newgate fashion

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

Two by two. Prisoners used to be conveyed to Newgate coupled together in twos.

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 “newgate fashion” mean?

Two by two. Prisoners used to be conveyed to Newgate coupled together in twos.

Is “newgate fashion” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.