.1
1. Forged or counterfeit money. Also in extended use.to shove (the) queer: see shove v.1 10a.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > false coin > [noun]
scruff1559
countera1616
smash1795
shan1815
queer1819
sheen1839
bogus1842
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > [noun] > coins and notes > kind of money > counterfeit money
queer1819
boodle1822
shoful1828
sheen1839
slug1887
funny money1901
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. Queer, base money.
1821 P. Egan Life in London ii. i. 154 That admired sort of Life in London, all jostling against each other in the Park... The Duke and the ‘Dealer in Queer’—the Lady and her Scullion [etc.].
1847 National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 9 Jan. 137/1 ‘Bogus’ is base coin, ‘queer’ is counterfeit paper.
1889 G. Gissing Nether World II. xi. 233 ‘Got any queer to put round?’.. ‘You know what he meant, Bob?’ Bob nodded and became reflective.
1898 A. M. Binstead Pink 'Un & Pelican xi. 240 He hardly ever uttered the spurious coins himself..and, consequently, seldom had any ‘queer’ about his person.
1926 Flynn's 16 Jan. 640/2 After I coughed up an' promised to quit the queer he give me th' gate.
1949 E. L. Irey Tax Dodgers v. 112 An alcoholic engraver..turned out the best ‘queer’ that ever competed with the Bureau of Engraving's product and Lustig took over the distribution of the counterfeit money.
1981 ‘E. Lathen’ Going for Gold iii. 37 Nobody's laying off any queer on the Sloan [Bank].
1993 S. Kuriscak Casino Talk 44 Queer, counterfeit money.
2. on the queer: living dishonestly; spec. engaged in the forging of currency. Cf. straight n. 1b(c). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > lack of principle or integrity > [phrase] > dishonestly > engaged in dishonesty
on the dodge1904
on the queer1905
1905 C. H. Day Actress & Clerk ii. 22 Only just feeling of you to see if you was on the queer.
1909 R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins 277 Dick may have been on the queer all right, but he was smooth enough to hide it.
1910 C. E. B. Russell Young Gaol-birds x. 150 Convinced that he could get along as well ‘on the queer’, i.e., by thieving, as he could by keeping straight.
1935 Amer. Speech 10 11/1 Boys who are on the queer are handsomely equipped to print anything from twenty dollar bills to fake government bonds.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §494/2 Counterfeit; forge,..be on the green goods,—the queer or the spud(s).
Compounds
ΚΠ
1567 T. Harman Caueat for Commen Cursetors (new ed.) sig. Giiii Yonder dwelleth a quyere cuffen... Yonder dwelleth a hoggeshe and choyrlyshe man.
1608 T. Dekker Lanthorne & Candle-light sig. C2v To the quier cuffin we bing... To the Iustice straight we goe.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Queere-cuffin, a Justice of Peace; also a Churl.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian xiii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 315 He knows my gybe as well as the jark of e'er a queer cuffin in England.
1850 W. Howard Mistake of Life-time 139/1 The queer cuffin, vith his big vig, and hempty 'ead put on his black cap to pass sentence.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! I. vi. 170 ‘Go away,’ I heard her say, ‘there's a dear man;’ and then something about a ‘queer cuffin’, (that's a justice in these canters' thieves' Latin).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
queerv.1
/kwɪə/, U.S. /kwɪ(ə)r/, Scottish English /kwir/α. Middle English–1500s quere, late Middle English qwere; English regional 1800s quare (Devon), 1800s quere (Shropshire), 1900s– queer (Herefordshire); Scottish 1900s– queer (Aberdeenshire).
β. late Middle English (1800s– English regional (west midlands)) quire.
Now English regional (west midlands) and Scottish.
intransitive. To ask, inquire; to question. Also occasionally transitive. Cf. quaere v.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > ask, enquire [verb (transitive)]
fraynea800
speerc888
askOE
fand?c1225
inquirec1290
asearch1382
queerc1390
assay1393
to take knowledge of1399
interrogate1600
quaere1627
query1644
α.
β. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 1703 His qualite, his quantite, he quirys [a1500 Trin. Dub. enquirez] all-to-gedire. 1890 J. D. Robertson Gloss. Words County of Gloucester 122 Quire, to enquire.a1903 W. W. Skeat in Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 684/1 [Herefordshire] Quire [to inquire].1974 W. Leeds Herefordshire Speech 91 Quire, enquire. I'll have to quire about it.c1390 (c1350) Proprium Sanctorum in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1888) 81 319 He wolde wite and quere what-maner mon þat he were.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 19611 (MED) As he þus went to quere [a1400 Vesp. sek] & aske..Þe fuyr of helle him smot.
a1450 Seven Sages (Cambr. Dd.1.17) (1845) 691 (MED) Alas! That thow grevest the so sore, Or thow haddyst queryd more.
a1500 in R. L. Greene Early Eng. Carols (1935) 215 (MED) Sche was qweryd in hyr dewys Of all dottys that were so wys.
?c1570 Buggbears ii. iv, in R. W. Bond Early Plays from Italian (1911) 110 If Bindus or Octaueus quere for me, thou shalt have me here at Camillus house.
1809 ‘P. Pindar’ Middlesex Election vi, in Wks. (new ed.) IV. 239 You bid me go..and quare Vor Mister Pitt—zo I went there And nack'd.
c1810 Sir Hugh; or the Jew's Daughter vii, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1888) III. v. clv. 250 And if my play-fellows come to quere for me, Tell them I am asleep.
Derivatives
quering adj. Scottish rare prying, inquisitive.
ΚΠ
1933 J. H. Smythe Blethers 57 Some o' thae queerin' cratur's fa gang aboot howkin' up sic ferlies.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
queerv.2
/kwɪə/, U.S. /kwɪ(ə)r/ colloquial.
1. transitive. Originally: to make a fool of, ridicule; to swindle, cheat; to get the better of. Later also: to puzzle, flummox, confound, baffle. Now archaic.In later use chiefly with it as subject and clause as complement.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > banter or good-humoured ridicule > banter [verb (transitive)]
tauntc1530
railly1668
rally1672
banter1677
smoke1699
to get, take, or have a rise out of1703
joke1748
to run a rig1764
badinage1778
queer1778
quiz1787
to poke (one's) fun (at)1795
gammon1801
chaff1826
to run on ——1830
rig1841
trail1847
josh1852
jolly1874
chip1898
barrack1901
horse1901
jazz1927
to take the mike out ofa1935
to take the piss (out of)1945
to take the mickey (out of)1948
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > express wittily [verb (transitive)] > ridicule
queer1778
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > defraud or swindle
defraud1362
deceivec1380
plucka1500
lurch1530
defeata1538
souse1545
lick1548
wipe1549
fraud1563
use1564
cozen1573
nick1576
verse1591
rooka1595
trim1600
skelder1602
firk1604
dry-shave1620
fiddle1630
nose1637
foista1640
doa1642
sharka1650
chouse1654
burn1655
bilk1672
under-enter1692
sharp1699
stick1699
finger1709
roguea1714
fling1749
swindle1773
jink1777
queer1778
to do over1781
jump1789
mace1790
chisel1808
slang1812
bucket1819
to clean out1819
give it1819
to put in the hole1819
ramp1819
sting1819
victimize1839
financier1840
gum1840
snakea1861
to take down1865
verneuk1871
bunco1875
rush1875
gyp1879
salt1882
daddle1883
work1884
to have (one) on toast1886
slip1890
to do (a person) in the eye1891
sugar1892
flay1893
to give (someone) the rinky-dink1895
con1896
pad1897
screw1900
short-change1903
to do in1906
window dress1913
ream1914
twist1914
clean1915
rim1918
tweedle1925
hype1926
clip1927
take1927
gazump1928
yentz1930
promote1931
to take (someone) to the cleaners1932
to carve up1933
chizz1948
stiff1950
scam1963
to rip off1969
to stitch up1970
skunk1971
to steal (someone) blind1974
diddle-
1778 Morning Chron. 23 Sept. Some young ladies of easy virtue were rather clamorous, having taken a glass or two of Jamaica cordial, the better to enable them (according to the polite phrase) to queer the codgers.
1781 M. P. Andrews Dissipation ii. v. 25 America! Damme, he seems a fool. I'll queer him.
1790 By-stander 343 Young rascals, who are telling you..how archly they queer attornies.
1797 M. Robinson Walsingham IV. 277 The sharps have queered me.
1812 G. Colman Poet. Vagaries 132 A shoulder-knotted Puppy, with a grin, Queering the threadbare Curate, let him in.
1819 G. Borrow Wandering Children in W. I. Knapp Life G. Borrow (1899) I. 64 Well, we have tramped the roads, and queered Full many a sharp and flat.
1854 W. Harcourt Let. in A. G. Gardiner Life W. Harcourt (1923) I. iv. 76 The American Minister..spat on the floor all dinner-time. I hear he does this to queer the Britishers, and does not practise those manners at home.
1875 W. D. Parish Dict. Sussex Dial. (at cited word) It has queered me for a long time to find out who that man is.
1918 S. Kaye-Smith Challenge to Sirius 158 It queers me..how you can be leaving a good house and a good fire to go spannelling about a hemmed silly furrin pläace lik Russia.
1951 G. Heyer Quiet Gentleman xx. 304 It queers me why a cove—why a gentleman as come as near to slipping his wind as what you done, me lord, should take and drive down a lane which is as rough as this here lane.
1986 ‘E. Mansfield’ Very Dutiful Daughter (new ed.) xii. 139 ‘It queers me what 'er lay is,’ she muttered thoughtfully.
2.
a. transitive. To put out of order; to spoil. Also: to spoil the reputation or chances of (a person); to put (a person) out of favour (with another).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)]
mareOE
shendOE
hinderc1000
amarOE
awemc1275
noyc1300
touchc1300
bleche1340
blemisha1375
spill1377
misdoa1387
grieve1390
damagea1400
despoil?a1400
matea1400
snapea1400
mankc1400
overthrowa1425
tamec1430
undermine1430
blunder1440
depaira1460
adommage?1473
endamage1477
prejudicec1487
fulyie1488
martyra1500
dyscrase?1504
corrupt1526
mangle1534
danger1538
destroy1542
spoil1563
ruinate1564
ruin1567
wrake1570
injury1579
bane1587
massacre1589
ravish1594
wrong1595
rifle1604
tainta1616
mutilea1618
to do violence toa1625
flaw1665
stun1676
quail1682
maul1694
moil1698
damnify1712
margullie1721
maul1782
buga1790
mux1806
queer1818
batter1840
puckeroo1840
rim-rack1841
pretty1868
garbage1899
savage1899
to do in1905
strafe1915
mash1924
blow1943
nuke1967
mung1969
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disfavour > [verb (transitive)] > bring into disfavour
disgrace1597
deingrate1624
queer1818
to get in bad1902
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > cause or effect (harm) [verb (transitive)] > do harm or injury to > affect detrimentally
atterc885
hurtc1200
marc1225
appair1297
impair1297
spilla1300
emblemishc1384
endull1395
blemishc1430
depaira1460
depravea1533
deform1533
envenom1533
vitiate1534
quail1551
impeach1563
subvert1565
craze1573
taint1573
spoil1578
endamage1579
qualify1584
stain1584
crack1590
ravish1594
interess1598
invitiate1598
corrupt1602
venom1621
depauperate1623
detriment1623
flaw1623
embase1625
ungold1637
murder1644
refract1646
depress1647
addle1652
sweal1655
butcher1659
shade1813
mess1823
puckeroo1840
untone1861
blue1880
queer1884
dick1972
forgar-
1818 Sporting Mag. 2 189 His ogles were queered..and his head was dunned.
1866 R. Hallam Wadsley Jack xiv. 77 Moind yo, he quear'd all't wark for that day.
1884 G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 190 All they [sc. the chorus] dared do they did to ‘queer’ her Scene.
1895 E. W. Townsend Chimmie Fadden, Major Max & Other Stories 38 De Duchess gives me de orders, an' I wasn't goin' to queer meself wid 'er any more.
1904 N.Y. Tribune 12 Jan. 2/1 Van Wyck will queer the whole thing. His appearance before the National Committee will recall..things that knocked Tammany out in 1901.
1919 E. O'Neill Moon of Caribbees 17 Nix on hollerin', you! D'yuh wanta queer all of us?
1950 O. St. J. Gogarty Rolling down Lea 2 You can land at Shannon safely if the magnetic mountain in the vicinity has not queered the altimeter.
1989 Harper's Mag. Sept. 10/2 Less harmless errors will follow us..queering our relations with the many faceless organizations that modern life makes it impossible to turn our backs on in disgust.
b. transitive. to queer the pitch: (originally) to interfere with or spoil the business of a street vendor or performer (cf. pitch n.2 17a); (later more generally) to interfere with or spoil the business in hand; similarly to queer a person's pitch. Also in similar phrases, as to queer the game, to queer the deal, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > illegal or immoral trading > trade illegally or immorally [verb (intransitive)] > trade in sordid or petty manner > in a way to ruin or spoil business
to mar another's (also one's) market1529
to queer the pitch1846
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > types or manners of hindrance > [verb (intransitive)] > hinder by interference
interrupt1412
intervene1649
to break in1657
intercedea1661
to queer the pitch1846
to throw a monkey wrench into the machinery1907
to gum (up) the works1932
to throw a spanner in the works1934
1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 47 Rule iv... Nanty coming it on a pall, or wid cracking to queer a pitch.
1866 M. Mackintosh Stage Reminisc. vii. 93 The smoke and fumes of ‘blue fire’ which had been used to illuminate the fight came up through the chinks of the stage, fit to choke a dozen Macbeths, and—pardon the little bit of professional slang—poor Jamie's ‘pitch’ was ‘queered’ with a vengeance.
1875 T. Frost Circus Life xvi. 278 The spot they select for their performance is their ‘pitch’, and any interruption of their feats, such as an accident, or the interference of a policeman, is said to ‘queer the pitch’.
1889 E. Sampson Tales of Fancy 38 They could not understand it when their pitch was queered, and one or two of the gang arrested.
1901 Windsor Mag. Dec. 204/1 I think you and I between us have queered the game.
1912 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 795/2 All branches of the administration work sensibly and effectively so long as you do not ‘queer the pitch’ by creating exceptions.
1973 E. Lemarchand Let or Hindrance iv. 31 He's a decent lad... He would never have risked queering Wendy's pitch with Eddy.
1993 Chicago Tribune 19 June i. 14/2 This presumes..that Nolan doesn't queer the deal by holding more press conferences to warn how crime-ridden Chicago will become.
2006 Econ. Times (India) (Nexis) 4 Oct. What queers the pitch for the airlines is the additional capacity entering the domestic market over the next three months.
3. transitive. To cause (a person) to feel queer; to disconcert, perturb, unsettle. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > upset or perturb [verb (transitive)]
to-wendc893
mingeOE
dreveOE
angerc1175
sturb?c1225
worec1225
troublec1230
sturble1303
disturbc1305
movea1325
disturblec1330
drubblea1340
drovec1350
distroublec1369
tempestc1374
outsturba1382
unresta1382
stroublec1384
unquietc1384
conturb1393
mismaya1400
unquemea1400
uneasec1400
discomfita1425
smite?a1425
perturbc1425
pertrouble?1435
inquiet1486
toss1526
alter1529
disquiet1530
turmoil1530
perturbate1533
broil1548
mis-set?1553
shake1567
parbruilyiec1586
agitate1587
roil1590
transpose1594
discompose1603
harrow1609
hurry1611
obturb1623
shog1636
untune1638
alarm1649
disorder1655
begruntlea1670
pother1692
disconcert1695
ruffle1701
tempestuate1702
rough1777
caddle1781
to put out1796
upset1805
discomfort1806
start1821
faze1830
bother1832
to put aback1833
to put about1843
raft1844
queer1845
rattle1865
to turn over1865
untranquillize1874
hack1881
rock1881
to shake up1884
to put off1909
to go (also pass) through a phase1913
to weird out1970
1845 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 34 Hallam was rather queered (it not being in his line to do anything so conspicuous).
1894 Outing 24 362/2 It queered me to think what would happen if they were to lose foothold.
1895 Cent. Mag. Sept. 676/1 Something has queered the whole crowd.
2006 Los Angeles Business Jrnl. (Nexis) 7 Aug. A couple of things queered me about going back to Columbia, among them what they wanted to pay me considering I was trying to raise a family.
4. transitive. To analyse or reinterpret something from the perspective of queer theory (see queer adj.1 Compounds 2). More generally: to consider from such a perspective; to make (more) relevant, accessible, or susceptible to audiences or perspectives representing diverse sexual and gender identities.
ΚΠ
1993 Jrnl. Film & Video 45 33/2 (heading) Queering Sexual Politics.
1998 B. Parr in V. Kelly Our Austral. Theatre in 1990s 89 Mainstream culture is gradually being ‘queered’.
2010 N.Y. Mag. 2 Aug. 84/1 Franco, you might say, is queering celebrity: erasing the border not just between gay and straight but between actor and artist.
2017 South Asia Monitor (Nexis) 22 Feb. They often queered the male-female binary.
Derivatives
ˈqueerer n. rare a person who queers someone or something.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > banter or good-humoured ridicule > [noun] > one who banters
railleur1655
raillier1663
banterer1678
rallier1678
badineur1734
quiz1797
quizzer1797
queerera1800
smoker1812
persifleur1829
chaffer1851
tease1853
leg-puller1887
josher1899
ragger1903
kibitzer1925
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > [noun] > witty person > intending to ridicule
quiz1797
quizzer1797
queerera1800
a1800 C. Dibdin Country Club 4 Among this set of queerers, All talkers, and no hearers, Each his favorite tale recounts.
1812 G. Colman Poet. Vagaries 136 These wooden Wits, these Quizzers, Queerers, Smokers.
1967 S. M. Naqavi Democracy in India ii. 48 The large crop of independents, emerging, at all events, as queerers of the democratic pitch.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.21826
adj.1?a1513adj.2n.11567
v.1c1390v.21778