pickle herring (piklher"ing)

[= D. pekel haring, pekelhaaring = MLG. pekelherink, pick elherink, LG. pekelhering, a pickled herring, a merry-andrew, > G. pökelhering, a pickled herring (cf. G. pickelhering, merry-andrew, from the E. word, which was carried to Germany by English comedians who played in that country in the 17th century); as pickle2 + herring.] 1. A pickled herring.-21. A merry-andrew; a zany; a buffoon. Compare second quotation under pickled, 3. pickler (pik'lėr), n. One who pickles; specifically, in the fisheries, a man detailed to put the fish in pickle. pickle-worm (pik'l-wėrm), n. The larva of a pyralid moth, Phacellura nit i dalis, of striking aspect, which lays its eggs on young cucum bers and other cucurbitaceous Moth of Pickle-worm (Phacellura (Eudioptis) nitidalis). plants. The larva, on hatching, bores into the vegetable, causing it to rot. The moth is found throughout North and South America. picklock (pik'lok), n. [ Now, sir, in their absence, will we fall to our picklocks , enter the chamber, seize the jewels, make an escape from Florence, and we are made for ever. Fletcher ( and another ), Fair Maid of the Inn, v. 2. 2. A person who picks locks; especially, a thief who tries to enter doors by picking the locks. Any state-decypherer, or politic picklock of the scene, so solemnly ridiculous as to search out who was meant by the ginger-bread woman. B. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, Ind. 3. A superior selected wool. See the quotation, In the woollen trade short-staple wool is separated into qualities, known, in descending series from the finest to the most worthle , as picklock, prime, choice, super, head, seconds, abb, and breech. Encyc. Brit., XXIV. 656. pickman (pik'man), n.; pl. pickmen (-men). A workman who uses or is provided with a pick. Ure, Dict., IV. 631.