cast up
To wash something onto the shore.
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
cast up one's accounts
To calculate and review one's financial situation
casting vote
The vote of the presiding officer when the votes of the assembly are equal. This final vote casts, turns, or deter- mines the question.
castle in the air
An unrealistic or fanciful plan or idea
castle is a culverin
So called from Lat. colubrinus (Fr. coulevrine), snake-like.
Castle of Bungay
In Camden's Britannia (1607) the following lines are attributed to Lord Bigod of Bungay on the borders of Suffolk and Norfolk:—
Castle of Indolence
In Thomson's poem of this name (1748) it is situated in the land of Drowsiness, where every sense is steeped in enervating delights. The owner was an enchanter, who deprived all who entered his domains of their energy and free will.
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.
Castor and Pollux
Two people or things closely connected or inseparable
casus belli
(Lat.). A ground for war; an occurrence warranting inter- national hostilities.
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 and dog life
a life of constant fighting or disagreement
Cat and Fiddle
Several fanciful derivations have been found for this inn sign. There can be little doubt that it comes from the nursery rhyme, with a possible reference to the once popular game of tip-cat or trap-ball, and the fiddle for a dance that were provided as attractions for customers. It is worth men- tioning that the Dunciad (i, 224) refers in contempt to Gibber as "the Bear and Fiddle of the town.
Cat and Kittens
A public-house sign, alluding to the range of pewter-pots of various sizes that were so called. Stealing these pots was termed "cat and kitten sneaking.
cat and mouse
a situation where someone is being chased or pursued by someone else
Cat and Mouse Act
To play cat and mouse with one is "to have him on a string"; while he is in your power to pretend constantly to let him go, but not actually to do so. During the Suffragette agitation at the beginning of the 20th century an Act was passed in 1912 with the object of rendering nugatory the tactics of imprisoned suffragettes who went on "hunger-strike.
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 got someone's tongue
Unable to speak due to nervousness or surprise
cat harping fashion
Drinking cross-ways, and not, as usual, over the left thumb. SEA TERM.
cat ice
Very thin, almost transparent ice from which the water that was underneath has receded; so slight as to be unable to bear a cat.
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 in the meal-tub
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cat in the sack
something unpleasant or of poor quality that is hidden or disguised
cat lap
Tea, called also scandal broth. See SCANDAL BROTH.
cat match
When a rook or cully is engaged amongst bad bowlers.
cat o' mountain
The wild-cat; also the leopard, or panther; hence a wild, savage sort of man.
cat of nine tails
A scourge composed of nine strings of whip-cord, each string having nine knots.
cat piss
something of very poor quality
Cat Stane
The name given to certain monoliths in Scotland (there is one near Kirkliston, Linhthgow), so called from Celtic cath, a battle, because they mark the site of some battle. They are not Druidical stones.
cat sticks
Thin legs, compared to sticks with which boys play at cat. See TRAPSTICKS.
cat that ate the canary
Someone who looks smug and self-satisfied
cat's cradle
A complex or confusing situation
cat's cradle
A game played with a piece of twine by two children. The suggestion that the name is a corruption of cratch-cradle, or the manger cradle m which the infant Saviour was laid (cratch is the Fr. creche, a rack or manger), is unsupported by any evidence.
cat's eye
A gem which possesses chatoy- ancy, or a changeable lustre. The true, or precious, cat's eye is a variety of chrysoberyl. The semi-precious cat's eye is a kind of quartz.
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 meow
Something or someone excellent or wonderful
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's water
Gin.
cat's whisker
In the old-fashioned crystal wireless sets this was the name, given to the fine wire that made contact with the crystal.
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.
catbird seat
A position of power or advantage
catch a body
to find a romantic partner
catch a break
Experience good luck or a favorable situation
catch a case
to be charged with or accused of a crime
catch a date
Succeed in arranging a social engagement with someone
catch a fade
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
catch a falling knife
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
catch a packet
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
catch a stray
To hear or notice something indirectly
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