glove money
Preserved but no longer current.
A bribe, a perquisite: so called from the ancient custom of a client presenting a pair of gloves to a counsel who undertook a cause. Mrs. Croaker presented Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor, with a pair of gloves lined with forty pounds in "angels/' as a "token.'* Sir Thomas kept the gloves, but returned the lining.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “glove money” mean?
A bribe, a perquisite: so called from the ancient custom of a client presenting a pair of gloves to a counsel who undertook a cause. Mrs. Croaker presented Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor, with a pair of gloves lined with forty pounds in "angels/' as a "token.'* Sir Thomas kept the gloves, but returned the lining.
Is “glove money” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.