ˈblucher
[Named after the Prussian commander Field-Marshal von Blücher (bl{smY}{cced}ər) (1742–1819), but commonly mispronounced (ˈblʊtʃə(r)) or (ˈbluːkə(r)).]
1. A strong leather half-boot or high shoe, the actual pattern varying with the fashion.
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iii. (1838) 25 Ink-bottles alternated with..tobacco-boxes, Periodical Literature, and Blücher Boots. 1854 Thackeray Newcomes I. 130 My own bootmaker wouldn't have allowed poor F. B. to appear in Bluchers. 1859 Sat. Rev. 19 Feb. 220/2 If they [ladies] will trample on us with a hobnailed blucher. |
2. (See quots.)
| 1864 Soc. Sc. Rev. I. 406 The railway companies recognize two other classes of cabs, called the ‘privileged’..and the ‘Bluchers’ named after the Prussian Field Marshal who arrived on the field of Waterloo only to do the work that chanced to be undone. 1870 Athenæum 5 Mar. 328 Non-privileged cabs, which are admitted to stations after all the privileged have been hired, are known as Bluchers. |