scrimshander
/ˈskɹɪmʃændə/
scrimshander means someone who scrimshaws. It carries an Arena rating of 1328, earned across 65 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, scrimshander ranks #616 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #928 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,287 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #3,046 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
scrimshander is pronounced /ˈskɹɪmʃændə/.
Why “scrimshander” is a great word
SCRIMSHANDER — [Noun, Verb] One who practices the art of scrimshaw, etching intricate designs on whale ivory, bone, or similar materials. Of unknown origin; first recorded in U.S. nautical use in 1826 (logbook of the brig By Chance) and in print in 1850–55. Unlike an 'engraver,' who works on varied hard surfaces with professional detachment, or a 'whittler,' who casually shapes wood, a scrimshander is defined by a patient intimacy with the leavings of the hunt. It is the precise scratch of a sail needle on a sperm-whale tooth under a whale-oil lamp, the careful filling of hair-thin lines with soot to grant a memory its shadow, the slow transformation of idle hours and oceanic vastness into a portable museum. The craft is a fragile testament to the human compulsion to impose narrative upon the raw materials of one's captivity, a meticulous mark against an indifferent sea.
noun
- Someone who scrimshaws.
- Synonym of scrimshaw (“manufacture of items by sailors from bone, etc”).
verb
- Synonym of scrimshaw.e.g.“Moreover, he possesses a handsome army of scrimshandered chessmen whom we shall keep busy until either the Prophetess’s departure or the Nellie’s arrival.” — 2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Sceptre (Hodder and Stoughton), →ISBN:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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