to kiss the mistress
Preserved but no longer current.
To make a good hit, to shoot right into the eye of the target; in bowls to graze another bowl with your own; the Jack used to be called the "mistress," and when one ball just touches another it is said "to kiss it.
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 “to kiss the mistress” mean?
To make a good hit, to shoot right into the eye of the target; in bowls to graze another bowl with your own; the Jack used to be called the "mistress," and when one ball just touches another it is said "to kiss it.
Is “to kiss the mistress” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.