Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A covering for the legs, used to protect the stockings, trousers, etc., from mud and wear.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Then suddenly the deep - colored walls sparkle with wavelets, leaves and spatterdash strokes, and everyone feels at home.

    The Best and the Rest David Littlejohn 2010

  • He was a faithful, affectionate, simple soul as ever trudged after the heels of a philosopher; and notwithstanding his talents of drum-beating and spatterdash making, which, though very good in themselves, happened to be of no great service to me, yet was I hourly recompensed by the festivity of his temper -- it supplied all defects.

    The World's Greatest Books ā€” Volume 19 ā€” Travel and Adventure Various 1909

  • Nothing at all, your honour, unless now and then we happen to fling a cartridge into the kitchen fire, or put a spatterdash or so into the soup; and sometimes Ned drums up and down stairs a little of a night.

    St. Patrick's day, or, the scheming lieutenant : a farce in one act Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1783

Comments

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  • spatterdashes -- nearly as fun to wear as they are to say.

    July 22, 2008

  • Wow. Wow. We were just talking about these this weekend, when I didn't have access to Wordie. Thanks for adding this!

    July 22, 2008

  • Never realized that spat (with this definition) is an apocope. Thanks, b!

    July 22, 2008

  • Iā€™m skeptical of attempts to introduce novel punctuation marks, but if someone comes up with a spatterdash, the name alone might sway me.

    September 18, 2011

  • "...I was, by hunger and hard duty, brought down to the meagre condition of my fellow-soldiers, and my linen reduced from three tolerable shirts to two pair of sleeves and necks, the bodies having been long ago converted into spatterdaches..."

    - Smollett, Roderick Random, 1748

    May 28, 2014

  • "They're all dressed in greatcoats and spatterdashes, their faces covered with black kerchiefs, and they're armed with an impressive array of weaponry..."

    The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

    April 26, 2020