tom thumb
A dwarf, a little hop-o'my-thumb.
English · UK & Ireland 1611
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Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
tom toppers
A waterman, from a popular song, entitled, Overboard he vent.
tom tug
A waterman. From the small stage-play. Also rhyming slang for a flat, or rather a "mug."
tom-fool’s colours
Scarlet and yellow, the ancient motley. Occasionally, as a rhyme of quality suitable to the subject,
tom-tom
A street instrument, a kind of small drum beaten with the fingers, somewhat like the ancient tabor; a performer on this instrument. "Hark! ’tis the Indian drum."
tomboy
A romping girl, who prefers the amusement used by boys to those of her own sex.
tomboy
A hoyden, a rude romping girl.
tombstone
A pawn-ticket—"In memory of" whatever has been pawned,—a well-known slang expression with those Londoners who are in the habit of following "my uncle."
tomfoolery
Nonsense; trashy, mild, and innocuous literature.
tommy
Soft Tommy, or white Tommy; bread is so called by sailors, to distinguish it from biscuit. Brown Tommy: ammunition bread for soldiers; or brown bread given to convicts at the hulks.
tommy
Bread,—food generally. Sometimes applied by workmen to the supply of food which they carry in a bag or handkerchief as their daily allowance. TOMMY-BAG is the term for the bag or handkerchief in which the "daily bread" is carried.
tommy o’rann
Scran,—vulgar term for food.
tommy tripe
To pipe; that is, to observe. "Tommy Tripe his plates of meat."
tommy-master
One who pays his workmen in goods, or gives them tickets upon tradesmen, with whom he shares the profit.
tommy-shop
A shop where wages are paid to mechanics or others, who are expected to "take out" a portion of the money in goods. Also, a baker’s shop.
tongue
Tongue enough for two sets of teeth: said of a talkative person. As old as my tongue, and a little older than my teeth; a dovetail in answer to the question, How old are you? Tongue pad; a scold, or nimble-tongued person.
tongue
"to TONGUE a person," i.e., to talk him down. TONGUED, talkative.
tony
A silly fellow, or ninny. A mere tony: a simpleton.
tony lumpkin
A young, clownish country fellow. From She Stoops to Conquer.
tool
The instrument of any person or faction, a cat's paw. See CATS PAW.
tool
As "a poor TOOL," a bad hand at anything.
tooler
A pickpocket. MOLL-TOOLER, a female pickpocket.
tools
The private parts of a man.
tooth
"he has cut his eye TOOTH," i.e., he is sharp enough, or old enough, to do so; "old in the TOOTH," far advanced in age,—said often of old maids. From the stable term for aged horses which have lost the distinguishing marks in their teeth.
tooth-pick
A large stick. An ironical expression.
tootsies
Feet, those of ladies and children in particular. In married life it is said the husband uses this expression for the first six months; after that he terms them "hoofs."
top
The signal among tailors and sempstresses for snuffing the candle; one cries TOP, and all the others follow; he who last pronounces the word has to snuff the candle.
top diver
A lover of women. An old top diver; one who has loved old hat in his time.
top jint
(vulgar pronunciation of joint), a pint—of beer.
top lights
The eyes. Blast your top lights. See CURSE.
top ropes
To sway away on all top ropes; to live riotously or extravagantly.
top up
A finishing drink. "He drank two bottles of claret and one of port, which he TOPPED UP with half a bottle of brandy."
top-dressing
In journalism, is the large-type introduction to a report, generally written by a man of higher literary attainments than the ordinary reporter who follows with the details.
top-sawyer
The principal of a party, or profession. "A TOP-SAWYER signifies a man that is a master-genius in any profession. It is a piece of Norfolk slang, and took its rise from Norfolk being a great timber county, where the TOP SAWYERS get double the wages of those beneath them."—Randall’s Diary, 1820.
toper
One that loves his bottle, a soaker. SEE TO SOAK.
topped
Hanged, or executed.
topper
A violent blow on the head.
topper
Anything or person above the ordinary; a blow on the head. "Give him a TOPPER and chance it," "Let him have a TOPPER for luck."
topping fellow
One at the top or head of his profession.
topsy-turvy
The bottom upwards. Grose gives an ingenious etymology of this once cant term, viz., "top-side turf-ways,"—turf being always laid the wrong side upwards. This is so far ingenious that it creates a fact for the purpose of arguing from it. Turfs are laid with the grass part together during carriage; so, anyhow, the definition could be only half right. In fact, TOPSY-TURVY is but short for "top-side t’other way."
tormentors
The large iron flesh-forks used by cooks at sea.
torpids
The second-class race-boats at Oxford, answering to the Cambridge "sloggers."
torrac
A carrot. "Ekat a TORRAC."
tory
An advocate for absolute monarchy and church power; also an Irish vagabond, robber, Or rapparee.
toshers
Men who steal copper from ships’ bottoms in the Thames.
toss
A measure of sprats.—Billingsgate.
tot
A small glass; a "TOT o’ whisky" is the smallest quantity sold.
tot-up
To add together,—as columns of figures, £ s. d. From TOTAL-UP, through the vulgarism TOTTLE.
totting
Bone-picking, either peripatetically or at the dust-heaps. "TOT" is a bone, but chiffoniers and cinder-hunters generally are called TOT-PICKERS nowadays. TOTTING also has its votaries on the banks of the Thames, where all kinds of flotsam and jetsam, from coals to carrion, are known as TOTS.
totty-headed
Giddy, hare-brained.
touch
To touch; to get money from any one; also to arrest. Touched in the wind; broken winded. Touched in the head; insane, crazy. To touch up a woman; to have carnal knowledge of her. Touch bone and whistle; any one having broken wind backwards, according to the vulgar law, may be pinched by any of the company till he has touched bone (i.e. his teeth) and whistled.
touch
A slang expression in common use in phrases which express the extent to which a person is interested or affected, "as a fourpenny TOUCH," i.e., a thing costing fourpence. See an example in Mr., afterwards Sir Erasmus, Philipps’s Diary, at Oxford, in 1720. "Sept. 22.—At night went to the ball at the Angel, a guinea TOUCH." It is also used at Eton in the sense of a "tip," or present of money; and is sometimes said of a woman to imply her worthlessness, as, "Only a half-crown TOUCH."
touch-and-go
An expression often applied to men with whom business arrangements should be of the lightest possible character. Thus, "He’s a TOUCH-AND-GO sort of fellow. Be careful of him."
toucher
"as near as a TOUCHER," as near as possible without actually touching.—Coaching term. The old Jarveys, to show their skill, used to drive against things so closely as absolutely to touch, yet without injury. This they called a TOUCHER, or TOUCH-AND-GO, which was hence applied to anything which was within an ace of ruin.
touchy
Peevish, irritable. Johnson terms it a low word.
tout
In sporting phraseology a TOUT signifies an agent in the training districts, on the look-out for information as to the condition and capabilities of those horses entering for a coming race. TOUTS often get into trouble through entering private training-grounds. They, however, are very highly paid, some making 40l. or 50l. a week during the season. Now frequently called horse-watchers.
touter
A looker out, one who waits at railway stations and steamboat piers, and touts for customers; a hotel runner. Term in general use.
touting
(From TUERI, to look about) Publicans fore-stalling guests, or meeting them on the road, and begging their custom; also thieves or smugglers looking out to see that the coast is clear. Touting ken; the bar of a public house.
touzle
To romp with or rumple.—Scotch.
tovt
A look-out house, or eminence.