▪ I. manure, n.
(məˈnjʊə(r))
Also 6 menar, maner, -oure, maynor, -ure, 6–7 meano(u)r, 7 manier, manner.
[f. manure v.
Stressed ˈmanure as late as 1784, though maˈnure occurs in Dryden. Some mod. dialects have (ˈmænə(r)).]
1. Dung or compost spread over or mixed with soil to fertilize it. Also, other substances, esp. various chemicals, used as fertilizers.
1549 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 410 The seyde College dothe..laye ther mucke and meanor..apon the foreseyde common grene. 1579 Nottingham Rec. IV. 190 Wee present Jhon Broune (ijd.) for layinge menar in they strett. 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. v. i. 59 Tho many a lode of Marle and Manure led, Reuiu'd his barren leas, that earst lay dead. 1651 Manch. Court Leet Rec. (1887) IV. 53 Thomas Millington hath made a trespas vpon M{supr}{supi}{sups} Hallywell by laieinge manier..vnto her freehold in St. Mariegate. 1664 Evelyn Sylva (1679) 10 To barren ground with toyle large meanour add. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 475 In depth of Earth secure Thy cover'd Plants, and dung with hot Manure. 1760 Brown Compl. Farmer ii. 3 The best manure for meadows is the bottom of hay-mows and hay-stacks. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 517 The warm and genial earth that hides The smoking manure, and o'erspreads it all. 1794 R. Kirwan in Trans. R. Irish Acad. V. i. 137 The substances principally used as manures, are chalk, lime..gypsum, [etc.]. 1824 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening (ed. 2) 243 Saline and calcareous substances form the principal fossil manures. 1858 Glenny Gard. Every-day Bk. 56/2 The runners are to be planted out in beds of rich manure. 1904 T. W. Sanders Roses & their Cultivation 70 It is of no use applying manure that has been allowed to decay naturally, because nearly all the essential salts have been washed out or evaporated. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 698 James W. Mackey..agent for chemical manures. 1951 Dict. Gardening (R. Hort. Soc.) III. 1248/2 Manures may be classified into Organic Manures which are substances of animal or vegetable origin, and Inorganic Manures which are of mineral origin. 1971 L. D. Hills Grow your own Fruit & Vegetables ii. 27 There is a clear distinction between organic and inorganic manures and fertilizers. |
† 2. The action of ‘manuring’; cultivation. Obs.
1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 154 As to the manure of it, some sow but two bushels on the Statute Acre. 1696 Whiston Th. Earth iv. (1722) 352 The Toil, Tillage and Manure of the Husbandman..must have been in the Primitive state very facile. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as manure-heap, manure-plough, manure-spreader, etc.
1766 Museum Rusticum VI. 32 The five-coultered, or..manure-plough. 1832 Scoreby Farm Rep. 27 in Libr. Usef. Knowl. Husb. III, The manure-hill should be made in a compact form, and banked up square. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 648 The profits of the manure-dealer must be much greater than those of the farmer. 1865 Florist's Jrnl. 10 Water them freely with manure water, made with decayed sheep's dung. a 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 580/2 Manure Spreader, a cart having a bed of traveling slats..to distribute the load while the vehicle is moving over the surface of the ground. 1887 Spectator 8 Oct. 1342 The manure-heap [was] removed to a reasonable distance. 1915 J. London Let. 26 Jan. (1966) 445 My plan still holds of using litter-carriers to dump manure..into..waiting manure-spreaders. 1943 J. S. Huxley TVA vi. 49 He insisted on buying a mechanical manure-spreader and using it with a tractor. 1969 K. M. Wells Owl Pen Reader i. 46 The uphill clatter of Farmer Jim's manure-spreader as he drove it over the stubbles. |
Hence maˈnur(e)y a., splashed or littered with manure.
1890–3 E. M. Taber Stowe Notes, Lett. & Verses (1913) 29 The stable-yard repulsive, muddy and manury. 1932 Sunday Express 3 July 17/4 Many's the time I've seen him all mud and manurey. |
▪ II. manure, v.
(məˈnjʊə(r))
Also 5 maynoyre, manour, maynour(e, menure, mannor, 6 man(n)er, manar, -or, 7 mannure.
[a. AF. maynoverer to work with the hands = OF. manouvrer: see manœuvre v.]
† 1. trans. To hold, occupy (land, property); to have the tenure of; to administer, manage. Obs.
a 1400–50 Alexander 837* (Dubl. MS.) All þe marche of massydon he manours clene. 1430–31 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 385/2 The saide tenauntz and lond holders dar not inhabite, maynour nor occupye the saide Toun. 1457 Peebles Charters, etc. (1872) 119 The gud wif sal mannor thir thyngys qwil scho lefis. a 1577 Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. i. xxiv. (1589) 43 To speake of the Common wealth..of England, it is gouerned, administered and manured by three sortes of persons. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. (1586) 148 b, They cannot manner their children well, vnlesse they haue a rod in their hand. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. iv. 208 To the Britanis delyuering it [the kingdome] to manure and inhabite [L. Britannisque incolendum tradidit]. 1628 Coke On Litt. 17 That which is manually occupied, manured and possessed. 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. 1851 IV. 231 (Matt. xix. 8) Christ only told us that from the beginning it was not so; that is to say not so as the Pharises manur'd the busines. |
† b. To inhabit (a place). Also absol. Obs.
c 1595 Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 16 Not marveilinge that he founde noe inhabitante manuringe in that uninhabitable desarte. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 67 Beyond it is Parell..to which appertains Siam, manured by Columbeens, Husbandmen. |
† 2. To till, cultivate (land). Obs.
? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2507 A mede..Mawene and un-made, maynoyrede bott lyttylle. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. v. 72 Ȝone woman..quham to we For to manure gave the strand of the sea [L. cui litus arandum..dedimus]. 1592 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 214 To my mother..ij ackers of medow..and all her land to be mannered. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 231 Hee manureth his owne fields with his owne slaves and cattle. 1671 tr. Frejus' Voy. Mauritania 28 We saw all the Countrey manured and green. 1700 J. A. Astry tr. Saavedra-Faxardo II. 148 A barren Sand, not capable of being manur'd by either Spade or Plow. 1741 C'tess Pomfret Corr. (1805) III. 250 A beautiful vale, inhabited, manured, and planted. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 161 He is at the trouble neither of manuring his grounds, nor bringing in his harvests. |
† b. To cultivate, train, rear (a plant). Obs.
1632 Sir T. Hawkins tr. Mathieu's Unhappy Prosperitie 259 Omitting nothing in the sollicitous care of exact education, by manuring her as a plant. 1639 Fuller Holy War ii. xi. (1840) 64 Who like a nut tree must be manured by beating. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Oost, The people who manure hops. |
† c. fig. with retention of the literal phraseology.
1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. xiv. (1634) 633 The worde of God..if it light upon a soul manured with the hand of the heavenly spirit, it will bee most fruitfull. 1645 Z. Boyd Holy Songs in Zion's Flowers (1855) App. 13/1 Manure your heart with diligence, and in it sow good seed. |
† d. To cultivate, train (the body or mind, etc.).
c 1540 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden No. 36) 10 Those Scotts which inhabit the southe, beinge farre the beste parte, are well manured. 1607 J. Carpenter Plaine Mans Plough 9 O Father..manure our worke without, and prepare our mindes within. 1641 Milton Animadv. xiii. Wks. 1851 III. 229 It is..his own painfull study..that manures and improves his ministeriall gifts. a 1781 R. Challoner Medit. (1843) I. 24 To manure you..with his word, his graces, and his sacraments. |
† e. To practise, devote oneself to. Obs.
1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 10 Thay manure Justice [L. iustitiam colunt]. |
3. To enrich (land) with manure; to apply manure to; to supply with fertilizing material.
1599 Nashe Lent. Stuff 63 Retailing theyr dung to manure landes. 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. i. 99 Onely to scrape A heape of muck: to fatten and manure The barren vertues of my progenie. a 1653 Gouge Comm. Heb. xiii. 20 Sheep are in every thing profitable. Their wool and skin for clothing,..their dung for manuring ground. 1680 Dodwell On Sanchoniathon (1691) 109 The Slime it brought along with it, manured the Land for Corn. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 242 Lime also is useful..to Manure Land with. 1713 Addison Cato ii. i, The Corps of half her Senate Manure the Fields of Thessaly. a 1862 Buckle Misc. Wks. (1872) I. 571 The land was inclosed, drained, and manured. |
absol. (fig.) 1851 Thackeray Eng. Hum. Wks. (Biogr. Ed.) II. 483 He had not worked crop after crop from his brain, manuring hastily, sub-soiling indifferently. |
b. To spread or spill like manure. nonce-use.
1592 Kyd Sol. & Pers. i. v. 36 So many valiant Bassowes slaine, Whose bloud hath bin manured to their earth. |
† 4. a. To work upon with the hand; to work up = manœuvre v. Obs.
1431 in Madox Formul. Anglic. (1702) 331 John has selled..alle the Underwodde..to hewe, kutte downe, occupie, brynne, and maynoure, and lede away..unto the ende of foure yere. 1575 Laneham Let. 50 Horn.. being neyther so churlish in weyght az iz mettall: nor so froward and brytl too manure, az stone. |
† b. To manœuvre (a ship). Obs.
1569 Sir J. Hawkins Voy. Guynea ad fin., We were scantlye able to manure oure ship. |
▪ III. manure
obs. form of manor.