“puckered” is a form of
pucker
/ˈpʌkə(ɹ)/ verb, noun
Forms puckers puckering puckered
- verb (ambitransitive) To pinch or wrinkle (especially a body part); to squeeze inwardly, to dimple or fold.
- noun A fold or wrinkle.
- noun (colloquial) A state of perplexity or anxiety; confusion; bother; agitation.
- noun (slang) The anus.
Synonyms
Etymology
Origin obscure. Perhaps continuing Middle English pukkeren (“to hoard, save”, literally “to sack, stow away in a poke or bag”) with a change in meaning (compare purse (“to pucker”)).
Alternatively, perhaps a direct alteration of poke (verb, or the noun meaning "a small bag"). By surface analysis, poke + -er.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To gather into small folds or wrinkles; to contract into ridges and furrows; to corrugate; --often with up; as, to pucker up the mouth. "His skin [was] puckered up in wrinkles." Spectator.
- noun A fold; a wrinkle; a collection of folds.
- noun A state of perplexity or anxiety; confusion; bother; agitation.
Etymology [From Poke a pocket, small bag.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pucker”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details