▪ I. gimmer1 Obs. exc. dial.
(ˈdʒɪmə(r))
Forms: 6–9 jimmer, (6 ? gimme, ? gymme, jemer, gimer, gimmor, gymmer, 7 jemmar), 6, 9 gemmer, (6 gemmerce pl.), 6– gimmer.
[Corrupt form of gimmal, gemew.]
† 1. = gimmal 1. Obs. rare.
| 1570 Durham Depos. (Surtees) 234 The said Elizabeth did onc writhe a gimer of[f] this defendants fynger, and put yt upon hir owne. |
2. A hinge. Obs. exc. dial.
| c 1520 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 206 Item for j par of gemmers to the sayd dorith, 16d. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 27 b, The East-gate..(the dry rusty creeking of whose hookes and gymmes as it was in the opening, might be heard a myle of). 1593 Rites & Mon. Ch. Durh. (Surtees) 26 A merveylous lyvelye and bewtifull Immage of the picture of our Ladie..which picture was maide to open with gymmers [v.r. two leaves] from her breaste downd⁓ward. Ibid. 28 Also the fore parte of the said porch..ther was a dore with two brode leves to open from syde to syde..which dore did hing all in gymmers, and clasps in the insyde to claspe them. a 1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 191 You haue need of some Vulcan to make the gimmers that should hold these together. 1629 Gaule Holy Madn. 91 His Cloake displayd (as a Flagge) vpon his arme, his Doublet hanging by Gimmers vpon his shoulders. 1637 Gillespie Eng. Pop. Cerem. iv. vi. 25 Vulcans owne gimmers could not make his answer and the Bishops to sticke togither. 1674–91 Ray N.C. Words 39 Jimmers; Jointed Hinges: in other parts called Wing-hinges. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Gemmer, Gimmer, a small hinge for a closet or desk door. |
† 3. = gimmal 2. (Rare in sing.) Obs.
| 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. ii. 41, I thinke by some odde Gimmors or Deuice Their Armes are set, like Clocks, still to strike on. a 1656 Bp. Hall Sel. Thoughts Wks. 1808 VI. 249 When I saw my precious watch..taken asunder..so as here lay a wheel, there the balance; here one gimmer, there another. 1658 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. ii. xiv. ii. xvii. 183 Drest up like a Puppet, in the outward shape of a man, that moves by the jimmers which the workman fastens to it. |
| transf. and fig. a 1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 37 Diuorced..both from the body and marrow bones of the Popish Masse, as also from the jimmers and trinkets thereof. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 2 His [the Flea's] head, body, and limbs also, be all of blackish armourwork..with jemmar's, most excellently contrived for the nimble motion of all the parts. 1668 H. More Div. Dial. i. viii. (1713) 17, I have been prone to conclude with myself that the Gimmers of the World hold together not so much by Geometry as some natural Magick. |
Hence † ˈgimmer v. Obs. rare—1, to furnish with ‘gimmers’ or joints.
| 1658 Bromhall Treat. Specters iv. 256 The..fragments of that brazen Ship being diligently sought up, and gimmer'd and set in their proper places. |
▪ II. gimmer2 Sc. and north. dial.
(ˈgɪmə(r))
Forms: 5 gymbyre, -bure, gymmer, 6 gymmar, gylmyr, gimer, 6– gimmer.
[a. ON. gymbr a ewe lamb one year old (mod.Icel. gimbur, Da. gimmer-lam); cf. gymbell he-lamb.
Ulterior connexions unknown; the vowel of the ON. word seems to forbid the supposition of some etymologists, that it contains some form of the Indogermanic word *gheim- (ghjem-, ghim- etc.) winter, and is thus cognate with Gr. χίµαρος masc., χίµαιρα fem., goat one year old.]
1. A ewe between the first and second shearing. gelt gimmer, a barren ewe.
| 1424–1549, etc. [see dinmont]. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 638/36 Hic gargia, gymbure. Ibid. 698/23 Hec bidua, gymbyre. 1584 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 18 Item at Shearborne a dinmont, a gimer, & thre lams. 1691 Ray N.C. Words 31 A Gelt-gimmer, a barren Ew. 1804 Scott Let. to Ellis 19 May in Lockhart, Long sheep and short sheep and tups and gimmers and hogs and dinmonts had made a perfect sheep fold of my understanding. 1849 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm (ed. 2) I. 594/2 A young ewe or gimmer is apt to be shy to her first lamb. 1883 Trans. Highland Soc. Agric. XV. App. B. 73 Ewes and Gimmers..in pens of three. |
2. ‘A contemptuous term for a woman’ (Jam.). Also rarely for a mare.
[Perh. a different word, formed by association of gammer and kimmer. Cf. ‘Gimmer, a mistress. {oqq}My Gimmer always wore those blue and white checked aprons{cqq}’ (Kent. Gloss. 1887).]
| a 1774 Fergusson Poems (1814) II. 15 She round the ingle wi' her gimmers sits, Crammin' their gabbies wi' her nicest bits. 1788 R. Galloway Poems 90 The mim-mou'd gimmers them misca'd. 1807 J. Stagg Poems 136 See Sawney..Gallin the gimmer wi' a gad, Tho' leyke a porpoise peighan; He warrant's her soun' win' a' lim', As onny o' the hill. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Gimmer, a low woman. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as gimmer mutton, gimmer-pet; gimmer-hog, a ewe of not more than one year old; gimmer-lamb, a female lamb that has not been shorn.
| 1546 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 124 It'm I gyff to Yssabyll my dowghter..v youes or els v *gymmars hoggs. 1870 Daily News 6 Dec., Sheep stocks in East Yorkshire..consist chiefly of breeding ewes and wether and gimmer hogs. |
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 2 From lambinge time..till clippinge time..they [ewes] are called *gimmer lambes. |
| 1886 S.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., So in Contracts—so many stone of Wether or *Gimmer mutton. |
| 1785 Burns Death & Dr. Hornbk. xxvii, Twa guid *gimmer-pets. |