quack-salver

A form of quacksalver — One falsely claiming to possess medical or other skills, especially one who dispenses potions, ointments, etc., supposedly having curative powers; a quack.

Meanings

nounquack-salver (plural quack-salvers)

plural quack-salvers

  1. alternativeAlternative form of quacksalver.

    “I come before you, ladies and gentlemen, […] to introduce to you what I call my Elixir Anthropos— […]” […] [H]e listened intently to the quack-salver’s address, and from time to time his eyes would twinkle and his lips curve in an ironic smile.

    1910, Jeffrey Farnol, “Which Describes Sundry Happenings at the Fair, and Ends this First Book”, in The Broad Highway: A Romance of Kent, new and cheaper edition, London; Edinburgh: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd., →OCLC, book I, page 153
    1 more example

    Wid[ow]. Why, Man's Life is but a Flower, Mr. Jolly, and the Flower withers, and Man withers, as Mr. Knock-down obſerv'd laſt Sabbath-day at Evening Exerciſe: But, Neighbour, you're paſt the Flower, you've grown old as well as I— / Jol[ly]. I'the very Flower; that damn'd Quack-ſalver—

    1710, Abraham Cowley, “Cutter of Coleman-Street”, in The Works of Mr. Abraham Cowley: In Two Volumes. Consisting of Those which were Formerly Printed; and Those which He Design’d for the Press; Publishd out of the Authors Original Copies. With The Cutter of Coleman-Street, 11th edition, volume II, London: Printed for J[acob] Tonson; and sold by D. Browne [et al.], →OCLC, act II, scene vii, page 832
Cite this entry
APA

quack-salver. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quack-salver

MLA

“quack-salver.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quack-salver. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quack-salver,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quack-salver.

Source: quack-salver on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.