GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Tester (?), n. [OE. testere a headpiece, helmet, OF. testiere, F. têtière a head covering, fr. OF. teste the head, F. tête, fr. L. testa an earthen pot, the skull. See Test a cupel, and cf. Testière.]
   1. A headpiece; a helmet. [Obs.]
   
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   The shields bright, testers, and trappures. Chaucer.
   
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   2. A flat canopy, as over a pulpit or tomb.  Oxf. Gross.
   
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   3. A canopy over a bed, supported by the bedposts.
   
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   No testers to the bed, and the saddles and portmanteaus heaped on me to keep off the cold. Walpole.
   
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2.       
   Tester, n. [For testern, teston, fr. F. teston, fr. OF. teste the head, the head of the king being impressed upon the coin. See Tester a covering, and cf. Testone, Testoon.] An old French silver coin, originally of the value of about eighteen pence, subsequently reduced to ninepence, and later to sixpence, sterling. Hence, in modern English slang, a sixpence; -- often contracted to tizzy. Called also teston.  Shak.
   
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