dosser

¹ American  

[dos-er] / ˈdɒs ər /

noun

1. a basket for carrying objects on the back; pannier.

2. an ornamental covering for the back of a seat, especially a throne or the like.

3. dossal.

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dosser ² American  

[dos-er] / ˈdɒs ər /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a person who sleeps in a doss house.

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dosser ¹ British  

/ ˈdɒsə /

noun

1. a person who sleeps in dosshouses

2. another word for dosshouse

3. a lazy person; idler

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dosser ² British  

/ ˈdɒsə /

noun

1. rare a bag or basket for carrying objects on the back

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Etymology

Origin of dosser¹

1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French; Middle French dossier < Medieval Latin dosserium, variant of dorserium, equivalent to dors ( um ) back + -erium -ery; replacing Middle English dorser < Medieval Latin dorserium

Origin of dosser²

First recorded in 1865–70; doss + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Fury has incessantly taunted Usyk in social media posts over the past year or so, repeatedly labelling him a "dosser".

From BBC • Nov. 16, 2023

Banners dotted around a constituency calling MP Nadine Dorries a "dosser" were "embarrassing", the chair of the Mid Bedfordshire Conservatives said.

From BBC • Aug. 14, 2023

The actors perform adjectives instead of characters: a photographer is "perky"; a young woman is "buxom"; a dosser is "downtrodden" or "defiant"; a policeman – like much of the dialogue – is "plodding".

From The Guardian • Feb. 10, 2013

From time to time a ray of light passed between his legs, tracing a great quarter of a circle on the pavement; and in the shadow a man appeared with his dosser and his lantern.

From Sentimental Education Vol 1 by Flaubert, Gustave

The children, dancing ahead of the wagons, stirring up the dust of the street, the old people plodding along after, the infant, or the loaf of bread and the jug of coffee in the dosser.

From The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Masterpieces of German Literature Vol. 19 by Various

Related Words

• drapery