*cher*

n. 1. 1 death's-head moth.
Syn. -- genus Acherontia [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of or pertaining to Acheron; infernal; hence, dismal, gloomy; moribund. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An accuser. [ Obs. ] Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who approaches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ archier, F. archer, LL. arcarius, fr. L. arcus bow. See Arc, Arch, n. ] A bowman, one skilled in the use of the bow and arrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A female archer. Markham. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) A small fish (Toxotes jaculator), of the East Indies; -- so called from its ejecting drops of water from its mouth at its prey. The name is also applied to Chætodon rostratus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The art or skill of an archer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. archerie. ] 1. The use of the bow and arrows in battle, hunting, etc.; the art, practice, or skill of shooting with a bow and arrows. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Archers, or bowmen, collectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let all our archery fall off
In wings of shot a-both sides of the van. Webster (1607). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who avouches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a member of the House of Commons of Great Britain who is not a party leader. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A small flat curl worn on the temple by women. [ Humorous ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, belches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a person who complains habitually, usually about everyday minor problems.
Syn. -- whiner, complainer, moaner, sniveler, crybaby, grumbler, squawker. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. (Eng. Law) One of the senior and governing members of an Inn of Court. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An alderman of a corporation. [ Eng. ] Ashmole. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A member of a court or council. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. One who frequents the benches of a tavern; an idler. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who beseeches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who bewitches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The power of bewitching or fascinating; bewitchment; charm; fascination. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is a certain bewitchery or fascination in words. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One whose employment it is to catch birds; a fowler. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) A shrub (Prunus Padus ) found in Northern and Central Europe. It bears small black cherries. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. one who enjoys watching birds, especially to find and identify a variety of birds in their natural habitats; a birder{ 2 }. [ PJC ]

n. One who, or that which, blanches or whitens; esp., one who anneals and cleanses money; also, a chemical preparation for this purpose. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, frightens away or turns aside. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And Gynecia, a blancher, which kept the dearest deer from her. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

And so even now hath he divers blanchers belonging to the market, to let and stop the light of the gospel. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who whitens, or whose occupation is to whiten, by bleaching. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Bleacheries A place or an establishment where bleaching is done. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, scares another; specifically, a person stationed to prevent the escape of the deer, at a hunt. See Blancher. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who blenches, flinches, or shrinks back. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A kind of half boot, or high shoe, with laces over the tongue; -- named from the Prussian general Blücher. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A play among children, in which a cherry, hung so as to bob against the mouth, is to be caught with the teeth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who mends or patches, esp. a tailor or cobbler. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A clumsy or careless workman; a bungler. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A young salmon; a grilse. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Bungling; awkward. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A botching, or that which is done by botching; clumsy or careless workmanship. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ After Dr. Auguste Boucherie, a French chemist, who invented the process. ] To impregnate with a preservative solution of copper sulphate, as timber, railroad ties, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. That which shoots forth branches; one who shows growth in various directions. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Falconry) A young hawk when it begins to leave the nest and take to the branches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A system of branches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A spit; a broach. [ 1913 Webster ]

On five sharp broachers ranked, the roast they turned. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who broaches, opens, or utters; a first publisher or promoter. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some such broacher of heresy. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bochere, bochier, OF. bochier, F. boucher, orig., slaughterer of buck goats, fr. OF. boc, F. bouc, a buck goat; of German or Celtic origin. See Buck the animal. ] 1. One who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for market; one whose occupation it is to kill animals for food. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A slaughterer; one who kills in large numbers, or with unusual cruelty; one who causes needless loss of life, as in battle. “Butcher of an innocent child.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Butcher's meat, such flesh of animals slaughtered for food as is sold for that purpose by butchers, as beef, mutton, lamb, and pork. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Butchered p. pr. & vb. n. Butchering. ] 1. To kill or slaughter (animals) for food, or for market; as, to butcher hogs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To murder, or kill, especially in an unusually bloody or barbarous manner. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Ithocles ] was murdered, rather butchered. Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. to bungle badly; to botch; -- used also when an object is damaged (literally or figuratively) in an activity; as, the new choir butchered the hymn.
Syn. -- mangle. [ PJC ]

n. 1. (Zool.) any species of shrike of the genus Lanius, so called because they impale their prey on thorns. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

2. (Zool.) large carnivorous Australian bird with the shrikelike habit of impaling prey on thorns. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

☞ The Lanius excubitor is the common butcher bird of Europe. In England, the bearded tit is sometimes called the lesser butcher bird. The American species are Lanius borealis, or northern butcher bird, and Lanius Ludovicianus or loggerhead shrike. The name butcher bird is derived from its habit of suspending its prey impaled upon thorns, after killing it. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The business of a butcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of slaughtering; the act of killing cruelly and needlessly. [ 1913 Webster ]

That dreadful butchering of one another. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Butchery quality. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like a butcher; without compunction; savage; bloody; inhuman; fell. “The victim of a butcherly murder.” D. Webster. [ 1913 Webster ]

What stratagems, how fell, how butcherly,
This deadly quarrel daily doth beget! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) A genus of plants (Ruscus); esp. Ruscus aculeatus, which has large red berries and leaflike branches. See Cladophyll. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bocherie shambles, fr. F. boucherie. See Butcher, n. ] 1. The business of a butcher. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Murder or manslaughter, esp. when committed with unusual barbarity; great or cruel slaughter. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The perpetration of human butchery. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A slaughterhouse; the shambles; a place where blood is shed. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Like as an ox is hanged in the butchery. Fabyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Murder; slaughter; carnage. See Massacre. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, catches. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Baseball) The player who stands behind the batsman to catch the ball. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Sherif. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. chérimolier. ] (Bot.) 1. A small downy-leaved tree (Anona Cherimolia), with fragrant flowers. It is a native of Peru. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Its delicious fruit, which is succulent, dark purple, and similar to the custard apple of the West Indies. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Cherished p. pr. & vb. n. Cherising. ] [ F. chérir, fr. cher dear, fr. L. carus. See Caress, Finish. ] 1. To treat with tenderness and affection; to nurture with care; to protect and aid. [ 1913 Webster ]

We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. 1 Thess. ii. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To hold dear; to embrace with interest; to indulge; to encourage; to foster; to promote; as, to cherish religious principle. [ 1913 Webster ]

To cherish virtue and humanity. Burke.

Syn. -- To nourish; foster; nurse; nurture; entertain; encourage; comfort; protect; support; See Nurture. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. deeply loved or valued.
Syn. -- precious, treasured, wanted. [ WordNet 1.5 ]