▪ I. stickler
(ˈstɪklə(r))
Also 6 styckler, stiklar, stickeler, 7 sticler.
[f. stickle v. + -er1. Cf. the earlier stiffler, stightler.]
1. A moderator or umpire at a tournament, a wrestling or fencing match, etc., appointed to see fair play, and to part the combatants when they have fought enough (obs. exc. s.w. dial.). Hence, † one who intervenes as a mediator between combatants or disputants.
| 1538 Elyot Dict., Interpres,..also a styckler betwene two, whiche are at varyaunce. 1549 Chaloner Erasm. on Folly N iij b, Hereby it appeared that Jesus was the stickler or mediator. 1572 Huloet (ed. Higins), Stickeler in games, Designator, Arbiter certaminis. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. xvii. §1. (1912) 105 Basilius the Judge appointed sticklers, and trumpets, to whom the other should obey. Ibid. §5. 109 Basilius rising himselfe [came] to parte them, the sticklers authoritie scarslie able to perswade cholerike hearers. 1602 Parsons Warn-word i. 14 Receauing for his gaine the first broken head as wrangling sticlers ar wont to do. 1613–18 Daniel Coll. Hist. Eng. (1626) 99 Theobald Earle of Bloys, that famous Stickler betweene the Kings of England and France. a 1656 Ussher Ann. (1658) 722 He sent Octavia..to her brother Cæsar, that she might be a stickler between them. 1659 Dryden Death of Oliver xi, Our former Chiefs, like Sticklers of the War, First sought t'inflame the Parties, then to poise. 1825 Jennings Dial. W. Eng. 72 Stickler, a person who presides at backsword or singlestick, to regulate the game. 1897 Phillpotts Lying Prophets i. v. 50 You 'm like the stickler at a wras'lin' match,..you sees fair play betwixt God an' man. |
| Comb. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. viii. 18 The dragon wing of night ore-spreds the earth And stickler-like the Armies seperates. |
† b. fig. of things. Obs.
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis, etc. (Arb.) 145 Thy nose, as a stickler, toe toe long vs parteth a sunder. 1598 Norden Spec. Brit., M'sex & Herts ii. 6 The Lea..continuing her most milde course as stickler betweene Essex and Middlesex. 1618 Bolton Florus iii. x. (1636) 199 The tide withdrawing upon course during the skirmish, the Ocean might, as it were, seeme to have been stickler in the battell. |
† c. A composer or reconciler of (strife). Cf. stickle v. 2. Obs.
| 1624 Bp. Hall No Peace with Rome iii. Wks. (1634) 608 Those honest and good-natured men, which would needs undertake to bee the sticklers of these strifes. |
† 2. One who takes an active or busy part (in a contest, affair, cause, etc.); an active partisan; a (great, chief, etc.) agent, mover, or instigator.
| 1565 J. Calfhill Answ. Treat. Crosse, Ep. to Martiall B j b, Erasmus a gret stickler in the crosse quarrell. 1619 Denison Heav. Banq. 64 Andradius a principall stickler at the Councell of Trent, and a vehement defender thereof. 1643 Decl. Commons (Reb. Ireland) 22 The Queen with her Romish Priests..have been principall Actours and Sticklers herein. 1663 Patrick Pilgrim v. (1687) 16 [He] is generally decry'd by all parties, as no friend to Truth, because he is no great stickler about the Questions that have vexed our unhappy days. 1690 C. Nesse O. & N.T. I. 30 Oleaster, that grand stickler in the Spanish Inquisition. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Heracleonites, They were so fond of these Mystic Interpretations, that Origen, tho' a Stickler that Way himself, was obliged to reproach Heracleon with his abusing Scripture by that Means. |
† b. In unfavourable sense: A factious, seditious, or pragmatic contender; a wrangler, one who stirs up strife; a meddler, busybody. Obs.
| 1579, 1643: cf. Jack-stickler s.v. Jack n.1 36. 1641 Quarles Enchyridion i. xlviii, True Religion is a Setler in a State, rather than a Stickler. 1692 R. L'Estrange Josephus, Wars ii. iii. (1733) 615 And for those Sticklers that Varus found to be least malicious, he order'd them to be kept in Custody. 1693 Penn Some Fruits Solit. i. §531 A devout Man is one Thing, a Stickler is quite another. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Stickler, a Busie Body in Publick Business, a Promoter of Faction and Disturbance. |
† 3. One who fights or contends against (a person, cause, etc.); an opponent, antagonist; one who makes difficulties or raises objections. Obs.
| 1613 Jackson Creed i. xv. 78 Diomedes (who was one of the greatest sticklers against Troy). 1718 F. Hutchinson Witchcraft 63 Where they might do what they would, with⁓out being controuled by Sticklers. 1735 Bp. Gibson in Fraser Life Berkeley (1871) vii. 238 The men of science..are the greatest sticklers against revealed religion. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides 197 Sir Thomas Baring appears to have been the great stickler against Mr. Hollis. 1826 Creevey in C. Papers (1903) II. 100 If a good ultra-Tory Government could be made, Canning and Huskisson must inevitably be ruined by this daring step. You never heard such language as the old sticklers apply to them. 1846 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. II. 42 There are nowhere such stiff sticklers against idolatry, at the present day, as those gentlemen. |
4. With for: One who contends for, pertinaciously supports, or advocates (a cause, principle, person, party, etc.); one who insists on or stands out for (something established by rule or custom, a form, ceremony, etc.).
| 1644 D. Featley Levites Scourge 6 A great stickler for the new Reformation. 1654 Vilvain Theorem Theol. ii. 49 Dr. Ward, a stif Stickler for effectual Grace. 1660 J. Davies Hist. Chas. II, 68 Nor wanted there some sticklers for his Majesty. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 61 Your sticklers for indifferency of will. 1792 A. Young Trav. France 110 He is one of the most zealous sticklers for the popular cause. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. iii. ii. 191 A stickler for the Senate and ‘the Forty’. 1829 S. H. Cassan Bps. Bath & Wells 162 He was a stickler for the Hanover succession. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xlv, She was a great stickler for dignity and ceremonies. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair ix, Sir Pitt was a stickler for his dignity while at home. 1879 Dixon Windsor I. xxiii. 241 Beaufort was no stickler for pedantic rules. 1887 Poor Nellie (1888) 294 His father, who was somewhat of a stickler for etiquette. 1898 G. W. E. Russell Collect. & Recoll. xxxiv. 455 Mr. Gladstone, the stiffest of sticklers for official reticence. 1901 Scotsman 4 Mar. 7/5 The Great Duke was a stickler for the principle that the Sovereign is the real head of the army. |
† 5. A second or backer in a contest. Obs.
| 1672 G. Thomson Let. to H. Stubbe 28 Stubbe, and the rest of the Galenical Tribe, with all their Sticklers. 1678 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 418 One of the principall parishioners and sticklers to the bishop against Oats. 1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr. i. 14 Priests of all Religions..are the Sticklers, and clap their Hands, and cry Hulloo; setting the mad and Priest-ridden Laity at work, to fight up to the Ears in Blood for them. 1711 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 177 Their fathers were honest men, and sticklers to their lawful Prince. 1716 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 266 One of his great sticklers for the Degree of Master of Arts was Dr. Hudson. 1755 Johnson, Stickler, a sidesman to fencers; a second to a duellist. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth vi, My ambition of distinction in arms, and my love of strife..do not fight even-handed with my reason..but have their patrons and sticklers to egg them on. |
▪ II. [stickler
erron. form (in Dicts.) of sticker2.]