teasern.1
/ˈtiːzə/, U.S. /ˈtizər/ One who or that which teases, in various senses.
1. in combination.1882 W. Gibson Reminisc. Dollar 152 The teazer-house with all its contents was burnt down.
a. One who teases wool, cotton, or the like.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > putting nap on > one who
teaseler14..
nopster1480
teaser1483
cottoner1557
friezer1557
rower1738
napper1769
1483 Cath. Angl. 380/2 A Teser, carponarius.
1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Carmenador A teasor, carminator.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Tireur de laine, a Teyser of wooll.
1824 J. Galt Rothelan II. iv. i. 99 The teasers and carders had started in alarm from their tasks.
1864 J. Cameron Mem. Convict I. 119 Among the female convicts there were oakum-pickers and teazers,..hair and cotton teazers.
b. An instrument or machine for teasing wool, etc.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [noun] > separating or cleaning > equipment for
teaser1395
porcupinea1877
1395 in J. C. Atkinson Cartularium Abbathiæ de Whiteby (1881) II. 614 Item pro viii swewyls, viii.d. Item pro iiii tezirs, xiiii.d.
1852 C. Dickens & W. H. Wills Plated Article in Househ. Words 24 Apr. 118/2 The clay..is put into mills or teazers, and is sliced, and dug, and cut at.
1876 Daily News 17 June The fire is thought to have originated with the ‘teazer’, a machine used for ‘teazing’ the wool in its rough state.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 289/1 The teaser [for gutta-percha]..a drum containing a rotating cylinder armed with teeth.
2. † d. A hound used in hunting: see teiser n. Obsolete.
a. One who teases or annoys: see tease v.1 2.
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the mind > emotion > suffering > state of annoyance or vexation > [noun] > teasing > one who teases
baiter1611
teaser1659
tease1853
1659 Commonwealth Ballads (Percy Soc.) 200 Old Oliver was a teazer.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 288. ⁋3 One who would lessen the Number of Teazers of the Muses.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xi. 132 She's a regular teazer.
b. Local name of several birds which chase gulls and force them to disgorge their prey, as the skua. (Cf. dung teaser n. at dung n.1 Compounds 2, gull-teaser, gull n.1 Compounds 2.)
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1833 J. Rennie Montagu's Ornithol. Dict. (new ed.) 143 Teaser... A prov. name for Buffon's Skua, Lestris Buffonii.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 210 Richardson's Skua. Gulls..when engaged in fishing, are pursued and harassed by these birds till they disgorge their prey... Hence the name Teaser.
c. An inferior stallion or ram used to excite mares or ewes.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by gender or age > [noun] > male > stallion or stud-horse > used to excite mares
teaser1823
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > male > uncastrated or ram > kept for breeding purposes
rameOE
breed-rama1661
ram-getter1790
wether-getter1790
teaser1823
stallion1842
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word)
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Teaser, a young ram which is allowed to run with the ewes, but is artificially prevented from copulation.
Categories »
e. In elephant-hunting: see quot. 1888.
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1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 30 May 6/1 When we find them, the teasers, who are the most courageous of the hunters, begin to tease the leaders of the herd. The bulls soon become angry and excited and give chase to the teasers.
f. A woman who arouses but evades amorous advances; a ‘cock-teaser’. colloquial.
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual desire > [noun] > that which excites > sexually exciting person > person who tempts someone sexually with no intention of satisfying the desire aroused
cockteaser1891
teaser1895
prick-teaser?1939
cocktease1966
prick tease1974
tease1976
1895 Cornhill Mag. Apr. 395 My Joan allus be a teäzer, zur, and when I's wanted to kiss zhe, zhe zes ‘Noa, it ain't proper.’
1939 C. R. Cooper Designs in Scarlet iv. 69 The true B-girl is often nothing more than a professional teaser..selling drinks by fraudulent inferences.
1957 J. Braine Room at Top vi. 57 She leads young men on and then she turns prim... She's a born teaser.
1980 J. Gardner Garden of Weapons i. xi. 111 Martha..sensual in a very obvious way. Herbert always suspected she was a teaser with men.
g. A strip-tease act; a strip-tease artist.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > variety, etc. > [noun] > striptease
girl show1841
strip1928
teaser1929
strip-tease1936
strip-teasing1937
ecdysiasm1947
full monty1997
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > variety, etc. > performers in variety, etc. > [noun] > striptease artist
teaser1929
stripper1930
strip-teaser1930
strippeuse1939
ecdysiast1940
strip-teaseuse1941
peeler1942
stripteuse1942
strip-tease artist1947
exotic1954
split beaver1972
1929 Variety 11 Sept. 54 Muggs still going for burlesque want that close-up of flesh which the runway provides or they won't give the teasers a tumble.
1930 Variety 1 Oct. 49 Miss Dix copped the show from the other femmes with her naughty numbers and teasers.
1931 C. Beaton Diary 13 Feb. in Wandering Years (1961) 217 There were lots of ‘teaser’ numbers... The leading lady..tantalisingly takes off one piece of clothing at a time.
3.
a. Something that teases, or causes annoyance; something difficult to deal with, a ‘poser’. colloquial. In Pugilistic slang, an opponent difficult to tackle or overcome.
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the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > that which is difficult > a difficult problem
knotc1000
a bone to pick (also gnaw)c1450
dark, hard sentence1535
nut1540
Gordian knot1579
nodus1728
teaser1759
stumper1807
Chinese puzzlec1815
facer1828
sticker1849
grueller1856
stumbler1863
twister1879
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > puzzle, enigma, riddle > [noun]
riddleOE
purposec1350
problema1382
propositiona1382
conclusion1393
divinailc1430
opposal?a1439
riddling?c1475
wordc1480
why1532
dark, hard sentence1535
enigma1539
remblere1599
puzzlement1646
gripha1652
puzzler1651
riddlemy riddlemy1652
puzzle1655
crux1718
teaser1759
puzzleation1767
conundrum1790
poser1793
riddle-me-ree1805
stumper1807
tickler1825
sticker1849
brain-teaser1850
grueller1856
question mark1870
brain-twister1878
skull-buster1926
mind-bender1968
1759 R. Jackson Hist. Rev. Pennsylvania 247 He plyed them with another Teazer.
1812 Sporting Mag. 40 66 The writer cannot encourage the beaten man with hopes of ever being a teazer in the gymnastic line.
1844 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit l. 575 It was a teazer to read.
1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leics. 75 The next [fence] is indeed a teaser, where the best horse..might crack under the saddle.
b. slang. A flogging. ? Obsolete.
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society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > [noun] > beating > instance of
threshingOE
fustigation1428
breeching1520
trouncingc1550
bace1575
firking1594
belting1602
knave's grease1602
oil of baston1604
oil of birch1604
oil of hazel1604
oil of holly1604
oil of whip1604
lamb-pie1607
lamming1611
drubbing1650
vapulation1656
warming1681
floggation1688
working over1695
cullis1719
thrashing1720
halberd1756
licking1756
dressing1769
leathering1790
nointing1794
dusting1799
teasing1807
hiding1809
whopping1812
thrumming1823
toco1823
flaking1829
teaser1832
lathering1835
welting1840
pasting1851
towelling1851
whaling1852
hickory oil1855
swishing1859
slating1860
going-over1881
six of the best1912
belt beating1928
ass-kicking1943
stomping1958
seeing to1968
butt-kicking1970
1832 Examiner 188/1 What they had done was ‘not big enough for transportation, nor for a teaser’ (a whipping).
c. In Cricket, a ball that is difficult to play. ? Obsolete.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > types of delivery or ball
full toss1826
long hop1830
twister1832
bail ball1833
bailer1833
grubber1837
slow ball1838
wide1838
ground ball1839
shooter1843
slower ball1846
twiddler1847
creeper1848
lob1851
sneak1851
sneaker1851
slow1854
bumper1855
teaser1856
daisy-cutter1857
popper1857
yorker1861
sharpshooter1863
headball1866
screwball1866
underhand1866
skimmerc1868
grub1870
ramrod1870
raymonder1870
round-armer1871
grass cutter1876
short pitch1877
leg break1878
lob ball1880
off-break1883
donkey-drop1888
tice1888
fast break1889
leg-breaker1892
kicker1894
spinner1895
wrong 'un1897
googly1903
fizzer1904
dolly1906
short ball1911
wrong 'un1911
bosie1912
bouncer1913
flyer1913
percher1913
finger-spinner1920
inswinger1920
outswinger1920
swinger1920
off-spinner1924
away swinger1925
Chinaman1929
overspinner1930
tweaker1938
riser1944
leg-cutter1949
seamer1952
leggy1954
off-cutter1955
squatter1955
flipper1959
lifter1959
cutter1960
beamer1961
loosener1962
doosra1999
1856 G. L. H. in V. Dayrell Weeds from Isis 69 Your cricketing boy, full of teasers and twisters.
1905 H. A. Vachell Hill xii. 249 Fluff's brother bowled slows of a good length, with an awkward break from the off to the leg. ‘Teasers,’ said the caterpillar critically.
d. Nautical slang. A knotted rope's end.
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society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > instrument or place of corporal punishment > [noun] > rope
rope's enda1475
rope-end1583
salt eel1622
colt1780
teaser1910
1910 J. Masefield Lost Endeavour i. iv. 45 A ‘teaser’, or blood-knot of hard, tarred spunyarn.
1953 J. Masefield Conway (rev. ed.) iv. 217 The rope's end, or teaser, made one learn very quickly.
1962 W. Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 118/2 Teaser, short length of rope with a ‘hangman's knot’ at the end, used for chastising Conway cadets in the ‘tough old days’.
e. U.S. Theatre. (See quots.)
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > scenery > cloth > types of
sky-border1744
skydrop1854
skycloth1871
sea-cloth1883
cut cloth1884
front cloth1884
backcloth1886
backdrop1913
cyclorama1915
teaser1916
scrim1930
cut drop1961
1916 A. E. Krows Play Production in Amer. xii. 87 The first border (all the borders are numbered consecutively from front to back) is called the teaser.
1923 C. J. De Goveia Community Playhouse vii. 80 Just inside the proscenium arch stand two strips of scenery, one on each side of the stage, and usually with a third piece, a border, stretched across the top. The two strips are called Tormentors and the particular border the Teaser. These pieces are movable.
1933 P. Godfrey Back-stage iii. 34 The ‘teaser’ and the ‘tormentor’ are the respective names by which an overhead and side masking arrangement prevents the audience from looking into the wings and the flies.
f. A fisherman's device (originally live bait) for attracting fish. Originally U.S.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun]
lure1699
teaser1919
hoochie1952
Mepps1954
pirk1975
Muppet1983
1919 Z. Grey Tales of Fishes xi. 203 We had three of these flying-fish out as teasers, all close to the boat.
1924 Z. Grey Tales Southern Rivers 14 The use of teasers..was first used by Avalon boatmen in Marlin fishing. I tried it.., and pronounced it a failure because mackerel, barracuda, and other fish snapped off the cut-bait teasers as fast as they could be put out.
1937 E. Hemingway To have & have Not i. i. 17 Eddy put the two big teasers out and the nigger had baits on three rods.
1939 H. Major Salt Water Fishing Tackle ii. 69 The first artificial teasers of which I've heard were used by Zane Grey, and I believe he originated them. Most of them are made of wood or metal, brightly colored.
1960 A. Upfield Myst. Swordfish Reef vi. 56 To these lines were attached brightly painted cylinders of wood which, when tossed overboard..darted beneath and skimmed over the surface..Teasers, Wilton explained..‘the bait-fish and the two teasers look to a shark or swordie just like a small shoal of fish.’
1967 Daily Tel. 21 Oct. 14/7 Many successful bass pluggers work on the principle that it is a fish with an easily aroused temper. So they use a ‘teaser’.
g. A kind of toy pipe with a coil (of paper, etc.) at the end which shoots out when one blows down the stem.
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society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > others
spurc1450
cock1608
turnel1621
corala1625
house of cardsa1625
Jack-in-the-box1659
(Prince) Rupert's Drops1662
sucker1681
whirligig1686
playbook1694
card house1733
snapper1788
card castle1792
Aaron's bells?1795
Noah's Ark1807
Jacob's ladder1820
cat-stairs1825
daisy chain1841
beanbag1861
playboat1865
piñata1868
teething ring1872
weet-weet1878
tumble-over1883
water cracker1887
jumping-bean1889
play money1894
serpentin1894
comforter1898
pacifier1901
dummy1903
bubble water1904
yo-yo1915
paper airplane1921
snowstorm1926
titty1927
teaser1935
Slinky1948
teether1949
Mr Potato Head1952
squeeze toy1954
Frisbee1957
mobile1957
chew toy1959
water-rocket1961
Crazy Foam1965
playshop1967
war toy1973
waterball1974
pull-along1976
transformer1984
Aerobie1985
1935 A. J. Cronin Stars look Down iii. viii. 554 They had teasers, too, which blew out and hit you as you passed.
1977 D. Jones My Friend Dylan Thomas i. 6 Some of them were wearing paper hats..some..blew feather ‘teasers’ at each other.
4. Electrical Engineering. †(a) The shunt winding of a compound-wound dynamo or motor. Obsolete. (b) The winding or transformer that is connected to the middle of the other transformer in a T-connection. Frequently attributive.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > transformer > [noun]
teaser1878
transformer1883
translatora1884
converter1888
phase shifter1908
main transformer1914
Transverter1916
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > motor > [noun] > shunt winding
teaser1878
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > dynamo > [noun] > shunt winding
teaser1878
1878 C. Brush Brit. Patent 2003 9 This device, which I have called a ‘teaser’, is used in connection with field magnets..for the purpose of..increasing the magnetic field.
1878 C. Brush Brit. Patent 2003 9 The teaser wire may be coarser than the principal magnet wire.
1884 S. P. Thompson Dynamo-electr. Machinery vi. 92 The shunt part of the circuit, originally called the ‘teazer’, was adopted at first in machines for electro-plating.
1886 S. P. Thompson Dynamo-electr. Machinery (ed. 2) x. 238 Brush made the important invention of exciting the field magnets with a compound winding; coarse wire coils being connected in series, with the addition of a so-called ‘teazer’ coil of finer wire to maintain the magnetism when the main circuit was opened.
1900 S. P. Thompson Polyphase Electr. Currents (ed. 2) v. 143 The teazer winding is connected with one end to the middle of the main winding.
1937 J. B. Gibbs Transformer Princ. & Pract. xi. 82 One transformer, called the ‘main transformer’ is connected between two of the three-phase lines,..and the ‘teaser transformer’ is connected between the third line and the 50 per cent tap of the main transformer, using the 86.6 per cent tap of the teaser.
1981 G. McPherson Introd. Electr. Machines iii. 221 In the T connection, one transformer has its primary connected directly across two lines. This is called the ‘main transformer’. The second transformer is called the ‘teaser’.
5. An introductory advertisement, esp. an excerpt or sample designed to stimulate interest or curiosity. Originally and chiefly U.S.
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society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > types or methods of advertising > [noun] > other types of advertisement
sky sign1887
blurb1914
neon sign1927
standee1930
teaser1934
zipper1957
hot button1966
1934 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Teaser, an advertisement meant to arouse curiosity, sometimes by withholding part of the material information (Trade Slang, U.S.).
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 835/2 Teaser, colloquialism for a trailer which is intended to advertise films for future exhibition in a cinema.
1960 M. T. Williams Art of Jazz 86 Old Town..was plastered with ‘teaser’ posters heralding the coming of the famous..Minstrels.
1962 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 8 Nov. 38/1 A teaser is..a stimulating bit from the story to follow and opens a show.
1962 S. E. Hyman Tangled Bank 378 At the end of a lecture, Freud will sometimes tack on a teaser for the next, such as: ‘At the next lecture we shall see whether we can agree with the poets in their conception of the meaning of psychological errors.’
1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy xii. 270 Our agent asked Ricardo for a teaser so's the information could be evaluated back home.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
teasern.2
local.
a. One who ‘teases’ or attends to a fire or furnace; a stoker, fireman.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > workers with specific tools or equipment > [noun] > with ovens or furnaces
fire beater1332
fireman1377
oven-stirrer1611
stoker1660
teaser1797
oven-man1832
coal passer1851
furnacer1853
furnaceman1883
fire beater1895
1797 P. Wakefield Mental Improv. (1801) I. 148 The tisors, or persons employed in heating the large furnaces.
1835 J. Ross Narr. Second Voy. North-west Passage xxvi. 377 Two mates, and one of the fire teasers.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Teazer, the stoker or fireman in a glass-work who attends the furnace.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words at Teaser The glass-house teasers wore broad-brimmed felt hats..to protect them from the scorching fires. They also wore ‘hand-hats’ of thick felt, to enable them to hold the long iron teasing pokers.
b. An instrument for ‘teasing’ a fire; a poker.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > devices for heating buildings, rooms, etc. > hearth or fireplace > poker
purr1357
fire-purra1451
fire pike1483
poker1534
fire-pote1638
pote1638
proker1742
fire point1789
teaser1839
kennedy1864
curate1878
tickler1881
fire stick1896
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 63 The furnace and implements used for assaying in the Royal Mint and the Goldsmiths' Hall... Fig. 66, the teaser for cleaning the grate. Fig. 67, a larger teaser, which is introduced at the top of the furnace, for keeping a complete supply of charcoal around the muffle.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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