o·sier

(ō′zhər)

a. Any of several willows having long rodlike twigs used in basketry, especially Salix viminalis, native to Eurasia.

b. A twig of one of these shrubs or trees.

2. Any of several North American dogwoods, especially the red osier.

[Middle English, from Old English oser and Old French osier, both from Medieval Latin osera, osiera.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

osier

(ˈəʊzɪə)

1. (Plants) any of various willow trees, esp Salix viminalis, whose flexible branches or twigs are used for making baskets, etc

2. (Crafts) a twig or branch from such a tree

3. (Plants) any of several North American dogwoods, esp the red osier

[C14: from Old French, probably from Medieval Latin ausēria, perhaps of Gaulish origin; compare Breton aoz]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

o•sier

(ˈoʊ ʒər)

n.

1. any of various willows having tough, flexible twigs or branches that are used for wickerwork.

2. a twig from such a willow.

3. any of various North American dogwoods.

[1300–50; Middle English < Old French, masculine derivative of osiere < Gallo-Romance *alisaria < Frankish *alis- alder]

o′siered, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	osier - flexible twig of a willow tree withy, withe - strong flexible twig
	2.	osier - any of various willows having pliable twigs used in basketry and furniture genus Salix, Salix - a large and widespread genus varying in size from small shrubs to large trees: willows willow, willow tree - any of numerous deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix golden willow, Salix alba vitellina, Salix vitellina - European willow having greyish leaves and yellow-orange twigs used in basketry almond willow, black Hollander, Salix amygdalina, Salix triandra - Old World willow with light green leaves cultivated for use in basketry basket willow, purple osier, purple willow, red willow, Salix purpurea, red osier - Eurasian osier having reddish or purple twigs and bark rich in tannin common osier, hemp willow, Salix viminalis, velvet osier - willow with long flexible twigs used in basketry

Translations

osier

vimine

osier

[ˈəʊʒəʳ]

A. N → mimbre m or f

B. CPD osier bed N → mimbrera f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

osier

n → Korbweide f; (= twig) → Weidenrute or -gerte f

attr → Weiden-; osier basket → Weidenkorb m; osier chair → Korbstuhl m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

osier

[ˈəʊzɪəʳ] n → vinco

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

My own work went forward by slow degrees, as I helped my osier farmer and wicker-worker and saw to the making of the road.

Every year the floods deposited a rich alluvial soil on this spot, where there should be no difficulty in growing osiers. I reckoned out the quantity of wicker-work of various kinds required from time to time by the canton, and went over to Grenoble, where I found a young craftsman, a clever worker, but without any capital.

And when I saw the newly-built house, with the green-painted shutters, the vine beside the doorway, and the bench and bundles of osiers before it; when I saw a tidy, neatly-dressed woman within it, nursing a plump, pink and white baby among the workmen, who were singing merrily and busily plaiting their wicker-work under the superintendence of a man who but lately had looked so pinched and pale, but now had an atmosphere of prosperity about him; when I saw all this, I confess that I could not forego the pleasure of turning basket-maker for a moment, of going into the shop to hear how things went with them, and of giving myself up to a feeling of content that I cannot express in words, for I had all their happiness as well as my own to make me glad.

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The whole extended about three- quarters of a mile along the river bank, and was composed of conical lodges, that looked like so many small hillocks, being wooden frames intertwined with osier, and covered with earth.

It was somewhat spacious, and formed of four forked trunks of trees placed upright, supporting cross-beams and a frame of poles interwoven with osiers, and the whole covered with earth.

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Over his head, from the branches of the osier, hung a beautiful harp of polished wood inlaid with gold and silver in fantastic devices.

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Suzanne hid the sack in a sort of gamebag made of osier which she had on her arm, all the while cursing du Bousquier for his stinginess; for one thousand francs was the sum she wanted.

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409-414) So saying, Apollo twisted strong withes with his hands meaning to bind Hermes with firm bands; but the bands would not hold him, and the withes of osier fell far from him and began to grow at once from the ground beneath their feet in that very place.

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Then on the bank of Jordan, by a creek, Where winds with reeds and osiers whispering play, Plain fishermen (no greater men them call), Close in a cottage low together got, Their unexpected loss and plaints outbreathed:-- "Alas, from what high hope to what relapse Unlooked for are we fallen!

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Now, in barge and boat; and now ashore among the osiers, or tramping amidst mud and stakes and jagged stones in low-lying places, where solitary watermarks and signals of strange shapes showed like spectres, John Jasper worked and toiled.

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It proved of excellent advantage to me now, that when I was a boy, I used to take great delight in standing at a basket-maker's, in the town where my father lived, to see them make their wicker-ware; and being, as boys usually are, very officious to help, and a great observer of the manner in which they worked those things, and sometimes lending a hand, I had by these means full knowledge of the methods of it, and I wanted nothing but the materials, when it came into my mind that the twigs of that tree from whence I cut my stakes that grew might possibly be as tough as the sallows, willows, and osiers in England, and I resolved to try.

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Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat Spirit of Northumberland tows Wanderer II into the Tyne with relief lifeboat Osier in the background towing Shearwater

Veteran of D-Day in sea rescue