caxon
An old weather-beaten wig.
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Cecil's Fast
A dinner off fish. William Cecil, Lord Burghley, chief minister to Queen Elizabeth for nearly forty years, introduced a Bill to enjoin the eating of fish on certain days in order to restore the fish trade.
cede the field
To withdraw or surrender, often due to being outmatched or overwhelmed.
cela va sans dire
That is a self-evident fact; well understood or indisputable.
Celestial City
Heaven is so called by John Bunyan in his Pilgrim 's Progress.
cell phone
a portable telephone
celly
A cellmate.
celtic curse
Alleged curse said to afflict a sports team
Celtic Scotland
(Gael, comh ranach, crying together.) Pennant says it was called by the Irish hululoo.
center field
a key or central position
center part
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Central Europe
The Aryan family of lan- guages includes Sanskrit, Zend, Latin, Greek, Celtic, Persian and Hindu, with all the Euro- pean, except Basque, Turkish, Hungarian, and
Centre Party
In politics, the party occupying a place between two extremes: the left centre is the more radical wing, and the right centre the more conservative. In the French Revolution the Centre of the Legislative Assembly included the friends of order.
centrelink time
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Cepheus and Cassiopeia
Her mother boasted Angary 35 Angelas that the beauty of Andromeda surpassed that of the Nereids; so the Nereids induced Neptune to send a sea-monster to the country, and an oracle declared that Andromeda must be given
cestui que vie
This and the two following are old Anglo-French legal terms (cestui — he or him). The person for whose life any lands or hereditaments may be held.
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.
chain lightning
Two or more flashes of lightning repeated without intermission.
Chair of St
Peter. The office of the Pope of Rome, founded by St. Peter, the apostle; but St. Peter's Chair means the Catholic festival held in commemoration of the two episcopates founded by the apostle, one at Rome, and the other at Antioch (January 18th and February 22nd).
chal
Old Romany term for a man; CHIE was the name for a woman.
chalk and cheese
completely different
chalk and talk
a teaching method using blackboard and lecture
chalk off
to dismiss or ignore something
chalk something up to experience
Regard a failure as a learning experience
chalk up to
regard as due to a particular reason
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.
chalks
"to walk one’s CHALKS," to move off, or run away. An ordeal for drunkenness used on board ship, to see whether the suspected person can walk on a chalked line without overstepping it on either side.
challenging a jury
This may be to object to all the jurors from some informality in the way they have been "arrayed" or empanelled, or to one or more of the jurors, from some real or supposed disqualification or bias of judg- ment. In the first case it is a challenge to the array, and this must be based on some default of the sheriff, or his officer who arrayed the panel.
chamber and pilloried
He is said to have recanted later and to have become an Anti- nomian, and his followers became absorbed by the Seventh-day Baptists (<?.v.).
champagne taste on a beer budget
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Champion of England
A person whose office it is to ride up Westminster Hall on a Corona- tion Day, and challenge anyone who disputes the right of succession. The office was established by William the Conqueror, and was given to Marmion and his male descen- dants, with the manor of "broad Scrivelsby." De Ludlow received the office and manor through the female line; and at the Coronation of Richard II Sir John Dymoke succeeded through the female line also.
chance upon
To find or encounter something by accident
chance'd be a fine thing
something is unlikely to happen
chancel of a church
That part of a church which contains the altar, and the seats set apart for the choir. It is generally raised a step or more above the floor of the nave.
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The minister of finance in the Cabinet; the highest financial official of State in the kingdom.
chancery
A pugilistic phrase for difficulties; "to get a man’s head into CHANCERY," i.e., to get an opponent’s head firmly under one’s arm, where it can be pommelled with immense power, and without any possibility of immediate extrication. From the helplessness of a suitor in Chancery. This opportunity was of very rare occurrence when the combatants were at all evenly matched.
chances are
it is likely or probable that
chancre mechanic
A medic.
change
Small money. The overplus returned after paying for a thing in a round sum. Hence a slang expression used when a person receives a "settler" in the shape of either a repartee or a blow—"Take your CHANGE out of that!"
change collars
To change jobs or careers
change hands
be sold or transferred to a new owner
change horses in midstream
To switch to a new approach or leader during a difficult situation
change of clothes
A different set of clothes
change of heart
A reversal of one's feelings or decision
change of life
A significant period of transition or transformation in life
change of pace
A new or different experience that breaks up routine
change of scenery
A new environment or situation to refresh one's mind
change of tack
To suddenly change one's approach or direction
change one's battery
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
change one's mind
Decide something different from what was previously thought
change one's story
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
change one's tune
To alter one's attitude or opinion
change over
to switch or exchange something for another
change the channel
To switch to a different topic or activity
change the game
Completely alter a situation or activity
change up
To throw a pitch at a much slower than expected speed.
Channel Islands
It is the title of a poem by Swinburne in his Songs of the Springtides.
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