▪ I. ˈslotter, n.
[f. slot v.2]
One who makes slots; also, a slotting-machine.
| 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 42 Engine and Machine Making:..Slotter. Screwer. 1891 Pall Mall G. 24 Nov. 7/2 Planers, slotters, turners, smiths, and men engaged in skilled work. |
▪ II. slotter, v. Now dial.
(ˈslɒtə(r))
Also 4–5 sloter(yn).
[Of obscure origin: cf. Du. slodderen, LG. sluddern, G. schlottern, some senses of which come near to those of the English word.]
1. trans. To make foul or dirty; also, to spill or splash about, to slop.
The n. slotter spilled liquor, a filthy mess, etc., is also recorded in dialect use from 1787 (Grose) onwards.
| c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2367 Þan aght þe saul of synful with-in Be ful foule þat es alle slotered in syn. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 7066 ‘Abide,’ she seid, ‘so mot I thee, More slotered thei most be’. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/1 Sloteron, or defowlyn, maculo, deturpo. 1825– in dialect glossaries, etc. (Sc. and South-western). |
2. intr. To be slothful or slovenly. Sc.
| 1553 Douglas's æneid iv. Prol. 164 Thou auld hasard leichoure,..That slotteris [Small's ed. flotteris] furth euer⁓mare in sluggardry. 1808 Jamieson, Slotterin, slutterin, acting in a slovenly manner; Loth[ian]. |
Hence † ˈslotterbug, a dirty or filthy person.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460 Sloturburgge [other texts slotyrbugge], cenulentus, maurus, obcenus. |