Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A box or vessel for butter.
- noun A Dutchman.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun archaic, slang, UK A
derogatory name thatBritish sailors gave theDutch during the age of the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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He cut off a side, squeezed lime juice into his drink, then put the lime back in the refrigerator, cut side down, on top of the butter-box lid.
The New Yorker Stories Ann Beattie 2010
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With a flump then he was down on the butter-box he kept for a seat.
At Swim, Two Boys Jamie O’Neill 2002
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You may have seen many a quaint craft in your day, for aught I know; — square-toed luggers; mountainous Japanese junks; butter-box galliots, and what not; but take my word for it, you never saw such a rare old craft as this same rare old Pequod.
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With a flump then he was down on the butter-box he kept for a seat.
At Swim, Two Boys Jamie O’Neill 2002
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The _Dutch_ of all ranks are fond of butter, and seldom is a journey taken without a butter-box in the pocket.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No. 380, July 11, 1829 Various
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Dern'd 'f I'd' a 'come,' f I'd 'a' known th 'old butter-box was goin' to be s 'frisky.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 85, November, 1864 Various
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She wanted us to come to her house, but it's the size of a butter-box, and stuffy; so she insisted on sending three quilts.
The Happy Venture Edith Ballinger Price 1947
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A little fire of twigs and a broken butter-box on the hearth made a pathetic shift at domestic cheer.
The Best Short Stories of 1917 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story Various 1915
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She was a lump of a thingwhat the sailors call a butter-box.
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"Law! don't you go to stirrin 'on him up," said Mrs. Solomon Page comfortably, putting on the cover of her butter-box, which had contained the family lunch.
Tiverton Tales Alice Brown 1902
she commented on the word butter-box
Contemptuous designation for a Dutchman (also butter-bag, butter-mouth); also, in nautical slang, a Dutch ship.
These make very little sense to me.
August 6, 2008