firmer
(ˈfɜːmə(r))
[ad. F. fermoir chisel for making mortices, altered form (as if f. fermer in obs. sense to fasten, secure) of formoir, which was earlier anglicized as former.]
Used only in comb., firmer-chisel, -gouge, -tool (see quots.).
| [1688, 1727–51, 1764: see former.] 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Builder 239 The firmer chisel is a thin broad chisel, with the sides parallel to a certain length, and then tapering, so as to become much narrower towards the shoulder. It is used by being driven by the blows of a mallet on the handle. 1876 Gwilt Enycl. Archit. Gloss. 1243 Firmer Tool, a chisel used by joiners with a mallet, by which the sides of mortises are formed. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., Firmer Tools, the ordinary short chisels and gouges of wood workers, so termed in order to distinguish them from paring tools. |