cotter

[ kot-er ]

/ ˈkɒt ər /

Machinery

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cotter ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a pin, wedge, key, or the like, fitted or driven into an opening to secure something or hold parts together.

cotter pin.

verb (used with object)

to secure with a cotter.

Nearby words

cottage window, cottager, cottaging, cottbus, cotte's operation, cotter, cotter pin, cotter slot, cottian alps, cottid, cottier

Origin of cotter

1300–50; Middle English coter; akin to late Middle English coterell iron bracket; of uncertain origin

Definition for cotter (2 of 2)

cotter

[ kot-er ]

/ ˈkɒt ər /

noun

Scot. a person occupying a plot of land and cottage, paid for in services.

cottager(def 2).

Origin of cotter

1175–1225; Middle English cotere < Anglo-French cot(i)er; see cot², -er²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cotter

To prevent the cotter opening out the strap, and to increase the sliding surface, a gib H is introduced.
An Introduction to Machine Drawing and Design|David Allan Low
It is put together, generally by mortise, tenon and cotter, but it has four original screws all made by hand with the file.
Time and Its Measurement|James Arthur
The cotter could have come home rheumatic and found the children squalling and the wife cross.
Robert Burns|William Allan Neilson
On every bolt use a castellated nut and a cotter pin, or an ordinary nut and a lock washer, so the bolt will not work loose.
Aviation Engines|Victor Wilfred Pag

I shall get my lawyer, Mr. Prendergast, to call upon you, Mr. Cotter.
Colonel Thorndyke's Secret|G. A. Henty

British Dictionary definitions for cotter (1 of 2)

cotter

/ (ˈkɒtə) machinery /

noun

any part, such as a pin, wedge, key, etc, that is used to secure two other parts so that relative motion between them is prevented

short for cotter pin

verb

(tr) to secure (two parts) with a cotter

Word Origin for cotter

C14: shortened from cotterel, of unknown origin

British Dictionary definitions for cotter (2 of 2)

cotter

/ (ˈkɒtə) /

noun

Also called: cottier English history a villein in late Anglo-Saxon and early Norman times occupying a cottage and land in return for labour

Also called: cottar a peasant occupying a cottage and land in the Scottish Highlands under the same tenure as an Irish cottier

Word Origin for cotter

C14: from Medieval Latin cotārius, from Middle English cote cot ²

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