pilcher

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪlt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

pilcher (plural pilchers)

1. Archaic form of pilchard.
   • c. 1612–1615?, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, revised by Philip Massinger, “Loves Cure or, The Martial Maid”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene i:

     He that eats nothing but a red herring a-day shall ne'er be broiled for the devil's rasher: a pilcher, signor, a surdiny, an olive, that I may be a philosopher first, and immortal after.

From pilch +‎ -er.

pilcher (plural pilchers)

1. (obsolete) One who wears a pilch.
2. (obsolete) A scabbard, as of a sword.
   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     MERCUTIO: Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears?

• “pilcher”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.