What is "otter"

Otter \Ot"ter\ ([o^]t"t[~e]r), n. [OE. oter, AS. otor; akin to D. & G. otter, Icel. otr, Dan. odder, Sw. utter, Lith. udra, Russ, vuidra, Gr. "y`dra water serpent, hydra, Skr. udra otter, and also to E. water. [root]137, 215. See Water, and cf. Hydra.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) Any carnivorous animal of the genera Lutra, Enhydra, and related genera of the family Mustelidae. Several species are described. They have large, flattish heads, short ears, and webbed toes. They are aquatic, and feed on fish. The sea otter ( Enhydra lutris) also eats clams, crabs, starfish, abalone, and other marine animals; they may come to the surface, and lying on their backs using the stomach as a table, may be seen cracking open the shell of its prey with a rock. The common otter of Europe is Lutra vulgaris; the North American otter (or American otter) is Lutra Canadensis, which inhabits marshes, streams and rivers; other species inhabit South America and Asia. The North American otter adult is about three to four feet long (including the tail) and weighs from 10 to 30 pounds; the sea otter is commonly four feet long and 45 pounds (female) or 60 pounds (male). Their fur is soft and valuable, and in the nineteenth century they were hunted extensively. The sea otter was hunted to near extinction by 1900, and is now protected. Fewer than 3,000 sea otters are believed to live along the central California coast.

2. (Zo["o]l.) The larva of the ghost moth. It is very injurious to hop vines.

   Otter hound, Otter dog (Zo["o]l.), a small breed of hounds, used in England for hunting otters; see otterhound .

   Otter sheep. See Ancon sheep, under Ancon.

   Otter shell (Zo["o]l.), very large bivalve mollusk ( Schizoth[ae]rus Nuttallii) found on the northwest coast of America. It is excellent food, and is extensively used by the Indians.

   Sea otter. (Zo["o]l.) See in the Vocabulary.

Otter \Ot"ter\, n. A corruption of Annotto.

Old English otr, otor "otter," from Proto-Germanic *otraz (cognates: Old Norse otr, Swedish utter, Danish odder, Dutch otter, Old High German ottar, German Otter), from PIE *udros, literally "water-creature" (cognates: Sanskrit udrah, Avestan udra "otter;" Greek hydra "water-serpent," enydris "otter;" Latin lutra, Old Church Slavonic vydra, Lithuanian udra, Old Irish odoirne "otter"), from root *wed- (1) "water" (see water (n.1)). Sea otter attested from 1660s, also known as sea-ape.

Etymology 1 n. 1 Any aquatic or marine carnivorous mammal, member of the family ''Mustelidae'', which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, and others. 2 (context gay slang English) A hairy man with a slender physique, in contrast with a bear, who is more broadly set Etymology 2

n. (context obsolete English) annatto.

1. n. the fur of an otter

2. freshwater carnivorous mammal having webbed and clawed feet and dark brown fur

Otter is an infrastructure automation tool, designed by the software company Inedo. Built specifically to support Windows, Otter utilizes Infrastructure as Code to model infrastructure and configuration.

Otter is installed on premises and is sold and marketed using a “low-touch, indirect model with simple, public pricing that suits most customer needs”

Otter is a common name for a carnivorous mammal in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the weasel family Mustelidae, which also includes badgers, honey badgers, martens, minks, polecats, weasels and wolverines.

Otter usually refers to an aquatic or marine carnivorous mammal.

Otter may also refer to:

Places:

• Otter, Germany, a municipality in Lower Saxony
• Otter, Ontario, an area and ghost town
• Otter, Montana, an unincorporated community
• River Otter, Devon, Devon, England

Vessels and vehicles:

• Otter (dinghy), a type of two-man sailing dinghy
• Otter (steamship), a sidewheeler used by the Hudson's Bay Company in the Pacific Northwest from the 1830s
• Otter (sternwheeler), 1874-1897, mainly in Puget Sound
• Otter (ship), American sailing ship on which Thomas Muir escaped from an Australian convict settlement in 1796
• HMS Otter, several ships of the Royal Navy
• USS Otter (DE-210), a destroyer escort of the United States Navy
• HMQS Otter, a patrol and examination vessel of the Queensland Maritime Defence Force, and later the Royal Australian Navy
• Otter Light Reconnaissance Car, an armoured car built in Canada during the Second World War
• De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter and De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft

Names:

• Otter (surname)
• Otter or Ótr, son of Hreidmar, a dwarf in Norse mythology
• Otter, a main character in the 1978 film Animal House, played by Tim Matheson

Other:

• Otter (software), infrastructure automation tool
• Otter (theorem prover), a public domain software program
• Otter, or ottu (instrument), a drone-oboe played in Southern India
• De Otter, Amsterdam, a windmill

Otters may refer to:

• Cal State Monterey Bay Otters, the athletics teams of California State University, Monterey Bay
• Evansville Otters, a Frontier League baseball team
• Erie Otters, a junior hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Erie, Pennsylvania
• Huntsville Otters, a junior "C" hockey team, from Huntsville, Ontario
• Missouri River Otters, a minor pro team in the United Hockey League from 1999 to 2006

Otter is a classification referring to a particular design for a two-man sailing dinghy with a glass fibre hull. Its rig consists of a main, a jib and an optional symmetric spinnaker. The hull dimensions are 11 ft 11 in length and 4 ft 10 in beam. The boat has a draft of 3 ft 6 in with the centreboard down. The sail area (main and jib) is 75 sq. ft. The class symbol is a stylised glass bubble; due to the original lightweight "cigar box cedar" construction of the prototypes, the name 'Bubble' was first used for the boat. John Baker obtained the plans for an expanded version of the boat in G.R.P. and hence renamed the boat 'Glass Bubble'. After being put into production by Baker, the name 'Otter' was adopted; coming from the river of the same name in East Devon, close to where the boat was manufactured.

The Otter also handles well and can be sailed with larger crews than the two man racing crew. The boats are also incredibly easy to sail single handed as well. However, when sailing with more than two people the boat does tend to sit quite low in the water and does affect the performance of the dinghy.

The Otter was originally designed by George O'Brien Kennedy for G.R.P. Moulding, and was first produced in the mid 1960s by John Baker, Kenton Forge Ltd. The production was moved at least once, with later boats being produced by Chris Clarance Marine, Shaldon, Devon. The boats were produced for at least 22 years, with at least 1173 boats being produced.

The Otter dinghy was marketed as a do-everything dinghy; the sales brochure describes the boat as both competitive, as well as being "Ideal for the young and not so young". It is further described as rowing well, and being suited to a small outboard engine. The boat was supplied with an additional thwart and rowlocks for use when under power and rowing.

Several versions of the Otter were manufactured. The original design consisted of a single skin glass fibre hull and a Gunter rig (without spinnaker). Later models used the more successful Bermudan rig (with optional spinnaker), and a double skinned 'unsinkable' hull with integrated buoyancy tanks. The hull weight and sail area depend on the version. The picture to the right shows the original wooden masted Gunter sailplan.

The otter dinghy no longer appears in the official Portsmouth Yardstick List., however, during production it had a PY of 134, placing it similar to but slightly fast than the Topper with a PY of 136. According to Noblemarine, the Otter has a PN of 1275, but this source of this information is unknown and may be unreliable since the other dimensions quoted are contradictory to the manufacturer's description. In 2007 the RYA also quoted the Otters PN as 1275 but have since removed the boat from the list.

Otter is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Anthony Otter (1896-1986), sixth Bishop of Grantham, England
• Butch Otter (born 1942), U.S. politician and current Governor of Idaho
• Francis Otter (1831–1895), English Liberal Member of Parliament
• William Otter (1768-1840), first Principal of King's College London and Bishop of Chichester, England
• William Bruère Otter (1805-1876), Anglican clergyman and Archdeacon of Lewes
• William Dillon Otter (1843-1929), soldier who was the first Canadian-born Chief of the General Staff of the Canadian Army
• Anne Sofie von Otter (born 1955), Swedish mezzo-soprano
• Fredrik Wilhelm von Otter (1833–1910), Swedish naval officer and politician; Prime Minister of Sweden from 1900 to 1902
• Göran von Otter (1907–1988), Swedish diplomat