bleater
(ˈbliːtə(r))
[f. bleat v. + -er1.]
1. An animal that bleats, as a sheep, calf, etc.
| 1567 Morton Gt. Bull in Harl. Misc. (1811) VII. 536 Some calves with blacke faces, as blacke soule and hys fellowes common bleaters. 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 568 Swift o'er the lawns the little bleaters bound. 1808 Jamieson, Bleater, the cock snipe, Ettr. For.; denominated from its bleating sound. 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 87 Plunge the flock of bleaters in the healthful stream. |
† 2. Thieves' slang: (see quot.) Obs.
| 1609 Dekker Lanthorne Wks. 1884–5 III. 290 They that are Cheated by Iacke in a Boxe, are called Bleaters. |