Botryllus (botrilus)

[NL., dim. of Gr. βότρυς, a cluster or bunch of grapes, a curl or of the family Botryllida. B. violaceus are examples. bauther, bather; origin unknown; po ibly a corruption of pother. The earliest instances seem to be from Swift and other Irish men, which would seem to favor the supposed Ir. derivaIr. buaidhrim, I vex, disturb (ef. buaidhirt, tion, trouble, affliction); but the Ir. words as pronounced have no resemblance to bother, except as to the initial b.] I. trans. 11. To bewilder; confuse. With the din of which tube my head you so bother . T. Sheridan, To Swift. 2. To give trouble to; annoy; pester; worry. Dunsey bothered me for the money, and I let him have it. George Eliot, Silas Marner, ix. He bothered his audience with no accidental effects. Stedman, Poets of America, p. 280. [Used in the imperative as an expre ion of Impatience, or as a mild sort of execration. Bother the woman for plaguing me! =Syn. Pester, Worry, etc. See tease, v. t. Farrar.] IMG:content-2357.png:[blocks in formation] botheration (both-e-ra's hon), n. [ A man must have a good stomach that can swallow this botheration [autograph albums] as a compliment. Scott , Diary, Nov. 20, 1825. Their smallne , their folly, their rascality, and their simple power of botheration . Caroline Fox , Journal, p. 250.