spieler
See also: Spieler
English
WOTD – 3 September 2015
Alternative forms
- shpieler, speiler
Etymology
From German Spieler (“player, gambler”) or from spiel.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈspiːlə/
Audio (RP) (file)
Noun
spieler (plural spielers)
- (slang, now chiefly Australia, New Zealand) A swindler, a gambler.
- 1891, Banjo Paterson, An Evening in Dandaloo:
- That a crowd of Sydney stealers,
Jockeys, pugilists and spielers
Brought some horses, real heelers,
Came and put us through.
-
- A gambling club.
- A person who speaks fluently and glibly; a barker.
- 1908 September – 1909 September, Jack London, chapter 31, in Martin Eden, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published September 1909, OCLC 4052119:
- "Bosco! He eats 'em alive! Eats 'em alive!" Brissenden exclaimed, imitating the spieler of a locally famous snake-eater.
- 1961, Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part I:
- Two thousand men, women and children turned out for this giant excursion and danced and drank the day away while professional spielers extolled the virtues of the new metropolis and inveigled the unwary into investment.
-
- (Canada, US, broadcasting, informal) A radio or television announcer.
Related terms
- spiel
Further reading
- Jonathon Green (2023), “spieler”, in Green's Dictionary of Slang
- Eric Partridge (2005), “spieler”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 2 (J–Z), London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 1833.
Anagrams
- lepries, repiles, replies