merrythought

[ mer-ee-thawt ]

nounChiefly British.
  1. the wishbone or furcula of a fowl.

Origin of merrythought

1
First recorded in 1600–10; so called from the custom of pulling the bone apart until it breaks, the person holding the longer (sometimes shorter) piece supposedly marrying first or being granted a wish at the time

Words Nearby merrythought

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use merrythought in a sentence

  • Take off the merrythought, the neck-bones, and separate the leg-bones from the legs, and the pinions from the wings.

  • Again, all birds that can fly possess a “merrythought,” or furculum; and such is not found in the Pterodactyl.

    Extinct Monsters | H. N. Hutchinson
  • Bless my drumsticks and merrythought, I shant be so cold and hungry, please God, this time to–morrow night.

    Cradock Nowell, Vol. 2 (of 3) | Richard Doddridge Blackmore
  • I see I am wrong again, the drumstick is in the dish, and the merrythought is in my head, with numerous companions.

    Adrift in a Boat | W.H.G. Kingston
  • Oh dear me, there is but a drumstick and a merrythought left.

    Adrift in a Boat | W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for merrythought

merrythought

/ (ˈmɛrɪˌθɔːt) /


noun
  1. British a less common word for wishbone

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