sharpshinn.
/ˈʃɑːpʃɪn/ 1. Apparently originally a name for some coin of very small value; later, used as a type of what has little value. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > foreign coins > [noun] > North American coins > U.S.
quarter dollar1615
bit1683
quarter1776
cent1782
dollar1785
dime1786
eagle1786
half-dollar1786
half-eagle1786
sharpshin1804
picayune1805
caser1825
pic1839
double eagle1849
slug1851
hog1859
pine tree money1859
martin bita1884
meter1940
1804 Lancaster (Pa.) Jrnl. 14 July in R. H. Thornton Amer. Gloss. (1912) Three Sharpshins Reward [offered for a run~away apprentice].
1832 J. P. Kennedy Swallow Barn (1872) x. 93 This inconsiderable claim—for it is not of the value of a sharpshin.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. xi. 173 Four sharp shins to a pictareen.
1872 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 631 Sharpshin, a slang term, denoting the smallest quantity.
2. Usually hyphenated. The small North American sharp-shinned hawk, Accipiter striatus; cf. sharp-shinned adj. at sharp adj. and n.1 Compounds 2a.
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the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > genus Accipiter > accipiter striatus (sharp-shinned hawk)
pigeon hawk1731
sharp-shinned hawk1872
sharpshin1912
1912 W. B. Barrows Michigan Bird Life 264 There were Sharp-shins everywhere—sweeping about through the woods.
1937 National Geographic Mag. July 132/2 We have watched the sharp-shin dodge through the thickest brush after its quarry.
1960 R. T. Peterson Field Guide Birds Texas 58 Sharp-shin's square-tipped tail can look slightly rounded when spread.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.1804