▪ I. solder, n.1
(ˈsɒldə(r), ˈsəʊdə(r))
Forms: α. 4–5 soudur, 5 -ure, -our, sowdur, -owre; 4–5 soudre, 5–6 souder, 5–7 (9 dial.) sowder (5 -ere, 6 soweder); 9 dial. sowther. β. 5 sawdur, -yr, 6 -yer; 5 sawd(e)re, 6 sawder (7 -ter), 6–7 saudre, 7 sauder. γ. 6–8 soder (7 soader, sodar), 7– sodder; 6 sother, 7 soather. δ. 5 souldour, 6–7 soulder (6 sowl-). ε. 7 soldure, 7– solder.
[a. OF. soud-, saud-, soldure (cf. It. saldatura), f. souder, etc., sold v.2
American dictionaries favour the pron. (ˈsɑːdə(r) = Brit. ˈsɒdə(r)). Smart (1836 and 1840) gives only (ˈsɔːdə(r)).]
1. A fusible metallic alloy used for uniting metal surfaces or parts.
Various kinds are distinguished by specific names, as hard, soft (see sense 4), white, copper, gold, silver, pewterer's, plumber's solder.
| α 1374 Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 581 In stangno emp. pro soudur, vi.s. c 1400 York Minster Fabric Rolls (Surtees) 20 Et in iij dos' tyn emptis pro soudre, viii.s. viii.d. c 1485 E.E. Misc. (Warton Cl.) 82 To make sowder of tynne. 1513 Douglas æneid viii. vii. 140 Thai mydlit and thai mixt this feirful souder. 1547 in J. R. Boyle Hedon (1875) App. 137 To the plomer for xxx. lb. of soweder. 1603 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 52 For five pounde and a half of sowder to mende the leads. 1829 Brockett N.C. Gloss. (ed. 2), Sowther, solder. |
| β 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp (Roxb.) 323 Item, for ij. li. saw[d]ere, xij. d. 1492–3 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 187 For a ll. di. of sawdyr to sowdyr þe same pype, xij d. 1539–40 in Devon N. & Q. Oct. (1903) 238 Payed for xv. li. of sawdyer for the worke, v.s. 1566 in Peacock Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866) 141 An old crwet whearof was made sawder for the glass windowes. 1602 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham) 143 To the plumber, for xx pound of pewter to be sawter,..xs. 1667 Primatt City & C. Builder 70 Sawder is about eight pence or nine pence a pound. |
| γ 1575 Gascoigne Wks. (1587) 308 When cutlers..hide no crackes with soder nor deceit. 1576 Act 18 Eliz. c. 15, No Goldsmith..shall..use noe Sother..more then ys necessarie. 1612 Sturtevant Metallica (1854) 36 All compounded mettles of the same kind, as, Pewters, Belmettles, Sodars. 1637 in Parish Bks. St. Julians, Shrewsbury I. 27 (MS.), Received for 9 lbs. of Sodder, 3s. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xx. 146 We caus'd a skilful Pewterer..to close it up..with Soder. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 17 b, The cramps..must be fastened into the sheets with hot sodder. 1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expos. 155 Sodder, used by the Plumber for soddering of Pipes. |
| δ 1428 Engl. Misc. (Surtees) 1 Þat nane of þat crafte wirke any lede amang other metaill, bot yf yt be in souldour. 1530 Palsgr. 725, I sowder a metall with sowlder, je soulde. 1574 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 242 For Leade and sowlder with woorkmanshipp. 1611 Cotgr., Souldure,..the knot of soulder which fastens the lead of a glasse window. 1685 Boyle Effects of Motion viii. 99 A gaping crack, which he was fain to fill up with soulder. |
| ε 1724 Swift Prometheus Wks. 1751 III. ii. 150 Goldsmiths say, the coarsest stuff Will serve for solder well enough. 1756 Lucas Ess. Waters I. 50 He..assured himself by..closing it well with solder. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 400 Lead is used as an ingredient in various solders. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 432 The solders must be necessarily somewhat more fusible than the metals to be joined. 1873 E. Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. i. 364/2 The solder will run into the places which have been touched by the spirit of salt. |
2. transf. Any binding or uniting substance.
rare.
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis, etc. (Arb.) 136 Theare chariots doe trauayle..By reason of the riuer knit with a frostye soder. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 699 The limestone which is the very soader and binder of all morter. |
3. fig. A quality, principle, etc., which unites in any way; a bond or means of union.
| γ 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 45 This [being] the end of strifes particular, this the soder of publike peace. 1638 Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. iii. §43. 151, I am at my wits end..to find some glue, or sodder,..to tye this antecedent and this consequent together. 1662 Hibbert Body Divinity ii. 149 The ground or band of the union, the sodder that knit them together. |
| ε 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xiv. §38. 757/2 Money the Cement and soldure of all such actions,.. vtterly fayles. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, cccxviii, This Prodigie to Sence, when Elements (The Solder of the World) combat themselues. 1742 R. Blair Grave 89 Friendship!.. Sweetener of life, and solder of society! 1863 Tyndall Heat i. 8 Illustrating a principle which forms the very solder of Nature. |
4. soft solder:
a. A common kind of solder, usually made from tin and lead.
| 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 1 Sodered verie close with safte Soder. 1771 Encycl. Brit. III. 616/2 Take silver, five penny-weight; brass, four penny-weight; melt them together for soft solder, which runs soonest. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 406 The solder generally made use of by the plumber is called soft solder. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 434 The soft-solder mostly used, is 2 parts tin and 1 part lead. 1858 Greener Gunnery 207 More than five thousand pairs of barrels made and put together with soft solder only. |
b. Flattery;
= soft sawder (see
sawder n.).
| 1845 J. R. Planché Golden Fleece ii. 23 Begone, I charge you, none of your soft solder: Your downy words don't weigh with me a feather. 1848 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. i. Wks. (1884) 226 The people [get] their annooal soft-sodder an' taxes. 1863 Reade Very Hard Cash xliii, She..sent in a note explaining who she was, with a bit of soft solder. 1869 Pall Mall G. 20 Sept. 3 It is so evident..that a square-jawed ruffian..will yield like a cherub to soft-solder and coaxing. |
5. [From the
vb.] An act of soldering.
| 1733 Cheyne Eng. Malady i. x. (1734) 97 A Tinker can mend a Hole in a Brass Pot..by a Soder or Patch. |
6. attrib. and
Comb.| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Solder-manufacturer, a maker of cement for metals. 1873 Richards Operator's Handbk. 123 For solder joints the silver solder of jewellers is convenient. 1875–84 Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., Solder-casting, -cutter, -cutting, -mold. 1895 Daily News 24 Dec. 7/1 A powerful solder-pounding machine. 1964 R. F. Ficchi Electr. Interference v. 72 (caption) Input and output connections..are solder-sealed terminals and A–N connector. Ibid. x. 193 A third method of connecting bus bars is by bolting two soldercoated bus bars, and applying heat to make a continuous connection. 1965 Wireless World Sept. 464/2 This unit..is available with either solder pins for direct connection..or with valve base pins. |
▪ II. † solder, n.2 Obs.—1 Perh. for
soldier in sense 4 of that word.
| 1603 Sir C. Heydon Jud. Astrol. vii. 187 That out of wheat there should spring vp darnell, solders, and smuttie geare. |
▪ III. solder, v. (
ˈsɒldə(r),
ˈsəʊdə(r))
Forms: α. 5–6 (9
Sc.)
souder, 5–7
soudre; 5–6 (9
Sc.)
sowder (5
-yr, 6
sowdr-); 8–9
north. and
Sc. sowther, 9
souther. β. 6–7
sauder (6
savdr-), 6–7 (9)
sawder (7
sawdr-). γ. 5–8
soder (7
sodr-), 7 (9
dial.)
soader (7
soadr-), 7–8 (9
dial.)
sodder (7
soddr-); 6–8 (9
dial.)
sother. δ. 6–7
soulder. ε. 6–
solder (6–7
soldr-).
[f. solder n.1 Cf. sold v.2] 1. trans. To unite or fasten by means of a metallic solder. Also with
in,
on,
together,
up, etc.
| α c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1447 And alle þe mynyssionys of þat nayle..Weron soudryd fast aȝayne withouȝt ony fayle. 1492–3 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 187 A ll. di. of sawdyr to sowdyr þe same pype, xij d. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xvi. xcii. (W. de W.) 584 Leed may not be sone soudryd to leed nother to brasse. 1530 Palsgr. 725/2, I wyll sowder this pipe of leede. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 59 These plates..shoulde haue bothe the endes soudred togither. 1613 M. Ridley Magn. Bodies 85 As though they were tied, glued, and soudred together. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxvii, It's best to say ye're an auld tinkler,..for maybe the gudewife will hae something to souther. 1829 Brockett N.C. Gloss. (ed. 2), Sowther, to solder. 1882 Jamieson's Sc. Dict. IV. 352/2 To sowther, souther, to solder. |
| β 1511 [see soldering vbl. n. 1] 1560–1 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 628 For mendinge and sawderinge the cunditte pipe. 1570 Levins Manip. 78 To Sau[d]er, conferruminare. 1605 [see soldering vbl. n. 1]. |
| γ 1561 Eden Arte Nauig. ii. xx. 41 b, A..wyre..made fast or sothered in it. 1601 Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 513 As tin doth soder and join togither broken copper. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. Proem 11 There was soder'd on to the shank of the Cock..a Plate of Tin. 1684 R. Waller Nat. Exp. 51 When we had first put it through the Ring M, sodered to a small Iron Rod. 1743 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 296 To George the goldsmith..for sothering on a pece of brass. 1769 Phil. Trans LIX. 70, I then soddered the wires of each jar to the rod which connected them. |
| δ 1535 Coverdale Dan. ii. 43 Like as yron wil not be souldered with a potsherde. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Agglutino,..to soulder together. 1659 J. Leak Water-wks. 7 Let the pipe DC be souldered to the bottom passing through it. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. iii. 39 Having most exactly bent the Ring, they Soulder the two ends of it together. |
| ε 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 59 Y⊇ tail of the siluer pipe stretcht it selfe into the mouth of a great paire of belowes, where it was close soldered. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 9 Sept. 1678, A plate of brasse soldered thereon. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 200 To the Conduit-Pipe is soldered an upright Pipe,..and at the End of this Socket is likewise soldered the Brass-Nut. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict., Lupulus 4 G, This Bed is to be cover'd with large double Tin, solder'd together at each Joint. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 11 The end..of the stop cock, is soldered or screwed into the end of the tube. 1858 Lardner Handbk. Nat. Phil. 307 In this hole is soldered the mouth of another tin bucket. 1895 Daily Chron. 15 Jan. 6/7 One of the difficulties in the use of aluminium has been the trouble of soldering it. |
b. transf. To unite firmly or closely, to cause to adhere strongly, by means of some substance or device.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 594 The mortar..hath not that binding as it ought, and so the walls built therewith are not sodred accordingly. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. iv. 32 As if the world should cleaue, and that slaine men Should soader vp the Rift. 1664 Power Exp. Phil. i. 5 The Common Fly..can at pleasure..sodder and be-glew herself to the plain she walks on. 1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 243/2 Instances of the toes soldered together, as in the Horse. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 158/1 The parietal bones are early soldered to the occipital. |
† 2. Med. To cause (wounds) to close up and become whole; to reunite (tissues or bones).
Obs.| α 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xvi. xix. (Caxton) 559 Glewe hath vertue..to soudre [Bodl. MS. soude] woundes and blotches. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 23 b/1 The foresayed suture is commonlye healed together the seaventh day, and soudered. |
| γ 1577 Frampton Joyful Newes iii. (1596) 94 Put into Sores, it healeth and sodereth them forthwith. 1639 T. de la Grey Expert Farrier 341 The iuyce of salendine will conglutinat and sodder the tongue together being cut or wounded. 1656 Ridgley Pract. Physick 172 A Plaister of Ivy Gum sodders bones wonderfully. 1733 Cheyne Eng. Malady i. x. (1734) 98 The Fluids..to soder and repair their Wounds. |
| δ 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme ii. xlii. 262 The leaues thereof are good to conglutinate and soulder togither both outward and inward wounds. 1652 Culpepper Eng. Physic. 35 The juyce put into fresh or green wounds doth quickly ‘soulder’ up the lips of them together. |
| ε 1628 Ford Lover's Mel. i. ii, As the one patches our tattered clothes, so the other solders our diseased flesh. 1769 Phil. Trans. LIX. 395 Inflammation solders up the mouths of these little vessels. a 1788 Pott Chirurg. Wks. II. 208 With a view to closing or soldering broken lymphatics. |
3. fig. To unite, to cause to adhere, in a close, firm, or intimate manner.
| γ 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxvi. §9, I could easily declare, how all things which are of God, hee hath..sodered as it were together with the glue of mutuall assistance. 1601 Dent Pathw. Heaven 83 These carnall worldlings which are fast sodred to the earth! 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 133 Selfe soders matters of all sorts together. 1675 R. Burthogge Causa Dei 39 'Tis..Soul and Body Soder'd into one Compositum that sins. 1708 Swift Sent. Ch. Eng. Man Wks. 1751 IV. 66 The Presbyterians, Anabaptists, Independents, and other Sects did all..unite and sodder up their several schemes to join against the Church. |
| δ 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. iii. 388 Thou visible God, That souldrest close Impossibilities, And mak'st them kisse. 1638 Drummond of Hawthornden Irene Wks. (1711) 166 That Power and Frame, which in a Monarchy hath been joined and souldered together many Ages. |
| ε 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet E iij, To the foure & twentie orders of knaues, thou maist solder the foure and twentie orders of fooles. 1646 J. Hall Horæ Vac. 98 Friendship..of equalls is ever best soldered. 1744 E. Moore Fables for Ladies xxii. 58 And, haply, use that precious metal To solder sexes, like a kettle. 1796 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 383 We have abdicated the crown of Corsica, which had been newly soldered to the crown of Great Britain. 1827 Gentl. Mag. XCVII. ii. 62 To permit his Royal Patronage to be soldered on to the Bible-Society. 1862 Lytton Strange Story I. 135, I clamped and soldered dogma to dogma in the links of my tinkered logic. |
† b. To close or block
up (the ear).
Obs.—1| 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche ii. ii, No wretched Adder ever soder'd up His wilful ear with trustier cement. |
† c. absol. To remain obdurately deaf.
Obs.—1| 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 865 That paddle and adoe which you have made to soder and play the Hypocrite. |
4. fig. To bring or restore to a sound or unimpaired condition; to repair, mend, patch up again.
| 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 471 The more tender the loue, the more hard to be sodered, when it hath receiued a cracke. c 1640 J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) II. 161 This peace was not so soundly on each part sawdred, but that afterwards it leaked at certaine crannells. 1697 C. Leslie Snake in Grass (ed. 2) 179 Thou..seek'st to sodder their Leaky Infallibility, that thou may'st Inherit it. 1704 Swift T. Tub ix, An art to sodder and patch up the flaws and imperfections of nature. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 216 The Men cast out in party-matches, Then sowther a' in deep debauches. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xlvii, Under pretence that they have southered sin wi' marriage. 1857 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. I. iii. 8 Fourteen thousand men are on their way to solder with slaughter what must have been the misdoings of somebody. |
b. Similarly with
up.
| 1594 Nashe Terrors of Night Ep. Ded., Pale penurious beautie, which giues dull Painters store of gold to solder vp their leane dints of deformity. 1607 Marston What You Will i. i, A rout of crased fortunes, whose crakt states Gape to be sodderd up. 1699 Garth Dispensary ii. 20 And some would know the issue of their Cause, And whether Gold can sodder up its flaws. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) IV. 58 She must therefore choose to be mine, for the sake of soldering up her reputation. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxiv, But it was a' sowdered up again some gait, and the bairn was sent awa. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. v. i, The sad Varennes business has been soldered up. |
5. absol. To perform the operation of uniting with solder.
| 1588 Purfoote (title), Howe to Gylde, Grane, Sowder, and Vernishe. 1639 T. de la Grey Expert Farrier 35 Handy⁓worke is to heat the iron well, to sodder well. 1715 tr. Pancirollus' Rerum Mem. II. vii. 316 One kind of it [mineral] is called Borax, or Green Earth, which the Goldsmiths solder with. 1771 Encycl. Brit. III. 616/2 To solder upon silver, brass, or iron. 1850 Carlyle Latter-d. Pamph. iv. 4 Begin to hammer at it, solder at it,..it will fall to sherds, as sure as rust is rust. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 62/2 The Egyptians soldered with lead as long ago as the time of Thothmes. |
† b. Of substances: To promote or cause close union; to serve as solder.
Obs.| 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. vii. lix. (Caxton) 275 Medycynes that close and soudre and brede good flesshe. 1612 J. Davies (Heref.) Muse's Sacrifice Wks. (Grosart) II. 69/1 Surgions Bands doe pinch, to solder so. 1645 Calamy Indictment 7 These are the glew that soders; these are the nerves and sinews that joyne a Kingdome together. |
6. intr. To adhere, unite, grow together. Also
fig.| 1470–85 Malory Arthur xvii. iv. 695 He took the suerd and sette the pecys to gyders and they soudered as fayr as euer they were to fore. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 12/1 They [bones] ioyne, and soulder (as it were) together agayne. Ibid. 23/1 If they [split lips] can not souder and ioyn, the one with the other. 1639 T. de la Grey Expert Farrier 322 If the sinew or artery be broken,..to cause it to soder or joyne againe. 1653 W. Blithe Eng. Improver Impr. 121 Nor [will] the Turf have fitting time to sodder and work together before the dry weather comes. 1737 Ramsay Prov. (1750) 126 Youth and eild never sowder well. 1776 G. White Selborne lxx, The tree in the suffering part was plastered with loam... If the parts coalesced and soldered together..the party was cured. 1897–1901 in Eng. Dial. Dict. |
b. Const.
with (a person or thing).
| 1641 Milton Prel. Episc. 22 Wee..take up there those cast principles which will soone cause us to soder up with them againe. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. xlvii. 125 The Tripple Crown could never solder with the English, nor it with that. c 1680 R. MacWard Contend. (1723) 4 Others also, with whom we must likewise souder, have been encouraged to repeat..the same disloyal Practises. |