searcer
(ˈsɜːsə(r))
Also 6 serchar, 6–7 sercer, 7 searser, 8–9 searcher.
[f. searce v. + -er1. With sense 1 cf. OF. sas(s)oire sieve (Godefroy); with sense 2 cf. F. sasseur.]
1. A searce or sieve.
| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 121 All these beate together and serche them through a serchar. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. 11 b, Siues, Sercers, Boulting tubbes. 1639 T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 266 Searce it through a fine searcer. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 754 The Author hath often observ'd, that having in the morning put an Egg near these Searsers [indigo-sifters], it hath been found in the evening all blew within. 1688 [see searced ppl. a.]. 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 446/1 The pulp is..passed through a ‘searcher’, to remove the tough skin and pips. |
2. One who searces or sifts. rare—0.
| 1611 Cotgr., Sasseur, a sifter, searcer, boulter of corne, &c. 1755 Johnson, Searcer, he who searces. |