To COUNTERPLO’T. v.a. [counter and plot.] To oppose
one machination by another; to obviate art by art.
Archive for the 'C' Category
costermonger n.s.| coster & monger
Many poor country vicars for
want of [^ot]her means, turn mounte-
banks, & our greedy patrons will
make us turn taskers, malsters
costermongers & grasiers
Burton Mel
COMMA’NDRESS. n.s. [from commander] A woman vested
with supreme authority.
To prescribe the order of doing in all things is a peculiar
prerogative, which wisdom hath, as queen or sovereign com-
mandress, over all other virtues. Hooker, b v., sect. 8.
Be you commandress therefore, princess, queen
Of all our forces, be thy word a law. Fairfax. b. ii.
3
Thou shalt not peep thro’ lattices
of eyes,
Nor hear through labyrinths of ears,
Nor learn
By circuit or collections to
discern Donne
To COAX. v.a. To wheedle; to flatter; to humour. A
low word.
The nurse had changed her note; for she was then muz-
zling and coaxing the child; that’s a good dear, says she.
L’Estrange.
I coax! I wheedle! I’m above it. Farquhar’s Recr. Officer.
CLO’YLESS. adj. [from cloy.] That of which too much cannot
be had; that which cannot cause satiety.
Epicurean cooks
Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite. Shak. Ant. and Cleop.
CLA’WBACK. n.s. [from claw and back.] A flatterer; a syco-
phant; a wheedler. The pope’s clawbacks. Jewel.
CITESS. n.s. [from cit.] A city woman. A word peculiar to
Dryden.
Cits and citesses raise a joyful strain;
‘Tis a good omen to begin a reign. Dryd. Albion and Alba.
To CHO’WTER. v.n. To grumble or mutter like a froward
child. Philips.
Chaucerism. n.s.
| Chaucer
An idiom or word used
by Chaucer
If Lucretius is scabrous & rough;
he seeks ym as some do chaucer–
isms wth us, wch were better
expunged & banished B. Johns.
Dr. Johnson's Dictionary 