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tester

Tester Tes"ter, n. [OE. testere a headpiece, helmet, OF. testiere, F. t[^e]ti[`e]re a head covering, fr. OF. teste the head, F. t[^e]te, fr. L. testa an earthen pot, the skull. See Test a cupel, and cf. Testi[`e]re.] 1. A headpiece; a helmet. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

The shields bright, testers, and trappures. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

2. A flat canopy, as over a pulpit or tomb. --Oxf. Gross. [1913 Webster]

3. A canopy over a bed, supported by the bedposts. [1913 Webster]

No testers to the bed, and the saddles and portmanteaus heaped on me to keep off the cold. --Walpole. [1913 Webster]

Tester Tes"ter, n. [For testern, teston, fr. F. teston, fr. OF. teste the head, the head of the king being impressed upon the coin. See Tester a covering, and cf. Testone, Testoon.] An old French silver coin, originally of the value of about eighteen pence, subsequently reduced to ninepence, and later to sixpence, sterling. Hence, in modern English slang, a sixpence; -- often contracted to tizzy. Called also teston. --Shak. [1913 Webster]