English · Idiom Historical

to dor the dotterel

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

Dor is an obsolete word meaning to trick or cheat. Whence the phrase means to cheat the simpleton.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “to dor the dotterel” mean?

Dor is an obsolete word meaning to trick or cheat. Whence the phrase means to cheat the simpleton.

Is “to dor the dotterel” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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