Clabber Napper's Hole
Near Gravesend; said to be named after a freebooter; but more likely the Celtic Caerber Varber (water-town lower camp).
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clack
A tongue, chiefly applied to women; a simile drawn from the clack of a water-mill.
Clack Dish
A dish or basin with a movable lid. Some two or three centuries ago beggars used to proclaim their want by clacking the lid of a wooden dish.
clack-box
A garrulous person, so called from the rattle formerly used by vagrants to make a rattling noise and attract attention.—Norfolk.
clack-loft
A pulpit, so called by orator Henley.
clacker
A testicle.
claggum
Boiled treacle in a hardened state, hardbake.—See CLIGGY.
claim someone's life
cause someone's death
clam
A dollar.
clam smacker
A lesbian.
clamp down on
to suppress or control something strictly
clan
A family's tribe or brotherhood; a word much used in Scotland. The head of the clan; the chief: an allusion to a story of a Scotchman, who, when a very large louse crept down his arm, put him back again, saying he was the head of the clan, and that, if injured, all the rest would resent it.
clank
A silver tankard. CANT.
clank napper
A silver tankard stealer. See RUM BUBBER.
clap
To strike the palms of the hands together, creating a sharp sound.
clap
A venereal taint. He went out by Had'em, and came round by Clapham home; i.e. he went out a wenching, and got a clap.
clap
To place; "do you think you can CLAP your hand on him?" i.e., find him out. CLAP is also a well-known form of a contagious disease.
clap cheeks
To have sex or have sex with.
clap eyes on
to see something or someone for the first time
clap on the shoulder
An arrest for debt; whence a bum bailiff is called a shoulder-clapper.
clap one's hands red
to applaud enthusiastically
clap up
to imprison
clap-trap
High-sounding nonsense. An ancient theatrical term for a "TRAP to catch a CLAP by way of applause from the spectators at a play."—Bailey’s Dictionary.
clapper
The tongue of a bell, and figuratively of a man or woman.
clapper
The tongue. Said of an over-talkative person, to be hung in the middle and to sound with both ends.
clapper claw
To scold, to abuse, or claw off with the tongue.
clapperdogeon
A beggar born. CANT.
Clarenceux King of Arms
So called from the Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV. His jurisdiction extends over England south of the Trent.
clarendon type
A bold-faced, condensed type, such as that used for the "catch-words" which head these articles.
claret
French red wine; figuratively, blood. I tapped his claret; I broke his head, and made the blood run. Claret-faced; red-faced.
claret
Blood.—Pugilistic. Otherwise Badminton—which see.
claret cup
A drink made of claret, brandy, lemon, borage, sugar, ice, and carbonated water.
clash of the ash
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
clashy
A low fellow, a labourer.—Anglo-Indian.
class
The highest quality or combination of highest qualities among athletes. "He’s not CLASS enough," i.e., not good enough. "There’s a deal of CLASS about him," i.e., a deal of quality. The term as used this way obtains to a certain extent among turfites.
class clown
A student who entertains classmates with jokes and antics
Classic Races
The five chief horse-races in England, all for three-year-olds, are: The One Thousand Guineas, for fillies only, and the Two Thousand Guineas, for fillies and colts,
Classic, a book which people praise and don't read. (Mark Twain)
A highly acclaimed book that is rarely actually read
Classical Latin
The Latin of the best authors of the Golden or Augustan Age (about 75 B.C. to A.D. 145), as Livy, Tacitus, and Cicero (prose), Horace, Virgil, and Ovid (poets).
clawed off
Severely beaten or whipped; also smartly poxed or clapped.
clawhammer coat
An American term for a tail-coat used in evening costume. Also known as a steel-pen coat.
clean
Expert; clever. Amongst the knuckling coves he is reckoned very clean; he is considered very expert as a pickpocket.
clean
Quite, or entirely; "CLEAN gone," entirely out of sight, or away.—Old, see Cotgrave and Shakspeare. CLEAN CONTRARY, quite different, opposite.
clean and sober
Not using or addicted to drugs or alcohol
clean and tidy
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
clean as a bean
Very clean.
clean as a hound's tooth
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
clean as a new pin
Very clean.
clean as a whistle
Completely clean or pure
clean break
A complete and final separation or end to a relationship
clean hands
Having no involvement in something wrong or illegal
clean money
Legitimately earned money, not from illegal activities
clean someone's clock
to defeat or beat someone thoroughly
clean something up
make something tidy or organized
clean up
to make something clean and tidy
clean up one's act
Improve one's behavior or performance
cleanliness is next to godliness
Maintaining cleanliness is a moral virtue.
clear
Very drunk. The cull is clear, let's bite him; the fellow is very drunk, let's cheat him. CANT.
clear blue water
A significant difference or gap between two things
clear cut
Obvious or easy to understand
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