-
Slug
·vt To make sluggish.
II. Slug ·vt To strike heavily.
III. Slug ·noun A ship that sails slowly.
I...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
slug
A piece of lead of any shape, to be fired from a blunderbuss. To fire a slug; to drink a dram.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
slug-a-bed
A drone, one that cannot rise in the morning.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
Fire
·vt To drive by fire.
II. Fire ·vt To <<Cauterize>>.
III. Fire ·vi To be irritated or inflamed wit...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Fire
1) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Gen. 8:20). The ever-burning fire on t...
Easton's Bible Dictionary
-
to fire
To fling with the hand, as a stone or other missile.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
fire!
The order to put the match to the priming, or pull the trigger of a cannon or other fire-arm so as t...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
Fire
is represented as the symbol of Jehovah's presence and the instrument of his power, in the way eithe...
William Smith's Bible Dictionary
-
Sea slug
·- A nudibranch mollusk.
II. Sea slug ·- A <<Holothurian>>.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Slug-horn
·adj An erroneous form of the Scotch word slughorne, or sloggorne, meaning slogan.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
sea-slug
The Holothuria. An animal of the class Echinodermata, with elongated body, and flexible outer coveri...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
A
A, a, indecl. n. (sometimes joined with littera), the first letter of the Latin alphabet, correspond...
A New Latin Dictionary by Charlton T. Lewis Ph.D. and Charles Short, LL. D.
-
a
a, prep.=ab, v. ab.
...
A New Latin Dictionary by Charlton T. Lewis Ph.D. and Charles Short, LL. D.
-
A
A. a. as an abbreviation, 1 for the praenomen Aulus.
2 for Absolvo, on the voting-tablet of a jud...
An Elementary Latin Dictionary
-
A
·- Of.
II. A ·prep In; on; at; by.
III. A ·- An expletive, void of sense, to fill up the meter.
I...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A 1
·- A registry mark given by underwriters (as at Lloyd's) to ships in first-class condition. Inferior...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A-
·- A, as a prefix to English words, is derived from various sources. (1) It frequently signifies on ...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A
Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, as Omega is the last. These letters occur in the text...
Easton's Bible Dictionary
-
a
As for example the word alarm, alarum, a bell, from the German lärm; but the military alarm on a dru...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
William Smith's Bible Dictionary
-
Anthony's Fire
·- ·see Saint Anthony's Fire, under <<Saint>>.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Ash-fire
·noun A low fire used in chemical operations.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Back fire
·add. ·- A fire started ahead of a forest or prairie fire to burn only against the wind, so that whe...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Back-fire
·add. ·vi To have or experience a back fire or back fires;
— said of an internal-combustion engine....
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Elmo's fire
·- ·see <<Corposant>>; also Saint Elmo's Fire, under <<Saint>>.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Fire beetle
·- A very brilliantly luminous beetle (Pyrophorus noctilucus), one of the elaters, found in Central ...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Fire-fanged
·adj Injured as by fire; burned;
— said of manure which has lost its goodness and acquired an ashy ...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Fire-new
·adj Fresh from the forge; bright; quite new; brand-new.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Fire-set
·noun A set of fire irons, including, commonly, tongs, shovel, and poker.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Knobbling fire
·- A bloomery fire. ·see <<Bloomery>>.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Pin-fire
·add. ·adj Having a firing pin to explode the cartridge; as, a pin-fire rifle.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Rapid-fire
·add. ·adj ·Alt. of Rapid-firing.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Rim-fire
·add. ·adj Having the percussion fulminate in a rim surrounding the base, distinguished from center-...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
fire priggers
Villains who rob at fires under pretence of assisting in removing the goods.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
fire ship
A wench who has the venereal disease.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
fire shovel
He or she when young, was fed with a fire shovel; a saying of persons with wide mouths.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
spit fire
A violent, pettish, or passionate person.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
bush-fire
n.
forests and grass on fire in hotsummers.
1868. C. Dilke, `Greater Britain,' vol. ii. part iii. ...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
fire-stick
n.
name given to thelighted stick which the Australian natives frequently carryabout, when moving f...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
fire-tree
n.
a tree of New Zealand; anothername for Pohutukawa (q.v.). For QueenslandFire-tree, see Tulip-tre...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
to fire away
To begin; to go on. An expression borrowed from the language of soldiers and sailors.
A well-known ...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
fire-cracker
A little paper cylinder filled with powder or combustible matter, imported from China. It receives i...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
fire-new
New from the forge; brand-new.--Johnson. This old and nearly obsolete expression is sometimes used b...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
cold fire
a fire laid ready for lighting. York.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
shel fire
electric sparks, often seen on clothes at night. Kent.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
fire-elding
The word Fire is redundant; for Elding itself means fuel.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
fire-flaughts
lightning, or the northern lights. N.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
fire-potter
a poker. Lane.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
concentrated fire
The bringing the whole or several guns to bear on a single point.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
curved fire
A name coming into use with the increasing application of the fire of heavy and elongated shells to ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
direct fire
One of the five varieties into which artillerists usually divide horizontal fire (which see).
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
enfilade fire
Is that which sweeps a line of works or men from one end to the other; it is on land nearly the equi...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-flaire
See fiery-flaw
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-arms
Every description of arms that discharge missiles by gunpowder, from the heaviest cannon to a pistol...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-arrows
Missiles in olden times carrying combustibles; much used in the sea-fights of the middle ages.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-away
Go on with your remarks.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-ball
In meteorology, a beautiful phenomenon seen at times, the origin of which is as yet imperfectly acco...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-balls
Are used for destroying vessels run aground, and firing buildings. They are made of a composition of...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-bare
An old term from the Anglo-Saxon for beacon.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-bars
The range fronting a steam-boiler.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-bill
The distribution of the officers and crew in case of the alarm of fire, a calamity requiring judicio...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-booms
Long spars swung out from a ship's side to prevent the approach of fire-ships, fire-stages, or vesse...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-box
A space crossing the whole front of the boiler over the furnace doors, opposite the smoke-box.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-buckets
Canvas, leather, or wood buckets for quarters, each fitted with a sinnet laniard of regulated length...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-door
An access to the fire-place of an engine.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-drake
A meteor, or the Corpo Santo. Also, a peculiar fire-work, which Shakspeare in Henry VIII. thus menti...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-eater
One notoriously fond of being in action; much humbled by iron-clads.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-flaughts
The aurora borealis, or northern lights.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-hearth
The security base of the galley-range and all its conveniences.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-hoops
A combustible invented by the knights of Malta to throw among their besiegers, and afterwards used i...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-lock
Formerly the common name for a musket; the fire-arm carried by a foot-soldier, marine, or small-arm ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-rafts
Timber constructions bearing combustible matters, used by the Chinese to destroy an enemy's vessel.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-rails
See rails.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-roll
A peculiar beat of the drum to order people to their stations on an alarm of fire. Summons to quarte...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-screens
Pieces of fear-nought, a thick woollen felt put round the hatchways in action.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-ship
A vessel filled with combustible materials, and fitted with grappling-irons, to hook and set fire to...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-swab
The bunch of rope-yarns sometimes secured to the tompion, saturated with water to cool the gun in ac...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-works
See pyrotechny.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
galling-fire
A sustained discharge of cannon, or small arms, which by its execution greatly annoys the enemy.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
grazing-fire
That which sweeps close to the surface it defends.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
gun-fire
The morning or evening guns, familiarly termed "the admiral falling down the hatchway."
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
hang-fire
When the priming burns without igniting the cartridge, or the charge does not rapidly ignite after p...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
horizontal fire
From artillery, is that in which the piece is laid either direct on the object, or with but small el...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
plunging fire
A pitching discharge of shot from a higher level, at such an angle that the shot do not ricochet.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
port-fire
A stick of composition, generally burning an inch a minute, used to convey fire from the slow-match ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
vertical fire
In artillery, that directed upward at such an angle as that it will fall vertically, or nearly so, t...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
A cappella
·- A time indication, equivalent to alla breve.
II. A cappella ·- In church or chapel style;
— sai...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A cheval
·add. ·- Astride; with a part on each side;
— used specif. in designating the position of an army w...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A fortiori
·- With stronger reason.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A posteriori
·- Applied to knowledge which is based upon or derived from facts through induction or experiment; i...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A priori
·- Applied to knowledge and conceptions assumed, or presupposed, as prior to experience, in order to...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A-mornings
·adv In the morning; every morning.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A-sea
·adv On the sea; at sea; toward the sea.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
A-tiptoe
·adv On tiptoe; eagerly expecting.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Due-a
·noun ·see Do-a.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Pi-a
·add. ·noun The <<Pineapple>>.
II. Pi-a ·add. ·noun Pi-a cloth or the fiber of which it is made.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Vicu-a
·noun ·Alt. of <<Vicugna>>.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
a-many
a great number, pronounced Meyny. North.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
a-scat
broken like an egg. Dev.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
a-slat
crack'd like an earthen vessel. Dev.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
a-burton
The situation of casks when they are stowed in the hold athwart ship, or in a line with the beam.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-cockbill
(see cock-bill). The anchor hangs by its ring at the cat-head, in a position for dropping.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-hull
A ship under bare poles and her helm a-lee, driving from wind and sea, stern foremost. Also a ship d...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-lee
The contrary of a-weather: the position of the helm when its tiller is borne over to the lee-side of...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-poise
Said of a vessel properly trimmed.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-starboard
The opposite to a-port.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-stay
Said of the anchor when, in heaving in, the cable forms such an angle with the surface as to appear ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-trip
The anchor is a-trip, or a-weigh, when the purchase has just made it break ground, or raised it clea...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-wash
Reefs even with the surface. The anchor just rising to the water's edge, in heaving up.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-weather
The position of the helm when its tiller is moved to the windward side of the ship, in the direction...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
a-weigh
The anchor being a-trip, or after breaking out of the ground.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
Rapid-fire mount
·add. ·- A mount permitting easy and quick elevation or depression and training of the gun, and fitt...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Flame of fire
Is the chosen symbol of the holiness of God (Ex. 3:2; Rev. 2:18), as indicating "the intense, all-co...
Easton's Bible Dictionary
-
Fire Ball Alley
See Partridge Court.
...
A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
-
Fire Ball court
East out of Houndsditch. In Portsoken Ward (25 Eliz. 1583) (Lond. Inq. p.m. III. p. 64) to O.S. 25 i...
A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
-
Fire Ball Court
Near First (Aldermanbury) Postern, London Wall (Strype, ed. 1755-Boyle, 1799).
Not named in the map...
A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
-
Fire of London
In 1666, from September 2nd to 6th.
Commenced at the house of a baker in Pudding Lane, near London ...
A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
-
Sun Fire Office
See Bank Buildings1, Cornhill.
...
A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
-
hell fire dick
The Cambridge driver of the Telegraph. The favorite companion of the University fashionables, and th...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
elmo's fire, st.
See compasant.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire, loss by
Is within the policy of insurance, whether it be by accident, or by the fault of the master or marin...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-and-lights
Nickname of the master-at-arms.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fire-hearth-carline
The timber let in under the beams on which the fire-hearth stands, with pillars underneath, and choc...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
repeating fire-arm
One by which a number of charges, previously inserted, may be fired off in rapid succession, or afte...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
mine a-se on a bandbox
An answer to the offer of any thing inadequate to the purpose for which it is wanted, just as a band...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
Burnt in the Fire 1666.
Not further identified.
...
A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
-
false fire, blue flames
A composition of combustibles filled into a wooden tube, which, upon being set fire to, burns with a...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
A B C
·- The simplest rudiments of any subject; as, the A B C of finance.
II. A B C ·- A primer for teach...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
All-a-mort
·adj ·see <<Alamort>>.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Black-a-vised
·adj Dark-visaged; swart.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Bric-a brac
·noun Miscellaneous curiosities and works of decorative art, considered collectively.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Char-a-bancs
·noun A long, light, open vehicle, with benches or seats running lengthwise.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Chars-a-banc
·pl of Char-a-bancs.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Cock-a-hoop
·adj Boastful; defiant; exulting. Also used adverbially.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Cornet-a-piston
·noun A brass wind instrument, like the trumpet, furnished with valves moved by small pistons or sli...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Cornets-a-piston
·pl of Cornet-a-piston.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Dos-a-dos
·add. ·noun A sofa, open carriage, or the like, so constructed that the occupants sit back to back.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Flute a bec
·- A beak flute, an older form of the flute, played with a mouthpiece resembling a beak, and held li...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Jack-a-dandy
·noun A little dandy; a little, foppish, impertinent fellow.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Jack-a-lent
·noun A small stuffed puppet to be pelted in Lent; hence, a simple fellow.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Penny-a-liner
·noun One who furnishes matter to public journals at so much a line; a poor writer for hire; a hack ...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Pi-a cloth
·add. ·- A fine fabric for scarfs, handkerchiefs, embroidery, ·etc., woven from the fiber obtained f...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Tete-a-tete
·adj Private; confidential; familiar.
II. Tete-a-tete ·noun A short sofa intended to accomodate two...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Vis-a-vis
·adv Face to face.
II. Vis-a-vis ·noun One who, or that which, is face to face with another; ·esp.,...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Wait-a-bit
·add. ·noun The prickly ash.
II. Wait-a-bit ·add. ·noun The grapple plant.
III. Wait-a-bit ·add. ·...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Wait-a-while
·add. ·noun = Wait-a-bit.
II. Wait-a-while ·add. ·noun One of the Australian wattle trees (Acacia c...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Adam, a type
The apostle Paul speaks of Adam as "the figure of him who was to come." On this account our Lord is ...
Easton's Bible Dictionary
-
all-a-mort
Struck dumb, confounded. What, sweet one, all-a-mort? SHAKESPEARE.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
black a-se
A copper or kettle. The pot calls the kettle black a-se. Cant.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to run a buck
To poll a bad vote at an election.--IRISH TERM.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
chick-a-biddy
A chicken, so called to and by little children.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
cock-a-whoop
Elevated, in high-spirits, transported with joy.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to couch a hogshead
To lie down to sleep. CANT.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to fight a crib
To make a sham fight. BEAR GARDEN TERM.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
cure a-se
A dyachilon plaister, applied to the parts galled by riding.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
dram-a-tick
A dram served upon credit.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
drop a cog
To let fall, with design, a piece of gold or silver, in order to draw in and cheat the person who se...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
firing a gun
Introducing a story by head and shoulders. A man wanting to tell a particular story, said to the com...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
foxing a boot
Mending the foot by capping it.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
mumble a sparrow
A cruel sport practised at wakes and fairs, in the following manner: A cock sparrow whose wings are ...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
pit-a-pat
The palpitation of the heart: as, my heart went pit-a-pat. Pintledy-pantledy; the same.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to ring a peal
To scold; chiefly applied to women. His wife rung him a fine peal!
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
squint-a-pipes
A squinting man or woman; said to be born in the middle of the week, and looking both ways for Sunda...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
wear a--e
A one-horse chaise.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
bull-a-bull
or Bullybul
n.
a child'scorruption of the Maori word Poroporo (q.v.), aflowering shrub of New Zeal...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
cock-a-bully
n. a popular name for the NewZealand fish Galaxias fasciatus, Gray, a corruption ofits Maori name Ko...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
make a light
expressive pigeon-English. An aboriginal'sphrase for to look for, to find. «You been make a lightyar...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
mark, a good
Australian slang.
1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 233:
«I wondered often what was the meaning of ...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
stay-a-while
n.
a tangled bush; sometimescalled Wait-a-while (q.v.).
...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
wait-a-while
n.
also called Stay-a-while: a thicket tree.
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 306:
...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
to bear a hand
A seaman's phrase. To be ready ; to go to work; to assist.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to catch a tartar
To attack one of superior strength or abilities. This saying originated from the story of an Irish s...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to cut a caper
(Italian, tagliar le capriole.) The act of dancing in a frolicksome manner.--Todd. We use it also in...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to cut a dash
In modern colloquial speech, to make a great show; to make a figure.--Johnson. A fashionable or gail...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to cut a figure
To make an appearance, either good or bad.
We are not as much surprised at the poor figure cut by t...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to cut a swathe
The same as to cut a dash.
The expression is generally applied to a person walking who is gaily dre...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to deacon a calf
is to knock it in the head as soon as it is born.--Connecticut.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to drive a bargain
To make a bargain. A common colloquial expression, as old as the language.
This bargain is ful dr...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to girdle a tree
In America, to make a circular incision, like a belt, through the bark and alburnum of a tree to kil...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to have a say
To express an opinion. A phrase in vulgar use.
I picked out "Henry Clay" for my baby's name, but t...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to make a raise
A vulgar expression, meaning to raise; procure; obtain.
I made a raise of a horse and saw, after be...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to raise a bead
This expression is used at the West, and means to bring to a head, to make succeed. The figure is ta...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to sky a copper
To toss up a cent.
Didge said he was like skying a copper--head or tail.--Crockett, Tour.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to trig a wheel
To stop a wheel so as to prevent its going backwards or forwards.--Bailey. Still used in New England...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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jacket-a-wad
an ignis fatuus. Exm.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
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scotch a wheel
to stop it from going backward. Lane.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
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well-a-day!
alas! Various.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
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cutting a feather
It is common when a ship has too broad a bow to say, "She will not cut a feather," meaning that she ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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dick-a-dilver
A name for the periwinkle on our eastern coasts.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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disparting a gun
To bring the line of sight and line of metal to be parallel by setting up a mark on the muzzle-ring ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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docking a ship
The act of drawing her into dock, and placing her properly on blocks, in order to give her the requi...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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doubling a cape
In navigation, is to sail round or pass beyond it, so that the point of land separates the ship from...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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driving a charge
Ramming home the loading of a piece of ordnance.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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frapping a ship
The act of passing four or five turns of a large cable-laid rope round a ship's hull when it is appr...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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get-a-pull
The order to haul in more of a rope or tackle.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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give a spell
To intermit or relieve work. (See spell.)
...
The Sailor's Word-Book