▪ I.†acker1 Obs.or dial.Also aker, akyr, aiker.[Of uncertain origin; probably a variant of eagren., the ‘bore’ on tidal rivers, called by Lyly agar.]†1.? Flood tide; bore; strong current in the sea. Obs.c1440Prom. Parv. 8Akyr of the see flowynge[1499 aker], Impetus maris.
a1500Knyghthode & BatayleMS.Cott. Titus A xxiii. 49, quoted in Prom. Parv. 8Wel know they the remue yf it a-ryse, An aker is it clept, I vnderstonde, Whos myght there may no shippe or wynd wyt stonde. This remue in th' occian of propre kynde Wyt oute wynde hathe his commotioun.
1552HuloetAbecedarium,Aker of the sea, whiche preventeth[=precedes]the flowde or flowynge, impetus maris.
2.A ripple, furrow, or disturbance of the surface of water; a ‘cat's-paw.’ dial.1808JamiesonScot.Dict.,Aiker, the motion, break, or movement, made by a fish in the water, when swimming fast.
1865Way inProm. Parv. 8In CravenDial., Acker is a ripple on the water.
1865Provincialism in CornhillMag.July 34Sailors at sea name it when seen on a larger scale by the expressive term ‘cats-paw.’ The North-country peasant, however, knows it by the name ‘acker,’ implying, as it were, a space ploughed up by the wind.
▪ II.acker2 slang (orig.Services').|ˈækə|Also akka, akker.[Prob.ad.Arab.fakka small change, coins;app.first among British and allied troops inEgypt.]1.Mil.A piastre.1937PartridgeDict.Slang 7/2Akka, an Egyptian piastre: Regular Army's: from ca. 1920.
1948B. Pearson in C. K. SteadN.Z.Short Stories (1966) 125Well, the cheapest thing was twenty ackers, I had only ten till pay-day.
a1963J. Lusby in ‘B. James’Austral.Short Stories (1963) 239‘See who it was?’ ‘No.’ ‘The long red guy—pounds to ackers,’ said Rafe.
1976G. TalbotPermission to Speak iii. 39Piastres were not suffering, except from the contemptuous slang of British troops who called them ‘ackers’.
2.gen.Usu. in pl.Money, cash; coins or bank-notes.1939Airman'sGaz.Dec.,Useful for drilling holes in the pay bobs when the ackers are short.
1946J. IrvingRoyal Navalese 21Akka, money.
1958M. K. JosephI'll soldier no More ix. 166'Ow 'bout this, Sarge?..There's some akkers in it - francs.
1965H. R. F. KeatingIs Skin-deep, is Fatal xix. 229,I can't offer a great deal in the way of ackers. Though you'd get your ten per cent, old man.
1977D. ClarkGimmel Flask ix. 166Saves a few ackers, I suppose.
1980R. AdamsGirl in Swing (1981) xix. 243These buggers, they're all into the ackers—swamp us tomorrow before we can make two bids.
▪ III.ackerobs.form of acre.
