peart

Seems like Miss Daisy ain't lookin 'peart, this mornin'.

Daisy 1868

She had never in her life seen any one in knickerbockers and leggins before, and the memory of his amused her somewhat, yet she admitted to herself that they had seemed quite "peart" as she peered at them through the reeds.

In Old Kentucky Edward Marshall 1901

Little gold-striped Van Thol is very good too, – bright and sonsy and "peart," as our freedmen say.

Gardening by Myself 1872

The little pigs were about two weeks old, very "peart" and lively, and everything was proceeding in a satisfactory manner, when one morning

Our Frank and other stories Amy Walton 1873

The nervous, dapper, "peart" young man took the chair I offered him, and said he was connected with the Daily Thunderstorm, and added:

Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories Mark Twain 1872

Quick she had always been and 'peart' (as we say on Exmoor) and gifted with a leap of thought too swift for me to follow; and hence you may find fault with much, when I report her sayings.

Lorna Doone; a Romance of Exmoor 1862

Muir-fowl-cgg i s a large peart which is nearly rounds being only a little flattened towards the eye, which is fome -

The Fruit-gardener: Containing the Method of Raising Stocks, for Multiplying of Fruit-trees, by ... 1768

_pert_, pronounced "peart," and _pure_, bear the same meaning, of well in health and spirits.

Notes and Queries, Number 206, October 8, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. Various 1852

One might have ventured to call her "peart," I think).

Deephaven and Selected Stories & Sketches Sarah Orne Jewett 1879

From being a petted cabin boy, Ted had grown to be something of a spoiled one, and was what the passengers thought rather too "peart" in his ways, while some of the crew insisted that he needed "takin 'down

The Cromptons Mary Jane Holmes 1866