potwalloper

American  

[pot-wol-uh-per, pot-wol-] / ˈpɒtˌwɒl ə pər, pɒtˈwɒl- /

Or pot-walloper

noun

English History.

1. (in some boroughs before the Reform Bill of 1832) a man who qualified as a householder, and therefore a voter, by virtue of ownership of his own fireplace at which to boil pots.

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Etymology

Origin of potwalloper

First recorded in 1715–25; pot ¹ + wallop (in sense “to boil violently”) + -er ¹ ( def. ), replacing potwaller literally, “potboiler” ( pot ¹ + the obsolete verb wall “to boil, gush,” from Old English weallan “to boil” (intransitive) or wællan (transitive) + -er ¹ )