pepper pot
See also: pepperpot and pepper-pot
English
Alternative forms
- pepperpot, pepper-pot (in attributive use)
Etymology
The mushroom sense (sense 2) arose because the mature fruiting body of the mushroom resembles a literal pepper pot (sense 1) and the spores that fly out of it resemble the granules of pepper being dispensed. The feisty-person sense (sense 4) arose because such a person figuratively adds spice to life, like a literal pepper pot (sense 1) does.
Noun
pepper pot (plural pepper pots)
- A small container with a perforated top used for sprinkling ground pepper.
- Synonyms: pepper shaker, peppershaker, pepperette
- Hypernyms: shaker < dispenser
- Coordinate terms: pepper mill, peppermill
- A mushroom, Myriostoma coliforme.
- A soup made of tripe, vegetables and dumplings, seasoned with pepper.
- Synonym: Philadelphia pepper pot
- (figurative) A person who is hot tempered; a feisty or argumentative person.
- 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
- An unfortunate quarrel between our pepperpots marked the outset of our new stage.
Translations
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