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dretch love

dretch

Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To delay; linger.
  • To vex; trouble; oppress.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • verb obsolete See drecche.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To vex; grill; trouble; oppress.
  • verb intransitive To delay; linger; tarry.
  • verb intransitive, Scotland To move slowly and heavily; dawdle; loiter.
  • noun An idle wench; a flattern.
  • noun Scotland A person slow in the execution of a job; a dawdler.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English dretchen, drecchen, drechen, from Old English dreċċan ("to vex, irritate, trouble, torment, torture, oppress, afflict"), from Proto-Germanic *drakjanan (“to torment”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰragʰ-, *dʰrag- (“bother, torment”). Cognate with Russian раздражать (raz-dražát', "to irritate"), Sanskrit  (drāghate, "to exert oneself, be tired, torment").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English dretchen, drecchen, drechen, from Old English *dreċċan (“to draw out, delay, linger”), from Proto-Germanic *drakjanan (“to draw, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreǵ- (“to pull, drag, scratch”). Cognate with Scots dratch, dretch ("to dawdle"), Dutch trekken ("to draw, pull, tear, pluck, trek"), German trecken ("to draw, trek"), Danish trække ("to draw, pull"), Norwegian dråk ("stripe"), Swedish dialectal drakig ("striped, streaked"), Icelandic rák ("streak").

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Examples

  • Again. var doubleclick_ad_params = 'a=1;r=0;w=1;wg=2;wa=0;wi=being;wi=invisible;wi=druids;wi=duncan;wi=entangle;wi=faerie;wi=fire;wi=flame;wi=blade;wi=flame;jid=6464226;kw=clerics;kw=cloakers;kw=summoning:;kw=rhino;kw=gnolls;kw=confusion;kw=spell;kw=dretch;kw=destrachan;c=jo;pt=jo';

    gloriagoodbody: Fighting lots and lots of things. gloriagoodbody 2006

  • After Miriam and I fought the dretch in the dark and I had to feel around on the floor to work out if we'd killed it yet or not let me tell you, that is one of the most revolting things I've ever experienced, even including the time Sago drank too much and threw up on me at one of his birthday parties and he'd been eating cake all night and I couldn't wash for half an hour because he wouldn't let me leave him on his own.

    Gloria Goodbody gloriagoodbody 2006

  • After Miriam and I fought the dretch in the dark and I had to feel around on the floor to work out if we'd killed it yet or not let me tell you, that is one of the most revolting things I've ever experienced, even including the time Sago drank too much and threw up on me at one of his birthday parties and he'd been eating cake all night and I couldn't wash for half an hour because he wouldn't let me leave him on his own.

    gloriagoodbody: Fighting lots and lots of things. gloriagoodbody 2006

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variants (1)

Variants

  1. drecche

Comments

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  • she commented on the word dretch

    v., 'to trouble in sleep' and 'to be troubled in sleep' (from Old English)

    July 9, 2008

  • shevek commented on the word dretch

    I like this word as much for what it rhymes with as for what it means. Fetch, catch, etch, retch, stretch, letch. So many poetic possibilities...

    July 13, 2008