different between pucker vs shirr

English

Etymology

Probable alteration of poke (verb, or the noun meaning "a small bag").

Verb

pucker (third-person singular simple present puckers, present participle puckering, simple past and past participle puckered)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To pinch or wrinkle; to squeeze inwardly, to dimple or fold.
   • 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Crooked Man".

     He had a very dark, fearsome face, and a gleam in his eyes that comes back to me in my dreams. His hair and whiskers were shot with gray, and his face was all crinkled and puckered like a withered apple.

   • 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 13.

     The conduct of the white strangers it was that caused him the greatest perturbation. He puckered his brows into a frown of deep thought.

Derived terms

• pucker up

Translations

Noun

pucker (plural puckers)

1. A fold or wrinkle.
   • 1921, Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow, Chapter 3.

     The mouth was compressed, and on either side of it two tiny wrinkles had formed themselves in her cheeks. An infinity of slightly malicious amusement lurked in those little folds, in the puckers about the half-closed eyes, in the eyes themselves, bright and laughing between the narrowed lids.

2. (colloquial) A state of perplexity or anxiety; confusion; bother; agitation.
   • 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd.

     What a pucker everything is in!" said Bathsheba, discontentedly when the child had gone. "Get away, Maryann, or go on with your scrubbing, or do something! You ought to be married by this time, and not here troubling me!"

Translations

English

Etymology

Unknown.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???/

Verb

shirr (third-person singular simple present shirrs, present participle shirring, simple past and past participle shirred)

1. (US, sewing) To make gathers in textiles by drawing together parallel threads.
2. (US, transitive) To bake (a raw egg removed from its shell) in a baking dish.
   • 2006, Kim Severson, THE CHEF: ANNE QUATRANO; Letting the Land Make a Statement on the Plate, NYTimes, July 6

     But her favorite way to express their simplicity is to shirr them. It's an old-fashioned technique that essentially means baking an egg. In her version, the eggs in ramekins are simmered in seasoned cream that reduces slightly into a soft sauce.

Translations

Noun

shirr (plural shirrs)

1. (sewing) A shirring.

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish sirid (“to traverse, seek”). Cognate with Scottish Gaelic sir.

Verb

shirr (verbal noun shirrey, past participle shirrit)

1. seek, go after, cast about, search, solicit, prospect
2. request
3. require
4. endeavour
5. apply

Derived terms

• aahirr (“research”)
• cohirr (“compete”)

Mutation