britchn.
Variant of breech n., esp. in sense 4c. (See also quot. 1940.) Also in phr. too big for one's britches: see big adj. and adv. Phrases 1.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > fleece > [noun] > parts of
breeching1799
breech1805
piece1849
britch1884
neck1928
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted 16 The coarsest part of the [sheep's] wool is known as breach, or britch, and even when very strong, as cow-tail.
1885 F. H. Bowman Struct. Wool Fibre 219 The coarsest part of the fleece..where the wool grows in large locks with long coarse hairs..is called the ‘breach’ or ‘britch’.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 114/1 Britch or breech, a wool-sorter's term for wool obtained from the thighs and root of the tail, estimated as the lowest quality in a fleece.
1963 Times 6 Feb. (N.Z. Suppl.) p. v/3 Britch wool.
1985 J. Bremner Woolscours N.Z. (Gloss. Old Wool Terms) 10 Sorter hand who separates different qualities of wool from each fleece grouping together shoulder wool, britch, stained wool and skirtings etc. before scouring.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online September 2020).
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n.1884