Chi-Town
Chicago.
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chibuli
beer
chicago overcoat
Synonym of concrete overcoat or cement shoes.
chick-a-biddy
A chicken, so called to and by little children.
chicken
A coward.
chicken
A term applied to anything young, small, or insignificant; CHICKEN STAKES, small paltry stakes; "she’s no CHICKEN," said of an old maid.
chicken and dumplings
A comforting food, often associated with feeling better when sick.
chicken feed
A very small amount of money
chicken liver
A coward.
chicken nabob
One returned from the East Indies with but a moderate fortune of fifty or sixty thousand pounds, a diminutive nabob: a term borrowed from the chicken turtle.
Chicken of St Nicholas
So the Pied- montese call our "ladybird," the little red beetle with spots of black. The Russians know it as "God's little cow," and the Germans, who say it is sent as a messenger of love, "God's little horse.
chicken out
To withdraw or back down from a situation due to fear
chicken scratch
poor or illegible handwriting
chicken-breasted
Said of a woman with scarce any breasts.
chicken-hammed
Persons whose legs and thighs are bent or archward outwards.
chicken-hearted
Cowardly, fearful. With about the amount of pluck a chicken in a fright might be supposed to possess.
chickenshit
Petty; contemptibly unimportant. (Compare bullshit.)
chickie
A woman.
chiefie
A chief.
child
To eat a child; to partake of a treat given to the parish officers, in part of commutation for a bastard child the common price was formerly ten pounds and a greasy chin. See GREASY CHIN.
Child of God
In the Anglican and Catholic Church, one who has been baptized; others consider the phrase to mean one con- verted by special grace and adopted into the holy family of God*s Church.
child's play
a task that is very easy to do
Childe Harold
Byron's poem depicts a man sated of the world, who roams from place to place to flee from himself. The "Childe" is, in fact, Lord Byron himself, who was only twenty-one when he began, and twenty-eight when he finished the poem. In canto i (1809), he visited Portugal and Spain; in canto ii (1810), Turkey in Europe; in canto iii (1816), Belgium and Switzerland; and in canto iv (1817), Venice, Rome, and Florence.
Childe Roland
Youngest brother of the "fair burd Helen" in the old Scottish ballad. Guided by Merlin, he undertook to bring his sister from Elf-land, whither the fairies had carried her, and succeeded in his perilous ex- ploit.
children are uncertain comforts but certain cares
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
children should be seen and not heard
Children should be quiet and obedient
children under the girdle
Not yet born. He has a large mouth but small girdle. Great expenses but small means.
children’s shoes
(to make), to be made nought of.—See SHOES.
chill
To warm, as beer. This at first seems like reversing the order of things, but it is only a contraction of "take the CHILL off."
chill to the bone
extremely frightened or shocked
chillax
To relax; to be laid back.
chilly climate
An unfriendly or unwelcoming atmosphere
Chiltern Hundreds
There are three, viz. Stoke, Desborough, and Burnham, Bucks. At one time the Chi Items, between Bedford and Hertford, etc.
chimney chops
An abusive appellation for a negro.
chimney-sweep
The aperient mixture commonly called a black draught.
chimneypot hat
The cylindrical black silk hat, usually known as the top-hat or silk hat.
chin
Talk.
chin-chin
A salutation, a compliment.—Anglo-Chinese.
chin-wag
Officious impertinence.
China Pay
A mineral, obtained largely from Cornwall, used in the manufacture of porce- lain, and by papermakers to obtain finish and consistency, also for coating art and chromo papers.
china plate
A mate.
China syndrome
A hypothetical nuclear reactor meltdown scenario
china's final warning
A last and urgent warning before taking action
chinaman on one's back
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Chinese compliment
a compliment that is actually an insult
Chinese Gordon
General Gordon (killed at Khartoum in 1885), who in 1863 was placed in command of the Ever- Victorious Army (#.v.) and in the following year succeeded, after thirty-three engagements, in putting down the Taeping rebellion, which had broken out in 1851. For this service Gordon was rewarded by the Emperor with the yellow jacket and peacock's feather of a mandarin of the first class.
Chinese green
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Chinese overtime
Working long hours without extra pay
Chinese puzzle
A complex problem that is difficult to solve
Chinese Wall
A barrier to communication or interaction
Chinese water torture
A method of torture or persuasion using slow, repetitive actions
ching
Money (from the sound of a cash register ringing up an amount).
chinging
A stabbing.
chink
Or CHINKERS, money.—Ancient. Derivation obvious.
chink in the armor
A weakness or vulnerability in someone's defenses
chink up
to pay or give money
chinker
Money.
chip
To leave.
chip
A child. A chip of the old block; a child who either in person or sentiments resembles its father or mother.
chip away
Gradually reduce or wear something down
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