clown college
A place or situation where people are perceived as foolish or incompetent.
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clown school
A place or situation where people learn or exhibit absurd or foolish behavior.
cloy
To steal. To cloy the clout; to steal the handkerchief. To cloy the lour; to steal money. CANT.
club
A meeting or association, where each man is to spend an equal and stated sum, called his club.
club
In manœuvring troops, so to blunder in giving the word of command that the soldiers get into a position from which they cannot extricate themselves by ordinary tactical means. Young officers frequently "CLUB" their men, and get consequently "wigged" by the inspecting general.
club law
Argumentum bacculinum, in which an oaken stick is a better plea than an act of parliament.
club nine
The team.
Club Parliament
The Parliament held at Nottingham in 1426, during the quarrel be- tween the Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort, so called because the members, being forbidden to wear swords, came armed with cudgels, or "bats." Also called the Bats Parliament.
cludge
A toilet.
clue stick
a hint or reminder to help someone understand or remember
clump
A lump. Clumpish; lumpish, stupid.
clump
To strike, to beat.—Prov.
clunch
An awkward clownish fellow.
clunge
Vulva or vagina.
clutch artist
Someone who performs well under pressure
clutches
Hands, gripe, power.
clutter
A stir, noise, or racket: what a confounded clutter here is!
cly
Money; also a pocket. He has filed the cly; he has picked a pocket. CANT.
cly
A pocket.—Old Cant for to steal. A correspondent derives this word from the Old English, CLEYES, claws; Anglo-Saxon, CLEA. This pronunciation is still retained in Norfolk; thus, to CLY would mean to pounce upon, to snatch.—See FRISK. Gael., CLIAH (pronounced CLEE), a basket.
Clym of the Clough
A noted archer and outlaw, supposed to have lived shortly before Robin Hood, who, with Adam Bell and William of Cloudesly, forms the subject of one of the ballads in Percy's Reliquest the three becoming as famous in the north of England as Robin Hood and Little John in the midland counties. Their place of resort was in Engle- wood Forest, near Carlisle. Clym of the Clough means Clement of the Cliff.
clyster pipe
A nick name for an apothecary.
coach
A private tutor. Originally University, but now general. Any man who now trains or teaches another, or others, is called a coach. To coach is to instruct as regards either physical or mental acquirements. A private tutor is sometimes termed a RURAL COACH when he is not connected with a college. At Rugby a flogging is termed a "coaching."
coach wheel
A half crown piece is a fore coach wheel, and a crown piece a hind coach wheel; the fore wheels of a coach being less than the hind ones.
coach-wheel
Or TUSHEROON, a crown-piece, or five shillings.
coachee
A coachman.
coaching
A flogging.
coal
Money; "post the COAL," put down the money. The phrase was used by Mr. Buckstone at the Theatrical Fund Dinner of 1863. From this is derived the theatrical term COALING, profitable, very good, which an actor will use if his part is full of good and telling speeches—thus, "my part is full of COALING lines." This term was used in the sporting world long anterior to Mr. Buckstone’s speech. See COAL.
coal brandy
Burnt brandy. The ancient \ way to set brandy on fire was to drop in it a live or red-hot piece of charcoal.
coaley
A coalman.
coals
"to haul (or pull) over the COALS," to take to task, to scold. Supposed by Jamieson to refer to the ordeal by fire. To "take one’s coals in," is a term used by sailors to express their having caught the venereal disease. It means that they have gotten that which will keep them hot for a good many months.
coasting trade
Trade between ports of the same country carried on by coasting vessels.
coasting waiter
An officer of Customs in the Port of London, whose duty it was to visit and make a return of coasting vessels which (from the nature of their cargo) were not re- quired to report or make entry at the Custom House, but which were liable to the payment of certain small dues. The coasting waiter collected these, and searched the cargo for contraband goods.
coat and tie
formal business attire for men
Coat of Anns
Originally, a surcoat worn by knights over their armour, decorated with devices by which the wearer could be described and recognized; hence the heraldic device of a family. The practice of bearing on the armour or its covering some distinguishing mark is of very ancient date.
cobbing
A punishment inflicted by sailors and soldiers among themselves. See Grose and Captain Marryat’s novels. A hand-saw is the general instrument of punishment.
cobbler
A mender of shoes, an improver of the understandings of his customers; a translator.
cobbler's punch
Gin and water, with a little treacle and vinegar.
cobbler's toast
Schoolboys' bread and butter, toasted on the dry side and eaten hot.
cobbler, keep to your last
Stick to your area of expertise
cobblers
testicles.
cobblers children are worst shod
Those closest to a problem often suffer the most from it
cobblers punch
Treacle, vinegar, gin, and water.
Cochin China
When powdered it becomes a brilliant yellow which forms a pigment in water-colour paints.
cock
A familiar term of address; "jolly old COCK," a jovial fellow, "how are you, old COCK?" Frequently rendered nowadays, COCK-E-E, a vulgar street salutation—probably a corruption of COCK-EYE. The latter is frequently heard as a shout or street cry after a man or boy.
cock a snook
To show contempt or defiance
cock ale
A provocative drink.
cock and a bull story
A roundabout story, without head or tail, i.e. beginning or ending.
Cock and Bottle
A public-house sign, probably meaning that draught and bottled ale may be had on the premises. If so, the word "cock" would mean the tap.
cock and bull story
A long, rambling anecdote.—See Peroration to Tristram Shandy.
cock bawd
A male keeper of a bawdy-house.
cock cheese
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cock holster
Anything that serves as a receptacle for a man's penis during sex.
cock in the henhouse
A person who is in a position to exploit or take advantage of others
Cock Lane Ghost
A tale of terror without truth , an imaginary tale of horrors. In Cock Lane, Smithfield (1762), certain knockings were heard, which Mr.
Cock Lorell's Bote
A pamphlet published by Wynkyn de Worde about 1510, satirizing contemporary lower-middle-class life and introducing all sorts of rogues and vagabonds in the guise of a crew which takes ship and sails through England.
cock of the company
A weak man, who from the desire of being the head of the company associates with low people, and pays all the reckoning.
Cock of the North
George, fifth Duke of Gordon (1770-1836), who raised the Gordon Highlanders in 1795, is so called on a monu- ment erected to his honour at Fochabers, in Morayshire.
cock of the roost
The person in charge or dominant in a group
cock of the walk
The dominant bully or master spirit. The place where barndoor fowls are fed is the walk, and if there is more than one cock, they will fight for the supremacy of this domain.
cock off
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
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