Meanings
plural open-arses
- UKregionalThe medlar fruit.First known use 10th c.
In several of our counties the same fruit is called an open arse; another of those unluckily belotted travesties of a very properly-expressed original phrase [...].
1837, John Bellenden Kerr, An Essay on the Archaeology of our Popular Phrases and Nursery Rhymes, vol II.11 more example
On a second reading, prompted by the reproaches of several friends and scholars, I conclude that the pun on medlar, slangily known as ‘an open-arse’, and poperin pear, shape-resembling penis and scrotum, is so forcibly obvious that ‘an open et-caetera’ must here mean ‘an open arse’.
1968, Eric Partridge, Shakespeare's Bawdy, Routledge, published 2002, page 129
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishopenears
- Middle Englishopen-ers
- Englishopen-arse
From Middle English open-ers, from Old English openears, corresponding to open + arse, ‘with allusion to the large cavity at the end of the fruit between the persistent calyx lobes’ – OED3.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
open-arse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/open-arse
“open-arse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/open-arse. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “open-arse,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/open-arse.
Source: open-arse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.