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Harrow vs Ripper - What's the difference?

harrow | ripper |

In obsolete terms the difference between harrow and ripper

is that harrow is a call for help, or of distress, alarm etc while ripper is one who brings fish from the seacoast to markets in inland towns.

As a verb harrow

is to drag a harrow over; to break up with a harrow.

As an interjection harrow

is a call for help, or of distress, alarm etc.

harrow

English

Etymology 1

Either representing unattested (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A device consisting of a heavy framework having several disks or teeth in a row, which is dragged across ploughed land to smooth or break up the soil, to remove weeds or cover seeds; a harrow plow.
  • * 1918 , Louise & Aylmer Maude, trans. Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina , Oxford 1998, p. 153:
    • He sent for the carpenter, who was under contract to be with the threshing-machine, but it turned out that he was mending the harrows , which should have been mended the week before Lent.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=1960 , author= , title=(Jeeves in the Offing) , section=chapter X , passage=“It may be fun for her,” I said with one of my bitter laughs, “but it isn't so diverting for the unfortunate toads beneath the harrow whom she plunges so ruthlessly in the soup.”}}
  • * 1969 , Bessie Head, When Rain Clouds Gather , Heinemann 1995, p. 28:
    • Part of your job would be to learn tractor ploughing and the use of planters, harrows , and cultivators.
  • (military) An obstacle formed by turning an ordinary harrow upside down, the frame being buried.
    • See also
    *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To drag a harrow over; to break up with a harrow.
  • * Bible, Job xxxix. 10
    • Will he harrow the valleys after thee?
  • * 1719
    • When the corn was sown, I had no harrow, but was forced to go over it myself, and drag a great heavy bough of a tree over it, to scratch it, as it may be called, rather than rake or harrow it.
  • To traumatize or disturb; to frighten or torment.
    • The headless horseman harrowed Ichabod Crane as he tried to reach the bridge.
  • To break or tear, as with a harrow; to wound; to lacerate; to torment or distress; to vex.
  • * Rowe
    • my aged muscles harrowed up with whips
  • * Shakespeare
    • I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word / Would harrow up thy soul.
    Derived terms
    * harrowing * Harrowing of Hell

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) haro, harou, of uncertain origin.

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (obsolete) A call for help, or of distress, alarm etc.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.vi:
    • Harrow , the flames, which me consume (said hee) / Ne can be quencht, within my secret bowels bee.

    References

    ripper

    English

    Etymology 1

    ; originated 1605–15.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something that rips (something else).
  • Someone who rips (something).
  • A legislative bill or act that transfers powers of appointment from the usual holders to a chief executive or a board of officials.
  • A murderer who kills and often mutilates victims with a blade or similar sharp weapon.
  • (mining) A hook-like tool used to tear away ore, rock, etc.
  • (British, AU, slang) Something that is an excellent example of its kind.
  • * 2001 , Filton Hebbard, Memories of Kalgoorlie: Tales from the Australian Outback (page 334)
    • Martin walked around the vehicle, viewing it from all angles and giggling as he did so. “She's a ripper , Bert, a real ripper!”
  • (computing) Software that extracts content from files or storage media.
  • (agriculture) A tool or plant used to reduce soil compaction.
  • A hot dog deep-fried in oil until the casing bursts.
    • Derived terms
    * radish ripper
    References
    * * *

    Etymology 2

    Compare .

    Alternative forms

    * ripler

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) One who brings fish from the seacoast to markets in inland towns.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
    • But what's the action we are for now? Robbing a ripper of his fish.
    (Webster 1913) English agent nouns