The Word of the Day over at Merriam-Webster is an old-fashioned one I haven’t heard for years. A COWCATCHER is an inclined frame on the front of a railroad locomotive for throwing obstacles off the track. Since cows no longer wander about freely, I suppose locomotive makers no longer see the need of adding one.
Just for fun I decided to re-purpose this word for our day and created this verse:
Your words hurt, I try to explain. I feel the sting; see the pain in their faces. But his cowcatcher persona tosses my words to the winds and plows on.