warsle
Americanverb (used with or without object)
Etymology
Origin of warsle
1300–50; Middle English; Old English *wǣrstlian, metathetic variant (compare wǣrstlīc of wrestling) of wrǣstlian to wrestle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Would a' the land do this, then I'll be caition, Ye'll soon hae Poets o' the Scottish nation Will gar Fame blaw until her trumpet crack, And warsle Time, an' lay him on his back!
From Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Burns, Robert
The warld's wrack we share o't, The warsle and the care o't: Wi' her I'll blithely bear it, And think my lot divine.
From The Home Book of Verse — Volume 2 by Stevenson, Burton Egbert
There were twa brethren in the north, They went to the school thegither; The one unto the other said, ‘Will you try a warsle afore?’
From Ballads of Scottish Tradition and Romance Popular Ballads of the Olden Times - Third Series by Sidgwick, Frank
Man, curate, can ye no contrive to warsle up the brae a bit?
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 15 by Various
It was a heart-healing meeting of many of the godly, which he holds weekly in the season; and we had such a warsle of the spirit among us that the like cannot be told.
From The Ayrshire Legatees, or, the Pringle family by Galt, John
And aye she warsled, and aye she swam, Till she swam to dry land; 55 Then thanked God most cheerfully, The dangers she'd ower came.
From English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (of 8) by Various
An' the haill apotheck lay in spails, As the grey mear warsled free; An' when auld Jock Smairt saw the fashion o' his cairt: "Wha's seekin' ony spunks?" says he.
From The Auld Doctor and other Poems and Songs in Scots by Rorie, David
Ere eild wi' his blatters had warsled me down, Or reft me o' life's youthfu' bloom, How aft hae I gane, wi' a heart louping light, To the knowes yellow tappit wi' broom!
From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume II. The Songs of Scotland of the past half century by Rogers, Charles
When my grandfather heard of these things, his spirit was exceedingly moved, and he got no rest in the night, with the warsling of troubled thoughts and pious fears.
From Ringan Gilhaize or The Covenanters by Galt, John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
