pudder

English edit

Etymology edit

Compare pother.

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /ˈpʌdə(ɹ)/
Rhymes: -ʌdə(ɹ)
Audio (US) (file)

Noun edit

pudder (plural pudders)

A confused noise; turmoil; bustle; tumult.
- 1641 May, John Milton, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Cavvses that hitherto have Hindred it; republished as Will Taliaferro Hale, editor, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England (Yale Studies in English; LIV), New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916, →OCLC:
  All in a pudder.

Verb edit

pudder (third-person singular simple present pudders, present participle puddering, simple past and past participle puddered)

(transitive) To perplex; to embarrass; to confuse; to bother.
- a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC:
  that can be of no other use but to perplex and pudder him if he compares them
(intransitive) To make a tumult or bustle; to splash; to make a pother or fuss.
- a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). Of Quietness, and doing our own Business”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:
  Puddering in the designs or doings of others.
- 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, published 1635, →OCLC:
  Others pudder into their food with their broad nebs.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “pudder”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)