Slang and its analogues past and present, volume 2 [of 7] (part 2 of 3)

Slang and its analogues past and present, volume 2 [of 7] (part 2 of 3)

Commonsensical, adj. (colloquial).—Marked with common sense.

1880. Frazer’s Magazine, Sep., p. 308. The manner in which he (Alexander Russell) begins must have delighted the commonsensical mind of old Charles Maclaren.

Common Sewer, subs. phr. (common).—1. A drink; dram; or ‘go.’ [From common sewer = ‘a drain.’] For synonyms, see Go.

2. (venery).—A prostitute.

Communicator. Agitate the communicator, verbal phr. (common).—To ring the bell.

Comp, subs. (printers’).—A compositor. [An abbreviated form of ‘companion’ now peculiar to compositors, but originally applied to pressmen who work in couples, as well as to compositors who work in a ‘companionship,’ or ship (q.v.).] Galley-slave (q.v.) is a variant; so are ass (q.v.) and donkey (q.v.). Cf., Pig.

1870. Sportsman, 17 Dec. ‘A Chapel Meeting.’ I stood before the world a journeyman comp.

1886. Tit-Bits, 31 July, p. 252. At provincial newspaper offices and other establishments applications for work from travelling comps are frequent.

1888. W. Blades, in Notes and Queries, 7 S., vi., 365. The printers who work together in one room are to this day called comps.

Company. To see company, verbal phr. (prostitutes’).—To live by prostitution; to take in fancy work (q.v.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Competition Wallah, subs. phr. (Anglo-Indian).—One who enters the Indian Civil Service by examination. [From competition + Hindustani wallah, ‘a man’ or ‘person.’]

1863. G. O. Trevelyan, Title, The Competition Wallah.

1886. Ill. Lon. News, 9 Jan., p. 31, col. 3. It is quite certain that, if justice is ever to be done to India, our competition wallahs must not be encouraged to look upon it as a mere Tom Tidler’s ground, where they are to remain just so long as they require for picking up gold and silver (in the form of pension and savings).

Compo, subs. (nautical).—A sailor’s term for his monthly advance of wages.

Compy-Shop, subs. (workmen’s).—A truck-shop. [Probably a corruption of ‘company-shop’: workmen before the passing of certain Truck Acts, having been frequently compelled to make their weekly purchases at shops either kept by, or worked to the profit of, their employer.]

1870. Globe, 24 Sept. The Acts of Parliament which have been passed from time to time in reference to truck are easily evaded, for as a rule no workman is told that he must buy at the compy-shop, but the workmen well know that if they did not resort thither they would soon be dismissed their employment.

Con, subs. (Winchester College).—A rap on the head with the knuckles, or with anything hard, such as a cricket ball. [For suggested derivations, see verbal sense.]

Verb.—To rap with the knuckles. [The derivation formerly accepted at Winchester was from κονδυλον = a knuckle, but the editors of the Wykehamist suggest its origin in the North Country con, ‘to fillip,’ with which the French se cogner exactly corresponds.]

Concaves and Convexes, subs. phr. (cardsharpers’). Cards prepared for cheating. All from the eight to the king are cut convex, and all from the deuce to the seven concave; so that by cutting the pack broadwise you cut convex, and by cutting them lengthwise you cut concave. Sometimes they are shaped the reverse way, so that, if suspicion arise, a pack so treated may be substituted for the other to the same effect. In this trick the sharper has less in his favour than in others, because the intended victim may cut in the usual way, and so cut a low card to the dealer. But the certainty of being able to cut or deal a high or low card at pleasure, gives him an advantage against which skill is of none avail. Other modes of sharping are by means of reflectors (q.v.); longs and shorts (q.v.); pricked cards (q.v.); the bridge (q.v.); skinning (q.v.); weaving (q.v.); the gradus or step (q.v.); palming (q.v.); and the telegraph (q.v.). A French term for prepared cards is les aiguilles à tricoter les côtes (Anglicé = old gentlemen, q.v.); also une cartouchière à portées (a pack of prepared cards); and les harnais = stocked broads (q.v.).—See also stock broads.

Concern, subs. (general).—The pudenda, male or female.—See Creamstick and Monosyllable respectively for synonyms.

Concerned, ppl. adj. (old).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Screwed.

1686. Magdalen College and King James II. (Oxford Hist. Soc.), quoted in Athenæum, 8 Jan., 1887, p. 56. When Mr. Anthony Farmer came to the Lobster about eleven at night, he came much concerned in drink.

17(?). Swift. [Quoted in Davies’ Supp. Lex.] (Mary, the cook-maid to Dr. Sheridan.) Which, and I am sure I have been his servant four years since October, And never call’d me worse than sweetheart, drunk or sober; Not that I know his Reverence was ever concern’d to my knowledge; Tho’ you and your come-rogues keep him out so late in your wicked college.

1834. Taylor, Ph. van Art., pt. II., iii., 3. Oh, she’s a light skirts! yea, and at this present A little, as you see, concern’d with liquor.

Conchers, subs. (Australian).—Tame or quiet cattle.

Condiddle, verb (old).—To purloin or steal. [From Latin con, a pleonastic prefix, + diddle, ‘to cheat.’ Condiddled is quoted by Grose in the Provincial Glossary, 1787, as signifying ‘dispersed.’]

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. iv. ‘Twig the old connoissœur,’ said the Squire to the Knight, ‘he is condiddling the drawing.’

Condog, verb (common).—To agree with. [A facetious variation of ‘concur’; ‘cur’ = dog.]

Confab, subs. (colloquial).—Familiar talk. [A contraction of confabulation; Latin confabulatio.]

1778. D’Arblay, Diary, etc. (1876), vol. I., p. 37. We had a very nice confab about various books.

1789. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Subjects for Painters, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), vol. II., p. 26. For lo, with many a King and many a Queen, in close confab the gentleman is seen.

1841. Punch, vol. I., 75. Sibthorp, meeting Peel in the House of Commons after congratulating him on his present enviable position, finished the confab with the following unrivalled conundrum.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xxv. ‘Mr. Harry ... called Mr. Archer into his own room, and they had a confab.’

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. viii. This ended our confab and half an hour afterwards I stood in the hall shaking hands all round.

Verb.—To talk in a familiar manner; to chat.—See subs., sense.

1778. D’Arblay, Diary, etc. (1876), vol. I. p. 85. Mrs. Thrale and I were dressing, and, as usual, confabbing.

Confectionery, subs. (American).—A drinking bar. An analogous term is grocery, but for synonyms, see Lush-crib.

Confidence Trick, Dodge, or Buck, subs. phr. (common).—A process of swindling, the basis of which consists in obtaining trust with the deliberate intention of betraying it to your own advantage. A greenhorn meets (or rather is picked up by) a stranger who invites him to drink. The stranger admires him openly, protests his confidence in him, and to prove his sincerity hands him over a large amount of money [snide] or valuables [bogus], with which to walk off and return. The greenhorn does both, whereupon the stranger suggests that it is his turn next, and being favoured with certain proofs of ‘confidence,’ which in this case are real, decamps and is no more seen. This is the simplest form of the trick, but the confidence man is inexhaustible in devices. In many cases the subject’s idiosyncrasy takes the form of an idiotic desire to overreach his fellows; i.e., he is only a knave, wrong side out, and it is upon this idiosyncrasy that the operator works. He offers a sham gold watch at the price of a nickel one; he calls with presents from nowhere where none are expected; he writes letters announcing huge legacies to persons absolutely kinless; and as his appeal is addressed to the sister passions of greed and dishonesty he seldom fails of his reward. Fr., mener en bateau un pante pour le refaire = ‘to stick a jay and flap him.’

Conflabberated, ppl. adj. (common).—Bothered; upset; ‘flummoxed.’

Conflabberation, subs. (common).—A confused wrangle; a ‘hullabaloo.’

Confounded, adj. (colloquial).—Excessive; odious; detestable; e.g., a confounded nuisance, lie, humbug, etc. [Confound is properly ‘to mistake one for another,’ or ‘to throw into consternation.’ In its colloquial sense confounded is misused much as are ‘awful,’ ‘beastly,’ and other ‘strumpets of speech.’]

1766. O. Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, ch. vii. (ed. 1827), p. 42. Mr. Thornhill, loq.: ‘For what are tythes and tricks but an imposition, all confounded imposture.’

Confubuscate, verb (popular).—See quot., and Cf., Confusticate.

1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘You mustn’t tickle me.’ I hope I don’t confubuscate, I’se Topsy from the Georgia State.

Confusticate, verb (American).—To confuse.

Coniacker, subs. (thieves’).—A counterfeiter; smasher; or ‘queer-bit’ faker. [Obviously a play upon coin, money, and hack, to mutilate.] Fr., un mornifleur tarte.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 296. False coins, the makers of which are curiously called coniackers.

Conish, adj. (old).—See quot.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 29 (ed. 1854). ‘Paul, my ben cull,’ said he with a knowing wink, and nudging the young gentleman in the left side, ‘vot do you say to a drop o’ blue ruin? or, as you likes to be conish (genteel), I doesn’t care if I sports you a glass of port.’

Conk, subs. (popular).—The nose. [Hotten says: possibly from the Latin concha, a shell. Greek, κόγχη—hence anything hollow. A parallel is testa = an earthenware pot, a shell, in Latin; and in later Latin = a skull; whence the French teste or tête = head. Cf., quot., 1838.]

English Synonyms. Boko or boco; proboscis; smeller; bowsprit; claret-jug; gig; muzzle; cheese-cutter; beak; snuff-box; snorter; post-horn; paste-horn; handle; snout; nozzle; smelling-cheat; snotter; candlestick; celestial; snottle-box; snuffler; trumpet; snorer; peak.

French Synonyms. Une bouteille (popular: literally ‘a bottle’); un Bourbon (popular: an abbreviated form of nez à la Bourbon. In allusion to the thick, prominent, and almost aquiline Bourbon nose); un blair or blaire (popular); un caillou (popular: properly ‘a flint.’ In allusion to a Bardolphian, a light-giving, quality); un tubercule (familiar: applied to a big nose. In medicine ‘a tumour,’ ‘swelling,’ or ‘protuberance’); un pivase (popular: a nose of large dimensions. Michel derives the word from pive = ‘a grog-blossom’ or ‘pin-point,’ properly a fir-apple); un piton (popular: literally a geographical term meaning ‘a peak.’ Un piton passé à l’encaustique, a red or ‘copper-nose’); un pif or pifre (general); une trompe (literally ‘a horn’ or ‘trumpet’); une truffe (popular: literally ‘a truffle,’ for which pigs are trained to search. Hence a Frenchman when he wants to call a man a pig, says il a un nez à chercher des truffes); une trompette (popular: literally ‘a trumpet’); un naze (popular and thieves’: a Provençalism); un nazaret (popular); un chandelier (popular); une tasse (popular); un sabot (popular); un os à moelle (thieves’: literally ‘a marrow-bone.’ Faire juter l’os à moelle = to use the fingers as a handkerchief); un éteignoir (popular: a large nose; literally, ‘an extinguisher’); un nazonnant (popular); un minois (thieves’: obsolete); un mirliton (popular); un morviau (popular).

German Synonyms. Muffer or Muffert (from muffen, muffeln, or murfeln = ‘to smell’); Schneitzling or Schnäuzling; Schnut (a North German form of Schnauze. Schnut is a favourite nickname among thieves, especially for those who possess long noses; also a pet name for a sweet-heart or doxy. Schnutenmelech or Schnutenkönig: the nosey king, or nosey one); Schniffling.

Italian Synonyms. Soffiante (this exactly corresponds to the English ‘snorter’; it signifies literally ‘blowing’ or ‘breathing’); fiauto or flauto (properly ‘a flute’); maremagno (literally ‘the great sea’).

1838. Comic Almanack, p. 158. I have inserted a small item from my surgeon’s bill, for repairs of his companions’ noses, damaged by his passion for Conchology.

1840. H. Cockton, Valentine Vox, ch. xxviii. He fancied it proper to put on his nose before he alighted from the cab. ‘Oh! oh! there’s a conk! there’s a smeller! Oh! oh!’ exclaimed about fifty voices in chorus.

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 54. ‘Essence of Parliament.’ July 25, Monday. Lord Lyndhurst let fly and caught him what (if pugilistic terms be not out of place when one is alluding to so pacific a personage) may be designated an extremely neat one on the conk.

1860. Chambers’ Journal, vol. XIII., p. 348. His nose is his conk.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. His ‘dexter ogle’ has a ‘mouse’; His conk’s devoid of bark.

1889. Answers, 9 Feb. That portion of his countenance which is euphemistically described in the language of lower London as a conk.

Conoodle.—See Canoodle.

Conscience, subs. (theatrical).—Thus explained in Slang, Jargon, and Cant: A kind of association in a small company for the allotment of shares in the profits, etc. The man who is lucky enough to have a concern of his own, generally a very small affair, however badly he may act, must be the leading man or first low comedian, perhaps both. He becomes the manager, of course, and thus has one share for ‘fit-up,’ one for scenery, one and a half for management, one for wardrobe, one and a half as leading man; and the same is given to the wife, who, of course, will not play anything but the juvenile lead, but who at any other time would be glad to play first old woman.

Considerable Bend. To go on the Considerable Bend, verb. phr. (common).—To go in for a bout of dissipation.

Consonant-Choker, subs. (common).—One that clips his G’s and muffles his R’s.

Constable. To out or over-run the constable, verbal phr. (common).—To live beyond one’s means and get into debt; also, in a figurative sense, to escape from a bad argument; ‘to change the subject’; to talk about what is not understood.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, pt. I., canto iii., l. 1367. Quoth Hudibras, Friend Ralph, thou hast Out-run the constable at last; For thou art fallen as a new Dispute, as senseless as untrue, But to the former opposite, And contrary as black to white.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xxiii. He inquired, ‘how far have you overrun the constable?’ I told him that the debt amounted to eleven pounds.

1766. Anstey, New Bath Guide, letter vii. And some people think with such haste he began, That soon he the constable greatly outran.

1782. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Rights of Kings, ode xi. Got deep in debt, the constable out-ran.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xli., p. 357. ‘He run a match agin the constable, and vun it.’ ‘In other words, I suppose,’ said Mr. Pickwick, ‘he got into debt.’ ‘Just that, sir,’ replied Sam.

Constician, subs. (theatrical).—A member of the orchestra.

Constitutional, subs. (colloquial).—A walk undertaken for the sake of health and exercise [i.e., for the benefit of the constitution]. Tronchiner, from Doctor Tronchin, is French for the verb, tronchinade for the act.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xxix. One evening, about a week before the examinations were to begin, I was taking my usual constitutional after Hall.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II., p. 41. At one time he was a great friend of Cocky Palmer’s, and used to go with him to the Cock fights at Wheatley—that Village just on the other side Shotover Hill—where we did a constitutional the other day.

1871. City of London Directory. ‘Facts and Anomalies.’ The valetudinarian has not much choice in the city for a constitutional, seeing that it possesses but three walks, and ‘Long Walk’ is the shortest.

Contango, subs. (Stock Exchange).—A fine paid by the buyer to the seller of stock for carrying over the engagement to another settling day, and representing a kind of interest for a fourteen days’ extension. [Thought to be a corruption of ‘continuation.’]

1853. Notes and Queries, 17 Dec., p. 586, col. 2. Contango: a technical term in use among the sharebrokers of Liverpool, and I presume elsewhere, signifying a sum of money paid for accommodating either a buyer or seller by carrying the engagement to pay money or deliver shares over to the next account day.

1871. Daily News, 27 Feb. A large amount of money was offered in the Stock Exchange, in connection with the fortnightly settlement, which began this morning, and the contangoes on British railway securities were light, while the supply of stock was small.

1872. Evening Standard, 11 Dec. ‘City Intelligence.’ Erie Shares are steady; the contango is 3d. to 9d.

1884. Daily News, Nov. 13, p. 5, col. 1. City shop is not less baffling, and it is perhaps impossible for laymen to understand what contango means. Contango, by the way, would be a proud motto for an ennobled stockbroker, and would look well under a crest.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. B stands for broker, for bull and for bear, C’s the contango that’s paid by the bull.

Content, adv. (old).—Dead. For synonyms, see Aloft and Hop the twig.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. The cull’s content: the man is past complaining (cant), saying of a person murdered for resisting the robbers.

Continent, adv. (Winchester College).—Ill; on the sick list. [From continens cameram vel lectum, keeping one’s room or bed.]—See Abroad.

1870. Mansfield, School Life at Winchester College, p. 146. When a boy felt ill, or inclined to quit school for a period, he had to get leave continent which was done by sending a boy in the morning first to get leave from his tutor, and then from the Head Master.

1878. Adams, Wykehamica, p. 224. We suggested the ‘continent room’; and on being required to say what was to become of the sick boys? replied, that it was notorious that there was never anything the matter with them!

Continental. Not to care or be worth a continental or continental damn, phr. (American).—To be worthless; not to care in the least degree. [Continental was the common qualification at the time of the Revolution of whatever concerned the American Colonies before they were united into a confederacy; hence continental congress, continental money, continental troops; while the people themselves were generally spoken of as continentallers or continentals. Continental damn, a term almost universally applied to the worthless continental paper money of those days is, nevertheless held by James Grant White (Words and their Uses) to be a counterpart, if not a mere modification, of other phrases of the same kidney—a tinker’s or trooper’s damn, etc.—and as the colonial troops were called continentallers or continentals during the war, and for many years afterwards, it is probable that it began as a continental’s damn. Passing to the general phrase ‘not worth a damn’ Mr. White thinks that the ‘damn’ = A.S. cerse = watercress. Piers Ploughman (1362) says ‘wisdom and witt nowe is not worth a kerse’ and transition, by reason of identity of sound and a love of variety, from ‘not worth a curse’ to ‘not worth a damn’ is easy.]—See Care and Curse.

1869. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), The Innocents at Home, p. 20. He didn’t give a continental for anybody. Beg your pardon, friend, for coming so near saying a cuss-word.

1888. Missouri Republican, 16 Feb. I am not worrying about the nomination, though. I don’t care a continental if I don’t receive it.

Continuations, subs. (general).—Trousers. [Of analogous derivation to inexpressibles; unmentionables; musn’t-mention’ems; untalkaboutables, etc.] For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 4, col. 1. Like the London dustmen, the Newmarket jockeys, the peripatetic vendors, or buyers of ‘old clo’,’ or the Albert continuations at one pound one, they appear to be made to measure for the same.

1853. Whyte Melville, Digby Grand, ch. xx. To whose wonderfully-fitting continuations, ‘pants’ he calls them, the ‘Ananyridians’ themselves are but as a Dutchman’s drawers.

Contraptions, subs. (American).—Small articles; tools; and so forth.

1838. J. C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches. For my part, I can’t say as how I see what’s to be the end of all of them new-fangled contraptions. [de v.]

Control Fortune, verbal phr. (card-sharpers’).—To cheat at cards.—See Rook.

Convenience, subs. (common).—A water-closet or chamber-pot.

Convenient, subs. (old).—A mistress. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1676. Etherege, Man of Mode, III., iii., in wks. (1704), 233. Dorimant’s convenient, Madam Loveit.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, II., in wks. (1720), iv., 47. But where’s your lady, captain, and the blowing, that is to be my natural, my convenient, my pure? Ibid, I., iv., p. 22. Shamwell. Thou art i’ th’ right; but, captain, where’s the convenient, the Natural? Hackum. Why, at my house; my wife has brought her into a good humour; she is very pretty.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Convexes.—See Concaves.

Convey, verb (old).—To steal. [In law, to transfer from one person to another; by which it will be seen that there is a certain humour in the expression.] For synonyms, see Prig. Cf., Annex.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i., Sc. 3. Nym. The good humour is, to steal at a minute’s rest. Pist. Convey, the wise it call.

1607. Marston, What You Will, II., 260. But, as I am Crack, I will convey, crossbite, and cheat upon Simplicius.

1883. A. Dobson, Old World Idylls, p. 237. If they hint, O Musician, the piece that you played Is nought but a copy of Chopin or Spohr; That the ballad you sing is but merely conveyed From the stock of the Arnes and the Purcells of yore.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 31 Oct., p. 3. col. 1. Three great works of research and collaboration have been projected and partially or wholly executed in England within the lifetime of the present generation. They are the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Dictionary of National Biography, and the New English Dictionary. Each of these, but especially the last (from which the Century crew have conveyed freely) is as perfect in its way as any human undertaking can be.

1890. Scots Observer, 14 June, p. 98, col. 1. Lest this may seem an ungenerous suspicion, I hasten to say that it would never have crossed my mind had not so many of the other characters in this remarkable production (?) been obviously conveyed (delicious word!) from well-known novels.

Conveyance, subs. (old).—A theft.—[See Convey and Conveyancer.]

1592. Shakspeare, I. Hen. VI., i., 3. Since Henry’s death, I fear there is conveyance.

1712. Spectator, No. 305. Provided the conveyance was clean and unsuspected, a youth might afterwards boast of it.

Conveyancer, subs. (old).—A thief. [From convey, to steal. In law, one whose occupation is to draw conveyances or transfers of property, deeds, etc.]—See Conveyer.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant (3 ed.), p. 445. To pick pockets: to buzz, buzzmen, clyfakers, conveyancers.

Conveyancing, verbal subs. (common).—Thieving. [In law, the act or practice of drawing up deeds, leases, etc., for transferring the title to property from one person to another. Cf., Convey, to steal.]

1865. Mr. Smollett, in House of Commons, 14 March. ‘Speech on the Nawab of the Carnatic.’ Pickpockets in London, when they appropriated purses or watches, called the transaction conveyancing.

1889. Modern Society (quoted in S., J. and C.), p. 269. The green youth who attempted to decamp with ——’s watch ... was properly punished for his verdancy in the art of conveyancing.

Conveyer, subs. (old).—A thief. [One who conveys or steals.] Fr., emposteur.

1597. Shakspeare, Richard II., iv., sub. fin. O good convey! Conveyers are you all, That rise thus nimbly by a true king’s fall.

Cony or Tom Cony, subs. (old).—A simpleton. [From the proverbial simplicity of the rabbit or cony.]—See Cony-catch, verb, and for synonyms, Buffle-head and Cabbage-head.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vul. Tongue, s.v.

Cony-Catch, verb (old).—To cheat; deceive; trick; or ‘bite’ (q.v.). [Literally ‘to catch conies.’] Dekker, in his English Villainies, describes the system which is obviously the equivalent of the modern confidence trick (q.v.). A society of sharpers of this type was called ‘a warren,’ and their dupes ‘rabbit-suckers’ (that is, baby rabbits), or conies. At other times the gang were ‘bird-catchers,’ and their quarry was ‘a gull,’ etc. For synonyms, see Stick.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, v., 1. Take heed, signor Baptista, lest you be conny-catched in this business.

1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in wks. III., 158. Hereby hee thought to conny-catch the simple world.

1604. Dekker, Honest Wh., in wks. (1873) II., 12. Why, sister, do you thinke He conny-catch you, when you are my cozen?

Cony Catcher, subs. (old).—A cheat; sharper; or trickster. [From cony-catch, verb (q.v.), + er.] For synonyms, see Rook.

1592. John Day, Blind Beggar, Act iii., Sc. 3, p. 57. We’ll go seek out those cony-catchers; and ere I catch them, I’ll make them pay soundly all for their roguery.

1599. Minshew, Dict., s.v. A conie-catcher: a name given to deceivers, by a metaphor, taken from those that rob warrens, and conie-grounds, using all means, sleights, and cunning to deceive them, as pitching of haies before their holes, fetching them in by tumblers, etc.

1602. Rowlands, Greene’s Ghost, p. 3. (Hunterian Club’s Repr.) And the name of conicatchers is so odious, that now a dayes it is had vp, and vsed for an opprobrious name for euerie one that sheweth the least occasion for deceit.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. Marry, thou hast me on the hip there, thou old miserly cony-catcher!

Cony-Catching, verbal subs. (old).—Cheating; trickery; swindling after the manner of cony-catchers (q.v.). Shakspeare, says Nares, has once used it to express harmless roguery, playing jocular tricks, and no more [see quot., 1593]. For synonyms, see Sell.

1592. Greene, Groundwork of Conny-Catching, p. 2. ... this booke, wherein thou shalt find the ground-worke of Conny-catching.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, iv., 1. Come, you are so full of conycatching.

1608. Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, III., iv. Thou hast more cony-catching devices than all London.

1703. Ward, London Spy, pt. XI., p. 260. And being almost Drunk, their Brains ran on coney-catching.

1884. Daily News, Jan. 5, p. 5, col. 2. Coney-catching, or its modern equivalent, the confidence trick.

Ppl. adj. (old).—Mutatis mutandis, the same as the substantive (q.v.).

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, i., 1. Marry, sir, I have matter in my head against you; and against your Coney-catching rascals, Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol.

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, iii., 1. Whoreson coney-catching rascal! I could eat the very hilts for anger.

Coo-e-e-e, or Coo-ey, subs. (Australian).—A signal cry of the Australian blackfellow, adopted by the invading whites. The final ‘e’ is a very high note, a sort of prolonged screech, that resounds for miles through the bush, and thus enables parties that have lost each other to ascertain their relative positions.

1883. Graphic, July 7, p. 6, col. 3. Coo-e-e is the Australian cry for help. When the two hands are used, and the coo properly pitched, it can be heard a wonderful distance. Whenever a coo-e-e is heard in the bush it is a matter of conscience to answer it and see what is amiss.

1887. G. L. Apperson, in All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 67, col. 1. A common mode of expression is to be ‘within cooey’ of a place. Originally, no doubt, this meant to be within the distance at which the well-known cooey or bush cry, could be heard; now it simply means within easy reach of a place. To be ‘within cooey’ of Sydney is to be at the distance of an easy journey therefrom.

1889. E. S. Rawson, In Australian Wilds. ‘A Queensland Mystery.’ It is solely on this, or the mad theory, that one could account for the startling effects of Jim’s cooee or otherwise to the belated wanderer it would have been a revelation of joy and rescue.

Cook, verb (colloquial).—1. To tamper with, garble, or falsify. Accounts are cooked when so altered as to look better than they are. Pictures are cooked when dodged-up for sale. Painters say that a picture will not cook when it is so excellent as to be beyond imitation.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xcviii. Some falsified printed accounts, artfully cooked up, on purpose to mislead and deceive.

1856. Punch, vol. XXXI., p. 189. ‘Advertisement of Bubble Bank Book-keeping,’ by Prof. McDooall. It is remarkable especially for the facilities it offers for cooking the accounts, as it entirely prevents any possibility of checking them.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., p. 19. When A has been looking up to B for thirty years, he cannot look down on him all of a sudden, just because he catches him falsifying accounts. Why, man is a cooking animal; commercial man especially.

1871. The Athenæum, 4 Feb. The great work of art of Ivan Turgeneff, the Notes by a Sportsman had been what is vulgarly called cooked for the French markets.

1872. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. vi., p. 119 (9 ed.). The dishonesty implied in the adulterations of tradesmen and manufacturers ... in cooking of railway accounts and financial prospectuses.

1888. Grant Allen, This Mortal Coil, ch. v. Where Warren Relf was seated cooking a sky in one of his hasty seaside sketches.

1890. Saturday Review, 1 Feb., p. 134, col. 1. We referred, in our last article upon this [gambling] subject, to the Paris Mutuels, and explained their working. Now money has to be found somehow for the poorer classes to get to the Mutuel and back their fancies, and the clerk cooks his books, and the shop-boy ‘fingers the till.’

2. See Cook one’s goose, of which it is an abbreviation.

3. (colloquial).—To swelter with heat and sweat. In this sense the Fourbesque has ansare; literally ‘to be out of breath.’

To cook one’s goose, verbal phr. (common).—To ‘settle’; ‘worst’; kill; or ruin.

English Synonyms. To anodyne; to put to bed; to snuff out; to give, or cook one’s gruel; to corpse; to cooper up; to wipe out; to spiflicate; to settle, or settle one’s hash; to squash; to shut up; to send to pot; to smash; to finish; to do for; to bugger up; to put one’s light out; to stop one’s little game; to stop one’s galloping; to put on an extinguisher; to clap a stopper on; to bottle up; to squelch; to play hell (or buggery) with; to rot; to squash up; to stash; to give a croaker. For synonyms in the sense of circumvention, see Floored.

French Synonyms. Avoir son affaire (familiar: this also means to have got ‘a settler,’ and ‘to be absolutely drunk’); buter (thieves’ = ‘to kill’ or ‘execute’); escarper (thieves’); envoyer essayer une chemise de sapin (military: literally ‘to send one to try on a deal shirt.’ Cf., ‘wooden surtout’ = coffin); faire suer un chêne (popular: suer = to sweat; chêne = cove); faire passer le goût du pain (familiar = ‘to give one his gruel’); coffier (thieves’: an abbreviation of escoffier, to kill); conir (thieves’); ébasir (thieves’: formerly esbasir; Fourbesque sbasire and Germania esbasir); mettre à l’ombre (general = to put in the shade); endormir (thieves’); entailler (thieves’); abasourdir (thieves’: properly ‘to astound’); chouriner or suriner (thieves’: ‘chourin’ or surin = a knife); estourbir (thieves’); scionner (thieves’: from scion = a knife); faire un machabée (thieves’: in cant machabée = a drowned corpse. Michel thinks the expression originated either in the reading of II. Macabees, ch. xii., which is still retained in the Mass for the Dead, or through la danse macabre, the Dance of Death shown in the engravings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries); faire flotter un pante (popular = to cook one’s goose by drowning. Flotter = to float. i.e., like a corpse); crever la paillasse (popular: literally ‘to rip open the mattress’); laver le linge dans la saignante (thieves’: to wash linen in blood): dévisser le trognon à quelqu’un (popular); entonner (popular: see Michel); estrangouiller (popular = ‘to strangle’; from a veterinary term étranguillon = ‘the strangles’); tortiller la vis, or le gaviau (thieves’); terrer (thieves’: to ‘guillotine’); faire la grande soulasse (thieves’: soulas, Old French = ‘solace’ or ‘comfort’); rebâtir un pante (thieves’); sonner (popular); lingrer (popular); envoyer ad patres (popular = ‘to send to one’s fathers’); envoyer en paradis (general = ‘to send to kingdom-come’); envoyer en parade (thieves’ = ‘to send on parade’); capahuter (thieves’ = to get rid of an accomplice to secure his share of the booty; sometimes rendered by refroidir à la capahut); décrocher (military: literally ‘to unhook,’ ‘to take down’); descendre quelqu’un (popular = to bring down); couper le sifflet (popular = to cut one’s whistle); watriniser (popular: in reference to M. Watrin, who was murdered by the Decazeville miners in 1886. Cf., the English ‘to burke’); moucher le quinquet (popular: ‘to snuff the lamp’); faire saigner du nez (thieves’ = ‘to give a bloody nose’); sabler (thieves’); faire banque (common); suager (thieves’: from suer, ‘to sweat’).

German Synonyms. Abfetzen (to kill by cutting or stabbing); abmeken, abmacken (Hebrew mocho = to put aside, to destroy, or to give ‘tit for tat.’ North German afmurksen); bekern machen (from the Hebrew peger. Used of animals it is the equivalent of krepieren); hargenen or horeg sein (‘to kill’ or ‘murder.’ Horeg, the murderer; Horug, the murdered; nehrog, murdered; nehrog werden, to be murdered; Hereg or Harigo, the murder); heimthun, or heimerlich spielen (heim, a corruption of the Hebrew chajim = life); Kappore machen or fetzen (literally ‘to make purified.’ From the Hebrew kophar); memissen or memissren; die Neschome nehmen (Hebrew neschomo, the soul or life); pegern or peigern; rozechenen or rozchenen (Hebrew, rozach = to kill); schächten (Hebrew, schochat).

Italian Synonym. Sbasire (literally ‘to cause to faint’ or ‘swoon.’ Sbasire su le funi = to swoon on the rope, i.e., to be hanged).

Spanish Synonyms. Apretar á uno la nuez (properly to clutch the Adam’s apple, i.e., the throat); apiolar (properly ‘to gyve a hawk’ or ‘to tie game together by the legs’; and metaphorically, ‘to seize’ or apprehend); despabilar (literally ‘to snuff a candle.’ Cf., Fr. moucher le quinquet and the Eng. ‘to put on an extinguisher’); apercollar (also, ‘to seize one by the collar’).

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 360. When the clarences, the cabs that carry four, came in, they cooked the hackney-coachmen in no time.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Adventures of Verdant Green, p. 270. Billy’s too big in the Westphalia’s gig-lamps, you’re the boy to cook Fosbrooke’s goose.

1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, ch. xlii. Chaldicotes, Gagebee, is a cooked goose, as far as Sowerby is concerned. And what difference could it make to him whether the Duke is to own it or Miss Dunstable.

1865. G. A. Sala, Trip to Barbary, ch. v. The first Napoleon ... once nearly killed himself by his addictedness to Provençal cookery. Yes; a mess of mutton and garlic—’tis said it was poisoned—very nearly cooked the goose of Achilles.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 128. Seeing how the fellow was acting he sent him two ‘shise’ notes, which gave him a dose that cooked him. I saw the man myself, serving his time at Dartmoor.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 10. When the chromo first emerged from chaos, the producers of that kind of picture insisted that the goose of the artist was cooked.

Cookey or Cookie. To bet a cookie, verbal phr. (American).—The custom of preparing the cakes still known in Scotland as cookies was part and parcel of American life. [The cookey, like the English pancake on Shrove Tuesday, and the hot cross bun on Good Friday, forms a special old-fashioned dainty at Christmas-tide and New Year. From the Dutch koekje, dim. of koek, a cake.]

1870. Bret Harte, Luck of Roaring Camp, p. 227. Don’t know what he is! He lost every hoof and hide, I’ll bet a cookey!

1872. Lloyd’s Weekly, 28 April. ‘Probate Court Report.’ Might have said she would bet a cookey that the will was in America. (Laughter.)

1888. Detroit Free Press, 31 March. A book has just been published to instruct reporters in the use of proper phrases. We bet a cookey no reporter will ever read it.

Cookeyshine, subs. (old Scots).—An afternoon meal at which cookies (q.v.) form a staple dish. Cf., Tea-fight, Muffin-worry, etc. (q.v.). [From cookey, a small cake, + shine (q.v.), an entertainment.]

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 103. Dr. Sampson, loq.: We shall see whether we are on the right system: and if so, we’ll dose her with useful society in a more irrashinal forrm; conversaziones, cookeyshines, et cetera. And if we find ourselves on the wrong tack, why then we’ll hark back.

Cook-Ruffian, subs. (old).—A bad or indifferent cook, ‘who would cook the devil in his feathers.’

Cool, adj. (colloquial).—1. Impertinent; audacious; calmly impudent.

1870. Figaro, 22 May. It is considered to be cool to take a man’s hat with his name written in it, simply because you want to get his autograph.

Cool as a Cucumber, phr. (common).—Without heat; also, metaphorically, calm and composed.

2. (In reference to money; e.g., a cool hundred, thousand, etc.) Commonly expletive; but sometimes used to cover a sum a little above the figure stated.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. xii. Mr. Watson, too, after much variety of luck, rose from the table in some heat, and declared he had lost a cool hundred, and would play no longer.

1771. Smollet, Humphry Clinker, l. 41. I’ll bet a cool hundred he swings before Christmas.

1825. Miss Edgeworth, Love and Law, i., 2. Suppose you don’t get sixpence costs, and lose your cool hundred by it, still it’s a great advantage.

1841, Lytton, Night and Morning, bk. II., ch. x. Borrowed his money under pretence of investing it in the New Grand Anti-Dry-Rot Company; cool hundred—it’s only just gone, sir.

1890. Illustrated Bits, 29 March, p. 8, col. 2. I made three thousand last year, but if I have good luck this year I shall make a cool fifty thousand.

3. (Eton College).—See Cool kick and the following.

Verb (Eton College).—To kick hard.

Cool-Crape, subs. (old).—A shroud, or winding sheet.—Grose.

Cooler, subs. (old).—1. A woman.—Grose [1785]. For synonyms, see Petticoat.

1742. Charles Johnson, Highwaymen and Pyrates, p. 293. ‘Not I,’ replied Jones, very readily, ‘I neither know nor care who you are, tho’ before you spoke I took you for a brewer because you travel with your cooler by your side.’

2. (American thieves’).—A prison. For synonyms, see Cage.

3. (common).—Ale or stout after spirits and water. Sometimes called ‘putting the beggar on the gentleman’; also damper (q.v.).

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 76. Many persons ... in order to allay the heat or thirst arising from the pernicious use of such quantities of ardent spirits, frequently take a glass of porter, which is termed a cooler, ‘a damper,’ etc.

Cool-Kick, subs. (Eton College).—When a behind (q.v.) or ‘back’ gets a kick with no one up to him.

Cool-Lady, subs. (old).—A female follower of the camp who sells brandy.—Grose [1785].

Cool-Nantz, subs. (old).—Brandy. For synonyms, see Drinks.

Cool one’s Coppers, verbal phr. (popular).—To allay the morning’s thirst after a night of drink. Cf., Hot-coppers and Dry as a lime basket.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. iii. We were playing Van John in Blake’s rooms till three last night, and he gave us devilled bones and mulled port. A fellow can’t enjoy his breakfast after that without something to cool his coppers.

1870. Sportsman, 17 Dec. ‘A Chapel Meeting.’ Bring me a mouthful, George, shouted a grasping Typo one day to his chum, who, at the trough in the furthest corner of the room, was cooling his coppers with cold water.

Coon, subs. (American).—1. A man. [Coon, a curtailment of ‘racoon’ (Procyon lotor), is thought to be of Indian origin (Algonquin, aroughcun, the scratcher), though some trace it to the French raton. The contraction dates from about 1840, when the racoon was used as a kind of political totem.]

1860. Punch, vol. XXXIX., p. 227. ‘The Baby in the House.’ I sign him, said the Curate Howe, O’er Samuel Burbott George Bethune, Then baby kicked up such a row As terrified that reverend coon.

2. (American).—A nigger, e.g., a coons’ bawdy house = a house where none are kept but girls of colour.

Gone coon, subs. phr. (American).—One in a serious or hopeless difficulty. A Scots equivalent is gone corbie, i.e., a dead crow. Cf., Gone goose. [The explanation generally given is that during the American War a spy dressed in racoon skins ensconced himself in a tree. An English rifleman (the nationalities are reversible) levelled his piece at him, whereupon the American exclaimed: ‘Don’t shoot, I’ll come down. I know I am a gone coon.’]

1845. Mr. Giddings, in Congress (quoted in De Vere). Besides the acquisition of Canada, which is put down on all sides as a gone coon.

1857. Dickens, Lying Awake, in Reprinted Pieces, p. 192. I must think of something else as I lie awake; or, like that sagacious animal in the United States who recognised the colonel who was such a dead shot, I am a gone coon.

1864. Derby Day, p. 51. We shan’t get to your advice till the crack’s hocussed and done for, and we’re all ruined as safe as coons.

1867. London Herald, 23 March, p. 221, col. 3. ‘We’re safe to nab him; safe as houses. He’s a gone coon, sir.’

1883. Calverley, Fly Leaves, p. 83. ‘On the Brink.’ She stood so calm, so like a ghost, Betwixt me and that magic moon. That I already was almost A finished coon.

To go the whole coon, verbal phr. (American). = ‘To go the whole hog.’

Coon’s Age, subs. phr. (American).—A long time; ‘a blue moon.’ The racoon is held to be a long-lived animal.

b. 1780, d. 1851. Audubon, Life, I., p. 178. ‘Wall, Pete, whar have you been? I hav’n’t seen you this coon’s age.’

Coop, subs. (thieves’).—A prison. For synonyms, see Cage.

1866. London Miscellany, 3 Mar., p. 58, col. 3. I don’t think that’s no little let-down for a cove as has been tip-topper in his time, and smelt the insides of all the coops in the three kingdoms.

1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple. You say that you have been in the coop as many times as I have.

Cooped-up, ppl., adj., phr. (old).—Imprisoned. [From coop (q.v.), a place of detention.] For synonyms, see Limbo.

Cooper or Cooper up, verb (thieves’ and vagrants’).—1. To destroy; spoil; settle; or finish.

2. (thieves’).—To forge.

3. (American).—To understand. For synonyms, see Twig.

Coopered, ppl. adj. (racing, thieves’, and vagrants’).—Hocussed; spoiled; ruined; e.g., a house is said to be coopered when the importunity of many tramps has caused its inmates to cold-shoulder the whole fraternity; a coopered horse is a horse that has been ‘got at’ with a view to prevent its running.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. ‘Cooper’d,’ spoiled by the imprudence of some other patterer.

Coored, adj. (old).—Whipped.—D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171 [1821].

Coot, subs. (American).—A stupid fellow; generally ‘a silly’ or ‘mad old coot.’ Stupid as a coot is a common English provincialism. [The fulica altra, the bald or common coot, like the ostrich, is said to bury its head when pursued, thinking none can see it, as it cannot see itself.] For synonyms, see Buffle-head and Cabbage-head.

Cooter.—See Couter.

Cop, subs. (common).—A policeman. [From cop, verb, sense 1.] For synonyms, see Beak, sense 1, and Copper.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, p. 124. Oh! where will be the culls of the bing ... And all the cops and beaks so knowin’, A hundred stretches hence?

1879. Punch, 3 May, p. 201, col. 1. I suppose if the Toffs took a fancy for chewing a stror or a twig, Like a tout or a hostler, or tumbled to carryin’ a bludgeon as big As a crib cracker’s nobby persuader, Pall Mall would be jolly soon gay With blue-blooded blokes a green cop might mistake for foot-pads on the lay.

Verb (common).—1. To seize; steal; catch; take an unfair advantage in a bet or bargain. [Cop has been associated with the root of the Latin cap-io, to seize, to snatch; also with the Gypsy kap or cop = to take; Scotch kep; and Gallic ceapan. Probably, however, its true radix is to be found in the Hebrew cop = a hand or palm. Low-class Jews employ the term, and understand it to refer to the act of snatching.]

[Cop like Chuck (q.v.), is a sort of general utility verb. Thus to Cop the Needle = to get angry; to Cop the Bullet or the door = to get the sack; to Cop it Hot = to be severely clapped; to Cop it (said of women) = to be got with child; and to Cop the Brewer = to be drunk.]

For synonyms in the sense of to steal, see Prig; and in the sense of to seize, see Nab.

1864. Manchester Courier, 13 June. ‘Copper’ ... a slang name for a policeman derived from cop, which is a well known and generally used vulgarism for ‘catch.’

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., p. 500. I was taken by two pals (companions) to an orchard to cop (steal) some fruit.

1883. Punch, Sept. 29, p. 146, col. 2. ‘Bill’s not such a fool as you think; He’ll cop my truncheon, pat, Jam the whistle into my mouth, And stretch the Peeler flat.’

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip to all Cross Coves. Booze and the blowens cop the lot.

2. trs. and intrs. (thieves’).—To arrest; imprison; betray; ensnare.

English Synonyms. To give the clinch; to make one kiss the clink; to accommodate; to nobble; to bag; to box; to fist (old); to scoop; to take up; to victimize; to run in; to give or get one the boat; to buckle; to smug; to nab; to collar; to pinch; to nail; to rope in; to shake; to pull up.

French Synonyms. Empioler (thieves’); tomber au plan (thieves’ = to be apprehended); étre mis au plan (thieves’ = to be imprisoned); enfourailler (thieves’); bâcler or boucler (thieves’: literally to buckle, put a ring to); bloquer (military: properly to blockade); étre le bon (popular = to be arrested; also to be the right man); boulotter de or coucher à la boîte (military = to get frequently locked up. La grosse boîte = a prison; boîte aux refléxions = a prison cell); mettre quelqu’un dans la blouse (familiar = to ‘pocket,’ as at billiards); se faire cuire (popular = to be arrested); clouer (popular: clou = guard-room or cell); coller au bloc (popular: coller is properly to stick, as with glue, but in a slang sense it carries the meaning of to place or put; bloc = prison); piper (familiar); poisser (popular and thieves’); grimer (popular); coquer (thieves’: also, to peach or inform); enflacquer (thieves’); mettre or fourrer dedans (familiar: literally to put inside); mettre à l’ombre (common: literally to put in the shade); mettre au violon (popular: see violon under Cage); grappiner (popular); poser un gluau (thieves’ = to lime, as in snaring birds); empoigner (popular = to fist; possibly a dictionary word); piger (popular); emballer (popular and thieves’; properly to pack up); gripper (this has passed into the language); encoffrer (popular = to ‘box up’); encager (familiar = to cage); accrocher (properly to hook); ramasser de la boîte (military: also ramasser quelqu’un and se faire remasser); souffler (thieves’); faire tomber malade (popular = to make one ill); agrafer (literally to hook or clasp; avoir son linge lavé (thieves’ = to have one’s linen washed).

German Synonyms.—Bekaan scheften (from the Hebrew kaan); im Kühlen sitzen (literally to sit in the cold. Cf., Fr., mettre à l’ombre); krank werden (literally to fall ill; equivalent to the Fr. faire tomber malade); ins Leck baun (Viennese thieves’ M.H.G. luken = to lock up); millek sein (to be imprisoned); trefe fallen (to be apprehended under grave circumstances; e.g., with burglar’s instruments or stolen goods); versargen (to imprison for a long time); abfassen (students’ slang); ankappen (popular colloquialism); klemmen (M.H.G. klembern = to press heavily); taffen, tofes nehmen, tofes lokechnen, or tofes lekichnen (from the Hebrew tophas); vercheweln, vercheifeln or verheifeln (from the Hebrew chobal; also to bind or gag).

Copbusy, verb (thieves’).—See quot.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 445. To hand over the booty to a confederate or girl—to copbusy.

Copper, subs. (popular).—A policeman. [From cop, verb, senses 1 and 2, (q.v.), to catch, + er; literally a catcher.] Equivalents are robin or robin-redbreast; m.p. (i.e., member of police); copperman (an Australian prison term); but for synonyms, see Beak, to which may be added the following.

French Synonyms. Un chasse-coquin (popular: also = a ‘beadle’ and ‘bad wine.’ Literally ‘a beggar-driver’: Cf., chasse-chien = a beadle employed to drive away dogs); un chasse-noble (thieves’); le cadratin (police; a term applied to the detective force; properly what printers call an ‘em quad’); l’enplaque (thieves’); une fauvette à tête noire (thieves’: literally ‘a black-cap’); un bricul or briculé (thieves’: an inspector of police); une casserole (thieves’ = a detective; also a prostitute. Properly ‘a saucepan’ or warming-pan); un emballeur (thieves’: properly ‘a packer’); un ficard (thieves’); un arnacq or arnache (thieves’); un vesto de la cuisine (thieves’ = a detective. Vesto = haricot bean; cuisine = detective force); rabatteur de pantes (thieves’ = a beater of game, man being the quarry); un bigorneau (properly a periwinkle); un cognac (thieves’); un quart (pop: faire son quart = to be on the watch); un radis noir (common: also = a priest or devil-dodger); un renifleur (thieves’: renifler = to sniff); mari Robin (thieves’); un marchand or solliceur de lacets (thieves’: lacets = hand-cuffs); lapin ferré (a mounted policeman); un liêge (thieves’).

German Synonyms. Blaukragen (Viennese thieves’: for an armed policeman; literally ‘a blue collar,’ in allusion to the uniform); Blitzableiter (literally ‘the lightning conductor’); Bosser-Isch (a play upon words is involved in this term. It is derived from the Hebrew bosar = meat. Bosser-Isch signifies literally ‘meat-man,’ i.e., a butcher, or translated into literary German, Fleischmann. In the first half of the last century a certain Lieutenant Fleischmann was especially zealous in ‘persecuting’ the robber gangs infesting the district between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. Every hunter of rogues and vagabonds has since then been called a Bosser-Isch or Fleischmann. Hence its application to the police); Greiferci (specially applied to the ‘criminal’ police); Hadatsch or Hatschier (Viennese thieves’); aie Herren (the police force generally; literally ‘the gentlemen’); Husche, Huscher, Husskiefel or Husskopf (a mounted policeman); Iltis or Iltisch (thieves’); Kapdon (from the Hebrew kophad: literally ‘to draw together,’ or intransitively ‘to cut off’; applied to a clever policeman); Karten (the police. Cf., Garden = guards); Koberer (the officer in charge of the regulations over registered prostitutes; Koberer = ‘fancy-man,’ or ‘protector’); Klisto (a mounted policeman; from the Hanoverian gypsy glisto); Kreuzritter (Viennese thieves’ = a policeman who is also a soldier; more correctly, a police-soldier); Laileschmir (a night policeman; from the Hebrew lailo, ‘the night’); Laterne (Viennese thieves’); Lederzeug (a mounted policeman); Mischpoche (a Hebrew word signifying ‘the family,’ ‘the relations’; gang of robbers; the inmates of a prison; the police force taken as a whole); Polenk or Polente (Hanoverian slang for the police; possibly from the Gypsy polontschero = ‘the night-watchman’ or ‘herdsman’); Poliquetsch (a term applied either to the force or to a single member); Quetsch (Cf., foregoing); Schin (an abbreviation, being the Hebrew letter ‏ש‎, for the turnkey of a prison, a policeman, etc.; ein platter Schin, a policeman who makes common cause with a burglar; miser Schin, a policeman who is hated); Spinatwächter (soldiers’ for a police-soldier; in allusion to the green uniform); Spitz or Spitzl (a vigilant policeman, from Spitz = pointed, from which is derived Spitz-bube, a thief); Teckel (Hanoverian for foot-police); Zaddik (from the Hebrew signifying ‘the just’ or ‘pious one’; used sarcastically as a nickname for the guardians of the right); Zenserei (Viennese thieves’: Zenserer = a police superintendent. Apparently the modern form of the old Sens, Sins, Söns, Sims, or Simser, of which the derivation is clearly to be found in Zent or Cent, from the Centenæ of the Frankish kings, who divided the counties into Centenæ and Decaniæ for the purposes of administration).

Italian Synonyms. Falcon de draghetti (literally ‘a hawk preying on schoolboys’); sbirre.

Spanish Synonym. Abrazador (m; literally ‘one who embraces’; abrazar = to hug, or clasp).

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, p. 21. ‘The knuck was copped to rights, a skin full of honey was found in his kick’s poke by the copper when he frisked him’; [i.e.] the pickpocket was arrested, and when searched by the officer a purse was found in his pantaloons pocket full of money.

1864. Manchester Courier, 13 June. The professors of slang, however, having coined the word, associate that with the metal, and as they pass a policeman they will, to annoy him, exhibit a copper coin, which is equivalent to calling the officer copper.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 237. I daresay the coppers quite expected us the next night, and looked out for us.... Coppers, I may inform the reader, is slang for police.

1889. Punch, 3 Aug., p. 49, col. 2. Young ’Opkins took the reins, but soon in slumber he was sunk—(Indignantly) When a interfering copper ran us in for being drunk!

Copperheads, subs. (American).—A nickname applied to different sections of the American nation: first to the Indian; then to the Dutch colonist (see Irving, Knickerbocker); lastly, during the Civil War, to certain Northern Democrats who sympathised with the South. [Properly the Trigonocephalus contortrix.]

1864. Walt Whitman, Diary, 10 April [in Century Mag., Oct., 1888]. Exciting times in Congress. The copperheads are getting furious, and want to recognise the Southern Confederacy.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 29 Aug. Should he [Mr. Greeley] be elected, he will owe his victory to ... the copperhead ring of the Democratic party.

1881. W. D. Howells, Dr. Breen’s Practice, ch. ix. He lived to cast a dying vote for General Jackson, and his son, the first Dr. Mulbridge, survived to illustrate the magnanimity of his fellow-townsmen during the first year of the civil war, as a tolerated copperhead.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, 2 March. Gay was executed, I think, in November, 1862, at Indianapolis. He was ... a virulent copperhead.

Copperman, subs. (Australian prison).—A policeman. Cf., Copper.

Copper-Nose, subs. (old).—The swollen, pimply nose of habitual drunkards. A ‘jolly’ or ‘bottle’ nose; in Fr., une bette-rave, i.e., a beetroot; also un piton passé à l’encaustique. Cf., Grog-blossom. For synonyms for the nose generally, see Conk.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. x. ‘The stoutest raven dared not come within a yard of that copper nose.’

Copper’s Nark, subs. (thieves’).—A police spy; one in the pay of the police. [From copper (q.v.), a policeman, + nark, a spy; used as a nark signifies to watch or look after.]

1879. Thos. Satchell, in Notes and Queries, 5 S., xi., 406. Copper’s Nark: A police spy.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good Night. Likewise you coppers’ narks and dubs What pinched me when upon the snam.

1889. Answers, 20 July, p. 121, col. 1. He instructed me ... on no account to appear to be anxious to pry into their secrets, lest I should be mistaken for a copper’s nark, i.e., a person in the pay of the police.

Copperstick, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Copus, subs. (Univ.).—A wine or beer cup, which was commonly imposed as a fine upon those who talked Latin in hall or committed other breaches of etiquette. Dr. Johnson derives it from episcopus, and if this be correct it is doubtless the same as bishop.

Copy of Countenance, subs. phr. (old).—A sham; humbug; pretence.

1579. Gosson, Apol. of the Schoole of Abuse, p. 64 (Arber). They have eaten bulbief, and threatned highly, too put water in my woortes, whensoeuer they catche me; I hope it is but a coppy of their countenance.

1607. Dekker, Westward Ho, Act ii., Sc. 1. I shall love a puritan’s face the worse, whilst I live, for that copy of thy countenance.

1637. Fletcher, Elder Brother, V., i. Nor can I change my copy, if I purpose to be of your society.

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, bk. III., ch. xiv. This, as he afterwards confessed on his death-bed, i.e., in the court at Tyburn, was only a copy of his countenance; for that he was at that time as sincere and hearty in his opposition to Wild as any of his companions.

1756. Foote, Englishman from Paris, Act i. And if the application for my advice is not a copy of your countenance, a mask; if you are obedient, I may set you right.

Coral Branch, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis.

Core, Coreing, verb and verbal subs. (old).—See quot.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Coreing: picking up small articles in shops.

Corinth, subs. (old).—A brothel. For synonyms, see Nanny-shop. Cf., Corinthian and Corinthianism.

1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens, Act ii., Sc. 2. Would we could see you at Corinth!

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Corinthian, subs. (old).—1. A rake; a loose liver; sometimes specifically, a fashionable whore. Shakspeare has it, ‘a lad of mettle,’ but in another place he uses corinth as above. In the slang sense an allusion to the notoriety of Corinth as a centre of prostitution, i.e., the temple-city of Aphrodite. Κορινθάεσθαι, = to Corinthianise was Greek slang. Hence the proverb—Οὺ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς εἰς Κόρινθον ισθ’ ὁ πλοῦς: and Horace, Epist. lib. 1, xvii., 36—

‘Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum.’

Also used as an adjective, a verbal form being to corinthianize. Cf., Shakspeare’s use of Ephesians in II. King Henry IV., ii. 2. For synonyms, see Molrower.

1598. Shakspeare, I Henry IV., Act ii., Sc. 4. And tell me flatly I am no proud Jack, like Falstaff; but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a good boy.

b. 1608. d. 1674. Milton, Apology for Smect. And raps up, without pity, the sage and rheumatic old prelatess, with all her young Corinthian laity.

1890. Daily Telegraph, 25 Feb., p. 4, col. 7. Is it not curious that hotel proprietors [at Monte Carlo] should countenance, if not encourage, a Tom and Jerry tone and a wild Corinthian element, even in well-conducted restaurants?

1890. Henley and Stevenson, Beau Austin, iii., 1. I assure you, Aunt Evelina, we are Corinthian to the last degree.

2. A dandy; specifically applied in the early part of the present century to a man of fashion; e.g., Corinthian Tom, in Pierce Egan’s Life in London. For synonyms, see Dandy.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 9. ’Twas diverting to see, as one ogled around, How Corinthians and Commoners mixed on the ground.

1832. Pierce Egan, Book of Sports, p. 210. ‘I would be a Corinthian to the end of the chapter if I could—but the truth is, I was not lucky enough to be born a swell.’

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. iv. Where the hospitable ‘Jem’ received his more aristocratic visitors, and to which, as Corinthians, or ‘swells,’ we were immediately admitted.

1854. Thackeray, Leech’s Pictures in Quarterly Review, No. 191, Dec. Corinthian, it appears, was the phrase applied to men of fashion and ton ... they were the brilliant predecessors of the ‘swell’ of the present period.

Corinthianism, subs. (old and modern).—See Corinthian, in both senses of which, mutatis mutandis, corinthianism is employed.

Cork, subs. (common).—1. A bankrupt. For analogous terms, see Quizby.

2. (Scotch).—The general name in Glasgow and neighbourhood for the head of an establishment, e.g., of a factory, or the like.

To draw a cork, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To draw blood. A variant is to tap one’s claret.

1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, vol. I., p. 136. Several blows exchanged, but no corks were drawn.

1819. Thos. Moore, Tom Crib’s Mem. to Cong., p. 25. ... This being the first Royal claret let flow, Since Tom took the Holy Alliance in tow, The uncorking produced much sensation about, As bets had been flush on the first painted snout.

1837. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xii. Tap his claret cask—draw his cork!

Cork-brained, adj. phr. (old).—Light headed; foolish.

Corker, subs. (common).—1. That which closes an argument, or puts an end to a course of action; a settler; a finisher (q.v.); specifically a lie. Cf., whopper.

2. Anything unusually large, or of first-rate quality; remarkable in some respect or another; e.g., a heavy blow; a monstrous lie.—See Whopper.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xix. ‘Then I lets him have it, right, left, right, jist three corkers, beginning with the right hand, shifting to the left, and then with the right hand ag’in.’

To play the corker.—To indulge in the uncommon; to exhibit exaggerated peculiarities of demeanour; specifically in school and university slang to make oneself objectionable to one’s fellows.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. vii. ‘Why, you’re sticking up for him now!’ said Tom ... astonished at this apparent change of front. ‘If you choose to come back and play the corker like this, it’s your look-out.’

Corks, subs. (general).—1. A butler. [An allusion to one of the duties of the office.] Cf., Burn-crust, a baker; Master of the mint, a gardener; Cinder-Garbler, a maid-of-all-work, etc.

2. (nautical).—Money. [A facetious allusion to money as the means of ‘keeping afloat.’] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

Corkscrewing, verbal subs. (common).—The straggling, spiral walk of tipsiness.

Corkscrews, subs. pl. (general).—Very stiff and formal curls, once called bottle-screws.

1890. Notes and Queries, 5 April. Bottle-screws—Dr. Murray has this word in the N.E.D. as obsolete, meaning cork-screws, as we now call them.

Corky, adj. (colloquial).—Sprightly; lively. [An allusion to the buoyancy of a cork.] Shakspeare uses it in King Lear, iii., 7. Com., ‘Bind fast his corky arms’; but with him (1605) it = ‘withered.’

Corn, subs. (American).—1. Food; sustenance; grub. [A figurative usage of the legitimate word.]

1870. Green Bay (Wis.) Gaz., Oct. I therefore take thus to forewarn You not to trust her with a straw, For I will never pay her corn Unless compelled to by the law.

2. (American).—An abbreviated form of corn-juice (q.v.), i.e., whiskey.

1843. John S. Robb. ‘The Standing Candidate.’ ‘Ef you war a babby, just new born, ’Twould do you good this juicy corn!’

To acknowledge the corn, phr. (American).—See Acknowledge, and the following quote:

1846. New York Herald, 27 June. The Evening Mirror very naïvely comes out and acknowledges the corn, admits that a demand was made, etc.

Corned, ppl. adj. (common).—1. Drunk. [Hotten: ‘possibly from soaking or pickling oneself like salt-beef.’ Barrère: ‘almost beyond doubt ... an Americanism from corn, a very common name for whisky.’ Both are wrong; the verb ‘to corn’ is a common provincialism and Scotticism signifying ‘to be drunk.’] For synonyms, see Screwed.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1808. Jamieson, Etymolog. Dict. Scottish Lang. The lads are weel corned.

1835. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 257 (ed. 1862). ‘I was pretty well corned thet arternoon, but still I knew what I was about.’

2. (sailors’).—Pleased.

Corner, subs. (colloquial).—1.—See verbal sense.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 309. Mr. Bill Greyson thought it much more likely that a syndicate of bookmakers had plotted to make a good thing out of the horse by working him in the betting-market like any other corner on the Stock Exchange.

2. (sporting).—Tattersall’s Subscription Rooms once situate at the top of Grosvenor Place, near Hyde Park Corner; now removed to Albert Gate, but still known by the old nickname.

1848. W. M. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. x. He is a regular attendant at the corner, where he compiles a limited but comfortable libretto.

1874. G. A. Lawrence, Hagarene, ch. v. She heard how—without anticipating the stable commission, or making any demonstration at the corner—the cream of the long odds against the Pirate had been skimmed.

3. (sporting).—Short for Tattenham Corner, a crucial point on the Derby course on Epsom Downs.

4. (thieves’).—A share; an opportunity of ‘standing in’ for the proceeds of a robbery.

Verb (colloquial).—To get control of a stock or commodity and so monopolize the market; applied to persons, to drive or force into a position of difficulty or surrender, e.g., in an argument. [Probably American, being a simple extension of the legitimate meaning of the word to drive or force into a corner or place from which there is no means of escape.] French equivalents are être en fine pégrène, and se mettre sur les fonts de baptême. Tailors speak of a man as cornered who has pawned work entrusted to him, and cannot redeem it. Also used as a ppl. adj.

1848. Lowell, Fable for Critics, p. 24. Such [books] as Crusoe might dip in, altho’ there are few so Outrageously cornered by fate as poor Crusoe.

1851. Hawthorne, House of Seven Gables, ch. v. A recluse, like Hepzibah, usually displays remarkable frankness, and at least temporary affability, on being absolutely cornered, and brought to the point of personal intercourse.

1883. Graphic, April 21, p. 406, col. 2. Chief member of a ring which has cornered colza oil this winter to such an extent that the price has been very considerably enhanced during the last few months.

To be round the corner, verbal phr. (common).—To get round or ahead of one’s fellows by dishonest cuts, doublings, twists, and turns. For synonyms, see Knowing.

To turn the corner, phr. (common).—To get over the worst; to begin to mend in health or fortune.

To be cornered, verbal phr. (common).—To be in a ‘fix.’ Fr., être dans le lac.

Corner-Man or Cove, subs. (common).—1. A loafer; literally a lounger at corners.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 445. I mean by corner-coves them sort of men who is always a standing at the corners of the streets and chaffing respectable folks a-passing by!

1885. Chamb. Journal, Feb. 28, p. 136. Curley Bond was well known in the district as a loafer and corner-man.

2. (music hall).—The ‘Bones’ and ‘Tambourine’ in a band of negro minstrels.

Corn In Egypt, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Plenty of all kinds. [Biblical.]

Cornish Duck, subs. (trade).—A pilchard. Cf., Yarmouth capon.

Corn-Juice, subs. (American).—Whiskey. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1888. Detroit Free Press, May. ... Don’t be for ever loafing whar the corn-juice flows.

Cornstalk, subs. (Australian).—Generic for persons of European descent, but especially applied to girls. The children of Anglo-Australians are generally taller and slighter in build than their parents. Originally a native of New South Wales; now general. Cf., Bananalander.

1885. Chambers’ Journal, March 21, p. 191. The stockman—a young six-foot Cornstalk (or native of New South Wales).

1887. G. L. Apperson, in All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 67, col. 2. A native of New South Wales is known as a cornstalk.

1888. Colonies and India, 14 Nov. Auld Jamie Inglis has written ‘anither buik, ye ken’ ... for the delectation of the youthful Cornstalk’s mind.

Cornstealers, subs. (American).—The hands. For synonyms, see Bunch of fives and Daddle.

1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker. ‘How is you been, my old bullock?’ and he squeezed his cornstealers till the old gineral began to dance like a bear on red-hot iron.

Corny-Faced, adj. (old).—Red and pimply with drink. [From corn, to render intoxicated, + faced.]

Coroner, subs. (common).—A severe fall. [Literally a fall likely to produce a coroner’s inquest.]

Corporal, To mount a corporal and four, verbal phr. (old).—To practice masturbation.—See Frig.

Corporation, subs. (colloquial).—A protuberant stomach. For synonyms, see Bread-basket and Victualling office.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue.

1849. C. Bronté, Shirley, ch. xvi. The former, looming large in full canonicals, walking as became a beneficed priest, under the canopy of a shovel hat, with the dignity of an ample corporation.

1887. W. P. Frith, Autobiog., i., 49. Very stout men ... each possessing larger corporations than are commonly seen.

Corpse, subs. (sporting).—A horse in the betting for market purposes alone; otherwise a stiff’un.—See Cock, subs., sense 4.

Verb (theatrical).—1. To confuse; ‘to queer’; to blunder and so ‘put out’ one’s fellows: to spoil a scene.—See Regular corpser.

1864. Hotten, Slang Dict., s.v.

1886. Graphic, April 10, p. 399. An actor who forgets his words is said to ‘stick,’ or be ‘corpsed.’

1886. Cornhill Mag., Oct., p. 436. He expressed a hope that Miss Tudor ‘wouldn’t corpse his business’ over the forge-door again that evening.

2. (common).—To kill (literally to make a corpse of one). A Fr. equivalent is parler sur quelqu’un. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

1884. Editor of Notes and Queries [in ‘Answers to Correspondents’ (6 S., ix., 120), says that]. ‘To corpse ... is one of many customary and coarse ways of menacing the infliction of death. It is horribly familiar in London.’

1887. W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, Act 4. Moore. And is he thundering well corpsed?... Then damme, I don’t mind swinging.

Corpse-Provider, subs. (common).—A doctor or physician. For synonyms, see Crocus.

Corpse Reviver, subs. phr. (American).—A mixed drink.—See Drinks.

1871. Birmingham Daily Post, 22 Dec. And our American refreshment bars, In drinks of all descriptions cut a dash, From corpse revivers down to ‘brandy smash.’

1883. Daily Telegraph, March 8, p. 7, col. 1. In winter the dash into the open air or the standing for a few minutes in a line of comrades will certainly enhance the joys of the English equivalents for the Yankee corpse reviver.

Correct or K’rect Card.—See Card.

Corroboree, subs. (Australian).—A disturbance. [Properly a tremendous native dance.]

Verb.—To boil.—See preceding.

Corsican, subs. (sporting).—Something out of the common; a ‘buster.’ [A ‘Burnandism.’]

1889. Polytechnic Mag., 18 April, p. 232, col. 2. This heat was a Corsican.

Corybungus, subs. (pugilistic).—The posteriors.—See Blind cheeks, Bum, and Monocular eye glass.

Cosh, subs. (popular and thieves’).—A ‘neddy’; a life-preserver; a short, loaded bludgeon. Also a policeman’s truncheon.

Cosouse.—See Come Souse.

Cossack, subs. (common).—A policeman. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

1886. Graphic, Jan. 30, p. 130, col. 1. A policeman is also called a ‘cossack,’ a ‘Philistine,’ and a ‘frog.’

Costard, subs. (old).—The head. [Properly an apple.] For synonyms, see Crumpet.

1534. N. Udall, Roister Doister, III., v., p. 58 (Arber). I knocke youre costarde if ye offer to strike me.

1605. Shakspeare, King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6. Edg. ... Nay, come not near th’ old man; keep out, che vor ye, or ise try whether your costard or my bat be the harder.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, Costard, the head; a kind of opprobrious word, used by way of contempt, probably alluding to a costard apple.

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. xii. ‘It’s hard I should get raps over the costard.’

Cotch, verb (vulgar).—To catch. [A corruption.] Also ppl. adj., cotched.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., Oct. 12, p. 5, col. 2. Taken before some French beak whom he did not know, and an interpreter brought, the cotched culprit was made to pay 20 f.

Cots, subs. (Christ’s Hospital).—See quot. [A corruption of ‘cotton.’]

1810. Charles Lamb, Recollections of Christ’s Hospital [1835], p. 24. The Cots, or superior Shoe Strings of the Monitors.

Cotsold or Cotswold Lion, subs. phr. (old).—A sheep. Mentioned by Ray in his proverbs. For synonyms, see Wool-bird.

1615. Harington, Epigrams, bk. III., ep. 18. Lo then the mystery from whence the name Of Cotsold lyons first to England came.

Cotton-Lord or King, subs. (common).—A wealthy cotton manufacturer.

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xix. ‘But, Mr. Fulsby [a Manchester man], the country will never ... do away with the army because you cotton lords consider it unnecessary.’

Cottonopolis, subs. (general).—Manchester. [In allusion to the staple.] Cf., Albertopolis, Cubitopolis, Hygeiapolis.

1884. Echo, May 12, p. 4, col. 2. For the big race [Manchester Cup] at Cottonopolis a fine lot are let in.

Cottons, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Confederate Bonds. [From the staple of the Southern States.]

Cotton To, verb (common).—To take a fancy to; to unite with; to agree with. In the last sense it is found occasionally in the Elizabethan writers, and is American by survival. [As regards derivation, it comes from the Welsh cytuno, to agree, to consent.]

Some French analogues are:—Avoir un béguin pour quelqu’un and avoir un pépin pour une femme; one who cottons to another is by students called un colleur; while concubinage by sheer force of habit is damned as le collage.

1582. Stanyhurst, Virgil, p. 19 (Arber). If this geare cotten, what wight wyl yeelde to myn aulters Bright honor and Sacrifice.

1605. Play of Stucley, I., 290. John a Nokes and John a Style and I cannot cotton.

1837. Barham, I. L. (The Bagman’s Story). For when once Madam Fortune deals out her hard raps, It’s amazing to think, How one cottons to drink!

1846. Punch, vol. II., p. 12. I agree in the words of Mrs. Judy, who says, ‘My dear, I hope one day to see Peel and Cobden cotton together.’

1864. Derby Day, p. 152. ‘You stop here and cotton up to the gipsies,’ exclaimed Charley Brickwood.

1880. Ouida, Moths, ch. vii. ‘Ride? Ah! That’s a thing I don’t cotton to anyhow,’ said Miss Fuschia Leach, who had found that her talent did not lie that way.

To die with cotton in one’s ears, phr. (obsolete).—See quots.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 92. Many of the most hardened and desperate offenders, from the kindness, attention, and soothing conduct of the Rev. Mr. Cotton [the chaplain at Newgate, 1821], who is indefatigable in administering consolation to their troubled minds, have become the most sincere penitents.

1864. Athenæum, 29 Oct., No. 1931. Rev. of Sl. Dict. When a late chaplain of Newgate [Rev. Mr. Cotton] used to attend poor wretches to the scaffold, standing by their side to the last moment, they were said to ‘die with cotton in their ears!’ Let us add here, that Rowe invented the phrase ‘launched into eternity,’ to signify the simple but solemn matter of hanging.

This was by no means the only instance of a popular punning allusion to the name of Cotton. The Jesuit Father Coton, having obtained a great ascendency over Henri IV., it was remarked by that monarch’s subjects that, unfortunately, ‘his ears were stuffed with cotton.’

Cotton-Top, subs. (obsolete).—A woman loose in fact, but keeping up some sort of appearance. [In allusion to cotton stockings with silk feet.]

Couch a Hogshead, verbal phr. (old).—To lie down and sleep. [Couch, to lie down, was in common use in Shakspeare’s time (Merry Wives of Windsor, v., 2). Hogshead = the head.]—See, however, quot., 1610, and for synonyms, see Balmy.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. To couch a hogshead: to ly downe and slepe. Ibid, I couched a hogshead in a skypper this darkemans.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Cowch a hogshead: to lie doune and sleepe; this phrase is like an Alminacke that is out of date: now the duch word to slope is with them vsed, to sleepe, and liggen, to lie downe.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. iv., p. 37 (1874). The fumes of drink had now ascended into their brain, wherefore they coucht a hogs-head, and went to sleep.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxx. ‘We’ll couch a hogshead, and so better had you.’ They retired to repose, accordingly.

Councillor of The Pipowder Court, subs. (old).—A pettifogging lawyer. [The Pipowder Court was one held at fairs, where justice was done to any injured person before the dust of the fair was off his feet; the name being derived from the French pié poudré. Some, however, think that it had its origin in pied-pouldreux, a pedlar, and signifies a pedlars’ court.

Council-of-Ten, subs. phr. (common).—The toes of a man who walks duck-footed (q.v.). Cf., Ten commandments. Fr., arpions.

Counsellor, subs. (Irish).—A barrister. Fr., un gerbier.

1889. Answers, 9 Feb. I referred him to my solicitors, who very kindly lent their services for nothing, giving the £3 he had to the counsellor (thieves always call barristers counsellors) employed.

Count, subs. (common).—A man of fashion; a swell.—See quot., 1883, and Dandy for synonyms.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 6 p.m., par. 20. Tremendous counts are the clerks in the secretary’s office, jaunty bureaucrats, who ride upon park hacks, and are ‘come for’ by ringlets in broughams at closing time.

1883. G. A. S[ala], in Ill. London News, April 21, p. 379, col. 2. Fops flourished before my time, but I can remember the ‘dandy,’ who was superseded by the count, the ‘toff,’ and other varieties of the ‘swell.’

Counter, verb (pugilistic).—To strike while parrying. Also used as a verbal subs., countering. Figuratively, to oppose; to circumvent.

1853. C. Bede, Verdant Green, pt. I., p. 106. His kissing traps countered, his ribs roasted.

1857. O. W. Holmes, Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, ch. vii. He will certainly knock the little man’s head off, if he strikes him. Feinting, dodging, stopping, hitting, countering—little man’s head not off yet.

1871. Daily News, 17 April, p. 2, col. 2. The Jockey Club met on Wednesday last, when they countered the Hunt Committee ... by refusing to father the said ‘wrangling stakes’ by a majority of eleven to three.

1873. Conservative, 15 Feb. If ‘The Druid’ is the prettier sparrer, ‘The Ædile’ must be admitted to have shown unexpected powers of countering, and has stood up gamely to his bigger opponent.

Another lie nailed to the counter.—See Another.

Counterfeit-Cranke, subs. (old).—Explained in quots.—See Cranke.

1567. Harman, Caveat. These that do counterfet the cranke be yong knaves and yonge harlots, that deeply dissemble the falling sickness.

1621. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 159. A lawyer of Bruges hath some notable examples of such counterfeit cranks. Ibid. 436. Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater.

1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii., 1. And these, what name or title e’er they bear, Jarkman, or Patrico, Cranke, or Clapper-dudgeon, Frater, or Abram-man, I speak to all That stand in fair election for the title Of king of beggars.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 39 (1874), s.v.

Counter-Jumper (or Skipper), subs. (common).—A draper’s assistant; a shopman. Fr., chevalier du mètre. For synonyms, see Knight of the yard. Also counter-jump = to act as a shop-assistant, and counter-jumping, verbal subs.

1855. C. Kingsley, Westward Ho. ‘Why,’ said he, stifling his anger, ‘it seems free enough to every counter-jumper in the town.’

1860. Guide to Eton, p. 236. They are like the young counter-jumper, mentioned by Dickens, on the outside of a coach, who lighted a great many cigars, and threw them away when he thought no one was looking.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., 189. Mamma, dear, you open that gigantic wardrobe of yours, and I’ll oil my hair, whitewash my mug (a little moan from Mrs. D.), and do the counter-jumping business to the life.

1864. G. A. Sala, in Temple Bar, Dec., p. 40. He is as dextrous as a Regent Street counter-jumper in the questionable art of ‘shaving the ladies.’

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard, ch. viii. I don’t want my son and heir to keep company with counter jumpers.

Count-Noses, verbal phr. (parliamentary).—To count the ‘Ayes’ and ‘Noes.’ [A punning allusion to the latter.] Generally, to take the sense of any assembly.

Country, subs. (cricket).—That part of the ground at a great distance from the wicket; thus, a fielder at ‘deep-long-off,’ or ‘long-on’ is said ‘to be in the Country,’ and a ball hit to the far boundary is ‘hit into the Country.’

Country-Put, subs. (old).—An ignorant, country fellow. For synonyms, see Joskin.

1717. Mrs. Centlivre, Bold Stroke for a Wife, Act iv., Sc. 2. Col. F. Enough. Now for the country-put.

County-Crop, subs. (general).—The hair cut close to the skull; a mode once common to all prisoners, but now to convicts only. Also prison-crop. [An abbreviation of county-prison crop.] Used likewise adjectively.

1867. Jas. Greenwood, Unsent. Journeys, xxv., 199. A slangy, low-browed, bull-necked, county-cropped ... crew.

Couple- (also Buckle-) Beggar, subs. (old).—A celebrant of irregular marriages—as the Chaplain of the Fleet; a hedge priest. A Spanish colloquialism for such a marriage is bodijo.

1737. Swift, Proposal for Badges to the Beggars. Nay, their happiness is often deferred until they find credit to borrow, or cunning to steal, a shilling to pay their popish priest, or infamous couple-beggar.

1842. Lever, Handy Andy, ch. xxix. This was a degraded clergyman, known in Ireland under the title of Couple-Beggar, who was ready to perform irregular marriages on such urgent occasions as the present.

Couple of Shakes.—See Brace of Shakes.

Coupling-House, subs. (old).—A brothel. [From coupling, the act of copulating, + house.] For synonyms, see Nanny-shop.

Couranne.—See Caroon.

Court-Card, subs. (old).—A beau, or ‘swell.’ For synonyms, see Dandy.

Court Holy Water or Court Promises, subs. phr. (old).—Fair speeches without performance.

Cousin Betty, subs. (colloquial).—A half-witted person. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1860. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers, ch. xiv. I dunnot think there’s a man living—or dead for that matter—as can say Foster’s wrong him of a penny, or gave short measure to a child or a cousin betty.

Cousin-Trumps, subs. (old).—One of a kind: brother smut; brother chip.

1825. English Spy, p. 255. Most noble cracks, and worthy cousin-trumps, etc.

Couter or Cooter, subs. (common).—A sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary, sense 3. Half a couter = half-a-sovereign.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant (3 ed.), p. 444, s.v.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 243. ‘A foulcher, with flimsies and couters for a score of quid in it.’

1880. James Payn, A Confidential Agent, I., 207. ‘Well, he gave us half a couter at all events,’ pleaded John in mitigation.

Cove, Covey, Cofe, Cuffing, and, in the feminine, Covess, subs. (general).—1. A person; a companion. [Some derive cove from the Gypsy cova, covo = that man, covi = that woman; Cova, says Pott (quoted in Annandale), has a far wider application than the Latin res; there is no expression more frequent in a gypsy’s mouth. Others connect it with the north country coof; a lout or dolt.] Cove enters into many combinations: e.g.,

Cross-cove = a robber. Flash-cove = a thief or swindler. Kinchin-cove = a little man. Flogging-cove = a beadle. Smacking-cove = a coachman. Narry-cove = a drunkard. Topping-cove = a highwayman. Abram-cove = a beggar. Queer-cove = a rogue. Nubbing-cove = the hangman. Gentry-cove = a gentleman. Downy-cove = a shrewd man. Rum-cove = a doubtful character. Nib-cove = a gentleman,

etc., etc., etc., all which see.

English Synonyms. Boy; chap; cull; cully; customer; kiddy; homo or omee; fish; put; bloke; gloak; party; cuss; codger; buffer; gaffer; damber; duck; chip.

French Synonyms. Bête à pain (popular: literally a bread-eater; also a man who ‘keeps’ a woman); un bonhomme (familiar); un type (prostitutes’ = a dupe); un gonce, gonse or gonze, and une gonzesse (thieves’); un goncier (thieves’); un gonsalé (thieves’); un gadouille; un nière or niert; un pante (thieves’: from pantin, a puppet); un mastic (thieves’: properly cement or putty); une mazette (military); une mecque (thieves’); un marquant (thieves’: especially applied to bullies or Sunday-men); un marpaut or marpeau (old cant); un lancier (thieves’); un lascar (thieves’); un messier or messière (thieves’: from mézière, a fool); un orgue (thieves’); un gas (thieves’); un gosselin (popular = Eng. covey; une fignolé gosseline = a ‘natty piece’); un gniasse (thieves’); un loncegue (thieves’).

German Synonyms. Baal (perhaps one of the most comprehensive terms in the Gaunersprache, and signifying not only a ‘cove’ [i.e., an individual], but also a master, husband, possessor, artist, expert, artisan—in fact, one owning or capable of anything. Combinations are Balbajis, Balbos [fem. Balboste, Balboëste] = master of the house; Baldower = a principal or leader of a gang, an adviser, the creator of opportunities, the spy; Baleze, Baleize = an adviser, also a chief of police; Balhoche [from Baal and hocho (there)], prostitutes’ = ‘one in possession’ but removeable; Balhoche (thieves’) = one with an opportunity of theft; Balhei is merely the abbreviation or Baalhe or hei; Balmassematten [masso umattan], the business man, the leader of a gang; Balmelocho, the artisan; Balmelochestift, the artisan’s apprentice; Balplete, Balpleite, the runaway; Balschochad, any official who takes bribes; Balspiess = a common lodging-house; Balm, Balmach, Balmachan, Palm, Palmer, Palmach, Pallmack, Pallmagen = a soldier; the Hanov. has Palemachome [Palemachen, Pallemacher]; Balverschmai = an inquisitor or judge); Brooker (Hanoverian = one in trousers, from the North German Broek or Bracca, trousers); Gatscho (from the Gypsy gaxo); Isch (from the Hebrew isch).

1567. Harman, Caveat. Cofe: a person.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight, in wks. (Grosart) III., 196. The word cove, or cofe, or cuffin, signifies a Man, a Fellow, etc.

1654. Witts, Recreations. As priest of the game, And prelate of the same, There’s a gentry cove here.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 12, s.v.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. x. ‘Do you see that old cove at the book-stall?’

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. ii.: [a misquotation of a far older song.] ‘The ministers talk a great deal about port, And they makes Cape wine very dear, But blow their hi’s if ever they tries, To deprive a poor cove of his beer.’

1871. Figaro, 15 April. We need hardly say that the cove in question is not a man.

[For examples of the use of Covey and Covess, see same.]

2. (Up-country Australian).—The master, ‘boss,’ or ‘gaffer’ of a sheep station.

Cove of Dossing-Ken, subs. phr. (thieves’).—The landlord of a common lodging-house. Fr., marchand de sommeil.

Covent-Garden, subs. (rhyming slang).—A ‘farden’ or farthing.

Covent-Garden Abbess, subs. (old).—A procuress. [Covent Garden at one time teemed with brothels: as Fielding’s Covent Garden Tragedy (1751–2) suggests. Cf., Bankside ladies, and Barnwell ague.]—See Covent-Garden ague and Abbess. For synonyms, see Mother.

Covent-Garden Ague, subs. phr. (old).—A venereal disease. [An allusion to brothels in the neighbourhood in question.] Cf., Bankside ladies. For synonyms, see Ladies’ fever.

Covent-Garden Nun, subs. phr. (old).—A prostitute.—[See Covent-garden ague and Nun.]

Coventry. To send one to, or to be in Coventry, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To exclude from social intercourse, or notice; to be in disgrace. [Variously but indecisively explained:—(1) From Coventry Gaol, as a place of imprisonment for Royalists during the Parliamentary war. (2) From the fact that in Coventry, as elsewhere, the privilege of trading was anciently confined to certain privileged persons. (3) As a corruption of put or sent into quarantine, the transition from ‘Coventry’ formerly pronounced and written Cointrie—(‘his breech of Cointrie blewe.’ Drayton’s Dowsabell: 1593)—being easy and natural, in which connection, see quot., 1821. The expression appears first in Grose, but ‘Quarantine’ used analogically is found in Swift.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1821. Croker, in Croker Papers, vol. I., p. 203. I found MacMahon in a kind of Coventry, and was warned not to continue my acquaintance with him.

1838. Lytton, Alice, bk. IV., ch. iii. ‘If any one dares to buy it, we’ll send him to Coventry.’

1869. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. x., p. 244 (9 ed.). The skilful artizan, who in a given period can do more than his fellows, but who dares not do it because he would be sent to Coventry by them.

1872. Post, 21 June. Another representation on behalf of Lieutenant Tribe, of the 9th Lancers, now for some months past in Coventry, will be made in the course of a few days to the Minister for War and to his Royal Highness Commanding-in-Chief.

Cover, subs. (thieves’).—A pickpocket’s confederate: one who ‘fronts,’ i.e., distracts the attention of, the victim; a stall (q.v.).

Verb (thieves’).—1. To act as a pickpocket’s confederate.

1868. Glasgow Gazette, 13 Nov. ‘A Sensitive Thief.’ I saw Merritt lift up the tail of a gentleman’s coat and thrust his hand into the pocket.... Jordan and O’Brien were covering Merritt while so acting. I knew them all to be regular thieves.

2. (American).—To drink. For synonyms, see Lush.

3. (venery).—To ‘have’ or ‘possess’ a woman. [Properly used of a stallion and a mare.]

1653. Urquhart, Translation of Rabelais. Madam, it would be a very great benefit to the commonwealth, delightful to you, honourable to your progeny, and necessary for me, that I cover you for the propagating of my race.

Cover-arse Gown, subs. phr. (Univ., obsolete).—A gown without sleeves.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, s.v.

Cover-Down, subs. (thieves’).—An obsolete term for a false tossing coin.—See Cap.

Cover-Me-Decently, verbal phr. (old).—A coat. For synonyms, see Capella.

1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, p. 5. (Dicks’ ed., 1889.) Tom. This, what do you call it?—this cover-me-decently, was all very well at Hawthorn Hall, I daresay.

Covess, subs. (old).—A woman.—See Cove.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 144. He was well acquainted with the cove and covess.

1827. Sir E. B. Lytton, Pelham, p. 310 (ed. 1864). Ah, Bess my covess, strike me blind if my sees don’t tout your bingo muns in spite of the darkmans.

Covey, subs. (common).—A man; a diminutive of cove (q.v.).

1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Tom. Well there’s a flimsy for you; serve the change out in max to the covies.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. Upon this, the boy crossed over; and, walking close up to Oliver, said, ‘Hullo, my covey! what’s the row?’

1854. Aytoun and Martin, The Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘The Laureate’s Tourney.’ ‘Undo the helmet! cut the lace! pour water on his head!’ ‘It ain’t no use at all, my lord; ’cos vy? the covey’s dead.’

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 19. Ah! Ah! you half-starved, hungry, ugly-looking covey, why, if they had you in the country where I came from they’d boil you down for the pigs.

Cow, subs. (old).—1. A woman. The term is now opprobrious; but in its primary and natural sense the usage is ancient. Howell [1659] says: ‘There are some proverbs that carry a kind of authority with them, as that which began in Henrie the Fourth’s time. “He that bulls the cow must keep the calf.”’ For synonyms, see Petticoat.

2. (general).—A prostitute. [By analogy from sense 1.] Fr., une vache. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

3. (sporting).—A thousand pounds. Other slang terms for sums of money are:—

Pony = £25. Century = £100. Monkey = £500. Plum = £100,000. Marigold = £1,000,000.

but for complete list, see Monkey.

1870. Athenæum, 10 Sept. ‘Liverpool.’ All over Lancashire a horse is called a cow, which everywhere else where slang prevails is a cant term for a thousand pounds.

To talk the hind leg off a cow or dog.—See Talk.

Tune the cow died of.—See Tune.

Cowan, subs. (common).—A sneak or prying individual. Among masons the uninitiate in general.

Cow-and-Calf, verb (rhyming slang).—To laugh.

Coward’s-Castle or Corner, subs. phr. (popular).—A pulpit. [Because a clergyman may deliver himself therefrom without fear of contradiction or argument.] For synonyms, see Hum-box.

1883. Notes and Queries, 6 S., viii., p. 147. Coward’s Castle.... An epithet ... in use not inaptly for a pulpit. Ibid. p. 238. I have often heard the pulpit called the Coward’s Castle, it being said to be ‘six feet above argument.’

Cowcumber, subs. (vulgar).—A corruption of ‘cucumber.’

1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Bob. Very vell, two pound, vith a pickled cowcumber, and a pen’orth o’ ketchup.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxv. In case there should be such a thing as a cowcumber in the house will you be so kind as bring it, for I’m rayther partial to ’em myself, and they does a world of good in a sick room.

Cow- (also Bushel- and Sluice-) Cunted, adj. phr. (venery).—term of opprobrium applied to women deformed by parturition or debauchery.

Cow-Grease or Cow-Oil, subs. (common).—Butter. For synonyms, see Cart-grease.

Cow-Juice, subs. (popular).—Milk. Cf., Bung-juice and Cow-grease. For synonyms, see Sky-blue.

Cow-Lick, subs. (common).—A peculiar lock of hair, greased, curled, brought forward from the ear, and plastered on the cheek. Once common amongst costermongers and tramps. For synonyms, see Aggerawators.

Cow-Oil.—See Cow-grease.

Cow-Puncher, subs. (American).—A cowboy or herdsman.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 21 July. He was a cowboy, or, in Western parlance, a cow-puncher.

Cow-Quake, subs. (Irish).—The roar of a bull.

Cows-and-Kisses, subs. (rhyming slang).—The ‘missus,’ or mistress; also women generally.

1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. Come, cows-and-kisses, put the battle of the Nile on your Barnet fair, and a rogue and villain in your sky-rocket.

Cow’s-Baby or Babe, subs. (common).—A calf. In Old Cant bleating-cheat (q.v.). For synonyms, see Mooer; Cf., Cow-juice and Cow’s-spouse. Also a poltroon; Fr., un fouinard, un fouetteux de chats, un fouailleur, un foie, un flemard or flaquadin, or un frileux.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Cow-Shooter, subs. (Winchester College).—A ‘deerstalker’ hat: only worn by præfects and ‘candle-keepers.’

Cow’s-Spouse, subs. (old).—A bull.—Grose [1785].

Cow With the Iron Tail, subs. phr. (general).—A pump; the source of the ‘cooling medium’ for ‘regulating’ milk. Thus, Dr. Wendell Holmes, in The Professor at the Breakfast Table (1860):—It is a common saying of a jockey that he is all horse, and I have often fancied that milkmen get a stiff upright carriage, and an angular movement that reminds one of a pump and the working of a handle. Also black-cow; one-armed man; and Simpson’s cow (q.v.).

1867. Punch. The Rinderpest does not affect the cow with the iron tail.

1872. Standard, 25 Dec. Simpson ... is, however, universally accepted as the title for that combined product of the Cow natural, and the cow with the iron tail.

1876. Once a Week, 23 August. Every drop of milk brought into Paris is tested at the barriers by the lactometer, to see if the iron tailed cow has been guilty of diluting it; if so, the whole of it is remorselessly thrown into the gutter—the Paris milk is very pure in consequence.

Coxy, adj. (public schools’).—Stuck up; conceited; impudent.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 202. He’s the coxiest young blackguard in the house—I always told you so. Ibid, p. 214. ‘Confoundly coxy those young rascals will get if we don’t mind,’ was the general feeling.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. iv. ‘Now then young Bultitude, you used to be a decent fellow enough last term, though you were coxy. So, before we go any further—what do you mean by this sort of thing?’

Coyduck, verb (old).—To decoy. [An ingenious blend of conduct and decoy.]

1829. A Laconic Narrative of the Life and Death of James Wilson. That awful monster, William Burke. Like Reynard sneaking on the lurk, Coyducked his prey into his den And then the woeful work began.

Coyote, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Cozza, subs. (cheap Jacks’).—See quot.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack. p. 28. Mo ... declared he would never eat another bit of cozza, i.e., pork, as long as he lived.

Crab, subs. (auction).—The same as bonnet (q.v.), subs., sense 1.

Verb (thieves’).—To expose; to inform; to offend or insult; and especially to interrupt, to get in the way of, to spoil. [Properly to render harsh, sour, or peevish; to make crabbed.] Also used adjectively. For synonyms, see Peach and Rile, respectively.

1825. The English Spy, vol. I., p. 179. Liveryman, Eglantine. What coming crabb over us, old fellow? Very well, I shall bolt and try Randall, and that’s all about it.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. If a patterer has been crabbed, that is offended at any of the ‘cribs’ (houses), he mostly chalks a signal on or near the door. Ibid, vol. II., p. 568. ‘We don’t crab one another when we are sweeping; if we was to crab one another, we’d get to fighting and giving slaps of the jaw to one another.’

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, pp. 5–6. Others, however, would be what we termed crabbed.

1880. Millikin, Punch’s Almanack. Crab your enemies,—I’ve got a many, You can pot ’em proper for a penny.

To catch a crab; also to cut a crab; to catch or cut a cancer or lobster, verbal phr. (common).—There are various ways of catching a crab, as, for example, (1) to turn the blade of the oar or ‘feather’ under water at the end of the stroke, and thus be unable to recover; (2) to lose control of the oar at the middle of the stroke by ‘digging’ too deeply; or (3) to miss the water altogether.

Crab Louse, subs. (old).—The pulex pubis, the male whereof is called a cock, the female a hen.—Grose [1785].

Crabs, subs. (thieves’).—1. The feet. [A punning comparison of the feet and ten toes to the ten-footed, short-tailed crustaceans popularly known as ‘crabs.’] For synonyms, see Creepers. In Haggart (see Glossary, 1821) crabs = shoes.

2. (old).—Lice. For synonyms, see Chates, sense 2.

3. (gaming).—A pair of aces, or deuce-ace—the lowest throw at hazard.

1768. Lord Carlisle, in Jesse’s Selwyn, II., 238 (1882). I hope you have left off hazard. If you are still so foolish, and will play, the best thing I can wish you is, that you may win and never throw crabs.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Hard Times), p. 4, ed. 1851. Well, we know in these cases Your crabs and ‘Deuce Aces’ Are wont to promote frequent changes of places.

1874. G. A. Lawrence, Hagarene, ch. iii. ‘My annuity drops with me; and if this throw comes off crabs, there won’t be enough to bury me, unless I die a defaulter.’

To turn out crabs or a case of crabs, verbal phr. (common).—A matter turns out crabs when it is brought to a disagreeable conclusion. [Cf., Crab, verb, in the sense of to interrupt; to get in the way of; to spoil.]

Crabshells, subs. (popular).—Shoes. [From crabs, subs., sense 1 (q.v.), + shells, an outer covering.] For synonyms, see Trotter-cases.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 210, ‘Now these ’ere shoes,’ he said ... ‘even now, with a little mending, they’ll make a tidy pair of crab-shells again.’

1889. Answers, July 20, p. 121, col. 2. The state of my crabshells, or boots, pointed to the fact that I had come down in the world.

Crack, subs. (old).—A crazy person, or soft-head. [From crack = to impair, or to be impaired.] For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight, in wks. (Grosart) III., 212. A Foyst nor a Nip shall not walke into a Fayre or a Play-house, but euerie cracke will cry looke to your purses.

b. 1672, d. 1719. Addison (quoted in Annandale). I cannot get the Parliament to listen to me, who look upon me as a crack.

2. (old).—A prostitute, see sense 4. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, Act v., Sc. 3. You imagine I have got your whore, cousin, your crack.

1705–7. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. II., pt. II., p. 27. Old Leachers, Harridans, and Cracks.

1715. Vanbrugh, Country House, II., v. For you must know my sister was with me, and it seems he took her for a crack, and I being a forward boy he fancied I was going to make love to her under a hedge, ha, ha.

1748. T. Dyce, Dictionary (5 ed.), s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vul. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

3. (old).—A lie. Cf., Cracker (the modern form), and for synonyms, see Whopper.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act ii. Miss N. There’s something generous in my cousin’s manner. He falls out before faces to be forgiven in private. Tony. That’s a damned confounded crack.

4. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

5. (thieves’).—A burglary. Cf., Crack a crib, and for synonyms, see Panny. [The term originated about the beginning of the present century. Fr., une fraction.]

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood p. 120 (ed. 1864). We’ll overhaul the swag here, when the speak is spoken over. This crack may make us all for life.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 124. The crack failed, said Toby, faintly.

1841. G. W. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad, ch. xxvi. But should the traps be on the sly, For a change we’ll have a crack.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 5. Come on, then! A sweet ride of a dozen miles, just to cool one’s head, then for the crack; and then back to London.

1889. Answers, 13 April, p. 313. Such inscriptions as ‘Poor Joe from the Dials in for a crack,’ meaning ‘Poor Joe from Seven Dials in for a burglary,’ are numerous.

6. (thieves’).—A burglar. [See sense 5, and cf., Cracksman.]

1749. Life of Bampfylde-Moore Carew. Suffer none, from far or near, With their rights to interfere; No strange Abram, ruffler crack.

1857. Punch, 31 Jan. (from slang song). That long over Newgit their Worships may rule, As the High-toby, mob, crack, and screeve model school.

7. (colloquial).—An approach to perfection. Cf., sense 8.

1825. English Spy, p. 255. Most noble cracks and worthy cousin trumps, permit me to introduce a brother of the togati.

1864. Glasgow Herald, 5 April. ‘Report of R. N. Y. Club.’ This vessel (one of Fyfe’s cracks) being almost new, and coppered, will be free from the objectionable fouling which is so great a drawback to the use of iron yachts.

1871. London Figaro, 17 Oct. Does it mean that the crack is a thing of the past, and that the learned author is no longer to be considered as a crack?

1889. Answers, March 23, p. 265, col. 3. Warders are not, thank goodness, first-rate shots, but even a crack would find it difficult to hit a man’s head appearing for only a moment or two in probably a heavy fog.

8. (turf).—A racehorse eminent for speed. Hunting: a famous ‘mount.’ [An extension of the usage in sense 7.]

1853. Diogenes, II., 271. ‘The Betting Boy’s Lament.’ Cesarewitch, Cambridgeshire now No longer for me have a charm; the cracks may be ranged in a row, But for me they’ve no fear nor alarm.

1864. Derby Day, p. 38. Sir Bridges Sinclair would not scratch a horse—no, not if it was ever so, let alone a Derby crack.

1871. Standard, 6 Nov. Unlimited gossip as to the welfare and chances of forthcoming cracks.

1883. The Echo, Feb. 7, p. 3, col. 6. I give below a few of the probable starters for the Waterloo Cup, including all the cracks.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 155. Of course he was au courant with all the rumours concerning the Panton Lodge crack.

9. (vagrants’).—Dry firewood.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 358. The next process is to look for some crack (some dry wood to light a fire).

Adj. (colloquial).—Approaching perfection; used in a multitude or combinations. A crack hand is an adept or ‘dabster’; a crack corps, a brilliant regiment; a crack whip, a good coachman; etc. As a connecting link between the adjective and the earlier use of crack, cf., The crack.

1836. W. H. Smith, The Individual, 13 Nov. ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ Her duds are bob—she’s a kinchin crack, and I hopes as how she’ll never back.

1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots (July). And such a crack-shot myself, that fellows were shy of insulting me.

1859. Whitty, Political Portraits, p. 106. But he [the Earl of Shaftesbury] has insisted on a recognition of the facts of our appalling civilisation, and that was a good deal to do, which none other than a Peer and crack Christian could hope to do. Ibid, p. 288. The whippers-in will never receive instructions to find the addresses of the brilliances of Union debating clubs, bar messes, and crack newspapers.

1865. M. E. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. xx. Who was moreover a crack shot, a reckless cross-country-going rider, and a very tolerable amateur artist.

Verb (old).—1. To talk to; to boast. [The verb was once good English, and in the sense of to talk or gossip is still good Scots. The modern form to crack-up, is well within the borderland between literary and colloquial English. The following quots., together with those under crack-up, form an unbroken series].

1597. G. Harvey, Trimming of Nashe, in wks. (Grosart) III., 31. So you may cracke your selfe abroad, and get to be reported the man you are not.

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., II., III., xiv., 199, (1876). Your very tradesmen, if they be excellent, will crack and brag, and show their folly in excess.

1654. Witts, Recreations. And let them that crack In the praises of sack, Know malt is of mickle might.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

2. (thieves’).—To force open; to commit a burglary. [A shorter form of crack a crib (q.v.)]

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xix. The crib’s barred up at night like a jail; but there’s one part we can crack, safe and softly.

3. (American thieves’).—To forge or utter worthless paper. [An extension by analogy of ‘to crack,’ i.e., ‘to force,’ and ‘cracksman,’ a burglar.]

4. (colloquial).—To fall to ruin; to be impaired. Cf., subs., sense 1.

b. 1631. d. 1701. Dryden [quoted in Annandale]. The credit of the exchequer cracks when little comes in and much goes out.

5. (thieves’).—To inform; to peach (q.v. for synonyms).

c. 1850, but date uncertain. Broadside Ballad, ‘Bates’ Farm.’ I mean to crack a crib to-night, but pals don’t crack on me.

To crack a bottle or a quart, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To drink. Analogous and equally old is ‘to crush a cup.’ Fr., étouffer une négresse or un enfant de chœur. For synonyms, see Lush.

1598. Shakspeare, II. Henry IV., v., 3, 66. Shal. By the mass, you’ll crack a quart together.

1711. Spectator. No. 234. He hems after him in the public street, and they must crack a bottle at the next tavern.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. vii. ‘What,’ says the wife, ‘you have been tippling with the gentleman! I see.’ ‘Yes,’ answered the husband, ‘we have cracked a bottle together.’

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. viii. ‘You have cracked my silver-mounted cocoa-nut of sack, and tell me that you cannot sing!’

1853. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, ch. xvii., p. 221. ‘I chose to invite the landlords of the ‘Bell’ and the ‘Lion’ to crack a bottle with me.’

To crack a crib, swag, or ken, verbal phr. (thieves’).—To commit a burglary; to break into a house. [From crack, to force open, + crib, a house.]

English Synonyms. To stamp a ken or crib; to work a panny; to jump a house (also applied to simple robbery without burglary); to do a crack; to practice the black art; to screw; to bust a crib; to flimp; to buz; to tool; to wire; to do a ken-crack-lay.

French Synonyms. Faire un cassement de porte (thieves’); faire une condition (thieves’); faire copeaux (thieves’: in allusion to the splinters from a forced door); écorner une boutanche or un boucard (thieves’ = to enter shops burglariously); faire un vol à l’esquinte (thieves’); maquiller une cambriole (thieves’: maquiller = to do, to ‘fake’—an almost universal verb of action); faire fric-frac; nettoyer un bocart (thieves’).

German Synonyms. Aufnollen (to ‘burgle’ with skeleton keys); aufplatzen (literally ‘to wrench’ or ‘break open’); aufschränken (schränken [from Schranke, O.H.G. screnchan, M.H.G. schranne, schrange, schrand] = a burglary with violence. Schränker = burglar. Up to the middle of the present century burglars used to be called Schränker a zierlicher; Schränkmassematten = a burglary with violence; Schränkzeug, Schränkschaure, Schränkschurrich = burglars’ tools); blaupfeifen (Viennese thieves’); Cassne handeln or melochenen (to commit burglary with open violence); einen Massematten handeln (Massematten is a word whose Hebraic components very nearly correspond to the English ‘debit and credit’; it signifies commerce and activity—of the kind that pertains to cracksmanship; e.g., einen Massematten baldowern, to make an opportunity for theft; einen Massematten stehen haben, to have ‘dead-lurked’ a crib, or prepared a burglary; Massematten bekoach, a burglary with violence.)

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 297, ed. 1854. And you ‘members as now I met Harry and you—there, and I vas all afeard at you—cause vy? I had never seen you afore and ve vas a going to crack a swell’s crib.’

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 5. Jer. Now comes the grand spec; we go to crack a ken; Kit’s in, so’s the captain. Steady’s the word; I go first, you all follow.

1871. Standard, 26 Dec. If their pals outside, the gentry who hocus Jack ashore in the east, pick the pockets of Lord Dundreary in the west, and crack cribs in the lonely outskirts could only realise how miserable the Christmas-day was for them, we might look out for a needful retrenchment in the estimates of penal expenditure.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 11 May. ‘Leader.’ He took to burglary, employing professional burglars to assist him, whenever it became necessary to crack a crib.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip. Dead-lurk a crib, or do a crack.

To crack a judy (or her tea cup), verb. phr. (common).—To deflower a maid.

To crack a crust, phr. (common).—To rub along in the world. A superlative for doing very well is, To crack a tidy crust.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 445. I am now just managing to crack an honest crust; and while I can do that I will never thieve more.

To crack a ken, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To commit a burglary; to crack a crib (q.v.).—[See Crack, verb, sense 2 and Ken.]

To crack a whid, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To talk. [Whid (q.v.) = a word: Old Cant.] Cf., Cut, verb, sense 1. For synonyms, see Patter.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 22. The whids as the words or set phrases used by Cheap Johns in disposing of their articles are called are very much alike ... many little circumstances occur when they (the whids) are being cracked which are lost to a reader.

To crack on, verb. phr. (common).—To ‘put on speed’; increase one’s pace.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xi. ‘I shot a wild goose at River Philip last year, with the rice of Varginny fresh in his crop; he must have cracked on near about as fast as them other geese, the British travellers.’

1876. Broadside Ballad [quoted in C. G. Leland’s Captain Jonas]. We carried away the royal yards, and the stuns’le boom was gone. Says the skipper, ‘they may go or stand, I’m darned if I don’t crack on.’

To crack up, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To praise; eulogize. A superlative is to crack up to the nines. Fr., faire l’article, (commercial travellers’) and faire son boniment or son petit boniment (cheap jacks’ and showmen’s).

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit. Ch. 33 ... We must be cracked up, said Mr. Chollop, darkly.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 139. Then don’t object to my cracking up the old school house, Rugby.

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ch. i. ‘We find them cracking up the country they belong to, no matter how absurd may be the boast.’

The crack, or all the crack, phr. (general).—The go (q.v.); ‘the thing’; the ‘kick’; the general craze of the moment.

In a crack, phr. (colloquial).—Instantaneously; in the twinkling of an eye. For synonyms, see Bedpost.

1725. Ramsay, Gentle Shepherd, Act i. I trow, when that she saw, within a crack, She came with a right thieveless errand back.

1763. Foote, Mayor of Garrett, Act i. Nic Goose, the taylor, from Putney, they say, will be here in a crack.

1819. Byron, Don Juan, ch. i., st. 135. ‘They’re on the stair just now, and in a crack will all be here.’

1842. Punch, vol. III., p. 136. In a crack the youth and maiden To a flowery bank did come.

Cracked or Cracked-Up, ppl. adj. phr. (colloquial).—1. Ruined; ‘bust up’; ‘gone to smash’ or to ‘pot.’ For synonyms, see Dead broke.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 2 [also pp. 24, 47]. If a Catholic coster,—there’s only a very few of them—is cracked up (penniless) he’s often started again, and the others have a notion that it’s through some chapel fund. Ibid, p. 22. ‘If we’re cracked up, that is, if we’re forced to go into the Union.’

1870. Britannia, June. ‘Speculation in 1870.’ Of these there only remain now 122 companies, with a capital of a hundred and eighty millions, the rest having one and all cracked up, as the Americans would say.

2. (common).—Crazy. For synonyms, see Apartments and Tile Loose.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 3 Sept. ‘Police Court Report.’ Mr. Bushby: Is her head affected? The Prisoner: Am I cracked? Of course—in the nut. You’ll be to-morrow.

3. (common).—Deflowered. Also Cracked in the Ring.

Cracker, subs. (common).—Anything approaching perfection. Used in both a good and bad sense; e.g., a rattling pace, a large sum of money, a bad fall, an enormous lie, a dandy (male or female) of the first magnitude, and so forth. [Cf., Crack, subs.; senses 3 and 7, adj., and verb, sense 1.]

1861. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, ch. vi. ‘I remember ... Belphegor’s year. What a cracker I stood to win on him and the Rejected!’

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 28. You know the University was in a manner beaten, and he took the blame. He never cried; that was a cracker of those fellows.

1869. Daily News, Nov. 8. ‘Leader.’ Now he’s gone a cracker over head and ears.

1871. Daily News, Nov. 1. ‘Prince of Wales’ Visit to Scarborough.’ The shooting party, mounting their forest ponies, came up the straight a cracker, Lord Carrington finishing a good first.

1883. Graphic, March 24, p, 303, col. 1. He [the Oxford stroke] could also depend on his own men for not falling to pieces through being taken off at a cracker.

Crackey.—See Crikey.

Crack-Halter, or Crack-Rope, subs. (old).—A vagabond; an old equivalent of jail-bird. Cf., Hemp-seed.

1566. Gascoigne, Supposes, i., 4. You crackhalter, if I catch you by the ears, I’ll make you answer directly.

1607. Dekker, Northward Hoe, IV., i. Featherstone’s boy, like an honest crack-halter, laid open all to one of my prentices.

1639. Massinger, Unnatural Combat, II., ii. Peace, you crack-rope!

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxx. ‘Hark ye, ye crack-rope padder, born-beggar, and hedge-thief,’ replied the hag.

Crack-Hunter, or Haunter, subs. (venery).—The penis. Cf., Crack, subs., sense 4. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Cracking, verbal subs. (thieves’).—House-breaking. [From crack, verb, sense 2.]

1862. Cornhill Mag., vol. VI., 651. We are going a-flimping, buzzing, cracking, tooling, etc.

Crackish, adj. (old).—Wanton, said only of women. [From crack, subs., sense 4.] Cf., Coming.

Crack-Jaw Words, Names, etc., subs. (colloquial).—Long words difficult to pronounce. [From crack, to break, + jaw, speech.] Variants are half-crown words, jaw-breakers, and cramp words.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard’s Daughter, ch. vii. ‘He brings her plants with crackjaw names.’

1883. Daily Telegraph, June 25, p. 3, col. 1. ‘Some of the ways with the crack-jaw names of cooking it would give it a foreign flavour to me.’

Crackle or Crackling, subs. (University).—The velvet bars on the gowns of the Johnian ‘hogs’ (q.v.). [From their resemblance to the scored rind on roast pork.] The covered bridge between one of the courts and the grounds of John’s is called the Isthmus of Suez (Latin sus, a swine).

1885. Cuthbert Bede, in Notes and Queries, 6 S., xi., 414. The word crackle refers to the velvet bars on the students’ gowns.

Crackmans or Cragmans, subs. (old).—A hedge.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 57 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874), s.v.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874), s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. The cull thought to have loped, by breaking through the crackmans, but we fetched him back by a nope.

Crack or Break One’s Egg, or Duck, verbal phr. (cricket).—To begin to score. [To make no run is to ‘lay, or make, a duck’s egg’; to make none in either innings is ‘to get a double-duck,’ or to come off with a pair of spectacles.]

1890. Polytechnic Magazine, 5 June, p. 367, col. 2. Watson bowled splendidly, taking 8 wickets at a very small cost, two of his foemen being unable to crack their egg.

Crack-Pot, subs. (popular).—A pretentious, worthless person. For synonyms, see Swash-Buckler.

1883. Broadside Ballad, ‘I’m Living with Mother now.’ My aunty knew lots, and called them crack-pots.

Crack-Rope.—See Crack-halter.

Cracksman, subs. (popular).—1. A housebreaker. [From crack, verb, sense 2, + man; literally one who cracks or forces his way into a house.] For synonyms, see Thieves.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. The kiddy is a clever cracksman.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 298, ed. 1854. I have no idea of a gentleman turning cracksman.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 123. You’ll be a fine young cracksman afore the old file now.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Lay of St. Aloys). Your cracksman, for instance, thinks night-time the best To break open a door or the lid of a chest.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 70. I’ll turn cracksman, like my father.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 21 Nov., p. 6, col. 1. The latest dodge among cracksmen is to personate an electric-light man.

2. (common).—The penis.—See Crack, subs., sense 4.

Cradle, Altar, and Tomb Column, subs. phr. (American).—The births, marriages, and deaths column in newspaper. An English equivalent is hatch, match, and dispatch column.

Crag.—See Scrag.

Cram, subs. (popular).—1. A lie; oftentimes crammer. [The idea is that of stuffing with nonsense.] For synonyms, see Whopper.

1842. Punch, vol. II., p. 21, col. 2. It soundeth somewhat like a cram: but our honour is at stake, and we repeat the ‘mile.’

1864. Le Fanu, Uncle Silas, ch. xxxviii. ‘It is awful, an old un like that telling such crams as she do!’

1864. Quiver, 4 June. By some delicate distinction the falsehood presented itself under the guise of a cram, and not of a naked lie.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good Night. You magsmen bold that work the cram.

2. (colloquial).—Hard, forced study. Resulting rather in a test of memory than of capacity.

1872. Morning Post, Oct. 15. Poor Toots, the head boy of Dr. Blimber’s academy ... bloomed early and had by cram been enabled to answer any given set of questions, and to work any papers at an ‘exam.’

1872. Daily Telegraph, July 25. ‘Speech Day at King’s College School.’ Dr. Maclear also said a few words on the advantage of boys going up straight from school to college without any interval of cram.

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ch. xii. They have gained their position by cram of the philosophic kind.

3. (colloquial).—One who prepares another for an examination; a coach; a ‘grindstone.’

1861. Dutton Cook, Paul Foster’s Daughter, ch. ix. ‘I shall go to a coach, a cram, a grindstone.’

4. (University).—An adventitious aid to study; a translation; a ‘crib.’ For synonyms, see Pony.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘C. Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II., p. 68. The infatuated Mr. Bouncer madly persisted ... in going into the school clad in his examination coat, and padded over with a host of crams.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To study at high pressure for an examination. Also to prepare one for examination. Cf., Dig and Coach.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, s.v.

1825–27. Hone, Every-day Book, Feb. 22. Shutting my room door, as if I was ‘sported in’ and cramming Euc.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, chap. li., p. 446. ‘He crammed for it, to use a technical but expressive term; he read up for the subject, at my desire, in the Encyclopædia Britannica.’

1844. Puck, p. 13. Though for Great Go and for Small, I teach Paley, cram and all.

1872. Besant and Rice, My Little Girl. The writer of one crushing article crammed for it, like Mr. Pott’s young man.

2. (general).—To lie; to deceive, [Literally to stuff with nonsense.] For synonyms, see Stick.

1794. Gent. Mag., p. 1085. Luckily, I crammed him so well, that at last honest Jollux tipped me the cole [money].

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xviii. A thousand ridiculous tales ... with some specimens of which our friend Richie Moniplies had been crammed ... by the malicious apprentice.

Crammer, subs. (general). 1. A liar; one who tells crams (q.v.). [From cram (m), a lie, + er.]

2. (common).—A lie; the same as cram, sense 1.

1861. H. C. Pennell, Puck on Pegasus, p. 17. I sucked in the obvious crammer kindly as my mother’s milk.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. xxxviii. ‘What on earth made you tell him crammers like that?’ asked Silverbridge.

c. 1884. Broadside Ballad, ‘On Monday I Met Mary Ann.’ I thought t’would last for ever and I never should be sold, Because I was so clever in the crammers that I told.

3. (general).—One who prepares men for examination; a coach, or grinder (q.v., for synonyms).

1812. Miss Edgeworth, Patronage, ch. iii. Put him into the hands of a clever grinder or crammer, and they would soon cram the necessary portion of Latin and Greek into him.

1872. Evening Standard, 16 Aug. ‘The Competition Wallah.’ The crammer follows in the wake of competitive examinations as surely as does the shadow the body.

Cramming, verbal subs. (common).—The act of studying hard for an examination. [From cram (q.v., sense 2) + ing.] American, boning.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 201, col. 1. Aspirants to honours in law, physic, or divinity, each know the value of private cramming.

1863. Charles Reade, Hard Cash, I., p. 16. ‘All this term I have been (‘training’ scratched out and another word put in: c—r oh, I know) cramming.’ ‘Cramming, love?’ ‘Yes, that is Oxfordish for studying.’

1869. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. xv., p. 574 (9 ed.). And here, by higher culture, I do not mean mere language-learning, and an extension of the detestable cramming system at present in use.

1872. Daily News, Dec. 20. Competitive examinations for the public service defeated in a great measure, the object of their promoters, which was to place rich and poor on an equality, because success was made to depend very largely on successful cramming, which meant a high-priced crammer.

Cramped or Crapped, ppl. adj. (old).—Hanged; also killed. For synonyms, see Ladder.

Cramping-Cull, subs. (old).—The hangman. [From the cramping of the rope, + cull, a man.] Cf., cramp rings (q.v.).

Cramp in the Hand, subs. phr. (common).—Meanness; stinginess.

Cramp-Rings, subs. (old).—Bolts; shackles; fetters. [Properly a ring of gold or silver, which after being blessed by the sovereign, was held a specific for cramp and falling-sickness.] For synonyms, see Darbies.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight [ed. Grosart, III., 203]. Straight we’re to the Cuffin Queer forced to bing; And ’cause we are poor made to scour the cramp-ring.

1671. Head and Kirkman, The English Rogue, ‘Canting Song.’ Till cramprings quire, tip Cove his Hire, And Quire-ken do them catch.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Cramp-Words, subs. (old).—1. Hard, unpronounceable vocables; crackjaw words (q.v.).

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Cramp words (s.): hard, difficult, unusual or uncommon words.

1779. Mrs. Cowley, Who’s the Dupe? II., ii. I’ve been in the Dictionary this half-hour, and have picked up cramp words enough to puzzle and delight the old gentleman the remainder of his life.

1812. Coombe, Tour in S. of Picturesque, C. xxv. Who get cramp words, and cant the Muse In Magazines and in Reviews.

2 (thieves’).—Sentence of death. [A figurative usage of sense 1.]

1748. Dyche, Dict., 5 ed. Cramp-words(s) ... also in the canting dialect the sentence of death pass’d by the judge upon a criminal.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. He has just undergone the cramp-word.

Cranberry-Eye, subs. (American). A blood-shot eye resulting from alcoholism.

Crank, subs. (old).—1. Sometimes cranke.—See quots. and Counterfeit crank.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 33. These that do counterfet the cranke be yong knaues and yonge harlots, that deeply dissemble the falling sicknes. For the crank in their language is the fallinge evill.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Crancke, the falling sickenesse: and thereupon your Rogues that counterfeit the falling sickenes, are called counterfeit crancks.

2. (old).—Gin and water:—Grose [1785].

3. (American).—An eccentric, a crotcheteer. [From the colloquial cranky (q.v.) = full of crotchets; crazy.] Cf., Counterfeit Crank.

1886. Florida Times Union, 22 May. I know perfectly well that I shall probably be called an old fogy, if not a crank, for presuming to think that anything in the past can be better than in the present.

1887. New York Tribune, 4 Nov. A good deal of ridicule, mostly good-natured, is showered upon the base-ball crank, as everybody persists in calling the man or woman who manifests any deep interest in the great American game.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, 2 Feb. The man was evidently a crank, and said that 4,000 dollars were due him by the Government.

Adj. (nautical).—Easily upset: e.g., ‘the skiff is very crank.’

Crank-Cuffin, subs. (old).—One of the canting-crew whose specialty was to feign sickness. [From crank (q.v., sense 1), the ‘falling-sickness,’ + cuffin (see Cove), a man.]

1749. Bampfylde Moore-Carew, Oath of the Canting Crew. I, Crank-Cuffin, swear to be True to this fraternity.

Cranky, adj. (colloquial).—Crotchetty; whimsical; ricketty; not to be depended upon; crazy. [Cf., quot., 1787.]

English Synonyms. Dicky; maggotty; dead-alive; yappy; touched; chumpish; comical; dotty; rocketty; queer; faddy; fadmongering; twisted; funny.

French Synonyms. Chevrotin (popular: applied to a bad or irritable temper); être comme un crin (popular); avoir sa chique (familiar: said of the temper).

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Cranky, ailing, sickly; from the Dutch crank, sick.

1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. vii., p. 33. Adding to this retort an observation to the effect that his friend appeared to be rather cranky in point of temper.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., 113. He had repeatedly been called into cases of mania described as sudden, and almost invariably found the patient had been cranky for years.

1873. Mrs. Edwards, A Vagabond Heroine, in Temple Bar, June. ‘On goes the cranky carriage, on goes the swearing driver and the high souled Burke.’

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., No. III., p. 42. ‘What’s the matter now?’ asked Mrs. Hall, in her cranky way.

Cranny, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Cranny-Hunter, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms; see Creamstick.

Crap, subs. (old):—1. Money; sometimes crop. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.); s.v.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary and Dict. Vulg. Tongue [1785]. Crap ... In the north it is sometimes used for money.

2. (old).—The gallows. For synonyms, see Nubbing Cheat.

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 255 (ed. 1854). ‘Ah!’ said Long Ned, with a sigh, ‘that is all very well, Mr. Nabbem; but I’ll go to the crap like a gentleman.’

1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood. And what if, at length, boys, he comes to the crap Even rack punch has some bitter in it.

3. (printers’).—Type that has got mixed; technically known as ‘pi.’ [Here compared to excrement.]

Verb, trs. and intrs. (old).—1. To hang; to be crapped = to be hanged.

2. (common).—To ease oneself by evacuation. For synonyms, see Bury a Quaker and Mrs. Jones.

Crapped, ppl. adj. (old).—Hanged. [From crap (q.v., subs., sense 2), + ed.]—See Cropped.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. s.v.

Crapping Casa, Case, Castle or Ken, subs. (common).—A water-closet. [From crap, verb, sense 2 (q.v.), to ease oneself, + ing + casa or ken, a house.] For synonyms, see Bury a Quaker and Mrs. Jones.

Crapping-Castle, subs. (hospital).—A night-stool.

Crash, subs. (old).—1. Entertainment. Probably a cant word.—Nares.

2. (theatrical).—The machine used to suggest the roar of thunder; a noise of desperate (and unseen) conflict; an effect of ‘alarums, excursions’ generally.

Verb (old).—To kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

Crashing-Cheats or Chetes, subs. (old).—1. The teeth. [From crash, to break to pieces. + ing + cheat, a thing, from A.S. ceat.] For synonyms, see Grinders.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64, s.v.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874), s.v.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

2. (old).—See quots.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. Crashing chetes: appels, peares, or any other fruit.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874), Crashing cheates: apples.

Crater, Cratur, or Creature, subs. (old).—Formerly, any kind of liquor, but now, Irish whiskey. [Fuller speaks of water as ‘a creature so common and needful,’ and Bacon describes light as ‘God’s first creature.’ Transition is easy.] The skin of the creature = the bottle. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1598. Shakspeare, II. King Henry IV., ii. 2. My appetite was not princely got; for, by my troth, I do now remember the poor creature, small beer.

1663. Howard, The Committee, Act iv. Mrs. Day. Oh fie upon’t! who would have believ’d that we should have liv’d to have seen Obadiah overcome with the creature.

1683. S. B. Anacreon done into English out of the original Greek. Oxford. There goes a very pleasant Story of him, that once having took a Cup too much of Creature, he came staggering homewards through the Market Place, etc;

1772. Graves, Spiritual Quixote, bk. VII., ch. ii. You will never be able to hold out as Mr. Whitfield does. He seems to like a bit of the good cretur as well as other folks.

1816. Scott, Old Mortality, I., p. ... I do most humbly request ... that ... thou wilt take off this measure, called by the profane a gill, of the comfortable creature, which the carnal do denominate brandy.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. xiv. He produced two bottles of brandy ... so we passed the creature round, and tried all we could to while away the tedious night.

1842. Punch, vol. II., p. 23. And reaching home refresh myself with a ‘kervartern of the cretur!’

1864. Good Words, p. 952. Well as an Irishman—who had already paid for one pot of porter and a drop of the crater besides—I was not going to hear anything against ould Ireland.

Crawl, subs. (tailors’).—A workman who curries favour with a foreman or employer; a ‘lickspittle’ or ‘bum-sucker.’

Crawler, subs. (common).—1. A cab that leaves the rank and ‘crawls’ the street in search of fares.

1860. Daily News. It is said the question of making increased provisions for cab-stands, with a view to the restriction of the wandering cabs called crawlers, is now under the consideration of the Chief Commissioner of Police.

1885. Daily News, August 7, p. 5, col. 1. How often does the driver of the crawler increase his pace just as he sees some one venturing to attempt a crossing.

2. (common).—A contemptible person, especially a ‘bum-sucker’ or ‘lickspittle.’ For Synonyms, see Snide.

1885. Evening News, 21 Sept., p. 4, col. 1. The complainant called her father a liar, a bester, and a crawlers.

Crawthumpers, subs. (old).—1. Roman Catholics, ‘the Pope’s cockrels’ (1629). Also called brisket-beaters and, collectively, the breast-fleet. In America a crawthumper = an Irishman or dick, i.e., an Irish Catholic.

1782. Wolcot, Lyric Odes, No. 7; in wks. (1809) I., 69. We are no crawthumpers, no devotees.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Craw Thumpers: Roman Catholics, so called from their beating their breasts in the confession of their sins.

1889. Philadelphia Public Ledger [quoted in S. J. & C., p. 279]. Wanted a servant-maid. No pulings or crawthumpers need apply.

Cream, subs. (venery).—The seminal fluid; Marlowe’s ‘thrice decocted blood’; the ‘white-blow’ and the ‘father-stuff’ of Whitman. A single drop is called a snowball (q.v.).

English Synonyms. Butter; buttermilk; fuck; white honey; jelly; baby-juice; homebrewed; jam; ‘delicious jam’ (Whitman); lather; ‘lewd infusion’; love-liquor; milk; milt; ointment; the oyster; roe; seed; soap; spendings; sperm; spermatic juice (Rochester); spume; spunk; starch; stuff; the tread.—See Come.

Portuguese Synonyms. Leite (= milk); esporra; langouha (= a kind of thick gum).

Cream Cheese. To make one believe the moon is made of cream (or green) cheese, verbal phr. (popular).—To humbug; to deceive; to impose upon. For synonyms, see Bamboozle and Jockey.

Cream Fancy.—See Billy, subs., sense 1.

Cream Jugs, subs. (Stock Exchange).—1. Charkof-Krementschug Railway Bonds.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. Oh! supposing our cream-jugs were broken, Or ‘Beetles’ were souring the ‘Babies.’

2. (common).—The paps.

Cream of the Valley, also Cold Cream, subs. phr. (common).—Gin. Cf., Mountain Dew = whiskey. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, ch. i., p. 1. ‘What’s up, Jim? ... is it cream o’ the walley or fits as has overcome the lady?’

1864. Comic Almanack, p. 63. Cold Cream Internally.—Cold cream is an excellent remedy for ‘hot coppers.’

Cream-Stick, subs. (common).—The penis. [Literally a stick supplying cream (q.v.).]

English Synonyms. Aaron’s Rod; Adam’s Arsenal (the penis and testes); the Old Adam; arbor vitæ; arse-opener; arse-wedge; athenæum; bayonet; bean-tosser; beak; beef (the penis and testes); bag of tricks (idem); belly-ruffian; Billy-my-Nag; bludgeon; Blueskin; bracmard (Urquhart); my body’s captain (Whitman); broom-handle; bum-tickler; bush-beater; bush-whacker; butter-knife; catso or gadso; child-getter; chink-stopper; clothes-prop; club; cock; concern; copper-stick; crack-hunter; cracksman; cranny-haunter; cuckoo; cunny-catcher; ‘crimson chitterling’ (Urquhart); dagger; dearest member (Burns); dicky; dibble (Scots); dirk (Scots); Don Cypriano (Urquhart); doodle; dropping member; drumstick; eye-opener; father-confessor; ‘cunny-burrow ferret’ (Urquhart); fiddle-bow; o-for-shame; flute; fornicator; garden-engine and gardener (garden = the female pudendum); gaying instrument; generation tool (C. Johnson and Urquhart); goose’s neck; cutty gun (Scots); gut-stick; hair- (or beard-) splitter; hair-divider; Hanging Johnny; bald-headed hermit; Irish root; Jack-in-the-box; Jack Robinson; jargonelle; Jezabel; jiggling-bone (Irish); jock (q.v.); Dr. Johnson; ‘Master John Goodfellow’ (Urquhart); John-Thomas; ‘Master John Thursday’ (Urquhart); man Thomas; jolly-member (Urquhart); Julius Cæsar; ‘knock-Andrew’ (Urquhart); lance of love; Langolee (Irish); leather-stretcher; life-preserver; live sausage (Urquhart); Little Davy (Scots); lollipop; lullaby; machine; ‘man-root’ (Whitman); marrow-bone; marrow-bone-and-cleaver; Member for Cockshire; merry-maker; middle-leg; mouse; mole; mowdiwort (Scots); Nebuchadnezzar (cf., Greens); nilnisistando (Urquhart); Nimrod; nudinnudo (Urquhart); ‘nine-inch knocker’ (Urquhart); old man; peace-maker; pecker; pecnoster; pego; pestle; pike (Shakspeare); pike-staff; pile-driver; pintle; pizzle; ploughshare; plug-tail; pointer; ‘poperine pear’ (Shakspeare); Polyphemus; ‘pond-snipe’ (Whitman); prick (Shakspeare and Fletcher); ‘prickle’; privates, and private property (the penis and testes); ‘privy member’ (Biblical); quim-stake; ramrod; ‘Rector of the females’ (Rochester); Roger; rolling-pin; root; rudder; rump-splitter; Saint Peter (who ‘keeps the keys of Paradise’); ‘sausage’ (Sterne); sceptre; shove-straight; sky-scraper; solicitor-general; spigot; ‘split-rump’ (Urquhart); spindle; sponge (cf., Ramrod); staff of life; stern-post; sugar-stick; tarse; tent-peg; thing; ‘thumb of love’ (Whitman); ‘tickle-gizzard’ (Urquhart); tickle-toby; tool; toy; trifle (tailors’); trouble-giblets; tug-mutton; unruly-member; vestry-man; watch-and-seals (the penis and testes); wedge; whore-pipe (Rochester); wimble; yard; Zadkiel (almanack) = the female pudendum.

French Synonyms. Le sansonnet (popular: literally a starling); le gluant (thieves’ = Old Slimy. In Argot also ‘a baby’); l’asticot (properly = a flesh-worm); le jambot (Villon).

German Synonyms. Bletzer (from Bletz = a wedge; bletzen = to beget); Breslauer (Viennese thieves’ = magnum membrum virile; also, a head-piece, and a large glass, or indeed any quantity of brandy); Bruder (also an expression belonging to the Fiesellange; literally a brother. Cf., Schwesterlein, little sister = the female pudendum); Butzelmann (in Luther’s Liber Vagatorum [1529]; Buze = little man); Fiesel (supposed to be from Faser a birch-rod or fibre; the Eng. feaze is also connected with it. Thus, Mädchenfiesel, a ‘hot member’; Pechfiesel, a shoemaker, etc. Fiesellange signifies the language of the strong, i.e., those of the ‘fellowship’ of thieves, burglars, and rowdies [Fr., coupeur], etc. In Vienna Fiesel = the lowest and most dangerous type of bawdy-house bully). Dickmann (also, an egg, or testicle); Pinke or Finke (Low German); Schmeichaz or Schmeigaz (O.H.G. smeichen = to flatter, to laugh); Schwanz (also, a fool or boaster).

Portuguese Synonyms. Pae de todos (= father of all); porra (= a strong stick); virgolleiro (= that which deprives of virginity); pica (= lance; also, a measure equal in length to the handle of a long spear; cf., Eng. yard); bacamarte (= a milk-giving gun); a montholia de Pastor (= an oil-flask).

Creamy, adj. (general).—Excellent; first-rate. For synonyms, see a1 and Fizzing.

Creation. To beat or lick creation, verbal phr. (American).—To overpower; excel; surpass; to be incomparable. English variants are ‘to beat hollow, to sticks, or to fits,’ etc. Cf., Big as all outdoors.

1848. Bartlett, Dict. of Amer. ‘Proverbs.’ When a man runs his head against a post, he curses the post first, all creation next, and something else last, and never thinks of cursing himself.

1862. Among the Mermaids. ‘An Old Sailor’s Yarn,’ p. 86. The notion of finding the capting’s cask pleased me mightily cos I knowed it would tickle the old man like all creation.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 14 Aug. I’m willin’ to take advice. Beats all creation how I mistook, but I shan’t go agin yer words.

Creeme, verb (old).—To slip or slide anything into the hands of another.—Grose [1785].

Creeper, subs. (general).—One who cringes and ‘curries favour’; a ‘skunk,’ or snide (q.v., for synonyms).

Creepers, subs. (common).—1. The feet.

English Synonyms. Dew-beaters; beetle-crushers; understandings; trotters; tootsies; stumps (also the legs); everlasting shoes; hocks; boot-trees; pasterns; ards (Old Cant: now used as an adjective, = ‘hot’); double-breasters; daisy-beaters; kickers; crabs; trampers; hockles; hoofs; pudseys.

French Synonyms. Les trottins (popular: trottiner, to go a jog-trot; aller chercher les pardons de Saint-Trottin, to take a walk instead of going to church); les reposoirs (common: properly [in sing.] a resting place or pause; also an altar set up in the streets for a procession); les ripatons (popular); les palerons (thieves’: properly, in sing., a shoulder-blade); les paturons (thieves’: properly pasterns); les harpions (thieves’: also hands). Cotgrave has harpe d’un chien = a dog’s claw or paw; also, Il mania très bien ses harpes, He stirred his fingers very nimbly. [Cf., ‘pickers and stealers’ = fingers]; les mains courantes (popular: literally running hands).

German Synonyms. Tretter (Cf., English ‘trotter’); Trittling, or Trittchen (Hanoverian = shoe, boot, foot, or staircase); Trittlingspflanzer or Trittlingsmelochner (the shoemaker).

Italian Synonyms. Calcioso; pisante; bottiero; mazzo.

2. (general).—Lice. For synonyms, see Chates.

Creeps, subs. (common).—The peculiar thrill resulting from an undefinable sense of dread. [Literally a ‘crawling’ of the flesh as with fear.] Also known as goose-flesh, cold shivers, and cold water down the back.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick Papers. I wants to make yer flesh creep.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xiii. [Late Autumn.] Dreary down in the old country mansions ... where the servants, town-bred, commence to be colded, sniffy, to have shivers and creeps.

1870. London Figaro, 27 June. ‘A River Romance.’ Talking about bodies, I could give you the creeps with what I’ve seen.

1883. The Lute, 15 Jan., p. 18, col. 2. We see the great tragedian holding on to a chair, and giving his audience creeps with the ‘Dream of Eugene Aram.’

1890. Globe, 22 May, p. 1, col. 4. Miss Gertrude is the sister of Mrs. Chanler-Rives (better known as Amélie, or still better as the writer of The Quick or the Dead, by which many ladylike persons have been given ‘the creeps’).

Crevecœur.—See Heart-breaker.

Crevice, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Cri, subs. (popular).—The Criterion, theatre and restaurant, at Piccadilly Circus.

c. 1886. Broadside Ballad, ‘Another Fellah’s.’ Round into the cri ev’ry evening I slip, And deep in the pale sparkling bitter I dip.

Crib, subs. (old).—1. The stomach. Cf., Cribbing, sense 1. [A transferred sense of crib = a manger, rack, or feeding place. Cf., Isaiah i., 3, ‘The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib.’] For synonyms, see Bread-basket and Victualling office.

1656. Brome, Jovial Crew, Act. ii. Here’s pannum and lap, and good poplars of Yarrum, To fill up the crib, and to comfort the quarron.

2. (colloquial).—A house; place of abode; apartments; lodgings; shop; warehouse; ‘den,’ ‘diggings,’ or ‘snuggery.’ For synonyms, see Diggings. [From A.S., crib, or cribb a small habitation.]

1598. Shakspeare, King Henry IV. Why, rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs, Than in the perfumed chambers of the great?

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 80 (ed. 1854). Now, now in the crib, where a ruffler may lie, Without fear that the traps should distress him.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xix. The crib’s barred up at night like a jail.

1847. Illus. London News, 22 May. The burglar has his crib in Clerkenwell.

1860. Chambers’ Journal, vol. XIII., p. 212. He said he was awful flattered like by the honour of seeing two such gents at his crib.

1882. Daily News, 5 Oct., p. 5, col. 2. To manage escapes from prison successfully is only an application of the principles which enable the burglar to crack the rural crib and appropriate the swag of her Majesty’s peaceful subjects.

3. (popular).—A situation, ‘place,’ or ‘berth.’ [The transition from subs., sense 2, is easy and natural.]

4. (school and University).—A literal translation surreptitiously used by students; also a theft of any kind; specifically, anything copied without acknowledgment.—[See verb., sense 2.] For synonyms, see Pony.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 185. He has with a prudent forethought stuffed his cribs inside his double-breasted waistcoat.

1853. C. Bede, Verdant Green, pt. I., p. 64.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxii. I wish I had read Greek a little more at school ... when we return I think I shall try and read it with cribs.

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, pt. II., ch. vi. Tom, I want you to give up using vulgus books and cribs.

1889. Globe, 12 Oct., p. 1, col. 4. Always, it seems likely, there will be men ‘going up’ for examinations; and every now and again, no doubt, there will be among them a wily ‘Heathen Pass-ee’ like him of whom Mr. Hilton speaks—who had cribs up his sleeve, and notes on his cuff.

5. (thieves’).—A bed.—[See subs., senses 2 and 3.]

1827. Maginn, from Vidocq. Lend me a lift in the family way. You may have a crib to stow in.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To steal or pilfer; used specifically of petty thefts. For synonyms, see Prig.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Crib (v.): to with-hold, keep back, pinch, or thieve a part out of money given to lay out for necessaries.

1772. Foote Nabob, Act i. There are a brace of birds and a hare, that I cribbed this morning out of a basket of game.

1846. T. Hood, Ode to Rae Wilson, Esqr., wks., vol. IV., p. 224. Yet sure of Heaven themselves, as if they’d cribb’d Th’ impression of St. Peter’s keys in wax.

1855. Robert Browning, Men and Women. Fra Lippo Lippi, ed. 1863, p. 351. Black and white I drew From good old gossips waiting to confess Their cribs of barrel-droppings, candle-ends.

1889. Answers, 27 July, page 141, col. 1. He knew that if the manuscript got about the Yankees would think it a smart thing to crib it.

2. (school and University).—To use a translation; to cheat at an examination; to plagiarise.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 177. Cribbing his answers from a tiny manual of knowledge, two inches by one-and-a-half in size, which he hides under his blotting-paper.

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, pt. II., ch. iii. Finishing up with two highly moral lines extra, making ten in all, which he cribbed entire from one of his books.

To crack a crib.—See under Crack.

Cribbage-Face and Cribbage-Faced, subs. and adj. phr. (common).—Pock-marked and like a cribbage-board. Otherwise colander-faced, crumpet-faced, pikelet-faced, and mockered (q.v.).

French Synonyms. Avoir un grenier à lentilles (popular: a cock-loft, granary, or garret, for the storage of lentils); ne pas s’être assuré contre la grêle (popular: grêle = hail); un morceau de gruyère (popular: that cheese being honeycombed with holes); avoir un moule à gaufres (popular: moule = mould; gaufre = a cake); une écumoire (familiar: properly a skimmer); poèle à châtaignes (poèle = frying pan and châtaignes = chestnuts; the colander-like shovel for roasting chestnuts).

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Cribbage-faced: marked with the small-pox, the pits bearing a kind of resemblance to the holes in a cribbage-board.

Cribber, subs. (military).—A grumbler. [A horse that gnaws his crib or manger.] Cf., Crib-biter, and for synonyms, see Rusty-guts.

Cribbeys or Cribby-Islands, subs. (old).—Blind alleys, courts, and bye-ways; Fr., culs-de-sac.

Cribbing, verbal subs. (old).—1. Food and Drink. Cf., Crib, sense 1.

1656. R. Brome, A Jovial Crew. For all this ben cribbing and Peck let us then, Bowse a health to the gentry cofe of the ken.

2. (schools’ and University and general).—Stealing; purloining; using a translation. Cf., Crib, subs., sense 4.

1862. Farrar, St. Winifred’s, ch. xxxv. They would not call it stealing but bagging a thing, or, at the worst, cribbing it—concealing the villainy under a new name.

Crib-Biter, subs. (common).—An inveterate grumbler. [Properly a horse that worries his crib, rack, manger, or groom, and at the same time draws in his breath so as to make the peculiar noise called wind-sucking.] French equivalents are un gourgousseur; un rême; un renâcleur; and un renaudeur.—See Cribber.

Crib-Cracker, subs. (general).—A housebreaker.

1880. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live, p. 11. The little boys look up half with awe and half with admiration at the burly Sikes with his flash style, and delight in gossip concerning his talents as a crib-cracker, and his adventures as a pickpocket.

Crib-Cracking, verbal subs. (thieves’).—Housebreaking.

1852. Punch, vol. XXIII., p. 161. With higher ambition Bill Sykes he burned, And becoming experter as he grew older, From cly-faking to crib-cracking turned.

Cries.—See Street cries.

Crikey! Cracky! Cry! intj. (common).—Formerly, ‘a profane oath’; now a mere expression of astonishment. [A corruption of ‘Christ.’]

1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 276. It would make you exclaim, ’twould so forcibly strike ye, If a Frenchman Superbe!—if an Englishman crikey!

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 275. Oh! crikey, Bill; vot a conch that lady’s got!

1853. Diogenes, II., 54. O, crikey! the switching I got, At the hand of the cruel old miser.

1888. W. E. Henley. ‘Culture in the Slums.’ ‘O crikey, Bill!’ she says to me, she ses. ‘Look sharp,’ ses she, ‘with them there sossiges.’

Crimini, Criminey, or Crimes!—See Crikey. [Possibly the latter usage has been influenced by crimen meum, my fault.]

1700. Farquhar, Constant Couple, Act iv., Sc. 1. Murder’d my brother! O crimini!

1816. Scott, Antiquary, ch. xvi. ‘A monument of a knight-templar on each side of a Grecian porch, and a Madonna on the top of it!—O crimini!’

1841. The Comic Almanack, p. 280. ‘A Lament for Bartlemy Fair.’ Oh! lawk; oh! dear; oh! crimeny me; what a downright sin and a shame.

Crimson. To make things look crimson, verbal phr. (American).—To indulge in a drunken frolic; to paint the town red (q.v.)

Crimson Chitterling, subs. phr. (old).—The penis. Used by Urquhart. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Crincle-Pouch, subs. (old).—A sixpence. For synonyms, see Bender.

1593. ‘Bacchus’ Bountie,’ Harl. Misc., II., p. 270 [ed. 1808–11]. See then the goodnes of this so gracious a god, al yee, which in the driest drought of summer, had rather shroude your throates with a handfull of hemp, than with the expence of an odde crinclepouch, wash yourselues within and without, and make yourselues as mery as dawes.

Crinkum-Crankum, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. [Properly a winding way.] For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Crinkums, subs. (old).—A venereal disease. Cf., Crinkum-crankum. For synonyms, see Ladies’ fever.

Crinoline, subs. (common).—A woman. For synonyms, see Petticoat.

Cripple, subs. (old).—1. A ‘snid’ (Scots) or sixpence.—[See quots., 1785 and 1885.] For synonyms, see Bender.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Cripple: six pence, that piece being commonly much bent and distorted.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 178, s.v.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 25, n. A bandy or cripple, a sixpence.

1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. The sixpence is a coin more liable to bend than most others, so it is not surprising to find that several of its popular names have reference to this weakness. It is called a bandy, a ‘bender,’ a cripple.

2. (common).—An awkward oaf; also a dullard. Fr., malapatte (popular: properly mal à la patte). [Figurative for one that creeps, limps, or halts—whether physically or mentally.] Cf., sense 3, and Go it, you cripples.

3. (Wellington College).—A dolt; literally one without a leg to stand on. Cf., sense 2, and Go it, you cripples.

Go it, you cripples! phr. (general).—A sarcastic comment on strenuous effort; frequently used without much sense of fitness; e.g., when the person addressed is a capable athlete. Wooden legs are cheap is sometimes added as an intensitive.

1840. Thackeray, Cox’s Diary. ‘Striking a balance,’ p. 229. ‘O! come along,’ said Lord Lollypop, ‘come along this way, ma’am! Go it, ye cripples.’

Crisp, subs. (popular).—A banknote. For synonyms, see Soft.

Crispin, subs. (common).—A shoemaker. [From Saints Crispin and Crispianus, the patrons of the ‘gentle craft,’ i.e., shoemaking.]

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1861. Punch, vol. XLI., p. 246. Crispin, everybody knows to be a name for a shoemaker.

St. Crispin’s Lance, subs. phr. (old).—An awl. [From Crispin (q.v.) + lance, a weapon.] Fr., une lance.

Crispin’s Holiday, subs. phr. (old).—Every Monday throughout the year, but most particularly the 25th of October, being the anniversary of Crispinus and Crispianus.

Croak, subs. (thieves’).—A dying speech, especially the confession of a murderer. Also the same as printed for sale in the streets by a ‘flying stationer.’ [From the verbal sense (q.v.).]

1887. A. Barrère, Argot and Slang, p. 272. The criminal ... would perhaps utter for the edification of the crowd his ‘tops, or croaks,’ that is, his last dying speech.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip. Go crying croaks, or flash the drag.

Verb.—To die. For synonyms, see Aloft.

Croaker, subs. (old).—1. A sixpence. For synonyms, see Bender.

2. (old).—A beggar.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 444, s.v.

3. (common).—A dying person.—See Croak, verbal sense.

4. (common).—A corpse. [From croak, verb. sense, through croaker, senses 2 and 3.] For synonyms, see Dead-meat.

5. (provincial).—See quot.

1886. Ulster Echo, 31 July, p. 4. The inspector of nuisances said the meat was known as croaker, or the flesh of an animal which had died a natural death.

6. (prison).—A doctor [connected with crocus, but influenced by croaker, subs., senses 2, 3, and 4.]

1889. Evening News [quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant]. One man who had put his name for the ‘butcher’ or croaker, would suddenly find that he had three ounces of bread less to receive, and then a scene would ensue.

7. (common).—A person, male or female, who sees everything en noir, and whose conversation is likened to that of the raven, which is a bird of ill-omen.—See Goldsmith’s Good Natured Man. Fr., un glas = also a passing bell.

Croakumshire, subs. (old).—Northumberland. [Grose: ‘from the particular croaking in the pronunciation of the people of that county, especially about Newcastle and Morpeth, where they are said to be born with a burr in their throats, which prevents their pronouncing the letter “r”.’]

Crock, subs. (common).—A worthless animal; a fool; said of a horse it signifies a good-for-nothing brute; of a man or woman, a duffer, a ‘rotter.’ [Most likely from the Scots crock = an old sheep.]

1887. Sporting Times, 12 March, p. 2, col. 5. The wretched crocks that now go to the post will be relegated to more appropriate work.

1889. Bird o’ Freedom, 7 Aug., p. 3. For five minutes that crock went about twice as fast as it had ever done.

1889. Illustrated Bits, 13 July. ‘I say,’ said the Lumberer to the Old Hermit, as they stood at the mouth of the Cave listening to the song birds, ‘you are getting a bit of a crock—failing fast, I should say.’

Crocketts, subs. (Winchester College).—A kind of bastard cricket, sometimes called ‘small crochetts.’ Five stumps are used and a fives ball, with a bat of plain deal about two inches broad, or a broomstick.

1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 122. The more noisily disposed would indulge in ... playing Hicockolorum, or Crocketts.

To get crocketts, verbal phr.—To fail to score at cricket; to make a duck’s egg.

Crocodile, subs. (University).—A girl’s school walking two and two.

Crocus, Crocus-Metallorum or Croakus, subs. (common).—A doctor; specifically, a quack. [Conjecturally, a derivative of croak = to die. Cf., quot. 1781, under Crocussing rig.]

English Synonyms. Pill; squirt; butcher; croaker; corpse-provider; bolus; clyster; gallipot. [Several of these terms also = an apothecary.]

French Synonyms. Un dragueur (popular: literally a dredging machine); un cliabeau (a doctor at St. Lazare); un bénévole (popular: a young doctor, especially one walking the hospitals); un marchand de morts subites (common: literally ‘a dealer in sudden death.’ Cf., Corpse provider).

German Synonym. Rofe or Raufe (from the Hebrew).

Italian Synonyms. Maggio (signifying God, king, lord, and pope); posteggiatore (literally ‘he that places’; used of any charlatan, but particularly of a quack doctor); dragon di farda.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Crocus or crocus metallorum: a nickname for the surgeons of the army and navy.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 231 (quoted in list of patterer’s words).

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed. p. 444, s.v.

Crocus-Chovey (vagrants’ and thieves’).—A doctor’s shop. From [crocus = doctor + chovey, a shop.]

Crocus-Pitcher, subs. (vagrants’ and thieves’).—A quack ambulant. [From crocus (q.v.), a doctor, + pitcher, one that stands in the street to hold forth concerning his business.]

Crocussing-Rig, subs. (old).—Travelling from place to place, as a quack doctor. [From crocus (q.v.), a doctor, + ing + rig, a performance or trick.]

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 171. Crocussing Rig is performed by men and women, who travel as Doctors or Doctoresses.

Crone, subs. (showmen’s).—A clown or buffoon.

Crook, subs. (old).—1. A sixpence. [An abbreviation of crookback (q.v.).]

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 178. s.v.

2. (general).—A thief; swindler; one who gets things on the crook (q.v.).

1887. Orange Journal, 16 April. Strange as the statement may seem, the public know nothing of the work of a really clever crook, and the police themselves know very little more. The explanation of this ignorance is a very simple one. A crook whose methods are exposed is a second-rate crook.

On the crook, adv. phr. (thieves’).—The antithesis of on the straight (q.v.). Cf., On the cross.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 503. Which he had bought on the crook (dishonestly).

To crook (or cock) the elbow, or the little finger, verbal phr. (popular).—To drink. [A French colloquialism, identical in meaning, is lever le coude; a hard drinker is un adroit du coude.] For synonyms, see Lush.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms. To crook the elbow, is one of the many slang terms for drinking.

1877. Besant and Rice, With Harp and Crown, ch. xix. The secretary ... might have done great things in literature but for his unfortunate crook of the elbow. As he only crooks it at night, it does not matter to the hospital.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 3 May, p. 4, col. 1. I’ll ... ask him to take a drink, chat with him while he crooks his elbow.

Crook-Back, subs. (old).—A sixpenny piece, many of the slang names of which suggest a bashed and battered appearance; e.g., ‘bender,’ ‘cripple,’ ‘crook,’ crookback, etc. Quoted by Grose [1785]. For synonyms, see Bender.

Crooked, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Disappointing; the reverse of straight (q.v.); pertaining to the habits, ways, and customs of thieves.—See On the crook. So also, mutatis mutandis, crookedness = rascality of every kind.

1837. Comic Almanack, p. 94. Things have gone very crooked.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 126. The prisoner’s friend was also a ‘fly’ man, and he immediately saw how he could thoroughly pay off the crooked officer.

1884. Daily Telegraph, 22 Jan., p. 3, col. 1. My time was up the same day as that of two lads of the crooked school; it was through them that I took to thieving.

1884. Echo, 28 Jan., p. 4, col. 1. Last season will be long remembered in the racing world for the crookedness of some owners.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 3 Nov. ‘What are you trying to get out of me?’ ‘I am going to see that to-night you are better lodged to begin with. I may decide to do more, but that will depend pretty much on yourself.’ ‘Nothing crooked, is it?’ asked the other, suspiciously!

Crooked as a Virginia (or snake) fence, phr. (American).—Uneven; zig-zag; said of matters or persons difficult to keep ‘straight.’ To make a Virginia fence is to walk unsteadily, as a drunkard. The Virginia fences zigzag with the soil.

Crooky, verb (common).—To hang on to; to lead; to walk arm-in-arm; to court or pay addresses to a girl. For synonyms, see Trot out.

Crop.—See Crap, sense 1.

Cropped, ppl. adj. (old).—Hanged. For synonyms, see Ladder and Topped.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 30. Sentencing some more to be crapped (sic) [hanged].

Cropper, subs. (common).—A heavy fall or failure of any kind; generally ‘to come a cropper.’ [Originally hunting.] Analagous French phrases are avoir une discussion avec le pavé (literally ‘to argue with the pavement’); prendre un billet de parterre (a punning play upon words: the pit of a theatre is parterre; par terre = on the ground: hence to take a ticket for the pit); se lithographier (popular). For synonyms in a metaphorical sense, see Go to pot.

1868. Echoes from the Clubs, 23 Dec. ‘Pleasures of the Hunting Field.’ In short, it is fox-hunting which ... induces the belief that life is a mistake without occasional croppers.

1869. H. J. Byron, Not such a Fool as He Looks (French’s Acting ed.), p. 8. Mr. Topham Sawyer missed his own tip as well as his wictim’s, and came down a cropper on a convenient doorstep.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. lxvii. Talking to his father he could not quite venture to ask what might happen if he were to come a cropper.

1883. Daily News, 24 Jan., p. 5, col. 3. Ouida treads ‘alone, aloft, sublime’ where Astræa might fear to pass, and though she comes what men call croppers over a thousand details, she is sublimely unconscious of her blunders.

Croppie or Croppy, subs. (old).—Originally applied to criminals cropped as to their ears and their noses by the public executioner; subsequently, to convicts, in allusion to their close cropped hair; hence to any person whose hair was cut close to the head; e.g., the Puritans and the Irish Rebels of 1789.

1870. Sir G. C. Lewis, Letters, p. 410. Wearing the hair short and without powder was, at this time, considered a mark of French principles. Hair so worn was called a ‘crop.’ Hence Lord Melbourne’s phrase, ‘crop-imitating wig’ [Poetry of Anti-Jacobin, p. 41]. This is the origin of croppies, as applied to the Irish rebels of 1789.

1877–79. Green, Short Hist. Eng. People, ch. x., The croppies, as the Irish insurgents were called in derision from their short-cut hair.

Croppled. To be croppled, verbal phr. (Winchester College).—To fail in an examination; to be sent down at a lesson.

Croppy.—See Croppie.

Crops, verbal phr.—To go and look at the crops = to leave the room for the purpose of consulting Mrs. Jones (q.v.).

Cross, subs. (thieves’).—1. A pre-arranged swindle. In its special sporting signification a cross is an arrangement to lose on the part of one of the principals in a fight, or any kind of match. When both principals conspire that one shall win, it is called a double cross (q.v.). [Obviously a shortened form of cross-bite (q.v., verbal sense).]

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood. Two milling coves, each vide avake, Vere backed to fight for heavy stake; But in the mean time, so it vos, Both kids agreed to play a cross.

1864. Derby Day, p. 39. ‘As sure as the sun shines, Askpart ’ll lick ’em; if so be,’ he added significantly, ‘as there ain’t no cross.’

1867. A. Trollope, Claverings, ch. xxx. I always suppose every horse will run to win; and though there may be a cross now and again, that’s the surest line to go upon.

2. (thieves’).—A thief; also cross-man, cross-cove, cross-chap, squire, knight, or lad, of the cross, etc. [Literally a man on the cross (q.v.).] For synonyms, see Thieves.

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 72, ed. 1854. There is an excellent fellow near here, who keeps a public-house, and is a firm ally and generous patron of the lads of the cross. Ibid, p. 140. Gentlemen of the Road, the Street, the Theatre and the Shop! Prigs, Toby-men, and squires of the cross!

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. IV., ch. ii. Never a cross cove of us all can throw off so prime a chant as yourself.

1864. Cornhill Magazine, II., 336. In the following verse, taken from a pet flash song, you have a comic specimen of this sort of guilty chivalry:—‘A cross cove is in the street for me, And I a poor girl of low degree; If I was as rich as I am poor, Ye never should go on the cross no more.’

Verb.—1. To play false in a match of any kind.

1887. W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, Act iv., Sc. 3. What made you cross the fight and play booty with your own man?

2. (venery).—To possess or ‘cover’ a woman.

Cross in the air, subs. phr. (volunteers’).—A rifle carried butt-end upwards.

3. (colloquial).—To thwart; to baffle; to spoil.

1709. Matthew Prior, The Thief, etc. There the squires of the pad and the knights of the post, Find their fears no more balked and their hopes no more crossed.

To play a cross, verbal phr.—See Cross, subs., sense 1; and verb, sense 1.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 257 (ed. 1864), Zoroaster was just the man to lose a fight; or, in the language of the Fancy, to play a cross.

To shake the cross, verbal phr. (American thieves’).—To quit the cross and go on the square (q.v.).

1877. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Life on the Mississippi, ch. lii., p. 459. The day my time was up, you told me if i would shake the cross and live on the square for three months, it would be the best job i ever done in my life.

To be crossed, verbal phr. (University).—Thus explained in a University Guide:—For not paying term bills to the bursar (treasurer), or for cutting chapels, or lectures, or other offences, an undergrad can be crossed at the buttery, or kitchen, or both, i.e., a cross is put against his name by the Don, who wishes to see him, or to punish him.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley, (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II., ch. x. Sir!—You will translate all your lectures; have your name crossed on the buttery and kitchen books; and be confined to chapel, hall, and college.

See also Cross, verb, sense 1.

On the cross, phr.—The opposite of on the square (q.v.). Cf., On the Crook.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xxxv. [Chas. Ravenshoe to Shoeblack] ‘Have you any brothers?’ ‘Five altogether. Jim was gone for a sojer, it appeared; and Nipper was sent over the water, Harry was gone on the cross.’ ‘On the cross?’ said Charles. ‘Ah,’ the boy said, ‘he goes out cly-faking and such. He’s a prig, and a smart one, too. He’s fly, is Harry.’

1868. Ouida, Under Two Flags, ch. v. Rake had seen a good deal of men and manners, and, in his own opinion at least, was ‘up to every dodge on the cross’ that this iniquitous world could unfold.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 244. We went down to a bloke I knew up in one of the streets leading off the Euston road who did a little on the cross now and again, to see what he’d stand for the £300.

1884. Echo, 1 March, p. 3, col. 6. Prisoner knew they were stolen, and said he could get rid of any quantity of similar articles that were got on the cross, a slang expression for stolen goods.

1889. Answers, 8 June, p. 25. One of them then came a little nearer, and produced a good gold scarf pin, worth, perhaps, £2 or £3, and asked if I would buy it, adding it was on the cross (stolen), and I could have it for 2s., as they wanted a shilling to get a bed.

Cross-Belts, subs. (military).—The Eighth Hussars. [The regiment wears the sword belt over the right shoulder in memory of the Battle of Saragossa, where it took the belts of the Spanish cavalry. This privilege was confirmed by the King’s Regulations of 1768.]

Cross-Bite, subs. (old).—See Cross-biting.

Verb (old).—To cheat; to scold; to hoax. [Nares thinks it a compound of cross and bite. It has suffered a double abbreviation, both its components being used substantively and verbally in the same sense.] For synonyms, see Stiff.

1581. Riche, Farewell to Militarie Profession. She was such a devill of her tongue, and would so crossebite hym with suche tauntes and spightful quippes.

1593. G. Harvey, New Letter, in wks. I., 274 (Grosart). If he playeth at fast and loose ... whom shall he conny catch, or crosbite, but his cast-away selfe.

1717. Prior, Alma, canto iii. As Nature slily had thought fit For some by ends to cross-bit wit.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. I know—I know—ugh—but I’ll cross-bite him.

Cross-Biter, subs. (old).—A cheat; swindler; or hoaxer. [From cross-bite, verb (q.v.), + er.] Fr., un goureur.

1592. Robert Greene, Blacke Bookes Messenger [part of title]. Laying open the Life and Death of Ned Browne, one of the most notable Cutpurses, cros-biters, and Coneycatchers.

1669. Nicker Nicked, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), II., 108, s.v.

1681. A Dialogue, etc., in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), II., 126. I think nobody knows what he is; but I take him to be a cross-biter.

Cross-Biting, verbal subs. (old).—A deception; cheat; or hoax. Cf., Cross-bite, verb.

1576. Whetstone, Rocke of Regard, p. 50. Crosbiting, a kind of cousoning, under the couler of friendship; and in his epistle to the readers, The cheter will fume to see his crosbiting and cunning shiftes decyphered.

1586. Marlowe, Jew of Malta, IV., v. Like one that is employed in catzerie [knavery] and crossbiting.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 53 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). He [Lawrence Crosbiter] first vsed that art which now is named crosbiting, and from whose name this damned art (crosbiting) tooke her first call, as if Laurence Crosbiter first inuented the same.

1839. W. H. Ainsworth, J. Sheppard, p. 126, ed. 1840. ‘The devil,’ ejaculated Jonathan. ‘Here’s a cross-bite.’

Cross-Buttock, subs. (athletics’).—A peculiar throw in wrestling. Also used as a verb and verbal subs.

1690. D’Urfey, Collin’s Walk, c. ii., p. 74. When th’ hardy Major, skilled in Wars, To make quick end of fight prepares, By Strength or’e buttock cross to hawl him, And with a trip i’ th’ Inturn maul him.

1742. ‘Handbill,’ in P. Egan’s Boxiana, vol. I., p. 45. I doubt not but I shall prove the truth of what I have asserted, by pegs, darts, hard blows, falls, and cross-buttocks.

1760. Smollett, L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. viii. He was on his legs again ... but, instead of accomplishing his purpose, he received a cross-buttock.

1836. M. Scott, Cringle’s Log, ch. xii. While the old woman keelhauled me with a poker on one side, he jerked at me on the other, until at length he gave me a regular cross-buttock.

1860. Chambers’ Journal, vol. XIII., p. 347. He is initiated into all the mysteries of ‘hitting’ and ‘counterhitting,’ ‘stopping’ and ‘infighting,’ ‘the suit in chancery, and the cross-buttock.’

Cross-Chap.—See Cross, subs., sense 2.

Cross-Cove.—See Cross, subs., sense 2.

Cross-Crib, subs. (thieves’ and vagrants’).—A thieves’ hotel. [From cross (q.v., subs., sense 2), a thief, + crib (q.v., subs., sense 2), a place of abode.]

Cross-Drum, subs. (thieves’).—A thieves’ tavern. [From cross (q.v., subs., sense 2), a thief, + drum, a house or lodging.]

Crosser, subs. (sporting).—One who arranges or takes part in a cross (q.v., subs., sense 1).

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood. The mill is o’er, the crosser crost, The loser’s won, the vinner’s lost!

Cross-Fan or Cross-Fam, subs. (thieves’).—Robbery from the person done cross-fammed, that is, with one hand (fam) across, and dissembling the action of, the other.

c. 1869. Broadside Ballad, ‘The Chickaleary Cove.’ Off to Paris I shall go, to show a thing or two, To the ‘dipping blokes’ what hangs about the caffies, How to do a cross-fan for a ‘super’ or a ‘slang.’

Verb (thieves’).—To rob from the person.—See subs.

Cross-Kid or Cross-Quid, verb (thieves’).—To question; cross-examine. [Kid = to quiz; hoax, or jest.] Fr., faire la jactance; also faire saigner du nez.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macmillan’s Mag., XL., 502. A reeler [policeman] came to the cell and cross-kidded (examined) me.

Cross-Man.—See Cross, subs., sense 2.

Cross-Patch, subs. (colloquial).—An ill-natured, ill-tempered person. As in the old nursery rhyme:

Cross-patch, Draw the latch, Sit by the fire and spin.—Lit.

Not mentioned in Ash.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Cross-patch: a peevish boy or girl.

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 258. Miss Pigeon’s trying to look shy, He’s calling her crosspatch!

Cross the Damp-Pot, verbal phr. (tailors’).—To cross the Atlantic.—Cf., Big drink, Damp-pot, puddle, and Herring-pond.

Crow, subs. (thieves’).—1. A confederate on watch whilst another steals. Generally a man, but occasionally a woman acts as a crow; the latter is also called a canary (q.v., subs., sense 4).

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 286. One keeps a look-out to see there is no person near to detect them. This person is termed a ‘crow.’ If anyone should be near, the ‘crow’ gives a signal, and then decamps.

1862. Cornhill Mag., VI., 648. Occasionally they [women] assist at a burglary ... remaining outside and keeping watch; they are then called crows.

1889. Answers, 18 May, p. 390, col. 2. A crow (confederate) is next planted outside, or in an upper window, if there be one, to give notice, by means of signals or a cord reaching to the workers, of the approach of a peeler or chance passer-by.

2. (common).—A piece of unexpected luck; a ‘fluke’; generally ‘a regular crow.’ [Originally billiards’ in which it = a hazard not played for, i.e., a ‘fluke’: no doubt a corruption of the Fr. raccroc.] A French equivalent is mettre dans le mille.

To eat crow.—See Broiled crow.

A crow to pluck, to pull, or to pick with one, phr. (colloquial). Something demanding explanation: a misunderstanding to clear; a disagreeable matter to settle. Sometimes, a bone to pick, etc.

1593. Shakspeare, Comedy of Errors, iii., 1. If a crow help us in, sirrah, we’ll pluck a crow together.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in wks. V., 302. So I coulde plucke a crowe wyth Poet Martiall for calling it putre halec.

1659. Howell, Proverbs. I have a goose to pluck with you.

1664. Butler, Hudibras, pt. II., 2. If not, resolve before we go, That you and i must pull a crow.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. To pluck a crow: To reprove anyone for a fault committed; to settle a dispute.

1819. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, ch. xv. If these Ravenswood cases be called over the coals in the House of Peers, you will find that the Marquis will have a crow to pluck with you.

Crowd, subs. (old).—A fiddle.

Crowder, subs. (theatrical).—1. A large audience.

1883. Referee, 18 March, p. 3, col. 2. If the proprietors want, in the way of audiences, to be able to boast of crowders, they should take care to avoid giving pain.

2. (old).—A fiddler.

Crow-Eater, subs. (colonial).—A lazybones who prefers subsisting upon what he can pick up, as the crows do, to putting himself to the trouble of working for it. For synonyms, see Loafer.

Crow-Fair, subs. (old).—A gathering of clergymen.

Crown, verb (thieves’).—To inspect a window with a view to operations.

Crown and Feathers, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Crowner, subs. (old colloquial).—A coroner. [A corruption of ‘coroner.’]

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act v., Sc. 1. Sec. Cl. The crowner hath sat on her, and finds it Christian burial.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in wks. V., 220. And if any drowne themselues in them, their crowners sit vpon them.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. ii. You’ll be to Connecticut afore they can wake up the crowner and summon a jury.

Crown-Office, subs. (old).—The head. For synonyms, see Crumpet. Quoted by Grose [1785].

Crow’s-Foot, subs. (thieves’).—The Government broad arrow; also (in pl.) wrinkles at the outside corners of the eyes.

Cruel or Cruelly, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Extremely; very; great. A fashionable intensitive; an Americanism by survival. Cf., Awful and Beastly.

1662. Pepys, Diary, 31 July. Met Captain Brown, of the ‘Rosebush,’ at which he was cruel angry. Ibid, 1666–7, 21 Feb. W. Batten denies all, but is cruel mad.

1848. Bartlett, Dict. of Americanisms, p. 170. Oh, doctor, I am powerful weak, but cruel easy.

Cruelty-Van or Booby-Hutch, subs. (common).—A four-wheeled chaise.

Crug, subs. (Christ’s Hospital).—1. At Hertford, a crust; in the London school, crust and crumb alike.

1820. Lamb, Elia (Christ’s Hospital), p. 322, wks. [ed. 1852]. He had his tea and hot rolls in a morning, while we were battening upon our quarter of a penny loaf—our crug.

2. (Christ’s Hospital).—A Blue; especially an ‘old boy.’

1877. Blanch, Blue Coat Boys, p. 80. All crugs will well remember, etc.

Cruganaler, subs. (Christ’s Hospital). A biscuit given on St. Matthew’s Day. [Orthography dubious. Blanch inclines to the following derivation: ‘The biscuit had once something to do with those nights when bread and beer, with cheese, were substituted for bread-and-butter and milk. Thence the term “crug and aler.” The only argument against this is the fact that the liquid was never dignified with the name of ale, but was invariably called “the swipes.” By another derivation = “hard as nails.” It is then spelt cruggy-nailer.’]

Cruggy, adj. (Christ’s Hospital).—Hungry. [From crug (q.v.).]

Cruisers, subs. (old).—1. Beggars, or highway spies: ‘those who traversed the road,’ says Grose, ‘to give intelligence of a booty’; also, rogues ‘ready to snap up any booty that may offer.’

2. in sing. (common).—A street-walker.

Crumb, subs. (military).—A pretty woman. Cf., Crummy, adj., senses 1 and 2.

Crumb and Crust Man, subs. phr. (common).—A baker. Cf., Burn-crust and Master of the rolls. Fr., un marchand de larton.

Crumbs.—See Pick up one’s crumbs and chates.

Crummy, adj. (popular).—1. Fat; plump; well-developed. Especially said of high-bosomed and full-figured women: e.g., a crummy piece of goods. [From a provincialism, crum or crom = to stuff, whence crummy = fat or well stuffed.] Fr., fort en mie (an almost literal translation); elle a de ça; Sp., carrilludo = plump-faced.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Crummy (a.): ... also fat, rich, plump, or fleshy.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress p. 14. For they saw, notwithstanding Crib’s honest endeavour, To train down the crummy, ’twas monstrous as ever!

1828. Jon. Bee, Pict. of London, p. 60. A nice, crummy, young woman, who seemed surprised and interested at his situation.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxix., p. 289. ‘There’s the remains of a fine woman about Sairah. Poll, ... Too much crumb, you know,’ said Mr. Bailey; ‘too fat, Poll.’

1865. Henry Kingsley, The Hillyars and the Burtons. You’re crummy and I ain’t a going to deny it. But you ain’t what I’d call fat.

2. (American).—Comely. Cf., sense 1.

3. (thieves’ and soldiers’).—Lousy.

4. (thieves’).—Plump in the pockets. [Probably an extended use of sense 1.]

Crummy-Doss, subs. (thieves’).—A lousy bed. [From crummy (q.v., sense 3), lousy, + doss (q.v.), a bed.]

Crump, subs. (Winchester College).—A hard hit; a fall. Used also as a verb in very much the same sense as to cob (q.v.). Cf., Barter.

Crumpet, subs. (common).—The head.

English Synonyms. Brain-pan; nut; chump; jazey; steeple; tib or tibby; weather-cock; turnip; upper extremity; top end; twopenny; upper storey; canister; attic; garret; costard; sconce; bonce; nob; lolly; lobb; knowledge-box; block; cocoa-nut; Crown-Office; calabash; top-knot; crust; chimney-pot; onion; chevy; cockloft; top-flat; gable; pumpkin; hat-peg; billiard ball; upper-crust; mazzard; cabaza; dome.

French Synonyms. Le michaud (thieves’); un caillou (popular; properly a pebble or flint); une baigneuse (thieves’); un baptême (popular); une cafetière (thieves’ and vagrants’); une façade (popular); une armoire à glace (popular); une bille (popular: properly a billiard ball); un béguin (popular); une citrouille or un citrouillard (thieves’: literally a pumpkin or gourd); un citron (thieves’); une ardoise (popular); un coco (popular: literally a cocoa-nut); une calebasse (popular = a calabash); une cocarde (popular: properly a cocade); un caisson (common: literally a chest or locker); une coloquinte (thieves’); un chapiteau (popular: literally a capital); une balle (popular); un moule de bonnet (popular: literally a cap-mould); le grenier à sel (popular: properly the [Attic] salt-loft); le baldaquin (a canopy); la boule (popular: the bowl, ball, or sconce); une ciboule (popular: properly a scallion, green onion, or eschalot); la boussole (familiar: in nautical phraseology, the compass); la pomme (popular and thieves’); le tesson (roughs’); la bobine (popular: literally a bobbin or spool); la poire (popular); la boîte au sel (familiar: the [Attic] salt-box); la boîte à sardines (popular = sardine box); la boîte à surprises (general: box of surprises); la tirelire (popular: literally money-box); la hure (properly the head of a wild boar); la gouache (popular); la noisette (popular: literally nut); le char (popular); le réservoir (popular: reservoir or cistern); le bourrichon (popular); la goupine (thieves’); la tourte (popular: properly tart or fruit pie); la tronche (thieves’ = chunk (or ‘chump’ of wood); le trognon (popular); la guitare (common); la guimbarde (popular: properly a Jew’s harp); le soliveau (popular; properly a small joist); le bobéchon (popular); la bobinasse (popular); le kiosque (familiar); le vol-au-vent (general); l’omnibus (common); la sorbonne (see remarks under Balmy, sense 2); la caboche (possibly a language word); le soufflet (popular: literally bellows; also the head of a carriage); le jambonneau (popular: properly a small ham); le schako (popular).

German Synonym. Kiefel.

Italian Synonyms. Chiurla or ciurla (a popular term); elmo (literally a helmet); borella (properly a ball); grinta (in orthodox Italian, ringworm of the scalp).

Spanish Synonyms. Chimenea (fem.; literally a chimney. Se le subió el humo á la chimenea, = the smoke has got into his head; said of one who is affected with drink); cholla (fem.); cabezorro (mas.; a big head, an augmentative of cabeza); caletre (mas.; an abusive term, properly understanding, judgment, discernment); campanario (mas.; properly a belfry).

Balmy in one’s crumpet.—See Balmy, sense 2, and the foregoing.

Crumpet-face, subs. (common).—A pock-pitted face.—See Cribbage-face.

Crumpet-Scramble, subs. (popular).—A tea party; tea-fight, muffin-worry, muffin-fight, bitch-party or cooky-shine (q.v.).

1864. Derby Day, p. 16. There are men who do not disdain muffin-worries and crumpet-scrambles.

Crumpler, subs. (common).—1. A cravat.

2. (acrobats’).—See quot.

1874. G. A. Lawrence, Hagarene, ch. xxxviii. Pete knew how to fall as well as any acrobat, and thought no more of a common ‘crumpler,’ than ordinary hunting folks do of a ‘peck’ or stumble.

Crush, subs. (colloquial).—A fashionable name for any large social gathering.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xiii. We fear he had rather go to a crush at Lady Dinadam’s than sup with Boz.

1872. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 June. It would possibly be found that one week of political reunions, concerts, balls, and crushes would be as disastrous in its effects as two months of absinthe drinking.

1890. H. D. Traill, Tea Without Toast. ‘Saturday Songs,’ p. 100. It appeared to us a feast wouldn’t help the cause the least, And we settled that to give a crush at nine Would be greatly more effectual, and far more intellectual, Than at six o’clock to, greatly daring, dine.

Verb (general).—To run away; to decamp. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

To crush down sides, verbal phr. (Northern).—To keep tryst; also to run to a place of safety.

To crush or burst a pot, cup, or bottle, phr. (old).—To drink (generally in company). See Crack a bottle. [From the Italian crosciare = to decant.] Shakspeare, in The Taming of the Shrew, induction, Sc. 1, uses burst in a similar sense to crack and crush.

1592. Defence of Conny-catching, in Greene’s wks., xi., 43. If euer I brought my Conny but to crush a potte of ale with mee.

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act I., Sc. 2. And if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray, come and crush a cup of wine.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. vii. I crushed a quart with that jolly boy Jenkin.

Crusher, subs. (popular).—1. A policeman. [Possibly from the slang verb to crush = to run. Crush! was once a favourite signal of the ‘pea and thimble’ and other race-course sharpers, the meaning being: ‘Run! the police!’ The word came into general use, and was ultimately converted into crusher = a policeman.] For synonyms, see Beak, sense 1, and Copper.

c. 1840. Thackeray, The Organ-Boy’s Appeal. Though you set in Vestminster surrounded by your crushers, Harrogant and habsolute like the Hortocrat of hall the Rushers.

1842. Punch, vol. II., p. 137. ‘Proverbial Philosophy.’ There is not one crusher who is proof against the waistcoat pocket.

1853. Diogenes, II., 46. Here in came [to the Court] a crusher (Beg pardon—mean usher), Dragging in a Pot-boy, With great show of joy.

1859. Sala, Tw. Round the Clock, 5 p.m., par. 19. A crusher, or policeman, there is indeed.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 223. Oh, that’s one of the cleverest gentlemen cracksmen out.... The blooming crushers were precious glad when they ‘pinched’ ’im.

2. (popular).—Anything large, fine, or extraordinary. [From crush, to overwhelm or subdue.] Akin to whopper, stinger, corker, bouncer, etc. (q.v.).

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. iv. She is a crusher, ain’t she now?

1870. New York Herald, Jan. The Fenians in England received rather a crusher, if I may use so slang a word, two days ago.

Crushing, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Excellent; first-rate. For synonyms, see a1 and Fizzing.

Crust or Upper Crust, subs. (common).—1. The head. For synonyms, see Crumpet.

Upper-crust (q.v.), also = Society with a capital S.

Crusty-Beau, subs. (old).—One that uses paint and cosmetics to obtain a fine complexion.—Grose.

Crutch, subs. (colloquial).—The ‘fork,’ or inner angle of the thigh.

Crutches are Cheap.—See Wooden-Legs.

Cry, subs. (common).—A large number; a quantity. [From cry, a pack of dogs.] As in Shakspeare’s Coriolanus, Act iii., Scene 3. ‘You common cry of curs.’

Great cry and little wool, phr. (general).—Much ado about nothing. The original text of the proverb was, ‘Great cry and little wool, as the devil said when he sheared the hogs.’ Hudibras alters it into ‘All cry and no wool.’

To cry carrots and turnips, verbal phr. (old).—See quot.

1747. Charles Johnson, Highwaymen and Pyrates, p. 254. He came oft with crying carrots and turnips, a term which rogues use for whipping at the cart’s arse.

To cry [or call] a go, verbal phr. (common).—To give in, as one unable to proceed. An expression borrowed from cribbage signifying that the player who makes use of it has nothing playable in his hand, and is compelled to ‘cry a go.’] Cf., Pass.

1880. Punch’s Almanack. Got three quid; have cried a go with Fan, Game to spend my money like a man.

To cry cupboard, verbal phr. (common).—To be fasting, hungry, banded (q.v.). Fr., n’avoir rien dans le cornet; avoir le buffet vide; and danser devant le buffet.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversation (conv. iii.), Footman. Madam, dinner’s upon the table. Col. Faith, I’m glad of it; my belly began to cry cupboard.

Cry matches! intj. phr. (American).—An exclamation of surprise. [Variously derived: (1) a corruption of ‘Crime hatches’; (2) cry = XPI or Christ, no suggestion being offered to account for ‘matches’; and (3) a conversion of the Fr. cré matin, presumably Canadian. Cf., Crimini.] Quoted in N. and Q., 5 S., viii., 491, and ix., 55, 318.

Cry off, verb (general).—To retreat; to back out from an engagement.

1866. London Miscellany, 5 May, p. 201. ‘London Revelations.’ ‘Why this gent told me to bid,’ said the dealer, patting his tingling fingers sharply, ‘and now he wants to cry off.’

To cry stinking fish.—See Stinking fish.

C.T.A., phr. (circus and showmen’s)—The police.

Cub or Unlicked-Cub, subs. (colloquial).—An awkward, sulky girl; a mannerless, uncouth lout of a boy. [In allusion to the clumsiness of bear cubs till their dam has ‘licked them into shape.’] Cf., Bear-leader.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, Act v., I., 167. Duke. O thou dissembling cub! what wilt thou be When time hath sow’d a grizzle on thy case?

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, Act iv., Sc. 8. A country squire, with the equipage of a wife and two daughters, came to Mrs. Snipwell’s shop while I was there—but, oh Gad! two such unlicked cubs!

1762. Foote, Liar, II., ii. I don’t reckon much upon him: for you know, my dear, what can I do with an awkward, raw, college cub?

1773. O. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act iv., Sc. 1. ‘A poor contemptible booby that would but disgrace correction.’... ‘An insensible cub.’

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. ix. And Tommy, you are an uncivil young,—young,—young,—I should say cub if I dared, to tell me that you don’t like dining with me any day of the week.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxix. I don’t see why that infernal young cub of a Clive is always meddling in our affairs.

Cubitopolis, subs. (obsolete).—The Warwick and Eccleston Square districts. [From the name of the builders, see quot., 1864.] Cf., Albertopolis, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, The New Jerusalem, Slopers’ Island, etc. (q.v.).

1864. The Press, 12 Nov. Cubitopolis received its felicitous cognomen from Lady Morley.

1866. E. Yates, Land at Last, ch. iii. There are men yet living among us whose mothers had been robbed on their way from Ranelagh in crossing the spot, then a dreary swampy marsh, on which now stands the city of palaces known as cubittopolis.

Cuckoo, subs. (popular).—1. A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1598. Shakspeare, Henry IV., Part I, Act i, Scene 4. O’horseback, ye cuckoo; but afoot he will not budge a foot.

2. (old).—A cuckold.

1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act v, Scene 2. Cuckoo, Cuckoo, O word of fear Unpleasing to a married ear.

3. (schoolboys’).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Cuckoos, subs. (old).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1612. The Passenger of Benvenuto. These companions, who ... carry the impression and marke of the pillerie galley, and of the halter, they call the purse a leafe, and a fleece; money, cuckoes, and aste, and crowns.

Cuckoo’s Nest, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Cucumber-Time, subs. (tailors’).—The dull season. [A correspondent of Notes and Queries (1 S., viii., 439) says it is of German origin, and remarks that many hundreds of London tailors are of German nationality. The German phrase is die saure Gurken Zeit (pickled gherkin-time). Hence, it is said, the expression ‘Tailors are vegetarians,’ because they live now on ‘cucumber’ and now on ‘cabbage.’ Quoted by Grose (1785).] Cf., quot., 1821.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1890], p. 60. The chap in the corner ... has been chaffing Spendall ... about his being so cucumberish as to be compelled to ‘gammon the draper’ [which means when a man is without a shirt, and is buttoned up close to his neck, with merely a handkerchief round it to make an appearance of cleanliness, it is termed, ‘gammoning the draper’].

Cud, subs. (popular).—A chew of tobacco; a quid. [An allusion to ‘chewing the cud.’]

Adj. (Winchester College).—1. Pretty; handsome. [Thought to be derived from kudos.]

2. (Christ’s Hospital).—Severe.

Cuddie, subs. (Scots).—A donkey.

Cuddling, verbal subs. (athletic and pugilistic).—Wrestling.

Cuddy, adj. (Christ’s Hospital).—Hard; difficult; said of a lesson. Also Hertfordicé for passy (q.v.). [There is a common hard biscuit called a ‘cuddy-biscuit’ which doubtless has this derivation.]

Cue, verb (thieves’).—To swindle on credit.

Cuff, subs. (old).—1. A foolish old man. [Probably a contraction of cuffin (q.v.).]

1678. C. Cotton, Scarronides, bk. I., p. 3 (ed. 1725). The lustiest Carles thereabouts. Rich cuffs and very sturdy Louts.

1708. Centlivre, Busie Body, Act i. A very extraordinary Bargain I have made truly, if she should be really in Love with this old cuff now.

1760. Colman, Polly Honeycombe, in wks. (1777) IV., 38. They are just here! ten to one the old cuff may not stay with her: I’ll pop into this closet.

2. (tailors’).—A religious man, either real or sham.

To cuff Anthony, phr.—See Anthony.

To beat or cuff Jonas, phr. = To beat the Booby or goose (q.v. under Beat).

Cuffen.—See Cuffin.

Cuffer, subs. (military).—1. A lie; an exaggerated and improbable story.—See quot., under to spin cuffers, and for synonyms, see Whopper.

2. (American thieves’).—A man; also cuffir. [Cf., Cofe, Cove, and Cuffin, from one of which the American form is doubtless derived.]

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

To spin cuffers, phr.—To tell extremely improbable stories; to yarn; to draw the long bow (q.v.).

1888. Colonies and India, 14 Nov. The Australian youth can develop the art of spinning cuffers very successfully on his own account, without any adventitious assistance from a passing Minister of Public Instruction.

Cuffin, Cuffen, or Cuffing, subs. (Old Cant).—A man.

1567. Harman, Caveat, s.v.

1857. Punch, 31 Jan., p. 49. ‘Dear Bill, this Stone-jug.’ In the day-rooms the cuffins [warders] we queer at our ease, And at Darkmans we run the rig just as we please.

Queer-cuffin, subs. (old).—A magistrate. [From queer, an old canting term for bad, + cuffin, a man; literally a bad man—from a rogue’s point of view. Some of the old canting terms are curious enough: e.g., ‘quyer crampringes’ = bolts or fetters; ‘quyer kyn’ = a prison house.] For synonyms, see Beak, sense 2.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle-light [ed. Gros., III., p. 203]. To the quier cuffing we bing.

1837. Disraeli, Venetia, p. 71. The gentry cove will be romboyld by his dam said a third gypsy. ‘Queer cuffin’ [magistrate or queer man] will be the word if we don’t tour.

Cuff-Shooter, subs. (theatrical).—A beginner; one who gives himself ‘airs’; literally one who shoots his cuffs: having a greater regard for the display of his linen than for his work as an actor.

Cule, Cull, Culing, Culling, verb and verbal subs. (thieves’).—To purloin from the seats of carriages; the act of snatching handbags and other impedimenta therefrom. [Either an abbreviation and corruption of reticule, or from cull, to gather.]

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 444. Snatching reticules from a carriage—culing.

Cull or Cully, subs. (old).—A man; companion; partner. Specifically, a fool; one tricked or imposed upon. Grose seems to make a distinction, for he quotes cull = ‘a man honest or otherwise,’ and cully = ‘a fop, fool, or dupe to women,’ in which sense it was current in the seventeenth century. Thus Rochester (in Satire on the Times), ‘But pimp-fed Ratcliffe’s not a greater cully.’—See also quot., 1771. [Probably a contraction of cullion (Fr., couillon; It., coglione); but derived by Annandale from the Sp. Gypsy chulai, a man; Turkish Gypsy, khulai, a gentleman.]

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874). Culle: a sap-headed fellow.

1676. A Warning for Housekeepers. As we walk along the street, We bite the cullly of his cole.

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, Act iii., Sc. 1. Man was by nature woman’s cully made: We never are but by ourselves betrayed.

1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. IV., ch. i. I won’t let him make me over, by deed and indenture, as his lawful cully.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Cull (s.): a cant word for a man, either good or bad, but generally means one that a wench has picked up for some naughty purpose.

1760. Johnston, Chrysal, ii., 17. Your secret, grave, old, rich culls, just fit to do business with.

1771. Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling, vol. I., ch. xxvi. Harley ... sallied forth with a blush of triumph on his face, without taking notice of the sneer of the waiter who, twirling the watch in his hand, made him a profound bow at the door, and whispered to a girl who stood in the passage something in which the word cully was honoured with a particular emphasis.

1823. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxx. ‘Na, Na,’ answered the boy: ‘he is a queer auld cull, he disna frequent wi’ other folk.’

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 75 (ed. 1854). A famous cull is my friend Attie—an old soldier—has seen the world, and knows what is what.

1839. W. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 14. Capital trick of the cull in the cloak to make another person’s brain stand the brunt for his own—capital!

1889. Puck’s Library, April, p. 18. Showman: Look-a-here, cully, yer don’t ’xpect ter git a lecture on nat’l history ’n’a free ticket ter the antipoads fer a quarter, do yer?

Rum cull, subs. (theatrical).—The manager of a theatre; also called a cully-gorger.

Culls, subs. (old).—The testes.

b. 1574, d. 1637. Ben Jonson. Claw a churl by the culls, and he’ll shite in your fist.

Cully-Gorger, subs. (theatrical).—The manager of a theatre; a companion or brother actor. [Cully (q.v.) = a man + gorger (q.v.), a swell, employer, or boss; literally a well-dressed man.]

Cully-Shangy, subs. (common).—Copulation. For synonyms, see Greens.

18(?). Carey, Life in Paris, p. 276, s.v.

Culminate, verb (University: obsolete).—To mount a coach-box.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, s.v.

Culty-Gun, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Cum-Annexis, subs. (West Indian).—One’s belongings; specially applied to one’s wife and children. [In allusion to a legal locution connected with land transfer in Demerara. The outlying farms of estates come under this general description; e.g., Belair, (a well-known property) cum annexis includes, amongst others, estates formerly known as La Penitence, Turkeyen, Cuming’s Lodge, Industry, etc., and in official documents this congeries of estates is spoken of as Belair cum annexis.]

Cummer, subs. (common).—An intimate. For synonyms, see Chum.

Cundum, subs. (old).—An obsolete appliance worn in the act of coition, to prevent infection: so-called from the name of its inventor, a colonel in the Guards, temp., Charles II.: the modern equivalent is known as a French letter (q.v.).

1767. Rochester, Roscommon, and Dorset, A Panegyric upon Cundum, p. 208. Happy the man who in his pocket keeps, Whether with green or scarlet riband bound, A well-made cundum.

Cunnilinge, verb (venery).—To tongue a woman. [Latin cunnilingus, a form which occurs in Martial, from cunnus = the female pudendum + lingo. Cf., Tip the velvet.]

Cunnilingist, subs. (venery).—A man (or woman) addicted to the practice of tonguing the female pudendum.

Cunny-haunted, adj. phr. (popular).—Lecherous.

Cunny-Thumbed, adj. (old).—1. Said of a person who doubles the fist with the thumb turned inwards.

2. (schoolboys’).—Said of one who shoots his marble—as at ring-taw or shoot hole—with the first phalange of the thumb from the second of the forefinger, instead of with the knuckle of the thumb from the first of the forefinger.

Cunt, subs. (common).—The female pudendum; Latin cunnus. A language word, but vulgar in usage. Diminutives of varying degrees are cunnicle, cunnikin, cuntkin, cuntlet, cunny. Derivatives, the result of an obvious play upon words (old), are cunny-catcher and cunny-burrow ferret (Urquhart), for which see Cream-stick; cunny-hunter = a whoremonger; and Cunny-skin (Durfey), for which see Fleece. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1383. Chauce, The Miller’s Tale. Full prively he caught her by the queint, And sayde Ywis but if I have my will, For derne love of thee, lemman, I spill.

1622. Fletcher, Spanish Curate. They write sunt with a C, which is abominable.

1647–80. Rochester, The Royal Angler. However weak and slender in the string, Bait it with cunt, and it will hold a king.

1768. Sterne, The Sentimental Journey. So that, when I stretched out my hand, I caught hold of the fille-de-chambre’s ——.

Cunt-Pensioner, subs. (vulgar).—A male keep; one who lives by the prostitution of a wife, a mistress, a daughter, or any other female connection.

Cunt-Struck, adj. (vulgar).—Enamoured of women: who may, in turn, be either Cock-smitten or Prick-struck (q.v.).

Cup-and-Saucer Player, subs. phr. (theatrical).—A term of derision applied to the players associated with the late T. W. Robertson’s comedies.

Cupboard Love, subs. phr. (popular).—Interested affection: a variant of the saw that ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.’ Cf., Rice-Christian.

c. 1661. Poor Robin [Herrick]. A cupboard love is seldom true, A love sincere is found in few.

1787. Miss Seward, Letters [ed. 1811], vol. II., p. 103. This last and long-enduring passion [of Dr. Johnson] for Mrs. Thrale was, however, composed perhaps of cupboard love, Platonic love, and vanity tickled and gratified.

1885. Girl’s Own Paper, VI., 830. When tea-time comes and milk, she’s not above Increasing her caresses, till we hear A whisper now and then of cupboard love.

Cupid.—See Fancy Joseph.

Cups. In one’s cups, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Drunk. Cf., Cup-shot, and for synonyms, see Screwed.

1593. Nashe, Christ’s Teares, in wks. IV., 228 (Grosart). Those whom the Sunne sees not in a month together, I nowe see in their cuppes and their jolitie.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, III., in wks. (1720), iv., 64. I shall take my leave: you are in your cups: you will wish you had heard me.

1693. Dryden, Juvenal, x. 288. Which in his cups the bowsy poet sings.

1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, pt. II., ch. iv. She used to come home in her cups, and break the china and the locking-glasses.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Brothers of Birchington). Gets tipsy whenever he dines or he sups, And is wont to come quarrelsome home in his cups.

1864. Mark Lemon, Jest Book, p. 185 [of one remarkable at once for Bacchanalian devotion and large and startling eyes]. ‘I always know when he has been in his cups by the state of his saucers.’

Cup-Shot, adj. (old).—Drunk.

1639. Fuller, Holy War, bk. III., ch. xvi. The spring-tide of their mirth so drowned their souls that the Turks coming in upon them cut every one of their throats, to the number of twenty thousand, and quickly they were stabbed with the sword that were cup-shot before.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Cup-Tosser, subs. (common).—See quot.

1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. Cup Tosser: a juggler (French joueur de gobelet). The old symbol for a juggler was a goblet. The phrase and symbol are derived from the practice of jugglers who toss in the air, twist on a stick, and play all sorts of tricks with goblets or cups.

Curate, subs. (common).—A small poker, or tickler (q.v.), used to save a better one; also a pocket-handkerchief in actual use as against one worn for show. The better article is called a rector. Similarly when a tea-cake is split and buttered, the bottom half, which gets the more butter, is called the rector, and the other, the curate.

Curb, verb (old).—To steal. For synonyms, see Prig.

1615. Greene, Thieves Falling Out (Harl. Misc., VIII., 389). Though you can foyst, nip, prig, lift, curbe, and use the black art, yet you cannot crossbite without the helpe of a woman.

Curbstone-Broker, subs.—See Gutter-snipe.

Curbstone-Sailor, subs. (popular).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart, and cf., Cruiser, sense 2.

Cure, subs. (common).—An eccentric; a fool; also a funny fellow. Originally applied in many connections, see quot.

1856. Punch, vol. XXXI., p. 201.

What’s a Cure.

Punch has no mission to repeat The Slang he hears along the street, But when a curious phrase he seizes, Punch does—as always—what he pleases. He finds then in the following word No merit save that it’s absurd, But as it’s likely to endure He asks a question, ‘What’s a cure’? He heard upon a river boat The steersman told to move his coat, The fellow grunted like a boor, The captain said, ‘Well you’re a cure,’ The mud was thick, the crossing clean— A well-dressed man, genteel of mien— Walked through the first (he might be poor)— The sweeper muttered ‘He’s a cure.’ Two youths talked ‘chaff’ (in phrase polite), Each asked where ‘tother slept last night,’ ‘Me? Up a spout.’ ‘Me? Down a sewer.’ The first: ‘Ain’t you a precious cure.’ A child more apt to eat than spell Espied his little sweetheart Nell: Embraced her with affection pure, And cried, ‘You darling little cure.’ Before a shop stood maidens two Where fine mock diamonds mocked their view: ‘Oh, Julia! That’s the Koh-i-noor.’ ‘That!’ Julia said, ‘You silly cure.’ Lastly, he heard the word applied To Lord Mayor Finnis in his pride; A female shouted, ‘Well I’m sure! Call him a mayor—he looks a cure.’ Thus having heard the word he mentions Spoken with seven distinctions, Punch doth the slangy world adjure To state whence derivation ‘cure.’

Curious. To do curious, verbal phr. (common).—To act strangely.

Curl. Out of curl, adv. phr. (common).—Out of sorts; out of condition.

To curl up, verbal phr. (familiar).—To be silent; to ‘shut up.’

To curl one’s hair, verb. phr. (common).—To administer chastisement; to ‘go for’ one.

To curl one’s liver or to have one’s liver curled, verbal phr. (common).—To make one feel intensely. Cf., Turn the liver (q.v.).

1877. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Life on the Mississippi, pp. 414–415. This is sport that makes the body’s very liver curl with enjoyment.

Curle, subs. (old).—Clippings of money.—Grose.

Curl Paper, subs. (common).—Paper for the W.C.; toilet paper; ‘wipe-bummatory’ (Urquhart), or ‘sanitary’ paper; bum-fodder; bumf; ammunition.

Curlycues or Carlicues, subs. (common).—Fantastic ornaments worn on the person or used in architecture; also, by implication, a strange line of conduct. Used by Burns in The Merry Muses.

1858. Home Journal, 24 July. Architects have a wonderful predilection for all manner of curlycues and breaks in your roof.

Currants and Plums, subs. phr. (rhyming slang).—A threepenny bit; or thrums (q.v.).

Currency, subs. (Australian).—A colonist born in Australia, those of English birth being sterling (q.v.). [In allusion to the colonial and home mintages, which, identical in value, present one or two strongly marked points of difference.]

1856. C. Reade, Never Too Late, ch. lxxxv. When gold was found in Victoria he crossed over to that port and robbed. One day he robbed the tent of an old man, a native of the colony, who was digging there with his son, a lad of fifteen. Now these currency lads are very sharp and determined.

Curse. Not to care or be worth a curse, phr. (common).—To care or be worth little—or nothing at all. [Curse may either = (1) the wild cherry; or (2) a corruption of A.S. cerse, watercress. Cf., Continental (q.v.).

1362. William Langland, Vision of Piers Ploughman. Wisdom and witt nowe is not worth a kerse, But if it be carded with cootis as clothers Kemble their woole.

1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. xvi., p. 124. With regard to such questions ... which one can’t be expected to care a curse about.

187(?). G. R. Sims, Dagonet Ballads (In the Workhouse). I care not a curse for the guardians.

Curse of God, subs. phr. (old).—A cockade.—Lexicon Balatronicum [1811].

Curse of Scotland, subs. phr. (popular).—The nine of diamonds. [The suggested derivations are inconclusive. The locution has nothing to do with Culloden and the Duke of Cumberland, for the card was nicknamed the justice-clerk, in allusion to the Lord Justice-Clerk Ormistone, who, for his severity in suppressing the Rebellion of 1715, was called the Curse of Scotland. Other suggestions are: (1) That it is derived from the game of Pope Joan, the nine of diamonds there being called the ‘pope,’ of whom the Scotch have always stood in horror. (2) The word ‘curse’ is a corruption of cross, and the nine of diamonds is so arranged as to form a St. Andrew’s Cross. (3) That it refers to the arms of Dalrymple, Earl of Stair (viz., or, on a saltire azure, nine lozenges of the field), who was held in abhorrence for the Massacre of Glencoe; or to Colonel Packer, who attended Charles I. on the scaffold, and had for his arms nine lozenges conjoined, or in the heraldic language, Gules, a cross of lozenges. These conflicting views were discussed at length in Notes and Queries, 1 S., i., 61, 90; iii., 22, 253, 423, 483; v., 619; 3 S., xii., 24, 96; 4 S., vi., 194, 289; also, see Chambers’ Encyclopædia.]

1791. Gent. Mag., vol. LXI., p. 141. The Queen of Clubs is ... called Queen Bess ... The Nine of Diamonds, the curse of Scotland.

Cursitor or Cursetor, subs. (old).—A low tramp or vagabond. [Properly, a cursitor (unde Cursitor Street, in Chancery Lane) was a clerk in the Court of Chancery, whose business was to make out original writs; also a courier or runner. From the Latin.]

Curtain-Raiser, subs. (theatrical).—A short ‘piece’ to bring up the curtain and play in the house. Fr., lever de rideau.

1889. Daily News, 2 Sept., p. 3, col. 4. Miss Grace Hawthorne is about to try an original experiment in what are known as curtain-raisers.

Curtall or Curtail, subs. (old).—A vagabond and thief.—See quots.

1560. John Awdeley, Fraternitye of Vacabondes (1869. English Dialect Society’s Reprint), p. 4. A curtall is much like to the Vpright man, but hys authority is not fully so great. He vseth commonly to go with a short cloke, like to grey Friers, and his woman with him in like liuery, which he calleth his altham if she be hys.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Curtails: thieves who cut off pieces of stuff hanging out of shop windows; the tails of women’s gowns, etc.; also thieves wearing short jackets.

Verb (old).—To cut off. Originally a cant word—vide Hudibras, and Bacchus and Venus, 1737.

Cuse, subs. (Winchester College).—A book in which a record is kept of the ‘marks’ in each division: its name to dons is ‘classicus paper’; also used for the weekly order.

Cushion, verb (thieves’).—To hide or conceal. Variants are, stall off; stow; slum. Sp., Hacer la agachadiza = to hide oneself.

To deserve the cushion, verbal phr. (old).—On the birth of a child a man was said to deserve the cushion; i.e., the symbol of rest from labour.

Cushion-Smiter or -Thumper, subs. (common).—A clergyman. [Derivation obvious.] For synonyms, see Devil-dodger.

1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. xx. For what a number of such loud nothings, windy, emphatic tropes and metaphors, spoken, not for God’s glory, but the preacher’s, will many a cushion-thumper have to answer!

1849. Thackeray, in Scribn. Mag., June, 1887, p. 686. Cushion-thumpers and High and Low Church extatics.

1889. Modern Society, 19 Oct., p. 1294, col. 1. On a recent occasion a cushion-thumper received a challenge from the miserable sinner whom he so volubly denounced.

Cuss, subs. (American).—A man, cove, or cull. Generally, but not necessarily, disparaging. [Of uncertain derivation: may be either from ‘curse’ or from ‘customer.’] For synonyms, see Cove. Also see specific use in quot., 1883.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 25 July, p. 2, col. 1. I’ll give Tom his due, and say of him that for flumoxing a cuss (Custom House Officer) or working the weed, I don’t know any one he couldn’t give a chalk to and beat ’em.

1888. F. R. Stockton, Rudder Grange, ch. xii. The man that lives up this lane is a mean, stingy cuss, with a wicked dog, and it’s no good to go there.

Cussedness, subs. (American).—Generally in such phrases as ‘pure cussedness,’ the ‘cussedness of things,’ etc. Mischievousness, or resolution, or courage may be implied; but in the Coventry plays cursydnesse signified sheer wickedness and malignity.

18(?). Col. John Hay, Song of the Prairie Belle. Through the hot, black breath of the burnin’ boat Jim Bludsoe’s voice was heard, And they all had trust in his cussedness, And knowed he would keep his word.

1886. Detroit Free Press, Aug. A more mischievous boy never came under my observation. Pure cussedness was spread out all over him.

1888. ... Mr. Potter of Texas (Ry. ed.), p. 122. The extraordinary belief he had of transatlantic blood-thirstiness, scalping, and general cussedness engendered by these books.

1890. Notes and Queries, 7 S., ix., 29 Mar., p. 244. To swear at something when ‘the cussedness of things’ manifests itself in any specially exasperating shape seems to be recognised as a necessity by a large majority of the adult male population of the globe.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 22 May, p. 4, col. 2. The cause of the difficulty is the pestilent cussedness of the working man.

Cuss Out, verb (common).—To talk down, to flummox by the lip (q.v.).

1881. New York Times, 18 Dec. [quoted in N. and Q., 6 S., v., 65]. He cussed that fellow out, i.e., he annihilated him verbally.

Customer, subs. (common).—A man; fellow; cove; cuss; or chap; with a certain qualification, e.g. An ‘ugly customer’ = a dangerous opponent; a queer customer = a suspicious person, one to be suspected; a ‘rum customer’ = an odd fish. For synonyms, see Cove.

1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, I., 19. Here ... many an ugly customer has met with his match, and been frightened in his turn.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. vi. Some of these good-looking young gentlemen are ‘ugly customers’ enough when their blood is up.

1870. London Figaro, 8 Oct. Customers would then know the kind of ‘customers’ of tradesmen with whom they had to deal.

Customhouse-Officer, subs. (common).—An aperient pill. [Because it effects a clearance.] Cf., Chimney-sweep.

Cut, subs. (common).—1. A stage or degree.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 183. It looked so knowing, with the front garden, and the green railings, and the brass knocker, and all that—I really thought it was a cut above me.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. iv., p. 29. Any other man in the wide world, I am equal to; but Sylme is, I frankly confess, a great many cuts above me.

1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, vol. II., p. 123. He’s a cut above me a precious sight.

2. (popular).—A refusal to acknowledge acquaintance, or to associate, with another person.—See verbal sense. A cut direct or dead cut is a conspicuous non-acknowledgment of an acquaintance.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1890], p. 55. His acquaintances were numerous, but they seldom lasted longer than a few days, when he made no hesitation in giving them the cut-direct.

1836. Marryat, Japhet, ch. lii. He was a noted duellist, had killed his three or four men, and a cut direct from any person was, with him, sufficient ground for sending a friend.

3. (theatrical).—Mutilation of the ‘book’ of a play, opera, etc.

1779. Sheridan, The Critic, Act ii., Sc. 2. Puff (speaking of the mutilation of his play): Hey, what the plague!—what a cut is here!

1883. Saturday Review, 21 April, p. 501, col. 2. Mr. Mackenzie had not only modified the energy of the orchestra, but had shortened the opera by some judicious cuts.

4. (general).—A snub or set-down. Cf., sense 2.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 143. One of the greatest cuts I ever knew was once when a man was speaking of Chris. Newman and saying what a good sort he was, upon which the other said, ‘What do you mean by saying that? Why, d— me, sir, he never called for a bottle of champagne in his life!’

Adj. (old).—Tipsy; on the cut = on the spree. For synonyms, see Screwed.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Cut (a.) ... also an epithet applied to one who is drunk, as, He is deeply cut, that is, he is so drunk, that he can neither stand nor go.

1830. Pierce Egan, Finish to Life in London, p. 214. Terry was terribly cut.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xli. I was so cut last night, old boy! Hopkins says to Tomkins (with amiable confidence).

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 22. Our friend prone to vices you never may see, Though he goes on the Loose, or the cut, or the Spree.

Verb (old).—1. To talk.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66.

To cutte, to say.

To cut benle, to speake gentle.

To cut bene whydds, to speake or give good words.

To cutte quyer whyddes, to geue euil words or evil language.

1622. Head and Kirkman, The English Rogue. This Doxie Dell can cut bien whids, and drill well for a win.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. Meg’s true-bred; she’s the last in the gang that will start—but she has some queer ways, and often cuts queer words.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 230 (ed. 1864). Here I am, pal Peter; and here are my two chums, Rust and Wilder. Cut the whid.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. ix. The infatuated young man went on cutting his jokes at the Admiral’s expense, fancying that all the world was laughing with him.

2. (colloquial).—To disown, ignore, or avoid associating with, a person. Sometimes to cut dead.—See Cut, subs., sense 2. An article in the Monthly Magazine for 1798 cites cut as a current peculiarity of expression, and says that some had tried to change it into ‘spear,’ but had failed.

1634. S. Rowley, Noble Souldier, Act ii., Sc. 1. Why shud a Souldier, being the world’s right arme, Be cut thus by the left, a Courtier?

1794. Gent. Mag., p. 1085. I no sooner learned he was at the ‘Black Bull’ than I determined to cut the old codger completely.

1811. Miss Austen, Sense and Sensibility, ch. xliv. That he had cut me ever since my marriage, I had seen without surprise or resentment.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xli. ‘You are angry with her because she cut you,’ growls Clive. ‘You know you said she cut you, or forgot you; and your vanity’s wounded.’

1864. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. viii. It was only a slight satisfaction to hear that she has utterly lost sight of my rival, and promises to cut him dead the first time they meet.

1870. Daily News, 26 May, ‘Leader.’ The old Greeks dedicated an altar to the Unknown God, for fear of cutting some jealous but obscure deity through ignorance of his existence and attributes.

Also as verbal substantive, cutting.

1840. Mrs. Gore, The Dowager, ch. xiii. [On the Continent.] Every person’s place in Society is so definite ... that except in cases of some enormous breach of propriety, no person once established can ever be expelled. Unless for cogent reasons, he could not have been there at all.... There is no talk of ‘cutting.’ Such an outrage would reflect on the perpetrator rather than on the person ‘cut.’ All the vulgar caprices consequent on a shifting state of society are unknown.

3. (general).—Also to cut and run, cut it, cut one’s lucky, cut one’s stick, cut off, cut away, etc. To depart more or less hurriedly and perforce. [Originally nautical—to cut the cable and run before the wind.] Cut over and cut away formerly bore precisely the same meanings. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1570. Lambarde, Perambulation of Kent. Let me cut over to Watling Streete.

1593. Nashe, Countercuffe to Martin Junior, in wks., vol. I., p. 79. He came latelie ouer-sea into Kent, fro thence he cut ouer into Essex at Grauesende.

1678. C. Cotton, Scarronides, bk. IV., p. 86 (ed. 1725). Put on the Wings that used to bear ye, And cut away to Carthage quickly.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 51. Explain the philosophical meaning of the sentence. ‘He cut away from the crushers as quick as a flash of lightning thro’ a gooseberry bush.’

1857. Dickens, Little Dorrit, bk. I., ch. xxxi., p. 238. ‘I see precious well,’ said Mr. Tip, rising, ‘that I shall get no sensible or fair argument here to-night, and so the best thing I can do is to cut.’

1888. Rider Haggard, Mr. Meeson’s Will [in Illus. Lond. News, Summer Number], p. 2, col. 3. Off you go! and mind you don’t set foot in Pompadour Hall, Mr. Meeson’s seat, unless it is to get your clothes. Come, cut.

4. (trade).—To compete in business; to under-sell. A cutting trade is one where profits are reduced to a minimum. Also cut under.

1874. H. Mayhew, London Characters, p. 469. All agreed in referring their misery to the spirit of competition on the part of the masters—the same universal desire to cut under.

1883. L. Oliphant, Altiora Peto, II., xxiii., 78. So we dissolved partnership, and I went in with another chap, to work on some kind of principle, but Ned was all the time cutting under us by bringing out some new contrivance—he’s great on electricity, Ned is.

5. (common).—To excel.—See quot., 1853. Also cut out (q.v.).

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. viii. There have been instances of the weaker sex ... cutting down, from sheer nerve and determination, the bearded sons of Nimrod themselves.

1884. Referee, 13 April, p. 1, col. 4. George’s performance in the ten miles handicap at Stamford Bridge on Monday—51 min. 20 sec.—is hardly likely to be disturbed for a long time to come, unless he cuts himself.

6. (theatrical).—To strike out portions of a dramatic production, so as to shorten for representation. Cf., subs., sense 3.

7. (University).—To avoid; to absent oneself from. Thus, to cut lecture, to cut chapel, to cut hall, to cut gates are common phrases.

1794. Gentleman’s Mag., Dec., s.v.

1889. Whibley, In Cap and Gown, s.v.

Cut a Caper or Capers, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To play a trick or prank; to behave boisterously or fantastically. [From cut, a verb of action, + caper (q.v.) a freakish proceeding or prank.] Cf., Cut didoes. Fr., battre un huit.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, Act i., Sc. 3. Sir And. Faith, I can cut a caper.

c. 1626. Dick of Devonshire, in Bullen’s Old Plays, ii., 68. Pike, Could I shake those chaines off I would cutt capers: poore Dick Pike would dance though Death pip’d to him.

1712. Spectator, No. 324. Others are called the dancing-masters, and teach their scholars to cut capers by running swords through their legs.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. lxxxvii. He ... hied him home to his bride, to communicate his happiness, cutting capers, and talking to himself all the way.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, Act iv., Sc. 1. Har. Why, isn’t it a shame to see so many stout, well-built young fellows, masquerading, and cutting courants here at home, instead of making the French cut capers to the tune of your cannon; or sweating the Spaniards with an English fandango?

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xx., p. 208. Jonas only laughed at this, and getting down from the coach-top with great alacrity, cut a cumbersome kind of caper in the road.

Cut a Dash, Splash, or Shine, verbal phr. (general).—To make a show; to attract attention through some idiosyncrasy of manner, appearance, or conduct. In the United States to cut a splurge or cut a swathe. Fr., flamber; faire du flafla; and faire flouer.

1771. Foote, Maid of Bath, I. But the squire does not intend to cut a dash till the spring.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xxii. Well, they cut as many shines as Uncle Peleg. One frigate they guessed would captivate, sink, or burn our whole navy.

1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. xxxi. Gin and water was the ordinary tipple in the front parlour; and any one of its denizens inclined to cut a dash above his neighbours generally did so with a bottom of brandy.

1884. S. L. Clemens (‘M. Twain’), Huckleberry Finn, xxiii., 227. It would a made a cow laugh to see the shines that old idiot cut.

1885. G. A. Sala, in Daily Telegraph, 1 Sept., p. 5, col. 4. It is while they are in the land of the living that I should like to see the Australian Crœsuses spending their money. Why don’t they—to use a very vulgar but very expressive locution—cut a splash with their magnificent revenues?

Cut a Figure, verbal phr. (common).—To make an appearance, good or bad.

1759. Sterne, Tristram Shandy. vol. II., ch. ii. You will cut no contemptible figure in a metaphysic circle.

1766. Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, ch. x. When Moses has trimmed them [the horses] a little, they will cut a very tolerable figure.

1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. i. He certainly cut a droll figure.

Cut and Come Again, phr. (colloquial).—Plenty: i.e., if one cut does not suffice plenty remains to come at again.

1738. Swift, Polite Conv., dial. ii. I vow, ’tis a noble sir-loyn. Neverout. Ay; here’s cut and come again.

1821. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, tour III., ch. iv. Something of bold and new design Dug from the never-failing mine, That’s work’d within your fertile brain, Where all is cut and come again.

Subs. (venery).—The female pudendum.

Cut-Away, subs. (common).—A morning coat. [From comparison to a frock-coat, the lappets in front being ‘cut away.’] For synonyms, see Capella.

1866. London Miscellany, 5 Jan., p. 201. ‘London Revelations.’ He wore a Newmarket cutaway, with huge flaps and pockets monopolising the whole of the skirts, suggestive of being receptacles for plunder.

1870. London Figaro, 8 June. It may be taken as an axiom that if a cutaway has been made for a fashionable man six feet high and broad in proportion, it will never sit nicely on the form of a wee little weaver of five feet two.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 Oct., p. 3, col. 1. Off flies the frock coat and the flowing necktie; on goes the little red bow and the seedy brown ‘cutaway.’

Cut or Cut up Didoes, Shindies, Shines, etc., verbal phr. (colloquial).—To play pranks or tricks; the same as cut capers.

18(?). Pickings from the Picayune, p. 147. This ’ere Frenchman has been cutting up didoes in my house now for several days; he aint sober onst a week, and breaks all my cheers and tables Mr. Recorder.

1851. New York Tribune, 10 April. Had the Free States been manly enough, true enough, to enact the Wilmot Proviso as to all present or future territories of the Union, we should have had just the same didoes cut up by the chivalry that we have witnessed, and with no more damage to the Union.

Cut Dirt (American), or Cut One’s Stick, Lucky, etc., verbal phr. (common).—To make off; to escape. To cut dirt is clearly an allusion to the throwing up of mud and dust by a horse’s hoofs in fast trotting. Originally, to cut one’s stick refers to the cutting of a staff from a hedge or tree on the occasion of a journey. Cut over and cut away, though vulgarly colloquial in the nineteenth, were in literary use in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A curious and noteworthy parallel is found in Zechariah xi. 10, where the ‘cutting of a stick’ is described as the symbol of breaking a friendly covenant. Cut one’s stick is sometimes elaborated into amputate one’s mahogany (q.v.). Cut one’s lucky is a simple reference to a ‘lucky’ escape. A Latin equivalent of Cut one’s stick is to be found in Juvenal’s Collige sarcinulas (‘collect the bags’). For synonyms, see Amputate. To cut one’s lucky also signifies to die.

1829. Negro Song [quoted in S. J., and C., p. 287]. He jump up fo’ sartin—he cut dirt and run, While Sambo follow arter wid his ‘tum, tum, tum.’

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 79 (ed. 1857). Hold still, sir; wot’s the use o’ runnin’ arter a man as has made his lucky, and got to t’other end of the Borough by this time.

1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. xl. ‘And now that the nag has got his wind again,’ said Mr. Chuckster, rising in a graceful manner, ‘I’m afraid I must cut my stick.’

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 136. He [James II.] is the only English sovereign who may be said to have amputated his bludgeon, which, if we were speaking of an ordinary man and not a monarch, we should have rendered by the familiar phrase of cut his stick.

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 278. As sune as ve arived at the sumat had a Werry hextensif vew off Prinse lewy a cuttin his unlukky, folowd by his folowers at Hi pressure spede.

1843. W. M. Thackeray, Lyra Hibernica. ‘The Battle of Limerick.’ ... the best use Tommy made Of his famous battle blade, Was to cut his own stick from the Shannon shore.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 150. A man got me to go for some in a orchard, and told me how to manage; but I cut my lucky in a minute.

1853. Western Scenes. Now you cut dirt, and don’t let me see you here again for a coon’s age, you hear?

1855. J. Richardson, Recollections of Last Half Century, vol. II., p. 172. In less than half an hour he swallowed the whole undiluted contents of the bottle, and having done so cut his lucky, and retired.

ante 1871. Border Adventures, p. 231. Now, I say, old hoss, if you don’t hurry up and cut dirt like streak-lightnin’, this child goes arter you, and you look out for a windin’ sheet, you hear?

1880. Punch’s Almanack, p. 3.

Cute, Cuterer, and Cutely, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Sharp; clever; ‘fly to wot’s wot.’ [A corruption of acute.] Fr., avoir le nez creux. For synonyms, see Knowing. So also cuteness, the quality or character of being cute.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Cute (a): sharp, witty, ingenious, ready, etc.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2 ed.). Cute (a low word used instead of (Acute): witty.

1762. Foote, Orators, Act i. I did speechify once at a vestry concerning new lettering the church buckets, and came off cutely enough.

1765. Foote, Commissary, III. I did not know but they might be after, more cuterer now in catching their larning.

1768. Goldsmith, Good Natured Man, Act ii. Well, who could have thought so innocent a face could cover so much ’cuteness!

1768. Goldsmith, Good Natured Man, Act iv. Truly, madam, I write and indite but poorly. I never was ’cute at my learning.

1874. M. Collins, Frances, ch. xxxv. We can leave them to their own devices; they’re both pretty ’cute.

1884. C. Gibbon, By Mead and Stream, ch. xx. Dressed in the latest City fashion—for there is a City fashion, designed apparently to combine the elegance of the West end with a suggestion of superhuman ‘cuteness.’

Cut Fine, verbal phr. (common).—To narrow down to a minimum.

Cut In, verbal phr. (common).—To join in suddenly and without ceremony; to intrude, or chip in (q.v.). Also substantively.

1819. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, ch. xxi. He was afraid you would cut in and carry off the girl.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxiv., p. 246. I advise you to keep your own counsel, and to avoid tittle-tattle, and not to cut in where you’re not wanted.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. vii. ‘Most injudicious,’ cut in the Major.

1864. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. vi. Keeping all her after-supper waltzes for him religiously, though half the men in town were trying to cut in.

1883. Referee, 17 June, p. 7, col. 4. I am anxious to have a cut in and get a big advertisement for nothing.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. v. ‘In short,’ cut in my uncle unceremoniously, ‘you have seen enough of Jack’s life to know something about it?’

Cut Into, verbal phr. (Winchester College).—Originally to hit one with a ‘ground ash.’ The office was exercised by Bible-clerks upon a ‘man’ kicking up a row when ‘up to books.’ Now generally used in the sense of to correct in a less formal manner than tunding (q.v.).

Cut It, verbal phr. (common).—To move off quickly; to run away, or cut dirt (q.v.). For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1885. Indoor Paupers, p. 36. Once a week we cut it From the workhouse gate.

Intj. phr. (common).—‘Cease!’ ‘Stow it!’ ‘Stash it!’—A forcible injunction to desist and be off. Also cut that! or simply cut!

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., 240. Then first he seemed to awake to his danger, and uttered a stentorian cry of terror, that rang through the night, and made two [unprofessional] of his three captors tremble. ‘Cut that,’ said Green [professional] sternly, ‘or you’ll get into trouble.’ Mr. Hardie lowered his voice directly.

Cut it Fat, verbal phr. (general).—To show off; to make a display; to ‘come it strong’; ‘put on side,’ or cut a dash (q.v.).

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 54. Gentlemen, in alarming waistcoats, and steel watch-guards, promenading about, three abreast, with surprising dignity (or as the gentleman in the next box facetiously observes, ‘cutting it uncommon fat!’)

1841. Comic Almanack, ‘Christmas Fair.’ A goose, even tailors have, who cut it fat, And use the goose itself to get a flat.

1887. Baumann, Londonismen. ‘A slang ditty,’ p. v. But, there, it don’t matter, Since to cut it still fatter, By ’ook and by crook Ve’ve got up this book.

Cut Mutton, verbal phr. (old).—To partake of one’s hospitality. Cf., ‘to break bread’ with one.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xxxii. Bungay ... hoped to have the pleasure of seeing both gents to cut mutton with him before long.

Cut Off One’s Head, verbal phr. (American political).—Used when an official’s term of office has come to an end through change of Government, or supercession in other ways. Also to decapitate and to behead.

1869. New York Herald, 5 Aug. ‘The axe,’ wrote a correspondent from Washington, ‘is still doing its bloody work, and heads are flying off in all directions. The clerks in the Treasury Department begin to feel anxious, as the work of decapitation will soon make an end of them also.’

1872. Daily Telegraph, 5 Jan. ‘Leader.’ At the commencement of any fresh Presidency, hundreds of Democratic employés have their heads cut off to make room for Republicans who, in their turn, will be decapitated when the Democrats get the upper hand again.

Cut of One’s Jib, subs. phr. (nautical).—The general appearance. [From the foremost sail of a ship, which is frequently indicative of a vessel’s character. A strange sail is judged by the cut of its jib.]

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple [ed. 1846], vol. I., ch. ii., p. 9. I axes you because I see you’re a sailor by the cut of your jib.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. iv. For I seed by the cut of the feller’s jib that he was a preacher.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge (ed. 18), p. 363. Oh, I see—there is a smart hand, in the gay jacket there, who does not seem to belong to your crew—a good seaman, evidently, by the cut of his jib.

1881. Buchanan, God and the Man, ch. xvi. By the voice of you, by the rigs of you, and by the cut of your precious jib.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. iii. My democratic wide-awake and the republican cut of my jib, said he looking down at his clothes.

Cut One’s Cart, verbal phr. (vagrants’)—See quot.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 339. I’ve seen them doze and sleep against the door. They like to be there before anyone cuts their cart (exposes their tricks).

Cut One’s Comb, verbal phr. (common).—To snub; to lower conceit.

1593. G. Harvey, Pierces Supererog., in wks. II., 283. Can ... loue quench, or Zeale luke warme, or valour manicle, or, excellencie mew-vpp, or perfection geld, or supererogation combe-cutt itselfe?

1608. Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, IV., iv. To see ten men ride after me in watchet liveries, with orange-tawny caps,—’twill cut his comb, i’ faith.

ed. 1717. Ned Ward, wks. II., 302. If you prate one word more, I shall slice a sliver off your coxcomb, and teach you a little more manners before I’ve done with you.

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. ii. I will take my own time; and all the Counts in Cumberland shall not cut my comb.

Cut One’s Eyes, verbal phr. (thieves’).—To get suspicious.

Cut One’s Eye (or Wisdom) Teeth, verbal phr. (common).—To learn ‘what’s what.’ [A play upon the word ‘eye,’ with an allusion to the canine teeth.]

Cut One’s Own Grass, verbal phr. (prison).—To get one’s own living. Cf., Paddle one’s own canoe.

Cut Out, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To debar; deprive of advantage; supersede. Cf., Cut, verb, sense 5. [Originally a nautical term; from cutting out a ship in an enemy’s port.]

1779. R. Cumberland, Wheel of Fortune, Act iv., Sc. 3. I suspect your heart inclines to Captain Woodville; and now he is come to England, I suppose I am likely to be cut out.

1856. C. Bronté, Professor, ch. iii. There’s Waddy—Sam Waddy—making up to her; won’t I cut him out?

1863. Hon. Mrs. Norton, Lost and Saved, p. 182. One woman has often cut another out, whose superiority, if dissected and analysed, would be found to be composed of the carriage that whirled her up to the door, the nimble footman who rapped at it, the soft carpet on the handsome staircase, the drawing-room to which it led, and the gilt stand full of geraniums, heliotropes, and roses in the curtained window.

1864. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. xxv. Here, as elsewhere, she pursued her favourite amusement, remorselessly. Fallowfield called it ‘her cutting out expeditions.’ She used to watch till a mother and daughter had, between them, secured a good matrimonial prize, and then employ her fascinations on the captured one.

Cut Out of, verbal phr. (common).—To ‘do,’ or be done, out of.

Cuts, subs. (tailors’).—Scissors. ‘Small cuts’ = button-hole scissors.

Cut Saucy.—See Saucy.

Cut Short. (Generally cut it short!) phr. (common).—A common injunction not to be prolix. For synonyms, see Stow it.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. lvii., p. 478. ‘Come, then!’ he gruffly cried to her, ‘You hear what she says. Cut it short, and tell her.’

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ch. xvi. Let us cut this short, Pennicuick. There is nothing more of importance to be said, and such talk is painful to both of us.

Cutter, subs. (old).—A robber; a bully. [From committing acts of violence like those ascribed to the Mohocks; or, from cutting purses. Cotgrave translates cutter (or swash-buckler) by balaffreux, taillebras, fendeur de naseaux. Coles has, ‘A cutter (or robber), gladiator, latro.’] This ancient cant word now survives in the phrase, ‘to swear like a cutter.’

c. 1589. Nashe, Month’s Mind, in wks., vol. I., p. 152. These like lustie cutters ... aduentured to lay holde fast on our purses, and like strong theeues in deed proffered to robbe vs of all our monnie.

1633. Rowley, Match at Midn., O. Pl., vii., 353. He’s out of cash, and thou know’st, by cutter’s law we are bound to relieve one another.

1663. Abraham Cowley, The Cutter of Coleman St. [Title of play.]

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. Fifty thousand decuses, the spoils of five thousand bullies, cutters, and spendthrifts.

Cut the Line, Rope, or String, verbal phr. (thieves’).—To cut a story short; to stop yarning.—See Cave.

Cut the Painter, verbal phr. (nautical). 1. To decamp; make off—secretly and suddenly. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

2. To die.—See Aloft and Hop the twig.

Cutting, verbal subs. and ppl. adj. (trade).—1. The process of underselling; synonymous with competition of the keenest kind.—See Cut, verb, sense 4.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 372. There is great competition in the trade, and much of what is called cutting, or one tradesman underselling another. Ibid., vol. II., p. 232. Those employers who seek to reduce the prices of a trade are known technologically as cutting employers, in contradistinction to the standard employers, or those who pay their workpeople, and sell their goods at the ordinary rates.

1863. Once a Week, vol. VIII., p. 552. At first sight it would seem that the poor men got a better article for less money than the rich and well-to-do classes; but a little inquiry into the method by which these cutting bakers ‘make things pleasant’ soon dissipate this seeming anomaly.

1863. Once a Week, vol. VIII., p. 179. If she is accustomed to frequent cutting shops, where the stock is periodically thrown into a state of convulsions in its efforts to sell itself off, of course she expects to be done.

2. (colloquial).—Disowning or ignoring a person.—See Cut, verb, sense 2.

1854. Aytoun and Martin, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘The Doleful Lay of the Honble. I. O. Uwins.’ Uselessly down Bond Street strutting, Did he greet his friends of yore: Such a universal cutting, Never man received before.

Cuttle or Cuttle Bung, subs. (old).—A knife used by cut-purses. [From Latin cultellus, a knife; unde, a cutlass.] For synonyms, see Chive.

1592. Greene, Second Part Conny-catching, in wks., vol. X., p. 3. And feeling if his cuttle boung were glibbe and of a good edge, went to this meale-man to enter combate hand to hand with his purse.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe (Harl. Misc., VI., 172). [He] unsheathed his cuttle-bong, and from the nape of the necke to the taile dismembered him.

1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart) III., 154. He that cuts the purse is called the Nip.... The knife is called a cuttle-bung.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). A Roome Cuttle: a sword. A Cuttle bung: a knife to cut a purse.

Cutty-Eyed, adj. (thieves’).—Suspicious looking; leering.

Cut Up, verbal phr. (colloquial).—1. To run down; to mortify.

1759. Goldsmith, The Bee, No. 5, p. 390 (Globe ed.). The pack of critics, who probably have no other occupation but that of cutting up everything new.

1819. Shelley, Letter to Ollier, in Letters (Camelot), p. 309. I read the article.... I am glad, however, to see the Quarterly cut up, and that by one of their own people.

1874. Mortimer Collins, Frances, ch. xvii. The slashing writers who delight to cut up a book, especially if the author is a friend or a rival.

2. (common).—To come up; turn up; become; show up.

3. (thieves’).—To divide plunder; to share; to ‘nap the regulars.’ Cf., Cut up fat.

1779. R. Cumberland, Wheel of Fortune, Act iv., Sc. 3. Sir D. D. A gentleman, who trusts to servants in his absence, is sure to be cut up. Emily. Cut up! what’s that. Sir D. D. Why, ’tis a common phrase.

1870. J. K., Good Words, April. ‘The Nailmakers’ Lamentation.’ Now, what’s twelve shillings to cut up, To pay so many things.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 505. We had between sixty and seventy quid to cut up (share).

1880. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live. These ... were mostly ‘ramps,’ or swindles, got up to obtain the gate-money, and generally interrupted by circumstances arranged beforehand by those who were going to cut up the plunder.

4. (common).—To behave.

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, pt. I., ch. v. You see, a great deal depends on how a fellow cuts up, at first. If he’s got nothing odd about him, and answers straightforward, and holds his head up, he gets on.

1883. Illust. London News, 12 May, p. 463, col. 2. Export again cut up wretchedly in the Burwell Stakes, which fell to Blue Glass, and one of the best of the American three-year-olds.

Cut up fat, verbal phr. (common).—To leave a large fortune. Cf., Cut up, sense 3.

1824. T. Hook, Sayings and Doings, 1 S., Danvers, p. 13 (‘Colburn’s Stand. Novels’). His property was immense ... and few people ventured to guess ... what he would cut up for.

1831. Disraeli, The Young Duke, bk. IV., ch. vii., p. 228 (ed. 1866). ‘You think him rich?’ ‘Oh, he will cut up very large,’ said the Baron.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. vii. The old banker died in course of time, and to use the affectionate phrase common on such occasions, cut up prodigiously well.

1860. O. W. Holmes, The Professor at the Breakfast Table, xi., p. 351. In the midst of these kind expressions, the gentleman with the diamond, the Koh-i-noor, as we called him, asked in a very unpleasant sort of way, how the old boy was likely to cut up,—meaning what money our friend was going to leave behind.

1872. Civilian, 2 March. Time wears on, and old Stubbs pays the debt of nature, and cuts up splendidly. His colossal fortune is the making of his needy sons-in-law.

Cut up [rough, rusty, savage, stiff, ugly, etc.], verbal phr.—To become quarrelsome or dangerous.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xliii., p. 377. ‘I’ll trouble you for the loan of five-and-twenty pound.’ ‘Wot good ’ull that do?’ inquired Mr. Weller. ‘Never mind,’ replied Sam. ‘P’raps you may ask for it five minits arterwards; p’raps I may say I von’t pay, and cut up rough.’

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. 1. I didn’t mean any offence—beg pardon—hang it! you cut up quite savage.

1855–7. W. M. Thackeray, Miscellanies, II., 272. It is true that Natty [Edward’s Julia’s younger brother] called many times in Pocklington Square, and complained to Edward that he, Nat, could neither see his Mar nor the Gurls, and that the old gent cut up uncommon stiff.

1864. A. Trollope, The Small House at Allington, ch. iv. She’s always talking of Lupex being jealous! if he was to cut up rough, you wouldn’t find it pleasant.

Cut up well, verb. phr. (venery).—To strip well; to be an engaging bed-fellow.

To be cut up (common).—To be vexed; hurt; dejected; sometimes simply cut. Formerly, to be in embarrassed circumstances.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1890], p. 60. But, owing to a combination of unfortunate circumstances, such as gambling, dissipation, etc., Jem is so cut up, that all his old pals have turned their backs upon him.

1846. Thackeray, V. Fair, vol. I., ch. xxv. ‘I should have liked to see the old girl before we went,’ Rawdon said. ‘She looks so cut up and altered that I’m sure she can’t last long.’

1855. W. M. Thackeray, Newcomes, II., p. 201. It’s not when a fellow’s down and cut up, and riled,—naturally riled—as you are,—I know you are, Marquis; it’s not then that I’m going to be angry with you....

1864. Glasgow Herald, 28 Dec. Not a word was said. I felt confoundly cut, and every mouthful of that dinner felt as if it would choke me.

Cutty, subs.—A short pipe; a nose-warmer, (q.v.).

Cuz, subs. (printers’).—A workman free of the ‘chapel.’

Cymbal, subs. (thieves’).—A watch. For synonyms, see Ticker.

D

D, subs. (common)—1. A penny, or (in pl.) pence; e.g., two d; three d, etc., = two-pence, three-pence, etc. [The initial letter of the Latin denarius.]

1880. Punch’s Almanack, p. 3. Got the doldrums dreadful, that is clear. Two d left! must go and do a beer!

2. (common).—A detective; among thieves, a policeman. For synonyms, see Beak and Nark.

1879. Thor Fredur, Sketches from Shady Places. Still I play Shoeblack odd times. I have a few friends among the d’s (detectives), who give me the job to watch a house occasionally.

To use a big d, verbal phr. (common).—‘To swear’; the ‘d’ stands for ‘damned.’

1878. Gilbert and Sullivan, Her Majesty’s Ship ‘Pinafore.’ ‘What, never use a big, big D?’

1890. H. D. Traill, Saturday Songs, p. 3. Do we fight the senseless duel, do we sling the big, big d, No; our strongest word is ‘Bother,’ and revolvers all we see.

The two d’s, phr. (military).—Army regulations enact that a soldier’s pay must not be so docked in fines as to leave him less than two-pence a day. Hence, if a man, from any cause, is put on short pay, he is said to be ‘on the two d’s.’

Dab, subs. (colloquial).—1. An expert; a dabster. [Thought to be a corruption of ‘adept’ (Latin adeptus); a dep; a dap; a dab.] Cf., ‘dabbler,’ one who meddles without mastery; a superficial meddler. Fr., dab, dabe, or dade.

1733. Letter of Lord Chesterfield to Lady Suffolk, 17 Aug. [Suffolk Correspondence, 1824, ii., 64.] ... known dabs at finding out mysteries.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Dab (s.) ... also an expert gamester is so called [also 1754, Martin, Eng. Dict. (2 ed.), s.v.].

1759. Goldsmith, The Bee, No. 1. One writer, for instance, excels at a plan or a title-page, another works away the body of the book, and a third is a dab at an index.

1838. Comic Almanack, p. 148. Such a dab to get up a commission.

1849. J. D. Lewis, in Whibley, p. 231. When Hicks, who’s no dab, with his oar cuts a crab, And our coxswain he swears like the devil.

1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. xlii., p. 200. He was a smooth one to talk, and was a dab at the ways of gentlefolks.

2. (common).—A bed. For synonyms, see Bug-walk and Kip.

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Mace:... Vhen ve’ve had the liqvor, ve’ll kick up a reel, and all go to our dabs.

3. (river-side thieves’).—The drowned corpse of an outcast woman.

4. (old).—A trifle.

1745. Walpole to Mann, ii., 53. The Count may have procured for her some dirty dab of a negotiation about some acre of territory more for Hanover.

Adj. (colloquial).—1. Clever; skilled; expert.—See subs., sense 1. Fr., avoir le ponce long, or rond, i.e., ‘to have a long or round thumb.’

2. (back slang).—Bad. A dabheno, a bad market, day, or sale, Doogheno = a good day, etc.; dab tros = a bad sort.

1877. Diprose, London Life. I’ve been doing awful dab with my tol (lot) or stock, have’nt made a yennep (penny).

Rum-dabe, subs. (old).—The same as dab, subs., sense 1. [Rum (q.v.) is Old Cant for ‘good.’]

Dab down, verbal phr. (common).—To pay; hand over; to ‘post’ or ‘shell out’ (q.v. for synonyms).

To dab it up [with a woman], verbal phr. (old).—To pair off; to agree to cohabitation.

Dabster, subs. (colloquial).—An expert or dab (q.v.).

1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple, ch. iii. ‘Not in the least like the performance of an amateur dabster,’ remarked Jack Mallet, admiringly. ‘Much more like the work of an old master for style and finish.’

Dace, subs. (old).—Two-pence; in America, two cents. [From ‘deuce.’]

Dacha-Saltee, subs. (thieves’ and vagrants’).—A franc; or tenpence English. [From the Italian dieci soldi.]—See Saltee.

1861. Reade, Cloister and Hearth, ch. lv. What with my crippledom and thy piety, a wheeling of thy poor old dad, we’ll bleed the bumpkins of a dacha-saltee.

Dad-Binged (also -Blamed, -Fetched), -Gasted, -Goned, -Rotted, or -Snatched, ppl. adj. (American).—Half veiled oaths; ‘whips to beat the devil round the stump.’ [Dad is a corrupted form of ‘God,’ which, with other forms, (Dod-, Dog-, etc.), is found in various combinations, as above.] For synonyms, see Oaths.

1887. Scribner’s Magazine. ‘Dadgum ye!’ cried Jeff, irritably, ‘whut—by grabs, hit’s a human critter!’

1888. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, p. 122. A chile er two, mo ’er less, warn’t no consekens to Sollermun, dad-fetch him. Ibid. ‘Why, Mars Tom, I doan want no rats. Dey’s de dad-blamedest creturs to ’sturb a body ... I ever see.’

Dad-Dad, Mum-Mum or Daddy-Mammy, subs. phr. (military).—A beginner’s practice on the drum.

Daddle, subs. (common).—The hand; or fist. To tip the daddle, to shake hands. For synonyms, see Bunch of fives, to which may be added the following lists:—

English Synonyms. Chalk-farm; claw; clutch; cornstealer; duke; fam; famble; feeler; fin; flapper; flipper; forceps; forefoot; fork; grappling-iron or hook; goll (old); oar; paddle; palette; paw; plier; shaker; wing; Yarmouth mitten.

French Synonyms. Les abatis or abattis (popular: a term applied to both hands and feet; properly giblets); l’agrafe (common; hook or clasp); la croche (thieves’: properly a quaver; possibly influenced by croc = hook, grapnel, or drag; an allusion to the hooked appearance of the musical note); la cuiller (popular: literally a spoon); les brancards (popular: this expression, like abatis, is also used of the feet; properly = shafts, as of a cart); l’arguemine (thieves’); le battoir (popular: properly a washerwoman’s ‘bat’); un gigot (popular: a large, thick hand, a ‘mutton fist’); le grappin; les harpions (also = feet).

Italian Synonym. Gramoso (properly ‘a wretch’); cerra.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 143, s.v.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Mem. to Cong., p. 23. From this to the finish, ’twas all fiddle-faddle, Poor Georgy, at last, could scarce hold up his daddle. Ibid. With daddles high uprais’d, and nob held back, In awful prescience of th’ impending thwack.

1827. Scott, Two Drovers, ch. ii. Ah, this comes of living so long with kilts and bonnets—men forget the use of their daddles.

1842. Punch, vol. III, p. 136. And her daddle link’d in his’n gone to roam as lovers use.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. v. ‘Tip us your daddle, my boy,’ said the second speaker.

Daddy, subs. (general).—1. The superintendent of a casual ward; generally an old pauper.

2. (theatrical).—A stage manager.—See quot.

1886. Graphic, 10 April, p. 399. The manager himself is sometimes known as the ‘gorger,’ and daddy is the stage-manager.

3. (common).—A confederate of ‘workers’ of mock raffles, lotteries, etc.; generally the person selected to receive the prize.

Daddyism, subs. (American).—Pride of birth.

1871. Kate Field, in Harper’s Bazaar, Aug. An Eastern man commending the services of a young Philadelphian to a Chicago tradesman, said: ‘He comes of a very good family; his grandfather was a distinguished man.’ ‘Was he?’ replied the man of Chicago. ‘That’s of no account with us. There’s less daddyism here than any part of the United States. What’s he himself.’

Daffy or Daffy’s Elixir, subs. (common).—Gin. [From a popular medicine sold as early as the beginning of the eighteenth century: see advertisements (1709), in Ashton’s Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, i., pp. 7, 8: now known as ‘Tincture of Senna.’] For synonyms, see Drinks.

1821. The Fancy, vol. I., p. 304. While carrying on his new vocation of publican, Jack did not deny himself the use of drops of daffy.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 2. Take some daffy to the back parlour.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 430. When I goes in where they are a havin’ their daffies—that’s drops o’ gin, sir.

1871. London Figaro, 15 April. [If the baby] should bawl persistently ... he would ... thoroughly dose it with daffy.

1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., 193. They had low foreheads, and wore big buttonholes, for so they termed the flowers, it was ‘the thing’ to wear. A good many of them, too, had been partaking freely of daffy.

Daffy-Down-Dilly, subs. (old).—A dandy; one ‘got up regardless.’ For synonyms, see Dandy.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 2. Bob: I’m here, my daffy-down-dilly!

Dagen, subs. (old).—An ‘artful member.’ [From dagen, a sword or dagger.] For synonyms, see Downy cove. Dagger = the penis.

Dagger-Cheap, adj. phr. (old).—‘Dirt’ cheap. [From an ordinary of low repute in Holborn, notorious for the coarseness of its entertainment.—See Jonson’s Alchemist, v., 2, and Devil is an Ass, i., 1.]

1631. Bishop Andrewes, Sermons (posthumous). We set our wares at a very easy price; he (the devil) may buy us even dagger-cheap, as we say.

Dags, subs. (common).—A feat; a performance or work, e.g., I’ll do your dags = an incitement to emulation. [From dag, the old Saxon form of ‘day.’ Darg for a day’s work is common in Scotland. A love-darg is a day’s free help given to a farmer by his neighbours.]

1879. Notes and Queries, 5 S., xii., 15 Aug., p. 128. ‘I’ll do you (or your) dags.’ An expression used by children of young, and sometimes of older, growth, meaning, ‘I’ll do something that you cannot do.’

1886. Fun. He was very fond of what, in schoolboy days, we used to call doing dags.

Daily Levy, subs. (journalistic).—The Daily Telegraph. [This London daily was established by Mr. Edward Levy Lawson.]

Dairy, subs. (common).—The paps. To air the dairy = to expose the breast.

English Synonyms. Bubs or bubbies; charlies; blubber; butter-boxes; butter-bags; berkeleys; cat-heads; diddies; globes; dugs; milk-walk; milk-shop; milky way; dumplings; udder (Browning); ‘Nature’s founts’; feeding bottles; ‘charms’; hemispheres; apple-dumpling shop; meat market; poonts; titties; cabman’s rests (rhyming); baby’s bottom.

French Synonyms. Les avantages (familiar); l’avant-cœur (popular = the fore-heart; as l’avant-bras = the fore-arm); l’avant-main; les avant-scènes (properly that goes before; the front of a stage); les avant-postes (literally, the outposts); l’oranger (popular = the orange-tree. Cf., des oranges sur l’étagère); les nénais or nénets (popular); deux œufs sur le plat (common); le monzu or mouzu (Old Cant); des blagues à tabac (popular = tobacco-pouches); des bessons (common = twins); une étagère or un étal (properly a butcher’s stall; étalage = goods exposed for sale; Cf., étaler sa marchandise = to wear a low-necked dress); la doublure de la pièce (popular); devant de gilet (popular: un gilet à la mode = well-developed paps); une livraison de bois devant sa porte (popular); le ragoût de la poitrine (ragoût = pleasure, poitrine = breast); la mappe-monde (popular: literally a map of the two hemispheres); les nichons (familiar); il y a du monde au balcon (said of one with large paps); les bossoirs (sailors’; gabarit sans bossoirs = thin or withered paps); les calebasses (= gourds); les éclaireurs (popular: scouts); des gibasses (popular: skinny paps); des œufs sur la place d’armes (popular).

German Synonym. Gleishaus (i.e., milk-house; Gleis = milk).

Italian Synonym. Tetta.

Spanish Synonyms. Balso-peto (m; properly = a large pouch carried near the breast); chiche or chichi (f; a Mexican vulgarism); pechera (f; also = a stomacher or frill on the bosom of a shirt).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Daisies, subs. (general).—Boots. Cf., Daisy-roots, and for synonyms, see Trotter-cases.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 503. While waiting for my pal I had my daisies cleaned.

To turn up one’s toes to the daisies.—To die. For synonyms, see Aloft and Hop the twig.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Babes in the Wood). Be kind to those dear little folks When our toes are turned up to the daisies.

Daisy, subs. (American).—A man or thing first-rate of a kind. Also equivalent to Dandy, subs., sense 4.

c. 1876. Broadside Ballad, ‘Mrs. Brady’s Daughter.’ She’s such a daisy, she sets me crazy.

1888. Denver Republican, May. Jack Dempsey is beyond compare a pugilistic daisy.

1890. Rudyard Kipling, Fuzzy Wuzzy, in Scots Observer, iv., p. 439, col. 1. ’E’s a daisy, ’e’s a ducky, ’e’s a lamb.

Adj. (American).—First-rate; A1.

1889. Puck’s Library, April, p. 7. Big scene of boats ascending Nile cataracts—new sensation, never done before—and chance for daisy effects in the desert.

Daisy Beat.—See under Beat.

Daisy-Beaters.—See Creepers.

Daisy-Cutter, subs. (common).—1. A horse whether good or bad. Also daisy-kicker. Fr., un rase-tapis.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. iii. I should like to try that daisy-cutter of yours upon a piece of level road (barring canter) for a quart of claret at the next inn.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood. Song, ‘The Game of High Toby.’ But what daisy-cutter can match that black tit.

1866. C. Reade, Griffith Gaunt, ch. i. Others galloped uselessly about pounding the earth, for daisy-cutters were few in those days.

2. (cricket).—A ball which travels more than half the ‘pitch’ along the ground without rising; a ‘sneak.’ Wykehamicè, ‘a ramrod.’—See Grub.

Daisy-Kicker, subs. (old).—1. A horse. Cf., Daisy-cutter and Grogham. For synonyms, see Prad.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 48. The hostler then says, ‘He has a choice nag or daisy-kicker to sell or swap.’

2. (old).—An ostler. [By implication from sense 1.]

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 39. Daisy-kickers are Hostlers belonging to large inns; and are known to each other by this name.

Daisy-Roots (rhyming slang).—Boots. Also daisies. For synonyms, see Trotter-cases. Fr., des salaires.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 501. I piped [saw] three or four pair of daisy-roots (boots).

To pick a daisy, verbal phr. (common).—To evacuate in the open air; also, to retire to make water.

Daisyville, subs. (thieves’).—The country. Also deuseaville.

English Synonym. Monkery.

French Synonyms. La camplouse; la cambrouse; le pasclin or pasquelin.

Italian Synonyms. Longa (literally = an expanse); polverosa (literally = dusty); graziosa (literally = graceful).

1622. Head and Kirkman, ‘Canting Song.’ This Doxie Dell can cut bien whids, And drill well for a win; And prig and cloy so benshiply, All the deusea-vile within.

Dakma, verb (thieves’).—To silence.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

1881. New York Slang Dict. I had to dakma the bloke to cly the swag.

Dam. Not to care or be worth a dam, phr. (common).—To care or be worth nothing. [The dam or dawm is an Indian coin worth barely the fortieth part of a rupee.] Cf., Care and Fig.

Damage, subs. (colloquial).—The cost of anything; the sum total in the sense of recompense. ‘What’s the damage?’ ‘what’s to pay?’ also What’s the swindle? (q.v.). [An allusion to damages at law.]

b. 1788, d. 1824. Byron [quoted in Annandale]. Many thanks, but I must pay the damage and will thank you to tell me the amount of the engraving.

1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. xiv. Well, now, my good fellow, what’s the damage, as they say in Kentucky; in short, what’s to be paid out for this business.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 576. When he wishes to know what he has to pay, he asks, What’s the damage? or not so charitably, What’s the swindle?

Damaged, ppl. adj. (common).—Drunk; screwed (q.v. for synonyms).—See Drinks.

Damber, subs. (old).—A man, cove, or cull belonging to the fraternity of vagabonds. For synonyms, see Cove.

Damme, Dammy or Dammy-Boy, subs. (old).—A sixteenth and seventeenth century roysterer; a blustering fellow. [So called from the excess to which swearing was carried by the rakes of the day.]

1654. Witts, Recreations. To valiant dammee. Dam-me, thy brain is valiant, ’tis confest; Thou more, that with it every day dar’st jest Thy self into fresh braules; but call’d upon, With swearing dam-me, answer’st every one. Keep thy self there, and think thy valour right, He that dares damne himself, dares more than fight.

1687. Cleveland, Works. Depriver of those solid joys, Which sack creates; author of noise Among the roaring punks and dammy-boys.

Dam Nasty Oath, subs. phr. (American).—A corruption of amnesty oath. [Southerners, at the close of the Civil War, were required, as an outward sign of submission to the Union, to subscribe to certain conditions, upon which a free pardon was granted. The terms were deemed unpalatable—hence dam nasty oath.]

Damned-Soul, subs. (old).—A Customs House clearing clerk. [Because to avoid perjury he was alleged to have taken a general oath never to swear truly in making ‘declarations.’] [Lexicon Balatronicum, 1811.]

Damp (Generally, something damp), subs. phr. (common).—A drink; or ‘go’ (q.v. for synonyms).

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxvii., p. 228. ‘So we’ll just give ourselves a damp, Sammy.’ Saying this, Mr. Weller mixed two glasses of spirits and water, and produced a couple of pipes.

Damper, subs. (thieves’).—1. A till or ‘lob.’ Drawing a damper = robbing a till, i.e., ‘lob-sneaking.’

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 445, s.v.

2. (tailors’).—A sweater; one who takes as much as possible out of workmen for a minimum of pay.

3. (colloquial).—He or that which damps, chills, or discourages.

4. (old).—Ale or stout after spirits and water.—See Cooler.

5. (old).—A snack between meals.—See senses 6 and 7.

6. (schoolboys’).—A suet pudding served before meat. Cf., senses 4 and 5.

7. (Australian).—Unleavened bread made of flour and water and baked in thin cakes, in a frying pan or on a flat stone in wood ashes.

1885. G. A. Sala, in Daily Telegraph, 3 Sept., p. 5, col. 5. They got enough flour from Sydney to make their dampers.

1886. G. Sutherland, Australia, p. 77. They must at least receive a ‘pannikin’ of flour and be allowed to bake it up into a piece of damper at the cooking fire.

Damp One’s Mug, verbal phr. (common).—To drink. For synonyms, see Lush.

Damp-Pot, subs. (tailors’).—The sea; specifically the Atlantic. For synonyms, see Briny and Puddle.

Damp the Sawdust, verbal phr. (licensed victuallers’).—To ‘crack a bottle’ with friends ‘for luck’ on starting a new ‘house.’

Damson-Pie, subs. (Black Country).—A Birmingham and ‘black country’ term for ‘Billingsgatry.’

1888. W. Black, Strange Adv. of House Boat, ch. viii. Even if you were to hear some of the Birmingham lads giving each other a dose of damson-pie ... you wouldn’t understand a single sentence.

Dance, subs. (thieves’).—A staircase or flight of steps. A contraction of the older form—dancers. [Ducange Anglicus, 1857.]

Verb (old).—1. To be hanged. Also to dance upon nothing and to dance the Paddington frisk. Fr., danser une danse où il n’y a pas d’plancher and faire la bénédiction du pied en l’air. For synonyms, see Ladder.

1839. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, ch. xxxi. ‘My limbs feel so light, now that my irons are removed,’ he observed with a smile, ‘that I am half inclined to dance.’ ‘You’ll dance upon nothing, presently,’ rejoined Jonathan, brutally.

1840. Hood, Miss Kilmansegg. Just as the felon condemned to die, With a very natural loathing, Leaving the sheriff to dream of ropes, From his gloomy cell in a vision elopes To a caper on sunny greens and slopes Instead of the dance upon nothing.

1864. Daily News, 2 Dec. Another synonym for being hanged is dancing on nothing in a hempen cravat.

2. (printers’).—Type dances if letters drop out when the forme is lifted.

To dance Barnaby.—See Barnaby.

Dance of Death, subs. phr. (old).—Hanging. Cf., Dance, verb, sense 1.

Dancers, subs. (thieves’).—1. Stairs; a flight of steps. Fr., les grimpants.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 52 (1874). Track up the dancers, go up the stayres.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1847. Lytton, Lucretia, pt. II., ch. vii. ‘Bob, track the dancers. Up like a lark—and down like a dump.’ Bob grinned ... and scampered up the stairs.

1858. Lytton, What will he do with it? bk. III., ch. xvi. Come, my Hebe, track the dancers, that is, go up the stairs.

2. sing. (thieves’).—Also dancing master. A thief whose speciality is prowling about the roofs of houses and effecting an entrance through attic and upper storey windows; a garreteer (q.v.). [In allusion to dexterity of walk.] For synonyms, see Area-sneak.

Dancing-Master, subs. (old).—1. A species of Mohock or dandy, temp. Queen Anne. [Who made his victims caper by running his sword through the legs; for detailed description, see Spectator (1712), No. 324.] For list of synonyms, see Dandy.

2. (thieves’).—See Dancers, sense 2.

3. (old).—The hangman; Jack Ketch.—See Dance, verb, sense 1.

D and D, phr. (police).—‘Drunk and disorderly’ (in connection with charge sheet cases). A synonym is Lushy and Stropolus.

1889. Answers, 2 March, p. 218, col. 1. Last New Year’s Day he took over 14s. to my certain knowledge, for the old man was up for d and d, trying to break a window with his broom.

Dander, subs. (colloquial).—Anger. To raise one’s dander or Get one’s dander up or riz = to make or get angry. [Derivation uncertain; provincial in several English counties.]

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxi., p. 223. I do my duty; and I raise the dander of my feller critters, as I wish to serve; ... they rile up rough, along of my objecting to their selling Eden off too cheap.

1848–62. J. Russell Lowell, Biglow Papers. Wut’ll make ye act like freemen? Wut’ll git your dander riz?

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xliii. Don’t talk to me about daring to do this thing or t’other, or when my dander is up, it’s the very thing to urge me on.

1863. Punch, 7 Feb. If John Bull had riz our dander, Settin’ foot on yonder shore, Then we should have holler’d grander Than the broad Atlantic’s roar.

1872. Chamb. Journal, 14 Dec., p. 791. They knew he’d never find out who did it, for he was in such an awful dander.

Dandered, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Angry; ‘mad.’

1890. H. D. Traill, Saturday Songs, ‘The Precipitate Grandmother,’ p. 30. Whose way of tackling dandered snakes Is to perpitiate the critters With hominy an’ buckwheat cakes And pumpkin-squash an’ apple fritters.

Dando, subs. (common).—A great eater; a glutton; specifically a sharper who subsists at the expense of hotels, restaurants, or oyster bars. [From one dando, a ‘bouncing, seedy swell,’ hero of a hundred ballads, notorious for being ‘charged’ at least twice a month with bilking.]

18(?). Thackeray, The Professor. ‘What a flat you are,’ shouted he in a voice of thunder, ‘to think I’m agoing to pay! Pay! I never pay—I’m Dando.’

1850. Macaulay, Journal in Life, by Trevelyan, ch. xii., p. 539 (1884), April 27.—To Westbourne Terrace, and passed an hour in playing with Alice.... I was dando at a pastry cook’s and then at an oyster shop.

1885. Ill. London News, 15 Aug., p. 154, col. 3. One day we are told that the couplet should be:—Oysters, you’ll find, are best by far In every month which ends with an r. Next day this is pooh-poohed, and we are to read, instead:—Oysters, you’ll find, are best by far In every month which contains an r. Spiritualists might be kind enough to consult dando, who would, no doubt, have the true version at his finger’s ends, so as to rap it out on the instant.

Dandy, subs. (formerly slang, now recognized).—1. A fop; a coxcomb; a man who pays excessive attention to dress. The feminine forms, ‘dandilly’ and ‘dandizette,’ did not ‘catch on.’ Dandy was first applied half in admiration, half in derision to a fop about the year 1816. John Bee (Slang Dict., 1823) says that Lord Petersham was the chief of these successors to the departed Macaronis, and gives, as their peculiarities, ‘French gait, lispings, wrinkled foreheads, killing king’s English, wearing immense plaited pantaloons, coat cut away, small waistcoat, cravat and chitterlings immense, hat small, hair frizzled and protruding.’ In common English dandy has come to be applied to such as are neat and careful in dressing according to fashion. [From dandy-pratt (q.v.).]

English Synonyms. Beau; blade; blood; buck; chappie; corinthian; count; court-card; cheese; daffy-down-dilly; dancing-master; dude; dundreary; exquisite; flasher; fop; gallant; gommy; gorger; Jemmy Jessamy; Johnny; lounger; macaroni; masher; mohawk; nerve; nicker; nizzie; nob; oatmeal; scourer; smart; spark; sweater; swell; toff; tip-topper; tumbler; yum-yun.

French Synonyms. Un gandin (popular = a frequenter of the old Boulevard de Gand); un gommeux; un mouchard; un mouget; un petit maître; un talon-rouge (from the red heels worn in the seventeenth century); un incroyable (a ‘swell’ of the Directoire period, as also un merveilleux); un mirliflore (an allusion to millefleurs, a favourite perfume); un muscadin; un élégant; un dandy; un lion; un fashionable; un cocodès; un crevé; un petit crevé; un col-cassé; un luisant; un poisseux; un boudiné; un pschutteux; un exhumé; un gratiné; un faucheur; un bécarre; un daim; un excellent bon; un fade; un fadard; un gilet en cœur; un muguet (properly lily of the valley. Cf., daffy-down-dilly).

Spanish Synonyms. Don guindo; hopeo; pisaverde.

1818. Carlyle, in Early Letters (Norton), vol. I., p. 158. When I walk along the streets, I see fair women ... and fops (dandies as they are called in current slang), shaped like an hour-glass—creatures whose life and death, as Crispin pithily observes, ‘I esteem of like importance, and decline to speak of either.’

1821. Coombe, Syntax, Wife, c. iv. I met just now, upon the stairs, A dandy in his highest airs.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 2 S., ch. viii. Great dandy was Mr. Bobbin; he looked just as if he had come out of the tailors’ hands.

1847. Lytton, Lucretia, pt. I., ch. i. What is now the dandy was then [1780] the Buck.

1866. W. D. Howells, Venetian Life, ch. xx. He is a dandy, of course,—all Italians are dandies,—but his vanity is perfectly harmless, and his heart is not bad.

1890. Lord Lamington, The Days of the Dandies [Title].

2. (thieves’).—A bad gold coin. [In allusion to its careful make and composition, this coin containing a certain proportion of pure gold.]

1883. Jas. Greenwood, Tag, Rag, and Co., p. 24. It is not in paltry pewter ‘sours’ with which the young woman has dealings, but in dandys, which, rendered into intelligible English, means imitation gold coin—half-sovereigns and whole ones.

3. (Irish).—A ‘small whiskey.’

1838. Blackwood’s Mag., May, ‘Father Tom and the Pope.’ ‘Dimidium cyathi vero apud Metropolitanos Hibernicos dicitur dandy.’

1883. Hawley Smart, Hawkins, ch. vi. It’s beautiful punch—ah, well, as you’re so pressing, I’ll just take another dandy.

4. (American).—Anything first-rate; a daisy (q.v.). Also used adjectively.

1888. Superior Inter-Ocean. Dr. H. Conner has invested in a fine piece of horse-flesh. The animal was purchased in Oshkosh, and has a record of 3′37. It is said to be a dandy.

1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat, 21 Jan. My box ain’t no good mister, but I know a feller over dere dat’s got de dandy one.

1888. Missouri Republican, 2 Feb. I’m a terror from Philadelphia, and I can lick any man in the world. I’m a dandy from away back; the farther back they come the dandier they are, and I come from the furthest back.

The dandy, adv. phr. (common).—All right; ‘your sort’; ‘the ticket.’ Cf., Dandy, sense 4. A north-country song has the line, ‘The South Shields lasses are The Dandy O!’

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xxvi. I guess our great nation may be stumped to produce more eleganter liquor than this here. It’s the dandy, that’s a fact.

1884. Notes and Queries, 6 S., ix., p. 35. I not long since heard a carpenter whose saw did not cut, wanting, as he expressed it, ‘to be sharpn’d,’ and who took up another in better condition, say, ‘Ah! that’s the dandy.’

Dandy-Master, subs. (thieves’).—The head of a gang of counterfeiters; who makes the coin, but does not himself attempt to pass it. [From dandy, subs., sense 2, + master.]

1883. Greenwood, Tag, Rag, and Co. The spirits obtained being mostly bottled and labelled, and unopened, find a ready sale at public-houses known to the dandy-master, so that no serious loss is experienced in that direction.

Dandypratt or Dandipratt, subs. (old).—Primarily a dwarf; a page; by implication a jackanapes. In all likelihood, the etymon of the modern ‘dandy,’ erroneously derived from the French dandin = a fool, as in Molière, Georges Dandin. [From dandipratt, a half farthing of the time of Henry VII.]

1580. Lingua, or the Five Senses, O. Pl., v., 172. This Heuresis, this invention, is the proudest Jackanapes, the pertest, self-conceited boy that ever breathed; because, forsooth, some odd poet, or some such fantastic fellows, make much on him, there’s no ho with him; the vile dandiprat will overlook the proudest of his acquaintance.

1622. Massinger, Virgin-Martyr, II., i. The smug dandiprat smells us out, whatsoever we are doing.

1657. Middleton, More Dissembler besides Women, Anc. Dr., IV., 372. There’s no good fellowship in this dandiprat, this divedapper [didapper], as in other pages.

1706. R. Estcourt, Fair Example, Act iii., Sc. 3, p. 40. Boy. A candle, sir! ’tis broad daylight yet. Whims. What then, you little dandiprat? If we have a mind to a candle we will have a candle.

1821. Scott, Kenilwortht, ch. xxvi. It is even so, my little dandiprat, but who the devil could teach it thee.

Dang it! phr. (provincial).—A euphemism for ‘damn it!’ Also Dang my buttons! and Dang me!

Danglers, subs. (thieves’).—A bunch of seals.

1859. Matsell, Rogues Lexicon, p. 124. And where the swag, so bleakly pinched, A hundred stretches hence? The thimbles, slang, and danglers filched, A hundred stretches hence?

Dan Tucker, subs. phr. (rhyming slang).—Butter. For synonyms, see Cart-grease.

Darbies, subs. (common).—1. Handcuffs. [Origin uncertain. Father Derby’s name (he is supposed to have been a noted usurer) was already proverbial in 1576, but that is all now known of him.]

English Synonyms. Black-bracelets; buckles; Father derbie’s bands; ruffles; wife; snitchers; clinkers; government securities; twisters; darbies and joans (= fetters coupling two persons).

French Synonyms. Les alliances (popular = wedding rings); une bride (thieves’ = a convicts’ chain); le bouclage (thieves’: also = imprisonment); une cadenne (thieves’: applied to a neck-chain); un cabriolet (thieves’ = a small rope or strap); une guirlande (a chain for two).

Italian Synonym. Trionfo (literally = triumph).

Spanish Synonym. Calceta (properly = understocking).

1576. Gascoigne, Steel Glas, I., 787. To binde such babes in father derbie’s bands.

1592. Greene, Quip for an Upstart Courtier (Harl. Misc., V., 405). Then hath my broker an usurer at hand, as ill as himself, and he brings the money; but they tie the poor soul in such darbies’ bands [i.e., bonds], what with receiving ill commodities [i.e., goods in lieu of cash], and forfeitures upon the bond, that they dub him ‘Sir John had Land,’ before they leave him; and share, like wolves, the poor novice’s wealth betwixt them as a prey.

1602. Carew, Survey of Cornwall, p. 15 (ed. 1769). [Speaking of the hard dealings and usurious tricks of the marchant Londoners in their dealings with the Cornish tinners of his day, this writer tells the wiles by which the poor wretches became bound ‘in darbye’s bonds.’]

1676. Canting Song, ‘A Warning for Housekeepers.’ But when that we come to the Whitt, Our darbies to behold.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 12, s.v.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress p. 77. Thus a new set of darbies, when first they are worn, Makes the jail-bird uneasy, though splendid their ray.

1836. Marryat, Japhet, ch. lvii. We may as well put on the darbies, continued he, producing a pair of handcuffs.

1890. Standard, 7 April, p. 6, col. 3. (Addressing the officer): Didn’t you take me by the scruff of the neck, and hold me whilst others put the darbies on me?—I did not.

2. (common).—Sausages. Also bags of mystery and chambers of horrors (q.v.).

Darble, subs. (old).—The devil. [A corruption of French diable.]

Darby, subs. (old).—Ready money. [One Derby is supposed to have been a noted sixteenth century usurer.—See quots. under Darbies, sense 1.] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1688. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia (list of cant words), s.v.

c. 1712. R. Estcourt, Prunella, Act i., p. 4. Come nimbly lay down darby; Come, pray sir, don’t be tardy.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Darby Allen, subs. phr. (Lancashire).—Cajolery; ‘chaff’; ‘gammon.’

Darby-Roll, subs. (old).—A gait peculiar to felons of long standing: the result of long shackles-wearing. Cf., Baker-kneed.

Darby’s-Dyke, subs. (old).—The grave; also death.

Darby’s-Fair, subs. (old).—The day of removal from one prison to another for trial.

Dard, subs. (old).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Dark. To get the dark, verbal phr. (prison).—To be confined in the punishment cell.

Dark-Cull or Cully, subs. (old).—A married man with a secret mistress.—[Grose, 1785.]

Dark-Horse or Dark’un, subs. (turf).—A horse whose pace is unknown to the backers; figuratively, a candidate about whom little is known.

1831. Disraeli, Young Duke, ch. v., p. 66 (ed. 1866). All the ten-to-oners were in the rear, and a dark horse, which had never been thought of, and which the careless St. James had never even observed in the list, rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph.

1853. Diogenes, vol. II., p. 271. Farewell! oh, farewell to the lists On whose varying prices I’ve hung; I care nought for the dark-horse that lives Unknown, who shall put me all right.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, ch. i. He had beaten everything that was going to oppose him, with the exception of some two or three dark colts, of which little was expected.

Dark-House, subs. (old).—A mad-house. Shakspeare (All’s Well, etc., ii., 3) used it to denote the seat of gloom and discontent.

Darkmans, Darks, Darky, subs. (old).—The night; also twilight.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 84. Bene Lightmans to thy quarromes, in what lipken hast thou lypped in this darkemans, whether in a lybbege or in the strummell?

1667. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight. ‘Canting Rithmes.’ Enough—with bowsy Cove Maund Nace, Tour the Parting Coue in the darkeman’s Case.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. I think we should be down upon the fellow, one of these darkmans, and let him get it well.

1857. Punch, 31 Jan. ‘Dear Bill, this Stone Jug.’ And at darkmans we run the rig just as we please.

English Synonyms. Blackmans; blind; blindman’s holiday (twilight).

French Synonym. La sorgue, or sorne.

German Synonyms. Mittelaile (midnight); Choschech, Chauschech, or Koschech (from the Hebrew choschach = a moonless night); Eref (specifically the eve of a Sabbath or festival); Fichte (literally a fir-tree); Ratt (Gypsy); Schwärze = (the black ’un); Zofon or Zofen (from Hebrew zophan = to hide).

Italian Synonyms. Bruna or brunora (Fr. brune); materna (properly = the maternal).

Spanish Synonym. Sorna.

Portuguese Synonym. Zona.

Darkman’s Budge, subs. phr. (old).—A housebreaker’s confederate, who slips into a house during the day, hides there, and opens the door at night.—[Grose, 1785.]

Darky, or Darkey, subs. (old).—1. A dark lantern; a bull’s eye.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Stow the darkee and bolt, the cove of the cub is fly.

2. (old).—The night; the twilight. Also (nautical) darks.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 124. Bless your eyes and limbs, lay out a mag with poor Chirruping Joe. I don’t come here every darkey.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 216. We could average our ‘duey bionk peroon a darkey,’ or two shillings each, in the night.

1878. C. Hindley, Life and Times of Jas. Catnach. The cleanest angler on the pad in daylight or the darkey.

3. (common).—A negro. [From his complexion.] For synonyms, see Snowball.

1840. Dana, Two Years before the Mast, ch. xvii. Tom Cringle says that no one can fathom a negro’s affection for a pig; and I believe he is right, for it almost broke our poor darky’s heart when he heard that Bess was to be taken ashore.

1870. Negro Hymn. Walk in, darkies, troo de gate; Hark, de kullered angels holler; Go ’way, white fokes, ye’re too late, We’s de winnin’ kuller! Wait, Till de trumwet blow to foller!

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 594. I wish de legislatur’ would set dis darkie free, Oh! what a happy place den de darkie land would be; We’d have a darkie Parliament An’ darkie codes of law, An’ darkie judges on the bench, Darkie barristers and aw’.

Darn, Darned, verb and ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Euphemistic forms of ‘damn’ and ‘damned’; used to avoid ‘cussing bar’-foot.’ Also darnation, dangnation, darn burn it, and darn or dash my buttons or wig.—See Dadbinged and Oaths for synonyms.

c. 1840. West of England Ballad [quoted in Literary World, 11 Apr., 1890, p. 347, col. 1]. But if he’d know’d he’d got so much money He darned his buttons if he’d gi’ed ’un the shillin’.

1880. G. R. Sims, Zeph and other Stories, p. 87. I shall bring you to your senses, Bess, now, my girl, and you won’t be so darned fast refusin’ a good offer.

1888. Harper’s Magazine. My experience has taught me that in Colorado the man who tells the first story has a darned poor show.

Dart, subs. (pugilistic).—A straight-armed blow.

D.A.’s, subs. (general).—The menstrual flux. [An abbreviation of domestic afflictions (q.v.) and for synonyms see Flag-up.]

Dash, subs. (old).—1. A tavern waiter.

2. (common).—A small quantity; a ‘drink’; a ‘go’ (q.v. for synonyms). Also a small quantity of one fluid to give a flavour to another, e.g., a lemon and a dash = a bottle of lemonade with just a suggestion of bitter beer in it.

Verb (brewers’).—1. To adulterate.

1871. Times, 4 April. ‘Leader on Licensing Bill.’ The brewers are careless of the characters of their tenants; they compel them to take all their beer from themselves, and too often at such prices that they are driven to adulterate or dash the liquor.

2. Also dash it! or dash my buttons, wig, timbers, etc., intj. phr. (common).—Colloquial expletives; also employed euphemistically = ‘to damn.’—See Buttons and Oaths.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress p. 46. Except light oaths, to grace his speeches, Like ‘Dash my wig!’ or ‘burn my breeches!’

1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 22. You may try, but dash my timbers if you’ll ever cross the Thames to-night!

1842. Punch, vol. II., p. 20, col. 2. Yet henceforth—dash my wig! I’ll live with thee, with thee I’ll hop the twig!

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. iv. Gunpowder is your true leveller—dash physical strength! A boy’s a man with a musket in his hand, my chap!

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. IV., ch. iii. And if you hadn’t come round to me to-night, dash my wig if I wouldn’t have come round to you to-morrow.

1880. G. R. Sims, Three Brass Balls, pledge ii. ‘Dash it all!’ said the police-surgeon, ‘that’s two fatal cases I’ve had to-day.’

Cut a Dash.—See Cut.

To have a dash on, verbal phr. (turf).—To speculate largely or wildly; ‘to go it strong.’

Dasher, subs. (old).—1. A showy prostitute. (Cf., sense 2).

1790. C. Dibdin, Sea Songs, ‘Old Cunwell the Pilot.’ My Poll, once a dasher, now turned to a nurse.

2. (colloquial).—An ostentatious or extravagant man or woman; an impetuous person; a ‘clipper’; also latterly,—the word has shown progress towards literary English throughout—a man or woman of fashion; a person of brilliant qualities, mental or physical. Fr., genreux-se; une femme catapulteuse (a fine woman, as also une cocodète). Spanish equivalents are damaza and sibila, while tiene garabato is said of women who ‘hook’ men by their manner and grace (garabato = a meat-hook).

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxix., p. 289. ‘Why, you look smarter by day,’ said Poll, ‘than you do by candlelight. I never see such a tight young dasher.’

1856. Miss Edgeworth, Almeria, p. 292. She was astonished to find in high life a degree of vulgarity of which her country companions would have been ashamed: but all such things in high life go under the general term dashing. These young ladies were dashers.

Daub, subs. (common).—1. An artist. Verb.—See Dawb.

2. A bad picture.

David, subs. (common).—1.—See Davy, sense 1.

2. (American).—A torpedo.

1872. Morning Advertiser, 3 April.

David Jones or David Jones’s Locker.—See under Davy.

David’s Sow. Drunk as David’s, or Davy’s sow, adv. phr. (old).—Beastly drunk. [For a somewhat far-fetched derivation, see Grose’s Dict. Vulg. Tongue.]

c. 1720. Gay, New Song of New Similes. Though as drunk as David’s sow.

1733. Bailey, Erasmus, p. 127. When he comes home, after I have been waiting for him till I do not know what time at night, as drunk as David’s sow, he does nothing but lie snoring all night long by my side.

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xiv. Fellows who have no respect for the articles of war, and who get as drunk as David’s sow.

Davy, subs. (colloquial).—1. An affidavit. Synonymous, by implication, with ‘God,’ in so help, or s’welp me davy, or Alfred Davy (q.v.). Fr., Je t’en fous mon billet or mon petit turlututu = I’ll take my davy on it.

1764. O’Hara, Midas, II., iv. And I with my davy will back it, I’ll swear.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xxii. ‘I’ll take my davy,’ says the captain, ‘it’s some Yankee trick.’

1842. Punch, vol. III., p. 136. Tell me on thy davy; whether thou dost dear thy Colin hold.

1884. Daily Telegraph, 4 Sept., p. 2, col. 2. You may take your davy I didn’t care anything about that.

2. (nautical).—Also old Davy and Davy Jones (q.v.).

Davy Jones, Davy, or old Davy, subs. phr. (nautical).—The spirit of the sea; specifically the sailors’ devil. [For suggested derivation, see Davy Jones’s locker, and for synonyms, Skipper.]

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xiii. This same Davy Jones, according to the mythology of sailors, is the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep.

1790. C. Dibdin, Sea Songs. And if to old Davy I should go, friend Poll, Why you will ne’er hear of me more.

c. 1800. C. Dibdin, The Birthday, Act I., Sc. 2. June. When your back’s turn’d she’s for ... sending you in a gale to old Davy.

Davy Jones’ (or Davy’s) locker, subs. phr. (nautical).—The ocean; specifically, the grave of them that perish at sea. The popular derivation (= a corruption of ‘Jonah’s locker,’ i.e., the place where Jonah was kept and confined, and by implication the grave of all gone to the bottom, drowned or dead) is conjectural. The following, however, may be an additional link in the chain of evidence.

1628. Bishop Andrewes, Ninety-six Sermons, p. 515 (fol.) Of any, that hath beene in extreme perill, we use to say: he hath beene where Ionas was; by Iona’s going downe the Whales throat, by Him againe comming forth of the Whales mouth, we expresse, we even point out, the greatest extremity, and the greatest deliverence that can be.

[Cf., quots. under Davy Jones.]

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xxvii. By de holy poker, Massa Easy, but that terrible sort of gale the other day, anyhow. I tink one time we all go to Davy Jones’s locker.

1842. Comic Almanack, p. 324. There is no reason right why Jones’s kid Should be consign’d to Davy Jones’s locker.

1851. Notes and Queries, 1 S., iii., p. 478. If a sailor is killed in a sea-skirmish, or falls overboard and is drowned, or any other fatality occurs which necessitates the consignment of his remains to the ‘great deep,’ his surviving messmates speak of him as one who has been sent to Davy Jones’ locker.

Davy putting on the coppers for the parsons, phr. (nautical).—The indications of a coming storm.

Davy Jones’ natural children, subs. phr. (nautical).—Smugglers; sea-rovers; pirates.

Davy’s Dust, subs. phr. (common).—Gunpowder. [Davy (q.v.) = the devil.]

1864. G. W. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad, ch. xxvi. Let Davy’s dust and a well-faked claw, For fancy coves be the only law.

Dawb or Daub, verb (old).—To bribe.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. The cull was scragged because he could not dawb.

Daylight, subs. (University).—A glass that is not a bumper; also Skylight (q.v.). Obsolete.

To burn daylight, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To use artificial light before it is really dark; to waste time.

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act i., 4. Mercutio. Come, we burn daylight.

To let or knock daylight into one, into the victualling department, or into the luncheon reservoir, phr. (common).—To stab in the stomach (or breadbasket); in the bread-room, potato-store, or giblet-pie, etc., and by implication to kill. Fr., bayafer. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 101, col. 2. A gentleman in a blue uniform has thrown himself into an attitude à la Crib, with the facetious intention of letting daylight into the wittling department.

Daylights, subs. (common).—1. The eyes. Cf., quots. under Darken the Daylights. For synonyms, see Glims.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vul. Tongue, s.v.

1823. Bee, Sl. Dict. [quoted in]. The hero (Achilles) in his tent they found, His day-lights fixed upon the cold, cold ground.

2. (general).—The space in a glass between liquor and brim: inadmissible in bumpers at toasts: the toast-master cries ‘no daylights nor heeltaps!’

To darken one’s daylights, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—1. To give a black-eye; ‘to sew up one’s sees.’

1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. I., ch. x. If the lady says such another word to me, d—n me, I will darken her daylights.

1786. The Microcosm, No. 2. The nobility and gentry were taught theoretically as well as practically, to bruise the bodies, and (to use a technical term) darken the daylights of each other, with the vigour of a Hercules, tempered with the grace of an Apollo.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 3. If the Fine Arts Of fibbing and boring be dear to your hearts; If to level, to punish, to ruffian mankind, And to darken their daylights, be pleasures refin’d.

1822. David Carey, Life in Paris, p. 200. So here’s at darkening his daylights for the advantage of his mummer.

Deacon, verb (American).—To pack fruit, vegetables, etc., the finest on the top. [Either derived by inversion, or in allusion to the Yankee proverb—‘All deacons are good, but there is odds in deacons.’]

1868. Miss Alcott, Little Women, ch. xi. The blanc-mange was lumpy, and the strawberries not as ripe as they looked, having been skilfully deaconed.

To deacon a calf, verbal phr. (American).—To kill.

To deacon land, verbal phr. (American).—To filch land by removing one’s fences into the highway or other common property.

To deacon off, verbal phr. (American).—To give the cue; to lead in debate. [From a custom, once universal but now almost extinct, in the New England Congregational churches. An important function of the deacon’s office was to read aloud the hymns given out by the minister one line at a time, the congregation singing each line as soon as read. This was called deaconing off.]

1848. J. R. Lowell, Biglow Papers. To funk right out o’ p’lit’cal strife ain’t thought to be the thing, Without you deacon off the tune you want your folks should sing.

1890. H. D. Traill, Saturday Songs, p. 7. We grieve, too, that of all men you, Your own great Union’s stout defender Should deacon off the craven crew, Who here are clamouring for surrender.

Deacon-Seat, subs. (American lumberers’).—In log cabins the sleeping apartment is partitioned off by poles. The bed is mother earth, the pillow is a log, the foot-board a long pole six feet from the fire and in the centre of the cabin. The deacon seat is a plank fixed over and running parallel with the footboard so as to form a kind of settee in front of the fire. [Probably in allusion to the seats round a pulpit, facing the congregation, reserved for deacons.]

Deacon’s Hiding Place, subs. phr. (American).—A private compartment in oyster saloons and cafés; the Fr. cabinet particulier.

Dead, subs. (turf).—An abbreviation of ‘dead certainty.’—See Cert.

1889. Bailey’s Magazine [quoted in S. J. & C.]. ‘Dealers in the dead’ did well then.

Adj. (various).—Stagnant; ‘quiet’ (of trade); ‘flat’ (as of beer or aërated waters after exposure); cold (Am., see quot., 1888); good; thorough; complete (Cf., subs., sense). Also as an adv. as in dead beat, dead best, dead drunk, dead rolled (or flummoxed), dead nuts, dead bitched, etc.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, ii., 2. Why, he drinks you, with facility, your Dane dead-drunk.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress p. 36. As dead hands at a mill as they, and quite as ready after it.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xvii., p. 187. ‘I wish you would pull off my boots for me,’ said Martin, dropping into one of the chairs, ‘I am quite knocked up. Dead beat, Mark.’

1845. Punch, vol. IX., p. 163. The general opinion is that the Premier is dead beat.

1860. Punch, vol. XXXIX., p. 37. A dead take-in is swipes too thin.

1864. Punch. Veal is as dead as mutton.

1872. Derby Mercury, 1 May. ‘Freemasonry in New Zealand.’ He was not dead, but only dead drunk.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. vii. So surely do I intend to try my dead best—all that I know—to win Florence’s love and possess her as a wife.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 27. Hungry Guest. Please bring me some clam fritters. Count (in disguise). Live ’r dead? Hungry Guest. Why, dead, of course! (And he got them stone-cold.)

Dead as a door-nail, mutton, a herring, a tent-peg, Julius Cæsar, etc., adv. phr. (common).—Utterly, completely dead. Dead as a door-nail is found in Langland’s Piers Plowman [1362]; all other forms are modern. [The door-nail is the striking-plate of the knocker. Herrings die sooner after capture than most fish.]

1593. G. Harvey, Pierces Super., in wks. II., 71. If you will needes strike it as dead as a dore naile.

1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in wks. III., 182. Wee’l strike it as dead as a doore-naile.

1598. Shakspeare, II. King Henry IV., iii. Falstaff. What! is the old king dead? Pistol. As nail in door.

1608. Armin, Nest of Ninnies. But now the thought of the new come foole so much moved him, that he was as dead as a doore-nayle, standing on tip-toe, looking toward the door to behold arivall.

1700. Farquhar, Constant Couple, Act iv., Sc. 1. He’s as dead as a door-nail; for I gave him seven knocks on the head with a hammer.

1790. Rhodes, Bombastes Furioso, Ay, dead as herrings—herrings that are red.

1843. C. Dickens, Christmas Carol, s.v.

1864. D. W. Thompson, Daydreams of a Schoolmaster, p. 230. The boat of Charon will push a difficult furrow through innumerable bodies, brick-bat laden, of purrless, soul-less dead-as-door-nail cats. Poor pussies.

1878. Besant and Rice, By Celia’s Arbour, ch. xlviii. Quite dead he was, dead as a door-nail.

In dead earnest, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Without doubt; in very truth.

1880. E. Bellamy, Dr. Heidenhoff’s Process, p. 11. I am sure that you never had a more sincere, more dead-in-earnest convert than I was.

Dead Against, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Decidedly opposed to.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. vii. You know I was always dead agin your tariff bill.

Dead-Alive or Dead-and-Alive, adj. (colloquial).—Dull; stupid; mopish; formerly deadly-lively.

1884. H. D. Traill, in Eng. Ill. Mag., I., 541. The city has greatly revived of late ... it has ceased to belong to the category of the dead-alive, and has entered that of the lively.

Dead-Amiss, adv. phr. (turf).—Incapacitated through illness from competing in a race; said of horses.

Dead-Beat, subs. (American).—1. A sponger; loafer; sharper. Cf., Dead-head and Beat, subs., sense 1.

1865. Glasgow Herald, 25 Dec. ‘Trial Swanborough v. Sotheran.’ I returned the whole of the receipts, and about £4 16s. for dead beats—free admissions who took advantage of the occasion and got paid—which caused great discontent.

1884. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, p. 284. These uncles of your’n ain’t no uncles at all; they’re a couple of frauds—regular dead-beats.

1888. Bulletin, 24 Nov. All the dead-beats and suspected hen-snatchers plead when before the Bench that they were ‘only mouching round to find out whether the family neglected its religious dooties, yer washup.’

2. (American).—A pick-me-up compounded of ginger, soda, and whiskey.

Verb (American).—To sponge; loaf; cheat. Cf., Beat, verb, and Dead-head.

1880. Boston Journal. No party can dead-beat his way on me these hard times.

Adj.—Exhausted; e.g., Billy romped in as ‘fresh as paint,’ but the rest were dead-beat.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1890], p. 34. Logic was at length not only so dead-beat, as to be compelled to cry for quarter, but to seek a temporary retirement, in order to renovate his constitution.

Dead Broke, adv. phr. (general).—Utterly penniless; ruined. Also Flat or stone broke; used verbally, to dead-break.

1866. Cincinnatti Enquirer, 1 June. When he left the gambling-house, he was observed to turn toward a friend with the words, dead-broke! and then to disappear round the corner.

English Synonyms. Wound up; settled; coopered; smashed up; under a cloud; cleaned out; cracked up; done up; on one’s back; floored; on one’s beam ends; gone to pot; broken-backed; all U. P.; in the wrong box; stumped; feathered; squeezed; dry; gutted; burnt one’s fingers; dished; in a bad way; gone up; gone by the board; made mince meat of; broziered; willowed; not to have a feather to fly with; burst; fleeced; stony; pebble-beached; in Queer Street; stripped; rooked; hard up; broke; hooped-up; strapped; gruelled.

French Synonyms. Enfoncé (familiar: also—done brown); centré (popular); désossé (popular: properly = boned); eréné (popular); atigé (thieves’); panné (= in Queer Street); see also Beat.

Italian Synonym.—Ferrare (to be ruined; also = to spoil or corrupt).

Dead-Cargo, subs. (thieves’).—Booty of a disappointing character.

Dead Certainty, subs. phr. (colloquial).—That which is sure to occur; usually contracted to Dead or Cert, both of which see.

18(?). Aytoun. The Dreepdaily Burghs, p. 4. Everybody is realising; the banks won’t discount; and when your bills become due, they will be, to a dead certainty, protested.

Dead cut.—See Cut.

Dead Duck, subs. phr. (American).—That which has depreciated to the verge of worthlessness.

1888. New York Clipper. Long Branch is said to be a dead duck. But for the investments made at Elberon the Branch proper would probably have been abandoned long ago.

Deader, subs. (military).—1. A funeral; a black-job (q.v.).

2. (common).—A corpse.

Dead Frost, subs. (theatrical).—A fiasco; a columbus (q.v.). Fr., un four noir.

Dead-Give-Away.—See Give dead-away.

Dead Gone, adv. phr. (colloquial). Utterly collapsed.

Dead-Head, Dead-Beat or Dead-Hand, subs. (American).—One who obtains something of commercial value without special payment or charge; a person who travels by rail, visits theatres, etc., by means of free passes (cf., Paper); a sponge (q.v.). Also a loafing sharper.—See Beat and Dead-beat.

1861. Morning Post, ‘New York Correspondence.’ The editor had evidently been travelling as a dead-hand, as it is called, and paid his bill by a laudatory notice.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms. The dead-head receives his newspapers without subscribing, travels free of charge on steamboat, railroad, and stage, walks into theatres and shows of every kind unmolested, and even drinks at the bar and lives at the hotel without charge.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 21 May, p. 3, col. 1. ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ is stale enough to warrant the most confirmed deadhead in declining to help make a house.

Also to dead-head, dead-headism, etc.

1871. New York Tribune, March. Elder Knapp, the noted revivalist, advertised that he would furnish a free pass to glory, but very few of the unrighteous population seemed anxious to be dead-headed on this train.

1888. Portland Transcript, 14 March. Unless we count those which had to do with the stage business and went dead-head.

Dead-Heat, subs. (colloquial).—A race with an equal finish. Formerly dead.

1635. Quarles, Emblems, Epig. 10. Mammon well follow’d, Cupid bravely led; Both touchers; equal fortune makes a dead; No reed can measure where the conquest lies; Take my advice; compound, and share the prize.

1828–45. T. Hood, Poems, vol. I., p. 170 (ed. 1846). Away! Away! she could ride a dead heat With the Dead who rides so fast and fleet.

1884. Ill. London News, 18 Oct., p. 362, col. 3. St. Gatien, the horse that ran a dead-heat for the Derby.

Dead-Horse, subs. (common).—1. Work, the wages for which have been paid in advance; by implication, distasteful, or thankless labor. Fr., la bijouterie. To pull the dead horse = to work for wages already paid. [Seamen, on signing articles, sometimes get pay in advance, and they celebrate the term of the period thus paid for by dragging a canvas horse, stuffed with straw, round the deck and dropping him into the sea amidst cheers.] Fr., manger du salé (to eat salt pork.)

1651. Cartwright, Siedge. Ply. Now you’l wish I know, you ne’r might wear Foul linnen more, never be lowzy agen, Nor ly perdue with the fat sutler’s wife In the provoking vertue of dead horse, Your dear delights, and rare camp pleasures.

1669. Nicker Nicked, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 110. Sir Humphry Foster had lost the greatest part of his estate, and then (playing, as it is said, for a dead horse) did, by happy fortune, recover it again.

1824. T. Fielding, Proverbs, etc. (Familiar Phrases), p. 148, s.v.

1857. Notes and Queries, 2 S., iv., p. 192. A workman ‘horses’ it when he charges for more in his week’s work than he has really done. Of course he has so much unprofitable work to get through in the ensuing week, which is called dead horse.

2. (West Indian).—A shooting star. Among Jamaican negroes the spirits of horses that have fallen over precipices are thought to re-appear in this form.

To flog the dead horse, verb. phr. (common).—To work to no purpose; to dissipate one’s energy in vain; to make ‘much ado about nothing.’

1872. Globe, 1 Aug. ‘In the House,’ For full twenty minutes by the clock the Premier ... might be said to have rehearsed that particularly lively operation known as flogging a dead horse.

Dead-Letter, subs. (colloquial).—Anything that has lost its force or authority by lapse of time or other causes.

1755. Fielding, Voyage to Lisbon, p. 145. And to enact laws without doing this, is to fill our statute-books, much too full already, still fuller with dead letter, of no use but to the printer of the Acts of Parliament.

1859. Sala, Gaslight and Daylight, ch. xxi. The Metropolitan Buildings’ Act is a dead letter in Tattyboys Rents, for nobody ever thinks of building.

1861. Chambers’ Encyclopædia, s.v. Bunkum. Many laws, agitated for by popular factions, remain a dead letter, unless they happen to be enforced by clubs organized for the purpose.

Deadlights, subs. (nautical).—The eyes. For synonyms, see Glims.

Dead Lurk, subs. (thieves’).—See quot.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 403. The dead lurk, for instance, is the expressive slang phrase for the art of entering dwelling-houses during divine service.

Deadly, adv. (colloquial).—Very; extremely; excessively. In Arbuthnot: ‘So deadly cunning a man.’

Deadly Lively, adv. phr. (common).—Jovial against the grain and to no purpose.

Deadly Nevergreen, subs. phr. (old).—The gallows. Also known as the leafless tree and the tree that bears fruit all the year round. For synonyms, see Nubbing Cheat.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue s.v.

Dead Man, subs. phr. (common).—1. An empty bottle: said also to bear Moll Thompson’s mark (i.e. M.T. = empty).

English Synonyms.—Camp-candlestick; fellow-commoner; corpse; dummy; dead marine; dead recruit; dead ’un.

French Synonyms.—Une fillette (= a half-bottle); un corps mort (popular: literally, a corpse); une négresse morte (popular: a reference to color as well as condition).

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 2. Ld. S. Come, John, bring us a fresh bottle. Col. Ay, my lord; and pray, let him carry off the dead men, as we say in the army [meaning the empty bottles].

1825. The English Spy, vol I., p. 152. On the right was the sleeping room and at the foot of a neat French bed, I could perceive the wine bin, surrounded by a regiment of dead men (empty bottles).

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. I., p. 59. Talk of the pleasures of the dead languages, indeed! why, how many jolly nights have you, and I, Larkyns passed ‘down among the dead men.’

1871. London Figaro, 15 April. We knew that, in practical use, imperials were inconvenient and wasteful; and that, moreover, it was far from easy to dispose of their corpses when they became dead men.

1879. Miss Braddon, Vixen, ch. viii. And added more dead men to the formidable corps of tall hock bottles, which the astonished butler ranged rank and file in a lobby outside the dining room.

1888. E. Zola. Translation of L’Assommoir, ch. vii., p. 208. In a corner of the shop, the heap of dead men increased, a cemetery of bottles.

2. (bakers’).—A loaf, overcharged, or marked down though not delivered. In London, dead ’un is a popular term for a half-quartern loaf. Also, by implication, a baker.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 16. Dead men are bakers, so called from the loaves falsely charged to their master’s customers.

3. (tailors’).—In pl. Misfits; hence, a scarecrow.

Deadman’s Lurk, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Extortion of money from the relatives of deceased persons. [Lurk = a sham, swindle, or imposition of any kind.]

Dead Marine.—See Dead Man.

Dead-Meat, subs. (common).—A corpse. [By comparison to butchers’ wares.] Cf., Cold meat.

English Synonyms.—Cold meat; pickles (medical students’: for specimens direct from the subject); croaker; stiff; stiff ’un; dustman; cold pig.

French Synonyms.—Un engourdi (thieves’: properly, torpid, heavy, dull); une falourde engourdie (popular: falourde = a heavy piece of firewood); un dégelé (pop: dégel = death); un rebouis (thieves’: one who has been ‘polished off’); un refroidi (thieves’: refroidir = to cool, to chill; in cant, to kill); les conserves (popular: literally, preserves; cf., ‘pickles’: specifically used of murdered bodies recovered from the water).

Dead-meat train.—See Cold-meat train.

Dead Men’s Shoes, subs. phr. (common).—A situation, property, or possession formerly occupied or enjoyed by a person who is dead and buried. Waiting for dead men’s shoes = looking forward to inheritances.

b. 1584, d. 1660. Phineas Fletcher, Poems, p. 256. And ’tis a general shrift, that most men use, But yet ’tis tedious waiting dead men’s shoes.

1758. A. Murphy, The Upholsterer, Act i. I grant ye, ma’am, you have very good pretensions; but then it’s waiting for dead men’s shoes.

1764. Wilkes [in P. Fitzgerald’s Life of] (1888), vol. I., p. 244. As they have no other relation but Miss Wilkes, I therefore suppose they will leave everything to her, independent of me. Yet this is, after all, waiting for dead men’s shoes.

1878. C. H. Wall, tr. Molière II., 218. Death is not always ready to indulge the heir’s wishes and prayers, and we may starve while waiting for dead men’s shoes.

Dead-nap, subs. (provincial).—A thorough-going rogue.

Dead-nip, subs. (provincial).—A plan or scheme of little importance which has turned out a failure.

Dead-oh, adv. (naval).—In the last stage of intoxication. For synonyms, see Drinks and cf., Screwed.

Dead on, or Dead nuts on, adv. phr. (common).—Originally, having some cause of complaint or quarrel; also, very fond of; having complete mastery over; sure hand at. Cf., death on, Derry on and down on, all of which are variants.—See also nuts on, an older form.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 288. Davies was dead nuts upon cutting men’s hair. The whole evening long was he calling men out to be operated upon.

Dead-set, subs. (colloquial).—A pointed and persistent effort or attempt.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 196. He then gave me what I term the dead set with his eye.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 145. He was made a dead set at by some other prisoners, who schooled him for a career of vice and crime.

1889. Globe, 2 Nov., p. 6, col. 2. Certain persons of the ‘thoughtful’ kind, says Rod and Gun, are making a dead set against the field sports of Britain.

Dead Sow’s Eye, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A badly worked button-hole.

Dead Stuck, adv. phr. (theatrical).—Said of actors who break down in the midst of a performance through sudden lapse of memory.

Dead Swag, subs. (thieves’).—‘Dead stock’ or dead cargo (q.v.); plunder that cannot be disposed of. [Swag = booty.]

Dead to Rights, adv. phr. (common).—Certain; without doubt. An amplification of To rights (q.v.).

1888. Cincinnati Weekly Gazette, 22 Feb. Hill claims he has the thing down dead to rights, and that he will make the farmers sweat who have been asserting that his claim was ‘N.G.’

Dead-’un, subs. (thieves’).—1. An uninhabited house. The cracksman who confines his attentions to ‘busting’ of this kind is, in Fr., un nourrisseur.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 505. Me and the screwsman went to Gravesend, and I found a dead ’un (uninhabited house).

2. (common).—A half-quartern loaf. Cf., dead man, sense 2.

3. (turf).—A horse destined to be scratched or not intended to win, and against which odds may be safely laid; a safe ’un (q.v.).

1864. Bailey’s Magazine, June. These al fresco speculators have their dead ’uns, and carry ‘milking pails,’ like their more civilised brethren, privileged with the entrée to the clubs and the Corner.

1868. London Review, 11 July, p. 38, col. 2. The stable and owners might safely lay against what was technically a dead ’un from the first.

1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. v. Lord, what dead ’uns he did back, to be sure!

4. (common).—An empty bottle. For synonyms, see Dead man.

1889. Bird o’ Freedom, 7 Aug., p. 3. We submitted, and with her help were soon surrounded with a formidable array of dead ’uns.

5. (theatrical).—An unpaid super.

Dead Unit for [or against], adv. phr. (colloquial).—Collective advocacy of (or opposition to) a subject, principle, or line of action. Cf., to go the whole hog.

1888. The Solid Muldoon (Ouray, Colorado). The Eastern Press is a dead unit against the passage of the Postal Telegraph Bill.

Dead-wood Earnest, adv. phr. (American).—Quite earnest; ‘dead on.’ Cf., in dead earnest.

1876. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Tom Sawyer. No! oh, good licks, are you in real dead-wood earnest?

Dead Wrong ’Un.—See Wrong ’un.

Deady (modern American, Dead-Eye), subs. (old).—Gin; a special brand of full proof spirit, also known as Stark-naked (q.v.). [From Deady, a well-known gin-spinner.] For synonyms, see Drinks.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 35. As we’d been summon’d thus, to quaff our deady o’er some state affairs.

1834. Southey, The Doctor, inter-chapter xvi. Some of the whole-hoggery in the House of Commons he would designate by Deady, or Wet and Heavy; some by Weak Tea, others by Blue-Ruin.

Deal. There’s a deal of glass about, phr. (common).—Said of men and things; used as a compliment = showy, ‘its the thing.’

To wet the deal, verb. phr. (common).—To ratify a bargain by drinking; to ‘shake.’

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 268. I shall be back again shortly, when we will wet the deal.

To do a deal, verb. phr. (common).—To conclude a bargain.

Deal-Suit, subs. (common).—A coffin; especially one supplied by the parish. [In allusion to the wood of which cheap coffins are made.] For synonyms, see Eternity Box.

Dean, subs. (Winchester College).—A small piece of wood bound round a Bill-Brighter (q.v.); that securing a fagot is called a Bishop.

Deaner, subs. (thieves’).—A shilling. [Origin uncertain; possibly related to Latin denarius. In the 16th and 17th centuries, denier = a coin—vide Nashe, Shakspeare, Johnson, etc. Others trace it to (a) the Cornish dinair; (b) Yiddish dinoh, a coin; (c) Gypsy deanee, a pound; (d) Lingua Franca dinarly.] For synonyms, see Blow.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444. Shilling, Deaner, also twelver.

1864. Times, 12 October, p. 11, col. 6. One woman said where’s the deaner?

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 501. I had been down three or four days running, and could not buy anything to earn a deaner (shilling) out of.

Dearest Member.—The penis.

Death. To be death on, verb. phr. (common).—Very fond of, or thoroughly master of—a metaphor of completeness; the same as dead on, a mark on, or some pumpkins on. Cf., nuts on. [Literally to prosecute or pursue any course of action to the death.]

To dress to death (colloquial).—To attire oneself in the very extreme of fashion. In America to dress within an inch of one’s life; to dress up drunk and to dress to kill. An old Cornish proverb has dressed to death like sally hatch (N. and Q., 3 ser., vi., 6). [Apparently a pun on killing (q.v.).]

1869. Newfoundland Fisheries [quoted in De Vere]. The next day I met Davis and Nye, my two chums, on board the Little Rhody, dressed to death and trunk empty, as they said of themselves.

Death-Hunter, subs. (common).—1. A vendor of the last dying speeches, or confessions of criminals; a running patterer or stationer.

1738. [From J. W. Jarvis and Son: Cat. No. 40, p. 38]. Ramble through London, containing observations on Beggars, Pedlars, Petticoat Pensioners, death hunters, Humours of the Exchange, etc., by a True-born Englishman [Title].

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., 228. The latter include the ‘running patterers,’ or death-hunters; being men (no women) engaged in vending last dying speeches and confessions.

2. (popular).—An undertaker. For synonyms, see Cold cook.

? Old Song, ‘Life’s a Chase.’ And e’en the death-hunter, in coffins who deals Is at last hunted into a coffin.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Death or Glory Boys.—See Bingham’s dandies.

Debblish, subs. (South African).—A penny. For synonyms, see Winn.

Decapitate.—See Cut off one’s head.

Decent, Decently, Decentish, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Moderate; tolerable; passably; fairly good.

Decoy-bird or Duck, subs. (colloquial).—One employed to decoy persons into a snare; a buttoner or bug-hunter (q.v.). Fr., un allumeur, un chatouilleur, or un arrangeur.

Decus, subs. (old).—A crown piece. [From the Latin, the motto decus et tutamen on the rims of these coins.] For synonyms, see Caroon.

1688. T. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, ed. 1720, 2, vol. IV., p. 48. Madam Hackum, to testify my gratitude, I make bold to equip you with some Meggs, Decus’s, and Georges.

1822. Scott, Fort. of Nigel, ch. xxiii. ‘You see,’ he said, pointing to the casket, ‘that noble Master Grahame, whom you call Green, has got the decuses and the smelts.’

Dee, subs. (vagrants’).—1. A pocket-book or reader. For synonyms, see Leather.

2. (common).—A detective; also ’tec, (q.v.). Cf., Deeker, and for synonyms, see Nark.

1886. Graphic, 30 Jan., p. 130, col. 1. A detective is known as a dee and a teck; the former is principally used by tramps and gipsies, and is properly D, the initial letter of the word.

3. (common).—See D, sense 2.

Deeker, subs. (old).—See quot.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Deeker, a thief kept in pay by a constable.

Deep, adj. (colloquial).—Artful; e.g., ‘a deep one.’ [An extension of the figurative sense = remote from comprehension, hard to penetrate—usages frequent in Biblical language.]

1672–1726. Vanbrugh, The Mistake, Act I. When you take us for fools, we never take you for wise men. For my part, in this present case, I take myself to be mighty deep.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, III., in wks. (1720) iv., 63. Fools! nay, there I am sure you are out: they are all deep, they are very deep, and sharp.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 268. I can scarcely believe my eyes. Oh! he’s a deep one.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. vi. He was, too, very deep, and some men, who could put up with his other failings, could not endure that.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 17 Oct., p. 2, col. 2. His Majesty the Sultan is ‘a deep one,’ it is clear.

Deerstalker, subs. (popular).—A felt hat. For synonyms, see Golgotha.

1870. London Figaro [letter dated Dec. 9]. Either the wind must be bottled up or the P. of W. must start the fashion of wearing deerstalkers ... in the windy weather.

Deferred Stock, subs. (city).—Inferior soup. [A play upon words.] For synonyms, see Glue.

1871. Pall Mall Gaz., 22 May. A few years ago, at an economical Chancellor of Exchequer’s dinner on the Queen’s Birthday, the Chairman of one of the Revenue Boards, after tasting the soup, asked the Governor of the Bank of England, who happened to be sitting next to him at the table, ‘What is this?’ ‘Deferred Stock, I suspect,’ replied the Governor.

Degen, Degan, or Dagen, subs. (old).—A sword. [From the German.]

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Nun the degen, steal the sword.

1827. Bulwer Lytton, Pelham, p. 325. ed. 1864. Tip him the degen.

Delicate, subs. (vagrants’).—A lurker’s (q.v.) false subscription book.

Dell, subs. (old).—1. A young girl; a virgin; a young wanton. Later, a mistress: cf., doxy. For synonyms, see Titter.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 75. A Dell is a yonge wenche, able for generation, and not yet knowen or broken by the vpright man.

1574–1637. Ben Jonson, Metam. Gipsies. Sweet doxies and dells My Roses and Nells.

1609. Thomas Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight. Docked the Dell, for a Coper meke His wach shall feng a Prounces Nab-chete.

1622. Head and Kirkman, English Rogue. I met a dell, I viewed her well.

1694. Dunton, Ladies’ Dictionary. Dells are young bucksom wenches, ripe, and prone to venery, but have not yet been debauch’d.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Dell, Doxy, a wench.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. I., ch. ix. He was seized ... by the bailiff of Westminster when dead drunk, his liquor having been drugged by his dells—and was shortly afterwards hanged at Tyburn.

Delog, subs. (back slang).—Gold. For synonyms, see Redge.

Delo-Nammow, subs. (back slang).—An old woman. For synonyms, see Old Geezer.

Delve It, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To hurry with one’s work, head down and sewing fast. Cf., dig, verb.

Demand the Box, verb. phr. (nautical).—To call for a bottle.

Demaunder for Glymmar, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 61. These Demaunders for Glymmar be for the moste parte wemen; for glymmar in their language, is fyre. These goe with fayned lycences and counterfayted wrytings, hauing the hands and seales of suche gentlemen as dwelleth nere to the place where they fayne them selues to haue bene burnt, and their goods consumed with fyre. They wyll most lamentable demaunde your charitie, and wyll quicklye shed salte teares, they be so tender harted. They wyll neuer begge in that Shiere where their losses (as they say) was.

Demi-doss, subs. (vagrants’).—See quot.

1886. Daily News, 3 Nov., p. 5, col. 5. Others, unable to find the coin wherewith to obtain even a demi-doss, i.e., penny sleep.

Demi-Rep, subs. (old slang, now recognised).—A woman of doubtful repute. [A contraction of demi-reputation.] For synonyms, see Barrack Hack and Tart.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. XV., ch. ix. That character which is vulgarly called a demi-rep; that is to say, a woman who intrigues with every man she likes, under the name and appearance of virtue ... in short, whom everybody knows to be what nobody calls her.

1754. Connoisseur, No. 4. An order of females lately sprung up ... usually distinguished by the denomination of Demi-Reps; a word not to be found in any of our dictionaries.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. II., ch. xx. So they went on talking about dancers, fights, drinking, demi-reps, until Macmurdo came down.

Demnition Bow-wows, subs. phr. (common).—The ‘dogs’ which spell ‘ruin.’ Originally a Dickensism (see quot., 1838). For analogues, see Dead Broke.

1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, II., 32. ‘I beg its little pardon,’ said Mr. Mantalini, dropping the handle of the mangle, and folding his arms together, ‘It’s all up with its handsome friend. He has gone to the demnition bow-wows.’

1888. New York Herald, 25 March. There are some men who, if they don’t make twice as much as they expect to make, will cry hard times, and say that general business is going to the demnition bow-wows, but these men would say the same thing in any event.

1889. The Nation, 19 Dec., p. 499, col. 1. Our great farming industry—the very soil of National growth—is not going to the demnition bow-wows.

Demnition Hot, adv. phr. (American).—Exceedingly warm; a heat supposed to be akin to that of the place where they don’t rake out the fires at night.

1888. San Francisco Weekly Examiner, 22 March. It was demnition hot, and I commenced to hunt for soft spots in my saddle.

Demon, subs. (Australian prison).—1. A policeman. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

2. (colloquial).—A super-excellent adept; e.g., The demon bowler = Mr. Spofforth; The demon jockey = Fordham or Fred Archer, and so forth.

Den, subs. (common).—A place where intimates are received; one’s ‘diggings’ or ‘snuggery.’ [In Anglo-Saxon = a bed, cave, or lurking place.] For synonyms, see Diggings.

1865. Punch, vol. XLVIII., p. 111 col. 2, s.v.

Dennis, subs. (old).—A small walking stick.

Dep, subs. (common).—1. A deputy; specifically the night porter or chamberlain at padding or dossing kens.

1870. C. Dickens, Mystery of Edwin Drood, ch. v. I’m man-servant up at the Travellers’ Twopenny in Gas Works Garding, this thing explains, all man-servants at Travellers’ Lodgings is named Deputy.

2. (Christ’s Hospital).—A deputy Grecian, i.e., a boy in the form below the Grecians.

Derby.—See Darby.

Derrey, subs. (thieves’).—An eyeglass. To take the derrey, (tailors’) = to quiz, ridicule.

Derrick, subs. (old).—The gallows. [A corruption of Theodoric, the name of the public hangman at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries.] Now the name of an apparatus, resembling a crane. Also, used as a verb = to hang; apparently the earliest recorded sense. For synonyms, see Nubbing Cheat.

1600. W. Kemp, Nine Days’ Wonder, in Arber’s English Garner, vol. VIII., p. 37. One that ... would pol his father, derick his dad! do anything, how ill soever, to please his apish humour.

1607. Dekker, Jests to Make you Merie, in wks. (Grosart), ii., 318. For might I have beene her Judge, shee should haue had her due, and danst Derriks dance in a hempen halter.

1609. Dekker, Gul’s Horne-Booke, chap. ii. The Neapolitan will (like Derick, the hangman) embrace you with one arme, and rip your guts with the other.

Derwenter, subs. (Australian).—A convict. [From the penal settlement on the banks of the Derwent, Tasmania.]

Despatchers, subs. (gamesters’).—False dice with two sides, double four, five, and six.

1856. Times, 27 Nov., s.v.

Desperate, and Desperately, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—A metaphor of excessiveness; e.g., desperately mashed = over head and ears in love.

Detrimental, subs. (society).—An ineligible suitor; also a male flirt.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 133, col. 1. Defining that zero of fortune to stand below which constitutes a detrimental.

1859. Whitty, Political Portraits, p. 113. The fact is, that the detrimentals won’t work; born into shifty affluence, it is easier to struggle on in a false position than to struggle out of it.

1886. Household Words, 13 March, p. 400. A detrimental, in genteel slang, is a lover, who, owing to his poverty is ineligible as a husband; or one who professes to pay attentions to a lady without serious intention of marriage, and thereby discourages the intentions of others.

Detrimental-Club, subs. (society).—The Reform Club.

Deuce, Dewce, or Deuse, subs. (common).—1. The devil; perdition. Also used as an ejaculative, e.g., The deuce! What the deuce! Who the deuce! Deuce take you! etc. [Wedgwood: ‘The evolution of deuce from Thurs., the name of a Scandinavian demon is fully vouched.’ Skeat: Latin deus, God, deus, borrowed from French usage, being found as an interjection in early English works. Low German duus, Ger. daus are used similarly and may have the same origin; others connect it with Armor. dus, teuz, a goblin.] For synonyms, see Skipper.

b. 1670, d. 1729. Congreve. It was the prettiest prologue as he wrote it; well, the deuce take me if I ha’n’t forgot it.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.), s.v. Dewce.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, Act v., Sc. i. Miss C. Deuce take her! She’s six years younger than I am.

1827. R. B. Peake, Comfortable Lodgings, Act I., Sc. iii. De C. I am the Intendant of Police, sir. Sir H. The deuce you are!

1837. Barham, I. L. (Jackdaw of Rheims). There’s a cry and a shout, And a deuce of a rout, And nobody seems to know what they’re about.

1854. Aytoun and Martin, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘To a forget-me-not.’ I can’t tell who the deuce it was That gave me this Forget-me-not.

2. (vagrants’).—Twopence.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12, s.v.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 276. ‘Give him a deuce’ (2d.).

3. (gamesters’).—The two at dice or cards.

To play the deuce or devil with, verb. phr. (common).—To send, or be sent, to rack and ruin.

1881. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. i. I have a presentiment that the cooking will play the deuce with my digestion.

1885. Indoor Paupers, p. 89. Her drinking played the deuce with the shop.

The deuce to pay, phr. (common).—Unpleasant or awkward consequences to be faced; see Devil to pay.

1854. Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring, p. 69. There has been such a row, and disturbance, and quarrelling, and fighting, and chopping of heads off, and the deuce to pay, that I’m inclined to go back to Cumtartary.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. xxxiii. One or both of ’em ... report me for negligence! I get a curt telegram to come to town, and here’s the deuce to pay!

Deuced, adj. (common).—Devilish; excessive; confounded. Also adverbially. [From deuce (q.v.), + ed.]

1836. Michael Scott, The Cruise of the Midge, vol. I. [ed. 1860], p. 160. Quacco all this while was twisting and turning himself, and, although evidently in a deuced quandary, trying to laugh the affair off as a joke.

Deusea-ville, subs. (old).—The Country.—See Daisyville.

Deusea-ville Stampers, subs. phr. (old).—Country carriers.

Devil, subs. (common).—1. Formerly a barrister who devils, or ‘gets up,’ a case for a leader; as in A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton for Mr. Stryver. Now common for anyone hacking for another.—(See quots., 1889.)

1872. Echo, 14 Nov. Mr. Archibald, the Attorney-General’s devil is to be made a judge. Well, other devils have been made judges of. Sir James Hannen, we are told, was a devil once.

1873. Daily Telegraph, 12 Feb. It will not be possible even to send a telegram to a French journal during a sitting. Not a word must be printed until the President’s devil has distributed the Officiel to the different office boys who will henceforth, etc.

1889. Telegram. M— 84, B— Street, London, E.C. Strange letter received. Will you please see devil at my chambers? R—. [In original telegram the word ‘devil’ was queried by the P.O. authorities!]

1889. George R. Sims, The Author’s Ghost. ‘Who are you?’ I asked in dismay. ‘I’m a devil....’ ‘A what!’ I exclaimed with a start. ‘A devil.... I give plots and incidents to popular authors, sir, write poetry for them, drop in situations, jokes, work up their rough material: in short, sir, I devil for them.’

1890. Speaker, 22 Feb., p. 211, col. 2. No one who is not in the swim can have any conception of the amount of work and worry that devolves upon a counsel in leading practice at the criminal bar.... He has to do the best he can, with the assistance of juniors and devils.

2. (printers’).—An errand boy or young apprentice; in the early days of the craft, the boy who took the printed sheets as they came from the press. Fr., un attrape-science.

1754. Connoisseur, No. 9. Our publisher, printer, corrector, devil, or any other employed in our service.

1757. Foote, Author, Act I. A printer’s prime minister, called a devil.

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVI, p. 82. ‘An author’s paradise.’ A place where there are no printers’ devils.

1863. Alex. Smith, Dreamthorp, p. 211. He wrote in a leisurely world, when there was plenty of time for writing and reading; long before the advent of the printer’s devil or of Mr. Mudie.

3. (nautical).—See quot.

1883. Illustrated London News, 16 June, p. 603, col. 2. It is proposed to prevent the use of the devil, a kind of sharpened anchor, at the bows of a trawler for cutting the nets of drifters in the North Sea.

4. (old).—A firework.

1742. Fielding, Joseph Andrews, bk. III., ch. vii. The captain, perceiving an opportunity, pinned a cracker or devil to the cassock, and then lighted it.

5. (licensed victuallers’).—Gin seasoned with capsicums. Cf., following sense.

1828. G. Smeaton, Doings in London. The extract of Capsicums or extract of Grains of Paradise is known in the gin-selling trade by the appellation of the devil. They are manufactured by putting a quantity of small East India chillies into a bottle of spirits of wine and keeping it closely stopped for about a month.

6. (common).—A grilled bone seasoned with mustard and cayenne. Cf., Attorney.

7. (military).—A sand-storm.

1889. Daily News, 8 July. ‘The Camp at Wimbledon.’ They raised also clouds of dust that went whirling across the common in spiral cones like desert devils.

8. (common).—A species of firewood soaked in resin.

The or a devil of [a thing], adj. and adv. (colloquial).—An indefinite intensitive: e.g., devil of a mess, of a woman, of a row, etc.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, ii., 3. The devil, a puritan that he is, or anything constantly.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge [ed. 1860], p. 102. a devil of a good fight he made of it.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge [ed. 1860], p. 298. The devil a thing was there in sight, not even a small white speck of a sail.

American devil, subs. phr. (workmen’s).—A steam whistle or ‘hooter’; used in place of a bell for summoning to work.

1872. Manchester Guardian, 24 Sept. Mr. Powell’s Bill contains abundant powers for suppressing the vile nuisance known as the American devil, and should any man suffer from it in future he will have nobody to thank but himself.

Blue devils.—See ante.

Little (or young) devil, subs. phr. (common).—A half playful, half sarcastic, address; a term of endearment; e.g., you little devil. Cf., you young tinker.

1841. R. B. Peake, Court and City, Act i., Sc. 1. My wife was such an unreasonable little devil, as to ask me forty questions about my staying out so late.

Verb (common).—1. To act as a devil (q.v., subs.); to perform routine or detail work for another.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 30 Nov. Letter, ‘Called to the Bar.’ Then I took legislative rambles in the Courts, so that I might see practice, and that practitioners might see me; and then I devilled and reported a little.

1883. Graphic, 12 May, p. 478, col. 2. The practice prevailing among eminent counsel of undertaking more cases than they can possibly manage, and handing over some to the juniors who devil for them.

2. (American cadet).—To victimize.

What, Who, When, Where, or How the Devil, phr. (common).—An expletive of wonder, vexation, etc.

b. 1688, d. 1744. Pope [quoted in Annandale]. The things we know are neither rich nor rare; But wonder how the devil they got there.

1776. David Garrick, Bon Ton, or High Life Above Stairs, Act ii., Sc. 1. Sir T. Why, what the devil do you make one at these masqueradings.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, Act i., Sc. 3. Har. Who the devil could have foreseen that?

1827. R. B. Peake, Comfortable Lodgings, Act i, Sc. 3. What the devil is all this about?

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge [Ry. ed. 1860], p. 134. How the devil can you get anything out of an empty vessel?

To play the devil with, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To ruin or molest.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 46. The passions, as I’ve said, are far from evil, But if not well confined they play the devil.

To pull the devil by the tail, phr. (colloquial).—To go to ruin headlong; also to be reduced to one’s last shift. Cf., To play the devil with.

1890. European Mail, 2 Aug., p. 30, col. 2. The immense disproportion between the solid assets and the liabilities of the enterprise made experienced Parisian financiers say from the first that the company was pulling the devil by the tail, and a perusal of M. Monchicourt’s report must confirm this view.

To whip the devil round the stump, verb. phr. (American).—To enjoy the sweets of wickedness and yet escape the penalty.

1857. New York Evening Post. While Mr. Jones is describing his wants in the money line, and telling the president how near through he is, that officer is carrying on a mental addition it may be after this manner: Jones, you’re a clever fellow, but Smith tells me you are engaged in a coal-stock operation. I have heard also that you have been dabbling in Erie. There is a want of candor now, I perceive, in the statement of your affairs. There, you are now whipping the devil around the stump: I see his foot.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 187. Nor is the slang phrase: to whip the devil around the stump to be traced very clearly to the backwoods.

1872. Haldeman, Pennsylvania Dutch. I whipped the devil round the stump, And gave a cut at every jump.

Haul devil, pull baker, phr. (colloquial).—To contend with varying fortunes. In the sense of endeavouring to overreach, a variant is diamond cut diamond.

1889. Cornhill Mag., July, p. 99. I can’t get proper accounts from her; and it’s a regular case of pull devil, pull baker, whenever I want to look at the trades-people’s books.

And the devil knows what or who, phr. (colloquial).—A term used vaguely and indefinitely to include details not specifically mentioned or known.

1717. Mrs. Centlivre, A Bold Stroke for a Wife, Act iii., Sc. 1. Per. Why, what a pack of trumpery has this rogue picked up! His pagod, poluflosboio, his zonos moros musphonons, and the devil knows what.

To go to the devil, phr. (colloquial).—To go to rack and ruin. Go to the devil! = begone! A summary form of dismissal with no heed as to what may become of the person who is sent about his business.

1801. T. Dibdin, The Birthday, Act i., Sc. 2. Capt. Hold your tongue, Junk; you are a libellous rascal. You, and your box, too, may go to the devil.

To hold a light or candle to, or burn a candle before, the devil, phr. (colloquial).—To propitiate through fear; to assist or wink at wrong doing. Shakspeare (Merchant of Venice, Act ii., Sc. 6), employs ‘What! must I hold a candle to my shame,’ in much the same sense. [From the practice of burning candles before the images of saints, etc.]. Not fit to hold a candle to the devil = a simile of inferiority. To hold a candle to another = to assist in, occupy a subordinate position, or (see quot., 1859) to compare to another.

c. 1461. In Paston Letters, II., 73 (ed. Gairdner). For it is a common proverbe, ‘A man must sumtyme set a candel befor the Devyle;’ and therefor thow it be not alder most mede and profytabyl, yet if ij harmys the leste is to be take.

1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, p. 148. Though not for hope of good, Yet for the feare of euill, Thou maist find ease so proffering up a candell to the deuill.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, I., i., wks. (1713), 346. You cannot hold a candle to the devil.

1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. III., p. 17. To hold a candle to the devil, Is not the means to stop this evil.

1828. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth, ii., 213. Here have I been holding a candle to the devil, to show him the way to mischief.

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. xxxii. A Frenchman is conceited enough, but, by George, he can’t hold a candle to a Scotchman.

The devil, or the devil and all to pay, phr. (colloquial).—A simile of fruitless effort; awkward consequences to be faced. [Nautical: originally, ‘There’s the devil to pay and no pitch hot’; the ‘devil’ being any seam in a vessel, awkward to caulk, or in sailors’ language ‘to pay.’ Hence by confusion the deuce to pay (q.v.).]

1711. Swift, Journal to Stella, 28 Sept. Letter 31. And then there will be the devil and all to pay.

1761. Colman, Jealous Wife, III., in wks. (1777), i., 69. There’s the devil to pay in meddling with them.

1762. Foote, Liar, iii., 3. Sir, here has been the devil to pay within.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge. [Ry. ed. 1860], p. 127. Here was the devil to pay with a vengeance.

1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends. The Execution (ed. 1862), p. 198. Hollo! Hollo! Here’s a rum go. Why, Captain!—My Lord!—Here’s the devil to pay!—The fellow’s been cut down and taken away!

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xxi. He made a fool of himself with marrying at Vesoul; and there was the devil to pay with the girl’s relations.

Talk of the devil and you’ll see his horns or tail, phr. (colloquial).—Said of a person who, being the subject of conversation, unexpectedly makes an appearance. Fr., parlez des anges et vous en voyez les ailes.

b. 1664, d. 1721. M. Prior. Hans Carvel. Since therefore ’tis to combat evil, ’Tis lawful to employ the Devil, Forthwith the Devil did appear, For name him and he’s always near.

Devil-may-care, adj. (colloquial).—Rollicking; reckless; rash.

1822–36. Jno. Wilson, Noctes Amb. I., 274. [The shepherd has thrown back to the fire a live coal.] Belyve the blisters’ll be rising like foam-bells; but deil may care.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xlix., p. 428. He was a mighty free and easy, roving, devil-may-care sort of person, was my Uncle, gentlemen.

1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. xii. There was also a certain devil-may-care recklessness about the self-satisfied swagger of his gait.

1849. Albert Smith, in Gabarni in London (Acrobats). Unsettled, wandering, and devil-may-care as his disposition may be, he cannot be called idle.

1863. Hon. Mrs. Norton, Lost and Saved, p. 33. Treherne had a hot twinge of doubt, in spite of his devil-may-care style of writing, whether Lewellyn would answer him at all.

1865. Punch, vol. XLVIII., p. 106. Fechter’s acting [as Robert Macaire] in The Roadside Inn may be described as the devil-may-care style.

Devil take, or fetch, or send, or snatch, or fly away with, you, me, him! etc., phr. (colloquial).—An imprecation of impatience. Fr., le boulanger t’entrolle en son pasclin.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 339. Don’t use naughty words, in the next place, and ne’er in your language adopt a bad habit of swearin’. Never say, ‘Devil take me,’ or ‘shake me,’ or ‘bake me,’ or such-like expressions. Remember Old Nick, To take folks at their word, is remarkably quick.

There’s the devil among the tailors, phr. (common).—A row is going on. [Edwards:—Originating in a riot at the Haymarket when Dowton announced the performance for his benefit, of a burlesque entitled ‘The Tailors: a Tragedy for Warm Weather.’ Many thousands of journeymen tailors congregated, and interrupted the performances. Thirty-three were brought up at Bow Street next day.—See Biographica Dramatica under ‘Tailors.’]

When the devil is blind, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Never, i.e., in a month of Sundays; said of anything unlikely to happen. For synonyms, see Greek Kalends.

Devil Dodger, subs. (common).—A clergyman. Also, by implication, anyone of a religious turn of mind.

English Synonyms.—Devil catcher, driver, pitcher, or scolder; snub devil; bible pounder; duck that grinds the gospel mill; commister; camister; sky-pilot; chimney-sweep; rat; rum (Johnson); pantiler; cushion smiter, duster, or thumper; couple, or buckle, beggar; rook; gospel grinder; earwig; one-in-ten (tramps’ = a tithe-monger); finger-post; parish prig; parish bull; holy Joe; green apron; black cattle (collectively); crow; the cloth (collectively); white choker; patrico; black coat; black fly; glue pot; gospel postillion; prunella; pudding-sleeves; puzzle-text; schism-monger; cod; Black Brunswicker; spiritual flesh-broker; head-clerk of the Doxology Works; Lady Green; fire-escape; gospel sharp; padre (Anglo-Indian); pound-text.

French Synonyms.—Un radicon (thieves’); un otage (popular: = hostage, in allusion to events under the Commune of 1871); un radis noir (familiar: also a police officer. In allusion to ‘the cloth’); un ratichon (pop. from ratissé, rasé = shaved); un sanglier (thieves’: a wild boar, but also a play upon words sans without, + glier, the infernal regions); un raze or razi (thieves’); un rochet (thieves’: a surplice); un pante en robe (thieves’: ‘a cove in a gown,’ also a judge); un chasublard (popular); une calotte (fam.: le régiment de la calotte = the skull-cap brigade, i.e., the company of the Society of Jesus); un corbeau (pop.: = crow); un couac (popular); un babillard (thieves’: especially a confessor, a ‘blab-monger’); un bichot (a bishop); une enseigne de cimetière (‘a cemetery signpost.’ Cf., sky-pilot and finger-post); un bâton de réglisse (thieves’: = a stick of liquorice. Also a police-officer); un barbichon (popular: a preaching friar. From barbe = beard, in allusion to the long beard characteristic of the order).

German Synonyms.—Herrle (especially applied to Catholic priests). Lefranz or Lefrenz (a transposition of Franzle or Fränzle = the Franciscan. Liber Vagatorum Lefrenzin, = a priest’s harlot, still popular in N. Germany); Schocherer (from Hebrew schochar = black. Cf., analogous English terms); Schwarzfärber (Schwarz = black; Färber = a dyer).

Italian Synonyms.—Chiodrino; capellano rosso (a cardinal; ‘a red chaplain’); farfoio (= a monk; farfoia, a nun); rossignolo (= ‘a nightingale’); pisto or pistolfo (Michel: ‘parce qu’il suit le condamné à la piste’).

Spanish Synonym.—Cleriguillo (= a little cleric: both insult and endearment).

1791. Lackington, Memoirs, Letter vi. [ed. 1803]. These devil-dodgers happened to be so very powerful (that is, noisy) that they soon sent John home, crying out he should be damn’d.

1889. Cornhill Mag., Jan., p. 50. He’s just a kind of a fine-haired cuss—a gambler, or a devil-dodger. I reckon ... I’m open ter bet he’s a preacher.

Devil-Drawer, subs. (old).—An indifferent artist.

Devilish, adv. (colloquial).—Used intensitively. Cf., Awfully, and Beastly.

1755. The World, No. 140. How arbitrary is language! and how does the custom of mankind join words, that reason has put asunder. Thus we often hear of hell-fire cold, of devilish handsome, and the like.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, iii., 1. I tell you, sir, that, for all that, she’s dev’lish sensible.

1871. Sir M. Lopez, Speech on Army Bill, H. of C., 3 July. It was devilish hard—he meant very hard—to lay it.

Devil’s Bed-posts, or Devil’s Four-poster, subs. phr. (cards’).—The four of clubs; held as an unlucky ‘turn-up.’

1879. J. C. J., in N. and Q., 5 S., xii., 473. In London I have always heard the four of clubs called the devil’s bedpost, and also that it is the worst turn-up one could have.

Devil’s-Bones, subs. (old).—Dice; also Devil’s teeth. Cf., Devil’s books.

1664. Etherege, Comical Revenge, II., iii., in wks. (1704), 27. I do not understand dice: I understand good pasture and drink—hang the devil’s bones.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. A gamester, one who deals with the devil’s bones and the doctors.

Devil’s-Books, subs. (common).—Cards. [Of Presbyterian origin; in reproof of a synonymous term—King’s Books, or more fully, The History of the Four Kings (Fr., livre des quatre rois).] Also Books of Briefs (Fr., la cartouchière à portées).

1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 4, p. 43 (2nd ed.). Cards are the devil’s own invention, for which reason, time out of mind, they are and have been called the devil’s books.

18(?). Thackeray, Character Sketches (Capt. Rook and Mr. Pigeon). I often think that the devil’s books, as cards are called, are let out to us from Old Nick’s circulating library.

Devil’s-Claws, subs. (thieves’).—The broad arrow on convicts’ uniforms.

Devil’s-Colours or Livery, subs. (common).—Black and yellow.

Devil’s-Daughter, subs. (common).—A shrew.

Devil’s-Delight. To kick up the devil’s delight, verbal phr. (common).—To make a disturbance.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xv. His wives, five or six on ’em, was yowlin’, and cryin’, and kickin’ up the devil’s delight.

1863. Chas. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 278. Well then, speak quick, both of you, said Sharpe, or I’ll lay ye both by the heels. Ye black scoundrels, what business have you in the Captain’s cabin, kicking up the devil’s delight?

Devil’s-Dozen, subs. (old).—Thirteen; the original baker’s-dozen (q.v.). [From the number of witches supposed to sit down together at a ‘Sabbath.’ In Fr. le boulanger (the baker) = the devil.]

Devil’s-Dung, subs. (old).—Asafœtida: the old pharmaceutical name. [From the smell.] Now recognised.

1604. Dekker, Honest Wh., in wks. (1873), ii. 40. Fust. The divel’s dung in thy teeth: I’ll be welcome whether thou wilt or no.

1759. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. VIII., ch. xi. ’Tis all pepper, garlic, staragen, salt, and devil’s dung.

1804. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), i. 203. I devoured loads of devil’s dung rounded into pills.

Devil’s-dust, subs. (trade).—1. Old cloth shredded for re-manufacture. [In allusion both to the swindle and to the ‘dust’ or ‘flock’ produced by the disintegrating machine which is called a ‘devil.’ The practice and the name are old. Latimer, in one of his sermons before Edward the Sixth, treating of trade rascality, remarked that manufacturers could stretch cloth seventeen yards long, into a length of seven-and-twenty yards: ‘When they have brought him to that perfection,’ he continues, ‘they have a pretty feat to thick him again. He makes me a powder for it, and plays the pothicary. They call it flock-powder, they do so incorporate it to the cloth, that it is wonderful to consider; truly a good invention. Oh that so goodly wits should be so applied; they may well deceive the people, but they cannot deceive God. They were wont to make beds of flocks, and it was a good bed too. Now they have turned their flocks into powder, to play the false thieves with it.’ Popularised by Mr. Ferrand in a speech before the House of Commons, March 4, 1842 (Hansard, 3 S, lxi., p. 140) when he tore a piece of cloth made from devil’s dust, into shreds to prove its worthlessness.] Also Shoddy (q.v.).

1840. Carlyle, Misc., iv., 239. Does it beseem thee to weave cloth of devil’s dust instead of true wool, and cut and sew it as if those wert not a tailor but the fraction of a very tailor?

1851. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, II., p. 30.

1864. Times, 2 Nov. It is not many years since Mr. Ferrand denounced the devil’s dust of the Yorkshire woollen manufacturers; this devil’s dust arises from the grand translation of old cloth into new.

2. (military)—Gunpowder.

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. i. One looks up at the snow-white walls ... and then remembers grimly what a mess the devil’s dust, as used by modern artillery, would make of them in these days.

Devil’s Guts, subs. (old).—A surveyor’s chain.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Devil’s Own, subs. (military).—1. The Eighty-Eight Foot. [A contraction of the devil’s own Connaught boys, a name given by General Picton for their gallantry in action and their irregularity in quarters during the Peninsular War, 1809–14.]

2. (volunteer)—The Inns of Court Volunteers [in allusion to the legal personnel].

1864. Mark Lemon, Jest Book, p. 211. At a review of the volunteers, when the half-drowned heroes were defiling by all the best ways, the devil’s own walked straight through. This being reported to Lord B——, he remarked, ‘that the lawyers always went through thick and thin.’

1872. Daily Telegraph, 28 Nov. In Richmond Park the Inns of Court Rifle Volunteers, more familiarly known as the Devil’s Own, were inspected by Colonel Daubeney.

Devil’s-Paternoster. To say the Devil’s Paternoster, verb. phr. (old).—To grumble.

1614. Terence, in English. D. What devills pater noster is this he is saying? what would he? what saist thou honest man?

Devil’s Playthings, subs. phr. (common).—Cards.—See Devil’s Books.

Devil’s-Sharpshooters, subs. (American).—Clerics who took part in the Mexican War.

Devil’s-Smiles, subs. (common).—April weather with alternations of sunshine and rain.

Devil’s-Tattoo, subs. (common). Drumming the fingers on any resonant surface, or tapping the floor with one’s feet, acts of vacancy or impatience.

1817. Scott, Search after Happiness, st. xv. His sugar-loaves and bales about he threw, And on his counter beat the devil’s tattoo.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 181. Her tears had ceased; but her eyes were cast down, and mournfully fixed upon her delicate little foot, which was beating the devil’s tattoo.

1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, bk. III., ch. vi. Mr. Gawtrey remained by the fire beating the devil’s tattoo upon the chimney-piece.

1855. Thackeray, The Newcomes, II., 130. Lady Kew (loq.): ‘Have you been quarrelling as much as usual?’ ‘Pretty much as usual,’ says Barnes, drumming on his hat. ‘Don’t beat that devil’s tattoo.’

Devil’s Teeth.—See Devil’s Bones.

[Also to note in this connexion are devil’s own boy = a young blackguard; imp of the devil = idem; devil’s own ship = a pirate; devil’s own luck = uncommon, or inexplicable, good fortune; to lead one the devil’s own dance = to baffle one in the pursuit of any object; the devil a bit says punch = a jocular yet decided negative; and neat but not gaudy, as the devil said when he painted his bottom pink and tied up his tail with pea green, a locution employed of aged ladies dressed in flaming colours.]

Deviltry, subs. (low).—A vulgar form of ‘devilry.’

Devor, subs. (Charterhouse).—Plum Cake. [From the Latin.]

Devotional-Habits, subs. (stable).—Said of a horse that is apt to ‘say his prayers,’ i.e., to stumble and go on his knees.

Dew-Beaters, -Dusters, or -Treaders, subs. (old).—1. Pedestrians out early in the morning, i.e., before the dew is off the ground.

1692. Hacket, Life of Williams, i., 57. It is not equity at lust and pleasure that is moved for, but equity according to decrees and precedents foregoing, as the dew-beaters have trod their way for those that come after them.

2. (common).—The feet. [An extension of sense 1.] For synonyms, see Creepers.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1823. Scott, Peveril, ch. xxxvi. First hold out your dew-beaters till I take off the darbies. Is that usual? said Peveril, stretching out his feet.

3. (tramps’).—Shoes. [Cf., senses 1 and 2.] In Norfolk, heavy shoes for wet weather.—Forby.

Dew-bit, subs. (common).—A snack before breakfast. Cf., Dew-Drink and Dew-Beaters.

Dew-Drink, subs. (common).—A drink before breakfast. Cf., Dew-Bit and Dew-Beaters. Fr., une goutte pour tuer le ver, i.e., ‘to drown the maggot,’ or ‘to crinkle the worm.’ Not, of course, the ‘early worm’ of the proverb, but his spiritual cousin, the worm that never dies.

Dewitt, verb (old).—To lynch. [The two De Witts, opponents of William of Orange, were massacred by the mob in 1672, without subsequent enquiry.] Cf., Boycott, Burke, Cellier.

1690. Modest Enquiry into the Present Disasters (Life of Ken, p. 561). It is a wonder the English Nation ... have not in their fury de-witted some of these men who have brought all this upon us. And I must tell them that the crimes of the two unhappy brothers in Holland (which gave rise to that word) were not fully so great as some of theirs.

b. 1664, d. 1721. Prior, The Viceroy. To her I leave thee, gloomy peer, Think on thy crimes committed; Repent, and be for once sincere, Thou ne’er wilt be de-witted.

1849–1861. Macaulay, Hist. of England. One writer ... expressed his wonder that the people had not ... dewitted the nonjuring prelates.

Dewse-a-Vyle.—The country.—See Daisyville. Cf., Rom-vile = London.

1567. Harman, Caveat, etc., s.v. 1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight, in wks. (Grosart), iii., 200, s.v. 1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Repr., 1874), s.v. 1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12, s.v.

Dewskitch, subs. (tramps’).—A thrashing. For synonyms, see Tanning.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 244. It means a dewskitch (a good thrashing).

Dial or Dial-plate, subs. (common).—The face. To turn the hands on the dial = to disfigure the face.

English Synonyms.—Frontispiece; gills (the jaws); chump (also the head); phiz; physog; mug; jib; chivy, or chevy; roach and dace (rhyming); signboard; door-plate; front-window.

French Synonyms.—La binette (familiar: quelle sale binette = what an ugly mug); un abcès (pop. = ‘a red or bloated face’); la fertille (thieves’: also straw); la fiole (fam. = phial); la bobine (pop: from O. F. bobe = grimace); une balle d’amour (prostitutes’: a handsome face); une balle (pop.: also = a franc piece and head); une glutouse (thieves’); une gargouille, gargouine, or gargue (popular); une gargarousse (thieves’); une gargagoitche (thieves’); une frime (thieves’: une frime à la manque = ugly face).

German Synonyms.—Bonum or Bunem (Hanoverian: from Heb. ponim = face); Ponim (see preceding); Rauner (also = the eye; im Rauner halten = to keep an eye upon one).

Italian Synonyms.—Berlo; baleffo (literally, a gash or scar: primarily = the mouth).

Spanish Synonyms.—El mundo (also = the world); el geme (a woman’s face. Properly, the space between the extended ends of thumb, and forefinger).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1889. Bird o’ Freedom, 7 Aug., p. 3. An absinthe tumbler which caught him a nasty crack across the dial finally convinced him that discretion was the better part of valour.

1890. Polytechnic Magazine; 21 March. ‘Boxing Brutalities.’ Now if there is a rule that no competitor may strike another with a force greater than a fixed number of pounds, it will be easy to disqualify a man whose opponent’s dial shows a greater amount of punishment.

Dials, subs. (prison).—Convicts and thieves hailing from Seven Dials.

Diamond-Cracking, subs. (Australian thieves’).—1. Stonebreaking.

1885. Australian Printers Keepsake. He caught a month, and had to white it out at diamond-cracking in Castieu’s Hotel [Melbourne Gaol].

2. (English miners’).—Working in a coal mine. Cf., Black Diamonds.

Dibble, subs. (common).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Dibs or Dibbs, subs. (common).—Generic for money. [Said to be a corruption of diobs, i.e., diobolus, a classic coin = 2½d. Another derivation is from the hucklebones of sheep, popularly dibbs, used for gambling; Scots ‘chuckies.’] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt. To brush with the dibs = to abscond with the cash; To tip over the dibs = to pay down or ‘shell out’; To flash the dibs = to show money, etc.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Dead Drummer). One of their drummers, and one Sergeant Matcham, Had brush’d with the dibs, and they never could catch ’em.

1842. Comic Almanack, p. 313. Governor,—Science can’t be purchased without dibbs. When we want subjects we must shell out.

1862. Penny Newspaper. The other informed him that if he did not tip over the dibs he would blow his —— brains out.

1880. Punch’s Almanack, p. 7. Time to think about my outing. No dibs yet, though, so it’s no use shouting.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip. The merry little dibbs you’ll bag.

Dice. To box the Dice, verb. phr. (legal).—To carry a point by tricking or swindling.

Dick, subs. (common).—1. A dictionary; a Richard (q.v.); also, by implication, fine language or long words.—See Swallow the Dick.

1860. Haliburton (‘Sam. Slick’), The Season Ticket, No. xii. Ah, now you are talking ‘dic.,’ exclaimed Peabody, and I can’t follow you. When I talk —— You use the vulgar tongue, retorted the Senator.

2. (coachman’s).—A riding whip.

3. (military).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

4. (common).—An affidavit.

1861. Dutton Cook, Paul Foster’s Daughter, ch. xxvi. No. I’d take my dying dick he hasn’t got a writ in his pocket, or he couldn’t move along so easy as that.

5. (American).—An Irish Catholic—See Crawthumper.

Verb (thieves’).—To look; to pipe (q.v.); e.g., the bulky’s dicking = the policeman is watching you. [From the gypsy dikk.] Fr., gaffer. For synonyms, see Pipe.

Dick in the green, phr. (thieves’).—Weak; inferior. Cf., Dicky.

1812. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v.

In the reign of Queen Dick, adv. phr. (common).—Never; ‘when two Sundays come in a week.’ For synonyms, see Greek Kalends.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1864. Standard, 13 Dec., Rev. of Sl. Dicy. Moreover ... a few days since, a ‘bus driver in altercation with his conductor, who threatened him with paying off soon, replied, ‘Oh yes, in the reign of queen dick,’ which, on inquiry we found to be synonymous with ‘Never,’ or ‘Tib’s eve.’’

To swallow the Dick, verb. phr. (common).—To use long words without knowledge of their meaning; to high falute (American).

Up to Dick, adv. phr. (common).—Not to be ‘taken in’; ‘artful’; ‘fly’; wide-awake. For synonyms, see Downy. Also = up to the mark, i.e., perfectly satisfactory.

1877. J. Greenwood, Under the Blue Blanket. ‘Ain’t that up to dick, my biffin?’ ‘I never said it warn’t.’

1887. Walford’s Antiquarian, April, p. 251. Betwixt you and me I think you’ll agree That of course I look ‘up to Dick.’

Dickens, subs. (old).—The devil (q.v.) or deuce (q.v.); used interchangeably. [A corruption of nick (q.v.).] For synonyms, see Skipper.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act III., Sc. ii. I cannot tell what the dickens his name is.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., prol. (Bohn), vol. I., p. 99. But hearken, joltheads, you vie-dayes, or dickens take ye.

1727. John Gay, Beggar’s Opera, Act I. Sc. 1. Peach. What a dickens is the woman always whimpering about murder for! No gentleman is ever looked upon the worse for killing a man in his own defence.

1754. Foote, Knights, Act II. Mally Pengrouse! Who the dickens is she?

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, i., 1. Oh! the dickens—I’m stunded.

1880. G. R. Sims, Zeph. ch. xv. ‘Inez is fretting after Pedro,’ he said to himself, ‘but what the dickens is Totty blubbering about?’

1889. C. Haddon Chambers, Ne’er-do-Well, ‘In Australian Wilds.’ What the dickens could I do? I believe I swore a little at first, and then I flourished my whip.

Dicker, subs. and verb: also Dickering, subs. (American).—Barter; swap (q.v.): generally applied to trade in small articles.

1830. Cobbett, in Rural Rides, I., 199 (1886). It is barter, truck, change, dicker, as the Yankees call it, but, as our horse-jockeys call it, swap, or chop.

1831–90. Whittier, Poems. For peddling dicker, not for honest sales.

1888. New York Weekly Times, 28 March. He had perhaps been considering the advisability of making a dicker with his old political opponents in the hope of bettering his condition.

1888. Denver Republican, 7 April. After some dickering a style of coffin was selected and a price decided upon.

Dickey, subs. (old).—1. A woman’s under petticoat.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

2. (common).—A donkey.

b. 1766, d. 1823. Bloomfield, Richard and Kate. But now, as at some nobler places Amongst the leaders ’twas decreed Time to begin the dicky races, More famed for laughter than for speed.

1841. John Mills, Old Eng. Gentleman, ch. vii., p. 60 (3rd ed.). A young dickey, in the full kick of youth, mistook some sweet briar for a thistle.

3. (common).—A sham shirt front, formerly a worn-out shirt. Cf., sense 4. [Hotten: originally tommy (from the Greek, τομη, a section), a word once used in Trinity College, Dublin.] Also, by implication, any sham contrivance; see quots.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 82, note. Dickey: cant for a worn-out shirt.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. A sham shirt.

1835–40. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 2 S., ch. ix. She made frill, shirt-collar, and Dicky fly like snow.

1836. Willis Gayford Clarke, The Olla Podriana Papers. For a handkerchief I had flourished a common dickey, the strings whereof fell to my feet.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xx. Those wretched Beaux Tibbs’s of society, who sport a lace dickey, and nothing besides.

1857. Hood, Pen and Pencil Pictures, p. 206. Do not take off that article of apparel which Fanny Fern distinguishes by a name which, on this side the Atlantic, is the familiar for a youthful Richard. Spare it, we say ... although it may be (and we guess, from the absence of cuffs and sleeves, it is) an imitation, a sham, a make-shift!

1872. Public Opinion, 24 Feb., p. 241. ‘Inside Newgate.’ What is she here for? I asked, pointing to a florid-looking girl who was taking a deep professional interest in ironing a dickey.

1876. Jas. Greenwood, Low Life Deeps. ‘I saw a laden waggon bearing the name of one of the cheap advertising firms you speak of.’... ‘Ah, bearing the name ... you saw a waggon wearing a dicky, you mean—a false front-plate with a name on it which slips on and off like them on the wans that the pianoforte-makers borrow.’

1883. Jas. Greenwood, ‘Veteran of Vauxhall,’ in Odd People in Odd Places, p. 38. Besides these articles there was a pair of what had once been white linen cuffs, a dickey of the same dubious complexion, and a white tie.

4. (American: New England).—A shirt collar. De Vere. Cf., sense 3.

5. (nautical).—A ship’s officer or mate; generally, second dickey, i.e., second mate.

6. (London).—A swell. For synonyms, see Dandy.

7. (schoolboys’).—The penis.

Adj. (common).—1. Sorry; inferior; paltry and poor in quality. Dickey domus (theatrical) = a poor ‘house.’

2. (London).—Smart. A corruption of up to dick (q.v.). Cf., subs., sense 6.

All dickey with [one], adv. phr. (common).—Queer; gone wrong; ‘all up with.’

1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, III., vi. O, Hamlet! ’tis all dickey with us both You’ve done my business by a blow, ’tis true; But I—Oh! I—have done the same for you.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. ’Twas all dicky with Georgy, his mug hung so dead.

1837. Thackeray, in Fraser’s Magazine, 10 Oct. Sam, the stable boy [who from living chiefly among the hosses and things has got a sad low way of talking], said it was all dicky, and bid us drive on to the nex’ page.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Brothers of Birchington). Here a monk, whose teeth funk and concern made to chatter, Sobs out as he points to the corpse on the floor, ‘’Tis all dickey with poor Father Dick—he’s no more.’

1882. Daily Telegraph, 3 Oct., p. 2, col. 2. I was coolly told that ‘anyhow, all the actual meat there was in, say half a pound of cheap German sausage, couldn’t do any one much harm if it was ever so dicky.’

Dickey-bird, subs. (common).—1. A louse. For synonyms, see Chates.

2. pl. (theatrical)—Professional singers of all grades.

3. (venery).—A prostitute; generally naughty dicky-bird. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and tart.

c. 1830. Broadside Ballad, George Barnwell. When he had put the shutters up He went to see his dickey-bird, And when he came back next morning, Blowed if he could speak a word.

Dickey-diaper, subs. (old).—A linendraper.

Dickey-dido, subs. (popular).—An idiot. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Dickey-Lagger, subs. (common).—A bird catcher. [From dickey, a pet name for a bird + lagger, one who lays hold of.]

1881. W. Black, Beautiful Wretch, ch. xviii. ‘They’re starved out in this weather, Miss; and then the boys come out wi’ their guns; and the dicky-laggers are after them too.’ ‘The what?’ ‘The bird-catchers, Miss.’

Dickey-Sam, subs. phr. (common).—A native of Liverpool.

1870. Athenæum, 10 Sept. We cannot even guess why a Liverpool man is called a Dickey Sam.

1884. Book Lore, Dec., p. 27. The natives of Liverpool call themselves, or are called by others, Dicky Sams.

Dicky, subs. (Scots’).—1. The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

2. See Dick in all senses.

Diddies, subs. (common).—The paps. For synonyms, see Dairy.

Diddle, subs. (old).—1. Gin. For synonyms, see Drinks. In America, liquor generally.

1858. H. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. iii., ch. i, p. 252. And there’s a first-rate ‘diddle cove’ (publican) keeps a gin-shop there.

2. (schoolboys’).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

3. (common).—A swindle or ‘do.’—See verb, sense 1.

1885. Punch, 5 Sept., p. 110. And something whispered me—in diction chaste—It’s all a diddle!

Verb (common).—1. To cheat. For synonyms, see Stick.

1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, 1. Diddling your subjects, and gutting their fobs.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. v. And Jack is diddled, said the Baronet.

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 266. Thus, while pig and tail the villagers diddle, My tale’s in the middle, my tale’s in the middle!

1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. xv. He had me, and no mistake. Done, yes, diddled; and I thought I had rather an easy-going lawyer to deal with.

1887. Lic. Vict. Gazette, 2 Dec., 362, 1. You have been done, regularly diddled, by that fellow.

2. (venery).—To copulate. Cf., Diddle, subs., sense 2. For synonyms, see Ride.

3. (Scots’ colloquial).—To shake.

Diddle-Cove, subs. (American).—A landlord. Cf., Diddler.

1859. Matsell, Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Diddler, subs. (common).—A cheat; a dodger. [From diddle (q.v.) + er.] For synonyms, see Rook.—See Jeremy Diddler (Kenny’s Raising the Wind). Also a chronic borrower. Diddling = cheating; also borrowing.

Diddly-pout, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Didoes, subs. (American).—Pranks; tricks; fantastic proceedings.—See Cut Didoes, and Cut Capers.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xvii. I met a man this mornin’ ... frum Halifax, a real conceited lookin’ critter as you e’enamost ever seed, all shines and didoes.

1851. New York Tribune, 10 April, Had the Free States been manly enough, true enough, to enact the Wilmot Proviso as to all present or future territories of the Union, we should have had just the same didoes cut up by the chivalry that we have witnessed, and with no more damage to the Union.

Die or Dee, subs. (American thieves’).—A pocket-book. Matsell’s Vocabulum [1859]. For synonyms, see Leather.

Die-by-the-Hedge, subs. phr. (provincial).—The flesh of animals deceased by accident or of disease; by implication, inferior meat.

Die-Hards, subs. (military).—The Fifty-Seventh Foot. [From the rallying call at Albuera (1811) its Colonel (Inglis) calling to the men, ‘Die hard, my men, die hard,’ when it had thirty bullets through the King’s Colour, and only had one officer out of twenty-four, and one hundred and sixty-eight men out of five hundred and eighty-four, when left standing.]

Die in One’s Boots or Shoes, verb. phr. (old).—1. To be hanged. For synonyms, see Ladder.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘The Execution’ (ed. 1862), p. 196. And there is McFuze And Lieutenant Tregooze, And there is Sir Carnaby Jenks of the Blues All come to see a man die in his shoes.

1888. Denver Republican, 9 April. When in liquor he was quarrelsome and the prediction was commonly made that he would die with his boots on.

2. (American).—To ‘die standing’: at work, ‘in harness,’ in full possession of one’s faculties.

1887. Scribner’s Magazine. These stiff prairie plants never wilt—they die in their boots.

1888. Cincinnatti Enquirer, Title: died with his boots on. The killing of the notorious Desperado Leo Renfro.

Die with One’s Ears Stuffed with Cotton.—See Cotton.

Dig, subs. (colloquial).—1. A blow, thrust, punch, or poke; in pugilism = a ‘straight left-hander’ delivered under the guard on the ‘mark.’

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 51. While ribbers rung from each resounding frame, and divers digs, and many a ponderous pelt.

1876. C. W. Wall, trans. Molière, vol. i., p. 80. The digs in the ribs I gave you with such hearty good will.

English Synonyms.—Auctioneer; biff; bang; buck-horse; buster; chatterer; chin-chopper; chopper; clip; click; clinker; clout; cock; cork; comber; cuff; cant; corker; dab; downer; douser; ding; domino; floorer; ferricadouzer; fibbing; facer; flush-hit; finisher; gooser; hot ’un; jaw-breaker; lick; mendoza; muzzler; noser; nobbler; nose-ender; nope; oner; punch; stock-dollager; stotor; spank; topper; twister; whack; wipe.

French Synonyms.—Un coup d’encensoir (popular: a tap on the nose; ‘one on the smeller’); un coup de tampon (pop.: tampon = buffer); un coup de Garibaldi (thieves’: a butt in the stomach); un moule de gant (popular: ‘a mould for a glove’); une mornifle (colloquial: ‘a wipe in the jaw’); une mandole (popular); une gnole (popular: from torgnole); un coup de gilquin (popular); un cataplasme de Venise (popular); un gnon (popular); une dariole (pop.: also, a cream-cake); une beugne (popular); une dandine (popular: ‘a twister’); une baffre (popular); des castagnettes (military: punches); une châtaigne (popular); une couleur (popular); une bouffe (popular: bouffée = gust or blast); un cabochon (popular); un estaffion (popular); une estaphe (popular); une accolade; une balle de coton (thieves’).—See also Tan, verb.

German Synonym. Azkes malaikes (Viennese thieves’: = a blow with the fist on the throat. The derivation may be: azke from Heb. osak, to quarrel + malaikes from Heb. melocho, work).

Spanish Synonyms.—Duros (whip-strokes; also = harsh, merciless); tapaboca (a ‘corker’: also any action or observation which cuts one short); pasagonzalo (a quick hit); capon (generally colloquial); chamorrada (a butt with the head); mojada (a stab); zumbido or zumbo (literally, a humming or buzzing); tantarantin (a thwack; also = beat of a drum); tarja (also = a target).

Italian Synonym. Ramenghi d’alta foia (blows with a stick).

2. (American).—A diligent student. [By implication from the verb (q.v.); also study; e.g., To have a dig at Cæsar or Livy.

Verb (American)—To work hard; especially to study.

1876. Miss Alcott, Little Wives, ch. ix. He ... turned studious, and gave out that he was going to dig, intending to graduate in a blaze of glory.

Dig a day under the skin, verb. phr. (common).—To make a shave serve for two days.

To dig up the hatchet.—See Bury.

Digester.—See Patent Digester.

Digged.—See Jigged.

Diggers, subs. (common).—1. Spurs; ‘persuaders.’

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 173, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

2. (cards’).—The spades suit; also Diggums. Big digger = ace of spades.

3. (vulgar).—The finger nails.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1881. New York Slang Dict. ‘On the Trail.’ ‘If you do,’ returned Bill, ‘I will fix my diggers in your dial-plate and turn it up with red.’

Diggers’-Delight, subs. (New Zealand).—A wide-brimmed felt hat. For synonyms, see Golgotha.

Diggings, subs. (common).—A place of residence or employment. [First used at the Western lead mines in the U.S.A. to denote whence ore was dug.]

English Synonyms.—Birk; box; case; crib; chat; den; dry-lodgings; drum; place; pig-sty; pew; cabin; castle; chaffing-crib; caboose; sky-parlour; shop; ken; dossing-ken; hole; rookery; hutch; hang-out.

French Synonyms.—Une bagnole (pop.: from bagne = hulks); un bazar (military: also, a brothel); un bocal (pop.: also = stomach); une baraque (common: in disparagement); une baite (thieves’); une case (thieves’); une carrée (thieves’); une cambriole (thieves’); une cambuse (popular); une condition (thieves’); un creux (thieves’); une piole or piolle (thieves’).

German Synonym.—Bes, Beth, or Bajis.

Italian Synonyms.—Bacchia; clocchia or cloccia (also = a bell); coschetto delle Fantasime.

Spanish Synonyms.—Caverna (‘a cavern’; cf., English den); aduana (also = a brothel, and thieves’ resort); nido (‘a nest’; nido de ladrones, a ‘cross-drum’; a thieves’ resort); percha (‘a perch’).

1838. J. C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, II., 119. Look here, Ned, I reckon it’s about time we should go to our diggings; I am dead beat.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 171. The miner in California and Nevada has been known, in times of a rush, to speak of a place where he could stand leaning against a stout post, as his diggings for the night.

1883. Referee, 1 July, p. 3, col. 2. Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft are changing their diggings, and clearing out of Cavendish-square.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. viii. Oh, he lives round the corner. You may see his diggings from your daughter’s bedroom window, sir.

1888. C. J. Dunphie, The Chameleon, p. 86. ‘Diggings’ I call my dwelling, according to the prevalent slang.

Diggums, subs. (provincial).—1. A gardener.

2. (gamesters’).—The suit of spades; also diggers (q.v.).

Dilberries, subs. (common).—Fæcal and seminal deposits in the hair of the anus and the female pudendum; clinkers.

Dilberry-bush, subs. (common).—The hair about the female pudendum or the anus.—See Dilberries.

Dildo, subs. (old).—An instrument (of wax, horn, leather, india-rubber, gutta-percha, etc., and other soft material), shaped like, and used by women as a substitute for, the penis. Now called a broom-handle or broomstick, the pudendum in this connection = broom (q.v.). [Bailey: from It., diletto, a woman’s delight or from dally = to toy.] In Lombardy, passo tempo.

c. 1672. Butler, Dildoides (Occasioned by Burning a hogshead of dildoes at Stocks Market).

1886. Burton, The Thousand Nights and a Night, vol. x, p. 239. Of the penis succedaneus, that imitation of the Arbor-vitæ, or Sotor-Kosmou, which the Latins called phallus and fascinum, the French godemiché, and the Italians passatempo and diletto (whence our dildo), every kind abounds, varying from a stuffed ‘French Letter’ to a cone of ribbed horn, which looks like an instrument of torture.

Verb (old).—To wanton with a woman. Cf., subs., sense. For synonyms, see Firkytoodle.

Dilly, subs. (common).—A night cart; formerly a coach. [From Fr., diligence.]

17(?). The Anti-Jacobin. So down thy hill, romantic Ashbourne glides, The Derby Dilly having four inside.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. ix. One which they called a dilly.

Dilly-bag, subs. (Australian).—A wallet; or scran-bag.

1880. A. C. Grant. Their own dilly-bags have nothing of value or interest in them.

Dilly-dally, verb (colloquial).—To loiter; hesitate; trifle. [A duplication of dally.]

1740. Richardson, Pamela, i., 275. What you do, sir, do; don’t stand dilly-dallying.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. XVIII., ch. xii. But if I had suffered her to stand shill I shall I, dilly dally, you might not have had that honour yet awhile.

1869. W. S. Gilbert, The Bohemian Girl. When at a pinch you should never dilly-dally.

Dimber, adj. (old).—Pretty, neat, lively. Variants are scrumptious; natty. Fr., batif (thieves’); fignole (thieves’); girofle (thieves’).

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874), s.v.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

Dimber Cove = a sprightly man, a gentleman: Dimber Mort = a pretty girl. Fr., une largue girofle. Cf., Dimber-damber.

1837. Disraeli, Venetia, book I., ch. xiv. ’Tis a dimber cove, whispered one of the younger men to a companion: Ibid, Tip me the clank like a dimber mort.

Dimber-damber, subs. (old).—A captain of thieves or vagrants. [From dimber (q.v.), skilful, etc., + damber (q.v.), a chief or head man.]

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I, ch. v., p. 48 (1874).

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict.

1749. Life of Bampfylde-Moore Carew, ‘Oath of the Canting Crew.’... No dimber damber, angler, dancer, prig of cackler, prig of prancer.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. No; no refusal, exclaimed a chorus of voices. Dick Turpin must be one of us. He shall be our dimber damber.

Dimmock, subs. (common).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. IV., ch. i. ‘I have ... pocketed the dimmock’ (‘here ’tis,’ continued he, parenthetically slapping his pockets).

Dinahs, subs. (Stock-Exchange).—Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Ordinary Stock.

Dinarly or Dinali, subs. (theatrical).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt. Nantee or Nanti Dinarly = no money. Sp., dinero; Lingua Franca, niente dinaro = not a penny.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 149. ‘I have got no money’ is, ‘My nabs has nanti dinali’ [among strolling actors].

1870. South London Press, 8 Oct., Advt. So don’t forget when you’ve the tin To here spend your ‘Dinarley.’

Dine-out, verb. phr. (common).—To go dinnerless, to dine with Duke Humphrey (q.v.). Variants: to take a Spitalfields’ breakfast (q.v.), or an Irishman’s dinner (q.v.), also to go out and count the railings (q.v.). Fr., Se coucher bredouille = to go to bed supperless; aller voir défiler les dragons = to go and watch the dragoons march past; diner en ville = to dine in town, i.e., to munch a roll in the street or to eat nothing; lire le journal.

1888. All the Year Round, 9 June. p. 542. To ‘dine with Duke Humphrey,’ or, as it is now sometimes more shortly phrased, to ‘dine out,’ in both cases meaning not to dine at all.

Dine with Duke Humphrey, verb. phr. (old).—To go dinnerless; to dine out (q.v.).—[Origin uncertain; supposed, however, to refer to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Henry the Fourth, who, though really buried at St. Alban’s, was reputed to have a monument in Old St. Paul’s, from which one part of the church was termed Duke Humphrey’s Walk. Old Paul’s was a regular promenade, especially for lackeys out of livery, and ruffians and sea-captains out of luck. Thus Falstaff explains of Bardolph that he ‘got him in Paul’s,’ while Jonson actually lays the scene of Every Man Out of His Humour (1599), in ‘The Middle Aisle of St. Paul’s,’ to introduce his cavaliero Shift. Shift and Bardolph, in fact, were what is now called ‘inspectors of public buildings’; they walked in Paul’s on the chance of a pick-up, and they dined by looking at the monuments. The Bodleian Library was founded by the same Duke Humphrey, and the Gentleman’s Mag. (1794, p. 529) records that when a student stayed on during the dinner hour, at which time it used to be closed, he was said to dine with Duke Humphrey. An alternative traces the saying to the report that Duke Humphrey was starved to death. Chambers, in his Historical Sketch of St. Giles’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, records a similar pleasantry concerning the tomb of the Earl of Murray, and quotes a Scots poet, one Sempill (16th cent.), who makes a hungry idler say: I dined with saints and gentlemen, E’en sweet St. Giles and the Earl of Murray. See Wharton, Hist. of Eng. Poetry (ed. 1824), vol. IV., p. 361.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, in wks., ii., 18. I ... retired me to Paules, to seeke my dinner with Duke Humfrey.

1592. Gab. Harvey, Four Letters. To seek his dinner in Poules with Duke Humphrey.

1608. The Penniless Parliament of Threadbare Poets. And if I prove not that a mince-pie is the better weapon, let me dine twice a week at Duke Humphry’s table.

1664. H. Peacham, Worth of a Penny, in Arber’s Garner, vol. VI., p. 273. Who, having been troubled with over much money, afterward, in no long time, have been fain, after ‘a long dinner with Duke Humphrey,’ to take a nap on ‘penniless bench,’ only to verify the old proverb, ‘A fool and his money is soon parted.’

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. lv. My mistress and her mother must have dined with Duke Humphrey, had I not exerted myself in their behalf.

1884. Daily Telegraph, 22 Jan., p. 5, col. 3. In future, not even the most impecunious of diners-out must accept an invitation from Duke Humphrey.

Ding, verb (Old Cant, in some senses).—Used as a colloquialism (as in Scott) it signifies to knock, to strike down, to pound or (as in quot., 1786) to give way: while in slang it means to get rid of; to pass to a confederate; ‘to steal by a single effort.’ To ding a castor = to snatch a hat and run with it: the booty being dinged if it has to be thrown away. Going upon the ding = to go on the prowl. Ding the tot! = Run away with the lot!

c. 1340. Hampole, Pricke of Conscience, 7015 (ed. Morris). Right swa pe devels salle ay dyng, on pe synfulle, withouten styntyng.

1600. Sir John Oldcastle, Act III., Sc. ii. For the credit of Dunstable, ding down the money to-morrow.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, V., iii. Sur. [without]. Down with the door. Kas. [without]. ’Slight, ding it open.

1773. O. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act II. If I’m to have any good, let it come of itself; not to keep dinging it, dinging it into one so.

1786. Burns, A Dream. But facts are chiels that winna ding.

1821. Pierce Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1890], p. 78. Oh I took him such a lick of his mummer, and dinged his rattle clean out of his hand.

b. 1793, d. 1872. Dean Ramsey. Our meenister’s dinged the guts out of twa Bibles.

1846. Dickens, Dombey, ch. ix., p. 74. These were succeeded by anchor and chain-cable forges, where sledge hammers were dinging upon iron all day long.

Ding-Bat, subs. (American).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

Ding-Boy, subs. (old).—A rogue; a bully.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Ding-Dong. To go at it, or to it, ding-dong, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To tackle with vigor, or in right good earnest. Formerly, helter-skelter, (Grose, 1785).

1887. H. Smart, Saddle and Sabre, ch. xx. For the next hundred yards it was a ding-dong struggle between them.

Dinge, subs. (Royal Military Academy).—A picture or painting.

Dinged, adj. (American).—A euphemism for ‘darned’ = dammed. Sometimes Ding-goned.—See Oaths.

Dinger, subs. (old).—1. A thief who throws away his booty to escape detection. [From ding (q.v.), to throw away + er.]

2. in pl. (conjurers’).—Cups and balls; Fr., gobelets et muscades.

Ding-fury, subs. (provincial).—Huff; anger.

Ding-goned.—See Dinged.

Dingle, adj. (old).—Hackneyed; used up.

1786. The Microcosm, No. 3. Your Mic is dead-lounge—dissipates insufferable ennui of tea-table,—fills boring intervals of conversazione,... By the by, in your next propose some new lounge.—They are all so dingle at present, they are quite a bore.

Dining-Room, subs. (common).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

Dining-room chairs, subs. phr. (common).—The teeth; also dinner-set (q.v.). For synonyms, see Grinders.

Dining-Room Post, subs. phr. (old).—Petty pilfering done from houses by sham postmen.

Dink, adj. (Scots’ colloquial).—Dainty; trim.

1794. Burns, My Lady’s Gown. My lady’s dink, my lady’s drest.

Dinner-set, subs. (common).—The teeth. ‘Your dinner-set wants looking to’ = you need to go to the dentist. For synonyms, see Grinders.

Dip, subs. (thieves’).—1. A pickpocket; also dipper and dipping-bloke. For synonyms, see Stook-Hauler.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, p. 26, s.v.

1866. Vance, The Chickaleary Cove. Off to Paris I shall go to show a thing or two To the dipping-blokes wot hangs about the cafés.

1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat. A dip touched the Canadian sheriff for his watch and massive chain while he was reading the Riot Act.

2. (American).—A stolen kiss, especially one in the dark.

3. (Westminster School).—A pocket inkstand.

4. (colloquial).—A candle made by dipping the wick in tallow.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Ingoldsby Penance.) None of your rascally dips, but sound, Best superfine wax-wicks, four to the pound.

Verb (thieves’).—1. To pick pockets. To dip a lob = to rob a till. Also to go on the dipe = to go pocket-picking. For synonyms, see Frisk.

1817. Sporting Mag. Defence of Groves at Bristol Assizes. I have dipped into 150 ... pockets and not found a shilling.

2. (old).—To pawn; mortgage.

1693. Dryden, Persius, vi., 160. Put out the principal in trusty hands: Live of the use; and never dip thy lands.

1711. Spectator, No. 114. What gives the unhappy man this peevishness of spirit is, that his estate is dipped, and is eating out with usury; and yet he has not the heart to sell any part of it.

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xiv. You have but one son, and he has a fortune of his own, as I happen to know. You haven’t dipped it, Master Philip?

3. (thieves’).—To be convicted; to get into trouble.

To dip one’s beak, verb. phr. (common).—To drink. For synonyms, see Lush.

Dipe.—See Dip, verb, sense 1.

1877. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’) Life on the Mississippi, p. 460. i felt very rough and was thinking i would have to go on the dipe again.

Dipped in Wing, adv. phr. (popular).—Worsted.

Dipper, subs. (old).—1. A baptist.—[Grose, 1785.]

2. See Dip, subs., sense 1.

Dipping-bloke.—See Dip, subs., sense 1.

Dips, subs. (nautical).—1. The purser’s boy.

2. (colloquial).—A grocer.

Dipstick, subs. (old).—A gauger.

Dirk, subs. (Scots’).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Dirt, subs. (American).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

To eat dirt, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To submit to insult; to eat broiled crow, or humble pie (q.v.); to retract.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. x. Though they bow before a calf, is it not a golden one? though they ‘eat dirt,’ is it not dressed by a French cook?

1861. New York Evening Post, 4 Jan. After eating so much dirt, are we asked to swallow free soil?

To fling dirt or mud, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To abuse; to vituperate.

1689. Selden, Table Talk, p. 104 (Arber’s ed.). One that writes against his Adversary, and throws all the dirt he can in his Face.

1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. ii., p. 11. Scurrility’s a useful trick, Approv’d by the most politick; Fling dirt enough, and some will stick.

1875. Ouida, Signa, vol. I., ch. xv., p. 358. A wicked old tongue that could throw dirt with any man’s or woman’s either.

1885. J. S. Winter, Bootles’ Baby, p. 66. I suppose he wants to daub Bootles with some of his own mud. Thinks if he only throws enough some of it’s sure to stick.

To cut dirt.—See Cut.

Dirt-Baillie, subs. (Scots’).—An inspector of nuisances.

Dirt-scraper subs. (American).—An advocate who rakes up unpleasant facts in a witness’s past.

Dirty-Dishes, subs. (common).—Poor relations.

Dirty Half-Hundred, subs. phr. (military).—The Fiftieth Foot. [From the fact that, in action, during the Peninsular War, the men wiped their faces with their black facings.] Also nicknamed the Blind Half-Hundred.

1841. Lever, Charles O’Malley, ch. xciv. A kind of neutral tint between green and yellow, like nothing I know of except the facings of the ‘dirty half-hundred.’

Dirty-Puzzle, subs. (old).—A slut.—Grose [1785].

Dirty Shirt March, subs. phr. (vulgar).—On Sunday mornings the male population of Drury Lane, Whitechapel, and other crowded districts loaf about the streets, before attiring themselves in their Sunday clothes. This promenade is called a ‘dirty shirt march.’

Dirty-Shirts, subs. (military).—The Hundred and First Foot. [They fought in their shirt-sleeves at Delhi in 1857.]

1887. Daily News, 11 July. As the old Bengal European Regiment ... they [the 2nd Munster Fusiliers] had won their honourable sobriquet of the dirty shirts, half-a-century earlier.

Disgruntled, adj. (old).—Offended: still colloquial in U.S.A. Undisgruntled = unoffended.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1869. Springfield Republican, 20 Nov. Rev. Dr. Newman Hall, of London, tells how when he was journeying to Chicago, an apple-peddling boy, on the cars, without any preliminaries took hold of and immediately examined his breast-pin. Nevertheless the reverend gentleman, quite undisgruntled, remarked, ‘Was it not there to be seen? Was he not a man and a brother?’

1877. Providence Journal, 1 March. We have had enough exercise of extraordinary power, and this continual grasping after authority for the purpose of meeting the individual case of some disgruntled persons should receive the stamp of this committee’s disapprobation.

Disguised, adj. (old).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1622. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, III., iii. Harp. I am a prince disguised. Hir. Disguised! How? Drunk!

1625. Jonson, Staple of News, IV. Come, I will shew you the way home, if drink Or too full diet have disguised you.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act I. Fail. Will not ale serve the turn, Will? Bib. I had too much of that last night; I was a little disguised, as they say.

1704. Steele, Lying Lover, Act IV., Sc. i. Sim. You are a little disguis’d in Drink tho’ Mr. John.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act IV. A damned up and down hand, as if it was disguised in liquor.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. xvi. I met a third mate I knew, slightly disguised in liquor.

Dish, verb (common).—To cheat; to circumvent; to disappoint; to ruin.

1798. Monthly Mag. [quoted in N. and Q., 1 S., iv., p. 313. In the Monthly Mag., in 1798, is a paper on peculiarities of expression among which are ... ‘done up,’ dish’d, etc.

1811. E. Nares, Thinks I to Myself, i., 208. He was completely dished—he could never have appeared again.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 26.... Could old Nap himself, in his glory, have wish’d To show up a fat Gemman more handsomely dish’d?

1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i. 7. No, I’m out of spirits because I have been dished and doodled out of forty pounds to-day.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. xvi. I oughtn’t to show a youngster like you any sympathy in this job of dishing a parent’s hopes.

Dish-Clout, subs. (common).—A dirty, slatternly woman.

To make a napkin of one’s dish-clout, verb. phr. (old).—To marry one’s cook; to contract a mésalliance.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Dished, ppl. adj. (printers’).—Said of electrotypes when the centre of a letter is lower than its edges.

Dismal-ditty, subs. (old).—See quot.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Dismal Ditty ... also a cant expression for a psalm sung by a criminal at the gallows (s.v. Ditty).

Dispar, subs. (Winchester College).—See Cat’s-head.

Dispatches, subs. (old).—False dice; so contrived as always to throw a nick.—See Doctor.

1811. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v.

1866. Times, 27 Nov.

Dissecting-job, subs. (tailors’).—Garments requiring extensive alteration.

Distiller, subs. (Australian thieves’).—A man easily vexed, and unable to dissemble his condition.

Ditto-blues, subs. (Winchester College).—A suit of clothes all of blue cloth. Cf., Dittoes.

Ditto Brother, or Sister, Smut.—See Brother Smut.

Dittoes, subs. (colloquial).—A complete suit of clothes of the same material. Fr., un complet. Occasionally applied to trousers only.

1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. x. A slight, dark man, of middle height, clad in an ordinary suit of dittoes, entered the room.

1882. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. ix. His attire, though quite as faultless and more equable—he was never seen in dittos even in September—was not so splendid as of some members of the Aglaia.

Ditty-Bag, subs. (common).—A handy bag, used by sailors as a ‘huswife.’ [From deft, dight = neat, active, handy.]

Dive, subs. (American).—A drinking-saloon; also a brothel.

1888. Troy Daily Times, 7 Feb. A plot to entrap young women for the dives of Northern Wisconsin has been discovered at Eau Claire, Wis.

1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat, 27 Feb. Even fallen women, when the rose is gone from their cheeks, are pushed aside, and from a gilded house to the lowest dive is the last and quickest step of all.

Verb (old).—To pick pockets. Cf., dip, and for synonyms, see Frisk. Also diving = picking pockets.

1631. Ben Jonson, Metam. Gipsies. Or using your nimbles [fingers], in diving the pockets.

1712. Gay, Trivia, bk. III., l., 80. Guard well thy pocket; for these sirens stand To aid the labours of the diving hand.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Dive (v.) ... and in the Canting Language, to pick pockets in a crowd, church, etc.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

A dive in the dark, subs. phr. (venery).—The ‘act of kind.’

To dive into one’s sky, verb. phr. (common).—To put one’s hands into one’s pockets.

To dive into the woods, verb. phr. (American).—To conceal oneself.

Diver, or Dive [see quot., 1608], subs. (old).—A pickpocket (as Jenny Diver in ‘The Beggar’s Opera’); a dip (q.v.). For synonyms, see Stook-Hauler.

1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart), III., 140. [One who steals from houses by putting a boy in through a window to hand out to him the plunder—is called a Diver.]

c. 1626. Dick of Devonshire, in Bullen’s Old Plays, ii., 40. Your horse and weapons I will take, but no pilferage. I am no pocketeer, no diver into slopps.

1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. i., p. 24 (2nd ed.). So expert divers call aloud, Pray mind your pockets, to the crowd.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Diver (s.) ... also a cant name for a pick-pocket.

1828. Jon. Bee, Picture of London, p. 56. Thieves frequently go well-dressed, especially pickpockets; good toggery being considered a necessary qualification for his calling, without which the divercould not possibly mix in genteel company nor approach such in the streets.

1887. Baumann, Londismen, V. Smashers and divers and noble contrivers.

Divers, subs. (common).—The fingers. For synonyms, see Forks.

Divide the House with One’s Wife, verb. phr. (old).—To turn her out of doors.

Diving-bell, subs. (common).—A cellar-tavern. Cf., Dive. For synonyms, see Lush-crib.

Do, subs. (colloquial).—1. A fraud.

1812. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 17. I thought it was a do, to get me out of the house.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862.), p. 418. I should like to see you Try to sauter le coup With this chap at short whist or unlimited loo, By the Pope you’d soon find it a regular do.

1846. Punch, vol. XI., p. 114. What is the meaning of the rise? I’m sure I cannot tell—can you? Yes, fame with hundred tongues replies, ’Tis in one word A Do! a Do!

2. (colloquial).—One’s duty; a success; performance; what one has to do; once literary.

1663–78. Butler, Hudibras. No sooner does he peep into the world but he has done his doe.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 162. Well, I heard how a man ... was making a fortune at the hot-eel and pea-soup line.... So I thought I’d have a touch at the same thing. But you see I never could rise money enough to make a do of it.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To cheat. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 142. Who are continually looking out for flats, in order to do them upon the broads, that is, cards.

1803. Kenney, Raising the Wind, I., i. I wasn’t born two hundred miles north of Lunnun, to be done by Mr. Diddler, I know.

1831. Disraeli, The Young Duke, bk. iv., ch. vi., p. 220 (ed. 1866). There was the juvenile Lord Dice, who boasted of having done his brothers out of their miserable £5,000.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 265. I should have a much better opinion of an individual if he’d say at once, in an honourable and gentlemanly manner, as he’d done everybody he possibly could.

1843. Comic Almanack, p. 373. England expects every man to do his duty, a strong recommendation to every man ‘to do’ the authorities who collect the duty at the Custom-house.

1871. Public Opinion, 4 Feb. Do you suppose that you can do the landlord in the ‘Lady of Lyons?’ asked a theatrical manager of a seedy actor in quest of an engagement. If I can’t do him, was the reply, he will be the first landlord I ever had anything to do with that wasn’t done by me.

1889. Answers, 9 Feb. The regular hotel thieves are constantly inventing new dodges to do us.

2. (pugilistic).—To ‘punish.’

3. (common).—To visit a place; e.g., ‘to do Italy,’ ‘to do the Row,’ ‘to do the High’ (at Oxford), etc. Early quots. are given; latterly the phrase is common enough. The Fr., faire is used in the same sense; faire ses Acacias, i.e., to walk or drive in the Allée des Acacias.

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. xxxii. We did Venice very severely, with the exception of Forrester, who ... declined seeing anything more than what he could view from his gondola.

1858. Shirley Brooks, The Gordian Knot, p. 53. You have been in Egypt? asked Margaret, with much interest. I did Egypt, as they say, about two years back, [said Philip].

4. (colloquial).—To perform; to ‘come’; e.g., to do the polite = to be polite; to do a book = to write one; to do the heavy, the grand, or the genteel = to put on airs.

1767. Colman, Eng. Merchant, I., in wks. (1777), ii. 17. I compose pamphlets on all subjects, compile magazines, and do newspapers.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 224. He used to talk politics to papas, flatter the vanity of mammas, do the amiable to their daughters.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xv., p. 125. There was the young lady who did the poetry in the Eatanswill Gazette, in the garb of a sultana.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxiv. A great number of the descriptions in Cook’s Voyages, for instance, were notoriously invented by Dr. Hawkesworth, who did the book.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. iii. A vision of John doing the polite, and laughing as he ceremoniously introduced Captain Lovell and Miss Coventry.

1864. Glasgow Citizen, 29 Nov. Is not the exhilarating short-length of being known beyond our own Queen Street that it is not registered here? And we miss the rag trade whose worthy members do the above-named goes.

1880. Milliken, Punch’s Almanack. Nobby button ’oler very well, When one wants to do the ’eavy swell.

5. (counterfeiters’).—To utter base coin or queer (q.v.).

Do as I do, phr. (common).—An invitation to drink.—See Drinks.

To do a beer, or a bitter, or a drink, or a drop, verb. phr. (common).—To take a drink.

1853. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, ch. x. To do bitters, as Mr. Bouncer phrased the act of drinking bitter beer.

1880. Milliken, Punch’s Almanack. Got the doldrums dreadful, that is clear, Two d left!—must go and do a beer.

To do a bilk.—See Bilk.

To do a bill, verb. phr. (commercial).—To utter an acceptance or bill of exchange. Cf., to fly paper or kites.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends [ed. 1862], p. 257. Now, then, old sinner, let’s hear what you’ll say As to doing a bill at three months from to-day.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxii. Sir Francis Clavering ... had managed to sign his respectable name to a piece of stamped paper, which ... Mr. Moss Abrams had carried off, promising to have the bill done by a party with whose intimacy Mr. Abrams was favoured.

To do a bishop, verb. phr. (military).—To parade at short notice.

To do a bit, verb. phr. (common).—To eat something. Cf., to do a beer. Also (venery), to have a woman.

To do a bunk or shift, verb. phr. (vulgar).—To ease nature.—See Bury a quaker and Mrs. Jones. Also (colloquial), to go away.

To do a crib, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To break into a house, to burgle. Fr., maquiller une cambriole. For synonyms, see Crack a Crib.

To do a guy, verb. phr. (thieves’).—1. To run away; to make an escape. [From do, verb of action + guy, an escape.] For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1889. Answers, 6 April, p. 297. They all dispersed at once—to put it in their own language, they did a guy.

2. (workman’s).—To absent oneself when supposed to be at work.

To do a nob, verb. phr. (circus and showmen’s).—To make a collection.

To do a pitch.—See Pitch.

To do a rush.—See Rush.

To do a Snatch.—See Snatch.

To do a star pitch, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To sleep in the open air. Fr., loger à la belle étoile. For synonyms, see Hedge Square.

To do a brown.—See under Brown; also Bamboozle. Also to do brown and to do it up brown.

To do for, verb. phr. (common).—1. To ruin. Also, to kill, in which sense, cf., quots., 1650 and 1877. For synonyms, see Dead broke and Cook one’s Goose respectively.

1650. Howell, Familiar Letters. The Emperor, who, rather than becom captif to the base Tartar, burnt his castle, and did away himself, his thirty wives, and children.

1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. vi., ch. iv. He said something, too, about my master ... he said he would do for him, I am sure he said that; and other wicked, bad words, too, if I could but think of them.

1811. Jane Austen, Sense and S., ch. xli. He has done for himself completely! shut himself out for ever from all decent society!

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 233. He called out, He’s done for me; he’s done for me; send at once for Doctor Howell.

2. (common).—To attend on (as landladies on lodgers).

3. (thieves’).—To convict; to sentence. Done for = convicted.

To do a grind, a mount, a tread, etc., verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate.

To do or play gooseberry.—See Gooseberry.

To do gospel, verb. phr. (common).—To go to church.

To do the handsome or the handsome thing, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To behave extremely well to one.

To do it away, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To dispose of stolen goods. Also To do the swag (q.v.); to fence (q.v.).

To do it on the B. H., verb. phr. (common).—To perform with ease. [B = bloody; H = head].

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 221. ‘What’s yer dose?’ Looking on to my badge, ‘Five, oh, you can do that little lot on yer ’ed easy.’

To do it up, verb. phr. (old).—To accomplish an object in view; to obtain one’s quest. To do it up in good twig = to live an easy life by one’s wits.

To do one proud, phr. (colloquial).—To flatter: e.g., ‘Will you drink?’ ‘You do me proud.’

1836. W. G. Clark, Ollapodriana Papers. To this damsel I addressed myself, and solicited her hand in the dance. She assented; and with my brain reeling with fancies of wine and women, I really thought, for the moment, that ‘she did me proud.’

1887. Sidney Luska, Land of Love, in ‘Lippincott’s Mag.,’ p. 241. Ah? So? The frank confession does you proud.

To do out, verb. phr. (American thieves’).—To plead guilty and exonerate an accomplice.

To do over, verb. phr. (common).—1. To knock down; to persuade; to cheat; to ruin.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 50. Who could, at any time, do him over, as they phrased it, for half-a-crown or half-a-guinea.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 326 (ed. 1857). Well, said Sam, he’s in a horrid state o’ love; reg’larly comfoozled, and done over with it.

2. (thieves’).—To search a victim’s pockets without his knowing it. Cf., run the rule over.

3. (venery).—To seduce; also to copulate. For synonyms, see Dock and Ride respectively.

To do polly, verb. phr. (American prison).—To pick oakum in gaol.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or the Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

To do one’s business, verb. phr. (common).—To kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s Goose. Cf., Business. Also (vulgar), to evacuate; and (venery), to serve a woman.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. x. He concluded he had pretty well done their business, for both of them, as they ran off, cried out with bitter oaths, that they were dead men.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xii. Then he took down his venerable and murderous duelling-pistols, with flint locks, that had done the business of many a pretty fellow in Dublin.

1856. C. Reade, Never Too Late, ch. xvi. She was stronger than he was for a moment or two, and that moment would have done his business. She meant killing.

To do the downy, verb. phr. (common).—To lie in bed. Downy flea pasture = a bed. Cf., Balmy.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. vi. Jer. The family’s gone to downy nap this half-hour. Why don’t the captain give the signal.

1853. C. Bede, Verdant Green, pt. ii., p. 59. This’ll never do, Giglamps! Cutting chapel to do the downy.

To do the swag, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To sell stolen property, Fr., laver la camelote or les fourgueroles. Cf., To do clobber.

To do the trick, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To accomplish one’s object; specifically (venery), to do the ‘act of kind’ effectually, and (for woman), to get rid of one’s maidenhead.

1864. Derby Day, p. 38. If the little ’un don’t do the trick me an’ him’ll fall out.

1870–2. Gallery of Comicalities. Star of the stable! Ostler Dick, Still in your calling wide awake; I warrant you can do the trick—A cunning cove, and no mistake.

18(?). W. C. Russell, Representative Actors, p. 476. Edmund Kean then whispered in his son’s ear ‘Charlie, we are doing the trick.’

To do time, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To serve a term of imprisonment.

1871. Times, Dec. Both ... fled to New York to save doing time on the treadmill.

1884. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 614. He has repeatedly done time for drunks and disorderlies, and for assaults upon the police.

1888. Referee, 15 April, 3, 1. The robbers-in-chief, who had done time before, were sentenced to five years’ penal servitude.

To do to death, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To repeat ad nauseam.

To do to tie to, verb. phr. (American).—To be fit to associate with; to be trustworthy.

To do up, verb. phr. (common).—To use up; finish; or quiet. Done up = tired out; ruined; ‘sold up.’ For synonyms, see Floored.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller, in wks. v., 170. I was cleane spent and done, there was no hope of me.

1667. Dryden, Ann. Mir., st. 70. Not so the Holland fleet, who, tired and done, Stretch’d on their decks like weary oxen lie.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxxiv. ‘How did he get back from India?’ ‘Why, how should I know? The house there was done up, and that gave us a shake at Middleburgh.’

1831. Disraeli, The Young Duke, bk. iv., ch. xii., p. 245 (ed. 1866), ‘The Universe’ and ‘The New World’ announced that the young duke was done up.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 264. A man’s done up at fifty, and seldom lives long after, if he has to keep on at coal-portering.

1870. L. Oliphant, Piccadilly, pt. iii., p. 130. I am awfully done, said Spiffy. I never went to bed at all last night.

[For the rest, do, like chuck and cop, is a verb-of-all-work, and is used in every possible and impossible connection. Thus, to do reason and to do right = to honour a toast; to do a bit of stiff = to draw a bill; to do a chuck = to eject, or to go away; to do a rub-up = to masturbate; to do a sip (back slang) = to make water; to do a cat = to vomit; to do a hall or a theatre = to visit a music hall or a playhouse; to do a fluff (theatrical) = to forget one’s part; to do a pitch (showman’s or street artists’) = to go through a performance; to do a mouch or a mike = to go on the prowl; to do a grouse = to go questing for women; to do a doss = to go to sleep; to do a cadge = to go begging; to do a tumble or a spread = to lie down to a man; to do a perpendicular or knee-trembler = to copulate standing; to do a scrap = to engage in combat; to do a rural = to ‘rear’ by the wayside; to do a dive in the dark = to copulate; etc.

Doash, subs. (Old Cant).—A cloak. For synonyms, see Capella.

Dobbin, subs. (old).—Ribbon. Dobbin Rig = stealing ribbon.

Dock, subs. (printers’).—1. The weekly work bill or pole (q.v.).

2. (popular).—The hospital.

Verb (old).—1. To deflower; hence, by implication, to possess; [Gypsy dūkker, to ravish]. Feminine analogues are to have done the trick; to have had it; to have done it at last; to be cracked in the ring; to have broken her tea-cup; to have had it there; to have gone star-gazing on her back; to have given her pussy a taste of cream; to have let the pony over the dyke (Scots’); to have broken her knees or her leg; to have sprained her ankle. Fr., avoir vu le loup; laisser aller le chat au fromage; and avoir vu la lune; whilst l’avoir encore and avoir encore l’avoine is said of maids. Sp., desvirgar = to deflower: Docked = possessed.

1567. Harman, Caveat [ed. 1869, E.E.T. Soc.], p. 87. He dokte the dell.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight. ‘Canting Rithmes.’ Docked the dell for a Coper meke.

1611. Middleton and Dekker, Roaring Girl, v., 1. And couch till a pallyard docked my dell.

2. (Winchester College).—To scratch out; to tear out (as from a book); also to strike down.

To go into dock, verb. phr. (nautical).—To undergo salivation.

To be docked smack smooth, verb. phr. (old).—To have suffered amputation of the penis.

Docker, subs. (legal).—1. A brief handed to counsel by a prisoner in the dock. Legal etiquette compels acceptance if ‘marked’ with a minimum fee of £1 3s. 6d.

2. (colloquial).—A dock labourer.

Dock-walloper, subs. (American).—A loafer; one who loiters about docks and wharves; also an unemployed emigrant.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 344.... A dock-walloper is an object of great contempt to Jack.

Dockyarder, subs. (nautical).—A skulker. Cf., Strawyarder (q.v.).

Dockyard-horse, subs. (naval).—An officer better at correspondence than at active service.

Doctor, subs. (old).—1. A false die; sometimes a manipulated card.—See To put the doctor on one.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, I., in wks. (1720), iv., 18. Belf. Sen. Tatts, and Doctor! what’s that? Sham. The tools of sharpers, false dice.

1709. Centlivre, Gamester, Act i. Now, sir, here is your true dice, a man seldom gets anything by them; here is your false, sir; hey, how they run! Now, sir, those we generally call doctors.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones. Here, said he, taking some dice out of his pockets, here are the little doctors which cure the distempers of the purse.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxxiii. A gamester, one who deals with the devil’s bones and the doctors.

1823. Scott, Peveril, ch. xxviii. The dicers with their doctors in their pockets, I presume.

2. (common).—An adulterant. Cf., To keep the doctor.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A composition used by distillers to make spirits appear stronger than they really are.

1828. G. Smeaton, Doings in London. Maton, in his ‘Tricks of Bakers Unmasked,’ says alum, which is called the Doctor, ground and unground, is sold to the bakers at fourpence per pound.

3. (licensed victuallers’).—Brown sherry. [Because a ‘doctored’ (q.v.), wine. Cf., sense 2.]

4. (nautical and up-country Australian).—A ship’s cook.

5. (Winchester College).—The head master.

1870. Mansfield, School Life at Winchester College, p. 27. The head master, or the Doctor, as he is always called, lives in ‘Commoners’ buildings.’

6. (Old gamesters’).—The last throw of dice or ninepins.

Verb (common).—1. To patch; adulterate; falsify; ‘cook.’

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends [ed. 1862], p. 464. She doctor’d the punch and she doctor’d the negus, Taking care not to put in sufficient to flavour it.

1862. H. Greeley, in N. Y. Independent. The news [of success to the United States armies, said the English leading journals] all came through Northern channels, and was doctored by the government which controlled the telegraph.

2. (sporting).—To poison a horse.

To keep the doctor, verb. phr. (licensed victuallers’).—To make a practice of adulterating the liquor sold. Cf., doctor, subs., sense 2.

To put the doctor on one, verb. phr. (common).—To cheat.

Doctor Draw-fart, subs. phr. (common).—A wandering quack.

Doctored, ppl. adj. (common).—Patched; adulterated; falsified; ‘cooked.’

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xxviii. The Cross-keys ... had doctored ale, an odour of bad tobacco, and remarkably strong cheese.

Dod Burn it! intj. phr. (American).—A euphemistic oath; on the model of dadbinged (q.v.).

Dodder, subs. (Irish).—Burnt tobacco taken from the bottom of a pipe and placed on the top of a fresh plug to give a stronger flavor.

Dodderer, subs. (street).—A meddler; always used in contempt. Sometimes doddering old sheep’s head, which also = a fool.

Doddy, subs. (provincial).—In Norfolk a person of low stature. Sometimes hodmandod and hoddy-doddy, all head and no body. Dodman in the same dialect = a snail.

Dodfetched, adj. (American).—A euphemistic oath. [Dod = God.] Most of its kind have originated in New England, where the descendants of the Puritans form the largest portion of the population.

1888. Texas Siftings, 7 July. Then the poet was sore grieved, and he said unto himself, ‘I’m a dodfetched fool.’

Dodgasted, adj. (American).—See dodfetched.

1888. Detroit Free Press. It’s a dodgasted funny thing, Uncle Zeke, but it’s a fact, never knew it to fail; straight as a string, too.

Dodge, subs. and verb, [and derivative. Dodging, verb. subs.] (colloquial).—To trick; to swindle; to elude. Once slang, now recognised. Used in various combinations: the pious dodge = a pretence of piety; the tidy-dodge = begging in the streets with tidily but poorly dressed children, etc. Also, to ‘nart.’ For synonyms, see Lay.

1708. Swift, Abolishing of Christianity in prose wks. (Camelot Cl.), p. 235. The chaffering with Dissenters, and dodging about this or the other ceremony.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.). To dodge.... 2. To be off and on. 3. To prevaricate, or play shifting tricks.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 135 (ed. 1857). ‘It was all false, of course?’ ‘All, sir,’ replied Mr. Weller, ‘reg’lar do, sir; artful dodge.’

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 227. Conscious how much their own livelihood depends upon assumption and trickery, they naturally consider that others have some dodge, as they call it, or some latent object in view when any good is sought to be done them.

1856. Punch, vol. XXXI., p. 217. Long though your sentence and your task severe, The pious dodge a ticket soon will send.

1865. Spectator, 2 Dec., Women’s Tact. [Mrs. Caudle.] Nagged, and nagging is universally useful only with maids. She lost her temper occasionally, and the suffering angel dodge is a very much more effective as well as Christian resource.

1865. Spectator (On the Academy Dinner), p. 492. Earl Russell ... broke loose from one conventionality of public dinners to fall into another. He dodged the toast of Her Majesty’s Ministers, and did not promise the Academy.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 23 March, p. 6, col. 1. He is naturally anxious to ascertain if any new dodge has been brought to light, and what was the amount of the penalty imposed for its perpetration.

Dodger, subs. (common).—1. A trickster. Cf., The ‘Artful Dodger’ (Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii.). Fr., être ficelle = ‘to be a dodger.’

1611. Cotgrave, Dict., Caqueraffe, a base micher, scurvie hagler, lowsie dodger, etc.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxviii. A sly cock, this Frank Tyrrel, thought the traveller; a very complete dodger—but no matter—I shall wind him, were he to double like a fan.

1887. Baumann, Londonismen, vi. So from hartful young dodgers, From vaxy old codgers, From the blowens ve got Soon to know vot is vot.

2. (popular).—A dram; provincially, a nightcap. For synonyms, see Go.

3. (American).—A hard-baked cake or biscuit, more usually termed corn-dodger. When mixed with beef, beef-dodgers.

4. (American).—A handbill.

1888. Texas Siftings, 15 Sept. Then I would have a great quantity of little dodgers printed to throw around everywhere.

Dodo, subs. (old).—A stupid, old man.

Dodrotted, ppl. adj. (American).—A euphemistic oath. See Oaths.

1887. Century Magazine. You ketch us with yer dodrotted foolin’, says he; we hain’t the kind to be fooled.

Does it? phr. (common).—A sarcastic retort.—See Does your Mother know you’re out?

Does your Mother know you’re out? phr. (streets’).—A popular locution, vague as to meaning and inexact in application—an expression expressive of contempt, incredulity, sarcasm, anything you please.—See All my eye, Street cries, and infra.

English Variants.—Has your mother sold her mangle? Not to-day, or it won’t do, Mr. Ferguson! Sawdust and treacle! Draw it mild! And the rest! Who are you? All round my hat! Go it, ye cripples! Shoo, fly! How does the old thing work? Well, you know how it is yourself! How’s your poor feet? Why, certainly! I’ll have your whelk! Not to-day, baker, call to-morrow, and we’ll take a crusty one! Do you see any green in my eye? Put that in your pipe and smoke it! Where are you going on Sunday? Go to Putney! Who stole the donkey: the man in the white hat! Cough, Julia! Over the bender! There you go with your eye out! etc., etc.

French Variants.—Et les mois de nourrice = (and the rest!); du combustible (popular: = go it you cripples); tu t’en ferais péter le cylindre (popular: = don’t you wish you may get it); chiche! (popular: a defiant refusal); chaleur! (popular: expressive of contempt, disbelief, and ironical admiration); croyez ça et buvez de l’eau (popular: = believe that and drink water); à Chaillot ( = ‘go to Bath and get your head shaved’); tu t’en ferais crèver (pop.: = don’t you wish you may get it?); colle-toi ça dans l’cornet (pop.: = put that in your pipe and smoke it!) je la connais (pop.: = do you see any green?); j’entrave pas dans tes vannes (thieves’: = you don’t take me in); de la bourrache! (popular: = no go); un sale truc pour la fanfare (popular: an expression of disgust); de quoi (popular: what next? also = wealth, money, etc.); allez donc raconter cela à dache (thieves’: = tell that to the marines!); des dattes! (pop.: = take a carrot!); et ta sœur (popular: indicative of refusal, contempt, and insult); faut pas m’la faire (popular: = Walker!); et le pouce (pop.: = and the rest!)

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 6, col. 2. Where are they that should protect thee In this darkling hour of doubt? Love could never thus neglect thee! Does your mother know you’re out?

1864. Sun, 28 Dec. ‘Review of Hotten’s Slang Dictionary.’ Ridiculous street cries, such as does your mother know you’re out? or, Has your Aunt sold her mangle? or, You don’t lodge here, Mr. Fergusson—whatever those sapient remarks may mean.

Dog, subs. (colloquial).—1. A man; sometimes used contemptuously (Cf., Cat = a woman), but more frequently in half-serious chiding; e.g., a sad dog, gay dog, old dog, etc. For synonyms, see Cove. Sometimes adjectively = male; see quot., 1856. An old dog at it = expert, or accustomed to.

1596. Nashe, Have with you, Epis. Ded. par. 5. O, he hath been olde dogge at that drunken, staggering kinde of verse.

1697. Vanbrugh, Æsop, part II., Sc. iii. Why, I’m a strong young dog, you old gent, you.

1703. Mrs. Centlivre, Stolen Heiress, I., wks, (1872), i., 336. She is in love, forsooth, with a young beggarly dog not worth a groat.

1736. Fielding, Don Quixote, II. iv. A comical dog, I fancy; go, give my service to him.

b. 1764, d. 1817. J. G. Holman, Abroad and at Home, I., 3. And my praise to withhold none so currish, With a girl so divine! Such dinners! such wine! What a d—d clever dog was Jack Flourish!

1810. Crabbe, The Borough, Letter 6, Law. For he’d a way that many judg’d polite, A cunning dog—he’d fawn before he’d bite.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 369. (ed. 1857). Curse me, they’re friends of mine from this minute and friends of Mivins, too. Infernal pleasant, gentlemenly, dog Mivins, isn’t he? said Smangle, with great feeling.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. vii. Then comes Ascot, for which meeting they leave the metropolis, and enjoy some quiet retreat in the neighbourhood of Windsor, taking with them many potables, and what they call a dog cook.

2. (thieves’).—A burglar’s iron. For synonyms, see Jemmy.

1888. American Humorist, 31 Mar. The safe was rifled, and every appearance of robbery was manifest. In this case the murderer was discovered by means of a dog, which was described in the newspapers as having certain peculiar scratches on it.

Verb (venery).—To copulate on all fours.

To go, or throw to the dogs.—See Go and Demnition Bow-wows.

Hair of the dog that bit you.—See Hair.

To blush like a blue dog.—See Blush.

Dogberry, subs. (common).—A stupid constable, or magistrate. [From Much Ado about Nothing.] For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

1864. M. E. Braddon, Aurora Floyd, ch. xxxviii. The detective had reason to know that the dogberries of Doncaster, ... were on the wrong scent.

1869. Gent. Mag., July, p. 195. I trust I shall not be accounted a dogberry, lavish in my tediousness, if I bestow one more anecdote upon my readers.

Dog Biting Dog, adv. phr. (theatrical).—Said of actors who spitefully criticise each others performance.

Dog-Cheap, adj. (colloquial).—Very cheap; of little worth; foolish. [Skeat: from Swed., dog, = very; Latham: the first syllable is god = good, transposed + cheap, from chapman, a merchant—hence, a good bargain (Fr., bon marché).]

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV., iii. 3. The sack ... would have bought me lights as good-cheap at the dearest chandler’s in Europe.

1606. Dekker, Newes from Hell, in wks. (Grosart), ii., 116. Three things there are dog-cheap, learning, poore men’s sweat, and others.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act II. No fat over-grown virgin of forty ever offered herself so dog cheap, or was more despised.

1772. Foote, Nabob, Act II. dog-cheap; neck-beef; a penny-loaf for a halfpenny.

1830. Marryat, Kings Own, ch. xxx. I’ll sell mine, dog-cheap, if any one will buy it.

1851. Carlyle, John Sterling, pt. I., ch. x. There lay in a certain neighbouring creek of the Irish coast, a worn-out royal gun-brig condemned to sale, to be had dog-cheap.

Dog-Collar, subs. (common).—A ‘stand-up’ shirt collar; an all-rounder (q.v.).

1883. Grenville-Murray, People I have Met, p. 42. The dog-collar which rose above the black cloth was of spotless purity.

Dog-Drawn (old), adj. phr.—Said of a bitch from which a dog has been removed by force during coition. Sometimes applied to women.

Dogger, verb (Charterhouse).—To cheat; to sell rubbish.

Doggery, subs. (popular).—1. Transparent cheating. Cf., dogger.

[Carlyle in Frederick uses doggery = the doings of a scurvy set of soldiers.]

2. (American).—A low drinking saloon.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 315. Doggeries are only found near the shanties of Irish laborers or in remote western and southern settlements.

Doggoned, adj. (American).—A euphemistic oath.—See Oaths.

1852. Gladstone, Englishman in Kansas, p. 46. If there’s a dog-goned abolitionist aboard this boat, I should like to see him. I’m the man to put a chunk o’ lead into his woolly head right off.

1873. Carlton, Farm Ballads, p. 80. But when that choir got up to sing, I couldn’t catch a word; They sung the most dog-gondest thing A body ever heard!

1879. Eggleston, The Hoosier Schoolmaster. I never knowed but one gal in my life as had cyphered into fractions, and she was so dog on stuck up, that she turned up her nose one night at an apple-peelin’ bekase I tuck a sheet off the bed to splice out the table-cloth, which was rather short.

Doggy, subs. (mining).—See quot.

1845. Disraeli, Sybil, bk. III., ch. i., note. A Batty in the mining districts is a middleman; a doggy is his manager.

Adj. (colloquial).—1. Connected with, or relating to dogs.

1883. Graphic, 24 Feb., p. 199, col. 3. Liverpool and the Adelphi Hotel in particular, are now [time of Altcar coursing meeting] the headquarters of all the doggy men of the three kingdoms.

2. (colloquial).—Stylish.

Dog in a Blanket, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A pudding of preserved fruit spread on thin dough, rolled up, and boiled; also called roly-poly and stocking.

1887. G. A. Sala, in Ill. Lon. News, 12 Feb., p. 174, col. 3. Bubble and squeak ... is a colloquialism, and no more slangy than ‘toad in the hole’ or dog in a blanket.

Like a dog in shoes, adv. phr. (Irish).—A pattering sound; as the noise of a brisk walk.

Dog in the Manger, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A selfish churl; who does not want himself, yet will not let others enjoy. [From the fable.]

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., II., III., xii., 189 (1836). Like a hog, or dog in the manger, he doth only keep it, because it shall do nobody else good.

1673. Dryden, Amboyna, Act ii. You’re like dogs in the manger, you will neither manage it yourselves nor permit your neighbours.

1757. Garrick, Irish Widow, II. That’s the dog in the manger; you can’t eat the oats, and won’t let those who can.

1836. Marryat, Japhet, ch. lxxii. Why, what a dog in the manger you must be—you can’t marry them both.

Dog-Latin, subs. (colloquial).—Barbarous or sham Latin; also Kitchen, Bog, Garden, or Apothecaries’ Latin.

1856. H. Mayhew, Great World of London, p. 149. A Spaniard ... who called himself a physician, and who, being unable to speak English, communicated with the doctor in a kind of Spanish dog-Latin.

Dogs, subs. (university).—1. Sausages; otherwise Bags of Mystery (q.v.), or Chambers of Horrors (q.v.).

2. (Stock Exchange).—Newfoundland Land Company’s shares; now amalgamated with the Anglo-American United, and called Anglos.

To go to the dogs.—See under Go.

To let sleeping dogs lie.—See Sleeping Dogs.

Dog’s-Body, subs. (nautical).—Pease pudding.

1851. Chambers’ Papers, No. 52, p. 16. Peas-pudding (alias dog’s body) is often allowed upon pork days.

1883. W. Clark Russell, Sailors’ Language, p. 42. dogs-body.—A mess made of pea-soup, powdered biscuit, and slush.

1889. Chambers’ Journal, 3 Aug., p. 495, col. 1.

Dog’s-eared, adj. (colloquial).—Crumpled, as the leaves of a page with much reading.

Dog’s Match. To make a dog’s match of it, verb. phr. (vulgar).—To copulate by the wayside.

Dog’s Meat, subs. (colloquial).—Anything worthless; as a bad book, a common tale, a villainous picture, etc.

Dog-shooter, subs. (old).—1. A volunteer.

2. (Royal Military Academy).—See quot.

1889. Barrère, Slang, Jargon and Cant, p. 317. Cadets thus term a student who accelerates, that is, who, being pretty certain of not being able to obtain a commission in the engineers, or not caring for it, elects to join a superior class before the end of the term.

Dog’s-nose, subs. (common).—A mixture of gin and beer.—See Drinks.

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxiii., p. 285. dog’s nose ... your committee find upon enquiry, to be compounded of warm porter, moist sugar, gin, and nutmeg.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xl. Ah! that’s not bad tipple after such a ducking as we’ve had. dog’s nose, isn’t it?

Dog’s-paste, subs. (common).—Sausage or mince-meat. Cf., bags of mystery and chambers of horror (q.v.).

Dog’s-portion, subs. (common).—‘A lick and a smell,’ i.e., next to nothing.

Dog’s Sleep, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The lightest possible form of slumber.

Dog’s-soup, subs. (common).—Water. For synonyms, see Adam’s Ale and Fish Broth.

1836. W. H. Smith. ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ For she never lushes dog’s-soup or lap.

Dog’s-tail, subs. (nautical).—The constellation of Ursa minor or Little Bear.

Dog-stealer, subs. (common).—A dog-dealer; applied sarcastically.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xiii. Now nodding to a trainer, now indulging in quaint badinage, which the vulgar call ‘chaff,’ with a dog-stealer.

Doldrums, subs. (colloquial).—Low spirits; the dumps or hump (q.v.). [Properly parts of the ocean near the Equator abounding in calms and light, baffling winds.]

1865. M. Browne, in the ‘Argosy,’ I., 36. An Apology for the Nerves. All I say is, do not let us have any abuse of the nerves. Do not confound nervousness with the megrims, or the doldrums, or any other complaint. Do not confound it with cowardice or ill-temper.

1883. James Payn, The Canon’s Ward, ch. xi. She treated all subjects in the same light way; ... from aversion to serious thoughts of any kind, which she stigmatised generally as the doldrums.

Dole, subs. (Winchester College).—A stratagem or trick. [From Latin dolus.]

Dolifier, subs. (Winchester College).—One who contrives a trick.—See Dole.

Dollar, subs. (common).—A five-shilling piece. Half-dollar = half-a-crown, or two shillings. For synonyms, see Caroon.

Dollop, subs. and verb (common).—A lot; All the dollop = the whole thing. Cf., quot., 1812. In Norfolk to dollop = to dole out; also to ‘plank.’ Dolloping = throwing down.

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v. = the whole sum of money.

1853. Notes and Queries, 16 July, p. 65, col. 2. Applied to lumps of any substances, whether food or otherwise. Such a phrase as this might be heard: What a dollop of fat you have given me.

1871. Beli’s Life, 23 Dec. All we wish to convey is, that a large bait is absolutely necessary to a heavy bag of chub. Exceptions may arise, as giants may dally with crumbs, but as a rule these fish desire a dollop.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 28. I have known men literally give their goods away, or to throw them at each other, which is termed dolloping.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 8 March, p. 4, col. 1. A dollop of something having a mortar-like appearance, imaginatively styled pudding.

Dolly, subs. (venery).—1. A mistress. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1647–48. Herrick, Hesperides, p. 38. Drink, and dance, and pipe, and play, Kisse our dollies night and day.

1843. Punch, vol. V., p. 8. Dol is a pure Anglo-Saxon word signifying dull, erring—whence the English Dolly, any one who has made a faux pas.

2. (tailors’).—A piece of cloth used as a sponge.

3. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Adj. (popular).—Silly.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. I., chap. 4. You are a chit and a little idiot, returned Bella, or you wouldn’t make such a dolly speech.

Dolly-mop, subs. (common).—Specifically, a professional strumpet, but see quot., 1851. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. iv. The captain says we are to take the young gentleman on board directly. His liberty’s stopped for getting drunk and running after the Dolly-Mops!

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 234. Those women who, for the sake of distinguishing them from the professionals, I must call amateurs, are generally spoken of as Dolly-mops.

Dolly-Shop, subs. (common).—A marine store: really an illegal pawn-shop and fence (q.v.); also leaving-shop. No questions are asked; all goods are received on the understanding that they may be repurchased within a given time; so much per day is charged; no duplicate is given; and no books are kept. [From the black doll (q.v.) suspended outside as a sign.]

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 142. If she hasn’t, or if the neighbours hasn’t it, she borrows it at a dolly-shop (the illegal pawnshop).

1860–68. Chambers’ Encyclopædia, s.v.

1871. Echo, 16 March. Chimney sweeps having lent their machines to dolly-shop keepers for the price of a spree, could not redeem them to commence business.

Dome, subs. (common).—The head. For synonyms, see Crumpet.

Domestic-Afflictions, subs. (common).—The menstrual flux; a woman’s flower-time. For synonyms, see Flag-up.

Dome-stick, subs. (common).—A ‘domestic’ servant.

Dominie, subs. (old).—A clergyman; modern Scots = a pedagogue or schoolmaster. [From Latin dominus, a lord or master.]

1616. Beaumont and Fletcher, Scornful Lady, II., i. Wel. [addressing parson], Adieu, dear Domine!

1754. Foote, Knights, Act ii. She falls in love with young Sleek, her father’s chaplain; ... what does me I, but slips on Domine’s robes, you; passed myself upon her for him, and we were tacked together.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. And, take him at ruffianing work (though, in common, he Hums about Peace and all that, like a Domine.

1883. Brinsley-Richards, Seven Years at Eton, xii., 122. The Scotch dominie, from whom he had learnt Latin ... knew nothing of elegiacs.

Dominie Do-Little, subs. phr. (old).—An impotent old man.

Domino! intj. (common).—An ejaculation of completion: e.g., for sailors and soldiers at the last lash of a flogging; and for ’bus conductors when an omnibus is full inside and out [N. and Q., 6 S., v., 229]; also, by implication, a knock-down blow, or the last of a series. [From the call at the end of a game of dominoes.]

Domino-Box, subs. (old).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1812. Vaux, Flash Dictionary, s.v.

Dominoes, subs. (popular).—1. The teeth. For synonyms, see Grinders.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 6. Mr. J. Sluice your dominos—vill you? Green. Vot! I never plays at dominos—It’s too wulgar. Mr. J. Vy, then vash your ivories? Green. I’ve got no hiveries to vash. Mr. J. Drink, vill you? don’t you understand Hinglish?

1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 6, note. Fanciful metaphors contribute largely to the formation of slang. It is upon this principle that the mouth has come to be styled the ‘tater-trap’; the teeth, dominoes.

1864. E. D. Forgues, in Revue des deux Mondes, 15 Sept., p. 470. Le mot ‘dents’ est remplacé par celui de dominos aussi bien sur les bordes de la Tamise que sur ceux de la Seine.

2. (colloquial).—The keys of a piano.

To sluice one’s dominoes, verb. phr. (common).—To drink.—See quot., 1823 ante.

Domino-thumper, subs. (common).—A pianist.

Dommerar, Dommerer, or Dummerer, subs. (old).—A beggar feigning to be deaf and dumb; also, a madman.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 57. These Dommerars are leud and most subtyll people: the moste part of these are Walch men, and wyll neuer speake, vnlesse they haue extreame punishment, but wyll gape, and with a maruelous force wyll hold downe their toungs doubled, groning for your charyty, and holding vp their handes full pitiously, so that with their deepe dissimulation they get very much.

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., II., IV., vi., 233 (1836). It compels some miserable wretches to counterfeit several diseases, to dismember, make themselves blind, lame, to have a more plausible cause to beg ... we have dummerers, Abraham men, etc.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v. (Repr. 1874), p. 49. Dommerar, a Madman.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Dommeror, a Madman.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. Dommerer, a fellow that pretends to be deaf and dumb.

Don, subs. (colloquial).—An adept; a swell; also a man that ‘puts on side.’ At the Universities a fellow or officer of a college; whence the vulgar usage. [From Latin, dominus, a lord, through the Spanish title.]

1665. Dryden, Indian Emperor, Epilogue, 21. For the great dons of wit—Phœbus gives them full privilege alone, To damn all others, and cry up their own.

1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, pt. xiii., p. 299. Like the Great Old Dons of the Law, when they dance the Measures in an Inns-of-Court Hall upon the first day of Christmas.

1730. Jas. Miller, Humours of Oxford, Act I., p. 7 (2 ed.) The old dons ... will come cringing, cap in hand, to offer to show the ladies the curiosities of the college.

1826. Reynolds (‘Peter Corcoran’), Song on the Fancy. Dull innocence! Twaddle on, Thy weary worshipper—and fain Would give thee up, to be a don, And beat the watch in Drury Lane.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xi. Does not go much into society, except ... once or twice to the houses of great country dons who dwell near him in the country.

c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, sung by Jenny Hill. ‘’Arry, ’Arry, There you are now, ’Arry, I say, ’Arry, by Jove, you are a Don.’

Adj. (common).—Clever, expert; first rate. [From the subs. sense.]

Dona, Donna, Donny, or Doner, subs. (vulgar).—A woman. [From the Italian.] For synonyms, see Petticoat.

1875. Athenæum, 24 April, p. 545, col. 2. A circus man almost always speaks of a circus woman, not as a woman, but a dona.

Donaker, subs. (old).—A cattle-lifter.

1669. Nicker Nicked, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 108.

Done! intj. (common).—An interjection of acceptance or agreement.

1602. Dekker, Honest Whore, in wks. (1873), ii., 17. Cast. ... I’le wage a hundred duckats upon the head on’t, that it moves him, frets him, and galles him. Pio. Done, ’tis a lay, joyne gols [hands] on’t.

1761. Colman, Jealous Wife, IV., in wks. (1777), i., 106. Why, it’s a match, miss! it’s done and done on both sides.

1762. Goldsmith, Life of Nash, in wks., p. 546 (Globe). Why, if you think me a dab I will get this strange gentleman, or this, pointing to the flat. done! cries the sailor, but you shall not tell him.

1840. Thackeray, Paris Sketch-book, p. 196. ‘I will bet thee thy water for a year that none of the three will pray for thee.’ ‘Done!’ said Rollo. ‘Done! said the daemon.’

Ppl. adj. (common).—Exhausted; ruined; cheated; convicted.

[See Do in most of its senses.]

Done-over, adj. (common).—1. Intoxicated. For synonyms, see Screwed.

2. (venery). Possessed in kind; said only of women.

Donkey, subs. (printers’).—1. A compositor; pressmen are in turn called Pigs (q.v.).

English Synonyms.—Ass; moke; galley-slave.

French Synonyms.—Un mulet (printers’); un compositeur mie de pain (an unskilled or clumsy workman; mie de pain also = a louse); un marron (a compositor working on his own account with another printer’s plant); un homme de lettres (= a man of letters); un singe (= a monkey); un amphibie (a compositor who is donkey and pig [q.v.] together).

1857. In Notes and Queries, 2 S., iv., 192. Compositors are jocosely called mokes or donkeys.

2. (nautical).—A sailor’s chest.

3. (colloquial).—A blockhead. For synonyms, see Cabbage-head and Buffle.

A penny, twopence or threepence more and up goes the donkey, phr. (common).—An exclamation of derision. [Street acrobats’: the custom was to finish off the pitch by balancing a donkey at the top of a ladder on receipt of ‘tuppence more’; which sum, however often subscribed, was always re-demanded, so that the donkey never ‘went up’ at all.]

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 41, col. 2. Mr. Joseph Muggins begs to inform his old crony, Punch, that the report of Sir John Pullon, ‘as to the possibility of elevating an ass to the head of the poll by bribery and corruption’ is perfectly correct, provided there is no abatement in the price. Let him canvass again, and Mr. J. M. pledges himself, whatever his weight, if he will only stand one penny more, up goes the donkey!

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xv. He ... has left the key in the lock; so I shall take the liberty of exploring a little; I’ve a strong though undeveloped taste for architectural antiquities. Twopence more, and up goes the donkey! Come along! So saying, he flung open the door.

Who stole the donkey? phr. (common).—A street cry once in vogue on the appearance of a man in a white hat. With a similar expression ‘Who stole the leg of mutton’? applied to the police, it had its rise in a case of larceny. J. H. Dixon, writing to Hotten, Nov. 6th, 1864, remembered both. The first occurred at Hatton Garden Police Court, where a man, wearing a white hat, was charged with stealing a costermonger’s donkey.

1889. Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, col. 5. Who stole the donkey? The man with the white hat! This was a very popular street colloquy some years ago.

To ride the donkey, verb. phr. (common).—To cheat with weights and measures. Also donkey-riding = cheating as aforesaid. Cf., Ambush.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. Donkey-Riding. Cheating in weight or measure; miscounting.

To talk the hind leg off a donkey.—See Talk.

Donkey-Drops, subs. phr. (cricket).—See quot.

1890. The Hon. and Rev. E. Lyttelton, Cricket, p. 69. Slow round-hand bowling, such as is seldom seen in good matches, but is effective against boys, and is known by the contumelious designation of donkey-drops.

Donkey’s-ears, subs. (old).—An old-fashioned shirt-collar with long points.

Donna.—See Dona.

Donnish, adj. Donnism, Donnishness, subs. (University).—Arrogant; arrogance. [From Don (q.v.).]

1823. Hints for Oxford, p. 66. The Bachelors, we imagine, are the most pleasant set of beings in Oxford.... They have luckily not been so long emancipated as to have become stiff, and donnish, and disagreeable.

c. 1830. Ballad, quoted in N. and Q., 2nd S., xii., 154. Our Yankee, who’d commenced the fight and rather to be donnish meant, Sam squabbled felt (as well he might) with genu-ine astonishment.

1853. Thackeray, in Scribner’s Mag., Oct., 1887, p. 415. At Boston is very good literate company indeed; it is like Edinburgh for that,—a vast amount of toryism and donnishness everywhere.

1888. Mrs. Ward, Robt. Elsmere, vol. I., bk. I., ch. ii., p. 48. He was a curious man, a refined-looking, melancholy creature, with a face that reminded you of Wordsworth, and cold donnish ways, except to his children and the poor.

Donny.—See Dona.

Donovans, subs. (old).—Potatoes. Cf., Murphy. [Donovan, like Murphy, is a common Irish patronym.]

Don’s Week, subs. phr. (tailors’).—The week before a general holiday.

Don’t get your Back up.—See Back, and Hold your Hair on.

Don’t-name-’ems, subs. phr. (common).—Trousers. For synonyms, see Kicksies.

Don’t you wish you may get it, phr. (street).—A retort forcible.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 179. A thousand marks, continued the confessor.... Sir Guy shrank from the monk’s gaze; he turned to the window, and muttered to himself something that sounded like, ‘don’t you wish you may get it?’

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 22, col. 2. Who would own her heart thine, Though a monarch beset it, And love on unchanged, ‘don’t you wish you may get it?’

1844. Puck, p. 14. The Proctor caught him in a spree, Asked his name and college with courtesie; ‘Don’t you wish you may get it?’ and off he ran, Did my spicy swell small college man.

Doodle, subs. (old).—1. A dolt. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head. [Thought to be a corruption of Dawdle, to trifle.]

1775. Ash, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. v. I know it was every word composed by that abominable old addlehead, Dr. ——, a doodle that he is!

2. (old).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

1785. Grose, Dic. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Doodled, ppl. adj. (old).—Cheated, ‘done.’

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 7. No, I’m out of spirits because I have been dished and doodled out of forty pounds to-day.

Doodle-dasher, subs. (venery).—A masturbator. [From Doodle, the penis + dasher.]

Doodle-doo-man, subs. (old cock-pit).—A cockfighter or breeder. [From the childish name for poultry.]

Doodlesack, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. Also Doodle-case and Doodle-trap. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Doog, adj. (back-slang).—Good.

Dookie, subs. (theatrical).—A penny show or unlicensed theatre. Cf., Gaff.

Dookin and Dookering, subs. (thieves’ and gypsies’).—Fortune-telling.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444.

Dookin-Cove, subs. (common).—A fortune-teller. [From dookin = fortune-telling + cove, a man.]

Door-nail. Dead as a door-nail.—See Dead.

Doorsman, subs. (common).—See Barker and Clicker.

Doorstep, subs. (common).—A thick slice of bread and butter. Fr., une fondante.

1885. Miss Tennant, in Eng. Ill. Mag., June, p. 604. Doorsteps, I found, were thick slices of bread spread with jam.

1890. Spectator, 3 May, Rev. of vol. I., ‘Slang and its Analogues.’... The extraordinary ‘bouncer’ that a very common request at Lockhart’s coffee-houses in London is for ‘a doorstep and a sea-rover,’ i.e., for a halfpenny slice of bread and butter and a herring, &c.

Dooteroomus or Doot, subs. (American).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, s.v.

Dope, verb (American).—To drug with tobacco. Also doping = the practice.

Dopey, subs. (old).—1. A beggar’s trull.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

2. (old).—The podex.

Dor, subs. (Old Westminster School).—1. See quot.

1715. J. Kersey, English Dictionary. Sub voce, a term used at Westminster School for leave to sleep awhile.

2. (old).—An affront.

1600. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels.

Doras, subs. (Stock Exchange).—South-Eastern Railway Deferred Ordinary Stock, sometimes applied to the ‘A’ Stock.

Dorbie, subs. (Scots Masonic).—An initiate.

The Dorbies’ knock, subs. phr.—A peculiar rap given by masons as a signal amongst themselves. It may be represented by the time of the following notes: [Music notes].

Dorcas, subs. (colloquial).—A sempstress; especially one employing herself for charitable purposes.

Dorse.—See Doss.

Dose, subs. (thieves’).—1. A sentence of imprisonment; specifically three months’ hard labour.

English Synonyms.—Spell, time, drag, three moon, length, stretch, seven-pennorth, sixer, twelver, lagging.

French Synonym.—Une marque.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 22. ‘What’s yer dose?’ looking on to my badge; ‘five, oh, you can do that little lot on yer ’ed easy.’

2. (thieves’).—A burglary.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

3. (pugilistic).—A beating.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress p. 17. Sandy tipp’d him a dose of that kind, that, when taken, It isn’t the stuff, but the patient that’s shaken.

4. (colloquial).—As much liquor as one can hold.

To have a dose of the balmy, verbal phr. (common).—To ‘do a sleep.’—See Balmy and Doss.

To take a grown man’s dose, verb. phr. (common).—To take a very large quantity of liquor.

Doss or Dorse, subs. (vagrants’).—A bed, or lodging; also a sleep, or lib (q.v.). [Origin uncertain.] For synonyms, see Kip and Balmy.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 165. Dorsed. The place where a person sleeps, or a bed. ‘I dorsed there last darkey.’

1858. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, p. 118. Into this branch curtained retreat, the lads crept on all fours, one after another, to enjoy their doss, as, in their slang, they called sleep.

1883. Daily News, 3 April, p. 3, col. 5. He replied that he had only come there to have a doss (sleep).

1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 9 Sep., p. 3, col. 2. If you want a doss, a doss is provided. A wooden framework, about as wide as the widest part of a coffin, and a wooden pillow and a blanket of leather.

Verb (vagrants’).—To sleep. For synonyms, see Balmy and infra. Also Dorse.

English Synonyms.—To go to the arms of Murphy (q.v.); to have forty winks; to go to Bedfordshire; to take a little (or do a dose) of the balmy; to chuck (or do) a doss; to snooze; to go to by-by; to read the paper; to shut one’s eyes to think; to retire to the land of Nod.

French Synonyms.—Battre la couverte (military); se foutre un coup de traversin (= to have a little turn up with the bolster); se bâcher, pagnotter or percher (to roost); se mettre dans la bâche; se bourser (popular); éteindre son gaz (popular: to put out one’s light; = also to die); entrer aux quinze-vingts (Les Quinze-vingts = a government hospital for the blind); dormir en chien de fusil (i.e., to sleep sitting, the head between the knees); dormir en gendarme (popular: ‘to sleep with one eye round the corner’); fermer les châssis (to put up shutters or ‘peepers’); se coller dans le pieu (popular).

Spanish Synonyms.—Acostarse con las gallinas (= to go to bed by cock-light); encamarse; tomarle á uno el sueño; tumbar (literally, to tumble down).

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To dorse with a woman signifies to sleep with her.

1846. Punch, vol. XI., p. 165. Then silent flowed the tears of those maidens as perforce, Each saw her favourite champion sent, as Bell’s Life says, dorse.

1850. Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb., ‘Low Lodging House of London.’ One said, Mate, how long have you been knocking about; where did you doss? I didn’t know what they meant, and when they’d told me, they meant, where did I sleep?

Dosser, subs. (vagrants’).—One who frequents a doss house (q.v.).

’Appy-dossers, subs. (vagrants’).—Houseless vagrants who creep in, sleep on stairs, in passages, and in empty cellars.

1880. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live, p. 43. A ’appy dosser can make himself comfortable anywhere. I heard of one who used to crawl into the dust-bin, and pull the lid down.

1883. Referee, 15 July, p. 7, col. 2. The Lazaruses of to-day don’t lie exactly at Dives’s front door—the police are too active to allow such happy dossing as that.

The dosser, subs.—The father of a family.

Doss-house or Dossing-crib or Ken, subs. (vagrants’).—A common lodging-house. [From doss, to sleep + crib, or ken, a place of abode.] Fr., un bastengue and un garno. English variants: Libken, two-penny-rope, padding-ken, and kidden (all of which see). Doss-money = the price of a night’s lodging.

1838. Comic Almanack, April. The hulks is now my bowsing-crib, the hold my dossing-ken.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 150. When their funds are insufficient to defray the charge of a bed, or a part of one, at a country dossing-crib (his lodging-house).

1885. Daily Telegraph, 22 August, p. 2. col. 1. Her’s is no common dossing-crib, with a squalid kitchen, common to all comers.

1889. Globe, 29 Aug., p. 2, col. 2. Various other smart people who are at present residing in the doss-houses of London.

1890. Speaker, 22 Feb., p. 211, col. 1. Equally bad doss-houses exist in Notting Hill and near Drury Lane.

Dossy, adj. (common).—Elegant, ‘spiff’ (q.v.).

Dot, subs. (old).—A ribbon. Dot-drag = a watch ribbon.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171, s.v.

Dot-and-Carry-, or Go-one, subs. phr. (common).—1. Properly, a man with a wooden leg; by implication, a hopping-giles or limping jesus (q.v.). Fr., un (or une) banban. Cf., verbal sense.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. v. That was his father.... You old dotard. Dot-and-carry-one that you are.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Lay of S. Nicholas). How he rose with the sun, limping dot and go one.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 4. Kit. Of all the rummy chaps I ever did see, that dot-and-carry-one-of-old poetry is the queerest; he’s as green as a babby, and as deep as a wooden spoon.

2. (old).—A writing-master or teacher of arithmetic. [Grose, 1785.]

Verb (old).—To ‘hirple’; especially applied to a person with one leg shorter than the other, or, ‘with an uneven keel.’

Do tell! intj. (American).—A useful interjection, for listeners who feel that some remark is expected; equivalent to the English Really? and Indeed? A similar phrase in the South is the old English, You don’t say so? which a Yankee will vary by, I want to know! Do tell is also used with inexperienced Munchausens who by its means may often be lured to repeat themselves.

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, Act I., Sc. ii. Mrs. L. But when they order nothing at all— Dou: What then, du pray tell?

1854. N. and Q., 1 S., x., p. 84, R. Does Jeremiur behave well now? S. No, he’s very ugly. He tried to burn the barn. R. do tell!

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 598 s.v.

Dots, subs. (American journalist).—1. Items of news.

2. (popular).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

Dotter, subs. (common).—A reporter; penny-a-liner. Cf., Dots, sense 1.

Dottle, subs. (common).—The same as Dodder (q.v.).

1885. John Coleman, in Longm. Mag., VII., 69. During the performance of ‘It’s Never Too Late to Mend,’ some gentleman of the proletariat, in knocking out the burning dottle of his pipe, succeeded in setting the gallery on fire.

Dotty, adj. and adv. (common).—1. Feeble; dizzy; idiotic; e.g., dotty in the crumpet = weak in the head; dotty in the pins = unsteady on the legs. [Totty is given in Cole’s Eng. Dict. (1724) = dizzy, but cf., dotish and dotage.] For synonyms, see Apartments, Balmy, and Cf., Cabbage-head.

1870. Sportsman, 9 April. Although he begins to go a little stiff in his limbs and dotty on his feet he enjoys good health.

1884. Daily Telegraph, 9 April, p. 2, col. 6. His bad leg grows worse ... and, as usual, he [a race-horse] pulled up in a dotty condition.

1889. Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday, 3 Aug., p. 242, col. 3. As poor Doody on his knees had dropt In front of lovely Tottie, And the fatal question just had pop’t. He really look’d quite dotty.

Subs. (common).—The fancy man of prostitutes of the lowest type.

Doubite, subs. (old).—A street.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Double, subs. (colloquial).—1. A trick.

2. (theatrical).—An actor playing two parts in the same piece; used also as a verb.

1825. Egan, Life of an Actor, ‘The Country Manager.’ I make no reserve for myself, like all other managers; indeed, I am to double any character, and only anxious to make the most of every little bit.

3. (thieves’).—See quot.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 501. I piped a slavey (servant) come out of a chat (house), so when she had got a little way up the double (turning) I pratted (went) in the house.

4. (printers’).—Repetition of a word or sentence.

[Double, adj. and adv., is also used as an intensitive in many obscene or offensive connotations: e.g., double-arsed = large in the posteriors; double-duggs (and double-dugged or diddied) = heavy breasted; double-guts (and double-gutted) = excessively corpulent; double-cunted = stretched beyond service; double-hocked = abnormally thick ankled; double-shung = extravagantly large in the genitals; double-mouthed = mouth-almighty (q.v.); and so forth.]

To put the double on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To circumvent.

To tip or give the double, verb. phr. (common).—To run or slip away openly or unperceived; to double as a hare; formerly to escape one’s creditors. Also to tip one the Dublin packet. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 174, s.v.

1860. The Druid, ‘Post and Paddock.’ Alas! my innocent rural police, Your fondest hopes were a bubble; Your attempts to prevent a breach of the peace, Your race o’er the Derbyshire stubble; You must freely own that you felt like geese, When Sam Rogers gave you the double.

1870. Daily News, 26 May. ‘The Metropolitan Police.’ The policeman must do his best to ‘keep square’ with the sergeant who looks after him and his beats, who can be down upon him at any moment and double upon him three or four times a-night.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, ch. i. Old Gregson would never put the double upon us. No, it’s right enough, you may depend upon it.

Double-back, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To go back upon oneself; an action; an opinion.

Double-barrel, subs. (popular).—A field or opera glass.

1890. H. D. Traill, Saturday Songs, p. 61. Intently as the masher plies O’er all the stage his double-barrel That Eightyer mute had fixed his eyes Upon his honoured guest’s apparel.

Double-barrelled, adj. (venery).—Said of a harlot working both before and behind.

Double-bottomed, adj. (colloquial).—Insincere; saying one thing and meaning another.

Double-breasted feet, subs. phr. (common).—Club feet. Also Double Breasters.

Double-cross or Double-double, subs. (sporting).—Winning or doing one’s best to win after engaging to lose or ‘mike’; (q.v.).

1887. Referee, 21 Aug., 1, 3. When the pair raced before, Teemer declared, and Hanlan did not deny, that a double cross was brought off. Teemer promised to sell the match, and finished by selling those who calculated on his losing.

Double-distilled, adj. (colloquial).—Superlative: e.g., ‘a double-distilled whopper’ = a tremendous lie.

Double-dutch, adj. (colloquial).—Unintelligible speech; jargon; gibberish. ‘It was all Double-dutch to me’ = I didn’t understand a word of it.

Double-event, subs. (sporting).—1. Backing a horse for two races.

1883. Grenville Murray, People I Have Met, p. 155. His lordship, who had won largely on a double event.

2. (venery).—Gonorrhœa and syphilis at once. Said also of simultaneous defloration and impregnation.

Double-finn, subs. (common).—A £10 note.—[See Finn.]

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 505. Yes, there it was, fifty quid in double finns (£10 notes).

Double-header, subs. (common).—A false coin with a head on the obverse and reverse, made by soldering two split coins. Cf., Cover and Heading ’em.

1887. Walford’s Antiquarian, p. 252. A double-header is the usual property of the gutter sharper.

Double-juggs, subs. (old).—The posteriors (Burton). For synonyms, see Blind cheeks, Bum, and Monocular eyeglass.

Double-lines, subs. (nautical).—Ship casualties. So called from the manner of entering at Lloyd’s.

Doubler, subs. (pugilistic).—A blow in the side or stomach, causing a man to bend from pain or lack of wind. Cf., Double up, sense 1. For synonyms, see Dig.

1821. The Fancy, vol. I., p. 255. In the fourth round he came in all abroad, and got a doubler in the bread-basket, which spoiled him for the remainder of the fight.

Double-ribbed, adj. phr. (common).—Pregnant. For synonyms, see Lumpy.

Double-shotted, adj. (colloquial).—Said of a whiskey (or brandy) and soda, containing twice the normal quantity of alcohol.

Double-shuffle, subs. (common). 1. A hornpipe step in which each foot is shuffled twice in succession, the more rapidly and neatly the better.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 47. The waterman ... is dancing the double shuffle, in front of the pump, to keep his feet warm.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 542. I used to talk to him and whistle. I can just whistle ... and to dance him the double-shuffle.

1871. Echo, 11 Dec., ‘Sunday among the Silk Weavers.’ The clumsy high low with which they execute scientific ‘elephant dances’ and double-shuffles.

2. subs. (common).—A trick or fakement.

Double-Slang.—See Slangs.

Double-Sucker, subs. (venery).—A term descriptive of an abnormal development of the tissues of the labia majora.

Doublet, subs. (thieves’).—A doctored diamond or other precious stone. Cf., Triplet. [The quots. show derivation.]

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Doublet, a precious stone of two pieces joyned.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxxi. Your een are sharp enough to look after gowd and silver, gems, rubies, and the like of that.... Look at them—they are a’right and tight, sound and round, not a doublet crept in amongst them.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 273. Most jewellers and pawnbrokers are well acquainted with what are called doublets. These are rubies or emeralds made of two pieces. The face is a real ruby, emerald, or sapphire, as the case may be, and this is backed up by a piece of coloured glass.

Double-Thumper, subs. (common).—A prodigious lie.

Double-Tongued, adj. (colloquial).—Mendacious; given to change opinions in changing company.

Double-tongued Squib, subs. phr. (common).—A double-barrelled gun. For synonyms, see Squib.

1864. G. W. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad. A double-tongued squib to keep in awe The chaps that flout at me.

Double-up, verb (pugilistic).—1. To punish. Also to be collapsed. Cf., Doubler.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 20. Doubled him up, like a bag of old duds.

1827. Reynolds (‘Peter Corcoran’), The Fancy, note on p. 89. Randall doubles up an opponent, as a friend lately declared, as easily as though he were picking a flower or pinching a girl’s cheek.

1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xii. Accompanied by a tremendous doubling up body-blow, as in an instant brought him senseless to the ground.

1845. Punch, vol. IX., p. 163. Ben’s reference to the Premier’s friend, Canning, completely doubled him up.

1849. Thackeray, Dr. Birch, p. 6. I reflect as I go up and set him a sum, that he [Champion] could whop me in two minutes, double up Prince and the other assistant and pitch the Doctor out of the window.

1866. London Miscellany, 5 May, p. 202. Doubled you up, I mean, sir. Smashed you.

2. (common).—To pair off, to chum with.

1885. W. Westall, Larry Lohengrin, ch. iii. He ... promised the steward a handsome tip if nobody were doubled up with him,—i.e., if no other person were put into the same cabin.

Dough, subs. (public schools’).—Pudding.

Dough-baked, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Deficient in intellect. U.S.A. = Easily moulded: said of politicians. For synonyms, see Apartments.

1675. Wycherley, Country Wife, IV., iv. in wks. (1713), 212. These dow-baked, sensless, indocile animals, women.

Doughy, subs. (common).—A baker.—See Burncrust, and for synonyms, master of the rolls.

Douse.—See Dowse.

Dover, subs. (hotel).—A made dish; hash; rechauffé.

Dovers, subs. (Stock Exchange).—South Eastern Railway Ordinary Stock. [From one of the termini on the line.]

Doves, subs. (University).—Members of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge.—See quot. Obsolete.

1888. C. Whibley, Three Centuries of Cambridge Wit, p. xxix. It is said that the members of St. Catharine’s Hall were first of all called ‘Puritans,’ from the derivation of the name of their patroness from καθαίρειν. The ‘dove’ being the emblem of purity, to change a name from ‘Puritans’ to doves was but one short step.

Soiled-Doves, subs. (common).—High-class prostitutes. For synonyms, see Barrack-Hack and Tart.

Dove-Tart, subs. (colloquial).—A pigeon pie. (Doo-tairt is excellent Scots for the same thing.) Cf., Snake Tart = eel pie.

1857. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II., ch. vii. Why, a dove tart is what mortals call a pigeon-pie.

Dowlas, subs. (common).—A draper. [From dowlas, now a kind of towelling, but mentioned by Shakspeare (1 Henry IV., III., iii., 1597) as a material for shirts. Popularised as a sobriquet by Colman’s Daniel Dowlas in The Heir at Law.—See Dickey Diaper, and cf., Dripping = cook; Grindo = miller; Gallipot = chemist; Lint-scraper = surgeon, (q.v.).

Dowling, subs. (public school).—See quot.

1871. Newspaper Report, 18 Feb., of a charge of assault against the head boy of Shrewsbury School. Mr. Chandler addressed the Bench for the defence. He said the game of dowling was practised at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Westminster and other large schools, etc.

1877. Everyday Life in our Public Schools. There are four or five compulsory games a week (football) known as dowlings δοῦλος.

Down, subs. (thieves’).—1. Suspicion; alarm; a diversion. There is no down = All is quiet, it is safe to go on.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Down, alarm; rose the down, gave the alarm.

2. (American).—Small beer. Up = bottled ale.

Adv. (colloquial).—1. Dispirited; hard-up; in disgrace. Found in various combinations: e.g., down in the mouth, or dumps = dejected; down on one’s luck = reduced in circumstances; down at heel = shabby; down on one’s back-seam = out of luck; down to bed-rock (American) = penniless, etc., etc.

1608–11. Bishop Hall, Epistles, i., 6. The Roman orator was down in the mouth; finding himself thus cheated by the money-changer.

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, Act iv., Sc. 9. Sir J. Witt. Now am I slap-dash down in the mouth, and have not one word to say!

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xlix. He ... told the physician that he was like the root of the tongue, as being cursedly down in the mouth.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 6, (ed. 1857). I see—never ruined—accidents will happen—best regulated families—never say die—down upon your luck—pull him up.

1840. Comic Almanack, p. 208. Let’s not be down upon our luck Nor out of heart at our condition.

1846. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. II., ch. xxix. They say, that when Mrs. Crawley was particularly down on her luck, she gave concerts and lessons in music here and there.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 58. If the hucksters know that the person calling the raffle is down, and that it is necessity that has made him call it, they will not allow the property put up to be thrown for.

1861. Marian Evans (G. Eliot), Silas Marner, ch. viii. Well, here’s my turning, said Bryce, not surprised to perceive that Godfrey was rather down; so I’ll bid you good-day.

1864. Edmund Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. x. What won’t do? asked Prescott, with flaming face, Why, this Kate Mellon business, Jim. It’s on hot and strong, I know. You’ve been down in the mouth all the time she was away.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. xlvii. I’m sorry you’re so down in the mouth. Why don’t you try again?

1880. Jas. Greenwood, Veteran of Vauxhall in ‘Odd People in Odd Places,’ p. 40. Then I got down at heel, as the saying is; and when a man is reduced to one bare suit of black, and that one so shaky with long wear that it wants as tender handling as an invalid, he hasn’t got much of a chance to get on well as a waiter.

2. (old).—Acquainted with; ‘fly’ (q.v.); up to (q.v.). Also in combination: down to, down on, and down as a hammer.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, IV., iv. Thou art so down upon the least disaster! How would’st thou ha’ done, if I had not help’t thee out?

1825. The English Spy, vi., p. 162. Dick’s a trump, and no telegraph—up to every frisk, and down to every move of the domini, thoroughbred and no want of courage.

1839. W. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 138, [ed. 1840.] Awake! to be sure I am, my flash cove, replied Sheppard, I’m down as a hammer.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. iv. You’re about right there, Mr. Lawless, you’re down to every move, I see, as usual.

1865. G. F. Berkeley, Life, etc., II., 103. Crib. I said ... I’m down on it all; the monkey never bit your dog.

3. (old).—Hang-dog. Cf., adv., sense 1.

1703. Ward, London Spy, pt. xv., p. 353. He describes a swarthy, black, ill-looking Fellow, with a down look, or the like.

1879. Jas. Payn, High Spirits (Number Forty-seven). ‘Well, he was rather a down-looking cove.’ ‘Hang-dog?’ said I. ‘Well, yes, to be frank, hang-dog.’

4. Verb (common).—To put on one’s back: whether by force or by persuasion: e.g., to down a woman = to lay her out for copulation.—See also quot.

1874. Henley, Unpublished Ballad. Then I downs my bleedin’ Judy, And I puts a new head on her.

To be down a pit, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To be very much ‘taken’ with a part.

To be, or come down upon one, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To berate; to attack; to oppose. Sometimes with a tag: e.g., like a thousand, or a load, of bricks; like one o’clock; like a tom-tit on a horse-turd, etc.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. I think we should be down upon the fellow one of these darkmans, and let him get it well.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry (Dicks’ ed., 1889), p. 6. Prime. From the cut of the gentleman’s clothes, I presume he’s lately come from the Esquimaux Islands. Tom. Ha! ha! very good, Primefit; I say, Jerry—you see he’s down upon you.

1864. London Review, 28 May. There are no loungers in this mortal sphere who so nicely judge a horse’s points, or who are so inexorably down upon any blemish as this careless fringe of observers upon those two fashionable promenades.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 167. Let him only find out a man in some artful little game, and he would be down on him and hunt his life out almost.

To be down pin, verb. phr. (skittle alley).—To be out of sorts, or despondent. Cf., Down, adv., sense 1.

To drop down to one, verb. phr. (old).—To discover one’s character or designs.

To put a down upon one, verb. phr. (old).—To peach so as to cause detection or failure.

To put one down to [a thing], verb. phr. (old).—To apprize, elucidate, or explain; to coach or prime; to ‘let one into the know.’

To take down a peg.—See Peg.

Downed, ppl. adj. (common).—Tricked; beaten; ‘sat upon.’ [Cf., down, adv., sense 1.]

Downer, subs. (old).—1. A sixpence. In U.S.A., a five-cent. piece. [Cf., deaner (q.v.); now corrupted into Tanner (q.v.).] For synonyms, see Bender.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444. Sixpence, downer, also sprat.

1861. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, ch. vi. It’s not the first downer I’ve had by a good many; and if it was not for leaving you I shouldn’t care so much about it!

1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. Two more names for a sixpence are a downer and a ‘tanner.’

2. (pugilistic).—A knock-down blow. Cf., Bender, Doubler, and Dig, for synonyms.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Mem. Cong., p. 25. In the twelfth and last round Sandy fetch’d him a downer.

Down-hills, subs. (old).—Dice cogged to run on the low numbers. [1785, Grose.]

Downs, subs. (thieves’).—Tothill Fields Prison. For analagous terms, see Cage.

1856. H. Mayhew, Great World of London, p. 82, note, s.v.

Downstairs, subs. (old).—Hell.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Brothers of Birchington.) Now if here such affairs Get wind unawares, They are bruited about, doubtless much more downstairs, Where Old Nick has a register-office they say, With commissioners quite of such matters au fait.

Down the Road, abj. and adv. phr. (common).—Vulgarly showy; ‘flash.’

1859. Sala, Tw. Round the Clock, 4 p.m., par. 9. A knot of medical students, who should properly, I take it, in this sporting locality, have a racing and down-the-road look, but who, on the contrary, have the garb and demeanour of ordinary gentlemen.

Down to Dandy.—See Up to Dick.

Down to the Ground, adv. phr. (old).—Entirely; thoroughly; to the last degree. Formerly, up and down. Cf., up to the knocker or the nines, up to the handle, up to dick, etc. [Literally, from top to bottom.]

1542. Udal’s, Erasmus’s Apophth., p. 324 [ed. 1877]. He [Phocion] was euen Socrates vp and downe in this pointe and behalfe, that no man euer sawe hym either laughe or weepe.

1606. John Day, Ile of Guls, Act v., p. 98. For, saies my mother, a thinge once wel done is twice done: and I am in her mind for that, vp and downe.

1878. M. E. Braddon, Cloven Foot, ch. xlv. Some sea coast city in South America would suit me down to the ground.

1883. Echo, 6 Aug., p. 4, col. 1. A post which would suit the noble lord ... down to the ground.

1889. John Strange Winter, That Imp, p. 3. A name that suited him well—down to the ground, the officers of the Royal Horse said.

Down upon the nail.—See Nail.

Downy, subs. (common). A bed. Cf., Downy flea pasture.

1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. ix. I’ve a deal to do before I get to my downy.... Good night, Mr. Scott.

Adj. (common).—Artful; knowing (q.v., for synonyms). [Cf., down, adv., sense 2, of which downy is a derivative.]

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 3. Bob. You’re a downey von—you’ll not give a chance avay if you knows it.

1842. Punch, vol. II., p. 217, c. 2.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. xxii., p. 198. Up to mischief, I’ll be bound. Oh, you’re a downy fellow.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. x. I’m not clever, p’r’aps, but I am rather downy; and partial friends say I know what’s o’clock tolerably well.

1860. Punch, vol. XXXVIII., p. 230. You never come across A cove more downier, I’ll be bound, But you knows that ’ere ’oss.

1869. H. J. Byron, Not Such a Fool as He Looks [French’s acting ed.], p. 12.... Sharp old skinflint, downy old robber as he is, he’s under Jane Mould’s thumb.

To do the downy.—See Do.

Downy Bit, subs. phr. (venery).—A half-fledged girl.

Downy Cove, (or Bird, or in pl., The Downies), subs. phr. (common).—A clever rogue.

English Synonyms.—Mizzler; leary bloke or cove; sly dog; old dog; nipper; file; Greek; one that knows what’s o’clock; one who knows the ropes, or his way about; don; dodger; dab; doll’s-eye-weaver; dam-macker; shaver; dagen; chickaleary-cove; ikey bloke; artful member; one that is up to the time of day; fly cove; one that’s in the know; one that has his eye-teeth skinned, or that has cut his wisdoms.

French Synonyms.—Un gaspard (popular); un fouinard (pop.: fouiner = to slink off); un ficellier (popular); être d’affût (thieves’ = to be on the track or scent); un arcasien (thieves’: from arcane = a secret); un pante désargoté (thieves’: one ‘fly to the time of day’); un mariolle (thieves’ = English file [q.v.]); un lapin (popular); un écopeur (pop.: a safe hand); un emberlificoteur (O.F., popular).

German Synonyms. Barje or Borje (from the Hebrew birjah: also = a fop); Bochur, Bacher, or Bocher (from Hebrew bochur: also an official who understands thieves’ lingo); Chochom, Chochem, or Chochemer (more frequently spelled with ‘k’: from Hebrew chochom); Lowon (also = silver, shining).

Spanish Synonyms.—Candonguero (applied to one who is mischievous as well as cunning); zarapeto; zorrastron; perro viejo; estuche (also = a pair of scissors); guitarron (also = a large guitar); perillan; pua (also = a sharp point: es buena pua = he is a keen blade); carlancon; es un buen sastre (= he is a sly dog or cunning blade. Sastre = tailor); soga; alpargatilla; sobon or sobonazo (also = a lazy fellow).

Portuguese Synonym.—Tinente.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 95. Mr. Mace had long been christened by the downies, the ‘dashing covey.’

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, ii., 4. Tom Bullock, the downiest cove, the leary one that never goes to sleep.

1877. Greenwood, Dick Temple, Downy-looking Cove, the fair ’un; a mug like that ought to be worth a fortune to him.

Downy Flea-pasture, subs. phr. (common).—A bed. For synonyms, see Bug Walk and Kip.

Dowry, subs. (common).—A lot; a great deal; dowry of parny = lot of rain or water.

Dowse or Douse, verb (old).—1. A verb of action.—See quots.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulgar Tongue. Dowse your dog vane = take the cockade out of your hat. Dowse the glim = put out the candle. Dowse on the chops = a blow in the face.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering. Dowse the glim!

1860. Punch, vol. XXXVIII., p. 252. ‘The Death and Burial of poor little Bill.’ And who’ll put on mourning ‘Not we,’ said the House ‘The Reform flag we’ll douse, But we won’t put on mourning.’

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 212. At nine p.m., all the lights were ordered out. Mrs. Beresford had brought a novel on board and refused to comply;... The master-at-arms, finding he had no chance in argument, doused the glim—pitiable resource of a weak disputant—then basely fled the rhetorical consequences.

Dout, verb (provincial).—Literally = to do out; as Dup (q.v.) = to do up, and don = to do on. Cf., Hamlet, iv. Then up he rose and donned his clothes, And dupped the chamber door.

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., No. VIII., p. 131. The guard seemed not to hear it, so lost was he in astonishment at there being no light. Why, what can have douted it? he cried aloud.

Doxology-Works, subs. (common).—A church or chapel. For synonyms, see Gospel Mill.

Doxy, subs. (old).—A mistress; a prostitute; occasionally, a jade, a girl, even a wife. In West of England, doxy = a baby. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 14. And thither repayre at accustomed tymes, their harlotes which they terme mortes and doxes.

1592. Greene, Quip, in wks., xi., 283. The Pedler as bad or rather worse, walketh the country with his docksey at the least.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark all, p. 14 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). You decypher and point out a poore Rogue, or a doxie that steale and rob hedges of a few ragged clothes.

1611. Chapman, May-Day, Act IV., p. 299 (Plays, 1874). He called me ... pandar, and doxy, and the vilest nicknames.

1617. C. Shadwell, Fair Quaker of Deal, Act v. Thou couldst not have picked out a wife so fit for thee, out of a whole regiment of doxies.

1694. Dunton, Ladies’ Dict. Prostitute doxies are neither wives, maids, nor widows; they will for good victuals, or for a very small piece of money, prostitute their bodies, and then protest they never did any such thing before, that it was pure necessity that now compell’d them to do what they have done, and the like; whereas the jades will prove common hacknies upon every slight occasion.

1727. John Gay, Beggar’s Opera, Act III., Sc. 3. Finale. Thus I stand like the Turk, with his doxies around, From all sides their glances his passion confound.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Doxy (s.) a she-beggar ... the female companion of a foot-soldier, travelling tinker, etc.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 231. List of patterers’ words. Doxy—a wife.

Dozing-crib, subs. (old).—A bed. For synonyms, see Bug Walk and Kip.

D.Q., On the D.Q., phr. (American).—On the dead quiet. Cf., Strict Q.T., etc.

Drab, subs. (common).—1. Poison; also medicine. [From the gypsey.] Also used as a verb.

1851. G. Borrow, Lavengro, ch. lxxi., p. 226 (1888). At him, juggal [a dog], at him; he wished to poison, to drab you.

2. (colloquial).—A strumpet. Also drabbing = strumming.

Drabbut, verb (provincial).—A vague and gentle form of imprecation. Drabbut your back = Confound you.

Draft on Aldgate Pump, subs. (old).—A fictitious banknote or fraudulent bill. See N. and Q., 7 S., i., 387–493.

17(?). Fielding, Essay on Character of Men, in wks., p. 647, ed. 1840 (b. 1754). This is such another instance of generosity as his who relieves his friend in distress by a draught on Aldgate pump. [A footnote says] A mercantile phrase for a bad note.

1828. Jon Bee, Picture of London, p. 187. Why, he might as well have accosted Aldgate-pump with a bill for payment.

Drag, subs. (old: now recognised).—1. A cart of any kind; now usually applied to a four-horse coach.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 11. While Eld—n, long doubting between a grey nag And a white one to mount, took his stand in a drag.

1820. Reynolds (‘Peter Corcoran’). Glossary at end of The Fancy, s.v.

1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. x. He turned out what he calls a four-in-hand drag which dragged nine hundred pounds out of my pocket.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxviii. Lord Kew’s drag took the young men to London; his lordship driving, and the servants sitting inside.

2. (old).—A chain.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171, s.v.

3. (old).—A street or road; Back-drag = a back street.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. He ‘patters’ very little in a main drag (public street).

4. (thieves’).—Three months’ imprisonment; also three moon. For synonyms, see Dose.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 233. Sometimes they are detected, and get a drag (three months in prison).

1883. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. But neither Snuffy (Reeves, the identifier), nor Mac (Macintyre) knew me, so I got a drag and was sent to the Steel.

1884. Greenwood, Seven Years’ Penal Servitude. Well, sir, as I was saying, I only got a drag for the last job. Oh, I beg pardon, a drag means three months. Three weeks is called a drag, too—a cadger’s drag.

5. (general).—Feminine attire worn by men. To go on, or flash the drag = to wear women’s attire for immoral purposes.

1870. Reynold’s, 29 May, ‘Police Proceedings.’ He afterwards said, that instead of having a musical party he thought he would make it a little fancy dress affair, and said, We shall come in drag, which means men wearing women’s costumes.

1870. London Figaro, 23 June. There is a good deal about Tom and Jerry which our superior refinement might term low—not quite so low though, as going about in drag or consorting with creatures who do.

6. (common).—A lure; trick; stratagem.

7. (hunting).—A fox prepared with herring or aniseed and brought to covert in a bag.

1869. W. Bradwood, The O.V.H., ch. v. He subscribed to the drag at Oxford, though his first season had taught him to seek a less emulous scene of horsemanship.

1887. Cassell’s Mag., Dec, p. 27. He was thrown from his horse, near London, they say, huntin’ with a drag.

8. (old).—See Dragging.

Done for a drag, phr. (old).—Convicted of dragging (q.v.). Cf., drag = term of imprisonment.

To put on the drag, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To ease off or go slow; also to put on pressure.

Drag-cove, subs. (old).—A carter or driver of a drag (q.v., sense 1).

Dragging, verb. subs. (old).—Robbing vehicles.

Drag-lay, subs. (old).—The practice of robbing vehicles. [Grose, 1785.]

Dragon, subs. (common).—1. A sovereign. [From the device.] For synonyms, see Canary.

1827. Maginn, Translation of Vidocq. And collar his dragons clear away.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

2. (venery).—A wanton. Cf., St. George (q.v.).

d. 1625. Fletcher, How our St. George’s will be stride the dragons! The red and ramping dragons!

To water the dragon, verb. phr. (common).—To urinate; ‘pump ship;’ ‘rack off.’

Dragsman.—A coachman; also a Drag-sneak (q.v.).

1832. Egan, Book of Sports, p. 2. The Swell dragsman or in plain English a well-dressed stage coachman.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 332. This locality is much infested with pickpockets and also with dragsmen, i.e., those persons who steal goods or luggage from carts and coaches.

Drag-Sneak, subs. (old).—A thief who makes a speciality of robbing vehicles.—[See Drag, sense 1.] Also Dragsman and Dragger, see quot., 1781.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 151. Draggers [named and described in].

1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 46. Belonging to the first variety, or those who sneak off with goods, are drag-sneaks, who make off with goods from carts or coaches.

Drag the Pudding, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To ‘get the sack’ just before Christmas-time.

Drain, subs. (common).—A drink. For synonyms, see Go. To do a drain, wet (q.v.), or Common Sewer (q.v.) = to take a friendly drink.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 106. Those two old men who came in just to have a drain, finished their third quartern a few seconds ago.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 2 July, p. 5, col. 3. The drinking portion of the Americans are excessively partial to perpendicular drains of cocktails and other drams with more or less preposterous names.

2. (old).—Gin. [From its diuretic qualities.] For synonyms, see Drinks.

3. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Drains, subs. (nautical).—A ship’s cook; otherwise the doctor (q.v.).

Drammer.—See Drummer.

Draper.—See Gammon the Draper.

Drat, verb, and Dratted, adj. (colloquial).—A mild and indefinite imprecation of contempt, or impatience. [A corruption of ‘God rot it.’] For synonyms, see Oaths.

1846. Punch, vol. XI., p. 40, col. 2.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxi., p. 178. Drat you, be quiet! says the good old man.

1864. Churchman’s Family Magazine, Nov., p. 420.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. v. If that dratted girl had been at her post indoors ... it might never have happened.

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xxix. An observation which, I am sorry to say, ... she supplemented with ‘Drat the girl!’

Draught, subs. (colloquial).—A privy. For synonyms, see Mrs. Jones.

1602. Shakspeare, Troilus and Cressida, v. 1. Sweet draught! Sweet quoth ’a! sweet sink, sweet sewer!

1633. Harrington, Epigrams. A godly father sitting on a draught, To do as need and nature hath us taught, Mumbled (as was his manner) certaine prayers.

Draw, subs. (popular).—1. An undecided contest. [An abbreviation of ‘drawn game.’]

2. (common).—An attraction; e.g., an article; a popular preacher; a successful play; and so forth.

1883. Saturday Review, 21 April, p. 497, col. 2. The insinuation that umbrellas are the creation of the devil to tempt otherwise honest men ... is an unfailing draw, whether in a comic paper or an after-dinner speech.

3. (cricket).—A stroke with the surface of the bat inclined to the ground.

Verb (common).—1. To attract public attention.—See subs., sense 2.

1883. Hawley Smart, At Fault, III., xv., 238. Like a judicious theatrical manager, he usually kept ‘his show’ running as long as it would draw.

2. (thieves’).—To steal; to pick pockets. To draw a wipe or ticker = to prig a handkerchief or watch; to draw a damper = to empty a till.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To draw a swell of a clout, To pick a gentleman’s pocket of a handkerchief.

1878. Charles Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. Chorus. Frisk the Cly and fork the rag, Draw the fogles plummy, Speak to the tattler, bag the swag, And finely hunt the dummy.

3. (common).—To tease into vexation; take in; make game of.

4. (colloquial).—To bring out; to cause to act, write, or speak, by flattery, mis-statement, or deceit. Also to draw out; Fr., tirer les vers du nez.

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. vi. The wags who call upon Mrs. Brandon can always, as the phrase is, ‘draw’ her father, by speaking of Prussia, France, Waterloo, or battles in general.

1883. Greenwood, Tag, Rag, and Co. The older tramp was in conversation with him, and evidently drawing him out.

1889. Colonies and India, 24 July, p. 11, col. 1. Any libel or unjust criticism on Western Australia is sure to draw that sturdy friend of the Colony in London, Mr. Charles Bethell.

1890. Pall Mall Gazette, 16 July, p. 4, col. 2. They had the satisfaction last night of seeing him regularly drawn by Mr. Morley.

5. (colloquial).—To ease of money: e.g., ‘I drew him for a hundred’; ‘She drew me for a dollar’!

6. (venery).—Cf., Dog-drawn (q.v.).

To draw on [a man], verb. phr. (common and American).—To use a knife.—See Bead.

1885. Saturday Review, 7 Feb., p. 167. I’ll never draw a revolver on a man again as long as I live.

To draw a bead on, verb. phr. (common and American).—To attack with rifle or revolver.

1886. World, 11 August, p. 12. It is said that twice a bead was drawn upon him, but fortunately the shots missed.

To draw a straight furrow, verbal phr. (American).—To live uprightly.

To draw one’s fireworks (or to draw one off), verb. phr. (venery).—To cool one’s ardour by coition (said of men by women).

To draw plaster, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To ‘fish’ for a man’s intentions.

To draw straws, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversation (conv. iii). Lady Ans. I’m sure ’tis time for all honest folks to go to bed. Miss. Indeed my eyes draw straws (she’s almost asleep).... Col. I’m going to the Land of Nod. Ner. Faith, I’m for Bedfordshire.

To draw teeth, verb. phr. (old).—To wrench knockers and handles from street doors.

To draw the badger.—See Badger, verb.

To draw blanks, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To fail; to be disappointed. [From drawing a blank in a lottery.]

To draw the bow up to the ear.—See Bow.

To draw or pull the long bow, verb. phr. (colloquial).—See Bow and quots., infra.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xxx. What is it makes him pull the long bow in that wonderful manner?

1883. A. Dobson, Old World Idylls, p. 134. The great Gargilius, then, behold! His long bow hunting tales of old Are now but duller.

To draw the cork, verb. phr. (pugilistic).—To make blood to flow; to tap the claret (q.v.).

1860. Chambers’ Journal, vol. XIII., p. 348.

To draw the King’s or Queen’s picture, verb. phr. (common).—To manufacture counterfeit coins.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

To draw wool or worsted, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To irritate; to foment a quarrel. Cf., Comb one’s hair.

Draw it mild! phr. (common).—An interjection of (1) derision; (2) incredulity; (3) supplication. Cf., Come it strong.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 322. It was not so much for myself as for that vulgar child, And I said, ‘A pint of double X, and please to draw it mild.’

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 60, col. 2. Draw it mild! as the boy with the decayed tooth said to the dentist.

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 271. Vehement cries of ‘bravo!’ and ‘draw it mild!’ here interrupt the speaker; but he declares he cannot draw it any milder.

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 10. Draw it mild, old fellow! interrupted the young gentleman in question.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 154. This caused angry words, and Nancy was solemnly requested to draw it mild, like a good soul.

1854. Martin and Aytoun, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘The Biter Bit.’ And if you’d please, my mother dear, your poor desponding child, Draw me a pot of beer, mother, and mother! draw it mild.

Draw-boy, subs. (trade).—A superior article ticketed and offered at a figure lower than its value. Cf., Draw, sense 2.

Drawer-on, subs. (colloquial).—An appetiser: used only of food as puller-on (q.v.) of drink. Both are in Massinger.

Drawers, subs. (old).—Embroidered stockings. Fr., bas-de-tire; tirants brodanchés. Spanish, demias; tirantes. German, Zehnling. It., tiranti.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65, s.v.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874), s.v.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874), s.v.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

Draw-fart (or Doctor Draw-fart), subs. (common).—A wandering quack.

Draw-latch, subs. (old).—A thief; also a loiterer.

1631. Chettle, Hoffman. Well, phisitian, attend in my chamber, heere, till Stilt and I returne; and if I pepper him not, say I am not worthy to be cald a duke, but a drawlatch.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Draw Latches, Roberdsmen, Night thieves.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

[Date uncertain]. Nursery Rhyme. Cross-patch, draw the latch, sit by the fire and spin.

Draw-off, verb (pugilistic).—To throw back the body to strike; ‘he drew off, and delivered on the left peeper.’ A sailor would say, ‘he hauled off and slipped in.’

Dreadful, subs. (common).—A ‘sensational’ story, newspaper, or print. For variants, see Awful, and Shilling Shocker.

1890. Academy, 1 Feb., p. 78, col. 1. Mr. George Manville Fenn is an old hand at a story with an alarming title, and he seldoms fails to live up to it. The only thing we can say against his last ‘dreadful’ is that it is a little deficient in ‘body.’

Dredgerman, subs. (common).—Explained in quot.

1857. Dickens, Down with the Tide, in Reprinted Pieces, p. 269. Besides these, there were the dredgermen, who, under pretence of dredging up coals and such like from the bottom of the river, hung about barges and other undecked craft, and when they saw an opportunity, threw any property they could lay their hands on overboard: in order, slyly, to dredge it up when the vessel was gone. Sometimes, they dexterously used their dredges to whip away anything that might lie within reach. Some of them were mighty neat at this, and the accomplishment was called dry dredging.

Dress, subs. (Winchester College).—The players who come next in order after Six or Fifteen. [So called because they come down to the matches ready dressed to act as substitutes if required.]

Dress a Hat, verb. phr. (common).—To exchange pilferings: e.g., to swap pickings from a hosier’s stock with a shoemaker’s assistant for boots or shoes.

Dress Down, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To beat; also to scold.—See Tan and Wig respectively for synonyms. Cf., Dressing.

1715. Mrs. Centlivre, Gotham Election, Sc. v. I’ll dress her down, I warrant her, and she be for fighting.

Dressed Like Xmas Beef.—See Beef.

Dress-house, subs. (common).—A brothel. Cf., Dress-lodger.

Dressing, or Dressing-down, subs. (colloquial).—Correction, whether manual or verbal; also defeat. Cf., Baste. For synonyms, see Tanning.

1811. Jane Austen, Sense and S., ch. xxx. If ever I meet him again I will give him such a dressing as he has not had this many a day.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxviii. The Scourge flogged him heartily ... and the Penny Voice of Freedom gave him an awful dressing.

Dress-lodger, subs. (common).—A woman boarded, fed, and clothed by another, and paying by prostitution.

1836. Kidd, London and all its Dangers, p. 32. Dress ladies are a class of Cyprians who deserve no pity. They are voluntarily the property of an old hag who clothes them elegantly for the wages of their prostitution, and their only aim is to enjoy themselves, and cheat her of half her perquisites.

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London. You would never dream of the deplorable depth of her destitution if you met her in her gay attire.... She is absolutely poorer than the meanest beggar that ever whined for a crust. These women are known as Dress lodgers.

Dress to Death, Dress Within an Inch of One’s Life, or Dress to Kill, verb. phr. (colloquial). To dress in the extreme of fashion.

1859. Notes and Queries, S. 2, viii., 490. ‘He was got up very extensively,’ said of a man who is dressed within an inch of his life or dressed to death.

Dressy, adj. (colloquial).—Fond of dress.

Drilled, ppl. adj. (old).—Shot through the body.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple [ed. 1846], I., iv., 17. And what is winged and drilled? enquired I.

Drinks.—The subjoined lists will be of interest.

Invitations to Drink.—What’ll you have? Nominate your pizen! Will you irrigate? Will you tod? Wet your whistle? How’ll you have it? Let us stimulate! Let’s drive another nail! What’s your medicine? Willst du trinken? Try a little anti-abstinence? Twy (zwei) lager! Your whiskey’s waiting. Will you try a smile? Will you take a nip? Let’s get there. Try a little Indian? Come and see your pa? Suck some corn juice? Let’s liquor up. Let’s go and see the baby.

Responses to Invitations to Drink.—Here’s into your face! Here’s how! Here’s at you! Don’t care if I do. Well, I will. I’m thar! Accepted, unconditionally. Well, I don’t mind. Sir, your most. Sir, your utmost. You do me proud! Yes, sir-ree! With you—yes! Anything to oblige. On time. I’m with you. Count me in. I subscribe.

Synonyms for a Drink [i.e., a portion], generally, or when taken at specified times.—Anti-lunch; appetiser; ball; bullock’s eye (a glass of port); bead; bosom friend; bucket; bumper; big-reposer; chit-chat; cheerer; cinder; corker; cobbler; damper, or something damp; dannie; drain; dram; deoch-an-doras; digester; eye-opener; entr’acte; fancy smile; flash; flip; facer; forenoon; go; gill; heeltap; invigorator; Johnny; joram; morning rouser; modicum; nip, or nipperkin; night cap; nut; pistol shot; pony; pill; quantum; refresher; rouser; reposer; shout; smile; swig; sleeve-button; something; slight sensation; shant; sparkler; settler; stimulant; soother; thimble-full; tift; taste; toothful; Timothy. For other synonyms, see Go.

General Synonyms for Drink.—Breaky-leg; bub; crater (also = whiskey); fuddle; gargle; grog; guzzle; lap; lush; neck-oil; nectar; poison; slum-gullion; swizzle; stingo; tipple; tittey; toddy. For other synonyms, see Tipple.

Synonyms for Beer (including stout).—Act of Parliament; artesian; barley; belch; belly-vengeance; bevy or bevvy; brownstone; bum-clink; bung-juice; bunker; cold-blood; down (see up); English burgundy (porter); gatter; half-and-half; heavy-wet; John Barleycorn; knock down or knock-me-down; oil of barley; perkin; ponge, pongelow, or ponjello; rosin; rot-gut; sherbert; stingo; swankey; swipes; swizzle; up (bottled ale or stout). For other synonyms, see Swipes.

Synonyms for Brandy.—Ball of fire; bingo; cold-tea; cold-nantz; French elixir or cream. For other synonyms, see French Elixir.

Synonyms for Whiskey.—Aqua vitæ; bald-face; barley-bree; breaky-leg; bottled-earthquake; bum-clink; caper-juice; cappie; curse of Scotland; family-disturbance; farintosh; forty-rod lightning; grapple-the-rails; hard stuff; hell-broth; infernal compound; kill-the-beggar; lightning; liquid fire; moonlight; moonshine; mountain-dew; old man’s milk; pine-top; railroad; red-eye; rotgut; screech; Simon pure; sit-on-a-rock (rye whiskey); soul-destroyer; square-face; stone-fence; tangle-foot; the real thing; the sma’ still; white-eye. For other synonyms, see Old Man’s Milk.

Synonyms for Gin.—Blue ruin; blue-tape; Brian O’Lynn (rhyming); cat-water; cream of the valley; daffy; diddle; drain; duke; eye-water; frog’s wine; juniper; jackey; lap; max; misery; old Tom; ribbon; satin; soothing-syrup; stark-naked; strip-me-naked; tape; white satin, tape, or wine. For other synonyms, see Satin.

Synonyms for Champagne.—Cham or chammy; boy; fiz; dry; bitches’ wine.

Synonyms for Port.—Red fustian (q.v.).

Synonyms for Sherry.—Bristol milk; white wash.

Terms Implying Various Degrees of Intoxication.—All mops and brooms; at rest; Bacchi plenus; battered; be-argured; beery; been at a ploughing match, crooking the elbow, drowning the shamrock, having a cooler or warmer, having the eyes opened, in the sun, looking through a glass, lifting the little finger, making fun, on sentry, talking to Jamie Moore or trying Taylor’s best; bemused; been bit by a barn mouse; blued; boosed or boosy; bosky; bright in the eye; buffy; canon; can’t see a hole in a ladder; can’t say National Intelligencer; chirping-merry; clear; corned; croaked; crooked; cup-shot; cut; damaged; dipped rather deep; disguised; doing the lord or emperor; done over; down with barrel fever; dry; electrified; elevated; elephant’s-trunk (rhyming); far-gone; feeling right royal; flushed; flustered; flawed; been flying rather high; foggy; fou’, or fou’ as a piper; fuddled; full; foxed; glorious; got a drop in the eye; got the back teeth well afloat; greetin’ fu’; groggy; got the gravel rash; half-cut; half-seas-over; hard-up; hazy; hearty; helpless; in a difficulty; in liquor; in the altitudes; in one’s cups; inspired; in the blues, shakes, or horrors; jolly; kisky; been lapping the gutter; loose; looking lively; lumpy; lushy; mellow; miraculous; mortal; moony; muggy; muddled; muzzy; nappy; obfuscated; on; on his fourth; on the batter, beer, bend, fuddle, loose, muddle, ramble, ran-tan, ree-raw, rampage, skyte, or spree; off his nut; out of funds; overcome; overtaken; paralysed; peckish; ploughed; podgy; pruned; pushed; raddled; rather touched; reeling; roaring; salubrious; screwed; scammered; sewed-up; shaky; slewed; smeekit; smelling of the cork; soaked; spiffed; spreeish; sprung; stolling; starchery; swipey; tavered; taking it easy; thirsty; three-sheets-in-the-wind; tight; tipsy; top-heavy; unco’ happy; under the influence; up a tree; waving a flag of defiance; with the mainbrace well spliced; got the sun in the eyes; whittled; wet; winey; yaupish, yappy, or yaupy. For other synonyms, see Screwed, and cf., Drunk as Davy’s sow.

See also lists under Elbow-crooker; Drunk; Lush; Gallon Distemper; Gladstone; Pistol; Flesh and Blood; and Razors.

Dripper, subs. (old).—A gleet.

Dripping, subs. (common).—A cook; especially an indifferent one. Fr., un fripier and une daube. Cf., doctor and slushy (q.v.) = a ship’s cook.

Drive, subs. (common).—A blow. Cf., ‘let drive’ = to aim a blow; to strike. ‘Four rogues in buckram let drive at me.’—Shakspeare. For synonyms, see Dig.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, ch. xix. Lord Charles, after three or four attempts, had managed to give him a violent ‘drive’ on the shins under the table.

Verb (cricket).—To send a ball off the bat with full force horizontally.

To drive at, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To aim at: e.g., What are you driving at? = What do you mean?

1697. Vanbrugh, Relapse, Act iii., Sc. 2. I can’t imagine what you drive at, Pray tell me what you mean.

1730. Jas. Miller, Humours of Oxford, Act iii., p. 41 (2 ed.). Tru. What does the coxcomb drive at?

1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. IX., ch. iii. ‘O, your servant, sir,’ said the Colonel, ‘I see what you are driving at.’

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xii. Howld yer impudence, ye young heretic doggrel-writer; can’t I see what ye are driving at?

To drive a bargain, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To conduct a negotiation; to make the best terms you can; to dispute a condition or a price; to succeed in a ‘deal.’ Cf., to drive a humming trade.

1580. Sidney, Arcadia. My true love hath my heart, and I have his, There never was a better bargain driven.

1638. Ford, Lady’s Trial, V., ii. Love drove the bargain, and the truth of love confirmed it.

1668. Etherege, She Would if She Could, V., in wks. (1704), p. 172. How ... goes the business between you and these ladies? Are you like to drive a bargain?

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, ii., in wks. (1720), iv., 43. He never ... drinks hard, but upon design, as driving a bargain, or so.

1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, II., i. Why, madam, to drive a Quaker’s bargain, and make but one word with you, if I do part with it, you must lay down your affectation.

1712. Spectator, No. 450. I do not remember I was ever overtaken in drink, save ... five times at driving of bargains.

1837. Lytton, Ernest Maltravers, wks. IV., ch. vii. You’ll drive a much better bargain with me than with her.

1855. Mrs. Gaskell, North and South, ch. xxvii. As it affected his branch of the trade he took advantage of it, and drove hard bargains.

To drive a humming or roaring trade, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To do well in business.

1625. Jonson, Staple of News, II. And as you say, drive a quick pretty trade still.

1736. Fielding, Don Quixote, III., iv. You are to drive a humming trade here.

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. vii. The vendors of apples, oranges, and gingerbread ... were driving a roaring trade.

1883. A. Dobson, Hogarth, p. 71. The gentleman at the sign of the ‘Three Balls’ is driving a roaring trade.

To drive oneself to the wash, verb. phr. (common).—To drive in a basket-chaise.

To drive pigs to market, verb. phr. (common).—To snore.—See quot. Fr., jouer à la ronfle or de l’orgue; also fumer.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, &c., p. 64 (1811). He is driving his hogs over Swarston-bridge. This is a saying used in Derbyshire, when a man snores in his sleep. Swarston-bridge (or bridges, for there are several of them, one after another) is very long, and not very wide, which causes the hogs to be crowded together, in which situation they always make a loud grunting noise.

To drive turkeys to market, verb. phr. (common).—To reel and wobble in drink.

To drive French horses, verb. phr. (common).—To vomit. [From the ‘Hue donc’ of French carters to their teams.] For synonyms, see Accounts.

Driver’s pint, subs. phr. (military).—A gallon.

Driz, subs. (thieves’).—Lace. Fr., la miche (pop., in allusion to the holes in a loaf of bread); la gratouse (thieves’: gratousé = adorned with lace); la paille (thieves’: also, straw, or chaff); la galuche (thieves’); le rayon de miel (thieves’).

1812. De Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. [see Camesa].

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 233. Scotch Mary, with ‘driz’ (lace), bound to Dover and back.

Driz-Fencer, subs. (thieves’).—A seller of lace; also a receiver of stolen material. [From Driz + Fence.]

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 429. Among street-people the lace is called driz, and the sellers of it driz-fencers.

Dr. Johnson, subs. phr. (old).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Droddum, subs. (Scots’).—The posteriors. For synonyms, see Blind cheeks, Bum, and Monocular eyeglass.

1786. Burns, To a Louse.—O for some rank mercurial rozet, Some fell, red smeddum, I’d gie ye sic a hearty doze o’t, Wad dress your droddum!

Dromaky, subs. (provincial).—A prostitute: north of England, particularly N. and S. Shields. [From a strolling actress who personated Andromache.]

Dromedary, subs. (old).—A bungler; specifically, a bungling thief. Also purple dromedary (q.v.).

Drop, subs. (old).—See Drop-game.

Verb (common).—1. To lose, give, or part with.

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict. He dropped me a quid, He gave me a guinea.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xliii. That rascal Blackland got the bones out, and we played hazard on the dining-table. And I dropped all the money I had from you in the morning.

1870. London Figaro, 7 June. The money dropped by the turf prophets in the investment of advertisments, postage-stamps, and ‘an office for the transaction of the increasing business of their numerous clients,’ is quickly returned to them.

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