perscopate

verb /ˈpɜːskəpeɪt/

1. to bristle or horripilate

   archaic

   Let us take your cat: now suppose we shave her tail, so that it cannot shall I say perscopate or bristle; suppose we attach a board to her back, so that it cannot arch; suppose we then exhibit a displeasing sight – a sportive dog, for instance.

Where it comes from

From per- (“throughout, thoroughly”) + + Latin scōpātus, from scōpāre (“sweep”), from scōpa (“broom, bundle of sticks”) (classically only found as plural scōpae). By surface analysis, per- + scop(a) + -ate.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry perscopate (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← pernoctationperscrutate →

Another random word More words starting with P