by the way
Used to introduce a new topic or remark
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by trade
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by vice of
through a fault or defect
by virtue of
because of something
by word of mouth
Orally. As "he took it down by word of mouth" (as it was spoken by the speaker).
byblow
An illegitimate child.
bye
Goodbye.
Bye Plot
This was a plot hatched in 1603 by a Catholic priest, Watson, who worked up a number of Catholic gentry to secure the person of James I and force him to grant toleration to Catholics and Puritans. The plot was muddled and mismanaged from the outset, Watson was beheaded, his fellow conspirators were imprisoned or banished.
Byzantine Empire
The Eastern or Greek Empire, which lasted from the separation of the Eastern and Western Empires on the death of Theodosius m A.D. 395, till the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453.
c'est magnifique
C'est magnifique, mats ce rfest pas la guerre.
ca ira
The name, and refrain, of a popular patriotic song in France which became the Carillon National of the French
ca' canny
A Scots expression meaning "go easily," "don't exert yourself," It is used in trade-union slang for working to rule, and is the method adopted by workmen for the pur- pose of bringing pressure on the employers when, in the workmen's opinion, a strike would be hardly justifiable, expedient, or possible. Ca' is Scots caw, to drive or impel.
ca-sa
A writ of capias ad satisfaciendam.—Legal slang.
cab
A brothel. Mother: how many tails have you in your cab? how many girls have you in your bawdy house?
cab
In statutory language, "a hackney carriage drawn by one horse." Abbreviated from the French CABRIOLET; originally meaning "a light low chaise." The wags of Paris playing upon the word (quasi cabri au lait) used to call a superior turn-out of the kind a cabri au crême. Our abbreviation, which certainly smacks of slang, has been stamped with the authority of the Legislature, and has been honoured by universal custom.
cabbage
Cloth, stuff, or silk purloined by laylors from their employers, which they deposit in a place called HELL, or their EYE: from the first, when taxed, with their knavery, they equivocally swear, that if they have taken any, they wish they may find it in HELL; or, alluding to the second, protest, that what they have over and above is not more than they could put in their EYE.--When the scrotum is relaxed or whiffled, it is said they will not cabbage.
cabbage
Pieces of cloth said to be purloined by tailors. Any small profits in the way of material.
cabbage-head
A soft-headed person.
cabbaged
Very drunk.
cabby
Popular name for the driver of a cab. This title has almost supplanted the more ancient one of jarvey.
Cabinet Ministers
In British politics, a deliberative committee of the principal mem- bers of the Government, who are privileged to consult and advise the sovereign (originally in his private cabinet, or chamber), and who lead, and are responsible to, Parliament. The number of members has varied from a dozen to as many as twenty-two, but it always contains the chief officers of state, viz.
caboose
The galley or cook-house of a ship; a term used by tramps to indicate a kitchen.
cacafeogo
A sh-te-fire, a furious braggadocio or bully huff.
Cachecope Bell
In some parts of England it was customary to ring a bell at a funeral when the pall was thrown over a coffin. This was called the cachecope bell, from Fr., cache corps, conceal the body. Cachet (kash' a) (Fr.). A seal; hence, a dis- tinguishing mark, a stamp of individuality.
cack
To laugh.
cackle
To blab, or discover secrets. The cull is leaky, and cackles; the rogue tells all. CANT. See LEAKY.
cackleberry
An egg.
cackling-cove
An actor. Also called a MUMMERY-COVE.—Theatrical.
cacoethes loquendi
A passion for making speeches or for talking.
cacoethes scribendi
The love of rushing into print; a mania for authorship.
cad
Or CADGER (from which it is shortened), a mean or vulgar fellow; a beggar; one who would rather live on other people than work for himself; a man who tries to worm something out of another, either money or information. Johnson uses the word, and gives huckster as the meaning, in which sense it was originally used. Apparently from CAGER, or GAGER, the old Cant term for a man. The exclusives at the English Universities apply the term CAD to all non-members.
caddee
A helper. An under-strapper.
Cader Idris
Cader in Welsh is "chair," and Idris is the name of one of the old Welsh giants. The legend is that anyone who passes the night sitting in this "chair" will be either a poet or a madman.
cadge
To beg. Cadge the swells; beg of the gentlemen.
cadge
To beg in an artful, wheedling manner.—North. In Scotland to CADGE is to wander, to go astray. See under CODGER.
cadging
Begging, generally with an eye to pilfering when an opportunity occurs. To be "on the cadge" is almost synonymous with "on the make."
cadillac problem
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cadmean letters
The sixteen simple Greek letters said, in Greek mythology, to have been introduced by Cadmus (tf.v.) from Phoenicia.
cadmean victory
A victory purchased with great loss. The allusion is to the armed men who sprang out of the ground from the teeth of the dragon sown by Cadmus (q.v ), who fell foul of each other, only five escaping death.
caesar's wife must be above suspicion
Those in positions of power must be beyond reproach
caesarian operation
The extraction of a child from the womb by cutting the abdomen ; so called because Julius Caesar was thus brought into the world.
cag
To be cagged. To be sulky or out of humour. The cove carries the cag; the man is vexed or sullen.
cag
To irritate, affront, anger. Schoolboy slang.
cag magg
Bits and scraps of provisions. Bad meat.
cage
A minor kind of prison. A country lock-up which contained no offices.
cagg
To cagg; a military term used by the private soldiers, signifying a solemn vow or resolution not to get drunk for a certain time; or, as the term is, till their cagg is out: which vow is commonly observed with the strictest exactness. Ex. I have cagg'd myself for six months. Excuse me this time, and I will cagg myself for a year. This term is also used in the same sense among the common people of Scotland, where it is performed with divers ceremonies.
cagg maggs
Old Lincolnshire geese, which having been plucked ten or twelve years, are sent up to London to feast the cockneys.
cagmag
Bad food, scraps, odds and ends; or that which no one could relish. Grose give CAGG MAGGS, old and tough Lincolnshire geese, sent to London to feast the poor cockneys. Gael., French, and Welsh, CAC, and MAGN. A correspondent at Trinity College, Dublin, considers this as originally a University slang term for a bad cook, κακὸς μάγειρος. There is also a Latin word used by Pliny, MAGMA, denoting dregs or dross.
cah
Because.
Cain and Abel
Two people who are closely related but have a contentious relationship
Cain-coloured Beard
Yellowish, or sandy red, symbolic of treason. In the ancient tapestries Cain and Judas are represented with yellow beards; but it is well to note that in the extract below the word, in some editions, is printed "ca«£-coloured." See YELLOW.
cake
A "flat;" a soft or doughy person, a fool.
cake and gingerbread
Something very easy to obtain or achieve
cake crumbs
Small, scattered remains of something
cake walk
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cakehole
The mouth.
cakes and ale
Pleasurable things in life
cakes and ale
A good time. Life is not all cakes and ale. Life is not all beer and skittles — all pleasure.
cakey-pannum-fencer
Or PANNUM-FENCER, a man who sells street pastry.
calaboose
A prison.—Sea slang, from the Spanish.
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