cask
Fashionable slang for a brougham, or other private carriage. Not very general. "PILLBOX" is the more usual term.
English · UK & Ireland 17968
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Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
cassam
Cheese—not CAFFAN, which Egan, in his edition of Grose, has ridiculously inserted.—Ancient Cant. Latin, CASEUS. Gael. and Irish, CAISE.
cast
To assist by lightening labour. Men in small boats who want to be towed behind steamers or sailing vessels, say "Give us a CAST." Also used by waggoners and others, who sometimes vary the performance by asking, when stuck on a hill, for a pound, possibly a pound of flesh, horse or human.
castle rag
A flag,—cant term for fourpence.
castor
A hat. To prig a castor; to steal a hat.
castor
A hat. Mostly used in pugilistic circles. Indeed many hangers-on of the P.R. have considered that the term arose from the custom of casting the hat into the ring, before entering oneself. CASTOR was the Latin name for the animal now known as the BEAVER; and, strange to add, BEAVER was the slang for CASTOR, or hat, many years ago, before gossamer came into fashion.
cat
A common prostitute. An old cat; a cross old woman.
cat
A lady’s muff; "to free a CAT," i.e., steal a muff.
cat and bagpipean society
A society which met at their office in the great western road: in their summons, published in the daily papers, it was added, that the kittens might come with the old cats without being scratched.
cat call
A kind of whistle, chiefly used at theatres, to interrupt the actors, and damn a new piece. It derives its name from one of its sounds, which greatly resembles the modulation of an intriguing boar cat.
cat harping fashion
Drinking cross-ways, and not, as usual, over the left thumb. SEA TERM.
cat in pan
To turn cat in pan, to change sides or parties; supposed originally to have been to turn CATE or CAKE in pan.
cat lap
Tea, called also scandal broth. See SCANDAL BROTH.
cat match
When a rook or cully is engaged amongst bad bowlers.
cat of nine tails
A scourge composed of nine strings of whip-cord, each string having nine knots.
cat sticks
Thin legs, compared to sticks with which boys play at cat. See TRAPSTICKS.
cat's foot
To live under the cat's foot; to be under the dominion of a wife hen-pecked. To live like dog and cat; spoken of married persons who live unhappily together. As many lives as a cat; cats, according to vulgar naturalists, have nine lives, that is one less than a woman. No more chance than a cat in hell without claws; said of one who enters into a dispute or quarrel with one greatly above his match.
cat's paw
To be made a cat's paw of; to be made a tool or instrument to accomplish the purpose of another: an allusion to the story of a monkey, who made use of a cat's paw to scratch a roasted chesnut out of the fire.
cat's sleep
Counterfeit sleep: cats often counterfeiting sleep, to decoy their prey near them, and then suddenly spring on them.
cat-faced
A vulgar and very common expression of contempt in the North of England.
cat-heads
A Woman's breasts. SEA PHRASE.
cat-in-the-pan
A traitor, a turncoat—derived by some from the Greek, καταπαν, altogether; or—and more likely—from cake in pan, a pan-cake, which is frequently turned from side to side.
cat-lap
A contemptuous expression for weak drink. Anything a cat will drink is very innocuous.
catamaran
An old scraggy woman; from a kind of float made of spars and yards lashed together, for saving ship-wrecked persons.
catamaran
A disagreeable old woman.—Thackeray.
cataract
Once a black satin scarf arranged for the display of jewellery, much in vogue among "commercial gents." Now quite out of date.
catch club
A member of the patch club; a bum bailiff.
catch fart
A footboy; so called from such servants commonly following close behind their master or mistress.
catch penny
Any temporary contrivance to raise a contribution on the public.
catch pole
A bum bailiff, or sheriff's officer.
catch-penny
Any temporary contrivance to obtain money from the public; penny shows, or cheap exhibitions. Also descriptions of murders which have never taken place.
catch-’em-alive
A humane trap; also a small-tooth comb. A piece of paper smeared with a sweet sticky substance which is spread about where flies most abound, and in this sense not particularly humane. The CATCH-’EM-ALIVE trap for rats and other such animals is humane compared with the gin trap.
catchbet
A bet made for the purpose of entrapping the unwary by means of a paltry subterfuge. See CHERRY COLOUR.
catching harvest
A dangerous time for a robbery, when many persons are on the road, on account of a horse-race, fair, or some other public meeting.
catchy
(similar formation to touchy), inclined to take an undue advantage.
cater cousins
Good friends. He and I are not cater cousins, i.e. we are not even cousins in the fourth degree, or four times removed; that is, we have not the least friendly connexion.
caterwauling
Going out in the night in search of intrigues, like a cat in the gutters.
caterwauling
Applied derisively to inharmonious singing; also love-making, from the noise of cats similarly engaged.
catever
A queer, or singular affair; anything poor, or very bad. From the Lingua Franca, and Italian, CATTIVO, bad. Variously spelled by the lower orders.—See KERTEVER.
cathedral
Old-fashioned. An old cathedral-bedstead, chair, &c.
cats and dogs
It is said to rain cats and dogs when a shower is exceptionally heavy. Probably in ridicule of the remarkable showers which used to find their way into the papers during the "silly season."
cattle
Sad cattle: whores or gypsies. Black cattle, bugs. CANT.
cattle
A term of contempt applied to the mob, or to a lot of lazy, helpless servants.
cat’s-meat
A coarse term for the lungs—the "lights" or lungs of animals being usually sold to feed cats.
cat’s-paw
A dupe or tool. From the old story of the monkey who used the cat’s-paw to remove his roast chestnuts from the fire. A sea term, meaning light and occasional breezes occurring in calm weather.
caucus
A private meeting held for the purpose of concerting measures, agreeing upon candidates for office before an election, &c. This is an American term, and a corruption of CAULKER’S MEETING, being derived from an association of the shipping interest at Boston, previous to the War of Independence, who were very active in getting up opposition to England.—See Pickering’s Vocabulary.
cauliflower
A large white wig, such as is commonly worn by the dignified clergy, and was formerly by physicians. Also the private parts of a woman; the reason for which appellation is given in the following story: A woman, who was giving evidence in a cause wherein it was necessary to express those parts, made use of the term cauliflower; for which the judge on the bench, a peevish old fellow, reproved her, saying she might as well call it artichoke.
caulk
To take a surreptitious nap; sleep generally, from the ordinary meaning of the term; stopping leaks, repairing damages, so as to come out as good as new.—Sea term.
caulker
A dram. The term "caulker" is usually applied to a stiff glass of grog—preferably brandy—finishing the potations of the evening. See WHITEWASH.
caution
Anything out of the common way. "He’s a CAUTION," is said of an obdurate or argumentative man. The phrase is also used in many ways in reference to places and things.
cautions
The four cautions: I. Beware of a woman before.--II. Beware of a horse behind.--III. Beware of a cart side-ways.--IV. Beware of a priest every way.
cavaulting
A vulgar phrase equivalent to "horsing." The Italian CAVALLINO, signifies a rake or debauchee.—Lingua Franca, CAVOLTA. From this comes the Americanism "cavorting," running or riding round in a heedless or purposeless manner.
cave
Or CAVE IN, to submit, shut up.—American. Metaphor taken from the sinking of an abandoned mining shaft.
caxon
An old weather-beaten wig.
chafed
Well beaten; from CHAUFFE, warmed.
chaff
To gammon, joke, quiz, or praise ironically. Originally "to queer" represented our modern word "CHAFF." CHAFF-bone, the jaw-bone.—Yorkshire. CHAFF, jesting. In Anglo-Saxon, CEAF is chaff; and CEAFL, bill, beak, or jaw. In the Ancren Riwle, A.D. 1221, CEAFLE is used in the sense of idle discourse.
chaffer
The mouth; "moisten your CHAFFER," i.e., take something to drink.
chal
Old Romany term for a man; CHIE was the name for a woman.
chalkers
Men of wit, in Ireland, who in the night amuse themselves with cutting inoffensive passengers across the face with a knife. They are somewhat like those facetious gentlemen some time ago known in England by the title of Sweaters and Mohocks.
chalking
The amusement above described.