wipern.
/ˈwʌɪpə/, U.S. /ˈwaɪpər/ 1. A person who wipes; spec. in various industries, a workman employed in wiping something clean or dry. Also with adverb, as away, out.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > worker performing process or spec. task > [noun] > workers performing other tasks or processes
river?c1475
melter1511
sinker1526
folder up1552
wiper1552
scourer1574
heaver1587
stoverc1600
rasper1611
ripper1611
roller1616
smearer1632
waterleadera1650
scooper1668
smiter1670
puncher1681
staker1688
crusher1794
hardener1796
reamer1822
piledriver1826
catcher1832
waterproofer1837
middler1847
culler1850
hanger-on1858
pitcher1865
bumper1871
fine liner1871
bricksetter1883
waxer1890
bottle-oh1898
edger1909
bottle-o-er1915
caster1921
recycler1970
linesperson1973
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Wyper a waye of fylth from a mans body.
1842 R. Browning Pied Piper of Hamelin in Bells & Pomegranates No. III: Dramatic Lyrics xv Let me and you be wipers Of scores out with all men.
1875 D. Greenwell Liber Human. 141 A wiper away of the tears that none other but he and God behold.
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 89 Glass Manufacture..Wiper-out.
1888 J. W. Clarke Mod. Plumbing Pract. (1914) I. 99 So that when wiping the joint the solder will not burn the little finger of the wiper's hand.
1889 Scribner's Mag. Aug. 220/2 (Locomotive) For wipers and watchmen.
2.
a. A cloth or other appliance used for wiping; in slang use, a handkerchief (later replaced by wipe n. 4).
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > wiping > [noun] > material for wiping with
wisp1362
wiper1587
wipard1653
J-cloth1967
wipe1971
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > [noun] > cleaning the nose > handkerchief
coverchiefc1305
cloutc1380
muckender1420
napkin1436
handkerchief1530
handkercher1531
mocket1537
wiper1587
nose-cloth1589
pocket handkerchief1645
handcloth1676
mouchoira1685
pocket-clotha1704
wipe1708
volet1789
kerchief1814
snotter1823
lachrymatory1825
nose-rag1840
nose-wiper1840
sweat-rag1843
lachrymary1854
sneezer1857
stook1859
snottinger1864
snot-rag1888
hanky1895
penwiper1902
paper handkerchief1907
nose-wipe1919
snitch-rag1940
paper hankie1959
1587 Acc. Mary Q. Scots (Camden) 59 For v ells canvas for butter clothes and wipers, iiij s.
a1637 B. Jonson Masque of Owles 129 in Wks. (1640) III The wipers for their noses.
1686 Philos. Trans. 1685 (Royal Soc.) 15 1158 The fifth he calls the Wiper, supposing that by it they wipe off the honie from the flowers.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Wiper, a Handkerchief.
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. xli. 63 I rolled it up with my wiper.
1870 Daily News 23 Sept. The women in Holland clean their steps with an appliance combining the brush and wiper.
1890 Sci. Amer. 8 Nov. 297/1 Another movement [of a soldering machine] carries the can body across the wiper, which removes the superfluous solder.
b. = wiping-rod n. at wiping n. Compounds 2.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > instrument for cleaning bore
moppet1512
scouring-stick1577
scourer1591
spongea1625
scouring-rod1697
sponge-staff1772
gun-brush1799
fire-swab1813
wiping-stick1817
wiper1826
washing-rod1850
sponge cloth1862
swab1863
wiping-rod1875
1826 in E. C. Barker Austin Papers (1924) I. ii. 1369 To wiper claw for rifle..50.
1827 J. Kerr Let. 27 Feb. in E. C. Barker Austin Papers (1924) I. ii. 1607 Thimble rod and socket end of wipers lost... 50.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech.
c. = windscreen wiper n. at windscreen n. Compounds. Also attributive, as wiper blade, wiper switch.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > windscreen > devices for automatic cleaning of
windshield cleaner1921
screen wiper1922
windscreen wiper1922
windshield wiper1927
wiper1929
windscreen washer1938
screenwash1949
screen washer1951
washer1962
window washer1968
windshield squirter1978
1929 Times 2 Nov. 4/7 The driver has an all-enclosed cab, with..a sloped adjustable screen, with a wiper, in front.
1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses & Other Stories 337 It was the youngest face of them all,..staring sombrely through the streaming windshield across which the twin wipers flicked and flicked.
1953 L. Durrell Balthazar iv. 67 The wind~screen became gradually snowed-up and he switched on the wipers to keep it clear.
1959 Times 25 Sept. 8/2 Wiper blades dry the screen and then park automatically.
1970 Motoring Which? July 93/1 On the 1800s and 1800Ss the lights or wiper switches collapsed in about one in four cars.
1976 H. Kemelman Wednesday Rabbi got Wet xiii. 80 It was coming down so fast that my wipers couldn't handle it.
3. One who or that which strikes or assails; in quots. applied to weapons. slang.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun]
sowelc893
treec893
cudgelc897
stinga900
bat?c1225
sticka1275
clubc1275
truncheon14..
bourdonc1325
bastona1400
warderera1400
plantc1400
kibble1411
playloomc1440
hurlbatc1450
ploykc1450
rung1491
libberlac1500
waster1533
batonc1550
macana1555
libbet1562
bastinado1574
crab-tree comb1593
tomahawkc1612
billeta1616
wiper1622
batoon1637
gibbeta1640
crab-bat1647
kibbo1688
Indian club1694
batterdasher1696
crab-stick1703
bloodwipea1705
bludgeon1730
kierie1731
oaken towel1739
crab1740
shillelagh1772
knobstick1783
pogamogganc1788
whirlbat1791
nulla-nulla1798
waddy1800
kevel1807
supple1815
mere1820
hurlet1825
knobkerrie1826
blackthorn1829
bastera1833
twig1842
leangle1845
alpeen1847
banger1849
billy1856
thwack-stave1857
clump1868
cosh1869
nulla1878
sap1899
waddy1899
blunt instrument1923
1622 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster (new ed.) v. 71 I could hulke your grace, and hang you up crosse-legd, Like a Hare at a Poulters and do this with this wiper.
1890 A. Conan Doyle Sign of Four vii. 85 I have a wiper in this bag, an' I'll drop it on your 'ead if you don't hook it!.. Stand clear, for when I say ‘three’: down goes the wiper.
4. ‘A severe blow; also, a sharp rejoinder or taunt’ (Jamieson 1882): = wipe n. 2, 3 slang or colloquial.
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the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific degree of force > [noun] > a severe blow
rumble1489
revel1603
rattle1632
rebuke1692
twitcher1771
rattler1812
dingbat1843
wiper1846
a sleeve across the windpipe1952
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > caustic or ironic ridicule > [noun] > instance of
gesta1387
quippy1519
quip1532
irony1534
nip1549
taunta1566
slent?1567
gamegall1577
yark1577
veny1586
jerk1590
wipe1596
glance1602
satire1606
by-wipe1641
quib1656
trait1704
skit1727
slant1825
ironism1842
wiper1846
by-quip1855
satirization1868
snapper1890
crack1896
1846 James Step-mother III. lxv. 144 I say, Jack, that was a wiper you gave me between the eyes.
1863 ‘E. Kirke’ Southern Friends iv. 67 [He] planted what the ‘profession’ call a ‘wiper’ just behind Tom's left ear.
5. In machinery, a projecting piece fixed on a rotating or oscillating part, as an axle or wheel, and periodically communicating movement by a rubbing action to some other part; a cam, eccentric, or tappet; esp. one serving to lift a hammer, stamper, valve-rod, etc. which in the intervals falls by its own weight.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > other parts > [noun] > tappet
tapon1640
tappet1745
wiper1796
wipe1884
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > other parts > [adjective] > tappet
wiper1796
1796 Brit. Patent 2122 (1856) 3 The wipers..which move the treadles.
1806 O. G. Gregory Treat. Mech. II. 11 A great forge, where the engineer..formed the wipers into spirals, which communicated motion to the hammer almost without any jolt whatever.
1859 Brit. Patent 525 2 Over these treadles is a shaft carrying four double wypers containing two segments each.
6. A pivoted arm that automatically rotates through an arc to make electrical contact with any of a curved row of terminals in a telephone exchange; also, the rotary or sliding contact of a potentiometer.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > exchange > exchange equipment
private line1852
bank1884
call-disc1884
howler1886
trunk1889
multiple switchboard1891
rack1893
line switch1898
heat coil1900
relay rack1902
multiple1905
listening key1906
telharmonium1906
wiper1906
preselector1912
line finder1922
rank1924
routiner1928
keysender1929
uniselector1930
wiper arm1933
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > electrical potential > [noun] > measurement of > instrument for > part of
wiper arm1933
wiper1969
1906 J. Poole Pract. Telephone Handbk. (ed. 3) xxx. 483 Opposite the lower part of each ‘bank’ a short arm is fitted, on the ends of which are 2 springs, which, when the rod is rotated, sweep over and under the strips of contacts, and are, therefore, called ‘wipers’... The circular ratchet teeth..enable the vertical rod with the wipers to be raised.
1926 Gloss. Electr. Terms (Brit. Engin. Stand.) 174 Wiper, that portion of the moving member of a selector or other similar device which engages with the contacts of a bank.
1969 A. Brodgesell in B. G. Lipták Instrument Engineers' Handbk. I. ix. 942 Potentiometric displacement sensors consist of a slide wire and wiper. The slide wire is powered by a constant voltage representing full scale travel.
1975 C. D. Todd Potentiometer Handbk. vii. 166/2 Many different variations of the mechanical means which moves the wiper across the resistive element are possible.
1976 T. H. Flowers Introd. Exchange Syst. iii. 82 In the L. M. Ericsson five-hundred-line switch, a stick carrying a set of wipers is rotated..to point in one of twenty-five angular directions,..then the stick is slid linearly outwards for the wipers to engage with one of twenty sets of fixed contacts.
Compounds
wiper arm n. = sense 6 above.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > exchange > exchange equipment
private line1852
bank1884
call-disc1884
howler1886
trunk1889
multiple switchboard1891
rack1893
line switch1898
heat coil1900
relay rack1902
multiple1905
listening key1906
telharmonium1906
wiper1906
preselector1912
line finder1922
rank1924
routiner1928
keysender1929
uniselector1930
wiper arm1933
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > electrical potential > [noun] > measurement of > instrument for > part of
wiper arm1933
wiper1969
1933 K. B. Miller Telephone Theory & Pract. i. 2 The subscriber,..by sending the proper number of impulses over one of his line wires, could cause the wiper arm of his switch to step up to the row containing the contact of the line desired and then..to step around to engage the particular one.
1967 D. Eadie Introd. Basic Computer xv. 348 A full-fledged analog multiplier..can be constructed if we take the pot just described and drive the wiper arm with a servomotor.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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