stovepipe hat
A tall, flat-crowned hat
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Stovepipe Hat
An old-fashioned tall silk hat, a chimney-pot hat (q.v.). High collars, tight coats, and tight sleeves were worn at home and abroad, and, as though that were not enough, a stovepipe hat. — Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, Sept. 1891.
stow
Stow you; be silent, or hold your peace. Stow your whidds and plant'em, for the cove of the ken can cant'em; you have said enough, the man of the house understands you.
stow
To leave off, or have done; "STOW it, the gorger’s leary." Leave off, the person is looking. See STASH, with which it is synonymous.—Ancient Cant.
stow faking!
Leave off there, be quiet! FAKING means anything that may be going on.
straight
An American phrase peculiar to dram-drinkers; similar to our word NEAT, which see.
straight and narrow
Behaving correctly and morally
straight away
Immediately or without delay
straight face
To remain serious and not laugh
straight from the horse's mouth
Directly from the original or most reliable source
straight from the horse's mouth
Direct from the highest authority, which can not be questioned. The only certain way of discover- ing the age of a horse is by examining its lower jaw.
straight from the shoulder
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
straight from the shoulder
With full force. A boxing term. The government shall he upon his shoulder (Is. ix, 6). The allusion is to the key slung on the shoulder of Jewish stewards on public occasions, and as a key is emblematic of government 'and power, the metaphor is very striking.
straight goods
Truthful or genuine information
straight man
A person who plays the role of a serious and unamused character
straight out of the chute
Starting immediately or right away
straight shooter
Someone who speaks honestly and directly
straight-face test
A test of credibility or believability
straighten out
To solve or resolve a problem or situation
straighten up
Improve one's behavior or posture
straighten up and fly right
To improve one's behavior or situation
straightener
A prearranged fight to settle a dispute.
strain a point
To stretch or interpret a rule or situation too far
strain at a gnat
To be overly concerned with a small problem
strain at the leash
To be eager to start or take action, but be restrained
strain every nerve
Make a great effort to do something
strain the potatoes
To urinate.
straining upon the start
The game's afoot! Follow your spirit! — SHAKESPEARE. Henry F, ui, I.
strait and narrow
A strict and virtuous course of behavior
strait waistcoat
A tight waistcoat, with long sleeves coming over the hand, having strings for binding them behind the back of the wearer: these waistcoats are used in madhouses for the management of lunatics when outrageous.
strait-laced
Precise, over nice, puritanical.
stralia
Australia.
strange bedfellows
Unlikely allies or partners
strange bird
An unusual or eccentric person
Strange Case of Dr
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, first published in 1886. Jellyby, Mrs. (jel' i bi). The type of the en- tnusiastic, unthinking philanthropist who for- gets that charity should begin at home. Dickens, Bleak House.
strangle the parrot
to suppress or stifle one's creativity
strap
A barber. From Roderick Random.
strap oil
Slang for a thrashing. See above. Strappado (stra pa' do) (Ital. strappare, to pull). A mode of torture formerly practised for extracting confessions? retractations, etc. The hands were tied behind the back, and the victim was pulled up to a beam by a rope tied to them and then let down suddenly; by this means a limb was not infrequently dislocated, Were 1 at the strappado or the rack, I'd give no man a reason on compulsion. — I Henry IP, ii, 4.
strap on a pair
To become brave or courageous
strapper
A large man or woman.
strapping
Lying with a woman. CANT.
Strassburg Goose
A goose fattened, crammed, and confined in order to enlarge its liver from which is made true pat6 de foie gras.
straw
A good woman in the straw; a lying-in woman. His eyes draw straw; his eyes are almost shut, or he is almost asleep: one eye draws straw, and t'other serves the thatcher.
straw
Married ladies are said to be "in the STRAW" at their accouchements. The phrase is a coarse metaphor, and has reference to farmyard animals in a similar condition. It may have originally been suggested to the inquiring mind by the Nativity.
straw poll
Informal vote used to gauge opinion
straw that stirs the drink
The person who makes things happen or has the most influence
strawberry mark
A birthmark something like a strawberry. In Morton's Box and Cox the two heroes eventually reco'gnize each other as long-lost brothers through one of them having a strawberry-mark on his left arm.
strawberry preachers
So Latimer called the non-resident country clergy, because they "come but once a yeare and tarie not long * (Sermon on the Plough, 1549).
strawing
"selling" straws in the streets (generally for a penny), and "giving" the purchaser a paper (indecent or political) or a gold (!) ring,—neither of which, the patterer states, he is allowed by Act of Parliament to sell.
streak
To decamp, run away.—Saxon. In America the phrase is "to make STREAKS," or "make TRACKS."
streaky
Irritated, ill-tempered. Said of a short-tempered man who has his good and bad times in STREAK.
street appeal
attractiveness or charm that is associated with urban streets
Street Arabs
Children of the houseless poor; street children. So called because, like the Arabs, they are nomads or wanderers with no settled home.
street-pitchers
Negro minstrels, ballad-singers, long-song men, men "working a board" on which have been painted various exciting scenes in some terrible drama, the details of which the STREET PITCHER is bawling out, and selling in a little book or broadsheet (price one penny); or any persons who make a stand—i.e., a pitch—in the streets, and sell articles or contribute entertainments for a living.
streets ahead
Much better or more advanced than someone or something else
streets behind
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
stress and strain
Physical or mental pressure and tension
stress out
to become or feel extremely anxious or overwhelmed
stretch
A yard. The cove was lagged for prigging a peter with several stretch of dobbin from a drag; the fellow was transported for stealing a trunk, containing several yards of ribband, from a waggon.
stretch
Abbreviation of "STRETCH one’s neck," to hang, to be executed as a malefactor. As, "The night before Larry was STRETCHED."
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