▪ I. yammer, n. orig. Sc. and dial.
(ˈjæmə(r))
Forms: 6 ȝawmer, ȝamer, 8 yaumour, yaummer, 8– yammer.
[f. next. Cf. MDu., MLG. jammer.]
An act, or the action, of ‘yammering’; a cry of lamentation, a wail; a loud outcry, shout, yell; lamentation, complaint, querulous utterance.
In Standard English only in the general sense ‘a loud noise, a din’ (cf. yammer v. 2).
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxiii. 122 The air was dirkit with the fowlis, That come with ȝawmeris and with ȝowlis. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 6002 Than sall those Creaturis forlorne Warie the hour that thay wer borne, With mony ȝamer, ȝewt, and ȝell. 1792 A. Wilson Watty & Meg xxxix, While the weans, wi' mornfu' yaummer, Round their sabbin mother flew. 1894 Crockett Lilac Sunbonnet ix, Gin ye dinna tak' tent to yersel'..wi' yer eternal yammer o' ‘Peats, Jock Gordon’, an' ‘Water, Jock Gordon’, ye'll maybes find yersel' whaur Jock Gordon 'll no be there to serve ye. 1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song 16 There the din of the gulls is a yammer night and day. 1978 Poetry Mar. 328 They huddle, and their tabled ground rejoices To the flat yammer of their American voices. 1984 Washington Post 11 June b4/3 Diamanda Gala's score, consisting of shrieks, yammers, gasps and vocal but incoherent hysterics. |
▪ II. yammer, v.
(ˈjæmə(r))
Forms: 5, 8 yamer, 6 ȝammer, -ar, ȝalmer, 7 yalmer, -ur, 8 yommer, 8–9 yaumer, 9 yaummer, yawmer, yammar, 6, 9 yammer.
[Alteration of ME. ȝomer, yomer, after MDu., MLG. jammeren.]
1. a. intr. To lament, mourn; to utter cries of lamentation or distress, to wail; to whine, whimper. Obs. exc. Sc. and dial.
| [c 1400 Anturs Arth. ix, Hit ȝaulut, hit ȝamurt, lyke a woman.] 1481 Caxton Reynard xix. (Arb.) 47 He..fayned as he had wepte, right as he hadde yamerde in his herte. 1603 Proph. of Waldhaue (Bannatyne) 29 Thou shalt yalmur and yell: that al York shal it heare. 1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage xviii, It [sc. the child] does yammer constantly. 1820 Scott Monast. iv, The White Maiden of Avenel..is aye seen to yammer and wail before ony o' that family dies. 1861 Waugh Birtle Carter's Tale 27 To see poor wortchin folk's little bits o' childher yammerin' for a bite o' meight—when there's noan for 'em. |
b. To murmur, complain, grumble; also trans. to say in a complaining or querulous tone.
| 1786 Har'st Rig cii, They ever and anon stand still, And yamour sair; ‘We're sure we do our day fulfil, And meikle mair.’ c 1826 Hogg in J. Wilson's Noctes Ambr. (1855) I. 224 There's some souls 'll yammer and cheep If a win'le-strae lie in their way. 1892 Kipling Barrack-room Ballads, Tomlinson 77 Then Tomlinson he gripped the bars and yammered, ‘Let me in ―’. 1894 Crockett Mad Sir Uchtred ix, ‘They chase us, Belus,’ he yammered. |
2. To make a loud unpleasant noise or outcry; to howl, yell; to roar, shout.
| 1513 Douglas æneis vii. i. 38 Greit figuris of wolfis..Ȝouland and ȝammerand grislie for to heyr. c 1550 Clariodus i. 738 (Maitland) 24 The cairfull echo ȝalmering to the sky. a 1585 Montgomerie Flyting 123 Hoy, hurson, to hell,..Where deuils in their den dois ȝammar and ȝell. 1603 Proph. of Waldhaue (Bannatyne) 27 He yelped, he yalmered, and youled loude. 1828 Craven Gloss. 1894 Crockett Raiders xx, Like fiends yammering and girning when Hell wins a soul. 1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song 38 Her five bairns were all yammering blue murder at the same minute. 1952 W. R. Burnett Vanity Row viii. 73 Joe Sert yammering and getting purple in the face. 1958 ‘W. Henry’ Seven Men at Mimbres Springs xi. 125 Somewhere off in the eastern hills a coyote yammered with the crazed wildness which never fails to startle the oldest listener. 1959 W. H. Canaway Seal i. 16 His guts clanked and yammered like air-locked water-pipes. 1970 C. Sandburg Compl. Poems 372 They banged their spoons and bowls on the table And went on yammering for more to eat. 1980 F. Weldon Puffball 202 In the kitchen..Mabs' children yammered and cowered and snivelled and were slapped and shouted at. 1984 Times 5 Nov. 13/6 Just when women are yammering to be the hand that holds the briefcase..here's this little upstart letting the side down. |
3. To long, yearn, crave. Obs. exc. Sc. and dial.
| 1705 [see below]. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lanc. Dial. Wks. (1775) 51 Boh I yammer t'hear heaw things turn's eawt. 1895 Crockett Men of Moss-Hags xxiii, When a' thae things are yammerin' to get haud o' ye. |
Hence ˈyammering vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 240 Terribil spraichis of yammering pepill in the deidthraw. 1705 J. Dunton Life & Errors 247 Mr. Ames..had always some Yammerings upon him after Learning and the Muses. 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets iv. 191 A sucking weanie..to its yamering fa's again. 1807 Stagg Poems 21 Our wee yen's yammerin' noise. 1822 Blackw. Mag. XI. 486 Suppressed, discontented, yawmering..whiggism. 1870 R. Broughton Red as Rose viii, The yammering of the baby. 1895 Crockett Men of Moss-Hags xxiii, ‘Na, na’, he cried, in the strange yammering speech of the creature. 1937 [see skriking vbl. n.]. 1940 L. MacNeice Poems 1925–40 249 The city's Yammering fire alarms. 1969 M. Braithwaite Never sleep Three in Bed ix. 105 There was always so much yammering from us kids that no adult had a chance to say anything. 1977 Time 31 Jan. 43/3 Visitors..shepherded round the Acropolis by yammering guides. |
Add: ˈyammerer n., one who yammers, esp. an incessant talker.
| 1874 J. Brown Let. 10 Aug. (1912) 301 It..was succeeded by another Inf—, a yaumerer, not a yeller; it is hard to say which is the worser. 1978 Washington Post 28 Apr. 36/3 The Chatterbox, also known as The Yammerer, confronts the pupil with such a torrent of instruction, the words whizz past the ear with the ball. |