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View synonyms for cotter

cotter

1

[ kot-er ]

noun

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


verb (used with object)

  1. to secure with a cotter.

cotter

2

[ kot-er ]

noun

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

cotter

1

/ 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

/ ˈkɒtə /

noun

  1. Also calledcottier English history a villein in late Anglo-Saxon and early Norman times occupying a cottage and land in return for labour
  2. Also calledcottar 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
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Word History and Origins

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of cotter1

C14: shortened from cotterel, of unknown origin

Origin of cotter2

C14: from Medieval Latin cotārius, from Middle English cote cot ²
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Example Sentences

She did say she had once heard her doctor refer to a country he called “cotter” on the phone.

In about an hour the forest began to thin, and Robin could see the blue smoke coming from the cotters’ chimney pots.

The inspector general said the airline’s maintenance provider failed to insert a cotter pin on a critical flight control component that put some 30,000 passengers at risk.

From Reuters

The aircraft was missing a small cotter safety pin used to hold a nut in place, and that nut came loose - disconnecting pilots’ controls from the rotor, said Maj.

Attorney Timothy Loranger says a missing safety cotter pin caused a malfunction in the helicopter’s tail rotor.

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