▪ I. south-ˈwester, n.
Also southwester.
[f. prec. + -er1. Cf. sou'-wester.]
1. A wind or gale blowing from the south-west.
| 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. iii. xi, He felt a longing hope that he might fall in with the Dolly in the Channel, although the prevalence of the south-westers rendered it improbable. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! viii, The south⁓wester freshened, and blew three parts of a gale dead into the bay. 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 176 Logs of all sizes lie..where they are thrown upon the shore by the October southwesters. |
2. a. A large oilskin or waterproof hat or cap worn by seamen to protect the head and neck during rough or wet weather.
So Du. zuidwester, G. südwester.
| 1836 R. S. Surtees Let. in A. Mathews Mem. Charles Mathews (1839) IV. ix. 193 Throwing aside his hat, he put on one of the boatman's ‘south-westers’. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iv, We were glad to..put on our thick clothing, boots, and southwesters. 1845 Disraeli Sybil ii. xiv, [He] was shaking the wet off an oilskin hat known by the name of a ‘south-wester’. 1883 Cent. Mag. XXVI. 947 The six oil-jackets and south-westers. |
b. attrib. with cap, hat.
| 1831 Ann. Reg. 113 He wore a smock frock..and a south⁓wester cap. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast x, We had on oil⁓cloth suits and southwester caps. |
3. A (White) inhabitant of Namibia (formerly known as South West Africa).
| 1976 Times 21 Aug. 13/3 South Africa's original plans to break up South West Africa into eight or nine mini-states, of which the only viable ones would be a ‘ranchistan’ containing the 99,000 rich German, Afrikaans and English-speaking ‘Southwesters’, and Ovamboland. 1978 Guardian Weekly 7 May 6/2 The Teutonic calm of Windhoek... Like their White Rhodesian counterparts most ‘Southwesters’ as they call themselves have yet to grasp the dimension of the change. |
▪ II. south-ˈwester, v. rare—1.
[f. south-west adv.]
intr. To move towards the south-west.
| a 1861 A. H. Clough Poems (1888) 95 [The sun] Scuth-westering now, thro' windows plainly glassed, On the inside face his radiance keen hath cast. |