Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Fother \Foth"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fothered}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Fothering}.] [Cf. {Fodder} food, and G. f["u]ttern,
   futtern, to cover within or without, to line. [root]75.]
   To stop (a leak in a ship at sea) by drawing under its bottom
   a thrummed sail, so that the pressure of the water may force
   it into the crack. --Totten.