breedbate

English

Etymology

breed +‎ bate

Noun

breedbate (plural breedbates)

1. (obsolete, rare) Someone who causess quarrels; a quarreler
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:

     No telltale nor no breedbate.

References

• “breedbate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.