monkey-boat
A peculiar, long, narrow, canal boat.
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monkey’s allowance
To get blows instead of alms, more kicks than halfpence.
monks and friars
Terms used by printers: monks are sheets where the letters are blotted, or printed too black; friars, those letters where the ink has failed touching the type, which are therefore white or faint.
monmouth cap
A soldier's cap. The soldiers that the Monmouth wear, On castles' tops their ensigns rear. The best caps were formerly made at Monmouth, where the cappers' chapel doth still remain. — FULLER: Worthies of Wales, p. 50.
monniker
A person’s name or signature.
monopoly money
Money that is worthless or has no real value
monosyllable
A woman's commodity.
Mons Meg
A great 15th-century piece of artillery in Edinburgh Castle, made at Mons, in Flanders. It was considered a palladium by the Scotch. Cp. LONG MEG.
Monsieur de Paris
The public executioner or Jack Ketch of France. Riccardo de Albertes was a personal friend of all the "Messieurs de Paris," who served the Republic. He attended all capital executions. — Newspaper Para- graph, January 25th, 1893.
Monsieur le Grand
The Grand Equerry of France in the reign of Louis XIV, etc. Grand.
Montagu Street
The tradition is that at the time of the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion two- brothers fought each other here till both were killed, and for many years forty impressions of their feet remained on the field, and no grass would grow there, or upon the spot upon a bank where the young woman they were fighting for sat watching the duel. The site was built upon about 1800.
month in, month out
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
month of Sundays
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Monumental City
Baltimore, Maryland, is so called because it abounds in monuments; witness the obelisk, the 104 churches, etc.
moo juice
Cow's milk.
moocah
marijuana
mooch
To sponge; to obtrude oneself upon friends just when they are about to sit down to dinner, or other lucky time—of course quite accidentally. Compare HULK. To slink away, and allow your friend to pay for the entertainment. In Wiltshire, TO MOOCH is to shuffle. See the following.
mooching
Or ON THE MOOCH, on the look-out for any articles or circumstances which may be turned to a profitable account; watching in the streets for odd jobs, horses to hold, &c.; also scraps of food, drinks, old clothes, &c.
moon
A month; generally used to express the length of time a person has been sentenced by the magistrate; thus "one MOON" is one month of four weeks. A calendar month is known as a "callingder" or long MOON. A "lunar MOON," ridiculous as the phrase may seem, is of constant use among those who affect slang of this description.
moon rakers
Wiltshire men: because it is said that some men of that county, seeing the reflection of the moon in a pond, endeavoured to pull it out with a rake.
Moon's Huen
Thieves and highwaymen who ply their trade by night. The fortune of us thai are but Moon's-men doth ebb and flow like the sea. — I Henry IV, i, 2.
moon-raker
A native of Wiltshire; because it is said that some men of that county, seeing the reflection of the moon in a pond, took it to be a cheese, and endeavoured to pull it out with a rake.
mooncurser
A link-boy: link-boys are said to curse the moon, because it renders their assistance unnecessary; these gentry frequently, under colour of lighting passengers over kennels, or through dark passages, assist in robbing them. Cant.
mooney
Intoxicated, a name for a silly fellow.
mooning
Loitering, wandering about in a purposeless manner.
moonlight
Or MOONSHINE, smuggled spirits. From the night-work of smugglers.
moonlight and roses
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
moonlight flit
To leave a place suddenly and secretly, often to avoid paying debts.
moonlight flit
A clandestine removal of one's furniture during the night, to avoid paying one's rent or having the furniture seized in payment thereof.
moonshee
A learned man, professor, or teacher.—Anglo-Indian.
moonshine
A matter or mouthful of moonshine; a trifle, nothing. The white brandy smuggled on the coasts of Kent and Sussex, and the gin in the north of Yorkshire, are also called moonshine.
moonshine
Palaver, deception, humbug.
Moore's La It a Rookh
The Peri laments her expulsion from heaven, and Is told she \vill be readmitted if she will bring to the gate of heaven the "gift most dear to the Almighty." After a number of unavailing offerings she brought a guilty old man, who wept with re- pentance, and knelt to pray. The Peri offered the Repentant Tear, and the gates flew open.
mootah
Marijuana.
mop
A kind of annual fair in the west of England, where farmers usually hire their servants.
mop
A hiring place (or fair) for servants. Steps are often "about to be taken" to put down these assemblies, which have been proved to be greatly detrimental to the morality of the poor. They are supposed to contribute largely to the bastardy percentages.
mop up
To drink, or empty a glass.—Old Sea term.
moped
Stupid, melancholy for want of society.
mops and brooms
Intoxicated. Supposed by an imaginative person to be the appearance presented by the world to a very drunken man. Possibly the term was first used to express sea-sickness.
mopsey
A dowdy, or homely woman.
mopsqueezer
A maid servant, particularly a housemaid.
mopus
Money.
mopusses
Money; "MOPUSSES ran taper," money ran short.
moral
A forthcoming result which appears certain—originally MORAL certainty. This is racing slang, as, "The race is a MORAL for Cremorne." These MORALS are often, however, of very uncertain tenure.
moral bankruptcy
Complete lack of moral principles or values
moral evidence
That which accords with general experience.
moral high ground
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
moral liberty
Such freedom as is essential to render a person responsible for what he does, or what he omits to do.
moral low ground
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
moral of the story
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
morally bankrupt
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Moran's Collar
In Irish folk-tale, the collar of Moran, the wise councillor of Feredach the Just, an early king of Ireland, before the Christian era, which strangled the wearer if he deviated from the strict rules of equity. Moratorium (mor A tor' i iim) (Lat. morari^ to daUy). A legal permission to defer for a Hated time the payment of a bond, debt, or other obligation.
mordor
Russia.
more and more
Increasing in amount or degree
more cry than wool
More noise or complaint than substance or profit
more equal
Having more power or privilege than others
more fire in the bed-straw
More mischief brewing. A relic of the times when straw was used for beds.
more haste, less speed
Acting too quickly can lead to mistakes and decreased efficiency
More haste, less speed. (Strauss, 1994 p. 1095)
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
more kicks than ha'pence
More abuse than profit. Called "monkey's allowance" in allusion to monkeys led about to collect ha'pence by exhibiting "their parts." The poor brutes get the kicks if they do their parts in an unsatisfactory manner, but the master gets the ha'pence collected.