rockern.1
/ˈrɒkə/, U.S. /ˈrɑkər/ I. General uses.
1. † b. humorous. A public speaker who bores his or her audience to the point of sending them to sleep. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.
a. A nurse or attendant charged with the duty of rocking a child in the cradle. Also generally: a person who rocks a cradle. Also figurative. Now historical.
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society > education > upbringing > [noun] > one who brings up > nurse
nouricec1225
nursea1325
rockera1325
nourish1340
nursha1382
nursery nurse1494
nutrice1529
nurse-girl1596
dry-nursea1616
nursey1760
bonne1771
ayah1782
nanny1785
momma1803
nursery girla1812
mammy1837
nanac1844
day nurse1855
caretaker1858
nursekin1862
Norland1894
nounou1894
nurselet1894
Plunket1909
metapelet1950
a1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesworth (Cambr.) (1929) 8 (MED) E quant li emfez serra neez..Puis en berce le cochez, E de une bercere [glossed:] a rockere [v.rr. rokker; norice, lullere] vous purveez.
a1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesworth (Cambr.) (1929) 13 (MED) E quant il baave de nature, Pur ces dras sauver de baavure, Dites dount a sa bercere [glossed:] rockere Ke ele lui face un baavere.
c1450 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 576/18 (MED) Crepundarius..a rokkere.
c1450 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 577/3 (MED) Cunabulator..a rokkere.
1491 King Henry VII Let. 27 May in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. I. 170 Agnes Butler and Emlyn Hobbes rokkers of oure said Son.
1539 in J. G. Nichols Lit. Remains Edward VI (Roxb.) I. p. xxviii The lady Maistres, the Nurice, the Rocker, and such as be appointed contynually to be in the Prince's grace privie chambre.
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1764/2 All the Courte was full of Midwiues, Nurses, and Rockers.
c1618 Trial Isobel Inch (c1855) 7 As being, or as keeper of the said Margaret Barclay's bairns and rocker of the creddill.
1660 T. Fuller Mixt Contempl. ii. l. 63 It hapned that an Aged Rocker which waited on him, took the Steel-Boots from his legs.
1678 H. Vaughan Thalia Rediviva 55 No Rockers waited on thy birth, No Cradles stirr'd: nor songs of mirth.
1707 tr. M.-C. d'Aulnoy Diverting Wks. 481 Her Nurse, her Foster-Sister, her Dresser and Rocker.
1763 Ann. Reg. 1762 98/2 Attendants on..the prince of Wales... Wet nurse,..Dry nurse,..Necessary women,..Rockers.
1804 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1805) VIII. 166 The cradle of science; to which cradle..some of our own countrymen have had the honour to be appointed rockers.
1813 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 35 She was originally engaged as a rocker to the princesses.
1876 S. Smiles Life Sc. Naturalist i. 9 Sometimes he was set to rock the cradle. But on his mother's arrival at home, she found the rocker had disappeared.
1972 J. Gathorne-Hardy Rise & Fall Brit. Nanny ii. 64 A Rocker..was to do the most menial tasks like cleaning the baby and rocking the cradle.
1992 A. Thorpe Ulverton iv. 91 Nurse Fieldhouse has been severe on the rocker for standing at my door (we are opposite to the nursery) when she oped it.
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the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [noun] > tedious or dull person
grub1653
noddeea1680
insipid1699
rocker1762
bore1812
Dryasdust1819
insipidity1822
prose1844
bagpipe1850
vampire1862
pill1865
jeff1870
terebrant1890
poop1893
stodger1905
club bore1910
nudnik1916
stodge1922
dreary1925
dreep1927
binder1930
drip1932
douchebag1946
drear1958
drag1959
noodge1968
anorak1984
1762 S. Foote Orators i. 27 The astonishing abilities of the Rockers (for by that appellation I choose to distinguish this order of orators).
2. † a. Scottish. In plural. A cradle. Obsolete.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [noun] > cot or cradle
cradlec1000
cader?c1225
crete1340
cunablesa1549
rocker1566
wicker1646
crib1649
cather?1748
cunabula1774
cot1813
co-sleeper1997
1566 in D. H. Fleming Mary Q. of Scots (1897) 499 Fyftein elne of blew plading for to mak ane cannabie to the rokaris.
1566 in D. H. Fleming Mary Q. of Scots (1897) 500 Linnyng..to be schetis to the rokaris.
b. A cradle or cot in which a child may be rocked.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [noun] > other types of bed
childbed1568
plank bed1584
table bed1633
earth-bed1637
pigeon-hole bed1685
box-bed1693
barbecue1697
plaid bedc1710
bed of state1713
pallet1839
high post1842
rocker1854
wire bed1882
lit bateau1895
string cot1895
sleigh bed1902
orthopaedic bed1943
high-low bed1956
futon1959
bateau lit1983
1854 W. G. Simms Southward Ho! xvii. 420 The infant was left swinging in his basket rocker from the tree!
1866 Hours at Home Oct. 565 A volume was always on hand to catch up as opportunity offered—in her work-basket, under the cushions of baby's rocker.
1923 Pop. Mech. Aug. 259/1 Turning a baby carriage into a crib or a rocker by a flip of the handle is the feat accomplished by a Virginia inventor.
2004 E. Van Lustbader Mistress of Pearl iii. 49 He fashioned a sling from an old hat he never wore and brought it up out of its deep hole as if it were a baby in its rocker.
3. A curved bar (usually one of a pair) or similar support on which something such as a chair or cradle can rock. Usually in plural. Frequently in on rockers.
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the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > [noun] > rocking > rocker on cradle or chair
rocker1760
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > [noun] > parts of furniture generally > curved surface to enable rocking
rocker1760
1760 E. Smith Acct. Bk. in Dict. Amer. Eng. (at cited word) Pair of rockers on a cradle 5/.
1787 M. Cutler Jrnl. 13 July in W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life, Jrnls. & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) I. 269 He also showed us..his great arm chair, with rockers.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §80 In some degree rounding, like the Rockers of a cradle.
1827 C. M. Sedgwick Hope Leslie II. v. 102 ‘Help me out with mother's rocking-chair—rather rough rocking,’ he added as he adjusted the rockers lengthwise with the logs that served for the flooring.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. i. 3 The very basket that you slept in..the very rockers that I put it upon to make a cradle of it.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 478 A light frame on rockers, upon which the developing dish rests.
1922 T. M. Lowry Inorg. Chem. xliii. 854 The material is washed in a ‘pan’ or ‘cradle’ consisting of an inclined trough mounted on rockers.
1961 Times 13 Nov. 13/2 (advt.) A lovely cot on rockers.
1972 G. Rabassa tr. G. G. Márquez Leaf Storm & Other Stories 124 The rockers on her chair had worn out after eleven years of widowhood.
2003 S. Goodwin Breaking her Fall 339 The only thing in it was the cradle—god, that little cradle with the rockers.
4. Originally U.S. A rocking chair. Earliest in Boston rocker n. at Boston n.2 Additions.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > rocking chair
rocking chair1766
swing-chair1833
rocker1836
1836 Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pa.) 22 Feb. Aint it just as comfortable to go out on the piazza, sit in the Boston Rocker for an hour.
1852 in H. B. Stowe Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin (1853) 136/1 Will be sold,..Hairseat Chairs, Sofas and Rockers.
1857 F. L. Olmsted Journey through Texas 49 She sat down in the rocker at one end of the table.
1895 S. M. H. Gardner Quaker Idyls i The half dozen rockers and lounging chairs.
1905 Delineator May 829/1 The Windsor rockers are not so common as the side chairs.
1978 Lancashire Life Apr. 42/3 Ah sit theer i' mi rocker, Just startin' to nod off.
1992 R. Kenan Let Dead bury their Dead ii. 39 Mr. John Edgar had set himself down in his rocker on the front porch and was rocking.
2007 K. Sessums Mississippi Sissy 176 June was sitting in a rocker.
5. British. A rocking horse; (more generally) any child's toy that can be ridden like a rocking horse. rare before late 20th cent.
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society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > rocking-horse
rocking horse1724
rocker1845
shoo-fly1887
hobby-horse-
1845 C. Dickens Cricket on Hearth ii. 60 From the spotted barrel on four pegs..to the thoroughbred rocker on his highest mettle.
1987 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 25 Sept. Each horse is an individual to Deborah and she painstakingly restores them to their former glory. ‘Near enough is not good enough for my rockers.’
2000 A. Craig In Dark Wood x. 111 There were rockers shaped like horses and sea horses.
2005 Daily Post (Liverpool) (Nexis) 15 Dec. 4 Rockers should be horses, shouldn't they? Not according to the Rocking Sheep Company, Harlech.
6.
a. Chiefly U.S. In plural. In the names of bands playing popular music with a fast, vigorous rhythm and a strong beat, esp. (in later use) rock ‘n’ roll or rock music. Cf. sense 6c.
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1941 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 14 Mar. 13/6 Hal Jolke's Rhythm Rockers.
1950 Winona (Minnesota) Republican Herald 24 Nov. 13/5 Ruby Dolan invites you to hear Hank Hazlett and his Rockers of Rhythm.
1958 Arizona Republic 16 Feb. iii. 13/2 A group known as the Rio Rockers who give out with an instrumental simply titled, ‘Mexican Rock 'n' Roll’.
1980 Billboard 4 Oct. 100/5 Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers, a veteran rockabilly band from Wales.
2002 Richmond (Virginia) Times Disp. (Nexis) 26 Dec. d31 Join Teenie Chenault & the Country Rockers for a New Year's Eve dance party.
b. A song with a rocking (rocking adj. 4a) rhythm, (now) esp. a fast, energetic rock song, often characterized by a prominent guitar rhythm.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > popular song
song hit1888
pop ballad1924
rocker1947
1947 Billboard 30 Aug. 36/2 Boys teed off with a rocker instead of the customary throw-away.
1968 Billboard 27 Apr. 74/3 Hard-driving, raucous rocker..from the group's current LP.
1970 New Yorker 12 Dec. 187/1 ‘One More Weekend’, a honky-tonk rocker..is about getting away.
1979 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 14 Nov. 16/5 Stay With Me, Let Me Give You What You Want was a rocker with new-wave overtones.
1989 New Musical Express 25 Feb. 45 A succession of serrated-edge, high-velocity rockers.
2004 Time Out N.Y. 30 Dec. 109/2 Slightly catchy Avril-lite rockers and tepid Top 40 ballads.
c. A person who performs rock music; (esp. in early use) a person who enjoys listening or dancing to rock or rock 'n' roll music. See also sense 6d.Frequently with modifying word, as art, cock, pomp, punk, soft, trash rocker, etc.: see the first element.With quot. 1958, cf. rock 'n' roller n.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > [noun] > pop musician > types of
hard rocker1942
bebopper1946
skiffler1948
bopper1951
rock 'n' roller1955
rockabilly1956
rock star1957
rocker1958
rock idol1958
rockster1960
funkster1963
country rocker1964
punk rocker1972
punk1976
punkster1976
cock-rocker1977
MC1979
rapper1979
thrasher1979
New Romantic1980
prog rocker1980
neo-punk1981
pomp rocker1981
rapster1981
rockist1981
hip-hopper1982
scratcher1982
skanker1983
pop tart1984
trash rocker1984
techno-head1985
Goth1986
Britpopper1989
gangsta1989
gangster rapper1989
popstrel1989
gangsta rapper1990
house-head1990
grunger1991
shoegazer1991
junglist1992
trip-hopper1993
1958 Listener 23 Oct. 639/2 The latest young rockers and rollers, the dandified teddy boys and the girls in jeans so tight that a sneeze would burst the seams.
1966 Los Angeles Times 8 Sept. iv. 16/1 It's a bit confusing to hear a singer jump from ‘Rock Around the Clock’ to Irving Berlin's 1912 tune, ‘Sadie Salome Go Home’... This purveyor of oddities is a historian/rocker.
1972 Listener 10 Aug. 187/2 Chuck Berry is the rocker's rocker and the real man.
1986 Los Angeles Times 12 Oct. (Calendar) 61/2 Her daze [sic] with local all-girl rockers the Runaways.
1993 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Apr. 140/2 The exuberant Celtic rockers pull their guitars, uilleann pipes, tin whistles, bodhran drum, trombone, and sax onto the makeshift stage.
2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic xix. 271 She was not a papparazza but in fact a mad celebrazza, desperately chasing celebrity rockers.
d. British. A young person belonging to a subculture characterized by leather clothing, wearing the hair long, riding motorcycles, and listening to rock (originally rock 'n' roll) music. Frequently contrasted with mod n.4 Also in extended use.The movement flourished originally in the 1960s when the mutual antipathy with the mods became a widely recognized and debated aspect of youth culture. Subsequently, the subculture became associated more strongly with motorcycle gangs (cf. greaser n. 2c) and with heavy metal music. A number of theories have been advanced to suggest that the name was not in origin a specific use of sense 6c, but related in some way to motorcycles.
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the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [noun] > specific fashions > follower of specific fashion
moon child1923
bodgie1949
Ted1956
teddy1956
neatnik1959
mod1960
rocker1963
longhair1964
yé-yé1964
sharpie1965
hippie1966
punk1976
neo-hippie1980
New Romantic1980
society > leisure > the arts > music > music appreciation > music lover > [noun] > of pop music > of specific types of pop
hard rocker1942
skiffler1948
rock fan1959
rocker1963
discomaniac1966
Deadhead1971
punk rocker1972
punker1973
punkette1974
Krautrocker1976
punk1976
punk fan1976
punkster1976
new waver1977
soulie1978
post-punk1979
New Romantic1980
headbanger1981
skanker1983
grebo1987
old schooler1990
shoegazer1991
technoid1992
thrasher1992
gabba1995
1963 Times 13 Mar. 5/4 One of the youths, asked by Police-constable Brady if he knew anything about ‘moderns’ and ‘rockers’, told the Court: ‘They are boys who dress differently.’
1963 Economist 28 Dec. 1332/2 Teenagers want..motor bikes and leather jackets to show that they are ‘rockers’.
1964 Spectator 17 Apr. 503/1 Brighton cancelled its proposed ‘beat festival’ next month on hearing that the Mods and Rockers were coming in force.
1965 New Statesman 19 Nov. 801/1 A couple of literary Rockers rang up anonymously: ‘We'll bomb the gallery if [Ezra] Pound turns up.’
1973 J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 82 He was..a nineteen-year-old who had once identified himself as a greaser and, before that, as a Rocker, but who now led a provincial chapter of Hell's Angels.
1988 Parl. Affairs 41 411 There were..many instances of violent behaviour and a number of ‘moral panics’ about teddy-boys in the 1950s and the mods and rockers in the 1960s.
2005 A. Masters Stuart xvii. 179 You had rockers, casuals, punks, mods, three different types of skinhead.
II. Technical uses.
7. A long lever by which the bellows of a forge are operated; = rock-staff n.1 Now historical and rare.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > forging equipment > bellows > parts of
tew-iron1399
rock-staff1561
basis1669
twire-pipe1674
rocker1678
tewel1678
wind-hole1688
wind-sucker1688
rostrum1706
muzzle1726
tuyere1781
stirrup1843
hinge1852
tue1883
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. i. 2 At the ear of the upper Bellows-board is fastned a Rope..which reaches up to the Rocker, and is fastned..to the farther end of the Handle.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. vii. 324/1 The Chain..is fastned to the upper Ear of the Bellows, and so to the end of the Staff or Beam which the Smith handles to Blow the Bellows withal; called, The Rocker.
1818 Bk. Eng. Trades (new ed.) 351 The bellows is behind the forge, and is worked by means of a rocker.
1957 R. Lister Decorative Wrought Ironwork in Great Brit. 232 Rock staff or Rocker, the operating lever of bellows.
8. Carriage-building. One of the beams in the frame of a carriage used to support the floorboards. Now rare.In quot. 1916 with reference to a gun carriage.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > parts of cart or carriage > [noun] > false bottom beneath frame
rocker1794
1794 W. Felton Treat. Carriages I. 28 The bottom boards are confined hereto by the assistance of a rocker, which is firmly fixed to the inside.
1837 W. B. Adams Eng. Pleasure Carriages 221 The rocker or false bottom beneath the bottom framing, intended to give greater height, scarcely shows at all in perspective.
1877 G. A. Thrupp Hist. Coaches 136 At one time the fashion of the day is for deep quarters, deep rockers, and very shallow panels.
1916 C. L. Ruggles Stresses in Wire-wrapped Guns (ed. 2) ii. 54 The elevating screw is pivoted both to the rocker and the trail.
9. Chiefly U.S.
a. An ice skate with a curving blade. Now historical.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > skating > [noun] > skate > types of
rocker1820
High Dutcher1836
speed-skate1852
fen-runners1873
bobskate1903
tube1923
tube skate1923
clap skate1997
1820 N.-Y. Gaz. 8 Nov. 3/6 (advt.) English skates, consisting of plain rockers and dumps.
1854 B. F. Taylor January & June ii. 155 The boys sha'n't skate? Who grudges them the ‘rockers’?
1869 H. E. Vandervell & T. M. Witham Syst. Figure-skating iii. 81 The American and Canadian ‘rockers’..are much too highly curved.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2192/2 A machine for grinding skates, straight-edged or rockers.
1895 Boston Globe 29 Dec. 33/1 Rockers, club skates or any of the new notions or so-called improvements have no charms for him.
1917 Youth's Compan. 18 Oct. 593 (advt.) When ordering state choice of hockey or rocker and whether a man's or boy's size skate is wanted.
1955 N.Y. Times 31 Jan. 28/2 When Malcolm Kenneth Gordon, 87-year-old master of history at the Malcolm Gordon School..talks about hockey..he can describe..old-fashioned clamped, rocker skates and homemade sticks cut from trees.
b. A curve in the keel of a boat such that its ends are raised slightly; the degree to which a keel curves in this way. Formerly also: †a vessel with such a keel; (occasionally) a keel with a curve of this kind (obsolete).Recorded earliest in attributive use; cf. Compounds 1.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > bottom or part under water > [noun] > keel and kelson > keel > types of
sliding keel1797
centreboard1828
bilge-keel1850
ram1851
rocker1859
sidebar keel1869
bar-keel1874
plate-keel1874
bilge-piece1880
fin1885
bulb-keel1893
fin-keel1893
ballast fin1894
bulb-fin1894
plate1895
drop-keel1896
1859 Alta Calif. (San Francisco) 5 Nov. 4/4 She has a clean run and the rocker keel.
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 812/2 Other canoes are built chiefly for sailing, and these carry ‘drop keels’, ‘rockers’, and heavy ballast.
1878 D. Kemp Man. Yacht Sailing ii. 18 A careful helmsman will take his ‘rocker’ farther up to windward than any similarly careful helmsman could a ‘straight keel’, all other things being equal.
1887 D. Kirby in H. Hall Tribune Bk. Open-air Sports viii. 251 When a fast sloop of the straight-keel type came out, the rockers were beaten... The rockers then went out of fashion. Straight keels became all the rage.
1895 Outing 26 382/1 Two thirds of the keel is almost flat, with a very slight rocker at the heel and a more pronounced curve under the fore-foot.
1976 Mariner's Mirror 62 11 Keel boats with deadrise often have keels with some rocker or have drag: that is they draw more aft than forward.
1994 Outdoor Canada Mar. 45/1 A bow and stern with lots of ‘rocker’ or curve along the keel line, will ride high out of the water.
c. The upward curve in the nose and tail of a surfboard; the amount or degree of curvature of this kind. Also in extended use.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > surfing > [noun] > surfboard > parts of
rail1962
skeg1962
stringer1962
rocker1963
spoon1963
leg rope1975
mast foot1976
1963 Surfing Yearbk. 43/1 Rocker, the slight upward slope in a surfboard.
1965 P. L. Dixon Compl. Bk. Surfing vii. 97 If a board has too much rocker (pitch or bend) it will be too slow and will stall out easily.
1987 Windsurf Jan.–Feb. 57/3 The amount of nose lift or rocker can be varied at this stage.
1994 Surf Mag. No. 22. 43/1 A series of shaping changes—related almost completely to subtle alterations and refinements in rocker, overall thickness and bottom contours.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 22 Jan. e7/1 Lib Tech released a [snow]board that sounded unsafe to step on..and featured reverse camber, a k a ‘rocker’, because its ‘U’ shape let it rock from tail to nose.
10. A device or apparatus which rocks or is rocked in the manner of a cradle.
a. Chiefly North American. A long, narrow trough, mounted on rockers, used for washing gold-bearing earth in order to separate out the gold; = cradle n. 14. Now chiefly historical.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for treating ores > [noun] > for washing ore > for gold
scour1619
rocker1828
cradle1833
pan1835
Long Tom1839
Tom1839
wash-bowl1848
gold washer1849
sluice1851
wash-pan1851
tub1853
gold pan1854
mining pan1858
pan mill1869
Tommy1892
1828 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 18 209 Sometimes the sand is transferred to a vessel smaller than the rocker, in order to collect all the fine gold.
1852 Elora (Canada) Backwoodsman 17 June 2/4 The plough is a far more profitable instrument than ‘the long Tom’ or ‘the rocker’.
1858 Times 1 Dec. 9/3 The only mode of ‘washing’ here, is with the rocker, an inefficient, laborious, and slow, implement.
1882 Rep. Precious Metals (U.S. Bureau of Mint) i. 196 A great extent of ground has been worked along Salmon River, principally by rockers and other primitive appliances.
1927 B. A. McKelvie Black Canyon 105 Each night the rockers were ‘cleaned up’ and the gold was collected.
1939 M. Colby Alaska (1944) ii. ix. 370 The first devices used by the early stampeders were primitive implements such as the gold pan, the rocker or cradle, and the long tom.
1985 D. Conner & D. Bethune-Johnson Canada: Building our Nation ii. ii. 70 Smaller pieces were trapped on a piece of canvas at the bottom of the rocker.
b. A metal block or bar having one surface convex with a groove along its length, made in order to demonstrate the ability of heat to produce audible vibration. Now historical.When the rocker is heated and placed with its curved surface on a flat cold surface of some different metal, an audible sound may be heard. Its invention is attributed to Arthur Trevelyan (1802–78) of Northumberland in 1829 ( Edinb. Jrnl. Sci. (1832) 6 141; Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1854) 144 1), though the effect had apparently been observed by others some years earlier.Trevelyan's papers ( Philos. Mag. (1833) 3 321 and Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. (1834) 12 137) use only the word ‘rocking’, not ‘rocker’.
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the world > matter > physics > mechanics > types of motion > [noun] > vibration or oscillation > instrument for illustrating specific effect
rocker1831
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > heat > transmission of heat > [noun] > vibration > instrument measuring
rocker1831
1831 London Lit. Gaz. 7 May 296/3 The mixture of other sounds due to the ringing of the metal, the subdivision of the whole vibrating system, with the true sound produced by the blows of the rocker, were referred to and illustrated.
1863 J. Tyndall Heat (1870) iv. §113. 99 He determined the best form to be given to the ‘rocker’, as the vibrating mass is now called, and throughout Europe this instrument is known as Trevelyan's Instrument.
1962 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 267 148 Lord Rayleigh..set down in mellifluously lucid fashion..the fundamentals of acoustic theory and vibration theory, and applied these to the study of such harmonious phenomena as the tuning-fork..and Trevelyan's rocker.
1988 C. A. Taylor Art & Sci. Lect. Demonstr. i. 29 The rocker itself is of scarcely more than academic interest.
c. A rocking device forming part of a mechanism; spec. (a) (in a dynamo or electric motor) a movable holder to which the brush holders are fixed, but from which they are insulated, so that the positions of all the brushes can be adjusted simultaneously; (b) the rocking component of a rocker switch; (c) a rocker arm in an internal combustion engine.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > [noun] > dynamo > parts of
commutator1880
inductor disk1885
rocker1888
inductor-plate1894
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > dynamo > [noun] > contact > controlling device
rocker1888
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > parts of > valves > devices which operate
throttle1838
rocker arm1850
timing gear1885
rocker1915
valve train1955
1837 U.S. Patent 123 1/1 Improvements in the Machine for Weighing Heavy Bodies... C C are two pieces of wood or of metal, which are denominated ‘rockers’, and which have the levers D D firmly attached and rest upon four knife-edge fulcra or hinges.
1882 J. Maier tr. E. Hospitalier Mod. Applic. Electr. 170 The armatures of the two electro-magnets were placed at the two extremities of a rocker, carrying a lever for the release of the mechanism used for the approach or withdrawal of the carbons.
1884 A. Gray Absolute Measurem. in Electr. & Magn. (2008) viii. 205 A convenient form of wire rocker with mercury cups..may be easily made.
1888 S. P. Thompson Dynamo-electr. Machinery (ed. 3) iii. 63 The rockers which support the brush-holders should admit of sufficient angular displacement being given to the brushes.
1893 R. Grimshaw Locomotive Catechism 178 Lengthen the rocker, so as to lower the entire motion.
1915 G. A. Burls Aero Engines vi. 108 The upper end of the rocker U is pushed upwards and the lower-end depressed, thus opening the valve.
1921 Motor Electr. Manual iii. 50 A magneto that has been standing out of use..is very liable to have a sticking rocker.
1975 F. Porges Design of Electr. Services for Buildings i. 3 The switch opens when the bottom of the rocker is pressed and shuts when the top is pressed.
1992 R. N. Pripps How to restore Your Farm Tractor iv. 43/1 Inspect push rods, camshafts, rockers and related parts for wear or damage.
2003 E. L. Kottick Hist. Harpsichord xiii. 278 Taskin devised a system of rods, levers, cranks, springs, and rockers.
2004 R. K. Rajput Textbk. Electr. Engin. viii. 420 The brush rocker is arranged concentrically round the commutator.
d. Engraving. A steel tool with a serrated edge, used to roughen a copper or steel plate to lay the ground for a mezzotint. Also called a cradle (cradle n. 13).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > mezzotint > tools
scraper1747
cradle1788
grounding-tool?1790
rocking tool1841
rocker1875
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1430/1 The instruments used are the cradle or rocker, scraper, burnisher, roulettes.
1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 233/2 A ‘rocker’ or ‘cradle’ with which to lay the ground.
1912 F. Weitenkampf Amer. Graphic Art v. 107 (title of chapter) Mezzotint (the art of rocker and scraper).
1958 J. Heller Printmaking Today 256 Rocker, the tool employed in mezzotint for laying a ground. A manytoothed, arclike, steel instrument with a handle in the center, literally rocked across the plate many times, in many directions, to produce an even textured burr.
1998 Burlington Mag. Mar. 228/3 Mezzotints by the American maestro of the rocker and burnisher, Craig McPherson; to 15th March.
e. Tanning. A vat in which hides are rocked to and fro on a pivoted frame. Frequently attributive (see Compounds 1c).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for working with skins or leather > [noun] > tan-vat > types of
bark-vatc1440
bark-cobillc1550
handler1771
grainer1813
roundabout1842
rocker1876
suspender1882
lay-away1885
layer pit1901
1876 J. S. Schultz Leather Manuf. U.S. xxv. 254 The vibration of the rocker on which the leather is hung should not be over four or six inches.
1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) xxiv. 382 The hides are next suspended in ‘rockers’... They remain in the ‘rockers’ from seven to ten days.
1969 T. C. Thorstensen Pract. Leather Technol. v. 69 Prior to vegetable tanning, the hides in the lime condition are put in rockers containing deliming and bating materials.
11. Figure-skating. One of the standard turning figures (see quot. 2002).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > skating > [noun] > figure-skating > figure > specific figure or movement
spread eagle1823
Q1852
grapevine1868
loop1869
rocking turn1869
Mohawk1880
vine1891
bracket1892
Choctaw1892
counter1892
rocker1892
scud1892
three1895
toe-spin1921
death spiral1933
1892 T. M. Witham Figure Skating in J. M. Heathcote & C. G. Tebbutt Skating (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) iii. 107 In the rockers and counters (which figures used to be designated rocking turns and counter-rocking turns), although there is a change of direction the nature of the edge is preserved.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 642/2 The ‘star’, consisting of four crosses (forward rocker, back loop, back counter).
1936 Sun (Baltimore) 15 Feb. 13/2 There are 72 different school figures the skater must learn... Counters, rockers, brackets, loops, threes.
1973 Times 7 Feb. 15/8 He looked ill at ease on the first figure, the forward outside rocker.
2002 C. Shulman Compl. Bk. Figure Skating vi. 89 The rocker is similar to a three turn and, like a three turn, rotates inside the circle. A rocker does not change edge of feet but does change direction. It also travels from one circle to another. It is similar to a change of edge but has a turn in the center of the change, which faces into the direction of the original circle.
12. U.S. A thick usually upward-facing curved stripe used in the insignia of various ranks in the armed services or police, with a greater number of such stripes typically indicating a higher rank (esp. among sergeants). Also in extended use in other insignia.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > insignia > [noun] > chevron or stripe
chevron1813
stripe1827
service stripe1861
hash mark1907
tape1943
rocker1944
1944 Yank 6 Oct. 15/1 ‘Woddya want, fellah?’ said the sergeant. He was thin for a top kick and his blouse was much too big. The bottom rocker reached down to his elbow.
1948 Christian Sci. Monitor 6 Nov. (Mag. section) 8/1 Sergeant second class—three stripes, two ‘rockers’—has been changed to sergeant first class.
1957 A. Myrer Big War 127 Give her three stripes and a rocker.
1971 J. Mandelkau Buttons vii. 81 The patch consisted of the top rocker—three inches wide, red on white—Hell's Angels. The bottom rocker said, England and between them I carried the small death's head.
1976 New Yorker 15 Mar. 102/2 Wetsel, a staff sergeant (E-6) with three stripes and one rocker, arrived in the company.
1980 P. Katcher Armies Vietnam War 24/1 The chief petty officer wore three chevrons, with a single rocker uniting the ends of the top chevron.
2000 K. Reichs Deadly Décisions xii. 97 You can spot these guys because they only wear the bottom rocker of the patch.
Phrases
slang. off one's rocker: crazy, mad.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adjective] > insanity or madness > affected with
woodc725
woodsekc890
giddyc1000
out of (by, from, of) wit or one's witc1000
witlessc1000
brainsickOE
amadc1225
lunaticc1290
madc1330
sickc1340
brain-wooda1375
out of one's minda1387
frenetica1398
fonda1400
formada1400
unwisea1400
brainc1400
unwholec1400
alienate?a1425
brainless1434
distract of one's wits1470
madfula1475
furious1475
distract1481
fro oneself1483
beside oneself1490
beside one's patience1490
dementa1500
red-wood?1507
extraught1509
misminded1509
peevish1523
bedlam-ripe1525
straughta1529
fanatic1533
bedlama1535
daft1540
unsounda1547
stark raving (also staring) mad1548
distraughted1572
insane1575
acrazeda1577
past oneself1576
frenzy1577
poll-mad1577
out of one's senses1580
maddeda1586
frenetical1588
distempered1593
distraught1597
crazed1599
diswitted1599
idle-headed1599
lymphatical1603
extract1608
madling1608
distracteda1616
informala1616
far gone1616
crazy1617
March mada1625
non compos mentis1628
brain-crazed1632
demented1632
crack-brained1634
arreptitiousa1641
dementate1640
dementated1650
brain-crackeda1652
insaniated1652
exsensed1654
bedlam-witteda1657
lymphatic1656
mad-like1679
dementative1685
non compos1699
beside one's gravity1716
hyte1720
lymphated1727
out of one's head1733
maddened1735
swivel-eyed1758
wrong1765
brainsickly1770
fatuous1773
derangedc1790
alienated1793
shake-brained1793
crack-headed1796
flighty1802
wowf1802
doitrified1808
phrenesiac1814
bedlamite1815
mad-braineda1822
fey1823
bedlamitish1824
skire1825
beside one's wits1827
as mad as a hatter1829
crazied1842
off one's head1842
bemadded1850
loco1852
off one's nut1858
off his chump1864
unsane1867
meshuga1868
non-sane1868
loony1872
bee-headed1879
off one's onion1881
off one's base1882
(to go) off one's dot1883
locoed1885
screwy1887
off one's rocker1890
balmy or barmy on (or in) the crumpet1891
meshuggener1892
nutty1892
buggy1893
bughouse1894
off one's pannikin1894
ratty1895
off one's trolley1896
batchy1898
twisted1900
batsc1901
batty1903
dippy1903
bugs1904
dingy1904
up the (also a) pole1904
nut1906
nuts1908
nutty as a fruitcake1911
bugged1920
potty1920
cuckoo1923
nutsy1923
puggled1923
blah1924
détraqué1925
doolally1925
off one's rocket1925
puggle1925
mental1927
phooey1927
crackers1928
squirrelly1928
over the edge1929
round the bend1929
lakes1934
ding-a-ling1935
wacky1935
screwball1936
dingbats1937
Asiatic1938
parlatic1941
troppo1941
up the creek1941
screwed-up1943
bonkers1945
psychological1952
out to lunch1955
starkers1956
off (one's) squiff1960
round the twist1960
yampy1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
out of one's skull1967
whacked out1969
batshit1971
woo-woo1971
nutso1973
out of (one's) gourd1977
wacko1977
off one's meds1986
1890 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang II. 95/1 Off one's rocker, (popular), crazy, mad.
1897 Daily News 29 June 3/5 When asked if he had swallowed the liniment, he said, ‘Yes, I was off my rocker’.
1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves viii. 78 The Duke is off his rocker.
1929 J. Buchan Courts of Morning ii. iv. 199 The question is how long it will be till he goes clean off his rocker.
1961 ‘I. T. Ross’ Old Students never Die (1963) iv. 60 ‘She's a flip... Nuts,’ he translated, ‘Loony. Off her rocker.’
1991 Westcoast Logger July 14/3 We were convinced that he had gone off his rocker.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. In sense 10c.
rocker bearing n.
ΚΠ
1858 U.S. Patent 19,464 2/2 Combining with the semicylindrical steam chest..a small rocker bearing.
2008 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 2 Oct. w7 The estimated $141,000 necessary for permanent repairs to the bridge's expansion joints and rocker bearings.
rocker box n.
ΚΠ
1855 U.S. Patent 12,141 1/2 The lower end of each feed roller shaft is provided with a rocker box.
1892 J. G. A. Meyer Mod. Locomotive Constr. 199 The lifting-shaft bearing and rocker-box..are bolted to the front splice.
1994 Brit. Bike Mag. Mar. 28/3 We got off to a good start with the bike leaking a fine mist of oil from the front rocker box.
rocker gear n.
ΚΠ
1856 U.S. Patent 15,571 2/1 Connecting rods..are jointed to pins, w', projecting from the sides of two rocker gears.
1902 F. J. A. Matthews Electr. Motor Installations iii. 51 No rocker-gear is fitted to the machine, so that it is impossible..to alter the position of the brushes.
2008 Mercury (South Africa) (Nexis) 17 Jan. 24 Wear on the camshaft and rocker gear meant that renewal was called for.
rocker sleeve n.
ΚΠ
1872 U.S. Patent 130,556 1/1 An arm at the opposite end of the rocker-shaft is connected to a vertical arm extending down from a horizontal rocker-sleeve or quill.
1904 E. S. Farrow Amer. Small Arms 183 The lever which operates the breech-block passes through the rocker-sleeve with a square stud.
2004 U.S. Patent 6,692,689B2 7 The force of the metal strip wrapped around roll 10 tends to separate the trunnion bearing sleeve and the rocker sleeve.
b. In sense 9.
ΚΠ
1859Rocker keel [see sense 9b].
1872 R. B. Forbes Life-boats, Projectiles, & other Means Saving Life 121 If the boat is slightly rounding on the flat bottom, or what is called rocker bottom, she can be slewed to meet or to avoid a coming sea.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 28 Sept. 3/3 A bulb fin keel of the rocker type.
1917 Outing Jan. 498/1 The ski corresponding to the rocker skate is best adapted for general use.
1960 T. S. Matthews Name & Address i. 75 In my ignorance (and my parents') I had brought an old-fashioned pair of rocker skates that clamped on to my shoes and were tightened with a key.
2002 M. W. Santos Caught in Irons iii. 49 Plum-stemmed, the Carrie E. Phillips had a strong rocker keel.
c. In sense 10e.
ΚΠ
1876 J. S. Schultz Leather Manuf. U.S. xx. 185 This is made apparent by the rapidity with which the tannin is taken up while in the rocker vats.
1885 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather xviii. 353 Another form of handler in use is known as the rocker handler, and it consists of a frame constructed of wood, and hung by pivots in the centre of the top of the vat so as to give a dipping movement of 7 or 8 in. to each end of the frame.
1969 T. C. Thorstensen Pract. Leather Technol. v. 69 The hides are tied and hung in rocker racks and tanned by the vegetable tanning process.
2008 A. B. Koltuniewicz & E. Drioli Membranes in Clean Technol. I. vii. 376 Vegetable tanning is usually accomplished in a series of vats (first the rocker-section vats in which the liquor is agitated and second the lay-away vats without agitation).
C2.
rocker arm n. Mechanics a rocking lever in an engine; esp. one in an internal combustion engine which serves to work a valve and is operated by a pushrod from the camshaft.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > parts of > valves > devices which operate
throttle1838
rocker arm1850
timing gear1885
rocker1915
valve train1955
1850 U.S. Patent 7,413 2/1 There is a pawl..attached to the head of one of the rocker arms operating on the ratchet wheel.
1860 D. K. Clark & Z. Colburn Recent Pract. Locomotive Engine 67/1 The block..is carried upon the upper end of an arm, attached to, and vibrating upon the lower end of the rocker-arm.
1907 W. G. Wallace Art of Railroading V. 244 When the rocker arms are of equal length the travel of the valve is equal to the throw of the eccentric.
1909 Horseless Age 10 Nov. 520/1 The cylinders of the several models are cast in pairs, with valves in the head operated through rocker arms from separate cam shafts on either side of the motor.
1928 Evening News 18 Aug. 1/3 Baron d'Erlanger's Lagonda broke a valve rocker arm, and had to retire.
2005 J. MacGregor Sunday Money p. xiv ‘Live and die by your lists,’ a tuner told me once, sweat pouring off his chin onto the rocker arms of an engine.
rocker-bottom n. (a) a convexly curved underside, as of some types of rail truck, boat, etc.; cf. sense 9b; (b) Medicine. attributive designating a foot characterized by convexity of the sole or weight-bearing surface, and the deformity of having such a foot.
ΚΠ
1833 Mechanics' Mag. 26 Jan. 276/1 Let him cause his smiths to fit plates of it beneath his framing, and against the rocker-bottom which drops below the framing.
1931 Bull. (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Mines) 48 One and one-half ton rocker-bottom dump cars are used in trains of four.
1950 Jrnl. Bone & Joint Surg. 32A 344 Sonnenburg saw 688 cases of congenital club-foot..and 15 cases of congenital convex pes valgus or ‘rocker-bottom’ foot.
1977 N. E. Shaw in Bone & Joint Dis. (Brit. Med. Assoc.) 114 (caption) Rocker-bottom deformity has developed.
1999 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 13 Aug. 22 A canoe with a curving rocker bottom could turn with quick response in white water.
2001 M. S. Downey in A. S. Banks et al. McGlamry's Comprehensive Textbk. Foot & Ankle Surg. (ed. 3) I. xxiv. 733/2 The resultant chronic stress..may lead to the development of a rocker-bottom foot.
rocker cam n. Mechanics a cam attached to a rock shaft.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1960/1 Rocker-cam, a vibrating cam.
1951 H. L. Horton Ingenious Mechanisms for Designers & Inventors III. ii. 34 The portion of pin C within the recess in member D is in contact with rocker cam G.
2001 S. Ohkawa et al. in G. E. Totten et al. Hydraul. Failure Anal. 268 The main parts evaluated were a cylinder, piston assembly, cradle bearings and a rocker cam.
rocker foot n. Medicine a rocker-bottom foot; rocker-bottom deformity of the foot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > deformities of specific parts > [noun] > of foot > foot
splay-foot1548
stump foota1568
polt-foot1578
club-foot1683
bumble foot1832
reel foot1835
pigeon toe1888
clump-foot1922
rocker foot1934
1934 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 25 177/1 One of these cases has returned to the Hospital because of a rocker foot deformity on the right.
1950 Jrnl. Bone & Joint Surg. 32A 344 In two of the cases club-foot was present originally; due to mistreatment, rocker-foot developed.
2006 A. S. Fauci et al. Harrison's Rheumatol. xx. 291/1 Downward collapse of the tarsal bones leads to convexity of the sole, referred to as a ‘rocker foot’.
rocker panel n. (in a motor vehicle) a panel forming part of the bodywork below the level of the passenger door.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > body or bodywork > panel below door
rocker panel1921
1921 C. W. Terry Pract. Motor Body Building xxxviii. 255 A standard pattern taxi-cab with recessed rocker panels at the back.
1952 T. A. Wohlfeil et al. Automobile Body Reconditioning vii. 88/1 Rocker panels are boxlike sections consisting of inner and outer panels welded to the edge of the floor pan.
1992 Atlantic Sept. 76/1 ‘How do you expect to get a new girlfriend driving a car like this?’ he'd said, tapping the crumbling rocker panel with his toe.
rocker pump n. Mechanics a pump whose piston is operated by means of a rocking lever.
ΚΠ
1852 U.S. Patent 9,344 2/2 I am aware that rocker pumps have been constructed to be operated by handpower.
1892 Daily News 11 July 12/5 Rocker pumps, pair of 8in. lift pumps.
2007 M. S. Scriver Bronze Inside & Out xvi. vi. 323 At the edge is an oilwell rocker pump.
rocker shaft n. Mechanics = rock shaft n. (a).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > shaft > [noun] > rock
rock shaft1833
weigh-bar1841
rocker shaft1842
weigh-shaft1867
1842 R. Schuyler & G. L. Schuyler Let. 28 Nov. in Q. Papers Engin. (1844) 1 iv. 2 The valves..are of our own contrivance, and peculiar to this ship; they are worked by a separate eccentric and rocker shaft, which is set as to follow the motion of the steam valve.
1910 Amer. Engineer & Railroad Jrnl. Nov. 348/1 There are in service on this railroad a number of Walschaert valve gear engines using rocker shafts with arms extending in the same direction.
2002 G. Field & T. Murphy Classic Harley Big Twins ii. 28/2 Oil for the rockers and valves is carried by the rocker shafts through a ring groove around the shaft's right end.
rocker sieve n. a cradle-like device used to wash out the mud from material which has been dug or dredged; (originally) spec. = sense 10a (now rare).
ΚΠ
1869 Overland Monthly Oct. 301/2 The united crash of pebbles on hundreds of quickly agitated rocker sieves, sounded in his ear like the roar of a cotton factory.
1884 Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 27. 575 Cradle or Rocker Sieve, for washing the contents of the dredges.
1908 Mineral Resources U.S. 819 The concentrates are separated in a rocker sieve into three sizes.
2003 G. M. Kondolf et al. in G. M. Kondolf & H. Piégay Tools in Fluvial Geomorphol. xiii. 367/2 It is sieved by passing the sample through rocker sieves with large screens.
rocker switch n. an electric switch incorporating a rocker (see sense 10c); spec. one which is opened or closed by operating a spring-loaded rocker.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > control(s) > [noun] > switch > types of
pin switch1865
limit switch1886
press-key1896
rocker switch1898
pressel switch1916
snap switch1926
toggle switch1938
microswitch1941
1898 Electr. Engineer 3 June 694/2 When the handle of the [elevator] car switch is brought back to the normal position..a ball weight pulls open the main rocker switch taking the current out of the armature.
1906 T. W. Richards & G. S. Forbes Energy Changes involved in Dilution of Zinc & Cadmium Amalgams 23 Heavy copper wires were used as leads, and their ends were..dipped in the mercury cups of the rocker switch.
1965 G. Daniels How to be Home Electrician iii. 46 Rocker switches..can have luminescent rocker buttons that give off a slight glow all night long.
2007 Guardian 17 May (Technology section) 2/4 The 2-megapixel camera is a little throwaway and a scrollwheel would have been easier to use than the rocker switch.
rocker tailing n. U.S. (now rare) (in plural) the gravel and other material left in the rocker (sense 10a) after the gold has been removed.
ΚΠ
1860 Daily Evening Bull. (San Francisco) 28 Dec. [He] purchased a lot of rocker tailings at Gold Hill.
1906 C. de L. Canfield Diary of Forty-Niner ii. 18 Worked out the claim and before I moved the Tom, tried some of the rocker tailings.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
rockern.2
/ˈrɒkə/, U.S. /ˈrɑkər/ English regional. rare.
= rockier n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > genus Columba > columba livia (rock-dove)
rock dove1610
rock pigeon1611
sea-pigeon1620
blue pigeon1676
rockier1780
rocker1802
biset1834
rock1854
sod1885
tin-rock1892
1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. Rocker, vide Dove–rock [but at that entry the form given is Rockier].
1862 C. A. Johns Brit. Birds Index 621/1 Rocker and Rockier, the Rock Dove.
1895 P. H. Emerson Birds, Beasts, & Fishes Norfolk Broadland 239 The Stock-Dove, miscalled the ‘blue rocker’, is a smaller bird than the old ‘ring-dow’.
1903 W. A. Dutt Norfolk Broads App. II. 359 Stock Dove... ‘Blue Rocker’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† rockern.3
Scottish. Obsolete. rare.
A person who attends a rocking (rocking n.3).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > social gathering > [noun] > gatherings for specific activity > participant
rocker1818
1818 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. Aug. 153 He was esteemed the most acceptable rocker, whose memory was most plentifully stored with such thrilling narratives.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
rockerv.
/ˈrɒkə/, U.S. /ˈrɑkər/ slang (originally cant).
transitive. To speak or understand (cant or Romani). Also intransitive: to understand.
ΚΠ
1856 H. Mayhew Great World London Introd. 6 Can you roker Romany (can you speak cant)?
1876 W. Green & C. Hindley Life & Adventures Cheap Jack 231 Can you rocker Romanie, Can you fake a bosh?
1906 E. Pugh Spoilers xxiii. 251 I must have 'em to go away with. Rokker?
1973 J. Sandford Rokkering to Gorjios i. 25 I rockered the Romany language fluently, I abide by the Gypsy laws and traditions.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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