arsefoot

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

arse +‎ foot

Noun[edit]

arsefoot (plural arsefoots or arsefeet)

  1. (obsolete) A great crested grebe or little grebe.[1]
  2. (obsolete, informal) A penguin
    • 1774, Oliver Goldsmith, An History of the Earth and Animated Nature‎[1], volume 2, section VII, page 549; republished as A History of the Earth and Animated Nature 1828:
      […] these birds, like Indian canoes, are the swiftest in the water by having their paddles in the rear. Our sailors, for this reason, give these birds the very homely, but expressive, name of arse-feet.

References[edit]

  1. ^ “arsefoot”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
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