moth-er
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Coined from moth + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (occupational suffix) by analogy to mouser, with the hyphen kept to avoid confusion with mother (“female parent”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɒðə/, /ˈmɒθə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmɔðɚ/, /ˈmɔθɚ/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˈmɑðɚ/, /ˈmɑθɚ/
- Rhymes: -ɒðə(ɹ), -ɒθə(ɹ)
The th component is voiced /ð/ or voiceless /θ/ predictably depending on whether the pronunciation of mouser has voiced /z/ or voiceless /s/.
Noun
[edit]- A person (especially an entomologist) or animal that catches moths.
- 1997 May, Backpacker, volume 25, number 4, page 30:
- Modern moth-ers use black lights, mercury vapor lamps, and portable generators to saturate the night sky[.]
- 1997, Joshua M. Epstein, Nonlinear Dynamics, Mathematical Biology, and Social Science:
- Many species of bats are skilled ‘moth-ers’: they pursue them at speed after detecting them[.]
- 2015, Tessa Wardley, The Countryside Book: 101 Ways To Play, Watch Wildlife, ...:
- Real moth-ers, mothies or lepidopterists, will use a mercury vapour bulb and even a special trap[.]
Alternative forms
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)
- English terms suffixed with -er (occupation)
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɒðə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɒðə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- Rhymes:English/ɒθə(ɹ)
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English multiword terms
- English terms with quotations