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Swans-down
·noun The down, or fine, soft feathers, of the swan, used on various articles of dress.
II. Swans-d...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Down
·adj Downcast; as, a down look.
II. Down ·adv From a remoter or higher antiquity.
III. Down ·vt To...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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down
Aware of a thing. Knowing it. There is NO DOWN. A cant phrase used by house-breakers to signify that...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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down
I.
n.
a prejudice against, hostility to;a peculiarly Australian noun made out of the adverb.
1856...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
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down wind, down sea
A proverbial expression among seamen between the tropics, where the sea is soon raised by the wind, ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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Four Swans Inn
West out of Bishopsgate Street Within, in Bishopsgate Ward Within, at No. 83 (O. and M. 1677-O.S. 18...
A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
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Swan's Nest Court
On the west of Little Bell Alley, a new passage up steps into Great Swan Alley; well built and inhab...
A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
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Down-share
·noun A breastplow used in paring off turf on downs.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Down-wind
·add. ·adv With the wind.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Lock-down
·noun A contrivance to fasten logs together in rafting;
— used by lumbermen.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Steep-down
·adj Deep and precipitous, having steep descent.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Step-down
·add. ·adj Transforming or converting a current of high potential or pressure into one of low pressu...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Tumble-down
·adj Ready to fall; dilapidated; ruinous; as, a tumble-down house.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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down hills
Dice that run low.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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to drop down
To be dispirited. This expression is used by thieves to signify that their companion did not die gam...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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boil down
v.
to reduce a statement to itssimplest form; a constant term amongst pressmen. Over thereporters' ...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
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knock-down
v.
generally of a cheque. To spendriotously, usually in drink.
1869. Marcus Clarke, `Peripatetic P...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
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lamb down
v. tr.
1) To knock down a cheque or a sum of money in a spree.There is an old English verb, of Scan...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
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mulga-down
n.
hills covered with Mulga.
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 201:
«Fascin...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
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take (a man) down
Australian sporting slang.
1) Toinduce a man to bet, knowing that he must lose.
2) To advisea man ...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
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clap down
To set down; charge to one's account.
If a man be highly commended, we think him sufficiently lesse...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to knock down
A word used at auctions. 'This article is knocked down to you, sir;' meaning, that you are the purch...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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down upon
To be down upon, is to seize with avidity, as a bird of prey would pounce down upon its victim. Allu...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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slipper-down
A vulgar name in some parts of Connecticut for hasty pudding. The etymology is obvious.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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down-lying
just going to be brought to bed. N.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
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blacking down
The tarring and blacking of rigging; or the operation of blacking the ship's sides with tar or miner...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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bore down
Sailed down from to windward.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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cutting down
Taking a deck off a ship; as ships of the line are converted into frigates, the Royal Sovereign into...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down along
Sailing coastways down Channel.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down east
Far away in that bearing. This term, as down west, &c., is an Americanism, recently adopted into our...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down-haul
A rope passing up along a stay, leading through cringles of the staysails or jib, and made fast to t...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down killock!
Let go the grapnel; the corruption of keel-hook or anchor.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down oars!
The order on shoving off a boat when the men have had them "tossed up."
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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go down
The name given to store-houses and magazines in the East Indies.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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heaving down
(See careening.) The bringing one of a ship's sides down into the water, by means of purchases on th...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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hove down
, properly hove out or careened. The situation of a ship when heeled or placed thus for repairs.
♦...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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hull-down
Is said of a ship when at such a distance that, from the convexity of the globe, only her masts and ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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laying down
, or laying off.
The act of delineating the various lines of a ship to the full size on the mould-...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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pipe down!
The order to dismiss the men from the deck when a duty has been performed on board ship.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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riding-down
The act of the men who throw their weight on the head of a sail to stretch it. Also, of the man who ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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strike down!
The order to lower casks, &c., into the hold.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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union down
When a ship hoists her ensign upside down it is a signal of distress or of mourning.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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knock me down
Strong ale or beer, stingo.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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cutting-down line
An elliptical curve line used by shipwrights in the delineation of ships; it determines the depth of...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down all chests!
The order to get all the officers' and seamen's chests down below from off the gun-decks when cleari...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down all hammocks!
The order for all the sailors to carry their hammocks down, and hang them up in their respective ber...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down-haul tackles
Employed when lower yards are struck in bad weather to prevent them from swaying about after the tru...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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edge down, to
To approach any object in an oblique direction.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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fall down, to
To sail, drift, or be towed to some lower part nearer a river's mouth or opening.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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hauling down vacancy
The colloquialism expressive of the promotion of a flag-lieutenant and midshipman on an admiral's ha...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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jaw-me-down
An arrogant, overbearing, and unsound loud arguer.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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out or down
An exclamation of the boatswain, &c., in ordering men out of their hammocks, i.e. turn out, or your ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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peak down-haul
A rope rove through a block at the outer end of the gaff to haul it down by.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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running-down clause
A special admission into policies of marine insurance, to include the risk of loss or damage in cons...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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ship cut down
One which has had a deck cut off from her, whereby a three-decker is converted into a two-decker, an...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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try down, to
To boil out the oil from blubber at sea in whalers.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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up and down
The situation of the cable when it has been hove in sufficiently to bring the ship directly over the...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down in the mouth
Dispirited, dejected, disheartened.--Brockett's Glossary.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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down in the mouth
Low-spirited or disheartened.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down with the helm!
An order to put the helm a-lee.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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drop down a river
Synonymous with falling (which see).
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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rattle down rigging, to
or, to rattle the shrouds.
To fix the ratlines in a line parallel to the vessel's set on the water...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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right up and down
Said in a dead calm, when the wind is no way at all. Or, in anchor work, when the cable is in that c...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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running-down the port
A method practised in the ruder state of navigation, when the longitude was very doubtful, by sailin...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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up-and-down tackle
A purchase used in bowsing down the eyes of the lower rigging over the mast-heads; lifting objects f...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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pissing down any one's back
Flattering him.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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rolling down to st. helena
Running with a flowing sheet by the trade-wind.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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run down a coast, to
To sail along it, keeping parallel to or skirting its dangers.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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run down a vessel, to
To pass over, into, or foul her by running against her end-on, so as to jeopardize her.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book