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

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

2. (colloquial).—To die: Cf. Ger.: untergehen. For synonyms, see Aloft.

18(?). Hawkeye, The Iowa Chief, p. 210. Poor Hawkeye felt, says one of his biographers, that his time had come, and knowing that he must go under sooner or later, he determined to sell his life dearly.

1849. Ruxton, Life in the far West, p. 2. Them three’s all gone under.

1888. Daily Inter. Ocean, Mar. All solemnly vowed to see that the mine should be worked solely for the benefit of the girl whether Jim lived or had gone under.

To go up, verb. phr. (American).—To die; specifically to die by the rope.

1867. Hepworth Dixon, New America, i., 11. Unruly citizens are summarily hung on a cotton tree, and when any question is asked about them, the answer is briefly given, gone up—i.e., gone up the cotton tree, or suspended from one of its branches.

To go up for, verb. phr. (common).—To enter for (as an examination).

1889. Globe, 12 Oct., p. 1, c. 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.

To go with, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To agree or harmonise with. See Gee.

2. (colloquial).—To share the sexual embrace. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

On the go, adv. phr. (colloquial).—On the move; restlessly active.

No go, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Of no use; not to be done; a complete failure. Frequently contracted to N.G.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 18. I know something about this here family, and my opinion is, it’s no go.

1853. Diogenes, vol. II., p. 271. Dear master, don’t think of me ill; If I say—as the lists are no go—You’ve in future no fear for the till!

1884. Notes and Queries, 6 S., x., p. 125. There were on the occasion so many rounds and so many no goes.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 12. He thought a moment, and shook his head. It’s no go was the dictum.

1890. Punch, 22 Feb., p. 85. He’s a long-winded lot, is Buchanan, slops over tremenjous, he do;... But cackle and splutter ain’t swimming; so Robert, my nabs, it’s no go.

1892. J. McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed, Ladies’ Gallery, p. 84. She sees it is no go with the baronet.

A little bit on the go, adv. phr. (old).—Slightly inebriated; elevated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [peoples’ ed.], p. 58. The Corinthian had made him a little bit on the go.

Goad, subs. (old).—1. A decoy at auctions; a horse-chaunter; a peter funk (q.v.). [One who goads (i.e., sends up) the prices.]

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle light, ch. x. They that stand by and conycatche the chapman either with out-bidding, false praises, etc., are called goades.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Goads, those that wheedle in Chapmen for Horse-coursers,

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

2. in. pl. (old).—False dice.—Chapman. For synonyms, see Ivories.

Goal, subs. (Winchester College).—1. At football the boy who stands at the centre of each end, acting as umpire; and (2) the score of three points made when the ball is kicked between his legs, or over his head without his touching it.

1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 138. Midway between each of the two ends of the line was stationed another boy, as umpire (Goal, he was called) who stood with his legs wide apart, and a gown rolled up at each foot: if the ball was kicked directly over his head, or between his legs, without his touching it, it was a goal, and scored three for the party that kicked it.

Goaler’s Coach. See Gaoler’s Coach.

Go-along, subs. (thieves’).—A fool; a flat (q.v.). For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage Head.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 460. In four days my adviser left me; he had no more use for me. I was a flat. He had me for a go-along, to cry his things for him.

1853. Household Words, No. 183. s.v. ‘Slang.’

Goat, subs. (old).—A lecher; a molrower (q.v.).

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., iv., 4. Thou damn’d and luxurious mountain goat.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Goat, a Lecher, a very lascivious person.

1717. Cibber, Nonjuror, i., 1. At the tea-table I have seen the impudent goat most lusciously sip off her leavings.

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

Verb (common).—1. To thrash. For synonyms, see Tan.

1864. Derby Day, p. 70. You won’t goat me? Not this journey.

To play the goat. verb. phr. (common).—1. To play the fool; to monkey (q.v.). Fr., faire l’oiseau.

2. (venery).—To lead a fast life; to be given to molrowing (q.v.).

To ride the goat, verb. phr. (common).—To be initiated into a secret society. [From the vulgar error that a live goat, for candidates to ride, is one of the standing properties of a Masonic lodge.]

Goatee, subs. (colloquial).—A tufted beard on the point of a shaven chin. [In imitation of the tuft of hair on a goat’s chin.]

English Synonyms (for a beard generally).—Charley; imperial; Newgate (or sweep’s) frill, or fringe.

French Synonyms.—Une marmouse (thieves’); un impériale (colloquial: formerly une royale); un bouc or une bouquine (= a goatee); bacchantes (thieves’: the beard, but more especially the whiskers, from bâche = awning).

German Synonym.—Soken (from the Hebrew; also = old man).

Italian Synonyms.—Bosco di berlo (the forest on the face); settosa (= full of hair); spinola (= thorny).

Spanish Synonym.—Bosque (= wood).

1869. Orchestra, 18 June. Working carpenters with a straggling goatee on the chin, and a mass of unkempt hair on the head.

Goater, subs. (American thieves’).—Dress. For synonyms, see Togs.

Goat-house, subs. (old).—A brothel. [From Goat, subs., sense 1.] For synonyms, see Nanny-shop.

Goatish, adj. (old, now recognised).—Lecherous. [As vieing with a goat in lust.] Hence Goatishly, adv., and Goatishness, subs.

1622. Massinger and Dekker, Virgin Martyr, iii., 1. Give your chaste body up to the embraces of goatish lust.

1605. Shakspeare, King Lear, i. 2. An admirable evasion of whoremaster-man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star.

Goat-Milker, subs. (venery).—1. A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

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

Goat’s Jig (or Gigg), subs. (old).—Copulation. For synonyms, see Greens.—Grose.

Go-away, subs. (American thieves’).—A railway-train.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. The knuck was working the goaways at Jersey City.

Gob (or Gobbett), subs. (old: now vulgar). 1. A portion; a mouthful; a morsel. Also a gulp; a bolt (q.v.). [Latin, gob = mouth: Old Fr., gob = a gulp.] Skeat says the shorter form gob is rare.

1380. Wycliffe, Trans. of Bible. Thei token the relifis of broken gobetis twelve cofres full.

1542. Apop. of Erasmus [1878], p. 14. A bodie thinketh hymself well emende in his substaunce and riches, to whom hath happened some good gubbe of money, and maketh a great whinyng if he haue had any losse of the same.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in wks., v., 261. And thrust him downe his pudding house at a gobbe.

1605. Chapman, All Fools, Act iii., p. 62 (Plays, 1874). Ri. And do you think He’ll swallow down the gudgeon? Go. O my life, It were a gross gob would not down with him.

1611. L. Barry, Ram. Alley, I., i. That little land he gave, Throate the lawyer swallowed at one gob For less than half the worth.

1689. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 50 (Arber’s ed.). The meaning of the Law was, that so much should be taken from a man, such a gobbet sliced off, that yet notwithstanding he might live in the same Rank and Condition he lived in before; but now they Fine men ten times more than they are worth.

1690. B. E., Dict. Canting Crew, s.v. Gob(c) ... also a Bit or Morsel; hence gobbets, now more in use for little Bits.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gob or gobbet (s.) a piece just big enough, or fit to be put into the mouth at once.

1774. Foote, Cozeners, ii., 2. The venison was over-roasted, and stunk—but Doctor Dewlap twisted down such gobs of fat.

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

1816. Johnson, Eng. Dict. (12th ed.). Gob, a small quantity, a low word.

1869. S. L. Clemens (M. Twain), Innocents Abroad, ch. vii. It is pushed out into the sea on the end of a flat, narrow strip of land, and is suggestive of a gob of mud on the end of a shingle.

2. (common).—The mouth. Shut your gob = an injunction to silence. See Gab. A spank on the gob = a blow on the mouth. Gob-full of claret = a bleeding at the mouth. Gift of the gab or gob, see Gab. For synonyms see Potato-trap.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Gob, the Mouth.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 18. Home-hits in the bread-basket, clicks in the gob. Ibid., p. 30.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. 1. ‘All right—all right,’ I then exclaimed, as I thrust half a doubled-up muffin into my gob.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 469. I managed somehow to turn my gob (mouth) round and gnawed it away.

3. (common).—A mouthful of spittle. Fr., un copeau; It., smalzo di cavio (= gutter-butter). For synonyms, see Sixpences.

Verb. (common).—1. To swallow in mouthfuls; to gulp down. Also gobble (q.v.).

1692. L’Estrange, Fables. Down comes a kite powdering upon them, and gobbets up both together.

2. (common).—To expectorate. Fr., glavioter (popular); molarder.

Gobbie, subs. (nautical).—A coastguardsman; whence gobbie-ship, a man of war engaged in the preventive service.

1890. Scotsman, 4 Aug. When a meeting takes place the men indulge in a protracted yarn and a draw of the pipe. The session involves a considerable amount of expectoration all round, whereby our friends come to be known as gobbies, and in process of time the term came to be applied to the ships engaged in the service. Ibid. There are no fewer than three other gobbie ships in the channel fleet, each of which carries a considerable number of coastguardsmen putting in their annual period of drill.

Gobble (or Gobble up), verb. (vulgar).—To swallow hastily or greedily; hence (American) to seize, capture, or appropriate. Also gob: e.g., gob that!

1602. Dekker, Satiro-mastix, in wks. (1873) i. 233. They will come to gobble downe Plummes.

1728. Swift, Misc. Poems, in wks. (1824) xiv. 232. The time too precious now to waste, The supper gobbled up in haste.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. cvi. Summoned in such a plaguy hurry from his dinner, which he had been fain to gobble up like a cannibal.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. 1, ch. v. Mr. Jos. ... helped Rebecca to everything on the table, and himself gobbled and drank a great deal.

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xiii. There was a wily old monkey who thrust the cat’s paw out, and proposed to gobble up the smoking prize.

Gobble-prick, subs. (old).—A lecherous woman.—Grose.

Gobbler, subs. (old).—1. A duck.—Harman.

2. (colloquial).—A turkey cock; a bubbly-jock (q.v.). Also Gobble-cock.

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

1851. Hooper, Widow Rugby’s Husband, etc., p. 94. Her face was as red as a gobbler’s snout.

3. (vulgar).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

4. (colloquial).—A greedy eater. For synonyms, see Stodger.

Gobbling, subs. (vulgar).—Gorging.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. iii., vol. 1. His mouth was full of it, his face quite red with the delightful exercise of gobbling ‘Mother, it’s as good as my own curries in India.’

Go-between, subs. (old).—A pimp or bawd. Now an intermediary of any kind.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act ii., sc. 2. Even as you came into me, her assistant, or go-between, parted from me.

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

Goblin, subs. (old).—A sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip. Your merry goblins soon stravag: Boose and the blowens cop the lot.

Gob-box, subs. (common).—The mouth. [From gob, subs.] For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1773. Forster, Goldsmith, Bk. IV., ch. xiv., p. 414 (5th ed.). Shuter protesting in his vehement odd way that ‘the boy could patter,’ and ‘use the gob-box as quick and smart as any of them.’

1819. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, ch. i. Your characters ... made too much use of the gob-box; they patter too much.

Gob-stick, subs. (old).—A silver table-spoon. (In use in America = either spoon or fork); (nautical), a horn or wooden spoon.

1789. Parker, Life’s Painter, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Gob-string (or Gab-string), subs. (old).—A bridle.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Go-by, subs. (colloquial).—The act of passing; an evasion; a deception. To give one the go-by = to cut; to leave in the lurch. Cf., Cut (subs. sense 2, verb. sense 2).

1876. Hindley, Cheap Jack, p. 214. When we came in contact with a travelling bookseller we could give him the go-by with our library.

1892. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, ch. ix. She gave us the go-by in the fog—as I wish from the heart that ye had done yoursel’!

1892. Sala’s Journal, 25 June, p. 194. Now can you understand how it is possible, and, I think, expedient, to give politics the go-by, so far as one conveniently can?

Go-by-the-Ground, subs. (old).—A dumpy man or woman.—Grose.

God, subs. (common).—1. in. pl., the occupants of the gallery at a theatre. [Said to have been first used by Garrick because they were seated on high, and close to the sky-painted ceiling.] Fr., paradis = gallery; also poulailler. In feminine, Goddess.

1772. Cumberland, Fashionable Lover [probably spoken by printer’s devil]. ’Tis odds For one poor devil to face so many gods.

1812. J. and H. Smith, Rejected Addresses, p. 128 [ed. 1869]. Each one shilling god within reach of a nod is, And plain are the charms of each gallery goddess.

1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. xxvii. The gallery was quite full ... one young god, between the acts, favoured the public with a song.

1872. M. E. Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, ch. xiv. There come occasionally actors and actresses of higher repute, eager to gather new laurels in these untrodden regions, and not ill pleased to find themselves received with noisy rapture and outspoken admiration by the ruder gods and homelier goddesses of a threepenny gallery.

1890. Globe, 7 Apr., p. 2, c. 2. The gods, or a portion of them, hooted and hissed while the National Anthem was being performed.

1892. Sydney Watson, Wops the Waif, iii., iv. It is only when we have paid our ‘tuppence’ and ascended to the gallery just under the roof, known as ‘among the gods,’ that we begin to understand what is meant by the lowest classes, the ‘great unwashed.’

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 20 Apr., p. 2, c. 3. If theatre managers would only give the public the chance of as good a seat as can be got at the Trocadero or the Pavilion, at the same price, and manage the ventilation of their houses so as not to bake the gods and freeze the ‘pitites,’ I venture to think that fewer people would go to the music halls.

2. in. pl. (printers’).—The quadrats used in jeffing (q.v.).

3. (tailors’).—A block pattern. Gods of cloth = ‘classical tailors.’—Grose. See Snip.

4. (Eton).—A boy in the sixth form.

1881. Pascoe, Life in our Public Schools. A god at Eton is probably in a more exalted position, and receives more reverence than will ever afterwards fall to his lot.

A sight for the gods, phr. (common).—A matter of wonderment.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 31. Stringy Bark prepared to greet his native land, was a sight for the gods to behold with satisfaction, and men to view from afar with awed respect.

God Pays! phr. (old).—An expression at one time much in the mouth of disbanded soldiers and sailors (who assumed a right to live on the public charity). The modern form is, ‘If I don’t pay you, God Almighty will.’

1605. London Prodigal, ii., 3. But there be some that bear a soldier’s form, That swear by him they never think upon; Go swaggering up and down, from house to house, Crying, God pays.

1630. Taylor, in wks. These feather’d fidlers sing, and leape, and play, The begger takes delight, and God doth pay.

1640. Ben Jonson, Epigr. XII. To every cause he meets, this voice he brays, His only answer is to all, God pays.

God (or Bramah) Knows: I don’t, phr. (common).—An emphatic rejoinder.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Come Iddio vel dica., a phrase, as wee would say: God himselfe tell you, I cannot.

Goddess Diana, subs. phr. (rhyming). A sixpence. For synonyms, see Tanner.

1864. The Press, 12 Nov. Goddess diana is the rhyming equivalent for a tanner which signifies sixpence.

God-dot! intj. (old).—An oath. By God! [A contraction of ‘God wot!’] For synonyms, see Oaths.

Godfather, subs. (old).—A juryman.

1598. Shakspeare, Merchant of Venice, iv. 1. In christ’ning thou shalt have two godfathers, Had I been judge, thou should’st have had ten more, To bring thee to the gallows, not the font.

1616. Ben Jonson, Devil’s An Ass, v., 5. Not I, If you be such a one, sir, I will leave you To your god-fathers in law. Let twelve men work.

1638. Randolph, Muses’ Looking Glass, ix. 251. I had rather zee him remitted to the jail, and have his twelve godvathers, good men and true, condemn him to the gallows.

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

To stand Godfather, verb. phr. (common).—To pay the reckoning. [Godfathers being the objects of much solicitude and expectation.]

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Will you stand godfather, and we will take care of the brat? = repay you another time.

Go-down, subs. (old).—1. A draught of liquor; a go (q.v.).

2. (American).—See quot.

1881. New York Times, 18 Dec., quoted in ‘N and Q’ 6, S. v. 65. Go Down.—A cutting in the bank of a stream for enabling animals to cross or to get to water.

God-permit, subs. (old).—A stage coach. [Which was advertised to start Deo volente.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. God-permit, a stage coach, from that affectation of piety, frequently to be met with in advertisements of stage coaches or waggons, where most of their undertakings are promised with if God permit, or God willing.

1825. Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

God’s-mercy, subs. (old).—Ham (or bacon) and eggs. [‘There’s nothing in the house but God’s mercy’: at one time a common answer in country inns to travellers in quest of provant.]

God’s-penny, subs. (old).—An earnest penny.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. God’s Penny, Earnest Money, to Bind a Bargain.

1765. Percy, Reliques, ‘The heir of Linne.’ Then John he did him to record draw, And John he cast him a God’s pennie.

Go-easter, subs. (American cowboys’).—A portmanteau; a peter (q.v.). [Because seldom used except in going city- or east-wards.]

Goer, subs. (old).—1. The foot. For synonyms, see Creepers.

1557–1634. Chapman, in Encyclop. Dict. A double mantle, cast Athwart his shoulders, his faire goers grac’t With fitted shoes.

2. (colloquial).—An expert or adept; as in drawing, talking, riding; one well up to his (or her) work: generally with an adjective, as e.g., a fast (or hell of a) goer = a good goer.

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. xx. Nevertheless, she was always deeply engaged, and generally to the best goers in the room.

Goff. See Mrs. Goff.

Goggles, subs. (common).—1. A goggle-eyed person. Also Goggler.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Knight of Malta, v., 2. Do you stare, goggles?

1891. Clark Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 51. No use sending blind man aloft, gogglers like myself, worse luck.

2. in. pl. (common).—The eyes: specifically those with a constrained or rolling stare; also Goggle-eyes. Goggle-eyed = squint-eyed.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Strabo, he that looketh a squint or is goggle-eide.

c. 1746. Robertson of Struan, Poems, 69. An eagle of a dwarfish size, With crooked Beak, and gogle eyes.

1691–1763. Byrom, Dissection of a Beau’s Head. Those muscles, in English, wherewith a man ogles, When on a fair lady he fixes his goggles.

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

1821. Pierce Egan, Life in London, p. 241. Rolling your goggles about after all manner of people.

3. in. pl. (common).—Spectacles. For synonyms, see Barnacles.

Verb (colloquial).—Goggle = to roll the eyes; to stare.

1577–87. Holinshed, Description of Ireland, ch. i. They goggle with their eyes hither and thither.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Goggle, to stare.

1820–37. Walpole, Letters, iii., 174. He goggled his eyes.

1880. Millikin, Punch’s Almanack, April. Scissors! don’t they goggle and look blue.

Gogmagog, subs. (colloquial).—A goblin; a monster; a frightful apparition.—Hood.

Going, subs. (colloquial).—The condition of a road, a piece of ground, a cinder-path: i.e., the accommodation for travelling. E.g., the going is bad.

1872. Morning Post, 19 Aug. The Lamb’s starting in the Frankfort steeple-chase will depend upon the state of the ground, and, avoiding Wiesbaden, where the going is indifferent.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 23 Nov. The going was wonderfully clean for the time of year.

Goings-on, subs. (colloquial).—Behaviour; proceedings; conduct. Cf., Carryings on.

1845. Douglas Jerrold, Mrs. Caudle, Lecture viii. Pretty place it must be where they don’t admit women. Nice goings-on, I daresay, Mr. Caudle.

1870. Lloyd’s Newspaper, 11 Sept. ‘Review.’ Elsie is beloved by Gawthwaite, the village schoolmaster, and he takes her to task for her goings-on.

Goldarned (or Goldurned, Goldasted, etc.), adj. (common).—A mild form of oath: = Blamed (q.v.); Bloody (q.v.). See Oaths. As intj., Goldarn it! etc.

1888. American Humorist. ‘Bill, are you hurt?’ ‘Yes, by gum; I’ve broke my goldarned neck.’

1888. Cincinnati Enquirer. Finally, Deacon Spalding broke out with: ‘That goldasted St. Louis mugwump has made suckers of us again with his cracks about coming into the league. I move we adjourn.’

Gold-backed ’Un, subs. (common).—A louse. Also Grey-backed ’un. For synonyms, see Chates.

Gold Bug, subs. phr. (American).—A man of wealth and (inferentially) distinction; a millionaire. See Bug.

1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat, Mar. 5. I do not think the feeling against silver is anything like as strong as it was. Of course, a few gold bugs might fight him.

Gold-dropper, subs. (old).—A sharper. An old-time worker of the confidence trick. See quots. Also Gold-finder.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Gold-droppers, Sweetners, Cheats, Sharpers.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gold-finder (s.) ... also a cant name for a cheat, who under the pretence of finding a piece of money, and inviting a by-stander to partake of a treat, etc., out of it, endeavours to get him to play at cards, dice, etc., in order to win or cheat him of his money; they are sometimes also called guinea-droppers.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Sharpers who drop a piece of gold, which they pick up in the presence of some unexperienced person, for whom the trap is laid, this they pretend to have found, and, as he saw them pick it up, they invite him to a public house to partake of it: when there, two or three of their comrades drop in, as if by accident, and propose cards, or some other game, when they seldom fail of stripping their prey.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Golden-cream, subs. (thieves’).—Rum.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, p. 321, s.v.

Gold-end Man, subs. phr. (old).—An itinerant jeweller; a buyer of old gold and silver. [Gold-end = a broken piece of jewellery.] Also Goldsmith’s Apprentice. See Eastward Hoe.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, ii., 1. I know him not, he looks like a gold-end man.

1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii., 1. Hig. Have ye any ends of gold or silver?

Golden Grease, subs. phr. (old).—A fee; also a bribe. For synonyms, see Palm Oil.

Goldfinch, subs. (old).—1. A well-to-do man; a warm ’un (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Goldfinch, c. He that has alwaies a Purse or Cod of Gold in his Fob.

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

1852. Judson, Mysteries, etc., of New York, ch. iv. ‘Was the swell a goldfinch?’ ‘He wasn’t nothin’ else. Got a clean ten times ten out of him.’

Ibid. ‘It’ll be a great lay, if the game’s fat. Is it a goldfinch?’ ‘Fifty thousand, hard dust.’

2. (common).—A guinea; a sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary.

1700. Farquhar, Constant Couple, ii., 2. Sir H. Don’t you love singing-birds, madam? Angel (aside). That’s an odd question for a lover; (aloud) Yes, sir. Sir H. Why, then, madam, here is a nest of the prettiest goldfinches that ever chirped in a cage.

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. iv. Put your monies aside, my lord; it is not well to be seen with such goldfinches chirping about one in the lodgings of London.

1826. Buckstone, Luke the Labourer, iii., 4. Good-night, noble captain. Pipe all hands at five o’clock, for I’ve a day’s work to do. We’ll jig it to-morrow, to the piping of gold-finches.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 101 (ed. 1864). Here’s a handful of goldfinches ready to fly.

Goldfinch’s Nest, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1827. The Merry Muses, p. 70. And soon laid his hand on the goldfinch’s nest.

Gold-finder, subs. (old).—1. An emptier of privies. Also Tom-turd-man; Gong-man; and Night-man. Fr., un fouille-merde; un fifi. Also passer la jambe à Jules = to upset Mrs. Jones, i.e., to empty the privy tub.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, Gadouard, a gould-finder, Jakes-farmer.

1635. Feltham, Resolves. As our goldfinders ... in the night and darkness thrive on stench and excrements.

1653. Middleton, Sp. Gipsy, ii., 2, p. 398 (Mermaid series). And if his acres, being sold for a maravedii a turf for larks in cages, cannot fill this pocket, give ’em to goldfinders.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1704. Gentleman Instructed, p. 445 (1732). We will commit the further discussion of the poet to a committee of goldfinders, or a club of rake-kennels.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v

2. (old).—A thief; a gold-dropper (q.v.).

Gold Hat-band, subs. (old University).—A nobleman undergraduate; a tuft (q.v.).

1628. Earle, Microcosmography. His companion is ordinarily some stale fellow that has been notorious for an ingle to gold hatbands, whom hee admires at first, afterwards scornes.

1889. Gentleman’s Mag., June, p. 598. Noblemen at the universities, since known as ‘tufts,’ because of the gold tuft or tassle to their cap, were then known as gold hatbands.

Goldie-locks, subs. (old).—A flaxen-haired woman. Goldy-locked = golden haired.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Biondella ... a golden-lockt wench, as we say a goldilocks.

1605. Ben Jonson, The Fox, i., 1. Thence it fled forth, and made quick transmigration to goldy-locked Euphorbus.

Gold Mine, subs. phr. (common).—A profitable investment; a store of wealth, material or intellectual.

1664. H. Peacham, Worth of a Penny, in Arber’s Garner, vol. VI., p. 249. Some men ... when they have met with a gold mine, so brood over and watch it, day and night, that it is impossible for Charity to be regarded, Virtue rewarded, or Necessity relieved.

1830 Tennyson, Dream of Fair Women, p. 274. Gold-mines of thought—to lift the hidden ore.

1882. Thormanby, Famous Racing Men, p. 81. Mendicant ... ran nowhere in the Cup ... in reality she was destined to prove a gold mine, for ten years afterwards she brought her owner £80,000 through her famous son, Beadsman.

1883. Sat. Review, 28 Apr. 533/2. His victory proved a gold mine to the professional bookmakers.

1887. Froude, Eng. in West Indies, ch. v. Every one was at law with his neighbour, and the island was a gold mine to the Attorney-General.

Golgotha, subs. (old).—1. The Dons’ gallery at Cambridge; also applied to a certain part of the theatre at Oxford. [That is, ‘the place of skulls’: Cf., Luke xxiii. 33, and Matthew xxvii. 33, whence the pun: Dons being the heads of houses.]

1730. Jas. Miller, Humours of Oxford, Act ii., p. 23 (2nd ed.). Sirrah, I’ll have you put in the black-book, rusticated,—expelled—I’ll have you coram nobis at Golgotha, where you’ll be bedevilled, Muck-worm, you will.

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

1791. G. Huddesford, Salmagundi, (Note on, p. 150). Golgotha, ‘The place of a Scull,’ a name ludicrously affixed to the Place in which the Heads of Colleges assemble.

1808. J. T. Conybeare in C. K. Sharpe’s Correspondence (1888), i., 324. The subject then, of the ensuing section is Oxford News ... we will begin by golgotha ... Cole has already obtained the Headship of Exeter, and Mr. Griffiths ... is to have that of University.

2. (common).—Hence, a hat.

English Synonyms.—Battle of the Nile (rhyming, i.e., a tile [q.v.]); bell-topper; billy-cock; beaver; box-hat; cady; canister cap; castor; chummy; cathedral; chimney; chimney-pot; cock; colleger; cock-and-pinch; cowshooter; David; deerstalker; digger’s delight; fantail; felt; Gibus; gomer (Winchester); goss; moab; molocher; mortar-board; muffin-cap; mushroom; nab; nap; napper; pantile; pimple-cover; pill-box; plug-hat; pot; shako; shovel; sleepless hat; sou’wester; stove-pipe; strawer; thatch; tile; topper; truck; upper-crust; wash-pot; wee-jee; wide-awake.

French Synonyms.—Un accordéon (popular: an opera hat); une ardoise (= a tile); une bâche (thieves’: also an awning); une biscope or viscope (vulgar); un blockaus (vulgar: a shako); un bloumard or une bloume (popular); une boîte à cornes (a horn case; i.e., a cover for a cuckold); un Bolivar (from the hero of 1820); un boisseau (also = a bushel); un bosselard (schoolboys’: from bosselé = bruised or dented); un cabas (popular: = old hat; also basket or bag); un cadratin (printers’ = a stove-pipe); un caloquet (thieves’); cambriau, cambrieux, or cambriot (popular); un capet (from old French, capel); une capsule (popular = a percussion cap); un carbeluche galicé (a silk hat); une casque (= helmet); un chapska (= a shako); une cheminée (popular: = chimney-pot); une corniche (popular: = a cornice); un couvercle (popular: = pot-lid); une couvrante; un couvre-amour (military); un cylindre (= a stove-pipe); un Desfoux (from the maker’s name); un epicéphale (students’: from the Greek); un gadin (an old hat); un galure or galurin (popular); un Garibaldi; un Gibus (from the inventor’s name); un lampion (thieves’: = grease-pot); un loubion (thieves’); un marquin (thieves’); un monument (popular); un nid d’hirondelle; un niolle (thieves’: an old hat); un tromblon (obsolete = blunderbuss); un tubard, tube, or tube à haute pression (= a cylinder); une tuile (= a tile); une tuyau de poêle (= a stove-pipe).

German Synonyms.—Bre (Viennese); Kowe (from the Hebrew, kowa).

Italian Synonyms.—Bufala, baccha or biffacha; cresta or cristiana (= a cruet); fungo (= mushroom).

Spanish Synonyms.—Tejado or techo (= tiled roof).

Goliath, subs. (colloquial).—1. A big man.

2. A man of mark among the Philistines (q.v.). [Mr. Swinburne described the late Matthew Arnold as ‘David, the son of Goliath.’]

Goll, subs. (old).—The hand; usually in. pl. See Bunch of Fives and Daddle.

1601. B. Jonson, Poetaster, v., Bring the whoreson detracting slaves to the bar, do; make them hold vp their spread golls.

1602. Dekker, Satiro-Mastrix, in wks. (1873), i., 203. Holde up thy hand: I ha seene the day thou didst not scorne to holde vp thy golles.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, Act i. This is the goll shall do’t.

1620. Middleton, Chaste Maid, ii., 2. What their golls can clutch.

1634. S. Rowley, Noble Souldier, Act ii., Sc. 2. Bal. Saist thou me so? give me thy goll, thou art a noble girle.

1659. Massinger, City Madam, iv., i. All the gamesters are ambitious to shake the golden golls of worshipful master Luke.

1661. T. Middleton, Mayor of Quinborough, v., i. Down with his golls, I charge you.

1672. Dryden, The Assignation, Act iii., Sc. 1. A simperer at lower end of a table, With mighty golls, rough-grained, and red with starching.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Goll, a hand or fist; give me thy goll.

1803. C. K. Sharpe in Correspondence (1888), i., 179. Miss Reid with her silk coat and greasie golls.

Gollop, verb. (common).—To swallow greedily; to gulp. For synonyms, see Wolf.

Gollumpus, subs. (old).—A clumsy lout.—Grose.

Golly!—A contraction of By Golly! (q.v.).

1890. R. L. Stevenson, The Wrong Box, p. 275. Golly! what a paper!

Goloptious (or Golopshus), adj. (common).—Splendid; fine; delicious; luscious.

1888. Sporting Life, 7 Dec. It would better scoop the situation if it were described as goloptious.

Goloshes, subs. (colloquial).—India rubber overshoes. But see Grose.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Goloshes, i.e. Goliah’s shoes. Large leathern clogs, worn by invalids over their ordinary shoes.

Gombeen-man, subs. (Irish).—A usurer; a money-lender; a sharking middleman. For synonyms, see Sixty-per-cent.

Gomer, subs. (Winchester College).—1. A large pewter dish used in college.

2. (Winchester College).—A new hat. See Golgotha.

Gommy, subs. (old).—1. A dandy. Fr., gommeux. [Anglo-Saxon, guma = a man; a person: gomme = gommer = gammer. Cf., Gomus. Beaumont has gom = a man.]

2. (colloquial).—See quot.

1883. Weekly Dispatch, 11 Mar., p. 7, c. 4. There has recently been considerable debate as to the meaning of the term gommie. It is very simple. A gommie is one who calls Mr. Gladstone a G.O.M. [Grand Old Man], and thinks he has made a good joke.

3. (colloquial).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Gomus, subs. (Irish).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Gondola, subs. (American).—1. A railway platform car, sideless or low-sided. Also a flat-bottomed boat.

Gondola of London, subs. phr. (common).—A hansom cab; a shoful (q.v.). [The description is Lord Beaconsfield’s.]

Gone, adj. (colloquial).—1. Ruined; totally undone. Also, adv., an expression of completeness, e.g., Gone beaver, corbie, coon, gander, or goose = a man or an event past praying for: Cf., Go up and Go down.

1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, iv., 3. He must know ’tis none of your daughter nor my sister; we are gone else.

1843–4. Haliburton, Sam Slick in England, ch. xviii. If a bear comes after you, Sam, you must be up and doin’, or it’s a gone goose with you.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 40. From that moment he was gone beaver; he felt queer, he said, all over.

1857. Notes and Queries, 2 S. iii., 519. To call a person a gone corbie, is only to say in other words, it’s all up with him.

1862. Clough, Poems. He had been into the schools; plucked almost; all but a gone-coon.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 178. I shall meet her again next week; will you come? Any friend of mine is welcome. Wish me joy, old fellow; I’m a gone coon.

Gone on, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Enamoured of; infatuated with; mashed on (q.v.); sweet on (q.v.). Generally in contempt. Fr., aimer comme ses petits boyaux. For synonyms, see Sweet on.

1887. John Strange Winter, That Imp, p. 44. He was a fine fellow, and no mistake. And was gone on Lady Lorrimor!

1890. Illustrated Bits, 29 Mar. p. 10, c. 3. He must have been terribly gone on this woman.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 113. ‘Poor chap, he’s very far gone,’ thought Jack.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 31. I’ll eat my old boots if she isn’t dead gone on.

Goner, (or Gones, Gonus, or Goney), subs. (American).—1. A fool; a simpleton. Also Gauney (q.v.). For synonyms, see Buffle or Cabbage-head.

1857. Punch, 31 Jan. But the lark’s when a goney up with us they shut, As ain’t up to our lurks, our flash patter, and smut.

1860. Haliburton, Sam Slick, ‘The Season Ticket,’ No. X. ‘It’s only grief, Nabby dear, my heart is broke.’ ‘Is that all, you goney?’ says she, ‘it’s lucky your precious neck ain’t broke.’

a. 1871. The Dartmouth, vol. iv. One day I heard a Senior call a fellow a gonus. ‘Gonus,’ echoed I, ‘what does that mean?’ ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘you’re a Freshman, and don’t understand. A stupid fellow, a dolt, a boot-jack, an ignoramus, is here called a gonus. All Freshmen,’ he continued gravely, ‘are gonuses.’

2. (colloquial).—A person past recovery, utterly ruined, or done for in any way.

1876. S. L. Clemens (Mark Twain), Tom Sawyer, p. 99. ‘Yes, but she ain’t dead; and, what’s more, she’s getting better too.’ ‘All right, you wait and see. She’s a goner, just as dead sure as Muff Potter’s a goner.’

1888. Cincinnati Enquirer. Fortunately, she did not see me, or else I should have been a goner.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 261. ‘Make a noise or follow me, and you’re a goner,’ said Smirk.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 212. A few more of her meddlings and she’s a goner, that’s what she is.

Gong (or Gong-house), subs. (old).—A privy. For synonyms, see Mrs. Jones.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales. ‘The Parsons Tale’ [Riverside Ed. (1880)], ii., 241. Thise fool wommen, that mowe be likned to a commune gong, whereas men purgen hire ordure.

Gong-farmer (or Gong-man), subs. (old).—An emptier of cesspools; a gold-finder (q.v.).

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Curadestri, a iakes, goong, or doong farmer.

Gonof (or Gonnof or Gonoph or Gnof), subs. (thieves’).—1. A thief; specifically a pick-pocket, and especially an adept. [From the Hebrew. Ancient English; a legacy from the old time Jews. It came into use again with the moderns who employ it commonly. Cf., gonov = thief in Ex. xxii, 2 and 6, viz., ‘if the gonov be found.’] See Thieves.

1857. Dickens, On Duty with Inspector Field, in ‘Reprinted Pieces’ p. 256. If the smallest gonoph about town were crouching at the bottom of a classic bath Inspector Field would nose him.

1849. Morning Chronicle, 2 Nov. A burglar would not condescend to sit among pickpockets. My informant has known a housebreaker to say with a sneer, when requested to sit down with the gonoffs, ‘No, no, I may be a thief, but at least I’m a respectable one.’

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. III., p. 325. The gonaff (a Hebrew word signifying a young thief, probably learnt from the Jew ‘fences’ in the neighbourhood).

1852. Judson, Myst., etc., of New York, ch. vii. He next assumed his present profession, and became a gnof or pickpocket.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 146. Oh, you tief! you cheat! you gonnof!

1889. Referee, 12 May. Gonophs ... were frequent in Tattersall’s on Friday.

1889. C. T. Clarkson and J. Hall Richardson, Police, p. 321. Boys who creep into houses.... Young gunneffs or gonophs.

2. (old).—A bumpkin; a churl; a clumsy hand; a shameless simpleton.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 3187–8. Whilom there was, dwelling in Oxenforde, A rich gnof, that gertes helde to borde.

c. 1547. Song (quoted by Hotten). The country gnoffes, Hob, Dick, and Hick, With clubbes and clouted shoon, Shall fill up Dussin Dale With slaughtered bodies soone.

Verb (old).—To wheedle; to cheat; to steal.

Gonophing, subs. (thieves’).—Picking pockets.

1857. Dickens, The Detective Police, in ‘Reprinted Pieces,’ p. 240. From the swell mob, we diverge to the kindred topics of cracksmen, fences ... designing young people who go out gonophing, and other ‘schools.’

Gooby, subs. (common).—A simpleton; a blockhead. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 90, c. 3. Why, you old gooby, Mister Sloper will pay us twice as much for the ducks.

Good! subs. (printers’).—An abbreviation of ‘Good Night!’

Adj. (colloquial).—Responsible; solvent; principally now with ‘for’; e.g., He is good for any amount. Also, expert.

1598. Shakspeare, Merchant of Venice, i., 3. Antonio is a good man: my meaning in saying that he is a good man, is to have you understand me that he is sufficient.

1824. Reynolds, Peter Corcoran, 91 Good with both hands and only ten stone four.

Good goods, in. pl., subs. phr. (sporting).—Something worth trying for; a success. In the superlative, ‘best’ goods.

1886. Sporting Times, 17 July, 1/4. He was a nice young man for a small tea party, And rather good goods at a Sunday-school treat.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 39. There’s Warner in ‘Drink’; now, that’s business, good goods and no error.

Bit (or Piece) of Goods, subs. phr. (common).—A woman. For synonyms, see Petticoat.

Good old ... adj. phr. (popular).—A familiar address, derisive or affectionate according to circumstances. See quots.

1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 16 Sept., p. 6, c. 1. It was Mephisto’s greeting to Mary Anne—in Marguerite’s garden—‘Good old Mary Anne!’!!!

Ibid. The famous medico craned his neck out of the window, and, sniffing in the smoke, cried, good old London. This is a true story.

Ibid., 17 Sept. Mr. Chirgwin ... rouses mirth by ... exclaiming good old spot! as he discloses the large white ace of diamonds painted over his right optic.

1892. Chevalier ‘The Little Nipper.’ ’E calls ’is mother ‘Sally,’ And ’is father ‘good old pally,’ And ’e only stands about so ’igh, that’s all!

To feel good, verb. phr. (American).—To be jolly; comfortable; ‘in form’; to be on perfect terms with oneself.

1887. Proctor [in Knowledge, 1 Dec., p. 29]. A friend of mine tells me a proposition was once invitingly made to him which, to say the least, involved no virtuous self-abnegation, and he was urged to accept it by the plea that it would make him feel good.

1888. Texas Siftings, 15 Sept. The saloons are going Saturday afternoon, and the men feel pretty good before they come abroad.

To be in one’s good books, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be in favour; in good opinion. Conversely, To be in one’s bad books = To be in disfavour. See Book.

Good at it (or at the Game), adj. phr. (venery).—An expert bedfellow, male or female.

To have a good swim.—See Swim.

For good (or For good and all), adv. phr. (colloquial).—Completely; entirely; finally.

1673. Wycherley, Gent. Danc. Master, ii., in wks. (1713), 276. If I went, I would go for good and all.

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, Act i., Sc. 3. Sharp. Faith, e’en give her over for good and all: you can have no hopes of getting her for a Mistress.

1875. Ouida, Signa, vol. II., ch. v., p. 66. So the child went up to the hills with Bruno, and stayed there for good and all.

Good as Wheat.—See Wheat.

Good as ever pissed, phr. (venery).—A qualification of extreme excellence.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 260. And she is as good for the game as e’er pissed.

Good as a Play.—See Play.

Good as Gold, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Very good; usually of children.

As good as they make ’em.—See Make ’em.

Good-bye, John! phr. (American).—It’s no go; all’s U.P.

Good cess, subs. phr. (Irish).—Good luck. (Probably an abbreviation of ‘success.’) Bad Cess = the reverse.

1845. Buckstone, Green Bushes, i., 1. All. Bravo, Paddy! Good cess to ye, Paddy! Hurrah!

Goodfellow (or Good Boy, or Good Man), subs. (old).—1. A roysterer; a boon companion.

1570. Ascham, Scholemaster. Sir Roger had been a good fellow in his youth.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Good Fellow, a Pot companion or Friend of the Bottle.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A word of various imports, according to the place where it is spoken; in the city it means a rich man; at Hockley in the Hole, or St. Giles’s, an expert boxer; at a bagnio in Covent Garden, a vigorous fornicator; at an alehouse or tavern, one who loves his pot or bottle: and sometimes, though but rarely, a virtuous man.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. Rattling Reginald Lowestoffe of the Temple—I know him; he is a good boy.

2. (old).—A thief. See Thieves.

1608. Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, ii., 1. Luc. Welcome, good fellow. Host. He calls me thief at first sight. [Footnote in ‘Mermaid Series’ Ed. Good fellow was then the cant term for a thief.]

1870. Evening Standard, 11 Feb. ‘Police Report.’ Police detective said that he believed the two prisoners were good men. In reply to the magistrate he explained that he meant they were old thieves.

Good Girl (or Good One), adj. phr. (old).—A wanton.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Gaultière—A whore, punke, drab, queane, gill, flirt, strumpet, cockatrice, mad wench, common hackney, good one.

Goodman, subs. (old).—1. A gaoler; a dubsman (q.v.).

1721–2. Woodrow, History, ii., 636. The goodman of the Tolbooth came to him in his chamber, and told him he might save his life, if he would sign the petition.

2. (colloquial).—The devil. For synonyms, see Skipper.

Goodman-turd, subs. (old).—A contemptible fellow; a bad-egg (q.v.).

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Dometa, an old worde for a shitten fellow, or goodman-turde.

Good Night! intj. phr. (general).—A retort to an incredible statement or a delightful piece of news. See Carry me out!

Good-people, subs. (old colloquial).—The fairies.

1828. G. Griffin, Collegians, ch. v. An nothin’ shows itself now by night, neither spirits nor good people.

1848. Forster, Oliver Goldsmith, bk. I., ch. 1, p. 8 (5th ed.). A small old parsonage house (supposed afterwards to be haunted by the fairies, or good people of the district).

1891. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 168. ‘Did ever ye hear tell of the story of the Man and the Good People?’—by which he meant the fairies.

Good (or Good Old) Sort, subs. phr. (popular).—A man of social and other parts.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 149. Had we not better make a clean breast of it, and trust to his generosity; he seems a good sort?

Good Thing, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Something worth having or backing; a bon mot; good goods (q.v.). In racing a presumed cert (q.v.).

1844. Puck, p. 63. Here’s to the good thing whose neatness we prize.

1884. Saturday Review, 2 Aug., p. 147, c. 2. The Goodwood Stakes was considered a good thing for Florence, who has proved herself to be an extraordinary mare.

1888. Sporting Life, 10 Dec. In a field of four, Livingstone, who was voted a good thing, was served up a warm favourite.

1891. Daily Telegraph, 21 Mar. It had been generally anticipated that this was a good thing for Oxford.

1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 90, c. 3. That them as trades in rags and bones Makes more than them as writes good things.

Good Time, subs. phr. (old).—A carouse; a friendly gathering; an enjoyable bout at anything.

To have a good time, verb. phr. (old).—To be fortunate or lucky; to enjoy oneself; to make merry. See Cocum.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, i., 2. As not ten housewives pewter, again a good time, shews more bright to the world than he! [= some festival, ‘when housewives are careful to set out their furniture to the best advantage.’—Note by Whalley, given in Cunningham’s Gifford’s Jonson (1870)].

1863. A. Trollope, Rachel Ray, ii., 6., 109. Eating cake and drinking currant wine, but not having, on the whole, what our American friends call a good time of it.

1864. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xxxviii. And what have you been doing? Had a good time?

1883. Bret Harte, In the Carquinez Woods, ch. ix. But we must keep it dark until after I marry Nellie, don’t you see. Then we’ll have a good time all round, and I’ll stand the drinks.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 14. My idea of man’s chief end was to enrich the world with things of beauty, and have a fairly good time myself while doing so.

Good ’un, subs. phr. (colloquial).—1. A man, woman, or thing of decided and undoubted merit. Cf., Good-girl.

1828–45. T. Hood, Poems, vi., p. 254 [ed. 1846]. A good ’un to look at but bad to go.

1854. Martin and Aytoun, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘The Dirge of a Drinker.’ Like a good ’un as he is.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 160. He’s a real good un, and when his party plank the stuff down it’s generally a moral.

2. (colloquial).—An expression of derisive unbelief: e.g., a lie. See Whopper.

Good-wooled, adj. phr. (American).—Of unflinching courage; of the greatest merit; thoroughly dependable.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Goody, subs. (popular).—1. A matron: the correllative of goodman = husband. (Used like auntie, and mother, and gammer, in addressing or describing an inferior.) (A corruption of good-wife).

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Mona, ... Also a nickname for women as we say gammer, goodie, goodwife, such a one.

1689. Accts. of the Churchwardens of Sprowston. Paid goody Crabbin for washing the surplis and church powrch, 1s. 3d.

d. 1732. Gay. Swarm’d on a rotten stick the bees I spy’d Which erst I saw when goody Dopon dy’d.

d. 1745. Swift. Plain goody would no longer down: ’Twas Madam in her grogram gown.

1802. Bloomfield, Rural Tales, ‘Richard and Kate.’ Come, Goody, stop your humdrum wheel.

1816. Johnson, Eng. Dict. s.v. A low term of civility used to mean persons.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘The Witches’ Frolic.’ Old Goody Price, Had got something nice.

Hence Goodyship = ‘ladyship.’

1663. Butler, Hudibras, pt. 1, c. 3. The more shame for her goodyship, To give so near a friend the slip.

2. (colloquial).—A religious hypocrite, male or female; the ‘unco guid’ of Burns.

1836. Kidd, London Ambulator, p. 14. Clapham is celebrated for goodies—ladies of a certain age, who not having succeeded in finessing for husbands, betake themselves to a religious life as a dernier resort.

Hence goody-goodyism = sentimental piety.

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 Nov., p. 3., c. 1. The Christmas tale of adventure ... has perhaps cast off its element of goody-goodyism, but the general features and cast are as of old.

3. generally in. pl. (colloquial).—Sweetmeats; bon-bons; cakes and buns.

1853. Mayhew, Letters Left at a Pastrycook’s. Propped up on each side with bags of oranges, cakes, and goodies.

1855. H. A. Murray, Lands of the Slave and the Free, ch. xii. Adjourning from time to time to some café for the purpose of eating ices or sucking goodies.

4. (American).—The kernel of a nut.

Adj. (colloquial).—Well-meaning but petty; officiously pious. Also goody-goody.

1864. D. W. Thompson, Daydreams of a Schoolmaster, p. 230. I would rather they were not too good; or goody. Let us have a little naughtiness, sprinkled in at intervals.

1892. S. Watson, Wops the Waif, p. 7. He knew well enough the whole of this enterprise had sprung from a goody-goody idea of ‘doing something,’ born of impulse and whim.

Goodyear, subs. (old).—The pox. (A corruption of gougeer, from gouge = a soldier’s trull). For synonyms, see Ladies’ Fever.

1605. Shakspeare, Lear, v., 3. The goodyears shall devour them.

Gook, subs. (American).—A low prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack Hack and Tart.

Goose, subs. (common).—1. A tailor’s smoothing iron. (Whose handle is shaped like the neck of the bird.) Hence the old ditton, ‘A taylor be he ever so poor is sure to have a goose at his fire.’—Grose. Fr., un gendarme.

1606. Shakspeare, Macbeth, ii., 3. Come in, taylor; here you may roast your goose.

1606. Dekker, Newes from Hell, in Wks. (Grosart) ii., 114. Every man being armed with his sheeres and pressing Iron, which he calls there his goose.

1638. Randolph, Hey for Honesty. ... Tailor. Oh! it is an age that, like the Ostrich, makes me feed on my own goose.

1703. Ward, London Spy, pt. xii., p. 276. He grew as hot as a Botcher’s goose.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Goose (s.) ... also the large, heavy iron used by taylors, to press down their seams with when heated very hot.

1766. Kenrick, Falstaff’s Wedding, iii., 1. Although they had been hissing all the way like a tailor’s goose.

1861. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, Noon, Par. 12. An Irish tailor who has had a slight dispute with his wife the night before, and has corporeally chastised her with a hot goose—a tailor’s goose, be it understood—to the extent of all but fracturing her skull.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 89. On the return of the warders from their own breakfast, the tools—scissors, sleeve-boards, irons, or geese—are served out.

2. (common).—A simpleton: usually only of women. Also Goosecap (q.v.).

1591. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, ii., 4. Mercutio. Was I there with you for the goose? Rom. Thou wast never with me that thou wast not for the goose.

1696. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

3. (venery).—See Winchester Goose.

4. (colloquial).—A reprimand; a wigging (q.v.); cf., verb, sense 1.

1865. G. F. Berkeley, My Life etc., i., 276. On the adventure reaching the ears of the Duke of Wellington, the active experimentalist received considerable goose.

5. (printers’).—See Wayz goose.

6. (colloquial).—A woman: whence, by implication, the sexual favour.

Verb. (common).—1. To hiss; to condemn by hissing. Also to get the goose or the big bird (q.v.). Among Fr. equivalents are: appeler or siffler Azor (= to whistle a dog, Azor being a common canine appellation); boire une goutte (= to be goosed); attrapper; reconduire; se faire travailler; empoigner; éreinter; polisonner; égayer.

1854. Dickens, Hard Times, ch. vi. He was goosed last night, he was goosed the night before last, he was goosed to-day.

1858. Dickens, Xmas Stories (Going into Soc.), p. 67 (House. Ed.). Which makes you grind your teeth at him to his face, and which can hardly hold you from goosing him audible when he’s going through his War-Dance.

1873. Hornet, 29 Jan., p. 211, c. 2. Ferdin. Fact! My soul is sick on’t. Goosed last night; My salary docked.

1875. T. Frost, Circus Life, p. 281. An artiste is goosed, or gets the goose, when the spectators or auditors testify by sibillant sounds disapproval or dissatisfaction.

1886. Graphic, 10 Apr., p. 399. To be goosed, or, as it is sometimes phrased, ‘to get the big bird,’ is occasionally a compliment to the actor’s power of representing villainy, but more often is disagreeably suggestive of a failure to please.

2. (colloquial).—To ruin; to spoil. See Cook one’s goose.

1888. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 22 Dec., p. 301. We was pretty nigh goosed.

3. (cobblers’).—To mend boots by putting on a new front half-way up, and a new bottom; elsewhere called footing boots. Cf., Fox.

4. (venery).—To go wenching; to womanize (q.v.).

5. (venery).—To possess a woman.

Goose Without Gravy, subs. phr. (nautical).—A severe but bloodless blow. See Wipe.

To be sound on the goose. verb. phr. (American).—Before the civil war, to be sound on the pro-slavery question: now, to be generally staunch on party matters; to be politically orthodox.

1857. Providence Journal, 18 June. To seek for political flaws is no use, His opponents will find he is sound on the goose.

1857. Gladstone, Kansas: or Squatter Life, p. 43. One of the boys, I reckon? All right on the goose, eh? No highfaluten airs here, you know.

1862. Lowell, Biglow Papers, II. Northern religion works wal North, but it’s ez suft ez spruce, compar’d to our’n for keepin’ sound, sez she, upon the goose.

1875. American English in Chamb. Journal, 25 Sept., p. 610. A man who can be depended upon by his party is said to be sound on the goose.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 22. He didn’t appear quite so sound on the goose as he ought to ha’ done.

To find fault with a fat goose, verb. phr. (old).—To grumble without rhyme or reason.—B. E. (1690).

To kill the goose for the golden eggs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To grasp at more than is due; to over-reach oneself. (From the Greek fable.)

Everything is lovely and the goose hangs high, phr. See Everything.

He’ll be a man among the geese when the gander is gone, phr. (old).—Ironical; = ‘He’ll be a man before his mother.’

Go! shoe the goose, phr. (old).—A retort, derisive or incredulous = the modern ‘To hell and pump thunder.’

Unable to say boh! to a goose, phr. (colloquial).—Said of a bashful person.—Grose.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 76. And now ... he can hardly say boh to a goose.

See also Wild-goose Chase.

Goose-and-Duck, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A fuck.

Goose and Gridiron, subs. phr. (political American).—The American eagle, and the United States flag. See Gridiron.

1891. Standard, 3 Jan., p. 3, c. 1. This is curious, considering the almost fetish-like veneration entertained by the modern American for his Standard, which, coupled with the national bird, tempted the Loyalists in the early days of the war to vent endless rude witticisms on the goose and gridiron.

Gooseberry, subs. (common).—1. A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head. [Perhaps from Gooseberry Fool; as in Goldsmith’s Retaliation:—‘And by the same rule Magnanimous Goldsmith’s a gooseberry fool.’]

2. (common).—A chaperon; one who takes third place to save appearances or play propriety (q.v.); a daisy- or gooseberry-picker.

3. (common).—A marvellous tale; a munchausen (q.v.); a flim-flam. Also gigantic, and giant goosberry. Hence Gooseberry season = the dull time of journalism, when the appearance of monstrous vegetables, sea serpents, showers of frogs, and other portents is chronicled in default of news. Cf., silly season (q.v.).

1870. Figaro, 22 June. If we have no big gooseberries this season, we have at least a big salmon.

1871. Graphic, 22 Apr. Mr. Tupper excited a great deal of incredulity a few years ago by announcing in the prodigious goosberry season that he had discovered an ancient Roman coin embedded in the heart of an oak tree.

1885. Ill. London News, 18 July, p. 50, c. 2. Amongst journalists there is popularly known what they call ‘the giant gooseberry season,’ the meaning of which is, that when Parliament has risen and the Law Courts are shut and subjects on which to write become scarce, adventurous spirits are apt to discourse in their newspapers of fruit of abnormal size, and other natural prodigies, which, according to current banter, exist only in their own imagination.

4. in. pl. (venery).—The testicles. For synonyms, see Cods.

To play (or do) gooseberry, verb. phr. (common).—To play propriety; also to sit third in a hansom.

1877. Hawley Smart, Play or Pay. ch. vi. To take care of a pretty girl, ... with a sister to do gooseberry.

1880. G. R. Sims, Jeph, p. 8. Mamma always played gooseberry on these occasions.

1883. Globe, 6 July, p. 1, c. 5. They will be compelled in self-defence to have a shorthand writer present to play gooseberry, and to be able to furnish proof that their discourse was innocent.

1892. J. McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed, Ladies’ Gallery, p. 51. Well, I am not a good hand at playing gooseberry, and I don’t like spoiling sport.

To play old gooseberry, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To play the deuce; to upset or spoil; to throw everything into confusion; but see quot. 1811. Old Gooseberry = The devil (see Skipper). [See Notes and Queries, 2 S x., 307, 376; xii., 336.]

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Gooseberry. He played up old gooseberry among them; said of a person who, by force or threats, suddenly puts an end to a riot or disturbance.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 22. Will play up old gooseberry soon with them all.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf. To play up gooseberry; children romping about the house or the parent rating them over.

1837. Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Bloudie Jacke of Shrewsberrie.’ There’s a pretty to-do! All the people of Shrewsbury playing old gooseberry With your choice bits of taste and virtù.

1865. H. Kingsley, Hillyars and the Burtons, ch. lxii. Lay on like old gooseberry.

1892. Globe, 12 July, p. 2, c. 2. We all know his capacity for playing old goosberry with things in general.

Gooseberry-eyed, adj. (old).—Grey-eyed. (Lex. Bal., 1811).

Gooseberry-grinder, subs. (old).—The breech. For synonyms, see Monocular eyeglass.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gooseberry-grinder, s.v. Ask Bogey the gooseberry-grinder, ask mine a——e.

Gooseberry Lay, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Stealing linen from a line.

Gooseberry-picker, subs. (colloquial).—1. A person whose labour profits, and is credited to, another; a ghost (q.v.).

2. (common).—A chaperon. See Gooseberry, subs. sense 2.

1884. Cornhill Mag., Dec., p. 578. The good host experienced the sensations of being gooseberry-picker. He sat under a tree, ate, drank, smoked, and finally fell asleep, whilst the Prince and Ottilie explored the Gaulish city and the convent.

Gooseberry-pudding, subs. (rhyming).—A woman. For synonyms, see Petticoat.

Gooseberry-wig, subs. (old).—A large frizzled wig. ‘Perhaps,’ says Grose (s.v.), ‘from a supposed likeness to a gooseberry bush.’

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Goosecap, subs. (common).—A booby, male or female; a noodle. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1593. G. Harvey, Pierce’s Super. in wks. II., 72. A foole, an idiot, a dolt, a goose-capp, an asse, and soe fourth.

1604. Dekker, Honest Wh. in wks. (1873), ii., 81. Out, you gulles, you goose-caps, you gudgeon-eaters!

1622. Beaumont and Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iv., 4. Why, what a goose-cap wouldst thou make me!

1763. Foote, Mayor of Garratt, Act i. My husband is such a goose-cap that I can’t get no good out of him at home or abroad.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A silly fellow or woman.

Goose- (or Goose’s) Egg, subs. (American).—No score. Also Gooser. See Duck.

1886. New York Times, July. With nine unpalatable goose-eggs in their contest.

1889. Modern Society, 12 Oct., p. 1264. An enthusiastic lady cricketer has just bowled over Mr. Jones in a matrimonial match. ‘No, Mr. Brown, I cannot marry you. You score a gooser this time.’

Goose-flesh (or Goose-skin), subs. (colloquial).—A peculiar tingling of the skin produced by cold, fear, etc.; the sensation described as ‘cold water down the back’; the creeps (q.v.).

1824. Miss Ferrier, Inheritance, ch. ii. Her skin began to rise into what is vulgarly termed goose-skin.

Goose-gog (or Goose-gob), subs. (common).—A gooseberry.

Goose-grease, subs. phr. (venery).—A woman’s spendings (q.v.). See Goose, subs., sense 6.

Goose-month, subs. (old).—The lying-in month. Cf., Gander-month.

Goose-persuader, subs. (common).—A tailor. For synonyms, see Snip.

Gooser, subs. (popular).—1. A settler; a knock-out blow; the act of death. See Dig and Wipe.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. III., p. 133. It was he who saved my life. If it hadn’t been for him it would have been a gooser with me.

1857. Morning Chronicle, 9 Sept. In the event of my getting a gooser.

2. (sporting).—No score; a goose-egg (q.v.).

3. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Goose-Riding. See Gander-pulling.

Goose’s Gazette, subs. (old).—A lying story; a flim-flam tale; that is, a piece of reading for a goose, sense 2.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxxiv. Lieutenant Brown ... told him some goose’s gazette about his being taken in a skirmish with the land-sharks.

Goose-shearer, subs. (common).—A beggar. For synonyms, see Cadger. [From goose = simpleton + shearer = a cheater.]

Goose’s-neck, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Goose-step, subs. (common).—Balancing on one foot and moving the other back and forwards without taking a step. [A preliminary in military drill, the pons asinorum of the raw recruit.] Also (more loosely) ‘marking time’: that is, lifting the feet alternately without advancing.

1840. Tate’s Mag., Sept., p. 607. Whether the remarkable evolution [the goose step] was called ... from the nature of the operation requiring the exhibitor to stand on one leg, in imitation of the above-named animal, I am totally at a loss to say.

1890. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 7 Nov. He won his spurs at Punchestown before he had mastered the goose step.

Goose-turd Green, adj. (old).—A light-yellowish green.—Cotgrave.

Goosey-gander, subs. (common).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Goosing-slum, subs. (American).—A brothel. [Goosing = womanizing; also copulating.] For synonyms, see Nanny-shop.

Gopher, subs. (American).—1. A young thief; especially a boy employed by burglars to enter houses through windows, skylights, etc. [In natural history gopher = a burrowing squirrel.]

2. (Southern States).—A rude wooden plough.

Goree, subs. (old).—Money; specifically gold or gold-dust. From Fort Goree on the Gold Coast. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1696. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Gorge, subs. (vulgar).—1. A heavy meal; a tuck-in (q.v.); a blow-out (q.v.).

1553. Wilson, Arte of Rhetorique, p. 112. The counseler heareth causes with lesse pain being emptie, then he shal be able after a ful gorge.

1883. Daily News, March 24, p. 3, c. 4. The keeper tries these brutes once a week to see whether they are ready for a gorge, and the python has been known to devour eight ducks at one meal, feathers and all, before signifying enough.

2. (theatrical).—A manager; an abbreviation of gorger (q.v.).

Verb (vulgar).—To eat voraciously; also to gulp as a fish does when it swallows (or gorges) a bait. For synonyms, see Wolf.

1572. Satirical Poems, Scottish Text Society, 1889–91, ‘Lamentacioun,’ ii., 232. Gorged waters ever greater grows.

1633. Massinger, New Way to Pay Old Debts, iii., 2. Mar. Come, have patience If you will dispense a little with your worship, And sit with the waiting women, you’ll have dumpling, Woodcock, and butter’d toasts too. Greedy. This revives me: I will gorge there sufficiently.

1654. Chapman, Revenge for Honour, Act i., Sc. 1. Here men o’ th’ shop can gorge their musty maws With the delicious capon, and fat limbs of mutton.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gorge (v.), to eat over-much, to cram, glut, or fill unreasonably.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxxiv., p. 336. No man had spoken a word; every one had been intent, as usual, on his own private gorging; and the greater part of the company were decidedly dirty feeders.

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. iii. Who might be such a fine race, if they would only not gorge their food so rapidly.

Gorger, subs. (vulgar).—1. A voracious eater; a scruncher (q.v.). Rotten gorger = a lad who hangs about Covent Garden eating refuse fruit.

2. (common).—A well-dressed man; a gentleman. [Gypsy, gorgio = gentlemen.] Fr., un gratiné.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Mung the gorger; beg child beg, of the gentleman.

3. (common).—An employer; a principal: especially the manager of a theatre. [Perhaps because he takes (or gorges) all the fat (q.v.).] Also cully-gorger. Fr., amendier.

1872. M. E. Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, ch. xiv. The gorger’s awful coally on his own slumming, eh?... I mean to say that our friend the manager is rather sweet upon his own acting.

4. (old).—A neckerchief. [From gorge = throat.]

1320–30. Gawaine, 957. That other wyth a gorger watz gored ouer the swyre.

Gorgonzola Hall, subs. phr. (Stock Exchange).—Formerly the New Hall; now the corporation generally. [From the colour of the marble.]

1887. Atkin, House Scraps, Gorgonzola Hall got turned into New Billingsgate.

Gorm, verb. (American University).—To gorge (q.v.). For synonyms, see Wolf.

I’m gormed, phr. (popular).—A profane oath. See Gaum.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. iii. If it [his generosity] were ever referred to, ... he struck the table a heavy blow with his right hand (had split it on one such occasion), and swore a dreadful oath that he would be gormed if he didn’t cut and run for good, if it was ever mentioned again.

1883. Punch, May 19, p. 230, c. 2. Why, of course I hardly expects to be believed, but I’m gormed if there was more than six of one and half-a-dozen of the other.

1884. Julian Sturgis, in Longman’s Mag., iii., 623. ‘Gormed if there ain’t that old parson again!’ cried Henry, with enthusiasm.

Gormagon, subs. (old).—See quots.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A monster with six eyes, three mouths, four arms, eight legs, five on one side and three on the other, three arses, two tarses, and a cunt upon its back; a man on horseback with a woman behind him.

1892. Fennell, Stanford Dict., s.v., Gormagon ... a member of an English Secret Society which existed in the second quarter of 18 c.

Gormy-ruddles, subs. (common).—The intestines.

Gorram (or Goram).—See By Goldam.

Gorry.—See By Gorry!

Goschens, subs. (Stock Exchange).—The 2¾ per cent. Government Stock created by Mr. Goschen in 1888.

1889. Man of the World, 29 June. The nickname Goschens is going out of fashion. The new 2¾ stock is now called by the old name.

1891. Punch, 4 Apr. Securities yielding a larger return than 2¾ Goschens.

Gosh, see by gosh.

Gospel, subs. (colloquial).—1. Anything offered as absolutely true. Also gospel-truth.

1862. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. lx. She is a good young woman, and a honest young woman in her way, and what she says this night about her brother is gospel-truth.

1864. Derby Day, p. 35. Apparently unable to resist the powerful influences brought to bear upon him, he replied, in a tone which carried the impress of veracity with it, ‘Gospel.’

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 175. It was true as gospel.

To do gospel, verb. phr. (common).—To go to church.

Gospel-gab, subs. (common).—Insincere talk concerning religion; cant.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 146. Yes; when I saw I was in for it, I told them my name and all about my father without any reserve; that, with a little gospel-gab and howling penitence, got the church people interested in me, and so I was let off easily.

Gospel-Grinder (-postillion, -sharp, or -shark), subs. (common).—A clergyman or missionary. For synonyms, see devil-dodger and sky-pilot;—

French Synonyms.—La forêt noire (thieves’ = the black forest); une entonne ramparte (thieves’); entonner = to intone; une antiffle (thieves’); une cavée (thieves’ = a black hole); une chique (thieves’).

Spanish Synonym.—Salud.

Italian Synonyms.—Balza; balzana.

1869. S. L. Clemens, Innocents at Home, p. 19. ‘A what!’ ‘Gospel-sharp—parson.’ ‘Oh! why did you not say so before? I am a clergyman—a parson.’

1877. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. viii. Else we should be as stagnant as a Connecticut Gospel-grinder in his village location.

Gospeller, subs. (colloquial).—An Evangelist preacher; in contempt. Also Hot-gospeller (= a preaching fanatic.)

Gospel-mill (or -shop), subs. (common).—A church or chapel. Also schism-shop and doxology-works (q.v.).

1782. Geo. Parker, Humorous Sketches, p. 88. From Whitfield and Romaine to Pope John range; Each Gospel-shop ringing a daily change.

1791. Life of J. Lackington, Letter xix. As soon as I had procured a lodging and work my next enquiry was for Mr. Wesley’s Gospel-shops.

1852. Judson, Mysteries of New York, pt. II., ch. ii., p. 13. On about that ere gospel-shop as you was agoin for to crack last week.

1869. S. L. Clemens (Mark Twain) Innocents at Home, p. 17, 18. Are you the duck that runs the gospel-mill next door.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 35. It’s all gospel-shop gruel.

Goss (or Gossamer), subs. (common).—A hat. (At first a make of peculiar lightness called a four-and-nine (q.v.).) In quot. 1836 = a white hat. For synonyms, see Golgotha.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xii. ‘That’s one thing, and every hole lets in some air, that’s another—wentilation gossamer I calls it.’ On the delivery of this sentiment, Mr. Weller smiled agreeably upon the assembled Pickwickians.

1838. Jas. Grant, Sketches in London, ch. ix., p. 294. Another passenger inquired whether the hat was ‘a vashing beaver von?’ while a fourth inquired whether it was ‘a gossamer ventilator?’

1851. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. II., p. 49. I have sold hats from 6d. to 3s. 6d., but very seldom 3s. 6d. The 3s. 6d. ones would wear out two new gossamers, I know.

1884. A. Lang, Much Darker Days, p. 25. Yes, the white hat, lying there all battered and crushed on the white snow, must be the hat of Sir Runan! ... who else would wear the gay gossamer of July in stormy December?

1888. Harper’s Magazine, LXXVII., 139. Flinging off his gossamer and hanging it up to drip into the pan of the hat rack.

To give (or get) goss, verb. phr. (American).—To requite an injury; to kill; to go strong; to get an opportunity; to put in big licks (q.v.). Sometimes ejaculatory, as ‘Give me goss and let me rip!’

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 75. Gin him goss without sweetin.

1847. Darley, Drama in Porterville, p. 114. Divers hints passed from one to another among the more excitable citizens, that ‘Old Sol’ was going to get goss, sure.

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, etc., p. 115. Shouts of ‘Fair play,’ ‘Turn ’em out,’ ‘Give him goss,’ were heard on all sides.

a. 1852. Traits of American Humour, II., 261. Ef I don’t, the old man will give me goss when I go back.

Gossoon, subs. (colloquial Irish).—A boy. [A corruption of Fr., garçon = a boy.]

Gotch-gutted, adj. (old).—Pot-bellied; ‘a gotch in Norfolk, signifying a pitcher or large round jug.’—Grose.

Got ’em Bad, phr. (common).—A superlative of earnestness or excessiveness: e.g., anyone doing his work thoroughly, a horse straining every nerve, a very sick person, especially a patient in the horrors (q.v.), is said to have got ’em bad.

Got ’em On (or All On), phr. (common).—Dressed in the height of fashion. See Rigged Out.

1880. Punch, 28 Aug., p. 90.

188(?). Broadside Ballad, ‘’Arry.’ Where are you going on Sunday, ’Arry, now you’ve got ’em on?

188(?). Broadside Ballad. ‘He’s got ’em on.’

Goth, subs. (common).—A frumpish or uncultured person; one behind the times or ignorant of the ways of society.

1712. Spectator, No. 367. But I shall never sink this paper so far as to engage with Goths and Vandals.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. lxi. You yourself are a Goth ... to treat with such disrespect a production which ... will, when finished, be a masterpiece of its kind.

1865. Ouida, Strathmore, ch. ii. For God’s sake don’t suppose me such a Goth that I should fall in love with a dairymaid, Strath!

Gotham, subs. (common).—New York City. Gothamite, a New Yorker. [First used by Washington Irving in Salmagundi (1807).]

1852. Jutson, Mysteries of New York. ch. xiii. One of the vilest of all hells in Gotham.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 37. The first thing, as a general rule, that a young Gothamite does is to get a horse.

Gothic, adj. (old).—See Goth.

1700. Congreve, The Way of the World, iv. 4. Ah, rustic, ruder than Gothic!

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, ii., 8. Why, with his usual Gothic vivacity, he said I only wanted him to throw off his wig to convert it into a tête for my own wearing.

Go-to-meeting Bags (or Clothes, Dress, etc.), subs. phr. (common).—Best clothes. [As worn on Sundays, or holiday occasions.]

1837–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 243 (Ed. 1862). If he hadn’t his go-to-meetin’ dress and looks on this day to the jury, it’s a pity.

1854. Bradley, Verdant Green, Pt. II., p. 5. Besides his black go-to-meeting bags please to observe the peculiarity, etc.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s Schooldays, pt. II., ch. v. I want to give you a true picture of what every-day school life was in my time, and not a kid-glove and go-to-meeting-coat picture.

1857. Kingsley, Two Years Ago. Looks right well in her go-to-meeting clothes.

Gouge, subs. (American).—An imposture; a swindle; a method of cheating.

1845. New York Tribune, 10 Dec. R—— and H—— will probably receive from Mr. Polk’s administration $100,000 more than respectable printers would have done the work for. There is a clean, plain gouge of this sum out of the people’s strong box.

Verb. (old).—1. Grose says, ‘To squeeze out a man’s eye with the thumb, a cruel practice used by the Bostonians in America.’

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 49. His eyes having been gouged in a mountain fray.

2. (American).—To defraud.

1845. New York Tribune, 26 Nov. Very well, gentlemen! gouge Mr. Crosby out of the seat, if you think it wholesome to do it.

1874. W. D. Howells, Foregone Conclusions, ch. iii. The man’s a perfect Jew—or a perfect Christian, one ought to say in Venice; we true believers do gouge so much more infamously here.

1885. Bret Harte, A Ship of ’49, ch. i. He’s regularly gouged me in that ’ere horsehair spekilation.

Gouger, subs. (American).—A cheat; a swindler. For synonyms, see Rook.

Gouging, subs. (American).—Cheating.

Goujeers. See Goodyear.

Gourd, subs. (old).—False dice with a cavity within, which in Fullams (q.v.) was filled with lead to give a bias. See also High-men and Low-men.

1544. Ascham, Toxophylus. What false dyse use they? as dyse stopped with quicksilver and heares, dyse of vauntage, flattes, gourds, to chop and chaunge when they liste.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, i., 3. Let vultures gripe thy guts! for gourd and fullam holds, And high and low beguiles the rich and poor.

1616. Beaumont and Fletcher, Scornful Lady, iv. And thy dry bones can reach at nothing now But gourds or nine-pins; pray go fetch a trencher, go.

Gourock Ham, subs. (common).—A salt herring (Gourock was formerly a great fishing village). For synonyms, see Glasgow Magistrate.

Government-man, subs. (old Australian).—A convict.

1864. Smythe, Ten Months in Fiji Islands, q.v.

1883. Graphic, 17 Mar., p. 262, c. 3. They never settle down as thousands of our Government men cheerfully did in Australia after they had their freedom.

Government-securities, subs. (common).—Handcuffs; fetters generally. For synonyms, see Darbies.

Government-signpost, subs. (old).—The gallows. For synonyms, see Nubbing-cheat.

1887. A. Barrère, Argot and Slang, p. 272. Montagne du géant. Fr. (obsolete), gallows, scrag, nobbing cheat, or government signpost.

Governor (or Guv), subs. (common).—1. A father. Also relieving officer; old ’un; pater; nibso; and his nibs. Applied to elderly people in general. Fr., le géniteur and l’ancien (= the old ’un).

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xx. p. 169. ‘You’re quite certain it was them, governor?’ inquired Mr. Weller, junior. ‘Quite, Sammy, quite,’ replied his father.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 28. But—mind! don’t tell the governor!

1852. Comic Almanack, p. 19. Your father: Speaking to him, say ‘Guvnor,’ or ‘Old Strike-a-light;’ of him, ‘The old un.’

1859. Witty Political Portraits, p. 111. Unconscious of the constitutional delusions on which his governor has thrived.

1889. Answers, 20 Apr., p. 323. To call your father ‘The Governor’ is, of course, slang, and is as bad as referring to him as ‘The Boss,’ ‘The Old Man,’ or ‘The Relieving Officer.’

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 9 Jan. It was mortifying to be done in that manner by a low fellow like Muggins, that I had always looked upon as a fool, and had made a butt of when the guv. was out of the way.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 118. The Governor is in an awful funk about him.

2. (common).—A mode of address to strangers. Fr., bourgeois.

1892. Anstey, Voces Populi (Second Series). ‘At the Guelph Exhibition.’ Right, guvnor; we’ll come.

3. (colloquial).—A master or superior; an employer.

English Synonyms.—Boss; captain of the waiters; captain; chief; colonel; commander; chief bottle-washer; ganger; head-butler; head-cook and bottle-washer; gorger; omee; rum-cull.

French Synonyms.—Le pantriot (popular and thieves’: also = a young nincompoop); le, or la, pâte (popular: properly paste or dough); le naïf (printers’: obsolete); le herz or hers (thieves’: obviously from the German); le loncegué (thieves’: Fr., back-slang; = gonce, itself a slang term for a man); le galeux (popular: = one with the itch); le grêle (popular: specifically a master-tailor); le singe (= monkey); le troploc; le nourisseur (= the grubber); l’ogre (specifically a fence); le notaire (= publican); le patron (colloquial: = governor).

Italian Synonyms.—Chielmiero (vulgar).

Governor’s-stiff, subs. (American).—A pardon.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Gower-street Dialect. See Medical Greek.

Gowk, subs. (prison).—A simpleton. (Scots’ gowk = a cuckoo). For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head. Also a countryman. For synonyms, see Joskin.

1816. Scott, Antiquary, ch. x. ‘Hout awa’, ye auld gowk,’ said Jenny Rintherout.

To hunt the gowk, verb. phr. (common).—To go on a fool’s errand.

Gowler, subs. (old).—A dog; specifically a howler.

Gown, subs. (Winchester College)—1. Coarse brown paper. (obsolete).

2. (University).—The schools as distinguished from the town (q.v.)., e.g., Town and Gown.

1847. Thackeray, Punch’s Prize Novelists, ‘Codlingsby,’ p. 232. From the Addenbrooke’s hospital to the Blenheim turnpike, all Cambridge was in an uproar—the College gates closed—the shops barricaded—the shop-boys away in support of their brother townsmen—the battle raged, and the Gown had the worst of the fight.

1853. Bradley, Verdant Green, II., ch. iii. When Gown was absent, Town was miserable.

1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 30 May, p. 4, c. 3. Town and Gown joined in harmony.

Gownsman (also Gown), subs. (university).—A student.

1800. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), i., 96. A battle between the gownsmen and townspeople ... in spite of the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xxv. The ancient town of Cambridge, no longer animated by the countless throngs of gownsmen, frowned in its unaccustomed solitude.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford. The townsmen ... were met by the gownsmen with settled steady pluck.

Grab, subs. (vulgar).—1. A sudden clutch.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1st S., ch. viii. He makes a grab at me, and I shuts the door right to on his wrist.

2. (American).—A robbery; a steal (q.v.). Cf., Grab-gains.

3. (old).—A body-stealer; a resurrectionist.

1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xvi. Sir ——’s dressers and myself, with an experienced grab—that is to say, a professional resurrectionist—were to set off from the Borough.

4. (gamesters’).—A boisterous game at cards.

Verb (vulgar).—1. To Pinch (q.v.); to seize; to apprehend; to snatch or steal. Grabbed = arrested.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. The pigs grabbed the kiddy for a crack.

1818. Maginn, Vidocq’s Song. Tramp it, tramp it, my jolly blowen, Or be grabbed by the beaks we may.

1837. Lytton, Ernest Maltravers, Wk. I., ch. x. There, man, grab the money, it’s on the table.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xiii. Do you want to be grabbed, stupid?

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 39. Don’t muddle your brains with any more of that Pharaoh. You’ll need all your strength to grab him.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., 396. I was grabbed for an attempt on a gentleman’s pocket.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 236. I watched a movement, till one of the servant girls had brought another load of grub out, and as she turned her back and went into the house I grabbed the key, and so they couldn’t lock it nohow.

1886. Baring Gould, Golden Feather, p. 23 (S.P.C.K.). There are some folks ... so grasping that if they touch a farthing will grab a pound.

2. (thieves’).—To hold on; to get along; to live.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., 149. I do manage to grab on somehow.

Grab-all, subs. (colloquial).—1. An avaricious person; a greedy-guts (q.v.).

1872. Sunday Times, 18 Aug. This gentleman, it is well known, has worked with indomitable energy on behalf of the millions, and has succeeded in wresting from the mean and contemptible grab-alls of that government which professes to study the people’s interest those portions of the Embankment which the public money has paid for.

2. (colloquial).—A bag to carry odds and ends, parcels, books, and so forth.

Grabber, subs. (common).—In. pl., the hands. For synonyms, see Daddle and Mauley.

Grabble, verb. (old).—1. To seize: a frequent form of grab (q.v.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. To grabble the bit; to seize any one’s money.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. You grabble the goose-cap and I’ll frisk his pokes.

2. (venery).—To grope; to fumble; to fam (q.v.).

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., 193. When Nelly, though he teized her, And grabbled her and squeezed her.

Grabby, subs. (military).—An infantry-man. [Used in contempt by the mounted arm.] Fr., marionnette.

1868. Whyte Melville, White Rose, ch. x. ‘Is it a good regiment? How jolly to dine at mess every day!’ ‘I shouldn’t like to be a grabby though’ (this from the Dandy); ‘and after all, I’d rather be a private in the cavalry than an officer in the regiment of feet!’

Grab-gains, subs. (thieves’).—The trick of snatching a purse, etc., and making off.

Grab-game (or -coup, or -racket), subs. (old).—A mode of swindling: the sharpers start by betting among themselves; then the by-standers are induced to join; then stakes are deposited; lastly, there is a row, when one of the gang grabs the stakes, and decamps. But see quot., 1823.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Grab-coup, modern practice of gambling, adopted by the losers, thus the person cheated, or done, takes his opportunity, makes a dash at the depository of money, or such as may be down for the play, and grabs as much as possible, pockets the proceeds, and fights his way out of the house.

18(?). Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, p. 282. ‘I’ll bear you company. What d’ye say to that?’ ‘Just as you like,’ responded his two companions, ‘that is provided you won’t attempt the grab game on us.’

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 219. ‘Now, boss!’ he cried, not unkindly, ‘is this to be run shipshape; or is it a Dutch grab-racket?’

Grace-card, subs. (Irish).—The Six of Hearts. [For origin see N. and Q., 5th Series, iv., 137].

Gracemans, subs. (old).—Grace-church Street Market.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (W. Club’s Rept., 1874). Gracemans, Gratious Streete market.

Graduate, subs. (turf).—1. A horse that has been run.

2. (colloquial).—An adept; an artful member (q.v.).

3. (venery).—An unmarried woman who has taken her degree in carnal lore.

Verb. (colloquial).—To seek and acquire experience: in life, love, society, or trade; and so on.

Gradus, subs. (gamesters’).—A mode of cheating: a particular card is so placed by the shuffler that when he hands the pack to be cut, it projects a little beyond the rest; the chance being that it is the turn-up. Also the step (q.v.). [From the Latin.]

Gradus-ad-parnassum, subs. (old literary).—The treadmill. For synonyms, see Wheel-of-life.

Graft, subs. (common).—Work; employment; lay (q.v.).: e.g. What graft are you on now? Great-graft = profitable labour; good biz (q.v.). Also Grafting and Elbow-grease.

French Synonyms.—Le bastimage (thieves’); le goupinage (thieves’); la laine (tailors’); le maquillage (thieves’); le massage (popular); la masse; le mèche (printers’).

1878. Graphic, 6 July, p. 2. According to the well-known maxim in the building trade, ‘Scotch masons, Welsh blacksmiths, English bricklayers, Irish labourers’.... Perhaps in a generation or two Paddy will fail us. He will have become too refined for hard grafting.

1887. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip. The merry little dibbs you bag At my graft, no matter what.

1892. Tit Bits, 19 Mar., p. 417, c. 1. Millbank for thick shins and graft at the pump.

Verb (common).—1. To work. Fr., bausser; membrer.

2. (American).—To steal.

3. (old).—To cuckold; to plant horns.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

4. (American).—To sole old boots. Cf., Goose and Translate.

Grampus, subs. (colloquial).—A fat man. For synonyms, see Forty-guts.

To blow the Grampus. (nautical).—To drench; and (common), to sport in the water.

Grand, subs. (colloquial).—Short for ‘grand piano.’

1891. Morning Advertiser, 28 Mar. A precocious young relative is now about to take the daïs. There she stands, violin in hand, and there begins the preliminary scramble on the hired grand.

Adj. (colloquial).—A general superlative.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 19. Wot we want in a picter is flavour and ‘fetch,’ and yours give it me grand.

To do the Grand, verb. phr. (common).—To put on airs. For synonyms, see Lardy-dah.

Grand Bounce. See Bounce.

Grandmother. To see one’s grandmother, verb. phr. (common).—To have a nightmare.

To see (or have) one’s grandmother (or little friend, or auntie) with one. verb. phr. (common).—To have the menstrual discharge. See Flag.

To shoot one’s grandmother, verb. phr. (common).—To be mistaken; to have found a mare’s nest; to be disappointed. Commonly ‘You’ve shot your grannie.’

To teach one’s grandmother (or grannie) how to suck eggs, verb. phr. (common).—To instruct an expert in his own particular line of business; to talk old to one’s seniors.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1892. Globe, 27 Jan., p. 1, c. 5. Evidently he did not consider, as Englishmen seem to do, that grandmothers possess no more knowledge than is required to efficiently suck eggs.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 210. ‘Confound you stupid, what do you take me for, that you try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs.’

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 77. She’s a teaching ’er grandmother, she is, although she’s a littery swell.

My grandmother’s review. subs. phr. (obsolete).—The British Review. [The nickname was Lord Byron’s.]

Grand-strut, subs. (old).—The Broad Walk in Hyde Park.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 4. We’ll start first to the show shop of the metropolis, Hyde Park! promenade it down the grand strut.

Granger, subs. (American political).—1. A member of the Farmers’ Alliance; a secret society, nominally non-political, but really taking a hand in politics when occasion offered to favour agricultural interests. [During the decade of years ending 1870, it attained to great numerical strength, and extended throughout the United States.] See Agricultural Wheel.

2. (American).—Hence, a farmer; a countryman; anyone from the rural districts. For synonyms, see Joskin.

Grangerise, verb. (literary).—To fill out a book with portraits, landscapes, title-pages, and illustrations generally not done for it.

1883. Sala, Living Wonders, p. 497. Mr. Ashton’s Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne ... would be a capital book to grangerize.

Grangerism, subs. (literary).—The practice of illustrating a book with engravings, etc., from other sources. [From the practice of illustrating Granger’s Bibliographical History of England.]

1883. Saturday Review, Jan. 27, p. 123, c. 2. Grangerism, as the innocent may need to be told, is the pernicious vice of cutting plates and title-pages out of many books to illustrate one book.

Grangerite, subs. (literary).—A practitioner in grangerism (q.v.).

1890. ‘Grangerising,’ in Cornhill Mag., Feb., p. 139. Another favourite subject, and suitable also for the Grangerite, is ‘Boswell’s Johnson.’ It must be admitted that this delightful book may gain a fresh chance by being thus treated, but ‘within the limits of becoming grangerism.’

Grannam, subs. (old). Corn. [From the Latin.]—Fr., le grenu, or grelu. It., re di granata; staffile; corniole. Sp., grito.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. Grannam, corne.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). Granmer, corne.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 49 (1874). Grannam, corn.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., Grannam, c. corn.

1737. Bacchus and Venus. ‘The Strowling Mort.’ Grannam ever filled my sack.

Grannam’s-gold. subs. (old).—Wealth inherited. [Grannam = grandmother: cf., Beaumont and Fletcher, Lover’s Progress, iv., 1. ‘Ghosts never walk till after midnight, if I may believe my grannam.’]

Granny, subs. (nautical).—1. A bad knot with the second tie across; as opposed to a reef knot in which the end and outer part are in line. Also Granny’s Knot or Granny’s Bend.

2. (common).—Conceit of superior knowledge.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 404. To take the granny off them as has white hands.

Verb (thieves’).—To know; to recognise. Also to swindle.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 461. The shallow got so grannied in London.

Ibid., p. 340. If they granny the manley (perceive the signature) of a brother officer or friend.

Grant. To grant the favour, verb. phr. (venery).—To confer the sexual embrace; to spread (q.v.).

1720. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi. 58. If at last she grants the favour, And consents to be undone.

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, iv. 7. I ... never would grant the favour to any man till I had drunk a heavy glass with him.

Grape-shot, adj. (common).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Grape-vine, subs. (American).—A hold in wrestling.

Grape-vine Telegraph, subs. phr. (American).—News mysteriously conveyed. [During the Civil War bogus reports from the front were said to be by the Grape-vine Telegraph.] Also Clothes-line Telegraph.

Grapple, subs. (common).—The hand. Also grappler. For synonyms, see Daddle and Mauley.

1852. Hazel, Yankee Jack, p. 9. Give us your grappler on that, old fellow.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 246. Anything she once put her grapples on she slipped inside.

Grapple-the-rails, subs. (Irish).—Whiskey. For synonyms, see Drinks and Old Man’s Milk.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Grapple-the-rails, a cant name used in Ireland for whiskey.

Grappling-irons (or -hooks), subs. (old).—1. Handcuffs. For synonyms, see Darbies.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1830. Buckstone, Wreck Ashore, i., 4. I hope the bailiffs have not laid their grappling irons on young Miles.

2. (nautical).—The fingers. For synonyms, see Fork. Also Grapplers and Grappling-Hooks.

Grass, subs. (Royal Military Academy).—1. Vegetables. Cf., bunny-grub. Fr., gargousses de la canonnière.

2. (American).—Fresh mint.

3. (common).—Short for sparrow-grass (q.v.) = asparagus.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab and Lond. Poor, I., 539. He sold grass, and such things as cost money.

4. (Australian printers’).—A temporary hand on a newspaper; hence the proverb, ‘a grass on news waits dead men’s shoes.’ Cf., Grass-hand = a raw worker, or green hand.

a. 1889. Fitzgerald, Printers’ Proverbs, quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant. Why are the grass, or casual news hands not put on a more comfortable footing?

Verb (pugilistic).—To throw (or be thrown); to bring (or be brought) to ground. Hence, to knock down; to defeat; to kill.

1818. Egan, Boxiana, ii., 375. He had much the worst of it, and was ultimately grassed.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 57. The shame that aught but death should see him grassed.

1846. Dickens, Dombey, xliv., 385. The Chicken himself attributed this punishment to his having had the misfortune to get into Chancery early in the proceedings, when he was severely fibbed by the Larkey One, and heavily grassed.

1881. Daily Telegraph, 26 Nov. The Doctor had killed twenty out of twenty-five, while his opponent had grassed seventeen out of the same number.

1883. W. Besant, All in a Garden Fair. Intro. It was a sad example of pride before a fall; his foot caught in a tuft of grass, and he was grassed.

1888. Sporting Life, 11 Dec. Just on the completion of the minute grassed his man with a swinging right-hander.

1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, p. 119. I saw I was grassed, so I took his measurement.

1892. F. Anstey, Voces Populi. ‘The Riding-Class,’ p. 108. Didn’t get grassed, did you?

To give grass, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To yield.

To go to grass, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To abscond; to disappear. Also to hunt grass.

2. (common).—To fall sprawling; to be ruined; to die.

1876. Hindley, Cheap Jack, p. 237. Elias was sent to grass to rise no more off it.

3. (common).—To waste away (as of limbs).

To hunt grass, verb. phr. (common).—1. To decamp.

2. (cricket).—To field; to hunt leather (q.v.).

3. (American). To fall; to go to ground; hence, to be puzzled or bewildered.

1869. S. L. Clemens, Innocents at Home, p. 21. You’re most too many for me, you know. When you get in with your left I hunt grass every time.

To cut one’s own grass. verb. phr. (thieves’).—To earn one’s own living.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 242. ‘Cut her own grass! Good gracious! what is that!’ I asked. ‘Why, purvide her own chump—earn her own living,’ the old man replied.

To be sent to grass. verb. phr. (University).—To be rusticated; to receive a travelling scholarship (q.v.).

1794. Gent. Mag., p. 1085. And was very near rustication [at Cambridge] merely for kicking up a row after a beakering party. ‘Soho, Jack!’ briskly rejoined another, ‘almost presented with a travelling fellowship? very nigh being sent to grass, hey?’

Go to grass! phr. (common).—Be off! You be hanged! Go to hell!

1848. Durivage, Stray Subjects, p. 95. A gentleman who was swimming about, upon being refused, declared that he might go to grass with his old canoe, for he didn’t think it would be much of a shower, anyhow.

1865. Bacon, Handbook of America, p. 363. Go to grass! be off! get out!

To let the grass grow under one’s feet, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To proceed or work leisurely. Fr., limer.

To take Nebuchadnezzar out to grass, subs. phr. (venery).—To take a man. [Nebuchadnezzar = penis.] For synonyms, see Greens.

Grass-comber, subs. (nautical).—A countryman shipped as a sailor.

1886. W. Besant, World Went Very Well Then, ch. xxix. Formerly, Jack would have replied to this sally that, d’ye see, Luke was a grass comber and a land swab, but that for himself, there was no tea aboard ship, and a glass of punch or a bowl of flip was worth all the tea ever brought from China.

Grasser, subs. (sporting).—A fall.

Grasshopper, subs. (common).—1. A waiter at a tea-garden.

2. (rhyming).—A policeman, or copper (q.v.).

3. (thieves’).—A thief. See Gunner.

1893. Pall Mall Gaz., 2 Jan., p. 4., c. 3. Quite a ‘school’ of youthful grasshoppers are in possession of one corner of the ice, but on the Westminster side of the park ’pon bridge there is a good sprinkling of old hands.

Grassing, subs. (printers’).—Casual work away from the office. See Smouting.

Grassville, subs. (old).—The country; cf., Daisyville.

Grass-widow, subs. (old).—1. An unmarried mother; a deserted mistress. See Barrack-hack and Tart.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Widow’s weeds, a grass-widow, one that pretends to have been married, but never was, yet has children.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Widow’s weeds; a grass-widow; a discarded mistress.

2. (colloquial).—A married woman temporarily separated from her husband.

[The usually accepted derivation that grass = Fr., grâce is doubtful. Hall (says J. C. Atkinson, in Glossary of Cleveland Words) gives as the definition of this word ‘an unmarried woman who has had a child’; in Moor’s Suffolk Words and Phrases, grace-widow, ‘a woman who has had a child for her cradle ere she has had a husband for her bed’; and corresponding with this is the N. S. or Low Ger., gras-wedewe. Again, Sw. D., gras-anka, or -enka = grass-widow, occurs in the same sense as with us: ‘a low, dissolute, unmarried woman living by herself.’ The original meaning of the word seems to have been ‘a woman whose husband is away,’ either travelling or living apart. The people of Belgium call a woman of this description haeck-wedewe, from haecken, to feel strong desire.... It seems probable, therefore, from the etymology, taken in connection with the Clevel. signification, that our word may rather be from the Scand. source than from the German; only with a translation of the word enka into its English equivalent. Dan. D., graesenka, is a female whose betrothed lover (fastman) is dead; nearly equivalent to which is German, strohwittwe, literally straw-widow. See N. and Q. 6 S. viii., 268, 414; x. 333, 436, 526; xi. 78, 178.]

English Synonyms.—Californian widow; widow-bewitched; wife in water colours.

1700. Congreve, Way of the World, Act iii. If the worst come to the worst,—I’ll turn my wife to grass—I have already a deed of settlement of the best part of her estate, which I wheedl’d out of her.

1877. Chamb. Journal, 12 Mar., p. 173. Mrs. Brittomart was one of those who never tolerated a bow-wow—a species of animal well known in India—and never went to the hills as a grass-widow.

1878. London, a grass-widow. And so, you see, it comes to pass That she’s a widow out at grass And happy in her freedom.

1882. Saturday Review, 11 Feb. She is a grass-widow, her husband is something in some Indian service.

1885. W. Black, White Heather, ch. xli. Mrs. Lalor, a grass-widow who was kind enough to play chaperon to the young people, but whose effective black eyes had a little trick of roving on their own account.

1889. Daily Telegraph, 12 Feb. She had taken up her residence at a house in Sinclair-road, Kensington, where she passed as a grass-widow. She represented that her husband was engaged in mercantile pursuits.

Grass-widower, subs. (common).—A man away from his wife.

1886. New York Evening Post, 22 May. All the grass-widowers and unmarried men.

Gravel, verb. (old).—1. To confound; to puzzle; to floor (q.v.).

1593. G. Harvey, Pierus Supererog, in wks. II., 296. The finest intelligencer, or sagest Politician in a state, would undoubtedly have been gravelled in the execution of that rash attempt.

1597. Hall, Satires, III., vi., 14. So long he drinks, till the black caravell Stands still fast gravelled on the mud of hell.

1600. Shakspeare, As You Like It. When you were gravelled for lack of matter.

1604. Marlowe, Faustus, Act i., Sc. 1. And I, that have with concise syllogisms gravell’d the pastors of the German church.

1659. Torriano, Vocabulario, s.v.

1667. Dryden, Sir Martin Marr-all, Act iii. Warn. He’s gravelled, and I must help him out.

1663. Dryden, An Evening’s Love, Act ii. A difficult question in that art, which almost gravels me.

1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. xxxiv. He was somewhat gravelled for an answer to Alaric’s earnest supplication, and therefore made none till the request was repeated.

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 206. I thought Alan would be gravelled at that, for we lacked the means of writing in that desert.

1893. National Observer, 11 Feb., p. 321. In truth to talk of Burns as the apotheosis of Knox is really to gravel and confound your readers; and but for the context one might be suspected that the innuendo hid a touch of sarcasm.

2. (American).—To go against the grain.

1887. Clemens, Life on the Mississippi, ch. xiv., p. 138. By long habit, pilots came to put all their wishes in the form of commands. It gravels me to this day, to put my will in the weak shape of a request, instead of launching it in the crisp language of an order.

Gravel-crusher, subs. (military).—A soldier doing defaulter’s drill.

Gravel-grinder, subs. (popular).—A drunkard. For synonyms, see Lushington.

Gravel-rash, subs. (colloquial).—The lacerations caused by a fall.

To have the gravel rash, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be reeling drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Gravesend-bus, subs. (common).—A hearse.

Gravesend-sweetmeats, subs. (popular).—Shrimps.

Gravesend-twins, subs. (common).—Solid particles of sewage.

Grave-yard, subs. (common).—1. The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

To keep a private grave-yard, verb. phr. (American).—To affect ferocity; to bluster.

Gravy, subs. (venery).—The sexual discharge; the spendings (q.v.) both male and female. [Hence gravy-giver = the penis and the female pudendum; and gravy-maker = the female pudendum. Hence, too, to give one’s gravy = to spend (q.v.). Cf., Beef and Mutton.]

d. 1796. Burns, ‘Dainty Davie,’ in Merry Muses. I wot he cam atween my thie, An’ creeshed it weel wi’ gravy.

Gravy-eye, subs. (common).—A derisive epithet: e.g., Well Old gravy-eye.

Grawler, subs. (old).—A beggar. For synonyms, see Cadger.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary p. 62. Not so much as would sweeten a grawler in the whole of them.

Gray, subs. (thieves’).—1. A coin showing either two heads or two tails; a pony (q.v.).

1828. G. Smeeton, Doings in London, p. 40. Breslaw could never have done more upon cards than he could do with a pair of grays (gaffing-coins).

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. II., p. 154. Some, if they can, will cheat, by means of a half-penny with a head or a tail on both sides, called a gray.

1868. Temple Bar, Vol. XXIV., p. 539. They have a penny with two heads or two tails on it, which they call a grey, and of course they can easily dupe flats from the country. How do they call it a grey, I wonder? I suppose they have named it after Sir George Grey because he was a two-faced bloke.

2. (common).—See Grayback, sense 1.

3. in. pl. (colloquial).—Yawning; listlessness. Cf., Blues.

Grayback, subs. (common).—1. A louse. Also Scots Greys. Fr., un grenadier. For synonyms, see Chates.

2. (American).—A Confederate soldier. [Partly from the colour of his uniform, and partly because of its inhabitants. Cf., sense 1.] See Blue-bellies.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 9 Feb., p. 5, c. 4. The Confederate armies, during the great Civil War in America ... were known ... as Greybacks, whereas their Federal opponents, from the light-azure gaberdines which they wore, were dubbed ‘blue-bellies.’

1890. Scribner’s Mag. Mar., p. 283. Mrs. Rutherford stood in such abject fear of the graybacks that she regarded the possession of so large a sum as simply inviting destruction.

Gray-beard, subs. (colloquial).—1. An old man. Mostly in contempt.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, Act ii., Sc. 1. Grey-beard, thy love doth freeze.

a. 1845. Longfellow, Luck of Eden Hall. The gray-beard, with trembling hand obeys.

2. (old).—Originally a stoneware drinking jug; now a large earthenware jar for holding wine or spirits. [From the bearded face in relief with which they were ornamented.]

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, Grey-beard, s.v. Dutch earthen jugs, used for smuggling gin on the coasts of Essex and Suffolk, are at this time called grey-beards.

1814. Scott, Waverley, ch. lxiv. There’s plenty of brandy in the grey-beard.

1886. The State, 20 May, p. 217. A whisky or brandy which is held in merited respect for very superior potency is entitled [in America] ‘reverent,’ from the same kind of fancy which led the Scotch to call a whisky jar a grey-beard.

Gray-cloak, subs. (common).—An alderman above the chair. [Because his proper robe is a cloak furred with grey amis.]

Gray-goose, subs. (Scots’).—A big field stone on the surface of the ground.

1816. Scott, Black Dwarf, ch. iv. Biggin a dry-stane dyke, I think, wi’ the grey-geese as they ca’ thae great loose stones.

Grayhound, subs. (general).—1. A fast Atlantic liner; one especially built for speed. Also ocean grayhound.

1887. Scientific American, vol. LVI., 2. They [ships] are built in the strongest possible manner, and are so swift of foot, as to have already become formidable rivals to the English grey hound.

2. (Cambridge University).—An obsolete name for a member of Clare College; a clarian.

1889. Whibley, Cap and Gown, xxviii. The members of Clare ... were called grayhounds.

Gray-mare, subs. (common).—A wife; specifically one who wears the breeches (q.v.). [From the proverb, ‘The gray mare is the better horse’ = the wife is master: a tradition, perhaps, from the time when priests were forbidden to carry arms or ride on a male horse: Non enim licuerat pontificem sacrorum vel arma ferre, vel praeter quam in equâ equitare.—Beda, Hist. Eccl. ii., 13. Fr., mariage d’epervier = a hawk’s marriage: the female hawk being the larger and stronger bird. Lord Macaulay’s explanation (quot. 1849) is the merest guess-work.]

1546. John Haywood, Proverbs [Sharman’s reprint, 1874]. She is (quoth he) bent to force you perforce, To know that the grey mare is the better horse.

1550. A Treatyse, Shewing and Declaring the Pryde and Abuse of Women Now a Dayes (in Hazlitt’s Early Popular Poetry, iv., 237). What! shall the graye mayre be the better horse, And be wanton styll at home?

1605. Camden, Remains Concerning Britain [ed. 1870, p. 332]. In list of proverbs. (Is said to be the earliest in English.)

1670. Ray, Proverbs, s.v.

1698–1750. Ward, London Spy, part II., p. 40. Another as dull as if the grey mare was the better Horse; and deny’d him Enterance for keeping late Hours.

1705–1707. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. II., pt. iv., p. 5. There’s no resisting Female Force, Grey mare will prove the better Horse.

1717. Prior, Epilogue to Mrs. Manley’s Lucius. As long as we have eyes, or hands, or breath, We’ll look, or write, or talk you all to death. Yield, or she-Pegasus will gain her course, And the grey mare will prove the better horse.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., p. 240. For the grey mare has proved the better horse.

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., dial. 3. I wish she were married; but I doubt the gray mare would prove the better horse.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xix. By the hints they dropped, I learned the gray mare was the better horse—that she was a matron of a high spirit.

1819. Macaulay, Hist. England. The vulgar proverb, that the grey mare is the better horse, originated, I suspect, in the preference generally given to the grey mares of Flanders over the finest coach horses of England.

1883. G. A. S[ala], in Illustr. London News, 14 Apr., p. 359, c. 2. She [Mrs. Romford], did not over-accentuate either her strong-mindedness or her jealousy of her flighty husband; but she let him and the audience unmistakably know that she was in all respects the grey mare in the Romford stable.

Gray-parson (or Gray-coat parson), subs. (old).—A lay impropriator, or lessee of tithes.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, grey parson, s.v. A farmer who rents the tythes of the rector or vicar.

1830 in Cobbett’s Rural Rides, vol. I., p. 123 note (ed. 1886). The late editor says, that, having been a large holder of lay tithes, the author applied to Mr. Nicholls, the name of the grey-coated parson.

Grease, subs. (common).—1. A bribe; palm-oil (or -grease). (q.v. for synonyms). In America Boodle (q.v.). greasing = bribing.

1823. Bee, Dict. of Turf, s.v. A bonus given to promote the cause of anyone.

2. (printers’).—Well-paid work; fat (q.v.).

3. (common).—Fawning; flattery (a figurative use of sense 1).

Verb (old).—1. To bribe; to corrupt by presents; to tip (q.v.). Also more fully to grease in the fist, hand, or palm. Fr., coquer la boucanade. For synonyms, see Square.

1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 68, pt. 2, p. 159 (E.D.S.). How husbandrie easeth, to huswiferie pleaseth, And manie purse greaseth With silver and gold.

1578. Whetstone, Promoss and Cassandra, ii., 3. Grease them well in their hands.

1592. Greene, Quip, in wks., xi., 261. That did you not grease the sealers of Leaden Hall throughly in the fist, they should never be sealed, but turned away and made forfiet by the statute.

1619. Fletcher, Wild Goose Chase. Am I greased once again?

1649. F. Quarles, Virgin Widow, IV., i., p. 40. Greaze my fist with a Tester or two, and ye shall find it in your penny-worths.

1678. C. Cotton, Scarronides, Bk. IV., p. 70 (ed. 1725). Him she conjures, intreats, and prays, With all the Cunning that she has, greases his Fist; nay more, engages Thenceforth to mend his Quarters-wages.

1693. Dryden, Persius, iii., 139. And after, envy not the store Of the greas’d advocate, that grinds the poor.

1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, pt. xv., p. 364. But the Gay Curteyan who trades for gold, That can but grease a palm when she’s in hold, No Justice need she dread.

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

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ch. x. His Excellency, your master, has given orders, I presume, that after I have made my compliments—as delicate a phrase as he could think of for greasing the hands of justice—I shall be at liberty to visit my friend.

1879. Horsley, in Macmillan’s Magazine, Oct. When I went to the fence he bested (cheated) me because I was drunk, and only gave me £8 10s. for the lot. So the next day I went to him and asked him if he was not going to grease my duke (put money into my hand).

1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 2 Sept., p. 7, c. 2. Did other people having business with the printing bureau tell you that it would be necessary to grease Sénécal?

2. (common).—To fawn; to flatter. Formerly, to grease one’s boots.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Onger i stivali, to grease ones bootes, id est, to flatter or cog with, to faune vpon one.

3. (old).—To gull; to cheat; to do.

To grease a fat sow in the arse, verb. phr. (old).—To bribe a rich man.—Grose.

To grease one’s gills, verb. phr. (common).—To make a good or luxurious meal.

Greased Lightning, subs. phr. (American).—An express train.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 359. The usual Express Train is not half fast enough for the impatient traveller; he must have his Lightning Express Train, and in the Far West improves still farther by calling it greased lightning, after a favourite Yankee term.

Like Greased Lightning, adv. phr. (American).—Very quick. See Bed-post.

1848. Durivage, Stray Subjects, p. 72. Quicker than greased lightnin’, My covies, I was dead.

1890. Globe, 27 Aug., p. 2, c. 5. He is drawn along at a rapid rate, or, as the correspondent puts it, he is whisked all over town like greased lightning.

1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, p. 98. He measured again, and then off went his coat like greased lightning, and we all followed suit.

Greaser, subs. (American).—1. A Mexican in general; also a Spanish American: see quots. 1848 and 1888. The term originated during the Mexican war.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 3. Note. The Mexicans are called Spaniards or greasers (from their greasy appearance) by the Western people.

1855. Marryat, Mountains and Mole Hills, p. 236. The Americans call the Mexicans greasers, which is scarcely a complimentary soubriquet; although the term greaser camp as applied to a Mexican encampment is truthfully suggestive of filth and squalor.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, Prologue i. Behind the leaders followed a little troop of three, consisting of one English servant and two greasers.

1883. Bret Harte, In the Carquinez Woods, footnote to ch. vii. Greasers, Californian slang for a mixed race of Mexicans and Indians.

1888. Century Mag., October. To avenge the murder of one of their number the cowboys gathered from the country round about, and fairly stormed the greaser—that is, Mexican—village where the murder had been committed, killing four of the inhabitants.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody, ch. 2. Don’t let the greaser git his fingers in your ha’r.

2. in. pl. (Royal Military Academy).—Fried potatoes, as distinguished from boilers = boiled potatoes.

To give one greaser, verb. phr. (Winchester College).—To rub the back of the hand hard with the knuckles.

Grease-spot, subs. (common).—The imaginary result of a passage at arms, physical or intellectual.

1844. Haliburton, The Attaché, ch. xvi. If he hadn’t a had the clear grit in him, and showed his teeth and claws, they’d a nullified him so you wouldn’t see a grease-spot of him no more.

Greasy-chin, subs. (old).—A dinner.

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

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Lay of St. Gengulphus.’ And to every guest his card had express’d ‘Half past’ as the hour for a greasy chin.

Great Cry and Little Wool.—See Cry.

Great Go (or Greats), subs. (Cambridge University).—The final examination for the B.A. degree; cf., Little-go. At Oxford, greater.

1841. Prince of the New-made Baccalere, Oxford. Great-go is passed.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. x. Both small and great are sufficiently distant to be altogether ignored, if we are that way inclined.

1856–7. Thackeray, King of Brentford’s Test., st. 7. At college, though not fast, Yet his little-go and great-go, He creditably pass’d.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 28 Apr. Yes, Mr. Lowe has been plucked for his great go.

1883. Echo, 3 May, p. 2, c. 4. But few, indeed, are the men who have been in for greats during the last twenty years, and who have not blessed Mr. Kitchin for his edition of the Novum Organum.

Great Gun, subs. phr. (common).—1. A person of distinction; a thing of importance.

English Synonyms.—Big bug; big dog of the tanyard; big dog with the brass collar; big gun; big head; big one; big (or great) pot; big wig; biggest toad in the puddle; cock of the walk; don; large potato; nob; rumbusticator; stunner; swell; swell-head; topper; top-sawyer.

French Synonyms.—Un gros bonnet (familiar = big wig); un fiérot (a stuck-up); un herr (from the German); Monsieur Raidillon or Monsieur Pointu (= Mr. Stuck-up).

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. ii. A Spanish Ecclesiastic, the Canon of ——. Plenty of great guns, at any rate—a regular park of artillery.

1843. Haliburton, Sam Slick in England, ch. xv. The great guns and big bugs have to take in each other’s ladies.

Ibid., p. 24. Pick out the big bugs and see what sort of stuff they’re made of.

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. x. The great guns of the party, the rector of the parish, the member for the county.

2. (pedlers’).—A peculiar practice; a trick of particular usefulness and importance; a favourite wheeze (q.v.).

1851. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 256. The street-seller’s great gun, as he called it, was to make up packets, as closely resembling as he could accomplish it those which were displayed in the windows of any of the shops.

To Blow Great Guns, verb. phr. (nautical).—To blow a gale; also to blow great guns and small arms.

1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], 23. ‘Curse me, if I don’t think all the world means to cross the Thames this fine night!’ observed Ben. ‘One’d think it rained fares as well as blowed great guns.’

1854. H. Miller, Sch. and Schm. (1858), 14. It soon began to blow great guns.

1865. H. Kingsley, Hillyars and Burton, ch. lxxvii. It was blowing pretty high guns, sou’ eastern by east, off shore and when we came to the harbour’s mouth there was Tom Wyatt with his pilot just aboard.

1869. Arthur Sketchley, Mrs. Brown on Things in General. I never did see such weather, a-blowin great guns as the sayin’ is.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 340. It blew great guns from the seaward.

Great-house. See Big-house.

Great-Joseph, subs. (old).—An overcoat.

Great Scott! intj. (American).—An exclamation of surprise; an apology for an oath. [Possibly a memory of the name of Gen. Winfield Scott, a presidential candidate whose dignity and style were such as to win him the nickname “Fuss-and-Feathers.”] Also Great Cæsar.

1888. New York Mercury. Great Scott! you don’t say so.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 98. Bob, what’s the matter with you? Great Scott! the mine hain’t give out.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 19 June, p. 396, c 2. Great Scotch!—no, we mean Scott—well, language worthy of the great Harry prevailed for awhile.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 305. ‘Great Scott! what the deuce is Wells up to?’ said the Squire.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 106. Great Cæsar!

1892. Tit Bits, 19 Mar., p. 416, c. 1. He. Great Cæsar! There you go again! She. James will you please remember that it is your wife to whom you are speaking, sir? He. No other woman could drive me raving, distracted, crazy, asking silly questions about—She. James!

Great Shakes. See Shakes.

Great Smoke, subs. (thieves’)—London.

Great Sun, intj. (common).—An exclamation.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly. Great Sun! I think I see it now.

Great-unwashed, subs. (colloquial).—The lower classes; the rabble. Also the unwashed. [First used by Burke; popularised by Scott.]

1892. Sydney Watson, Wops the Waif, ch. iii., p. 4. We begin to understand what is meant by the lowest classes, the great unwashed.

Great Whipper-in, subs. phr. (common).—Death; old floorer (q.v.).

Grecian, subs. (old).—1. A roysterer; a greek (q.v.).

2. (Christ’s Hospital).—A senior boy.

3. (popular).—An Irishman.

Grecian Accent, subs. (popular).—A brogue.

Grecian-bend, subs. (common).—A stoop in walking. [Affected by some women c. 1869–80.] Cf., Alexandra Limp, Roman Fall, Italian Wriggle, Kangaroo Droop.

1821. Etonian, ii., 57. In person he was of the common size, with something of the Grecian bend, contracted doubtless from sedentary habits.

1869. Daily Telegraph, 1 Sept. I do not, however, think the ‘stoop’ our girls now have arises from tight-lacing. Some affect what is called the Grecian bend.

1870. Orchestra, 25 Mar. ‘Grand Comic Concert.’ The ladies have their Grecian bend, our typical gentleman explains a correspondent masculine affectation which he dubs ‘The Roman Fall—The Roman Fall.’

1871. Morning Advertiser, 4 Dec. A lady of five feet becomes, say, five feet two inches per heels, five feet six inches per hair, five feet again, per Grecian bend.

1876. Chambers’ Journal, No. 629. Your own advocacy for the Grecian bend and the Alexandra limp—both positive and practical imitations of physical affliction.

1886. Cornhill Magazine, Dec., p. 618. You ain’t nearly fine enough for a waitress or for ’im, neether. He likes a smart young woman with a Grecian bend.

Greed, subs. (thieves).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Greedy-gut (or -guts), subs. (old).—A voracious eater; a glutton. [As in the old (schoolboys’) rhyme: ‘Guy-hi, Greedy-gut, Eat all the pudding up.’] For synonyms, see Stodger. Fr., un glafâtre.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Edace, an eater, a devourer. a greedigut. Ibid. Putti occhi, greedie eies.

1772. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Greek, subs. (old).—1. Slang, or flash (q.v.); usually St. Giles’ Greek (q.v.). Cf., Cant, Gibberish, etc.

2. (colloquial).—A card-sharper; a cheat.

1528. Roy and Barlow, Rede me and be not wrothe, p. 117 [ed. Arber, 1871]. In carde playinge he is a goode Greke And can skyll of post and glycke, Also a prayre of dyce to trolle.

1568. Satirical Poems, ‘Scottish Text Soc.’ [1889–91] i., 77. A cowle, a cowle, for such a greek were fitter far to wea’re.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Grecheggiare ... to play the Greek.

1602. Shakspeare, Troilus and Cressida, v. 6. Come, both you cogging Greeks; have at you both.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, xxviii. Most of the cant phrases in Head’s English Rogue, which was published, I believe, in 1666, would be intelligible to a Greek of the present day.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 5. Come lads, bustle about; play will begin—some of the pigeons are here already, the Greeks will not be long following.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. IV., ch. i. Jerry was a Greek by nature, and could land a flat as well as the best of them.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxxvi. He was an adventurer, a pauper, a blackleg, a regular Greek.

1861. Once a Week, 25 May, p. 97. As the Greek places the packet [of cards] on the top of the other, he allows it to project the least bit in the world.

1884. Saturday Review, 16 Feb., p. 202. Without a confederate the now fashionable game of baccarat does not seem to offer many chances for the Greek.

3. (old).—An Irishman.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf. Greek, s.v. Irishmen call themselves Greeks.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. i., p. 240. We had the Greeks (the lately arrived Irish) down upon us more than once.

1872. Standard, 3 Sept. ‘Melbourne Correspondence.’ The most noticeable point of comparison between the two Administrations is the presence or the absence of the Greek element from the Cabinet. Greek, as some of your readers are aware, is colonial slang for ‘Irish.’

4. (thieves’).—A gambler. Also a highwayman.

Merry Greek, subs. phr. (old).—A roysterer; a drunkard. Cotgrave. [In Latin, Graecare = to play the Greek—high-living and hard drinking.]

1602. Shakspeare, Troilus and Cressida, iv., 4. A woful Cressid ’mongst the merry Greeks.

Greek Fire, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Bad whiskey; Rotgut (q.v.).

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, p. 321, s.v.

Greek Kalends, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Never. To defer anything to the Greek Kalends is to put it off sine die. (The Greeks used no kalends in their reckoning of time.)

c. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth. Consid. Parlt., wks. (1711) 185. That gold, plate, and all silver, given to the mint-house in these late troubles, shall be paid at the Greek Kalends.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., ch. xx. The judgment or decree shall be given out and pronounced at the next Greek Calends, that is, never.

1823. Byron, Don Juan, c. xiii., st. 45. They and their bills, ‘Arcadians both,’ are left To the Greek Kalends of another session.

1825. Scott, Betrothed. Intro. Will you speak of your paltry prose doings in my presence, whose great historical poem, in twenty books, with notes in proportion, has been postponed ad Græcas Kalendas?

1872. O. W. Holmes, Poet Breakf. T. i., 18. His friends looked for it only on the Greek Calends, say on the 31st of April, when that should come round, if you would modernize the phrase.

1882. Macmillan’s Mag., 253. So we go on ... and the works are sent to the Greek Calends.

English Synonyms.—In the reign of Queen Dick; when the devil is blind; when two Sundays come in a week; at Doomsday; at Tib’s Eve; one of these odd-come-shortlys; when my goose pisses; when the ducks have eaten up the dirt; when pigs fly; in a month of Sundays; once in a blue moon.

French Synonyms.—Mardi s’il fait chaud (obsolete); Dimanche après la grande messe (popular); quand les poules pisseront; semaine des quatre jeudis (popular: when four Thursdays come in a week).

Green, subs. (common).—1. Rawness; simplicity. Generally, ‘Do you see any green in my eye’? = Do you take me for a fool? See adj. sense.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, ii., 247. I’m not a tailor, but I understands about clothes, and I believe that no person ever saw anything green in my eye.

1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 95, c. 2. Ally Sloper the ’cute, Ally Sloper the sly, Ally Sloper, the cove with no green in his eye.

1892. Illustrated Bits, 22 Oct., p. 14, c. 2. Sindin’ both shlips is it? How wud Oi have a check on ye? Do ye see inny green in me oi?

Adj. (colloquial).—Simple; inexperienced; gullible; unsalted (q.v.).

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act i., Sc. 3. Pol. Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl.

1605. Chapman, All Fools, Act iv., p. 67 (Plays, 1874). Shall I then say you want experience? Y’are green, y’are credulous; easy to be blinded.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Green (a) ... so likewise a young or unexperienced person in arts, sciences, etc., is sometimes said to be green, raw, etc.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry. Tom. No; you’re green! Jerry. Green! Log. Ah! not fly! Tom. Yes, not awake!

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. ‘My eyes, how green!’ exclaimed the young gentleman. ‘Why a beak’s a madgst’rate.’

1841. Punch, July 17, p. 6. What a green chap you are, after all. A public man’s consistency! It’s only a popular delusion.

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 19. Eh! why! what’s the matter with you? have I done anything particularly green, as you call it?

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School Days, pt. I., ch. ii. You try to make us think ... that you are, even as we, of the working classes. But bless your hearts, we ain’t so green.

1869. Literary World, 31 Dec., p. 129, c. 2. His fellow-passengers laughed at him for being so green.

1879. Punch’s Almanack, p. 7. Seasonable Slang. For Spring.—You be blowed! For Summer.—I’ll warm yer! For Autumn.—Not so blooming green! For Winter.—An ice little game all round.

1887. Lippincott, July, p. 104. Within the last day or so a young fellow has arrived who is in danger of being eaten by the cows, so green is he.

1890. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 7 Nov. Being quite green at the time, I rather lost my head over my good fortune.

Verb (colloquial).—To hoax; to swindle. At Eton to green up. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1836–41. T. C. Buckland, Eton. I was again catechized on many points personal to myself, and some mild attempts were made to green me, as boys call it.

1889. Answers, 2 Mar., p. 218, c. 1. Whereupon the old humbug burst into a loud guffaw, as though he were rejoicing at having greened the toff.

1892. Anstey, Voces Populi (Second Series). ‘Bank Holiday,’ 147. The Damsel (giggling). You go on—you don’t green me that w’y.

Greens, subs. (old).—1. Chlorosis: i.e., the green sickness.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 313. The maiden takes five, too, that’s vexed with her greens.

2. in. pl. (printers’).—Bad or worn out rollers.

To have, get, or give one’s greens, verb. phr. (venery).—To enjoy, procure, or confer the sexual favour. Said indifferently of both sexes.

Hence, also, on for one’s greens = amorous and willing; after one’s greens = in quest of the favour; green-grove = the pubes; green-grocery = the female pudendum; the price of greens = the cost of an embrace; fresh greens = a new piece (q.v.). [Derived by some from the old Scots’ grene = to pine, to long for, to desire with insistence: whence greens = longings, desires; which words may in their turn be referred, perhaps, to Mid. Eng., zernen, A.S., gyrnan, Icelandic, girna = to desire, and Gothic, gairns = desirous. Mod. Ger., begehren = to desire. See Dalziel, Darker Superstitions of Scotland, 1835, p. 106:—‘He answered that he wald gif the sum Spanyie fleis callit cantarides, quhilk, gif thou suld move the said Elizabeth to drynk of, it wold mak hir out of all question to grene eftir the.’ Trial of Peter Hay, of Kirklands, and others, for Witchcraft, 25th May, 1601. But in truth, the expression is a late and vulgar coinage. It would seem, indeed, to be a reminiscence of garden (q.v.), and the set of metaphors—as kail, cauliflower, parsley bed, and so forth (all which see)—suggested thereby.]

English Synonyms.—To be all there but the most of you; in Abraham’s bosom; up one’s petticoats (or among one’s frills); there; on the spot; into; up; up to one’s balls; where uncle’s doodle goes; among the cabbages.

To dance the blanket hornpipe; the buttock jig; the cushion dance (see Monosyllable.); the goat’s jig; the mattress jig; the married man’s cotillion; the matrimonial polka; the reels o’ Bogie (Scots’); the reels of Stumpie (Scots’); to the tune of the shaking of the sheets; with your arse to the ceiling, or the kipples (Scots’).

To go ballocking; beard-splitting; bed-pressing (Marston); belly-bumping (Urquhart); bitching (Marston); bum-fighting; bum-working; bum-tickling; bum-faking; bush-ranging; buttock-stirring (Urquhart); bird’s-nesting; buttocking; cock-fighting; cunny-catching; doodling; drabbing; fleshing it; flesh-mongering; goosing; to Hairyfordshire; jock-hunting; jottling; jumming (Urquhart); leather-stretching; on the loose; motting; molrowing; pile-driving; prick-scouring; quim-sticking; rumping; rump-splitting; strumming; twatting; twat-faking; vaulting (Marston, etc.); wenching; womanizing; working the dumb (or double, or hairy) oracle; twat-raking; tummy-tickling; tromboning; quim-wedging; tail-twitching; button-hole working; under-petticoating.

To have, or do, a bit of beef (of women); business (Shakspeare); bum-dancing; cauliflower; cock; cock-fighting; cunt; curly greens; fish; on a fork; fun; off the chump end; flat; front-door work; giblet pie; the gut- (or cream- or sugar-) stick (of women); jam; ladies’ tailoring; meat; mutton; pork; quimsy; rough; sharp-and-blunt (rhyming slang); stuff; split-mutton; skirt; summer cabbage.

To have, or do, or perform, the act of androgynation (Urquhart); a ballocking; a bit; a lassie’s by-job (Burns); a bedward bit (Durfey); a beanfeast in bed; a belly-warmer; a blindfold bit; a bottom-wetter (of women); a bout; a brush with the cue; a dive in the dark; a drop-in; a double fight; an ejectment in Love-lane; a four-legged frolic; a fuck; a futter; a game in the cock-loft; a goose-and-duck (rhyming); the culbatizing exercise (Urquhart); a grind; a hoist-in; a jottle; a jumble-giblets; a jumble-up; an inside worry; a leap; a leap up the ladder; a little of one with t’other (Durfey); a mount; a mow (David Lyndsay, Burns, etc.); a nibble; a plaster of warm guts (Grose); a poke; a put; a put-in; a random push (Burns); a rasp; a ride; a roger; a rootle; a rush up the straight; a shot at the bull’s eye; a slide up the board; a squirt-and-a squeeze; a touch-off; a touch-up; a tumble-in; a wet-’un; a wipe at the place; a wollop-in.

Specific.—To have, or do, a back-scuttle, (q.v.); a buttered bun (q.v.); a dog’s marriage (q.v.); a knee-trembler, perpendicular, or upright (q.v.); a matrimonial (q.v.); spoon-fashion (q.v.); a st. george (q.v.).

To play at, All-fours; Adam-and-Eve; belly-to-belly (Urquhart); brangle-buttock (Urquhart); buttock-and-leave-her; cherry-pit (Herrick); couple-your-navels; cuddle-my-cuddie (Durfey); Hey Gammer Cook (C. Johnson); fathers-and-mothers; the first-game-ever-played; Handie-Dandie; Hooper’s Hide (q.v.); grapple-my-belly (Urquhart); horses-and-mares (schoolboys’); the close-buttock-game (Urquhart); cock-in-cover; houghmagandie (Burns); in-and-in; in-and-out; Irish-whist (where-the-jack (q.v.)-takes-the ace [see Monosyllable.]); the-loose-coat-game (Urquhart); Molly’s hole (schoolboys’); pickle-me-tickle-me (Urquhart); mumble-peg; prick-the-garter; pully-hauly (Grose); put-in-all; the-same-old-game; squeezem-close; stable-my-naggie; thread-the-needle; tops-and-bottoms; two-handed-put (Grose); up-tails-all.

General.—To Adam and Eve it; to blow the groundsels; to engage three to one; to chuck a tread; to do (Jonson); to do it; to do ‘the act of darkness’ (Shakspeare), the act of love, the deed of kind, the work of increase, ‘the divine work of fatherhood’ (Whitman); to feed the dumb-glutton; to get one’s hair cut; to slip in Daintie Davie (Scots’), or Willie Wallace (idem); to get Jack in the orchard; to get on top of; to give a lesson in simple arithmetic (i.e., addition, division, multiplication and subtraction); to give a green gown (q.v.); to go ‘groping for trout in a peculiar river’ (Shakspeare); to go face-making; to go to Durham (North Country); to go to see a sick friend; to have it; to join faces (Durfey); to join giblets; to make ends meet; to make the beast with two backs (Shakspeare and Urquhart); to make a settlement in tail; to play top-sawyer; to put it in and break it; to post a letter; to go on the stitch; to labor lea (Scots); to tether one’s nags on (idem); to nail twa wames thegither (idem); to lift a leg on (Burns); to ride a post (Cotton); to peel one’s end in; to put the devil into hell (Boccaccio); to rub bacons (Urquhart); to strop one’s beak; to strip one’s tarse in; to grind one’s tool; to grease the wheel; to take on a split-arsed mechanic; to take a turn in Bushey-park, Cock-alley, Cock-lane, Cupid’s-alley, Cupid’s-corner, Hair-court, ‘the lists of love’ (Shakspeare), Love-lane, on Mount Pleasant, among the parsley, on Shooter’s-hill, through the stubble; to whack it up; to wollop it in; to labour leather; to wind up the clock (Sterne).

Of women only.—To get an arselins coup (Burns); to catch an oyster; to do the naughty; to do a spread, a tumble, a back-fall, what mother did before me; a turn on one’s back, what Eve did with Adam; to hold, or turn up one’s tail (Burns and Durfey); to get one’s leg lifted, one’s kettle mended, one’s chimney swept out, one’s leather stretched; to lift one’s leg; to open up to; to get shot in the tail; to get a shove in one’s blind eye; to get a wet bottom; what Harry gave Doll (Durfey); to suck the sugar-stick; to take in beef; to take Nebuchadnezzar out to grass; to look at the ceiling over a man’s shoulder; to get outside it; to play one’s ace; to rub one’s arse on (Rochester); to spread to; to take in and do for; to give standing room for one; to get hulled between wind and water; to get a pair of balls against one’s butt; to take in cream; to show (or give) a bit; to skin the live rabbit; to feed (or trot out) one’s pussy (q.v.); to lose the match and pocket the stakes; to get a bellyful of marrow pudding; to supple both ends of it (Scots); to draw a cork; to get hilt and hair (Burns); to draw a man’s fireworks; to wag one’s tail (Pope); to take the starch out of; to go star-gazing (or studying astronomy) on one’s back; to get a green gown (Herrick and Durfey); to have a hot pudding (or live sausage) for supper; to grant the favour; to give mutton for beef, juice for jelly, soft for hard, a bit of snug for a bit of stiff, a hole to hide it in, a cure for the horn (q.v.), a hot poultice for the Irish toothache; to pull up one’s petticoats to; to get the best and plenty of it; to lie under; to stand the push; to get stabbed in the thigh; to take off one’s stays; to get touched up, a bit of the goose’s-neck, a go at the creamstick, a handle for the broom.

Conventionalisms.—To have connection; to have carnal, improper, or sexual intercourse; to know carnally; to have carnal knowledge of; to indulge in sexual commerce; to go to bed with; to lie with; to go in unto (Biblical); to be intimate, improperly intimate, familiar, on terms of familiarity with; to have one’s will of; to lavish one’s favours on; to enjoy the pleasures of love, or the conjugal embrace; to embrace; to have one’s way with; to perform connubial rites; to scale the heights of connubial bliss; to yield one’s favours (of women); to surrender, or give one the enjoyment of one’s person (of women); to use benevolence to; to possess. For other synonyms, see Ride.

To send to dr. green, verb. phr. (old).—To put out to grass.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. My horse is not well, I shall send him to Doctor Green.

S’elp me greens! (or taturs!) intj. (common).—A veiled oath of an obscene origin; see Greens. For synonyms, see Oaths.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. iii., p. 144. They’ll say, too, s’elp my greens! and ‘Upon my word and say so!’

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 23 Jan. ‘Well, s’elp me greens,’ he cried, wiping his eyes and panting for breath, ‘if you arn’t the greatest treat I ever did meet; you’ll be the death o’ me, Juggins, you will. Why, you bloomin’ idiot, d’ye think if they had’nt been rogues we should have been able to bribe ’em?’

Just for greens, adv. phr. (American).—See quot.

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. 7. I’ve made up my mind to make a tower of travel to the big North this summer, jest for greens, as we say in Georgia, when we hain’t got no very pertickeler reason for anything, or hain’t got time to tell the real one.

Green-apron, subs. (old).—A lay preacher. Also adjectively. For synonyms, see Devil-Dodger and Sky-Pilot.

1654. Warren, Unbelievers, 145. It more befits a green-apron preacher, than such a Gamaliel.

1705. Hickeringill, Priestcraft, I. (1721) 21. Unbeneficed Noncons. (that live by Alms and no Paternoster, no Penny, say the green-aprons).

1765. Tucker, Lt. Nat., II., 451. The gifted priestess amongst the Quaker is known by her green apron.

Green-back, subs. (common).—1. A frog.

2. (University).—One of Todhunter’s series of mathematical text-books. (Because bound in green cloth. Cf., Blue-ruin.)

3. (American).—The paper issue of the Treasury of the United States; first sent out in 1862 during the civil war. [From the backs being printed in green.] Hence green-backer = an advocate for an unlimited issue or paper money.

1873. Echo, 8 May. This was accomplished by the issue of legal tender notes, popularly known as greenbacks.

1877. Clemens, Life on the Mississippi, ch. lvii., p. 499. Anything in the semblance of a town lot, no matter how situated, was saleable, and at a figure which would still have been high if the ground had been sodded with greenbacks.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 228. Gussie can hear the crinkle of the greenbacks as he folds them up.

Green Bag, subs. (old).—A lawyer. [From the green bag in which robes and briefs were carried. The colour is now blue, or, in cases of presentation from seniors to juniors, red.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

English Synonyms.—Black box; bramble (provincial); devil’s own; gentleman of the long robe; land-shark; limb of the law; mouth-piece; Philadelphia lawyer (q.v.); quitam; six-and-eightpence; snipe; sublime rascal.

French Synonyms. Un bavard (pop. = a talker or mouthpiece); un blanchisseur (= whitewasher); un brodancheur à la plaque, aux macarons, or à la cymbale (thieves’: a notary-public); un gerbier (thieves’); un grippemini (obsolete: grippeminaud = thief); un inutile (thieves’: a notary-public); une éponge d’or (= a sucker-up of gold: in allusion to the long bills); un macaron huissier (popular).

Italian Synonyms.—Dragon del gran soprano; dragonetto (= a dragon, or suck-all).

Spanish Synonyms.—Remedio (= a remedy); la letraderia (= a body or society of lawyers); cataribera (jocular).

Green-Bonnet, to have (or wear) a green bonnet, verb. phr. (common).—To fail in business; to go bankrupt. [From the green cloth cap once worn by bankrupts.]

Green Cheese. See Cream Cheese and Moon.

Green Cloth. See Board of Green Cloth.

Green Dragoons, subs. (military).—The fifth Dragoon Guards; also known as the Green Horse. [From their green facings.]

Greener, subs. (common).—A new, or raw hand; specifically employed of inexperienced workmen introduced to fill the place of strikers; Dung (q.v.). Cf., Flint. For synonyms, see Snooker.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 14 Oct., p. 6, c. 3. A howling mob of Hebrew men and women ... in their own Yiddish jargon criticised the new arrivals, or greeners, in language that was anything but complimentary.

Green-Goods, subs. (American).—1. Counterfeit greenbacks.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 223. In his opinion Stillman Myth, and Co., were in the green goods business.

2. (venery).—A prostitute new to the town; a fresh bit (q.v.).

Green-goods Man (or Operator), subs. (American).—1. A counterfeiter of spurious greenbacks; a Snide-pitcher (q.v.).

1888. Troy Daily Times, 3 Feb. Driscoll was hung, but the green goods-man escaped, for the only proof against him was that he sold a quantity of paper cut in the shape of bills, and done up in packages of that size.

2. (venery).—A Fresh Bit (q.v.) fancier. Also an amateur of defloration; a minotaur (q.v.).

Green-goose, subs. (old).—1. A cuckold.

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

1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, iv., 3. This is the liver vein, which makes flesh a deity; A green goose, a goddess, pure, pure idolatry.

1607. Beaumont and Fletcher, Woman Hater, i., 2. His palace is full of green geese.

Green-gown. To give a green-gown, verb. phr. (old).—To tumble a woman on the grass; to copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1647–8. Herrick, Hesperides. ‘To Corinna To go a Maying.’ Many a green gown has been given.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Green gown, s.v. A throwing of young lasses on the grass and kissing them.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 277. Kit gave a green gown to Betty, and lent her his hand to rise.

1719. Smith, Lives of Highwaymen, i., 214. Our gallant being disposed to give his lady a green gown.

1742. C. Johnson, Highwaymen and Pyrates. Passim.

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

Green-head, subs. (old).—A greenhorn. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Greenhead, s.v., A very raw novice or inexperienced fellow.

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

Greenhorn (or Green-Head, or Greenlander), subs. (common).—A simpleton; a fool; a gull (q.v.); also a new hand. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head. To come from Greenland = to be fresh to things; raw (q.v.). Greenlander sometimes = an Irishman.

1753. Adventurer, No. 100. A slouch in my gait, a long lank head of hair and an unfashionable suit of drab-coloured cloth, would have denominated me a greenhorn, or in other words, a country put very green.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xliv. ‘Why, wha but a crack-brained greenhorn wad hae let them keep up the siller that ye left at the Gordon-Arms?’

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist. A new pall.... Where did he come from? Greenland.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. ix. All these he resigned to lock himself into a lone little country house, with a simple widow and a greenhorn of a son.

Greenhouse, subs. (London ’bus-drivers’).—An omnibus.

Green Howards, subs. phr. (military).—The Nineteenth Foot. [From its facings and its Colonel’s name (1738–48), and to distinguish it from the Third Foot, also commanded by a Col. Howard.] Also Howard’s Garbage.

Green Kingsman, subs. (pugilistic).—A silk pocket-handkerchief: any pattern on a green ground.

Green Linnets, subs. phr. (military).—The 39th Foot. [From the facings.]

Greenly, adv. (old).—Like a greenhorn; foolishly.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act iv., Sc. 5. King. ... We have done but greenly, In hugger-mugger to inter him.

Greenmans, subs. (old).—1. The fields; the country.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept.) 1874. Greenemans, the fields.

2. in sing. (builders’).—A contractor who speculates with other people’s money.

Green-meadow, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Greenness, subs. (colloquial).—Immaturity of judgment; inexperience; gullibility.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Greenness (s) ... also the rawness, unskilfulness, or imperfection of any person in a trade, art, science, etc.

1838. Jas. Grant, Sketches in London, ch. vi., p. 205. Instances of such perfect simplicity or greenness, as no one could have previously deemed of possible existence.

Green-rag.—See Greeny, sense 1.

Green-river. To send a man up green-river, verb. phr. (American).—To kill. [From a once famous factory on Green River, where a favourite hunting-knife was made.] For synonyms, see Cook One’s Goose.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 175. A thrust from the keen scalp-knife by the nervous arm of a mountaineer was no baby blow, and seldom failed to strike home up to the green river [i.e., the mark] on the blade.

Green-sickness, subs. (old).—Chlorosis.

Green-turtle. To live up to green-turtle, verb. phr. (American).—To do, and give, one’s best. [From the high esteem in which the green fat of turtle is held.]

1888. Paton, Down the Islands. People who, as hosts, live up to their green turtle.

Greenwich Barber, subs. (old).—A retailer of sand from the Greenwich pits. [A pun upon ‘shaving’ the banks.]

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

Greenwich-Goose, subs. (old).—A pensioner of Greenwich Hospital.

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

Greeny, subs. (old theatrical).—1. The curtain. [From the colour.] Also Green-rag.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 110 [ed. 1890]. It is far more difficult to please the company behind Greeny; I beg pardon, sir, I should have said than the audience before the curtain.

2. (University).—A freshman. For synonyms, see Snooker.

1834. Southey, The Doctor, ch. i. He was entered among the greenies of this famous University.

3. (common).—A simpleton; a Greenhorn (q.v.). For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1852. Judson, Myst., etc., of New York, part III., ch. 9, p. 58. Anybody could know that these was took by a greeny.

1887. Congregationalist, 7 April. Jim said I was a greeny ... [and] that he had a lot of houses.

Greetin’ Fu’, adv. phr. (Scots’), Drunk: literally ‘crying drunk.’ For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Greeze, subs. (Westminster School).—A crowd; a push (q.v.).

Gregorian, subs. (old).—A kind of wig worn in the 17th century. [After the inventor, one Gregory, a barber in the Strand.]

1658. Honest Ghost, p. 46. Pulling a little down his Gregorian.

Gregorian-tree, subs. (old).—The gallows. [After a sequence of three hangmen of the name.] For synonyms, see Nubbing-cheat.

1641. Mercurius Pragmaticus. This trembles under the black rod, and he Doth fear his fate from the Gregorian tree.

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

Gregorine, subs. (common).—A louse; specifically, head vermin. [From the Italian.] For synonyms, see Chates.

Greshamite, subs. (old).—A Fellow of the Royal Society.—B. E. [1690.]

Grey.—See Gray, passim.

Griddle, subs. (streets’).—To sing in the streets. Whence, Griddling = street-singing; griddler = a street-singer.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor. Got a month for griddling in the main drag.

1877. Besant and Rice, Son of Vulcan, pt. I., ch. xii. Cardiff Jack’s never got so low as to be griddling on the main drag—singing, I mean, on the high-road.

1888. W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, ch. iv., p. 53. They [street singers] have not yet invented Moody and Sankey, and therefore they cannot sing ‘Hold the Fort’ or ‘Dare to be a Daniel,’ but there are hymns in every collection which suit the gridler.

1890. Daily Telegraph, 20 May. Singing or shouting hymns in the streets on Sundays. To this system the name of gridling has been applied. The gridlers, it was stated, were known to boast, as they returned to their haunts in Deptford and Southwark, how much they could make in a few hours.

Gridiron, subs. (American).—1. The United States’ flag; the Stars and Stripes. Also Stars and Bars; Blood and Entrails; Gridiron and Doughboys; and, in speaking of the Eagle in conjunction with the flag, the Goose and Gridiron.

2. (common).—A County Court Summons. [Originally applied to Writs of the Westminster Court, the arms of which resemble a gridiron.]

1859. Sala, Gaslight and Daylight, ch. xxi. He collects debts for anybody in the neighbourhood, takes out the abhorred gridirons, or County Court summonses.

3. (thieves’).—The bars on a cell window. Fr., les gaules de Schtard.

The Gridiron, subs. phr. (common).—The Grafton Club. [Where the grill is a speciality.]

On the Gridiron, adv. phr. (common).—Troubled; harassed; in a bad way; on toast (q.v.).

The Whole Gridiron, subs. phr. (common).—See Whole Animal.

Grief, To Come to Grief, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To come to ruin; to meet with an accident; to fail. In quot., 1891 = trouble.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. x. We drove on to the Downs, and we were nearly coming to grief. My horses are young, and when they get on the grass they are as if they were mad.

1888. Cassell’s Saturday Jour., 8 Dec., p. 249. In the United States he had started a ‘Matrimonial Agency,’ in which he had come to grief, and he had been obliged to return to this country for a similar reason.

1891. Sportsman, 28 Feb. The flag had scarcely fallen than the grief commenced, as Midshipmite and Carlo rolled over at the first fence, Clanranald refused at the second, and Dog Fox fell at the third.

Griffin (or Griff), subs. (common).—1. A new-comer; a raw hand; a Greenhorn (q.v.) See Snooker and Sammy Soft. [Specific uses are (Anglo-Indian) = a new arrival from Europe; (military) = a young subaltern; (Anglo-Chinese) = an unbroken horse.] Griffinage (or Griffinism) = the state of greenhornism.

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffry Hamlyn, ch. xxviii. All the griffins ought to hunt together.

1878. Besant and Rice, By Celia’s Arbour, ch. xxx. We were in the Trenches; there had been joking with a lot of griffs, young recruits just out from England.

1882. Miss Braddon, Mount Royal, ch. xxii. There was only one of the lads about the yard when he left, for it was breakfast-time, and the little griffin didn’t notice.

1883. Graphic, 17 March, p. 286, c. 3. Many a youngster has got on in his profession ... by having the good fortune to make a friend of the old Indian who took him in as a griffin or a stranger.

2. (colloquial).—A woman of forbidding manners or appearance; a Gorgon. Also a caretaker, chaperon, or sheep-dog (q.v.) [A reflection of the several griffins of ornithology and of heraldry: the former a feeder on birds, small mammals, and even children; the latter (as in Milton) a perfection of vigilance.]

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, i., 2. It is always locked up by that she-griffin with a bunch of keys.

3. (thieves’).—A signal: e.g., to tip the griffin = to warn; to give the office (q.v.), or tip (q.v.). The straight griffin = the straight tip.

1888. Cassell’s Sat. Jour., 22 Dec., p. 305. Plank yourself at the corner to give the griffin if you hear or see owt.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 22. He’s got the straight griff for something.

1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, p. 95. When he wanted to give the chaps in the office the straight griffin, he used to say, ‘Nelson’s my guide.’

4. in. pl. (trade).—The scraps and leavings from a contract feast, which are removed by the purveyor.

Griff-metoll, subs. (old).—Sixpence. For synonyms, see Tanner.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, s.v.

Grig, subs. (old).—1. An active, lively, and jocose person: as in the phrase ‘Merry as a Grig.’ [An allusion to the liveliness of the grasshopper, sand-eel, or to grig (= Greek: cf., Troilus and Cressida i. 2; iv. 4).]

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Gale-bon-temps. A merry grig.

1673. Wycherley, Gent. Danc. Master, i., 1., wks. (1713) 251. Hah, ah, ah, cousin, dou art a merry grigg—ma foy.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Grig s.v. A merry grig; a merry fellow.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 43. The statesman that talks on the Woolsack so big, Could hustle to the open as merry as a grig.

1765. Goldsmith, Essays VI. I grew as merry as a grig, and laughed at every word that was spoken.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xix, p. 159. The learned gentleman ... is as merry as a grig at a French watering-place.

2. (thieves’).—A farthing; a gigg (q.v.). For synonyms, see Fadge.

1680. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Not a grig did he tip me, not a farthing would he give me.

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

1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 15. ‘He shall go through the whole course,’ replied Blueskin, with a ferocious grin, ‘unless he comes down to the last grig.’

Verb. (American).—To vex; to worry.

1855. Haliburton [S. Slick], Human Nature, p. 83. That word ‘superiors’ grigged me. Thinks I, ‘My boy, I’ll just take that expression, roll it up in a ball, and shy it back at you.’

Grim, subs. (American thieves’).—A skeleton. Also Grin.

Old Mr. Grim, subs. phr. (common).—Death. For synonyms, see Old Floorer.

Grin, verb. (American University, Virginia).—See quot.

1887. Lippincott, July, p. 99. If there are many ‘old men’ in the room they immediately begin to grin him; that is, they strike on their plates with their knives and forks, beat with their feet, and shout at the top of their voices, in the effort to make their victim grin. Woe to him if they succeed; for in that event the same thing will be repeated three times a day, until he ceases to notice it.

To grin in a Glass Case. verb. phr. (old).—To be shown as an anatomical preparation. [The bodies and skeletons of criminals were once preserved in glass cases at Surgeon’s Hall.—Grose.]

To flash the Upright Grin, verb. phr. (venery).—To expose the person (of women).

Grinagog, the Cat’s Uncle, subs. phr. (old).—A grinning simpleton.—Grose.

Grincums, subs. (old).—Syphilis. For synonyms, see Ladies’ Fever.

1608. Middleton, Family of Love, B. 1. I had a receipt for the grincomes in his own hand.

1635. Jones, Adrasta or the Woman’s Spleen, c. 2. You must know, sir, in a nobleman ’tis abusive; no, in him the serpigo, in a knight the grincomes, in a gentleman the Neapolitan scabb, and in a serving man or artificer the plaine pox.

1637. Massinger, Guardian, iv. The comfort is, I am now secure from the grincomes, I can lose nothing that way.

Grind, subs. (common).—1. A walk; a constitutional: e.g., ‘to take a grind’ or (University) ‘to go on the Grandchester (or Gog Magog Hills) grind.’

2. (common).—Daily routine; hard or distasteful work.

1853. Bradley, Verdant Green, pt. III., ch. xi. To a University man, a grind did not possess any reading signification, but a riding one. In fact, it was a steeple-chase, slightly varying in its details according to the college that patronised the pastime.

1870. London Figaro, 28 July. The world is a wearisome grind, love, Nor shirk we our turn at the wheel.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. xxv. ‘Isn’t it a great grind, sir?’ asked Silverbridge. ‘A very great grind, as you call it. And there may be the grind and not the success. But——’

1880. One and All, 27 Mar., p. 207. Soul-weary of life’s horrid grind, I long to come to thee.

3. (schools’).—Study; reading up for an examination; also a plodding student, i.e., a grinder.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School Days, pt. II., ch. v. ‘Come along, boys,’ cries East, always ready to leave the grind, as he called it.

1887. Chambers’ Jour., 14 May, p. 310. Smalls made just such a goal as was required, and the grind it entailed was frequently of no slight profit to him.

4. (medical students’).—A demonstration: as (1) a ‘public grind’ given to a class and free to all; and (2) a ‘private grind’ for which a student pays an individual teacher. In America, a quiz (q.v.).

5. (Oxford University).—Athletic sports. Also, a training run.

1872. Chambers’ Jour., April. Joe Rullock, the mighty gymnasiarch, the hero of a hundred grinds, the unwearied haunter of the palæstra, could never give the lie to his whole past life, and deny his own gymnastics.

6. (venery).—An act of sexual intercourse: e.g., To do a grind. [Mill and grindstone (venery) = the female pudendum.] For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Macinio, the grinding of grist. Also taken for carnal copulation.

1647. Ladies Parliament. Digbie’s lady takes it ill, that her Lord grinds not at her mill.

The grind, subs. phr. (Cambridge University).—The ferry-boat at Chesterton.

Verb. (University).—1. To prepare for examination to study: to read.

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School Days, pt. II., ch. vii. ‘The thing to find out,’ said Tom meditatively, ‘is how long one ought to grind at a sentence without looking at the crib.’

2. (University).—To teach; to instruct; to coach (q.v.).

3. (common).—To do a round of hard and distasteful work; to apply oneself to daily routine.

1880. Punch, 5 June, p. 253. ‘Fred on Pretty Girls and Pictures.’ And the pars in the Scanmag—he does them—are proper, and chock full of ‘go.’ Only paper I care to grind though.

4. (venery).—To copulate.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Grind, s.v.

5. trans. (American).—To vex; to ‘put out.’

1879. W. D. Howells, Lady of the Aroostook, ch. vii. After all, it does grind me to have lost that money!

Also grinding = (1) the act of reading or studying hard; (2) the act or occupation of preparing students, for an examination; and (3) the act of copulation.

On the grind, subs. phr. (venery).—Said of incontinent persons of both sexes. Also of prostitutes.

To grind an axe.—See Axe.

To get a grind on one, verb. phr. (American).—To play practical jokes; to tell a story against one; to annoy or vex.

To grind wind, verb. phr. (old prison).—To work the treadmill. See Everlasting Staircase.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson. Police, p. 322. On the treadmill ... grinding wind.

Grinder, subs. (college).—1. A private tutor; a coach (q.v.). Cf., Crammer.

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.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 201. Then contriving to accumulate five guineas to pay a grinder, he routs out his old note books from the bottom of his box and commences to read.

1841. A. Smith, ‘The London Medical Student’ in Punch, i., p. 229. G was a grinder, who sharpen’d the the fools.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. v. She sent me down here with a grinder. She wants me to cultivate my neglected genius.

2. Usually in. pl. (common).—The teeth.

English Synonyms.—Bones; chatterers; cogs; crashing cheats; dining-room furniture (or chairs); dinner-set; dominoes; front-rails; Hampstead Heath (rhyming); head rails; ivories; park-palings (or railings); snagglers; tushes (or tusks); tomb-stones.

French Synonyms.—Les soeurs blanches (thieves’ = the ‘white sisters’ or ivories); les chocottes (thieves’); les cassantes (thieves’ = grinders); les broches (popular = head-rails); les crocs (popular = tusks); le clou de giroflé (common = a decayed, black tooth); les branlantes (popular = the quakers: specifically, old men’s teeth); le mobilier (thieves’ = furniture); les meules de moulin (popular = millstones); le jeu de dominos (thieves’ = dominoes); les osanores (thieves’); les osselets (thieves’ = bonelets); les palettes (popular and thieves’); la batterie (= the teeth, throat, and tongue).

German Synonyms.—Krächling (= grinderkin; from krachen = to crush).

Italian Synonyms.—Merlo (= battlement); sganascio; rastrelliera (= the rack).

1597. Hall, Satires, iv., 1. Her grinders like two chalk stones in a mill.

1640. Humphrey Mill, Night’s Search, Sect. 39, p. 194. Her grinders white, her mouth must show her age.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. IV. Author’s Prologue. The devil of one musty crust of a brown George the poor boys had to scour their grinders with.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Grinder, s.v. The Cove has Rum Grinders, the Rogue has excellent Teeth.

1693. Dryden, Juvenal, x., 365. One, who at sight of supper open’d wide His jaws before, and whetted grinders tried.

1740. Walpole, Correspondence. A set of gnashing teeth, the grinders very entire.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xlv. Like a dried walnut between the grinders of a Templar in the pit.

1817. Scott, Ivanhoe, c. 16. None who beheld thy grinders contending with these peas.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 23. With grinders dislodg’d, and with peepers both poach’d.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. iv., ch. i. A grinder having been dislodged, his pipe took possession of the aperture.

1836. M. Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 83. Every now and then he would clap his head sideways on the ground, so as to get the back grinders to bear on his prey.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xiii. Sir Robert Peel, though he wished it ever so much, has no power over Mr. Benjamin Disraeli’s grinders, or any means of violently handling that gentleman’s jaw.

1871. Chambers’ Jour., 9 Dec., p. 772. My grinders is good enough for all the wittels I gets.

1888. Sporting Life, 28 Nov. Countered heavily on the grinders.

To take a grinder, verb. phr. (common).—To apply the left thumb to the nose, and revolve the right hand round it, as if to work a hand-organ or coffee-mill; to take a sight (q.v.); to work the coffee-mill (q.v.). [A street boy’s retort on an attempt to impose on his good faith or credulity.]

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxi. Here Mr. Jackson smiled once more upon the company; and, applying his left thumb to the tip of his nose, worked a visionary coffee-mill with his right hand, thereby performing a very graceful piece of pantomime (then much in vogue, but now, unhappily, almost obsolete) which was familiarly denominated taking a grinder.

1870. Athenæum, 8 July. ‘Rev. of Comic Hist. of United States.’ He finds himself confronted by a plumed and lightly-clad Indian, who salutes him with what street-boys term a grinder.

Grinding-house, subs. (old).—1. The House of Correction. For synonyms, see Cage.

1614. Terence in English. The fellow is worthy to be put into the grinding-house.

2. (venery).—A brothel. For synonyms, see Nanny-shop. [Grinding-tool = the penis.]

Grinding-mill, subs. (common).—The house of a tutor or Coach (q.v.) where students are prepared for an examination.

Grind-off (or Grindo), subs. (common).—A miller. [From a character in The Miller and his Men.]

Grindstone, subs. (common).—1. A tutor; a coach (q.v.).

2. (venery).—The female pudendum.

To bring (hold, put, or keep) one’s nose to the grindstone, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To oppress, harass, or punish; to treat harshly. To have one’s nose kept to the grindstone = to be held to a bargain, or at work.

1578. North, Plutarch, p. 241. They might be ashamed, for lack of courage, to suffer the Lacedæmonians to hold their noses to the grindstone.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hold. Hold his nose to the grindstone, to keep him Under, or Tie him Neck and Heels in a Bargain.

To have the grindstone on his back, verb. phr. (common).—Said of a man going to fetch the monthly nurse.—Grose.

Grinning-stitches, subs. (milliners’).—Slovenly sewing; stitches wide apart; ladders (q.v.).

Grip (or Gripsack), subs. (American).—A hand-bag or satchell.

To lose one’s grip, verb. phr. (American).—To fail; to lose one’s control.

Gripe, subs. (old).—1. A miser; a usurer. Also Griper or Gripe-fist (q.v.). For synonyms, see Hunks and Sixty-per-cent. Griping = extortion.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Gripe, or griper, s.v. An old covetous wretch. Also a banker, money scrivener, or usurer.

2. in. pl. (colloquial).—The colic; the stomach ache; the Collywobbles. For synonyms, see Jerry-go-nimble.

1684. Bunyan, Pilgr. Prog., Pt. II. He concluded that he was sick of the gripes.

1705. Char. of a Sneake, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 356. He never looks upon her Majesty’s arms but semper eadem gives him the gripes.

1714. Spectator, No 559. Meeting the true father, who came towards him with a fit of the gripes, he begged him to take his son again, and give back his cholic.

1812. Coombe, Tour in Search of Picturesque, c. xxvi. That he who daily smokes two pipes, The tooth-ache never has—nor gripes.

Gripe-fist, subs. (common).—A miser; a grasping broker. For synonyms, see Hunks. Also Gripe-penny.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Grist, subs. (American).—A large number or quantity. [Swift uses grist = a supply; a provision.]

1848. Cooper, Oak Openings. There’s an unaccountable grist of bees, I can tell you.

a. 1852. Traits of American Humour, i., 305. I ... got pretty considerable soaked by a grist of rain.

To bring grist to the mill, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To bring profitable business; to be a source of profit.

1719. Poor Robin’s Almanack, May. Lawyers pleading do refrain A while, and then fall to ’t again; Strife brings grist unto their mill.

1770. Foote, Lame Lover, i. Well, let them go on, it brings grist to our mill.

1804. Horsley, Speech, 23 July. A sly old pope created twenty new saints, to bring grist to the mill of the London clergy.

1817. Scott, Ivanhoe, c. 16. Some three or four dried pease—a miserable grist for such a mill.

1838. Dickens, Nich. Nickleby, ch. xxxiv., p. 268. Meantime the fools bring grist to my mill.

Gristle, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Grit, subs. (originally American: now colloquial).—1. Character; pluck; spirit; sand (q.v.). Also clear grit. No grit = lacking in stamina; wanting in courage.

1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, bk. II., ch. xiv. A chap who was clear grit for a tussle, any time.

1848. Burton, Waggeries, etc., p. 13. The old folks ... began to think that she warn’t the clear grit.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. vi. A real lady—l’air noble—the rael genuine grit, as Sam Slick says.

1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. vii. You’re a right brave old girl. I like grit, wherever I see it.

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xxxi. If you were a chip of the old block you would be just what he called the grit.

1889. Referee, 6 Jan. They never did think there was any real grit about him.

1890. Scribner, Feb., 242. ‘Looks like he got grit, don’t it?’ Lige muttered.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 249. I am as full of grit and work as ever, and just tower above our troubles.

2. (Canadian political).—A member of the Liberal party.

Gritty, adj. (American).—Plucky; courageous; resolute; full of character.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 106. There never was a grittyer crowd congregated on that stream.

Grizzle, verb. (colloquial).—To fret. Also to grizzle one’s guts.

1872. Miss Braddon, To the Bitter End, ch. xvi. ‘If the locket’s lost, it’s lost,’ she said philosophically; ‘and there’s no use in grizzling about it.’

Grizzle-guts (or Grizzle- or Glum-pot). subs. (common).—A melancholy or ill-tempered person; a sulkington (q.v.).

Groaner, subs. (old).—A thief plying his trade at funerals or religious gatherings.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Groaning, subs. (old).—The act of parturition. Also, adj., parturient; or appertaining to parturition: as in groaning-malt (Scots’) = drink for a lying-in; groaning-pains = the pangs of delivery; groaning-wife = a woman ready to lie-in.

1594. Nashe, Unfort. Trav. (Chiswick Press, 1892), p. 92. As smoothe as a groaning-wive’s bellie.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, iii., 2. It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge.

1786. Burns, The Rantin’ Dog the Daddie O’t. Wha will bring the groaning-malt?

Groats, subs. (nautical).—The chaplain’s monthly allowance.

To save one’s groats, verb. phr. (old University).—To come off handsomely. [At the Universities nine groats are deposited in the hands of an academic officer by every person standing for a degree, which, if the depositor obtains, with honour, are returned to him.—Grose.]

Grocery, subs. (common).—1. Small change.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

2. (American).—A drinking bar. Also Confectionery and Groggery.

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, etc. 104. He went into his favourite grocery.

3. (common).—Sugar. [A restricted use of a colloquialism.]

1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, Bk. V., ch. ii. A private room and a pint of brandy, my dear. Hot water and lots of the grocery.

Grog, subs. (old: now recognised).—Spirits and water; strong drink generally. [Till Admiral Vernon’s time (1745) rum was served neat, but he ordered it to be diluted, and was therefore nicknamed ‘Old Grog,’ in allusion to his grogram coat: a phrase that was presently adapted to the mixture he had introduced.] Groggy = drunk.

Verb. (old).—To dilute or adulterate with water.

1878. Lincoln, Rutland, and Stamford Mercury, 8 Mar. The defendants had grogged the casks by putting in hot water.

To have grog on board (or to be grogged), verb. phr. (common).—To be drunk. For synonyms, see Screwed.

1842. Comic Almanack, October. He stands and listens, sad and dogged, To ‘fined five bob’ for being grogged.

Grog-blossom, subs. (common).—A pimple caused by drinking to excess. Also Copper-nose and Jolly-nose. Fr., un nez culotté and un nez de pompettes.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, Grog-blossom, s.v.

1883. Thos. Hardy, The Three Strangers, in Longman’s Mag., March, p. 576. A few grog-blossoms marked the neighbourhood of his nose.

1888. W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, ch. xi., p. 169. The outward and visible signs of rum were indeed various. First, there was the red and swollen nose, next, the nose beautifully painted with grog-blossoms.

Grog-fight, subs. (military).—A drinking party. Cf., Tea-fight.

1876. R. M. Jephson, Girl he Left Behind Him, ch. 1. He had been having a grog-fight in his room to celebrate the event.

Groggery, subs. (American).—A public bar; a grog-shop.

Groggy, adj. (colloquial).—1. Under the influence of drink. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1829. Buckstone, Billy Taylor. i., as a gay young woman, will delude Taylor away from Mary, make him groggy, then press him off to sea.

1863. Fun, 23 May, p. 98, c. 2. They fined drunkards and swearers, and there is a record in the parish-books, among others of a similar nature, of a certain Mrs. Thunder who was fined twelve shillings for being, like Mr. Cruikshank’s horse at the Brighton Review, decidedly groggy.

1872. Echo, 30 July. A model of perfection had she not shown more than necessary partiality to her elder friend’s brandy bottle during the journey, despite the latter’s oft-repeated caution not to become groggy.

2. (colloquial).—Staggering or stupified with drink. Also (stable) moving as with tender feet. Also (pugilists’) unsteady from punishment and exhaustion. Fr., locher = to be groggy.

1831. Youatt, The Horse, ch. xvi., p. 380. Long journeys at a fast pace will make almost any horse groggy.

1846–8. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. ii., ch. v. Cuff coming up full of pluck, but quite reeling and groggy, the Fig-merchant put in his left as usual on his adversary’s nose, and sent him down for the last time.

1853. Diogenes, vol. ii., p. 177. The anxiety is not confined to the metropolis; as a respectable grazier, who rides a groggy horse, on hearing of it at a public-house the other day, affirmed it to be the mysterious cause of the rise in the value of horseflesh.

1888. Sportsman, 28 Nov. In the tenth Thompson, who had been growing groggy, to the surprise of Evans began to force the fighting.

Grogham, subs. (old).—A horse; a daisy-kicker (q.v.). Now mostly in contempt. For synonyms, see Prad.

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

Grog-shop, subs. (common).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potatoe-trap.

1843. Thackeray, Men’s Wives, Frank Berry, ch. i. Claret drawn in profusion from the gown-boy’s grog-shop.

Grog-tub, subs. (nautical).—A brandy bottle.

Groom, subs. (gamesters’).—A croupier.

Groomed. See Well-groomed.

Groovy, subs. (American).—A sardine.

Adj. (popular).—Settled in habit; limited in mind.

Grope, verb. (venery).—To feel a woman; to fumble; to fam (q.v.).

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Mariolement. Groping of a wench.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 194. Smoking, toping, Landlady groping.

Groper, subs. (old).—1. A blind man; hoodman (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

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

2. (old).—A pocket. For synonyms, see Brigh and Sky-rocket.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 143. Gropers. Pockets.

3. (old).—A midwife; a fingersmith (q.v.).

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

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

Ground. To suit down to the ground, verb. phr. (common).—To be thoroughly becoming or acceptable.

1878. M. E. Braddon, Cloven Foot, ch. xlv. Some sea coast city in South America would suit me down to the ground.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 9 Feb. I knows the very bloke that’ll suit you down to the ground.

1891. Sporting Life, 28 Mar. At Knowle he is suited down to the ground.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. ii. They suit me right down to the ground.

To wipe (or mop) up the ground (or floor) with one, verb. phr. (common).—To administer the very soundest thrashing; to prove oneself absolutely superior to one’s opposite.

1887. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, i., 3. Muck! that’s my opinion of him; ... I’ll mop the floor up with him any day, if so be as you or any on ’em ’ll make it worth my while.

1888. Detroit Free Press, Aug. The Scroggin boy was as tough as a dogwood knot. He’d wipe up the ground with him; he’d walk all over him.

To go (or get) well to the ground, verb. phr. (old colloquial).—To defæcate; to rear (q.v.). For synonyms, see Mrs. Jones.

1608. Middleton, Family of Love, v. 3. Do you go well to the ground?

1856. Notes and Queries, 2 S., i., p. 324. To get to the ground, in medical phraseology, means to have the bowels opened.

Grounder, subs. (cricketers’).—A ball with a ground delivery; a sneak; a grub; and (in America) at base-ball, a ball struck low, or flying near the ground.

Ground-floor. To be let in on the Ground-floor, verb. phr. (American).—To share in a speculation on equal terms with the original promoters.

Ground-squirrel, subs. (old).—A hog; a grunter—Lex. Bal. For synonyms, see Sow’s Baby.

Ground-sweat. To have (or take) a ground-sweat, verb. phr. (old).—To be buried.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Ground sweat, s.v., a grave.

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

Grouse. To do a grouse (or to go grousing), verb. phr. (venery).—To quest, or to run down, a woman; to molrow (q.v.). Groused = Molled (q.v.).

Grouser, subs. (popular).—1. A grumbler. For synonyms, see Rusty-guts.

2. (venery).—One who goes questing after women; a molrower (q.v.).

3. (sporting).—A rowing man; a wet-bob (q.v.).

Grousing, subs. (venery).—Going in quest of women; sparrow-catching (q.v.); molrowing (q.v.).

Groute, verb. (Marlborough and Cheltenham Colleges).—To work or study hard; to swot (q.v.). For synonyms, see Wire In.

Grouty, adj. (common).—Crabbed; sulky.

Grove of Eglantine, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum; also the female pubic hair. For synonyms, see Monosyllable and Fleece.

1772. Carew, Poems. ‘A Rapture.’ Retire into thy Grove of Eglantine.

Grove of the Evangelist, subs. phr. (common).—St. John’s Wood; also Apostle’s Grove, and the Baptist’s Wood.

Grow, verb. (prison).—To be accorded the privilege of letting one’s hair and beard grow. Also to grow one’s feathers.

Growler, subs. (common).—A four-wheeled cab. Cf., Sulky.

English Synonyms.—Bird-cage; blucher; bounder; fever-trap; flounder-and-dab (rhyming); four-wheeler; groping hutch; mab (an old hackney); rattler; rumbler.

French Synonyms.—Un bordel ambulant (common = a walking brothel); un char numèroté (popular); un flatar (thieves’); un foutoir ambulant (= a fuckery on wheels); un mylord (popular).

1870. Orchestra, 21 Mar. A recent enigmatical bill-poster on the walls, with the device ‘Hie, Cabby, Hie!’ turns out to be a Patent Cab Call—an ingenious sort of lamp-signal for remote hansoms and growlers.

1873. Land and Water, 25 Jan. The knacker’s yard is baulked for a time, while the quadruped shambles along in some poverty-stricken growler.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 8 Jan., p. 5, c. 3. But while a great improvement has been made in hansoms of late years, the four-wheeler or growler is still as a rule a disgrace to the metropolis.

1890. Daily Graphic, 7 Jan., p. 14, c. 1. What with hansom cabs and growlers and private broughams; what with bonded carmen’s towering waggons.

1891. Globe, 15 July, p. 1, c. 3. Adapting the words of Waller to the condition of many of our growlers—The cab’s dull framework, battered and decayed, Lets in the air through gaps that time has made.

To rush (or work) the growler, verb. phr. (American workmen’s).—See quot. [Growler = pitcher.]

1888. New York Herald, 29 July. One evil of which the inspectors took particular notice was that of the employment by hands in a number of factories of boys and girls, under ten and thirteen years, to fetch beer for them, or in other words to rush the growler.

Grown-man’s-dose, subs. (common).—A lot of liquor. Also a long drink (q.v.). For synonyms, see Go.

Grown-up, subs. (colloquial).—An adult: among undertakers, a grown.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, Bk. ii., ch. 1. I always did like grown ups.

Grub, subs. (vulgar).—1. Food.

English Synonyms.—Belly-cheer (or chere); belly-furniture; belly-timber; Kaffir’s tightener (specifically, a full meal); chuck; corn; gorge-grease; manablins (= broken victuals); mouth harness; mungarly; peck; prog; scoff (S. African); scran; stodge; tack; tommy (specifically, bread); tuck; yam. Also, verbally, to bung the cask; to grease the gills; to have the run of one’s teeth; to yam. See also Wolf.

French Synonyms.—La becquetance (popular = peck); le biffre (popular); la frigousse (popular); la fripe (popular, from O. Fr., fripper = to eat); la gringue (common); les matériaux (freemason’s = materials); la briffe (popular); la boustifaille (popular); le harnois de gueule (Rabelais: = mouth-harness); le coton (popular, an allusion to a lamp-wick); les comestaux (popular = comestibles); le tortorage (thieves’); la broute (popular = grazing); la morfe (O. Fr. Also, in a verbal sense = to feed); tortiller du bec (popular = to wag a jaw); se calfater le bec (nautical: also = to drink); becqueter (popular = to ‘peck’); béquiller (popular); chiquer (popular = to ‘chaw’); bouffer (popular); boulotter (common); taper sur les vivres (popular = to assault the eatables); pitancher (common: also = to drink); passer à la tortore (thieves’); se l’envoyer; casser la croustille (thieves’ = to crack a crust); tortorer (thieves’); briffer; passer à briffe (popular); brouter (Villon = to browse); se caler, or se caler les amygdales (popular); mettre de l’huile dans la lampe (common = to trim the lamp); se coller quelque chose dans le fanal, dans le fusil, or dans le tube (popular = to trim one’s beacon-light; to load one’s gun, etc.); chamailler des dents (popular = to ‘go it’ with the ivories); jouer des badigoinces (common: badigoinces = chaps); jouer des dominos (popular: dominos = teeth); déchirer la cartouche (military); gobichonner (popular); engouler (popular = to bolt); engueuler (colloquial = to gobble); friturer (popular: also = to cook); gonfler (popular: to blow out); morfiaillier (Rabelaisian); morfigner, or morfiler (From O. Fr., morfier; cf., Ital., morfire or morfizzare); cacher (popular = to stow away); se mettre quelque chose dans le cadavre (popular = to stoke); se lester la cale (nautical: to lay in ballast); se graisser les balots (thieves’: to grease the gills); se caresser (to do oneself a good turn); effacer (popular = to put away); travailler pour M. Domange (popular: M. Domange was a famous goldfinder or gong farmer [q.v.]); clapoter (popular); debrider la margoulette (popular = to put one’s nose in the manger); croustiller (popular); charger pour la guadaloupe (popular); travailler pour Jules (common: Jules = Mrs. Jones); se faire le jabot (popular, jabot = stomach); jouer des osanores (popular: osanores = teeth); casser (thieves’); claquer (familiar = to rattle one’s ivories); klebjer (popular); faire trimer les mathurins (popular = to make the running with one’s teeth); se coller quelque chose dans le bocal (common: bocal = paunch); estropier (popular = to maim); passer à galtos (nautical); bourrer la paillasse (common = to stuff the mattress); faire trimer le battant (thieves’); jouer des mandibules (popular); s’emplir le gilet (popular = to fill one’s waistcoat); se garnir le bocal (popular: to furnish one’s paunch); se suiver la gargarousse (nautical: also = to drink); babouiner (popular); charger la canonnière (popular: canonnière = the breech); gousser (popular); gouffier (obsolete).

German Synonyms.—Achile, Achelinchen, or Acheliniken (from Heb. Ochal); Achelputz (from Heb. ochal + putzen from O.H.G. bizan or pizzan = to eat).

Italian Synonyms.—Artibrio; and, verbally, sbattere (= to beat, to struggle); intappare il fusto (= to bung the cask); smorfire.

Spanish Synonyms.—Papar (colloquial: from papa = pap); hacer el buche (low: buche = craw or crop); echar (colloquial); manducar; meter.

1659. Dialogue betwixt an Exciseman and Death, transcribed from a Copy in British Museum, printed in London by J. C[lark]. I’ll pass my word this night Shall yield us grub before the morning light.

1725. New Cant. Dict. Grub, s.v., victuals.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 171. How did you procure your grub and Bub?

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 149. Bub and Grub. A mighty low expression, signifying victuals and drink.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. iii. Poor Purser! de people call him Purser, sir, because him knowing chap; him cabbage all de grub, slush, and stuff in him own corner.

d. 1842. Maginn, Vidocq’s Song. Any bubby and grub, I say?

1857. Thackeray, Shabby Genteel Story, ch. i., p. 9. He used to ... have his grub too on board.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. i., p. 45. I at once congratulated myself on not being a large eater, as there was no doubt but my grub would run very short if it depended on my oakum-picking.

1889. Star, 3 Dec., p. 2, c. 6. Of course it was grub. It was for food, the food for which they beg, and steal, and go willingly to prison, for a certain good square meal of meat.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 154. That sad, sad secret about Mary would keep him in grub for the next day or two at ‘The Rose in Bloom.’

2. (old).—A short thick-set man; a dwarf. In contempt. For synonyms, see Hop-o’-my-Thumb.

3. (colloquial).—A dirty sloven; generally used of elderly people.

4. (American).—A careful student; a hard reader.

1856. Hall, College Words and Phrases, quoted from Williams’ Coll. Quarterly, ii., 246. A hard reader or student: e.g., not grubs or reading men, only wordy men.

5. (American).—Roots and stumps; whatever is ‘grubbed up.’

6. (cricketers’).—A ball delivered along the ground; a grounder (q.v.); a daisy-cutter (q.v.). For synonyms, see Lob-sneak.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf. Grub, s.v.

Verb. (old).—1. To take or supply with food. For synonyms, see subs. sense 1.

1725. New Cant. Dict. Grub, s.v., to eat.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Grub, s.v., to dine.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxii., p. 184. I never see such a chap to eat and drink; never. The red-nosed man warn’t by no means the sort of person you’d like to grub by contract, but he was nothin’ to the shepherd.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 18 May, p. 3, c. 1. ‘They are not bound to grub you, don’t you know,’ said Mr. Sleasey, ‘and they try the starving dodge on you sometimes.’

2. (old).—To beg; to ask for alms, especially food.

3. (American).—To study, or read hard; to ‘sweat.’

To ride grub, verb. phr. (old).—To be sulky; crusty (q.v.); disagreeable.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. To ride grub, to be sullen or out of temper.

To grub along, verb. phr. (common).—To make one’s way as best one can; ‘to rub along.’

1888. Daily Telegraph, 19 Oct. When a youth left school to follow the pursuits of life he found that he had to grub along as best he could.

Grubbing, subs. (common).—Eating.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib. What with snoozing, high grubbing, and guzzling like Cloe.

Grubbery, subs. (common).—(1) an eating-house. Also (2) a dining-room, and (3) the mouth.

Grubbing-crib, subs. (general).—1. An eating-house. Grubbing-crib faker = the landlord of a cheap cookshop. Fr., le nourrisseur; Sp., un ostalero. See Grub Shop, sense 2.

English Synonyms.—Grubbery; grubby-, or grubbing-ken; grub-shop; guttle-shop; hash-house; mungarly casa; prog-shop; slap-bang shop; tuck-shop; waste-butt.

French Synonyms.—Un bourre-boyaux (popular = a stuff-your-guts); un claquedents (popular, also = a brothel, or punting-house); une guingette (general); une mangeoire (popular = a grubbery: manger = to eat); un mattais (popular); un gargot (thieves’).

German Synonym.—Achilebajes (from Heb., Ochal = to eat).

Spanish Synonym.—Ostaleria, or Osteria (also = lush-crib).

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v.

2. (tramps’).—A workhouse. For synonyms, see Spinniken. Sometimes Grubbiken.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., 416. I know all the good houses, and the tidy grubbikens—that’s the unions where there’s little or nothing to do for the food we gets.

Grubble, verb. (colloquial).—(1) To feel for at random or in the dark; and (2) (venery) to grope (q.v.).

1684. Dryden, The Disappointment. ‘Prologue.’ The doughty bullies enter bloody drunk, Invade and grubble one another’s punk.

Grubby, subs. (thieves’).—Food. [A diminutive of Grub (q.v.).]

d. 1842. Maginn, Vidocq’s Song. I pattered in flash like a covey knowing, Tol lol, etc. Ay, bub or grubby, I say.

Adj. (colloquial).—Dirty; slovenly.

d. 1845. Hood, A Black Job. Like a grubby lot of sooty sweeps or colliers.

Grub-hunting, subs. (tramps’).—Begging for food.

Grub-shite, verb. (old).—To make foul or dirty; to bewray.—Grose.

Grub-shop, (or -crib, -trap, etc.), subs. (common).—1. The mouth; and (2) a grubbery (q.v.). For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1840. Thackeray, Comic Almanack, p. 229. ‘That’s the grub shop,’ said my lord, ‘where we young gentlemen wot has money buys our wittles.’

3. See Grubbing-crib in both senses.

Grub-stake, subs. (American).—Food and other necessaries furnished to mining prospectors in return for a share in the ‘finds.’ Hence, to grub-stake = to speculate after this fashion.

1884. Butterworth, Zig-zag Journeys. When miners become so poor that they are not able to furnish the necessary tools and food with which to ‘go prospecting’, a third party of sufficient means offers to furnish tools and provisions on condition that he is to have a certain interest in anything that may be found.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 100. He grub-staked us and we used to work on the Tillie mine together.

Grub-street, subs. (colloquial).—The world of cheap, mean, needy authors. [Originally a street near Moorfields, changed in 1830 to Milton Street.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Grub-street news, false, forg’d.

1728. Pope, Dunciad, iii., 135. Shall take through grub-street his triumphant round.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A Grub-street writer means a hackney author, who manufactures books for the booksellers.

1813. J. and H. Smith, Horace in London, ‘The Classic Villa.’ Grub-street, ’tis called.

1821. Egan, Life in London, i. Few, if any, writers, out of the great mass of living scribblers, whether of Grub-Street fabrication, or of University passport ... possess souls above buttons.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 119. We are going it, have got our agents in Grub Street.

Gruel, subs. (common).—1. A beating; punishment (q.v.). For synonyms, see Tanning. Hence, to get (or give) one’s gruel = to castigate, or be well beaten; also killed. In the prize ring = to knock a man out for good. Gruelled = floored; also Gruelling.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. He gathered in general, that they expressed great indignation against some individual. ‘He shall have his gruel,’ said one.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Babes in the Wood.’ He that was mildest in mood gave the truculent rascal his gruel.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. xii. They were as well gruelled as so many posters, before they got to the stile.

1888. Sporting Life, 15 Dec. Preferred to be easily knocked out to taking his gruel like a man.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 23 Jan. Both men were badly punished, but George had, of course, the lion’s share of the gruel.

1891. Licensed Vict. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 7, c. 3. All the advantage rested with the same side for some little time, Paddock getting such a gruelling that his head swelled out like a pumpkin.

2. (American thieves’).—Coffee.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Grueller, subs. (common).—A knock-down blow; a settler; a floorer (q.v.).

Grumble-guts, subs. (popular).—An inveterate croaker. Also Grumble-gizzard.

Grumbles. To be all on the grumbles, verb. phr. (popular).—To be discontented; cross; on the snarly-yow (q.v.).

Grumbletonian, subs. (common).—A pattern of discontent: one ever on the grumble. [Grumbleton (during the reigns of the later Stuarts) = an imaginary centre of discontent; hence, Grumbletonian, a nickname of the County party, distinguished from the Court, as being in opposition.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Grumbletonians, malecontents, out of Humour with the Government, for want of a Place, or having lost one.

1705–7. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. 1, p. 24 (2nd Ed.). But all the grumbletonian throng Did with such violence rush along.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act 1. Now, if I pleased, I could be so revenged upon the old grumbletonian.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Grumbletonian, s.v., a discontented person.

1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. of Eng., ch. xix. Who were sometimes nicknamed the grumbletonians, and sometimes honoured with the appellation of the County party.

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

Grumpy (or Grumpish), adj. (colloquial).—Surly; cross; angry.

1840. Mrs. Trollope, Michael Armstrong, ch. vi. If you blubber or look grumpish.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 3 a.m., par. 13. Calling you a ‘cross, grumpy, old thing,’ when you mildly suggest that it is very near bed-time.

1868. Miss Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, bk. IV., ch. i. A grumpy old deaf keeper, and a boy, his assistant.

1883. Punch, 19 May, p. 230, c. 2. They all looked grumpy and down in the mouth.

Grundy, subs. (old).—A short fat man; a forty-guts (q.v.).—See Mrs. Grundy.

1563. Fox, Acts and Monuments (London, 1844), iii., 1104. For that he being a short grundy, and of little stature, did ride commonly with a great broad hat.

Grunter, subs. (old).—1. A pig; a grunting-cheat (q.v.). In quot. 1652 = pork. For synonyms, see Sow’s Baby.

1656. Brome, Jovial Crew. Here’s grunter and bleater, with tib-of-the-buttry.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Grunter, s.v. A sucking pig.

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

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 266. And the squeaking grunter is loose on the green.

1847–50. Tennyson, Princess, v. 26. A draggled mawkin, That tends her bristled grunters in the sludge.

2. (common).—A sixpence. In quot. 1785 = 1s. Cf., Hog and Pig.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, Grunter, s.v. A shilling.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. III., ch. iii., p. 267. One of the men ... had only taken three ‘twelvers’ [shillings] and a grunter.

1885. Household Words, 20 June. p. 155. The sixpence ... is variously known as a ‘pig,’ a ‘sow’s baby,’ a grunter, and ‘half a hog.’

3. (common).—A policeman; a trap (q.v.); a pig (q.v. sense 2). For synonyms, see Beak.

1820. London Magazine, i., 26. As a bonnet against ... grunters.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. Grunter, s.v., a country constable.

4. (tailors’).—An habitual grumbler; a grumble-guts (q.v.)

Grunter’s-gig, subs. (old).—A smoked pig’s chap.—Grose.

Grunting-cheat, subs. (old).—A pig. See Chete. For synonyms, see Sow’s Baby.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 86. She has a cackling-chete, a grunting-chete, ruff pecke, cassan, and poplarr of yarum.

1622. Fletcher, Beggars Bush, v., 1. Or surprising a boor’s ken for grunting-cheats? Or cackling-cheats?

Grunting-peck, subs. (old).—Pork or bacon.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Grunting-peck, s.v., pork.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

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

1836. Smith, Individual. ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ But dearer to me Sue’s kisses far Than grunting peck or other grub are.

Gruts, subs. (common).—Tea; For synonyms, see Scandal-broth.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

G. T. T. Gone to Texas, phr. (American).—Absconded. [Moonshining gentry used to mark G. T. T. on the doors of their abandoned dwellings as a consolation for inquiring creditors.] Fr., aller en Belgique. For synonyms, see Swartwort.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 5 S., ch. viii. Before this misfortin’ came I used to do a considerable smart chance of business; but now it’s time for me to cut dirt, and leave the country. I believe I must hang out the G. T. T. sign.—‘Why, what the plague is that?’ says I. ‘Gone to Texas,’ said he.

Guage.—See Gage.

Gubbins, subs. (old).—Fish-offal.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, q.v.

Gudgeon, subs. (old).—1. A bait; an allurement. Hence, To gudgeon (or to swallow a gudgeon) = to be extremely credulous or gullible.

1598. Shakspeare, Merchant of Venice, i., 1. But fish not with this melancholy bait, For this fool’s gudgeon, this opinion.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, Bersela, s.v. To swallow a gudgeon ... to believe any tale.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, Gudgeon, s.v. To swallow the bait, or fall into a trap, from the fish of that name which is easily taken.

1892. National Observer, 23 July, vii., 235. It has educated Hodge into an increased readiness to gorge any gudgeon that may be offered him.

2. (colloquial).—An easy dupe; a buffle (q.v.).

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

Guerrilla, subs. (American sharpers’).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. This name is applied by gamblers to fellows who skin suckers when and where they can, who do not like the professional gamblers, but try to beat them, sometimes inform on them, and tell the suckers that they have been cheated.

Guff, subs. (common).—Humbug; bluff; jabber. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1889. Sportsman, 19 Jan. Hereafter he can have the newspapers to himself, and with that windbag Mitchell fill them with guff and nonsense, but I won’t notice them.

Guffy, subs. (nautical).—A soldier. For synonyms, see Mudcrusher.

Guiders, subs. (general).—1. Reins; ribbons (q.v.).

2. (common).—Sinews; leaders (q.v.).

Guinea. A guinea to a gooseberry, phr. (sporting).—Long odds. See Lombard Street to a China Orange.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, ch. vli. What! old Writson against Sam Pearson? Why, it’s a guinea to a gooseberry on Sam!

Guinea-dropper, subs. (old).—A sharper. Specifically one who let drop counterfeit guineas in collusion with a gold-finder (q.v.). For synonyms, see Rook.

1712, Gay, Trivia, iii., 249. Who now the guinea dropper’s bait regards, Tricked by the sharper’s dice or juggler’s cards.

Guinea-hen, subs. (old).—A courtezan. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, i., 3. Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon.

1630. Glapthorne, Albertus Wallenstein. Yonder’s the cock o’ the game About to tread yon guinea-hen, they’re billing.

Guinea-pig, subs. (old).—1. A general term of reproach.

1748. Smollett, Roderick Random, xxiv. A good seaman he is, as ever stepp’d on forecastle—none of your guinea-pigs,—nor your freshwater, wishy-washy, fair-weather fowls.

2. (old).—Any one whose nominal fee for professional services is a guinea: as vets., special jurymen, etc. Now mainly restricted to clergymen acting as deputies, and (in contempt) to directors of public companies. Hence Guinea-trade = professional services of any kind.

1821. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, Tour III., c. iv. ‘Oh, oh,’ cried Pat, ‘how my hand itches, Thou guinea-pig [a ‘vet.’], in boots and breeches, to trounce thee well.’

1871. Temple Bar, vol. xxxi., p. 320. A much more significant term is that of guinea pigs, the pleasant name for those gentlemen of more rank than means, who hire themselves out as directors of public companies, and who have a guinea and a copious lunch when they attend board meetings.

1880. Church Review, 2 Jan. Guinea pigs ... are, for the most part, unattached or roving parsons, who will take any brother cleric’s duty for the moderate remuneration of one guinea.

1883. Saturday Review, 25 Aug., p. 246, c. 2. A country parson was suddenly attacked with diphtheria, late in the week. Recourse was had in vain to the neighbours, and it was decided at last to telegraph to London for a guinea pig.

1884. Echo, 19 May, p. 1, c. 5. Let us apply the principle further, and imagine ... limited liability swindlers tried by a jury of guinea-pigs and company promoters.

1884. Graphic, 29 Nov., p. 562, c. 3. And the guinea-pig, whose name is on a dozen different Boards, is justly regarded with suspicion.

1886. Chambers’s Jour., 24 Apr., p. 258. In order to be considered of any value as Director of a Company, a guinea-pig ought to have a handle to his name.

1887. Payn, Glow Worm Tales. ‘A Failure of Justice.’ He is best known to the public as a guinea-pig, from his habit of sitting at boards and receiving for it that nominal remuneration, though in his case it stands for a much larger sum.

1889. Drage, Cyril, vii. The rector has, as usual, got the gout, and we live under a régime ... of guinea-pigs.

1890. Standard, 26 June, p. 5, c. 4. The least attempt to saddle responsibility for misleading statements upon Boards of Directors would drive prudent, ‘respectable’ men out of what is vulgarly called the guinea-pig business.

3. (nautical).—See quot.

1840. Marryat, Poor Jack, ch. xxvi. While Bramble was questioned by the captain and passengers, I was attacked by the midshipmen, or guinea-pigs as they are called.

Guise’s Geese, subs. phr. (military).—The Sixth Foot or ‘Saucy Sixth.’ [From its Colonel’s name, 1735–63.]

Guiver, subs. (theatrical).—(1) Flattery, and (2) artfulness (q.v.). For synonyms, see Soft Soap.

Adj. (common).—Smart; fashionable; on it (q.v.). Guiver lad = a low-class dandy; also an artful member (q.v.).

a. 1866. Vance, Chickaleary Cove. The stock around my squeeze of a guiver colour see.

Verb (sporting).—To humbug; to fool about (q.v.); to show off.

1891. Sporting Life, 25 Mar. He goes into a ring to fight his man, not to spar and look pretty, and run, and dodge, and guiver.

Gulf, subs. (old).—1. The throat; also the maw. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

1579. Spencer, Shephearde’s Calendar, Sept. That with many a lamb had glutted his gulf.

2. (Cambridge Univ.).—The bottom of a list of ‘passes,’ with the names of those who only just succeed in getting their degree.

1852. Bristed, Five Years in an English University, p. 205. Some ten or fifteen men just on the line, not bad enough to be plucked, or good enough to be placed, are put into the gulf, as it is popularly called (the examiners’ phrase is ‘degrees allowed’), and have their degrees given them, but are not printed in the calendar.

3. (Oxford Univ.).—A man who, going in for honours, only gets a pass.

Verb (Cambridge Univ.).—To place in the gulf, subs., sense 2 (q.v.); to be gulfed = to be on such a list. [Men so placed were not eligible for the Classical Tripos]. Cf., Pluck and Plough.

1853. Bradley, Verdant Green, pt. iii., p. 89. I am not going to let them gulph me a second time.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, p. 123. The good Professor scolded, predicted that they would all be either gulfed or ploughed.

1865. Sporting Gaz., 1 Apr. A man who was gulfed for mathematical honours was certainly, in olden time, unable to enter for the classical examination; but though the arrangement is altered, the term is not obsolete. A man who is gulfed is considered to know enough mathematics for an ordinary degree, but not enough to be allowed his degree in mathematics only; he is consequently obliged to pass in all the ordinary subjects (except mathematics) for the ‘poll,’ before taking his degree.

1876. Trevelyan, Life of Macaulay (1884), ch. ii., p. 61. When the Tripos of 1822 made its appearance, his name did not grace the list. In short ... Macaulay was gulfed.

1852. Bristed, Five Years in an English University, p. 297. I discovered that my name was nowhere to be found—that I was gulfed.

Gulf-spin, subs. (American cadet).—A rascal; a worthless fellow; a beat (q.v.) a shyster (q.v.).

Gull, subs. (old, now recognised).—1. A ninny. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1596. Sir J. Davies, Book of Epigrams. A gull is he who feares a velvet gowne, And when a wench is brave dares not speak to her; A gull is he which traverseth the towne, And is for marriage known a common wooer; A gull is he, which while he proudly weares A silver-hilted rapier by his side. Indures the lye and knockes about the eares, While in his sheath his sleeping sword doth bide. But to define a gull in termes precise—A gull is he which seems, and is not, wise.

1598. Florio, A World of Wordes, passim.

1609. Jonson, Case is Altered, iv., 3. Jun. Tut, thou art a goose to be Cupid’s gull.

1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens. Lord Timon will be left a naked gull. Which flashes now a phœnix.

1614. Overbury, Characters. ‘A Roaring Boy.’ He cheats young guls that are newly come to town.

1618. Rowlands, Night Raven, p. 28 (H. C. Rept., 1872). I know the houses where base cheaters vse, And note what gulls (to worke vpon) they chuse.

1661. Brome, Poems, ‘The Cure of Care.’ Those gulls that by scraping and toiling.

1818. S. E. Ferrier, Marriage, ch. li. The poor gull was caught, and is now, I really believe, as much in love as it is in the nature of a stupid man to be.

1850. D. Jerrold, The Catspaw, Act i. Pshaw! some rascal that lives on simpletons and gulls.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 231. I was a dweller under roofs; the gull of that which we call civilisation.

2. (old).—A cheat; a fraud; a trick.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado about Nothing, ii., 3. I should think this a gull, but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, q.v.

3. (Oxford Univ.).—A swindler; a trickster. Cf., Gull-catcher, of which it is probably an abbreviation.

1825. The English Spy, v. I., p. 161. ‘You’ll excuse me, sir, but as you are fresh, take care to avoid the gulls.’ ‘I never understood that gulls were birds of prey,’ said I. ‘Only in Oxford, sir, and here, I assure you, they bite like hawks.’

Verb (old: now recognised).—To cheat; to dupe; to victimise; to take in (q.v.). in any fashion and to any purpose.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, v. This is a mere trick, a device, you are gulled in this most grossly.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, ii., 3. Mar. For Monsieur Maluolio, let me alone with him; If I do not gull him into a nayword, and make him a common recreation, do not thinke I haue witte enough to lye straight in my bed; I know I can do it.

1607. Rowlands, Diogenes, his Lanthorne, p. 11 (H. C. Rept. 1873). He promist me good stuffe truly, a great pennyworth indeed, and verily did gull me.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, v., 2. Hast thou gulled her of her jewels or her bracelets?

1639. Selden, Table Talk, p. 98 (Arber’s ed.). Presbyters have the greatest power of any Clergy in the world, and gull the Laity most.

1778. Sketches for Tabernacle-Frames, p. 25, note. These fanatical Preachers frequently squeeze out Tears to gull their Audience.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., 472. It’s generally the lower order that he gulls.

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, ix. Pay your debts, and gull the world a little longer.

Hence Gullible, adj., = easily duped.

1841. Thackeray, Character Sketches, ‘Fashionable Authoress.’ And, gulled themselves, gull the most gullable of publics.

Gullage, subs. (old colloquial).—The act of trickery; the state of being gulled.

1605. B. Jonson, Volpone, v., 5. Had you no quirk To avoid gullage, sir, by such a creature?

1611. Chapman, May Day, Act II., p. 284 (Plays, 1874). For procuring you the dear gullage of my sweetheart, Mistress Franceschina.

Gull-catcher (or Guller, Gull-sharper, etc.), subs. (old).—A trickster; a cheat. See Gull, senses 1 and 3.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, ii., 5. Here comes my noble gull-catcher.

Gullery, subs. (old colloquial).—Dupery; fraud; a cheat’s device. Cf., Gullage.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, iii., 2. Your Balsamum and your St. John’s wort are all mere gulleries and trash to it.

1608. John Day, Humour out of Breath, Act iv., Sc. 3. I am gulld, palpably gulld ... and mine owne gullery grieves me not half so much as the Dukes displeasure.

1630. Taylor, Works. Neverthelesse, whosoever will but looke into the lying legend of golden gullery, there they shall finde that the poore seduced ignorant Romanists doe imitate all the idolatrous fornication of the heathen pagans and infidels.

1633. Ile of Guls. Upon you both, so, so, so, how greedily their inventions like beagles follow the sent of their owne gullery, yet these are no fooles, God forbid, not they.

1633. Marmion, Fine Companion. Lit. What more gulleries yet? they have cosend mee of my daughters, I hope they will cheate me of my wife too: have you any more of these tricks to shew, ha?

1689. Selden, Table Talk, p. 38 (Arber’s ed.). And how can it be proved, that ever any man reveal’d Confession, when there is no Witness? And no man can be Witness in his own cause. A meer gullery.

1819. H. More, Defence of Moral Cabbala, ch. iii. The sweet deception and gullery of their own corrupted fancy.

1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xx. Do you think, because I have good-naturedly purchased your trumpery goods at your roguish prices, that you may put any gullery you will on me?

Gullet, subs. (old: now recognised).—The throat. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 12, 477. [Quoted in Ency. Dict.] Out of the harde bones knocken they The mary, for they casten nought away, That may go thurgh the gullet soft and sote.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Gullet, s.v. A Derisory Term for the Throat, from Gula.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. 15. So he puts a pistol to his mouth, and he fires it down his gullet.

1893. National Observer, x. 168. Through sympathetic gullets.

Gull-finch, subs. (old).—A simpleton; a fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1630. Taylor, Works. For ’tis concluded ’mongst the wizards all, To make thee master of Gul-finches hall.

Gull-groper, subs. (old).—A gamesters’ money-lender.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle-light. The gul-groper is commonly an old mony-monger, who having travaild through all the follyes of the world in his youth, knowes them well, and shunnes them in his age, his whole felicitie being to fill his bags with golde and silver.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Gull-groper, s.v. A Bystander that Lends Money to the Gamesters.

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

Gully, subs. (common).—1. The throat. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

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

3. (old and Scots’).—A knife. For synonyms, see Chive.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., ch. xxvii. Fair gullies which are little haulch-backed demi-knives.

1785. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook. I red ye weel, tak care o’ skaith, See, there’s a gully.

1789. Burns, Address to Captain Grose. The knife that nickit Abel’s craig, He’ll prove ye fully It was a faulding jocteleg, Or lang-kail gully.

Verb (common).—To gull (q.v.); to dupe; to swindle. For synonyms, see Stick.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. I rode about and speechified, and everybody gullied.

Gully-fluff, subs. (colloquial).—Pocket-filth; beggar’s velvet (q.v.). Also Flue (q.v.).

Gully-gut, subs. and adj. (common).—A glutton. For synonyms, see Stodger.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Crapulatore, a surfeiter; a gormand; a glutton; a gullie-gut.

1672. Lestrange, Fables. A gulli-gut friar.

Gully-hole (or Gully), subs. (common).—1. The throat, or gullet. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

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

Gully-raker, subs. phr. (venery).—1. The penis; and (2) a wencher. For synonyms, see Creamstick, Prick, and Molrower.

2. (Australian). A cattle-whip; a cattle-thief.

1881. A. C. Grant, Bush Life in Queensland ... following up his admonition by a sweeping cut of his gully-raker, and a report like a musket-shot.

Gulpin, subs. (common).—A simpleton; a gapeseed (q.v.). Fr., un gobemouche; une éponge. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1886. W. Besant, World Went Very Well Then, ch. xxix. But Jack persisted, and I rose too. ‘Go then!’ the Admiral roared, with a great oath. ‘Go then, for a brace of gulpins!’

Gulpy, adj. (common).—Easily duped.

Gulsh. To hold one’s gulsh, verb. phr. (provincial).—To hold one’s tongue; to keep quiet.

Gum, subs. (old).—1. Chatter; talk; jaw (q.v.). Also abuse.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xiv. There’s no occasion to bowse out so much unnecessary gum.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Come let us have no more of your gum.

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, i., 1. Dou. Come, none of your gum—now you are but an underlin’, tho’ you are so uppish and twistical—where’s the chair?

2. (American).—A trick; a piece of dupery; a sell (q.v.). Also gummation.

3. (American).—A golosh; an india-rubber overshoe. [Short for ‘gum-shoes.’]

1872. Morning Post, 9 Jan. Forbidding him again to cross her threshold or to leave his gum-shoes in her hall.

Verb (common).—To cheat; to take in (q.v.), to roast (q.v.) or quiz. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 6 p.m., par. I. I began to think either that he was quizzing me—gumming is the proper Transatlantic colloquialism, I think.

1875. ‘American English’ in Chamb. Journal, 25 Sept., p. 611. To ‘gum-tree’ is to elude, to cheat [from opossum], and this again is shortened into ‘to gum,’ as the phrase, ‘Now don’t you try to gum me.’

Old Mother Gum, subs. phr. (common).—An old woman: in derision.

By gum! intj. (common).—A mild oath. For synonyms, see Oaths.

1860. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Season Ticket, No. ix. By gum, Squire Shegog, we have had the greatest bobbery of a shindy in our carriage you ever knowed in all our born days.

Bless your (or his, her, its, etc.) gums, phr. (common).—A piece of banter: a facetious way of saying ‘Bless your soul!’

Gummagy, adj. (common).—Snarling; of a scolding habit.

Gummed, adj. (billiards).—Said of a ball close to the cushion.

Gummy, subs. (common).—1. A toothless person; i.e., with nothing but gums to show. Generally, Old Gummy.

2. (thieves’).—Medicine. Also Gummy-stuff.—Matsell.

3. (common).—A dullard; a fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Adj. (common).—Puffed; swollen; clumsy.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Gummey, clumsy, particularly applied to the ancles of men, or women, and the legs of horses.

To feel Gummy, verb. phr. (University).—To perspire.

Gump, subs. (common).—A dolt. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, bk. II., ch. xv. He’s ... sort of a nateral too, I guess; rather a gump, hey?

Gumption, subs. (colloquial).—Cleverness; understanding; nous (q.v.). Also Rum Gumption.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gumption, or rum gumption, s.v., docility, comprehension, capacity.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, s.v. ‘Gawm.’ Gawm, to understand; I dinna gawm ye, I don’t understand you. Hence, possibly, gawmtion, or gumption, understanding.

1834. Atlantic Club-book, I., 33. D’ye think I’m a fellow of no more gumption than that?

1843. Comic Almanack. Poor beasts, ’tis very clear, To any one possess’d of gumption, That if they’d not come over here, They’d have been carried off by home consumption.

1853. Lytton, My Novel, bk. IV., ch. xii. Gumption—it means cleverness.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 25 June, p. 3, c. 2. But poor people—leastways, those that have got any gumption—know better than that.

1890. Notes and Queries, 7 S., x., 303. As familiar as the Greek word nous for what ... is known ... as gumption.

Gumptious, adj. (colloquial).—Shrewd; intelligent; vain.

1853. Lytton, My Novel, bk. IV., ch. xii. Landlord. There’s gumption and gumptious! Gumption is knowing, but when I say that sum un is gumptious, I mean—though that’s more vulgar like—sum un who does not think small beer of hisself. You take me, sir?

Gum-smasher (or tickler), subs. (common).—A dentist. For synonyms, see Snag-catcher.

Gum-suck, verb. (American).—To flatter; to humbug; to dupe. For synonyms, see Gammon.

Gum-sucker, subs. (Australian).—1. See quot. Cf., Corn-stalk.

1887. All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 67. A gum-sucker is a native of Tasmania, and owes his elegant nickname to the abundance of gum-trees in the Tasmanian forests.

2. (common).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Gum-tickler, subs. (colloquial).—1. A drink. Specifically, drop or short, or a dram. For synonyms, see Go.

1814. Quarterly Review, vol. X., p. 521. A gill, taken fasting, is called a gum-tickler.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. IV., ch. iii. I prefer to take it in the form of a gum-tickler.

2. See Gum-smasher.

Gum-tree. To be up a gum-tree, verb. phr. (American).—To be on one’s last legs; at the end of one’s rope. ‘He has seen his last gum-tree’ = It is all up with him.

Gun, subs. (old).—1. A lie. New Cant. Dict., 1725. For synonyms, see Whopper.

2. (common).—A thief; specifically, a magsman (q.v.) or street-artist. Also Gun-smith and Gunner. Gunning = thieving. [An abbreviation of Gonof (q.v.).] See Area-sneak and Thieves.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. II., ch. i., p. 70. I tell you you ain’t a-going to make a gun (thief) of this here young flat.

1868. Temple Bar, xxv., 213. ... returned to his old trade of gunsmith, gunning being the slang term for thieving, or going on the cross.

1882. Cornhill Mag., p. 649. Flats graft for guns.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police. Gunners and grasshoppers sneak about watching their opportunities.

3. (American).—A revolver. For synonyms, see Meat-in-the Pot.

4. (Irish).—A toddy glass. See In the Gun.

Verb (American).—1. To consider with attention.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Gunned. The copper gunned me as if he was fly to my mug.

2. (American).—To strive hard; to make a violent effort: e.g., to gun a stock = to use every means to produce a ‘break’; when supplies are heavy and holders would be unable to resist.

In the Gun, phr. (old).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gun, s.v., he’s in the gun, he is drunk, perhaps from an allusion to a vessel called a gun, used for ale in the universities.

Son of a Gun. See Son.

Sure as a Gun, phr. (common).—Quite certain; inevitable.

1633. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, ii., 1. ’Tis right; he has spoke as true as a gun, believe it.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew.

1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, v., 20. All turned topsy-turvy, as sure as a gun.

1720. Gay, New Song of New Similes. Sure as a gun she’ll drop a tear.

1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. xviii., ch. ix. As sure as a gun I have hit o’ the very right o’t.

1759. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. vi., ch. xxvi. Think ye not that, in striking these in,—he might, peradventure, strike something out? as sure as a gun.

1825. Egan, Life of an Actor, iv. By gum! he roared out, sir, as sure as a gun.

d. 1842. Father Prout, Reliques, I. 19. ‘Vert-Vert, the Parrot.’ Scared at the sound,—‘Sure as a gun, The bird’s a demon!’ cried the nun.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lviii. In every party of the nobility his name’s down as sure as a gun.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 141. Nobbed, sure as a gun!

1892. Manville Fenn, New Mistress, xxxv. They were both down there about that school-money Betsey, as sure as a gun.

Gundiguts, subs. (common).—A fat man; a forty guts (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

Gunner’s Daughter. To Kiss (or Marry) the Gunner’s Daughter, verb. phr. (nautical). To be flogged. [Gunner’s daughter = the gun to which boys were lashed for punishment.]

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

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxxii. I don’t know what officers are made of now-a-days. I’ll marry some of you young gentlemen to the gunner’s daughter before long. Quarter-deck’s no better than a bear-garden.

Gunpowder, subs. (old).—An old woman.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

Gunter.—See Cocker.

Gup, subs. (Anglo-Indian).—Gossip; scandal.

1868. Florence Marryat, Gup, xix. With regard to my title ... Gup is the Hindustani for ‘Gossip.’ Voilâ tout!

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xxix. Our Eastern empire is much addicted to what they term gup, whereby they mean gossip, scandal, or by whatever other equivalent the taking away of one’s neighbours’ characters may be designated.

To be a gup, verb. phr. (American).—To be easy to take or steal.

Gurtsey, subs. (American Cadet).—A fat man; a podge (q.v.). For synonyms, see Forty-guts.

Gush, subs. (colloquial).—The expression of affected or extravagant sentiment.

1883. Saturday Review, 3 Feb., p. 148, c. 2. Mr. Picton’s style is pleasant and easy, as long as he allows himself to be natural, and does not fall into gush.

1886. Church Times, 17 Sep. Not mere gush or oratorical flip-flap.

Verb (colloquial).—To overflow with extravagant or affected sentiment.

1883. Miss Braddon, Golden Calf, ch. vii. ‘Yes, and you saw much of each other, and you became heart-friends,’ gushed Miss Wolf, beaming benevolently at Brian.

Gusher, subs. (colloquial).—A practitioner of gush (q.v.). Also Gushington.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. vi., p. 66 (1873). The enthusiastic gusher who flings his or herself upon our necks, and insists upon sharing our sorrow.

1882. Miss Braddon, Mount Royal, ch. viii. ‘But, surely there is nothing improper in the play, dear Lady Cumberbridge,’ exclaimed the eldest gusher, too long in society to shrink from sifting any question of that kind.

Gushing, adj. (colloquial).—Extravagant; affected or irrational in expression; demonstratively affectionate. Also Gushingly.

1864. ‘The Campaigner’ (No. XVI.), in Fraser’s Mag., p. 627. Donald did not belong to what, in the slang of translated Cockneys, is called the Gushing School.

1864. Punch’s Almanack, ‘Our Growling Bard.’ Some, I admit, are Milingtary Dears, As gushing ladies say, and some are Muffs.

1872. Sunday Times, 18 Aug. This however, was no surprise to the plaintiff, it having been understood from the first that the parties being past the gushing age the letters between them should be of a business character.

1880. Ouida, Moths, ch. viii. Your heroics count for nothing. All girls of sixteen are gushing and silly.

1883. Hargrave Jennings, quoted in Saturday Review, 28 Apr., p. 536, c. 1. Women are not the gushingly credulous creatures that man in his constant condescension and in his appreciation of himself would deem.

1884. F. Anstey, Giant’s Robe, ch. xx. ‘It’s not precisely gushing,’ he said to himself, ‘but she couldn’t very well say more just yet.’

Gusset, subs. (common).—Generic for the female sex. Thus, Brother (or Knight, or Squire) of the Gusset = a pimp; Gussetting = wenching; Gusseteer = a wencher; etc.

Gusset of the Arse, subs. phr. (common).—The inside edge of the buttocks.

d. 1796. Burns, Merry Muses, pp. 99–100. An’ he grippit her fast by the gusset of her arse.

Gut, subs. (vulgar).—The vice or habit of gluttony; the belly [as opposed to the Groin (q.v.).]

2. in. pl. (common).—The stomach and intestines.

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.

1640. Rawlins, The Rebellion, iii. (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv., 48). Thou hast a gut could swallow a peck loaf.

1661. Brome, Poems, ‘A Satire on the Rebellion.’ The grumbling guts, the belly of the State.

1713. Bentley, On Free Thinking, sect. 53. What then was our writer’s soul? Was it brain or guts?

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, bk. iv., c. 1. But so it was that the knife, missing these noble parts (the noblest of many) the guts, perforated only the hollow of his belly.

1787. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook, st. 27. A countra Laird had ta’en the batts, Or some curmurring in his guts.

3. in. pl. (old).—A fat man; a forty-guts (q.v.). Also Guts-and-garbage. More Guts (also More Balls) than Brains = a fool.

1598. Shakspeare, Henry IV., pt. 1, ii., 2. Peace, ye fat-guts.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Gutts, a very fat gross Person.

4. (artists’ and colloquial).—Spirit; quality; a touch of force, or energy, or fire: e.g., a picture, a book, an actor. With guts = a strong thing. Put your guts into it (aquatic) = Row the very best you can. He (or it) has no guts in him (or it) = He (or it) is a common rotter (q.v.). Hence, Gutsy, adj. = having guts, and Gutsiness, subs. = the condition of being gutsy.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversation, I. The fellow’s well enough if he had any guts in his brain.

1893. Pall Mall Budget. No. 1292 (June 29), 1906. The body of the cigar, or what might vulgarly be called the guts.

Verb (vulgar).—1. To plunder, or take out all or most of the contents (i.e., intestines) of a place or thing; to drain; to ‘clean out’: e.g., to gut a house (thieves’) = to rifle it; to gut an oyster = to eat it; to gut a book = to empty it of interesting matter; to gut a quart pot = to drain at a draught. Whence, Gutted = dead-broke.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 1. Whether diddling your subjects or gutting their jobs.

1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. of England. The king’s printing-house ... was, to use a coarse metaphor, which then for the first time came into fashion, completely gutted.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 373. Well, we’ve got the guts out of you!

2. (schools’).—To eat hard, fast, and badly. For synonyms, see Wolf.

To fret one’s guts, verb. phr. (common).—To worry.

To have plenty of guts but no bowels, verb. phr. (common).—To be unfeeling, hard, merciless.

My great guts are ready to eat my little ones, phr. (old).—‘I am very hungry.’ Also, my guts begin to think my throat’s cut; my guts curse my teeth; and my guts chime twelve.—Grose.

Not fit to carry guts to a bear, phr. (common).—To be worthless; absolutely unmannerly; unfit for human food (q.v.).

Gut-entrance, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. Also front-gut. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Gut-foundered, adj. (old).—Exceedingly hungry.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

Gut-pudding, subs. (old).—A sausage.—Nomenclator (1696). For synonyms, see Mysteries.

Gut-puller, subs. (common).—A poulterer; a chicken-butcher (q.v.).

Gut-scraper, subs. (common).—A fiddler. Also catgut scraper, and tormentor of catgut. For synonyms, see Rosin-the-bow.

1719. Durfey, Pills, ii., 218. ‘A Song’ etc. Strike up, drowsie gut-scrapers.

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

1785. Burns, Jolly Beggars. Her charms had struck a sturdy Caird, As weel’s a poor gut-scraper.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 192 (ed. 1864). Make ready there, you gut-scrapers, you shawm-shavers; I’ll put your lungs in play for you presently. In the mean time—charge, pals, charge—a toast, a toast!

1834. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxxi. ‘You may save yourself the trouble, you dingy gut-scraper,’ replied O’Brien [addressing a fiddler].

Gut-stick, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick. To have a bit (or a taste) of the gut-stick = to copulate (of women only).

Gut-sticker, subs. phr. (venery).—A sodomite. Also gut-fucker and gut-monger. For synonyms, see Usher.

Gutter, subs. (American thieves’).—1. Porter.—Matsell. [Probably a corruption of gatter (q.v.).]

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

Verb (Winchester College).—To fall in the water flat on the stomach. Fr., piquer un plat-ventre.

To lap the gutter, verb. phr. (common).—To be in the last stage of intoxication. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Carry me out and leave me in the gutter, phr. (American).—See Carry me out.

Gutter-alley (or Lane), subs. (common).—The throat. All goes down Gutter-lane = ‘He spends all on his stomach.’

English Synonyms.—Beer Street; common sewer; drain; funnel; Gin Lane; gulf; gullet; gully-hole; gutter; Holloway; Peck Alley; Red Lane; the Red Sea; Spew Alley; swallow; thrapple; throttle; whistle.

French Synonyms.—La carafe (tramps’); la creuse (popular = Holloway); le corridor; le cornet (popular); le couloir; le lampas; la goule (popular); le gose (popular: an abbreviation of gosier: also gésier); la gargoine (thieves’); la gargarousse (thieves’ = Old Gargles); le four (popular = the oven); le fanal (popular); l’entonnoir (popular = the funnel); l’avaloir (thieves’ = the swallow).

German Synonym.—Kollert (Hanoverian).

Spanish Synonym.—La gorja.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, g. (1811), p. 81. All goeth down Gutter Lane. That is, the throat. This proverb is applicable to those who spend all their substance in eating and drinking.

2. (common).—A urinal. For synonyms, see Pissing-post.

Gutter-blood, subs. (common).—1. See quot. Also (2) a vulgarian; an upstart from the rabble.

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. v. In rushed a thorough Edinburgh gutterblood—a ragged rascal.

Gutter-chaunter, subs. (common).—A street singer.

Gutter-hotel, subs. (tramps’).—The open air. For synonyms, see Hedge-square.

Gutter-literature. See Blood-and-thunder, and Awful.

Gutter-master, subs. (old).—A term of reproach.

1607. Marston, What You Will, iii, 1. And now my soule is skipt into a perfumer, a guttermaster.

Gutter-prowler, subs. (thieves’).—A street thief. For synonyms, see Area-sneak and Thieves.

Gutter-snipe, subs. (common).—1. A street arab. Also Gutter-slush. For synonyms, see Mudlark.

2. (American printers’).—A poster for the kerb.

3. (American Commercial).—An ‘outside’ broker who does business chiefly in the street; a kerbstone broker (q.v.). Fr., un loup-cervier.

Guttie, subs. (golfers’).—1. A gutta-percha ball.

2. (colloquial).—A glutton.—For synonyms, see Stodger.

3. (colloquial).—A forty-guts, which see for synonyms.

Guttle, verb. (vulgar).—To eat greedily; to gormandize (q.v.). Also to drink: e.g., to guttle a pint = to take off, or do, a pint; ‘He’s been guttling swipes’ = he’s been drinking beer. Hence guttler = a coarse, or greedy eater; a sturdy pot-companion: a gorger (q.v.). Cf., Thackeray’s Book of Snobs for Guttlebury Fair. See Guzzle.

1672. Lestrange, Fables, p. 260. A jolly guttling priest.

Guttle-shop, subs. (Rugby).—A pastry-cook’s; a tuck-shop (q.v.).

Guv, subs. (common).—An abbreviation of governor (q.v.).

Guy, subs. (colloquial).—1. A Fifth of November effigy; whence (2) an ill-dressed person. As in the old street cry, ‘Hollo, boys, there goes another guy!’ (an abbreviation of Guy Fawkes) = a figure of fun; a fright.

English Synonyms.—Caution; Captain Queer-nabs; chivey; comic bird; ragamuffin; sight.

French Synonyms. Un paquet (popular); une hallebarde (popular = a clothes-prop); un nippe-mal (popular); une bécasse (= a gaby); un carnavale (popular = a figure of fun).

1806. W. Burrell, in C. K. Sharpe’s Correspondence (1888), i., 277. A month ago there was neither shape nor make in use ... no guy ever matched me.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘The Nurse’s Story.’ Did you see her, in short, that mud-hovel within, With her knees to her nose, and her nose to her chin, Leering up with that queer, indescribable grin, You’d lift up your hands in amazement and cry, ‘Well!—I never did see such a regular guy!’

1858. G. Eliot, Janet’s Repentance, ch. vi. Ned Phipps ... whispered that he thought the Bishop was a guy, and I certainly remember thinking that Mr. Prendergast looked much more dignified with his plain white surplice and black hair.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 26 Jan. There is no imperative reason why a constable should be a guy.

3. (common).—A dark lantern. [Obviously a reminiscence of the Gunpowder Plot].

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Guy, s.v. Stow the guy, conceal the lanthorn.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

4. (streets).—A jaunt; an expedition.

1889. Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 5, c. 5. There was a gee, there was a buggy, but there wasn’t a punctual Pitcher. So a cheerful guy to Waterloo was the game.

Verb (common).—1. To quiz; to chaff; to roast (q.v.); to josh (q.v.).

1889. Detroit Free Press, 26 Jan. His advent here created much merriment, and the operators guyed him loud enough for him to hear them.

2. (common).—To escape; to hedge (q.v.); to run away. Also to do a guy (which also = to give a false name). For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macmillan’s Mag., xl. 500. I planned with another boy to guy (run away).

1887. Fun, 23 Mar., p. 125. ‘Boat-race Day, as per usual,’ said the clerk to the court, ‘they’ll all be doing guys’ (giving false names!).

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, p. 321. To run away.... Do a guy.

1892. Punch, 24 Sept. ‘’Arry at Arrygate.’ I just did a guy.

3. (American).—To spoil; to muddle; to disfigure or distort.

1891. New York Herald, 31 May, p. 12, c. 4. Finally, I would remind them that they are apt to guy their cause by making ‘guys’ of themselves, and that the best way of making women a power in the land is by encouraging them to be womanly women.

4. (theatrical).—To damn; to hiss; to slate (q.v.) or give the bird (q.v.).

Guzzle (or Guttle), subs. (vulgar).—1. An insatiable eater or drinker. For synonyms, see Stodger and Lushington respectively.

2. (vulgar).—A debauch.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of Cheap Jack, 58. Doing a guzzle with money he earned.

3. (common).—Drink.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, Bk. II., ch. i., note. It signifies rum-booze, as our gipsies call good-guzzle.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, part III., p. 47. A Pennyworth of burnt Bread soften’d in a Mug of Porter’s guzzle.

c. 1795. Wolcot [P. Pindar], Peter’s Pension, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), vol. i., p. 484. Lo, for a little meat and guzzle, This sneaking cur, too, takes the muzzle.

Verb. (vulgar).—1. To drink greedily, or to excess.

1607. Dekker, Westward Ho, v., 1. My master and Sir Gosling are guzzling; they are dabbling together fathom-deep.

1693. Dryden, Persius, vi., 51. And, lavish of suspense, Quaffs, crams, and guttles, in his own defence.

1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, Act i. His education could reach no farther than to guzzle fat ale.

1727. Gay, Beggars Opera, i., 3. Tom Tipple, a guzzling soaking sot, who is always too drunk to stand himself.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Guzzle (v.) to tipple, to fuddle, to drink much and greedily.

1782. Wolcot [P. Pindar], Lyric Odes, Ode i. The poet might have guttled till he split.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxi. Are you ... to tell me that the aim of life is to guttle three courses and dine off silver?

Guzzle-guts, subs. (common).—A glutton; a hard drinker.—Lex. Bal. (1811). See Guzzle.

Guzzler, subs. (colloquial).—A hard drinker; a coarse, voracious feeder. See Guzzle.

a. 1760. T. Brown, Works, iii., 265 [ed. 1760]. Being an eternal guzzler of wine, his mouth smelt like a vintner’s vault.

1841. Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, ch. xiii. To be looked upon as a common pipe-smoker, beer-bibber, spirit-guzzler, and toss-pot.

Guzzling, subs. (vulgar).—Eating or drinking to excess; also eating or drinking in a coarse unmannerly fashion.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 28. What with snoozing, high-grubbing and guzzling like Chloe.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. xv. There shall be no pocketing at this table, sir. You will eat that pudding under my eye at once, and you will stay in and write out French verbs for two days. That will put an end to any more guzzling in the garden for a time, at least.

Guzzum, subs. (American).—Chatter; noise. For synonyms, see Patter.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 22 Dec. ‘Now, Jerry, if yer don’t stop yer guzzum I’ll skin yer alive!’ she exclaimed as she stood in the door and flourished a skillet at him.

G.Y. All a G.Y., adv. phr. (North Country).—Crooked; all on one side; ‘all of a hugh.’

Gybe, subs. (old).—A written paper.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65 A gyb, a writing.

1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart) III., 104. His office is to make counterfet licences, which are called gybes.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Gybe, any Writing or Pass.

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxv. He knows my gybe [pass] as well as the jark [seal] of e’er a queer cuffin [justice of peace] in England.

Verb (old).—1. To whip; to castigate. E.g., gybed at the cart’s arse = whipped at the cart’s tail.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Gyb’d, jerkt or whipt.

Gybing (also Gibery), subs. (old: now recognised).—Jeering.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

Gyger. See Jigger.

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

Gyp, subs. (Cambridge University).—1. A college servant. At Oxford, a scout, at Dublin, a skip. [Etymology doubtful: according to Sat. Rev. an abbreviation of Gipsy Joe; according to Cambridge undergraduates from the Greek γύψ (gups) = a vulture; from the creature’s rapacity.]

1794. Gent. Mag., p. 1085. [A Cambridge college servant is called a jip.]

1842. Tait’s Mag., Oct., ‘Reminiscences of Coll. Life.’ There is attached to colleges and halls a person more useful than ornamental, and better known than paid, whom Oxonians name Gyp, from his supposed moral affinity to a vulture (γύψ). The same is in Dublin denominated a Skip, because of the activity which is an indispensable item in his qualifications.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. xii. I’ll send you in luncheon as I go through the butteries; then, perhaps, you’d like to come down and see the race. Ask the Gyp to tell you the way.

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 254. Fellow you call the gyp wanted to make me believe you were out—thought I looked too like a governor to be let in, I suppose.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. v. Who should we see coming straight down on us but a Proctor with his bull-dogs (not dogs, you know, but the strongest gyps in the college).

2. (American).—A thief. For synonyms, see Thieves.

Gypsies of Science, subs. phr. (literary.)—The British Association.

1846. Times, 5 Sept. On Thursday next, the Gipsies of Science (the British Association) will have pitched their tents at Southampton.

Gyrotwistive, adj. (American).—Full of evasions and tricks; a ‘portmanteau word.’

Gyte, subs. (common).—1. A child; in contempt. [A corruption of goat.]

2. (Scots’).—A first year’s pupil in the Edinburgh High School.

Gyvel, subs. (Scots’ venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

d. 1796. Burns, The Merry Muses, ‘Nine Inches for a Lady,’ 33–4. Come louse and lug your battering ram, An’ thrash him at my gyvel.

H

Haberdasher, subs. (old colloquial: now recognised).—1. A dealer in small wares; specifically (1) a hatter, and (2, humorously) a publican (i.e., a seller of tape [q.v.]). Now restricted to a retail draper.

1599. Minsheu, Dictionarie, s.v.

1632. Jonson, The Magnetic Lady, ‘Induction.’ Poetaccios, poetasters, poetitos.... And all haberdashers of small wit.

d. 1680. Butler, Remains (1759), ii., 107. He set up haberdasher of a small poetry.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, iii., 5. The haberdasher is the whistler, otherwise the spirit-merchant, Jerry—and tape the commodity he deals in.

Haberdasher of pronouns, subs. phr. (common).—A schoolmaster. For synonyms, see Bumbrusher.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

Habit, subs. (old University).—See quot.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam. Habit. College Habit, College dress, called of old, Livery: the dress of the Master, Fellows, and Scholars.

Hab-nab (or Hob-nob (q.v.)), adv. (old).—1. At random; promiscuously; helter-skelter; ding-dong.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, iii., 4. His incensement at this moment is so great that satisfaction can be none but by pangs of death and sepulchre. Hob-nob is his word; give’t, or take’t.

1664. Butler, Hudibras, ii., 3. Although set down hab-nab at random.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Hab-nab, at a Venture, Unsight, Unseen, Hit or Miss.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

2. (old).—By hook or by crook; by fair means or foul.

1581. Lilly, Euphues, 109. Philantus determined habnab to send his letters.

Verb (old).—To drink with; giving health for health.

1836. Horace Smith, The Tin Trumpet. ‘Address to a Mummy.’ Perchance that very hand now pinioned flat Has hob-and-nobbed with Pharaoh glass for glass.

Hack (or Hackney), subs. (old: now recognised).—1. A person or thing let out for promiscuous use: e.g., a horse, a whore, a literary drudge. Whence (2) a coach that plies for hire; (3) (stables’) a horse for everyday use, as offered to one for a special purpose—hunting, racing, polo. (4) (Cambridge Univ.), see quot. 1803. Also Hackster.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 16,027. His Hakeney, which that was a pomele gris.

1540. Lyndsay, Satyre of the thrie Estaits, 3237. I may finde the Earle of Rothus best hacknay.

1582. Hakluyt, Voyages, i., 400. There they use to put out their women to hire as we do here hackney horses.

1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, iii., 1. The hobby-horse is but a colt, and your love perhaps a hackney.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller, 101 (Chiswick Press, 1890). Out whore, strumpet, sixpenny hackster, away with her to prison!

1672. Ray, Proverbs. Hackney mistress, hackney maid.

1678. Butler, Hudibras, pt. iii., c. 1. That is no more than every lover Does from his hackney-lady suffer.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Hacks, or Hackneys, Hirelings. Ibid., Hackney Horses. Ibid., Hackney Scribblers. Ibid., Hackney Whores, Common Prostitutes.

1738. Pope, Ep. to Sat. Shall each spurgall’d hackney of the day, Or each new pension’d sycophant, pretend To break my windows?

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, iv., 14. With wonderful alacrity he had ended almost in an instant, and conveyed himself into a place of safety in a hackney-coach.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hackney-writer, one who writes for attornies or booksellers.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam. Hacks. Hack Preachers; the common exhibitioners at St. Mary’s, employed in the service of defaulters, and absentees.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib. I first was hired to peg a hack.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 7. A rattler is a rumbler, otherwise a Jarvy! Better known, perhaps, by the name of a hack.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen String Jack, ii., 3. I’ll get a hack, be off in a crack.

Verb (colloquial, football).—To kick shins. Hacking = the practice of kicking shins at football.

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. i. I saw, too, more than one player limp out of his path disconsolately, trying vainly to dissemble the pain of a vicious hack.

1869. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. viii. p. 186 (9th ed.). And thus, perhaps, the ‘education of a gentleman’ may rightly include giving and receiving hacking of the shins at foot-ball.

1872. The Echo, 3 Nov. Some of the modern foot ball players have the tips of their shoes tipped with iron, and others wear a kind of armour or iron plate under their knicker-bockers to avoid ... what is called hacking.

Hackle, subs. (common).—Pluck; spirit; bottom (q.v.). To show hackle = to show fight. [Hackle = a long shining feather on a cock’s neck.] Fr., avoir du foie; n’avoir pas le flubart, or avoir du poil au ciel.

Hackslaver, verb. (old).—To stammer; to splutter; to hesitate in speech.

Hackum (or Captain Hackum, or Hackster), subs. (old).—A bully; a bravo. For synonyms, see Furioso.

1657. Lady Alimony, 1, 3 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv., p. 282). Vowing, like a desperate haxter that he has express command to seize upon all our properties.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Hackam, Fighting Fellow.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hackum, Captain Hackum, a bravo, a slasher.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. Hackum, a bravado, a slasher, ‘Capt. Hackum,’ a fellow who slashes with a bowie-knife.

Had.—See Have.

Haddock, subs. (common).—1. A purse. Haddock of Beans = a purse of money. [Haddock = cod: O. Sw., Rudde; Ic., Koddi = a small bag. Cf., Codpiece.] For synonyms, see Poge.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Melrusio, the fish we call a hadock, or a cod. Ibid. Metter la faua nel bacello, to put the beane into the cod.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. xiii. ‘What’s here?’ cried he, searching the attorney’s pockets ... ‘a haddock, stuffed with nothing, I’m thinking.’

2. in. pl. (Stock Exchange).—North of Scotland Ordinary Stock.

Haddums (or Had ’em).—See quots.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew. The Spark has been at Haddums. He is Clapt, or Poxt.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. He has been at Had’em and come home by Clapham, said of one who has caught the venereal disease.

Hag, subs. (old: now recognised).—1. A witch. Whence (2) an ugly old woman; a she-monster. Also (3) a nightmare. At Charterhouse, a female of any description; at Winchester, a matron. Hence, Hag-ridden = troubled with nightmare. Hag-born = witch-born. Hag-seed (Shakspeare, Tempest) = spawned of a witch. Hag-faced = foul-featured. In another sense, Hags = spots of firm ground in a moss or bog.

d. 1529. Skelton, Duke of Albany, Lyke a Scottish hag.

1606. Wily Beguiled (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ix., 277). Like to some hellish hag or some damned fiend.

1606. Shakspeare, Macbeth, iv., 1. How now, you secret, black, and midnight Hags!

1627. Drayton, The Moon-calf (Chalmer’s English Poets, 1810, iv., 133). The filthy hag abhoring of the light.

1632. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, v. 6. Out hag!

1637. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii., 2. As if you knew the sport of witch-hunting, Or starting of a hag.

1680. Cotton, Poems, etc., ‘To Poet E.W.’ Adulterate hags, fit for a common stew.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v.

1748. Thomson, Castle of Indolence, i., 73. Fierce fiends and Hags of hell their only nurses were.

1773–83. Hoole, Orlando Furioso, xliii., 998. But such a Hag to paradise conveyed, Had withered by her looks the blissful shade.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, xliii. Hatteraick himself, and the gypsy sailor, and that old hag.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 89. Old women were there also, with hideous vice-stamped features, veritable hags all of them.

Your Hagship! phr. (common).—In contempt (of women).

Hag-finder, subs. (old).—A witch finder.

1637. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii., 2. That I do promise, or I am no good hag-finder.

Hagged, adj. (old, now [as Haggard] recognised).—Ugly; gaunt; hag-like.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Hagged, Lean, Witched, Half-starved.

1716–1771. Gray, A Long Story. The ghostly prudes with Hagged face.

Haggisland, subs. (common).—Scotland.

Haggle, verb. (old, now recognised).—To bargain keenly; to stick at, or out for, trumpery points; to debate small issues.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v.

1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ch. xx. Haggling with the greedy, making up quarrels.

Haggler, subs. (old).—Formerly a travelling merchant; a pedlar: now (in London vegetable markets) a middleman. Cf., Bummaree.

1662. Fuller, Worthies; Dorsetshire. Horses, on which Haglers used to ride and carry their commodities.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. A Hagler, one that buys of the Country Folks, and sells in the Market, and goes from Door to Door.

1697. Vanbrugh, Æsop, ii, 1. I’se no hagler, gadswookers; and he that says I am—’zbud, he lies!

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 83. A Haggler being, as I before explained, the middle-man.

Hail. To raise hail (or Ned, or Cain, or Hell), verb. phr. (American).—To make a disturbance; to kick up a row.

1888. Portland Transcript, 7 Mar. He is determined that they shall have a clear deed to one hundred and sixty acres of land when the question is settled, or he will raise hail.

To be hail fellow well met, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be on very easy terms: also at hail-fellow.

1574–1656. Hall’s Satires, III., i., p. 40. Now man, that erst haile-fellow was with beast, Woxe on to weene himselfe a god at least.

1665. Homer à la Mode. The cookes too, having done, were set At table hay fellow well met. [Quoted by Nares].

1667–1745. Swift, My Lady’s Lamentation. Hail fellow, well met, all dirty and wet; Find out, if you can, who’s master, who’s man.

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 108. And at first he sings small, and is hail-fellow-well-met with Sheamus—that’s James of the Glens, my chieftain’s agent.

To be hailed for the last time, verb. phr. (nautical).—To die. For synonyms, see Aloft.

1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 322. He’s been hailed for the last time.

Hair, subs. (venery).—1. The female pubes. Whence (2) generic for the sex: e.g., after hair = in quest of a woman; plenty of hair = lots of girls; hair to sell = a woman with a price; hair-monger = a wencher; bit of hair = the sexual favour. For synonyms, see Fleece.

To go against the Hair, verb. phr. (old colloquial).—To go against the grain, or contrary to nature. [From the texture of furs.]

1589. Nashe, Martin’s Months Minde (Grosart), i., 188. For hee euer went against the haire.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, ii., 3. If you should fight, you go against the hair of your professions.

1661. Middleton, Mayor of Queenborough, C. P. xi., 122. Books in women’s hands are as much against the hair, methinks, as to see men wear stomachers, Or night-railes.

Both of a Hair, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Very much alike. Also, two of a trade, and two in a tale.

Not worth a Hair, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Utterly worthless. Cf., Cent, Rap, Dump, etc.

To a Hair, adv. phr.—(colloquial).—Exactly; to a nicety. Cf., To fit to a Hair = to fit perfectly.

1697. Vanbrugh, Æsop, i, 1. Here was a young gentlewoman but just now pencilled me out to a hair.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversation. Miss. Well I love a Lyar with all my Heart; and you fit me to a hair.

1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 30. The fellow fits my temper to a hair.

To split Hairs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To cavil about trifles; to quibble; to be over-nice in argument.

1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, ii., 2. Now, I must speak; it will split a hair by the Lord Harry.

Suit of Hair, subs. phr. (American).—A head of hair (q.v.).

To raise (or lift) Hair, verb. phr. (American).—To scalp; hence, idiomatically, to defeat; to kill. To keep one’s hair = to escape a danger.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 194. Kit Carson ... had raised more hair from the red-skins than any two men in the Western country.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody, p. 101. If you’ll take the chances of keeping your hair.

To comb one’s Hair, verb. phr. (common).—To castigate; to monkey (q.v.). See Comb one’s Hair, ante.

To hold (or keep) one’s Hair (or Wool) on, verb. phr. (common).—To keep one’s temper; to avoid excitement; to take easily. Also to keep one’s shirt on, or to pull down one’s jacket (or vest). Fr., être calme et inodore.

1885. Bret Harte, A Ship of ’49, ch. vi. ‘But what the devil——’ interrupted the young man impetuously. ‘Keep yer hair on!’ remonstrated the old man with dark intelligence.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 78. Do keep your ’air on, dear pal.

1892. Cassell’s Sat. Jour., 5 Oct., p. 45, c. 1. ‘Who make devil’s row like that all night?’ he asked. ‘Keep your hair on, Moses Trinko,’ replied the reception officer, cheerily.

A Hair of the Black Bear (or B’ar), subs. phr. (American).—A spice of the devil.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 6. Thar was old grit in him, too, and a hair of the black b’ar at that.

To get one’s Hair Cut, verb. phr. (venery).—To visit a woman; to see a sick friend (q.v.). For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall, 154. Tommy. What, Uncle, going? The W. U. (with assumed jauntiness). Just to get my hair cut.

To make one’s hair stand on end, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To astonish.

1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, lv., 4. It’s well you are come: I’m so frightened, my hair stands on end.

1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society, ch. iii. If I were to tell you some incidents of my life since you and I last met, I should make your hair stand on end.

A Hair of the Dog that Bit you, subs. phr. (common).—A ‘pick-me-up’ after a debauch. [Apparently a memory of the superstition, which was and still is common, that, being bitten by a dog, one cannot do better than pluck a handful of hair from him, and lay it on the wound. Also figuratively, see quot. 1888.]

1531. Bovilli, Prov. ii., xvi. siècle, t. i., p. 102. Du poil de la beste qui te mordis, Ou de son sanc sera guéris.

1546. Heywood, Proverbs [1874], 79. What how fellow, thou knave, I pray thee let me and my fellow have A haire of the dog that bit us last night. And bitten were we bothe to the braine aright.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fayre, I. ’Twas a hot night with some of us, last night, John: shall we pluck a hair of the same wolf to-day, proctor John?

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 2. Lady Gur. But, Sir John, your ale is terrible strong and heady.... Sir John. Why, indeed, it is apt to fox one; but our way is to take a hair of the same dog next morning.

1841. Dickens, B. Rudge, ch. lii. Put a good face upon it, and drink again. Another hair of the dog that bit you, captain!

1888. Detroit Free Press. ‘Talk of the Day,’ 3 Nov. Travis.—‘Hello, De Smith! You’re looking better than I expected. I understood that you were completely crushed by that love affair. How did you recover?’ De Smith.—‘Hair of the dog that bit me. Fell in love with another girl.’

Hair-butcher, subs. (American).—A barber. For synonyms, see Nob-thatcher.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 15. ’Oi ’m wullin’ thot bloomin’ hair-butcher shud have a fit, av he wants.

Hair-court, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. To take a turn in Hair-court = to copulate.

Hair-divider (or -splitter), subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick. Also Beard-splitter.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hair-splitter, a man’s yard.

Hair-pin, subs. (American).—An individual, male or female: e.g., That’s the sort of hair-pin I am = that’s my style.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 6 Oct. ‘That’s the kind of hairpins we are,’ said the enthusiastic swain.

Hairy, adj. (Oxford University).—1. Difficult.

d. 1861. Arthur Clough, Long Vacation Pastoral. Three weeks hence we return to the shop and the wash-hand-stand-bason, Three weeks hence unbury Thicksides and hairy Aldrich.

1864. The Press, 12 Nov. Hairy for difficult is a characteristic epithet.

2. (colloquial).—Splendid; famous; conspicuous; uncommon.

1892. Rudyard Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads. ‘The Sons of the Widow.’ Did you hear of the Widow of Windsor with a hairy gold crown on her head?

3. (venery).—Desirable; full of sex; fuckable (q.v.). [Said only of women: e.g., Hairy Bit = an amorous and taking wench.] See Hair.

To feel hairy, verb. phr. (venery).—To be inclined for coition; to have a must (q.v.).

Hairyfordshire, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. To go to Hairyfordshire = to copulate. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Hairy-oracle (or -ring), subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. Working the hairy-oracle = wenching. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Halbert. To get the halbert, verb. phr. (old military).—To rise to sergeant’s rank. [The weapon was carried by sergeants of foot.] To be brought to the halberts = to be flogged; to carry the halbert in one’s face = to show that one rose from the ranks (of officers in commission).

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

Half. It’s half past kissing time and time to kiss again. phr. (common).—The retort impudent (to females) when asked the time. A snatch from a ballad. [In Swift (Polite Conversation) = an hour past hanging time.]

Half-a-crack (or jiffy, or tick).—Half a second.

Half-and-half, subs. (colloquial).—Equal quantities of ale and porter; Cf., Four-half and Drinks.

1824. Reynolds, Peter Corcoran, 41. Over my gentle half-and-half.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 111. We were never tired of wondering how the hackney-coachmen on the opposite stand could ... drink pots of half-and-half so near the last drop.

1841. Albert Smith (in Punch). ‘The Physiology of the London Medical Student.’ Half-and-half ... is ... ale and porter, the proportion of the porter increasing in an inverse ratio to the respectability of the public house you get it from.

1854. Martin and Aytoun, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘My Wife’s Cousin.’ Half-and-half goes down before him, Gurgling from the pewter-pot; And he moves a counter motion For a glass of something hot.

1872. Fun, July. ‘The Right Tap.’ If the lever, meaning a plumper, were labelled ‘stout,’ and those recording a split vote half and half, the illusion would be complete.

Adj. (common).—Half-drunk; half-on (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London. Half and half, half seas over, tipsy.

Half-and-half-coves (or men, boys, etc.), subs. (old).—Cheap or linsey-woolsey dandies; half-bucks (q.v.) and half-tigers (q.v.).

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 7. Jerry. The half-and-half coves are somewhat different from the swaddies, and gay tyke boys, at the dog pit—Eh, Tom?

Half-an-eye. To see with half an eye, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To discern readily; to be quick at conclusions.

Half-baked (or Soft-baked), adj. (common).—Halfwitted; cracked; soft (q.v.); doughy (q.v.); also half-rocked (q.v.). For synonyms, see Apartments and Tile Loose. Fr., n’avoir pas la tête bien cuite.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ii., 221. He must scheme forsooth, this half-baked Scotch cake! He must hold off and on, and be cautious, and wait the result, and try conclusions with me, this lump of natural dough!

1857. C. Kingsley, Two Years Ago, ch. iv. ‘A sort of half-baked body,’ said Kate.

1886. W. Besant, Children of Gibeon, Bk. II., ch. xiv. A daughter of seventeen not quite right in her head—half-baked, to use the popular and feeling expression.

1890. Answers, Xmas No., p. 19, c. 3. ‘You needn’t be so crusty,’ said Todkins to his better half. ‘Better be a little crusty than not half-baked,’ was the reply of his amiable spouse.

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 1 Nov., p. 2, c. 3. Mr. Vane Tempest as serenest of half-baked cynics, and Mr. H. Vincent as most credulous of bibulous optimists.

Half-breed, subs. (American political).—A nick-name applied to certain New York Republicans, who wavered in their allegiance during an election to the Senate in 1881.—Norton.

Half-cocked, adv. (common).—Half-drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1887. H. Smart, Saddle and Sabre, ch. xvii. ‘Black Bill,’ as he was called by his brother jockeys, was very often half-cocked when he got up to ride.... The man could ride as well half-drunk as sober.

To go off at half-cock (or half-cocked), verb. phr. 1. (sporting).—To fail through hasty and ill considered endeavours; and 2. (venery) = to ejaculate before completing erection.

1848. Lowell, Biglow Papers [Wk. 1891], p. 231. Now don’t go off half-cock: folks never gains By usin’ pepper-sarse instid o’ brains.

Half-cracked, adv. (common).—Lacking in intelligence. See Apartments and Tile Loose.

1887. W. P. Frith, Autobiog., i., 129. Who was what is vulgarly called half-cracked.

Half-crown Word, subs. phr. (common).—1. A difficult or uncommon vocable; a jaw-breaker (q.v.) or crack-jaw. Also (tailors’) = a sleeveboard (q.v.).

Half-crowner, subs. (booksellers’).—A publication costing 2s. 6d.

Half-cut, adv. (common).—Half-drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Half-fly Flat, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A thief’s jackal; a man (or woman) hired to do rough or dirty work.

Half-grown Shad, subs. phr. (American).—A dolt. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1838. Neal, Charcoal Sketches. No more interlect than a half-grown shad.

Half Laugh and Purser’s Grin, subs. phr. (nautical).—A sneer; a half-and-half meaning.—Clark Russell.

Halflings, adj. (Scots’).—Betwixt and between. [Usually said of a boy or girl just leaving childhood.]

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, xi. In my youth, nay, when I was a hafflins callant.

Half-man, subs. (nautical).—A landsman rated as A.B.

Half-marrow, subs. (old Scots’).—1. A faithless spouse; also a parcel husband or wife.

1600–61. Rutherford, Letters, i., 123. Plead with your harlot-mother, who hath been a treacherous half-marrow to her husband Jesus.

2. (nautical).—An incompetent seaman.

Half-moon, subs. (old).—1. A wig; and (2) the female pudendum. For synonyms, see Periwinkle and Monosyllable.

1611. Lodowick Barry, Ram Alley (Dodsley, Old Plays, vii., 326, ed. 1875). Is not her half-moon mine?

Half-mourning, subs. (common).—A black eye. Full-mourning = two black eyes or deep grief.

Half-nab (or nap), adv. (old).—See quot.

1791. Bampfylde-Moore Carew, Life. Half-nab—at a venture, unsight unseen, hit or miss.

Half-on, adj. (colloquial).—Half-drunk.

Half-rocked, adv. (common).—Half-witted; silly. [From a West Country saying that all idiots are nursed bottom upwards.] See Apartments and Tile Loose.

Half-saved, adv. (common).—Weak-minded; shallow-brained. See Apartments and Tile Loose.

1834. Southey, The Doctor, ch. x. William Dove’s was not a case of fatuity. Though all was not there, there was a great deal. He was what is called half-saved.

1874. M. Collins, Frances, ch. xlii. This groom was what they call in the west country half-saved.

Half-screwed, adj. (common).—More or less in liquor. See Drinks and Screwed.

1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. ii. He was, in Kilrush phrase, half-screwed, thereby meaning more than half tipsy.

Half-seas Over, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Loosely applied to various degrees of inebriety. Formerly = half way on one’s course, or towards attainment. For synonyms, see Screwed.

[In its specific sense Gifford says, “a corruption of the Dutch op-zee zober, ‘over-sea beer,’ a strong heady beverage introduced into Holland from England.” ‘Up-zee Freese’ is Friezeland beer. The German zauber means ‘strong beer’ and ‘bewitchment.’ Thus (1610) in Jonson, Alchemist, iv., 2. ‘I do not like the dulness of your eye, It hath a heavy cast, ’tis upsee Dutch.’ Other nautical terms = drunk are water-logged; sprung; slewed; with one’s jib well bowsed; three sheets in the wind; channels under, but see Drinks and Screwed.]

1631–1701. Dryden. I am half-seas over to death.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Half-seas over, almost Drunk.

1697. Vanbrugh, Relapse, iii., 3. Good; that’s thinking half-seas over. One tide more brings us into port.

1714. Spectator, No. 616. The whole magistracy was pretty well disguised before I gave them the slip. Our friend the alderman was half-seas over before the bonfire was out.

1738. Swift, Pol. Convers., Dial. 1. You must own you had a drop in your eye; when I left you, you were half seas over.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. ix. Who, by this time, had entered into all the jollity of his new friends, and was indeed more than half-seas-over.

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

1829. J. B. Buckstone, Billy Taylor. The public-houses will not close till morn, And wine and spirituous liquors are so cheap, That we can all get nicely half seas over, And see no sea at all.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 40. Mr. Smith, now being more than half-seas over, became very uproarious.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xxx. It’s pay-day with the General ... and he’s a precious deal more than half-seas over.

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xxviii. There’s truth in wine, and there may be some in gin and muddy beer.... I’ve got plenty of truth in my time out of men who were half-seas-over, but never any that was worth a sixpence to me.

1890. Globe, 16 Apr., p. 2, c. 1. The familiar phrase half-seas over, for example, is wanting, and for this we appear to be indebted to the Dutch.

1892. The Cosmopolitan, Oct., p. 724. The fellow half-seas-over everyone excuses.

Half-slewed, adj. (common).—Parcel drunk. For synonyms, see Screwed.

Half-snacks (or Half-snags), adv. phr. (colloquial).—Half-shares. See quots.

1683. Earl of Dorset, A Faithful Catalogue. She mounts the price and goes half snack herself.

1887. Walford’s Antiquarian, p. 252. Half-snags is a corrupted form of half snacks, i.e., half shares. If one of a party of arabs finds any article it becomes his entire property unless his fellows say Half-Snags, or ‘Quarter-bits,’ or ‘Some for your neighbours.’

Half-’un, subs. (common).—Half-a-glass of spirits and water; Half-a-Go (q.v.).

Half-widow, subs. (American).—A woman with a lazy and thriftless husband.

[For Half in combination, see also Bean: Borde; Bull; Case: Century; Couter; Dollar; George; Go; Grunter; Hog; Jack; James; Ned; Ounce; Quid; Skiv; Stretch; Tusheroon; Wheel.]

Halifax. Go to Halifax, verb. phr. (American).—Be off! go to hell (q.v.). The full text is Go to Hell, Hull, or Halifax. Cf., Bath, Blazes, Hull, Putney, etc.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe (Grosart, 1883–84, p. 284). If frier Pendela and his fellowes, had any thing to say to him, in his admiral court of the sea, let them seek him, and neither in hull, hell, nor halifax.

1875. Notes and Queries, 5 S., iv., p. 66. Go to Halifax. This expression is sometimes used in the United States as a mild substitute for a direction to go to a place not to be named to ears polite.

Hall, subs. (fishmongers’).—1. Specifically the hall = Leadenhall Market. Cf., Garden, Lane, etc.

2. (Oxford Univ.).—Dinner. [Which is taken in College hall.] To hall = to dine.

Go and Hire a Hall. phr. (American).—A retort upon loquacious bores.

Hall by the Sea, subs. phr. (medical students’).—The Examination Hall of the conjoined Board of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons. [Situate on the Embankment at the foot of Waterloo Bridge.]

Hall of Delight, subs. phr. (Australian).—A music hall.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 53. I thought you coons would find your way to this hall of delight.

Hallan-shaker (or Hallen-shaker), subs. (old).—A vagabond or sturdy beggar. For synonyms, see Cadger and Mumper.

c. 1503–4. Dunbar, A General Satyre wks. (ed. David Laing, 1834), ii., 26. Sic knavis and crakkeris to play at cartis and dyce. Sic halland-schakkaris.

c. 1600. Montgomerie, Poems (Scottish Text Soc., 1885–7), ‘Polwart and Montgomerie’s Flyting,’ p. 85. halland-shaker, draught-raiker, bannock-baiker, ale-beshitten.

(?) 1642. Old Ballad. ‘Maggie Lauder.’ Right scornfully she answered him, Begone, you Hallan-shaker.

1724. Journal from London, p. 4. Had seen me than staakin about like a hallen-shaker, You wou’d hae taen me for a water-wraith.

1816. Scott, Antiquary, ch. iv. I, and a wheen Hallenshakers like mysel’.

Halliballo.—See Hulliballo.

Hallion (or Hallyon), subs. (old).—1. A rogue; a clod; a gentleman’s servant out of livery; also (2) a shrew. Cf., Hell-cat.

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. iv. This is a decentish hallion.

1847. Porter, Big Bear, etc., p. 69. The scoundrels! the oudacious little hellions!

Halloo. To halloo with the under dog, verb. phr. (American).—To take the losing side.

Halo. To work the halo racket, verb. phr. (common).—To grumble; to be dissatisfied. [From the story of the Saint in Heaven who got dissatisfied with his nimbus.]

Haltersack, subs. (old).—A gallows-bird; a general term of reproach and contempt.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, Bazaro, a shifter, a conicatcher ... a haltersacke.

1619. Beaumont and Fletcher, King and no King, ii., 2. Away, you haltersack, you.

Halves, subs. (Winchester College).—(pro. Hāves.) Half-Wellington boots, which were strictly non licet (obs.).—Notions.

To go (or cry) halves, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To take (or claim) a half share or chance. In America, at the halves.

1831. Neal, Down Easters, ch. iv., p. 45. ‘Lives by preachin’ at the halves a sabba’-days.’ ‘Preaching at the halves—how’s that?’ ‘Why don’t you know? in partnership for what’s taken arter the sarmon’s over.’

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, III., 122. He’ll then again ask if anybody will go him halves.

Ham, subs. (old).—1. (in. pl.) Trousers: also Ham-cases. For synonyms, see Kicks.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Hams, Breeches.

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

1791. Bampfylde-Moore Carew, Life. Hams—breeches.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hams. Pants.

2. (American).—A loafer (q.v.). Also Ham-fatter. [The American Slang Dict. says ‘A tenth-rate actor or variety performer.’]

1888. Missouri Republican, 27 Mar. Connelly ... is a good fighter, but will allow the veriest ham to whip him, if there is any money to be made by it.

1888. New York Herald, 29 July. The ... more prosperous professional brother of the hamfatter.

No ham and all hominy, phr. (American).—Of indifferent quality; ‘no great shakes’; ‘all work and no play’; ‘much cry and little wool.’

Hamlet, subs. (old and American). See quots.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Hamlet ... a High Constable.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Hamlet, a High-Constable.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hamlet, a high constable (cant).

1791. Bampfylde-Moore Carew. Hamlet, a high-constable.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hamlet. A captain of police.

Ham-match, subs. (common).—A stand-up luncheon.

1890. Daily Telegraph, 4 Feb. At one o’clock they relieve their exhausted frames by taking perpendicular refreshment—vulgarly termed a ham match—at some City luncheon bar.

Hammer, subs. (pugilistic).—1. A hard-hitter: especially with the right hand, like the illustrious Hammer Lane. Also Hammerer and Hammer-man.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 33. A letter written on the occasion by Henry Harmer, the hammerer.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, 93. When a man hits very hard, chiefly with a favorite hand, his blows are said to fall like those of a sledge-hammer. Such boxers are hammering fighters, that do not defend their own vitals, cannot make sure of a blow, and are termed hammerers and hammermen.

2. (common).—An unblushing lie. For synonyms, see Whopper.

Verb (pugilistic).—1. To beat; to punish (q.v.).

1887. T. E. Brown, The Doctor, p. 159. And bedad I did, and before herself too, And hammered him well.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody, ch. ii. ‘Hammer him? What with?—a club?’ ‘No, with my fists.’

2. (American).—To bate; to drive down (prices, etc.).

1865. Harper’s Magazine, p. 619. The chronic bears were amusing themselves by hammering, i.e., pressing down the price of Hudsons.

3. (Stock Exchange).—To declare one a defaulter.

1885. Fortnightly Review, xxxviii., p. 578. A ‘defaulter’ has been declared or hammered, as it is technically termed.

1888. Echo, 28 Dec. If any unfortunate member be hammered to-day or to-morrow it will in all probability be a bear.

1890. Daily Telegraph, 1 Nov. This being the third day after the general settlement, a defaulter who had been unable to provide cash was hammered, and private arrangements are reported in other quarters without resort to this extreme measure.

1891. Pall Mall Gazette, 25 July, p. 1, c. 3. But what is an ‘outside broker?’ some (possibly lady) reader may ask. Well, he may be, and often is, a regular, who has been hammered for failing to meet his ‘differences.’

1891. Tit Bits, 15 Aug. I need not go into the circumstances which led to my being expelled from that honourable body, or hammered as it is familiarly called, owing to the taps with a hammer which the head porter gives before he officially proclaims the name of a defaulter.

Down as a hammer, adv. phr. (common).—1. Wide-awake; knowing (q.v.); fly (q.v.).

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 45. To be down to anything is pretty much the same as being up to it, and down as a hammer is, of course, the intensivum of the phrase.

2. (colloquial).—Instant; peremptory; merciless. Cf., Like a thousand of bricks. Also To be down on ... like a hammer.

At (or under) the hammer, adv. phr. (auctioneers’).—For sale at auction.

That’s the hammer, verb. phr. (colloquial).—An expression of approval or assent.

To be hammers to one, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To know what one means.

To hammer out (or into), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be at pains to deceive; to reiterate; to force to hear.

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, iii., 3. Now am I, for some five and fifty reasons, hammering, hammering revenge.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iii., 23. If any Scholar be in doubt, And cannot well bring this matter about; The Blacksmith can hammer it out.

1888. J. McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed, The Ladies’ Gallery, ch. i. I think the chaps that are always hammering on about repentance and atonement and forgiveness of sin have got hold of the wrong end.

Hammer-and-Tongs, adv. phr. (common).—Very violently; ding-dong.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 108. His master and mistress were at it hammer and tongs.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxxv. Our ships were soon hard at it, hammer and tongs.

1837. Marryat, Snarleyow. Ods bobs! Hammer and Tongs! long as I’ve been to sea.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. lx. Mr. Malone fell upon them hammer and tongs

1862. M. E. Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret, ch. iv. ‘I always said the old buffer would marry,’ he muttered, after about half an hour’s reverie. ‘Alicia and my lady, the stepmother, will go at it hammer and tongs.’

1884. Jas. Payn, Talk of the Town, ch. xx. Both parties went at it hammer and tongs, and hit one another anywhere and with anything.

Hammer-headed, adj. (common).—1. Oafish; stupid.

1600. Nashe, Summers Last Will (Grosart), vi., 169. A number of rude Vulcans, vnweldy speakers, hammer-headed clownes.

2. (colloquial).—Hammer-shaped: i.e., long and narrow in the head.

1865. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, i., 9. Mr. Boffin’s equipage consisted of a long hammer-headed old horse, formerly used in the business ... a driver being added in the person of a long hammer-headed young man.

Hammering, subs. (pugilistic and colloquial).—1. A beating; excessive punishment (q.v.).

2. (printers’).—Over-charging time-work (as ‘corrections’).

Hammering-trade, subs. (pugilistic).—Pugilism.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 49. The other, vast, gigantic, as if made, express, by Nature for the hammering trade.

Hammersmith. To go to Hammersmith, verb. phr. (common).—To get a sound drubbing.

Hampered, adj. (old: now recognised).—Let or hindered; perplexed; entangled. [From Old. Eng., hamper = a fetter: see quot. 1613].

1613. Browne, Britannia’s Pastorals, bk. i., s. 7. Shackles, shacklockes, hampers, gives and chaines.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

Hampstead Donkey, subs. phr. (common).—See quot. For synonyms, see Chates.

c. 1870. Daily Paper. The witness testified to the filthy state of the linen which she wore, and also the state of the sheets. Was told not to get into bed until she had looked for the Hampstead donkeys. ‘Did you know what that meant?’—‘No sir, not until I looked on the pillow and saw three’ (loud laughter). ‘Do you mean lice?’—‘Yes, sir, I do.’

Hampstead-heath, subs. phr. (rhyming).—The teeth. For synonyms, see Grinders.

1887. Referee, 7 Nov., p. 7, c. 3. She’d a Grecian ‘I suppose,’ And of Hampstead Heath two rows, In her ‘Sunny South’ that glistened Like two pretty strings of pearls.

Hampstead-heath Sailor, subs. phr. (common).—A landlubber (q.v.); a freshwater sailor (q.v.). Fr., un marin d’eau douce or un amiral Suisse (= a Swiss admiral: Switzerland having no seaboard).

Hanced, adj. (old).—In liquor. [From Hance = ‘to elevate.’] For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1630. Taylor, Works. I doe finde my selfe sufficiently hanced, and that henceforth I shall acknowledge it; and that whensoever I shall offer to bee hanced again, I shall arme my selfe with the craft of a fox, the manners of a hogge, the wisdom of an asse, mixt with the civility of a beare.

Hand, subs. (colloquial).—Properly a seaman; now a labourer, a workman, an agent.

1658. Phillips, New World of Words, s.v. Hand ... a Word us’d among Mariners ... when Men are wanted to do any Labour they usually Call for more hands.

1632–1704. Locke, Wks. A dictionary containing a natural history requires too many hands, as well as too much time.

1711. Spectator, No. 232. The reduction of the prices of our manufactures by the addition of so many new hands, would be no inconvenience to any man.

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, i, 14. The mercantile part of the world, therefore, wisely use the term ‘employing hands,’ and esteem each other as they employ more or fewer.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. We lost a hand, we lost a sailor.

1871. Chambers’ Miscellany, No. 113, p. 3. He was admitted as a hand in an establishment already numbering three hundred active workers.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 70. The hands has all bloomin’ well struck.

1892. National Observer, 22 Oct., vol. viii., p. 571. The dispute in the South-East Lancashire cotton trade is like to result in the stoppage of fourteen or fifteen million spindles which will take employment from sixty thousand hands, a fifth of them women and children.

1893. Fortnightly Review, Jan., p. 62. The wages paid to the operatives in our woollen industry are, to a marked extent, lower than those received by the hands employed in our cotton mills.

2. (coachmen’s).—See quot.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xv. Lady Horsingham was tolerably courageous, but totally destitute of what is termed hand, a quality as necessary in driving as in riding, particularly with fractious or high-spirited horses.

A good (or cool, neat, old, fine, etc.) hand, subs. phr. (colloquial).—An expert.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.), s.v. Hand (v.). ‘He is a good hand,’ spoke of one that is an artist in some particular mechanical art or trade, etc.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, iii., 1. When I was in my best story of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, he asked if I had not a good hand at making punch.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, xii. A quaint boy at Eton, cool hand at Oxford, a deep card in the regiment, man or woman never yet had the best of ‘Uppy.’

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, i., p. 33. The new man, the green hand, takes little or no heed of the entrance of the officers.... Not so the old hand.

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 195. Ye’re a grand hand at the sleeping!

1892. W. E. Gladstone, Times ‘Report.’... This old Parliamentary hand.

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, i., 7, p. 18. You always was a neat hand with the bones.

A hand like a foot, phr. (common).—A large, coarse hand. Also a vulgar or uneducated handwriting.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversation, i. Col. Whoe’er writ it with a hand like a foot.

A hand like a fist, phr. (gamesters’).—A hand full of trumps. Also (in derision) a hand there’s no playing.

To take a hand with the outside music, verb. phr. (American).—See quot.

1892. J. L. Sullivan, A 19th Century Gladiator, iii. After thirty-seven rounds in fifty-five minutes, the umpires and seconds got into a fight, and Sullivan felt fresh enough to take a hand in the outside music.

To get a hand on, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To suspect; to be distrustful.

To get one’s hand in, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To practise with a view to proficiency.

To get one’s hand on it, verb. phr. (venery).—To grope a woman.

To bear a hand, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Bear a hand, make haste.

To bring up by hand, verb. phr. (venery).—To procure erection manually.

To bring down (or off) by hand, verb. phr. (venery).—To masturbate. For synonyms, see Frig.

To stand one’s hand, verb. phr. (Australian).—To Treat (q.v.); to Stand Sam (q.v.).

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 58. I used to see her at some of the public-houses frequented by Mrs. Condon, standing her hand liberally to all who happened to be in the bar, and therefore being made much of by the thirsty loafers whom she treated.

To hand in one’s chips (or checks).—See Cash one’s Checks.

To have (or get) the upper hand, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To have at an advantage; to get to windward (q.v.).

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 173. I was growing impatient to get back and have the upper hand of my uncle.

To hand up, verb. (Winchester College).—To give information against; to betray.—Notions.

Hands up! intj. (common).—An injunction to desist; stow it! (q.v.). Also (police) = a command to surrender. Bail up (q.v.).

1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, p. 120. Hands up! Jerry.

[Amongst other colloquial usages of Hand are the following:—At hand = readily, hard by; at any hand (Shakspeare) = on any account; at no hand = on no account; for one’s own hand = for one’s own purpose or interest; from hand to hand = from one to another; in hand = in a state of preparation, under consideration, or control; off one’s hands = finished; on hand = in possession; in one’s hands = in one’s care; out of hand = completed, without hesitation; to one’s hand = ready; hand over head = negligently, rashly; hand to mouth = improvident; hands off! = stand off; heavy on hand = hard to manage; hot at hand = difficult to manage; light in hand = easy to manage; to ask (or give) the hand of = to ask (or give) in marriage; to be hand and glove with = to be very intimate with; to bear a hand = to help; to bear in (or on) hand = to cheat or mock by false promises; to change hands = to change owners; to come to hand = to be received; to get hand = to gain influence; to give a hand = to applaud; to give the hand to = to be reconciled to; to have a hand in = to have a share in; to have one’s hands full = to be fully occupied; to hold hands with = to vie with, to hold one’s own; to lay hands on = to assault, to seize; to lend a hand = to help; to make a hand = to gain an advantage; to put (or stretch) forth the hand against = to use violence; to set the hand to = to undertake; to strike hands = to make a bargain; to take by the hand = to take under one’s guidance; to take in hand = to attempt; to wash one’s hands of = to disclaim responsibility; a heavy hand = severity; a light hand = gentleness; a slack hand = idleness, carelessness; a strict hand = severe discipline; clean hands = freedom from guilt; to stand one in hand = to concern, to be of importance to; hand to fist = tête-a-tête, hip to haunch; hand over hand = easily; to get a hand = to be applauded.]

Hand-and-Pocket Shop, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hand-and-Pocket-Shop. An eating house, where ready money is paid for what is called for.

Handbasket-portion, subs. (old).—See quot.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hand-basket-portion. A woman whose husband receives frequent presents from her father, or family, is said to have a hand-basket-portion.

Handbinder (in. pl.), subs. (old).—Chains for the wrists. For synonyms, see Darbies.

1696. Ray, Nomenclator, Menotes, liens à lier les mains, fers à enferrer les mains. Manicls, or handbinders.

Hander, subs. (schoolboys’).—A stroke on the hand with a cane; a palmie (q.v.).

1868. Jas. Greenwood, Purgatory of Peter the Cruel, v., 149. You’ve been playing the wag, and you’ve got to take your handers.

Handicap, subs. (colloquial).—An arrangement in racing, etc., by which every competitor is, or is supposed to be, brought on an equality so far as regards his chance of winning by an adjustment of the weights to be carried, the distance to be run, etc.: extra weight or distance being imposed in proportion to their supposed merits on those held better than the others. [A handicap is framed in accordance with the known performances of the competitors, and, in horse-racing, with regard to the age and sex of the entries. The term is derived from the old game of hand-in-cap, or handicap.]

1660. Pepys, Diary, 18 Sep. Here some of us fell to handycapp, a sport that I never knew before.

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines xxi. The race carried so many penalties and allowances that it partook somewhat of the nature of a handicap.

Verb (colloquial). 1. To adjust or proportion weights, starts, etc., in order to bring a number of competitors as nearly as possible to an equality.

1841. Lever, Charles O’Malley, ch. lxviii. Pleasant and cheerful enough, when they’re handicapping the coat off your back, and your new tilbury for a spavined pony and a cotton umbrella; but regular devils if you come to cross them the least in life.

2. To make even or level; to equalise between.

3. To embarrass, burden, hinder, or impede in any way.

1883. Grenville-Murray, People I Have Met, 123. He was not handicapped by a title, so that the beautiful ethics of hereditary legislation had no claim on his attention.

Handie-Dandie, subs. phr. (old).—Copulation.

1490–1554. David Lyndsay, Kitty’s Confessioun [Laing], i., 136. Ane plack I will gar Sandie, Gie the agane with Handie-Dandie.

Handle, subs. (common).—1. The nose. For synonyms, see Conk.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. The cove flashes a rare handle to his physog; the fellow has a large nose.

1887. Modern Society, 27 Aug., 864. A restless, intriguing, and busy old lady, with an immense handle to her face.

2. (colloquial).—A title. Fr., une queue, as Monsieur Sans-queue = Mr. Nobody.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, xxiii. She ... entertained us with stories of colonial governors and their ladies, mentioning no persons but those who had handles to their names, as the phrase is.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, Vulg. Tongue. Handle, n. Title. Oh, you want a handle to your name.

1871. London Figaro, 17 June, ‘The plaint of a poor Parson.’ Neither he nor his clerical neighbours—unless they belong to county families, or have handles to their names—have ever been invited by the Dean to partake of the hospitalities of the Deanery.

1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society, ch. ii. That’s the worst of having a handle to one’s name.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 16 Jan. Here’s the Honourable Tom Jones, and Lord Smith, and Viscount Brown—that’s them, with the handles knocked off their names.

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, i., 2. He was aye ettling after a bit handle to his name.

3. (colloquial).—Occasion; opportunity; means.

1753–77. Melmoth, Cicero, bk. ii., let. 17 (note 5). The defence of Vatinius gave a plausible handle for some censure upon Cicero.

Verb (cardsharpers’).—1. To conceal cards in the palm of the hand, or up the sleeves; to palm (q.v.).

2. (colloquial).—To use; to make use of; to manage.

1606. Chapman, Gentleman Usher, iii., 5. Now let the sport begin: I think my love will handle him as well as I have done.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Handle. To know how to handle one’s fists; to be skilful in the art of boxing.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ii., 7. Smart chap that cabman—handled his fives well.

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Admiral Guinea, ii., 5. Commander, you handled him like a babby, kept the weather gauge, and hulled him every shot.

To handle the ribbons, verb. phr. (common).—To drive.

1857. Moncrieff, Bashful Man, ii. 4. Shouldn’t have any objection in life, squire, to let you handle the ribands for a stage or two, but four-in-hand, you know, requires——.

1872. Evening Standard, 10 Aug. The Princess of Wales is expected, and her Royal Highness has several times during the week driven through the town in an open phaeton, drawn by four beautiful ponies, and she appears to handle the ribbons in a very skilful manner.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 198. It was agreed Marston should handle the ribbons.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 32. He ’andled the ribbings to rights.

To fly off the handle. See Fly, to which add the following earlier quot.

1825. Neal, Brother Jonathan, bk. I., ch. iv. Most off the handle, some o’ the tribe, I guess.

Hand-me-downs (or Hand-’em-downs), subs. (common).—Second-hand clothes. Hand-me-down-shop, or Never-too-late-to-mend-shop = a repairing tailors’. Fr., un decrochez-moi-ça.

1878. Notes and Queries, 5, s. ix., 6 Apr., p. 263. Hand-’em-down—A second-hand garment (Northamptonshire).

1888. New York World, 5 Mar. Russell Sage, it is said, walked into a Broadway clothing store the other day and tried on and purchased a twelve-dollar suit of hand-me-downs.

1889. Sporting Times, 29 June. Trousers which fit him nowhere in particular, and which all over proclaim themselves entitled to the epithet of hand-me-downs.

English Synonyms.—Reach-me-downs; translations; wall-flowers.

French Synonyms.—La musique (popular); la mise-bas (servants’: especially ‘perks’).

Hand-out, subs. (American).—Food to a tramp at the door.

1887. Morley Roberts, The Western Avernus. Some of the boys said it was a regular hand-out, and that we looked like a crowd of old bummers.

Handpiece, subs. (American).—A handkerchief. For synonyms, see Wipe.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 67. Then ... he tied his white hand-pieces to an opening made for the purpose on one side of the dashboard.

Handsaw, subs. (common).—A street vendor of knives and razors; an itinerant Chive-fencer (q.v.).

Handsome, adj. and adv. (colloquial, and formerly literary).—Sharp, severe; convenient, fit; neat, graceful; dextrous, skilful, ready; ample, generous, liberal; manageable; in good or proper style; and (in America) grand or beautiful.

1553. Wilson, Arte of Rhetorique, p. 3. Phauorinus the Philosopher did hit a yong man ouer the thumbes very handsomely.

1553–99. Spenser, Wks. For a thief it is so handsome, As it may seem it was first invented by him.

1590. Goldynge, Cæsar, p. 220. They had not so handsome horses.

1593. Shakspeare, Titus Andronicus, ii., 3. If we miss to meet him handsomely.

1600. P. Holland, Livy, p. 255. A light footman’s shield he takes with him, and a Spanish blade by his side, more handsome to fight short and close.

1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, iv., 3. His garments are rich, but he wears them not handsomely.

1614. Raleigh, History of the World, Bk. III., ch. viii., § 6. Playing their games handsomely against so nimble a wit.

1672–1719. Addison, Wks. An alms-house, which I intend to endow very handsomely.

1778–79. V. Knox, Essays, 102. A handsome sum of money.

1798. Lodge, Illust. Brit. Hist., i., 178. He is very desyrus to serve your Grace, and seymes to me to be a very handsome man.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 8. He turned on his back handsome.

To do the handsome (or the handsome thing), verb. phr. (common).—To behave extremely well; to be ‘civil.’

1887. Manville Fenn, This Man’s Wife, ii., 15. Sir Gordon’s ready to do the handsome thing.

Handsome is that handsome does, phr. (colloquial).—‘Actions, not words, are the test of merit’; also ironically of ill-favoured persons.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Handsome is that handsome does: a proverb frequently cited by ugly women.

Handsome-bodied in the face, adv. phr. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Handsome Bodied Man in the Face, a jeering commendation of an ugly fellow.

Handsome as a last year’s corpse, adv. phr. (American).—A sarcastic compliment.

Handsomely! intj. (nautical).—Gently! A cry to signify smartly, but carefully. Also Handsomely over the bricks = Go cautiously.

Handsome-reward, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Handsome-reward. This, in advertisements, means a horse-whipping.

Handsprings. To chuck handsprings, verb. phr. (common).—To turn somersaults.

Handstaff, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick. [From that member of the flail which is held in the hands].

Handy. Handy as a pocket in a shirt, phr. (American).—Very convenient.

Handy-blows, (or cuffs), subs. (old).—Cuffs with the hand; fisticuffs; hence close quarters.

1603. Knolles, Hist. of the Turkes. If ever they came to handy-blows.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Handy Blows, Fistycuffs.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

Handy-man, subs. (colloquial).—A servant or workman doing odd jobs.

1847. De Quincey, The Spanish Military Nun, Wks. (1890), xiii., 165. She was a handy girl. She could turn her hand to anything.

1872. Times, 27 Aug. ‘Autumn Manœuvres.’ The result is he cannot be called a handy-man.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 8 Nov., p. 2, c. 1. Again did Mr. Sambourne’s handy-man appear, this time clad in the real robes of the Lord Mayor.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 55. He was a handy-man.

Hang, subs. (colloquial).—1. The general drift, tendency, or bent: as in to get the hang of = to get conversant with; to acquire the trick, or knack, or knowledge of.

1847. Darley, Drama in Pokerville, p. 67. The theatre was cleared in an instant ... all running to get the hang of the scrape.

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. 70. By this time I began to git the hang of the place a little better.

1851. Hooper, Widow Rugby’s Husband, etc., p. 64. To be efficient a solicitor must get the hang of his customers.

a. 1871. Prime, Hist. of Long Island, p. 82. If ever you must have an indifferent teacher for your children, let it be after they have got a fair start and have acquired the hang of the tools for themselves.

1884. Milliken, Punch, 11 Oct. They ain’t got the ’ang of it, Charlie, the toffs ain’t.

1890. Daily Chronicle, 4 Apr., p. 7 c. 2. When the Raw Cadet enters Woolwich Academy, it is sometime before he gets what some call the hang of the place.

1892. Illustrated Bits, Oct. 22, p. 6. c. 2. When I get the hang of them I shall be a regular dab at theosophy.

2. (colloquial).—A little bit; a bit; a Damn. See Care. Fr., s’en contreficher or s’en tamponner le coquard (or coquillard).

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xliii. She looks as well as you by candle-light, but she can’t ride a hang.

Verb (generally Hang it!).—An exclamation of vexation, disgust, or disappointment; also, more forcibly, a euphemism for Damn it! Fr., Ah! mince alors.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., ii., 4. He a good wit? hang him, baboon!

1609. Jonson, Epicœne, ii., 2. A mere talking mole, hang him.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, v. 3. Ay, and be hanged.

1694. Dunton, Ladies’ Dict., p. 229. Aristænetus telling a brisk buxom Lass of a proper fine Man that would make her a good Husband, Hang him [reply’d she] he has no Mony.

1772. Coles, Eng.-Lat. Dict., s.v. Hanged. Go and be hanged.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, Belle’s Stratagem, iv., 1. Hang Harriet, and Charlotte, and Maria! the name your father gave ye?

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 5. Hang cards! bring me a bobstick of rum slim.

1836. M. Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 169. ‘You be hanged, Felix,’ quoth his ally, with a most quizzical grin.

1863. Ch. Reade, Hard Cash, ii., 218. Hang the grub; it turns my stomach.

1883. R. L. Stevenson, Treasure Island, p. 161. You can go hang!

1889. Sporting Times, 6 July. Hebrew Scholar: Rub up your Hebrew. Or go and hang yourself.

1890. Grant Allen, Tents of Shem, ch. xvii. Hang it all, if that’s English law, you know, I don’t thing very much of the wisdom of our ancestors.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 164. Hang it all.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 7. But ’ang it, I can’t stand the style of the silent and the stare-me-down sort.

1892. F. Anstey, Voces Populi, ‘On the Ice,’ p. 122. Stick by me, old fellow, till I begin to feel my——Oh, hang it all!

To hang an arse, verb. phr. (old).—To hang back; to hesitate.

1598. Marston, Satyres, ‘Ad Rythmum.’ But if you hang an arse like Tubered, When Chremes dragged him from his brothel bed.

1637. Massinger, Guardian, v, 5. Nay, no hanging an arse.

1639–61. Rump Songs, ii., 86. Nay, if it hang an arse; We’ll pluck it from the stares, And roast it at hell for its grease.

1748. Smollett, Roderick Random, ch. lxv. My lads, I’m told you hang an arse.

1780. Tomlinson, Slang Pastoral, 2. My arse hangs behind me as heavy as lead.

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

To hang in, verb. phr. (common).—To get to work; to do one’s best; to wire in (q.v.).

To hang in the bellropes, verb. phr. (common).—To defer marriage after being ‘asked’ in church.

To hang on by one’s eyelashes, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To persist at any cost, and in the teeth of any discouragement.

To hang on by the splash-board, verb. phr. (common).—To ‘catch’ a tram, omnibus, etc., when it is on the move; hence to succeed by the ‘skin of one’s teeth.’ Fr., arcpincer l’omnibus.

To hang around (or about), verb. phr. (American).—To loiter; to loaf; to haunt.

To hang out, verb (common).—To live; to reside. Also (subs.), a residence; a lodging; and (American university) a feast; an entertainment.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hang out. The traps scavey where we hang out; the officers know where we live.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxx. ‘I say, old boy, where do you hang out?’ Mr. Pickwick replied that he was at present suspended at the George and Vulture.

1852. Bristed, Five Years in an English University, p. 80. The fourth of July I celebrated by a hang-out.

1871. City Press, 21 Jan. ‘Curiosities of Street Literature.’ He hangs out in Monmouth-court.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 14. I should like to go in for blue blood, and ’ang out near the clubs and the parks.

To hang out a shingle, verb. phr. (American).—To start or carry on business.

1871. Public Opinion, Dec. Tom Stowell hung out his shingle as a lawyer at the Tombs, afterwards at Essex-market, and eventually in Brooklyn.

To hang one’s latchpan, verb. phr. (common).—To be dejected; to pout. Fr., faire son aquilin.

To hang it out, verb. phr. (common).—To skulk; to mike (q.v.).

To hang up, verb. phr. (common).—1. To give credit; to score (or chalk) up: said of a reckoning. Also ‘to put on the slate’ or (American) on the ice (q.v.).

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Hang-it-up, speaking of the Reckoning at a Bowsing-Ken, when the Rogues are obliged, for want of Money, to run on Tick.

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

2. (American).—To bear in mind; to remember.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hang it up. Think of it, remember it.

3. (American).—To pawn, For synonyms, see Pop.

4. (thieves’).—To rob with violence on the street; to hold up (q.v.). Fr., la faire au père François.

5. (common).—To be in extremis; to know not which way to turn for relief: e.g., a man hanging = one to whom any change must be for the better.

6. (colloquial).—To postpone; to leave undecided.

1887. Cornhill Magazine, June, p. 624. To hang up a bill is to pass it through one or more of its stages, and then to lay it aside, and defer its further consideration for a more or less indefinite period.

To hang on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—(1) To sponge; and (2) to pursue an individual or a design.

1601. Shakspeare, Henry VIII., iii., 2. Oh, how wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes’ favours!

To hang off, verb. phr. (printers’).—To fight shy of.

To hang up one’s fiddle, verb. phr. (American).—To retire; to desist. To hang up one’s fiddle anywhere = To adapt oneself to circumstances.

To hang up one’s hat, verb. phr. (common).—1. To die. For synonyms, see Aloft.

1854. Notes and Queries, Vol. X., p. 203. He has hung up his hat. This sentence, which is sometimes used in reference to persons deceased, etc.

1882. Punch, lxxxii., 185, c. 1.

2. (common).—To make oneself permanently at home.

Hang-bluff, subs. (rhyming).—Snuff.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Hang-by, subs. (old).—A hanger-on; a parasite; a companion.

1598. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, iv., 2. I am not afraid of you nor them neither, you hang-byes here.

Hang-dog, subs. (old).—A pitiful rascal, only fit for the rope or the hanging of superfluous curs. Cf., Gallows-bird.

1732. Fielding, Mock Doctor, i., 4. Heaven has inspired me with one of the most wonderful inventions to be revenged on my hang-dog.

Adj. (old).—Vile, or suspicious, in aspect; gallows-looking (q.v.).

Hang-gallows, adj. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hang-gallows Look, a thievish, or villainous appearance.

Hanger, subs. (old).—A side-arm—short sword or cutlass—hanging from the girdle. (See Hangers, in. pl., sense 1.)

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, x. A couteau de chasse, or short hanger.

In. pl. (old).—1. Ornamental loops from the girdle to suspend the sword and dagger.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, v. 2. Six French rapiers and poignards, with their assigns, as girdle, hangers, and so on.

1596. Nashe, Unf. Trav. [Chiswick Press, 1891]. Huge hangers that have half a cowhide in them.

1599. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, iv., 4. I had thrown off the hangers a little before.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, v., 2. Where be the French petticoats, And girdles and hangers?

2. (common).—Gloves; specifically gloves in the hand.

3. See Pothooks.

Hang-in-chains, subs. phr. (old).—See quots.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hang-in-chains, a vile desperate fellow.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, Hang-in-chains. A vile, desperate fellow. Persons guilty of murder, or other atrocious crimes, are frequently, after execution, hanged on a gibbet, to which they are fastened by iron bandages; the gibbet is commonly placed on or near the place where the crime was committed.

Hanging, adj. (colloquial).—Fit for the halter.

Hanging-bee, subs. (American).—A gathering of lynch-lawmongers, bent on the application of the rope. See Bee.

Hanging Johnny, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis: specifically, in a condition of impotence or disease. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Hangman, subs. (old).—A jocular endearment.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado About Nothing, iii., 2. He had twice or thrice cut Cupid’s bowstring, and the little hangman dare not shoot at him.

Hangman’s-day, subs. (old).—Monday, and (in America) Friday.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hangman’s day. Friday is so called from the custom of hanging people on a Friday.

Hangman’s-wages, subs. (old).—Thirteen-pence-halfpenny. [The fee for an execution was a Scots mark: the value of which piece was settled, by a proclamation of James I., at 13½d.]

1602. Decker, Honest Whore, Pt. II., in Wks. (1873) ii., 171. Why should I eate hempe-seed at the hangman’s thirteene-pence halfe-penny ordinary?

1659. Hangman’s Last Will (Rump Song quoted in Notes and Queries, 2 S. xi., 316). For half thirteen-pence half-penny wages, I would have cleared out all the town cages, And you should have been rid of all the sages. I and my gallows groan.

1678. Butler, Hudibras, Pt. III., c. 2. To find us pillories and cart’s-tails, Or hangman’s wages.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hangman’s wages, thirteenpence half-penny, which according to the vulgar tradition was thus allotted, one shilling for the execution, and three halfpence for the rope.

Hang-slang about, verb. phr. (common).—To abuse; to slang (q.v.); to Billingsgate (q.v.).

Hank, subs. (old colloquial).—1. A tie; a hold; an advantage; a difficulty. [In a hank = in trouble].

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. He has a hank upon him, or the Ascendant over him.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. He has a hank upon him; He ... will make him do what he pleases.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. He has a hank on him, i.e., an ascendant over him, or a hold upon him: A Smithfield hank = An ox rendered furious by over driving and barbarous treatment.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hank. To know something about a man that is disreputable. He has a hank on the bloke, whereby he sucks honey when he chooses, he knows something about the man, and therefore induces him to give him money when he chooses.

2. (common).—A spell of rest; an easy time.

1888. Sporting Life, 7 Dec. So quiet was the first round that the ire of the company was raised, and they called out, ‘No hank!’

Verb (common).—To worry; to bait; to drive from pillar to post.

Hanker, verb (old: now recognised).—To desire eagerly; to fret after; to long or pine for: generally with ‘after.’ Also, Hankering (subs.) = an importunate and irritating longing.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hanker after, to Long or wish much for.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To hanker after anything, to have a longing after or for it.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 98. I did see a creatur’ once, named Sofy Mason ... that I tuk an orful hankerin’ arter.

1878. Whitman, Leaves of Grass, ‘Spontaneous Me,’ 90 (ed. 1884). The hairy wild-bee that murmurs and hankers up and down.

Hankin, subs. (commercial).—The trick of putting off bad work for good. [Cf., To play hankey, or To play hanky-panky.]

Hanktelo, subs. (old).—See quots.

1593. Nashe, Strange Newes (Grosart, Wks., ii., 251). Is the Astrologicaall Discourse a better booke than Pierce Pennilesse? Gabriel Hangtelow saies it is?

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hanktelo, a silly Fellow, a meer Cods-head.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

Hanky-Panky, subs. (common).—(1) Legerdemain; whence (2) trickery; underhand (q.v.) work; cheating; any manner of double-dealing or intrigue. Hanky-panky business = conjuring; hanky-panky work (or tricks) = double-dealing. A bit of hanky-panky = a trick; a piece of knavery.

1841. Punch, Vol. I., p. 88. Only a little hanky-panky.

1880. G. R. Sims, Zeph, ch. xiii. He knew that ... any crime committed on his premises would tell against him on licensing day, and he kept a pretty sharp look out to see that what he was pleased to term hanky panky was not carried on under his nose.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xxxviii. If there was any hanky panky, any mystery I mean, he’d always swear he was out whenever he called, for fear it should be bullied out of him.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. v., p. 323.——There’s some hanky panky business going on among the men of No. 2 prison; the Catholic side is ringing changes and it is done in this shop.

Hanky-panky-bloke, subs. phr. (theatrical).—A conjuror; a pile of mags (q.v.).

Hanky-Spanky, adj. (common).—Dashing; nobby (q.v.). Specifically of well-cut clothes.

Hannah. That’s the man as married Hannah, phr. (streets’).—‘That’s the thing’: used of a thing well begun and well ended; or as an expressive of certainty. Varied sometimes by that’s what’s the matter with Hannah.

Hans Carvel’s Ring, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. [From Poggio (tit. Annulus); Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles (xi.); Ariosto (Sat. v.); the Nouvelle of Malespini (89, ii.); Rabelais (Pantagruel, iii., 28); and Matthew Prior.]

Hansel (or Handsel), subs. (common).—The first money taken in the morning; lucky money. Hence, earnest money; first-fruits, &c. Hansel-Monday = the first Monday in the new year, when presents were received by children and servants. [A. S., handselen = to deliver into the hand.]

1587. Greene, Menaphon (Arber), p. 71. He should like inough haue had first handsell of our new Shepheards sheepehooke.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, ii. Bring him a sixpenny bottle of ale: They say a fool’s handsel is lucky.

1679. Holland, Ammianus Marcellinus. With which wofull tidings being sore astonied, as if it were the first hansell and beginning of evils comming toward him.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, etc. (1811), p. 121. It is a common practice among the lower class of hucksters, pedlars, or dealers in fruit or fish, on receiving the price of the first goods sold that day, which they call hansel, to spit on the money, as they term it, for good luck.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. iii. There was a whin bonnie lasses there, forbye mysel’, and deil ane to gie them hansels. Ibid., ch. xxxii. Grizzy has naething frae me, by twa pair o’ new shoon ilka year, and maybe a bit compliment at Hansel Monanday.

1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xix. ‘How wears the Hollands you won of me?’ ‘Why, well, as you may see, Master Goldthred,’ answered Mike; ‘I will bestow a pot on thee for the handsel.’

Verb (common).—1. To give handsel to; also (2), to use for the first time.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in Wks., v., 249. And gather about him as flocking to hansell him and strike him good luck.

1605. Chapman, etc., Eastward Hoe, ii. My lady ... is so ravished with desire to hansell her new coach.

1639–61. Rump Songs, i. [1662], 137. Belike he meant to Hansell his New Satten.

1663. Pepys, Diary, 12 Apr. Coming home to-night, a drunken boy was carrying by our constable to our new pair of stocks to handsel them.

1874. [G. A. Lawrence], Hagarene, ch. xvii. The habit of stout blue cloth ... was Pete Harradine’s last and crowning extravagance, as they passed through town on their way to Fulmerstone, and it had never been hanselled yet.

1881. Besant and Rice, Sweet Nelly, in Ten Years’ Tenant, etc., Vol. I., p. 200. I wanted to present her with something to hansel friendship.

Hanseller, subs. (common).—A street vendor; a Cheap Jack.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 392. The sellers of tins, who carry them under their arms, or in any way on a round, apart from the use of a vehicle, are known as hand-sellers.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 10. Cheap-Jacks, as they were then as now called by the people, although the term han’-seller is mostly used by themselves.

Hans-en-Kelder, subs. (old).—A child in the womb: literally, Jack-in-the-Cellar (q.v.). [From the Dutch.]

1647. Cleaveland, Character of a London Diurnall. The originall sinner in this kind was Dutch; Galliobelgicus, the Protoplast; and the moderne Mercuries, but hans-en-kelders. The countesse of Zealand was brought to bed of an almanack; as many children as dayes in the yeare.

1648. Mercurius Pragmaticus, i. The birthday of that precious new government which is yet but a Hans-en-kelder.

d. 1658. Lovelace, Poems, p. 63. Next beg I to present my duty To pregnant sister in prime beauty, Whom [who] well I deem (ere few months elder) Will take out Hans from pretty kelder.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, v., Wks., i. 61 (1701). Seems you are desirous I should Father this Hans en Kelder heere.

1672. Marvell, Char. of Holland, line 65. More pregnant then their Marg’ret, that laid down For Hans-in-Kelder of a whole Hanse town.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hans-en-Kelder, Jack in the Box, the Child in the Womb, or a Health to it.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, v. Then I am as it were a grandfather to your new Wiffe’s, hans en kelder.

1678. T. Baker, Tunbridge Wells, p. 27. Here’s a health to this Lady’s Hans in Kelder!

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hans in Kelder, a health frequently drank to breeding women, or their husbands.

Hansom, subs. (coster).—A chop.

Hap-Harlot, subs. (old).—A coarse stuff to make rugs or coverlets with; a rug. Cf., Wrap-rascal = an overcoat.

1577–87. Holinshed, Description of England, bk. ii., ch. xii. A sheet vnder couerlets made of dagswain, or hap-harlots (I vse their owne termes).

Ha’porth o’ Coppers, subs. phr. (legal).—Habeas Corpus.

Ha’porth of Liveliness, subs. phr. (Coster).—1. Music.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., p. 21. Or they will call to the orchestra, saying, ‘Now then you catgut-scrapers! Let’s have a ha’porth of liveliness.’

2. (common).—A loitering Lawrence; a slowcoach (q.v.).

Happify, verb. (American).—To please.

1612. Sylvester, Lach. Lach., 642. One short mishap for ever happifies.

1848. Burton, Waggeries, etc., p. 70. For eatin’ and drinkin’, it happifies me to say that we bang the bush.

Happy, adj. (common).—Slightly drunk; elevated (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Happy-despatch, subs. (common).—Death, specifically, a sudden or violent end.

Happy-dosser. See Dosser.

Happy Eliza, subs. (common).—A female Salvationist [As in the Broadside Ballad (1887–8), ‘They call me Happy Eliza, and I’m Converted Jane: We’ve been two hot’uns in our time.’]

Happy-family, subs. (colloquial).—See quot.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., p. 224. Happy families, or assemblages of animals of diverse habits and propensities living amicably, or at least quietly, in one cage.

Happy-go-lucky, subs. (colloquial).—Careless; thoughtless; improvident. Fr., va comme je te pousse and à la flan.

1856. Reade, Never Too Late to Mend, ch. xv. In the happy-go-lucky way of his class.

1883. Illust. London News, 8 Dec., p. 551, c. 1. He dashes off a play in a happy-go-lucky style, basing it on theatrical precedent so far as certain stock situations are concerned.

Happy Hunting-grounds, subs. (American).—1. The future state; glory (q.v.). [From the North-American Indian’s conception of heaven.]

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 98. After a long journey, they will reach the happy hunting-grounds.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, ch. v. Old Mescal is now keeping a sharp eye out for the child and the cowboy, that he may send them to the happy hunting-grounds also.

2. (colloquial).—A favourable place for work or play.

1892. Cassell’s Sat. Journal, 26 Oct., p. 119. The happy hunting-ground of the swell mobsman is the opening of some Exhibition.

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

Happy-land, subs. (common).—The after life; glory (q.v.).

1893. Danvers, The Grantham Mystery, ch. xiii. The old ’un will soon join the young ’un in the happy land.

Happy-returns, subs. (Australian).—Vomiting. See Flay the Fox.

Harbour, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. Also Harbour of Hope.

Hard, subs. (prison).—1. Hard labour.

1890. Globe, 26 Feb., p. 1, c. 4. Monetary penalties, therefore, do not act as deterrents, but the certainty of seven days’ incarceration, with or without hard, would soon diminish the nuisance.

2. See Hard-Shell.

3. (colloquial).—Third-class. As opposed to soft (q.v.). Thus: ‘Do you go hard or soft?’ = ‘Do you go Third or First?’ An abbreviation of Hard-arse.

Adj. (American).—1. Applied to metal of all kinds: e.g., hard (cole or stuff) = silver or gold as compared to cheques or soft (q.v.).

1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, ii., ch. 18. The bill ... amounted to one dollar and a quarter hard money.

1844. Puck, p. 146. That cunning old file wont let her go with the hard cash down.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hard; metal.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hard cole. Silver or gold money.

1863. Charles Reade, Hard Cash. [Title.]

2. (old: now recognised).—1. Sour or souring; as in hard-cider; (2) hard drinks (American) = intoxicating liquors, as wine, ale, etc., while lemonade, soda-water, ginger-beer, etc., are soft.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hard drink, that is very Stale, or begining to Sower.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hard, stale beer nearly sour, is said to be hard.

1882. Daily Telegraph, 10 Oct., p. 5, c. 3. A fourth defendant, in pleading guilty, urged that the month of August last ‘turned a lot of beer sour,’ and that he had only used some sugar for the purpose of mollifying the hard or sour porter.

Hard as a Bone (Nails, etc.), adj. phr. (colloquial).—Very hard; austere; unyielding.

1885. Indoor Paupers, p. 79. He stood it for a week or two without flinching—being at that date hard as nails, as he expresses it.

Hard at it, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Very busy; in the thick of a piece of work.

To die hard, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To sell one’s life dearly; e.g., The die-hards (q.v.), the 59th Regiment, so called from their gallantry at Albuera.

To give hard for soft, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. See Greens.

To be Hard Hit. See Hard-hit.

[Hard, adj., is used in many combinations; generally with an unpleasant intention. Thus, hard-arsed (or fisted, or handed) = very niggardly; hard-bit (or hard-mouthful) = an unpleasant experience; hard-driven (or hard-run) = sore bested; hard-faced (or favoured, or featured) = grum, shrewish, or bony; hard-headed (or hard-witted) = shrewd and intelligent, but unimaginative and unsympathetic; hard-hearted = incapable of pity; hard-lipped = obstinate, dour; hard-master = a nigger-driver; hard-nut = a dangerous antagonist; hard-on = pitiless in severity; hard-riding = selfish and reckless equestration; hard-service = the worst kind of employment; hard-wrought = overworked, etc., etc.]

Hard-a-weather, adj. (nautical).—Tough; weather-proof.

1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 44. They were hard-a-weather fellows.

Hard-bake, subs. (schoolboys’).—A sweetmeat made of boiled brown sugar or treacle with blanched almonds.

1825. Hone, Every-day Bk., I., 51. Hardbake, brandy-balls, and bull’s-eyes.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ii. The commodities exposed for sale in the public streets are marine stores, hard-bake, apples, etc.

Hard-baked, adj. (old).—1. Constipated.

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of Turf, s.v.

2. (common).—Stern; unflinching; strong.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 73. It’s my opinion, these squirtish kind a fellars ain’t perticular hard-baked.

Hard-bargain (or Case), subs. (common).—1. A lazy fellow; a bad-egg (q.v.); a skulker. One of the Queen’s Hard-bargains = a bad soldier.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 71. La Bonté had lost all traces of civilised humanity, and might justly claim to be considered as hard a case as any of the mountaineers then present.

1888. Lynch, Mountain Mystery, ch. xliii. A fellow who comes and goes between here and Rockville, generally considered a hard case, and believed to be more outlaw than miner.

2. (trade).—A defaulting debtor.

3. (nautical).—A brutal mate or officer. Also hard-horse.

Hard-bit (or Bit of Hard), subs. (venery).—1. The penis in erection; whence (2), for women, the act of connection.

Hard-bitten, adj. (colloquial).—Resolute; game (q.v.); desperate.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, liii. My sooth, they’ll be hard-bitten terriers will worrie Dandie.

Hard-cheese, subs. (Royal Military Academy).—Hard lines; bad luck; specifically at billiards.

Hard-cole. See Hard and Cole.

Hard-doings, subs. (American).—1. Rough fare; and (2) hard work.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 37. Hard doins when it comes to that.

Hard-drinking, subs. (old: now recognized).—Drinking to excess.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hard-drinking, excessive Soking, or toping aboundance.

Hard-head, subs. (American).—A man of good parts, physical, intellectual, or moral.

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, i., 1. Dou. None of your flouting, by jumping jigs, I won’t stand it—we Americans have got hard heads—we warn’t brought up in the woods to be scart at by an owl—you can’t scare me so.

1848. Durivage, Stray Subjects, p. 110. Most of the passengers had disappeared for the night, and only a knot of hard-heads were left upon deck.

Hard-hit. To be hard hit, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To have experienced a heavy loss; as over a race, at cards, etc.

2. (colloquial).—To be deeply in love; completely gone on (q.v.).

1888. J. McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed, Ladies’ Gallery, ch. xxv. The wound was keen, I had been hit hard.

1891. M. E. Braddon, Gerard, p. 312. You’ve been hard hit.

Hard-lines, subs. (colloquial).—Hardship; difficulty; an unfortunate result or occurrence. [Formerly line = lot: Cf., Bible and Prayer book version of Psalm xvi., 5, 6.]

1855. Notes and Queries, 1 S. xii., p. 287. Hard Lines. Whence is this expression, so common, particularly among seafaring men, derived?

1881. W. Black, Beautiful Wretch, ch. xxiii. I think it’s deuced hard lines to lock up a fellow for merely humbugging an old parson up in Kentish Town.

1888. Sporting Life, 15 Dec. For the Kempton folks it was rather hard lines.

1888. J. McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed, Ladies’ Gallery, ch. xxvi. It’s awful hard lines, Lady Star Strange, that I am only thought good enough for you Londoners in the dead season.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 3. I call it ’ard lines, dear old man.

Hard-mouthed, adj. (colloquial).—Difficult to deal with; wilful; obstinate. Also coarse in speech. [From the stable.]

1686. Durfey, Commonw. of Wordes, i., 1. [Speaking of a girl.] I hate your young Wechees, Skitish Colts—they are so hard mouth’d, there’s no dealing with em.

1704. Swift, Tale of a Tub, Sect. ix. I myself, the author of these momentous truths, am a person, whose imaginations are hard-mouthed, and exceedingly disposed to run away with his reason.

1704. Swift, Operation of the Spirit, Sect. ii., par. 9. The flesh ... when it comes to the turn of being bearer, is wonderfully headstrong and hard-mouthed.

Hard-neck, subs. (tailors’).—Brazen impudence, monumental cheek (q.v.).

Hard-on, adj. phr. (venery).—Prick-proud. For synonyms, see Horn.

Hard-pan, subs. phr. (American).—The lowest point; bed-rock (q.v.).

1882. Besant, All Sorts and Conditions of Men, ch. xxi. And as for business, it’s got down to the hard pan, and dollars are skurce.

1861. Holmes, Elsie Venner, ch. viii. Mr. Silas Peckham had gone a little deeper than he meant, and came upon the hard pan, as the well-diggers call it, of the Colonel’s character, before he thought of it.

1888. Missouri Republican, 2 Mar. Prices were at hard pan.

To get down to hard-pan, verb. phr. (American).—To buckle to; to get to business.

Hard-puncher, subs. (common).—The fur cap of the London rough; formerly worn by men in training; a modification of the Scotch cap with a peak. [From the nickname of a noted pugilist.]

Hard-pushed, adv. (colloquial).—In difficulties; hard-up (q.v.).

a. 1871. Perils of Pearl Street, p. 123. As I said, at the end of six months we began to be hard-pushed. Our credit, however, was still fair.

Hard Put To, adj. phr. (colloquial).—In a difficulty, monetary or other; e.g., He’d be hard put to it to find a sovereign (or a word, or an excuse) = It would take him all his time, etc.

Hard-row. See Row.

Hard-run, adj. (colloquial).—In want of money; hard-up (q.v.)

Hard-shell, subs. (American).—A member of an extreme section of Baptists holding very strict and rigid views. [The soft-shells are of more liberal mind.] Also Hards and Softs.

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. 30. The old hard-shell laid about him like rath.

1888. Baltimore Sun. Mr. E., a regular member of the hard-shell Baptist Church.

1893. Stevenson, Island Night’s Entertainments, p. 35. He’s a hard-shell Baptist is Papa.

2. (political American).—A division of the Democratic Party in 1846–48, when the Hunkers (q.v.) received the name of Hards, and their opponents, the Barn-burners (q.v.) that of Softs.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 91. Hards, softs, whigs and Tylerites were represented.

Adj. (American).—Extremely orthodox; unyielding; hidebound.

Hard-stuff, subs. (American).—1. Money.

2. (Australian).—Intoxicating liquors; see Hard (adj. sense 2). For synonyms see Drinks.

Hard-tack, subs. (nautical).—1. Ship’s biscuits; specifically, ordinary sea-fare as distinguished from food ashore, or Soft-Tommy (q.v.).

1841. Lever, Charles O’Malley, ch. lxxxviii. No more hard-tack, thought I, no salt butter, but a genuine land breakfast.

1889. Lippincott, Oct., p. 476. They have feasted on salt horse and hard-tack many a day; but they know a good thing when they find it.

2. (common).—Coarse or insufficient fare.

Hard-up, subs. (common).—1. A collector of cigar ends, a topper-hunter. [Which refuse, untwisted and chopped up, is sold to the very poor.] Sometimes Hard-cut. Fr., un mégottier.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., p. 5. The cigar-end finders, or hard-ups, as they are called, who collect the refuse pieces of smoked cigars from the gutters, and having dried them, sell them as tobacco to the very poor.

1888. Tit Bits, 24 March, 373. Smoking hard-up is picking up the stumps of cigars thrown away in the streets, cutting them up, and smoking them in the pipe.

1891. Morning Advertiser, 26 Mar. A constable on duty on the Embankment early in the morning saw the accused prowling about, and on asking what he was doing, received the reply that he was looking for hard cut.—Mr. Vaughan: Looking for what?—The Prisoner: Hard-cut; dropped cigar-ends.

2. (common).—A poor man; a stony-broke (q.v.).

1857. Ducange Anglicus, Vulg. Tongue. Hard-up, a poor person.

Adv. phr. (colloquial).—1. Very badly in want of money; in urgent need of anything. Also Hard-run and Hard-pushed.

1809–41. Th. Hook, The Sutherlands. He returned, and being hard up, as we say, took it into his head to break a shop-window at Liverpool, and take out some trumpery trinket stuff.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 104. There I met in with two Edinburgh snibs, who were hard up.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Merchant of Venice.’ Who by showing at Operas, Balls, Plays, and Court, ... Had shrunk his ‘weak means,’ and was ‘stump’d’ and hard up.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xi. He ... was, not to put too fine a point upon it hard-up.

1865. New York Herald. This anxiety ... shows conclusively that they are hard-up for political capital.

1871. Lond. Figaro, 25 Jan. For years, England has been a refuge for hard-up German princelings.

1887. Manville Fenn, This Man’s Wife, i., 13. I don’t look hard up do I? No, because you’ve spent my money on your wretched dress.

1891. Fun, 25 Mar. You’re hard up, ain’t you? Stumped? Well, it’s Threadneedle Street to a frying-pan, that if Popsy knew your real name, he’d lend you a thousand or two like a shot.

English Synonyms.—Many under floored apply equally to hard-up; others are:—At low water mark; cracked up; dead-broke; down on one’s luck; fast; in Queer Street; in the last of pea time; in the last run of shad; low down; low in the lay; oofless; out of favor with the oof-bird; pebble-beached; seedy; short; sold-up; stony-broke; strapped; stuck; stumped; suffering from an attack of the week’s (or month’s) end; tight; on one’s uppers; under a cloud; on one’s beam ends.

French Synonyms.—Se mettre dans le bœuf (common = to go in for block ornaments (q.v.)); être en brindezingue (mountebanks = gone to smash); être brouillé avec la monnaie (familiar = to have had a row with one’s banker); être coupé (printers’); être à la côte (familiar = on the shelf); être fauché (thieves’ = cut down); être dans la purée (thieves’); être molle (thieves’); être à la faridon (popular); être en dèche (popular); être désargenté (thieves’ = oofless); être bref (popular = short); être à fond de cale (popular = down to bed-rock); être à la manque (popular = on short commons); manger de la misère (popular = to sup sorrow); être dans le lac (popular = a hole); être pané (general); panné comme la Hollande (general = very hard up).

Spanish Synonyms.—Estar pelado or ser un pelado (= skinned); tiñoso (= scabby).

Italian Synonym.—Calcare a ventun ’ora.

2. (common).—Intoxicated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

3. (Winchester College).—Out of countenance; exhausted (in swimming).

Hard-upness or Hard-uppishness, subs. (colloquial).—Poverty; a condition of impoverishment.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack. There were frequent ... collapses from death or hard-upness.

1883. Illust. London News, 26 May, p. 519, c. 3. These I O U’s ... do not imply, as might be supposed, common hardupness.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 28. Ike’s knowledge of some of the bookmakers he had met in the old land led him to believe that hard-uppishness would scare any knight of the pencil away.

Hardware (or Hard), subs. (American).—Counterfeit coin.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Hardware-bloke, subs. (thieves’).—A native of Birmingham; a Brum (q.v.).

Hardy-annual, subs. (Parliamentary).—A bill that is brought in every year, but never passed into law. Hence (journalistic), any stock subject.

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 16 Aug., p. 4, c. 2. Signs of the so called ‘silly season’ which has been somewhat delayed this year owing to the political crisis, are now beginning to appear. The readers of the Daily Telegraph are once more filling the columns of that journal with ‘Is Marriage a Failure?’ The hardy annual is called ‘English Wives’ this time.

Hare, verb. (old).—To dodge; to double; to bewilder.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 92. Running, haring, gaping, staring.

1672. Marvell, Rehearsal, Tr. (Grosart), iii, 372. They amaze, shatter and hare their people.

To hare it, verb. phr. (American thieves’).—To retrace one’s steps; to double back. [From the way of a hare with the hounds.]

To make a hare of, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To make ridiculous; to expose the ignorance of any person.

1830–32. Carleton, Traits and Stories, ‘The Hedge-School.’ What a hare that made of him ... and did not leave him a leg to stand on!

1844. Lever, Tom Burke of Ours, ii., 393. It was Mister Curran made a hare of your Honor that day.

To swallow a hare, verb. phr. (old).—To get very drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict. Hare, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. He has swallowed a hare, he is drunk, more probably a hair which requires washing down.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

To hold with the hare and hunt with the hounds, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To play a double game; to keep on good terms with two conflicting parties.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

To kiss the hare’s foot, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be late; to be a day after the fair; to kiss the post.

Hare-brained (or Hair-brained), adj. (old colloquial: now recognised).—Reckless; flighty; impudent; skittish. Also, substantively, hare-brain = a hare-brained person.

1534. N. Udal, Roister Doister, I., iv., p. 27 (Arber). Ah foolish hare-braine, This is not she.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, in Wks., ii., 53. A harebraind little Dwarfe it is.

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., III., I., ii., 259 (1836). Yet again, many of them, desperate hare-brains.

1622. Bacon, Henry VII. That same haire-braine wild fellow, my subject.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xliii. When the government of a nation depends upon the caprice of the ignorant, hair-brained vulgar.

1870. Chambers’ Miscellany, No. 53, p. 28. The Slater girls are as hare-brained as herself.

Hared, adj. (old).—Hurried.

Hare-sleep, subs. (old).—Sham slumber; foxes’ sleep (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hare-sleep, with Eies a’most open.

Harking, subs. (old).—See quots.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Harking, whispering on one side to borrow Money.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hark-ye-ing, whispering on one side to borrow money.

Harlequin, subs. (theatrical).—1. A sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary.

2. (Winchester College).—The wooden nucleus of a red india-rubber ball.

3. (old).—A patchwork quilt.

Harlequin China, adj. phr. (old).—Sets composed of several patterns and makes.

Harlotry, subs. (old).—A wanton.

d. 1529. Skelton, Bowge of Courte. He had no pleasure but in harlotrye.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, iv., i. But O the harlotry, did she make that use of it then.

1695. Congreve, Love for Love, iii., i. O you young harlotry.

1893. T. E. Brown, Old John, p. 205. That specious harlotry from hell’s black bosom spewed.

Adj. (old).—Disreputable.

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV., ii., 4. Oh rare! he doth it as like one of these harlotry players, as ever I see.

Harman-beck (or Harman), subs. (old).—An officer of justice. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. The harman-beck, the constable.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-All. With the harman-beake out and alas to Whittington we goe.

1656. Broome, Jovial Crew, ii. Here safe in our skipper let’s cly off our peck, And bowse in defiance o’ th’ harman-beck.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Harman-beck, a Beadle.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12. Harminbeck, a Constable.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Harman Beck, a beadle (cant).

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. From the watchmen who skip On the Harman Beck’s errand.

1828. Lytton, The Disowned. The worst have an awe of the harman’s claw.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Harman Beak. The Sheriff.

Harmans, subs. (Old Cant).—The stocks. [The suffix ‘mans’ is common; Cf., lightmans, darkmans, roughmans, etc.]

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. The harmans, the stockes.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-All, p. 39 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). Harmons the stockes.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

Harness. In Harness, adj. phr. (colloquial).—In business; at work: as, to die in harness = to die at one’s post; to get back into harness = to resume work after a holiday. [Harness also = armour.]

1872. Fun, 10 Aug. ‘Over.’ Aye! But the sting of it’s here, Just as I’m back into harness, Others are off to sea, mountain, and mere.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 2. My father died in harness.

Harp, interject. (Irish).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Harp ... harp is also the Irish expression for ‘woman’ or ‘tail,’ used in tossing up in Ireland, from Hibernia being represented with a harp, on the reverse of the copper coins of that country, for which reason it is in hoisting the copper, i.e., tossing up, sometimes likewise called music.

To harp on, verb. phr. (old, now recognised).—To dwell persistently and at any cost upon a subject.

1596. Nashe, Have with you to Saffron Walden. As if I had continually harped upon it in every tenth line of my book.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, ii., 2. Still harping on my daughter.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Harp-upon a business, to insist on it.

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

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 291. He was back harping on my proposal.

Harper, subs. (old).—A brass coin current in Ireland, temp. Elizabeth, value one penny. [From the Irish Harp figured upon it.]

1574–1637. Ben Jonson, The Gipsies Metamorphosed. A two-pence I had to spend ever and above; besides the harper that was gathered amongst us to pay the piper.

Have among you my blind harpers, phr. (old).—See quot.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Harpers.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Have among you my blind harpers, an expression used in throwing or shooting at random among a crowd.

Harridan, subs. (old, now recognised).—See quots. Also (colloquial) a disagreeable old woman. [A corruption of O. Fr. haridelle = a worn out horse, a jade.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Harridan, one that is half Whore, half Bawd.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Harridan, a hagged old woman, a miserable scraggy worn out harlot, fit to take her bawd’s degree.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch., xxxix. ‘Now what could drive it into the noddle of that old harridan,’ said Pleydell.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Harrington, subs. (old).—A brass farthing. [Lord Harrington obtained a patent of manufacture under James I.]

1616. B. Jonson, Devil is an Ass, ii., 1. Yes, sir, it’s cast to penny half-penny farthing, O’ the back side there you may see it, read; I will not bate a Harrington o’ the sum.

1632. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, ii., 6. His wit he cannot so dispose by legacy As they shall be a Harrington the better for’t.

Harry, subs. (old).—1. A countryman; a clown. For synonyms, see Joskin.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Harry. A country fellow.

2. (colloquial).—See ’Arry.

Old Harry, subs. (common).—The devil. For synonyms, see Skipper.

1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, ii., 1. By the Lord Harry I’ll stay no longer.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. iv. May Old Harry fly off with him.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (1865), p. 406. Shall I summon Old Harry himself to this spot?

Harry of the West, subs. phr. (political American).—Henry Clay.

To play old Harry, verb. phr. (common).—To annoy; to ruin; to play the devil.

1889. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 18 Jan. Otherwise played old Harry with the guardians of the peace.

Tom, Dick, and Harry, phr. (common).—Generic for any and everybody; the mob.

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 287. He rode from public house to public house and shouted his sorrows into the lug of Tom, Dick, and Harry.

What Harry gave Doll, verb. phr. (old venery).—The penis: also generic for fornication.

Harry-bluff, subs. (rhyming).—Snuff.

Harry-common, subs. phr. (old).—A general wencher.

1675. Wycherley, Country Wife, v., 4. Well, Harry Common, I hope you can be true to three.

Harry-soph, subs. (Cambridge Univ.: obsolete).—See quots.

1795. Gent. Mag., p. 20. A Harry, or errant Soph, I understand to be either a person, four-and-twenty years of age, and of an infirm state of health, who is permitted to dine with the fellows, and to wear a plain, black, full-sleeved gown: or, else, he is one who, having kept all the terms, by statute required previous to his law-act, is hoc ipso facto entitled to wear the same garment, and, thenceforth, ranks as bachelor, by courtesy.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam. Harry Soph; or Henry Sophister; students who have kept all the terms required for a law act, and hence are ranked as Bachelors of Law by courtesy. They wear a plain, black, full-sleeved gown.

Harum-scarum, adj. and subs. (old colloquial).—1. Giddy; careless; wild; a thoughtless or reckless fellow.

1740. Round about our Coal Fire, c. i. Peg would scuttle about to make a toast for John, while Tom run harum scarum to draw a jug of ale for Margery.

1780 Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, i., 358 [ed. 1842]. He seemed a mighty rattling harem-scarem gentleman.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Harum Scarum, he was running harum scarum, said of any one running or walking carelessly and in a hurry, after they know not what.

1836. Marryat, Japhet, ch. xcii. I’m not one of those harum-scarum sort, who would make up a fight when there’s no occasion for it.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. v. They had a quarrel with Thomas Newcome’s own son, a harum-scarum lad, who ran away, and then was sent to India.

1870. London Figaro, 19 Oct. ‘Within an inch.’ Tom—that’s my son—has worked with me in the mine ever since he was quite a little chap; and a harum-scarum young dog he was, when a boy.

2. (sporting).—Four horses driven in a line; suicide (q.v.).

Has-been, subs. (colloquial Scots’).—Anything antiquated; specifically in commendation: as ‘the good old has-beens’; cf., never was.

1891. Sportsman, 1 Apr. Big Joe M’Auliffe proved conclusively that he is one of the has beens or else one of the never wasers, as Dan Rice, the circus man, always called ambitious counterfeits.

Hash, subs. (colloquial).—1. A mess; specifically in the phrase ‘to make a hash of.’ For synonyms, see Sixes and Sevens.

1747. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 23 Feb. (1833) Vol. II., p. 274. About as like it, as my Lady Pomfret’s hash of plural persons and singular verbs or infinitive moods was to Italian.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 115 [Ry. ed.]. Listado never could compass Spanish, because, as he said, he had previously learnt French, and thus spoke a hash of both.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘M. of Venice.’ Don’t suppose my affairs are at all in a hash, But the fact is, at present I’m quite out of cash.

1843. Punch’s Almanack, July (q.v.).

1845. Punch’s Guide to Servants, ‘The Cook,’ Vol. IX., p. 45. He who gives a receipt for making a stew, may himself make a sad hash of it.

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 97. Ye’ve made a sore hash of my brig.

1889. Sporting Life, 30 Jan. Successfully negotiated the tricky entrance to the stable-yard of the hotel, at which job I have been in a mortal funk many a time with poor old Jim beside me, for fear of making a hash of it.

1890. Grant Allen, Tents of Shem, ch. xvi. She made a hash of the proper names, to be sure.

2. (American cadets’).—Clandestine preparation for supper after hours.

3. (colloquial).—A sloven; a blockhead.

1785. Burns, Epistle to J. Lapraik. A set o’ dull, conceited hashes.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To spoil; to jumble; to cook up and serve again.

1891. Notes and Queries, 7 S. xii., 22 Aug., p. 144. I do not think that Earle, a scholar of a high order and a man of the most keen wit and judgment, would have spoken thus of a thing hashed up by a hard-headed pedant, however able, such as Gauden.

2. (American).—To vomit. Also to flash the hash (q.v.). For synonyms, see Accounts and Cat.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

3. (Cheltenham School).—To study hard; to swat (q.v.).

To settle one’s hash, verb. phr. (common).—To defeat one’s object; to kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s Goose.

1864. Browning, Dramatis Personæ. ‘Youth and Art.’ You’ve to settle yet Gibson’s hash.

c. 1871. Butler, Nothing to Wear. To use an expression More striking than classic, it settled my hash.

1883. Punch, Nov. 3, p. 208, c. 1. That one stab, with a clasp-knife, which settled the young Squire’s hash in less than two seconds.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 123. We’ll keep the cops off till you settle his hash, the rest replied, getting round us.

To go back on one’s hash, verb. phr. (American).—To turn; to succumb; to weaken (q.v.).

Hash-house, subs. (American).—A cheap eating-house; a grubbing crib (q.v.).

1883. Daily Telegraph, 10 Jan., p. 5, c. 4. There are [in New York] lunch counters, cookshops, ‘penny’ restaurants, fifteen-cent restaurants, commonly called hash-houses and foreign cafés.

Haslar-hag, subs. (nautical).—A nurse at the Haslar Hospital. Cf., Hag.

Hastings. To be none of the Hastings sort, verb. phr. (old colloquial).—To be slow, deliberate, or slothful.

1690. b. e., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. You are none of the Hastings, of him that loses an Opportunity or a Business for want of Dispatch.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. He is none of the Hastings sort; a saying of a slow, loitering fellow: an allusion to the Hastings pea, which is the first in season.

Hasty, adj. (old: now recognised).—Rash; passionate; quick to move.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hasty, very Hot on a sudden.

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

Hasty G., subs. (Cambridge Univ.).—See quot.

1883. Daily News, 24 Mar., p. 5, c. 2. Mr. Weller’s own hasty g. (as Cambridge men say when they mean a ‘hasty generalisation’).

Hasty Pudding, subs. (common).—1. A bastard. For synonyms, see Bloody Escape.

2. (old).—A muddy road; a quag.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. The way through Wandsworth is quite a hasty pudding.

Hat, subs. (Cambridge Univ.).—1. A gentleman commoner. [Who is permitted to wear a hat instead of the regulation mortar-board.] Also Gold Hatband.

1628. Earle, Microcosmographie. ‘Young Gentleman of the Universitie’ (ed., Arber, 1868). His companion is ordinarily some stale fellow that has beene notorious for an ingle to gold hatbands, whom hee admires at first, afterwards scornes.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam. Hat Commoner; the son of a Nobleman, who wears the gown of a Fellow Commoner with a hat.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xxxii. I knew intimately all the hats in the University.

1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, bk. I., ch. i. He had certainly nourished the belief that some one of the hats or tinsel gowns—i.e., young lords or fellow-commoners, with whom he was on such excellent terms ... would do something for him in the way of a living.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. Generally Old Hat. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, i., 6 (note). I shall conclude this learned note with remarking that the term old hat is used by the vulgar in no very honourable sense.

1760. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, ch. cxxvi. A chapter of chambermaids, green gowns, and old hats.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. [‘Because often felt.’] See also Top Diver.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

3. (Scots’).—A prostitute of long standing. For synonyms, see Barrack-Hack and Tart.

To eat one’s hat (or head), verb. phr. (common).—Generally, I’ll eat my hat. Used in strong emphasis. See Eat.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xlii., 367. ‘If I knew as little of life as that, I’d eat my hat and swallow the buckle whole,’ said the clerical gentleman.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xiv. Even admitting the possibility of scientific improvements being ever brought to that pass which will enable a man to eat his own head, Mr. Grimwig’s head was such a particularly large one that the most sanguine man alive could hardly entertain a hope of being able to get through it at a sitting.

1844. J. B. Buckstone, The Maid with the Milking Pail. If you are not as astonished as I was, I’ll eat old Rowley’s hat.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 216. I’ll eat my hat.

1887. E. E. Money, Little Dutch Maiden, II., viii., 148. And if you don’t run up against him next day in Bond Street, you may eat your hat!

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 38. If some of the swells didn’t ditto, I’ll eat my old hat, which it’s tough.

To get a hat, verb. phr. (cricketers’).—See Hat-trick.

To get into the hat, verb. phr. (common).—To get into trouble.

To have a brick in one’s hat, verb. phr. (American).—To be top-heavy with drink. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

To hang up one’s hat.—See Hang.

To pass (or send) round the hat, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To make a collection.

To talk through one’s hat, verb. phr. (American).—To rag; to huff; to bluster.

1888. New York World, 13 May. Dis is only a bluff dey’re makin’—see! Dey’re talkin’ tru deir hats.

All round my hat, phr. (streets).—A derisive retort. [From a Broadside Ballad, popular c. 1830: ‘All round my hat I wears a green willow, All round my hat for a twelvemonth and a day, And if any one should ask you the reason why I wear it, Tell them my true love is gone far away’; sung to a tune adapted from a number in Zampa.] Also, as in quot. = all over; completely; generally.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 54. I’m a ’ot un, mate, all round my ’at.

Shoot that hat! phr. (streets).—A derisive retort. Also I’ll have your hat! Both circa 1860–72.

Well, you can take my hat! phr. (American) = ‘Well, that beats me,’ i.e., ‘that is past belief.’

1873. A Yankee in a Planter’s House. ‘What’s yer name?’ ‘Name Grief, manssa.’ ‘Name what?’ ‘Name Grief.’ ‘Get out! Yew’re jokin’! What’s yer name, anyhow?’ ‘Name Grief manssa.’ ‘Wal, yew kin take my hat.’

What a shocking bad hat, phr. (streets).—[Said to have originated with a candidate for parliamentary honours, who made the remark to his poorer constituents, and promised them new head-gear.]

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall, 140. Lord B. Regular bounder! Shocking bad hat! Ver. Not so bad as his boots, and they are not so bad as his face.

Hatch, verb. (common).—To be brought to bed with child; to bust up (q.v.).

To be under hatches, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be in a state of trouble, poverty or depression. Also dead.

1606. Marston, The Fawne, iv. Remember hee got his elder brother’s wife with child ... that will stow him under hatches, I warrant you.

1632–1704. Locke [quoted in Ency. Dict.]. He assures us how this fatherhood continued its course, till the captivity in Egypt, and then the poor fatherhood was under hatches.

1639–1661. Rump Songs, i. [1662], 260. And all her orphans bestowed under hatches.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Under the Hatches, in Trouble, or Prison.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Under the Hatches, in Trouble, or Prison.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Under the hatches, in trouble, distress, or debt.

1789. Dibdin, Tom Bowling, For though his body’s under hatches his soul has gone aloft.

1835. Buckstone, Dream at Sea. iii., 3. Good-bye, dame, cheer up; you may not always be under hatches.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Hatchet, subs. (tailors’).—1. An ill-favoured woman. For general synonyms, see Ugly Mug.

2. (American).—A bribe received by Customs officers in New York for permitting imported dutiable goods to remain on the wharf when they ought to go to the general store-house.

To bury (or dig up) the hatchet.—See Bury.

To throw (or sling) the hatchet, verb. phr. (common).—1. To tell lies, to yarn; to draw the long bow (q.v.). Hence hatchet flinging (or throwing) = lying or yarning.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 94. This is a fault, which many of good understanding may fall into, who, from giving way too much to the desire of telling anecdotes, adventures, and the like, habituate themselves by degrees to a mode of the hatchet-flinging extreme.

1821. P. Egan, Life in London, p. 217. There is nothing creeping or throwing the hatchet about this description.

1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, ch. xx. We had to call her mother, and, if anyone stopped, she’d sling the hatchet to them, and tell them she was a poor lone widow left with five children.

2. (nautical).—To sulk.

Hatchet-faced, adj. (old colloquial: now recognised).—See quots. For synonyms, see Ugly-mug.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hatchet-fac’d, Hard favor’d, Homely.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hatchet Face, a long thin face.

1865. Sala, Trip to Barbary, p. 130. The man in black baize with the felt képi, and who had a hatchet face desperately scarred with the small-pox, looked from head to heel a bad egg.

1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, p. 7. His hatchet face with its piggish eyes, his thin cruel lips, his square jaw, are all murderous.

Hatch, Match, and Dispatch Column, subs. phr. (journalistic).—The births, marriages, and deaths announcements. Also Cradle, Altar and Tomb Column.

Hatchway, subs. (common).—1. The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. Also Fore-hatch. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Hate-out, verb. (American).—To boycott; to send to Coventry.

18(?). S. Kercheval, History of Virginia. The punishment for idleness, lying, dishonesty, and ill-fame generally, was that of hating the offender out, as they expressed it. It commonly resulted in the reformation or banishment of the person against whom it was directed. If a man did not do his share of the public service, he was hated-out as a coward.

Hatfield, subs. (common).—A drink, whose chief ingredients are gin and ginger-beer.

1883. Daily News, 5 July, p. 5, c. 1. There are, we believe, all sorts of strong waters in the mild-looking and seductive hatfield, while the majority of ‘cups’ are distinctly ‘mixed.’

Hatful, subs. (colloquial).—A large quantity; a heap.

1859. Punch, lxxx., vi., 236. If they had trusted their own judgment they would have won a hatful.

1864. M. E. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. xxii. He was in a very good temper however, for he had won what his companions called a hatful of money on the steeple-chase.

Hatpeg, subs. (common).—The head. For synonyms, see Crumpet.

Hatter, subs. (Australian).—A gold-digger working alone.

1881. A. Bathgate, Waitaruna, p. 88. He is what they call a hatter, that is he works alone.

1885. Chambers’ Journal, 2 May, p. 286. Some prefer to travel, and even to work, when they can get it, alone, and these are known to the rest as hatters.

1890. Illustrations, p. 158. The former occupant was what is known as a hatter, i.e., a digger living by himself.

1890. Marriott Watson, Broken Billy. He was looked upon as a hatter, that is to say, a man who has lived by himself until his brain has been turned.

Who’s your hatter? phr. (streets).—A catch-cry long out of vogue.

Mad as a hatter, phr. (colloquial).—Very mad.

1863. Marshall [Title, of a farce]. Mad as a Hatter.

Hat-trick, subs. (cricket).—Taking three wickets with three consecutive balls: which feat is held to entitle the bowler to a new hat at the cost of the club.

1888. Sportsman, 28 Nov. Mr. Absolom has performed the hat trick twice, and at Tufnell Park he took four wickets with four balls.

1892. Cassell’s Sat. Jour. 21 Sept., p. 13, c. 2. On one occasion I succeeded in doing the hat trick.

1892. Woolwich Polytechnic Mag., 20 May. Three of these wickets were taken in succession, thus accomplishing the hat-trick.

Hat-work, subs. (journalists’).—Hack work; such stuff as may be turned out by the yard without reference to quality.

1888. H. Rider Haggard, Mr. Meeson’s Will, c. 1. And five-and-twenty tame authors (who were illustrated by thirteen tame artists) sat—at salaries ranging from one to five hundred a year—in vault-like hutches in the basement, and week by week poured out that hat-work for which Meeson’s was justly famous.

Haulable, adj. (University).—Used of a girl whose society authorities deem undesirable for the men: e.g., she’s haulable = a man caught with her will be proctorised.

Haul-bowline, subs. (nautical).—A seaman. For synonyms, see Strawyarder.

Haul-devil, subs. (common).—A clergyman. For synonyms, see Devil-dodger and Sky-pilot.

Haul Devil, Pull Baker. See Devil.

Haut-boy (or Ho-boy), subs. (American).—A night scavenger; a jakesman or gold-finder (q.v.).

Have, subs. (common).—1. A swindle; a take-in (q.v.); a do (q.v.). For synonyms, see Sell.

2. in. pl. (common).—The moneyed classes; as opposed to the Have-nots, their antipodes.

1893. National Observer, Feb. 25, ix., 357. A body whose policy is to make the Have-nots as comfortable and objectionable as possible at the cost in coin and comfort of the Haves.

3. (in. pl.) subs. (Winchester College).—Half-boots. Pronounced Hāves.

Is that a Catch or a Have? verb. phr. (vulgar).—A formula of acknowledgment that the speaker has been ‘had.’ [If the person addressed be unwise enough to answer with a definition, the instant retort is ‘Then you catch (or have, as the case may be) your nose up my arse.’]

Verb (colloquial).—1. To cheat; to take-in; to do. See Be.

1805. G. Harrington, New London Spy (4th Ed.) p. 26. Ten to one but you are had, a cant word they make use of, instead of saying, as the truth is, we have cheated him.

1825. Egan, Life of an Actor, ch. iv. ‘He’s not to be had,’ said Gag, in an audible whisper.

1878. Hatton, Cruel London, bk. II., ch. v. ‘They have had me, bless you,’ said Brayford, ‘the men who have “limbed” you.’

1889. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 8 Feb. Not to be had so easily, my good man.

1889. Answers, 23 Feb., p. 196, c. 2. But even these fellows, sharp as they are, have been caught napping lately in a humorous way. Those who have had them have been young fellows with friends inside the Stock Exchange.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 161. Had me nicely once at cards.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 23 Jan. I never felt so wild in my life. I’m no fool, you know, and I began to think I was being had a bit.

1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, p. 58. I was nearly had.

1892. Illus. Bits, 22 Oct., p. 14. c. 2. Oh, mebboy, Oi wasn’t t’ be had that way. Oi always kape resates—spishully Gov’ment wans. Oi got it safe and cosy in me pocket-book.

2. (venery).—To possess carnally. [Said indifferently of, and by, both sexes.] For synonyms, see Greens.

To have had it, verb. phr. (venery).—To have been seduced.

To have (or take) it out of one, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To punish; to retaliate; to extort a quid pro quo; to give tit for tat.

To have it out with one, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To speak freely in reproof; to complete an explanation; to settle a dispute with either words or blows.

1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society, ch. xix. Instead of going down to St. Eve’s and having it out, he fretted, and worried, and fumed the six days away.

1888. Daily News, 8 Dec. There was a question as to who struck the first blow, but it seemed to him certain that a man who crossed the road to have it out with another was the most likely to have commenced hostilities.

To have on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To secure a person’s interest, attention, sympathy: generally with a view to deceiving him (or her).

To have towards (or with, or at), verb. phr. (old).—1. To pledge in drinking; to toast. See Here.

1637. Cartwright, Royal Slave. Here’s to thee, Leocrates. Leoc. Have towards thee, Philotas. Phil. To thee, Archippus. Arch. Here, Molops. Mol. Have at you, fidlers.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. ii. ‘Have with you, boy—have with you,’ shouted half-a-dozen other voices, while each stuck his oaken twig through the handkerchief that held his bundle, and shouldered it, clapping his straw or tarpaulin hat, with a slap on the crown, on one side of his head, and staggering and swaying about under the influence of the poteen.

2. (common).—To agree with.

To have on toast, verb. phr. (common).—1. To take in.

2. (common).—To worst in argument.

To have on the raws, verb. phr. (common).—To teaze; to touch to the quick.

To let one have it, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To punish severely.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 8. ‘Hurraw, Dick, mind your hair,’ and I ups old Greaser and let one Injun have it, as was going plum into the boy with his lance.

Have up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To bring before the authorities; to summons (q.v.).

Havercake-lads, subs. phr. (Military).—The Thirty-third Foot. [From the circumstance that its recruiting sergeants always preceded their party with an oatcake on their swords.]

Havey-cavey, adj. (old).—Uncertain; doubtful; shilly-shally.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Havil, subs. (old).—A sheep. For synonyms, see Wool-bird.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Havock, subs. (old: now recognised).—Devastation; waste.

1607. Shakspeare, Julius Cæsar, iii., 1. Cry havock, and let slip the dogs of war.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. They made sad Havock, they Destroy’d all before ’em.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

Hawcubite, subs. (old).—A roysterer; a street bully. [After the Restoration there was a succession of these disturbers of the peace: first came the Muns, then followed the Tityre Tus, the Hectors, the Scourers, the Nickers, the Hawcubites, and after them the Mohawks (q.v.).]

Hawk, subs. (common).—1. A card-sharper; a rook (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hawk, c., a Sharper.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Hawk, a Sharper.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hawk also signifies a sharper, in opposition to pigeon.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hawk. A Confidence Man; a swindler.

1891. New York Herald [London ed.], 31 May. These were hawks and pigeons, and those who are no longer pigeons, and never had, or will have, an inclination to be hawks.

2. (common).—A bailiff; a constable. For synonyms, see Beak.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. I., ch. iii. ‘The game’s spoiled this time, Rob Rust, anyhow,’ growled one, in an angry tone; ‘the hawks are upon us, and we must leave this brave buck to take care of himself.’

Verb (old).—See quots.

1589. Nashe, Anatomie, Whereas, by their humming and hawking ... they have leisure to gesture the mislike of his rudeness.

1600. Shakspeare, As You Like It, v., 3. Shall we clap into ’t roundly, without hawking, or spitting, or saying we are hoarse?

1604. Marston, Malcontent, ii., 2. Is he troubled with the cough of the lungs still? Does he hawke a night’s?

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. ... Also spitting difficulty.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. ... Hawking, an effort to spit up the thick phlegm, called oysters, whence it is wit upon record, to ask the person so doing, whether he has a license, a punning allusion to the act of hawkers and pedlars.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xlvi. This tremendous volley of superlatives which Sampson hawked up from the pit of his stomach.

1822. Byron, Vision of Judgment, xc. To cough and hawk, and hem, and pitch His voice into that awful note of woe.

Ware Hawk! phr. (old).—A warning; look sharp! See subs. sense 2.

d. 1529. Skelton, Ware Hawk (Title).

1625. Jonson, Staple of News, v. 2. See! the whole covey is scattered; ware, ware the hawks!

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hawk, ware hawk, the word to look sharp, a bye-word when a bailiff passes.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. iii. Ware hawk! Douse the Glim.

To hawk one’s meat, verb. phr. (common).—To peddle one’s charms, i.e., to show a great deal of neck and breasts. Fr., montrer sa viande.

Hawk-a-mouthed, adj. phr. (old).—See quot.

c. 1750. Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect (Palmer, 1839) s.v. One that is perpetually hawking and spitting; also foul-mouthed.

Hawker, subs. (old: now recognized).—A pedlar.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hawkers. Retail News-Sellers.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hawkers, licensed itinerant retailers of different commodities, called also pedlars; likewise the sellers of newspapers.

Hawking, verb. subs. (old: now recognised).—Peddling; offering small wares for sale from door to door. Also see quot. 1690.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hawking, going about Town and Country with Scotch-Cloth, etc., or News-Papers: also Spitting difficultly.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

Hawk-eye State, subs. phr. (American).—Iowa. [After the famous Indian chief.]

Hawse. To fall athwart one’s hawse, verb. phr. (nautical).—To obstruct; to fall out with; to counter and check.

Hawse-holes. To come (or creep) in through the hawse-holes, verb. phr. (nautical).—To enter the service at the lowest grade; to rise from the forecastle.

1830. Marryat, King’s Own, ch. viii. His kind and considerate captain was aware that a lad who creeps in at the hawse-holes, i.e., is promoted from before the mast, was not likely to be favourably received in the midshipmen’s mess.

1889. Chambers’ Journal, 3 Aug., 495. A sailor who rose from the ranks was formerly said to have crept through the hawse-holes.

Hay. To make hay, verb. phr. (University).—To throw into confusion; to turn topsy-turvy; to knock to pieces in argument or single combat. Also, to kick up a row.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. vii. The fellows were mad with fighting too. I wish they hadn’t come here and made hay afterwards.

To dance the hay, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. To Dance the Hay. To make Hay while the Sun Shines, or make good use of one’s Time.

Hay-bag, subs. (thieves’).—A woman. [I.e., something to lie upon.] For synonyms, see Petticoat. Fr., une paillaisse.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I., p. 231, q.v.

Hay-band, subs. (common).—A common cigar. For synonyms, see Weed.

1864. Glasgow Herald, 9 Nov., q.v.

Haymarket-hector, subs. (old).—A prostitute’s bully. See Hector.

c. 1675. Marvell, Cutting of Sir John Coventry’s Nose, vi. O ye Haymarket Hectors!

Haymarket-ware, subs. (common).—A common prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Hay-pitcher (or Hay-seed), subs. (American).—A countryman. Cf., Gape-seed.

1851. Herman Melville, Moby Dick, p. 36 (ed. 1892). Ah! poor hayseed.

1888. New York World. ‘I wouldn’t hev come into his shop if I had known it,’ protested the imitation hay-pitcher.

1888. Detroit Free Press, Sept. Al. (to hayseed)—Ever read Ouida? H.—No, but by golly I must get his books. The weeds in my garden are raisin’ eternal tarnation.

1890. Norton, Political Americanisms, p. 53. Hayseeds—rustics. The ‘hayseed delegation’ in a State legislature is supposed to consist of farmers or their representatives.

1890. Judge, ‘Christmas No.’, p. 31. Them two fellers ... has been passin’ d’rog’tory remarks about that hayseed’s ears.

1893. Clark Russell, Life of the Merchant Sailor, in Scribner’s, xiv, 8. Hired by the State to court the hayseed to the tenders.

Hays! intj. (American).—An injunction to be gone; git (q.v.).

1851. Judson, Mysteries of New York, ch. i., p. 12. Cut and run, my darling! Hays! is the word, and off you go.

Haze, subs. (American).—Bewilderment; confusion; fog (q.v.).

Verb (American).—1. To play tricks or practical jokes; to frolic. Hence, Hazing. Also to mystify or Fog (q.v.).

1848. N. Y. Com. Adv., 2 Dec. W. had been drinking, and was hazing about the street at night, acting somewhat suspiciously or strangely [when the officer arrested him].

1887. Lippincott’s Mag., July, p. 105. This and the Dyke are the only approaches to hazing that I have ever heard of here.

1888. Philadelphia Bulletin, 27 Feb. So woman is completing her conquest of the planet. She rows. She smokes. She preaches. She hazes. She shoots. She rides.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 39. In some of the studios at that date, the hazing of new pupils was both barbarous and obscene.

2. (nautical).—To harass with overwork or paltry orders. Also to find fault.

1840. R. H. Dana, Two Years Before the Mast, ch. viii. Haze is a word of frequent use on board ship, and never, I believe, used elsewhere. It is very expressive to a sailor, and means to punish by hard work. Let an officer once say ‘I’ll haze you,’ and your fate is fixed. You will be ‘worked up,’ if you are not a better man than he is.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 205. Here I have been five days ... hazing—what you call slanging—upholsterers.

1883. Stevenson, Treasure Island, ch. xi., p. 89 (1886). I’ve had a’most enough o’ Cap’n Smollett; he’s hazed me long enough, by thunder!

1889. Notes and Queries, 7 S. viii., 31 Aug. My old partner, who served his time at sea, always spoke of giving a man ‘a good hazing’ when he meant he had been finding fault with his doings, etc.

Hazel-geld, verb. (old).—See quots.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hazel-geld, to Beat any one with a Hazle-Stick or Plant.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hazle-gild, to beat anyone with a hazle stick.

Hazy, adj. (old: now recognised).—1. See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hazy Weather, when it is Thick, Misty, Foggy.

2. (common).—Stupid with drink; mixed (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1824. T. Hook, Sayings and Doings, 1st. S. ‘Friend of the Family,’ p. 179. One night at a public-house I was foolish enough to brag. Hazy, Sir—you understand? smoking and drinking.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Lay of S. Cuthbert.’ Stamp’d on the jasey As though he were crazy, And staggering about just as if he were hazy.

He, subs. (Charterhouse).—A cake. A young he = a small cake. See She.

Head, subs. (nautical).—1. A man-of-war’s privy.

2. (common).—The obverse of a coin or medal. Heads or tails? = Guess whether the coin spun will come down with head uppermost or not. [The side not bearing the Sovereign’s head has various devices: Britannia, George and the Dragon, a harp, the Royal arms, an inscription, etc.—all included in the word ‘tail,’ i.e., the reverse of ‘head.’ The Romans said heads or ships?]

d. 1680. Butler, Remains (1759), ii., 431. Let his chance prove what it will, he plays at cross you lose, and pile you win.

1871. Observer, 16 Apr. Perhaps for the first time Parliament is asked to enjoin a settlement of public dispute by means of tossing heads or tails, ‘cross or pile.’

3. (old).—An arrangement of the hair; a coiffure.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, ii., 10. Pray how do you like this head?... I dressed it myself from a print in the Ladies’ Memorandum Book for last year.

To have at one’s head, verb. phr. (old).—To cuckold.

1640. Gough, Strange Discovery. Not if you stay at home, and warm my bed; But if you leave me, have at your head.

To take one in the head, verb. phr. (old).—To come into one’s mind.

1609. Holland, Amenianus Marcellinus. Now, it tooke him in the head, and incensed was his desires (seeing Gaule now quited) to set first upon Constantius.

To do on head, verb. phr. (old). To act rashly.

1559. Eliote, Dict. Abruptum ingenium, a rash brayne that dooeth all thinges on head.

To do on one’s head, phr. (thieves’).—To do easily and with joy.

To fly at the head, verb. phr. (old).—To attack; to go for (q.v.).

1614. Terence in English. Fellow servant, I can very hardly refraine my selfe, but that I must needes flee at the head of him.

To eat one’s head. See Hat.

To eat one’s (or its) head off, verb. phr. (common).—To cost more than the worth in keep.

1703. Country Farmer’s Catechism. My mare has eaten her head off at the Ax in Aldermanbury.

1878. Parker Gillmore, Great Thirst Land, ch. vii. Our horses were eating their heads off at livery.

1893. Cassell’s Sat. Jour., 1 Feb. p. 384, 2. A lot of raw material in stock which, in local parlance, would eat its head off if kept warehoused.

To run on head, verb. phr. (old).—To incite.

1556. Heywood, Spider and Fly. Thirdlie, to set cocke on hope, and run on heade.

To give one’s head (or one’s beard) for washing, verb. phr. (old).—To yield tamely and without resistance. Fr., laver la tête = to reprimand; to admonish with point, energy, and force.

1615. Beaumont and Fletcher, Cupid’s Revenge, iv., 3. I’m resolved.... And so am I, and forty more good fellows, That will not give their heads for the washing, I take it.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, I., iii., 255. For my part it shall ne’er be said, I for the washing gave my head, nor did I turn my back for fear.

To put a head (or new-head) on one, verb. phr. (common).—1. To change a man’s aspect by punching his head: hence, to get the better of one’s opponent; to annihilate. Also to put a new face on.

1870. R. Grant White, Words and their Uses. But all his jargon was surpassed, in wild absurdity, By threats, profanely emphasised, to put a head on me.... Instead of putting on a head he strove to smite off mine.

18(?). Bret Harte, Further Words from Truthful James. To go for that same party for to put a head on him.

1888. Runciman, The Chequers, p. 80. I’d put a new head on yer for tuppence.

2. (colloquial).—To froth malt liquors. [E.g., ‘Put a head on it, Miss,’ addressed to the barmaid, is a request to work the engine briskly, and make the liquor take on a cauliflower (q.v.)]

Heads I win, tails you lose, phr. (common).—A gage of certainty = In no case can I fail: I hold all the trumps.

1890. Welfare, Mar., p. 8., c. 1. A director holding shares to the extent of £50 will draw a yearly recognition of his patronage to the tune of £100. It is unnecessary to ask whether such a course of speculation follows the principle of tails you lose, heads I win.

To get the head into chancery, verb. phr. (formerly pugilists’: now common).—To get the other fighter’s head under one arm and hold it there; a position of helplessness. See Chancery.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 18. When Georgy, one time, got the head of the Bear into chancery.

2. (colloquial).—Hence to get, or be got, into a posture of absolute helplessness.

To knock on the head, verb. phr. (common).—To kill; to destroy; to put an end to.

1871. Weekly Dispatch, 21 May. ‘Police Report.’ The magistrate (Mr. Newton) refused the application for bail, remarking that the sooner the house was done away with the better, and he would take care that it and all connected with it were knocked on the head.

To get (or put) the head in a bag. See Bag.

To get (or have) a swelling in the (or a big-) head, verb. phr. (common).—To be or become conceited; to put on airs.

1888. Cincinnati Enquirer. Anna Kelly ... is missing from her home in Newport. Somebody has been swelling her head.

1890. Star, 27 Jan. Although he received but £100 for his share, he got the big head, went to pieces, and is now on the retired list.

To hit the right nail on the head, verb. phr. (common). To speak or act with precision and directness; to do the right thing. [The colloquialism is common to most languages. The French say, Vous avez frappé au but (= You have hit the mark). The Italians, Havete dato in brocca (= You have hit the pitcher: alluding to a game where a pitcher stood in the place of Aunt Sally (q.v.)). The Latins, Rem acu tetigisti (= You have touched the thing with a needle: referring to the custom of probing sores.)]

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iii., 21. The common Proverb as it is read, That a Man must hit the nail on the head.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 43. That’s what I meant when I said that that josser, whose name I’ve forgotten ’ad ’it the right nail on the ’ead.

To argue (or talk) one’s head off, verb. phr. (common).—To be extremely disputative or loquacious; to be all jaw (q.v.).

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 22. Argue your ’ead off like.

To bundle out head (or neck) and heels, verb. phr. (common).—To eject with violence.

To have no head, verb. phr. (common).—1. (of persons). To lack ballast; to be crack-brained. See Apartments to Let. Hence, to have a head on = to be cute, alert; to have sand (q.v.).

1888. Lynch, Mountain Mystery, ch. 2. Caledonia was declared to possess a Coroner with a head, and a very good one on him, and a messenger was sent to rouse him.

2. (of malt liquors).—To be flat. See Cauliflower.

To have a head, verb. phr. (common).—To experience the after-effects of heavy drinking (cf., Mouth); also to have a head-ache. For synonyms, see Screwed.

To give one his head, verb. phr. (common).—To give one full and free play; to let go.

To have maggots in the head, verb. phr. (common).—To be crotchetty, whimsical, freakish; to have a bee in one’s bonnet. For synonyms, see Apartments.

To hurt in the head, verb. phr. (old).—To cuckold; to cornute.

To lie heads and tails, verb. phr. (common).—To sleep packed sardine fashion, i.e., heads to head-rail and foot-rail alternately.

Over head and ears (in work, love, debt, etc.), phr. (common).—Completely engrossed in; infatuated with; to the fullest extent.

1589. Nashe, Pasqvill of England (Grosart), i., 114. Presently he fetcheth his seas himselfe, and leaps very boldly ouer heade and eares.

1735. Granville (quoted in Johnson’s Dict., s.v. Head). In jingling rimes well fortified and strong, He fights intrenched o’er head and ears in song.

Without head or tail, adv. phr. (common).—Incoherent; neither one thing nor the other. E.g., I can’t make head or tail of it = I cannot make it out.

1728. Vanbrugh, Journey to London, iv. He had the insolence to intrude into my own dressing room here, with a story without a head or tail.

1736. Fielding, Pasquin, v. Take this play, and bid ’em forthwith act it; there is not in it either head or tail.

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1st Series, No. 12, p. 203. Mrs. Blair has been writing us a strange rigmarole, which nobody can make head or tail of.

1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 22. There is nothing to make heads or tails of in it that I can see.

To have a head like a sieve, verb. phr. (common).—To be unreliable; to be forgetful.

Heads out! phr. (American university).—A warning cry on the approach of a master.

Arse over Head. See Arse and Heels over Head.

Mutton-head (or Headed).—See Mutton-head.

Fat (or soft) in the head, adv. phr. (common).—Stupid. For synonyms, see Apartments.

Off one’s head, adv. phr. (common).—Stupid; crazy. For synonyms, see Apartments.

Shut your head, phr. (American).—‘Hold your jaw.’

Head-beetler, subs. (workmen’s).—1. A bully; and (2) a foreman; a ganger (q.v.).

1886. Chambers’ Journal, 18 Sept., p. 599. Head-beetler is used (in Ulster) in the same vulgar sense as ‘Head-cook and bottle-washer’ in some localities. The ‘beetle’ was a machine for producing figured fabrics by the pressure of a roller, and head-beetler probably means the chief director of this class of work.

Head-bloke. See Head-screw.

Head-bully (or -cully).—See quots.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Head bully of the pass or passage bank. The Top Tilter of the Gang, throughout the whole Army, who Demands and receives Contribution from all the Pass Banks in the Army.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

Head-cook and bottle-washer, subs. phr. (common).—1. A general servant; in contempt.

2. (common).—One in authority; a boss (q.v.). Cf., Head-beetler.

1876. Hindley, Adv. of a Cheap-Jack, p. 66. Fred Jolly being the head-cook and bottle-washer.

Head-clerk. Head-clerk of doxology works, subs. phr. (American).—A parson. See Devil-dodger.

1869. Clemens (Mark Twain), Innocents at Home, ch. ii. If I’ve got the rights of it, and you are the head clerk of the doxology works next door.

Header, subs. (tailors’).—A notability; a big-wig (q.v.).

to take a header, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To plunge, or fall, headforemost, into water: and (theatrical), to take an apparently dangerous leap in sensational drama. Hence, to go straight and directly for one’s object.

1856. Inside Sebastopol, ch. xiv. We may surely shut the door and take a header.

1863. Fun, 4 Apr., p. 23. Did the chairman commence the proceedings by taking a tremendous header ... a verbatim report might be interesting.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. vii. ‘Miss Hawke,’ said I, plucking up my heart for a header and going in, so to speak, with my eyes shut and my hands clenched.

Head-fruit, subs. (old).—Horns: i.e., the result of being cuckolded.

1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, ii., 3. That boded horns: the fruit of the head is horns.

Head-Guard, subs. (thieves’).—A hat; specifically, a billy-cock.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, p. 21. A billy-cock, a head-guard.

Heading, subs. (American cowboys’).—A pillow; any rest for the head.

Heading ’em, subs. phr. (streets).—The tossing of coins in gambling. (In allusion to the head on the coin.)

Head-marked, adj. (venery).—Horned. To know by head-mark = to know (a cuckold) by his horns.

Headquarters, subs. (racing).—Newmarket. (Being the chief racing and training centre.)

1888. Sportsman, 28 Nov. Of the two-year olds that ran ... races for them are the strong point of that particular gathering at headquarters.

Head-rails, subs. (old nautical).—The teeth. For synonyms, see Grinders.

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

1853. Bradley, [Cuthbert Bede] Verdant Green, Pt. II., ch. iv. He had agreeable remarks for each of his opponents ... to another he would cheerfully remark, ‘your head-rails were loosened there, wasn’t they?’

Head-robber, subs. (journalists’).—1. A plagiarist.

2. (popular).—A butler.

Head-screw (or bloke), subs. (prison).—A chief warder.

Heady, adj. (old: now recognised).—1. See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Heady, strong Liquors that immediately fly up into the Noddle, and so quickly make Drunk.

2. (colloquial).—Restive; full of arrogance and airs; opinionated.

1864. National Review, p. 535. I think it’s the novels that make my girls so heady.

Heady-whop, subs. (streets).—A person with a preternaturally large head. (A corruption of whopping-head (q.v.).)

Healtheries, subs. (common).—The Health Exhibition, held at South Kensington. [Others of the series were nick-named The Fisheries, The Colinderies, The Forestries, etc.]

Heap, subs. (colloquial).—A large number; lots; a great deal.

1371. Chaucer, Boke of the Duchesse, iii., 295 (1888, Minor Poems, Skeat, p. 23). Of smale foules a gret hepe.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, i., 23/575 (Riverside Press). The wisdom of an heepe of lerned men.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxxv. I sha’n’t see her again, and she wont hear of me for I don’t know how long; and she will be meeting heaps of men.

1885. Punch, 4 July, p. 4. ‘Splendid sight,’ he goes on, ‘heaps of people—people you don’t see anywhere else—and lots of pretty girls.’

1888. Texas Siftings, 20 Oct. He did not encroach on the domain of familiarity, but he looked a heap.

1892. Gunter, Miss Dividends, xi. Every one here would do a heap for Bishop Tranyon’s darter.

Adv. (American).—A great deal.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 223. He pronounced himself a heap better.

All of a heap, phr. (old: now colloquial).—Astonished; confused; taken aback; flabbergast (q.v.); and (pugilists’) ‘doubled up.’

1593. Shakspeare, Titus Andronicus, ii., 4. Lord Bassianus lies embrewed here, all on a heap.

1775. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. ii. My good landlady was (according to vulgar phrase) struck all of a heap by this relation.

1775. Sheridan, Duenna, ii., 2. That was just my case, too, Madam; I was struck all of a heap for my part.

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. xxiv. The interrogatory seemed to strike the honest magistrate, to use the vulgar phrase, all of a heap.

1832. Egan, Book of Sports, s.v. All of a heap and all of a lump, unmistakably doubled up by a smasher.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick. ‘And what’s the lady’s name?’ says the lawyer. My father was struck all of a heap. ‘Blessed if I know,’ said he.

1888. J. McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed, The Ladies’ Gallery, ch. xiv. The idea seemed to take him all of a heap.

1891. Scots’ Mag., Oct., p. 321. Spinks and Durward were struck, as we may say, all of a heap, when they fully realised that Folio had disappeared.

Heaped, adj. (racing).—1. Hard put to it; floored (q.v.).

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 158. They’ve all heard of Blackton’s accident, and fancy we’re fairly heaped for someone to ride.

2. (venery).—Piled in the act.

1607. Cyril Tourneur, Revenger’s Tragedy, ii., 1. O, ’twill be glorious to kill ’em ... when they’re heaped.

Hear. To hear a bird sing (old).—To receive private communication; in modern parlance, a little bird told me so.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., v., 5. I will lay odds, that ere this year expire, We bear our civil swords and native fire As far as France. I hear a bird so sing.

Hearing, subs. (common).—A scolding; a lecture. For synonyms, see Wigging.

Hearing-cheats, subs. (old cant).—The ears.

1567. Harman, Caveat, s.v.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hearing Cheats, Ears.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

English Synonyms.—Drums; flappers; leathers; lugs (Scots’); taps; wattles.

French Synonyms.—Les plats à barbe (popular = large ears); les oches or loches (thieves’); les isgourdes (popular); des feuilles de chou (popular = cabbage leaves); des écoutes or éscoutes (popular = hearing cheats); des cliquettes (popular).

German Synonyms.—Horcher (= the listener); Linzer, Loser, (Viennese: also Losling, Leusling, Leisling, or Lauschling): Osen.

Heart. Next the heart, adv. phr. (old).—Fasting.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart], ii., 37. You may command his hart out of his belly, to make you a rasher on the coales, if you will next your heart.

1633. Rowley, Match at Midnight, i. Made drunk next her heart.

[Other colloquial usages are at heart = in reality, truly, at bottom; for one’s heart = for one’s life; in one’s heart of hearts = in the inmost recesses of oneself; to break the heart of = (a) to cause great grief, or to kill by grief, and (b) to bring nearly to completion; to find in one’s heart = to be willing; to get or learn by heart = to commit to memory; to have at heart = to feel strongly about; to have in the heart = to design or to intend; to lay or take to heart = to be concerned or anxious about; to set the heart at rest = to tranquilize; to set the heart on = to be desirous of, to be fond of; to take heart of grace = to pluck up courage.]

Heart-and-dart, subs. (rhyming). A fart (q.v.).

Heartbreaker, subs. (old).—A pendant curl; a love-lock (q.v.). Fr., un crêvecœur.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, Pt. I., c. 1. Like Samson’s heartbreakers, it grew In time to make a nation rue.

1694. Ladies’ Dict. A crevecœur, by some called heartbreaker, is the curled lock at the nape of the neck, and generally there are two of them.

1816. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. A cant name for a woman’s curls, supposed to break the hearts of all her lovers.

Heartburn, subs. (streets).—A bad cigar. For synonyms, see Weed.

Heartsease, subs. (old).—1. See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Heartsease. A twenty-shilling piece.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

2. (old).—Gin. For synonyms, see White Satin.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hearts-ease. An ordinary sort of strong water.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

Hearty, subs. and adj. (common).—Drink; drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

My Hearty, phr. (nautical).—A familiar address.

Hearty-choke. To have a hearty choke and caper sauce for breakfast, verb. phr. (old).—To be hanged. Cf., Vegetable breakfast, and for synonyms, see Ladder.

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

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, ‘Nix my Doly,’ Who cut his last fling with great applause To a hearty choke with caper sauce.

1893. Danvers, The Grantham Mystery, ch. xiii, I am not particularly anxious to run the risk of being compelled to have a hearty-choke for breakfast one fine morning.

Heat, subs. (racing and colloquial).—A bout; a turn; a trial; by whose means the ‘field’ is gradually reduced. Cf., Handicap.

1681. Dryden, Epil. to Saunders’s Tamerlane, 25. But there’s no hope of an old battered jade; Faint and unnerved he runs into a sweat, And always fails you at the second heat.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. lxxxviii. Our adventurer had the satisfaction of seeing his antagonist distanced in the first and second heats.

1753. Adventurer, No. 37. The first heat I put my master in possession of the stakes.

1819. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, ch. xxii. There was little to prevent Bucklaw himself from sitting for the county—he must carry the heat—must walk the course.

On Heat, subs. phr. (venery).—Amorously inclined, hot (q.v.). [Said of women and bitches.]

Heathen-philosopher, subs. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. A sorry poor tatter’d Fellow, whose Breech may be seen through his Pocket-holes.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. This saying arose from the old philosophers, many of whom despised the vanity of dress to such a point, as often to fall into the excess complained of.

Heave, subs. (old).—1. An attempt to deceive or cajole: a dead-heave = a flagrant attempt.

2. in. pl. (American).—An attack of indigestion or vomiting.

Verb (American).—1. To vomit.

1862. Browne (‘Artemus Ward’), Artemus Ward, his book. ‘Cruise of the Polly Ann.’ Stickin my hed out of the cabin window, I hev.

2. (old).—To rob: has survived, in Shropshire, as a provincialism. The heler (hider) is as bad as the heaver = the receiver is as bad as the thief.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 66. To heue a bough, to robbe or rifle a boweth.

1575. Awdeley, Fraternitye of Vacabondes. But hys chiefest trade is to rob bowthes in a faire, or to pilfer ware from staules, which they cal heaving of the bowth.

1608. Dekker, Belman of London in Wks. (Grosart) III., 102. But the end of their land-voiages is to rob Boothes at fayres, which they call Heaving of the Booth.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, Pt. I., ch. xlv. p. 319 (1874). I met with an old comrade that had lately heav’d a booth, Anglice broken open a Shop.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Heave a bough. To rob a house.

1724. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary, (5th Ed.). Heave (v.) ... and in the Canting Language, it is to rob or steal from any person or thing.

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

To heave on (or ahead), verb. phr. (old).—To make haste; to press forward.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. iv. Come heave ahead, my lads, and be smart.

Heaven, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. To feel one’s way to heaven = to grope (q.v.) a woman. See also, St. Peter.

Heavenly-collar, (or lappel), subs. (tailors’).—A collar or lappel that turns the wrong way.

Heaver, subs. (old).—1. The bosom; the panter (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Heaver. A breast.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

2. (American).—A person in love: i.e., sighing (= heaving the bosom, or making play with the heaver) like a furnace.

3. (old).—A thief: cf., Heave (verbal sense 2).

Heavy. See Heavy-wet.

Adj. (American).—Large: e.g., a heavy amount = a considerable sum of money.

To come (or do) the heavy, verb. phr. (common).—To affect a vastly superior position; to put on airs or frills (q.v.). See Come and Do.

The heavies, subs. phr. (military).—The regiments of Household Cavalry, 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards, and 1st and 2nd Dragoons. [From their equipment and weight.]

1841. Lever, Chas. O’Malley, ch. lviii. I’m thinking we’d better call out the heavies by turns.

Heavy-arsed (old colloquial), adj. phr.—Slow to move; inert; hard to stir. See Arse.

d. 1691. Richard Baxter. Shove to heavy-arsed Christians. [Title.]

Heavy-Cavalry (or Dragoons), subs. (common).—Bugs; light-infantry = fleas. Also heavy horsemen, the heavy troop, and the heavies.

Heavy-grog, subs. (workmen’s).—Hard work.

Heavy-grubber, subs. (common).—1. A hearty eater; a glutton. For synonyms, see Stodger.

1858. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. xl., p. 190. ‘I’m a heavy grubber, dear boy,’ he said, as a polite kind of apology when he had made an end of his meal, ‘but I always was. If it had been in my constitution to be a lighter grubber, I might ha’ got into lighter trouble.’

Heavy-plodder, subs. (old).—A stock-broker.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

Heavy- (or Howling-) swell, subs. (common).—A man or woman in the height of fashion: a spiff (q.v.).

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall, 74. We look such heavy swells, you see, we’re all aristo-crats.

Heavy-wet, subs. (common).—1. Malt liquor; specifically porter and stout. Also heavy. For synonyms, see Drinks and Swipes.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 75. The soldiers and their companions were seen tossing off the heavy wet and spirits.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. vii. I had been lushing heavy wet.

1838. Grant, Sketches in London, p. 92. If it be heavywet, the favorite beverage ... of Dr. Wade.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. ii. Here comes the heavy. Hand it here to take the taste of that fellow’s talk out of my mouth.

1852. Judson, Mysteries of New York, bk. II., ch. x. What’ll it be, my covies? Heavy wet, cold or warm?

1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, p. 86. Mother up with your heavy wet and try suthin’ short.

2. (common).—An extraordinarily heavy drinking bout.

Hebe, subs. (old).—1. See quots.

1648–9. Crashaw, Poems. ‘On the Death of Mr. H.’ Ere Hebe’s hand had overlaid His smooth cheeks with a downy shade.

1778. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v. The first Hair appearing about the genital parts; also the Parts themselves; but more specifically the Time of Youth at which it first appears.

2. (common).—A waiting maid at an inn; a barmaid.

1603. J. Sylvester, Tr. Du Bartas, Mag., p. 65 (1608). Heer, many a Hebe faire, heer more than one Quick-seruing Chiron neatly waits vpon The Beds and Boords.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xlix. Shortly after the same Hebe brought up a plate of beef-collops.

1886. Athenæum, 9 Jan., 63/2. It is not with the Colonel’s Hebes, however, that the manœuvres of the military quintet are carried on.

1891. Sportsman, 25 Mar. Not even the kindly morning welcome of La Rærdon, most pleasant and courteous of deft-handed Hebes, could blot out the fact.

Hebrew, subs. (common).—Gibberish; Greek (q.v.). To talk Hebrew = to talk nonsense or gibberish.

1705. Vanbrugh, Confederacy, ii., 1. Mon. If she did but know what part I take in her sufferings——. Flip. Mighty obscure. Mon. Well, I’ll say no more; but——. Flip. All Hebrew.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. ‘You may as well talk Hebrew,’ said of jargon.

Hector, subs. (old).—A bully; a blusterer.

1659. Lady Alimony, ii., 6 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv., 322). Hectors, or champion haxters, pimps or palliards. Ibid., iii., I., (p. 326). Levelling at honour, they declare themselves glorious hectors.

b. 1670. J. Hacket, Archbp. Williams, ii., 203. One Hector, a phrase at that time for a daring ruffian, had the ear of great ones sooner than five strict men.

1674. Cotton, Complete Gamester, p. 333. Shoals of Huffs, Hectors, Setters, Gilts, Pads.... And these may all pass under the general or common appellation of Rooks.

1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, iv., 1. She would rather trust her honour with some dissolute debauched hector.

1679. Butler, Hudibras, iii., 2, 108. As bones of Hectors when they differ, The more th’are Cudgel’d, grow the Stiffer.

1689. Lestrange, Tr. Erasmus, p. 139. And a Ruffling Hector that lives upon the Highway.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hector, a Vaporing, Swaggering Coward.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 24. I hate, she cry’d, a hector, a Drone without a Sting.

1725. New Cant. Dict.

1750. Ozell, Rabelais, iv., Pref. xxiii. These roaring hectors.

1757. Pope, Imit. Hor., ii., 1, 71. I only wear it in a land of Hectors, thieves ... and Directors.

1778. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

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

1826. Congress Deb., ii., 1., p. 1024. He hoped it would invite ... a reply from the Southern Hector ... of this debate.

Verb (common).—To play the bully; to bluster. Also to play the Hector.

1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, ii., 1. No hectoring, good Captain.

1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. of Eng., ch. xvi. To play the Hector at cockpits or hazard tables.

To wear Hector’s cloak, verb. phr. (old).—To receive the right reward for treachery. [When Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was routed in 1569, he hid himself in the house of Hector Armstrong, of Harlaw, who betrayed him for hire, and prospered so ill thereafter that he died a beggar by the roadside.]

Hectoring, subs. and adj. (old: now recognised).—Bullying; blustering.

1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, ii., 1. Thou art soe debauched, drunken, lewd, hectoring, gaming companion. Ibid., ii., 1. Every idle, young, hectoring, roaring companion, with a pair of turned red breeches, and a broad back, thinks to carry away any widow of the best degree.

1893. St. James’s Gazette, xxvii, 4074, p. 3. Mr. Sexton with much unnecessary outlay of hectoring bluster, repudiates guilty knowledge.

Hedge, subs. (racing).—See verbal sense.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown, p. 200. Now listen, you young fool, you don’t know anything about it; the horse is no use to you. He won’t win, but I want him as a hedge.

1864. Eton Schooldays, ch. vii. He took the precaution to take those odds five or six times by way of a hedge, in case anything should happen to Chorley.

Verb (racing).—1. To secure oneself against, or minimise the loss on a bet by reversing on advantageous terms; to get out (q.v.). [Thus, if a man backs A to win him £100 at 5 to 1, he will if possible hedge by laying (say) 3 to 1 to the amount of (say) £60 against him. He will then stand thus: If A wins he gains on the first bet £100, and loses on the second £60, leaving a net gain of £40; if A loses he loses on the first bet £20, and wins on the second £20, thus clearing himself.] See Standing on Velvet and Go.

1616. Jonson, Devil is an Ass, iii., 1. I must have you do A noble gentleman a courtesy here, In a mere toy, some pretty ring or jewel, Of fifty or threescore pound. Make it a hundred, And hedge in the last forty that I owe you, And your own price for the ring.

1671. Buckingham, The Rehearsal, Prol. Now, critics, do your worst, that here are met, For, like a rook, I have hedg’d in my bet.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hedge, to secure a desperate Bet, Wager, or Debt.

1736. Fielding, Pasquin, Act iii. Sneer. That’s laying against yourself, Mr. Trapwit. Trap. I love a hedge, sir.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Hedge (v.) ... also to secure or re-insure a dangerous debt, voyage, wager, etc.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. lxix. They changed their note, and attempted to hedge for their own indemnification, by proposing to lay the odds in favour of Gauntlet.

1754. Connoisseur, No. 15. Whatever turn things take, he can never lose. This he has effected, by what he has taught the world to call, hedging a bet.

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

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xii. If she says ‘Yes,’ sell out.... If she says ‘No’ get second leave.... So it’s hedged both ways.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 201. You’d better hedge some of your sweep money.

2. (common).—To elude a danger.

To die by the hedge, verb. phr. (common).—To die in poverty.

To hang in the hedge, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. It hangs in the hedge, of a Law-suit or anything else Depending, Undetermined.

As common as the hedge (or highway), phr. (old).—Very common.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. As common as the hedge or highway, said of a prostitute or Strumpet.

1725. New Cant. Dict. s.v.

By hedge or by crook. See Hook.

Hedge-bird, subs. (old).—See quot.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, ii., 1. Out, you rogue, you hedge-bird, you pimp, you panier-man’s bastard, you.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Hedge-bird, a Scoundrel or sorry Fellow.

1725. New Cant. Dict.

Hedge-bottom Attorney (or Solicitor), subs. phr. (legal).—A person who, being not admitted or being uncertificated (or, it may be, admitted and certificated both, but struck off the rolls for malpractice), sets up in the name of a qualified man, and thus evades the penalties attaching to those who act as solicitors without being duly qualified. [All the business is done in another name, but the hedge-bottom is the real principal, the partner being only a dummy.]—Sir Patrick Colquhoun in Slang, Jargon and Cant.

Hedge-creeper, subs. (old).—A hedge-thief; a skulker under hedges; a pitiful rascal.

1594. Nashe, Unfortunate Traveller p. 32 (Chiswick Press, 1892). Call him a sneaking eavesdropper, a scraping hedge-creeper, and a piperley pickthanke.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hedge-creeper; a pitiful rascal.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

Hedge-docked, adj. (venery).—Deflowered in the open.

Hedge-marriage (or wedding), subs. (old).—An irregular marriage performed by a hedge-priest (q.v.); a marriage over the broom.

Hedge-note, subs. (old).—Low writing. [As Dryden: ‘They left these hedge-notes for another sort of poem.’]

Hedge-popping, subs. (sporting).—Shooting small birds about hedges. Whence Hedge-popper = a trumpery shooter; and Hedge-game = small birds, as sparrows and tits.

Hedge-priest (or parson), subs. (old: now recognised).—A sham cleric; a blackguard or vagabond parson; a couple beggar. [As Johnson notes, the use of Hedge in a detrimental sense is common. As Hedge-begot; Hedge-born; Hedge-brat; Hedge-found; Hedge-docked (q.v.); Hedge-tavern (= a low alehouse); Hedge-square (q.v.); Hedge-reared; Hedge-mustard; Hedge-writer (= a Grub-street author); Hedge-building, etc. Shakspeare uses the phrase ‘Hedge-born’ as the very opposite of ‘gentle blooded’ (1 Henry VI., iv., 1).] Specifically, Hedge-priests = (in Ireland) a cleric admitted to orders directly from a Hedge-school (q.v.) without having studied theology. [Before Maynooth, men were admitted to ordination ere they left for the continental colleges, so that they might receive the stipend for saying mass.]

1588. Marprelate’s Epistle, p. 30 (Ed. Arber). Is it any maruaile that we haue so many swine dumbe dogs nonresidents with their iourneimen the hedge-priests ... in our ministry.

1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, v., 2. The pedant, the braggart, the hedge-priest, the fool, and the boy.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Arlotto, the name of a merie priest, a lack-latine, or hedge-priest.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hedge Priest. A sorry Hackney, Underling, Illiterate, Vagabond, see Patrico.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. A hedge-parson, or buckle-beggar, as that order of priesthood has been irreverently termed.

Hedger. See Hedge, sense 2.

1828–45. Hood, Poems (Ed. 1846), p. 96. A black-leg saint, a spiritual hedger.

Hedge-school, subs. (Irish).—A school in the country parts of Ireland formerly conducted in the open air, pending the erection of a permanent building to which the name was transferred. Hence, hedge-schoolmaster.

Hedge-square. To doss (or snooze) in Hedge-square (or street), verb. phr. (vagrants’).—To sleep in the open air.

English Synonyms.—To skipper it; to doss with the daisies; to be under the blue blanket; to put up at the Gutter Hotel; to do a star pitch.

French Synonyms.—Coucher à l’hotel de la belle étoile (pop. = to sleep at the Star Hotel); manger une soupe aux herbes (popular); filer la comète (popular = to nose the comet); coucher dans le lit aux pois verts.

1877. Greenwood, Under the Blue Blanket. The vagrant brotherhood have several slang terms for sleeping out in a field or meadow. It is called ‘snoozing in Hedge Square,’ etc.

Hedge-tavern (or -ale-house), subs. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hedge Tavern or Alehouse, A Jilting, Sharping Tavern, or Blind Alehouse.

1705. Farquhar, Twin-rivals, i., 1. That was ... in the days of dirty linen, pit-masks, hedge-taverns, and beef-steaks.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

Hedge-whore (or Hedge-bit), subs. (old: now recognised).—A filthy harlot working in the open air.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, s.v., Zambracca, a common hedge-whore, strumpet, a base harlot.

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

Hedging, subs. (racing).—See Hedge, verbal sense 2.

1867. A. Trollope, Claverings, ch. xxiv. He would be lessening the odds against himself by a judicious hedging of his bets.

Heel. To bless the world with one’s heels, verb. phr. (old).—To be hanged. For synonyms, see Ladder.

1566–7. Painter, Palace of Pleasure, sign R., 8. And the next daye, the three theves were conveied forth to blesse the worlde with their heeles.

To cool (or kick) the heels, verb. phr. (common).—To wait a long while at an appointed place.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair. Who forthwith comitted my little hot furie to the stockes, where we will leave him to coole his heeles, whilst we take a further view of the faire.

1673. Wycherley, Gentleman Dancing Master, iv., 1. They ne’er think of the poor watchful chambermaid, who sits knocking her heels in the cold, for want of better exercise, in some melancholy lobby or entry.

1752. Fielding, Amelia. In this parlour Amelia cooled her heels, as the phrase is, near a quarter of an hour.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford [Ed. 1854], p. 22. He expected all who kicked their heels at his house would behave decent and polite to young Mr. Dot.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xiii. Tell him that I’ll trouble him to forget to go to sleep again as he did last time, and leave me here kicking my heels contrary to the rules of the service.

1879. Sala, Paris Herself Again, i. We cooled our heels during the ordinary an intolerable half hour.

1888. Lynch, Mountain Mystery, ch. xlvi. That young gentleman, who had been cooling his heels for what seemed like half the night.

To lay by the heels, verb. phr. (common).—To confine; to fetter; to jail.

1601. Shakspeare, Henry VIII., v., 4. If the king blame me for it, I’ll lay ye all By the heels, and suddenly.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, iii. Sir, if you be not quiet the quicklier, I’ll have you clapp’d fairly by the heels, for disturbing the Fair.

1663–1678. Butler, Hudibras, i., 3. Th’ one half of man, his mind, Is, sui juris, unconfined, And cannot be laid by the heels.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 184. If they lay me by the heels, Alan, it’s then that you’ll be needing the money.

To lift one’s heels, verb. phr. (venery).—To lie down for copulation; to spread (q.v.).

To turn (or topple) up the heels (or toes), verb. phr. (old).—To die. For synonyms, see Aloft.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart], ii., 77. Our trust is ... you will tourne up their heeles one of these yeares together, and prouide them of such vnthrifts to their heires, as shall spend in one weeke ... what they got ... all their lifetime.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe. Leaven thousand and fifty people toppled up their heels.

To take to (or show) a pair of heels, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To take to flight; to run away. For synonyms, see Amputate.

1593. Shakspeare, Comedy of Errors. Nay ... Sir, I’ll take my heels.

1864. Chambers’ Journal, Dec. Once before he had ‘found meanes yet at length to deceive his keepers, and took him to his heels’ to the sea coast.

His heels, verb. phr. (gaming).—The knave of trumps at cribbage or all-fours. Hence ‘two for his heels’ = two points scored (at cribbage) for turning up this card.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

To tread upon (or to be at or upon) the heels, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To follow close or hard after; to pursue.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, iv., 7. One woe doth tread upon another’s heels.

To go heels over head, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To turn a somersault; to be hasty; to fall violently. Also Top over Tail.

1540. Lyndsay, Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis, 3744. This fals warld is turnit top ouir taill.

To have (or get) the heels of, verb. phr. (old).—To outrun; to get an advantage.

1748. Smollett, Roderick Random. Thou hast got the heels of me already.

Down (or out) at heel, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Slipshod; shabby; in decay.

1605. Shakspeare, King Lear, ii., 2. A good man’s future may grow out at heels.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1851–6. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., 122. He was a little down at heel.

Heeled, adj. (American).—Armed. [From the steel spur used in cock-fighting.]

Heeler, subs. (American).—1. Followers or henchmen of a politician or a party.

1888. Denver Republican, 29 Feb. The heelers and strikers, bummers and stuffers, otherwise known as practical politicians, who do the work at the Democratic polls, and manipulate the primaries and local conventions.

1888. New York Herald, 4 Nov. A band succeeded them and preceded a lot of ward heelers and floaters.

2. (American).—A bar, or other loafer; anyone on the look-out for shady work.

3. (American thieves’)—An accomplice in the pocket-book racket (q.v.). [The Heeler draws attention, by touching the victim’s heels, to a pocket-book containing counterfeit money which has been let drop by a companion, with a view to inducing the victim to part with genuine coin for a division of the find.]

4. (Winchester College).—A plunge, feet foremost, into water. Fr., une chandelle.

Heel-taps, subs. (common).—1. Liquor in the bottom of a glass. Bumpers round and no heel taps = Fill full, and drain dry! See Daylight. Fr., la musique.

1795. Gent. Mag., p. 118. Briskly pushed towards me the decanter containing a tolerable bumper, and exclaimed, ‘Sir, I’ll buzz you: come, no heel-taps!’

1836. Dickens, Pickwick (Ed. 1857), p. 10. No heel-taps, and he emptied the glass.

1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. xxxii. There was a proper objection to drinking her in heeltaps.

1841. Punch, i., 117. Empty them heeltaps, Jack, and fill out with a fresh jug.

1844. Buckstone, The Maid with the Milking Pail. Added to which, she’s a termagant, and imbibes all the heeltaps.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xiv. The relics of yesterday’s feast—the emptied bottles ... the wretched heel-taps that have been lying exposed all night to the air.

2. (common).—A dance peculiar to London dustmen.

Heifer, subs. (common).—A woman; old heifer (in Western America) = a term of endearment. For synonyms, see Petticoat.

18(?). In the Back Woods, p. 71. Now, git out, I says, or the ol’ heifer ’ll show you whar the carpenter left a hole for you to mosey.

Heifer-paddock, subs. (Australian).—A ladies’ school.

1885. Mrs. Campbell-Praed, Australian Life. The cattle (women) hereabouts are too scattered.... Next year I shall look over a heifer-paddock in Sydney, and take my pick.

Heigh-ho, subs. (thieves’).—Stolen yarn. [From the expression used to apprise the fence that the speaker had stolen yarn to sell.]

Heights. To scale the heights of connubial bliss, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

Helbat, subs. (back).—A table.

Hell, subs. (old).—1. Generic for a place of confinement, as in some games (Sydney), or a cell in a prison: specifically, a place under the Exchequer Chamber, where the king’s debtors were confined.

1593. Shakspeare, Comedy of Errors, iv., 2. A hound that runs counter, and yet draws dry-foot well, One that before the judgement, carries poor souls to hell.

1658. Counter-Rat. In Wood Street’s hole, or counter’s hell.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Secreta.... Also the name of a place in Venice where all their secret records and ancient evidences be kept, as hell is in Westminster Hall.

2. (old).—A workman’s receptacle for stolen or refuse pieces, as cloth, type, etc.; one’s eye. Also Hell-hole and Hell-box. See Cabbage. Hell-matter = (printers’) old and battered type.

(?). Newest Academy of Compliments. When taylors forget to throw cabbage in hell, And shorten their bills, that all may be well.

1589. Nashe, Martins Months Minde (Grosart), i. 185. Remember the shreddes that fall into the Tailors hell, neuer come backe to couer your backe.

1592. Defence of Conny Catching, in Greene’s Wks., xi., 96. This hel is a place that the tailors haue vnder their shopboord, wher al their stolne shreds is thrust.

1606. Day, Ile of Gulls. That fellowes pocket is like a tailors hell, it eats up part of every mans due; ’tis an executioner, and makes away more innocent petitions in one yeere, than a red-headed hangman cuts ropes in an age.

1625. Jonson, Staple of News, i., 1. That jest Has gain’d thy pardon, thou hadst lived Condemn’d To thine own hell.

1663. T. Killegrew, Parson’s Wedding, iii., 5., in Dodsley, O.P. (1780) xi., 452. Careless [addressing a tailor]. Why then, thou art damned. Go, go home, and throw thyself into thine own hell; it is the next way to the other.

1663–1712. King, Art of Cookery. In Covent Garden did a taylor dwell, Who might deserve a place in his own hell.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hell, the Place where the Taylers lay up their Cabbage, or Remnants, which are sometimes very large.

1698. Money Masters All Things, p. 56. The Cheating Knave some of the clues does throw Into his hell-hole; and then lets her know That he her web cannot work out o’ th’ Loom.

1704. Swift, Tale of a Tub, Sec. iii. The tailor’s hell is the type of a critic’s common-place book.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1814. C. Lamb, Melancholy of Tailors in Poems, etc. (Ed. Ainger), p. 333. The tailor sitting over a cave or hollow place, in the cabalistic language of his order, is said to have certain melancholy regions always open under his feet.

1853. Notes and Queries, 1 S., viii., 315, c. 2. The term cabbage, by which tailors designate the cribbed pieces of cloth, is said to be derived from an old word ‘cablesh,’ i.e., wind-fallen wood. And their hell where they store the cabbage, from helan, to hide.

3. (common).—A gambling house. [Whence Silver-hell = a gambling house where only silver is played for; Dancing-hell = an unchartered hall; and so forth.]

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 4. Jerry. A hell, Tom? I’m at fault again! Log. A gambling house, Jerry!

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 280. A man at a hell, Playing the part of a Bonnetter well.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xxxix. He plays still; he is in a hell every night almost.

1890. Saturday Review, 1 Feb., p. 134, c. 2. These private hells nevertheless exist, and as all money found on the premises is seized by the police, the players have to resort to all kinds of subterfuge when the three loud knocks are heard which indicate the presence of the commissaire.

4. (venery).—The female pudendum; cf., Heaven. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. [See Boccaccio, Decameron.]

Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, subs. phr. (old).—Three ale-houses formerly situated near Westminster Hall.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, v., 2. He must not break his fast In Heaven or Hell.

Hell broke loose, subs. phr. (common).—Extreme disorder; anarchy.

1632. Hausted, Rivall Friends, v., 10. Fye, fye, hell is broke loose upon me.

1672. Marvell, Rehearsal (Grosart), iii, 212. War broke out, and then to be sure hell’s broke loose.

1703. Farquhar, Inconstant, iv., 4. Hell broke loose upon me, and all the furies fluttered about my ears.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 96. Tho’ hell’s broke loose, and the Devils roar abroad.

Hell of a (lark, goer, row, and so forth), adj. phr. (common).—Very much of a ——; a popular intensitive.

All to hell (or gone to hell), adj. phr. (colloquial).—Utterly ruined.

To hope (or wish) to hell, verb. phr. (common).—To desire intensely.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 229. I hope to h—— the horse will break his neck and his rider’s too.

To play (or kick up) hell and tommy, verb. phr. (common).—To ruin utterly. Also, to play hell and break things; to raise hell; to make hell’s delight.

1837–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 287 (Ed. 1862). And in the mean time rob ’em, plunder ’em, and tax ’em; hang their priests, seize their galls, and play hell and tommy with them, and all because they speak French.

1859. De Quincey, Wks. (14 vol., ed. vi., 336). About a hundred years earlier Lord Bacon played h—— and tommy when casually raised to the supreme seat in the Council by the brief absence in Edinburgh of the King and the Duke of Buckingham.

1867. Lahore Chronicle, 20 May. The Sepoys are burning down the houses, and playing h—— and tommy with the station.

1879. Justin M’Carthy, Donna Quixote, ch. xxxii. We’ll have a fine bit of fun, I tell you. I’ve played hell-and-tommy already with the lot of them.

To lead apes in hell, verb. phr. (old).—To die an old maid. [From a popular superstition.]

1599. Henry Porter, The Two Angry Women of Abingdon. (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, vii., 294–5). For women that are wise will not lead apes in hell.... Therefore, come husband: maidenhead adieu.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado about Nothing, ii., 1. He that is more than youth is not for me, and he that is less than man I am not for him; therefore I will ... even lead his apes into hell.

1605. London Prodigal, ii. But ’tis an old proverb, and you know it well, that women, dying maids, lead apes in hell.

1611. Chapman, May-day, v. 2. I am beholden to her; she was loth to have me lead apes in hell.

1659. The London Chanticleers, i., 2. I’ll always live a virgin! What! and lead apes in hell?

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 179. Celladon at that began To talk of apes in hell.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Bloudie Jacke.’ They say she is now leading apes ... And mends Bachelors’ small clothes below.

To put the devil into hell, verb. phr. (old).—To copulate.—Boccaccio. [Hell = female pudendum.] For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

To give hell, verb. phr. (common).—To trounce; abuse; or punish severely. Also (American), to make one smell hell (or a damn particular smell).

Hell-for-leather, adv. phr. (common).—With the utmost energy and desperation.

1892. R. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads. When we rode hell-for-leather, Both squadrons together, Not caring much whether we lived or we died.

Like hell, adv. phr. (common).—Desperately; with all one’s might.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxix. I tried every place, everything; went to Ems, to Wiesbaden, to Hombourg, and played like hell.

Go to hell! phr. (Common).—An emphatic dismissal: the full phrase is, ‘Go to hell and help the devil to make your mother into a bitch pie.’ [A variant is, ‘Go to hell and pump thunder.’] For analogous phrases, see Oaths.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 72. So, good men, go to hell all of you—do—very mosh go to hell—do.

1889. Daily News, 21 Dec., p. 7, c. 1. He was asked to see somebody about his evidence, and told him to go to hell.

1892. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads. ‘Ford o’ Kabul River.’ Kabul town’ll go to hell.

Hell and Scissors! intj. (American).—An ejaculation of surprise and ridicule. In England, Scissors!

Hell-bender, subs. (American).—A drunken frolic; a tremendous row. Also Hell-a-popping and Hell’s delight.

Hell-broth, subs. (common).—Bad liquor. For synonyms, see Drinks.

Hell-cat (-hag, -hound, -kite, etc.), subs. (old: now recognised).—A man or woman of hellish disposition; a lewdster of either sex; cf., Hallion.

1606. Shakspeare, Macbeth, v., 7. Macd. Turn, hell-hound, turn! Macb. Of all men else I have avoided thee.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

Hell-driver, subs. (old).—A coachman.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

Hellite, subs. (gaming).—A professional gambler.—Ducange.

1838. Grant, Sketches in London. Prosecuting the hellites for assault.

Hellophone, subs. (American).—The telephone. [From Halloo! + phone.]

Help, subs. (colloquial: once literary).—A hired assistant. Lady-help = a woman acting as a companion, and undertaking the lighter domestic duties with or without wages.

1824. Peake, Americans Abroad, i., 1. Have you seen my help—my nigger.

1839. De Quincey, Murder as one of the Fine Arts, ii. For domestic helps are pretty generally in a state of transition.

1848. Burton, Waggeries, p. 77. A bevy of ready helps rushed upon him and tore him from the seat of honour.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. vi. ‘Well, you’ve had a pretty good day of it,’ said Tom, who had been hugely amused; ‘but I should feel nervous about the help, if I were you.’

So help (or s’elp or s’welp) me God (Bob, never, or say-so, etc.), phr. (common).—An emphatic asseveration.

1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, p. 86. I’ll pay it back, s’elp me Gord.

1892. A. Chevalier, ‘Mrs. ’Enery ’Awkins.’ Selp me Bob I’m crazy, Liza, you’re a daisy.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 62. ’Selp me never, old pal, it’s a scorcher.

1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, ch. xiv. Well, so help my blessed tater, if this isn’t our old Jose turned up again.

Helpa, subs. (back).—An apple.

Helpless, adj. (colloquial).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Hemispheres, subs. (venery).—The paps. For synonyms, see Dairy.

Hemp (or Hemp-seed, Stretch-Hemp, Hemp-string, or Hempy), subs. (old).—1. A rogue; a candidate fit for the gallows. Frequently used jocularly. A crack-halter (q.v.). Fr., une graine de bagne.

1532. Sir T. More, Wks. [1557], folio 715. [He] feareth [not] to mocke the Sacrament, the blessed body of God, and ful like a stretch hempe, call it but cake, bred, or starch.

1566. Gascoigne, Supposes, iv., 3. If I come near you, hempstring, I will teach you to sing sol fa.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., ii., 1. Do, do, thou rogue, thou hemp-seed.

1606. Chapman, Mons. D’Olive, Act v., p. 135. (Plays, 1874). Van. A perfect young hempstring. Va. Peace, least he overhear you.

1659. Lady Alimony, iv., 6. (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv., p. 350). Now, you hempstrings, had you no other time to nim us but when we were upon our visits?

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hemp, young-hemp, An appellation for a graceless boy.

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. xxxiv. She’s under lawful authority now; and full time, for she was a daft hempie.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, [Ed. 1840], p. 139. ‘We’ll see that, young hempseed,’ replied Sharples.

2. (old).—A halter.

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, iv, 14. Laudanum, therefore, being unable to stop the health of our hero, which the fruit of hempseed, and not the spirit of poppy-seed, was to overcome....

Verb (American).—To choke or strangle.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

To wag hemp in the wind, verb. phr. (old).—To be hanged. See Hempen Fever and Ladder.

1532. Sir T. More, Wks. [1557], folio 715. Tindall calleth blessing and crossynge but wagging of folkes fingers in the æyre, and feareth not (like one yt would at length wagge hempe in the winde) to mocke at all such miracles.

Hempen-bridle, subs. (old).—A ship’s rope or rigging. See Horse and Tree.

Hempen Collar (candle, circle, cravat, croak, garter, necktie, or habeas), subs. (old).—The hangman’s noose; a halter. Also Hemp, and the Hearty-choke. Cf., Anodyne neck-lace. See quot. 1595.

1530–95. Turbervile, Of Two Desperate Men. A man in deepe despaire, with hempe in hand, Went out in haste to ende his wretched dayes.

c. 1586. Marlowe, Jew of Malta, iv., 4. When the hangman had put on his hempen.

1594. Shakspeare, 2 Henry VI., iv., 7. Ye shall have a hempen candle then, and the pap of a hatchet.

c. 1785. Wolcot [P. Pindar], Rights of Kings, Ode xviii. Your hemp cravats, your pray’r, your Tyburn miser.

1819. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, ch. xvi. I wad wager twa and a plack that hemp plaits his cravat yet.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hempen Habeas. He will get over it by a hempen habeas.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. iv. If ever I know as how you makes a flat of my Paul, blow me tight, but I’ll weave you a hempen collar: I’ll hang you, you dog, I will.

1886. Miss Braddon, Mohawks, ch. xxviii. A full confession were perhaps too much to expect. Nothing but the immediate prospect of a hempen necklace would extort that.

Hempen Fever. To die of a hempen fever, verb. phr. (old).—To be hanged. For synonyms, see Ladder.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hempen Fever, a man who was hanged, is said to have died of a hempen fever; and in Dorsetshire to have been stabbed with a Bridport dagger; Bridport being a place famous for manufacturing hemp into cords.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 76. She had been married four times; three of her husbands died of hempen fevers.

Hempen-fortune, subs. (old).—Bad luck; a term for the gallows.

1705. Vanbrugh, The Confederacy, v., 1. If ever I see one glance of your hempen fortune again, I’m off your partnership for ever.

Hempen-squincy, subs. (old).—Hanging. For synonyms, see Ladder.

1646. Randolph’s Jealous Lovers. Hear you, tutour, Shall not we be suspected for the murder, And choke with a hempen squincy.

Hempen-widow, subs. (old).—A woman widowed by the gallows.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hempen Widow, One whose Husband was Hanged.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th Ed.). Hempen-Widow (s.), a woman whose husband was hanged.

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

1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 89. In a box of the stone-jug I was born, Of a hempen-widow the kid forlorn Fake away.

Hen, subs. (common).—1. A woman. Specifically, a wife or mistress. For synonyms, see Petticoat.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hen. In Black-boy Alley I’ve a ken, A tyke and fighting cock; A saucy tip-slang moon-eyed hen, Who is oft mill-doll at block.

2. (common).—Drink money. See Hen drinking.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 20. Whenever there’s hens on the crow, ’Arry’s good for a hinnings,—no fear!

Verb (Scots’).—To funk; to turn tail; to hen on = to fear to attempt.

Cock and hen club, subs. phr. (common).—A club composed of men and women.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Hens and Chickens, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Pewter measures; quarts and pints. Cf., Cat and Kittens.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. i., p. 276. The hens and chickens of the roguish low lodging-houses are the publicans’ pewter measures; the bigger vessels are ‘hens,’ the smaller are ‘chickens.’

Hen-drinking, subs. (provincial).—See quot.

1859. Notes and Queries, 2 S. viii., 239. There is yet another [Yorkshire marriage-custom], viz., the hen-drinking. On the evening of the wedding day the young men of the village call upon the bridegroom for a hen—meaning money for refreshments ... should the hen be refused, the inmates may expect some ugly trick to the house ere the festivities terminate.

Hen Frigate, subs. (nautical).—A ship commanded by the captain’s wife. Cf., Hen-pecked.

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

1883. Clark Russell, Sailors’ Language, s.v.

Hen-fruit, subs. (American).—Eggs.

Hen (or Chicken)-hearted, adj. (old: now recognised).—Timorous; cowardly.

d. 1529. Skelton, Why Come Ye not to Courte. They kepe them in their holdes Lyke hen-hearted cuckoldes.

1506–56. Udal, James I. He is reconed a lowte and a henne-hearted rascall.

1639–61. Rump Songs, i., [1662] 319. Let the hen-hearted Cit drink whey.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th Ed.). Hen-hearted, of a cowardly, fearful, or timorous disposition.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd Ed.), s.v. ‘Poltron.’ A coward, or hen-hearted fellow.

1762. Foote, Liar, iii., 2. Why, what a dastardly, hen-hearted——But come, Papillion, this shall be your last campaign.

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

1812. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. Hen-hearted ... a low word.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. Are you turned hen-hearted, Jack?

Hen-house, subs. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hen-house, a house where the woman rules, called also a she-house.

Hen of the game. See Game.

Hen-party (Convention- or Tea-), subs. (common).—An assemblage of women for political or social purposes. Cf., Bull or Stag-party. Also, Bitch-, Tabby-, and Cat-party.

Hen-pecked, adj. (old: now recognised).—Petticoat government; ruled by a woman.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Henpeckt Friggat, whose Commander and Officers are absolutely sway’d by their Wives. Ibid. Henpeckt Husband, whose Wife wears the Breeches.

1695. Congreve, Love for Love, iv., 13. I believe he that marries you will go to sea in a hen-pecked frigate.

1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, Pt. I., ch. v. He had a termagant wife, and, as the neighbours said, was playing henpecked!

1712. Spectator, No. 479. Socrates, who is by all accounts the undoubted head of the sect of the hen-pecked.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th Ed.). Hen-pecked, a man that is over-awed by his wife, and dares do nothing disagreeable to her inclinations.

1771. Smollett, Humphry Clinker, l. 27. I shall never presume to despise or censure any poor man for suffering himself to be henpecked, conscious how I myself am obliged to truckle to a domestic demon.

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

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xxxvii. He had fallen from all the height and pomp of beadleship, to the lowest depth of the most snubbed hen-peckery.

1857. A. Trollope, Barchester Towers, ch. iii. But Mrs. Proudie is not satisfied with such home dominion, and stretches her power over all his movements, and will not even abstain from things spiritual. In fact, the bishop is hen-pecked.

Hen’s-arsehole.—See Mouth.

Hen-snatcher, subs. (American).—A chicken thief.

1888. Bulletin, 24 Nov. All the dead-beats and suspected hen-snatchers plead when before the Bench that they were only ‘mouching round,’ etc.

Hens’-rights, subs. (American).—Women’s rights.

Hen-toed, adj. phr. (common).—To turn the toes in walking like a fowl.

Here. Here’s to you (at you, unto you, now, or luck), phr. (common).—An invitation to drink; here’s a health to you. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1651. Cartwright, Royal Slave. Here’s to thee, Leocrates.

1717. Ned Ward, Wks. ii., 71. Then we were fain To use Hertfordshire kindness, here’s to you again.

1853. Diogenes ii., 46. Each a pot in his hand.... Observed in a style of remarkable ease, ‘Old Buck here’s luck,’ And then at the pewter proceeded to suck.

Here’s luck, phr. (tailors’).—I don’t believe you.

I am not here, phr. (tailors’).—‘I don’t feel inclined to work’; ‘I wish to be left alone.’

Here’s to it, phr. (common).—An obscene toast. See It, sense 2.

Here-and-Thereian, subs. phr. (old).—A rolling stone; a person with no permanent address. Lex. Bal., 1811.

Hereford, adj. (American cowboy). White. [Herefords are white-faced.]

Herefordshire-weed, subs. (old).—An oak.

Her Majesty’s Carriage, subs. phr. (common).—A prison van; the Queen’s ’bus. See Black Maria. Fr., l’omnibus à pègres.

Her Majesty’s Tobacco Pipe, subs. (common).—The furnace where the forfeited tobacco from the Customs House is burnt. [Now a thing of the past: the tobacco being distributed to workhouses, etc.]

1871. Echo, 27 Jan. All that was not sold will be burnt, according to custom, in her majesty’s tobacco pipe. We cannot think such waste justifiable.

Hermit (or Baldheaded Hermit), subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Herod. To out-herod Herod, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To out-do; specifically (theatrical) to excel in rant.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, iii., 2. Oh, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious, perriwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings ... it out-herods Herod.

Herring. Neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring, phr. (old).—Neither one thing nor the other.

1682. Dryden, Duke of Guise, Epil. (6th line from end). Neuters in their middleway of fleering, Are neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring.

To throw a sprat to catch a herring (or whale), verb. phr. (old).—To forego an advantage in the hope of greater profit.

1826. Buckstone, Luke the Labourer, i., 2. I give dat like throwing away a sprat to catch a herring, though I hope on this occasion to catch a bigger fish.

1890. Grant Allen, Tents of Shem, ch. xix. He’s casting a sprat to catch a whale.

Dead as a herring (or shotten herring), adv. phr. (old).—Quite dead. [Herrings die sooner on leaving the water than most fish.] See Dead.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, ii., 3. By gar de herring is no dead as I vill kill him.

1785. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook. I’ll nail the self-conceited sot As dead’s a herrin’.

1790. Rhodes, Bombastes Furioso, Sc. 4. Ay, dead as herrings—herrings that are red.

Like herrings in a barrel, adv. phr. (common).—Very crowded.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 117. People jammed inside like herrings in a barrel.

The devil a barrel the better herring, phr. (old).—All bad alike.—Lex. Bal. In modern American, all alike; indistinguishable. Cf., Sardine.

Herring-gutted, adj. (old).—Lanky; thin.—Grose.

Herring-pond, subs. (common).—The sea; specifically, the North Atlantic Ocean. See Briny and Puddle. To be sent across the herring-pond = to be transported.

1722. England’s Path to Wealth. ’Tis odds but a finer country, cheaper and better food and raiment, wholesomer air, easier rents and taxes, will tempt many of your countrymen to cross the herring-pond.

1729. Gay, Polly, i., 1. Bless us all! how little are our customs known on this side the herring pond!

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

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, etc., s.v. Herring-pond—the sea, the Atlantic; and he who is gone across it is said to be lagged, or gone a Botanizing.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 256, ed. 1854. You’re too old a hand for the herring-pond.

1864. M. E. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. xxv. You’re not going to run away? You’re not going to renounce the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and make an early expedition across the herring-pond—eh?

1884. Phillipps-Woolley, Trottings of a Tenderfoot. Everyone nowadays has read as much as he or she cares to about the voyage across the herring-pond.

1889. Notes and Queries, 7 S., vii., p. 36, c. 2. Terms which have lived in America, and again crossed the herring-pond with modern traffic.

1890. Punch, 6 Feb. Saturday.—My connection with war ended. Calculate I start to-morrow with the Show across the herring-pond, to wake up the Crowned Heads of Europe!

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody, ch. xvii. If so, I’ll—I’ll cut him, when I cross the—er—herrin’ pond.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 119. I guess we have ruined one or two well-known authors, on the other side of the herring pond.

Hertfordshire-kindness, subs. (old).—An acknowledgment, or return, in kind, of favours received. (But see quots., 1662, 1690, and 1738).

1662. Fuller, Worthies. This is generally taken in a good and grateful sense, for the mutual return of favours received: it being (belike) observed that the people in this county at entertainments drink back to them who drank to them.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hertfordshire-kindness, Drinking to the same Man again.

1717. Ned Ward, Wks., ii., 7. Then we were fain To use Hertfordshire-kindness, Here’s to you again.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversations. Neverout. My Lord, this moment I did myself the honour to drink to your Lordship. Lord Smart. Why then that’s Hertfordshire Kindness. Neverout. Faith, my Lord, I pledged myself: for I drank twice together without thinking.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hertfordshire Kindness, drinking twice to the same person.

Hewgag. The Hewgag, subs. (American).—A name for an undeterminate, unknown, mythical creature.—Slang, Jargon, and Cant.

Hey-gammer-cook. To play at Hey-gammer-cook, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1720. C. Johnson, Highwaymen and Pyrates, ‘Margaret Simpson’ (q.v.).

Hiccius Doccius, subs. phr. (Old Cant).—A juggler; also a shifty fellow or trickster.

1676. Shadwell, Virtuoso, ii., p. 19. I shall stand here till one of them has whipt away my Mistris about business, with a Hixius Doxius, with the force of Repartee, and this, and that, and Everything in the world.

1678. Butler, Hudibras, iii., 3, 579. At Westminster, and Hickses-Hall, And Hiccius Dockius play’d in all.

1688. Wycherley, Country Wife, iii. That burlesque is a Hocus-pocus trick they have got, which by the virtue of Hictius doctius, topsey-turvey, etc.

1812. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. Hiccius doccius ... a cant word for a juggler; one that plays fast and loose.

Adj. (old).—Drunk; slovenly. Also, Hickey (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1733. North, Examen, i., 3, 137 (1740). The author with his Hiccius-doxius delivery.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hicksius Doxius, Drunk.

Hic Jacet, subs. phr. (common).—A tombstone; also a memorial inscription. [From the opening words.]

1598. Shakspeare, All’s Well, etc., iii., 6. The merit of service is seldom attributed to the true ... performer. I would have that drum ... or hic jacet.

1858–59. Tennyson, Idylls of the King (‘Vivien’). Among the cold hic jacets of the dead.

Hick, subs. (Old Cant).—I. A man; specifically a countryman; a booby. Also (American thieves’) Hickjop and Hicksam. For synonyms, see Joskin.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hick, any Person of whom any Prey can be made, or Booty taken from; also a silly Country Fellow.

1720. Smith, Lives of Highwaymen and Pyrates, ii., 39. Among whom was a country farmer ... which was not missed at all by the Country Hick.

1725. New Cant. Dict. Song 3. ‘The Thief-catcher’s Prophesy.’ The Eighth is a Bulk, that can bulk any Hick.

1754. Scoundrel’s Dict. The fourteenth, a gamester, if he sees the Hick sweet He presently drops down a cog in the street.

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

Hickety-split, adj. (American).—With all one’s might; at top speed; hammer and tongs (q.v.); full chisel (q.v.).

Hickey, adj. (old).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hickey, Tipsy; not quite drunk; elated.

Hickory-shirt, subs. (American).—A checked shirt, cotton or woollen.

Hide, subs. (common).—The human skin. Once literary; now colloquial and vulgar.

1568. Bannatyne MSS., ‘When Flora, etc.’ (Hunterian Club, 1879–88). Sche is so brycht of hyd and hew, I lufe bot hir allane I wene.

1607. Marston, What You Will, ii., I. A skubbing railer, whose course harden’d fortune, Grating his hide, gauling his starued ribs, Sittes hauling at Deserts more battle fate.

1731. C. Coffey, The Devil to Pay, Sc. 5. Come, and spin, you drab, or I’ll tan your hide for you.

1892. Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads. ‘Gunga-Din.’ An’ for all ’is dirty ’ide ’e was white, clear white, inside.

Verb (common).—To flog. For synonyms, see Tan.

1868. Cassell’s Mag., May, p. 80. This was carried across the yard to Jacky as a regular challenge, and some said that Kavanagh and his friends were coming over to hide Jacky after dinner.

1885. Punch, 29 Aug. p. 98. And the silver-topped rattan with which the boys I used to hide.

Hidebound, adj. (old: now recognised).—Barren; intractable; niggardly; pedantic; utterly immovable.

1606. Return from Parnassus, ii., 4 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ix., 125). Any of the hidebound brethren of Oxford or Cambridge.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, i., 2. I am as barren and hidebound as one of your scribbling poets, who are sots in company for all their wit.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hidebound Horse, whose Skin sticks very close, and tite like a Pudding Bag, usually when very Fat. Ibid. Hidebound Muse, Stiff, hard of Delivery, Sir J. Suckling call’d Ben Johnson’s so.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1893. Pall Mall Gaz., 24 Feb. ‘High Time to Get Up.’ The most dragging inertness and the most hide-bound celerity.

Hiding, subs. (common).—A thrashing. For synonyms, see Tanning.

1853. Bradley, Verdant Green, ii., p. 23. May the Gown give the Town a jolly good hiding.

1864. Mark Lemon, Jest Book, p. 236. Some people have a notion that villany ought to be exposed, though we must confess we think it a thing that deserves a hiding.

1871. All the Year Round, 18 Feb. p. 288. Served me right if I’d got a hiding.

1883. Pall Mall Gaz., 16 Apr., p. 7, c. 2. They should stone all boys they met who were not members of the society, or in default themselves receive a good hiding.

1888. Sportsman, 22 Dec. The chairman told Deakin he could scarcely expect anything but a hiding for being connected with such a scurrilous publication.

1891. Licensed Vict. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 7, c. 1. Before Paddock could claim the victory, which cost the Redditch fighter one of the severest hidings he ever had to put up with.

Higgledy-piggledy, adj. (Old Cant: now recognised).—In confusion; topsy-turvy; at sixes and sevens.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Alla rappa, snatchingly, higledi-pigledie, shiftingly, rap and run.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Higglede-piggledy, all together, as Hoggs and Piggs lie Nose in Arse.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1758. A. Murphy, The Upholsterer, ii. Ambassadors and Hair-Cutters, all higgledy-piggledy together.

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

1812. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. Higgledy-piggledy, a cant word, corrupted from higgle, which denotes any confused mass, as higglers carry a huddle of provisions together.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. xxii., p. 199. His name’s got all the letters in it, higgledy-piggledy.

1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, ch. ii. We are all higgledy-piggledy—at sixes and sevens!

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard, ch. xvi. ‘If some of you will sit down,’ remonstrated Judith, ‘I’ll pour out the tea. But I don’t feel as if anybody wanted it while you’re standing about higgledy-piggledy.’

Higgler, subs. (old).—A hawker.

High, adj. (American).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (colloquial).—Stinking; gamey (q.v.).; whence, by implication, diseased (as a prostitute); obscene in intention and effect.

The high and dry, subs. phr. (clerical).—The High Church or Anglo-Catholic party in the Establishment, as opposed to the low and slow (q.v.), or Evangelical section. Cf., Broad and Shallow.

1854. Conybeare, Church Parties, 74. Its adherents [of the High Church] are fallen from their high estate, and are contemptuously denominated the high and dry, just as the parallel development of the Low Church is nicknamed ‘low and slow.’

1857. Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, ch. liii. Who belongs to the high and dry church, the High Church as it was some fifty years since, before tracts were written and young clergymen took upon themselves the highly meritorious duty of cleaning churches?

1886. Graphic, 10 Apr., 399. In the Church have we not the three schools of High and Dry, Low and Slow, and Broad and Shallow?

High and dry, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Stranded; abandoned; irrecoverable.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 18 Oct., 6, 1. It seems to me that Mr. Chamberlain must really look out or he will find himself, as the result of that insidious ‘mellowing process’ to which Mr. Matthews has testified, landed high and dry in a Toryism compared to which Sir Walter Barttelot will show in Radical colours.

High and mighty, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Arrogant; imperious; proud; ‘on the high horse,’ or the ‘high ropes’ (q.v.); full of side (q.v.).

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 121. None of your high and mighty games with me.

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, i., 2. Ye need na be sae high and mighty onyway.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 49. ‘Mighty high some people are, ain’t they?’ the man observed loudly, straightening himself, and ordering a nobbler for himself.

Too high for one’s nut, adv. phr. (American).—Out of one’s reach; beyond one’s capacity; over one’s bend (q.v.).

You can’t get high enough, verb. phr. (common).—A derisive comment on any kind of failure. [Probably obscene in origin.]

How is that for high? phr. (American).—‘What do you think of it?’ [Once a tag universal; common wear now.]

1860. Bartlett, Americanisms, s.v. High. For when he slapped my broad-brim off, and asked, How’s that for high? It roused the Adam in me, and I smote him hip and thigh!

1872. Clemens (Mark Twain), Roughing It, 334. We are going to get it up regardless of expense. [He] was always nifty himself, and so you bet his funeral ain’t going to be no slouch,—solid silver door-plate on his coffin, six plumes on the hearse, and a nigger on the box in a biled shirt and a plug hat,—how’s that for high?

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 Sep., p. 2, c. 1. ‘Cricket’ stories are the thing just now. How is this for high?

High-bellied (or High in the Belly), adj. phr. (colloquial).—Far gone in pregnancy. Also High-waisted.

Highbinder, subs. (American).—1. A Chinese blackmailer.

2. (political American).—A political conspirator.—Norton.

High-bloke, subs. (American).—1. A judge.

2. (American).—A well-dressed man; a splawger (q.v.).—Matsell.

Higher-malthusianism, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Sodomy.

Highfalute, verb. (American).—To use fine words. Also to yarn (q.v.). See Highfaluting. Fr., faire l’étroite.

Highfaluting, subs. (formerly American: now general).—Bombast; rant.

1865. Orchestra. We should not think of using high-falutin on ordinary serious occasions, and that we never shall use it in future, unless we happen to speak of the Porcupine critic.

1886. Pall Mall Gaz., 3 May, 6, 2. A glib master of frothy fustian, of flatulent high-falutin’, and of oratorical bombast.

Adj. (general).—Bombastic; fustian; thrasonical.

1870. Friswell, Modern Men of Letters. A driveller of tipsy, high-flown, and high-falutin’ nonsense.

1884. Echo, 17 Mar., p. 1, c. 4. It is the boast of high-falutin’ Americans that theirs is a country ‘where every man can do as he darn pleases.’

High-feather. In high feather, adv. phr. (colloquial).—In luck; on good terms with oneself and the world.

High-fly. To be on the high-fly, verb. phr. (thieves’).—Specifically, to practise the begging-letter imposture, but (generally) to tramp the country as a beggar.

1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, 163. The High-fly—beggars, with letters, pretending to be broken-down gentlemen, captains, etc.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, (3rd ed.), p. 445. Begging letters—the highfly.

Highflyer, subs. (old).—1. Anything or anybody out of the common, in opinion, pretension, attire, and so forth: as a prostitute (high-priced and well-dressed); an adventurer (superb in impudence and luck). 2. A dandy, male or female, of the first water. 3. A fast coach.

1690. Dryden. Prol. to Mistakes in Wks., p. 473 (Globe). He’s no high-flyer—he makes no sky-rockets, His squibs are only levelled at your pockets.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. High-flyers, Impudent, Forward, Loose, Light Women. Also, bold adventurers.

1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, i., 1. Well, as high a flyer as you are, I have a lure may make you stoop.

1706. R. Estcourt, Fair Example, Act i., p. 10. You may keep company with the highest flyer of ’em all.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, i. Mail-coach races against mail-coach, and high-flyer against high-flyer, through the most remote districts of Britain.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, v. As you have your high-fliers at Almack’s, at the West End, we have also some ‘choice creatures’ at our All Max in the East.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. High-flyers—women of the town, in keeping, who job a coach, or keep a couple of saddle-horses at least.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, (Ed. 1854) p. 75. Howsomever, the high-flyers doesn’t like him; and when he takes people’s money, he need not be quite so cross about it!

1860. Dickens, Uncommercial Traveller, xxii., p. 131. The old room on the ground floor where the passengers of the High-flyers used to dine.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, i., 5. Mrs. Boffin, Wegg ... is a ’ighflyer at fashion.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 40. Foller yer leader, ... all who can carry sufficient skyscrapers to keep in the ’unt, with that ’ighflyer ’Arry.

4. (thieves’).—A beggar with a certain style; a begging-letter writer; a broken swell.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 268. While pursuing the course of a high-flyer (genteel beggar).

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. III., ch. iii., p. 268. He was a high-flier, a genteel beggar.

1887. Standard, 20 June, p. 5, c. 2. The pretended noblemen and knights who ‘say they have suffered by war, fire, or captivity, or have been driven away, and lost all they had,’ are still represented by the high-flyers or broken-down gentlemen.

5. (circus).—A swing fixed in rows in a frame much in vogue at fairs.

High-flying, subs. (old).—1. Extravagance in opinion, pretension or conduct.

1689. Dryden, Epil. to Lee’s Princess of Cleves, 6. I railed at wild young sparks; but without lying Never was man worse thought on for high-flying.

2. (thieves’).—Begging; the high-fly (q.v.); stilling (q.v.).

High-gag, subs. (American).—A whisperer.—Matsell.

The high-gag, subs. phr. (American).—Telling secrets.—Matsell.

High-game, subs. (thieves’).—See quot.

1889. C. T. Clarkson and J. Hall Richardson, Police, p. 321. A mansion ... a high game.

High-gig. In High-gig, adv. phr. (old).—In good fettle; lively. Cf., Gig.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 15. Rather sprightly—the Bear in high-gig.

High-go, subs. (common).—A drinking bout; a frolic.

High-heeled Shoes. To have high-heeled shoes on, verb. phr. (American).—To set up as a person of consequence; to do the grand (q.v.).

High Horse. To be (or get) on (or ride) the high horse, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To give oneself airs; to stand on one’s dignity; to take offence. [Fr. monter sur ses grands chevaux. The simile is common to most languages.]

1716. Addison, Freeholder, 5 Mar. He told me, he did not know what travelling was good for, but to teach a man to ride the great horse, to jabber French, and to talk against passive obedience.

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xii. He was determined to ride the high horse—and that there should be no Equality Jack in future.

1842. Comic Almanack, p. 327. Yet Dublin deems the foul extortion fair, And swears that, as he’s ridden the high horse, So long and well, she now will make him mayor.

1864. Times, 5 July. Mr. Gladstone in the Dano-German Debate. The right hon. gentleman then got on what I may call his high horse, and he would not give us the slightest opinion upon any matter of substantive policy, because that, he said, would be accepting office upon conditions.

1868. Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone, 2nd Period, 3rd Narr., ch. ii. Miss Rachael has her faults—‘I’ve never denied it,’ he began. ‘And riding the high horse now and then is one of them.’

High-jinks, subs. (old).—1. An old game variously played. [Most frequently dice were thrown by the company, and those upon whom the lot fell were obliged to assume and maintain for a time a certain fictitious character, or to repeat a certain number of fescennine verses in a particular order. If they departed from the characters assigned ... they incurred forfeits, which were compounded for by swallowing an additional bumper.—Guy Mannering, 1836. Note to ch. xxxii.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Highjinks, a Play at Dice who Drinks.

1780. Ramsay, Maggy Johnston, i., 25. The queff or cup is filled to the brim, then one of the company takes a pair of dice, and after crying Hy-jinks, he throws them out; the number he casts out points out the person that must drink; he who threw beginning at himself number one, and so round till the number of the person agree with that of the dice (which may fall upon himself if the number be within twelve); then he sets the dice to him, or bids him take them; he on whom they fall is obliged to drink, or pay a small forfeiture in money, then throws, and so on. But if he forgets to cry ‘Hy-jinks’ he pays a forfeiture into the bank. Now, he on whom it falls to drink (if there be anything in the bank worth drawing) gets it all if he drinks; then with a great deal of caution he empties his cup, sweeps up the money, and orders the cup to be filled again, and then throws; for if he errs in the articles he loses the privilege of drawing the money. The articles are—(1) Drink, (2) Draw, (3) Fill, (4) Cry ‘Hy-jinks,’ (5) Count just, (6) Chuse your doublet, man—viz., when two equal numbers of the dice is thrown, the person whom you chuse must pay a double of the common forfeiture, and so must you when the dice is in his hand (sic).

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxxvi. The frolicsome company had begun to practise the ancient and now forgotten pastime of high jinks.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, lv. He had made an engagement to drive Lord Saltire, the next morning, up to Wargrave in a pony-chaise, to look at Barrymore House, and the place where the theatre stood, and where the game of high jinks had been played so bravely fifty years before.

2. See quot., and cf. sense 1.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. A gambler at dice, who, having a strong head, drinks to intoxicate his adversary, or pigeon. Under this head are also classed those fellows who keep little goes, take in insurances; also, attendants at the races, and at the E O tables; chaps always on the look out to rob unwary countrymen at cards, etc.

3. (common).—A frolic; a row. [From sense 1.]

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, i. All sorts of high jinks go on on the grass plot.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 13 Sept. ‘Filey the Retired.’ Frisky Filey cannot assuredly be called. There are no high jinks on her jetty; and, besides, she hasn’t got a jetty, only a ‘Brigg.’

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 24 July, 4, 2. Yesterday and to-day there have been high jinks in Petworth Park, rich and poor for miles round being invited, and right royally feasted on the coming of age of Lord and Lady Leconfield’s eldest son.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 3 Apr. While Bank Holiday was being celebrated with such éclat at Kempton, they were carrying on high jinks over hurdles and fences at Manchester.

1892. Sala’s Journal, 2 July, p. 223. High jinks with the telephone have been the order of the day at Warwick Castle; taps and wires have been turned on and off, and floods of melody of various kinds have delighted listening ears.

1893. National Observer, 25 Feb., ix., 357. Time was when there were high jinks in that vast quadrangle.

To be at his high jinks, phr. (common).—To be stilted and arrogant in manner; to ride the high horse (q.v.). Fr., faire sa merde or sa poire.

High-kicker, subs. (colloquial).—Specifically, a dancer whose speciality is the high kick or the porte d’armes; whence, by metaphor, any desperate spreester (q.v.), male or female.

High-kilted, adj. (Scots’).—Obscene or thereabouts; full flavoured (q.v.).

Highland-bail, subs. (Scots’).—The right of the strongest; force majeure.

1816. Scott, Antiquary, ch. xxix. The mute eloquence of the miller and smith, which was vested in their clenched fists, was prepared to give Highland bail for their arbiter.

High-lawyer, subs. (old).—A highwayman. For synonyms, see Road Agent.

1592. John Day, Blind Beggar, p. 21 (Ed. Bullen). He wo’d be your prigger, your prancer, your high-lawyer.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 50 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). He first gaue termes to robbers by the high-way, that such as robbe on horse-backe were called high lawyers, and those who robbed on foote, he called Padders.

High-liver, subs. (old).—A garretteer; a thief housed in an attic. Hence, High-living = lodging in a garret.—Lex. Bal.

High-men, subs. (old).—Dice loaded to show high numbers. Also, High-runners. See Fulhams and Low-men.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller in Wks. [Grosart], v., 27. The dice of late are growen as melancholy as a dog, high men and low men both prosper alike.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, i., 3. Let vultures gripe thy guts! for gourd and fullam holds, And high and low beguiles the rich and poor.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Pise, false dice, high men or low men.

1605. London Prodigal, i., 1. I bequeath two bale of false dice, videlicet, high men and low men, fullams, stop-catertraies, and other bones of function.

1615. Harington, Epigrams, i., 79. Your high And low men are but trifles.

1657–1733. John Dennis, Letters, ii., 407. Shadwell is of opinion, that your bully, with his box and his false dice, is an honester fellow than the rhetorical author, who makes use of his tropes and figures, which are his high and his low runners, to cheat us at once of our money and of our intellectuals.

1822. Scott, Fort. of Nigel, ch. xxiii. Men talk of high and low dice.

High-nosed, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Very proud in look and in fact; supercilious in bearing and speech; superior (q.v.).

High- [or gay-] old (time, game, liar, etc.), adj. phr. (common).—A general intensitive: e.g., high old time = a very merry time indeed; high old liar = a liar of might; high old drunk = an uncommon booze (q.v.).

1883. Referee, 11 Mar., p. 3, c. 2. All the children who have been engaged in the Drury Lane pantomime took tea on the stage, and had a high old time (while it lasted).

1888. J. McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed, Ladies’ Gallery, ch. xxxv. I went down to Melbourne, intending to have a high old time.

1891. Murray’s Mag., Aug., p. 202. There will be a Want of Confidence Motion, and a high old debate.

1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, p. 7. You are a big fraud and a high old liar.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 35. We’d the highest old game.

1892. F. Anstey, Voces Populi, ‘The Riding Class,’ p. 108. We’ve bin having a gay old time in ’ere.

High-pad (or Toby, or High-toby-splice), subs. (old).—1. The highway. Also, high-splice toby. For synonyms, see Drum.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p, 86. Roge, Nowe bynge we a waste to the hygh pad, the ruffmanes is by.

c. 1819. Slang Song (quoted in notes to Don Juan, x., 19). On the high-toby-splice flash the muzzle In spite of each gallows old scout.

1836. H. M. Milner, Turpin’s Ride to York, i., sc. 2. Come, lads a stirrup-cup at parting, and then hurrah for the game of high-toby.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 4. Halting for a few hours at mid-day during the heat in the high spice-toby, as we used to call the main road.

2. (old).—A highwayman. Also, high-tobyman (or -gloak). For synonyms, see Road Agent.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. High Pad, a Highwayman, Highway Robber well Mounted and Armed.

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

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. High toby-gloak, a highway robber well mounted.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. IV., ch i. Tom King, a noted high-toby gloak of his time.

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.

3. (old).—Highway robbery.

1819, Vaux, Cant. Dict. High-toby, the game of highway robbery, that is exclusively on horseback.

High-pooped, adj. (colloquial).—Heavily buttocked.

High-rented, adj. (popular).—1. Hot.

2. (thieves’).—Very well known to the police; hot (q.v.).

High-roller, subs. (American).—A goer (q.v.); a fast liver; a heavy gambler; a highflyer (q.v.).

1887. Francis, Saddle and Moccasin, He’s a high-roller, by gum!

High-ropes. To be on the high ropes, verb. phr. (common).—To be angry or excited. Also to put on airs; to stand on one’s dignity; to ride the high-horse (q.v.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. To be on the high ropes, to be in a passion.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1866. Yates, Land at Last, ii. He’s on the high ropes, is Master Charley! Some of you fellows have been lending him half a-crown, or that fool Caniche has bought one of his pictures for seven-and-six!

High-seasoned (or Highly-spiced), adj. (colloquial).—Obscene. For synonyms, see Spicy.

High- (or clouted-) shoon, subs. (old).—A countryman. For synonyms, see Joskin.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

High-sniffing, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Pretentious; supercilious; very obviously better than one’s company; high-nosed (q.v.).

High-stepper, subs. (common).—An exemplar, male or female, of what is fashionable in conversation, conduct, or attire; a swell (q.v.). Also, a person of spirit. Whence, adj., high-stepping (or high-pacing) = conspicuously elegant or gallant in dress, speech, manner, conduct, anything.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, ch. ix. From her actions and style I’m pretty certain she’s English and a high-stepper.

High-stomached, adj. (colloquial).—Proud; disdainful; very valiant.

High-strikes, subs. (common).—A corruption of ‘hysterics.’

1838. Selby, Jacques Strop, ii., 4. Capital! ... didn’t I do the high-strikes famously.

1860. Miss Wetherell, Say and Seal, ch. vii. She wants you to come. I’m free to confess she’s got the high-strikes wonderful.

High-tea, subs. (colloquial).—A tea with meat, etc. In Lancashire Bagging (q.v.).

1888. Sporting Life, 15 Dec. Following run there will be high tea and a grand smoking concert, to which visitors are cordially invited.

High-ti, subs. (American: Williams Coll.).—A showy recitation; at Harvard = a squirt (q.v.).

High-tide (or water) subs. (colloquial).—Rich for the moment; The state of being flush (q.v.). For synonyms, see Well Ballasted.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. high tide when the Pocket is full of Money.

1725. New Cant. Dict.

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

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. High-tide—plenty of the possibles; whilst ‘low-water’ implies empty clies.

Up to high-water mark, adv. phr. (colloquial).—In good condition; a general expression of approval.

High-toby. See High Pad.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. Oh! the game of High-Toby for ever.

High-toned, adj. (American).—Aristocratic; also, morally and intellectually endowed; spiritually beyond the common. High-souled = cultured; fashionable. High-toned nigger = a negro who has raised himself in social position. [Once literary; now utterly discredited and never used, save in ignorance or derision.] Stokes, the maniac who shot Garfield, described himself as a ‘High-Toned Lawyer.’

1884. Phillips Woolley, Trottings of a Tender Foot. I never saw any so-called high-toned niggers.

1893. Cassell’s Sat. Jour., 1 Feb., p. 389, 1. One day a fashionably-dressed young man, giving an address in a high-toned suburb, called upon Messrs. Glitter.

Highty-tighty (or Hoity-toity), subs. (old).—A wanton.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hightetity, a Ramp, or Rude Girl.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

Adj. (colloquial).—Peremptory; waspish; quarrelsome.

1848. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. xviii. La, William, don’t be so highty-tighty with us. We’re not men.

High Wood. To live in high wood, verb. phr. (common).—To hide; to dissemble of purpose; to lie low and keep quiet.

Higulcion-flips, subs. (Texas).—An imaginary ailment.

Hike, verb. (old).—To move about. Also to carry off; to arrest.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hike. To hike off; to run away.

1884. Daily Telegraph, 2 Feb., p. 3, c. 1. We three, not having any regler homes nor a steady job of work to stick to, hike about for a living, and we live in the cellar of a empty house.

Hilding, subs. (old).—A jade; a wanton; a disreputable slut.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, ii., 1. For shame thou hilding of a devilish spirit.

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, ii., 4. Hildings and harlots.

Hill. Not worth a hill of beans, phr. (American).—Absolutely worthless.

Hills, subs. (Winchester Coll.).—1. St. Catharine’s Hill.

1870. Mansfield, School Life, p. 28. Some of his principal duties were to take the boys ‘on to hills,’ call names there, etc.

2. (Cambridge Univ.).—The Gogmagog Hills; a common morning’s ride. Gradus ad Cantab.

Hilly, adj. (colloquial).—Difficult: e.g., hilly reading = hard to read; hilly going = not easy to do; etc.

Hilt. Loose in the hilt, adv. phr. (old).—Unsteady; rocky (q.v.); lax in the bowels.

1639–61. Rump Songs. ‘Bum-fodder,’ ii., 56. If they stay longer, they will us beguilt With a Government that is loose in the hilt.

Hind-boot, subs. (common).—The breech. For synonyms, see Monocular Eyeglass.

Hind-coachwheel, subs. (common).—A five shilling piece. Fr., roue de derrière, thune, or palet, = a five-franc piece. For synonyms, see Caroon.

Hinder-blast, subs. (old).—Crepitation.

1540. Lindsay, Thrie Estaitis [in Bannatyne MSS., Hunterian Club, ed., (1879–88), p. 511] line 1429–30. Scho hes sic rumling in her wame, That all the nycht my hairt ouercastis With bokking and with hinder blastis.

Hinder-end, subs. phr. (common).—The breech. Also, hinder-parts and hinder-world.

Hinder-entrance, subs. phr. (common).—The fundament.

Hind-leg. To kick out a hind leg, verb. phr. (old).—To lout; to make a rustic bow.

To talk the hind leg off a horse (or dog). See Talk.

To sit upon one’s hind legs and howl, verb. phr. (American).—To bemoan one’s fate; to make a hullabaloo.

Hindoo, subs. (American).—See Know Nothing.

Hindoo Punishment, subs. phr. (circus).—See quot.

1875. Frost, Circus Life, ch. xviii. The Hindoo Punishment is what is more often called the muscle grind, a rather painful exercise upon the bar, in which the arms are turned backward to embrace the bar, and then brought forward upon the chest, in which position the performer revolves.

Hind-shifters, subs. (old).—The feet. For synonyms, see Creepers.

1823. Lamb, Elia, Wks., (Ed. 1852), p. 311. They would show as fair a pair of hind-shifters as the expertest loco-motor in the colony.

Hinges. Off the hinges, adv. phr. (common)—In confusion; out of sorts; ‘not quite the thing.’

Hinterland, subs. (old).—The breech.

Hip, (in. pl.), subs. (colloquial).—Conventional—as in the proverb, ‘Free of her lips; free of her hips’—for the buttocks. Hence, to walk with the hips = to make play with the posteriors in walking; long in the hips; and hips to sell = broad in the beam; nimble-hipped = active in copulation.

c. 1508. Dunbar. Poems, ‘Of a Dance in the Quenis Chalmer’ (1836), i., 119. His hippis gaff mony a hiddouss cry. Ibid. i., 124. ‘Of Ane Blak-moir.’... Sall cum behind and kiss hir hippis.

1540. Lindsay, Thrie Estaits, line 3227. My craig will wit quhat weyis my hippis. Ibid., line 4424. Ye wald not stick to preise my graith With hobbling of your hippis.

c. 1580. Collier of Croydon, iv., I. (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, 459). I keep her lips and her hips for my own use.

d. 1607. Montgomerie, Poems, ‘Polwart and Montgomerie’s Flyting,’ p. 85, line 779 (Scottish Text Soc., 1885–6). Kailly lippes, kiss my hips.

To have (get, or catch) on the hip, verb. phr. (old).—To have (or get) an advantage. [From wrestling.]

1591. Harington, Orlando Furioso, bk. xlvi., st. 117. In fine he doth apply one speciall drift, Which was to get the pagan on the hip, And having caught him right, he doth him lift By nimble sleight, and in such wise doth trip That down he threw him.

1598. Shakspeare, Merchant of Venice, i. 3. If I can catch him once upon the hip. I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.

1605. Marston, Dutch Courtezan. iii., 1. He said he had you a the hyp.

1617. Andrewes, Sermons (‘Library of Ang.-Cath. Theology’), Vol. IV., p. 365. If he have us at the advantage, on the hip as we say, it is no great matter then to get service at our hands.

1635. D. Dike, Michael and the Dragon, in Wks., p. 328. The Divell hath them on the hip, he may easily bring them to anything.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Upon the Hip ... at an Advantage in Wrestling, or Business.

1697. Vanbrugh, Relapse, iv., 1. My lord, she has had him upon the hip these seven years.

1812. Johnson, Eng. Dict. Hip, s.v., A low phrase.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 226. ‘Ha! ha! I have you on the hip now, my master,’ shouted Peter.

Hipe, subs. (wrestling).—A throw over the hip. Hence Hipe, verb = to get across the hip before the throw.

Hip-hop, verb (old).—To skip or move on one leg; to hop. ‘A cant word framed by the reduplication of hop.’—Johnson, 1812.

1670–1729. Congreve [Quoted in Johnson’s Eng. Dict.]. Like Volscius hip-hop in a single boot.

Hip-inside, subs. (thieves’).—An inner pocket. Hip-outside = an outer ditto.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant (3rd Ed.), p. 445, s.v.

Hipped (or Hippish), adj. (common).—Bored; melancholical; out of sorts. [From hypochondria.]

1710. Gay, Wine in Wks. (1811) p. 348. By cares depress’d, in pensive hippish mood.

1712. Spectator, No. 284. I cannot forbear writing to you, to tell you I have been to the last degree hipped since I saw you.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Babes in the Wood.’ The wicked old Uncle, they say, In spite of his riot and revel, Was hippish and qualmish all day, And dreamt all night long of the devil.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. III., ch. x. ‘You are a little hipped, dear fellow,’ said Eugene; ‘you have been too sedentary. Come and enjoy the pleasures of the chase.’

Hippen, subs. (Scots’: colloquial).—A baby’s napkin (i.e., hipping cloth). Also (theatrical), the green curtain.

Hiren, subs. (old).—1. A prostitute. [A corruption of ‘Irene,’ the heroine in Poole’s play: see quot. 1584.] For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1584. Poole, The Turkish Mahomet and Hyren the Fair Greek. Note. In Italian called a courtezan; in Spaine a margarite; in English ... a punk.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., ii., 4. Have we not Hiren here?

1615. Adams, Spiritual Navigator. There be sirens in the sea of the world. Syrens? Hirens, as they are now called. What a number of these sirens [Hirens], cockatrices, courteghians, in plain English, harlots, swimme amongst us!

d. 1618. Sylvester, Trans. Du Bartas’ Week of Creation, ii., 2, pt. 3. Of charming sin the deep-inchaunting syrens, The snares of virtue, valour-softening hyrens.

2. (old).—A sword. Also a roaring bully; a fighting hector. [From Irene = the Goddess of Peace, a lucus a non lucendo.]

Hishee-hashee. See Soap-and-bullion.

His Nibs (or Nabs). See Nibs.

Hiss. The hiss, subs. phr. (Winchester College).—The signal of a master’s approach.

Historical- (Wrought, or Illustrated-) Shirt, subs. (old).—A shirt or shift worked or woven with pictures or texts.

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour; iv., 6. I wonder he speaks not of his wrought-shirt.

1639. Mayne, City Match, ii., 2. My smock sleeves have such holy imbroideries, And are so learned that I fear in time, All my apparel will be quoted by Some pure instructor.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Custom of the County, ii., 1. Having a mistress, sure you should not be Without a neat historical-shirt.

1848. Punch, XIV., 226. He never broke a bank, He shuns cross-barred trousers, His linen is not illustrated, but beautifully clean.

1851. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., 51. Colored, or illustrated shirts, as they are called, are especially objected to by the men.

1889. Puck’s Library, Apr., p. 12. Being an educated man, I feel ten thousand woes, Cavorting for the populace In illustrated clothes.

History of the Four Kings. See Four Kings.

Hit, subs. (common).—A success; e.g., To make a hit = to score; to profit; to excel.

1602. Marston, Antonio and Mellida. Induction. When use hath taught me action to hit the right point of a ladie’s part.

1700. Congreve, Way of the World, ii., 5. A hit, a hit! a palpable hit! I confess it.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, bk. I., ch. i. Teach me to make a hit of so Kean a quality that it may not only ‘tell,’ but be long remembered in the metropolis.

1822–36. Jno. Wilson, Noctes Amb., Wks. II., 210. Mr. Peel seems to have made a hit in the chief character of Shiel’s play, The Apostate.

1828–45. T. Hood, Poems, v., p. 197, (Ed. 1846). Nor yet did the heiress herself omit The arts that help to make a hit.

1870. Figaro, 10 June. To make a great hit is, after all, more a matter of chance than merit.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 3 July. Madam Melba makes an especial hit in the valse from Roméo et Juliette.

1889. Referee, 6 Jan. Quite a hit has been made by the clever juvenile, La Petite Bertoto.

Adj. (Old Bailey).—Convicted.

Hard-hit, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Sore beset; hard-up (q.v.). Also deep in love (or grief, or anger).

1890. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 7 Nov. It was pretty generally known that he had been hard hit during the season.

Verb (American).—To arrive at; to light upon.

1888. Detroit Free Press, Oct. Professor Rose, who hit this town last spring, is around calling us a fugitive from justice.

To hit it, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To attain an object; to light on a device; to guess a secret.

1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, iv., 1. Thou cans’t not hit it, hit it, hit it, Thou can’st not hit it, my good man.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, iii., 2. I can never hit one’s name.

1773. O. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer. Ecod, I have hit it. It’s here. Your hands. Yours and yours, my poor sulky! My boots there, ho! Meet me two hours hence at the bottom of the garden.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. lii. He dressed himself in ten minutes, and joined the party as they had finished their fish. ‘I am awfully sorry,’ he said, rushing up to his father, ‘but I thought that I should just hit it.’

To hit off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To agree together; to fit; to describe with accuracy and precision.

1857. A. Trollope, Barchester Towers, ch. xxxiv. It is not always the case that the master, or warden, or provost, or principal can hit it off exactly with his tutor. A tutor is by no means indisposed to have a will of his own.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. xxxvi. ‘One gentleman with another, you mean?’ ‘Put it so. It don’t quite hit it off, but put it so.’

1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society. ‘Sidelight,’ ch. xiv. ‘Hey!’ said Orford. ‘Didn’t you and he hit it off?’

1889. Daily News, 22 Oct., p. 5. The nations that quarrel are the nations that do not hit it off on some point of feeling or taste.

To hit the flat, verb. phr. (American cowboy).—To go out on the prairie.

To hit the pipe, verb. phr. (American).—To smoke opium.

To hit one where he lives, verb. phr. (American).—To touch in a tender part; to hurt the feelings; to touch on the raw (q.v.).

Hit (or struck) with, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Taken; enamoured; prepossessed. Also, hit up with.

1891. Tales from Town Topics. ‘Count Candawles,’ p. 28. She is very amusing, but the Count cannot be really hit with such a little mountebank.

Hit on the tail, verb. phr. (old venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

d. 1529. Skelton, Bowge of Courte. How oft he hit Jonet on the tayle.

Hit in the teeth, verb. phr. (old).—To reproach; to taunt; to fling in one’s face.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, ii., 6 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv., 431). They are always hitting me in the teeth with a man of my coat.

Hitch, verb (American).—1. To marry. Hitched = married.

1867. Browne, Artemus Ward’s Courtship, People’s ed., p. 23. If you mean getting hitched, I’m in.

1883. L. Oliphant, Altiora Peto, II., xxix., 156. ‘How long is it since we parted, Ned?’ ‘A matter of five years; and it wasn’t my fault if we didn’t stay hitched till now.’

1892. Tit-Bits, 17 Sept., p. 419, c. 1. ‘We’ve come to get hitched,’ said the man, bashfully.

2. (American).—To agree. Also to hitch horses.

To hitch one’s team to the fence, verb. phr. (American).—To settle down.

Hittite, subs. (pugilists’).—A prize fighter.

English synonyms.—Basher; bruiser; dukester; fistite; knight of the fist; gemman of the fancy; milling-cove; pug; puncher; scrapper; slasher; slogger; slugger; sparring-bloke.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hittites—boxers and ring-goers assembled.

1860. The Druid, Post and Paddock. ‘The Fight for the Belt.’ And the Sherwood Ranger, bold Bendigo, Is on training no more intent; But the trout full well that ex-Hittite know On a Summer’s eve in the Trent.

Hive, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. Cf. Honey. Hence, verbally, to hive it = to effect intromission.

Verb (American cadet).—To steal. For synonyms, see Prig.

To get hived, verb. phr. (American Cadets’ and popular).—1. To be caught out in a scrape. Also, to be hidden. To be hived perfectly frigid = to be caught in flagrante delicto.

Hiver, subs. (Western American).—A travelling bawd.

Hivite, subs. (school).—A student of St. Bees’ (Cumberland).

1865. John Bull, 11 Nov. To be a Hivite has long been considered a little worse than a ‘literate’.... Of the value of some St. Bees testimonials we may form an estimate, etc., etc.

Hoaky. By the hoaky, intj. (nautical).—A popular form of adjuration.

Hoax, subs. (old: now recognised).—A jest; a practical joke; a Take-in. Originally (Grose) University cant. [Probably from Hocus (q.v.).]

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd Ed.), s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hoaxing. Bantering, ridiculing. Hoaxing a quiz; joking an odd fellow.—University wit.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. iii. Whose humble efforts at jocularity were chiefly confined to what were then called bites and bams, since denominated hoaxes and quizzes.

1835–7. Richardson, Dict. Eng. Lang., s.v. Hoax. Malone considers the modern slang hoax as derived from hocus, and Archdeacon Nares agrees with him.

Verb. To play a practical joke; to ‘take-in’; to bite (q.v.). See subs. sense. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1812. Combe, Syntax, Picturesque, xix. An arch young sprig, a banker’s clerk, Resolv’d to hoax the rev’rend spark.

1854. F. E. Smedley, Harry Coverdale, ch. viii. I thought you were hoaxing us, and I sat down to play the duet for the amiable purpose of exposing your ignorance.

Hob (or Hobbinol), subs. (old).—A clown.—Grose.

Hob and Nob (or Hob Nob), verb. (old).—1. To invite to drink; to clink glasses.

1756. Foote, Englishman from Paris, i. With, perhaps, an occasional interruption of ‘Here’s to you, friends,’ ‘Hob or nob,’ ‘Your love and mine.’

1759. Townley, High Life Below Stairs, ii. Duke. Lady Charlotte, hob or nob. Lady Char. Done, my lord; in Burgundy, if you please.

1772. Graves, Spiritual Quixote, bk. VIII., ch. xxi. (new Ed., 1808). Having drunk hob or nob with a young lady in whose eyes he wished to appear a man of consequence, he hurried out into the summer-house.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hob nob—two persons pledging each other in a glass.

1836. Horace Smith, Tin Trumpet, ‘Address to a Mummy.’ Perchance that very hand now pinioned flat, Has hob-and-nobbed with Pharoah glass for glass.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xxx. He would have liked to hob and nob with celebrated pick-pockets, or drink a pot of ale with a company of burglars and cracksmen.

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 68. So the pair sat down and hob-a-nobbed.

2. (old).—To give or take; to hit or miss at random. [Saxon, habban, to have; nabban, not to have.]

1577–87. Holinshed, Chroncles of Englande, Scotlande, and Irelande (1807) p. 317. The citizens in their rage shot habbe or nabbe (hit or miss) at random.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, iii., 4. Hob-nob is his word, give ’t or take ’t.

1615. Harington, Epigrams, iv. Not of Jack Straw, with his rebellious crew, That set king, realm, and laws, at hab or nab.

1673. Quack Astrologer. He writes of the weather hab nab, and as the toy takes him, chequers the year with foul and fair.

3. (colloquial).—To be on terms of close intimacy; to consort familiarly together.

1870. Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad, ch. i. They were to hob-nob with nobility and hold friendly converse with kings and princes.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 109. I had hob-nobbed for the last two hours with the most notorious bushranger in the colony.

1892. A. K. Green, Cynthia Wakeham’s Money, p. 5. Each tree looks like a spectre hob-nobbing with its neighbour.

Hobbes’s-voyage, subs. (old).—A leap in the dark.

1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, v., 6. So, now, I am in for Hobbes’s voyage; a great leap in the dark.

Hobbinol, subs. (old).—A countryman. For synonyms, see Joskin.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, ii., 3 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv., 396). Who, Master Jeffrey? Hobbinol the second! By this life, ’tis a very veal, and licks his nose like one.

Hobble. In a hobble (or Hobbled), adv. phr. (colloquial).—In trouble; hampered; puzzled. Also (thieves), committed for trial. Fr., tomber dans la mélasse (= to come a cropper), and faitré (= booked (q.v.)). Hobbled upon the legs = transported, or on the hulks.

1777. Foote, Trip to Calais (1795), ii., p. 39. But take care what you say! you see what a hobble we had like to have got into.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 163. A term when any of the gang is taken up and committed for trial, to say, such a one is hobbled.

1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestie, iii., 5. Horatio, I am sorry for this squabble; I fear ’twill get me in a precious hobble.

1819. Vaux, Cant. Dict., s.v. Hobbled, taken up, or in custody; to hobble a plant, is to spring it.

1838. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 2nd S., ch. xvii. A body has to be cautious if he don’t want to get into the centre of a hobble.

1849. Punch, Fortune-Tellers’ Almanack. To dream that you are lame is a token that you will get into a hobble.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 44. I got into a ’obble.

Verb (venery).—See quot.

1688. Sempill, ‘Crissell Sandilands’ in Bannatyne MSS. (Hunterian Club, 1879–88), p. 354, lines 21–2. Had scho bene undir, and he hobland above, That were a perellous play for to suspect them.

Hobbledehoy, subs. (old, now colloquial).—A growing gawk: as in the folk-rhyme, ‘Hobbledehoy, neither man nor boy.’ [For derivation, see Notes and Queries, 1 S., v., 468, vii., 572; 4 S., ii., 297, viii., 451, ix., 147; 7 S., iv., 523, and v., 58.]

1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 60, st 3, p. 138 (E. D. S.). The first seuen yeers bring vp as a childe, The next to learning, for waxing too wilde. The next keepe vnder sir hobbard de hoy, The next a man no longer a boy.

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial 1. Why, he is a mere hobbledehoy, neither a man nor a boy.

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

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Aunt Fanny.’ At the epoch I speak about, I was between a man and a boy, A hobble-de-hoy, A fat, little, punchy concern of sixteen.

1848. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. iv. He remembered perfectly well being thrashed by Joseph Sedley, when the latter was a big, swaggering, hobbadyhoy, and George an impudent urchin of ten years old.

Hence Hobbledehoyish and Hobbledehoyhood.

1812. Colman, Poetical Vagaries, p. 12 (2nd Ed.). When Master Daw full fourteen years had told, He grew, as it is term’d, hobbedyhoyish; For Cupidons and Fairies much too old, For Calibans and Devils much too boyish.

1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots, Apr. From boyhood until hobbadyhoyhood (which I take to be about the sixteenth year of the life of a young man).

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xlii. A half-grown, or hobbadehoyish footman, so to speak, walked after them.

Hobbledejee, subs. (old).—A pace between a walk and a run; a jog-trot.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Hobbler, subs. (nautical).—A coast-man, half smuggler, half handyman; an unlicensed pilot. Also a landsman acting as tow-Jack.—Smyth. Also (Isle of Man), a boatman.

1887. T. E. Brown, The Doctor, p. 226. An’ the hobblers there was terr’ble divarted.

Hobby, subs. (old).—A hackney; a horse in common use.

1606. Return from Parnassus, ii., 6 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ix., 151). An’t please you, your hobby will meet you at the lane’s end. Idem (p. 154). Is not my master an absolute villain that loves his hawk, his hobby, and his greyhound more than any mortal creature? Idem (p. 145). Sirrah, boy, hath the groom saddled my hunting hobby?

2. (university).—A translation. To ride hobbies = to use Cribs (q.v.).

Sir Posthumous Hobby, subs. phr. (old).—One nice or whimsical in his clothes.

Hobby-horse, subs. (old: now recognised).—1. A whim; a fancy; a favourite pursuit. Hence Hobbyhorsical = strongly attached to a particular fad.

1759. Sterne, Tristram Shandy (1793), ch. vii., p. 18. Have they not had their hobby-horses?

d. 1768. Sterne, Letters (1793), letter 19, p. 65. ’Tis in fact my hobby-horse.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hobby Horse, a man’s favourite amusement, or study, is called his hobby horse.

1893. Westminster Gaz., 15 Mar., p. 9, c. 1. We quarrel a bit—he is so hobby-horsical, you can’t avoid it—and then we make friends again.

2. (colloquial).—A rantipole girl; a wench; a wanton.

1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, iii., 1. Call’st thou my love hobby-horse? Moth. No, master; the hobby-horse is but a colt, and your love, perhaps a hackney.

1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, 1., 2. They say my wife’s a hobby-horse.

3. (old).—A witless and unmannerly lout.

1609. Jonson, Epicœne, iv., 2. Daw. Here be in presence have tasted of her favors. Cler. What a neighing hobby-horse is this!

Verb (old).—To romp.

Hob-collingwood, subs. phr. (North Country).—The four of hearts, considered an unlucky card.

Hob-jobber, subs. (streets).—A man or boy on the look out for small jobs—holding horses, carrying parcels, and the like.

Hob-nail, subs. (old).—A countryman. For synonyms, see Joskin.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Women Pleased, ii., 6. The hob-nail thy husband’s as fitly out o’ th’ way now.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hobnail, a country clodhopper, from the shoes of country farmers and ploughmen being commonly stuck full of hobnails, and even often clouted, or tipped with iron.

Hobnailed, adj. (colloquial).—Boorish; clumsy; coarse; ill-done.

1599. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour. Sog. A wretched hobnailed chuff.

Hobson’s-choice, subs. (common).—That or none: i.e., there is no alternative. [Popularly derived from the name of a Cambridge livery stable keeper, whose rule was that each customer must take the horse next the door, or have no horse at all. That old Hobson existed is clear from Milton’s epitaph, but Bellenden Ker (Archæology of Popular Phrases) affirms the story to be a Cambridge hoax, and maintains the proverb to be identical in sound and sense as the Low Saxon, Op soens schie ho eysche = when he had a kiss he wanted something else.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hobson’s Choice, that or None.

1710. Ward, England’s Reformation, ch. iv. ’Tis Hobson’s Choice, take that or none.

1712. Steele, Spectator, No. 509, p. 191. I shall conclude this discourse with an explanation of a proverb [Hobson’s choice], which by vulgar error is taken and used when a man is reduced to an extremity, whereas the propriety of the maxim is to use it when you would say there is plenty, but you must make such a choice as not to hurt another who is to come after you. Ibid. He [Hobson] kept a stable of forty good cattle, always ready and fit for travelling; but when a man came for a horse he was led into the stable, where there was great choice, but was obliged to take the horse which stood nearest to the stable-door; so that every customer was alike well served, according to his chance, and every horse ridden with the same justice.

1717. Cibber, Non-Juror, i. Can any woman think herself happy that’s obliged to marry only with a Hobson’s choice?

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1820. Reynolds [Peter Corcoran], The Fancy. Black men now are Hobson’s choice.

1851. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, ch. liii. ‘When shall we go?’ inquired Laura. ‘Why, it’s a case of Hobson’s choice,’ returned Leicester.

1854. Notes and Queries, 21 Jan., p. 51. It was clear a choice had been given to him, but it was a Hobson’s choice.

Hock, subs. (American).—1. The last card in the dealer’s box at faro. [From soda (q.v.) to hock = from beginning to end.]

2. In. pl. (common).—The feet. Curby hocks = clumsy feet. For synonyms, see Creepers. [From the stable.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hocks ... you have left the marks of your dirty hocks on my clean stairs.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Old hock, subs. phr. (common).—Stale beer; swipes (q.v.). See Hockey.

In hock, adv. phr. (general).—Laid by the heels; fleeced; bested (q.v.).; and (thieves’), in prison.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. ‘If the cove should be caught in the hock he won’t snickle,’ if the fellow should be caught in the act, he would not tell.

Hock-dockies, subs. (old).—Shoes. For synonyms, see Trotter-cases.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 173. Shoes. Hockey-dockeys.

Hockey, adj. (old).—Drunk, especially on stale beer. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd Ed.), s.v.

Hocus, subs. (old: now recognised).—1. A cheat; an imposter. [An abbreviation of hocus-pocus (q.v.).]

1654. Witts Recreations. Here Hocas lyes with his tricks and his knocks, Whom death hath made sure as a juglers box; Who many hath cozen’d by his leiger-demain, Is presto convey’d and here underlain. Thus Hocas he’s here, and here he is not, While death plaid the Hocas, and brought him to th’ pot.

2. (old: now recognised).—Drugged liquor.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hocus or Hocus Pocus.... A deleterious drug mixed with wine, etc., which enfeebles the person acted upon.

Adj. (old).—See quots. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1725. New. Cant. Dict., s.v. Hocus, disguised in Liquor; drunk.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hocus Pocus, he is quite hocus, he is quite drunk.

Verb (old: now recognised).—1. To cheat; to impose upon.

2. (old: now recognised).—To drug; to snuff (q.v.).

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xiii., p. 104. ‘What do you mean by hocussing brandy and water?’ inquired Mr. Pickwick. ‘Puttin’ laund’num in it,’ replied Sam.

1836. Comic Almanack, p. 1. For that we hocuss’d first his drink.

1848. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, II., ch. xxix. Mr. Frederick Pigeon avers that it was at her house at Lausanne that he was hocussed at supper and lost eight hundred pounds to Major Loder and the Honourable Mr. Deucease.

1854. De Quincey, Murder as one of the Fine Arts, Wks., xiii., 119. Him they intended to disable by a trick then newly introduced amongst robbers, and termed hocussing, i.e., clandestinely drugging the liquor of the victim with laudanum.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hocus ... ‘Hocus the bloke’s lush, and then frisk his sacks,’ put something into the fellow’s drink that will stupify him, and then search his pockets.

1859. The Bulletin, 21 May. An offence which goes by the name of hocussing, and which consists of an evil doer furtively introducing laudanum or some other narcotic into beer or spirits, which the victim drinks and, becoming stupified thereby, is then easily robbed.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. II., ch. xii. I will not say a hocussed wine, but fur from a wine as was ’elthy for the mind.

Hocus-pocus, subs. (old: now recognised).—1. A juggler’s phrase. Hence a juggler’s (or impostor’s) stock in trade. Also Hocus-trade.

1639–61. Rump Songs. ‘Vanity of Vanities.’ A hocus-pocus, juggling Knight.

1639–61. Rump Songs, ii., 156. ‘The Rump Ululant.’ Religion we made free of hocus trade.

1646. Randolph, Jealous Lovers, If I do not think women were got with riddling, whip me! Hocas Pocas, here you shall have me, and there you shall have me.

1654. Gayton, Test. Notes Don. Quix., 46. This old fellow had not the Hocas Pocas of Astrology.

1675. Wycherley, Country Wife, iii., 2. That burlesque is a hocus-pocus trick they have got.

d. 1680. Butler, Remains (1759), ii., 122. With a little heaving and straining, would turn it into Latin, as Mille hoco-pokiana, and a thousand such.

1689. Marvell, Historical Poem, line 90. With hocus-pocus.... They gain on tender consciences at night.

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