dry behind the ears
fully mature and responsible
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dry bob
A smart repartee: also copulation without emission; in law Latin, siccus robertulus.
dry bob
A boy at Eton College who plays cricket and football instead of going in for rowing.
dry boots
A sly humorous fellow.
dry eye
without shedding a tear
dry goods
Merchandise such as cloth, stuffs, silks, laces, and drapery in general, as opposed to groceries.
Dry January
Abstaining from alcohol for the month of January
dry lodging
Sleeping and sitting accommodation only, without board. This is lodging-house keepers’ slang, and is generally used in reference to rooms let to lodgers who take their meals at their clubs, or in the City, according to their social positions.
dry lodgings
An old expression for sleeping accommodation without board. Gentlemen who took their meals at clubs lived in "dry lodgings.
dry one's eyes
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
dry out
to become or make something free from excess moisture
dry run
a practice or test performance without actual implementation
dry shave
A shave without soaping the face; to scrape the face with a piece of iron hoop; to scratch the face; to box it and bruise it.
dry up and blow away
To disappear or die out completely
dry wine
Opposed to sweet or fruity wine. In sweet wine some of the sugar is not yet decomposed ; m dry wine all the sugar has been converted into alcohol. In the same way we speak of a dry biscuit as opposed to a sweet biscuit.
dryasdust
An antiquary. From Scott.
dub
A picklock, or master-key. CANT.
dub
To pay or give; "DUB UP," pay up.
dub lay
Robbing houses by picking the locks.
dub the jigger
Open the door. CANT.
dub up
Pay down the money; "fork out!" Another form of dup (q v.), do up.
dubash
A general agent.—Anglo-Indian.
dubber
A picker of locks. CANT.
dubber
The mouth or tongue; "mum your DUBBER," hold your tongue.
dubsman
A jailer.
dubsman
Or SCREW, a turnkey.—Old Cant.
ducange anglicus
—The Vulgar Tongue: comprising Two Glossaries of Slang, Cant, and Flash Words and Phrases used in London at the present day, 12mo. 1857.
ducat
A ticket.
ducats
Money.—Theatrical Slang.
duck
A lame duck; an Exchange-alley phrase for a stock-jobber, who either cannot or will not pay his losses, or, differences, in which case he is said to WADDLE OUT OF THE ALLEY, as he cannot appear there again till his debts are settled and paid; should he attempt it, he would be hustled out by the fraternity.
duck
A bundle of bits of the "stickings" of beef sold for food to the London poor.—See FAGGOT.
duck and cover
take shelter immediately
duck down
to lower or hide oneself quickly
duck f-ck-r
The man who has the care of the poultry on board a ship of war.
Duck Lane
Duck Lane (now Duke Street, leading from Little Britain to Long Lane, in the City of London), in Queen Anne's time was famous for its second-hand bookstalls. Scotists and Thomists now in peace remam Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck Lane. POPE: Essay on Criticism.
duck off
to leave quickly or secretly
duck out
to leave quickly or secretly
duck soup
Something very easy to do
duck's egg
In cricket a score of 0 — i.e. no score at all , the cipher on the sheet resembling an egg. To break one's duck's egg, or one's duck, is, of course, to make one run or more.
ducked off
Left quickly or secretly
ducket
A ticket of any kind. Generally applied to pawnbroker’s duplicates and raffle cards. Probably from DOCKET.
ducks
Trousers. Sea term. The expression most in use on land is "white DUCKS," i.e., white pantaloons or trousers.
ducks and drakes
to spend or waste money recklessly
ducks and drakes
The ricocheting or re- bounding of a stone thrown from the hand to skim along the surface of a pond or river. To play ducks and drakes with one's money is to throw it away carelessly and just on amuse- ment or for the sake of watching it go and making a splash.
ducks and geese
police
duddering rake
A thundering rake, a buck of the first head, one extremely lewd.
dude
A tourist.
Dude Ranch
Ranch in the Western States of America especially organized as a holiday camp for inexperienced horsemen.
dudeen
Or DUDHEEN, a short tobacco-pipe. Common term in Ireland and the Irish quarters of London.
duds
Clothes, or personal property. Gaelic, DUD; Ancient Cant; also Dutch.
due course
Happening or done as a normal part of a process
due to somebody
caused by someone's action or decision
duff
To cheat, to sell spurious goods, often under pretence of their being stolen or smuggled.
duffer
A hawker of "Brummagem" or sham jewellery, or of shams of any kind, a fool, a worthless person. DUFFER was formerly synonymous with DUDDER, and was a general term given to pedlars. It is mentioned in the Frauds of London (1760) as a word in frequent use in the last century to express cheats of all kinds.
duffers
Cheats who ply in different parts of the town, particularly about Water-lane, opposite St. Clement's church, in the Strand, and pretend to deal in smuggled goods, stopping all country people, or such as they think they can impose on; which they frequently do, by selling them Spital-fields goods at double their current price.
duffing
False, counterfeit, worthless.
duffy
A term for a ghost or spirit among the West Indian negroes. In all probability the DAVY JONES of sailors, and a contraction thereof originally.
dugee
Heroin.
duke
Gin, a term amongst livery servants.
Duke Combe
William Combe (1741-1820), author of The Tours of Dr. Syntax, etc., was so called, because of the splendour of his dress, the profusion of his table, and the magnificence of his deportment, in the days of his prosperity. Having spent all his money he turned author, but passed the last fifteen years of his life m the King's Bench Prison.
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