skirtern.
/ˈskəːtə/ 1. Hunting.
a. A hound which leaves the pack while following scent.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > defined by characteristics or training
stop-hound1711
skirter1781
stop-dog1789
trail-hound1931
1781 P. Beckford Thoughts on Hunting vi. 81 They should not be skirters; but, on the contrary, should be fair hunting hounds.
1842 F. Roby Let. in ‘Nimrod’ Life Sportsman xvii. 374 What are called left-handed hounds—not exactly skirters, but apt to run wide of the pack.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports i. ii. v. 131 Inveterate skirters, also, and conceited babblers, by all means hang.
b. A hunter who skirts or goes round an obstacle instead of over or through it.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > hunter > [noun] > master of hounds
huntsman1600
field master1648
huntsmaster1691
Common Hunt1700
master1781
skirter1827
1827 Sporting Mag. 20 37 One more proof how often riders and skirters bring on mischief.
1856 C. Kingsley Find in Poems ii Leave cravens and skirters to dangle behind.
2. Australian. A horseman who rides on the flank or side of a body of riders, party of travellers, etc.
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society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > rider > [noun] > riding at side of a company or a carriage
outrider1530
fore-rider1601
skirter1890
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 209 The couple on the trail ensured its being neither lost nor overlooked; the skirters, by riding straight on either side, picked up the tracks when any deviation was made.
3. Australian. One who trims fleeces.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > sheep-shearing > [noun] > sheep-shearer > trimmer
skirter1883
1883 Leisure Hour 243/1 Near the skirters' table there is a very much shorter table.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1781