terrier
Plural: terriers
Noun
- A small, active dog breed, originally for hunting vermin.
- any of several usually small short-bodied breeds originally trained to hunt animals living underground
- A dog from a group of small, lively breeds, originally bred for the hunting of burrowing prey such as rats, rabbits, foxes, and even otters; this original function is reflected in some of their names (e.g. rat terrier).
- Someone displaying terrier-like qualities such as determined pursuit.
- A collection of acknowledgments of the vassals or tenants of a lordship, containing the rents and services they owed to the lord, etc.
- An inventory (book or roll) in which the lands of private persons or corporations are described by their site, boundaries, number of acres, etc.; a terrar.
- An auger or borer.
Examples
- He was like a tenacious terrier, digging for a bingo on the Scrabble board.
Origin / Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French chien terrier (“terrier dog”), from chien (“dog”) + Old French terrier (“of earth”, adjective), from Medieval Latin terrarius (“of earth”), from Latin terra (“earth”).
Scrabble Score: 7
terrier: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordterrier: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
terrier: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 7
terrier: valid Words With Friends Word