Slang and its analogues past and present, volume 4 [of 7] (part 2 of 3)

Slang and its analogues past and present, volume 4 [of 7] (part 2 of 3)

1883. Saturday Review, 10 Nov., p. 614. ‘In Melbourne the larrikin element is becoming a danger and a nuisance to decent people.’

Larrikinism, subs. (Australian).—See quot.

1884. Sala, Echoes of the Week, in Illus. Lond. News, 4 April. ‘From the Australian Club, Cambridge, yet another correspondent writes: ‘Larrikinism’ is a purposeless, destructive rowdyism, which finds expression, from my own experience, in knocking off the heads of statues in a mason’s yard, and knocking out the eyes of Chinamen with a shanghai (anglicè, catapult).’

Larrup, subs. (colloquial).—To flog. Fr. coller du rototo.

1824. Peake, Americans Abroad, i. x. I’ll larrup you till you can’t stand, if you hang chattering and stickling behind after this fashion.

1841. Punch, 17 July, p. 5. ‘Toby,’ says she, ‘go and see the old gentleman; perhaps it might comfort him to larrup you a little’

1847. Lytton, Lucretia, ii. xx. ‘I wanted sum un to take care of the childern, so I takes Peg into the ’ouse. But Lor! how she larrupped ’em—she has a cruel heart.’

1854. Dickens, Hard Times, v. ‘There was no rope-dancing for me! I danced on the bare ground, and was larruped with the rope.’ Ibid. He tries to coax her into the stall to larrup her.

1867. Smythe, Sailor’s Word Book, s.v. Larrup, An old word, meaning to beat a rope’s end, strap, or colt.

Larruping, subs. (colloquial).—A thrashing. Fr. la schlague.

1844. Peake, Court and City, i. 3. I’ve a great mind to give you a good larrupping in the open park!

1860. Punch, xxxix. p. 181. Ain’t a cove just a larrupin’ his wife up the court.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xxi. ‘Your father’ll give you a fine larrupin’ if he comes home and there’s that cow lost.’

Larry Dugan’s Eye-water, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Larry Dugan’s Eye-water, blacking. Larry Dugan was a famous shoe-black at Dublin.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

Lash, verb. (Blue Coat School).—To envy. Usually used in the imperative as a taunt.—Blanch (1877).

Lashings (or Lashins), subs. (common).—Plenty; abundance. Also lashin’s and lavin’s—plenty and to spare.

1841. Lever, Charles O’Mallye, lxvii. I’d as soon be myself as Lord Mayor, With lashings of drink on the table.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairlegh, ch. xxii. ‘A taste for, that is, an unbounded admiration of, the sublime and beautiful, as exemplified under the form of—’ ‘Rum punch, and lashings of it,’ chimed in Archer.

1855. Thackeray, Lyra Hibernica, ‘Mr. Malony’s Account of the Ball.’ A rare buffet before them set Where lashins of good dhrink there was.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 18. Men patter in pubs about Jack, over lashing o’ lugs.

Lask, subs. (old).—See quot.

1621. Burton, Anatomy (ed. 1893), i. 304. A grave and learned Minister, and an ordinary Preacher ... was (one day as he walked in the fields for his recreation) suddenly taken with a lask or looseness, and thereupon compelled to retire to the next ditch.

Lass in a red petticoat, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1767. Ray, Proverbs (ed. 1893), 59. The lass in the red petticoat shall pay for all ... meaning a wife with a good portion.

Last compliment, subs. phr. (common).—1. Burial.

1780. Lee, Chapter of Accidents, i. 2. Lord G. Why, then, does not Hardy bring her up to you? Gov. H. Why, for two very sufficient reasons. In the first place, that identical parson paid him the last compliment—that is, buried him a twelvemonth ago.

2. (venery).—The sexual embrace. Also last favour.

1694. Crowne, Married Beau, ii. I own common favours; that’s no matter, But if she ever grants me the last favour,—I give her leave to cast me off for ever.

Last-feather, subs. (old.)—The latest fashion.

1607. The Puritan, ii. 1. A fine gallant Knight of the least feather.

Latch, verb. (old).—To let in.—New Cant. Dict. (1725); Grose (1785) and Lex. Bal. (1811).

Latch-drawer, subs. (old).—A thief who stole into houses by drawing the latch.

1362. Langland, Piers Plowman, p. 143. Thank lyers and latche-drawers and tolleres knocke, Let hem abyde tyl the bord be drawe.

Latch-pan, subs. (common).—The under-lip: to hang one’s latch-pan = to pout; to be sulky.

Late-play, subs. (Westminster School).—A half-holiday or holiday beginning at noon.

Lath-and-plaster, subs. (rhyming).—A master.

Lather, subs. (venery).—The sexual secretion, male and female. Cf. letch-water. Hence, lather-maker = the female pudendum. For synonyms see Cream.

Verb. (common).—To beat; to thrash. Also leather (q.v.).

1849. Punch’s Almanack. To dream of soap betokens a combat in which you may expect to get lathered.

Lathy, adj. (colloquial).—Thin.

1748. West, Abuse of Travelling. The which he tossed to and fro amain, And eft his lathy falchion brandished.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lathy ... a lathy wench, a girl almost as slender as a lath.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

1858. B. Taylor, Northern Travel, 204. A lathy young man ... was struggling ... to right himself.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Latitat, subs. (old).—An attorney.—Grose (1785); Lex. Bal. (1811); Matsell (1859). [From an obsolete form of writ].

1771. Foote, Maid of Bath, i. I will send for Luke latitat and Codicil, and make a handsome bequest to the hospital.

Latter-end, subs. (common).—The breech. For synonyms see Monocular Eyeglass.

Lattice. See Red lattice.

Latty. See Letty.

Laugh. To laugh on the wrong (or other) side of one’s mouth (or face), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To cry.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Laugh.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Laugh.

1826. Buckstone, Death Fetch, i. 4. Snapsch. (Aside.) And have a pretty family of them about my ears the first time I’m left alone in the dark, who would soon make me laugh on the other side of my mouth, I fancy.

1837. Carlyle, Diamond Necklace, iii. By and bye thou wilt laugh on the wrong side of thy face.

Launch, subs. (old).—A lying-in; bust-up; explosion.—Grose (1823).

Verb. (old: public school).—See quot.

1865. G. J. Berkeley, My Life, etc., i. 129. I had [at Sandhurst about 1815] to undergo the usual torments of being launched, that is having my bed reversed while I was asleep; of being thrown on the floor on my face, with the mattress on my back and all my friends or foes dancing on my prostrate body.

Laundress, subs. (old).—1. A bed maker in chambers; and hence (2) a smock servant (q.v.).

1611. Barry, Ram Alley [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), x. 275]. She is my laundress, And by this light, no puisne Inn-a-Court But keeps a laundress at his command To do him service.

1614. Breton, I would &c. [Grosart (1879), i. s. 9. st. 61]. Some odde ladde or landress find me out.

1621. Burton, Anatomy, ed. 1893, i. Thou shalt have (Tamerlane-like) Kings to draw thy coach, Queens to be thy laundresses, Emperors thy footstools.

1636. Davenant, Platonic Lovers, iii. 1. He ... Commits Idolatry to Euery laundress in the house.

1639. Mayne, City Match, ii. 3. From country madams to your glover’s wife, Or laundress.

Laurence. See Lusty Laurence.

Lavender. To lay (or put) in lavender, verb. phr. (common).—1. To lay up or put aside carefully; as linen among lavender. Hence (1) to pawn; (2) to leave in lodging for debt; (3) to hide from the police; and (4) on the turf, to be ill or out of the way.

1592. Greene, Quip, in Harl. Misc., v. 405. But the poore gentleman paies so deere for the lavender it is laid up in, that if it lie long at a broker’s house, he seems to buy his apparell twice.

1593. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. To lay to pawne, as we say, to lay in lavender.

b. 1593. Six Old Plays (on which Shakspeare founded his Measure for Measure etc. 1779. i.), 186. Sander. The ostler will not let me have him, you owe tenpence for his meate, and sixpence for stuffing my mistriss saddle. Fer. Here, villaine, goe pay him strait. Sander. Shall I give them another pecke of lavender? Fer. Out, slave, and bring them presently to the dore.

1599. Jonson, Every Man out of His Humour, iii. 3. And a black sattin suit of his own to go before her in; which suit (for the more sweet’ning) now lies in lavender.

1605. Chapman, Jonson etc., Eastward Hoe (Dodsley, Old Plays, iv. 279), v. 1. Good faith, rather than thou shouldst pawn a rag more, I’ll lay my ladyship in lavender, if I knew where.

1628. Earle, Micr., Char. 2d. He takes on against the pope without mercy, and has a jest still in lavender for Bellarmine.

1655. Cotgrave, Eng. Treas., p. 34 [Nares]. A broaker is a city pestilence, A moth that eats up gowns, doublets, and hose, One that with bills loads smocks and shirts together, To Hymen close adultery and upon them Strews lavender so strongly that the owners Dare never smell them after.

d. 1673. Brathwaite, Strappado for the Devil, p. 154. ‘Upon a Poet’s Palfrey lying in lavender, for the discharge of his Provender.’ [Title of Epigram].

1684. R. Head, Proteus Redivivus, 255. These men, who have laid up their estates in lavender, that they may the more freely follow their Recreations.

1686. Twelve Ingenious Characters [Nares]. Hither all sorts of garments resort in pilgrimage, whilst he playing the pimp, lodges the tabby petticoat and russet breeches together in the same bed of lavender.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Layd up in lavender, when any Cloaths or other Moveables are pawn’d or dipt for present Money; also Rods in Pickle, or Revenge in reserve, till an opportunity offers to show it.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1772. Coles, Eng.-Lat. Dict., s.v. ... To lay in lavender, pignori opponere.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, xxii. ‘The Marshalsea!... What of the Marshalsea?’ ‘Why, sir,’ said the man, ‘the poor gentleman is laid up there in lavender.’

1830. W. T. Moncrieff, The Heart of London, ii. 1. You have had a decent swing of it the last twelvemonth, while your pals have been laid up in lavender.

Lavender-cove, subs. (common).—A pawnbroker; uncle (q.v.).—Matsell (1859).

Law, subs. (old sporting: now recognised).—A time allowance: hence a preliminary notice; a chance of escape.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

1847. Shirley Brooks, The Wigwam, i. Min. Ow—ow—don’t—don’t! Give us ten yards’ law—ow—[He runs off].

1855. Philol. Trans., p. 279. In making a running match one boy is said to give as many yards’ law as he allows his competitor to be in advance.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Law. Give the cove law, give the fellow a chance to escape.

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Times, xxii. ‘Calvert’s very late; but I suppose we must give him a few minutes’ more law!’

To stab the law, verb. phr. (American).—To rail against authority.

1888. Nevada City Journal, Feb. These speakers were as violent as ever, and gave no evidence of having relinquished their favorite plan of stabbing the law.

Lawful Blanket (or Jam), subs. phr. (common).—A wife. For synonyms see Dutch.—Lex. Bal. (1811); Grose (1823).

1887. Henley, Villon’s Good-Night. Gay grass-widows and lawful jam.

Lawful Pictures, subs. phr. (old).—Money. See King’s Pictures.

1607. The Puritan, iii. 4. At this instant I have no lawful picture about me.

Lawk! (or Lawks!) intj. (colloquial).—An exclamation of surprise.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxix. Lawk, Mr. Weller ... how you do frighten me.

d. 1845. Hood, Lost Heir [Century]. Lawk, help me, I don’t know where to look.

1860. G. Eliot, Mill on the Floss, Bk. 1. ch. vii. ‘Lawks! what have you been a-doing? I niver see such a fright.’

1886. Baring-Gould, Golden Feather, p. 27 (S.P.C.K.). ‘Going to remain here?’ he asked. ‘Lawk, no! only come over with the ’oss,’ replied Joe Marriage.

1886. Pioneer (N.Y.), Oct. ‘Lawks!’ exclaimed Mrs. Partington.

Lawful time, subs. (Winchester College).—Recess; playtime.

Lawn, subs. (colloquial).—A handkerchief.—Grose (1823).

The lawn, subs. (racing).—The lawn on the course at Ascot: cf. House; Lane, etc.

Lawrie (or Laurie), subs. (old Scots’).—A fox.

1567–83. Sempill, Tulchene Bishop, line 8. Ane lewrand laurie lickerous.

Lawyer. High (or Highway) Lawyer, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A mounted robber or highwayman. See also Scripper, Oke, Martin, and Stooping.

1592. Greene, Groats worth of Wit (ed. Dyce), Int. p. xxix. The legerdemains of ... high lawyers.

1608. Dekker, Belman of London [Grosart (1885), iii. 151]. The thiefe that commits the robbery, and is cheife clerke to Saint Nicholas, is called the High Lawyer.

Lay, subs. (old).—1. A pursuit; a scheme; a device; a lurk.

Also in combination, Kinchin-lay, (q.v.); avoirdupois-lay (q.v.); ken-crack-lay = house-breaking; fancy-lay = pugilism.

English synonyms. Dodge; game; huff; job; knack; lay-out; line; lurk; lug; move; outfit; racket; shake; show; swim.

French synonyms. La balle (thieves’: also secret); un truc (popular: any kind of small trade: le truc = thieving; le grand truc = murder; des trucs = things. From Provençal tric = deceit); le pêgrage or pégrasse (thieves’): le grinchissage (thieves’: specifically theft).

Spanish synonyms. Alicantina (= stratagem); amaño (= intrigue); andromina (also = trick or fraud); barrabasada (also = plot or intrigue); brega (also = pun or jest); engañifa (also = catch-penny); gatada (also = scurvy trick); pega or pegata (also = imposition).

c. 1520. Boke of Mayd Emlyn, in Rimbault, Antient Poetical Tracts (Percy Society, 1841), 25. 6. For he used his playce—With maydens, wyves or nonnes; None amysse to him comes, Lyke they be of layes.

1647. Beaumont & Fletcher, Bonduca, i. 2. I have found you Your lays, and out-leaps.

1703. Farquhar, Inconstant, i. 1. We fancy he must have something extraordinary about him to please us, and that we have something engaging about us to secure him; so we can’t be quiet, till we put our selves upon the lay of being both disappointed.

1706. Burton, Hist. of the Reign of Queen Anne (1880), Vol. ii. p. 159. After having reconnoitred it [Alicant], I would have given something to have been off of the lay, having found it quite another sort of a place than what it was represented to me to be.

1713. Wodrow, Analecta (Maitland Club), ii. 357. He an’ the Treasurer have been at much pains to break steele off the lay he is upon.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Lay, an Enterprise, or Attempt; To be sick of the Lay, To be tir’d in waiting for an opportunity to effect their Purposes. Also an Hazard or Chance; as, He stands a queer Lay; He stands an odd Chance, or is in great Danger.

1779. R. Cumberland, Wheel of Fortune, iii. 2. Livery Serv. No offence to you, Mr. Weazel, but we would fain know what lay we are to be upon; and whether the strange gentleman will be agreeable to allow us for bags, canes, and nosegays.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 36. We who’re of the Fancy-lay, As dead hands at a mill as they.

1836. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xliii. The lay is just to take that money away.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, He’s not to be found on his old lay.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Lay, A particular kind of rascality, trade or profession.... What’s the cove’s lay? Why ... he’s on the ken-crack [lay]—housebreaking.

1862. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xli. One on ’em plays the bagpipes with a bellus against the waterbutt of a Sunday evening when they’re off the lay.

1865. Daily Review, Feb. Captain Corbett said the vessel was going on the same lay that the Alabama had gone. I afterwards went back in the Laurel to Teneriffe.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, iii. p. 144. His peculiar lay or line of business, which always brought him into trouble, was the stealing of pewter pots.

1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, 82. Blakey’s found out as you’ve got respectable relations as wouldn’t like to see your name in the papers, and he’s goin’ to ’ave a new lay on.

1889. Answers, 27 July, p. 136, col. 2. The secret marks have considerable significance. They briefly tell the begging-letter writer what sort of lay to come for. Each charitable person has his, or her, particular soft spot, and it is this which the begging-letter writer endeavours to ascertain.

1892. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads, ‘The Widow’s Party.’ Out with the rest on a picnic lay.

1895. H. B. Marriott Watson, in New Review, July, p. 2. For it was his aim to stand in security somewhere half-way ’twixt us fellows and the Law, and squeeze the both; and but that he had the lives of scores upon his tongue, and was very useful withal at a pinch, both to us on the lay and to the traps, he would have been hanged or pistolled for his pains long since.

2. (common).—A wager.

1591. Greene, Second Part Conny-catching, in Works, vol. x. p. 83. These fellows will refuse no lay if the ods may grow to their aduantage.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, ii. 8. My fortunes to any lay worth naming.

1606. John Day, Ile of Guls, ii. 5, p. 57. Lis. Badd’s the best. I winne her for ten crownes; and there they be. Vist. I take your lay.

1630. Massinger, Renegado, iii. 4. It is an even lay, but that you had A courtier to your father.

1672. Lacy, Old Troop, v. 1. It’s an even lay whether this farce be a comedy or a tragedy.

1735. Oldys, Life of Sir W. Raleigh. Looked upon it as an uneven lay to stake himself against Sir Amias.

3. (old).—A quantity.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 49. We had a weighty lay of them that same evening.

4. (old).—Goods.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 8. Flash-kanes where I might fence my snib’d lays.

5. (American).—See quot.

1883. George, Progress and Poverty, Bk. 1. ch. iii. On American whaling ships the custom is not to pay fixed wages, but a lay, or proportion of the catch, which varies from a sixteenth to a twelfth to the captain down to a three-hundredth to the cabin-boy.

Verb. (colloquial).—1. To wager. To lay one’s shirt = to stake one’s all.

English synonyms. To lump on; to plank down; to do a flutter; to wire; to slant; to snap; to tot.

c. 1563. Jacke Jugeler, p. 73 [ed. Grosart]. I durst ... a wager laye That thou laiest downe and sleppest by the waie.

1591. Greene, Second Part Conny-catching [Grosart, vol. x. p. 84]. I take six to one saies the Gripe, I lay it saies the Vincent, and so they make a bet.

1597–8. Munday and Chettle, Playe of Robin Hode. ‘I will lai with the Litel John, twenti pound so read.’

1601. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, iii. 4. Fab. Come, let’s see the event. Sir To. I dare lay any money ’twill be nothing yet.

1751. Fielding, Amelia, Bk. x. ch. v. ‘If the knowing ones were here, they would lay odds of our side.’

1754. Martin, Eng. Dict., s.v. 2nd ed.

1844. Morris, Lyra Urbanica [N. & Q., 7 S. vi. 40]. His father allows him two hundred a year And he’ll lay you a thousand to ten.

1851. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, xxxiii. ‘Your sister’s been five minutes already, and I’d lay a bet we don’t see her for five more.’

1864. Derby Day, p. 50. Now I’ll bet the Littl’un would pay delicate attention to anyone who might come unawares into the stable without any right to do so. I’ll lay you an even pony, he’d help ’em out of the door in a manner more forcible than pleasant.

1892. Anstey, Voces Populi, p. 72. I’ll lay you can’t knock a rabbit down.

2. (old).—To watch; to search; to lie in wait. On the lay = on the alert; at work. Also to lay for and to lay by.

1603. Knolles, Hist. of the Turkes [Enc. Dict.]. He embarked, being hardly laid for at sea.

1605. Marston, Jonson & Chapman, Eastward Hoe, iv. 1. To. Where are they? Let’s go presently and lay for them. Go. I have done that already, sir, both by constables and other officers.

1608. Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, i. 2. I have been laying all the town for thee.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Lay ... also on the look out; watching for something to steal.

1884. M. Twain, Huck. Finn, v. 32. ‘I’ll lay for you, my smarty; and if I catch you about that school I’ll tan you good.’

To lay about, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To strike on all sides; to fight vigorously.

To lay at, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To attempt to strike; to aim a blow.

To lay by the heels, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To put in prison or the stocks: see Heels.

To lay down, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To play cards.

To lay down one’s knife and fork, verb. phr. (common).—To die; to go aloft (q.v.); to hop the twig (q.v.).

1888. All the Year Round, 9 June, p. 543. To ‘hop the twig’, to ‘peg out’, to lay down one’s knife and fork, & the like [phrases for dying], are more flippant than humorous.

To lay a duck’s egg, verb. phr. (common).—See Duck’s Egg and Crocketts.

To lay in, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To attack with vigor.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, vii. The eggs and bacon, my word! how Jim did lay in.

To lay in one’s dish, verb. phr. (old).—To object a thing to a person; to make an accusation against him.

1615. Sir John Harrington, Epigrams, i. 27. Last night you lay it, madam, in our dish, How that a maid of ours (whom we must check) Had broke your bitches leg.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, I. iii. 209. Think’st thou ’twill not be laid i’ th’ dish, Thou turn’dst thy back? quoth Echo, pish.

To lay into, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To thrash.

1838. D. Jerrold, Men of Character, xiii. I shall be very happy ... to go and hold the door while you lay into the ruffian.

To lay it on (and superlatively, to lay it on thick) verb. phr. (colloquial).—To exceed—in speech, splendour, expense, charges, praise, etc.; to embroider (q.v.).

1560. Nice Wanton [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 167]. When they come home, Your mistress-ship would have me lay on.

1609–10. Shakspeare, Tempest, iii. 2. I would I could see this taborer: he lays it on.

1611. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, iv. 3. I cannot do ’t without counters. Let me see; what am I to do for our sheep-shearing feast? Three pounds of sugar; five pounds of currants;—rice—What will this sister of mine do with rice? But my father hath made her mistress of the feast, and she lays it on.

1821. Combe, Syntax, Wife, c. 1. That in the pulpit you’re a rare one, And lay it on, and never spare one.

1832–53. Whistle-Binkie (Sc. Songs), Ser. II. 68. He could lay on the cadge better than ony walleteer.

1891. Tit Bits, 15 Aug., p. 296, col. 1. Mr. Draper is compelled to lay it on thick.

To lay off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To give over.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 20 Oct. Then the Governor of Michigan had to embarrass me by proclaiming a state holiday of some brand or other, and my hired man said he guessed he’d have to lay off that day.

To lay oneself forth (or out), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To exert oneself rigorously and earnestly.

To lay oneself open, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To expose oneself.

To lay oneself out for, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be ready and willing to take part in anything.

To lay out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To get the better of; to disable (as with a blow); to kill; to cook one’s goose (q.v.).

2. (colloquial).—To intend; to purpose; to propose.

To lay over, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To excel.

1870. Bret Harte, Luck of Roaring Camp. A street that would lay over any street in Red Dog.

A good lay, subs. phr. (tailors’).—An economical method of cutting; anything beneficial.

Laycock. See Miss Laycock.

Layer, subs. (racing).—A bookmaker; a betting man.

Lay-out, subs. (American).—A company; an outfit (q.v.); a spread (q.v.).

1869. McClure, Rocky Mountains, 219. A most expensive lay-out.

Layover. See Lareover.

Laystall (Leystall, or Layston), subs. (old).—See quots.

1590. Spenser, Faerie Queene, 1. v. 53. Scarce could he groping find in that fowle way, For many corses like a great laystall lay, Of murdred men, which therein strowed lay.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Leystall, a Dunghill.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Laystall a dunghill on which the soil brought from necessary houses is emptied. Idem, 3rd ed., s.v. Laystall a dunghill about London, on which the soil brought from necessary houses is emptied; or in more technical terms where the old gold, collected at weddings by the Tom turd-man is stored.

Lay-up, subs. (common).—A drink; a go (q.v.).

1891. Newman, Scamping Tricks, 84. I would have given just then some one else’s gold-mines for a strong lay-up of something neat.

Lazy. Lazy as Ludlam’s (or David Laurence’s) Dog, phr. (old).—Excessively indolent; see quots. Also ‘Lazy as Joe the marine who laid down his musket to sneeze.’

1670. Ray, Proverbs, s.v.

1678. Cotton, Scarronides, Note. ’Tis a proverb, Ludlam’s dog leaned his head against a wall when he went to bark.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Lazy. As lazy as Ludlam’s dog who leaned against the wall to bark. As lazy as the tinker, who laid down his budget to f—t.

Lazy-bones, subs. (common).—1. A loafer; also Lazy-boots. Fr. une loche.

1593. Harvey, Pierces Superer. [Grosart (1885), ii. 283]. Was legierdemane a sloweworme, or viuacitie a lasie-bones.

1596. Nashe, Have With You etc. [Grosart (1885), iii. 62]. Tell me was euer ... Viuacitie a lazy-bones?

1626. Breton, Pasquil’s Madecapp [Grosart (1869), i. e, 12, 2. 31.]. Go tell the labourers, that the lazie bones That will not worke, must seeke the beggars gains.

1860. Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers, ch. xxxv. Like a lazy-boots as she is.

1877. Scribner’s Monthly, p. 526. Sharp at ten o’clock, snow-shoes are strapped on again, and Indian file homeward they go, some novices and lazy-bones walking home sans shoes by the road.

Lazy-Lawrence (or Larrence).—An incarnation of laziness. See quot.

1655. Prideaux, Readings in History [N. and Q. 7, S. xi. 212]. St. Lawrence suffered martyrdom about the middle of the third century, 250 to 260 a.c. A traditional tale has been handed down from age to age that at his execution he bore his torments without a writhe or groan, which caused some of those standing by to remark, ‘How great must be his faith!’ But his pagan executioner said, ‘It is not his faith, but his idleness; he is too lazy to turn himself.’

Lazy-man’s load, subs. (old).—See quot.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Lazy-man’s load. Lazy people frequently take up more than they can safely carry, to save the trouble of coming a second time.

Lazy-tongs, subs. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. An instrument like a pair of tongs for old or very fat people, to take anything off the ground without stooping.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

Lead, subs. (theatrical).—(1) A leading or principal part; (2) the person who plays it.

Friendly Lead, subs. (thieves’).—An entertainment—sing-song, dance, or drinking party—got up to assist a friend in trouble (q.v.). Fr. une bouline.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, vol. iii. p. 164. ‘We went to a public-house where they were having a lead, that is a collection for a friend who is ill, and the company throw down what they can for a subscription, and they have in a fiddle and make it social.’

1871. Daily Telegraph, 4 Dec. They distribute tickets for a friendly lead, for the benefit of Bill, who is ‘just out of his trouble.’

1889. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 5 Jan. The men frequently club together in a friendly lead to help a brother in distress.

1892. Ally Sloper, 2 Ap., p. 106, col. 3. My father takes the chair at friendly leads.

To lead apes in hell, verb. phr. (old).—The employment jocularly assigned to old maids in hell.

1575. Gascogne, Adv. Master F. J. [Hazlitt (1869), Poems, i. 463]. I am afrayde my marryage will be marred, and I may go lead apes in hell.

1581. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 87. Rather thou shouldest leade a lyfe to thine owne lyking in earthe, than ... leade apes in hell.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado etc., ii. 1. Therefore I will even take sixpence in earnest of the bear-herd, and lead his apes into hell.

1605. Lond. Prodigal, i. 2. ’Tis an old proverb, and you know it well, That women dying maids lead apes in hell.

1670. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 45]. Old maids lead apes in hell.

1717. Mrs. Centlivre, Bold Stroke, ii. 1. Poor girl; she must certainly lead apes, as the saying is.

1830. General P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), I. 198. Joining with other old women, in leading their apes in Tartarus.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Bloudie Jacke.’ So they say she is now leading apes ... below.

Leading Article, subs. phr. (common).—1. The nose. For synonyms see Conk.

1886. Chambers’s Journal, 3 July, p. 428. Men of note almost invariably possess decided and prominent leading articles, whilst an insufficient nasal accompaniment not unfrequently denotes inanity.

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

Leaf, subs. (American thieves’).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Leaf.... ‘I will be out in the leaf,’ ‘I will be out in the autumn.’

To go off with the fall of the leaf, verb. phr. (Irish).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Leaf, to go off with the fall of the leaf, to be hanged; criminals hanged in Dublin, being turned off from the outside of the prison, by the falling of a board, propped up, and moving on a hinge like the leaf of a table.

Leafless-tree, subs. (Old Cant).—The gallows. For synonyms see Nubbing Cheat. Fr. la sans-feuille.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford.... Oh! there never was life like the robber’s.... And its end—why, a cheer from the crowd below, And a leap from a leafless tree.

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

1720. Gay, Tales, ‘Work for a Cooper’. Her coats rose high, her master saw—I see—he cries—(then claspt her fast) The leak through which my wine has past.

Verb. (American thieves’).—1. To impart a secret.—Matsell (1859).

2. (old).—To make water.—Grose (1823). Hence to spring a leak = to piss.

Leaky, adj. (old).—See quots.

d. 1704. Lestrange [Century]. Women are so leaky that I have hardly met with one that could not hold her breath longer than she could keep a secret.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Leaky.... One who cannot keep a secret is said to be leaky.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

2. (old).—Incontinent of urine.

Lean, adj. (printers’).—Unremunerative; the reverse of fat (q.v.). Also as subs. = unprofitable work.

Lean-and-fat, subs. (rhyming).—A hat. For synonyms see Golgotha.

Lean-and-lurch, subs. (rhyming).—A church.

Lean-away, subs. (Australian).—A drunkard. For synonyms see Lushington.

Leap, verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride. Hence leap in the dark (or up a ladder) = the act of copulating; copulation. Also to do a leap.

1599. Shakspeare, King Henry V, v. ii. 145. If I could win a lady ... by vaulting into my saddle ... I should quickly leap into a wife.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado etc., v. 4. l. Bull Jove, Sir, had an amiable low, And some such strange bull leaped your father’s cow, And got a calf.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, iv. iii. (Cunningham, ii. 191). How now, Whit! close vapours! stealing your leaps! covering in a corner. Idem, idem, idem. Sayst thou so, filly? Thou shalt have a leap presently, I’ll horse thee myself else.

1623. Webster, Duchess of Malfi, ii. 5. Till I know who leaps my sister, I’ll not stir.

1662. Rump Songs, i. 289. And to their children’s credits and their wives, Be it still said, they leap fair for their lives.

1662. Wilson, The Cheats, v. 5. Your daughter has married a gentleman. It this not better than a Smithfield bargain—give me so much money, and my horse shall leap your mare.

1694. Dryden, Virgil, Georgic iii. 328. Whether the bull or courser be thy care, Let him not leap the cow, nor mount the mare.

Adv. (old).—All safe.—New Cant. Dict. (1725).

To take a leap at Tyburn (or in the dark), verb. phr. (old).—To be hanged.

c. 1600–62. Common Cries of London [Collier, Roxburghe Ballads (1847), 215]. For many a proper man, ... Doth leap a leap at Tyburn which makes his neck to crack.

1720. Durfey, Pills to Purge, vi. 327. All you that must take a leap in the dark, Pity the fate of Lawson and Clark.

To leap (or jump) the book (or broomstick, broom, besom, or sword), verb. phr. (common).—See quots.; to dab it up (q.v.); to live tally. Cf. Rush-ring.

1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, ii. 3. Jump o’er a broomstick, but don’t make a farce on The marriage ceremonies of the parson.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, 3rd ed. s.v. Leaping over the Sword, an ancient ceremonial, said to constitute a military marriage. A sword being laid down on the ground, the parties to be married join hands when the corporal or sergeant of the company repeated these words: Leap rogue, and jump whore, And then you are married for ever more.

1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I. p. 336. The old woman when any female, old or young, who had no tin, came into the kitchen, made up a match for her with some men. Fellows half-drunk had the old women. There was always a broomstick wedding. Without that ceremony a couple weren’t looked on as man and wife.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Leap the Book. A false marriage.

1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. xlviii. p. 227. ‘They both led tramping lives, and this woman in Gerrard St. here, had been married very young, over the broomstick (as we say), to a tramping man, and was a perfect fury in point of jealousy.’

1868. Cassell’s Mag., 4. Jan., p. 222. I dare say that most ... have laughed at the old joke about getting married by jumping over a broomstick, and have always thought that it was a sheer joke, and nothing else; but this is a great mistake: the ceremony—so to dignify it—of the couple leaping over a broomstick, held by the man’s mates a little way from the ground, was the essential and generally recognised rite of most navvy marriages, and was held to be binding so long as both parties were agreed—a very important qualification. There is reason to believe that this grotesque ceremony is of very ancient date.

c. 18(79). Broadside Ballad, ‘David Dove that Fell in Love.’ The girl that I had hoped to hear Pronounce my happy doom, sir, Had bolted with a carpenter, In fact hopped o’er the broom, sir.

Let the best dog leap the stile first, phr. (old).—Let the worthiest take precedence.

To leap over the hedge before you come at the stile, verb. phr. (old).—To be in a violent hurry.

1670. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 168], s.v.

To be ready to leap over nine hedges, verb. phr. (old).—Exceeding ready.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 168], s.v.

Leaping-house, subs. (old).—A brothel.

1598. Shakspeare, I Hen. IV, i. 2. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping houses.

Lea-rigs, subs. (Scots’).—The female pudendum: generic. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Leary (or Leery), adj. (common).—1. Artful; downy (q.v.).

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, 3rd ed. s.v.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen String Jack, i. 3. The dashy, splashy, leary little stringer.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, Vulgar Tongue. For blokes to see That you’re a leary man.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. leery. On guard; look out; wide awake.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, iii. p. 146. A leary look, in which fear, defiance, and cunning are mixed up together.

1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, 85. The bastard gipsy smiled in leary fashion.

2. (American).—Drunk. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

Leary-cum-Fitz, subs. (theatrical).—A vulgarian amongst actors.

Least. Least in sight, phr. (old).—See quots.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Least in sight, to play least in sight, to hide, keep out of the way, or make oneself scarce.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Least. Keep out of the way; hide; out of sight.

Leather, subs. (American thieves’).—1. A pocket book. For synonyms see Reader.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Leather. The bloke lost his leather, the man lost his pocket book.

1881. New York Slang Dict., ‘On the Trail.’ We touched his leather too, but it was very lathy.

1883. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Life on the Mississippi, p. 459. When we got to Chicago on the cars from there to here, i pulled off an old woman’s leather; i hadn’t no more than got it off when i wished i hadn’t donn it, for awhile before that i made up my mind to be a square bloke.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. Hence, to labour leather (old) = to copulate; leather-stretcher = the penis: cf. Kid-leather; and nothing like leather (q.v.). For synonyms see Monosyllable.

1540. Lindsay, Thrie Estaitis [Laing (1879), ii. 72. 1332]. It is half ane yeir almaist, Sen ever that loun laborde my ledder.

1678. Cotton, Virgil Travestie, in Wks. (1725), Bk. iv. p. 74. At that Queen Juno smil’d and said ... if they once do come together, He’ll find that Dido’s reaching leather.

d. 1796. Burns, Court of Equity. Hunter, a willing, hearty brither, weel skilled in dead and living leather.

3. in pl. (common).—The ears; lugs (q.v.). For synonyms see Hearing Cheats.

4. (sporting).—A cricket-, or foot-ball. To hunt leather (cricket) = to field. Leather-hunting (subs.) fielding.

1883. Graphic, 11 August, p. 138, col. 1. The giants of the past who handled so efficiently the ‘willow’ and the leather.

1884. Daily News, 12 April, p. 5, col. 2. A man has Morley’s genius with the leather, combined with Morley’s deficiencies as a fielder and bat.

1886. G. Sutherland, Australia, p. 178. In most parts of Australia cricket can be played with tolerable comfort all the year round. Occasionally, in summer, there are days when the heat is unusually oppressive, and the pastime of leather hunting becomes somewhat tiresome.

1890. Palace Journal, 4 Aug. Our fellows were kept leather-hunting pretty well the whole innings.

Verb. (common).—To beat; to tan (q.v.); to dust (q.v.).

1763. Foote, Mayor of Garratt, i. Now, if you think I could carry my point, I would so swinge and leather my lambkin.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To leather also means to beat, perhaps originally with a strap. I’ll leather you to your heart’s content.

1858. G. Eliot, Janet’s Repentance, ch. xxi. ‘He’ll want to be leatherin’ us, I shouldn’t wonder. He must hev somethin’ t’ill-use when he’s in a passion.’

1892. G. M. Fenn, The New Mistress, xxii. Please, teacher, mother leathers the boys if they don’t get home in time for dinner.

1892. Anstey, Voces Populi, ‘The Travelling Menagerie,’ p. 61. Bain’t she a leatherin’ of ’un too!

To go to leather, verb. phr. (American).—See quot.

1882. Dodge, Ranch Life in the Far West. After a few jumps, however, the average man grasps hold of the horn of the saddle—the delightful onlookers meanwhile earnestly advising him not to go to leather—and is contented to get through the affair in any shape, provided he can escape without being thrown off.

To lose leather, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be saddle-galled.—Grose (1785).

Leathers, subs. (common).—A postboy.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xx. ‘Come along; jump in, old boy—go it, leathers!’ and in this way Pen found himself in Mr. Spavin’s postchaise.

Leatherhead, subs. (old).—1. A swindler. For synonyms see Rook.

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

1884. Phillips Woolley, Trottings of a Tenderfoot. Now the Senator is only a leatherhead who made his pile by such and such a swindle.

2. (old: American).—A policeman or watchman.

1882. McCabe, New York, xxiii. 369. During the British occupation of the city, in the war of Independence, military patrols kept the streets at night.... After the close of the war a patrol of civilians was appointed.... They wore a leather hat with a wide brim, something like a fireman’s hat, and this won for them the name of leatherheads.

1888. New York Mercury, 21 July. Here the old police or leatherheads tried to restrain them, but in vain. Hostilities took place, several of the police were killed and several mortally wounded.

Leather-hunting. See Leather, subs., sense 4.

Leathering, subs. (common).—A thrashing.

Leather-lane, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Adj. (old).—Paltry; bad.—Grose (1823); De Vaux (1823).

Leathern-convenience, subs. (old).—A stage-coach; a carriage.

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

1703. Ward, London Spy, vii. p. 144. Our Leathern Conveniency being bound in the Braces to its Good Behaviour had no more Sway than a Funeral Herse.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1782. Centlivre, Bold Stroke for a Wife, v. 1. Col. F. Ah! thou wicked one. Now I consider thy face, I remember thou didst come up in the leathern conveniency with me.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Leather ... leathern conveniency, term used by quakers for a stage coach.

1801. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), i. 102. I left Oxford with Stapleton in his mama’s leathern conveniency.

1824. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, xx. At the duly appointed hour, creaked forth the leathern convenience, in which, carefull screened by the curtain ... sat Nabob Touchwood, in the costume of an Indian merchant.

Leatherneck, subs. (nautical).—A soldier. For synonyms see Mud-crusher and Fly-slicer.

Leathernly, adj. (old).—Clumsily; sordidly; poorly.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller [Grosart (1883–4), v. 71]. So filthily acted, so leathernly set forth.

Leather-stretcher, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick. To go leather-stretching = to copulate.

Leave, subs. (billiards’).—A favorable position for a stroke.

To take French leave. See French leave.

To leave in the air. See Air.

To leave in the lurch. See Lurch.

Leaving-shop, subs. (common).—1. An unlicensed pawn-brokery; a dolly-shop (q.v.). For synonyms see Uncle.

1857. Morning Chronicle, 21 Dec. Proprietress of one of those iniquitous establishments called leaving-shops.

1867. Jas. Greenwood, Unsentimental Journeys, II. 15. I no longer wondered to find my friend a pawnbroker! He had a hankering for it at the pig’s head period, and kept, besides the sausage-shop, a leaving-shop, in Brick-lane, St. Luke’s.

1871. Daily Telegraph, 10 Oct. A large portion of the least valuable was received in ‘dolly’ or leaving-shops. The parties carrying them on purchased goods from whoever brought them, upon an understanding that they might be repurchased within a week or a month.

1880. Jas. Greenwood, Odd People in Odd Places, p. 37. There’s a little shop in the second-hand clothes line, a leaving-shop, I think they call it, in —— Street. There’s a parcel there that belongs to me, and which it will cost one and eightpence to redeem; at least, the woman promised I might redeem it in a month if I paid double what she gave me for what’s in it.

1893. Daily Chronicle, 9 Jan., p. 9, col. 1. Two pawnbrokers, who appeared to have acted in a most reckless manner, and to a Mrs. Waldey, who kept what was known as a leaving shop.

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

Lecher, verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller [Grosart (1883–4), v. 29]. He must be familiar with all, and trust none, drink, carouse, and lecher with him.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, passim.

Led-captain, subs. (old).—A toady; a sponge (q.v.); a pimp.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, i. 1. Wks. (1713), 349. For every wit has his culley, as every squire his led captain.

1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, Bk. xi. ch. ix. Two led captains, who had before rode with his lordship, and who ... were ready at any time to have performed the office of a footman, or indeed would have condescended lower, for the honour of his lordship’s company, and for the convenience of his table.

1816. Scott, Antiquary, ch. xxxix. Petrie ... recommends, upon his own experience, as tutor in a family of distinction, this attitude to all led-captains, tutors, dependents and bottle-holders of every description.

Led-friend, subs. (old).—A parasite.

1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 208. There is hardly a rich man in the world who has not such a led-friend.

Leeds, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Lincolnshire and Yorkshire ordinary stock.

Leek, subs. (common).—See quot.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, vol. ii. p. 425. The leeks are men who have not been brought up to the trade of chimney sweeping, but have adopted it as a speculation, and are so called from their entering green, or inexperienced into the business.

Leekshire, subs. (common).—Wales.

Leer, subs. (Old Cant).—See quot.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 178. Leer is cant for a newspaper.

Leery, adj. (old).—‘On one’s guard.’—Grose (1823).

Left. Over the left (or left shoulder), adv. phr. (common).—Used in negation of a statement, and sometimes accompanied by pointing the thumb over the left shoulder: in Florio ‘in my other hose’. It. zóccoli. The expression occurs also in le Parnasse Satyrique (1611). Cf. Left-handed.

1682. Preface to Julian the Apostate (London, printed for Langley Curtis). What benefit a Popish successor can reap from lives and fortunes spent in defence of the Protestant religion he may put in his eye; and what the Protestant religion gets by lives and fortunes spent in the service of a Popish successor will be over the left shoulder.

1705. Record of Country Court held in Hartford (U.S.A.), 4 Sept. The said Waters, as he departed from the table, said, ‘God bless you over the left shoulder.’ The court ordered a record thereof to be made forthwith. A true copie.

1748. Richardson, Clarissa Harlowe, 1. 242. You will have an account to keep too; but an account of what will go over the left shoulder; only of what he squanders, what he borrows, and what he owes and never will pay.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick. Each gentleman pointed with his right thumb over his left shoulder. This action imperfectly described in words by the very feeble term of over the left ... its expression is one of light and playful sarcasm.

1841. Punch, i. 37, col. 2. I am thine, and thine only! Thine!—over the left.

1843. W. T. Moncrieff, The Scamps of London, i. 1. I think she will come. Ned. Yes, over the left—ha, ha, ha!

1870. H. D. Traill, Saturday Songs, ‘On the Watch,’ p. 22. Eh, waddyer say? Don’t go? Ho yes! my right honnerble friend, It’s go and go over the left ... it’s go with a hook at the end.

To get (or be) left, verb. phr. (common).—1. To fail; and (2) to be placed in a difficulty.

1892. Gunter, Miss Dividends, ch. iv. Making the agreement for the return or the books on arrival at Ogden, much to the delight of the news agent, who remarks oracularly, ‘Buck Powers is never quite left.’

1894. George Moore, Esther Waters, xii. I would not go out with him or speak to him any more; and while our quarrel was going on Miss Peggy went after him, and that’s how I got left.

To be left in the basket. See Basketted.

Left-forepart, subs. (common).— A wife. For synonyms see Dutch.

Left-handed, adj. (old).—Sinister; untoward; evil. Ger. link.

1620. Jonson, Silent Woman, iii. 2. It shows you are a man ... that would not be put off with left-handed cries.

Left-handed wife, subs. phr. (common).—A concubine. For synonyms see Tart. Cf. Fr. mariage de la main gauche.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding [Dodsley, i. 1]. Do you not know he’s married according to the rogue’s liturgy? a left-handed bridegroom.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, 3rd ed. s.v. Left-handed wife. A concubine: an allusion to an ancient German custom, according to which when a man married his concubine, or a woman greatly his inferior, he gave her his left hand.

Left-hander, subs. (pugilistic).—A blow delivered with the left hand.

1861. Macmillan’s Mag., Feb., p. 273. He let fly a terrific left-hander at the doctor.

Leg, subs. (common).—1. A swindling gamester.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xlii. 365. ‘He was a horse-chaunter: he’s a leg now.’

1840. Thackeray, Character Sketches (Capt. Rook and Mr. Pigeon). As for Tom, he is a regular leg now—leading the life already described. When I met him last it was at Baden, where he was on a professional tour, with a carriage, a courier, a valet, a confederate, and a case of pistols.

1843. W. T. Moncrieff, The Scamps of London, i. 1. He’s your brother, Mr. Frank; but there isn’t a bigger leg on the whole pavement.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 501. Now and then a regular leg, when he’s travelling to Chester, York, or Doncaster, to the races, may draw other passengers into play, and make a trifle, or not a trifle, by it; or he will play with other legs; but it’s generally for amusement, I’ve reason to believe.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Leg, a gambler.

1866. London Miscellany, 5 May, p. 201. The two who were not of their race were of the genus leg.

1882. Thormanby, Famous Racing Men, p. 75. He [John Gully] worked on gradually as a layer of odds—a ‘bettor round,’ or leg, as he was called in those days. [c. 1820.]

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 172. The world regards me as a compound of leg and money-lender.

2. (cards’).—A ‘chalk’ or point scored in a game.

3. in pl. (common).—A lanky-built man or woman; a lamppost (q.v.).

4. (old).—A bow: see Make a leg.

1596. Nashe, Have With You, etc. [Grosart (1885), iii. 146]. Whither ... haue you brought mee? To Newgate, good Master Doctour, with a lowe leg they made answer.

1598. Shakspeare, I Henry IV, i. Well, here’s my leg.

1602. Cooke, How to Choose a Good Wife etc. [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 18]. With legs, with curtsies, congees, and such like.

1603. Dekker, Wonderful Yeare [Grosart (1886), i. 83]. Janus ... made a very mannerly lowe legge.

1663. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding, ii. 7. Then a stranger ... beats about with three graceful legs.

Verb. (common).—1. To trip up.

1882. Sat. Review, 22 April. Presently they legged the copper, and he fell to the ground.

2. (common). See Leg it.

To make (or scrape) a leg, verb. phr. (old and colloquial).—To bow; to curtsey. Also To leg it.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart (1885), ii. 63]. How much better is it then to haue an eligant Lawier to plead ones cause, than a stuttring Townsman, that loseth himselfe in his tale, and dooth nothing but make legs.

1603. Dekker, Wonderful Yeare [Grosart (1886), i. 91]. He calls forth one by one, to note their graces, Whilst they make legs he copies out their faces.

1606. Chapman, Mons. D’Olive, i. p. 117 (Plays, 1874). Pages and parasites [live] by making legs.

1616. Jonson, Devil is an Ass, ii. 3. I learned in it myself, To make my legs, and do my postures.

1633. Shirley, Bird in a Cage, v. 1. He’ll kiss his hand and leg it.

1662. Rump, ii. p. 192. Shall’s ask him, what he means to do?—Good faith, with all my heart; Thou mak’st the better leg o’ th’ two.

1670. J. Eachard, Contempt of the Clergy, in Arber’s Garner, vol. vii. p. 264. He comes to the end of the table ... having made a submissive leg.

1673. Davenant, Playhouse to Let, Epilogue. Female fishes never make a leg.

1714. Lucas, Gamesters, 25. The prentice makes a handsome leg and bow.

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

b. 1796. Wolcot [P. Pindar], Rights of Kings, Ode xii. To Thrones, with due decorum, make a leg.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, liii. p. 443. ‘Mr. Bucket, my Lady.’ Mr. Bucket makes a leg, and comes forward.

To leg it, verb. phr. (common).—1. To run away. Cf. Leg-bail and To give legs.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1878. Besant and Rice, By Celia’s Arbour, xlviii. Whatever the werdict, you up and leg it, and then bring in an alibi.

2. See Make a leg.

To break a leg, verb. phr. (venery).—See quot. 1737.

1684. R. Head, Proteus Redivivus, 153. Though she hath broken her leg, she is sound enough for a Drawer, newly out of his time, who, having credit for wine, his house is furnish’t with the money that did set his wife’s Broken Leg.

1737. Ray, Proverbs (3rd ed.), p. 200. She hath broken her leg above the knee, i.e. had a bastard.

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

To cut one’s leg, verb. phr. (old).—To get drunk. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 63]. s.v.

To lift (or lay) a leg on (or over), verb. phr. (venery).—To possess a woman. Hence, to lift one’s leg or to play at lift-leg = to copulate (of both sexes); leg-lifter = whoremaster; and leg-lifting = fornication. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge etc., v. No snarling rebel shall e’er lay leg o’er me.

17[?]. Old Song [quoted by Burns], ‘Duncan Davidson’. She fee’d a lad to lift her leg.

c. 1787. Burns, Holy Willie’s Prayer. I’ll ne’er lift a lawless leg Again upon her.

2. (old).—To piss.

1595. Shakspeare, Two Gentlemen, iv. 2. Launec. When didst thou see me heave up my leg and make water on a gentle woman’s farthingale?

1606. Return from Parnassus [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 116]. What, Monsieur Kinsayder, lifting up your leg, and pissing against the world.

1887. Henley, Villon’s Good-Night. At you I merely lift my gam, I drink your health against the wall!

3. (old).—To walk.

1791. Burns, Tam O’Shanter. Weel mounted on his grey mare, Meg, A better never lifted leg.

To get a leg in, verb. phr. (common).—To obtain one’s confidence.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 207. He felt exceedingly comfortable now they had got a leg in.

A leg (or leg up), subs. phr. (colloquial).—Help.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xvi. Your servant will give you a leg up.

1871. Figaro, 9 Oct. There are authors who require a leg-up before starting, and who do well to explain, and argue, and appeal, and declare beforehand what very clever authors they are.

1876. Hindley, Cheap Jack, 171. All the ... cheap Johnny coves ... promised to come ... just to give you a leg up.

To have a bone in one’s leg (or arm, or throat), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be incapable of action: a playful refusal.

1542. Nicholas Udall, Erasmus’s Apophthegmes (1877, Reprint of Ed. 1562), p. 375. He refused to speake, allegeing that he had a bone in his throte, and he could not speake.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversation (Conv. iii.). Nev. Miss, come, be kind for once, and order me a dish of coffee. Miss. Pray go yourself; let us wear out the oldest first; besides, I can’t go, for I have a bone in my leg.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 50]. I have a bone in my arm. This is a pretended excuse, with which people amuse young children when they are importunate to have them do something, or reach something for them, that they are unwilling to do, or that is not good for them.

1830. W. T. Moncrieff, The Heart of London, ii. 1. Got a bone in my leg felt rather indisposed.

To shake a free (or a loose) leg, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To live as one likes; to go on tramp.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, iii, ch. 9. While luck lasts the highwayman shakes a loose leg.

1851. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. etc., 1. 453. I longed for a roving life and to shake a loose leg.

1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 87. Those who love to shake a free leg, and lead a roving life, as they term it, rather than settle down to any continuous employment.

To give (or show) legs (or a clean pair of legs), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To decamp; to run away.

1883. Daily News, 15 May, p. 7, col. 2. ‘The best way is to make a snatch and give legs for it; it’s better than loitering.’

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 30. We bunked off in the scurry, and showed ’em a clean pair o’ legs.

Not a leg (or a leg to stand on), subs. phr. (colloquial).—At the end of one’s resources.

In high leg, subs. phr. (colloquial).—In high feather.

On one’s last legs, subs. phr. (colloquial).—On the verge of ruin; at the end of one’s tether.

1763. Foote, Mayor of Garratt, ii. Mrs. Sneak. Miss Molly Jollup to be married to Sneak! Sneak. Ay, and glad enough you could catch me: you know, you was pretty near your last legs.

1767. Ray, Proverbs (3rd ed.), p. 200. He’s on his last legs.

1782. D’Arblay, Cecilia, vii. ch. 5. She can’t possibly last long, for she’s quite on her last legs.

To be (or get) on one’s legs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To rise to speak; to be speaking.

To stand on one’s own legs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To depend on oneself.

To set one (or get) on one’s legs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To restore or attain to good circumstances.

1888. Century Mag., xxxvii. p. 305. When the paper gets upon its legs.

To show a leg, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To get out of bed.

To have the legs of one, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To outrun.

1861. Macmillan’s Mag., Mar., p. 357. The beggar had the legs of me.

To fight at the leg, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Leg. To fight at the leg, to take unfair advantages, it being held unfair by back-sword players to strike at the leg.

To fall on one’s legs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To prosper.

1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, iii. 3. A man who has plenty of brains generally falls on his legs.

1861. James Conway, Forage among Salmon and Deer, p. 155. And this inborn self-possession tends greatly to the advantage of the people who are so constituted. Hence it is that a Scotchman put him where you will, almost invariably falls on his legs.

To have legs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be reputed fast (as a ship, a horse, a runner).

To feel one’s legs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be sure of one’s ground.

1846. Dickens, Cricket on the Hearth, i. Remarkably beautiful child.... May seem impossible to you, but feels his legs already.

To put one’s best leg foremost, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To make haste; and (2) to exert oneself.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe [Grosart (1885), v. 277]. Well, thither our Fisherman set the best leg before, and vnfardled to the King his whole sachel of wonders.

As right as my leg, phr. (colloquial).—As right as may be. But see quot. 1767.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge etc., i. 93. Jolly Ralph was in with Peg, Though frekl’d like a Turkey Egg, And she as right as is my leg, Shee gave him leave to towze her.

1762. Wilson, The Cheats, ii. 4. Fear nothing. All’s well, and as right as my leg.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 64]. A whore, she’s as right as my leg.

To put the boot on the other leg, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To ‘turn the tables.’

1850. New York Herald, 24 May. The Eternal City is in a very curious position. The Pope has returned to his ancestral home; but he has nothing in his pocket, and Rothschild refuses to let him have any more money. A thousand years ago, and the boot would have been on t’other leg.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 22 Feb., p. 2, col. 2. The Times correspondent at Durban alludes to a rumour which at the first blush seems to put the boot quite on the other leg.

To stretch one’s legs, verb. phr. (common).—To take a walk. Hence, leg-stretcher (q.v.) = a drink.

To make indentures with one’s legs, verb. phr. (old).—To be drunk. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.—Ray (1767).

More belongs to marriage than four bare legs in a bed, phr. (old).—Said of the engagement or wedding of a portionless couple. Ital. Inanzi il maritare, abbi l’habitare.—Ray (1670).

Leg-and-leg, adv. phr. (cards’).—The state of the game when each player has won a ‘leg’ (q.v.); horse-and-horse (q.v.).

Leg-bags, subs. (common).—1. Stockings; and (2) trousers.

Leg-bail (or leg bail and land security), subs. phr. (common).—Escape from custody. Fr. lever le pied. See Bail.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 55]. He has given him leg-bail; i.e., decamped.

1774. Ferguson, Poems, ii. 10. They took leg-bail and ran awa’.

1775. Adair, American Indians, 277. I had concluded to use no chivalry, but give them leg-bail instead of it, by ... making for a deep swamp.

1816. Scott, Antiquary, ch. xxxix. I wad gie them leg-bail to a certainty.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Leg. Leg-bail and land security, to run away.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii. 4. ’Tis my painful duty to commit you, unless you can find good bail. Tom. We’ll give you leg-bail.

1838. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xix. He has us now if he could give us leg-bail again.

1848. Marryat, Poacher, xxii. Given them leg-bail, I swear.

1870. Wilkie Collins, Man and Wife (in Cassell’s Mag., p. 309). ‘Ow! ow! that’s bad. And the bit husband-creature danglin’ at her petticoat’s tail one day, and awa’ wi’ the sunrise next mornin’—have they baith taken leg-bail together?’

Leg-business, subs. (common).—1. See Leg-shop.

2. (venery).—Copulation. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

Leg-drama (or piece).—See Leg-shop.

Legem pone, subs. phr. (old).—Money: generic. [Nares: The origin of the phrase is doubtless this: The first psalm for the twenty-fifth day of the month has the title Legem pone, being the first words of the Latin version. This psalm is the fifth portion of the 119th psalm, and, being constantly used on the first great pay day of the year, March 25, was easily connected with the idea of payment, while the laudable practice of daily attendance on the public service was continued].

1557. Tusser, Good Hus. Lessons, 29. Use legem pone to pay at thy day, But use not Oremus for often delay.

1611. Ruggle, Ignolamus, ii. 7. Hic est legem pone: hic sunt sexcentæ coronæ.

1618. G. Minshul, Essayes in Prison, p. 26. But in this, here is nothing to bee abated, all their speach is legem pone, or else with their ill custome they will detaine thee.

d. 1662. Heylin, Voy., p. 292. In bestowing of their degrees here they are very liberal, and deny no man that is able to pay his fees. Legem ponere is with them more powerful than legem dicere.

1737. Ozell, Rabelais, iv. 12. They were all at our service for the legem pone.

Leger, subs. (Old London Cant).—See quot. 1822. Also Legering = the practice of cheating in the sale of coals.

1591. Greene, Discovery of Coosnage [Grosart (1881–6), x. 51]. The law of legering, which is a deceit that colliers abuse the commonwelth withall, in having unlawfull sackes.

1591. Greene, Notable Discovery [Grosart (1881–6), x. 52]. The leger, the crafty collier I mean. Ibid. 51. There be ... in and about London certaine caterpillars (colliers I should say) that terme themselves (among themselves) by the name of legers.

1822. Nares, Glossary, s.v. Leger. A cant term for a Londoner who formerly bought coals of the country colliers at so much a sack, and made his chief profit by using smaller sacks, making pretence he was a country collier. This was termed legering.

Legerdemain, subs. (old: now recognised).—Sleight of hand.

d. 1535. Sir T. More, Works, p. 813. Perceive theyr leygier demaine, wyth which they would ingle forth thir falshood and shift the trouth asyde.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart (1883–4), ii. 108]. Making their eyes and eares vassailes to the legerdemaine of these ingling mountebankes.

1596. Spenser, Faery Queene, v. ix. 13. He in slights and jugling feates did flow, And of legierdemayne the mysteries did know.

1653. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 112. All the money that had been got that week ... by fortune telling or legerdemain.

1684. R. Head, Proteus Redivivus, 238. What trick they play, what leidger-de-main they use.

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

1725. New Canting Dict., s.v.

Legged, adj. (old).—In irons.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Legger, subs. (old).—See quot.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Legger. Sham leggers, cheats who pretend to sell smuggled goods, but in reality only deal in shop-keepers old and damaged wares.

Leggings, subs. (common).—Stockings.

Leggism, subs. (common).—The character, practices, or manners of a leg (q.v.).

Leggy, adj. (colloquial).—Long-legged.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. x. You behold Slapper’s long-tailed, leggy mare.

1884. Field, Dec. 6. Her colour and markings are capital, in expression and style fair, but she is leggy and light in bone.

Legitimate, adj. (racing).—1. Flat-racing as distinguished from steeplechasing or hurdle-racing; and (2) drama—especially the Shaksperean—as opposed to burlesque.

1888. Sportsman, 28 Nov. It was certainly a change from the bustle and excitement connected with the winding-up of the legitimate season.

Leglin-girth. To cast a leglingirth, verb. phr. (Scots’).—To be got with child. [Leglin = milkpail + girth = hoop].

d. 1758. Ramsay, Poems (1800), i. 274. Or bairns can read, they first maun spell, I learn’d this frae my mammy, And coost a leglen girth mysel, Lang or I married Tammie.

Leg of mutton, subs. phr. (common).—A sheep’s trotter.

Adj. (common).—Leg-of-mutton shaped; as in the case of sleeves, whiskers, sails, etc.

1866. W. D. Howells, Venetian Life, xx. With their honest, heavy faces comically anglicised by leg-of-mutton whiskers.

Leg of mutton fist. See Mutton fist.

Leg of the Law, subs. phr. (common).—A lawyer. Also limb of the law.

Legs-and-arms, subs. (tailors’).—Bodiless beer. For synonyms see Drinks and Swipes.

Leg-shaker, subs. (common).—A dancer. Fr. un gambilleur.

Legshire, subs. (common).—The Isle of Man. [In allusion to the heraldic bearings].

Leg-shop, subs. (common).—1. A theatre whose speciality is the display of the female form. Hence, leg-piece = a play contrived to that end; leg-business = the condition of a woman whose chief work is to show her legs; and leg-show = the personnel of a leg-shop in action.

1871. A. E. Edwards, Ought We to Visit Her, p. . ‘She was,’ says Adonis, ‘in the leg business.’

1875. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Screamers, p. 15. ‘Nothing, sir,’ was the reply; ‘only they’re playing ‘Undine’ at the Opera House, and some folks call it the leg-shop.’

1882. McCabe, New York, 206. They are liberal patrons of the drama, especially the ballet and the leg-business.

Leg-stretcher, subs. (American).—A drink: i.e., an inducement or a pretext for going out. See To stretch one’s legs. For synonyms see Go.

Lemon. To squeeze the lemon, verb. phr. (common).—To urinate. For synonyms see Piss.

Lemon jolly. See Colly Molly.

Lend, subs. (old colloquial).—A loan: e.g. ‘For the lend of the ass you might give me the mill’ (Old Ballad).

Length, subs. (thieves’).—1. Six months’ imprisonment. For synonyms see Dose.

2. (theatrical).—See quot. 1781.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, 1. 43. It being one of the usual enquiries made by Managers of the candidates for country engagements, ‘How many lengths can you study from night to night?’ A length is forty two lines.

1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. xxiii. I’ve a part of twelve lengths here which I must be up in by to-morrow night.

1871. Edinburgh Review, ‘Lord Brougham’s Recollections of a Long Life.’ Keen said that Iago was three lengths longer than Othello.

1885. Household Words, 22 Aug., p. 328. All they knew or cared to know was that they had to get into their heads certain lengths of a certain drama to be produced that very night.

To get the length of one’s foot, verb. phr. (common).—To fascinate; to understand how to manage a person.

Lenten-faced, adj. (old).—Starved- or sad-looking.

1621. Burton, Anatomy (ed. 1893), iii. 220. Howsoever they put on lenten faces, and whatsoever they pretend.

Lenten-fare, subs. (old).—See quot.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Lenten fare, spare diet.

Ler-ac-am, subs. (back slang).—Mackarel.

Lericompoop (Leripup, Leripoop, or Luripup), subs. (old).—Originally an academical scarf or hood. Hence, (1) knowledge or acuteness; (2) a man or woman of parts; (3) a swindle, jest, or trick; and (4) a cheat, buffoon, or jester. Thence, to play one’s liripups = (1) to undergo examination for a degree; and (2) to play the fool (from the contempt into which scholastic subtleties had in the end to fall). Also as verb = to deceive, to cheat.

1584. Sapho and Phaon, i. 3. Thow maist be skilled in thy logic, but not in thy lerypoope.

1593. Harvey, Pierces Superer. [Grosart (1885), ii. 78]. Nash is learned, and knoweth his leripup. Ibid. 278. Be no niggard of thy sweet accents ... but reach the antike muses their right leripup.

1594. J. Lyly, Mother Bombie, i. 3. There’s a girl that knows her lerripoop.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller [Grosart (1885), v. 159]. Heere was a wily wench had her liripoop without book.

1603–37. Breton, Packet of Letters [Grosart (1870), ii. h. 34, 10, line 4]. I see you haue little to doe that haue so much leisure to play your luripups.

1605. London Prodigal, iv. 1. Well cha’ a bin zarved many a sluttish trick, but such a lerripoop ... was never yzarved.

1611. Cotgrave, Dict., s.v. Qui sçait bien son roulet, one that knows his liripoope.

1621. Beaumont & Fletcher, Pilgrim, ii. 1. Keep me this young lirry-poop within doors.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, i. 186. And all the day long, This, this was her song, Was ever poor Maiden so lericompoop’d.

Lesbian, subs. (venery).—A fellatrix of women. [From the legend of Sappho and the women of Lesbos].

Lesson. See Simple Arithmetic.

Let. Let alone, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Much less; not mentioning.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ... I have not had, this livelong day, one drop to cheer my heart, Nor brown to buy a bit of bread with—let alone a tart.

1851. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, i. ‘You have brought a wild beast with you, which has eaten up all the tea-cakes.’ ‘Let alone fright’ning the blessed cat so that she’s flowed up the chimley.’

1857. C. Reade, Never Too Late, xxxvi. The wind emptied a glass of the very moisture, let alone the liquid in a moment.

To let the cat out of the bag, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To reveal a secret; to put one’s foot in it. See Cat, and add following quots.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xxiv. ‘I’m most afraid of your father, though, letting the cat out of the bag; he’s such an old duffer to blow.’

1892. Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday, 27 Feb., p. 67, col. 3. Cats, however, possess an exceptional faculty for letting things out of the bag, and Guy’s and Violet’s feline made its appearance.

To let daylight into, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To stab or shoot; to kill. See Second-hand daylight and Daylight.

To let down gently (or easy), verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To be lenient.

1836. M. Scott, Cruise of the Midge [Ry. ed. 1840, p. 140]. I did not know it, nor did I believe it, but, by way of letting him down gently, I said nothing.

1888. New York Sunday Despatch. If the royal parents wish to see their offsprings let down easy from their high estate, they will adopt this course.

2. (common).—To disappoint; to rebuff. Cf. let-down.

To let drive, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To aim a blow; to attack.

1593. Nashe, Strange Newes, in Works [Grosart], ii. 224. If he ... let drive at him with a volley of verses.

1753. Foote, Englishman in Paris, i. But I let drive at the monk, made the soup-maigre rumble in his bread-basket, and laid him sprawling.

1838. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 2nd S. ch. xiv. ‘Now,’ says I, ‘my hearties, up and let drive at ’em, right over the wall!’

To let fly, verb. phr. (common).—To aim at; also to strike.

1647. Fletcher, Sea Voyage, ii. 2. Speak, or ... I’ll let fly at you all.

1671. Buckingham, The Rehearsal. And at that word, at t’other’s head let fly a greasy plate.

1678. Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, 156. They, therefore, in angry manner, let fly at them again.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, iii. 14. By cock, quote hee, Say you so, do you see, And then at him let flie.

1817. C. Lamb, Letters, 17 May. ‘To Wm. Ayton Esq.’ There’d be many a damme let fly at my presumption.

1860. Morning Post, 30 Jan. ‘The Wit of Extravaganza.’ He has been assaulted by another indewiddle, who ‘At his physiognimy let fly, Gave him in fact a oner in the eye!’

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 115, s.v.

1889. Sporting Times, 29 June. ‘Another Turf Dispute.’ Now, Maud was quite the ‘lidy’, but she let the language fly.

1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, 42. Sir Wilfrid really means to let fly at the shark.

To let go, verb. phr. (venery).—To achieve emission. See Come.

To let go the painter. See Painter.

To let in, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To deceive; to victimize; to cheat.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, lxxii. Affairs had been going ill with that gentleman: he had been let in terribly, he informed me, by Lord Levant’s insolvency.

1887. Nineteenth Century, xxii. 262. The farmer ... persists in trying to convince himself that he was let in when he made himself liable for the tithes.

1887. Field, 25 June. An owner may be let in for a fine.

2. (University).—See quot.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, i. He has also been good enough to recommend to me many tradesmen ... but, with the highest respect for friend Perkins (my scout) and his obliging friends, I shall make some inquiries before letting in with any of them.

To let into, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To attack; to beat; to abuse.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, vol. iii. p. 148. ‘They got from six to nine months’ imprisonment; and those that let into the police, eighteen months.’

To let off steam. See Steam.

To let on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To betray; to admit; to seem.

1725. Ramsay [Poems (1800), ii. 100]. Let na on what’s past.

d. 1796. Burns, Last May a Braw Wooer. ‘I never loot on that I ken’d it or car’d, But thought I might hae waur offers.’

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1st S. ch. x. ‘I’ll tell you the secret, but you needn’t let on to no one about it.’

1838. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, 74. But a man can’t rise, after a royal hyst, without letting on he feels flat.

1843. Major Jones’s Courtship, p. 84. The tears were runnin’ out of my eyes; but I didn’t want to let on, for fear it would make her feel bad.

1858. Dean Ramsay, Reminiscences. I saw Mr. —— at the meeting, but I never let on that I knew he was present.

1860. Boucicault, Colleen Bawn, i. 3. Don’t let on to mortal that we’re married.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. iv. p. 38 (1873). ‘Never let on that he didn’t know what it was; never changed a muscle of his face.’

1871. Binghamton Journal, April [quoted by De Vere]. ‘Although the visitors, the gentlemanly keeper, and the prison-chaplain, all tried in every conceivable way to induce him to make a confession, he would never let on how the murder was committed, and all agree that Ruloff is the greatest mystery of the age.’

1879. Justin Mc. Carthy, Donna Quixote, ch. xxxiii. ‘I knew it, though she wouldn’t let on even to me.’

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xi. He let on once to me—that he was awfully cut up about my changing.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 52. ’Arry never let on to them Swiss as he felt on the swivel,—no fear!

To let oneself loose, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To speak, or launch out, without restraint.

To let out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To disclose.

1878. Beadle, Western Scenes. ‘You bile the pot, and when I have had a smoke I’ll let out, but not afore.’

2. (colloquial).—To speak strongly.

1840. H. Cockton, Valentine Vox, xxxix. ‘Does he marry her because he believes her to be engaging, and sweet tempered? A month after marriage she begins to let out in a style of which he cannot approve, by any means.’

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 80. After dilating at some length on the imported candidate, who was his antagonist, he let himself out, on some of the measures he advocated.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, ix. Jim was just going to let out when he looked up and saw Miss Falkland looking at him.

3. (colloquial).—To strike out.

1869. H. J. Byron, Not Such a Fool as He Looks, p. 8. Mur. What did he do? Mou. Well, he let out. Mur. What! his language? Mou. No, his left. His aim was straight at the tip of my nose.

4. (common).—A general verb of action; to do.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, ix. Jim’s horse was far and away the fastest, and he let out to head the mare off from a creek that was just in front and at the end of the plain.

To let out a reef, verb. phr. (common).—To loosen one’s clothes after a meal. Fr. lâcher un cran.

She lies backwards and lets out her fore-rooms, phr. (old).—Said of a whore.—Ray (1767).

To let rip. See Rip.

To let slide. See Slide.

To let up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To stop. Also (as subs.) let up (q.v.).

1888. San Francisco Weekly Examiner, 22 March. When every rabbit is killed, the coyotes sit down on their haunches to a very comfortable banquet, and never let up until they have taken aboard so much rabbit-meat that they can hardly stir.

1892. A. K. Green, Cynthia Wakeham’s Money, 141. ‘We have talked well into the night,’ he remarked; ‘supposing we let up now, and continue our conversation to-morrow.’

To let the finger ride the thumb too often, verb. phr. (American).—To get drunk. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

[For other combination see Disinfect—Flicker—In—Marks—Monkey—Play —Pockets—Slide—Stimulate—Tucks—Up, etc.]

Letchwater, subs. (venery).—The sexual secretion, male and female: specifically the concomitant of desire.

Let-down, subs. (colloquial).—A decline in circumstances; a come-down.

1866. London Miscellany, 3 Mar., p. 57. Bug-hunting (robbing drunken men) was about the best game out, and he added, ‘I don’t think that’s no little let-down for a cove as has been tip-topper in his time, and smelt the insides of all the coops in the three kingdoms.’

Lets. No lets, subs. phr. (schoolboys’).—No hindrances.

Letter, subs. (venery).—An abbreviation of French letter (q.v.).

Letter-in-the-post-office. See Flag.

To go and post a letter, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

To go on the letter Q, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1823. De Vaux, Memoirs, p. 185, s.v. Letter Q, the mace or billiard slum, is sometimes called going on the Q, or the letter Q, alluding to an instrument used in playing billiards.

Lettered, adj. (old).—Branded; burnt in the hand.

Letter-racket, subs. (vagrants’).—See quot.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Letter Racket, men or women of genteel address, going about to respectable houses with a letter or statement, detailing some case of extreme distress, as shipwreck, sufferings by fire, etc. by which many benevolent, but credulous, persons are induced to relieve the fictitious wants of the impostors.

Letty, subs. (common).—A bed; a lodging. For synonyms see Kip. Also verbally = to lodge.

1875. J. Frost, Circus Life, p. 279. Letty is used both as a noun and as verb signifying ‘lodging’ and ‘to lodge’.

1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, xiv. ‘Blower, how about letty?’ ‘Kip for you two, eh? I’ll just go and see the under-sheriff.’

Let-up, subs. (common).—1. A pause; a breach.

1888. Troy Daily Times.... It rained for three days, almost without a let up, after we reached our destination. Ibid. The stable hymn, as the boys called it, was sung in some companies where there was a little let-up on discipline.

1888. Spirit of the Times. There will be a let up of a few days, maybe a week, between the close of the Winter Meeting and the opening of the Spring Meeting.

2. (Stock Exchange).—A sudden disappearance of artificial causes of depression.

Levant, verb. (common).—To abscond. To do (or throw or run) a levant (gaming) = to stake and skip (q.v.). Fr. faire voile en Levant; It. andare in Levante. See quots. 1714 and 1823.

1714. Lucas, Gamesters, iii. He hath ventur’d to come the levant over gentlemen; that is, to play without any money at all in his pocket.

1729. Vanbrugh and Cibber, Provoked Husband, i. Crowd to the Hazard table, throw a familiar levant upon some sharp lurching man of quality, and if he demands his money, turn it off with a loud laugh.

1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, Bk. viii. ch. 12. Never mind that, man! E’en run a levant.

1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Speculist, i. 96. This [cheating described] at Hazard-table is called levanting.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.). Levanting, or running a levant, an expedient practised by broken gamesters to retrieve themselves, and signifies to bet money at a race, cock-match, etc., without a shilling in their pocket to answer the event. The punishment ... is curious: the offender is placed in a large basket ..., hoisted up to the ceiling ... and ... then kept suspended ... exposed to derision, during the pleasure of the company.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, i. 244. When he found she’d levanted, the Count of Alsace, At first turned remarkably red in the face.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. xlix. Was it not clear that a conspiracy might have been made without his knowledge;—and clear also that the real conspirators had levanted?

1883. Referee, 25 March, p. 3, col. 2. The late manager of the ‘Vic.’, it appears, levanted with over £100 of the money belonging to the committee.

1887. Daily Telegraph, 12 March. Whom he would compel to lodge a considerable sum as caution money, so that in the event of one of the body levanting, there would be wherewithal to pay his creditors.

1892. Globe, 2 April, p. 2, col. 1. If he could only lay his hands on levanting Brown!

Levant me! intj. (common).—Used as an imprecation: cf. Blow me.

1760. Foote, The Minor, i. Levant me, but he got enough last night to purchase a principality amongst his countrymen.

Levanter, subs. (common).—A defaulting debtor; a welsher.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Levante.... A limlifter, a shifter, an uptaker, a pilfrer.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, ii. 168. Levanters. These are of the order and number of Black-Legs.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, p. 5. Here, among the pinks in Rotten-row, the lady-birds in the Saloon, the angelics at Almack’s, the-top-of-the-tree heroes, the legs and levanters at Tattersal’s, nay, even among the millers at the Fives, it would be taken for nothing less than the index of a complete flat.

1826. Hood, Whims and Oddities, 1st S. (Backing the Favourite). But she wedded in a canter, And made me a levanter, In foreign lands to sigh for the Favourite!

Level. To work (or act) on a broad level, verb. phr. (American).—To be stable and trustworthy. Broad-level price = the lowest fixed price.

Level-best, adj. phr. (colloquial).—The best one can do; the utmost of one’s power.

1879. E. E. Hale, His Level Best [Century]. I said, ‘I’ll do my level best,’ Doctor.

1882. McCabe, New York, p. 217. I was listening to the aged cove, and trying to do my level best in replying to him.

1889. Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday, 1 June. When that core of my heart does her level best to send the toe of her satin boot through the ceiling, then I somehow think the word Daisy is misapplied, however well it may look on a playbill.

1890. Sporting Life, 8 Nov. Both tried their level best.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 154. But you’ll do your level best, Loudon; I depend on you for that. You must be all fire and grit and dash from the word ‘go.’

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 106. I have done my level best to cater for them.

Level-coil. To play level-coil, verb. phr. (old).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

1662. Wilson, The Cheats, iv. 2. Mop. She is the Constable’s wife, whom, to be short, the Alderman cuckolds. Jol. Hah! Are you sure of it? Mop. I made her confess that the Alderman and one Bilboe play level de coile with her.

Level-headed, adj. (American).—Well-balanced; steady; judicious.

1870. Golden City (San Francisco: quoted in Orchestra), 12 Aug. Miss Markham is rather quiet off the stage, agreeable in conversation, and doesn’t care much what the censorious world says about her—and herein her head is level!

1870. Orchestra, 12 Aug. To tell a woman her head is level is apparently a compliment in America, though to call a man a ‘square head’ is to insult him in France.

1879. Bret Harte, Gabriel Conroy, xxxix. A strong suspicion among men whose heads are level.

1895. N.Y. Press, in Pall Mall Gazette, Sept. 13, p. 7. This people had taken him for a gallant, persistent, even-tempered level-headed gentleman.

Levite, subs. (old).—1. A parson. For synonyms see Devil-dodger.

1663. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding, ii. 4. You uncivil fellow, you come hither to tell my lady of her faults, as if her own levite could not discern ’em.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ch. iii. A young Levite—such was the phrase then in use—might be had for his board, a small garret, and ten pounds a year.

2. (old).—A fashionable dress for women (c. 1780). [Horace Walpole: ‘a man’s bed-gown bound round with a belt’].

Levy, subs. (common).—1. A shilling.

2. (American).—See quot.

1834. Atlantic Club-book, ii. 120. How is flour up country? They say it is six and four levies, and corn seven and a fip.

1848. Bartlett, Dict. of Am., s.v. Levy. Elevenpence. In the State of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, the Spanish real, or eighth part of a dollar, or twelve and a half cents. Sometimes called an elevenpenny bit.

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. 76. ‘How much do you ax for ’em?’ ses I. ‘Eight boxes for a levy,’ ses he.

Lewd infusion, subs. phr. (venery).—The semen. For synonyms see Spendings.

Leystall. See Laystall.

Liar. I’m something of a liar myself, phr. (American).—A retort upon Munchausen.

Lib, subs. (old).—1. Sleep. Long lib = death.

1622–65. Head & Kirkman, English Rogue. ‘Bing Out etc.’ By Rum-coves dine For his long lib at last.

2. (common).—A bank-note. For synonyms see Flimsy.

Verb. (Old Cant).—1. See quots. Also Lyp.

1573. Harman, Caveat (1814), p.... Lyp, to lie down.

1611. Middleton & Dekker, Roaring Girl, v. 1. I would lib all the darkmans.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lib, c, to tumble and lie together.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lib, to lie together.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Lib. The coves lib together, the fellows sleep together.

2. (old).—To castrate.

1590. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Castrare ... to lib.

Libbeg (or Lybbeg), subs. (Old Cant).—See quots. [Gael. leabadh or leabaidh].

1573. Harman, Caveat (1814), 65. Lyb bege, a bed.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 39 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Lybbeg, a bedde.

1665. R. Head, English Rogue, Pt. I. ch. v. p. 50 (1874). Libedge, a Bed.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Libben, subs. (Old Cant).—A private house. Cf. Libken.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Liberty-hall, subs. (colloquial).— A house where every one can do his pleasure.

1778. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, ii. Gentlemen, pray be under no restraint in this house; this is Liberty Hall, gentlemen; you may do just as you please here.

1890. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up, p. 75. They did not bother with dressing for supper in this liberty hall.

Lib-ken (or Lypken), subs. (Old Cant).—See quots.

1573. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. A lypken, a house to lye in.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 39 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Lybkin, a house to lodge people.

1621. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed. To their libkins at the crackmans.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Libken, c, a House to lye in; also a Lodging.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, xliv. These are the fees I always charge a swell that must have his lib-ken to himself—thirty shillings a week for lodgings, and a guinea for garnish; half-a-guinea a week for a single bed.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, iii. Bk. ch. i. p. 256. ‘We can sel-’em to the ‘mot’ (landlady) of the Libb-ken (lodging-house) for a good deal.’

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Lick, subs. (old).—1. A blow. Hence, his licks = a thrashing. For synonyms see Wipe.

d. 1701. Dryden [quoted by Johnson]. He gave me a lick across the face.

1753. Foote, Englishman in Paris, i. I lent him a lick in his lanthorn-jaws.

1755. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. Lick. A low word.

b. 1785. Forbes, Dominie Deposed, 28. He committed all these tricks, For which he well deserv’d his licks.

1785. Grose, Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Lick.... I’ll give you a good lick o’ the chops, I’ll give you a good stroke, or blow on the face.

1786. Burns, Epistle to W. Simpson, ‘Postscript.’ Frae less to mair it gaed to sticks; Frae words and aiths to clours and nicks, And mony a fallow gat his licks, Wi’ hearty crunt.

1821. Pierce Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1890], p. 78. Oh I took him such a lick of his mummer.

1840. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Ingoldsby Penance.’ I gave him a lick With a stick, And a kick.

1851–61. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, i. 41. If a cove was to fetch me a lick of the head, I’d give it him again.

2. (American).—A stroke; hence, an effort; big licks = hard work.

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, p. 128. When he returned we were running a twenty-five knot lick. Ibid. p. 104. He went up the opposite bank at the same lick, and disappeared. Ibid. p. 94. I struck a lick back to the log and looked over.

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, 189. He could not swim a lick.

1851. Hooper, Widow Rugby’s Husband, etc. 62. I can’t swim a lick—how deep is it.

1863. Bryant, Comic Songs [quoted by Bartlett]. At length I went to mining, put in my biggest licks, Went down upon the boulders just like a thousand bricks.

1873. Americans at Home, i. 276. Molly war the most enticin’, gizzard-ticklin’, heart-distressin’ feline creatur that ever made a fellar get owdacious; and I seed Tom Seller cavertin’ round her, and puttin’ in the biggest kind a licks in the way of courtin’.

1882. Miss Braddon, Mount Royal, xiii. Then I coiled up, and made up my mind to stay in America, till I’d done some big licks in the sporting line.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xii. It’ll be a short life and a merry one, though, dad, if we go on big licks like this.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 36. Stage licks.

3. (common).—A drinking bout.

1886. Daily Telegraph, 3 March. More frequently the ‘sowker’ wound up his big lick in an attack of delirium tremens.

Verb. (common).—1. See quot. 1573.

1573. Harman, Caveat, s.v. Lycke, to beate.

1732. Fielding, Mock Doctor, Sc. ii. Suppose I’ve a mind he should drub, Whose bones are they, sir, he’s to lick?

1733. Fielding, Don Quixote, ii. vii. Stand away, landlord, stand away—If I don’t lick him!

1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, Bk. XV. V. ‘I’ll teach you to father-in-law me. I’ll lick thy jacket.’

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lick, to beat: also, to wash, or to paint slightly over. I’ll give you a good lick of the chops; I’ll give you a good stroke or blow on the face. Jack tumbled into a cow-turd, and nastied his best clothes, for which his father stepped up and licked him neatly. I’ll lick you! the dovetail to which is, If you lick me all over you won’t miss my arse.

1786. Burns, ‘Second Epistle to Davie.’ I’m tauld the Muse ye ha’e negleckit; An gif it’s sae, ye suld be licket.

b. 1794. Wolcot (‘Peter Pindar’), 305. And oft ... the gentleman would lick her.

1840. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (The Cenotaph). Chasing him round, and attempting to lick The ghost of poor Tray with the ghost of a stick.

1843. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), Sam Slick in England, xxii. I would like to lick him ... round the park ... to improve his wind, and teach him how to mend his pace.

1846. Thackeray, Jeames’s Diary (in Punch, x. p. 13). It was Mary Hann who summind the House and put an end to my physty coughs with Fitz warren. I licked him and bare him no mallis.

1870. Daily News, 25 Nov. ‘Leader.’ ‘We ought to believe,’ says the Bishop of Carlisle ‘that an Englishman can lick a Frenchman, a German or any body else.’

1888. Missouri Republican, 2 Feb. I’m a terror from Philadelphia, and I can lick any man in the world.

1892. Lippincott’s Mag., Oct., p. 500. Till Big-Foot Zekel, who used to laff At his genteel manners, quit his chaff, An’ give out the statement, cold an’ chill, He’d lick the duffer as used Hank ill.

2. (colloquial).—1. To surpass; to vanquish; and (2) to puzzle or astound. Fr. bouler. [Cf. Creation, Hollow, Shine etc.].

1864. Derby Day, 39. ‘As sure as the sun shines, Askpart ’ll lick ’em; if so be,’ he added significantly, ‘as there ain’t no cross.’ Ibid. 79. ‘Don’t you know Little un?’ ‘They lick me,’ answered the trainer.

1871. Durham County Advertizer, 10 Nov. ‘By G—, chum, it licks me how the bottom itself did not tumble clean away from the ship.’

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xxxi. But in his own line you couldn’t lick him. Ibid. xxiv. It licked me to think it had been hid away all the time.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, 108. ‘Lets hope you’ll draw the winner, Ike,’ said Kingdon. ‘If you do, and Caloola gets licked, you can pull us through,’ he laughed.

3. (old).—1. To sleek; (2) to tittivate (q.v.); (3) to smooth over, with varnish, rouge, and so forth; to fashion.

1594. Nashe, Have With You, etc. [Grosart, iii. 99]. Spending a whole forenoone euerie daie in spunging and licking himselfe by the glasse.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lickt. Pictures new varnished, Houses new whitened, or Women’s faces with a wash.

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

1853. Taylor, Life of Haydon, p. 212. Modern cartoons with few exceptions are licked (smoothed) and polished intentionally.

4. (American).—To coax.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

To lick into shape, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To fashion; to train. [From the popular idea that the bear’s young are born shapeless and are licked into shape by the dam].

1663. Butler, Hudibras, i. 3, 1308. A bear’s ... most ugly and unnatural ... until the dam has licked it into shape and form.

1870. Figaro, 6 July. My essay on ‘The Busy Bee’ Wants licking into fashion.

To lick spittle, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To fawn upon. Hence, lickspittle, subs. = a parasite or talebearer.

A lick and a promise, subs. phr. (common).—A piece of sloveliness.

To lick the eye, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be well-pleased.

A lick and a smell, subs. phr. (common).—A dog’s portion (q.v.).

To lick the trencher, verb. phr. (old).—To play the parasite.

1608. Withal, Dictionarie, 263. A fellow that can licke his lordes or his ladies trencher in one smooth tale or merrie lye, and picke their purses in another.

To lick one’s dish, verb. phr. (old).—To drink.—Ray (1767).

Lick-box (-dish, -fingers, -pan, -pot, -sauce, or -trencher), subs. (old).—See quot. 1598; a general epithet of abuse.

1571. Golding, Calvin on Ps. (To Reader), p. 9. Not onely licktrenchers but claw backs, which curry favour with great men by their false appeachings.

1575. Gammer Gurton’s Needle, v. 2. Thou lier lickdish, didst not say the neele wold be gitton?

1594. Lochrine, iii. 3. You slop-sauce, lickfingers, will you not hear?

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Leccapiatti, a licke-dish, a scullion in a kitching, a slouen. Ibid. s.v. Leccapignatte, a lick-pot, scullion ... a slouenly greasie fellow.

1602. Decker, Satiro-mastix, in Works (1873), i. 234. Art hardy, noble Huon? art Magnanimious, licke-trencher?

1631. Chettle, Hoffman, 1. ii. Liar, liar, lick-dish.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, ii. ch. xxx. Agamemnon is a lick-box.

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

b. 1794. Wolcot [‘P. Pindar’], Ode upon Ode, in Works (Dublin 1795), vol. i. p. 321. A cobbler, baker, chang’d to a musician, Butlers, lick-trenchers! my reader roars.

1853. Lytton, My Novel, Bk. vi. ch. xxiii. He had a passion for independence, which, though pushed to excess, was not without grandeur. No lick-platter, no parasite, no toad-eater, no literary beggar, no hunter after patronage and subscriptions.

Licker, subs. (common).—Anything monstrous, excessive, or unusual; a whopper (q.v.); a thumper (q.v.); a spanker (q.v.).

Lickety-split, adv.. (American).—Headlong; violently; full chisel (q.v.).

1869. H. B. Stowe, Old Town Folks, 358. If they didn’t whip up and go lickity-split down that ’ere hill.

Licking, subs. (common).—A thrashing. For synonyms see Tanning.

1820. Combe, Syntax, Consolation, C. III. In vulgar terms, he’d had his licking, Not with Ma’am’s cuffs, but by her kicking.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ii. 320. What still at your tricking? I see you won’t rest until you’ve got a good licking.

1838. C. Selby, Hunting a Turtle, I owes you a licking, so I’ll pay you.

1871. Figaro, 22 April, ‘Public School’ etc. Various punishments that, in schoolboy language, are called ‘woppings,’ lickings, and ‘spankings,’ may be received by the sufferers with a grim John Bullish resolve to endure the pain with a martyr’s fortitude.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice-Versâ, v. If I hear of her favouring you more than any other fellows, I’ll give you the very best licking you ever had in your life. So look out!

1889. Polytechnic Magazine, 24 Oct. 264. The Wanderers journeyed down to Tottenham, to play the above club, half anticipating a licking.

Lick-penny, subs. and adj. (old).—An extortioner.

d. 1450. Lydgate, London lick-penny (Title).

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, xxviii. Law is a lick-penny Mr. Tyrell—no counsellor like the pound in purse.

Lick-spigot, subs. (old).—1. A tapster.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe [Grosart (1885), v. 300]. Let the cunningest licke-spiggot swelt his heart out.

1703. Ward, London Spy, Pt. xv. p. 346. He that Salutes the old licks-piggot with other Title than that of Mr. Church-Warden, runs the hazard of paying double Taxes.

2. (venery).—A fellatrix; a cock-sucker (q.v.).

Lick-spittle, subs. (old).—A toady. Fr. un lèche-bottes. For synonyms see Snide. Also as verb.

1629. Davenant, Albovine, iii. Lick her spittle From the ground. This disguised humility Is both the swift, and safest way to pride.

1729. Swift, Libel on Delany and Carteret. His (Pope’s) heart too great, though fortune little, To lick a rascal statesman’s spittle.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, xvii. Averring that they were a parcel of sneaks, a set of lickspittles, and using epithets still more vulgar.

1856. C. Bronte, Professor, v. You mean, whining lickspittle!

1857. Thackeray, Shabby Genteel Story, iii. We call him tuft-hunter, lickspittle, sneak, unmanly.

1887. Hannay, Smollett, p. 96. No surgeon was ever quite such a fool, coward, figurant lick-spittle as Mackshane.

Lick-twat, subs. (old).—A fellator; a cunnilingist (q.v.).

1656. Fletcher, Martiall, xi. 67. A lick-twat and a fencer too.

Lie, subs. (common).—See Whole cloth and White lie.

Verb. (old).—To be in pawn. For synonyms see Pop.

1609. Man in the Moon [quoted by Nares, s.v. Lie]. Sir, answered the begger, I have a good suite of apparell in the next village which lieth not for above eightpence, if you will helpe me to that first I shall thinke myselve beholding unto you.

To lie low, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To conceal one’s thought, or one’s intentions. Also to keep to one’s bed.

1847. Porter, Big Bear etc., p. 129. ‘Lay low and keep dark,’ says I.

1884. F. Anstey, Giant Robe, xxxviii. So you’ve very prudently been lying low till you could get Master Mark off his guard, or till something turned up to help you.

1890. Athenæum, 22 Feb., 241. 2. It becomes clear in the first chapter, or at any rate in the second, that John Ardell’s intended heir is only suppressed, that he is lying low only in a metaphorical sense.

To lie off, verb. phr. (turf).—To make a waiting race. To lie out of one’s ground = to ‘lie off’ too long, so as to be unable to recover lost ground.

To lie around loose, verb. phr. (American).—To loaf; to be out of employment.

To lie flat, verb. phr. (common).—See to lie low.

To lie like truth, verb. phr. (common).—To lie with verisimilitude and propriety.

1876. Hindley, Cheap Jack, 3. The fraternity ... are always supposed, and by common consent allowed, to lie like truth.

To lie down, verb. phr. (old).—To be brought to bed.

1582. Lyly, Euphues and his England [quoted by Nares]. I have brought into the world two children: of the first I was delivered before my friends thought me conceived; of the second, I went a whole yeere big, and yet when every one thought me ready to lie down, I did then quicken.

1720. The Hartlepool Tragedy [quoted by Nares]. I promis’d her fair, that I would take care Of her and her infant, and all things prepare At Hartlepool town, where she should lie down; Poor soul she believ’d me, as always she’d done.

To lie in, verb. phr. (Royal Military Academy).—To keep one’s room when supposed to be out on leave.

To lie in state, verb. phr. (venery).—To lie between two women.

Lie with a latchet (or lie made of whole cloth) (common).—An out-and-out falsehood. Also lie laid on with a trowel.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, v. ch. 30. If you hearken to those who will tell you the contrary, you’ll find yourselves damnably mistaken, for that’s a lie with a latchet; though ’twas Ælian, that long-bow man, that told you so, never believe him, for he lies as fast as a dog can trot.

1672. Ray, Proverbial Phrases, 200. That’s a lie with a latchet, All the dogs in the town cannot match it.

A lie nailed to the counter, subs. phr. (common).—A detected falsehood or slander.

1888. Texas Siftings, 20 Oct. ‘That lie was nailed a good while ago.’ ‘I know it,’ chuckled the C. L., ‘but it is easy enough to pull out the nail.’

1888. Denver Republican, 6 May. The La Junta Tribune has scooped all the papers in the State by nailing the first campaign lie this season.

Lie-abed, subs. (colloquial).—A sluggard.

1763. Foote, Mayor of Garratt, i. If you had got up time enough, you might have secured the stage, but you are a lazy lie-a-bed.

1859. Reade, Love Me Little &c., x. David was none of your lie-a-beds. He rose at five in summer, six in winter.

Life. See Bet and Death.

Life-preserver, subs. (American thieves’).—1. A slung shot.—Matsell (1859).

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

Lifer, subs. (thieves’).—1. See quot. 1838. Also, a lag (q.v.) for life. Fr. un fagot à perte de vue; un bonnet vert à perpète.

1838. Dickens, Oliver Twist, xliii. ‘If they don’t get any fresh evidence, it’ll only be a summary conviction, and we shall have him back again after six weeks or so; but, if they do, it’s a case of lagging. They know what a clever lad he is; he’ll be a lifer. They’ll make the Artful nothing less than a lifer.’ ‘What do yer mean by lagging and a lifer?’ demanded Mr. Bolter.... Being interpreted, Mr. Bolter would have been informed that they represented that combination of words, ‘transportation for life.’

1885. Ency. Brit., xix. 756. Lifers cannot claim any remission, but their cases are brought forward at the end of twenty years.

1892. Hume Nisbet, p. 266. ‘He has money enough, I am sure, raking in the thousands as he does.’ ‘So he has, and so have many old lifers.’

2. (thieves’).—Penal servitude for life.

Lift, subs. (old).—1. A thief. Also lifter.

1592. Greene, Quip, in Works, xi. 243. A receiver for lifts, and a dishonorable supporter of cut purses.

1600. Sir John Oldcastle, ii. 2. I’se poor Irishman; I’se a leafter.

1602. Shakspeare, Troilus and Cressida, i. 2. Is he so young a man and so old a lifter.

1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in Works (Grosart), iii. 146. He that first stealeth the parcell is called the lift.

1608. Penniless Parliament, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), i. 182. To the great impoverishing of all nimmers, lifters, and cut-purses.

1669. Nicker Nicked, in Harl. Misc. (Park), ii. 108, s.v.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, ii. 138, s.v.

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

2. (thieves’).—A theft; plunder; swag (q.v.). Also lifting.

1592. Greene, A Disputation [Grosart (1881–6), x. 227]. We practise ... among merchaunt taylors ... getting much gains by lifting.

1852. Judson, Mysteries etc. of New York, ch. iv. When I hear of the boys making a large lift, I always envy them.

3. (colloquial).—Assistance in general: as, a lift in a vehicle; a lift in life. Also lifting.

1711. Swift, Journal to Hella, 5 April, Letter 20. I ... then took a coach and got a lift back for nothing.

1759. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, I. vii. Whose distress, and silence under it, call out the louder for a friendly lift.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lift. To give one a lift, to assist; a good hand at a dead lift, a good hand on an emergency.

1796. J. G. Holman, Abroad and at Home, i. 1. Young T. Yes, Sir Simon, so they tell me; but for all that, don’t d— trade; for I don’t think as how you’d ha’ been a gentleman and a knight if the money you got by the warehouse had not given you a bit of a lift.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxv. p. 307. There was a constant succession of Christian names in smock frocks and white coats, who were invited to have a lift by the guard, and who knew every horse and hostler on the road and off it.

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-Days, Pt. I. v. You know my old aunt, Miss East, she lives somewhere down your way in Berkshire. She wrote to me that you were coming to-day, and asked me to give you a lift.

1873. Notes and Queries, 4 S. xii. 16 Aug. p. 128. As she was toiling along the high-road to Oxford, she was overtaken by a student of the University on horseback. He offered her a lift, which she accepted.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xl. Grateful to Maddie for giving him this lift.

1892. S. Watson, Wops the Waif, p. 9. Glad of the lift Tickle stood on the edge of a broad ledge at the side of the pavement.

4. (football).—A kick.

Verb. (old).—1. To steal; to convey (q.v.); specifically to steal cattle and horses.

1591. Greene, Second Part Conny-catching [Grosart, vol. x. p. 118]. Some base roges that lift when they come into Alehouses quart potts, platters ... or any such paltrie trash, which commonly is called pilfering.

1600. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, i. 1. One other peculiar virtue you possess in lifting, or leiger-du-main.

1817. Scott, Rob. Roy, xxvi. Live by stealing, reiving, lifting cows.

1852. Judson, Mysteries etc. of New York, iii. ch. 7, p. 47. Well, old gal, wot’s the swag! Wot ’ave you lifted.

1863. Fun, iv. 34. Mosstroopers bold did horses lift at some fierce Baron’s order.

1883. G. A. Sala, in Ill. L. News, Nov. 24, p. 499, col. 1. ‘Paley’s Natural Theology’ is, from beginning to end, based on the lines of the Dutchman, whose very language has, in many instances, been coolly lifted by the English Church dignitary.

1890. Pall Mall Gazette, 19 April, p. 6, col. 1. The pushing and struggling of all this miscellaneous mass at bushy parts of the road, where it got mixed up with the eighty head of cattle which Mr. Stanley had lifted.

1892. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads, ‘The Lament of The Border Cattle Thief.’ And heaved me into the central jail For lifting of the kine.

2. (printers’).—To transfer.

1891. Answers, 28 March. One of the first journalistic duties I ever had to perform was that of replying to the ‘Correspondents’ on a new weekly newspaper attached to a daily, from which nearly all the matter was lifted.

3. (American thieves’).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Lift. Lift the poor cove, he is almost lenten, help the poor fellow, he is almost starved.

4. (sporting).—To break (in a walking race) into an unfair pace.

To lift one’s hand (elbow, little finger, etc.), verb. phr. (common).—To drink. Also see Leg, ante. For synonyms see Drinks.—Grose (1823).

To lift hair, verb. phr. (American).—To scalp.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, 23. Lift as much hair as they could.

1868. Congressional Report, 17 Aug. The Arrapahoes were not after stealing cattle but after lifting hair.

On the lift, adv. phr. (American).—On the move; ready to depart.

Lifter, subs. (old).—1. A thief. See Lift, subs., sense 1.

2. in pl. (old).—A crutch.

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

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Lift-leg, subs. (old).—Strong ale; stingo (q.v.).

Lig, subs. (old).—1. A bed.—New Cant. Dict. (1725); Grose (1785). (2) A bedstead.—Matsell (1859). See Lib.

2. (provincial).—A lie.

Ligby, subs. (old).—A bedfellow: specifically a concubine. Cf. Ludby and Loteby.

1632. Brome, Northern Lass. Con. He is wed already, sir. Another wife would gar him be put down at gallows; and I would not be she for all the worldly good that e’re I saw with both mine eyen. And o’ my conscience I’ll be none of his ligby, for twise so mickle.

1684. Lacy, Sauny the Scot, ii. 1. He means to make one of your lasses his wench—that is, his love and his ligby.

Light, subs. (common).—1. Credit. To get a light = to get credit; To have one’s light put out = to exhaust one’s credit; to go stony (q.v.).

2. (colloquial).—A model; an example: generally shining light.

1871. Figaro, 15 April. ‘A Lay of a Chelsea Bus.’ And still the light seemed ill at ease, And knocked his fists upon his knees. Ibid. ‘Another’ was a shining light; His tie was limp, and once was white.

3. in. pl. (pugilistic).—The eyes. Also daylights (q.v.) and top-lights (q.v.).

1820. J. H. Reynolds (‘P. Corcoran’), The Fancy, 72. She knew a smart blow, from a handsome giver Could darken lights.

4. in pl. (common).—A fool. For synonyms see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Adj. (old).—Wanton. Hence, light-given (Burton, Anat.) = lewd of habit; light-heeled (q.v.); light-o’-love (q.v.); light-skirts, (q.v.); and so forth.

1538. Elyot, Dictionary, s.v. Meretrix, An harlot, a brothel, an hoore, a strompet, a light housewyfe.

1567. Edwards, Damon & Pithias [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), iv. 50]. Believe her not, she is a light goddess; she can laugh and low’r.

1594. Barnfield, Hellen’s Rape or a Light Lanthorne for Light Ladies (ed. Arber), p. 38, in title.

1594. Nashe, Dido, Queen of Carthage [Grosart (1885), vi. 33]. I feare me, Dido hath been counted light, In being too familiar with Iarbas.

1598. Shakspeare, Second Henry IV, i. 1. He hath the horn of abundance, and the lightness of his wife shines through it. Idem, i. 2. Not so, my lord; your ill angel is light.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Femina red monate, A bad light woman.

1599. Porter, Two Angry Women [Dodsley, Old Plays, iv. 367]. Hark ye, maid, if [a] maid, are ye so light, That you can see to wander in the night?

1621. Burton, Anatomy (ed. 1893), i. 479. I write not this to patronize any wanton idle flirt, lascivious or light housewives, which are too forward many times.

1669. Davenant, Man’s the Master, iv. i. I’m a very light hus-wife.

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

1694. Crowne, Married Beau, i. 1. Here’s my wife! see! she is no light piece.

1855. Browning, Men and Women, Vol. i. A ‘light Woman’ (Title).

To put out one’s light, verb. phr. (common).—To kill. Also see subs., sense 1.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, v. 2. Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men. Put out the light, and then—Put out the light?

1619. Beaumont and Fletcher, Maid’s Tragedy, iv. 1. Evad. You will not murder me? Mel. No; ’tis a justice, and a noble one, To put the light out of such base offenders.

1868. Temple Bar, xxiv. 539. Hocussing is putting a chap to sleep with chloroform, and bellowing is putting his light out.

1884. Graphic, 27 Sept., p. 315, col. 2. So now, the malefactor does not murder, he ‘pops a man off’, or puts his light out.

1891. Morning Advertizer, 3 April. The prisoners called him a ‘blackleg,’ and a O’Connor said if he went to work again he would put his light out.

1891. Star, 10 Feb., p. 3, col. 6. He had been heard to say, ‘I should like to put her light out,’ and had fired at her bed-room window.

To hold a light (or candle) to the devil. See devil.

To light the lumper. See Lumper.

To light out, verb. phr. (American).—See quot. 1882.

1882. Notes and Queries, 6 S.v. 65. ‘Words & Phrases in Use in the Far West.’ Light out, same as ‘Skin out’.... To leave secretly and hastily as when pursued by an enemy.

1884. M. Twain, Huckleberry Finn, ch. i. p. 2. So when I couldn’t stand it no longer, I lit out.

1890. Gunter, Miss Nobody, p. 34. Light out as if hell were behind you.

1890. Scribner’s Magazine, Feb., p. 493. I want to jes turn in And take and light right out o’ here and get back West ag’in.

Light-blue, subs. (old).—Gin. For synonyms see Drinks and Satin.

1820. Reynolds (‘Peter Corcoran’), The Fancy.... Never again I’ll cultivate light-blue or brown inebriety.

1822. Randall’s Scrapbook.... My brain-box is airy with Deady’s light-blue.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v.

Light-bob, subs. (military).—1. A light infantry soldier. For synonyms see Mud-crusher.

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

1846. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, xxiv. Mr. Stubble, as may be supposed from his size and slenderness, was of the light-bobs.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, xi. ‘A light-bob on each side, with his arms sloped.’

1870. Daily Telegraph, 27 Sept. ‘On the Superior Education of the German Soldier.’ It was true that the German light-bob was an assistant judge in the Berlin Court.

2. in pl. (military).—The Forty-third Foot.

Lighter. See Lump.

Light-fantastic, subs. (common).—Dancing; e.g., ‘To work the light fantastic’. [Cf. Milton, l’Allegro: Come and trip it as you go On the light fantastic toe]. Fr. la sauterie.

1843. Stirling Coyne, Binks the Bagman, i. 1. Then you’re fond of sporting on the light fantastic.

1848. Ruxton, Life In The Far West, 47. Sport a figure on the light fantastic toe.

1855. Strang, Glasgow and its Clubs, 150. In evening dress, muslins, which were then expensive, were much patronised by those who tripped on the light fantastic toe.

1892. Gunter, Miss Dividends, ix. ‘You dance very nicely;’ she murmurs. ‘Yes, for a man who has not tripped the light fantastic for years.’

Light-feeder, subs. (thieves’).—A silver spoon.

Light-fingered, adj. (colloquial).—Dextrous in stealing; given to thieving.

1560. Nice Wanton [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 167]. I must say more, Your son is suspect light-fingered to be.

1592. Greene, Defence of Conny-catching [Grosart (1881–6), xi. 97]. A ... Taylor, famous for his art, but noted for his filchinge, which although he was light-fingerd, yet ... he was much sought.

1607–9. Dampier, Voyages, ii. 1. 14. The Tonguinese being very light-fingered.

1630. Thos. Adams, Workes, 170. ‘The Fatal Banket! Is any tradesman light-fingered, and lighter conscienced? Here [Stolen waters are sweet] is a whole feast of Fraudes, a table furnished with Trickes, conveyances, glossings, perjuries, cheatinges.’

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

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Light-fingered, thievish, apt to pilfer.

c. 1868–9. W. S. Gilbert, Bohemian Girl. And yet I’ve heard you called light-fingered gentry.

Light-frigate, subs. (old).—A woman of loose morals.—B. E. (1690); New Cant. Dict. (1725).

Light-heeled, adj. (old).—1. Wanton.

c. 1633. Lady Alimony, ii. 6. Lose a light-heeled trull—That in my judgment’s nothing.

1640. The Bride, Sig G. She is sure a light-heeld wench.

1661. Davenport, City Nightcap, ii. Who have heavier heads than those whose wives have light heels.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Light-heeled ... a light-heeled wench, one who is apt by the flying up of her heels, to fall flat on her back—a willing wench.

2. (old).—See quot.

1670. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 47]. A light-heeled mother maketh a heavy-heeled daughter. Because she doth all her work herself, and her daughter meantime sitting idle, contracts a habit of sloth. Mère piteuse fait sa fille rogneuse = a tender mother breeds a scabby daughter.

Light-heels. See Light-skirts.

Light-house, subs. (old).—A red-nosed man.—Grose (1823). [Cf. Shakspeare, I Henry IV, iii. 3. ‘Thou art our Admiral, thou bearest the lantern in the poop.’ etc.].

Light-infantry, subs. (common).—Fleas; F sharps (q.v.). Cf. Heavy Dragoons. Fr. la sauterelle and la sauteuse.

Lightmans, subs. (Old Cant).—See quots. Cf. Darkmans = night. Fr. le matois; It. specchio.

1573. Harman, Caveat (1814), 65. The lightmans, the day.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight. If we ... dup but the gigger of a country-cove’s ken, from thence at the chats we trine in the lightmans.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Markall, p. 39 (H. Club’s Repr. 1874). Lightmans, the day.

1611. Middleton and Dekker, Roaring Girle, v. 1. Oh, I would lib all the lightmans.

1663. R. Head, English Rogue, Pt. I. v. 50 (1874). Lightmans, Morning or Day.

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

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Lightmans, (break of) day.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Lightness, subs. (old).—Wantonness: see Light, adj.

1614. Cook, City Gallant [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), xi. 254]. Kindness is termed lightness in our sex.

Lightning, subs. (old).—Gin. Flash of lightning (or clap of thunder) = a glass of gin. For synonyms see Drinks and Satin.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, 154. Noggin of lightning. A quartern of gin.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v.

1838. T. E. Wilks, John Smith, i. 2. Sometimes we have a little bet as well, but nothing to speak of—some heavy or a flash of lightning.

1851. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 160. He would ... express his desire to add ... the stimulant of a flash of lightning.

Light-o’-love, subs. (colloquial).—A wanton.

1589. Nashe, Anat. of Absurditie, in Wks. (Grosart), i. 14. As there was a loyall Lucretia, so there was a light a love Lais.

1592. Greene, Quip for Up. Courtiers, Bz. 6. Next them grew the dissembling daisie, to warn such light o’ love wenches, not to trust every faire promise that such amorous bachelors make them.

1599. Porter, Two Angry Women [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), vii. 295]. Foul strumpet, light-a-love, short-heels.

1605. London Prodigal, ii. 1. I hate a light o’ love, as I hate death.

1620. Beaumont and Fletcher, Chances, i. 4. Sure he has encountered Some light o’ love or other, and there means To play at in and in for this night.

1652. Fletcher, Wild-Goose Chase, iv. 1. One of your London light o’ loves, a right one! Came over in these pumps, and half a petticoat.

1840. Mark Lemon, Lost And Won, i. 2. Now though Mistress Leyton never oversteps the bounds of modesty, yet it does look so much like what they would do were she a light of love.

1874. Ouida, Two Wooden Shoes, xxiii. You were spared a bad thing, lad; the child was that grand painter’s light-o’-love, that is plain to see.

Light-skirts, subs. (old).—A strumpet. For synonyms see Barrack-hack and Tart. Also Light-heels.

1602. Cooke, How [to] Choose a Good Wife etc. [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 53]. I’ll tell my mistress as soon as I come home That mistress light-heels comes to dinner tomorrow.

1606. Return from Parnassus [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 118]. Hath not Shore’s wife, although a light-skirts she, Giv’n him a chaste, long-lasting memory? Ibid. 127. You light-skirt stars.... By gloomy light perk out your doubtful heads.

1612. Passenger of Benvenuto [quoted by Nares]. F. The purse serves for an art; but if I should briefly tell thee, what punkish art derived from her progenitors this light-skirts used towards me, thou wouldest laugh.

c. 1633. Lady Alimony, ii. 6. That light-skirt, with impetuous heat, Sometimes pursu’d me.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 64]. A whore, a light-skirts.

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

Light-troops, subs. (old).—Lice.

1823. Grose, Vulgar Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. The light-troops are in full march.

Light-weight, adj. (American).—1. Of little importance; weak.

2. (pugilists’).—Under twelve stone.—Grose (1823).

Light-wet, subs. (old).—Gin. For synonyms see Drinks and Satin.

1822. Randall’s Scrap-book. Pure and clear rose the beads on the glass of light-wet.

Like. This word enters into numerous combinations indicating energetic, rapid, or intense action, motion, and thought. The chief are:—

Like (or as) anything; a basket of chips; beans; billy-ho; a bird; blazes; boots, or old boots; bricks, or a thousand, or a cart-load of bricks; a dog in a fair; fun; a house on fire; hell; hot cake; mad; one o’clock; shit to a shovel; a shot; a streak; thunder; the very devil; a tom-tit on a horse-turd; winkey or winky. (Fr. comme la bourrique à Robespierre).

1542. Udall, Erasmus Apoph., p. 32. The young maiden, where the lokers on quaked and trembled for feare, daunced without any feare at all emong sweardes and kniues, beyng as sharpe as anythyng.

1690. The Pagan Prince [quoted by Nares]. So that the Belgians, hearing what a clutter the Albionians made of their victory which they had got but by one spot of a die, they fell a making a bonfires and fire-works like mad, and rejoicing and triumphing for the great victory.

1690. Crowne, English Friar, iii. As soon as ever the stop of coaches is over, my lady will drive like mad.

d. 1703. Pepys, Diary, ii. 6. A mad coachman that drove like mad.

d. 1704. Lestrange [Century]. A bear, enraged at the stinging of a bee, ran like mad into the bee-garden, and overturned all the hives.

1716. Croker, Suff. Cor., i. 8. [Tell] dear Molly I like her like anything.

1740. Richardson, Pamela, ii. 57. O my dear father and mother, I fear your girl will grow as proud as anything.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, 23. But a pelt in the smeller ... set it going like fun. Ibid. 25. The whole populace flashed the white grin like a basket of chips.

1835. Dickens, Sketches, 139. Bump they cums agin the post, and out flies the fare like bricks.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, 2. The breeze struck us, and it came on to blow like thunder. Ibid. We were bowling along right before it, rolling like the very devil.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Jackdaw of Rheims). That little Jackdaw kept hopping about, Here and there, Like a dog in a fair, Over comfits and cakes, And dishes and plates. (Ibid. Witches’ Frolic). Old goody Jones All skin and bones, Follows like winking. Ibid. (Misadv. at Margate). The tear-drop in his little eye again began to spring, His bosom throbb’d with agony, he cried like anything. Ibid. (Ingoldsby Penance). For the Friar to his skirts closely sticks, ‘Running after him,’—so said the Abbot,—like bricks!

1845. B. Disraeli, Sybil or The Two Nations, 330. Syllabubs like blazes, and snapdragon as makes the flunkeys quite pale.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, 37. He lit upon the upper town and its member like a thousand of brick!

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairlegh, 204. Tapping his claret for him, as the pugilists call it, and sending him down like a shot.

1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, iii. p. 159. She liked this very much, in fact so much, that the other little ones used to cry like blazes because I wouldn’t let them have a turn at them [the stilts]. Ibid. i. 29. He trotted on like one o’clock.

d. 1859. De Quincey, Spanish Nun, sect. 24. The horse was so maddened by the wound, and the road so steep, that he went like blazes.

1860. New Orleans Picayune, 27 April (Police Report). When it came to the breakdown, Your Honor, he kicked up a row like a drove of contrary mules, and when we wanted to turn him out, he fell upon us like a thousand of bricks, and threatened to make minced meat of the police and every one of us.

1864. Western World, 5 March. ‘When Mr. Nye had finished, Mr. Stewart rose, and with his irresistible logic and impressive language came down upon him like a thousand of bricks, till he was utterly crushed and demolished.’

1868. Miss Braddon, Sir Jasper, xxvii. p. 282. I’ll stick to you like old boots.

1869. W. S. Gilbert, Bab Ballads, ‘Captain Reece.’ If ever they were dull or sad, The Captain danced to them like mad.

1873. Carroll, Through a Looking Glass, iv. 73. They wept like anything to see such quantities of sand.

1874. Saturday Review, Jan., 55. An Oxford man, nay even a Balliol man ... introduced in the story a pleasing change by such a phrase as jawing away like old boots.

1883. Graphic, 17 March, 287, 1. Nevertheless, this solid fare disappeared, with the beer, like winking.

1888. Puck’s Library, 15. ‘Will go like hot cakes.’ Book Seller (to Clerk). ‘Haven’t we an overstock of ‘Jack, the Giant Killer,’ on hand, James?’ Clerk. ‘Yes, sir.’ Book Seller. ‘Well, take ’m up to the Polo Grounds this afternoon; they’ll sell fast enough there.’

1890. Gunter, Miss Nobody, 153. ‘Second National Bank like a streak,’ screams the new-made lord to the driver.

1891. Mrs. Lovett-Cameron, in Lippincott, Aug., p. 142. ‘He’s as fit as a fiddle, miss,’ said Griggs, admiringly, as Susan kissed her old friend’s satin coat with enthusiasm, ‘and he’ll carry you like a bird to-morrow.’

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 57. I’d be there, like a shot. Ibid. 33. I jest blew away like old boots.

Like one o’clock half struck, phr. (common).—Hesitatingly.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 19. He stands like one o’clock half-struck.

Like a whale. See Whale.

Like Christmas Beef. See Beef.

Like a Birch-broom in a fit. See Birch-broom.

I like that! phr. (common).—A derisive answer to a questionable statement: e.g. ‘I am a capital pedestrian.’ ‘I like that!’

You talk like a halfpenny book (or penny book), adv. phr. (common).—Said in derision of a fluent or affected speaker.

Likeness, subs. (thieves’).—See quot.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. likeness, a phrase used by thieves when the officers ... are examining their countenances; as, ‘the traps are taking our likeness.’

Lil (or Lill), subs. (common).—A book; a document of any kind; a five pound note. In America a dollar. [Gypsy: cf. Borrow, Romano-lavo-lil = Gypsy Word Bk.]. See quots.

1821. D. Haggart, Life’s Glossary, 172. Lil, a pocket-book.

1851. G. Borrow, Lavengro, xvii. p. 63 (1888). The more shame for you—a snake-fellow—a horse witch—and a lil reader—yet you can’t shift for yourself.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Lil, a pocket-book. Lill, a bad bill.

Lilliputian, subs. (colloquial).—A dwarf.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v.

Lily-Benjamin, subs. (common).—A white great coat. See Benjamin.

Lily-liver, subs. (common).—A coward.

1863. Thackeray, Roundabout Papers, xii. When people were yet afraid of me, and were taken in by my swagger, I always knew that I was a lily-liver, and expected that I should be found out some day.

Lily-livered, adj. (old).—cowardly; dastardly.

1605–6. Shakspeare, King Lear, ii. 2. Osw. What dost thou know me for? Kent. A knave; a rascal; a lily-livered, action-taking knave.

1857. A. Trollope, Barchester Towers, xiv. You will not be so lily-livered as to fall into this trap which he has baited for you.

Lily of St. Clements. See St. Clements.

Lily-shallow, subs. (common).—A white driving hat.—Grose (1823).

Lilywhite, subs. (old).—1. A negro; a chimney-sweep.

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

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lilly white, a chimney sweep.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, 45. Show the lilywhites fair play.

2. in pl. (military).—The Seventeenth Foot [from its facings]. Also, Bengal Tigers (q.v.). Also, the Fifty-ninth Foot.

Lillywhite groat, subs. (common).—A shilling. For synonyms see Bob.

1894. Daily Bourse, 13 Sept., p. 1. For instance, a ‘man,’ starting with 6s. a week, and, after six years, finding himself in possession of weekly wages amounting to 19s., say nineteen shillings, can assuredly have no legitimate cause for complaint.... Fancy nineteen ‘Lillywhite groat’ a week, and not to be satisfied!

Limb, subs. (old).—1. A mischievous child; an imp. Also (in depreciation to older persons) Limb of Satan &c.

1589. Nashe, Martin’s Month’s Mind [Grosart (1883–4), i. 155]. He that is termed Satan ... and a very limm of him.

1625. Jonson, Staple of News, iii. 2. She had it from a limb o’ the school, she says, a little limb of nine year old.

1706. R. Estcourt, Fair Example, iii. 2. p. 34. Blood and thunder! I’ll broil ye, you limb of Satan.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, xxxiv. Meg Merrilies, the old devil’s limb of a gipsy witch.

1862. Calverley, Verses & Translations, p. 7. He was what nurses call a limb.

1864. Derby Day, p. 68. You limb of brimstone; just let me get hold of you.

1880. G. R. Sims, Ballads of Babylon (Little Jim). Our little Jim Was such a limb His mother scarce could manage him.

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall Songs, p. 94. Now I’ve grown into an awful young limb.

2. (American colloquial).—A leg.

1720. Ramsay, The Scribbler’s Lashed, p. 8. If Nellie’s hoop be twice as wide As her two pretty limbs can stride.

1857. Rev. A. C. Geikie, Canadian Journal, Sept. If we know anything of English conversation or letters, we speedily find out, even if stone blind, that British men and women have arms and legs, But in Canada ... he would learn that both sexes have limbs of some sort ... but he could not tell whether their limbs were used to stand on or hold by.

1858. Pittsburg Chronicle, June. The poor brute [a horse] fell ... fracturing his limb.

1861. O. W. Holmes, Elsie Venner, vii. ‘A bit of the wing, Rovy, or of—the under limb?’ The first laugh broke out at this.

1867. Upham, Witchcraft, ii. 248. One of her lower limbs was fractured in the attempt to rescue her from the prison walls.

1870. R. G. White, Words & their Uses, s.v. Limb for leg. Perhaps these persons think that it is indelicate for women to have legs.

1872. De Vere, Americanisms. Limb, instead of leg, one of the ludicrous evidences of the false prudishness prevailing in certain classes of American society.

3. in pl. (common).—A gawk. Also Duke or Duchess of Limbs.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Verb. (common).—To cheat.

1878. Hatton, Cruel London, Bk. ii. ch. v. ‘They have had me, bless you,’ said Bragford, ‘the men who have limbed you and cursed the hand that fed them.’

Limb of the Law, subs. phr. (old).—A lawyer or lawyer’s clerk. Also Limb.

1762. Smollett, Sir L. Greaves, I. ii. Then fixing his eyes upon Ferret, he proceeded—‘An’t you a limb of the law, friend?’

1770. Foote, Lame Lover, iii. Sir Luke. Well said, my young limb of the law.

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

1786–1805. Horne Tooke, Div. of Purley, ii. ch. 4. Limb is from the A.S. verb Limpian, pertinere.... ‘Limb of the Body, Limb of the law,’ etc.

1818–24. Egan, Boxiana, iii. 210. Jack and his pal, a limb of the law, were screwed up the whole of the darkey in the compter.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xliii. p. 377. ‘Now, Sammy, I know a gen’l’m’n here, as’ll do the rest o’ the bisness for us, in no time—a limb o’ the law, Sammy, as has got brains like the frogs, dispersed all over his body ... a friend of the Lord Chancellorship’s, Sammy.’

1889. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 9 Feb., p. 471. That good-looking limb of the law who went wild over you.

To mingle limbs, verb. phr. (old).—To copulate.

1629. Davenant, Albovine, iv. I’st fit I proffer her to mingle limbs?

Limbo, subs. (old).—1. A prison; a place of confinement. [From limbus patrum = purgatory]. See Cage and Slowed.

1553. Lindsay, The Dreme [Laing (1879), i. 14. 360]. That was the Lymbe in the quhilk did remaine.

1592. Greene, Quip, in Works, xi. 253. That reprobate is the vserers executioner, to bring such gentlemen to Limbo, as he hath overthrowne with his base brocage.

1653. Brome, Damoiselle, iii. 1. Had I raked limbo as I did the compter.

1664. Etherege, Comical Revenge, v. 4, in Wks. (1704), 78. Sir Fred. No consideration; dispatch, or to limbo. Whead. Was there ever such a dilemma? I shall rot in prison.

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

1796. J. G. Holman, Abroad & at Home, ii. 3. Har. Captain O’Neill, my friend, Jack Flourish, is a very whimsical fellow. If he had been out of limbo, you would have seen him earlier.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom & Jerry, iii. 5. Never desert an old pal in limbo, Bob.

1836. Marryat, Japhet, lxviii. Who would soon have found out that I had two legs, and have put me into limbo as an impostor.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, iv. 263. It was a heartless, cruel robbery on his part, and had brought ill-luck on him ever since. Before that occurred he had never been in limbo.

2. (old).—A pawnshop; uncle’s (q.v.): in limbo = in pawn.

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, ii. 1. I let him have all my ready money, to redeem his great sword from limbo.

1754. D. Martin, Eng. Dict., 2nd ed. s.v.

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

Limburger. See Cheese.

Lime-basket. To be dry as a lime-basket, verb. phr. (common).—To be very dry; to spit sixpences (q.v.). Also to have hot coppers (q.v.).

1838. Dickens, Oliver Twist. He wished he might be basted if he warn’t as dry as a limebasket.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, 136. ‘That infernal swanky has left me as dry as a lime kiln,’ cried out my companion.

Lime-juice, subs. (Australian). See quots.

1886. E. Wakefield, in Nineteenth Century, August, 173. In these Colonies [Australia], where pretty nearly every one has made several sea voyages, that subject is strictly tabooed in all rational society. To dilate upon it is to betray a ‘new chum’—what they call in Australia a lime juice.

1887. All the Year Round, 30 July, 66. A young man newly arrived in the Colonies from the old country is styled a new Chum or a lime-juice.

Limejuicer, subs. (American nautical).—A British ship or sailor. [In allusion to the lime-juice served out as an anti-scorbutic].

1881. International Rev., xi. 525. You limejuicers have found that Richmond is taken.

1884. Pall Mall Gazette, 26 Aug. They would not go on a limejuicer, they said, for anything.

Limetwig, subs. (old).—1. A snare; a trick. Hence (2) any means of swindling. Also as adj.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart (1885), ii. 24]. Thus walks he vp and downe ... and ... busies himselfe in setting siluer lime twigs to entangle young gentlemen.

1592. Greene, Black Books Messenger [Grosart (1881–6), xi. 7]. The cards to be called ... the lime twigs.

1606. Return from Parnassus [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 125]. Let us run through all the lewd forms of lime-twig, purloining villanies.

1670. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 160]. His fingers are limetwigs, spoken of a thievish person.

Limlifter, subs. (old).—A land-lubber (q.v.).

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Levantino, a lifter, a shifter, a limlifter, a pilferer, etc. Ibid. Cefalú, a scornefull nickname, as we say a limlifter.

Limping-Jesus, subs. (common).—A lameter; a dot-and-carry-one (q.v.).

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

1663. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding, iv. 1. Such a woman is my wife, and no lindabrides.

Line, subs. (colloquial).—A calling; a profession; a lay (q.v.).

1655. Fuller, Church Hist., II. ix. 23. If I chance to make an excursion into the matters of the Commonwealth, it is not out of curiosity, or busy-bodinesse, to be medling in other men’s lines.

1803. Kenney, Raising the Wind, i. 1. Waiter.... The fellow lives by spunging—gets into people’s houses by his songs and his bon-mots. At some of the squires’ tables he’s as constant a guest as the parson, or the apothecary. Sam. Come, that’s an odd line to go into, however.

1836. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, 41. The man in the shop, perhaps is in the baked ‘jemmy’ line, or the firewood and hearth-stone line, or any other line which requires a floating capital of eighteen-pence or thereabouts.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xxiv. Our first try on in the coach line was with the Goulburn mail.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, 177. It’s out of my line.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 52. Halpine Club bizness is oko, and not in my line.

2. (common).—A hoax; a fool-trap.

3. in pl. (colloquial).—A marriage certificate.

1847. Chronicles of Pineville, 64. One of the women, not the one who held the lines.

18[?]. Fast Life; an Autobiography, p. 170. Those good-natured ladies who never had their lines.

1862. Thackeray, Phillip, xii. ‘How should a child like you know that the marriage was irregular?’ ‘Because I had no lines,’ cries Caroline.

4. in pl. (common).—Reins; ribbons (q.v.).

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, 67. Handing the lines to Ashburner, as he stopped his team.

On the line, subs. phr. (common).—Hung on the line at the Royal Academy.

1865. Fortnightly Review, ii. p. 28. Every picture should be hung at that height which in the Royal Academy Exhibition is known as the line.

Verb. (venery).—1. Properly, to impregnate a bitch; hence, to copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

1601. P. Holland, Plinie, viii. ch. xi. The Indians take great pleasure to have their salt bitches lined with tigres.

1725. N. Bailey, Erasmus, ii. 160. He would with the utmost diligence look for a dog that was on all accounts of a good breed, to line her, that he might not have a litter of mongrels.

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

2. (colloquial).—To fill: as to line one’s stomach = to eat; to line one’s pockets = to take money.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, 43. ‘A couple of pocket-books,’ replied that young gentleman. ‘Lined?’ enquired the Jew.

A line of the old author, subs. phr. (old).—A dram of brandy. For synonyms see Go.

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

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

To get into (or on) a line, verb. phr. (old).—See quot. Cf. String and Gammon.

1819. De Vaux, Memoirs, s.v. Line. To get a person in a line, or in a string, is to engage them in a conversation, while your confederate is robbing their person or premises; to banter or jest with a man by amusing him with false assurances or professions, is also termed stringing him, or getting him in tow; to keep any body in suspense on any subject without coming to a decision, is called keeping him in tow, in a string, or in a tow-line. To cut the line, or the string, is to put an end to the suspense in which you have kept any one, by telling him the plain truth, coming to a final decision, &c. A person, who has been telling another a long story, until he is tired, or conceives his auditor has been all the while secretly laughing at him, will say at last, I’ve just dropped down, you’ve had me in a fine string, I think it’s time to cut it. On the other hand, the auditor, having the same opinion on his part, would say, Come, I believe you want to string me all night, I wish you’d cut it; meaning, conclude the story at once.

To line one’s jacket. See Jacket.

The devil’s regiment of the line, subs. phr. (common).—Felons; convicts; the police-van corps.

Line-age, subs. (journalistic).—Payment by line.

Linen. The linen, subs. phr. (common).—The stage curtain: the rag (q.v.).

To wrap up in clean linen, verb. phr. (old).—To deliver sordid or smutty (q.v.) matter in decent language.—Ray (1767).

To cool in one’s linen, verb. phr. (old).—To die.

d. 1796. Burns, Poems. ‘O Merry Hae I Been.’ Blessed be the hour she cooled in her linens.

Linen-arbor, subs. (American cadets’).—A dormitory.

Linen-armourer, subs. (common).—A tailor. For synonyms see Snip.

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

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

Linen-draper, subs. (rhyming).—Paper.

Linenopolis, subs. (common).—Belfast: cf. Cottonopolis.

1886. The State, 20 May, p. 210. There is no town of any dimensions in all Ireland more charmingly situated than Linenopolis.

Liner, subs. (journalistic).—1. A casual reporter, paid by lineage (q.v.). Short for penny-a-liner.

1861. Dutton Cook, Paul Foster’s Daughter, xix. Because now and then a liner is found in the gutter, it doesn’t do to cry shame on every man that wields a pen.

1864. J. H. Burton, Scot Abroad, .... The most fashionable penny-a-liner of the Morning Post.

2. (artistic).—A picture hung on the line (q.v.).

1887. W. P. Frith, Autobiog., i. 114. The work advanced rapidly and I thought successfully, and in due time made its appearance in Trafalgar Square, where it was amongst the fortunate liners.

Ling-grappling, subs. phr. (venery).—Groping a woman; bird’s-nesting (q.v.). Cf. stink-finger.

Lingo, subs. (colloquial).—A foreign language; unintelligible speech.

1699. Congreve, Way of the World, iv. 4. I shall understand your lingo one of these days, Cousin: in the mean while I must answer in plain English.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge etc., iii. 100. We teach them their lingua, to crave and to cant.

1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, Bk. vi. ch. ii. I have often warned you not to talk the court gibberish to me. I tell you, I don’t understand the lingo; but I can read a journal, or the ‘London Evening Post.’

1775. Sheridan, St. Patrick’s Day, i. 1. He’s a gentleman of words; he understands your foreign lingo.

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

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, Pt. i. ch. 2. It’s plain he don’t understand our lingo.

1846. Marryat, Peter Simple, xviii. Recollect that I cannot speak a word of their lingo.

1857. Thackeray, Four Georges (George I). He recited a portion of the Swedish Catechism to his Most Christian Majesty and his Court, not one of whom understood his lingo.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1883. Clark Russell, Sailor’s Language, s.v. Lingo.—Sailor’s name for a language he does not understand.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, viii. Droll lingo, wasn’t it?

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 60. I can’t git the ’ang of his lingo.

Lingua Franca, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Specifically the corrupt Italian (dating from the period of the Genoese and Venetian supremacy) employed as the language of commercial intercourse with the Levant. [Other examples are Hindustani in India, Swahilli and Houssa in Africa, Pidgin in China, and Chinook in America].

1619. Wilson, Belphegor, iii. 5. Mat. What kind of people are ye? Rod. A hotch-potch of all tongues, nations, and languages. We speak the Lingua Franca, keep open house, etc.

1675. Dryden, Kind Keeper, i. 1. English! away you fop! ’tis a kind of lingua franca, as I have heard the merchants call it.

1684. E. Everard, Tr. Tavernier’s Japan, ii. 41. He spoke half Portuguese, half Italian, which being a kind of lingua franca.

1755. Lord Chesterfield, Letters (1777), Bk. ii. No. xcviii, Misc. Wks., Vol. ii. p. 431. How does my godson go on with his little lingua franca, or jumble of different languages?

1787. Beckford, Italy, ii. (1834), 246. Talking a strange lingua franca, composed of three or four different languages.

1825. Scott, Talisman, xiii. The lingua franca mutually understood by Christians and Saracens.

1860. W. H. Russell, Diary in India, i. 28. Men ... talking in lingua franca.

1877. F. Burnaby, Through Asia Minor (1878), vi. 34. ‘What do you want’—he asked in lingua franca, that undefined mixture of Italian, French, Greek and Spanish, which is spoken throughout the Mediterranean.

Lining. See Inside Lining.

1632. W. Rowley, Woman Never Vext, iv. 1. This lean gentleman looks as if he had no lining in’s guts.

To get within the lining of one’s smock, verb. phr. (venery). See quot.

1577. Stanihurst, Ireland, p. 26. The pretty poplet, his wife began to be a fresh occupieing giglot at home, and by report fell so farre acquainted with a religious cloisterer of the towne, as that he gat within the lining of hir smocke.

Link, verb. (old).—To turn out a pocket.

1821. D. Haggart, Life Glossary, p. 172, s.v.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v.

Linsey-woolsey, adj. (old).—Neither one thing nor the other.

1592. Greene, Greenes Vision [Grosart (1881–6), xii. 235]. Thou hast writ no booke well but thy Nunquam fera est and that is indifferent linsey woolsey.

1593. Harvey, Pierces Superer. [Grosart (1885), ii. 317]. A linsey-woolsie wit.

1594. Nashe, Terrors of the Night [Grosart (1883), iii. 229]. A man must not ... have his affections linsey wolsey, intermingled with lust, and things worthy of liking.

1609. Dekker, Work for Arm. [Grosart (1886), iv. 158]. Iackes on both sides ... a linsey-woolsey people, that took no part, but stood indifferent between money and poverty.

1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage, 38. And Baalam’s wages doe moue many still to make such linsey-woolsey marriages.

1647–80. Rochester, A Satire on Marriage. But if he must pay nature’s debt in kind, To check his eager passion let him find Some willing female out.... Tho’ she be linsey-woolsey, Bawd or Whore.

1653. Brome, City Wit, i. 1. Venerable Mr. Linsie-Woolsie; to weare satin sleeves, and whip beggars.

1662. Rump Songs, ‘A Litany for the New-Year,’ ii. 94. From linsy-woolsey Lords, from Town betrayers, From apron Preachers, and extempore Prayers, Good Lord deliver us!

1664. Butler, Hudibras, i. c. 3. A lawless linsey-woolsey brother.

Lint-scraper, subs. (common).—A young surgeon. For synonyms see Crocus and Squirt. Also lint.

1763. Foote, Mayor of Garratt, Dramatis Personæ, Lint, a surgeon.

1861. Thackeray, Lovel, vi. ‘If Miss Prior,’ thought I, ‘prefers this lint-scraper to me, ought I to baulk her?... Take the vaccinator, girl, if thou preferrest him!’

Lion, subs. (old).—1. See quots.

1713. The Guardian, No. 71. This town is, of late years, very much infested with lions ... there are many of these beasts of prey who walk our streets in broad day-light, beating about from coffeehouse to coffeehouse, and seeking whom they may devour. To unriddle this paradox, I must acquaint my rural reader, that we polite men of the town give the name of a lion to any one that is a great man’s spy.

2. (colloquial).—An object (animate or inanimate) of interest. To see the lions = to go sight-seeing.

1590. Greene, Never Too Late [Grosart, viii. 68]. This country Francesco was no other but a meere nouice, and that so newly, that to use the old proverb, he had scarce seene the lions.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lion ... to show the lions and tombs, to point out the particular curiosities of any place, an allusion to Westminster Abbey and the Tower where the tombs and lions are shown.... It is a standing joke among the city wits to send boys and county-folks on the first of April to the Tower ditch to see the lions washed.

1822. Lamb, Elia (Decay of Beggars). The Mendicants of this great city were so many of her sights, her lions. I can no more spare them than I could the Cries of London.

1837. Dickens, Pickwick, iv. But more than these, there were half a dozen lions from London—authors, real authors, who had written whole books, and printed them afterwards—and here you might see ’em, walking about, like ordinary men, smiling, and talking.

1839. Miss Martineau, ‘Literary Lionism,’ in London & Westm. Review, April. In one crowded room are three lions,—a new musical composer, an eminent divine who publishes, and a lady poet.

1849. Washington Irving, Goldsmith, xviii. He had suddenly risen to literary fame, and become one of the lions.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, viii. Doctor McGuffog, Professor Bodgers, Count Poski, and all the lions present at Mrs. Newcome’s réunion that evening, were completely eclipsed by Colonel Newcome.

1864. Glasgow Herald, 23 April. They saw only the danger of losing the lion that they hoped to show about the country in leading-strings.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 6 Jan. The comic lion commenced, but hardly were the first lines out of his mouth when a furious tempest of hisses, cat-calls, and whistling arose.

3. (University).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lion ... also the name given by the gownsmen of Oxford, to inhabitants or visitors.

4. (old).—See quots.

1825. English Spy, i. 156. I’ll thank you for a cut out of the back of that lion tittered a man opposite with all the natural timidity of the hare whom he thus particularised.

1828. Lytton, Pelham, p. 112 [ed. 1864]. ‘A lion is a hare, Sir.’ ‘What!’ ‘Yes, Sir, it is a hare, but we call it a lion because of the game laws.’

1872. Court Journal, 29 June. It was often impossible to get game for the table, and at dinner it was usual to ask for lion, and lion was entered in the bill of fare.

5. in pl. (military).—The Fourth Foot. [From its ancient badge].

Verb. (American thieves’).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Lion. Be saucy; lion the fellow; make a loud noise; substitute noise for good sense; frighten; bluff.

Cotswold lion, subs. (old).—A sheep. See Cotsold and Lammermoor lion.

1537. Thersites [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), i. 400]. Now have at the lions on Cots’old!

1600. Sir John Oldcastle, i. 2. You old stale ruffian, you lion of Cotswold.

1659. Harrington, Epigrams, B. iii. Ep. 18. Lo then the mystery from whence the name, Of Cotsold lyone first to England came.

1672. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), p. 204], s.v.

To tip the lion, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lion, to tip the lion, to squeeze the nose of the party tipped, flat to his face with the thumb.

To put one’s head into the lion’s mouth, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To put oneself into a desperate position.

As valiant as an essex lion, phr. (old).—As valiant as a calf.—Ray (1767).

Lion-drunk, adj. phr. (old).—See quot.

1582. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, in Wks. (Grosart), ii. 81–2. Now have we not one or two kinde of drunkards onely, but eight kinde.... The second is lion-drunk, and he flings the pots about the house, calls his Hostesse whore, breakes the glasse windows with his dagger, and is apt to quarrele with any man that speaks to him.

Lioness, subs. (common).—1. A female celebrity; a woman of note.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, vii. All the lions and lionesses.

1837. Dickens, Pickwick, xv. Mr. Tupman was doing the honours of the lobster salad to several lionesses.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, xli. For the last three months Miss Newcome has been the greatest lioness in London; the reigning beauty.

2. (University).—A lady visitor to Oxford, especially at Commemoration.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, xxv. The notion that any of the fraternity who had any hold on lionesses, particularly if they were pretty, should not use it to the utmost for the benefit of the rest, and the glory and honour of the college, was revolting to the undergraduate mind.

3. (old).—A harlot. For synonyms see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1596. John Davies, Epigrams, ‘In Faustum,’ xvi. But when he lost his hair where he had been, I doubt me he had seen a lioness.

Lion- (or Leo-) hunter, subs. (colloquial).—One who runs after celebrities. [Popularised by Dickens in the Mrs. Leo Hunter of Pickwick].

1862. Round Table, 10 Aug. Mr. Alfred Tennyson, fleeing from the bores and leo-hunters, has bought an estate called Greenhill, near Blackdown-Hill, Haslemere.

1878. Athenæum, 19 Jan., p. 81, col. 2. Keats, the obscure medical student, who died before a single lion-hunter had found him out.

1889. Harper’s Mag., lxxviii. 417. One of the greatest dangers to all genius is that of being robbed of its vital strength by velvety-pawed lion-hunters.

Lionism, subs. (colloquial).—Attracting attention as a lion (q.v.); also, sight-seeing.

1839. Miss Martineau, article ‘Literary lionism’ in London & Westm. Review of April 1839.

1851. Carlyle, John Sterling, Pt. III. ch. i. Its Puseyisms, Liberalisms, literary lionisms, or what else the mad hour might be producing.

Lionize, verb. (colloquial).—1. To go sight-seeing. Also, to play the lion (q.v.).

1838. Wilberforce, Life, ii. 12. We came on to Oxford, lionized it, and on to Cuddesdon.

1852. Bristed, Five Years, 129. For eight days I had been lionizing Belgium under the disadvantages of continual rain.

2. (colloquial).—To make much of; to treat as a lion (q.v.).

1843. Carlyle, Past & Present, iv. 6. Can he do nothing for his Burns but lionize him?

1860. Caroline Fox, Journal, ii. p. 237. Tennyson hates being lionized.

1882. Literary World, 3 Feb. Rushing off ... from the splendour and lionizing of a London season.

1886. Fortnightly Rev., xl. 357. [Liszt] allowed himself ... to be lionized.

3. (colloquial).—To show the sights of a place; to play the cicerone.

1871. Disraeli, Lothair, ch. xxiv. He had lionized the distinguished visitors during the last few days over the University.

4. (colloquial).—To go sight-seeing.

1825. English Spy, i. 137. After partaking of some refreshment and adjusting my dress, we sallied forth to lionise as Tom called it, which is the Oxford term for gazing about, usually applied to strangers.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, xviii. He would ogle the ladies who came to lionise the University.

Lion’s provider, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A sycophant; a jackal (q.v.).

Lion’s share, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The bigger part.

Lip, subs. (common).—Impudence; sauce (q.v.). To give lip = to cheek (q.v.).

1821. D. Haggart, Life, p. 20. Giving him plenty of lip. Ibid., p. 172. Lip, abuse.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, iv. p. 285. He looked out for a ‘cheeky answer,’ a ‘bit of lip,’ and had I given it to him he would have reported me without fail.

1884. M. Twain, Huck. Finn, v. p. 31. ‘Don’t you give me none o’ your lip,’ says he.... ‘I’ll take you down a peg before I get done with you.’

1888. F. R. Stockton, Rudder Grange, 99. I told him that I didn’t want none of his lip.

Verb. (colloquial).—1. To sing. For synonyms see Warble. Fr. rossignoler. (2) To speak.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, 124. But come, I’ll lip ye a chaunt.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen String Jack, ii. 3. So thus I’ll trip it, lip it.

1885. Punch, 10 Jan., p. 21. I had great power, millions lipped my name.

To button up the lip (or mouth), verb. phr. (common).—To silence. Button your lip! = hold your tongue; stow it (q.v.).

1747–8. Trapp, Explanatory Notes on the Gospels. Mathew xxii. 46. How easily can God button up the mouths of our busiest adversaries.

1868. Notes & Queries, 4 S. 1. 603. At school it was thought quite an accomplishment in the young gentlemen who were fast of tongue to be able to silence a talkative comrade with the phrase ‘Button your lip.’

To fall betwixt cup and lip. See Slip.

To keep (or carry) a stiff upper lip, verb. phr. (common).—To be self-reliant under difficulties; to be unflinching in the attainment of an object.

1833. Neal, Down Easters, ii. 15. Keep a stiff upper lip; no bones broke—don’t I know?

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1st S. xxxii. He was well to do in the world once, carried a stiff upper lip, and keered for no one.

1847. Chronicles of Pineville, 150. Tut, tut, major, keep a stiff upper lip, and you’ll bring him this time.

1850. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, xii. I hope you keep up good heart, and are cheerful. Now, no sulks, ye see; keep a stiff upper lip, boys; do well by me, and I’ll do well by you.

To make a lip, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To mock; to grimace.

1610. Shakspeare, Coriolanus, ii. 1. I will make a lip at the physician.

Lip-clap, subs. (old).—A kiss. Also Lip-favor.

1592. Greene, Philomela [Grosart (1881–6), xi. 150]. Lutesio. Kinde gaue the gentlewoman a kisse: for he thought she valued a lip favour more than a piece of gold.

1693. Poor Robin [quoted by Nares]. Now the spring coming on, young wenches will grow wanton, and rather than live under a mothers nose, and a granams tongue, will venture a lip-clap and a lap-clap to get them a husband, when a little while after the cuckow sings at their door.

Lipey, subs. (common).—A mode of address: e.g. ‘Whatcher, lipey!’

Lip-labour (or -work), subs. (common).—1. Talk; jaw (q.v.). Also flattery.

1575. Gascoigne, Steel glas [Haylitt (1869), Poems, ii. 205]. My priests haue learnt to pray vnto the Lord, and yet they trust not in their lyplabour.

1577–87. Holinshed, Chronicles, ed. I. Being but a little lip-labour.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart (1883), ii. 135]. Words ... that are the vsual lip-labour of euerie idle discourser.

1630. Taylor, Works [quoted by Nares]. In briefe, my fruitlesse and worthy lip-labour, mixt with a deale of ayrie and non-substantiall matter, I gave his lordship, and the like requitall I bestowed on the right worshipfull Mr. Thomas Squibb, maior of Sarum.

1653. Brome, Novella, iii. 1. Meere noyse and lip-labour, with loss of time, I think with scorne upon such poore expressions.

2. (common).—Kissing.

1582. Stanyhurst, Virgil, etc., ‘Of Tyndarus’ (ed. Arber), p. 145. Syth my nose owtpeaking, good syr, your liplabor hindreth, Hardlye ye may kisse mee where no such gnomon appeareth.

Lip-salve (or -wash), subs. (common).—Flattery.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller [Grosart (1885), v. 92]. What ist? what ist for a mayde fayre and freshe to spend a little lip salue on a hungrie louer.

1680. E. Fannant, Hist. Ed. II, 91. Spencer ... finds here a female wit that ... taught him not to trust a woman’s lip-salve.

1891. Hermann, Scarlet Fortune, vi. Oily flattery ... termed in Western phraseology, chin-music and lip-wash.

Liquid-fire, subs. (common).—Bad whiskey. For synonyms see Drinks and Old Man’s Milk.

Liquor, subs. (common).—A drink.

1882. Punch, lxxxii. 193. 2. These nips and pegs and liquors at all hours of the day were unknown to us.

Verb. (common).—To drink; to treat: generally to liquor up. Also (old)—to liquor one’s boots (q.v.).

1607. W. S., Puritan. Oh, the musicians Master Edward, call ’em in, and liquor them a little.

1682. Dryden, Absalom etc., ii. 461. Round as a globe, and liquored every chink.

1699. London Spy, p. 15. When we had liquored our throats.

1838. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, i. 36. Come, boys, let’s liquor—what’ll you have?

1847. Porter, Big Bear, p. 31. Jumping up, he asked all present to liquor before going to bed.

1850. Tensas, Odd Leaves, p. 175. Doe, les licker, it’s a dry talk.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 57. The very necessity of liquoring so often in our warm weather obliges us to weaken our liquor.

1853. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), Wise Saws, p. 34. Come in here to the hotel, and let’s liquor, for I am nation dry.

1870. E. Hinton, Plutarch’s Morals, ‘Apothegms’ etc. i. 268. ‘If the Athenians,’ said he, ‘deal severely with us, let them execute thee snivelling and gutfoundered; I’ll die well liquored, and with my dinner in my belly.’

1872. Daily Telegraph, 18 Sept. All five then went into the refreshment bar, and—as a bonâ fide traveller has a right to do—liquored up, clinking their glasses merrily together.

1872. Echo, 23 Aug. He joined them, and accepted the general invitation given by De Castro to have a ‘shout,’ or, as the Americans would say, a liquor-up, at the hotel on the opposite side of the way.

1882. Daily Telegraph, 13 Nov., p. 5, col. 3. Who gobbled their food, liquored up repeatedly, smoked or chewed to excess, and expectorated incessantly.

1888. E. Eggleston, The Graysons, xix. Come boys, liquor up!

To liquor one’s boots, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Liquor, To liquor one’s boots, to drink before a journey, among Roman Catholicks to administer the extreme unction.

In liquor, phr. (colloquial).—The worse for drink. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

1756. The World, No. 186. It was her misfortune over-night to be a little in liquor.

1766. Colman, Cland. Marriage, in Works (1777), i. 274. And now you are a little in liquor, you fear nothing.

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, xv. For her reflection, when all was said, had been similar to that indulged in by the gentleman in liquor, ‘too much, yet not enough.’

Liquorpond Street. To come from Liquor-pond Street, verb. phr. (common).—To be drunk.

1828. Buckstone, 23 John St., Adelphi, i. Snatch. I don’t know where you are, sir; but you seem to have just come from Liquorpond Street.

Lispers, subs. (old).—The teeth. For synonyms see Grinders.

1800. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 151, s.v.

List. See Add.

Listeners, subs. (common).—The ears.

1827. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, 7. Hooper planted another under Wood’s listner.

Listman, subs. (turf).—A ready-money bookmaker, betting according to prices on a list exhibited beside him.

1887. Daily Telegraph, 12 March. M. Berthaudin would also extend to the listmen the same rule which is in force among the brokers and agents on the Paris Stock Exchange, all the members of which are jointly and severally responsible for the debts of any one of their number.

Lists-of-Love, subs. (literary).—Copulation. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

1593. Shakspeare, Venus and Adonis. Now are they in the very lists of love.

1633. Ford, Loves’ Sacrifice, iv. 1. A prince whose eye is chooser to his heart, Is seldom steady in the lists of love.

Litter, subs. (old: now recognised).—A muddle.—B. E. (1690); New Cant. Dict. (1725).

Little, adj. (old: now colloquial).—Mean; paltry; contemptible.—B. E. (1690); New Cant. Dict. (1725).

Little Alderman, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A jemmy (q.v.) made in sections. See Alderman.

1889. Daily News, 19 Oct., p. 5, col. 1. The little alderman or ‘sectional jemmy,’ must be condemned by virtue of the word sectional.

Little Barbary, subs. phr. (old).—Wapping.—B. E. (1690); New Cant. Dict. (1725); Grose (1785).

Little Ben, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A waistcoat. See Benjamin.

Little Bird. See Bird.

Little Breeches, subs. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Little Breeches, a familiar appellation used to a boy.

Little Church around the Corner, subs. phr. (America).—A drinking saloon. For synonyms see Lush-crib.

Little Clergyman, subs. (old).—A young chimney-sweep.—Grose (1823).

Little Davy, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick.

Little Devil. See Devil.

Little-ease, subs. (old).—The pillory, stocks, or any similar mode of punishment; a prison-cell: see quots.

d. 1555. Latimer, Sermons, fol. 105, b. Was not this a seditious fellow? was not this fellow’s preaching a cause of all the trouble in Israel? was he not worthy to be cast in bocardo, or little-ease?

1586. Fleming, Nomencl., 196, b. Nervus—a kind of stockes for the necke and the feete: the pillorie, or little-ease.

1688. Holme, Academy of Armory & Blazon, III. cvii. No. 91, p. 312. ‘Like to this [the Stocks of which he has just given a description] there is another like place of Punishment in our House of Correction in Chester (the like to it I have not heard in any other place) it is called the little ease, a place cut into a Rock, with a Grate Door before it; into this place are put Renegadoes, Apprentices, &c. that disobey their Parents and Masters, Robbers of Orchards, and such like Rebellious Youths; in which they can neither Stand, Sit, Kneel, nor lie down, but be all in a ruck, or knit together, so and in such a Lamentable Condition, that half an hour will tame the Stoutest and Stubbornest Stomach, and will make him have a desire to be freed from the place.’

1733. Abstract of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers etc.... Footnote. ‘This little ease was a hole hewed out in a rock; the breadth and cross from side to side is 17 inches, from the back to the inside of the great door; at the top, 7 inches; at the shoulders, 8 inches; and the breast, 9½ inches; from the top to the bottom, 1 yard and a half, with a device to lessen the height as they are minded to torment the person put in, by drawboards which shoot over across the two sides, to a yard in height, or thereabouts.’

1738. The Curiosity, p. 60. Little-ease ... a place of punishment in Guildhall, London for unruly apprentices.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (2nd ed.), s.v.

1819–30. Lingard, Hist. of Eng., viii. note G. p. 424 (4th ed.). ‘A fourth kind of torture was a cell called little ease. It was of so small dimensions and so constructed that the prisoner could neither stand, sit, nor lie in it at full length. He was compelled to draw himself up in a squatting posture, and so remained during several days.’

1871. Daily Telegraph, 25 Jan., p. 5, col. 2. We should see a hideous dark den ... apparently capable of containing about one-fourth of the prisoners with which it is commonly filled.... Every now and then one dies ... after a temporary sojourn in one of these chapels of little-ease at the Acton Police Station.

1895. H. B. Marriott Watson, in New Review, July, p. 47. ‘I think,’ he says, ‘my good highwayman, that the little-ease in Dartford Compter is the place for you,’ and chuckled as if he had made a jest.

Little England, subs. phr. (West Indian).—Barbadoes: see Bim.

Little Englander, subs. phr. (political).—An anti-jingo (q.v.); an opponent of the Imperial idea.

Little Fighting Fours, subs. phr. (military).—The Forty-fourth Foot. [From the prowess of its men, who are of small stature].

Little-finger. To cock one’s little finger, verb. phr. (common).—To drink much and often. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

Little-go, subs. (University).—The public examination which students at the English Universities have to pass in the second year of residence: also called the ‘previous examination’ (as preceding the final one for a degree), and, at Oxford, smalls (q.v.).

1841. Thackeray, King of Brentford’s Testament, 86, 7. At college, though not fast, Yet his little-go and great-go He creditably pass’d.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, iii. A tutor, don’t you see old boy? He’s coaching me, and some other men, for the little-go.

Little-go-vale, subs. (old).—Orderly step to the first examination.—Grose (1823).

Little-guid, subs. (Scots’).—The devil. For synonyms see Skipper.

Little-joker, subs. (sharpers’).—The pea under the thimble in the thimble-rigging game. See also Joker, sense 3.

Little Man, subs. (Eton College).—See quot.

c. 1880. Sketchy Memoirs of Eton, p. 16. He called the footman (or little man ...) and bade him reach down the obnoxious placard.

Little man in the boat. See Boat.

Little-side, subs. (Rugby).—A term applied to all games, organised between houses only.

Little-sister, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable. Ger. Schwesterlein.

Little-snakesman, subs. (thieves’).—A young thief passed into a house through a window so that he may open the door to the gang.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, ii. 82, s.v.

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

Little spot. See Spot.

Little William, subs. phr. (American).—A bill.

Live, adj. (American).—Energetic; active; intelligent.

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 1 Nov., p. 6, col. 1. At a private muster the other night they came up in good force, decided to organize the party by wards, to maintain a live association, and to find the money to keep it going.

To live under the cat’s-paw. See Cat’s-paw.

To live to the door, verb. phr. (common).—To live up to one’s means.

Live-eels, subs. (rhyming).—The fields.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Live eels. Bell has gone to live eels, to ‘read’ and write with Joe.

Live-horse, subs. (workmen’s).—Work done over and above that included in the week’s bill: cf. Dead-horse.

Live-lumber, subs. (nautical).—Landsmen on board ship.

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

Livener, subs. (common).—A morning dram; a pick-me-up (q.v.). For synonyms see Go.

Liver. See Curl.

Liverpool-button, subs. (nautical).—A kind of toggle used by sailors when they lose a button.

Liverpool blues, subs. phr. (military).—The Seventy-ninth Foot.

Liverpool tailor, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A tramping workman; one who sits with his coat and hat on, ready for the road.

Liverpudlian, subs. (colloquial).—A native or inhabitant of Liverpool.

1884. Graphic, 12 April, p. 346, col. 3. Its last match was with Liverpool and it had to accept defeat at the hands of the liverpudlians.

Live-sausage. See Sausage.

Live-stock, subs. (common).—Fleas, bugs and lice,—all body vermin.

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

Living fountain, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum.

1648. Herrick, Hesperides, 404. Show me that hill where smiling love doth sit, Having a living fountain under it.

Liza. Outside Liza! phr. (common).—Be off!

Load, subs. (colloquial).—1. An excess of food or drink. Cf. Jag. Loaded = drunk: also loaded for bears, or to the gunwales.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 63]. He has a jag or load, drunk.

Verb. (horse-copers’).—1. To introduce well-greased shot into the throat of a ‘roaring’ or broken-winded horse. This conceals the defect for a few hours, during which a sale is effected.

1890. Answers, 6 July, p. 81, col. 1. The process of loading a horse, as it is called, is one adopted by ‘horse-copers’—gentry who make a living by selling patched-up horses.

2. (Stock Exchange).—To buy heavily: to unload = to sell freely.

Load of hay, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A day.

Like a load of bricks. See Like.

To lay on load, verb. phr. (old).—To thrash.

1537. Thersites [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), i. 406]. I will search for them both in bush and shrub, And lay on a load with this lusty club.

c. 1550. Inglelend, Disobedient Child [Dodsley, Old Plays (1870), ii. 305]. [Here the wife must lay on load upon her husband]—Stage direction.

b. 1553. Wever, Lusty Juventus [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 87]. But lay load on the flesh, whatsoever befall, You have strength enough to do it with all.

Loaf, subs. (common).—1. A lounge; dawdle; idling: e.g., ‘to do a loaf’.

2. See Loaves and Fishes.

Verb. (common).—1. To lounge; to idle; to mike (q.v.). Fr. louper and gouspiner.

French synonyms. Avoir les côtes en long (popular); balocher (thieves’); louper; traîner sa peau (thieves’); n’en pas foutre une secousse (popular); prendre le train d’onze heures (commercial); traîner ses guêtres.

1838. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, III. ii. One night, Mr. Dobbs came home from his loafing-place, for he loafs of an evening like the generality of people.

1843. Norman, Yucatan, p. 88. We arrived at the town of Tincenn; the sun being exceedingly hot, we waited till evening. The Casa Real in this as in other towns of the province was the loafering place of the Indians.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, xvi. p. 170. Just now, Mrs. Pawkins kept a boarding-house, and Major Pawkins rather loafed his time away, than otherwise.

1845. New York Commercial Advertizer, Dec. The Senate has loafed away the week in very gentlemanly style.

1857. Borthwick, California, p. 118. The street [in Hangtown, California] was crowded all day with miners loafing about from store to store, making their purchases and asking each other to drink.

1861. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, II. xv. Shoe-blacks are compelled to a great deal of unavoidable loafing, but certainly this one loafed rather energetically.

1862. Lowell, Biglow Papers, 2nd S., Int. To loaf, this, I think, is unquestionably German. Laufen is pronounced lofen in some parts of Germany, and I once heard one German student say to another ‘Ich lauf (lofe) hier bis du wiederkehrest’, and he began to saunter up and down—in short, to loaf.

1872. Daily News, 29 Jan., ‘America in Paris.’ Its glass-roofed courts are filled with men of few words and long purses, whose chief mission in life seems to be that of loafing round, and paying the endless bills which their wives send in to them. Diving into newspapers is comprised in the verb to loaf.

1872. Black, Princess of Thule, ch. xiv. Amongst all those loafing vagabonds.

1878. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 29. I lean and loafe at my ease.

1880. Seebohm, Siberia in Europe, ch. xx. Gipsy emigrants who perpetually loaf about on the outskirts.

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall Songs, 134. I’m loafing about and I very much doubt If my excellent Ma is aware that I’m out.

2. (American University).—To borrow, especially with no intention of return.

To be in bad loaf, verb. phr. (old).—To be in a disagreeable situation or in trouble.—Grose (1785).

Loafer, subs. (colloquial).—An idler.

English synonyms. Baker; beat; bummer; crow-eater; draw-latch; flunk; ham-fatter; hayseed; heeler; inspector of pavements; lamb; Laurence (or lazy Laurence); lazybones; miker; moucher; practical politician; Q.H.B.; raff; scow-banker; striker; wood-and-water Joey. See Cadger.

French synonyms. La cagne (popular: also generally in contempt); un balochard or balocheur (popular); un batteur de flemme (= Old Fr. flegme = idleness); une baladeuse (= a female loafer); un gratte-pavé (popular = scratch-pavement); un marpant or marpeau (whence morpion = crab louse); un omnibus (in allusion to slowness of pace); un batteur de pavé (popular: cf. inspector of pavements); un petrouskin (popular); un vachard (popular); un chevalier de la loupe (popular: camp de la loupe = an idlers’ rendez-vous; loupeur = a Saint Mondayite); un grand dependeur d’andouilles (= one who prefers good cheer to work: andouilles = chitterlings); un dort-dans-l’auge (pop.: also un dort-en-chiant); une fenasse (O. Fr. fen = hay); un faignant (from fainéant); un cul de plomb (= heavy-arse); un rossard (popular); un fourrier de la loupe (familiar); un galapiat, galapian, or galapiau (popular); un las-de-chier (common); Madame milord quépète or quépette (= a lady fender); un gouapeur (thieves’).

Spanish synonyms. Zanguango, zangandongo, or zanguayo.

German synonyms. Schallef.

1840. R. H. Dana, Two Years before the Mast, vii. There are no people to whom the newly-invented Yankee word of loafer is more applicable than to the Spanish Americans.

1842. Dickens, American Notes, xiv. p. 111. When we stop to change, some two or three half-drunken loafers will come loitering out with their hands in their pockets.

1865. Lady Duff Gordon, in Macmillan’s Mag., 368. One of the regular loafers who lurk about the ruins to beg and sell water or curiosities and who are all a lazy, bad lot, of course.

1866. W. D. Howells, Venetian Life, iii. I permit myself, throughout this book, the use of the expressive American words loaf and loafer, as the only terms adequate to the description of professional idling in Venice.

1872. Black, Adv. of a Phaeton, xviii. The loafer in moleskin stood at some little distance.

1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, 2. I am a loafer.

1892. F. Anstey, Voces Populi, ‘In the Mall on Drawing Room Day,’ 80. A Sardonic loafer. ’Ullo, ’ere’s a ’aughty one!

Loaferish, adj. (colloquial).—Lounging.

1866. W. D. Howells, Venetian Life, xix. The four pleasant ruffians in the loaferish postures which they have learned as facchini waiting for jobs.

Loafing, subs. (colloquial).—Aimless lounging. Fr. la loupe.

1866. W. D. Howells, Venetian Life, iii. At night men crowd the close little caffé ... and beguile the time with solemn loafing, and the perusal of dingy little journals.

Adj. (colloquial).—Lounging.

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-Days, pt. 1. ch. ii. Then follows the greasy cap lined with fur of a half-gipsy, poaching, loafing fellow, who travels the Vale not for much good, I fancy.

Loaver, subs. (common).—See quot. Cf. Lour, and for synonyms see Actual and Gilt.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, i. 472. That’s the time you get them to rights, when they’re old and ugly, just by sweetening them, and then they don’t mind tipping the loaver (money).

Loaves and Fishes, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Emolument; profit; temporal benefits [From John vi. 26].

c. 1787. John Adams, Works, v. 18. These four orders must be divided ... into factions for the loaves and fishes.

1830. J. B. Buckstone, The Cab-driver, Act i. Do you think the gentlemen are to have all the loaves and fishes?

1841. Punch, i. p. 18, col. 1. I only know that I am mortal by two sensations—a yearning for loaves and fishes and a love for Judy.

Lob (or Lobb), subs. (old).—1. See quots. Fr. la grenouille. Cf. Damper.

1718. C. Higgin, True Discovery, 15. Either by a sint, alias gold watch ... or by a wedge lobb, alias gold or silver snuff-box.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 42. A lobb full of glibbs, a box full of ribbons.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 445. A till—a lob.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

2. (old).—A blockhead; a lubber. For synonyms see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1577. Whetstone, Remembraunce [of Gascoigne]. But as the drone the honey hive doth rob, With woorthy books so deals this idle lob.

1592. Shakspeare, Midsummer Night’s Dream, ii. 1. Farewell, thou lob of spirits, I’ll begone.

b. 1600. Grim the Collier &c. [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), viii. 443]. Well, here in Croydon will I first begin To frolic it amongst the country lobs.

1661. Gauden, Anti-Baal-Berith, 12. This is the wonted way for quacks and cheats to gull country lobs.

3. (colloquial).—A large lump.

1863. Once a Week, iii. 535. Well instead of about a pennyweight, as Joe had expected, the old fellow washed out a good half-ounce at least, so he must have a regular lob of gold stowed away somewhere.

4. (cricket).—A slow underhand ball; delivered low and falling heavily, its course a decided curve. At Winchester lob = yorker (q.v.).

[See also snorter—undergrounder—trimmer—teapot—swiper—stringer— grubber—yorker.]

1892. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 21 Sept., p. 13, col. 3. I would have to try all sorts of bowling—right and left hand, fast and slow, lobs, yorkers, and every other variety.

5. (pugilists’).—The head. For synonyms see Crumpet.

6. (venery).—A partial erection: e.g., a urinary lob.

To frisk (dip, pinch, or sneak) a lob, verb. phr. (old).—To rob a till. To go on the lob = to go into a shop for change and to steal some. Hence lob-sneaking = robbing tills; lob-crawler = a till-thief.

1742. C. Johnson, Highwaymen & Pyrates, 252. He was also very good for the lob.

1868. Temple Bar, xxiv. 537. Stealing the till and opening the safe is what we call lob-sneaking and Peter-screwing.

1877. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. Poor old Tim, the lob-crawler fell from Racker and got pinched.

Verb. (old).—1. To droop; to sprawl.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., iv. 2. Their poor jades lob down their heads.

1821. Egan, Real Life in London, i. 187. The dancing party ... were lobbing their lolleys on the table.

2. (cricketters’).—To bowl a ball as a lob (q.v.).

Lobcock, subs. (old).—1. A blockhead. Also adj.

1534. Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 3. Such a calfe, such an asse, such a blocke ... such a lobcocke.

1557. Breton, Fancy [Grosart (1876), i. a. 15, 2, 37]. The lobcoke lust, from thriftlesse thick, both bring the in his lap.

1567. Edwards, Damon & Pithias [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), iv. 75]. In faith, ere you go, I will make you a lob-cock.

1575. Gascoigne, Supposes [Hazlitt (1869), Poems, i. 218]. I will laugh a little at this lobcocke.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller [Grosart (1883–4) v. 157]. Seneca and Lucan were lobcockes to choose that death.

1606. Wily Beguiled [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 241]. Your lubberly legs would not carry your lob-cock body.

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

1719. Durfey, Pills etc., iv. 171. That ev’ry lobcock hath his wench, And we but one betwixt us.

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

2. (venery).—A large relaxed penis.—Grose (1785).

Lobkin, subs. (old).—A house; a lodging: see Lipken.

1662. Breton, Strange Newes [Grosart (1876), ii. s. 10, 2. 27]. In a country village called Lobkin the large.

Loblolly, subs. (old).—1. A lubber; a lout; a fool.

1604. Breton, Grimello’s Fortunes, p. 9 [ed. Grosart, 1879]. This lob-lollie with slauering lips would be making loue.

1680. Cotton, Scoffer Scofft, in Wks. (1725), p. 209. Whilst he not dreaming of thy Folly, Lies gaping like a great lob-lolly.

2. (nautical).—Water-gruel; spoon-meat.

1621. Burton, Anatomy (ed. 1852), ii. 178. There is a difference (he grumbles) between laplolly and pheasants.

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

1703. Ward, London Spy, Pt. xii. 289. Considering Coffee to be a liquor that sits most easie upon Wine, we thought it the best way to check the aspiring Fumes of the most Christian Juice by an Antichristian Dose of Mahometan loblolly.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1748. F. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Loblolly (S.) any uncouth, strange, irregular mixture of different things together to compose pottage or broth.

1767. Garrick, Peep behind the Curtain, i. 2. My ingenious countrymen have no taste now for the high seasoned comedies; and I am sure that I have none for the pap and loplolly of our present writers.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Loblolly, an odd mixture of spoon-meat.

Loblolly-boy, subs. (nautical).—See quots. In America a bayman or nurse (q.v.). See quots.

1617. Shadwell, Fair Quaker of Deal, i. [sailor loq.] Our rogue of a loblolly doctor, being not satisfied with his twopences, must have a note for ten months’ pay for every cure.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, xxvii. The rude insults of the sailors and petty officers, among whom I was known by the name of loblolly boy.

1776. The Patent, a Poem [Note]. Lob-lolly-boy is a person who on board of a man-of-war attends the surgeon and his mates, and one who knows just as much of the business of a seaman as the author of this poem.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. On board of the ships of war, water-gruel is called loblolly, and the surgeon’s servant or mate, the loblolly boy.

1846. Robert Bell, Ballads & Songs of the Peasantry of England, p. 182. Jack Rider of Linton was loblolley boy aboard the Victory.

1883. Clark Russell, Sailor’s Language, s.v.

1885. Punch, 11 July, p. 18. Lor’ bless yer, a loblolly boy can tell old hands how not to steer.

Lobs, subs. (common).—1. An assistant watcher; an under-gamekeeper.

2. (common).—An abbreviation of lobster (q.v.).

Intj. (schoolboys’).—A signal of a masters’ approach.

Lobscouse, subs. (nautical).—A hash of meat and vegetable; an olio; a gallimaufrey (q.v.); see Soap-and-bullion.

[Other nautical food names, mostly derisive, are choke-dog; daddy funk; dead horse; dogbody; dough Jehovahs; hishee-hashee; measles; sea-pie; soft tack; soap-and-bullion; tommy; twice-laid.]

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ix. This genial banquet was entirely composed of sea-dishes ... the sides being furnished with a mess of that savoury composition known by the name of lob’s-course.

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

1840. R. H. Dana, Two Years before the Mast, v. The cook had just made for us a mess of hot scouse—that is, biscuit pounded fine, salt beef cut into small pieces, and a few potatoes, boiled up together and seasoned with pepper.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, i. It takes a sailor a long time to straighten his spine and get quit of the bold sheer that earns him the name of shell-back. That is not all. Lobscouse eats into the system.

Lobscouser, subs. (nautical).—A sailor [An eater of lobscouse (q.v.)].

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, xix. ‘And besides, how many bunks does an old lobscouser like you want to sleep in?’

1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, 148. ‘He is superstitious, like most old lobscousers, no doubt.’

Lobsneak (or -crawler), subs. (common).—1. A till-robber; a till-sneak (q.v.).

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

2. (cricketters’).—A lob (q.v.).

Lobsneaking, subs. (common).—Till-robbing. Fr. un coup de radin.

Lob’s-pound, subs. (old).—1. A prison; a pound; the stocks: generic for any place of confinement.

1603. Dekker, Batchelor’s Banquet [Grosart (1886), i. 156]. He ran wilfully ... into the perill of Lob’s Pound.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, i. 3, 909. Crowdero whom, in irons bound, Thou basely threwst into Lob’s pound.

1671. Crowne, Juliana, i. 1. Between ’um both he’s got into Lobb’s pound. [Note (Maidment, 1870)]. Jocularly, a prison or place of confinement. The phrase is still used and applied to the prison made for a child between the feet of a grown-up person.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lobcock, In Lob’s Pound, Laid by the Heels, or clap’d up in Jail.

1694. Plautus, made English [Nares]. But in what a fine pickle shou’d I be, if Mr. constable and his watch shou’d pick m’ up and in wi’ me to Lobs-pound? Out o’ which damn’d kitchin, to morrow must I be dish’d up for the whipping post; and not ha’ the benefit o’ the layety to plead i’ m’ own defence.

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

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 18. The cull broke away, as he would from Lob’s pound.

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

1623. Massinger, Duke of Milan, iii. 2. Who forced the gentleman, to save her credit, To marry her, and say he was the party Found in Lob’s pound.

Lobster, subs. (old).—A soldier. [See quots.]. Also boiled lobster in contradistinction to raw lobster (q.v.) which formerly = a sailor. Unboiled-lobster (q.v.) also = a policeman. For synonyms see Mudcrusher.

c. 1642. Somers, Tracts (1811), v. 289. The nickname of lobsters now misapplied to soldiers seems to have been first applied to Sir A. Hazilrigg’s regiment of cavalry, completely armed with corslets—the first body of cavalry on that side which would be brought to stand the shock of the king’s horse.

1662. Rump Songs, ii. 70. Sir William on Run-away-downs had a bout, Which him and his lobsters did totally rout, And his Lady the conqueror could not help him out.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. A red coat, a soldier.

1748. F. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Lobster (S.) ... also a mock name for a foot-soldier.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lobster, a nickname for a soldier, from the colour of his clothes.... ‘I will not make a lobster kettle of my ——’: a reply frequently made by nymphs of the Point at Portsmouth, when requested by a soldier to grant him a favour.

1803. T. Brown, Works, i. 73. The women exclaim against lobsters.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, 5. Lobsters will be such a drug upon hand.

1829. Buckstone, Billy Taylor, i. 1. I ... am no more a dull drab-coated watchman ... Mary ... Thou unboiled lobster, hence!

1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots (April). I don’t think in the course of my whole military experience I ever fought anything, except an old woman, who had the impudence to hallo out, ‘Heads up, lobster!’

1845. Buckstone, Green Bushes, i. 1. Geo. You must lead the soldiers to the very door ... Mur. And where am I to meet the lobsters?

1848. Punch, xiv. 256. He (a soldier) avoids a lobster-shop, for fear of vulgar companions.

3. (cricket).—A bowler of lobs (q.v.).

1890. E. Lyttelton, Cricket, p. 36. The gentle and sensitive lobster, whose success depends so largely on facts he is ignorant of and conditions he cannot control.

Verb. (Winchester College).—To cry. [Notions: Probably a variation of ‘lowster’ or ‘louster’ = (Hants) to make any unpleasant noise].

To boil one’s lobster, verb. phr. (old). See quot. 1819: of churchmen only. Cf. Japan.

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

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, 5. To boil one’s lobster means for a churchman to turn soldier; lobsters which are of a bluish-black, being made red by boiling. Butler’s ingenious simile will occur to the reader:—When, like a lobster boiled, the morn From black to red began to turn.

Lobster-box, subs. (common).—A barrack. Also a transport.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ii. We landed in the lobster-box as Jack loves to designate a transport.

Lobster-cart. To upset one’s lobster-cart. To knock one down. See Apple-cart.

1824. Mack, Cat-fight [N.Y.], p. 153. Ready up to take his part, I’d soon upset his lobster-cart; Make his bones ache, and blubber smart.

Lobster-pot, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Lobtail, verb. (nautical).—To sport or play: as a whale, by lifting his flukes, and bringing them down flat on the water.

Local, subs. (American).—In pl.: an item of news of local interest; a chip (q.v.).

Lock, subs. (old).—1. See quot. 1690.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lock-all-fast.... The Lock, the magazine or Warehouse whither the thieves carry stolen goods to be secur’d.

1727. Gay, Beggar’s Opera, iii. 3. At his lock, Sir, at the Crooked Billet.

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

2. (old).—See quots. 1690 and 1718; a fence (q.v.). Also Lock-all-fast.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lock-all-fast, one that buys and conceals stolen goods.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall, 13, s.v.

1718. Higgin, True Discovery, p. 16. That woman they spoke to as they passed by is a lock, alias Receiver and Buyer of stolen goods.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

3. (old).—A line of business or conduct. Cf. Lurk.

[?]. [Nares], Trum. s. Why look you, colonel, he’s at old lock, he’s at’s May-bees again.

1800. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 116. What lock do you cut now?

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

4. (old).—See quots.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Lock, as He stood a queer lock; i.e., He stood an indifferent chance.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Lock (S.) ... also a cant word.... He stood a queer lock or bad chance.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lock, He stood a queer lock; i.e. he bore but an indifferent character.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

5. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable. Also lock of all locks: cf. Key = penis.

1772. G. A. Stevens, Songs Comic and Satyrical, 88. Here’s the lock of all locks, and unlocking the same.

6. See Lovelock.

Lockees, subs. (Westminster School).—Lockhouse.

Locker, subs. (old).—1. A thieves’ middleman.

1718. C. Higgin, True Discovery, ... I am a locker, I leave goods at a house and borrow money on them, pretending that they are made in London.

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

3. (nautical).—A bar-room or groggery (q.v.).

To be laid in the locker, verb. phr. (common).—To die. For synonyms see Aloft.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, xxxiii. Brown’s dead—shot—laid in the lockers, man.

Davy Jones’ Locker. See Davy Jones.

Shot in the Locker. See Shot.

Lockeram-jaw’d (or Lockram-jawed), adj. (old).—Thin faced, or lanthorn-jaw’d (q.v.).—B. E. (1690); New Cant. Dict. (1725); Grose (1785).

Lock-hospital, subs. (common).—A hospital for the treatment of venereal diseases.

Locksmith’s Daughter, subs. (old).—A key. Also blacksmith’s daughter.—Grose (1785).

English synonyms. Betty; blacksmith’s daughter (or wife); gilkes (= skeleton keys); Jack-in-the-box; screw; sket; twirl. See Jemmy and Thieves.

French synonyms. Une aiguille (popular); un bouton (= master-key); un débridoir (thieves’); un frou-frou (thieves’ = master-key); une Josephine (cf. betty); un luctrême (thieves’); un peigne (thieves’); une penne (une plume = a false key).

German synonyms. Bua (Viennese thieves’: Heb. bube); Dalme or Dalmer (Dalmerei = lock; Dalmernekef = keyhole); Echeder or Echoder (Heb. echod: zarfes Echeder = French skeleton key); Haupter (= a master-key); Hinterschieber; Posschener maphteach; Kleinpurim (= skeleton keys); Schasklamonis (= a set of skeleton keys).

Dutch synonyms. Draaier; klanker; tantel; troetel.

Italian synonym. Ingegnosa (= witty or possessed of genius).

Lock-up-chovey, subs. (old).—A covered cart.—Grose (1823).

Lock-up House, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lock up house, a spunging house, a public-house kept by sheriff’s officers, to which they convey the persons they have arrested, where they practise every species of imposition and extortion, with impunity; also houses kept by agents or crimps, who inlist, or rather trepan men to serve the East India or African company as soldiers.

Lock-ups, subs. (Harrow School).—Detention in study.

Loco-foco, subs. (American).—1. A self-lighting match or cigar.

2. (American).—A nickname of the Democratic party (1834–5). [At a meeting held in Tammany Hall the chairman left his seat and the lights were suddenly extinguished with a view to breaking up the meeting. Thereupon a section of the audience relighted the lights by means of their loco-focos and continued the meeting]. Also as adj. = Democratic; belonging to the loco-foco party.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xvi. p. 162. Here’s full particulars of the patriotic loco-foco movement yesterday, in which the Whigs was so chawed up.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 98. The driver was a stubborn loco-foco.

Locomote, verb. (American).—To walk.

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, 83. He throws the galls in, and a bed too in the hay, if you git too hot to locomote.

Locomotive, subs. (common).—1. A mixed hot drink: of Burgundy, curaçoa, yolks, honey, and cloves.

2. in pl. (common).—The legs. For synonyms see Pins.

1843. W. T. Moncrieff, The Scamps of London, i. 1. Char. Will you listen to me, sir? Bob. Will I? To be sure I will. I will stop my locomotives directly. So now you may set your’s agoing as soon as you like.

1870. Sheffield Times, Mar. Having regained his freedom he again made good use of his locomotives.

Locomotive tailor, subs. (tailors’).—A tramping workman.

Locust, subs. (thieves’).—1. Laudanum.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., iii. 397. Some of the convicts would have given me some lush with a locust in it.

2. (American thieves’).—A truncheon.

1882. M’Cabe, New York, xxiii. 383. ‘Give them the locusts, men,’ came in sharp ringing tones from the captain.

Verb. (thieves’).—See quot.

1868. Temple Bar, xxiv. 539. Locusting is putting a chap to sleep with chloroform and bellowing is putting his light out.

Lodger, subs. (prison).—1. A convict waiting for his discharge.

1889. Answers, 25 May, p. 412. We were delicately termed lodgers, not prisoners, by the authorities.

2. (common).—A person of no account: e.g. ‘only a lodger.’ Cf. Hog.

Lodging-slum, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Hiring furnished lodgings and robbing them of all portable articles of value.—Grose (1823).

Log, subs. (public school).—The last boy of his ‘form’ or ‘house.’

Loge, subs. (old).—See quots. For synonyms see Turnip.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Loge, a watch. I suppose from the French horloge, a watch or clock.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Loge ... he filed a cloy of a loge ... he picked a pocket of a watch.

Loges, subs. (old).—See quot.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 39 (H. Club’s Repr. 1874). Loges a passe or warrant. A Feager of loges, one that beggeth with false passes.

Loggerhead, subs. (old).—A blockhead. For synonyms see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1589. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour Lost, iv. 3, 207. Ah, you whoreson loggerhead! you were born to do me shame.

1597. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV, ii. 4. 4. Poins. Where hast been, Hal? Prince. With three or four loggerheads amongst three or four score hogsheads.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe [Grosart (1883–4), v. 281]. A sweaty loggerhead.

1609. Dekker, Gul’s Horn-booke [Grosart (1886), ii. 204]. In defiance of those terrible blockhouses, their loggerheads make a true discovery of their wild country.

1667. Dryden, Sir Martin Markall, i. Warn. Pray, sir, let me alone: what is it to you if I rail upon myself? Now could I break my own logger-head.

1672. C. Cotton, Scarronides, Bk. i. p. 44 (ed. 1725). At last his Friend jog’d him with’s Hand, How like a logger-head you stand!

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

1704. Swift, Battle of the Books, in Prose Wks. (Camelot). A pack of rogues, and fools ... and confounded loggerheads.

1777. Sheridan, Trip to Scarborough, i. 2. Lory. Here comes a head, sir, would contrive it better than both our loggerheads, if she would but join in the confederacy.

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

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ii. ch. vii. ‘What plea, you loggerhead,’ said the lawyer.

Adj. (old).—Stupid. Also loggerheaded (q.v.).

1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in Works, iii. 104. For the printing of this logger-head Legend of lyes.

1711. Swift, Journal to Stella, 22 August, Lett. 28. Pretty, dear, little, naughty, saucy M.D. Silly, impudent, loggerhead Presto.

To be at (or come to) loggerheads, verb. phr. (old).—To quarrel; to come to blows.

1678. Cotton, Virgil Travestie, in Wks. (1725), Bk. iv. p. 90. He was ... ready.... To fall to loggerheads ... with a few saucy Carpenters.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, in Works (1720), iv. 19. Go to loggerheads with the constable and the watch.

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

1701. Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair, i. They fell to loggerheads about their playthings.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, xxxix. Who having driven their carts against each other, quarrelled, and went to loggerheads on the spot.

1828. Smeaton, Doings in London, ‘The Humours of the Fleet.’ Disputes more noisy now a quarrel breeds, And fools on both sides fall to loggerheads.

1846. Punch, x. 46. The Queen’s Speech, xxx. ‘F. M. the Duke of Wellington will let Mr. Punch have the earliest intimation of anything definite being come to.’ As we have not heard from his grace ... we can only presume that the ministers were, up to the last moment, at loggerheads.

1876. C. H. Wall, trans. Molière, i. 199. You see that without my help you would still all be at loggerheads.

Loggerheaded, adj. (old).—Blockheaded. Also log-headed.

1567. Edwards, Damon & Pithias [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), iv. 65]. For well I knew it was some mad-headed child That invented this name, That the log-headed knave might be beguiled.

1596–7. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, iv. 1. You logger-headed and unpolish’d grooms.

1626. Breton, Pasquil’s Madcappe [Grosart (1876), i.e. 6, 1, 8]. Who hath not seene a logger-headed Asse.

1672. C. Cotton, Scarronides, Bk. iv. p. 102 (ed. 1725). But like a logger-headed Lubber, Thou grinning stand’st, and seest me Blubber.

1684. Lacy, Sauny the Scot, iii. 1. Here, here, you loggerheaded curs.

Logie, subs. (theatrical).—Sham jewellery. [From David Logie the inventor].

1883. Sala, Living London, 483. The plastering of girdles with zinc logies.

2. (Winchester School).—Sewage.

Log-roller, subs. (colloquial).—1. A conditional ally in passing a bill through the Legislature without reference to the merits or demerits of the measure so advanced; and (2) a venal critic assistant or friend. See Log-rolling.

1885. Field, 19 Dec. But some very good contracts can be made, so that the logrollers are pleased, and also the ignorant, to whose folly the defences are ostensibly a tribute.

1890. Black (in Notes & Queries, 7th S. ix. 106). Dryden presents the alternatives very clearly. If the literary friend does not praise his comrade’s work, he must, of course, be dumb with envy; if he does praise it, then he is a log-roller.

1895. Star, Logroller (a constant signature).

Log-rolling, subs. (colloquial).—Co-operation in the pursuit of money, business, or praise. See quots.

1848. Bartlett, Dict. of Americanisms, s.v. Log-rolling. For instance, a member from St. Lawrence has a pet bill for a plank road which he wants pushed through; he accordingly makes a bargain with a member from Onondaga, who is coaxing along a charter for a bank, by which St. Lawrence agrees to vote for Onondaga’s bank, provided Onondaga will vote in turn for St. Lawrence’s plank road.

1855. Washington Union, 10 Feb. The legislation of Congress is controlled by a system of combination and log-rolling.

1872. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 260, 1. Vote for my bill and I will vote for your bill; and this is called log-rolling.

1875. American English, in Chamb. Journal, 25 Sept., p. 610. When a group of members supports a bill in which they have no direct interest, in order to secure the help of its promoters for a bill of their own, they are said to be log-rolling, a term taken from the backwoods, where a man who has cut down a big tree gets his neighbours to help him in rolling it away, and in return helps them with their logs.

1887. Lippincott’s Mag., July, p. 162. And first as to that question of literary log-rolling which has of late been harped upon so much.

1888. Globe, 17 Oct. One has always a suspicion that log-rolling is at work.

1889. Town and Country, 14 Dec., p. 18, col. 4. Votes which have been obtained by no end of trouble, and Heaven knows how much of log-rolling, will disappear as a dream.

Logy, adj. (American).—Dull. [Cf. Du. log = heavy; slow; unwieldy].

Loll, subs. (old).—1. A favorite child.—Grose (1785); Matsell (1859).

2. See Lollpoop.

Verb. (old colloquial).—To lounge; to lie lazily; to sprawl.

1362. Langland, Piers Plowman (C), x. 215. He that lolleth is lame other his leg out of ioynte.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, iv. 1, l. 137. So hangs, and lolls, and weeps upon me.

1609. Shakspeare, Troilus and Cressida, i. 3. At this fustie stuffe, The large Achilles on his prest bed lolling, From his deepe chest laughes out a lowd applause.

1640. T. Heywood, Love’s Mistress, i. Juno lay lolling in my Uncle’s lap.

1676. Etherege, Man of Mode, in Wks. (1704); i. 194. And his looks are more languishing than a lady’s when She lolls at stretch in her coach.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lolpoop.... Loll, to Lean on the Elbows; also to put out the Tongue in derision.

1693. Dryden, Juvenal, 1. 204. Meantime his lordship lolls within at ease.

1711. Spectator, No. 187. Hyæna can loll in her coach, with something so fixed in her countenance, that it is impossible to conceive her meditation is employed only on her dress and her charms in that posture.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1727. Gay, Beggar’s Opera, i. Air 14. Fondly let me loll, Pretty, pretty Poll.

1753. Adventurer, No. 96. I found him in full health, lolling in an easy chair.

1754. Connoisseur, No. 11. The genuine careless loll and easy saunter.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, Bk. iv. ch. xvi. ‘I wish to goodness, Ma,’ said Lavvy ... ‘that you’d loll a little.’

1872. Figaro, 22 June, ‘Lay of the Gallant Yachtsman.’ You may see me here, upon the pier, loll lazily to and fro.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard, x. ‘I don’t see any harm in a good novel once in a way, if you take your time over it, and don’t loll by the fireside half the day, poking your nose into a book and letting your house go to rack and ruin.’

1893. Henley, London Voluntaries, 10. Lingers and lolls, loth to be done with day.

Loller. See Lollpoop.

Lollipop (or Lollypop), subs. (colloquial).—1. A sweetmeat. Also lolly.

1823. Grose, Vulgar Tongue, 3rd ed., s.v.

1838. C. Selby, Catching an Heiress, Sc. 2. Our hearts we cheer, with lollypops.

1844. Disraeli, Coningsby, ix. The ... hopeless votary of lollypop—the opium eater of schoolboys.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 215. Hard-bake, almond-toffy, halfpenny lollypops.

1861. Thackeray, Lovel the Widower, i. I would ... never give these children lollypop.

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 101. William Carrol was his partner, or butty, in the lollipop business.

1885. G. A. Sala, in Daily Telegraph, 3 Sept., 5/5. From a perambulator to a packet of lollies or sugarplums.

2. (venery).—The penis. Also ladies’ lollipop. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick.

Lollop, verb. (colloquial).—To lounge about; to loaf. Hence, lollop, subs. = a lazybones or loafer; and lollopy, adj. = lazy.

1745. C. H. Williams, Place-book, quoted in Notes & Queries, 7 S. iv. 425. Next in lollop’d Sandwich, with negligent grace.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, xxxiv. ‘You are allowed, on pretence of sickness, to lollop at your ease, while your betters are kept to hard duty!’

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1865. Masson, Inaugural Address, 13 Nov. What matters it to our judgment of a beautiful poem, it is asked, what was the appearance and personal character of the author—whether he was laborious and independent in his habits, or lolloped on the surface of society, accepting all he could get and paying nobody? With all deference to those who think otherwise I say that it matters a great deal.

1878. Lady Brassey, Voy. of Sunbeam, 1. i. For four long hours ... we lollopped about in the trough of a heavy sea.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 26 Jan., p. 5, col. 3. She lollops about in a loose dressing-gown, and he is seduced into the carelessness of carpet slippers.

Lollop-fever, subs. (American).—Laziness.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Lolloping, adj. (colloquial).—Idle; lounging; slovenly.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, xvi. Turier ... made a heavy lolloping hit.

1844. Stephens, Adv. of a Gentleman, iii. Horses having long pasterns, have usually a lumbering lolloping action, neither fast nor pleasant.

Lollpoop (Loll, or Loller), subs. (old).—See quots.

1600. Breton, Pasquils’ Madcappe, p. 10. A lobbe, a lovte, a heavy loll, a logge.

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

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lollpoop, a lazy, idle drone.

Loll-tongue. To play a game at loll-tongue, verb. phr. (old).—To be salivated for syphilis.—Grose (1796).

Lolly, subs. (pugilists’).—1. The head. For synonyms see Crumpet.

2. See Lollipop.

Lollybanger, subs. (nautical).—A ships’ cook. See Loblolly.

Lombard-fever, subs. (old).—The ‘idles’; loafing.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 55]. s.v.

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

Lombard St. All Lombard Street to a China orange, phr. (old).—Said of a certainty; the longest possible odds.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, 38. All Lombard Street to ninepence on it. *Note*. More usually Lombard st. to a China orange. There are several of these fanciful forms of betting—Chelsea College to a sentry-box; Pompey’s pillar to a stick of sealing-wax, etc. etc.

1849. Bulwer, Caxtons, iv. 3. ‘It’s Lombard St. to a China orange,’ quoth uncle Jack. ‘Are the odds in favor of fame against failure really so great?’ answered my father.

1892. Evg. Standard, 9 Nov. i. 1. We describe the betting upon a moral certainty as being all Lombard-street to a China orange.

London. To turn (or put) the best side to London, verb. phr. (common).—To show one’s best: cf. Humphrey’s toppers.

1873. Cassell’s Mag., Jan., p. 248, col. 2. This placing the goods in alternate rows of large and small was followed until the top of the box was gained, and then a row of very fine fish indeed crowned the whole. Venturing a remark upon this, the packer grinned as he returned, ‘Allays put the best side to London, gov’nor. Wouldn’t do to shove the big uns underneath. People wouldn’t b’lieve they was there, not if yer swore it. And when we tells ’em up for sale, we allays picks ’em up in double rows, takin’ care to keep the big fish uppermost.’

London-ivy (or London Particular), subs. (common).—A thick fog.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. iii. I asked him whether there was a great fire any-where.... ‘O dear no, miss,’ he said. ‘This is a London particular.’

1889. Sporting Life, 4 Jan. A very severe cold caught by him during a nine hours’ contact with London ivy.

1890. Sportsman, 13 Dec. If only from the question of cost it is clear that a clean sweep should be made of London particular.

London ordinary, subs. (common).—The beach at Brighton. [Where trippers feed].

Lone-duck (or -dove), subs. (common).—A woman out of keeping; also a prostitute, who works away from home by means of houses of accommodation. Also Quiet mouse (q.v.).

Lone-star State, subs. phr. (American).—Texas. [From the flag with a single star in the centre].

Long, subs. (Stock Exchange).—1. A bull (q.v.); cf. short.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 19 Nov. The ramket continued somewhat depressed on longs selling.

2. (Fenian).—A rifle: cf. short = a revolver.

3. See John Long.

Adj. (once literary: now colloquial or humorous).—Tall.

c. 1189. Destruction of Troy [E. E. T. S.], 1. 3805. Off Duke Nestor to deme, doughty in werre, He was long and large, with lemys full grete.

c. 1440. Isumbras, line 258. For he es bothe lange and heghe, The faireste mane that ever I seghe.

1888–9. Broadside Ballad. ‘If only I were long enough.’

The long (University).—The summer vacation.

1852. Bristed, Five Years in an English University, p. 37. For a month or six weeks in the long they rambled off to see the sights of Paris.

1863. Reade, Hard Cash, i. 17. ‘I hope I shall not be [‘ploughed for smalls’] to vex you and puss.’... ‘... Puss? that is me [sister Julia] How dare he? Did I not forbid all these nicknames and all this Oxfordish, by proclamation, last long.’ ‘Last long?’ [remonstrates mamma]. ‘Hem! last protracted vacation.’

The longs, subs. (Oxford University).—The latrines at Brasenose. [Built by Lady Long].

Adj. (colloquial).—Heavy; great: as a ‘long price’, ‘long odds’ etc. etc.

1850. Aytoun, Dreepdaily Burghs, 10. If we look sharp after it, I bet the long odds you will carry it in a canter.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, xiii. Now for good information, long odds, a safe man, and a shot at the favourite!

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 63. Too long in the purse to let slip.

The long and the short of it, phr. (common).—The sum of a matter; the whole. See Long Attachment.

d. 1845. Hood, Paired not Matched. For I am small, My wife is tall, And that’s the short and the long of it.

Long in the mouth, adj. phr. (common).—Tough.

Long in the tooth, adj. phr. (common).—Elderly.

Long acre, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A baker; a burn-crust (q.v.).

Long-attachment, subs. (common).—A tall man and short woman walking together, or vice versâ: also the long and the short of it.

Long-bill, subs. (thieves’).—A long term of imprisonment. Short-bill = a short term.

Long-bit, subs. (old American).—A defaced 20 cent piece (Matsell); also 15 cents in Western U. S. (Century). Short-bit = 10 cents (Century).

Long-bow. To draw (or pull) the long-bow, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To tell improbable stories. Hence, long-bow man = a liar.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, v. ch. 30. ’Twas Ælian, that long-bow man, that told you so, never believe him, for he lies as fast as a dog can trot.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 64], s.v.

1819–24. Byron, Don Juan, xvi. 1. At speaking truth perhaps they are less clever, But draw the long-bow better now than ever.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, xxx. What is it makes him pull the long bow in that wonderful manner?

1871. Daily News, 29 Dec. If now and then he appears to draw the long bow, or rather to shoot with an extraordinary rifle, he does not abuse the reader’s faith unmercifully.

1883. A. Dobson, Old-World Idylls, p. 134. The great Gargilius, then, behold! His long bow hunting tales of old Are now but duller.

English synonyms. To climb a steep hill; to come (or cut) it strong (or fat, or thick); to embroider; to gammon (q.v.); to lay it on thick; to put on the pot; to pull a leg; to slop over.

French synonyms. La faire à l’oseille; en voilà une sévère; c’est plus fort que de jouer au bouchon.

Spanish synonym. Jacarear.

Italian synonym. Spalare.

Long Chalk. By a long chalk, phr. (colloquial).—By far; in a large measure.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), 447. Still Sir Alured’s steed was by long chalks the best.

1838–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 26 (ed. 1826). ‘Yes,’ says he, ‘your factories down East beat all natur; they go ahead on the English a long chalk.’

1844. Charles Selby, London by Night, ii. 2. Jack. Yes, and I opine which will come off second best by long chalks.

1848. Ruxton, Life In The Far West, 2. Not a hundred years ago by a long chalk.

1856. C. Brontë, Professor, iii. ‘You are not as fine a fellow as your plebeian brother by a long chalk.’

1883. Grenville Murray, People I Have Met, 133. The finest thing in the world; or ... ‘the best thing out by many chalks.’

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, v. ‘Isn’t it as easy to carry on for a few years more as it was twenty years ago?’ ‘Not by a long chalk.’

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, 209. ‘Oh, everyone to their taste, of course; she’s not mine by a long chalk.’

Long-crown, subs. (old).—A clever fellow: as in the proverb, ‘That caps long-crown, and he capped the Devil.’

Long-dispar, subs. (Winchester College).—See quot.

1866. Mansfield, School Life, 84. There were six of these [dispars (q.v.) or portions] to a shoulder, and eight to a leg of mutton, the other joints being divided in like proportion. All these ‘dispars’ had different names; the thick slice out of the centre of the leg was called a ‘middle cut,’ ... the ribs ‘Racks,’ the loin long dispars.

Long drink, subs. phr. (common).—A considerable quantity, as compared to a nip (q.v.), i.e., a drop of short (q.v.).

1883. Daily Telegraph, 2 July, p. 5, col. 3. The list of long drinks which may be imbibed with deliberation and through the medium of a couple of straws.

Long-ear, subs. (American University).—1. A reading man; a sober student. See Short-ear.

2. in pl. (common).—A donkey. For synonyms see Moke.

Long Eliza, subs. (trade).—See quot.

1884. Pall Mall Gazette, 4 Dec. Long-elizas (the trade term for certain blue and white vases ornamented with figures of tall thin china-women) is a name derived undoubtedly from the German or Dutch. Our sailors and traders called certain Chinese vases from the figures which distinguished them, lange Lischen (= tall Lizzies) and the English sailors and traders promptly translated this into long elizas.

Long-eye, subs. phr. (pidgin).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Long-faced one, subs. phr. (military).—A horse. For synonyms see Prad.

Long-feathers, subs. (military).—Straw; strommel (q.v.). Fr. piausser sur plume de Beauce = to sleep in the straw.

1879. Correspondent of Notes & Queries, 5 S. xii. 246. Is this bit of ironical slang worth preserving? An old man, lately emerged from what we North-countrymen call the ‘Bastile,’ objected in my hearing to that institution, because, inter alia, ‘you had to sleep there on long feathers,’ that is, upon bedding stuffed with straw.

Long-firm, subs. (common).—See quot. 1869. Fr. la bande noire. A somewhat similar mode of swindling is described in Parker’s View of Society (ii. 33. 1781).

1869. Orchestra, 2 Jan., 235, i. Dismal records of the doings of the long firm, a body of phantom capitalists who issue large orders to supply an infinite variety of goods—from herrings to harmoniums, from cotton-twist to pictures; the ledger of the long firm has room for the most multifarious transactions. The rule of procedure with the long firm is simple: a noble order, a moderate sum paid on account, bills for the remainder, an order to deliver the goods at some country warehouse or depository—and exit Montague Tigg. In the next town he changes his name and his partner’s, and repeats the operation. From Liverpool and Manchester he flings the bait to London tradesmen, and now and then a fish is hooked.

1886. Daily News, 20 Sept., 7, 1. This was the usual case of what is termed long firm swindling. The prisoner pretended to carry on business in the city, and ordered goods of all descriptions, which were never used for legitimate purposes, but which were immediately pawned or otherwise disposed of.

1892. Pall Mall Gazette, 17 Oct., p. 5, c. 2. Not a few of the most dangerous of the long firm class (and there are some about at the present time) haunt the locality, as our criminal courts of justice revealed only a few months ago.

Long-fork, subs. (Winchester College).—See quot.

1866. Mansfield, School Life, 80. We had not proper toasting forks, but pieces of stick called long forks.

Long-gallery, subs. (old).—See quot.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Long-gallery. Throwing, or, rather, trundling, the dice the whole length of the board.

Long-ghost, subs. (common).—A gawk. For synonyms see Lamp-post.

Long-glass, subs. (Eton College).—See quot.

1883. Brinsley-Richards, Seven Years at Eton, 321. A glass nearly a yard long, shaped like the horn of a stage-coach guard, and with a hollow globe instead of a foot. It held a quart of beer, and the ceremony of drinking out of it constituted an initiation into the higher circle of Etonian swelldom. There was long-glass drinking once or twice a week during the summer half. The invités attended in an upper room of Tap after two, and each before the long glass was handed to him had a napkin tied round his neck. It was considered a grand thing to drain the glass without removing it from the lips, and without spilling any of its contents. This was difficult, because when the contents of the tubular portion of the glass had been sucked down, the beer in the globe would remain for a moment as if congealed there: then if the drinker tilted the glass up a little, and shook it, the motionless beer would give a gurgle and come with a sudden rush all over his face. There was a way of holding the long glass at a certain angle by which catastrophes were avoided. Some boys could toss off their quart of ale in quite superior style, and I may as well remark that these clever fellows could do little else.

Long-haired Chum, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A female friend; a sweetheart.

Long-headed, adj. (old: now colloquial).—Shrewd; far-seeing; clever. Also long-headedness.

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

1711. Spectator, No. 52. But being a long-headed gentlewoman, I am apt to imagine she has some further design than you have yet penetrated.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, lxvi. Many distinguished characters, called men of the world, long-headed customers, knowing dogs, shrewd fellows.

1871. Lowell, Study Windows, 126. Ulysses was the type of long-headedness.

Long-hogs, subs. (old).—The first growth of wool on a sheep.

1841. Punch, i. 85. The tailor clips the implicated long-hogs from the prolific backs of the living mutton.

Long-home, subs. (old colloquial).—The grave.—Wright and Hall.

1701. Harl. MSS., fol. 61. And thy traveyle shalt thou sone ende, For to thy long-home sone shalt thou wende.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, l. 2. Following the order book to its long ’ome in the iron safe.

Long-hope, subs. (old).—See quot.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Long-hope.... At Oxford, ... the symbol of long expectations in studying for a degree.

Long-lady, subs. (old).—A farthing candle.

Long-lane, subs. (common).—The throat. For synonyms see Gutter-alley.

For the long-lane, adv. phr. (old).—Said when a thing is borrowed without intention of repayment.

Long-legs (or Long-’un), subs. (common).—A tall man or woman. For synonyms see Lamp-post.

Long-meg, subs. (old).—A very tall woman. For synonyms see Lamp-post.—B. E. (1690); New Cant. Dict. (1725); Grose (1785).

Long-oats, subs. (military).—A broom or fork-handle used to belabour a horse: cf. Thorley’s food for cattle.

Long-one, subs. (poachers’).—A hare: cf. Long-tail.

Long-paper, subs. (Winchester).—Paper for writing tasks on.

Long-pig, subs. (nautical).—See quots.

1883. St. Johnston, Camping amongst Cannibals [Century]. The expression long pig is not a joke, nor a phrase invented by Europeans, but one frequently used by the Fijians, who looked upon a corpse as ordinary butcher meat, and called a human body puaka balava, long pig, in contradistinction to puaka dina, or real pig.

1893. Fortnightly Review, Jan., p. 37. I cannot find it in my heart to condemn them for trying to get a little long pig whenever an opportunity presents itself.

Long-robe, subs. (old).—A lawyer.

1611. Barry, Ram Alley [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), x. 355]. What would you, sir? I guess your long profession By your scant suit.

1662. Adv. Five Hours [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), xv. 230]. And, having been affronted by the sword, To pray the aid of the long robe, and take An advocate for second.

1694. Gentlemen’s Journal, Mar., p. 49. The third was of the long robe.

Long-row. See Hoe.

Longs and Shorts (also Longs and Broads), subs. phr. (card-sharpers’).—Cards so manufactured that all above the eight are a trifle longer than those below it: nothing under an eight can be cut, and the chances against turning up an honour at whist are reduced to two to one. Cf. Brief and Concave.

Long-sauce, subs. (American).—Beets, parsnips, or carrots, in contradistinction to short-sauce (q.v.) = onions, turnips, etc. [An old English usage].

Long-shanks, subs. (old).—A tall man. For synonyms see Lamp-post.—B. E. (1690); New Cant. Dict. (1725); Grose (1785).

Long-shore butcher, subs. phr. (nautical).—A coastguardsman; A shingle-tramper (q.v.).

Long-shot, subs. (racing).—A bet made at large odds: as 100 to 1 on anything not in favour.

1869. Leisure Hour, May. Will teach the tyro when to take a long shot ... when to save himself by timely hedging.

1888. Sporting Life, 10 Dec. Bachelor was next in demand at 5 to 1, and long shots were forthcoming about either of the others.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 16. A jolly long shot.

Long-sleeved top, subs. (thieves’).—A silk hat.—Richardson (1889).

Long-sleeved ’un, subs. phr. (Australian).—A long glass. Fr. un wagon.

Long-stomach, subs. (old).—A voracious eater; a wolfer (q.v.).—Grose (1785).

Long-tail, subs. (sporting).—1. A greyhound: hence, as dogs unqualified to hunt were curtailed, gentlefolk.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, iii. 4. Come cut and longtail under the degree of a squire.

1662. Rump Songs, ii. 126. But long-tail and bob-tail can never agree.

1885. Graphic, 17 Oct. 427/2. Greyhounds, as all coursers know, are often designated as long-tails.

2. (sporting).—A pheasant.

1854. F. E. Smedley, Harry Coverdale, ch. xxiii. In the meantime, Harry and the Colonel were blazing away at the long-tails most unmercifully.

1871. Standard, 6 Nov. The period of the year at which we have now arrived is quite as important as the advent of the month sounding the note of war against the ‘birds,’ or initiating the campaign against the long-tails.

3. (old).—A native of Kent.

1628. Robin Goodfellow [Halliwell & Wright], s.v. Truly, sir, sayd my hoastesse, I think we are called longtayles, by reason our tayles are long, that we use to passe the time withall, and make ourselves merry.

1662. Rump Songs, ii. 47. I shall not dispute whether long-tails of Kent.

1701. Broadside (in Dulwich College Library), ‘Advice to the Kentish long-tails by the Wise Men of Gotham.’ [Title].

4. (old).—See quot.

1755. Johnson, Dict., s.v. Longtail, a canting term for, one or another.

Long-tailed, adj. (old).—Of gentle birth; of good standing.

1662. Rump Songs, i. 195. She blushing said, that long-tailed men would tell, Quoth I, I’ll be as silent as the night.

Long-tailed beggar, subs. phr. (common).—A cat.

1834. Marryat, Peter Simple, ii. ‘You must larn to chaw baccy, drink grog, and call the cat a beggar, and then you knows all a midshipman’s expected to know nowadays.’

1874. Hotten, Slang Dict., s.v. Long-tailed beggar. ‘A boy, during his first, and a very short voyage, to sea, had ... entirely forgotten the name of the cat, and was obliged, pointing to puss, to ask his mother what she called that ’ere long-tailed beggar?’ Sailors when they hear a freshwater tar discoursing largely are apt to say, ‘But how mate about that long-tailed beggar?’

English synonyms. Baudrons (Scots’); gib; grimalkin; masheen; nimshod; puss; Thomas; Tyb.

French synonyms. Un lapin de gouttière (familiar = rabbit of the tiles); un greffier, griffard or griffon (griffe = claw); un gaspard (popular).

Italian synonyms. Laffaro; gulfo.

Spanish synonyms. Estaffion, estaffin, or estaffier.

Long-tailed finnips (or long-tailed ’uns), subs. phr. (thieves’).—Banknotes for high amounts.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assist., 3rd ed., 144, s.v.

Long-tea, subs. (schoolboys’).—1. Tea poured from a pot held high; and (2) lant (q.v.).

Long-tongue, subs. (old).—A talebearer; a chatterbox.

c. 1550. Inglelend, Disobedient Child [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 282]. What banging, what cursing. Long-tongue, is with thee.

1886. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Grandmother’s Clock.’ Very short legs and a very long tongue.

Long-tongued, adj. (old).—Talkative.

1593. Shakspeare, T. Andron., iv. 2. 150. ’Tis a deed of policy: Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours, A long-tongued babbling gossip?

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue [3rd ed.], s.v. Long-tongued. Loquacious, not able to keep a secret, He is as long-tongued as Granny; Granny was an idiot who could lick her own eye.

Long-togs, subs. (nautical).—Shore-going clothes in general, and dress-clothes in particular.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, III. ii. May I be so bold as to ask, Captain O’Brien, whether I must wear one of them long-tog, swallow-tailed coats—because if so I prefer being a quarter-master.

1834. Marryat, Jack Faithful, xxix. I had fitted on what are called at sea, and on the river, long togs; i.e., I was dressed as most people are on shore.

1883. Clark Russell, Sailor’s Language, s.v.

Long-tot, subs. (common).—A long set of figures for addition: as in examinations.

Longwinded, adj. (old: now recognised).—Diffuse; protracted; loquacious. See quots. 1690 and 1796.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart (1883–4), ii. 77]. It will make them iolly long-winded.

1635. Davenant, News from Plymouth, ii. 1. I never read of such a long-winded monster.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Long-winded Paymaster, one that very slowly, heavily, or late Paies.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Long-winded, A long-winded parson, one who preached long, tedious sermons. A long-winded paymaster, one who takes long credit.

1871. Clark Russell, Book of Authors. Sir Walter Scott said Lord Clarendon’s style was a little longwinded.

Lonsdale’s Ninepins, subs. phr. (old Parliamentary).—The nine boroughs for which Lord Lonsdale used to send up members to St. Stephens. A repartee connected with them is attributed to Burke.—H. J. Byron (M.S. note in Hotten).

Loo, subs. (old).—1. See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Loo, for the good of the loo, for the benefit of the Company or Community.

2. (old).—See quot.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 13. Blueskin ... turning ... beheld a young female, whose features were partially concealed by a loo, or half mask, standing beside him.

Verb. (common).—To vanquish. [From the game of loo].

Looby, subs. (old: now recognised).—A fool; an idle dullard. For synonyms see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1362. Piers Ploughman, A. i. 6. Great loubies and long, that loth were to swinke.

1399. Richard the Redeless, ii. 170. This lorell that ladde this loby awey.

1529. S. Fish, A Supplicacyon for the Beggers, p. 13 (Arber’s ed.). Set those sturdy lobies abrode in the world to get ... theire liuing with their laboure in the swete of theire faces.

1609. Dekker, Gul’s Horne-Booke [Grosart (1886), ii. 207]. And how to munch so like loobies, that the wisest Solon in the world, shall not be able to take them for any other.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Looby, a lazy dull Fellow.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

d. 1731. Ned Ward, Works, ii. 20. ‘Reflections on a country corporation.’ Honest men precious as Rubies; Their May’rs successively are Boobies; And Aldermen great brawny loobies.

1754. Connoisseur, No. 22. The country squire seldom fails of seeing his son as dull and awkward a looby as himself.

1775. Sheridan, Rivals, ii. 1. I must leave you—I own I am somewhat flurried—and that confounded looby has perceived it.

1776. Foote, Bankrupt, ii. How the loobies must look.

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

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ii. Now, you looby, said the lawyer.

1845. Disraeli, Sybil, Bk. IV. xi. ‘I went once and stayed a week at Lady Jenny Spinner’s to gain her looby of a son and his eighty thousand a year.’

Look. To look a gift-horse in the mouth, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To criticize a present or favour. [From ascertaining the age of horses by looking at their teeth].

1663. S. Butler, Hudibras, I. i. 490. He ne’er consider’d it, as loth to look a gift-horse in the mouth.

To look alive, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To bestir oneself; to be on the alert. Also, to look slimy.

To look as if butter would not melt in one’s mouth.—See Butter.

To look at the maker’s name, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To drain (a glass) to the bottom; ‘to bite one’s name in the pot’ (q.v.).

To look babies (or for cupids) in the eyes, verb. phr. (old colloquial).—To look closely and amorously into the eyes for the reflected figures.

1593. Tell-trothes N.Y. Gift, 39. That babie which lodges in womens eies.

1607. Beaumont & Fletcher, Woman Hater, iii. 1. I cannot think I shall become a coxcomb, To ha’ my hair curl’d by an idle finger.... Mine eyes looked babies in.

1613. Drayton, Polyolbion, Song xi. While in their chrystal eyes he doth for cupids look.

1618. Beaumont and Fletcher, Loyal Subject, iii. 2. Can ye look babies, sister, in the young gallants’ eyes, and twirl their bandstrings? Ibid. ii. 6. Viol. Will he play with me too? Alin. Look babies in your eyes, my pretty sweet one; There’s a fine sport!

1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., iii. ii. vi. v. (1651) 576. They may kiss and coll, lye and look babies in one another’s eyes.

1624. Massinger, Renegado, ii. 5. When a young lady wrings you by the hand,—thus; Or with an amorous touch presses your foot; Looks babies in your eyes, plays with your locks, etc.

1636. Davenant, Platonic Lovers, ii. 1. You may beget reflections in each others eyes.

1657. Poole, English Parnassus, 420. [Among the phrases expressing the ways of lovers, is set down], ‘Looking of babies in each other’s eyes.’

1672. Marvell, Reher. Transp., i. 66. Only to speculate his own baby in their eyes.

1682. Mrs. Behn, City Heiress, iii. 1. Sigh’d and lookt babies in his gloating eyes.

1690. Wilson, Belphegor, ii. 3. What would I care for a man should court my little finger, look babies in my eyes.... That was not the fashion of my time. Men were men then.

1692. Gentlemen’s Journal, July, p. 9. Ten thousand Cupids wanton in her eyes.

1802. Moore (Little), Poems, ‘Impromptu.’ Thus in our looks some propagation lies, For we make babies in each other’s eyes.

To look big. See Big.

To look blue. See Blue.

To look botty. See Botty.

To look down one’s nose, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To look glum; to have the blues (q.v.).

To look lively, verb. phr. (common).—To be drunk. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

To look for a needle in a bottle of hay (or in a haystack), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To seek what it is impossible to find. [Bottle = a quantity of hay or grass, tied or bundled up. Fr. botte].

1592. Greene, Upstart Courtier (1871), 4. b. He ... gropeth in the dark to find a needle in a bottle of hay.

c. 1845. Hood, Lost Heir, ii. A child as is lost about London streets ... is a needle in a bottle of hay.

c. 1880. W. M. Baker, New Timothy, 200. How in the world will we manage to find you afterwards? After we get into the thick of the bush, it’ll be like lookin’ for a needle in the biggest sort of a haystack.

To look pricks, verb. phr. (venery).—To look lecherously; to leer an invitation to coition: cf. Pintle-keek.

To look sharp, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To exercise great vigilance; to be extremely careful.

1711. Steele, Spectator, No. 132. The captain ... ordered his man to look sharp that none but one of the ladies should have the place he had taken fronting the coach-box.

2. (colloquial).—To be quick; to make haste.

1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, xxxix. Kit told this gentleman to look sharp, and he said he would not only look sharp, but he actually did, and presently came running back.

To look through a glass, verb. phr. (common).—To get drunk. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

To look towards one, verb. phr. (common).—To drink one’s health.

1847–8. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, liii. The ladies drank to his ’ealth, and Mr. Moss, in the most polite manner, looked towards him.

1890. Farjeon, Felix, 1. i. 26. ‘You know where the bottle is, and per’aps Mr. Wigg will jine you.’ ‘Mrs. Middlemore,’ said Constable Wigg, ‘you’re a lady after my own heart.... Here’s looking towards you.’

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie. Tableau III. Sc. 1, p. 31. Deacon, I looks towards you.

To look up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To show a tendency to improvement; to recover.

1850. Aytoun, Dreepdaily Burghs, 6. ‘Suppose I were to start as a Peelite?’ ‘Something may be said in favour of that view, but on the whole, I should rather say not. That party may not look up for some little time, and then the currency is a stumbling block in the way.’

2. (colloquial).—To pay a visit.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xlix. He used to go back for a week, just to look up his old friends.

1859. Punch, xxxvi. 177. 1. When you hung out in Soho, old cock, one could often look you up.

Look-in, subs. (colloquial).—A chance of success.

1870. Bell’s Life, 12 Feb. If Fawcett imagines he has got a look-in, young Mullins will fight him for all the money he can get together in the London district.

1883. Daily Telegraph, August 7, p. 6, col. 2. Four had been examined, and he had expressed his belief that neither of them had a look in as regarded the prizes.

1884. Referee, 23 March, p. 1, col. 4. Easter fought with great gameness, but he never had a look-in from the commencement.

1888. Sporting Life, 28 Nov. This athlete is stated to have run through the distance from the 15 yards mark in 10 min. 2⅖ sec., which did not give much of a look-in to the scratch man.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 20 Mar. He will have a good look-in at Epsom if he goes for the City and Suburban.

1891. Lic. Vict. Gaz., 17 April, p. 247, c. 1. It was not until the 15th round that Terry had a look-in—in a rapid exchange of counters, he got home a terrific blow on Forster’s Roman nose, which smashed the nasal bone.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 28. They didn’t get arf a look-in ’long o’ me.

Looking-glass, subs. (old).—See quot. 1690. For synonyms see It.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Looking-glass, a Chamber-pot.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

To look on, verb. phr. (turf).—Said of a horse not meant to do its best.

To look nine ways for Sundays, verb. phr. (nautical).—To squint. Fr. vendre des guignes.

Loon (Loun or Lown), subs. (old: now recognised).—A lout; a varlet; a rogue.

c. 1500. Babees Book [E. E. T. S.], 291. And take it backe with manlike cheere, not like a Rusticke lowne.

15[?]. Old Ballad (quoted in Othello, ii. 3, 1608), ‘King Stephen.’ With that he called the tailor lown.

1602. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II, in Wks. (1873), ii. 167. The sturdy begger, and the lazy lowne, Gets here hard hands, or laced correction.

1606. Shakspeare, Macbeth, v. 3. ii. The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Loonslatt ... A false loon, a true Scotchman, or Knave of any Nation.

1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, iii. 2. Then away John Thompson ran, And, egad! he ran with speed, But before he had run his length The false loon had done the deed.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1771. Foote, Maid of Bath, iii. 2. I got acquainted with Maister Foote, the play-actor: I will get him to bring the filthy loon on the stage.

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

1798. Coleridge, Ancient Mariner, i. Hold-off; unhand me, gray-haired loon.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, xxx. It might be worth your lordship’s while to have the loon sent to a barber-surgeon’s to learn some needful scantling of anatomy.

To play the loon, verb. phr. (Scots’).—To play the whore.

1568. Sempill, Ballats (ed. 1878), p. 232. ‘Being in ward for playing of the loun With every ane list geif hir half a croun.’ [Title].

c. 1776. Herd, Ancient & Mod. Scottish Songs, ii. 7. I am o’er low to be your bride, Your lown I’ll never be, Sir.

17[?]. Old Scots Ballad [quoted by Burns], ‘My Wife’s a Wanton Wee Thing.’ She play’d the loon or she was married.

c. 1802–5. Minstrelsy Border, ii. 75. I trow some may has plaid the lown, And fled her ain countree.

Loonslate (or Loonslatt), subs. (old).—Thirteen pence halfpenny. Cf. Hangman’s Wages.—B. E. (1690); New Cant. Dict. (1725); Grose (1785).

Loony (or Luny), adj. (colloquial).—Crazy. [Short for ‘lunatic’]. Also as subs. = a fool; a natural. For synonyms see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1883. E. C. Mann, Psychol. Med., 424. He had frequent luny spells, as he called them.

Loose, adj. (old).—1. Wanton; blue (q.v.). Hence, loose-legged, adj. = light-heeled (q.v.); loose in the hilts (or haft) = incontinent; loose-girdled (or gowned) = approachable; loose-woman = a harlot; loose-liver = a whoremaster, etc.

1595. Shakspeare, Two Gentlemen, ii. 7, 41. I would prevent The loose encounters of lascivious men.

1633. Massinger, New Way to Pay Old Debts, v. I had a reputation, but ’twas lost in my loose course.

1636. Davenant, The Wits, iii. 3. This mansion is not her’s, but a concealed retirement.... To hide her loose love.

1711. Addison, Spectator, No. 262. I have shown in a former Paper with how much Care I have avoided all such Thoughts as are loose, obscene, or immoral.

1756. The World, No. 182. Apollo obeyed, and became a wit. He composed loose sonnets and plays.

1783–85. Cowper, Task, iii. 692. No loose, or wanton, though a wandering Muse.

2. (common).—Dissipated.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, ii. iv. They were all feverish, boastful, and indefinably loose; and they all ate and drank a great deal; and made bets in eating and drinking.

On the loose, adv. phr. (common).—1. On the town.

2. On the drink; on the spree (q.v.).

1848. Ruxton, Life In The Far West, 85. They quickly disposed of their peltries, and were once more on the loose.

1848. Jas. Hannay, King Dobbs, iv. p. 63 (1856). One evening, when they were at Gibraltar, on the look-out for amusement—in modern parlance, on the loose.

1859. Punch, vol. xxxvii. p. 22. Our friend prone to vices you never may see, Though he goes on the loose, or the cut, or the spree.

1871. All the Year Round, Sept. He lives by anything rather than by steady work, though sometimes, when a virtuous fit is on him, and he is not out on the rampage, the loose, or the spree, as the vernacular of the place may have it.

1871. Daily Telegraph, 26 Dec. When a labouring man falls into the state which is indifferently termed being tight, or being on the loose, he is only taking a coarse but natural revenge for the previous neglect of the better things in his nature.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, 70. Been out on the loose all the morning.

1884. Cornhill Mag., Dec., p. 607. Then presently, from the effect of alcohol and the sense of other relief, Sir Samuel went off again on the loose for about ten days.

To play fast and loose. See Fast.

To run loose, verb. phr. (racing).—See quot.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, 115. He was much more prudent in his speculations than his partner, and did not at all like the idea of letting a dangerous horse what is termed run loose, that is, unbacked, which might cost him a deal of money.

1891. Lic. Vict. Gaz., 3 April. But the wise will eschew the youngsters, and seek for the winner among the older horses. Of whom the slashing Lord George must assuredly not be allowed to run loose.

To have a screw loose. See Screw.

To shake a loose leg, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To whoremonger; and (2) to whore.

Loose in the haft (or hilt), phr. (colloquial).—1. Wanton; (2) diarrhœric; (3) untrustworthy.

1662. Rump Songs, ii. 56. A government that is loose in the hilt.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 54]. To be loose in the hilts. Tentennar nel manico—Ital. To be fickle, not to be relied upon.

Turned loose, phr. (racing).—Handicapped in a race at a very low rate.

At loose ends, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Neglected.

Loose-bodied (or loose-ended), adj. (old).—Lewd.

1667. Shirley, Love Tricks, ii. 1. Be wise, and take heed of him; he’s giddy-headed and loose-bodied.

Loose-bodied gown, subs. phr. (old).—A harlot. For synonyms see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1602. Dekker, Honest Whore [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), iii. 479]. Yet if I go among the citizens’ wives, they jeer at me; if I go among the loose-bodied gowns, they cry a pox on me, because I go civilly attired; and swear their trade was a good trade, ’till such as I am took it out of their hands.

Loose-box, subs. (common).—A brougham or other vehicle kept for the use of a mistress; a mot-cart (q.v.).

Loose-coat game, subs. (old).—Copulation.—Urquhart. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

Loose-fish, subs. (common).—1. A dissipated character; a bad-egg (q.v.).

1827. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, 72. A game known among the loose-fish who frequent races by the name of thimble-rig.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, lxii. ‘Our friend Clavering ... who, between you and me ..., we must own is about as loose a fish as any in my acquaintance.’

1856. C. Reade, Never Too Late, xliv. In short Mr. Mills was a loose fish; a bachelor who had recently inherited the fortune of an old screw his uncle, and was spending thrift in all the traditional modes.

2. (parliamentary).—See quot.

1864. Saturday Review, July, ‘Stray Votes.’ The game he has in view is that peculiar variety of Parliamentary species known as an outsider or a loose fish, but described by itself under the more flattering title of ‘an independent member.’

Loose-hung, adj. (common).—Unsteady.

Loose-Kirtle, subs. (old).—A wanton: cf. Loose-bodied gown.

Loose-legged, adj. (old).—Incontinent.

1598. Marston, Scourge of Villanie.... ’Twas loose-legged Lais, that same common drab, For whom good Tubias took the mortal stab.

Loot, subs. (common).—Plunder. See quots. 1798 and 1840.

1788. Stockdale, Ind. Vocab. [Yule], s.v. Loot, plunder, pillage.

1791. Gentlemen’s Mag., p. 78, col. 2. They had orders to burn and plunder several large villages ... this former part of their instructions the looties said they had followed.

1798. Wellington, Sup. Desp., i. 60 (1858). Nine parts in ten of the native armies are looties or bad cavalry.

1840. Fraser, Koordistan, ii. Let. xiv. p. 283. The looties—that is, the rogues and vagabonds of the place.

1842. C. Campbell, in Life of Lord Clive, i. 120. I believe I have already told you that I did not take any loot—the Indian word for plunder.

1875. G. Chesney, Dilemma, xxxvi. It was the Colonel Sahib who carried off the loot.

1893. Kipling, Barrack-room Ballads, ‘Loot.’ [Title].

Lop, verb. (colloquial).—To lounge; to flop.

1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, viii. ‘She ... cried about it, she did, and lopped round, as if she’d lost every friend she had.’

1881. Besant & Rice, Chap. of the Fleet, 1. x. Some debauched, idle fellow who lies and lops about all day, doing no work and earning no money.

1881. Century, xxiii. 652. The señora ... could only lop about in her saddle.

Lope, verb. (old).—1. See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lope. To leap, to run away. He loped down the dancers, he ran down stairs.

2. (old).—To steal.

Loplolly, subs. (old).—A servant who makes himself generally useful, and is always at the beck and call of his employer. See Loblolly.

Lord, subs. (common).—1. See quots.: cf. lady.

French synonyms. Un bombé (= a crump); une bobosse (popular: bosse = hump); porter sa malle; une boulendos (= hunchback); un bosmar (popular); un Mayeux; un moule-à-melon (popular); un amoureux (popular); un porte-balle (popular); un loucheur de l’épaule (= i.e., a person who squints with his shoulder).

German synonyms. Asterwitz; Pienk (Bavarian: Pünk = a bundle or protruberance).

Spanish synonyms. Brijindobio (Sp. gypsy); paldumo (Sp. gypsy); brijibio.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lord, a very crooked, deformed, or ill-shapen Person.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, xxviii. Who ... was ... on account of his hump, distinguished by the title of My lord.

1785. Grose, Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Lord.

1820–33. Lamb, Essays of Elia. A deformed person is a lord ... we do not find that that monarch [Richard III] conferred any such lordships as here pretended.

1827. Todd, Johnson’s Dicty., s.v. Lord. A ludicrous title given by the vulgar to a hump-backed person; traced, however, to the Greek λορδος, crooked.

1864. Athenæum, 29 Oct., No. 1931. On the Greek origin of lord, as applied to those who are vulgarly called ‘hunchbacks,’ Mr. Hotten is silent.

1886. W. Besant, World Went Very Well Then, iii. He was, in appearance, short and bent, with rounded shoulders, and with a hump (which made the boys call him My lord).

2. in pl. (Winchester College).—The first eleven.

3. See Lord of the Manor.

Drunk as a lord (prince, or emperor), phr. (common).—Very drunk.

1653. Middleton, Sp. Gipsy, iv. 1. Water thy wine—Sam. [sings] And drink like a lord.

1678. Cotton, Virgil Travestie, in Works (1725), Bk. iv. p. 72. Trojans round beseige her Boards, Merry as Greeks, and drunk as lords.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, iv. 17. For our Squire, we fear, is as drunk as a lord.

1731. C. Coffey, The Devil to Pay, Scene 2. I’m always sharp set towards punch; and am now come with a firm resolution, though but a poor cobbler, to be as richly drunk as a lord; I am a true English heart, and look upon drunkenness as the best part of the liberty of the subject.

1734. Fielding, Intriguing Chambermaid, ii. 6. You dare disturb gentlemen, who are getting as drunk as lords.

1853. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, xviii. 252. She ran screaming through the galleries, and I, as tipsy as a lord, came staggering after.

The Lord knows what, phr. (colloquial).—‘Heaps’; plenty more; all sorts of things.

1691–2. Gentlemen’s Journal, Mar., p. 3. Here’s novels, and new-town adventures ... and the Lord knows what not.

Lord-Baldwin. See Queen Anne.

Lord-Harry. See Old Harry.

Lord-John-Russell, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A bustle; a bird-cage (q.v.).

Lord-Lovel, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A shovel.

Lord-Mansfield’s-Teeth, subs. phr. (old).—The spikes round the wall of the Kings’ Bench.—Grose (1796).

Lord-Mayor, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A large crowbar; a jemmy (q.v.).

Lord-Mayor’s-Coal, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, 2nd Series (ed. 1851), 144. Had the coal been a Lord Mayor’s coal—viz., a slate.

Lord-Mayor’s-fool, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffry Hamlyn, xxxii. Burnside was in the habit of saying that he was like the Lord Mayor’s fool—fond of everything that was good.

Lord-of-the-Manor, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A tanner (q.v.). For synonyms see Bender.

Lose.—See Combination; Hair; Mess; Shirt.

Loser, subs. (billiards).—A stroke in which the player pockets his own ball, after striking either his opponent’s or the red.

1888. Sporting Life, 10 Dec. At last brought a run of 87 to a close with a break-down at a white loser.

Lost-cause, subs. (colloquial American).—Secessionism.

Lot, subs. (colloquial).—A person, male or female: mostly in sarcasm or contempt; as, ‘a bad lot’, ‘a nice lot’, etc.

1846–8. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, 1. vii. ‘You’ll get no good out of ’er,’ continued John, pointing with his thumb towards Miss Sharp: ‘a bad lot, I tell you, a bad lot.’

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ix. ‘So that’s your young friend, is it!’ said he, rattling the loose silver in his capacious pocket with one hand, and laying the other lightly upon Nelly’s head. ‘She’s a very nice little lot.’

1888. Pall Mall Gaz., 20 Nov., p. 2, col. 2. He is a thorough bad lot.

1889. C. Haddon Chambers, ‘Ne’er-do-well,’ in Australian Wilds. ‘I’m afraid he’s a very bad lot,’ I said. ‘I wonder that you have kept him on so long.’

Loteby (or Ludby), subs. (old).—A concubine. See Ligby.

1360. Chaucer, Rom. of the Rose, 1. 6339. And with me folwith my loteby To done me solas and company.

c. 1426. Audeley, Poems, 5. Now ȝif that a man he wed a wyfe, And hym thynke sche plese hym noȝt, Anon ther rysis care and stryfe; He wold her selle that he had boȝt, And schenchypus here that he had soȝt, And takys to him a loteby.

1701. Harl. MSS. (1809–13), fol. 20. For almost hyt is every whore, A gentyl man hath a wyfe and a hore; And wyves have now comunly Here husbondys and a ludby.

1701. Harl. MSS. (1809–13), fol. 12. But there the wyfe haunteth foly Undyr here husbunde a ludby.

Lothario, subs. (colloquial).—A seducer of married women.

1630. Davenant, The Cruel Brother, Dramatis Personæ. Lothario, a frantic young gallant.

1703. Rowe (& Massinger), Fair Penitent, Dramatis Personæ. Lothario, a gallant.

1756. The World, No. 202. Proud of the summons to display his might, The gay lothario dresses for the fight.

1818. Moore, Fudge Family, 87. If some who are lotharios in feeding should wish Just to flirt with a luncheon.

1849. Lytton, Caxtons, xviii. ch. vi. No woman could have been more flattered and courted by lotharios and lady-killers.

1876. Times, 2 Nov. Maurice, a most inflammable lothario, catches fire at her charms.

1882. Cowper, Hope, 28. Lothario cries, ‘What philosophic stuff.’

Lothbury. To go by way of Lothbury, verb. phr. (old).—To be loth. [A pun: cf. Needham Shore, Peckham, etc.].

d. 1580. Tusser [p. 146, quoted by Nares], Though such for woe, by lothbury go, For being spide about Cheapside.

Lotion, subs. (common).—Drink.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, 82. Try to make each other drunk, so that the one who could take the most lotion without being so, might get the best of it by having the place to himself.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 13 April, p. 2, col. 7. In his evidence he said that the testator took his lotion (liquor) ‘according to his troubles.’

1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, 85. You squat still, now, and git through that there lotion.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 62. The ’ole thing seemed swell, with good grubbing and lots o’ prime lotion chucked in.

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall Songs, 119. What do you all say to goin’ inside, and shunting a little garbage, and shifting a drop or so of lotion?

Loud, adj. (common).—1. Showy; raffish (q.v.): applied to dress or manners. Also as adv.. Cf. howling.

1847. Albert Smith, Nat. Hist. of the Gent, vi. 42. They were all dressed nearly alike; hats with narrow brims, coats with large buttons, staring shawls, and trousers of the most prominent style—very loud patterns, as a friend appropriately called them.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, xxx. Rakish young medical students, gallant, dashing, what is called loudly dressed.

1851. Carlyle, Life of Sterling, 1. ch. 2. In a much louder style than is freely patronised on this side of the Channel.

1853. E. Bradley [‘Cuthbert Bede’], Verdant Green, ii. p. 7. And as Mr. Fosbrooke was far too politic a gentleman to irritate the examiners by appearing in a loud or sporting costume, he had carried out the idea of clerical character by a quiet, gentlemanly suit of black.

1864. Eton School Days, xxiii. Butler Burke made his appearance in a Jersey, which was decidedly loud; and some of the lookers-on exclaimed, ‘By Jove! that’s a loud shirt playing in Wynne’s.’

1871. Figaro, 4 Jan. At the last moment Mrs. Tripp, terribly flustered, and also shiny, with a very loud shawl on, suggestive of an amalgamation of the brightest Scotch plaids, just popped in.

1885. Truth, 26 March, p. 502, col. 2. I saw a good frock of this kind with stripes of cardinal, navy blue, and amber. That sounds loud does it not?

1889. Ouida, Moths, xv. Her own daughter ... had loud costumes with wonderful waistcoats.

2. (colloquial).—Strong-smelling.

1887. Fisheries of U. S., vol. ii. 473. They prefer to have the meat tainted rather than fresh, declaring that it is most tender and toothsome when decidedly loud.

Loud one, subs. phr. (old).—A big lie.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 64], s.v.

Lounce, subs. (nautical).—A drink: specifically a pint of beer. [From ‘allowance’].

Lounge, subs. (Eton and Cambridge).—1. A treat; a chief meal.

1864. The Press, 12 Nov. By the way, we miss the Etonian word, lounge, for which there is classic authority. ‘I don’t care for dinner,’ said Harry Coningsby at his grandfather’s table; ‘Breakfast is my lounge.’

2. (old: now recognised).—A loitering place, or gossiping shop.—Grose (1785).

3. (American thieves’).—The dock in a criminal court.

Lour (Loure or Lowre), subs. (old).—Money. Fr. louer = to hire: ‘It was granted him in lower of his servyse’ (Merlin, E. E. T. S. i. 59).

1568. Colkelbie Sow, 1. 148 [Bann. MSS.]. A lass that luvis bot for lour.

1573. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. Lowre, money.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Markall, p. 39 (H. Club’s Repr. 1874). Lower, money.

1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1. A very tyrant I, an arrant tyrant, If e’er I come to reign (therefore look to ’t!) Except you do provide me hum enough, and lour to bowze with!

1632. Dekker, English Villanies, sig. M. What are they, but drunken Beggers? All that they beg being either lowre or Bowse.

1670. Cotton, Scoffer Scofft, in Wks. (1725), p. 280. But ere this life I’ll longer lead, I’ll stroll for lower, or beg my bread.

1671. Richard Head, The English Rogue. Bing out, bien morts and toure. The bien cove hath the loure.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. lour, money.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Cloy. To cloy the lour, to steal money.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 315 (ed. 1864). ‘Well, say no more about it, Sir Luke,’ said Jem, fawningly; ‘I knows I owes you my life, and I thank you for it. Take back the lowre. He should not have shown it me—it was that as did all the mischief.’

1889. Richardson, Police, 321, s.v. Bad money, gammy lower.

Louse. To care not a louse, verb. phr. (old).—To be utterly indifferent.

1719. Durfey, Pills etc., iv. 38. For any Ale-house We care not a louse.

Not worth a louse, adj. phr. (common).—Utterly worthless.

1617. Greene, Metamorph. [Grosart (1881–6), ix. 97]. Lest thy ... Logike prooue not worth a lowse.

1786. Burns, Address to the De’il. Is instant made no worth a louse, Just at the bit.

Louse-bag, subs. (old).—A black bag worn to the hair or wig.—Grose (1785).

Louse-house, subs. (old).—The round-house or cage.—Grose (1785).

Louse-ladder, subs. (old).—‘A stitch fallen in a stocking’; a Jacob’s-ladder (q.v.).—Grose (1785).

Louseland, subs. (old).—See quot. 1690. Cf. Itchland.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

Louse-trap, subs. (common).—See quots. Ital. galletto (= little cock).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Louseland.... A Scotch louse-trap, a comb.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Louse-trap (S.) a small-toothed or fine comb.

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

Louse-walk, subs. (common).—A back-hair parting.—Grose.

Lousy, adj. (painters’).—1. Paint which from keeping has become full of skin.

2. (old).—Filthy; contemptible.

1690. Crowne, English Friar, iv. He forgot he was a lousey friar.

Lout, subs. (old: now recognised).—1. See quots.

1577–82. Breton, Floorish vpon Fancie [Grosart (1879), I. a. 4, 1, 12]. He that thinkes to be a lorde, first day, Will misse a lorde, and prooue a loute straight way.

1583. Greene, Mamillia [Grosart (1881–6), ii. 6]. Then may I well be dubbed a dolt, which dare take in hand to decipher the substaunce of loue, that am but a lout.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lout, a heavy idle Fellow.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lout, a clumsey stupid fellow.

2. (Rugby school).—Anyone of the poorer classes: not necessarily an awkward, lubberly individual.

Love, subs. (common).—No score: love-all = no points on either side. Fr. cherche; baiser le cul de la vieille = to make no score.

1780. Gentlemen’s Mag., l. 322. We are not told how, or by what means six love comes to mean six to nothing.

1791. Gent. Mag., lxi. 16. At the game of whist, when one of the parties reckons six, for instance, or any other number, and the other none, why is it usual to say six love?

1821. Lamb, Elia (New Year’s Eve). I play over again for love, as the gamesters phrase it, games for which I once paid so dear.

1868. Chambers’s Encyclopædia, s.v. Whist. We will suppose ourselves to be A, the score to be love-all, and D to have turned up the four of hearts.

1883. Field, 27 Oct. ... won the game by two sets to love.

1885. Times, 1 April, p. 6, col. 5. Both had an innings [at racquets], but did not score, and consequently the game was called 13 to love.

Cupboard-love, phr. (colloquial).—Interested love.

c. 1688. Poor Robin. A cupboard love is seldom true, A love sincere is found in few.

Loveage, subs. (common).—Tap-lashes; alls (q.v.); ullage (q.v.).

Love-apples, subs. (venery).—The testes. For synonyms see Cods.

Love-child (or Love-brat), subs. (common).—A bastard.

[?]. Old Chap book [Nares]. Now by this four we plainly see, Four love brats will be laid to thee: And she that draws the same shall wed Two rich husbands, and both well bred.

1849. Kingsley, Alton Locke, xxviii. Unless we all repent of ... love-children.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, i. xvi. ‘A love-child,’ returned Betty Higden, dropping her voice; ‘parents never known; found in the street.’

Love-dart (or dart of love), subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick.

Love-flesh, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The pudenda.—Whitman.

Love-juice, subs. (venery).—The sexual secretion. For synonyms see Cream.

Love-Ladder, subs. phr. (old).—A laced petticoat.

1667. Head, Proteus Redivivus (1684), xii. They will make their husbands pawn their consciences, as well as their credits, ... for another story of lace more upon their petty-coats; as if women thought men’s fancies did not climb fast enough, without such a lecherous love-ladder.

Love-lane, (venery).—The female pudendum. Hence A turn (or an ejectment) in love-lane = an act of coition. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

Love-liquor, subs. (venery).—The semen. For synonyms see Cream.

Lovelock (or Lock), subs. (old).—A falling curl by the ear: fashionable more or less from the time of Elizabeth to Charles I.; worn on the left side, and hanging by the shoulder, sometimes even to the girdle. Also heart-breakers (q.v.).

1592. Lyly, Mydas, iii. 2. How, sir, will you be trimmed? will you have your beard like a spade or a bodkin? ... your love-lockes wreathed with a silken twist, or shaggie to fall on your shoulders?

1592. Greene, Quip for an Upstart Courtier, D2, b. Will you be Frenchified, with a love-lock down to your shoulders, wherein you may hang your mistres’ favour?

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart (1885), ii. 28]. Yet cannot his stabbing dagger, nor his nittie loue-locke, keep him out of the legend of fantastical cox-combs.

1594. Barnefield, Affectionate Shepherd [Nares]. Why should the sweet love-locke hang dangling downe, Kissing thy girdle-stead with falling pride?

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado About Nothing, iii. 3. And one Deformed is one of them: I know him, he wears a lock.

1615. Beaumont and Fletcher, Cupid’s Revenge, ii. He lay in gloves all night, and this morning I Brought him a new periwig, with a lock at it.

1633. Prynne, Histriomastix, 209. And more especially in long, unshorne, womanish, frizled, love-provoking haire, and lovelockes, growne now too much in fashion with comly pages, youthes, and lewd, effeminate, ruffianly persons.

1640. Shirley, Coronation, i. And who knows but he May lose his ribband by it, in his lock Dear as his saint?

1649. Davenant, Love & Honour, ii. 1. A lock for the left side, so rarely hung with ribbanding of various colours.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, 1. i. 253. Like Samson’s heart-breakers it grew In time to make a nation rue.

1821. Blackwood’s Mag., x. 267. Pretty little fantastic chignons and love-locks.

1836. Michael Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ii. The outlandishness of the fashion was not offensive, when I came to take into the account the beauty of the plaiting, and of the long raven love-locks that hung down behind each of his small transparent ears.

1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. Love lock. When men indulge in a curl in front of their ears, the love-lock is called a bell-rope—i.e., a rope to pull the belles after them.

Lovely, adj. (colloquial).—Attractive; alluring.

1653. Walton, Complete Angler, 85. This trout looks lovely.

Love-pot, subs. (old).—A drunkard. For synonyms see Lushington.

Lover’s-Knot. To tie the true lover’s knot, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

Love’s Channel (-Harbour, -Paradise, -Fountain, or -Pavillion), subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

1598. John Marston, Pigmalion. Until his eye discended so far downe That it descried loves pavillion, Where Cupid doth enjoy his onely crowne, And Venus hath her chiefest mention.

d. 1639. Carew [Anderson, Poets, 689]. Thou shalt steer and guide ... into love’s channel.

c. 1727. Old Ballad [B. M. Cat 11621, l/1. 46]. Each night when sport’s over, and love’s fountain’s dry, She, weary with stitching contented does lie.

Love’s picklock, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick.

Lovey (or Lovey-dovey), subs. (common).—A term of endearment.

1763. Foote, Mayor of Garratt, i. I go, lovy.

1796. Holman, Abroad & at Home, i. 1. If I am ever so little a while away from you, my darling, it appears a long, tedious age. How does my lovey do? Do look tender—’tis so becoming to you; and besides, if you don’t, you know you break my heart.

1837. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 385 (ed. 1857). ‘Who else is a goin’, lovey?’ said Mrs. Cluppins in an insinuating manner.

1841. Punch, i. 226. ‘The Prince’s Title.’ Lovey-dovey has been spoken of; but it is not likely that His Royal Highness will assume the style and dignity of lovey-dovey for a considerable period.

Low. To lie low, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To keep quiet; to bide one’s time.

Low in the lay, phr. (thieves’).—In straits; hard-up (q.v.).

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ‘Song.’ As, just at present, I’m low in the lay, I’ll borrow a ‘quid’ if you please.

Low-countries, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Low-down, adj. (colloquial).—Vulgar.

1883. Eggleston, The Graysons, xviii. Her archaic speech was perhaps a shade better than the low-down language of Broad Run.

Lowdowner, subs. (American).—See quots.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, 45. So low a person ... he appears as Conch or lowdowner in North Carolina.

1883. Stevenson, The Silverado Squatters, 151. They are at least known by a generic byword, as poor whites or low-downers.

Lower, verb. (common).—To drink. For synonyms see Lush.

Lower regions, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Hell. Fr. le pacquelin du raboin.

Lowing-cheat (or -chete), subs. (old).—See quot.

1573. Harman, Caveat (1814), 65. A lowting chete, a cowe.

Lowing-lay (or -RIG), subs. phr. (old).—Stealing oxen or cows.—Grose (1823); Matsell (1859).

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

Low-lived, adj. (colloquial).—Mean; shabby; vulgar.

1766. Goldsmith, Vicar of W., xiii. She shall choose better company than such low-lived fellows as he.

Low-man, subs. (Cambridge University).—A Junior Optimé as compared to a Senior Optimé or a Wrangler.

Low-men, subs. (gaming).—False dice; so loaded as to show low numbers. For synonyms see Fulhams. Also low-runners.

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, Worlde of Wordes, Pise. False dice, high men or low men.

1605. London Prodigal, Supp. to Sh. ii. 456. Item, to my son Mat Flowerdale I bequeath two bale of false dice, videlicet, high men and low men, fulloms, stop-cater-traies, and other bones of function.

1615. Harrington, Epigrams, i. 79. Then play thou for a pound or for a pin, High men or low men still are foisted in.

1647. Cartwright, The Ordinary [Dodsley, Old Plays, x. 238]. Your high And low men are but trifles; your pois’d dye, That’s ballasted with quicksilver or gold, Is gross to this.

1674. Cotton, Compl. Gamester, p. 9. This [cheating] they do by false dice, as high-fullams, 4, 5, 6; low-fullams, 1, 2, 3. Ibid. Bristle-dice are fitted for their purpose, by sticking a hog’s-bristle so in the corners, or otherwise in the dice, that they shall run high or low as they please; this bristle must be strong and short, by which means, the bristle bending, it will not lie on that side, but will be tript over.

1714. Lucas, Gamesters, 27. The high ones would run 4, 5, and 6; the low fulhams 1, 2, and 3.

1822. Scott, Fort. of Nigel, xxiii. Men talk of high and low dice.

Low-pad, subs. (old).—See quot. 1690.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Low-pad, a foot-pad.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Low-pad.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood (1864), p. 180. High-pads and low-pads.

Lowre. See Lour.

Low-water (or -tide). To be in low-water (or at low-tide), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be in difficulties, or penniless.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Low-tide, when there’s no Money in a Man’s Pocket.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, viii. I’m at low-water mark, only one bob and a magpie.

1885. Chamb. Journal, 21 Feb., p. 125. Or who, having been ‘put away’, and done their time, found themselves in low water upon their return to the outer world.

1886. Miss Braddon, Mohawks, ch. iv. Then came talk of ways and means. His lordship was in low water financially.

L. S. D., subs. (colloquial).—Money.

1891. Referee, 8 Mar. I meet the folks who used to flee To Southern France and Italy; In London now they gladly stay, In London spend their l. s. d.—Where are the fogs of yesterday?

Lubber (or Lubbard), subs. (old: now recognised).—A hulking lout; a lumpish oaf: specifically (nautical) a bad seaman.

1362. Langland, Piers Plowman (a), Prol. 1. 52. Gret lobres and longe.

1534. N. Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 3, p. 44 (Arber). For the veriest dolte that euer was borne, And veriest lubber sloven and beast.

1537. Thersites [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), i. 404]. Come hither, Cacus, thou lubber and false knave!

1567. Edwards, Damon & Pithias [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), iv. 63]. Beaten with a cudgel like a slave, a vacabone, or a lazy lubber.

1570. Wit & Science [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 387]. These great lubbers are neither active nor wise.

1573. Harman, Caveat. Sturdy Lubbares.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 57, st. 22, p. 131 (E. D. S.). For tempest and showers deceiueth a menie, And lingering lubbers loose many a penie.

1590. Nashe, Pasquils Apologie [Grosart (1885), i. 241]. Will he neuer leaue to play the lubber?

1590. Greene, Neuer too Late [Grosart (1881–6), viii. 199]. Leauing this passionate lubber to the conceipt of his loues.

1600. Liberality & Prodigality [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), viii. 340]. Look forth and see: a lubber, fat, great, and tall. Ibid. 370. A luskish lubber, as fat as a log.

1605–6. Shakspeare, King Lear, i. 4. Kent. If you will measure your lubber’s length again, tarry.

1621. Burton, Anatomy (ed. 1892), ii. 156. The rest of these great Zanzummins, or gigantical Anakims, heavy, vast, barbarous lubbers.

1662. Rump Songs ii. 38. If he had but the life And spirit of his Wife, He would not lye still like a lubber.

1671. Crowne, Juliana, iii. 1. Lo, blunderbuss, my lord, grand lubber.

1684. Lacy, Sauny the Scot, v. 1. Go, swagger at your greasy lubber there; your patient wife will make you no more sport.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lubber, lubberly, a heavy, dull Fellow.

1700. Congreve, Way of the World, iv. 7. How can you name that superannuated lubber? foh!

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, xxiv. And called him ... swab, and lubber.

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

1836. M. Scott, Cringle’s Log, x. Confound the lubbers! Boatswain’s mate, call the watch.

1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 350. Of course in the use of sea-terms you’ll not wonder If I now and then should fall into a blunder For which Captain Chamier or Mr. T. P. Cooke Would call me a lubber and son of a sea-cook.

Adj. (old: now recognised).—Clumsy; clownish. Also lubberly.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 9, st. 16, p. 17 (E. D. S.). To raise betimes the lubberlie, Both snorting Hob and Margerie.

1594. Greene, Frier Bacon [Grosart (1881–6), xiii. 45]. This lubberly lurden, ill-shapte, and ill-faced.

1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in Works, iii. 125. Lamely and lubberly hee striues to imitate and bee another English Lipsius.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, v. 5. I came yonder at Eton to marry mistress Anne Page, and she’s a great lubberly boy.

1597–8. Haughton, A Woman will have her Will [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), x. 533]. What shall we do with this lubber-lover.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Homaccione, a great euill fauored man, a lubbarly man, a loggarhead.

1606. Wily Beguiled [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 241]. Your lubberly legs would not carry your lobcock body.

1645. Milton, L’Allegro. Then lies him down, the lubbar fiend.

1673. Dryden, Amboyna, Epilogue, 14. Venetians do not more uncouthly ride, Than did their lubber state mankind bestride.

1706. Farquhar, Recruiting Officer, v. 4. Me for a soldier! send your own lazy, lubberly sons at home.

1759. Goldsmith, The Bee, No. 6, p. 395 (Globe ed.). Those modest lubberly boys who seem to want spirit generally go through their business with more ease to themselves and more satisfaction to their instructors.

1856. Miss Yonge, Daisy Chain, xxxvii. ‘Poor George had been so spoiled by three aunts, and was so big, and so old that my mother did not know what to make of him.’ ‘A great lubberly boy,’ Ethel said, rather repenting the next moment.

Lubberland, subs. (old).—The Paradise of indolence.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 56]. You’d do well in lubberland, where they have half a crown a day for sleeping.

Lubber’s-hole, subs. (nautical).—An opening in the maintop, preferred before the shrouds by raw hands and timid climbers.

b. 1794. Wolcot [‘P. Pindar’], Peter’s Prophecy, in Wks., vol. i. p. 446. And yet, Sir Joseph, Fame reports, you stole To Fortune’s topmast through the lubberhole.

1822. D. Jerrold, Black Ey’d Susan, ii. 2. Go up the futtock-shrouds like a man—don’t creep through lubber’s-hole.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. vii. I was afraid to venture, and then he proposed that I should go through lubber’s hole, which he said had been made for people like me. I agreed to attempt it, as it appeared more easy, and at last arrived, quite out of breath, and very happy to find myself in the main-top.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge (ed. 18..), p. 363. Why, captain, I have paid great attention since we embarked, and really I have become a very capital sailor, sir. Do you know I have been twice through the lubber’s hole?

Lubricate, verb. (common).—To drink.

Luck. Down on one’s luck, adj. phr. (common).—Unlucky; in trouble; ‘hard up’.

1846–8. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, lxiv. They say that when Mrs. C. was particularly down on her luck, she gave concerts and lessons in music here and there.

1885. Eng. Illustrated Mag., p. 638. A fellow who’s down on his luck now.

1891. Fun, 25 Mar. Now, the real, genuine, unadulterated nob—be he ever so down on his luck—always tends his nails to the last.

1892. St. James’s Gaz., 29 Oct., 5, 1. Sir Harry Golightly was down on his luck. He confided his woes to Mrs. FitzHarris.

Greasy-luck, subs. (whalers’).—A full cargo of oil.

Fisherman’s luck, subs. phr. (common).—Wet, cold, hungry, and no fish.

Shitten luck, subs. phr. (old).—Good luck.

1670. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 131], s.v.

Lucky, subs. (thieves’).—Plunder.

1852. Judson, Mysteries of New York, iv. Ve might as vel count up the week’s earnins and divide the lucky.

Adj. (old colloquial).—Handy.

1703. Centlivre, Love’s Contrivance, i. ‘You used to be a lucky rogue upon a pinch.’ ‘Ay, master, and I have not forgot it yet.’

To cut (or make) one’s lucky, verb. phr. (common).—To decamp. For synonyms see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1834. M. C. Dowling, Othello Travestie, i. 2. You’d better cut your lucky.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, 266. ‘Let me alone,’ replied Ikey, ‘and I’ll ha’ vound up, and made my lucky in five seconds.’

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, l. ‘When was Fagin took then?’ ‘Just at dinner-time—two o’clock this afternoon. Charley and I made our lucky up the wash’us chimney.’

1839. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad, p. 223. At dusk we’ll make our lucky.

1882. McCabe, New York, xxxiv. 509. (In list of slang terms).

Lucky-bag, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Lucky-bone, subs. (thieves’).—See quot.

1883. G. A. S[ala], in Ill. L. News, Nov. 10, p. 451, col. 3. The detective who took him into custody found upon him when searching him ‘the small bone of a sheep’s head, which he understood, was known among beggars as the lucky bone,’ as its possession was supposed to bring good luck to the beggar during the day.

Ludby. See Loteby.

Ludlam’s dog, subs. (old).—A culmination of laziness. See quot. Sailors say: ‘as lazy as Joe the Marine, who laid down his musket to sneeze.’

1824. T. Fielding, Select Proverbs, p. 154. As lazy as ludlam’s dog, that leaned his head against a wall to bark.

Lud’s-bulwark, subs. (old).—Ludgate Prison.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict.

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

Luff, subs. (old).—1. Speech.

1821. Egan, Real Life, i. 454. ‘Poll,’ says I, ‘hold your luff, give us no more patter about this here rum gig.’

2. (nautical).—A lieutenant.

1848. Burton, Waggeries etc., p. 12. The second luff, who was in the cutter, ordered us to ‘go ahead.’

Lug, subs. (old).—1. The ear. Fr. isgourde.

1592. Lyly, Midas, ii. 5. Dare you think your clumsy lugs so proper to decide, as the delicate ears of Justice Midas.

1592. Greene, Defence of Conny catching, in Works, xi. 62. Then the gentlewoman let loose his eares, and let slip his head, and away went he home with his bloody lugges.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Markall, p. 39 (H. Club’s Repr. 1874). Lugges, eares.

1625. Ben Jonson, Staple of News, v. 1. A fine round head when those two lugs are off.

1651–57. Ray, Cleaveland’s Poems, With hair in characters, and lugs in texts.

1652. Tatham, Scotch Figgaries, v. Come, lend y’ar lugs.

1653. Brome, Mad Couple, iv. 1. Take her at her word again, sir, and I shall take you by the luggs.

1675. Cotton, Scoffer Scofft, in Wks. (1725), p. 150. Those large lugs of yours will crack for’t.

1684. Lacy, Sauny the Scot, ii. 1. Gin I had yea in Scotland, I’se nea give yea a bawbee for your lugs.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Luggs: hence ‘to lugg by the ears.’

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1762. Foote, The Orators, i. Satan ... whispers a fast speech in her lug.

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

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 7. Round lugs and ogles flew the frequent fist.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, xxxiii. A lurking place called the King’s lugg or ear, where he could sit undescried, and hear the converse of his prisoners.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii. 4. He napp’d it under the lugs, too.

2. (common).—Affected manners; ‘airs’: e.g. to put on lugs = to be conceited.

Verb. (once literary: now colloquial).—1. To drag; also to take by the ears.

d. 1189. Destruction of Troy [E. E. T. S.], 1, 6663. With myche wepyng and wo, weghis of his aune luggit hym out to the laund.

1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens, iv. 3, 31. Why, this Will lug your priests and servants from your sides.

1726. Swift, Gulliver, ‘Laputa’, vi. To tread on his corns, or lug him twice by both ears.

2. (old).—To drink steadily.

In lug, phr. (old).—In pawn; in pledge; up the spout (q.v.).

To lug in, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To include; to insert unnecessarily or unexpectedly.

1762. Churchill, The Ghost, Bk. iv. Physic and divinity are lugged in by the head and shoulders.

1830. Greville, Memoirs, 27 Feb. He could not tell that story which I begged him to do, and which would not have been lugged in neck and shoulders, because every body was telling just such stories.

1864. A. Trollope, The Small House at Allington, x. Joseph Cradell Esqre to John Eames Esqre.... ‘I want you to write me at once, saying what you know about the matter. I ask you as I don’t want to lug in any of the other people at Roper’s.’

To lug out, verb. phr. (old).—To draw (as a sword).

1688. T. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia. The Prigster lugg’d out in defence of his natural, the Captain whipt his Porker out, and away rubb’d Prigster and call’d the watch.

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

1690. Dryden, Don Sebastian, iv. 1. They will be heard, or they lug out and cut.

To blaw in one’s lug, verb. phr. (Scots’).—To cajole; to flatter. Hence, blaw-in-my-lug = a flatterer; a wheedler.

If worth his lugs (he would do such a thing), phr. (Scots’).—Used in approbation, or the reverse. [From the mediæval punishment of lopping the ears].

1362. Langland, Piers Plowman, A. ii. a. Were the bishop blessed and worth both his eares His seale shold not be sent to deceyue the people.

To have a flea in one’s lug. See Ear.

To lay one’s lugs, verb. phr. (Scots’).—To wager.

Lug-chovey, subs. (thieves’).—A pawnbroker’s shop.

Lugger, subs. (American thieves’).—A sailor.—Matsell (1859).

Lug-loaf, subs. (old).—A blockhead.

1606. Wily Beguiled [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 275]. She had little reason to take a cullion lug-loaf, milksop slave, when she may have a lawyer, a gentleman.

Luke, (old).—Nothing.—Haggart (1821).

Lull, subs. (old).—Ale.

c. 1636. London Chanticleers, Sc. 9. Mine host, Welcome, has a cup of blessed lull.

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

Lullaby-Cheat, subs. (old).—A baby.

1671. Head, English Rogue. Carried at her back a lullaby-cheat.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lullaby-cheat.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1839. W. H. Ainsworth, J. Sheppard, p. 25 (ed. 1840). ‘Let’s have a look at the kinchen that ought to have been throttled,’ added he, snatching the child from Wood. ‘My stars! here’s a pretty lullaby-cheat to make a fuss about—ho! ho!’

Lully, subs. (old).—See quot. 1785. Hence lully-prigger = a filcher of wet or drying linen. Fr. défleurir la picouse = lully-prigging.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 40. They are great priggers of lully.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lulleys, wet linen.

1789. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 120. Upon the old slang, and sometimes a little lully-prigging.

Lumb, adv.. (old).—Too much.—New Cant. Dict. (1725); Grose (1796).

Lumber, subs. (thieves’).—1. A room. [From the Lombard Room in which the mediæval pawnbrokers and bankers stored their pledges].

1789. Parker, Life’s Painter, 117. Have you any-body in the lumber behind the bar?

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v., p. 188.

2. (old).—A prison; quod (q.v.).

Verb. (old).—(1) To pawn; (2) to imprison.

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v. Lumber (p. 188), to lumber any property is to deposit it at a pawnbroker’s, or elsewhere for present security; to retire to any house or private place for a short time, is called lumbering yourself. A man apprehended, and sent to gaol, is said to be lumbered, to be in lumber, or to be in Lombard Street.

1830. W. T. Moncrieff, The Heart of London, ii. 1. They lumbered him for a few moons.

Live lumber, subs. phr. (old).—Soldiers or passengers on board a ship are so called by the sailors.—Grose (1785).

Lumberer, subs. (turf).—1. A swindling ‘tipster’.

2. (American thieves’).—A pawnbroker; uncle (q.v.).

Lumberer-crib, subs. (American thieves’).—A pawnbroker’s shop.

Lumber-house, subs. (thieves’).—A house for storing stolen property.

1889. Ally Sloper’s Half-holiday, 4 May. For instance, one day, when he was drinking in a lumber-house, near Billingsgate, ‘Joe Haynes, the comedian, and a broken officer came raking thither, too, without a farthing in either of their pockets.’

Lumber-state, subs. (American).—Maine.

Lummoking, adj. (colloquial).—Heavy; awkward.

b. 1852. Traits of American Humour, II. 10. What, the ensign of the Dogtown Blues? that great lummokin’ feller.

Lummy, adj. (common).—First-rate.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, xiii. ‘Ah!’ said Bill.... ‘Lummy Ned of the Light Salisbury, he was the one for musical talents.’

1883. Punch, 28 July, p. 38, col. 1. London’s gettin’ more lummy each day; there’s sech oshuns to see and enjoy!

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 4. ’Ardly know which is lummiest.

Lump, subs. (colloquial).—1. Anything exceptional: e.g. ‘a lump of a man’; ‘I like that a lump’; ‘that’s a lump’.

2. (vagrants’).—The workhouse; the pan (q.v.). Also lump hotel.

3. (colloquial).—A party; an association.

Verb. (old).—1. To beat. For synonyms see Tan.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

2. (colloquial).—1. To dislike: ‘If he does not like it he may lump it’ = if he isn’t satisfied he may do the other thing. Also, (2) to take without choice (i.e. to swallow ‘whole’).

1833. Neal, Down Easters, vii. Let ’em lump it if they don’t like it.

1837–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 6, preface (ed. 1862). A man that would be guilty of such an action is no gentleman, that’s flat, and if you don’t like it you may lump it.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, Bk. iv, ch. iii. If you don’t like it, it’s open to you to lump it.

1878. H. B. Stowe, Poganuc People, xi. And if anybody don’t like it, why they may lump it, that’s all.

1887. F. R. Stockton, The Hundredth Man, ch. xv. If old Stull didn’t like it, he could lump it. And to know that he lumped it would be a rare joy to Mrs. People.

1888. Bret Harte, Five O’clock in the Morning. And I told him, if he didn’t like it he might lump it, and he travelled off on his left ear, you bet.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 20 Oct. If the white folks didn’t like it they could lump it.

3. (colloquial).—To take off at a draught.

4. (racing).—To stake heavily; to plunge (q.v.).

1864. Derby Day, 12. Acting upon the gamblers’ favourite axiom, that if you venture nothing you win nothing, he lumped it all upon an outsider, and backed him to win the Chester Cup.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 3 April. Had laid against Cortolvin for the Grand National while lumping it down on Lecturer had not done much to repair his losses.

To knock lumps out of, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To command a great deal of applause.

1885. Coun, Nutts about the Stage, p. 12. We knock lumps out of them in these parts, don’t we Mac?

To lump the lighter, verb. phr. (old).—To be transported.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

Lumper, subs. (old).—1. A riverside labourer; (2) a riverside thief, and (3) a contractor in a small way for labour and materials for unloading and loading ships. See quots.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, ii. 78. They then commence lumpers, which is skulking about ships, lighters, etc. hanging about quays, wharfs, etc. stealing old iron, fruit, sugar, or whatever comes to hand.

1796. Colquhoun, Police of the Metropolis, p. 57. The prevailing practice of discharging and delivering the cargoes of ships by a class of aquatic labourers, known by the name of lumpers.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, ii. 374. ‘The men to whom it is sublet only find labour, while the lumper, or first contractor, agrees for both labour and materials.’ Ibid. ii. p. 107. Then the lumpers, or those engaged in discharging the timber ships.

1853. Dickens, Down with the Tide, in Reprinted Pieces, p. 268. Then there were the lumpers, or labourers employed to unload vessels. They wore loose canvas jackets with a broad hem in the bottom, turned inside, so as to form a large circular pocket in which they could conceal, like clowns in pantomimes, packages of surprising sizes.... The lumpers dispose of their booty easily to marine store dealers.... lumpers also smuggle goods ashore for the crews of vessels.

2. (thieves’).—See quot.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 413. A lumper would sell linens, cottons, or silks, which might be really the commodities represented; but which, by some management or other, were made to appear new when they were old, or solid when they were flimsy.

3. (common).—A militia-man.

1869. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, xxxviii. He was going to bring the lumpers upon us.

4. in pl. (Irish).—Potatoes; murphies (q.v.)

1846. Punch, x. 170. ’Twill tache him to be cuffin’ at me with his ridin’ whip when he rode over my acre and ruined my lumpers for me.

5. (scientific).—One who lumps together several species: as opposed to a splitter (q.v.).

1888. Nature, xxxix. 156. The happy medium between lumpers and splitters.

Lump hotel. See Lump, sense 2.

Lumping, adj. (old: now colloquial).—Heavy; bulky; awkward.

1678. Four for a Penny, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), iv. 148. Their chief customers that bring the lumping bargains.

d. 1735. Arbuthnot (in Johnson).—Nick, thou shalt have a lumping pennyworth.

1755. Johnson, Dict., s.v. Lumping, large, heavy, great. A low word.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.... He has got a lumping pennyworth; frequently said of a man who marries a fat woman.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, i. 163. He gives what is called the lumping hap’orth, that is seven or eight pieces [of hot eel with the soup].

1887. Boys Own Paper Xmas No., p. 3. Slick’s Welsh cow-boy (a lumping yokel of forty summers and as many winters).

Lumpish, adj. (old).—Melancholy; dull; dispirited and heavy.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart (1885), ii. 82]. Heavy, lumpish, and sleepie.

1621. Burton, Anatomy (ed. 1852), i. 169. We call him melancholy that is dull, sad, sour, lumpish, ill-disposed, solitary.

1664. Wilson, Projectors, i. 1. At home you’re as sad and lumpish as a gibb’d cat.

Lump of Coke, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A bloke (q.v.); a man.

Lump of lead, subs. phr. (rhyming).—The head; the crumpet (q.v.).

Lumpshious, adv.. (common).—Delicious: cf. scrumptious.

1844. Buckstone, The Maid with the Milking-pail. Milly. What, paint me? Paint me on a board and hang me up against a wall! Oh, that will be lumpshius! And then I can sit and look at myself all day long.

Lumpy, adj. (common).—1. Drunk. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (common).—Pregnant.

English synonyms. To be awkward; bellied-up, big; big-bellied, on the bones; bow- (or bay-) windowed, cocked-up, double-ribbed, in an interesting condition, in for it, in pod, in the pudding-club, jumbled-up, knocked-up, loaded; on the bones; sewed-up, short-skirted, trussed-up, or wedged-up. To have one’s apron up; a belly-ful, or a belly-ful of bones; one’s cargo aboard; a nine months’ dropsy (or a dropsy that will drop into the lap); one’s fairing; fallen; got it; a hump in front (or on one’s belly); an inside worry; a kick in the back; a lap-clap; more in one’s belly than ever got there through one’s mouth; young; a white swelling.

French synonyms. Avoir le ventre or le sac plein (= to be bellied-up); avoir un arlequin dans la soupente (of harlots: arlequin = a prostitute’s brat; soupente = loft); avoir un polichinelle dans le tiroir (= to have a Jack-in-the-box in the drawer); en avoir dans le ventre (= to have a belly-ful); avoir son tablier lève (= to have got one’s apron up); avoir le mou enflé (= to be swelled in the soft); avoir avalé un pépin (= to have swallowed a seed); entrer dans l’infanterie (popular); avoir un député dans l’urne (popular); avoir une affaire cachée sous la peau (common); avoir mal au genou (= cf. to break one’s knees); s’être fait arrondir le globe (popular); avoir un fédéré dans la casemate (common); se gâter la taille (= to spoil one’s figure); avoir la maladie de neuf mois (common: cf. nine months’ dropsy). Also une couleuvre or un chef-lieu d’arrondissement (= a pregnant woman).

German synonyms. Schwor or schwar (schwer = heavy).

Spanish synonyms. Arari; avari; barriga ’a boca; cambri; cambrobi; desembarcar; embarago.

3. (booksellers’).—Costly.

4. (cricketters’).—Rough; uneven: as applied to the ground.

Lumtum, subs. (American thieves’).—A fashionable thief.

1882. McCabe, New York, 221. Altogether my first evening among the lumtums panned out well.

Lun, subs. (old).—(1) A harlequin.—Grose (1785). (2) A clown.—Matsell (1859).

Lunan, subs. (vagrants’).—A girl. For synonyms see Titter. [From the Romany].

Luncheon reservoir, subs. phr. (common).—The stomach. For synonyms see Victualling Office.

Lung-box, subs. (common).—The mouth. For synonyms see Potato-trap.

Lungis, subs. (old).—An idle, lazy, fellow.

1592. Nashe, Summer’s Last Will [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), viii. 53]. There is not, goodman lungis.

1602. Dekker, Satiro-mastix [Nares]. Knaves, varlets! What lungis! give a dozen of stools there.

Lungs, subs. (old).—See quot. 1755.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist. That is his fire-drake, his lungs, his zephyrus, he that puffs his coals.

1755. Johnson, Dicty., s.v. Lungs. Formerly a cant term for a person denoting a large and strong-voiced man, as Coles has observed; and also a chymical servant, a sort of underwork-man in the art.

Lunkhead, subs. (American).—An ill-bred, ill-looking horse; a screw (q.v.).

Lunk-headed, adj. (American).—Senseless.

Luny. See Loony.

Lurch, subs. (old).—A cheat.

d. 1597. Peele, Jests, 619. The tapster having many of these lurches fell to decay.

1606. Dekker, Seven Deadly Sins [Grosart (1886), ii. 52]. Betting, lurches, rubber, and such tricks.

1604. Middleton, Black Book [in Century]. All such lurches, gripes, and squeezes, as may be wrung out by the fist of extortion.

1626. Breton, Pasquil’s Mad-cappe [Grosart (1869), 1. e. 6, 2, 27]. Howere his wit may giue the foole the lurch, He is not fit to gouerne in the church.

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

1563. Appius and Virginius [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), iv. 150]. Then—gallop to see where her father doth lurch.

1592. Greene, Defence of Conny catching, in Works, xi. 58. Was not this an old conny catcher M. R. G. that could lurtch a poore conny of so many thousands at one time?

1593. Nashe, Christe’s Teares [Grosart (1885), iv. 228]. Laughing at the Punies they haue lurched.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, ii. 1. I ... am fain to shuffle, to hedge, and to lurch.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Imbolare to filch, to steale, to purloine, lurche, to pilfer, to prowle.

1609. Jonson, Silent Woman, v. You have lurched your friends of the better half of the garland, by concealing this part of the plot.

1662. Rump Songs, i. 210. Our gossips’ spoons away were lurcht, Our feasts and fees for women churcht.

To leave in the lurch, verb. phr. (colloquial).—See quot. 1690. Fr. laisser quelqu’un béar. [From cribbage].

[?]. Robin Hood and the Tinker [Child, Ballads, v. 233]. Robin made them haste away, And left the tinker in the lurch, The great shot for to pay.

1594. Nashe, Have with You [Grosart (1885), iii. 150]. He ... left both of them in the lurtch.

1606. Return from Parnassus [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 178]. ’Sblood, a while ago, before he had me in the lurch, who but my cousin Prodigo?

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, s.v. Il demeura lourche, he was left in the lurch.

1662. Rump Songs, i. 9. And leave us in the lurch.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lurched ... Left in the lurch, Pawned for the Reckoning or left at Stake to Smart for any Plot.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1763. North Briton, No. 41, Mar. [quoted in Notes and Queries, 7 S. iv. 48]. When John leaves Margaret in the lurch, And Presbyterians head the Church.

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

1785. Burns, Jolly Beggars, ii. But the godly old chaplain left him in the lurch.

1827. Todd, Johnson’s Dicty., s.v. Lurch. To leave in the lurch, a ludicrous phrase.

1858. Lady Holland, Sydney Smith, xcv. Weary will be the latter half of my pilgrimage, if you leave me in the lurch.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, v. It won’t do to leave old dad in the lurch.

To give a lurch, verb. phr. (old).—To tell a lie; to deceive.

Lurcher, subs. (common).—1. A rogue.

1603–35. Breton, Mad World [Grosart (1860), ii. i. 12, 2, 50]. But these may rather be called lurchmen than Churchmen, who as they are not troubled with much learning, so they have no more honesty.

1888. Daily News, 4 Dec. After that shall try on the lazy lurchers who live on unfortunates.

1891. Morning Advertizer, 3 April. It was quite time that the honest and respectable drivers sat down on the lurchers once and for all, and when they knew that there were 7,000 of them in London they should think of their power and demand better conditions.

2. (old).—See quot. Also lurcher of the law.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lurcher, a lurcher of the law, a bum bailiff, or his setter.

1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 12. ‘But where are the lurchers?’ ‘Who?’ asked Wood. ‘The traps!’ responded a bystander.

Lurden, subs. (old).—A rogue. Hence lurdenry = roguery.

1513. Gawin Douglas, Eneados, viii. Prol. l. q. Leis, lurdanry, and lash.

1540. Lindsay, Satyre Thrie Estaitis [E. E. T. S.], l. 2474. Thou links evin lyke ane lurden.

1562–3. Jack Juggler [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 135]. Avoid, thou lousy lurden and precious stinking slave.

c. 1587. Greene, Follie and Loue [Grosart (1881–6), iv. 206]. Instead of some braue gentleman, I strike some filthie lurden.

1606. Wily Beguiled [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 288]. If I had been such a great, long, large, lob-cocked, loselled lurdan, as Master Churms is ... I should never have got Peg as long as I had lived.

Lurk, subs. (vagrants’).—See quots.

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

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 403. Many kinds of thieving as well as begging are termed lurking—the dead lurk, for instance, is the expressive slang phrase for the art of entering dwelling-houses during divine service. The term lurk, however, is mostly applied to the several modes of plundering by representations of sham distress.

1889. Answers, 27 July, 137, 1. Begging of all kinds is divided into lurks, or branches.

Verb. (vagrants’).—To beg with false letters.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 462. We’ll lurk on your trade.

Lurker, subs. (vagrants’).—1. A begging imposter; a silver beggar (q.v.). See Demaunder for glymmar. Also Lurksman.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, i. 233. In every large town sham official documents, with crests, seals, and signatures, can be got for half-a-crown. Armed with these, the patterer becomes lurker,—that is, an imposter.

2. (thieves’).—A jack-of-all-trades (q.v.).

Lurries, subs. (old).—See quot. 1690. For synonyms see Actual and Gilt. Also Lurry.

1674. The Canting Academy (ed. 20). ‘The Budge it is a Delicate Trade.’ But if the cully nab us and The lurries from us takes, O then he rubs us to the whit.

1676. The Twenty Craftsmen. The fifth was a glazier, who, when he creeps in, To pinch all the lurry he thinks it no sin.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lurries, Money, Watches, Rings, or other Moveables.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1754. Scoundrel’s Dicty. If he sees but the lurry his hooks he will bait.

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

Lurry, subs. (old colloquial).—1. Gabble.

1649. Milton, Eikonoklastes, xvi. To turn prayer into a kind of lurrey.

2. See Lurrie.

Lush, subs. (common).—1. Drink. [Lushington = a once well-known London brewer]. For synonyms see Drinks.

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, p. 188, s.v. Lush, beer or liquor of any kind.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xvi. ‘Bring the lush and the pipes, old bloke!’ cried Ned, throwing himself on a bench; ‘we are never at a loss for company!’

1841. Comic Almanack, 270. They are identified equally with the lush and the literature of the land; for he is prepared to contend that whatever has been great in literature is deducible from lush.

1841. Lever, Charles O’Malley, xx. The Bursar of Trinity shall be a proverb for a good fellow that loveth his lush.

1843. W. T. Moncrieff, The Scamps of London, ii. 3. Dispose of your lush, and play out your game.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, i. 25. ‘Cruickshank’s ‘Bottle’ was very much admired. I heard one man say it was very prime, and showed what lush did; but I saw the same man,’ added my informant, ‘drunk three hours afterwards.’

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, 201. Stand me a lush and go back again.

2. (common).—A drinking bout.

1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Gaz., 16 Jan. To have a supper and a good lush.

3. (Eton College).—A dainty.

Verb. (common).—1. To drink; and (2) to stand treat.

English synonyms. To barley-bree; to beer; to bend; to blink; to boose; to bub; to budge; to cover; to crack (or crush) a bottle (a quart, or cup); to crook; to crook (lift, or tip) the elbow (or little finger); to damp; to damp one’s mug; to dip; to dip one’s beak (or nose); to disguise oneself; to do a dram (or wet); to drown the shamrock; to flicker; to flush; to fuddle; to gargle; to give a bottle a black eye; to guttle; to guzzle; to go and see a man (or—of women—one’s pa); to grog; to have, or get, or take an ante-lunch, a little anti-abstinence, an appetiser, a ball, a bead, a bit of tape, a bosom friend, a bucket, a bumper, a big reposer, a chit-chat, a cheerer, a cinder, a cobbler, a corker, a cooler, some corn-juice, a damp, something damp, a damper, a dannie, a drain, a dram, a doch-an-dorroch, a digester, an eye-opener, an entr’acte, a fancy smile, a flash, a flip, a forenoon, a go, a hair of the dog that bit one, a heeltap, an invigorator, a Johnny, a jorum, a leaf of the old author, a morning rouser, a modicum, a nip, or nipperkin, a night cap, a nut, one’s medicine, a pistol shot, a pony, a pill, a quantum, a quencher, a refresher, a revelation, a rouser, a reposer, a smile, a swig, a sleeve-button, a something, a slight sensation, a shant, a shout, a sparkler, a settler, a shift, a stimulant, a sneaker, a snifter, a soother, a thimbleful, a tift, a taste, a toothful, a Timothy, a warmer, a willy-wacht; to huff; to irrigate; to knock about the bub; to lap; to lap the gutter; to liquor; to liquor up; to load in; to look thro’ a glass; to lower; to lug; to make fun; to malt; to moisten (or soak) the chaffer (clay, or lips); to mop; to mop-up; to mug; to peg; to potate; to prime oneself; to pull; to put (or drive) another nail in one’s coffin; to read the maker’s name; to revive; to rince; to rock; to save a life; to scamander; to shed a tear; to shake a cloth; to sherry-fog; to shift; to shout; to slosh; to sluice (or wet) the bolt, gob, or ivories; to soak; to splice the mainbrace; to squiff; to stab; to suck the monkey; to swill; to swig; to swipe; to swizzle; to take the pin out; to take a drop in the eye; to take in some O-be-joyful; to tiff; to tipple; to toddy; to wet; to wet one’s whistle; to wine.

French synonyms. Absorber (familiar); s’affûter le sifflet (common); arroser ses galons (= to pay one’s footing); asphyxier (= to nip); bidonner (= to swig: bidonner à la cambuse = to splice the mainbrace); bocker (popular); boire une chifferlinde (= to take a nip); se rincer le bocal (= to sluice one’s gob); boissonner (popular); se rafraîchir les barres (popular); buvailler (popular); chauffer le four (= to guzzle); se dessaler (specifically to take an eye-opener); écoper (= to bale a boat); écraser une bouteille (= to crack a bottle; écraser un grain = to drink a dram); s’enflaneller (= to take a night-cap); s’éclairer le fanal (= to light-up); se machaber (popular); étouffer une mitrailleuse (popular: cf. boire un canon); se mouiller (Rabelais); se rincer le moule à blagues (= to moisten the chaffer); étouffer, éreinter une, or éternuer sur, une negresse (= to crack a bottle); se passer quelque chose sous le nez (= to crook the elbow); s’humecter le pavillon (= to dip one’s flag: also pavillonner); s’en pousser dans le battant, le cornet, le fusil, etc. (common); s’humecter le pectoral (familiar); picter (cf. Gr. πιεῖν); pier (old); pitancher (popular); se rincer or se gargariser l’avaloir, le bec, le bocal, la gargoine, la corne, la cornemuse, le cornet, la dalle, la dalle du cou, la dent, le fusil, le goulot, le gaviot, le sifflet, le tube, la trente-deuxième, la gargarousse (popular); fioler (familiar); flûter (popular); s’en fourrer dans le gilet (= to line one’s waistcoat); se rincer la gargoine (thieves’); se gargariser le rossignolet (= to gargle one’s nightingale); prendre un coup de gaz (common); se laver le gosier (popular); s’emplir le gilet (popular); sucer un glace (= to take an ice); glouglouter (popular); jouer du, or se rincer, le goulot (= to wash one’s throat); se graisser les roues (= to grease one’s wheels); siffler le guindal (common); pomper les huiles (huile = wine; huile blonde = beer); s’humecter les amygdales (popular); s’imbiber le jabot (popular); faire jambe de vin (old); se laver les yeux (= to take an eye-opener); se laver le tuyau (popular); licher (familiar = to swill); litronner (of wine only); renifler (popular); sabler (common = to shift); sécher (popular); se calfater le bec (common); se blinder (popular); se suiver; sucer (popular); siroter (common); soiffer (popular = to load in); s’en taper; téter; zinguer (= to drink at a bar).

German synonyms. Ausschassjenen (Heb. schoso); bacheln (Fr. bocal; also pecheln and picheln); bafen (from Lat. bibere); schasjenen (Heb. schoso: also schaskenen); schöchem.

Italian synonyms. Tirar l’alzana; stibbiare; scabbiare; ventare; chiarire.

Spanish synonyms. Echar una limpia (= to take a peg); champurrar; churrupear; palabrar; remojar.

Portuguese synonym. Piar.

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, p. 188, s.v. Lush, to drink; speaking of a person who is drunk they say, Alderman Lushington is concerned, or he has been voting for the Alderman.

1821. Haggart, Life, 18. We had lushed the coachman so neatly that Barney was obliged to drive.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 47, ed. 1854. ‘Vy, I had been lushing heavy vet—’ ‘Till you grew light in the head, eh and fell into the kennel.’ ‘Yes.’

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, xxvi. The richest sort you ever lushed.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, i. 187. I was out of work two or three weeks, and I certainly lushed too much.

1864. Eton School Days, viii. ‘Gents, will yer please to lush?’ inquired Bird’s-eye, with a suavity of manner peculiar to himself.

1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, 80. Ain’t I lushed you?

1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, 94. I had a lot of militia chaps, and well paid and lushed them.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 17. A workman well lushed shies his ’at for the Queen.

Lushborough, subs. (old).—See quots.

1362. Langland, Piers Plowman, xv. 342. In lussheborwes is a lyther alay, and yet loketh he lyke a sterlynge.

1383. Chaucer, Cant. Tales [Skeat (1894), iv. 243, 3152]. God woot, no lussheborghes payen ye!

1661. Blount, Nomolexicon, s.v. A brass coyn in the days of Edward III.

1894. Skeat, Chaucer, v. 225. Note to line 3152. Lussheburghes, light coins ... spurious coins imported into England from Luxembourg, whence the name. The importation of this false money was frequently forbidden, viz. in 1347, 1348, and 1351.

Lush-crib (or ken), subs. (common).—See quot. 1819.

English synonyms. Ale draper’s; black-house; boozer; budging-ken; church; cold-blood house; confectionery; cross-dram; devil’s-house; dive; diving-bell; drum; flash-case (-drum, -ken, or -panny); flat-iron; flatty-ken; gargle-factory; gin-mill; grocery; groggery; grog-shop; guzzle-crib; jerry-shop; hash-shop; hedge-house; kiddlywink; little church round the corner; lush-house (-panny, or -ken); lushery; mop-up; mughouse; O-be-joyful works; panny; patter-crib; piss-factory; pot-house; pub (or public) red-lattice; roosting-ken; rum-mill; shanty; shebeen; side-pocket; sluicery; suck-casa; tippling-shop; Tom-and-Jerry-shop; whistling-shop; wobble-shop.

French synonyms. Un abreuvoir (= a watering-place); un assommoir (a knock-me-down shop); une bibine (rag-pickers’); une bouffardière (common: bouffard = pipe or weed [q.v.]); un bousin (also = shindy); un bousingot (popular); une buverie (Old Fr.); un cabermon (thieves’: from cabaret); un caboulot (popular); une cambuse (nautical = store-room); une chapelle (popular: cf. church); une goguette (common); une guinche (common); un malzingue (thieves’); une mine à poivre (poivre = brandy); un mintzingue (popular); le notaire (= also taverner); une piolle (also = ken [q.v.]); une filature à poivrots (= a manufactory of Lushingtons [q.v.]); un rideau rouge (cf. red-lattice).

German synonyms. Aules (also = pitcher); Baisel (also = brothel and pitcher); Chessenkitt, Chessenpenne, Chessenspiesse (thieves’); Finkel (also = thieves’ kitchen); Kessefinkel (thieves’); Katschäume (from gypsy tschemika); Molun or Maline (Heb. lun: Chessenmaline = common lodging-house); Spiese (from Ospes = Lat. hospes); Penne (Heb. pono); Plattpenne, Plattspiesse, Plattebajis, Plattbes (also = intercourse with thieves’); Serafbajis (Heb. soraf); Schocherskitt (Heb. schechor from schochar); Schlederhaus (from schlodern or schlottern = to totter); Schwäche, Schwächaules, or Schwächkitt (Heb. sewach = to sacrifice, to kill); Eintippel or Intippel (tippen or tippeln = to dip).

Italian synonyms. Bruzza; calda; cerchiosa; scabbiosa.

Spanish synonyms. Alegria (= pleasure or joy); aduana (= custom-house); percha (= perch or pole); puerto (= port).

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, 188, s.v. Lush-crib or lush-ken, a public house, or gin-shop.

1820. Randall’s Diary, ‘Farewell to the King.’ Then blame me not kids, swells, or lads of the fancy, For opening a lush-crib in Chancery Lane.

Lushing-muzzle, subs. (pugilistic).—A blow on the mouth.—Grose (1823).

Lushington, subs. (common).—A sot. Also lushing man and lushy-cove.

English synonyms. Admiral of the Red; after-dinner man; ale-knight; ale-wisp; artilleryman; bang-pitcher; beer-barrel; belch-guts; bencher; bench-whistler; bezzle; bibber; blackpot; bloat; blomboll; boozer; boozington; borachio; bottle-sucker; brandy-face; brewer’s-horse; bubber (or bubster); budge (or budger); bung-eye; burster; common sewer; coppernose; drainist; drainpipe; dramster; D-T-ist; elbow-crooker; emperor; ensign-bearer; fish; flag-of-distress; fluffer; fuddle-cap (or fuddler); full-blown angel; gargler; gin-crawler (or -slinger); ginnums; gravel-grinder; grog-blossom; guttle (or guttle-guts); guzzler (or guzzle-guts); high-goer; jolly-nose; lapper; love-pot; lowerer; lug-pot; moist-’un; mooner; mop (or mopper-up); nazie-cove (or -mort); nipster; O-be-Joyfuller (or O-be-Joyful-merchant); pegger; piss-maker; potster; pot-walloper; pub-ornament; sapper; shifter; sipster; soaker; sponge; swallower; swill-pot (or -tub); swigsby; swigster; swipester; swizzle-guts; Thirstington; tipple-arse; toddy-cask; toss-pot; tote; tun; wet-quaker; wet-subject; wetster.

French synonyms. Un bec-salé; un louave (thieves’); un litronneur (popular); une grosse culotte (popular = fat-arse); un gavé (thieves’: gaver = to stuff); une lampe-à-mort (pop. lamper = to swill); un zingueur (popular); un boyau rouge; un marquant (thieves’); un canonneur (pop. = an artilleryman: canon = long glass); un camphrier (popular); un fioleur (popular: fiole = phial: cf. toss-pot and bottle-sucker); une éponge (popular = a soaker); un bibard (thieves’); un buvard (popular = blotting book); un pochard (colloquial); un adroit du coude (pop. = elbow-crooker); un artilleur (pop. cf. artilleryman); un boissonneur (pop. = a boozer); un buvailleur or buvaillon (pop. = Lushington); un chocaillon (pop. a female tippler); un poivrot (familiar: also poivreau); un sac-à-vin (pop.); un pompier (popular); un soiffeur (soiffeuse [fem.], or soiffard = thirstington); un schniqueur (= nipster); un ventre d’osier; un siroteur (= a sipster); un pion (Villon); un pilier de cabaret (= a pub-ornament); un pictonneur (picton = wine); un mannezingueur; un marchand d’eau chaude (= piss-maker); un marchand d’eau de javelle.

German synonym. Mattobolo (= a drunken pig: from the Gypsy matto = drunk).

Italian synonyms. Fransoso (= a Frenchman); chiaritore; chiaristante.

Spanish synonyms. Cuero (= a goat-skin bottle); colodra (= a wooden pail in which wine is measured and retailed); cuba (= a measure for wine); difunto de taberna (lit., a public-house corpse); odre (= a wine-skin); pellejo (= a wine-skin); peneque; potista; odrina (= an ox-hide bottle).

Dutch synonyms. Buisbalk; buiskinne or buizerik.

1826. The Fancy, i. 31. He is reported not to take sufficient care of himself: Lushington is evidently his master.

1840. Comic Almanack, 239. A blessed school of physic—half-and-half! The lushington of each young Doctor’s Commons.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 68. They sell it at the public houses to the lushingtons.

1859. Matsell, ‘A hundred stretches hence.’ With all the prigs and lushing-men, A hundred stretches hence.

Lushy, adj. (common).—Drunk. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, 188, s.v.

1821. Haggart, Life, 33. We met with a drover, quite lushy.

1821. The Fancy, 1, p. 303. At the Goat, as aforementioned, Ben Burn and Randall being both a little lushy.

1828. Maginn, from Vidocq, The Pickpocket’s Chaunt. A regular swell cove lushy lay. To his clies my hooks I throw in, Tol, lol, etc.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xx. I was so uncommon lushy, that I couldn’t find the place where the latch-key went in, and was obliged to knock up the old ’ooman.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of A Cheap Jack, 57. A lushy cove.

Lusk, subs. (old).—An idler. Also, luskish; as adj. = idle.

1531–47. Copland, Hye Way to the Spyttel Hous, l. 40. Boyes, gyrles, and luskish strong knaues.

b. 1602. Lingua [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 462]. Up, with a pox to you; up you lusk. [Note: lusk = idle, lazy, slothful. Minshew derives it from the French lasche, desidiosus].

Lust-proud. See Prick-proud.

Lustres, subs. (American thieves’).—Diamonds.—Matsell (1859).

Lusty-Lawrence, subs. (old).—A good wencher; a performer (q.v.). Also lusty-guts.

1599. Porter, Two Angry Women [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), vii. 295]. Well, lusty-guts, I mean to make ye stay.

1603–37. Breton, Mad Letters, [Grosart (1869), h. 33, 7, 12]. While lustie-guts and his best beloued were casting sheepes eyes at a cods head.

1621. Burton, Anat. (ed. 1892), ii. 40. Well fed like Hercules, Proculus ... and lusty laurence.

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

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, ii. 312. Her face like an angel, fair, plump, and a Maid, Her lute well in Tune too, could he but have plaid. Ibid. v. 4. Her white belly’d lute she set to his flute.

Lux, subs. (Blue-coat School).—A good thing; ‘a splendid thing; e.g., My knife is wooston a lux. Probably short form of luxuriant. Hertford word.’—Blanch.

Luxer, subs. (Winchester College).—See quot.

1878. Adams, Winchester College, s.v. Luxer. A handsome fellow, I presume from luxuries, it being a pleasure to look at him?

Luxuries. See Bar.

Lyb-beg, subs. (old).—A bed.

Lyerby (or Lig-by), subs. (old).—A keep (q.v.).

Lyp, verb. (old).—To lie down.—Harman (1567).

Lypken. See Libken.

Lyribliring, subs. (Old Cant).—Warbling or singing.

1580. Philip Sidney, Arcadia, iii. p. 395. So may her ears be led, Her ears where musike lives, To heare and not despise Thy lyribliring cries.

M

M. To have an M under (or by) the girdle, verb. phr. (old).—To have a courteous address. [By using the titles Mr., Mrs., Miss, etc.]. See quot. 1850.

1597–8. Haughton, A Woman will have her Will [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), x. 531]. Hark ye ... methinks you might do well to have an M under your girdle.

1605. Jonson, Chapman, etc., Eastward Hoe, iv. 1. You might carry an M under your girdle.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversation, i. The devil take you Neverout.... What plain Neverout! methinks you might have an M under your girdle, Miss.

1850. Halliwell, Dict. Arch. & Prov. Words, s.v. M ... To keep the term ‘Master’ out of sight, to be wanting in proper respect.

Mab, subs. (old).—1. See quot.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom & Jerry, i. 7. Tom. But if you dislike going in a hack, we’ll get you a mab. Jerry. A mab? I’m at fault again—never shall get properly broken in. Tom. A mab is a jingling jarvy!—a cabriolet, Jerry.

2. (old).—A slattern. See verb.

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

1725. New Canting Dict., s.v.

3. (American).—A prostitute. For synonyms see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Verb. (old).—See quots.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, ii. 2. But who, O! who had seen the mobled queen Run bare-foot up and down....

1672. Ray, Proverbs, ‘North Country Words,’ s.v. To mab [pronounced mob], to dress carelessly. Mabs are slatterns.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Mab ... Mab’d up, Drest carelessly, like a Slattern.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

d. 1728. Kennett, MS. Lansd. 1033, Mobb’d up, dresst in a coarse clownish manner.

Macaroni, subs. (old).—1. See quot. 1711. [It. maccarone, now maccherone, a blockhead: cf., Ger. Hanswurst; Fr. Jean-farine; and Jack-pudding].

1711. Addison, Spectator, No. 47, Ap. 24. ‘In the first Place I must observe that there is a Set of merry Drolls whom the Common People of all Countries admire, and seem to love so well that they could eat them, according to the old Proverb: I mean those circumforaneous Wits whom every Nation calls by the Name of that Dish of Meat which it loves best. In Holland they are termed Pickled Herrings; in France Jean Pottages; in Italy Maccaronies; and in Great Britain Jack Puddings. These merry Wags, from whatsoever Food they receive their Titles, that they may make their Audiences laugh, always appear in a Fool’s Coat, and commit such Blunders and Mistakes in every Step they take, and every Word they utter, as those who listen to them would be ashamed of.’

2. (old).—A dandy from 1760–75. [From the Macaroni Club, which introduced Italian macaroni at Almack’s].

1764. Walpole, To Hertford, 27 May. Lady Falkener’s daughter is to be married to a young rich Mr. Crewe, a macarone, and of our loo.

1768. Hall Stevenson, Makarony Fables (addressed to the Society of Macaronies) Title.

1770. Oxford Magazine, iv. 228, 2. There is indeed a kind of animal, neither male nor female, a thing of the neuter gender, lately started up amongst us. It is called a macaronie. It talks without meaning, it smiles without pleasantry, it eats without appetite, it rides without exercise.

1770. Foote, Lame Lover, i. 1. Frederick is a bit of macaroni, and adores the soft Italian termination in a.

1772. G. A. Stevens, Songs Comic & Satyrical, 139. Macaronies so neat, Pert Jemmies so sweet.

1773. Fergusson, Auld Reekie (Poems, 1851, p. 130). Close by his side, a feckless race O’ macaronies show their face.

1774. Burgoyne, Maid of the Oaks, ii. 1. All the macaronies passed by, whistling a song through their toothpicks, and giving a shrug.

1776. Garrick, High Life above Stairs, i. 1. Sir T. This fellow would turn rake and macaroni if he were to stay here a week longer. Bless me, what dangers are in this town at every step!

1779. Mrs. Cowling, Who’s the Dupe? ii. 2. You! you for to turn fop and macaroni!

1785. Grose, Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1790. The Busy Bee (quoted in), ii. 248. Some macaronies there came in, All dressed so neat, and looked so thin.

1805. G. Barrington, New London Spy (4th ed.), p. 53. The present degenerate race of macaronies, who appear to be of a spurious puny breed.

1820. C. Lamb, Elia, ‘South Sea House,’ in Works [1852], p. 316. He wore his hair, to the last, powdered and frizzed out, in the fashion which I remember to have seen in caricatures of what were termed, in my young days, maccaronies.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, 1. ix. Though a Frenchman he was a deuced fine fellow in his day—quite a tip-top macaroni.

1883. A. Dobson, Hogarth, p. 56. A slim macaroni, with his hair in curl papers, and his queue loose like a woman’s tresses.

1885. Daily Telegraph, 14 Aug., p. 5, col. 1. The hat of the maccaroni has gone out as surely as the lights at Ranelagh, or the masquerades in Soho.

3. (American).—A Maryland regiment noted for its smartness, which took part in the Revolution.—‘Stuck a feather in his cap, and called it macaroni’.—Yankee Doodle.

4. (rhyming).—A pony.

Adj. (old).—1. Foppish; affected; and (2) see quot. 1742. Also macaronian and macaronical.

1596. Nashe, Have With You [Grosart, iii. 47]. One Dick Litchfield ... who hath translated my Piers Pennilesse into the macaronicall tongue.

1742. Cambridge, The Scribleriad, b. ii. note 16. The macaronian is a kind of burlesque poetry, consisting of a jumble of words of different languages, with words of the vulgar tongue latinized, and latin words modernized.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Epil. Ye travelled tribe, ye macaroni train.

1806. J. Dallaway, Obs. Eng. Arch., 222. Travellers who have seen ... will look on the architecture of Bath as belonging to the macaronick order.

Macaroni-stake, subs. (old).—A race ridden by a gentleman-jock (q.v.).—Bee (1823).

Macaroon, subs. (old).—An affected blockhead.

1650. Elegy on Donne [Nares]. A macaroon, And no way fit to speak to clouted shoon.

1662. Donne, Satires, Sat. 4. 116, 117. I sigh and sweat To hear this makaron talke, in vaine.

Mace, subs. (old).—See quots.

1785. Grose, Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Mace, the mace is a rogue assuming the character of a gentleman, or opulent tradesman, who under that appearance defrauds workmen, by borrowing a watch or other piece of goods, till one he bespeaks is done.

1821. Egan, Life in London, 287. Mace ... which is a slang term for imposition or robbery.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip, ii. Fiddle, or fence, or mace, or mack.

Verb. (common).—To defraud. See quot. 1868. Also on the mace, and to strike the mace. To mace the rattler = to travel by rail without paying the fare.

1821. Egan, Life in London, p. 320. He laughed heartily at their being maced.

1827. Lytton, Pelham, lxxxiii. To swindle a gentleman did not sound a crime when it was called macing a swell.

1830. W. T. Moncrieff, The Heart of London, ii. 1. He’s been working on the mace.

1868. Temple Bar, xxiv. 535. Macing means taking an office, getting goods sent to it, and then bolting with them; or getting goods sent to your lodgings and then removing.

1885. Daily Telegraph, 18 Aug., p. 3, col. 2. Fancy him being so soft as to give that jay a quid back out of the ten he’d maced him of!

On the mace, adv. phr. (common).—1. See verb.; and (2) on credit; on tick (q.v.).

1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, 100. Letting ’em have the super and slang on mace, for he gets to know their account, and he puts the pot on ’em settling day.

Maceman (Mace-cove, Mace-gloak, or Macer), subs. (thieves’).—A general swindler. But see quots. 1879 and 1884.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, ii. 34, s.v.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Mace. The mace-cove is he who will cheat, take in, or swindle as often as may be.

1828. G. Smeeton, Doings in London, p. 39. It is a game in very great vogue among the macers, who congregate nightly at the flash-houses.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1861. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 2 p.m. Par. 10. The turf has its blacklegs and touts; the nightside of London is fruitful in macemen, ‘mouchers’, and ‘go-alongs’.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl. 502. The following people used to go in there—toy-getters (watch-stealers) ... men at the mace (sham loan offices).

1883. G. A. S[ala], in Illustr. L. News, 28 April, p. 407, col. 2. The lovely and loving spouse of an abandoned macer, named Brabazon Sikes—to further whose villainous ends she consents to ‘nobble’ Damozel in his stable.

1884. Daily News, 5 Jan., p. 5, col. 2. The victim appears to have entered an omnibus and to have been at once pounced upon by two macemen, otherwise ‘swell mobsmen’.

Machine, subs. (venery).—1. The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable. (2) The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick.

3. (common).—A bicycle or tricycle; a carriage; (Scots’) and (in America) a fire-engine.

d. 1797. Walpole, Letters, iv. 12. Will set out tomorrow morning in the machine that goes from the Queen’s Head in the Gray’s Inn Lane.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 325. A special kind of rowdy known only in America is the b’hoy that runs wid de machine ... the fire-engine.

1884. Field, 6 Dec. As we proceeded the machine became more of an encumbrance.

4. (old).—A cundum; a french letter (q.v.).

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

5. (American politics).—A party; a party organization.

Machiner, subs. (old coaching).—A coach-horse.

1859. Lawrence, Sword and Gown, xi. Steady old machiners, broken for years to don the harness.

Mack, verb. (common).—See mackerel.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip, ii. Fiddle, or fence, or mace, or mack.

Mackerel, subs. (old).—1. A pander; and (2), a bawd. [Skeat: O. Fr. maquereau = pandar, from Teut. source preserved in Du., makelaar = broker, pandar, from Du. makelen = to procure].

1483. Caxton, Cato Magnus. Nighe his house dwellyd a maquerel or bawde.

1513. Gavin Douglas, Eneados, ‘Proloug’ (Book iv), (Edinburgh, 1874, ii. 170, l. 30). Sic poyd makrelles for Lucifer bene leche.

1615. Overbury, New & Choice Characters [Nares]. A maquerela, in plain English, a bawd, is an olde charcole that hath beene burnt herselfe, and therefore is able to kindle a whole greene coppice.

1630. Taylor, Wks. [Nares]. As some get their living by their tounges, as interpreters, lawyers, oratours, and flatterers; some by tayles, as maquerellaes, concubines, curtezanes, or in plaine English, whores.

c. 1633. Lady Alimony, ii. 2. The only safe way for these gamesome macquerellas is to antedate their conception before their separation.

1633. Shirley, Triumph of Peace [Nares]. After these, a maquerelle, two wenches, two wanton gamesters.

1650. Howell, Familiar Letters [Nares]. The pandar did his office, but brought him a citizen clad in damoisells apparell, so she and her maquerell were paid accordingly.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Adj. (printers’).—Smeared; blurred and indistinct.

Mackarel-back, subs. (old).—See quots.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Mackarel-back, a very tall, lank Person.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Mackerel-backed, long backed.

Mad, adj. (Old English and American).—Angry; vexed. To get one’s mad up = to get angered. Also as verb.

1369. Chaucer, Troilus [Skeat, 1894], line 479. Ne made him thus in armes for to madde.

1593. Shakspeare, Titus And., iii. 1. 104. Had I but seen thy picture in this plight, It would have madded me. Ibid. iii. 1. 223. If the winds rage doth not the sea wax mad.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, iv. 1. You’d mad the patient’st body in the world.

1607. Middleton, Your Five Gallants [De Vere]. They are mad; she graced me with one private minute above their fortunes.

1611. Acts XXVI. 11 [Authorised Version].—And being exceeding mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

1667. Pepys, Diary, iv. 482 [Bickers, 1875]. The King is mad at her entertaining Jermin, and she is mad at Jermin’s going to marry from her, so they are all mad; and so the kingdom is governed.

1816. Pickering, Collection of Words etc., s.v. Mad, in the sense of ‘angry,’ is considered as a low word in this country, and at the present day is never used except in very familiar conversation.

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, i. 1. I guess—I’m madded, but I’ll bite in my breath a bit—not that I’m sitch a tarnation fool as to believe all you tell me.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 167. That nation is mad.

1871. New Era, April [De Vere]. The Squire’s mad riz.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 189. My eye! won’t he be just mad.

Like mad. See Like.

Mad as a hatter, phr. (colloquial).—Violently angry; crazy. [Hatter = atter = adder].

Mad as a March Hare, phr. (colloquial).—As mad as may be.

d. 1535. More, Supplycacion of Soulys, C. ii. As mad not as Marche hare, but as a madde dogge.

1597. Heywood, Epig., 95. As mad as a March hare; where madness compares, Are not Midsummer hares as mad as March hares?

1609. Fletcher, Wild-Goose Chase, iv. 3. They are all, all mad: I came from a world of mad women, mad as march hares.

1651. Tatham, Distracted State, iv. 1. My lord, ’tis done! I am as mad as a March hare upon ’t.

1665. Homer à la Mode [Nares]. Therefore, ere since this cunning archer Has been as mad as any March hare.

1678. Cotton, Virgil Travestie, in Wks. (1725), Bk. iv. p. 73. Thy little Archer Has made our Dido mad as March-hare.

1754. Foote, The Knights, i. Mother’s as mad as a March hare about it.

1760. George Colman, Polly Honeycombe, i. 4. She’s downright raving—mad as a March hare.

d. 1796. Burns, Ep. to J. R., 13. It pits me ay as mad’s a hare.

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 260. Vell, I’ve heard of mad as a March air, and precious mad I find it is, still I can’t say as I care: as long as I get home safe.

1851. Notes and Queries, 20 Sept., p. 208. Perhaps the allusion to the well-known saying, as mad as a March hare, on this occasion was made without the collector of hareskins being aware of the existence of such a saying.

Madam, subs. (old).—1. A pocket-handkerchief; a wipe (q.v.). Fr. une fassollette.

1879. Macmillan’s Mag., ‘Autobiography of a Thief,’ xl. 503. I tore up my madam, and tied the wedge in small packets.

2. (old).—A mistress.

d. 1634–5. Randolph, In Lesbiam, etc., in Wks. (London: 1875), p. 539. And yet has no revenues to defray These charges but the madam; she must pay His prodigal disbursements. Madams are To such as he more than a treble share.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iv. 139. Hide-Park may be called the market of madams.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

3. (colloquial).—A bold girl; an artful woman.

4. (old).—An ironical address.

1726. Gay, Beggar’s Opera, ii. Air xx. Why, how now, madam flirt.

1790. The Busy Bee (quoted in), iii. 59. Every bush beat, And no signs of madam, no trace of her feet.

Madam Van, subs. phr. (old).—See quot. For synonyms see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Madam Van, a whore. The cull has been with Madam Van, the fellow has enjoyed such a one.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Madcap, subs. (old: now recognised).—A whimsical humourist; a rashling. Fr. un lanturlu. As adj. = wild; freakish.

1594. Look About You [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), vii. 420]. But pray have a care of this madcap.

1595. Shakspeare, Two Gentl. of Verona, ii. 5, 8. Come on, you mad-cap, I’ll to the ale-house.

1597–8. Haughton, A Woman will have her Will [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), x. 498]. You madman, mad-cap, wild-oats.

1609. Fletcher, Wild-Goose Chase, iv. 1. If any of the mad-cap gentlemen should come by, That take up women on special warrant, you were in a wise case now.

1639. Glapthorne, Wit in a Constable [Pearson (1874), i. 199]. Pray be you Sir Timothy, know his entrance: ’Tis such another mad-cap.

1658. Wit Restored [Hotten], 147. Two madcaps were committed late, For treason, as some say.

1678. Cotton, Virgil Travestie, in Wks. (1725), Bk. iv. p. 95. Her grace finds me amongst a Crew Of mad-caps.

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

d. 1796. Burns, To R.G. of F., 8. Not so the idle Muses’ mad-cap train.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Mad-cap a frisky, wild lass, full of fun.

1831. Lytton, Eugene Aram, Bk. 4, ch. xi. I could not a-think what could make so shy an’ resarved a gentleman as Mr. Aram admit these ’ere wild mad-caps at that hour.

Mad-dog, subs. (Old Cant).—Strong ale. For synonyms see Drinks and Swipes.

1586. Harrison, England, 202. There is such headie ale.... Commonly called huffe-cappe, the mad dog, father-whore-sonne, angel’s-food, dragon’s-milk, go-by-the-wall, stride-wide, and lift-leg.

Made. See Make, verb. sense 1.

Made-beer, subs. (Winchester College).—College swipes bottled with rice, a few raisins, sugar, and nutmeg to make it ‘up’.—Mansfield.

Madge, subs. (American thieves’).—1. See quot. 1882.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1882. McCabe, New York, xxxiv. 510 (in list of slang terms). Madge, private places.

2. (venery).—See quots. For synonyms see Monosyllable. Also Madge-howlet.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Madge. The private parts of a woman.

1850. Halliwell, Archaic and Provincial Words, s.v. Madge (3). The pudendum muliebre. South.

3. (Scots’).—A woman: partly in sport, and partly in contempt.—Jamieson.

Madge-cull, subs. (Old Cant).—See quot. Cf. Mary-Ann.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Madge culls, sodomites (Cant).

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

Mad-pash, subs. (provincial).—See quot.

1850. Halliwell, Archaic & Provincial Words, s.v. Mad-pash. A mad fellow.

Mad-Tom, subs. phr. (old).—See quots.: a Tom of Bedlam (q.v.).

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Mad Tom ... a rogue that counterfeits madness.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Mad Tom. A fellow who feigns to be foolish.

Mad-woman, subs. (old coaching).—An empty coach.

Madza, adj. (theatrical).—Half. Madza-caroon = half a crown; madza-saltee = a halfpenny. [It. mezza]. Medza-beargered = half-drunk.

1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, xiv. They come at madza nova butchers to inspect and see all is bona.

Mag, subs. (old).—1. Talk; chatter; jaw (q.v.). Also a jabberer. Fr. un caquet-bon-bec.

1778. D’Arblay, Diary, i. 100. If you have any mag in you, we’ll draw it out.

1874. E. Lynn Linton, Patricia Kemball, xviii. ‘Don’t be a fool, woman, and hold your mag on things you don’t understand,’ said Mr. Simpson coarsely.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 20. Tipped the mag with as much bellows-blowing as though he’d two tongues in his cheeks.

2. (thieves’).—See quots. Also make and magpie. In pl. (in Scotland) = a gratuity expected by servants. Cf. Meg = a guinea.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. A make, a halfepenny.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Markall, p. 39 (H. Club’s Repr. 1874). Make, an halfpenny.

1676. Warning for Housekeepers, ‘Song.’ But if the cully nap us ... it is hardly worth a make.

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

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Make (S.) a cant name for a half-penny.

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

1789. Geo Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 124. Bless you eyes and limbs, lay out a mag with poor chirruping Joe.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, 6. If any body offers you less nor a mag, or a duce, vy, you may say with the poet, Who vou’d his farthings bear? ven he himself might his quivetus make vith a bare bodkin.

1830. W. T. Moncrieff, The Heart Of London, ii. 1. I haven’t a mag.

1838. Dickens, Oliver Twist, viii. ‘But come,’ said the young gentleman, ‘you want grub, and you shall have it. I’m at low-water-mark myself—only a bob and a magpie, but as it goes Ile fork out and stump.’

1840. Lytton, Paul Clifford, xvi. You care not a mag if our party should fall.

1842. Comic Almanack, 29 Aug. ‘La Fontaine’s Homeric Exhibition.’ It’s a science; methinks—tho’ La Fontaine may brag That in language of slang, sir, is not worth a mag.

1843. W. T. Moncrieff, The Scamps Of London, ii. 3. I’ll play you three times round the board for a mag a turn, and a pint to come in—the first five out of nine.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. liv. p. 451. If he don’t keep such a business as the present as close as possible it can’t be worth a mag to him.

1861. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, ch. xliv. ‘I’ve kept this safe for many a long day. I’ve held on to it when I hadn’t a mag in my pocket, nor a crust in my wallet.’

1864. Standard, 13 Dec. We do not find the word make (a halfpenny) used by boys in Ireland and extensively among the Irish labouring people settled in London.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, 64. We should not have taken a mag, as we left the place in the morning.

3. (American).—A half-cent.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

4. (shooting).—The same Magpie.

5. (common).—A magazine.

1796. Wolcot, Peter Pindar, p. 309 [ed. 1830]. And now of Hawkesbury they talked, who wrote in mags for hire.

1837. Comic Almanack, 92. At least ’twas so Some years ago, Ere wisdom oped our eyes; And farthing folks, with penny mags, Made people penny wise.

1869. Chamb. Journal, 8 May, p. 303. ‘Why don’t you fellows write something for the mags?’ said Tom.

1882. Mrs. E. R. Alexander, The Freres, 45. He ... is on the staff of I don’t know how many papers and mags.

Verb. (old).—1. To talk.

1836. Comic Almanack, October. Just stow your magging, for you’ve piped enough.

1843. W. T. Moncrieff, The Scamps of London, i. 2. Stow magging—here’s more coves coming.

1885. G. A. Sala, in Daily Telegraph, 26 Sept., 5–6. Who hangs for hours about the Piazza Colonna at Rome, chattering and scandal-magging.

2. (thieves’).—To steal.

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, xliii. And loot the carters magg the coals.

3. (American thieves’).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Magging. Getting money by cheating countrymen with balls, patent safes, etc.

Mag’s diversion. See Meg.

Maga, subs. (literary).—Blackwood’s Magazine.

Magdalene, subs. (colloquial).—A reformed prostitute.

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, iv. 6. You don’t love mutton, you magdalen unconverted?

1818. Lady Morgan, Fl. Macarthy, ii. ii. 79 [1819]. I will not have my house made a magdalen Asylum to a parcel of canting methodistical thieves.

1873. Wilkie Collins, The New Magdalene [Title].

1883. Trollope, Autobiography, p. 239. Very little of the Magdalene about her—because though there may be many Magdalenes they are not often found.

Mag-flying, subs. (thieves’).—See quot. Cf. Mag = halfpenny.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 26 March, p. 2, col. 8. Of the twenty-nine ‘night charges’, by far the greater number were of ... boys for mag flying, i.e., ‘pitch and toss’.

Maggie, subs. (Scots’).—A harlot. Cf. Kitty.

1603. Philotus, S. P. R. [1792], iii. 50. Ye trowit to get ane burd of blisse, To have ane of thir maggies.

Maggie Rab (or Robb), subs. phr. (Scots’).—1. A bad half-penny.

2. (Scots’).—A bad wife.

Magging, subs. (colloquial).—Talking.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, xxx. I can understand it all, you’ve been worked upon by the chatter and magging of these silly women until you’ve lost your own calm common sense.

Maggot, subs. (common).—1. A whim; a crotchet; a fad (q.v.). Cf. (Scots’) ‘bee in bonnet’; (Fr.) des rats dans la tête.

1655. Massinger, Very Woman, v. 1. Now I dare swear Thou hast maggots in thy brains, thou wouldst not else, Talk of impossibilities.

1678. Butler, Hudibras, iii. 2, 1375. To reconcile our late dissenters, Our breth’ren though by other venters; Unite them and their different maggots, As long and short sticks are in faggots.

1685. Crowne, Sir Courtly Nice, ii. 1. The beef o’ the nation breeds all the maggots in the people’s heads.

1701. Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair, iii. 1. Some time ago he had got the travelling maggot in his head, and was going to the Jubilee upon all occasions.

1706. Farquhar, Recruiting Officer, iii. 1. Pride possesses their hearts, a maggot fills their heads.

1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, Pt. 1. ch. x. John heard all this while, with patience, till she pricked his maggot, and touched him in the tender point.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, iv. 77. Not long ago as all alone I lay upon my Bed, ’Twixt sleeping and waking, this maggot came in my Head.

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, iii. ‘The King is a weel-natured and just man of his ain kindly nature, but he has a wee maggots that maun be cannily guided.’

1843. John Sterling, in Life by Carlyle, Pt. iii. ch. vi. The thing is not bad; but will require great labour. Only it is labour that I thoroughly like; and which keeps the maggots out of one’s brain, until their time.

1855. Tennyson, Maud, xxvii. 3. To tickle the maggot born in an empty head.

2. (old).—See quots.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Maggot, a whimsicall Fellow, full of strange Fancies and Caprichio’s. Maggotty, Freakish.

1725. N. Bailey, Erasmus, 177. You were as great a maggot as any in the world.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.) Maggot (S.) ... also a whimsical fellow that is full of strange freakish fancies.

Maggot-boiler, subs. (old).—A tallow chandler.—Grose (1796).

Maggoty (Maggot-headed or -pated), adj. (common).—Fanciful; eccentric; full of whimsies.

1687. Bishop, Marrow of Astrology, 60. A fantastick man wholly bent to fool his time and estate away in ... maggot-pated whimsies, to no purpose.

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

1706. Farquhar, Recruiting Officer, ii. 2. I should have some rogue of a builder ... transform my noble oaks and elms into cornices, portals, sashes ... to adorn some magotty, new-fashioned bauble upon the Thames.

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

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

1817–26. Kirby and Spence, Int. to Entomology, 85. The common saying that a whimsical person is maggoty, or has got maggots in his head, perhaps arose from the freaks the sheep have been observed to exhibit when infested by bots.

1882. Rev. J. Pickford, in Notes and Queries, 6. S.v. 238. Be it observed that maggoty is a Cheshire provincialism for ‘crotchety’, like the expression used in other parts, ‘a bee in the bottom.’

Magistrand, subs. (Aberdeen University).—A student in arts of the last year: cf. Bejan.

Magistrate, subs. (Scots’).—A herring. For synonyms see Glasgow magistrate.

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

Magnificent, subs. (colloquial).—High and mighty. In pl. = a state of dignified resentment.

1886. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xxvii. Nevertheless, Jack walked his first watch in the magnificents, as all middies do when they cannot go on shore, and turned in at twelve o’clock, with the resolution of sticking to his purpose, and quitting his Majesty’s service.

Magnify. It doesn’t magnify, phr. (common).—‘It doesn’t signify.’

Magnum, subs. (colloquial).—A double quart. Cf. Jeroboam, Rehoboam etc.

1796. Burns, Election Ballads, vi. High-wav’d his magnum-bonum round With Cyclopean fury.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Magnum Bonum. A bottle containing two quarts of wine. See Scotch pint.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, xxxvi. Discussing the landlord’s bottle, which was, of course, a magnum.

1829. Edinburgh Review, xl. 378. Daily washing down turtle and venison with quarts of sherry and magnums of claret.

1837. Dickens, Pickwick, xix. They ... ordered a glass of brandy and water ... with a magnum of extra strength.

1850. Thackeray, Pendennis, xxxi. They had a magnum of claret at dinner at the club that day.

1888. Athenæum, 21 April, 449. 1. Your noble magnum of Lafitte, E’en Rothschild would have deemed a treat.

Magpie, subs. (old).—1. A bishop. [From his vestments of black and white].

1663. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), xiv. 459]. In pure charity laid with him, and was delivered, of a magpie ... for the midwife cried out ’twas born a bishop, with tippet and white sleeves.

1707. F. Brown, Works, i. 107. Let not those silkworms and magpies have dominion over us.

2. (thieves’).—See Mag, subs. sense 2.

3. (common).—A pie; pastry. Fr. parfond.

4. (military).—A shot striking a target, divided into four sections, in the outermost but one. [It is signalled with a black and white disk]. Cf. Bull’s-eye.

1884. Times, 23 July. Running through the scoring gamut with an outer, a magpie, and a miss.

Magpie’s-nest, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

c. 1720. Ballad [Brit. Mus. Cat. 11621, i. 1. 75]. I heard the merry wag protest, The muff between her haunches, Resembled most a magpie’s nest, Between two lofty branches.

d. 1796. Old Ballad, ‘Ken ye Na Our Lass, Bess?’ [quoted by Burns in Merry Muses], Between her lily-white thies She’s biggit a magpie’s-nest.

Magsman, subs. (thieves’).—A street swindler, a confidence-trick man. [From mag = to talk + man]. For synonyms see Thieves. Fr. un chevalier de la retourne.

1838. The Town, ‘The Swell Mob,’ 27 Jan. A magsman must, of necessity be a great actor, and a most studious observer of human nature.... Without [these attributes] a man might as well attempt to fly as to go out for a ‘mag-stake.’

1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 46. The dependents of cheats; as ‘jollies’ and magsmen, or the confederates of other cheats.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Magsmen. Fellows who are too cowardly to steal, but prefer to cheat confiding people by acting on their cupidity.

1864. Leeds Mercury, 7 June. The case we now report is one in which an Englishman—a Yorkshireman too—was swindled by two magsmen.

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

1888. G. R. Sims, in Cassell’s Sat. Journal, 31 March, p. 7. The magsman earns his living by what is called the confidence trick.

Mahogany, subs. (common).—1. A dining-table. Also mahogany-tree.

1840–1. Dickens, Master Humphrey’s Clock. I had hoped to have seen you three gentlemen with your legs under the mahogany in my humble parlor in the Marks.

1847. Thackeray [in Punch, vol. xii, p. 13]. The Mahogany Tree [Title].

1847. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Vol. ii. ch. vii. ‘I ... can show a handsomer service of silver, and can lay a better dinner on my mahogany, than ever they see on theirs.’

1856. Strang, Glasgow & its Clubs, 102. With his legs below the tavern mahogany, etc.

1889. Licensed Victuallers’ Gaz., 18 Jan. The men who had so constantly had their legs under his mahogany.

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, Tableau III. Sc. I. p. 30. Why man, if under heaven there were but one poor lock unpicked, and that the lock of one whose claret you’ve drunk, and who has babbled of woman across your own mahogany—that lock, sir, were entirely sacred.

2. (nautical).—Salt beef; old horse (q.v.).

3. (common).—See quot.

1791. Boswell, Johnson (1835), viii. 53. Mr. Elliot mentioned a curious liquor peculiar to his country which the Cornish fishermen drink. They call it mahogany; and it is made of two parts gin, and one part treacle, well beaten together.

1855. Strang, Glasgow & its Clubs, 102. With his legs below the tavern mahogany, and with his own tankard of mahogany before him.

To have one’s feet under another man’s mahogany, verb. phr. (common).—To live on someone else.

To amputate one’s mahogany, verb. phr. (common).—To run away; to cut one’s stick (q.v.).

Mahogany-flat, subs. (common).—A bug: cf. Heavy cavalry. For synonyms see Norfolk Howard.

Mahometan-gruel, subs. (common).—Coffee.—Grose (3rd ed., 1796).

Maid. Neither wife, widow, nor maid, phr. (old).—See Maiden-wife-widow.

Maiden, subs. (Old Scots’ colloquial).—1. A decapitating machine.

1715. Pennecuik, Descr. of Tweeddale, pp. 16–17. Which fatal instrument, at least the pattern thereof, the cruel Regent [Earl Morton] had brought from abroad to behead the Laird of Pennecuik of that ilk, who notwithstanding died in his bed, and the unfortunate Earl was the first himself that handselled that merciless maiden.

1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. The rude, old guillotine of Scotland, called the maiden.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 7 Mar., p. 2. col 1. A young Scotch gentleman of good birth, named ‘A. Balfour,’ was executed by an instrument called the maiden.

2. (colloquial).—In cricket, an over with no runs; in racing, a horse which has never run. Also as adj.: as, a maiden-speech, a maiden-attempt etc.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Maiden-sessions, when none are hanged.

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

1882. Daily Telegraph, 2 Jan. The conditions contain no allowance for maiden.

Maiden-gear, subs. (old).—The virginity. Fr. côte de tribulation.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, i. 130. My father takes me for a Saint, Tho’ weary of my maiden geer, That I may give you full content, Pray look, Sir Knight, the coast be clear.

Maidenhead, subs. (vulgar: once literary).—‘Newness; freshness; uncontaminated state. This is now become a low word.’—Johnson (1755).

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller [Grosart, v. 114]. He would let Florence his mistres natiue citie have the maidenhead of his chiualrie.

1598. Shakspeare, Henry IV, 1. 59. The devil and mischance look big Upon the maidenhead of our affairs.

1694. Crowne, Married Beau, ii. 1. I’ll give your ladyship the maidenhead of a new song of mine.

d. 1726. Wotton [Johnson]. Some ... have stained the maidenhead of their credit with some negligent performance.

Maiden-town, subs. (Old Scots’).—Edinburgh; auld reekie. [From a tradition that the maiden daughters of a Pictish King sought protection there during a time of civil war].

Maiden-wife-widow, subs. phr. (old).—1. See quot.; and (2) a whore [Ray (1767)].

1688. Randal Holmes, Academy of Armory, 404. A maiden-wife-widow, one that gave herself up to a man that could never enjoy her maidenhead.

Maid Marian, subs. phr. (old).—A wanton. [The character in the old morris-dance was taken by a loose woman].

1598. Shakspeare, Henry IV, Falstaff. And for chastity Maid Marian is deputy’s wife of the wand to thee.

Maids-adorning, subs. (rhyming).—The morning.

Maidstone-jailer, subs. (rhyming).—A tailor. For synonyms see Prick-louse.

Mail, subs. (Stock Exchange).—In pl. = Mexican railway shares.

To get up the mail, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To find money to defend a prisoner.

Main, subs. (gaming).—The averages of the number to be thrown at dice; at (cock-fighting) the advantage on a series of battles.—Bee (1823).

To turn on the main, verb. phr. (common).—To weep. For synonyms see Nap a bib.

1853. Bradley (Cuthbert Bede), Verdant Green, Part 3, p. 90. The Mum cut up doosid this last time; You’ve no idea how she turned on the main and did the briny.

Main-avenue, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Main-brace. To splice the main-brace, verb. phr. (nautical).—To serve an allowance of grog; hence to drink.

1834. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xv. With a bottle of rum, procured at the time they spliced the mainbrace.

1877. Harriet Martineau, Autobiography, vol. ii. Appendix p. 480. Yesterday the captain shouted, for the first time, splice the main-brace (give out grog).

Main-chance. See Chance.

Main-sheet, subs. (common).—Drink: specifically (in quot.) brandy.

1886. Grant Allen, In All Shades, ch. vii. ‘In Trinidad! Well, well, beautiful island, beautiful, beautiful! Must mind they don’t take too much mainsheet, or catch yellow Jack, or live in the marshes, that’s all.’

Main-toby, subs. (old).—The highway, or main road. See toby.

Majority. To go over to (or join) the majority (or great majority), verb. phr. (old).—To die. For synonyms see Hop the twig. [The expression ἐς πλεόνων ἱκέσθαι is found in Crinagoras (Anthol. Palat. 11, 42), and penetrare ad plures in Plautus (Trin., ii, 2, 14). A correspondent of the Illustrated London News (‘Echoes,’ Sept. 9, 1883) writes: ‘The phrase joining the majority is a free translation of the sepulchral formula, Abierunt ad multos, used by the Roman legionaries in Britain’; but in all probability the English use of the expression comes from quot. 1721].

1721. Young, Revenge, iv. 1. Life is the desert, life the solitude; Death joins us to the great majority.

1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 1, col. 3. Henry Saffrey, the Paris Leviathan, has joined the ever-increasing majority. ‘Lucky Saff’ was very popular in the French capital.

Make, subs. (old).—1. See Mag.

2. (thieves’).—See quot.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Make (A.) done, performed, produced; also a cant word for theft.

Verb. (thieves’).—1. To steal. For synonyms see Prig.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Make.... I made this knife at a heat, I stole it cleaverly.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Made.

1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple, ch. vi. Ten or twelve pounds per week! There are hundreds of London thieves, who are known and branded as such, who do not make twice as many shillings.

2. (Winchester College).—To appropriate.

1866. Mansfield, School Life, 46. In the matter of certain articles ... supplied by the College, we used to put a liberal interpretation on the eighth commandment ... and it was considered fair to make them if you could.

3. (colloquial).—To earn.

1873. Jas. Greenwood, In Strange Company. But what one in vain looked for was the ‘jolly beggar,’ the oft-quoted and steadfastly believed-in personage who scorns work because he can make in a day three times the wages of an honest mechanic by the simple process of cadging.

On the make, adv. phr. (common).—Intent on (1) booty, or (2) profit.

To make up one’s mouth, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To get one’s living.

To make horns, verb. phr. (old).—1. To reproach with cuckoldom by forking two fingers from the brows. See Horns.

2. (colloquial).—See Faces.

To make away (with oneself), verb. phr. (colloquial).—See quot. 1836.

1633. Spenser, Ireland [Ency. Dict.]. Clarence ... soon after, by sinister means, was clean made away.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 65 (ed. 1857). ‘Perhaps he may hang himself.’ ‘Very good,’ rejoined Mr. Simmery, pulling out the gold pencil-case again. ‘I’ve no objection to take you that way. Say—makes away with himself.’ ‘Kills himself in fact’ said Wilkins Flasher Esquire.

To make dainty, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To scruple.

To make nice, verb. phr. (old colloquial).—To scruple or object.

To make up, verb. phr. (theatrical and common).—1. To dress: as an actor for a part. See Make-up.

1602. Decker, Satiro-mastix in Works (1873), i. 253. Wat Terrill, th’art ill suited, ill made vp, In Sable collours, like a night piece dyed, Conn’st thou the Prologue of a Maske in blacke.

1633. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, i. 3. I would have him The bravest, richest, and the properest man A tailor could make up; or all the poets, With the perfumers.

1655. Massinger, Very Woman, i. 1. Pedro. Morrow, sister! Do I not come unseasonably? Alm. Why, good brother? Pedro. Because you are not yet fully made up, Nor fit for visitation.

1844. Puck, p. 30. Feeling convinced that lovers were my line I once tried Romeo, but was hissed; since then My young ambition, sadly I resign,—My mind and face made up for first old men.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, xxv. That lady ... had absolute need of artistic aid in the matter of making-up; face and shape and hair and attire alike requiring daily renovation.

1883. D. Cook, Nights at the Play, vol. 1. ch. xv. The actor had taken exceeding pains with the part. His face had been carefully made up, and every detail of his dress and deportment elaborately studied.

2. (common).—To get up, or invent: as a catch or ‘take in’.

To make (or take) it up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be reconciled after a quarrel.

1598. Shakspeare, Merchant of Venice, v. 4, 103. I knew when seven justices could not make up a quarrel.

To make mouths, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To jeer; to grin.

To make ends meet, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

To make hay, verb. phr. (common).—To tumble; to confuse; to disorder.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, ch. xiii. His usual holiday amusements were these—to interrupt his sister’s lessons as much as possible, and in the absence of the governess, to (as he called it) make hay in the school-room.

To make meat of, verb. phr. (American).—To kill.

1841. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 3. Poor Bill Bent! them Spaniards made meat of him.

To make a house, verb. phr. (Parliamentary).—To gather a quorum (40 members).

1864. The Spectator, p. 529. Nobody played marplot, but the division revealed the absence of a quorum, and a bill which interests all capitalists, and will before long interest every taxpayer, was interrupted by mere official carelessness as to making a house.

As good (bad, hot, drunk, etc.) as they make them, phr. (common).—As good, bad, etc. as may be.

187[?]. Broadside Ballad, ‘As good as they make ’em’ [Title].

1889. Modern Society, 12 Oct., p. 1265, col. 2. About a dozen yards in, I think you said, and the tide coming in about as fast as they make it. Ibid. p. 1267, col. 2. The couple were engaged to be married, and Miss King, who seems to be as sentimental as Americans are made, suggested that they should carry out the marriage ceremony in Greenwood Cemetery.

1889. Bird o’ Freedom, 7 Aug., p. 3. On reaching the party it was evident that one of the Frenchmen was, not to put too fine a point on it, about as drunk as they make ’em. He opened the campaign by asking us to have a drink with him. Of course, he spoke in French.

1890. G. Allen, The Tents of Shem, iii. I like them; thorough ladies, and well brought up, and as clever as they make them.

1894. George Moore, Esther Waters, xvii. You are as strong as they make ’em.

Make him swim for it, phr. (American thieves’).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Make him swim for it. Cheat him out of his share.

See also Back; bacon; Bates; beef; blue; bones; books; buttons; children’s shoes; clean breast; clean sweep; clink; crimson; ducks-and-drakes; face; feather; figure; fish; flash; fool; fun; fur; good; hair; hand; hare; hash; hay; honest woman; kiss; leg; lip; long-arm; lucky; man; meal; meat; mouth; night; pile; play; point; Queen Anne’s fan; raise; running; scarce; show; splash; split; stand; things; tracks; turkey-merchant; two come; Virginia fence; water; whack; whole cloth; woman; etc. etc.

Makepeace, subs. (old).—See quot. For synonyms see Toko.

1657. Cole, Adam in Eden. It [the birch] is useful for the punishment of children, both at home and at school, for it hath an admirable influence on them when they are out of order, and therefore some call it makepeace.

Maker, subs. (American).—A tailor; a pricklouse (q.v.). For synonyms see Snip. Span. picapiojos.

1833. Neal, Down Easters, v. 63. ‘Who’s your maker?’ ‘My maker!—Oh! I understand you, my tailor you mean?’ ‘Yes—who made your coat?’

Makeshift, subs. (old).—A thief. For synonyms see Thieves.

1584. A Mirour for Magistrates of Cyties, fol. 33 (back). London is sore charged with these makeshiftes.

Makesures, subs. (potmen’s).—Petty pilferings; fluff (q.v.); cabbage (q.v.). Fr. la gratte.

Make-up, subs. (theatrical).—1. The arrangement of an actor’s face and dress. See to make up, sense 1. Make-up box = a box of materials—rouge, sponges, grease-paint, and the like—used in making-up.

1870. Figaro, 25 Nov. ‘A Dream of the Kow.’ An elderly gentleman—who is seventy if he is a day, but wishes to pass himself off for—let us be charitable and say—half his real age. Certainly, his make-up is wonderfully good.

1876. G. Eliot, Daniel Deronda, iii. The sort of professional make-up which penetrates skin, tones, and gestures, and defies all drapery.

1879. Dickens, Dict. of London, s.v. ‘Private Theatricals’. For wigs and make-up the amateur may depend upon Mr. Clarkson, of Wellington-street.

1882. Daily Telegraph, 22 Feb. ‘The success of the idea was prejudiced by the make-up, for though there was hideousness in the eyes, the lower part of the face of the new Caliban was anything but unprepossessing.’

1883. G. A. Sala, Echoes of the Year, 362. Her make-up was so terrifically weird and ghastly.

1889. Academy, 6 July, p. 14. Mr. Somerset, who makes up badly for the part of the father, unless it is, as it may be, very clever to suggest by make-up, a character wholly artificial etc.

1889. Globe, 11 Feb. The arrangement of paunch and limb and the make-up of the face are perfect.

1891. Sporting Life, 25 Mar. No more a type than those two comedians at the Opera Comique are—thanks to the make-up and the words they speak and warble.

2. (common).—A piece of deception; a barney (q.v.); gammon (q.v.); humbug (q.v.); a take-in (q.v.).

Make-weight, subs. (old).—1. A small candle.—Grose (1785).

2. (old).—A short slender man.—Grose (1785).

Makings, subs. (colloquial).—1. Material for anything.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxvii. 324. He seemed to have the makings of a very nice fellow about him.

1858. Frazer’s Mag., Aug., 220. Men who have in them the makings of better preachers.

1876. G. Eliot, D. Deronda, Bk. ii. ch. xvi. ‘You’ve not the makings of a Porson in you, or a Leibnitz either.’

1885. World, 1 April, p. 18, col. 2. If I mistake not, he has the makings of a first-class steeplechaser about him.

2. (common).—(1) Profits; (2) earnings. Fr. le jus.

1892. Cassell’s Saturday Jl., 21 Sept., p. 13, col. 3. Of course my makings varied considerably, and to some extent depended on the success of my particular patrons at batting in the college matches.

Malady of France, subs. phr. (old).—Syphilis. For synonyms see Ladies’ Fever.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V, v. 1. 87. News have I that my Nell is dead i’ th’ spital Of Malady of France.

Malinger, verb. (old: now recognised).—To sham illness; to shirk duty.

1890. Century Dict., s.v. Malinger ... from F. malingrer, a slang word meaning ‘suffer’ ... formerly applied to beggars who feigned to be sick or injured in order to excite compassion.

1895. Pall Mall Gaz., No. 9542, p. 1. ‘Administering Angels.’ The answer is comparatively simple: because the Shadow understands English politics, and thought to gain by malingering.

Malingerer, subs. (old: now recognised).—A shirker under pretence of sickness.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Malingeror. A military term for one who, under pretence of sickness, evades his duty.

Malkin (Maukin or Mawkin), subs. (old).—1. Originally (Johnson) a kitchen-wench (Moll for Mary + kin). Hence, a dish-clout; a scarecrow; a wisp: and so, a slattern.

1579. Gosson, Schoole of Abuse, p. 37 (Arber). There are more houses then Parishe Churches, more maydes then maulkin, more wayes to the woode than one.

1596. Nashe, Have With You etc. [Grosart, iii. 169]. He makes a maulkin and a shoo-clout of her.

1606. Dekker, Newes from Hell [Grosart, ii. 130]. Filthyer than a Baker’s mawkin that hee sweeps his ouen with.

1610. Shakspeare, Coriol., ii. 1. The kitchen malkin pins Her richest lockram round her reechy neck.

1629. Davenant, Albovine, iv. ’Las poor maulkin! she’s caught.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Malkin or maukin, a Scare-crow, Drest and Set up to fright the birds.... Hence malkin-trash, for one in a rueful Dress, enough to fright one. There are more Maids than malkins. Mawks, the same abbreviated. Mawkish, a Wallowish, ill Tast.

1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, iii. 2. Thou maukin, made up of the shreds and parings of his superfluous fopperies.

1728. Swift, Ballyspellin (Answer), [Chalmers, English Poets, xi. 525]. Your mawkins there smocks hempen wear. Of holland not an ell in.

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

1847–50. Tennyson, Princess, v. 25. Or a draggled mawkin, thou.

1872. Gardener’s Chronicle, 22 Nov. Our old friend of the hat and coat all stuffed with straw (in some districts called a mawkin) is in nine cases out of ten useless.

2. (Scots’).—A hare; also (old) a cat.

1787. Burns, Tam Samson’s Elegy. Ye maukins, cock your fuds fu’ braw.

3. (Scots’).—The female pudendum: i.e., pussie (q.v.). Also rouch-mawkin.

1540. Lyndsay, Thrie Estaitis, line 1924. And ye Ladies, that list to pisch, Lift up your taill plat in ane disch; And gif that your mawkine cryis quhisch, Stap in ane wusp of strae.

Malkin-trash, subs. (old).—See quot.

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

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Malkin-trash. One in dismal garb.

Malmsey-nose, subs. (old).—See quot. Cf. Grog-blossom.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Malmsey-nose. A red-pimpled snout, rich in carbuncles and rubies.

Malt, verb. (common).—To drink beer.

1828–45. T. Hood, Poems, i. p. 148 (ed. 1846). She drank nothing lower than Curaçoa, Maraschino, or pink Noyau, And on principle never malted.

1835. Marryat, Jacob Faithful, xxii. Well, for my part I malt.

To have the malt above the wheat (water, or meal), verb. phr. (Scots’ colloquial).—To be drunk. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 63]. ‘Proverbial Periphrases of one Drunk’, The malt is above the water.

1816. Scott, Old Mortality, iv. Aweel,—when the malt begins to get aboon the meal ... then Jenny, they’re like to quarrel.

Maltooling, subs. (thieves’).—See quot. Cf. Molltooler.

1862. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. & Lon. Poor, iv. 324. Which she does by shoplifting, and picking pockets in omnibuses, the latter being termed maltooling.

Maltout, subs. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Maltout, a nickname ... used by soldiers and sailors of other corps, probably a corruption of matelot ... a sailor.

Malt-worm (-bug or -horse), subs. (old).—A tippler; a lushington (q.v.).

1551. Still, Gammer Gurton’s Needle [Dodsley, Old Plays, ii. 21]. Then doth she trowle to me the bowle, Even as a mault-worme shold.

1586. Harrison, England, p. 202. It is incredible to say how our malt-bugs lug at this liquor.

1591. Nashe, Prognostication [Grosart, ii. 147]. If violent death take not away such consuming mault worms.

1593. Shakspeare, Comedy of Errors, iii. 1. 32. Malt-horse.... Coxcomb, idiot!

1593. Life & Death of Jack Straw [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), v. 403]. You shall purchase the prayers of all the alewives in town, for saving a malt-worm and a customer.

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 1. None of these mad, mustachio, purple-hued malt-worms.

1889. Austin Dobson, Poems on Several Occasions, II. 209. ‘The malt-worm’s Madrigal.’ [Title].

Mammet, subs. (old).—A puling girl.

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo & Juliet, iii. 5. And then to have a wretched puling fool, A whining mammet, in her fortunes tender, To answer I’ll not wed—I cannot love.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, v. 5. ’Slight! you are a mammet! O I could touse you now.

Mammy, subs. (colloquial).—1. Mother: an endearment.

1560. Nice Wanton [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 180]. Cards, dice, kiss, clip, and so forth; All this our mammy would take in good worth.

d. 1796. Burns, There Was a Lass. An’ aye she wrought her mammie’s wark, An’ aye she sang sae merrilie.

2. (obsolete American).—A negro nurse; maumer.

Man, subs. (once literary: now vulgar).—1. A husband; a lover: generally ‘my man’.

c. 1369. Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 447. I wol nat ben untrewe for no wight, But as hire man I wol ay lyve and sterve, And nevere noon other creature serve.

d. 1437. James I (of Scotland), King’s Quhair, ii. 44. Quhen sall your merci rew upon your man, Quhois seruice is yet uncouth to yow?

d. 1719. Addison, The Ladies’ Association. In the next place, every wife ought to answer for her man.

1788. R. Galloway, Poems, p. 124. ’Twas thus he left his royal plan, If Mar’gret cou’d but want a man; But this is more than Mar’gret can.

2. (common).—The ‘head’ or obverse of a coin used in tossing: cf. Woman.

1828. Bee, Living Picture of London, 241. The person calling for man or ‘woman’.

3. (old university).—See quot.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Man (Cambridge). Any undergraduate from fifteen to thirty. As, a man of Emanuel—a young member of Emanuel.

Verb. (venery).—To possess a woman. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

Dead man, subs. phr. (old).—A supernumerary.

1659–60. Pepys, Diary, 8 Mar. Philip Holland ... told me to have five or six servants entered on board as dead men, and I to give them what wages I pleased, and so their pay to be mine.

Man alive! phr. (common).—A mode of salutation. Used in remonstrance or surprise.

Man of many morns, subs. phr. (Scots’).—A procrastinator.

Man of the world, subs. phr. (old: now colloquial).—See quot.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Man of the world. A knowing man.

Man-Friday, subs. (common).—A factotum. [From the character in Robinson Crusoe].

Man-a-hanging, subs. (old).—A man in difficulties.

The man in the moon, subs. phr. (political).—1. A mythical personage who finds money for electioneering, and for such electors as vote straight.

1866. Totness Election Petition, ‘Evidence of Mr. Rob. Harris.’ I have had to deal with unknown gentlemen at Totnes before. A man in the moon is the natural consequence of a Totnes election.

1881. Contemporary Review, xxxix. 869. My labourers were paid in a public-house in the town by a man from behind a screen, who was invisible; after the fashion of the man in the moon, who pays bribes at elections.

1884. Graphic, 9 August, p. 123, col. 1. What would Mr. Schnadhorst and the Six Hundred say if they were deprived of their favourite occupation because a few weak-kneed fellow-townsmen had been caught pocketing the guineas of some man in the moon.

1889. Daily Telegraph, 25 Nov. Formerly bribery and corruption were personal. On or before the election day a mysterious stranger descended on the town, and took up his abode in a retired chamber of a private inn. The word was sent round, and there repaired to his presence quietly, and one by one, those undecided electors who were reported to have an itching palm. In many boroughs this stranger was called The man in the moon, perhaps on account of the ‘silver lining’ to the voters’ pockets which resulted from his hidden rays.

2. (old).—A dolt. For synonyms see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1621–3. Archbp. Laud, Sermons, p. 17 (ed. 1847). ‘And all the Kings of the gentiles shall do homage to their King.’ Good God, what a fine people have we here? Men in the moon.

If my aunt had been my uncle she’d have been a man (or had a pair of balls under her arse), phr. (old).—Said in derision of a ridiculous surmise:—‘If wishes were horses, beggars would ride;’ ‘If pigs had wings, what lovely birds they’d make!’

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 167], s.v.

He’ll be a man before his mother. See Mother.

To go out and see a man, verb. phr. (common).—To drink: an excuse for a glass.

The man in the street, phr. (common).—Everybody.

1868. Whyte Melville, White Rose, ch. xlvii. The moment the door closed, Burton’s face assumed an expression of deep and friendly concern. ‘Jerry,’ said he, ‘I didn’t come here at early dawn only to tell you what the man in the street says.’

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 6 Nov., p. 1, col. 3. The Swaziland question, which has been smouldering in Government offices and between the covers of Blue-books for the last twelve years, has reached the flaming point when the man in the street begins to turn round and look and wonder what is the matter in Swaziland.

1892. National Observer, 20 Aug., p. 355, c. 1. He tells you little or nothing that is not familiar to the man in the street.

To get behind a man, verb. phr. (common).—To endorse a bill.

The fruit that made man wise, phr. (old).—Copulation.

1605. Marston, Insatiate Countess, iii. I’ll lead the way to Venus’s paradise, Where thou shalt taste that fruit that made man wise.

Old man, subs. phr. (common).—An employer; a chief; the governor (q.v.); the father of a family. Also, a husband.

1847. Howitt, Journal, p. 187. To begin with the captain. He was a first-rate old man as far as good treatment and good living went.

The sick man, subs. phr. (literary).—Turkey.

Man about town, subs. phr. (colloquial).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Man o’ th’ town, a Lew’d Spark, or very Debaushe.

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

Man of Kent, subs. phr. (common).—See quot. 1787.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary etc. (1811), p. 72. All the inhabitants of Kent, east of the river Medway, are called Men of Kent, from the story of their having retained their ancient privileges, particularly those of gavel-kind, by meeting William the Conqueror at Swanscomb-bottom; each man, besides his arms, carrying a green bough in his hand; by this contrivance concealing their number under the appearance of a moving wood. The rest of the inhabitants of the county are stiled Kentish-men.

1861. Cuthbert Bede, Our New Rector, ch. x. p. 104. ‘And the Men of Kent, you know, were never conquered!—ar’n’t we just proud of that!’

A man or a mouse, phr. (old).—Something or nothing (Florio); one or the other.

1541. Schole House of Women [Hazlitt, Early Pop. Poetry (1866), iv. 111]. Fear not, she saith unto her spouse, A man or a mouse whether ye be.

Nine tailors make a man. See Ninth.

The little man in the boat, subs. phr. (venery).—The clitoris. See Button.

Manablins, subs. (old).—Broken victuals. Fr. arlequin, and le bijou. Also manavilins.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xxii. No end of manavilins either.

Manarvel, verb. (nautical).—To pilfer small stores.

Man-box, subs. (old).—A coffin.

1820. Reynolds (‘Peter Corcoran’), The Fancy, ‘King Tims the First.’ Mr. Munster Hatband, when shall I have a long man-box bespoke?

Manchester, subs. (common).—The tongue. For synonyms see Prating-cheat.

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v.

1820. London Magazine, i. 26. Bidding her hold her Manchester.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v.

Manchester-silk, subs. (common).—Cotton.

Manchester sovereign, subs. phr. (common).—A shilling. For synonyms see Bob.

Manchet. See Brewer’s-basket.

Man-chovey. See Chovey.

Mander, subs. (thieves’).—See quot.

1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple, ch. xvi. A couple of manders (the slang phrase amongst this callow brood of young gaol-birds for ‘remands’).

Mandozy, subs. (old).—1. A telling hit; and (2) term of endearment among East-end Jews. [Both from the fighter, Mendoza].

Mang, verb. (Scots’).—To talk; to brag; to boast.

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, ‘Glossary’, p. 172. Mang, to boast; to talk of.

Manger. See Dog.

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

Manhandle, verb. (common).—To maltreat; to handle roughly; to thrash. For synonyms see Tan.

1886. Century, xxxi. 905. In two minutes they were so mauled and manhandled that it was reported aft.

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

Man-in-black, subs. phr. (old).—A parson. For synonyms see Devil-dodger and Sky-pilot.

1691–2. Gentlemen’s Journal, May, p. 5. The man in black makes ... one of two in less than half an hour.

Man-in-blue, subs. phr. (old).—A policeman. For synonyms see Beak.

Manners. After you is manners, phr. (old).—A jocular implication of inferiority.

1659. Brome, Queen & Concubine [1873], p. 61. Cur. Wilt thou be a scholar? Andr. After you is manners.

Mannish, adj. (old).—Amorous.

1383. Chaucer, Merchant’s Tale, i. 292. A childstere or wastour of thy good, Or riche or poore, or elles mannysh wood.

Manoeuvre. See Apostle.

Man-of-straw. See Straw.

Man (or lad) of wax, subs. phr. (old).—A sharp, clever fellow; a model man.

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo & Juliet, i. 3. Why, he’s a man of wax.... Nay, he’s a flower, i’ faith, a very flower.

1612. Field, Woman is a Weathercock [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), xi. 19]. By Jove! it is a little man of wax.

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii. 3. A glass of good max, had they twigg’d it, Would have made them, like us, lads of wax.

Man-root, subs. (venery).—The penis [Whitman]. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick.

Man’s meat. See Meat.

Man-Thomas, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick.

Man-trap, subs. (common).—1. A widow; house to let (q.v.).

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, iii. Y. M. There’s Mrs. Man-trap.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

2. (old).—A lump of excrement; a quaker (q.v.).

3. (venery).—See quot. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Mantrap. A woman’s commodity.

Manual-compliment (or subscription), subs. (colloquial).—A blow; a sign-manual (q.v.).

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, xvi. 2. These he accompanied with some manual remonstrances, which no sooner reached the ears of Mr. Western than that worthy squire began to caper very briskly about the room.

Manufacture, subs. (old).—See quot.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Manufacture. Liquors prepared from materials of English growth.

Map, subs. (printers’).—A dirty proof.

Marble (or Marvel), verb. (American).—To move off; to absquatulate (q.v.).

Marble-arch, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Marbles, subs. (common).—1. Furniture; moveables. Money and marbles = cash and effects. [From Fr. meubles]. Hence, any substantial quid pro quo.

English synonyms. Belongings; household gods; lares and penates; moveables; sticks; sprats; slows; traps.

French synonyms. Le bahut (popular = large dresser); le bazar (prostitutes’); du fourbi (popular).

1867. A. Trollope, Claverings, ch. xxx. And you may be sure of this, she won’t get any money from me, unless I get the marbles for it.

2. (old).—Syphilis; French gout (q.v.).

1592. R. Greene, Theeves Falling Out [Harl. Misc., viii. 392]. Look into the spittle and hospitalls, there you shall see men diseased of the French marbles, giving instruction to others.

1592. Greene, Quip for Upstart Courtier [Harl. Misc., vi. 406]. Neither do I frequent whore-houses to catch the marbles, and so grow your patient.

3. (venery).—The testes. For synonyms see Cods.

March. See Dirty-shirt march.

Marching-regiment, subs. (military).—An infantry regiment of the line: in disparagement.

Marchioness, subs. (common).—A slatternly maid-of-all-work; a slavey (q.v.). [From the character in The Old Curiosity Shop, by C. Dickens].

1883. G. A. Sala, in Ill. L. News, 24 Nov., p. 499, col. 1. I light upon the London papers, containing alarming statements about a little bit of a maid-of-all-work.... This marchioness down in Shrewsbury Vale has, it would appear, been the object of the most astounding ‘manifestations.’

1885. J. S. Winter, Bootles’ Baby, ch. ii. p. 36. To develop into the unnaturally widened and unkempt hand of a marchioness.

Mare, subs. (common).—A woman; a wife. The grey mare is the better horse = the wife rules the husband.

To win the mare or lose the halter, verb. phr. (old).—To play double or quits.

Money makes the mare go, phr. (common).—Money does anything you will.

1605. Breton, An Old Man’s Lesson [Grosart, ii. l, 7, 2, line 32]. Money is a matter of more moment than you make account of; why money makes the medicine for the sick, pleads the client’s cause, maintains the merchant’s trade, makes the soldier fight, and the craftsman work, and the traveller tread lightly, and the old mare trot, and the young tit amble.

1662. Rump Songs, i. 232. ‘The Power of Money.’ Furr’d Aldermen too, and Mayors also; This makes the old wife trot, and makes the mare to go.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v. Money.

1857. Kingsley, Two Year’s Ago, Introd. I’m making the mare go here in Whitford, without the money too, sometimes.

1886. Grego, Parl. Elections, 9. The proverb still remains, a relic of the days in which it had its origin, ‘Money makes the mayor to go.’

Shanks’s mare. See Shanks.

To go before the mare to market, verb. phr. (old).—To do preposterous things.—Ray (1767).

Mare’s-nest, subs. (common).—A supposed discovery; a hoax; a delusion. Also to find a mare’s nest and laugh at the eggs.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Bonduca, v. 2. Why dost thou laugh? What mare’s nest hast thou found?

1764. O’Hare, Midas, i. 3. Heyday! What mare’s nest’s found?

1767. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 56], s.v.

1785 and 1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (1st and 3rd eds.), s.v. Mare’s nest. He has found a mare’s nest, and is laughing at the eggs; said of one who laughs without any apparent cause.

1859. Lever, Davenport Dunn, i. 206. He’s always mare’s nesting.

1861. Cornhill Magazine, iv. 105. ‘A Cumberland mare’s nest.’ In short you Lorton wiseacres, on coming to examine it, Have found a regular mare’s nest, and ’stead of eggs, a lamb in it.

1864. The Spectator, p. 355. It would not do for Englishmen to be ticketted as Englishmen all over the Continent, for they are recognised easily enough by that dialect of French which Mr. Kinglake once called Continental English—he has exchanged mots since then for mare’s nests.

1870. Lowell, Among my Books, 1st Ser., p. 292. It [the average German mind] finds its keenest pleasure in divining a profound significance in the most trifling things, and the number of mare’s nests that have been stared into ... passes calculation.

1873. Notes and Queries, 4 S. xii. 136. Each, in his endeavour to correct me, actually justifies my doubt, and their united criticisms prove that the stumbling-block which I have found, be it what it may, is not a mare’s nest.

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xlvii. ‘Dr. Bilde and the rest discovered something wrong and hoped for the worst, whereas they’ve only found a mare’s nest,’

The mare with three legs, subs. phr. (old).—The gallows; the triple tree (q.v.).

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, ‘The game of High toby.’ For the mare with three legs, boys, I care not a rap.

Mare’s-tails, subs. (nautical).—Feather-like clouds indicative of wind.

Margery-prater, subs. (Old Cant).—See quot.; a cackling cheat (q.v.).

1573. Harman, Caveat (Repr. 1814), p. 65. A margeri prater, a hen.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight, in Wks. (Grosart), iii. 201. Margery prater, a Henne.

1652. R. Brome, A Jovial Crew. Here’s grunter and bleater, with tib-of-the-buttry, And margery prater all dress’d without slutt’ry.

1665. R. Head, English Rogue, Pt. 1. ch. v. p. 50 (1874), s.v.

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

1712. T. Shirley, Triumph of Wit, ‘The Maunder’s Praise of His Strowling Mort.’ When the Lightman up does call, margery prater from her nest.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

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

Maria. See Black Maria.

Marigold (or Marygold), subs. (common).—1. One million sterling.

2. (old).—A gold coin. [From the color].

1663. Cowley, Cutter of Coleman St. I’l write it an’you will, in shorthand, to dispatch immediately, and presently go put five hundred marigolds in a purse for you.

Marinated, adj. (obsolete).—Transported over sea.—Grose (1785).

Marine (or Dead marine), subs. (common).—1. See quot. 1864; a camp-candlestick (q.v.). Also (Grose) marine officer.

1864. Mark Lemon, Jest Book, p. 161. William IV seemed in a momentary dilemma one day, when, at table with several officers, he ordered one of the waiters to ‘take away that marine there,’ pointing to an empty bottle. ‘Your majesty!’ inquired a colonel of marines, ‘do you compare an empty bottle to a member of our branch of the service?’ ‘Yes,’ replied the monarch, as if a sudden thought had struck him; ‘I mean to say it has done its duty once, and is ready to do it again.’

1865. G. F. Berkeley, My Life etc., ii. 302. It was just as he said; our host did wake, but seeing a bottle with wine in it, closed his eyes, and Loraine soon made another marine.

2. (nautical).—See quot.

1840. R. H. Dana, Two Years before the Mast, ch. xvii. Marine is the term applied more particularly to a man who is ignorant and clumsy about seaman’s work—a green-horn—a land-lubber.

Tell that to the marines. See Horse marines, and add following quots.

1830. W. T. Moncrieff, ‘Old Booty,’ A Sailors Tale, p. 31. ‘So luff there with your death-bed scenes And tell that tale to the marines; Those lubbers may perhaps receive it, But sailors never will believe it.’

1836. M. Scott, Cringle’s Log, ch. vii. I told them who I was, and that curiosity alone brought me there. ‘Gammon, tell that to the marines; you’re a spy.’

1846. Punch, v. p. 3. A New National Drama. Admiral. But I’ve bad news for you, my boy. The Admiralty has forbidden smoking on board ... except in the galley. Tom. Tell that to the marines. What! your Honour, forbid a sailor his pipe!

Mark, subs. (colloquial).—1. A preference; a fancy.

1760. Foote, Minor, ii. Did I not tell you old Moll was your mark? Here she has brought a pretty piece of man’s meat already.

1887. Henley, Culture In The Slums. My mark’s a tidy little feed, And ’Enery Irving’s gallery.

1883. Miss Braddon, Golden Calf, ch. xxv. Vernon was what Rogers the butler called a mark on strawberries and cream.

2. (thieves’).—A person; a pig (q.v.); a raw (q.v.). Old mark = a lady.

3. (common).—See quot.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Mark—(ring). The pit of the stomach is termed the mark, and ‘Broughton’s mark.’ It was Bill Warr’s favourite hit; also, had been Dick Humphries’s.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

4. See Mark of the beast.

5. (thieves’).—A victim.

1885. Pall Mall Gaz., 6 July. The girl, a likely mark, was a simple country lass.

6. (American).—A street-walker.

Verb. (thieves’).—To watch; to pick out a victim. See Marking, sense 2.

To toe the mark. See Toe.

The mark of the beast, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. Also Mark. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

1719. Durfey, Pills etc., iv. 116. Now all my Friends are laid in grave, And nothing they have left me But a mark a Year my mother gave, By which for to protect me. Yet I live.... As brave as any Lady, And all is with a mark a year, The which my mother gave me.

To mark up, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To know all about (cf. verb.) persons.

Mark of mouth, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The tale told by the teeth. (Originally horse-copers’). Cf. the proverb:—‘You mustn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.’

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, viii. From a distant corner two ancient virgins, long past mark of mouth.

Marker, subs. (Cambridge University).—A person employed to walk up and down chapel during a part of the service, pricking off the names of the students present.

1849. Blackwood’s Mag., May. His name, pricked off upon the marker’s roll, No twinge of conscience racks his easy soul.

Market, subs. (racing).—The betting ring.

To drive pigs to market. See Pigs.

Market-dame, subs. (old).—A strumpet. For synonyms see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1705–7. E. Ward, Hudibras Rediv., II. ii. (1715), 25. Punks, Strolers, market dames, and Bunters.

Marketeer, subs. (racing).—A betting man who devotes himself, by means of special information, to the study of favourites and their diseases: the principal agent in all milking (q.v.) and knocking-out (q.v.) transactions.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, 116. The marketeer started a few rods with him.

Market-fever. See Pencil-fever.

Market-horse, subs. (racing).—A horse kept on the lists for the sake of the betting.

Market-place, subs. (provincial).—The front teeth.

Marking, subs. (thieves’).—1. A watcher; a stall (q.v.).—Matsell.

2. (thieves’).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Marking. Observing; taking notice.

Marley-slopper, subs. (street).—See quot.

1887. Walford’s Antiquarian, 252. A marley-slopper is a splay-footed person. Marley is a corruption of marble.... In playing it is common for a boy to put his heels together, and turn out his toes ... to stop an eccentric marble.

Marmalade. True marmalade, subs. phr. (common).—A variant of ‘real jam’ (q.v.).

Marmozet, subs. (old).—An endearment; also in jocular contempt, as monkey (q.v.).

1607. Puritan, i. 3. Why, do’t now then, marmozet.

Marm-puss, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A wife.

Maroon, verb. (nautical).—See quot. Hence, Maroon, subs. = a man marooned.

1862. Mayne Reid, The Maroon [Title].

1892. Leisure Hour, Jan., p. 172. Stealing was punished with great severity, generally by marooning—i.e. abandonment on a desert isle, with a little powder and shot and a flask of water.

Marplot, subs. (old; now recognised).—An officious bungler; a spoil-sport (q.v.). [From a character in The Busybody; see quot. 1709].

1709. Centlivre, Busybody, iii. 5. That unlucky dog Marplot ... is ever doing mischief, and yet (to give him his due) he never designs it. This is some blundering adventure, wherein he thought to show his friendship, as he calls it.

1764. A. Murphy, No One’s Enemy but his Own, i. You are the very sieve of your own intentions; the marplot of your own designs.

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

1844. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, ch. ii. p. 32. ‘You great blundering marplot—you silly beggarly brat ... hold your tongue!’

1848. Emerson, Spiritual Laws, ‘Essays,’ 1 S. p. 125. If we will not be marplots with our miserable interferences, the work ... would go on far better than now.

Marquis of Granby, subs. (common).—A bald-head; a bladder of lard.

Marquis of Marrowbones. See Marrowbone.

Marriage-music, subs. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Marriage-music, Children’s Cries.

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

Married, adj. (old).—Chained or handcuffed together.—Grose (1785).

Married on the carpet and the banns up the chimney, phr. (common).—Living as man and wife; tally (q.v.).

Married man’s cotillion, subs. phr. (venery).—Copulation. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

Marrow, subs. (old).—1. A partner; an equal. Specifically (Old Scots’) a lover or spouse. Amongst colliers = mate (q.v.).

1513. Gavin Douglas, Virgil, 183, 3. The tyme complete was for thare jornay grant: Bot sone him warnis Sibylla the sant, His trew marrow, gan schortly to him say.

1538. Lyndsay, Complaynt to the King [Laing i. 54, 307]. For every lord, as he thocht best, Brocht in ane bird to fyll the nest; To be ane wacheman to his marrow.

1578. Whetstone, I Prom. & Cassand, ii. 4. Birds of a fether, best flye together; Then like partners about your market goe; Marrowes adew: God send you fayre wether.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 57, st. 40, p. 134 (E. D. S.). Yet chopping and changing I cannot commend, With theefe and his marrow, for feare of ill end.

1621. Ben Jonson, Metam. Gipsies. Oh, my dear marrows! No shooting of arrows Or shafts of your wit, Each other to hit.

1630. Drayton, Muses’ Elys. Nym., ii. 1459. Cleon, your doves are very dainty, Tame pigeons else are very plenty. These may win some of your marrows, I am not caught with doves and sparrows.

1677. Coles, Eng.-Lat. Dict. The gloves are not marrows; chirotheæ non sunt pares.

1728. Lindsay of Pitscottie, Hist. of Scotland, p. 78. This Cochran was so proud in his conceit, that he counted no Lords to be marrows to him.

1778. Grose, Prov. Glossary, s.v. Marrow, a fellow, or companion. Exm. This pair of gloves or shoes are not marrows, i.e. are not fellows. N.

1818. Scott, Rob. Roy, xxxv. He saw that he wasna to get Die Vernon for his marrow.

1822. Nares, Glossary, s.v. Marrow. The word is often used for things of the same kind, and (sic) of which there are two; as of shoes, gloves, stockings: also eyes, hands, feet, &c. Either from the French camerade, Angl. camrad (i.e., comrade), socius, sodalis, by an aphæresis; or from the French mari, Latin maritus in which sense the word is also taken. Thus Scot, a husband or wife is called half marrow, and such birds as keep chaste to one another are called marrows.

1852. Lloyd’s Paper, 31 Oct. ‘Northumberland’. Afraid to face the angry frowns of their grieving marrows, they determined, like desperate men, to stay where they were. Great was the consternation and mourning at Hylton, and, bent on knowing the worst, the forsaken wives set forth on a voyage in search of the lost husbands.

2. (venery).—The semen. For synonyms see Spendings, and cf. Marrowbone, subs. sense 2.

1598. All’s Well etc., ii. 3, 298. Spending his manly marrow in her arms.

Marrowbone, subs. (old).—1. In pl. = the knees. Ital. devoti = worshippers.

a. 1553. N. Udall, Roister Doister, I. iv. p. 29 (Arber). Couche on your marrybones whooresons, down to the ground.

1567. Thos. Drant, Horace his Epistles, fo E iiij. Ep. 12. ‘To Iccius’ Phraates tooke his mace Kneeling upon his marribones, to Cesar’s aufull grace.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller [Grosart, v. 23]. My welbeloued Baron of double beere got him humbly on his marybones to the King.

1603. Dekker, Wonderful Yeare [Grosart, i. 141]. At these speeches my tender-hearted hoste, fell downe on his maribones, meaning indeede to entreate his audience to bee good to him.

1665. Homer à la Mode [Nares]. Some more devout clownes, partly guessing When he’s almost come to the blessing, Prepare their staves, and rise at once, Say’ng Amen, off their mary-bones.

1667. Dryden, Sir Martin Markall, ii. Down on your marrow-bones, and confess the truth.

1672. C. Cotton, Scarronides, Bk. i. p. 36 (ed. 1725). Upon a Stool set for the nonce, She went to rest her marrow-bones.

1700. Dryden, Wife of Bath Her Tale, l. 192. On her majestic mary-bones she kneeled.

1714. Spectator, 5 Nov. The mob drank the kings health on their marrow-bones.

1721. N. Amherst, Terræ Filius, p. 33. The [Oxford] scholars, in most of their disputes and quarrels with the townsmen or aliens, usually came off the best at last, and brought their adversaries down upon their marrowbones to them.

1760. George Colman, Polly Honeycombe, i. 3. I’ll carry her off to-day, if possible, clap up a marriage at once, and then down upon our marrow-bones, and ask pardon and blessing of papa and mama.

1777. Isaac Jackman, All the World’s a Stage, i. 2. When I come down, you are all to fall upon your marrow-bones.

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

1840. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Merchant of Venice). So down on your marrowbones, Jew, and ask mercy! Defendant and Plaintiff are now wisy wersy.

1869. Thackeray, The White Squall. And they call in their emergence Upon countless saints and virgins; And their marrowbones are bended And they think the world is ended.

2. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick. Also marrowbone-and-cleaver.

Marquess of marrowbones, subs. phr. (old).—A lackey.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart, ii. 33]. Poor scullians, that, from turning spit in the chimney corner, are on the sodaine hoisted vp from the Kitchin into the waiting chamber, or made Barons of the beanes, and marquesses of the mary-boanes.

Marrowbones and cleavers, subs. phr. (common).—Butcher’s music to new-married couples: formerly there was a regular peal in every parish.

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

1789. G. Parker, Life’s Painter, ‘The Happy Pair.’ Ye butchers bring your cleavers too, Likewise your marrow-bones.

1844. J. B. Buckstone, The Maid with the Milking Pail. Of course; all in honour, church, parson, marrow-bones and cleavers, and all that! Now, as I’m a man o’ my word, I ask your hand in mattermony.

Marrowbone- (or Marylebone) stage (or coach). To ride in (or go by) the marrowbone-stage, verb. phr. (common).—To go on foot. See Bayard of ten toes and Shanks’s mare.

Marrow-pudding, subs. (venery).—The penis. Hence, a belly-full of marrow-pudding = the condition of pregnancy.

Marrowskying, subs. (general).—At the London University they had a way of disguising English (described by Albert Smith, in Mr. Ledbury, 1848, as the ‘Gower-street dialect’), which consisted in transposing the initials of words: as ‘poke a smipe’ = smoke a pipe; ‘flutter-by’ = butterfly; ‘stint of pout’ = pint of stout; etc. This is often termed Marrowskying. See Medical (or Hospital) Greek.

1883. Sala, Living London, p. 491. On the whole, the Kaukneigh Awlminek seems to consist in pretty equal proportions of the vocabulary of Tim Bobbin, Josh Billings, Joe Scoap, the ‘Fonetik Nuz’, and the marrowsky language.

Marshall, subs. (obsolete).—A five pound Bank of England note: cf. Abraham Newland.

c. 1870. Newspaper Cutting. To the Yankee I’m partial, and those who see far shall, Impounding each Marshall, so smooth and so crisp.

Martext, subs. (common).—A clergyman: specifically a blundering or ignorant preacher. For synonyms see Sky-pilot.

1600. Shakspeare, As You Like It, iii. 3, 43. I have been with Sir Oliver Martext, the vicar of the next parish. Idem v. 1. 5. A most vile martext.

1663. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), xiv. 385]. Adieu, heir-apparent to Sir Oliver Martext.

Martin, subs. (old).—1. See quot.

1612. Rowlands, Hist. of Rogues [Century]. I have heard and partly know a highway lawyer rob a man in the morning, and hath dined with the martin or honest man so robbed the same day.

2. (tramps’).—A boot.

1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, 55. A pair of turtles on his martins finished him.

3. See St. Martin.

Martin-drunk, adj. (old).—See quot. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [Grosart, ii. 82]. The sixt is martin drunke, when a man is drunk, and drinkes himselfe sober ere he stirre.

Martinet, subs. (old: now recognised).—See quot.

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

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. A military term for a strict disciplinarian: from the name of a French general, famous for restoring military discipline to the French army. He first disciplined the French infantry, and regulated their method of encampment; he was killed at the siege of Doesbourg in the year 1672.

Martingale, subs. (gaming).—Doubling a stake at every loss. [From the fact that, as in all fair games, a player must win once, there is a safe hold of fortune. The difficulty is to command a big enough bank, or, having the bank, to find some one to follow in a fair game].

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Martingale—at play, to double stakes constantly, until luck taking one turn only, repays the adventurer all.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, xxviii. You have not played as yet? Do not do so; above all, avoid a martingale if you do.

1874. Mortimer Collins, Frances, ix. ‘This is my cousin, Dick Wyldote. You ought to know him. He’s got an infallible martingale—breaks the bank everywhere.’

1887. Science, x. 44. The fallacy of those who devise sure methods of defeating the bank (martingales as they are termed), etc.

Martin’s-hammer. Martin’s-hammer knocking at the wicket, subs. phr. (old).—Twins.

Marvel, verb. (American).—To walk; to be off: e.g. ‘He marvelled for home.’ Also marble (q.v.).

Mary! intj. (printers’).—No score or love in jeff-ing (q.v.) with quads.

To tie with St. Mary’s knot, verb. phr. (Scots’).—To hamstring.

1784. Poetical Museum, ‘Dick o’ the Cow,’ p. 27. Then Dickie into the stable is gane,—Where there stood thirty horses and three; He has tied them a’ wi’ St. Mary’s knot, A’ these horses but barely three.

Mary-Ann, subs. (obsolete).—1. The dea ex machinâ evolved from trades-unionism at Sheffield, to the utter destruction of recalcitrant grinders. Cf. Molly Maguires.

2. (dressmakers’).—A dress stand.

3. (common).—A sodomite. For synonyms see Usher. Sp. manflorito.

1895. Reynolds’s Newsp., 2 June, p. 1, col. 4. I remember when residing in Oxford having pointed out to me in ‘the High’ more than one professional catamite; just as waiting for a ’bus at Piccadilly-circus a few years later I heard prostitutes jocosely apostrophizing the Mary-Anns who plied their beastly trade upon the pavement beside the women.

Marygold. See Marigold.

Mary-Jane, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Maryland-end, subs. (American).—The hock of a ham: cf. Virginia-end.—Bartlett.

Marylebone Stage. See Marrowbone-stage.

Mary-Walkers, subs. phr. (American).—Trousers. For synonyms see Kicks. [After Dr. Mary Walker, who adopted Turkish trousers].

Mascot, subs. (common).—A luck-piece, or talisman; somebody, or something, which ensures good fortune to the owner. Fr. la mascotte. [If the luck-piece be alive, the master-quality disappears with the loss of his (or her) virginity].

1886. Popular Science Monthly, xxx. 121. It is even fashionable to talk about mascots—a mascot being an object, animate or inanimate, that contributes to the good fortune of its possessor.

1888. Lippincott, Jan., p. 137. What is the origin of the term mascot?

Mash, subs. (common).—1. A sweetheart. Also masher.

1883. Illustrated London News, 9 June, p. 563, col. 3. He appears to be the mash (if it is permissible to quote the cant phrase of the day) at one and the same time of Queen Anne, the Duchess of Marlborough, and his own legitimate sweetheart.

1889. The Mirror, 26 Aug., p. 6, col. 2. For whom, dear Mabel, do you dye your wig-hair, And paint and powder?—Who is this new mash?

2. (common).—On the mash, see Masher.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 15 Nov. An impecunious fellow who was always on the mash.

1892. Idler, June, p. 550. I loves to see ’im cuttin’ of a dash, A walkin’ down our alley on the mash.

Verb. (common).—To court; to ogle; to lay oneself out for the practical approval of the other sex.

1883. Referee, 30 Sept., p. 2, col. 4. And looks so handsome that were he not so wicked he would be likely to mash all the ladies who see him.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 9 Jan. But only fancy what a fellow with my taste for seeing life and mashing the girls must have suffered!

1892. Illustrated Bits, 22 Oct., p. 4, col. 2. Successfully mash a girl by reciting poetry to her.

Mashed, adj. (common).—Amorous; spoony (q.v.).

1883. Graphic, 17 March, p. 287, col. 3. There is always a certain amount of flirtation carried on at the half-crown ball.... There are nooks and passages which give sufficient cover for the smitten (or the mashed, as, alas! the current slang is) to exchange their confidences, as they flatter themselves unobserved.

Mashed-on, adj. phr. (common).—In love.

1886. Philadelphia Times, 19 Febr. He was mashed on fair Finette.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 66. Bell Bonsor is mashed on me.

Masher, subs. (common).—1. See quots. 1883, and—especially—1890. A species of Don Juan in a small way of business: specifically among choristers and actresses. Hence (2) a dandy.

1883. T. A. Gartham, in Pall Mall Gaz., 11 Oct. The participle mashed was in use, in America, before the substantive. A person who was very ‘spooney’ on another was said to be mashed. Then came the verb to mash, and latterly the noun masher; i.e. he who produces the effect, or at least who imagines himself a ‘lady-killer.’ Need I say that men of this calibre are often fops or dandies? Hence, the word masher as now understood here.

1883. Athenæum, 10 Feb., p. 181, col. 1. One poem, indeed, called ‘A Cry from the Stalls,’ presents our poet in the strange guise of the laureate of the mashers—we apologize humbly for employing a detestable phrase with which America has enriched (?) our vocabulary significatory of the worshippers of actresses.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 10 Oct. The talk around them will fairly match in mental vigour the ejaculations of the gaming table or the race-course, or the prattle of the masher between the acts.

1884. A. Lang, Much Darker Days, p. 24. That mass, once a white hat, had adorned the brows of that masher!

1885. Sporting Times, 23 May, ‘The Chorister’s Promise.’ She sat disconsolate, musing, sad, ... For times were deucedly awful bad, As mashers were close with what chips they had (And alas for the chips she owed!).

1890. Standard, 11 Febr., p. 3, col. 1. There were specimens of tramps and beggars, of fortune-tellers and hawkers, of village musicians and mashers, called in Vienna ‘Gigerls,’ which every good painter or sculptor would be delighted to have as models—better specimens of the picturesque, in fact, than can be found in Rome or Naples.

1890. Slang, Jargon, & Cant, s.v. Mash. About the year 1860 mash was a word found only in theatrical parlance in the United States. When an actress smiled at ... a friend in the audience she was said to mash him.... It occurred to the writer [C. G. Leland] that it must have been derived from the gypsy mash (masher-ava) to allure, to entice.... Mr. Paluez a well-known impresario said ... he could confirm [the suggestion] for the term had originated with the C— family, who were all actors and actresses, of Romany stock, who spoke gypsy familiarly among themselves.

1895. Sporting Times, 23 Nov. ‘Nothing to Do.’ There’s the masher, the great unemployed of the day.

Adj. (common).—Smart.

1890. Globe, 7 Feb., p. 1, col. 4. What are umbrellas or masher canes to students immersed in Mill or Emerson, or the latest shilling dreadful?

Masherdom, subs. (common).—The world of mashers (q.v.).

1883. Referee, 6 May, p. 7, col. 3. In the smoking-rooms of the best club, in the haunts of masherdom.

Mash-tub, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A brewer. Hence (Fleet St.) The Morning mash-tub = The Morning Advertiser.

Maskin, subs. (Old Cant).—Coal.

Mason, subs. (old).—See quot.

1754. Poulter, Discov., p. 30. One who swindled farmers etc. by giving worthless notes for horses etc. bought by them. The Dealers, called masons ... giving Notes for Money, and never to pay it.

Verb. (old).—See quot.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 9. If we could not get any Money at the Nobb we would buy a Horse or two, and give our Notes for our Money, telling our Dealer we lived at a Town where we did not. This is called masoning.

Masonry, subs. (colloquial).—Secret signs and passwords.

1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, Bk. iii. ch. viii. I was one of them, and know the masonry.

Mason’s-mawn’d, subs. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Mason’s-mawn’d, a Sham sore above the Elbow, to counterfeit a broken Arm, by a Fall from a Scaffold, expos’d by subtil Beggers, to move Compassion, and get Money.

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

Massacre. See Innocents.

Masse-stapler, subs. (Old Cant).—A rogue disguised as a woman.

Master-can (or more), subs. phr. (Old Scots’).—A chamber-pot.—Fergusson.

1776. Herd, Collection, ii. 214. She hae dung the bit fish off the brace, An’ it’s fallen i’ the maister-can.

Master-of-the-black-art, subs. (old).—A beggar. For synonyms see Cadger.

Master-of-the-Mint, subs. (common).—A gardener. Cf. Burn-crust and Corks.

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

Master-of-the-Rolls, subs. (common).—A baker.

1641. H. Peacham, Worth of a Penny, in Arber’s English Gamer, Vol. vi. p. 272. For a Penny, you may search among the rolls, and withal give the master good satisfaction. I mean, in a baker’s basket.

c. 1762. Derrick in Foster’s Goldsmith, Bk. iii. ch. vi. p. 167 (5th ed.). ‘No, no,’ whispered Derrick, who knew him to be a wealthy baker from the city, ‘only for a master of the rolls.’

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

1826. The Fancy, i. 123. Martin is the only baker who has appeared in Chancery Lane lately without insult; but they possess, generally, so little of the retiring modesty of their Master of the Rolls, that they deserve all they catch in that way.

English synonyms. Burn-crust; doughy; dough-puncher; crumbs; fourteen-to-the-dozen.

Master-of-the-Wardrobe, subs. phr. (old).—One who pawns his clothes to buy liquor.—Grose (1785).

Masterpiece, subs. (venery).—1. The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

2. (colloquial).—A culmination: the best that can be.

1715. Pennecuik, Poems (1815), 338. Call it the masterpiece of George’s reign.

Match, subs. (Stock Exchange).—1. In pl. Bryant and May Limited Stock.

2. (American cadets’).—A stripling. For synonyms see Lamp-post.

3. (old).—See quot.

1821. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Match—persons nearly of a size are said to ‘make a good match,’ (ring). Horses’ match consists in colour and size. A two-horses’ race, is a match, when specially agreed upon. The agreement for a man-fight, is ‘making a match.’ Young folks are said to ‘make a match of it,’ when they marry; they do the same when they do not wed frequently, but bring gyblets together sans ceremonie.

To lose the match and pocket the stakes, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate: of women only. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

Mate, subs. (colloquial).—A companion; a partner; a pal (q.v.). Also matey.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 113, st. 30, p. 212 (E. D. S.). As for such mates, as vertue hates, ... small matter it is.

1630. Massinger, Renegado, iv. 1. Come, my mates, I hitherto have lived an ill example, And, as your captain, led you on to mischief.

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffry Hamlyn, ch. xxxi. I took him for a flash overseer, sporting his salary, and I was as thick as you like with him. And, ‘matey,’ says I, (you see I was familiar, he seemed such a jolly sort of bird), ‘matey, what station are you on?’

1864. H. Kingsley, The Hillyars and the Burtons, chap. xxx. ‘Well, then, I’ll tell you where it is,’ said Jack Marton [Blacksmith] ‘me and my mates must look to ourselves’....

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S. No. xxii. p. 403. ‘’Twasn’t me that originated the strike. I but joined in it with the rest of my mates.’

1892. Sydney Watson, Wops the Waif, ch. i. p. 2. ‘I say, Tickle matey, wot’s all them a-readin’ of on that bill over there?’ interrupted Wops.

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall Songs, 119. Way-oh ole matey, I don’t bear no malice.

Mater, subs. (colloquial).—A mother; the old woman (q.v.). Fr. la maternelle.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1883. Braddon, Golden Calf, vi. The pater and mater are away.... So we can have things all our own way.

Matin-bell, subs. (thieves’).—A thieves’ rendezvous; an evening-chimes (q.v.).

Matriarch, subs. (American).—An old dowager.

Matrimonial, subs. (venery).—The act of kind in the natural position. Also matrimonial polka. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

Matrimonial peacemaker, subs. phr. (venery).—See quot. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Matrimonial peacemaker. The sugar stick or arbor vitæ.

Matter. As near as no matter, phr. (colloquial).—Very nearly; as near as may be.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 69. I’ve reported as near as no matter.

Mattress-Jig, subs. phr. (venery).—Copulation. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

Maukes (Maux, or Mawkes), subs. (old).—See Mawkes.

Maukin. See Malkin.

Mauled, adj. (common).—See quot. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Maul’d, swingingly Drunk, or soundly Beat.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Mauld.

Mauley (Morley or Mawley), subs. (common).—1. A fist; a hand. To tip a mauley = to give a hand. Fam the mawley = shake hands.

1800. Parker, Life’s Painter, 139. The key of the street-door in her mauley. Ibid. 144. When one asks the other to shake hands, that is, sling us your mauly.

1821. Egan, Life in London, 207. Learn the use of your morleys.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii. 6. Mr. J. It was but t’other day they took’d me up; slapp’d a pick-ax into one of my mauleys, and shov’d a shovel into t’other, and told me to vork.

1852. Judson, Mysteries of New York, iv. Ello, Charley, my kid! tip us your mawley.

1857. Cuthbert Bede, Verdant Green, pt. ii. ch. iii. ‘I couldn’t use my mawleys no how!’ and the Pet illustrated his remark in a professional manner, by sparring at an imaginary opponent in a feeble and unscientific fashion.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1861. Miss Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, Bk. iv. ch. v. ‘Let the man as murdered your uncle keep clear of my left mawley, if he wants to preserve his beauty.’

1870. London Figaro, 2 July. ‘Milling Ancient and Modern.’ We think mawleys is the correct sporting term for ‘bunches of fives.’

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, i. It takes a good man to put me on my back, or stand up to me with the gloves, or the naked mauleys.

1888. Sporting Life, 11 Dec. Lambert ducked and the mawley flew over his head.

1890. Lic. Vict. Gaz., 31 Jan. Tip us your mawleys, old pal!

2. (common).—A signature; handwriting; a fist (q.v.).

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 340. One of those specious but deceitful ‘fakements’ upon which the ‘swells,’ (especially those who have ‘been in the service,’) ‘come down with a couter’ (sovereign) if they ‘granny the mauley’ (perceive the signature) of a brother officer or friend.

Maund (or Maunder).—1. To beg. To maund upon the pad (or on the fly) = to beg in the highway or the street. Maunding = begging. [From Maund = a basket: cf. Beg from bag].

1531–47. Copland, Hye Way to the Spyttel House, line 1046. With bowsy Cove maund Nace, Tour the Patring Coue inthe darkeman Case.

1607. Dekker, Jests to Make You Merie, in Wks. (Grosart), II. 322. In her mawnd or basket which she beares on her arme, lapt in a pure white cloth, some fine tidy pig.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 39 (H. Club’s Repr. 1874). What maund doe you beake = what kind of begging use you? Ile myll your maund = Ile spoyle your begging.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1. I instructed him in the rudiments of roguery, and by my map made him sail over any country you can name, so that now he can maunder better than myself.

1621. Fletcher, Thierry & Theodoret, v. 1. Keep constables waking, wear out stocks and whipcord, maunder for buttermilk, etc.

1622. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1. And every man to keep In his own path and circuit. Hig. Do you hear? You must hereafter maund on your own pads, he says.

1625. Jonson, Staple of News, ii. A rogue, A very canter, I, sir, one that maunds Upon the pad.

1665. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. 1. ch. v. p. 44 (1874). Having sufficiently warm’d our brains with humming liquor, which our Lower (money) shall procure; if our deceitful maunding (Begging) cannot.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v. Maunding, begging.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Maunder(s) ... also the cant word for to beg.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard, ch. vii. Who [a Devonshire lad] ... had already unpacked the basket, or maund, as he called it.

2. (Old Cant).—To ask.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 86. Maunde of this morte what bene pecke is in her ken, Aske of this wyfe what good meate shee hath in her house.

Maunder. See Maund, sense 1.

Subs. (old).—A beggar; a cadge-gloak (q.v.). Also maunderer and maunding-cove.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl [Dodsley, Old Plays (1825), vi. 108]. I am no such nipping Christian, but a maunderer upon the pad, I confess.

1622. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1. Our king and sovereign, monarch o’ the maunders.

1656. Brome, Jovial Crew (Pearson, iii. 377). My noble Springlove, the great commander of the maunders, and king of canters.

c. 1660. Bagford Ballads [Ebsworth, i. 195]. A Craver my Father, a maunder my Mother.

1665. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. 1. ch. v. p. 50 (1874), s.v.

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

1712. Shirley, Triumph of Wit, The Maunder’s Praise of his Strowling Mort [Title].

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

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii. 6. Cadgers make holiday, Hey, for the maunder’s joys, Let pious ones fast and pray, They save us the trouble, my boys.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 183 (ed. 1864). Rogue or rascal, frater, maunderer.

Maundering, subs. (old).—See quot. Also maunding and as adj.

c. 1603. Sack for my Money [Collier, Roxburghe Ballads (1847), 180]. A maunding cove that doth it love.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Markall, p. 39 (H. Club’s Repr. 1874). Maunding = begging.

1630. Taylor, Works [quoted by Nares]. As for example, suppose a begger be in the shape or forme of a maundering, or wandering souldier, with one arme, legge, or eye, or some such maime.

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

Maundring-broth, subs. (old).—A scolding.—B. E. (1690); Grose (1785).

Maverick, subs. (Texan).—An unbranded yearling. [From one Maverick].

Maw, subs. (old).—The mouth.

1592. Greene, Quip, in Works, xi. 236. That pinch their bellies to polish their backs, that kepe their mawes emptie, to fill their pursses.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V, ii. 1. And in thy hateful lungs,—yea, in thy maw, perdy.

1603. Shakspeare, Measure for Measure, iii. 2. Do thou but think What ’tis to cram a maw, or clothe a back.

1654. Chapman, Revenge for Honour, i. 1. Here men o’ th’ shop can gorge their musty maws With the delicious capon.

Hold your maw! verb. phr. (old).—Stop talking.

Mawkes, subs. (old).—1. A vulgar slattern.—Grose (1785).

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

2. (old).—A whore.

172[?]. Street Robberies Considered, 25. I had the clever’st maux in town.

Mawley. See Mauley.

Maw-wallop, subs. (old).—A filthy composition, sufficient to provoke vomiting.—Grose (1785).

Mawworm, subs. (common).—A hypocrite. [From Bickerstaff’s play, The Hypocrite]. Also as adj.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v.

1866. Sala, Trip to Barbary, p. 130. There was a sanctified mawworm expression, too, about this fellow, which filled you with a strong desire to fling him overboard.

1871. G. Eliot, Middlemarch, Bk. I. ch. ii. A man naturally likes to look forward to having the best. He would be the very mawworm of bachelors who pretended not to expect it.

1891. Lic. Vict. Gaz., 17 April. Superintendent S— is no mawworm, And it must have gone very much against the grain.

Mawpus. See Mopus.

Mawther, subs. (old).—1. A girl (Jonson); and (2), an old drudge (Dickens).

Max, subs. (old).—Gin. For synonyms see Drinks and White Satin. [From maxime and so properly applied only to the best quality spirit].

1823. Byron, Don Juan, C. xi. st. 16. The dying man cried, ‘Hold! I’ve got my gruel, Oh! for a glass of max.’

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Bagman’s Dog). Who, doffing their coronets, collars, and ermines, treat Boxers to max at the Old Inn in Jermyn Street.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, v. 8, i. p. 168. The stimulant of a ‘flash of lightning,’ a ‘go of rum,’ or a ‘glass of max,’—for so a dram of neat spirit was then called.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Verb. (United States military).—At West Point to gain the maximum of marks; hence, to do well.

May, subs. (Cambridge University).—The Easter Term examination.

1852. Bristed, Five Years etc., 70. As the may approached I began to feel nervous.

May-gathering, subs. (thieves’).—Sheep-stealing; fleecy clamming (q.v.); bleat-marching (q.v.).

Mazarine, subs. (common).—1. A Common Councilman of the City of London. [From the robe of mazarine blue].

1761. Chronicle, ‘Annual Reg.’ 238. I had procured a ticket through the interest of Mr. —— who was one of the committee for managing the entertainment, and a mazarine.

2. (theatrical).—A platform under the stage.

Mazzard (Mazard, or Mazer), subs. (common).—The head; the face.

1602–3. Shakspeare, Hamlet, v. 1. Ham. Chapless, and knocked about the mazzard with a sexton’s spade.

1602. Dekker, Honest Whore [Dodsley, Old Plays, iii. 329]. Break but his pate, or so; only his mazer, Because I’ll have his head in a cloth as well as mine.

1605. Chapman, All Fools, iv. 1. But in thy amorous conquests, at the last, Some wound will slice your mazer.

1639. Fletcher, Wit Without Money, ii. 3. The pint-pot has so belaboured you with wit, your brave acquaintance, that gives you ale, so fortified your mazard, that now there’s no talking to you.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, 14. The Porpus kept guard O’er his beautiful mug, as if fearing to hazard One damaging touch in so dandy a mazzard.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Mazzard—the face, or perhaps the whole head. ’Tis Irish, and mostly confined to Dublin. ‘Toss up the coppers now Thady,’ ‘head or harp?’ ‘Harp!’ cried Paddy, ‘and down came three black mazzards.’ ‘Chop his mazzard,’ a cut in the face.

1833. Cruikshank, Sunday in London, p. 63. Knocking each other over the mazzard for a qvort’n of gin!

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 312 [ed. 1864]. ‘Here is that shall put fresh marrow into your old bones,’ returned Jem, handing him a tumbler of brandy; ‘never stint it. I’ll be sworn you’ll be the better on’t, for you look desperate queer, man, about the mazzard.’

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Verb. (old).—To knock on the head.

M.B.coat (or waistcoat), subs. (clerical).—A long coat worn by some clergymen. [M.B. = Mark of the Beast]. See Capella.

1853. Dean Conybeare, in Edin. Rev., Oct., p. 315. Who does not recognise ... the stiff and tie-less neckcloth, the M.B.coat and cassock waistcoat, the cropped hair and un-whiskered cheek?

1884. Graphic, 20 Sept., p. 307/2. He has begun to affect the strictest clerical garb—M.B.waistcoat, hard felt hat with band and tassels.

Meacock, subs. (old colloquial).—1. See quots. 1581, 1584–7, 1590, and 1610; and (2), a hen-pecked husband. (Coles: ‘uxorius, uxori nimium deditus et obnoxius’).

1563. Appius & Virginius [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), iv. 118]. As stout as a stockfish, as meek as a meacock.

1581. Lyly, Euphues, 109. I shall be compted a mecocke, a milksop.

1584–7. Greene, Carde of Fancie [Grosart (1881–6), iv. 47]. Shall I then ... proue such a meacocke, or a milkesoppe.

1590. Newes out of Purgatorie (Halliwell). She found fault with him because he was a meacocke and milksoppe.

1593. Nashe, Strange Neues [Grosart (1885), ii. 245]. Meere meacocks and ciphars in comparison of thy excellent out-cast selfe.

1593. Harvey, Pierce’s Supererogation [Grosart (1884), ii. 49]. Martin himselfe but a meacocke; and Papp-hatchet himself but a milkesop.

1603. Dekker, The Batchelars Banquet [Grosart (1886), i. 274]. The poore meacock ... hauing his courage thus quailed, wil neuer afterwards fal at ods with her.

1610. Mir. for Magistrates, 418. A meacock is he who dreadth to see bloud shed.

1619. Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, v. 2. Fools and meacocks, To endure what you think fit to put upon ’em.

1635. Glapthorne, Hollander [Pearson (1874), i. 98]. They are like my husband, meere meacocks, verily: and cannot lawfully beget a childe once in seaven yeares.

Adj. (old colloquial).—Cowardly.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, ii. 1. 315. ’Tis a world to see How tame, when men and women are alone, A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.

1593. Harvey, Pierces Supererog. [Grosart (1885), ii. 17]. The meacock Verse that dares not sing.

Meal. See Square-meal.

Mealer, subs. (teetotallers’).—1. A partial abstainer: pledged to take intoxicants only at meals.

2. (colloquial).—One who lodges at one place and boards elsewhere.

1887. Christian Union, 11 Aug. One of those cheap boarding-houses ... where humanity is resolved into two classes only ... roomers and mealers.

Meal-mouth, subs. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Meal-mouth, a sly sheepish Dun, or Solicitor for Money. Cf. Mealy-mouthed.

Meal-tub (or -sack), subs. (clerical).—The stock of sermons. ‘I’ve nothing in my meal-tub’ = I’ve no sermon ready.

Mealy- (or Meal-) mouthed, (or mealy), adj. (old: now recognised).—Fluent; plausible; persuasive. See also quot. 1748. Cf. Meal-mouth.

1587. Harmar, Beza’s Sermons, 315. Ye whited walls and painted sepulchres, ye meal-mouthed counterfeits, ye devourers of widows.

1598. Marston, Sat., ii. Who would imagine yonder ... meale-mouthed precisian ... is a vile, sober, damn’d politician.

1600. Dekker, Shom. Holiday [Grosart (1873), i. 13]. This wench with the mealy mouth that wil neuer tire, is my wife I can tel you.

1606. John Day, Ile of Guls, iv. 4. p. 93. Wife. Tho I may not scold I may tel em roundly out I hope ... and Ile not be mealely mouthd, I warrant em.

1631. Shirley, Love Tricks, i. A very crazy, old, meal-mouth’d gentleman; you are younger at least by thirty years.

1639. Fletcher, Bloody Brother, iii. 2. A place too good for thee, thou meal-mouth’d rascal!

1748. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Mealy-mouthed, one that is faint-hearted, bashful, or afraid to speak his mind freely.

1759. Townley, High Life below Stairs, ii. Out, you mealy-mouthed cur!

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

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ix. ‘We might get money—ay, plenty of it—if you were only like the rest: you’re too mealy-mouthed, Mrs. Blacke, that’s where it is.’

1854. Dickens, Hard Times, ... I didn’t mince the matter with him. I’m never mealy with ’em.

1886. Edinburgh Review, clxiii. 425. Angry men hotly in earnest are not usually mealy-mouthed.

Mean, adj. (colloquial).—1. Disobliging; petty; stingy. To feel mean = to feel guilty.

2. (old: now American).—A general epithet of disparagement: mean night = a bad night; mean horse = a sorry screw; mean crowd = a man of no account; mean bit = a worn-out whore.

1848. Georgia Scenes, 27. He’ll cut the same capers there as here. He’s a monstrous mean horse.

1887. Francis, Saddle & Mocassin, p. 146. There ain’t a drop of mean blood in him.

1888. Century Mag., Oct. There can be no greater provocation than is given by a mean horse, or a refractory steer.

Mean enough to steal acorns from a blind hog, phr. (American).—As mean as may be.

Mean white, subs. phr. (American negro).—See quots.; poor white trash (q.v.).

1837. H. Martineau, Soc. in America, ii. 311. There are a few, called by the slaves mean whites, signifying whites who work with the hands.

1873. Justin McCarthy, Fair Saxon, xix. That despised and degraded class, the mean whites—the creatures who had neither the social position and property that seemed essential to freedom in the South, nor the protected comfort of slavery.

Measly, adj. (vulgar).—Contemptible. [Cf. var. dial. measled = diseased].

1864. M. E. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, xxviii. ‘And to think that the government of this country should have the audacity to offer a measly hundred pounds or so for the discovery of a great crime!’

1884. Henley & Stevenson, Admiral Guinea (‘Three Plays’, p. 203). Now in my blind old age I’m to be sent packing from a measly public ’ouse.

Measure, subs. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Measure, the Distance of Duellers. To break measure, to be out of the Adversaries reach.

To measure out, verb. phr. (common).—To knock down flat; to kill.

1891. Morning Advertiser, 3 April. The witness went to Martin’s assistance, and became engaged in a tussle with the prisoner Tounsel, who took an empty lemonade bottle from his pocket and said, ‘Look out, or I’ll measure you out.’

To take (or get) one’s measure, verb. phr. (old).—1. To marry; and (2) to copulate.

1684. Lacy, Sir Hercules Buffoon, v. 3. Gin I’d let him alane, he had taken measure o’ th’ inside of me as well as o’ th’ out.

1771. Foote, Maid of Bath, i. She is a tight bit of stuff, and I am confident will turn out well in the wearing. I once had some thoughts myself of taking measure of Miss.

2. (colloquial).—To appreciate; to size up.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Measure. To examine closely.

1872. Derby Mercury, 1 May, ‘Freemasonry in New Zealand.’ He became thin and haggard, and afraid to meet any of his former companions for fear that they should say they would take his measure.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, 215. Fletcher did not venture into that ‘holy of holies’; there were too many men there had got his measure.

To be measured [for a part &c.] phr. (theatrical).—To get a part written to one’s liking or capacity; to be exactly suited.

1859. Blanchard Jerrold, Life of Douglas Jerrold, vi. p. 94. Even the pig was to be measured for his part.

To have been measured for a new umbrella, verb. phr. (American).—(1) To appear in new but ill-fitting clothes; whence (2) to pursue a policy of doubtful wisdom.

To be measured for a suit of mourning, verb. phr. (pugilistic).—See quot.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, xix. No pugilist can be considered worth anything, till he has had his peepers taken measure of for a suit of mourning, or in common language, has received a pair of black eyes.

Measured for a funeral sermon, adv. phr. (American).—At death’s door.

Meat, subs. (venery).—Generic for (1) the female pudendum, and (2) the penis: cf., beef, fish, flesh, game, greens, mutton, &c. Hence, a bit of meat = the sexual favour; fond of meat = amorous; meaty = enjoyable; fresh meat = a new piece (q.v.); raw meat = a nude performer (q.v.); meat-house = a brothel; meat-market = (1) the female pudendum, (2) any rendezvous of public women, and (3) the paps; meat-merchant = a bawd; meat-monger = a whoremaster; the price of meat = the cost of an embrace; meat-and-drink = an amorous carouse; to flash meat = to expose the person. Fr. la viande.

1595. Gosson, Quippes, etc. [Hazlitt, Early Pop. Poetry (1866), iv. 259]. That you should coutch your meat in dish, And others feel it is no fish.

1597–8. Haughton, A Woman will have her Will [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), x. 496]. I am no meat for his mowing.

1611. Ram Alley [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), x. 369]. Faith, take a maid, and leave the widow, master: Of all meats I love not a gaping oyster.

1664. Falkland, Marriage Night, i. 1. But is she man’s meat? I have a tender appetite, and can scarcely digest one in her teens.

1668. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding, v. 2. Your bed is big enough for two, and my meat will not cost you much.

1684. Lacy, Sir Hercules Buffoon, iii. 3. I am so plagued with citizens that I cannot have a deer that’s man’s meat, but they steal it out of my park, my Lord.

1760. Foote, Minor, ii. Did I not tell you old Moll was your mark? Here she has brought a pretty piece of man’s meat already; as sweet as a nosegay, and as ripe as a cherry.

1856. Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Children of Adam (1891–2, ix. 87). The naked meat of the body.

To chew one’s own meat, verb. phr. (American).—To do a thing oneself; hence, to chew meat for one = to do another’s work for him.

Meat-and-drink, subs. (common).—1. Strong drink; also liquor thickened with yolk of eggs, etc.

2. (old colloquial).—Delight.

1600. Shakspeare, As you Like it, v. 1. It is meat-and-drink to me to see a clown.

3. (venery).—See Meat.

Meat-axe. Savage as a meat-axe, phr. (American).—Extremely hungry.

1843. Carlton, New Purchase [Bartlett]. It would be a charity to give the pious brother some such feed as chicken fixins and doins, for he looks half-starved and as savage as a meat axe.

1852. Kirkland, Forest Life, i. 103. ‘Why, you don’t eat nothing!’ he exclaimed; ‘ridin’ don’t agree with you, I guess! Now, for my part, it makes me as savage as a meat-axe.’

Meat-bag (or -safe), subs. (American).—The stomach. For synonyms see Victualling-office.

1848. Ruxton, Life In The Far West, p. 8. Well, Dick was as full of arrows as a porkypine; one was sticking right through his cheek, one in his meat-bag, and two more ’bout his hump-ribs.

Meat-flashing, subs. (common).—Exposure of the person. Hence, meat-flasher = a public offender in this line.

Meat-in-the-pot, subs. (Western American).—A revolver.

English synonyms. Barker; barking iron; black-eyed Susan; blazer; bulldog; Colt; the democratiser (American: as making all men equal); unconverted friend; pop, or pop-gun; persuader; shooting-iron; shot-gun; six-shooter; stick; towel; two-pipe scatter-gun.

French synonyms. Un bayafe (thieves’); un blavin (also = pocket handkerchief); les burettes (= phials); un crucifix or crucifix à ressorts (thieves’); un mandolet (thieves’); un mouchoir de poche (Cf. blavin).

Meaty, adj. (common).—1. Plump; and (2) enjoyable. See Meat.

1851–61. Mayhew, London Lab., iii. 210. I’m just meaty enough for my profession.

Mechanic, subs. (old: now recognised).—See quot. 1690. As adj. = common; vulgar; mean.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V, i. 2. 200. The poor mechanic porters crowding in.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Mechanic, a Tradesman; also a mean, inconsiderable, contemptible Fellow.

Med (Medic, Medical, or Medico), subs. (medical).—A medical man. Also a student.

1823. The Crayon (Yale Coll.), p. 23. Who sent The medic to our aid!

1850. Yale Banger [Hall], Nov. Seniors, Juniors, Freshmen blue, And medics sing the Anthem too.

1853. Songs of Yale, p. 16. Take ... Sixteen interesting meds, With dirty hands and towzeled heads.

1864. D. Masson, in Macm. Mag., Dec., p. 124. Those minute physiognomic differences, which enable an expert to distinguish a jolly young medical from a prematurely-sharp leguleian.

1885. B. G. Wilder, Journal Nervous Diseases, xii. Medic is the legitimate paronym of medicus, but is commonly regarded as slang.

1889. Lancet, 13 July [No. 3437], p. 96. The London medicals were quite as popular.

1890. Answers, 25 Dec. She did her exercise and work and had her meals alone, and during the whole of that period the only persons she spoke to were the governor (known in prison as the ‘boss’), the chaplain (in prison parlance ‘sky pilot’), the medico (doctor), and the ‘screw’ (female warder).

Meddler. Lay-overs for meddlers. See Lare-over.

Medes and Persians, subs. phr. (Winchester College).—Jumping on a man (q.v.) when in bed.

Medical Greek, subs. phr. (common).—See Marrowskying.

1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. Medical students have liberally assisted in the formation of slang, their special department thereof being known as medical greek.

Medicine, subs. (common).—1. Liquor; and (2) greens (q.v.). To take one’s medicine = (1) to drink; and (2) to copulate. For synonyms see Drinks and Ride.

Medium, subs. (Australian).—A person engaged by a squatter, part of whose ‘run’ is offered by Government at a land lottery. The medium takes lot-tickets, as if bent upon cultivation, attends the drawing, and, if his ticket be drawn before his principal’s land is gone, selects it, and hands it over on payment of the attendance fee.

Medlar, subs. (venery).—1. The female pudendum. Cf. Open-arse. For synonyms see Monosyllable. Hence, a harlot.

1603. Shakspeare, Measure for Measure, iv. 3. Else they would have married me to the rotten medlar.

2. (American thieves’).—A dirty person.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Meech, Meeching. See Mike.

Meerschaum, subs. (pugilistic).—The nose. For synonyms see Conk.

1891. Sporting Life, 25 March. At the call of ‘Time’ ending in favour of Burford, Phillips being very weak, and his meerschaum beautifully painted. Ibid., 3 April. Determined left-handed exchanges, Macdonald standing over Harland, who made the most of the ring, but coloured Mac’s meerschaum in the last minute.

Meetinger, subs. (Nonconformist).—A chapel-goer.

1885. Notes and Queries, 11 April, p. 297. Those who attend the meeting are called meetingers.

Meg, subs. (old).—1. See quots. For synonyms see Yellow-boys and Canary. Cf. Mag, subs., sense 2.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, i. in Wks. (1720), iv. 18. Sham. No, no; meggs are guineas, smelts are half guineas.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Meggs.... We fork’d the Rum Culls meggs to the tune of Fifty, We pickt the Gentleman’s Pocket of full Fifty Guineas.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

2. in pl. (Stock Exchange).—Mexican Railway First Preference Stock.

3. (Old Scots’).—A wench. Meg Dorts = a pert girl. Meg-Harry (Lanc.) = a hoyden.

1538. Lindsay, Syde Taillis [Chalmers, ii. 201]. Ane muirland meg, that milkes the yowis, Claggit with clay abone the howis.

1725. Ramsay, The Gentle Shepherd. She scour’d away, and said——‘What’s that to you?’ ‘Then fare ye weel meg dorts, and e’en’s ye like.’

Roaring Meg, subs. phr. (old).—A monster piece of ordnance; hence, an unfailing antidote.

1624. Burton, Anat. Melan., Pt. II. ii. 6. 3. Musica est mentis medecina mæstæ, a roaring meg against melancholy.

Megrim, subs. (old colloquial).—1. A crotchet; and (2) a headache. Fr. une migraine.

d. 1520(?). Dunbar, My Heid did Yak, in Poems (Scottish Text Society Edition, 1888–9), p. 254. So sair the megrym dois me menzie.

1609. Dekker, Almanacke [Grosart, iv. 185]. But shall be strucke with such megrims and turnings of the braine, that insteed of going to church, they will (if my Arte faile me not) stumble into a Tauerne.

1639. Beaumont & Fletcher, Wit without Money, i. 1. He had never Left me the misery of so much means eke, Which, till I sold, was a mere megrim to me.

1673. Dryden, The Assignation, iii. 3. Now will I have the headach, or the megrim, or some excuse.

1795. R. Cumberland, The Jew, ii. 2. Dorcas. How you ramble, Sirrah! What megrims you have in your head!

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, xi. ‘Can’t one work for sober truth as hard as for megrims?’

Meg’s diversions, subs. phr. (common).—1. Whimsical pleasantry; and (2) old Harry (q.v.).

1834. M. G. Dowling, Othello Travestie, i. 3. The galley slaves Are playing meg’s diversion on the waves.

1850. Craven, Meg’s Diversions [Title].

Megsman. See Magsman.

Mejoge, subs. (old).—A shilling; a bob (q.v.).—Discoveries of John Poulter (1754).

Mell, subs. (Old Cant).—The nose. For synonyms see Conk.

Verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride. Also Meddle.

d. 1450. Lydgate (Halliwell). Like certeyn birdes called vultures, Withouten mellyng conceyven by nature.

b. 1468. Ludus Coventriæ [Shaks. Soc. 1841], p. 215. And a talle man with her dothe melle.... We xul take them both togedyr Whylle that thei do that synful dede.

1541. Schole House of Women [Hazlitt, Early Pop. Poetry (1866), iv. 133]. Made him drunk, and so at last medled with him.

1598. Shakspeare, All’s Well etc., iv. 3. Men are to mell with, boys are not to kiss.

Mellow, adj. (common).—See quot. 1690.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Mellow, a’most Drunk; also smooth, soft Drink.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1774. Garrick, Epitaph on Goldsmith, ‘Here Hermes,’ says Jove, who with nectar was mellow.

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

1821. Byron, Don Juan, Cant. iii. St. 82. Had been the favourite of full many a mess Of men and made them speeches when half-mellow.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Melon, subs. (Royal Military Academy).—A new cadet. For synonyms see Snooker.

Melt, verb. (old).—1. See quots.; to blew (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Melt.... Will you melt a Bord? Will you spend your Shilling? The Cull melted a couple of Decuses upon us, the Gentleman spent ten Shillings upon us.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 19. And if any of their Acquaintances gives them l’argent, then they jump into their Cellar to melt it.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1748. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Melt (vi) ... also a cant word for extravagantly spending any considerable sum of money.

1765. Foote, Commissary, i. 1. Give him the sixpence, then, there lay it out as you will. Coachm. It will be to your health, mistress; it shall melt at the Mews, before I go home.

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

1843. Moncrieff, The Scamps of London, i. 1. What did you do with the tin? Bob. Melted it, of course, in less than a month.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

1869. C. Reade, Foul Play, lii. I had him arrested before he had time to melt the notes.

1880. Jamieson, Dict. Scott. Lang., s.v. Melt, to spend money on drink; a low term, but much used; as, ‘I’ve jist ae saxpence left, let’s melt it.’

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip, How do you melt the multy-swag?—Booze and the blowens cop the lot.

2. (venery).—To spend (q.v.). Fr. fondre.

1629. Carew, Poems (1772), ‘Second Rapture,’ p. 174. In whose sweet embraces I, May melt myself to lust and die.

To look as if butter would not melt in the mouth. See Butter.

’Twill cut butter when it’s melted (or hot). See Butter.

Melted-butter, subs. (venery).—The semen; cream (q.v.).

Melting, subs. (pugilistic).—See quot.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Melting—a sound drubbing, all one way. A melter is he who punisheth, and the thing administered is a melting—a corruption of malletting.

Melting moments, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Melting moments, a fat man and woman in the amorous congress.

Melting-pot, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Melton, subs. (tailors’).—Dry bread.

Member, subs. (conventional).—1. The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick. Also unruly member, privy-member and member for Cockshire.

1356. Mandeville, Travels, p. 197. Thei gon all naked, saf a litylle Clout, that thei coveren with here knees and hire membres.

1611. Deut. xxiii. 1 [Authorised Version]. He that hath his privy member cut off.

1639. Glapthorne, Argalus, i. 2. Leg neatly made ... thigh proportionable ... a back that can bear any weight ... full limbs ... a lusty chine ... rump so well made, and firmely knit, The nymphs are all stark mad for it, Because they think the rest of my members proportionable.

1647–80. Rochester, A Satire on the King. E’er she can raise the member she enjoys.

d. 1796. Burns, Epistle to a Tailor. An’ whatfor no Your dearest member.

3. (common).—A person: almost exclusively with qualifying terms, as hot (q.v.); rum (q.v.); warm (q.v.) and the like.

1891. Sporting Life, 28 Mar. Accordingly Jem was put to work, but, warm a member as our hero was, standing in front of a blazing furnace for hours and pushing in and pulling out huge bars of iron was too hot even for Jem’s sanguinary temperament.

Member-mug, subs. (common).—1. A chamber-pot. For synonyms see It.

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

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

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

2. (Westminster School).—An out-of-door boy.

Men. See Man for all senses.

Menagerie, subs. (theatrical).—The orchestra.

Menavelings, subs. (railway clerks’).—Odd money in the daily accounts; fluff (q.v.); overs and shorts. Cf. Manablins.

Mend. To mend fences, verb. phr. (American).—To mind one’s own business; to attend to one’s interest.

To correct (or mend) the magnificat, verb. phr. (old).—To correct that which is faultless.—Ray (1670).

Mentor, subs. (American).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Mentor. A second in the ring.

Mephisto, subs. (tailors’).—A foreman.

Merchant, subs. (old).—A term of abuse.

d. 1555. Latimer, Sermons, 115. b. [Nares]. The crafty merchant that will set brother against brother meaneth to destroy them both.

1557–8. Jacob & Esau [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 253]. What, ye saucy merchant, are ye a prater now?

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo & Juliet, ii. 4. 153. I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant was this that was so full of his ropery?

1633. Match at Midnight, v. 1. I knew you were a crafty merchant.

To play the merchant, verb. phr. (old).—See quot. 1593.

1593. Nashe, Christ’s Teares [Grosart (1885), iv. 240]. Is it not a common proverb amongst us, when any man hath cosened or gone beyonde us, to say, Hee hath playde the merchant with us.

1632. W. Rowley, Woman Never Vext, iv. 1. I doubt, Sir, he will play the merchant with us.

Mercury, subs. (old: now recognised).—1. See quots.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Mercury ... and a Courant or News-letter.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1755. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. Mercury ... it is now applied in cant phrase to the carriers of news and pamphlets.

1827. Todd, Johnson’s Dict., s.v. Mercury ... it had been a cant phrase more than a century before Dr. Johnson’s time; and was used generally for a messenger.

2. (old).—See quot. 1690. Mercurial = witty.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Mercury, Wit. Ibid. s.v. Mercurial, witty.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

3. (old).—A thief; a trickster.

1599. Jonson, Every Man Out of His Humour, i. 2. I would ha’ those mercuries should remember they had not their fingers for nothing.

Mercury-women, subs. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Mercury Women, Wholesale News-sellers who retail to the Hawkers.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

Meridian, subs. (old).—Refreshment taken at noon. Ante-meridian = a morning dram: Post-meridian = an appetizer before dinner.

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, iv. Plumdamas joined the other two gentlemen in drinking their meridian (a bumper-dram of brandy).

Merkin, subs. (old).—1. See quots. 1736 and 1796.

1620. Percy, Folio MS., p. 508. A health to all Ladyes that neuer used merkin.

16[?]. Jonson, A Song of the Moon [Cunningham and Bell (1870), iii. 465]. The moon commends her to the merry beards in hall ... Morts and mirkins that wag all, Tough, foul, or tender.

1647–80. Rochester, To the Author of a Play called ‘Sodom’. Or wear some stinking merkin for a beard.

167[?]. Cotton, Voyage to Ireland, iii. 26. By these the true colour one can no more know Than by mouse-skins above-stairs the merkin below.

1688. Randal Holme, Academy of Armoury, 389. Some term it ... merkin when set about the lower parts.

1720. Phillips, New World of Words, s.v.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., Merkin (f. la mère, matrix) pubes (eminentia) mulieris.

1736. Baily, Engl. Dict., s.v. Merkin ... counterfeit hair for the privities of women.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. Merkin, counterfeit hair for the private parts of a woman.

1873. Hotten, Slang Dict., s.v.

1890. Barrère and Leland, Slang, Jargon, and Cant, s.v.

2. (obsolete).—Fur.

1678. Cotton, Virgil Travestie, in Wks. (1725), Bk. iv. p. 90. Upon his back he had a Jerkin Lin’d through, and through with sable merkin.

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

1656. R. Fletcher, Martiall. Why dost thou reach thy merkin now half dust?

1661. Merry Drollery, ‘A Puritan’ [Ebsworth (1876), p. 196]. Her zeal was in a sound. He edified her merkin Upside down.

1719. A. Smith, Highwaymen, ii. 6. A strange whim ... which was to get the hairy circle of her merkin. This he dried well, and combed out.

4. (American thieves’).—Hair dye.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

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

1599. Middleton, Rowley, and Massinger, Old Law, iv. 1. What, a mermaid? No, but a maid.

Merry (or Merry-arsed), adj. (venery).—Wanton. Hence, merry-arsed Christian = a whore (Grose, 1823); merry-begot (q.v.); merry-bit = a willing wench; merry-maker = the penis; merry-legs = a light-skirts (q.v.) or quicunque-vult (q.v.).

1610. Beaumont and Fletcher, Maid’s Tragedy, iii. 1. Diph. What odds, he has not my sister’s maidenhead to-night?... She’s merry enough of herself; she needs no tickling.

c. 1800. Burns, The Merry Muses of Caledonia [In title, and passim].

1887. Henley, Book of Verses, ‘Ballade of a Toyokuni Colour-Print’, When merry maids in Miyako.

Merry-andrew, subs. (common).—See quot. 1785. Also Mr. Merryman.

1682. Dryden, Epil. to Univ. of Oxford. ‘Th’Italian merry-andrews took their place. And quite debauch’d the Stage with lewd grimace.’

1710. Rochester, Poems, p. 56. They ne’er had sent to Paris for such fancies, As monster’s heads and merry-andrew’s dances.

1732. Henry Fielding, The Mock Doctor, i. 1. I waited on a gentleman at Oxford, where I learned very near as much as my master; from whence I attended a travelling physician six years, under the facetious denomination of a merry andrew, where I learned physic.

1770. St. Foix, Essays upon Paris, ii. 64, ii. cap. 6. The merry-andrews told stories.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Merry Andrew or Mr. Merryman, the jack-pudding, jester, or zany of a mountebank, usually dressed in a party-colored coat.

1785. Burns, Jolly Beggars, R. iii. Poor merry-andrew in the neuk Sat guzzling with a tinkler-hizzie. Ibid. S. iii. Poor andrew that tumbles for sport.

1842. C. Lever, Jack Hinton, ... I wonder how a Christian would make a merry-andrew of himself by wearing such clothes.

Merry-begot (or -begotten), subs. (old).—A bastard: cf. quot. 1377.—Grose (1785). For synonyms see Bloody escape, etc.

c. 1377. Langtoft, Chronicle [Brunne (1725), p. 50]. Knoute of his body gate sonnes thre, Tuo bi tuo wifes, the thrid in jolifte [in jollity].

1890. Hall Caine, The Bondman, i. ch. 6. Maybe you think it wise to bring up your daughter with the merry-begot of any ragabash that comes prowling along.

Merry-cain. See Cain, Raise and Jesse.

Merry-dancers, subs. (colloquial).—The Northern Lights. [From their motion]. Fr. chèvres dansantes (= dancing goats).

Merry-dog, subs. (common).—A boon companion; a jolly-dog (q.v.).

1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 18. He was a merry-dog enough when Wilfrid was out of sight.

Merry Dun of Dover, subs. (nautical).—A ship so large that, passing through the Straits of Dover, her flying jib-boom knocked down Calais steeple; while the fly of her ensign swept a flock of sheep off Dover Cliff. She was so lofty that a boy who went to her mast-head found himself a grey old man when he reached the deck again. [This yarn is founded on a story in Scandinavian mythology].

Merry-go-down, subs. (Old Cant).—Strong ale; stingo (q.v.). For synonyms see Drinks and Swipes.

c. 1530. Hoow Gossip Mine [in Neuenglische Lezebuch (1895), p. 154]. I know a draught of merry-go-down, The best it is in all the town.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, Ded. [Harl. Misc. vi. 145]. I present you with meate, and you ... can do no less than present mee with the best morning’s draught of merry-go-downe in your quarters.

Merry-go-sorry, subs. (old colloquial).—Hysteria.

1600. Breton, Fortunes of Two Princes, 25. The ladie with a merrie-go-sorrie.

Merry-go-up, subs. (old).—Snuff.

1821. Egan, Real Life, ii. 90. Short but pungent like a pinch of merry-go-up.

Merry Greek, subs. phr. (old).—A jolly companion.

1602. Shakspeare, Troilus and Cressida, i. 2. Then she’s a merry Greek indeed.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, ii. 2. Go home, and tell the merry Greeks that sent you, Ilium shall burn, etc.

d. 1669. Prynne, Healthes Sicknesse, fol. B 2, b. Open, liberall, or free housekeepers, merry Greeks, and such like stiles and titles.

1820. Barn. Journ., i. p. 54. A true Trojan, and a mad merry grig, though no Greek.

Merryman. See Merry-andrew.

Merry-men-of-May, subs. (nautical).—Currents formed by the ebb-tides.

Merry-pin, subs. (old).—A happy chance; a jolly time; a gay mood. In a merry pin = jovially inclined. [See quot. 1655].

1560. Nice Wanton [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 166]. I will set my heart On a merry-pin, Whatever shall befall.

1655. Fuller, Church History, iii. 17. The Dutch, and English in imitation of them, were wont to drink out of a cup marked with certain pins, and he accounted the man who could nick the pin; whereas, to go above or beneath it, was a forfeiture.

1670. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), 174]. To be in a merry-pin.

1715. Pennecuik, Poems (1815), 332. Finding the brethren in a merry pin.

1719. Durfey, Pills etc., i. ... Well, since you’re on the merry pin And make so slight the counter-gin, I’ll do’t.

d. 1774. Fergusson, Poems (1851), ‘A Drink Eclogue,’ 114. And set the saul upon a merry pin.

Merry thought, subs. (colloquial).—The furcula or forked bone of a fowl’s breast.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Catriosso, the bone called the merie thought.

1694. Echard, Plautus [Ency. Dict.]. ‘Let him not be breaking merry-thoughts under the table with my cousin.’

d. 1719. Addison, Omens [Century]. I ... have seen a man in love grow pale, and lose his appetite upon the plucking of a merry thought.

Mesopotamia, subs. (obsolete).—1. Belgravia; Cubitopolis (q.v.). Cf. Asia Minor, New Jerusalem etc.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, xv. p. 143 (1873). A house in Great Adullam Street, Macpelah Square, in that district of London whilom known as Mesopotamia.

2. (Oxford University).—See quot.

1886. Pall Mall Gazette, 23 June, p. 13. Every Oxford man has known and loved the beauties of the walk called Mesopotamia.

The true Mesopotamia ring, phr. (common).—High-sounding and pleasing, but wholly past comprehension. [In allusion to the story of the old woman who told her pastor that she found great support in that blessed word Mesopotamia].

Mess, subs. (colloquial).—1. A difficulty; a fiasco; a muddle. To make a mess of it = to fail utterly or permanently.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. etc., ii. 193. They make it a rule when they receive neither beer nor money from a house to make as great a mess as possible the next time they come.

1880. Life in a Debtor’s Prison, 77. Contemptuous pity due to a poor devil who has made a mess of it.

c. 1884. J. W. Palmer, After His Kind, p. 91. What a mess they made of it!

2. (Winchester College).—See quot.

1866. Mansfield, School Life, 219. The Præfects’ tables in Hall were called ‘Tub, Middle, and Junior mess’ respectively. The boys who dined at each were also so named. Any number of boys who habitually breakfasted together were so called, with some distinguishing prefix, such as Deputy’s mess. In Chambers tea was called mess; as was also the remains of a joint of meat. Lest the reader should make a mess of all these different meanings, I will give a sentence in which they shall all figure, ‘Look.... Junior mess has sat down at Tub mess, but as they will find nothing left but a mess, they had better go down to chambers as mess is ready.’

To mess about, verb. phr. (venery).—1. To take liberties; to firkytoodle (q.v.).

2. (common).—To play fast and loose; to swindle; to put off.

To lose the number of one’s mess, verb. phr. (military and nautical).—To die. For synonyms see Hop the twig.

1834. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxxiii. ‘I can’t say, Mr. Simple,’ said Mr. Chucks to me in an under tone, ‘that I think well of this expedition; and I have an idea that some of us will lose the number of our mess.’

1881. T. F. Keane, Six Months in Meccah, p. 60. Another followed, fetching me one on the skull, that would have ‘settled the number of my mess’ but for the thickness of my too attractive head-dress.

Messel, subs. (old).—A partner; an associate.

1605. London Prodigal, ii. 1. I defy thee; press scoundrells, and thy messels.

Mess-john, subs. (old).—A clergyman: in contempt. [Mass-john]. See John, sense 2.

1772. Stevens, Songs Comic and Satyrical (1788), 169. The next a mess john of rank methodist taint. Who thought like a sinner, but looked like a saint.

1785. Poems in the Buchan Dialect, ii. 42. This breeds ill wills, ye ken fu’ aft, In the black coat, Till poor mass-john and the priest-craft Goes ti’ the pot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Mess-john, a Scotch Presbyterian teacher or parson.

c. 1786. Burns, To a Tailor. An’ syne mess-john, beyond expression, Fell foul o’ me.

Mess-mate, subs. (old: now recognised).—See quot. 1785.

1772. G. A. Stevens, Songs Comic and Satyrical, ‘The Storm.’ Messmates, hear a brother sailor Sing the dangers of the sea.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Mess-mate, one who eats at the same mess, companion, or camerade.

Mesting, subs. (American thieves’).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Mesting. Dissolving; melting.

Met, subs. (American).—A member of the Metropolitan (or New York) Base-Ball Club.

2. in pl. (Stock Exchange).—Metropolitan Railway Shares.

The Met, subs. phr. (London).—The Metropolitan music-hall.

Metal, subs. (common).—1. Money. For synonyms see Actual and Gilt.

2. See Mettle.

Metallician, subs. (obsolete racing).—A bookmaker. [From the use of metallic books and pencils].

1887. Lic. Vict. Gazette, 2 Dec., 359. 2. He may, like Jem Smith, have three big metallicians quarrelling for the honour of being his ‘Captain.’

1887. Daily Telegraph, 12 Mar. As for the long-suffering Australian public, they are mulcted, except in the colony of Victoria, as heavily as the much-taxed metallician.

Metal-rule, subs. (printers’).—An oath; an obscenity. ‘You be metal-ruled’ = ‘You be damned.’ [From the use of ‘—’ in print].

Mettle, subs. (venery).—The semen. For synonyms see Cream and Spendings. Mettled = amorous.

1612. Field, Woman is a Weathercock, i. 2. What a sin were it in me ... to marry a man that wants the mettle of generation.

1649. Davenant, Love & Honour, ii. 1. I must provide her ... broths That may stir mettle in her.... I find Her no more fit for the business of increase Than I am to be a nun.

1672. Howard, All Mistaken, iii. The very same, my mettled female.

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

To fetch mettle, verb. phr. (venery).—To masturbate.—Grose (1785). For synonyms see Frig.

Mettlesome, adj. (old: now recognised).—Bold; spirited.—Grose (1785). [Cf. Mettle].

Mew-mew! intj. (tailors’).—In sarcasm: ‘tell that to the marines’ (q.v.).

Mice-feet. To make mice-feet o’, verb. phr. (old Scots’).—To destroy wholly.

Mich, Micher, Michery, Miching. See Mike, Miker, Mikery, and Miking.

Michael, subs. (old).—A man.

1647. Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, i. 4. There are more maids than Maudlin. And more men than Michael.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Michael. Hip, Michael, your head’s on fire. See Hyp.

Mick (Mike or Micky), subs. (American).—1. An Irishman. Cf. Miker.

1869. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Innocents at Home, 22. The micks got to throwing stones.

2. (Australian).—A young wild bull.

1881. Grant, Bush-life, i. 227. There were two or three mickies and wild heifers.

Mid (or Middy), subs. (common).—A midshipman.

1812. Southey, Letters [ed. Warter, 1856], ii. 315. I have written to Bedford to learn what mids of the Victory fell in that action.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, xii. The purser and doctor, and three of the middies forward, Thomas Cringle, gent., pulling the stroke-oar.

1847. Lytton, Lucretia, pt. ii. ch. 1. Percival was meant for the navy, and even served as a mid for a year or so.

Midden, subs. (Scots’).—A foul slattern; a heap (q.v.). [Midden = dunghill].

An eating midden, subs. phr. (Scots’).—A glutton; a belly-god.

Middies, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Midland Railway Ordinary Stock.

Middle, subs. (venery).—1. The waist.

1640. Wit’s Recr. [Hotten], 136. I care not, let my friend go fiddle; Let him mark her end, I’ll mark her middle.

1719. T. Durfey, Pills to Purge, v. 79. In troth sweet Robin, I cannot, He hath got me about the middle.—Ibid. vi. 31. He took her by the middle, and taught her by the flute.

2. (Fleet St.).—See quot.

1887. Walford’s Antiquarian, Ap., 283. The writer of social, literary and scientific articles for the press is said to be a writer of middles, or a Middleman.

3. (Old Cant).—A finger.

Middle-cut, subs. (Winchester College).—See quot. and Dispar.

1866. Mansfield, School Life, p. 84. There were ... eight [portions] to a leg of mutton ... the thick slice out of the centre of the leg was called a middle cut.

Middle-finger (or Leg), subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick and Prick.

Middle-gate, subs. (venery).—1. The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

1692. Gentlemen’s Journal, Aug., p. 8. You must as cautionary [an earnest] give a gate—that middle gate which leads to th’ seat of bliss.

Middle-kingdom, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

Middle-match. See Match.

Middle-mess, subs. (Winchester College).—See Mess.

Middle-piece, subs. (common).—The stomach. For synonyms see Victualling-office. Also middle-pie and middle-storey.

1675. Crowne, Country Wit, iv. 1. I’ll lodge a cudgel in your middle-storey backward.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Middling, adv. (colloquial).—Tolerably; moderately.

1869. H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 31. Wal, I don’t jedge him nor nobody.... Don’t none on us do more than middlin’ well?

Phr. (tailors’).—‘I don’t think so.’ ‘I don’t believe what you say.’

Middy. See Mid.

Midge, subs. (provincial).—A small one-horse carriage used in the Isle of Wight.

Midge-net, subs. (common).—A lady’s veil.

Midget, subs. (colloquial).—Anything small of its kind; e.g., a sprightly child.

1869. H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 177. Now you know Parson Kendall’s a little midget of a man.

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

Midnight, subs. (American).—Sarsaparilla. Midnight without = sarsaparilla without ice.

As white as midnight’s arse-hole, phr. (old).—As black as may be.

1557–8. Jacob & Esau [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 253]. As white as midnight’s arse-hole or virgin pitch.

Midshipman’s-half-pay, subs. (nautical).—See quot. and Monkey’s Allowance.

1856. C. Kingsley, Letters [3rd abridged ed. 1879], May. You fellows worked like bricks, spent money, and got midshipman’s half-pay (nothing a-day and find yourself) and monkey’s allowance (more kicks than halfpence).

Midshipman’s-nuts, subs. (nautical).—Broken biscuit, eaten by way of dessert.

Midshipman’s Watch and Chain, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. ... a sheep’s heart and pluck.

Midshipmite, subs. (colloquial).—A diminutive midshipman.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, i. p. 56. ‘Clap on here Peg,’ cried the woman to another, ‘and let’s have this little midshipmite, I wants a baby to dry nurse.’

1877. W. S. Gilbert, Bab Ballads, ‘Yarn of the Nancy Bell.’ A bosun tight and a midshipmite.

Miff, subs. (old).—A petty quarrel; a tantrum.

1623. Butler, Feminine Monarchy, c. 5. Fol. l. 4. Your remedy is to knocke out the bees upon the mantle between two single Rests, and to set a fitter Hive over them; but this is not to be done before the swarming hours be fast, lest some of the bees take a miff.

1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, Bk. iii. ch. vi. When a little quarrel, or miff, as it is vulgarly called, arose between them.

1768. Goldsmith, Good-Natured Man, iv. It’s the worst luck in the world, in anything but white. I knew one Bett Stubbs, of our town, that was married in red; and, as sure as eggs is eggs, the bridegroom and she had a miff before morning.

1816. Scott, Antiquary, v. In accomplishing an arrangement between tendencies so opposite, little miffs would occasionally take place.

Verb. (old).—1. To offend; and (2) to fall out.

Adj. (old).—Angered; miffed.

1802. W. Taylor, in Robberds’s Memoir, i. 447. You are right about Burnett, but being miff with him myself, I would not plead against him in the least particular.

1825. Scott, Diary, in Life, viii. 133. This is not the way to make her pluck a bawbee and Lord M—, a little miffed in turn sends the whole correspondence to me.

Miff-maff, subs. (provincial).—Nonsense; rot (q.v.).

Miffy, subs. (common).—The devil; old scratch (q.v.).

Mifty, adv.. (old).—See quot. Cf. Miff.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Mifty, apt to take Pet, or be out of Humour.

Mighty (or Mightily), adj. and adv.. (colloquial).—See quot. 1755. Also mightily.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, iii. 3. 221. You do yourself mighty wrong, Master Ford.

1609. Fletcher, Wild-Goose Chase, iv. 2. This is some mighty dairy-maid in man’s clothes.

1668. Pepys, Diary, 26 Sept. To my house, where D. Gauden did talk a little, and he do mightily acknowledge my kindness to him.

1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, i. 1. Your son’s mighty like his Grace, has just his smile and air of’s face.

1695. Congreve, Love for Love, iii. 4. Scan. Your lady says your sleep has been unquiet of late.... Mrs. Fore. O mighty restless.

1712. Steele, Spectator, No. 438. This gentleman deals mightily in what we call the irony.

d. 1721. Prior, in Wks. [quoted in Ency. Dict.]. He reigns: How long? Till some usurper rise, And he too mighty thoughtful, mighty wise: Studies new lines.

1738. Pope, Epilogue to Sat., ii. 133. But let me add, Sir Robert’s mighty dull.

1755. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. Mighty. In a great degree. Not to be used but in very low language.

1775. Sheridan, The Rivals, iv. 3. There is a probability of succeeding about that fellow that is mighty provoking.

1780. Chastellux, Travels in N. Am., ii. 14. On my asking him the next morning how he found himself, he answered, mighty weak. Ibid. [Note by translator]. Mighty little, mighty few, mighty weak, &c., are favorite expressions in America.

1793. Ld. H. Spencer, in Auckland Correspondence, III. 83 (1862). Madame Bosset is arrived, and mighty plain.

1793. Burns, Impromptu on Mrs. ——’s Birthday. Now, Jove, for once be mighty civil.

1802. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1882), i. 152. He is a mighty neat, pretty little, fiddling fellow, and exceedingly finely bred.

1844. Kendall, Santa Fé Expedition, i. 32. You’ll be mighty apt to get wet, said a thorough-bred Texan, who stood watching our movements.

1846–7. Dickens, Dombey and Son, xi. The Doctor’s was a mighty fine house, fronting the sea.

1847. Halliwell, Archaic and Provincial Words, etc., s.v. Mighty, fine, gay.

1848. Georgia Scenes, 84. His face is mighty little for his body.

1892. Gunter, Miss Dividends, iii. I am mighty glad.

High and mighty, phr. (common).—Consequential; full of ‘airs’.

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, Act. I Sc. 2, p. 10. Ye needna be sae high and mighty, onyway.

Mike, subs. (common).—1. An Irishman.

2. See Miker.

3. See Micky.

Verb. (common).—1. To lurk; to skulk; to hang about: also to do a mike (or mouch). Also mich, miche, mooch, or mouch. For synonyms see Loaf.

149[?]. Towneley Mysteries (‘Judicium’), Surtees Soc. Pub. (1835), p. 320. The negons thai mowchid, and hadde no wile.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Fare a chetichegli ... to sneake or mich about lurkingly.

d. 1599. Spenser, View of the State of Ireland [Ency. Dict.]. ‘Straggle up and down the country, or mich in corners amongst their friends idlely.’

1612. Chapman, Widow’s Tears [Dodsley, Old Plays, vi. 212]. Not for this miching base transgression Of truant negligence.

1613. Beaumont and Fletcher, Hon. Man’s F., v. 1. Say we should all meach here, and stay the feast now, What can the worst be? we have plaid the knaves, That’s without question.

1825. Egan, Life of an Actor, p. 28. Mike or Shammock. Technical or cant phrases amongst printers. To have a mike is to loiter away the time, when it might be more usefully or profitably employed.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab., i. p. 472. These hedge fellows are slow and dull; they go mouching along as if they were croaking themselves.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 59. When not employed mouched about.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good Night. You spongers miking round the pubs.

1888. Cornhill Mag., Febr., p. 178. The poacher is a product of sleepy village life, and usually mouches on the outskirts of country towns.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xxii. Mooching about cattle.

2. (old).—To play truant; to Charley-wag (q.v.).

1581. Lyly, Euphues, 29. What made the gods so often to trewant from heaven, and mich here on earth.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, s.v. Mooch.

3. (tramps’).—To hang about: for alms, a job, or a chance to pilfer. Also on the mouch.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 27 Nov. Yet it might safely be wagered that, while the poor street folk who pick up a precarious livelihood in this way would not resent being called costermongers, they would be bitterly offended at being stigmatised as mouchers, and would hotly assert that they never mouched a penny from anybody.

1888. Indoor Paupers, i. Most of these people knew how to mouch or beg with skill and effect, while I could not beg at all.

1888. Bulletin, Nov. 24. All the dead-beats and suspected hen-snatchers plead when before the Bench that they were ‘only mouching round to find out whether the family neglected its religious dooties, yer washup.’

4. (old).—To steal.

1655. History of Francion [Nares]. The eagle more mindfull of prey than honour, did one day mootch from the thunder which lame Vulcan had made, as crooked as himself, for almighty Jupiter.

1862. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab., iv. 418. I don’t mean to say that if I see anything laying about handy that I don’t mouch it (i.e., steal it).

Miker (Moucher, or Moocher), subs. (common).—A skulker; a petty thief; a beggar. Also, a truant. Also mich and micher. See quots. passim. For synonyms see Loafer.

1360. Chaucer, Rom. of Rose [Skeat (1894), i. 241. 6541]. Unne the that he nis a micher.

1450–1500. Gesta Roman. I. ch. 28, 94. The first [duty] is to wake in goode werkes, when othere men slepithe in synne, and for to slepe, when othere men wakithe, dothe thevis and mychers.

149[?]. Towneley Mysteries [Surtees Soc.’s Pub. (1835), p. 216]. Thefes and mychers keyn.

15[?]. Babees Book [E. E. T. S.], 401. Chyld, be thou lyer nother no theffe: Be thou no mecher for myscheffe.

c. 1520. Hycke Scorner [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), i. 164]. Wanton wenches, and also michers.

1590. Greene, Mourning Garment [Grosart (1881–6), ix. 133]. If Aristotle had still, like a micher been stewed up in Stagyra.

1592. Nashe, Summer’s Last Will [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), viii. 57]. I know thou art but a micher, and dar’st not stand me.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Pillucone, a sot, a coxcombe, a dodger, a wrangler, a micher.

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV, ii. 4. Shall the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher and eat blackberries?

1611. Cotgrave, Dict., s.v. Caqueraffe, a base micher, scurvie hagler, lowsie dodger, etc.

1755. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. Micher. A lazy loiterer, who skulks about in corners and by-places, and keeps out of sight; a hedge-creeper. Mich or mick is still retained in the cant language for an indolent, lazy fellow. It is used in the western counties for a truant boy.

1775. Ash, Eng. Dict., s.v. Mich (a local word). An indolent lazy fellow.

1847. Halliwell, Archaic and Provincial Words, s.v. Mich. Micher ... may be explained, a sly thief, one who steals things of small value, or more usually, a truant or skulking fellow.... It was often used as a term of contempt; Hollyband gives it as the translation of Caignard, and Cotgrave has, ‘Chicke-face, a chichi-face, micher, sneake-bill, wretched fellow.’

1867. London Herald, 23 Mar., p. 221. If ... asked ... what he was doing, he would have said he was on the mouch, which being interpreted—French, mouchard, a spy; English moucher, to be on the look-out for something.

1888. Indoor Paupers, 33. Another and about as numerous a class of Ins and Outs, whose members come and go and come again even more frequently than the tiptop-spree fellows, are the mouchers or cadgers.

1888. Cornhill Mag., Feb., p. 182. It has been already remarked that the poacher is nothing if not a specialist. As yet we have spoken only of the moucher, who directs his attention to fur.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 27 Nov. [A micher is] one who lives a semi-vagabond life, selling watercresses, wild flowers, blackberries, and other things that may be obtained in country places for the gathering. He is a vendor, too, of dandelion leaves, parsley, sow-thistle, clover, and so forth, as food for the myriads of tame rabbits kept in towns.

Miking (Mooching or Mouching), subs. (common).—1. Prowling; (2) pilfering; and (3) playing-truant. Also michery and mikery.

1393. Gower, Conf. Amant., v. Nowe thou shalt fall sore able That like stelthe of micherie. Ibid. For no man of his counsaile knoweth What he maie gette of his michynge.

c. 1420–80. Henryson, Fables, ‘The Fox and the Wolf’ l. 5. That durst no more with miching intermell.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, iii. 2, 147. Marry, this is miching mallecho; it means mischief.

1603. Dekker, Wonderful Yeare, [Grosart (1886), i. 113]. Yet went they (most bitterly) miching and muffled vp and downe.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 115. Sandy Macintosh looked fit for anything, from mouching up to murder, so long as not too much courage was required.

Adj. (common).—1. Skulking; (2) lurking; (3) mean.

15[?]. Songs & Poems on Costume [Percy Soc.], 687. Nothinge so fearde we are of theves Which ofte are layde in jayles, As now we are of myching knaves, That cut off horses tayles.

1616. Beaumont & Fletcher, Scornful Lady, v. 1. Some meeching rascal in her house.

1648. Herrick, Hesp., ii. 67. A cat I keep That plays about my house, Grown fat With eating many a miching mouse.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, xxiii. To mingle the soul of martial honour with thy thieving, miching, petty-larceny blood.

1862. Lowell, Biglow Papers, 2nd Ser. p. 13. But I ain’t o’ the meechin’ kind, thet sets an’ thinks fer weeks The bottom’s out o’ th’univarse coz their own gill-pot leaks.

1890. S. O. Jewett, Deephaven, p. 159. ‘How came the ship to run up a tailor’s bill?’ ‘Why, them’s mine,’ said the captain, very meeching.

Milch-cow, subs. (colloquial).—See quot. 1785. Hence any living source of alms or revenue.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Milch-kine.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Milch-cow. One who is easily tricked out of his property: a term used by gaolers, for prisoners who have money, and bleed freely.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Mild, adj. (common).—Second-rate; feeble; inefficient.

1885. Sat. Review, 7 Feb., p. 166. Most of us have no wish to cheat railway companies by travelling first class at third-class prices, but there are ingenious adventurers who practise this mild swindle.

Draw it mild! See Draw.

Mild-bloater. See Bloater.

Miler (or Myla), subs. (vagrants’).—An ass. See Moke.

Miles’s boy. See Ralph.

Milestone, subs. (old).—A country booby.—Vaux (1823).

Milestone-monger, subs. (common).—A tramp.

Milk, subs. (venery).—Spendings (q.v.).

1669. John Aubrey, MS. Aubr., 21. Her breath is sweet as the rose in June Her skin is as soft as silk And if you tickle her in the flank She’ll freely give down her milk.

Verb. (venery).—1. To cause ejaculation. Cf. Milkman.

1610. Jonson, Alchymist, iii. 2. For she must milk his epididimis.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, iii. 108. May teach her how to sleep all Night, And take a great deal more Delight, To milk the cows than thee.

2. (old).—To plunder.

d. 1536. Tyndall, Workes, p. 365. ‘And to ayd the kynge in hys right must the commons be milked till they bleede agayne.’

1605. Jonson, Volpone, i. 1. This three year I have milked their hopes.

1808. Jamieson, Dict. Scot. Lang., s.v. Milk.

3. (old racing).—To bet against a horse, which is one’s own property but is not meant to win; to keep him a favourite, at short odds, for a race in which he has no chance whatever, or in which he will not be run.

1862. Times, 2 Jan., p. 8, col. 6. If men of fortune and honour will permit their pastime to be sullied by such tricks as milking—by keeping a horse a favorite at short odds for a race in which he has no chance whatever, only to lay against him—etc.

1863. Fraser’s Mag., Dec. ‘The English Turf.’ Milking then is an expressive term for getting as much as possible out of a horse.

1869. W. Bradwood, The O.V.H. xx. They’ll accuse you—or rather me, for he’s entered in my name and colours—of milking right and left.... It’s far simpler to let him run for the public money, and save a jaw and a long explanation.

1870. Field, 14 May, ‘The Present Condition of the Turf.’ We are not in the habit of producing examples of the proceedings at our race meetings, which are in vulgar language described as milking and roping, because we believe them to be so common that it would be unjust to select any one in particular for animadversion.

1871. Fun, 4 Nov. milking we fear is inseparably connected with the turf; we noted that sporting journals of the highest class picked ‘the cream’ of the autumn handicaps.

1888. Referee, 11 Oct. The assumption that no horse other than Paradox has ever been milked in open market, and many thousands of pounds made out of the transaction, is a trifle too utopian for present emergencies.

4. (general).—To get possession by artifice: as, to milk a telegram = to get access to it before the addressee. Cf. Milker, sense 1.

1860. Prescott, Electrical Invent., p. 108. The rapidity and simplicity of the means by which a wire could be milked without being cut, or put out of circuit struck the whole of the party.

1869. Times, 14 August [quoted in Brewer’s Phrase & Fable, s.v. ‘Telegram’]. They receive their telegrams in cipher to avoid the risk of their being milked by rival journals.

1871. Milk Journal. Milking the wires is telegraphic slang for tapping the wires.... In India wires have been milked for fraudulent commercial purposes.

1884. Saturday Review, 10 May, p. 607. The Central News telegram, if it was milked at all, was milked through the medium of Sir C. Wilson’s, etc.

5. (old).—To exhaust; to drain.

1642. Symmons, Vindication, 175. Tho’ perhaps they have been pilled and milk’d a few years longer by these new-states-men it will be confessed that the old government [that of the king] was far the better and more easie.

To give down milk, verb. phr. (old).—To pay.

1655. R. Lestrange, The Reign of King Charles, p. 187. The City was sullen, would not give down their milk, and pleaded want of trade and poverty.

To milk the pigeon, verb. phr. (common).—To attempt impossibilities: cf. Pigeon’s milk.

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

To milk the street, verb. phr. (American).—To hold stock so well in hand as to make it fluctuate as you will.

1870. Medbery, Men and Mysteries of Wall St., 336. There is a distinction between the cliques and brokers.... Great operators rob the brokers by destroying their customers. To use the slang of the financial quarter, they milk the street.

1876. New York Tribune [Bartlett]. The majority of stocks are still blocked, and the market, so far as possible, worked entirely upon the milking process.

To milk over the fence, verb. phr. (common).—See quot.

1871. Milk Journal, Sept. Stealing milk from neighbours’ cows is ... known as milking over the fence.

No milk in the cocoa-nut, adj. phr. (common).—Silly or crazed. For synonyms see Apartments to let.

Bristol-milk. See Bristol.

Milk-and-molasses, subs. (American).—See quot.

1833. Neal, Down Easters, vii. p. 96. The people of this country are of two colours, black and white ... or half-and-half sometimes at the south, where they are called milk-and-molasses.

Milk-and-water, subs. (old).—1. A stuff under this strange designation appears in 16th century inventories, but we have no guide as to what determined its title.—Draper’s Dict.

1555. Inventory of Richard Gurnell, a Kendal clothier, xj. Yards of mylke and watter, 18s.

1571. Inventory of John Wilkenson, of Newcastle, j. Piece of mylk and watter.

2. (venery).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Milk-and-Water. Both ends of the busk. [An old world toast].

Adj. (colloquial).—Insipid: undistinguished; harmless.

1823. Byron, Don Juan, C. viii. stanza 80. And one good action in the midst of crimes Is ‘quite refreshing,’ in the affected phrase Of these ambrosial Pharisaic times, With all their pretty milk-and-water ways.

1847. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, iv. Simple appeals to the affections, which people understood better than the milk-and-water lagrime, sospiri, and felicità of the eternal Donizettian music with which we are favoured now-a-days.

1861. C. Reade, Cloister and the Hearth, xxvi. A milk-and-water bourgeois.

1889. Star, 12 Dec., p. 7, col. 1. The giant will be no milk-and-water giant, as young Mr. Geo. Conquest will represent him.

Milker, subs. (common).—1. See quot. and Milk, verb. sense 4.

1891. Cassell’s Sat. Jour., Sept., p. 1036, col. 2. When a telegram sent to a specific person is surreptitiously made use of or drawn from by others, it is said to have been ‘milked;’ and those who thus steal are called milkers. To guard, as far as possible, against this being done, important special and press messages from abroad, and sometimes home telegrams also, are written in cipher.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. Also milking-pail, milk-jug, and milk-pan. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

3. (colloquial).—A milk-giver.

1854. Quarterly Rev., cxlv. 292. One individual, several years ago, possessed 1500 milkers.

Milker’s-calf, subs. (Australian).—A calf yet with the cow; hence, a mother’s boy or girl.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, i. I used to laugh at him, and call him a regular old crawler of a milker’s calf in the old days.

Milk-fever. See Pencil-fever.

Milk-hole, subs. (Winchester College).—The hole formed by the roush (q.v.) under a pot (q.v.).—Notions.

Milking-pail. To work (or carry) the milking-pail, verb. phr. (old racing).—See Milk, verb., sense 3.

c. 186[?]. Baily’s Magazine. These al fresco speculators have their ‘dead uns’ and carry milking-pails like their more civilized brethren privileged with the entrée to the clubs and the Corner.

Milk-livered, adj. (old colloquial).—Timid; cowardly.

1605–6. Shakspeare, King Lear, iv. 2. Gon. Milk-liver’d man! That bear’st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs.

Milkman (Milker, or Milk-woman), subs. (venery).—A trader in masturbation; a shagster (q.v.).

Milk-shop (Milk-walk, or Milky way), subs. (common).—The paps. For synonyms see Dairies.

1640. Wit’s Recr. [Hotten], 363. Her breast ... Bears up two globes ... Which headed with two rich round Rubies, show Like wanton Rose-buds ... And in the milky-valley that’s between, sits Cupid.

Milk-sop, subs. (old: now recognised).—A coward; a ladified man; a novice; a meacock (q.v.).

1390. Chaucer, Monkes Tale, b. 15396. ‘Allas!’ sche saith, ‘that ever I was i-schape, To wedde a mylk-sop or a coward ape.’

1590. Greene, Mourning Garment [Grosart (1881–6), ix. 173]. What is it for mee to pinne a fayre meacocke and a witty milksop on my sleaue who dare not answere with their swords in the face of the enemy?

1593. Harvey, Pierces Superer. [Grosart (1885), ii. 17]. Are milksop Muses such whiteliuer’d Trontes?

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Biancone, a goodly, great milke-sappe, a fresh-water soldier.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado, v. 1. Boys, apes, braggarts, Jacks, milksops.

1603. Dekker, Patient Grissill [Grosart (1886), v. 167]. Fye, Signior; no musicke in your mouth but battles, yet a meere milkesop?

1618. Field, Amends for Ladies, iv. 2. Thou art a faint-hearted fellow, a milk-sop.

1621. Burton, Anat., p. 143. ’Tis now come to that pass that he is no gentleman, a very milk-sop, a clown.

1660. Tatham, The Rump, i. [Maidment (1873), p. 202]. A meer milksop.... A wheybrain’d fellow.

1892. Evening Standard, 25 Nov. p. 4, c. 5. Everyone knows how boys dread being set down as milksops.

Milk-woman, subs. (Scots’ colloquial).—1. A wet-nurse. Green milk-woman = a woman recently delivered.

2. (venery).—See Milkman.

Milky ones, subs. phr. (common).—White linen rags. Milky-duds = white clothes.—Matsell (1859).

Mill, subs. (pugilistic).—1. A fight; a set-to (q.v.).

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

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 36. We, who’re of the fancy-lay, As dead hands at a mill as they.

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom & Jerry, ii. 1. Cribb. Thank’ye, gentleman, thank’ye—but as I see by our sporting oracle, ‘The Dispatch,’ there’s a mill on foot—I’ll give you, ‘May the best man win.’

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, ‘The Double Cross.’ The mill is o’er, the crosser crost, The loser’s won, the vinner’s lost!

1843. Comic Almanack, 378, ‘Stoppage of the Mills.’ Indeed, I never saw the like, Our minds with wonder it must fill, Though mills ensue when people strike, The strikes have stopp’d full many a mill.

1853. Diogenes, ii. p. 134. Bell’s Life the other day told us of two noted pugilists who (we quote the very words), ‘had a mill for 200l.’ When the decimal coinage is established, they will be able to have no less than five ‘mils’ for a penny.

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-Days, Pt. II. ch. v. A champion was picked out on each side tacitly, who settled the matter by a good hearty mill.

1860. The Druid, Post and Paddock, ‘The Fight for the Belt.’ By sea and by land, in village and town, Nothing whatever seemed to go down, Save the latest on dit of the mill.

1862. The Cork Examiner, 28 March. Since this little event there have been ... some very exciting little mills.

1883. Saturday Review, 31 March, p. 398, col. 1. This apparently harmless elderly victim was a retired light-weight prize-fighter, and so, with the ready consent of everybody, a mill was arranged.

2. (thieves’).—1. The treadmill; (2) a prison.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, 2nd Ser., p. 156 (ed. 1851). A landsman said, ‘I twig the chap—he’s been upon the mill.’

1838. Dickens, Oliver Twist, viii. ‘Was you never on the mill?’ ‘What mill?’ inquired Oliver. ‘What mill!—why, the mill—the mill as takes up so little room that it’ll work inside a stone jug, and always goes better when the wind’s low with people than when it’s high, acos then they can’t get workmen.’

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. etc., i. 390. A few weeks after I was grabbed for this, and got a month at the mill.

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, x. The latter worthy ... gave a policeman such a licking the other night, that he was within an ace of getting a month at the mill.

3. (obsolete).—The old Insolvent Debtors’ Court. Hence, to go through the mill = to be adjudicated bankrupt.

4. (military).—A guard-room in barracks; a jigger (q.v.).

5. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable. Cf. Grind.

1719. Durfey, Pills etc. (quoted in), v. 139. For Peggy is a bonny lass, and grinds well her mill, For she will be Occupied when others they lie still.

6. (old).—A chisel.—Grose (1785); Matsell (1859).

Verb. (pugilistic).—1. To fight; to pummel; to kill: see quot. 1748. To mill the nob = to punch the head.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Mill ... in the Canting Language, means to beat, thresh, maul, or kill a person.

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

1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, i. 10. When his Lordship, instead of redressing, set about milling him for his insolence.

1840. Thackeray, Shabby Genteel Story, viii. He had milled a policeman.

1840. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (The Ghost). Boxing may be a very pretty Fancy, When Messrs. Burke or Bendigo engage:—’Tis not so well in Susan, Jane, or Nancy:—To get well mill’d by any one’s an evil, But by a lady—’tis the very Devil.

1864. Eton School Days, iii. 38. Science, you know, is better than brute force, and although Chorley is older and bigger than me, if I knew how to mill I wouldn’t stand still to be licked.

2. (old).—To rob. Also to break or force. Mill-lay (Grose, 1785) = burglary.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1869), p. 86. Yonder dwelleth a quyere cuffen, it were beneship to myll him.

1598. Stow, Survey of London (ed. 1754, vol. ii. p. 543). Add one phrase more in those times used among this sort, mylken, which is to commit a robbery, or Burghlary in the night in a dwelling house.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne & Candlelight [Grosart, iii. p. 203], ‘The Beggar’s Curse.’ The Ruffin cly the ghost of the Harman-beck.... If we niggle or mill but a poor Boozing-ken.... Straight we’re to the Cuffin Queer forced to bing.

1611. Middleton and Dekker, Roaring Girl, v. 1. A gage of ben Rom-bouse ... is benar than a Caster, Peck, pennam, lay, or popler, Which we mill in deause-a-vile.

1621. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed. Can they cant or mill? Are they masters in their art?

1622–65. Head and Kirkman, English Rogue, ‘Bing out, bien Morts.’ To mill each ken let cove bing then Thro’ Ruffmans, Jague, or Laund.

1661. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, v. 1. Tell us If it be milling of a lag of duds, The fetching-off a buck of clothes, or so?

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

1712. T. Shirley, Triumph of Wit, ‘The Maunder’s Praise of His Strowling Mort.’ If Lour we want; I’ll mill A gage, or nip for thee a bung.

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