Oxter
//ˈɒkstə(ɹ)// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The armpit. Ireland, Northern-England, Scotland
"And begob there he was passing the door with his books under his oxter and the wife beside him and Corny Kelleher with his wall eye looking in as they went past, […]"
Verb
- 1 To hug with the arms, or support by taking the arm of. transitive
"They oxter him into the building."
Example
More examples"And begob there he was passing the door with his books under his oxter and the wife beside him and Corny Kelleher with his wall eye looking in as they went past, […]"
Etymology
Apparently from Middle English *oxtere, *oxte, from Old English ōxta, ōhsta, related to Old English ōxn (“armpit”), Old English eax (“axis, axle”), and eaxl (“shoulder”). See also axis and axon.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.