dosser
dosser Lexical Profile
dosser Game Scores & Validity
• noun
British An idle, lazy, or unproductive person who avoids work or responsibility.
"He was fired after his manager grew tired of him acting like a complete dosser in the office."
British A homeless person or vagrant who sleeps in cheap lodging houses or rough outdoor shelters.
"The charity opened a winter night shelter to provide warm meals for local dossers."
A large basket or pannier carried on the back, or one of a pair slung over the back of a pack animal.
"The medieval peasant strapped a heavy wicker dosser to his shoulders to carry produce to the market."
An ornamental cloth or tapestry hung on the walls of a hall, behind the seats of a chancel, or over the back of a chair.
"Embroidered velvet dossers were hung behind the high table to keep out the draft from the stone walls."
• Rhymes for dosser
Word Origin & Etymology
In its modern British slang sense, the word derives from 'doss' (to sleep in a cheap lodging or rough shelter), which likely stems from the obsolete noun 'doss' meaning a bed or seat, from French 'dos' and Latin 'dorsum' (back). The historical sense of a basket carried on the back or an ornamental wall hanging shares this same Old French root 'dossier'.