Chapter XIII: Part 13

1578. North, Plutarch, p. 241. They might be ashamed, for lack of
courage, to suffer the Lacedæmonians to hold their noses to the
grindstone.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hold. Hold his nose to the
grindstone, to keep him Under, or Tie him Neck and Heels in a
Bargain.

To have the grindstone on his back, verb. phr. (common).—Said of a man going to fetch the monthly nurse.—Grose.

Grinning-stitches, subs. (milliners’).—Slovenly sewing; stitches wide apart; ladders (q.v.).

Grip (or Gripsack), subs. (American).—A hand-bag or satchell.

To lose one’s grip, verb. phr. (American).—To fail; to lose one’s control.

Gripe, subs. (old).—1. A miser; a usurer. Also Griper or Gripe-fist (q.v.). For synonyms, see Hunks and Sixty-per-cent. Griping = extortion.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Gripe, or griper, s.v. An old
covetous wretch. Also a banker, money scrivener, or usurer.

2. in. pl. (colloquial).—The colic; the stomach ache; the Collywobbles. For synonyms, see Jerry-go-nimble.

1684. Bunyan, Pilgr. Prog., Pt. II. He concluded that he was sick
of the gripes.

1705. Char. of a Sneake, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 356. He
never looks upon her Majesty’s arms but semper eadem gives him the
gripes.

1714. Spectator, No 559. Meeting the true father, who came towards
him with a fit of the gripes, he begged him to take his son again,
and give back his cholic.

1812. Coombe, Tour in Search of Picturesque, c. xxvi. That he who
daily smokes two pipes, The tooth-ache never has—nor gripes.

Gripe-fist, subs. (common).—A miser; a grasping broker. For synonyms, see Hunks. Also Gripe-penny.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Grist, subs. (American).—A large number or quantity. [Swift uses grist = a supply; a provision.]

1848. Cooper, Oak Openings. There’s an unaccountable grist of bees,
I can tell you.

a. 1852. Traits of American Humour, i., 305. I ... got pretty
considerable soaked by a grist of rain.

To bring grist to the mill, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To bring profitable business; to be a source of profit.

1719. Poor Robin’s Almanack, May. Lawyers pleading do refrain A
while, and then fall to ’t again; Strife brings grist unto their
mill.

1770. Foote, Lame Lover, i. Well, let them go on, it brings grist
to our mill.

1804. Horsley, Speech, 23 July. A sly old pope created twenty new
saints, to bring grist to the mill of the London clergy.

1817. Scott, Ivanhoe, c. 16. Some three or four dried pease—a
miserable grist for such a mill.

1838. Dickens, Nich. Nickleby, ch. xxxiv., p. 268. Meantime the
fools bring grist to my mill.

Gristle, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Grit, subs. (originally American: now colloquial).—1. Character; pluck; spirit; sand (q.v.). Also clear grit. No grit = lacking in stamina; wanting in courage.

1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, bk. II., ch. xiv. A chap who was clear
grit for a tussle, any time.

1848. Burton, Waggeries, etc., p. 13. The old folks ... began to
think that she warn’t the clear grit.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. vi. A real lady—l’air noble—the
rael genuine grit, as Sam Slick says.

1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. vii. You’re a right brave
old girl. I like grit, wherever I see it.

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xxxi. If you were a chip of the old
block you would be just what he called the grit.

1889. Referee, 6 Jan. They never did think there was any real grit
about him.

1890. Scribner, Feb., 242. ‘Looks like he got grit, don’t it?’ Lige
muttered.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 249. I am as
full of grit and work as ever, and just tower above our troubles.

2. (Canadian political).—A member of the Liberal party.

Gritty, adj. (American).—Plucky; courageous; resolute; full of character.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 106. There never was a grittyer crowd
congregated on that stream.

Grizzle, verb. (colloquial).—To fret. Also to grizzle one’s guts.

1872. Miss Braddon, To the Bitter End, ch. xvi. ‘If the locket’s
lost, it’s lost,’ she said philosophically; ‘and there’s no use in
grizzling about it.’

Grizzle-guts (or Grizzle- or Glum-pot). subs. (common).—A melancholy or ill-tempered person; a sulkington (q.v.).

Groaner, subs. (old).—A thief plying his trade at funerals or religious gatherings.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Groaning, subs. (old).—The act of parturition. Also, adj., parturient; or appertaining to parturition: as in groaning-malt (Scots’) = drink for a lying-in; groaning-pains = the pangs of delivery; groaning-wife = a woman ready to lie-in.

1594. Nashe, Unfort. Trav. (Chiswick Press, 1892), p. 92. As
smoothe as a groaning-wive’s bellie.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, iii., 2. It would cost you a groaning to
take off my edge.

1786. Burns, The Rantin’ Dog the Daddie O’t. Wha will bring the
groaning-malt?

Groats, subs. (nautical).—The chaplain’s monthly allowance.

To save one’s groats, verb. phr. (old University).—To come off handsomely. [At the Universities nine groats are deposited in the hands of an academic officer by every person standing for a degree, which, if the depositor obtains, with honour, are returned to him.—Grose.]

Grocery, subs. (common).—1. Small change.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

2. (American).—A drinking bar. Also Confectionery and Groggery.

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, etc. 104. He went into his favourite
grocery.

3. (common).—Sugar. [A restricted use of a colloquialism.]

1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, Bk. V., ch. ii. A private room and
a pint of brandy, my dear. Hot water and lots of the grocery.

Grog, subs. (old: now recognised).—Spirits and water; strong drink generally. [Till Admiral Vernon’s time (1745) rum was served neat, but he ordered it to be diluted, and was therefore nicknamed ‘Old Grog,’ in allusion to his grogram coat: a phrase that was presently adapted to the mixture he had introduced.] Groggy = drunk.

Verb. (old).—To dilute or adulterate with water.

1878. Lincoln, Rutland, and Stamford Mercury, 8 Mar. The defendants
had grogged the casks by putting in hot water.

To have grog on board (or to be grogged), verb. phr. (common).—To be drunk. For synonyms, see Screwed.

1842. Comic Almanack, October. He stands and listens, sad and
dogged, To ‘fined five bob’ for being grogged.

Grog-blossom, subs. (common).—A pimple caused by drinking to excess. Also Copper-nose and Jolly-nose. Fr., un nez culotté and un nez de pompettes.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, Grog-blossom, s.v.

1883. Thos. Hardy, The Three Strangers, in Longman’s Mag., March,
p. 576. A few grog-blossoms marked the neighbourhood of his nose.

1888. W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, ch. xi., p. 169. The outward and
visible signs of rum were indeed various. First, there was the red
and swollen nose, next, the nose beautifully painted with
grog-blossoms.

Grog-fight, subs. (military).—A drinking party. Cf., Tea-fight.

1876. R. M. Jephson, Girl he Left Behind Him, ch. 1. He had been
having a grog-fight in his room to celebrate the event.

Groggery, subs. (American).—A public bar; a grog-shop.

Groggy, adj. (colloquial).—1. Under the influence of drink. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1829. Buckstone, Billy Taylor. i., as a gay young woman, will
delude Taylor away from Mary, make him groggy, then press him off
to sea.

1863. Fun, 23 May, p. 98, c. 2. They fined drunkards and swearers,
and there is a record in the parish-books, among others of a
similar nature, of a certain Mrs. Thunder who was fined twelve
shillings for being, like Mr. Cruikshank’s horse at the Brighton
Review, decidedly groggy.

1872. Echo, 30 July. A model of perfection had she not shown more
than necessary partiality to her elder friend’s brandy bottle
during the journey, despite the latter’s oft-repeated caution not
to become groggy.

2. (colloquial).—Staggering or stupified with drink. Also (stable) moving as with tender feet. Also (pugilists’) unsteady from punishment and exhaustion. Fr., locher = to be groggy.

1831. Youatt, The Horse, ch. xvi., p. 380. Long journeys at a fast
pace will make almost any horse groggy.

1846–8. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. ii., ch. v. Cuff coming up
full of pluck, but quite reeling and groggy, the Fig-merchant put
in his left as usual on his adversary’s nose, and sent him down for
the last time.

1853. Diogenes, vol. ii., p. 177. The anxiety is not confined to
the metropolis; as a respectable grazier, who rides a groggy horse,
on hearing of it at a public-house the other day, affirmed it to be
the mysterious cause of the rise in the value of horseflesh.

1888. Sportsman, 28 Nov. In the tenth Thompson, who had been
growing groggy, to the surprise of Evans began to force the
fighting.

Grogham, subs. (old).—A horse; a daisy-kicker (q.v.). Now mostly in contempt. For synonyms, see Prad.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Grog-shop, subs. (common).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potatoe-trap.

1843. Thackeray, Men’s Wives, Frank Berry, ch. i. Claret drawn in
profusion from the gown-boy’s grog-shop.

Grog-tub, subs. (nautical).—A brandy bottle.

Groom, subs. (gamesters’).—A croupier.

Groomed. See Well-groomed.

Groovy, subs. (American).—A sardine.

Adj. (popular).—Settled in habit; limited in mind.

Grope, verb. (venery).—To feel a woman; to fumble; to fam (q.v.).

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Mariolement. Groping of a wench.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 194. Smoking, toping, Landlady
groping.

Groper, subs. (old).—1. A blind man; hoodman (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

2. (old).—A pocket. For synonyms, see Brigh and Sky-rocket.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 143. Gropers. Pockets.

3. (old).—A midwife; a fingersmith (q.v.).

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Grotto, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Ground. To suit down to the ground, verb. phr. (common).—To be thoroughly becoming or acceptable.

1878. M. E. Braddon, Cloven Foot, ch. xlv. Some sea coast city in
South America would suit me down to the ground.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 9 Feb. I knows the very bloke that’ll
suit you down to the ground.

1891. Sporting Life, 28 Mar. At Knowle he is suited down to the
ground.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. ii. They suit me right down to
the ground.

To wipe (or mop) up the ground (or floor) with one, verb. phr. (common).—To administer the very soundest thrashing; to prove oneself absolutely superior to one’s opposite.

1887. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, i., 3. Muck! that’s my
opinion of him; ... I’ll mop the floor up with him any day, if so
be as you or any on ’em ’ll make it worth my while.

1888. Detroit Free Press, Aug. The Scroggin boy was as tough as a
dogwood knot. He’d wipe up the ground with him; he’d walk all over
him.

To go (or get) well to the ground, verb. phr. (old colloquial).—To defæcate; to rear (q.v.). For synonyms, see Mrs. Jones.

1608. Middleton, Family of Love, v. 3. Do you go well to the
ground?

1856. Notes and Queries, 2 S., i., p. 324. To get to the ground, in
medical phraseology, means to have the bowels opened.

Grounder, subs. (cricketers’).—A ball with a ground delivery; a sneak; a grub; and (in America) at base-ball, a ball struck low, or flying near the ground.

Ground-floor. To be let in on the Ground-floor, verb. phr. (American).—To share in a speculation on equal terms with the original promoters.

Ground-squirrel, subs. (old).—A hog; a grunter—Lex. Bal. For synonyms, see Sow’s Baby.

Ground-sweat. To have (or take) a ground-sweat, verb. phr. (old).—To be buried.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Ground sweat, s.v., a grave.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Grouse. To do a grouse (or to go grousing), verb. phr. (venery).—To quest, or to run down, a woman; to molrow (q.v.). Groused = Molled (q.v.).

Grouser, subs. (popular).—1. A grumbler. For synonyms, see Rusty-guts.

2. (venery).—One who goes questing after women; a molrower (q.v.).

3. (sporting).—A rowing man; a wet-bob (q.v.).

Grousing, subs. (venery).—Going in quest of women; sparrow-catching (q.v.); molrowing (q.v.).

Groute, verb. (Marlborough and Cheltenham Colleges).—To work or study hard; to swot (q.v.). For synonyms, see Wire In.

Grouty, adj. (common).—Crabbed; sulky.

Grove of Eglantine, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum; also the female pubic hair. For synonyms, see Monosyllable and Fleece.

1772. Carew, Poems. ‘A Rapture.’ Retire into thy Grove of
Eglantine.

Grove of the Evangelist, subs. phr. (common).—St. John’s Wood; also Apostle’s Grove, and the Baptist’s Wood.

Grow, verb. (prison).—To be accorded the privilege of letting one’s hair and beard grow. Also to grow one’s feathers.

Growler, subs. (common).—A four-wheeled cab. Cf., Sulky.

English Synonyms.—Bird-cage; blucher; bounder; fever-trap; flounder-and-dab (rhyming); four-wheeler; groping hutch; mab (an old hackney); rattler; rumbler.

French Synonyms.—Un bordel ambulant (common = a walking brothel); un char numèroté (popular); un flatar (thieves’); un foutoir ambulant (= a fuckery on wheels); un mylord (popular).

1870. Orchestra, 21 Mar. A recent enigmatical bill-poster on the
walls, with the device ‘Hie, Cabby, Hie!’ turns out to be a Patent
Cab Call—an ingenious sort of lamp-signal for remote hansoms and
growlers.

1873. Land and Water, 25 Jan. The knacker’s yard is baulked for a
time, while the quadruped shambles along in some poverty-stricken
growler.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 8 Jan., p. 5, c. 3. But while a great
improvement has been made in hansoms of late years, the
four-wheeler or growler is still as a rule a disgrace to the
metropolis.

1890. Daily Graphic, 7 Jan., p. 14, c. 1. What with hansom cabs and
growlers and private broughams; what with bonded carmen’s towering
waggons.

1891. Globe, 15 July, p. 1, c. 3. Adapting the words of Waller to
the condition of many of our growlers—The cab’s dull framework,
battered and decayed, Lets in the air through gaps that time has
made.

To rush (or work) the growler, verb. phr. (American workmen’s).—See quot. [Growler = pitcher.]

1888. New York Herald, 29 July. One evil of which the inspectors
took particular notice was that of the employment by hands in a
number of factories of boys and girls, under ten and thirteen
years, to fetch beer for them, or in other words to rush the
growler.

Grown-man’s-dose, subs. (common).—A lot of liquor. Also a long drink (q.v.). For synonyms, see Go.

Grown-up, subs. (colloquial).—An adult: among undertakers, a grown.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, Bk. ii., ch. 1. I always did like
grown ups.

Grub, subs. (vulgar).—1. Food.

English Synonyms.—Belly-cheer (or chere); belly-furniture; belly-timber; Kaffir’s tightener (specifically, a full meal); chuck; corn; gorge-grease; manablins (= broken victuals); mouth harness; mungarly; peck; prog; scoff (S. African); scran; stodge; tack; tommy (specifically, bread); tuck; yam. Also, verbally, to bung the cask; to grease the gills; to have the run of one’s teeth; to yam. See also Wolf.

French Synonyms.—La becquetance (popular = peck); le biffre (popular); la frigousse (popular); la fripe (popular, from O. Fr., fripper = to eat); la gringue (common); les matériaux (freemason’s = materials); la briffe (popular); la boustifaille (popular); le harnois de gueule (Rabelais: = mouth-harness); le coton (popular, an allusion to a lamp-wick); les comestaux (popular = comestibles); le tortorage (thieves’); la broute (popular = grazing); la morfe (O. Fr. Also, in a verbal sense = to feed); tortiller du bec (popular = to wag a jaw); se calfater le bec (nautical: also = to drink); becqueter (popular = to ‘peck’); béquiller (popular); chiquer (popular = to ‘chaw’); bouffer (popular); boulotter (common); taper sur les vivres (popular = to assault the eatables); pitancher (common: also = to drink); passer à la tortore (thieves’); se l’envoyer; casser la croustille (thieves’ = to crack a crust); tortorer (thieves’); briffer; passer à briffe (popular); brouter (Villon = to browse); se caler, or se caler les amygdales (popular); mettre de l’huile dans la lampe (common = to trim the lamp); se coller quelque chose dans le fanal, dans le fusil, or dans le tube (popular = to trim one’s beacon-light; to load one’s gun, etc.); chamailler des dents (popular = to ‘go it’ with the ivories); jouer des badigoinces (common: badigoinces = chaps); jouer des dominos (popular: dominos = teeth); déchirer la cartouche (military); gobichonner (popular); engouler (popular = to bolt); engueuler (colloquial = to gobble); friturer (popular: also = to cook); gonfler (popular: to blow out); morfiaillier (Rabelaisian); morfigner, or morfiler (From O. Fr., morfier; cf., Ital., morfire or morfizzare); cacher (popular = to stow away); se mettre quelque chose dans le cadavre (popular = to stoke); se lester la cale (nautical: to lay in ballast); se graisser les balots (thieves’: to grease the gills); se caresser (to do oneself a good turn); effacer (popular = to put away); travailler pour M. Domange (popular: M. Domange was a famous goldfinder or gong farmer [q.v.]); clapoter (popular); debrider la margoulette (popular = to put one’s nose in the manger); croustiller (popular); charger pour la guadaloupe (popular); travailler pour Jules (common: Jules = Mrs. Jones); se faire le jabot (popular, jabot = stomach); jouer des osanores (popular: osanores = teeth); casser (thieves’); claquer (familiar = to rattle one’s ivories); klebjer (popular); faire trimer les mathurins (popular = to make the running with one’s teeth); se coller quelque chose dans le bocal (common: bocal = paunch); estropier (popular = to maim); passer à galtos (nautical); bourrer la paillasse (common = to stuff the mattress); faire trimer le battant (thieves’); jouer des mandibules (popular); s’emplir le gilet (popular = to fill one’s waistcoat); se garnir le bocal (popular: to furnish one’s paunch); se suiver la gargarousse (nautical: also = to drink); babouiner (popular); charger la canonnière (popular: canonnière = the breech); gousser (popular); gouffier (obsolete).

German Synonyms.—Achile, Achelinchen, or Acheliniken (from Heb. Ochal); Achelputz (from Heb. ochal + putzen from O.H.G. bizan or pizzan = to eat).

Italian Synonyms.—Artibrio; and, verbally, sbattere (= to beat, to struggle); intappare il fusto (= to bung the cask); smorfire.

Spanish Synonyms.—Papar (colloquial: from papa = pap); hacer el buche (low: buche = craw or crop); echar (colloquial); manducar; meter.

1659. Dialogue betwixt an Exciseman and Death, transcribed from a
Copy in British Museum, printed in London by J. C[lark]. I’ll pass
my word this night Shall yield us grub before the morning light.

1725. New Cant. Dict. Grub, s.v., victuals.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 171. How did you procure your
grub and Bub?

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 149. Bub and Grub. A mighty
low expression, signifying victuals and drink.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. iii. Poor Purser! de people
call him Purser, sir, because him knowing chap; him cabbage all de
grub, slush, and stuff in him own corner.

d. 1842. Maginn, Vidocq’s Song. Any bubby and grub, I say?

1857. Thackeray, Shabby Genteel Story, ch. i., p. 9. He used to ...
have his grub too on board.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. i., p. 45. I at once
congratulated myself on not being a large eater, as there was no
doubt but my grub would run very short if it depended on my
oakum-picking.

1889. Star, 3 Dec., p. 2, c. 6. Of course it was grub. It was for
food, the food for which they beg, and steal, and go willingly to
prison, for a certain good square meal of meat.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 154. That sad, sad
secret about Mary would keep him in grub for the next day or two at
‘The Rose in Bloom.’

2. (old).—A short thick-set man; a dwarf. In contempt. For synonyms, see Hop-o’-my-Thumb.

3. (colloquial).—A dirty sloven; generally used of elderly people.

4. (American).—A careful student; a hard reader.

1856. Hall, College Words and Phrases, quoted from Williams’ Coll.
Quarterly, ii., 246. A hard reader or student: e.g., not grubs or
reading men, only wordy men.

5. (American).—Roots and stumps; whatever is ‘grubbed up.’

6. (cricketers’).—A ball delivered along the ground; a grounder (q.v.); a daisy-cutter (q.v.). For synonyms, see Lob-sneak.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf. Grub, s.v.

Verb. (old).—1. To take or supply with food. For synonyms, see subs. sense 1.

1725. New Cant. Dict. Grub, s.v., to eat.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Grub, s.v., to dine.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxii., p. 184. I never see such a chap
to eat and drink; never. The red-nosed man warn’t by no means the
sort of person you’d like to grub by contract, but he was nothin’
to the shepherd.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 18 May, p. 3, c. 1. ‘They are not bound to
grub you, don’t you know,’ said Mr. Sleasey, ‘and they try the
starving dodge on you sometimes.’

2. (old).—To beg; to ask for alms, especially food.

3. (American).—To study, or read hard; to ‘sweat.’

To ride grub, verb. phr. (old).—To be sulky; crusty (q.v.); disagreeable.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. To ride grub, to be sullen or out of
temper.

To grub along, verb. phr. (common).—To make one’s way as best one can; ‘to rub along.’

1888. Daily Telegraph, 19 Oct. When a youth left school to follow
the pursuits of life he found that he had to grub along as best he
could.

Grubbing, subs. (common).—Eating.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib. What with snoozing, high grubbing, and
guzzling like Cloe.

Grubbery, subs. (common).—(1) an eating-house. Also (2) a dining-room, and (3) the mouth.

Grubbing-crib, subs. (general).—1. An eating-house. Grubbing-crib faker = the landlord of a cheap cookshop. Fr., le nourrisseur; Sp., un ostalero. See Grub Shop, sense 2.

English Synonyms.—Grubbery; grubby-, or grubbing-ken; grub-shop; guttle-shop; hash-house; mungarly casa; prog-shop; slap-bang shop; tuck-shop; waste-butt.

French Synonyms.—Un bourre-boyaux (popular = a stuff-your-guts); un claquedents (popular, also = a brothel, or punting-house); une guingette (general); une mangeoire (popular = a grubbery: manger = to eat); un mattais (popular); un gargot (thieves’).

German Synonym.—Achilebajes (from Heb., Ochal = to eat).

Spanish Synonym.—Ostaleria, or Osteria (also = lush-crib).

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v.

2. (tramps’).—A workhouse. For synonyms, see Spinniken. Sometimes Grubbiken.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., 416. I know all
the good houses, and the tidy grubbikens—that’s the unions where
there’s little or nothing to do for the food we gets.

Grubble, verb. (colloquial).—(1) To feel for at random or in the dark; and (2) (venery) to grope (q.v.).

1684. Dryden, The Disappointment. ‘Prologue.’ The doughty bullies
enter bloody drunk, Invade and grubble one another’s punk.

Grubby, subs. (thieves’).—Food. [A diminutive of Grub (q.v.).]

d. 1842. Maginn, Vidocq’s Song. I pattered in flash like a covey
knowing, Tol lol, etc. Ay, bub or grubby, I say.

Adj. (colloquial).—Dirty; slovenly.

d. 1845. Hood, A Black Job. Like a grubby lot of sooty sweeps or
colliers.

Grub-hunting, subs. (tramps’).—Begging for food.

Grub-shite, verb. (old).—To make foul or dirty; to bewray.—Grose.

Grub-shop, (or -crib, -trap, etc.), subs. (common).—1. The mouth; and (2) a grubbery (q.v.). For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1840. Thackeray, Comic Almanack, p. 229. ‘That’s the grub shop,’
said my lord, ‘where we young gentlemen wot has money buys our
wittles.’

3. See Grubbing-crib in both senses.

Grub-stake, subs. (American).—Food and other necessaries furnished to mining prospectors in return for a share in the ‘finds.’ Hence, to grub-stake = to speculate after this fashion.

1884. Butterworth, Zig-zag Journeys. When miners become so poor
that they are not able to furnish the necessary tools and food with
which to ‘go prospecting’, a third party of sufficient means offers
to furnish tools and provisions on condition that he is to have a
certain interest in anything that may be found.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 100. He grub-staked us and
we used to work on the Tillie mine together.

Grub-street, subs. (colloquial).—The world of cheap, mean, needy authors. [Originally a street near Moorfields, changed in 1830 to Milton Street.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Grub-street news, false,
forg’d.

1728. Pope, Dunciad, iii., 135. Shall take through grub-street his
triumphant round.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A Grub-street writer means a
hackney author, who manufactures books for the booksellers.

1813. J. and H. Smith, Horace in London, ‘The Classic Villa.’
Grub-street, ’tis called.

1821. Egan, Life in London, i. Few, if any, writers, out of the
great mass of living scribblers, whether of Grub-Street
fabrication, or of University passport ... possess souls above
buttons.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 119. We are going
it, have got our agents in Grub Street.

Gruel, subs. (common).—1. A beating; punishment (q.v.). For synonyms, see Tanning. Hence, to get (or give) one’s gruel = to castigate, or be well beaten; also killed. In the prize ring = to knock a man out for good. Gruelled = floored; also Gruelling.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. He gathered in general,
that they expressed great indignation against some individual. ‘He
shall have his gruel,’ said one.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Babes in the Wood.’ He that was
mildest in mood gave the truculent rascal his gruel.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. xii. They were as well gruelled
as so many posters, before they got to the stile.

1888. Sporting Life, 15 Dec. Preferred to be easily knocked out to
taking his gruel like a man.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 23 Jan. Both men were badly punished,
but George had, of course, the lion’s share of the gruel.

1891. Licensed Vict. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 7, c. 3. All the advantage
rested with the same side for some little time, Paddock getting
such a gruelling that his head swelled out like a pumpkin.

2. (American thieves’).—Coffee.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Grueller, subs. (common).—A knock-down blow; a settler; a floorer (q.v.).

Grumble-guts, subs. (popular).—An inveterate croaker. Also Grumble-gizzard.

Grumbles. To be all on the grumbles, verb. phr. (popular).—To be discontented; cross; on the snarly-yow (q.v.).

Grumbletonian, subs. (common).—A pattern of discontent: one ever on the grumble. [Grumbleton (during the reigns of the later Stuarts) = an imaginary centre of discontent; hence, Grumbletonian, a nickname of the County party, distinguished from the Court, as being in opposition.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Grumbletonians, malecontents, out of
Humour with the Government, for want of a Place, or having lost
one.

1705–7. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. 1, p. 24 (2nd Ed.).
But all the grumbletonian throng Did with such violence rush along.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act 1. Now, if I pleased, I
could be so revenged upon the old grumbletonian.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Grumbletonian, s.v., a discontented
person.

1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. of Eng., ch. xix. Who were sometimes
nicknamed the grumbletonians, and sometimes honoured with the
appellation of the County party.

Grummet, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Grumpy (or Grumpish), adj. (colloquial).—Surly; cross; angry.

1840. Mrs. Trollope, Michael Armstrong, ch. vi. If you blubber or
look grumpish.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 3 a.m., par. 13. Calling you a
‘cross, grumpy, old thing,’ when you mildly suggest that it is very
near bed-time.

1868. Miss Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, bk. IV., ch. i. A grumpy
old deaf keeper, and a boy, his assistant.

1883. Punch, 19 May, p. 230, c. 2. They all looked grumpy and down
in the mouth.

Grundy, subs. (old).—A short fat man; a forty-guts (q.v.).—See Mrs. Grundy.

1563. Fox, Acts and Monuments (London, 1844), iii., 1104. For that
he being a short grundy, and of little stature, did ride commonly
with a great broad hat.

Grunter, subs. (old).—1. A pig; a grunting-cheat (q.v.). In quot. 1652 = pork. For synonyms, see Sow’s Baby.

1656. Brome, Jovial Crew. Here’s grunter and bleater, with
tib-of-the-buttry.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Grunter, s.v. A sucking pig.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Grunter, s.v.

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 266. And the squeaking grunter is loose on
the green.

1847–50. Tennyson, Princess, v. 26. A draggled mawkin, That tends
her bristled grunters in the sludge.

2. (common).—A sixpence. In quot. 1785 = 1s. Cf., Hog and Pig.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, Grunter, s.v. A shilling.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. III., ch. iii., p. 267. One
of the men ... had only taken three ‘twelvers’ [shillings] and a
grunter.

1885. Household Words, 20 June. p. 155. The sixpence ... is
variously known as a ‘pig,’ a ‘sow’s baby,’ a grunter, and ‘half a
hog.’

3. (common).—A policeman; a trap (q.v.); a pig (q.v. sense 2). For synonyms, see Beak.

1820. London Magazine, i., 26. As a bonnet against ... grunters.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. Grunter, s.v., a country constable.

4. (tailors’).—An habitual grumbler; a grumble-guts (q.v.)

Grunter’s-gig, subs. (old).—A smoked pig’s chap.—Grose.

Grunting-cheat, subs. (old).—A pig. See Chete. For synonyms, see Sow’s Baby.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 86. She has a cackling-chete, a
grunting-chete, ruff pecke, cassan, and poplarr of yarum.

1622. Fletcher, Beggars Bush, v., 1. Or surprising a boor’s ken for
grunting-cheats? Or cackling-cheats?

Grunting-peck, subs. (old).—Pork or bacon.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Grunting-peck, s.v., pork.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1836. Smith, Individual. ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ But dearer to me
Sue’s kisses far Than grunting peck or other grub are.

Gruts, subs. (common).—Tea; For synonyms, see Scandal-broth.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

G. T. T. Gone to Texas, phr. (American).—Absconded. [Moonshining gentry used to mark G. T. T. on the doors of their abandoned dwellings as a consolation for inquiring creditors.] Fr., aller en Belgique. For synonyms, see Swartwort.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 5 S., ch. viii. Before this
misfortin’ came I used to do a considerable smart chance of
business; but now it’s time for me to cut dirt, and leave the
country. I believe I must hang out the G. T. T. sign.—‘Why, what
the plague is that?’ says I. ‘Gone to Texas,’ said he.

Guage.—See Gage.

Gubbins, subs. (old).—Fish-offal.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, q.v.

Gudgeon, subs. (old).—1. A bait; an allurement. Hence, To gudgeon (or to swallow a gudgeon) = to be extremely credulous or gullible.

1598. Shakspeare, Merchant of Venice, i., 1. But fish not with this
melancholy bait, For this fool’s gudgeon, this opinion.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, Bersela, s.v. To swallow a gudgeon
... to believe any tale.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, Gudgeon, s.v. To swallow the bait, or
fall into a trap, from the fish of that name which is easily taken.

1892. National Observer, 23 July, vii., 235. It has educated Hodge
into an increased readiness to gorge any gudgeon that may be
offered him.

2. (colloquial).—An easy dupe; a buffle (q.v.).

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Guerrilla, subs. (American sharpers’).—See quot.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. This name is applied by gamblers to
fellows who skin suckers when and where they can, who do not like
the professional gamblers, but try to beat them, sometimes inform
on them, and tell the suckers that they have been cheated.

Guff, subs. (common).—Humbug; bluff; jabber. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1889. Sportsman, 19 Jan. Hereafter he can have the newspapers to
himself, and with that windbag Mitchell fill them with guff and
nonsense, but I won’t notice them.

Guffy, subs. (nautical).—A soldier. For synonyms, see Mudcrusher.

Guiders, subs. (general).—1. Reins; ribbons (q.v.).

2. (common).—Sinews; leaders (q.v.).

Guinea. A guinea to a gooseberry, phr. (sporting).—Long odds. See Lombard Street to a China Orange.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, ch. vli. What! old Writson
against Sam Pearson? Why, it’s a guinea to a gooseberry on Sam!

Guinea-dropper, subs. (old).—A sharper. Specifically one who let drop counterfeit guineas in collusion with a gold-finder (q.v.). For synonyms, see Rook.

1712, Gay, Trivia, iii., 249. Who now the guinea dropper’s bait
regards, Tricked by the sharper’s dice or juggler’s cards.

Guinea-hen, subs. (old).—A courtezan. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, i., 3. Ere I would say I would drown
myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity
with a baboon.

1630. Glapthorne, Albertus Wallenstein. Yonder’s the cock o’ the
game About to tread yon guinea-hen, they’re billing.

Guinea-pig, subs. (old).—1. A general term of reproach.

1748. Smollett, Roderick Random, xxiv. A good seaman he is, as ever
stepp’d on forecastle—none of your guinea-pigs,—nor your
freshwater, wishy-washy, fair-weather fowls.

2. (old).—Any one whose nominal fee for professional services is a guinea: as vets., special jurymen, etc. Now mainly restricted to clergymen acting as deputies, and (in contempt) to directors of public companies. Hence Guinea-trade = professional services of any kind.

1821. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, Tour III., c. iv. ‘Oh, oh,’ cried Pat,
‘how my hand itches, Thou guinea-pig [a ‘vet.’], in boots and
breeches, to trounce thee well.’

1871. Temple Bar, vol. xxxi., p. 320. A much more significant term
is that of guinea pigs, the pleasant name for those gentlemen of
more rank than means, who hire themselves out as directors of
public companies, and who have a guinea and a copious lunch when
they attend board meetings.

1880. Church Review, 2 Jan. Guinea pigs ... are, for the most part,
unattached or roving parsons, who will take any brother cleric’s
duty for the moderate remuneration of one guinea.

1883. Saturday Review, 25 Aug., p. 246, c. 2. A country parson was
suddenly attacked with diphtheria, late in the week. Recourse was
had in vain to the neighbours, and it was decided at last to
telegraph to London for a guinea pig.

1884. Echo, 19 May, p. 1, c. 5. Let us apply the principle further,
and imagine ... limited liability swindlers tried by a jury of
guinea-pigs and company promoters.

1884. Graphic, 29 Nov., p. 562, c. 3. And the guinea-pig, whose
name is on a dozen different Boards, is justly regarded with
suspicion.

1886. Chambers’s Jour., 24 Apr., p. 258. In order to be considered
of any value as Director of a Company, a guinea-pig ought to have a
handle to his name.

1887. Payn, Glow Worm Tales. ‘A Failure of Justice.’ He is best
known to the public as a guinea-pig, from his habit of sitting at
boards and receiving for it that nominal remuneration, though in
his case it stands for a much larger sum.

1889. Drage, Cyril, vii. The rector has, as usual, got the gout,
and we live under a régime ... of guinea-pigs.

1890. Standard, 26 June, p. 5, c. 4. The least attempt to saddle
responsibility for misleading statements upon Boards of Directors
would drive prudent, ‘respectable’ men out of what is vulgarly
called the guinea-pig business.

3. (nautical).—See quot.

1840. Marryat, Poor Jack, ch. xxvi. While Bramble was questioned by
the captain and passengers, I was attacked by the midshipmen, or
guinea-pigs as they are called.

Guise’s Geese, subs. phr. (military).—The Sixth Foot or ‘Saucy Sixth.’ [From its Colonel’s name, 1735–63.]

Guiver, subs. (theatrical).—(1) Flattery, and (2) artfulness (q.v.). For synonyms, see Soft Soap.

Adj. (common).—Smart; fashionable; on it (q.v.). Guiver lad = a low-class dandy; also an artful member (q.v.).

a. 1866. Vance, Chickaleary Cove. The stock around my squeeze of a
guiver colour see.

Verb (sporting).—To humbug; to fool about (q.v.); to show off.

1891. Sporting Life, 25 Mar. He goes into a ring to fight his man,
not to spar and look pretty, and run, and dodge, and guiver.

Gulf, subs. (old).—1. The throat; also the maw. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

1579. Spencer, Shephearde’s Calendar, Sept. That with many a lamb
had glutted his gulf.

2. (Cambridge Univ.).—The bottom of a list of ‘passes,’ with the names of those who only just succeed in getting their degree.

1852. Bristed, Five Years in an English University, p. 205. Some
ten or fifteen men just on the line, not bad enough to be plucked,
or good enough to be placed, are put into the gulf, as it is
popularly called (the examiners’ phrase is ‘degrees allowed’), and
have their degrees given them, but are not printed in the calendar.

3. (Oxford Univ.).—A man who, going in for honours, only gets a pass.

Verb (Cambridge Univ.).—To place in the gulf, subs., sense 2 (q.v.); to be gulfed = to be on such a list. [Men so placed were not eligible for the Classical Tripos]. Cf., Pluck and Plough.

1853. Bradley, Verdant Green, pt. iii., p. 89. I am not going to
let them gulph me a second time.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, p. 123. The good Professor
scolded, predicted that they would all be either gulfed or
ploughed.

1865. Sporting Gaz., 1 Apr. A man who was gulfed for mathematical
honours was certainly, in olden time, unable to enter for the
classical examination; but though the arrangement is altered, the
term is not obsolete. A man who is gulfed is considered to know
enough mathematics for an ordinary degree, but not enough to be
allowed his degree in mathematics only; he is consequently obliged
to pass in all the ordinary subjects (except mathematics) for the
‘poll,’ before taking his degree.

1876. Trevelyan, Life of Macaulay (1884), ch. ii., p. 61. When the
Tripos of 1822 made its appearance, his name did not grace the
list. In short ... Macaulay was gulfed.

1852. Bristed, Five Years in an English University, p. 297. I
discovered that my name was nowhere to be found—that I was gulfed.

Gulf-spin, subs. (American cadet).—A rascal; a worthless fellow; a beat (q.v.) a shyster (q.v.).

Gull, subs. (old, now recognised).—1. A ninny. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1596. Sir J. Davies, Book of Epigrams. A gull is he who feares a
velvet gowne, And when a wench is brave dares not speak to her; A
gull is he which traverseth the towne, And is for marriage known a
common wooer; A gull is he, which while he proudly weares A
silver-hilted rapier by his side. Indures the lye and knockes about
the eares, While in his sheath his sleeping sword doth bide. But to
define a gull in termes precise—A gull is he which seems, and is
not, wise.

1598. Florio, A World of Wordes, passim.

1609. Jonson, Case is Altered, iv., 3. Jun. Tut, thou art a goose
to be Cupid’s gull.

1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens. Lord Timon will be left a naked
gull. Which flashes now a phœnix.

1614. Overbury, Characters. ‘A Roaring Boy.’ He cheats young guls
that are newly come to town.

1618. Rowlands, Night Raven, p. 28 (H. C. Rept., 1872). I know the
houses where base cheaters vse, And note what gulls (to worke vpon)
they chuse.

1661. Brome, Poems, ‘The Cure of Care.’ Those gulls that by
scraping and toiling.

1818. S. E. Ferrier, Marriage, ch. li. The poor gull was caught,
and is now, I really believe, as much in love as it is in the
nature of a stupid man to be.

1850. D. Jerrold, The Catspaw, Act i. Pshaw! some rascal that lives
on simpletons and gulls.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 231. I was a
dweller under roofs; the gull of that which we call civilisation.

2. (old).—A cheat; a fraud; a trick.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado about Nothing, ii., 3. I should think
this a gull, but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, q.v.

3. (Oxford Univ.).—A swindler; a trickster. Cf., Gull-catcher, of which it is probably an abbreviation.

1825. The English Spy, v. I., p. 161. ‘You’ll excuse me, sir, but
as you are fresh, take care to avoid the gulls.’ ‘I never
understood that gulls were birds of prey,’ said I. ‘Only in Oxford,
sir, and here, I assure you, they bite like hawks.’

Verb (old: now recognised).—To cheat; to dupe; to victimise; to take in (q.v.). in any fashion and to any purpose.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, v. This is a mere trick, a
device, you are gulled in this most grossly.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, ii., 3. Mar. For Monsieur
Maluolio, let me alone with him; If I do not gull him into a
nayword, and make him a common recreation, do not thinke I haue
witte enough to lye straight in my bed; I know I can do it.

1607. Rowlands, Diogenes, his Lanthorne, p. 11 (H. C. Rept. 1873).
He promist me good stuffe truly, a great pennyworth indeed, and
verily did gull me.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, v., 2. Hast thou gulled her of her jewels
or her bracelets?

1639. Selden, Table Talk, p. 98 (Arber’s ed.). Presbyters have the
greatest power of any Clergy in the world, and gull the Laity most.

1778. Sketches for Tabernacle-Frames, p. 25, note. These fanatical
Preachers frequently squeeze out Tears to gull their Audience.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., 472. It’s generally
the lower order that he gulls.

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Deacon Brodie, ix. Pay your debts, and
gull the world a little longer.

Hence Gullible, adj., = easily duped.

1841. Thackeray, Character Sketches, ‘Fashionable Authoress.’ And,
gulled themselves, gull the most gullable of publics.

Gullage, subs. (old colloquial).—The act of trickery; the state of being gulled.

1605. B. Jonson, Volpone, v., 5. Had you no quirk To avoid gullage,
sir, by such a creature?

1611. Chapman, May Day, Act II., p. 284 (Plays, 1874). For
procuring you the dear gullage of my sweetheart, Mistress
Franceschina.

Gull-catcher (or Guller, Gull-sharper, etc.), subs. (old).—A trickster; a cheat. See Gull, senses 1 and 3.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, ii., 5. Here comes my noble
gull-catcher.

Gullery, subs. (old colloquial).—Dupery; fraud; a cheat’s device. Cf., Gullage.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, iii., 2. Your Balsamum and
your St. John’s wort are all mere gulleries and trash to it.

1608. John Day, Humour out of Breath, Act iv., Sc. 3. I am gulld,
palpably gulld ... and mine owne gullery grieves me not half so
much as the Dukes displeasure.

1630. Taylor, Works. Neverthelesse, whosoever will but looke into
the lying legend of golden gullery, there they shall finde that the
poore seduced ignorant Romanists doe imitate all the idolatrous
fornication of the heathen pagans and infidels.

1633. Ile of Guls. Upon you both, so, so, so, how greedily their
inventions like beagles follow the sent of their owne gullery, yet
these are no fooles, God forbid, not they.

1633. Marmion, Fine Companion. Lit. What more gulleries yet? they
have cosend mee of my daughters, I hope they will cheate me of my
wife too: have you any more of these tricks to shew, ha?

1689. Selden, Table Talk, p. 38 (Arber’s ed.). And how can it be
proved, that ever any man reveal’d Confession, when there is no
Witness? And no man can be Witness in his own cause. A meer
gullery.

1819. H. More, Defence of Moral Cabbala, ch. iii. The sweet
deception and gullery of their own corrupted fancy.

1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xx. Do you think, because I have
good-naturedly purchased your trumpery goods at your roguish
prices, that you may put any gullery you will on me?

Gullet, subs. (old: now recognised).—The throat. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 12, 477. [Quoted in Ency. Dict.]
Out of the harde bones knocken they The mary, for they casten
nought away, That may go thurgh the gullet soft and sote.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Gullet, s.v. A Derisory Term for the
Throat, from Gula.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. 15. So he puts a pistol to his mouth,
and he fires it down his gullet.

1893. National Observer, x. 168. Through sympathetic gullets.

Gull-finch, subs. (old).—A simpleton; a fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1630. Taylor, Works. For ’tis concluded ’mongst the wizards all, To
make thee master of Gul-finches hall.

Gull-groper, subs. (old).—A gamesters’ money-lender.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle-light. The gul-groper is
commonly an old mony-monger, who having travaild through all the
follyes of the world in his youth, knowes them well, and shunnes
them in his age, his whole felicitie being to fill his bags with
golde and silver.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Gull-groper, s.v. A Bystander that
Lends Money to the Gamesters.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gully, subs. (common).—1. The throat. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

3. (old and Scots’).—A knife. For synonyms, see Chive.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., ch. xxvii. Fair gullies which are
little haulch-backed demi-knives.

1785. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook. I red ye weel, tak care o’
skaith, See, there’s a gully.

1789. Burns, Address to Captain Grose. The knife that nickit Abel’s
craig, He’ll prove ye fully It was a faulding jocteleg, Or
lang-kail gully.

Verb (common).—To gull (q.v.); to dupe; to swindle. For synonyms, see Stick.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. I rode about and
speechified, and everybody gullied.

Gully-fluff, subs. (colloquial).—Pocket-filth; beggar’s velvet (q.v.). Also Flue (q.v.).

Gully-gut, subs. and adj. (common).—A glutton. For synonyms, see Stodger.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Crapulatore, a surfeiter; a
gormand; a glutton; a gullie-gut.

1672. Lestrange, Fables. A gulli-gut friar.

Gully-hole (or Gully), subs. (common).—1. The throat, or gullet. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Gully-raker, subs. phr. (venery).—1. The penis; and (2) a wencher. For synonyms, see Creamstick, Prick, and Molrower.

2. (Australian). A cattle-whip; a cattle-thief.

1881. A. C. Grant, Bush Life in Queensland ... following up his
admonition by a sweeping cut of his gully-raker, and a report like
a musket-shot.

Gulpin, subs. (common).—A simpleton; a gapeseed (q.v.). Fr., un gobemouche; une éponge. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1886. W. Besant, World Went Very Well Then, ch. xxix. But Jack
persisted, and I rose too. ‘Go then!’ the Admiral roared, with a
great oath. ‘Go then, for a brace of gulpins!’

Gulpy, adj. (common).—Easily duped.

Gulsh. To hold one’s gulsh, verb. phr. (provincial).—To hold one’s tongue; to keep quiet.

Gum, subs. (old).—1. Chatter; talk; jaw (q.v.). Also abuse.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xiv. There’s no occasion to
bowse out so much unnecessary gum.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Come let us have no more of your
gum.

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, i., 1. Dou. Come, none of your
gum—now you are but an underlin’, tho’ you are so uppish and
twistical—where’s the chair?

2. (American).—A trick; a piece of dupery; a sell (q.v.). Also gummation.

3. (American).—A golosh; an india-rubber overshoe. [Short for ‘gum-shoes.’]

1872. Morning Post, 9 Jan. Forbidding him again to cross her
threshold or to leave his gum-shoes in her hall.

Verb (common).—To cheat; to take in (q.v.), to roast (q.v.) or quiz. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 6 p.m., par. I. I began to think
either that he was quizzing me—gumming is the proper Transatlantic
colloquialism, I think.

1875. ‘American English’ in Chamb. Journal, 25 Sept., p. 611. To
‘gum-tree’ is to elude, to cheat [from opossum], and this again is
shortened into ‘to gum,’ as the phrase, ‘Now don’t you try to gum
me.’

Old Mother Gum, subs. phr. (common).—An old woman: in derision.

By gum! intj. (common).—A mild oath. For synonyms, see Oaths.

1860. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Season Ticket, No. ix. By gum,
Squire Shegog, we have had the greatest bobbery of a shindy in our
carriage you ever knowed in all our born days.

Bless your (or his, her, its, etc.) gums, phr. (common).—A piece of banter: a facetious way of saying ‘Bless your soul!’

Gummagy, adj. (common).—Snarling; of a scolding habit.

Gummed, adj. (billiards).—Said of a ball close to the cushion.

Gummy, subs. (common).—1. A toothless person; i.e., with nothing but gums to show. Generally, Old Gummy.

2. (thieves’).—Medicine. Also Gummy-stuff.—Matsell.

3. (common).—A dullard; a fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Adj. (common).—Puffed; swollen; clumsy.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Gummey, clumsy, particularly
applied to the ancles of men, or women, and the legs of horses.

To feel Gummy, verb. phr. (University).—To perspire.

Gump, subs. (common).—A dolt. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, bk. II., ch. xv. He’s ... sort of a
nateral too, I guess; rather a gump, hey?

Gumption, subs. (colloquial).—Cleverness; understanding; nous (q.v.). Also Rum Gumption.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gumption, or rum gumption, s.v.,
docility, comprehension, capacity.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, s.v. ‘Gawm.’ Gawm, to understand; I
dinna gawm ye, I don’t understand you. Hence, possibly, gawmtion,
or gumption, understanding.

1834. Atlantic Club-book, I., 33. D’ye think I’m a fellow of no
more gumption than that?

1843. Comic Almanack. Poor beasts, ’tis very clear, To any one
possess’d of gumption, That if they’d not come over here, They’d
have been carried off by home consumption.

1853. Lytton, My Novel, bk. IV., ch. xii. Gumption—it means
cleverness.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 25 June, p. 3, c. 2. But poor
people—leastways, those that have got any gumption—know better than
that.

1890. Notes and Queries, 7 S., x., 303. As familiar as the Greek
word nous for what ... is known ... as gumption.

Gumptious, adj. (colloquial).—Shrewd; intelligent; vain.

1853. Lytton, My Novel, bk. IV., ch. xii. Landlord. There’s
gumption and gumptious! Gumption is knowing, but when I say that
sum un is gumptious, I mean—though that’s more vulgar like—sum un
who does not think small beer of hisself. You take me, sir?

Gum-smasher (or tickler), subs. (common).—A dentist. For synonyms, see Snag-catcher.

Gum-suck, verb. (American).—To flatter; to humbug; to dupe. For synonyms, see Gammon.

Gum-sucker, subs. (Australian).—1. See quot. Cf., Corn-stalk.

1887. All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 67. A gum-sucker is a native
of Tasmania, and owes his elegant nickname to the abundance of
gum-trees in the Tasmanian forests.

2. (common).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Gum-tickler, subs. (colloquial).—1. A drink. Specifically, drop or short, or a dram. For synonyms, see Go.

1814. Quarterly Review, vol. X., p. 521. A gill, taken fasting, is
called a gum-tickler.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. IV., ch. iii. I prefer to
take it in the form of a gum-tickler.

2. See Gum-smasher.

Gum-tree. To be up a gum-tree, verb. phr. (American).—To be on one’s last legs; at the end of one’s rope. ‘He has seen his last gum-tree’ = It is all up with him.

Gun, subs. (old).—1. A lie. New Cant. Dict., 1725. For synonyms, see Whopper.

2. (common).—A thief; specifically, a magsman (q.v.) or street-artist. Also Gun-smith and Gunner. Gunning = thieving. [An abbreviation of Gonof (q.v.).] See Area-sneak and Thieves.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. II., ch. i., p. 70. I tell
you you ain’t a-going to make a gun (thief) of this here young
flat.

1868. Temple Bar, xxv., 213. ... returned to his old trade of
gunsmith, gunning being the slang term for thieving, or going on
the cross.

1882. Cornhill Mag., p. 649. Flats graft for guns.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police. Gunners and grasshoppers
sneak about watching their opportunities.

3. (American).—A revolver. For synonyms, see Meat-in-the Pot.

4. (Irish).—A toddy glass. See In the Gun.

Verb (American).—1. To consider with attention.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Gunned. The copper gunned me as if
he was fly to my mug.

2. (American).—To strive hard; to make a violent effort: e.g., to gun a stock = to use every means to produce a ‘break’; when supplies are heavy and holders would be unable to resist.

In the Gun, phr. (old).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gun, s.v., he’s in the gun, he is drunk,
perhaps from an allusion to a vessel called a gun, used for ale in
the universities.

Son of a Gun. See Son.

Sure as a Gun, phr. (common).—Quite certain; inevitable.

1633. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, ii., 1. ’Tis right; he has spoke as
true as a gun, believe it.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew.

1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, v., 20. All turned topsy-turvy, as
sure as a gun.

1720. Gay, New Song of New Similes. Sure as a gun she’ll drop a
tear.

1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. xviii., ch. ix. As sure as a gun I
have hit o’ the very right o’t.

1759. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. vi., ch. xxvi. Think ye not
that, in striking these in,—he might, peradventure, strike
something out? as sure as a gun.

1825. Egan, Life of an Actor, iv. By gum! he roared out, sir, as
sure as a gun.

d. 1842. Father Prout, Reliques, I. 19. ‘Vert-Vert, the Parrot.’
Scared at the sound,—‘Sure as a gun, The bird’s a demon!’ cried the
nun.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lviii. In every party of the
nobility his name’s down as sure as a gun.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 141. Nobbed, sure as a gun!

1892. Manville Fenn, New Mistress, xxxv. They were both down there
about that school-money Betsey, as sure as a gun.

Gundiguts, subs. (common).—A fat man; a forty guts (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gunner’s Daughter. To Kiss (or Marry) the Gunner’s Daughter, verb. phr. (nautical). To be flogged. [Gunner’s daughter = the gun to which boys were lashed for punishment.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxxii. I don’t know what officers
are made of now-a-days. I’ll marry some of you young gentlemen to
the gunner’s daughter before long. Quarter-deck’s no better than a
bear-garden.

Gunpowder, subs. (old).—An old woman.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gunter.—See Cocker.

Gup, subs. (Anglo-Indian).—Gossip; scandal.

1868. Florence Marryat, Gup, xix. With regard to my title ... Gup
is the Hindustani for ‘Gossip.’ Voilâ tout!

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xxix. Our Eastern empire is
much addicted to what they term gup, whereby they mean gossip,
scandal, or by whatever other equivalent the taking away of one’s
neighbours’ characters may be designated.

To be a gup, verb. phr. (American).—To be easy to take or steal.

Gurtsey, subs. (American Cadet).—A fat man; a podge (q.v.). For synonyms, see Forty-guts.

Gush, subs. (colloquial).—The expression of affected or extravagant sentiment.

1883. Saturday Review, 3 Feb., p. 148, c. 2. Mr. Picton’s style is
pleasant and easy, as long as he allows himself to be natural, and
does not fall into gush.

1886. Church Times, 17 Sep. Not mere gush or oratorical flip-flap.

Verb (colloquial).—To overflow with extravagant or affected sentiment.