canary fit
singing or performing well
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canary in a coal mine
Early warning of potential danger or problem
cancel someone's Christmas
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Candid Camera
An unseen camera which is used to photograph an unsuspecting subject. Candid camera shots, which are often ridicu- lous, are much used m pictorial journalism.
candle in the wind
A person whose life is fragile and vulnerable to external forces.
Candlemas Day
February 2nd, the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, when Christ was presented by her in the Temple; one of the quarter days in Scotland. In Catholic churches all the candles which will be needed in the church during the year are consecrated on this day; they symbolize Jesus Christ, called "the light of the world, and "a light to lighten the Gentiles.' The Romans had a custom of burning candles to scare away evil spirits.
candlesticks
Bad, small, or untunable bells. Hark! how the candlesticks rattle.
cane
To lay Cane upon Abel; to beat any one with a cane or stick.
canhouse
A brothel.
canicular year
The ancient Egyptian year, computed from one heliacal rising of the 0og Star (Sirius) to the next.
canister
The head.—Pugilistic.
Canister Shot
A projectile, used before the invention of the shell, consisting of a container full of shot which disintegrated and showered its contents on the enemy.
canned
Drunk.
Cannel Coal
A corruption of candle coal, so called from the bright flame unmixed with smoke, which this highly bituminous coal yields in combustion.
cannibals
The training boats for the Cambridge freshmen, i.e., "CANNOT-PULLS." The term is applied both to boats and rowers.—See SLOGGERS. Torpids is the usual term for the races in which these men and machines figure.
cannikin
A small can: also, in the canting sense, the plague.
cannikin
A small can, similar to PANNIKIN. "And let the CANNIKIN clink."
cannister
The head. To mill his cannister; to break his head.
Cannon and Ball
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
cannot make it
Unable to attend or participate
canon law
A collection of ecclesiastical laws which serve as the rule of church govern- ment. The professors or students of canon law are known as canonists.
canonical dress
The distinctive or appro- priate costume worn by the clergy according to the direction of the canon. Bishops, deans, and archdeacons, for instance, wear canonical hats. This distinctive dress is sometimes called simply "canonicals"; Macaulay speaks of "an ecclesiastic in full canonicals." The same name is given also to the special robes of other professions, and to special parts of such robes, such as the pouch on the gown of an M.D.
Canonical Epistles
The seven catholic epistles, i.e. one of James, two of Peter, three of John, and one of Jude. The epistles of Paul were addressed to specific churches or to individuals.
canonical hours
The different parts of the Divine Office which follow and are named after the hours of the day. They are seven — viz. matins, prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline, Prime, tierce, sext, and nones are the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours of the day, counting from six in the morning. Compline is a corruption of completorium (that which completes the services of the day).
canonical obedience
The obedience due by the inferior to the superior clergy.
canopic vases
Vases used by the Egyptian priests for holding the viscera of bodies em- balmed, four being provided for each body. So called from Canopus, m Egypt, where they were first used.
cans
breasts
cant
An hypocrite, a double-tongue palavering fellow. See PALAVER.
cant
A blow or toss; "a CANT over the kisser," a blow on the mouth; "a CANT over the buttock," a throw or toss in wrestling.
cantab
A student at Cambridge.
cantankerous
Litigious, bad-tempered. An American corruption probably of contentious. A reviewer of an early edition of this book derives it from the Anglo-Norman CONTEK, litigation or strife. Others have suggested "cankerous" as the origin. Bailey has CONTEKE, contention as a Spenserian word, and there is the O.E. CONTEKORS, quarrelsome persons.
Cantate Sunday
Rogation Sun- day, the fourth Sunday after Easter. So called from the first word of the introit of the mass: "Sing to the Lord." Similarly "Lsetare Sunday " (the fourth after Lent) is so called from the first word of the mass.
Canterbury Bells to St
Augustine of England. Crocus „ St. Valentine. Crown Imperial „ Edward the Confessor.
canterbury story
A long roundabout tale.
Canterbury Tales
Chaucer set it forth that he was in company with a party of pilgrims going to Canterbury to pay their devotions at the shrine of Thomas a Becket. The party assem- bled at an inn in Southwark, called the Tabard, and there agreed to tell one tale each, both in going and returning. He who told the best tale was to be treated with a supper on the homeward journey. The work is incomplete, and we have none of the tales told on the way home.
canting
Preaching with a whining, affected tone, perhaps a corruption of chaunting; some derive it from Andrew Cant, a famous Scotch preacher, who used that whining manner of expression. Also a kind of gibberish used by thieves and gypsies, called likewise pedlar's French, the slang, &c. &c.
canting academy
Or, Villanies Discovered, wherein are shown the Mysterious and Villanous Practices of that Wicked Crew—Hectors, Trapanners, Gilts, &c., with several new Catches and Songs; also Compleat Canting Dictionary, 12mo, frontispiece. 1674.
canting dictionary
Comprehending all the Terms, Antient and Modern, used in the several Tribes of Gypsies, Beggars, Shoplifters, Highwaymen, Foot-Pads, and all other Clans of Cheats and Villains, with Proverbs, Phrases, Figurative Speeches, &c., to which is added a complete Collection of Songs in the Canting Dialect, 12mo. 1725.
canting:
A Poem, interspersed with Tales and Additional Scraps, post 8vo. 1814.
canuckistani
Canadian.
canuckistanian
Canadian.
canuckland
Canada
canvasseens
Sailors’ canvas trousers.
cap
A false cover to a tossing coin. The term and the instrument are both nearly obsolete. See COVER-DOWN.
cap acquaintance
Persons slightly acquainted, or only so far as mutually to salute with the hat on meeting. A woman who endeavours to attract the notice of any particular man, is said to set her cap at him.
cap acquaintance
A bowing acquaintance. One just sufficiently known to touch one's cap to.
cap and bells
The insignia of a professional fool or jester.
CAP AND BELLS above
Their headgear was a cap with bells. One is bound to speak the truth . . . whether he mounts the cap and bells or a shovel hat [like a bishop]. — THACKERAY.
cap and feather days
The time of child- hood. Here I was got into the scenes of my cap and feather days. — COBBETT.
cap and gown
academic regalia worn for graduation ceremonies
cap and gown
The full academical costume of a university student, tutor, or master, worn at lectures, examinations, and after "hair* (dinner).
cap in hand
Submissively. To wait on a man cap in hand is to wait on him like a servant, ready to do his bidding.
cap it all off
to complete or finalize something perfectly
cap money
Money collected in a cap or hat; hence an improvised collection.
cap of liberty
When a slave was manu- mitted by the Romans, a small Phrygian cap, usually of red felt, called pileus, was placed on his head, he was termed hbertinus (a freed- man), and his name was registered in the city tribes. When Saturninus, in 100 B.C.
Cap of Maintenance
A cap of dignity anciently belonging to the rank of duke; the fur cap of the Lord Mayor of London, worn on days of state; a cap carried before the British sovereigns at their coronation. The significance of maintenance here is not known, but the cap was an emblem of very high honour, for it was conferred by the Pope three times on Henry VII and once on Henry VIII.
cap over the windmill
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cap-enese
Dishonesty.
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown (1715- 83) landscape gardener and architect, one of the founders of the modern or English style ot landscape gardening. He received this name because he habitually assured prospective employers that their land held great capa- bilities.
cape cart
This is the name given to a two- wheeled, hooded, horse-drawn cart originally used in Cape Colony and S. Africa generally.
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