welsh

== English == === Alternative forms === welch, Welsh === Etymology 1 === Sometimes held to derive from disparaging stereotypes about the Welsh, though firm evidence of this derivation is lacking. Compare gyp (“swindle”), probably from Gypsy, and jew (“defraud”), from Jew. ==== Pronunciation ==== (UK) IPA(key): /wɛlʃ/ Rhymes: -ɛlʃ Homophone: Welsh ==== Verb ==== welsh (third-person singular simple present welshes, present participle welshing, simple past and past participle welshed) (derogatory, sometimes offensive, transitive) To cheat or swindle someone, often by not paying a debt, especially a gambling debt. (derogatory, sometimes offensive, transitive) To go back on one's word. ===== Usage notes ===== This term is sometimes considered offensive, particularly by Welsh people, because it is viewed as a negative stereotype of them. ==== See also ==== === Etymology 2 === Inherited from Old English welise (“foreign”). ==== Adjective ==== welsh (comparative more welsh, superlative most welsh) (obsolete) Foreign. ===== Derived terms ===== welshnut (walnut) Welsh onion === References === “welsh”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “welsh”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.