D defs.my
Entry 4 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Cotter

/(k?t"t?r)/ · Cot·ter · IPA /kɑtɚ/
01 n. A cottager; a cottier.
  1. 1.
    A cottager; a cottier.
    “Through Sandwich Notch the West Wind sang Good morrow to the cotter.” Whittier.
02 n. A piece of wood or metal, commonly wedge-shaped, used for fastening together parts of a machine or structure. It is driven into an opening …
  1. 1.
    A piece of wood or metal, commonly wedge-shaped, used for fastening together parts of a machine or structure. It is driven into an opening through one or all of the parts. [See Illust.] In the United States a cotter is commonly called a key. Also: key
  2. 2.
    A toggle.
03 v. t. To fasten with a cotter.
  1. 1.
    To fasten with a cotter.