Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

cotter

1 American  
[kot-er] / ˈkɒt ər /

noun

  1. a pin, wedge, key, or the like, fitted or driven into an opening to secure something or hold parts together.

  2. cotter pin.

verb (used with object)

  1. to secure with a cotter.

cotter 2 American  
[kot-er] / ˈkɒt ər /

noun

  1. Scot. a person occupying a plot of land and cottage, paid for in services.

  2. cottager.

cotter 1 British  
/ ˈkɒtə /

noun

  1. any part, such as a pin, wedge, key, etc, that is used to secure two other parts so that relative motion between them is prevented

  2. short for cotter pin

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to secure (two parts) with a cotter

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
cotter 2 British  
/ ˈkɒtə /

noun

  1. Also called: cottier.  English history a villein in late Anglo-Saxon and early Norman times occupying a cottage and land in return for labour

  2. Also called: cottar.  a peasant occupying a cottage and land in the Scottish Highlands under the same tenure as an Irish cottier

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cotter1

1300–50; Middle English coter; akin to late Middle English coterell iron bracket; of uncertain origin

Origin of cotter2

1175–1225; Middle English cotere < Anglo-French cot ( i ) er; cot 2, -er 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Release the cotter pin from the spindle nut, then remove the nut and washer, and the entire hub should slip off the axle.

From Time Magazine Archive

Serial writers ran out of hazards years ago, have been working switches on them ever since; the loose cotter pin on the stagecoach, for example, has been used an estimated 7,000 times.

From Time Magazine Archive

Jaws adjust to open wide, making easy work of bending the legs of new cotter pins and loosening large nuts.

From Time Magazine Archive

As far as anyone could determine, both tragedies resulted from faulty cotter pins, only an inch or two long.

From Time Magazine Archive

Every cotter has a portion of the adjacent moor in which to cut peat sufficient to supply his wants. 

From The Cruise of the Elena or Yachting in the Hebrides by Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.