fettler

English

Etymology

fettle +‎ -er

Noun

fettler (plural fettlers)

  1. A person who maintains railway lines.
  2. Someone whose job is to sand and grind small imperfections from metal and ceramic castings.
  3. (by extension) Someone who fiddles or tinkers with things.
  4. (slang, Britain, Lancashire) A friend or mate
    How's tha' doing fettler?
  5. (mining, historical) An ostler; one who looks after the horses in a mine.

Quotations
  • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, Chapter VI, p. 79,
    Sometimes the engine stopped for water, or to drop stores at fettlers' camps, or to accumulate the steam to take it up a heavy grade.
  • 1939. Comrade Fettler (a Union song about Fettlers])
    The summer brings its nursery, with dust and sandy blight
    But the Fettler must keep toiling, to keep the track alright.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.