rouser
(ˈraʊzə(r))
[f. rouse v.1 + -er1.]
1. a. One who, or that which, rouses or stirs up.
| 1611 Cotgr., Esveilleur,..a rowser, a raiser from sleepe. 1612 Shelton Quix. i. iii. vi, All this which I have depainted to thee, are inciters and rowsers of my mind. 1783 J. Young Crit. Gray's Elegy (1810) 44 The rousers to morning labour are also enumerated as four. 1801 Scott Glenfinlas xxxv, Within an hour return'd each hound; In rush'd the rousers of the deer. 1898 Manson Trop. Dis. xii. 212 A fine stream of iced water poured on the forehead from an elevation will act as a stimulant and rouser. |
b. An implement or apparatus used for stirring (
esp. beer in brewing).
| 1765 H. Jackson Ess. on Brit. Isinglass 56 Previous to cleansing, conquassate the whole Aggregate with a Rouser. 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 165 A vertical rod plunges down the copper... This rod terminates in a horizontal bar, carrying an extended chain, called, on account of its duty, a rouser. The rod and rouser are both kept in continual motion. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 585 The inter-mixture may be effected either by lading the glass out of one pot into another..or by stirring it up with a rouser. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 287 The contents can be constantly agitated by the rouser. |
| attrib. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 116 The rouser shaft may be lifted by means of the chain. |
2. a. One who, or that which, is remarkable in some respect.
| 1839 C. F. Briggs Adventures H. Franco I. xiv. 127 We never exchanged another word until we reached the fire, and then, says he to me, I tell you what, Smith, it is going to be a rouser. 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 372 Rouser, something very exciting or very great. Thus an eloquent speech or sermon, a large mass-meeting, or a big prize-ox, is a rouser. 1868 Putnam's Mag. Jan. 70 He's a rouser to make punch, I assure you. 1895 Crockett in Cornh. Mag. Dec. 578 For a' the leers in the pairish—and there are some rousers—ye beat them clean. 1977 Time 24 Oct. 8/3 It cleared the way for a rouser of a speech by Thatcher. |
b. An outrageous falsehood.
| 1825–9 Brockett N.C. Gloss. s.v. Ruze. 1838 Holloway Prov. Dict., Rouser, or a Rousing Lie, is such a monstrous lie as rouses the wonder and astonishment of every one who hears it. 1873 Leland Egypt. Sketch-Bk. 176, I like a man to tell a rouser while he is about it. |
3. A loud noise; a noisy person, song, etc.
| 1731 Swift Strephon & Chloe, He..Let fly a Rouzer in her Face. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 225 The rouser is..a man who talks very loud and occasionally yells. 1893 E. J. Milliken 'Arry Ballads 64 (Farmer), We made the whole place ring a rouser, till Jolter implored us to stop. |
4. Austral. = rouseabout n. 2.
| 1897 H. Lawson While Billy Boils 85 They are all shearers, or at least they say they are. Some might be only ‘rousers’. 1900 ― Verses, Popular & Humorous 168 The ‘rouser’ has no soul to save. Condemn the rouseabout! 1902 ― Children of Bush 241, I must get some more money for the rouser from some of those chaps. a 1964 E. Harrington in Penguin Bk. Austral. Ballads (1964) 262 The rousers gave a billycan and brand new tucker bag. |