Oxford English Dictionary [15, 2 ed.] 0198612273, 0198611862

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THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY SECOND EDITION

THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY First Edited by

JAMES A. H. MURRAY, HENRY BRADLEY, W. A. CRAIGIE and

C. T. ONIONS

COMBINED WITH

A SUPPLEMENT TO THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY Edited by

R. W. BURCHFIELD AND RESET WITH CORRECTIONS, REVISIONS AND ADDITIONAL VOCABULARY

THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY SECOND EDITION Prepared by

J. A. SIMPSON and E. S. C. WEINER

VOLUME XV Ser-Soosy

CLARENDON PRESS•OXFORD 1989

Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford

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Oxford New York Toronto Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Petaling Jay a Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press ©

Oxford University Press 1989

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Oxford English dictionary. — 2nd ed. 1. English language-Dictionaries I. Simpson, J. A. (John Andrew), 1953II. Weiner, Edmund S. C., 1950423 ISBN 0-19-861227-3 (vol. XV) ISBN 0-19-861186-2 (set) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Oxford English dictionary. — 2nd ed. prepared by J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner Bibliography: p. ISBN 0-19-861227-3 (vol. XV) ISBN 0-19-861186-2 (set) 1. English language — Dictionaries. I. Simpson, J. A. II. Weiner, E. S. C. III. Oxford University Press. PE1625.087 1989 423 — dci9 88-5330

Data capture by ICC, Fort Washington, Pa. Text-processing by Oxford University Press Typesetting by Filmtype Services Ltd., Scarborough, N. Yorks. Manufactured in the United States of America by Rand McNally & Company, Taunton, Mass.

KEY TO THE PRONUNCIATION The

pronunciations given are those in use in the educated speech of southern England (the so-called ‘Received

Standard’), and the keywords given are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.

I. Consonants b, d, f, k, 1, m, n, p, t, v, z have their usual English values , g as in go (gau)

0 as in thin (Bin), bath (bo:0)

h

... ho\ (hau)

S

... then (Sen), bathe (beiS)

r

... run (rAn), terrier ('teria(r))

I

• ■ • shop (Jnp), disii (dif)

(r) ... her (h3:(r))

tj

... chop (tfDp), ditch (ditj)

s

... see (si:), success (sak'ses)

3

... vision ('v^an), de/euner (de3one)

w

... wear (wea(r))

d3 ... judge (d3Ad3)

hw... when (hwen)

i)

j

0g ■ • • finger ('firga(r))

... yes (jes)

... singing ('sirjip), think (0ir)k)

(foreign and non-southern)

/( as in It. serrag/io (ser'raXo) ji

... Fr. cognac (kojiak)

x

... Ger. ach (ax), Sc. loch (Idx), Sp

5

... Ger. ich (19), Sc. nicht (nift)

Y

... North Ger. sagen ('zaryan)

c

... Afrikaans baardmannet/ie

g

.. . Fr. cuisine (kgizin)

fri/oles (fri'xoles)

('bairtmanaci)

Symbols in parentheses are used to denote elements that may be omitted either by individual speakers or in particular phonetic contexts: e.g. bottle ('bDt(a)l), Mercian ('m3:J(i)an), suit (s(j)u;t), impromptu (im'pmm(p)tju:), father ('fa:Sa(r)).

II. Vowels and Diphthongs SHORT

LONG

DIPHTHONGS, etc.

i as in pit (pit), -ness, (-ms)

i: as in bean (bi:n)

ei as in bay (bei)

6

... pet (pet), Fr. sept (set)

a:

... barn (ba:n)

ai

.. .

as

... pat (past)

a:

... born (bom)

01

. . .

boy (bai)

A

... putt (pAt)

u:

... boon (bum)

ou . . .

no (nau)

D

... pot (pDt)

3:

... barn (b3:n)

au .. .

now (nau)

U

... pat (put)

e:

... Ger. Schnee (Jne:)

10

.. .

peer (pia(r))

0

... another (a'nASa(r))

e:

... Ger. Fahre ('fe:ra)

80

.. .

pair (pea(r))

buy (bai)

(a) ... beaten ('bi:t(a)n)

a:

... Ger. Tag (ta:k)

U3 . . .

toar (tua(r))

i

Fr. si (si)

0:

... Ger. Sohn (zom)

03

boar (baa(r))

e

Fr. bebe (bebe)

0:

... Ger. Goethe ('goita)

a

Fr. mari (mari)

y:

... Ger. gran (grym)

a

ai3 as in fiery ('faiari) aoo .

... Fr. batiment (batima) Fr. homme (am)

o

... Fr. eau (0)

0

... Fr. pea (po)

a

...

Fr. franc (fra)

oe

... Fr. boeaf (boef) coear (kcer)

5

...

Fr. bon (ba)

&

...

Fr. an (ce)

u

... Fr. doace (dus) ... Ger. Mailer ('mylar)

y

•••

.

soar (saua(r))

NASAL

0

Y

. . .

e, ae as in Fr. fin (fe, fa;)

Fr. da (dy)

The incidence of main stress is shown by a superior stress mark (') preceding the stressed syllable, and a secondary stress by an inferior stress mark (,), e.g. pronunciation (pra,nAnsi'eiJ(a)n). For further explanation of the transcription used, see General Explanations, Volume I.

891893

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, SIGNS, ETC. Some abbreviations listed here in italics are also in certain cases printed in roman type, and vice versa. a. (in Etym.) a (as a 1850) a. abbrev. abl. absol. Abstr. acc. Acct. A.D.

ad. (in Etym.) Add. adj. Adv. adv. advb. Advt. Aeronaut. AF., AFr. Afr. Agric. Alb. Amer. Amer. Ind. Anat. Anc. Anglo-Ind. Anglo-Ir. Ann. Anthrop., Anthropol. Antiq. aphet. app. Appl. Applic. appos. Arab. Aram. Arch. arch. Archseol. Archit. Arm. assoc. Astr. Astrol. Astron. Astronaut. attrib. Austral. Autobiogr. A.V. B.C.

B.C. bef. Bibliogr. Biochem. Biol. Bk. Bot. Bp. Brit. Bulg.

adoption of, adopted from ante, ‘before’, ‘not later than’ adjective abbreviation (of) ablative absolute, -ly (in titles) Abstract, -s accusative (in titles) Account Anno Domini adaptation of Addenda adjective (in titles) Advance, -d, -s adverb adverbial, -ly advertisement (as label) in Aeronautics; (in titles) Aeronautic, -al, -s Anglo-French Africa, -n (as label) in Agriculture; (in titles) Agriculture, -al Albanian American American Indian (as label) in Anatomy; (in titles) Anatomy, -ical (in titles) Ancient Anglo-Indian Anglo-Irish Annals (as label) in Anthropology; (in titles) Anthropology, -ical (as label) in Antiquities; (in titles) Antiquity aphetic, aphetized apparently (in titles) Applied (in titles) Application, -s appositive, -ly Arabic Aramaic in Architecture archaic in Archaeology (as label) in Architecture; (in titles) Architecture, -al Armenian association in Astronomy in Astrology (in titles) Astronomy, -ical (in titles) Astronautic, -s attributive, -ly Australian (in titles) Autobiography, -ical Authorized Version Before Christ (in titles) British Columbia before (as label) in Bibliography; (in titles) Bibliography, -ical (as label) in Biochemistry; (in titles) Biochemistry, -ical (as label) in Biology; (in titles) Biology, -ical Book (as label) in Botany; (in titles) Botany, -ical Bishop (in titles) Britain, British Bulgarian

Bull.

(in titles) Bulletin

Diet.

c (as c 1700) c. (as 10th c.) Cal. Cambr. Canad. Cat. catachr. Catal. Celt. Cent. Cent. Diet. Cf„ cf. Ch. Chem.

circa, ‘about’ century (in titles) Calendar (in titles) Cambridge Canadian Catalan catachrestically (in titles) Catalogue Celtic (in titles) Century, Central Century Dictionary confer, ‘compare’ Church (as label) in Chemistry; (in titles) Chemistry, -ical (in titles) Christian (in titles) Chronicle (in titles) Chronology, -ical

dim. Dis. Diss. D.O.S.T.

Chr. Chron. Chronol. Cinemat., Cinematogr. Clin. cl. L. cogn.w. Col. Coll. collect. colloq. comb. Comb. Comm. Communic. comp. Compan. compar. compl. Compl. Cone. Conch. concr. Conf. Congr. conj. cons. const. contr. Contrib. Corr. corresp. Cotgr.

cpd. Crit. Cryst. Cycl. Cytol. Da. DA. D.A.E. dat. D.C. Deb. def. dem. deriv. derog. Descr. Devel. Diagn. dial.

in Cinematography (in titles) Clinical classical Latin cognate with (in titles) Colonel, Colony (in titles) Collection collective, -ly colloquial, -ly combined, -ing Combinations in Commercial usage in Communications compound, composition (in titles) Companion comparative complement (in titles) Complete (in titles) Concise in Conchology concrete, -ly (in titles) Conference (in titles) Congress conjunction consonant construction, construed with contrast (with) (in titles) Contribution (in titles) Correspondence corresponding (to) R. Cotgrave, Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues compound (in titles) Criticism, Critical in Crystallography (in titles) Cyclopaedia, -ic (in titles) Cytology, -ical Danish Dictionary of Americanisms Dictionary of American English dative District of Columbia (in titles) Debate, -s definite, -ition demonstrative derivative, -ation derogatory (in titles) Description, -tive (in titles) Development, -al (in titles) Diagnosis, Diagnostic dialect, -al

Du. E. Eccl.

Ecol. Econ. ed. E.D.D. Edin. Educ. EE. e-gElectr. Electron. Elem. ellipt. Embryol. e.midl. Encycl. Eng. Engin. Ent. Entomol. erron. esp. Ess. et al. etc. Ethnol. etym. euphem. Exam. exc. Ex ere. Exper. Explor. f.

f. (in Etym.) f. (in subordinate entries) F. fern. (rarely f.) figFinn. fl. Found. Fr. freq. Fris. Fund. Funk or Funk’s Stand. Diet. G. Gael. Gaz. gen. gen. Geogr.

Dictionary; spec., the Oxford English Dictionary diminutive (in titles) Disease (in titles) Dissertation Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue Dutch East (as label) in Ecclesiastical usage; (in titles) Ecclesiastical in Ecology (as label) in Economics; (in titles) Economy, -ics edition English Dialect Dictionary (in titles) Edinburgh (as label) in Education; (in titles) Education, -al Early English exempli gratia, ‘for example’ (as label) in Electricity; (in titles) Electricity, -ical (in titles) Electronic, -s (in titles) Element, -ary elliptical, -ly in Embryology east midland (dialect) (in titles) Encyclopaedia, -ic England, English in Engineering in Entomology (in titles) Entomology, -logical erroneous, -ly especially (in titles) Essay, -s et alii, ‘and others’ et cetera in Ethnology etymology euphemistically (in titles) Examination except (in titles) Exercise, -s (in titles) Experiment, -al (in titles) Exploration, -s feminine formed on form of French feminine figurative, -ly Finnish floruit, ‘flourished’ (in titles) Foundation, -s French frequent, -ly Frisian (in titles) Fundamental, -s Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary German Gaelic (in titles) Gazette genitive general, -ly (as label) in Geography; (in titles) Geography, -ical

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, SIGNS, ETC. Geol. Geom. Geomorphol. Ger. Gloss. Gmc. Godef.

Goth. Govt. Gr. Gram. Gt. Heb. Her. Herb. Hind. Hist. hist. Histol. Hort. Househ. Housek. Ibid. Icel. Ichthyol. id. i.e. IE. Illustr. imit. Immunol. imp. impers. impf. ind. indef. Industr. inf. infl. Inorg. Ins. Inst. int. intr. Introd. Ir. irreg. It.

(as label) in Geology; (in titles) Geology, -ical in Geometry in Geomorphology German Glossary Germanic F. Godefroy, Dictionnaire de Vancienne langue franfaise Gothic (in titles) Government Greek (as label) in Grammar; (in titles) Grammar, -tical Great Hebrew in Heraldry among herbalists Hindustani (as label) in History; (in titles) History, -ical historical (in titles) Histology, -ical in Horticulture (in titles) Household (in titles) Housekeeping Ibidem, ‘in the same book or passage’ Icelandic in Ichthyology idem, ‘the same’ id est, ‘that is’ Indo-European (in titles) Illustration, -ted imitative in Immunology imperative impersonal imperfect indicative indefinite (in titles) Industry, -ial infinitive influenced (in titles) Inorganic (in titles) Insurance (in titles) Institute, -tion interjection intransitive (in titles) Introduction Irish irregular, -ly Italian

(Jam.) Jap. joc. Jrnl. Jun.

(quoted from) Johnson’s Dictionary Jamieson, Scottish Diet. Japanese jocular, -ly (in titles) Journal (in titles) Junior

Knowl.

(in titles) Knowledge

1. L. lang. Led. Less. Let., Lett. LG. lit. Lit. Lith. LXX

line Latin language (in titles) Lecture, -s (in titles) Lesson, -s letter, letters Low German literal, -ly Literary Lithuanian Septuagint

m. Mag. Magn. Mai. Man. Managem. Manch. Manuf. Mar.

masculine (in titles) Magazine (in titles) Magnetic, -ism Malay, Malayan (in titles) Manual (in titles) Management (in titles) Manchester in Manufacture, -ing (in titles) Marine

J-, (J-)

masc. (rarely m.) Math. MDu. ME. Mech. Med. med.L. Mem. Metaph. Meteorol. MHG. midi. Mil. Min. Mineral. MLG. Mi sc. mod. mod.L (Morris), Mus.

Myst. Mythol. N. n. N. Amer. N. Sf Q. Narr. Nat. Nat. Hist. Naut. N.E. N.E.D.

Neurol. neut. (rarely n.) NF., NFr. No. nom. north. Norw. n.q. .N.T. Nucl. Numism. N.W. N.Z.

masculine (as label) in Mathematics; (in titles) Mathematics, -al Middle Dutch Middle English (as label) in Mechanics; (in titles) Mechanics, -al (as label) in Medicine; (in titles) Medicine, -ical medieval Latin (in titles) Memoir, -s in Metaphysics (as label) in Meteorology; (in titles) Meteorology, -ical Middle High German midland (dialect) in military usage (as label) in Mineralogy; (in titles) Ministry (in titles) Mineralogy, -ical Middle Low German (in titles) Miscellany, -eous modern modern Latin (quoted from) E. E. Morris’s Austral English (as label) in Music; (in titles) Music, -al; Museum (in titles) Mystery in Mythology North neuter North America, -n Notes and Queries (in titles) Narrative (in titles) Natural in Natural History in nautical language North East New English Dictionary, original title of the Oxford English Dictionary (first edition) in Neurology neuter Northern French Number nominative northern (dialect) Norwegian no quotations New Testament Nuclear in Numismatics North West New Zealand

OS. OS1. O.T. Outl. Oxf.

object oblique obsolete (in titles) Obstetrics occasionally Old English (= Anglo-Saxon) Old French Old Frisian Old High German Old Irish Old Norse Old Northern French in Ophthalmology opposed (to), the opposite (of) in Optics (in titles) Organic origin, -al, -ally (as label) in Ornithology; (in titles) Ornithology, -ical Old Saxon Old (Church) Slavonic Old Testament (in titles) Outline (in titles) Oxford

PPalseogr.

page in Palteography

obj. obi. Obs., obs. Obstetr. occas. OE. OF., OFr. OFris. OHG. OIr. ON. ONF. Ophthalm. opp. Opt. Org. orig. Ornith.

Palseont.

Publ.

(as label) in Palaeontology; (in titles) Palaeontology, -ical passive participle, past participle (quoted from) E. Partridge’s Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English passive, -ly past tense (as label) in Pathology; (in titles) Pathology, -ical perhaps Persian person, -al in Petrography (as label) in Petrology; (in titles) Petrology, -ical (quoted from) C. Pettman’s Africanderisms perfect Portuguese in Pharmacology (as label) in Philology; (in titles) Philology, -ical (as label) in Philosophy; (in titles) Philosophy, -ic phonetic, -ally (as label) in Photography; (in titles) Photography, -ical phrase physical; (rarely) in Physiology (as label) in Physiology; (in titles) Physiology, -ical (in titles) Picture, Pictorial plural poetic, -al Polish (as label) in Politics; (in titles) Politics, -al in Political Economy (in titles) Politics, -al popular, -ly (in titles) Porcelain possessive (in titles) Pottery participial adjective participle Provencal present (in titles) Practice, -al preceding (word or article) predicative prefix preface preposition present (in titles) Principle, -s privative probably (in titles) Problem (in titles) Proceedings pronoun pronunciation properly in Prosody Provencal present participle in Psychology (as label) in Psychology; (in titles) Psychology, -ical (in titles) Publications

Q. quot(s). q.v.

(in titles) Quarterly quotation(s) quod vide, ‘which see’

R. Radiol. R.C.Ch. Rec. redupl. Ref. refash. refl. Reg.

(in titles) Royal in Radiology Roman Catholic Church (in titles) Record reduplicating (in titles) Reference refashioned, -ing reflexive (in titles) Register

pa. pple. (Partridge),

pass. pa.t. Path. perh. Pers. pers. Petrogr. Petrol. (Pettman), pf. PgPharm. Philol. Philos. phonet. Photogr. phr. Phys. Physiol. Piet. pi., plur. poet. Pol. Pol. Pol. Econ. Polit. pop. Pore. poss. Pott. ppl. a., pple. adj. pple. Pr. pr. Pract. prec. pred. pref. pref., Pref. prep. pres. Princ. priv. prob. Probl. Proc. pron. pronunc. prop. Pros. Prov. pr. pple. Psych. Psychol.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, SIGNS, ETC. reg. rel. Reminisc. Rep. repr. Res. Rev. rev. Rhet. Rom. Rum. Russ.

regular related to (in titles) Reminiscence, -s (in titles) Report, -s representative, representing (in titles) Research (in titles) Review revised in Rhetoric Roman, -ce, -ic Rumanian Russian

S. S.Afr. sb. sc.

South South Africa, -n substantive scilicet, ‘understand’ or ‘supply’ Scottish (in titles) Scandinavia, -n (in titles) School Scottish National Dictionary (in titles) Scotland (in titles) Selection, -s Series singular (in titles) Sketch Sanskrit Slavonic Scottish National Dictionary (in titles) Society (as label) in Sociology; (in titles) Sociology, -ical Spanish (in titles) Speech, -es spelling specifically (in titles) Specimen Saint (in titles) Standard (quoted from) Stanford Dictionary of Anglicised Words & Phrases

Sc., Scot. Scand. Sch. Sc. Nat. Diet. Scotl. Sel. Ser. sing. Sk. Skr. Slav. S.N.D. Soc. Sociol. Sp. Sp. sp. spec. Spec. St. Stand. Stanf.

str. Struct. Stud. subj. subord. cl. subseq. subst. stiff. superl. Suppl. Surg. s.v. Sw. s.w. Syd. Soc. Lex.

syll. Syr. Syst. Taxon. techn. Technol. Telegr. Teleph. (Th.), Theatr. Theol. Theoret. Tokh. tr., transl. Trans. trans. transf. Trav. Treas. Treat. Treatrn. Trig.

strong (in titles) Structure, -al (in titles) Studies subject subordinate clause subsequent, -ly substantively suffix superlative Supplement (as label) in Surgery; (in titles) Surgery, Surgical sub voce, ‘under the word’ Swedish south-western (dialect) Sydenham Society, Lexicon of Medicine & Allied Sciences syllable Syrian (in titles) System, -atic (in titles) Taxonomy, -ical technical, -ly (in titles) Technology, -ical in Telegraphy in Telephony (quoted from) Thornton’s American Glossary in the Theatre, theatrical (as label) in Theology; (in titles) Theology, -ical (in titles) Theoretical Tokharian translated, translation (in titles) Transactions transitive transferred sense (in titles) Travel(s) (in titles) Treasury (in titles) Treatise (in titles) Treatment in Trigonometry

Trop. Turk. Typog., Typogr.

(in titles) Tropical Turkish in Typography

ult. Univ. unkn. U.S. U.S.S.R.

ultimately (in titles) University unknown United States Union of Soviet Socialist Republics usually

usu. v., vb. var(r)., vars. vbl. sb. Vertebr. Vet.

Vet. Sci. viz. Voy. v.str. vulg. v.w. W. wd. Webster Westm. WGmc. Wks. w.midl. WS. (Y.), Yrs. Zoogeogr. Zool.

verb variant(s) of verbal substantive (in titles) Vertebrate, -s (as label) in Veterinary Science; (in titles) Veterinary in Veterinary Science videlicet, ‘namely’ (in titles) Voyage, -s strong verb vulgar weak verb Welsh; West word Webster’s (New International) Dictionary (in titles) Westminster West Germanic (in titles) Works west midland (dialect) West Saxon (quoted from) Yule & Burnell’s Hobson-Jobson (in titles) Years in Zoogeography (as label) in Zoology; (in titles) Zoology, -ical

Signs and Other Conventions In the listing of Forms

Before a word or sense f = obsolete

1 2 3 5-7 20

|| = not naturalized, alien 5| = catachrestic and erroneous uses

= = = = =

before 1100 12th c. (uoo to 1200) 13th c. (1200 to 1300), etc. 15th to 17th century 20th century

In the etymologies * indicates a word or form not actually found, but of which the existence is inferred :— = normal development of

The printing of a word in small capitals indicates that further information will be found under the word so referred to. .. indicates an omitted part of a quotation. - (in a quotation) indicates a hyphen doubtfully present in the original; (in other text) indicates a hyphen inserted only for the sake of a line-break.

PROPRIETARY NAMES This

Dictionary includes some words which are or are asserted to be proprietary names or trade marks. Their

inclusion does not imply that they have acquired for legal purposes a non-proprietary or general significance nor any other judgement concerning their legal status. In cases where the editorial staff have established in the records of the Patent Offices of the United Kingdom and of the United States that a word is registered as a proprietary name or trade mark this is indicated, but no judgement concerning the legal status of such words is made or implied thereby.

SER ser, obs. form of

sear v. 1482 Cely Papers (Camden) 122 Lette hym [a horse] ron in a parke tyll Hallowtyd and then take hym wpe and ser hym and lette hym stand in the dede of whynter.

ser, obs. f.

sear asir; obs. Sc. f. sore adv.\ var.

SEER2.

ser.,

abbreviation of series.

fsera. Mil. Obs. [? a. It. serra a tight place, vbl. sb. f. serrare to shut up, press.] at the sera: at close quarters. 1591 Garrard's Art Warre 7 Which at the Sera and close is very necessarie.

sera,

obs. form of seer2, serai.

i serab (se'raib). Also sirab. [ad. Arab, sarab.] A mirage. a 1835 F. D. Hemans Wks. (1844) III. 87 Suns of blasting light perchance illume The glistening Serab which illudes his eye. 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 261/2 This kind of mirage is not peculiar to Egypt; it is known in Persia also, where it is called Serab or Sir-ab (miraculous water). 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 50/2 When the soil is parched up the appearance of the mirage (serab) is very common.

Serabend, Serabite,

var. Saraband2.

obs. form of Sarabaite.

serac (sa'rtek). Also || serac. [a. Swiss-Fr. serac, orig. the name of a kind of white cheese; the transferred application was doubtless suggested by similitude of form.] (See quot. 1898.) i860 Tyndall Glac. 1. vii. 51 These ridges are often cleft by fissures .. thus forming detached towers of ice.. Foot¬ note. To such towers the name Seracs is applied. 1891 G. F. Wright Ice Age N. Amer. 8 Fissures and seracs where the glacier moves down the steeper portion of its incline. 1898 Encycl. Sports II. 54/1 (Mountaineering) Serac, a tower of ice on a glacier, formed by the intersection of crevasses. 1900 Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. XXIX. 295 Weathering occurs where variations of external temperature penetrate to the bed-rock, as is particularly the case between the seracs of glacial cascades. 1933 J. Buchan Prince of Captivity 1. iii. 92 They came on ice-fields.. and mountainous seracs which would have puzzled an Alpine climber. 1936 M. Roberts Poems 36 The snow falls, and the seracs; and the green glacier-ice Moves down. 1963 G. Carr Lewker in Norway vi. 124 On the further side of the right-hand ridge he could just see the upper seracs of the Bojumsbre. 1979 C. Kilian Icequake vi. 86 Fluge fields of seracs—the topographical nightmare caused by intersecting crevasses.

serace, seraff, seradeh,

variant forms of serai, saraf.

obs. var. shraddha, sraddha.

seraffin(e,

var. ff. seraphin Obs. (a coin).

serafic,

obs. form of seraphic.

serafile,

variant of serrefile.

serafin,

SERANG

i

var. seraphin Obs. (a coin); seraphim.

seraglio (se'railjau). Also 6 sarralia, seralyo, serraqlio, 7 seraglia, seralia, seralio, serraglio, serralia, surralia, -ya, zereglia, PL seragli. [a. It. serraglio:—popular L. *serraculum enclosure, place of confinement (cf. med.L. serraculum fastening of a door), f. *serrare (whence It. serrare, F. serrer, Sp. cerrar) for ser are to lock up, close, f. sera lock or bolt. The It. word was, from similarity of sound, used to render the Turkish serai lodging, palace (see serai1). The applications of the word which have been adopted in Eng. all relate to Turkey and the East, but some of them represent merely the etymological sense of the It. word, while others owe their meaning wholly or partly to the Turkish word. Cf. serai1, serail.] I. Enclosure, place of confinement. 1. The part of a Muslim dwelling-house (esp. of the palace of a sovereign or great noble) in which the women are secluded; the apartments reserved for wives and concubines; a harem. 1581 Rich Farew. Pj, The kyng of Tunise .. caused her to be put in the Cube, whiche is a place where he keepeth his Concubines (as the Turke doeth his in his Serraqlio [sic].) 1588 Hickock tr. C. Frederick's Voy. 30 One principall wife, which is kept in a Seralyo. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. 11. ii, Thou shalt be the master Of my seraglia. 1624 Massinger Renegado 1. i. Can I know my sister Mewde vp in his Serraglio.. and not haste to send him To the Deuill his tutor? 1625 Purchas Pilgrims I. 553 A kinswoman of his, Iiuing in the Zereglia. 1653 Ramesey Astrol. Restored 145 In this our age we build more Serralias then Churches. 1788 Genii. Mag. LVIII. 1. 100/2 Shutting up women in seraglios, and degrading them into an inferior class of beings. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 233 The secrecy of Oriental seraglios.

b. The inmates of the harem; a polygamous household. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 115 Each house top spred with Carpets, wheron slept a man and his peculiar Seralio. 1847 C. Bronte Jane Eyre xxiv, I would not exchange this one little English girl for the grand Turk’s whole seraglio. c. transf. and fig. 1672 Dryden Assignation iv. i, This Key will admit me into the Seraglio of the Godly [sc. the Nunnery]. 1691

Comedy, Win Her & Take Her 11. i. 15 He’le make the Drawing-Room his Seraglio. 1709 Taller No. 50 ]f 1 Woman was his mistress; and the whole Sex his Seraglio. a 1711 Ken Urania Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 478 There I a whole Seraglio met Of flatt’ring Lusts, which me beset. 1773 Wilkes Corr. (1805) IV. 141 One grand-signior cock, with a seraglio of seven hens. 1820 Scott Monast. i, The mighty bull moved at the head of his seraglio and their followers. i860 Motley Netherl. ii. (1868) I. 48 A seraglio of maids of honour ministered to Henry's pleasures. 1881 H. W. Elliott Seal Isl. Alaska (1884) 38 The same indifference is also exhibited by the male [fur-seal] to all that may take place .. outside of the boundary of his seraglio.

12. gen. An enclosure; a place of confinement. a 1668 Lassels Voy. Italy (1698) I. 136 Near to the Stables stands the Seraglio where the wild beasts are kept. 01700 Evelyn Diary 15 Jan. 1645, I went to the Ghetto, where the Jewes dwell as in a suburbe by themselues... I passed by the Piazza Judea, where their Seraglio begins. II. = SERAI1.

3. A Turkish palace, esp. the palace of the Sultan at Constantinople. Now Hist. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. 11. 1. 290 The .. dayly paiments .. by the Grand Signior .. to the Officers of his Seraglio or Court. 1600 Dallam in Early Voy. Levant (Hakluyt Soc. 1893) 57 The surralia .. which doth joyne close to the Cittie. Ibid. 61 The Grand Sinyors Courte, Called the surralya. 1630 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 559 The pleasantest of any Palace on the face of the earth, termed by them the Port, or Seraglio. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece 1. 80 All about these parts are the Serraglioes, or Countrey-houses of the great Men among the Turks. 1728 Eliza Heywood tr. Mme. de Somez's Belle A. (1732) II. 251 He was immediately order’d to come to the Seraglio, where he was receiv’d by the Grand Visier with all imaginable tokens of Friendship and Esteem. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 304/2 The remains of the Seraglio, former palace of the Ottoman sultans.

t4. A place of accommodation for travellers. 1617 Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 3) 606 At euery tenth course a Seraglia or Place of lodging for Man and Horse. 1659 Evelyn Let. to R. Boyle 3 Sept., At the other back front a plot walled in of a competent square for the common seraglio disposed into a garden.

f5. A warehouse. Obs. 1628 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1909) III. 230 Depositing those intended for Cambay and Ahmadabad in the ‘seraglia’. 1676 Covel in Early Voy. Levant (Hakluyt Soc.) 168 On the shoar towardes the factory seraglio is a fair large fountain. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece 1. 42 The Currans .. are .. put into Ware-houses they call Seraglio’s. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 160 They are thrown thorow a Hole into the great Magazine, call’d the Seraglio.

f6. ? A barrack for a particular corps of the Turkish army; hence, a corps or grade of Turkish soldiers. Obs. 1600 Pory Leo's Africa, etc. 386 They are called home againe to the Seraglios of the Zamoglans (for so are they termed, till they be enrolled among the Ianissaries). 1613 Wotton Let. to Sir E. Bacon 21 Mar., The Turk.. having made a leavy.. of 5000 youths out of the Seragli. 1656 Earl Monm. tr. Boccalini's Advts.fr. Parnass. 1. xxxii. 57 To give the command of Armies. . to men of the first or second Seraglio.

III. 7. attrib. and Comb.: seraglio-guard, lady, voindcrw\ seraglio cake, a name given to a kind of fancy bread. 1842 Merle Dom. Diet. 46 *Seraglio Cake. 1821 Shelley Hellas 114 Man the *Seraglio-guard! 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. (1893) I- 294 This is the chief guardian of the *seraglio ladies. Ibid. 323 The Grand Signior was at the *seraglio window.

|| serai2 (sa'rai). Also 7 sou-, sowray, 9 surahee, -hi, surai, suraiee. [Anglo-Indian, repr. Urdu (orig. Arab.) furahi.] ‘A long-necked earthenware (or metal) flagon for water’ (Yule). 1672 tr. Bernier's Hist. Rev. Emp. Gt. Mogol IV. 10 A Souray of the water of Ganges... Sowray is that Tin-flagon full of water, which the Servant that marcheth on foot before the Gentleman on horseback, carrieth in his hand. 1808 Elphinstone in Colebrooke Life (1884) I. 199 We had., two surahees of water [etc.]. 1825-9 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor V. xxix. 47 She broke a serai of water. 1859 Lang Wand. India 145 Hold hard, syce, and give me the suraiee (water-bottle). 1874 H. H. Cole Catal. Ind. Art S. Kens. Mus. 144 A surai. .with a long neck and flat bulged base.

serail (sa'reil).

Now rare. Forms: 6 sarail, sarell, 7 serail(l)e, serraill, serrayle, 7- serail. [a. F. serail, ad. It. serraglio: see seraglio. Cf. Sp. serrallo.] 1. = SERAGLIO I. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 11. xxii. 59 b, [The women’s] priuate bathes, which for the most part they haue .. within their houses or Sarails. 1587 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. iii. iii. 1176 He shall be made a chast and lustlesse Eunuke, And in my Sarell tend my Concubines. 1603 Florio Montaigne 1. xlii. 143 What longing-lust would not be alaide, to see three hundred women at his dispose and pleasure, as hath the Grand Turke in his Seraille? 1628 Le Grys tr. Barclay's Argenis ill. 244 Thou wouldest haue said, that she was brought vp in the warres; they bred in a Serrayle of Women. 1786 tr. Beckford's Vathek (1883) 65 They consigned them with good commendations to the surgeons of the serail. 1808 E. S. Barrett Miss-led General 161 A numerous serail must be attended with vast expence. 1844 Kinglake Eothen iii. 42 Venice .. is the bowing slave of the Sultan., she watches the walls of his Serail. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia xxx, The purest monotheism, they discovered, was perfectly compatible with bigotry and ferocity, luxury and tyranny, serails and bowstrings. f2. = SERAGLIO 3, SERAI1 2. Obs. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxv. 140 b, Selim builded there for a dwelling place, a fayre and sumptuous Sarail. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1311 The embassador went himself to the serrail. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2307/3 The other report is, That the Grand Signior is only kept a close Prisoner in the Serail. 1782 J. Scott Poet. Wks. 231 And from his high serail the sultan hears The wide Propontis’ beating waves resound.

f3.

A

barrack

for

Turkish

soldiers;

=

SERAGLIO 6. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxv. 140 b, There is besides another Sarail, for the lodging of the Azamoglans or Ianissaries.

serain(e, obs. forms of serene sb.1, siren. serai ('sisrsl), a.1 (and sb.) Geol. [f. L. ser-us late + -al1: see quot.] a. adj. Used by H. D. Rogers to designate the Millstone Grit formation of the Pennsylvanian Coal-measures, b. absol. or sb. Used as a name for this formation. 1858 H. D. Rogers Geol. Pennsylv. I. 109 Serai series, or Coal strata. Serai Conglomerate (or Lowest Division of the Coal-Measures). Ibid. II. 11. 1027 Serai.. a synonym for the coal-formation expressing the period of the nightfall or late twilight of the Appalachian Palaeozoic day.

serai ('sisral), a.2 Ecol. [f. sere sb.2 + -al.] Of or pertaining to a sere; being a member of a sere other than its climax.

I serai1 (sa'rai). Forms: 7 sarray, sera, seraw(e, serray, suray, surroie, 7, 9 sarai, -ay, 8 serauee, 9 seraee, seray, -oy, 8- serai, [a. Turkish (orig. Persian) serai lodging, residence, palace. Cf. SERAGLIO, SERAIL.]

1. In various Eastern countries, A building for the accommodation of travellers; a caravanserai. 1609 W. Finch in Purchas Pilgrims (1625) I. 434 By it the great Saray, besides which are diuers others.. wherein diuers neate lodgings are to be let. C1616 Ibid. 520 Euery fiue or sixe Course, there are Seraes built. . for the.. entertainment of Trauellers. 1782 G. Forster Journ. (1798) I. 74 The stationary tenants of the serauee. .approach the traveller on his entrance. 1793 W. Hodges Trav. India 32 The lodgings of the traveller in India are the serais, or caravanserais,.. as they are called in Europe. 1800 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 281/1 A handsome seray built of stone. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. Prel. Rem. (1876) 8 The seraees for travellers. . owe their existence to the enlightened selfinterest of the better order of princes. 1879 W. Wakefield Happy Valley 35 These serais .. generally consist of a large square stone building. 1895 Outing (U.S) XXVI. 467/2 A ‘Serai’ covers a space about 150 feet square or larger, and is built around a quadrangular court with a continuous veranda. f b. ? A warehouse. = seraglio 5. Obs. 1619 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) 103 The goods have since been taken to Bershanpur, and placed in the common ‘sera’.

2. A Turkish palace; esp. the palace of the Sultan at Constantinople. 1617 Moryson I tin. iii. 68 The Sultans or Emperours Pallace (vulgarly called Saray, and by the Italians Seraglio). 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 117 Nothing more observable in the Town than the Serrays and [etc.]. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. 11. lxxvii, The Serai’s impenetrable tower. 1869 Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 230 Having sent.. to the Pasha to ask for horses, we thought it right to pay him a visit in his serai. H3. Misused for seraglio i: A harem. 1813 Byron Giaour 444 Not thus was Hassan wont to fly When Leila dwelt in his Serai.

1916 F. E. Clements Plant Succession ix. 184 In lowland and montane regions examples of priseres are often more numerous than those of subseres, and such regions are of the first importance for serai investigations. 1926 Tansley & Chipp Study of Vegetation ii. 18 We have a special technical term for the developmental series of communities... We apply the adjective serai, as opposed to climax, to such communities. 1932 Forestry VI. 190 The principal serai stages in natural succession from grassland or heath to beechwood are shortly described for certain soil types. 1955 P. A. Buxton Nat. Hist. Tsetse Flies ix. 278 It appears to be generally true that the grassland is serai and that it is prevented from developing into bush or woodland by annual fires. 1973 P. A. Colinvaux, Introd. Ecol. vi. 77 The communities are.. classified into a number of subordinate communities, the serai stages, and the generic taxon, the Beech-maple climax community.

seralbumen, -in (.siarael'bjuimen, -in). Chem. Also sero-albumen. [f. ser-um + albumen.] The albumen of the blood. Hence seral'buminous (.sero-al'buminous) a., composed of or containing seralbumen. 1835-6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 63/1 An orange-yellow coloured sero-albuminous fluid. Ibid. 89/2 When coagulated seralbumen is digested in acetic acid, it becomes soft and transparent. 1857 [see ovalbumen]. 1873 Ralfe Phys. Chem. 28 Ovo-albumin is distinguished from seroalbumin by the following characteristics. 1878 Kingzett Anim. Chem. 124 Chyle contains potassium-albumin, casein, and seralbumin.

Hserang (sa'rasg). Anglo-Indian. Also sarang, syrang. [a. Pers. w/ifl^commander.] A native boatswain or captain of a Lascar crew. 1799 Hull Advert. 21 Dec. 4/1 Seringapatam Prize-money ... first dividend. Commandant Subadars, and Serangs of Gun Lascars. 1806 Naval Chron. XV. 469 The sarang, or principal native. 1817 in R. G. Wallace Fifteen Yrs. India (1822) 256 The syrangs.. exerted their powerful influence over the seamen. 1891 Kipling Life's Handicap 297 Pambe, the Serang or head man of the Lascar sailors.

seranine ('ssranain). (See quot.) 1889 Cundill Diet. Explosives 61 Seranine is a mixture of nitro-glycerine and chlorate of potash. 1890 Eissler Mod. Explosives 38.

serapah, obs. form of seerpaw. serape (|| se'rape, se'raipei). Also sarape, 9 U.S. zarape. [Mexican Sp. serape, sarape.] A shawl or plaid worn by Spanish-Americans. 1834 A. Pike Prose Sk. Gf Poems 138 The men with .. the zarape or blanket of striped red and white. 1836 [see ranchero]. 1847 Ruxton Adv. Mexico, etc. xxiv. 210, I.. knew that I had seen the last. . of civilized man under the garb of a Mexican sarape. 1850 Mayne Reid Rifle Rangers xi, The ranchero .. is never seen without the ‘serape’. a 1883 -Lost Mtn. xv. 147 Keeping the rain off with waterproof serapes. 1888 Mary E. Blake in Lit. World (U.S.) 18 Aug. 262/1 The men, with wide-rimmed sombrero and gay zarape. 1892 Dial. Notes I. 194 Serape, a Mexican blanket, generally woven by hand by Indian women, with stripes of variegated colors. The serape has no opening or slit for the head, like the poncho, but is worn by men only, thrown across the shoulders. 1916 ‘B. M. Bower’ Phantom Herd 68 He had finished with an old Mexican serape draped around his person for warmth. 1950 Chicago Tribune 1 Mar. 20/3 The feminine counterpart of the serape is the rebozo. 1979 United States 1980/81 (Penguin Travel Guides) 49 Mexican, Indian, and ‘Old West’ items are especially good buys. Serapes .. and wool rebozos . . make nice gifts.

Serapeum (sera'piism). Egyptology and Anc. Hist. Also Serapeion (-'aiDn), Serapeium; pi. Serapeia. [a. late L., ad. Gr. Eeparreiov, f. Zepams Serapis.] A temple of Serapis; spec, the great precinct near Memphis, where the sacred Apis bulls were buried, and a temple in Alexandria. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 260/2 He had temples (Serapeia) in several parts of Egypt. 1847 J. Leitch tr. Muller's Anc. Art 243 The Serapeum was at the same time a sanatory institution. 1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile iv. 86 According to one of these precious Serapeum tablets, the wounded bull did not die till the fourth year of the reign of Darius. 1927 Tarn & Griffith Hellenistic Civiliz. x. 294 The Serapeum at Delos has revealed that the triad who were so to influence Hellenism were.. Isis, Sarapis, and Anubis. 1928 Daily Tel. 11 Dec. 13/4 It was suggested that the socalled Greek Serapeum was in truth nothing but the restingplace of the mother cows of Egyptian Apis. 1961 A. Gardiner Egypt of Pharaohs xii. 326 Not a single inscription of Dyn. XXI was found in the Serapeum [at Memphis]. 1972 P. M. Fraser Ptolemaic Alexandria I. v. 271 The Serapeum on Rhacotis Hill [in Alexandria] was within the Ptolemaic and Roman city-walls.

seraph1 ('seraf).

[Back-formation from the plural seraphim, seraphin (on the analogy of cherubim, -in and cherub). (Perh. first used by Milton.) Cf. G. seraph, in mod. use perh. from Eng., though Luther had in one passage used seraph (as a plural). Certain mediaeval commentators on Pseudo-Dionysius, followed by many glossaries down to the Ortus Vocabulorum (1518), give seraph (genitive seraphis) as the sing, corresponding to the pi. seraphin\ but the form appears to have had no actual currency in med. Latin.]

1. a. One of the seraphim. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 667 Brightest Seraph tell In which of all these shining Orbes hath Man His fixed seat. 1691 Norris Pract. Disc. (1716) II. 171 Who sees Darkness even in the Angels of Light, and charges the loftiest Seraph with Folly! 01711 Ken Hymns Evang. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 184 The Seraphs who of all love Godhead most Had near the Throne the honourable Post. 1786 Coleridge Genevieve 4 Sweet your voice, as Seraph’s song. 1816 Byron (1st) Stanzas to Augusta iv, Oh! blest be thine unbroken light, That watch’d me as a seraph’s eye. 1842 Tennyson St. Simeon Styl. 166 That Pontius and Iscariot by my side Show’d like fair seraphs.

b.fig. A seraphic person, an ‘angel’. 1853 C. Bronte Villette xxi, I knew another of these seraphs .. she was [etc.].

2. Geol. A fossil shell. Cf. seraphim 4. 1822 Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 153 Seraphs, a convoluted, elongated, univalved shell. 1851 Woodward Mollusca 1. 106.

3. attrib. and Comb, (sometimes quasi-adj. = seraphic), as seraph-arrival, -band, -bard, -cloud, fire, -man, note, -sense, song, way, -wing; seraph-bright, -haunted, -sent, -winged adjs. Also seraph-tide Anglo-Irish, Michaelmas. 1876 G. M. Hopkins Wr. Deutschland xxiii, in Poems (1967) 59 With the gnarl of the nails in thee,.. his Lovescape crucified And seal of his ’•'seraph-arrival. 1786 Burns ‘O Thou dread Power’ v, The beauteous, "seraph Sisterband. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. vi. xx, This seraph-band, each waved his hand. 1729 Savage Wanderer v. 379 Then, as yon "Seraph-Bard fram’d Hearts below, Each sees him here transcendant Knowledge show. 1949 Blunden After Bombing 49 Marbles, mosaics, carvings, "seraph-bright Paintings of wall and window. 1928-Japanese Garland 30 Their mysteries luring that young "seraph-cloud Swan¬ like between the mountain and the moon. 1803 Heber Palestine 32 One faint spark of Milton’s "seraph fire. 1958 G. Barker Two Plays 52 Lie dreaming on that ’'seraphhaunted shore. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. vi. xix, A man all light, a "seraph-man On every corse there stood. 1814 Bowdler Hymn, ‘Sing to the Lord', Israel’s shepherds heard amazed The "seraph notes of peace and love. 1928 Blunden Retreat 65 Her touch is "seraph sense. 1932 - Face of England 126 They sparkled free In "seraph-sent lucidity. 1801 Southey Thalaba xii. iv, Or liker the first sound of "seraph song And Angel greeting, a 1849 Mar. Edgeworth White Pigeon, You promised to make me a compliment of it last "Seraph-tide was twelvemonth. 1818 Byron Juan 1. lxxxv, For he would learn the rudiments of love, I mean the

seraphim

2

SERANINE

"seraph way of those above. 1754 Gray Progr. Poesy hi. ii, He, that rode sublime Upon the "seraph-wings of Extasy. 1821 Shelley Hellas 448 A "seraph-winged Victory.

H'seraph2. Obs. [a. F. fseraph, corruptly a. Turkish shartf: see shariffe. Cf. It. -fsaraffo.] A Turkish gold coin; a sequin. 1576 Eden Hist. Trav. (1577) 364 Three thousande Saraphes of golde. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais II. xiv, I will give thee my Codpiece:.. there are six hundred Seraphs in it, and some fine Diamonds. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Seraph, a Turkish coyn of fine gold, worth about a French crown.

seraph, obs. variant of giraffe. 1607 Topsell Four-]. Beasts 4 Their nourishment goeth more forward then backward, like the best horses, and the Arabian Seraph, which are higher before then behinde.

seraphic (sa'rsefik), a. and sb. Also 7 seraphique, 7-8 seraphick, 8 serafic. [a. eccl. L. seraphicus, f. seraph-im: see seraphim. Cf. F. seraphique, Sp. serdfico, Pg. seraphico, It. serafico.] A. adj. 1. Of or pertaining to the seraphim. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. v. i, Seraphique Angells Clap their celestiall wings in heavenly plaudits. 1667 Milton P.L. 1. 794 The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim In close recess and secret conclave sat. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic 1. iii. (1840) 81 This supposition.. places him [the Devil] beneath the dignity of his seraphic original. 1755 Young Centaur vi. (1757) IV. 275 A being big with .. hope.. of adding melody to seraphic choirs, in ceaseless Hallelujahs to their Eternal King. 1850 Mrs. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 238 Seven beautiful seraphic or allegorical figures.

2. Of attributes: Resembling what pertains to the seraphim; worthy of a seraph; ecstatically adoring. Some Motives Love of God 9 This Love I have taken the freedome to style Seraphick Love, borrowing the name from.. those nobler Spirits of the Caelestiall Hierarchie, whose Name .. expresses them to be of a flaming Nature. 1683 Norris Idea Happin. 35 There is a more peculiar Acceptation of the Love of God proper to this place. And it is that which we call Seraphic. By which I understand.. that Love of God which is the effect of an intense Contemplation of him. 1695 Blackmore Pr. Arth. 1. 44 Nor did his Arts in vain weak Man assail, His false Seraphick Tongue and Charms prevail, a 1711 Ken Hymns Festiv. Poet. Wks. 1821 II. 191 Seraphick Ardour dwelling in each Vein, The Majestatick Presence in the Brain. 1778 Warner in Jesse Selwyn Contemp. (1844) III. 336 Mr. Mudge.. had a most seraphic finger for the harpsichord. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. 11. viii, On the thick Hyperborean, cherubic reasoning, seraphic eloquence were lost. 1846 De Quincey Shelley in Tait's Mag. Jan. 29 Many people remarked something seraphic in the expression of his features. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. cix, Seraphic intellect and force To seize and throw the doubts of man. 1859 Geo. Eliot Adam Bede vi, Dinah’s seraphic gentleness of expression. 1872 Calverley Fly Leaves (1884) 97 Her voice was sweet.. Her singing quite seraphic. 1884 W. S. Lilly in Contemp. Rev. Feb. 263 That religious romanticism which paints for us a mediseval period full of seraphic sweetness. 1659 Boyle

fb. ? Concerned with sublime objects. Obs. Aubrey Brief Lives, Dunstan (1898) I. 243 Meredith Lloyd tells me that, three or 400 yeares ago, chymistry was in a greater perfection, much, then now; their proces was then more seraphique and universall: now they looke only after medicines. 01697

3. Resembling a seraph, either in beauty or in fervour of exalted devotion. 1762-71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 121 That seraphic dame, Mrs. Rowe, also painted. 1807 Crabbe Sir Eustace Grey 71 Her morals [show’d] the seraphic saint. 1845 Disraeli Sybil iv. x, That seraphic being, whose lustre even now haunts my vision. 1870Lothair xiii, Seraphic saints, and gorgeous scenes by Tintoret.

b. Of discourse, actions, appearance: Showing ecstasy of devout contemplation. a 1668 Davenant Play-ho. i. (1673) 76 A spiritual Musician too With his seraphick Colloquies exprest In stilo recitativo. 1668 Pepys Diary 24 May, A very good and seraphic kind of sermon, too good for an ordinary congregation. 1884 Punch 18 Oct. 191/1 The seraphic look of personal affection that mantled his brow.

4. Special collocations: Seraphic Doctor, a title given to St. Bonaventura (in Spain also popularly to St. Teresa); Seraphic Father, a title given to St. Francis; seraphic friar, a Franciscan, hence seraphic habit, order-, seraphic hymn, the Sanctus (see Isa. vi. 3). 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., In the Schools, St. Bonaventure is call’d The *Seraphic Doctor, from his abundant Zeal and Fervour. 1834 K. H. Digby Mores Cath. v. v. 153 The seraphic doctor observes that [etc.]. 1894 Mrs. G. C. Graham S'. Teresa I. iv. 179 note, Teresa, by a definitive decree of the Tribunal of the Rota, is formally declared a Doctor of the Church. The ‘seraphic doctor’, the antonomasia by which she is as often as not referred to in Spain, relates to this, and not to the Doctor’s degree bestowed upon her, after her death, by the University of Salamanca. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., St. Francis, the Founder of the Cordeliers and Franciscans, is called the "Seraphic Father, in Memory of a Vision he saw on Mount Alverna,.. when .. he saw a Seraph glide rapidly from Heaven upon him; which impress’d on him certain Stigmata or Marks. 1884 Tablet 11 Oct. 592/1 The Feast of the Seraphic Father St. Francis was celebrated with great solemnity. 1826 Southey Lett, to Butler 514 The "Seraphic and Cherubic friars. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 143 Those who take that habit, which they call "Seraphick, are not to be numbered among Men, but are become Angels. 1796 Southey Lett. Spain (1799) 418 Of

the Mendicants the most numerous is the "Serafic, or Franciscan order.

B.

sb. f 1. a. [= eccl. L. seraphicus.] A Franciscan friar, b. Allusively applied in the sense of zealot. 1659 Gauden Tears Ch. 11. xxxii. 256 Many high Seraphicks and supercilious Separatists. 1699 R. L’Estrange Erasm. Colloq. (1725) 265 They are commanded to wear the Coat and Hood (for so say the Seraphicks).

2. seraphics: rapturous moods or discourses. 1709 Swift & Addison Tatler No. 32 |f2 To hear her talk Seraphicks, and run over Norris, and Moor, and Milton. 1789 Charl. Smith Ethelinde (1814) I. 182 And the angel will descend from her seraphics.

Hence se'raphicness.

rare.

1727 Bailey vol. II, Seraphickness, the being of the seraphick Nature. 1888 Lighthall Young Seigneur 71 No romantic seraphicness glowed upon her features.

seraphical (sa'rasfikal), a. Now rare. [f. eccl. L. seraphic-us seraphic a. + -al1.] = seraphic a. 1. Pertaining to the seraphim; = seraphic i. 1568 T. Newton in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) 553 The troupes seraphicall. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Pet. ii. 13 Some of the hairs that fell from the seraphical angel.

2. Resembling what pertains to the seraphim; rapturous, ecstatically devout. 1581 J Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 304 Let us take a test of this your Seraphicall obedience. 1593 G. Harvey New Letter Wks. (Grosart) I. 274 In the profoundest traunce of rapt Seraphicall Zeale. 1596 Nashe Saffron-Walden G4, My Seraphicall visions in Queene Poetrie. 1648 j. Goodwin Yongling Elder 2 A man of such Seraphicall parts and learning. 1674 Bp. Croft Let. Pop. Idol. (1679) 13 St. Francis,.. and many others, in their Seraphical Meditations, have been rapt up into the third Heaven. 1742-3 Observ. Methodists 17 Together with a mixture of Seemingly Seraphical Flights and extravagant Allusions.

fb.

Of

ideas,

etc.:

Lofty,

sublime.

Cf.

seraphic a. 2 b. (In quot. ironical.) Obs. 1656 Cromwell Sp. in Burton's Diary (1828) I. Introd. 161 Now we would be loth to tell you of notions more seraphical.

3. Of persons: Resembling the seraphim; characterized by ecstatic fervour of devotion. In the 17th c. often ironical, applied to fanatical religionists or to impassioned orators. 1596 Nashe Saffron-Walden G4b, Graue Heliconists, seraphicall Omniscians. 1616 Bullokar Eng. Expos., Seraphicall, inflamed with diuine loue like a Seraphin. 1644 Vicars God in Mount (1844) 44 Such like rare seraphical rhetoritians. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 18 The most florid and seraphical Teacher in the University. 1692 South 12 Sermons (1697) V. 33 The most Seraphical Illuminati, and the highest Puritan Perfectionists, a 1714 Abp. J. Sharp Serm. Wks. 1754 III. 218 Thus some very seraphical men do talk. f4. In seraphical doctor, order: see ser¬ aphic 4. a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 278 For these thinges bee geuen vnto them peculiar names, as subtile and seraphicall, and irrefrigable Doctours. 1561 Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 116b, The Seraphicall order of S. Fraunces. 1640 Howell Dodona's Gr. 80 These Seraphicall Fathers doe so under value all other Orders, that [etc.]. 1674 Hickman Hist. Quinquart. (ed. 2) 69 Bonaventure.. called generally the Seraphical Doctor. 1721 Constitutions Blue Nuns x, Let them keep the Octave of the Seraphicall Father S. Francis.

Hence f se'raphicalist, one who pretends to ‘seraphic’ excellence; t se'raphicalness. 1659 Clarke Papers (Camden) IV. 301 It’s strange to see these seraphiclists [sic] can act without law, against Parliaments and against morality. 1727 Bailey vol. II, Seraphicalness, the being of the seraphick Nature.

seraphically (sa'rasfikali), adv. [f.

seraphical

+ -ly2.] In a seraphic manner. 1678 Norris Misc. (1699) 260 Till I ascend in Spirit to the Element of Love, where I shall know thee more clearly, and love thee more Seraphically. 1891 ‘J. S. Winter' Lumley xiv, He is so seraphically happy. 1909 Nation 3 Apr. 14/1 He was smiling seraphically.

se'raphicism. Obs. [f. seraphic a. + -ism.] Pretence of ‘seraphic’ raptures. t

1676 Cudworth Serm. (1 Cor. xv. 57) 87 Such are a selfchosen holiness, high-flown enthusiasm and Seraphicism.

seraphim (’serafim), f 'seraphin.

Forms: 1, 3-7, 9 arch, seraphin, 3 serafin, 4 serafyn, 5 ceraphin, secheraphym, -phyn, seraphyn, -en, serophyn, syraphyn, 6-7 seraphine, 1, 6seraphim. [a. late L. seraphim (Vulg.), in MSS. often seraphin (= Gr. aepa^lg., aepaeip., LXX.), a. Heb. s'raphim (only in Isa. vi), pi. of *saraph, which is not recorded in the Bible, unless it be identical with the formally coincident word denoting a kind of venomous serpent, which occurs as quasi-adj. or in apposition with nahash serpent in Num. xxi. and Deut. viii. (Eng. Bible ‘fiery serpents’, after Vulg. ignitos serpentes, serpens adurens\ LXX octets Oavarowras, otfns Saxvcov), and in Isa. xiv. 29 and xxx. 6 with the epithet ‘flying’ (Eng. Bible ‘fiery flying serpent’). Some scholars assume the identity of the word occurring in Isa. vi. with that found in the other passages. On this view the ‘seraphim’ seen by Isaiah flying above the throne of God represent a mythic or symbolic conception which must originally have had the form of a ‘fiery flying serpent’, though in the vision this appears considerably modified.

SERAPHIN The word saraph, as the name of a kind of serpent, may belong to the root saraph to burn, in allusion to the effect of the bite (cf. Gr. TTp-qoTTip). This etymology has given rise to a conjecture that the celestial ‘seraphim’ originally symbolized the lightning. Of those who reject the identity of saraph ‘seraph’ with saraph ‘fiery serpent’, some refer the former to the root of the Arabic sharafa to be lofty or illustrious. Phonologically this is unobjectionable, but on other grounds it is now generally abandoned. Various suggestions of non-Hebrew (Egyptian, Assyrian, etc.) etymology have been made, but have not found wide acceptance. The L. form seraphin, which is found in many MSS. of the Vulgate, and is the source of all the forms used in Eng. down to the 16th c. (as well as of those in the Rom. langs.), coincides with the Aramaic s'raphin, but it is very doubtful whether it is more than a scribal error or a euphonic alteration. Cf. F. seraphin (serafin, 12th c.), Pr. serafi, Sp. serafin, Pg. seraphim, It. serafino (all masc. sing.). In the Latin liturgical passages from which the word first became widely known, it was prob. originally apprehended correctly as a plural, and readers of the Latin Bible would be guided aright by the syntax of Isa. vi. 2; but there is evidence that ‘Cherubim and Seraphim’ were often supposed to be the names of two individual angels. From the 15th to the 18th c. the English plural ending was often appended, but seraphin as a sing. = ‘one of the seraphim’ does not appear in Eng. till late in the 16th c. (the form seraphim in this use ,not till the 17th c.). After the introduction (perh. by Milton) of the form seraph, the misuse of the plural forms in singular sense gradually became rare, and it is now obsolete.]

1. In Biblical use: The living creatures with six wings, hands and feet, and a (presumably) human voice, seen in Isaiah’s vision as hovering above the throne of God. 1382 Wyclif Isa. vi. 2 Serafyn stoden up on it. [1535 (Coverdale), 1537, 1539, 1551 the Seraphins; 1540 Seraphins; 1560 (Geneva), 1611 the Seraphims; 1568, 1609 (Douay) Seraphims; 1884 (Revised) the seraphim.]

2. By Christian interpreters the seraphim were from an early period supposed to be a class of angels, and the name, associated with that of the cherubim, was introduced in the Eucharistic preface and subsequently in the Te Deum, and thus became extensively known. The presumed derivation of the word from a Heb. root meaning ‘to burn’ (see above) led to the view that the seraphim are specially distinguished by fervour of love (while the cherubim excel in knowledge), and to the symbolic use of red as the colour appropriate to the seraphim in artistic representations. In the system of the PseudoDionysius, the chief source of later angelology, the seraphim are the highest, and the cherubim the second, of the nine orders of angels. a. seraphin (obs. exc. poet, as nonce-use), seraphim, used as plural. (Some of the early examples are ambiguous, and may belong to b.) a. 0900 Cynewulf Elene 754 Syndon tu.. pe man Seraphin be naman hateS. a 1240 Ureisun in Cott. Horn. 191 Heih is pi kinestol onuppe cherubine, Biuoren Sine leoue sune wiSinnen seraphine. C1250 Meid. Maregrete lxxv, Cherubin ant serafin, a }?ousend per were. 13.. Ipotis 92 (Vernon MS.) in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 342 }?e furste ordre is Cherubin And pat oper Seraphin. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. 1. 104 Cherubin and Seraphin an al pe foure [the B and C texts have nine] ordres. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. 11. viii. (1495) 34 Seraphyn is a multytude of angellis that is to vnderstonde: brennynge other settynge a fyre.. and the propre offyce of thyse angels is to brenne in theymselfe and to moeue other to brenne in the loue of god. c 1400 Prymer (1891) 21 To thee cherubyn and seraphyn cryeth with uoys with owten ceessynge. c 1425 St. Mary of Oignies 1. vii. in Anglia VIII. 140/3 She sawe oon of Seraphyn, pat is a brennynge aungel. i486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. aivb, The iiii. Tronli [orders of angels] be theys Principatus Trony Cherubyn and Seraphyn. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Te deum, Cherubin, and Seraphin. 1642 R. Watson Serm. Schisme 32 The first place or degree is given to the Angels of love, which are termed Seraphin. 1691 Norris Pract. Disc. 289 What is it that makes the Seraphin burn and flame above the rest of the Angelical Orders? 1897 F. Thompson New Poems 74 You shall. . ay, press in Where faint the fledge-foot seraphin. /3. a 1000 Andreas 719 (Gr.) Cheruphim et Seraphim pa on swejeldreamum syndon nemned. a 1500 Adrian & Epotys 92 in Brome Bk. 28 The secund ordyr is secheraphym. 16 .. Milton At a Solemn Music 10 Where the bright Seraphim in burning row Their loud up-lifted Angel trumpets blow. a 1680 Charnock Attrib. God (1834) II. 146 The angels., are here called Seraphim, from burning or fiery spirits. 1827 Heber Hymn, ‘Thou art gone to the grave', The sound which thou heard’st was the Seraphim’s song! 1829 Coleridge Monody Chatterton (later version) 24 Thou.. The triumph of redeeming Love dost hymn .. to harps of Seraphim. 1864 Pusey Led. Daniel ix. (1876) 533 Like the Seraphim, they are seen in adoring love, about His throne. 1871 Rossetti Poems, Ave 104 And from between the seraphim The glory issues for a hymn.

f b. Taken as the name of an angel. a 1300 Cursor M. 22600 pan sal quak sant cherubin, And alsua sal do seraphin. a 1400 Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 37 Michaell and Gabrielle and Raphaelle, cherubyn and seraphyn, and all pe oper angells and archangells.

c. Plural, f seraphins, seraphims (now rare). a. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 9415 pe silloure full of Seraphens & othire sere halows. c 1420 Virgin's Compl. 88 in Pol. Rel. at euer longed to luf. c 1440 York Myst. ii. 20 f>e water I will be set to flowe bothe fare and nere, And pan pe firmament, in mydis to set pame sere.

b. ? ‘All told’, in all. ? a 1600 Flodden F. iii. (1664) 30 The number did but mount To six and twenty thousand seere.

B. adj. 1. Separate, distinct; each in particular, single. c 1200 Ormin i 8653 Forr ser iss Sune, & Faderr ser, & ser iss he33re ba^re Allmahhti3 Gast. a 1300 Cursor M. 5461 His suns blessed he on rau, fie gaue ilkan seir benissun. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5894 Men sal alswa yhelde rekkenynges sere Of al gudes pat God has gefen pam here, a 1400 Rel. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. v. 64 Jhesu, joyne pi lufe in my thoghte, Swa l>at pay neuer be sere. 1545 Ascham Toxoph. II. (Arb.) 107 Instrumentes for euery sere archer to brynge with him, proper for his own vse. 1565 Calfhill Answ. Martiall v. 130 b, Traditions in euery age with euery sere byshop [haue] varied.

2. Divers, various, sundry. 01300 Cursor M. 2 And romans red on maneres sere. Ibid. 6840 Your land yee sal sau seuen yeir, And seer j?ar-of your corns seir. a 1340 Hampole Ps. cl. 4 Orgyns pat is made as a toure of sere whistils. c 1375 Lay Folks Mass-bk. (MS.B.) 70, I have synned largely, In mony synnes sere. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 262 in Babees Bk., J?e boke hym calles a chorle of chere. That vylany spekes be wemen sere. 1585 Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 18 That your vertewis singuler and seir May wholly all in them be also found. 1691 Ray N.C. Words (E.D.S.). 1703 Thoresby Let. to Rav s.v. 1829 Brockett N.C. Gloss, (ed. 2) 261.

3. Comb., as sere-coloured, parti-coloured; (on) sere-wise adv., in divers ways. ri425 St. Mary of Oignies 11. i. in Anglia VIII. 151/5 A cote *sere-colerd comynge to I>e helys. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 3261 bus sal pai on *sere-wyse pyned be, Sum many wynter for pair syn. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxviii. (Margaret) 515, & hyre prayere quhen scho had ser-wyse to god deuotely mad, a licht of hewine rathly schane.

sere,

var. cere sb. and v., sear v.\ obs. f. sir sb.

b. transf. and fig., and in fig. context. I53° Tindale Gen. xlvii. 21 marg. To sucke out yc iuce of them with their poetrye, till all be seer bowes and no thinge greene save their awne comenwelth. 1567 Turberv. Ovid's Ep. 93 b, Receyue me to thy carelesse couch in sere and silent night. 1605 Shaks. Macb. v. iii. 25, I haue liu’d long enough, my way of life Is falne into the Seare, the yellow Leafe. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Pet. ii. 13 The house that grows sere, needs supporters. 1795 Coleridge Sonnet to Southey, Till sickly Passion’s drooping Myrtles sear Blossom anew. 1837 Card. Wiseman St. Eliz. of Hungary in Ess. (1853) III. 226 The rude materialities of life in this sear

serea,

obs. form of sirrah.

f'Serean, a. and sb.

Obs.

[f. L. Ser-es (see

Seres) + -ean. Cf. Serian, Seric.] a. adj. Of or

pertaining to the Seres; silken, b. sb. pi.

= seres. 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. iv. 11. Magnif. 316 That hath soft Sereans yellow Spoyls. 1633 Drumm. of Hawth. Poems (1656) 160 Here are no Serean Fleeces.

SEREFE serefe, obs. Sc. form of sheriff. sereiaunt, obs. form of sergeant. || serein (sare). Meteorology. [Fr.: see serene ri.1] A fine rain falling from a cloudless sky.

serenade (seri'neid),

sereine, variant of serene sb.1

serenade.

a 1300 Cursor M. 2654 Abraham .. pis nam sua mikel es to rede Als fader o mani serkyn lede. Ibid. 7407 Dauid cuth on sere-kin [Gott. serkin] note Bath he cuth on harpe and rote. Ibid. 10218 Ilkan pan to pe temple broght Sirekin gift after pai moght. C1400 Langlandts P. PI. C. (Ilchester MS.), in Skeat III. Pref. 36 On serkyn wys pes seculers it certefiez also, Lewed men by labour lyue and lordez go to hunt In frith and in forest.

t'serelepes, adv. (a.). Obs. Also 3 Ormin serlepess, 4 -lypez. [f. sere a 2 + -lep- (as in onlepy) + advb. -es, -s.] Separately. t

1908 Rockstro in Grove's Diet. Mus. IV. 418/2 The two Serenade trios of Beethoven. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 663/1 The six-movement scheme (though without the serenade style) was adopted by Beethoven in.. the string quartet in B flat. Ibid., The classics of the serenade forms are among the works of Mozart and Haydn.

1870 Tyndall Heat §495 Whose condensation produces the serein. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 41.

f'serekin(s, a. Obs. Forms: 3 sirekin, serekines, serekens, 3-4 serekin, 3-5 serkin. [f. sere a.2 + kin sb.1 (6 b).] Of several kinds.

c 1200 Ormin 513, & i whillc an serlepess off pa fowwre & twennti3 hirdess Was nemmnedd affterr an mann off pa fowre & t wen ill 13 prestess. 13.. Gaw. £sf Gr. Knt. 501 For-pi pis 30I ouer-3ede, & pe 3ere after, & vche sesoun serlepes sued after oper. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. XVII. 164 That thre pinges bilongeth in owre lorde of heuene, And aren serelepes by hem-self asondry were neure.

b. as adj. Separate, distinct; sundry, various. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 994 Vch tabelment was a serlypez ston. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 4893 Seuenty wyndows beside of serelepis werkes.

t'serelepy, a. Obs. [f. sere a2 + -lepy (as in onlepy).] Separate; with pi. sb., sundry, various. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 605 3it ware pai sett vn-samen of serelypy hewys. Ibid. 4440 Sere-lepy kyndis. Ibid. 4521 Sacrifice to ilk a segge a sere-lepy gifte.

t 'serely, adv. Obs. Forms: 4 serelych, serliche, 4-5 ser(e)ly. [a. ON. serliga: see sere a.2 and -ly2.] Particularly, separately. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2149 pei sou3t alle so serliche purh cites & smale townes, ..pat no seg..schuld haue schapit. c 1375 Lay-Folks Mass-Bk. B. 465 For hore soules, I pray derly, pate I shall neuen serly. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 193 Sone haf pay her sortes sette & serelych deled, c 1440 York Myst. xliv. 24 It nedis we vs avise, pat we saye no3t serely.

serement, var. serment Obs., oath. seremonfy, obs. forms of ceremony. fse'rena. Obs. rare. [It. (Neapolitan); cf. Sp. sereno in the same sense.] = serene sb.1 1594 Nashe Terrors Nt. H 1 b, It hath caused such a thicke fulsome Serena to descend on my braine. a 1600 R. Dudley in Hakluyt's Voy. III. 575 The most infectious serenas or dewes that fall all along these coasts of Africa. 1713 Gentl. Instructed 1. Suppl. iii. (ed. 5) 14 They had.. armed themselves against the Serena with a Caudle.

SERENE

5

1. trans.

v. [f. the sb.] To entertain (a person) with a

1672 Wycherley Love in Wood 11. i, I intend to serenade the whole Park to-night. 1691 Comedy, Win Her & Take Her 1. ii. 5 A fourth [would] make verses upon you; treat, present, and Serenade you. 1727 Sewall Diary 15 Apr., Last night three musicians serenaded me under my chamber window. 1842 Mrs. Kirkland Forest Life I. 253 It’s only a parcel of fellers gone to serenade an old widower that’s been a-marrying of a young girl. 1887 Fenn Master Cerem. vi, I am going to beg our guests to come with us and serenade a lady whose name I will not mention.

b. transf. and fig. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones v. ii, From serenading his patient every hunting morning with the horn under his window, it was impossible to withhold him. 1774 G. White Selborne, To Barrington 28 Sept., In hot mornings several [swifts].. dash round the steeples and churches, squeaking as they go in a very clamorous manner: these .. are supposed to be males serenading their sitting hens. 1825 Selby Illustr. Brit. Ornith. 240 The male bird .. uttering the singular but unmusical notes with which he serenades his mate during incubation.

2. intr. (or absol.) To perform a serenade. 1668 Dryden Even. Love 11. i. 29 When I go a Serenading again with ’em, I’ll give ’em leave to make Fiddle-strings of my small-guts. 1710 Tatler No. 222 IP 13 Our honest countrymen.. seldom begin to sing until they are drunk; which also is usually the time when they are most disposed to Serenade. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 299, I’ll warrant, these cavaliers have their loves among the Spanish beauties .. and will soon be serenading under their balconies. Hence serenading vbl. sb. and ppl. a. 1673 Dryden Assign. 11. iii. 19 Where is this Serenading Rascall? 1705 J. Taylor Journ. Edin. (1903) 90 We caus’d 3 Serenading Tunes to be particularly plai’d at Sir Lothian Blackets, Enamoretta’s and Astraca’s houses, 1797 T. Holcroft tr. Stolberg's Trav. III. lxxxviii. (ed. 2) 449 The custom of serenading, .ever will prevail. serenader (seri'neid3(r)).

[f. serenade v.

+

-er1.] One who serenades. 1676 Durfey Mad. Fickle iii. iii, That an impertinent Serenader. .shou’d have the impudence to talk thus. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xvii, The music of serenaders. 1883 Fr. M. Peard Contrad. I. 29 A barca with serenaders was slowly approaching.

| serenata (sere'nata). Mus. [a. It. serenata an evening song (whence Sp., Pg. serenata, F. serenade serenade sb.), app. f. sereno the open air, subst. use of sereno serene a. (Pr. had serena in the sense of ‘serenade’.)] 1. A song or form of cantata suitable for performance in the open air. 1743 Boyce (title) Solomon, a Serenata. 1834 Beckford Italy II. 261 Having been a mighty reader of operas, serenatas, sonnets, and romances. 1862 Spencer First Princ. II. ii. 173 From the ballad up to the serenata.

2. A piece of instrumental music, developed from the orchestral suite, and usually composed of a march, and a minuet interposed between two movements of another kind.

serenade (seri'neid), sb. Also 7 serenate, 8 seranade. [a. F. serenade (16th c. in Hatz.Darm.), app. ad. It. serenata: see serenata.] 1. A performance of vocal or instrumental music given at night in the open air, esp. such a performance given by a lover under the window of his lady.

1883 Rockstro in Grove’s Diet. Mus. III. 468/2 Haydn also wrote Serenatas, but seems to have taken less kindly to the style than Mozart.

1656 Blount Glossogr. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass. 236 They go and give the Governour a Serenade. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 768 Serenate, which the starv’d Lover sings To his proud fair. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull II. v, The Musick and Serenades that were given her, sounded more ungratefully in her Ears, than the Noise of a Screech Owl. 1835 Lytton Rienzi 111. iii, My voice awaked the stillness of the waving sedges with a soldier’s serenade. 1884 F. M. Crawford Roman Singer 1. 163 A serenade is an every-day affair.

serenate, obs. form of serenade sb.

b. transf. and fig. 1649 Lovelace Lucasta, To a Lady Madam A. L. 118 Or the soft Serenades above In calme of Night, when Cats make Love. 1656 Cowley Misc., Swallow 3 Foolish Prater, what do’st thou So early at my window do With thy tuneless Serenade? 1695 J. Edwards Author. O. & N. Test. III. 27 We are enabled to .. entertain our selves with the serenades of a good conscience. 1843-54 Surtees Handley Cross lix, When I will finish wot I’ve left unsung, as the tom-cat said when the brick-bat cut short his serenade. 1871 Forsyth Highl. Central India 391, I listened one night to the most remarkable serenade of tigers I ever heard.

f 2. A poem suitable for a serenade. Obs. 1710 Tatler No. 222 f 4 Horace’s tenth Ode of the third book was originally a Serenade.

f'serenate, v.

Obs. rare-1,

[f. serene a.

+

-ate3; cf. It. serenare.] trans. To render serene. 1654 Flecknoe Ten Years Trav. 169 Then for serenating the mind,.. Where in lowd cities shall you find A recollection like to this?

serendibite (sa'rsndibait, saren'dibait). Min. [f.

Serendib, Serendip, a former name for Sri Lanka + -iTE1.] A borosilicate of aluminium, calcium, and magnesium, (Ca,Mg)5Al5BSi3 O20, found as bluish triclinic crystals in which iron often replaces some of the aluminium and magnes¬ ium. 1902 Nature 20 Feb. 383/2 Messrs. G. T. Prior and A. K. Coomara-Swamy gave an account of the mode of occurrence and characters of ‘serendibite’, a new boro-silicate from Ceylon. 1978 W. A. Deer et al. Rock-Forming Minerals (ed. 2) 11 A. 661 A number of serendibite .. occurrences in spineldiopside skarns have been described from the Tayezhnoye iron ore localities of southern Yakutia. .. Serendibite is also found with sinhalite, warwickite and tourmaline.. in the skarns of Handemi district, Tanzania.

3. Mus. A piece of music suitable or specially composed for singing or playing in the open air as a complimentary performance.

serendipit(y + -ous.] a. Of persons: having the

1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Pieces compos’d or play’d on these Occasions, are also call’d Serenades. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xvi, Some of their servants .. were performing a simple serenade. 1883 Rockstro in Grove s Diet. Mus. III. 467/2 The most delicious example of this that we possess is the Serenade in Sterndale Bennett’s Chamber Trio in A, Op. 27. a 1897 tr. Riemann's Diet. Mus. s.v., The only thing retained from the past in serenades is that they have more movements than is usual in a sonata or symphony.

1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Aug. 468/4 In the matter of adventure Miss de Banke was serendipitous to the nth degree. 1968 ‘E. McBain’ Fuzz ix. 146 La Brisca seemed to be a serendipitous type who led them on a jolly excursion halfway across the city. 1975 Reader s Digest Oct. 150/2 And all for the best, too, as serendipitous San Diegans gladly tell you.

4. attrib. and Comb.

serendipitous

(seren'dipitas),

faculty of making happy discoveries by accident.

and

a.

[f.

unexpected

b. (The more usual sense.) Applied discoveries, meetings, etc., of this kind.

to

1965 J- Wakefield Death the Sure Physician 50 It’s rather fortunate that I should come across a chap with similar interests .. . distinctly serendipitous, in fact. 1971 Nature 20 Aug- 538/2 This suggestion was confirmed by the isolation of a stable tricarbonyliron complex of tetraphenylbutadiene by a serendipitous method (many of the best discoveries in the field have been made by chance). 1979 Amer. Speech 1978 LIII. 272 As among these three systems, the girls couldn’t have cared less, Yerke’s suggestion was serendipitous.

Hence seren'dipitously adv. 1969 C. C. Winter Pract. Urol. vii. 211 Prostatitis is one of the most common of urologic disorders. It may be symptomless and discovered serendipitously in a routine, two glass urinalysis in which the first specimen shows some white blood cells or a few more than in the second glass. 1974 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 29 Nov. 16/3 We can imagine Hodder meeting Stoughton.. and their discovering, serendipitously, a mutual interest in books. 1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Nov. 1275/4 He had the knack of always being serendipitously on hand when a tenement caught fire.

serendipity (seren'dipiti).

[f. Serendip, former name for Sri Lanka + -ity.

a

A word coined by Horace Walpole, who says (Let. to Mann, 28 Jan. 1754) that he had formed it upon the title of the fairy-tale ‘ The Three Princes of Serendip', the heroes of which ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’.]

The faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident. Also, the fact or an instance of such a discovery. Formerly rare, this word and its derivatives have had wide currency in the 20th century. 1754 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 28 Jan., This discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity. 1880 E. Solly Index Titles of Honour Pref. 5 The inquirer was at fault, and it was not till some weeks later, when by the aid of Serendipity, as Horace Walpole called it—that is, looking for one thing and finding another—that the explanation was accidentally found. 1926 E. Meynell Life of Francis Thompson xiii. 221 To the Serendipity Shop—the venture of a friend in Westbourne Grove—he would often go. 1955 Sci. Amer. Apr. 92/1 Our story has as its critical episode one of those coincidences that show how discovery often depends on chance, or rather on what has been called ‘serendipity’—the chance observation falling on a receptive eye. 1971 S. E. Morison European Discovery Amer.: Northern Voy. i. 3 Columbus and Cabot.. (by the greatest serendipity of history) discovered America instead of reaching the Indies. 1980 TWA Ambassador Oct. 47/2 It becomes a glum bureaucracy, instead of the serendipity of 30 people putting out a magazine.

Hence seren'dipitist. 1939 Joyce Finnegans Wake 191 You.. semisemitic serendipitist, you (thanks, I think that describes you) Europasianised Afferyank! 1968 Punch 13 Nov. 684/1 There are the financial serendipitists, the men blessed monetarily by a fortunate law.

f serene, sb.1 Obs. Forms: 6-7 seren, 7 serene, -eine, -ain(e, syren(e, 8 serein. See also serena and serein, [a. F. serein of the same meaning (OF. serain, sierain evening) = Pg. serao :—popular L. *seranum, f. ser-um (F. soir) evening, subst. use of neut. of L. serus late. The word seems to have been confused in Fr. with serein serene a. The Sp. sereno serena may be from Fr.]

A light fall of moisture or fine rain after sunset in hot countries (see serein), formerly regarded as a noxious dew or mist. 1591 Florio 2nd Fruites 153 The Seren neuer hurts a man in these colde countries. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone in. vii, Some serene blast mee, or dire lightning strike This my offending face. 1616 Bullokar Eng. Expos., Seraine, a foggy mist or dampish vapour falling in Italie about sunne set, at which time it is vnwholesome to be abroad especially bareheaded. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 219 When the Syren or dew falls at night, they keepe themselves within dores till it be dried up. 1622 F. Markham Bk. War iii. vii. 105 Which not to acknowledge, would hang as a Sereine or rotting Mildew vpon any thankfull nature. 1636 G. Sandys Paraphr. Ps. exxi. 205 Nor unwholsome Serene shall From the Moons moyst influence fall, c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) II. 7 Have a care of your health, take heed of the seren’s. 1682 Phil. Collect. XII. 148 To preserve the Brain from the Serenes that fall in hot Countries. [1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Serein (Fr.), a dampish and unwholesome Vapour, that falls after Sun-set in hot Countries; a kind of Mildew.]

serene (si'riin), a. and sb.2 [ad. L. seren-us clear, fair, calm (of weather, etc.). Cf. OF. seri, serin, serain, mod.F. serein, Sp., Pg., It. sereno.] A. adj. 1. Of the weather, air, sky: Clear, fine, and calm (without cloud or rain or wind). 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 108 Quhill loud resownyt the firmament serene, a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vi. ccxviii. 238 To perce the heuyns that beeth so serene. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. 1. i. 1. v, As the heauen it selfe is, so is our life, sometimes faire, sometimes ouercast, tempestious, and serene. 1634 Milton Comus 4 Where those immortal shapes Of bright aereal Spirits live insphear’d In Regions milde of calm and serene Ayr. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 108 Whether it will be serene, or stormy weather. 01771 Gray Song 9 Western gales and skies serene Speak not always winter past. 1829 Chapters Phys. Sci. 200 Timely alternatives of serene and rainy days. 1867 H. Macmillan Bible Teach, v. (1870) 91 So pure and serene is the air that .. the faintest far-off sounds are heard with surprising distinctness.

b. Of the heavenly bodies: Shining with a clear and tranquil light. 1704 Pope Winter 6 The moon, serene in glory, mounts the sky. 1744 Akenside Pleas. Imag. 1. 61 Ere the radiant sun

SERENE

SERENIZE

6

Sprung from the east, or ’mid the vault of night The moon suspended her serener lamp. 1817 Shelley Pr. Athanase 1. 61 Through which his soul, like Vesper’s serene beam.. Shone, softly burning.

obscured the deep serene. 1870 O’Shaughnessy Epic of Women 172 And some have .. through the blue serene Gone up to heaven and been lost.

c. Hence as a poetic epithet of colour: Pure, clear, bright^ Also (cf. 2 b), Quiet, sober.

1821 Shelley Epipsych. 506 With moonlight patches.. Or fragments of the day’s intense serene. 1863 I. Williams Baptistery 11. xxiii. (1874) 84 Upon the dark and ruin’d scene Throwing a beautiful serene.

1750 Gray Elegy 53 Full many a gem of purest ray serene. 1846 Landor Pentameron Wks. II. 343 Serener colours are pleasanter to our eyes and more becoming to our character.

2. Of other natural phenomena (e.g. the sea): Calm, tranquil. 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms hi. 397 And gazed where inland waters lay Serene as night. 1816 Shelley Mont Blanc 61 Mont Blanc appears—still, snowy, and serene. 1821Hellas 1067 A brighter Hellas rears its mountains From waves serener far. 1870 O’Shaughnessy Epic of Women 76 Through each shock of sound that shivers The serene palms to their height.

c. Calm brightness, quiet radiance.

d. Serenity, tranquillity (of mind, conditions, etc.). 1742 Young Nt. Th. vii. 40 Deep in rich pasture will thy flocks complain? Not so; but to their master is deny’d To share their sweet serene. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 107 The serene of heart-felt happiness has little of adventure in it. 1762-9 Falconer Shipwr. 1. 127 The calm domestic scene Had o’er his temper breathed a gay serene. 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. 11. 335 Behold, the people waits, Like God. As He, in His serene of might, So they, in their endurance of long straits.

b. transf.

Restful to the eye, expressive or suggestive of repose. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps ii. §8. 36 The magnificent and serene constructions of the early Gothic. Ibid. iii. §21. 88 Laws as inviolable and serene as those of nature herself.

3. Of a person, his mind, circumstances, etc.: Calm, tranquil, untroubled, unperturbed. Of the countenance: Expressive of inward calm, unruffled. a 1635 [see serenity 2]. 1640 Fuller Abel Rediv., Huss (1867) I. 19 Stokes, an Englishman then present at the council, his serene antagonist. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. 1. §67 The duke heard him without the least commotion, and with a countenance serene enough, a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. vii. (1691) 103 The ordinary charge of the Government, in times of deep and serene Peace. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 282 If 5 He who resigns the World .. is in constant Possession of a serene Mind. 1818 Byron Juan 1. lxxxiii, A quiet conscience makes one so serene! 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 460 His serene intrepidity distinguished him among thousands of brave soldiers. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 144 A great event in her serene life. 1911 Athenaeum 8 July 35/1 Mr. Austin surveys his mental development with serene satisfaction.

b. all serene, a slang phr. for ‘all’s well’, ‘all right’. Also jocularly all sereno. 1856 K. H. Digby Lover s Seat I. vi. 161 Well I never, all serene, stunning,.. and such like phrases. 1859 Hotten's Slang Diet., Serene, all right; ‘its all serene’, a street phrase of very modern adoption, the burden of a song. 1873 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 378/1 ‘All serene, Ben’, was the general reply. 1901 F. Hume Golden Wang-ho i, ‘All sereno!’ sung out Teddy.

4. An honorific epithet given to a reigning prince (esp. of Germany), formerly also to a member of a royal house, etc.; sometimes jocularly applied to anything appertaining to a person so designated. Also most serene = med.L. serenissimus, It. serenissimo, F. serenissime. Cf. serenity 4. 1503 Dunbar Poems lxxxix. 11 Borne of a princes most serene. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 3074 And send one Message to the Quene, Prayand hir Maiestie serene That scho wald [etc.]. 1629 Massinger Picture 1. ii, You are like me a subiect. Her more then serene Maiesty being present. 1660 Trial Regie. 17 A Warrant for the Execution of His late Sacred and Serene Majesty. 1673 Ogilby Asia Ded., To His Most Serene, and Most Excellent Majesty, Charles II. 1711 Act 10 Anne c. 4 The most serene Elector of Brunswick-Lunenburgh. 1740 Gray Let. 20 May, Poems (1775) 83 His Highness the Duke of Modena .. laid his most serene commands upon me to write to Mr. West. 1745 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 24 June, The Duke of Saxe Weissenfels.. is not of so serene a house but that he might have known something of the motions of the Prussians. 1746 - Let. to G. Montagu 17 June, The Serene Hessian is gone. 1772 Ann. Reg. 153/2 Genoa, Dec. 26. On the 22d instant.. died .. the serene John Baptist Cambiaso, Doge of this republic, i860 Thackeray Four Georges i. (1861) 26 There were 600 horses in the Serene stables. Ibid. 29 The lovely sisters. .journeyed to Hanover, and became favourites of the serene house there reigning. 1879 BaringGould Germany I. 29 Princes to whom the predicate of durchlaucht (‘your serene highness’) is accorded.

5. drop serene'. Milton’s rendering of mod.L. gutta serena amaurosis: see gutta1 i b. Hence allusively (quot. 1843). 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 25 So thick a drop serene hath quencht thir Orbs. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. 1. ii, Thick serene opacity, thicker than amaurosis, veiled those smiling eyes of his to Truth.

6. quasi-e seriauntz [v.r. sargeancie] & pe archers, & opere noble arbalasters. 1338 - Chron. (1725) 83 Knyght & sergeancie als how mykelle pei helde. f2. The district or province held by or under the government of a sergeant. Obs. 1371 Rolls of Parlt. II. 306/1 Touz les Hundrez,.. Serjancies, & Fraunchises. 1464 Ibid. V. 547/2 Eny Graunte ..to be had . . of the Sergancie withynne our Counties of Not’ and Berk’. f3. = SERGEANTY I. Obs. 1602 Fulbecke 1st Pt. Par all. 21 Grand sergeancy, is where a man holdeth his lands or tenements.. by doing some speciall seruice to the king in person. Ibid., Petite Sergeancy, is where a man holdeth his land of the king, paying yearely vnto him a bow, or a speare, or a dagger, or a launce, or a spurre of gold &c. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §296 (1810) 306 Lord Martin held this land. . by serjeancy. 4. The office of a sergeant or a serjeant in various senses; e.g. an appointment by writ or patent of the crown as serjeant-at-law; also the commission of sergeant in the army. 01670 Hacket Abp. Williams 1. (1693) no Lord Keeper .. congratulated their Adoption unto that Title of Serjeancy. 1814 Scott Wav. vii, Some sly petitions for sergeantcies and corporalships. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xii. ix. (1872) IV. 205 He did reward them by present, by promotion to sergeantcy. sergeant, serjeant ('sait^ant), sb.

Forms: a.

3-5 sergeaunte, 3-6 sergant(e, 4 sergiaunt, -gond, -gont(e,

4-5

sarg(e)ante,

sergaunt(e, -iant,

seregeaun,

sergeaunt,

5

4-6

sargeande,

sergend, -gyaunte, 5-6 sargantt, -eaunt(e, -ent, sergeand,

6

schargant,

sergeante,

-ent,

-iand,

-iaunte, 6-7 s(e)argeant, sergiant, 4- sergeant. j3. 3- 6 seriaunt, 3-7 seriant, 4 seriont, 4-5 seriaunte, 4- 6 sariant, serieaunt, 5 ceriawnt, sariand, -aunt, seriauntte, seriawnt(e, serja(u)nte, 5-6 seriand, -ante,

6

sereiaunt, 7

serjeaunt(e,

sarient,

sarjant,

6-7

serieant,

serjand,

-ant,

sarriant,

serjeant.

(Down to the 15th c. the t was often

5-

omitted in the plural, which therefore ended in -ns, -nz, -nee.) [a. OF. sergent, serjant (mod.F. sergent)

=

Pr. serven-s, Sp. sirviente, Pg.,

servente servant: — L.

.1

servire serve v

pr.

pple.

It. of

The Fr. word has been adopted

into other Rom. sargento

servientem,

sergeant,

langs.: Sp.

It. sergente, sergente,

Pg.

Sp.,

Pg.

sargente

catchpoll. Down to the 19th c. the a and /3 forms were used indiscriminately. In recent times, however, the spelling serjeant has come to be generally adopted as the correct form when the word is the designation of a member of the legal profession, while sergeant is the prevailing form in the other surviving senses, and in most of them the only form in use.] 11. a. A serving-man, attendant, servant. Obs. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 177 p>e senden here sergantes to bringen iuele tiSinges. c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 29 Hac hye spac to po serganz pet seruede of po wyne. c 1290 Beket 687 in S. Eng. Leg. 126 On of is seriaunz sat a n^t pe 3wile pat men woke, a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 665 \?er ben seriauns in pe stage, p>at serue pe maidenes of parage, a 1300 Cursor M. 2516 He [sc. Abram] did to-geder samen his men, Thre hundret aght sariants and ten [Vulg. vernaculos, Gen. xiv. 14]. Ibid. 3221 A sargiant call pan comand he jyat mast wist of his priuete. c 1300 Havelok 2066 Cum now forth with me.. And pine seriaunz al pre. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2361 3yf pou be a seriaunt And take more pan py cunnaunt.. Y rede pat pou per-of lete. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 2522 (Kolbing) On pe gate loude pai bete, Seriaunce com & hem in lete. 1340 Ayenb. 33 And pis is pe sixte vice of pe kueade sergonte. pet he faylep er pan he come .. to his terme. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. iii. 216 Seruantz [v.r. Sergauntz] for her seruise .. Taken Mede of here maistre. c 1450 Lovelich Grail xii. 323 An Old Serjaunt he gan to calle, And there him Comaunded... The Cristene to kepen with ful gret honour. C1450 Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 133 Sho qwitte hym of awayt of hire ffaders sergeantz and lete him out at a wyndowe. fb. transf. A servant (of God, of Satan). Obs.

c 1290 Matheu 64 in 5. Eng. Leg. 79 ‘Nai certes’, quath pis holie man; ‘god nam ich noujt Ake godes seriaunt’. 14.. Alexius (Laud MS. 622) in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LIX. 104 Alexis hys sone .. sayd, Sergeaunte of god haue pyte of me that am a poure pylgryme. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour hij, Which [Raab] god wold haue saued by cause she had saued his mynystres and sergeans. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge 1. 1024 The minister of myschef & sergeaunt of sathanas. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform, xix. 78 That Apostat, that Feyndis awin Seriand.

f2. a. A common soldier. Obs. [Cf. Cotgr. 'Sergent.. in old French, a footman, or souldier that serues on foot.’] £•1300 Havelok 2361 With hem fiue thusand gode Sergaunz, pat weren to fyht wode. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 895 Seuen pousand now we are Of knyghtes to bataille 3are, Wypoute seriauntz & oper pytaille. 01352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) v. 22 He hasted him to pe Swin with sergantes snell. c 1450 Merlin 113 And the barons.. were well viijml knyghtes, with-outen seriantz and arblastis. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 47 Sevin thousand knychtis, four score of thousandis of sergendis. 1490 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 478 He wythdrewe his arme, & gaff to one of the sergauntes suche a stroke wyth it in to ye forhede that [etc.].

fb. In alliterative verse used for: A man. Obs. Perh. with a pun on geaunt, giant. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1173 Be sekere of this sergeaunt [sc. the giant], he has me sore greuede! 15.. Droichis Play in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 314 Se 3e not quha is cum now?.. A sergeand out of Sowdoun land A gyane strang for to stand.

f 3. A tenant by military service under the rank of a knight; esp. one of this class attending on a knight in the field. Obs. App. nearly equivalent to esquire, though ‘squires’ and ‘sergeants’ are often mentioned together in a way that suggests that there was some difference of meaning in the terms. Cf. F. sergent noble. C1290 Beket 2427 in S. Eng. Leg. 176 For to honouri pis holi man per cam folk i-nov3;.. Of Eorles and of barones and manie kni3tes heom to; Of seriaunz and of squiers. 13.. Coer de L. 1259 To Londoun, to hys somouns, Come erl, bysschop, and barouns,.. and manye bachelers, Serjaunts, and every freeholdande. 13 .. Seuyn Sag. 253 Som squier or som seriant nice, Had i-told th’emperice Al of th’emperoures sone. 13 .. K. Alis. 3464 Mony baron, mony sergant, Mony strong knyght and geant. c 1314 Guy Warw. 7000 On ich side he seye come kni3tes, Burieys, and seriaunce redi to fi3tes. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7210 Of hym [$c. the king] hauy no lond ne rent So pat y may not holde to me Fourty squiers [Petyt MS. sergeanz; Wace sergans] on al my fe. C1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 1872 Knightes, serjantes, and swiers. c 1425 Wyntoun Chron. vm. xxix. 431 Off sergeandis par and kynchtis keyn He gat a gret company.

f4. a. An officer whose duty is to enforce the judgements of a tribunal or the commands of a person in authority; one who is charged with the arrest of offenders or the summoning of persons to appear before the court. Obs. a 1300 Cursor M. 17293 pzi send sergantz for to nym Both sir nichodem & him. a 1330 Roland & V. 413 Seriaunce pe bodi sou3t. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 519 A maner sergeant [Petrarch satelles] was this prince man. -Sec. Nun's T. 361 The sergeantz of the toun of Rome hem soghte And hem biforn Almache the Prefect broghte. 1388 Wyclif i Sam. xix. 14 Saul sente sergeauntis [Vulg. apparitores], that schulden rauysche Dauid. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wiilcker 684/5 Hie lictor, a sargent. 1433 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 477/1 That the Baylyffs .. make n Sergeauntes of the seid Town, c 1440 Promp. Parv. 67/1 Ceriawnt, indagator. Ibid. 453/2 Seriawnt, undyr a domys mann, for to a-rest menn, or a catche-pol. c 1450 Brut 11. 570 He.. after sent forth sergeauntes, and arestit dyuers Constables and vinteners. 1455-6 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 290 He schold assingne one of hys serjauntys to arest the Mayre. 1479-81 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 111 Item, payd to a sergeaunte for the arrest of our tenaunte pat dyd vs wronge, viij d. 1490 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 174 To the sergeandis of the towne ix s. 1496 Ibid. 302 To the seriand of Leith, to rest the avnaris of the Cukow to the court ij s. 1533 Bellenden Livy 1. xi. (S.T.S.) I. 66 And quhen pe seriandis [orig. praecones] had with pare noyiss and hohas warnit in speciall pe albanis to here pe kingis concioun [etc.]. Ibid. ill. xv. II. 5 Assembil parefore now all pe seriandis and burreois of thy collegis [orig. omnes collegarum lictores\, armit, as pare custome is, with wandis and axis. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. xi. 21 30 Thryse was I beaten with sargeauntes roddes. 1557 N. T. (Genev.) Matt. v. 25 Agre with thin aduersarie quickely.. least.. thy iudge deliuer thee to the seargeant. 1590 Shaks. Com. Err. iv. ii. 56 Oh yes, if any houre meete a Serieant, a turnes backe for verie feare. 1606 Bp. Hall Heaven upon Earth §6 When, .thy conscience, like a stern Sergeant, shall catch thee by the throat, and arrest thee vpon Gods debt. 1611 Bible Acts xvi. 35. 1617 Moryson I tin. in. 244 Foure Serjeants attired in red gownes attend the Senate and summon men to appeare. 1621 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Praise Beggery B2, He’s free from shoulder-clapping Sergeants clawes. 1633 Marmion Fine Comp. 11. vi. D4b, He may.. consort with wits and sword-men, bee afraid of Sergeants, and spend more for his Protection then would pay the debt. 1648 Hexham ii, Een Schade-beletter, A Sargeant to save one from Harme. 1673 Aberdeen Reg. (1872) IV. 286 The toun serjands of this brughe. 1680 C. Nesse Ch. Hist. 378 They were put into the serjeants ward,

b. transf. and fig. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) 1. xxii. (1859) 24 Thylke dethes sergeaunt, maladye, She hath arest, and haldyth the now in hande. 1593 G. Harvey Pierces Super. 163 He shall finde it one of their speciall Priuiledges, to be exempted from the arrest of the sixfooted Sergeant, a continuall haunter of other hairy beastes.-and onely fauorable to the good Asse, and the gentle Sheepe. 1600 Tourneur Transf. Metam. xii, One day? Nay sure a twelve-months’ time t’will be, Ere seriant death will call me at my doore. 1602 Shaks. Ham. v. ii. 347 Had I but time (as this fell Sergeant death Is strick’d in his arrest) oh I could tell you. 1618 Bp. Hall Contempl. N. T., Widow's Son, Our decrepit age both expects death and sollicites it; but vigorous youth, lookes strangely upon that

SERGEANT grim sergeant of God. 1646 Jenkyn Remora 12 You shall not be able to intoxicate this Sergeant of God [conscience]. 1681 Flavel Meth. Grace xxxv. 594 If ever God send forth those two grim sergeants, his Law and thine own conscience, to arrest thee for thy sins.

fc. More fully sergeant of (the) peace. Obs. *357 in Blount Law Diet. (1691) s.v., Et etiam habere ibidem sex Servientes qui vocantur Serjeants of peace, qui servient Cur. Manerii praedicti, & facient Attach[iamenta] [etc.]. 1464 Rolls of Parlt. V. 541/2 Th’Office of Sergeant to the pees of alle oure Countees, in alle oure Lordship. 1485 Ibid. VI. 380/2 The Offices of Sergeaunt of Peas.. in the Lordship of Denbygh.

d. King's sergeant (Guernsey): see quot. 1682 Warburton Hist. Guernsey (1822) 58 The King’s Sergeant... To his office it belongs to proclaim and publish all orders of the governor or of the Court. 5. sergeant (or serjeant) at arms. (Also

f sergeant of arms.) fa. In early use gen., an armed officer in the service of a lord (cf. sense 1); spec, one of a body of men of knightly rank, originally 24 in number, who were required to be in immediate attendance on the king’s person, to arrest traitors and other offenders, b. An officer of each of the two Houses of Parliament, who is charged with the duty of enforcing the commands of the House, the arrest of offenders, etc. Hence, an officer having corresponding duties under certain other legislative assemblies, as the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xix. 335 Now is Pieres to pe plow & pruyde it aspyde, And gadered hym a grete oest..And sente forth surquydous his seriaunt of armes. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 632 He sendez furthe sodaynly sergeantes of armes. 1449 Rolls of Parlt. V. 159/1 One of the Sargeauntes of Armes of our Soverayne Lord the Kyng. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. (1868) 71 A yeman of pe crowne Sargeaunt of armes with mace. 1462 Paston Lett. II. 87 Ther bode not with hym [a bishop] over xij persones atte the most, with his serjaunt of armes; whiche serjaunt was fayn to lay doun his mase. 1470-85 Malory Arthur x. lxxxviii. 569 Thre sergeauntes of armes. 1473 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 84/1 His Office of oone of oure Sergeauntes at Armes. 1481 Cov. Leet-bk. 496 Ric. Shawe was arrested be pe seriaunt of armes pat brought pe writyng & caried vp to Wodstok vnto pe kyng. 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 2. §8 Serjauntes of Armes that be purposely ordeyned for the personall attendaunce of the .. King. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 45 A sergant at harmes of the parlament howse. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Apparitor regis, a serieaunt at armes. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. 1. i. 7 A Serjeant at Armes, who shall beare the Mace of the Queenes Majesties Armes before him. 1710 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 1. 11. xiii. (ed. 23) 96 Knocking at the Door of the House of Commons, which thereupon is by the Serjeant at Arms attending the House opened. 1769 Blackstone Comm. IV. xix. 259 The lord high steward directs a precept to a serjeant at arms, to summon the lords to attend and try the indicted peer. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xiii. 25 Four counsel.. were taken into custody of the Sergeant-at-arms by the speaker’s warrant. 1886 C. E. Pascoe London of To-day viii. (ed. 3) 89 Seats for this space are in the gift of the Sergeant-at-Arms.

6. As a title borne by a lawyer. (Now always written serjeant.) a. A member of a superior order of barristers (abolished in 1880), from which, until 1873, the Common Law judges were always chosen (hence a serjeant was always called by a judge ‘my brother So-and-so’). More explicitly, serjeant at (f the) lava, ■\serjeant of (the) lava. Sometimes called serjeant of the coif: see coif sb. 3 b. The title represents the law Latin serviens ad legem, which may be rendered ‘one who serves (the king) in matters of law’. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8833 Mid is wisdom pat was so muche he horn out drou & false serians of assise & dude horn ssame ynon. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6084 p>ai sal pan na help gett Of sergeaunt, ne auturne, ne avoket. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. in. 276 Schal no seriaunt for pat seruise were a selk houue. C1386 Chaucer Prol. 309 A Sergeant of the Lawe war and wys. 1404 Rolls of Parlt. III. 549/1 The Kynges entent is, to assigne.. alle his Justices, and his Sergeantz. c 1435 in Kingsford Chron. London (1905) 57 Markham the Justice and Gascoigne Seriaunt of lawe. i486 Bk. St. Albans fvjb, A sotelty of sergeauntis. 1501 in Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 152 note, John Yaxley, Sergent at the Law. 1503 Privy Purse Exp. Eliz. York (1830) 101 Item to John Mordant Sargeant at Lawe xl s. c 1530 Heywood Love 808 (Brandi) Nowe am I a iudge and neuer was seriaunt. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus 11. iii. Ljb, To Poules crosse, or to the barre, where sergeantes plede in westmister hall. 1552 Edw. VI Jrnl. Lit. Rem. (Roxb.) 415 Also ther ware appointed eight sergeants of the law against Michelmas next comming. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxvi. §9 A linnen Coife,.. an ornament which only Sergeants at law doe weare. 1602 J. Chamberlain Lett. (Camden) 132 One Pelham, a lawyer, was made sergeant to be sent Cheife Baron into Ireland. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Sergeant at Law (or of the Coyf) is the highest degree, taken in that profession, as a Doctor of the Civil Law. 1697 Dryden Ded. JEneis Ess. (Ker) II. 162 A judge upon the bench .. does not willingly commend his brother serjeant at the bar, especially when he controuls his law. 1710 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 1. 11. xv. (ed. 23) 122 None may be Judge in this Court, unless he be a Sergeant of the Degree of the Coif. 1711 Addison Sped. No. 89 |f 1 At present he is a Serjeant at Law. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iii. viii, Serjeant such a one has a Silver Tongue at the Bar. 1764 Oxf. Sausage 172 Marking grave Serjeants cite each wise Report. 1819 Taunton Rep. Cases Comm. Pleas YU. 183 Lens and Vaughan, Serjts. now shewed cause against this rule. 1829 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XX. 762/2 Three Inns have belonged from very early times to the Judges and Sergeants at Law. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 272/1 A paper endorsed with.. the words ‘Mr. Serjeant A

SERGEANT (or ‘Mr. B’), retainer for the plaintiff (or for the defendant). 1846 McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire {1854) II. 155 Serjeants are sworn to do their duty to their clients. 1873 Act 36 & 37 Viet. c. 66 §8 Provided, that no person appointed a Judge of either of the said Courts shall henceforth be required to take, or have taken, the degree of Serjeant-at-Law. transf. {jocular) 1663 Butler Hud. 1. iii. 1164 Bv black caps underlaid with white, Give certain guess at inward light; Which Serjeants at the Gospel wear, To make the Spiritual Calling clear.

b. the King's (or Queen's) Serjeant: a title given to a limited number of the serjeants-atlaw, appointed by patent. The king’s serjeants were supposed to be charged with the duty of pleading in the courts on behalf of the crown; but from an early period it had ceased to be more than an honorary distinction. The senior in rank of the king’s serjeants was designated ‘the King’s Serjeant’, and the second ‘The King’s Ancient Serjeant’. *423 Bolls of Parlt. IV. 201/2 The King’ Sergeant to be sworne..to yeve the poor Man .. Counsaill. 1454 Ibid. V. 240/1 Oon of the Kynges Sergeauntz atte lawe. 1482 Ibid. VI. 207/1 Richard Pygot, and Roger Townessend, the Kyng’s Sergeants of the Law-e. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 11 Lews Pollard the Kynges serjeaunt at the Lawe. 1602 Coke Rep. iii. To Rdr. D iv b, Out of these the King electeth one, two, or three as please him to be his Serieants, which are called the Kings Serieants. 1710 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 11. iii. xxx. (ed. 23) 576 The Queens Serjeants at Law. 1825 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XVII. 308/2 The King’s Serjeant, so constituted by special patent; the King’s Ancient Serjeant. 1882 Serj. Ballantine Exper. I. 209 A post filled at that time by Mr. Serjeant Manning, Queen’s ancient serjeant. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 682/2 Until 1814 the two senior King’s serjeants had precedence of even the attorney-general and solicitor-general.

c. prime serjeant. the title given until 1805 to the first in rank of the three (earlier two) serjeants-at-law in Ireland. (Afterwards called first serjeant.) 1666 in Cal. St. Papers Irel. 1666-9 (1908) 73 Sir Audley Mervin, Prime Sergeant at Law. 1733 Berkeley Let. Wks. 1871 IV. 205 The prime serjeant, Singleton, may probably be a means of assisting you to get light in these particulars. a 1797 H. Howard in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 434/1 John Hely Hutchinson, Prime Serj1 at law, ye vainest man alive, set his heart upon yc place, c 1799 Sir L. Parsons in Charlemont MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm. 1894) 11 - 4°4 There is no end of the tumings-out talked of,..-lord Carhampton, the prime serjeant,.. and even Toler. The prime serjeant is, I believe, certain. 1806 Duncan Nelson s Funeral 31 Prime Serjeant.

d. Common Serjeant (at Law). A judicial officer appointed by the Corporation of London as an assistant to the Recorder. [1419 Liber Albus (Rolls) I. 47 Le.. Commune Sergeaunt de ley, qui autrement est dit ‘Commune Countour’.] 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 64 It was proclamyd opynly w ith the kynges shreffe & two harraldes & two pursevanttes & a trumpet, with the comyne sargant of the citte of London. 1680 Lex Londin. 55 The Common Serjeant of the City is the only person intrusted by the Court of Aldermen to take all Inventories and Accompts of freemens’ estates. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 292/2 Common Sergeant, an officer.. who attends the lord mayor .. on court days. 1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const, xvi. (1862) 366 So high judicial functionaries as the Recorder of London and the Common Sergeant are elected. 1861 [see countour 2]. 1887 Times 27 Aug. 11/4 The three City Judges (the Recorder, the Common Serjeant, and Mr. Commissioner Kerr). 1890 Ibid. 28 Apr. 11/6 The Common Serjeant sentenced the prisoner to two years’ hard labour.

7. (Now commonly written sergeant; in some uses serjeant appears to be officially adopted.) In the titles of certain officers of the Royal Household. a. The head of a specified department, as sergeant of the cellar, of the saucery, of the vestry. fAlso s. of the bears, a bearward; 5. of the minstrels; s. of the surgeons, of the trumpets = sergeant-surgeon, sergeanttrumpeter. 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 192/1 William Peeke Clerke of oure Spicerye, Ric’ Ludlowe Sergeant of oure Seler. Ibid., Robert Broune Sergeant of oure Saucerye. Ibid., Sergeant of oure Chaundelerye. 1464 [see masonry A. 3]. 1526 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 140 The Serjeant of the bake-house. Ibid. 141 The Serjeant of the chaundry... The Serjeant of theewry. Ibid. 142 The Serjeant of the larder. Ibid. 143 The Serjeant of the squillery. Ibid. 169 Serjeant of the Mynstrills. 1539 Cromwell Let. 24 Apr. in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1733) I. 11. 272 Jenyngs, Sergeant to your Graces Pastery House. 1541 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. ii. 109 Thomas Sperin and his son sergiantes of the beres. 1561 Vicary Will in Anat. (1888) App. vi. 187, I, Thomas Vicars, Seriante of the Suriantes vnto our saide soueraigne ladie the quenes maiestie. 1710 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 1. 11. xiv. (ed. 23) 120 1 The Sergeant of the King’s Wood-Yard. .. The Sergeant of the Ewry... The Sergeant of the Larder. Ibid. 11. ill. xvii. 534 H. Parker, Esq; Serj. of the Vestry. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. II. 1. i. 2 The Sergeants of the Trumpets.

b. Prefixed appositively to certain designations of office, as sergeant-cater, -farrier {-ferr our), -footman, -painter, -plumber, -porter, -squiller, -surgeon (jehirurgeon), -tailor, -trumpet, -trumpeter. Many other similar designations, adopted from AngloFrench, and not proved to have been used in English, will be found in F. Tate, Household Ord. Edw. II, 1601 (new ed. 1876). 1614 Gentleman Engl. Way to Wealth 25 His Maiesties "Seriant Cater, a 1529 Skelton Dyuers Balettys Wks. 1843 I. 24 Haue in "sergeaunt ferrour, myne horse behynde is bare. 1710 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 11. iii. xx. (ed. 23) 549 Serjeant Farrier, John Willis, Esq. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 9 May 7/3 "Sergeant-footman Boswell. 1548 in Kempe

9 Losely MSS. (1836) 81 To Anthony Toto, "sergeante payntor, in rewarde for his paynes takyng.. in drawyng of patrons for the masks 20s. 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5848/3 His Majesty’s Serjeant-Painter. 1887 Pater Imag. Portr. 146 The sergeant-painter and deputy sergeant-painter were conventional performers enough. 1533 in Hampton Crt. Accts., The Kynges "sergeaunt plumber. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 58 The Serjeant Plumber calling his workmen to caste in his presence a Leaden Medal. 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 192/2 John Stok ’•'Sergeant porter of oure Gate. 1710 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 11. iii. xix. (ed. 23) 545 To the Serjeant Porter. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xv, One of the sergeant porters told them they could not at present enter. 1901 Whitaker s Almanack 87 Sergeant State Porter, a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 81 He rescevethe. . all the plates of peautyr by the pourveyaunce of the "sergeauntsquylloure. 1710 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 11. iii. xix. (ed. 23) 545 "Serjeant skinner. 1565 J. Halle Hist. Expost. 19 Maister Vicary, late "sargeant chyrurgien to the queenes highnes. 1749 Fielding Tom jfoties vm. xiii, Serjeantsurgeon to the King. 1812 Lond. Gaz. No. 16663. 2189/1 Serjeant-Surgeon to His Majesty. 1901 Whitaker's Almanack 88 Sergeant Surgeon, Lord Lister. 1480 Wardrobe Acc. Edw. IV in Privy Purse Exp. Eliz. York, etc. (1830) 155 George Lufkyn "Sergeant taillour of the grete Warderobe of the Kynge. 1588 Deloney in Roxb. Ball. (1887) VI. 391 The "Sargeant trumpet with his mace, and nyne with trumpets after him, Bare headed went before her grace. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4416/4 Her Majesty has appointed John Shore, Esq; Serjeant-Trumpet of Great Britain. 1603 Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., Var. Coll. III. 164 "Serjeant trumpeter. 1700 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 413 Gervas Price esq., serjeant trumpeter to his majestie, died lately. 1901 Whitaker's Almanack 87 Sergeant Trumpeter.

8. a. In the titles of certain inferior officers employed by the Corporation of the City of London, and by other municipal bodies. 1423 Cov. Leet-Bk. 43 per schall no beestys be pynnyd at the comen pynfold by the comien seriante. 1672 Cave Prim. Chr. iii. v. 359 Satan as the Common Serjeant and Jaylor seized upon them. 1710 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 11. ill. xliv (ed. 23) 631 Serjeant-Carvers... Serjeants of the Chamber or Mace... Moses Griffith, Serjeant of the Channel. 1720 [see taker 2g]. 1766 Entick Lond. III. 307 The officers belonging to the lord-mayor,.. are. . the three serjeant carvers; three serjeants of the chamber; a serjeant of the channel [etc.]. 1835 App. Munic. Corpor. Rep. iv. 2345 [At Lincoln.] Four Serjeants of the Key or Bailiffs. Ibid. 11. 998 (Hastings) The Mayor’s Serjeant.. serves process; attends the corporation meetings with a mace; and is sworn in as a constable... The Common Serjeant, who is also a serjeant at mace,.. has the same salary and clothing as the mayor’s serjeant. b. sergeant at (f the) mace, f of (the) mace: an

inferior executive officer (cf. sense 4), carrying a mace as a badge of office. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 64 The king .. folowed fast one pe tras, Withe many Sergeant of mas. Ibid. 498 pe lordes bylyue horn to list ledes With many seriant of mace, as was pe manere. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 67/1 Ceriawnt of mace, apparitor. 1474 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 103/1 Henry Neuton, oon of the Sergeants at Mace of Robert Billesdon, oon of the Shirrefs of the Cite of London. 1510 Sel. Cases Star Chamb. (Selden) II. 70 The meyer. .sent oon John Yong sergeaunt att the mace within the seid Towne to the seid Priour. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 43 For arest of Robert Taylor sergant of maysse. 1680 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 506 If the Sergeants-at-Mace shall neglect theire duty in not summoning every member of the Council [etc.]. 1715 Lond. Gaz. No. 5394/4 Cesar Grist, Serjeant at Mace to the Bailiffs of the Corporation of Welsh Poole. 1761 in Entick London (1766) IV. 369 The serjeants at mace for the city to arrest for debt in the Borough. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 292 Sergeants of the mace of an inferior kind. 1835 [see 8]. 1901 Whitaker's Almanack 178 [Lord Mayor’s Court.] Sergeant at Mace. transf. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 211 A hundred Soldiers .. follow’d with a hundred Serjeants at Mace. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. 1808 V. 356 He appears to be nothing more than a chief of bumbailiffs, serjeants at mace, catchpoles, jailers and hangmen.

fc.

Sc. An officer of a guild. Obs.

I557 Baxter-bks. St. Andrews (1903) 10, viiid to thomas demster, yair schargant.

9. Mil. a. (Now always written sergeant.) In modern use, a non-commissioned officer of the grade above that of corporal. In the 16th c. the title, more explicitly f sergeant of a band [ = F. sergent de bande], appears, like many other military titles, to have indicated a much higher rank than in later times. See also coloursergeant, drill-sergeant, RECRUiTiNG-serg^wJ, SERGEANT-MAJOR. 1548 Patten Exped. Scot. H vij b, Sargeauntes of the band to the foreward. 1579 Digges Stratiot. 86 This Serjeant ought perfitly by memorie to know every Souldiour within the Bande. 1590 Sir R. Williams Brief Disc. War 26 The least Serieant of a Band, being a naturall Spaniard, will seeme to command the greatest man of qualitie of anie other Nation. 1593 Sutcliffe Pract. & Law Arms 61 The officers of companies, namely lieutenants, ensignes, sergiants, corporals, are chosen by the captaines of companies. 1624 W. G. Count Mansfield's Direct. Warre 11 If all the three fore-named Officers [Captain, Lieutenant, and Ensign] be out of the way by any accident, then the eldest Sergiant is to command the Company as next in place. 1690 Mackenzie Siege Londonderry 47/2 Serjeants, Corporals, Drummers, and private Men 2d. per diem each, besides Bread. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 87 ff 1 The Epistle is from one Serjeant Hall of the Foot-Guards. 1833 Marry at P. Simple xi, All disputed points were settled by the sergeant of marines with a party, who divided their antagonists from the Jews. 1898 Steevens With Kitchener to Khartum 274 ‘Fall out, sergeant, you’re wounded,’ said the subaltern of his troop. b. Prefixed appositively to various

designations of offices in which sergeants are

SERGEANT-MAJOR employed, as sergeant armourer, bugler, clerk, compounder, cook, drummer, farrier, instructor, master tailor, -pilot, saddler, schoolmaster, tailor, trumpeter. 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) VI. 308 "Serjeant armourers and serjeant saddlers’ implements. 1901 Whitaker's Almanack 220 "Sergt. Bugler. 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXVII. 252/1 It changes the title of the brigade sergeant-major to that of "sergeant-clerk. 1901 Whitaker's Almanack 220 "Sergeant Cook. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 27 June 1/2 A "sergeant-drummer in each battalion of the Grenadier, Coldstream, and Scots Guards. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Diet., "Sergeant instructor. 1865 Army Clothing Warrant 30 The "Sergeant Master Tailor. 1919 J. T. B. Mccudden Five Years in R.F.C. III. iii. 86 About the end of August, 1915, a "Serjeant-Pilot named Watts arrived for duty, a 1963 J. Lusby in ‘B. James’ Austral. Short Stories (1963) 221 The new boys comprised Australians, Englishmen, and Canadians... Most were sergeant-pilots, and in age retired school-boys. 1837 King's Regul. Army 239 The "Serjeant-Schoolmasters. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 12 Dec. 4/2 The Secretary of State .. is causing inquiries to be made on the feasibility of having officers’ uniforms made by the "sergeant-tailors of their regiments.

10. (Now always written sergeant.) A police officer, of higher rank than a simple constable; in Great Britain ranking next below an inspector. 1839 Hood Lost Heir 36 Oh serjeant McFarlane! you have not come across my poor little boy, have you, in your beat? 1856 A. Wynter Curios. Civiliz. 469 The force consists of three inspectors, nine sergeants, and a body of police termed ‘plain-clothes men’.

11. Comb. Sergeant Baker Australian, a fish of New South Wales, Aulopus purpurissatus\ f sergeant corn Sc., ? some feudal impost paid in corn; sergeant-fish, a name applied to various fishes having marks like the stripes on the sleeve of a sergeant’s uniform, esp. Rachycentron canadum, the cobia, a large game fish found in tropical and subtropical seas; f sergeant-loaf, some kind of bread; f serjeant’s ring, one of the rings which a newly appointed serjeant-at-law was required by custom to present to various persons of high rank or official position. 1882 Tenison-Woods Fish N.S. Wales 82 The ‘Sergeant Baker in all probability.. was called after a sergeant of that name. 1581 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 107/2 Lie ‘serjand-come. 1873 Forest Stream I. 258/1 "Sergeant Fish .. derives its trivial name from a black stripe running along its silvery sides .. like that on the trowsers of a sergeant. 1884 Goode, etc. Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 444 The name ‘Sergeant-fish’ refers to its peculiar coloration, several stripes of brown and gray being visible on the sides of the body. 1947 K. H. Barnard Diet. Guide S. Afr. Fishes 112 Sergeant-fish... A somewhat rare fish, of elongate shape,.. occasionally caught at Port Elizabeth and Natal. 1958 Washington Post 24 Sept. 1/2 An unusually fine run of cobia (the sergeant fish).. has caused big game fishermen to toss caution to the gods of Izaak Walton. 1341 Secretum Abb. Glastonie (MS. Wood empt. 1) If. 146 b, Unum panem uocatum Priketlof, et alterum panem uocatum Bastardlof et tercium panem uocatum "seriauntlof de Panetria predicti abbatis. 1690 Lond. Gaz. No. 2613/4 They offered to sell or pawn .., one Gold "Sergeants Ring, and one pair of Gold Lockets.

t'sergeant, a. Obs. rare—[Back-formation from sergeanty.] In grand, petit sergeant, said of a tenure by grand or petit serjeanty respectively. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge 11. 1771 Many helde their landes .. By tenure grand-seriante .. Some by petit-seriant.

t'sergeant, v. Obs.-' [a. OF. sergenter, f. sergent sergeant rft.] intr. To act as a sergeant. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xxi. (1869) 187 After pat J>at pe matere is .. ordeyned, per after j shal sergeaunte [orig. use de ma commission] and werche diuerseliche.

t'sergeantess. Obs.-' [f. sergeant sb. + -ess.] A female sergeant. C1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xix. (1869) 185 And for oure mootiere l>ou art and oure sergeantesse we senden pee and comitte l>ee pat J>ou go bi alle houses, and [etc.].

t sergeant-general. Obs. [f. sergeant sb. + GENERAL U.] = SERGEANT-MAJOR I b. (In the later examples sergeant-general of battle, as a title of higb rank in certain foreign armies.) 1579 Digges Stratiot. 93 To sende his serjeant to the Serjeant general. 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2028/3 Being a Sergeant-General of Batalia in the Service of his Catholick Majesty. 1693 Mem. Count Teckely iv. 55 The Prince of Auguste of Hanover, Serjeant General of Battle.

‘sergeant-'major. [f. sergeant sb. + major a.; in Fr. sergent-major.] 11. In the i6-i7th c., a military title variously applied to officers widely differing in rank and function, a. A field officer, one in each regiment, next in rank to the lieutenant-colonel, and corresponding partly to the ‘major’, partly to the ‘adjutant’, of tbe modern army. Ordinarily referred to as superior to the captains, but in many instances a ‘captain’ is said to be also ‘sergeant-major’. 1573 Whithornf. Briefe Tables Hjb, Maister of the Campe, or Seargeant Maier, or Capitaine. 1591 Sir J. Smythe Instr. Milit. (1595) 36 The Sergeant Maior must command all the Captaines or their Lieutenants. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres 11. i. 15 Euery Regiment hath this Sergeant Maior. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. ill. v, He might haue beene Serieant-Maior, if not Lieutenant-

SERGEANTRY Coronell to the regiment. 1604 E. Grimston Siege Ostend 20 An English Captaine who was also Sargent Maior. 1624 W. G. Count Mansfield's Direct. Warre 13 The eldest Sergeant., is also to fetch the Word from the Sergeant Maior of the Regiment. 1633 Swed. Intelligencer iv. 127 The Sergeant-Major over these 5 companies, was Captaine Thomas Grove, wHo now commanded them. 1642 (title) A List of the Names of the severall Colonells.. with the Leivtenant Colonells, Serieant Maiors, and Captaines and Lievtenants appointed by the Committee, for the ordering of the Militia of this Honourable City of London. 1642 Declar. Lords & Comm, for Rais. Forces 22 Dec. 7 SerjeantMajor of the sayd Regiment. 1683 Turner Pallas Armata xi. 225 The Swedes of a long time allowed him [5c. the Major] no company, yet allow’d him the command over Captains, but it is now many years ago since they were permitted to have companies; hence perhaps it is that when they have no companies, they may be called SerjeantMajors, as when they have companies, the Germans call them Captain-Majors, but the English use frequently the words of Serjeant Major and Serjeant-Major General, none of them are used either by German, Swede, or Dane. 1704 Milit. Diet. (ed. 2).

fb. A general officer, corresponding to the modern major-general. Also sergeant-major major, sergeant-major general. Obs. 1591 Sir J. Smythe Instr. Milit. (1595) 60 If a Lord Marshall or a Sergeant Maior Maior, haue.. 10000 or more or fewer piquers to reduce into one bodie of squadron, hee may [etc.]. C1595 Maynarde Drake's Voy. (Hakl. Soc.) 14 We buried Captaine Arnolde Baskerville, our serjant-major generall. 1599 J. Chamberlain Lett. (Camden) 38 Sir Ferdinando Gorge is named to be Sergeant Major [of the army in Ireland]. 1625 G. M. Souldier's Accid. 62 The Serieant-Maior of the Horse, which in some discipline is called the Commissary-generall. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. 11. xvii. 222 The Sergeant Major, being the second Commander to Don Iohn. 1642 List Army Earl Essex 1 His Excellencie Robert Earle of Essex, Capt. Generall. Sir Iohn Merrick, Serjeant Major Generall, and President of the Councell of Warre. 1644 Symonds Diary (Camden) 50 Lord Wentworth was Serjeant Major of the Horse. 1646 Earl Monm. tr. Biondi's Civil Warres vm. 147 [Richard III] Went himselfe in Person in the head of his Army., executing Himselfe the duty of a Sergeant Major. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. vn. §26 Philip Skippon..was now made sergeant-major-general of the army by the absolute power of the two houses.

2. A non-commissioned officer of the highest grade. The regimental sergeant-major (who is, strictly speaking, not a ‘non-commissioned officer’, but a ‘warrant officer’), is an assistant to the adjutant. There is also a sergeant-major belonging to each squadron of cavalry and each battery of artillery. 1802 James Milit. Diet, s.v., In most regiments the serjeant-major, under the direction of the adjutant, is directed to drill every young officer who comes into the regiment. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxiv, Claverhouse.. called for his serjeant-major. 1837 King's Regul. Army 170 The Troop Serjeant-Majors... The Regimental SerjeantMajor. transf. 1897 Daily News 15 June 3/4 They were members of the Salvation Army, one of them, a woman, describing herself as the sergeant-major.

3. An American Pomacentrus saxatilis.

SERIAL

io

fish,

the

cow-pilot,

Fishes of Bermudas 38 Glyphidodon saxatilis, .. Cow-pilot; Sergeant-major. 1885 Lady Brassey The Trades 407 Fine little black and white ‘serjeant-majors’ as they are called, because of their many stripes. 1876 Goode

4. Mil. slang. Used attrib. to designate (a) coffee with cream or milk and sugar (U.S.); (b) strong sweet tea; tea with rum; also in the possessive and ellipt. 1923 T. Boyd Through Wheat viii. 131 ‘Bring your canteen cups. Sergeant-major coffee.’.. ‘Coffee, hot! And milk and sugar in it!’ 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier 6? Sailor Words 254 Sergeant Major's Tea, tea with sugar and milk, or a dash of rum, in it. 1929 J. L. Hodson Grey Dawn — Red Night 11. v. 210 Two of them got up before the rest and made a fire and produced ‘sergeant-major’s tea’ and bacon done to a turn. 1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. 1. iv. 115 I’d like a drop o’ tea with some rum in it, good old sergeant-major’s. 1939 Joyce Finnegans Wake 331 Pointing up to skyless heaven like the spoon out of sergeantmajor’s tay. 1948 Partridge Diet. Forces' Slang 1939-1945 164 Sergeant-major's, a Samson-strong, love-sweet brew of tea, popularly supposed to be the perquisite of holders of that rank. 1981 J. Wainwright Urge for Justice 1. v. 30 This tea . . it damn near dissolved the spoon. A real ‘sergeant major’ brew. The way tea should be made.

Hence as v. trans.y to order or shout in a brusque and stentorian manner; sergeantmajorish, -majorly adjs., characteristic of or resembling a sergeant-major; sergeantmajorship. 1892 Athenaeum 1 Oct. 448/2 [c 1630] The king gave him [Fabert] another company vacant by death, again permitting his retention of the sergeant-majorship. 1925 G. W. Deeping Sorrell & Son viii. 77 Moreover, he might pocket a sergeant-majorly share of the tips. 1926 A. Bennett Lord Raingo xxxvi. 168 ‘Bow,’ said the sergeantmajorish official behind him, in a no-nonsense voice. 1931 E. A. Robertson Four Frightened People ii. 77 Then we heard the voice of Mrs. Mardick sergeant-majoring the truant few. a 1935 T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) 11. iii. 108 Cursing fellows forbidden to look resentful.. is a sergeantmajorish trick which good corporals would not allow themselves. 1962 M. Duffy That's how It Was iv. 43 ‘She’ll soon learn,’ the voice sergeant-majored high above me.

t 'sergeantry, serjeantry. Obs. Also 5 sergawntry, seriauntrie, -rye, seryauntre, 7 Sc. serjandrie. [a. OF. sergenterie (cf. Anglo-L. sergenteria, c 1200 in Rot. Chart., ed. 1837, p. 56/2), f. sergent: see sergeant and -ery.]

1. = SERGEANTY I. r 1400 Brut 1. 242, Y 3elde vp, Sir, now vnto 30W my homage,., for ham alle pat holden by seriauntrye [1480 Caxton seryauntre]. 1778 Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Scrivelsby, This manor is held by grand serjeantry. Ibid. s.v. Pitchley, Northamp... The ancient lords of this manor held it of the King by petit serjeantry, i.e. to furnish dogs, at their own cost, to destroy the wolves, foxes, polecats, and other vermin, in the counties of Northampton, Rutland, Oxford, Essex, and Bucks. 1795 Burke Abridgm. Eng. Hist. Wks. 1842 II. 550 If the tenant was in an office about the king’s person, this gave rise to sergeantry. 1830 Scott Ayrsh. Trag. 1. i, We’ll not suffer A word of sergeantry, or halberdstaff. 1837 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. 1. Sped. Tappington, These lands were held in grand serjeantry by the presentation of three white owls. 1830 James Darnley vii, To hold his land by sergeantry, as it had been held by Lord Fitzbernard.

2. The office of sergeant or serjeant. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 16221 thus vsynge myn Sergawntry, I Wherffore I rede be war off me, For 1669 Sc. Acts Chas. II (1820) VII. office of Serjandrie of the lands &

[Tribulation loq.] And kan werke dyuersly; I anoon shal smyte the. 588/2 All and haill the Lordship of Methven.

3. nonce-use. Skill as a serjeant-at-law. 1830 Lamb Album Verses, In Autograph Bk. Mrs. Serjearit W-, These should moot cases in your book, and vie To show their reading and their Serjeantry.

sergeantship, serjeantship ('sardjsnt-Jip). [f. sergeant, Serjeant sb. + -ship.] The office of a sergeant or a serjeant, in various senses. 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 197/2 Theyre Fees of Serjauntship atte armes. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 33 § 11 The offices of Sergeauntshippe of the Pese and [etc.]. 1584 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 436 The office of Sariantship. 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 157 His serjeantship being denoted by the Coif. 1909 Essex Rev. XVIII. 71 The persons they thought of appointing to serjeantship or corporalship.

sergeanty, serjeanty ('saidjanti). Hist. Forms: a. 5-7 sergeantie (5 sergeaunte), 6 sergeauntie, sergentie, 7- sergeanty. /S. 4-5 seriauntye, 5 serjantie, (pi. serjaunteez), 7 seriantie, serieanty, serjeantie, 7- serjeanty. [a. OF. serjantie, sergentie, f. serjant, sergent: see sergeant sb. and -y.] (The usual spelling is now serjeanty.) 1. A form of feudal tenure on condition of rendering some specified personal service to the king. 1467 Rolls of Parlt. V. 595/2 The rent of the Sergeantie, and of the small parcellz of Serjaunteez of oure Counteez of Notyngh’ and Derb’. 1468 Ibid. 605/2 Other fermes to us of Serjanties or otherwise. 1477 Ibid. VI. 171/1 Smale parcells of Serjantie in diverse parcells,.. thre Roodes of Serjantie. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 1. 464 Baldwin Le Pettour.. held certaine lands, by Sergeanty. 1643 Baker Chron., Rich. II 1 John Wiltshire Citizen of London, by reason of a Moyitie of the Manour of Heydon, holden in Sergeantie, claimed to hold a towell for the King to wipe with when he went to meat. 1880 Harting Extinct Brit. Anim. I. 82 Several grants of land .. held by the serjeanty of keeping.. boar-hounds. 1906 Athenaeum 18 Sept. 269/1 A little criticism is perhaps invited by the interesting list of serjeanties with which the volume closes.

b. Distinguished as grand and petit (or petty) serjeanty. In their AF. form, these terms occur in the 13th c. According to Britton (c 1292), grand serjeanty obliges the tenant to a service ‘touching the defence of the country’, such as acting as marshal, putting an army in the field, or finding a horseman and his equipment for the army, while petit serjeanty binds him to a service ‘amounting to half a mark or less’, such a carrying to the king a bag, a brooch, an arrow, or a bow without string, etc. Later writers give more or less differing accounts: see quots. The Latin of Magna Carta (1215) has occasione parvarum sergantisarum (v.r. parvae serganteriae). (a) 1449 Rolls of Parlt. V. 167/2 His Auncestres.. have holden .. the Manoir .. by Graunte Sergeaunte. 1523 [see (6) below], a 1625 Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 154 Euery grand Serieanty is a tenure in chiefe, being of none but of the King, to doe vnto him a more speciall seruice whatsoeuer by the person of a man, as to beare his Banner or Lance, to lead his horse, to carry the sword before him at his coronation [etc.]. 1695 Gibson Camden's Brit. 55 Brienston.. was held in Grand Sergeanty by a pretty odd jocular tenure. 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. v. 73 Such was the tenure by grand serjeanty, per magnum servitium, whereby the tenant was bound, instead of serving the king generally in his wars, to do some special honorary service to the king in person; as to carry his banner, his sword, or the like; or to be his butler, champion, or other officer at his coronation. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 118 The office of High Steward was originally annexed to the manor of Hinckley in Leicestershire, and held in grand serjeanty. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. xi. 344 These [offices] had become., hereditary grand serjeanties. (b) 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 12 And all these tenauntes maye holde their landes by dyuers tenures.. as by.. graunt sergentie, petyte sergentie, franke almoyne. 1544 tr. Littleton's Tenures 37 b, Tenure by Petyte sergeauntye. 1616 Bullokar Eng. Expos., Pettie Sergeantie, a tenure of lands, holden of the king, by yeilding to him, a Buckler, Arrow, Bow, or such like seruice. 1875 Digby Real Prop. i. (1876) 49 When land was held of the king not by military service, but under the obligation to render some small thing ‘belonging to war’, as, for instance, to ‘yield to him yearly a bow or a sword, or a dagger, or a knife, or a pair of gilt spurs, or an arrow or divers arrows’, this was called tenure by petit serjeanty.

f 2. ‘Sergeants’ or squires collectively. Obs. CI330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11979 Alle armed men,.. Wypoute fotmen & seriauntye [v.r. sargeancie].

t sergelim. Obs. Also 6 zerzelnie, 6-7 zerzeline, 7 schirgelim, sergelin. [a. Pg. gergelim, zirgelin, a. Arab, juljult, also juljulan.] = sesamum. 1588 Hickock tr. C. Frederick's Voy. 22 b, Mirabolany.. long Pepper, Oyle of Zerzeline. 1698 Petiver in Phil. Trans. XX. 314 Mixt with the Oyl Sergelin it stops pissing of Blood. Ibid. 322 Oyl of Schirgelim. 1707 Sloane Jamaica l. 126 The Root boil'd in Sergelim Oil.. takes away freckles or spots. sergend, -ent, obs. forms of sergeant. sergette (s3:'d3£t). [a. F. sergette, dim. of serge.]

See quot. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Sergette, a thin and slight serge. sergiand,

-iant,

-iaunt(e, sergond,

-ont(e,

obs. ff. SERGEANT. sergre(i)ant: see sergeant Her. seri, var. sirih. seri, obs. form of sorry. serial ('srarial), a. and sb.

[ad. mod.L. serialis, f. seri-es: see series and -al1. Cf. F. serial (1861), seriel (1874).] A. adj. a. Belonging to, forming part of, or consisting of a series; taking place or occurring in a regular succession. 1840 A. Brisbane tr. Fourier’s Social Destiny xxiv. 344 Industry was developed sufficiently.. to admit of the application of the Serial mechanism to it. 1854 Fairholt's Diet. Terms Art s.v., Serial Pictures are of that order in which a story is carried on consecutively, such as the four seasons, the four ages, &c. 1855 Spencer Princ. Psychol. (1872) II. 16 A thinking of the three in serial order—first, second, third. 1864 Realm 6 July 8 The last performances of all the great serial concerts.

b. spec, of the publication of a literary work, esp. a story, in successive instalments (as in a periodical magazine or newspaper). Also of a radio play: broadcast in (usu. weekly) episodes. serial rights, rights attaching to the publication of a story in serial form. 1841 F. Vesey Decl. Eng. Lang. 86 Serial publication. 1867 E. Yates Black Sheep xxxi, She., had set herself to read the serial story. 1874 Athenaeum 28 Feb. 293/1 After contributing to the newspapers and the magazines, [he] became a serial novelist. 1879 19th Cent. 997 Country journals,.. instead of using an inferior article, will often purchase the ‘serial right’, as it is called, of stories which have already appeared elsewhere. 1890 [see right sb.1 9 f]. 1903 J. London Let. 10 Mar. (1966) 150 The serial right has passed out of my hands. 1933 B.B.C. Year-Bk. 1934 213 Serial plays were a popular innovation: and their exciting episodes seemed to have appealed to.. as many grown-ups as youngsters. 1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 290 The American market.. still offers big money for serial rights. 1955 Radio Times 22 Apr. 42/1 A new serial play in six parts written for broadcasting, i960 B.B.C. Handbk. 68 An increased output of serial plays and characterized documentaries. 1970 [see film rights s.v. film sb. 7 c].

c. In scientific use; esp. applied to the disposition of the parts of an organism in a straight line or longitudinal succession, serial section, each of a series of sections through tissue made in successive parallel planes; hence serial-section vb. trans., serial sectioning vbl. sb. serial temperatures, temperatures taken at different successive depths between the bottom and the surface of water. In Computing = SEQUENTIAL a. 2 b. 1855 T. Williams in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 11. XVI. 405 The serial history of any given structural element of any given complex organ. 1857 A. Gray First Less. Bot. (1866) Gloss., Serial, or Seriate, in rows. 1868 Spencer Princ. Psychol. (1872) I. 16 They preserve a serial arrangement: their aggregation is little more than that of close linear succession. 1872 Humphry Myology 9 The transverse septa, a serial continuation of those in the tail, are directed from the median line above. 1872 Mivart Elem. Anat. 10 Serial symmetry may be much less and much more developed than we find it to be in man. 1877 Thomson Voy. Challenger I. 11 Taking bottom and serial temperatures. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 109 The serial arrangement of the elements of the cork perpendicular to the surface is always very regularly preserved. 1885 A. B. Lee Microtomist's Vade-Mecum xxiv. 203 (heading) Serial section mounting. 1897 M. L. Hughes Mediterranean Fever iii. 136 The qualitative alterations are both nodal and serial. 1908 Q.Jrnl. Exper. Physiol. I. 129 Where the epithelium persists . .serial sections show that the cleft is completely closed by it. 1948 Gloss. Computer Terms (U.S. Office of Naval Res. Special Devices Center: M.I.T. Servomechanisms Lab. Rep. R-138) 10 Serial programming, execution of complete arithmetic operations one at a time. Coding is simpler and easier to organize where simultaneous arithmetic operations are avoided. Serial programming is possible with either parallel or serial digit transmission, i960 Gregory & van Horn Automatic Data-Processing Systems viii. 248 Latency time for instructions stored in serial-access memories can increase program running time enough to warrant using other arrangements for storing instructions. 1961 Lancet 2 Sept. 523/1 The hypothalami.. were embedded in celloidin and serial-sectioned. 1964 G. H. Haggis et al. Introd. Molecular Biol. v. 113 Consideration of the confusion which would result from the examination of fifty serial-section electron microscope pictures placed on top of each other. 1969 P. B. Jordain Condensed Computer Encycl. 449 In character-oriented memory computers, serial addition permits forming sums with inexpensive hardware... In faster, word-organized computers, parallel addition is used. 1977 Sci. Amer. Sept. 130/1 Serial-access and block-access memories have access times that depend on the storage location selected. 1979 Nature 22 Feb. 596/2 Here was a

SERIAL

d.

Biol.

Involving

or

produced

by

the

propagation of a micro-organism or tissue by means of a series of cultures, each grown from material derived from the previous one. 1904 Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. XL. 277 In investigating the persistence of the (+ ) and ( -) characters in the individual strains, the writer has begun a number of serial cultures. 1947 Ann. Rev. Microbiol. I. 26 During the early period of study the original culture on serial plating continued to produce colonies about 5 per cent of which contained only 230 and 95 per cent contained 230231. 1970 L. T. Morton Med. Bibliogr. (ed. 3) 609 Laveran and Mesnil discovered that trypanosomes could be maintained indefinitely in rats and mice by serial passage. e. Educ. and Psychol.: serial learning, the learning of words, numbers, etc., as a series so that each item acts as a stimulus for the next; serial position, the position of items in a serial test studied attrib.

as

for its effect on learning;

serial-position

curve,

effect;

hence serial

test, a test of ability that makes use of items in serial arrangement; hence serial testing. Also serial reproduction. 1926 H. Head Aphasia I. 11. i. 149 The order in which these serial tests are applied must be varied to suit the circumstances of the case. 1926 Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. IX. 195 {title) Specific serial learning; a study of backward association. 1926 Amer. Jfrnl. Psychol. XXXVII. 538 It is apparent. . that the effects of serial position upon memorization still constitute something of an issue. 1932 F. C. Bartlett Remembering vii. 173 There is some suggestion that material treated by way of serial reproduction may gain a kind of group stamp or character. 1948 E. R. Hilgard Theories of Learning iv. 97 (caption) Serial position effect in the memorization of a list of 15 nonsense syllables. 1952 McGeoch & Irion Psychol. Hum. Learning iv. 115 {heading) Learning as a function of serial position. Ibid. x. 369 The results of one series of experiments by the method of serial reproduction.. are important for their bearing upon the social diffusion of information. 1962 E. R. Hilgard Introd. Psychol, (ed. 3) ix. 273/2 Serial learning is easier than paired-associates learning. 1971 Jfrnl. Gen. Psychol. LXXXV. 100 RFT performance was not found to be stable .. but rather changed in the direction of greater field dependence on serial testing. 1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVI. 106 For both liked and disliked names the typical serial position curve was noted with most errors occurring in the middle of the lists. 1979 A. C. Catania Learning x. 243 Another variety of intraverbal relation occurs in serial learning, the learning of a list of items in a particular order. f. In grammatical terminology; spec, in certain West

African

languages,

designating

a

construction consisting of a series of verbs. 1933 L. Bloomfield Language xii. 195 Endocentric constructions are of two kinds, co-ordinative (or serial) and subor dinative (or attributive). 1957 S. Potter Mod. Linguistics v. 114 It [sc. the phrase good men] is a subordinate or attributive construction as opposed to such a phrase as men and women, which is said to be co-ordinate or serial. 1963 Jfrnl. Afr. Languages II. 11. 145 One.. feature of the syntax of Twi and many other West African languages which seems to have escaped the notice of the grammarwriters is that the only possible position for an object pronoun is immediately after a verb... It is necessary to introduce an extra verb to take the extra object pronoun... * This introduction of an extra verb in this way results in a serial verbal construction. 1971 G. Ansre in J. Spencer Eng. Lang. W. Afr. 157 Many of them [sc. the languages of West Africa] exhibit similarities in their grammatical patterning, such as the occurrence of a sequence of verbal forms within the same sentence which has come to be known as ‘serial verbal construction’. 1977 E. A. Gregersen Lang, in Afr. v. 49 A distinctive feature of many West African languages is a multiple verb construction, known in the literature as serial verbs. g. serial number, a number assigned to a person, item, etc., indicating position in a series; spec,

a

SERIATE

I I

man who had pioneered .. the technique of serial sectioning, which enabled palaeontologists to examine the internal structures of fossils that would never have been accessible for study.

number

manufactured

printed

article

by

on

a

which

banknote it

can

or be

identified. 1935 F. W. Croft Crime at Guildford xiv. 201 All these high-class cameras bore a serial number. 1938 L. M. Harrod Librarians' Gloss. 135 Serial Number, the number indicating the order of publication in a series. 1959 Ibid. (ed. 2) 246 Serial Number... 2. One of the consecutive numbers appearing in front of an entry in a bibliography or catalogue. i960 Bedside ‘Guardian' IX. 135 It shows a willingness to surrender but a refusal to reveal one’s serial number. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File i. 11 People posted to him .. were .. given a new serial number from the batch .. reserved for Civil Servants seconded to military duties. 1968 ‘R. Simons’ Death on Display iv. 55 Crow .. took himself off to check on the serial numbers of the five-pound notes. 1971 R. K. Smith Ransom (1972) 111. 121 Very good field glasses for a kid.. . Probably stolen. He typed the serial number on the form. 1976 J. Crosby Snake (1977) xxiv. 129 She paid cash with bills that had been carefully laundered... Elf doubted whether the Feds had the serial numbers on her bills but she was taking no chances. h. Mus. Applied to a type of composition which takes as its starting-point an arrangement of the twelve tones of the chromatic scale.

Cf.

dodecaphonic a., series 2o; twelve-note, -tone s.v. twelve numeral a. and sb. III. c. 1947 H. Searle in Penguin Music Mag. Dec. 22 Fartein Valen, whose Sonetto di Michelangelo.. uses a serial technique derived from Berg. 1958 Times 6 June 4/4 Reti considers a number of alternatives to serial tonality, which is what dodecaphonists now practise in default of the milk of the word of Schonberg. 1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 May 320/4 Most of us reserve the term ‘series’ for an ordered succession

of notes, as in the works of Schoenberg, but do not apply it to a collection of pitches such as are found in the works of Scriabine or Debussy. Mr. Perle extends ‘serial composition’ to both classes of music. 1978 p. Griffiths Cone. Hist. Mod. Music vii. 88 The plate opposite shows the opening of his [sc. Webern’s] Symphony (1928), arranged to display the serial structure. 1982 Sunday Times 25 July 41/6 In his [sc. Eisler’s] film music he made bold use of the technique of montage, juxtaposing elements from jazz, cabaret and serial polyphony.

B. sb. a. A serial or periodical publication, esp. a novel published in serial (as opposed to book) form. 1846 Athenaeum 5 Dec. 1237/1 A fresh serial from the prolific pen of Dickens. 1859 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 25 Feb. 213/2 How valuable would be some of our serials with all their advertisements—The Gentleman's Magazine, for instance. 1882 A. W. Ward Dickens ii. 20 When the popularity of the serial was once established, it grew with extraordinary rapidity. attrib. 1872 Lowell Milton Wks. 1890 IV. 59 A practised serial writer.

b. A film shown in a number of episodes; a radio or television play broadcast in (usu.) weekly episodes. 1914 R. Grau Theatre of Science xi. 245 The latter arranged with the late Thomas W. Hanshew.. to prepare a serial. 1939 BBC Handbk. 20 An interesting aspect of the year’s radio-dramatic work was the development of serial plays. The serial feature, which is the backbone of American radio, had made comparatively few appearances here before 1938... Publishers.. found that the ‘Monte Cristo’ serial caused a great demand for the novel. 1950 G. Webb Inside Story of Dick Barton i. 13 One certain way of arousing interest and gaining an audience was through the medium of the radio serial. 1955 Radio Times 22 Apr. 21/1 Counterspy, the six-part serial which begins in Children’s Hour on Friday. 1964 K. C. Lahue {title) Continued next week: a history of the moving picture serial. 1974 Broadcast 22 July 14/1 There is abundant evidence that the serial, or its twin brother the series, is a popular form of TV programming. People seem to like stories in which the same characters appear and reappear.

Hence seriality (srari'seliti), ment.

serial arrange¬

1855 Spencer Princ. Psychol, iv. i. 500 The advance of the correspondence of itself necessitates a growing seriality in the psychical changes. serial, variant of cerrial a. Obs. serialism ('si3ri3liz(3)m).

[f. serial a. + -ism: cf. next.] 1. The name given by J. W. Dunne (1875-1949) to a theory of the serial nature of time, which he evolved to account for the phenomenon of precognition, esp. in dreams (see quots.). 1927 J. W. Dunne Exper. with Timexxi. 153 The serialism of the fields of presentation. Ibid. xxvi. 206 Serialism as a theory of the Universe. 1934 Discovery Aug. 239/1 His theory that in dreams the dreamer appears sometimes to move out of one dimension of time into another. Serialism, as Mr. Dunne terms his main principle, is a fascinating idea. 1937 Mind XLVI. 165 The novelty of Serialism lies in this: in a Serial Universe it is permissible to rotate the geometrically mapped-out axis of a time-dimension (T2) until its divisions coincide with those of a time (Tj) one dimension lower. 1974 Country Life 7 Feb. 233/1 J. W. Dunne’s theory of Serialism.. that we may discover the future in our dreams.

2. A belief or assumption that every process takes place in a regular succession. 1943 C. S. Lewis Abolition of Man iii. 39 Such a reply springs from the fatal serialism of the modern imagination —the image of infinite unilinear progression which so haunts our minds... We tend to think of every process as if it must be like the numeral series.

3. Mus. The practice or principles of serial composition. 1958 [see atonal a.]. 1967 Spectator 18 Aug. 200/1 If we are to assume that atonality refers to the idiom characterising Schoenberg’s works prior to his adoption of serialism . .then Penderecki’s Passion . . does not come into this category. 1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society xvii. 228 Serialism does not provide a workable order, at least for most listeners, because the structure is mathematical rather than aural. serialist ('siarislist).

[f. serial a. + -ist.]

1. A writer of serials. 1846 Blackw. Mag. LX. 594 The characters depicted by some of our later serialists. 1902 A. Bennett Truth about Author xii, in Academy 5 July 44/2, I found an outlet.. more remunerative than the concoction of serials; and I am a serialist no longer.

2. One who holds views that accord with a serial theory; spec, one who learns by studying items arranged in a series. 1936 Mind XLV. 31 The controversy between substrativists and serialists is one of long standing. 1975 G. Pask Conversation, Cognition & Learning 561 Serialists learn, remember and recapitulate a body of information in small, well-defined and sequentially-ordered segments.

3. Mus.

A composer or advocate of serial

music. 1959 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 88/2, I do believe, however, that success will not wholly pass by the rhythmic experimenters and the 100 per cent serialists. 1962 Times 26 Feb. 14/7 The two pieces.. illustrated the difference of outlook between the newest generation of English serialists and their predecessors. 1980 Early Music Apr. 253/3 Many of these works are characterized by a degree of formal organization which would delight serialists.

4. attrib. or as adj. 1936 Mind XLV. 31 The serialist hypothesis.. seems to me beset with difficulties and obscurities. 1959 Times 13

Feb. 13/4 The Institute of Contemporary Arts is presenting a whole serialist programme. 1975 G. Pask Conversation, Cognition & Learning iv. 108 The respondent is free to learn in any way and is found to adopt a holist or serialist approach.

serialization, [-ization.] 1. Publication in serial form; also, the broadcasting on radio or television, in serial form, of a dramatized novel etc. 1892 Author July 49/1 It is desirable that authors should understand the difficulties with which serialisation is surrounded. 1965 Radio Times 18 Feb. 15/1 The Mill on the Floss, of which a four-part serialisation.. begins tonight. 1972 Daily Tel. 31 Jan. 7/2 This serialisation may well prove such compulsive viewing as to create new interest in this neglected German liberal.

2. gen. The action or state of forming a series. 1857 H. Clapp tr. Fourier's Social Destiny 1. iv. 37 The Administrative unity of the Globe is nothing more nor less than the Serialization of the general interests, operations and relations of the Human Race. 1962 Listener 22 Mar. 513/1 The fate of man is now ‘serialization’. We lose our individuality and our capacity for action by being turned into merely one term in a series which could equally well be replaced by any other term. 1966 A. Manser Sartre xiii. 214 Sartre, in demanding the abolition of serialisation, seems to be asking for an impossible Utopia.

3. Mus. The composition of serial music. 1959 Observer 23. Aug 7/3 This group [of composers] practices a technique of total serialisation, whereby not merely notes but all elements of music (pitch, instrumentation, rhythm, volume, etc.) are used in row formation, i.e., in regular patterns. 1966 F. Hoyle October First is too Late xi. 126 The style of this Greek music was more akin to the key system than to the modern serialization. 1976 P. Stadlen in D. Villiers Next Year in Jerusalem 328 Stravinsky .. turned into a serial convert in his old age... In total serialization, the individual note no longer functions as part of a musical thought.

serialize, v. [-ize.] a. To publish in serial form. Also, to broadcast serially; to publish the work of (an author) in serial form. 1892 Author July 48/2 If a story is serialized in England and is not serialized simultaneously in the States, the American copyright is of course seriously jeopardised. 1893 Athenaeum 11 Nov. 663/3 The serializing of fiction. 1923 S. Hocking My Book of Memory xiii. 186, I submitted it to other editors who had serialized my stories, but with the same result, a 1965 A. Christie Autobiogr. (1977) vm. 414, I was beginning to be serialised in America... The money .. [was] far larger than anything I ever made from serial rights in Britain. 1971 Guardian 2 Mar. 9/3 The paperback sales of Compton Mackenzie’s ‘Sinister Street’ jumped from a steady annual 2,000 to 16,000 when BBC-2 serialised the book.

b. To arrange in a series. 1857 H. Clapp tr. Fourier's Social Destiny 1. i. 8 These three Faculties or Forces serialize the play and action of the other Motors of the Soul. 1907 W. James Pragmatism v. 172 To frame some system of concepts mentally classified, serialized, or connected in some intellectual way.

c. Mus. To compose according to a serial technique. 1959 Listener 8 Oct. 564/1 The fashionable Webernites went on to serialize not only the notes themselves, but the silences, the durations, the dynamic indications.. all by the number twelve, i960 Twentieth Century Nov. 460 A note was said .. to exist in a field determined by the possible error of the performer. This element was immediately serialized.

Hence 'serialized, 'serializing ppl. adjs. 1857 H. Clapp tr. Fourier's Social Destiny 1. iv. 32 The primary functions of the three Regulative or Serializing Faculties. 1921 Public Opinion 26 Aug. 204/2 Take the average short story, or serialised novel, and test it for the real wisdom involved. 1976 A. Sheridan-Smith tr. Sartre's Critique of Dialectical Reason 1. iv. 312 This serialised antagonism.. constitutes an initial structure of alterity. 1976 M. Spark Takeover xi. 154 The theme of Hubert had become one of Mary’s favourite serialized entertainments.

serially ('sisnali), adv. [f. serial a. + -ly2.] a. In a series, in series, in serial arrangement; b. in serial form, as a serial. 1854 Owen in Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 203 A supplementary costal piece, serially homologous with the appendage to the proper pleurapophysis. 1870 Daily Tel. 22 Sept., Small parties of the sparse artillerists hurrying along behind the wall from gun to gun, firing progressively and serially. 1872 Athenaeum 1 June 681/1 However ‘Middlemarch’ may appear, it is clear that it has not been written, although published, serially. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 163 Round bordered pits, arranged in left-handed oblique series, with the inner apertures serially coalescent into long slits.

f'Serian, a. Obs. rare. [f. Ser-es + -ian.] Serian worm, silkworm. (Cf. Serean, Seric.) 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xii. iii, No Serian worms.. that with their threed Draw out their silken lives.

seriand, -ant, -antie, etc.: see sergeant, -y. seriary ('siarion), a. rare. [f. seri-es + -ary1. Cf. F. seriaire, Sp. seriario.] Serial. 1900 Deniker Races of Man 65 The characters called seriary, to which we have recourse in order to compare man with animals which bear the closest resemblance to him.

seriate ('siariat), a. Chiefly Zool. and Bot. [ad. mod.L. *seriat-us, f. series.] Arranged or occurring in one or more series or rows. 1846 Dana Zooph. (1848) 139 Tubercles small,., vertically seriate. 1857 tsee serial A. c]. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 137 Sedum acre .. leaves obscurely 6-seriate. 1874 T. Hardy Far fr. Mad. Crowd xxvi, The remainder was a mere question of time and natural seriate changes.

SERIATE So 'seriated a.\ hence 'seriately adv., in series. 1846 Dana Zooph. (1848) 266 Disks seriately and reticulately budding. 1872 H. C. Wood Fresh-w. Algae 227 The gelatinous tubes or sheaths in which the cells are seriated are very obvious. 1874 Lewes Probl. Life & Mind Ser. 1. I. 120 Vitality and Sensibility may be said to rest on seriated Change.

('srarieit), v. [Back-formation from trans. To arrange (items) in a sequence according to prescribed criteria.

seriate

seriation.]

1944 Genetics XXIX. 526 We shall refer to these and other genes in the series, requiring testers to distinguish them and to seriate them, as iso-alleles. 1968 D. L, Clarke Analytical Archaeol. II. xi. 453 Initially, the matrix technique was devised for seriating assemblages in terms of their proportions of component types. 1972 Computers & Humanities VI. 179 The program constructs a classification of objects and seriates the classes by minimizing the distance according to the Brainerd Robinson model of seriation.

I seriatim (srari'eitim), adv. (and a.) [med.L., f. L. seri-es after gradatim, literatim.] One after another, one by one in succession. 1680 C. Hatton Corr. (Camden) I. 225 Ye judges did every one of them seriatim declare y1 that board was a proper place of judicature of state affaires. 01734 North Exam. 1. ii. §80 (1740) 72 The Judges thought fit to give their Judgments, seriatim, after solemn Argument had. 1815 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. x. I. 303 If not content with taking them [5c. spiders] seriatim you should feel desirous of eating them by handfulls. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick, xv, Mr. and Mrs. Kenwigs thanked every lady and gentleman, seriatim, for the favour of their company. 1871 Spencer Princ. Psychol. (1872) II. 343 This question subdivides into several questions, which we will consider seriatim.

b. as adj.

Following one after the other, rare.

1871 Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue x. 497 There are places where force would be lost by dividing it into two or three successive and seriatim sentences. seriation (siari'eijbn).

[ad. mod.L. * seriationem, f. seri-es: see series and -ation.] Succession in series, serial succession; formation of or into a series. In mod. use, esp. in Archaeol., the action or result of arranging items in a sequence according to prescribed criteria.

1658 J. Robinson Endoxa iv. 30 Where there is no fear of enormity, there may be a secure seriation of supremacy. 1866 Odling Anim. Chem. 47 The acids of these two series presented.. a marked parallelism in their constitution, seriation, and properties. 1874 Lewes Probl. Life & Mind Ser. 1. I. 144 T'he demonstration that thinking is seriation. 1887 Athenaeum 3 Sept. 299/3 In the seriation of the [chemical] elements certain gaps occur. 1917 Anthrop. Papers Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. XVIII. 283 We have found that another seriation based on the percentages of redware yields a cheaper result. 1944 Genetics XXIX. 534 The test indicated that the males carried bobbed alleles capable of seriation when in combination with the testes. But in homozygous condition several of these seriated alleles produced identical maximum bristle types. 1951 G. W. Brainerd in Amer. Antiq. XVI. 304/1 If a series of collections comes from a culture changing through time, their placement on the time axis is a function of their similarity... This.. allows a ‘seriation’ or ordering of collections to be formed which, if time be the only factor involved, must truly represent the temporal placing of the collections. Ibid. 311/2, I believe that.. seriations formed by this technique will allow refinements in chronology greater than those currently possible. 1966 Amer. Anthropologist LXVIII. 1449 When the data are very reliable.., then both ordering criteria produce the same seriation of collections. Confidence in the resulting seriation is therefore high. 1971 World Archaeol. III. 197 The established sequence of changing settlements also corresponded with that reached by seriation of the pottery collections from the relevant sites.

t 'seriatly, adv. Obs. Also 5 seryatt-, ceriat-, 6 seryat-. [Partial anglicization of med.L. seriatim.] In succession, seriatim. c 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 273 Now I wyl fede 30W alle with awngellys mete, Wherfore to reseyve it come fforth seryattly. c 1475 Partenay 1836 Thai.. With-out tariyng to wash ther handes went; After went to sitte ther ceriatly. c 1520 Barclay Jugurth 37 b, To write of the besynesse and dedes of both the parties seriatly and dystincly. 1540 St. Papers Hen. VIII, III. 200 We have receyuid Your Graces most gracius letters.. the contents wherof we have seriatly redde. seriaun, -auns, -aunt(e, etc.: see sergeant. seriba, variant of zareba. Seric ('serik), a. rare. [ad. L. seric-us, (i) belonging to the Seres, (2) of silk (neut. sericum as sb., silk), = Gr. orjpiKos (neut. o-qpiKov silk), f. Erupts: see Seres.] 1. Chinese. 1842 Tupper Proverb. Philos. Ser. ii. Introd., Unclean meats as of the clean hang upon my Seric shambles. 1840 New Monthly Mag. LX. 310 The pure concoction of the seric herb [= tea].

2. Silken. 1886 Edin. Rev. July 155 The manufacture of seric stuffs. sericate ('serikeit). Chem. [f. seric-ic + -ate2.]

A salt of sericic acid. 1841 Turner's Elem. Chem., Org. 1084 Sericate of oxide of ethule is a colourless mobile liquid. 'sericated, a. rare~°. [f. L. sericat-us (f. seric¬ um silk: see Seric) 4- -ed1.] f Clothed in silk; also = sericeous. 1623 in Cockeram. i860 Worcester, Serricated [sic].

SERIES

12 sericeo- (si'rijigu), used as comb, form of L. sericeus (see next) = silky and ... 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 359/2 Ovaries sericeo-tomentose.

sericeous (si'rifias), a. Zool. and Bot.

[f. L. serice-us, f. seric-um silk (see Seric): see -eous.] Silky, covered with silky down. 1777 Robson Brit. Flora 15 Sericeous, covered with a down of extremely fine texture. 1819 Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 282 Hylaeus... Lip lanceolate, little sericeous. 1847 Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. v. 236 Shining yellow sericeous down. 1885 H. O. Forbes Nat. Wand. iv. App. 376 The sericeous brand on the male.

sericic (si'risik), a. Chem. [f. L. seric-um silk (see Seric) + -ic.] = myristic.

from a small gland. 1898 Packard Text-bk. Entomol. 337 In the imago the sericteries revert to their primitive shape and use as salivary glands. sericultural (seri'kAltjuaral,

-1J -), a.

[f. next +

-al1.] Pertaining to or engaged in sericulture. 1864 Q.Jrnl. Sci. I. 515 The sericultural departments of France. 1886 Wardle Catal. India Silk Culture 28 Aids to Sericultural Study. sericulture ('serikAltjua(r), -tjb(r)). [Shortened

ad. F. sericiculture: see sericiculture.] The production of raw silk and the rearing of silkworms for the purpose.

sericiculture ('serisi,kAltju3(r), -tjs(r)). [ad. F. sericiculture, f. L. seric-um (see Seric) + cultura

1851-4 Tomlinson's Cycl. Useful Arts (1867) II. 520/2 The Central Society of Sericulture of France. 1863 All Year Round 11 July 467/1 Model silkworm houses.. would greatly tend to popularise this new branch of sericulture. 1881 Wardle Wild Silks of India 53 Eria sericulture plantations. Hence seri'culturist, one engaged in

CULTURE.]

sericulture, a silk-grower.

1841 Turner's Elem. Chem., Org. 1083 Sericic Acid. Syn. Myristic Acid. Discovered by Playfair.

=

sericulture. Hence ,serici'cultural a., .serici'culturist. 18912 Crookes tr. Wagner's Man. Chem. Technol. 803 Sericiculture.—Varieties of Silkworms. Ibid. 804 Sericiculturists become sufficiently adepts. . to be able to select a sufficient number of cocoons of each sex.

sericin

('sErisin). Chem. Also -ine.

[Formed as

1864 Q.Jrnl. Sci. I. 515 He recommends the sericulturist to separate his dark worms from the general stock. seridclath, northern f. cered cloth: see cered. 1438-9 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 408 In 22 virgis panni linei empt. pro le Seridclath pro vestimentis.

sericic + -IN1.]

[app. ad. L. series: see series.] Succession of points in an argument.

1. = MYRISTIN. I84I Turner's Elem. Chem., Org. 1083 Sericate of oxide of glycerule (sericine or myristine).

CI386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2209 What may I concluden of this long serye, But after wo I rede vs to be merye?

2. The gelatinous constituent of silk.

seriea(u)nt, -y, obs. forms of sergeant, -y.

1868 Bloxam Chem. §446. 1886 tr. Benedikt's Chem. Coaltar Colours 39 Both fibroine and sericine (silk-glue) consist of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen.

sericipary (seri'sipari), a. rare. [f. L. sericum silk + -par-us (-parous) + -y.] Producing silk. 1869 Eng. Mech. 24 Dec. 350/3 A double apparatus., situated on either side of the intestinal canal, and below it, called the sericipary gland.

sericite (’serisait). Min. [ad. G. sericit (1852), f. L. seric-um silk: see Seric and -ite1 2 b ] A fibrous variety of muscovite. 1854 Dana Syst. Min. (ed. 4) II. 223 Sericite of K. List, is regarded by him as near Damourite. 1866 Lawrence tr. Cotta's Rocks Classified 23 Sericite, a green mineral, of silky lustre. b. attrib. — sericitic. 1879 Rutley Study of Rocks 296 Sericite-Schist.—This is a schistose rock closely allied to the porphyroids, and consists of sericite, fragments of quartz [etc.]. 1884 Nature 13 Nov. 35/1 Sericite mica. Hence sericitic (seri'sitik) a., containing or

having the character of sericite. 1814 Nature 13 Nov. sericitic mica.

34/1

A slight development of

sericitization. [f. prec.: see -ization.] version into, or replacement by, sericite.

Con¬

1893 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. iv. vm. ii. (ed. 3) 617 Where the silky unctuous sericite has been developed from orthoclase (sericitization). 1908 Trans. N.Z. Inst. XLI. 69 These figures show .. that the type of rock-alteration may be regarded as partial sericitization. 1962 W. A. Deer et al. Rock-Forming Minerals III. 24 This sericitization may begin, and be complete, at an early stage of the metamorphism. Hence 'sericitized ppl. a., converted into (a

form containing) sericite. 1935 Geol. Mag. LXXII. 276 Plagioclase .. occurs as large sericitized laths. 1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. xiii. 195/2 The wall-rocks are sericitized and chloritized.

f sericon. Alch. (indeclinable).

Obs.

[a.

med.L.

fserie. Obs.

sericon

In Turbae Philosophorum alterum exemplar, printed in Artis Auriferae quam Chemiam vocant volumen primum (Basilese 1593) 138, ‘sericon’ is mentioned (in connexion with ‘magnesia’: see magnesia 1) as ‘a composition which is called by ten names’, and which is one of the ingredients in ‘the ferment of gold’. That the word originally stood for some real chemical substance is not improbable, but its proper meaning and etymology (perh. Arabic: ? cf. zircon) are obscure. There is no ground for identifying it with mod.L. sericum (prob. merely a use of L. sericum silk) cited by writers of the 18th c. as a name for the flowers of zinc. On the other hand, ‘Sericum, an old name for minium’, in some modern dictionaries, may represent a conjecture as to the meaning of the alchemical term.]

A substance supposed to be concerned in the transmutation of inferior metals into gold. The explanation given in Gifford’s note on the Jonson passage, ‘the red tincture’, appears to be an unauthorized conjecture. ?i5 •• in Ashmole Theat. Chem. (1652) 428 This centrall Earth who can it take, It and Sercion [sic] do our Maistry make. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. 11. v, Both Sericon, and Bufo shall be lost.

Isericterium (serik'tiarism). Entom. PI. -eria (-'isris). Also anglicized serictery (si'riktan). [mod.L., irreg. f. Gr. aripucov silk (see Seric) + -r-qpiov, after sialisterium (maXtoTriptov) salivary gland of insects.]- A glandular apparatus in silkworms for the production of silk; a silk or spinning gland. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xli. (1828) IV. 137 In the sericterium the fluid that produces it [5c. silk] is sometimes white or grey. 1875 Blake Zool. 287 The two fine filaments from the sericteria are glued together by another secretion

seriema (seri'iima), yariama. cariama (sae-, kaeri'aima). Also siriema. [mod.L. seriema (A. de St. Hilaire, 1830), cariama (Brisson, 1760), a. Tupi siriema, sariama, fariama, explained by Ruiz de Montaya as = crested. The erroneous form cariama (without cedilla) comes down from Marcgrav, Hist. Nat. Brasil. 1648.] A large long-legged crested bird, Cariama cristata, inhabiting parts of Brazil; the crested screamer. 1836 Proc. Zool. Soc. 30 Though the (fariama, in its osseous structure, exhibits but little resemblance to the Birds of the Raptorial order, i860 Ibid. 334 A New Form of Grallatorial Bird nearly allied to the Cariama. 1869 R. F. Burton Highl. Brazil II. 26 The Siriema, that hunted the serpents from our path. 1870 Proc. Zool. Soc. 666 Burmeister’s Cariama. 1895 Pop. Sci. Monthly XLVI. 770 The far-famed seriema (Dicholophus cristatus), a form that has puzzled the best of taxonomers since the middle of the seventeenth century. series ('srariiz, formerly 'sisniiz). PI. (8-) series,

(7- 8, rare in 9) serieses, (7-8) series’s, [a. L. series row, chain, series, f. ser-ere to join, connect. Cf. F. serie, It., Sp., Pg. serie.] I. General senses. 1. A number or set of material things of one kind ranged in a line, either contiguously or at more or less regular intervals; a range or continued spatial succession of similar objects; fin early use applied to a row of building. 1611 Cory AT Crudities 454 A very faire architectonical Machine. . in which are three degrees, whereof each contayneth a faire Statue... At the very toppe of this rowe or series of worke is errected a most excellent effigies of a Cocke. Ibid. 636 A faire front of building... Which front or series extendeth it selfe in a goodly length. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 163 For five hundred paces it every way gives a series of all sorts of Persian fruits and flowers. 1812 Miss Mitford in L’Estrange Life (1870) I. 191 In Oxfordshire, where I saw a landscape, or rather a series of landscapes, of singular beauty. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Aristocracy Wks. (Bohn) II. 81 The series of squares called Belgravia. 1872 FI. C. Wood Fresh-w. Algae 68 Cells mostly arranged in a simple or double series in the filament.

2. a. A number of things of one kind (chiefly immaterial, as events, actions, conditions, periods of time) following one another in temporal succession, or in the order of discourse or reasoning. 1618 Chapman Hesiod's Georg, ii. 455 The noisome gales, .. that incense the seas And raise together in one series Ioues Autumne dashes. 1646 Howell Lewis XIII, 20 So was his whole life attended with a series of good successes. 1656 tr. Hobbes' Elem. Philos. 1 All men can reason to some degree, . . but where there is need of a long series of Reasons, there most men wander out of the way. 1663 Power Exp. Philos. 11. 122 The Series and Chain of our former Experiments. 1709 Felton Diss. Classics (1718) 188 The worst Province an Historian can fall upon, is a Series of barren Times, in which nothing remarkable happeneth. 1765 W. Ward Grammar iv. iv. 167 Several participles cannot conveniently be used so as to affect every part of long serieses of words immediately. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 514/1 These different heights of tide are observed to succeed each other in a regular series... This series is completed in about 15 days... Two serieses are completed in the exact time of a lunation. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. 1. vi, What a hoping People he had, judge by the fact, and series of facts, now to be noted. 1871 R. W. Dale Commandm. x. 242 These Commandments occupy a great place in a series of Divine revelations. 1886 Act 49 & 50 Viet. c. 44 §13 That the repayment of the money to be borrowed should be spread over a series of years. with pi. concord. 1864 Babbage Passages 46 Another series of experiments were . . made. 1871 Morley Carlyle in Crit. Misc. Ser. 1. 245 A complex series of historic facts do not usually fit so neatly into the moral formula.

SERIES b. A number of persons in succession holding the same office or having some characteristic in common. fAlso, a succession of persons in descent, a family line. 1625 T. Godwin Moses Aaron 1. v. 15 Aaron, and those that issued from his loynes, (in whom the series of Priests was continued). 1638 Nabbes Totenham Court II. i, To make the series of their Families Spread in so many glorious divisions. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Series., an issue or descent of kindred. 1665 G. Havers P. della Valle's Trav. E. India 26 Teimur Lenk, though extracted from the noblest blood of the Kings, yet remote from the Royal Stock by a long series. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 287 If 6 Look into the Historian I have mentioned, or into any Series of Absolute Princes. 1776 Johnson in Boswell 16 Mar., Entails are good, because it is good to preserve in a country serieses of men, to whom the people are accustomed to look up as to their leaders. 1865 G. Grote Plato I. iv. 134 Speusippus succeeded him .. as teacher,.. being succeeded .. by Polemon, Krantor.. and others in uninterrupted series.

fc. A catalogue, list. Obs. 1656 Earl Monm. tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. 1. lxxx. (1674) 108 [They] made a long and exact Series of many abuses which reigned in that State. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 60 It is not my purpose to relate a series and catalogue of all the British Kings to the Saxon Monarchs.

f3. a. A succession, sequence, or continued course (of action or conduct, o/time, life, etc.). Obs. 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 152 The series both of fate, and of fortune. 1660 Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. 11. (1682) 138 To devote the Series of their whole Life to the Divine honour. 1684 T. Burnet Th. Earth 11. vii. 251 The Series of Providence that was to follow in this Earth. Ibid. xi. 316 No long Series’s of Providence. 1690 Child Disc. Trade 190 After such a long series of time. 1725 Pope Odyss. in. 140 How trace the tedious series of our fate? 1772 Burke Corr. (1844) I. 373 A more decent.. and prudent series of proceeding. 1805 T. Lindley Voy. Brazil n His life had been a series of industry. 1815 Jane Austen Emma xxii, After a series of what had appeared to him strong encouragement.

fb. A continued state or spell. Obs. 1748 Anson’s Voy. 1. x. 98 We had a series of as favourable weather, as could well be expected. Ibid. 11. i. 111 Those .. who have endured a long series of thirst. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. § 149 A series of unsettled weather.

f4. The connected sequence (of discourse, writing, thought). Obs. 1631 Brathwait Whimzies Ep. Ded., As the conceit may neither taste of too much lightnesse .. nor the whole passage or series incline to too much dulnesse. 1646 Crashaw Steps to Temple, Delights Muses 104 The plyant Series of her slippery song. 1661 Boyle Physiol. Ess. (1669) 31 Not to look upon any thing as my Opinion or Assertion that is not deliver’d in the entire Series of my own Words. 1667-8 S. Ward Infidelity (1670) 5 Reflecting.. upon the Text as it lies in the Series of the Epistle. 1696 Phillips, Series,.. a continuation of Discourse. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 549 If 1, I am engaged in this Series of Thought by a Discourse which I had .. with .. Sir Andrew Freeport.

f5. Order of succession; sequence. Obs. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vii. xii. 312 Wee haue shewed the ancient Coines of the Britaines, and obserued a series thorow the Romanes succession. 1651 N. Bacon Disc. Gov. Eng. 11. xxviii. 223 Nor [are] they good Historians, that will tell you the bare journall of Action without the Series of occasion. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacras 11. iii. §2 It seems impossible that any thing should really alter the series of things, without the same power which at first producedthem. 1779 Johnson L.P., Watts (1868) 450 The series of his works I am not able to deduce.

6. A number of magnitudes, degrees of some attribute, or the like, viewed as capable of being enumerated in a progressive order. Also, a set of objects of one kind, differing progressively in size or in some other respect, or having a recognized order of enumeration. 1786-8 {title) A Series of [64] points of ancient history. 1818 Accum Chem. Tests (ed. 2) 61 note, A series of these [test] tubes should be always ready at hand. 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. ii. (1873) 41 These differences blend into each other by an insensible series.

II. Technical senses. 7. Math. A set of terms in succession (finite or infinite in number) the value of each of which is determined by its ordinal position according to a definite rule known as the law of the series; esp. a set of such terms continuously added together. See ARITHMETICAL, GEOMETRICAL, RECURRING, etc. 1671 J. Gregory in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 224 Reducing all of them [jc. equations] to infinite serieses. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 739/1 Any one who is conversant in Series. 1750 Phil. Trans. XLVII. 20 The operation, by having two or more series’s to multiply into one another, becomes very troublesome. 1791 Ibid. LXXXI. 148 The serieses deduced should converge. 1839 R. Murphy Algebr. Equat. 92 Recurring Series have been much used .. in the solution of algebraical equations. 1874 Gross Algebra 11. 153 Summation of Series. allusively. 1836 J. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. ii. 59 To examine in detail the series, of which the computed sum betrays at once somewhere in the calculation so gross an error. 1853 [Whewell] Plural. Worlds v. 76 We have here to build a theory without materials;—to sum a series of which every term, so far as we know, is nothing.

8. A set of coins, medals, etc. belonging to a particular epoch, locality, dynasty, or govern¬ ment. Also, a set of postage stamps, bank notes, etc., of a particular issue. 1697 tr. Jobert's Knowl. Medals 28 A Gold or Silver series of Medals. 1697 Evelyn Numismata 26 We begin with Heads; as best determining and guiding the Series. 1730 A. Gordon Maffei’s Amphith. 128 Among the many and

SERIES

13

particular Series’s collected by him, he has 800 Medals of Colony’s, 1500 Greek Coins, and 1200 Egyptian. 1808 Pinkerton Ess. Medals I. 3 Serieses of Roman coins. 1867 Philatelist I. 23/1 New series, 4 annas, light green. Ibid. 129/2 The stamps which were immediately adopted for the empire [sc. Mexico] were the ‘eagle’ series. 1876 Mathews Coinage of World Introd. p. iii, A recently discovered series of Bactrian coins. 1879 H. Phillips, jr. Addit. Notes upon Coins 3 The present medal is one of a series struck to commemorate this occurrence. 1907 Lancet 16 Feb. 471/1 A fresh series of 5-franc notes is about to be issued.

9. a. A set of literary compositions having certain features in common, published suc¬ cessively or intended to be read in sequence; a succession of volumes or fascicules (of a periodical, the publications of a society, etc.) forming a set by itself (distinguished as first, second, etc. series). Also, in recent use, a succession of books issued by one publisher in a common form and having some similarity of subject or purpose; usually with a general title, as ‘the Clarendon Press Series’, ‘the Men of Letters Series’. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 106 f6 [The Chaplain] has digested them [jc. Sermons] into such a Series, that they follow one another naturally. (?) 1791 (title) A Series of original papers on that great National Subject, The improvement of the art of Ship-building. 1813 Brydges (title) The Ruminator: containing a series of moral, critical and sentimental essays. 1832 Scott Betrothed Introd., The Tales of the Crusaders was determined upon as the title of the following series of these Novels. 1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 Aug. 1/1 Of all these serieses the ‘Men of Letters’ has, I suppose, been the most popular.

b. A set of radio or television programmes concerned with the same theme or having the same range of characters and broadcast in sequence. 1949 Radio Times 15 July 15/1 Fifth talk in the series devoted to English and French writings on art. 1962 Listener 11 Oct. 581/2 A series, Zero One, opened with an episode called Stone Face. 1974 Radio Times 14 Mar. 18/1 Series consultant Charlie Gillett.

10. Nat. Sci. A group of individuals exhibiting similar characteristics or a constant relation between successive members: see quots. 1823 H. T. Brooke Crystallogr. too When the sets of new planes.. are so much extended as entirely to efface the primary planes, a series of entirely new solids will result. 1851 Mantell Petrifactions ii. §3. 116 The entire series of phalangeals with the corresponding metatarsal of a.. species of Dinornis. 1857 A. Gray First Less. Bot. (1866) 177 The upper Series or grade of Flowering or Phaenogamous Plants, which have their counterpart in the lower Series of Flowerless or Cryptogamous Plants. Ibid., The following schedule .. comprises all that are generally used in a natural classification,.. Series, Class, Subclass [etc.]. 1857 [see isologous]. 1869, 1876 [see homologous 3]. 1878 Dallinger in Nature 23 May 102/2 A hitherto unrecorded organism belonging to the septic series.

11. Geol. a. f (i) A set of successive deposits or group of successive formations having certain common fossil or mineral features. Also used for any assemblage of successive, usu. conformable, strata (without regard to the rank of the assemblage: cf. next sense). Now Obs. 1822 Conybeare Outl. Geol. ii. iii. §2. 181 A zone of argilleo-calcareous beds belonging to the Purbeck series. 1827 Trans. Geol. Soc. II. 293 The strata.. were in fact the equivalent of the oolitic series. 1836 W. Buckland Geol. & Mineral. I. ix. 76 The Tertiary Series introduces a system of new phenomena, presenting formations in which the remains of animal and vegetable life approach gradually nearer to species of our own epoch. 1839 De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall, etc. iii. 59 The series having been slightly overlapped. 1877 Huxley Physiogr. 197 A curious series of deposits may thus be produced. 1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. 648 The rocks of the Cambrian series present great uniformity of lithological character over the globe.

(ii) Stratigraphy. The primary subdivision of a system, composed of a number of stages and corresponding to an epoch in time; the rocks deposited during any specific epoch. At the 1881 meeting of the International Geological Congress, a scheme of nomenclature was adopted in which the stratigraphical terms group, system, series, stage in decreasing order of comprehensiveness correspond to the terms era, period, epoch, age for time intervals. The system and its subdivisions are now regarded as the primary timestratigraphical terms, and the use of group in this sense is deprecated. 1881 Geol. Mag. Decade II. VIII. 558 The final result of the discussions was the adoption of terms in the following order, the most comprehensive being placed first:.. Series .. Epoch... As equivalents of Series, the terms Section or Abtheilung may be used... According to this scheme, we would speak of the Palaeozoic Group or Era, the Silurian System or Period, the Ludlow Series or Epoch, and the Aymestry Stage or Age. 1898 Jrnl. Geol. VI. 355 The faunas of the Trenton limestone, the Utica and Hudson River shales are very intimately related, and that relation should be indicated by grouping the three together as stages of a single series. 1931 Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XLII. 426 The Pleistocene or Glacial Period will be divided into epochs and ages, and the Pleistocene or Glacial system into corresponding rock terms, series and stages. 1931 Gregory & Barrett General Stratigr. x. 155 In Scotland the Upper Estuarine Series includes the Brora Coal seam, of which the roof is Callovian. 1961 Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists XLV. 658 The term ‘series’ is not restricted to stratified rocks, but may be applied to intrusive rocks in the same time-stratigraphic sense. 1976 H. D. Hedberg Internal. Stratigr. Guide vii. 72 The series is a unit in the conventional chrono-stratigraphic hierarchy, ranking above

a stage and below a system. The geochronologic equivalent of a series is an epoch. A series is always a subdivision of a system; it is usually but not always broken up into stages.

b. Any group of (usu. igneous) rocks having similar forms of occurrence and petrographical characteristics. 1844 C. Darwin Volcanic Islands vi. 123 Is it not more probable, that these dikes have been formed by fissures penetrating into partially cooled rocks of the granitic and metamorphic series, and by their more fluid parts,.. oozing out, and being sucked into such fissures? 1892-94 Bull. Philos. Soc. Washington XII. 178 Since neighboring centers may be erupting different phases of the rock series at one and the same time,.. the same kinds of rock may occur in different parts of the whole complex series representing the order of eruption of the rocks in one region. 1909 J. P. Iddings Igneous Rocks I. 11. iii. 408 The term series should be applied to groups of rocks characterized by similarity of certain chemical or mineral constituents and by variations in others; the rocks being members of one family. Series may traverse the general system of classification in various directions. 1975 A. E. Kingwood Composition & Petrology of Earth's Mantle vii. 243 The behaviour of the orogenic series is fundamentally different from that of the tholeiitic and alkalic series.

12. Electr. and Magn. a. A number of wires of different metals each connected with the preceding. Chiefly as in series: in Electr. also said of circuit components connected together so as to form a single electrical path between two points (also transf.); const, with. 1873 F. Jenkin Electr. & Magn. ii. §21 (1881) 43 Any series of metallic conductors thus placed in contact. 1884 Jrnl. Soc. Telegr.-Engineers XIII. 498 If you couple two such alternate-current machines in series, they will so control each others phase as to nullify each other. 1885 Watson & Burbury Math. Th. Electr. Magn. I. 229 If any number of wires of different metals M\, M2, M2, M+ are joined together in series,.. the wire of metal M\ beginning and ending the series. 1922 Proc. IRE X. 249 It was necessary to use a two-electrode tube in series with the auxiliary emf. 1943 C. L. Boltz Basic Radio viii. 132 When a condenser and resistor are in series in a circuit, the charging current when a D.C. supply is switched on causes a p.d. across the resistor for a fraction of a second, i960 Practical Wireless XXXVI. 412/1 In series with the key jack is filled a potentiometer VRi which provides a useful variation of the oscillator tone. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 250/1 Each tissue consists of two compartments connected in series. 1975 G. J. King Audio Handbk. iv. 84 The two transistors are connected in series across the supply.

b. attrib. or as adj. = (a) arranged or connected in series; (b) short for series-wound, i.e. wound in series, or so that the coils on the field-magnets are placed in series with the outer circuit. Also more generally, pertaining to or involving connection in series. Also Comb. 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iii. 125/1 The ordinary or series dynamo. 1888 Scribner's Mag. Aug. 194/2 The ‘series’ system .. may be likened to the arrangement of disks on the chain of a chain-pump. 1891 Lightning 19 Nov. 107 Series-wound dynamo-machine. 1893 Sloane Electr. Diet., Series, arranged in succession as opposed to parallel .. [e.g.] Series Connection. Ibid., Series-multiple, arrangement of electric apparatus, in which the parts are grouped in sets in parallel and these sets are connected in series. 1920 Whittaker's Electr. Engineer's Pocket-bk. (ed. 4) 227 A motor has a series characteristic when the exciting or main flux is produced by the load current (or by part of it). 1926 R. W. Hutchinson Wireless vi. 101 In the above example of resonance the capacity and inductance were in series and such a case is often referred to as series resonance. 1950 Engineering 6 Jan. 8/2 The noise limiter, .employs a series-diode circuit. 1957 Practical Wireless XXXII. 379/1 (Advt.), It is essential to use mains primary types with T.V. receivers having series-connected heaters. 1961 Amateur Radio Handbk. (ed. 3) ix. 257/2 Valves such as the 807 can be used in both positions in a series-modulation system from a 1000 volts supply. 1962 G. A. T Burdett Automatic Control Handbk. i. 26 The outstanding characteristic of the d.c. series motor is powerful torque at starting and also at low speeds. 1970 J. Shepherd et al. Higher Electr. Engin. (ed. 2) ix. 265 In Fig. 9.5(a) two mutually coupled coils are connected in series. The connexion is called series aiding, since current enters the dotted ends of the coils, which thus produce aiding fluxes. 1974 Harvey & Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. iii. 51 The attenuation produced by the series insertion of a crystal into a circuit operating at a variable frequency. 1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xm. 80 The two series-connected windings in series with the load are called gate windings.

13. a. Philol. (tr. G. reihe.) In the Indogermanic languages, a set of vowels, or of diphthongs and vowels or sonants, which are mutually related by ablaut. 1888 Wright OHG. Primer 61 The vowels vary within certain series of related vowels, called ablaut-series. There are in OHG. six such series,

b. Phonology. (See quot. 1952.) 1952 A. Martinet in Word VIII. 13 A number of consonantal phonemes characterized by one and the same articulation will be said to form a ‘series’ if their other characteristic articulations can be located at different points along the air channel. Thus in English /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/,.. will form a series, and so will /b/, /d/» /g/, /g/. 1956 E. Stankiewicz Phonemic Patterns of Polish Dialects in For Roman Jakobson 521 This reduction resulted in the fusion of alveolars and palatals into a single series (s, z, c, ). 1969 C. A. M. Baltaxe tr. Trubetzkoy's Princ. Phonol. 1. iv. 125 Many languages have two apical series, one characterized by the tip of the tongue pointed upward, the other by the tip of the tongue pointed downward, instead of a single series characterized by the participation of the tip of the tongue.

3

14. A parcel of rough diamonds of assorted qualities. a 1912 (In recent Diets.)

SERIF 15. a. Chem. A set of related elements or compounds, esp. a group or period of the periodic table, or a number of compounds differing successively in composition by a fixed amount; a set of elements or compounds arranged in order of magnitude of some property. 1849 Q.Jrnl. Chem. Soc. II. 297 (heading) On a new series of organic bodies containing metals and phosphorus. 1869, 1876 [see homologous a. 3]. 1922 [see group sb. 3 c (ii)]1943 [see electro-chemical adj. s.v. electro-]. 1958, etc. [see NEPHELAUXETIC a.]. 1962 COTTON & WlLKINSON Adv. ItlOTg. Chem. xxiv. 495 For practical purposes .. the third transition series begins with hafnium . . and embraces the elements Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt and Au. 1964 N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. ii. 12 Members of the series may be represented by a general molecular formula, and each member differs from the next by CH2; the paraffins have the general formula C„H2„ + 2. 1972 Cotton & Wilkinson Adv. lnorg. Chem. (ed. 3) xiii. 373 The stability of these hydrides falls rapidly along the series, so that SbH3 and BiH3 are very unstable thermally.

b. = radioactive series s.v. radioactive a.

SERIN

14

4.

1904 [see disintegration a]. 1926 R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radioactivity xxiv. 180 The resulting end-product of the uranium-radium series does not emit rays, and is hence stable. 1949 F. Soddy Story of Atomic Energy v. 50/2 The RaE changes to Radium F,.. the last radio-element in the main uranium series. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropaedia I. 67/2 The mass numbers of all isotopes of the so-called thorium series.. turn out to be multiples of four, and the series is known as the 4n series.

16. A set of alloys or minerals having the same chemical composition except for the relative proportions of two elements that can replace one another. 1855 Phil. Mag. X. 249 We .. prepared a series of alloys in which copper predominated. 1859 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. CXLVIII. 357 The alloys of a series such as those of 2 equivalents of bismuth and 1 of lead, 3 Bi and 1 Pb, 4 Bi and 1 Pb, 5 Bi and 1 Pb, all conduct the same, viz. about 19, the various increasing quantities of lead exercising no influence on the conductibility of the alloys. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 512/2 In other groups [of minerals] the replacement may be indefinite in extent, and between the ends of the series the different members may vary indefinitely in composition. 1914 C. H. Desch Intermediate Compounds vi. 50 The compound Mg3Bi2 has a conductivity very near that of bismuth, and the two series Mg-Mg3Bi2 and Mg3Bi2-Bi are simple conglomerates. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth i. 17/1 The plagioclase feldspars show a slightly more complex type of ionic replacement and form the series NaAlSi3Os (albite)-CaAl2Si2Og (anorthite).

17. a. Baseball. A set of games played on successive days between two teams. Also World Series: see world sb. 1862 Sunday Mercury (N.Y.) 13 July 6/3 This last game ended the series, and the players were to return this.. morning. 1906 World (N.Y.) 26 July 8/4 To wind up their series with the Western teams, the hilltop boys gave the Michiganders a double drubbing, i960 Time 3 Oct. 67/2 The Yankees have.. individual stars who can rouse themselves to greatness and win a short series by themselves. 1973 Internat. Herald Tribune 15 June 15/4 It was the first time in almost a month that the Mets had won two straight. And it was the first time in exactly a month that they had captured a series.

b. Cricket. A set of Test matches between two sides on any one tour. 1912 A. A. Lilley Twenty-Four Years Cricket xiv. 195 The only Test match of the tour that had a definite conclusion was the second of the series. 1935 Wisden 11. 1 The Australian team of 1934 arrived in this country with the knowledge that during the previous series of Test Matches in Australia they had been beaten four times. 1966 J. Arlott in B. Johnston Armchair Cricket 1966 12 The fifth —Oval—Test of that series was the first scheduled for regular eye-witness accounts on each day. 1976 0-10 Cricket Scene (Austral.) 5/2 Ian Chappell and Ian Redpath both gave away Test cricket, and with Edwards leaving the scene on a series before, Australia had lost their three most consistent, fighting batsmen.

18. Physics. A set of lines in a spectrum whose frequencies are mathematically related in a fairly simple way. 189Ojfrnl. Chem. Soc. LVIII. 11. 674 The corresponding components of the pairs form series whose wave-numbers are functions of the successive natural numbers. 1922 [see Lyman]. 1952 R. W. Ditchburn Light xvii. 543 These formulae suggest that the wave numbers of all these series may be expressed as differences of a set of wave numbers which are known as spectroscopic ‘terms’. 1966 Williams & Fleming Spectrosc. Methods in Org. Chem. ii. 21 When more than two triple bonds are conjugated, the spectrum shows a characteristic series of low intensity bands.. at intervals of 2300 cm_1.. and high intensity bands.. at intervals of 2600 cm-1. 1978 E. P. Bertin Introd. X-Ray Spectrometric Analysis i. 37 X-ray spectral lines are grouped in series K, L, M, iV; all lines in a series result from electron transitions from various higher orbitals to the indicated shell.

19. Soil Sci. A group of soils which are derived from the same parent material and are similar in profile, though not necessarily in the texture of the surface horizon; = soil series s.v. soil sb.1 10. 1904 Ann. Rep. U.S. Dept. Agric. 1903-4 269 These types have been arranged in 3 1 series, in which the soils are related in point of origin. 1913 U.S. Bureau of Soils Bull. No. 96. 8 A soil series is named from some town, village, county, or natural feature existing in the area when it was first encountered. 1917 Mosier & Gustafson Soil Physics & Management viii. 79 The Cecil series include the most important and widely distributed soils of the Piedmont Plateau. 1952 L. M. Thompson Soils & Soil Fertility vi. 86 Several of the great soil groups of the United States include hundreds of series. 1970 E. M. Bridges World Soils v. 34/2

The Ettrick Association derived from Silurian greywackes and shales has six component series in the Jedburgh and Morebattle district.

20. Mus. The arrangement of the twelve-tone chromatic scale which is used as the startingpoint of a piece of serial music; = tone-row s.v. tone sb. 11. 1930 Mod. Music VII. iv. 5 The tonal material of a composition [by Schonberg] is a series of Twelve tones, borrowed from the chromatic scale and grouped in a special arrangement... The word ‘series’ is by no means identical with the idea of ‘theme’... The series is to be considered rather as a tone-complex, whose successions and intervalic relations always recur. 1940 E. KSenek Studies in Counterpoint p. viii, The primary function of the series is that of a sort of ‘store of motifs’ out of which all the individual elements of the composition are to be developed. 1959 Observer 23 Aug. 7/3 According to this new system [of musical composition], a fixed series or succession of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale forms a framework which is the basis of the composition. 1978 p. Griffiths Cone. Hist. Mod. Music vii. 88 The music is.. constructed as a four-part canon, each part of which begins with a statement of the series in a different form.

21.

Eccl. With a specifying number: a designation of one of the alternative experimental forms of service used within the Church of England since 1965. These rites were replaced in 1980 by those printed in the Alternative Service Book. 1965 (title) Alternative Services: First Series. 1965 (title) Alternative Services: Second Series. 1967 Church Quarterly Rev. CLXVIII. 442 It is undoubtedly the rite of Series 2 which points the way forward. Ibid. 449 It is appropriate here to look at the third form of Series 1 in which the self¬ oblation is omitted from the Canon. 1971 Churchman LXXXV. 212 The amended text.. has now been published as Holy Communion: Series 3. 1973 Franciscan XV. 169 In our worship at S. Bene’t’s we have moved.. from Series II to Series III, using John Rutter’s setting. 1977 B. Pym Quartet in Autumn i. 15 What would be the reaction of the congregation if Father G. tried to introduce Series Three? 1981 Barton & Halliburton in Believing in Church iv. 107 The Durham book, which had in fact proposed that form of invitation which became the invitation to confession in Series 2 Communion.

22. Special Comb, series-parallel Electr., used attrib. with reference to combinations of series and parallel connection, esp. to denote a method of control of sets of electric traction motors in which the motors work in series on starting and are switched to parallel working when a certain speed is reached; series spectrum, a spectrum consisting of a series (sense 18) of lines. 1894 K. Hedges Amer. Electr. Street Railways vi. 68 In the *series parallel method of control, the motors are first connected in ‘series’. 1903 Trans. Inst. Naval Archit. XLV. 182 A voltage of 220, the motors to have series parallel control. 1957 Railway Mag. June 427/2 The operating voltage is 500 volts d.c., with orthodox series-parallel control for the four-motor equipments. 1968 Radio Communications Handbk. (ed. 4) i. 13/2 This is the value of the equivalent inductance of the four coils in this seriesparallel arrangement. 1922 A. D. Udden tr. Bohr's Theory of Spectra 11. ii. 29 Although the *series spectra of the elements of higher atomic number have a more complicated structure than the hydrogen spectrum, simple laws have been discovered showing a remarkable analogy to the Balmer formula. 1974 G. Reece tr. Hund's Hist. Quantum Theory vii. 100 With the aid of the n, /, j scheme it was possible to understand the multiplicity of the terms in the optical series spectra for atoms with one, two or three external electrons.

serif ('serif). Typogr. Also seriff; (formerly) ceriph, seriph, -yph, surryph: see sanserif. [Of obscure origin.] One of the fine cross-strokes at the top and bottom of a letter. Also used loosely as in quot. 1894. Hence 'serifed, seriffed a. 1841 Savage Diet. Printing 163 The fine lines, and the cross strokes at the tops and bottoms of letters, are termed by the letter founders ceriphs. 1869 N. & Q. Ser. iv. III. 381 The word serif, used by printers and type-founders. 1885 De Vinne in Trans. Grolier Club 1. 36 The bracketed serifs of Van Dyke and Garamond. 1894 Kipling in My First Bk. 94 Even a Hindoo does not like to find the serifs of his fs cut away to make long s’s. 1936 Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXVII. 571 Any criticism . . should be directed towards the lettering, particularly to the large serifed capitals indicating principal settlements. 1957 S. Morison Aspects of Authority & Freedom 12 It is not impossible that seriffed letters were considered more suitable for a revered text than unseriffed ones. 1980 B. Crutchley To be Printer 134 Hence the danger that seriffed forms will be passed over when they could do a job as well or better and at the same time enhance our aesthetic enjoyment.

seriff, variant of shereef. serific (si'rifik), a. rare, [irreg. f. L. seric-um silk (see Seric) + -fic.] Producing silk. 1895 Sedgwick Peripatus x. (Cambr. Nat. Hist.) 246 There are a large number of ‘serific glands’ of two kinds in the female [of the Mantidae].

Seriform (’sisrifoim), a. rare. [f. L. ser-es + -form.] Applied to a division of the Asian races comprising the Chinese, Thais, etc., and to the group of languages spoken by these peoples. 1849-52 W. B. Carpenter in Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 1347/2 The Seriform, or Indo-Chinese [languages], which are spoken by the people of South-Eastern Asia. Ibid. 1364/2 The Seriform stock of Southern Asia. 1850 Latham Var. Man 15 Altaic Mongolidae... Seriform Stock.

serigala (ss'riigsta). [Mai.] The Malaysian wild dog, Cuon alpinus. Cf. red dog s.v. red a. 17 a; DHOLE. I9°3 J- L. Bonhote in Annandale & Robinson Fasciculi Malayenses: Zool. 1. 12 There are two species of srigala not uncommon in the Jarum district. 1945 C. L. B. Hubbard Observer's Bk. Dogs 212 Serigala. The larger variety of Malayan Wild Dog... Long-coated, red-and-tan, with thick tail. 1965 C. Shuttleworth Malayan Safari v. 70 The serigala is related to the dhole of India. 1978 Ld. Medway Wild Mammals Malaysia (ed. 2) 84/1 Serigala.. occurring on the mainland wherever extensive tracts of tall forest remain, though nowhere abundant.

serigraph ('serigraif, -ae-). [irreg. f. L. sericum silk (see Seric) + -graph.] 1. An instrument for testing the uniformity of raw silk. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 62/2 A most ingenious American invention, the serigraph.

2. An original print produced by serigraphy. orig. U.S. 1941 C. Zigrosser in Print Collector's Q. XXVIII. 455 A number of leading practitioners of the art.. have adopted the word ‘Serigraph’ for silk screen stencil prints. 1959 Information Bull. Libr. Congr. 25 May 284 Henry Miller.. has presented 7 rare ephemera to the Library. Two of them are promotional pamphlets for his Into the Night Life (1947), a serigraph or silk-screen creation. 1961 C. Zigrosser in What is Original Print? (Print Council of Amer.) 24 A number of artists who make original prints in the medium [5c. silk-screen printing] have decided to call them serigraphs to distinguish them from commercial silk screen reproductions. 1971 M. Turk Buried Life vi. 90 Sister Corita, I.H.M., one of the great contemporary printmakers whose own ‘blabs & scrawls & squiggles’ (otherwise known as serigraphs) hang in over forty museums. 1978 New York 3 Apr. 30/3 Pure color and shape in serigraphs.

So serimeter (si'rimitajr)), an instrument for testing the strength of silk thread.

serigraphy

(ss'rigrafi). orig. U.S. Also Serigraphy. [Irreg. f. L. sericum silk (see Seric a.) + -graphy; cf. F. serigraphie, G. serigraphie.] The art or process of printing original designs by means of the silk-screen method. 1940 Parnassus Dec. 31 Serigraphy, or the silk screen process, is a comparative newcomer among the graphic arts. 1946 H. Shokler Artists Man. Silk Screen Print Making iv. 68 The explorations in Serigraphy have comprehended much more than simply textures and color. 1952 Print (N.Y.) VII. 4/2 In serigraphy there is no need to reverse the image. The artist draws directly on the silk. 1965 Zigrosser & Gaehde Guide Coll. Orig. Prints iv. 55 Serigraphy is specially adapted for color work, although Ben Shahn has used it effectively just with black lines... Serigraphy is part of the general method of silk-screen printing.., but the name serves to differentiate original artists’ prints from commercial productions. 1977 Crafts Nov./Dec. 67/3 Serigraphy—The art of silk screen printing. Summer courses in West Cornwall.

Hence se'rigrapher, one who practises serigraphy; seri'graphic a., of or pertaining to serigraphy. 1944 Canadian Art Oct.-Nov. 8/2 Only the most experienced serigrapher can do this without the danger of muddling up his original artistic conception. 1946 H. Shoklkr Artists Man. Silk Screen Print Making i. 25 Paper is to the serigrapher what canvas is to the painter. 1957 Screen Printer fsf Display Producer July 12 (caption) A general view of the serigraphie exhibition. Ibid. 16/1 Any screen process stencil which is the result of writing, drawing or painting directly upon the screen is now generally known as a ‘serigraphie’ stencil.

serimonie, -y, obs. forms of ceremony. serin1 ('serin). Also 6 seryne, -ene. [a. F. serin canary, of disputed origin; cf. Pr. serin.] 1. In early examples perh. the canary (Serinus canarius); in modern ornithology, a bird of the genus Serinus. 1530 Palscr. 269/2 Seryne a byrde, serin. 1549 Compl. Scotl. vi. 39 The grene serene sang sueit. 1894 R. B. Sharpe Hand-bk. Birds Gt. Brit. I. 53 A small Serin (S. pusillus) with a red forehead.

2. In full, serin finch: the finch 5. serinus (S. hortulanus), a native of central Europe. 01672 Willughby Ornith. (1678) 265 It [jc. the Citril] differs from the Siskin and Serin, 1. In its ash-coloured Neck [etc.]. 1783 Latham Gen. Syn. Birds II. 1. 296 Serin Ffinch], 1836 Partington’s Brit. Cycl. Nat. Hist. II. 540 The Serin .. is .. remarkable for its small and very short bill. 1871-81 Dresser Birds Eur. IV. PI. 25 The call-note of the Serin Finch. 1882 Yarrell Brit. Birds (ed. 4) II. 113 The Serin is a very popular cage-bird on the continent.

serin2 ('serin). Also serine, [f. serum + -in1, -ine5.] 1. Chem. a. Serum albumin, b. Amidoglycerol. 1876 tr. Schiitzenberger’s Fermentation 84 It is not the serine which is active in this case. 1898 Daily Nevis 28 Feb. 6/4 The only hot drink we prepared was a kind of toddy made of lime juice tablets, or serine powder.

2. (See quot.) 1898 Johansen in Windsor Mag. Sept. 436/2 ‘Serin’, or whey powder... This is really nothing else than pulverised whey, which we mixed with boiling water.

SERINE

15

serine ('seri:n). Chem. Formerly also -in. [ad. G. serin (E. Cramer 1865, in Jrnl. fiir prakt. Chem. XCVI. 93), f. L. ser-icum silk: see -ine6.] a. A colourless, crystalline amino-acid, CH2OH-CHNH2'COOH, which is widely distributed in animal proteins.

Dickens Sk. Boz, Mr. J. Dounce, The young lady., went through various other *serio-pantomimic fascinations. 1866 Carlyle Remin. (1881) I. 85 What a fantastic.. *serioridiculous set these road companions of his mostly were.

1880 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XXXVIII. 713 Cramer’s .. serine is isomeric with amidohydroxypropionic acid. 1882 Ibid. XLII. 38 It.. agrees in all its properties with Cramer’s serin from silk, except that it is less soluble in water. 1908 Hall & Defren tr. Abderhalden's Text-bk. Physiol. Chem. viii. 149 Serine as it occurs in nature is laevo-rotatory. 1957 Fox & Foster Introd. Protein Chem. vii. 122 Serine is convertible to glycine in mammals, a capability that explains also its convertibility to heme. 1975 D. A. Bender Amino Acid Metabolism (1978) iii. 59 Both serine and threonine have hydrophilic side-chains and therefore contribute to the hydrophilicity of proteins when they are in exposed regions of the chain.

1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 30 Apr. 4/1 The libretto of ‘The Canterbury Pilgrims' is no ordinary work;.. its story is .. told tunefully and gaily, as befits a serio-comedy. 1891 M. Williams Later Leaves xix. 226 Nothing will ever come near him in The Roused Lion, which.. was serio-comedy. 1929 Blunden Nature in Eng. Lit. v. 125 From this seriocomedy of the strawyard the [farmer’s] boy raises his face to the setting Sun and.. gets to bed. 1936 H. A. L. Fisher Hist. Europe II. xviii. 634 The fashionable ladies who played so active a part in this serio-comedy.

,serio-'comedy. [f. next.] A serio-comic piece. Also transf.

,serio-'comic, a. (sb.) [f. serio- + comic a.] a. Partly serious and partly comic; (of an actor, vocalist, etc. or his performance) presenting a comic plot, situation, etc. under a serious form.

b. Comb. In names of various enzymes which catalyse reactions of serine or serine residues, or reactions yielding serine.

1783 Colman Prose Sev. Occas. (1787) III. 147, I was almost confounded in the serio-comick scenes of the Satyrick Piece. 1787 Keate (title) The Distressed Poet, a serio-comic poem. 1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times II. 321 Lewis, by a striking display of serio-comic talent,.. proved, that.. he could excite tears as abundantly as smiles. 1858 H. Morley Jrnl. Lond. Playgoer (1866) 227 The production at the Olympic of a ‘new serio-comic drama’. 1877 Mrs. Forrester Mignon ii, ‘Good Heavens!’ interrupts Fred, regarding him with serio-comic horror— 'young did you say?’

1938 Biochem. Jrnl. XXXII. 403 The decay of dl~serine deaminase appears to be due to a loss from the cell by diffusion of some substance or substances acting as coenzyme. 1943 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. CL. 262 The desulfurase and serine dehydrase of mammalian tissue were found to be similar to those of the microorganisms. 1956 Ibid. CCXX. 775 Since the reaction we have studied mainly is the formation of serine, and because of the similarity to aldol type reactions, we propose the name serine aldolase for this enzyme system. 1967 Neui Scientist 17 Aug. 353/1 Organophosphorus pesticides.. are known to act as competitive inhibitors of the ‘serine esterase’ group of enzymes. 1974 Set. Amer. July 74/2 Serine proteases participate in digestion, in the formation and dissolution of blood clots, in the immune reaction to foreign cells and organisms, in the fertilization of the ovum by the spermatozoon.

b. as sb. (also -comique). A serio-comic actor, vocalist, etc. 1895 [see male impersonator s.v. male sb. 4]. 1907 H. Wyndham Flaire of Footlights xxxi, Miss Constance Plantagenet, the Favourite Serio-Comique.

So .serio-'comical a.\ ,serio-'comically adv. 1749 Smollett Gil Bias vii. viii. (1782) III. 67 My seriocomical reception behind the scenes. 1872 Punch 18 May 202/1 The Ministry .. were defeated only three times this week—once comically, once seriously, and once serio¬ comically. 1873 B. Harte Fiddletown 11 Her hair., was tumbled serio-comically about her forehead.

jserinette (seri'net). [Fr., f. serin canary: see -ette.] A bird organ. 1858 Lond. Jrnl. 27 Feb. 408/3 There are puppet-shows, and performances on the accordion, and the serinette in the subterranean passage.

fseriol. Obs. rare—[ad. L. seriola, dim. of seria jar.] A small jar.

sering, obs. form of syringe. sering(e, variant of cering vbl. sb.

c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 393 Ek whelue a seriol therout that haue Grauel vp to the myddes.

1558 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 88 Seringe candell. 1571 Ibid. 142 Other lightes Seringcandle Corde.

serion, -iont, obs. ff. surgeon, sergeant.

seringa (sa'rirjga). [a. F. seringa (formerly also seringat) = Pg. seringa, ad. L. SYRINGA.] 1. Any of the shrubs of the genus Philadelphus, esp. P. coronarius, common in gardens; the mock-orange, SYRINGA. (Also fseringo.)

seriosity (siari'ositi). [ad. late L. seriositas, f. seriosus SERIOUS. Cf. SERiOUSTE.] Seriousness. 1637 Bastwick Letany 1. 6 It would.. move laughter to men though disposed otherwise to seriosity. 1693 Humours Town 20 The grave starch’d seriosity of a Sylogistical Argumentation. 1837 Fraser's Mag. XVI. 284 If I may claim from my reader a moment’s seriosity, I will explain. 1903 Academy 21 Feb. 168/1 Laugh! Few things are worthy of seriosity.

1740 C’tess Hartford Let. to C’tess Pomfret 17 Apr., Arbours interwoven with lilacs, woodbines, seringas, and laurels, a 1785 T. Potter Moralist II. 144 ’Twas then a Black-bird and its mate In a seringo built their nest. 1840 Miss Mitford in L’Estrange Life (1870) III. 109 The rich perfume of the seringas and acacias. 1876 Miss BraddonX Haggard's Dau. x, A dark-brown jug of roses and seringa on the window-sill.

b. A serious saying, a piece of seriousness. 1893 Leland Mem. I. 288 Painfully elaborating jocosities or seriosities for the million.

|| 2. The Portuguese name for Brazilian plants of the genus Hevea (Siphonia), yielding indiarubber. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v. Siphonia, They [species of Siphonia] are called Seringa-trees by the Brazilians. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 455 In Brazil the name is seringa, and the collectors are seringueiros.

Hence se'ringahood nonce-wd., the condition of abounding in seringa bloom; se'ringous a., resembling that of seringa. 1754 H. Walpole Let. to G. Montagu 8 June, [Strawberry Hill] is now in the height of its greenth, blueth, gloomth, honeysuckle and seringahood. 1887 A. M. Brown Anim. Alkal. 32 An almost cloudless liquid of slightly oleaginous consistence, of a seringous odour.

seringe, obs. form of syringe. seringue. = seringa 2. 1866 Treas. Bot., Seringue, a South American name for the caoutchouc-yielding Siphonia.

| seringueiro (seriij'geru). Also (erron.) seringero. [Pg., f. seringa.] In Brazil: a person employed to gather rubber. i860 Mayne Reid Odd People 82 The ‘seringero’ has provided a large quantity of palm-nuts, with which he intends to make a fire for smoking the caoutchouc. 1880 [see seringa 2]. 1913 [see estrada]. 1934 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Nov. 797/1 A Portuguese novelist, perhaps the only literary man who has ever actually worked as a seringueiro. 1968 R. E. Poppino Brazil iv. 141 The rubber worker—known as a seringueiro— .. also prepared his own crude shelter. 1970 E. B. Burns Hist. Brazil v. 240 The dwindling number of Indians was pressed into service as seringueiros... The isolated, difficult life of the exploited seringueiro explained the recruitment problem.

serio, short for serio-comic sb. 1894 Yellow Bk. I. 76 Coming after all those sly serios .. Miss Cissy Loftus had the charm which things of another period often do possess. 1908 Daily Chron. 3 Aug. 4/4 ‘As if a serio had anything to do with anything serious!’

•

serious ('siarias), a. Forms: 5 sery-, ceryows, 5-6 seryous, 6 seryouse, -iouse, 6-7 -eous, (7 superl. seriousest, serioust), 6- serious, [ad. F. serieux (14th c.) or its source, late L. seriosus, f. L. serins (whence Sp., Pg., It. serio). Cf. It. serioso.] 1. a. Of persons, their actions, etc.: Having, involving, expressing, or arising from earnest purpose or thought; of grave or solemn disposition or intention; having depth or solidity of character, not light or superficial; now often, concerned with the grave and earnest sides of life as opposed to amusement or pleasure-seeking. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 453/2 Seryows, sad and feythefulle, seriosus. 1530 Palsgr. 324/1 Seryouse ernest, serieux. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 480/2 Saint Paule woulde not haue made so serious and earnest remembrance of the putting vpon of the handes..if [etc.]. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxii. (1611) 329 All that belongeth to the mysticall perfection of baptisme outwardly, is the element, the word, and the serious application of both vnto him which receiueth both. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. King & No K. iii. iii, The King is serious, And cannot now admit your vanities. C1640 A. Stafford Just Apol. Fern. Glory (1869) p. xcii, The faire sereous Prince wee are now blest in. 1663 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 95, I do hereby, with my last and seriousest thoughts, salute you. 1710 Steele Toiler No. 222 [p2 I have taken that Matter into my serious Consideration. 1712 ArbuthnotJo/zw Bull 11. xii, Shaking off his old serious friends, and keeping company with buffoons and pick¬ pockets. 1823 Scott Quentin D. Introd., I was .. glad to see that she took a serious thought of any kind. 1838-9 Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 20, I really entertain serious thoughts of learning to use a gun. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 320 His chief serious employment was the care of his property. 1882 Mozley Remin. (ed. 2) I. 64 He was too serious to smile; indeed, I cannot remember him ever smiling except sadly. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 619 Such a dietary, adapted for an adult man, is little irksome to any serious patient.

serio- ('sisriau), used as comb, form (see -o-) of serious, = partly serious and partly ...

f b. Earnestly bent or applied (to the pursuit of something); keen. Obs.

1902 Academy 12 Apr. 387/2 The *serio-grotesque headlines of the New York Journal. 1811 [E. Nares] (title) Thinks-I-to-Myself. A *serkt-ludicro, tragico-comico tale. 121834 Lamb Guy Faux Misc. Wks. (1871) 373 It is familiarized to us in a kind of *serio-ludicrous way. 1835

1567 Maplet Gr. Forest A 5 Julius Caesar,.. serious after the inquisition of good Discipline. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 178 If I should seeme serious, in doing seruice to the aduauncement of mine owne wit. Ibid. 186 They assaulted me with more serious supplications, not holding me..

SERIOUS excusable. 1671 Milton P R. i. 203 All my mind was set Serious to learn and know.

fc. Staid, steady, reliable. Obs. 1693 J. Clayton in Misc. Curiosa (1708) III. 291, I have been told by very serious Planters, that 30 or 40 Years since, .. the Thunder was more fierce.

2. a. Earnest about the things of religion; religious. 1796 Simeon in Carus Life (1847) 117, I could wish .. that the custom of drinking toasts was banished from the tables of the serious, because it tends to excess. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick, xvi, Pleasant Place, Finsbury. Wages, twelve guineas. No tea, no sugar. Serious family. 1840 Newman Lett. (1891) II. 311 Such a general feeling exists amongst serious people of the need of religious communities,

b. Cited as a canting expression. 1809 Kendall Trav. I. xxxiii. 323 His sons death brought him to God—he grew serious [note, Serious has the cant acceptation of religious]. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell 3rd 1. i, And Peter Bell, when he had been With fresh-imported Hell-fire warmed, Grew serious. 1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus x, No one knows the power that a single serious hairdresser might effect with worldly customers.

3. Dealing with or regarding a matter on its grave side; not jesting, trifling, or playful; in earnest. Hence, of theatrical compositions or actors, not jocular or comic. Also spec, of music and literature (in contrast with ‘light’). [1590: see 4.] 1712-13 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 17 Jan., I was going to be serious, because it was seriously put; but I turned it to a jest. 1762-71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 224 Magnificent serious pantomimes. 1796 Oulton Theatres Lond. II. 107 Orpheus and Euridice, a grand serious Opera, translated from the Italian. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 497/1 Gaetano Guadagni.. had been in this country.. as serious-man in a burletta troop of singers. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Passion & Princ. viii. III. 104 A note of enquiry, half serious, half waggish. 1864 H. Morley Jrnl. Lond. Playgoer (1866) 339 A play which demands alternation of serious and comic acting. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 201 The gentlemen are not serious, but are only playing with you. 1901 G. B. Shaw Three Plays for Puritans p. xxiv, The Diabolonian position is new to the London playgoer of today, but not to lovers of serious literature. 1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz i. 14 To compare modern syncopation with serious music as an art form is manifestly ridiculous. 1942 H. Haycraft Murder for Pleasure xii. 265 Many ‘serious’ writers manage to support their solider endeavours by turning their talents to occasional short magazine fiction, i960 L. P. Hartley Facial Justice xxiii. 200 But to return to classical, or ‘serious’ music. 1971 ‘E. Candy’ Words for Murder Perhaps ii. 25 You open a detective story in the mood in which you might attend a sherry party... But you approach a serious novel as you go to meet someone you greatly care for. 1974 Country Life 26 Dec. 1989/1 The BBC’s serious and light music departments function as separate .. entities.

4. a. Requiring earnest thought, consid¬ eration, or application; performed with earnest¬ ness of purpose. 1531 Elyot Gov. i. xx. (1537) 76 b, Socrates.. was not ashamed to account daunsynge amonge the seriouse disciplines. 1590 Shaks. Com. Err. 11. ii. 29 Your sawcinesse will iest vpon my loue, And make a Common of my serious howres. 1607 Chapman Bussy d'Ambois 11. ii, And never My fruitless love shall let your serious honour, a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Woman's Prize III. iv, Row. She made a puppy of me... Bya. She must doe so sometimes, and oftentimes: Love were too serious else. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 35 He makes Cards and Dice his serious Entertainment. 1825 Lamb Elia 11. Barbara S-, I have played at serious whist with Mr. Liston. 1884 Manch. Exam. 26 May 6/2 Perhaps more serious reading would then dethrone the eternal novel. 1886 Ruskin Prasterita I. vi. 196 Knowing of sorrow only just so much as to make life serious to me.

fb. Used for purposes of business, rare. 1621 Quarles Argalus & P. (1678) 32 The treacherous Lady stept aside Into her serious closet.

5. a. Of grave demeanour or aspect. 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, Prol. 2 A weighty and a serious brow. is monne me mei sermonen mid godes worde. Ibid., ilke Mon is strong to sermonen. 1607 Shaks. Timon 11. ii. 181 Come sermon me no further. 1863 R. F. Burton W. Africa II. 185 He once .. gathered energy to sermon me upon the subject of over-curiosity.

2. intr. fa. To preach (of a thing). CI275 Sinners Beware 161 in O.E. Misc. 77 f>eos prude leuedies .. NulleJ? here sermonye Of none gode hinge, c 1290 5. Eng. Leg. I. 466/158 Crist hire hauede a-boute i-sent to sarmoni and to preche. a 1300 Cursor M. 19320 ‘pe men pat yee did in prisun’, He said, ‘in temple pai sermon’. [01300-1657: see sermoning vbl. sb.]

b. To preach (at a person). 1819 Keats King Stephen 1. iv. 16, I would be .. Spoken to in clear, plain, and open terms. Not side-ways sermon’d at.

f3. intr. To speak (of a thing). Obs. 01300 Cursor M. 18666 Wit pam he lenged fourti dais, And sermond .. Of heuen blis. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 6955 Seynt Ihon to Troyle bygan to sermun with ensamples of gode resun. C1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 551 What nedeth it to sermone of it more? C1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode 11. xciii. (1869) 109 Whan pe olde hadde £>us spoken, and sermowned of hire craft. CI440 York Myst. xxx. 302 And J>erfore sermones you no more. 1586 J. Hooker Descr. Irel. 28 in Holinshed, You sermon to vs of a dungeon appointed for offendors and miscredents. 1606 S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 25 And when Saul came himselfe, hee sermoned in such sort.

|4. trans. To speak, utter, declare. Obs. 1382 Wyclif Wisdom viii. 12 And me sermounende manye thingis [orig. me sermocinante]. 1590 Spenser F.Q., Let. to Raleigh, Good discipline deliuered plainly in way of precepts, or sermoned at large.

t 'sermonary, a. Obs. [f. sermon sb. + -ary.] Of the nature of a sermon. 1657 J. Sergeant Schism Dispach't 338 Who never., knew what it was to make any notions cohere at all save onely in a loose sermonary way. 1666-Let. Thanks 28 Loose sermonary Discourses.

sermond(e, -one, obs. forms of sermon. f sermo'neer. Obs. rare. -EER1.] A preacher.

[f. sermon sb.

+

a 1637 B. Jonson Underwoods lxvii. 39 The wits will leave you, if they once perceive You cling to Lords, and Lords, if them you leave For sermoneeres.

sermoner ('s3:m3n3(r)). rare. [f. sermon + -er1; in ME. after AF. sarmuner = OF. sermounier (f. sermoun sermon sb.).] A preacher of sermons. C1325 Metr. Horn. 147 Quen he sendes his messageres. That es at sai, thir sarmouneres, That clenses man of gastli wede, And schawes in him Goddes sede. 1547 Will of H. Marwood in C. Worthy's Devonshire Wills (1896) 3 The sayde srmoner to have of my executryxe for hys stypent.. syxe shyllyngs and eghtypens. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes x, Guarded by cordons of sentinels, sermoners, old aunts. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 15 May 2/2 Without hireling singers, sermoners, or supplicators.

sermonesque (ssims'nssk), a. [f. sermon sb. + -esque.] Of the nature or style of a sermon: with depreciatory force. 1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. 11. II. vi. 117 This essay of Durnford’s is not a bad essay, though somewhat sermonesque. 1883 Pall Mall G. 7 Sept. 3/2 These sermonesque platitudes.

sermonette (s3:m3'net). Also-et. [f. sermon sb. + -ette (-et).] A short sermon. and fig.

Also transf.

1814 H. & L. M. Hawkins (title) Sermonets addressed to those who have not yet acquired .. the inclination to apply the power of attention to compositions of a higher kind. 1848 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 289 Each sermonette was succeeded by a prayer. 1895 S. R. Hole Tour Amer. 241 He thrust in a sermonette, an impressive little moral deduction. 1943 E. Gillett Lit. of Eng. xiv. 223 The tendency to allow digressions and sermonettes to swamp the main purpose of the novel. 1975 Publishers Weekly 23 June 72/3 Gavin is sincere and interesting, but too often he digresses into sermonettes that sound like echoes of the National Review. 1978 Listener 26 Jan. 110/2, I feel I should be issuing at least a sermonette from the mount.

Hence .sermone'ttino, a diminutive sermon; sermo'nettist, a preacher of sermonettes. 1818 Lady Morgan Flor. Macarthy II. 17 Sermonettinos or religious Bagatelles. 1873 M. Collins Squire Silchester

xxxii, Farmer Giles, continued our pretty sermonettist, is asked his opinion on free trade and protection.

sermonic (s3:'mDnik), a. [f. sermon sb. + -ic.] Of the form or nature of a sermon; resembling (that of) a sermon. Somewhat depreciatory. 1761 Hurd in Warburton & H.'s Lett. (1809) 330 The sermonic cast of this sentence, a 1849 Poe Predicament Wks. 1864 IV. 247 The grateful sermonic harangues of Dr. Ollapod. 1856 Bagehot Biogr. Studies (1881) 27 His tone is a trifle sermonic. 1892 Bookman Oct. 5/2 The book is introduced by a sermonic preface from the Committee of the Religious Tract Society,

b. sb. pi. Sermonizing, rare. 1804 Something Odd III. 82, I have not troubled myself.. to transcribe the letter, well assured that.. you have no taste for sermonics.

So ser'monical a.\ hence ser'monically adv., after the fashion of a sermon. 1782 V. Knox Ess. clxiv. II. 324 First then of the first (forgive my sermonical style), namely, of the Fine Man. 1829 Censor 87 The egregious lecture .. half sermonical, half theatrical. 1844 Fraser's Mag. XXIX. 77 Sermonically speaking, I cannot conclude without a piece of advice.

sermonies, -ys, obs. pi. of ceremony. f 'sermoning, vbl. sb. Obs. [f. sermon t.] 1. Preaching; also, a sermon. 01300 Cursor M. 1829 pai for-soke his sermoning And toke his word al til hething. Ibid. 21123 Matheu, a-postil and wangeliste,.. For sarmoning of gods word, Men sais he stiked was wit suord. C1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode 1. xxvii. (1869) 18 Sermonynge and prechinge maketh men many times leue sinne. 1554 Philpot tr. Curio's Def. Ded., Wks. (Parker Soc.) 323 The divelish hypocrisy hath been., vanquished .. both by reasoning, sermoning and writing. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. 5 Quaint Sermonings interlin’d with barbarous Latin. 1657 J. Watts Scribe, Pharisee, etc. Pref. Ep. 11 To break out unto preaching and sermoning in the pulpits of others. 2. Talk, discourse, conversation, to make

sermoning of, to speak of. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8824 pe stones to Bretaigne for to brynge, pat Merlyn made of sermonynge. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Samts xxvii. (Machor) 1100 pan held pai wele lang sermonyng of..hewinlik thing. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1184 Herof was so longe a sermonynge. 1513 Douglas JEneis v. xii. 98 With sic wordis and prudent sermonyng Of his wise agit freynd. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 7 Thair he hes maid, with richt lang sermoning, Ane sair complaint.

So 'sermoning ppl. a., preaching. 1677 2nd Pacquet Advices 57 The whole Posse of Sermoning Matrons (the chief Garison of the Presbyterian Clergie).

sermonish ('s3:manif), a.

[f. sermon sb.

+

-ISH.]

1. Inclined for a sermon. 1858 Bailey Age 113 When once a man feels sermonish or psalmy. 2. = SERMONIC a. 1847-54 Webster, Sermonish, resembling a sermon. 1880 Academy 16 Oct. 272 A sermonish restatement of what is very much better said in Canon Farrar’s Seekers after God. 1889 Advance (Chicago) 25 Apr., A very prosaic and sermonish letter.

sermonist ('s3:m3nist). [f. sermon + -ist.] A preacher, sermonizer. 1630 Widdowes Schysmat. Puritan B2b, The factious Sermonist, is he, whose purenes is, to serue God with sermons, and extemporary praiers made according to his supposititious inspiration. 1632 Lupton Lond. Carbonadoed 82 [Players] do as some wandring Sermonists, make one Sermon trauaile and serue twenty Churches. 1816 Miss Mitford in L’Estrange Life (1870) I. 331 What a contrast between him and our dramatic sermonists. 1844 Fraser's Mag. XXIX. 292 We were together looking over the ponderous sermonist.

sermonize ('s3:m3naiz), v.

[f. sermon sb.

+

-IZE.]

1. intr. To deliver or compose a sermon; = preach v. 1. Chiefly depreciatory. 1635 [see sermonizing vbl. sb.]. 1651 Jane Elkujv Ak\e serpent pat so slyly crepith Vndyr pe gres & styngith subtyly. 1388 Wyclif Gen. xlix. 17 Dan be maad a serpent in the weie, and cerastes in the path. 1481 Caxton Godfrey li. 93 This fals greek whiche counseylled them allewey to theyr dammage And was alway as the serpent emonge the elis. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 75 Dissaitfull tyrand, with serpentis tung. 1584 Lodge Alarum 10 The Gentleman surprised with this sodaine ioye, and vnacquainted good speaches (not dreading that the Serpent laye hidden in the grasse).. assented. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. v. i. 440 Now to scape the Serpents tongue, We will make amends ere long. 1595-John ill. iii. 61 He is a very serpent in my way. 1605-Macb. 1. v. 67 Looke like th’ innocent flower, But be the Serpent vnder’t. 1647 Cowley Mistress, Heart-breaking ii, The mighty Serpent Love, Cut by this chance in pieces small, In all still liv’d, and still it stung in all.

e. A pale green fashion shade. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 12/1 Plain colored Gros Grain Silk.. . Colors: Green, prune,.. mode, serpent, tan. 1927 Daily Express 5 Apr. 6 Navy, Ash, Serpent, Pink.

2. The serpent, ‘more the field’, that tempted Tempter, the Devil, Serpent (after Rev. xii.

subtil than any beast of Eve (Gen. iii. 1-5); the Satan. Also, the Old 9).

a 1300 Fall & Passion 26 in E.E.P. (1862) 13 A serpent he [)?e deuil] com pro3 felonie an makid eue chonge hir po$t. 1382 Wyclif Rev. xii. 9 The greet olde serpent, that is clepid the Deuel. 1420-2 Lydg. Thebes 4663 Lucyfer, fader of Envie, The olde Serpent, he levyathan. 14.. -Serp. Div. (1911) 50 The contagious Serpent of Division eclipsed and appalled theire worthines. 1534 in Norwich Pageants (1856) 17 It. to Edmd Thurston playeng yc Serpent, 4d. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 50 The oulde serpente who hath so longe had them in hys possession. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. 1. 243 Being put into such a Paradise of Conserues, the Serpent of the flesh might tempt me to eate of this forbidden fruit. 1657 Trapp Comm. Ps. xvi. 4 It was the Serpents grammar that first taught men to decline God in the plurall number. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 454 The Serpent, Prince of aire. a 1720 Sewell Hist. Quakers (1722) 31 Some Men have the Nature of the Serpent (that old Adversary) to sting, envenom and poison. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 638 Some, whose souls the old serpent long had drawn Down.

fig. a. As a symbol of envy, jealousy, malice, or wiliness. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 837 Thou wikked serpent Ialousye. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy 11. 1066 rubric, Howe

Kynge Priamus ..hype serpente Of Envye was stirede. 1513 in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 760 Such a pestilent Serpent is ambition. 1609 Tuvill Vade-mecum (1629) 127 Here is Policie without Iustice, a Serpent without a Doue. 1854 T. T. Lynch Lett, to Scattered (1872) 409 Error is a siren and a serpent. More

b. A treacherous, person.

deceitful,

or

malicious

[1382 Wyclif Matt, xxiii. 33 3ee sarpentis, fruytis, or buriownyngus, of eddris,.. hou shulen 3ee flee fro the dom of helle?] 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. iii. ii. 73 With doubler tongue Then thine (thou serpent) neuer Adder stung. 1605 - Lear v. iii. 84 Edmund, I arrest thee On capitall Treason; and in thy arrest, This guilded Serpent. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xviii, Mr. Pott.. ground his teeth .. and exclaimed, in a saw-like voice, —‘Serpent!’ 1884 Chr. World 15 May 366/1 The Times degraded itself.. by patting these unmannerly serpents [viz. hissers] on the back.

4. A representation of a serpent, esp. as a symbol or an ornament. brazen serpent has been used allusively in reference to Num. xxi. 9. — The figure of a serpent with its tail in its mouth is a symbol of eternity. 13.. Coer de L. 5728 In his blasoun..Was i-paynted a serpent. 1388 Wyclif Num. xxi. 8 Make thou a serpent of bras, and sette thou it for a signe. 1388-2 Kings xviii. 4 He brak the brasun serpent, whom Moyses hadde maad. £1400 Maundev. (1839) xx. 217 At 4 Corners of the Mountour, ben 4 Serpentes of Gold. £1440 Alphabet of Tales 434 Hym happend on a tyme to lose a sakett and a thowsand talentis perin and a serpent of gold. 1577-8 New Yrs. Gifts in Nichols Progr. Eliz. (1823) II. 79 A sarpent of ophall with a ruby pendant. 1644 Evelyn Diary 7 Mar., A fountaine of serpents twisting about a globe. 1655 R. Farnworth {title) The Brazen Serpent lifted up on high, or Truth cleared and above the deceit exalted. 1730 Bailey (folio), Serpents, (in Hieroglyphicks) were used to represent Hereticks. 1831 Carlyle Sartor Res. 11. x, Mistaking the illcut Serpent-of-Eternity for a common poisonous Reptile. 1867 Augusta Wilson Vashti xi, The.. daintily rounded wrist encircled by the jet serpent.

5. Astron. fa. The sign of Scorpio (? nonceuse). f b. The southern constellation Hydra, c. The northern constellation Serpens. [c 1440 Astron. Cal. (MS. Ashm. 391), Whan pe moone is in Scorpio p' is the signe of a serpent.] 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 269 The great Serpent whiche is called of the greekes and latines Hydra: it containeth 25 starres. 1599 T. Hill Sch. Skil 22 The Serpent hath 11. stars. 1674 Moxon Tutor Astron. 1. iii. §10 (ed. 3) 19 The Southern Serpent. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 328 Above the Scorpion, Ophiuchus and the Serpent are .. visible.

6. A kind of firework which burns with a serpentine motion or flame. *634 J. B[ate] Myst. Nat. 61 The Composition for middle sized Rockets may serve for Serpents. 1666 Pepys Diary 6 June, Mrs. Mercer’s son had provided a great many serpents, and so I made the women all fire some serpents. 1697-8 Act 9 Will. Ill, c. 7 § 1 Whereas much Mischief hath lately happened by throwing casting and fireing of Squibbs Serpentes Rockettes and other Fire-workes. 1763 Colman Prose Sev. Occas. (1787) I. 122 Some queer old gentleman may be alarmed at the.. serpents hissing at his tail, a 1845 Hood To Vauxhall 13 Wheels whiz—smash crackers— serpents twist. 1869 Aldrich Story of Bad Boy viii, The smaller sort of fireworks, such as pin-wheels, serpents, double-headers.

7. A bass wind instrument of deep tone, about 8 feet long, made of wood covered with leather and formed with three U-shaped turns. (The instrument, once disused, has been revived in the performance of early music.) Also, an organ-stop of similar tone. *73° Bailey (folio), Serpent, a Kind of musical Instrument, serving as a Bass to the Cornet or small Shawm. J- Jekyll Corr. (1894) 16 High mass., was accompanied with a variety of instruments, among which the Serpent supplies a good bass. 1838 G. F. Graham Mus. Comp. 12/1 The serpent is chiefly used in military music. 1852 Seidel Organ 105 Serpent is a reed-register seldom to be met with. 1861 Thackeray Leaf out of Sk. Bk. Wks. 1900 XIII. 644 There is a great braying and bellowing of serpents and bassoons. 1872 T. Hardy Under Greenw. Tree 1. iv, They should have stuck to strings as we did .. and done away with serpents. 1928 Punch 2 May 485/1 The Serpent is a bass wind-instrument of wood, so-called from its shape. 1976 Early Music Oct. 477/2 We learn how Boosey and Hawkes bend brass tubes, but not why, or how, the cornett and serpent are bent. *775

8. Miscellaneous transferred uses: A candle of spiral form; a ‘rope’ of hair; the crank-shaft in a weaving-machine. Pharaoh's serpent, see Pharaoh 4. 1802 Fosbrooke Brit. Motiachism I. 33 On the Sunday the same ceremony followed .. respecting the serpent. 1869 Browning Ring Sf Bk. xi. 1365 Had I enjoined ‘Cut off the hair!’.. at once a yard or so Had fluttered in black serpents to the floor. 1870 O’Shaughnessy Epic of Women 120 Through the swift mesh’d serpents of her hair. 1878 Barlow Weaving 230 The crankshaft is called a ‘serpent’.

9. Hist. = serpentine sb. 2. 1830 D. Booth Analyt. Diet. 137 Smaller machines, having the names of Dragons, Serpents, Scorpions, Warwolves. 1895 Oman in Traill’s Soc. Eng. III. 75 A couple of hundred gunners, with ten or twelve ‘serpents’ or ’bombards’.

10. attnb. and Comb.: a. simple attrib., as serpent-bite, breed, -coil, emblem, enemy, -poison, -race (see ophiogenes), skin, -slime, symbol,-tail, -train, tribe-, (with reference to the snake-like hair of the Furies) serpent-braid, -fury, -tress; b. objective, as serpent-bruiser, -charmer, -eating adj., -killer, slayer, --worship,

SERPENT -worshipper; footed, adjs.,

21

c. similative (cf. 12), as serpent¬

-haired, also

-hearted,

-rooted,

serpent-green,

instrumental,

as

-wise

serpent-bitten,

-throated adjs.;

d.

-cinctured,

-circled, -stung ppl. adjs. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Fez’. I. v. i, A miraculous Brazen Serpent.. whereon whosoever looks .. shall be healed of all woes and *serpent-bites. 1629 H. Burton Truth's Tri. 63 The ♦serpent-bitten-man looked, and liued. 1813 Byron Giaour 880 The sablest of the *serpent-braid That o’er her fearful forehead stray’d. 1774 J. Bryant Anc. Mythol. (1775) 1- 481 0(f>Loyev€i9, or the *serpent-breed. 1738 Wesley Hymns, Jesu God of our Salvation iv, Jesu! Help, thou *Serpent-Bruiser. 1861 Gosse Rom. Nat. Hist. Ser. 11. 289 The poor ♦serpent-charmer never came to life again. Ibid. 279 [Hasselquist] records his judgment that there is no delusion in ♦serpent-charming. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. 1. 324 A *serpent-cinctured wand [5c. the caduceus]. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xlii, With . . feet that fly on feathers, And *serpent-circled wand. 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. Loire 83 The *serpent-coil of Laocoon. 1596 FitzGeffrey Sir F. Drake C 1 Foule ♦serpent-eating envies loathsome cottage. 1887 G. Salmon in W. Smith & Wace's Diet. Chr. Biog. IV. 80 A religious use of the ^serpent emblem was common to the Phoenicians with the Egyptians. 1848 R. I. Wilberforce Doctr. Incarnation ii. 18 That by the woman’s seed her *serpent enemy should finally be subjugated. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. 1. (1626) 5 The ♦Serpent-footed Giants. 1849 Aytoun Lays Scott. Cavaliers (ed. 2) 219 The *serpent-furies Coiled around the maddening brain. 1897 Mary Kingsley W. Africa 13 A ♦serpent-green sky. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. 111. viii, These ♦serpent-haired Extreme She-Patriots. 1850 F. Mason Nat. Product. Burmah 329 *Serpent-hearted eel. 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal xv. Annot. 279 The ♦Serpentkiller, Ibis. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VII. 200 The potency of the *serpent poison. 1774 J. Bryant Anc. Mythol. (1775) I. 484 The natives of Thebes in Boeotia.. esteemed themselves of the *serpent race. 1855 Tennyson Brook 135 Seated on a *serpent-rooted beech, c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 125 A ♦serpent skyn. 1818 Keats Endym. in. 239 Where go, When I have cast this serpent-skin of woe? 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. ii. iv. Columnes 508 That stout ♦Serpent-slayer, His Satan-taming Son. 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 651 Bring no *serpent-slime Athwart this path. 1855 Bailey Mystic, etc. 118 His bright bride Though *serpent-stung. 1851 Squier {title) The ♦Serpent Symbol, and the worship of the reciprocal principles of Nature in America. 1847 Tennyson Princess v. 243 The blast and bray of the long horn And ♦serpentthroated bugle. 1769 Gray Installat. Ode 8 Let painted Flatt’ry hide her *serpent-train in flowers. 1791 Darwin Bot. Gard. 1. 217 With bright wreath of *serpent-tresses crown’d,.. young Medusa frown’d. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 279/2 The ^serpent tribe. 1933 W. de la Mare Fleeting 144 Her eyes Stirred not a hair’s breadth, *serpent-wise. 1774 J. Bryant Anc. Mythol. (1775) I. 425 Mount Lebanon, and Hermon.. where *serpent-worship particularly prevailed. 1871 Tylor Prim. Culture II. 218 The old Prussian serpentworship and offering of food to the household snakes. Ibid., Legends of serpent-races who turn out to be simply ♦serpent-worshippers. 01875 Kingsley in C. K. Paul Memories (1899) 160 I’ve always thought that the serpent [in Genesis] was a ♦serpent-worshipping black tribe. e. serpent-tail vb. (nonce-wd.), to link up. (Cf. SERPENTINE a. I b.) 1872 Ruskin Fors Clav. xxiv. 12 It is necessary to serpenttail this pit with the upper hell by a district for insanity without deed. f. serpent-wise adv. 1927 E. Sitwell Rustic Elegies 40 The wicked knife flashed serpent-wise. 11. a. Special comb.: serpent-bearer = Ophiuchus; serpent bird, a bird of the family Plotidae = darter 4 a; serpent-boat, a canoe of great length used on the Malabar coast (Ogilvie, 1882); serpent cucumber, a cucumber of the genus

Trichosanthes,

having long serpent-like

fruit, esp. T. colubrina\ serpent deity = serpentgod]; serpent eagle, a bird of prey of the genus Spilornis; serpent-eater, (a) the secretary bird; (b) the markhor; serpent-eel, a marine animal of the genus Ophichthys; serpent-fence, ‘a zigzag fence made by placing the ends of the rails upon each

other’

snake-fish, serpent

(Ogilvie); Cepola

serpent-fish,

rubescens;

worshipped

as

a

the

red

serpent-god,

god;

the

object

a of

worship of the Ophites; serpent-king, a name given to Cecrops, who is represented with a body terminating in a serpent form; serpentlizard

=

seps

2;

serpent

cucumber; serpent paper

melon

[=

=

serpent

serpenticone

284 The Indian *Serpent Eagle {Spilornis cheela). 1731 Medley Kolben's Cape Good Hope II. 142 The Cape Europeans call this Bird the *Serpent-Eater. 1819 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. XI. 193 Hoatzin Serpent-Eater. 1840 Vigne Narr. Visit Afghanistan 86, I procured a good skin of the markhur, or serpent-eater. 1896 Lydekker's Roy. Nat. Hist. v. 449 *Serpent-eels are represented by a great number of species. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Serpens rubescens, the red *serpent fish,.. properly of the taenia kind. 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxii. (1818) II. 273 Their wonder would have been diminished, and their *serpent-gods undeified. 1873 Miss R. H. Busk Sagas fr. Far East 18 A pool where lived two Serpent-gods, who had command of the water. 1855 Kingsley Heroes, Theseus 1, Kekrops the ♦serpent-king. 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 307 ♦Serpent Lizard. 1778 Ann. Reg., Chron. 192 There is now growing .. in Lancashire a *serpent melon which measures in length five feet two inches and an half. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIII. 715/2 The manner of preparing this [oiled] paper is to take that which is thin and smooth, known commonly by the name of *serpent paper. 1851 Mantell Petrifactions ii. §1. 82 Asteridas (named Ophiura or *Serpent-stars). 1488 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 81 A grete *serpent toung set with gold, perle and precious stanis. 1849 Aytoun Lays Scott. Cavaliers (ed. 2) 277, I have seen the robes of Hermes glisten — Seen him wave afar his ♦serpent-wand. 1864 Grisebach Flora W. Ind. Islands 787 *Serpent-withe. 1681 Grew Musaeum 11. §i. i. 180 A piece of ♦Serpent-Wood. Lignum Colubrinum.

b. Combinations with serpent's: serpent’s beard, Ophiopogonjaponicus (Treas. Bot. 1874); serpent’s head, skull, names for species of cowry; serpent’s tongue, f (a) = adder’s tongue; (b) the fossil tooth of a shark. 1815 S. Brookes Conchol. 156 *Serpents Head. Cyprasa Caput serpentis. 1795 tr. Thunberg's Trav. (ed. 2) II. 82 Small shells, called *serpents skulls {Cyprsea moneta). 1578 Lyte Dodoens 1. xciii. 135 [Ophioglosson] is now called .. in English, Adders tongue, & ^Serpents tonge. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 720 A kind of stone called the serpents toong. 1835 D. Booth Analyt. Diet. 284 The fossil bodies called Glossopetrae (petrified tongues) and Serpents’ Tongues.

12. quasi-tfaf/. a. Resembling a serpent or that of a serpent, serpentine.

serpent-like,

serpentiform,

1592 Shaks. Rom. & Jul. hi. ii. 73 O Serpent heart, hid with a flowring face. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. 11. ix, Their serpent windings. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 302 With Serpent errour wandring, a 1718 Parnell Hesiod 101 Back roll’d her azure veil with serpent fold. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 342 He, whose practis’d wit Knew all the serpent-mazes of deceit. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. 111. iii. 135 It feeds the quick growth of the serpent vine. 1835 Lytton Rienzi n. v,

The serpent smile is your countrymen’s proper distinction. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. iv, Shaking their serpent-hair. 1869 Browning Ring & Bk. xi. 1611 All the way down the serpent-stair to hell! 1872 Tennyson Gareth HenckeVs Pyritologia 361 Ophites or serpentstone.

fserpet. Obs. rare~x. [error for Turkish sepet wicker basket.] A kind of basket. In 18th c. diets, (by misinterpretation of quot. 1678), a kind of rush. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 67 After them are carried in Serpets (a kind of baskets) their presents. 1678 Phillips, Serpet, probably from Scirpus a sort of Rush, of which is made a kind of Basket. 1726 Diet. Rust. (ed. 3), Serpet, a sort of Rush of which Baskets are made.

serpierite ('s3:prarait). Min. [a. F. serpierite (A. des Cloizeaux 1881, in Bull, de la Soc. min. de France IV. 92), f. the name of J. B. Serpieri, iqth-cent. Italian engineer: see -ite1.] A hydrated basic sulphate of copper, zinc, and calcium found as crusts or aggregates of small pale blue orthorhombic crystals. 1892 E. S. Dana Dana's Syst. Min. (ed. 6) 963 Serpierite. .. Crystals minute... Occurs on smithsonite at the zinc mines of Laurium, Greece. 1927 Mineral. Mag. XXI. 387 Smithsonite (ZnCOj) is also tolerably abundant.. and it is in cavities of this smithsonite that the serpierite occurs. 1964 Amer. Mineralogist XLIX. 1145 Devillite and serpierite were identified on the basis of morphology, optics, and microchemical tests.

serpiginous (s3:'pid3in3s), a. [ad. mod.L. *serptginosus, f. serpigin-, serpigo. Cf. F. serpigineux.] Of the nature of serpigo; (of skin diseases) creeping from one part to another. 1676 Wiseman Chirurg. Treat. 1. xxv. 139 A dry white Scurf, under which the serpiginous circles lay covered. 1753 R- Russell Diss. Sea Water 143 Many Diseases of the serpiginous Kind. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 18 Apr., A serpiginous eruption, or rather a pocky itch. 1861 Bumstead Ven. Dis. (1879) 387 Serpiginous chancroids. 1876 Bristowe Theory & Pract. Med. 633 Deep ulcers., spreading.. in a serpiginous manner. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 590 Senile gangrene.. tends to be serpiginous.

serpent-like, a. and adv. [-like.] A. adj. Like a serpent; = serpentine a.

Hence ser'piginously adv., in a serpiginous manner or form. After the manner of serpigo.

a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 1. (1622) 93 A creeping serpent¬ like of mortall woe. 1629 H. Burton Truth's Tri. 307 His serpent-like gate, a 1649 Drumm. of Hawth. Wks. (1711) 4/1 Serpent-like Meander. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1825) III. 159 Its serpent-like figure. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right xxv, I re-read the serpent-like scroll which had been cast into my Eden of love and faith.

1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 51 Individual spots may increase greatly in size, or neighbouring ones may coalesce into large serpiginously bordered tracts.

B. adv. With serpentine motion, habit, disposition, etc.; -[malignantly, treacherously. 1605 Shaks. Lear 11. iv. 163 She hath.. Look’d blacke vpon me, strooke me with her Tongue Most Serpent-like, vpon the very Heart. 1682 Lister Gaedart Of Insects 109 These Insects did put off their skins, Serpent like, a 1699 J. Beaumont Psyche 1. clxvi. (1702) 10 Where, Serpent-like, in Paradise, she over Her foul Design spread this fair-faced cover. 1825 Scott Talism. xxi, The marabout.. glided on.. serpent-like, or rather snail-like.

'serpently, adv. [f. serpent sb. + -ly2.] = prec. adv. 1402 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 49 Jak, thou seist ful serpentli. Calisto & Melib. Aiij, Semyng to be shepe and

|| serpigo (sai'paigsu). PI. serpigines (s3i'pid3ini:z), serpigoes. Also 6-7 sarpego, 7 sapego. [med.L. serpigo, f. serpere to creep; cf. herpes.] A general term (cf. herpes) for creeping or spreading skin diseases; spec, ringworm. [1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. lxiii (1495) 278 Serpigo is a drye scabbe.] c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 194 Serpigo is a scharpnes of a mannes skyn, & it is clepid serpigo, for it passij? fro place to place. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters Lijb, The.. Serpigines that is drye and small scabbes and spottys. 1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. hi. i. 31 The Gowt, Sapego, and the Rheume. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 651 Carbuncles, Tetters, Serpigoes, and such like. 1637 Heywood Royall King hi. xi, Be all his body .. with the Sarpego dry’d. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. 677 Ulcers, Serpigines, Scall’d-Heads. 1799 Underwood Dis. Childhood (ed. 4) II. 25 Herpes Exedens, or Serpigo.

SERPILLE

SERRATO-

24

fserpille. Obs. rare. [ad. It. serpillo, ad. L. serpyllum (see serpol).] Wild thyme. Also t serpyne [?].

could. Ibid. 43 Some Tribunes.. found the Gauls serr’d together in a Testudo. 1747 Carte Hist. Eng. I. 88 His own men were.. hardly able though serred together to stand the shock.

1558 Warm tr. Alexis' Seer. 45 b, Jasemyn, Maioram, Sauourye, Serpyne, or Serpille, called wilde Time [orig. gelsomino, maggiorana, serpillo, saturegia].

I serra1 (’sera). PI. serrae. [L. = saw, saw-fish.] 1. a. A fabulous marine monster.

serpils, obs. form of surplice. serpitant. Blundered f. serpentine sb. (2). «I578 I jINDesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 251 Serpitantis and doubill doggis witht hagbut and cullvering.

serpivolant (ss'pivatant). [ad. It. serpe volante (pi. serpi volanti) flying serpent.] The figure of a flying serpent.

The first quot. is doubtful. C1450 Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 44/1177 The qwyche dragan, serra men calle. c 1520 Andrew Noble Lyfe hi. lxxii. in Babees Bk., Serra is a fysshe with great tethe, and on his backe he hathe sharpe fynnes lyke the combe of a cocke and iagged lyke a sawe. 1845 Archaeol. Album (ed. T. Wright) 183 Among the monsters of the deep one of the most remarkable was the serra or serre... When a serre sees a ship, the bestiaries tell us, it flies up.

b. A saw-fish.

1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. ix. (1878) 138 Under the outstretched neck of one of those serpivolants on the gate.

1854 Badham Halieut. 418 The larger and fiercer the adversary, the more ardently does the serra desire to join battle.

serplaith, -ath(e, Sc. variants of sarplier.

c. The fish Alepisaurus serra, found on the coast of California.

t serpol. Obs. rare. In 5 sorpol, 7 serpoile. [a. OF. serpol, -oul, = Sp., Pg. serpol:— L. serpullum, -yllum, repr. Gr. epnvWov.] = next 1. c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) fol. 7 b, Whan t>ei pasture of ij herbes, J?at one is clepid Sorpol, and f?at other puligin, pei be .. fastrennynge. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. in. xvii. 147 The mutation of Mint into Cresses, Basill into Serpoile, and Turneps into Radishes.

serpolet ('saipslst). [ad. F. serpolet, a. Pr. serpolet, dim. of serpol: — L. serpullum (see prec.).] f 1. Thyme; wild thyme. Obs. a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais in. 1. 407 [Called] Serpolet, because it creepeth along the ground. 1853 Landor Imag. Cofiv., Achilles & Helena, Pleasant the short slender grass, .. interrupted . . by little troops of serpolet running in disorder here and there.

2. In full serpolet oil: see quot. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v., Serpolet, an essential perfumery oil obtained from Thymus Serpyllum. 1897 Lippincott's Med. Diet., Serpolet oil.

serpoloid (’s3:p3bid). [f. L. serpere to creep, serpens serpent + poloid.] = herpolhode. 1862 Cayley Math. Papers (1891) IV. 572 A curve called ‘the Serpoloid’, which is the locus of the points with which the several points of the poloid come successively in contact with the tangent plane, and is a species of undulating curve.

serpow, variant of seerpaw. serppelys, obs. form of surplice. Ilserpula ('s3:pjota). Zool. PI. serpulae (-i:). [mod.L. use of late L. serpula small serpent.] A marine annelid which inhabits a tortuous calcareous tube. 1767 Phil. Trans. LVII. 432 The Serpula, or Worm-shell. 1834 McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 256 Bent like the tubes of a Serpula. 1855 Kingsley Glaucus 124 The tubes of serpul® and other annelids. 1881-2 Saville Kent Man. Infusoria II. 778 Flashing out of sight after the manner of a serpula with the rapidity of lightning.

Hence serpu'lacean, ser'pulean, 'serpulid, an annelid belonging to a group or family of which Serpula is a typical genus; also attrib. or as adj.\ ser'pulidan, 'serpuline sbs.\ 'serpulite Geol., a fossil serpula; also, a formation containing these; attrib. serpulite-grit: 'serpuloid a., resembling or characteristic of the serpulae. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 182/1 *Serpulaceans. Under this division Lamarck arranges the genera Spirorbis Serpula, Vermilia, Galeolana, and Magilus. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. I. xii. 334 The second [Order] he [Savigny] names “"Serpuleans. 1883 Science I. 344/2 A new species of “"serpulid, belonging, apparently, to the Sabellid®. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 608 note, A Serpulid Placostegus benthalianus. 1935 Discovery Apr. 98/2 The only growths . . are .. two species of serpulid worms. 1963 R. P. Dales Annelids 15 The most specialized tube-dwellers are the sabellid and serpulid fan-worms. 1980 Nature 29 May 323/1 The coarse and medium sand fractions consist of rock and pelecypod fragments, aragonitic and calcitic algae, serpulid tubes and peneroplid Foraminifera. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. I. xii. 344 The “"Serpulidans, in general, imitate the spiral structure of the Trachelipod and other Molluscans. 1882 Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 240 Ditrupa subulata, one of the “"Serpulines. 1828-32 Webster, * Serpulite, petrified shells or fossil remains of the genus Serpula. 1856 Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. x. 118 We rank provisionally under the head annelida such organisms as serpulites (so called from their resemblance to the serpula of existing seas). 1880 J. F. Blake in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XXXVI. 192 The lower part is so full of Serpula gordialis as to almost merit the title of Serpulite. 1884 Nature 13 Nov. 34/1 Fucoid-shales, Serpulite-grit, and limestone, a 1843 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VII. 272/1 The “"Serpuloid, Lumbricoid, and Hirudinoid orders have no head.

fserr, v. Obs. Also serre. [ad. F. serrer = It. serrare (used intr. to close up the ranks):—pop. L. * serrare, for class. L. serare, f. sera lock, bolt.] refl., pass., and intr. To press close together; esp. to serry the ranks, form a serried company. 1562 J. Shute tr. Cambini's Turk. Wars 31b, The Christians serred them selues and charged them. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 33 Let vs, serred together, forcibly breake into the riuer. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 18 His Troope of 600 Horse close serred. 1626 Bacon Sylva §82 The more grosse of the Tangible Parts doe contract and serre themselues together. 1683 Sir Jas. Turner Pallas Armata 22 They were oblig’d to serr together as close as they

1896 Jordan & Evermann Fishes N. 597-

Middle Amer. 1.

2. Dentation resembling the teeth of a saw, as of the edge of a leaf, the sutures of the skull; pi. the ‘teeth’ of a serrated edge. 1800 Phil. Trans. XC. 435 This has a serrated edge; but the serrae are confined to the soft part, not extending to the membrane covering the bone. 1866 Treas. Bot., Serra, Serratures, the saw-toothings at the edge of leaves and similar bodies. 1898 Jordan & Evermann Fishes N. £sf Middle Amer. 11. 1285 Serr® of preopercle at angle blunt.

|| serra2 ('sera). [Pg.:—L. serra saw. Cf. sierra.] A ridge of mountains or hills (in Portuguese territory). 1830 Portugal, or Yng. Travellers 152 The burra-drivers kept shouting vociferously, to deter, they said, the wolves from coming down the serra. 1846 G. Gardner Brazil 308 The storm .. passing over a high Serra .. again altered its course. 1853 A. R. Wallace Amazon S? Rio Negro 147 The great marsh which extends from the Amazon to the serras.

serradilla (sera'dila). Also -ella. [Pg., dim. f. serrado serrate. Cf. F. serradelle.] A kind of clover used as a fodder-plant. 1846 Lindley Veget. Kingd. 547 Clover, Medick, Lucerne, Trefoil, &c., are well-known fodder-plants, as are also Saint-foin, Ornithopus or Serradilla. 1880 Crawfurd Portugal 181 Cutting serradella, clover, and plantain for stall-feeding.

serrafdom,

obs. form of sheriffdom.

serraglio, -aill, -alia,

obs. ff. seraglio, serail.

serran ('seran). Ichth. [ad. mod.L. serranus, f. serra: see serra and -an.] A fish of the genus Serranus or the family Serranidse, which includes many food fishes, as the black sea-bass. 1803 Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 439 Serran Sparus. 1841 Kitto Palestine: Phys. Geog. viii. 416 The Brazen Serran. 1851 Gosse Nat. Hist., Fishes 57 The Serrans (Serranina), a very numerous sub-family [of the Percadae].

Hence 'serranoid a. and sb., belonging to, a fish of, the family Serranidse. 1884 Goode, etc. Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 413 The Seranoid Fishes of the Pacific Coast.

Serrano (se'rainau). Also serrano; fSerano. [a. Sp. serrano of the mountains; a highlander.] (A member of) an Indian people of southern California; the Uzo-Aztecan language of these Indians, a component of the Takic branch. 1858 Sati Francisco Bull. 5 Nov., The true native Americans of the wild forests—such as the Yumas,.. Mohaves and Serranos predominate. 1876 Ann. Rep. U.S. Geogr. Surveys West of 100th Meridian III. 553 Caseinflection is formed here.. by adding to nouns post¬ positions as suffixes:.. tumuet, in Serrano, mountain. 1896 F. Boas in Proc. Amer. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1895 XLIV. 261 The Serano call themselves Ma'ringayam. Ibid. 262 The Serano is less closely related to the other Shoshonean dialects than these are among themselves. 1907 A. L. Kroeber Shoshonean Dialects Calif. 1. 69 The Gitanemuk .. vocabulary was .. obtained at Tule river reservation. . . The vocabulary is the first that has been printed of this dialect, although it differs but little from Serrano, which has been known for years. 1921 Glasgow Herald 17 May 3/8 In due time he will become a ‘Serrano’ as the inhabitants of the highland regions are contemptuously styled by the dwellers in the cities of the coast. 1927 D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico 84 The serranos, the Indians from the hills, wearing their little conical black felt hats. 1946 C. McWilliams Southern Calif. Country 26 The Serranos and the Gabrieleno were associated with the Mission San Gabriel. 1969 J. Mander Static Soc. vi. 158 The serranos are pure Indian. They are the direct descendants of the Incas, and of the tribes subjugated by the Incas; and they speak Quechua in preference to Spanish. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropaedia IX. 73/2 In the early 1970s, there were fewer than 400 Serrano proper remaining. 1977 Language LIII. 459 The Serrano element which L gives as -nuk, base /-nowk(i-)/, shows up as -nuk only in 3sg. pi-nuk.

serrasalmonoid (sera'stelmanoid).

Ichth. [f. mod.L. serrasalmon-, -salmo-, irreg. f. serra saw + salmo salmon: see -oid.] A fish of the South American genus Serrasalmo. 1880 Gunther Fishes 111 The voracious Serrasalmonoids of the South American rivers.

serrate (’sereit), a. Chiefly Nat. Hist. [ad. L. serrat-us, f. serra saw: see -ate2.] Having or

forming a row of small projections resembling the teeth of a saw; jagged or notched like a saw. serrate leaf: see quot. 1866. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 11. iv. §3. 109 Oblong shining serrate leaves. 1691 Ray Creation I. (1692) 145 All [Birds] that have serrate Teeth are carnivorous. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. IV. xv. (1727) 256 note, Strong hooked Talons, (one of which is remarkably serrate on the Edge) the better to hold their Prey. 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 158 The leaf is serrate, as in the common Nettles. 1866 Treas. Bot., Serrate, having sharp straight-edged teeth pointing to the apex. When these are themselves serrate, they are biserrate or duplicato-serrate. b. Comb., as serrate-spirted, -toothed adjs.; also = SERRATO-. 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot., Serrato-ciliatum folium, a Serrate-ciliate leaf. Ibid., Serrato-dentatum folium, a Serrate-toothed leaf. 1850 F. Mason Burmah 323 Serratespined Cat-fish.

'serrate, v. [f. L. serrat-, ppl. stem of serrare, f. serra saw.] 1. intr. To saw. Only in vbl. sb. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 38/1 The membrane Periostium .. which also in serratinge or sawinge might be some hinderance.

2. trans. To make serrated or saw-toothed, jag the edge of; to impress in a serrated form. 1750 Phil. Trans. XLVII. 41 This mark.. is found., impress’d or serrated on the new shell. 1865 Morn. Star 4 Oct., This corner of Ireland is absolutely serrated with bays. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 32/1 If you make any rude sketch .. of a pair of wheels acting together, and serrate the edges of the teeth. 1893 ‘Q.’ Delect. Duchy 47 The larches and Scotch firs that serrate the long ridge above.

serrated ('sereitid, se'reitid), a. Chiefly scientific, [f. L. serrat-us serrate -f- -ed.] = serrate a. 1703 Dampier Voy. New Holland 156 The Leaves are.. like the top Leaves of Bardana major... In the Figure they are represented too stiff and too much serrated. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) II. 469 The bill is..finely toothed, or serrated. 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 72 Serrated Tortoise. 1825 Scott Talism. xxviii, A serrated and rocky mountain. 1839-47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 645/2 The ligamentum dentatum (serrated membrane of Gordon). 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunters xi, That white spheroidal mass, with its grinning rows and serrated sutures, that is a human skull. 1878 H. M. Stanley Dark Cont. I. xvi. 430 Bare and serrated hilly ridges.

serratic (se'raetik), a. Path. [f. L. serrat-us serrate a. + -ic.] Resembling or suggesting the motion of a saw or the sound of sawing; = serratile. (Cf. sawing ppl. a. 2.) 1753 N. Torriano Gangr. Sore Throat 102 The Pulse was always small, serratic, or like a Saw, hard and unequal. 1859 Semple Diphtheria 296 When the respiration is frequent and serratic, that is to say, imitating the noise of a saw cutting a stone.

serratiform (se'reitiform), a. [f. L. serrat-us serrate a. + -form.] Saw-shaped, serriform. 1821 W. P. C. Barton Flora N. Amer. I. 59 The margin .. marked by about four serratiform indentures.

f'serratile, a. Obs. Also 6 sarratylle. [a. F. serratile, ad. mod.L. serratilis, f. serrat-us serrate a.: see -ile.] Saw-like; serrate; serratic. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Cyrurg. Div, The commyssures [of the skull] called sarratylles seames endented as tethe of a sawe. 1707 Floyer Physic. PulseWatch 105 The Pulse in most inflammations is hard and serratile.

serration (se'reijan). [ad. mod.L. serrationem, f. serrare (see serrate w.).] 1. Surg. The operation of sawing. rare~ °. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey).

2.

The condition of being serrated; indentation like that of a saw; chiefly concr. and pi., saw-like indentations, the teeth of a serrated edge or surface. 1842 Prichard Nat. Hist. Man ioi The serrations are found to result from a structure resembling a series of inverted cones, encircling a central stem. 1849 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855) 38 The comb.. is low, thick, destitute of serrations. 1851 Ruskin Stones Ven. I. xiii. §8 The eye which has once been habituated to the continual serration of the pine forest. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 122 Differing in pubescence and amount of double serration of the leaflets. 1872 C. King Sierra Nevada vii. 141 Dim serrations of Coast Range loom indistinctly on the hazy air. 1897 P. Warung Tales Old Regime 123 As the saw refused . . to ‘bite’, and he had to withdraw it to feel, with his tongue, if the serration was still perfect.

serratirostral (sereiti'rDstrsl), a. Ornith. [f. L. serratus serrate + rostrum beak + -al1.] = SAW-BILLED.

serrato-, used as comb, form (see -o-) of L. serratus serrate a. in the senses ‘serrate and ... ‘in a serrate manner, with serrate indentation’, as serrato- crenate, -dentate, -glandulous, -spinose adjs. 1857 T. Moore Handbk. Brit. Ferns (ed. 3) 40 [Pinnules] “"serrato-crenate. 1846 Dana Zooph. (1848) 177 Lamell® thin, regularly “"serrato-dentate. 1775 J. Jenkinson Brit. Plants Gloss., *Serrato-glandulous, bearing glands and partly serrated. 1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 218 “"Serrato-spinose before, and crenato-squamous in the hinder part.

SERRATURE

25

SERTOLI

serrature

(’ser3tjo3(r), -tja(r)). [ad. L. serratura, f. serratus: see serrate a. and -ure.]

T. W. Harris Insects Injur. Veget. (ed. 3) 45 One great tribe, named serricorn or saw-horned beetles.

= SERRATION. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Cyrurg. Fj b, In the top of euery of the other extremytees in cuttynge is a bowed sarrature which is composed with an addycion very subtylly made and bred there, a 1725 Woodward Catal. For. Fossils II. 25 The Serratures towards the Point are wanting in this Tooth. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. hi. v. (1765) 181 Duplicatoserrate,.. when there is a twofold Serrature, the less upon the greater. 1802 Bingley A mm. Biog. (1813) II. 319 The edges of the mandibles are marked with sharp serratures. 1863 M. J. Berkeley Brit. Mosses iii. 15 The serratures consisting.. merely of cells projecting beyond their neighbours. 1880 Gunther Fishes 115 In Petromyzon this serrature is absent, or but faintly indicated.

serried ('send), ppl. a. [app. f.

II serratus (se'reitss). Anat. [mod.L. use of L. serratus serrate.] Any of certain muscles which are inserted into the vertebral or costal region in such a way as to suggest a serrated border; esp. short for serratus magrtus, which connects the eight upper ribs and the vertebral border of the shoulder-blade. 1881 Mivart Cat 279 Where it [posterior thoracic nerve] lies upon the serratus muscle. 1899 Allbutt’s Syst. Med. VII. ,210 The posterior border of the scapula projects like a wing owing to paralysis of the serratus.

serray, obs. form of serai, sirrah. serrayle, obs. form of serail. || serre (ser), sb. [F., vbl. sb. f. serrer, ad. pop. L. *serrare: see serr.] A greenhouse. 1819 [H. Busk] Banquet III. 147 Lock’d in my serres, from hail-engendering blast. Exotic fruits from spring to spring shall last.

II serre (sere), a. [Fr., pa. pple. of serrer to close together.] Compact, logical; constricted by grief or emotion. a 1854 J. S. Mill Early Draft Autobiogr. (1961) 115 Our debates .. habitually consisted of the strongest arguments & most philosophic principles which either side was able to produce, thrown often into close & serre confutations of one another. 1908 D. H. Lawrence Let. 9 Oct. (1962) I. 28 My heart is ’serre’—I shall soon have nothing inside my chest but the spent fragments of my organ of affection. 1931 T. S. Eliot Sel. Essays (1932) vii. 448 Whether the transition is cogent or not, is merely a question of whether the mind is serre or dolie.

serre. Anglicized form of serra1 (i a). serre, obs. form of seer sb.2 || serre-, stem of F. serrer to tighten, constrict, forming the first element in compounds denoting surgical instruments used for constricting ligatures, as serre-noeud, serrepedicule (see quots.). 1846 Brittan tr. Malgaigne’s Man. Oper. Surg. 19 The '*Serre noeud’ (Knot-tightener) of Graefe, an imitation of the tourniquet of Petit. Ibid. 326 The two ends of the ligature should be passed into a serre-noeud, and the polypus strangled to the required degree. 1881 Trans. Obstet. Soc. Lond. XXII. 160 Koeberle’s serre-noeud. 1898 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Serre-pedicule, a clamp used for constricting a pedicule.

serrefile ('ssrsfail). Mil. Also serafile. [ad. F. serrefile, f. serre-r (see serr) -f file file sb.2 Cf. Pg. serrafila.] pi. The line of supernumerary and non-commissioned officers placed in the rear of a squadron or troop; sing, one of these. 1796 Instr. Reg. Cavalry (1813) 19 In the filings of the squadron, the serrefiles take their place in the rear of the files. 1875 Kinglake Crimea (1877) V. 117 The serre-files were Boyd, Nugent, and.. Prendergast. 1896 BadenPowell Matabele Campaign xvi, Being now a sort of ‘serrefile’ or hanger-on to the column. 1906 Daily Chron. 15 Nov. 3/4 Sergeant-Major Harrison .. bade me mount a grey mare he led as he rode serafile. attrib. 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 219 The serre¬ file rank remains closed to the right. 1833 Reg. & Instr. Cavalry 1. 35 The Serrefile Officers pass through the intervals and cover to the right.

||serre-fine (serfin). [F. serre fine, fine clamp.] (See quot.) 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., Serre-fine, a small clip used to compress a severed artery pending the farther conduct of the operation. 1895 Arnold’s Catal. Surg. Instr. 30 Serre-fines, Silver, straight or curved.

serreli, var. sirly a. Obs.

serry + -ed1; but perhaps a graphic representation of serred, pa. pple. of serr, pronounced as a disyllable. The modern currency of the word is app. due to Scott.] Of files or ranks of armed men: Pressed close together, shoulder to shoulder, in close order. 1667 Milton P.L. I. 548 Thronging Helms Appear’d, and serried Shields in thick array. Ibid. VI. 599 Nor serv’d it to relax thir serried files. 1757 W. Wilkie Epigoniad 11. 39 The Theban chief survey’d The close-compacted ranks .. To find where least the serried orb could bear The strong impression of a pointed war. a 1785 Glover Athenaid 11. 226 No engine.. To man destructive, like his own fell hand In serried fight. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xxxiv, Linked in the serried phalanx tight. 1814- Ld. of Isles v. xv, Shield compact and serried spear. 1828 Tytler Hist. Scot. I. 164 To present a serried front to the enemy. 1859 Jephson Brittany xii. 192 The French ranks were so serried that.. you could not throw an apple but it would fall upon a helmet or a lance. 1879 Green Readings Eng. Hist. xv. 74 The Norman horsemen, in serried line and with lances at rest. 1834 Lytton Pompeii III. ix, The dark ranks of the serried clouds. 1857 Gosse Omphalos iii. 57 An enormous Frog (Labyrinthodon),.. apparently allied, in its serried teeth,.. to the Crocodiles. 1858 L ongf. M. Standish v. 13 The serried billows, advancing. 1883 ‘Ouida* Wanda I. 31 The gorges, dark with the serried pines.

Closely

reasoned,

serriform ('senfoim), a. Also erron. serrse-. [f. L. serra saw: see -form.] Saw-shaped, serrate. 1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 218 Thirty ribs, with serraeform teeth. 1895 A. H. Cooke Molluscs (Camb. Nat. Hist. III.) 235 Marginals much pectinated and serriform.

t'serrine, a. Obs. rare. [f. L. serra saw + -INE1.] Of the pulse: = serratic. In

most

t'serring,vbl. sb. [f. serr?;. + -ing1.] Arraying in close order. 1626 Bacon Sylva §714 Grinding of the Teeth is caused (likewise) by a Gathering and Serring of the Spirits together to resist.

serring,

obs. form of syringe.

'serriped(e, a. [ad. mod.L. serriped-, -pes, f. L. serra saw + pes foot.] Having serrations on the feet. 1858 Mayne Expos. Lex. s.v. Serripes.

serri'rostrate, a. [f. mod.L. serrirostris, f. L. ;serra saw + rostrum beak.] Having a serrated beak. f'serrous, a. Obs. rare—[f. L. serra saw + -ous.] Resembling the action of a saw, saw-like. (Cf. SERRATIC, SERRINE.)

serse, obs. f. searce, search sb.1

fsert. Obs. [Aphetic of desert sfe.1] Desert, merit; phr. for sert of, for the sake of. c L375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxviii. (Margaret) 645 Nocht for my sert, bot pi gudnes. a 1400 Pistil of Susan 223 For sert of hire souereyn and for hire owne sake.

Isertao ('sertuu). Geogr. Also fSertam; sertao, Sertao. PI. sertaos, sertoes ('sertoif). [Pg.] The name of an arid, barren region, characterized by caatinga, in the interior of Pernambuco and neighbouring states in NE Brazil; also applied to other areas in Brazil of similar character. Also, more widely, the remote interior or outback of Brazil. 1816 H. Koster Trav. in Brazil vi. 77 The trees had mostly lost their leaves. I had now entered upon the Sertam, and surely it deserves the name. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. v. 1429/2 The cap is made in the Sertao (the interior) of the province of Pernambuco. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 226/1 Except on the loftiest mountains, and on the wide sertaos, the vegetation of Brazil is luxuriant beyond description. 1903 W. R. Fisher tr. A. F. W. Schimper's Plant-Geogr. iii. iii. 275 In contrast with its southern portion, the middle part of Central Brazil, the so-called Sertao district, possesses a xerophilous woodland climate. 1926 R. Nash Conquest of Brazil iv. 144 This Negro-Indian cross was considerable only in the lawless sertoes of Matto Grosso. 1930 C. F. Jones S. Amer. xxxiii. 471 The physical landscape of Northeast Brazil consists of three major divisions: marginal lowlands; sertao, parched uplands of brushwood and grasses ..; serra, elevated mountain zones. 1950 E. G. Ashton S. Amer. iv. 51 With a rather more generous rainfall on the sertaos.. the characteristic vegetation resembles the savanna of the Matto Grosso. 1961 Times 8 Aug. 9/7 President Kubitschek’s decision to move the capital from Rio to the heart of the undeveloped sertao. 1966 K. Webb tr. Pohl & Zepp's Latin Amer. ii. 43 A particular vegetation type of these drier lands is the caatinga of the north-east, the sertao. This region of semi-desert has a vegetation cover made up of sparse thorn forest... Sertao in this sense means a particular place—the dry interior of north-east Brazil; in a more general usage Sertao means the sparsely inhabited backlands of the interior of Brazil. It is the equivalent of the Australian ‘outback’. 1971 P. C. C. Garnham Progress in Parasitology ix. 191 The scene is laid in the sertao and its wide empty spaces in northern Minas Gerais.

1944 S. Putnam tr. E. da Cunha's Rebellion in Backlands i. 45 The northern sertanistas.. were fully a match for the bandeirantes of the south. 1973 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 22 June 5/2 Francisco Meireles and the two other sertanistas (Indian experts),.. flew from Belem.

1793 Martyn Lang. Bot., Serrulatum folium, a serrulate leaf. 1810 Encycl. Lond. I. 683/1 Leaves oval,.. obsoletely serrulate. 1841 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club 1. No. 9. 268 The penis of the male is.. serrulate on the outer side.

fserte. Obs. [a. OF. serte fern, (also sert masc.,

serrulated ('serjuleitid), a. [Formed as prec. + -ed.] = prec. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 126 Calyx, husks equal, both serrulated on the keel. 1851 Woodward Mollusca 133 Uncini, 2, the inner broad and serrulated.

serrulation

(serju'leijan). [f. prec.: see -ation.]

The condition of being serrulated; a fine or minute serration.

serry ('sen), v. Also 6 sar(r)ie, serrey, serrie.

[1834 McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 348 Those Sericornes, in which the posterior extremity of the praesternum is not similarly prolonged.] 1842 Brande Diet. Sci., etc. Serricorns,.. a family of Coleopterous insects. 1862

sers(s, obs. ff. search v.

serrulate ('serjuleit), a. Nat. Hist. [ad. mod.L. serrulatus, f. late L. serrula, dim. of L. serra saw.] Finely or minutely serrated; having small serrations.

serrhfull, obs. f. sorrowful.

serricorn ('serikoin), a. and sb. [ad. mod.L. serricorn-is (through F. serricorne), f. serra saw + cornu horn.] A. adj. Of beetles: Having serrated antennae. B. sb. A beetle of this class.

serry, obs. and dial. f. sorry.

Hence sertanista (-a'nista), one engaged in activity in the sertao’, one knowledgeable about the sertao and its inhabitants.

serrha, obs. f. sirrah.

serrial(l, obs. ff. cerrial.

1635 Barriff Milit. Discipl. vi. (1643) 25 Close order is onely usefull for your files of Pike-men, so they may .. stand the stronger, by so much as they are the closer serried together. 1831 Byron Sardanap. 111. i. 259 Serry your ranks—stand firm. 1843 Prescott Mexico iii. ii. (1804) 143 The courageous band of warriors, serried together. 1887 Bowen Virg. JEneid iv. 407 Others serry the ranks.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xxv. 176 A serrous or jarring motion like that which happeneth while we blow on the teeth of a combe through paper.

1821 W. P. C. Barton Flora N. Amer. I. 59 The margin .. in the older leaves.. marked by about four serratiform indentures, scarcely deserving the appellation of serrulations. 1881 Jrnl. Bot. X. 115 The serrulation on the back of the nerve was also continued lower down.

serrey, obs. f. serry.

2. trans. To cause to stand in close order, to close up (the ranks).

sert-: see cert-.

1899 Blackw. Mag. No. 1001. 511 To follow a long or serried argument. 1910 Edin. Rev. Jan. 93 His composition is lucid, logical, serried. U Misused for serrated. 1848 B. Webb Cont. Ecclesiol. 173 The bleak crags are serried by the numerous torrents which fall straight into the lake. ? 186. B. Harte Friar Pedro's Ride in Fiddletown, etc. (1873) iii The morning came above the serried coast.

1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 136 Inflammations the Pulse is hard, and serrine.

broad shoulders, narrow ones, Round, square and angular, serry and shove.

sersour, obs. Sc. f. searcher.

b. Of things likened to ranks of soldiers.

c. Of argument, etc.: compact in expression.

sarrie close together, and not disseuer to followe or flie. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres 1. i. 4 When men come to the .. push of the Pike, they sarrie close together. Ibid. iii. i. 36 Being brought into a Ring, and serreying close shoulder to shoulder. 1888 Henley Bk. Verses 18 High shoulders, low shoulders

[As a military term in the 16th cent., app. f. F. serre, fsarre, pa. pple. of serrer (see serr), already adopted in ME. as sarray (see also sarraly). In recent use, a back-formation from SERRIED.]

1. intr. To press close together in the ranks; to stand or move in close or serried order. 1581 Styward Mart. Discipl. i. 71 First, to cause your pikes to sarie close together, then to trade their pikes with the sharpe ende toward the enimie. Ibid. 11. 102 They must

cf. desert, deserte desert sb.1):—pop. L. *servita for * ser vita, noun of action f. servire to serve.] Service due from a servant to his lord. a 1400 Morte Arth. 513 By sertes thow was my sandes, and senatour of Rome. Ibid. 2926 We for-sake pz to-daye be serte of owre lorde.

Sertoli (s3:'t9oli). Anat. The name of Enrico Sertoli (1842-1910), Italian histologist, used attrib., with o/, and in the possessive, to designate a type of somatic cell described by him, found in the walls of the seminiferous tubules. 1880 E. Klein Atlas of Histol. xxxi. 270 Inside this membrana propria are several layers of epithelial cells, the seminal cells... They correspond to the germ-cells of Sertoli. 1888 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VI. 522/2 Next to the tunica comes a layer... This layer contains two kinds of cells: First, the large Sertoli’s cells, as they may be called after their discoverer. 1901 Gray's Anat. (ed. 15) 1004 The supporting cells, or cells of Sertoli. 1930 W. Bloom A. A. Maximow's Text-bk. Histol. xxxi. 595 The Sertoli cells in a seminiferous tubule with active spermatogenesis are very infrequent in comparison with the number of spermatogenic cells. Ibid., The sustentacular cells or the cells of Sertoli. 1965 Lee & Knowles Animal Hormones iii. 65 In many vertebrates oestrogens are secreted by the testis, probably by the Sertoli cells, but whether this hormone has a physiological action is still in doubt.

sertularia (s3:tju'le3ri3). Zool. PI. -ae, -as. [mod.L., f. L. sertula, dim. of serta garland.] One of a genus of branching hydroids having small sessile hydrothecae; the genus itself. 1767 Phil. Trans. LVII. 434 A great many zoophytes, which were formerly called Corallines, now Sertularias and Cellularias. 1833 Mantell Wonders Geol. (1838) 474 The elegant arborescent forms of the Sertulariae. 1876 Van Beneden's Anim. Parasites 62 One of these Halodactyles spreads itself upon the stalk of a Sertularia.

Hence sertu'larian a., of or belonging to the genus Sertularia or the family Sertularidse of hydroids; sb. a sertularian hydroid; so 'sertularid, in the same sense. 1847-9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 47/1 The Sertularian Polypes. Ibid. 49/1 The stem of the Sertularian is composed of two layers. 1861 J. R. Greene Man. Anim. Kingd., Coelent. 90 For no example of a Sertularid has yet been recorded in which the hydrosoma exhibits but a single polypite.

isertulum ('s3:tjubm). Bot. Also anglicized 'sertule. [mod.L., dim. of sertum, assumed sing, of serta n. pi., garlands.] A simple umbel. 1831 Macgillivray tr. Richard's Elem. Bot. 420 Small flowers, either solitary or disposed in a spike or sertule. 1866 Treas. Bot., Sertulum, a simple umbel.

I serula (’serjub). [See quot. 1678.] The red¬ breasted merganser. Merganser serrator. [1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 336 The Bird called at Venice, Serula: Mergus cirratus fuscus.] 1802 Montagu Ornith. Diet., Merganser-red-breasted... Red-breasted Goosander. Lesser-toothed Diver. Serula.

serum ('siaram).

PI. sera ('srars), serums ('siaramz) [L. = whey, watery fluid.] 1. a. Watery animal fluid, normal or morbid; spec, blood-serum, the greenish yellow liquid which separates from the clot when blood coagulates. 1672 Wiseman Treat. Wounds i. 59 That morning I let her bloud, taking away about 10. ounces with a rotten Serum upon it. 1678 J. Brown Disc. Wounds 272 Being as the Hearts Marsupium, it being wounded, it loseth its store of Serum, whereby the Heart is kept moyst. 1701 J. Peter Truth 36 Every Body useth the Salt, .to purge the Serum off, about the finishing of their Water-drinking. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 202 All Pains are to be Cured by removing of the Cause, as Inflammations, Sizy Serum. 1793 Beddoes Obs. Calculus 230 The blood.. coagulated immediately... A small quantity of greenish serum was separated. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 401 This swelling depends partly.. on the effusion of serum into the interstices of the cellular membrane. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi iii. 83 It brought out serum as black as porter, as if the blood had been impregnated with bile. 1872 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. 444 The epidermis is raised by a small quantity of purulent serum.

b. Therapeutics. The blood serum of an animal used as a therapeutic or diagnostic agent. 1895 Brit. Med.Jrnl. 20 July 181/1 The antitoxic serums prepared at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Ibid. 16 Nov. 125 3/1 The physiological action of the serums of tuberculised sheep is remarkably different in guinea-pigs and rabbits. 1910 Lancet 26 Mar. 861/2 The sera employed included anti-streptococcic serum, anti-diphtheritic serum, anti-tetanic serum.

2. a. attrib. (of i), as serum albumin (cf. seralbumen), -globulin. 1876 tr. Wagner's Gen. Pathol. 526 Leube has noticed the appearance of albumen and even of serum-albumen in the sweat of four patients. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 825 Of the various forms of albumin, serumalbumin is constantly found. 1897 Ibid. IV. 303 Serum albumin and globulin being also present. 1904 Brit. Med.Jrnl. 10 Sept. 562 Hahn could find no difference between the serum and histon blood. Ibid. 566, 0.24 and 0.48 mg. of acid reduce the serum agglutinability to one thirty-third of its normal value.

b. attrib. and Comb, (of 1 b); esp. applied to treatment by means of serum, serum jaundice, rash, urticaria’, serum broth Bacteriology, a broth (broth sb. 1 c) containing added serum. 1886 Crookshank Pract. Bacteriol. 29 Serum-steriliser. Ibid. 30 Serum Inspissator. 1893 Lancet 21 Oct. 1036/2 Serum Injections in Tetanus. 1894 Ibid. 17 Nov. 1189/2 The Serum Treatment of Diphtheria in Russia. 1895 Brit. Med.Jrnl. 16 Nov. 1253/1 Serumtherapy in Tuberculosis. 1897 Trans. Amer. Pediatric Soc. IX. 44 A bacteriological diagnosis of diphtheria.. by means of the incubator and Loeffler serum tube. 1898 J. Hutchinson in Archives Surg. IX. 328 A serum-injection treatment. 1905 Practitioner May 665 The duration of serum urticaria varies within somewhat wide limits. 1908 Glasgow Med.Jrnl. LXIX. 277 The most obvious and constant features of the symptomcomplex are the skin eruptions, or serum rash. 1934 L. E. H. Whitby Med. Bacteriol. (ed. 2) ix. 109 Salicin serum broth .. is an excellent selective medium for Streptococcus pyogenes. 1945 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 28 July 911/1 {heading) Transmission experiments in serum jaundice and infectious hepatitis. 1979 H. McLeave Borderline Case v. 53 The tubes of serum broth and tissue culture supplied by WHO.

c. Used attrib. (with or without a following hyphen) to denote (the concentration of) substances in the serum. 1958 J. B. Miale Lab. Med.—Hematol. viii. 372 When the iron deficiency is caused by inadequate utilization of iron a decreased serum iron concentration and increased storage of iron in the tissues are usually seen. 1959 Jrnl. Physiol. CXLVI. 353 All the serum proteins are capable of binding thyroxine to some extent, i960 Leavell & Thorup Clin. Hematol. iv. 187 The normal level of serum bilirubin on cord blood is considered to be from o-8 to 2 6 mg. per 100 ml. 1961 Lancet 26 Aug. 492/2 Treatment of atherosclerosis

SERVANT

26

SERTULARIA

.. may best be directed towards improving fat tolerance as well as reducing specific serum-lipid fractions. Ibid. 2 Sept. 499/1 The associations of high serum-cholesterol levels with coronary heart-disease do not necessarily indicate any causal relationship. 1962 Ibid. 22 Dec. 1293/1 There was no correlation on admission between the degree of weight deficit and the serum-transaminase levels. 1977 J. F. Fixx Compl. Bk. Running i. 5 In Southern California not long ago, fifty-eight doctors were given physical exams... More than half had high serum lipid levels. d. Special Combs.: serum agglutination, agglutination

of

antigens

by

components

of

serum; serum disease, serum sickness; serum hepatitis,

a

injections

of

serum

viral

hepatitis

blood

sickness;

serum;

serum

transmitted serum

sickness

by

reaction, [tr.

G.

serumkrankheit (C. von Pirquet 1903, in Wiener klin.

Wochenschr. XVI.

1244/2)], anaphylactic

reaction to injected foreign serum. 1914 Jrnl. Hygiene XIV. 264 In order to be able to observe *serum agglutination and acid agglutination with the same bacterial extract the bacilli from a 24 to 48 hrs. agar slope were washed off with 10 c.c. of distilled water and the resulting emulsion was centrifuged. 1970 W. H. Parker Health & Dis. in Farm Animals xii. 161 An infected cow will give a positive reaction to the serum agglutination test. 1908 Glasgow Med. Jrnl. LXIX. 277 {heading) The *serum disease in man after single and repeated doses. 1951 Serum disease [see serum sickness below]. 1943 Lancet 16 Jan. 83/1 {heading) Measles serum hepatitis. 1946 Med. Clinics N. Amer. XXX. 1408 ‘Virus hepatitis’.. includes both infectious hepatitis.. and homologous *serum hepatitis. 1971 New Scientist 25 Mar. 676/1 This work promises a screening method which should help eliminate the danger of serum hepatitis developing after blood transfusions. 1905 Practitioner May 664 In cases of relapse, or of a second attack of diphtheria, the *serum reaction may be very marked. 1916 Arch. Internal Med. XVIII. 497 Most of the cases of *serum sickness occurred during convalescence from pneumonia. 1951 B. Schick tr. von Pirquet Gf Schick's Serum Sickness i. 5 We have abandoned the expression ‘serum exanthema’... In its place we have proposed the name ‘serum disease’ or ‘serum sickness’. 1970 W. H. Parker Health Dis. in Farm Animals xxi. 289 The most important practical significance of anaphylaxis in farm animals is that in the treatment of disease ‘serum sickness’ may follow the repeated use of serum from another species. serup, obs. form of syrup. serurgien, -erie, etc.: see chirurgeon, surgeon, and chirurgery, surgery. seruse, obs. form of ceruse. f'servable, a.1

Sc. Obs.

Also 6 serveabill.

OF. servable, f. servir serve v.1: see -able.

[a. Cf.

serviable.] Ready to serve. c 1450 Holland Howlat 379 Next the souerane signe was sekirly sene, That seruit his serenite euer seruable, The armes of the Dowglass. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 50 He promist to [be] allis serueabill as ony man wnto this realme. 1626 J. Haig in J. Russell Haigs (1881) 178, I rest, Your loving and servable brother. f'servable, a}

Obs.~°

[f. serve v,2 + -able.]

That may be kept or preserved. 1623 Cockeram i. 1656 Blount Glossogr. 1721 Bailey. servable ('s3:v9b(9)l), a.3 [f. serve v.1 + -able.] That may be served, worthy to be served. 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., Servable, capable of being served. 1881 F. Harrison in igth Cent. Mar. 462 If we seek to love and serve the greatest loveable and serveable thing on this earth. servage ('s3:vid3).

Also 6 sarvage, 7 servadge.

[a. OF. servage (in med.L. servagium): — L. type *servaticum, f. servus slave, serf: see -age.

Cf.

Pr. servage, servagi. It. servaggio.] ft. Servitude, bondage, slavery. Obs. C1290 Beket 1999 in S. Eng. Leg. 164 Nov wolde 3e holi churche In grete seruage do. a 1300 Cursor M. 4193 par was ioseph in seruage said, For tuenti besands. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 426 It is greet shame.. to been in seruage To thee, that born art of a smal village, c 1440 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 111 Thei were in seruage as prisoners in Egipte. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxxviii. 468 The emperour of Almayne who hath .. slayne my men, and some kepethe in saruage. 1536 Ir. Acts 28 Hen. VIII, c. 3 (1621) 97 The Kings enemies haue them in servadge. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary 11. (1625) 109 Scanderbeg declaring his wearisomenes of captivitie and servage. attrib. 1567 Turberv. Ovid's Ep. Hiij, The selfe same man had Iole made in seruage yoke to toyle.

b .fig. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 122 Coueitise & glotonye ben seruage of maumetrie. C1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. xi. 79 O pe holy state of religiose seruage [L. famulatus]. f2. Feudal homage, allegiance. Obs. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1059 Is noble seruage Dude to pe heye emperour. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 769 A1 this I put in his seruage As to my lorde, and dyd homage. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 918 (Dubl. MS.) This freke of all fe fraunches of kyng philop haldes,.. & seruage hym awght. . & Uplondyshm. Wks. (1570) Diijb, Thus began honour and thus began bondage,.. And seruile labour first in the worlde began. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 444 Bot vse his office as ane man of kirk, No seruiall werkis with his handis wirk. c 1590 Marlowe Faust (1631) i, This study fits a mercenary drudge, Who aymes at nothing but externall trash, Too seruile and illiberall for me. 1679 Blount Anc. Tenures 3 Each of which Bond-men was .. to Plow, reap, make the Lords Malt, and do other servile work. 1784 Cowper Task 111. 406 No works indeed That ask robust tough sinews, bred to toil, Servile employ. 1838 Arnold Hist. Rome I. 81 [Tarquinius] employed the great bulk of them [sc. the people] in servile works, in the building of the circus [etc.]. 1868 Ruskin Time .] A one-hundred-andfiftieth anniversary; a festival celebrating this; = SESQUICENTENNIAL sb. 1961 in Webster. 1969 New Scientist 20 Nov. 389/1 The Cambridge Philosophical Society has just celebrated its sesquicentenary. 1978 Times 9 Jan. 9/7 This weekend’s two ‘Mainly Schubert’ concerts.. were of a kind to make one wish that his centenary celebrations, this year is the sesquicentenary of his death, came around more often.

sesquicentennial

(.seskwisen'temsl), a. and sb. Chiefly U.S. [f. sesqui- + centennial.] A. adj. Pertaining to a celebration of a hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary. 1888 Advance (Chicago) 9 Aug., The sesquicentennial celebration of the church. 1896 Academy 6 June 468/2 The sesquicentennial celebration of the University of Princeton, New Jersey.

B. sb. Such a celebration or anniversary. 1880 Lond. (2? Prov. Mus. Trades Rev. 15 Nov. 3/1 The Sesqui-centennial of Baltimore was celebrated during the second week of October. 1931 [see red sb.1 1 g]. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Mar. 278/2 In 1926 the sesquicentennial [of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations] was celebrated more modestly with a series of lectures given in the new home of economic orthodoxy, the London School of Economics. 1978 Nature 8 June 421/2 This year is the sesquicentennial of the announcement by Wohler that marked the birth of synthetic organic chemistry.

sesquiduple (,seskwi,dju:p(9)l), a. [f.

sesqui- +

duple, to express the meaning ‘two and a half

(on a false analogy), after sesquialteral.] Involving a ratio of 2\ to 1. So sesqui'duplicate a. 1775 Ash, Sesquiduplicate, belonging to the ratio of five to two. 1842 Brande Diet. Sci., etc. s.v. Sesqui, Sesquiduplicate.. sometimes occurs in modern treatises. 1850 Ogilvie, Sesquiduple, is sometimes used in the same manner as sesquiduplicate.

sesquioxide

(seskwi'Dksaid). Chem. Also fsesquoxide. [See sesqui- i b.] An oxide containing three equivalents of oxygen to two of another element or radical. 1831 T. Thomson Syst. Chem. (ed. 7) I. 515 When the native binoxide of manganese is exposed to a low red-heat it is converted into sesquoxide. Ibid. II. 818 Muriated sesquioxide of manganese. 1848 Normandy tr. Rose's Chem. Analysis I. 159 Sesquioxyde of Iridium, lr203. 1880 Bastian Brain i. 5 The sesquioxides of chromium and iron.

Hence .sesquioxi'dation, conversion into a sesquioxide; .sesquio'xidic a.; ,sesqui'oxidized pa. pple., converted into a sesquioxide. 1849 D. Campbell Inorg. Chem. 27 The amount of iron sesquioxidized. Ibid. 142 A complete sesquioxidation of the iron salt. 1906 Proc. R. Inst. XVII. 102 Sesquioxydic mordants. 1932 [see red loam s.v. red a. i7e].

sesquipedal (sas’kwipictal),

'seskwipsctal), a. and sb. [ad. L. sesquipedal-is, f. sesqui- -F ped-} pes foot: cf. pedal.] A. adj. = sesquipedalian. 1611 R. Badley in Coryat's Crudities k 2 b, The sesquipedale belly of thy Tome. 1624 Burton Anat. Mel. III. iv. 11. vi, Fustian, big, sesquipedal words. 1802 Syd. Smith Wks. (1869) 4 Dr. Parr seems to think that eloquence consists.. in a studious arrangement of sonorous, exotic, and sesquipedal words. 1829 Blackw. Mag. XXVI. 917 Admirable dissertations on old chamber-pots are poured into ears sesquipedal. 1891 M. Muriel Dowie Girl in Karp, ix, Some lovely sesquipedal adverb.

b. transf.

Given to using long words.

1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford v, Towards the end of her letter Miss Jenkyns used to become quite sesquipedalian.

U Used for ‘very tall or big’.

2. Half a yard high or long. C1714 Arbuthnot, etc. Mem. M. Scribl. 1. xiv. (1741) 48 Hast thou ever measur’d the gigantick Ethiopian, whose stature is above eight cubits high, or the sesquipedalian Pigmey?

B. sb. 1. A person or thing that is a foot and a half in height or length. 1615 Curry-Combe for Coxe-Combe iii. 113 He thought fit by his variety, to make you knowne for a viperous Sesquipedalian in euery coast. 1656 Blount Glossogr.

2. A sesquipedalian word. 1830 Fraser's Mag. I. 350 What an amazing power in writing down hard names and sesquipedalians does not the following passage manifest! 1894 Nat. Observer 6 Jan. 194/2 His sesquipedalians recall the utterances of another Doctor.

Hence .sesquipe'dalianism, style character¬ ized by the use of long words; lengthiness; so sesqui'pedalism; .sesquipe'dality, sesqui¬ pedalian quality; transf. great length, lengthi¬ ness; also, ‘the practice of using long words’ (Ogilvie, 1882). 1863 Sat. Rev. 440 How dear to his heart must be that marvellous *sesquipedalianism in which he ordinarily revels. 1887 W. C. Russell Bk. for Hammock (1893) 120 Everything must be done quickly at sea: there is no time for sesquipedalianism. 1873 F. Hall Mod. Eng. 148 The era of galvanized *sesquipedalism and sonorous cadences. 1759 Sterne Tr. Shandy 11. ix, With a breadth of back, and a *sesquipedality of belly, which might have done honour to a serjeant in the horse-guards. 1850 Fraser's Mag. XLI. 654 There is certainly some sesquipedality in the word. 1855 Ibid. LI. 63 A most wonderful topknotted cock with a sesquipedality of wattle.

sesquiplane ('seskwiplein).

Now Hist. Also | sesquiplan. [ad. F. sesquiplan, f. sesqui- sesqui+ plan plane s6.3] A biplane having one wing of surface area not more than half that of the other.

1921 Flight 29 Sept. 650/2 The Nieuport-Delage ‘Sesquiplans’ are to all intents and purposes monoplanes, but with a small plane covering-in the wheel axle as in some of the German Fokkers. 1921 Aeroplane 5 Oct. 293/2 Why the machine is called the ‘Sesquiplan’ is even a greater mystery than the name of the ‘Bamel’. Ibid. 19 Oct. 348/2 {heading) What is a sesquiplane? 1930 Flight 17 Jan. 115/2 Its most unusual feature was that, although a sesquiplane, its top wing was smaller in span and chord than the lower wing. 1939 C. H. L. Needham Aircraft Design I. vi. 74 The sesquiplane arrangement, in which one wing, generally the top, has roughly twice the area of the lower wing, is a compromise which enables the advantages of the biplane structure to be combined with somewhat improved aerodynamic characteristics, i960 C. H. Gibbs-Smith Aeroplane 11. 220 The Coanda sesquiplane of 1910. There has recently arisen some controversy about this machine... Until recently it has been accepted as an all-wood sesquiplane, with cantilever wings, powered by a 50-h.p. Clerget engine driving a ‘turbo-propulseur’ in the form of a large but simple ducted air-fan. 1981 Andrews & Morgan Supermarine Aircraft since 1914 174 The superstructure was of sesquiplane form, that is with the lower wing only one third the area of the top wing.

sesquiplicate (ses'kwiplikat), a.

[ad. mod.L. sesquiplicatus, f. sesqui- + plicatus folded, plicate, to express the meaning ‘subduplicate of the triplicate’. (L. sesquiplex = taken once and a half.)] Bearing or involving the ratio of the square roots of the cubes of the terms of a certain ratio. Thus, a is to a' in the sesquiduplicate ratio of b to b', when a:a'::y/b2:y/b'3. 1714 Derham Astrol. Theol. (1769) 22 Their motions round the Sun, are in sesquiplicate proportion to their distances from him. 1728 tr. Newton's Syst. World 12 The periodic times of the satellits of Jupiter are, one to another, in the sesquiplicate proportion of their distances from the center of this planet. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 309/2 Sesquiplicate ratio of A to B. 1873 Proctor Expanse of Heaven 108.

SESQUITERTIA II sesquitertia (seskwi'tsijb). Mus. [L., fern. (sc. ratio) of sesquitertius, f. sesqui- + tertius third.] Denoting a ratio of i\ to i, i.e. 4 to 3; chiefly Mus. denoting (i) an interval having this ratio, viz. the perfect fourth, (ii) a rhythm of three notes against four. *597 Morley Introd. Mus. 33 Sesquitercia is when foure notes are sung to three of the same kinde. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 149 Wherefore the latitude of the Face compared with the longitude.. should be in a sesquitertia proportion. 1776 Hawkins Hist. Mus. I. 64 GB is sesquitertia to DB. Ibid. 68 The number 256, sesquitertia of 192. 1801 Busby Diet. Mus. 1883 Rockstro in Grove's Diet. Mus. s.v. Sesqui.

sesquitertial (seskwi'tsijal), a. ? Obs. [f. prec. + -al1.] Expressing a ratio of 4:3. Cf. prec. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1358 The proportion of the Musicke or Symphonie Diatessaron, is Epitritos or Sesquitertiall, that is to say, the whole and a third part over. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 11. xiii. 1066 These legs also are made in a sesquitertiall proportion, a 1696 Scarburgh Euclid (1705) 180 As 40 to 12 is 3^ or 3*, Triple Sesquitertial.

b. transf. (See quot.) 1806 Turton tr. Linn. Syst. Nat. VII. Expl. Terms, Sesquitertial, occupying the fourth part.

sesquitertian (sEskwi't3:j3n), a. ? Obs. [Formed as prec. 4- -an.] = sesquitertial. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. Explan. Words, Sesquitertian, a proportion, whereby is understood as much as comprehendeth the whole, and one third part, as 12. to 9. 1658 Sir T. Browne Gard. Cyrus iii. 58 The legs of Spiders are made after a sesquitertian proportion. 1698 Phil. Trans. XX. 81 We assign to a Fifth .. the Sesqui-alter Proportion .. And, to a Fourth, .the Sesquitertian. 1760 Stiles in Phil. Trans. LI. 717 If the interval diatessaron, or sesquitertian ratio, should be assigned for the limitation of the extreme tones. 1774 J. Duncombe New Arithm. Diet.

So f sesqui'tertianal a. Obs. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Sesquitertianal Proportion, is when any.. Quantity contains another once and one third.

sesquitertious (seskwi't3:j9s), a. Ent. [Formed as prec. + -ous.] (See quot. and cf. SESQUIALTEROUS.) 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xlvi. IV. 290 Sesquitertious Fascia (Fascia sesquitertia). When both wings are traversed by a continued band, and more than half of either the primary or secondary by another; or, when a wing or elytrum contains a band and the third of a band.

sess, sb.1 Also 7 sesse. [Aphetic f. assess sb.: see cess sb.1] 1. An assessment, impost. Now only dial, and in Ireland, a local rate; = cess sb.1 1 a (which is more usual). 1580 [see cess sb. 1 a]. 1673 Acct. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 119 Paid to Richerd Bell for the sesse, 8d. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4442/4 They intend to make Sale of the Lands of such Persons .., who refuse to pay the Sesses laid upon them. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. 11. Row in Omnibus, There’s the rent, and the rates, and the sesses, and taxes. f2. Ireland. = cess sb.1 2. Obs. 1571 Campion Hist. Irel. 11. x. (1633) 126 The abuses whereof with sesse and Souldiours, doe so impouerish and alienate the needie Farmers from us. 1586 [see assess sb.]. 1612 [see cess sb. 2]. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Kent (1662) 11.. 75 Sir Henry Sidney .. established the Composition of the Pale, in lieu of Purveyance and Sesse of Souldiers.

sess (ses), sb.2 Soap-manuf. [Origin obscure.] Each of the sections composing the frame or mould into which the soap is thrown to cool and solidify after the process of fitting (see fitting vbl. sb. 4). 1854 Tomlinson s Cycl. Useful Arts (1867) II. 539/1 The semi-fluid mass is ladled out from the precipitated ley into rectangular frames, or sesses, as they are called in Liverpool.

fsess, v. Obs. Forms: 5 ses, sese, 6 seasse, seise, 6-7 sease, seaze, sesse, 7 seize. [Aphetic f. assess v.; see cess v.1 For the variation in the length of the vowel, cf. cease r.]

1. trans. To assess or determine officially the amount of (a tax, contribution, wages, or prices); = cess v.1 i . 1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 382 That the price of ale be sessed at euery lawday by the gret enquest. 1484 Coventry Leet Bk. 519 Wheruppon they were commytte to warde, and their ffyn sessed be pe seid Maire .. at xx li. 1533-4 Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 8 The saide maire and the aldermen maie haue power.. to sesse fines by their discreasions. 1563 Golding Csesar v. 108 b, When the hostages were brought in by the day limitted, he appointed dayesmen betwene the Cities to consyder of the matter in variance, and to sesse the penalty. 1620 J. Wilkinson Coroners & Sherifes 60 The Coroners ought to be there to sesse the wages. 1640 Archdeaconry of Essex Min. (MS.) 1638-40, 195 Not paying ii» vid which he was seast for bread and wyne and diverse other necessary expences. 1656 Earl Monm. tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. II. lxxxii. 365 Those [taxes] which were at first sessed but for a limited time.

2. To impose (a tax, fine, etc.) upon a person or community; = cess v.1 2. 1465 Paston Lett. II. 199 There putte into the Kynges pryson by cawse of the fyn which was sessed upon the forsaid John Smyth, John Hopton, and me. I551 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 207 Suche taxe and tallenge as shall be uppon hym taxed and sessyd. 1561 in Rec. Caernarvon (1838) 298 That you giue likewise in chardge to the said Jury to taske and sease such severalle

SESSION

47 fines vppon the severall offenders. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. 1. i. 16 Any person, upon whom any such Fines shalbe so seased. 1764 [see cess v.1 i].

3. To fix the amount of payment due from (a person, a community, a property); to impose a tax upon, tax: const, at, to, unto; also with indirect question as second object. = cess v.1 4. 1475 Rolls of Par It. VI. 139/2 Henry Bodrugan .. sessed the people of the said Shire to grete notable sommes. c 1488 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 61 As for our land, we pay our dymes therfore, and trust in you that ye will not ses none thereof, wherby we should have cause to make further labor; for it is not the Kyngs mynd to ses no dymeable land. 1530 Palsgr. 710/1, I sesse, as a kynges officers do a kynges subjectes what they shall paye, je taille. 1542 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 166, ij persons shalbe chosen to sesse and tax.. the inhabytaunts. 01548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 29 For which cause the Kyng.. seassed and fined her at a great some of money. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist., Socrates in. xi. 306 So that euery one rateably was seased [1619 seised] at a certaine summe. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa 1. 43 At last the bird was sessed to pay. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ill. iv, That was with the griefe Thou took’st for being sess’d at eighteene pence, For the waterworke. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. ix. 49 Caesar., seized them at forty hostages, with sufficiency of graine for his whole army. 1643 Baker Chron., Will. I, 32 Likewise he Sessed all Bishops and Abbotts what number of souldiers they should finde. 1643 Prynne Sov. Power Pari. App. 26 The Clergy and Lords then refusing to pay any more then they were first sessed unto. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India P. 166 Causing his Coin to be stamped with his Master’s Inscription, his Subjects Mulcted and Sessed by his Impositions.

sess, int. Obs. exc. dial, (see Eng. Dial. Diet.). Also 7 ses. A call to a dog when giving him food. 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. iv. iv. Decay 216 Ses, ses, here Dogs.

sess, variant of

cess sb} 1887 Hall Caine Deemster xxviii, Bad sess to the women, the idle shoulderin’ craythurs.

sess(e, obs. forms of

cease v.

f'sessa, int. Obs. [perh. var. of sa, sa, or possibly a. F. cessez ‘cease!’ It is not certain that modern editors are right in inserting the form sessa in all the passages; the word may not be the same in the three places.]

An exclamation of uncertain meaning. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. Induct, i. 6 Looke in the Chronicles, we came in with Richard Conqueror: therefore Paucas pallabris, let the world slide: Sessa. 1605-Lear ill. iv. 104 Dolphin my Boy, Boy Sesey [Q1 caese; Q2 cease; Q3 ceas; Malone sessa!]: let him trot by. Ibid. iii. vi. 77 Dogs leapt the hatch, and all are fled. Do, de, de, de: sese [Malone Sessa!]: Come, march to Wakes and Fayres.

t sesse1. Obs. rare~x. [a. F. sesse, a. Arab, shash: see sash si.1] = sash sb.1 1718 Ozell tr. Tournefort's Voy. II. 356 They are distinguished by the White Sesse [orig. la sesse blanche] of their turbants. t sesse2. Obs. Aphetic form of dissesse, decease sb.; = cess sb.2 1417-8 E.E. Wills (1882) 39/3 Also it ys my wyll pat.. all pat sche schele haue, after pe sesse of her, pat it be sold.

c. Path. Of morbid growths, warts, Adhering close to the surface.

etc.:

1725 Huxham in Phil. Trans. XXXIII. 380 During the Suppuration, the Pox would become very sessile, and the coherent kind would enlarge their Bases exceedingly. 1822-29 Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) V. 670 Simple Wart, Simple and distinct: sessile or pensile. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 891 The skin.. in many cases ‘peppered’ with warts, both sessile and pedunculated.

2. Of certain animals: Sedentary, fixed to one spot; not ambulatory. Of cells: Immobile. Also in extended use. i860 Wraxall Life in Sea x. 242 They [Serpulariae, etc.] are, therefore, nothing further than sessile nurses, just as the Siphonophorae are nurses swimming about freely. 1871 E. D. Cope Orig. Fittest (1887) 193 It is now important to observe that great numbers of centrifugal animals are sedentary or sessile; while the longitudinal are vagrant, moving from place to place. 1879 G. Allen Colour-Sense iii. 23 Sessile or sedentary animals, as a rule, do not possess any form of visual organ. 1880 E. R. Lankester Degeneration 39 We may now proceed to look at some sessile or immobile animals which are not usually regarded as degenerate. 1904 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 10 Sept. 586/1 Certain cells which are normally fixed or sessile cells. 1917 M. Webb Gone to Earth xiii. 118 People remained in a sessile state over tea for a long time. 1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) 7 The current of tribal movements.. sessile or nomad. 1930 Auden Poems 56 No chattering valves of laughter emphasised Nor the swept gown ends of a gesture stirred The sessile hush. 1971 Guinness Bk. Records (ed. 18) 169/2 The longest recorded push of a normally sessile object is of 411 miles in the case of a wheeled hospital bed.

3. Cryst. Of a dislocation in a crystal: unable to migrate through the lattice;.fixed. 1949 F. C. Frank in Proc. Physical Soc. A. LXII. 202 Glide is prevented by a large restoring force... Such a dislocation will be called ‘sessile’, in contrast with ‘glissile’ dislocations—those which are capable of glide. 1966 C. R. Tottle Sci. Engin. Materials iv. 101 Frank described one form of sessile dislocation, in which an aggregate of vacant lattice sites collapses to form a loop of dislocation surrounding a disk of stacking fault. 1973 J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. I. v. iii In the latter case they lock together (forming a sessile dislocation) and become very difficult to separate.

4. Comb., as sessile-eyed, -flowered, -fruited, -leaved adjs.; sessile oak, Quercus petraea, which has stalkless acorns; = durmast. 1854 A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 294 *Sessile-eyed Crustaceans (Edriophthalmata). 1796 C. Marshall Gardening xix. (1813) 372 Herb-true-love, nodding, and •sessile flowered. 1846 Keightley Notes Virg. Flora 391 The Quercus sessiliflora, or *sessile-fruited oak. 1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 356 *Sessile-leaved Eupatorium. [1838 J. C. Loudon Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum III. 1736 {heading) The sessile-flowered Oak.] 1906 Elwes & Henry Trees Gt. Brit. II. 291 *Sessile or Durmast Oak... More regular branching, resulting in a denser crown of foliage. 1971 Country Life 23 Dec. 1772/1 The lighter soils and hills were covered by the sessile oak, with acorns pressed against the twigs, and leaves on long stalks.

'sessiliflore, a. Bot. rare-1, [ad. mod.L. sessiliflorus (f. L. sessili-s sessile a. 4- flor-, flos flower).] Sessile-flowered: specific name of a kind of oak. 1842 J. B. Fraser Mesopot. sessiliflora.. Sessiliflore oak.

Assyria xv. 354 Quercus

t'sessing,vbl.sb. Obs. [f. sess v. 4- -ing1.] = sesse, obs. form of cease sb. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15893 pen com pe folk wypouten sesse Aboute Brian for to presse.

sessile

('sesail, 'scsil), a.

[a.

L. sessilis

sitting

down, dwarfed, stunted, f. sess-, ppl. stem of

sedere to sit: see -ile.] 1. Having no footstalk, a. Bot. Of leaves, fruits, flowers, or other organs: Immediately attached by the base; not having a peduncle, pedicel, or the like. Hence of a species or variety (e.g. of oak) bearing sessile fruits: opposed to pedunculated. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Leaf, Sessile Leaf, one which rises immediately from the stalk without any pedicle. 1756 Phil. Trans. XLIX. 835 The leaves.. [are] generally quite sessile, or close to the stalk. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. vi. (1794) 70 In the whole compound class the seed is always sessile, that is, it bears immediately upon the receptacle without any intermediate pedicle. 1861 S. Thomson Wild FI. 1. (ed. 4) 71 Seed-vessel of common Poppy, showing the rayed stigma.. placed close down, or sessile upon the ovary. 1875 Lyell's Princ. Geol. II. ill. xliv. 507 Prostrate trunks of the Sessile Variety of the Common oak occur. 1879 A. Gray Struct. Bot. vi. §6. 251 The filament, being only a stalk or support, may be very short or wholly wanting; the anther is then sessile. 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 565 In Piperacese however the stigma, which is sessile on the apex of the ovary, is often placed obliquely or divided into several lobes.

b. Zool. Of limbs or organs: Immediately in contact with the structure to which they are attached; having no connecting neck or footstalk. Also of certain animals. 1777 Pennant Brit. Zool. IV. 61 The shell., fixed by a stem: or sessil. 1834 McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 298 The Laemodipoda are the only Malacostraca with sessile eyes. 1840 F. D. Bennett Whaling Voy. II. 248 A sessile spur on the heel. 1851 Darwin Monogr. Cirripedia 1. (Ray Soc.) 4 The more important valves.. being common to the pedunculated and sessile Cirripedes. 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life Introd. 65 The cerebral hemispheres always contain a lateral ventricle, which is prolonged into the interior of the sessile olfactory lobes.

ASSESSING. 1481 Coventry Leet Bk. 480 This concideracion to be taken in their sessyng, that such persones as ware ouercharged in theire wardes at pe vij li. etc. aforeseid to be eased nowe. a 1500 Chron. London (Kingsford 1905) 186 This yere was a greate Sessyng of all lordes landes thrugh England. 1513 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 11 Ye sesseing of ye subsidy. 1522-3 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 316 Item, paid for brede, drink and ffire at pe Newe sessing of pe clarkes bill. 1530 Palsgr. 269/2 Sessyng that a prince setteth in a countrey, imposition. 1612 Davies Why Ireland 177 Irish exactions .. namely .. Sessings of the Kerne, of his family,.. of his Horses,.. and the like. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. 11. 107 There was a certaine sessing to be set in a ratable proportion, vpon the Towne-dwellers .. for some publike peece of worke. attrib. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 1. 153 Angliae commentaries Censuales, that is, The Taxe register, or Sessing booke of England.

session ('sejan), sb.

Forms: 4-6 sessioun, 5 cessiown, sessyone, 5 cessione, 5-6 cession, sessyon, 6 cessioun, cecion, cessyon. [a. F. session (= Sp. sesion, Pg. sessao, It. sessione), ad. L. sessionem (imio), n. of action f. sedere to sit.] 1. a. The action or an act of sitting; the state or posture of being seated; occupation of a seat in an assembly or the like; also a manner of sitting. Now rare. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 996 On the foreside it is gibbous, and that is profitable.. for Session and sitting. 1635 Pagitt Christianogr. 1. ii. (1636) 65 To the Bishop whereof was assigned the next place of session in councell after the Bishop of Hierusalem. 1670 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 325 The King has ever since continued his session among them, and says it is better than going to a play. 1695 J. Edwards Author. O. N. Test. III. 133 The antientest heroes used session not discumbiture. 1704 Swift Mech. Operat. Spirit 297 The Art of See-saw on a Beam, and swinging by Session upon a Cord. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 693 Vivien.. Leapt from her session on his lap. 1859 F. E. Paget Curate Cumberworth iv. 34 Whether Mrs. Crakanthorpe had indulged herself during her decline by session or recumbency thereon [sc. on a settee] there is, unfortunately, no evidence to show.

SESSION b. spec. The ‘sitting’ of Christ at the right hand of God. c 1557 Abp. Parker Ps. cx. Collect, Where, by the session of the ryghte hande of thy father, thou subduest thy enemies. 1605 Bp. Andrewes Serrn. (1629) 369 His Passion and his Session. 1706 Stanhope Paraphr. III. 85 This Ascent, and Session of our Blessed Master at God’s Right Hand. 1894 Swete Apostles' Creed vi. 64 Some of the oldest accounts, which place the Session immediately after the Resurrection.

fc. A place for sitting. Obs. rare~x. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy II. 1003 And al aboue, reysed was a se,.. J?at callid was .. Of pe regne pe sete moste royal. .. And sessions wer made on euery syde, Only pe statis by ordre to deuyde.

2. a.

The sitting together of a number of persons (esp. of a court, a legislative, administrative, or deliberative body) for conference or the transaction of business. Also (now somewhat rarely), a single continuous sitting of persons assembled for conference or business. Also, a business period on the Stock Exchange and other commercial markets. 1444 Rolls of Parlt. V. 122/1 To eny Baillif or Baillifs, Lieutenauntz, Deputez or eny othur, in her Sessions and assembleez. 1564 Haward Eutrop. vi. 60 When Cesar on a daye wyth the reste of the Senate, were at theyr sessyon in the councell house. 1577-87 Holinshed Chron. I. 121/1 The archbishop of Canturburie kept a synod at Herford, the first session whereof began the 24 of September. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. v. 81 Each part most highlie pleas’d, then vp the Session brake. 1661 Bk. Com. Prayer, A Prayer for the High Court of Parliament, to be read during their Session. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 514 Then of thir Session ended they bid cry With Trumpets regal sound the great result. 1725 Pope Odyss. 111. 171 Nor herald sworn the session to proclaim. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xiii. 1 The frequent session of parliament.. furnished a security against illegal taxation. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. in. iii, Already his Majesty.. had held session of Notables. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. lviii. II. 240 For the sessions of these dignitaries each tribe has.. a Government or councilhouse. 1869 Huxley in Sex. Opin. 21 Apr. 464/1 The British geologists.. here in solemn annual session assembled. 1890 P. H. Hunter After Exile 11. ii. 33 They proposed further that this court should not confine its sessions to Jerusalem, but should go on circuit. 1928 Daily Mail 25 July 19/3 At second session Tin cash £217 155. to £217 17s. 6d. 1981 Times 1 May 20/2 Leading industrials enjoyed one of the best sessions for some time.

b. transf. and fig. 1594 J. Dickenson Arisbas (1878) 59 Being in these dumpes he held a session in his thoughtes. 1855 Tennyson Brook 127 His pigeons, who in session on their roofs Approved him.

c. pi. with sing, sense and construction, rare (cf. 3 c). 1613 Heywood Silver Age K.4b, Let’s breake this Sessions vp, I am dull. 1847 Helps Friends in C. I. vi. 86 Is it not comfortable to have our sessions here for once, and to be looking out on a good solid English wet day?

f d. A number of persons sitting in conference. 1615 Chapman Odyss. 11. 40 The old man .. weeping, thus bespake the Session, a 1656 Ussher Ann. vi. (1658) 468 Both parties appeared to Ptolemei Philometor, and a Session of his friends, for the hearing and decision of the Cause. e. = seance, rare. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1871) II. 14 Browning and his wife had both been present at a spiritual session held by Mr. Hume.

3. a. A continuous series of sittings or meetings of a court, a legislative, administrative, or deliberative body, held daily or at short intervals; the period or term during which the sittings continue to be held; opposed to recess or vacation. *553 in Burnet Hist. Ref., Rec. 11. 1. lvi. (1681) 225 The said Lord President and Council shall keep four general Sittings or Sessions in the Year, every of them to continue by the space of one whole Month. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 130 It was in this Christmas session of the Witan that the vacancy would regularly be filled. 1885 Act 48 & 49 Viet. c. 60 §4 A session of the Council shall be held once at least in every two years.

b. spec. In English parliamentary use, applied to the period between the opening of Parliament and its prorogation. The term autumn session (instead of ‘autumn sitting’) is sometimes used to designate the exceptional resumption of the sittings of the Houses, after an adjournment, in what is normally the autumn recess; but this use is condemned by parliamentary authorities as incorrect. 01577 Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. 11. iii. (1589) 54 The last day of that parliament or session the Prince commeth in person in his Parliament robes. 1676 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 34 Parliament.. some says will be dissolved of course by reason of three sessions past without any bill passing. 1683 Repr. Advantages Manuf. Woollen-cloath 1 The 20th Act of the third Sess. of the same Pari. 1711-12 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 21 Mar., I doubt the session will not be over till the end of April, a 1832 Mackintosh Hist. Rev. Wks. 1846 II. 43 At the opening of the Session, that House had contented themselves with general thanks to the King for his speech. 1878 H. S. Leigh Town Garland 195 Very few Members of Parliament only Will wait for the Session to crawl to its close,

fc. pi. with sing, sense and construction. Obs. 1642 Chas. I Message to Both Ho. 28 Apr. 5 Other Bills passed this Sessions. 1701 Maryland Laws v. (1723) 16 Within Six Months from the End of this Sessions of Assembly. 1732 W. Pulteney in G. Colman's Posth. Lett. (1820) 38 This day is to conclude a very tedious Sessions of Pari'. 1780 M. Madan Thelyphthora II. 59, I much doubt, whether every sessions of Parliament, for some years past, has not afforded melancholy proofs [etc.].

48 d. (Formerly only in Scotland and the U.S.) The portion of the academic year during which instruction is given. Also, a portion of the day during which classes are held. summer session, in Sc. use, a period of instruction during the summer, additional to the old winter session. 1714 J. Morice Let. 2 Aug. in W. C. Dickinson Two Students at St. Andrews (1952) 53 Alexander Sharp .. being a Double Bajan with Mr Pringle last Session. 1775 Johnson West. Isl. 12 A [St. Andrews’] student of the highest class may keep his annual session,.. which lasts about seven months, for about fifteen pounds. 1807 Grierson Delin. St. Andrews 108 The session of this college lasts only about four months,.. and the complete course of a student’s attendance is, at the shortest, four sessions. 1851 Catal. Univ. Virginia 15 (Hall College Words) The session commences on the 1st of October, and continues without interruption until the 29th of June. 1861 Temple Bar Mag. III. 515 The medical session [at Edinburgh] began on the 1st November. 1862 G. Meredith Let. 23 Dec. (1970) I. 180, I presume that if I send to Bankers at Norwich, according to direction, before the next session, it will do. 1880 (title) The Mason Science College. Calendar for the Session 1880-81. 1891 Edin. Univ. Cal. 30 A Summer Session (1st May to 1st October). 1911 Rep. Labour Soc. Cond. Germany (Tariff Reform League) III. vi. 126 Children go to school at seven o’clock in the morning and stay until eleven; then there is a break, the next session commencing at two and going on till five. 1932 Leader 9 July 1 The college is recognised and aided by the Government Board of Indian Medicine. The next session begins from 1st August, 1932. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 27 June 2-D/6 Temporary shelter became a problem... Ricks College in Rexburg, a junior college on high ground, has opened its doors until its summer session starts.

4. A judicial sitting, fa. gen. A sitting of a judge or judges to determine causes; a judicial trial or investigation, sing, and collect, pi. (often const, as sing.). Obs. (exc. arch, as contextual use of sense i or 2). 14.. Customs of Malton in Surtees Misc. (1890) 60 J>e sayd Burgoye schall answere .. in all sessyons and inqwyres. 1548 Cranmer Catech. 58 He that sayeth to his brother Racha.. is worthye the sessyons. 1557 in Select Pleas Admiralty (Selden Soc.) II. 33 At the Sessyons of the same courte which should be holden the .xiijth daye of Decembre then next folloinge. 1585 Fleetwood in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. II. 296 Uppon Thursday e laste..we kepte a Sessions of Inquyrie in London in the forenone, and in the afternone we kepte the lyke att Fynsburie for Middlesex, in which two severall Sessionses all such as were to be arrayegned for felonye at the Gaole deliverye were indyted. 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 159 Car. Araigne the poore whore. Ast. lie not misse that Sessions. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. 11. iii. 202 Summon a Session, that we may arraigne Our most disloyall Lady. 1691 Conset Pract. Spir. Crts. (1700) 3 The first general Sessions held in the Court of the Arches .. was kept.. the next day (if no Holy-day) after the Feast of St. Faith the Virgin. transf. and fig. 1591 H. Smith Lords Supper ii. 30 This is the priuate araignement or close Sessions, when Conscience sits in her chaire to examine, and accuse, and iudge and condemne her selfe. c 1600 Shaks. Sonn. xxx. 1. 1630 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. lxxxix. (1633) 225 To hold a privy Sessions, upon my Soule, and actions. 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. 1851 IV. 194 The hard hearts of others unchastisable in those judicial Courts, were so remitted there, as bound over to the higher Session of Conscience. 1659 W. Brough Sacr. Princ. 190 Those particular sessions on my self, prevent His generall assizes. 1879 Chr. Rossetti Seek & Find 22 Daniel.. beheld the Session of the Ancient of Days, beheld the Judgment set and the Books opened.

b. sessions of the peace (in ordinary language simply sessions): the periodical sittings of justices of the peace (or, in some instances, of a stipendiary magistrate or a recorder). Often const, as sing. In England the sessions of the peace are of the following kinds: petty sessions (now Hist.), a court held by two or more justices or a stipendiary magistrate, exercising summary jurisdiction in minor offences within a particular district (a ‘petty sessional division’): replaced by the magistrates’ court; special sessions, a periodical meeting of the justices of a division prescribed by statute for the transaction of some particular kind of business (under this head are included brewster or licensing sessions, for the hearing of applications for licences to sell alcoholic drinks); general or quarter sessions, (both now Hist.), a court held four times a year (in a county, riding, etc. by the justices of the peace, and in certain boroughs by the recorder), having a limited criminal and civil jurisdiction and certain administrative functions: replaced in 1971 by the Crown Court system. Cf. quarter-sessions i. (The sessions, without qualification, usually denoted the quarter sessions.) Quarter sessions were also held in Scotland and Ireland. In certain British colonies the English system of sessions of the peace formerly existed, and was for a time retained in some of the United States. C1386 Chaucer Prol. 355 At sessiouns ther was he lord and sire. 1453 Rolls, of Parlt. V. 267/2 The Justicez of the peax in theire Sessions of peax. 1477 Ibid. VI. 173/2 Diverse of the Kyng’s Justices of the peas.. sittyng in the Kyng’s generall Cessions of pease in the same Counte. 1548 in J. H. Glover Kingsthorpiana (1883) 108 One Gregorye Cosbye. . was indyted at a cessyons holden at North" for huntyng of the hare in the feld of Pysford. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 34 A prisoner brake from the halle at Newgate whan the cecions was done. 1673 Sir W. Temple Ess. Adv. Trade Irel. Misc. 1. (1680) 116 Sometimes one share of that Money is paid to a single pretender at the Sizes, or Sessions. 1699 Plea agst. Extr. Price of Corn 23 Our Country Alehouse-making Justices at their Petty-Sessions, Quarter, and General Sessions. 1754 Gentl. Mag. XXIV. 461 The Brewster-Sessions at Bray in Northungria. 1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const, xix. (1862) 315 The Magistrates, when acting singly or in small numbers at petty sessions.

SESSION 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities 11. v, A favourite at the Old Bailey, and eke at the Sessions. rarely in sing. 1442 Rolls of Parlt. V. 43/1 Ones a yere a gret Cession holden afore the Kynges Justice,.. and also a petit Cession, holden afore the said Justice. 1588 Lambarde Eiren. iv. i. (1591) 374 margin. The description of a Session of the Peace. 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass v. vi. 21 Pvg. How? longer here a moneth? Ing. Yes, boy, till the Session. C1710 Celia Fiennes Diary (1888) 160 Appleby..is the shire town where the session and assizes are held. 1844 Act j & 8 Viet. c. 101 §2 Such Justice of the Peace shall thereupon issue his Summons to the Person.. to appear at a Petty Session.

fc. petty or statute sessions: see quots. (cf. petty sessions in b). Obs. 1562-3 Act 5 Eliz. c. 4 §40 That it shalbe laufull to the Highe Constables of Hundredes in every Shire, to holde kepe and contynue Petie Sessions, otherwise called Statute Sessions. 1641 Termes de la Ley 247 Petit Sessions or statute Sessions are held by the high Constables of every Hundred for the placing of servants. 1787 W. H. Marshall Rur. Econ. Norfolk (1795) I. 40 The High Constable of the Hundred in which a statute is held, holds what is called a ‘petty sessions’; at which the hiring [of servants] and its attendant circumstances are, or may be, registered.

d. great or grand session(s: a court of justice formerly held half-yearly in each of the counties of Wales, presided over by itinerant judges forming a distinct body from the judges of assize in England, court of session: a court formerly exercising for the County Palatine of Chester a jurisdiction more or less corresponding to that of the courts of assize in the rest of England. Obs. exc. Hist. Both these courts were abolished in 1830 by the Act 11 Geo. IV & 1 Will. IV, c. 70 §14. 1542-3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 26 §4 There shalbe holden .. Sessions twyse in everye yere in everye of the saide Shyres in .. Wales:.. the whiche Sessions shall be called the Kinges Greate Sessions in Wales. 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4330/4 The Grand Jury, Justices of the Peace, and others.., met together at the Great Sessions holden for the said County [Pembroke]. 1730 Act 3 Geo. II, c. 25 Preamb., Judges of the Great Sessions in Wales. Ibid. §9 Causes in the Grand Sessions in any County of Wales. Ibid., At least eight Days before every Grand Sessions. § 14 The Grand Session in Wales. 1899 W. R. Williams (title). The history of the Great Sessions in Wales 1542-1830.

5. Scots Law. a. Hist. The name given to a court of justice (often called ‘the Session of James I’), established in 1425, consisting of the Chancellor and other persons chosen by the king, which sat three times in the year to determine such causes as had previously been brought before the king and his council. The judges of this court were called the Lords of Session, b. Court of Session: the supreme civil tribunal of Scotland (otherwise called the College of Justice: see college i c), established by Act of Parliament in 1532, and uniting in itself the powers and jurisdiction which had belonged to the Session of James I, to the Daily Council of James IV, and to the Lords Auditors of Parliament. The judges of this court are officially styled Lords of Council and Session, but in ordinary language Lords of Session. (Formerly the court was often spoken of as f the Session(s). 1495 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 242 Item, gevin to the Freris of Edinburgh at the Kingis commande xviij s. at the sessyon. 1496 Ibid. 269 Quhen the King raid to Sanct Jhonistoun to the cessioun. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems ix. 134 At Counsale, Sessioun, and at Parliament. 1503 Lords of Session [see council 7]. 1569 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 665 Gevin and pronunceit be the Lordis of Counsale and Sessioun. 1577-87 Holinshed Hist. Scot. 317/2 This yeere [1530] the college court of iustice called the sessions was instituted. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 11. 8 The Colledge of Iustice, or as they call it The Session. 1652 Lamont Diary (Bannatyne Club) 37 Lords of Session and Counsell. 1708 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 11. 11. vi. (1710) 426 None shall be named.. to be ordinary Lords of Session, but such who have been Advocates or principal Clerks of Session for the Space of Five Years. 1711 Act 10 Anne c. 13 §2 The Christmas Vacation of the Session or College of Justice. 6. Sc. = KIRK-SESSION. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. iii. Wks. 1848 II. 152 That the auld Sessioun befor thair departure, nominat twenty-four in Electioun for Elders,.. and thirty-two for Deacounes. 1672 Sir G. Mackenzie Pleadings Pref. A iij, Our Session having been at first constitute of an equal number of Churchmen and Laicks. 1725 in J. J. Vernon Hawick (1900) 187 The Minister did read to ye members of ye Session a petition. 1786 Burns Answ. to Trimming Epist. by Tailor vii, Wi’ pinch I put a Sunday’s face on, An’ snoov’d awa’ before the Session. 1846 J. Macfarlane Late Secess. Ch. Scot. 124 The list of parishes vacant, and of sessions dismembered, and of churches thinned, is not to be overlooked.

7. transf. [Senses not necessarily dependent upon the notion of ‘sitting’.] A period of time given to or set aside for the pursuit of a particular activity, a. gen. 1920, etc. [see bull sb.4 3 b]. 1970 [see rap session s.v. rap sb.1 7]. 1976 Cumberland News 3 Dec. 24/5 A short session of dominoes followed.

b. in which musicians perform music, esp. for recording. Also, the music so recorded. Ci.jam session s.v. jam sb.1 3; recording session s.v. RECORDING vbl. sb. 5.

SESSION 1927 [see recording session s.v. recording vbl. sb. 5]. 1929 Melody Maker Apr. 381/1 The trouble is due to inferior musicians being engaged for this session. 1947 G. Beall in R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz vii. 87 He is present on most of the records, however, taking part in the recording session although the men know his part would not be directly apparent. 1962 Radio Times 17 May 43 The jazz musician.. is merely inviting himself back to his friend’s place for a beer after their session. 1969 R. A. Noblett Stayin' Chain 7 This version has not been released on record... The session is, however, interesting.

c. A disturbance or argument, colloq. (chiefly Austral, and N.Z.). 1919 H. L. Wilson Ma Pettengill iv. 130 Then Ben came down and had a wholehearted session with me. He said I ought to have a talk with Ed and reason him out of his folly. 1930 L. W. Lower Here's Luck i. 5 W’e had a bit of a session — a ‘go in’ as they call it. I tried to reason with him. 1949 J. R. Cole It was so Late 10 ‘Don’t shoot the barman, he’s half shot already.’.. ‘Bit of a session, eh?’

8. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 2) session-bell, (sense 3) session-time; (sense 4) sessionschamber, session(s day; (sense 6) session-clerk, -clerkship; (sense 7) session fee, man, work; session(s-book Sc., a book kept in each parish to record the proceedings of the kirk-session; session(s-house, (a) a building in which sessions are held; (b) Sc., a room attached to a church in which the session meets; session musician, one who is engaged to play music, usu. accompaniments, at a recording session; f sessions-paper, a list of cases put down for trial at the sessions. 1701 Acts of Sederunt (1790) 221 After the ringing of the •Session-bell. 1829 Train in Scott Old Mort. Introd., His death is not registered in the *session-book of any of the neighbouring parishes. 1778 Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Weldon-Great, A handsome market-house, and a ’sessionschamber over it. 1821 Galt Ann. Parish xii. (1895) 86 The schoolmaster was likewise ’session-clerk and precentor. 1876 Session clerk [see parochial a. (sb.) 1 a], 1795 Statist. Acc. Scot. XVI. 511 This and the ’session-clerkship do not belong to him as schoolmaster. 1537 London in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. II. 81 In the ’cession dayes and other cowrt daves. 1602 Heywood Worn, killed w. Kindn. (1617) C 1 b. This is the Sessions day. 1977 Times 1 Nov. 14/5 The orchestra had a choice: either to take a share of the royalties or settle for what the trade calls a ’session fee—a once-andfor-all payment. 1599 Lewkenor Contarini's Commw. Venice I. 22 Euery holliday.. this great councell is assembled into a great and spacious hall, which we will call the ’Session house 1600 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (1908) V. 389 They were.. bidd to putt on their bootes and to goe to the sessions house. 1647 Acts of Sederunt (1790) 55 All the advocates sail come to the Session-hous. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xxv, The right wing of the prison [Newgate] nearest the Sessions-house. 1958 J. Asman in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz xiv. 170 Men who worked in a number of musical fields, providing the recording studios with a reliable nucleus of’session-men for every kind of date. 1980 Oxford Times 20 June 18 She is expertly backed by.. fine sessionmen. 1968 Guardian 23 Feb. 10/6 The vast majority of pop records made rely to some extent on ’session musicians. 1980 P. Gosling Loser’s Blues ii. 12 Separately as session musicians on other pop discs they were occasionally.. in the charts, a 1704 T. Brown Pleas. Lett, to Gent. Wks. 1709 III. II. 16 The greasy Fragments of a ’Sessions-Paper. 1728 Gay Polly I. (1777) 18 Every monthly sessions-paper.. was a record of his [a thieftaker’s] services. 1817 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) IV. ii. 59 In the vacation I never sit down; in the ’session-time I seldom rise up. 1976 J. Wainwright Wallher P. 38 82, I moved around from band to band .. and sat in on my share of ’session work at the recording studios.

session ('sejan), v. Sc. (see also E.D.D.). [f. prec.] trans. To bring before the kirk-session. 1895 Crockett Men of Mosshags 125 Was there one of us .. that had not been sessioned time and again?

sessional ('sejanal), a. [f. session sb. + -al1.] Pertaining to a session or sessions, a. Belonging or relating to, supplied by, a kirk-session. 1715 in J. F. S. Gordon Bk. Chron. Keith (1880) 89 The Session .. thought fit to give them a sessional admonition to make conscience of ordering their affairs [etc.]. 1811 T. Chalmers in Hanna Mem. (1849) I. 218,1 gave her sessional assistance. 1849 Hanna Mem. Chalmers II. 307 The number of sessional poor (that is, of poor who had been on the session’s roll of one or other of the three parishes..) was ninety-eight. 1885 Edgar Old Ch. Life Scot. 240 The Lord’s table was not to be approached without a sessional pass.

b. Pertaining to the session of a law-court. So petty sessional, quarter sessional, pertaining to petty sessions, quarter sessions. 1832 Act 2 & 3 Will. IV, c. 64 §9 Such other places., as are locally situated within.. the said sessional divisions. 1837 Lockhart Scott (1839) VI. 326 Scott being then on one of his short Sessional visits to Abbotsford. 1846 S. G. Osborne Let. 28 May (1891) I. 6 The sitting on the quarter sessional bench. 1883 Fortn. Rev. May 693 To establish petty sessional districts.

c. Belonging, relating, or restricted to a session of a House of Parliament; recurring every session. Also Canad., sessional indemnity, the remuneration received by a member of a legislative assembly. 1834 A. W. Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Adminislr. (1837) III. 104 The sessional stages. 1839 Times 7 Sept. 4/1 He will make a sessional motion in the House of Commons. 1844 May Parlt. 132 Sessional orders. At the commencement of each session both houses agree to certain orders and resolutions, which, from being constantly renewed from year to year, are evidently not intended to endure beyond the existing session. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. of To-day vii.

SESTERCE

49 (ed. 3) 81 The Sessional dinners of each House. 1900 E. B. Osborn Greater Canada 105 The average partisan gets to Ottawa for the sake of his sessional indemnity and what he can make by means of his position. 1963 Globe fef Mail (Toronto) 12 July 8/2 Increases in sessional indemnities and expenses that the Quebec Legislature has just approved put it in a class by itself.

d. Pertaining to, or lasting a session (sense 3 d) in an educational institution. 1965 Listener 28 Jan. 137/2 Each student has to pursue two sessional courses, which last the whole year, designed to give an introduction to some subject not studied at sixthform level. 1978 Sci. Amer. Jan. 12/2 Geesey is a sessional lecturer in the department of biochemistry and microbiology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

e. Pertaining to any period of activity of limited duration. Cf. session sb. 7. 1973 Scotsman 12 Jan. 17/4 (Advt.), Part-time medical officers for sessional work. 1977 Times 29 Aug. 6/2 Members of mixed card clubs paid a sessional fee according to the stake at their table.

sessionally ('sejanoli), adv.

[f.

sessional

+

-LY2.]

in J. F. S. Gordon Bk. Chron. Keith (1880) 88 They were sessionally rebucked, till further guilt, if any be, appear. 01732 T. Boston Acc. My Life (1908) 96 The precentor professing his sorrow for his offence, was re¬ admitted sessionally. 1887 W. Ross Pastoral Work Covenant. Times viii. 168 Some faults dealt with sessionally would not be looked upon nowadays as sufficiently grave. 1715

2. Every session. 1863 Cox Inst. Erg. Govt. i. ix. 158 No standing committees of the whole House appointed sessionally now sit.

sessionary

('sejansn), a. rare. [f. session sb. + -ary.] Of or pertaining to a session or sessions. 1702 Case of Schedule Stated 86 The Dies Statutus.. is ever the Next Sessionary Day. 1884 Law Times LXXVII. 401/2 If the sessionary courts were invested with more discretionary power.

b. transf. During which business is carried on. 1837 C. Lofft Self-for motion II. 188 The sessionary hours of the shopkeepers.

sessioneer (sej3'ni3(r)). [f. session sb. 4= session musician s.v. session sb. 8.

-eer.]

1958 T. Hall in P. Gammond Decca Bk.Jazz xix. 235 Joe Muddel is one of the busiest ‘sessioneers’ in Britain’s radio, film and TV studios. 1977 Sounds 9 July 34/3 He’s marshalled such star sessioneers as Richie Albright.. and the Memphis Horns into fine order.

'sessioner. Sc. Obs. Also 7

-air. [f. session sb.

+ -ER1.]

1. A member of the Court of Session. R. Bruce Apol. in Wodrow Life (1843) 169 We take us not to his Majesty, neither to the nobility of Scotland ..; we take us only to the Sessioners. 1610 J as. VI in Reg. Privy Council Scot. VIII. 613 The saidis President and Sessionaris sail weir these habitis upoun the streitis of Edinburgh induring the tyme of sessioun. 1641 Sc. Acts Chas. 7(1814) V. 403/1 And in Lyke maner the sessioners with the advise and approbation of the most part of that hous, wch electiones made in the intervall shalbe allowed or disallowed, a 1657 Sir J. Balfour Ann. Scot. Hist. Wks. 1825 II. 129 That from hencefurth [1626] no judge or sessioner should be a priuey counseller. 1597

2. A member of a kirk-session. 1643 Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) App. 41/2 That none win to the Sessions loft till the Sessioners be placed, a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (Bannatyne Club) I. 173 Ilk minister haveing ane ruleing elder chosen out of the worthiest of the sessioners of his presbiterie. 1682 J. Finlay in Cloud of Witnesses (1778) 193 They .. now are sessioners to this Curate. 1683 in Wodrow Hist. Suff. Ch. Scot. (1722) II. 317 That the Ministers give in upon Oath a List of their Sessioners.

sessions (’sejanz), v. slang, [f. sessions, pi. of session s&.] trans. To commit (a person) to the

sessions for trial. 1857 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 111. vi, I am the only chap they could prove against... They could sessions me, but Ned and Phil are safe enough.

sessle, v.

dial. uneasily, fidget.

sessone, -oun, obs. Sc. forms of season sb. fsessor. Obs. [Aphetic f. assessor. cessor1.] = assessor in various senses.

Cf.

1481 Coventry Leet Bk. 481 The names of pe sessours [of a war-levy]. 1496 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 516/1 The Sessours and Ordrers in every of the said Citees and Boroughs. 1527-8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 343 Paid for the drinking of the Sessours of the clerkes wages..vjd. 1579-80 North Plutarch, P. JEmil. (1595) 282 They [5c. the Censors] be the sessours of the people, and the muster masters. 1642 Ordin. & Decl. Lds. & Comm. 29 Nov. 5 To nominate Sessors for the same City and Borough. 1712-13 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 29 Jan., We also raised sixty guineas upon our own Society; but I made them do it by sessors,.. and we fitted our tax to the several estates.

sess-pool, sestain, var. ff. cess-pool, sextain. sest(e, obs. ff. pa. t. and pa. pple. of cease.

1. Sc. By the kirk-session.

f

weekly seazements for the trained bands. 1666-7 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) 11. 208 Our House yesterday perfected the proviso of 380,0001. of the Sesment Bill. [Ibid. 209 Bill of Assessment.]

Also sissle. intr.

To move

1695 Kennett Par. Antiq. Gloss, s.v. Cart-Sadel, In Kent to sessle about is to change seats very often. 1865 Words W. Cornw. in Jrnl. Roy. Inst. Cornw. Apr. 52 Sissling, moving uneasily in sleep. Garland

fsessment.

Obs. Also 6 seas(s)-, 6-7 ses-, 7 seasse-, seize-. [Aphetic f. assessment; cf. cessment. For the variation of quantity in the root-vowel cf. sess v.] = assessment in various senses. Also attrib. sesse-, seaz(e)-,

[1538 in Norwich Pageants (1856) 18 Assembly at Black Fryers, 19 May, 1538, elected Officers; a Sesmant 148. Charges, 198 2d. Assembly at Guyldhalle, 9 May, 1539, elected Officers; Assmt. 168 6d.] C1540 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 239, I marvill greatly that your said manor shold be so highley charged... I could never se no writing of the sesment therof. 1548 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. in. i. 135 A precept directyd to the Craftes .. of London, for payment of their Sessment vnto the poore. 1576 Act 18 Eliz. c. 10 §5 By Taxacion and Sessement at one Courte or Lawe-daye. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres 11. i. 26, I would wish a generall seazement to be made vpon euery parish. 1620-21 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 247 P’d by him for sessement to kinge and churche there, vj8 viijd. 1636 Featly Clavis Myst. xiii. 179 In other seizements you give as you are in the King’s books. 1647 >n Polit. Ball. Commw. (Percy Soc.) 34 The seazement for the lots and subsydyes, The

C1380 Sir Ferumb. 1017 J»e Sarsyns fle3e & no3t ne sest. 14.. Polit. Rel. & Love Poems (1903) 137 Of pi seruyse oft hafe I seste.

seste, obs. form of sixth. sester (’sest9(r)). Now only Hist. Also 4 cestre, sesster, 6 cester, sestur. [OE. sester (also seoxter) and AF. sester = OF. sestier:—L. sextarium SEXTAR, SEXTARY. Cf. OS. soster, suster, Du. sester, sister, MLG. sestere, OHG. sehtari and sextari (MHG. sehtere and sehstere, G. sechter, sester). See also septier.]

f 1. A vessel for holding liquid; in OE. a jar, pitcher; in ME. ? a brewing-vat. Obs. ciooo ffiLFRic Gloss, in Wr.-Wiilcker 122/30 Amfora, sester. c 1000-Judges vii. 16 Gedeon .. het heora aelcne geniman anne aemtigne sester o85e aenne waeterbuc to J?am jewinne for8. c 1341 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 542 In 2 novis Sestres factis de novo pro bracina, 20d. 1347-8 Ibid. 546 In 2 Cestris novis fact, et ferro ligand, pro bracina, 2s. 10 d.

2. A liquid measure for beer, wine, etc. In OE. rendering L. modius, cadus, metreta, and sextarius. 909 in Thorpe Charters (1865) 158 Twelf seoxtres beoras. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. John ii. 6 Staenino fatto.. niomende syndrije sestras tuoeje uel Srea [Ags. Gosp. selc waes on twejra sestra jemete oS6e on I?reora]. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 92 Twejen sestres sapan, & tweje hunies & J?re sestres ecedes, & se sester sceal wejan twa pund. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. 11. 410 In half a sester [L. heminam] aged wyn do shake. 1494 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 113 Then yee must goe to the servant of the seller, and warne him to make readie .. as many sesteres of wine as yee thinke will serve the people. 1528 Coventry Leet Bk. 696 No bruer.. frome-hensfurth shall sell eny ale within this Citie by the Cester aboue ij s. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Demy Setier,.. halfe sester.

b. f sester-penny, ? a charge made upon every sester of beer brewed. 1328 in Essex Rev. XIII. 203 Every copieholder that doeth brewe bere or ale to sell, shall paye yerely in the moneth of harvest one penye called Cestre-penye.

3. A dry measure for wheat, etc. In mod. use only Hist, with reference to O.E. Chron. an. 1043, On J>isum waes.. corn swa dyre.. swa past se sester hwaetes eode to .lx. peneja & eac furCor. C1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 444/4 Mine, healfsester. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. viii. 148 A sester and a semycicle take Of senuey seed. 1707 Bp. Fleetwood Chron. Prec. 65 A Sester or Sextarius was what we now call a Quarter, or a Seam, containing 8 Bushels. [1848 Petrie tr. Ags. Chron. 433-]

sesterce ('ssst3:s). PI. sesterces ('sestssiz, -3:siz). Also pi. 6-7 sestercies, 7 -ties; sing. 7 sestercie. [ad. L. sestertius properly adj. (sc. nummus coin) = that is two and a half, f. semis half 4- tertius third; cf. sesqui-.] A Roman coin, originally equivalent to 2\ asses, later to 4 asses; the fourth part of a denarius. pi. 1598 Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. vi. iv. (1622) 127 Putting a hundred million sesterces in bancke. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster in. iv. 64 What does this gentleman owe thee, little Minos? Mino. Fourescore sesterties, sir. 1611Catiline 11. i, He, tame Crow,.. would haue kept Both eyes, and beake seal’d vp, for sixe sesterces. 1624 Burton Anat. Mel. 11. iii. hi. (ed. 2) 267 Rings on his fingers worth 20000 sestercies. 1702 Addison Dial. Medals 1. Wks. 1766 III. 10 That.. would rather choose to count out a Sum in Sesterces, than in pounds sterling. 1834 Lytton Pompeii 1. i, An additional reason for supping with him while the sesterces last. 1882 Farrar Early Chr. 5 A robe covered with pearls and emeralds, which had cost forty million sesterces. 1885 R. Bridges Nero iii. ii, See, here I give you Two hundred sesterces. sing. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster iv. vii. 9 I’ll sell ’hem my share for a sesterce. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Sesterce, Sestercie. 1771 Raper in Phil. Trans. LXI. 489 The As was reduced to one ounce, and the silver denarius made to pass for 16 Asses; the quinarius, for eight; and the sesterce, for four. 1850 Merivale Rom. Emp. lxi. (1865) VII. 338 Costly wars .. had drained perhaps to the last sesterce the coffers of the empire. 1861 Sheppard Fall of Rome ii. 98 Destitute and degraded, without a sesterce and without a friend.

U Misused for sestertium. 1693 Dry den's Juvenal iv. (1697) 76 The lavish Slave Six thousand Pieces for a Barbel gave; A Sesterce for each Pound it weigh’d. 1819 Pantologia s.v., Some authors make two kinds of sesterces: the less, called sestertius.. and the great one, called sestertium.

t 'sestern. Obs. Also 5 cestron, 6 sestorne, seystarne, 7 sestron. [var. sester; cf. testern, var. tester1. See also sextern.] = sester. 1421 Coventry Leet Bk. 25 That no breuster sell no derre a Cestron ale to noo hukster but for xviij d. 1502 Arnolde Chron. 72 b/2 The tonne of burdeux .. holdith in sesternes lxiij. sesternes. -The .. sesterne iiij. galons. 1534 1n ,®harp Cov. Myst. (1825) 183 A Seystarne & a halfe of ale ijs iijd. 1682 Art £f Myst. Vintners 15 Every Sestron is 4 gallons.

sestern(e, obs. forms of cistern. Ilsestertium (se'st3:Jram). PI. sestertia (-Jia); also 6 sex-, -cia, -tiaes, 7 -tias. [L., usually explained as the gen. pi. sestertium of sestertius sesterce (with ellipsis of mille a thousand), taken as neut. sing. The use of the sing, in the sense ‘1000 sesterces’, which must on this view have existed, does not appear to be found in the classics; the pi. for ‘thousands of sesterces’ was common. On the other hand, the gen. pi. sestertium, after decies ten times, centies a hundred times, was used with ellipsis of centena millia (= 100,000), and when so used was sometimes treated as a neut. sing.]

A sum of a thousand sesterces. 1540-1 Elyot Image Gov. xxx. (1544) 71b, Euery Sestertium (which in englysh money of olde grotes.. amounteth to .iiii. li .xvi.s. viii. d.). 1549 W. Thomas Hist. Ital. 27 b, Plinie saieth, that The conueighaunce of this water [Aqua Claudia] did coste .555. thousande sextertia.. the summe amounteth to .vii. millions and .viii. hundred thousand poundes of our money. 1598 Meres Palladis Tamia 11. 284 b, Octauia.. gaue him [sc. Virgil] for making 26 verses, 1137 pounds, to wit, tenne Sestertiaes for euerie verse. 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus 1. i, There is a Gentleman of Rome would buy... Sat. A Tribunes place, my Lord. Sei. What will he giue? Sat. Fiftie Sestertia. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1851) II. 832/1 They thought it better to deposit five hundred sestertia each. 1834 Lytton Pompeii 1. iii, ‘I will play no more,’ said Glaucus, ‘I have lost thirty sestertia.’ 1842 W. Smith's Diet. Class. Antiq. 875 Up to the time of Augustus.. the sestertium = £8. 17. 1; after the reign of Augustus the sestertium = £7. 16. 3.

|| sestertius (se'st3:Ji9s). Also 7 erron. sex-, -ties. PI. sestertii (-Jiai). [L.: see sesterce.] = SESTERCE. In the first two quots. the form app. represents the Lat. acc. pi. 1567 Painter Pal. Pleas. II. xiii, She sent one to demaunde .xii. C. Sestercios of siluer. 1584 Cogan Haven Health clxxviii. 143 Asinius Celer .. paid .. 8000 Sestertios, which after Tonstals account is fourty pound sterling. 1600 Holland Livy xlv. 1231 Twentie millions of Sestertij. 01630 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Wks. 1. 66/2 An As, a Drachma, a Sesterties. 01700 Evelyn Diary 6 May 1645, The Sestertius was a small silver coyne marked H. S. or rather LLS, valu’d 2 pound and half of silver. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 653/1 Under Severus Alexander there was the latest large issue of denarii and sestertii.

sestet(t, sestette (ses'tet). [ad. It. sestetto: see next and -et1, -ette, and cf. sextet ] 1. Mus. A composition for six voices or instruments. 1801 Busby Diet. Mus., Sestetto, or Sestett. 1874 OUSELEY Mus. Form 52 Thus are constructed .. sestetts, septetts, and ottetts. 1883 Grove's Diet. Mus. III. 475/2 Instrumental sestets are of two kinds; those for strings only .. and those for various combinations of strings, wind and pianoforte.

2. Pros. The last six lines of a sonnet. Cf. OCTAVE, OCTET. a 1859 L. Hunt Bk. Sonnet (1867) I. 10 The Minor division [of the Italian sonnet consists] of six lines, called the Sestette. 1881 Athenaeum 8 Oct. 459/3 The regular sonnet of octave and sestet. 1882 Macm. Mag. Feb. 325 This rhythmic variation of the order in the sestet rhymes. 1896 E. Gosse Crit. Kit-Kats 7 No fault can be found with the structure of her [Mrs. Browning’s] octetts and sestetts.

||sestetto (ses'tetto). Mus. [It., f. sesto sixth (:—L. sextus) + dim. suffix -etto.] = sestet i. 1801 [see sestet 1]. 1824 Medwin Convers. Byron II. 261 At the moment he was listening to a sestetto in Mayer’s opera of ‘Elena’. 1879 Longf. Life (1891) III. 294 The sestetto at the end of the second act was splendid.

t'sestiad. Obs. In 6-7 sestyad. [ad. Gr. UrjorLag, -a8os (Musaeus) adj., f. Zrjoros Sestus, a town on the Hellespont. Used by Chapman (after Iliad) as the title of each of the six divisions of Hero & Leander (Linley’s ed. 1598); hence in transf. sense below.]

Any one of six cantos or main divisions of a poem. 1646 S. Sheppard {title) The Times Displayed in six Sestyads.

Ilsestiere (sesti'ere). PI. -ieri. [It., f. L. sextarius the sixth part of a measure.] In Italy: one of six districts or areas of a city. Cf. quartiere. L. Lewkenor tr. Contarim s Commonwealth & Govt. Venice 185 The Citie of Venice is divided into sixe parts, which they call Sestieri. 1673 J. Ray Observations Journey Low-Countries 151 This City [sc. Venice] is., divided into six parts or regions, called thence Sestieri. 1832 S. DE Sismondi Hist. Ital. Republics iv. 84 The town [of Florence] was divided into six parts, each sestier, as it was called, named two anziani. 1893 J. A. Symonds tr. A. Condivi in Life of Michelangelo I. i. 2 He was appointed captain of a Sestiere; for Florence in those days was divided into Sestieri, instead of Quartieri. 1934 Burlington Mag. Sept. 100/1 St. Peter, the patron of the sestiere of the town which he represented. 1980 Times 8 Dec. (Winter Holidays Suppl.) p. v/4 The most satisfactory way of tackling the 1599

SET

5°

SESTERN

surface of [Venetian] sights is to concentrate on one of the city’s six sestieri (districts) at a time.

I sestina (se'stiina). Pros. Also erron. sestino. [It., f. sesto sixth.] A poem of six six-line stanzas (with an envoy) in which the line-endings of the first stanza are repeated, but in different order, in the other five. 1838 Guest Engl. Rhythms iv. v. II. 372 The Sestinostave, invented by Arnaud Daniel, the Troubadour eulogised by Dante and Petrarch. [1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXV. 818/1 It was from the Provencal chanzo that the Italians derived their Sestina and Distichi.] 1878 Swinburne Poems Ball. Ser. 11. 60 The Complaint of Lisa. (Double Sestina.) 1880 Hueffer in Macm. Mag. Nov. 49 The sestina is a dangerous experiment, on which only poets of the first rank should venture. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas 158 (.title) Sestina of the tramp-royal.

sestine (se'stiin). Pros. rare. [a. obs. F. sestine, ad. It. sestina (see prec.). Cf. sextain.] = prec. 01586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (1598) 219 To present Basilius with some other of their complaints Eclogue-wise, and first with this double Sestine. Ibid. iv. 426 One Agelastus.. framing an vniuersall complaint in that vniuersall mischiefe, vttered it in this Sestine. 1611 Cotgr., Sestine, a Sestine, or stanzo of six verses. 1879 E. Gosse New Poems 157 Arnaut, great master of the lore of love, First wrought sestines to win his lady’s heart.

sestole, sestolet,

occas. var. ff. sextole, -et.

seston ('sestan). Biol, and Oceanogr. [a. G. seston (R. Kolkwitz 1912, in Ber. Deut. Bot. Ges. XXX. 341), ad. Gr. otjotov, neut. of orjaros that which is filtered, f. o-qOeiv to strain, filter; cf. plankton.] Fine particulate matter suspended in water, esp. that which is organic or living. 1916 B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms (ed. 3) 344/2 Seston, plankton material retained by very fine meshed sieves. 1941 Ecol. Monogr. XI. 58/1 The varieties in sestonic phosphorus are correlated with both the mass of organic seston and the quantity of phytoplankton, as measured by its chlorophyll content. 1957 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. vi. 417 Seston color of this sort is often observed in highly productive lakes. 1967 Ibid. II. xix. 235 The seston consists of bioseston, or plankton and nekton, which latter is ordinarily quantitatively negligible, and of abioseston or tripton. Ibid. 243 The entire mass of suspended matter in a volume of free water is called seston, the nonliving part, tripton. 1971 New Scientist 15 July 145/2 The evidence suggests that the amount of chlorophyll from phytoplankton ..is diminishing.., while the amount of seston (oxygen consumers) is increasing.

Hence se'stonic a., of, pertaining to, or being seston. 1941 [see above]. 1967 Oceanogr. Marine Biol. V. 221 At a glance these ribbons appeared to be sestonic debris from coastal algae of phanerogams.

sesto(u)rne,

obs. forms of cistern. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 1. (1586) 28 b, My Barley is fyrst steeped in a Sestorne of water a day or two. 1603 Inv. in Gage Hengrave (1822) 27 One greate coppr sestourne to stand at the coobard.

sestre, obscure variant of thester

v.

01300 E.E. Psalter lxxiii. 20 Ful-filled er pa\ pa pat sestrede [v.r. cestered] er in mirkenes.

sestrone,

obs. form of cistern. 1536 Cocker sand Chartul. (Chetham Soc.) III. n. 1179 Item oone grete Sestrone of ledd at xx s.

sestuor ('sestju:o:(r)). Mus. Also sextuor. [f. It. sesto sixth, after septuor.] A sestet. 1862 T. A. Trollope Marietta I. vi. 112 Quartettes, sestuors, quintettes.

sesun(e, -yn(e,

obs. forms of season.

Sesuto, Sesutu,

varr. Sesotho.

set (set), sb.1 Also 4-5 sete, 3-6 sette, (6 seat), 5(now prevalent in many technical senses) sett, [f. set v.1, partly directly from the vb.-stem, and partly a subst. use of set ppl. a.; the two formations cannot always be distinguished. OE. had set neut., seat (in sing, place of setting of the sun; in pi. setu, seotu collect, in the senses camp, stable or cowhouse), corresp. to OHG. sez neut., seat (MHG. sez neut., masc., seat, siege, mod.G. sess masc., seat), ON. set neut., abode: —OTeut. *seto-m, f. *set-: see sit v. It is doubtful whether this survived beyond OE.; the rare early ME. sette seat appears to be (as the rhyme shows in one instance) an irregular spelling for sete seat sb.1 Sense i below can hardly have been influenced by the OE. word, as this occurs (in sing.) only in phr. e.g. to sete gan (= to set), and the dat. sb. would have become sete in early ME. On the other hand, sense i may be partly due to an adoption of ON. -setr neut., -seta fern, (in dagsetr, solarsetr, -seta: see sunset), which are cogn. with OE. set.)

I. The action of setting or condition of being set. 1. a. The act of setting (of a luminary); the apparent descent of the heavenly bodies towards the horizon at the close of their diurnal period. Now only poet, except in sunset. c 1386 [see day set, day sb. 24]. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 257 Riht evene upon the Sonne set. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 2045 And so to sett of pe- son sesid pai neuire. 1592 Daniel Compl. Rosamond Wks. (1717) 39 This fair Morning had a shameful Set. 1594 Drayton Idea liii [lx], Tell me, if euer since the world begunne, So faire a morning had so foule a set? 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, iv. i. 292 But [the King] like a Lacquey, from the Rise to Set, Sweates in the eye of Phebus.

1605-Macb. 1. i. 5 That will be ere the set of Sunne. 1618 Chapman Hesiod's Georg. 11. 366 The Seuen-stars, and the Fiue, That twixt the Bulls homes, at their set arriue. 1654-66 Earl Orrery Parthen. (1676) 569 The Sun was fiue hours from his set. 1724 Ramsay Vision xvii, Frae the sun’s rysing to his sett. 1812 Cary Dante, Purg. xvm. 80 When they of Rome behold him [the sun] at his set Betwixt Sardinia and the Corsic isle. 1834 Mrs. Bray Warleigh xxxi, The sun had already made a fiery set. 1845 Sumner True Grandeur Nations (1846) 13 Between the rise and set of a single sun. b. set of day: (a) the time at which the sun sets; (b) the west. 1623 Lisle JElfric on O. N. Test. Ded. xv, Thou .. shalt .. Extend thy fame fro Set to Spring of day. 1830 Tennyson Adeline ii, Looking at the set of day. 1868 Nettleship Ess. Browning v. 127 At set of day. 1885-94 R. Bridges Eros Psyche Mar. xxiii, Lookt left and right to rise and set of day. c. fig. of the close of life. 1625 in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 158 Yet can they never deny but that admired Serenity had its set in a Cloud. 1635 A. Stafford Fern. Glory 13 Anna.. being then in the Occident, or set of life. f2. ? A setting oneself to fight, encounter, attack. Obs. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15658 Wyj? Cadwaly so harde he met, & Cadwalyn fley atte ferste set. |3. a. Letting, lease. Sc. Obs. 1439 Charters, etc. Edin. (1871) 64 Sindry aide charteris, takis, and settis of feefedorme made to thaim. 1471 Acts Lds. Auditors (1839) 14/2 pat he sail haue na dale nor entrometing t>arwith ,. without pt he optene tak & set J?arof. 1476 Ibid. 41/1 Dauid allegiand at pe said landis of logycarroch belangit him be Resone of Sete. 1583 Exch. Rolls Scot. XXL 564 Thair was ane set maid of the kingis majesties landis. 1600 J. Melvill Autobiog., etc. (1842) 11 Be whome they might gett a new sett and possessioun of thay teind fisches. ou settest at nou3t, y bou3t so dere. CI460 Wisdom 927 in Macro Plays 66 Why werkyst pou hys consell? by myn settis lyght? c 1460 Russell Bk. Nurture 69 in Babees Bk., When pow settyst a pipe abroche. 1535 Coverdale Job vii. 17 What is man that thou.. settest so moch by him? 1558 Phaer JEneid 1. Cj b, My son, that of the thonderblastes of hye Ioue settst but light. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. Epigr. (1867) 134 Shall I set at my hart, that thou settst at thy heele. 1611 Bible Deut. xxiii. 20 In all that thou settest thine hand to. 1682 Dryden Mac-Fl. 199 With whate’er gall thou settst thy self to write.

c. Pres. Ind. jrd person sing, ai-4 sette)?, (Anglian sete)?), 3 -epp, 4 zettep, 5-6 settyth, -ith, 5 -eth. C825 Vesp. Psalter ciii. 3 Se seteS wolcen upstije his. C975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 51 Dad his [he] setep miS liceterum. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxxxiv. 12 And on wes sette6 wise gangas. c 1200 Ormin 7821 Drihhtin settepp i pin pohht God dede to biginnenn. 1340 Ayenb. 6 Huo pet ine pise pinges ageltep zettep zuo moche hire herte.. [etc.]. C1450 Mirk's Festial 283 3e settyth noght by no worldely worschyp. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia 11. (1895) 149 He settethe nothynge by yt. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1664) 169 Let Christ (as it setteth him well) have all the glory.

/3. 1—5 set(t, (2 saet, 4 Kent. zet). f888 Alfred Boeth. xxxv. §4 pset hehste god, Sset.-hit eall set. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 963, Nan man buton se abbot ane, & pam pe he paerto saet. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 179 Gief he him set a speche. 1340 Ayenb. 7 Ine pe stede of pe sabat.. zet holi cherche pane sonday to loky. C1400 Rom. Rose 4925 Youthe sett man in all folye. 1422 YoNGEtr. Secreta Secret, xxxvi. 191 Man be-hettith woman loue when he Set the Ring on hir fynger.

y. i {Northumb.), 5 settes, 4 settus, 4-6 north. settis, -ys, (5 setis, sattys), 6- sets (setts). C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 51 Dal his [he] settes mi8 lejerum. 1340-7024/ex. & Dind. 182 pe .. king.. pere-on settus his sel. 01400-50 Wars Alex. 1221 Sampson on anothire side setis out belyue. 14.. Erthe upon Erthe (1911) 32/4 How erthe vpon erthe sattys all at noght. C1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 579 He saies he settes here pat he fande. 01586 Sidney Ps. ciii. ii, He setts thee free. 1601 Shaks. Twel. N. ill. iv. 79 And consequently setts downe the manner how. 1607-Cor. in. i. 270 Which he so sets at naught. 1807 A. Young Agric. Essex II. 334 At this Michaelmas (1805) he setts 2000.

d. Imperative. 1-5 sete (1 Northumb. sett), 3-6 sette, 4 zete, 4-6 sett, 4- set; pi. 1 setta)?, 3-4 sette)?, 4-5 settith, north, settis. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. ix. 18 On sett hond ofer hia [Rushw. jesette]. 971 Blickl. Horn. 87 Sete nu pin wuldres tacn in helle. ciooo /Elfric Horn. II. 542 Setta8 eomostlice on eowerum heortum pset [etc.], c 1205 Lay. 27216 SetteS heom after. Ibid. 3699 )>u.. irum al pat lond and sete hit Cordoille an hond. 1340 Ayenb. 254 Zete ane brydel to pine couaytises. 1374 Chaucer Troilus iv. 622 But manly set pe world on sixe and seuene. 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 563 Beis nocht abasit.. Bot settis speris 30W befor. 1410 in 26 Pol. Poems 37 Among seyntes py soule sete. c 1449 Pecock Repr. II. xviii. 257 Sette thou me bisidis thee, c 1450 Mirk's Festial 139 Castys don pes mawmetys .. and settype per a cros. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 27 Settith before vs the bred. 1535 Coverdale Col. iii. 2 Set youre mynde on the thinges which are aboue.

2. Past Tense, a 1-6 sette (1-3 saette, 3 seate), 3-5 sete, (4 zette), 4-7 sett, 4- set. Beowulf 325 Setton ssemepe side scyldas .. wi8 pass recedes wash c 975 Rushw. Gosp. John xx. 15 Ssege hraeSe me hwer 5u settes hine. c 1000 Guthlac 405 (Gr.) GuSlac sette hyht in heofonas. 01122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086, He saette mycel deorfriS. m6o Hatton Gosp. Luke xix. 21 )>u nymst paet pu ne settst. o 1175 Cott. Horn. 221 God him sette nama adam. a 1300 Cursor M. 4175 Sipen pai settam [= sett pam] dun and ete. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. (Rolls) 2086 Gwyndolene a child had pan,.. When tyme was, [she] set hit to boke. C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 208 Wher-to, my modir, settist pou me on pi knees,.. and rokkid me, and fed me? c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 507 He sette nat his benefice to hyre. 1558 G. Cavendish Poems (1825) II. 14 Thou didest me avaunce, And settest me uppe in thys great pompe and pryde. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 65 The same proposition .. which I sette downe before, c 1610 Women Saints 35 Some she sett out of prison, a 1700 Evelyn Diary 21 May 1685, The jeweller and goldsmith who sett them.

fi. 5-9 sat, sate. Frequent in inferior writers of the second half of the 18th c., esp. in intr. senses. c 1420 Master of Oxf. Catech. in Rel. Ant. I. 231 C[lerk] Who sat first vines? Mfaister] Noe set the first vines. 1430-40 Lydg. Bochas vm. xv. (1558) 10 Theodose .. Smote of his heed, and sate [edd. 1494, 1554 set] it on the gate. 01547 *n Fosbrooke Econ. Mon. Life (1796) 84 She sate forward aft[er] masse. 1561 Nuce tr. Seneca's Octavia (1581) iii. iii, That.. rage.. Sate them agog. 1677 W. Hubbard Narrative II. 66 We sate Sayle. 1716 B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1865) I. 119 The fore-most sat down his load and halted. 1742-3 Observ. Methodists 19 The Lord sat his Banner over us. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 74 Like Yorick, he often sat the table on a roar. 1756 Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans I. 109 The coach being ready, the ladies.. sate out for the hall. 1790 Cath. Graham Lett. Educ. 318 The example which the king and his courtiers sat. 1808 Helen St. Victor Ruins of Rigonda I. 186 He then sat before them some dried fruits. 1824 Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. III. 137 note, The Prince and Marquis, .sate out with the names of Thomas and John Smith.

y. dial. 8-9 sot, s.w. zot. 1776 T. Hutchinson Diary 5 June (1886) II. 67, I sot out from Falmouth this morning. 1803 Mary Charlton Wife 6 Mistress II. 51 Dolly informed her that she was to depart

SET the next day .. because, as the caravan sot off by five in the morning, they should not catch her travelling before day¬ light. 1840 Spurdens Voc. E. Angl. s.v. Sot, I sot it down. 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago III. 161 If ever he sot a foot here! 1886 W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., Zot his back up purty well.

S. north. [1 pi. seton], 4 seit, sete, 5, 8-9 seet(e. [< 95G Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xv. 19 Seton cnewa.] a 1300 Cursor M. 2442 par he seit first his auter stan. 1375 Barbour Bruce III. 394 And certane tyme till him he sete [rime meite], a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 4654 For many seerties we seet pat sysed all pe werde. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lane. Dial. vi. (1828) 68 Then they aw seete ogen meh.

(This group embraces a large number of uses in which the precise implication of sense depends mainly on the kind of construction employed.) V. To appoint, prescribe, ordain, establish. VI. To arrange, fix, adjust. VII. To place mentally, suppose, estimate. VIII. To put or come into a settled position or condition. IX. To put in the way of following a course, cause to take a certain direction.

X.

Senses

perhaps

origin

Frequent in Caxton. 1382 Wyclif Isa. liii. 3 Wherfore ne wee setteden by hym. c 1449 Pecock Repr. v. ix. 530 Crist.. settid the lawe of hise sacramentis to the seid lawe of kinde. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 245 Reynawde setted noughte by his lyffe. c 1520 Nisbet N. T. Matt. iv. 5 The feend .. settit him on the pynacile of the tempile. 1582 Bentley Mon. Matrones iii. 330 O heauenlie King, who.. settedst me in the regall throne. 1888 Berks. Gloss. 12, I zetted.

adverbs in specialized senses.

a 1300 Cursor M. 5058 And pan on bink he sitt him bi [other MSS. set, sete, sett].

3. Past Participle, ai seset(t, -sa jesaslSa pe je oninnan iow habbaS .. jeset. c 1050 Ags. Horn. (Assmann) 183 Hys flaisc wearS eall jesett. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 11 pas da3es beoS iset us to muchele helpe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 416 peos riche ancren pet.. habbeS rentes i-sette. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 9 Childer, pat ben to boke ysett. 1340 Ayenb. 167 Erpan hi by yzet ope pet bord. a 1440 Sir Degree. 1373 Swythe chayres was i-sete And quyschonis of vyolete. .

B. Signification. General arrangement of senses. I. To cause to sit, seat; to be seated, sit. II. To sink, descend. III. To put in a definite place (the manner of the action being implied either in the verb itself or in the context). IV. To place or cause to be in a position, condition, relation, or connexion.

arising

from

reversal of construction or from ellipsis (their

e. 4 settede, 4-5 -ide, 5 -id, -yd, 5-6 -ed, 6 Sc. -it, 9 s.w. dial, zetted.

£. 4 sitt. (Cf. I y)

SET

55

being

often

obscure).

prepositions in specialized senses.

XI.

With

XII. With

(Combinations

formed on the verb-stem are given in a separate article, set-.) i»- A phrase key is given at the end of the article. I. To cause to sit, seat; to be seated, sit. The intransitive sense ‘to sit’ (5) was apparently developed out of the reflexive and passive uses of the original transitive sense of ‘to seat’. Set, being thus used synonymously with sit, became capable of taking its other senses and constructions (see 5 d, e, 6, 7). 1. a. trans. To place in a sitting posture; to cause to occupy a seat; to seat. This sense is barely exemplified outside certain phraseological expressions, e.g. to seton a seat, a throne, on horseback, etc., in which the sense ‘cause to sit’ is now lost sight of. (Prov. to set a beggar on horseback: to give an undeserving person an advantage which he will misuse.) c 888 K. /Elfred Boeth. viii. §5 pn settest us on paet setl Sines sceoppendes. 1130 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.), pa munecas.. setten him on J?es abbotes settle, c 1205 Lay. 14074 pe king.. sgette hine bi him seoluen. 1300-1400 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) App. xx. 446 To king he was iblessed .. & iset in trone. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xn. 198 R^t as sum man 3eue me mete and sette me amydde pe flore. 1470-85 Malory Arthur iii. ii. 101 The Bisshop of Caunterbury.. sette the viij and xx knyghtes in her syeges. c 1485 in Rutland Papers (Camden) 19 The King..shalbe sett a gayn in his chair befor the high aulter. 1530 Palsgr. 712/1 Come hyther, Kate, and I wyll set the on my lappe, and daunce the. Ibid. 713/1 In the stede of a good man we set a shrewe upon the benche. 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. 1. (1608) B 2, Dut. Nay set you a horse back once, Youle nere light off. Spu. Indeed I am a beggar. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. 11. iii. 11. 395 Set a beggar on horseback, and he will ride a gallop. 1660 Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. 1. (1682) 158 Having set the two Ladies.. upon two green Seats. 1692 R. L’Estrange Fables lxx. 69 They.. Set Boys upon the Back on’t [a camel]. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Descr. xiv. 132 Who setting us upon Camels, conducted us to Mazna. fb. To cause (a body of persons) to sit in deliberation. Obs. (Cf. 4 c.) a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 675, Da heot seo kining hone aercebiscop Theodorus pact he scolde setton ealle gewitenemot aet hone stede paet man cleopeS Heatfelde. 1375 Barbour Bruce 1. 591 The king a parlyament Gert set thareftir hastely. 1560 Inchaffray Charters (S.H.S.) 167 With power to gar set and affirme courte or courtis. c. To put (a hen) to sit on eggs. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. 1.575 What wommon connot sette an hen obrood And bringe her briddis forth? 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. § 146 Whan they waxe brodye, to sette them there as noo beastes.. hurte them. 1530 Palsgr. 710/2, I will set sixe hennes a brodyng agaynst this Marche. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 191 The best Age to set a Hen for Chickens, is from two years old to five. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 709 It is not an unusual practice to set a hen at any time of the day. 1867 jfrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. 11. III. 522, I never set less than three hens at one time. d. To cause (a bird) to perch. 1530 Palsgr. 710/2, I set a hauke on her perche,je perche. .. Go set my hauke on her perche. 1864 Browning J. Lee's Wife ill. i, The swallow has set her six young on the rail. f 2. refl. To go down upon one's knees (aknee, aknewling, on knee(s, etc.); = sit v. 19. Obs. c 1250 Meid Maregrete lxvii, Malchus herde thes wordes, he sette him acne, a 1300 K. Horn 781 He sette him a knewelyng. c 1300 Havelok 1211 On knes ful fayre he hem setten. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 455 Doun I sette me on myn kne. 3. refl. To seat oneself, take a seat, sit down. (Most freq. to set oneself down: see 143 i, a.) a 1300 K. Horn 1475 He sette him on pe benche His harpe for to clenche. C1374 Chaucer Troilus ill. 608 After to pe souper alle and some.. ]?ey hym sette. CI400 Destr. Troy 5092 periore set you full sone. Ibid. 12214 He .. set hym to ground, c 1500 Melusine 154 My doughter, sette you here by me. a 1586 Sidney Ps. ix. ii, Setting thy self, in throne which shined bright, Of judging right. 4. pass. To be seated. (See also set down i, b.) c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 6516 Afterward her compeinie Was yset,.. & next hem.. Sat pe kn^tes of pe rounde table. C1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 62 pe men weren sette as it were fyve pousand. cl^00 Destr. Troy 1711 When pe souerayne was set in a sete rioll. c 1410 Sir Cleges 469 The kynge was sett in his parlor, Wyth myrth solas and onor. 1503 in Lett. Rich. Ill Gf Hen. VII (Rolls) I. 192 Next the .. Saxon, the marques of Brandeburgh.. bisshop of Laufenburgh were sett. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 156 It so fortuned that as thei were set, the Italian knockt at the Gate. 1697 Dryden JEneid vi. 821 The Queen of Furies by their sides is set. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §305 Most of the workmen were set round the fire. 1852 Thackeray Esmond 11. xv, Most of the party were set to cards. 1875 Freeman in W. R. W. Stephens Life (1882) II. 254 Soft chairs, in which, when one is once set, it is hard to get up again. b. To be seated to partake of a meal {to meat, at or to dinner, etc.). Obs. or arch. Partly a spec, use of prec., partly a true passive of sense 1. 13.. K. Alis. 538 To the mete they weoren y-set. c 1440 Generydes 387 The Kyng was sette and serued in the hall. C1475 Rauf Coil^ear 183 Quhen thay war seruit and set to

the Suppar. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. (1812) I. 396 He., was set at the table to eate some meate. 1596 Danett tr. Comines (1614) 118 After the K[ing] was set to dinner. 1625 Massinger New Way iii. ii, I play the foole To stand here prating, and forget my dinner. Are they set Marrall? 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 132 When they were again set to dinner, the page entered.

fc. To be seated for deliberation or judgement; (of a court) to be in session. Obs. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 249 Whan the Court is set. £1400 Pety Job 422 in 26 Pol. Poems 134 Thou shalt me call at domesday, When thow art set on iugement. 01548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII {1550) 181 b, After that thei [the Legates] wer set.. their Commission was redde. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. ill. vi, Bring forth the Prisoner, for the Court is set. 1626 B. Jonson Staple of N. iii. i. 41 Is the examiner set? 01700 Evelyn Diary 26 May 1671, Being all set, our Patent was read.

d. Of a rabbit: To be resting. 1801 [see form v.2]. 1817 J. Mayer Sportsman’s Direct. (ed. 2) 195 The stag is said to be harboured,.. the hare formed, the rabbit set, the marten-cat treed.

5. a. intr. To sit, be seated. (Sometimes, as in 4 b, c, with spec, reference to partaking of a meal or sitting in judgement, etc.). Now U.S., dial, or vulgar. (See also set down, 143 i, c.) c 1205 Lay. 22913 A bord swiSe hende pat per ma3en setten [c 1275 sitte] to sixtene hundred & ma. C1275 Ibid. 19704 Here vte sette]? [c 1205 sitteS] six men. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints Prol. 132 Quhene at he Suld sit in sege of maieste, pai twelf sud set with hym-self. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5095 pen set pai sone, as said horn the kyng. 1470-85 Malory Arthur xiii. vii. 620 And soo after vpon that to souper, and euery kny3t sette in his owne place, c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvi. 377 He made theim to set vpon a benche. 1530 Palsgr. 713/2, I set hyest, or upper moste in a companye,_/e preside. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden K 1, Such men as .. set on the pillory for.. periurie. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. iv. 23 They may set in the Orchestra, and noblest Seats of Heaven. 1662 Gerbier Principles 30 The King and Queen only remaining.. setting under the Cloath of State. 1680 Otway Orphan iii. ii, As with his Guests he set in Mirth rais’d high. 1788 Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 385 It is very possible that the President and the new Congress may be setting at New York. 1825 R. P. Ward Tremaine I. xxiii. 173 He had set upon tenter-hooks during the whole conversation. 1844 Dickens Chimes 1. 30 You must always go and be a settin on our steps must you! 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lv, I’m thinkin’ if I set here until I’m paid my wages, I shall set a precious long time, Mrs. Raggles: and set I will, too. 1884 C. H. Smith Bill Arp's Scrap Bk. vi. 74 Lawyers and doctors have to set about town. 1897 WattsDunton Aylwin vii. ii, When you two was a-settin’ by the pool, a-eatin’ the breakfiss. 1913 H. Kephart Our Southern Highlanders xiii. 298 ‘Come in and set.’ ‘Cain’t stop long.’ 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling i. 12 ‘If a feller’d light me a candle,’ she said, ‘I’d git shut o’ the dishwashin’ and mebbe have time to set and enjoy myself.’ 1974 P. De Vries Glory of Hummingbird (1975) iii. 37 Lolly came almost every evening to set a spell.

b. Of a hen: To sit upon eggs. 1586 [see abrood]. 1611 Cotgr., Oeuve, layed, or set on, as an egge. 1721 R. Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 85 Stopping when they have laid as many as they can set upon. 1726-Country Gentl. Monthly Director 31 Chuse the old Hens to set upon the Eggs, for they will set close. 1840 F. D. Bennett Whaling Voy. I. 371 The boobies.. that were ‘setting hard’, as the schoolboys say,.. screamed.. on our approach.

c. To become lodged upon. 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. i. 16 Sand is the worst description of ground for a ship to set on as it forms a curved base. 1887 Goode, etc. Fish. Industr. U.S. v. II. 540 The first thing found out was that the floating spawn would not attach itself to, or ‘set’ (in the vernacular of the shore) upon, anything which had not a clean surface. d. transf. and fig. = sit v. B. 7, 8, 14. Now dial.

or vulgar. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Verse) 317 pam .. pax for godes sake here sett Vnder pe band of Sant Benett. 1482 Cely Papers (Camden) 121 They off Gaunte hath sent to the Inglysch naschon and to Dutch naschon.. commaundyng them to sett styll.. and entermete w* noo party. 1536 in Lett. Suppress. Monast. (Camden) 113 The emperor him selfe was glad to sett still. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 1. 484 That which setteth neerest hir husbands hart. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. ill. vi, O monstrous times, where murders set so light. 1651 Howell Venice 2 The Eastern Emperors have divers times set upon her skirts [see skirt sb. 3]. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 34 Setting full as close to the very stamp or inmostness of a thinking Being, as [etc.]. 1803 Forest of Hohenelbe ill. 103 A disappointment that ought not to set very heavily on her mind. 1892 Harper's Mag. Dec. 22/1 The cat ate a rat, and it did not set well on her stomach.

e. To have a certain set or hang; to sit (well or ill, tightly or loosely, etc.). Cf. sit v. 16 b. 1804 tr. La Marteliere's Three Gil Bias II. 95 Your new clothes, which do not by any means set so well upon you. 1861 Temple Bar III. 250 To make the artificial hair curl and set naturally to the head. 1878 Napheys Phys. Life Worn. 205 A body-case of strong linen .. setting snugly to the form. 1883 J. P. Quincy Figures of Past 129 His brown wig, which set low upon his forehead. 1887 Lady V. 46 Sleeves lined with stiff or harsh linings never set well. 1892 Field 2 July 30/1 Her sail did not set at all well.

6. a. trans. To become, befit, suit. Chiefly Sc. (in mod. use often ironical). c 1480 Henryson Poems (S.T.S.) III. 103 Scho woir nevir grene nor gray That set hir half so weill. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 196 How it settis him so syde to sege of sic materis. C1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iv. 41 It settis not madynis als To latt men lowis thair lace. 1606 Rollock i Thess. 190 (Jam.) It is ouer sore to a Gentleman to doe that, it settes him not. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1664) 55 It sets him well howbeit he be young, to make Christ his garland. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iv. i, It sets him weel To yoke a plough where Patrick thought to till! 1814 Scott Wav. xxx, It wad better set you to be nursing the gudeman’s

SET bairns than to be deaving us here. 1827 Carlyle Germ. Rom. II. 241 How prettily the lace cap sets her. i860 Whyte-Melville Holmby House II. xxi. 301 It set him well now, a worn and broken man, to be taking thought of his looks like a girl. 1891 Barrie Little Minister ii, Gavin,.. do you think this bonnet sets me?

b. Also said of the person with regard to clothing, etc." 1892 Longman's Mag. Nov. 59 Mysie.. was a pretty creature, ‘setting’, in Scottish phrase, everything she wore.

7. To sit (a horse); = sit v. 22. rare. 1648 Petit. Eastern Assoc. 11 It will try how the new Riders will set the saddle. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 248 f 1 She set her horse with a very graceful air.

11. To sink, descend. |8. intr. To subside, abate. Obs. ciooo Sax. Leechd. III. 86 Nim fyrs..& lege uppa pat geswollene & hyt sceal sona settan. a 1225 Ancr. R. 274 pe swell schal setten.

9. a. Of the sun or other luminary: To go down; to make an apparent descent towards and below the horizon. (Conjugated, like other intr. verbs of motion, with either be or have.) Not in OE.: cf. ON. setjask. c 1300 Havelok 2671 So pat pei nouth ne blinne, Til pat to sette bigan pe sunne. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 3050 Als sone as pe son hup soght pe slaghter begynnys, And to sett was pe same sesytt pai neuer. £1440 Alphabet of Tales 74 J?°ti sail dye or pe son sett, a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (Sommer) 172 The Sun was readie to set. 1613 Chapman Maske Inns Crt., The ruddy Sunne was seen ready to be set. 1625 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. 1. x. 220 With them all the stars equally set & rise. 1792 A. Young Trav. France I. 18 The sun, on the point of being set. 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf vi, The sun setting red. 1822 Mrs. Hemans Siege of Valencia i. (1823) 121 Till the last pale star had set. 1847 C. Bronte J. Eyre v, The moon was set, and it was very dark. 1877 Miss Yonge Cameos Ser. 111. xxxiv. 360 The sun had long been set. transf. 1665 Dryden Ind. Emp. 1. ii. (1668) 6 Distant skies that in the Ocean set.

b. Of the day: To come to its close, poet. 1604 Drayton Moyses 11. 48 Euery minute is a day and night That breakes and sets in twinkling of an eie. 1610 B. Alch. 11. ii, The euening will set red, vpon you, sir. 1838 S. Bellamy Betrayal 67 The third day Had set upon the sepulchre. Jonson

c. fig. To decline, wane. 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. iv. 14 b, May not we set as well as the Dukes sonne. 1611 Second Maiden s Trag. 1302 And rise againe in health, to set in shame? 01627 Middleton Chaste Maid v. ii, Your malice sets in death, does it not, sir? 1654 Z. Coke Logick Pref., Having absolved your courses through Zodiac of praise worthy actions, you wil set laden with Lustre. 1812 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) II. xii. 396 She should have no twilight, but set in the full possession of her powers. 1890 Tout Hist. Eng.fr. 1689, 282 The British Empire in India seemed setting in fire and blood. 1892 Argosy June 496 The glory of Egypt seemed to have set.

f 10. Naut. to heave and set. to rise and fall with a heavy sea. Obs. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xxi. (1555) 99 Quadrant it was, and did heve and sette At every storme whan the wind was great. 1574 W. Bourne Regiment for Sea vi. (1577) 26 The Sea.. causeth the shippe to heaue, and sette little or much. 1630 Winthrop New Eng. (1825) I. 9 This day the ship heaved and set more than before. 1674 Petty Disc. bef. R. Soc. 60 If the said water be so rough, as that the Vessel heavs and sets.

III. To put (more or less permanently) in a definite place. * Where the manner of the action is implied in the verb itself. 111. a. trans. To place on or as on a foundation; to build, erect; = setup, 154 m Obs. a 900 Cynewulf Crist 356 pa pu aerest waere mid pone ecan frean sylf settende pas sidan jesceaft. a 1000 Caedmon's Gen. 1881 Ongunnon.. heora burh raeran & sele settan. £1250 Gen. & Ex. 562 Dat arche..set and limed a-3en 8e flood, a 1300 K. Horn 1395 Strong castel he let sette. a 1300 Cursor M. 20902 Quen he of antioche had fund pe kirk, and graytli set on grund. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1238 Formiblod no worp it pe bet, Neuer more pe bet yset. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 1649 Godis awen temple, pat of sir Salamon pe sage sett was & foundid. Ibid. 4305 And pat sullepe sire at sett all pe werde, In him we lely beleue & in na la3e ellis. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1689 Qwhen this Citie was set & full sure made. 1470 Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 13 3 A litill newe howse .. is bild and sett vpon the Comyn grond in the hye strete iij fote. fig. 1474 Caxton Chesse 11. v. (1883) 61 That pure lawe is sette alle vpon loue and charyte.

fb. pass. Of a figure: To rest (on a base). Obs. 1570 Billingsley Euclid vi. Prop. xxvi. 173 b, If from a parallelogramme be taken away a parallelograme like vnto the whole and in like sorte set. 1660 Barrow Euclid 1. xxxviii, Triangles set upon equal bases.

12. a. To put (a shoot or young plant) into the ground to grow; to plant (a tree, also by extension, a vineyard, flowers, a crop). Also, less usually, to plant (seed) by hand, as opposed to sowing; sometimes said of the plant; formerly also, fto cause to grow from seed (of a kernel). c 725 Corpus Gloss. P13, Pastinare, settan. a 1000 Caedmon's Gen. 1558 Da Noe.. wingeard sette, seow sseda fela. a 1225 Ancr. R. 378 3e beoS 3unge impen iset in Godes orcharde. £1250 Gen. & Ex. 1278 Abraham.. tillede corn and sette treen. a rnefde he nan setl, hwaer he sittan mihte, for pan pe nan heofon nolde hine aberan. 13.. Cursor M. 17872 (Gott.) Adam.. wid patriark and wid prophete, In mirk settlis par pai sete. a 1340 Hampole Psalter iv. 9, I sail rest in pe bed of endles blis & in pe setil of heuen. Ibid. Cant. 504 J>ou did down ill gastis & vicys of paire aide setile, pat pai hafe na powere in my saule. iii.

|2. Something to sit upon; a chair, bench, stool, or the like. Obs. c 897 K. Alfred Gregory's Past. C. lvi. 435 Hit is swifie gewunelic Saette domeras & rice menn on setelum sitten. ciooo Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxi. 12 Hyra setlu [c 975 Rushw. settlas] para pe culfran sealdon he tobraec. 01250 Owl & Night. 594 Among pe wede, among pe netle, Jm syttest & singst bihinde seotle. a 1300 Cursor M. 14734 hair setles pat pai in can sete, He kest pam dun. 13.. Gaw. Gr. Knt. 882 A cheyer by-fore pe chemne. .Was grayped for sir Gawan .. & he sete in pat settel semlych ryche. 1483 Caxton Golden Leg. 226/2 He dyd do make a siege or a stole of yron .. and after to sette fyre under it.. but the siege or setyl malte like waxe. 1483 Cath. Angl. 327/2 A Sedylle, sedile.

b. high settle (OE. heahsetl = OHG. hohsedal): an elevated seat, a chair of dignity or state; a seat of honour at table; a throne, seat of judgement. Obs. exc. arch, after OE. use. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xix. 13 Fore paem hehsedle [Vulg. pro tribunal!], ciooo j^Elfric Horn. (Th.) I. 272 Se rica man Se sitt on his heahsetle hraSe geswicp he his gebeorscipes gif 8u peowan jeswicap Saera teolunga. c 1205 Lay. 16646 J>a sat Agag pe king inne his haeh saettele. a 1225 Juliana 20 He lette bringen hire biuoren him to his heh seotel as he set in dome as reue. 1877 Green Hist. Eng. People I. i. 16 The high settle of King or Ealdorman.

3. spec. A long wooden bench, usually with arms and a high back (often extending to the ground), and having a locker or box under the seat. Cf. LANGSETTLE. 1553 Rec. St. Mary-at-Hill 53 Item, In ye qvire ij settelles with lockars apece. 1590 in Archaeologia (1866) XL. 327 Itm. an olde standing bedsted wth a settle unto it. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden To Rdr., D, His Booke.. I hauing kept idle by me in a by settle out of sight amongst old snooes and bootes almost this two yere. 1658 tr. Ussher's Ann. 114 They rap and make a noise with their hands or mallets, upon the deskes or settles in their Synagogues. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. 1. 47 Looking down under the Settle there he espied his Roll. 1700 Dryden Ovid's Met. vm. Baucis & Phil. 44 The Man .. A common Settle drew for either Guest, Inviting each his weary Limbs to rest. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 579 And cast him .. Down on an oaken settle in the hall. 1868 Eastlake Hints Househ. Taste 145 The common wooden settle which forms so comfortable and snug-looking a seat by rustic hearths.

b. A bench or seat in a boat (see quot.). 1867 Smyth stern-sheets.

Sailor's Word-bk., Settle, now termed the

4. A ledge, raised platform, fa. In the Bible, used to render Heb. *dzdrah (Vulg. crepido), app. either of two platforms or stages, surrounding the great altar, the one on a level with its base, and the other between this and the ground. Obs. 1611 Bible Ezek. xliii. 14 And from the bottom vpon the ground, euen to the lower settle [R.V. or ledge], shalbe two cubits,.. and from the lesser settle euen to the greater settle shalbe foure cubites. Ibid. 17. Ibid. xlv. 19.

b. (a) = settle-gang (b): see 6. (6) See quot. 18331799 J- Robertson Agric. Perth 183 For this purpose, I have seen the settles of the byre (cow-house) sometimes

floored. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §1206 The settles (gutters) for carrying off the urine.

c. (See quots.) 1695 Kennett Par. Antiq. s.v. Cart-Sadel, The frame of wood to support the barrels in a buttery or cellar, is call’d the Seddle and Settle. 1881 Isle of Wight Gloss., Settle,., a foundation, usually raised, for a rick. 1886 Chesh. Gloss., Settle, any bench or frame for supporting heavy weights. Thus a barrel of beer might be said to be stillaged ‘on a stone settle’.

5. Firework Manuf. A projection on the upper surface of the block used in filling tourbillon cases; it fits into the end of the case and forms a base for the composition during the process of filling. 1873 Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. 1. 135/2 Tourbillon cases are filled by means of an apparatus which consists of a block of wood, provided with a settle, on which one end of the tourbillon case is placed... The settle projects into the case about l of an inch. 1888 W. H. Browne Firework Making xx. 144 To fill the piece.. fit the end on to the settle, and see that it stands perfectly upright.

6. attrib. and Comb., as settle-back; settle bed, a settle adapted for alternative use as a seat or bed; f settle-bench, -chair = sense 3 above; settle-gang, f (a) the setting (of the sun); (b) dial., ‘the raised part of a cow-house on which the animals lie’ (Eng. Dial. Diet.). 1900 H. Sutcliffe Shameless Wayne vii. (1905) 97 Reaching across the ♦settle-back. 1641 in Burlington Mag. Mar. (1912) 342/2 A *settle bed of wanscote in Fashion of a Fourme, wherein is a Fetherbed. 1781 C. Johnston Hist.J. Juniper I. 8 A settle-bed, which served the double purpose of being sat upon, and slept in. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xix, His eyes involuntarily rested upon the little settle-bed. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 67 Sitting down upon a ♦settle-bench. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xiv. (Roxb.) 14/2 Some terme it a *settle chaire, being so weighty that it cannot be moued from place to place.., haueing a kind of box or cubbert in the seate of it. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xlix. 2 Fram sunnan up-gange, 06 hire *setl-gang. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xlix. 1 Fra sonne springe to setelgange.

settle ('s£t(s)l), sb} Obs. exc. Sc. rare. [f.

settle

The action of the verb settle; settling, settlement, to take settle: to be settled, to be at ease. 7).]

a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archseol. Soc.) II. 24 Castlhaven did continue in Mariborough 9 or 10 daies givinge orders for the settle therof. Ibid. 166 For the settle of his freinds. 1822 Ainslie Pilgr. Land of Burns 39 Frae the settle o’ the night To the income o’ the light. 1889 Barrie Window in Thrums 153 I’ll tak no settle till ye’re awa.

settle (’s£t(3)l), v. Forms: a. i setlan, 3-7 setle, 4, 6-7 settell, seatle, settill, (4 sedle, setel, 5 setelle, setyll), 3- settle, fi. 4-6 satle, (4 satille), 5-6 sattyl, -yll, (5 sattil), 6 satell, sat(t)ill, 4-7 sattell, 5-7, 9 dial, sattle. [OE. setlan (only once), f. setl seat, place of rest: see settle sb.1 Cf. mod.Du. zetelen, to place, settle. The ]3 forms seem to represent another formation from the same Teut. root; ? OE. *ssetlan:—prehistoric *satuljan f. *sat-, ablaut variant of set-: see sit v. In some uses the vb. became synonymous with the likesounding ME. sajtle to appease, reconcile (saughtel ».), association with which may perhaps have influenced the development of these uses. In many of the senses explained below, the verb frequently appears with a colouring derived from senses of different origin, so that the position of many of the examples is open to dispute.]

1. To seat, place. The examples here treated as passive uses of senses in this branch mostly admit of being interpreted as intransitive uses (branch II) conjugated with be.

f 1. a. trans. To seat; to put in a seat or place of rest; also, to cause to sit down. Obs. ciooo Whale 15 (Gr.) Wtejlipende .. setlap stemearas [ = ‘stable their sea-horses’] sundes set ende. c 1200 Ormin 14049 1'a11 htefedd mann patt he3hesst wass Att tatt bridale settledd. a 1300 Cursor M. 23340 Bot suld pai [sc. the righteous] haf a gret delite, To se pam [sc. the wicked] setlid [MS. seclid] in pair site. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione’s Courtyer 1. Kijb, And assone as he had saluted the Dutchesse, and setled the reste that were risen vp at his comminge, he satte hym downe. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 129, I kept my selfe setled on the plancke till the morning. 1663 Wood Life 24 Sept. (O.H.S.) I. 495 After they were setled in their chaires under the canopy. 1691-2 Ibid. 26 Jan. III. 381 A meeting in the Apoditerium before the vice-chancellor, Doctors, and Masters setled in the house.

fb. fig. in passive: To be ‘seated’, situated. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 4429 For all 30ure wisdom, I-wis, is wroken to 30ur tongis, And all pe sauour of 30ure sauls is sattild in 30ur mouthis.

2. a. To place (material things) in order, or in a convenient or desired position; to adjust (e.g. one’s clothing). 1515 Barclay Eclogues in. (1570) Bvj/2 Or els must he rise and walke him selfe a space, Till time his ioyntes be setled in their place. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis 11. (Arb.) 66, I twisted a wallet On my broad shoulders, my nape did I settle eke vnder. 15.. Sir Andrew Barton xliv. in Child Ballads (1889) III. 341 /1 With that hee lett his gun-shott goe; Soe well hee settled itt with his eye. The ffirst sight that Sir Andrew sawe, Hee see his pinnace sunke in the sea. cl65oin Gutch Hist. & Antiq. Univ. Oxford (1796) II. 943 note, That they [sc. Selden’s books] bee placed.. in the new built west end of the publique Library,.. with such inscription upon the place where they shall bee soe settled as the said Executors.. shall directe. 1709 Steele Toiler No.

SETTLE 48 IP 4 He adjusted the cock of his hat a-new, settled his sword-knot. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. (Globe) 69 Having settled my houshold Stuff and Habitation. 1784 Cowper Task ill. 486 Th’ uplifted frame .. He settles next upon the sloping mount. 1796 C. Marshall Garden, xiv. (1813) 196 Thus having settled the plants, shut the lights close. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxvi, He washed his face and hands, settled his wig in the glass. 1818 - Hrt. Midi, i, They immediately began to settle their clothes, which were a little deranged. 1861 Trollope Orley Farm I. xxxiii. 264 I’ll come for the answer when you’re settling the room after breakfast tomorrow. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. I. vii. 192 As I was settling her pillow for her. 1894 Crockett Raiders xi, May Maxwell settled her shawl closer about her.

fb. To dispose in order (an argument, the parts of a discourse). Obs. *55* T. Wilson Logic G vj, Now.. I will declare howe to seatle & place an argumente, that any bodie may geue a reason, why euery worde is set in an argument, in this, or that place. 1553- Rhet. (1580) 159, I thinke meete to speake of framyng, and placyng an Oration in order, that the matter beeyng aptly seteld and couched together: might better please the hearers.

3. a. To place (a person) in an attitude of repose, so as to be undisturbed for a time. Chiefly refl. to dispose oneself comfortably, adjust one’s position on a chair, etc. with the « intention of remaining seated. 1515 Barclay Eclogues 111. (1570) Bvjb/i Neuer shalt thou knowe thy lodging or thy nest, Till all thy betters be setled and at rest. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. 1. x. (1562) Lj b, In no place could she sit hir selfe to settle. 1627 Drayton Nimphidia 516 Yet scarce he on his back could get, So oft and high he did coruet, Ere he himselfe could settle. 1712 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 381 They soon came away and settled themselves at the East part of the Library. 1781 Cowper Ep. Lady Austen 39 Thus we were settled when you found us, Peasants and children all around us. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxi, When her patient above was settled for the night. 1893 ‘Q’ Delect. Duchy 16 The man .. settled her comfortably in the stern-sheets. 1901 W. S. Walker In the Blood vi. 71 You were asleep like a child almost as soon as you were settled. 1905 R. Bagot Passport ii. 12 Settling himself in his saddle, Sor Beppe started off at an easy canter.

b. In passive. To be installed in a residence, to have completed one’s arrangements for residing. Also, rarely, in active: to install (someone) in a residence. C1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 185, I was but newly settled in my Lodging. 1722 De Foe Plague (1840) 130 Why should we make you remove now you are settled in your lodging? 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia vi. i, Such was the house in which Cecilia was now settled. 1813 W. Bingley in Lady Morgan's Mem. (1862) II. 31 You, I presume, are by this time comfortably settled in your new residence. 1837 Lever H. Lorrequer i, We were soon settled in barracks. 1853 Geo. Eliot Lett. (1954) II. 97 What do you think of my going to Australia with Chrissey and all her family?—to settle them, and then come back. 1901 W. S. Walker In the Blood viii. 97 Billy’s sisters.. were at length settled in a small cottage out Redfem way.

4. a. To cause to take up one’s residence in a place; esp. to establish (a body of persons) as residents in a town or country; to plant (a colony, fa town). 1573-80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 198 So God I trust for Christes sake. Shall settle me in blis. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis 1. (Arb.) 17 Ere towne could statelye be builded, Or Gods theare setled. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, 1. ii. 47 Charles the Great.. There left behind and settled certaine French. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 940 My afflicted Powers To settle here on Earth. 1670 Denton Brief Descr. N. York (1845) 1 Part of the Main Land belonging to New York Colony, where several Towns and Villages are setled. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 4 Jan. 1665, I went., to settle physitians, chirurgeons, agents, marshals and other officers in all the Sea Ports. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) V. 149/1 The practice of settling commercial colonies in distant countries hath been adopted by the wisest nations of antiquity. 1830 M. T. Sadler Law Popul. I. 483 Maryland.. was first settled by Roman Catholics. 1831 Scott Ct. Robt. xxxiii, What interest I have .. shall be strained to the uttermost to settle thee in thine own beloved native country. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XIV. 392/1 The first town that was settled by the English in North America.

b. reft. Also in passive, to have taken up one’s abode. 1550 Bale Eng. Votaries ii. Cjb, The Romysh clergy satled them selues all the worlde ouer. 1572 Act 14 Eliz. c. 5 § 16 That the said aged ympotent and poore People should have convenient Habitacions and Abydinge Places throughout this Realme to settle themselves uppon. c 1610 Women Saints 22 She went to Bethleem,.. where she settled herself. 1686 tr. Chardin’s Trav. Persia 30 That the Grand Signior should not entertain .. any European Nation, except what were already setl’d there, but under the French Banners. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 12 IP 1 It was some time before I could settle my self in a House to my likeing. 1738 Whitehall Even. Post 12-15 Aug. 3/2 This is to give Notice, That Mr. Isaac De Vic, Jun., Wine-Merchant, of Southampton, is settled in this City. 1780 Harris Philol. Enq. (1841) 470 He induced.. many of the first families in Italy .. to leave their country, and there settle themselves. 1827 O. W. Roberts Voy. Centr. Amer. 45 One of the rivers on which they are settled has its source in a kind of lake. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1876) I. 1. ii. 52 A tribe of them .. settled themselves between the high Tartar land and the sea of Aral.

c. To fix or establish permanently (one s abode, residence, etc.), f to settle one’s rest: to take up one’s residence. (Cf. to set up one’s rest, rest sb,2 7 f; and see rest sb.1 5.) 1562 J. Hopkins Ps. lxxxiv, Much rather would I keepe a dore within the house of God: Then in the tentes of

SETTLE

83 wickednes, to settle myne abode. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts, Isa. xi. 10 And he shall settle his rest among them, which shall be glorious for himselfe, and happy for them. 1678 J. Godolphin Repert. Canon. (1680) 17 St. Augustine .. took on him the Title of Archbishop of England, settling his See at Canterbury. 1727 Boyer Fr. Diet., To settle one’s Abode somewhere. 1823 Scott Quentin D. Introd., The town at which I had settled my temporary establishment.

d. To assign to (a person) a legal domicile in a particular parish. Chiefly in passive. Cf. SETTLEMENT 3. 1572 Act 14 Eliz. c. 5. § 16 Then the said Justices .. shall.. settle the same poore People for their Habitacions and Abydynges, yf the parishe within the whiche they shalbee founde shall not.. provide for them. 1662 Act 14 Chas. II, c. 12 § 1 To such Parish where he or they were last legally setled either as a native Householder Sojourner Apprentice or Servant for the space of forty dayes. 1773 Observ. State Poor 77 Children whose parents settlements cannot be discovered and illegitimate children, are all settled wherever they are born. 1814 Maule & Selwyn K.B. Rep. I. 380 If the pauper lived 40 days under that assignment we should hold him settled in the parish.

e. To furnish (a place) with inhabitants or settlers. 1702 Propos. Effectual War in Amer. 18 The .. setling and fortifying that large Island of Newfoundland. 1768 J. Byron Narr. Patagonia (ed. 2) 112 The country hereabouts .. is so circumstanced as to discourage the most sanguine adventurers from attempts to settle it. 1823 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) I. 321 Margate., is so thickly settled with stock-jobbing cuckolds at this time of year, that [etc.]. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xiii, Your.. brother, sir, is better bestowed than in settling Newfoundland.

ff. To establish, set up (an institution, a business, etc.) in a particular town or country. Obs. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 1. xxx. 75 He was come thether.. to settle a trade in ye citie. 1624 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1909) III. 16 Hee should have a howse and there to settell a factorye in his towne of Pullasera. 1645 Durye Israel's Call (1646) 48 Next unto the Schooles of the Prophets (whereof besides the Universities, it were to be wisht that some lesser ones might be setled in every Province). 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 11. 157 This might be made one of the richest Cities in the World, because of the commerce that might be settled there. 1705 De Foe Consolidator Wks. 1840 IX. 354 They.. settled a sub-cash, depending upon the grand bank, in every province of the kingdom. 1773 Life N. Frowde 6 Having by his frequent Voyages settled a good Correspondence on the Continent.

Retirem. 672 A mind . . after poising her advent’rous wings, Settling at last upon eternal things. 1842 Tennyson Gard. Dau. 220 We coursed about The subject most at heart, more near and near, Like doves about a dovecote, wheeling round The central wish, until we settled there.

b. Of things, esp. flying or floating objects, also transf. and fig. of darkness, silence, etc.: To come down and remain. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 409 Muche sor3e penne satteled vpon segge Ionas. C1380 Sir Ferumb. 3281 J>at fyr pat setlede so on pe walle 3erne hit gan to brenne. 1715 Pope Iliad iv. 527 Shades eternal settle o’er his eyes. 1779 Mirror No. 50 |f 4 A deep gloom settled on his spirits. 1802 Mar. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. 232 The dust which had settled on the white figures. 1810 Scott Lady of L. 1. iii, And silence settled, wide and still, On the lone wood. 1829 Chapters Phys. Sci. 239 The dog had inhaled the noxious air which, sinking to the bottom, had settled there. 1864 E. Yates Broken to Harness I. xv. 271 You find .. a yellow fog settling down. 1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Q. Neighb. III. ix. 208 Suddenly from out of the dark a hand settled on my arm. 1890 R. Bridges Shorter Poems iii. ii. 3 The snow came flying.. Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying.

9. To come together from dispersion or wandering, fa. Of a body of persons: To direct their course to a common point. Obs. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2465 Thane the price mene prekes, and proues peite horsez, Satilles to pe cete, appone sere halfes.

b. Hunting. Of hounds: To keep steadily to the scent. 1781 Beckford Th. Hunting xiv. 185 By this time his hounds get together, and settle to the scent. 1827 [Apperley] Chace (1852) 44 The scent being good, every hound settles to his fox. 1885 Field 7 Feb. 148/2 The music of the pack as they settled to the line. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 551/2 Hounds settle like bees upon the line.

10. a. Of things: To lodge, come to rest, in a definite place after wandering. 1622 Venner Via Recta (ed. 2) 190 Those crude and superfluous humors.. fluctuating from part to part, doe at length settle and produce morbificall affects, a 1634 Chapman Revenge for Hon. v. i, Where like a fixt Star’t [sc. love’s flame] settles, never to be removed thence. 1660 Stanley Hist. Philos, xi. ix. §6 (1687) 764/2 The Earth at first wandred up and down ..; but in time growing thick and heavy, it setled down immoveable. 1682 Creech Lucretius vi. 202 The Earth.. Inclining only from its usual Plain, Then turns, and settles in its seat again. 1829 Scott Anne of G. ii, Down went the huge fragment,.. settling at length in the channel of the torrent.

g. U.S. slang. To sentence (a person) to imprisonment, put in prison.

b. Of pain or disease: To establish itself in or on a definite part of the body.

*899 ‘J- Flynt’ Tramping with Tramps 396 Settled, in prison. 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 75 Settled,.. convicted of misdemeanor or statutory offence. Example: ‘He’s settled for a two spot.’ 1916 Literary Digest 19 Aug. 425/1 Foley was ‘pinched’ and ‘settled’ in San Quentin. 1930 Amer. Mercury Dec. 457/2 He goes to the counter and gets settled for a nickel. 1955 D. W. Maurer in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 151 Maybe he will get settled, or sent to prison; among pick-pockets this term does not carry the implication of a long sentence or a life-term..; it usually means two years.

1594 Kyd Cornelia ill. i. 99 And suddainly.. A chyl-cold shyuering (setled in my vaines) Brake vp my slumber. 1768 Earl Carlisle in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1843) II. 301 A cold which chose to settle in my eyes. 1856 Julia Kavanagh Rachel Gray xvii, A cough settled on her chest. 1877 Five Yrs. Penal Serv. i. 26 Poor A. caught a cold he never recovered from; it settled on his lungs.

f5. To fix, implant (something) in (a person’s heart, mind, etc.). Obs. 1560 Ingelend Disob. Child Gij, All such sayinges as in my mynde At the fyrst tyme ye studied to sattell. 1579 Lodge Def. Poetry 6 Witt hath wrought that in you, that yeares and studie neuer setled in the heads of our sagest doctors. 1607 Shaks. Timon v. i. 54 What a Gods Gold.. ? ’Tis thou that Setlest admired reuerence in a Slaue. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 1. ix. 37 [Poets’ inventions] setling impressions in our tender memories, which our advanced judgements, doe generally neglect to expunge. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iv. vii. § 11 Before Custom has setled Methods of Thinking and Reasoning in our Minds.

|6. To set firmly on a foundation; to fix (a foundation) securely, lit. and fig. Obs. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Prov. viii. 25 Before the mountaines were setled.. was I begotten. 1583 H. Howard Def. Pois. Supposed Prophesies A j b, The higher any man will rayse his toppe, the lower must he settell hys foundation. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 1 That goodly frame of Temperaunce .. Formerly grounded and fast setteled On firme foundation of true bountyhed. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vi. xiv. 461 The water is so deep as they can not settle any foundation. 1666 Stillingfl. Serm. (1673) 21 That the glory of the City may not be laid upon the tears of the Orphans and Widows, but that its foundations may be setled upon Justice and Piety.

II. To come to rest after flight or wandering, f 7. intr. To take a seat, sit down (? OE.). Of the sun: To set. Obs. [c 1000 ? Implied in setlung, sitting down, setting (of the sun), Lambeth Ps. cxxxviii. 2, Sax. Leechd. III. 266.] C1350 Will. Palerne 2452 Till pe semli sunne was setled to reste. 8. a. Of a bird, flying insect: To take up a

position of something.

rest

from

flight;

to

alight

on

13.. K. Alis. 484 Him thoughte a goshauk with gret flyght Setlith on his beryng [MS. Bodl. settle)? on his herbergeynge]. Ibid. 488 A dragon out of his den flygth.. And setled [MS. Bodl. settle)?].. On the stude there the quene was. 1728 Congress of Bees in Arbuthnot's Misc. Wks. (1751) II. 135 The Bees.. all settled. 1791 Cowper Yardley Oak 91 Time was, when, settling on thy leaf, a fly Could shake thee to the root. 1845 J. Coulter Adv. in Pacific iii. 29, I have often seen flocks of snipe.. settling to the left of the town. 1859 Tennyson Merlin & V. 221 The gnat That settles, beaten back, and beaten back Settles. 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 260/1 The common blue fly which settles on meat. fig. 1601 Shaks. All's Well in. i. 21 All the honors that can flye from vs, Shall on them settle. 1611-Wint. T. iv. iii. 106 This man.. (hauing flowne ouer many knauish professions) he setled onely in Rogue. 1781 Cowper

c. Of the wind: To become ‘set’ in (at, into) a specified quarter. 1626 Bacon New Atl. 1 But then the Winde came about, and setled in the West for many dayes. 1628 Digby Voy. Mediterr. (1868) 75 It continued all day verie foule weather ..: in the end it settled a stifle gale at N.W. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. (Globe) 40 [The hurricane] came about to the North-West, and then settled into the North-East. 1773 Life N. Frowde 140 A .. Storm .. which in the space of fortyeight Hours varied to every Point of the Compass, and at length, settled in the East by North.

d. Of affections, etc.: To come after wandering to, become fixed on an object. 1628 Feltham Resolves 1. xxx. 95 Finding my affections settle to them [sc. the world’s choicest solaces] without resistance, I cannot but distrust my selfe. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 16 Friendship is not idle where it settles, it presently falls to worke. 1714 Spect. No. 605 If 6 When Time hath worn out their natural Vanity, and taught them Discretion, their Fondness settles on its proper Object. 1884 Manch. Exam. 17 May 4/7 The interest., which led to the inquiry too often evaporates or settles on some new object before it is finished.

11. a. Of persons: To cease from migration and adopt a fixed abode; to establish a permanent residence, take up one’s abode, become domi¬ ciled; also with down. With in, to become estab¬ lished in a new home; hence, to become accustomed to a new abode or to new surroundings. 1627 Earl Manch. in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 267,1 hope to be settling at Kimolton for a while. 1685 Wood Life 1 Sept. (O.H.S.) III. 158 He setled for a time in Shropshire. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. (Globe) 1 My Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull. 1779 Lady A. Howard in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 235, I.. go into Hertfordshire on Sunday. When I come to settle, I hope, Mr. Selwyn, you will do me the favour to call upon me. 1874 Green Short Hist. i. §3. 25 If trouble befell the Christian preachers who came settling among them. 1891 Law Times XCII. 127/2 Riley had left his father’s house.. for America, where he intended to settle down. 1904 Dor. P. Hughes Life H. P. Hughes i. 6 When he finished his wanderings as a Methodist preacher.. and settled in Carmarthen as a supernumerary. 1929 Star 21 Aug. 15/1 The Jellicoes.. are ‘settling in’ at their new London home this autumn. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 67/2 It will want to ‘settle in’ and enjoy the sense of belonging in America, i960 J. Stroud Shorn Lamb xiii. 151 He’ll settle in, I feel sure. It’ll be a long job though. 1977 ‘A. York’ Tallant for Trouble iii. 48 We met the Brices after we came. We threw a party, to settle in, and the Brices were top of the list.

b. Of a people: To take up its abode in a foreign country. Also, to establish a colony.

SETTLE

84

a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts (1683) 138 The Saxons settling over all England, maintained an uniform Language. 1700 Evelyn Diary 4 Feb., The Parliament voted against the Scots settling in Darien. 1726 Shelvocke Voy. round World 358 They are secure from the attempt of any European nation to settle on them. 1872 Freeman Europ. Hist. xiii. §28 (1874) 277 So men tried to get more freedom by settling in distant lands. Thus the French Huguenots tried to settle in America. indirect passive. 1845 J. Coulter Adv. in Pacific xi. 147 The greatest surprise I experienced was, that they [these islands] were not colonized and settled upon long before this.

12. = to settle oneself (sense 3). Sometimes of birds, etc. with mixture of sense 8. to settle in: to dispose oneself for remaining indoors. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xvii, The little irritable citizens [sc. bees], who were settling in their straw-thatched mansion for the evening. 1827-35 Willis Idleness 55 When .. the birds settle to their nests. 1833 Lady Morgan Mem. (1862) II. 377 On my return, settled in to write. 1859 Tennyson Geraint 250 Like a clamour of the rooks At distance, ere they settle for the night. 1864 E. Yates Broken to Harness I. xv. 272 The inhabitants of the neighbouring houses had pulled their blinds down and settled in for the night. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xlii, The clang of the wild-fowl settling down to rest. 1902 ‘M. Fairless’ Roadmender 24 The child .. extracted from the basket a small black cat, and settled in for the afternoon.

III. To descend, sink down; to lower. [From sense 8.] 13. a. To sink down gradually by or as by its own weight. Of the ground: To subside. Of a structure or part of a structure: To sink downwards from its proper level. C1315 Shoreham Poems 1. 758 Ase oj?er mete In to py wombe hy3t sedlyp. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8186 pen schok pe ground [v.r. pe grounde satled]. c 1440 York Myst. xxxiii. 248 Whan it [5c. a standard] sattles or sadly discendis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 440/2 Saggyn, or sallyn [? read satlyn] (P. satelyn), basso. 1545 Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 131 For with shoting it [sc. the feather] wyll sattle and faule very moche. 1576 Lambarde Peramb. Kent 287 Ye very earth.. did continually, for euer after, setle and sinke downeward. 01597 Peele David & Bethsabe 11. iii. (1599) Ej b, As doth the daylight settle in the west. 1601 [see sag v. 1]. 1693 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 256 These Arches .. must be made of Bricks and Morter that are very good,.. that they do neither settle nor give way. 1751 Labelye Westm. Bridge 76 The .. Pier.. was observed to settle. 1791 W. Hutchinson Treat. Pract. Seamanship 15 Which caused their.. floors to sag downwards, so much as to make their hold stanchions amidships.. settle from the beams. 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 251 The single-row fence.. must sag and settle toward the ground, if pleached without staking. 1898 Watts-Dunton Aylwin 1. i, The debris.. again falling and settling into new and permanent shapes. Ibid., A great mass of loose earth settled, carrying me with it in its fall.

fb. fig. Of feeling, conviction: To sink deeply into (the mind, heart). Obs. a 1300 Cursor M. 24225 And al pe baret pat he bar, It setteld [Gott. satlid] in pi hert ful sare. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 814 This olde adage so sanke, and setled in my heade, that [etc.]. 1525 St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 361 And nowe the said newes doe satell and synke into the Scottes myndes. 1574 Dee in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 35 Onely God can make the perswasion of the truth hereof to settel into the bottom of your Lordships hart.

fc. ? transf. Of troops: To fall back, yield ground, retire. Also trans. (causatively). Sc. Obs. 1513 Douglas JEneis ix. xiii. 28 Turnus a lityl.. Begouth frawart the bargane to withdraw, And sattyl towards the ryveris syde alaw. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) III. 429 So cruell counter.. Quhilk satlit hes the Sutheroun far abak Be3ond the place quhair that tha first began. 01578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 97 Ane companie of fresche men .. come so fercelie wpoun the Earle of Huntlieis wangaird quhill they war compellit to satill a littill abak. Ibid. 275 Thay causit the inglismen to sattill frome thame.

114. trans. (causatively). a. To lower condition; to reduce in degree. Obs. rare.

in

1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 225 pis legate Ottobone mad a cursyng hard .. & som of per heyres .. it peyres, & som has satled sore. C1350 Will. Palerne 4562 pe comli quen of palerne oft crist ponked, pat. .hade setteled hire sorwe so sone, pat was huge.

b. To lower (a commodity, rent) in price or value. Also intr., to go down in price, dial. 1812 in W. Cudworth Round abt. Bradford (1876) 412 Mr. Joseph Dawson settled his coals at Wrose Pit from sevenpence to sixpence a load. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss, s.v., Corn’s sattled a vast sen last market. Ah’s quit at May-day gin he weeant sattle me \i.e. reduce my rent] a bit. 1886 W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., Arter all this dry weather, an no keep, stock’s bound to settle.

fc. To put down to the original place. (Cf. 2.) 1731 Miller Gard. Diet., s.v. Cucumis, If you find your bed too hot, it is but raising up the Baskets.. and when the violent Heat is over, they may be settled down again.

15. Naut. a. intr. Of a ship: To sink gradually; also with down. 1819 Byron Juan 11. xliv, The ship was evidently settling now Fast by the head. 1836 Uncle Philip's Convers. Whale Fishery 289 The ship began to settle down in the water. transf. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, i, The ancient vehicle used to settle quietly down, like a ship scuttled and left to sink. 1840 F. D. Bennett Narr. Whaling Voy. II. App. 174 The whale will occasionally sink in the horizontal position, or, as it is technically expressed, ‘settle down’. 1873-5 Henley In Hospital xiii. Bk. Verses (1888) 22 Raised, he settled stiffly sideways: You could see the hurts were spinal.

b. trans. To diminish the height of, to reduce to a lower level (a deck, topsail). fAlso, to cause

(the land) to appear lower in the water by receding from it (cf. lay v.1 5). 1713 Garth Epil. to Cato, He sighs with most Success that settles well.

fd. intr. Of an estate: To pass legally. Obs. Use of Law (1629) 65 Vpon Feofments and Recoveries, the estate doth settle as the vse and intent of the parties is declared.. before the Acts was done. 01626 Bacon

31. a. trans. To subject to permanent regulations, to set permanently in order, place on a permanent footing (institutions, government); to bring (a language) into a permanent form. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxvi. §4. 223 The greatest felicitie they wish to the common wealth .. is that.. no faulte may be capitall besides dislike of things setled in so good termes. 1629 Selden in Lett. Lit. Men. (Camden) 143 For the Library is not yet so setled as that books may not be lent if the founder will. 1642 J. M[arsh] Argt. cone. Militia 1 The King refusing to settle the Militia for the defence and securitie of his people. 1643 Baker Chron. (1653) 93 King Richard at his going out of England, had so well setled the Government of the kingdome, that [etc.]. 1659 Milton Treat. Civ. Power Eccl. Causes 44 [They] who think the gospel.. cannot stand or continue .. unless it be enacted and settled, as they call it, by the state. 1662 Bk. Com. Prayer, For the High Court of Par It., That all things may be so ordered and setled by their endeavours, upon the best and surest foundations. 1712 Swift Propos. Corr. Eng. Tongue 45 If You will not take some Care to settle our Language, and put it into a state of Continuance. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 575 The government should be settled on principles favourable to liberty. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. § 10 They proceeded at once to settle the Government on a Parliamentary basis. 1886 T. L. K. Oliphant New Engl. II. 1 Tyndale, Coverdale, and Cranmer had done so much to settle our language. absol. 01700 Evelyn Diary 19 Aug. 1660, The National Assemblies beginning to settle, and wanting instruction. 1718 Prior Solomon 11. 704 Her Will alone could settle or revoke; And Law was fix’d by what She latest spoke.

fb. To vest the control of (something) in a person. Obs. 1671 E. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. 11. 279 Besides, the fore-mentioned forces there is the standing Militia.. setled in the King. c. to settle one's estate, one's affairs: to

arrange for the disposal of one’s property, the payment of one’s debts, etc., esp. with a view to one’s death, removal to a distance, or retirement from business. Occas. with up. In the first quot. perh. rather: to render one’s worldly position secure (sense 24). 1652 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 144 Oh the poor and base thoughts of men! How may I raise my house? how may I settle my estate? 01700 Evelyn Diary 10 Sept. 1647, Being call’d into England to settle my affaires after an absence of about 4 yeares. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 164 If 6, I several months since made my Will, settled my estate, and took leave of my friends. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 11. (Globe) 555 He had settled all his affairs so well at Bengal, and left his Effects in such good Hands, that [etc.]. 1884 J. Gilmour Mongols xxxi. 363 They., are expected to settle up their affairs and return to their remote abodes. 1894 A. Robertson Nuggets 84 Besides, hasn’t he settled his affairs —made his will, in fact, most sensibly.

VI. To fix (what is uncertain), to decide (a question). 32. a. To appoint or fix definitely beforehand, to decide upon (a time, place, plan of action,

SETTLED

86

SETTLEABLE price, conditions, etc.); tto adjust (one’s action) to something. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ix. II. 158 The Wardanis setlis a day. 1608 Chapman Byron's Trag. ill. i. 50 My lord, I stand not on these deep discourses To settle my course to your fortunes. 1754 Cowper Ep. R. Lloyd 31 Thus, the preliminaries settled. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia vi. v, His journey to Bristol was settled to take place in three days. 1798 Sophia Lee Canterb. T., Young Lady's T. II. 164 Having settled his route.. [he] set out. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 14 The allowance settled by the magistrates for a young, hearty, labouring man! 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iv. iv, The Hall is ready: the very costume [of the Deputies], as we said, has been settled. 1867 Mrs. Oliphant Madonna Mary III. xiv. 236, I came that it might be all settled out of hand. 1891 ‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley iii, ‘Then it’s as good as settled,’ he remarked, smiling broadly.

fb. To appoint or arrange (something to be done or to take place). Obs. 1694 Penn Trav. Holland 162 Being the first monthly meeting that was setled for Frieslandt. 1705 New Jersey Archives XI. 13 These are to give notice, That Her Majesty ..Hath settled Packet-Boats for the West-Indies. 1709 Steele Tatler 143 If 3 There is a Stage-Coach settled from the One-Bell in the Strand to Dorchester.

c. To fix by mutual agreement. 1620 R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) II. 122 Capt. Speck came..to talke about going to Nangasaque to Gonrok Dono, to settell the price of the lead. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet, s.v., We have at last settled that Business. 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 23 If 3, I think it is very convenient there should be a cartel settled between them. 1786 Mme. D’Arblay Diary 8 Aug., The conversation concluded with nothing being settled. 1824 Miss Ferrier Inher. viii, All these matters being settled, Miss Pratt then accepted the arm of her companion. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair iv, If a dear girl has no dear Mamma to settle matters with the young man. 1896 Bodkin Ld. Edw. Fitzgerald xi, Meanwhile the two seconds were settling the fatal formalities in the library.

d. intr. To come to a decision; to decide to do something; to decide upon (a plan of action, an object of choice). 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia iv. vii, Two other young ladies, who were.. settling to dance in the same cotillon. 1814 Mme. D’Arblay (Miss Burney) Wanderer (1817) I. 122 A comedy that we have been settling to massacre. 1833 Ht. Martineau Manch. Strike xii. 127 The masters met and settled that they would give no more than the medium wages. 1867 Mrs. Oliphant Madonna Mary III. xiii. 222 This was what Will had always intended and settled upon. 1885 H. Finch-Hatton Advance Australia! 196,1 settled to shift my camp up the creek. 1886 Hardy Mayor Casterbr. xxiv, But settling upon new clothes is so trying.

e. to settle for, to decide or agree on, to content oneself with. 1959 P. Bull I know Face i. 11 My father wanted me to be a chartered accountant, a profession which seemed to me to lack glamour. However, in order to show willing, I did settle for ‘journalism’. 1963 H. Garner in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 27 There were plates of doughnuts .. but I settled for a mug of coffee. 1972 C. Fremlin Appointment with Yesterday xi. 82 ‘You couldn’t start straight away, could you?.. Or would you rather have some coffee?’.. Milly found the courage to settle for the coffee.

33. a. trans.

To decide, come to a fixed conclusion on (a question, a matter of doubt or discussion); to bring to an end (a dispute) by agreement or intervention. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 1. iv. 15 In Geometry .. men begin at settling the significations of their words; which settling of significations, they call Definitions. 1666 Boyle Orig. Formes 6? Qual. 111 This being thus setled in the First place, we may in the Next consider, that [etc.]. 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 53 If 3 Casuists .. that will settle you the right of Princes. 1793 Blackstone's Comm. (ed. 12) I. 114 note, At the great council assembled in 1072, to settle the claim of precedence between the two archbishops. 1883 Law Rep. 11 Q.B. Div. 575 In settling the value of a copyhold fine. 1886 Manch. Exam. 16 Jan. 5/4 The dispute at Llandulas quarries has been settled. 1895 Rowlands in Law Times XCIX. 564/2 Now that this point has been definitely settled, it seems too clear for argument.

in the teerms thatt the rest of the silk stocken men are upon thatt he have a gratuity of 3 legg dollars. 1800 Paget in P. Papers (1896) I. 191 It was not till yesterday that I was enabled to settle with the Master of an English Merchantman for my conveyance.

b. To make an arrangement, compound with a creditor. 1838 W. Bell Diet. Law Scot. 197 In extra-judicial arrangements for settling by composition, no creditor can be required to accept the composition offered, unless he pleases. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes II. xxxii. 294 The reverend Baptist Bellman, .had helped himself to 73,0001. more, for which he settled in the Bankruptcy Court. 1885 Law Rep. 15 Q.B. Div. 11 The underwriters of the ship ultimately settled with her owners at 88 per cent.

35. a. trans. To close (an account) by a money payment; to pay (an account, bill, score); also dial, to write ‘settled’ to a bill, to receipt (it). 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet, s.v., To settle an Account, regler un Conte. 1765 Foote Commissary 1. (1782) 26 Let us settle accounts, Mr. Paduasoy; you’ll see no more of my money. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story ii, [At the foot of a bill.] Settled, Juliana Gann. 1848-Van. Fair xxxiv, I’d best go and settle the score. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss. s.v., Gan an’ pay John Lewis’ bill, an’ mahnd an’ git him to sattle’t. fig. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxiii, If I was they, I would settle accounts with myself, for all my hard fighting, the same way. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xvi. 148 What an awful account these wicked creatures will have to settle, at last, especially for being lazy! 1887 W. E. Norris Major & Minor III. xi. 199, I am here to settle accounts with you, my fine fellow. I suppose you thought it was a very safe thing to insult and desert a girl who had nobody at hand to protect her except an old man.

b. absol. or intr. To settle payment. Chiefly const, with.

accounts

by

1788 Clara Reeve Exiles III. 105, I was obliged to go to the inn to settle with the landlord. 1796 Hist. Ned Evans II. 192 He had still upwards of £300 in his hands, for which he would be ready to account whenever he chose to settle. 1827 Scott Chron. Canongate i, Some change that was due to me on settling with my landlady. 1844 Macaulay in Trevelyan Life (1876) II. 155, I then called to the steward, and pretended to be very anxious to settle with him about some coffee that I had taken. 1873 Money Market ix. (ed. 3) 113 The ‘settling’ days occur twice in each month, when the transactions of the preceding fortnight are settled for in cash. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., I went and begged o’ un vor to settle; he’ve a got a plenty o’ money. fig. c 1820 S. Rogers Italy, Arqua 40 When he had done and settled with the world.

VII. 36. Comb.: f settle-brain, something that calms the brain; settle-down, nonce-wd., a flock settling down. 1629 Ford Lovers Mel. 11. ii, Sir, is your stomacke vp yet? get some warme porredge in your belly, ’tis a very good settle-braine. 1640 Brome Antipodes v. vii, I have yet an entertainment for him, Of better Settle-braine, then Drunkards porridge. 1692 Tryon Good Housew. xxvi. 213 Coffee is the Drunkards Settle-brain. i8S5 Browning Cleon 15 Like the chequer-work Pavement.. Now covered with this settle-down of doves.

'settleable, a.

[-able.]

1. Capable of being

settled, nonce-wd. 1837 Moore Mem. (1856) VII. 202 He seemed to consider the whole thing as settled, or, at least, settle-able without any difficulty.

2. Having the property of settling or sinking to the bottom of a liquid. 1940 Imhoff & Fair Sewage Treatment ii. 30 It is important to know how much of the solid matter is in suspension, how much is settleable, and how much is in solution. 1947 [see floc]. 1969 Sci. Jrnl. Mar. 81/2 In the activated sludge process the ability of the organisms to flocculate into settleable clumps is automatically inbred.

settled (’set(3)ld), ppl. a. [f. settle v. + -ed1.] 1. Of mental states, purposes, habits, etc.: Fixed, firmly embraced or implanted; become regular or customary; unchanging, undeviating.

1900 Daily News 14 Feb. 6/4 After one of the plaintiffs.. had been in the box, it was agreed to settle the case.

1556 Heywood Spider & F. ii. 8 Oh sodayne sorowe, from setled solas. 1568 Gismond of Salerne iv. iii. 17 There stayed in me so settled trust, that thy chast life.. wold not haue yelded to vnlawfull lust. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1875) 12 But I judge the beste, for in dobtes I will not resolue with a settled iudgemente. 01617 Hieron Penance for Sin xv. Wks. 1628 I. 235 A settled bent of the soule, in nothing to sinne against God. 1693 Norris Pract. Disc. Div. Subj. (1722) IV. 17 For alas what is a Mode or Fashion, but only a continued and settled Practice of a great Many? 1712 Addison Spect. No. 349 If 7 He died under a fixed and settled Hope of Immortality. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 778 Where.. His virtuous toil may terminate at last In settled habit and decided taste. 1796 Southey Mary, Maid of the Inn i, Her silence implies The composure of settled distress. 1856 N. Brit. Rev. XXVI. 41 To remain to the end of life destitute of any settled religious opinions. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. §5 It was his settled purpose to fling off the yoke of the Baronage.

e. To put beyond dispute, establish principle, fact) by authority or argument.

b. Of the mind, character, etc.: staid, steadfast, or sober.

b. With indirect question as obj. 1796 Mme. D’Arblay Camilla I. 282 Mr. Tyrold intreated him to stay till they had settled how to get rid of the business. 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece (1898) I. xii. 237, I have to settle with myself what I mean by art in general.

c. Of a fact or argument: To be decisive of (a question). 1825 Cobbett Hist. Prot. Reform. (1899) xvi. §468 There! that settles the matter. 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago Introd., You shall see enough to-day to settle for you the question whether we old-country folk are in a state of decadence.

d. Law. To decide (a case) by arrangement between the contesting parties. More fully, to settle out of court. (a

1733 Arbuthnot Ess. Effects Air v. 97 Another Fact, settled by a fair Experiment of the ingenious Mr. Hales, is, that [etc.]. 1883 Kay in Law Rep. 24 Chanc. Div. 107 It is well settled that the transmissibility of contingent interest is a doctrine applying equally to real and personal estate.

34. a. intr. To arrange matters in dispute, to come to terms or agreement with a person. 1527 St. Papers Hen. VIII, I. 272, I have first depeched Monsr Gregory, who, after he hathe satelled with Monsr de Lotrik .. shall [etc.]. 1647 Caldwell Papers (Maitland Club) I. 110 For my awin chargis.. in settling wl ye ladie, and resaving of ye rents. 1682 Rec. Scott. Cloth. Manuf. New Mills (S.H.S.) 33 Ordered thatt upon settleing with Smith

Rendered

1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 203 Pacience thy setled minde dothe guide and stere. 1604 Shaks. Ham. (Qo. 2) iv. vii. 81 For youth no lesse becomes The light and carelesse liuing that it weares Then setled age, his sables, and his weedes. 1611-Wint. T. v. iii. 72 No setled Sences of the World can match The pleasure of that madnesse. 1650 H. More Observ. in Enthus. Tri. (1656) 96 What you have delivered .. concerning the Soul of man .. might become a man of a more settled brain than Anthroposophus. 1670 Dryden Tyr. Love 11. i. 16 Nor pride nor frenzy, but a setled mind. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xii, Wayland, now a man of settled character.

c. Of the countenance or bearing: Indicating a settled purpose, mind, character, etc.

a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (Sommer) 111 With a setled countenance, not accusing any kind of inwarde motion. 1603 Shaks. Meas. for M. iii. i. 90 This outward sainted Deputie, Whose setled visage, and deliberate word Nips youth i’th head. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. 1. 225 With.. a graue countenance, a settled gate, and words well plaste. 1680 Otway Orphan 11. iv, In your settled Face And clouded Brow methinks I see my Fate. 1825 Scott Betrothed xv, Rose saw her cheek assume a paler but more settled hue, instead of the angry hectic which had coloured it. 1839 G. Darley Nepenthe 11. 31 Antiquity, thou Titanborn! That.. look’st with dim but settled eye O’er thy deep lap.

2. Of a matter in dispute, an arrangement, regulation, etc.: Determined, decided, enacted or agreed upon. Of a truth, a principle: Established, placed beyond dispute. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 82, I finde it now for a setled truth, which earst I accompted for a vaine talke, that the purple dye will neuer staine [etc.]. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 11 It is then expedient that we should not wander, but rather follow a settled short way. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 325 Those who are entertain’d into his Service have a setled pay at all times. 1666 Stillingfl. Serm. (1673) 21 That there be no complaining.. in the Churches for want of a settled maintenance. I749~5° Johnson Rambler No. 1 If 1 The settled and regular forms of salutation which necessity has introduced into all languages. 1803 Vesey's Chanc. Cases (1827) XI. 537,1 cannot upon any doubt of mine.. shake what is the settled law upon the subject, i860 Ruskin Unto this Last iv. §60, I wish this were a settled question in London markets. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. iii. 386 We look to have from him a settled day When we must change our faith or bide the worst.

b. Phr. a settled thing (or matter), used predicatively (often = something about which there is considered to be no room for doubt or question). 1818 Scott Br. Lamm, xxi, ‘I thought’, said he,.. ‘that was a settled matter—they are continually together’. 1839 Thackeray Stubb’s Cal. Apr. (1841) 305 She was told to call me her little husband; and she did; and it was considered a settled thing from that day. 1845 Disraeli Sybil v. vii, ‘Is it a settled thing between Lady Joan and Mr. Mountchesney?’ ‘Not the slightest foundation... She is not in a hurry to marry’. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford vii, Still, it was not at all a settled thing that Mrs. Fitz-Adam was to be visited. 1864 E. Yates Broken to Harness I. xv. 272, The twilight had been a settled thing for at least an hour. 1868 H. Blackburn Artists & Arabs i. 7 At Marseilles, where.. it is an understood and settled thing that every Englishman is on his way, to or from Italy or India.

3. Of affairs, an institution, or the like: Established on a permanent footing and under fixed conditions or regulations. 1648-9 Eikon Bas. xvii. 149 Since the first Age,.. not one Example can bee produced of anie settled Church, wherein were manie Ministers and Congregations, which had not som Bishop above them. 1650 Hubbart Pill Formality 152 Man .. in his most settled estate is altogether vanity. 1672-5 Comber Comp. Temple (1702) 7 Such a liberty therefore cannot be granted in a setled Church. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 259 The parliament had no settled army. 1765 Johnson Shaks. Wks. (1773) I. Pref. D 8, Grammatical and settled languages. 1794 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 254 Settled governments have not the bold resources of new experimental systems. 1842 Tennyson ‘ You ask me, why' iii, A land of settled government. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 119 A settled age can imperfectly comprehend an age of revolution. 1883 P. H. Hunter Story Daniel i. 8 At such time as this.. when the settled order of things was breaking up.

4. Fixed in place or position; having a fixed abode. 1591 Shaks. j Hen. VI, 11. v. 106 But now thy Vnckle is remouing hence, As Princes doe their Courts, when they are cloy’d With long continuance in a settled place. 1611 Bible 1 Kings viii. 13,1 haue surely built thee an house to dwel in, a setled place for thee to abide in for euer. 1633 P. Fletcher Pise. Eel. 1. xvii, The setled rock seem’d from his seat remove. 1645 Direct. Lords & Comm, for Elect. RulingElders 2 In the place where his most setled dwelling and imployment doth lie. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 9 Mar. 1652, No more intending to go out of England, but endeavour a settl’d life, either in this or some other place. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia Descr. i. 47 They.. live like the Arabs, without any settled Habitation. 1830 M. T. Sadler Law Popul. 1. ix. 146 Since mankind have become more settled and numerous. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) L *• 191 Becoming a settled .. instead of a nomadic people,

b. Of an ailment: Fixed in the system. 1811 Lady Morgan

Mem. (1862) I. 479 A bad cold and a

settled cough.

5. Of weather of a specified character: Established and maintaining itself without change or break (cf. set a. 6 c). Of wind: Blowing continuously in one direction. 1628 Digby Voy. Mediterr. (1868) 8 The current did then sett strongly out of the straightes, which I vnderstand is vsuall after settled Leuant windes. 1710 Loyal Mourner 9 The smiling Aspect of Earth, Sea, and Air, All for a lasting Calm, and Settled Fair. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. (Globe) 72 Now it began to be settled fair Weather. 1737 [S. Berington] G. de Lucca's Mem. (1738) 143 It was the most settled and downright Rain (as the,Saying is) that ever I saw. 1798 S. Rogers To Friend on Marr. Poems (1812) 162 And settled sunshine on her soul descend! 1818 Byron Juan 1. exevi, As roll the waves before the settled wind. 1837 Southey Poems IV. Pref., Raising my spirits to the degree of settled fair. 1870 L’Estrange Life Miss Mitford I. v. 136 What is a thunder shower.. to settled, set-in, bad weather?

b. Of weather (without other specification): Calm and fine. 1717 in J. O. Payne Rec. Eng. Catholics 1715 (1889) 156 Such brave settled weather as’t has been ever since you left us. I731 Miller Gard. Diet. s.v. Cucumis, Towards the latter End of May, when the Weather appears settled and

SETTLEDLY

87

warm. 1830 T. Moore in Lady Morgan's Mem. (1862) II. 312, I am preparing to take advantage of the very first appearance of more settled weather.

f6. Of a liquid: Not flowing, stagnant, coagulated. Also of wine: That has ‘settled on the lees’. *597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 112 The warming of the Blood: which before (cold, and setled) left the Liuer white, and pale. 1604 Drayton Moyses 11. 36 The fleet hurrying flood.. As a black lake or setled marish stood At th’extensure of the Hebrewes wand. 1659 Howell Vocab. Arts & Set. xviii, Settled wine; vin riposato\ vin rassis. 1681 Crowne Hen. VI, iv. 58 His Face is black and swell’d with settled Blood.

7. That has sunk down or subsided. Of earth: Compacted, consolidated. 1642 Hexham Princ. Art Milit. 11. (ed. 2) 48 The stopping which is made newly is not so firme as the old setled Earth, which hath lain a long time in it. 1751 Labelye Westm. Bridge 80 The further Loading of the settled Pier would be dangerous. 8.

Of a person: Established in life, esp. by marriage; brought into a regular way of life. 01706 Evelyn Mrs. Godolphin (1888) 128 Wee will looke vpon this Lady now, as a setled Woman, and in the Armes of that excellent Person the most worthy to possess her. I777 Sheridan Sch. Scandal 11. iii. Plays (1902) 169 Mercy on me—He’s greatly altered—and seems to have a settled married look. 1884 C. E. Craddock’ (Miss Murfree) In ' Tennessee Mts. 83 A settled married man, a-behavin’ no better ’n them fool boys.

b. Established in an office or living; spec, of Presbyterian ministers (cf. settle v. 27 b). x773 Ann. Reg. 148 Mrs. Greeve was to have procured the place of a settled-tidesman for Mr. John Smith. 1785 Gentl. Mag. LXIV. 11. 391 The settled Relief minister at Irvine. 01817 T. Dwight Trav. New-Eng. (1823) IV. 397 In the year 1798 there were.. two hundred and forty-two ministers; of whom thirty-three were without any charge; or, in the language of New-England, were not settled ministers.

9. Of an estate or property: Secured to a person by a legal act or agreement; held by a tenant for life under conditions defined by the deed. 1856 Act ig & 20 Viet. c. 120 (title), An Act to facilitate Leases and Sales of Settled Estates. Ibid. §1 The Term ‘Settled Estates’.. shall signify all Hereditaments . . and all Estates .. which are the Subject of a Settlement. 1882 Act 45 46 Viet. c. 38 {title). An Act for facilitating Sales, Leases, and other dispositions of Settled Land. 1889 Wharton s Law Lex. (ed. 8), Settled land, land limited by way of succession, to a person other than the person for the time being entitled to the beneficial enjoyment thereof. 10. Of a country: Peopled with new-comers;

colonized. Also settled-up. 1831 Sir J. Sinclair Corr. II. 12 In the settled part of it, the land is divided into smaller farms. 1839-40 W. Irving Wolfert's Roost, etc. R. Ringwood (1855) 196, I had relatives in Lexington, and other settled places. 1897 Beatrice Harraden Hilda Strafford 146 She had seen some of those settled-up parts.

11. Of soap: Refined by fusing in water or weak lye. 1898 G. H. Hurst Soaps vii. 228 Three chief varieties of hard soap.. known as ‘curd’, ‘fitted’, or, in America, ‘settled’, and ‘run’ soaps. 1906 L. L. Lamborn Manuf. Soap ix. 328 Settled Rosined Soap.

t'settledly, adv. manner.

Obs.

[-ly2.]

In a settled

1602 Warner Albion's Eng. xm. Epit. 360 The first Kingdome .. was Kent... It setledly began about the yeere . .475. 01617 Hieron Penance for Sin xviii. Wks. 1628 I. 263 When hee doth aduisedly, and setledly, and with deliberation and purpose doe that which is naught. 1635 Strafford Lett. (1739) I. 412 To shew you how chearfully and settledly I remain Your Lordship’s.. most humble Servant, Wentworth. 1668 H. More Div. Dial. iv. ii. (1713) 291 Those that either slight or misbelieve Christianity . . do not seriously or settledly believe there is a God. 1692 1'. Beverley Concil. Disc. 5 Men, among whom Scripture is setledly receiv’d.

settledness ('s£t(3)ldnis).

[-ness.] The state or quality of being settled (in various senses). Frequent in 17th c. 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. i. 1 The ‘seate’ by which word he betokeneth .. the settlednesse that is concieued of the continuall custome of liuing. 1607 Beaumont Woman Hater v. iii, Coun. You are your self my Lord, I like your setel’dnes. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. 1. 151 Their eyes [turn] to a swolne settlednesse & dulnesse of look. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xxiv. 221 § 1 The Scythian wandring Nomades,.. wanting both civility and settlednesse. 1648 Bp. Hall Breath. Devout Soul xxxiv. 53 Lord, work my heart to so firme a setledness upon thee, that it may never be shaken. 1663 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxiii. (1665) 248 Setledness and stediness of mind. 01676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. 11. vii. (1677) 196 The Antiquity and Setledness of this Monarchy. 01866 Grote Exam. Utilit. Philos, xii. (1870) 195 The discriminateness or settledness, with which moral notions present themselves to the mind. 1875 J- H. Rigg Living Wesley II. ii. 43 The pleasant and old-fashioned settledness of the town of Epworth. 1877 Bryce Transcaucasia & Ararat i. 25 The general want of settledness [in Russia] is seen in the ease with which the population move from place to place.

settlement (’set(3)lm3nt).

[f. settle v.

+

-MENT.]

I. The placing of persons or things in a fixed or permanent position. .»

SETTLEMENT

1. The act of fixing (a thing, material or immaterial) in a secure or steady position; the state of being so fixed; a fixed or steady position. 1648 Bp. Hall Breath. Devout Soul §3.3 Can ye hope to finde rest in any of these sublunary contentments. Alas? how can they yeeld any stay to you, that have no settlement in themselves? 1677 Yarranton Engl. Improv. 5 The Winds and Tide trouls them [sc. the Sands], and give them a settlement along the Shores. 1825 Scott Talism. xii, Bring, if thou canst, thy wavering understanding to a right settlement for a minute or two. 1837 Disraeli Venetia 1. xii, A vast trunk uprooted from its ancient settlement. 1902 Allbutt in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 10) XXX. 611/2 Even more set diseases began to lose their settlements, and were recognized as terms of series, as transitory or culminating phases.

2. Establishment of a person in marriage, in an office or employment.

life,

in

1651 Walton Life Wotton in Reliq. Wotton. c 4 b, This [sc. the Provostship of Eton Coll.] was a faire setlement for his minde. 1660 R. Coke Justice Vind. 21 A magistrate of an hour’s settlement is as much a magistrate as if he had been one never so long. 1692 R. L’Estrange Fables ccxci. 254 Every Man .. Applies himself.. toward the Attaining of his End; whether it be Honour, Wealth, Power, or any other sort of Advantage, or Settlement in the World. 1749 Smollett Gil Bias iii. i. (1782) I. 212, I shall find no difficulty in procuring for you a good settlement. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. Iii. V. 445 Thirty thousand Persians, who had obtained service and settlement in the Byzantine empire. 1861 Mrs. H. Wood E. Lynne xii, That Mr. Carlyle was not of rank equal to her own she scarcely remembered: East Lynne seemed a very fair settlement in life,.. superior to the home she was now in. 1861 Two Cosmos I. 294 Contrary to all that Mr. Caird had ever dreamed or planned for a settlement of his daughter in the married state.

3. Legal residence or establishment in a particular parish, entitling a person to relief from the poor rates; the right to relief acquired by such residence. 1662 Act 14 Chas. II, c 12 §3 If the person.. shall not returne to the place aforesaid when his .. worke is finished .. it shall not bee accounted a Setlement in the cases abovesaid. 1689 in G. T. Lawley Hist. Bilston (1893) 59 Forasmuch as some persons by sculking wlin this Constablewick, have surreptitiously gain’d a settlement here. 1704 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 1. iii. x. (ed. 21) 425 There is a Workhouse in Bishopsgate-Street, for employing.. all such as have no Settlement. 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 113 Many of them were without what we call legal Settlements, and so could not claim of the Parishes. 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. (1809) xvii. 138 But I soon convinced ’em he had not staid long enough in the parish to gain a settlement. 1857 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold Introd. iii, At one Union.. they had told her that she must go back to where she had been bom, for her settlement was there. 1898 Daily News 20 July 8/4 The appeal involved a question as to the settlement of a pauper.. who was bom at Plymouth, but had done no act to gain a settlement.

4. The act of settling oneself, or state of being settled, in a fixed place or position, in a permanent abode, etc. 01700 Evelyn Diary 9 Mar. 1652, I went to Deptford, where I made preparation for my settlement, no more intending to go out of England. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. (Globe) 112 This little wandring Journey, without settled Place of Abode, had been so unpleasant to me, that my own House, as I call’d it to my self, was a perfect Settlement to me, compar’d to that. 1791 Ld. Auckland Corr. 12 Dec. Jrnl. Corr. (1861) II. 396 Nothing can be known till the settlement in the new house and in society is completed. 1882 Besant Revolt of Man iv. 85 She began.. with a comfortable settlement in the chair, which meant a good ‘long talk.

5. In Presbyterian churches: The placing or installing of a minister in a pastoral charge. 1723 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 14 Our settlements are turning extremely vexatious. 1825 Jamieson Suppl. s.v. Settle v., A congregation is said to get a settlement, when the Pastor is introduced to the discharge of the pastoral office among them, S. 1842 W. M. Hetherington Hist. Ch. Scot. 666 Great opposition was made to the settlement by the pious parishioners. 1854 H. Miller Sch. 6? Schm. ii. 31 Gillespie had been deposed.. for refusing to assist in the disputed settlement of Inverkeithing.

6. The act of settling as colonists or new¬ comers; the act of peopling or colonizing a new country, or of planting a colony. (Cf. sense 14.) Phrase, to effect a settlement. 1827 P Cunningham N.S. Wales II. 83 It would be well, also, to attempt the cultivation of tea in some part of our colony, by a settlement of Chinese. 1850 W. Mure Lit. Greece 1. v. §1. 89 The settlement of Oriental colonies in Greece produced no sensible effect on the character either of the language or the nation. 1851 D. Wilson Preh. Ann. (1863)11. iv. i. 170 A band of pioneers effected a settlement on the southern part of Argyleshire. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. §2 We have traced the rudiments of our Constitution to the first moment of the English settlement in Britain. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 8 Sept. 5/1 That region is now divided into four distinct provinces—Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Athabasca—in all of which, except the last, settlement is rapidly progressing. transf. 1896 Newton Diet. Birds 897 Being a great wanderer, it [sc. the Tree-Sparrow] has effected settlements even in such remote islands as the Faeroes.

II. Arrangement or regulation (of affairs, etc.).

7. a. The act or process of regulating or putting on a permanent footing; the act of establishing (public affairs, etc.) in security or tranquillity; the state of being settled and established; a settled arrangement, an established order of things. 1645 Durye Israel's Call (1646) 47 Then look to the further settlement of the civill state. Ibid. 48 With the settlement of the Church, as a body compact together. 1661 Cowley College Ess. etc. (1906) 254 That every third year

(after the full settlement of the Foundation) the Colledge shall give an account.. of the fruits of their triennial Industry. 1681 H. Nevile Plato Rediv. 23 People.. who think that the growth of Popery is our only Evil, and that if we were secure against that, our Peace and Settlement were obtain’d. 1696 Evelyn Let. Wotton 30 Mar. Diary (1879) III. 484 In religious matters.. I could not but discover in him the same free thoughts which he had of philosophy... For the rest always conformable to the present settlement. 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 50 If 6 A sufficient force for the reformation of such disorders, and the settlement of the publick peace. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 197 These [5c. manufactures and commerce] are the offspring of peace and settlement. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 555 A settlement such as Argyle would have made.. seemed to them not worth a struggle. 1900 Sat. Rev. 24 Mar. 350 The settlement that should be made after the war. b. Determination or decision of a question, dispute, etc.; the establishing of an opinion, the text of a document, etc. 1777 Priestley Matt. & Spir. (1782) I. xx. 249 The opinion.. does not seem to have tended to a settlement before the fifth century. 1855 Paley JEschylus (1861) Pref. p. xi, The settlement of the text of Aeschylus.. has been a gradual process of restoration and recovery. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 159 The settlement of the question.. could not long be delayed. 1866 Lowell Study Wind., Swinburne's Trag., That is an affair of taste, which does not admit of any authoritative settlement. 8. Law. The act of settling property upon a person or persons; the particular terms of such an

arrangement;

the

which it is effected.

deed

or

instrument

Often spec.

=

by

marriage

settlement: see marriage 8. 1677 Yarranton Engl. Improv. 9, I have been a Commissioner in the Third part of the greatest Estates in the County, wherein I have seen the Settlements two ways. 1685 Dryden tr. Idylls of Theocritus xxvii. Misc. Wks. 1727 II. 68 My Flocks, my Fields, my Wood, my Pastures take, With Settlement as good as Law can make, a 1700 Evelyn Diary 30 Dec. 1679, I went to meete Sir John Stonehouse, and give him a particular of the settlement on my sonn, who now made his addresses to., his daughter-in-law. 1731 Swift Strephon & Chloe 40 But, Strephon sigh’d so loud and strong, He blew a Settlement along. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia 11. vii, All the world .. would approve the connection, and the settlement made upon her should be dictated by herself. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxx, The deed of settlement, the professional gentlemen inform me, is now ready. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law xi. 69 Your wife.. may.. claim a settlement out of it for herself and her children. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1869) I. 36 The splendid settlement which Rudolf was ready to make upon his son. attrib. 1879 Champness Insur. Diet. (1883) 302 Settlement policies, life policies in which are introduced clauses giving them all the effect of marriage settlements so far as the moneys assured are concerned. b. The settling the succession to the Crown. Act of Settlement, the Act passed in 1701 (12 & 13 Will. III, c. 2) by which the succession to the British crown was settled upon Princess Sophia of Hanover and her descendants. 1714 R. Steele {title) The Crisis, or, a Discourse Representing.. The several Settlements of the Crowns of England and Scotland on Her Majesty. 1765 Blackstone Comm. 1.1. i. 124 These liberties were again asserted .. in the act of settlement, whereby the crown is limited to his present majesty’s illustrious house. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xv. 179 The immediate settlement of the crown at the Revolution extended only to the descendants of Anne and William. c. Scots Law. The disposition of property or heritage by will; also, the document by which this is effected,

disposition and settlement, a

deed by which a person provides for the disposal of his property, heritable and movable, after his death. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxv, This lady., made a general settlement of her affairs in Miss Lucy Bertram’s favour. Ibid, xxxviii, Mr. Protocol.. began to read the settlement aloud in a slow, steady, business-like tone. 1838 W. Bell Diet. Law Scot. s.v. Testament, Testament or Will disposing of Moveables only... Disposition and Settlement or Will disposing of Heritage as well as Moveables. d. The amount settled upon a person. 1811 T. C. Morgan in Lady Morgan s Mem. (1862) I. 525 My wife’s settlement is vested in the Three per Cents. e. U.S. A sum of money or other property formerly granted to a minister on his ordination, in addition to his salary. 1828-32 in Webster, a 1840 Nath. Emmons Autobiog. in Bartlett Diet. Amer. (Cent.), Before the war began, my people punctually paid my salary, and advanced one hundred pounds of my settlement a year before it was due by contract. 9. a. The settling or payment of an account; the

act of satisfying

a

claim

or

demand,

of

coming to terms (with a person). 1729 Act 2 Geo. II, c. 23 §23 Upon the Taxation and Settlement of such Bill and Demand. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm, ix, Ye might say .. that the carline awed ye rent, and that ye wad allow it in the settlement. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. 11. v, From the Townhall he .. emits .. fresh plans of settlement with Chateau-Vieux. 1873 Mrs. H. Wood Master Greylands I. x. 172 In an incredibly short, .time.. the affairs of the bank were in a way of settlement. 1878 Mrs. J. H. Riddell Mother's Darling I. vii. 197 No heavy bills were sent to Dilfield for settlement. b. spec. The fortnightly (or, for government securities, monthly) settling of accounts on the Stock Exchange. 1772 Foote Nabob 11. (1778) 41 For de next settlement, would your honour be de bull or de bear? 1897 Westm. Gaz. 23 Dec. 8/2 With regard to Mining markets preparations are now in full progress for the settlement.

10. In India: The process of assessing the government land-tax over a specific area. 1789 Earl Cornwallis Let. 2 Nov. Corr. (1859) I. 443 The Board continued.. to form and issue the necessary instructions for making a settlement of the land revenues of the province of Bahar. 1849 Direct. Revenue Off. N. W. Prov. Bengal (1850X7 There are evidently two distinct operations in the formation of a Settlement. The one is fiscal—the determination of the Government Demand—the other is judicial, the formation of the record of rights. attrib. 1849 Direct. Revenue Off. N.W. Prov. Bengal (1850) 27 Directions for Settlement Officers.

III. The act of becoming set or still, sinking, subsiding, etc. 11. a. The act of settling and clarifying after agitation or fermentation. 1626 Bacon Sylva §302 First for Separation; It is wrought by Weight; As in the ordinary Residence or Settlement of Liquors. 1662 Charleton Myst. Vintners (1675) 156 The too frequent or violent motion of Wines after their settlement in their vessels. Ibid. 179 They counsel to rack it from the Milky bottom, after a weeks settlement. fig. 1881 Jowett Thucyd. I. 9 In the age which followed the Trojan War, Hellas was still in process of ferment and settlement.

b. The deposition of grosser particles or solid matter. Also concra deposit or sediment. Obs. exc. dial. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet, s.v., This Liquour is not right, there is a Settlement. 1692 J. Houghton Coll. Improv. Husb. No. 9 |f 3,1 dry’d both the Settlements asunder. 1739 W. Montagu Let. 16 Aug. in Lady M. W. Montagu s Lett. (1893) II. 43 They are occasioned by a settlement of humours, which are removed by exercise. 1739 Labelye Westm. Bridge 64 The Tide of Ebb having so long a Time to deposit its Settlement. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Settlements, sediment.

c. The sinking of floe and other solid particles in liquid sewage. Also attrib., as settlement tank. 1912 H. Lemmoin-Cannon Textbk. Sewage Disposal in U.K. xviii. 62 Tanks of the same kind.. are used for the purpose of attaining the settlement of the suspended organic solids by sedimentation. 1927 T. H. P. Veal Disposal of Sewage v. 54 Quiescent settlement tanks are operated on what is known as the fill-and-draw principle. Ibid. 55 The amount of clarification effected in a given time by quiescent settlement is greater than that effected by the continuous flow method. 1977 C. B. Capper in A. G. Callely et al. Treatment Industrial Effluents vi. 90 Probably the oldest method of removing suspended solids was by the use of horizontal-flow settlement tanks.

12. A sinking down or subsidence structure, loose earth, etc.).

SETTLING

88

SETTLER

(of a

1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §283 Twelve pieces .. of near a ton each,.. laid upon the first vaulted floor, without.. the least degree of settlement. 1799 Kirwan Geol. Ess. 410 After a certain degree of desiccation their masses were capable of a much closer approach to each other, or of what builders commonly call settlement. 1820 Tredgold Carpentry §298 By shrinkage, or settlement, the joints will bear only upon the angular points of the joint. 1833 De La Beche Geol. Man. (ed. 2) 135 The whole may be explained by the settlement of loose sand.. during the violent shocks of an earthquake. 1842 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Settlements, those parts in which failures by sinking in a building have occurred. 1898 Watts-Dunton Aylwin 1. i, These landslips are sometimes followed, at the return of the tide, by a further fall, called a ‘settlement’.

13. The process of becoming calm or tranquil. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. vii. v, It is like the settlement of winds and waters, of seas long tornado-beaten.

IV. An assemblage of persons settled in a locality. 14. a. (Cf. sense 6.) A community of the subjects of a state settled in a new country; a tract of country so settled, a colony, esp. one in its earlier stages. back settlement, see back a. i a. Straits Settlements (now Hist.), the collective name given to the British possessions in the Malay Peninsula. 1697 Dampier Voy. I. vii. 163 In some River where the Spaniards have neither Settlement nor Trade with the native Indians. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 280 Have the Spaniards no.. ports or towns, settlements or colonies in it? 1753 Scots Mag. Feb. 65/2 British subjects in the back settlements. 1776 A. Smith W.N. i. viii. I. 89 The present state of Bengal, and of some other of the English settlements in the East Indies. 1844 Brougham Brit. Const. xvii. (1862) 280 The endless variety of our settlements in all the most remote quarters of the globe! 1874 Green Short Hist. i. §4 Offa resolved to create a military border by planting a settlement of Englishmen between the Severn and the huge ‘Offa’s Dyke’. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 159/1 The English settlements in Virginia, New England, Maryland, and Pennsylvania had.. developed into a new nation.

b. Of a religious community. 1708 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 1. in. i. (ed. 22) 201 According as their [sc. the Quakers’] Settlements are more Numerous and Thick. 1884 R. Paton Scott. Ch. viii. 75 St. Finnian had twelve chief disciples, who filled the land with religious settlements. Ibid. 81 There was the earthen rampart enclosing the settlement.

15. In the outlying districts of America and the (former) Colonial territories: A small village or collection of houses. Also, the huts forming the living quarters of the slaves on a plantation. 1827 O. W. Roberts Toy. Centr. Amer. 31 The terms settlement and plantation mean the residences of the natives. 1839 Fr. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 18 There are four settlements or villages (or, as the negroes call them, camps) on the island, consisting of from ten to twenty houses. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 417 At another plantation .. I found the ‘settlement’ arranged in the same

way, the cabins only being of a slightly different form. 1884 ‘C. E. Craddock’ (Miss Murfree) In Tennessee Mts. 81 And certainly the instinct of the eagle built that eyrie called the Settlement.. far above the towering pine forest. 1896 Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada II. ii. 210 Topographical terms actually used by the people of New Brunswick... Settlement, rarely village.

16. An establishment in the poorer quarters of a large city where educated men or women live in daily personal contact with the working class for co-operation in social reform. 1884 Oxf. Mag. 23 Apr. II. 171/2 Oxford and East London. The Executive Committee of the University Settlement have issued a prospectus and appeal for donations towards the initial expenses of the Settlement. Ibid. 172/1 Nine men have undertaken to commence residence in the Settlement. 1892 Ch. Times 4 Nov. 1094/1 Those ‘settlements’, or missions, which have become of late such a striking feature in the religious life of London. 1904 D. Price Hughes Life H. P. Hughes ix. 207 A site in the City Road, where it was proposed to erect premises containing full accommodation for a Settlement.

V. 17. attrib. and Comb., as (senses 6, 14) settlement area, pattern; (sense 9 b) settlement price, terms; settlement day = settling day s.v. settling vbl. sb. 3 b; settlement house U.S., an institution in an inner city area, usu. sponsored by a church or college, that gives educational, recreational, and other social services to the community (cf. sense 16). 1963 H. N. Savory in Foster & Alcock Culture Environment iii. 31 The south Wales seaboard was a primary settlement-area of the continental colonists. 1977 Word 1972 XXVIII. 72 Brittany is a dispersed settlement area, and farms are either isolated or in small clusters. 1896 W. H. S. Aubrey Stock Exch. Investm. 314/2 (Index), Settlement days. 1901 C. Duguid How to read Money Article xvii. 75 Directly one account is ended by the fortnightly settlement, another account begins. It commences at noon on the first settlement day. 1907 J. Strong Challenge of City 307 Your letter.. was duly received and reply thereto delayed awaiting report from the inspection districts wherein are located the Settlement houses you mentioned. 1959 New Statesman 24 Oct. 534/2 In relation to the street gangs, most of these disquisitions regard the conventional ‘agencies’ — boys’ clubs, mixed clubs, settlement houses, community centres—as ineffectual. 1978 G. Vidal Kalki v. 114 Of course, Amelia did work in settlement houses, helping the poor. 1958 G. Lienhardt Tribes without Rulers 98 Dinka settlement-patterns differ from each other according to the two broadly different kinds of country. 1928 Daily Mail 25 July 19/3 Tin: Standard cash quoted £217 105. to £217 12$. 6d.\ three months, £214 105. to £214 125. 6d.\ settlement price, £217 1 os. 1931 C. Maughan Markets of London 122 Rubber is also sold on ‘settlement terms’, which means that a buyer receives a profit or pays a loss every fortnight, in a similar way to settlements on the Stock Exchange.

settler ('setlajr)). (f. settle v. + -er1.] 1. a. One who or a thing which, settles, fixes, decides, etc. 1598 Florio, Acconciatore,. .a mender, a setler, an ordrer. 1611 Cotgr., Ficheur, a fixer, fastener, setler, or setter in. 1659 England's Universal Distraction 1643-5 16 True Religion is rather a Setler then Stickler in Policy, and rather confirmes men in obedience to the Government. 1687 Wood Life 9 Dec. (O.H.S.) III. 245 Mr. A[rthur] Ch[arlet] of Trin. Coll., the chief setler of unsetled minds in Oxford. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XVI. 113 He fancied himself a settler of destinies. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery Introd. 6 This powerful settler of disputes [sc. artillery]. 1898 Daily News 6 July 4/6 That sum was.. paid by him over to Mr. Goodson, who acted as Sir John’s settler.

b. colloq. Something that settles or ‘does for’ a person, a finisher; something that settles an antagonist in an encounter or argument; a crushing or finishing blow, shot, speech, etc. 1744 M. Bishop Life Advent, ix. 124, I endeavoured to revive them by saying I intended to have a Bowl of Punch, by way of a Settler and then to go to Bed upon it. c 1817 Hogg Tales Gf Sk. V. 221 This was a settler; I could make no answer to that. 1819 Moore Tom Crib's Memorial (ed. 3) 15 So he tipp’d him a settler.. Full plump in the whisker. 1833 Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Administr. (1837) II. 338 Cook knocked him on the head instantly; this is what the English call a settler, that is, in this way they settle their accounts. 1837 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. 1. xx, That shot was a settler, it struck poor Sail right atwixt wind and water. 1888 Sportsman 22 Dec. (Farmer), A mistake at the last hurdles proved a complete settler, and he succumbed by six lengths. 1894 Blackmore Perlycross 239 After this settler [a crushing speech], the man sat down, and turned his back on the Parson.

c. A clerk in a betting shop who calculates the winnings. 1963 L. Meynell Virgin Luck vii. 172 ‘But what do you do .. ?’ ‘Settle. I’m a settler. I work out a bet. It goes down on a slip and after the race the settlers go through the slips and work them out. ’ 1966 p. Willmott Adolescent Boys of East London vi. 102 Non-manual jobs of a more ‘routine’ kind, mainly clerks and shop assistants, draughtsmen and betting-shop ‘settlers’. 1977 Evening Post (Nottingham) 27 Jan. 14/1 (Advt.), Saturday settler required by independent licensed Betting Office.

2. a. One who settles in a new country; a colonist, old settler: see old a. D4. orig. Amer. 1696 Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1881) VI. 51 The first goers or first setlers of Woodstock. 1739 W. Stephens Jrnl. 15 Dec. in Colonial Records State of Georgia (1906) IV. 469 One Bunyon, a Builder of Boats and a Settler there. 1786 T. Dundas Let. 28 Dec. in Cornwallis Corr. (1859) I. 279 The half-pay provincial officers are valuable settlers. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. Iii. V. 442 The fields and vineyards were divided among the new settlers. 1802 G. Barrington New South Wales iv. 98 The natives taking advantage of the distance settlers lived from each other. 1867 Emerson Lett.

& Soc. Aims, Progr. Culture Wks. (Bohn) III. 225 Land without price is offered to the settler. 1874 Green Short Hist. i. § 1 Each dweller within the settlement was jealous of his own isolation and independence among his fellowsettlers. 1904 W. M. Ramsay Lett. 7 Churches xi. 133 Hence the Jewish settlers formed a counterpoise against the Greek colonists in the Seleucid cities.

b. gen. One who settles in a place as a resident. 1815 Scott Guy M. vii, Nor was Mr. Bertram in a hurry to exert his newly-acquired authority at the expense of these old settlers. Ibid, xii, If.. he should become a settler in that part of Scotland. 1834 Dickens Sk. Boz, Boarding Ho., He resides among the original settlers at Walworth.

c.

A

worker

at

a

social

settlement

(see

SETTLEMENT 16). 1884 Durham Univ. Jrnl. 5 July VI. 44 What then are Settlements, and their Settlers, to do in the East End of London? 1887 Charity Organiz. Rev. III. 408 The university settlers [at Toynbee Hall]. 1899 Daily News 26 June 4/7 The ‘settlers’ at Mansfield House look forward to having one of the best-equipped boys’ clubs in London.

3. Law. One who settles property: = settlor. 1800 Act 39 40 Geo. Ill, c. 98 § 1 The Term of Twentyone Years from the Death of any such Grantor, Settler, Devisor, or Testator.

4. A pan or vat into which a liquor is run off to ‘settle’ or deposit a sediment. In Metallurgy (see quot. 1881). 1674 Ray Collect. Words, Allom Works Whitby 140 Which [kelp] being put in so soon as the Liquor boils or flows up .., they draw it off into a settler. 1731 Miller Gard. Diet. s.v. Anil, There are three of these [indigo] Vats commonly built one above another... This last Vat is also call’d at St. Domingo, a Settler, a 1864 Gesner Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865) 161 The pump .. draws the petroleum from the settler. 1874 Raymond 6th Rep. Mines 193 The roasted ore is amalgamated in 8 pans, with as many settlers. 1881 Mining Gloss., Settler, a tub or vat, in which pulp from the amalgamating pan or battery-pulp is allowed to settle, being stirred in water, to remove the lighter portions.

5. attrib. and Comb., as settler-folk, f slam

(slam sb.3); settler’s or settlers’ clock, Austral. (see quots.); settler’s effects Canad., goods brought into the country by an immigrant for his personal use that are exempt from import duty; also transf.; settler’s matches, twine Austral, (see quots.). 1896 Harper's Mag. Apr. 716/2 The westward march of the *settler-folk. 1743 in 6th Rep. Dep. Kpr. App. 11. 121 A Method of making Alum out of Dross (commonly called *Settler Slam). 1827 P. Cunningham Two Years in N.S.W. I. 232 The loud and discordant noise of the laughing jackass (or *settler’s clock, as he is called) .. acquaints us that the sun has just dipped behind the hills. 1847 L. Leichhardt Jrnl. Australia viii. 234 The laughing Jackass (Dacelo gigantea) which, from its regularity, has not been unaptly named the settlers’ clock. 1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 2 Apr. 14/3 She landed 150 tons of cargo here, including three boilers.. ^settler’s effects, and general freight. 1939 K. Pinkerton Wilderness Wife i. 13 Beside us on the station platform that morning were our canoe, camp outfit and a few ‘settler’s effects’. 1965 I. Reekie Along Old Melita Trail ii. 12 Coming to Manitoba with two cars of settlers’ effects. 1891 H. Lawson in Bulletin (Sydney) 19 Dec. 21/2 And we walked so very silent—being lost in reverie—that we heard the ‘*settlers’-matches’ gently rustle on the tree. 1898 Morris Austral Eng., Settlers' Matches,. .the long pendulous strips of bark which hang from the Eucalypts and other trees, during decortication and which.. are used as kindling wood. * Settler's Twine, a fibre plant, Gymnostachys anceps, R. Br[own] .. used by farmers as cord or string.

'settlerdom. nonce-wd. [f. settler + -dom.] Settlers collectively. 1863 Dicey Federal St. II. 123 Veni, vidi, aedificavi, should be the motto of Western settlerdom, so rapid is the growth of cities in the West.

settling ('setlirj), vbl. sb. [-ing1.] The action of the verb settle. OE. setlung = a sitting down, also the setting of the sun. The latter sense is recorded by Ash (1775) and Todd (1818) for settling, but this is prob. an error for setting.

1. a. The action of fixing, establishing, arranging permanently, adjusting, deciding, etc. J553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1560) 3 The setling or ordering of things inuented for this purpose, called in Latin Dispositio. 01569 Kyngesmill Con ft. with Satan (1577) Pref. Avb, This I say must be a setlinge vnto thee, if thou hast tasted how good and gracious God is. 1619 W. Sclater Expos. 1 Thess. 173 To Gods children let it be a settling of their Faith, that it neuer wauer. 1629 Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. 11. III. 21 To gif thair advise anent the satling of the disordouris of the Middle shyris. 01642 Suckling Let. in Fragm. Aurea (1648) 62 Since the setling of your Family would certainly much conduce to the setling of your mind. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacrw 11. ix. §2. 261 The miracles done at the setling of their Law. 1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 465 This thing will be an absolute settling of my fortune, which .. is in no good condition. 1747 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. V. 141 Has desir’d me to take upon myself the settling of the Terms for paying the Men off. 1817 Selwyn Law Nisi Prius II. 917 The adjustment of a loss is the settling and ascertaining the amount of the indemnity. 1909 Gwatkin Early Ch. Hist. I. vi. 112 We get a general impression of apostolic superintendence .. and of settling of churches.

fb. The state of being settled, a settlement; a station. Obs. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind. 1. lxvii. ■37 Those that went in the vangard, as soone as they came to their setling [orig. chegando a estancia], did giue fire to theyr ordinance. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. 1. vi. 26 Those Epistles of Peter and John, which are likely to be latest written, when the Church grew to a setling.

SETTLING 2. The action of planting a country with colonists, or of establishing a colony, f Also the result of this, a settlement. 1609 Salisbury in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 83 An enterprise of plantation in the Indies, where, .the King of England .. might have a settling as well as the King of Spain, a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 2 To search the Moon by her own Light;.. And make the proper’st Observations, For settling of new Plantations. 1707 J. Archdale (title) A New Description of.. Carolina: with a brief account of its Discovery, Settling, and the Government Thereof to this Time. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) V. 149/1 That the settling of colonies would have been a cheaper and better method of bridling modern countries, than building fortresses in them. 1877 Ibid. (ed. 9) VI. 159/2 The ultimate constitution of a colony depends but little on the manner in which the territory for settling was originally acquired.

3. a. The adjusting or liquidating of accounts; also settling up. 1761 T. Mortimer Ev. Man his own Broker ii. (1762) 28 The four principal times, for which contracts or bargains are made,.. are called in ’Change Alley, the Rescounter settlings. Ibid. 82 Against the day of settling he has made out, what he calls his list. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 377 After a great event—a Derby, Oaks, or Leger.. the newspapers generally devote a neat paragraph or two to what is called ‘the settling’. 1893 Baily's Mag. Oct. 275/2 A backer, who.. refused to face an adverse settling, and quietly skedaddled. fig. 1910 Blackw. Mag. Feb. 183/1 After dinner there would be a settling up with the two rebels.

b. settling day, a day appointed for settling accounts; spec, the fortnightly pay-day on the Stock Exchange, settling room, a room (esp. at the Stock Exchange) in which accounts are settled. 1806-7 J- Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) xii. xviii, Attending at the Stock-exchange on settling-day. 1822 Scott Nigel xxi, The score of pieces that must be made up at settling-day. 1859 H. H. Dixon Silk Scarlet 97 In the yard of Tattersall’s, on Priam’s settling day. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 20 Mar. 9/1 The Settling-room underneath the House [Stock Exchange].

4. (Cf. settle v. 21 c.) to get a settling (Sc.): ‘to be frightened into quietness’ (Burns Gloss. 1785)1785 Burns Halloween xxiv, But Och! that night, amang the shaws, She gat a fearfu’ settlin!

5. a. The action of coming to rest, taking up a fixed or permanent position, becoming quiet or composed, etc. Also settling down. 1605 Shaks. Lear iv. vii. 82 The great rage You see is kill’d in him:.. Trouble him no more till further setling. 1711 Addison Sped. No. 106 If 6 At his first settling with me. 1744 M. Bishop Life Advent, viii. 111, I hope you have no Thoughts of going again to Sea, as I have waited so many Years in Expectation of your settling, when you came home. 1796 Mme. D’Arblay Camilla I. 344 Dr. Marchmont.. had been introduced to Sir Hugh upon the baronet’s settling in the large mansion-house of that village. 1911 G. B. Shaw Getting Married 118 The process of settling down would go on until they settled into their graves.

b. settling in, the action of establishing one’s residence in a new place or of becoming accustomed to new surroundings. Chiefly attrib., as settling-in allowance, grant. 1955 Times 16 July 2/4 Generous settling-in allowance during first month, and housing assistance can be afforded to selected applicants. 1965 Wireless World Aug. 120 (Advt.), Free air travel will be provided for a successful applicant.. and a ‘settling in’ allowance will also be paid on arrival in Salisbury. 1973 Soviet Weekly 17 Feb. 11/3 Some redundant teachers were willing to be sent to localities where there was a shortage of teachers. They were given settling in grants totalling two or three months average earnings, plus a quarter of that sum for each member of their family. 1974 Economist 31 Aug. 83/1 (Advt.), A settling-in allowance of up to £400 is payable in approved circumstances and assistance with housing for a short time is a possibility.

c. Special Comb.: settling time, the time taken for a measuring or control instrument to get within a certain distance of a new equilibrium value without subsequently deviating from it by that amount. 1951 Chestnut & Mayer Servomechanisms & Regulating System Design I. xiv. 410 (heading) Settling time t, to reach 5 per cent of final value. 1974 J. W. Brewer Control Systems x. 285 Rise time is a measure of the speed of response, and the ratio of settling time to rise time is a measure of damping.

6. a. The action of sinking down, subsiding, forming a deposit or sediment, etc.; also, the result of this. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 440/2 Saggynge, or satlynge, bassacio. 1540 Jonas tr. Roesslin's Byrth Mankynde 1. vii. 32 After the delyueraunce happeneth to women other the feuer or ague, ..or els commotion or settelynge out of order of the., matrice. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxi. iii. II. 408 [These plants] come up..in some low grounds where there is a settling or stay of raine water fallen from higher places. 1650 Fuller Pisgah iv. iv. 70 Purple being severall sanguine colours, differing onely in degrees, and the severall setlings thereof. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. 294 For as too long sitting .. hindereth the full descent of meat to the depth of our stomachs; so too speedy rising causeth an overhasty setling. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 26 The unequall setling of the Work. 1693 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 260 Which occasions Cracks and Setlings in the Walls. 1742 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 174 The Shifting of the Beach without, and Settling of the Sullage within. 1880 Standard 10 Dec., The ground .. immediately over a disused rock salt¬ mine, began to show signs of‘settling’. 1881 igth Cent. 247,

89 I have known a settling down of strata crumple up 14 feet of solid masonry, as though it were paper. attrib. 1782 Wedgwood in Phil. Trans. LXXII. 320 After complete vitrification, the heat is abated for some hours to 28 or 290, which is called the settling heat. 1834-6 Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 422/2 The strong liquor is drawn off into settling cisterns. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. 667 The solution is allowed to run into a deep vessel or settling back. 1867 J. A. Phillips Mining Metallurgy of Gold & Silver ix. 183 When settling pits are used for the purpose of collecting the tailings for subsequent treatment, it is necessary that at least two of them should be provided, so that whilst one is being filled the other may be cleaned up. 1868 Times 4 Aug. 4/3 A complete churning and intimate union are effected by the sewage passing through a number of small apertures into cells, in each of which revolves a stirrer, and thence out of the cells into two very spacious settling tanks. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 506/1 As these., naturally act as settling-ponds they get rapidly silted up. 1894 G. E. Waring Mod. Meth. Sewage Disposal xvii. 234 The flocculent matter passing the screen clogged the 4-inch absorption-tiles after a time. This was obviated by constructing a settling-chamber. 1899 Rep. Dept. Mines on Goldfields N.Z. 1898-99 45 The crushed ore passes over amalgamated copper-plates, 12 ft. long, into four sets of spitzlutten or settling-boxes. 1915 G. B. Kershaw Sewage Purification & Disposal iv. 117 In most settling towers the bottom of the tank is formed in the shape of a cone, the sludge drain being placed at the apex. 1928 W. A. Mitchell Civil Engineering v. 572 The term settling basin is ordinarily applied to a reservoir which contains from one to four days’ supply of water. 1940 Imhoff & Fair Sewage Treatment iv. 72 In these tanks, the lower story serves as a sludge chamber and the upper one as a settling chamber. 1941 C. A. Ward Those Raiv Materials vi. 272 The separation of sludge [from oil] may take place in settling tanks or may be brought about by centrifugal means. 1955 Linsley & Franzini Elements Hydraulic Engin. x. 249 Settling basins..just below the point of diversion so that sediment can be collected and sluiced back into the river. 1964 Grouts & Drilling Muds in Engin. Pract. 29/2 Retention [of the mud] in settling pits should be not less than 12 min. 1978 Sci. Amer. July 99/1 Conventional sewage treatment employs a combination of large settling tanks, bacterial cultures and sludge-thickening devices to decontaminate waste water and to concentrate the solid residue.

b. concr. Sediment, lees, dregs. Chiefly pi. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. m. 23 The residence or setling, which you find in the bottom therof. 1634 Milton Comus 810 Yet ’tis but the lees And setlings of a melancholy blood. 1646 P. Bulkeley Gospel Covt. 1. 180 The Lord formed man .. out of the earth, the dregs and setlings of all creatures. 1747 Mrs. Glasse Cookery v. 65 Fill these Cups with the Jelly, which you must take clear from the Settling at the Bottom. Ibid., Take the fine Jelly clear from the Settlings at Bottom. 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Glass ix. 240 A layer of the finer settlings of the enamel is to be spread .. over the convex side. 1895 Daily News 11 May 7/7 The stuff [illicit spirit] was made .. from sugar and wine settlings.

settling ('setlir)), ppl. a. [f. settle v. + -ing2.] That settles (in the senses of the verb). ci6ii Chapman Iliad 11. 82 [As bees] So from the ships, . . The rabble .. Hurried together;.. earth did grone Beneath the setling multitude. 1681 Dryden Span. Friar in. 36 You call it Settling of a man; just as when a fellow has got a sound Knock upon the head, they say he’s settled: Marriage is a Settling blow indeed. 1762-3 Macpherson Ossian's Poems, Coulath a pa seofon godan gear agane wteron. (1175 Lamb. Horn. 13 pa oSre souen la3e. c 1200 Ormin Ded. 252 Godnessess seffne. Ibid. 8399 Forr sefenn winnterr haffde he beon Tosamenn inn Egippte. CI330 Arth. (St Merl. 3845 t>o sei3e pai seuen baners. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 140 So that.. he be bereined Be times sefne and sore peined. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 67/2 Ceventymes, septies. 1591 Digges Pantam. 8 The line AB which I would diuide into seauen equall portions. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 35 Sax, sevin, or viii. cubites hich. 1683 Evelyn Diary 18 June, For the last seaven yeares. 1813 Southey Nelson I. 198 The capture of seven sail of the line. 1865 Baring-Gould Werewolves viii, When seven girls succeed each other in one family. P- c x375 Sc. Leg. Saints viii. (Philepus) 79 Sewyne dais.. before his ded. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 153/10 He makyd the Cite of Rome afyre to sette, and Sewyn dayes and Sewyn nyghtes to brente. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems lx. 5 All thing wrocht in dayis seweyne. 1559 in J. Campbell Ch. & Par. Kirkcaldy vi. (1904) 59 Sewn pundes and twelf shillinges. 1612 in Scott. Hist. Rev. (1905) 394 Of erras wark tapestrie sewin stand ewerie stand contenying fywe pieces. y. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xi. 7 sen [v.r. seuen] giftis of pe halygast. C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 500 In hevene it [God’s body] is sene fote in fourme. 01400 Octouian 1386 Sene yere and more. 8. c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke ii. 36, & lifde miQ wer hire wintrum seofo. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 41 He him sceaude an ouen on berninde fure; he warp ut of him seofe leies. a 1200

SEVEN Moral Ode 140 Wa wurS sor3e seuejer for souenihte blisse. C1275 Lay. 3970 \>o soue 3er were a-gon. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 88 be saxons .. Seve kynges made in engelond. 1340 Ayenb. 4 be zeue stapes of chastete. c 1475 Partenay 4181 A lytell body of sixe or sef yere age.

b. Used predicatively. 1622 Fletcher Beggar’s Bush 11, i, We are seven of us. 1655 F. W. Observ. on Fulke's Meteors 162 Metalls are seven in number, as the Planets are. 1798 Wordsworth (title) We are seven, a 1847 Rossetti Blessed Damozel i, The stars in her hair were seven.

c. With day, night, month in more or less specific uses. seven days: a week; often referred to as the period of the Creation; in England, formerly a common term of imprisonment. Also seven days and seven nights, seven months' child: one born at the seventh month; a type of weakliness. Cf. seven-day(s, seven-year(s, and sennight. £1200 Ormin 4356 Forr seffne da3hess brinngenn a33 pe wuke till hiss ende. £1250 Gen. & Ex. 2952 Dis wreche.. Lestede fulle seuene ni3t. 01300 Leg. Rood (1871) 42 J?er wippoute mete and drinke seue dawes he lay. ^ *375-1500-20 [see 1 jS above]. 1470-85 Malory Arthur iv. xix. 144 And rode daye by day wel a seuen dayes or they fond ony auenture. a 1513 Dunbar Compl. to King 5 God, that.. all thing wrocht in dayis seweyne. 1611 Bible Job ii. 13 They sate downe with him vpon the ground seuen dayes, and seuen nights. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. iv. ix, Seven days seven nights I saw that curse. 1817 2nd Rep. Committee « Police Metrop., Min. Evtd. 352 He is sent for seven days to the House of Correction. 1847 Act 10 & 11 Viet. c. 89 §29 Liable .. to Imprisonment for a Period not exceeding Seven Days. 1850 [I. Williams] {title) The Seven Days, or the Old and New Creation. 1859 Tennyson Merlin & V. 561 A seven-months’ babe had been a truer gift. 1892 Oxf. Chron. 19 Mar. 6/7 Fined is. and costs 3s. 6d., or seven days. 1898 J. Hutchinson in Archives Surg. IX. 364 In December of the same year his wife was delivered of a seven months’ child. 1903 Ladies' Field 7 Nov. 346/1 The Crystal Palace Cat Show.. Neila Billi, a grand seven-month son of Orange Blossom of Thorpe.

d. Used (a) symbolically, often denoting completion or perfection (esp. in echoes of biblical phraseology), or (b) typically in expressions of time, etc. for a large number or quantity, esp. seven year(s, etc. (= a long period). See also sevensithe(s. f seven times fold = sevenfold adv.\ seven-times-folded = sevenfold a. c 1000 i^LFRic Judges xvi. 7 5if ic beo jebunden mid seofon rapum of sinum jeworhte, sona ic beo gewyld. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. ix. 66, I haue suwed pe his seuen 3er. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's-Pr. Epil. 7 The were nede of hennes, as I wene, 3a, moo than seuene tymes seuentene. 1470-85 Malory Arthur vn. xiii. 232 Men sayen that he hath seuen mens strength, c 1475 Rauf Coiljear 664 Thocht he had socht sic ane sicht all this seuin 3eir. £1475 Partenay 4182 Better.. seff tymes fold. 1549 Compl. Scot. ii. 24, I sal strik 30U vitht ane plag, seuyn tymes mair vehement. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. iv. iv. 591 There shall not, at your Fathers House, these seuen yeeres Be borne another such. 1657 Austen Fruit Trees 1. 32 The Lord recompenceth and will give thee seauen-times as much. 1671 Milton Samson 1122 Add thy Spear, A Weavers beam, and seven-times-folded shield. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xiii, And gold seven times tried he was, when God.. took him home at last.

e. In Naut. slang phrs. to knock seven bells out of (someone): to beat (someone) severely; similarly, to scare seven bells out of: to terrify. Cf. BELL sb.1 3 b. 1929 F. C. Bowen Sea Slang 121 To knock seven bells out of a man, to give him a hiding or knock him out. 1932 J. W. Harris Days of Endeavour ix. 158 Three angry Norwegians ..knocked seven bells out of him. 1933 M. Lowry Ultramarine iv. 206 Yis. He’s knocked seven bells out of harder cases than you in his time. 1943 F. C. Hendry True Tales of Sail & Steam i. 11 She [sc. a ship] scared seven bells out of us and gave us the worst month I have ever known at sea.

2. a. With ellipsis of sb., which may usually be supplied from the context. c 900 tr. Baeda’s Hist. iv. iii. (1890) 262 Mid feaum broSrum, pset is seofonum oSpo eahtum. a 1000 Caedmon’s Gen. 1335 (Gr.) Ond seofone jenim on pset sundreced tudra gehwilces jeteled rimes. /., severe rebukes or criticisms. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 2 Though I received some severities from my mother on this occasion. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. Ep. Ded., The Devout., will be scrupulous to be more Severe to these Papers, than a Person in whom, upon the score of her own Style, Severity were more justifiable than in most Readers. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 50. 326, I should be very loth to see you fall with too particular a severity upon the Error. 1784 Cowper Task v. 170 ’Twas but a mortifying stroke Of undesign’d severity, that glanc’d .. On human grandeur and the courts of kings. 1859 Bagehot Lit. Stud. (1879) I. 176 We should think it unseemly to criticise the .. work.. with extreme severity. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus v. 2 Sour severity, tongue of eld maligning. 1884 R. W. Church Bacon i. 2 Bacon has been judged with merciless severity.

d. Sternness of aspect or countenance; a severe look or expression. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 160 Jfn, I think, says the Author, I never saw a greater Severity than in this Man’s Face. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch, Cleomenes V. 177 In the court, where, with a silent severity of aspect, he observed all that passed. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia vii. vi, How will his noble mother disdain me! how cruelly shall I sink before the severity of her eye! 1828 J. W. Croker Diary 21 Apr., [Sir J. ] Moore’s countenance assumed a great severity.

e. transf. in reference to handling or dealing with inanimate objects. 1878 J. Marshall Ann. Tennis 112 Though not playing with so much severity as some others, he yet can cut the ball so as to make and win short chases on the floor with some certainty. 1898 W. W. Jacobs Sea Urchins, Grey Parrot (1906) 219 Mr. Gannett.. with a small knife dug with much severity and determination a hardened plug from the bowl [of his pipe].

2. Strictness or austerity of life, morals, etc. 1481 Botoner Tulle on Old Age (Caxton) gij (R.), Seuerity is continuance and perseuerance of oon maner of lyuyng as wele in the thyngys within as in theym withoute. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Seuere, Life passed in great seueritie and grauitie. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 178 We would .. with more seueritie direct the sequele of our life, for the feare of present death. 1592 Shaks. Rom. & Jul. 1. i. 225 Beauty steru’d with her seuerity, Cuts beauty off from all posteritie. 1680 Dryden Pref. Ovid's Ep. Ess. 1900 I. 230 ’Tis true, they [Ovid’s Elegies, etc.] are not to be excused in the severity of manners. 1728 Law Serious C. xviii. (1732) 329 Such severity of behaviour, such abstinence [etc.]. 1741 Middleton Cicero II. viii. 256 He affected the severity of the Stoic. 1903 in Westcott Life Bp. Westcott 1. 23, I had ever before me what I may call the severity of his example. b. pi. 1673 Ladies Calling 1. i. |pio. 8 Tho these first severities were soon lost in the successes of that Empire. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian vi, O, Ellena! let the severities or custom yield to the security of my happiness. 1826 Lamb Elia Ser. 11. Wedding, The tristful severities of a funeral. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 291 The ordinary prudences and severities of conscience.

3. Strictness in matters of thought or intellect; rigid accuracy or exactness; undeviating con¬ formity to truth or fact. Also pi. instances of this. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 73 Then the Artists them¬ selves, the severitie and integritie of whose judgements is often weakened by the love of their owne and the dislike of other mens workes. a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. 1. i. 27 A sort of Men that pretend to much severity of Wit, and would be thought too wise to be imposed upon by Credulity. 1693 Dryden Disc. Satire Ess. 1900 II. 24, I may say it, with all the severity of truth, that every line of yours is precious. 1791 Burke Let. Memb. Nat. Assembly Wks. 1834 I. 477 The process of reasoning called deductio ad absurdum, which even the severity of geometry does not reject. 1834 Burke's Wks. I. Introd. 75 A vagueness and looseness of language quite incompatible with precision of thought, and utterly inconsistent with the severity of philosophy, a 1859 De

Quincey Syst. Heavens Wks. 1889 III. 194 A wish for the naked severities of science, with a total absence from all display of enthusiasm. 1864 Hamerton Dore in Fine ArtsQ. Rev. III. 2, I have but one law of conduct in criticism which is to judge.. neither with indulgence nor prejudiced harshness, but with severity (in its true sense) stating qualities and defects with equal force.

4. Austere purity or simplicity of style, taste, etc. 1709 Felton Diss. Classics (1718) 18 Considering the Disadvantage of the Language, and the Severity of the Roman Muse, the Poem is still more Wonderful. 1768 Goldsm. Goodn. Man iii. i, The severity of French taste. 1858 Kingsley Misc. (i860) I. 153 Look at that old hound. .. Look at the severity, delicacy, lightness of every curve. 1859 Jephson Brittany iii. 36 The modest severity of the Breton dress. 1883 Eng. Illustr. Mag. Nov. 90/2 That severity of treatment on which the success of iron-work greatly depends.

5. Rigour or inclemency (of climate); esp. extremity of cold.

weather

or

01676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. 11. ix. 210 The severity of the Winter finds them [sc. Insects] out and destroys them. 1794 Morse Amer. Geog. 112 Winter continues with such severity from December to April, as that the largest rivers are frozen over. 1826 Lamb Let. to V. Novello 9 May, Summer, as my friend Coleridge waggishly writes, has set in with its usual severity [also alleged to be a phrase of H. Walpole’s]. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola 11. v, The bare wintry morning, the chill air, were welcome in their severity. 1880 Haughton Phys. Geog. iv. 175 The severity of the climate in this part of Asia may be estimated by a comparison of this January and July temperatures of Astrachan. 1912 Cowley Evangelist 181 We have had on three successive evenings thunderstorms of increasing severity.

6. Violence or acuteness (of illness). 1808 Med.Jrnl. XIX. 362 Nor does this disease at all seem to increase either in severity or in frequency. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 126 The eruption.. increased in severity till death. 1893 Eccles Sciatica 68 After a period of rest.. varying in duration.. according to the severity of the case.

7. Grievousness (of pain, affliction, penalties, etc.). 1849-50 Alison Hist. Eur. xxix. (1854) IV. 309 They now felt the severity of the confiscation they had inflicted on others. 1890 Nicolay & Hay Lincoln X. 314 The news [of Lincoln’s assassination] fell with peculiar severity upon the hearts which were glowing with the joy of a great victoiy1893 Law Times XCIV. 600/2 The [income] tax falls with excessive and undue severity upon one class, and with unreasonable lightness upon others.

t severi'zation. Obs. rare [Formed as next + -ATiON.] The action of severing or cutting in two. 1849 Theatrical Programme 20 Aug. 84 Brilliant Feats of Swordsmanship, including the Severisation of a Leg of Mutton. 1861 Temple Bar I. 248 A Scottish fete in Holland Park, where.. sergeants of the Life Guards effected the ‘severisation of the leg of mutton’, and performed the ‘Saladin feat’.

t'severize, v. Obs. rare. [f. sever v. + -ize.] trans. To sever or separate. (Cf. severalize ».) Hence f 'severized ppl. a. 1649 J. E[llistone] tr. Behmen's Epist. vi. §65. 91 All Beings are but one onely Being, which hath breathed forth it selfe out of it selfe, and hath severized, and formized it selfe. Ibid. §66 The severized, parted, and divided will. 1691 Taylor Behmen's Theos. Phil. 381 Mutually unfolded and severized.

severly, obs. Sc. form of severally adv. fseveron. Arch. Obs. Forms: 5 severonne, -yn, -ant, pi. -ans, 6 severall, pi. se(y)verns. [a. OF. sev(e)ronde, souv(e)ronde, souverante, severonne, etc. (Godefroy):—L. suggrunda, subgrunda eaves, ? f. sub under + grunda (only in a gloss) roof, projecting part of roof: cf. It. gronda eaves, gutter of a roof.] ‘Some kind of water-table or cornice’ (Parker Gloss. Archit. 1850). Also severon table. 1412 Contract Catterick Ch. (1834) 10 And also forsaide Richarde sail make tablyng of the endes of the forsaide Kirke of a Katrik with seueronne tabill. 1422-3 Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 48 Et in ix. m waltiell emptis.. pro j severyn facto ex parte Archiepiscopi. 1443 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 386, iiijcxvj fote of Seuerant table scapled with poynts aftur a molde. 1450 in Hist. Dunelm. Script. Tres (Surtees) p. cccxxvi, Pro factura xxiiij ulnarum de severans. 1517 in Hearne's Hist. Glastonbury (1722) 287, viic. and iiixx. footes off cresse table, and severall table att iii. d. the foote. 1527-8 Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 101 In les fre stone, in evis hordes, severns et j soletre. 1532-3 Durham Househ. Bk. (Surtees) 173 Pro sarracione 5 rod [cf. rood 8 c] pro molendinis, in seyverns.

severy ('sevari). Arch. Forms: 5 severy, -ee, 6 -ey; pi. 4 sewerwus, 5 severyse, civerys, (civers, cyfres), 6 severey(e)s. [ad. OF. *civorie, civoire ciborium:—L. cibori-um (see ciborium), used by Gervase of Canterbury (12th c.) in the following sense.] A bay or compartment of a vaulted roof. Also, a compartment or section of scaffolding. 1399 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 131 In j porcione meremii empta de Willelmo Kyrkby pro sewerwus pro praed. tenemento, 6d. 1422-3 Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 47 Pro vj magnis saplyngs emptis pro scaffaldyng in le severy Archiepiscopi. Ibid. 48 Pro bruscis porcinis pro bruscis faciendis ad dealbacionem le severyse in le yle ecclesiae, i5d. a 1490 Botoner I tin. (1778) 244 Memorandum de le severee duarum fenestrarum. Ibid. 302 Ab illo hostio usque ad illas

SEVIDICAL les civerys in quibus mariatagia dependent. 1506 in Rel. Ant. II. 115 Which roof conteyneth vii. seuereys [printed senereys], 1512 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 608 The tymber of ij seuereys of the said grete scaffold. Ibid., For euery seuerey in the seid churche. 1859 Gwilt Archil, (ed. 4) 838 App., The vault of the chapel in question [t.e. King’s Coll. Chapel at Cambr.] is divided into oblong severies. 1866 R. Willis Archil. Hist. Glastonbury 35 The nave contained ten severies, the eastern arm of the cross four severies. 1883 Archxol. Cantiana XV. 64 It projects a severy eastward of the rest of the range.

103

SEW

Bulls of Iberia xv. 170 A Sevilian from the classic San Bernardo quarter. 1967 A. Rosin tr. G. Pillemenl's Unknown Spain 55 The charm of the Sevillians, who are known for their laughter.

sevocation (sevs'keijan). rare~°. [n. of action f. L. sevocare: see sevoke v. and -ation.] The action of calling apart or aside. 1623 Cockeram II, A Calling aside, Seuocation. 1656 Blount Glossogr. Hence in Phillips, Bailey, and later

Diets.

t se'vidical, a. Obs.~° [f. L. saevidic-us (f. sxvus fierce, furious + die- stem of dicere to say, speak) + -al1.] ‘That speaks cruel and rigorous words, that threateneth’ (Blount Glossogr. 1656).

fse'voke, v. Obs.~° [ad. L. sevocare, f. se- apart, aside + vocare to call.] trans. To call apart or aside. 1623 Cockeram ii, To

sevier, var. sievier Obs., sieve-maker. 1630 in Mayo Mutiic. Rec. Dorchester (1908) 403.

II sevigne, sevigne. [Prob. named after Mme. de Sevigne 1627-96.] A kind of bandeau, esp. one for the hair; a jewel or ornament of the kind used to decorate a head-dress. Also attrib. Now Hist. [1817 Lady Morgan France iii. (1818) I. 364 Tbe chignon a la Sevigne, or coeffure de Ninon, now triumph over la tete a 1' Agrippina.] 1826 M. Wilmot Let. 29 Feb. (1935) 239 Black velvet stomacher.. fastened to the top with a sevigne, ' garnett and pearl.. and another garnett sevigne on her forehead. 1835 Court Mag. VI. p. vi/2 Some are ornamented with Sevignes of tulle, disposed in regular plaits. 1837 [Miss Maitland] Lett.fr. Madras (1843) 55 They were covered with gold and jewels,.. bands round their heads, sevignes, and rings on all their fingers and all their toes. 1840 M. Edgeworth Let. 30 Dec. (1971) 574 Sevigne headdress of black velvet with Sevigne jewels in front. 1843 Commissioner 221 A .. damsel with long black ringlets .. and a sevigne on her forehead.

sevile, sevilioun, obs. ff. civil, civilian. c 1400 Beryn 2069 For they were grete Seviliouns & vsid probate law. Ibid. 2665 Sevile law.

SeviUan (se'vibn), a., (sb.) [f. Seville (see Seville a.) + -an.] = Sevillian a. SeviUan ■ware, an earthenware made in Seville in imitation of Italian majolica. Also as sb. 1883 G. Meredith Let. 16 Mar. (1970) II. 690 We have just produced pots [of marmalade], which are SeviUan. 1891 in Century Diet. 1930 H. Baerlein Spain x. 138 Three hundred Murillos of the best period used to be the quota of a SeviUan gentleman when Theophile Gautier travelled in these parts, and the SeviUan was willing to sell one or two of his treasures. 1971 D. Cory Sunburst iv. 50 The SeviUan summer was getting into its blazing stride.

Sevillano (sevi'ljainsu, || sevi'Xano), sb. and a. Also fern, -a and erron. Sevilliana. [Sp.] = Sevillian a. and sb. 1884 O. Patch Sunny Spain i. 14 The Sevillanas, as the ladies of Seville are called, are remarkable for their beauty. 1897 H. C. Chatfield-Taylor Land of Castanet iv. 93 The fair Sevilliana sits in her darkened chamber. 1904 B. Kennedy Tramp in Spain iv. 25, I like the Sevillanos. They are a fine, free and easy people. 1932 E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon 324 Now Ronda means sober and tragic in the Plaza with a limited repertoire and sevillano means light¬ hearted .. with flowery style and a lengthy repertoire. 1970 R. A. H. Robinson Origins of Franco's Spain 325 Protest of 2,000 Sevillano farmers to Alcala-Zamora. 1976 E. P. Benson Bulls of Ronda iii. 14, I see..that you are a Sevillano.

Seville (’ssvil), a. Forms: 5 Syvyle, Cyvylle, 6 Cyvyl, 6-7 Cyvill, Civil(l, 7 Civile, Sivil, 7-8 Sevil(l, 8- Seville. [The name (Sp. Sevilla) of a city and province of Andalusia, used attributively.] fl. Seville oil: olive oil brought from Seville. 1436 Libel Eng. Policy 54 in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 160 Lycorys, Syvyle [marg. note Cyvylle] oyle, and grayne. 1541 in Sel. Pleas Crt. Admiralty (1894) I. 112 On hogs hede of Cyvill oyle. 1610 Markham Masterp. 11. lxxx 358 Other Farriers take of Ciuill oyle and brimstone, of each like quantity, a 1618 Rates Marchandizes 14 b, Seuill oile, Maiorca oile [etc.].

2. Seville orange: the bitter orange, Citrus Bigaradia, used for making marmalade. r593 Nashe Strange Newes Wks. (Grosart) II. 282 For the order of my life, it is as ciuil as a ciuil orenge. [1599 Shaks. Much Ado II. i. 304 The Count is neither sad, nor sicke,..: but ciuill Count, ciuill as an Orange.] 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden clxvii. 256 In Spaine about Sivil, where the best Orenges grow, and are called by us Civil-Orenges. 1710-11 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 11 Feb., I wish you had some of our Seville oranges. 1796 Campaigns 1793-4 II- xi. 81 The whole tribe of Oranges, Seville and sweet. 1877 Cassell's Diet. Cookery 482/2 Take some Seville oranges. ellipt. 1892 Garrett’s Encycl. Cookery II. 31 Oranges are capable of being adapted to many culinary purposes..; the Seville being preferred .. as having the stronger flavour.

Sevillian (se'vilisn), a. and sb. Also Sevilian. [f. prec. + -ian.] a.adj. Of or pertaining to Seville. Cf. Sevillan. b. sb. An inhabitant of Seville. 1830 Disraeli Let. 26 July (1885) 30 The Sevillians say that Cadiz es toda facada. Ibid. 32 You see what a Sevillian ecritoire is by this despatch. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xlviii, This grove is the favourite promenade of the Sevillians. 1849 Athenseum 3 Mar. 233/2 [Murillo] the prince of Sevillian painters. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 709/2 The Casa de los Abades is in the Sevillian plateresque style. 1926 E. A. Peers Royal Seville i. 18 The ceramic art which is so noted a Sevilian industry. Ibid. ii. 29 The Sevilians like to say that the Guadalquivir salts the sea. 1957 A. MacNab

Call aside, Seuoke.

t'sevous, a. Obs. rare-', [ad. L. sevds-us, sebosus, f. sev-um: see sevum and -ous.] Of the nature of suet or tallow. 1725

Phil. Trans. XXXIII. 223 A thick Layer of sevous

Fat.

II Sevres (s£:vr), a. Forms: 8 Seve, Seve, 8-9 Sevre, Sevre, 9- Sevres. [The name of a town in France, near Paris.] The designation of a costly porcelain made at Sevres. 1764 Ld. Holland in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1843) I. 287 We saw the china you speak of at Poiriers,..; it is Sevre china. 1782 H. Walpole Let. to T. Walpole 6 Sept., A cup and saucer of the Seve china. 1789 A. Young Trav. France (1892) 101 A table formed of Seve porcelain. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Sutherl. I. 81 A salver of Sevre coffee-cups. Ibid., Man of Many Fr. I. 294 Etruscan vases, and Sevres tables. 1862 Miss Braddon Lady Audley xxxii, The Benvenuto Cellini carvings and the Sevres porcelain. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert xxi. 254 A basket of beautiful old Sevres china. absol. 1862 Miss Braddon Lady Audley xxxii, The Sevres and bronze, the buhl and ormolu. 1870 ‘Ouida’ Held in Bondage 40 The breakfast, in dainty Sevres and silver.

Ilsevruga (siv'rjuga,

sev'ruigs). Forms: 6 severiga, 9 sewruga, 8-9 sevruga. [Russ. sevriuga.] 1. A species of sturgeon, Acipenser stellatus. 1591 G. Fletcher Russe Commw. (1857) 12 The fish called bellougina, the sturgeon, the seueriga, and the sterledey. 1799 W. Tooke View Russian Emp. III. 143 The several kinds of sturgeon, namely beluga, sturgeon, and sevruga. 1802-3 tr. Pallas's Trav. (1812) I. 218 One thousand sevrugas produce one pood and a quarter of isinglass. 1814 tr. Klaproth's Trav. Cauc. 308 The most common fishes in the Terek are carp, barbel, sturgeon and sewruga. 1940 A. Simon Cone. Encycl. Gastron 11. 14/2 The Ship caviar is light in colour and small; that from the Sevruga is smaller still. 1964 A. Launay Caviare & After i. 18 There are three varieties of acipenser used in the production of caviare, the Beluga, the Ocietrova or sturgeon and the Sevruga.

2. Caviare made from the roe of this fish. 1959 W. Heptinstall Hors d' CEuvre & Cold Table 29 Beluga Malossol caviar.. has .. the largest grain and .. the highest price. Next comes Sevruga Malossol at about twothirds of the price of the Beluga caviar. 1977 Times 16 Nov. 18/5, I have never been able to say ‘when’, whether it be a second helping of Sevruga or just another wee drop of the hard stuff.

sevum ('sirvam). [L. sevum, sebum. sebum.] Suet, as used in pharmacy.

Cf.

c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. 1. 1141 Or siftid askis clene And seuum molton, held in euery chene. 1693 tr. Blancard’s Phys. Diet. (ed. 2), Sevum, Suet. 1853 Royle Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 733 Sevum... Fat of Ovis Aries, the Sheep. Suet... Useful in giving consistence to ointments and plasters.

sevyan, sevyne, obs. forms of seven. fsew, sb.1 Obs. Forms: 1 seaw, sea, (3 -stew), 4-5 seew, seue, 4-6 sewe, 5 cewe, seau, 5-7 sew, 6 seu. [OE. seaw neut. = NFris. saie, sei, sii, OHG. sou, MHG. (genit. sowes) juice, poison, food:—OTeut. *sawwo-. Cf. ON. sQgg-r wet, dank. The root may be identical with that of Gr. vet (:—*su~) it rains.] 1. Juice, moisture, humour. (OE. only; but cf. ME. eles^ew oil, in Ormin.) Cf. the combs, lipseaw synovia, plumseaw plum-juice. C900 Bede Glosses in Sweet O.E. Texts 182 Sucum, sea. a 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 268 Wip Saera earena sare, genim pisse sylfan wyrte [sc. of foxglove] seaw, mid rosan seawe. Ibid. II. 176 Cumap pa adla. .on [? read of] yflum seawum.

2. Pottage, broth; a mess of pottage. (Cf. figsue, fig sb. 10.) In the 15th c. sometimes used as the equivalent of OF. cive onion broth, minced meat stewed with onions. (Cf. quot. c 1440.) There may have been a disyllabic seve (a. OF. cive) which may have been confused with the native word because of the ambiguity of the spelling. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 108 J?yse ilk renkez .. Schul neuer.. suppe on sope of my seve. Ibid. 825 )?enne ho sauerez with salt her seuez vchone. c 1386 Chaucer Squire's T. 59, I wol nat letten of hir strange sewes. 1388 Wyclif Gen. xxvii. 4 Whanne thou hast take ony thing bi huntyng, make to me a seew therof. 1422 Yonge tr. Secreta Secret, lxix. 246 Flesh y-rostid, wych is more hottyr than in seau, or sode in watyr. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 67/2 Cewe, sepulatum. Ibid. 454/2 Sew, cepulatum. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wulcker 572/7 Cepiarium, sewe. C1500 Lacy Wyl Bucke's Test, aiij, The potage stued tripes and Noumbles in sewe. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health §309 Beware of eatyng of frutes, potages, and sewes. 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxv, To have gud spiced Sewe and Roste, and plum-pies for a King. 1601 Holland Pliny xx. xvi. II. 63 If a thicke grewell or sew be made thereof. 1633

J. Fisher Fuimus Troes in. ix, Hidder, eke and shidder, With spiced sew ycramd. fig. 1645 Answ. Pref. 89 You.. durst not upon the peril of quenching your kitchin-fire; put forth your single sew of translation, without the Coloquintida of your Annotations. attrib. 1459 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 89 Item ij sewpottez.

sew, sbA Obs. exc. dial. [a. OF. *sewe, saiwe, aphetic f. *esseve, escheve, f. essever sew vf But cf. the synonymous sough (north, dial, seugh), which may conceivably have undergone alteration through association with sew v.* and sewer sb.’]

A sewer, drain. 1475 Engl. Misc. (Surtees) 27 The hows of Robert Raynald next by stoppes the watyr sew, that the water may not hawe it reght corsse. Ibid., The new sewes in Gouththorp .. is defectyve. 1585 Higins Nomenclator 391/2 Cloaca, the towne sinke: the common sew. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 1. 237 Common Sewes or Sinks. 1710 Fuller Pharm. Extemp. 244 Julep.. scorns out feculent Rubbish.. of the Body [and] sweeps it into the CommonSew of the Circulating Blood. 1875 Parish Sussex Gloss., Sew, an underground drain. 1898 B. Kirkby Lakeland Words 127 Sew—Mig hole, sewer, muck midden.

sew

(sju:), a. dial. Also sue, zoo, etc. [? Shortened form of a-sew (s.w. dial.): see Eng. Dial. Diet. This word may possibly represent OE. asiwen, pa. pple. of dseon to strain, drain.]

Of a cow: Dry of milk. Chiefly in phr. to go sew, also to go to sew. 1674 Ray 5. & E.C. Words 76 To go Sew: i.e. to go dry, Sussjex] spoken of a cow. 1746 Exmoor Scolding (E.D.S.) 36 Thee hast a let the Kee go zoo vor Want o’ strocking. 1875 Parish Sussex Gloss, s.v., A cow is said to be gone to sew when her milk is dried off. 1886 W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v. Zoo, We milks twenty cows, but you know they never baint all in milk to once, some be always zoo. U b. The alleged subst. use = ‘a cow which

gives no milk’ is perh. based on an erroneous analysis of a-sew (see above). 1681 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 331 A Cow is a Sew when her Milk is gone. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Sew (Countryword), a Cow, when her Milk is gone. 1885 Sweetman Wincanton Gloss. (E.D.D.).

sew (s3u), v.1

Pa. t. sewed (ssud). Pa. pple. sewed, sewn (saon). Forms: 1 seowan, siwan, seowian, siowian, siwian, 2 sewen, 3 seouwen, 4 seu, souwe, sowen, 4-6 sewe, 4-8 sowe, (5 sawe), 6 Sc. schew, 6-7 sow, 7-9 Sc. shew, 5- sew. Pa. pple. 1 seowed, 3 ise(o)uwed, 4 isued, y-sewed, 4-8 sowed, (5 saude, sawede), 6 soude, sowd, Sc. sowit, 7 sewit, 4- sewed; 4-6 sowen, 7 sewen, 9sewn. [Com. Teut. and Indogermanic: OE. siwan, siowan (usually, with change of conjugation, siwian, siowian, seowian) = OFris. sia (mod.Fris. dial, siije), OHG. siuwen, ON. syja (Sw. sy, Da. sye), Goth, siujan:—OTeut. *siwjan, cogn. w. the synonymous L. su-ere, Gr. (nao-)ovetv, Lett, schuju, OS1. siti (Russ, shit’, shivat'), Skr. siv (3 sing. pres, sivyati, pa. pple. syutd\ derivatives are syu fern., needle or thread, syuman suture). The root (for which Hirt suggests a primary form *seyewa-) appears in the words above quoted as *syu-: *siw. Another ablaut-grade, *syou~, is found in OTeut. *saumoseam sb. The pronunciation (sou) is abnormal (cf. strow, var. of strew, repr. OE. streowian)\ the written forms show that it goes back at least to the 14th c. In the 17th c. sew sometimes rhymes with clue, new, the mod.Sc. pronunciation is (Ju).]

1. a. trans. To fasten, attach, or join (pieces of textile material, leather, etc.) by passing a thread in alternate directions through a series of punctures made either with a needle carrying the thread, or with an awl; to make the seams of (a garment, etc.). C725 Corpus Gloss. 1773 Sarcio, siouu. c 1000 xElfric Gen. iii. 7 Hij.. siwodon ficleaf and worhton him wasdbrec. c 1000 - Saints' Lives xv. 23 Sum sutere siwode [v.r. seowode] paes halgan weres sceos. a 1225 Ancr. R. 420 SchepieS, and seouweS, and amended chirche clo6es. a 1300 Cursor M. 19766 To seu pe pouer pair clething. C1386 Chaucer Parson's T. IP256 They sowed of fige-leves a manere of breches. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 36 Fylle thy bagge .. And sew hit fast. 1566 in Hay Fleming Mary Q. of Scots (1897) 506 Item of lyncum tuyne to schew the Quens curges tua unce. 1576 G. Baker Gesner's Jewell of Health 21 A Bagge.. shaped and sowen after this manner. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. Wks. 1910 II. 171 When shoomakers make shoes, That are wel sowed. 1666 Third Adv. to Painter 29 Bring home the old ones, I again will sew And deam them up to be as good as new. 1756 Mrs. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitland Club) 243 A boy who sowes point in the forenoon. 1843 Hood Song Shirt 31 Sewing at once, with a double thread, A Shroud as well as a Shirt. 1880 ‘Ouida* Moths I. 40 She can get a girl to sew them for her. b. To fasten, attach, or fix (something) by this

process on, upon, in, to, round (etc.) something else. a 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark ii. 21 Nan man ne siwap niwne scyp to ealdum reafe. c 1290 Beket 1804 in S. Eng. Leg. 158 In pe schipes seile an hei3 pis holi man let do Ane Croiz, pat Man fer isai3 Iseuwed faste per-to. 1382 Wyclif Job xvi. 16, I souwide a sac vpon my skin. C1386 Chaucer Prol. 685 A vernicle hadde he sowed on his cappe. 1464 Nottingham Rec. II. 376 As it appiers in a cedule to pis sewed. 1483 Act 1 Rich. Ill, c. 8 Preamble, The seid Diers.. uppon the lystes of the same Clothes festen and sowe greate Risshes. 1588 Shaks. Tit. A. 11. iv. 39 Faire Philomela she but lost her

SEW tongue, And in a tedious Sampler sowed her minde. 1635 R. N. Camden s Hist. Eliz. III. 261 His head was soone after sewed to hi&body by hi& friends, and committed to buriall. 1681 Dineley Jrnl. Visit Irel. in Trans. Kilkenny Arch. Soc. Ser. 11. II. 28 [They] adorn it with flowers, sewen to the shroud. 1815 Scott Guy M. vi, Two slips of parchment, which she sewed round it, to prevent its being chafed. 1908 [Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent Gf Ancholme 362 She had a black ribbon sewn round her lame finger. fig. 1598 Q. Eliz. Hor. de Arte Poet. 20 Oft to beginnings graue and shewes of great is sowed A purple pace. 1831 Scott Cast. Dang, i, My own good breeding is not so firmly sewed to me but that I can doff it, and resume it again without its losing a stitch.

c. with adv., esp. on, together. c 1290 St. Edmund Conf. 54 in S. Eng. Leg. 433 And euere 3wane heo sende heom clones .. J?are-with heo wolde herene sende faste i-seuwede with-inne. 1382 Wyclif Gen. iii. 7 Thei soweden to gidre leeues of a fige tree. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 424 The other two and Paule also, had as it were sowed together certen fragmentes and patches. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 105 Prams, sowed together with hempe and cord. 1709 Felton Diss. Classics (171$) 32, I can compare such Productions to nothing but rich Pieces of Patchwork, sewed together with Pack-thread. 1836 W. Irving Astoria I. 269 Mere tents of dressed buffalo skins, sewed together and stretched on long poles. 1855 Lady E. Finch Sampler (ed. 2) 83 To Sew on a Button. 1901 L. F. Day & M. Buckle Art in Needlework (ed. 2) xii. 116 A thread may be laid across and sewn down—couched, as it is called.

d. Surgery. = sew up: see 4 a. c 1502 Joseph Arim. 269 The wounde to sewe fast he began to spede. 1795 J. Bell Disc. Wounds 17 note, The older Surgeons.. called it a Continued Suture when they sewed the wound all along like a seam. 1801-Princ. Surg. II. 52 Except in those cuts which are so slight as only to require a cloth to be wrapped about the part, every wound ought to be sewed.

e. Bookbinding. To fasten together the sheets of (a book) by passing a thread or wire backwards and forwards through the back fold of each sheet, so as to attach it to the bands: distinguished from stitch. 1637 Star Chamber Decree in Milton s Areop. (Arb.) 9 Nor cause any such [books] to be bound, stitched, or sowed. 1809 C’tess Charleville in Lady Morgan's Mem. (1862) I. 366, I read Ida before it was all issued from the press, a volume being sent me as soon as sewed. 1880 J. W. Zaehnsdorf Art of Bookbinding v. 21 A third sheet having been sewn.., the needle brought out at the kettle-stitch, must be thrust between the two sheets first sewn. 1929 A. J. Vaughan Mod. Bookbinding 1. 24 Before a book is sewn by hand the back is required to be marked .. as a guide for the needle. 19681. Robinson Introd. Bookbinding 27 When the second section has been sewn the long and short ends of thread are drawn taut.

f. With cogn. obj.: To make (a seam). 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 166 Kerving pe cloJ>e all to pecis, }?at seuene goode sowers sixe wekes after Moun not sett pe seemes ne sewe hem a3eyn. c 1400,1630 [see seam sb.1 i]-

2. absol. and intr. To work with a needle and thread. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 136 J>is man.. toke hys schone to hym, and began forto sawe on hit. And as he sewet full helt [etc.]. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 67 Whan a virgyn begynneth fyrst to lerne to sewe in the samplar. 1602 Shaks. Ham. 11. i. 77 As I was sowing in my Chamber. hym.. in schadewi places. C1450 Burgh Secrees 1918 In placys pleyn moyst and shadwy. 1526 Grete Herball xcii. (1529) F ij, It ought to be gadred whan it bereth floures & than be hanged to dry in a shadowy place. 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden xi. 23 Primroses and Cow-slips joy most in shadowy places. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho 35 The bluish tints that pervaded their shadowy recesses. 1824 Mrs. Sherwood Waste Not iii. 3 The various shadowy lanes branching off from the high road. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiii. 41 When he smote the shadowy twilight with his healthy team sublime.

b. Enveloped shadows.

in

shadow;

obscured

by

1840 Susan E. Miles in Palmer Bk. Praise (1865) 70 Our spirits shall not dread The shadowy way to tread. 1855 Tennyson Maud 11. 1. ii, A shadow there at my feet, High over the shadowy land. 1876 HaTrdy Ethelberta xlvi, From the shadowy archway came a shining lantern which was seen to be dangling from the hand of.. the hostler, John.

fc. Screened from observation, retired; hence, remote, inaccessible. Obs. x555 Watreman Far die Facions 11. viii. 177 These [Gymnosophistae] haunte the outemoste borders, and shadowie partes of that countrie. 1591 Shaks. Two Gent. v. iv. 2 This shadowy desart, vnfrequented woods I better brooke then flourishing peopled Townes. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 369 Then they wash it with the bloud of a slaine Wolfe, and carry it into a shadowie place.

SHADRACH

shaft

133

3. Casting a shadow, affording shade. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 605 About noon when the season groweth hot, they lead them [sheep] to shaddowey trees and rocks. 1796 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. XX. 515 The shadowy palm. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. x. (1894) 250 To climb the rocks when the sun is hot and creep into cool shadowy ledges.

|4. Of an inflorescence: ‘shadow’ or umbrella. Obs.

Shaped

like

a

1562 Turner Herbal 11. 107 b, A shaddowy or spokye top with a round circle as dyll. 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. xlii. 606 The stalkes.. be full of branches, vppon the which grow spoky tufts or litle shadowy toppes with white flowers. Ibid. VI. lxxx. 760 The flowers [of the Viburnum Opulus] be white, and grow in brode round shadowy tuffetes.

5. Comb. *855, Tennyson Daisy xviii, A pencill’d valleys And snowy dells.

thousand

shadowy-

Shadrach (’Jeidraek). [Allusive use of the name of one of the ‘Three Children’ delivered unharmed from the fiery furnace (Dan. iii. 26, 27).] 1. See quot. 1847. Cf. salamander sb. 3. Webster, Shadrach, in the smelting of iron, a mass of iron on which the operation of smelting has failed of its intended effect. 1847

2. (See quots.) local.

a brief by a rather shady attorney. 1894 StR E. Sullivan Woman 52 A Roman lady of extraordinary beauty and somewhat shady character.

shae, shaeling, obs. ff.

she, shieling.

SHAEF (Jeif). Also S.H.A.E.F., Shaef. [Acronym f. the initials of Supreme .Headquarters Afllied Expeditionary Force.] The operational headquarters of the allied expeditionary force that invaded occupied Europe in 1944-5. 1944 N.Y. Times 21 May iv. 8/2 ‘SHAEF’ stands for Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. 1944 C. Milburn Diary 6 June (1979) 215 The great assault is known as S.H.A.E.F., pronounced ‘shafe’ — Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. 1945 Times 28 May 3/3 Shaef announced yesterday that it is expected that the port of Hamburg will be open on June 1 to allied shipping and supplies for our armies in the liberated countries. 1958 Listener 21 Aug. 272/3 The Cossac spirit carried on into Shaef and through to triumph. 1977 P. Ustinov Dear Me xi. 145 SHAEF, the Allied Supreme Headquarters, wished an official film to be made about the war in the West.

shaell, shaet,

obs. ff. shell, shahi.

shafe, shaflf,

shaduf, var. shadoof.

app. a variant of shauchle v.\ sense 2 may be developed from this, or belong to a distinct word, perh. of imitative or symbolic formation: cf. shiffle-shaffle, skiffle vbs. (E.D.D.) and shuffle t>.] 1. intr. To shuffle in walking.

shady ('Jeidi), a. Also 7-8 shaddy. [f. shade sb. + -Y.]

1. Affording shade. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Jan. 31 You naked trees, whose shady leaues are lost. 1611 Bible Job xl. 22 The shady trees couer him with their shaddow. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 74 The winged Nation.. o’er the Plains and shady Forrest flies. 1825 Wordsw. To Skylark 7 Leave to the nightingale her shady wood. 1879 ‘Edna Lyall’ Won by Waiting xxvi, There was a shady hat to be chosen.

2. Shaded, protected by shade. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 36 The shadie valleies [shall be] thy euenings arbour. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 4 Her angels face .. made a sunshine in the shady place. 1661 Boyle Certain Physiol. Ess. (1669) 191 Those little moats that from a shady place we see swimming up and down in the Sun-beams. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Pope 17 June, I am in the middle of a wood.. divided into many shady walks, a 1821 Keats Hyperion 1. 1 Deep in the shady sadness of a vale. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 29 There are shady places under the trees, at which.. we may often rest and talk.

b. fig. phr. on the shady side of: older than (a specified age). 1807-8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 87 The younger being somewhat on the shady side of thirty. 1872 Calverley Fly Leaves (1884) 74 Thou art on the shady Side of sixty too.

c. Inhabiting or loving the shade; choosing retirement and security, nonce-use. 01586 Sidney Apol. Poetry (Arb.) 51 We were full of courage, giuen to martiall exercises;.. and not lulled a sleepe in shady idlenes with Poets pastimes.

f3. Opaque; also, not luminous, dark. Obs. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. 11. xxiii. §48. 118 This Globe which seemeth to vs a dark and shady body is in the view of God as Christall. 1709-29 V. Mandey Syst. Math., Astron. 343 And that ’tis not Pellucid or Shining, but is the same shady Body, is evident from this [etc.].

b. said of night, poet. tr. Horace, Epist. 11. ii. 281 From dawning Day till shady Night [L. ad umbram lucis ab ortu]. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xix, Eyes the shady night has shut. 1746 Francis

fc. Of qualities: Of the nature of shade or defect. Obs. 1719 Oldisworth E. Smith's Wks. Charac. Author A 8, If the World had half his good Nature, all the shady Parts would be entirely struck out of his Character.

f4. Shadowy, indefinite in outline, faintly perceptible. Obs. Bacon Sylva §249 You shall see..diuers such Super-Reflexions, till the species speciei at last die. For it is euery Returne weaker, and more shady. 1710 Norris Chr. Prud. iv. 332 The light of Conscience.. may be.. made shine very dim, so as to give but a very faint and shady direction. 1626

5. colloq. a. Of questionable merit or prospects of success; uncertain, university slang.]

unreliable.

[POrig.

Clough Bothie i. 24 The Tutor.. Shady in Latin, said Lindsay, but topping in plays and Aldrich. 1858 Bp. Fraser in Hughes Life (1887) 97 We have twenty-one candidates for the Ireland—a shady lot. 1858 R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma xxv. 95 What looks very well one way may look very shady the other. ?c 1880 Jowett in Tollemache Mem. (1895) 21 [Commenting on the remark that England had one living poet of the first order, but hardly another even of the second class.] I think that Browning deserves a shady first. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 16 Oct. 5/2 The chances of the Underground Railway against the omnibuses will be very shady. 1848

b. Not bearing investigation, of a nature or character unable to bear the light; disreputable. 1862 Sat. Rev. 8 Feb. 156 Balls and bazaars continue to be the refuge of institutions, whether charitable or religious, whose balance-sheets are ‘shady’. 1873 Punch 25 Oct. 167/2 Have always heard that ‘shady people’ went to Boulogne. 1882 Serj. Ballantine Exper. iv. 42, I was entrusted with

obs. ff. sheaf sb.

shaferne, shafferoon: see shaffron. shaff(e-hoke, obsolete forms of shave-hook.

shaffle ('Jaef(3)l), v. dial. [In sense i (northern),

[1552: implied in shaffler.] 1781 Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) 95 Shaffle and Shiffle v. to hobble in walking. 1818 Todd, To Shaffle, to move with an awkward or irregular gait; to hobble. Used in the north of England. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss., Shaffle, Shaughle, to shuffle in walking.

2. a. To work or move in a lazy fashion; to be undecided in plan or action; to vacillate, delay. [1703 implied in shaffles.] 1828 [Carr] Craven Gloss., Shaffle.. to do things ineffectually. 1873 R. Ferguson Dial. Cumbld. 121 Shaffle, to be undecided, to vacillate. 1890 Sheffield Gloss., Shaffle, to move in a lazy way; to delay, to put off.

b. ‘To retreat from a bargain or engagement, make excuses, prevaricate’ {Eng. Dial. Diet.). 1781 Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) 95 Shaffle,.. also to act unfairly. 1866 Brogden Provine. Words Lincolnsh. 178 Don’t shaffle with me.

Hence 'shaffler, one who ‘shaffles’; 'shaffles, a bungler, shiftless person. 1552 Huloet, Shaffler with his fete whych fayleth in going, atta. 1703 Thoresby in Ray Philos. Lett. (1718) 336 A Shaffles, a Bungler. 1828 [Carr] Craven Gloss., Shaffler, one who walks lame. 2. A bungler in business. 1885 Hall Caine Shadow of Crime xxiv, Or mayhap ye’ll ask yon shaffles, yer father.

t 'shafflin. Obs. rare. Also 6 shafflynge (in Continental authors schafoling, schafling, -lyng). [Perh. the same word with SHAFTLING, though applied to a different fish. Cf. shaft-eel.] A kind of eel. 1553 Belon De Aquatil. 273 Anglorum autem pisces.. hisce nominibus agnoscuntur,.. Eils, Lampres, Schafolings, Fausen, Griggs. 1555-La Nat. des Poissons 267 Eils, Lampres, Schaflings, Fauson, Griggs. 1558 Gesner’s Hist. Anim. IV. 54 Minima Anguilla iisdem [Anglis] Grigge uocatur. Schaflyng uero media inter Grigge & Fausen ele. 1572 Huloet (ed. Higins), Shafflinge, or eele of a middle bignesse, anguilla media. 1747 Mrs. Glasse Cookery xxi. 163 Fish in Season.. Midsummer Quarter Grigs, Shafflins and Glout [etc.].

shafTolde, obs. form of

scaffold sb.

t shaffron. Obs. Forms: 5 shawfron, 6-7 shaf(f)ron, 7 shafrone, shaferne, 8 shafferoon; 6 (Sc. in sense 2) schaifron, saferon, schaffroun, chaffrone, cheffroun, chaiffer, schaiffer. [Variant of CHAFFRON, CHAMFRAIN.]

1.

The

frontlet

of

a

barbed

Shafiite ('Jaefiait). Also Shafeite, Shafeite. [f. Arab, shafie-i + -ite1.] A member of one of the four sects or schools of the Sunnites or orthodox Muslims, named from the cognomen {ashShafie-i) of their founder, Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Idris, 767-819. Also attrib. or ad]. [1704 Pitts Acc. Mahometans vii. 93 The Malachees and Shaffees lift up their Hands in a sort of careless manner, and then let them fall down and hang by their sides.] 1838 G. C. Renouard in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XXIV. 440/2 The Sect of the Shafi’is or Shafeites, is named from Mohammed ibn Idris A1 Shafi’i. 1886 Shafeite [see Hanbalite]. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 661/1 The Hanafite praxis is the least rigorous, then the Shaft‘ite. Ibid., In Egypt and North Africa Shaft‘ites are more numerous than Malikites, while the opposite is the case in Arabia.

shafiie,

obs. (non-literary) form of safely adv. 1639 Hamilton Papers (Camden) 94.

shafman, -ment, shafnet,

in S. Holland Mem. Sydney Smith (1855) I. 259 His fires are blown into brightness by Shadrachs, tubes furnished with air from without, opening into the centre of the fire. 1954 D. Hartley Food in England iv. 46 In some places, a draught is obtained by shadrack, an underground arrangement like a small blast furnace through which the blast of a rotary fan is carried under the [peat] fire. 1827

at Pompous Funerals vulgarly now call’d, by Corruption Chaperoons, or Shafferoons.

horse:

=

CHAFFRON, CHAMFRAIN. 1465 Shawfron [see chamfrain]. 1547-8, 1610, 1617 [see 1590 Sir J. Smythe Disc. Weapons 31 b, Their shafrons, cranets, or Steele pectorells. 1660 in Archseologia XI. 100 Shaffroones.

CHAFFRON].

2. Sc. ‘A piece of ornamental head-dress anciently worn by ladies’ (Jam.). 1511 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IV. 210 Item, to be schaiffronis to the sam hudis, half ane elne crammesy. Ibid. 230 Item, for half quartar crammesy satin, to be ane schaiffer to hir hud, viij s. ix d. Ibid., Item, for making of the hud and chaiffer, viij s. 1512 Ibid. 213 For ane chaffrone of gold. 1516 Inv.R. Wardrobe (1815) 24 Ane saferon with ane chenye of gold of blak veluous. Ibid. 27 Item, ane schaffroun with ane burd of gold with lxxxi perle... Item, ane cheffroun sett with goldsmyth werk with xxxv perle. fb. = CHAPERON 2. Obs. [Possibly shafferoon may be the correct form, and the form chaperon, -oon may be due to pseudo-etymology.] 1725 J. Coats Diet. Her. (1739) 73 Those little Shields, containing Death’s Heads, and other Funeral Devices, plac’d upon the Foreheads of the Horses, that draw Hearses

obs. forms of shaftment.

corrupt form of shaftment.

f shaft, sb.1 Obs. Forms: 1 sceaft (also with je-), scseft, 2-3 sceft-e, safit-e, 2-3 Ormin. shafft, 2-4 scaft, 3 seft, 3-4 schafte, (scaf Cursor M.), 3-5 shafte, schaft, 4 chaft, pi. schefte, Ayenb. sseppe, (ssefpe), 2-5 shaft. [OE. sceaft, gesceaft fern.:—OTeut. *(ga)skapti-z f. *skap- to make, create: see shape v. Cf. OS. giscaft, OHG. gascaft, giscaft fern.] 1. Creation, origin {OE. only); make, constitution, nature or species. 888 K. .Elfred tr. Boeth. xxx. §2 Ealle sint emnaej>ele, jif ge willaS J?onne fruman sceaft gepencan, & pone scippend. [c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 81 He is .. pe king of heuene pe com in to herj>e and auenede him in to his iscefte.] c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 349 Flesses fremifie and safte same bo6en he felten on here lichame. a 1300 Cursor M. 739 A littel best J>e quilk es noght vnwiliest, J>e nedder pat es of a scaft J>at mast kan bath on crok and craft, a 1300 E.E. Psalter cii[i]. 13 [14] Fore our schaft wele knawes he. 13.. Guy W. 7168 Gret wenges he hap wij> to fle, His schaft to telle alle ne mow we. c 1320 Cast. Love 661 He moste be boren of a wommon, )?ulke schaft to vnderfonge wij?-alle J>at ou3te to monnes kynde bi-falle. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9386 He [Merlin] can ynow of swylke craftes, Of alle vigures he turnes pe schaftes. 1340 Ayenb. 62 J>e dyeuel him ssewep ine uele ssefyes. Ibid. 158 Me be-houej? to zyenne.. ine pe perle of pe eje pe ssepj?e of the J?inge pet is him be-uore. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xm. 297 Feyrest of feytures of fourme and of schafte. c 1400 Arth. & Merlin (Line. Inn MS.) 1579 His schaft may nomon telle, He loked as a feond of helle.

2. That which is created; a creature. c 888 K. Elfred tr. Boeth. xli. § 2 5if God naefde on eallum his rice nane frige gesceaft [11.. Bodl. MS. sceaft] under his anwalde. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 59 Lauerd he is of alle scafte. a 1200 Moral Ode 84 He wit and waldeS alle ping and scop alle scefte [C1200 safte]. C1200 Ormin 19444 Acc hall3he weress sae3henn Godd I shafftess onnlicnesse. C1220 Bestiary 456 Seftes sop ure seppande. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 239 J?aet schafte of mon J?aet he schop. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 127 God sa3 his safte fair and good, a 1300 Cursor M. 23640 Wit alkin scaf [Gott. schaft] pai sal discord. 1340 Ayenb. 84 He [man] wes lhord of alle sseppes pet were onder heuene.

shaft (Ja:ft, -se-), sb.2 Forms: i sceft, 1-3 sceaft, scaeft, 3 scaft, saft, 3-4 ssafte, scheft, 4 shafth, 4-5 schafft, schafte, 4-7 schaft, shafte, 5 chaft(e, 4shaft; rare 4 schaf, 4-5 shaffe, 4, 7 shaff, 7 shafe. [Com. Teut. (wanting in Gothic): OE. sceaft masc. = OFris. skeft (Hettema), OS. skaft masc. (MLG., MDu., Du. schaft, schacht fern.), OHG. scaft masc., pi. scefti (MHG., mod.G. schaft masc.), ON. skapt neut. (Sw., Da. skaft):—OTeut. *skafto-, *skafti-z:—preTeut. *skapto-, -ti-s. App. cogn. w. L. scapus shaft, stem, shank; somewhat more doubtfully with Gr. (Dor.) oko.tttov staff (Ion., Att. okt)ttto- in oKTjTTTouyos staff-bearer, aK^mpov staff, sceptre, okt)ttt€iv to prop.). The Teut. word might, with regard both to form and meaning, be plausibly explained as a passive ppl. derivative from the root of shave v.; but it is doubtful whether the supposed cognates can be similarly accounted for.]

1. a. The long slender rod forming the body of a lance or spear, or of an arrow. Also of a staff, harpoon, etc. ciooo Elfric Gloss, in Wr.-Wiilcker 143/7 Contus, spereleas sceaft. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8658 He sset pe kyng [William Rufus] in atte breste J>at neuereft he ne speke Bote pe ssafte pat was wyj?oute grisliche he to brek. 1382 Wyclif 1 Sam. xx. 5 The brother of Goliath Jethee, whos spere schaft was as the beme of websters. C1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 504 (Morris), His sleep, his mete, his drynk is him byraft, That lene he wexe, and drye as eny schaft. 1506 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. III. 358 Item, for xij staf schaftis.. xxiiij s. 1533 Ibid. VI. 188 For v dosane shaftis to Jedburcht stavis coft to his grace. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xvii. (Roxb.) 113/1 Parts of a Pike. The shaft, for military service is reputed 16 or 18 foot long or there about. 1801 T. Roberts Engl. Bowman 293 Shaft, an arrow: properly so called when it wants only the head. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xvi, His broken weapon’s shaft survey’d The King, and careless answer made. 1836 Landor Pericles & Aspasia Wks. 1846 II. 419, I can compare the Lacedemonians to nothing more fitly than to the heads of spears without the shafts. 1907 C. Hill-Tout Brit. N. Amer., Far West vii. 132 Points being held to the haft of the harpoon by long

SHAFT plaited lines. When the fish is struck these points detach themselves from the shaft.

b. A spear or lance. Now arch. ciooo /Elfric Lives Saints xii. 53 His sceaft aststod aetforan him .. swa J?aet J?aet spere him eode J>urh ut. c 1205 Lay. 23907 pe an an his aende .. and pee o&er an his aende.. heo quehten heore scaftes [c 1275 saftes]. 13.. Guy Warw. 1404 So mi3ti strokes per wer 3iuen, pat strong schaftes al todriuen. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1594 So harde hay acoupede on hur scheldes hat broke buh bope hure schafte, & pe peces fulle on pe feldes pe hedes on pe tre by-lafte. c 1430 Chev. Assigne 301 And whenne hat shafte is schyuered take scharpelye another. 1483 Cath. Angl. 57/2 A Chafte; vbi spere, &c. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 11. 627 War from stubborn Myrtle Shafts receives: From Cornels Jav’lins; and the tougher Yeugh Receives the bending Figure of a Bow. 1754 Gray Poesy 53 Hyperion’s march they spy, and glitt’ring shafts of war. 1847 Tennyson Princess v. 492 All the plain,—brand, mace, and shaft, and shield—Shock’d.

2. a. An arrow, cloth-yard shaft, see clothYARD.

c 1400 Rom. Rose 1747 So at the last the shaft of tree I drough out, with the fethers three. C1480 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) III. 253 Item xiiij shaffe of bolts and shoytyng shaftes, price xiiij s. Item v shaffe of rowyng shaftes iiij s. Item xlvij shaffe of childre shaftes. 1483 Cath. Angl. 57/2 A Chafte; vb[i\ Arowe. 1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 9 §3 Euerie man, hauynge.. men children .. shall prouide .. a bowe and two shaftes. 1596 Shaks. Merch. V. 1. i. 140 In my schoole dayes, when I had lost one shaft, I shot his fellow in the selfesame flight The selfesame way. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of H. v. iv, Draw me the biggest shaft you haue out of the butt you wot of. 1624 Bp. Hall True Peace-maker WTks. (1625) 539 Thou wounded heart [sic] ..; alas, the shaft sticks still in thee, or if that bee shaken out, the head, a 1711 Ken Edmund Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 236 Shafts aim’d at Trees can never mount so high, As those we shoot directly tow’rds the sky. a 1854 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. iv. (1878) 129 The air was darkened by the shafts from the hosts of English archers.

b. Proverbial phr. See bolt sb.1 1 b. 1594 Nashe Terrors of Nt. Wks. 1904 I. 368 To make a shaft or a bolt of this drumbling subiect of dreames, from whence I haue bin tost off and on I know not how.

fc. In various occasional scientific uses, as transl. of L. sagitta: (a) Astr. The Pole-star and its companion; (b) Anat. (see quot. 1552); (c) Geom. A versed-sine: cf. arrow sb. 6. Obs. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 263 The lesser Beare .. is the chiefe marke whereby mariners gouerne their course in saylinge by nyghte, and namely by 2 starres in it, which many do call the shafte. 1552 Udall tr. Geminus’ Anat. B vij b, In the bone of the temple is a bone lyke a smal pyller, or a nedle, and therefore called the nedlelyke bone,.. the quyll bone, the shafte, and the staffe bone. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. 11. (1597) 49 b, A.H. is the Shaft, called in Latine Sinus versus. [See also arrow sb. 6.]

fd. An ‘arrow’ on a plan or diagram showing the direction. Obs. rare. 1730 A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 293 The Bending of the Stairs; the Knowledge of which.. will be much facilitated by the Shafts which shew their Extension.

e. loosely. A missile, rhetorical. 1786 tr. Beckford's Vathek (1836) 80 By my formidable art, the clouds shall pour grape-shot in the faces of the assailants, and shafts of red-hot iron on their heads. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam vi. xi, Then the shaft Of the artillery from the sea was thrown More fast and fiery. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies 196 The trees and thickets with which it was bordered would be sufficient to turn aside any shaft of the enemy. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Isab. 1. x. (1846) I. 427 Some threw away their arms; hoping by this means to facilitate their escape, while in fact it only left them more defenceless against the shafts of their enemies.

f. fig. and in figurative context. 1576 Gascoigne Droome Doomes Day Wks. 1910 II. 409 To wound and wearye theyr soules, with.. the shaftes of sundrye shamefull concupyscences. 1600 Fairfax Tasso 11. xxxiv, Death hath exchang’d againe his shafts with loue, And Cupid thus lets borrow’d arrowes flie. 1608 Hieron Help Devot. Wks. 1632 II. 760 Let his children be as chosen shafts in thy quiuer. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 763 Here Love his golden shafts imploies, he lights His constant Lamp. 1779 J- Moore View Soc. Fr. I. xxx. 281 It is..to be regretted, that he allowed the shafts of his ridicule to glance upon the Christian religion. 1847 Tennyson Princess 11. 444 And often came Melissa hitting all we saw with shafts Of gentle satire, kin to charity, That harm’d not. 1873 Dixon Two Queens xix. vii. IV. 41 Having suffered for a whole year past from the shaft of love.

g. transf. A beam or ray (of light, etc.), a streak of lightning, etc. Chiefly poet. 13 .. E.E. Allit. P. A. 982 By-3onde pe brok fro me warde keued, pat schyrrer pen sunne with schaftez schon. Ibid. C. 455. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 1544 A Mitre,.. Sti3t staffull of stanes pat stra3t out bemes, As it ware shemerand shaftis of pe shire son. 1798 Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Summer 264 When midnight and the frightful Tempest come, The Farmer wakes, and sees.. The angry shafts of Heaven gleam round his bed. ? 1799 Coleridge On a Cataract 13 It embosoms the roses of dawn, It entangles the shafts of the noon. 1864 Tennyson En. Arden 588 The sunrise broken into scarlet shafts Among the palms and ferns and precipices, a 1878 W. C. Bryant Leg. Delawares 4 A thousand shafts of lightning pass. 1898 Watts-Dunton Aylwin xiv. iv, Masses of vapour.. blazing.. whenever the bright shafts of morning struck them.

3. a. A pole, flagstaff; spec, fa may-pole; also fthe pole on which the candle lighted at the ‘new fire’ was carried in the ceremonies of Easter Eve. Also, fa gate-post. rare. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. i. 11 Fana hwearfode scir on sceafte. c 1250 Gen. Ex. 3899 Moyses Sor made a wirme of bras, And heng et hege up on a saft. 1419 26 Pol. Poems 71 Of here banere of grace, god broken hap pe shaft. 1428 in Peacock Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866) 179 Et Thomas harpmaker pro emendacione de la schafte xj d. c 1450 in Aungier Syon

SHAFT

134 (1840) 351 The holy water schal go before, the schafte after with ij tapers unlyght... Aftyr the sensyng of the fyre the schafte schal be lyght only. 1522 Churchw. Acc. St. Giles, Reading 17 Paid for a whope of Iron to the Shafts of the churche gate iij d. 1598 Stow Surv. 107 On May day., a high or long shaft (or May pole) was set vppe there,.. which shaft when it was set on end .. was higher then the Church steeple, a 1819 Rees Cycl. XXXII, Set, a term used for a pole or shaft, used to shove boats along a canal, &c. 1852-63 Burn Techn. Diet. 1. (ed. 4), Trabe,.. pole or shaft of an ensign or colour.

fb. A guild in the parish of St. Dunstan’s, Canterbury; ? named from a pole carried by the warden in procession. Also, ? the pole itself. Obs. i486 Churchw. Acc. St. Dunstaris, Canterb. in Archeeol. Cant. XVI. 294 The acompte of the Schafte made be .. [the two] then beyng wardeyns. 1511 Ibid. 321 We haue receyud of Wyllyam Carpenter of his gyfte a gyrdyll for to bere the Schaft contynuyng for euer from Warden to Wardeyn. 1535 Ibid. 98 For the expensis of the dyner, Seynt Dunstones lyght, mendyng of the Shaft, and other charges xxiij s. xj d. 1539 Ibid. 102 Wardens of a Brotheryd caulyd the Shafte in the parysch of Seynt Dunstone.

4. A stem, columnar or straight portion of something, a. The stem or trunk of a tree. Now rare. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvn. i. (Bodl. MS.), pe schafte of a tree pat strecchej? fro the rote vp to pe toppe is propreliche cleped lignum. 1449 Pecock Repr. 1. vi. 28 Tho bowis grewen out of stockis or tronchons, and the tronchons or schaftis grewen out of the roote. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. 11. xvii. §4. 62 If you will haue sciences growe, it is lesse matter for the shafte or bodie of the Tree, so you looke well to the takinge vp of the Rootes. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides 98 By far the finest tree that I ever saw in my life. The stem or shaft is short. 1842 Mrs. Kirkland Forest Life I. 203 They were the shafts of bee-trees, found in the forest. 1889 B. Harte Cressy x. II. 113 The dim colonnade of straight pine shafts.

b. In various Natural History uses, (a) The main stem or scape of a feather. [So G. schaft.] (b) The part of a hair between the root and the point, (c) Anat. The middle portion of a long bone, (d) Ent. The scape of an antenna or of a halter, f (e) Bot. = style (1787 Withering Brit. PI. ed. 2, passim). (а) 1748 Phil. Trans. XLV. 161 The Shafts of the Tail Feathers are very stiff. 1826 Stephens in Shaw Gen. Zool. XIV. 1. 177 The white on the shafts of the feathers is broader. 1886 P. L. Sclater Catal. Birds Brit. Mus. XI. 345 Feathers of head and neck lanceolate and with shining shafts. (б) 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 200 The constituent fibres of the shaft are marked out by delicate longitudinal striae, which may be traced in vertical sections of the hair. 1876 Duhring Dis. Skin 33 In considering the hair we distinguish two portions,—the shaft, and the root. (c) 1835-6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 431/1 The long bones.. are never exactly cylindrical, being always contracted in the middle or shaft, and enlarged at each end. 1858 Holden Hum. Osteol. (1878) 165 The ‘shafts’ are slightly concave towards the palm, to form the hollow of the hand.

c. The part of a candlestick which supports the branches. 1388 Wyclif Exod. xxv. 31 Thou schalt make a candilstike..and thou schalt make the schaft [1382 staf, 1535 Coverdale, 1611 shaft] therof, and 3erdis, cuppis, and litle rundelis, and lilies comynge forth therof. Ibid. 33 Sixe 3erdis, that schulen be broujt forth of the schaft. a 1586 Cartwright in Answ. to Cartwright 88 The shaft.. of the candlesticke

fd. ‘The Spire of a Church-Steeple’ (Phillips 1706). [Cf. F. fleche.] Obs. c 1450 Chron. London (Kingsford 1905) 156 The Steple of Seynt Pawlis chirche was sette on fire aboute the medyll of the Shafte in the tymbir. 1581 Churchw. Acc. Dunmow (MS.) fol. 49 In repayringe the steple in stone worke xxxix7' iiix id Item, repayringe the shafte and tymber therof, vli- xvh ixd. 1612 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. 1. vi. 19 Practise to draw small and easie things,.. as a cherry with the leafe, the shaft of a steeple [etc.]. 01700 Evelyn Diary 20 Aug. 1654, Famous is the Steeple [at Grantham] for the exceeding height of the shaft, which is of stone.

e. Of a chimney, a blast-furnace: (see quots. and chimney-shaft s.v. chimney ii). c 1450 Nominate (Harl. MS. 1002) 146 b, Caminus, a chymney. Epicaustorium, pe chaft J?er-of. a 1548 in J. Bayley Tower Lond. (1821) 1. App. p. xxv, To fynyshe x. shaftes upon x. chymneys. 1662 Gerbier Brief Disc. (1665) 10 Neither are those high Shafts of Chimnies real Ornaments to a Building. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Shaft,.. the Tunnel of a Chimney. 1836-50 Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 5) s.v., The part of a chimney-stack between the base and cornice is called the shaft. 1855 Franke Beil's Technol. Diet. II. 457/2 Shaft of a blast-furnace (the internal cavity of the furnace), der Schacht", Cuve, cheminee.

f. Arch. The body of a column or pillar between the base and the capital. Also the ‘die’ of a parapet. See also quot. 1842. 1483 Cath. Angl. 332/1 A schafte of a pylar, stilus. 1598 tr. Lomazzo 1. xxiv. 86 The shaft or trunke of the columne is to be diminished a fourth parte at the toppe. 1624 Wotton Archit. 31 They [the Columns] are all Diminished or Contracted .. from one third part of the whole Shaft vpwards. 1756-7 Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 461 The pedestal [of this pillar] consists of one stone, the base of eight, the torus of one, the shaft of twenty-three, and the capital of one. 1823 P- Nicholson Pract. Build. 310 The shaft or die, which is the part immediately above the plinth. 1842 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Shaft of a King Post, the part between the joggles. 1849 Freeman Archit. 16 Then gradually bringing within its power the details of shaft and capital. Haydocke

g. The upright part of a cross; esp. the part between the arms and the base. 1781 Ledwich in Vallancey Collect, de Rebus Hibern. II. 446 The arms were broken, but the shaft [of the market cross of Kilkenny] remained adorned with beautiful figures. 1810 Scott Lady of L. hi. viii, A slender crosslet form’d with care, ..The shaft and limbs were rods of yew. 1836-50 Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 5) s.v. Cross, In some instances they had small niches.. round the top of the shaft below the cross. 1870 F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 90 The limbs and a portion of the shaft of a Saxon cross were found. 01887 Jefferies Field & Hedgerow (1889) 279 One of them has retained its top perfect, and really is a cross, not a shaft only.

h. The stem or long straight handle of a tool, etc.; the shank of an anchor; the stem of a pipe; fthe stalk or foot of a goblet or wine-glass. 1530 Palsgr. 266/1 Shafte of any edged tole, manche. 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1780), Shank, the beam or shaft of an anchor, a 1837 J. Hogg Tales fit Sk. I. 297,1 then took out my brandy bottle, and a small crystal glass without the shaft, that I carried in my pocket. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. xxix. (1844) I. 235 The shafts or stems of these pipes. 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durh. 46 Shaft,.. the handle of a pick, hack, shovel, or maul. 1855 Franke Beil's Technol. Diet. II. 457/2 Shaft of a forge hammer (the helve or handle of the hammer), der Helm, Stiel; Manche. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 473/1 (Golf), Shaft, the handle of the club. i. f (a) Of a cannon: = chase sb.3 2. (b) ‘The

forward, straight part of a gun-stock’ (Knight Diet. Mech. 1875). 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 32 Her shaft or chase, her trunnions.

5. a. Arch. A slender column, esp. one of ‘the small columns which are clustered round pillars, or used in the jambs of doors or windows, in arcades and various other situations’ (Parker Gloss. Archit.). 1835 R. Willis Archit. Mid. Ages ii. 27 But the compound archway did not long remain in this simple form, its component archways were early decorated in various ways with shafts and mouldings. 1838 Lytton Leila 1. ii, The ceiling of cedar-wood .. was supported by slender shafts, of the whitest alabaster. 1873 Dixon Two Queens 1. i. I. 8 Images of the goddess on her jasper shaft. 1878 McVittie Christ Ch. Cathedral 67 The inside moulded jambs are decorated with six short limestone shafts.

b. U.S. An obelisk or column erected as a memorial. 1847 Emerson Poems, Hymn Wks. (Bohn) I. 494 Spirit, that made those heroes dare To die, and leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and thee. 1873 B. Harte Washington in N. Jersey in Fiddletown, etc. 93 The gray shaft that commemorated the Morristown dead of the last civil war. 1878 Joaquin Miller Songs of Italy 49 The whole country round vaunts our deed and the town Raised that shaft on the spot. |6. A kind of balance: = auncel, pounder (app. orig. auncel's shaft). 1429, 1439 [see pounder sb.1]. 1502 [see auncel].

7. a. One of the long bars, between a pair of which a horse is harnessed to a vehicle; a thill. Also (? U.S.) ‘the pole of a carriage, also called tongue or neap’ (Webster 1828-32). 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 325 The shafts or beam of Gordius his cart. 1725 Pope Odyss. xv. 208 The bounding shafts upon the harness play, a 1764 Lloyd Cobbler of Cripplegate's Let. 124 The racer stumbles in the shaft, And shews he was not meant for draft. 1794 W. Felton Carriages (1801) I. 61 The Shafts of a Carriage are the side framings, by which it is supported by the horse. 1894 K. Grahame Pagan P. 77,1 found him smoking his vesper pipe on the shaft of his cart.

b. Either of the two side-pieces of a ladder which support the rungs or steps. 1888 Stevenson Across the Plains (1892) 197 The weedy spokes and shafts of the ladder.

c. (See quot.) 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 630 The sides of this table [for casting sheet lead].. are guarded by a frame or edging of wood, 3 inches thick, and 4 or 5 inches higher than the interior surface, called the shafts. Ibid. 631 So that its ends, which are notched.., may ride upon the shafts.

8. Mech. A long cylindrical rotating rod upon which are fixed the parts for the transmission of motive power in a machine; also, a separable portion of a line of shafting. Also with qualifying word indicating a specific kind of shaft, as crank, paddle, propeller, screw shaft, countershaft, etc.: see those words. 1688 Holme Armoury hi. 340/2 The Shaft [of a WindMill], that on which the Sail Rods are set. 1764 Croker, etc. Diet. Arts s.v. Mill, The undershot-wheel, upon whose shaft is fixed a spur or cog-wheel. 1814, etc. [see journal sb. 10]. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 43 In forming couplings, great care should be taken to make them fit, so that the coupled shaft may move as though of the same piece with the driving shaft. 1841 R. Willis Princ. Mechanism 44 note, Axis is the general and scientific word, shaft the millwright’s general term, and spindle his term for smaller shafts. 1873 J. Richards Wood-working Factories 4 The last shaft, or the one farthest from the engine, can be driven at a higher speed than the other shafts to suit joiners’ machines on an upper floor. 1887 D. A. Low Machine Draw. (1892) 30, Fig. 25, which represents a brake shaft carrier of a locomotive tender.

9. Weaving. Each of a pair of long laths between which the heddles are stretched; also applied to the pair taken together. Also in parasynthetic compounds with prefixed numeral, as four-shaft, tenrshaft adjs., designating makes of cloth.

SHAFT

fb. Sc. A kind of woollen cloth. Obs. [Prob. generalized from designations like four-shaft, tenshaft, etc.: see above.] 1797 Statist. Ace. Scot., Aberd. XIX. 208 Cloths manufactured from the above wool,. . three quarters to yard broad seys, sarges, shafts, plaidings, baizes, linseywoolseys, jemmies, and stripped apron stuffs.

10. In various slang uses. a. The penis. Also f shaft of delight. [1719 T. D’Urfey Wit & Mirth IV. 72 It is a Shaft of Cupid’s cut, ’Twill serve to Rove, to Prick, to Butt.] 1772 G. A. Stevens Songs, Comic, & Satyrical 11 For Cupid’s Pantheon, the Shaft of Delight Must spring from the Masculine Base. 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 45 It was never enough merely to lower your trousers—they had to come off,.. so that you could crouch there naked but for your shirt, frantically rubbing your shaft.

b. A human leg. U.S. x935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 103/2 Shaft, a woman’s leg. 1939 C. Morley Kitty Foyle 95 If anyone showed a good shaft Pop would wink at me.

c. U.S. An act or instance of unfair or harsh treatment; slighting, rejection, ‘the push’; esp. in to give or get the shaft. 1959 Amer. Speech XXXIV. 155 A girl or boy who makes a play for another’s date is snaking... If he succeeds, the loser gets the shaft (sometimes with barbs), the purple shaft, or the maroon harpoon, depending upon the degree of injury to his pride, i960 Wentworth & Flexner Diet. Amer. Slang 461/1 Shaft.., an act or an instance of being taken advantage of, unfairly treated, deceived, tricked, cheated, or victimized; a raw deal. Usu. in ‘to get the (or a) shaft’. Fig., the image is the taboo one of the final insult, having someone insert something, as a barbed shaft, up one’s rectum. 1964 Mad Mag. July 14 Looks like somebody gave him the shaft! 1977 Amer. Speech 1975 L. 65 She gave him the shaft after he broke their date last weekend. 1979 Mod. Photography Dec. 86/2, I would give more of my business to Minolta but for the company’s uncooperative, anti-consumer thinking. Doubtless there are many such as myself who have gotten the shaft.

11. attrib. and Comb. a. In sense 2 etc.), as shaft-arm, f -end, -hand, -maker', shaft-armed, -like, -straight, adjs.; f shaft-wise adv., ? in cylindrical

SHAFT

135

Although no early examples have been found, the sense is certainly old; the G. schaft and Du. schacht are similarly used. Cf. 'thre-schaptyd cloth, triplex’ (Promp. Parv., c 1440): see THREE III. 2. [1801 see LAM s*.“] 1839 Ure Diet. Arts, etc. 1230 The heddles being stretched between two shafts of wood, all the heddles connected by the same shafts are called a leaf. 1878 Barlow Weaving 173 With four shafts and twenty pairs of leashes.. the effect that may be produced will be noticed at ABCDE and F. Ibid., At D the leashes are raised, and the shafts also. 01904 W. Thornton in Eng. Dial. Diet, s.v., [Obs. in W. Yorksh.] Long thin flat rods of wood, upon which the ‘gems’ or ‘healds’ were stretched. The stretching was effected by a ‘top’ and ‘bodom’ shaft, and the whole was also termed a ‘shaft’, when describing the pattern or make of cloth to be produced, as ‘four shaft’, ‘ten shaft’, &c.

(arrow, -head, -strong form.

1801 T. Roberts Engl. Bowman 293 * Shaft-arm, Shafthand, the arm, the hand, employed in drawing the arrow. 1790 Cowper Iliad 1. 18 His hands charged with the wreath And golden sceptre or the God “shaft-arm’d. 1545 Ascham Toxoph. 11. Wks. (1904) 116 Yf I should shoote at a line and not at the marke, I woulde alwayes loke at my “shaft ende. 1801 “Shaft-hand [see shaft-arm supra]. 1545 Ascham Toxoph. 11. Wks. (1904) 115 To looke at your “shafte hede at the lowse, is the greatest helpe to kepe a lengthe that can be. 1821 Byron Sardanap. iv. i. 90 A huge quiver rose With shaft-heads feather’d from the eagle’s wing. 15 .. J. Bryan Ps. cxxvii. 7 in Farr S.P. Eliz. II. 335 Straight, “shaft-like sprowts in shape and mind. 1899 R- B. Sharpe in Daily News 21 Feb. 6/2 A long shaft-like plume. 1904 Windle Preh. Age Eng. iv. 80 Here the object was.. to shape off the roughnesses of a stick, so as to convert it into an arrow-shaft —for which reason this kind of scraper is sometimes called a ‘“shaft-maker’. 1849 Charl. Bronte Shirley II. v. 127 Her “shaft-straight carriage and lightsome step. 1519 Horman Vulg. 105 b, All preciouse stonys may be made “shaft wyse, saue pearlys. Omnes gemmae teretes fieri possunt, extra vnum vnionem.

b. In sense 5 a (Arch.), as shaft-architecture, -cap, -ring. 1851 Ruskin Stones Venice I. viii. §xxiii, The earliest and grandest shaft architecture which we know, that of Egypt. 1882 Archaeol. Cant. XIV. 364 The segmental arch of its head springs not from shaft-caps but from vertical stilts. 1909 Century Diet. Suppl., Shaft-ring, an annular band. . which seems to surround a shaft of a column. It is often the wrought edge of a stone plate which separates two stones that make up a shaft, the inclosing ring being an appearance only.

c. In sense 4I1 (handle), as shaft-hole, Archaeol. the hole in an axe-head or similar implement for the insertion of the haft or handle. 1852-63 Burn Techn. Diet. o. (ed. 4), Shaft prop, servante. Ibid., Shaft stay, eravate. 1865 Lubbock Preh. Times iii. (1878) 62 The British lance-heads frequently have loops at the side of the shaft-hole,.. which is never the case with Danish specimens. 1894 J. Macintosh Ayrsh. Nt.’s Entert. 201 A stone axe., having a shaft-hole one inch in width. 1928 [see core-casting s.v. CORE sb.' 16]. 1958 W. Willetts Chinese Art I. ii. 75 (heading) Objects derived from the shaft-hole adze. 1971 Listener 7 Jan. 14/1(.caption) Copper shaft-hole tools of the Balkan late neolithic.

d. In sense 7 a (thill of a carriage, etc.): as shaft-bar, -bender, -bolt, -jack, -loop, -man, -ring, tug-, shaft-horse, the horse which goes in the shafts. 1802 C. James Milit. Diet., * Shaft-bars, are two pieces of wood to fasten the hind ends of the shafts together, into which they are pinned with wooden pins. 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 56 Coach making..’Shaft Bender. 1852-63

Techn. Diet. 11. (ed. 4), ’Shaft-bolt, boulon de limomere. 1769 Wesley Jrnl. 28 July, The ’shaft-horse., boggled and turned short. 1886 Ruskin Praeterita I. vi. 182 The four horses were driven by one postillion riding the shaft horse. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., •Shaft-jack, (Vehicle) an iron attaching the shafts to the axle. Ibid., *Shaft-loop, (Harness) the ring of leather suspended from the gig-saddle to hold the thill or shaft. 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 56 Coach making.. ’Shaftman. 1802 C. James Milit. Diet., Rings, in artillery, are of various uses such as, the ’shaft-rings to fasten the harness of the shaft-horse by means of a pin. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports in. III. iv. 543 A buckle and strong loop on each side, called the ’Shaft Tug, by which the shaft is supported. Burn

e. Ornith. (sense 4 b), as shaft-mark, -spot, -streak, -stripe; shaft-tailed bunting, Latham’s name for one of the buntings of the genus Emberiza; shaft-tailed whidah, widow bird, a dark-coloured African weaver-bird, Vidua regia, having long tail-feathers with bare shafts. 1884 J- H. Gurney Diurnal Birds Prey 157 The dark “shaft-marks much narrower than in the female [Kestrel]. 1888 P. L. Sclater Argentine Ornith. I. 164 Above plumbeous, with slight darker *shaft-spots. 1874 R. B. Sharpe Catal. Accipitres B. Mus. 438 Crown rufous, with blackish “shaft-streaks. 1867 p. L. Sclater & Salvin Exotic Ornith. 71 There are linear elongated ’shaft-stripes on the head and on portions of the under plumage. 1783 Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. 1. 183 ’Shaft-tailed Bunting. 1881 F. Sc C. G. Oates Matabele Land Id Victoria Falls facing p. 220 (caption) ’Shaft-tailed Whydah Bird. 1900 A. C. Stark Birds S. Afr. I. 148 Shaft-tailed Widow Bird... The four central, elongated tail-feathers are webbed at their ends.., the rest of them consists of bare shaft. 1948 C. D. Priest Eggs of Birds breeding S. Afr. 135 Shaft-tailed Whydah.. undoubtedly parasitic. 1974 Sci. Amer. Oct. 96/2 The shaft¬ tailed widow bird of South Africa.. mimics the repertory of its host, the violet-eared waxbill.

f. In sense 8 (axle or revolving bar), as shaft¬ bearing, -boss, -bracket, -coupling, -drive (so -driven), -eye, -gearing, -governor, -head, -passage, etc. shaft-alley Naut. (see quot. 1884); also used attrib. to designate unofficial or unreliable information or its source, attributed to gossip in shaft-alley; shaft horsepower, brake horsepower, spec, power delivered to a propeller shaft or the shaft of a turbine; shaft turbine (see quot. 1958). 1884 Naval Encycl. 732/1 * Shaft-alley, a passage extending from the engine-room to the stern.. in which is contained the propeller-shaft and its bearings. 1922 L. Hisey Sea Grist 155 It was rumored by shaft alley wireless that we would reach Antwerp, Belgium, in two days. 1941 R. G. M. Ehlers Diary of Ship's Surgeon (1944) 67 A ‘shaft alley’ rumor brought word that all ships had been ordered out of Hong Kong. 1945 Sun (Baltimore) 30 Aug. 7-0/5 It’s the job of these six men to go down to the nethermost portion of this ship in ‘Shaft Alley’, where the big propeller shafts whirl. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., * Shaft-bearing. 1863 Barry Dockyard Econ. 236 This is 42 feet in length, and, with its sole and '“shaft-boss, weighs 40 tons. 1894 W. H. White Man. Naval Archit. (ed. 3) 415 (Cent. Suppl.), Stems, sternposts, “shaft-brackets, rudders, etc., are now commonly made of cast steel instead of forged iron or steel. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 26 June 4/1 As regards transmission, fourteen of the cars are employing chains, as against twenty relying on “shaft drive. 1906 Daily Chron. 14 Nov. 9/3 These cars are “shaft-driven. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 34 The recent innovations in .. adjusting the movements of the system of “shaft-geering. 1898 Engineering Mag. XVI. 146/2 The Design and Setting of “Shaft Governors. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 130 A gudgeon from the end of each cylinder runs into an iron fastened to the “shafthead. 1908 A. E. Tompkins Marine Engin. (ed. 3) v. 61 The torsion-meter is used to measure this angular twist between two points of a shaft, and from this angle the “shaft horse¬ power is calculated. 1974 Petroleum Rev. XXVIII. 490/1 The high shaft horsepower was the conditioning factor for this proportion of pilot fuel. 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 115 The bulkheads of the “shaft passages are sometimes made watertight. 1958 Chambers's Techn. Diet. Add. 1013/1 *Shaft turbine, any gas turbine aero-engine wherein the major part of the energy in the combustion gases is extracted by a turbine and delivered, through appropriate gearing, to a shaft. 1970 Lambermont & Pirie Helicopters & Autogyros of World (ed. 2) 147 It had two shaft-turbine engines mounted on the cabin top instead of two Pratt and Whitney piston engines.

g. Weaving monture.

(sense

9),

as

shaft

harness,

1878 Barlow Weaving 168 The second [contrivance] is generally used in weaving the richest silks now made, and is termed the split harness, or ‘shaft monture’. Ibid. 170 The above contrivance entirely dispenses with a separate set of treadles to work the shaft harness.

h. shaft-furnace, ‘a high furnace, charged at the top and tapped at the bottom’ (Raymond Mining Gloss. 1881). 1874 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 393 Those shaftfurnaces which use charcoal as fuel.

(Ja:ft, -ae-), sb.3 Also 5 shafte. [Corresponds in sense to MHG. schaht, mod.G. schacht masc., which is prob. a. LG. schacht (also Du.) of the same meaning, usually regarded as a specific application of schacht = shaft sb.3, the primitive notion being that of something cylindrical. It is possible, however, that the type *skafto- represented by LG. schacht, Eng. shaft ‘pit-hole’, may be a separate formation on the Teut. root *skab- of shave v., in its original sense to dig (cf. Gr. oKa-meiv). On either of these views, it is doubtful whether shaft shaft

‘pit-hole’ goes back to OE. (though not recorded before the 15th c.), or was introduced into England by foreign miners. Some scholars still adhere to the view of Grimm, that the HG. schacht (and LG. schacht in this sense) represent a Teut. type *skaxto-z. On this supposition the Eng. word would necessarily be a loan word from the continent. Grimm’s hypothesis is formally possible, but leaves the ultimate etymology obscure, as the suggested connexion with the root *skak- shake v. is semasiologically improbable.]

1. A vertical or slightly inclined well-like excavation made in mining, tunnelling, etc., as a means of access to underground workings, for hoisting out materials, testing the subsoil, ventilation, etc. For air-shaft, engine-shaft, pumping-shaft, etc. see those words. I433“4 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 711 Pro factura unius shaft infra campum de Heworth pro carbonibus ibidem lucrandis, 20s. 1443 Ibid. 713 Cum thirlyng unius shafte. 1602 Carew Surv. Cornw. 8 b, There they sincke a Shaft, or pit of fiue or sixe foote in length [etc.]. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 80 By letting down shafts from the day (as Miners speak). 1733 Arbuthnot Ess. Effects Air ii. 34 Suppose a Tube, or, as the Miners call it, a Shaft were sunk from the Surface of the Earth to the Centre. 1815 Clanny in Thomson's Ann. Philos. (1816) VII. 369 In this district there are several coal¬ mines that have only one shaft, which serves the double purpose of ventilation and working. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 369/2 Shafts of at least four feet diameter should be sunk along the line of the tunnel. 1868 Morris Earthly Par., Rhodope u Nor as yet had any one Sunk shaft in hill-side there, or dried the stream To see if ’neath its sand gold specks might gleam. 1888 F. Hume Mme. Midas 1. i, She.. sank a shaft in the place indicated.

2. Mil. Mining. (See quot. 1876.) 1834 J- S. Macaulay Field Fortif. (1847) 183 The top frame of the shaft is then let into the ground. Ibid. 184 In unfavourable soil the whole shaft must be lined with sheeting. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Diet. (ed. 3), Shaft, in military mining is the perpendicular passage sunk from the surface of the ground to the required depth, from which the branches of the mine diverge, termed ‘galleries’. .. Shafts and galleries are lined with timber to prevent the soil from breaking in.

3. transf. Applied excavations, or passages.

to

other

well-like

1820 Belzoni Egypt & Nubia 11. 270 Where the granite work finishes at the end of this passage [in the 2nd Pyramid], there is a perpendicular shaft of fifteen feet, i860 Tyndall Glac. 1. ii. 18 Numerous shafts, the forsaken passages of ancient ‘moulins’. 1861 Flor. Nightingale Nursing (ed. 2) 28 It often happens that the sick room is made a ventilating shaft for the rest of the house. 1912 World 25 June 1005/2 The second floor [of the burning house] seemed a furnace, and the shaft of the lift acted as a chimney.

4. attrib. and Comb. a. simple attrib., as shaft ladder, mouth, -work, etc.; shaft sinking \bl. sb. Also objective, as shaft-sinker. 1844 F. W. Simms {title) Practical tunnelling, explaining in detail.. shaft sinking, and heading driving. 1862 Times 21 Jan., Mr. Coulson.. has had vast experience in shaft work. c 1868 C. Warren Recov. Jerus. (1871) 128 The shaft mouth is on the south side of the Sanctuary wall. 1909 Chamb. Jrnl. Apr. 239 They started to descend the shaft-ladders. 1922 D. H. Lawrence Aaron's Rod vii. 70 His father had been a shaft-sinker.

b. Comb.-, shaft-drill, ‘a rotary drillingmachine, armed with diamond points, for boring vertical shafts’ (Knight Diet. Mech. 1875); shaft-grave Archaeol., applied to ancient interments in a ‘shaft’; shaft-house, ‘the heavy framework for the pulleys and landing-place at the top of a mining shaft, some-times enclosed for protection from the weather’ (Funk’s Stand. Diet. 1895); shaftman, a man employed to keep the shaft in repair (Northumbld. Gloss.); also, a workman employed to sink shafts (cf. shaftsman); shaft pillar Mining, a body of coal or rock unworked in order to provide support for an adjacent shaft; shaft-rent (see quot.); shaft-riding, ascending by means of a lift or cage in a shaft; shaft-tackle = poppet-head 2; shaft tomb = shaft-grave. 1910 D. G. Hogarth in Encycl. Brit. I. 248/1 The “shaft graves in the Mycenae circle are also a late type. 1872 Statistics of Mines & Mining 1870 (U.S. Treasury Dept.) 344 The quartz is brought from the mine, unless the mill is in or near the “shaft-house, in wagons. 1874 Raymond Statist. Mines Mining 332, I cannot see the need or use of a shaft-house of such a shape and only 10 feet in diameter. 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 84 Tin miner.. “Shaftman. Ibid. 85 Lead miner, .shaftman. 1893 W. C. Borlase Age Saints Introd. 21 Many a first-rate Cornish miner—a ‘shaftman’, that is to say—belongs to it [the German type]. 1855 G. C. Greenwell Pract. Treat. Mine Engin. vi. 155 The situation of coal pits varies so much, together with the osition of the seams of coal, dykes and slips, that no rule can e laid down for the form of the pillars of coal, left near the shaft, which are called the “shaft pillars. 1929 I. C. F. Statham Winning & Working xxx. 499 This subsidence was not.. wholly due to the removal of the shaft pillar, but was partly accounted for by crushing of the shaft pillar in an upper seam. 1977 Irish Press 29 Sept. 8/4 A third semipermanent pillar, known as the shaft pillar, cuts across the orebody from north to south. 1849 Greenwell Coaltrade Terms, Northumb. & Durham (1851) 42 * Shaft rent, for the privilege of drawing up the shaft the coal worked from another royalty by outstroke. 1887 P. McNeill Blawearie 57 In those days the miners who worked the coalfields on the estate of Blawearie were but rarely allowed to indulge in the luxury of ‘“shaft riding’. 1874 J. H.

SHAG

136

SHAFT Metal Mining 81 The cost of preparing and fixing this *shaft-tackle should not exceed 25s. or 30s. for timber, ironwork, and labour. 1895 W. Leaf Iliad I. Introd. 15 The ‘*shaft tombs’ discovered by Dr. Schliemann in the Acropolis of Mykenai. Collins

f shaft, v.1 Obs. rare-1. [Of obscure origin.] intr. Of the^sun: ? To set. 13.. Gazv. & Gr. Knt. 1467 He rechated, & r[ode] pur$ ronez ful J>yk, Suande £>is wy[ld]e swyn til \>e sunne schafted.

shaft

(Jaift, -ae-), v.2 [f. shaft sb.2] 1. trans. To fit (an arrow-head, a weapon or

tool) with a shaft. 1611 Florio, Alberare,.. Also to shaft or stave any weapon as a holbard. a 1775 Hobie Noble xvi. in Child Ballads IV. 3/1 Gar warn the bows o’ Hartlie-burn See they shaft their arrows on the wa! 18530. j Cayley Las Alforjas II. 256 Many of our modern authors live by .. new shafting and feathering old arrow heads.

2. to shaft out: to shoot as an arrow or shaft. 1862 Thornbury Turner II. 88 There was the storm rolling., and shafting out its lightning over the Yorkshire hills.

3. To propel (a barge, etc.) with a pole.

shafter ('JccftsCr),

-as-), [f. shaft sb.2 + -er1.] A

shaft-horse. 1840 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. in. x. 137 A London brewer’s shafter wouldn’t make the smallest part of a circumstance to him. 1877 Holderness Gloss., Shafther, the horse, where there are more than one, which is placed between the shafts of a cart. 1904 Blackw. Mag. June 824/2 The cook alternately crooned and swore at the old shafter.

Shaftesburian (Jaifts'bjuarren, -ae-), a. Also Shaftsburean, -ian. [f. Shaftesbury (see below) + -ian.] Of or pertaining to the moral philosophy or literary style of Anthony Ashley Cooper, third Earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713), author of ‘Characteristicks of Men’ (1711). 1752 Gray's Innjrnl. No. io (1756) I. 68 Mr. Plastic is a compleat Shaftesburian Philosopher. Ibid. 69 This with him is the Test of Truth which he opposes.. to the Shaftesburian Rule. 1755 Miss Talbot in Pennington Life Mrs. Carter (1808) I. 196 Shaftsburian Heathens [will read this book] because Epictetus was an honour to Heathenism. 1828 D. Irving Elern. Composition (ed. 8) 243 That parade of language which distinguishes the Shaftesburean manner.

t 'Shaftesbury, slang. Obs. rare~°. [The name of a town in Dorset.] (See quot.)

1869 A. Davis Velocipede 5 Like unto the method of punting or shafting vessels. 1906 Daily Chron. 19 Feb. 10/5 Sometimes a boat is ‘shafted’ through [a tunnel] with a pole.

a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Shaftsbury, a Gallon-pot full of Wine, with a Cock.

4. To treat unfairly or harshly; to cheat, deceive; to take advantage of; to slight, reject. slang (orig. and chiefly N. Amer.).

shafting1

1959 Amer. Speech XXXIV. 155 A raw deal from any other source may also be referred to in this way; for example, one may be shafted or jabbed by the opposite sex, a professor, a policeman, parents, or anyone else for any real or imagined injury. 1966 ‘E. Lathen’ Murder makes Wheels go Round xiii. 108 He was a menace to Wahl... He’d railroaded Orin Dunn into jail... He was shafting Buck Holsinger! 1970 Deb. Senate Canada 1 June 7551/2 As I have told my constituents in Hamilton, Ontario, which seems to have been continually shafted by this government. 1971 B. Malamud Tenants 19 Rent control., is an immoral situation. The innocent landlord gets shafted. 1976 M. Machlin Pipeline xxxv. 397, I think how they’re shafting us with this whole deal. 5. = fuck v. i trans. coarse slang. 1970 G. Lord Marshmallow Pie xxi. 185 There was this young girl among them, not even sixteen yet.. like as not being shafted by every dirty long-haired crud in town. 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 82 How sinful he looked, squatting there by the water while his wife was being shafted by some dirty big Mendip only a few feet away! 1971 J. Wainwright Last Buccaneer 11. 228 He was Jimmy Needier —that’s all... and the rest of the world could go shaft itself.

Hence 'shafting vbl. sb. 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 124 Hello there, gran! What do you do? Gobble? Where are the birds? We want three as are fit enough to stand a gude shafting. 1972 J. Wainwright Requiem for Loser iii. 50 What a monumental shafting he’d deliver to some lucky bint. 1973 Farm & Country 20 Nov. 23/3 Hugh Blaine charged that farmers ‘suffered a shafting at the hands of feed dealers last year’. I975 R- H. Rimmer Premar Experiments i. 94 After double¬ dealing with his own people and selling them to the slavers, some slaver gave the king and his family a shafting and enslaved them too.

shafted

('Jarftid, 'Jaeft-), a. [f. shaft sb.2 + Having or furnished with a shaft or shafts, a. Her. Of a spear, arrow, or similar weapon: Having the shaft of a specified tincture. -ED2.]

1586 Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 221 Tomyris, Queene of Scythia: did beare Iupiters thunder-bolt Or: shafted and winged Argent. 1661 Morgan Sph. Gentry 1. iv. 50 Jupiters Thunderbolt in pale or,, .shafted saltirewayes argent.

b. Furnished with a shaft or handle. Chiefly in parasynthetic derivatives, as long-shafted. 1641 D. Fergussoris Sc. Prov. (1785) 14 He should hae a long shafted spoon that sups kail wi’ the devil. 1869 Boutell Arms & Armour App. (1905) 273 Fourteen Examples of Shafted Weapons. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 46 He crept along, Poising a spear, thick shafted, strong, In his right hand. 1879 Echo 21 Mar. 2/5 Those [assegais].. are thrown by the hand .. and are less strongly shafted than the charging weapon.

c. Arch. shafts.

Ornamented with or resting upon

1801 A. Ranken Hist. France I. 1. v. 452 Hence proceeded the pointed arches, the shafted columns’ [etc.]. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. n. i, When the broken arches are black in night, And each shafted oriel glimmers white. 1835 R. Willis Archit. Mid. Ages iii. 29 These imposts are divided into two classes, which may be called Shafted and Banded. In shafted archways the horizontal section of the upright is different from that of the arch taken immediately above the impost, and generally much plainer. 1878 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) 279 Even when the exterior is shafted the inner splay often comes close to the face of the recessed order. 1812 Archseol. Cant. XIV. 364 Seven-foiled lights, with shafted mullions of Decorated character.

d. Ornith. In comb, with prefixed word: Having the shafts (of feathers) of a specified character or number. 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 496 Six-shafted Paradisebird. 1831 Red-shafted [see red a. 14b]. f shaft-eel. Obs. [? shaft sb.2, referring to the shape.] A kind of eel. Cf. shafflin. 1411 Cal. Let. Bks. Hen. IV, I. 102 [printedshastele]. 15.. in Dugdale Monasticon (1655) I. 81/2 Schafteeles to bake for the covent on shere thursday. 1545 Rates Custom Ho. b j b, Elis called shaft kyue or dele elis. 1583 Ibid. Bvijb, Shaft, kine or dole Eeles. [So in later schedules.]

('Jaiftiij, -ae-). [f. shaft sb.2 + -ing1.] A system of connected shafts for communicating motion from the prime mover to the machinery. Also, material from which to cut lengths of shafts.

1.

1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. Descr. Frontisp. 16 The rotary motion which the crank has received from the engine is imparted to the shafting. 1845 I. Farrell Archimedean Railway 5, I have therefore made several experiments on different lengths of shafting. 1862 Catal. Internal. Exhib. II. XII. 2 The motion of the handle on deck is transmitted .. by means of a series of shaftings and tooth-wheels. 1889 F. Colyer Public Instit. 192 The Shafting must be 2l inches diameter, and the pulleys of suitable sizes to the machines they have to drive. 1895 Daily News 3 June 7/3 The demand for marine shafting in the city has been fairly good for nine months. 1912 Times 19 Dec. 19/3 Bolts, shaftings, and miscellaneous products. attrib. 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 99 Factory Labourer... Shafting Oiler. 1898 Engineering Mag. XVI. 148/1 A Shafting Lathe. Describes a lathe, .intended both for general lathe work and for turning shafting.

2. Shafts or ornamental columns. 1868 Morn. Star 25 June, A large quantity of shafting belonging to the north piers of the chancel.. had been smashed with a hammer.

3. U.S. ‘A darkening of the shaft, or quill of a feather, as in some breeds of poultry’ (Cent. Suppl.). 1896 Yearbk. U.S. Departm. Agric. 462 (Cent. Suppl.), Shafting on the back will also help the black stripe in the saddles.

mila & .III. furlang, and .III. aecera braede, and .IX. fota, and .IX. scaeftamunda [? read sceaftmunda], and .IX. berecorna. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3843 He schare hyme one the schorte rybbys a schaftmonde large! c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 6658 He hadde a strok a schafftmon long. 11400 Anturs of Arth. xli, Thro his shild and his shildur a schaft-mun [Douce MS. shaftmone] he share. 1474 Coventry Leet Bk. 399, iij schafmond and a half a-bout and a yerde of lenthe. a 1483 in W. G. Benham Red Paper Bk. Colchester (1902) 19 His fagot of wode shall be a yard of length and iij shaftmonds and an half abowte. 01483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 49 The Deane of the Chapell hathe all the offerings of wax.. when the tapers be consumed into a shaftmount. 1483 Cath. Angl. 57/2 Chaftmonde. 1545 Ascham Toxoph. 11. (Arb.) 112 Therfore lette youre bowe haue good byg bend, a shaftemente and .ii. fyngers at the least. 1558 Cranmer s Confut. Verities Oivb, A lytle young prety babe, about a shaftmond long. 1598 Florio, Quattraggio, a certaine rate of cloth that is giuen aboue measure, as we say a shaft man or a handfull. 1620 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Praise Hemp-seed (1623) 13 Once heaue the Lead againe and sound abaff, A shafnet lesse, seauen all. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 18 Fadome by the marke, 3 od and a shaftment left. 1640 Parkinson Theat. Bot. 486 This Scabious hath a thicke whitish stemme next the ground for a shaftmont high. 1647 Hexham i, A Shaftmen, Een mate van een halven voet. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Shafment, is a kinde of measure used in some parts of England, and is the breadth of a mans hand, and the length of the thumb. 1674 Ibid. (ed. 4), Shaftmet, or Shaftment. 1762 [W. Young] Treat. Weights Meas. 19 A shaftment, which is the length from the bottom of the wrist to the end of the thumb when the hand is extended, is reckoned 6 inches, a 1769 Wee wee man ii. in Child Ballads I. 330/1 His legs were scarce a shathmont’s length. 1816 Scott Antiq. viii, Not a step, not a pace, not an inch, not a shathmont, as I may say; the meaning of which word has puzzled many that think themselves antiquaries.

shaftment2 ('Jaiftmsnt,

-ae-). rare. [f. shaft sb.2 + -ment. (Perh. suggested by misunder¬ standing of prec.)] fa. An arrow. Obs. b. The feathered part of an arrow. 1634 Wood New Eng. Prosp. 11. xiii, Let fly their winged shaftments without eyther feare or wit. 1801 T. Roberts Engl. Bowman 293 Shaftment, that part of the arrow occupied by the feathers. 1903 Amer. Anthropologist Jan.-Mar. 60 (Cent. Suppl.) The dice were originally made of canes, being the shaftments of arrows, painted or burned with marks corresponding with those used to designate the arrows of the four world-quarters.

shaftsman ('Jaiftsmsn, -ae-). Mining, [f. shaft sb.3 + man sb.1 after craftsman, etc. Cf. shaftman, shaft sb.3 4 b.] A man employed in sinking shafts. 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 84 Coal Miner.. Shaftsman. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 Mar. 7/3 Walking from eight to ten miles a day before and after his underground work (much of it as a shaftsman).

shafty ('Jaifti,

-ae-), a. [f. shaft sb2 (sense 9) + Of wool: ‘having a close, compact, free, long, and strong staple’ (Webster 1911). -Y.]

1872 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 297 Aggregate of shafting over 5,000 feet. 1877 Ibid. 273 About 1,000 feet of shafting and drifting well represent the amount of work done.

1891 Times 3 Oct. 13/1 Good shafty wools, both merinos and cross-breds. 1895 Argus (Melbourne) 4 Oct., At the London wool sales yesterday.. deep shafty and scoured merinoes sold at 20 per cent, [above previous prices]. 1911 A. F. Barker in Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 806/2 A long but fine wool technically termed a long and shafty 6o’s to 64’s quality.

shaftless

shag (Jaeg), sb.1 Forms: i sceacga, 6-7 shage, 7

'shafting2,

[f. shaft sb.3 + -ing1.] The sinking of a shaft; also, the shafts of a mine collectively.

('Jaiftlis, -ae-), a.

[f. shaft sb.2

+

-less.] Without or lacking a shaft (in any sense

of the sb.). 1811 Byron Curse of Min. vii, The broken lance Seem’d weak and shaftless. 1812- Ch. Har. 11. xc, The flying Mede, his shaftless broken bow. 1881 Palgrave Vis. Eng. 116 One high gracious curve Of shaftless windows frames the limpid blue. 1881 Mayne Reid Free Lances I. xvii. 189 His irony was shaftless, being understood. 1895 Daily News 21 Sept. 5/5 The doctors went to look for the Lefebvre light carts but found them shaftless.

'shaftlet. nonce-wd. [f. shaft sb.2 + -let.] A small shaft or column. 1890 Murray’s Handbk. Lincolnsh. 148 The font is E.E., with two crosses on each face, and shaftlets round the stem.

f

'shaftling. Obs. [Perh. f.

shaft sb.2

+

-ling,

with allusion to the shape. Cf. shafflin.] The stickleback. 1558 Gesner’s Hist. Anim. IV. 896 De Pungitio... Angli Scharplyng uel Shaftlyng nominant. 1572 Huloet (ed. Higins), Shaftling, sharplinge, stickling, sticklebanke, or banstickle, aculeatus piscicutus, Pungitius, Centriscus. 1598 Florio, Spinaruolo, a sharpling, or shaftlin fish [1611 shaftin-fish].

'shaftment1. Obs. exc. dial. Forms: i sceaftmund, 4 schaftmonde, 5 schafftmon, schaftemonde, schaft-mun, shaftmone, -mon(d, -mount, chaftmonde, 5-6 shafmond, 6 shaft-man, shaftemente, (shafts-man Florio), 7 shaftmont, -men, -met, shafman, (corruptly shafnet), 7, 9 shafment, 9 shaffment, 6-9 shaftment (see also Eng. Dial. Diet.)-, 8-9 Sc. shathmont. [OE. sceaftmund (only once), f. sceaft shaft sb.2 + mund hand, handbreadth. (Probably sceaft was intended to denote the extended thumb.)] The distance from the end of the extended thumb to the opposite side of the hand, used as a measure = about 6 inches. c 910-f 1060 Pax in Liebermann Gesetze Ags. 390 Dus feor sceal beon Saes cinges grifi fram his burhjeate,.. III.

shagge, 7-9 shagg, 7- shag. [OE. sceacga wk. masc.:—prehistoric *skaggon-, cogn. w. ON. skegg neut., beard (:-*skagjo-m), OE. sceaga wk. masc., coppice, shaw (formally = ON. skage wk. masc., promontory:—*skagon-), ON. skaga to project; the ON. skog-r, a wood, shows a different ablaut-grade of the root. Cf. OHG. scahho wk. masc., promontory (:—*skakon-), which may be more distantly related. The OE. word occurs once (in a gloss), and the derivative sceacgede shagged a.' twice. Otherwise neither the sb. nor any of its derivatives has been found before the latter part of the 16th c.]

1. a. Rough matted hair, wool, etc. arch.

rare or

c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wulcker 379/41 Coma, feax, sceacga. 1601 Holland Pliny viii. xxxiii. I. 214 Of the same kind is the Goat hart, and differing onely in the beard and long shag about the shoulders. 1697 Phil. Trans XIX. 410 Many Prickles interspersed among the Hairy Shag that covered the sides. 01732 Gay Fables 11. v. 69 A Bear of shagg and manners rough, At climbing trees expert enough. 1771 tr. Pernety’s Voy. Malouine Isl. (1773) 289 They have a sort of buskins or half-boots, made of the same skins, with the shag on the inside. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. v. vii. (1820) 343 A rugged mop of hair, not a little resembling the shag of a Newfoundland dog. 1869 Bushnell Woman Suffrage iii. 50 The base in his voice and the shag on his face. 1898 C. F. Lummis Awak. Nation 104 It is a purely leonine type—not by bulk or shag, but by look and port.

b. A mass of matted hair; also shreds (of bark). 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 626 For what [wool] which was rough and thicke in ancient time, was vsed for this purpose, and also to make garments, hauing the shags thereof hanging by it like rugs. 1610 Guillim Her. ill. xv. (1660) 180 The King of Judah was then like a Sleeping Lyon, which did not shew his rage with his erected shag. 1882 Harper's Mag. May 870/1 Nuts which have been packed away and wedged beneath the loose shags of bark.

c. The nap (esp. long and coarse) of cloth. 01661 Holyday Juvenal 11. Notes (1673) 25 Then their Galbana rasa, white smooth sarcenet without hair or shag;.. of this our Women now wear hoods. 1716 Gay Trivia 1. 47 Fine Witney Broad-Cloath with it’s Shag unshorn. 1844 G.

SHAG

SHAG

137

Textile Matiuf. vi. 201 The face [of velvet] has a short shag, or ‘pile’, occasioned by the insertion of short pieces of silk thread doubled under the shoot. 1851-3 Tomlinson's Cycl. Usef. Arts (1867) 11. 329/1 Plush, a textile fabric, with a sort of velvet nap or shag on one side.

rough horse. Ibid. 736. 1780 A. Young Tour Irel. 1. 278 Bandon was once the seat of the stuff, camblet, and ‘shag manufacture. 1794 R. Davis Agric. Oxford 26 The ’shag manufactory at Banbury. 01776 J. Ellis Zoophytes (1786) 185 Spongia muricata. ‘Shagg Sponge.

d. transf. Applied to thick down on plants.

b. passing into adj., composed or made of ‘shag’ (sense 2).

Dodd

*773 Phil. Trans. LXI1I. 365 The shag [Fr. la pluche], or inner part of these flowers. 1854 Pappe Silva Capensis (1862) 18 Twigs, petioles, calyces and underside of leaves densely coated with brown shag. Ibid. 19 Petioles and veins clothed with a dense rusty shag.

e. A (tangled) mass of shrubs, trees, foliage, etc. 1836 Struthers Dychmont i. Poet. Wks. (1850) II. 50 Were thy broomy shag but shorn, Thou might’st be made to wave with corn. 1855 Browning Up at Villa iii, Stuck like the horn of a bull Just on a mountain’s edge as bare as the creature’s skull, Save a mere shag of a bush with hardly a leaf to pull! 1877 Blackmore Erema Hi. III. 190 Dark shags of ling, and podded spurs of broom. 1905 Mary E. Wilkins Debtor 60 He could see the gleam of the current through the shag of young trees which found root in the unpromising soil. Ibid. 396 Only the oak-leaves, a brownish-red shag mostly on the lower branches, were left on the trees.

f. fig. Roughness, brutality of manner. 1784 Cowper Task v. 693 As if, like him of fabulous renown [i.e. Orpheus], They had indeed ability to smooth The shag of savage nature. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias vm. xiii. (Rtldg.) 308 This metamorphose into the shag of a savage is not perceptible to myself.

2. A cloth having a velvet nap on one side, usually of worsted, but sometimes of silk. Also, a kind or variety of this. 1592 Wills Inv. N.C. (Surtees i860) II. 211 Three quarters of blacke shage, 12s. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. ii. III. Colonies 71 Chiorze, where Buis as big As Elephants are clad in silken shag. 1612 [F. Beaumont] Masque Inner Temple D 1 b, The high Priest a cap of white silke shagge close to his head, with two labels at the eares [etc.]. 1623 Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) II. 86,1.. gaue him ordre to bring for me.. crymson shagg and Spangled Lace for winter Clothes for my Children. 1769 De Foe, etc. Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 7) III. 280 The Woollen Manufacture called Half¬ thicks, Frizes, and Shags. ? 1725 Sadberge (Durham) Par. Reg., A .. cushion of red shagg. 1781 Phil. Trans. LXXI. 72 The Indians make a most elegant cloathing.. as fine as a silk shag. 1805 Luccock Nat. Wool 277 The blanket manufacture at Witney, and that of worsted shaggs at Banbury. 1825 Scott Talism. xvii, A cap of rough shag. 1855 Leifchild Cornwall 179 Engine Shag and Poldavey 1,119 yards. 1887 Fortn. Rev. Aug. 294 The King, says Petion, wore a coat of dark shag, and his linen was not clean.

3. fa. A garment, rug, or mat of shaggy material. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 97 At the end sate the Potshaugh or great King.. his seat hauing two or three white silke shags vpon the Carpets. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. 1. 50 A [magnified] Sage Leaf looks like a white Rugge, or Shagge, full of Knots, tassel’d all with white silver Thrums. 1681 T. Jordan London s Joy 9 St. Patric. .a gray Mantle wdth a thick shag about his Neck of large green Silk and Gold fringes. 1738 [G. Smith] Cur. Relat. II. 361 Twelve Royal travelling Coaches..; one Set of Shags. 1827 Carlyle Germ. Rom. III. 229 The Regiments-Quartermaster.. embaled in a long woollen shag. 1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross xiv, His hunting clothes, consisting of a roomy scarlet coat,.. drab shags, and mahogany-coloured tops.

b. Westminster School slang. (See quot. 1902.) 1902 R. Airy Westminster 108 Any coat other than an ‘Eton’ or ‘tails’ is a ‘shag’.

c. ellipt. A shag carpet or rug; shag pile. See sense 6 c below. 1951 K. R. Gillespie Home Furnishings v. 164 A few cotton floor coverings woven on standard carpet backs have come into the market, in addition to the boucle weaves, shags, [etc.]. 1974 Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 18 Apr. (Sears Advts. Suppl.) 5 Nylon pile shag. Long shag that’s slow to show soil! 1976 H. Nielsen Brink of Murder xii. 108 The floor was carpeted with soft yellow shag.

4. (In full shag tobacco.) A strong tobacco cut into fine shreds. 1789 Act 2Q Geo. Ill, c. 68 § 127 Upon the exportation of any short cut tobacco, shag tobacco, roll tobacco, and carrot tobacco. 1823 in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. 527 Porter and pop, mirth-moving max, and fragrant shag. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story i, A constant and agreeable odour of shag tobacco. 1862 Cornh. Mag. VI. 607 One pipe., of Virginian tobacco in the shape of bird’s-eye or shag. 1876 J. Dunning Tobacco 17 ‘Shag’ is the generic name of all those varieties of leaf which have passed through the cutting machine.

f 5. ? Used for snag. [Cf. shagged a.' 2 c; but perh. a misprint.] 1649 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Wand. West 6 At a stile I had a great disaster, for a shagge or splinter of the stile tooke hold of my one and onely breeches.

6. attrib. and Comb. a. simple attrib., as shag edging, manufactory, manufacture; shag boy, dial. = shag foal (b); shag end N. Amer. colloq. — fag-end 2; shag foal, dial., (a) ‘a foal with its first year’s coat on’ (N.W. Line. Gloss. 1877), (b) a hobgoblin (see quots. 1847, 1856); fshag sponge, a ‘muricate’ sponge. 1882 M. G. Watkins In Country (1883) 210 Fairies and •shag-boys! lasses are often skeart at them, but I never saw none. 1884 G. S. Streatfeild Line. & Danes 357 Shag-boy also Shag-foal, a ghost. 1808 Trans. Soc. Arts XXVI. p. x, The ingenious Implement.. for cutting ‘Shag Edgings. 1972 J. Mosher Adultery iv. xxi. 176 It was the *shag end of winter and there were scarcely any victuals to be had. 1977 G. V. Higgins Dreamlandi. 13 The years that came between that night , and the shag end of 1971. 1847 Halliwell, mShag-foal, a sort of ghost or spectre, which under this appearance is thought by the common people to haunt different parts of the county. Line. 1856 P. Thompson Hist. Boston 722 Shag-foal, a hobgoblin in the shape of a small

1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl 11. i. D 1 b, I am going to buy a shag ruffe. 1621 in Kempe Losely MSS. (1836) 426 For 17 yards of fyne doble shagg bayes, for Gilbert’s murning cloake [etc.]. 1706 in C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet (1894) 493 Striped shag breeches, lined with linen. 1836 Marryat Japhel xxxix, He was dressed in highlow boots,.. a shag waistcoat, and a blue frock overall. 1911 B. Capes Loaves fsf Fishes 181 Wandering unsociable in a shag coat.

c. Of carpets, rugs, etc.: having a long, rough, pile. Also shag pile. Cf. shaggy a. 1 c. 1946 House Beautiful Oct. 199 (Advt.), Charm Tred Shag Cotton Rugs. 1947 Sun (Baltimore) 1 Dec. 13/4 (Advt.), Heavy Loop Pile Shag Rugs. 1969 D. E. Westlake Up your Banners! >97°) xlii. 309 The silence had the texture of a shag rug. 1974 Times 3 May 11/4 Kosset Panorama, the cheapest shag carpet I have seen. Ibid. 12 Aug. 22/8 (Advt.), Carpets .. Shag Piles and Berber Weaves.

shag (Jaeg), sb.2 Forms: 6

schagge, 7 shagge, 7-9 [Perh. a use of shag sbf or SHAG a., with reference to the ‘shaggy’ crest.] a. A cormorant, esp. the crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax graculus, which in the breeding season has a crest of long curly plumes. shagg, 7- shag.

Also with defining name, applied to several varieties of the cormorant, and sometimes erroneously to the common shag at different periods of its age, under the idea that it is a different variety. 1566 Act 8 Eliz. c. 15 §2 For euery head of..Busarde, Schagge, Carmeraunt, or Ryngtayle, two pence. 1602 Carew Cornwall 1. 35 Curlewes, Teale, Widgeon, Burranets, Shags, Duck and Mallard. ou suldes slen us alle. a 1425 Cursor M. 2986 (Trin.) pat pou shuldes not synne in me. c 1485 Mary Magd. 1163 in Digby Myst. 99 And pou xulddes ryde, Beowulf 2056 (Gr.) Jxme pe Su mid rihte raedan sceoldest. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137, All a daeis fare sculdest thu neure finden man in tune sittende. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 15 pat ilke uuel pe ic dude pe pu scoldest don me. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 170 As pou shuldist mete of a myst. c 1400 Pilg. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxiv. 70 Yf thou haddest .. entended to this scole duely as thou sholdest. 1445 tr. Claudian in Anglia XXVIII. 259 That to trespassours thou sholdist pardon.. graunte. 1573 J. Sanford Hours Recr. (1576) 109 That thou shuldest buye that which thou must occupie. 1582 Bentley Mon. Matrones ii. 198 Speciallie that thou shouldest not despaire. 1667 in Extr. St. Papers

rel. Friends Ser. iii. (1912) 263 Thou shouldest take parte with the opressed. 1820 Scott Monast. xx, Shouldst thou point out to me .. an enemy more worthy of my resentment. 1862 Calverley Verses & Transl. (1894) 97 He shall teach thee that thou shouldest not dream.

fi. contracted. 3 s(s)ost, 4 s(c)host, schust, 4-5 shust. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8974 Ich clupede pe ek up pat pou it ssost ise [t>. rr. (14th c.) shost, schost, scholdest, schuldest]. C1300 Harrow. Hell (A.) 195 Lord crist,.. J>ou schust com to helle pine. 13 .. Medit. 714 pou shust pray for hem pat py foos be. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 6824 Rather than thow shust forsake Thy skryppe.

y. 4-5 shuld(e, 4-6 suld(e, 6 should. a 1300 Cursor M. 12088 Til oper thues pou suld him won. C1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B) 244 How pou shulde praye, I wold pou wyst. 1411 26 Pol. Poems 46/207 For pou shuld 3eue, god dede pe sende. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xc. 28 Thow sulde it tell with all the circumstance.

9. a. With pronouns affixed: 1st pers. sing. 3 schuldich. 2nd pers. sing. 4 shuldestou, 5 schuldestow. a 1300 Vox & Wolf 163 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 63 What shuldich ine the worlde go? 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xi. 97 fringe that al pe worlde wote wherfore shuldestow spare To reden it? c 1450 Cursor M. 9611 (Trin.) J>enne shuldestou be douted nou3t.

b. With not (Sc. and dial, na) affixed. C1420 Chron. Vilod. 2147 How.. Sathanas Dude hurre pere lette wr alle his my3t, pat he shulnot haue come to pat ioyfulle place. 01796 Burns ‘Dear-, Til gie ye some advice’, You shouldna paint at angels mair. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxv, Perhaps I was a fool, Becky, but you should’nt say so. 1859 Geo. Eliot Adam Bede xxxii, I shouldna wonder if he’s come about that man [etc.].

B. Signification and uses. + 1. 1. trans. a. To owe (money). Obs. C97S Rushw. Gosp. Matt, xviii. 28 Sepe sculde him undred denera. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xvi. 5 Hu mycel scealt pu minum hlaforde? 1:1290 Beket 820 in S. Eng. Leg. 130 parof pritti pousent pound pov me schalt. 1340 Ayenb. 115 Ich ne habbe huer-01 maki pe yeldinge: uoryef me pet ich pe ssel. Ibid. 145 frise dette ssel ech to opren and huo mest his yelt mest he ssel. 01400 New Test. (Paues) Rom. xiii. 7 3elde 3e to alle men 30ure dettes: to hym pat 3e schulep trybut, trybut. C1425 Hoccleve Min. Poems xxiii. 695 The leeste ferthyng pat y men shal.

fb. To owe (allegiance). Obs. c 1325 Poem temp. Edw. II (Percy Soc.) xxxiv, Be the fayth ic schal to God. C1374 Chaucer Troilus iii. 1649 And by that feyth I shal to god and yow. [c 1530 Crt. of Love 131 By the feith I shall to god.]

II. Followed by an infinitive (without to). Except for a few instances of shall will, shall may (mowe), shall conne in the 15th c., the infinitive after shall is always either that of a principal verb or of have or be.

* The present tense shall. f2. In general statements of what is right or becoming: = ‘ought’. Obs. (Superseded by the pa. subjunctive should: see sense 18.) In OE. the subjunctive present sometimes occurs in this use (e.g. c 888 in A. 4). Beowulf 20 (Gr.) Swa sceal geong guma gode sewyreean ..paet [etc.]. C700 C^dmon Hymn 1 Nu scylun herjan hefaenricaes uard. c888 /Elfred Boeth. xli. §3 Hwy sceall ponne aenig mon bion idel, paet he ne wyree? a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 259 Se scadwis gerefa sceal aegSaer witan ge hlafordes landriht ge folces gerihtu. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 19 Al pet pe licome luueS pet pa saule heteS.. Nu sculle we forlete pes licome lust for-pon. a 1225 Ancr. R. 96 Ancren schulen brihtluker, uor hore blindfallunge her, iseon ant understonden per Godes derne runes. CI300 Havelok 2419 Mine knihtes, hwat do ye? Shule ye pus-gate fro me fie? 1340 Ayenb. 5 J>e hestes ten pet loki ssolle alle men. Ibid. 136 Ase moche ase he ssel and may do wyp-oute misdo. 13.. Cursor M. 20538 (Gott.) Inogh pai did me vilete, J>at wid right min aune sul be. C1420 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 242 Alle cristen pepill glad xal bene pat crist is bope king and prest. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 29 Pekokys, and pertrikys perboylyd schyn be. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vii. (1885) 125 The kynge shall often tymes sende ..his juges, to..punysh riatours and risers. 1562 Legh Armory 149 Whether are Roundells of all suche coloures, as ye haue spoken of here before? or shall they be named Roundelles of those coloures?

f3. a. In OE. and occas. in ME. used to express necessity of various kinds (for the many shades of meaning in OE. see Bosworth-Toller): = ‘must’, ‘must needs’, ‘have to’, ‘am compelled to’, etc. c888 iTLFRED Boeth. xxxiv. §3 f?onne scealt pu nede gelefan paet sum anwald sie mara ponne his. C897 Gregory's Past. C. iii. 34 On 6aem geswincum he sceal hine selfne geSencean, Seah he nylle. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 308 We 6e ben fro heuene driuen, sulen Susse one in sorwe liuen. c 1275 Passion our Lord 159 in O.E. Misc. 41 If ich hine schal drynke iworpe pine wille. c 1350 Will. Palerne 5422, I wold it were pi wille wip vs forto lenge, hit forpinkes me sore pat we schul de-parte. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 369 Tweyne pat beep i-wedded a man and a womman schal nedes be outlawed out of pat contray. c 1440 York Myst. xvi. 18, I am fairer of face.. (pe soth yf I saie sail).. pan glorius guiles.

fb. In stating a necessary condition: = ‘will have to’, ‘must’ (if something else is to happen). a 1000 Boeth. Metr. v. 26 5if pu nu wilnast.. paet soSe leoht sweotole onenawan .. pu forlaetan scealt idle ofersaelfta. 1596 Shaks. Merch. V. 1. i. 116 You shall seeke all day ere you finde them, & when you haue them they are not worth the search. 1605-Lear v. iii. 22 He that parts vs, shall bring a Brand from Heauen. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xviii, He shall hide himself in a bean-hole, if he remains on Scottish ground without my finding him.

f c. In hypothetical clause, accompanying the statement of a necessary condition: = ‘is to’.

SHALL C1440 Alphabet of Tales lxv. 48 Right so muste hym chastes his flessh with fastyng if he sal be savid. 1612 Bacon Ess., Greatn. Kingd. (Arb.) 482 Neither must they be too much broken of it, if they shall be preserued in vigor.

f4. Indicating what is appointed or settled to take place = the mod. ‘is to’, ‘am to’, etc. Obs. c 1000 i^LFRic Gram. xxiv. (Z.) 136 Lecturus sum eras, ic sceal r£edan to merijen, lecturus es, pu scealt redan, lecturus est, he sceal raedan. Ibid. xli. 248 Osculandus, se 8e sceal beon jecyssed. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 565, Nu sceal beon aefre on Ii abbod naes bisceop, & pam sculon beon under pxdde ealle Scotta biscopes, c 1205 Lay. 5964 Belin .. hit [sc. Rome] bi-taecheS Brenne t?e scael bi-laeuen here. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 56 We ssullej? her after in £>ise boc telle of al pis wo. 1526 Tindale Luke vii. 19 Arte thou he that shall come .. ? 1600 Shaks. A. Y.L. 11. iv. 89 What is he that shall buy his flocke and pasture? 1625 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. III. 199 Tomorrow His Majesty will be present.. to begin the Parliament which is thought shall be removed to Oxford.

5. In commands or instructions, a. (a) In the second person, equivalent to an imperative. Chiefly in Biblical language, of Divine commandments, rendering the jussive future of the Heb. and Vulgate. (In OE. the imperative is used in the ten commandments.) a 1000 Andreas 950 (Gr.) Nu 8u, Andreas, scealt edre jeneSan in gramra gripe, ciooo Ags. Ps. (Th.) civ. 13 Ne sceolon ge mine pa halgan hrinan. 1340 Ayenb. 5 pe uerste heste pet god made.. is pis: )?ou ne sselt habbe uele godes. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xx. 7 Thow shalt not tak the name of the Lord thi God in veyn. [So Coverdale, etc.] 1405 Lay-Folks Mass Bk. 64 3e sal mak your prayers specially.. for the state and the stabilnes of al halykirk. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 8 Thou sal haif na oder strenge godis. 1567 Gude Godlie Ball. 8 Thou sail not slay, in na kin wyse. 1604 Bidding Prayer (still in use), Ye shall pray for Christ’s Holy Catholic Church. t(6) In expositions: you shall understand,

etc. (that). Obs. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 5 Nu ic eou habbe pet godspel iseid anfaldeliche, nu scule 3e understonden twafaldeliche )?et hit bi-tacnet. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 10663 A Frysoun 3e shul vndyrstande To a marchaunde of Fryslande. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) vii. 73 3ee schulle undirstonde, that it stont fulle faire betwene Hilles. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. cxxviii, Thou sail wele knawe and witt, Thou may thy hert[e] ground on suich a wise [etc.]. 1523 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 313 Ye shall also understond the Duke of Suthffolke.. goyth ouer in all goodlye hast [whit]her I know not.

f (c) In the formula you shall excuse (pardon) me. Obs. (now must). 1595 Shaks. John v. ii. 78 Your Grace shall pardon me, I will not backe. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. Commw. 191 You shall excuse me, for I eat no flesh on Fridayes.

b. In the third person. 0900 Durham Admon. in O.E. Texts 176 [Dis mon] seal reda ofer 8a feta 6a ful infalle6. a 1225 Ancr. R. 24 penne schal siggen, hwo se con, ‘Domine labia mea aperies’, a 1325 MS. Rawl. B 520 If. 32 b, 3if pe lord ne mai no3t suffisen to uellen pe vnder wode, pe contreie him sal helpe. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 794 Ech of yow, to shorte with your weye, In this viage, shal telle tales tweye. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 206 The said Abbesse and her successours whan they ben resonably somoned shul send thedir their certayn steward. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 246 b, It shall be free for every man to joyne hym selfe unto thys league. 1623-4 Act 21 Jas. I, c. 28 §7 No Sanctuarie.. shalbe hereafter admitted. 1645 Ordin. Lords Comm. 5 Scandalous persons shal be kept from the Sacrament. 1744 in Atkyns Chanc. Cases (1782) III. 166 The words shall and may in general acts of parliament, or in private constitutions, are to be construed imperatively, they must remove them. 6. In the second and third persons, expressing

the speaker’s determination to bring about (or, with negative, to prevent) some action, event, or state of things in the future, or (occasionally) to refrain from hindering what is otherwise certain to take place, or is intended by another person. a. In the second person. a 1000 Caedmon's Gen. 909 (Gr.) pu scealt greot etan pine lifdagas. 01175 Cott. Horn. 221 3if pu panne pis litle bebod to brecst, pu scealt dea6e sweltan. CI205 Lay. 26587 Abuggen 3e scullen pa dede. c 1275 Sinners Beware 316 in O.E. Misc. 82 To day ye schulej?.. vnder-fo lu)?re mede. C1350 Will. Palerne 2257 pe soJ?e, felawes, ful sone 3e schol it wite. 1447 Bokenham Seyntys, Cecilia 591 Ye shul hens pace, Or ellys, certeynly, ye shule deye. 1470-85 Malory Arthur vii. xviii. 240 And syker assuraunce and borowes ye shal haue. a 1596 Sir T. More 1. i, Followe me no further; I say thou shalt not haue them. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. vi. lxxvii, To morrow shall ye feast in pastures new. 1777 Sheridan Trip Scarb. v. ii. ad fin., Well, ’fore George, you shan’t say I do things by halves. 1777-Sch. Scandal II. ii, Positively you shall not be so severe. 1833 Tennyson Death of Old Year, Old year, you must not go;.. Old year, you shall not go. 1891 ‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley xi, If you would rather not stay then, you shall go down to South Kensington Square then.

b. In third person. ciooo ./Elfric Gen. xviii. 10 pin wif Sarra sceal habban sunu. 1310 St. Brendan (Balz) 603 We wolle)? ous wel awreke, up him sulve it schal go. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 167 By goddes herte he sal nat scape us bathe. C1422 Hoccleve Jereslaus's Wife 37 With goddes grace my comynge ageyn Shal nat be longe. 1591 Shaks. Two Gent. v. iv. 129 Verona shall not hold thee. 1604-Oth. v. ii. 334 If there be any cunning Crueltie, That can torment him much,.. It shall be his. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scandal 1. ii, Though your ill-conduct may disturb my peace of mind, it shall never break my heart, I promise you. 1840 Thackeray Barber Cox Feb., Others, whose names may be found in the Blue Book, but shan’t, out of modesty, be mentioned here. 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 174 The occasion of mentioning this gentleman’s name shall be taken as an opportunity of describing his .. form of the constant battery. 1891 ‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley xiv, ‘Oh, yes, sir, she shall come back,’ said the nurse. ‘I’ll take care of that.’ ‘I will come back,’ said Vere.

152

7. In special interrogative uses related to senses 5 and 6. a. In the first person, used in questions to which the expected answer is a command, direction, or counsel, or a resolve on the speaker’s own part. (a) in questions introduced by an interrogative pronoun (in oblique case), adverb, or adverbial phrase. C900 tr. Baeda's Hist. iv. xxv, Cwae6 he: Hwst sceal ic singan? Cwae6he: Sing me frumsceaft. 971 Blickl. Horn. 169 Hwaet sceal ic 8onne ma seegean fram Sancte Iohanne.. buton p?et [etc.]. C1200 Ormin 9289 Whatt shule we nu forr)?warrd don? 11250 Gen. & Ex. 3358 ‘Louered’, quad he, ‘quat sal ic don? He sulen me werpen stones on’, a 1300 Cursor M. 11205 Quat schal [Trin., Laud, shulde] i tell yow, less or mare, Bot ihesu crist hir barn sco bar? c 1449 Pecock Repr. hi. xi. 342 Frowhens schule we trowe this came, that so manye.. false Apostlis.. weren in the chirche. c 1450 Holland Howlat 69 Quhom sail I blame in this breth, a bysyn that I be? 1513 Douglas JEneis 1. vi. 38 Bot, O thou virgine, quham sail I call the? 1600 Fairfax Tasso vm. lxix, What shall we doe? shall we be gouern’d still, By this false hand? 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster 1. i, How shall we devise To hold intelligence? 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxii, ‘It’s rather slow work’, said he, ‘down here; what shall we do?’ 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxxiii, Where shall we stow the mare?

(b) in categorical questions. Often expressing indignant reprobation of a suggested course of action, the implication being that only a negative (or, with negative question an affirmative) answer is conceivable. 1600 [see (a)]. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. v. iii. 83 Shall I draw the Curtaine? 1622 Wither Philarete (1633) 17 Shall I wasting in Dispaire, Dye because a Womans faire? ? a 1700 D’Urfey Pills (1719) V. 113 Shall you and I Lady, Among the Grass lye down a. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scandal 11. iii, What! shall I forget.. when I was at his years myself? 1802 Wordsw. To the Cuckoo i, O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice? 1865 Swinburne Chastelard 1. i. 22, I am bound to France; Shall I take word from you to any one? 1891 ‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley xiii, ‘Are you driving, or shall I call you a cab?’ ‘Oh, no; I’m driving, thanks’.

U (c) In ironical affirmative in exclamatory sentence, equivalent to the above interrogative use. (Cf. Ger. soli.) rare. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1742) III. 89 A pretty thing truly! Here I, a poor helpless Girl, raised from Poverty and Distress,. .shall put on Lady-airs to a Gentlewoman born.

f (d) to stand shall I, shall / (later shill I, shall /: see shilly-shally), to be at shall I, shall I (not): to be vacillating, to shilly-shally. Obs. 1674 R. Godfrey Inj. & Ab. Physic 85 Such Medicines.. that will not stand shall I? shall I? but will fall to work on the Disease presently. C1689 Popish Pol. Unmaskt 34 in Third Coll. Poems (1689) 23 Who follows him that standeth, shall I, shall I? 1727 Boyer Diet. Royal II. s.v., To be at shall-I shall-I, (to be at a stand, or in suspence).

b. Similarly in the third person, where the subject represents or includes the speaker, or when the speaker is placing himself at another’s point of view. 1610 Shaks. Temp. v. i. 22 Hast thou (which art but aire) a touch, a feeling Of their afflictions, and shall not my selfe, One of their kinde,.. be kindlier mou’d then thou art? 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xxx. 6 O where now shall a man trust?

c. In the second and third person, where the expected answer is a decision on the part of the speaker or of some person other than the subject. As in sense a, the question often serves as an impassioned repudiation of a suggestion that something shall be permitted. c 1205 Lay. i 353 i Wha seal an hirede beon ure lauerd Nu Vortiger is iuaren? 13.. in Ayenb. (1866) Descr. MS., pe kyng Alesandre acsede hwan ssal pat be. 1382 Wyclif Ps. xii. 3 Hou longe shall ben enhauncid myn enemy vp on me? C1450 Merlin i. 14 ‘What shalbe his name?’ ‘I will’, quod she, ‘that it haue name after my fader.’ C1590 Montgomerie Sonn. liv. 2 Vhase praise, Apollo, sal my pen proclame? 1600 Shaks. A. Y.L. iv. ii. 11 What shall he haue that.kild the Deare? 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. 1. i. 97 And say, to which shall our applause belong, This new Court jargon, or the good old song: 1812 Crabbe Tales xviii, Shall a wife complain? 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lvi. 8 And he, shall he, Man,.. Be blown about the desert dust, Or seal’d within the iron hills?

d. In indirect question. In quot. 1470-85 irregularly in pres, tense when the principal clause is in pa. t. c 888 Alfred Boeth. v. §3 pset ic J?onan ongietan msege hwonon ic pin tilije scyle & hu. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. x. 19 Nalla5 je jeSence huu vel huaet ge spreca scilo [quomodo aut quid loquamini]. 01225 Leg. Kath. 638 Ne penche 3e neauer hwet ne hu 3e schulen seggen. C1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 147 pei stryuen not who schal be most meke. c 1400 Love Bonavent. Mirr. xiii. (Gibbs MS.) If. 32 He taught.. vs in what manere )?is vertue of mekenesse schal be goten. 1450 W. Lomner in Paston Lett. 5 May, The shreve of Kent .. sent his under shreve to the juges to wete what to doo, and also to the Kenge whatte shalbe doo. 1470-85 Malory Arthur 11. xiii. 91 On the morne they fond letters of gold wryten how syr Gaweyn shalle reuenge his faders deth. C1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon viii. 181 That ye counseille me how I shall maye avenge me. a 1500 Tretyce of Husb. in W. Henley, etc. (R. Hist. Soc. 1890) 41 The vj chapitur tellithe nowe howe you shall lay youre lande at seede tyme. 1610 Shaks. Temp. 1. ii. 495 Harke what thou else shalt do mee. 1756 Mrs. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitland Club) 185, I beg to know .. who I shall inform him inquired so kindly after him. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scandal iii. i, Let our future Contest be, who shall be most obliging. 1865 Kingsley Herew. x, Let her say what shall be done with it.

SHALL 8. As a mere auxiliary, forming (with present infinitive) the future, and (with perfect infinitive) the future perfect tense. In OE. the notion of the future tense was ordinarily expressed by the present tense. To prevent ambiguity, wile (will) was not unfrequently used as a future auxiliary, sometimes retaining no trace of its original sense. On the other hand, sceal (shall) even when rendering a Latin future, can hardly be said to have been ever a mere tense-sign in OE.; it always expressed something of its original notion of obligation or necessity. In ME. the present early ceased to be commonly employed in futural sense, and the future was expressed by either shall or will, the former being much more common. The usage as to the choice between the two auxiliaries has varied from time to time; since the middle of the 17th c. the general rule (subject to various exceptions) has been that mere futurity is expressed in the first person by shall, in the second and third by will. In indirectly reported speech, usage permits either the retention of the auxiliary used by the original speaker or the substitution of that which is appropriate to the point of view of the person reporting.

a. In OE. sceal, while retaining its primary sense, served as a tense-sign in announcing a future event as fated or divinely decreed. Hence shall has always been the auxiliary used, in all persons, for prophetic or oracular announcements of the future, and for solemn assertions of the certainty of a future event. a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1030 Sceal J?onne anra jehwylc fore Cristes cyme ewie arisan. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xiii. 5 Alle selic gie sciolon losija, omnes similiter peribitis. c 1200 Ormin 211 Fra )?iss da33 pu shallt ben dumb, c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4039 Of 8e sal risen sterre bri3t. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5133 Hii ssolle)? 3ut keuery moche lond pat hii abbe)? y lore. c 1400 Brut lxix. 64 3e shul bigete a dou3ter pat shal be quene of Irland. c 1475 Partenay 2168 Thy contre shalt se put in exile all, Distroed, robbed. 1546 Heywood Prov. (1867) 43 That shalbe, shalbe. 1577 in Allen Martyrdom Campion (1908) no The queene neither ever was, nor is, nor ever shall be the head of the Church of England. 1601 Shaks. Jul. C. iii. i. 262 Now do I Prophesie .. A Curse shall light vpon the limbes of men. 1653 W. Ramesey Astrol. Rest. 273 It signifies men shall be scoffers and jeerers one of another. 1746 Francis tr. Hor. Epist. 11. i. 26 No Prince so great, so wise, Hath ever risen, or shall ever rise. 1852 Tennyson Ode Death Wellington 191 Whatever record leap to light He never shall be shamed. 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. 181 A General Council, truly such, never did, never shall err in a matter of faith. 1891 F. Thompson Sister-Songs (1895) 46 So it may be, so it shall be,—Oh, take the prophecy from me!

b. In the first person, shall has, from the early ME. period, been the normal auxiliary for expressing mere futurity, without any adventitious notion, (a) Of events conceived as independent of the speaker’s volition. (To use will in these cases is now a mark of Scottish, Irish, provincial, or extra-British idiom.) C1200 Ormin Ded. 143, I shall hafenn forr min swinne God laen .. 3iff patt I.. Hemm hafe itt inntill Ennglissh wennd. c 1205 Lay. 8371 Nu we sulle8 for heore beone bli5e iwur8en. C1300 K. Horn 1406 (Laud MS.) J?is lond we schollen winne And sle al pat pere ben inne. 1470-85 Malory Arthur 1. xx. 67, I shalle dye a shameful deth. 1595 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 357 My frend, yow and I shall play no more at Tables now. 1605 Shaks. Macb. 1. i. 1 When shall we three meet againe? 1613-Hen. VIII, 1. iv. 44 Then wee shall haue ’em, Talke vs to silence. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 737, I.. shall soon .. rid heav’n of these rebell’d. 1777 Sheridan Trip Scarb. 11. i, So—carry him off!.. We shall have him into a fever by-and-by. 1781 Johnson in Boswell (1904) II. 402 You cannot suppose that we shall rise with a diseased body. 1806 Wordsw. Addr. to a Child 39 He may work his own will, and what shall we care? 1822 Shelley Chas. I, i. 40 My travel’s done, —Before the whirlwind wakes I shall have found My inn of lasting rest. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xvii, ‘But what if you don’t hit?’ ‘I shall hit’, said George coolly. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola vi, Our personal characters will be attacked, we shall be impeached with foul actions.

(b) Of voluntary action or its intended result. Here I (we) shall is always admissible exc. where the notion of a present (as distinguished from a previous) decision or consent is to be expressed (in which case will must be used). Further, I shall often expresses a determination insisted on in spite of opposition, and I shall not (colloq. I shan't) a peremptory refusal. In the 16th c. and earlier, I shall often occurs where I will would now be used. C1200 Ormin i 1557 Icc shall beon 333 occ 333 wit?)? 3uw Whil patt tiss weorelld lasste)?)?. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 396 We schulen bringen to ende pat we bigunnen habbe6. a 1300 K. Horn 833 Ischal.. Wi)? mi swerd wel e)?e Bringe hem pie to de)?e. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 621 Cherl! go oway, 0)?er y schal pe smite. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xx. 19 Spek thow to vs, and we shulen here, a 1400 Sir Perc. 1466 A schafte salle I one hym sett, And I salle fonde firste to hitt. 1559 W. Cunningham Cosmogr. Glasse 91 This now shall I alway kepe surely in memorye. 1601 Shaks. All's Well v. iii. 27 Informe him So ’tis our will he should. —I shall my liege. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 91, I shall begin my Discourse of this Russelet-pear by telling you [etc.]. 1779 Mirror No. 25, I.. shall let my wife and daughters know, that I will be master of my own house. 1819 Shelley Cenci v. iii. 86 Say what ye will. I shall deny no more. 1833 [see sham v. 5]. 1885 Ruskin On Old Road II. 57 note, Henceforward.. I shall continue to spell ‘Ryme’ without our wrongly added h.

c. In the second person, shall as a mere future auxiliary appears never to have been usual in affirmative or negative senses (exc. in the uses treated under 9 b and 11); but in categorical questions it is normal: e.g. ‘Shall you miss your train? I am afraid you will.’

SHALL d. In the third person. Obs. (superseded by will) exc. when another’s statement or expectation respecting himself is reported in the third person, e.g. ‘He says he shall not have time to write.’ (Even in this case will is still not uncommon, but in some contexts leads to ambiguity; it is therefore preferable to use he shall as the indirect rendering of I shall.) c 1200 Ormin Ded. 79 )>e33 shulenn ltetenn hae(>eli3 Off unnkerr swinnc. 01300 Thrush & Night. 128 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 55 Come thou heuere in here londe, Hy shulen don the in prisoun stronge. c 1475 Rauf Coil,ear 56 Traist quhen thow will. For I trow and it be nocht swa, sum part salbe thyne. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 19 Parauenture in aduersite my power shal lak. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ii. 64 Yf your fader come agayn from the courte, he shall wyll yelde you to the kynge Charlemayne. 1581 E. Campion in Conf. 11. (1584) Liv, It shalbe he reported that I sayd this and that, and my wordes shalbe depraued. c 1656 Roxb. Ball. (1891) VII. 492 ’Tis very like they shall be sent, soon after, to relieve you. 17.. Ramsay Some of the Contents ix, Montgomery’s quatorsimes sail evir pleis. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 361 The effect of the statute labour .. has always been, now is, and probably shall continue to be, less productive than it might. 1837 Macaulay Ess., Bacon (1843) II. 406 That method leads the clown to the conclusion that if he sows barley he shall not reap wheat. 1850-8 Mill 3 Ess., Util. Relig. (1874) 92 People do not , really believe that.. they shall be punished by God, any more than by man.

He. Down to the 18th c., shall, the auxiliary appropriate to the first person, was sometimes used when a person wrote of himself in the third person. Cf. the formula: ‘And your petitioner shall ever pray.’ 1531 in Sel. Cases Crt. Requests (1898) 33 And your seid Orator shall dayly pray to Ihesu for the preseruacion of your most ryall grace. 1642 Chas. Ts Wks. (1662) I. 203 (Though His Majesty shall be deeply.. sensible of their sufferings) He shall wash His hands.. from the least imputation of slackness. 1798 Kemble Let. in Pearson's Catal. (1900) 45 Mr. Kemble presents his respectful compliments to the Proprietors of the ‘Monthly Mirror’, and shall have great pleasure at being at all able to aid them.

ff. In negative (or virtually negative) and interrogative use, shall often = ‘will be able to’. Obs. a 1000 Guthlac 337 (Gr.) Hu sceal min cuman gaest to jeoce, nemne ic gode sylle hyrsumne hije? a 1375 Joseph Arim. 104 Let breken hem a-two and bren hem al to pouder, Schaltou neuer gete grace t>orw3 none suche goddes. C1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 318 Ye shul nat plese hir fully yeres three, This is to seyn, to doon hir ful plesaunce. 1565-6 Abp. Parker Corr. (Parker Soc.) 263 If I draw forward, and others draw backwards, what shall it avail? ci6oo Shaks. Sonn. lxv. How with this rage shall beautie hold a plea. 1652 Blith Eng. Improver Impr. 11. xxviii. (1653) 192 He shall never make a Plough to go with ease by his rules. 1773 [T. Day] Dying Negro 2 How shall I soothe thy grief, my destin’d bride!

g. Used (after a hypothetical clause or an imperative sentence) in statements of a result to be expected from some action or occurrence. Now (exc. in the first person) usually replaced by will; but shall survives in literary use. c 1205 Lay. 8018 3if pu ileuest selcne mon selde pu sselt wel don. 01225 Ancr. R. 406 Weop for his sunnen. J?us pu schalt, seifi Salomon, rukelen on his heaued bearninde gleden. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvm. xcii. (1495) 840 Yf that matter towchyth a mannys body the heere shal fall. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) xviii. 189 3if ony thing falle in to that Lake, it schalle nevere comen up a3en. c 1400 Love Bonavent. Mirr. xiii. (Gibbs MS.) If. 31 3yfe we woleth hier take good entent we schull mowe see pat [etc.]. 1534 Tindale 1 Cor. xiv. 9 When ye speake with tonges.. how shall it be vnderstonde what is spoken? For ye shall but speake in the ayer. 1594 Barnfield Affect. Sheph. (Arb.) 22 Who tutcheth pitch, with pitch shalbe defiled. 1605 Shaks. Lear 11. ii. 144 You shall.. show too bold malice Against the .. Person of my Master, Stocking his Messenger. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 118 If 1, I shall disoblige Multitudes of my Correspondents, if I do not take Notice of them. 1851 Dasent Jest & Earnest (1873) II. 140 Visit Rome and you shall find him [the Pope] mere carrion. 1865 Ruskin Sesame i. § 12 Make yourself noble, and you shall be. 1882 Harper's Mag. Dec. 24/2 Examine the book-shelves, and you shall find the novelist’s favorite authors.

h. In clause expressing the object of a promise, or of an expectation accompanied by hope or fear. Now only where shall is the ordinary future auxiliary; but down to the 19th c. shall was often preferred to will in the second and third persons. Cf. sense 11. 1475 J. Paston 22 Feb. in P. Lett., Iff the markett be nott goode yit, I hope it shall be better, c 1475 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 318 Ye schall swere that ye schall well and truelly byhaue you. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 111, I tak on me ane pair of Lowthiane hippis Sail fairar Inglis mak,.. Than thow can blabbar with thy Carrik lippis. 1538 Starkey England 1. i. 20 We are sure they schal bryng vs to our saluatyon. 1628 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. III. 266 He is confident that the blood of Christ shall wash away .. his .. sins. 1643 *n Mrs. A. Hope Franciscan Martyrs xiv. (ed. 3) 195, I hope nobody shall have any harme by anything I have saide, and for myself the worst they can doe to mee is the best and most desired. 1654 E. Nicholas in N. Papers (Camden) II. 142, I hope neither your Cosen Wat. Montagu nor.. Walsingham shall be permitted to discourse.. with .. the D. of Glocester. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xv. iii, I hope his visits shall not be intruded upon me. 1820 Southey Wesley (ed. 2) I. 70, I trust in God your labour shall not be in vain.

f i. In impersonal phrases, it shall be well, needful, etc. (to do so and so). Obs. (now will).

SHALL

153

I57I Digges Pantom. 1. xviii. F b, It shalbe needfull at the time of your measuring to haue ground at libertie on the one side. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. in. x. 90 It shall not be impertinent nor out of my purpose, if I do speak . .of the kitchin of the great Turke. 1602 Dekker Satirom. Ad Lect. A 4 b, It shall not be amisse (for him that will read) first to beholde this short Comedy of Errors. t j. shall be, added to a future date in clauses measuring time. Cf. was in be v. 20. Obs. 1617 Sir T. Wentworth in Fortescue Papers 25 To which purpose my late Lord Chancelour gave his direction about the 3. of Decembre shallbe-two-yeares. 9. In the idiomatic use of the future to denote what ordinarily or occasionally occurs under specified

conditions,

shall

was

formerly

the

usual auxiliary. In the second and third persons, this

is

now

somewhat

formal

or

rhetorical;

ordinary language substitutes will or may. Often in

antithetic

statements

adversative conjunction adversative force.

coupled or

by

by

and

an with

a. in the first person. 1712 Steele Sped. No. 326 ff 2 In spite of all my Care, I shall every now and then have a saucy Rascal ride by reconnoitring .. under my Windows. b. in the second person. c 1200 Ormin 423 Full cweme wserenn ba^e .. & tu shallt findenn swillke nu Bitwenenn uss well faewe. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 1. xx. 119 Thou schalt not fynde expresseli in Holi Scripture that the Newe Testament schulde be write in Englisch tunge to lay men. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 5 Sa plentifull is the ground, that mekle esier 3e sail expone quhat it no1 beiris, than quhat it beiris. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. Annot., You shall not finde one side in all the booke without some grosse errour or other. 1625 Bacon Ess., Atheism (Arb.) 333 You shall haue Atheists striue to get Disciples, as it fareth with other Sects. 1760 Impostors Detected 1. iv. I. 26 He was as handsome a man, as you shall see on a summer’s day. 1810 Crabbe Borough iii, A man so learn’d you shall but seldom see, Nor one so honour’d. 1852-4 Spencer Ess. (1858) 414 After knowing him for years, you shall suddenly discover that your friend’s nose is slightly awry. 1909 Sat. Rev. 29 May 692/1 You shall meet ten thousand men every day in the year between the Bank and the Mansion House.. who are as poor as Church mice. c. in the third person. ciooo Sax. Leechd. II. 236 Be psere frecnan coj?e pe se mon his utgang frnrh Sone mufi .. sceal aspiwan. He sceal oft bealcettan. 14.. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 271 Quan a chyld to scole xal set be, A bok hym is browt. a 1568 Ascham Scholem. 1. (Arb.) 39 If a father haue foure sonnes, three.. well formed .. the fourth .. deformed, his choice shalbe, to put the worst to learning. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. ii. iv. Columnes 234 Here-by the Printer, in one day shall rid More Books, then yerst a thousand Writers did. 1652 Feltham Low Countries 18 Your man shall be .. saucy, and you must not strike him. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 23 f 5 There is indeed something very.. inhuman in the ordinary Scriblers of Lampoons. An Innocent young Lady shall be exposed, for an unhappy Feature. 1793 W. Roberts LookerOn (1794) III. 179 One man shall approve, .the same thing that another man shall condemn. 1821 Lamb Elia 1. My Relations, He has some speculative notions against laughter, .. when peradventure the next moment his lungs shall crow like Chanticleer. 1870 M. Arnold St. Paul & Prot. 2 It may well happen that a man who lives and thrives under a monarchy shall yet theoretically disapprove the principle of monarchy. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 175 That which one shall hide away.. another shall make an offensive challenge to the self-satisfaction of all his hearers. . 10. In hypothetical, relative, and temporal clauses

denoting

a

future

contingency,

the

future auxiliary is shall for all persons alike. (Where

no

ambiguity

results,

however,

the

present tense is commonly used for the future, and the perfect for the future-perfect; the use of shall, when not required for clearness, is apt to sound pedantic.) fFormerly sometimes used to express the sense of a present subjunctive. a. In hypothetical clauses. (f shall I = ‘if I shall’, rare.) c 1250 Owl & Night. 1683 Schille [v.r. schulle] ich an utest uppen ow grede, ich shal swo stronge ferde lede, pat ower proude shal aualle. C1300 Havelok 1782 Shol ich casten pe dore open, Summe of you shal ich drepen! 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xxiii. 13 If he shul bigile the brother, the gilte of hym vpon hym shal be. C1400 Gamelyn 115 If I schal algate be beten anon, Cristes curs mot thou have but thou be that oon! 1588 [see c]. 1590 in C. S. Right Relig. Aijb, If your Worship shall read with patience and with great aduise see into the work. 1680 New Hampsh. Prov. Papers {1867) I. 388 If any Christian, .shall speak contempteously of the Holy Scriptures,.. such person .. shall be punished. 1885 Tennyson The Fleet 1 If you shall fail to understand, What England is.. On you will come the curse of all the land. b. In relative clauses (where the antecedent denotes

an

as

yet

undetermined

person

or

thing). c 1200 Ormin 1205 ForrJ?i sinndenn alle pa patt shulenn inntill helle Effnedd W\pp gaet. CI250 Gen. & Ex. 305 Alle 60, fie of hem sule cumen, sulen ermor in blisse wunen. 1382 Wyclif Luke x. 8 In to what euere citee 3e schulen entre, and thei schulen receyue 30U, ete 3e tho thingis that ben put to 30U. 1417-18 E.E. Wills (1882) 38 Eny goude pat schele be solde, yt ys my wyll pat Wyllyam Aluowe haue it. c 1450 Merlin 33, I go thider as thei shullen lede me. 1502 Bury Wills (Camden) 92, I will.. vj s. viij d. to be delte in bedred men .. ther where it xalbe moste nedefull. 1576 Aberdeen Reg. (1848) II. 26 To consent to sic uther thingis as selbe thocht expedient. 1665 in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. Var. Coll. IV. 244 Mr. Mayor is desired to.. pay the fees that shalbe due to the officers. 1718 Rowe Lucan iii. 171 With humble Votes obedient they agree, To what their mighty

Subject shall Decree. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xliii, I will lay all the spirits that shall attack me in the Red Sea. 1811 Southey Let. to G. C. Bedford 16 Feb. The minister who shall first become a believer in that book .. will obtain a higher reputation than ever statesman did before him. 1874 R. Congreve Ess. 417 We extend our sympathies .. to the unborn generations which.. shall follow us on this earth.

c. In temporal clauses. 1382 Wyclif j Cor. xi. 26 How ofte euere 3e schulen ete this breed,.. je schulen schewe the deeth of the Lord, til he come, c 1394 p pi- Crede 9 Whan y schal schewen myn schrift schent mote y worsen, c 1421 26 Pol. Poems 111 /117 Whenne j>ou al pe world shal deme, Dampne me no3t after my dede. 1480 Bury Wills (Camden) 67 And this to be doon as ofte as such case xall require. 1588 J. Udall Diotrephes (Arb.) 33 If this way shall be thought good, when there shalbe some aduice taken vpon it. 1655 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 313 When you shall licence mee, I shall bee free. 01763 W. King Pol. aet he sceolde J?et land ofer gan. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 13 Vre drihten cwefi to moyses pet he scolde wissien his folc. 11205 Lay. 2079 He hehte pat luue scolde lifien heom bi-tweonen. C1330 Arth. & Merl. 1937 A begger per com in..; pai seyd, he schuld nou3t haue, Bot strokes & bismare. 1340-70 Alex. Bind. 781 3e ben sopli pe same of wham pei so tolde, pat scholde lenge aftur lif in lastinge paine. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 57 The lawe of the Iewes was pen suche pat a woman pat was delyuerde of a man-chyld sculd be holden vnclene. 1470-85 Malory Arthur x. lvii. 511 Yet wold not sire Launcelot telle me certeynte of you where I shold fynde yow. 1535 Coverdale Dan. iii. 19 He charched and commaunded, that the ouen shulde be made seuen tymes hoter. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 74 His Pypers were ready too rounde him in the eare, what he should speake. 1611 Shaks. Cymb. in. iv. 129 ’Tis commanded I should do so. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, iv. 732 What shou’d He do, who twice had lost his Love? 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. (Globe) 249 He answer’d .. That he would make Conditions with them.. That they should be absolutely under my Leading. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 497 The husband and wife covenanted to levy a fine, which was thereby declared should be to the use of the cognizees and their heirs. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair vi, So long as his friend was enjoying himself, how should he be discontented? Ibid, xxi, Old Osborne thought she would be a great match, too, for his son. He should leave the army; he should go into Parliament. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 575 James was declared a mortal.. enemy... No treaty should be made with him. 1859 Geo. Eliot Adam Bede xxiv, After all, what had he done? Gone a little too far, perhaps,.. but.. no harm could come—no harm should come. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxv, Where were Sweyn and his Danes? Whither should they go till he came?

b. corresponding to shall in sense 8. Here should is the auxiliary of the ‘anterior future’ or ‘future in the past’ tense. With perf. inf. it forms the ‘anterior future perfect’ or ‘future perfect in the past’. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 19 Heo wisten.. pet he sculde cumen to pisse middeleard for ure neode. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 225 Wane he wolde iwite 3wat man pe child ssolde be pat he adde bi 3ete. C1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xliv. {Lucy) 109 Venand pat he suld at his weding pare-thru hafe doublyt al his thing. c 1450 Merlin i. 1 We ne trowed not that eny man myght be bore of woman, but that he sholde ben oures. 1470-85 Malory Arthur vii. xxxiii. 266, I made promyse vnto your lady that I shold yelde me vnto yow. 1568 Grafton Chron. 11. 694 He was sure that with the Erie of Warwike, he should haue no peace, a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (Sommer) 255 b, She tolde him, that he should doo well to do so. 1620 Westward for Smelts (Percy Soc.) 11 He feared he was, or should be a cuckold. 1700 Dryden Ovid's Met., Acis, etc. 39 The Prophet Telemus .. Foretold the Cyclops, that Ulysses hand In his broad eye shou’d thrust a flaming Brand, a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 199 The French did thus set on the war between the English and the Dutch, hoping that our Fleets should mutually weaken one another so much, that [etc.]. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 114 Sectarians.. would make a monopoly of the Saviour; they should shut him up into a conventicle. 1809 Syd. Smith Serm. II. 240 Joseph in the dungeon knew not that he should be the lord of Egypt. 1846 Mrs. Kirkland West. Clearings 129, I thought I never should have got out. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 279 He had expected that he should be able to push forward without a moment’s pause. 1893 ‘Sarah Grand’ Heav. Twins (1894) 134 They never doubted but that they should discover him hard at work.

c. in hypothetical, temporal, and final clauses, and relative clauses with hypothetical or final implication. (Cf. io.) Beowulf 965 (Gr.) Ic hine.. heardan clammum.. wrihan pohte, paet he .. scolde licgean lifbysig. c 1250 Gen. Ex. 175 He made on werlde al erue tame, Se sulde him her.. to fode, and srud. at scholde maistrus be maad ouur mene peple. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 14 The tresor of the benefice, Wherof the povere schulden clothe And ete and drinke. c 1400 Love Bonavent. Mirr. xiv. (Gibbs MS.) 34 Shewynge vs pe trewe wey wher by we schuld mowe come per to. 1510 Sel. Cases Star Chamb. (Selden Soc.) II. 73 They wer bound.. to reentre the seid prison when the seid Priour shulde commaunde them. 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 47 Wtheris thocht that.. he sould haue had sic men about him at his command as suld haue suppressed all oppressioun. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Udolpho xxv, Emily .. determined to attempt the outer door of the turret as soon as Barnardine should withdraw. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxvii, He .. resolved .. to retire .. until the tolling of the great castle-bell should announce the arrival of Elizabeth. 01859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiii. V. 31 Clancarty was pardoned on condition that he should leave the kingdom. 1902 J. K. Mann Hist. Popes I. 1. 35 They offered to submit their case to the emperor himself as soon as the Lombards should be overcome.

d. In noun-clause dependent on expressions of willing, desiring, commanding, requesting, etc. (in the pa. t.). Similarly (esp. with the verb

154 want) in the pres, tense (colloq., orig. and chiefly U.S. and in representations of Jewish speech). (Cf. 11 and 22 a.) a 1000 Guthlac 636 (Gr.) Wendun je & woldun.. paet ge scyppende sceoldan jelice wesan in wuldre. c 1000 /Elfric Horn. I. 310 God bebead Moyse,.. paet he and eall Israhela folc sceoldon offrian..an lamb anes jeares. eos, smyrenes pus beon to lore jedon? 01300 Cursor M. 461 Qui suld I him seruis yeild? c 1420 Avow. Arth. xxxiii, I conne notte say the ther-tille, Hit is atte the quene wille, Qwi schuld I layne? 1528 More Dyaloge 1. xxvii. (1529) Gvjb/2 Yf we fell at dyuers oppynions, why shuld thae tone parte more beleue the tother, than be beleuyd of the tother. 1583 Melbancke Philotimus H ij, Why then shouldest not thou aswell deceyue me as others? c 1600 Shaks. Sonn. li, From where thou art, why should I hast me thence. 1779 Mirror No. 21 They tell us, ‘that men have one common original, and why should relations quarrel?’ 1791 Cowper Let. to W. Bagot 5 Dec., Why should you suppose that I did not admire the poem you showed me? I did admire it. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. Introd. Addr. f 38 Why should not the same triumph be repeated now? 1890 ‘L. Falconer’ Mile. Ixe i, ‘I do hope she will not be dull’, said Evelyn... ‘Why should she be dull?’

b. In questions introduced by how, imply¬ ing that the speaker regards something as impossible or inadmissible. c 1200 Vices Virtues 65 Hu scolde godd, oSer ani of his hal3en,.. hauen rew6e .. of 8e, se6Sen 6u 5e seluen ne hafst nu hier none of 5e seluen? 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 732 How shulde y pan be meke to 30W? a 1375 Joseph Arim. 83 Hou scholde I gon with childe with-oute felau-schupe of mon? a 1400 Pistill of Susan 46 (MS. P.), pei wold enchaunte pat child; how shold she eschewe? 1500-20 Dunbar Poems lxxiv. 34 How sould ony gentill hart indure To se this sycht on ony creature! 01585 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 570 How suld it be said? 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia 11. x, How should you understand what is so little intelligible? 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xliv, If a tinge of the world’s pride.. may mix with an expression so lovely, how should we chide that which is of earth for bearing some colour of its original?

fc. In questions relating to meaning, cause, or reason, the form with should was formerly often substituted for an indicative tense. Obs. 1532 Hervet Xenoph. Househ. 9 What shulde be the cause of it, gentil Socrates, but that [etc.]. nne 6u forS scyle metodsceaft seon! c 1000 /Elfric Saints' Lives xxxiii. 86 Loca nu pin faeder sceal mid me to mynstre. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 811 Schome ow is to.. schunien pat schulen to. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7213 pe ssephurdes & pe ssep al so

shalloon

156 ssollep to pe pine of helle. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 75 Of pe devel pey come, and to pe devel pey schullep. c 1450 Capgrave Life St. Aug. xi, pe same man stand in study wheithir he schal to pe good wey or nowt. 1506 Kal. Sheph. (Sommer) 91 If thy boke be nat sure of rekenynge Thou shalt to hell. />/. a. [f. shark®.1 + -ing2.] 1. That ‘sharks’; fthat oppresses by extortion (obs.); that cheats, steals, cadges, or sponges. 1608 Day Hum. out of Br. iii. i, Lend me this iewell. Flo. Iewell? away you sharking companion. 1615 Brathwait Strappado 150 That.. Harbours the sharking Lawyer for his pence. 1692 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 157 This Hicks, .was a sharking and indigent Fellow. 1760 C. Johnston Chrysal 1. iv. I. 22 Making my fortune a prey to every sharking projector who flattered my vanity with promises of success. 1851 Borrow Lavengro lxvii, Some sharking priest who has come over to proselytise and plunder. 1856 Masson Ess. iii. 78 Nothing to be seen under the sun but hypocritical priests, sharking attorneys [etc.].

b. Of a condition, quality, or manner, etc. 1613 Jackson Creed 1. 160 Prassaging that rude and sharking life, whereunto this wilde slippes progenie was ordained. 1629 Maxwell tr. Herodian (1635) 373 The rocurator.. hath received his reward, being slaine by our ands, for his barbarous sharking Cruelty. 1676 South Serm. (i Cor. iii. 19) (1692) 433 We are degenerated into a mean, sharking, fallacious, undermining Way of Converse. a 1694 Tillotson Serm. xxxi. (1742) II. 364 Those miserable and sharking shifts which the foolish virgins were driven to, of begging or borrowing, or buying oil. 1705 Dunton Life & Errors (1818) I. vii. 289 They [Parents] should not put their Children on any sharking tricks to supply their wants. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. vi. ii. (1820) 360 His hair.. added not a little to his sharking demeanour.

f2. Behaving like a shark (the fish), nonce-use. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage ix. xv. (1614) 917 By their Dogges at Land they worried them: and in their Pearlefishing exposed them to the rauening Sharkes, themselues more dogged and sharking than the bruite creatures.

Hence f 'sharkingly adv. 1659 Torriano, Alla-scrocca, sharkingly, shiftingly. 1665 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 49 He .. looked sharkingly, having a reddish-blew nose and cheeks of the same colour. 1670 R. Coke Disc. Trade 67 From hence it is that the Trade of England is managed .. sharkingly by the Traders.

sharkish ('JaikiJ), a. rare. [f. shark sb.1 and 2 + -ish.] a. Of the nature of a ‘shark’ (sb.2) or cheat, b. Of the nature of, resembling, or characteristic of, a shark (sb.1). 1844 Blackw. Mag. LV. 682 Our Father.. got the better of Satan .. and pitched him head-foremost out of heaven .., and his whole sharkish band of retainers after him. 1880 Senior Trav. & Trout in Antipodes 70 A strong objection to showing mercy to anything of a sharkish nature.

sharklet (’Jaiklit). rare. [f. shark sb.1 + -let.] A young shark. 1898 in Daily News 2 Nov. 6/4 Some sharks are viviparous, bearing fifteen sharklets at once. 1904 F. T. Bullen Creatures of Sea x. 105 Next morning.. sees her lying quietly upon the waves.. surrounded by sixteen sharklets.

sharkling ('Jdiklii)). -ling1.] = prec.

rare.

[f. shark sb1

+

1900 F. T. Bullen Idylls of Sea 14 Fourteen sharklings were now restlessly darting in and out of their cosy cave at the far end of her capacious throat.

'sharkship. rare. [f. shark sb.1 and 2 -I- -ship.] (his) sharkship: a mock-title for a shark. 1791 A. Wilson Poet. Wks. (1876) II. 60 And ‘Rump the petticoats and spots’ His Sharkship roared wi’ Vigour. 1894 R. H. Savage Flying Halcyon ix. 141 We will bring a couple of rifles and shoot his sharkship.

sharky ('Jcuki), a. rare. Also sharkey. [f. shark sb.1 + -y.] Abounding in, infested with, or characterized by the presence of sharks. 1854 Badham Prose Halieut. 425 note, When they bathed in sharky localities. 1897 Mary Kingsley W. Africa 653 The way those Kruboys.. hauled their ‘Massa’ out from among the sharkey foam every time he went into it, on the lifeboat upsetting.

sharling, obs. form of shearling sb. +

-ER1.

Some early examples suggest the possibility of a confusion with Du. schaker robber.]

One who ‘sharks’ or lives by cheating and dishonesty; a cheat, thief, swindler. 1594 Nashe Terrors of Nt. Wks. 1904 I. 379 Next a companie of lusty sailers (euerie one a sharker or a swaggerer at the least). 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1127 His baggage .. was assailed and taken by the Haiducks and such other sharkers enured to prey. 1616 T. Scot Philomythie 1. (ed. 2) A 8, And. passing Smithfield.. The owle-eyd Sharkers spied him. 1631 R. H. Arraignm. Whole Creature xiii. § 1. 168 To kicke them, as we use to doe with discovered Cheators, and Sharkors, as meere deluders, and Impostors.

sharm, obs. form of charm sb.2 1674 Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 64 An harshness in these things not being so harmless as the cutting of Cork, whereby, though you saw and wring the ears with the sharm, yet still 'tis but a light business you have to deal with.

sharm, v. Obs. exc. dial. Also 9 shalm, shawm. [Cf. charm ®.2] intr. = chirm. Hence 'sharming vbl. sb. C1485 Digby Myst., Killing of Child. 142 Though thei sharme and crye, I care not a myght. 1823 Moor Suffolk Words 339 What a sharmin them there children dew keep. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia II. 295 Shalm, Sharm, Shawm, to scream shrilly and vociferously.

SHARMAN

Marches xviii. 207 Hout! you auld sharnie... Gae round to the byre and see till the kye.

sharn (Ja:n). dial, and Sc. Forms: i scearn, scern, 4 ssarn, scharne, 4-5 sheren, scheme, 5, 7 sharne, 6-7 shearne, 6-9 shorn, 7 sherne, shurn, 8 shern, 9 shearn, scharn, shurne, shairn, sharen, -an, -on, shairin, 6- sharn. [OE. scearn neut. corresp. to OFris. skern (mod.WFris. skern, NFris. sjaarn, sjuarn), MLG. scharn, ON. skarn (Sw., Da. skarn)'.—OTeut. *skarno-m, a pass, ppl. formation on the root *skerskar- to separate (cf. share sb., shear v.). Northern dialects have the form scam (a. ON. sAarti).]

Dung, esp. dung of cattle. r825 Vesp. Ps. lxxxii. 11 Forwurdun jewordne werun swe swe scearn eorSan. c 1000 ,'Ei.eric Gram. xiii. (Z.) 83 Fimus seem, c xooo Sax. Leechd. II. 92 Gose scearn. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxiv. (1495) 918 The Lapwynge layeth and syteeth on broode on dyrte sheren and vnclene thynges. a 1585 Montgomerie Flyting w. Polwart 406 They fand the shit all beshitten in his awne shearne.'1601 Holland Pliny xvii. x. I. 509 They should be well soked or infused in soft beast shearne or thin dung. Ibid. xvn. xiv. 518 Mixed togither with oxe or cow shearn. 1645 Shetl. Witch Trial in Hibbert Descr. Shetl. Isl. (1822) 595 Quhilk stinked and tasted of sharn a long tyme. 1688 Holme Armoury 11. 173/1 Shorn is the Dung of Oxen and Cows. 1728 Ramsay Daft Bargain zb Frae this tale, confed’rate states may learn To save their cow, and yet no eat her sharn. a 1774 D. Graham Hist. Reb. x. Writ. 1883 I. 171 A poor palace without a door, A bed of state, all wet with shern. 1811 Sir A. Boswell Poet. Wks. (1872) 150 Tho’ he’s coupit i' the shearn ’Troth I ken nought ill about him. 1824 Carlyle Early Lett. (1886) II. 286 Shouting, jostling, cursing in the midst of rain and shairn and braying discord. 1893 Crockett Stickit Minister 30 But oor minister.. hae garred anither thrawn stick o’ a farmer body lift his een abune the nowt an’ the shairn.

b. attrib. and Comb, as sham-smeared adj.; sharn-fly, a fly used by anglers as bait. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 115 The * Shorn-Fly. Comes on about the same time as the Canon-fly... They are generally found in mowing grass. 1867 F. Francis Angling vi. (1880) 230 Shorn Fly, Hazel Fly, Marlow,.. by all of which names this little beetle is known. 1550 Bale Image Both Ch. (1560) B j b. The execrable cytezens of Gomorra with their ‘shorne smered captaines wyll sturre about them.

f'sharnbud. Obs. Forms: 1 scearnbudda, 4 ssarnbodde, scharnebude, 4-5 scherne-bodde, 5 scharnebodde, 7 shorn-bud, 6-7 sharnbud. [OE. scearnbudda masc.; see sharn and budde beetle.] A dung-beetle. c IOOO .Ei.fkic Gloss. (Z.) 308 Scarabeus scemwibba I .MS. W scearnbudda], 1340 Ayenb. 61 bet byep pe ssarnboddes pet beulep pe floures and louiep pet dong. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 173 Lich to the Scharnebudes kinde. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. XII. iv. (Tollemache MS.), Scherne-boddes bep gendrid of careynes of horses, a 1440 Pallad. on Husb. IX. 60 Now shamebodde encumberith the bee; Pursue on hym that slayn anoon he be. [f 1475 Piet. Voc. in Wr.Wtilcker 767/28 Hie stabo, a scarbude.] 1596 Mascall Bk. Cattle 1. 57 A bettle fly, cald of some a shumbarb [rfc mispr.], which creepeth commonly on horse dung, or other dung. 1681 Chetham Angler’s Vade-m. iv. §25 (1689) 56 A young Beetle, or Sham-bud, which is found in a Cow-turd. 1688 Holme Armoury 11. 213/1 The Sweet Scented Beetle, or Shorn-Bud.

'sharn-bug. Obs. exc. dial. sharn + bug sb.] = prec.

Also shorn-,

[f.

1608 Topsell Serpents 180 The meat of Frogges..are greene Hearbes, and Humble-Bees, or shorne-bugs. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 46 Pilularius.. the Dung-Beetle, or Shurn-bugg. 1887 Kent Gloss., Shorn bug, sharn bug, the stag beetle.

f shara-penny. Obs. In 2 sor-peni, schar-, schornpenny. [f. sharn + penny.] A payment of a penny yearly for each cow, which was due from the burgesses of Bury St. Edmunds to the Abbey as lord of the manor, in lieu of the profit which the Abbey would have obtained from the dung by observance of the manorial custom of folding the tenant’s cattle on the lord’s land. ? c 1200 Deed of Abbot Sampson (Cart. S. Edm., MS. f. 247) in Kennett Cowel's Interpr., Facta est compositio.. quod Praepositus ejusdem villae dabit singulis annis.. denarios pro faldagio vaccarum ipsius villa* quos nominabant scharpenny. 12.. Cart. S. Edm. MS. f. 31, ibid., Burgensibus villae S. Edmundi data est quitantia cujusdam consuetudinis quae dicitur Schorn-penny.. Solebat enim Cellerarius accipere unum denarium per annum de qualibet vacca hominum villae pro exitu. 1200 Chron. Joe. de Brakelonda (Camden) 73 Data eis alia quietantia cujusdam consuetudinis que dicitur sor-peni, pro iiij solidis.

sharny ('Ja:ni), a. dial, chiefly Sc. [f. sharn + -Y.] Bedaubed with dung. So shamy-faced adj.; sharny-peat (see quot. 1808). a 1625 F. Sempill Blythsum Bridal v. in Herd Sc. Songs (1776) II. 25 Flea-lugged sharney-fac’d Lawrie. 1737 Ramsay Sc. Prov. (1750) 125 Ye shine like the sunny side of a sharney weght. 1808 Jamieson, Sharny-peat, a cake consisting of cows’ dung mixed with coal-dross, dried in the sun, and used by the poor for fuel in some places. 1821 Scott Pirate v, Nane of your sharney peats, but good aik timber. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb x. 77 Gyaun in owre’s bed wi’s sharnie beets on. 1896 Crockett Cleg Kelly xliv. 291 Ye sufferin’, shairny blastie o’ the byres.

b. as sb.

SHARP

183

sharman, obs. form of shearman.

(see quot. 1825).

1825-82 Jamieson, Sharnie, a name given to the person who cleans a cow-house. 1897 Ld. E. Hamilton Outlaws of

sharon, dial, variant of sharn. sharoot, obs. form of cheroot. sharp (Ja:p), a. and sb.1 Forms: 1-2 scearp, 2-3 scaerp, 3 sc(h)erp, scarp, ssarp, Orm. sharrp, 3-4 sarp, 3-6 scharp, 4, 6 sharppe, 4-7 sharpe, 5 sherpe, sarpe, scarpe, 5-6 scharpe, scharp, 6 sharpp, Sc. schairp, scherpe, schirpe, 3- sharp. [Com. Teut. (wanting in Gothic): OE. scearp corresponds to OFris. sharp, skerp, OS. skarp, MLG., MDu. scharp, scherp (mod.Du. scherp), OHG. scarpf, scarf (MHG. scharpf, scharf, scherpfe, scherf(e, mod.G. scharf), ON. skarp-r (Sw., Da. skarp):—OTeut. *skarpo-. The Teut. root *skerp-\ skarp-: skurp- appears also in OHG. scurf an, MHG. schiirfen to cut open (mod.G. to poke a fire), OE. scearpe scarification, scearpian to scarify. The Teut. root *skrep-: skrap- (see scrape v.) appears to be related; no cognates outside Teut. are known. The OHG. and MHG. sarpf (early mod.Du. sarp) sharp is prob. unconnected.]

A. adj. 1. Well adapted for cutting or piercing; having a keen edge or point: opposed to blunt. a. Having a keen cutting edge. Also said of the edge. ^825 Vesp. Ps. li. 4 Swe swe scersaex scearp. Sic ut novacula acuta. 11205 Lay. 2310 Mid scearpe mire eaxe. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2266 Streche for6 pine swire scharp sweord to underfonne. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 758/38 Depp draweth his sarpe knif. c 1460 Urbanitatis 42 in Babees-bk., Fyrste loke.. pat py knyf be sharpe & kene. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 105 Quhen schaiffyn is that aid schalk with a scharp rasiour. 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, 1. i. no, I know, his Sword Hath a sharpe edge. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. (Globe) 207 They make their wooden Swords so sharp.. that they will cut off Heads even with them. 1822 Shelley Faust ii. 399 A single blood-red line, Not broader than the sharp edge of a knife. 1907 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 106 A good sharp penknife may be used. trans. and fig. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) xxiii. 254 My woord from hens forthe, is scharp and bytynge as a Swerd. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 99 Fra thame that hes thair tungis scharp & ground. 1781 Cowper Hope 597 He laughs, whatever weapon truth may draw, And deems her sharp artillery mere straw. 1807-8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 268 The sharp edge.. of public curiosity.

b. Having a tapering end brought to a fine point so as to be used for piercing. Said also of the point itself. C825 Vesp. Ps. xliv. 6 Strele Sine scearpe, Sagittae tuae acutae. at 6u understande mid scarpe witte hwat hie bien. CI375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 670 For pu 3ongare is pane I, scharpare of wyt & mare mychtty. 1474 Caxton Chesse in. vi. (1883) 131 Wherof cometh forgetenes of his mynde and destruction of alle quyk and sharp reson. c 1500 Lancelot 2885 In his consell wonder scharp and wys. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 49 He had a sharpe foresight, and working wit. ci6io Women Saints 161 What was more ingenious and sharp of witt than she. 1697 Dampier Voy. I. 337 Raja Laut is a very sharp man. 1705 Evelyn Diary 4 Jan., Dr. King, a sharp ready man in politics. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. vii, Sharp Guadet transfixes you with cross¬ questions. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 147 A very sharp lad.

b. Of reasoning or discourse: acute, sagacious. Also, of remarks: pointed, apt, witty. 1580 Three Familiar Lett, in Spenser's Poet. Wks. (Oxf. 1912) 616 Master H[arvey]s short, but sharpe, and learned Iudgement of Earthquakes. 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, 11. i. 14 He.. alleadged Many sharpe reasons to defeat the Law. 1700 T. Brown Amusem. Ser. G? Com. 152 Your Gentlemen that speak sharp and witty Things. 1851 Willmott Pleas. Lit. xxi. (1857) 126 It was thus that.. the sharp, quick sentence flashed from the lips of Buonarotti. 1968 Observer 14 Apr. 24/7 It was a sharp idea of the BBC’s Religious Department, letting Malcolm Muggeridge wander round the Holy Land.

c. Of sight, hearing, the eyes or ears: Acute, keen. Often in figurative expressions. ciooo Sax. Leechd. II. 30 Sio syn bi)? py scearpre. C1381 Pari. Foules 331 The royal egle..That with his sharpe look perceth the sonne. 1599 Sir J. Davies Nosce Teipsum Introd. iii, When their Reason’s Eye was sharp and clear. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. Commw. 8 The grey eye .. is sharpest of sight. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxxi, The Queen’s sharp eye soon distinguished Raleigh amongst them. 1894 Blackmore Perlycross 77 My ears are pretty sharp .. and I heard you muttering. Chaucer

d. Hence of observation, an observer: Vigilant. Phrase, to keep a sharp look-out. 1535 Coverdale Lam. iv. 18 They laye so sharpe waite for vs, that we can not go safe vpon the stretes. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witcher, xiii. xxiii. 265 The sharpest lookers on will saie it is in your other hand. 1828 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 333 As the majority of mankind have a stronger appetite for censure than for praise of those above them, he will naturally keep a sharp look-out with that view. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 158 The bishop kept a sharp look-out upon them.

e. Keen-witted and alert in practical matters, businesslike, smart; often with unfavourable implication, quick to take unfair advantage of others. (Cf. sharp practice.) 1697 Dampier Voy. I. 228 They found that the Don had been too sharp for them. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 4 He was .. sharp as a street-bred boy must be. 1818 Scott Rob Roy vii, They got a sharp Newcastle attorney. 1853 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour xlv. 252 Among youths of his own age he was reckoned rather a sharp hand. 1855 Dickens Dorrit 1. xxiii, I have seen so much business done on sharp principles that.. I am tired of them. 1859 Lever Davenport Dunn Iii, All of them ready to do a sharp thing. 1880 L. Stephen Pope iv. 94 He.. was accordingly pretty sharp at making a bargain with a publisher.

f. In colloq. phr. you're so sharp you'll cut yourself and varr.: variously used as an observation, reproof, or warning implying over¬ cleverness. [1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life (1944) 278 Gosh! you’ve been on the turkey; you’ll be cutting yourself some of these times.] 1910 ‘H. H. Richardson’ Getting of Wisdom xiv. 142 If you’re so sharp, you’ll cut yourself! 1930 W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale x. 116 You’re so sharp you’ll cut yourself if you don’t look out. 1968 J. Fleming Kill or Cure xiv. 189 He was as sharp as a bag of monkeys, that sharp he’d cut himself.

4. Eager, impetuous, violent, fa. Of warriors: Eager for battle. Obs. c 1000 Ags. Horn. (Assmann) 61/244 Ac 6a pa hi ne dydon nane daedbote, \>a sende him god to )?one scearpan here Romaniscre leode. his scharpe meyne. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) I. 246 That men of armes shold haue no wyues to thende that they myght be more sharpe & fiers in the warre.

fb. Of feelings: Keen, ardent. Obs. cl375 Sc. Leg. Saints v. {Johannes) 501 Rycht sa manis deuocione pat quhile fra contemplacione Is drawyne, sal pe scharpar be. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1780 Then he shope hym to ship in a sharp haste. 1599 Sandys Europae Spec. (1605) Z 3, Time-servers, who .. follow Christ vpon a sharpe devotion, but to his bread, not to his doctrine.

c. Of conflict, warfare, an attack: Carried on with vigour, fierce, keen. 13.. Cursor M. 7753 (Gott.) Ful scharp [Cott. snaip] it was, pat stour and snell, All fledd pe folk of israell. c 1381 Chaucer Pari. Foules 2 Thassay so hard, so sharp the conquering. CI425 Wyntoun Cron. vii. viii. (Cott.) 1982 Betweyn J>is Rollande of Galoway And Kylkpatrik a batel fel Was don, bath sar, scharpe and snel. 1508 Dunbar Goldyn Targe 170 Thair scharp assayes mycht do no dures To me. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 1. (Sommer) 27 Then began the fight to grow most sharpe. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 816 The fight continued sharpe and hot on both parts. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxvii. 131 Huntley.. after a sharp conflict, put to flight the left wing of the English. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 4 The contest between good and evil becomes sharp and deadly. 1890 Spectator 3 May, Though the discussion will be sharp, it will be short.

d. Of a storm, a shower, fwaves, etc.: Heavy, violent. 13.. Minor Poemsfr. Vernon MS. 716/33 Scharpe wawes pat Schip has sayled. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xvm. 409 ‘After sharpe shoures’, quod pees ‘moste shene is pe sonne*. c 1422 Hoccleve Learn to Die 556 Whan deeth, as tempest sharp & violent, With woful trouble hem shal vexe & trauaill. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. n. xii. 46 A sharpe showre of rayne, whiche contynued vntyll the morning.

e. Of an attack of disease: Acute, violent. fAlso = acute a. 2. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 341 Of diseases, some be called long, and some sharpe and short.

f. (a) Of a hawk: Eager for prey; hungry. (b) fOf persons (sometimes with allusion to the hawking sense): Hungry, ‘sharp-set’ (obs.). (c) Of the appetite: Keen. Of the stomach: Craving for food. i486 Bk. St. Albans, Hawking cviijb, Also she may be calde an aspare hawke of sharpenesse or hir corage .. she is moost asper and sharpe in all thyngs that belong vnto hir of any other hawkys. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 133 Then set hir sharpe against an evening and go out to seeke some game. 1577 St. Aug. Manual (Longman) 95, I am come with a sharpe stomacke, let me not goe awaye fastyng. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 193 My Faulcon now is sharpe, and passing emptie. 1642 Fuller Holy St. 111. xxv. 231 Nowa-dayes, does not wealth make them lazy, and poverty keep them painfull? like Hawks they flie best when sharp. 1678 L’Estrange Seneca's Morals 11. xxiv. 317 When we have fasted our selves Sharp, and Hungry. 1707 [E. Ward] Barbacue Feast 7 Their Stomacks were a little too sharp to admit of time enough to crave a Blessing on their Food, but all fell to. 1771 Goldsm. Haunch of Venison 5 Though my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting, To spoil such a delicate picture by eating.

g. (a) Quick or active in bodily movement. Of movements, esp. a run, gallop, etc., also of action of any kind: Brisk, energetic. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 444/1 Scharp, or delyuer, asper, velox. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xvi, Setting my two little ones to box, to make them sharp, as he called it. 1817 J. Mayer Sportsman's Direct, (ed. 2) 23 But endeavour to pull quick the instant you see the gun cover the object; you cannot be too sharp. 1842 W. C. Taylor Anc. Hist. xvii. §9 (ed. 3) 557 A sharp gallop. 1869 Boutell Arms & Armour i. 3 A rapid succession of little sharp blows. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 192 After a sharp run, several hunting men baited their horses at the Three Crowns.

(b) Proverbial phr. (Used as an injunction to promptitude; for another use see quot. 1788.) 1706 Vanbrugh Mistake in. i, Are you thereabouts, i’faith? Then sharp’s the word. 1788 Grose Diet. Vulgar T. (ed. 2) s.v. Sharp, Sharp’s the word and quick’s the motion with him; said of any one very attentive to his own interest, and apt to take all advantages. 1837 T. Hook Jack Brag ii, Be alive, my fine fellow!.. sharp’s the word and quick’s the motion, eh? 187s1 Pathfinder’ Breaking & Twining Dogs 44 ‘Come into heel, sir!’ and sharp is the word.

h. Of a stream: Rapid. Now rare. 1655 Walton Angler vi. (1661) 132 All Fish that live in clear or sharp streams. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 36 From that time they delight to be in sharp streams, and such as are very swift. 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 32/2 (art. Angling) A deep eddy off some sharp stream.

i. Of the pulse. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xiv. 161 Pulse 120, sharp; slightly dicrotous. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 621 The pulse becomes small, sharp, wiry or thready.

j. Of winter, wintry weather, frost, wind, air: Cuttingly cold, keen. C1435 Chron. London (Kingsford 1905) 2 This same yere was a Riht Sharpe Wynter. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 197 In the most sharpe time of winter. 1610 Shaks. Temp. 1. ii. 254 Thou .. thinkst it much .. To run vpon the sharpe winde of the North. 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 13 With sharp tho’ moderate Winds. 1762 Sterne Let. to Mrs. Sterne 15 Mar., There has been no snow here, but the weather has been sharp. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. It. Jfrnls. (1872) I. 44 Keen and cutting air, sharp as a razor. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman v. viii, Though the air was sharp, he had been carrying his cloak over his arm.

k. Of vehicular transport: ahead of schedule, early; hence of a time-table, etc.: tight, demanding, colloq. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §768 Hot, sharp, ahead of schedule. 1945 Transit News (Capital Transit Co., Washington, D.C.) 15 June, When a car or bus

SHARP

184 is ahead of schedule, it’s ‘Hot or Sharp’, while when late it’s ‘Dragging’. 1977 Modern Railways Dec. 480/2 Certain of the intermediate schedules are quite sharp.

5. Severe, strict, harsh, a. fOf persons: Severe or harsh in temper or mood (obs.). Of temper, etc.: Irritable, irascible. ciooo Sax. Leechd. III. 162 He biS scarp & biter & swifie waer on his wordum. C1250 Gen. & Ex. 3577 So wurfi he wrofi, o mode sarp, His tables brokun dun he is warp, c 1540 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) 147 He was verie sharpe in manners, sterne of nature, exceading crewell. 1638 R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 84 Whether hee bee of these sharpe and soure ones that would take from heaven its starres, and from the earth its flowers, a 1668 Lassels Italy 11. (1698) 96 The Eccho in the well, which answers you indeed, but like a sharp scold, too quick and short.

b. Of persons and their utterances: Cutting in rebuke, invective, or satire; harsh and peremptory in command. Also of looks, tones, etc.: Indicating anger or rebuke. a 1225 Ancr. R. 212 Sweord & knif eifier beofi scherpe & keoruinde wordes. C1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 14 Lo! which a sharp word for the nones .. Iesus .. Spak in repreve of the Samaritan. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) II. 654 Eneas .. answered to the kynge wordes sharpe and poynaunt ynowhe. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 984 King Henry wrote to him an aunswere with verie sharpe and grieuous wordes reprouing his vntruth. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie 1. xxxi. (Arb.) 76 Skelton a sharpe Satirist. 1620 Brent tr. Sarpi's Counc. Trent viii. (1629) 728 The Cardinall of Loraine also wrote a sharpe letter to the Pope, a 1704 T. Brown Prol. 1st Sat.Juv. Wks. 1730 I. 52 Nor sharp Juvenal’s stronger verse Perverted into doggrel farce, a 1720 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. 11. 139 Yet they were not for using sharp language against such teachers. 1833 Tennyson May Queen 1. iv, He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him yesterday. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. App. 677 Tostig has sharp words with his brother.

c. Of punishment, persecution, laws, etc., also of a judge, lawgiver, etc.: Severe, merciless. a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 25 To punysch him in sharp & bittire pyne. c 1375 Cursor M. 9103 (Fairf.) Sa sare and sharpe martiring was neuer sene on siche a king. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (1888) 85 Supposz thow may richtuslie be ane scherp iuge apone wsz. 1576 Gascoigne Philomene xevi. Wks. 1910 II. 192 But in hir minde a sharpe revenge, She fully did reserve. 1663 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxx. (1687) 365 This sluggish temper must be banished by a rigorous and sharp penance. 1720 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. Pref. 16 Who will ere long fall under a sharper persecution. 1851 Helps Comp. Solit. vi. 96 Those we have lived with are the sharpest judges of our conduct.

d. to be sharp upon: to be hard or severe upon (now only, by way of censure or criticism). 1561 in Exch. Rolls Scot. XIX. 475 The said Thomas not to be scharp upoun the said Alexander for payment of the saidsoum. 1596 DALRYMPLEtr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 161 He was so scharpe vpon his abuses. 1678 Rymer Trag. last Age 32 Polynices seems ill treated, and his Brother is much too sharp upon him. 1713 Addison Guardian No. 109 |f 5 One of those Untucker’d Ladies whom you were so sharp upon. 1833 Lytton Godolphin iv, You are sharp on me, young Sir.

e. Of pain, suffering, grief, etc.: Keen, acute, intense. Of experiences: Intensely painful. ciooo Sax. Leechd. II. 206 }x>nne bij> pact sar scearpre J?onne pses welmes sar pe on psere lifre selfre beofi. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086, & syfifian com se scearpa hungor. c 1205 Lay. 21944 Heo weoren swifie iharmede mid scaerpen pan hungre. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2989 Gnattes.. smale to sen, and sarp on bite. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6563 ferthe [payne of helle] es hunger sharpe and strang. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. If 130 This sorwe.. shal been hevy and grevous, and ful sharpe and poinant in herte. CI477 Caxton Jason 115 b, A sorowe moche aygre and sharp. 1548-9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, St. Andrew's Day, Collect, The sharp and painful death of the crosse. 1565 J. Phillips Patient Grissell 331 (Malone Soc.) The bitter pangs of death, Whose gripes most sharp semd to close my breath. 1592 Shaks. Rom. & ful. v. i. 41 Sharpe miserie had worne him to the bones, a 1627 Sir J. Beaumont Bosworth F. 74 The sharp Conclusion of a sad success. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, hi. 803 The nightly Wolf., now plots not on the Fold; Tam’d with a sharper Pain. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 216 Such injoyments.. are followed many times by sharp reflections and bitter penances in the rear. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvii. 340 Sharp, lancinating pains were felt most frequently in the knee. 1898 Watts-Dunton Aylwin xi. iii, A pang at my heart as sharp as though there had been a reasonable hope till now.

ff. transf. Said of a scourge: = smart a. 1. a 1300 Cursor M. 5876 And qua ne dos noght yur bidding, Wit scarp scurges yee pam suing. 11450 Mirk's Festial 44 To 3eue hym dyscyplyn apon his bare backe wyth a scharpe 3erde.

fg. Of a mode of life: Austere. Obs. 1340 Ayenb. 165 pe oper del is zuo pet hi makej?.. pet lyf pet zuo moche ssewej? ssarp an dreduol to chiese. 1577 tr. Luther's Comm. Galat. v. 19 (1580) 270 b, The Carthusians or Charterhouse monkes, whose order.. is of all other the straitest & sharpest. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 254 They were certaine religious men who liued in common, a sharpe and asper life. 1611 Shaks. Cymb. in. iii. 31 Hap’ly this life is best, (If quiet life be best) sweeter to you That haue a sharper knowne. 6. a. Pungent in taste; also, having strong acid,

alkaline, or caustic properties. fOf wine: Sour. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 354 Nim gate tord meng wifi scearpum ecede. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xx. 304 Shrifte shope sharpe salue and made men do penaunce For her mysdedes. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 352 Wo was his cook, but if his sauce were Poynaunt and sharp. 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 73 As Sharpe tast, Unctuous, and Sower. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 46 This medicine thus ministred is sharpe and colde. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 187 b, The like quantitie of manna kneaded togither, and giuen them in sharpe wine. 1584 Veron Lat. Eng. Diet., Pallacana, a sharpe onion causing the eies to water. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 252 Pomegranates, Olives,

Bread, and sharpe Wine. 1639 [J. Taylor (Water-P.)] Divers Crabtree Led. 167, I can weepe no more, unlesse I get a good sharpe Onion in my handkerchiefe. 1641 Murrel Cookerie (ed. 5) 21 To boyle a Chine of Mutton or Veale, in sharp broth. 1661 Boyle Scept. Chem. iv. 254 As soon as I found the Lixivium sufficiently sharp upon the tongue, I reserv’d it for use. 1709 Felton Diss. Classics (1718) 106 Every body can tell Sweet from Bitter, what is Sharp, or Sour, or Vapid, or Nauseous. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. 262 What renders the Blood acrimonious or sharp. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 429 Arsenic acid .. has a sharp caustic taste. 1853 Soyer Pantropheon 71 If you prefer a sharper sauce, mix well some green mint with rue.

fig

b. ■ 1604 in Challoner Missionary Priests (1803) II. 21 Although I shall have a sharp dinner, yet I trust in Jesus Christ I shall have a most sweet supper. 1668 R. Steele Husbandm. Calling vi. (1672) 152 Drudging at the harrow, that’s sharp; but sweeping down the wheat, that’s sweet. 1886 Mrs. Lynn Linton Paston Carew xxxii, That sharp sauce which carries costs and awards damages.

c. Of water: (a) ? Charged with carbonic acid, f (b) Hot, scalding (rare-1)1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 18 The water was sharp and hard. .2] A shaft of a cart. Usually pi. 1733 Tull Horse-Hoeing Husb. xxiii. 363 Part of the Limbers, which are also called Shafts, Sharps, and Thills. 1844 W. Barnes Poems Rur. Life Gloss., Sharps, the shafts of a cart or other carriage.

sharp (Ja:p), adv. Forms: 1 scearpe, 4 charpe, 4-6 sharpe, scharpe, 6 Sc. scherp, scharp, 6sharp. [OE. scearpe, f. scearp sharp a.] 1. a. In a sharp manner, = sharply in various senses; tshrilly; fniggardly, stingily. Also, smartly, nattily (after sharp a. 7 b). c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xciii. 9 And him eagena jesyhS eallum sealde, and he scearpe ne maege gesceawian? c 1000 Hexam. St. Basil viii, Da fujelas.. 6e be flasce lybbafi syndon clyferfete and scearpe jebilode. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1010 [f.r.] So scharpe pei com. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xviii. 39 Al her courte on hym cryde crucifye sharpe. C1384 Chaucer H. Fame 774 For whan a pipe is blowen sharpe The aire ys twist with violence. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xxvi. 42 Knyvis that scherp cowd scheir. C1590 Marlowe Jew of Malta iv, Pil. Farewell Fidler: One letter more to the lew. Curt. Prethe, sweet loue, one more, and write it sharp. 1607 Lingua 1. vi. B3, How princely do I speake, how sharpe I threaten. 1635 Markham Eng. Husbandm. 1. iii. (ed. 2) 11 If Flies and small Gnats bite sharpe and sore. 1763 Foote Mayor of G. 11. Wks. 1799 I. 182, I hunted and hunted as sharp as if it had been for one of my own minikens. 1822 Scott Peveril vii, What makes you ride so sharp this morning? 1852 M. Arnold Tristram Is. 1. 55 Loud howls the wind, sharp patters the rain. 1951 J. H. Smyth I, Mobster xiii. 142 He was dressed sharp, like the wise guys on Broadway. 1981 ‘D. Shannon’ Murder most Strange i. 15 He was.. dressed real sharp, a gray suit, not just sports clothes.

b. Abruptly, suddenly. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xxv, He turns sharp round to the left, and pauses before another gate. 1859 Lever Dav. Dunn xlvi, The odds are, he’d pull me up pretty sharp for doing so without his authority, i860 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 42 The horse .. turns sharp round and stands stock still. 1885 Spectator 25 July 961/1 The Government, .have this week been pulled up sharp.

c. In an invitation or appointment: Punctually, precisely (at the hour specified). 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story iii, They should dine that day at three o’clock sharp. 1844 W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scot. x. (1855) 101 Dinner had been ordered at ‘sharp five’. 1893 G. Allen Scallywag I. 35 At ten sharp the first arrivals began to greet one another.

d. Phrases, look sharp-, see look v. 5. look sharp after-, see look v. 5 and cf. 12 e and f. look out sharp-, see LOOK v. 40 c. 2. Naut. As near fore and aft as possible, trimmed as near as possible to the wind. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 17 Thus have you all the Sails trimm’d sharp. 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine 11. (1789), Bouter le Lof, to trim all sharp; to spring the luff. 1815 Falconer's Diet. Marine (ed. Burney) s.v. Sharp, To Brace up Sharp, is to turn the yards to the most oblique direction possible, so as that the ship may lie well up to the wind. 1849 W. S. Mayo Kaloolah ii. (1850) 24 In a moment more the frigate braced sharp up. 1899 F. T. Bullen Log Sea-waif 215 Away we went, braced sharp up on the starboard tack to the north-westward.

3. Comb. Qualifying a ppl. adj. used attrib., and commonly hyphened. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 184 Where shooteth this sharpe shootyng archer? 1580 Tusser Husb. (1878) 38 Sharp cutting spade, for the deuiding of mow. 159° Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 52 Bent hollow beetle browes, sharpe staring eyes, That mad or foolish seem’d. 1725 Pope Odyss. v. 621 Nor here the sun’s meridian rays had pow’r, Nor wind sharp-piercing. 1842 Tennyson Morte D'Arthur 190 Juts of slippery crag that rang Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels. 1876 Green Hist. Eng. People I. i. 4 The forger of mighty shields and sharp-biting swords. 1895 Kipling 2nd Jungle Bk. iii. 30 The sharp-smelling woodsmoke.

SHARP sharp (Ja:p), v. Forms: a. 1 scyrpan, 1-2 scerpan, 5 schyrpe, 6 scherp, 6, 9 dial, sherp, 9 dial, shirp; j8. 3-6 scharp, 4-5 scharpe, 4-7 sharpe, 5 shaarp, 6 Sc. schairp, 4- sharp. [OE. *scierpan, scerpan, scyrpan, = OS. (gi)scerpian (L-G., Du. scherpen), MHG. scherpfen (mod.G. schdrfen), Icel. skerpa, Sw. skdrpa. Da. skserpe (perh. from LG.):—OTeut. type *skarpjan-, f. *skarpo- sharp a. In later Eng. this formation probably blends with a new formation on the adj.] I. a. trans. = sharpen

v.

i. Now dial, or arch.

a. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wulcker 565/48 Ascio, to thwyte or schyrpe. 1503 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 121 Syne crownit scho the Egle King of Fowlis, And as steill dertis scherpit scho his pennis. 1583 Shuttleworths’ Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 7 Sherpeinge the harrove pennes ij d- 1883 Berks. Gloss., Sherp this knife vor I, ’ooll ’e. aes recedes weal. C825 Vesp. Psalter lxxv. 4 Der gebrec hornas bojan sceld sweord & jefeht. 1205 Lay. 23777 Ane scelde gode [1275 sceald]. Ibid. 4212 Heo nomen pa seeldes. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1713 For mony mon myd speres orde hauep lutle strengj?e & mid his schelde [Cott. chelde], Ah [etc.]. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3840 3if he nadde wi|? pe sseld somdel pe dunt yhent Siker he im adde aslawe. a 1300 Cursor M. 2497 On helme and sceild [v.rr. shilde, schild, sheeld]. 13.. K. Alis. 693 (Laud MS.) An home in pe forehede amydward pat wolde perce a shelde hard, c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1264 And somme woln haue a Pruce sheeld or a targe. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 97 Scipio sigh ones a childe gayliche arrayed, and seide, ‘I wondre nou3t pat he arrayed well his childe [L. scutum], for [etc.].’ C1418 in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 244 Hem nedethe nether spere ne shulde. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xxiv, Take thi schild and thi spere. 1508 Dunbar Golden Targe 151 Than come, Resoun, with schelde of gold so clere. C1550 N. Smyth tr. Herodian 11. 22 Lyftynge theyr shyldes and Targettes ouer theyr heades. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 5 His mightie sheld Vpon his manly arme. 16.. Funeral in Popish Times in Q. Eliz. Acad. 34 The helme, Childe [elsewhere shild], sword, the Cote of Armes, to bee layd vppon ye bere in dew order. 1699 Temple Introd. Hist. Eng. Wks. 1720 II. 531 Their common Arms were small Shields, but very large Swords. 1774G0LDSM. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 331 Its skin is thick, and covered with brown hair, and the natives make shields of it. 1867 Rep. Paris Univ. Exhib. (1868) II. 489 Two shields, one in iron and one in steel, are the most remarkable of their works.

fb. Phr. under shield-, in battle or combat. with spear and shield: in battle array; by force of arms. Obs. a 1300 K. Horn 53 Hy smyten vnder schelde [Laud seide, Harl. shelde]. C1330 Arth. Gf Merl. 3096, vi hundred kni3tes . .pat wele cou^e juste in feld wi)? stef launce vnder scheld. a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) iv. 50 Our King and his men held pe felde Stalworthy, with spere and schelde. C1440 Partonope 2951 Partonope thatt day vnder hys schelde [v.r. sheelde] xx hethen he hathe slayn yn the fylde. 1508 Dunbar Poems liv, Quhai for hir saik, with speir and scheld, Preiffis maist mychtelye in the feld. 1513 Douglas JEneis viii. viii. iii Of Hetruria the ostis vnder scheild Wyth that word stoppit in the samin feild. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 129 Baith pairties.. cum to Dunfreis, thair tha diuyde it with speir and scheild. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xxxv, They met, as was the phrase of the time, ‘manful under shield’. Ibid, xxxvi, We bear no malice for what is done in fair fight under shield.

c. In allusion to the custom of suspending a warrior’s shield as a memorial of him. 1817 Coleridge Destiny of Nations 9 Seize, then, my soul! from Freedom’s trophied dome The Harp which hangeth high between the Shields Of Brutus and Leonidas!

d. two sides of a shield: two ways of looking at something, two sides to a question; the other side (or reverse) of the shield: the other side of a question or consideration, the side which is less obvious or which has not been presented (cf. the reverse of the medal s.v. medal sb. 3 b, Fr. le revers de la medaille). ? 1855 A. W. Chapman Let. in R. K. Webb Harriet Martineau (i960) i. 27, I consider it a great misfortune, in one sense,.. a blessing, often times, in another. There are two sides to every shield. 1885 C. M. Yonge {title) The two sides of the shield. 1909 P. Collier England & English i. 16 These beef-eating, port-drinking fellows in Piccadilly .. are well enough .. but this other side of the shield is distressing to look at. Poor, stunted .. denizens of the East End. 1911 H. S. Walpole Mr. Perrin & Mr. Traill ii. 24 The reverse of the shield is.. given in that first letter to his mother.

2. transf. and fig. a. Something serving as a defence against attack or injury. Often in echoes of Biblical language referring to metaphorical armour, as Ephes. vi. 16. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 193 Habbeft.. hope to helme, and so8e luue to shelde, and godes word to swerde. c 1220 Bestiary 161 Dis neddre siflen he nede sal, makeS seld of his bodi and sildefi his heued. e schelde.

fd. Shelter, protection (in physical sense). Obs. 1615 Brathwait Strappado 202 Where being benighted, [he] tooke no other shield, To lodge him and his ware then th open field. 1618 Chapman Hesiod's Georg. 11. 331 But then, betake thee, to the shade that lies, In shield of Rocks. 3. Her. = escutcheon. shield-of-arms, an escutcheon with armorial bearings. shield of pretence = escutcheon of pretence (escutcheon i c), cf. INESCUTCHEON.

c 1320 Sir Beues (A) 1322 Tirri on Beues be-held And se3 pe boiste wip a scheld. C1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 153 L’eskou de gules [glossed a reed cheeld] ad porte. 1531 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 48 Item, a lyttell shelde of golde Innamyled with whyt and grene. 1540 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 463 Concessit dicto W. et heredibus tallie unum duplex lie tressour auri in eorum lie schield circa eorum arma. 01552 Leland Collect. (1715) I. 234 Syr Maurice bare in a Grene Shild thre Bores of Golde. 1562 Legh Armory 38 b, The fift [worthy] was Iudas Machabeus, whose Shielde was Or, ii. Rauens in Pale proper... The viii. was Charlemaine, & he bare the Ierusalem Shielde, Impaled with the imperiall Cote. 1707 Hearne Collect. 5 July (O.H.S.) II. 24 Persons regard Dr. Woodward’s Shield as ‘a banter’. 1835 Penny Cycl. IV. 110/1 Our author’s [Beaumont’s] shield may be seen in any Baronetage. 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. i. (ed. 3) 4 Such is the origin of Shields-of-Arms. 1868 Cussans Handbk. Her. iv. (1893) 69 The Inescutcheon, or Shield of Pretence, is [etc.]. 1905 C. Davenport Jewellery viii. 142 The three legs in the shieldof-arms of the Isle of Man.

4. An ornamental piece of plate (more or less in the form of a shield) offered for competition in an athletic or other contest. 1868 Wimbledon Annual 23 The ‘Elcho’ Challenge Shield. 1898 Field 23 Apr. 625/3 It has now been decided that the clubs shall jointly hold the shield during the ensuing twelve months.

II. A protective covering or shelter.

5. Applied to certain parts of animal bodies. [= G. schild, shield of a boar, a tortoise, etc.] a. The thick, tough skin upon the sides and flanks of the boar; spec, an article of food (in full, shield of bravon), made by placing a piece of this skin round the inside of a cylindrical mould and filling up with meat, and cooking until soft and tender. (Cf. brawn sb. 3.) [i337 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 32 Festum Sci. Cuthberti in Sept., In 2 scutis de Braune pro festo empt. a diversis.] 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 58 Wyth scheldez of wylde swyn. c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) v, J>ei haue herd skynne and stronge flessh; and specially vpon pe shoulder, J>at is called pe shelde. i486 Bk. St. Albans, Hunting fiib, The sheldys on the sholderis: therof shall .ii. be. 01552 Leland Collect. (1715) I. 231 By eating of a sheelde of a wilde bore he got an appetite. 1625 Massinger New Way iv. i, Did you not deuoure this morning, A shield of Brawne, and a barrell of Colchester oysters? 1641 Murrel Cookerie (ed. 5) 5 A Shield or Collar of Brawne. 1705 Poor Robin Observ. Feb., They then look like a Shield of Brawn at Shrovetide out of Date. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe vii, Wamba .. opposed to the beard of the Jew a shield of brawn, which he plucked from beneath his cloak. 1861 T. L. Peacock Gryll Grange xxxii, You will always find a piece of cold roast beef and a tankard of good ale; and just now a shield of brawn. allusive uses. 1607 Lingua 11. i. C4, If they would vse no other Bucklers in warre, but sheilds of Brawne. 1610 Guillim Heraldry in. xiv. 135 The shield of a Boare. .is a good Buckler against that cruell Enemy called Hunger.

b. Zool. A protective plate covering a part; a scute, a carapace, a plastron, or the like. 1704 Phil. Trans. XXVI. 1627 These were the Shields of the Cochineel Flies. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 352 The shield of the breast [of the mole-cricket] is of a firm texture. 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 65 Shell a conical shield, with the summit inclined. 1857 Agassiz Contrib. Nat. Hist. U.S. I. 255 [In Turtles] The dorsal shield, usually called by the French name ‘carapace’, is connected by a bridge with another shield, commonly called ‘plastron’. 1861 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Instit. i860, 234 Pleurobranchus has a thin, flat horny shield. 1880 Huxley Crayfish i. 24 The great shield or carapace is very easily separated from the thorax and abdomen.

|6. The seat of a privy; hence, a privy. Obs.

SHIELD

253

fc. Government, sway (of a country). Obs.

Sc.

[Cf., for the sense, F. garde-robe.] 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 658 This fals tratour wnder the schield wes set, Quhilk to his cuming tuke gude tent and cuir, With ane lang speit..Amang the bowellis vpwart in the breist Straik him to deid. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 65 Quhen he passit to the scheild to purge his wame. 1566 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1875) III. 222 That all personis that hes scheildis clenge the samin or euer thai be full, sua that thai brek nocht furth and rin in the streit. 1582 Ibid. (1882) IV. 259 Middingis, scheildes, furrouris [etc.].

7. A framework erected for the protection of workmen engaged in boring or tunnelling and pushed forward as the work progresses; also, a watertight case used in submarine tunnelling to keep back quicksands and inrushes of water. 1837 Hebert Engin. & Mech. Encycl. II. 805 The work [Thames tunnel] was commenced in 1825... To give security to the men in excavating, Mr. Brunei invented a cast-iron shield or frame... This shield [etc.] 1838 Civ. Engin. £2? Arch. Jrnl. I. 290/1 Two rows of close whole timber piles should be driven . .with space sufficient for the shield to travel. 1895 Daily News 5 June 7/3 A circular shield

with a cutting edge is driven by sheer hydraulic pushing through the soil.

8. a. A protective device attached to a field-gun in order to shelter the gunners from rifle-fire. 1898 E. S. May Field Artillery 313 Personally I do not believe in shields; if really bullet proof, they are so heavy as to hamper mobility. Ibid., Even without shields men working quick-firing guns would be slightly less exposed than they are at present.

b. A protective device in clothing, as a dressshield. 1884, etc. [see dress-shield s.v. dress sb. 4 a]. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 321/3 Kleinert pays for the dress if it is ruined by perspiration, if his shields are used in it.

c. Mech. (See quots.) 1888 Lockwood's Diet. Mech. Engin. 316 Shield. (1) A covering employed to protect the bearings and spindles of emery-grinding machines from the action of the gritty dust. (2) A guard placed over or in front of band and circular saws and portions of machinery to protect the workmen from accidents. 1967 J. L. & G. H. F. Nayler Diet. Mech. Engin. 323 Shield, a contrivance or covering, protective plate, or screen, to protect machinery or the operator, from damage or accident.

d. Physics. An electrically conducting cover of a device or apparatus intended to protect it from external electric or magnetic fields or to reduce or eliminate interference radiated by the device or apparatus itself. Cf. screen sb.1 6. 1919 J. A. Fleming Thermionic Valve ii. 66 (caption) Fig. 34 shows the valve.. with copper-gauze shield for protecting from external electric fields. 1947 R. Lee Electronic Transformers & Circuits vi. 174 Multiple shields increase the action .. because eddy currents induced in the shields set up fluxes opposing the stray field. 1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. VI. 32 It is often desirable to shield part of the circuit from electromagnetic fields. The shields can absorb, reflect, or degrade (by multiple internal reflections) the electromagnetic energy. The most commonly used shields are braided copper.

e. Physics. A mass of material, usu. lead or concrete, intended to absorb neutrons and other ionizing radiation emitted by a reactor or accelerator. See also biological shield s.v. biological a. 1933 Proc. R. Soc. A. CXLI. 262 The steel shield S prevents the impact of secondary electrons upon the glass walls. 1947 M. D. Kamen Radioactive Tracers in Biol. iv. 93 Protection against y radiation is best afforded by working with remote control devices behind heavy lead shields at least 2-3 inches thick. 1962 Newnes Cone. Encycl. Nuclear Energy 756/2 Such a shield is an iron or barium loaded concrete. The main part of the shield in most reactors, called the bulk or biological shield, is made of such material. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropsedia XIII. 319/1 Typically, a ‘core barrel’.. is enclosed in a thermal shield, a pressure vessel, a water shield against neutrons, and a blanket of reinforced concrete for gamma-ray absorption.

9. The lower front part of a ploughshare. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 415 The share proper, consisting of the shield, terminating in the point e, and of.. the feather or cutter. 1875 in Knight Diet. Mech.

III. Applied to things shaped like a shield. f 10. Used to render OF. escu as the name of a coin: see ecu. Cf. scute sb.1 1. Obs. rare. CI386 Chaucer Prol. 278 Wei koude he in eschaunge sheeldes selle. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1875) 45 The florens in Chaucers tyme.. was of the valewe of thre shillinges, foure pence.. or at the leaste, of two shillinges tenne pence farthinge.. some of them beinge called ‘florens de scuto’, or of the valewe of the ‘shelde’, or frenche crowne.

11. Horticulture. SCUTCHEON sb.1 4C.

=

ESCUTCHEON

3d,

1572 Mascall Plant. & Graff. 22 All other maner of trees aforesayde, doe take verye well to be graffed wyth Cyons, and also in the shielde. 1606 Ram Little Dodeon D8, To graffe in the Shield, is to be done in Iune or Iuly, with the rynde. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 262 Sharpen that end of the Bark below the Bud, like a Shield or Escutcheon. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 306 The shield being inserted in the usual manner, another with an orifice in it, to admit the bud of the first, is laid over it. 12. Bot. a. (See quot. 1806.) 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 75 [A Lichen found] about the bodies of old oak .. trees near Holsworthy, Devonshire, abundantly with innumerable shields. 1806 Turton tr. Linn. Nat. Syst. VII. Expl. Terms, Shield, the saucer-like fructification of lichens. 1862 Chamb. Encycl. III. 352/1 The species of the genus Lecanora are crustaceous lichens, with a flat uniform thallus, and unstalked shields.

b. (See quot.) 1840 Paxton Bot. Diet., Shield, a broad table-like process in the flowers of Stapelia.

c. One of the cells forming the covering to the male organs of Characeae. 1875 Bennett & Dyer Sachs' Bot. 284 Each of these cells forms a segment of the shell of the ball, and they are hence called Shields.

13. Embryology. (See quot.) 1913 J. W. Jenkinson Vertebrate Embryology 135 There is distinguishable in the blastoderm at the close of segmentation a circular or oval area placed excentrically towards the posterior end; this area is the embryonic shield.

114. ? A sheet of ice. Obs. 1624 Maldon (Essex) Court Deeds Bundle 108/0/. 9 Payd to Willyam Brand and Symon Crauford for breaking the sheilds of ice in the ryver.. this last winter. 15. a. A keyhole plate. ? Obs. [= G. schild.]

Cf. ESCUTCHEON 3 c, SCUTCHEON sb.1 4 e. 1649 Caldwell Papers (Maitland Club) I. 103 For ane lock and sheild to ye new chalmer dore of Cauldwell 320.

b. Cutlery. A small metal (usually ‘German silver’) plate fixed on the handle of a penknife or

pocket-knife, for ornament or to be engraved with the owner’s name. 1876 Callis Cutlery (Brit. Manuf. Industr.) 163 About 1730 engraving of the shields and bolsters of pen and pocket knives .. was commenced.

c. (See quot.) 1870 C. C. Black tr. Demmin's Weapons of War 369 The flat piece of metal which is sometimes affixed to the bottom of the hilt is called a shield.

d. A policeman’s badge of office. U.S. 1903 N. Y. Evening Post 29 Oct. 3 The ex-policeman who turned in his shield in September. 1956 ‘E. McBain’ 87th Precinct (1959) 19 Why don’t you turn in your shield? Become a hackie or something? 1970 E. R. Johnson God Keepers xv. 167 Nobody said that a detective rating .. and a shield provided detectives with all the right answers.

16. a. gen. A flat or slightly convex surface more or less resembling a shield in shape. 1849 Ruskin Seven Lamps ii. §21. 53 The shield of stone which, usually supported by a central pillar, occupied the head of early windows. 1873 Miss Thackeray Old Kensington xii. 100 A faded Italian shield of looking-glass. b. A shield-shaped centre of a chair-back. 1897 [see shield-back adj., sense 20a below].

17. A fancy breed of pigeons, colours.

of various

1855 Poultry Chron. III. 140/1 {table) Toys, or any other Variety [of pigeon] not mentioned above; such as Suabians . ., Shields, Swiss, &c. 1868 Tegetmeier Pigeons xxi. 174 The Shields are so termed from bearing on their wings a coloured mark like a shield, on a white ground. 1874-6 Fulton's Bk. Pigeons 352 Shields. The colours of these are Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Silver. They are invariably plain-headed birds.

18. Physical Geogr. a. A large, seismically stable mass of Archaean basement rock having the form of a flat or gently convex peneplained platform and usu. forming the nucleus of a continent. Freq. with capital initial in proper names, as Baltic, Canadian Shield, [tr. G. schild (introduced in this sense by E. Suess Das Antlitz der Erde (1888) II. in. ii. 42).] In quot. 1968 ellipt. for Canadian Shield. 1906 H. B. C. Sollas tr. Suess's Face of Earth II. in. ii. 30 The whole of the north-east of America, from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to that of the Mackenzie.. belongs to a broad table-land of horizontal Palaeozoic beds, from beneath which the Archaean foundation crops out in the middle of the table-land not unlike a flat shield. This Archaean shield is thus surrounded by a ring of horizontally stratified sediments... It is to the exposed Archaean surface that we give the name of the Canadian shield. 1906 [see Baltic a. 3]. 1915 C. Schuchert Text-bk. Geol. II. xxi. 461 Most of the present continents have been formed around ancient protuberances of the lithosphere, the nuclear lands or shields. 1939 A. K. Lobeck Geomorphol. i. 4 Suess showed that certain substantial areas of the earth have always been rigid and unyielding, as, for example, the Canadian and Baltic Shields of America and Europe, the eastern Siberia Shield of Asia, [etc.]. 1963 D. W. & E. E. Humphries tr. Termier's Erosion & Sedimentation ii. 40 The ancient shields, which are also called ‘old platforms’, are none other than peneplains which have almost attained a final form. 1968 Beaver Autumn 14/1 He was with the voyageurs somewhere out in the bush covering some historic route over the Shield. 1969 Bennison & Wright Geol. Hist. Brit. Isles iii. 41 Before the break up of the continents the Lewisian rocks were probably contiguous with the Canadian-Greenland shield, one of the original continental cores. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth iii. 55/1 The oldest continental regions, the Precambrian Shields, are often dominated by igneous rocks such as granite or by highly metamorphosed rocks such as gneiss. b. The dome of a shield volcano. 1937 Bull. Volcanologique I. 94 Composite structures resulting from the accumulations of a series of shifting vents of shield type. 1943 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. CCXLI. 241 On the north and northwest its great lava shield abuts against the dormant or extinct volcanoes of Mauna Kea and Hualalai, and on its southeastern slope rests the smaller, younger shield of Kilauea volcano. 1976 Sci. Amer. Jan. 33/2 Olympus Mons is enormous by terrestrial standards. Its shield is between 500 and 600 kilometers across, some five times larger than the largest shield on the earth.

IV. Combinations. 19. Obvious combinations: a. simple attributive, as shield-boss; denoting a person armed with or carrying a shield, as shield-boy, -man; (sense 15 d) shield number. 1910 G. Henderson Norse Infl. Celtic Scot. ii. 42 Swordaxe, ’’‘shield-boss and cauldron. 1607 Middleton Five Gallants iv. viii. 306 Torch-bearers and ‘shield-boys. 1892 Rider Haggard Nada xxv. 210 Close up, ‘shield-men— close up! 1972 J. Gores Dead Skip i. 8 The policeman.. repeated his name, adding his ‘shield number. b. objective, as shield-maker; shields bearing,

-losing adjs.; also shield-breaking adj. and sb. 1824 Symmons tr. JEschylus' Agamem. 64 Many proud ‘shield-bearing men. 1867 Tennyson Passing of Arthur 109 ‘Shield-breakings, and the clash of brands. 1870 Bryant Iliadxx 1. 485 Shield-breaking Mars began the assault. 1848 B. D. Walsh Aristoph. Clouds 1. iv, When they saw the ‘shield-losing Cleonymus. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wiilcker 686/19 Hie scutarius, a ‘scheldmaker. 1908 Rider Haggard Ghost Kings xviii. 260, I have sold the hides to the shieldmakers.

c. similative, as shield-form, -formed, -like, -shaped adjs.; parasynthetic, as shield-backed, -gilled, -headed adjs. 1880 ‘Shield backed [see regency 7 b]. 1895 Comstock Study Insects 115 The Shield-backed Grasshoppers. Ibid. 146 The Shield-backed Bugs. 1784 tr. Spallanzani's Diss. Nat. Hist. II. 275 The pumpion with ‘shield-form fruit.

SHIELD 1835 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XXIII. 640/2 Of the three [laminae] between the eyes, the central is shield-form. 1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 108 Clipeus. Round, •shieldformed. .. Scutum. Angular or ovate shield-formed. 1835 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XXIII. 640/1 The central lamina of the three between the edges shield-formed and acuminate. 1861 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Instit. i860, 211 Order Scutibranchiata. (*Shield-gilled Crawlers). 1854 A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 307 *Shield-headed FishParasites (Peltocephala). 1552 Udall tr. Geminus' Anat. C j, The patyll or the kne bone, called of some men the •shyldelyke bone. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. v. 227 Flat shield-like processes. 1601 Weever Mirr. Martyrs C8b, If euer •sheild-shapt Comet was portent Of Criticke day, foule and pernitious. 1839 Lindley Introd. Bot. in. (ed. 3) 448 Shield-shaped (clypeatus). 1857 A. Gray First Less. Bot. (1866) Gloss. 20. a. Special comb.: shield-arm, the left arm

(cf. shield-hand)-, shield-back a., having a shield-shaped back; f shield-bone, a shoulderblade; shield-bud, a bud and a portion of the bark surrounding it used in grafting; hence shield-budding, the operation of grafting such a bud; shield-cartilage, -gristle = thyroid i a; shield-cell Bot., one of the component cells of the reproductive organ in Characeee; shieldguard, a form of trigger-guard used by some continental manufacturers of shot guns and rifles; shield-hand, an alleged ancient designation for the left hand (cf. shield-arm)-, shield-hedge = shield-wall-, f shield-knave ( = G. schildknabe) — shield-bearer; shield-leaved a. (rare), having peltate leaves; shield-lion nonce-wd., a lion emblazoned upon a heraldic shield; shield-maid, -maiden = shield-may; shield-money = scutage; shield-pin, a safetypin; shield-plate Zool., ? = scute sb.1 4; shield¬ ring = shield-wall-, shield-ship (see quot.); shield volcano [tr. G. schildvulkan (H. Reck 1910, in Geol. undpalseont. Abhandl. IX. 84)], a volcano having the form of a very broad dome with gently sloping sides, characteristic of the eruption of basic lavas of low viscosity; shieldwall arch. [OE. scildweall], the interlocked shields of a body of men fighting on foot; t shield-work, embroidery in the form of shields. 1640 tr. Verdere's Rom. of Rom. hi. xv. 58 A great gash in his *shield arm. 1897 K. W. Clouston Chippendale Period Eng. Furnit. 65 In the ‘*shield back’ chair, which is Hepplewhite’s favourite shape, the shield and its interior ornament making the splat never touch the seat of the chair at all. 1939 Country Life 11 Feb. p. xxvii (Advt.), Fine Antique Hepplewhite Mahogany Shield-back Arm Chair with attractively carved splats. 1978 Morecambe Guardian 14 Mar. 9/7 Other new items are shield-back dining chairs and matching carver chairs with loose drop-in seat, c 1600 Leg. Guy Warw. xxiv, One of his *sheeld-bones to this day Hangs in the citye of Coventrye. 1891 L. H. Bailey Nursery-bk. (1896) 95 This [style of budding] is known as shield-budding.. A •shield-bud is shown natural size. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 301 All the different modes of budding may be reduced to two:—*shield-budding.. and flute-budding. 1881 Behnke Mechanism Human Voice (ed. 2) 51 •Shield (Thyroid) Cartilage. 1881 Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 5) 391 The globule.. consists of eight valves, or, as they have been termed, •shield-cells. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 636 The first is called in Greeke dvpoeiSr/s the *ShieldGristle. 1892 Greener Breech-Loader 84 The *shieldguard, or horn before guard. 1891 Sir D. Wilson Right Hand 202 The recognition of the *shield-hand .. has already been referred to as one familiar to the ancient Greek and Roman. 1892 Rider Haggard Nada xxv. 21 o Straight at the •shield-hedge drove Umslopogaas. 1627 Hakewill Apol. (1630) 165 *Shieldknave or armour bearer to Charles the Great, i860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. vi. iii. 11 An outer spray of any *shield-leaved tree. 1872 Tennyson Gareth 1186 Sir Lancelot, having swum the river-loops—His blue *shieldlions cover’d—softly drew Behind the twain. 1851 Thorpe North. Mythol. I. 156 The Valkyriur.. are also called.. Skialdmeyiar (*shield-maids). 1889 R. B. Anderson tr. Rydberg's Teut. Myth. 192 Shield-maids (amazons) occupy the position which in the original was held by giantesses. 1849 Kemble Sax. Eng. 1. xii. I. 402 The Anglosaxon belief in the *Shield-maidens. 1870 Morris Story of Volsungs ix, A great company of shield-maidens. 1877 Green Hist. Eng. People I. 164 To commute their service for sums payable to the royal treasury under the name of ‘scutage’ or •shieldmoney. 1883 H. P. Spofford in Harper's Mag. Mar. 576/2 They are .. *shield-pins, and couldn’t prick her if they tried. 1855 Gosse Mar. Zool. 1. 99 Cephalana. Segments equally provided with appendages; no *shield-plates. 1892 Rider Haggard Nada xxv. 210 The *shield-ring wheels in upon itself. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., * Shield-ship, one carrying movable shields to protect the heavy guns except at the moment of firing. [1911 Geol. Mag. VIII. 59 The so-called ‘Schild’ volcanoes in Iceland.] 1911 Geogr. Jrnl. XXXVII. 666 These *shield-volcanoes rise from a roundish base, with a gently convex surface surmounted by an elevated ring surrounding the crater. 1944 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. xx. 457 Hawaii.. has been built up from the sea floor by the coalescence of several shield volcanoes. 1977 Whitaker's Almanack 1978 1037/1 The Isla Fernandina is the summit of a very large shield volcano rising from the sea floor to 1,495 metres above sea-level. Beowulf 3118 J?onne straela storm, strengum jebasded, scoc ofer *scildweall. 1880 Tennyson Brunanburh i, He with his brother.. Brake the shield-wall, a 1661 Holyday Juvenal (1673) 22 His gown is all ’‘‘Shield-work on azure [L. caerulea indutus scutulata]. b. In book-names (chiefly translations from

mod. Latin) of animals, birds and insects, with reference to shield-like markings, or to the shield-like character or form of the scute or

SHIELDED

254

carapace, shield snake, a venomous southern African snake, Aspidelaps scutatus, distin¬ guished by a large scale on its head. 1854 A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 371 * Shield-Animal¬ cules (Aspidiscidae). 1847 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VIII. 410 Cassida nebulosa. The Clouded •Shield-Beetle. 1854 A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 196 Shield-Beetles (Cossyphidae). 1882 Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 104 Scutata, or •Shield Bugs. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 303 Cochineal.. was proved by the observations of Lewenhoeck to be.. the female of that species of *shield-louse, or coccus, discovered in Mexico, so long ago as 1518. 1855 J. E. Gray {title) Catalogue of the *Shield Reptiles in.. the British Museum. 1850 A. White List Specim. Crustacea Brit. Mus. 84 Apus cancriformis. *Shield-Shrimp. 1870 Nicholson Man. Zool. xxxiv. (1875) 253 The *Shield-slaters (Cassidina). 1910 F. W. FitzSimons Snakes S. Afr. iv. 84 This snake is known as the *Shield Snake, because it has a large scale on its nose which is partly detached at the sides. 1973 Stand. Encycl. S. Afr. IX. 613/1 The shield-snake is egg-laying. 1863 Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. III. 70 The Philippine •Shield-tail {Uropeltis Philippinus). 1854 A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 331 *Shield-Urchins (Scutellidse). 1896 tr. Boas' Text-bk. Zool. 138 Shield-urchins or Clypeastridae.

c. In book-names of plants, as shield-fern, various forms of the genus Aspidium; shieldflower, any plant of the genus Aspidistra. 1814 Pursh Flora Amer. Septentr. II. 709 *Shield-fern. Aspidium. 1817 Purton Brit. Plants II. 506 Aspidium filix mas. Common Hedge Shield-fern. Ibid. 508 Aspidium Thelypteris. Marsh Shield-fern. Ibid. Aspidium Oreopteris. Heath Shield-fern. 1889 Hardwicke's Sci. Gossip XXV. 46/2 Male shield fern. 1884 W. Miller Plant-n. 125/1 •Shieldflower. The genus Aspidistra.

shield (Jifid), v. Forms: 1-2 scildan, (jescildan), 1 sceldan, sceoldan, scyldan, (2 sculdan), 3 scilden, shildenn, sschild, ssilde, (schuld), 3-4 shild, sschilde, 3-5 silde, schild(e, scheld, (ssulde), 3-6 shelde, 4 ssylde, sceild, 4-5 scild, shilde, schylde, s(c)held(e, (schulde), 4-6 shylde, 5 sheelde, (scholde), 5-6 scheild, 6 sheild, shielde, 7 sheeld, 6- shield. [OE. scildan, gescildan, f. scild shield sb. Cf. G. schilden, ON. skjalda, to provide with a shield.] 1. a. trans. To protect (a person or object) by the interposition of some means of defence; to afford shelter to; to protect (an accused person, etc.) by authority or influence. Const, from, f of, also (OE. and early ME.) fwith. Often used in precatory formulas: cf. 5. Beowulf 1658 ./Etrihte waes gu6 getwaefed, nymSe mec god scylde. C825 Vesp. Ps. xc. 14 Ic.-gescildu hine [Vulg. protegam eum]. ciooo Sax. Leechd. II. 238 Scilde hine wif? cyle. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 53 pe feder and pe sune and pe halie gast iscilde us per wi8 and wiS alle sunnen. c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 23 De Sie mu3en scilden fram Sese 3ewer3ede gaste(s). 12.. Moral Ode 299 (Egerton MS.) Sculde him elc man pe wile he mai, of )?os helle pine, c 1290 St. Brandan 559 in S. Eng. Leg. 235 Seint Brendan seide, poru3 godes grace we schullen schilde pe. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7355 Mercurius, pat vs saues & schildes, Hap vs brought vnto pys yldes. c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 197 God shilde his cors fro shonde. C1403 Clanvowe Cuckow Night. 259 And shilde us fro the Cukkow and his lore. 1565 J. Phillip Patient Grissell 1638 (Malone Soc.) Besechinge God to sheild thee from all in conuenience. 1575 Gascoigne Glasse Govt. 1. v. Wks. 1910 II. 26 So must the father shylde His youthfull Sonnes, that they be not beguylde, By wicked world. 1582 Stanyhurst TEneis 11. (Arb.) 63 Thow shalt bee shielded with my protection alway. 1605 Chapman, etc. Eastward Hoe 1. A 2 b, And as for my rising by other mens fall; God shield me. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. ix. 34 If the kinder Pow’rs Preserve our Plains, and shield the Mantuan Tow’rs. 1797 Coleridge Christabel 254 O shield her! shield sweet Christabel! 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms in. 140 For there was a power in the gracious skies To shield their saints from ill. 1861 O. W. Holmes Agnes v. 10 The love that won her girlish charms Must shield her matron fame. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 406 The sky shade attached, to shield the lens from the sun’s rays.

b. Electr. = screen v. i c. Const .from, against. Also absol. 1922 Wireless World i July 416/1 The high amplifications possible with multi-stage valve receivers.. lead to unexpected results when endeavouring to shield instruments from radio frequency fields. 1935 F. E. Terman Measurements in Radio Engin. xiv. 342 There are circumstances when it is desirable to shield against electrostatic fields without interfering in any way with the magnetic fields which are present. 1970 J. Shepherd et al. Higher Electr. Engin. (ed. 2) vii. 226 Sometimes sufficient shielding can be obtained by a few short-circuited copper turns, placed round the object to be shielded in such a direction that the axis of the turns is in the direction of the magnetic field.

2. absol. To offer a defence, to act as a shield. c888 /Elfred Boeth. xviii. §4 Ac siS8an he his hispinge jehered haefde, pa scylde he onjean swifie unjepyldelice. 13 .. E.E. Allit. P. C. 440 per he busked hym a bour, pe best pat he my3t.. For to schylde fro the schene, oper any schade kest. 1822 Byron Juan vm. evi, The truly brave, When they behold the brave oppress’d with odds, Are touched with a desire to shield and save. 1849 Robertson Serm. Ser. 1. xxi. (1866) 348 A desire to shield from pain.

f3. To arm with a shield. Obs. c 1205 Lay. 4727 Brenne wes swiSe wra$ & bannede is ferde scheldede his scalken. 1470-85 Malory Arthur vm. xxxix. 333 Whan sir Tristram was..wel shelded and swerded. 1667 Denham Direct. Painter 11. ii. 126 But neither riding Pegasus for speed, Nor with the Gorgon shielded at his need. fig. 1576 Gascoigne Droome of Doomesday, Let. Bittern. Death Wks. 1910 II. 440 Armed with Fayth, shylded with Hope, strengthned with Charitie.

f4. To ward off, to keep away. (With material or immaterial object.) Also with off. Obs. a 1400 Leg. Rood viii. 259 God schop me a scheld, schame to schilde. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 631/1 They brought with them theyr usuall weedes, fitt to sheild the cold. 1657 W. Rand tr. Gassendi's Life Peiresc 11. 253 Whose favours Peireskius made use of only in deprecating and shielding of, the dangers and discommodities of his friends. 1771 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. II. 259 He saw only one method of shielding off the miseries that threatened the state. 1788 Massachusetts Spy 23 Oct. 2/1 The reason why the poison did not prove fatal,.. is supposed to be owing to her being bit through the cloth, which shielded much of the poison from her hand. 1822 ‘B. Cornwall’ Poet. Wks., Lysander & lone i, As though A spirit of goodness peep’d from out the earth To shield decay. f 5. In deprecatory phr. God shield, usually with a clause or sentence as direct object, rarely with addition of an indirect object; also absol. as an exclamation: = God forbid. Obs. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1347 >at he in pine bendes come god it ssilde me. 13.. Gaw. Gr. Knt. 1776 ‘God schylde’, quod pe schalk, ‘pat schal not be-falle!’ C1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 20 God shilde that it sholde so bifalle. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 3521 Bot me to do slike a dede, dri3tin it schilde! 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. July 9 Ah God shield, man, that I should clime. 1589 Almond for Parrat E3, Bishops were the smallest bugs that were aimed at in this extraordinary beneuolence, God shield the court haue escapt their collections. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xii. lxxi. (1612) 296 No Clarke will so expound that Text, God shield they should, say I. 1674 Blount Glossogr. (ed. 4). 'shield-.bearer. An attendant who carries the shield of a warrior. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 427 His [Epaminondas’] esquire or shield-bearer had received a good piece of money for the ransome of a prisoner. 1761 London & Environs I . 45 Chaucer.. was employed as a shield-bearer to the King. 1852 Grote Greece 11. lxxx. X. 479 He first inquired whether his shield was safe and his shield-bearer answering in the affirmative produced it before his eyes. 1875 Morris JEneids 11. 477 Now shield-bearer Automedon and all the Scyrian host Closed on the walls. fig. 1893 Goldw. Smith United States 165 Jefferson’s successor was his shield-bearer, Madison. b. (See quot.) 1911 Century Diet. Suppl., Shield-bearer, any one of the small elachistid moths of the genus Coptodisca (formerly Aspidisca), as the resplendent shield-bearer. 'shield-board. Obs. exc. dial. Forms: 4 cheldbrede, scheldbrede, 6 shel(d)brede, (sheldbredth), 7 shelboard, 7- shield-board, (9 dial, shell-board), [f. shield sb. 4- bred sb., afterwards replaced by the cogn. and synon. board sb. (Cf. shilboard.) (MHG. had schiltbret for wooden shield.)]

1. The mould-board of a plough. CI325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 169 L’eschuchoun [glossed the cheld-brede, v.r. (Rel. Ant.) sheldebred]. CI340 Nominale (Skeat) 856 Vomer et escochoun Schare and scheldbrede. 1523-34 Fitzherb. Husb. §2 In Kente they haue other maner of plowes,.. some wyll toume the sheld-bredth at euery landes ende, and plowe all one waye. 1613 Markham Eng. Husbandman 1. Introd. 63 b, The eighth part is called the shelboard. 1652 Blithe Engl. Improv. Impr. (1653) 190 And the Shield-board, some call Breast-board, or Earth-board, or Furrow-board, I shall retaine the Shield board. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Diet. s.v. Plough, The names of the particular parts of a plough are these.. Breast board, throw board, Shield board &c. 2. Antiq. A wooden shield. 1872 Archaeol. Cant. VIII. 223 Piles of shieldboards were found lying one above another..; bundles of arrows [etc.]. shielded ('fiildid), ppl. a. [f. shield sb. and v. + -ED.]

1. a. Bearing a shield. 971 Blickl. Horn. 221 Twejen englas.. gesceldode and gesperode. 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxxviii. 5 Men.. alle sheeldid and helmyd. 1870 Bryant Iliad vm. 269 Crowded close with steeds and shielded men. a 1875 R. S. Hawker in Byles Life (1905) 136 The charm’d and shielded Men. transf. 1830 Tennyson Grass-hopper Poems 109 Clap thy shielded sides and carol. 1883 R. W. Dixon Mono 1. v. 12 And through the seas the hidden isles they hunt In shielded vessels. b. Nat. Hist. In names of various animals characterized by a hard shield-like carapace or scute. 1662 Comenius' Janua Ling. Triling. 42 The shielded tortoise. 1854 A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 244 ShieldedBugs (Scutelleridae). Ibid. 265 Shielded-Centipedes (Cermatiidae). Ibid. 289 Shielded-Crabs (Dorippidae). 1855 J. E. Gray Catal. Shield Reptiles Brit. Mus. Introd., Shielded Reptiles (Cataphracta). 2. Furnished or hung with shields. 1805 Scott Hellvellyn 27 With scutcheons of silver the coffin is shielded. 1876 Morris Sigurd in. (1910) 274 And thence forth to.. the high-built shielded bale. 1892 Brooke E.E. Lit. iv. 113 The shielded hall of Valhalla. % 3. ? Emblazoned, nonce-use. 1820 Keats Eve St. Agnes xxiv, And in the midst.. A shielded scutcheon blush’d with blood of queens and kings. 4. techn. Protected by a ‘shield’. 1855 Orr's Circ. Sci.t Inorg. Nat. 247 With regard to the relative value of the different safety lamps that have been introduced, the shielded Davy may be said still to keep its place. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 Oct. 12/1 Extremely fast ships, .. mounting shielded guns of very great power. 1927 Morning Post 8 Sept. 10/1 The high frequency stage should be screened, and if one of the new shielded valves is used the circuit will be a simple one, easily handled, and cheaply built. 1970 J. Shepherd et al. Higher Electr. Engin. (ed. 2) vii. 225 For steady (or static) fields, the only method of achieving shielding is to provide a low-reluctance magnetic

SHIELDER

SHIFT

255

path for the stray flux, in such a way that this flux bypasses the shielded point.

shielder ('Jiffdatr)). [f. shield v. -f -er1.] One who shields or protects another. 01300 E.E. Psalter xxx. 5 Jpou salt lede me fra pat snare whilk pai Hid to me, for schilder artou ai. 1902 S. Smith Life Work xiii. 134 He was .. a shielder of criminal anarchy.

shielding ('Jiddip), vbl. sb. [-ing1.] 1. The action of the verb shield; an instance of this. 1581 A. Hall Iliad i. 3 Whereby [Phoebus] appeasd, some shielding we may haue. 1846 Dickens Piet. Italy, Milan 133 A reforming Pope would need a little shielding, even now. 1883 Athenaeum 27 Oct. 535/1 The most practical authority on military iron shielding in the United Kingdom. Comb. 1875 Morris JEneids xii. 491 ./Eneas stayed, and gathered him behind his shielding-gear.

2. Physics. Material which protects or shields: a. against electric and magnetic fields (cf. shield sb. 8d); also, a shield. 1930 Proc. IRE XVIII. 435 The complete exciter unit is enclosed with a metal grill in addition to the individual shielding compartment for the various stages. 1933 Practical Wireless 4 Feb. 962/2 A heavy flexible metal shielding fits tightly over these bakelite shells, and through the shells ordinary rubber-covered lead-in wire is threaded. 1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xvii. 31 The Wagner ground connection.. can be used in place of shielding at lower frequencies if the utmost precision is not required.

b. against radiation (cf. shield sb. 8e). 1945 Hawley & Leifson Atomic Energy 185 There was not sufficient radioactive emanation to be dangerous within a radius of fifty feet of the pile; notwithstanding this, precautionary shielding would be necessary in a locomotive unit. 1950 Chemical Engin. Progress XLVI. 109/1 To critical size must be added enough shielding to make reactors safe, and the amount of shielding required.. is of considerable volume and weight. 1958 W. K. Mansfield Elem. Nucl. Physics v. 45 The shielding of a reactor will be designed to absorb the y-rays rather than a and /3-rays. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropaedia XIII. 319/1 The shielding of the reactor must keep heat losses and radiation levels external to the reactor down to acceptable levels.

shielding ('Jirldir)), ppl. a. [f. shield -ing2.] That shields or protects.

v.

+

More Leaves 62 Opposite to this, on a place called Ruidh Reinnich, or the ‘ferny shieling’, a fire was kindled.

Victoria

2. A hut of rough construction erected on or near such a piece of pasture: = shiel sb. 1. 01585 Polwart Flyting to. Montgomerie (Tullib.) 201 In stoir of lambes and lang taillit wedders.. In scheilling, tyit fast in tedderis. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 806 Little cottages here and there, which they call Sheales or Shealings. 1673 Rec. Dingwall Presbyt. (S.H.S.) 330 [The] Popishe Dishaunters were not cited in reguard that they were dwelling at their sheallings, and therefore [etc.]. 1771 Pennant Tour Scot. 1. (1774) 109 We refreshed ourselves with some goats’ whey, at a Sheelin. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1773 (1831) II. 373 Little summer huts, called shielings. c 1810 Tannahill Poems (1846) 100 So merrily we’ll sing, As the storm rattles o’er us, ’Till the dear sheeling ring Wi’ the light lilting chorus. 1815 Scott Guy M. viii, Ye may stable your stirks in the shealings at Derncleugh. 1819Leg. Montrose xviii, Montrose .. was laid down to sleep in a miserable shieling, i860 G. H. Kingsley in Galton Vac. Tourists (1861) 163 The lassies used to live in sheilings. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xxiv. 405 Lonely sheilings perched far up on the hills. 1895 Crockett Men of Moss-Hags xiii. 298 It seemed a hundred miles to the shieling on the hill.

3. attrib. 1607 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 710/1 Scheilinge-plaices. 1639 Ibid. 322/1 Sitting or eating of the scheilling grasse. 1849 Whittier Kathleen 19 And nightly round the shealing-fires Of her the gleeman sung. 1884 Spectator 17 May 642 The shealing feast is a very simple one, each housewife producing a cheese of last year’s produce. 1901 Scotsman 12 Nov. 8/2 Little has been recorded of shieling life in historical books.

shier, shiere, obs. ff. sheer a., shire sb.

shieve, obs. form of sheave sb.1, shive. shife, shifer, obs. ff. sheave sb.1, shiver. f shiffer. Obs. [ad. G. fschijfer, now schiefer slate. Cf. shiver sb.1 3.] Slate. 1683 Pettus Fleta Minor ii. i. ioo The fair Gold that is found .. in .. a Blew shiffer [orig. Ger. Schijfer] streamy and yellow iron.

shiffer, obs. form of shiver.

shieldless ('Jirldlis), a. [-less.] shield, unprotected by a shield.

01871 De Morgan Budget Par ad. (1872) 271 Two or three additional shiffle-shuffles towards defence of saying the Athanasian curse in church and unsaying it out of church, are hardly noticed.

a 1400 Octouian 1131 Now hy bej? scheldles bop tweyn J?ese champyouns. 1796 Southey Joan of Arc x. 576 The Frenchman’s battle-axe Drove unresisted thro the shieldless mail. 1887 Swinburne Locrine 111. ii. 108 A thing like thee .. Would cast a shieldless soldier forth to death.

'shieldling. nonce-wd. [f. shield A protected person.

v.

+ -ling1.]

1885 Meredith Diana II. xiii. 325 A young actress, like Miss Courtney—Mrs. Warwick’s latest shieldling.

shieldmay ('Juldmei). Teut. Myth. [f. shield sb.1 + may sb.1, after ON. skjaldmse-r.] A maiden warrior, an Amazon. (By some Eng. writers used as equivalent to Valkyrie.) 1849 Kemble Sax. Eng. 1. xii. I. 393 The Wtelcyrian or Shieldmays were the choosers of the slain. 1870 Morris Story of Volsungs xxiv. Brynhild answered, ‘.. I am a shieldmay, and wear helm on head even as the kings of war’.

shieldrake, obs. form of sheldrake. f'shieldy, a. Obs. rare-1, [f. shield sb. + -Y.] Having the form of ‘shields’ or scales; transl. of mod.L. scutellaris. 1681 Grew Musseum 11. §iii. iv. 236 The Shieldy Tree Mosse. Muscus arboreus scutellaris.

shieling, shealing ('Jiffip). Sc. Forms: 6 schaeling, schealling, schilling, (scheilding), 6-7 scheilling, 6, 9 scheeling, 7 schel(l)ing, 7-8 shealling, 8 sheelin, 9 sheeling, sheilin(g, shielin, shilling, 7- shealing, 8- shieling, [f. shiel + -ING1.

In the vernacular form the word has not been found earlier than the latter half of the 16th c.; but 13th c. documents show a latinized scalinga, which represents either this word (cf. schale early var. of shiel) or an etymologically equivalent *skaling (f. SCALE sb.1, ON. skale). 1225 Registrum Monast. Passelet (Maitland Club) 212 Cum libertate siccandi retia sua et faciendi domos et scalingas piscatoribus suis. c 1230-68 Cockersand Chartul. (Chetham Soc.) I. 259 Versus aquilonem infra scalingam qu£e fuit Candelani et scalingam quam Ricardus .. tenuit.] 1. A piece of pasture to which cattle may be

driven for grazing. 1568 in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1575, 628/1 Lie schaelingis, in baroniis de Drumcardny et Bewfort. 1590 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 6n/1 Cum communi pasturagio lie scheilding infra lie Glen de Glengorf. 1594 Ibid. 48/1 Lie outseattis et scheallingis. 1596 Ibid. 132/1 Cum communiae et communi pastura ac lie schilling in Glenalmond consueta. 1602 Ibid. 481/1 Cum .. lacubus, lie scheillingis, montibus [etc.]. 1711 in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874) 138 Shellings grasings woods pasturages. 1806 Gazetteer Scot. (ed. 2) 288 The parish., has been twice inundated by water-spouts, one of which carried off a whole shealing or grazing, with the family and cattle. 1843 Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. 59 note, A shiel or shieling is.. a summer pasturage for flocks. 1884 Q.

shiffle-shuffle. rare. [Formed by reduplication

shifle, obs. form of shuffle

An

v.

shift (Jift), sb.

Forms: 3 scift, 4-5 (6-7 Sc.) schift, 5-6 shyft, 5-7 shifte, 6 shyfte, schyfte (schiffte, sheft, Sc. scheift), 6- shift. [ME. schift, related to shift v. Cf. ON. skipti neut., division, exchange (see skift sb.1), MSw. skipt fern., division of property, skipte neut. (? and fern.) division, portion, change (mod.Sw. skift neut., spell of work, relay of workmen, skifte neut., division of property, change, rotation of crops, spell of work, relay of workmen), NFris. skeft division, stratum, skaft one of successive parties of workmen. Many of these senses belong also to MHG., MLG. schicht(e, mod.G. schicht division of property, stratum, layer, one of several sets of persons or things, period of working time (in mining), one of several successive parties of miners working together for a fixed period of hours. It seems probable that the Ger. word is identical with the Eng. and Scandinavian words, the substitution of (xt) for (ft) being found in other words introduced into standard German from LG. (cf. e.g. G. sacht = Eng. soft).]

I. fl. a. A movement to do something, a beginning. [The form scift, however, may possibly represent skift sb.1, which is recorded from c 1400.] 01300 Cursor M. 10480 And J?us to prai sco gaf a scift.

t b. at one shift: at one time. Obs. [Cf. I cel. eitt skipti once (Vigf.).] c 1325 Metr. Horn. 26 The faurtend day at a schift Sal bathe brin bathe erthe and lift.

II. f 2. A share, a portion assigned on division. Obs. [Cf. MSw. skipt, G. schicht (Law) ‘divisio bonorum’.] 1461 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 301 The mesuring of salte and corne that sholde long to the shifte of the communes. 1574 Ibid. 334 The Maior hath but an Aldermans shift saving onely of every shippe of wyne. 1627 MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., Pittance to help make vpp on of our Shiftes of monye xij d.

III. 3. a. An expedient, an ingenious device for effecting some purpose. 1530 Palsgr.

267/1

1523 Berners Froiss. I. ccccxiv. 293 We knowe all the shyfte in the countre [nous scauons tous les refuges] and so do nat they. ci6oo ? Montgomerie Banks Helicon 105, I have no schift bot to resing All power into hir handis. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Ivstine xiii. 60 Which pretense when Eumenes had espied, he had no other shift, but to try the matter against the traitor by the sword. 1639 Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 74 This old man having no more shift to veile what he had hitherto endeavoured to conceale, declared unto his children that she was his wife.

fc. An entertaining or humorous device; a jest. Obs. 1575 Gascoigne Kenelw. Castle 11. iv. Wks. 1910 II. 117 Delight, and pleasures gallant shifts Haue fed your minde with many a Princely sport. 1579 Lyly Euphues, Anat. W. 82 Me thinkes that you smile at some pleasaunt shift. 1626 {title) The first and best parts of Scoggin’s Iests: full of witty Mirth and pleasant Shifts. d. Faculty of contrivance, resourcefulness.

rare. Cf. shiftless. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 106 And in Menander also.. the housbandes reuile their wiues, calling theim, bliteas, of so small shifte or helpe, that thei wer as good to haue wiues of beetes. 1731-8 Swift Pol. Conversat. 92 Hang them, say I, that has no Shift. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xv. v. (1872) VI. 19 Friedrich’s budget is a sore problem upon him; needing endless shift and ingenuity.

1572 Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 133 Except thay have of thair awin, or sum honest and lauchfull schift quhairupoun to leif. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 116 The 3oungest ar put to sum honest schift. 1798 D. Crawford Poems 57 (E.D.D.) Will ye compare me to a rogue, I always mak ane honest shift.

shierifewike, obs. form of sheriffwick.

1851 G. W. Curtis Nile Notes xxii. 103 In the tropics, the great tree is a great god. Far outspreading shielding arms, he folds his worshippers from the burning sun. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion 1. ii. 23 And crept for shelter to my shielding arms.

Having no

in phrase (to have) no other shift. Obs. exc. dial.

fe. Manner of livelihood, to make an honest shift, to gain one’s living honestly. Sc. Obs.

shier, variant of shyer.

from shuffle. Cf. shilly-shally.] attempted shuffle or evasion.

walls of the county jail. 1878 Bosw. Smith Carthage xix. 373 Other anecdotes illustrate the thousand shifts and devices of which Hannibal was a master. b. Available means of effecting an end. Often

Schyfte chevesaunce, cheuesance.

1559 Mirr. Mag., Cambridge iv, I sought a shift their tenures to vndo. 1595 Shaks. John iv. iii. 7 lie finde a thousand shifts to get away. 1624 Quarles Sion's Sonn. viii. 5 My Dove, whom daily dangers teach new shifts. 1711 Addison Sped. No. 44 (P 8 The innumerable Shifts that small Wits put in practice to raise a Laugh. 1725 De Foe Eng. Tradesm. (1732) I. iii. 28 The brickmakers all about London do mix sea-coal-ashes .. with their clay .. and by that shift save eight chaldron of coals out of eleven. 1842 J. Aiton Dom. Econ. (1857) 118 A single man. .can at any time try all the shifts, from taking land down to breaking stones within the high

4. a. A fraudulent or evasive device, a stratagem; a piece of sophistry, an evasion, subterfuge. 1545 Ad 37 Hen. VIII, c. 9 § 1 Concerninge Usury shiftes corrupt bargaynes and chevysaunces. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. 1. 24 If the Papistes haue any shame, let them no more vse this shift [Fr. qu'ils n'vsent plus d'oresenauant de ces subterfuges] to say that images are lay mennes bokes. C1596 Sir T. More (Malone Soc.) 757, I conceiue your Lordship, and haue learnde your shift so well, that I must needes be apprehensiue. 1606 Shaks. Ant. & Cl. iii. xi. 63 Now I must.. dodge And palter in the shifts of lownes, who With halfe the bulke o’ th’ world plaid as I pleas’d, Making, and marring Fortunes. 1635 R. N. tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. II. 133 This the Queene of Scots delegates rejected as a frivolous shift. 1681 Trial of S. Colledge 104 He is a man lives by his Shifts. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 207 How many subsist upon begging, borrowing, and other shifts. 1790 Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. I. 37 A nobleman, who was not to be put off with ministerial shifts. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. 11. xii. (1869) 253 Their whole life is a succession of shifts, excuses, and expedients. 1870 Bryant Iliad viii. 116 Ulysses, man of subtle shifts,.. whither dost thou flee? tb. alliterative phrases. Obs. 1598 Barckley Felic. Man (1631) iii Those goods that are gotten by shift, are for the most part lost with shame. 1600 A. Bourcher in R. Edwards Par ad. Dainty Dev. C ivb, Got with shifts are spent with shame. 1601 Munday Downf. Earl Huntington 11. D 3 b, You .. as yee liu’d by shifts, shall die with shame.

5. a. An expedient necessitated by stress of circumstances; a forced measure. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. 11. §102 Cottington.. being Chancellor of the Exchequer.. had his hand in many hard shifts for money. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 11. xxix. 168 Such dammage, or shifts, are all Common-wealths forced to. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 141 [f 9 It were endless to recount the shifts to which I have been reduced. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 20 Being reduced to very extraordinary shifts for supplying the place of bread. 1823 Scott Peveril xlv, Many of them had shared the wants, and shifts, and frolics of his exile. 1858 J. G. Holland Titcomb's Lett. i. 17 That pride of personal independence .. that resorts to desperate shifts rather than incur an obligation. tb. for (a) shift: as a makeshift; for want of

something better. Obs. 1523 Hen. VIII in St. Papers (1836) IV. 47 We suppose that many of your souldeours shalbe founden hable to stande in stede of gunners, metely well for a shyfte. 1599 Shaks. Much Ado 11. iii. 80 Ha, no, no faith, thou singst well enough for a shift. 1683 in Phil. Trans. (1693) XVII. 629 For a shift, common or Sterling Silver will serve the turn.

c. by the shift: by way of makeshift; ‘at a pinch’ (Eng. Dial. Diet.). So on a shift. Now dial. 1665 Pepys Diary 16 Nov., I . .had a good bedd by the shift, of Wyndham’s. 1842 J. Aiton Dom. Econ. (1857) 127 Dinners made up on a shift of bread and cheese, and the like, are always the most expensive. 1897 Leeds Mercury Suppl. 29 May (E.D.D.), Ah can eyt a pund bi t’shift.

d. one's (or the) last (or futter) shift: the last resource, to be at (funder) one's last shift(s: to be at the last extremity, in the greatest difficulty; so to put, drive, reduce, etc. to the last shifts. a 1604 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 109 You see me .. now extremely driven to my utter shifts. 1638 Hamilton Papers (Camden) 15 The consideration of thes dangers, and not beeing abill longer to satisfie them with words draufe me to my last shifts. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 276 Whoever makes use of Chalk for a Dressing, I think, is under the last Shift. 1796 Nelson 18 July in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 216 They are at their last shifts.

e. to put or drive (one) to one's shifts, to put or drive to a (or fthe) shift or shifts (often with adj. as hard, miserable, etc.): to bring to extremity.

SHIFT f to leave (a person) to his shifts: to leave him to help himself. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius 1. Bivb, He was driuen to so narrowe shifte, that to furnishe hym selfe of money, he became a Pyrat. 1581 W. S. Compend. 15 You draue him to his shiftes. 1589 R. Robinson Golden Mirr. (1851) 18 Except that Tuilie were thy name, Thy pen were put to shiftes. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 195 These knightes.. were much driven to their shiftes, to get money for that journey. 1636 Earl Manchester Contempl. Mortis 91 Weake faith lookes for means, and is put to shifts when she sees them fail. 1663 Cowley Ess., Of Solitude f 3 (i9°6) 393 It *s a deplorable condition, this, and drives a man sometimes to pittiful shifts in seeking how to avoid Himself. 1683 Kennett tr. Erasmus on Folly 125 They are reduc’d to hard shifts, must grapple with poverty [etc.]. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. hid. 328 He knew this to be the Elephant, that had put him so hard to his shifts, a 1715 Burnet Own Time 11. (1897) I. 403 Many .. who were put to hard shifts to live. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 72 The gunner being thus driven to his shifts, made down to the shore. 1775 Sheridan Rivals v. i, The dear delicious shifts I used to be put to, to gain half a minute’s conversation. 1784 Bage Barham Downs I. 173 Two or three bad harvests, a murrain, or a blight, for example might put you sadly to your shifts. 1842 G. S. Faber Prov. Lett. (1844) I. 110 When gentlemen resort to such arguments, it shows that they must be sorely put to their shifts. 1849 Ainsworth's Mag. XVI. 524 A man likely to be put to the shift in these days would be a fool indeed to marry without it [money]. 1856 Macaulay Biog., Goldsm. (i860) 60 He was still often reduced to pitiable shifts. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay i, He was put to strange shifts to make out a living. 6. to make (a) shift.

a. To make efforts, bestir oneself, try all means. Now dial. Also -\to make busy, good, hard shift. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 285 Bot yit I must make better shyft, And it be right. C1535 Ld. J. Butler in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 11. II. 51 But God willing I woll make bessye shifte to send the said mony in haste unto him. 1570-6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent 291 They made eache man the best shift for himselfe, that they could. 1600 Holland Livy n. x. 50 Euerie man made shift for himselfe. 1675 Hobbes Odyssey xvii. 411 And to come hither thence, I made hard shift. 1859 Geo. Eliot Adam Bede ii, I’d make a shift, and fend indoor and out, to give you more liberty. 1882 Stevenson Mem. & Portr. xi. (1887) 175 What they have endured unbroken, we also.. will make a shift to bear.

b. To attain one’s end by contrivance or effort; to succeed; to manage to do something, f to make shift of: to manage to secure (some result). 1504 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 184, I have sent it you with John Walker at this tyme; the which I shall shew you how I mayd schift of, at your comminge. 1594 Kyd Cornelia 1. 87 A Ship vnrig’d Can make no shift to combat with the Sea. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl F 1, If I could meete my enemies one by one thus, I might make pretty shift with ’em in time. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. ix. 128 The Horse .. made the best shift of all. 1895 ‘Q.’ (Quiller-Couch) Wandering Heath 8 He made shift pretty well till he got to Lowland, and then had to drop upon his hands and knees and crawl.

c. To succeed with difficulty, to manage with effort to do something. So f to make a hard shift. 1538 in Lett. Suppress. Monasteries (Camden) 194 Thei war not abill to make schiffte to paye for my costis. 1627-8 Laud Diary 5 Feb.-17 Mar., I made a shift to go and christen my Lord Duke’s son. 1639 Fuller Holy War iv. iii. (1640) 171 Sixty yeares almost did the Latines make a hard shift to hold Constantinople, a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. xi. §104 Most of the Foot made a shift to conceal themselves. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 77 If 5, I.. can make a shift to command my Attention at a Puppet-Show or an Opera. 1752 Fielding Amelia iv. ii, Booth made a shift to support his lovely burden. 1832 Ht. Martineau Ireland i. 13 Every year less and less came up, and that which did make a shift to grow yielded less and less meal. 1847 Charl. Bronte Jane Eyre xi, When she first came here she could speak no English; now she can make shift to talk it a little.

d. To do one’s best with (inferior means), to be content with, put up with. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 1. 32 The bread is very drye.. but the common people remediyng that with Larde or Oyle, doo make a shift with it as wel as they can. 1629 B. Jonson New Inn 11. i, Thou must make shift with it; pride feels no pain. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 1. 33 When they have no Spoons, they make an easie shift without them. 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. xi. 202 Turners seldom use them, but make shift with either of the other [tools]. 1733 Swift Let to Mrs. Caesar 30 July, I cannot make shift nor bear fatigue as I used to do. 1770 Luckombe Hist. Printing 319 The Press-Stone should be marble, though sometimes Master Printers make shift with purbeck. 1842 J. H. Newman Paroch. Serm. V. 71 Act then as persons who are in a dwelling not their own;.. who accordingly, make shift and put up with any thing that comes to hand. 1885 Bookseller July 650/2 We cannot afford to employ .. efficient assistants but have to make shift with cheap labour.

IV. Change, substitution, succession. f7. Change or substitution of one thing for another of the same kind. Obs. 1580 Tusser Husb. (1878) 86 Poore cattle craue some shift to haue. 1625 Wotton Let. to N. Pey in L. P. Smith Life & Lett. (1907) II. 288 My going to Oxford was not merely for shift of air.

f8. a. A plurality of things of the same kind that are or may be used successively. Obs. 1562 Bullein Bulwarke, Bk. Simples (1579) 30 Let bothe Pease and Beanes bee .. tenderly sodden in shifte of waters, before you doe eate theim. 1567-9 Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 633 It is fit for a Pope to haue shift of mindes. 1592 Greene Groatsw. Wit (1874) 25 He had shift of lodgings, where in euery place his Hostesse writ vp the wofull remembrance of him. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. 11. vi, He hath shift of names, sir: some call him Apple John and some

SHIFT

256 Signior Whiffe. 1611 Second Maiden's Tragedy 936 (Malone Soc.) She has her shifte of frendes.

fb. A set or suit (of sails, scenes). Obs. 1592 in Hakluyt Voy. (1600) III. 845 Being prouided onely of one shift of sailes all worne. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 17 A shift of sayles. 1754 A. Drummond Trav. i. 15 They had three or four shifts of very good scenes.

9. a. Change (of clothing); concr. one of several suits of clothing, or of several garments of the same kind belonging to one person. Obs. exc. dial. c 1570 W. Wager The Longer thou livest 1104 (Brandi) Of rayment he shall haue shiftes twentie. 1600 G. Best in Hakluyt Voy. III. 83 Hee that had fiue or sixe shifts of apparell had scarce one drie threed to his backe. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes 13 Some passengers of the ship, who had no great store of linnen for shift, desired leave to go ashoare. 1833 Sel. Comm. Cinque-port Pilots 11 The men have not a shift of clothes. 1879 Miss Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. 1886 S'. IT. Line. Gloss.

fb. A player’s dressing-room in a theatre. 1667 Pepys Diary 5 Oct., She took us up .. to the women’s shift, where Nell was dressing herself. 01704 T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com., Play-Ho. Wks. 1709 III. 1. 42 If She goes to her Shift, ’tis Ten to One but he follows her.

10. a. A body-garment of linen, cotton, or the like; in early use applied indifferently to men’s and women’s underclothing; subsequently, a woman’s ‘smock’ or chemise. Now chiefly N. Amer. In the 17th c. smock began to be displaced by shift as a more ‘delicate’ expression; in the 19th c. the latter, from the same motive, gave place to chemise. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. 1. i, I haue knowne some of them, that haue .. at length bene glad for a shift (though no cleane shift) to lye a whole winter in halfe a sheete. 1648 Winyard Midsummer-Moon 4 Is the University Pim’d, and therefore must change shifts, or are men turnd out.. for being scabby? 1691 D'Emilianne's Frauds Rom. Monks 96 They are stript stark Naked in another [room], without suffering them so much as to keep on their Shifts. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 367 P5 A Lady’s Shift may be metamorphosed into Billet-doux. 1756 Frances Brooke Old Maid No. 34. 204 But remember that Julia and Rosara .. fail not to bring with them checqu’d shifts to appear in at church. 1828 Miss Mitford Village III. 114 Work was lost —even the new shifts of the Vicar’s lady. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia x, A.. negress dressed in true negro fashion, in a snow-white cotton shift, a scarlet cotton petticoat, and a bright yellow turban. 1890 Swinburne Stud. Prose & Poetry (1894) 216 A handsome girl, who was swimming, clothed with a white shift and a short petticoat. 1927 M. de la Roche Jalna xix. 250 He pictured her in a fine embroidered shift, curled softly beneath the silk eiderdown. 1929 W. Faulkner Sartoris 177 The flowers you know are all there, in their shifts and with their hair combed out for the night. 1936 M. de la Roche Whiteoak Harvest xxii. 301 She is such a slack creature that I dare say the poor child doesn’t own a clean shift.

b, A straight loose dress. 1957 M. B. Picken Fashion Diet. 293/1 Shift,.. loose dress hanging straight from shoulders, with fulness closely belted at waistline. 1965 H.L. Brockman Theory of Fashion Design v. 95/2 The shift automatically lengthens the figure at the expense of widening it at the waistline. 1975 D. Lodge Changing Places v. 177 Girls in kaftans, saris, skinny sweaters, bloomers, shifts, muu-muus.

11. Each of the successive crops in a course of rotation. 1715 Pennecuik Wks. (1815) 92 (E.D.D.) The adoption in this country of the common course of four shifts, before pasture. 1787 W. H. Marshall Norfolk (1795) I. 131 An East Norfolk farmer divides his farm into what he calls ‘six shifts’, to receive his principal crops in rotation. 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. 1. Add. 19 By the frequent ploughings given to the turnip break or shift, the land is made perfectly clean. 1880 Charl. M. Mason Forty Shires 222 Sometimes a four-shift, sometimes a five-shift rotation is employed.

12. a. A relay or change of workmen or fof horses. 1708 J. C. Compleat Collier (1845) 33 [The] Pit will require .. 4 shifts of Horses .. and indeed you shou’d have a spare Shift, or two Horses more ready. 1812 J. Hodgson in Raine Mem. (1857) I. 97 Two shifts or sets of men were constantly employed. 1879 Print. Trades Jrnl. xxix. 9 Working day and night with separate shifts of workmen. 1884 Manch. Exam. 22 Feb. 5/2 He would have in all mines which are worked on the double-shift system a fresh examination of the workings . . before the second shift goes down. 1912 Sphere 28 Dec. 326/1 The night shifts receive so much higher pay for their labour.

b. The length of time during which such a set of men work. 1809 T. Donaldson Poems 132 Like miners, faith, we’ll try a shift, An’ work by turns. 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 329 It is usual. .to divide the men into two classes, one class to relieve the other every 12 hours: these periods are called shifts. 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durh. 47 The payment for off-hand work.., is 3s. per shift of 8 hours. 1862 Smiles Engineers III. 25 They worked together for about two years, by twelve-hour shifts. 1913 Times 14 May 8/1 An eight hours day, with a standard rate of 5s. a shift. transf. i860 Smiles Self Help i. 17 These men.. have often, during the busy season of Parliament, worked ‘double shift’, almost day and night.

c. A quantity (of ore) removed at a time. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 752 The richness of the ore varies from 2 to 20 bings of galena per shift of ore; the shift corresponding to 8 waggons load.

13. A change (of wind). 1594 Blundevil Exerc. VII. xxxi. (1636) 702 At every shift of winde. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. iv. ii. 144 Well experienced in Judgment, in estimating the Ship’s Way in her Course upon every shift of Wind. 1782 Ann. Reg. 91

The season was far advanced for military operations, the shift of the monsoon being at hand. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 288 The Dundee of London..was suddenly stopped by a shift of wind. 1876 R. H. Scott Weather Charts 72 In every case it will be seen that the shift from 1 to 3 is veering, and from 1' to 3' is backing, whatever the first direction of the wind may have been.

V. Change of position, removal. 14. a. A shifting, removal; a change of position or attitude; dial, a change of residence or employment, to get a shift on (colloq.), to get a move on (see move sb. 6). 1831 A. Sedgwick in Trans. Geol. Soc. (1836) Ser. 11. IV. 53 If there be any shift of position among the mineral masses in their strike across the valley, it must be of comparatively small extent. i8S8 Glenny Everyday Bk. 233/2 Examine every plant as it comes in, to see if the drainage be clear, and whether it wants a shift. 1867 Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 150 A suffering which runs always in one groove, without relief or shift. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 194 A small furnished house should be rented, and a shift made thither. 1906 [see pole v 8]. 1977 Times Educ. Suppl. 21 Oct. 9/2 We could have started certainly a year earlier, even two years earlier if we had got a shift on. b. in immaterial sense, e.g. a shifting or

.1

transfer of responsibility, etc. 1826 E. Irving Babylon v. II. 31 There can be no shift in policy or in power, much less a revolution in them,.. with¬ out a terrible struggle. 1844 Min. Evid. Sel. Comm. Commons Inclosure 27 Many of these commonable meadows have their own peculiar customs as to the shift of the severalty ownership.

c. Physics. A displacement of a spectral line from the expected position or from some reference position; hence, a change of an energy level in an atom, molecule, etc.; chemical shift, in nuclear magnetic resonance or Mossbauer spectroscopy, the position of a resonance in the spectrum measured relative to some standard signal, the separation being characteristic of the chemical environment of the resonating nucleus. See also red shift. 1884 Phil. Mag. XVIII. 161 A shift of the lines towards the more refrangible side of the spectrum. 1897 Astrophysical Jrnl. V. 210 Here is certainly a vera causa for some shift towards the red in molecules causing light. 1932 Physical Rev. XLII. 350 The direction of the shift is again such that Hg204 has the highest energy. 1945 R. A. Sawyer Exper. Spectroscopy v. 118 Changes in temperature and pressure may lead to serious difficulties in prism spectrographs through broadening and shifts of spectral lines. 1952 Physical Rev. LXXXVIII. 1070/1 A shift in the nuclear resonance, known as the chemical shift, is due to the effects of diamagnetism and induced paramagnetism in a molecule. 1961 A. D. Thackeray Astron. Spectroscopy xiii. 186 Interpreted as a radial velocity this shift implies that the nebula in question is running away from us at a speed of slightly over 60,000 km/sec. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VIII. 600a/1 Chemists have become interested in using the Mossbauer effect because of the isomer shift (also called isomeric or chemical shift); this results from the interaction of the electron density .. at the nucleus with the nuclear charge. 1970 G. K. Woodgate Elem. Atomic Struct. viii. 154 Since the perturbing states of opposite parity lie a long way away,.. one expects the Stark shift of the ground state to be small. 1978 P. W. Atkins Physical Chem. xix. 625 The two methylene protons are in a different part of the molecule; they therefore have a different chemical shift, and come into resonance at another magnetic field. d. Philol. A phonetic change. See also accent-

shift, consonant-shift, sound-shift, stress-shift, vowel-shift, under the first elements. [1875 Whitney Life Lang. iv. 54 There has been no general shift of the place of the accent as compared with Latin.] 1894 O. F. Emerson Hist. Eng. Lang. xiv. 241 §271 The shift from voiceless to voiced in certain positions has taken place since Teutonic times. 1909 O. Jespersen Mod. Eng. Gram. (1949) I. viii. 231 In most cases the spelling had become fixed before the shift, which.. is one of the chief reasons of the divergence between spelling and sound in English... The shift may be represented graphically. 1934 Priebsch & Collinson German Lang. 11. i. 86 A clean cut was made between those dialects which underwent the shift and those which remained unaffected. Ibid. 88 The shift from stop to spirant was carried out over the whole High German area. e. A change of gear in a motor vehicle. N.

Amer. I9I5 V. W.

Page Questions & Answers (rev. ed.) xxvii. 446 The clutch must be disengaged before a shift can be made. 1947 R. F. Kuns in Runs & Plumridge Automotive Fundamentals: Chassis & Power Transmission 164 The overdrive shift is made automatically, by simply lifting the foot from the accelerator for about i \ seconds. f. Chem. A migration of an atom or group, or

of electrons, from one point in a molecule to another, or occas. between molecules, in a chemical reaction. 1932 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. LIV. 3278 The shift of the electron pair includes the atom or group which it holds. 1947 Ibid. LXIX. 290/2 On the other hand, the hydrogen atom with its pair of electrons might be transferred by an inter rather than an intra molecular shift. 1953 C. K. Ingold Structure Mechanism in Org. Chem. ix. 482 Other rearrangements involve only the shift of a methyl group to an adjoining position. 1968 R. O. C. Norman Princ. Org. Synthesis xiv. 435 A typical example of a hydride shift occurs in the reaction of a primary aliphatic amine with nitrous acid; e.g. n-propylamine gives iso-propanol, together with propylene, and only a trace of n-propanol. 1975 C. J. Collins in R. F. Brown Org. Chem. xvi. 5356 Prior to our explanation it was commonly held that all 1,2-shifts—for example, of hydrogen, alkyl, or aryl during Wagner-Meerwein, pinacol, Demjanov rearrangements and

SHIFT the like—took place with inversion of configuration at the migration terminus.

g. Computers. The movement of the digits of a word in a register one or more places to left or right, equivalent to multiplying or dividing the corresponding number by a power of whatever number is the base. 1946 Ann. Computation Lab. Harvard Univ. I. 73 The first molding is.. used for reset and the second to read out the tens digit of the amount of shift in conjunction with the proper molding of the first column... The shift is counted to the right. 1966 IFIP-ICC Vocab. of Information Processing 70 Digits shifted beyond the end of the word or register may simply be dropped, or in a cyclic shift (or endaround shift) they may be returned to the opposite end of the word or register in a circular fashion. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing v. 80 Sometimes it is necessary to analyze the individual characters of a word. The computer can do this by means of shift instructions. These are instructions for left shift and right shift.

15. a. Mus. In violin-playing, a change of the position of the hand on the finger-board.

'

When the first or ordinary position is quitted, the player is said to be ‘on the shift’; the second position is called the ‘half shift’, the third the ‘whole shift’, and the fourth the ‘double shift’. (Grove Diet. Mus. s.v.) I771 Burney tr. Tartini in G. Hart Violin (1875) 342 The taking a Violin part.. and playing it upon the half-shift, that is, with the first finger upon G on the first string, and constantly keeping upon this shift. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. x, I.. skipped with flying fingers, like Timotheus, from shift to shift. 1884 Hoe Diet. Fiddle.

b. Pianoforte. The mechanism for or act of shifting the keyboard action by means of the soft pedal. 1896 A. J. Hipkins Pianoforte 41 Unless these are directly opposite the strings by a decided shift or return, a snarling quality of tone will be heard. Ibid. Up to about 1830 there was a further shift permissible to one string only, the Una Corda of Beethoven. 1944 W. Apel Harvard Diet. Mus. 778/2 Beethoven.. not only calls for a gradation in three steps .. but even for a gradual execution of the shift: poco a poco due corde.

16. Ship-building. (See quots.) 1805 Shipwright's Vade-M. 131 Shift, a term applied to disposing the butts of the planks, &c. so that they may over launch each other without reducing the length... The planks of the bottom, in British-built ships of war, have a six-feet shift with three planks between each butt... In the bottoms of merchant ships they have a six-feet shift with only two planks between each butt. Ibid. 234 The scarphs give shift to the scarphs of the keel and fasten thereto with treenails, c 1840 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XX. 275/2 Shift. This, in its general sense, refers to a certain arrangement among the component parts of a ship. Thus we speak of a shift of plank, a shift of dead-wood, meaning thereby the disposition of the buts of the timber or plank, both with respect to strength and economy. In a more limited sense, ‘shift’ means the distance apart of two neighbouring buts or scarphs. C1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 154 String, one or two planks .., giving shift to the scarphs of the sheer-strake. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1889 Welch Text Bk. Naval Archit. viii. 103 The proper shift of the butts [of the plates] is a question of importance.

17. Mining. A slight ‘fault’ or dislocation in a seam or stratum. 1802 Playfair Hutton. Theory 48 Of this nature are the slips or shifts, that so often perplex the miner in his subterraneous journey. 1830 Carlyle Richter again Misc. 1840 II. 324 What miners call a shift or trouble occurred in it. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 418 Along the line of this shift, or ‘fault’ as it would be termed technically by miners, the walls were found to adhere firmly to each other. 1909 Q. Rev. Apr. 490 The shift or throw as in the Irwell Valley fault near Manchester.

18. Something which effects a shift,

a. A mechanism for changing gear in a motor vehicle; a gear-lever. Cf. gear-shift s.v. gear sb. IV. N. Amer. 1914 Automobile 9 Apr. 771/2 (Advt.), New electric shift. 1926 F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby vii. 144 ‘Shall we all go in my car?’ suggested Gatsby.. . ‘Is it standard shift?’ demanded Tom. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. 26/1 (Advt.), Mercury Parklane Marauder... radio, bucket seats, floor shift. 1978 j. Irving World according to Garp xii. 224 The gear knob of the Volvo’s stick shift came off in her hand.

b. = shift key, sense 20 below. 1919 H. Etheridge Diet. Typewriting 208 It is usual to provide duplicate keys on each side of the keyboard, so that the shift may be operated with either hand. 1936 A. Dvorak et al. Typewriting Behavior x. 260 Really you strike the shift just a tiny fraction of a second before you strike the capital letter. 1957 A. C. Lloyd et al. Gregg Typewriting for Colleges 10 A-finger reaches over, to Shift.

c. = shift code, sense 20 below. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 886/2 With such a code [as the Baudot code] it is possible to obtain 32 different combinations, 26 of which are assigned to letters of the alphabet, leaving 1 for the idle condition, and 5 for functions such as space, figure shift, letter shift, etc. 1972 Computers & Humanities VI. 149 The tape punch would consequently have fewer possibilities than the card punch, if this number of 44 were not doubled by a shift giving an extra punch code to change from lower to upper case, or from upper to lower case. 1980 L. Moore Foundations Programming with Pascal ii. 38 The 5-bit code commonly used by Creed teleprinters had two shift-codes, a ‘letter shift’ and a ‘figure shift’. Each of the remaining thirty codes was mapped to two characters, one belonging to the ‘letter’ set and the other to the ‘figure’ set.

19. Telegr. and Computers. A change from one set of characters to another; also, a set of characters indicated by any particular shift code. 1913 H. W. Pendry Baudot.Printing Telegraph System 2 He adapts therein several elements of the earlier Hughes

SHIFT

257 system namely, the type-wheel and printing arrangement as well as a similar figure shift device. 1928 A. Williams Telegr. & Teleph. ii. 33 The possible number of permutations is thirty-one, but each of these can be made to signify either of two characters by a ‘shift’ at the receiving end corresponding to the shift key of an ordinary typewriter. i960 M. G. Say et al. Analogue & Digital Computers ix. 265 Such an arrangement is very appropriate in telegraphy, where changes from one shift to the other are not common. 1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics iv. 75 Some of the shifts are capitalization, boldface, superscript, and large. Most alphabets require shifts and diacritics. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing ii. 41 We say that the characters are in two shifts, a letter shift and digit shift, in the same way as the characters on a typewriter are in two shifts or cases. 1971 T. C. Collocott Diet. Sci. & Technol. 1064/1 In teleprinters, one shift is capital letters, the other figures and special signs.

VI. 20. attrib. and Comb.: shift-boss, -man, -work, -worker, -working (sense 12); shiftsleeve, -strap (sense 10); f shift-got adj. (sense 4); shiftmaker (sense 6); shift character, code, Telegr. and Computers, a character in a code that indicates that subsequent characters are to be interpreted in terms of a different fount or coding scheme; shift dress = sense 10 b; shiftkey, a key for adjusting the mechanism in a typewriter when characters in a different position on the keys, such as capitals, are to be used; shift-lever N. Amer., a gear-lever in a motor vehicle; shift-lock, a device for holding the shift-key of a typewriter continuously depressed; also attrib.-, shift register Computers, a register specifically intended for subjecting data to a shift (sense 14 g above); shift-round colloq., reallocation of positions, a move to another position; shift-sign Phonetics (see quot. 1939); shiftsman (see quot. 1921); shift-stick colloq., a gear-lever in a motor vehicle; shiftterminator Computers, a character introduced into a string of text to cancel the effect of a preceding shift code; shift valve, a valve that moves to produce automatic gear-changes in a motor vehicle. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 166 Foremen, per day.. *Shift-bosses, per day. 1881-Mining Gloss., Shift-boss, the foreman in charge of a shift of men. 1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics iv. 75 But there are also 8 *shift characters, that influence the style or position of following graphic characters, and a shift terminator. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing ii. 41 After the letter shift character in the teleprinter code, all the following characters are interpreted as belonging to the letter case until there is a digit shift character, and vice versa. 1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics iv. 70 When we read a *shift code, we must remember what shift we are in until receiving another. 1972 Computers & Humanities VI. 149 We get 44 characters which may be preceded by either the upper-case or the lower-case shift code. 1980 Shift code [see sense 18c above]. 1966 ’"Shiftdress [see Ming sb.2 c]. 1970 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird iii. 30, I was wearing a high-necked shift dress. 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. iv. v. 39 The ding-thrift heyre, his ’"shift-got summe mispent, Comes drouping like a pennylesse penitent. 1893 Manual of Typewriter 1. 15 When the machine in use is one with a single keyboard,—that is to say, one with a *shift-key by the depression of which the upper¬ case characters are brought into play,—the shift-key should be governed by the little finger. 1940 M. Crooks Home Instruction Course in Touch Typewriting 56 You may like to note, whilst on the subject of the shift key, that there is an additional key—usually above one of the shift keys—called the ‘Shift Lock’. 1980 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 13/4 Beth Porter as mehitabel (archie couldn’t work the shift key) in the roach and the pussycat. 1920 F. B. Scholl Automobile Owner's Guide 7 Place the ’"shift-lever into the first-speed slot and let up on the clutch pedal. 1973 R. Hayes Hungarian Game xlvii. 286 When the engine turned over he jammed the shift lever into reverse and pressed the accelerator. 1899 J. Wardle Universal Typewriter Man. 21 '"Shift lock.—When it is desired to write a large number of capital letters or signs, the Cylinder may be brought forward by means of the Lock Handle, and this action will fasten the Cylinder in that position. 1936 M. Crooks Bk. of Remington Typewriter iii. 27 The action of the shift lock key is quite simple. 1977 E. Mackay Typewriting Diet. 195 The shift key should be depressed by the little finger... If a whole word, heading, sentence, etc., is required in capital letters, the typist should depress the shift lock, which ‘locks’ the typewriter mechanism. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer lv, The shifts we were obliged to have recourse to were.. amusing, to all but the *shiftmakers. 1880 Daily News 10 Sept. 6/1 A survivor (.. a *shiftman) gives the following narrative. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss., Shifter, Shift-man, a man who prepares the working places at night in a colliery for the men who come in at next shift. 1950 W. W. Stifler High-Speed Computing Devices xiii. 299 A multiplier might be devised using the parallel adder and the *shift register... The product accumulator is twice the length of the operand registers and is also a shift register. 1975 Nature 27 Mar. 366/3 A bubble device consists simply of an assembly of a number of integrated circuits each of which carries magnetically activated tracks, that is, shift registers, along which are driven patterns of bubbles and gaps representing binary data. 1940 J. Reith Diary 3 Apr. (1975) v. 244 Cabinet changes tonight.. a weird *shift-round. a 1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 611 Thursday, the day of my shift-round. 1939 B. Bloch in H. Kurath et al. Handbk. Linguistic Geogr. New England iv. 129 * Shift Signs .In order to avoid the necessity of using special symbols for the innumerable shades of sound intermediate between any two of the vowels shown in the diagram .., the phonetic alphabet of the Linguistic Atlas provides shift signs in the form of small arrowheads, which are placed after a vowel symbol to indicate varieties heard as articulated in a higher, a lower, a

more advanced or a more retracted position than the vowel denoted by the unmodified letter. 1970 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. ig68 l. 5 Shift signs, a raised, v lowered,.. are used to show modification of the vowels, a 1700 Evelyn Diary June 1645, Their sleeves are made exceeding wide, under which their *shift sleeves as wide. 1711 Budgell Sped. No. 175 If 2 She came in Shift-Sleeves, and dress’d at the Window. 1921 Diet. Occup. Terms (1927) §044 Shifter, shiftman, shiftsman ..; general terms for labourers assisting repairers, timberers, etc., in building stoppings and clearing falls of stone. Ibid. §054 Shifter, shiftman, shiftsman,.. works at night, when mine workers are absent, repairing road¬ ways, etc. 1924 Public Opinion 8 Feb. 127/1 Machinery shall be in charge of a competent shiftsman. 1968 Autocar 14 Mar. 25/1 (Advt.), Aussies have better things to do with their arms than glue them to a ""shift-stick. 1975 Publishers Weekly 17 Mar. 53/1 Even readers who don’t know a shiftstick from a lollipop may find themselves caught up in the pace of this exciting inside-story of a veteran Indy 500 racing-car mechanic. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 222 A white petticoatbodice and taut *shiftstraps. 1967 *Shift terminator [see shift character]. 1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics iv. 76 If a whole sentence is in italics, the italic-shift character occurs just once in continuous mode, with a shift terminator at the end. 1949 Automotive Industries 1 May 68/3 The mechanism contains other forms of valves designed to perform automatic control functions. Among these are:.. *shift valve for direct drive, having a modulator valve at one end. 1955 W. H. Crouse Automotive Transmission & Power Trains vii. 223 The throttle pressure is applied to the spring end of the shift valve. 1970 A A Bk. Car 110/3 A system of brake bands and clutches selected by hydraulic shift valves. 1708 J. C. Compleat Collier (1845) 36 It is most usual to agree with your Hewers of Coals or Miners, by the Score of Corves,.. and not by the Day, or *Shift Work. 1888 W. E. Nicholson Gloss. Terms Coal Trade Northumbld. Durh. (E.D.D.). 1942 T. K. Djang Factory Inspection in Gt. Brit. vii. 142 The Home Secretary may require certain conditions for the safe-guarding of *shift workers. 1977 Rep. Comm. Future of Broadcasting (Cmnd. 6753) iii. 23 Shift workers wanting more entertainment during off-peak hours. 1937 M. L. Yates Wages Labour Conditions in Brit. Engineering iv. 54 ■"Shift-working was the subject of a separate Agreement between the Employers’ Federation and the Amalgamated Engineering Union in 1920. 1963 Times 6 May (Suppl. Electr. Power Brit.) p. iii/7 Because our tempo of life is geared to what we regard as orthodox hours, shift working is a burden and now disrupts family life.

shift (Jift), v.

Forms: i sciftan, seyftan, 2 seyfton, 4 schiften, scift, schifte, schyft, schefte, 4- 6 schyfte, schift, 4-7 shifte, 5 scifte, schyftyn, 5- 6 shyfte, 6 shyft, schyffte, 4- shift. Pa. t. 1 scifte, 1-2 scyfte, 3 shiftede, 4 schift, 4-5 shifte, 5 schifte, shift, chefte, 6 shyfted, 6- shifted. Pa. pple. 1 scift, 2 seyft, 2-3 iscift, 3 scift, 4 ischyft, shift, scheft, schifted, 4-5 schift, 5 schufte, shyfte, seyfftyd, schiffted, 6 scheftyd, shyfted, -yd, 6shifted. [OE. sciftan wk. vb. corresponds to OFris. skifta to determine (WFris. skifte, skiftsje to separate, NFris. skeft to divide, change), MLG., LG., Du. schiften to divide, separate, MHG. (MG.) schihten (mod.G. schichten) to divide, classify, arrange in order, ON. skipta (whence SKIFT v.1) to share, divide, change (Sw., Norw. skifta, Da. skifte):—OTeut. *skiftjan, f. Teut. root *skip- in ON. skip a to arrange, assign, etc.] 1. To put in order, arrange. f 1. trans. To appoint, ordain, arrange, assign, dispose in order. Obs. c 1000 Secular Laws Edgar §7 (Liebermann) 204/3 Scifte [v.rr. sceawie, sceapige] man of Sam gemote 8a 5e him toridan. a 1023 Wulfstan Horn, xxxvii. (1883) 176 Moyses ..be godes agenum dihte rihte lage scyfte. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1046, pa scyfte man Harold [read Beorn] eorl up paes cynges scipe pe Harold eorl aer steorde. C1200 Ormin 470 Forr prestess panne & daecness ec shifftedenn hemm bitwenenn Whillc here shollde serrfenn firrst. 13.. K. Alis. 6714 (Laud MS.), pe messagers ajein he shiftes. c 1386 Chaucer 2nd Nun's T. 278 Witnes Tyburces and Valerians shrifte, To whiche god of his bountee wolde shifte Corones two of floures. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 323 For thou benymst me thilke yifte, Which lith noght in thi miht to schifte. a 1400 Morte Arth. 2456 Thane the schalkes scharpelye scheftys theire horsez. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 8715 And thus haue thei her armes schiffted, Ther baneres are wel hye lyffted.

2. To apportion, distribute; to separate into shares, divide; rarely to divide or partition off from. c 1000 Secular Laws Cnut §78 (Liebermann) 364/3 For pa yrfenuman to lande & to aehtan, & seyftan hit swiSe rihte. ys manere senne nys nau3t ones, Ac hys ischy[f]t in pry. c 1330 Arth. Merl. 1482 A gret schode Of grauel & erpe al so, pat hem hadde schifted ato. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 294 Al freliche of his oghne yifte His whete, among hem forto schifte. c 1425 Cast. Persev. 108 in Macro Plays 80 To putte his good in gouernaunce.. he wolde pat it were seyfftyd amongis his ny kynne. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 446/1 Schyftyn, or partyn, or delyn, divido, partior. 1483 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 317 To take.. the same hervest corne so boght and to shyfte ond distribute it upon the commynes. 1529 S. Fish Suppl. Beggars (Arb.) 5 Nowe let vs then compare the nombre of this vnkind idell sort vnto the nombre of the laye people and we shall se whether it be indifferently shifted or not that they shuld haue half. 1570-6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 477 They of this our Kentish countrie, do yet call their partition of lande (shifting) even by the very same woord that the lawe of

SHIFT

SHIFT

258

Canutus many yeeres since termed it. 1703 Neve City & C Purchaser 229 A little square corner of a Room, shifted off from the rest of the Room by the Wainscot. 1735-6 Pegge Kenticisms. absol. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 2194 King Ban hadde .. pe cite of Beuoit & Bohort hadde pe cite of Gaines.. & pus pai hadde schift atvo.

f3. to shift one's hand, one's words: to act or speak in a particular manner. Also refl. Obs. .*] A. adj. Sonorous, resonant, shrill. a 1000 Riming Poem 27 (Gr.) Scyl wees hearpe, hlude hlynede. c 1220 Bestiary 572 Mirie 3e singeS Sis mere, and haueS manie stefnes, manie and sille. a 1250 Owl & Night.

SHILL

263

142 Heo song so lude & so scharpe, Ryht so me grulde schille harpe. e winde blewe schille and loude. 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. VII. 46 Prout of my faire fetours and for ich songe shulle. 01400 St. Alexius (Laud 622) 561 bonder dyned shille. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 446/1 Schylle, and scharpe, acute, aspere, sonore. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform, xiv. 2 Ane young King I hard schoutand schill. 1670 Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. 1. (1694) 64 The Men .. speak ratling in the Throat, and gross; the Women shiller and lower. 1781 Burns My Nanie, O ii, The westlin wind blaws loud an’ shill.

Hence 'shilly adv., ’shillness. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 929 bon schrikis schilli [Dublin shilly] all pe schalkis. i486 Bk. St. Albans d iij, Thay [Dutch bells] be., sonowre of Ryngyng in shilnes. 153S Elyot Diet., Sonoritas, a shyllenesse, or lowdenesse.

shill, w.1 Obs. exc. dial. Forms: 1 scyllan, 3-4 schill(e, shille, 4 schull(e, 9 shill. [OE. *sciellan (late WS. scyllan), prob. a str. vb. = OHG. scellan to resound (MHG. schellen\ mod.G. only in pa. pple. verschollen having ceased to resound, hence forgotten), ON. skjalla to rattle, f. OTeut. *skell-{\ skall-: skull-), whence OHG. scella fern. (mod.G. schelle) bell, OHG. seal masc. (mod.G. schall) loud sound; see also shill a.] intr. To resound; to sound loudly. ciooo in Wr.-Wiilcker 215/15 Crepitat, i. resonat, scyl)?, cyrmj?, raescettep. C1300 K. Horn (Laud MS.) 220 And horuuth eche toune Horn him shille^ soune. 13.. Guy Warw. 7286 He grad & 3elled swipe loude, pat it schilled into pe cloude. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 631 Hure strokes fulle so styt? & sare pay schulde so dop pe ponder. 1898 Blakeborough Wit, Char., etc. N. Riding 443 Shill v... 3. [Of the wind] To make a noise something between a howl and a whistle.

Hence 'shilling ppl. a. a 1225 St. Marher. 19 ‘Cum’, quoS pe culure wiS schillinde stefne. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 331 He .. despisede pe smokynge and schillynge speche of mysbyleved men. C1400 Sege Jerus. (E.E.T.S.) 528 A schillande schout.

shill (Jil), v.2 Now dial. Forms: 1 scylian, 4 schille, 5 schyllyn, 7 shel, 7-9 sheal, shill. [OE. scylian, *scielian, ad. or cogn. w. ON. skilja, whence skill v. App. distinct from shill v. to shell, husk: see sheel t>.]

fl. trans.

To separate.

Obs.

1049 O.E. Chron. (MS. C), On pyson ylcan jeare Eadwerd eing scylode .ix. scypa of male, c 1325 Metr. Horn. 152 Our king, That wic men fra god sal schille. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 446/1 Schyllyn owte, or cullyn owte fro sundyr, segrego. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 20 If there bee any sheepe that beginne to ragge .. yow are to make the sheapheard shill them out. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. Gloss, s.v., To sever sheep is to shill them. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss, (ed. 2).

2. To curdle (milk). curdled.

Also intr., to become

in England the correspondence appears to have been only occasionally recognized until Norman times. The value of the ‘shilling’ in continental Teut. countries has varied greatly; its relation to the penny and the pound has also varied, though a widely accepted scale was i pound or libra = 20 shillings or solidi = 240 pennies or denarii. See schelling, schilling1, skilling2.]

shill, Sc. and north, variant of chill a.

1. a. A former English money of account, from the Norman Conquest of the value of i2d. or ^ of a pound sterling. Abbreviated s. (= L. solidus', see solidus1), formerly also sh., shil.; otherwise denoted by the sign /- after the numeral. No longer in official use after the introduction of decimal coinage in 1971, but still occas. used to denote five new pence.

1599 A. Hume Hymnes ii. 108 The shill and freesing frosts. 1876 Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., Shill, a weather term—sharply cold.

shillaber ('Jilab3(r)). slang (chiefly N. Amer.). [Origin unknown.] = shill sb. *9*3 Collier's 6 Dec. 29/2 The business men turned out to be ‘shillabers’, if you know what ‘shillabers’ are. 1924 G. Bronson-Howard Devil's Chaplain vii. 111 One time ‘ballyhoo’^ and ‘shillaber’, proprietor of ‘Chief Bigspoon’s..’ medicine show. 1940 Amer. Speech XV. 122/1 Shill or shillaber, an accomplice who plays a confidence game so that the mark sees him win.

shillat, variant of shillet. shillelagh (JYleib, -'leili). Forms: (7 Shelela), 8 shelaly, shillaley, 8-9 shillela, 6 shilala, shillala(h, shilela(h, -elagh, shillely, -aly, shillealah, 8shillelah, 9- shillelagh. [The name of a barony and village in Co. Wicklow.] An Irish cudgel of blackthorn or oak. [1677 Yarranton Eng. Improv. 39 The River Slane.. with that noble great and good Wood called Shelela. 1773 Batchelor No. 27 (ed. 2) 183 Shillela’s knotted cudgels fail.] 1772 Town & Country Mag. 36 ‘By Jes-s, and that’s mine!’ exclaim’d I, grasping my shelaly. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Shillaley, an oaken sapling, or cudgel, (Irish) from a wood of that name famous for its oaks, c 1800 ? Lysaght Song, lThe Sprig of Shillelah', With his sprig of Shillelah and shamrock so green! 1827 Sir J. Barrington Pert. Sketches I. 74 He bore a shillelagh, the growth of his own estate. 1834 Lover Leg. fef Stor. Irel. Ser. 11. 297 He bowlted into the cabin wid a murtherin’ shillely in his fist. 1862 Borrow Wales II. ix. 91 His hat in one hand and his shillealah in the other.

'shillet. s.w. dial. Also shillot, -at, shillett, shellet, -at, shilt. [Perh. f. sheel v.\ the word may go back to an OE. *scielet.] = shale sb.2 Also attrib. 1777 in Eng. Dial. Diet., Shellet. 1813 Vancouver Agric. Devon 11 Here the soil is of a good depth upon the shillot. 1841 Civil Eng. Arch. Jrnl. IV. 359/2 The earthy slates .. were interspersed with blue shillat slates. 1859 Murchison Siluria xiii. (ed. 3) 344 The shillat of Cornwall. 1875 Whyte Melville Katerfelto xxiii, Shilt and shingle glitter on the bare tops above. 1886 W. Somerset Word-bk., Shillet,. .the disintegrated top layer of the Devonian clay slate so common in West Somerset and North Devon. 1892 H. Hutchinson Fairway Isl. 20 He.. gathered from the road a handful of loose shillett.

Hence 'shillety a. (also shillotty, shellety, etc.), consisting of shillet. 1813 Vancouver Agric. Devon 24 A tender loam of a dark grey cast on a shillotty understratum. 1830 Jas. Savage Hist. Carhampton 209 The soil is .. a white rag, or as it is here called, a shellety soil. 1887 J. W. Fortescue Stag-hunting Exmoor 181 Our hind has taken advantage of the shillety ground to double about a good deal.

shillibeer ('Jilibra(r)). Also shellibere, -beere. [Named after George Shillibeer, coachproprietor (1797-1866).] a. A name given to the omnibus for some time after its introduction into London by Shillibeer in 1829. b. A vehicle containing a mourning-carriage and hearse combined, patented by Shillibeer.

1691 Ray N.C. Words s.v., To Sheal Milk is to curdle it, to separate the parts of it. 1695 Kennett Par. Antiq. Gloss, s.v. Helowe-wall, In the North to shel or sheal milk is to curdle it. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. Gloss, s.v., Turning a small quantity of milk into curds and whey is called shilling it. 1855 Whitby Gloss., To Sheal or Shill, to sour milk for curds by the usual process. 1876 Mid- Yorksh. Gloss., Shill, v.a. and v.n. to curdle; to scum.

C1835 Song in Ludgate (1897) Feb. 445 You can come to no harm in the safe Shillibeer. 1865 Chamb. Encycl. VII. 72/2 (s.v. Omnibus) Shillibeer’s conveyances, which for some time afterwards were known as shillibeers (an epithet still in common use in New York), were of larger size than the French ones, carrying 22 passengers inside, and were drawn by three horses abreast. 1894 Hereford Times 28 July 5/3 Washington Cars and Shelliberes for Undertakers.

shill (Jil), v.3 slang (chiefly N. Amer.). [f. shill sb.] 1. intr. To act as a shill.

shilling ('Jilir)). Forms: i scilling, scylling, (-ingc), 3 ssillinge, 3-6 schillinge, 4 ssyllyng, 4-5 schillyng(e, schelyng(e, shulleng(e, schullyng(e, 4- 6 schiling, shill-, shyllyng(e, -inge, silling, 4-7 schilling, 5 schyllynge, shylynge, schilenge, silyn, 5- 6 sheling, -yng(e, shellyng(e, 6 scheling(e, schillengge, shealinge, shyllyn, syllyng, 4shilling. [Common Teut.: OE. scilling masc. = OFris. skilling, skilleng, schilling, MDu. schellingh (Du. schelling), OS. scilling (MLG. schillink, schildink, mod.LG. schillink, schilling), OHG. scilling, skillink, schilling (MHG., G. schilling), ON. skilling-r (Icel. also skildingr, SW., Da. skilling), Goth, skilliggs:—OTeut. *skillir)go-z. Adopted in OSlav. as skulpzi, in Sp., Pr., Fr. as escalin (13th c. F. eskallin, mod.F. also schelling), It. scellino.

1914 L. E. Jackson Vocab. Criminal Slang 75 To ‘shill’ is to act in the capacity of a hired criminal. 1928 Amer. Speech III. 376 Shill, to boost for the auctioneer. 1948 F. Brown Dead Ringer 156 She was going to shill on Walter’s wheel. 1965 H. Gold Man who was not with It xxv. 236 It’s how to get the audience... I shilled for my wife. 1975 Weekend Mag. (Montreal) 11 Jan. 9 Canadian advertisers are confined mainly to hockey players when they’re looking for an athlete to shill for them.

2. trans. To entice (a person) as a shill; to act as a shill for (a gambling game, etc.). 1974 R. B. Parker God save Child xxii. 150 Doctor Croft was the one who shilled old Fraser Robinson onto Vicki’s scam. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die x. 96 Diane, the blonde that shills baccarat.

shill (Jil), sb. slang (chiefly N. Amer.). [Perh. abbrev. of shillaber.] A decoy or accomplice, esp. one posing as an enthusiastic or successful customer to encourage other buyers, gamblers, etc. 1916 Editor 2 Dec. 518/2 Shill, copper'.—One who leads the others by patronizing a show or game. 1926 Amer. Mercury Dec. 466/1 A wrestler.. offered to throw anyone for 500 smacks and a couple of shills accepted his defy. 1935 H. Davis Honey in Horn xv. 231 She had often thought of renting him out as a shill for some tent-show evangelist.

SHILLING

J955 T• Sterling Evil of Day xxi. 208, I used to be a shill in a Reno gambling club. 1971 J. Gray Red Lights vi. 136 The commonest trap was for a shill to haunt Ninth Avenue disguised as a farm hand. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die ii. 19 As a shill she played with casino money... She was subject not to fate but to the fixed weekly salary she received from the casino.

The Teut. word is referred by some etymologists to the root *skell- to resound, ring (see shill a. and f.1). Others assign it to the root *skel- to divide (whence skill v., shale sb., shell sb., etc.); some have conjectured that the word originally denoted one of the segments of fixed weight into which an armlet of gold or silver was divided, so that they might be detached for use as money. In the bilingual documents of the 6th century, Goth, skilliggs corresponds to the L. solidus; in mediaeval Germany the Teut. and the Latin word were commonly used to render each other, but

Before the Norman Conquest the value of the shilling varied in different times and places. It was 5 pence in Wessex and 4 pence in Mercia; the shilling of 12 pence mentioned in two passages c 1000 may refer to the continental solidus. C900 Laws of Ine §2 (Liebermann) 90 Cild binnan Sritegum nihta sie gefulwad. 5if hit swa ne sie, xxx scill. jebete. c 1000 ./Elfric Gram. 1. (Z.) 296 Fif penejas gemaciaS aenne scylling. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7870 To eche chirche of pe lond vif ssillinges me ber. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xii. 146 If any frere were founde pere Ich 3if pe fyue shillynges. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xi. 34 That euery man pat were blinde, shuld haue an Cs. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues 3/8 For to lerne rekene By poundes, by shelynges, by pens. 1556 in W. Kelly Notices Illustr. Drama (1865) 194 For ix yards of Clothe at fure shyllyns the yarde for the Weyts gownes xxxvj8. 1613 Tapp Pathw. Know1. 21 Then 3. shillings from 20. shil. leaues 17. shillings. 1663 Pepys Diary 27 May, Afterwards to ninepins, where I won a shilling. 1856 Jrnl. Soc. Arts IV. 361/1 This would be all very well were he to get a shilling’s worth for a shilling. 1881 Crowest Phases Mus. Eng. 148 One tradesman could well afford to sell at one penny or so less in the shilling.

b. In Scotland, Ireland, America, etc. Also used as a unit of currency (representing variously 12 pence and 100 cents) in other countries, as Kenya, Uganda, Malta, etc.; freq. preceded by the name of the issuing country; also, the coin itself. Through gradual debasement of the coinage the shilling Scots, by the 17th c., was worth only id. English. 1462 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 313 They to les a honderyt schelynges. 1488-91 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 167 Hary nobillis gevin for thretty tua schillingis the pece. 1543 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 413 To the Kepere of the Tolsell cloke of Dublin [thirty] five sillings. 1550 Registr. Aberdon. (Maitland Club) I. 450 Payand heirfor 3eirlie allevin schelingis aucht penneis. 1712 Mus. Thoresby. (1713) 389 The Proportion betwixt the English and Scotch Pennies, Shillings and Pounds, was then (10 Eliz.) just as one to six, but before he [James I] came into England, it was just doubled; so that the English Penny was exactly the Scotch Shilling, our Twentypence their Pound. 1891 Century Diet, s.v., Reckoning by the shilling is still not uncommon in some parts of the United States, especially in rural New England. 1921 W. S. Churchill in Hansard Commons 30 May 596 As recommended by the Currency Committee appointed in Kenya in February, 1921, the standard coin will be, not a florin, but a shilling... Rupee contracts.. will be construed at the rate of two shillings to one rupee. 1927 W. McG. Ross Kenya from Within xii. 208 The new scheme.. was that both florin and rupee should disappear, the shilling be introduced and all existing cental coins be degraded, by edict, to half their value. 1969 Times 16 Sept. (Somali Republic Suppl.) p. v/3 The internal value of the Somali shilling has.. been relatively stable. 1977 Times 24 June 14/8 On the free market in Kenya.. 100 Uganda shillings usually bring no more than 20 Kenya shillings.

c. a shilling great, a shilling of groats: see GREAT a. 8 e, GROAT I. I593 in Extracts Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870) I. 408 Tuentie schillingis greitt ilk barrell beir.

d. unchanged in plural. (Now vulgar.) a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 126 (Camb. MS.) And for his ni3tes gestinge He 3af his oste an hundred schillinge. c 1325 Metr. Horn. 141 The beggar.. said this corn igain him to, And toe thar for fif schilling. 14.. Emare 524 She 3af hym for pat tydynge A robe and fowrty shylynge. 1521-2 Stirling Burgh Rec. (1887) I. 15 To gife four schilling yeirly.. to the dekin of the maltmen. 1752 J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 263 Item, for each Mile .. there shall be paid to him a further Sum of six Shilling.

e. Used in emphatic or rhetorical statements, where one wishes to be understood as deliberately reckoning or accounting for every item, however small, of a given sum or expense. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 657/1 This exclusive Privilege cannot be taken from either of them, till every Shilling due to them by the Publick be paid off. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia iv. i, He protested.. he would pay away every shilling he was worth, rather than witness such injustice. 1815 Wellington in Gurw. Disp. (1838) XII. 453, I will not engage to pay one shilling more than the expenses really incurred by Hanover. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. i. 9 Every shilling spent in the house did its full twelve pennies’ worth of work.

2. a. A silver (subsequently cupro-nickel) coin of the value of 12 pence. First issued by Henry VII, in 1503. No longer in official use after the introduction of decimal coinage in 1971, but still occas. used to denote the five-pence piece. The coin itself was allowed to circulate for some time after decimalization, alongside the new (and equivalent) fivepence piece, which it resembled in shape, size, weight, and composition. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vii. (1533) 233 In the forenamed parlyament [of 1504] was ordeyned a new coyne of syluer, as grotes, half grotes, & shyllynges with half faces. 1549 Latimer 1st Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 35 We haue nowe a

prety litle shilling, in dede a very pretye one. 1639 O. Wood Alph. Bk. Secrets 39 Take so much of this as will lie on a shilling in Anniseed-water fasting. 1678 Butler Hud. 111. i. 688 Still Amorous, and fond, and Billing, Like Philip and Mary on a Shilling. 1799 Med. Jrnl. I. 144 One quarter of a grain was sufficient to produce a good blister as large as a shilling. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown 1. ii, Two new shillings in his breeches-pockets. 1974 lJ- le Carre’ Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy i. 18 Spikely discovered.. a draft of the next day’s examination paper, and rented it to candidates at five new pence a time. Several boys paid their shilling.

b. With defining word indicating a particular coinage. 1699 Nicolson Eng. Hist. Libr. hi. 313 Elizabeth .. caus’d indeed some Irish Shillings (call’d Harpers..) to be made of a baser kind than the English, so that they usually pass’d for Ninepence here. 1712 Mus. Thoresby. (1713) 365 The Portcluse Shilling [see portcullis sb. 3 b]. 1715 S. Sewall Diary 12 Sept. (r882> III. 56 Gave Mr. Short’s daughter a New-England Shilling. 1764 Mus. Thoresby. 13 [Lot] 201. Lord Baltimore’s Shilling (a Proof Six-pence in Copper) and 3 New England Shillings, i860 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 3), Shilling, the name given in the State of New York, to the Spanish real; in the neighbouring States it is frequently called a York shilling.

c. half-shilling, quarter-shilling, Tudor coins of the value of 6d. and 3d. respectively. 1561 Prod. Base Moneys 15 Nov., There shalbe immediatly coyned in fine sterlyng moneys, halfe shyllynges of six pence, quarter shyllynges of three pence the peece, and a halfe peece thereof called three halfpence. 1695 Lowndes Ess. Amend. Silver Coins 50 Half-shillings, Groats, Quarter-Shillings, Half-Groats.

d. little shilling, Cobbett’s name for a proposed silver shilling of considerably reduced intrinsic value. Hence used by Macaulay in reference to a similar proposal in 1695. 1826 Cobbett Weekly Reg. 7 Oct. 94/2 This city [Worcester], or this neighbourhood, at least, being the birthplace of what I have called, the ‘Little-Shilling Project’, and Messrs. Atwood and Spooner being the originators of the project. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxi. IV. 640 Montague, after defeating.. those who were for the little shilling.

f 3. a. Used, after L. solidus, as a denomination of weight = ^ of a pound. (Cf. solid sb.2) b. Sc. The weight of twelve silver pennies. Obs. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 240 Senim of Sysse wyrte petroseline swype smael dust, anes scillinges gewihte. a 1400 in Sc. Acts Pari. (1844) I. 673 pe pund in King Dauidis dayis weyit xxv. schillingis. Now pe pund aw to wey in siluer xxvi schillingis and iij sterling penijs. 1543 tr. Stat. Bread & Ale 51 Hen. Ill, § 1 When a quarter of wheate is solde for .xii.d. then wasted bread of a ferthynge shall way .vi. li. and .xvi. s. [orig. sex libras et sexdecim solidos]. 1596 Recorders Ground of Arts 319 Therefore here by a shilling you must vnderstand ^ of a pound weight.

SHILPIT

264

SHILLINGLESS at

a

shilling;

shilling

mark

Typogr.

=

SOLIDUS1 2. 1976 K. Thackeray Crownbird viii. 161 Priest.. tucked some hundred ‘shilling bills into his pocket. 1885 Athenaeum 14 Nov. 638/1 Mr. R. L. Stevenson is writing another ‘‘shilling dreadful’. 1801 Monthly Mirror June 421 He grins and looks broad nonsense with a stare, to the vast delight of the ‘shilling gallery. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. iii, I heard my varlet of a guide as loud with his blackguard jokes in the kitchen, as a footman in the shilling gallery. 1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocabulary 123 * Shilling mark, the sign thus / which was used in old books as a ‘scratch comma’. 1904 Murray & Bradley Hart's Rules for Compositors (ed. 15) 29 The diagonal sign / or ‘shilling-mark’. 1780 Mirror No. 91 Their former dinners with him at a ’•'shilling ordinary. 1857 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold iii. xi, The ““shilling places were packed in half an hour. 1854 Gunning Remin. Camb. I. 22 We played ‘shilling points, and occasionally half-a-crown was betted on the rubber. 1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 20 July 6/2 Given plenty of sensational incident and a certain coherency of plot, and you have all that is necessary to make a ‘‘shilling shocker’. 1893 Vizetelly Glances back I. v. 117 No shilling shockers., to amuse us.. during our uncomfortable journey. 1760 Murphy Way to keep Him 1. (end), Nobody plays ‘shillingwhist now. 7. With prefixed numerals, forming adjectives of price or value. Also in phrases denoting rate of payment (as ‘a shilling an hour’), used attrib. In the attributive use the ‘s’ of the plural is regularly dropped; for a contrary instance see quot. 1683. 01578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 198 The xxx schiling peice. 1653 Or din. Contin. Excise 17 Mar. 107 For every Barrel of six shilling Beer or Ale. 1683 Tryon Way to Health xiii. 340 Let your Drink at Meals be no stronger than nine shillings Beer. 1695 Congreve Love for L. II, i, A fellow that has but a groat in his pocket, may have a stomach capable of a ten-shilling ordinary. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth, Chron. Canong. Introd., Prepared and sold .. in five shilling and ten shilling bottles. 1853 Punch XXIV. 129/1 It did one good to hear him wither a ‘super’: his manner of rolling his words at the poor trembling shillinga-night wretch. 1866 E. Yates Land at Last I. x. 192 A model.. one of the usual shilling-an-hour victims. shillingless (’Jiliplis), a.

[-less.]

Not having a

shilling; being without (even) a shilling. 1797 Coleridge Lett, to Estlin 41 (Philobiblon Soc. Misc. XV), At present I am almost shillingless. 1855 Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1870) I. 342 He told us that the bill was not yet due... As I was almost shillingless, Mr.-now offered to cash it for me. shillingsworth shillingworth.

('JilirjzwaB). [worth

sb.

Formerly The

form

shillingworth (cf. pennyworth) is now rare. In the current form the s is the sign of the possessive (whether sing, or pi.).] An amount or quantity

f4. Used to render or represent the names of various foreign moneys. Obs.

which is or may be bought for a shilling; as

double shilling, a Dutch florin or guilder. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 15 Da jesetton him Srittih scillinga [Vulg. triginta argenteos]. Ibid. Luke xv. 9 ForSon ic fand J?aet scilling [Vulg. dragmam] 6aet ic forleas. c 1000 /Elfric Exod. xxi. 32 Selle )?am hlaforde pritij scillinga seolfres [Vulg. triginta siclos argenti domino dabit]. C1050 in Wr.-Wulcker 460/17 Obelus, scilling. C1050 Suppl. /Elfrids Gloss, ibid. 183/21 Numisma, scylling. 01225 After. R. 398 Two hundred sides [v.r. schillinges] of seolure. 01300 Cursor M. 6722 Thritti schiling o siluer again Sal man giue )?e lord to mend [Exod. xxi. 32]. 1744 M. Bishop Life & Adv. 140 Each [of the officers] gave me a double Shilling. 1753 [see schilling1]. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. i. iv. I. 32 The French sou or shilling appears upon different occasions to have contained five, twelve, twenty, forty, and forty-eight pennies.

number of shillings. a 1325 MS. Rawl. B. 520 If. 31 b, }?at non ne sal ben i don .. in to ani Iurees pat hath lasse pan a Hundred silling-worth of londe. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wulcker 612/37 Solidatus, a shyllyngworth. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 87/26, iiij. shillyngworth of Cakys [quattuor solidatas artocoporum]. Ibid. 158, ij shelynge worthe of rent.. yerly to be payde att whytsontyde. 1473-4 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 2 Item componit.. for the resignacione of a hundreth schilling worth of land callit the Stanly. 1675 Traherne Chr. Ethics 528 For a shilling-worth of service a shilling-worth of gratitude is naturally paid. 1857 W. Smith Thorndale iv. ii. 267 My Silver Shilling represents.. all possible shillingworths of everything on earth. 1840 Col. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 175 A few shillings¬ worth of damage to gear, etc. 1905 Athenaeum 8 Apr. 432/3 ‘School-room Humour’.. is a capital shillingsworth.

5. a. In various proverbial expressions (see quots.). 1546 J. Heywood Prov. 11. v. (1867) 54 He maketh his marts with marchantis likely, To bryng a shillyng to .ix. pens quickely. [Cf. noble sb.1 2 b.] 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin 1. vii. 32 Thus the Cardinal only changeth the Popes shilling into Twelve-pence. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. x, He will come back again, like the ill shilling—he is not the sort of gear that tynes. 1826-Woodstock x, Hark ye, good fellow,.. I will bestow on thee a shilling wet and a shilling dry if thou wilt go back with me.

b. to cut off vcith a shilling', see CUT v. 56 i. 1700 Farquhar Constant Couple iv. iii. 43 When I die, I’ll leave him the Fee-Simple of a Rope and a Shilling. 1762 Colman Mus. Lady 11. 27 I’ll disinherit him—I won’t leave him a groat—I’ll cut him off with a shilling.

c. to take the shilling, the King's or Queen's shilling: to enlist as a soldier by accepting a shilling from a recruiting officer (a practice now disused). 1707 Hearne Collect. 27 Mar. (O.H.S.) II. 2 He did take a shilling, but not with any intent of listing. 1852 Thackeray Esmond iii. v, One fellow was jilted by his mistress, and took the shilling in despair. 1886 Farjeon Three Times Tried 1, I took the Queen’s shilling, and became a soldier. 1901 Scotsman 4 Mar. 8/1 A contingent of Volunteer Engineers was sworn in for service in South Africa. Each man was presented .. with the King’s shilling.

fd. (See quot.) Obs. 1802 James Milit. Diet., The Shillings. A phrase in familiar use among army brokers, to express a certain profit or per centage which they gain in the sale, purchase, and exchange of commissions.

6. attrib., with the sense ‘of the price or value of a shilling’, ‘for which a shilling is charged or is due’, as shilling gallery, ordinary, places, points (in a game, hence shilling whist, etc.), seats; (sense 1 b) shilling bill]; shilling dreadful or shocker, a short sensational novel, published

much as

is worth

a shilling or a (specified)

shilloo (fi'lu:). Anglo-Irish. A loud shouting or outcry. Hence shi'llooing vbl. sb. 1842 Lover Handy Andy ix, ‘What are you shouting there for?’ said the traveller; ‘cawn’t you wing’. ‘Oh, they understand the shilloo as well, sir’. Ibid, xxxvi, There was a regular shilloo in the house when the thing was found out. 1845 Mrs. S. C. Hall Whiteboy xi. 91 They’ll keep such a shillooing through the country about it. shillot, variant of shillet. Shilluk

(JVluik).

fShelook, Shillook.

Also

fChillouk,

[Native name.]

fShelluh, The name

of a Sudanese people dwelling mainly on the west bank of the Nile: a member of this people; also the Nilotic language of this people. Also attrib. or as adj. 1790 J. Bruce Travels to discover Source of Nile IV. viii. ix. 458 This race of negroes is, in their own country, called Shillook. They founded Sennaar. 1799 W. G. Browne Travels in Africa, Egypt, & Syria App. 11. 453 Shilluk is a town of idolaters... The name Shilluk is not Arabic, and its meaning is unknown.—When asked concerning their name or country, the people reply Shilluk. 1832 W. M. Leake in Jrnl. R. Geogr. Soc. II. 26 On the twelfth day they reached the first island of the Shilluks. 1835 Jrnl. R. Geogr. Soc. V. 42 Twelve hours farther brought them to the first island of the Shelooks. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 232/1 The first island of the Shilluks.. is not far from Aleis. 1873 E. E. Frewer tr. Schweinfurth's Hrt. Africa I. 261 The jet-black Shillooks, Nueir, and Dinka, native of the dark alluvial flats, stand out in marked distinction to the dwellers upon the iron-red rocks. 1894 [see Nuer]. 1913 Rep. Brit. Assoc. 633 Dr. Seligmann’s discoveries among the Shilluks of the Nile Valley. 1921 E. Sapir Language 80 Shilluk, one of the languages of the headwaters of the Nile. 1927 World Domin. Oct. 319 All travellers note the Shilluk style of hairdressing. 1927 Times (Weekly ed.) 29 Dec. 30/1 Across on the east bank you will see the Shilluk. 1949 [see Nuba]. 1964 E. A.

Toward Sci. Transl. iii. 51 Shilluk uses ‘break’ only with objects such as wood. 1973 Times 27 Mar. (Sudan Suppl.) p. viii/3 (caption) A Shilluk tribesman with a traditional musical instrument in the Southern Sudan. 1976 D. Topolski Muzungu iv. 56 The Shilluk repeat the cutting process from quite an early age. Nida

shilly (‘Jill). north. Also shillow, shilla, shelly, shulla, etc. [? Connected with shillet. Manx has shillee ‘a mass or assemblage of thin slate, or bits of thin stone’ (Cregean), ‘a gravelly beach’ (Kelly); but the word may be an importation from dialectal English,]

Gravel, shingle; (with pi.) a pebble, small stone. 1675 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 307 Every shipp which shall discharge any shilly or stone ballast southwards of the shilly path in this river shall forfeit ten shillings. 1837 Thornber Hist. Blackpool 246 A beach of ‘shingle or shulla’, the principal portion of which falls from the cliffs. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Shilla, the loose stones on the sea-beach, the stony sea-beach. 1873 T. E. Brown Betsy Lee 24 A stream ran.. down the glen, And soaked through the shilly, and out to the bay. 1878 Cumberld. Gloss., Shillies, Shilla, Shellies, shore-gravel. 1901 Theodora W. Wilson TBacca Queen xxviii. 261 She turned from the lamp-lighted road on to the wide strand of shillow.

shilly-shally Qilijaeli), adv. phr., a., sb.

[At first written shill /, shall /, altered form of shall /, shall I: see shall v. B. 7 a (d). For the vowelalteration cf. dilly-dally, wishy-washy.] A. adv. phr. to stand shill J, shall I: to vacillate, to be irresolute or undecided. Also to go shill-1 shall-1, to stand at shilly-shally. 1700 Congreve Way of World iii. xv. 47, I don’t stand shill I, shall I, then; if I say’t, I’ll do’t. 1703 Steele Tender Husb. ill. (1705) 34 I’m for marrying her at once— Why should I stand shilly-shally, like a Country Bumpkin? 1709 W. King Eagle Robin 92 Bob did not shill-1 shall-1 go, Nor said one word of friend or foe; But flirting at him made a blow. 1823 De Quincey Fatal Marksman Wks. 1859 XII. 199, I see no good that comes of standing shilly-shally. 1847 Lytton Lucretia 11. ii, Don’t stand there shilly-shally. 1873 Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap 232 The simpleton who stands .. At shilly-shally, may he knock or no At his own door.

B. adj. Vacillating, irresolute, undecided. 1734 Chesterf. in Lett. C'tess Suffolk (1824) II. 95 We were mighty prudent and shilly shally whether to stay or go. 1743 Mrs. Delany Autobiog. & Corr. (1861) II. 208, I am shilly-shally about it in my own mind. 1792 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 470, I had heard him say that this constitution was a shilly-shally thing, of mere milk and water, which would not last. 1869 Trollope He knew, etc. lxv. (1878) 363 I’m not going to be stopped by any shilly-shally nonsense. 1886 Goschen in A. D. Elliot Life (1911) II. 9 If Gladstone is very shilly shally about the Legislative Union.

C. sb. 1. Vacillation, irresolution. 1755 J- Shebbeare Lydia (1769) I. 355 Mr. Muckworm .. conceived marriages should be driven like bargains without shilly shally. 1847 De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun v. Wks. 1854 III. 10 She lost not one of her forty-five minutes in picking and choosing. No shilly-shally in Kate. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. iii. xxv. 212 What I wished to point out to you was, that there can be no shilly-shally now.

2. A vacillating, irresolute person, rare. 1834 Landor Exam. Shakesp. Wks. 1853II.271/1 Among the girls in the country there are many such shilly-shallys, who give themselves sore eyes and sharp eye-water. 1883 Saintsbury Dryden's Wks. VI. 401 The queen [in The Spanish Friar] being both bloodthirsty and inconsequent, and Torrismond a vacillating shilly-shally.

'shilly-shally, v. [f. prec. adv. phr.] 1. intr. undecided.

To

vacillate,

be

irresolute

or

1782 Miss Burney Cecilia ix. iii, So I suppose he’ll shillyshally till somebody else will cry snap, and take her. 1842 Thackeray Miss Tickletoby's Led. ix, This Bruce had been for a long time shilly-shallying as to the side he should take. 1879 Farrar St. Paul I. 441 To shilly-shally on the matter, to act in one way today and in a different way tomorrow.

2. trans. To show indecision in one’s dealings with. ? nonce-use. 1864 Bp. Wilberforce in R. G. Wilberforce Life (1882) III. 152 If you go mystifying and shillyshallying them [sc. nonconformists].

U Occas. analysed into two verbs, ‘shilly’ and ‘shally’: see quots. 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney II. 203 It would be all idleness to go on shillying-shallying with her. 1891 Daily News 3 June 2/2 Sir William made the statement.. that L. had shillied and shallied, and had then said ‘I saw something’.

Hence 'shilly-.shallying vbl. sb. and ppl. a. 1842 Thackeray Fitz-Boodle's Profess, i, There shall be no shilly-shallying work here. 1843-Bluebeard's Ghost in Fraser's Mag. Oct. 424/2 Make up your mind what you will ask him, for ghosts will stand no shilly-shallying. 1883 Howells Woman's Reason I. 120 If it hadn’t been for my wretched shilly-shallying ways, I shouldn’t have to write to him at all.

'shilly-.shallyer.

[f. prec. vb.

+ -er1.]

One

who shilly-shallies. 1832 J. Wilson Nodes Ambr. in Blackw. Mag. Apr. 697 Silly shallow shilly-shallyers. 1835 Southey Doctor cv. (1848) 243 He was no shillishallier. 1848 Thackeray Contrib. 'Punch' Wks. 1886 XXIV. 187 Shilly-shallyers are cowards.

shilment, -mont:

see shelvement.

shilpit ('Jilpit), a.

Sc. Also shilpet, shelpit. [Etymology unknown; cf. shirpit.

Sc. dialects have also shilpy in the same sense, and shilp ‘a pale sickly girl’ (Eng. Dial. Diet.).]

SHILT

265

1. Of persons: Pale and sickly-looking; weak, feeble, puny. Poems I. 79 (E.D.D.) There Care nae shilpit face can shaw. 1818 Miss Ferrier Marriage xxiv, The Laird, as he peered at her over his spectacles, pronounced her to be but a shilpit thing. 1820 Byron Let. to Murray 23 Apr., Abstemiousness has made my brain but a shilpit concern for a Scotch sitting ‘inter pocula’. 1896 Crockett Grey Man xxxiv. 230 My puir bit shilpit lassie. 1813 Picken

2. Of liquor: Insipid, weak, thin. 1814 Scott Wav. xi, He pronounced the claret shilpit, and demanded brandy with great vociferation. 1824 Redgauntlet ch. xx, Sherry’s but shilpit drink.

3. (See quot.) 1856 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 725 Shilpit (Scot.), applied to ill-filled ears of corn.

shilt, var. shillet.

shily, obs. var. shyly. shim (Jim), sb.1 Also 7 shimm(e. [Represents formally OE. scima shadow, gloom. Cognate forms are OS. scirno shade, WFris. skim, NFris. skemm, MLG. scheme shade, twilight, ghost, MDu. schem, schim, scheme shade, shadow, ghost, shimmer, shine (Du. schim shadow, phantom), MHG. scheme ghost (G. schemen), ON. skime or sktme gleam, skima glimmer; also OE. scima brightness, light, OS., OHG. sctmo, Goth, skeima; f. Teut. 'root ski-, for which see shine i>.]

1. A streak of white on a horse’s face. dial. Cf. shimmed. 1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horsem. 23 Some commend the shimme or rase downe the face. 1688 Lond. Gaz. No. 2459/4 A bright Chesnut Gelding,.. a Shim [printed Shein] down his Face. 1705 Ibid. 4131 /4 A Ring of white round each Ear, and a Shim down her Face. 1784 Cullum Hist. Haivsted iii. 173-

2. A faint or transient appearance; a glimpse. a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose's Prov. Gloss., Shim, appearance. West. A transient view or first sight. 1853 W. D. Cooper Gloss. Prov. Sussex 73, I can’t be sure it was a partridge, but I saw the shim of something going over the hedge.

shim (Jim), sb.2

Also 8 sheim. [Origin unascertained. It is doubtful whether all the following senses belong to one word.] 1. local. 1. A piece of iron attached to an agricultural implement for scraping the surface of the soil. 1723 Lewis Hist. Tenet 9 The furrows.. being either howed with a large how, or cleared of weeds and rubbish by what they call a Shim. This is a flat piece of Iron, fixed at the end of a slight little plough beam drawn by one horse, and so made that it may be raised up or let down, as occasion serves. [1736 (ed. 2) 13 reads, A Shim or Brake-plough. This is a Piece of Iron, at the Bottom of two Cheeks with Holes in them, which are put thro’ a Frame of Timber drawn with one Horse, and with Iron Pins is let up or down as there is Occasion.] 1808 Batchelor Agric. Bedford 178 A shim, or scraper, might be inserted in the harrow-frame, for cutting thistles and other weeds.

2. In full shim-plough: A kind of horse-hoe or shallow plough, used in Kent and elsewhere, for hoeing up weeds between rows of beans, hops, etc. [1736: see sense 1.] 1736 Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.), Shim, an horse-how. 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husb. III. 1. 56 (E.D.S.), The sheim or prong-plough. 1754 Pococke Trav. (Camden) II. 88 [In the Isle of Thanet] They have a particular way of cleaning the ground sown with beans, with a machine call’d a shim, with irons at such a distance, that two go between the rows, and turn up the earth on each side against the beans. 1792 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) III. 33 Horse-hoed the intervals with a Berkshire shim, which cuts the surface, but turns no furrow. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 880 In the drill-sown lucern some recommend.. the passing of a small shim between them. 1892 Auctioneer's Catal. Farm Sale near Minster, Kent, 148 Pop shim, 149 Iron single shim, 150 5 furrow corn shim.

3. A Dutch hoe. 1833 Ridgemont Farm Rep. 133 in Husb. (L.U.K.) Ill, The Dutch hoe, called in Holderness the ‘shim’.

T[4. Used by confusion for skim sb. (2 b). So shim-coulter plough in some Diets. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 470 When the land is of a stiff and lumpy .. nature, it may .. be necessary to have recourse to shims, in order to break down and separate the particles. 1834 Brit. Husb. (L.U.K.) I. 348 The shim, or skim, has also been affixed as an additional coulter.. to a plough much in use in Oxfordshire. 1837 Ibid. II. 18 The skim-plough—or shim, as it is in some places called.

II. In wider use. 5. a. A thin slip, usually of metal, used to fill up a space between parts subject to wear, to align or adjust the level of rails, etc. Recent Practice Locomotive Engine 62/2 Where no gibs are employed in the cross-head blocks, ‘shims’ or thickness pieces of sheet-tin or copper are interposed under the ends of the guide-bars. 1864 in Webster. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., Shim. .(.Stone¬ working). One of the plates in a jumper-hole to fill out a portion of the thickness not occupied by the wedges or feathers. 1885 Waddell Syst. Railroad Bridges Japan 56 There are two different floor systems ..: in the first of these the lower lateral rods pass through the wooden shims. 1887 J. Rose Key to Engines 101 A Liner, Fit-Strip, DistancePiece, or Shim .. is a strip of metal placed between the joint faces of the brasses to hold them the proper distance apart. 1916 R. T. Nicholson Bk. of Ford viii. 118 Paper ‘shims’ —that is, slips of paper shaped to the flats — between cap and socket. These ‘shims’ will prevent your tightening the nuts up too far. 1953 J. Lawrence Questions & Answers on Automobile Transmission Steering IV. 90 To rectify the pre-load, adjust the shim pack between the outer bearing i860

Clark

&

Colburn

SHIMMERING

cone and the pinion shank or spacer. 1977 New Yorker 4 July 33/2 He took out the shims and adjusted them for proper clearance.

b. Criminals' slang (chiefly U.S.). = loid. 1968 L. O’Donnell Face of Crime i. 12 The lock was of the deadbolt type that doesn’t yield to the opportunist’s plastic shim. 1973 R. Parkes Guardians i. 8 Had the door fitted flush to the frame, the old perspex shim wouldn’t have slipped in. 1977 ‘L. Egan’ Blind Search x. 172 Denny and I went to Nonie’s place, and he used a shim to get us in.

6. U.S. An imperfect shingle of irregular thickness; also, an imperfect bucket-stave. In recent U.S. Diets.

tshim, a. Obs. In 4 schym. [Related to OE. scima, scima: see shim s^.1] Bright. Cf. (Chesh., Shropsh.) shim-white, a clear bright white. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1077 Aboute pat water am tres ful schym, J>at twelue frytez of lyf con bere ful sone.

tshim, v.1 Obs. [OE. scimian, ? also scimian, related to scima (see shim sb.1): cf. OHG. sciman, MHG. schimmen.] intr. To shine. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xvii. 24 Scimande of heofnum, coruscans de sub caelo. c 1000 /Elfric Gram. xxiv. (Z.) 138 Mico, ic scimige [v.r. seine], a 1225 Juliana 55 (Bodl. MS.), Schiminde [Royal MS. schininde] hire nebscheaft schene as pe sunne. 01225 St. Marher. 19 WiS schimmende ant scharp sweord. Ibid. 44 Hire foster modres schep, pe schimede ant schan. a 1240 [see shimmer w.1].

shim, v.2 [f. shim sb.2] 1. a. intr. To use the shim for hoeing. 1792, etc. [see shimming]. 1793 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) IV. 62 The last week in April, shimmed over the surface.

b. trans. To hoe (crops) with a shim. 1797 A. Young Agric. Suffolk 59 The Kentish method of shimming the stubbles of beans.. is unknown in Suffolk. 1799 - Agric. Line. 128 He., shims them with the expanding horse-hoe. 1833 Ridgemont Farm Rep. 138 in Husb. (L.U.K.) Ill, When the land is in good order, an able work-man will shim nearly six roods a day.

2. a. ‘To wedge up or fill out to a fair surface by inserting a thin wedge or piece of material’ (Century Diet.). Also const, out. Cf. shimmer sb.2 and shimming. N. Amer. I937 H. E. Stafford Troubles of Electr. Equip, iii. 46 The only permanent way is.. by decreasing the air gap by shimming the pole shoes. 1967 E. B. Nickerson Kayaks to Arctic xiv. 126 Each cabin had a single door, well shimmed but still hanging out of plumb. 1974 R. M. Pirsig Zen & Art of Motorcycle Maintenance v. 57 You’re going to have to shim those out.

b. Criminals' slang (chiefly U.S.). To open (a lock or door) with a shim. Cf. shim sb.2 5 b.

shimmer (’Jim3(r)), sb.1 [f. shimmer v.1 Cf. LG. schemmer, NFris. skimer, G. schimmer, Sw. skimmer.] A shimmering light or glow; a subdued tremulous light. 1821 Scott Kenilw. vi, Two silver lamps, fed with perfumed oil, diffused.. a trembling twilight-seeming shimmer through the quiet apartment. 1847 C. Bronte Jane Eyrexxv, The strange, wraith-like apparel.. which, at this evening hour.. gave out.. a most ghostly shimmer through the shadow of my apartment. 1863 Miss Braddon Eleanor's Viet, i, The first shimmer of the moonlight was silvery on the water. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 590 The papules .. having a wax-like shimmer. transf. and fig. 1851 Carlyle Sterling 11. iii, A kind of childlike half-embarrassed shimmer of expression, on his fine vivid countenance. 1854 Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Poet. Imag., One man sees a spark or shimmer of the truth.

shimmer ('Jim3(r)), sb.2 U.S. [f. shim v.2 + -er.] a. A workman who inserts shims in cabinet work, etc. b. = shim sb.2 5. (In recent U.S. Diets.) shimmer ('Jim3(r)), v.1 Forms: 1 scymrian, 3 schimere, 4 schymere, 4-5 s(c)hemere, 6 shy-, shimer, 6- shimmer, [late OE. scymrian = WFris. skimerje, NFris. skimere to shimmer, (M)LG., (M)Du. schemeren to be shaded or shadowy, to glimmer, glitter, G. schimmern, Sw. skimra; related to shim v.1 Cf. the northern skimmer.] 1. intr. To shine with a tremulous or flickering light; to gleam faintly. In early use also, to shine brightly, glisten. a 1100 Chrodegang’s Rule 41 in Napier Contrib. OE. Lexic. (1906) 16 Sofilice pa se dsejredleoma beorhte scymrode, pa Drihten..of helle aras. c 1230 [see shimmering ppl. a.], a 1240 Sawles Warde in O.E. Horn. 1. 257 A1 pat hus schineS ant schimmeS [t).r. schimereS] of his leome. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 772 Hit [a castle] schemered & schon pur3 pe schyre okez. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4974 Frut. pat shemert as shire as any shene stonys. 1567 Maplet Gr. Forest 5 b, The Chrusopasse is a Stone of Ethiope, which in the day light shimmereth not. 1582 Stanyhurst AZneis iv. 82 Thee next day foloing lustring Aurora lay shymring, Her saffrond mattresse leauing to her bedfelo Tithon. 1623, 1655 [see shimmering vbl. sb. and ppl. a.]. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. i. xvii, Twinkling faint, and distant far, Shimmers through mist each planet star, i860 Thackeray Level iv, Often your figure shimmers through my dreams. 1871 Green Let. to W. B. Dawkins 29 Jan., Blue sea.. shimmering with colour. 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece (1898) I. xiii. 254 Distant islands shimmering in sun-litten haze. 1877 Stopford Brooke Fight of Faith xxiv. 394 The [frozen] ponds .. shimmer dark like polished steel.

1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) ii. 25 The burglar .. would shim doors which isn’t too hard to do in any hotel.

2. intr. To move effortlessly; to glide, drift {by, off, etc.).

Ilshimada (Ji'mcnds). The name of a town in

1904 in Eng. Dial. Diet. V. 385 [Yorks.] He shimmered by, a piece o’ way off. 1923 Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves x. 102 Jeeves shimmered off, and Cyril blew in, full of good cheer and blitheringness. 1930 C. Williams War in Heaven xi. 176 ‘I just want to shimmer up, like Jeeves, not walk,’ she said. 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 151 Move my hand over her bronze tights, tracing her hip-bone, circling beneath the overhang of her buttock, shimmer flat-palmed down the back of her legs.

Honshu, central Japan, applied absol. and attrib. to a young unmarried ladies’ formal hairstyle in which the hair is drawn into a queue and fastened at the top of the head. 1910 Jukichi Inouye Home Life in Tokyo ix. 113 Both the shimada and the marumage are heavy as they require false hair. 1936 K. Nohara True Face of Japan v. 173 The unmarried girl wears the shimada coiffure. 1959 R. Kirkbride Tamiko vii. 53 A Geisha girl, gorgeous in kimono and shimada hairstyle.

||shime-waza ('Jiime'waiza). Judo. Also shime waza. [Jap., f. shimeru to tighten, constrict + waza art, deed, work.] The art of strangulation; a strangle-hold. Also attrib. 1954 E. Dominy Teach Yourself Judo 191 Shime Waza, the art of Strangulation. 1956 K. Tomiki Judo iii. 92 There are two methods of strangling, namely necklock and cheeklock. But the latter is excluded from the practice in judo, only the former being referred to as shime-waza. 1957 Judo (Know the Game Series) 26/2 Lastly there is the shimewaza group (strangling and choking techniques)... The definition is as follows: the strangle aims at compressing the common carotid artery just behind the sternomastoid muscle which runs up both sides of the neck... If this pressure is maintained it is only a matter of a few seconds before the man becomes unconscious. 1978 D. Starbrook Judo Starbrook Style vi. 98 A shimewaza is a stranglehold.

shimiana, variant of shamiana(h. shimiyana (Jimi'jains). S. Afr. Also shimiaan, shimiyane, shimya(a)n. [ad. Zulu isi)shimeyana.] An intoxicating home-brewed drink made from treacle or sugar and water. 1870 A. F. Lindley After Ophir xix. 306 Shimyan and jwarlar were produced for our consumption, and we were invited to witness the usual dancing performances at the kraal after dark. 1900 J. Robinson Lifetime S. Afr. 307 ‘Shimyaan’, a concoction of treacle and water allowed to ferment in the sun. This beverage was maddening in its effects, and the parent of much crime. 1934 R. Campbell Broken Record 68 You loaf, you drink shimiaan. 1946 Cape Times 29 Oct. 5 The presiding magistrate called in a number of native spectators to decide whether a drum of brew before the court was shimiyana. 1949 Cape Argus 6 Aug. 1/4 Malinga pleaded guilty to being in possession of three gallons of shimiyane which, he said, he brewed for his own consumption. 1961 T. Matshikiza Chocolates for My Wife 76 They plug you cockfull of Shimiyana. Some randy home brew.

f shimmed, a. Obs. In 5 schymmid. shim sb.1 + -ED2.] Dapple-grey.

[app. f.

C1440 Promp. Parv. 446/2 Schymmid, as hors, scutilatus.

'shimmer, v.2 [f. shimmer sb.2} = shim f.2 2. 1908 J. B. Davidson & Chase Farm Mach. 71 (Century Diet. Suppl.), A remedy for this [poor fitting of share and moldboard] is procured by shimmering the share up or down with small pieces of paste-board.

shimmeriness ('Jimarmis). [f. shimmery a.1 -f -ness.] The condition of being shimmery; a flickering or insubstantial quality. 1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers 11. vii. 153 Only this shimmeriness is the real living. The shape is a dead crust. 1948 M. Schorer in Hudson Rev. I. 76 His [sc. Lawrence’s] belief in a .. poetry in which nothing is fixed, static, or final, where all is shimmeriness and impermanence.

'shimmering, vbl. Sb. [f. SHIMMER V.1 + -ING1. Cf. (M)LG. schemering, MHG. schemerung twilight, G. schimmerung coruscation.] The action of the vb. shimmer. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 377 A litel shymeryng [v.r. schemeryng] of a light. 1623 Bp. Hall Gt. Impostor Wks. (1625) 503 The..blinde man that thought he now saw a shimmering of the Sunne-beames. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. ix. (1856) 64 Looking toward the shore, I observed a sort of shimmering, as of the heated air above a stove. 1868 Helps Realmah iii, Kissed into ripples by the shimmering of moonlight. 1883 W. S. Dugdale Dante's Purg. 1. 9, I discerned the shimmering of the sea. jig. 1880 Todhunter Shelley vii. 199 It is a weak shimmering of forced fun.

'shimmering, ppl. a. That shimmers. ciooo Gl. Prud. in Germania (N.S.) XI. 401/10 Scymriendes waeles, ceruleigurgitis. c 1230 Hali Meid. 31 J>at eadi trume of schimerinde meidenes. 13 .. E.E. Allit. P. A. 80 Wyth schymeryng schene ful schrylle J?ay schynde. 01400-50 Wars Alex. 1544 Shemerand shaftis of the shire son. C1440 York Myst. 1. 69 My schewyng es schemerande and schynande. 1557 Phaer AZneid vi. Q4 In shimring shadowe darck and thinne. 1593 G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 219 If some little shimering light appeare at a little creuise. 1655 Gurnall Chr. in Arm. 1. 224 There is some shimmering light in all. 1840 Eliza Cook Poems 151 The towering hill, the shimmering rill. 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece (1898) I. vii. 124 The plain .. basking in the hazy shimmering heat. 1881 Macm. Mag. XLIII. 345 The soft brilliancy of her toilet had the look of shimmering plumage. jig. 1880 E. White Cert. Relig. 34 The vague and shimmering atmosphere of local and chronological detail.

shimmery ('Jimari), a.1

[f. shimmer v.

Cf. G. schimmerig, WFris. skimerich.]

+ -y1. Giving

out a shimmering light. 1883 Harper's Mag. May 904/2 Some wondrous shimmery cream of brocaded satin. 1890 J. Hatton By Order of Czar III. v, The city in the lagoons, with.. her shimmery waters. fig. 1893 Athenaeum 9 Dec. 803/2 ‘Claudea’s Island’ has pretty, shimmery touches, natural and human. 'shimmery,

a.2

‘Shaky.’

Also

shimmery-

whimmery a. 1859 Mbs. Stowe Minister’s Wooing xxx, ‘How is Mrs. Marvyn?’.. ‘Kinder thin and shimmery, but she is about.’ 1894 Fenn Real Gold xii, Didn’t you ever have a set to at school..?.. And didn’t you feel shimmery-whimmery before you began? 'shimming, vbl. sb.

[f. shim v.2 + -ing1.]

1. Hoeing with a shim. 1792 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) III. 33 The middle of August, repeated the shimming. 1833 Ridgemont Farm Rep. 141 in Husb. (L.U.K.) Ill, This ‘shimming’ is..repeated when the beans have advanced to six inches in height. 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. II. 557 Horse-hoeing, or what is locally called .. ‘shiming’. 2. The insertion of shims; also, a shim, or shims collectively. 1884 Car-Builder’s Diet. (Century Diet.), Shimming has been used in fitting on car-wheels when the wheel-seat of the axle was a little too small. shimmy CJimi), sb.'

Also shimmey.

dial, and

U.S. corruption of chemise. 1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow xliii. 267 We have nothing but petticoats here and shimmeys. 1839 Heref. Gloss., Shimmy, shift; now used by cottagers. 1856 H. H. Dixon Post & Paddock x. 176 Two shirts and a ‘shimmy’ is about the regulation package for a man and his wife. 1889 Macmillan's Mag. Sept. 360, I did count on gettin’ myself a new shimmy. 1952 New Yorker 20 Sept. 35/1 To persuade the young matron to doff her wet shimmy. shimmy ('Jimi), sb.2 Also shimi. [App. a use of shimmy tfe.1]

1. A lively modern dance resembling a foxtrot accompanied by simulated quivering or shaking of the body which first achieved wide popularity in the early nineteen-twenties; a performance of this dance.

Also in phr. to shake a shimmy.

orig. U.S. [1917 Variety 30 Nov. 19/1 The opening number was programed as a combination of ‘Strutter’s Ball’, ‘ShimmeSha-Wabble’ and ‘Walking the Dog’.] 1918 Dancing Times Nov. 35 It is still very, very crude—and it is called ‘Shaking the Shimmy’... It’s a nigger dance, of course, and it appears to be a slow walk with a frequent twitching of the shoulders. 1920 C. Sandburg Smoke & Steel 223 Shimmying the fast shimmy to the Livery Stable Blues. 1922 Weekly Dispatch 31 Dec. 9 ‘Shimmy’ banned in New York... The Chicago camel-walk, scandal, balconnades, and shimmy dances must cease. 1924 P. Marks Plastic Age 275 That music was enough to make a saint shed his halo and shake a shimmy. I935 J- T. Farrell Judgment Day 1. xvi. 387 The building began to waver and dance before his eyes. Funny. The building was doing the shimmy. 1947 M. Berger in R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz viii. 96 They did the Virginia reel, slow and fast quadrilles and the shimmy. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues {1973) iv. 41 White people .. came to the Cotton Club—a place Negroes never saw inside unless they played music or did the shakes or shimmies. 1975 P. G. Winslow Death of Angel xii. 232 Frayne..held the towel behind his hips and did what.. used to be called the shimmy. 1977 New Hampshire Times 27 July 12/2 Glasses in New Hampshire cupboards began to rattle as houses started modest shimmies. 2. transf. An oscillation or vibration of the wheels, etc., of a motor vehicle or of an aircraft undercarriage; spec. = wheel wobble. 1925 Proc. Inst. Automobile Engineers XIX. 822 This phenomenon.. is variously termed ‘wheel flap’, ‘shimmy’, ‘goldfishing’, ‘tramping’, ‘wobble’, according to the nationality and imagination of the writers. 1936 Aircraft Engin. July 199/1 With the use of the front castorable wheel another difficulty develops .. in the form of wheel shimmy. 1940 G. Frankau Self-Portrait lxii. 385 ‘Frankie’., developed a shimmy in her full elliptic springing that made her solid steering column feel like india-rubber. 1943 F. L. Wright Autobiogr. (rev. ed.) v. 411 At high speed it would settle down and shake itself almost to pieces in a perfect frenzy (the garage-doctors called it a shimmy). 1958 H. G. Conway Landing Gear Design viii. 150 Shimmy can be divided into two basic types: large angle and small angle (or kinematic) shimmy. 1968 K. J. Bunker in J. G. Giles Steering, Suspension Tyres vii. 132 Shimmy.. is usually started by road irregularities. 1977 Grimsby Even. Tel. 5 May 5/1 (Advt.), Terrific tyre bargains!.. Wheel balancing. Got the ‘shimmy’ — Got the ‘shakes’? Expert correction. 3. attrib. and Comb., as (sense i) shimmy dance, device

dancer, fitted

to

dress; aircraft

shimmy

damper,

undercarriages

piece

of)

shimmy-fox(trot) music

to

=

next;

accompany

this

also,

banned in greater New York. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 533 You found me in evil company, highkickers, coster picnic makers, pugilists.. and the nifty shimmy dancers. 1967 Boston Globe 5 Apr. 59/3 A largely nude shimmy dancer put in all the bumps and grinds with a gyrating G.I. 1919 Honey Pot I. 1. 8 The Eton collar which, in addition to her plain blue ‘shimmy’ dress.. made her resemble a school-girl of sweet sixteen. 1968 P. Oliver Screening Blues vi. 206 The women dressed exotically and were supported by scantily clad chorus girls wearing the shimmy dresses of the period. 1934 C. Lambert Music Ho! in. 224 Jannings going to the dogs is not a more melancholy spectacle than some worthy Teutonic fiddler putting a little pep into a ‘shimmy-fox’. 1926-7 T. Eaton fef Co. Catal. 305/1 Collegiate—Shimmy Fox Trot. 1928 Observer 15 Apr. 12 Instead of a scherzo she has written a shimmy-foxtrot. 1925 Infanta Eulalia of Spain Courts & Countries after War i. 18 The history of dancing during the Revolution repeated itself, with the differences that the Carmagnole of ’93 was the Shimmy Shake or the Bunny Hug of 1914. 1920 Sat. Even. Post 27 Nov. 42/4 Then they was a pair of young shimmy shakers. 1919 N. Y. Sun 16 Jan. 14/4, I was dancing the shimi shiver.

shimmy, zl1 orig. U.S. Also shemmi. [f. prec.] 1. a. intr. To dance the shimmy. 1919 J. R. Pickell Twenty-Four Days on Troopship xiv. 74 O, boys, we don’t care, If we never get home, If mother will shimmy So long as we roam. 1919 A. J. Piron {song-title), I wish I could shemmi like my sister Kate. 1932 J. Laver Nymph Errant viii. 199 Constantine shimmied until beads of perspiration gathered on his shiny forehead. 1977 Zigzag Apr. 28/1 He gyrates, shimmies, shakes his ass.

b. trans. To dance (the shimmy); to shake (part of the body) as in the shimmy. 1920 [see shimmy sb.2 1]. 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It xi. 85 Pauline used to tell me .. shimmying her loose bare arms of which she was so proud for their milky flesh, ‘like this, like that, and ziggety-zaggety’. 1974 J. Irving 158-Pound Marriage vii. 148 She shimmied her fingers the way Tyrone Williams did before the whistle.

2. intr. jig. and transf. To shake, quiver, vibrate, to progress hastily or irregularly. 1925 C. R. Cooper Lions V Tigers ix. 235 Leader Mary was beginning to shimmy slightly with increased flight. 1941 Picture Post 3 May 9/2 The gunfire came surging back. .. The floor of the basement shimmied underneath me and the whole house shook like a Chinese lantern in a breeze. 1942.7m/. Aeronaut. Sci. IX. 400/1 It is impossible for any side force to build up on the tire to cause it to shimmy. 1958 H. G. Conway Landing Gear Design viii. 152 Aircraft.. with less than a certain amount of castoring friction shimmied and those with more did not. 1969 L. Michaels Going Places 135 She.. shimmied up my arm and hung from my shoulder like a bunch of bananas. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 July 814/3 When his wife was asleep, he would shimmy down a pillar to the ground floor. 1980 Daily Tel. 29 Nov. 17/3 Palm, shimmying in the warm breezes all along the coasts.

Hence 'shimmying vbl. sb. and ppl. a. 1919 J. R. Pickell Twenty-Four Days on Troopship 73 The star in the heavens, Looked down with a frown, To see mother so shimmied In her shimmeying gown. 1928 Galsworthy Swan Song 11. xiii. 217 He..watched the dancing on deck—funny business nowadays, shimmying, bunnyhugging, didn’t they call it. 1942 R. H. Bound in R. A. Beaumont Aeronaut. Engin. xv. 412/2 Main tail wheels have been subject to one very serious defect, namely, shimmying; this consists of violent oscillations of the tailwheel from side to side when the aircraft is running over the ground. 1972 Sci. Amer. Oct. 100/3 Most of the behavior of a nucleus undergoing nuclear fission can be understood as the splitting of a shimmying electrically charged drop. 1977 Gay News 24 Mar. 23/1 A mere suggestion of a shimmying hip and you were lectured by a bartender.

shimmy CJimi), v.2 [Alteration of shimmer v.1 under infl. of shimmy v.1] intr. and trans. To ‘dance’ in; to transport (a person) quickly. 1923 Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves vii. 76, I bounded into the sitting-room, but it was empty. Jeeves shimmied in. 1930 G. MacMunn Behind Scenes in Many Wars x. 187 A small destroyer .. would shimmy us over to the beaches from Imbros. 1980 G. V. Higgins Kennedy for Defense x. 104, I just love seeing fat fees shimmy out the door to go elsewhere.

t shimose (Ji'mausei). Mil. Obs. [The name of Masachika Shimose (1859-1911), Japanese engineer.] A form of lyddite made in Japan. Also f ’shimosite. 1904 Amer. Inventor 1 June 256/2 An explosive used by the Japanese, and called Shimose, after its inventor,.. is said to be more powerful than either dynamite or gun-cotton, and to possess features found in no other high-power explosive. 1915 A. Marshall Explosives 322 The first satisfactory solution of the problem was the adoption of picric acid by France. This was quickly followed by similar measures taken by practically all the other Powers, each of whom, however, gave the substance a different name; France .. Melinite, England .. Lyddite,.. Japan .. Shimosite. 1917 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 258/2 The picric acid compound known as lyddite in England, melinite in France, and shimose in Japan.

a

and

motor vehicles in order to prevent or reduce shimmy;

SHIN

266

SHIMMERY

(a

dance;

shimmy shake, shiver = shimmy sb.2 i; hence shimmy shaker. 1928 Proc. Inst. Automobile Engineers XXII. 741 It is important when using a shimmy damper to avoid the use of spring connections .. in the steerage linkage. 1946 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. L. 533/2 In only one aircraft had a hydraulic shimmy damper been used, and that was a direct copy of the damper used in Douglas aircraft. 1958 H. G. Conway Landing Gear Design viii. 153 (caption) A well-known type of American shimmy damper on the rotating vane principle. 1919 N.Y. World 17 Jan. 7/5 {heading) Shimmy dance is

shimozzle, var. shemozzle. 'shimper, v. local, [app. corrupt f. shimmer v. with intrusive p (*shim?re).] = shimmer v. 1674 Ray S. E.C. Words, To Shimper, to shimmer or shine. Suss. Dial. 1703 Art's lmprovem. I. 8 They.. stick it full of small pieces of broken Glass, which .. adds a Luster to it, Shimpering against the Sun-Beams. 1836 W. D. Cooper Gloss. Prov. Sussex s.v., How the carriage-wheels shimper in the sun.

'shim-sham. Obs. exc. dial. Reduplication of sham sb. and a. (Cf. flim-flam.) 1797 Mrs. A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) I. 22 To make a parcel of shim-sham ghosts and coffins, and such like blasphemies. 1798 Geraldina I. 224 We were served upon

plate: none of your shim-shams,.. but the real thing. 1823 Spirit Publ.Jrnls. 523 His Majesty’s real birthday, and none of your George and the Dragon shim shams.

shimya(a)n, vars. shimiyana. shin (Jin), sb.1

Forms: 1 scinu, 2 seine, scyne, 3-4 s(c)hine, 4-5 s(c)hyne, 5 schene, 5-6 schin, schyn(ne, shyn(ne, 6 shinne, 7 shinn, 6- shin. [OE. scinu str. fern. = WFris. skine, NFris. skenn, (M)LG., MDu. schene (Du. scheen), OHG. scina, scena, sciena shin, needle (MHG. schin{ne, G. schiene thin wooden or metal plate); MSw. skena shin, Sw. skena shin, Da. skinne splint, tire, rail, are from LG. or HG. The fundamental meaning appears to be ‘thin or narrow piece’; OE. scia shin and MHG. schie hedge-stake are app. related.] 1. a. The front part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle; the front or sharp edge of the shank-bone. Occas. used of analogous parts of birds and insects. a 1000 Ags. Gloss, in Wr.-Wulcker 216/3 Cruscula, scinu. a 1100 Ags. Voc. Ibid. 307/27 Tibia, scyne, oSSe scinban. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1060 J>u were ynume in one grune, A1 hit abouhte pine schine [Cott. shine]. CI300 E.E. Psalter cxlvi. 10 Ne in schines of man queming bes him tille. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 421 The pure fettres of his shynes grete [v.rr. schenys, schinnes]. c 1450 Lovelich Merlin 2102 Thanne lefte He vpe His staf Anon and overthwert the Schenys smot him. C1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. xiii. {Frog Mouse) xxv, This litill mous, heir knit thus be the schin. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 494 She.. had broken her shyn At the threshold comyng in. 1600 Rowlands Letting Humours Blood iv. 64 To trie it out at foot-ball by the shinnes. 1658-9 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 10 A Spanish Don that burnt his shins by the fire. 1714 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. Ixxxv. 140 In .. a great crowd.. people.. disregard a little kick of the Shins. 1834 Marryat Peter Simple xxxi, O’Brien, who knew the tender part of a black, saluted Apollo with a kick on the shins. 1871 Meredith Harry PJchmond xv, In mounting [the path] the knees and shins bore the brunt of it.

b. The lower part of a leg (of beef), the meat of which is lean and streaked. 1736 Bailey Diet. Domest. s.v. Beef, Take a leg or shin of Beef, strip off the skin and fat. 1872 Daily News 5 Sept., An old English proverb says.. ‘Of all joints commend me to the shin of beef, which contains marrow for the master, meat for the mistress, gristle for the servants, and bone for the dog’.

2. In fig. phr.: a. referring to striking a person over the shins (cf. a rap over the knuckles) or wounding his shins. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. 1. x. (1867) 20 Priuie nyps or casts ouertwart the shyns. 1589 ? Nashe Pasqvill & Marforivs B 4, To come ouer our shinnes with the same rebuke that hee gaue to Phillip. 1590-1st Pt. Pasquil's Apol. C 2, A wipe ouer the shinnes of the Non Residents. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. 1. ii. (1601) 47 It is able to breake the shinnes of any old mans patience in the world. 1651 Howell Venice 199 He is ready.. to throw the Catt at her shinns, to pick a quarrell. [1795 Burke Regie. Peace iv. Wks. 1812 V. 26 The Author.. ought not to have left us in the dark upon that subject, to break our shins over his hints and insinuations.] 1821 Lamb Elia 1. All Fools' Day, Remove those logical forms.. that no gentleman break the tender shins of his apprehension stumbling across them. 1884 St. James's Gaz. 25 Apr. 7/1 Rubbing down everybody’s shins with a brickbat.

t b. to cut off by the shins, to leave not a leg to stand on, undermine. Obs. 1592 Arden of Feversham D [11. ii. 769], Cut him off by the shinnes, with a frowning looke of your crabed countenance. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. H 1, Post-hast letters came to him .. to return as speedily as he could possible.. wherby his fame was quit cut off by the shins. c. f to cross shins: see cross v. 5. to set out the

shin (Sc.), to walk proudly, to graze the shins of, to come very near to. 1592 Nashe Strange Newes M 1, I will crosse shinnes with him though euerie sentence of his were a thousande tunnes of discourses. 1645 [see cross v. 5]. 1719 Ramsay 2nd Answ. to Hamilton ix, Set out the burnt side of your shin, For pride in poets is nae sin. 1786 Burns On Dining with Lord Daer iii, But wi’ a Lord!—stand out my shin! A Lord—a Peer—an Earl’s son! 1847 De Quincey Joan of Arc Wks. 1854 III. 227 The mob of spectators might raise a scruple whether our friend the jackdaw upon the throne, and the dauphin himself, were not grazing the shins of treason.

d. to break shins (slang): to borrow money. [1591 G. Fletcher Russe Commw. 45 Whereupon he praued or beat out of their shinnes 7000. rubbels for a mulct. 1606 Dekker Seven Sins 1. (Arb.) 17 The Russians haue an excellent custome: they beate them on the shinnes, that haue mony, and will not pay their debts.] a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Breaking Shins, borrowing of Money. 1864 Hotten's Slang Diet. 227. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 632 In financial slang, Americans use the verb to shin simply, where the English use to break shins, to denote a desperate effort to procure money in an emergency by running about to friends and acquaintances.

3. The sharp slope of a hill. Sc. 1817 Edin. Mag. Oct. 84 Sometimes on the shin, and some-times in the hollow, of a hill. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. XV. v. IV. 76 They have climbed the eastern shin of the Harz Range, where the Harz is capable of wheel-carriages.

4. Used, after G. schiene, for an iron plate or band. 1747 Hooson Miner's Diet. K 2, The Hack is not made straight but bending a little on either end from the Eye, upon that side the Haum is put in on, yet not too much into the Shins. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., Shin,.. a fish-plate.

5. attrib. and Comb., as shin-boot, -cover, -guard, -pad, -pride, -ridge; f shin-barker, a

SHIN little dog that barks at one’s shins; shin-cracker Austral, (see quots.); shin-leaf, the North American ericaceous plant Pyrola elliptica (also P. rotundifolia); shin-oak, applied to dwarf varieties of oak which form thick low-growing underwood, e.g. Quercus chinquapin; shinplaster, (a) Hist. (orig. U.S.) a square piece of paper saturated with vinegar, etc., used as a plaster for sore legs; (b) a piece of paper money, esp. one of a low denomination, depreciated in value, or not sufficiently secured; (c) Canad., a twenty-five dollar bill; also attrib.; shin-rapper, one who disables horses by striking the splintbone; shin-scraper, (a) see quot. 1869; (b) a contemptuous name for a climber; shin-splint, (a) dial, (see quot. 1893-4); (f>) pi- (const, as sing. and pi.), any of a number of painful conditions of the lower leg that may be caused by running on hard surfaces; shin-tangle Canad. (see quot. 1905); shin wood, the Ground Hemlock, Taxus canadensis (see quot.). 1645 Milton Colast. 26 Infested, sometimes at his face, with dorrs and horsflies, sometimes beneath, with hauling whippets, and *shin-barkers. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., , * Shin-boot,.. a horse boot having a long leather shield to protect the shin of a horse. 1845 Kitto's Cycl. Bibl. Lit. 0849) I- 228/1 They [sc. greaves] consisted of a pair of ♦shin-covers of brass. 1928 Wentworth Mag. (Sydney) June 33‘*Shin-crakers\ that is, blows on the shin owing to the rock suddenly breaking off. 1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. 99 Shin-cracker, a subsoil of close-grained, brittle sandstone where the potch or silica runs. 1969 E. Waller There's Opal out There 20 Ailments common to the Lightning Ridge, such as shincracker shin. 1971 J. S. Gunn Opal Terminol. 42 Shin cracker. Also shincracker, common name for the fine¬ grained Coocoran claystone which on exposure at the surface becomes a hard, brittle, siliceous rock that usually has to be dug through to get to the opal ground. Its name is appropriate because, when worked with a sinking pick or jack hammer, pieces shatter or fly off to strike the digger’s shins, hence the injury called 'shin-cracker shin’. 1884-5 Derbyshire Football Guide 97 (Advt.), ♦ Shin-guards.. 2s. 6d. 1903 Daily Chron. 3 Feb. 3/4 Legs cased in shin-guards. 1845-50 Mrs. Lincoln Lect. Bot. App. 151 Pyrola.. rotundifolia (*shin-leaf, pear-leaf wintergreen). 1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. 260. 1844 J. Gregg Commerce of Prairies II. 200 Black-jacks.. [are] intermixed with a very diminutive dwarf oak, called by the hunters ‘*shin-oak’. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 693/2 Quercus Chinquapin or prinoides, a dwarf variety,.. forms dense miniature thickets ..; the tree is called by the hunters of the plains the ‘shinoak’. 1895 Outing XXVII. 251/2 Neither *shin-pads nor canvas jackets were worn. 1824 Microscope (Albany) 15 May (Thornton Amer. Gloss.), We advise our friends to exchange their ‘♦shin plasters’ for ‘solid charms’ as soon as may be. 1843 Marryat M. Violet xxviii, I had taken the precaution in Louisiana of getting rid of my shin-plasters for hard specie. 1878 N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 170 The ‘more money’ that is cried for, silver or shinplaster, is not the needed thing. 1887 Grip (Toronto) 2 Apr. 10/2, I will give further particulars on receipt of a shin-plaister. 1929 H. Colebatch Story of Hundred Years xxxvii. 458 The ‘shin-plasters’ of Connor, Doherty, and Durack, and of many hotel and store keepers, form the regularly accepted currency. 1936 M. Mitchell Gone with Wind xvii. 308, I haven’t a cent. Rhett, give me a few shin plasters. Here, Big Sam, buy some tobacco for yourself. 1962 H. Green Time to pass Over v. 77 Old Josh felt disposed to part with a few of his mouldy shinplasters. 1972 Tel. (Brisbane) 10 Nov. 40/1 Some years ago I was working in Boulia, where there wasn’t a bank. Shin plasters were issued by Mr. J. P. Howard who owned the hotel at Boulia. 1613 Sylvester Lachr. Lachr. B 4, Stript .. Of guiddie-Gaudes,.. Of Face-pride, Case-pride, ♦Shinpride, Shoo-pride. 1885 Daily Tel. 30 Sept. (Cassell), Every great stable in England had the fear of the poisoner, the ♦shin-rapper, and the nobbier constantly in view. 1889 Ld. A. Campbell's Celtic Trad. 87 The sharp ♦shin-ridge of the greaves. 1869 J. Greenwood Seven Curses Lond. vi. 87 The treadmill, *shin scraper (arising, it may be assumed, on account of the operator’s liability, if he is not careful, to get his shins scraped by the ever-revolving wheel). 1895 Westm. Gaz. 11 Oct. 3/1 Although he may be described as a ‘shinscraper’, he does not forget that he is first of all a mountaineer. 1812 in J. Bell Rhymes of Northern Bards 35, I lost a’ my *shin-splints among the great stanes. 1893-4 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words II. 632 Shin-splints, a kind of greave or leg armour worn on the shins by trimmers, etc., to protect the legs in working. 1930 Stedman Med. Diet. (ed. 11) 951/1 Shin splints, myositis and periostitis affecting chiefly the extensor muscles of the lower lateral aspect of the legs. 1938 A. Thorndike Athletic Injuries xxi. 180 Shin splints in track, cross country and other sports are a very definite injury—a tearing of the origin of the tibialis posticus muscle from the tibia in its lower third. 1977 J. F. Fixx Compl. Bk. Running v. 71 Shin splints—pains in the front of the leg that are common in beginning runners. 1905 J. Outram In Heart Canad. Rockies 176 A dense undergrowth.. is often designated by the expressive term ‘♦shin-tangle’. 1973 P. Geddes Ottawa Allegation xiv. 181 Nothing else was about except for the birds, making for cover under the shintangle. 1778 Carver Trav. N. Amer. 505 *Shin Wood. This extraordinary shrub .. runs near the ground for six or eight feet, and then takes root again;.. this proves very troublesome to the hasty traveller, by striking against his shins, and entangling his legs.

Shin (Ji:n), sb.2 [Native name.] One of the Dardic peoples inhabiting the Gilgit agency of Kashmir; a member of this people. 1875 F. Drew Jummoo & Kashmir Territories xviii. 428 The table.. shows in what countries the Shin caste is found. .. The Shin occur, mixed with Yashkun, along the Indus Valley. 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 598/1 The middle castes, Shin and Yashkun, form the body of the Dard people. The pure Shin looks more like a European than any high-caste Brahman of India. 1910 Ibid. XII. 20/1 The dominant race

267 is that of the Shins, whose language is universally spoken. 1913 A. Neve Thirty Years in Kashmir ix. 84 My own impression is that the Rajah families were originally Shins. .. The Shin races (f.e., the Dards) first occupied the eastern Hindu Kush. 1938 R. C. F. Schomberg Kafirs & Glaciers xii. 206 The people of Ashret are not Chitralis but Dangariks who speak Palula, a language allied to the Shina spoken at Gilgit... They are probably Shins who came from Chilas.

Shin (Jim), sb.3 [Jap., = genuine, authentic.] The name of a major Japanese Buddhist sect which teaches salvation by faith in the Buddha Amida and emphasizes morality rather than orthodoxy. Usu. attrib. or as adj. 1877 W. E. Griffis Mikado’s Empire (ed. 2) 1. xvi. 173 The Shin sect hold a form of the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith, believing in Buddha instead of Jesus. 1904 L. Hearn Japan: Attempt at Interpretation xiii. 302 Nobunaga agreed to spare the lives of the Shin priests, i960 B. Leach Potter in Japan ii. 49 Dr. Suzuki is the leading writer on both Zen and Shin Buddhism, both in English and Japanese. 1976 Education & Community Relations July/Aug. 8/1 Talks by the Chief Abbot of the Nishi Hongwanji (Shin Sect) of Japan.

shin (Jin), v. [f. shin S&.1] 1. intr. (orig. Naut.) To climb by using the arms and legs without the help of steps, irons, etc. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay iv, I myself saw him ‘shinning’ up by the topsail-tie. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxi, We had to .. shin up and down single ropes caked with ice. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown 1. ix, Nothing for it but the tree; so Tom laid his bones to it, shinning up as fast as he could. 1888 Stevenson Black Arrow 1. iii, As he shinned vigorously down the trunk.

b. trans. To climb up. 1891 in Century Diet. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 8 Apr. 8/1 [He] reached the roof by shinning a water-pipe.

2. U.S. To ‘use one’s legs’; to move quickly; to run round. 1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sketches 106 Shin it, good man .. shin it as well as you know how! 1840 G. T. Strong Diary 8 May (1952) 138 One banner in particular—representing Matty shinning away from the White House. 1845 N. Y. Com. Adv. 13 Dec. (Bartlett i860), The Senator was shinning around, to get gold for the rascally bank-rags which he was obliged to take. 1864 Atkinson Stanton Grange 267 And then didn’t I shin it along the bridge, pretty speedily! 1865 Sala Diary in Amer. II. 414, I guess you’ll walk down town and show me the stores. I’m tired of shinning around alone. 1887 Conan Doyle Study in Scarlet 11. iii, I guess we had best shin out of Utah.

3. To kick (a person) on the shins. Also, to shoot in the shins. 1819 E. Evans Pedestrious Tour 214 Soldiers are apt to fire too high. He was often heard to say to his troops in battle: ‘Shin them, my brave boys!’ a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. iii. House-warming, There’s a pirouettel.. A ring!—give him room or he’ll ‘shin’ you—stand clear! 1846 Yale Banger 10 Nov. (Hall College Words), We have been shinned, smoked, ducked. 1864 [Hemyng] Eton School Days xiii. He could not go out of his tutor’s.. without some one .. ‘shinning’ him if he passed near enough.

4. U.S. To borrow money. Cf. break shins, s.v. SHIN sb. 2 d. 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., Shin, to borrow money. (American cant term.) 1872 [see SHIN sb.' 2d].

.shin, obs. Sc. pi. of shoe. Shina CJiina). [Native name: cf. Shin si.2] The Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Shin. Also attrib. 1854 A. Cunningham Laddk ii. 37 The Persian character, which all the Dards make use of in writing their own language, of which there are three distinct dialects,—the Shina, the Khajunah, and the Arniya. The Shina dialect is spoken by the people of Astor, Gilgit, Chelas, Darel, Kohli, and Palas. 1903 Risley & Gait Census India igoi I. 1. 310 Shina, one of the non-Sanskrit Indo-Aryan forms of speech. 1936 R. C. F. Schomberg Unknown Karakoram 1. iii. 39 Shum, which means dog in the Shina tongue. 1977 D. Murphy Where Indus is Young vii. 147 Talking rapidly in Shina, the Gilgit language.

shinanigan, -gin, etc., vars. shenanigan. fshinbawde. Obs. In 5 schynbawde, -baude, -balde. [The first element is app. shin sb.1, the second is obscure.] A greave (leg-armour). ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3847 The schadande blode.. schewede one his schynbawde, pat was schire burneste! c 1400 Anturs of Arth. 395 His schene schynbandes [read -baudes, v.r. -bawdes], pat sharp were to shrede. 1423 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) III. 73 Uno pare de schynbaldes, aliter vamplattes, pro tebiis virorum.

Shin Bet (Jin bet). Also Shin Beth and as one word. [mod.Heb., f. sin + bet, the names of the initial letters of serut bitahon kelali (general) security service.] The principal security service of Israel. Also attrib. 1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin xiii. 264 Samantha was a Shinbet agent after him for war crimes. 1968 C. Leader Angry Darkness xii. 111 Schererzade was now in the hands of the Shinbeth, the coldly efficient and unemotional Israeli Intelligence Service. 1969 A. Marin Rise with Wind vi. 76 The statement.. went directly to the Shin Beth. 1972 Guardian 27 Jan. 3/4 The street always becomes stiff with Shin Bet (Secret Service) men looking studiously unobtrusive. 1981 A. Winch Blood Money xiii. 134 A man .. who has been positively identified by the Israeli Shin Beth.

SHINDLE shinbin OJinbin). Also -been, [Burmese shin-byin, f. shin to put by side + pyin plank.] In the teak plank split from a green tree. Cf.

-ban, -beam. together side trade, a thick

shinlog2. 1791 Madras Courier 10 Nov. (Y.), Duggis. Shinbeens. Coma planks. 1821 H. Coxjrnl. Resid. Burmhan Emp. 425 Shinban planks.

shin-bone (Jinbaun). Forms: see shin sb.1; also 3 skin-, 4 chine-, shzin-. [OE. scinban = NFris. skenbiin, skennbian (cf. WFris. skynbonke), MLG. schenebein, MDu. schenebeen (Du. scheenbeen), MHG. schinebein (G. schienbein); (Sw. skenben, Da. skinneben, from LG.): see shin sb.1 and bone s^.1] The bone of the shin; the tibia. ciooo zTlfric Gloss, in Wr.-Wulcker 160/19 Tibiae, scina uel scinban. £1220 Bestiary 359 Oc le^eS his skinbon on oSres lendbon. C1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 148 Mes war le chanel [glossed the chine-bon, Camb. MS. shzin-bon] de blessure. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 47 In pe boon of pe thie & schene boonys. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters Lij b, It is good for olde sores on the legges upon the shynne bones. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 34/1 At three sundry times he tooke away allmost the whole shinne bone. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. xxi. 231 The shin-bone exposed to all encounters, without any defence at all. 1713 Cheselden Anat. 1. v. (1726) 40 The shin-bone is in its middle almost triangular. 1834 Marryat Peter Simple ix, The great lion was growling and snarling over the shin-bone of an ox, cracking it like a nut. 1862 Calverley Verses & Transl. (1894) 86 He barked his shinbone.

shincke, Anglo-Irish form of sink. a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archaeol. Soc.) II. 193 The foresaide Conaght armie .. must now shincke or swime.

shind, obs. form of shend v. fshinder, v. Obs. In 4 schyndere, s(c)hindre. [? Echoic. Cf. flinders.] trans. and intr. To shiver or shatter in pieces. 13.. Gaw. Gr. Knt. 424 \>e scharp of pe schalk schyndered pe bones. Ibid. 1594 \>e mon .. Hit hym vp to pe hult, pat pe hert schyndered. a 1375 Joseph Arim. 513 Mony swou3ninge lay porw schindringe of scharpe. c 1400 Anturs of Arth. 501 Shaftes in shide wode pei shindre in shedes [v.r. pay scheuerede in schides].

shindig CJindig). Also shin-dig. [Of uncertain origin: perh. f. shin sb. + DIG sb.1, but infl. by shindy in later senses.] f 1. U.S. (See quot. 1859.) Obs. [1849: see hoe-down.] 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer., ShinDig, a blow on the shins. Southern.

2. A country dance; a party, ball, ‘knees-up’; a lively gathering of any kind. Also fig. orig. U.S. 1871 B. Harte in Atlantic Monthly Sept. 373/1 ‘Is this a dashed Puritan meeting?’.. ‘It’s no Pike County shindig.’ 1892 Kentucky Words in Amer. Dial. Notes I. 231 Shindig, a dance or party. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 31 Oct. 8/3 The natives .. in a number of instances have danced a kind of ‘shindig’ as soon as released from torture. 1935 C. W. Parmenter Kings of Beacon Hill 1. xv. 98 Does everyone attend those shindigs, Sandy, or is a girl invited by some special boy? 1946 [see furore 2]. 1956 Wallis & Blair Thunder Above (1959) ix. 98 He was killed in an air defence exercise. One of those NATO shindigs. 1959 New Statesman 27 June 883/2 The competition among the ‘old nobility’ to attend what they termed ‘Aspers’ little shindig’ was so fierce that five private detectives were hired to keep out the unwelcome. 1962 E. Lucia Klondike Kate viii. 172 Kate never lacked a date for such shindigs. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds xi. 267 ‘What’s a ceilidh anyway?’.. ‘It’s Gaelic for a gathering, a shindig.’ 3. = SHINDY 3. 1961 Partridge Diet. Slang Suppl. 1268/2 Shindig, an altercation, a violent quarrel, a tremendous fuss. 1966 Listener 17 Feb. 255/1 A classic row developed over the half birth of Peter Watkin’s film The War Game, and this did not wholly distract from the shindig on the other side of the fence about a programme on the police. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon vi. 87 They’d kick up a shindig, naturally, but it was always their husbands they were furious with.

shindle CJind(3)l), sb. [local variant of shingle sb.1 Cf. G. schindel.] 1. A wooden roofing-tile. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 211/1 Scandulse,.. oke laths: slates or shindies of wood. 1601 Holland Pliny xvi. x. I. 461 The bourds or shindies of the wild Oke... The shindies are most easily rent or cloven out of all those trees which yeeld Rosin,.. the housen in Rome were no otherwise covered over head but with shindies, untill the warre with K. Pyrrhus. 1617 Minsheu Ductor, A Shindle, Vid. a Shingle. 1728 Brice's Weekly Jrnl. 28 June 4 A .. Brick House, cover’d with Shindies. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 542 In Pennsylvania the word [shingle] is often pronounced Shindle, partly, no doubt, under the influence of the numerous Germans in that State.

2. A splint. 1598 Florio, Stecchette,.. shindies or boordes laid about broken legs or armes.

3. In full shindle-stone: Thin stone from which slates are cut. 1669 Phil. Trans. IV. 1009 Take the thin cleft stone, slat or shindle. 1725 Brice's Weekly Jrnl. 15 Oct. 4 A Parcel of Slate (or Shindle-Stones) for tyling or healing of Houses. 1847 in Halliwell. 1882 Jago Gloss., Shell-stone, a slate stone. In Devon, shindle-stone.

t'shindle, v. Obs. rare—1. In 3 schindle. Origin and precise meaning unknown. a 1225 Ancr. R. 186 Nis pet child fulitowen J>et schrepeS [v.rr. schindleS, scratteS] agean, & bit upon pe 3erde?

shindy (’Jindi). [? Alteration of shinty.] 1. = shinty 1. local. 1846 Local Act g Viet. c. 29 §41 In case any Person or Persons shall on Shrove Tuesday.. play at.. Shindy, Football, or any other Game, i860 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 3), Shindy,.. The proper and more usual name is Bandy. 1882 Lancs. Gloss.

2. A spree, merrymaking. Also, ‘a kind of dance among seamen’ (Smyth Sailor’s Word-bk. 1867). slang. 1821 Egan Life in London x. (1869) 248 The Jack Tar is quite pleased with his night’s cruise, and is continually singing out, ‘What a prime Shindy, my Messmates.’ 1848 in Col. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 286 All in commotion with the expected grand ‘shindy’ on Monday. 1866 Ballantyne Shifting Winds xxv, I want a dance at a wedding, or a shindy of some sort, before setting sail.

3. A row, commotion, ‘shine’. Phr. to cut shindies (U.S.), to kick up a shindy. 1829 B. Hall Trav. N. Amer. III. 325, I never saw a more complete row, or as a fellow near me called it, ‘a more regular shindy’. 1841 Sporting Rev. July 52 The docket of bankruptcy.. created, as our polite continental neighbours call it, ‘a sensation’, or, in downright English, ‘a shindy’. £(1845 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. hi. Hermann, He. .Joins.. in kicking up all sorts of shindies and bobberies. 1850 ‘Dow jr.’ Serm. (Bartlett 1859), You .. are .. poor, and, therefore, ought to be careful how you cut shindies under the broadsword of justice. 1850 Smedley F. Fairlegh i, A chair being the favourite projectile in the event of a shindy. 1882 B. M. Croker Proper Pride I. ix. 189 He and his wife have had no end of a shindy. 1889 [see kick t;.1 9 a]. 1903 Somerville & ‘Ross’ All on Irish Shore vii. 177 There was a frightful shindy, Carew wanting to have his blood, and all the rest of us trying to prevent a row. 1910 Meredith in Fortn. Rev. June 1055 Irishmen.. never satisfied, thirsting for a shindy. 1916 ‘Taffrail’Pincher Martin vii. 115 If you want to kick up a shindy, Mister Parkin, you’d best do it outside. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File x. 61 We’re not having another Burgess and Maclean shindy, questions in the House and all that. 1976 J. I. M. Stewart Memorial Service iv. 53 There was quite a shindy, and there might have been more of it.

4. A liking, fancy. (Cf. shine sb.2 4.) 1855 Haliburton Nat. & Hum. Nat. xii, They all wondered how.. Paddy had taken such a shindy to me.

shine (Jain), sb.1 [f. shine v. Cf. sheen sb.1 WGer. had a synonymous form derived from the vb.: OS., OHG. scin (Du. schijn, MHG. schin, mod.G. schein)-, also OE. scin spectre (if the vowel be long).]

1. a. Brightness or radiance shed by a luminary or an illuminant. a 1529 Skelton P. Spar owe 1174 Lyke Phebus beames shyne. 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xlii. 16 The sonne ouerloketh all thinges with his shine, c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon 1. i, When heauens bright shine is shadowed with a fogge. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. xxii, And mooned Ashtaroth .. Now sits not girt with Tapers holy shine. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 73 This Fire., sends forth a bright shine and wholsom smell. 1716-8 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. II. xliii. 14 Sitting.. with the windows open, enjoying the warm shine of the sun. 1844 Browning Colombe's Birthday iv, Day by day, while shimmering grows shine. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. (1870) I. II. 460 Their red torches’ shine. 1878 Hardy Ret. Native v. vii, [Her] bedroom was lighted up, and it was the shine from her window which had lighted the pole.

fb. A beam or ray; a halo. Obs. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 483 b, You may putt all your winninges in your eyes, and see never a shine the lesse. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. ii. Masque i, Her deuice within a Ring of clouds, a Heart with shine about it. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Tri. iii, The under Corylets did catch the shines, To guild their leaves. 1654 Owen Saints' Persev. i. 5 Such shines of Gods countenance upon them.

2. a. Lustre or sheen of an object reflecting light, as metal, water, silk, f of shine: lustrous, glistening. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. v. (1601) L 3 b, Though we haue now put on no tyre of shine But mortall eyes vndazled may endure. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Oberon's Palace 22 He, and They Led by the shine of Snails. 1667 Decay Chr. Piety v. §29 Dazled with the glittering shine of Gold. 1696 Tryon Misc. i. 7 This Spirit.. loseth its pure Colour, or bright native Shine. 1813 Byron Corsair 1. ii. They.. to each his blade assign, And careless eye the blood that dims its shine. 1869 ‘Lewis Carroll’ Phantasmagoria 92 For it [the hat] had lost its shape and shine, And it had cost him four-and-nine. 1898 Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 6 The lurid shine Of seas in the night-wind’s whirl.

b. Coupled with shade (cf. shine v. i c). 1838 Mrs. Browning Seraphim 11, Death upon his face Is rather shine than shade. 1863 ‘C. Bede’ Tour in Tartanland 179 The mountain is.. broken up into shine and shade.

c. Painting and Photogr. patch.

shine

268

SHINDLE

Shininess; a shiny

e. The pupil of the eye. dial. (Cf. sheen sb.1 2.) 1713 Guardian No. 58 |f 6 A Gallon of my October will do thee more good than all thou canst get by fine Sights at London, which I’ll engage thou mayest put in the Shine of thine Eye. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss.

f. spec. The shiny surface of a new cricket ball. 1950 [see opener 1 e]. 1976 J. Snow Cricket Rebel 30 Mike Smith didn’t call upon me until Fred Trueman and Rumsey had seen the shine off the new ball.

3. a. Sunshine, esp. as opposed to rain; hence, fine weather. Also, moonlight. Also fig. phr. (come) rain or shine, in any circumstances, come what may. 1622 Wither Philarete N 3, Or shine, or raine, or Blow, I, my Resolutions know. 1693 Locke Educ. §9 Heat and Cold, Shine and Rain. 1797 Coleridge Christabel 1. II. 65 Ever and aye, by shine and shower. 1849 Bulwer Caxtons x. iv, A ceremony which, every night, shine or dark, he insisted upon punctiliously performing. 1888 Henley Bk. Verses 113 Come storm, come shine, whatever befall. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad lv, And the youth at morning shine Makes the vow he will not keep. 1905 H. A. Vachell Hill vi. 138 With me you’re first, rain or shine. 1908 Sears, Roebuck Co. Catal. 1076/2 These overcoats do double service, being adapted for all kinds of chilly weather, rain or shine. 1952 M. R. Rinehart Pool vii. 54 She walks everywhere here in the city, rain or shine. 1978 M. Birmingham Sleep in Ditch 115 He said.. we’d got to put up with each other for ten years, ‘come rain or shine’.

b. Abbrev. of moonshine 4. 1933 Sun (Baltimore) 22 July 8/7 You should take a julep made from the wonderful ‘shine’ made in the hills of Western Maryland. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling i. 12 ‘Goin’ to Grahamsville alius do make me hongry.’ ‘You git a snort o’ ’shine there, is the reason,’ she said. 1969 P. Kavanagh Such Men are Dangerous (1971) iii. 42 Whiskey? A quart of shine, which the Lord loves, it being a natural product. 1977 E. Leonard Hunted (1978) ix. 90 ‘Hundredproof pure Kentucky bourbon. How about that.’ Like it was a treat and all Davis drank was some kind of piss-poor shine.

4. fig. a. Brilliance, radiance, splendour, lustre. fAlso [after G. schein], a specious appearance, a ‘show’. 1530 Proper Dyaloge in Roy Rede me, etc. (Arb.) 131 Vyce cloked vnder shyne of vertuousnes. 1535 Coverdale Col. ii. 23 Which thinges haue a shyne [Luther, schein; 1611 shew] of wyszdome. 1586 Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 15 The bright shine, and worthines of his auncestors. a 1634 ? Chapman Rev. Hon. 11. i, The glorious shine of your illustrious vertues. 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 9 Fair op’ning to some court’s propitious shine, a 1774 Goldsm. Hist. Greece I. 380 The delusive shine of a lively and pompous eloquence. 1867 Lowell Fitz Adam's Story 342 No other face had such a wholesome shine. 1878 Browning Poets Croisic 53 To bask .. in shine which kings and queens And baby-dauphins shed.

tb. Sunniness of disposition. Obs. rare. 1710 Steele Spect. No. 75 If 4 What can make a Man so much in constant Good-humour and Shine, as we call it?

c. A brilliant display, a ‘dash’. (make) a shine.

Phr. to cut

1819 Metropolis II. 165 His name was well calculated to cut a shine. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. 1. xii, To celebrate the nuptials with due shine and demonstration. 1847 Robb Squatter Life (Bartlett i860), To make a shine with Sally, I took her a new parasol.

d. Colloq. phr. to take the shine out of (less freq. from, U.S. off): to deprive (a person or thing) of his or its brilliance or pre-eminence; to outshine, surpass. 1819 Moore Tom Crib (ed. 3) 34 Shewing such a fist of mutton As.. Would take the shine from Speaker Sutton. 1824 Landor Imag. Conv., Southey Porson Wks. 1853 I. 73/1, I am inclined to take the shine out of him for it. 1827 De Quincey Murder Wks. 1854 IV. 33 The baker jumped up with surprising agility,.. but the shine was now taken out of him. 1833 [Seba Smith] Lett.J. Downing iii. (1835) 43, I am only sorry I didn’t bring Seth Sprague along with me, with his pitch-pipe, jest to take the shine off of them ’ere singers. 1842 Lover Handy Andy xxi, The cares of the world .. takes the shine out of us.

5. An abusive term for a Black. Also attrib. U.S. slang. 1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 24 Shine, a colored person. 1929 D. Hammett Dain Curse iv. 34 How’d you make out with the shine? 1934 J. T. Farrell Young Manhood iii. xv. 227 They saw one beautiful blonde girl with a coal-black, sweating nigger, and they said nothing, only because there were too many shines in the place. 1940 R. Chandler Farewell, My Lovely iii. 13 His voice said bitterly: ‘Shines. Another shine killing. That’s what I rate after eighteen years in this man’s police department.’ 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie v. 51 A Negro sitting opposite us smiled. ‘The shine is wise,’ said Roy in my ear. ‘He is O.K.’ 1969 S. Greenlee Spook who sat by Door xiii. 116 He’s a shine detective lieutenant.

shine (Jain), sb.2 [perh. uses of prec. sb., but the senses are curiously parallel to those of shindy.] 1. A party, convivial gathering; usually teashine, a ‘tea-fight’, dial.

1880 Athenaeum 28 Feb. 287/2 [The ‘spirit fresco’ process] being free from shine, is admirably adapted for mural work on a large scale, which should be seen at any angle. 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 37 [The daguerreotype] was full of shines. 1901 E. A. Pratt Notable Masters of Men 82 Without shine gold paint was of no value.

1838 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 98 Two tea-shines went off with eclat. 1882 Jamieson's Sc. Diet., Shine,., in a good sense the term is generally applied to a social gathering, especially when of a convivial kind, as a wedding.. or a merry-making, which is called a grand or great shine.

d. The polish given to a pair of boots by a bootblack; transf. a job of boot-blacking.

1832-53 Whistle-binkie Ser. ill. 53 Siccan shines were there, Siccan noisy peltin’. 1849 Cupples Green Hand xi, Sich a shine and a nitty as I kicks up. 1852 Dickens Bleak House lvii, There’d be a pretty shine made if I was to go a wisitin them. 1889 ■ R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms vi, What’s one horse to make such a shine about?

1871 News (Galveston) 4 May (Scheie de Vere), As I left the cars, an imp with smutty face, Said: Shine? 1872 Lowell Milton Writ. 1890 IV. 103 If Mr. Masson never heard a shoeblack in the street say, ‘Shall I give you a shine, sir?’ his experience has been singular. 1894 Advance (Chicago) 27 Dec. 456/1 A little boot-black, who.. shivered in the March wind and waited for shines.

2. A disturbance, row, fuss, colloq.

3. pi. Capers, tricks. U.S. Cf. shine sb.1 4 c. 1830 N. Dana Mariner's Sk. 34 (Thornton Amer. Gloss.), Has your skipper begun to cut any shines yet? 1852 Mrs.

Stowe Uncle Tom's C. iv, ‘I’ll boun you pulled ’em out, some o’ your shines,’ said Aunt Chloe.

4. to take a shine to (colloq., orig. U.S.): to take a fancy for. 1839 Crockett Almanac 1840 14, I wonst had an old flame I took sumthin of a shine to. 1848 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. 1. A Letter, My gracious! it’s a scorpion thet’s took a shine to play with’t. 1908 W. Churchill Mr. Crewe's Career x, He took a shine to you that night you saw him. 1934 F. H. Bushick Glamorous Days xxiii. 278 Nobody wanted the old com cutter except this Irishman, who took a shine to it. 1956 P. Scott Male Child II. iv. 152, I suppose I oughtn’t to blame you if Marion’s taken a shine to you... You must have a way with women. 1961 Guardian 23 Mar. 10/6 Shaw evidently took a shine to the young hero-worshipping woman. 1978 L. Meynell Papersnake x. 132 He took to you... He took a shine to you. 1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 July 799/1 If her [sc. Barbara Pym’s] heroines were married, they were not unfaithful to their husbands, although they might take a shine to the curate.

f shine, a. poet. Obs. [alteration of sheen a. by assimilation to shine v.\ Shining, bright. a*S93 Marlowe Ovid's Elegies 1. i. 34 Elegian Muse.. Girt my shine browe [Ovid flaventia tempera] with Seabanke Mirtle praise. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iii. 3 These warlike Champions all in armour shine, Assembled were in field. 1603 Florio Montaigne 11. xii. 259 Stellisque micantibus JEtherafxum.. the skies with shine-starres fixt to be.

shine (Jain), v. Pa. t. and pa. pple. shone (Jon). Forms: Inf. and Present stem. 1 scinan, scynan, 2- 3 scine(n, 2-4 schine(n, 3-5 scyne, 3-6 schine, 3- 8 schyne, (3 sine, 4 schijne, ssine, ssyne, shyyne, 5 schone (?), 6 shynne), 4-6 shyne, 3shine. Pa. t. 1 scan, scean (pi. scinon), 2-3 sc(e)an, 3-5 schon, 4-5 shoon, s(c)hoen, 4-6 schone, (3 scaen, s(c)on, shan, 4 schoon, 4, 7 shon, 6 shoone), 5- shone; north. 4 sca(i)n, schan, 4-5 shane, 4-6 schane, 5 chane; weak 4 scynde, schyn(e)de, shynede, schinede, 4-6 shyned, 5 schynyd, -it, 6 schynet, schynnit, 6 schyned, 6-7 shinde, 6- 8 shin’d, 7 shind, 6- (now U.S., dial. and arch.) shined. Pa. pple. 3 sinen; 4-6 shyned, 7 shin’d, 7- shined; 8 shon, 6- shone. [Com. Teut. str. vb.: OE. scinan (pa. t. scan, scinon, pa. pple. *scinen) — OFris. skina (WFris. skine, NFris. skiin), OS. skinan (MLG., LG., MDu. schinen, Du. schijnen), OHG. scinan (MHG. scinen, schinen, G. scheinen to shine, to seem, appear), ON. skina (Sw. skina), Goth. skeinan:—OTeut. * skinan, f. root ski by means of the present-stem formative n, which was carried through into the past tense and pa. pple. Affinities outside Teutonic are Skr. chdya shade, shimmer, mod.Pers. sdya, Gr. okla, OSlav. sen’, Albanian he shade; for the sense cf. shim sb.1 and v.1, shimmer v. The regular str. pa. pple. is rare in Eng., being unrecorded in OE. and appearing only once in ME. sinen; it was superseded by the weak form shined, which was in common use c 1300-1800; this was supplanted by the form of the str. pa. t., which first appears as pa. pple. in the second half of the 16th c. (Weak forms are found in some of the continental langs., e.g. (pa. t.) late WFris. schynd, MLG. schynede, OHG. scinta, early mod.G. schein(e)te.)]

1. a. intr. Of a heavenly body or an object that is alight: To shed beams of bright light; to give out light so as to illuminate; to be radiant. Also with forth, out. C725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) A801 Ardebat, scaan. c 888 Boeth. ix, J>onne seo sunne on hadrum heofone beorhtost scinefi, J>onne aJ>eostria6 ealle steorran. c 1000 /Elfric Gen. i. 15 Hij scinon on paere heofenan faestnysse and alihton pa eorfian. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 678, Her ateowede cometa se steorra..& scan .iii. monfias aelce moreen swilce sunnebeam. a 1200 Moral Ode 27s Neure sunne per ne scinS. c 1220 Bestiary 19 in O.E. Misc., Ne stireS he nout of slepe Til Se sunne haueS sinen. c 1290 St. Bridget 41 in S. Eng. Leg. 193 pe sonne schon In at one hole. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 323 Hove out of mi Sonne, And let it schyne into mi Tonne. Ibid. II. 120 The nyht was derk, ther schon no Mone. C1440 Alphabet of Tales 513/5 So he wolde sytt all day to pe son shane on his face agayn. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xxxv. 1 Lucina schynnyng in silence of the nicht. 1566 Gascoigne Jocasta 11. i, The aultars where the sacred flames haue shone. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. v. i. 272 Well shone Moone. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 29 It is day: because the Sun shineth above the horizon. 1703 Rowe Ulysses 1. i, What Sun has shon that has not seen your Insolence. 1704 Prior Celia to Damon 20 Fires Eternal on Her Altars shine. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Descr. iv. 64 When the Storm is over, the Sun Shines out as before. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxvii, It must surely have been a light in the hut of a forester, for it shone too steadily to be the glimmer of an ignis fatuus. i860 Tyndall Glac. 1. xviii. 133 The fog became thin, and the sun shone through it. weak pa. t. c 1305 Pop. Treat. Sci. (1841) 133/66 The sonne.. that.. Maketh hire [the moon] so schyne aboute as heo schynde in crestal. C1385 Ghaucer L.G.W. 2194 No man she saw & yt shynede the mone. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ill. lv. 131 Whan hy lanterne shyned upon his hede. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 229 The sone .. schynnit bright wpoun the saillis. 1645 Symonds Diary (Camden) 243 This night I saw a rainbow.. at five in the morning, and the moone shined bright. 1776 Chandler Trav. Greece xlv. 201 The moon shined bright. Alfred

b. Of the day: To be sunny or bright; also, to dawn. Chiefly poet. 1382 Wyclif Matt, xxviii. 1 In the euenyng of the saboth, .. that schyneth [Vulg. lucescit] in the firste day of the woke. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 95 As the goldin morning schynis bricht. 01578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot.

SHINELESS (S.T.S.) I. 397 Quhilk at last the daylyght begane to schyne. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 108 We can..dismiss thee ere the Morning shine. 1742 Gray West 1 In vain to me the smileing Mornings shine.

c. impers. it shines: it is sunny. c 1400 Beryn 1317 Thow tokist noon hede whils it shoon hoot. 1577 Tusser Husb. (1878) 43 At noone if it bloweth, at night if it shine. 1622 J. Taylor (Water P.) Watercormorant A 4, According to his mood it raines or shines. 1853 Hawthorne Engl. Note-bks. (1883) I. 436 By and by the sun shone out, and it has continued to shine and shade every ten minutes ever since.

269 flowers! 1982 Chicago Sun-Times 12 July 65 But Red Smith was a beacon who shined for half a century.

5. Of persons: To be conspicuous or brilliant in ability, character, achievement, or position; to be eminent or distinguished, to excel.

shyne vpon the. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 707 Notwithstanding, that fortune shone on hym in obteyning the victorie agaynst the Erie of Warwike. 1591 Shaks. i Hen. VI, 1. ii. 75 Heauen and our Lady gracious hath it pleas’d To shine on my contemptible estate. 1617 Moryson Itin. 11. 51 The Lord Mountjoy, like a good Planet, with a fortunate aspect began to shine thereon. 1648 Cromwell Let. to R. Hammond 25 Nov., We are sure, the good-will of Him who dwelt in the Bush has shined upon us. 1791 Burns Lament Mary Q. of Scots vi, May kinder stars Upon thy fortune shine!

C900 tr. Baeda's Hist. 1. xii. (1890) 44 Se nama Sasre Romaniscan j>eode, se Se mid swa lange scean & bryhte. c *375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 318 A man that schane of halynes. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 43 If we schyn in feis vertues. *474 Caxton Chesse 11. v. (1883) 69 Hit was better and more noble thynge to shyne in good maners than in vayssell. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 202 To shyne before theyr flock with honest examples of lyfe. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. 1. §131 He shined in the House of Peers. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 244 f 1 An Ambition to excel, or, as the Term is, to shine, in Company. 1747 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 3 July, We shine at sea; two-and-forty sail of the Domingo fleet have fallen into our hands. 1805 t Harral Scenes of Life I. 113 That cause in which British valour had so often shined triumphant. 1818 Byron Juan 1. xxiii, If there’s anything in which I shine, ’Tis in arranging all my friends’ affairs. 1836 Thirlwall Greece xvii. III. 2 He.. never shone as an orator. 1859 Habits of Gd. Society xiv. 349 The people who were stupidest before, suddenly shine out quite brilliantly. 1889 Harper's Mag. Mar. 561/1 There was .. a special reason which made me resolved to shine at this ball at whatever cost.

2. a. Of a metallic, polished, smooth, or glossy , object: To be bright or resplendent; to gleam, glisten, or glitter with reflected light.

6. a. Of something immaterial: To appear with conspicuous clearness; to be brilliantly evident or visible; to stand out clearly.

d. to shine upon: to look favourably upon, be favourable to, said of a star, or (in biblical language) of the face of God. arch. *535 Coverdale Num. vi. 25 The Lorde make his face to

c 897 Alfred Gregory's Past. C. xiv. 88 Swae swae on Stem msssehraejle scinS [Hatton MS. scienS] onjemang oSrum bleom Saet twySrawene twin, a 1000 Caedmon's Exod. 125 (Gr.) Scean scir werod, scyldas lixton. 1-1205 Lay. 27361 Sceldes blikien bumen scinen. 01225 Juliana 54 (Royal MS.) Hire nebscheft schininde [Bodl. MS. schiminde] al as schene as J>e sunne. c 1230 Halt Meid. 11 Nis hit nower neh gold al I>at ter schineS. a 1300 Cursor M. 8484 Stedfast stode pe marbel stan, On-ferr pe golden letters scan. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) I. 148 Of gold schone his coroun. 13 .. E.E. Allit. P. A. 80 Wyth schymeryng schene ful schrylle hay schynde. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 198 His heed was balled, hat shoon as any glas. c 1470 Gol. & Gaiv. 20 Thair baneris schane with the sone, of siluer and sabill. 1526 Tindale Luke ix. 29 His garment was whyte, and shoone. 1577 T. Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 73 His tongue did lispe, his visage shinde. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. iv. iii. 246 O ’tis the Sunne that maketh all things shine. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 508 Thick with sparkling orient Gemmes The Portal shon. 1751 Lavington Enthus. Meth. & Papists iii. (1754) 78 The whole House shined. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. Introd. 53 The huge hall-table’s oaken face, Scrubb’d till it shone, i860 Tyndall Glac. 11. i. 237 A rook’s feather may be made to shine with magnificent iridescences. 1888 Henley Bk. Verses 118 Clear shine the hills. 1974 Black World Jan. 57/1 Her shiny black paint shined in the sun. indirect passive. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Hist. iv. x. §1 When they saw the riches of Rome.. and found themselves shone round about.. with silver and gold.

b. To be bright with. 1606 Shaks. Ant. & Cl. 1. iii. 45 Our Italy, Shines o’re with ciuill Swords. 1733 Revol. Politicks v. 37 The Streets in the Evening every where shined very gloriously with Bonefires. 1883 R. W. Dixon Mano 11. ii. 68 The altar shone With gold and silver.

3.

To be radiant or brilliant with high colouring, rich array, or the like; to be effulgent with splendour or beauty; to make a brave show. Now rare. 971 Blickl. Horn. 7 Seo hwitnes paere lilian scinep on pe. c 1375 Cursor M. 23696 (Fairf.) Mani flouris.. neuer-mare pe colour tine bot as paradis salle pai shine, a 1400 Pistill of Susan 106 (MS. I.) \>e chaumpet, pe cheuerell, pat schon opon heyght. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 132 J>es two woymen pat schynen passyng all opyr, wer two comyn woymen. 1513 Douglas TEneis 1. vi. 163 Her nek schane like unto the roise in May. 1577 T. Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 84 b, In all thy body bewty shines, thy forhed shineth fair, a 1639 Carew To A. L. 64 When a fair lady’s face is pined, And yellow spread where red once shined. 1781 Cowper Truth 70 [The pheasant] retreats.. To the close copse.. And shines without desiring to be seen. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxxii, We are somewhat shorn of our train,.. but you, cousin, must shine out for us both. 1833 Tennyson CEnone 176 Her light foot Shone rosy-white. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. 1. ii, Some centennial Cactus-flower, which after a century of waiting shines out for hours! 1878 Susan Phillips On Seaboard 199 In the golden meadows, where the cowslip and crowsfoot shone.

4. In various fig. applications (cf. 5 and 6), with retention of literal phraseology. ciooo Ags. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 43 Jxmne scinaS Sa rihtwisan swa swa sunne on hyra faeder rice, a 1225 Ancr. R. 246, & te soSe sunne, pet is Jesu Crist, schineS J?erefter schennure to pe soule. 01300 Cursor M. 12574 \>e clernes self o godds light Schan on him. 1382 Wyclif Matt. v. 16 So shyyne 30ure l^t before men, that thei see 30ure good werkis. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5357 Whan Richesse shyneth bright, Love recovereth ageyn his light, c 1450 Capgrave Life St. Gilbert xv, Ther schone, or ellis schyned, in pe soule of )?ese women a fayr beute of precious perles, of swech goostly richesse. 1526 Tindale 2 Cor. iv. 6 It is god .. which hath shyned in oure hertes, for to geve the light of knowledge off the glorious god. 1535 Coverdale Isa. ix. 2 As for them that dwel in the londe of the shadowe of death, vpon them shal the light shyne. 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido 11. i. 481 In whose stern faces shin’d the quenchles fire. 1611 Shaks. Cymb. v. v. 476 The Radiant Cymbeline, Which shines heere in the West. 1654-66 Earl Orrery Parthen. (1676) 212 A Virtue, greater than euer yet had shin’d on earth. 1700 Dryden Fables Pref. C2, Chaucer., is a rough Diamond, and must first be polish’d e’er he shines. 1773 R- Lowth Serm. Rom. xii. 11 p. 6 Their Learning.. was such as could only have shined in dark times. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. 11. viii, For we shall still find Hope shining.. as a mild heavenly light it shone; as a red conflagration it shines. 1849 T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady xii, How beautiful she is! A glorious gem She shines above the summer diadem Of

C1340 Hampole Prose Treat. 12 In contemplacyone. 1387 Trevisa Higden

pis gyfte schynes (Rolls) IV. 449 A noble soule schoon by virtues in pat litel body. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 6 His grete beautee schynit sa before all otheris. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 247 Alle good manyeres began to growe and shyne in hym. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (Sommer) 127 b, Then shined foorth indeede all loue among them. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iii. xi. §9 The wisedom of God, which shineth in the bewtifull varietie of all things. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. iv. iv, The reverence and Majesty of Iuno Shinde in her lookes. 1667 Milton P.L. 11. 304 Princely counsel in his face yet shon. 1725 Pope Odyss. xiv. 204 In all the youth his father’s image shin’d. 1853 C. Bronte Villette xx, What fun shone in his eyes as he recalled some of her fine speeches! 1888 ‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. vi, How the aged look faded off her worn face, and the sweet prettiness of former days began to shine out again. 1929 [see concordancy]. 1948 Sun (Baltimore) 18 Oct. 12/5 It was full of adept and memorable phrases... It shined with wit and humor.

b. To be clearly evident through an outward appearance. Two Gent. 11. i. 40 These follies are within you, and shine through you like the water in an Vrinall. 1605 -Macb. in. i, 128 Your Spirits shine through you. 1628 Feltham Resolves 11. [1.] xlvii. 138 To see the Countenance, (through which perhaps there shin’d a louely Maiesty..). 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. II. 31 The babe Jesus in her arm, with his Father shining through him. 1859 Tennyson Marr. Geraint 545 Yniol’s rusted arms Were on his princely person, but thro’ these Prince-like his bearing shone. 1590 Shaks.

f 7. to shine through: to be transparent. Obs. 1675 Alsop Anti-Sozzo iii. ii. 207 This [reasoning] is very thin Stuff; it shines through. 8. trans. To shed light upon, illuminate, rare. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vm. xvii. (1495) 325 The mone is alway halfe shyned of the sonne. 01700 Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. III. 355 God shines his Son, the Son God’s shine reflects.

9. a. To cause (light) to shine, emit (rays). Also fig1588 Greene Perimedes H 2 b, Her eyes shines fauour, courtesie, and grace. 1590-Never too late (1600) E3, Eyes that lighten and doe shine, Beames of loue that are diuine. 1647 Saltmarsh Spark. Glory 118 God.. shines forth his wisdom .. upon the world. 1661 Feltham Resolves 11. xvi. 211 If it be but by reflection only, the beams are reverberated bright, as is the Sun that shines them. 1852 Thackeray Esmond 11. vii, She approached, shining smiles upon Esmond.

b. To show the light of (a lantern). 1895 P. H. Emerson Birds, etc. Norfolk Broadland xxxvi. 103 The sparrow-catcher comes of a night and shines his bright lantern, and the foolish birds fly at it like moths at a candle.

c. To direct the rays of (a light) on, on to, under, etc. 1889 Cent. Diet. 5573/3 The policeman shone his lantern up the alley. 1950 Sun (Baltimore) 14 July 8/4 Two men in the office shined a flashlight under the platform. 1967 P. Shaffer Black Comedy 48 The Colonel takes the torch from Harold and shines it pitilessly in Schuppanzigh’s face. 1978 J. Irving World according to Garp xi. 210 The policeman shined his light over Garp. 1979 Sci. Amer. Mar. 85/2 The intense light from this source was shined on a crystal that served as a frequency doubler. 10. a. to shine dorwn\ to surpass in brilliance. 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, 1. i. 20 The French., like Heathen Gods Shone downe the English. 1866 ‘Annie Thomas’ Walter Goring xxxvii, ‘Take it, Walter’, she continued, ‘give it to her; tell her she shines me down.’

b. To drive away by shining. 1884 Tennyson Becket iii. i, Not The sun himself.. Could shine away the darkness of that gap.

c. to shine up to; to try to please; to make oneself pleasant to. U.S. 1882 Century Mag. Oct 827 It was then that David first set out to shine up to her. 1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail xlii. 204 You might shine up to Hilda Farrand and join the rest of the fortune-hunters. 1971 C. Fick Danziger Transcript (1973) 143, I never saw him sell a single secret.. or shine up to a Kraut PW.

11. To cause to shine, put a polish on; orig. U.S. (inflected shined) to black (boots).

SHINER 1613 R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Varnish, shine, set a glosse vpon. 1872 Calverley Arab 27 And thou hintest withal that thou fain would’st shine.. these bulgy old boots of mine. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. xii, I wonder if they would find the seven-branched golden candlestick... I should like to .. shine it up (excuse my colloquialisms). 1872 B. Harte Heiress of Red Dog (1879) 188 Shine your boots, sir? 1892 Gunter Miss Dividends ix, While his large boots have been very brightly shined by the boot-black. 1929 W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 105 He wore a derby and shined shoes.

12. U.S. {Hunting.) To throw the light of a lantern, etc. on (the eyes of an animal); to locate the position of (an animal) in this way. 1845 [W. T. Thompson] Chron. Pineville 169 (Bartlett Diet. Amer. i860) You see the way we does to shine the deer’s eyes is this—we holds the pan of fire so, on the left shoulder, and carries the gun at a trail in the right hand. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 541 Daniel Boone, while fire-hunting, shined a pair of mild blue eyes which struck him as not belonging to the game he was seeking. 1910 Roosevelt Afr. Game Trails x. 226 We had discovered that the way to get this.. nocturnal animal was by ‘shining’ it with a lantern at night.

'shineless, a. [f.

shine sb.1 + -less.] Without

brightness. 1882 G. Macdonald Princess & Curdie iii, A dull, shineless twilight filled the place.

shiner ('Jainsjr)). [f. shine v. + 1. a. An object that shines.

-er1.]

1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xvi. (1495) 322 The sonne is.. shyner of heuen [L. fulgor olympi]. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Christmas 29 Till I finde a sunne Shall stay, till we have done; A willing shiner. 1655 Vaughan Silex Scint. ill. Thalia Rediv. 239 O blessed shiner, tell me whither Thou wilt be gone when night comes hither! 1765 J. Brown Chr. Jrnl. 140 Where will yon glow-worms of carnal diversions,.. yon shiners in the dark, be? 1844 Willis Lady Jane 1. 326, I cannot shine—but I can see a star —Are there not worshippers as well as shiners? 1859 F. Mahony Rel. Fr. Prout 403 A small twinkling shiner.. in the wide canopy of heaven.

b. pi. Some Russian instrument of torture. The word in the quotation is perhaps a misprint for shiver (pulley). 1630 [F. Constable] Pathomachia iii. iv. 29 Vnlesse thou confesse, the Russian Shiners, the Scottish Bootes,.. and Peare of Confession shall torment thee.

c. pi. Coin, money, esp. sovereigns or guineas; occas. sing., a silver or gold coin, slang. 1760 Foote Minor 11. Wks. 1799 I. 251 To let a lord of lands want shiners; ’tis a shame. 1806 Surr Winter in Lond. II. 63 So I shows him a shiner. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xix, Is it worth fifty shiners extra, if it’s safely done from the outside? 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunters ix, I will bring you a mule-load of Mexican shiners. 1887 Hayter My Christmas Adv. 9 Within my purse and pocket scarce a shiner.

d. A mirror; spec, one used by cheaters at cards, slang. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet., Shiner, a looking-glass. 1819 Sporting Mag. (N.S.) IV. 230 He then asked me if I had bought shiners? which means glasses. 1909 Tit-Bits 14 Aug. 515/2 The ‘shiner’ is carried separately in the pocket until needed, while the gambler smokes the pipe.

e. colloq. A silk hat. 1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling vi. 154 A tall black hat, or one of the genus termed ‘shiner’.

f. A diamond or other jewel. Usu. pi. slang. 1884 Queenstown Free Press 15 Jan. (Pettman), When they dug it up they at once came to the conclusion it was a real shiner. 1928 M. C. Sharpe Chicago May 287 Sparklers, sparks, shiners.., etc.—diamonds. 1934 D. L. Sayers Nine Tailors 274, I never had those shiners. 1959 [see ice sb. 4c].

g. A black eye. slang. 1904 ‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 253/1 Shiner, a discolored eye. 1932 [see heck sb. and int.~]. 1934 A. Merritt Burn Witch Burn! vii. 89 All I can do is., be dignified an’ maybe hand out a shiner or two if they get too rough. 1943 C. S. Forester Ship xviii. 114 That’s a rare shiner you’ve got there, Grant. 1958 C. Williams Man in Motion (1959) iii. 29 At first I thought it was because of the shiner and the bruises on my face, but then I began to wonder. 1967 [see left sb. 2 a], 1977 Daily Mirror 16 Mar. 3/5 Annie Walker, Coronation Street’s snooty landlady, is about to show up in the snug.. sporting a real shiner. But her black eye is not the result of a well-rehearsed punch-up in the taproom.

h. Paper-making. A glistening particle of a mineral impurity on the surface of finished paper. 1922 Manufacture of Pulp & Paper III. viii. 3 In colored papers, shiners will not take the dye. 1963 R. A. Higham Handbk. Papermaking vii. 197 When super-calendering papers with a high percentage of straw in the furnish, there is a tendency towards shiners and windows.

2. One who shines: a. One who excels or is eminent. 1810 Splendia Follies III. 106 He was never formed for a shiner through life. 1847 Halliwell, Shiner, a clever fellow. North.

b. pi. A nickname for the Northumberland Fusiliers, formerly the 5th Foot. 1891 Diet. Nat. Biog. XXV. 3/1 The 5th was.. popularly known as the ‘Shiners’, from its smart appearance and attention to parade details.

c. A bootblack. 1912 igth Cent. Nov. 1018 An occasional white face may be seen even among the noisy shiner boys, and the little white shiner works continuously.

d. A window-cleaner, slang. 1958 Listener 20 Nov. 818/2 His fellow shiners disregarded the L.C.C. by-law, because very few windows are equipped with metal hooks for holding on a safety belt.

1967 Sunday Times 8 Jan. 3/7 Len is widely regarded as London’s top ‘shiner’ (window cleaner). 1977 Centuryan (Office Cleaning Services) Christmas 1/1 There we were, shiners and cleaning ladies, surrounding Fred and Dora on the float by the London Wall. 3. a. Applied to various small silvery fishes; the

up his shingle and commenced the practice of criminal law in the lower courts. 1977 Time 22 Aug. 48/2 Any academic can set up his shingle and be a literary critic.

young of the mackerel; U.S. any of various small freshwater fishes, chiefly cyprinoids as the dace. golden shiner, a fish of the genus Nometigonus. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 124 The young Mackerel, which are called Shiners, are from four to six inches long by the end of August. 1836 J. Richardson Fauna Bor.-Amer. hi. 122 Cyprinus (Leuciscus) chrysoleucas... New York Shiner. 1839 Kirtland in Bost. Jrnl. Nat. Hist. III. 339 Luxilus elongatus... The Red-bellied Shiner. Ibid. 341 L. dissimilis... The Spotted Shiner. 1844 O. W. Holmes Lines Berksh. Jubilee 46 Oh, what are the prizes we perish to win To the first little ‘shiner’ we caught with a pin. 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 99 The ‘Sailor’s Choice’.. bears several other names..as the ‘Porgy’ and ‘Shiner’. 1893 Outing XXII. 89/2 A golden shiner about five inches in length. b. = silver-fish 2. (In mod. Diets.)

1924 Hairdressing Feb. (caption). Based on the ‘shingle’. 1927 F. E. Baily Golden Vanity xvii. 265 Doris powdered her face, combed her dark shingle, lit a cigarette, and picked up her beef cubes. 1945 N. Mitford Pursuit of Love xx. 172 She had a short canary-coloured shingle (windswept) and wore trousers. 1975 G. Howell In Vogue 13/1 The small pitted cloche brought in the bob, which became the ‘shingle’ or the ‘bingle’ of the twenties.

t'shiness.

Obs. north. In 1 scinisse, 4 schinnes.

[f. SHINE v. + -NESS.] Light, brightness. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xiii. 24 De mona ne seleS scinisse his [splendorem suum]. a 1300 Cursor M. 23688 pat scene schinnes [Gott. pe schene schining] o cristal.

shiness,

variant spelling of shyness.

shingle

('Jir)g(o)l), sb

.1

Forms: 3 scincle, 3-6

shyngle, 4 schingel, schingle, schyngil, scingle, shyngel, chyngle,

-yl,

singel,

4-6

chyngyl,

shyngul(l,

6

5-6

s(c)hengle,

schyngle,

shingell,

schyngyl(l, shengyll,

5

shingil(l, shyngyll(e,

syngle, 6-7 single, 7 shingelle, 4- shingle.

[ME.

scincle, shyngle, app. representing (? through an AF.

modification)

scandula,

L.

commonly

scindula, held

to

later form

be

due

to

of the

influence of Gr. oxtv8a\g.6sL. scindula is represented in Germanic by OHG. scindala, scintila, MHG. schintel, (also mod.) schindel, MLG. schindele, MDu. schindel: cf. shindle. L. scandula passed into Romanic as F. echandole, It. scandola.] 1. a. (a) A thin piece of wood having parallel sides and one end thicker than the other, used as a house-tile. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 95 De faste hope .. is rof and wrikS alle Se hire bieS beneSen mid Se scincles of holie j?ohtes. C1305 Land Cokaygne 57 in E.E.P. (1862) 157 pe scingles alle Of cherche cloister boure and halle. 1335-6 in Bayley Tower Lond. (1821) App. 1. p. ij, Item in defectibus aulae domini regis in coopertura, shyngles, coquinae, pistrinae. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvu. clxviii. (Bodl. MS.), The la)?pe.. is nailed pwarteouer to pe rafters and theron hongej? sclattes, tile, and schingels. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 610/13 Scindula, ashyngul. 1510 Stanbridge Vocabula (W. de W.) Bivb, Scandula, a shyngylles [sic]. 1577 B. Googe HeresbacKs Husb. 11. (1586) 106 Shingles.. are to be cutte betwixte midde Winter, and the beginning of the Westerne Windes. 1591 Percivall Sp. Diet., Ripia, a lath, a single. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 214 Shingles are to be preferred before Thatch. 1785 Gentl. Mag. LV. 11. 49 The houses are almost all of wood, covered with the same; the roof with shingles. 1817-8 Cobbett Year's Resid. Amer. (1822) 317 Your house.. covered with cedar shingles. 1886 Ruskin Praeterita I. 299 The Jura cottage .. is covered with thin slit fine shingles. (b) collect, sing. CI330 Arth. & Merl. 5874 Arthour smot on hem, saunfaile, So on pe singel dope pe haile. C1340 Nominate (Skeat) 481 Couert oue tiel ou cene, Hilde with tile or with schyngle. C1440 Pallad. on Husb. 1. lxxv, Heled weel with shyngul, tile, or broom. 1552 in Archaeol. Cant. (1872) VIII. 128 For makyng vj thowsen of schyngle & iiij honder xxixs. 1557 in Shropsh. Par. Docum. (1903) 58 Re’d of mr Vicar for olde Shengle vid. 1575 Ibid. 65 For on thowsand of shyngle xviii3. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 132 Their roofs of shingle or of thatch. 1899 Baring-Gould Vicar of Morwenstow ix, The roof was covered with oak shingle. b. fig. phr. (orig. Australian colloq.). a shingle short: ‘a tile loose’: said of one who is mentally deficient. 1852 Mundy Antipodes III. i. 17 Let no man having, in colonian phrase, ‘a shingle short’ try this country. 1885 Mrs. C. Praed Head Stat. xviii. II. 6 I’ve been given to understand that poets are usually a shingle short. 1957 J. Frame Owls do Cry 26 Francie Withers has a brother who’s a shingle short. 1966 P. White Solid Mandala 82 He accepted Arthur his twin brother, who was, as they put it, a shingle short. 1968 Southerly XXVIII. 3 Royal said: ‘I reckon we’re a shingle short to ’uv ended up on the Parramatta Road.’ c. gen. A piece of board. (Cf. shingle-board.) 1825 Scott Betrothed ii, A long low hall, built of rough wood lined with shingles. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan III. 150 A piece of shingle, which he was pretending to whittle, after the fashion of your ‘nait’ral born’ Yankee. 1844 Cath. Weekly Instr. 114 The hut was low, built of shingles. 1894 Miss E. L. Banks Campaigns Curios. 143, I had neglected to provide myself with a shingle, with small holes, in which to place my flowers, to make them stand upright. d. U.S. A small sign-board, to hang out (or set up)

one's

SHINGLE

270

SHINESS

shingle,

to

begin

to

practise

a

profession. 1847 J. M. Field Drama in Pokerville (Bartlett i860), The ‘No Admittance!’ which frowned from a shingle over the door. 1865 Holland Plain Talkiv. 131 When a boy changes his roundabout for a coat, he is ready to ‘stick out his shingles’. 1879 Tourgee Fool's Err. i. 10 He studied law.. and hung out his shingle. 1944 V. W. Brooks World of Washington Irving xvi. 308 Catlin hung out his shingle as a portrait-painter and made a little money for his next trip. 1963 J. N. Harris Weird World Wes Beattie i. 8 He had hung

e. A style of cutting women’s hair short, as in the bob, but with the back hair shingled (cf. shingle v.1 2 a). Also, hair cut in this way.

2. a. attrib. and Comb., as shingle-laden, -laying, -maker, -wise; shingle effect (sense 1 e); f shingle-board = sense 1, 1 c; shingle cap, net, a cap-shaped hair-net for preserving the hair¬ style in bed; shingle-nail, a nail used in fixing shingles in building; shingle-oak, (a) the laurel oak, Quercus imbricaria; (b) the she-oak; shingle-weaver, -wood (see quots.); shingle wig, a short-haired wig cut in a shingle. Several other compounds are given in Knight’s Diet. Mech. and the recent U.S. diets. C1300 in Black Bk. Admiralty (Rolls) II. 192 Menu bord qe lem appele baryl bord ou ♦shyngel-bord. 1589 Hakluyt Voy. 286 The roofes.. are couered with shingle boordes. 1637 Heywood Roy all Ship 13 Lined with shingle-boards, or wainscot-plankes. 1926 Vogue Late Nov. 85 A charming little *shingle cap for night wear. 1934 A. Christie Murder on Orient Express 11. xi. 146 She had on a shingle cap and I only saw the back of her head. 1977 ‘E. McBain’ Long Time no See x. 152 Her blond hair was cut in.. bangs on the forehead, a ♦shingle effect at the back of her head. 1881 Chicago Times 14 May, The vessel is ♦shingle-laden. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xv. 279 *Shingle-laying is sometimes paid by the thousand. 1792 in E. G. Ingham Sierra Leone iii. (1894) 46 Bakers, 4... *Shingle Maker, 1. 1836 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. 1. iii, A shingle-maker’s shed. 1303-4 Acc. Chamberl. Chester (1910) 42 Bord-nail, ♦schingelneil, latnail. 1554 in Shropsh. Par. Docum. (1903) 55 Half a m of syngle nayle. 1867 Lowell Fitz Adam's Story 417 He had been known to cut a fig in two And change a board-nail for a shingle-nail. 1886 Morse Jap. Homes 79 Bamboo pins.. are used as shingle-nails. 1928 R. Macaulay Keeping up Appearances ix. 89 She had bought.. three ♦shingle nets. 1818 T. Nuttall Genera N. Amer. Plants II. 214 Quercus imbricaria (*Shingle Oak). 1889 Maiden Native Plants Austral. 15 Casuarina stricta,.. ‘Shingle Oak’, ‘Coast She-oak’. i860 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 3), *Shingle~ weaver, a workman who dresses shingles. 1928 Times 19 Dec. 15/7 After bathing the ♦shingle-wig was slipped over the dishevelled head. 1872 Cques N. Amer. Birds 46 Scales .. apt to be imbricated, or fixed ♦shingle-wise. 1864 Grisebach Flora W. Ind. Islands 787 ♦Shingle-wood: Nectandra leucantha.

b. passing into adj. = (a) consisting of, covered or built with, shingles, as shingle house, roof; (b) used in making shingles, as shingle machine, sazv. 1810 W. Irving Life & Lett. (1864) I. 245 More pleasing in the sight of Heaven.. than building a dozen shingle church steeples. 1819-20-Leg. Sleepy Hollow Sk.-Bk. (1821) 299 The money invested in. .shingle palaces in the wilderness. 1848-54 Webster, Shingle-roofed, having a roof covered with shingles, a 1850 Mrs. Browning Runaway Slave xi, When the shingle-roof rang sharp with the rains. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Shingle-machine, an American machine for riving, shaving, and jointing shingles, which is capable of making 30,000 per day. Ibid., Shingle-mill, a saw¬ mill for cutting planks or logs into shingles. 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 56 Board and shingle sugar-houses. 1882 R. Grimshaw Suppl. Grimshaw on Saws 235 One we know of is running a 42-inch shingle saw in heading 1500 revolutions per minute. 1899 Baring-Gould Vicar of Morwenstow ix, A shingle roof he would have or none at all. 1974 D. Sears Lark in Clear Air i. 19 Snoring with a shrill gutter like a shingle-saw slicing knotty cedar.

shingle C.fii)g(3)l), sb.2 Forms: a. 6- chingle, 6-7 Sc. chyngill. /J. 6- shingle. [Of obscure origin; the forms with ch-, which are somewhat the earlier and are mainly Sc. and East Anglian, suggest an echoic origin (cf. chink). The change of ch- to sh- is paralleled in the history of shiver v2 The relation of this word to Norw. singl coarse sand, small stones, NFris. singel (large) gravel, is not clear.] 1. Small roundish stones; loose, waterworn pebbles such as are found collected upon the seashore. In New Zealand also loose angular stones in mountain country, a. collect, sing. a. 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 556 Chingle and great stones being skorched in that fiery gulfe. 1603 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 517/2 Arenam et lie chyngill et lapides super ripas dicte aque. 1611 in Extracts Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870) II. 327 To caus the fyscher boits to be ballastet.. with chyngill onlie, and nocht with staynes. 1633 J. Done tr. Aristeas' Hist. Septuagint 51 In the Superficies .. was represented .. the Flood Meander,.. in the Channell of which, one might see a Splendor of Precious Stones, representing his rowling waues, which Chingle was of Carbuncles [etc.]. 1787 W. H. Marshall Provinc. Norfolk (E.D.S.), Chingle, gravel, free from dirt. 1798 Statist. Acc. Scot. XX. 27 The surface is not above a foot or 18 inches from the chingle. 1807 Headrick Arran 232 This stratum is not visible on the sea beach, being probably covered with chingle or stones. /9. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 627 The shores.. are for the most part sandy, but only in some points there is some shingle cast up. 1717 S. Sewall Diary 28 Sept., Not to fetch any more Shingle from the point, to mend the Causey. 1778 Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2), Ramsey, in the Isle of Man,.. standing upon a beach of loose sand, or shingle. 1833 Lyell Princ.

Geol. III. 271 A violent and transient rush of waters which tore up the soil to a great depth, excavated valleys, gave rise to immense beds of shingle. 1867 ‘Ouida’ Cecil Castlemaine, etc. 239 In dashed the bay through the park-gates, sending the shingle flying up in small simoons. 1882 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. 11. 11. §6. 155 In shingle the stones are coarser, ranging up to blocks as big as a man’s head or larger. 1894 Crockett Raiders 116 The swell broke upon a beach of shingle and sand. 1900, etc. [see shingle-slip below]. 1944, etc. [see shingle-slide below]. 1959 Tararua XIII. 46 The word shingle itself is given an unusual meaning in New Zealand. In standard usage it refers only to the small roundish waterworn stones of the seashore or rivers. We use it also of moderately-sized, angular stones, such as in fact are found in shingle slides. b. collect, pi. (Locally the name of a pebbly beach or bank; cf. quot. 1577 in 2/3.) 1574 W. Bourne Regim. Sea xxii. 60 At the comming from Portland you shall haue .35. fadoms, and small shingles. a 1608 Dee Relat. Spirits 1. (1659) 115 The shingles, through the which the Spring runs. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Shingles,.. the Name of a Shelf, or Sand-bank in the Sea, about the Isle of Wight. 1803 Southey in Ann. Rev. I. 9 A neck of land chiefly composed of sand, shingles and drift wood. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xviii, The way..was a happy interchange of bog and shingles. 1842 Sedgwick in Hudson's Guide Lakes (1843) 188 The overlying.. beds of limestone are .. separated from the .. beds of slate, by masses of conglomerate or cemented shingles. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxv, Just as the nymph.. stepped out of the little caravan on to the shingles. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. 1. iv. 79 The shingles here do not afford a landing-place. 2. A beach or other tract covered with loose roundish pebbles. a. 1513 Douglas JEneis x. vi. 34 In the schald scho stoppis, and dyd stand Apon a dry chyngill or bed of sand. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Chingly, abounding in small stones, etc., commonly applied to a newly repaired road. The loose pebbly beach is called the chingle or shingle. /3. 1577 Harrison England 1. ix. 22 b, in Holinshed, We meete with ye fal of a water neere to S. Catherins chappie as we sailed by ye Shingle. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk £•? Selv. 200 A world of Sea-stones on the shingle. 1822 T. Mitchell Com. Aristoph. II. 182 He has robb’d the sea-shore, And has hived such a store As would give a large shingle its coating. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Ability Wks. (Bohn) II. 34 The enchantments of barren shingle and rough weather. 3. attrib., as shingle-ballast, bank, beach, -bed, -stone,

track,

trap;

shingle-covered,

-formed

adjs.; shingle slide, -slip N.Z. (see quot. 1944); shingle-tramper (see quot.). 1801 Naval Chron. V. 270 The many instances of injury arising from the use of *shingle ballast. 1888 F. Cowper Caedwalla i. 15 The scrub on the top of the ♦shingle bank. 1834 Marry at Peter Simple xxvi, Oh! with what joy did I first put my foot on the *shingle beach at Sallyport. 1861 C. C. Bowen Poems 76 Ghastly white beneath, Lay stretched the rough, drear *shingle~bed. 1881 Rep. Geol. Explor. New Zealand 123 The Dart flows along a wide shingle-bed. 1875 W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 51 A narrow, ♦shinglecovered opening in the cliffs. 1897 Mary Kingsley W. Africa 116 Masses of ♦shingle-formed conglomerate. 1944 Mod. Junior Diet. (Whitcombe & Tombs) (ed. 7) 365 ♦ Shingle-slide or -slip,.. a term used in New Zealand for (steep) mountain-sides covered with loose, sliding stones, in England called ‘screes’. 1959 A. McLintock Descr. Atlas N.Z. 32 With the baring of the ground between the tussocks, sheet and wind erosion have taken place and there has been a speeding up of the creep of the mantle of rock waste, resulting in the formation of new shingle slides and an increase in area of old ones. 1900 Canterbury Old Gf New 190 One of the most characteristic features of our Canterbury Alps is afforded by the numerous ‘♦shingleslips’ formed by the weathering of rocks. 1971 N.Z. Listener 19 Apr. 56/4 The creek beside the shingle slip just below the confluence. 1614 T. Gentleman England's Way 25 Their haven [viz. Southwold, Suffolk] is.. stopped vp with Beach and *Chingle-stone. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man 31 One of the round shingle stones. 1886 Kendall Poems 201 He camps by the side of a *shingle track. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Wordbk., ♦ Shingle-tramper, a coast-guard man. 1839 Civil Eng. & Arch Jrnl. II. 85/2 Shingle has a decided tendency to drive eastward, and convert harbours lying in its course into what have been designated ‘*shingle traps’. shingle, sb.3 Erron. f. single sb. i b. 1660 Howell Parly of Beasts 51 That lovely white Hinde (though she hath som black spots about her shingle).. she was once a Woman. 1661 Morgan Sph. Gentry 1. vi. 81 [The tail] of the Hart is the Tail, and the Ro-buck or Deer the Shingle. 1688 Holme Armoury 11. vii. 133/1. shingle CJir)g(3)l), a.1

[f. shingle s6.*]

1. trans. To cover, roof (a house, etc.) with shingles. 1562 Withals Diet. 42b/2 Scandulo, to shyngle. 1577 V. Leigh Surv. Iij, Whether.. slated, shingled, or thatched. 1638 Bp. Mountagu Art. Enq. Visit. A 2, Is your Church leaded, tiled, slated, shingled, thatched with straw or reede. 1796 J- Adams Diary 27 July, I rode up to the barn, which Mr. Pratt has almost shingled. 1833 [Seba Smith] Lett. J. Downing xxi. (1835) 124 He’ll new shingle our old barn for nothin. 1865 ‘Artemus Ward’ Trav. 11. xii, When the Lion House was ready to be shingled. transf. 1885 Harper's Mag. Mar. 533/1 The .. walls and .. roof are shingled with slate. 1891 Century Mag. Nov. 61 We constructed a low chalet.., shingling it with swamp grass. 2. a. To cut (hair), properly so as to give the effect of overlapping shingles, by exposing the ends of hair all over the head; also absol.

U.S.;

to cut (women’s hair) so that it tapers from the back of the head to the nape of the neck; also absol., to have the hair so cut. 1857 Holland Ray Path 232 (Thornton Amer. Gloss.), I’m great on cutting hair. I don’t suppose there’s anybody in the settlement can shingle like me... By the way, don’t you want your hair cut? I don’t know how I’m going to get along, unless you do have it jest shingled. 1864 R. F.

SHINGLE

271

Burton in Anthropol. Rev. II. 51 To ‘shingle off their hair as closely as possible. 1909 Kate Wicgin Susanna & Sue xii, It s kind of pityish to have your hair shingled. 1924 Punch 17 Sept. 319 It moves me not if Araminta shingles Her locks, or Evelina has them bobbed. 1926 Galsworthy Silver Spoon iv. 25 Fully dressed for the evening, she had but little on, and her hair was shingled. Ibid., She had been one of the first twelve to shingle. 1976 M. Green Children of Sun (1977) v. 207 Women began to bob their hair immediately after the war, were shingling it by 1925.

b. To cover like a shingled roof. U.S. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. 11 A somewhat more than middle-aged female, with a parchment forehead and a dry little ‘frisette’ shingling it.

c. (See quot.) U.S. i860 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 3), To shingle, to chastise. A shingle applied a posteriori is a favorite New England mode of correcting a child.

shingle, v2 Iron-manuf. [ad. F. cingler, ad. G. zangeln, f. zange tongs, pincers.] trans. To subject (the puddled ball) to pressure and blows from a hammer so as to expel impurities.

,

1674, etc. [see shingling vbl. s6.2]. 1784 in Abridgm. Specif., Iron Steel (1858) 13 Shingling, welding, and manufacturing iron and steel into barrs, plates, rods, and otherwise. Ibid. 365 The slabe, having been shingled.. to the sizes of the grooves in my rollers. 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 768 These loops are.. brought to a white or welding heat, and then shingled into half-blooms or slabes. 1861 Fairbairn Iron 105 The old method of shingling the puddle balls.. was to reduce them to shape by a heavy hammer called the forge-hammer or helve.

SHINING

or making it into blooms. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., Shingler, an eccentric.. roller revolving within a concave and pressing the dross out of the loop. 1881 Greener Gun 221 The puddler takes the bloom with a pair of tongs, runs with it to the tilt hammer and hands it over to the shingler.

shingles ('Jiqgfajlz), sb. pi. Also 4 schingles, 5 cingules, sengles, 5-6 shyngles, 6 chingles. [Representing med.L. cingulus (MS. gloss in Du Cange), var. of cingulum girdle, used to render Gr. £d>v7? or (cocft^p in the medical sense.] An eruptive disease (Herpes zoster) often extending round the middle of the body like a girdle (whence the name); usually accompanied by violent neuralgic pain. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvn. xciii. (Tollem. MS.), A3ens icchynge and scabbes wett and drye and a3ens schingles [Bodley MS. cingules, ed. 1495 shyngles], c 1450 M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 78 Ther ys an euel, pat men callen pe sengles. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke’s Distyll. Waters Gij, The onnatural hete named shyngles on the bodye. 1546 Phaer Bk. Childr. Bb viij b, Our Englysshe women call it the fyre of Saynt Anthonye, or chingles. 1614 W. B. Philos. Banquet (ed. 2) 86 The oyle of Nuttes .. helpes the shingles. 1712 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 10 May, The doctors said that they never saw anything so odd of the kind; they were not properly shingles, but herpes miliaris, and twenty other hard names. 1782 W, Heberden Comm, xxiii. (1806) 126 The herpes, or shingles .. consists of a heap of watery bladders. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 618 On hearing that it is the ‘shingles’ and that it is not catching.

b. A similar disease in horses.

f shingle, v.3 [? f. cingle, girdle, with assimilation to shingles.] trans. To girdle round.

1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horsem. 74 This disease is also called by some the shingles in a horse. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Diet., St. Anthony’s Fire, a Disease Horses are subject to,.. call’d by some the Shingles.

1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 35 Till the gout is in their knees, or the dropsie doth painefully shingle them round.

'shingling, vbl. sb.1 [f. shingle v.1 + -ing1.] 1. a. Tiling with shingles or cutting shingles. Also attrib., as shingling-hatchet, etc. I7°3 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 243 Shingling, the laying

shingled (’Jir)g(3)ld), ppl. a.1 [f. shingle sb.1 or v.1 -h -ED.] 1. Covered or tiled with shingles; in first quot., ? having the outer timbers overlapping like tiles, clinker-built. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. x. 170 Eihte soules And of vche beest A Couple, pat in pe schynglede schup schullen ben Isaued. 1577 V. Leigh Surv. Iij, Buildinges .. whether.. Tyled, slated, shingled, or thatched. 1818 J. Hassell Rides & Walks II. 107 The church has a shingled tower. 1881 19th Cent. Aug. 306 The prevalence of shingled spires in the wooded districts. 1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Anim. Life 216 To capture the rain-water from the shingled roof.

2. Arranged tile-wise, imbricated. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 94 Individual feathers of the notasum .. smoothly shingled or imbricated.

3. Of hair: cut with the ends exposed all over the head or in a shingle. Of persons: having hair so cut. 1889 Kipling From Sea to Sea (1899) I. xxi. 414 The American missionary teaches the Japanese girl to wear bangs—‘shingled bangs’—on her forehead. 1924 M. Arlen Green Hat i. 42 Iris Storm was the first English-woman I ever saw with ‘shingled hair’. This was in 1922. 1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train 1. iii. 19 She looked.. like a Beardsley woman shingled. 1930 W. S. Maugham Cakes Ale xxiii. 231 ‘Very quiet,’ I said to the shingled barmaid. 1953 *N. Shute’ In Wet vii. 210 He stroked the soft, shingled hair at the back of her head. 1978 Church Times 1 Sept. 5/4 Their hair is shingled and rigidly marcel-waved. They stand in Junoesque poses like over-blown flappers.

'shingled, ppl. a.2 [f. shingle sb.2 -I- -ed2.] Covered with or consisting of shingle or rounded pebbles. 1802 Bloomfield Rural Tales 53 May your days Glide on, as glides the Stream that never stays; Bright as whose shingled bed .. May all your.. Virtues shine! 1888 Henley Bk. Verses 156 The shingled shore.

'shingled, ppl. a.3 See shingle v.2 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron xvi. 305 The shingled blooms will not be uniformly homogeneous if they are produced from different-sized puddled balls.

'shingler1. [f. shingle sb.1 or v.1 + -er1.] 1. One who shingles houses, etc.; also U.S. ‘one who or a machine which cuts and prepares shingles’ (Ogilvie 1882). 1445 in 5th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 528/1 Paid 2 shyngelers and a boy, mending the old rofe of the church 20d. 1554 in Shropsh. Par. Docum. (1903) 55 Paid to the syngler & his man iis viid. 1562 Act 5 Eliz. c. 4 §23 Any Persone using or exercising Tharte or Occupation of a.. Thatcher or Shingler. 1688 Holme Armoury ill. ix. 394/2 There is four sorts of Trades, that formerly used to cover Houses,.. viz. the Plumer, with Lead;. . the Shingler with clift Wood [etc.]. 1865 P. B. St. John Snow Ship ix, Nothing is more necessary to a backwoods-man than to be a good shingler—that is to know how to select the right tree and how to cut it. 1886 Morse Jap. Homes 79 The shingler takes a mouthful of these pegs.

2. A woman transitory.

who

has

her

hair

shingled.

1926 Glasgow Herald 11 Nov. 3/4 Was the first shingler a suffragette? 1929 D. Mackail How Amusing! 337 Though .. Duval has done a certain amount of shingling,.. his shop .. has no separate entrance for shinglers.

'shingler2. Iron-manuf. [f. shingles.2 + -er1.] One who or a machine which shingles puddled iron. 1832 Ht. Martineau Hill & Valley iv, The shingler who hammers the balls of metals into an oblong form. 1864 Webster, Shingler,.. a machine for shingling puddled iron,

on of Shingles. 1859 F. S. Cooper Ironmongers' Catal. 157 Shingling Hatchets. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 32 An Indian tomahawk, which had too much the peaceful look of a shingling-hatchet. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., Shinglingbracket, a device to enable a carpenter to stand on a roof while nailing on shingles. Ibid., Shingling-gage,.. for adjusting shingles in the proper position for nailing. 1910 Lady D. Nevill Under Five Reigns iv, Shingling is a craft quite distinct from ordinary builder’s or carpenter’s work.

b. Arrangement in overlapping layers. 1903 U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper 13. 48 In numerous sections of these deposits the shingling of the gravels is well marked.

2. (See shingle v.1 2 a.) 1924 Chambers's Jrnl. June 483/2 You do not care for the shingling and bobbed hair styles? 1926 Galsworthy Silver Spoon iv. 25 ‘My dear girl,’ Michael had said, when shingling came in, ‘to please me, don’t! Your nuque will be too bristly for kisses.’ 1939-40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 901 Hair Clipper... Specially designed for Shingling, Bobbing, and for removing any superfluous hair.

'shingling, vbl. sb.2 Iron-manuf. [f. shingle v.2 + -ing1.] The action of shingle v.2 1674 Ray Coll. Words 128 This Loop they take out with their shingling tongs, and beat it with Iron sledges .. that so it may.. be in a capacity to be carried under the hammer. Under which they then removing it,.. beat it with the hammer very gently, which forces cinder and dross out of the matter, afterwards .. they beat it thicker and stronger till they bring it to a Bloom... This operation they call shingling the Loop. 1840 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 298/1 The roasting, smelting, refining, puddling, shingling, balling, and drawing-out. 1881 Greener Gun 222 The loss in the puddling is about 15 per cent., in the shingling and rolling about 14 per cent. attrib. 1674 [see above]. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 706 The shingling mill.. consists of two sets of grooved cylinders. 1857 G. Wilkie Iron Manuf. 108 A 6o-horse engine will drive a shingling-hammer [etc.]. 1873 Iron 5 Apr. 356/1 The shingling-forge fitted with a 5-ton wrought iron helve.

'shingling, ppl. a. [f. shingle v.1 + -ing2.] Used advb.: In a tile-wise arrangement. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxix, As to whether the hides should be stowed ‘shingling’ or ‘back-to-back and flipperto-flipper’.

shingly ('Xirjgli), a.1 [f. SHINGLE sb.1 + Covered with shingles or wooden tiles.

-Y.]

1857 Whittier Last Walk in Autumn xxi, The. .shingly town-house, where The freeman’s vote for Freedom falls.

shingly ('Jir)gli), a 2 Also Sc. 8 chinlie, chingily, 9 chingly; 9 shingley. [f. shingle sb.2 + -Y.] Consisting of or covered with shingle; of the nature of shingle. (For Austral, and N.Z. sense, see shingle sb.2 1.) a. 1775 L. Shaw Hist. Moray 78 The hard chinlie beach. 1797 Statist. Acc. Scotl. XIX. 5 In several parts it [sc. the soil] is gravellish or sandy, or chingily. 1807 Headrick Arran 281 For slight, sandy, or chingly soils. j3. 1789 Phil. Trans. LXXX. 91, I landed, within the sound, on a white shingly beach, the stones of which are all chert. 1802 W. Forsyth Fruit Trees xxiii. (1824) 343 Shingly and gravelly soils. 1810 Scott Lady of L. 111. vii, Benharrow’s shingly side. 1843 Chamb. Jrnl. 45/3 As they stood upon the shingley beach to see him start. 1857 J. T. Thomson in N. M. Taylor Early Travellers in N.Z. (1959) 336 The plains are alluvial and shingly. 1869 Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 291 The broad shingly bed of a river. 1870 Hawthorne Engl. Note-bks. (1879) I. 211 Covered with gray shingly stones. 1878 E. S. Elwell Boy Colonists 182 After a long.. climb, they reached the top. It was bare and shingly. 1926 K. S. Pritchard Working Bullocks v. 52 They rode for hours .. along the shingly ledges of steep hill-sides.

1949 A. E. Woodhouse in A. E. Currie Centennial Treasury Otago Verse 87 The shingly rivers seaward swirling.

Shingon ('Jir)gDn). Also 9 Singon. [Jap., = true word, mantra, f. shin true + gon word.] The name of a Buddhist sect founded in Japan in the eighth century and devoted to esoteric Buddhism. Also attrib. 1727 J. G. Scheuchzer tr. Ksempfer's Hist. Japan I. n. v. 199 In the 1850 streets of this city, there were .. i o 070 of the sect Singon. 1834 Chinese Repository Nov. 323 There are now in Japan the following sects which are tolerated by government. 1. Zen... 5. Singon... Singon means to repeat true psalms. 1880 E. J. Reed Japan I. iv. 81 The learned Kobo Daishi.. was likewise the founder of the Shingon (‘True Words’) sect of Buddhists in Japan. 1894 Trans. Asiatic Soc. Japan XXII. 382 (heading) The history of the Shingon sect. 1908 A. Lloyd Wheat among Tares iv. 40 Kobo’s faith—the so-called Mantra or Shingon Buddhism —so much resembles Manichaeism that it may be said to be practically the same system. 1931 G. B. Sansom Japan III. xii. 222 The Shingon doctrines are mystical, and not to be explained in words. 1961 Listener 31 Aug. 316/1 A Buddhist sect, called Shingon,.. is one of the most flourishing sects in Japan today. 1977 T. Kashima Buddhism in America i. 4 Shingon Buddhism.. is based on the Dainichi Sutra (the Great Sun Sutra).

shinily ('Jainili), adv. [f. shiny + -ly2.] With a shiny surface or appearance. So 'shininess, shiny condition. 1872 Ruskin Eagle's AT. § 154 What sort of shininess there is on the end of a terrier’s nose. 1874 Contemp. Rev. Oct. 760 The utmost shininess that can be got out of it will not replace one-tenth part of the light. 1894 A. Morrison Mean Streets 138 His short hair clung shinily about his bullet head.

shining ('Jamir)), vbl. sb. [f. shine v. + -ing1.] The action of the verb shine; emission or shedding of light; gleaming, beaming. a 1300 E.E. Psalter cix. 3 In schinenges of haliyhes bright [Vulg. in splendoribus sanctorum]. 13.. K. Alis. 641 (Bodl. MS.) pe erpe shook, pe see bycom grene, pe sonne wij?drou3 shynyng shene. 13.. Cursor M. 23688 (Gott.) pe schene schining of cristal. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vm. xii. (Tollem. MS.), Schinynge is out spryngynge and stremynge oute of pe substaunce of ly3te. c 1400 Destr. Troy 919 For chynyng of the chene stone he shont with his hede. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxvi. 117 The moyn and starnes of shynyng blan. ^21586 Sidney Arcadia 111. (Sommer) 265b, He., might spie sometimes .. the shining of armour, like flashing of lightning. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 560 Grashoppers doe.. come in such quantitie that they intercept the shining of the Sunne like a Cloud. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. 111. iii, I’ve seen with shining fair the morning rise. 1852 Thackeray Esmond 1. v, Harry could see the shining of a steel breastplate he had on. 1852 M. Arnold Self-Depend. vi, With joy the stars perform their shining. 1905 F. Young Sands of Pleasure 11. viii, The cold, alert shining of her eyes.

b. transf. and fig. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. in. pr. ii. (1868) 67 Yif that dignitees lesen hir shyninge by chaunginge of tymes. 1430-40 Lydg. Bochas i. vii. (1544) 10 b, Whan his shining was waxt vp to ye ful After the chaunge of fortunes lawe His glorye gan discrecen. £21586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (Sommer) 127 Men of vertue suppressed, lest their shining should discouer the others filthines. Ibid. ill. 249 Our trust is that you yet will not denie the shining of your eies vpon vs. 1656 Artif. Handsom. 129 All their Oratorious polishings and shinings are but false beames. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. 1. i. (1841) II. 5 We are but as dark as we were before; for we were none of us the better for all your hypocritical shining. £21778 Toplady in Bk. Praise (1866) 446 The shinings of His grace Soften my passage through the wilderness. attrib. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1768) IV. 64 The time of Adversity is your Shining-time.

shining ('Jamir)), ppl. a. [f. shine v. + -ing2.] 1. a. That shines; luminous, lustrous, gleaming, beaming; also, of bright or brilliant aspect or exterior; resplendent in dress or equipment. £2900 O.E. Martyrol. 22 Nov. 208 pa stod se engel big hyre myd scynendum fySerum. c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 431/23 Limpidis, scinendum. £21225 Ancr. R. 224 ‘Demonium meridianum’, pet is, briht schininde deouel. £•1275 Serving Christ 18 in O.E. Misc. 91 In schynynde wede. 1382 Wyclif Lam. iv. 7 Whitere is Nazareis than sno3, shynendere [1388 schynyngere] than mylc. C1475 Rauf Coiljear 559 Bot I the knew, that is sa schynand. 1533 Bellenden Livy 11. xxi. (S.T.S.) I. 215 pax war iijc and vj knichtis in schynyng armoure. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 40 The cleir schenand sonne. 1565 J. Phillip Patient Grissell 702, I nether haue faire Helins shape, nor comly shininge hew. 1626 Bacon Sylva §352 Shining woods, being laid in a Dry Roome,.. lose their Shining. 1664 Sir R. Howard & Dryden Ind. Queen 11. i, Showres sometimes fall upon a shining day. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 401 Fish, .with thir Finns & shining Scales. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 11. (Globe) 559 Tiles .. of a deep shining Black. 1776 Gibbon DecL & F. xiii. I. 377 A bag of shining leather filled with pearls. 1825 Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Passion & Princ. x. III. 183 A bright shining house-maid. 1845 Kitto Cycl. Bibl. Lit. s.v. Egypt, The climate is.. exceedingly hot; the atmosphere clear and shining. 1852 Thackeray Esmond 1. ix, On a shining chestnut horse. Ibid. 11. iii, That busy, shining scene of the Thames swarming with boats and barges, i860 Tyndall Glac. 1. ii. 21 All covered with shining snow.

b. as an epithet of coin, f shining clay, gold. 1668 Hopkins Van. World Wks. (1710) 5 What are Gold and Silver, but diversified Earth, hard and shining Clay? 1677 Horneck Gt. Law Consid. v. (1704) 306 The tears I shed, for being deprived of a little shining clay. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Sat. 11. iii. 203 From out his Bags he pours the shining Store.

c. Nat. Hist., etc. (See quots.)

shinty

272

SHININGLY 1792 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 2) III. 399 Pileus brown, shining, glutinous. 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot., Lucidum folium .. Bright, shining. 1839 Lindley Introd. Bot. hi. (ed. 3) 471 Shining (nitidus)\ having a smooth, even, polished surface; as many leaves. 1850 Ansted Elem. Geol Min. etc. §310 The degrees of intensity [sc. of lustre] are denominated as follows:—.. Shining, when an image is produced, but^not a well-defined image. Ex., Calcareous spar, Celestine. 1871 W. A. Leighton Lichen-flora 109 Lobes ascending, glabrous and shining.

d. Hence as specific name of animals and plants (rendering L. lucidus, lucens, splendidus, etc.). shining cuckoo, a copper-coloured cuckoo, Chalcites lucidus, found in New Zealand and other parts of the Pacific. 1626 Bacon Sylva §475 The Shining Willow, which they call Swallow-Taile. 1771 J. R. Forster Flora Amer. Septentr. 7 Potamogeton lucens. Pondweed, shining. 1782 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. 11. 528 Shining C[uckow] ..Size of a small Thrush.. inhabits New Zealand. 1783 Ibid. III. 56 Shining Thrush, Turdus nitens. 1784 Cullum Hist. Hawsted App. 232 Shining Dove’s-foot cranesbill (Geranium lucidum) in hedges. 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 372 Coppery-green shining Crow. 1865 Intell. Obs. VII. 102 The male Satin or Shining Bower Bird. 1888 W. Buller Birds N.Z. (ed. 2) I. 133 A peculiar whistling cry., announces the arrival in our country of the shining cuckoo. 1965 F. Sargeson Memoirs of Peon vi. 155 It was., something like the call of the shining cuckoo, a sound just in the air.

2. Phr. a. shining light (after John v. 35): a person conspicuous for some excellence.

Spider & F. xiii. 17 The show.. Upon the ten flies parte showth more shininglie Then on the one spiders side. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xx. § 5 Let vs now behold his vertues as they are shiningly deduced into action. 1612 R. Sheldon Serm. St. Martin's 15 A God, shiningly appearing in Christ. 1824 Galt Rothelan I. 11. iv. 181 His eye, which was ever shiningly intellectual. 1836 Tait's Mag. III. 447 The silver spoons and forks were laid shiningly side by side in a varnished press. 1859 Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 163 Her ladyship’s own private bank is in a shiningly aristocratic street. 1891 ‘L. Keith’ Lost Illus. II. xix. 208 Shiningly, spotlessly, insolently new.

So 'shiningness, brightness, brilliance. I7°3 Phil. Trans. XXV. 1538 The shiningness being wholly occasioned by the reflexion of the Light from the polisht sides. 1752 ‘Sir H. Beaumont’ Crito 41 note, The Epithets marmoreus, eburneus, and candidus, are all applied .. to the Shiningness here spoken of. 1837 New Monthly Mag. XLIX. 24 Albeit swaying so our thoughts In shiningness and motion.

shinlog ('JinlDg), sb.1 Brickmaking. (See quot. 1703.) Hence shinlog v., to close (the mouth of a kiln) with shinlog. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 48 They damm up the Mouth of the Kiln .. with their Shinlog, as they call it (which is pieces of Bricks piled upon each other, with wet Brick Earth, instead of Mortar). This Shinlog they make so high, that there is but just room above it to thrust in a Faggot. Ibid., The Mouth being thus Shinlog’d, they proceed to put in Faggots. 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 534.

t'shinlog, sb.2 Obs.

[app. f. shin in shinbin (cf.

1526 [see light sb. 5 a]. 1563 WiN3ET tr. Vincent. Lirin. ix. Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 27 That schyning licht of al the sanctis,.. maist blissit Cypriane. a 1796 Burns Holy Willie's Prayer ii, A burnin’ an’ a shinin’ light To a’ this place! 1869 Trollope He knew, etc. xviii. (1878) 100 Her aunt was regarded as a shining light by very many good people in the county. 1887 Field 19 Nov. 790/1 In the opening part of the game, Stadden, Robertshaw, and Brooke had been the shining lights.

the form shinbeam) + LOG si.1] = shinbin. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 141/2 Pieces called ‘shin-logs’, and admirably adapted for ship-timbers.

b. to improve the shining hour (after Watts, see quot. 1720): to make good use of time.

1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 167/1 Caliga,.. an hose, a nether stocke, a shinner.

1720 Watts Div. Songs xx, How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour! 1866 ‘Annie Thomas’ IValter Goring ii, Though he had been seeming to improve the shining hours very much to his own satisfaction. c. shining armour (see quot. 1533 under 1 a, and knight in shining armour s.v. knight sb. 4e) (freq. ironic): a sign of preparedness to fight nobly in a good cause, esp. in defence of the weak. 1910 Times 22 Sept. 5/1 The action of an ally in taking his stand in shining armour at a grave moment by the side of your most gracious Sovereign. 1913 S. Shaw William of Germany xi. 249 The Emperor’s soldiers and his Dreadnoughts, his mailed fist and shining armour, are built and put on in the spirit of precaution and defence. 1919 G. B. Shaw Inca of Perusalem 220 What other defence have we poor common people against your shining armor, your mailed fist, your pomp and parade? 1940 E. F. Benson Final Edition xiii. 268 His Field Marshalls took his sabre-rattlings and his stupendous announcements that he was the chosen instrument of the Lord of Hosts at their face value,.. and made him keep polishing up the shining armour which he had donned for his secret reassurance, i960 J. Stroud Shorn Lamb xxii. 242 When I first came galloping out of the University, in shining armour.. it was To the Rescue of the Deprived Child. 1968 ‘M. Underwood’ Man who killed too Soon vi. 61, I could tempt him to don his shining armour and try a rescue operation.

3. With reference to intellectual or moral qualities: Eminent, Now rare.

distinguished,

brilliant.

£900 tr. Bseda's Hist. ill. xix. (1890) 210 Se wees in wordum & daedum beorht & scinende. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. xxxvii. 69 J>e vertu of \>y shynynge lyf shal be . . gladyd perby. c 1410 Hoccleve Mother of God 101 Seint Ion Shynynge apostle & euangelist. 1513 Life Hen. V (1911) 7 The life and shyninge Acts of this most victorious Kinge. 1593 G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 173 The siluer streaming fountaines of flowingest witt, and shiningest Art. c 1665 Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 31 Nor was his soul less shining in honour than in loue. 1702 Addison Dial. Medals i. 11 One that endeavoured rather to be agreeable, than shining in conversation. 1711-Spect. No. 73 |f 4 Men of the greatest and the most shining Parts. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxix. 154 Charles duke of Bourbon .. was a prince of the most shining merit. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 560 Anticipated rents, and bills unpaid, Force many a shining youth into the shade. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi. xxxvii, [His] most shining quality was courage in the field of battle. 1881 M. Raleigh Alex. Raleigh i. 7 [He] was regarded as a boy of good but not shining ability.

shinnanicking,

var. shenanigan.

shinner1

('Jin3(r)). [f. shin sb.1 or v. + -er1.] fl. A stocking. Obs. rare~°.

2. A blow or kick on the shin. dial. 1835 Marry at Olla Podr., Moonshine, I’ll give you a shinner on your lower limb. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss.

3. U.S. ‘One who borrows money by the practice of shinning’ (Bartlett). 1840 in Scheie de Vere Americanisms (1872) 305 Coxcombs and dandies, loafers and nibblers, Shavers and shinners.

4. U.S. person.

One who ‘shins round’; an active

1838 J. C. Neal in Scheie de Vere Americanisms (1872) 305 ‘Shin it, good man!’ ejaculated a good-natured urchin, ‘shin it as well as you know how!’ The qualification was a good one, Berry not being well calculated for a shinner of the first class.

Shinner2 ('Jni3(r)).

Colloq. abbrev. of Sinn

Feiner (Jin feina(r)). 1921 Glasgow Herald 9 Apr. 12 The sands are running out as Ireland will shortly be ruined. ‘Shinners’ may be killed daily. 1974 J. Johnston How Many Miles to Babylon? 51,1 thought I’d heard it about that you were with the Shinners.

shinnery ('Jinari). U.S. [f. An area of predominates.

scrub

in

shin sb.1 + -ery.]

which

shin-oak

1901 Rev. Reviews XXIV. 310/1 It [5c. ‘creeps’] is due mainly to an insufficiency of nourishment in the grass, particularly in pastures where ‘shinnery’ or dwarf oak trees abound. 1913 W. C. Barnes Western Grazing Grounds 268 The scrub oak of the western ranges.. forms .. great areas called ‘shinneries’. 1946 Oklahoma Game & Fish News Mar. 4/1 The located crow roosts in the shinnery motts west of Elk City.

'shinning, vbl. sb. [f. shin v. + -ing1.] 1. Football. The act of kicking an opponent on the shin. 1873 Gentl. Mag. Apr. 388 Mauling, hacking, kicking, shinning, collaring—such are among the terms and rules of the [Rugby] game. 1899 Shearman, etc. Football 70 All charging is fair, but no .. shinning or back shinning either of the ball or players is allowed.

2. U.S.

(See quot. 1864.)

1834 A. Greene Perils of Pearl Street i. 16 The exercise of shinning. 1864 Webster, Shinning, a running about borrowing money temporarily to meet pressing demands. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 306 This process of shinning is resorted to whenever the merchant or banker is short.

4. Of looks: Radiant, beaming. 1821 Lamb Elia 1. My relations, A .. shining sanguine face. 1852 Thackeray Esmond 1. xiii, Greeting him with one of her shining looks.

5. Comb. 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 464 Shining-black Snake. 1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 120 Shining-leaved Fig Wort. 1887 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 71 Raced With, along them, cragiron under and cold furls — With-a-fountain’s shiningshot furls. 1895 K. Meyer Voy. Bran I. 71 A red-eared shining-white cow. 1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow ii. 52 Sometimes, all shining-eyed, she was back at her own home. 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Great War I. 289 Everything was as shining-new as death.

'shiningly, adv. [f. prec. + -ly2.] In a shining manner; with a shining appearance; brightly, brilliantly. 1382 Wyclif Luke xvi. 19 Sum man was rich,.. and he eet ech day schynyngli [L. splendide]. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lxvi. 305 (Harl. MS.), J?e my3ty men and riche men of J?is wordle, pat hath golde, and goodis shynyngly. 1556 J. Heywood

shinny CJim), sb.1 Also shinney, shinnie. [? f. the cry used in the game shin ye, shin you (also shin your side), of obscure origin; cf. hummie, a dial, name for shinty, and the cry hun you, shin you (Sheffield Gloss.); see also shinty. Other dial, names of the game are shinnins, shinnock, shinnup-, also shinder vb.] A (north-country and American) game similar to hockey, played with a ball and sticks curved at one end; also, the stick and the ball used in this game. 1672 in Maidment Bk. Scotish Pasquils (1868) 181 He.. did transub Himself to ball, the Parliament to club, Which will him holl when right teased at ane blow, Or els Sir Patrick will be the shinnie goe. 1794 Gentl. Mag. Mar. 216 Shinney, a stick rounding at one end, to strike a small wooden ball with. 1810 Ann. Reg. 532 Contending parties, in the northern counties of England, exert themselves to drive the shinney to its goal, i860 J. F. Campbell Tales W. Highl. (1890) I. 102 He. .gets him to make an iron shinny. 1893 Leland Mem. I. 51 The nose of the [sturgeon] fish ..

being greatly coveted by us small boys wherewith to make a ball for ‘shinny’. attrib. 1794 Gentl. Mag. Mar. 216 Shinney-hah, a game so called. 1825 R. Chambers Trad. Edin. II. 78 A group of little pensioners, who regularly annoyed him for a shinny ball, or some such article. 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. II. xxi. 206 Each of them had a walrus-rib for a.. shinny-stick.

shinny ('Jim), sb.2 Southern U.S. [Alteration of shine sb.1 3 b: see -y6.] = moonshine 4. 1934 in Webster. 1944 D. Van de Voort in B. A. Botkin Treas. Amer. Folklore v. 686 Wiley went over to the safe and got out his pappy’s jug of shinny, i960 H. Lee To kill Mockingbird xiii. 139 Miss Maudie Atkinson baked a Lane cake so loaded with shinny it made me tight. 1972 J. Carr Second Oldest Profession xi. 166 There are often regional names by which the illicit distillate is recognized. Some of these are ‘cannonball swig’.. ‘preacher’s lye’.. ‘shinny’ .. ‘kickapoo joy juice’.

shinny ('Jim), v. U.S. [f. shin sft.1] intr. To shin up a tree. Also with down, absol., and with advb. acc., as to shinny one’s way. 1888 T. Stevens Around the World 307 The trees.. are.. swarming with monkeys... Shinnying up the toddy-palms. 1936 J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle vi. 86 Jim shinnied down the tree. 1937 Sun (Baltimore) 23 Oct. 12/7 It is difficult to imagine a man over 60 shinnying up a porch post. 1967 ‘E. Queen’ Face to Face xiii. 61 Somehow he’s managed to shinny his way back into her good graces. 1976 Daily Tel. 29 Sept. 15/2 They must, .shinny up ropes, and slide down vines. 1977 Time 4 Apr. 42/2 Coming on fast is Robert Shaw, Israeli counter-terrorist, who must shinny down a rope from a helicopter.

Hence 'shinnying vbl. sb. 1906 Washington Post 22 May 2 As its girth precluded ‘shinnying’, Gladden procured a ladder.

Shinshu ('JinJu:). [Jap., f. shin Shin sb.3 -f shu sect] = Shin sb.3 1727 J. G. Scheuchzer tr. Kaempfer's Hist. Jap. I. iv. i. 264 The monks of the Chinese and other Sensju monasteries send also some of the fraternity to go a begging six times a month. 1896 L. Hearn Kokoro x. 193 Wealthier sects had established Buddhist schools on the Western plan: and the Shinshu could already boast of its scholars.

Shinto CJintsu). Also Sin-to, Sintu, -oo. [Japanese, f. Chinese shin tao way of the gods.] 1. The native religious system of Japan, the central belief of which is that the mikado is the direct descendant of the sun-goddess and that implicit obedience is due to him. 1727 tr. Kaempfer's Hist. Japan I. 203 Sinto.. is the Idolworship, as of old established in the Country. 1829 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XX. 474/2 The first.. Faith of the Japanese, is that of the Sin-to. 1875 N. Amer. Rev. CXX. 282 The abolition of Buddhism and the establishment of pure Shinto. 1906 Athenaeum 19 May 602/3 Of pure Shinto ancestor-worship was no part, while phallism in a very pronounced form was intimately associated with it.

b. attrib. 1727 tr. Kaempfer's Hist. Japan I. 207 The whole System of the Sintos Divinity. Ibid., The Sintosju or adherents of the Sintos Religion. 1829 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XX. 475/2 The Sin-syu, or maintainers of the Sin-to creed. 1880 E. J. Reed Japan I. 47 The worship of the Shinto gods. 1888 L. Oliphant Epis. in Adv. 222 Two Buddhist or Sintoo shrines, perched upon pinnacles of rock. c. adj. = SHINTOISTIC. 1904 Sladen Playing the Game 1. xii, The idea of the Kami .. was Shinto rather than Buddhistic.

2. An adherent of Shinto beliefs. 1829 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XX. 477/1 The Gods worshipped by the Sin-tos are principally .. departed Spirits deified. 187. Ripley & Dana Amer. Cycl. IX. 537 (Cass.) The Shintos believe in a past life, and they live in fear and reverence of the spirits of the dead.

Hence 'Shintoism = Shinto i; 'Shintoist = Shinto 2; Shinto'istic a., belonging to or characteristic of Shinto; 'Shintoize v.y trans.y to render Shintoistic. 1727 tr. Kaempfer's Hist. Japan I. 226 Orthodox Sintoists go in Pilgrimage to Isje once a year. 1857 R- Tomes Amer. in Japan xiv. 337 The prevailing religions of the Japanese are Buddhism and Sintooism. 1863 Chamb. Encycl. V. 686/1 The minor deities of Sintuism are very numerous. 1875 N. Amer. Rev. CXX. 296 Buddhism .. and the bakufu were, in the eyes of a Shintoist, all one and the same. 1889 E. Arnold Seas & Lands xiv. (1895) 218 Pure Shintoism does not admit of any external decoration or images. 1893 *n Barrows World's Pari. Relig. I. 453 A pilgrimage to various .. Shintoistic and Buddhistic temples. 1895 Griffis Relig. Japan vii. 212 Is Japanese Buddhism really Shintoized Buddhism, or Buddhaized Shinto?

shinty ('Jinti). Also shintie. [Formation obscure; ? for shin t'ye, cf. shin ye (see shinny).]

1. = SHINNY. 1771 Pennant Tour Scot. 167 The shinty, or the striking a ball of wood or of hair. 1793 Statist. Acc. Scot. V. 72 On holidays, all the males of a district .. met to play at football, but oftener at shinty. 1808 Jamieson, Shinty, the club used in playing [shinty]. 1876 J. Grant Burgh Sch. Scot. 11. v. 180 The rough but manly old game of ‘shinty’ has not yet quite fallen into desuetude. 1882 Jamieson's Sc. Diet., Shinty, the ball or knot of wood is called Shintie. attrib. 1863 N. Macleod Remin. Highl. Par. iii, Few games.. demand more physical exertion than a good shinty match. 1865 Morning Star 1 Feb., Past your ear whizzes a shinty ball. 2. = SHINDY 3. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair liv, There's a regular shinty in the house; and everything at sixes and sevens. The landlord’s come in and took possession.

SHINWARI Shinwari (Jin'waxri:). [Native name.] (A member of) a nomadic people inhabiting areas of Afghanistan around the Khyber Pass. Also attrib.

878/2 Ships with four and five masts were employed by several countries during the 19th century.

1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 232/1 Lead is found .. in the Shinwari country. 1888 Kipling Phantom 'Rickshaw 85 Would they could have foretold that my kafila would have been cut up by the Shinwaris almost within shadow of the Pass! 1958 O. Caroe Pathans xv. 234 The Mohmands and Safis formed a tribal confederacy with large numbers of Afridis and Shinwaris to oppose the passage of the royal troops. 1978 ‘M. M. Kaye’ Far Pavilions v. 87 We have a proverb in the country beyond the Khyber, that says ‘A snake, a scorpion and a Shinwari have no heart to tame.’

The use of the masc. pron. in the 17th and 18th cent, was prob. suggested by the application of man to a ship in Dutchman, merchantman, man-of-war. In instances before c 1650 his may mean ‘its’. 1375. etc. [see she 2]. C1426 Poem on Agincourt in Hazl. E.P.P. (1866) II. 97 Euery shyp wayed his anker.., They hoysed theyr sayles say led a lofte. 1588 Kyd Househ. Phil. Wks. (1901) 278 In a shyppe the Rudder ought to be no lesse then may suffise to direct hys course. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. in. iii. 93 The Shippe boaring the Moone with her maine Mast. [1622 Recov. Exchange in Arb. Eng. Garner IV. 595 ‘A sail!’ ‘a sail!’: which, at last, was discovered to be another Man of War of Turks. For he made towards us. 1627 Capt. Smith Sea Gram. xiii. 59 A saile, how beares she or stands shee, to wind-ward or lee-ward, set him by the Compasse; he stands right ahead, or on the weather-Bow, or lee-Bow.] 1635 Hakewill Apol. (ed. 3) Argt., As a Ship which., cannot move beyond the length of his Cable. 1676 Streynsham Master Diaries (1911) II. 93 Wee mett a great Dutch ship neare Nassapore point. He wore a Flagg. 1784 New Sped. XIII. 2/1 The last [ship was] drowned and swallowed up, within sight of his own shore.

shiny CJaini), a. Also 6 shynie, 6, 9 shiney. [f. shine sb.1 + -y.] A. adj. a. Full of light or brightness; luminous; having a bright or glistening surface. I59° Spenser F.Q. hi. vi. 6 Vpon a Sommers shynie day. *596-Hymn Heav. Beauty 51 Affixe thine eye On that bright shynie round still moving Masse. 1606 Shaks. Ant. & Cl. iv. ix. 3 The night Is shiny. 1699 Pomfret Dies Novis. 50 Ere ruin blasted from the shiny sky. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 126 The evening being calm and shiny. 1846 Landor Exam. Shaks. Wks. 1853 II. 298/1 Sir Silas looked red and shiny as a ripe strawberry on a Snitterfield tile. 1868 Whyte Melville White Rose xlv, 1 Umbrella, shiny boots, tall hat, go-to-meeting coat. 1874 Ruskin Fors Clav. xlvi. 229 The fattest, shiniest, spottiest trout I ever saw. 1881 C. Whitehead Hops 52 The lower sides of the leaves are whitish and shiny.

b. fig. Beaming, radiant. excellent.

SHIP

273

Also, apparently

1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xlvi, He looked round with shiny gladness. 1915 Kipling Fringes of Fleet 40 ‘Why didn’t you then?’ I asked. There were loads of shiny reasons. 1970 Guardian 14 Dec. 4/1 The Andean Pact is Latin America’s .. shiniest attempt at creating a regional common market, but its gleaming paintwork is likely to take some hard knocks.

c. Comb, (parasynthetic). 1882 Daily News 7 Jan. 5/4 The shiny-hatted and sealskin-clad rabble. 1898 R. Kearton Wild Life at Home 23 Slugs .. thin little black shiny-skinned .. ones.

d. advb. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. vi. 20 Goldsmithes cunning could not vnderstand To frame such subtile wire, so shinie cleare. 1903 Conrad & Hueffer Romance v. ii, His yellow jaws as shiny-shaven as of old.

B. sb. A shiny or bright object. the shiny (slang), money. 1856 Reade Never too Late i, We’ll soon fill both pockets with the shiney in California. 1889 Conan Doyle Micah Clarke 235 The silk and lace are done in these squares covered over with sacking—a thousand of Mechlin to a hundred of the shiny [i.e. the silk].

ship (Jip), sb.1 Forms: 1-5 scip, (1,4 scipp, 1-3 scyp, 3 sip), 3-4 schup, ssip, 3-7 schip, 4-5 s(c)hyp, shipp, schype, schippe, (4 schypp, shup, scippe, shyppe, schepe, 5 chip(pe, schyppe, shep), 4-6 schipp, 4-7 shippe, 5-6 shyppe, s(c)hipe, shype, shepe, 5-7 shipp, (6 sheppe, Sc. scheip(e), 4- ship. [Com. Teut.: OE. scip str. neut. = OFris. skip, schip (NFris. skapp, skep, WFris. skip), OS. skip, MLG. schip, schep (LG. schipp), MDu. sc(h)ip, sc(h)eep, Du. schip (oblique scheepe, comb, scheeps- beside schip-), WFlem. scheep, OHG. seif, skef (MHG. schif, schef, G. schijf), ON. skip (Sw. skepp, Da. skib), Goth. skip-, the ultimate etymology is uncertain. The Germanic word appears in Romanic as F. esquif, It. schifo, etc., see skiff rfe.1] 1. a. A large sea-going vessel (opposed to a boat)-, spec, (in modern times) a vessel having a bowsprit and three masts, each of which consists of a lower, top, and topgallant mast. In OE. used also for small craft, as ON. skip. c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) S 188 Scaphum, scip. c 888 TElfred Boeth. xxxviii. §i Da se Aulixes..to pam jefiohte for, pa htefde he sume hundred scipa. c 1050 O.E. Chron. (MS. C) an. 1048, Eadward cining & pa eorlas foran tefter pam ut mid heora scypun. c 1200 Vices Virtues 45 HlesteS hwat Se hlauerd seiS, Se Sat scip auh, to Se stieres-mannen. a 1225 Juliana (Royal MS.) 32/12 pu leddest israeles folc purh pe reade sea buten schip druifot. c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 32 And so hi were in po ssipe so a-ros a great tempeste of winde. 01300 Cursor M. 13280 Petre and andreu .. Wit a word pai left pair scipps tuin [Gott. schippis], 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. x. 160 A schup of schides and Bordes. c 1374 Chaucer Former Age 21 No ship yit karf the wawes grene and blewe. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints vii. (Jacobus Minor) 370 Quhat schepe pat brokine ware a-pone pat coste. c 1400 Three Kings Cologne (1886) 84 pat pey had suffrid hem priuelich to passe ouer pe see in her scheppys. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) ill. 1423 Master of pe shepe, a word with the. 1541 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 149, I give to Mathue Wilson my shipe called Marie Janies, a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 355 The skiper of the scheipe. 1596 Shaks. Merck. V. 1. iii. 182 My Shippes come home a month before the daie. 1671 Milton Samson 714 A stately Ship Of Tarsus, bound for th’ Isles Of Javan or Gadier. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 84 There’s near as much Stuff drops from his [a sea-cook’s] Carcass every Day as would tallow the Ship’s Bottom. 1707 Land. Gaz. No. 4380/3 One of the Rocks not being a Ships length to Leeward of her. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. 1. vi, The ship was cheer’d, the harbour clear’d. 1873 Longf. Wayside Inn III. Elizabeth iv, Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing. 1889 Welch Naval Archit. viii. 102 The bottom and side plating of all ships is arranged in longitudinal layers or strakes. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIV.

H Ships are now personified as feminine, but usage has varied (see the following quots.).

b. Without article, chiefly in dependence on a prep. Also to take ship (see take v. 24 c). C900 tr. Baeda's Hist. iv. i. (1890) 256 Swa eode he in scip & ferde to Breotone. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1046, Hi.. wurpon hine on J?one bat.. & reowan to scipe. c 1205 Lay. 1098 Brutus nom Ignogen & into scipe [c 1275 to sipe] lasdde. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1464 p>e emperour bigan to fie mid is folc atte laste To scipes. C1350 Will. Palerne 5088 Partenedon passed to schepe & his puple after. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 354 Er pat he myghte brynge his wyf to shipe. 1474 Caxton Chesse 11. iv. (1883) 45 Guion fledd also in to affricque by shipp. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 29 He .. went to Ship, setting aside all perils. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxvii. (1611) 358 Finding him againe as soone as themselues by shippe were arriued on the contrary side. 1888 [see ex 2]. 1912 Times 19 Dec. 20/3 Oats. .American white, ex ship, 18s. 4*d.

c. In legal enactments often with greatly extended application, as in the following quot.: 1870 Act 33 & 34 Viet. c. 90 §30 ‘Ship’ shall include any description of boat, vessel, floating battery, or floating craft; also any description of boat, vessel, or other craft or battery, made to move either on the surface of or under water, or sometimes on the surface of and sometimes under water.

d. In rowing parlance, applied to the racing eight-oar boat; also used playfully of other craft. 1878 Stevenson Inland Voy. 14 The bargee is on shipboard—he is master in his own ship—he can land whenever he will. 1888 Woodgate Boating 147 She.. was once specially borrowed by Corpus (Oxon) during the summer eights, and was said by that crew to be a vast improvement on their own ship. 1896 Ashby-Sterry Tale of Thames v, Here they leave their ship and quietly stroll up to the New Inn. 1901 Daily News 1 Apr. 5/7 The., steadiness of their ship .. helped the Oxford men very much.

e. fig. Applied to the state. 1675 Machiavelli's Prince ix. Wks. 212 But when times are tempestuous, and the ship of the State has need of the help .. of the Subject. 1894 Gladstone Odes of Horace iii. viii. 26 Though the State-ship somewhat heave. 1913 19th Cent. Feb. 305 The Ship of the State of China is still labouring in a storm-swept ocean.

2. With qualifying word or phrase indicating the kind or use: king’s ship (now Hist.), one of the fleet of ships provided and maintained out of the royal revenue; a ship of the royal navy; later, a ship-of-war equipped at the public expense (opp. to privateer); so f ship-royal, f great ship, a ship-ofwar. For flagship, hospital-ship, ice-ship, line-of-battle ship, long ship, merchant ship, post-ship, private ship, slave-ship, steamship, store-ship, troop-ship, warship, etc. see the first elements; for ship of burden, of countenance, of the line, of post, of state, see these sbs.; also ship-of-war. [1350 in Rymer Feeder a (1825) HI- !• X9S Johannes Wille, magister navis regis vocatae La Plente.] a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 65 Gales & grete schipis full of grym wapens. 1450 Lomner Let. toj. Paston 5 May, Yn the syght of all his men he was drawyn ought of the grete shippe. 1485-7 Naval Acc. Hen. VII {1896) 36 The Kings ship cald the Grace dieu. 1495 Ibid. 161 The costes of Kepyng the Kynges Ship Ryall called the Soueraigne. 1512 in Rymer Fcedera (1712) XIII. 328/2 All Prisoners, beyng Chieftens .. and one Shippe Royall being of the Portage of Two Hundred Tonnes or above .. Reserved to our said Soveraign Lord. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 688 The Easterlynges.. approched the Englishe ship as nere as their great shippes could come at the lowe water. 1660 Fuller Mixt Contempl. 11. 31, I never did read .. that ever Queen Elizabeth had any Ship-Royal, which .. carried the Memorial of any particular Conquest she got. 1690 C. Nesse Hist. & Myst. O. N. Test. I. 116 The Church here is a mighty Queen, a shiproyal. 1697 Dampier Voy. I. 50 There escaped but one Kings-ship, and one Privateer. Ibid. 357 Captain Swan had his men as much under command as if he had been in a Kings Ship. 1758 J. Blake Mar. Syst. 45 The commander of the king’s ship is obliged to make up his loss by pressing hands from the merchant ships. 1824 Holt Shipping & Navig. Laws (ed. 2) Introd. 36 Foreign seamen, who shall have served in time of war three years on board a king’s ship.

b. ship in a bottle, a model ship inside a bottle the neck of which is smaller than the ship. 1949 N. Mitford Love in Cold Climate 1. xii. 128 The safes.. were full of treasures.. a carved nut; a ship in a bottle; [etc.]. 1976 Times 2 Feb. 16/4 Construction kits are popular .. including a ship-in-a-bottle outfit.

3. a. In fig. and allusive phrases, esp. where ship typifies the fortunes or affairs of a person, etc. or the person himself in regard to them. to be in the same ship, cf. boat sb. id; to give up the ship, to burn one's ships, see burn v. 9 c. when erne's ship comes home (or in), when one comes into one’s fortune.

1500-20 Dunbar Poems ix. 165 Thow mak my schip in blissit port to arryif, That sailis heir in stormis violent, a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 27 Doubting not to bring his ship to the porte desired. 1643 Prynne Sov. Power Pari. App. 209 Those who are conversant in the same danger, are said to be in the same Ship. 1680 Debates Pari. (1681) 117 Is not all England in danger to be lost? Let us secure the Ship, before we dispose of the Cabbins. 1816 Jefferson Writ. (1899) X. 4 My exhortation would rather be ‘not to give up the ship’. 1820 Shelley (Ed. Tyr. 1. i. 245, I drove her—afar!.. From city to city, abandoned of pity, A ship without needle or star. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 175 One [customer] always says he’ll give me a ton of taties when his ship comes home. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes lxv, That Mr. Ratray who has just come out of the ship, and brought a hundred thousand pounds with him. 1871 Hardy Desperate Remedies II. i. 39 He saw the strokes plainly, instantly resolving to burn his ships and hazard all on an advance. 1880 Cable Grandissimes liii, Nobody ever gives up the ship in parlour or veranda debate. 1886 D. C. Murray Cynic Fortune xii, The wealthy relative .. proposed to supply him with an income of a hundred pounds per annum until the major’s next expected ship should come in. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 816 It is well in the case of a new patient at any rate to postpone a final diagnosis till the ship is in calmer waters. 1900 Mahan War S. Africa v, Not the courage that throws away the scabbard, much less that which burns its ships.

b. ship of fools [after the title of Sebastian Brant’s satirical work Das Narrenschiff (1494), translated into English by Alexander Barclay as The shyp of folys of the worlde (1509)], a ship whose passengers represent various types of vice or folly. 1609 Dekker Guls Horne-Booke 3 Any person aforesaid, longing to make a voyage in the Ship of Fools. 1807 W. H. Ireland {title) Stultifera navis; qua omnium mortalium narratur stultia. The modern ship of fools. 1864 Tennyson Voyage x, in Enoch Arden 149 ‘A ship of fools’ he shriek’d in spite. 1919 Kipling Debits e children hi br©3te to stronde .. In to schupes borde. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1699 With-in chippe-burdez. c 1430 Syr Gener. 364 He .. bad here lodesman at a word Should cast hem ouer the ship bord. c 1440 Bone Flor. 1796, I schall hyt hynge on a knagg, At the schypp borde ende. 1470-85 Malory Arthur iv. vi. 125 An C torches sette vpon alle the sydes of the shyp bordes. 1494 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 4 Any Person selling or buying by Water-measure within the Ship-board. 1498 in J. Bulloch Pynours (1887) 56 Borne .. fra the Schipburd at the Key to ony part of this burghe. 1550 Lyndesay Sqr. Meldrum 174 And euerie man to shipburd drew. 1586 Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. 1. IV. 123 Thay have ressavit within schip-burde a grite quantite of victuallis. 1590 Shaks. Com. Err. v. i. 408 Shall I fetch your stuffe from shipbord? 1596 Warner Alb. Eng. xn. lxxii. 299 In saying which came Stafford in, and wils them to dispatch To ship-board. 1650 T. Froysell Gale of Opport. (1652) 31 The Marriners they cast him over Ship-board. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair Ivii, His new patient, who had been consigned to shipboard by the Madras practitioner with very small hopes indeed.

b. on shipboard: on board ship. (See board sb. 14.) Also f a shipboard (frequent c 1620-1720). c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 856 A cruell cowntyr thar was on schipburd seyn. 1556 Robinson tr. More's Utopia (Arb.) 165 By reason of cold taken, I thinke, a shippeborde. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 686 Commaunding his men to go on ship-borde. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. III. 440 We., brought them a shippeboord. 1660-1 Pepys Diary 14 Feb., The first time I ever carried my wife a-ship-board. 1758 J. Blake Mar. Syst. 18 A Liberty Ticket,.. allowing him to follow his occupation unmolested, either on shore or on ship-board. 1848 Dickens Dombey lx, Being then on shipboard, bound for Bengal. 1888 R. Garnett Life of Emerson ii. 43 They were fellow passengers on ship-board back to Charleston.

c. Similarly of shipboard. 1841 Lever O'Malley xxxvi. 198 The escape from the durance vile of shipboard. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxii. (1856) 173 The life of shipboard.

d. by shipboard: by ship. rare. 1842 P. Parley's Ann. III. 250 My grandfather had a dog which he brought by ship-board to London.

f2. A plank of a ship. Obs. 1352 Exch. Acc. Q.R. bundle 20 no. 27 (P.R.O.), Bordis magnis et spissis vocatis ‘shippebord’ emptis pro confeccione navis predicte. 1483 Cath. Angl. 337/i A Schyppe burde, asser. i486 Naval Acc. Hen. ^7/(1896) 15, vij Shipbordes.. spent.. in repayring.. of the Cokke of the same Ship. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Ezek. xxvii. 5 Thei haue made all thy ship bordes of fyrre trees of Shenir.

3. attrib. Esp. in phrs. shipboard acquaintance, romance, etc., to denote casual or ephemeral relationships. 1857 Dufferin Lett. High Lat. (ed. 3) 147 The innocuous cates which generally compose ship-board rations. 1880 Plain Hints Needlework 123 To make mops for shipboard cleaning. 1890 W. Clark Russell Marr. Sea x, What will she have to say to a shipboard wedding? 1916 G. B. Shaw Overruled 78 Was it the usual aimless man’s lark: a mere shipboard flirtation? 1933 F. Baldwin Innocent Bystander vi. 107 A shipboard romance will do a lot for his ego. 1963 ‘W. Haggard’ High Wire iv. 37 I’m a casual pick-up in the snow, a sort of shipboard acquaintance. 1978 ‘M. M. Kaye’ Far Pavilions ix. 148 It had been possible for Mrs Harlowe to introduce both young men as shipboard acquaintances. 1980 J. Gardner Garden of Weapons 11. viii. 194 He should be able to treat the business with Miriam like some

ship-broken shipboard romance. But his growing bewitchment would not allow that.

ship-boat. ? Obs. Now (7-) ship’s boat. boat sb.

[See

Cf. MLG. schepesbot, Du. scheepsboot (whence G. schiff(s)boot), ON. skipsbatr (Sw. skeppsbdt, Da. skibsbaad).]

The boat carried or towed by a ship. C1440 Promp. Parv. 446/2 Schyppe bot.., barca. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xxxvi. (1555) 189 When that they were come to us almoste, From their shyppe boate curiously counterfayte. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 111 The greatest vessels .. conueighed al theyr vytailes .. to lande with theyr shippe boates. 1644 Manwayring Seaman's Diet. 10 The Boate belonging to a Ship, is either called the Ships-boate, or the Long-boate. 1681 Lond. Gaz. 1666/3 Some Shipboats have been staved and sunk.

ship-bote, -boot, pseudo-arch. [See boot sb.1, bote.] Repair of ships. 1664 Evelyn Sylva 103 We have seen how for Houseboot, and Ship-boot, Plow-boot, Hey-boot and Fire-boot, the Planting, and Propogation of Timber and Forest-trees is requisite.

ship-boy. Also ship’s boy. A boy who serves on board ship. 1552 Huloet, Shyp boye, Misonauta. 1595 Shaks. John iv. iii. 4 This Ship-boyes semblance hath disguis’d me quite. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 5 The aduentrous ship-boyes were in perill of those Sharkes. 1661 in Godolphin's View Admir. Jurisd. App. 168 The Master ought to set him on shore,.. and .. to spare him one of the Ship-boyes to look to him. 1839 s. Rogers Voy. Columbus Poems 38 The very ship-boy on the dizzy mast Half breathed his orisons. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Ship-boy, boys apprenticed to learn their sea-duties, but generally appointed as servants. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. ix, ‘Here, you ship’s boy’, he cried, ‘out o’ that!’

ship-breaker (’Jipbreik3(r)). [See breaker1 i.] A person who buys old vessels to break them up for sale. Also, a firm or company engaged in the business of breaking up old vessels. 1819 P .O. Lond. Directory 84 Cristall, Joseph, Sail-maker, Ship breaker, and Dealer in Ship-Stores. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop iv, On Quilp’s Wharf, Daniel Quilp was a shipbreaker. 1888 Diet. Nat. Biogr. XIII. 101/2 A ship-breaker, having yards at Rotherhithe, Penzance, and Fowey. 1935 Sun (Baltimore) 21 May 12/6 The sale of some of the big outdated ocean liners to shipbreakers (that’s the name for companies that take old ships apart with hammers and acetylene torches).

'ship-breaking, vbl. sb. [See breaking vbl. sb. In sense 1 formed after shipbreche (cf. MLG., MDu. schipbrekinge).] fl. = SHIPBRECHE. Obs. 13.. [see ship-breching]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. XIII. xxi. (Bodl. MS.), 3if schippes fallej? herein in anye wise, he scapej? not pe perille of schipbrekinge. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 446/2 Schyppbrekynge, naufragium. 1493 Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 9b, Saynt poule sayth I haue been, .thre tymes in shyppe brekynge.

2. The breaking up of old ships; occupation of a ship-breaker. Also attrib.

the

1897 Daily News 13 May 3/3 The Shipbreaking Company (Limited), of London, has recently purchased from the Admiralty the iron corvette Euryalus [etc.]. 1931 A. Huxley Let. 6 Aug. (1969) 351 There are bits of Toulon harbour—ship-building and ship-breaking yards .. I have always longed to paint. 1976 S. Wales Echo 26 Nov. 38/8 The Welshman.. has business interests which include farming .. and ship-breaking.

3. The crime of breaking into a ship for the purpose of committing a felony. 1901 Scotsman 7 Jan. 9/7 Shipbreaking at Aberdeen— .. sent.. to prison .. for breaking into the steam line fishing boat.

f shipbreche. Obs. Also i -bryce, 4 -bruche, -burch. [f. ship sb.1 + breach, bruche. Cf. WFris. skipbrek, MLG. schipbroke, MDu. schipbroke, -breuke (Du. -breuk), MHG., G. schiffbruch.] Shipwreck. In late OE. recorded only in the sense ‘right to claim what is cast up on the shore in a shipwreck’. 01067 Charter in Kemble Cod. Dipl. (1846) IV. 208 Ic habbe jejeofen Criste and sancte Marie.. forestall and hamsocne, griSbryce and scipbryce, and 6a sae upwarp.. aet Bramcaestre and aet Ringstyde. ?o 1100 Charter in Dugdale Monast. (1655) I. 237/2 Mundbriche, feardwite,.. infongenthef, sypbriche, tol, & tern. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 369 Schipmen paX seilled in pe see in to shipbruche. Ibid., And J?erfore me seide pat pey brou3te hem to ship-breche. 1398 - Barth. De P.R. xii. xii. (Bodl. MS.), Schipmen trowij? pat it bodej? goode 3if pei mete swannes in perile of schipburch [ed. 1495 shippe breche], c 1440 Gesta Rom. xiv. 48 Penaunce is pe secunde table aftir Shipbreche.

So f ship-breching (in quot. -breging, cf. bryg s.v. breach sb.), f ship-break (in quot. -brek). a 1300 Cursor M. 20973 Scipbreging [Gott. Schipbreking] he suffurd thrise. 1520 Nisbet N.T. 2 Cor. xi. 25 Thrijse I was at schipbrek [Wyclif shipbreche].

ship-broken ('Jipbr3uk(3)n), pa. pple. and ppl. a. Chiefly Sc.\ now rare. Also 5 -broke, [f. ship sb.1 + broken, after shipbreche. Cf. MDu. schipbroken.] Shipwrecked; broken or destitute through shipwreck. 13.. Metr. Horn, in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LVII. 314 A pore schip broken marinere. C1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 924 Thriis schipe-brokine in pe se. 1474 Acc. Ld.

SHIPBUILDER High Treas. Scot. I. 72 To iiij pure Franche men.., schipbrokin men,.. iij li. 1513 Douglas JEneis in. viii. 92 Scillacium quhar schip brokin mony be. 1602 in Extr. Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870) II. 139 Giff ony skipper be schipbrokin. 1623 in Harl. Misc. (1809) III. 462 He died ship-broken upon the sea-coast of Ireland. 1661 in Godolphiris View Admit. Jurisd. App. 183 The Lord of that place .. ought to be aiding .. to the said distressed Merchants .. in saving their Ship-broken-goods. 1878 Hall Caine Deemster xxxix, Six or seven poor ship-broken men... In the middle of the night they had come ashore on a raft.

'shipbuilder. One whose occupation is to design and construct ships; a naval architect. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 10 Aug. 1662, He is esteem’d for the most skilfull ship-builder in the world. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 733/1 It will be very hard to prove, that the first ShipBuilders had ever seen that Ark to take a Patern from it. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xi, The best shipbuilders from Hull to Cadiz. 1864 Morn. Star 12 Jan., The shipbuilders of this country for above a century have built ships for almost every nation on the earth.

'shipbuilding, vbl. sb. The business or art of building ships; naval architecture. 1717 W. Sutherland {title) Britain’s Glory, or, Shipbuilding unveil’d. 1777 Robertson Hist. Amer. (1783) I. 101 The art of ship-building in the fifteenth century was extremely rude. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 510 His own yacht, the Peregrine, renowned as the masterpiece of shipbuilding. attrib. 1846 {title) The present Ship-building Controversy. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., Shipbuilding-dock, a chamber with a floor and walls of stone masonry, having an opening toward the adjoining harbor, which can be closed when required. 1876 Fawcett Pol. Econ. (ed. 5) iv. vii. 627 The decline of the ship-building trade on the Thames. 1883 Queen's Printers Aids Bible 52/2 Cypress, a good ship¬ building timber.

'ship-,carpenter. Also ship’s. A carpenter employed in the building or repairing of ships. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 22 §1 An other Ship Carpynter called an Hewer by the day iiijd. with mete and drinke. 01583 in Halliwell Rara Math. (1841) 33 A litle Boke of Statick. Whiche Booke .. hath .. helpped the capacityes, bothe of some sea men, and allso shipp carpenters. 1664 Evelyn Sylva xxi. 57 There is a way which some ShipCarpenters in those Countries have us’d to bring their Tar into Pitch for any sudden use. 1748 Anson's Voy. 11. vi. 200 A ship-carpenter in the yard at Portsmouth. 1798 jist Rep. Sel. Comm. Finance App. (1803) XIII. 494 Masters, Boat¬ swains, &c... Ships Carpenters .. Sailmakers. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 41 A most gallant vessel.. made by the ablest ship-carpenters of Amsterdam. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iii, A ship-carpenter is kept constantly at work during good weather, on board vessels which are in .. perfect sea order. 1862 D. Wilson Preh. Man vi. The ancient tools of the prehistoric ship-carpenter.

Hence 'ship-,carpentry, the business, practice, or art of a ship-carpenter; also, the work turned out by him. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 127 Ship-Carpentry .. is the Art.. of composing a Ship, not out of one but several thousand pieces of Wood and Iron. 1862 D. Wilson Preh. Man vi, The ancient alluvium of the river Clyde has supplied an unusually rich store of illustrations of primitive ship-carpentry. 1868 Browning Ring Bk. viii. 251 You take ship-carpentry for pilotage.

'ship- chandler. [See chandler1 3 b.] A dealer who supplies ships with necessary stores. 1642 Two Orders Lds. & Comm. 3 Dec. 4 Any Merchants, Ship-chandlers, Grocers. 1755 Magens Insurances II. 121 The Ship-Carpenters, Ship-Chandlers, and others that have worked at the Ships, or have delivered any Necessaries, Materials or Rigging, for the Use of them. 1858 Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 336 Two charts .. can .. be purchased at any Shipchandler’s.

Hence 'ship-,chandlery, the business of, or goods dealt in by a ship-chandler; also attrib. 1663 Pepys Diary 12 Dec., One Abrahall, who strikes in for the serving of the King with ship-chandlery ware. 1798 31st Rep. Sel. Comm. Finance App. (1803) XIII. 493/1 Junk, old Rope, old Iron, Canvas, and other species of old Ship Chandlery Wares. 1849 Freese Comm. Class-bk. 14 Trade in Naval Stores and Ship Chandlery. 1900 Engineering Mag. XIX. 666 A .. ship-chandlery store.

'ship-craft. [See craft sb. 6. In late OE. scipcraeft is recorded in the sense of ‘strength in ships’.] The art of navigation or of shipconstruction. 1387-8 T. Usk Test. Love 1. iii. (Skeat) 1. 46 Er I was war, I neyghed to a see-banke; and for ferde of the beestes ‘shiperaft’ I cryde. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xxxiv. (Tollem. MS.), Men pat seylej? and hauej? schipcrafte [scientiam navalem habentium]. 1408-9 tr. Vegetius' De Re Milit. (MS. Digby 233) If. 224/2 J>er nys non gretter peril in schipcraft J?anne whenne pe grene tymbre makej> pe schip to grenne & to gape, c 1440 York Myst. viii. 67 Of shippe-craft can I right noght, Of ther makyng haue I no merke. 1838 Fraser's Mag. XVII. 164 Laertes is a man who finds himself in a storm without knowledge of shiperaft. a 1890 R. W. Church Oxf. Movement iii. (1891) 36 He.. took interest in the niceties of seamanship and shiperaft.

fshipe, sb. Obs. Forms: 1 scipe, 4 ssepe, shepe, shipe. [OE. scipe str. masc.:—prehistoric *skipizy app. something allotted (cf. ON. skipa to arrange, ordain, appoint). The OE. sense of ‘dignity, condition’ did not survive.]

1. Wages; reward. ciooo ^Elfric Gloss, in Wr.-Wiilcker 114/34 Stipendiumy scipe, uel bijleofa. 1340 Ayenb. 33 Huo pe seruej? an na3t uol-seruej? his ssepe he lyest. Ibid. 146 Alle we abydef? onlepi ssepe pet is pe blisse wip-oute ende. c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 193 Leste that he were proude sheo held him

SHIPMASTER

278 lowe; J>us seruepe he withouten mete or shepe [v.rr. shep, sheepe]. C1386-Pars. T. 568 In withholdynge . .of the shepe, or the hyre or of the wages of seruauntz.

2. at one shipe: at one and the same time. 13.. K. Alis. 3577 (Laud. MS.), pe water quyklich hij passe At on shepe, more & lesse. Hence fshipe v.y to reward, pay wages to;

fshiping, wages, remuneration. C1205 Lay. 13656 Ne mihte ic of pan kinge habben scipinge. Ibid. 20012 He heom wolde.. scipien heom mid londe mid seoluere & mid golde. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11145 pe stalwardeste men pat me fond to him vaste he drou 6 of porchas of nei3ebores ssipede horn wel inou.

shipentine

('Jipsntiin). [f. ship sb.1 after A four-masted vessel, having three square-rigged masts (like a ship) with an additional fore-and-aft rigged mast. barquentine.]

1895 Even. Post (N.Y.) 20 July 8 The New York Marine Journal suggested the name ‘shipentine’, on the principle that a barkentine has yards only on the foremast, similar to a brigantine, etc. This term was promptly endorsed by the Liverpool Journal of Commerce. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 878/2 The shipentine clipper ‘Great Republic’, built in 1853, is noteworthy as being the first ship fitted with double topsails.

shipful ('Jipful), f occas. with pi. ships full. Also 3 scipful, sipfol, ssipuol, 6 Sc. schippill. [See -ful.] As much or as many as a ship will hold. C1205 Lay. 23694 Don he hit nolde for a scip ful [c 1275 sipfol] of golde. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 917 He mette in pe se J>ritti ssipuol [v.r. schipes fol] of men. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 507 Ther was not a schip-ful of men. 1511 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IV. 306 Ane schippill of tymmer. 1515 Sel. Cases Star Chamb. (Selden Soc.) II. 97 If thai had bought a shippful Irne. 1527 Tindale Par. Wicked Mammon Wks. (*573)62 AC. ton of holy water, a shipfull of pardones. 1535 Coverdale Deut. xxviii. 68 The Lorde shal brynge the agayne in to Egipte by shippe fulles. 1611 Cotgr., Vne Navee de, a ship full of. [1663 Gerbier Counsel 109 Where ships full of lading, may be had besides large Timber.] 1852 H. NewlandLccL Tractor. 151 When the people of Ireland by shipfulls go to America. 1856 E. A. Bond Russia 16th Cent. (Hakl. Soc.) Introd. 5 Arthur Edwards set out from Yaroslav with a shipful of goods in July 1568. 1910 D. Hay Fleming Reform. Scot. xii. 466 A shipful of the tempesttossed and starving Spaniards.

shipless

('Jiplis), a. [f. ship sb. + -less.] 1. Unoccupied by ships.

1719 in Maidment Scot. Ballads {1868) I. 25 The Widowit Dame.. May lang luke oure the schipless Seis Befoir her mate appears. 1786 S. Rogers Ode Superst. 1. iii, The shipless main. 1835 Fraser's Mag. XI. 45 Its deserted Exchange, its idle quays, and shipless harbour. 1892 Ld. Lytton King Poppy 1. 79 Safe over shipless seas.

2. Possessing no ships; deprived of one’s ship or ships. 1808 Moore Sceptic vi, Let shipless Danes and whining Yankees dwell On naval rights, with Grotius and Vattel. 1819 Byron Ode on Venice ii, The dashing of the spring-tide foam, That drives the sailor shipless to his home. 1904 Pilot 9 Apr. 324/1 The wounded and shipless crews of the Variag and the Korietz. Hence 'shiplessly adv.y without the aid of a

ship. 1865 S. Evans Br. Fabian's MS. 118 Forth to the greensodded Wilds of Ierne Shiplessly, steedlessly Takes he his journey.

shiplet OJiplit). [f.

SHIP sb.

+

-let.]

A small

ship. 41552 Leland I tin. (1768) II. 112 An Havenet, or Pere, whither Shippelettes sumtime resorte for socour. Ibid. (1769) III. 71 There was begon a fair Pere for Socour of Shippelettes at this Bereword. So 'shipling [see -ling]. 1866 Pall Mall Gaz. 5 Sept. 3 A shipling which has, or is said to have, crossed the Atlantic.

'ship-load. A load (of persons or things) carried or capable of being carried by a ship. 1639 Portsmouth (Rhode Island) Rec. (1910) 10 For men to gett a shipp lood of.. pipe stauffes. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 85 He had rather have one Bottle of Brandy, than a Ship-Load of Stamford-Air at any Time. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. 11. §22 Half a dozen Shipload of Minute Philosophers might easily be spared upon so good a design. 1799 Nelson 27 Sept, in Nicolas Disp. (1845) IV. 31 He will endeavour to send to me two or three ship-loads of com. 1875 Robertson Hist. Chr. Ch. III. 35 He redeemed whole shiploads of captives—Romans, Gauls, Britons, Moors, and especially Saxons from Germany. 1910 D. Hay Fleming Reform. Scot. x. 316 Printed books were sent abroad in shiploads.

So f ship-lading, f-loading. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 274 The Emperour Constantine is said to have transported certaine ship-ladings of this sand unto Constantinople. 1641 Hakewill Lib. Subj. 15 A duty given.. upon every shiploading of Wine brought into the kingdom by English Merchants. 1642 Decl. Lds. & Comm. 7 Jan. 3 Evep' ship-lading of Coles exported thence for the use of the City of London. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. (Globe) 50 A Ship-Loading of Gold.

shipman (’Jipmsn). PI.

-men. [f. ship sb. + man

sb.1 OE. scipman = OFris. skipman, MLG., MDu. schipman, MHG. schif-, schefman (G. schiffmann, also schiffs-), ON. skipamadr.]

1. A seaman or sailor. Now somewhat arch. c900 tr. Bseda's Hist. iii. xiii. (1890) 200 pa ongunnon pa nedlingas & pa scipmen pa oncras upp teon. 1052 O.E. Chron. (MS. C), Se cyng hasfde eac mycele landfyrde on his healfe to eacan his scypmannum. 1122 Ibid. (Laud MS.), peer sefter waeron feole scipmen on s® & on waeter. c 1275

Lay. 1335 Brutus iheorde segge of his sipmannen of pan vuele ginne pat cuj?e pe mereminne. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xv. 354 Shipmen and shepherdes pat with shipp & shepe wenten. 1406 Hoccleve La Male Regie 238 So inly mirie syngith shee [the mermaid], pat the shipman ther-with fallith a sleepe. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 236, xviij shipmen as laborers laboryng.. abought.. the Kynges dokke. 1563 Homilies 11. Agst. Idolatry in. O04 Our Ladye, to whom shypmen synge Aue maris Stella. 1606 Shaks. Tr. & Cr. v. ii. 172 The dreadfull spout, Which Shipmen doe the Hurricano call. 1623 R. Carpenter Consc. Christian 65 A most ridiculous folly, like to the Shipmans continuall labouring at the pumpe, without any care to mend the leake. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Antiq. xvi. ii. §2 He was seen sailing by the shipmen most unexpectedly. 1791 Nairne Poems 82 But when the shipments boist’rous noise Jan heard, He cried, ‘Dant gu no furder—I’m afeard’. 1876 Lowell Ode 4th July iv. ii, They steered by stars the elder shipmen knew. fig. 1564 Brief Exam. ***iij b, The wyse shipmen of our Churche haue spyed the rockes.

2. A master mariner; the master of a ship; a skipper. Also, a pilot. C1386 Chaucer Prol. 390 A Shipman was ther, wonynge fer by weste. 1429 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 359/2 No oyer shippman yat is bothe Possessour and Maister of any Shippe. C1485 Digby Myst. (1882) ill. 1395 Shep-man [loq.] stryke! skryke! lett fall an ankyr to grownd! a 1661 Holyday Juvenal (1673) 234/1 The Ship-man, or Pilot, that brings the Ship into harbour. 1912 Masefield Widow in Bye St. 11. xxxix, The wise shipman puts his ship about Seeing the gathering of those waters wan. 3. attrib.: f shipman- craft = shipcraft;

f shipman-star,

the pole-star. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xi. iii. (Bodl. MS.), Vnder pe sterre J?at hatte polus articus schyppman sterre. 1418 26 Pol. Poems xiv. 43 pe wyseman his sone forbed .. shipman craft.

b. Possessive combinations: f shipman’s card, the mariner’s compass; also, a map of the sea; t shipman’s hose (or breeks), a sailor’s wide trousers; often fig. a statement of wide application that can be turned to fit any case; f shipman’s stone, the loadstone. C1400 Maundev. (1839) xiv. 161 The Ademand, that is the Schipmannes Ston, that drawethe the Nedle to him. C1440 Promp. Parv. 447/1 Schypmannys stone, calamita. 1530 Palsgr. 267/1 Shypmans carde, carte. 1540 W. G. Answ. Smyth vii, Although a shypmans hose wyll serue all sortes of legges Yet Christes holy scrypture wyll serue no rotten dregges. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 134 Manye of those mappes which are commonly cauled the shipmans cardes, or cardes of the sea. 1562 WiN3ET Cert. Tractates Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 52 Forgeing thair sermonis for the plesuir of euery auditour, efter the fassoun of schipmenis breiks, mete for euery leg. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. 11. 79 They make the lawes (as it were) shipmens hoosen,.. turning and wresting them at their pleasure. 1592 Nashe Strange Newes L 3 The fourth letter of our Orators.. is a shipmans hose that will serue any man as well as Green or mee. 1605 Shaks. Macb. 1. iii. 17 All the Quarters that they [5c. the winds] know, I’th’ Ship-mans Card. [1809 Malkin Gil Bias xi. xiv. (Rtldg.) 421 Shafts of malicious wit.. were let fly from all the quarters in the shipman’s card.]

Hence 'shipmanship, the art of navigation. 1838 De Quincey in Tait's Mag. V. 159 He was respected equally for his seamanship and his shipmanship.

shipmast ('Jipmaist, -ae-). Also ship’s mast. [f. ship sb + mast tfe.1] The mast of a ship. 1611 Rowlands Four Knaues (Percy Soc.) 30 Name any weapon. . May-pole, or ship-mast, for to run a tilt. 1612 Selden in Drayton's Poly-olb. To Rdr. A 2 b, I beleeue much in them as I do the finding of Hiero’s Shipmast in our Mountaines. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Study Nat. I. 244 The Dutch have made many a vain attempt to make the fir grow at the Cape of Good Hope, in order to find a supply of ships-masts. 1842 F. W. Faber Styrian Lake 307 The dark sky amid the shipmasts winking,

.1

b. attrib. *495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 158 Parelles to a shippes-mast sayle. 1820 Keats Isabella xvii, The hawks of ship-mast forests. 1837 Browning Forest Thought i, The builder gazes wistfully Such noble ship-mast wood to see. *879-Ivan Dram. Idyls 63 The carpenter, employed On a huge shipmast trunk. ship sb.1 + master sb. Cf. MLG. schifmester, MHG., G. schiffmeister.] 1. The master, captain, or commander of a ship; formerly also, a pilot, steersman.

'shipmaster, [f.

£*375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 368 Ay wes pe schipmaster gowand a-pon pe laydy brycht of ble. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 447/1 Schypmayster, nauclerus. c l44ojacob's Well 246 As pe schypmayster redyly sterith pe schvp whan he seeth nede. 1519 Horman Vulg. 272 The shypmaister pursued vs with a great meyny of shypmen. 1550 Coverdale Spir. Perle vii. (1588) 80 When a great tempest ariseth in the sea, then doth it appeare whether the shipmaster be cunning in ruling the Sterne or no. 1577 T. Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 85 b. An Epitaphe, of an excellent Ship-master, or Pilote. 1642 Vicars God in Mount 76 The stout-hearted and well-minded Ship-masters and Marriners. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 24/2 His Ship-Masters had much more need of. .some Knowledge of the Stars.. than the Greeks. 1838 Bell Diet. Law Scot. 634 The shipmaster of a British ship must be a British subject. 1878 Cuyler Pointed Papers 240 In Great Britain no shipmaster is permitted to use an anchor w hich has not been tested and stamped with a government mark.

2. A man commands.

who

owns

the

ship

which

he

1562 Act 5 Eliz. c. 5 §6 Bottoms wherof.. Straungers borne then bee Owners Shipmasters or Parte Owners. 1896 Peterson Mag. (N.S.) VI. 296/2 Rising to the command of a ship and a ship-master in his adopted city. 1909 Gwatkin Early Ch. Hist. II. 60 Marcion of Sinope .. was a well-to-do shipmaster.

SHIPMENT Hence f 'ship,mastery, the art of navigation. I593 Harvey Philad. 5 Who were long enough after Noahs Arke.. to haue some auncestors in shipmastry and many fellowes.

shipment ('[ipmant). [f. ship v. + -ment.] 1. The act of shipping (goods or commodities) for transportation. 1802 Abbott Law Merck. Ships in. vii. 225 In this country it is not unusual to pay for goods shipped for the East or West Indies, at the time of the shipment. 1833 Ht. Martineau Demerara xii, I wish you could once witness a shipment for Liberia. 1848 Dickens Dombey vi, Where’s that young spark of Dombey’s who’s been watching the shipment of them goods? 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 371 The road .. winding . . past numerous coffee plantations to their port of shipment at Mangalor.

2. That which is shipped; a consignment of goods for transportation. 1861 May Const. Hist. (1863) II. xvii. 559 A drawback was given them of the whole English duty, on shipments to the American plantations. 1872 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 11 Though the shipments are as yet small, they bid fair to improve rapidly. 1900 Jrnl. Soc. Dyers XVI. 6 Shipments are also sent to Europe and to the United States.

3. attrib. and Comb. (esp. in Commerce intended for shipment).

=

1887 Daily News 15 Oct. 2/4 Shipment jute is easier. 1895 Ibid. 3 Oct. 3/3 The floating and forward shipment market. 1897 P. Warung Tales Old Regime 54 After a seven-days’ tramp on the chain from an assize-town to the shipment port.

'ship-,money. Now Hist. An ancient tax levied in time of war on the ports and maritime towns, cities, and counties of England to provide ships for the king’s service. It was revived by Charles I (with an extended application to inland counties), but was finally abolished by statute in 1640. 1636 Prynne Rem. agst. Shipmoney 1 We most humbly represent to Your Excellent Majesty, that this Tax of Shipmoney, is directly contrary to the.. Lawes and Liberties of this Your Realme of England. 1640 [H. Parker] {title) The case of Shipmony briefly discoursed, according to the Grounds of Law, Policy, and Conscience. And most hvmbly presented to the Censure and Correction of the High Court of Parliament, Nov. 3, 1640. 1661 Cowley Cromwell Wks. 1710 II. 661 This was done by those Men, who a few Years before had.. openly oppos’d the King’s regular and formal way of proceeding in the Trial of a little Ship-Mony. 1779 Johnson L. P., Waller (1868) 99 Waller .. was considered.. as a man sufficiently trusty and acrimonious to be employed in managing the prosecution of Judge Crawley, for his opinion in favour of ship-money. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 90 Former princes..had raised ship-money only along the coasts: it was now exacted from the inland shires. 1870 T. Rogers Hist. Glean. II. 105 The first writs for ship-money were issued in October of the same year [1634]. attrib. i860 Forster Gr. Remonstr. 196 The great ship¬ money lawyer [Mr. Holborne]. 1863 H. Cox Instit. ill. ii. 602 Under ship-money writs . .John Hampden was assessed twenty shillings towards providing a ship for his county.

,ship-of-'war. ? Now rare. A ship equipped for warfare; a man-of-war, warship. 1479 Cely Papers (Camden) 19, I here saye ther schall goe schepys of war to the see. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 610 He was encountered with a shippe of warre, appertayning to the Duke of Excester. 1644 Manwayring Seaman's Diet. 65 A Ship of War (which is called a man of War among Sea-men). 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. 107 Our Ships of War are undisputably the best in the World. 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1780) s.v. Ship, Ships of war are properly equipped with artillery [etc.]. 1800 Charnock Mar. Archit. I. Pref. xcv, The custom .. of appointing land officers .. to the command of ships of war. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. II. xxxiv. 363 A larger ship-of-war from that station joined the expedition. attrib. 1863 p. Barry Dockyard Econ. 4 The thought of permanent ship-of-war construction in the private shipyards was seriously in contemplation.

shipoo, var. shypoo. 'ship-,owner. One who owns, or has a share in, a ship or ships. 1530 Palsgr. 267/1 Schypowner, patron dune nauiere. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 912 A ship¬ owner having chartered his ship to J.S. insured the ship and freight with different sets of underwriters. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 42 As soon as the French trade was again opened, it fell naturally into the hands of English ship¬ owners. 1872 Yeats Growth Comm. 55 Ship-owners and merchants, who had their offices and factories along the whole coasts of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

Hence 'ship.ownering vbl. sb.; 'ship-.owning vbl. sb. and ppl. a. 1883 Manch. Exam. 19 Dec. 5/2 A practice of insuring with a view to wreck would not pay the shipowning community. 1889 Stevenson Let. to S. Colvin Oct., The ship-ownering has rather petered out. 1912 Times 19 Oct. 18/6 In shipowning it is quite impossible to stand still.

'shippable, a. [f. ship 1. Navigable. rare~°

SHIPPING

279

v.

+

-able.]

1483 Cath. Angl. 337/1 Schypabylle, nauiga[bt]lis.

2. That can be shipped. 1920 Glasgow Herald 17 Nov. 11 The Southern Hemisphere promises for 1921 a shippable surplus of 40,000,000 qr. 1979 Sci. Amer. Apr. 31/1 This magazine page is a coated stock, several layers of clay filler and white

pigment having been rolled onto the moving web during its passage from a wet slurry to a shippable roll.

'shippage. rare. [f. ship shipment.

v.

+ -age.] Shipping,

1611 in Essex Rev. (1906) XV. 154 The Inhabitants .. are muche Imployed in Shippage and Navigation. 1754 H. Walpole Lett. (1845) III. 82 The cutting and shippage would be articles of some little consequence!

shippe, obs. form of sheep, ship. shippen, variant of shippon. shipper ('Jip3(r)). Also 5 scheper. [late OE. scipere (= MLG., MDu. schipper, MHG., G. schiffer, ON. skipari), f. ship sb.1 + -er1. In sense 2, representing MLG., MDu. schipper (see skipper sb.2). In sense 3, f. ship v. + -er1.] f 1. A seaman. Obs. eiioo O.E. Chron. (MS. D) an. 1075, Se cyngc Malcolm .. hine & ealle his scyperan mid mycclan weorSscipe of his gryCe alaedde. a 1122 Ibid. (Laud MS.) an. 1046, His sciperes gefengon hine & wurpon hine on J?one bat. 1553 Bale Vocacyon Pref. 6 As great dyspycyons were among the Iewes at Rome concerning Paule, so were there afterwarde amonge the shyppers in our returne to their shippe concerning vs. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Shipper, or Scipper, a Dutch Term, signifying the Master of a Ship. We also use the word for any common Seamen.

f2. A skipper. Obs. 1496 Ace. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 300 Dauid Gourlay, schippare of the bark callit the Mary. 1499 Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 181 Paid to Rowll the scheper for 2 pety quatris of salt. 1564 Brief Exam. *“*iij b, A wyse shipper.. wyll not come nygh rockes and flattes. 1581 Marbeck Bk. Notes 1118 Yet deserueth not the Maior more grace for gouerning the citie then the Shipper for ruling the Ship. 1603-4 Act 1 Jas. /, c. 32 Of which payment the Master Owner and Shipper payinge the same. 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. iv. (1628) 109 Old shippers of the Netherlands. 1634 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 60, I agreed this day with Willm. Wrigtington, the Hull shipper, to carry all my goods to Hull.

3. a. One who ships goods for transportation. Also with prefixed sb., as wine-shipper. 1755 Magens Insurances II. 129 Unless the Names of the Shipper [etc.] are expressed in the Policy. 1789 Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 567, I would advise our shippers of oil always to get the certificate of the French consul. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast ii, He.. had been in a shipper’s countingroom in Boston. 1880 Times 26 July 9/5 Shippers of cargo.

b. orig. U.S. One who transports goods by rail or other means of conveyance. 1840 Niles' Register 4 Apr. 80/2 Principal transportation lines have resolved to give the shipper or owner the full advantage of the reduction of twenty cents per barrel. 1903 H. C. Emery in Camb. Mod. Hist. VII. 706 In the scramble for business the stronger shippers were favoured at the expense of the weaker. 1950 Times 28 Feb. 4/5 Charter aircraft have been carrying bulk cargoes... By carrying full loads in each direction low rates have been available to shippers.

c. A commodity that is shipped or is suitable for shipping; spec. (see quot. 1910). 1883 Killebrew in Rep. 10th Census U.S. III. 111. 19 Export Tobacco... English shippers consist of leaf and strips. 1884 Harper's Mag. July 297/2 We reach .. the .. pen, where may be gathered one hundred head of choice ‘shippers’ [sc. cattle]. 1910 Encycl. Brit. IV. 522/2 Shippers, sound, hard-burnt bricks of imperfect shape, obtain their name from being much used as ballast for ships.

4. Mech. A device for shifting a belt from one pulley to another. Also attrib. 1852 Trans. Michigan State Agric. Soc. III. 160 By the shipper the logs may be geared deeper or shallower. 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools PI. Q 1, This shaft carries a pair of driving pulleys, and is provided with a belt shipper. 1882 Harper's Mag. Nov. 889/1 The elevator was operated by means of a lever within the car... The lever took the place of the modern hand rope (or shipper rope).

13.. Cursor M. 24807 (Gott.) Sone it was his schipping tift wid presand. 13.. K. Alis 990 Gold and seolver, and othir thynges, They trussed to heore schepynges. 1375 Barbour Bruce in. 400 He gat schippyne gud plente. c 1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) xx. 92 Bot for he .. myght get schipping na ferrere, he turned agayne as he come. 14.. Beues 2669 Let vs haue shyppynge to, And we shal to that yle go. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 772 Bot gif he had shippyng wroght Whilk as nane wer sene beforne. c 1468 in Archaeologia (1846) XXXI. 327 It plesid the kinge to follow aftir hir, and to see her shippinges. 1576 Gascoigne Philomene xxxiv, But .. Their shipping is preparde. 1579 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 428 He would so bring the one halfe quarter or therd parte in any suche shipp or shippinges coming to Galway. 1620 R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) II. 119 Yt was agreed Mr. Ed. Sayer shall goe merchant in the shipp Bull, and Robt. Hawley and Ric. King.. to goe in other shipping. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 100 This wheate is carryed by shippinge to Newe-Castle. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxiv, I will.. seize on shipping, and embark for Flanders. 1829Anne of G. xxviii, I will take care that Blackburn and his cousin-archers have no assistance of shipping from Flanders.

2. Ships collectively; the body of ships that belong to a person’s or country’s fleet, that frequent a particular port or harbour, or that are used for a certain purpose. I59I Q- Eliz. Procl. 16 Sept., No Come nor other Victuall, nor any Ordonance, nor furniture for shipping. C1595 Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 4 Five of the Queenes shippinge. 1601 Hakluyt tr. Galvano's Discov. 90 From thence vpwards in small shipping he went along the coast of the Abassins and Ethiopia. 1602 Carew Cornwall 27 b, Cornewall is stored with many sorts of shipping. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag., Penalties & Forfeitures 1 Goods Imported.. in Forreign Shipping. .] trans. To divide (a country) into shires. 1810 W. Davies Agric. N. Wales i. 2 It [North Wales] was shired by Henry the Eighth into six counties. 1867 Cal. St. Papers, Irel. 1574-85, 170 The Brenny and Annaly shired. 1885 Bagwell Irel. under Tudors I. 60 Ulster and Connaught were not shired. 1904 Edin. Rev. July 215 When .. he [Davies] effected the final shiring of Ulster.

tshire, adv. Obs. [OE. scire, f. shire a.] 1. Brightly; clearly. a 1000 Andreas 835 OS b;et dryhten forlet diEgcandelle scire scinan. a 1300 Havelok 916 [Ich kan] kindlen ful wel a fyr, And maken it to brennan shir. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt.

SHIRE

2. With main force, mightily; sheer or straight down. ^900 Cynewulf Christ 1141 Scire burstan muras and stanas. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3045 O monen, al swilc time al sir, Thunder, and hail, and leuenes fir, Cam wel vnghere. 13 .. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 506 Schyre schedez pe rayn in schowrez ful warme. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 22 Kemmit was thair cleir hair, and curiouslie sched Attour thair schulderis doun schyre, schyning full bricht.

time was coming when the broad suffrage of the shire-moots was also to be greatly curtailed.

t 'shireness. Obs. [f. shire a. + -ness.] 1. Clearness, pureness. a 1225 Ancr. R. 386 Schirnesse of heorte is Godes luue one. ei sponne. c 1475 Rauf Coiljear 96 My Gaist and I baith cheueris with the chin, So fell ane wedder feld I neuer. 1530 Palsgr. 483/2, I chever, as one dothe that is in an axes whan the colde cometh on hym. /3. c 1402 Lydg. Compl. Blk. Knt. 230 With hote and colde my acces ys so meynt, That now I shyuer for defaute of hete. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon x. 259 All his body shevered all sodenly for grete ioye. 1562 A. Brooke Romeus & Iuliet 370 And now for feare she sheuereth, and now for loue she burnes. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 1003 Why stand we longer shivering under feares That show no end but Death? 1749 Smollett Gil Bias vii. i. (1782) III. 7 He drew his long rapier, which made me shiver. 1833 Ht. Martineau Charmed Sea i. 3 The pines are stooping and shivering on all the hills around. 1866 Geo. Eliot Felix Holt I. i. 44 Under the cold weight of these thoughts Mrs. Transome shivered. 1878 Susan Phillips On Seaboard 185 Where the sea-pinks grow, And the dry rushes shiver in the sand.

b. fig. or in fig. context. 1649 Milton Tenure Kings 4 [They] begin to swerve and almost shiver at the majesty and grandeur of som noble deed, as if they were newly enter’d into a great sin. 1878 J. S. Campion On Frontier (ed. 2) 27 The air shivered with noise; the earth trembled under our feet.

2. trans. (causative.) f a. To give a sensation of chill to, to cause (a person or object) to shiver. C1200 [see shivering ppl. a.2 1]. 1797-1805 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T., Old Woman's T. I. 354 A waking dream of horrors, not unlike that which had disturbed his sleep, seemed to shiver his senses.

b. fTo cause (one’s jaws) to tremble (obs.); to pour out or give forth with a trembling motion. £71693 Urquhart's Rabelais in. xx. 167 Diddering and shivering his Chaps, as Apes use to do. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 167 Where tiny blossoms with a purple bell Shiver their beauties to the autumn-gale. a 1861 T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady, Storm ii, Quiet are the birds In ghostly trees that shiver not a sound.

3. Naut. a. intr. Of a sail: To flutter or shake (in the wind). 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1780) s.v. Tack, The headsails are immediately made to shiver in the wind. 1809 Byron Bards & Rev. liii, The sail.. is shivering in the gale. 1891 Patterson's Naut. Diet. 1. s.v., A vessel’s sails are said to shiver when she is luffed so close that the wind is spilled out of them.

b. trans. To cause (a sail) to flutter or shake in the wind, to bring a sail edge-on to the wind. 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine 11. (1780), Deventer les voiles, to shiver the sails, or brace them so as to shiver in the wind. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket-bk. iii. (ed. 2) 59 Shiver the mizen topsail or brail up the spanker.

4. To quiver, to tremble with a shrinking movement. c 1869 Adm. Paget Autobiog. (1896) 221 The gory head of a Greek just decapitated, the trunk still shivering. 1905 Brit. Med.Jrnl. 27 May 1147 Time and again, I have seen the skin ‘shiver’ at the touch of the knife.

One who breaks (something) into small pieces.

shiverer2 ('Jiv3r3(r)). [f. shiver v.2 + -er1.] a. One who trembles or shakes.

b. dial. (See quots.) Cf. shivering vbl. sb.2 2. 1888 Sheffield Gloss., Shiverer, a horse which has a lameness in the loins. 1899 Daily News 13 Apr. 3/5 Another horse was sold .. it fell down in the street the first time it was harnessed, and was proved to be a ‘roarer and a shiverer’ of long standing.

'shiverine. Sc. Obs. Also 6 schiverone, shivering, 6-7 schiverene. [? Some kind of derivative of F. chevre goat.] a. ? A goat-skin. b. pi. ? Goatskin or kid gloves (? or breeches). 15.. Customs in Balfour's Practicks (1754) 87 For ane hundreth lamb skinnis, 1. d. For ane hundreth schiveronis, iiij d. 1598 in Beck Gloves (1883) 151 For each dozn shewing [? read shivering] shewed with silk, six shillings; each dozen shivering shewed with threed, five shillings. 1663 in Maitland Club Misc. (1840) II. 502 For a paire of shiverines to my Lord and drink money to the boy. 1664 Ibid. 508 A pair of schiverines.

'shivering, vbl. sb.1 [f. shiver v.1 + -ing1.] 1. a. The action or an act of shiver v.1 11400 Sege Jerusalem (E.E.T.S.) 31/548 For schyueryng of sche[l]des, & schynyng of helmes. £71548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 146 b, By chaunce of shiueryng of the spere. 1625 Bacon Ess., Viciss. Things (Arb.) 574 Vpon the Breaking and Shiuering of a great State and Empire, you may be sure to haue Warres. 1647 Hexham i, A shivering, or a rieving, Een klievinge, ofte een scheuringe.

b. Pottery. Peeling and splitting of the glaze. 1921 A. B. Searle Clayworkers’ Hand-bk. (ed. 3) xi. 208 Shivering is a variety of ‘peeling’ which may be produced by adding flint which has been too finely ground or an excess of fine silica to a body. 1947 J. C. Rich Materials Methods of Sculpture ii. 51 Another cause of shivering is firing at too low a temperature. 1964 H. Hodges Artifacts ii. 52 Peeling .. or shivering of a glaze usually results from a failure to fit the glaze to the body, the contraction of the glaze being less than that of the body.

2. A fragment, splinter, rare. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 1. 270 In stead of Occam they vse the shiuerings of the barke of the sayd trees.

shivering ('Jivsriij), vbl. sb.2 [f. shiver v.2 + -ING1.] 1. a. The action or an act of shiver v.2 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. xxxix. (1495) 253 A feuer Terciane greuyth euery daye fyrste wyth sheueringe and thenne wyth heete. at his shoo full bitterly hym wrong. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xc. 54 Thow knawis best quhair bindis the thi scho. 1639 [J. Taylor (Water P.)] Divers Crabtree Lect. 96 No man can tell where his shooe wrings him, but hee that weares it. 1749 Smollett Gil Bias viii. vi. (1782) III. 161 He defrayed the expence of every body; so that there I did not feel where the shoe pinched. 1890 W. E. Norris Misadventure xlviii, Only after the deed has been done does the shoe really begin to pinch.

g. to put the shoe on the right foot: to put the blame on the real offender. (In mod. Diets.) h. to kiss (a person’s) shoe (in token of servility or abject submission). CI395 Plowman's Tale Iii. in Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 317 A king shall kneele and kisse his show. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, iv. i. 47 Pist. The King’s a Bawcock ..: I kisse his durtie shooe. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell vii. vii, There was a bow of sleek devotion ..; each motion Seemed a Lord’s shoe to kiss.

fi. to win one's shoes {on or upon an adversary): to achieve renown by a victory. Cf. to win one's spurs. Common in the 15th century.

SHOE a 1400 Sir Perc. 1595 Ther salle other dedis be done, And thou salle wynne thi schone Appone the sowdane. ?ci475 Sqr. lowe Degre 174 And other dedes of armes to done, Through whiche ye may wynne your shone.

j. to waste one's shoes: to wear out one’s shoes to no purpose. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 85 Another on his fiste a Sparhawke .. and so, wasting his shone, Before the aulters he to and fro doth wander.

k. to be in (another person’s) shoes: to be in his position or place. Chiefly in negative form = in his unenviable condition or plight, to place (a person) in the shoes of (another person): to give (him) the position vacated by (another), to step into the shoes of (another person): to occupy the position vacated by him. to wait for dead men's shoes: to wait for the death of a person with the expectancy of succeeding to his possessions or office. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. 1. xi. (1867) 37 Who waitth for dead men shoen, shall go long barefoote. 1609 Old Meg of Herefordsh. (1816) 12 It were no hoping after dead mens shooes, for both vpper-leather and soles would bee worne out to nothing. 1767 Bedingfield in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 404, I would rather chuse to stand in his Sardinian Majesty’s shoes than his; who [etc.]. 1776 Pennsylvania Even. Post 29 June 325/2 Volunteers, with the rank of officers (who are impatiently waiting at ‘the pool’ for the death and old shoes of commissioned officers). 1777 J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 304, I judge, I should put more to risk if I were in his shoes. 1822 Scott Nigel x, But then, in order to secure the lender, he must come in the shoes of the creditor to whom he advances payment. ‘Come in his shoes!’ replied the Earl... ‘It is a law phrase, my lord’.. said Heriot. 1842 Sir H. Taylor Edwin the Fair in. viii, Them that were placed by Edred in the shoes Of Seculars that by Edred were expulsed. i860 Reade Cloister & H. i, Cornelis .. stuck to the hearth, waiting for dead men’s shoes. 1864 Trollope Small Ho. at Allington xxviii, I must be the first to congratulate you on the acquisition of my old shoes. 1880 J. Payn Confid. Agent III. 130, I wish I was in your shoes. 1908 Times 21 July 3/1 The respondents were interested in the success of Mme. Bovet.. but that could never put them in her shoes in vindicating her rights against wrongdoers.

+ 1. to tread (her) shoe awry (rarely amiss): to make a lapse from virtue. Obs. c 1422 Hoccleve Minor P. xxiv. 66 No womman .. But swich oon as hath trode hir shoo amis. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 187 Where the king had maried her for a mayde, he founde that she had troden her showe awrye. 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais hi. xxviii. 241 His Wife did tread her Shooe awry. 1828 [Carr] Craven Gloss, (ed. 2) s.v. Shoe, ‘To tread one’s shoes straight’, to behave with propriety, to be circumspect in our conduct,

m. Proverbial phrases. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. 11. v. (1562) Giiij, Folke say of olde, the shoe will holde with the sole. 1591 Lambarde Archeion (1635) 78 To apply one general! Law to all particular cases, were to make all shooes by one last. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. 11. 163 As arrant a villaine, as euer trode vpon a shooe of leather, a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, One Shoe will not fit all Feet, Men are not all of a Size, nor all Conveniences of a Last. 1752 Foote Taste 1. (1781) 9 Twenty as fine Babes as ever trod in Shoe of Leather. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss, s.v. Old-Shoe, As easy as an old shoe. 1887 S. Chesh. Gloss, s.v. Shoe, ‘Too big for one’s shoon’, used of a person whose notions are too high for his station, a conceited person.

3. in the names of plants (see quots.). 01825 Forby Voc. F. Anglia, Shoes and stockings, the variety of primrose and polyanthus which has one flower sheathed within another. 1838 W. Holloway Diet. Provinc., Shoes and stockings, [also] a wild flower of the cypripedium genus. 1878 Britten & Holland Plant-n. s.v. Boots, Boots and Shoes (1) Lotus corniculatus, L. — Suss. (2) Aquilegia vulgaris, L.—Corn. 1882 Friend Devonsh. Plantn., Boots and shoes,.. (2) Cypripedium Calceolus, L., often called ‘Lady’s-slipper’. 1893 Rep. Provinc. (E.D.D.), On seeing the Linaria vulgaris in blossom [she], Cornish by birth,.. replied, ‘We always call it “Shoes and Stockings’’.’

4. a. A plate of metal, usually iron, nailed to the under-side of the hoof of a horse as a protection from injury: = horseshoe i. Also occas. a similar plate nailed to the hoof of an ox or some other animal. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 127 He made .. pe mule .. to be schodde uppon wip gold, forbedyng al his men pat when pe schone fel awey pat non schulde gadre paym up. 1430-40 Lydc. Bochas vn. v. (1554) 169b, This Nero.. Made his mules be shod with siluer shone. I523'34 Fitzherb. Husb. §6 Oxen .. haue no shoes, as horses haue. Ibid. §114 Lyttel stones, that goth in betwene the shough and the herte of the fote. 1540 Coventry Leet-bk. 745 [That] no Smyth within this Cetie shoo no horse with forest shoyes. 01674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. xm. §101 [The smith observed] that he was sure that his four shoes had been made in four several counties, a 1720 W. Gibson Diet of Horses viii. (1726) 135 Their Shooes should never be suffer’d to wear too smooth. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm, xxx, You can never ride beyond the village but your horse will cast a shoe. 1828 [Carr] Craven Gloss, (ed. 2) s.v. Shoon, ‘To addle his shoon’, is when a horse rolls on his back from one side to the other. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 697 The first shoes of a young horse should be light, with no heels.

b. See quot. (Cf. horseshoe i b.) 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. 11. ii. §9. 60 Formerly.. the rustics not having.. quoits to play with, used horse-shoes and in many places the quoit itself.. is called a shoe.

5. Something resembling a shoe (sense 1 or 4) in shape, position, or function. f a. The iron blade or an iron cutting edge fastened upon the wooden blade (of a spade or shovel). Obs. fb- The piston (of a pump). Obs. rare. c. A metal rim, ferrule, casing or sheath, esp. for the end of a pile, pole, rod, or the like. d. The receptacle beneath the hopper of a mill. e. The short section which turns out the water at the foot of a water pipe.

shoe

299 f. A kind of drag or skid for a wheel of a vehicle; also the concave part of a brake, which acts upon the wheel (more fully brake shoe), g. A strip of iron, steel, etc. fastened upon that part of a vehicle, machine, etc. which is liable to be worn out by friction, h. A socket for the reception of a bolt, pin, or the like. i. Naut. (See quot. 1769). j. A block, plate, etc. which serves as a socket or bearing for the foot of a pole, the legs of sheers, etc. to prevent slipping or sinking, k. An iron plate shaped to receive the end of one or more pieces of timber in roof-construction. 1. (See quot. 1881.) m. That part of the breech which carries the breech block in a converted rifle, n. (See quot.) o. Electr. traction. A block attached to an electric car in such a position that it slides upon a conductor-wire or rail and collects the current for its propulsion, p. An ingot of precious metal, somewhat in the form of a Chinese shoe, but more like a boat, formerly current in the trade of the Far East and current until the early 20th c. in silver in China, q. A tyre, slang, r. A box for dealing the cards in baccarat or chemin de fer. Also, a game of baccarat. 8. On a camera, a socket or other mounting for the temporary attachment of an accessory. a. c 1440 Jacob's Well xxx. 193, I lykenyd satysfaccyoun to a schouele... I telde 30U pat pe scho of pe schouell was almes-dede. 1578 [see shiver sb.2 2]. 1688 Holme Armoury 11. 331/1 He beareth Vert, a Spade Iron, Argent (some call it a shooe for a Spade). Ibid. hi. 393/1 The Bottom, or Shooe of a Trenching Spade. It is all Iron and put on the Staffe .. with a .. Socket. b. 1576 Churchw. Acc. St. Michael, Oxford (MS.), Item payd to William Williams for a showe for the plumpe xvijd. 1593 Ibid., It’m payd to Oven for settinge a shooe & a staff in ye plompe xxijd. 1599 Acc. Balliol Coll., Oxford (MS.), Imprimis, a shooe for the plumpe, xvid. c. 1495 Pyles shone [see pile sb.1 sd]. 1580 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 320 The quhelis garnesit with schone and two virollis only. 1791 Smeaton Edystone Lightho. §81, I had a wooden measuring rod .. this was shod with a rounded end or shoe of iron. 1837 Civ. Engin. Arch. Jrnl. I. 33/1 All the piles are to be shod with proper wrought-iron shoes. 1857 P. Colquhoun Comp. Oarsman's Guide 30 The boat¬ hook consists in the staff and shoe. 1972 L. M. Harris Introd. Deepwater Floating Drilling Operations ix. 90 The shoe of the foundation pile is equipped with a breakaway guide frame. 1976 Offshore Platforms & Pipelining 8/2 Deviation will begin about 100 ft below the conductor shoe. d. 1688 Holme Armoury in. 340/2 The parts of a WindMill. .. The Shoo or Shough, the Corn by its shaking drops down into the Mill. 1839 Gre Diet. Arts 749 Below the hopper there is a small bucket called a shoe, into which the ore is shaken down. e. 1769 Phil. Trans. LIX. 166 The bottoms of these pipes .. terminate with a shoe of lead. 1899 Daily News 10 Oct. 6/6 Water-pipes with heads and shoes. f. 1837 Hebert Engin. & Mech. Encycl. II. 377 The shoe or skid ought to be somewhat broader than the tire of the wheels. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., Shoe, that part of a car-brake which is brought in contact with the wheel in the act of stopping a train. 1910 Hobart Diet. Electr. Engin., Brake shoe, a cast-iron or wooden block which is pressed against the rim of a car wheel, or against the track rails .. to retard the motion of the car. g; I837 Hebert Engin. & Mech. Encycl. II. 805 Each division [of Brunei’s tunnelling shield] was supported by two strong cast-iron plates, called shoes, and which rest upon gravel at the base. 1855 in Harper's Mag. (1884) Jan. 232/2 Her bow was raised out of the water three or four feet, her shoe taken off her keel, and her keel itself cut through. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 246/2 The lower part of the trawlhead .. is straight and flat... It is called the ‘shoe’, and is the part which slides over the ground. h. 1858 Sky ring's Builders' Prices 9 Shutter shoes with screws. 1878 Dixon Kemp Yacht & Boat Sailing 368 Shoe or Shod, iron plates rivetted to the ends of wire rigging to receive shackle bolts. i. 1750 Blanckley Naval Expos., Shoe for an Anchor is made of a Piece of Baulk,.. one End cut with a Hole for the Bill... and the other with a triangular Notch to receive the Stock. 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1789), Shoe of the anchor, a small block of wood. . having a small hole, sufficient to contain the point of the anchor-fluke... It is used to prevent the anchor from tearing .. the planks .. when ascending or descending. 1867 in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. j. 1843 Rep. Brit. Assoc. 112 The frames stand upon legs resting upon capacious shoes. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 62 A shoe is a piece of wood about four feet long, two feet wide, and nine inches thick, with a hole in the centre for the sheer to step in. 1894 Times 26 Feb. 3/6 There were no ‘shoes’ to prevent poles from slipping. k. 1842 Civ. Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. V. 242/2 The principals [rafters] are fitted into cast iron shoes resting on the walls. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 156 The straining pieces [of a truss].. at their lower end.. are fitted with a wrought iron shoe. Ibid., A cast-iron double shoe, or housing for the reception of the upper ends of the principals. l. 1874 Raymond 6th Rep. Mines 410 Every casting, such as a shoe or die, in the battery is full of flaws. 1881 Mining Gloss., Shoe. A piece of iron or steel, attached to the bottom of a stamp or muller, for grinding ore. The shoe can be replaced when worn out. m. 1866 Cornh. Mag. Sept. 348 It is now found more convenient to make the whole of the breech arrangement separately, and this ‘shoe’ is screwed into the back end of the barrel. 1881 Greener Gun (1888) 141 The shoe of the breech carries within it the cylinder or breech-piece. Ibid. 142 An iron frame or shoe is screwed on to the barrel. The breech block is placed in this shoe. n. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, Shoes, steel or iron guides fixed to the ends and sides of cages, to fit and run upon the conductors. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss. o. 1891 Times 28 Sept. 13/6 The pulley has been abandoned in America as being inferior to the trolley or sliding shoe. p. 1702 in J. T. Wheeler Madras in Olden Time (1861) I. 397 One Hundred shoes of gold, or so many thousand Pagodas or Rupees. 1711 C. Lockyer Trade in India v. 132 Gold-makers.. cast all the Gold, that comes through their Hands, into Shoos of about 10 Tale weight, 12 oz. 2 dwt. 4 gr. 1911 Contemp. Rev. Nov. 705 A Chinese high offical said ..‘I cannot obtain an audience at Court unless I send a number of ‘shoes’ of silver.. to an Imperial Prince’. q. 1917 E. E. Cummings Let. 2 Aug. (1969) 32 The rear axle looked like a mosquito’s beak, and there were 2 shoes blown. 1934 R. Blaker Night-Shift vii. 87 If the tyres were

worn to the fabric smooth as an egg, he could dismiss this outlay as ‘a set of new shoes’. r. 1923 W. J. Locke Moordius Co. xi. 149 Moordius dealt from the shoe. One card to the right, one to the left, one to himself. 1930 D. Byrne Golden Goat i. 8 They were only interested in the passing of the ‘shoe’ as the chemin-defer box is called, i960 O. Manning Great Fortune 1. 54 Hadjimoscos took his place before the shoe. As soon as he had drawn cards, he became serious and businesslike. 1964 A. Wykes Gambling xiii. 324 Zographos could remember every card that was played throughout a game (or ‘shoe’) of baccarat. 1965 D. Francis Odds Against iv. 52 He kept his side of the bargain by digging out the chemmy shoe. 1976 ‘J. Welcome’ Grand National iv. 54 The bank passed and the polished walnut and silver shoe slid along the table to a gaunt, henna-haired woman. s. 1953 A. Matheson Leica Way 47 The Leica if and ic models carry a detachable brilliant viewfinder.. in one of the two accessory shoes. 1971, etc. [see hot shoe s.v. hot a. 12 c]. 1979 SLR Camera Feb. 74/1 The modification consists of adding an extra contact to the shoe of the sensor lead.

6. attrib. and Comb. a. simple attrib., as (sense 1) shoe-bag, -clasp, -factory, heel, f -knot, f market (Sc.), ribbon, -rose (ROSE sb. 15), -shop, -sole, -store (orig. U.S.), -strap, -thread, -tip, -top, -trade; also in the names of shoemakers’ tools, as shoe nippers, pincers, pliers-, (sense 5) shoe-seat. 1873 S. Coolidge What Katy did at School vii. 139 Hang your dresses up .. and put your shoes in the ♦shoe-bag. 1972 J. Wilson Hide & Seek i. 7 The children began to pour out into the playground. Alice was.. dragging her shoe bag along after her. 1797 J- Robinson's Directory of Sheffield 52 ♦Shoe-clasp, and seal maker. 1855 J. Holbrook Ten Years among Mail Bags 276 How many persons are employed in that *shoe factory? i960 M. Spark Ballad Peckham Rye vi. hi She told him all of her life in the shoe factory. 1716 Lond. Gaz. No. 5466/4 A middle sized Man .., Lame of his Left Leg, his Left Foot *Shoe-heel half a Quarter of a Yard high. 1766 Compl. Farmer s.v. Shoeing 6 U 4/2 Strong shoeheels are an ease to the weak heels, and fetlocks of horses. 1777 Sheridan Trip to Scarboro iv. i, That which they call pin-money, is to buy everything.., down to their very ♦shoe-knots. 1756-7 tr. Keysler's Trav. lxxxii. (1760) IV. 186 His *shoe ribbons are also embroidered. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xvii, The very ♦shoe-roses for Netherfield were got by proxy. 1844 Civ. Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. VII. 112/1 The ‘*shoe seat’ or base of the frame is more deeply imbedded in the wood than is usual. 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. 1. 8 The fair nymph of the ♦shoe-shop. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 395 Nero..usede *scho soles of silver. 1862 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. 11. Introd. The Courtin', For she felt sartin-sure he’d come Down to her very shoe-sole. 1789 Boston Directory 175 Bond and Bryant, ♦shoe-store. 1813 Boston (Mass.) Rec. (1908) XXXVIII. 84 The old Town house adjoining his shoe store. 1976 Milton Keynes Express 11 June 12/2 The shoe store of Leslie Wheeler at New Bradwell. 1775 Ash, *Shoestrap, a shoe string. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 123 Vse ton for thy spinning, leaue Mihel the tother, for *shoo thred. 1609 B. Jonson Silent Worn. iv. ii, She has a peruke, that’s like a pound of hempe, made vp in shoo-thrids. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Shoe-thread Maker. 1897 Flandrau Harvard Episodes 64 From the bit of white ribbon twisted through her hair.. to the non-committal exposure of *shoe-tip. 1689 Rector's Bk., Clay worth (1910) 89 Ye 27th o’ March was a snow to ye ♦shooe-tops. 1850 Ogilvie, *Shoe-trade, the trade of making boots and shoes.

b. Objective and obj. genitive, as shoe-clouter (Sc.), -factor, -repairer, -rivetter, -stitcher, -■camper, -■wearer, -worker-, shoe-soling, -wearing-, also shoe-embossing, -eyeleting, •Pegging, -sewing (machines): see Knight Diet. Mech. 1875-84. 1581 N. Burne Disput. 188 Quhais fals prophetes ar maid of Tinklaris, ♦schocloutaris [etc.]. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, * Shoe-factor, a wholesale dealer in shoes. 1933 Radio Times 14 Apr. 127/1 The well-known Kensington ♦Shoe Repairers. 1976 M. Hinxman End of Good Woman vii. 94 Shoe repairer, now that was ‘poshe’ if you like! 1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 19 Nov. 6/2 Boot and *shoe rivetters and finishers. 1842 A. Raleigh Rec. Life iii. (1881) 19, I have had to pay a good deal in books, ♦shoe-soling, medicine, etc. 1891 S. C. Scrivener Our Fields & Cities iii. 26 Further, over the Huntingdonshire ground, where the ♦shoestitchers have extended. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxvi, Here, the clothesman, the *shoe-vamper, and the rag-merchant, display their goods. 1657 J. Watts Scribe & Let. Answ. Ep. Rdr. A 3 b, Thou Histiaeus wast the Shoemaker, but Aristagoras was the ♦Shoewearer. 1902 Munsey's Mag. XXIV. 854/2 After a year of constant *shoe wearing, the gravel hurt her feet. 1888 Philadelphia Ledger 23 Nov. (Cent.), The ♦shoe-workers’ strike and lock-out.

c. Special comb.: shoe-beak = shoe-bird-, shoe-bench U.S., a shoemaker’s bench; shoebill, (a) — shoe-bird-, so shoe-bill(ed) stork- (b) a kind of nail used in shoemaking; shoe-binder (see quot.

1858);

so shoe-bindery,

binding-,

shoe-bird, a bird, Balseniceps rex, found in Central Africa; shoe-block (see quot.); shoeboard, (a) a shoe-cleaner’s bench; (b) a pedal of a silk-winding machine; shoe-boy, a shoeblack; shoe-brush, a brush for cleaning and polishing shoes; also attrib. of an object shaped like a shoe-brush; shoe buckle, a fastening for a shoe, in the form of a buckle, also an ornamental buckle worn on the front of a shoe; shoe-butt, thick leather (see butt s6.n) for making the soles of shoes; shoe-button, a button used for fastening a boot or a shoe; freq. attrib. of a small expressionless eye; shoe-case, a saddle case in which one or more spare horseshoes are carried;

shoe-cleaner = shoe-black; so shoe-cleaning

SHOE sb. and a.; f shoe clout, a cloth for wiping shoes; shoe-deep a. U.S., deep enough to cover a person’s shoes; shoe-finder U.S., one who deals in shoemakers’ tools and appliances; shoe findings pi, tools and material for shoemaking; shoe-flower Anglo-Indian, the flower of the Hibiscus Rosasinensis (Yule); shoe hairs pi., prepared bristles for shoemakers’ use; shoehammer, a shoemakers’ hammer with a broad convex face and wide thin peen; shoe-hand, a shoemaking operative; shoe-knife, a shoe¬ makers’ knife; shoe-lace, a lace used to fasten a shoe by passing it in and out through eyeletholes; shoe-last = last sb.1 2; also fig.; also used attrib. in Archseol. to designate or with reference to polished stone implements, flat on one side and curved on the other, found in the area of neolithic Danubian culture; shoe-latch, -latchet = latchet 1 c; shoe-licker jig., an abject sycophant or toady; shoe-lift = SHOE¬ HORN sb. 1; shoe-lifter = prec.; hence shoelifter-like adj.; shoeman, (a) see quot. 1841; (b) one who makes or deals in shoes; shoe mercer, one who deals in shoemercery; shoemercery, laces, buttons, and other small wares of a boot and shoe dealer; shoe-nail, a nail used in fastening on the soles of shoes, also a projecting nail put in the soles of shoes to prevent slipping; shoe peg = peg sb.1 2d; shoe-piece, (a) (see quot. 1867); (b) a piece of wood at the back of a chair, supporting the splat; shoe pin = shoepeg; shoe-plate (see quot.); f shoe-pride, ostentatious foot-wear (nonce-use); shoe-rag = shoe-clout; shoe-scraper = scraper 5; shoeshine, shoeshine (orig. and chiefly U.S.), a polish given to shoes, esp. by a shoe-shiner; freq. attrib.; shoe-shiner, one who polishes shoes for money; shoesmith, a shoeing-smith (obs. or arch.); shoe-stirrup, a stirrup shaped like a shoe {Cent. Diet. 1891); shoe-stone (see quot.); shoe-stretcher (see quot. 1875); f shoethong, a leathern shoe-latchet; shoe-tie = shoe¬ string; shoe-tree = boot-tree (see boot sb.3 8); f shoe-turner, the workman who ‘turns’ or cuts to shape the soles of shoes; shoe-valve (see quot.); shoeward adv., towards the shoe; adj. directed towards the shoe; shoe whang dial. = shoe-thong; shoe-wiper, a servant who cleans shoes. Also shoe-black, shoe-horn, shoe LEATHER. 1869-73 T. R. Jones Cassell's Bk. Birds IV. 59 The Whale-headed Stork, or *Shoe-beak (Balaeniceps rex). 1841 Knickerbocker May 362 A few weeks’ rumination on the "“shoe-bench, or cogitation on the tailor’s board. 1891 Harper's Mag. June 57/1 An express wagon was.. loaded with the old shoe bench. 1861 Geo. Eliot Let. 20 Feb. (1954) III. 381 There is a *shoe-bill, a great bird of grotesque ugliness. 1874 tr. Brehm's Bird-Life 191 Balaeniceps Rex, the Boot-bill, or Shoe-bill, as the Arab tribes of East Soudan call it. 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 91 Nail manufacture... Shoe Bill, Cutter. 1957 Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.): Zool. V. 111 (heading) The Pelecaniform characters of the skeleton of the Shoe-bill Stork. 1964 E. A. Nida Towards Sci. Transl. iii. 40 A person points to the beak of a shoe-billed stork and says That's a big bill. 1975 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 17 Dec. 6/3 Shoebill stork, .is one of only eight. 1809 Longworth's New York Directory 227 "“Shoebinder. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Shoe-binder, a female who attaches the leather or ribbon binding to a shoe. 1848 in Amer. Industrial Soc. (1910) VIII. 200 *Shoebindery. 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz, Charac. iv, Miss Evans.. had adopted in early life the useful pursuit of "“shoe-binding. 1861 Petherick Egypt, etc. 475 Six "“shoe-birds, so called by the Arabs, or royal balaeniceps. 1794 Rigging fijf Seamanship I. 156 * Shoe-blocks are two single blocks, cut in a solid piece, transversely to each other. 1845 Glance at Interior of China (Shanghae) 82 A couple of grooves, on which the "“shoeboard is to rest. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown 11. ix, Tom .. sat down on the shoe-board, while the old man told his tale. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. vii. Wks. 1755 V. 11. 137 If I employ a "“shoe-boy, is it in view to his advantage, or to my own convenience? 1820 Hogg in Blackw. Mag. VI. 392 He makes your homebred coxcomb look a shoeboy. 1740 E. Purefoy Let. 8 Mar. (1931) II. x. 248, I received Mr Robotham’s letter .. with half a dozen of oranges, a dozen of Delft plates, & 2 "“shoe Brushes. 1775 Phil. Trans. LXVII. 12 This was done .. with water and a stiff shoe-brush. 1968 J. Arnold Shell Bk. Country Crafts 185 For use in difficult angles an extra leggat is used, having a shoe-brush handle to make it easy to use in those awkard places. 1482 in York Myst. Introd. 40 [Those that] maketh ffisshe-hukes or "“shobakilles. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fairxxxix, A large pair of paste shoe-buckles. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, * Shoebutts, stout leather suited for soles. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 525/2 Button Machine... No family should be without this machine .. for putting on their own "“shoe buttons. 1928 E. O’Neill Strange Interlude v. 170 Lust ogling me for a dollar with oily shoe-button Italian eyes! 1973 ‘A. Gilbert’ Is she Dead Too? (rev. ed.) ii. 29 Her eyes round and hard as shoe buttons. 1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross xxxii, A sandwich-case for one side, and a "“shoe-case for t’other. 1725 De Foe [‘A. Moreton’] EveryBody's Business title-p., A Proposal.. for clearing the Streets of those Vermin call’d "“Shoe-Cleaners. 1716 Gay Trivia Index, "“Shoe-cleaning Boys. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxii, That very cloakbrushing, shoe-cleaning fellow .. my lord’s lackey. c 1425 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1274 Syr ye do me wrong .. to put thys creature.. to be her vnderlowte, As hit were a

300 castaway or a "“shoo clowte. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. in. iv. vii. (1852) 613 Some greasy dish-clout, or some dirty shoe-clout. 1773 P. V. Fithian Jrnl. 28 Dec. (1900) I- 75 Last night there fell a snow, which is about half "“Shoe-deep. 1891 M. E. Wilkins New England Nun 174 There had been a light fall of snow.. but it was not shoe-deep. 1909 Boston (Mass.) Transcript 19 July 14/5 The National Leather and "“Shoe Finders’ Association. 1836 in Amer. Industrial Soc. VI. 37 *Shoe findings. 1814 J. Lunan Hortus Jamaicensis I. 176 They are also put to a use which seems little consistent with their elegance and beauty, that of blacking shoes, whence their names of rosae calceolariae and "“shoe-flower. 1834 G. Bennett Wanderings II. 203 The Malays use the flowers of this shrub for cleansing shoes... This is probably the cause of its being called the shoe-flower. 1859 F. S. Cooper Ironmongers' Catal. 160 "“Shoe Hairs... Shoe Knives. 187s Knight Diet. Mech., * Shoe-hammer. 1859 "“Shoe-knife [see shoe hairs above]. 1647 Hexham i, A "“shoe¬ lace, een schoe-lint, ofte schoe-riem. Ibid., A "“shoe-last, een schoe-leest. 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. xi. (ed. 3) 102 An instrument. . proposed for the purpose of making shoe-lasts. 1879 G. M. Hopkins Lett, to R. Bridges (1955) 76 Look upon them [sc. suggestions] as shoelasts on which to shape your final handiwork. 1927 Peake & Fleure Priests & Kings vi. 126 They had.. stone celts or hoes, among which is a type, not unlike that found in the Danube basin, known as the shoe-last celt. 1961 G. Clark World Prehist. vi. 126 Boian pioneers.. used a variety of stone tools, including adze-blades of bevelled and shoe-last form. 1970 Bray & Trump Diet. Archaeol. 210/2 Shoe-last adze or celt, a long thin stone adze employed by the Danubian farmers of the Early Neolithic, possibly as a hoe for cultivating their fields. 1884 Annie S. Swan Carlowrie i. 19 She was neat and smart, down to the very "“shoe-latch. 1526 Tindale Mark i. 7 Whos "“shue latchett I am not worthy to stoupe doune and vnlose. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xiv. 27 A shue lachet. 1611 Bible Ibid. 1826 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 192, I challenge all his *shoe-lickers, all the base worshippers of twenty thousand acres, to show me [etc.]. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xxvii. 55 This golosh.. is put on without the aid of a *shoe-lift. 1846 W. King in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. XVIII. 86 In this species [of Terebratula] the condyle plates are attached to a process, which, to use a homely comparison, resembles a "“shoe-lifter. 1850 - Permian Fossils 136 The shoe-lifter-like process. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 410/2 [Shoemaker’s workmen:] The "“shoeman or maker of the sole part of the shoe. 1899 Howells Ragged Lady 59 The shoeman, turning with a pair of high-heeled bronze slippers in his hand from the wagon. 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 76 "“Shoe Mercer, Shoe Mercery Manufacturer. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xxvii. 48 Elastic webs, and "“shoe mercery. C725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) C 480 Clauus caligaris "“scohnejl. i860 Worcester, Shoe-nail, a nail used in making shoes, i860 Tyndall Glac. 1. iii. 28 My guide first tried the slope alone; biting the ice with his shoe-nails. 1854 Grace Greenwood Haps & Mishaps 13 The Yankee having whittled a large lot of unsaleable "“shoe-pegs into melon seeds. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., * Shoe-piece, a board placed under the heel of a spar or other weighty mass, to save the deck. In some cases intended to slip with it. 1923 J. C. Rogers Eng. Furnit. 11. ii. 63 The splat, .rose from a shaped shoe-piece planted on the rear seat rail. 1969 J. Gloag Short Diet. Furnit. (rev. ed.) 607 Shoe-piece, the shaped projection that rises from the back rail of a chair seat, into which the base of the splat is socketed. 1723 Mandeville Fable of Bees (ed. 2) 275 A Cobler,.. if he runs of Errands when he has no work, or makes but *Shoepins,.. he deserves the Name of Industrious. 1904 A. C. Holms Pract. Shipbuild. 1. viii. §75. 79 In coasting vessels.. the bottom of the keel gradually wears away... It is remedied by fitting *shoe plates, i.e. Ushaped plates embracing the keel. 1613 Sylvester Lachr. Lachr. B4, Stript from Top to Toe, Of guiddie-Gaudes,.. Of Face-pride,.. *Shoo-pride. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Ki, Taffatie .. which serueth him .. for a "“shoo-rag. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 169 Portable "“shoe-scrapers of cast-iron. 1911 H. P. Fairchild Greek Immigration to U.S. vii. 127 In 1904 there were but three "“shoe-shine parlors in the hands of Greeks in the city. 1931 Kansas City Times 29 Oct., Cecil, the Negro shoe shine boy at the City barber shop, has organized a band. 1957 New Yorker 5 Oct. 35/1 President Romano,.. resting tensely in his shirtsleeves, getting a shoeshine. 1958 X. Fielding Corsair Country i. 20 Where’s the nobility in.. these importunate shoe-shine boys? 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 21 Feb. 4/2 Complaints about the all-female shoeshine parlors in Salt Lake City may diminish... The commissioners said that the parlors.. must not allow the shoe shiners to mingle with the customers or sit on their laps. 1910 Chambers's Jrnl. July 431/1 The hotel will not be bothered with boot-cleaning, that service being performed by the ‘"“shoe-shiner’ in the basement. 1976 Shoe shiner [see shoe-shine above], 1625 Nottingham Rec. V. 103 Wee present Francis Levys, laborer, for vsinge the trade of a "“shoesmithe.. and nott being Apprentice. 1896 A. Austin England's Darling 11. iii, Woodcraft and masonry, Shoesmith or wheelwright, all are one to him. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, * Shoe-stones, sharpening or setting-stones.. for the use of shoe-makers, book-binders,.. &c. 187s Knight Diet. Mech., *Shoestretcher, an expansible last for distending shoes, c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John i. 27 Ne eom ic wyrOe pact ic unbinde his sceo-pwang. c 1200 Ormin 10387 J>att he ne wass nohht god inoh Cristess shopwang tunnbindenn. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 137 Ac ich nam noht ne forfien wur6e pat ich unenutte his sho puong. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. Induct. (1600) B, But that a Rooke in wearing.. A yarde of "“shooe-tie, [etc.].. should affect a Humor, O, ’tis more than most rediculous. [1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. iv. iii. 18 Then haue we heere.. braue Mr Shootie the great Traueller.] 1611 - Wint. T. iv. iv. 611 Gloue, Shooe-tye, Bracelet. 1851 Hawthorne Twice-told T. I. ii. 29 [She] blushes from topknot to shoetie, one universal scarlet. 1827 Drake & Mansfield Cincinnati viii. 60 In the third story the manufacture of "“shoe trees is carried on. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xxvii. 56 Boot and shoe trees, i486 Bk. St. Albans f. vii, A Plocke of "“Shoturneris. 1858 Skyring's Builders' Prices 100 Long Spindle, or "“Shoe Valves. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech., Shoe-valve, a valve at the foot of a pump-stock, or at -the bottom of a reservoir. 1607 Markham Caval. vi. 60 Assoone as any naile is driuen in, you shall turne the point backe againe, downe to the "“shooeward. 1852 Meanderings of Mem. I. 163 He looked submission with a shoeward eye. 1691 Nicholson Gloss.

SHOE Northanhym.br. in Ray Coll. 148 *Shoe-whang, corrigia. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss., Shoe-whang, shough-whaing, a boot lace, a shoe tie. Usually called a whang or whaing simply. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 19 Every Thing at free Cost, from a Steward, down to a "“Shoe-Wiper.

shoe (Ju:), v. Pa. t. and Pa. pple. shod (Jod), rarely shoed (Ju:d). Forms: Inf. 1 scogan, scojean, sceojan, scoan, sceon, sceoian, 3 scheo, 3, 6 sho, 4 schoye, 4-7 shoo, 5 scho, 5-6 show, (5 schoyn), 6-7 shooe, shoue, (6 shu, schoe, schue, sue, sew), 6- shoe. Pa. t. 1 scode, 3 scoide, soide, 4 schodde, 9 shoed, 6- shod. Pa. pple. 1 (se)sc6d, (5e)sceod, 3 scod, sod, i-schud, iscod, 4 ischood, 3-4 i-schod, 3-6 schod, 4-6 shodd(e, (4-5 shood, schood), 5 y-shood, y-schod, schodde, 5-6 shode, 6 shoode, showed, shoyd, 7 shoad, shoud, 7-9 shoed, (7, 9 erron. shodden), 4- shod. [OE. scogan, corresp. to MLG. schoigen, schoien, schoen, Du. schoeien, OHG. scuohon, scuohan (MHG. schuohen, schuon, mod.G. schuhen), ON. skua (MSw. skoa, Sw., Da. sko):—OTeut. *skohojan, f. *skdho- shoe sb. The doubling of the d and the consequent shortening of the vowel in ME. schodde pa. t., schodd pa. pple. (whence the mod. shod pa. t. and pa. pple.) are anomalous. (An OE. example occurs in Wulfstan Horn. p. 173, Unsceoddum fotum.) Cf. MSw. skodde pa. t., and Sw. skodd pa. pple. The case is parallel to that offledde/fledd from flee v. (where Sw. also has the corresponding gemination).]

1. trans. To put shoes on (one’s feet); to put on (one’s) shoes; to clothe or protect the feet with shoes; to provide (a person, oneself) with boots or shoes. C897 Alfred Gregory's Past. C. v. 44 SceojeaS eowre fett. c 1000 ./Elfric Gram. xxvi. (Z.) 158 Calceo vel calcio ic scoje me. ciooo-Horn. (Th.) II. 382 Se engel cwae6, Begyrd pe, and sceo pe, and fylig me. a 1225 Ancr. R. 16 per efter scheoinde ou & cloSinde, siggeS Pater Noster & Credo. 01300 Havelok 1138, I ne may hire fede, ne elope, ne sho. C1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 842 And shod he was..With shoon decoped, and with laas. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 411 They..goop i-hosed and i-schod. 1398-Barth. De P.R. xviii. xevi. (1495) 842 Ofte apes shoo themself wyth shoon that hunters leue in certen places slyly. 1530 Palsgr. 704/1, I shoo one, I put shoes upon his fete. 1599 Thynne Animadv. 13 [Chaucer’s name] signyfyinge one who shueth or hooseth a manne. 1794 C. Pi GOT Female Jockey Club 195 Government.. cannot spare wherewithall to keep the poor fellows feet properly shoed. 1846 Mrs. Kirkland West. Clearings 10 The shoemaker.. travels from house to house, shoeing the family. 1855 Longf. Hiawatha xv. 24 Shod with snow-shoes .. Forth to hunt.. went Chibiabos. 1910 Nation 30 July 644/1 Women never learned to shoe themselves till they took to playing outdoor games with men. Proverbial. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. 1. xi. (1867) 32 But who is wurs shod, than the shoemakers wyfe. 1581 Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. 1. (1586) 20 He ought to stop his eares .. and to walke amongst them (as the saying is) shood amongest the thornes.

2. a. To provide (a horse, etc.) with a shoe or shoes. fAlso with up. shod all round: completely shod. c 1205 Lay. 22291 Heo wipeden hors leoue..heo sceren heo scoiden [C1275 and soide hire stedes]. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 395 He.. schodde his mules wip silver. 1435 Coventry Leet-bk. 185 The smythes .. shall.. show straungers horsies as-well on Sondais as on othur wekedays,.. apon the payn of xld. 1523-34 Fitzherb. Husb. § 142 Gyue thy horse meate, se he be showed well. 1605 Shaks. Lear iv. vi. 188 It were a delicate stratagem to shoo A Troope of Horse with Felt. 1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horsem. 290 You may shooe him up, but drive no naile at that place. 01648 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1886) 205 He staid in the highway.. until my horse was shoed. 1776 Pennsylvania Even. Post 27 June 320/2 A Bay Mare,.. a natural trotter, shod all round, remarkably bad to shoe behind. 1870 Thornbury Tour rd. Eng. II. xxiii. 139 The forge of the blacksmith who shoed Tyrrell’s horse. 1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 149 He shod her all round, and she never kicked once. fig- 1731-8 Swift Pol. Convers. i. 95 Lady Smart. This is his Fourth Wife; then he has been shod round. 1788 Grose Diet. Vulg. T. (ed. 2) s.v. Shod, A parson who attends a funeral is said to be shod all round, when he receives a hat¬ band, gloves, and scarf.

b. Phrases, to shoe the goose, gosling: see those words; similarly to shoe the gander, f the daw. Also, f to shoe the goose (slang): to get drunk, to shoe the wild mare: see mare1 2 b. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. 1. ix. Eiij, All the reaste mighte blow their nayles, or go to shough the dawe. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. C 2 b, Galen might goe shooe the Gander for any good he could doo. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Bertrand, Deschausser Bertrand, to be drunke,.. to whip the cat, shoo the goose.

c. To provide (a motor vehicle) with tyres of a specified type or quality. Cf. shoe sb. 5 q. 1925 Morris Owner's Man. p. lxx (Advt.), Every car is turned out in sound order and condition, shod with good tyres. 1971 Drive Summer 121/1 The test car was shod with radial tyres. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 2 Nov. 15/3 Braking is by servo-assisted discs at the front and rear drums, with radial tyres as standard shoeing equipment.

3. a. To protect (the point, edge or face of a thing, esp. something made of timber) with a plate, rim, ferrule or sheath of metal, etc. c 1205 Lay. 7831, & pa Bruttes .. nomen longen raeftres .. mid stronge irene heo weoren i-scod. 1496 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 290 Item, for.. irne to Johne Lam, to scho the quhelis.. xxvjs. 1531 Lett. & Papers Hen. VIII, V. 183 To John Locker for sewing moulddes with ireon for the

SHOE brykmakers. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Aries,. .a great peece of timber shodde with brasse, in facion like a rammes heade. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xiii. 126 b, Bootes., shodde vnderneath with yron. 1601 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 134, ij speades shoud with iren, ij9. 1618 in Charnock Mar. Archit. (1801) II. 205 Shovells steele shodden. 1789 Burns Capt. Grose's Peregr. vii, A broomstick o’ the Witch of Endor, Weel shod wi’ brass. 1823 P- Nicholson Pract. Build. 303 The ends of the piles are cased or shoed with pointed iron. 1829 Chapters Phys. Sci. 138 In the processes of hooping barrels, and shoeing wheels. 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools PI. P. 21 These bars.. are shod at their lower cutting ends with serrated or notched steel faces for chipping the stone. 1911 Act 1 & 2 Geo. V, c. 45 §2 (4) The driving wheels of a locomotive.. shod with diagonal crossbars of not less than three inches in width.

b. Naut. to shoe the anchor: (see quot. 1644). 1644 Manwayring Sea-mans Diet. 3 The ground may be soft and ozie; In such places we use to shooe the Anchor, that is, to put boords to the flooke.. and make it much broader. 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1789). 1867 in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.

4. transf. To cover or protect as with a shoe or shoes. 1639 Fuller Holy War iv. xiii. (1640) 191 The shores there being not shod against the sea with huge high rocks. 1807 Prize Ess. & Trans. Highl. Soc. III. 448 The surface turfs are carefully laid aside, and after the peats are taken out, these turfs are brought back .. and placed upon the part that was made bare. This operation is called shoeing the moss. 1837 Longf. Frithiof s Homestead 24 On a bear skin (the skin it was coal-black, Scarlet red was the throat, but the paws were shodden with silver), Thorsten sat.

shoe (Ju:), a.

U.S. slang. [Origin obscure.] Conforming to the dress, behaviour, or attitudes of students at exclusive educational estab¬ lishments; acceptable to or commended by such people. 1962 Punch 13 June 895/3 A girl at these institutions [sc. schools] must prove herself to be ‘shoe’ —and woe betide her if her dress and manner don’t manifest.. ‘shoeness’. 1973 N. Y. Times Mag. 17 June 38/3 Perhaps it is significant that one favourite mode of protest in the fifties was satire. We —a lot of us—were cool, ironic, ‘shoe’. 1980 L. Birnbach et al. Official Preppy Handbk. 222/2 Shoe, adj. Top-drawer. Very acceptable.

shoe, obs. form of show sb. and v., sow v. shoeblack ('Juiblask). [f. shoe sb. + black v.] a. One who cleans boots and shoes for a livelihood. 1778 Foote Trip to Calais 1. (1778) 21 As I live, a couple of shoe-blacks. 1831 Carlyle Sort. Res. 11. ix. Will the whole Finance Ministers .. of modern Europe undertake to make one Shoeblack happy? attrib. 1862 G. H. Townsend Man. of Dates s.v. Shoeblacks, The existing ragged school shoeblack brigade was founded in 1851.

b. shoe-black plant = shoe-flower (shoe sb. 6 c). Also ellipt. 1837 J Macfadyen Flora Jamaica I. 66 The flowers, from the mucilaginous juice they contain, are employed to give a polish to the leather of shoes; and hence the plant has received the name of the shoe-black. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Shoe-black,.. a name in Jamaica for the Hibiscus rosa sinensis. 1866 Treas. Bot. I. 589/1 Hibiscus Rosa sinensis... These flowers.. are used.. in Java for blacking shoes, whence the plant is frequently called the Shoe-black Plant. 1965 Harper's Bazaar Feb. 18/3 The scarlet blossoms of the bush they [5c. Jamaicans] call the Shoe-Black.

So f shoe-blacker, a shoeblack. shoe¬ blacking, (a) = blacking vbl. sb. 3 b; (b) the blacking and polishing of shoes. 1755 Johnson Diet., Japanner.. 2. A shoeblacker. 1843 M. A. Richardson Local Hist. Table Bk., Hist. II. Index, Shoe blacker. 1890 L. C. D’Oyle Notches 13 They were.. the only persons possessed of shoe-blacking. 1902 Alice Terton Lights 6? Shadows in Hosp. x. 166 His interest in the shoe-blacking soon waned.

shoe-box, shoebox ('Juiboks). [shoe sb.] 1. A box in which a pair of shoes is packed. i860 Emerson Cond. Life viii. Wks. (Bohn) II. 439, I cry you mercy, good shoe-box. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 16 Feb. 12/1, I gathered a bunch large enough to nearly fill an ordinary shoe-box. 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel 1. 101 A small house like a shoebox. 1970 J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers i. 14 A modern stereo amplifier capable of yielding 20 watts.. is nowadays barely larger than a shoe box.

2. fig. A building or part of a building resembling a shoe-box. Also attrib. 1968 Listener i Aug. 134/2 Leeds hasn’t changed much. There are a few changes. Some of those glass shoe-boxes have been plonked down at random in the city centre. 1972 Times 8 June (Birmingham Suppl.) p.v/4 The mandatory shoe-box buildings. 1978 N. Freeling Night Lords xxxiii. 153 Bianchi.. waved casually at the building; the usual pile of open shoe-boxes. 1979 M. A. Sharp Sunflower iii. 29 Shoebox buildings, nestled together like children’s blocks.

shoed (Ju:d), ppl. a. [f. shoe sb. or v. + -ED.] Furnished or protected with a shoe or shoes; shod. See also slip-shoed a. and high-shoed var. of htgh-shod. 1601 Will of W. Snawdon of Winterton, Lines., One shoed waine with the furniture belonging to it. 1612 Inv. in Antiquary (1906) Jan. 28 A shoed shovel, a shoed spade. 1902 Edin. Evening News 14 July 2 [He] kicked her with his shoed feet.

SHOELESS

301 shoef, obs. pa. t. of shave v. shoe-goose: see syagush. shoe-horn ('Juihoin), sb. shone-, ? -schune.

In 5, 6 Sc. schone-,

1. A curved instrument of horn, metal, etc. used to facilitate the slipping of one’s heel into a shoe by placing it between shoe and heel; a shoeing-horn. 1589 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1882) IV. 540 Ane schone home 3od. 1612 Sc. Bk. Rates in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 315 Shone homes the dozen vis, 1874 Burnand My time xxiv. 213 Giving his back the graceful outward bend of a shoe¬ horn. 2. fig. = SHOEING-HORN 2. 1630 Bp. G. Gr/eme Let. in Miscellany S.H.S. (1904) II. 255 Sone, cum not in such termis, for .. I fear that if more be offered it will be takin, be warie, ye be no schurehorne [? read schunehorne]. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Shoe-horn, a puffer at an auction. 1894 Northumberld. Gloss., Shoe-horn, a helper on. One employed to bid for the sellers at sales. 3. = SHOEING-HORN 3. 1864 Atkinson Prov. Names Birds, Shoe-horn. Avocet —Recurvirostra avocetta. 1895 P. H. Emerson Birds Norfolk Broadland lxxxvi. 281 And you know ’tis an avocet, or ‘shoe¬ horn’, as the old Broadsmen call him. 'shoe-horn, v. fl. trans. To cuckold. (Cf. horn v. 2.) Obs._1 C1650 Braithwait Barnabees Jrnl. 11. xvi. H 6, Venus swore it, She’d shooe-hom her Vulcans forehead. 2. a. To put or thrust (a thing) upon (a person) or (a person) into (a position) by means of an ‘instrument’ or ‘tool’ for the purpose. 1859 W. Chadwick Life De Foe v. 292 A penny trash, shoe-horned upon the public for buyers, by the addition of the Shortest Way with Daniel De Foe. 1901 North Western Daily Mail (Barrow) 6 Mar., A non-expert.. who is shoehorned into a position like that of the War Secretary. b. To manoeuvre or compress (someone or something) into (in, on to) an inadequate space (occas. into an inadequate period of time). 1927 D. L. Sayers Unnatural Death vi. 64 He shoehomed himself into his seat [in a motor car]. 1954 Archit. Rev. CXVI. 212/1 For the second edition he shoehorned in material on Eiffel, Maillart and Alto, thus playing havoc with his illustration numbers. 1968 Economist 18 May 69/1 Big aircraft are shoe-horned on to small landing strips with only elementary navigation aids. 1969 J. Wainwright Take-over Men iii. 37 Lewis..was shoe-horning himself behind the steering wheel. 1972 Real Estate Rev. Winter 107/1 The logical-thought input might be assumed to have been forcibly pressed and shoe-horned into a preconceived formal framework. 1974 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 23 Aug. 7/2 In order to shoe-horn in more people airlines and aircraft manufacturers have given up any interest at all in comfort. 1978 Science 17 Mar. 1161/2 Nearly 140 symposia and almost 1000 speakers shoehorned into five days and nights. 1979 R. L. Simon Peking Duck ii. 19 The houses were.. shoe-horned onto thirty feet of beachfront land. 3. intr. To act as a ‘shoe-horn’ at a sale. dial. (Cf. SHOE-HORN sb. 2.) 1904 Eng. Dial. Diet. shoeing ('Juiuj), vbl. sb. Forms: 4-6 shoyng(e, (4 ssoinge), 4-7 shoing, 5 schoynge, schoing, 5-6 scho(w)yng,

6

showing,

showyng(e,

shouing,

(schevyng, 7 schewing), 6-8 shooing, 7- shoeing, [f. shoe v. 4- -ING1.] 1. The action of shoe v.; the action of putting shoes on a person or animal, or of furnishing a pile, wheel, etc. with a shoe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 447/2 Schoynge, of menn, calceacio. Schoynge, of hors, ferracio. 1458 Nottingham Rec. II. 366 For vj. powls schoyng and pe powls ij s. 1515 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. V. 32 Item .. for .. the schoyng of gun cartis .. iijli. xs. 1523-34 Fitzherb. Husb. §109 Enterfyre is a sorance, and cometh of yll shoynge. 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden cxii, Laid or bound to a Horses foot that is grievously pricked with shooing. 1707 Fleetwood Chron. Prec. v. 149 For Hay, Oats, Litter and Shooing. 1840 Thackeray Catherine vii, My horse wants shoeing. 1883 ‘Annie Thomas’ Mod. Housewife 67 The only broad rule that can be laid down for the successful shoeing of children is [etc.]. 2. concr. a. Shoes collectively. a 1340 Hampole Psalter evii. 10 In til ydumy i sail streke my shoynge. 1382 Wyclif Exod. iii. 5 But lowse thow thi shoyng [v.r. schone] fro thi feyt. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 394 And .. the forsaid hugh shold fynde the forsaid Anneys .. in vitaile clothyng and shoyng. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxvi. 233 They were more lyche to tormentours and deuels in hir clothyng and shoyng. 1483 Cath. Atigl. 337/2 A schoynge, ferr amentum. Ibid., Schoynge of a byschope (v.r. schon of a bischoppe), sandalia. 1530 Palsgr. 267/1 Schowyng of an horse, ferrure. b. The protective casing or covering with which a thing is shod. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 378 A strong lever, shod with iron, and having the iron shoeing bent a little upwards. 1806 Morison Decis. XXXIII. 14296 The shoeing or causewaying in the river.. must be taken away. 1870 2nd Rep. Dep. Kpr. Irel. 20 The sides of the tray are fitted with a light shoeing of wood. 1892 R. C. Leslie SeaBoat 162 Shooing, an iron band to protect the keel. 3. attrib. and Comb., as shoeing forge, -hammer, -shed, -stool, - trade; shoeing smith, a smith who shoes horses. 1889 Harper's Mag. June 13/2 Outside the town you find the ’“shoeing forges. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., *Shoeinghammer. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §418 The *shoeingshed ought to have rings in the walls for the.. halters of the

horses being shod, to be fastened to. 1809 Sporting Mag. XXXIII. 41 Mr. Goodwin, *shoeing-smith. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. I. ix. 146 ‘Should you, Pip?’ said Joe, drawing his "“shoeing stool near the forge. 1865 H. Kingsley Hillyars I. ii. 11 His business was.. what we call a good ^shoeing trade, principally with the omnibus horses.

'shoeing-horn. [shoeing vbl. s6.] 1. = shoe-horn sb. 1. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 447/2 Schoynge home, parcopollex. I523~34 Fitzherb. Husb. §142 Shoyng home, boget, and shoes. 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair 11. ii, Oyly as the Kings constables Lampe and shining as his Shooing-home. 1713 Swift Elegy Death Partridge Misc. (1727) 100 The Horned Moon, which heretofore Upon their Shoes the Romans wore.. And whence we claim our Shoeing-Horns. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Man of Many Fr. I. 250 A pair of pumps into which, with the assistance of.. a shoeing-horn, the old gentleman had compressed his proper proportions. 1855 Dickens Dorrit xxii, A little instrument like a shoeing horn for serving it [snuff] out. attrib. 1623 Fletcher Rule a Wife iv. i, Here’s a shooinghorn Chain gilt over. Proverbial. 1508 Stanbridge Vulgaria (W. de W.) Bv, His nose is lyke a shoynge home. 1659 Howell Lex., Prov. 4/1 Every one cannot have a nose like a shooing-hom.

2. fig. a. An appetizer for food or drink. 1536 Remedy for Sedition 19 b, We haue to many sawces, to many showying homes to drawe in meate. 1575 Gammer Gurton 1. i, I.. caught a slyp of bacon .. Which .. Shall serue for a shoinghorne to draw on two pots of ale. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. 11. 275 The hungry sauour of our porrige was a shooing-horne to draw downe the hardnesse of our bread. 1737 Ozell Rabelais I. 152 note, Thus we say, a Red Herring is a shoing-horn to a Pot of Ale, 1815 Scott Guy M. xxiv, This [conversation] served as a ‘shoeing-horn’ to draw on another cup of ale,

b. Something serving to facilitate a transaction, to bring on a condition, or to procure acceptance for something else. 1584 D. Fenner Def. Ministers (1587) 71 This was nothing but a shoing-horne, to pull on a page or two more. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. 1. ii. 11. vi. 115 Voluntary solitarinesse .. gently brings on as a Siren, a shooing-home, or some Sphinx to this irrevocable gulfe [Melancholy]. 1759 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 198 It appeared.. that a treaty and a purchase went on together, that the former was a shoeing-horn for the latter. 1819 Scott Leg. Montrose v, A long story, my lord,.. is .. the best shoeing-hom for drawing on a sound sleep. 1864 Sir T. Seaton From Cadet to Colonelxvii. 358 An occupation that was a certain shoeing horn for cholera. attrib. a 1704 T. Brown Walk round London, Tavern Wks. 1709 III. ill. 6 As soon as that [his money] begins to fail, then her Shooing-hom Looks and Freedoms, are turn’d into moody Pouts.

c. A person used as a tool by another; esp. one who is employed as a decoy. 1602 Narcissus 441 O, that same youthe’s the scummer of all skorne, Of surquedry the very shooing home. 1606 Shaks. Tr. & Cr. v. i. 61. 1692 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 494 Oliver had made him .. his shooing horn, merely to serve his turn. 1712 Addison Sped. No. 536 f 5 Most of our fine young Ladies .. retain in their Service .. supernumerary and insignificant Fellows, which they.. commonly call ShoeingHorns. These are .. designed .. when a good Offer comes, to whet and spur him up to the Point. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvi. vii. IV. 335 D’Arnaud—once Friedrich’s shoeing-hom and ‘rising-sun’ for Voltaire’s behoof.

f3. The Avocet: = shoe-horn sb. 3. Obs. 1668 Sir T. Browne Let. Wks. 1836 I. 400 A shoeinghom or barker, from the figure of the bill and barking note.

|4. A cuckold’s horn: see horn sb. 7. In quot. attrib. (Cf. shoe-horn v. i.) 1663 Killigrew Pars. Wedding v. iv, Fine y’ faith, none but the small Levites brow to plant your shooing-hom-seed in? How now?

Hence f 'shoeing-horn v. = shoe-horn v. 2. 1658-9 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 77 This House does not intend to trepan, or shoeing-horn, any body.

'shoekin. nonce-wd. [-kin.] A small shoe. 1844 Thackeray Contrib. Punch, Wand. Fat Contrib. ii. Wks. 1898 VI. 60 A Belgic child .. in little wooden shoekins.

shoel, obs. form of shoal sb.1 shoe-leather. Leather for the making of shoes; the leather of which (one’s) shoes are made. 1660 Boyle Spring of Air 13 A sucker,.. upon which is nail’d a good thick piece of tan’d shoe Leather. 1818 Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 119 As good a lad as ever stepped in shoe-leather. 1828-32 Webster, Shoe-leather, leather for shoes. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 89 The poor man’s loaf was .. as tough as his shoe-leather.

b. put for the wear of shoes in walking. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 319 He counteth me .. such a one as is altogether unworthy of a litle shoe leather, when he is sent for. 1675 V. Alsop Anti-sozzo iii. 114 No need to look out, if they had sufficient at Home, they might save Shooe leather. 1874 Ruskin Fors Clav. IV. xliv. 166 He walked to Ulverstone; spent nothing but shoe-leather on the road.

shoeless ('Juilis), a. Without shoes.

[f. shoe sb.

4-

-less.]

1627 Drayton Agincourt 59 A shoolesse Souldier there a man might meete. 1825 Lamb Elia Ser. 11. Barbara S-, And then came staring upon her the figures of her little stockingless and shoeless sisters. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 134 He found that the other animals were suitably furnished, but that man alone was naked and shoeless.

Hence 'shoelessness. 1843 [G. P. R. James] Commissioner xxxvi. 220 She had found her shoelessness not very pleasant.

SHOEMACK

SHOG

302

shoemack, -make, obs. forms of sumach. shoemaker ('Ju:meik3(r)).

Forms: see shoe sb.

and maker; also 6 north, shounemaker (from the plural).

shoes, f. Unami Delaware cipahko moccasins, infl. by shoe sb.] Orig., and still locally, a moccasin with an extra sole; more recently, a commercially manufactured oiled leather boot, usually with a rubber sole. Cf. pac.

1. One whose trade it is to make shoes. 1381 Rolls of Parlt. III. 112/2 Johannes Stotesbury, Childe-shomakere. £-1440 Alphabet of Tales 164 A philosophur.. pat boght a payr of shone on a tyme of a shomaker. 1519 Presentm. Juries in Surtees Misc. (1890) 32 That the shounemaker sewe well thayre shown. 1621 in Kempe Losely MSS. (1836) 430 To yc shoo maker for boots and shooes..4lj. 3s. 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. 1. 5 Our shoemaker.. employs three journeymen. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. 1. vii, His expression and stoop are like those of a shoemaker. b. in Latin proverb (cf. last sb.1 2 c.). 1587 Golding De Mornay (1592) 155 The Shoomaker ought not to presume aboue the Pantople. 1768-74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 173 Carrying the shoe-maker beyond his last, and encroaching upon the province of divines. 2. a. In the names of various fishes. [1688 Holme Armoury 11. 377/2 Table, Shoomaker fish 15 16. Ibid. 11. xv. 350 The Hollanders call it [the Tench] a Schoemaker]. 1836 J. Richardson Fauna Bor.-Amer. in. 120 Cyprinus (Catastomus) nigricans. (Le Sueur.).. This species is .. an inhabitant of Lake Erie, where it is known to the fishermen by the names of ‘Shoemaker’, and ‘Black Sucker’. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 326 The Threadfish, Blepharis crinitus.., also known as the ‘Shoemaker-fish’. Ibid. 332 The Runner, Elagatispinnulatus .., known .. at Pensacola as .. ‘Shoemaker’, is.. abundant on the .. coasts of Florida. 1891 Century Diet. s.v. Coral, Coral shoemaker, a fish of the family Teuthididae and genus Teuthis or Acanthurus, living in the coral reefs of the Seychelles. 1904 Eng. Dial. Diet., Shoemaker, the lesser weever, Trachinus viper a; also in comb. Master shoemaker. b. A name for the bird Skua antarcticus. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Egmont, or Port Egmont Fowls, the large Antarctic gulls with dark-brown plumage, called shoemakers. 3. Comb, f shoemaker-loo U.S., some game at cards. 1813 R. B. Thomas Farmer's Aim. (Boston, U.S.) Dec. in Kittredge Old Farmer & Almanack (1904) 95 Tom Teazer, well known at the grog shops for a dabster at shoe-maker loo. b. Combinations of possessive, as shoemaker's

1755 in S. M. Hamilton Lett, to Washington (1898) I. 99 It would be a good thing to have Shoe-packs or Moccosons for the Scouts. 1824 J. Hall Sketches (1835) I. 75 Gentlemen dressed in shoepacks, mocassons, leather breeches [etc.]. 1853 S. Strickland Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West II. 286 Shoe-packs, a species of mocassin peculiar to the Lower Province, cow-hide boots, and a bonnet rouge for the head, complete the costume of the Canadian lumber-man. 1882 J. M. LeMoine Picturesque Quebec 201 He came pounding along Notre Dame street, in Montreal, in his red shirt and tan-colored shupac boots, all dripping wet. 1903 S. E. White Forest x. 120 He brought to light.. oil-tanned shoepacs, with and without the flexible sole. 1940 R. Marshall Arctic Village 101 It is only in the fall and the spring that the snow is soggy, and in those seasons shoepacks with rubber bottoms and leather uppers replace the moccasins. 1977 New Yorker 20 June 69/2 After the cast comes off, I can walk with a shoepac and a cane.

craft,

2. A small or inadequate amount of money; a very little capital; a small margin. Chiefly in phr. on a shoe-string, colloq. (orig. U.S.).

but chiefly in the names

of tools

and

appliances, as shoemaker's awl, black (black sb. 1 b), end (end sb. 6 c), hammer, knife, nippers, paste,

rasp,

bark-tree

thread,

(see

wax\

quot.);

also

shoemaker’s

shoemaker’s

holiday,

f (a) see quot. 1607; also applied to Monday (see Dekker Shoemaker's Holiday in.

i);

(b) used

jocularly (after the title of Dekker’s play, a 1600) for a day’s holiday or ‘outing’ in the country; shoemaker’s spasm, a synonym given to tetany because of the

liability of shoemakers to be

affected

f shoe-maker’s

by

it;

stocks

slang,

shoes which pinch the feet. 1647 Hexham i, A ‘shoe-makers aule. 1874 Treas. Bot. Suppl., ‘Shoemaker’s bark-tree, a Montserrat name for Byrsonima spicata. 1563 Hyll Art Garden. (1593) 91 The seedes.. being mixed with ‘shomakers blacke, doth take away warts. 1530 Palsgr. 267/1 *Shoomakers crafte, cordovanerie. 1540 Maldon (Essex) Liber B. 158 Idem Andreas in arte sive occupacione de shomakerscrafte bene et fideliter serviret dictum Cornelium. 1598, etc. ♦Shoemaker’s end [see end sb. 6 c]. 1895 P. N. Hasluck Boot Making 18 A ‘shoemaker's hammer, knife, nippers, glazing iron, and rasp. Ibid. 27 ‘Shoemaker’s Rasp. 1607 Christmas Prince in. (1816) 47 Tuesday [loq.].. Bouzer I am not, but mild, sober Tuesday .. if I light not on St. Hewsday. Footnote. The ‘Shoemakers holy-day. 1768 Goldsm. in European Mag. (1793) Sept. 172/1 And now my dear boy, if you are not better engaged, I should be glad to enjoy a Shoe¬ maker’s holiday with you. 1822 Scott Let. 23 June in Lockhart (1837) V. 189 Castle Street is bad enough, even with the privilege of a hop-step-and-jump to Abbotsford, by way of shoemakers’ holiday. 1647 Hexham i, A ♦shoe¬ makers knife. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes vii, [He] would have gladly stabbed me with his shoemaker’s knife. 1688 Holme Armoury in. 349/2 These.. *Shoo-makers Nippers .. having a sharp point in the end of one [shank]; and a slit in the other, to strain up a Tack. 1866 Athenaeum Feb. 243/3 The paste to be used for all prints .. should be ‘shoemakers’ paste. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. (1910) VIII. 578 Of 399 cases [of Tetany].. 174 occurred in shoemakers (‘♦shoemaker’s spasm’). 01700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crete, ♦ Shoemakers-stocks, pincht with strait Shoes. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 420 Fasten on each side of the hole, two ends of ‘Shoomakers thread. 1603 Dekker Wonderf. Yr. Wks. (Grosart) I. 132 ‘Shooemakers waxe being laide to a byle. 1885 Leno Boot Shoemaking 221 Shoemakers’ Wax., is composed generally of.. pitch and resin, with 10 per cent, of tallow. Hence 'shoemakeress, a female shoemaker, 'shoemakerish

a.,

resembling

that

of

a

shoemaker. i860 All Year Round Sept. 523/2 They all bought their shoes of a woman who was called Mother Rousselle... The shoemakeress [etc.]. 1866 Howells Venetian Life xiv. 204 With bead-black eyes and of a shoemakerish presence. shoemaking ('Juimeikir)), vbl. sb. [f. shoe sb. + making vbl. s/>.] The making of shoes. 1611 Cotgr., Cordouannerie, Shoo-making. 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities 1. vi, The white head that bent low over the shoemaking. 1910 Mrs. H. M. Tirard Bk. of Dead i. 18 All the trades are also represented, shoe-making, boat¬ building, pottery-making [etc.]. shoepack ('Juipaek). shupac.

N. Amer.

Also shoepac,

[ad. Delaware Jargon seppock, sippack

shoer ('Ju:3(r)). Forms: 1 scoere, scoehere, 5 schoer, 6 shooer, 9- shoer. [OE. scoere: see shoe v. and -er1.] One who shoes. In OE. a shoemaker; later usually, one who shoes horses,

etc. c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) S696, Sutrinator, scoere. 0900 Leiden Gloss. 122 in O.E. Texts 115 Sutrinator, scoehere. 1483 Cath. Angl. 337/2 A Schoer, ferrarius. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 159 We should haue as many goose shooers as geese. 1861 Olmsted Journ. Cotton Kingdom I. 111 He tells Prior that if he can find a first rate shoer.. not to lose him. 1902 19th Cent. Aug. 313 The mystic shoer Wayland Smith.

shoerl, variant of schorl. 1789 Phil. Trans. LXXX. 81 Indurated clay and shoerl.

'shoe-string, shoestring.

1. A string or tie

used to fasten or lace a shoe. 1616 R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 157 A peare silk garters, with gould fring, and shewstring same. 1755 Smollett Quix. 1. iv. iii. (1803) II. 40 She is not worthy to tie her majesty’s shoe-strings.

[1882 Century Mag. Apr. 884/2 [He] could draw to a shoestring, as the saying went, and obtain a tan-yard!] 1904 Cosmopolitan May 89 He.. speculated ‘on a shoe-string’ — an exceedingly slim margin. 1926 J. Black You can't Win viii. 90 The new owners had no bankroll, just opened up on a shoestring. 1932 Atlantic Monthly Mar. 310/1 Every business man who has made a big success of himself started on a shoestring. 1957 Listener 28 Nov. 893/3 Reformative efforts have to be .. as they say, ‘run on a shoe-string’. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds xvii. 441 Australians in England, youth-hosteling on a shoestring.

3. = shoe-string potato, sense 4 c below. 1931 B. Starke Touch & Go x. 156, I.. found that the word ‘shoe-strings’ on the menu really meant Julienne potatoes. I ate every last shoe-string.

4. attrib. and Comb. a. attrib. Narrow (lit. and fig)1878 Congress. Rec. App. 13 June 478/2, I will promise to meet him on the northern border of ‘the shoe-string district’. 1897 Pop. Sci. Monthly L. 309 Bad roads and shoestring paths.. fringe them. 1953 Times 30 July 7 A shoe-string majority.

b. attrib. Operating on a shoe-string, costing or spending little; cheap, informal; petty. 1890 J. P. Quinn Fools of Fortune 494 The gamblers, aside from a lot of ‘hangers on’, known as ‘shoestring’ or ‘tin horn’ gamblers, do not figure in the criminal records. 1923 ‘B. M. Bower’ Parowan Bonanza xi. 137 The little shoestring propositions that go broke and leave empty houses behind them. 1936 Sun (Baltimore) 20 Nov. 1/5 The governors of the Federal Reserve System today proposed steps to plug up loopholes through which ‘shoe-string’ and other operators have been able to trade extensively without even posting margins. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? vi. 123 A shoe-string producer.. had bought the stock shots from Hell's Angels and Wings and needed an airplane story. 1958 Vogue Oct. 203 Winter after winter ski-crazy students flock to the snow for shoestring holidays which have been planned to the last farthing. 1959 ‘M. Neville’ Sweet Night for Murder i. 17 She talked, thought, dreamed clothes. On a shoe-string allowance, however, she could do little about them. 1977 S. Wales Guardian 27 Oct. 1/3 The Education Committee was being penny wise and pound foolish by giving some contracts to small private contractors running on a shoe-string budget and using non-union labour. 1978 J. Krantz Scruples iii. 78 The ad that launched Spider was for a new type of fingernail hardener, put out by a shoe¬ string company.

c. Special comb.: shoe-string catch Baseball, a running catch made close to the ground; shoe¬ string fungus = honey fungus s.v. honey sb. (a.) 7 b; shoe-string potato U.S., a julienne potato (see julienne 2) (chiefly pi.); shoe-string (root) rot, the disease caused by shoe-string fungus; shoe-string tie, a very narrow neck-tie. 1926 N. Y. Times 11 Oct. 25/2 Haley ran up on it and tried to make a shoestring catch of it. 1957 New Yorker 13 July 17/1 Like a shoestring catch in center field, make it and you’re the hero. Muff it and you’re a dope. 1926 F. D. Heald Man. Plant Diseases xxvi. 794 The causal fungus is generally referred to as the ‘honey agaric*.. or the ‘shoestring fungus’. 1978 T. A. Tattar Diseases of Shade Trees xxiii. 315 The shoestring-fungus, .and the two-lined chestnut borer.. are the most common organisms of secondary action. 1906 ‘H. McHugh’ Skiddoo! ii. 30 The

next course was French fried potatoes with some shoe-string potatoes on the side. 1940 Amer. Mercury Sept. 72 Old Fred Harvey started turning a shoestring potato into a 2500-mile of railroad eating-places. 1976 U. Curtiss Birthday Gift xv. 141 As fruitless as looking for shoestring potatoes in strange supermarkets. 1978 T. A. Tattar Diseases of Shade Trees x. 140 Shoestring root rot affects a wide range of shrubs and trees. 1931 E. E. Hubert Outl. Forest Pathol, ix. 417 Shoestring rot is a disease well known to the forest pathologist. 1903 F. Norris Pit 337 His shoestring tie straggled over his frayed shirt front. 1961 Sunday Express 29 Jan. 15/6 A short, dark Frenchman in a shoe-string tie.

shoey ('Ju:i). slang, [f. shoe v. 4shoeing-smith in a cavalry regiment.

-y6.]

A

1919 in War Terms in Athenaeum 1 Aug. 695/2. 1925 in Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 256. 1969 S. Mays Fall out Officers xii. 93 Shoey.. Slap some shoes on my new horse.

shof(e, shoff(e, obs. forms of shove v.1

shofar ('J3uf9(r)). Jewish ritual. Also shophar. [Heb. shophar.] An ancient Hebrew musical instrument usually made of a curved ram’s horn, still used in Jewish religious services. 1833 Children's Mag. V. 113 The crooked trumpet, or shophar, was appointed by the Law of Moses to be blown .. when the year of jubilee was proclaimed. 1864 Engel Mus. Anc. Nat. 292 The Shophar is.. the only Hebrew instrument which has been preserved to the present day in the religious services of the Jews. 1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 5 May 11 /1 The trumpet—or shophar, as it is technically called—is used in the Jewish ritual on certain festivals ‘to call the hearers to repentance’. 1891 M. Friedlander Jewish Relig. 403 The shofar is intended to awaken us. 1892 Zangwill Childr. Ghetto I. vii, The minister refused to blow the Shofar three minutes too early. 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Sept. 722/2 The blowing of the Shofar turns out to have been originally the imitation of the voice of the dying God. 1973 Synagogue Light Sept. 41/2 Every morning at the conclusion of the service a blast of the shofar reminds us of the approaching Day of Judgment.

shoffle, shofful, obs. ff. shuffle, shovel. shoful ('Jaoful). slang. Also showfull, shouful, schofell, shofle, schoful, shofel. [a. G. schofel worthless stuff, rubbish (primarily Yiddish, and thence adopted in London slang, though it has long been in ordinary German use), subst. use of G. schofel base, mean, worthless, repr. the German-Jewish pronunciation of Heb. shaphel low.] 1. Counterfeit money. Also attrib. or adj., counterfeit. Comb, shoful-man, -pitcher, one who passes counterfeit coin; so shoful-pitching. 1828 Sessions' Papers Old Bailey 1827-28 602/2 The twenty counterfeit shillings were found on me; the sister came to me and asked if I had any shofle about me, if I had to put it away. 1846 Swell's Night Guide 61 The shiser thinks to bounce us by passing a shofel quid. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 24/1 [Costermonger’s slang] Showfulls, Bad money. 1856-Gt. World London 47 The ‘♦shoful-men’, or those who plunder by counterfeits; as coiners and forgers of checks, and notes, and wills. 1859 Hotten's Slang Diet., ♦ Showfull-pitcher, a passer of counterfeit money, i860 Ibid. (ed. 2), ♦ Showfull-pullet, a ‘gay’ woman. 1863 W. B. Jerrold Signals of Distress 106 The passers of base coin, shofulmen,.. will be sensibly strengthened. 1891 Carew Autobiog. Gypsy 417 Got down and heaved the sack-ful o’ shoful into the water.

2. A hansom cab. Also (rarely) shoful-cab. [Possibly a distinct word; the explanation in quot. 1851 does not seem altogether certain.] 1851-61 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 488/2, I don’t think those ‘shofuls’ (Hansoms) should be allowed. Ibid. III. 351/1 Hansom’s, .are always called ‘showfulls’ by the cab¬ men. ‘Showfull’, in slang, means counterfeit, and the ‘showfull’ cabs are an infringement on Hansom’s patent. 1854 Househ. Words VIII. 76 A hackney cab is a shoful. 1862 Offic. Catal. Internat. Exhib. I. No. 1444 Original builders of the shofle or gentleman’s Hansom. Ibid. No. 1367 New brougham ‘shofle’. 1869 St. James' Mag. III. 285 There ought to be other conveyances beyond the ‘Growler and Shofle’.

3. A low-class tavern. ? rare. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 259/1 ‘A rackety place, sir, .. one of the showfuls; a dicky one; a free-and-easy’.

shog (Jog), sb. Now only dial, and arch. Forms: 6 schogg, 7-8 shogg, 7- shog. [f. shog v.] f 1. A shaking condition. Obs. rare. 1596 DALRYMPLEtr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 141 Gifthirtua landis he ma vanquis, Scotland, he thinkis, will be in a schogg. 1689 N. Lee Princess ofCleve iv. iii, I feel a gorgeing pain .. A shog of Blood and Spirits.

2. A shake, jerk. 1611 Cotgr., Bransle,.. a shake, shog, or shocke. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 68 Thrust in the Ladle, being full, give it a shog, then strike off the heaped Powder. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 39 [P 2 My learned friend assured me further, that the earth had lately received a shogg from a comet. 1724 Hearne Collect (O.H.S.) VIII. 280 He warned her to hold by the ropes .. that so she might not fall, if there happened any greater shog than ordinary. transf. 1728 Ramsay Fox & Rat 20 Thus thou, great King, hast by thy conqu’ring Paw, Gi’en Earth a Shog, and made thy Will a Law. 1785 Burns Address to Deil xvi, Ye cam to Paradise incog,.. An’ gied the infant world a shog. 1888 Stevenson Black Arrow Prol. 11 This will be a rare shog to poor Sir Oliver; he will turn paper-colour.

3. A shogging gait. Cf. shog v. 3. 1885 Dodge Patroclus Penelope 25 In early days, horses were mainly ridden on a canter or a gallop. If perchance a trot, it was a mere shog.

SHOG

303

shog (Jog), v. Now chiefly dial. Forms: 4-7 shogge, (5 shogke), 5-6 schog(ge, 6 shugge, (shougge), 7-8 shogg, 8 shogue, (shug), 5- shog. [ME. shogge, prob. related to OHG. scoc (pi. scocga) oscillation, swinging, a swing, MHG. schock, schocke swing, see-saw, MDu., Du. schok shake, jolt, MLG., MDu., MHG. schocker to swing, oscillate, shake. The word was doubltess felt as phonetically symbolic of the character of the movement denoted; cf. jog v. See also shock v.1]

1. a. trans. To shake or roll (something heavy) from side to side; to rock (a cradle); to shake, agitate (a liquid or the vessel containing it); to jolt or jar (some one or something). Also, to shake off a load. rare. 1388 \\ yclif Matt. xiv. 24 The boot.. was schoggid with wawis [Vulg. jactabatur fluctibus], n420 Chron. Vilod. 3015 hev houe, l>ey drawe, pey shogkeden hit [sc. the shrine] also. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. XI. 322 Of wynys soure is taught to make swete Wit barly floure... And oon doth dregge of swete wvn therto; Of gliricide [read gliciride] a part he hath infuse A1 drie, & longe yshogged it wol vse [L. utuntur, cum diu vasorum commotione miscuerint], < 1550 Droichis Part of Play 38 in Dunbar's Poems 315 He, quhen he dansit, the warld wald schog. 1625 Purchas Pilgrims II. 1659 Now their [children’s] Couch hangs in the Aire, within little Beds of coard, or little Chaires, where they shogge and rocke them. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 31 If care be taken that the tube in erecting be not shogged. 1787 W. H. Marshall Norfolk (>795) II- 388 To Shug, to shake; as hay, See. 1949 D. L. Sayers tr. Dante’s Divine Comedy I. xvii. 178 Having shogged our burden off. .away he bounded.

f b. To shake (a person) in order to cause pain or annoyance, or to rouse from sleep; to jog (a person) in order to attract attention. Also rarely to shog upon in the same sense. Obs. c 1440 York Myst. xl. 100 They schogged hym and schotte hym his lymes all in sondir. c 1495 Epitaffe, etc. in Skelton’s Wks. (1843) II. 389, I shogged him, I shaked him. 1530 Palsgr. 705/1 Shougge nat so upon him to wake hym out of his slepe. Ibid. 706/1 Shugge. 1534 More Com}, agst. Trib. II. Wks. 1189/2 Rudely and boystuously shogge hym & wake him. c 1613 Middleton No Wit like Woman’s 11. ii. 107 Philip. May I crave one word, madam? [stage-direction.] Shogs his Mother. 1651 H. More Enthus. Tri. (1656) M2, You onely mutter against the present disturbance, as one shogged while he dreams upon his pillow.

fc. fig. To ‘shake’ mentally; to discompose; to irritate, annoy. Obs.

upset,

1639 Cade Serm. 50 The deadly arrow sticks in his flesh, and shogs and galls him. 1688 Penton Guardian's Instruct. (1897) 47 His Brains have become so shogged, he cannot think in a fortnight. 1701 Steele Chr. Hero (1711) 16 Caesar .. a little shogg’d with reiterated ill Omens.

SHOLE

shogging CjDgir)), vbl. sb. [-ing1.] The action of shog v.\ a shaking, jolting, jerking, etc. ^ 144° Promp. Parv. 447/2 Schoggynge,.. agitacio. 1563-83 Foxe A. & M. 1492/1 Rogers.. being found a slepe, scarse with much shogging could be awaked. 1600 Holland Livy xxvii. xxix. 650 Scarce able to endure the shogging and shaking of the horselitter. 1725 Bradley's Family Diet. s.v. Shoeing, So as the Heads of the Nails may enter in, and fill the same, appearing somewhat above the Shoe, and then they will stand sure without shogging, and endure Danger.

b. spec, in Lace manuf. (See quots.) 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 732 One of these two combs, in the double bolt machine, has an occasional lateral movement called shogging. 1878 A. Barlow Hist. Weaving 336 This motion of the comb-bar is technically called ‘shogging’, and by its means the diagonal arrangement is given to the threads. Ibid. 362 The ‘shogging’ motion of the combs.

'shogging, ppl. a. [-ing2.] That shogs. 1581 Studley tr. Seneca's Hippol. 61 The shogging carte made crake with swagging sway, a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose s.v. Shog, A shogging horse, a 1881 J. Craig in Mod. Scott. Poets Ser. 11. 123 The mavis will sing to me,.. Aff the shoggin’ boughs o’ the sauchen tree. 1897 ‘O. Rhoscomyl’ White Rose Arno 272 A sort of shogging amble.

shoggle CjDg(3)l), v. Chiefly dial. Also 8 schogle, 9 shoogle, shogle, shuggle. [Fre¬ quentative f. shog v.: see -le. Cf. G. schockeln, schuckeln to shake, jostle, walk unsteadily.] 1. trans. To shake, to cause to move; to shake (something or somebody) off. *577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. 159 b, You must in no wise shake them, or shoggle them ..: by shaking of the egges, the Chickins haue been hatched lame. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie xxxiv, If, by ony mischance, she had been shooggled aff [the coach] whar would I hae been then? 01844 W. Miller in Whitelaw Bk. Scott. Song 6/2 Stravagin’ wuns begin To shoggle and shake the window-brods. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., To Shoggle, to joggle.

2. intr. To shake; to swing about, to dangle; to shake or settle down. c 1730 Ramsay Vision v, A braid-sword schogled at his thee. 1896 Crockett Cleg Kelly xxix, I’ll juist lock them in and they’ll [soon] hae shuggled doon as quaite as a session.

3. To walk unsteadily. 1884 Reports Provine. (E.D.D.), The old cat was shuggling about in the hole. 1896 B. Mitford Sign of Spider xxvii. 268 It stood for a moment in rigid immobility, then .. it shoggled over the ridge. Ibid. 274 The fearful Thing.. shoggled away in the direction whence it had come.

'shoggy, a. [f. shog sb. + -y.] Shaky, insecure. 1866 D. Mitchell Hist. Montrose 22 Sandy Fullerton.. ascended to the narrow shoggy scaffold at the top of the spire.

2. fa. refl. (obs.) and b. intr. To jerk or jolt; to shake to and fro, to rock; fto be shaky or insecurely fixed, to get shaken out. a. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 5018 J?an schogs hire pe sontree & schoke hire schire leues. b. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 174 As he hyet on his way .. pe box schoget out of his bosome. 15.. in Boys Sandwich (1792) 365 For amendyng of a chalys foote y* schoggyd ij d. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xvi. x. 63 Neither was he seene so much as to give a nod with his head, when the wheele shogged. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Insects 900 Let there be two handfuls distance between every Hive, that one shogging or shaking, the next may stand unmoved. 1841 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes Scot. (1870) 337 Big it [the castle] in a bog Where ’twill neither shake nor shog.

fc. intr. unsteady.

Of

troops:

To

waver,

become

1642-4 Vicars God in Mount 147 All the enemies Horse began to shogge a little.

3. a. To walk, ride or move with a succession of bumps or jerks; to jog along. Now usually, to advance at a steady easy pace, to travel steadily on. c 1400 Destr. Troy 11089 Restorit full stithly opon strong wise, Shot into sheltrons shoggond full picke. 15.. Scot. Field 94 in Chetham Soc. Misc. II, Shott into a sure shipp, and shoggeth over the water, Into Scotland. 1530 Palsgr. 704/1 The carte shogged so faste that I went ever I shulde have fallen downe. 1719 Ramsay Ep. Hamilton Answ. iii. 20 Be blythe, and let the Warld e’en shog, as it thinks fit. 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago xxviii, They shog on side by side. 1893 J. A. Barry Steve Brown's Bunyip 12 Shogging steadily on.. I at length reached the creek.

b. To go away, begone. Usu. with off. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, 11. i. 47 Will you shogge off? Ibid. 11. iii. 48 Shall wee shogg? a 1625 Fletcher Coxcomb 11. i, Come, prethee let’s shogg off, and browze an hour or two. 1884 C. M. Yonge Armourer's Prentices I. x. 192 Bolt.. bade him shog off, and not come sneaking after other folks’ shoes. 1929 J. C. Powys Wolf Solent vii. 154 Lob began to swagger slowly away. ‘I knows why you wants me to shog off,’ he called back. Ibid. ix. 208 Wolf shogged off by himself. 1962 L. R. Banks End to Running 1. v. 71 I’ll just say to hell with her, to hell with the money and the house and everything else—I’ll just shog off.

|4. Of troops: To move gradually to one side. Also trans. of a commander, to cause (troops) to move gradually to one side. Obs. 1650 Cromwell Let. 4 Sept, in Carlyle (1845) II. 45 The Enemy drew down to the right wing..; shogging also their foot and train much to the right. 1654-66 Earl Orrery Parthen. (1676) 691, I gave strict order to all my Army to shog still toward the right hand.

Hence 'shogged ppl. a. 1594 R. Carew Tasso (1881)73 Nor shogged earth so euer bideth throwes, When bigge in wombe she doth the vapours close.

Ilshogi ('Joigi). Also Sho-gi, Shongi. [Jap.] A Japanese resembling chess.

fSho-Ho-Ye, board game

1858 Japan Opened (Relig. Tract Soc.) vii. 267 The game is called Sho-Ho- Ye, and is a great favourite among the Japanese. 1884 tr.J.J. Rein's Japan II. ii. 430 Among those of which adults of all classes.. are very fond, the most conspicuous at present are Shogi, or chess, and Go. 1890 B. H. Chamberlain Things Japanese 66 Japanese chess (shogi) was introduced from China centuries ago. 1905 Cho-Yo Japanese Chess (Sho-ngi) 27 The governing class of people valued the chessological Art or Science of struggles, commonly known as Shongi (Chess). 1969 R. C. Bell Board & Table Games II. ii. 38 There are about ten million Sho¬ gi players in Japan. 1975 Way to Play 50/1 There have been many forms of shogi since its introduction in about the eighth century.

II shogun CJaugun). Now only Hist. Forms: 7 shongo, 8-9 seogun, (9 djogoun), s(h)iogoon, sjogun, 9 ziogoon, 9- shogun. [Jap. shogun, short for sei-i-tai shogun, ‘barbarian-subduing great general’, bestowed on the first holder of the office in 1192. Shogun is a Japanese soundsubstitution for Chinese chiang chiin (chiang to lead, chiin army).] The hereditary commanderin-chief of the Japanese army, until 1867 the virtual ruler of Japan. Also called tycoon. By successive usurpations of power, the Shogun or Tycoon had become the real ruler of Japan, though nominally the subject of the Mikado, and acting in his name. This state of things was misunderstood by Europeans, and it was erroneously supposed that there were two emperors in Japan, the Mikado (who was the object of a loyalty of the nature of religious devotion) being called ‘the spiritual emperor’, and the Shogun ‘the temporal emperor’. In 1867, with the abolition of the feudal system, the Mikado assumed the actual sovereignty, and the reign of the Shoguns came to an end. 1615 R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 5 His wife is sent back to her father Shongo Samme, King of Edo and to succeed in the Empire. 1727 Scheuchzer tr. Ksempfer's Japan App. 1. 65 It was thought expedient, that the Seogun, or CrownGeneral, should be sent against them at the head of the imperial army. 1863 Alcock Capital of Tycoon II. 233 The Seogun, or Dai-Seogun. 1875 N. Amer. Rev. CXX. 281 The fall of the shogun’s (tycoon’s) government. 1879 Audsley & Bowes Keramic Art Japan I. Pref., The difficulty which modern writers have found in deciding upon the correct mode of spelling the single word Shogun; in the Japanese Government Reports we find it written Shogun; Mr. F. Ottwell Adams.. writes it.. Shogun; Mr. Dickson, Shiogoon; Mr. Mossman, Siogoon; Mr. Mitford, Shogun; Dr. Siebold, Sjogun; and Mr. Satow.. Shogun.

b. attrib. as designating fashions or belonging to the Japanese feudal period.

art

1889 Sir E. Arnold Seas & Lands xiv. (1895) 226 A seated figure, which might have been taken at first for the chief triumph of the Shogun carvers’ work. 1904 D. Sladen Playing the Game 1. vi, Tied in the elegant and fantastic Shogun knots which are the formal way of fastening up presents in Dai Nippon.

Hence 'shogunal a., pertaining to a shogun, the shoguns, or the shogunate; 'shogunate, the office or dignity of a shogun or the shoguns; 'shogunite (rare), a partisan of the shogunate; 'shogunship = shogunate. 1841 Mann. & Cust. Japanese 357 The Annals begin to tell.. of rival heirs contending for the ziogoonship. 1871 A. B. Mitford Tales Old Japan I. 99 After, .the abolition of the Shogunate, he accompanied the last of the Shoguns in his retirement. 1873 Mossman New Japan 333 The despotic rule of the Mikados before the Siogoonate was established. 1883 E. M. Thompson R. Cocks' Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 5 note, Iyeyasu held the Shogunate only two years. 1890 Sir E. Arnold Seas Lands xxii. (1895) 364 The rebels, or Shogunites, were defeated. 1899 C. J. Holmes Hokusai 14 His artistic reputation had even spread to the Shogunal court.

Shoho, var. Saho sb. and a. shoir, obs. form of shore sb. and v. shoit(e, shoitte, obs. forms of shoat.2 || shoji ('Jo:d3i). [Jap.] 1. In Japanese architecture, a sliding outer or inner door made of a latticed screen covered usu. with white paper. 1880 I. L. Bird Unbeaten Tracks in Japan I. 90, I closed the sliding windows, with translucent paper for window panes, called shoji. 1922 J. Street Mysterious Japan ii. 24 Children glimpsed through the open wood and paper shoji of their matchbox houses. 1959 R. Kirkbride Tamiko iv. 28 He swung himself over the sill and dropped into her room, closing the shoji behind him. 1979 H. McCloy Smoking Mirror Inside the house there were.. sliding partitions like the panels on a Japanese shoji. 2. attrib. or as adj. 1886 J. LaFargeL^. i Sept, in Artist's Lett. Japan (1897) 217 To look out of the shoji screens into the garden. 1896 L. Hearn Kokoro ii. 19 The light shoji frames serving at once for windows and walls, and repapered twice a year. 1958 R. Gannon New Ways with Dried Flowers x. 126 (caption) Shoji type screen decorated with a variety of pressed leaves. 1967 M. M. Pegler Diet. Interior Design 407 The shoji panels are used as screens, dividers, doors that slide behind one another on a track (Japanese style), or as window coverings. 1977 Time 24 Jan. 17/1 The hero tears his way through the hard paper covering of a shoji screen.

shok, obs. f. shock sb.; obs. pa. t. of shake shoke, obs. f. shock; obs. pa. t. of shake shokinge, obs. pres. pple. of suck

v.

v.

v.

shokk(e, obs. forms of shock sb. Ishokku CJoku;). [Jap., f. shock r/>.3] Usedjoc. to denote a shock or surprise in political or economic affairs concerning Japan. I971 Time 4 Oct. 36/1 The President had convulsed Japan .. with the ‘Nixon shokku—his spectacular policy shifts on China and the economy. 1973 Time 3 Sept. 18 Indeed, the Nixon Administration’s diplomatic shokkus in 1971 did lasting damage to Japan’s relations with the U.S. 1978 Encounter Sept. 56/2 The Japanese were able to cope with their frightful ‘oil shokku’ with far more self-restraint than marked the response of other countries to the oil embargo.

II shola1 OJauta). [Hindi shola (fold) = Bengali sola.] = sola1. 1836 Fanny Parks Wand. Pilgr. (1850) II. 100 Each float was formed of eight pieces of shola... When this light and spongy pith is wetted, it can be cut into thin layers, which, pasted together, are formed into hats. 1884 Sunday at Home June 373/2, I cannot but grieve to see the graceful shola disappearing fast before the planter’s axe. attrib. 1876 J. H. Balfour in Encycl. Brit. IV. 100/2 i^Eschynomene aspera (Shola plant, the Rice-paper plant of India). 1887 Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 5) 726 They are not so durable as the Sola or Shola hats of Calcutta.

|| shola2 CJsub). Also sholah. [Tamil folai.] A thicket or jungle, in Southern India. 1862 Markham Trav. Peru India xxiii. 38 A wooded ravine or shola. Ibid. 383 There are many sholas which will be found equally well adapted for the growth of the hardier chinchonas. 1863 Sir V. Brooke in O. L. Stephen Mem. (1894) 109 She [the tigress] got weaker and weaker, let go the boar, and slunk off to the sholah.

shold(e, obs. forms of shoal. sholdarry, variant of shooldarry. sholder(e, sholdre, obs. forms of shoulder. shole (Jsul). Naut. [Of obscure origin. Cf. shoe sb. 5 j.] (See quots.) 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 26 The Transoms ought to be level, but especially the Wing Transom, securing all very well with Shores, which ought to be plac’d on Timber Foundations, called Sholes. 1805 Shipwright's Vade-M. 131 Sholes, pieces of oak or plank, placed under the soles of the standards; or under the heels of the shores, in docks or slips where there are no groundways, to enable them to sustain the weight required without sinking.

SHOLE shole, obs. form of shoal, shovel. sholt. Obs. exc. dial. Also 6 shault, 9 shoult (E. Angl. Gloss., 1895). A cur. 1587 Harrison England hi. vii. 231/2 in Holinshed, Besides these also we haue sholts or curs dailie brought out of Iseland. 1592 Greene Conny-catch. Wks. (Grosart) XI. 65 The Boy.. neuer saw a Dog nor Bitch, but a little prickeard Shaulf, that kept the Mil doore. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Sholt, a cur.

sholve, obs. var. shovel sb. sholy ('Jauli). Also sholey. Representation of U.S. Black and Southern dial, pronunc. of surely adv. 1929 H. W. Odum in Amer. Mercury Sept. 48/1 Camp sholy was roughish place. 1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet 1. ii. 56 ‘You brought it to me?’ ‘Sholy,’ Ratliff said. ‘Take it.’ 1966 M. Thelwell in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 140 Sholey. Sho, hit’ll be jes fine.

shomach, -acke, obs. forms of sumach. shomaker(e, obs. forms of shoemaker. fshome. Obs. rare. In 4 schome. ? Some kind of adornment for horses. Hence (?) schom v. trans., to adorn with this. °nne is him of?er earfepu swa some scyldjum to sconde. cnoo O.E. Chron. (MS. D.) an. 1076, Sume ge tawod to scande. C1200 Ormin i 1956 Forr patt wass.. Hiss aghenn shame & shande. c 1205 Lay. 7032 be 3unge wifmen & pe aelde he makeden to sconde. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2714 Dat Shu3te moyses michel sond. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1493 To spousy pe emperours do3ter hit nere him no ssonde. C1315 Shoreham 7 Deadly Sins 45 Wyth schame and eke wyth schounde. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 88 And shelde hem fro pouerte and shonde. c 1400 St. Alexius 80 (Laud 463) J?ou most ^ole shame & shonde, al for my sake, c 1450 Lovelich Grail xiv. 28 With his Ax he wrowhte hem Mochel schonde.

SHOO

304 t shond, sb.2 Obs. Forms: 1 sceand, scond, 3 sconde. [OE. scand, segnd: see prec.] An infamous person, a deceiver, charlatan, recreant. C725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) S 165 Scurra, scond. c 1000 /Elfric Saints xvii. 159 Ac t?yllice sceandas sceolan sifiian to helle. c 1205 Lay. 23668 Beon he in aelche londe iquefie for ane sconde.

t shond, v. Obs. rare. [f. shond sb.1 Cf. shend v.] trans. To harm, injure. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 226 pe Sarazins do grete wreche, pe Cristen for to schond. c 1450 Lovelich Grail xiii. 886 For Erthly Man was non leveng In londe That so moche he hated, ne wolde schonde.

t'shondful, a. Obs. [OE. sceandfull, f. OE. sceand shond sb.1 4- -ful.] Shameful, disgraceful; infamous. Hence t 'shondfully adv. is him wule J?unche swifie strong and swifie scondful J>et he [etc.], c 1330 Arth. Merl. 9198 Better is to sterue worJ>schipliche pan long to liuen schandfulliche.

f'shondly, a. Obs. Forms: see shond sb.1 Also 2 sandlice. [OE. sceandlic: see shond sb.1 and -ly1.] Shameful, disgraceful, vile. 888 Alfred Boeth. xiv. §3 5if hit aer scandlic waes, ne bifi hit no 8y faegerre. a 1175 Cott. Horn. 239 Wat sceol se wrecce don pe bufon isegfi his hlaford.. him selfe bi sandlice senne beswapen. c 1205 Lay. 2274 Ne seal pe nan man scilden wifi scondliche deafie. C1330 Arth. & Merl. 4276 We no haue pouer Arthour o3en .. No for Merlin,.. pat can so michel schandliche werk.

shone, pa. t. and pa. pple. of shine v. shone, obs. pi. of shoe; obs. f. shun v. Shonee, var. Shawnee a. and sb. shoneen (Jau'niin). Anglo-Irish. Also shauneen. [f. mod. Irish Seon, ad. Eng. John + -in diminutive suffix.] (See quot. 1910.) Used(esp. attrib.) to indicate a person’s inclination towards English rather than Irish standards and attitudes in cultural life, sport, etc. Hence sho'neenism. c 1840 Keegan Leg. & Poems (1907) 67 The likes of him, a bandy-legged shoneen. 1889 Times 30 Jan. 6/5, I hope to hear of ye shooting Hubert Davis .. the shauneen of a land¬ lord. 1909 Ibid. 21 Jan. 6/6 What difference did it make whether a man got a ‘shoneen’ education in Belfast or in Oxford so long as he was not educated an Irishman. 1910 P. W. Joyce English as we Speak it in Irel. 321 Shoneen, a gentleman in a small way: a would-be gentleman who puts on superior airs. Always used contemptuously. 1918 F. Hackett Ireland iii. 65 West Britonism makes us what we are, shoneenism and toadyism, so it is, they’re the curse of Ireland. 1920 B. MacNamara Clanking of Chains iv. 44 But the shoneenism of Ambrose was in more perfect keeping with the shoneen heart of Ballycullen... The songs which he sang were out of the English music halls, the books which he read were English drivel. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 311 Irish sport and shoneen games. 1927 [see pro-Britisher s.v. pro-1 5 b]. 1958 B. Behan Borstal Boy iii. 326 Now, there was a lot of shoneen writing and playing up to the herrenvolk by Rugby writers, i960 20th Cent. Oct. 324 This aunt practically invented the whole concept of shoneenism.. . She believed that God was Anglo-Saxon, Protestant.

f shongable. Obs. rare. [f. shon pi. of shoe sb. + -gable in imitation of older compounds: see gavel sb.] A tax on the making of (a particular kind of) shoes. a 1400 in Eng. Gilds 359 Euerych sowtere p1 makej> shon of newe roJ>es lej>er, shal bote.. twey pans, in name of shongable.

shonicker ('jDmk3(r)). U.S. slang. Also shoniker, shonniker. [Orig. uncertain: see quots. 1966, 1970.] An offensive name for a Jew (see also quot. 1914). 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 75 Shoniker, current among cosmopolitan thieves, especially Jews. A neophyte or inexperienced hand at the game. 1927 Dialect Notes V. 462 Shonniker, n., a Jewish pawn-broker. 1932 J- T. Farrell Young Lonigan vi. 269 Two hooknoses .. did come along. Andy and Johnny O’Brien .. stopped the shonickers. 1966 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 1964 xlii. 45 Thus folk etymology derives shonicker from Yiddish schnozzle... My colleague .. suggests a derivation from Hanukkah. 1970 L. M. Feinsilver Taste of Yiddish 338 Shon, shonk, shonky, shoncker, shonniker. These opprobrious terms for a Jew in England are supposed to have come from Yiddish shoniker (petty trader or peddler).

shonie, obs. form of shun v. f shonk, v. Sc. Obs. rare. In 5 schonk. [Of obscure origin.] a. tram. To shatter, b.intr. To burst forth. Hence f'shonkand ppl. a. (Sc.) c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 619 Thair speris in splendris sprent, On scheldis schonkit and schent. c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 147 The shafft to schonkit off the fruschand tre. Ibid. 156 Vpon the flouris schot the schonkan blude.

shonk (jDijk), sb. slang. [Shortened form of shonicker.] An offensive name for a Jew. Hence 'shonky a.1 (see quot. 1951). 1938 W. Matthews Cockney Past & Present v. 153, I diffidently suggest the following words as the most familiar slang terms rarely used except by cockneys.. shonk, nose,

Jew. 1940 R. Postgate Verdict of Twelve i. v. 75 Let’s have a bit of fun with the shonks. 1951 Partridge Diet. Slang (ed. 4) Add. 1168/1 Shonky, adj., mean; money-grubbing: late C. 19-20. 1981 ‘W. Haggard’ Money Men xv. 174 ‘Brighton? .. It’s full of shonks.’.. ‘Which means there are hotels with night clerks.’

shonke, shonne, obs. ff. shank, shun. shonkie, var. shonky a.2 shonkinite ('Joijkinait).

Geol. [f. Shonkin, Indian name for the Highwood Mountains, Montana + -ite1.] A dark granular form of syenite consisting largely of augite and orthoclase. Hence shonki'nitic a., having the character or consisting of shonkinite. 1895 Weed & Pirsson in Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. VI. 415 For this type of rock, then, we propose the name of shonkinite,.. and shonkinite we define as a granular plutonic rock consisting of essential augite and orthoclase, and thereby related to the syenite family. 1900 Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XI. 395 The relations of the ‘fine grained’ (shonkinitic) syenite to the leucite-porpyhry are uncertain. at bi6 ure imone deaS.

f36. trans. (or const, dative). To fall to the lot of. Obs. c 1200 Ormin 19952 ForrJ?i patt he Ne wollde nohht forrbujhenn To seggenn soj? biforr pe king, }?ohh J>att himm shollde shetenn To ^olenn forr hiss so)?e word Full grimme daej?ess pine.

37. fa. To avoid, escape. Sc. Obs. 1543 Sadleyr in St. Papers Hen. VIII, V. 321 The misdemeanour and evill behaviour of the Wardens of Scotland on the Borders towardes thobservation of the peax,

shoot, int. U.S. slang. An arbitrary alteration of shit int. In some instances this may perh. be regarded as an imp. use of shoot v. 11 j. 1934 Webster 2319/2 Shoot.., inter j. Pshaw! Bother! —often with it. 1941 E. Welty Curtain of Green 42 Oh, shoot, that was about three and a half years ago. 1950 R. Moore Candlemas Bay 301 ‘Oh shoot,’ she told Jen, when Jen suggested they’d better write the next batch of boarders not to come. 1979 Tucson Mag. Feb. 42/1 Back in high school, I tried other so-called sports, but I always went back to rodeo. Shoot, that’s the only sport there is.

shoot, obs. f. SHEET sb., SHOUT, SHUT. shoot, variant of shoat1 and 2. shootable ('Ju:t3b(a)l), a. [f. shoot v. + -able.] That may be shot; suitable for shooting. 1852 M. W. Savage R. Medlicott iv. iv, I rode everything rideable, shot everything shootable. 1908 Blackw. Mag. July 108/2 The binoculars disclosed the three to be ‘shootable’ beasts.

shootable, vulgar pronunciation of suitable. 1831 Miss Ferrier Destiny xlviii, The lady’s fortune is shootable', indeed, I may say, pretty handsome.

f'shootage. Obs. rare-1. In 6 shewtage. shoot v. + -age.] The art of shooting.

[f.

1546-7 in Leland Collect. (1774) IV. 320 Take Bow and Shaft in Hand, learn Shewtage to frame.

shoot-an(c)ker, obs. forms of sheet-anchor. shoote, obs. form of shout sb. shooted ('Juitid), a. [f. shoot sb.1 + -ed2.] Of a building: Supplied with ‘shoots’ or spouts. 1853 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIV. 11. 408 The farm buildings .. are shooted to carry off the drip.

314

SHOOTEE shootee

[f. shoot person shot, or shot at.

4

v.

-ee.]

The

shoot-’em-up ('JuitsmAp). slang (orig. U.S.). Also shoot-em-up, shootemup. [f. vbl. phr. to shoot them up: see shoot v. 30 e.] A fast-moving story or film, esp. a Western, of which gun-play is a dominant feature. Also attrib. (or as adj.) and Comb. 1953 Variety 11 Feb. 6/2 A standard outdoor action plot is unfolded in ‘Gunsmoke’ to make it a Western feature for the shoot-’em-up market. 1958 Washington Post 30 July A25/7 That doesn’t leave much room for anything except shoot-’em-ups. 1968 Listener 18 July 86/1 A racetrack-gang, shoot-em-up-bang plot and one of Mr Hawkes’s disturbingly discontinuous surfaces of experience are yoked by violence together. 1973 N. Y. Times 10 June vii. 28/2 The new or free-form Western has several choice entries .. ‘Oklahoma Crude’, a splendid shootemup about a lady wildcatter in the oil fields. 1976 Publishers Weekly 15 Mar. 50/2 Her decision to put expediency ahead of love nearly costs Corey his life when the shoot-’em-up finale swings the action back to North Africa.

shooter ('Ju:t3(r)).

Forms: a. 3 ssetare, 4 ssyetere, schetor, scheotere, sheeter, shetere, 5 schetare, scheter(e, sheter; /3. 4 schot(t)er, 4-6 shoter, 5-6 schuter, Sc. schutar, 6 shewter, Sc. schuiter, schutur, 7 shootter, 6- shooter, [f. shoot v. + -ER1.] I. One who shoots. 1. a. One who shoots with a bow or with firearms; in early use, an archer; now chiefly applied to a sportsman who shoots game. a. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7482 J?e ssetare [v.rr. ssetares, schetors, scheoteres, scheters, scheteres] donward al uor no3t vaste slowe to gronde. 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings xi. 24 And the sheeters dresseden dartis to thi servauntis fro the wal above. C1400 Promp. Parv. 445/2 Schetare, or archare, Sagittarius. 1450 Gesta Rom. i. 3 Whenne he sawe the sheter drawe his bowe. j9. a 1300 Cursor M. 3607 f>ou ert schotter wit pe beist, Bath in feild and in forest. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. vi. (1495) hi Shoters close the one eye for to shote the more euyn. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) II. 506 The whiche was .. the best shoter and drawer of a bowe. 1499 Exch. Rolls Scot. XI. 394 Gif thare be .. within .. forestis .. schutaris. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus 1. iii. Gj b, As the archer or shoter in a crossebow directeth his eie towardes his marke. 1598-99 Aberd. Acc. in Spalding Club Miscell. V. 71 Appoyntit for calling and accusing of schuturis with gwnnis. 1611 Bible j Sam. xxxi. 3 The archers [marg. shooters, men with bows] hit him. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 101 He sends a shooter or footman to him. 1676 Shotterel & Durfey Archerie reviv'd 10 Mark what Grace Sits in each line of every Shooters Face. 1778 Johnson in Boswell 9 Apr., Where there are many shooters, some will hit. 1821 Examiner 105/1 A vigorous shooter of woodcocks. 1842 Lacy Mod. Shooter 113 Some shooters nearly always, others but seldom, kill their game in style. 1865 ‘Cuthbert Bede’ Rook's Garden, etc. 232 The heads of the slaughtered sparrows would have to be produced.. to the secretary, who would note their number, and record it against the name of the shooter. 1908 B. Mallet Life Earl Northbrook 2.7b Joining the shooters at lunch.

fb. transf. (appositively). Obs. C 1381 Chaucer Pari. Foules 180 The saylynge fyr, the cipresse deth to pleyne, The shetere [v.rr. sheter, shoter, scheter] Ew, the Asp for shaftys pleyne.

fc. The constellation Sagittarius. Obs. 1386 Almanack 1 The Schoter es pe principal howce of Saturne. 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. Cijb, Then From Scorpio, Saturne to the Shooter’s straide.

fd. The guard of a coach. Obs. The ‘guard’, as the name implies, was originally armed for the protection of the passengers: see guard sb. 7 b. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story i, A nod for the ‘shooter’ or guard, and a bow for the dragsman. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 342/1 (Driving), Shooter, a name given to coach guards in the olden time.

2. a. The man who ‘shoots’ a seine-net. 1855 Leifchild Cornwall 13 The men who cast this net are termed the ‘shooters’.

b. Sport. One who kicks or drives a ball at goal; also in extended use in Basketball, Netball, etc. 1901 A. Farrell Ice Hockey & Ice Polo Guide 54 The goaler.. may skate out to meet him, being careful that he is directly in line between shooter and goal. 1922 W. E. Meanwell Basket Ball for Men vii. 68 Line throwing is the chief fault with most shooters. 1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 181/1 Previously, a star shooter could attempt all free throws for his team. 1963 C. Glyn Don't knock Corners Off xxi. 178, I stood and shivered as Miss Pratt picked people for the netball teams... ‘You can be Shooter. ’ 1978 T. L. Smith Money War (1979) III. 218 The only gambit he could think of was darts. He was the fifth best shooter in the very active St. Louis league.

c. One who throws a die or marble. Cf. also crap-shooter s.v. crap sb.4 2. 1910 A. Bennett Clayhanger 1. i. 9 The bearded shooter, pleased by this tribute.. twisted his white apron. 1926 [see little Joe s.v. little a. 13]. 1969 R. C. Bell Board & Table Games II. v. 84 When any pair is thrown and the third die is 2, 3, 4, or 5, the number of the third die becomes the shooter’s point.

II. Something that shoots shooting. f3. A bolt. Obs. rare—h

1633 Herbert Temple, Artillerie iii, I have also starres and shooters too.

Hook Parson's Dau. 11. ii, The Squire was invited to a day’s shooting at Colonel Bradfield’s. 1903 McNeill Egregious English xix. 174 Grouse-shooting, pheasant-shooting, pigeon-shooting, and even rabbit-shooting. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert i. 3 Every November the coverts at Cuthbertsheugh afforded four days’ shooting.

5. With qualifying adj.: A plant that shoots (vigorously, etc.).

U shooting flying: used as noun of action to the vbl. phrase to shoot flying (28 d). ? Obs.

1731 Miller Gard. Diet. s.v. Espalier, For vigorous Shooters, twenty Feet are little enough, c 1791 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 32/2 Robust but moderate shooters. 1981 Country Life 18 June 1772/1 Sappy shooters, from which to take cuttings now. 6. ‘A board placed between cheeses under a

1727 Markland {title) Pteryplegia: or, the Art of Shooting Flying. 1766 Page {title) The Art of Shooting Flying. 1814 Dobson Kunopaedia title-p., With Instructions for attaining the Art of Shooting Flying.

1632 Sherwood, The shooter of a locke, verrouil. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 1123 The shooter of a lock; obex serse versatilis.

1837 New Monthly Mag. LI. 205 The shooter very commonly expresses much regret to the shootee. 1867 Hales Introd. to Rob. Hood Ball, in Percy Folio MS. I. 9 He [Robin Hood] is as regularly represented as a shooter as St. Sebastian in the old pictures is as a shootee.

or is used for

SHOOTING

f4. A shooting star. Obs.

press’ (Eng. Dial. Diet.). Also, in a cider press, a board laid flat on the top of the pile of must. 1586 Shuttleworths’ Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 29 Fiyffe cheffates [read chesfats = cheese-vats].. and one shewter vjs viijd. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §1316 [Cider-press], A square board, termed a shooter.

7. A contrivance for shooting or discharging the contents of sacks. 1880 J. W. Hill Guide Agric. Implements 469 An efficient Sack Lifter, Loader, Unloader, and Shooter. 8. a. With qualifying word: A gun, pistol, etc.

that shoots (well or ill). Cf. SIX-SHOOTER, b. colloq. or slang. A shooting instrument, a gun or pistol, esp. a revolver.

d. An exclusive right to shoot game on a particular estate or tract of country. Hence also, a tract of country on which a person has such an exclusive right. Often collective plural. 1848 Clough Bothie 1. 64 Hither from lodge and bothie in all the adjoining shootings. 1854 Act 17 & 18 Viet. c. 91 §42 The expression ‘lands and heritages’ shall.. include.. shootings, and deer forests, where such shootings or deer forests are actually let. 1879 Daily News 12 Aug. 5/1 The southern shootings are reported to be very poorly stocked with birds. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 12 Aug. 4/1 The man who takes a shooting with the intent of enjoying sport upon it until he is snowed off the premises. 1896 Earl Selborne Memor. I. xv. 236 He rented, for two or three years, the shooting of Mixbury.

e. An incident in which a person is shot with a firearm.

1812 Col. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 64 The barrel was a bad and weak shooter. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iv, We got our shooters in order. 1877 Black Green Past, xiii, Then Jack drew his shooter out and shot Billy Bill through the head. 1931 E. O’Neill Hunted iv, in Mourning becomes Electra 156 Easy goes, shipmate! Stow that pistol!.. Not that I’m skeered o’ you or your shooter! 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, you Bastard v. 138 Why did you pull the shooter on the two detectives? 1972 L. Henderson Cage until Tame ix. 77 We’ll need a shooter, one barrel into the ceiling straight off. 9. Cricket. (See quot. 1897.) 1843 ‘ Wykhamist’ Pract. Hints Cricket 7 Another advantage of this mode of holding the Bat close to the ground, is the greater facility the player has in stopping ‘shooters’. 1856 Hughes Tom Brown 11. viii, The Captain stumped the next man off a leg-shooter. 1884 Q. Rev. Oct. 469 Lumpy’s favourite achievement was to bowl ‘shooters’. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 246/2 (Cricket) Shooter, a ball which on touching the ground keeps very close to the turf, often with an increase of pace.

1873 ‘ Mark Twain’ Gilded Age xlvi. 425 What some of the journals lacked in suitable length.. they made up in encyclopaedic information about other similar murders and shootings. 1977 Whitaker's Almanack 1978 590/2 During the election campaign 50 people were reported killed in shootings and bombings.

10. Public School slang. A black morning coat. ? Obs.

1528 Paynell Salerne's Reg. Ej, Mylke..doth mitigate the shotynge or prickynge of the longes. 1640 Habington Castara (Arb.) 107 The shootings of a wounded conscience. C1702 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. IX. 375 It seemed to her she felt., most violent shewtings in her back. 1710 True Acc. Tom Whigg 1. (ed. 2) 12 The shooting of my Corn. 1758 J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. (1771) 152 He felt frequent Throbbings or Shootings in the Tumour. 1818 Art Pres. Feet 27 Some, on the approach of rain, experience what is called a shooting of the corns. 1825 Scott Betrothed xxx, I was but grieved with the shooting of an old wound.

1870 Harrovian 9 Apr. 134/2 Although the use of slang words and phrases has now become almost universal among the greater portion of the community, we generally find that each University or School possesses a dialect peculiar to itself... Shooter, a shooting coat. 1920 Galsworthy In Chancery 11. vii. 181 ‘I suppose I’d better change into a ‘shooter’,’ he muttered, escaping to his room. He put on the ‘shooter’, a high collar, a pearl pin, and his neatest grey spats.

11. U.S. slang. A measure or drink of spirit, esp. whisky. 1971 Car Driver Jan. 75/1 He made his famous call for ‘shooters’. Now in case you haven’t heard, a ‘shooter’ is a Turner variation of the word ‘shot’, as in a ‘shot of likker’, and.. refers to a shot of Canadian Club mixed into a few fingers of ‘Co-cola’. 1973 W. McCarthy Detail i. 61 Let’s have a shooter and a beer. 1981 W. Safire in N. Y. Times Mag. 2 May 16/4 The word coming up fast for a straight shot is a shooter. ‘A shooter is a shot of liquor swallowed in one quick gulp,’ says Jeff Dee.

shootherly, obs. form of southerly. shooting CJuitiT)), vbl. sb.

Forms: see the vb. [ME. scheotunge, later schoting, f. scheote, schote shoot v. -F -ING1. OE. had scotung, f. scotian to shoot: see etymological note under shoot v.] The action of shoot v. 1. a. The action or practice of discharging missiles from a bow or gun. [c 1000 ^lfric Saint's Lives xxxii. 180 J>a wunda pe J?a waelhreowan haej?enan mid jelomum scotungum on his lice macodon.] a 1225 Ancr. R. 60 Also ase men weorreS mid J?reo kunne wepnen, mid scheotunge, mid speres ord, & mid sweordes egge [etc.], a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) v. 49 It semid with J?aire schoting als it war snaw. c 1450 Lovelich Merlin 11564 These kynges hadden beholden ful wel the schetyng of this cherl Every del. 1549 Latimer 6th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 161 The arte of shutynge hath ben in tymes past much estemed in this realme. 1572 Nottingham Rec. IV. 141 Matches of showttyng. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. 6? Commw. (1603) 89 Shoting in peeces, crosbowes, longbowes &c. 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 526 Much shooting with cannon and musquet was heard. 1727 [E. Dorrington] Philip Quarll (1816) 57 He daily practised shooting at a mark. 1880 Maitland Gunmaking in Encycl. Brit. XI. 294/1 When this [windage] is considerable, it is a principal cause of error in shooting.

fb. Discharge (of a bow), firing (of a gun). 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 12071 Yiff I koude wysly provyde..Fro shetyng off croos bowes. 1530 Lyndesay Test. Papyngo 439 Throuch reakles schuttyng of one gret cannoun. 1625 Peebles Charters, etc. (1872) 414 Gewine to John Frank for schiwting of the tua goineis in the steippell. I^37-5o Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 363 Shooting of canons.

c. The sport of killing game with the gun. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. State iii. xiii. 185 Shooting.. provides food when men are hungry. 1740 Gray Let. to Mother 2 Apr., The two boys.. go a-shooting almost every day. 1823 Syd. Smith Game Laws Wks. 1859 II. 28/2 There are certainly many valuable men brought into the country by a love of shooting. 1823 Byron Juan xiii. xlviii, But there’s no shooting (save grouse) till September. 1833 T.

f. Oil Industry. Detonation of an explosive charge in a well to increase the flow of oil or gas. Cf. shoot v. 34. 1914 F. A. Talbot Oil Conquest of World v. 64 ‘Shooting’ is undertaken only when the limestone or sandstone is of such a nature that it restricts the flow of oil. 1937 Amer. Speech XII. 154/1 Shooting a well, using nitro-glycerine to make oil flow. 1946 [see oil well]. 1969 Times 2 May 25/1 The international oil companies are stepping up their interest in the Irish Sea in search for oil and gas... The area involved covers at least 15,000 miles and although the ‘shooting’ will be selective, the cost will.. be.. high.

2. The feeling of a sudden pain; a thrill or dart of pain.

3. a. Sprouting, beginning to grow (of plants, also of the teeth, etc.); sudden or rapid growth. Also shooting up. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love Ep. Ded. *ij b, To shew that shootyngs vp and encrease of God’s Church beyng but from a feeble and weake begynnyng [etc.]. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 344 The shooting of Stagges homes which euery yeare fall and grow againe. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 227 Hot manures.. will bring on a speedy shooting. 1799 Underwood Dis. Child. II. 121 The shooting up of a soft fungus. 1801 Med. Jrnl. V. 569 That is what they call the shooting of the teeth. 1901 ‘Zack’ Dunstable Weir 23 What wi’ the shooting o’ the crops, and birds calling one to t’other, there was a wonderful lot of nature about.

b. concr. A shoot or collection of shoots. 1653 Bellingham Plat's Gard. Eden 66 [Carrots.] You must pare off the shooting at the upper end of the root and then lay them in sand. 1790 A. Wilson Poems & Lit. Prose (1876) II. 254 Beneath an old hedging for shelter he crawled And clung by a shooting of birch. 1886 W. J. Tucker E. Europe 100 A wild undergrowth of rank weeds and acaciashootings.

4. The sending out of shoots or spicules in crystallization. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 92 The shootings of Ice on the top of Water, a 1728 Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils 1. (1729) I. 114 Of the Stellar Shootings upon the Surface of the Regulus of Antimony. 1788 Blagden in Phil. Trans. LXXVIII. 134 The shooting of the ice. 1855 Kingsley Glaucus (1878) 35 The shooting of salts intermixed with mineral particles.

5. Football. The kicking the ball at a goal. Also in extended use in other sports, as Basketball, Netball, Hockey, etc. 1885 Field 31 Jan. 135/2 Any shooting that the centres attempted was very defective. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 518/2 The goalkeeper should run forward.. so as to attempt to tackle him [rc. the hockey player] before he can get within shooting range. 1901 Daily Express 18 Mar. 8/1 The football was .. except for poor shooting most enjoyable. 1935 Encycl. Sports436/1 It [sc. the game of netball] proceeds when .. the ball.. is received by one standing within the shooting circle. 1961 Netball (‘Know the Game’ Series) (ed. 5) 20 {heading) Footwork for throwing and shooting. 1974 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 26 Oct. 4-D/1 This system paid off in the team’s shooting this week.

6. a. In various senses of the verb. 1464 Nottingham Rec. II. 374 For shotyng of the same spyndelle. 1603 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 530/1 Cum .. privilegio lie haling, schutting, landing, peilling, drawing of nettis, [etc.]. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell, a 1 b, The shooting of London bridge at an ebbe or low water. Ibid. 166 The shooting of starres. 1694 Marten's Voy. Spitzbergen in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. 11. 120 Some are propagated by the shooting of their Row. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 7 If 2, I have known the shooting of a Star spoil a Night’s Rest. 1821 Acc.

SHOOTING Peculations Coal Trade 17 Wall’s-end coals, 471... free of expence, except the trifling expence for metage and shooting. 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 586 The operation of making the edge of a board straight is called shooting. 1846 Dickens Piet. Italy, Rome 173 Now and then, a swift shooting across some doorway or balcony, of a straggling stranger in a fancy dress. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 464/1 The ‘picking’ or shooting of the weft. 1892 Labour Commission Gloss., Shooting, the operation of emptying the sacks of coal into the consumer’s cellars or stores. Ibid., Shooting, the process by which the iron which is to form the ‘bolster’ and ‘tang’ in a genuine hand-forged table blade is welded to the steel of the blade.

b. The action or process of taking film with a cinematographic camera. 1920 I. P. Gore in Stage Year Book 56 Many companies are paying trips to the Continent for the ‘shooting’ of certain scenes in the actual ‘locations’. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? xi. 284 A director exhausted from the day’s shooting. 1955 Times 31 May 10/3 Mr. Orson Welles, for one, has shown.. the methods of ‘shooting’ which lay emphasis on rehearsals. 1979 Beautiful Brit. Columbia Spring 4 Victoria was one of the shooting locations for Harry in Your Pocket.

c* .r^^ie acti°n or process of injecting an (addictive) drug intravenously, slang (orig. U.S.). 1951 Evening Sun (Baltimore) 27 Mar. 4/1 A powerful combination of‘bernice snorting’ and heroin ‘shooting’ was called ‘blowing speed balls’. 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie 8 You don’t wake up one morning and decide to be a drug addict. It takes at least three months’ shooting twice a day to get any habit at all. 1971 Black Scholar Apr.-May 46 Mugging, theft, pimping and shooting dope are not themselves political actions.

7. shooting forth: a. an outburst; fb. concr. a projection, prominence. 1601 Holland Pliny 1. xxii. I. 88 The shooting forth of the Promontorie aforesaid some have reported to be 60 miles, others 90. 1722 Quincy Lex. Phys.-Med. (ed. 2) 16 Ancon, is the top of the Elbow, or the backward and greater Shooting-forth of the Ulna. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. vn. i, The first grand fit and shooting forth of sansculottism. 8. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib., as (sense 1 c) shooting-party, -season; (sense 1 d)

shooting-place, -tenant', (sense 6 b) shooting schedule, script. Also designating clothing worn or equipment used by a person engaged in shooting, as shooting-boot (also (fig.) in sense 5), -canoe, -coat, dress, -gear, -horse, -jacket, shoe, -stocking, -suit. 1855 ‘C. Idle’ Hints Shooting & Fishing 34 To return from this digression on ^shooting boots. 1894 Country Gentleman's Catal. 154 Fagg Brothers,.. makers of shooting boots to H. R. H. The Duke of Saxe-Coburg. 1947 Sporting Mirror 7 Nov. 11/3 Grimsby were having a sad and sorry season until the unexpected revival at Manchester United when Cairns found his shooting boots. 1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident 26 Everyone knows he’s a deadly shot when his shooting-boots are on. 1978 Cornish Guardian 27 Apr. 5/5 Tintagel found their shooting boots in the second half of their game. 1842 Lacy Mod. Shooter 443 Going afloat in a *shooting-canoe for the first time. 1840 John Bull 3 Oct. 469/2 Advt., A superb Collection of *Shooting Coats. 1884 J. Hatton in Harper's Mag. Feb. 337/i An old velvet shooting coat. 1794 J. Woodforde Diary 27 Oct. (1929) IV. 149, I met Mr. Stoughton .. in a ““Shooting Dress. 1852 J. R. Planche Day of Reckoning ill. i. 30 Claude.. in a shooting dress, is seated on the steps of the terrace, examining the lock of his gun. 1555 in Richmond Wills (Surtees) 106, I beqweth unto John Cawrew.. all my husband’s *shotyng gere. 1850 R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 14 These drove their *shooting-horses loose behind the waggon. 1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 16 A splendid shooting horse. 1796 Jane Austen Let. 5 Sept. (1952) 11 Let me know.. how many of the Gentlemen, Musicians & Waiters, he will have persuaded to come in their ‘Shooting Jackets. 1831 Col. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 28, I slipped on my shooting jacket. 1776 Earl Carlisle in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) III. 154, I was only absent two days from home on a ‘shooting-party. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxii, There were shooting-parties and battues. 1819 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) IV. ix. 308 He really thought of getting some ‘shooting-place in Scotland. 1950 ‘E. Crispin’ Frequent Hearses i. 36 ‘It would be possible for me to meet her?’.. ‘That depends on the ‘shooting schedules. The film’s on the floor.’ 1976 M. Maguire Scratchproof i. 11 Shooting schedules were being delayed and people were beginning to say the film was jinxed. 1929 I. Montagu tr. Pudovkin s On Film Technique vi. 176 The * Shooting-script is the scenario in its final cinematographic form. 1933 A. Brunel Filmcraft 141 Here follow two sequences of the actual shooting script of 'A Light Woman’. 1976 H. Orel in M. Drabble Genius of T. Hardy 103 Perhaps John Wain exaggerates by describing the entire work [sr. The Dynasts] as a shooting script. 1781 G. Selwyn Let. 19 May in 15th Rep. R. Comm. Hist. Manuscripts App. VI. 484 in Pari. Papers 1897 (c. 8551) LI. 1 Boothby proposes to go to you in the ‘shooting season, that is near Christmas. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xlviii, To spend the shooting-season in Scotland. 1981 C. Miller Childhood in Scotland 54 The opening of the shooting seasons varied with the type of game. 1839 A. Mathews Mem. Charles Mathews III. vii. 162, I had them made after a plan of my own, for ‘shooting-shoes. 1976 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 18-24 Nov. (Advt.), The golden boot—our famous shooting shoe. 1893 Kipling Day's Work (1898) 43 The Rao Sahib, in tweed ‘shootingsuit and a seven-hued turban. 1891 Daily News 9 Apr. 2/2 That objectionable person, the ‘shooting tenant.

b. Special comb.: shooting-block, -board, an appliance to facilitate the accurate planing of the edge of a board or stereotype plate, consisting of a board or block, upon which the material is laid, furnished with a rebate to guide the plane; shooting booth, a booth at a fair in which shooting for prizes is carried out (cf. shooting

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gallery (a)); shooting box, a small country house in or adjacent to a shooting locality used as a residence while shooting; shooting brake, an estate car, now rare; orig. a light, horse-drawn wagonette designed to accommodate passengers and goods (cf. break sb.2); shooting-fish = archer 5; shooting-gallery, (a) a long room, or a booth at a fair, fitted with a target and other appliances for the practice of shooting; also fig. in colloq. phr. the whole shooting gallery = the whole shoot s.v. shoot sb.1 8; (b) U.S. slang, a place where addictive drugs may be obtained and ‘shot’ or taken by injection; shooting-glove Archery, a glove worn to protect the hand in drawing a bow; shooting-ground, (a) = sense i d; (b) that part of a gun-factory where rifles, etc. are tested; (e) a place where rubbish is shot; shooting-hole, a pit made by a sportsman for purposes of concealment; shooting-iron, a fire¬ arm, esp. a revolver; shooting-lodge = shooting-box; shooting match, a competition testing skill in shooting; also^ig. in colloq. phr. the whole shooting match — the whole shoot s.v. shoot sb.1 8; shooting phaeton = shooting brake (orig. sense) above; shooting-plane, a plane used with a shooting-board for squaring or bevelling the edges of stuff (Knight Mech. Diet. 1875); shooting-range, a place used for the practice of shooting, having the various ranges or distances marked off between the respective firing points and the targets; shooting seat = shooting stick (c) below, now rare; shootingstick, (a) Printing, a piece of hard wood or metal which is struck by a mallet to loosen or tighten the quoins in a chase; (b) slang — shooting iron (obs.); (c) a walking-stick with a handle that may be opened to form an impromptu seat, first used by shooters; shooting-tool Mining, a tool or implement used in blasting; shooting war, hostilities involving armed conflict, as opposed to cold war s.v. cold a. 19; first used with reference to U.S. involvement in the war of 1939-451812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exerc., Joinery §63 The ““Shooting Block is two boards fixed together, the sides of which are lapped upon each other, so as to form a rebate for the purpose of making a short joint. 1885 Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iv. 217/1 [Electrotyping] A shooting-block must be made. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 502 In squaring or shooting the edges of boards, the ^shooting board .. is very much used. 1900 Times 7 July 10/1 We may soon expect swings erected in the practice-ground, ’“shooting booths under..the big stand. 1970 R. Lowell Notebk. 202 The shags Flying in straight lines like duck in a shooting booth. 1812 Sir R. T. Wilson Priv. Diary (1861) I. 42 Rode to La Favorita, the king’s private ’“shooting-box, about three miles from Palermo. 1837 Lockhart Scott IV. xi. 350 John Ballantyne, who had at this time a shooting or hunting-box a few miles off in the vale of the Leader. 1912 H. J. Butler Motor Bodies & Chassis iv. 48 Wagonettes, ““Shooting Brakes, and Luggage Cars.—This type of body fulfils the requirements of the sporting dogcart, and generally has sufficient capacity to replace two of these horsed vehicles. 1934 A. G. Street Endless Furrow xvii. 301 After a few minutes occupied with introductions and drinking a glass of sherry James found himself in the shooting brake, and soon the four-in-hand swept through the gates into the town. 1948 H. McCausland Eng. Carriage iv. 77 A very neat, very sporting little brake.. intended for private use in the country with a team or pair, was the Shooting Brake, which had, behind its high box, a strong suggestion of the dog-cart in its bodywork. 1958 Times 13 Aug. 4/5 One man was killed and 11 people were injured when a shooting brake and a motor coach were in collision at Holcombe Brook, Bury, to¬ night. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) III. 34 The Beaked Chaetodon or '“Shooting-fish. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Gt. Winglebury Duel, The Pall-mall *shooting-gallery. 1897 Crockett Sir Toady Lion xix. 151 The Aunt-Sallies, the shooting-galleries, and the miscellaneous side-shows [at the fair]. 1951 Life 11 June 120/1 Sometimes he runs a ‘shooting gallery’, an establishment which not only sells the addict dope but furnishes hypodermics, a 1966 ‘M. na Gopaleen’ Best of Myles (1968) 323 Put the whole shooting gallery into a saucepan of cold water. 1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) 36 He knows this boss dyke, a real mean bull dagger. Her pad’s a shooting gallery for some of us. 1973 R. Busby Pattern of Violence v. 79 ‘Did you call in?’.. ‘Yeah. .. The whole shooting gallery ’ll be here in a few minutes.’ 1545 Ascham Toxoph. 11. (Arb.) 107 Bracer, ““shotyng-gloue, stryng, bowe & shafte. 1801 T. Roberts Engl. Bowman 294 Shooting-glove, a glove used on the shaft-hand in drawing the String. 1835 J. J. Audubon Ornith. Biogr. III. 37 There is no lack of ““shooting grounds, for every creek of salt-water swarms with Marsh Hens. 1859-61 Ramsay Remin. vi. (1870) 187 A young Englishman had taken a Scottish shooting-ground. 1868 Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munitions War 37 The shooting-grounds of the Woolwich Arsenal. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 24 May 11/1 Australia has been for too many years already the shooting ground of Europe’s rubbish. 1897 Outing Mar. 536/2 A shooting friend.. and myself were staying at a farmhouse, near the shooting-grounds. 1850 R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 21 At night I took up a position in an old ““shooting-hole beside the vley. 1775 S. Adams Let. 31 Jan. in Writings (1907) III. 172 It puts me in mind of what I remember to have heard you observe, that we may all be soon under the necessity of keeping * Shooting Irons. 1793-9 J. Gerrond Advertisement v. Wks. (1815) 109 Dear brother sportsmen, crack the springs Of these things I call shooting-irons. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 149, I shall keep this shooting-iron

tonight. 1859 Q. Victoria Leaves Jrnl. Highl. (1868) 127 Inchrory (a ’“shooting-lodge of Lord H. Bentinck’s). 1750 Acts Assembly Pennsylv. (1762) II. 33 Horse races, *Shooting-matches, or other idle Sports. 1813 Niles' Weekly Register IV. 35/1, I.. gained their applause for my activity at our shooting matches. 1896 [see con b]. 1922 D. H. Lawrence in N. Y. Times 24 Dec. 9/4 What a lively shooting match will go on between all the Jacks and the Juans! 1953 K. Reisz Technique Film Editing 11. 76 The final chase .. was best presented as a ‘battle of wits’, instead of a wild actionpacked shooting match. 1974 BP Shield Internat. Oct. 2/4 This had the effect of tilting up the whole shooting match. 1890 Coach Builders' Jrnl. 15 Nov. 181/2 Another of this firm’s exhibits was a ’“shooting phaeton... It was furnished with luncheon basket. 1898 Carriage Builders' Jrnl. Dec. p. ix/2 (Advt.), Four-wheel shooting phaeton; varnished walnut; pigskin cushions, brass mounts and lamps, mat, and gun-box complete. 1908 J. Wells Stewart of Lovedale vi. 41 One of his amusements was to practise at the *shootingrange. 1895 Army & Navy Co-op Soc. Price List 15 Sept. 954 Cane ““shooting seat. Ibid., Wood, folding Shooting Seat, can be used as a Walking Stick. 1917 Harrods Gen. Catal. 1089/2 Mills’ Patent Shooting Seats. Strongly recommended as being the lightest and best seat, it is also telescopic. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing ix. §2 The ““Shooting-stick must be made of Box. 1845 E. J. Wakefield Adventure N.Z. I. xi. 319 Every article of trade with the natives has its slang term,—in order that they may converse with each other respecting a purchase without initiating the natives into their calculations, thus pigs and potatoes were respectively represented by ‘grunters' and ‘spuds', guns .. by 'shooting-sticks'. 1866 ‘F. Kirkland’ Pictorial Bk. Anecdotes 237/2 Sambo .. fell back in confusion when the ‘shooting stick’ was brandished toward his own breast. 1882 Southward Pract. Printing (1884) 68 The shooting-stick.. transmits the pressure from the mallet to the quoin. 1926 E. P. Oppenheim Golden Beast 1. xvii. 163 Judith had already disappeared, swinging her shooting stick in her hand. 1967 Guardian 23 May 2/6 The shooting sticks will prod the roots of every stately garden. 1855 Leifchild Cornwall 112 The blasting or *shooting tools of the miner. 1941 Time 4 Aug. 15/3, 55 % - • are ready to risk some kind of ““shooting war at once. 1956 F. Castle Violent Hours vi. 51, I got into the real shooting war towards the close, at Okinawa. 1978 L. Heren Growing up on The Times iii. 86 Pat had joined me before the end of the shooting war, and was almost killed in Jerusalem.

shooting CJuitir)), ppl. a. [f. shoot v. + -ing2.] That shoots. 1. Moving swiftly, darting. 1535 Coverdale Isa, xxx. 6 The waye that is ful of parell and trouble, because of the lyon and lyones, of the Cockatrice and shutynge dragon. C1710 J. Hughes Ode to Creator iv, The shooting flame obeys th’ eternal will, Launch’d from his hand. 1798 Wordsw. Poems Imag., ‘Five years have past' 118, I.. read .. My former pleasures in the shooting lights Of thy wild eyes. 1887 Meredith Ballads & P. 151 A pool of scum for shooting flies.

2. Sprouting, growing. 1702 Pope Dryope 47 The shooting leaves are seen to rise And shade her. 1798 W. Leslie Surv. Moray iii. 278 A luxuriantly shooting grove of different species of trees.

3. Of pain: Sharp and sudden, darting, lancinating. Also of a diseased part, a corn, etc. (see shoot v. 5). c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 324 Wip sceotendum wenne. 1710 Swift Tatler No. 238 fP3 A coming Show’r your shooting Corns presage. 1752 Berkeley Tar-water Wks. III. 497 The shooting pains that precede a cancer. 1898 P. Manson Trap. Dis. xxiii. 354 Among the sympathetic pains [in liver abscess] may be mentioned shooting pains radiating over the chest. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 618 Pain is usually present from the first, it is shooting in character.

4. Cricket.

(See shoot v. i i.)

1833 Nyren Yng. Cricketer's Tutor 72 Bowling a wicket down with a shooting ball.

5. Addicted to the sport of shooting. 1891 L. B. Walford Mischief of Monica xiv, She was expecting guests from the North, ‘shooting men’.

shooting star, [shooting ppl. a.; cf. G. schiessender stern.] 1. A meteor resembling a star, that darts across the sky. (Cf. falling star.) I593 Shaks. Rich. II, 11. iv. 19. 1607 Lingua 11. vi, The shooting Starres Which in an eye-bright euening seem’d to fall. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 557 Thither came Uriel, gliding .. swift as a shooting Starr In Autumn thwarts the night. 1857 Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1. 152 This instance, the rare one of an ascending shooting star. 1872 Proctor Ess. Astron. xi. 151 The November shooting-stars. attrib. 1886 Ball Story of Heavens xviii. (1897) 378 The periodic shooting star shower known as the Leonids.

2. U.S. A Western name for the American Cowslip, Dodecatheon Meadia. 1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. 272 Dodecatheon Meadia... In the West called Shooting-Star. 1882 Garden 13 May 324/2, I send you .. two varieties of Dodecatheon. These ‘Shooting Stars’, as they are called, are very effective.

shootist ('Juitist). slang, [f. shoot v. + -ist.] One who shoots game, or who competes in a shooting-match; one skilled in shooting. Chiefly jocular or disparaging. 1864 Gold Hill (Nevada) News 15 Jan. 3/1 {heading) A Shootist. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 657 The man whose rifle brought down the largest amount of game became known as a famous shootist. 1899 F. V. Kirby Sport E.C. Africa iv. 47 Unfortunately it would not be the shootist and his party who would suffer. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 4 Sept. 18/2 J. B. Books, the protagonist of Wayne’s new movie, The Shootist,.. not only restores the legend but expands it, giving the man and his memory grace and dignity. A shootist is a man good with a gun, and J. B. Books is a retired marshal who was good enough to kill 30 men.

SHOOTLET 'shootlet. [f. shoot sb. + -let.] A small shoot. 1889 Sunday Mag. Mar. 208/1 We see the field that was all black or brown become green with little shootlets coming up.

'shoot-out. orig. U.S. Also shootout, [f. vbl. phr. to shoot it out: see shoot v. 22 d(/).] 1. A sustained exchange of shooting, a gunfight. Also fig., a dispute or competition. *953 N.Y. Times 5 July vn. 13/2 The justly famous shoot¬ out between the Earps and the Clantons in the O-K Corral. 1968 lR. Macdonald’ Instant Enemy xxx. 188 The last thing needed was the kind of shoot-out in which innocent people could get hurt. 1969 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 17 Jan. 15/3 In one ‘shoot-out’ that developed, Oakland police killed a 17-year-old Panther, Bobby Hutton, while he was unarmed. 1975 Atlanta Jrnl. 20 Jan. 1/2 In the ensuing shootout Sunday, the man who fired the shot was killed. 1976 Washington Post 19 Apr. A4/1 Church’s strategy is to have the decisive shoot-out on the Senate floor in a major public debate. 1978 Fortune 31 Dec. 59 In the quick-draw tradition of the Old Wild West stagecoach, the two major lines have responded to adversity .. by taking on one another in a fierce and profitless shootout over passenger fares. 1981 Economist 8 Aug. 34/1 The normal run of muggings, burglaries and rapes has been exacerbated by shootouts.. among ‘cocaine cowboys’.

2. transf. In Football, a tie-breaker (see quot. r978). 1978 Guardian Weekly 16 June 19/4 If the match is still tied., the teams resort to a shoot-out. Five different members of each team take a free shot at goal, starting from the 25 yard line and having five seconds to dribble the ball before shooting. If even these ten shots fail to produce a decision, they play a sudden death shoot-out until one side wins. 1979 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 1 May 48/9 Johann Scharmann converted the deciding shot in a shootout to win it for Detroit Express.

f'shootress. Obs. rare[f. shooter + -ess.] A female shooter. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xi. xli. 'shoot-up. [f. vbl. phr. to shoot up: see shoot

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v.

30 e.] 1. A furious exchange of shooting, a gunbattle, a shoot-out; also, an assault by gun-fire. 1922 Blackw. Mag. Oct. 441/2 A favourite form of amusement of the I.R.A. used to consist in what was commonly called 'shooting up’ a district: these outrages took the form of shooting at every Loyalist who appeared within range for a whole evening... Before one of these shoot-ups you might search every house in the district to be shot-up till dusk, and not find any arms ..; but soon after dusk .. men would.. distribute arms to the gunmen. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §348/4 Gun battle,.. shoot-up. 1962 Listener 20 Sept. 438/3 A shoot-up in Alcatraz. 1972 P. Dickinson Lizard in Cup ix. 122 The cops in New Jersey got him in a shoot-up with the Black Panthers. 1978 New York 3 Apr. 10/2 Were the Egyptian commandos killed by Cypriot soldiers—as the Cyprus government claims—or by the PLO? Was the shoot-up at Larnaca airport a ‘misunderstanding’ or a well-conceived plan?

2. The act of flying low over a target as if to or actually to attack. R.A.F. slang. 1942 I. Gleed Arise to Conquer vi. 62 We do a gentle shoot-up of our billets.

shoove, obs. pa. t. of shave v.; obs. f. shove. shoovelle, shoowre, obs. ff. shovel, sour. shop (Jop), sb. Forms: 1 sceoppa, 3 ssoppe, 4-5 schopp, 4-6 schop(p)e, shope, 4-7 shoppe (q.v. also as main entry), 5-6 schop, 5-8 shopp, 6 schoop, shoope, 5- shop; Sc. and north. 5 shapp, 5-6 chope, 6 choipp, 8 shap, 9 chop. [ME. (c 1300) schoppe (ssoppe):—OE. sceoppa wk. masc., occurring only in Ags. Gosp. Luke xxi. 1 as rendering of gazophylacium treasury (of the temple): — prehist. *skuppan-, cogn. w. OE. scypen shippon (:—* skuppinjb) and OHG. scopf masc., porch, vestibule (MHG. schopf str. masc., schopfe wk. masc., early and dial. mod.G. schopf porch, lean-to building, cart-shed, barn, etc.), MLG. schoppe, schuppe fern., also schoppen, schuppen masc. (adopted in mod.G.) shed. The Teut. word was adopted into OF. as eschoppe, escope (mod.F. echoppe), a lean-to booth, cobbler’s stall.] 1. a. A house or building where goods are made or prepared for sale and sold. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11222 J>e bowiares ssoppe hii breke & pe bowes nome echon. c 1386 Chaucer Cook's T. 52 He [a prentice] loued bet the Tauerne than the shoppe. 1420 Cov. Leet-bk. 21 William Oteley, wich kept a cart & horses for clensyng of the stretys, shuld haue quarterly of euery hall dorre jd., & euery schop ob. 1554 Edin. Burgh Rec. (1871) II. 288 The cordineris choippis. 1592 Arden of Fever sham 11. i. 23 You are a gouldsmith and haue a lytle plate in your shoppe. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa 11. 315 Among the artizans whosoever is the first inventour of any new and ingenious devise is .. carried .. as it were in triumph from shop to shop. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 318 One man erects a shop, to which all the workmen and all the customers repair. 1859 FitzGerald Omar lix, One Evening .. In that old Potter’s Shop I stood alone.

fb. banker’s shop: a bank. (Originally, the shop of a goldsmith or other tradesman who practised banking.) Obs. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 371 It would be., imprudent to give a prodigal son a credit in every banker's shop in London. 1796 [see banker2 i c].

2. a. A building or room set apart for the sale of merchandize, to keep shop: to exercise the calling of a shopkeeper; also occas. to take charge of a shop in the shopkeeper’s absence, shop! an exclamation used to summon an attendant or shopkeeper. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. 11. 189 Marchaundes.. Bi-sou3ten him in heore schoppes to sullen heore ware. 1435 Nottingham Rec. II. 362 A nother comon graund with a draper chope on it. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 108 A yong man . . went vnto a fayre; and when he had .. sene many shappis & mekull chafir to sell, at pe laste he come vnto a shop per ane old man [stjude. 1515 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) II. 96 Thewe .. bought.. all maner of merchandise .. and kept ane oppin Schoopp for Retaining of the same. 1560-70 J. Davis in Narr. Reform. (Camden) 63, I have kept the at the gramer skoole a great while, and am minded to have you to keepe the shopp. 1605 Chapman, etc. Eastw. Hoe 1. A 2 b, Keepe thy shoppe, and thy shoppe will keepe thee. 1682 Dryden Medal 192 Their Shops are Dens, the Buyer is their Prey. 1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northampt. 405 That Spungy Ball.. call’d.. in the Shops Bedeguar. 1770 Luckombe Hist. Printing 61 He first kept shop at the sign of our Lady of Piety. 1809 Kendall Trav. I. xii. 136 There are one or two other bookseller’s shops.. where books at least are sold. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxiii, Rob was despatched for a coach, the visitors keeping shop meanwhile. 1888 Kipling Plain Tales from Hills 242 A little wife to call ‘shorp!’ ‘shorp!’ when the door-bell rung. 1898 Punch 4 June 255/2 Millionaire (who has been shown into fashionable Artist’s studio, and has been kept waiting a few minutes). ‘Shop!’

b. transf. and fig. 1450-1530 Myrr. Our Lady 139 Saynte Ambrose sayeth, that this psalme ys.. a shoppe full of spyces of the holy gooste. 1600 S. Nicholson Acolastus (1876) 63 The shop where Nature gets her art to showe, Where crimson Roses, sleepe in beds of snowe. 1630 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 94 Our England is the very shop of the World, and Magazine of Natures dainties. 1677 Gilpin Daemonol. hi. i. 6 Temptation is the Shop of Experience.

c. The contents humorously.

of

a

shop.

In

quot.

1906 Charl. Mansfield Girl & Gods xix, A fat Jewess with a jeweller’s shop on her fingers.

d. Used to express the status or characteristics of a retail tradesman. (Cf. 8 b.) 1848 Clough Amours de Voy. 1. 125 Middle-class people .. not wholly Pure of the taint of the shop. e. [Back-formation f. shop v. 4.] An act of

shopping for purchases, colloq. i960 Housewife May 121/2 You should find it possible to have one big ‘shop’ a week with a small mid-week ‘shop’ for perishables. 1978 D. Murphy Place Apart ix. 198 It was a Saturday morning, when many go into the city centre to do their weekly ‘big shop’.

f. shop-within^a-shop, a shop which functions independently within the premises of a larger store, usu. dealing in the goods of one manufacturer. 1962 E. Godfrey Retail Selling & Organ, i. 5 Another practice.. is that of opening a shop-within-a-shop, selling the manufacturer’s goods and staffed by his employees. 1978 Country Life 5 Oct. 1054/1 Mulberry Company., makers of., high fashion accessories are opening shopswithin-shops at nine Nieman Marcus stores.

d. Glass-making. A team or gang of workers (see quots.). 1889 Harper's New Monthly Mag. July 259/1 Generally four [glass factory workers] constitute a shop, the most skilful workman (the blower) at the head, the gatherer (a young fellow) next, and two boys, one handling moulds or tools, and the other carrying the products to the annealing oven. 1905 28th Ann. Rep. New Jersey Bureau Statistics of Labor in. 201 A case in point., is the change from single blower method of doing work, which prevailed previous to 1870, to what is now known as the ‘shop system’; that is to say, three men now work together, two of them gathering glass and blowing the ware, while the third makes the neck smooth. 1949 P. Davis Devel. Amer. Glass Industry x. 230 The operation was performed by a three-worker shop composed of a gatherer, a blower, and a crimper. 1970 Awake (Austral.) 8 Jan. 23/1 The glassblowers function as a ‘shop’ of six or seven men.

e. N. Amer. A schoolroom equipped for teaching the arts of the workshop; this study as a classroom discipline. Cf. shop class, sense 9 d below. 1914 J. S. Taylor Handbook of Vocational Education iii. 54 The school shop now resembles the abode of the cabinet maker. Ibid. v. 65 The student learns much of what industrial life is like .. in the successful operations of.. the school shop. 1941 School Shop Oct. 2/2 School Shop has been established to serve shop teachers. 1948 G. O. Wilbur Industrial Arts in General Educ. ix. 127 There is some evidence which seems to indicate a close correlation between the atmosphere of the school shop and the type of learning which takes place there. 1974 J. Heller Something Happened 224 The new teachers, the old teachers,.. the shop teacher, and the science teacher (he has always been leery of shop teachers and science teachers. Perhaps because they are men.) 1978 Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 3D/1 A school .. cannot prevent a girl from taking shop or a boy from taking home economics.

4. a. colloq. or slang. A place of business; the place where one’s ordinary occupation is carried on. Also used jocularly for ‘place’, the Shop (Army slang): the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; also (Austral, slang), the University of Melbourne. 1779 E. Gibbon Let. 15 May (1956) II. 215 So much remains to be done, that I can hardly spare a single day from the Shop. 1827 T. Surr Richmond II. i. 5, I hurried off with Bucks to the office, or shop, as he called it. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diamond ii, At the shop, as we called it (it wasn’t a shop, but as splendid an office as any in Comhill) he was always talking about Vestris and Miss Tree. 1848 -Van. Fair xxxiv, Senior Wrangler, indeed; that’s at the other shop. 1889 Centennial Mag. II. ill. 218 It related how ‘a medical student came up to the Shop’ as a freshman, and ‘thought through exams, he would speedily pop’. 1899 Kipling Stalky 199 They’re goin’ up for Sandhurst, or the Shop, in less than a year. 1918 G. Wall Lett, of Airman 15, I would be quite glad to get the Shop exam results. 1964 G. Johnston My Brother Jack 260 The years at the Shop gave me nothing except a worthless B.A. and the privilege of being thrown into the University lake. 1978 G. M. Fraser Flashman at Charge no We treated each other decently, and weren’t one jot more incompetent than this Sandhurst-andShop crowd.

b. Stage slang. An engagement, a ‘berth’. Also in gen. use (rare).

3. a. A building or room set apart and fitted up for the carrying on of some particular kind of handiwork or mechanical industry; a workshop. Now often, a building or room in a factory, appropriated to some particular department or stage of the work carried on there, the shops: the workshops of a factory, as distinguished from the counting-house, offices, etc.

1885 J. K. Jerome On Stage & Off 126 After that it was next to impossible for him to get a shop (this expression is not slang, it is a bit of local colour). 1892 Cassell's Sat. Jrnl. 28 Sept. 27/2 In the long summer months,.. the artiste is frequently out of a ‘shop’, as he terms his engagement. 1922 E. Wallace Flying Fifty-Five xxx. 178 Fired, are you?.. Well, what are you going to do? Get another shop? 1978 G. Mitchell Wraiths Changelings xii. 128 He was an out-ofwork actor and was very anxious to get a shop, as he called it.

14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 599/10 Operarium, a shoppe or a werkehous. 1587 Higins Mirr. Mag., Author's Induct, iii, I gate mee strayght the Printers shops unto. 1647 A. Ross Mystag. Poet, xviii. (1675) 415 [Vulcanus] his shop was in Lemnos, where .. he makes Jupiter’s thunder. 1728 Ramsay Robt., Richy 6? Sandy 68 He bad them, .pap Their crazy heads into Tam Tinman’s shap. 1869 Kohn Iron Steel Manuf. 23 Extensive engineering and repairing shops are added to these works, c 1888 Kipling Among Railway Folk ii. Wks. 1900 XVII. 177 Four-and-twenty engines in every stage of decomposition stand in one huge shop.

5. Matters pertaining to one’s trade or profession; discourse on matters of this kind, esp. as introduced unseasonably into general conversation; chiefly in phrase to talk shop (see

b. spec, (in full shop of frames, looms): a building or apartment fitted with frames or looms and rented by workers in the weaving industries. a 1779 ‘J. H. St. John de Crevecceur’ Sk. i8th-Cent. Amer. (1925) 143 The truly economical farmer has always what we call a shop, that is, a house big enough to contain a loom. There.. our wives can., weave. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 181 /1 Other persons are renters of what is termed a ‘shop of frames’, containing eight or ten frames. 1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. iv. 142 There are in various parts of the town [Paisley] ‘shops’ of looms.

fc. fig. (Chiefly after L. ofpcina.) A place where something is produced or elaborated, or where some operation is performed. Often said of the heart, liver, or other internal bodily organs. 1545 Raynald Byrth Mankynde I. ix. (1552) 14 b, The lyuer (which is the bloud shop, wher the bloud is engendred). 1579 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 83 The very worlde itselfe .. was predestinate to be a schoolehowse and shopp of all villanyes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 43 Then gan softly feele Her feeble pulse,.. Which when he felt to moue, he hoped faire To call backe life to her forsaken shop. 1668 Culpeper & Cole Barthol. Anat., Man. 11. v. 320 That the fore-parts, the shops of generation.. might be neer the great Artery. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Hist. iv. iii. §7 The sanctuary was now become .. a shop of tyranny.

talk v. 7). a 1814 Last Act 1. iii. in New Brit. Theatre II. 379 Come, Tom, no shop now. 1856 Kingsley Let. May (D.), Three hours useless (I fear) speechifying and shop, i860 C. Fox Jrnl. 28 Sept. (1972) 232 Holman Hunt., does not talk ‘shop’, but is perfectly willing to tell you anything you really wish to know of his painting. 1902 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Apr. 924 Nurses are given to talking ‘shop’.., and the gruesomeness of their ‘shop’ makes it and them a terror to their friends. 6. slang, fa- A prison. Obs. b. The mouth.

Hence phr. shut your shop: be silent, hold your tongue. a. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Shop, a prison. b. 1868 J. Hartley Budget 32 (E.D.D.), Th’ maister oppened sich a shop ’at aw thowt th’ top ov his heead had come off.

7. Stock Exchange. The inside influences affecting or controlling a company by the exercise of special knowledge; also a name for the South African gold market. 1889 Rialto 23 May (Farmer), The latest name for the South African gold market is the Shop. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 24 Nov. 15/1 The account.. has not been barren of business in a good many of the departments of the House, although a good deal was of the speculative kind, engineered by the ‘shops’. 8. Phrases, a. With sbs.: shop and job (attrib.): ? formed by an association of permanent and temporary workers, shop to shop: carried on from shop to shop in succession. 1891 Daily News 24 Nov. 3/3 A specially summoned ‘shop and job’ delegate meeting of carpenters and joiners was held

SHOP last night. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 28 Apr. 10/1 A general inquiry and shop-to-shop visit.

b. With verbs, f to break up shop: to become bankrupt, to come to the right (or -wrong) shop: to apply to the right (or wrong) person in order to obtain something, to live over the shop, to live on the premises where one works, to mind the shop: see mind v. i i. to set up shop: to start a business; also fig. to shut up shop: to close business premises; hence, to withdraw from or bring to a close any business, to smell of the shop: (a) to indicate the spirit characteristic of a shopkeeper; (b) of remarks or expressions, to savour unduly of the speaker’s profession or calling, f to stick to the shop: to continue a business (in quot. with ref. to sense 4). c 1570 Wyfe in Morrelles Skin 596 in Hazl. E.E.P. IV. 204 He set vp his shop with haberdash ware. 1599 Dekker Shoemakers Holiday v. ii. (1610) I 4, We may shut vp our shops, and make holiday. 1650 Vaughan Sile'x Scint., Faith 19 Stars shut up shop, mists pack away, And the Moon mourns. 1659 N. R. Prov., Eng. Fr. etc. 58 He that hath not his Craft let him shut up shop. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull 11. iv, And to have these Usurers transact my Debts at Coffee-Houses, and Ale Houses, as if I were going to break¬ up Shop. 1826 J. Bannister Let. in Sotherans Catal. No. 12 (1899) 1, I shall ‘stick to the shop’ till I quit the stage of life. 1831 Mrs. Sherwood Henry Milner in. xvi. 320 Provided such double dealings did not smell too much of the shop, or indicate too much of the spirit of the common tradesman. 1837 Dickens Sk. Boz, Drunkard's Death, And what does he want?.. money? meat? drink? He’s come to the wrong shop for that, if he does. 1838 - Nich. Nick, iv, They have come to the right shop for morals, i860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. 95 The Royal Society might as well be invited to shut up shop, because Newton made huge discoveries. 1880 Payn Cotifid. Agent II. 207 To use a vulgar image, it smells of the shop. 1930 D. L. Sayers Strong Poison i. 23 ‘He’s put her into a house somewhere round about, I fancy,’ said Freddy, ‘with a typewriting office to look after and live over the shop and run those comic charity stunts of his.’ 1963 A. Huxley Let. 27 Mar. (1969) 952, I.. heard of his plans for an LSD institute... He may be more successful in setting up shop within the US. 1976 H. Wilson Governance of Britain iv. 83 In 1964-70 I lived in No. 10. In 1974 I decided that I did not want to live over the shop again, and I slept each night in my home in Lord North Street.

c. Adverbial phr. all over the shop: scattered about the place, spread out in every direction; following an erratic and undefined course; in a state of confusion. 1874 Hotten Slang Diet. 288 In pugilistic slang, to punish a man severely is ‘to knock him all over the shop’. 1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 July 1/2 Formerly, the authorities associated with our fisheries were ‘all over the shop’, if a vulgarism of the day be permissible. 1893 Kipling Many Invent. 109 To go sailing all over the shop never knowing where they’d fetch the land. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin xiv. 267 ‘Wagglin’ about a bit,’ the coxswain answered, gazing at his compass-card... ‘She’s all over the shop. Up to sou’-east one minute, an’ back to south-eighty the next.’ 1926 G. B. Shaw Intell. Woman's Guide lxxi. 345 The unconventional ones are all over the shop with all sorts of opinions. 1935 F. M. Ford Let. 15 Oct. (1965) 245 He is in the greatest danger of going slack all over the shop. 1978 J. I. M. Stewart Full Term ix. 93 At one of Anthea Gender’s [parties] one was substantially although not too obtrusively in the presence of grandees drawn from all over the shop.

9. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attributive with various notions, (a) Forming a part or an adjunct of a shop, as shop-bell, -counter, -door, -front (also attrib. and fig.), -shutter, sign, f-stall, -till (also attrib. in fig. sense), (b) Used in a shop, as shop-coat, - ledger, f -thread, f -tool. (c) Sold or kept in a shop (fsometimes = ‘officinal’), as shop-goods, f preparation, wares, (d) Performed or carried on in a shop; belonging to or connected with a shop; as f shop-business, -club, \-craft, hours, f -shift. (e) Of persons: Belonging to a shop; employed in or about a shop; as shop-boy, -clerk, -folk, -girl, •\-maid, -mate, f -merchant, -people, -wife, -woman, -worker. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford xv. 299 She.. was only extricated from her dilemma by the sound of the *shop-bell. 1972 J. Thomson Not One of Us viii. 90 The tinkle of the shop bell severed the conversation and she went through to serve. 1813 Jane Austen Pride & Prejudice I. xv. 166 Mr. Jones’s *shop boy .. had told her that they were not to send any more draughts to Netherfield. 1834 Ht. Martineau Farrers iii. 39 Sam the shop-boy. 1903 G. B. Shaw Man Superman in. 132, I breathe an atmosphere of sweetness, like a confectioner’s shopboy. 1977 Daily Times (Lagos) 25 Dec. 22/4 (Advt.), Drivers —Houseboys, Shopboys, Shopgirls, Housegirls. 1767 S. Paterson Another Trav. II. 157 No further *shop-business could be transacted that day. 1911 H. S. Harrison Queed xiii. 151 There is your public .. *shop-clerks, stenographers [etc.]. 1921 Diet. Occup. Terms (1927) §939 Shopclerk .., keeps record of amount of work done by piece workers for purpose of calculating cost and wages. "1902 Act 2 Edw. VII , c. 21 title, An Act to prohibit compulsory Membership of Unregistered *Shop Clubs or Thrift Funds. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. x, He stands at his door in his gray *shop-coat. 1822 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. 21 Sept. (1941) H. v"i- 361 One a gentlemanly, middle aged man; the other rather younger, with a dash of the *shop-counter. 1972 Listener 23 Nov. 690/1 ‘Voluntary price control’.. has certainly not worked over the shop counter where it was most needed. 1691 Siege &? Surrender of Mons III. iii. 25 O Priest-Craft, *Shop-Craft! how do ye Effeminate The Mind of Man. 1477-9 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 85 For a key to William Biases *shoppe door.

317 a 1745 Swift Works (1766) XIII. 47 Our shop-doors will be no longer crowded with so many thieves and pick-pockets. 1832 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. I. 277/1 Transported, he through the shop-door pops his head. 1977 A. Hunter Gently Instrumental v. 60 The hour of the lunchtime siesta when every shop door was closed. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 176 Persons who have.. taken the oxalic acid, under the appalling mistake of *shopfolk serving it for Epsom salts. 1835 Dickens in Evening Chron. 14 July 3/3 He.. got his butcher to skewer them up on conspicuous joints in his *shop-front. 1838-O. Twist v, A great many of the tenements had shop-fronts. 1873 Browning Red. Cott. Nt.-cap 2 Bound for some shop-front in the Place Vendome. 1934 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Jan. 61 /1 {title) Modern shopfront construction. 1961 D. Holbrook Eng. for Maturity 15, I never knew how much shop-front is behind—or perhaps in front of—teaching. 1975 Sunday Times 3 Aug. 24/6 The keening nature of the sounds resembles so often the seizing music one has heard in shop¬ front gospel churches all over America. 1820 M. Edgeworth Let. 21 May (1979) 134 The fishwomen, criers and ^shopgirls whose manners to customers are in general a curious mixture of the affected indifference .. and of the real anxiety for your custom. 1824 W. Irving Tales Trav. 11. vii. (1848) 152 A hint to all haberdashers who have pretty daughters for shop-girls, c 1855 Geo. Eliot in J. W. Cross George Eliot's Life (1885) I. vi. 364 She looked like a shop¬ girl who has donned a masquerade dress impromptu. 1951 A. Baron Rosie Hogarth 176 She forced herself to speak calmly, in her precise shopgirl’s voice. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2147/4 Remnants of Cloth and Serges, seeming to be *ShopGoods. 1796 J. Woodforde Diary 2 Apr. (1929) IV. 268 Betty Cary went wth. him, to bring home some Shop Goods. 1875 [see ABUSEFULLY adv.]. 1972 Morning Star 11 Oct. 1 Wage earners might receive more in their pay packets than they do at present but might pay more than they gained in the extra tax paid on shop goods. 1892 Act 55 Gf 56 Viet. c. 62 § 1 This Act may be cited as the *Shop Hours Act, 1892. 1967 Observer 14 May 28/7 Shop hours are 10-7 p.m. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia ix. i. (1882) II. 281 They know no more of reasoning and arguing than they do of a *shop ledger. 1659 Brome Eng. Moor iii. iii, The streight spiny *Shop-maid of St. Martins. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 343/1 Two of my *shopmates were boys. 1619 Purchas Microcosmus lv. 521 The Haberdasher of Hats (the *ShopMerchant). 1854 Mrs. Gaskell North & South xi, The pretence that makes the vulgarity of *shop-people. 1723 P. Blair Pharmaco-Bot. 1. 12 Lavender Cotton is but seldom us’d in *Shop-Preparations. 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass ill. v. 4 There’s a *shop-shift! plague on ’hem. 1851 Thackeray Eng. Hum. v. (1853) 257 ‘Milksop!’ roars Harry Fielding, clattering at the timid *shop-shutters. 1876 Remin. Old Draper 6, I used to take down the shop shutters and put them up at night. 1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 3/5 A great flame which lit up the whole sky.. and clearly illuminated the *shop signs. 1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 410/2 Trade labels on London goods sold between 1765 and 1770, are sometimes printed with the old shop sign. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World v. i. §1. 312 The things performed .. by our common English Souldier, leauied in haste, from following the Cart, or sitting on the *shop-stall. 1635 Roxb. Ball. (1890) VII. 141 Nay, if a Shoomaker me wed, his *ShopThread I can spin. 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz, Priv. Theatres, The sums extracted from the *shop-till. 1599 Dekker Shoemakers Holiday III. i. (1610) D2b, Master, ile stay no longer, heres a vennentorie of my *shop tooles. 1661 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) II. 249 All my shopp tooles and instruments belonging to my trade. 1877 Ruskin St. Mark's Rest i. §12 These mighty gaseous illuminations by which Venice provides for your seeing her *shop-wares by night. 1863 J. Thomson Poems, Polish Insurgent viii, These rich *shopwives who stare. 1753 World No. 4. 20 She enquired of the *shop-woman if she knew the gentleman. 1861 Sat. Rev. 30 Nov. 556 Plain men are quite right to do all they can for ragged boys and young shopwomen. 1896 Shop Assistant Aug. 11/2 Manchester may again be counted as a stronghold of unionism amongst *shop workers, eager and ready for the fray.. which shall emancipate the shop slaves from slavery. 1966 Listener 25 Aug. 264/2 Shopworkers’ union is to join the opposition to the Government’s wage freeze.

b. Objective and obj. genitive, as shop-holder, -shutting-, locative, as shop-bought adj.; shopdone adj. (nonce use). 1894 Bottone Electr. Instr. 26 In *shop-bought instruments glass handles are generally seen. 1888 G. M. Hopkins Let. 1 May (1956) 291, I may be able to send you one [sc. a photograph] of me, not *shop-done but artistically better. 14.. Mercers' Oath in Blades Caxton (1882) 146 Vnto suche tyme as that ye have ben.. for *shopholder amytted sworn and entred. 1880 A. McKay Hist. Kilmarnock (ed. 4) 247 He was a friend to the system of early *shop-shutting.

c. Applied to food, goods, etc., produced commercially for sale, as (often unfavourably) opposed to home-made or made to order, as shop-bread, cake, etc.; shop-bought. 1859 Geo. Eliot Adam Bede II. 1. xx. 95 A cloth made of homespun linen... None of your bleached ‘shop-rag’ that would wear into holes in no time. 1876 C. M. Yonge Three Brides II. i. 304 I’m sent for one of Herbert’s shirts... I believe their hearts would break outright if he took to shop ones. 1928 E. G. Millar Eng. Illuminated MSS. of XIVth & XVth Cent. iii. 38 Sarum Horae... These are seldom of more than mediocre quality, and are merely ‘shop’ copies. 1949 D. Smith I capture Castle xii. 203, I had .. two slices of cake (real shop cake) and milk. 1957 J. Braine Room at Top xxi. 180 It must have seemed that she was offering me a good home-cooked dinner and that I was rejecting it in favour of a slice of chalky shop bread spread with factory-made meat paste. 1975 Times 22 Nov. 11/6 As late as the 1930s the better-off continued to look down on those who.. spread ‘shop’jam on their bread. 1978 D. Murphy Place Apart xi. 229 She brought out a slice of Christmas cake... ‘It’s only shop,’ she apologised.

d. Special comb.: shop assistant, a salesman or saleswoman in a retail shop or store; shop-bill = shop-card-, shop-book, a shopkeeper’s or mechanic’s account book; spec. (U.S.) see quot.

SHOP 1856; shop-breaker, a burglar who breaks into a shop; shop-breaking, the offence committed by a shop-breaker; f shop-bulk [bulk j6.2], a shop-front; shop-card, a written or printed advertisement of the contents of a shop; shop class N. Amer., a class in which the arts of the workshop are taught (cf. sense 3 e above); t shop-cloth, a cloth laid upon the boards of a butcher’s stall; shop committee U.S. (see quot. 1923); f shop-conscience, a venal conscience; shoperaft N. Amer., an association of railway employees working in repair shops, etc.; f shopdivine nonce-wd., a divine who keeps a stock of approved spiritual medicines; shop-dropper local Austral, colloq. (see quot. 1957) (cf. dropper 1 d); fshop dust, the refuse of a shop; f shop-fellow, an intimate; shop-finish, the professional finish of an article produced in a commercial workshop (sometimes depreci¬ atory); also transf.; hence shop-finished ppl. a.-, shop-fitting, (a) pi., the fitments (as counters and shelves) with which a shop is equipped; (b) the action or process of fitting out a shop with these; hence shop-fitter; shop-gaze v. intr., to window-shop; shop-house, in S.E. Asia, a shop opening on to the pavement and also used as the residence of the proprietor; t shop-light, ? a fan-light, a window giving entrance to light from the top of a room or building; shop-like a., f (a) venal, meretricious; (b) resembling a shop; shop-list = shop-card; t shop-magistral = shop-medicine; shopmark, a private mark placed by a dealer upon his goods; f shop-medicine, an officinal medicine; f shop-note, a credit note exchangeable for goods at a shop; f shop-pad [pad sb.2 3], a thief who steals from a shop; f shop-price, a wage paid to a permanently engaged worker in a factory or workshop; t shop-purger, see shop-medicine; f shop-rid a. [after bed-rid], worn out by lying in a shop; f shop-slop, used contemptuously for shopmedicine; shop-soiled a., depreciated in value and appearance by being exposed for sale in a shop; also fig.; shop steward, a person elected by his or her fellow-workers in a factory, etc., or a branch of it as their spokesman on conditions of work, etc.; shop-talk, see sense 5; shop-thief, t (a) a dealer who carries on his business dishonestly; (b) a thief who steals from a shop; shop-ticket = shop-note; shop-walker, an assistant exercising general supervision over a department of a shop; an attendant who directs customers to that part of the premises where the goods they wish to inspect or purchase are to be found; so shop-walk v. intr., to act as a shop¬ walker; shop-work, work done in a shop or workshop; shop-worn a. = shop-soiled, (orig. U.S.) also fig. See also shop-board, etc. 1880 Girl's Own Paper 25 Sept. 612/1 There are two great enemies for the *shop assistant—the severe shop-walker.. and the inconsiderate lady-customer. 1921 Diet. Occup. Terms (1927) §775 Shop assistant.., serves customers with goods in retail shop or store, makes out bill or docket. 1977 D. James Spy at Evening xii. 86 They were mostly school kids.. or young shop assistants and working boys. 1780 Mirror No. 89 Much of the employment a shop-keeper gets, is owing to the attraction of a happy-fancied sign, advertisement, or *shop-bill. 1890 N. 6? Q. Ser. vii. IX. 432 The late Mr. Anderson.. had collected a great number of engraved shop-bills as specimens of the engraver’s art. 1609-10 Act 7 Jas. I, c. 12 § 1 No Tradesman .. shall.. be allowed.. to give his *Shoppbooke in Evidence in any Accion for any Money due for Wares [etc.]. 1798 Hutton Course Math. (1807) II. 251 My plumber has set me up a cistern, and his shop-book being burnt, he has no means of bringing in the charge. 1856 Bouvier Amer. Law Diet. (ed. 6), Shop Book, a book in which a merchant, mechanic, or other person, makes original entries of goods sold or work done. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 424 Directarii.. nighttheeues: ^shopbreakers: robbers by night. 1907 Daily Chron. 29 Nov. 5/5 They found wounds upon his body corresponding with the blows delivered upon the shop breaker. 1906 Ibid. 23 Jan. 6/2 A charge of *shop-breaking. 1586 Lupton 1000 Notable Things (1675) 288 Dr. Butler.. went close to the *shopbulks to keep himself drie. a 1843 Southey Comm.-pi. Bk. (1851) IV. 258/1 A song or sonnet on an upholsterer’s *shop card. 1948 G. O. Wilbur Industrial Arts in General Educ. xiv. 212 If students go home enthusiastic about the work in their *shop classes, a general approval of the whole school program by the parents is apt to follow. 1962 A. Lurie Love & Friendship iv. 70 On the last day of school he would take home the present he had made for his mother in shop class. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die xxxix. 435 In the shop class of the asylum school I made myself such a hat. 1501 Maldon (Essex) Court-Rolls Bundle 60 No. 4 b, Attachiatus est per xiiii pecias beff et mete precii xvii*/. et 1 *shopcloth in custodia servientis. 1908 Mod. Business Aug. 69/1 With a good *shop committee the men will not be afraid to ventilate their grievances. 1923 J. D. Hackett Labor Terms in Managem. Engin. May 344/2 Shop Committee, a committee appointed by members of a works committee for the consideration of some special labor problem. 1954 C. E. Dankert Introd. Labor x. 187 In many labor organizations there are structural units smaller than,

SHOP and subordinate to, the locals. These are the so-called shop committees, which are under the leadership of shop stewards. 1973 S. Aronowitz in G. Hunnius et al. Workers' Control 1. 105 The impulse to dual forms of struggle—shop committees, wild cat strikes, steward movements—may become important in the labor movements of the future. 1683 Dryden Dk. Guise 1. i, *Shop-Consciences, of Proof against an Oath. 1919 W. Hines Let. 10 Nov. in Official Proc. 5th Biennial Convention Railway Employees Dept. Amer. Fed. Labor (1920) 133 The fullest cooperation of., the national officers of the *Shop Crafts organizations. 1942 H. E. Jones Wages & Labor Relations in Railroad Industry 1900-1941 14 For shop craft employees, annual compensation stood at Si,754 in 1922. 1973 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Sept. 1 /4 Latest union flareup occurred .. as members of Canadian National Railways shopcraft unions walked off the job. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. II. (1673) 22 Some doubt there is that his *Shop-Divines have not the right Composition of that Medicine. 1957 CourierMail (Brisbane) 26 Nov. 2 ‘*Shop-droppers’ are truck owners who buy large quantities of fruit and vegetables at the market and sell them to shopkeepers in and around Brisbane. 1967 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 12 Feb. 18 The suppliers—known as ‘shop-droppers’—have been operating for several years. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse A 4 b, Greedinesse .. busies himselfe .. in syuing of Muck-hills and *shop-dust. 1579 Northbrooke Dicing To Rdr. A 4, A good companion and a *shopfellowe. 1923 New Statesman 6 Oct. 738/1 They [sc. early plays by Somerset Maugham] had the handy compactness, *shop-finish and alluring shinyness of a new dressing-case. 1931 R. Fry in W. Rose Outl. Mod. Knowl. 914 This last perfection of finish, for which craftsmen have adopted the excellent term ‘shop-finish’. 1938 R. G. Collingwood Princ. Art xv. 329 The slick shop-finish of a ready-made article. 1932 R. Fry Characteristics French Art 11. 43 Elsheimer’s pictures are so tight, so horribly *shopfinished and over-polished. 1885 List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 188 (heading) *Shop fitters. 1921 Diet. Occup. Terms (1927) §483 Shop fitter, receives wooden parts or sections of counters, desks, .. and other shop-fittings.. fits and joins these parts or sections together. 1951 A. Baron Rosie Hogarth 13 Fred was an engineer and Jack a shopfitter by trade. 1978 Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. (Parade Suppl.) 21/1 The 33 indicted., included., a shopfitter. 1858 P. L. Simmonds Diet. Trade Products 342 * Shop-fit tings, the counters, desks, shelves, gas-burners, and other fixtures of a shop. 1911 Rep. Labour & Soc. Cond. Germany III. vi-vii. 29 The building and shopfitting trade. 1939 C. Vernon Sweet Shop xn. xlix. 178 We give in this chapter some general hints on shop fitting and decoration. 1959 R. Buckner Design for Selling ii. 14 So many bakers are altering their shop fittings to comply with the hygiene regulations. 1977 Centuryan (Office Cleaning Services) Christmas 2/4 The firm was concentrating too much on shopfitting for one client. 1876 L. Troubridge Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 143 Shopped the whole morning—flaneed down Regent Street, *shop-gazing with true country zeal. 1946 S. Spender European Witness 21 Crowds who a few years ago were shop-gazing in their city. 1949 Malayan Pictorial Observer Aug. 9 *Shop-houses line the main street. 1957 G. W. Skinner Chinese Society in Thailand iii. 107 By the 1880’s .. the junk bazaar was .. a thing of the past... The former floating population of Chinese tradesmen moved to the two-story shop-houses built in rows along the new streets. 1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive i. 7 Where the trishaw had dropped me.. was a narrow street of shop-houses. 1978 L. Heren Growing up on The Times v. 182 The shophouse had four small rooms. The front room, or shop, was given over to a dispensary... Behind were two small bedrooms and a kitchen. 1631 A. Townshend Alb. Tn. Poems & Masks (1912) 65 Is not your studdy backward? with a *shop-light in it, where one can see nothing but the skye? 1636 B. Jonson Discov. (1640) 92 Some love any Strumpet (be shee never so *shop-like, or meritorious) in good clothes. 1849 Rock Ch. Fathers I. 222 A church is built N. and S. merely for the sake of showing itself well, shoplike, from the street. 1780 Mirror No. 89, I .. am resolved to bestow more than common pains in furnishing out as elegant a *shop-list as possible. 1665 Nedham Med. Medicinae 312 Treacle-water, a few Syrups, and 1 or 2 *Shop-Magistrals. 1592 Act 35 Eliz. c. 10 §1 That eche Weaver should weave his *Shopmarke in eche Dozen. 1801 Mar. Edgeworth Pop. Tales, Contrast Tales 1832 V. 120 His sisters unpacked them .. to set shop-marks upon each article. 1756 Law Lett. Important Subj. 170 If your physician be for your purpose, he will not load you with *shop-medicines. 1740 W. Douglass Disc. 23 The Shopkeepers giving a great Advance in Consideration of a very long Credit, and to be drawn out in *Shop Notes. 1705 Dunton Life & Errors (1818) I. vii. 261, I verily think, without restitution, such *shop-pads cannot be saved. 1838 in Rep. Comm. Hand-loom Weavers iv. (1840) 334 The few under-journeymen who .. receive from them the full *shopprice for their labour. 1665 Nedham Med. Medicinae 89 Nor is it thus only with the *Shop-purgers, but even by the ordinary Diet-Drinks used in Families, c 1610 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. i, May their false lights . . discover presses, holes, stains, and oldness in their Stuffs, and make them *shop-rid. 1706 Baynard Cold Baths 11. 267 Swallowing Bolus upon Bolus, together with a Scavengers Cart full of all their other *Shop-slops. 1898 Cycling 11 In the fall of the year ‘*shopsoiled’ machines are often to be bought for a couple of pounds or so less than at the beginning of the season. 1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) v. lix. 333 Beyrout was the door of Syria, a chromatic Levantine screen through which cheap or shop-soiled foreign influences entered. 1927 M. Arlen Young Men in Love 11. 137 Always together... That shop-soiled man and the tall girl with the curly gleaming hair. 1977 J. Wainwright Day of Peppercorn Kill 33 Not the love of a wife... A shop-soiled love—which.. he’d reject. 1904 Rules Amalg. Soc. Engineers 46 Committees may also appoint *shop-stewards to .. keep the committee posted with all events occurring in the various shops. 1928 Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry.) ill. xviii. 226 The shop-steward movement, which reached such magnitude during the War, was essentially an attempt to base the struggle for better conditions upon the natural unit of the factory. 1950 A. P. Herbert Independent Member 251 At Short’s works at Rochester.. the shopstewards threatened a strike, a 1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I- 478 This is the first big event of this election campaign—the revelation of a so-called kangaroo trial by shop stewards at the B.M.C. works. 1881 Scribner's

SHOPFUL

318

Monthly XXII. 864/2 The continual *shop-talk of three passengers opposite. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt x. 143 The shop-talk roused Paul Riesling... He was.. a very able salesman. 1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at Office 76, I must have given her my complete life story.. and virtually tons of shoptalk about my job. 1692 T. Watson Body Divin. 377 The *Shop-Thief, he steals in selling [etc.]. 1913 Everyman 21 Feb. 582/2 The spies and detectives .. watch not only for the shop-thief but seek to catch the poor assistant tripping. 1867 Rep. Paris Univ. Exhib. (1868) VI. 272 Are there any sources of profit besides the annual dividend? e.g. by *shop tickets or other advantages of a similar kind. 1905 H. G. Wells Kipps 1. vi. 135 Buggins, whose place it was to *shopwalk while Carshot served, shopwalked with quite unparallelled dignity. 1825 *n A. Nicoll Hist. Eng. Drama 1660-1900 (1959) VI. 459 (title of play) The *shop-walker. 1861 Sala Dutch Piet. xv. 235 A sort of shop-walker, whose duty it was to pace the galleries. 1896 Wells Wheels of Chance ii. 13 The shop-walker brings up parallel to the counter. 1899 W. James Talks to Teachers v. 35 Laboratory work and *shop work engender a habit of observation,.. a knowledge of the difference between accuracy and vagueness. 1932 O. E. Saunders Hist. Eng. Art in Middle Ages xiii. 157 Countless lesser Books of Hours were turned out all through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries for private patrons, but they represent mere shop-work. 1974 J. Burnett Useful Toil 11. 141 Girls could now go into shop work, into the new light factory trades and into.. clerical work. 1838 Amer. Comic All-I-Make for 1839 7 The piece of goods got kinder *shop worn, and the old man thought he’d never get her off his hands. 1849 Thoreau Week Concord Riv. 220 He is even envied by his shop-worn neighbours. 1871 P. T. Barnum Struggles & Triumphs 40 A large quantity of tin ware which had been in the shop for years and was considerably ‘shop-worn’. 1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 168 One can get shop-worn kings for less. 1909 Vachell Paladin 112 Peace with honour.. has become slightly shop¬ worn.

shop (Jdp), v. [f. shop s&.] 1. a. trans. To shut up (a person), to imprison. Of an informer, evidence, etc.: To cause to be imprisoned, to ‘get (a person) into trouble’. Also with up. Now only slang or dial. 1583 Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iv. 52 b, [They] onely shopped vp some of the Catholikes within their owne house. 1678 [? Winstanley] Four for a Penny 8 A main part of his Office [a bum-bailiff’s] is to swear and bluster at their trembling Prisoners, and cry, Confound us, why do we wait? Let’s Shop him! 1701 Sedley Grumbler in. i, He talks like a fool, and was presently shopp’d up. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 11 June (1815) 182 He did not at all doubt but that they would find matter enough to shop the evidence himself before the next jail-delivery. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xvi, It was Bartlemy time when I was shopped. 1899 TitBits 20 May 150/1 [He] volunteered for a fiver to ‘shop’ his pals. refl. 1548 Patten Exped. Scot. Bviij, Thei had likewise shopt vp themselfes in ye highest of their house.

b. To dismiss (a person) from a position or post. rare. 1864 Hotten Slang Diet. 228 Shop, to discharge a shopman. 1915 H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap xvii. 308, I would have shopped the fellow in an instant,.. had it been at any other time. He was most impertinent.

f2. To instal in a shop as a merchant, nonceuse. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. x. xx, Where Prideis coacht, Fraud shopt and Taverns drown the Soul.

3. To bring or take (an article) to a shop; to expose for sale in a shop. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. iii. 102/2 Shop the Candles, is to hang them by pounds, dozens, two or three on the two ends of a strong staff, and so a Man.. brings them to the place where they are to be. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xviii. 206 When our Goods are in a Readiness, we send them to the accustomed Place to be shopt. 1890 Charity Organis. Rev. Jan. 14, I ask my man whether he will have.. 2s., when he ‘shops’ the boots [etc.].

4. a. intr. To visit a shop or shops for the purpose of making purchases, or examining the contents. Also transf. 1764 Zeal Seasonable Alarm London 13 note, Ladies are said to go a Shoping, when, in the Forenoon, sick of themselves, they order the Coach, and driving from Shop to Shop [etc.]. 1799 Monthly Rev. XXX. 265 Venus and all the little loves, A shopping went for ring and gloves. 1845 Disraeli Sybil vi. iv, I thought Joan was going with you, and that you would be shopping. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. To-day xxxii. (ed. 3) 290 Shopping, or making pretence to shop. 1951 M. McCarthy in Holiday May 47/2 He determined to attach his name to some lasting benevolent enterprise and settled on woman’s education after cautious shopping and advice-seeking. 1973 Times 27 Feb. 16/3 The National Portrait Gallery went shopping at Phillips sale room yesterday.

b. With around. To visit different shops examining the prices of comparable goods offered for sale before making a purchase; to make purchases at different shops according to which offers the best price. Freq. transf. and fig. 1922 Management Engineering Feb. 89/1 During the war, although orders greatly exceeded production, absenteeism increased. Men took days off to ‘shop around’, knowing that if unsuccessful they would be welcomed back. 1936 D. Powell Turn, Magic Wheel 11. 195 Can’t you just see those little embryos shopping around for security. 1948 Economist 31 July 171/2 It is impossible to shop around for cheaper raw materials. 1952 A. Huxley Let. c 20 July (1969) 647 Since success depends on a satisfactory relation between the hypnotised person and the operator you must be prepared to ‘shop around’ until you find someone sympathetic as well as skilful, i960 W. Taplin Advertising iv. 83 We have., noticed the .. case .. of the people who buy advertised products and in effect accept the advertiser’s persuasion rather than spend time ‘shopping around’. 1976 J. I. M.

Memorial Service ii. 35 It’s usual to shop around a little. To send in a list of three or four colleges. Stewart

c. trans. To shop at (a store); to examine goods on sale in (a shop). N. Amer. 1955 in H. Galinsky Amerikanisches und Britisches Englisch (1957) 49 Shop the store that gives you more. 1961 Ford Times Mar. 28 (heading) Shopping the southern roadside. 1974 S. Marcus Minding Store iv. 85 One man who had shopped the entire store complained that he hadn’t found what he was looking for. 1980 ‘E. McBain’ Ghosts ii. 18 Maybe all the burglars.. were out shopping the department stores.

5. trans. To give (a person) a situation, to give (a person) work. 1808 Rules of Journeymen, Hat-Makers Finishers of Stockport in A. Aspinall Early Eng. Trade Unions (1949) iv. 110 And when any person comes wishing to be asked for, the person that goes and asks for him, to take his ticket, and in case that man is shopped, he must leave his ticket at the place he is shopped. 1855 [Burn] Autobiog. Beggar-boy 119, I travelled 1400 miles upon this occasion ere I could obtain work. At last I got shopped in Sherborne, in Dorsetshire. 1867 All Year Round 13 July 56/1 There are many men who would regard themselves as ingrates, were they not to celebrate their being ‘shopped’, after having been out of collar, by a ‘spree’.

shop,

obs. form of chop v1

1591 R. Bruce Serm. Edin. i. B 5, There are verie few that haue their heart free when the Lord shoppeth.

'shop-board,

[f. shop sb. + board sb. A counter or table upon which a tradesman’s business is transacted or upon which his goods are exposed for sale.

1.

1524-5 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 328 Paid for a shopp borde in partriches shopp in Estchepe, vj s viij d. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. 1. iii. 345 When all these bookes of Exhortations and Catechismes, lie moulding on thy shopboard. 1705 Dunton Life Errors (1818) I. vi. 72 He may starve behind his Shop-board, for want of subsistence. 1861 Sala Dutch Piet. xxi. 233 On every merchant’s shopboard similar heaps .. are tumbling out of similar sacks.

2. A table or raised platform upon which tailors sit when sewing. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet in Lyly's Wks. (1902) III. 412 One seeing all sortes of his shreddes, would thinke he had robd a taylors shop boord. 1599 Dekker Shoemaker's Holiday iv. ii. (1610) Gib, Enter Hodge at his shop boord, Rafe, Firke, Hans, and a boy at worke. 1762 Foote Orators 11. (1780) 46 One day as I was sitting cross-legged on my shop-board,.. I felt the spirit within me moving. 1837 Hawthorne Twicetold T., Toll-gatherer's Day, A dashingly dressed gentleman .. from a tailor’s shop-board.

3. attrib. a 1658 Cleveland Puritan iii, With Shop-board Breeding and Intrusion.

Shope

(Jsup). Biol. The name of Richard Edwin Shope (1902-66), U.S. physician, used attrib. to designate a transmissible papilloma of rabbits described by him in 1932 (Jrnl. Exper. Med. LVI. 793, 803), and the DNA virus which causes it. 1934Jrnl. Exper. Med. LX. 756 The Shope papilloma, as occurring in nature, manifestly falls into the group of infectious warts, condylomas, and papillomas. 1935 Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. XXXIII. 193 Shope virus from some sources gives rise to progressively enlarging papillomas, and that from others to growths which tend to disappear. 1938 Ann. Reg. 1937 349 A high molecular weight protein apparently associated with the viral activity was isolated from the Shope rabbit papilloma. 1961 R. D. Baker Essent. Path. xiii. 311 Carcinogenic viruses are known to produce the Rous sarcoma in chickens and the Shope papilloma of rabbits. 1970 New Scientist 29 Jan. 194/1 The Shope virus.. induces warts on the skins of rabbits.

shop floor,

[f. shop sb. + floor sb.1] 1. The floor of a workshop or factory, where the operatives work; the part of a factory or workshop concerned with productive as opp. to administrative work. Freq. (with hyphen) attrib. Also in phr. on the shop floor. 1951 E. Jacques Changing Culture of Factory iii. xii. 316 The workers’ representatives.. were regarded as a more reliable source of information about shop floor matters. 1956 Nature 18 Feb. 300/2 It is difficult to see how, in a Handbook of this kind, the real challenge and opportunity which shop-floor industry presents could be presented. 1962 B.S.I. News Apr. 17/2 Polymethyl-methacrylate might be understood by a chemist but ‘Perspex’ (a trade name) would be understood at shop-floor level. 1962 Listener 12 July 44/2 The lack of participation on the shop floor may be one of the underlying causes of malaise. 1967 C. Margerison in Wills & Yearsley Handbk. Management Technol. 31 The worker on the shop floor does not tend to identify himself either with the values or the goals of the manager. 1970 Guardian 11 July 11/6 The unanimous decision of a dockers’ delegate conference—shop floor democracy at its most democratic. 1977 M. Walker National Front vi. 156 The new trade union policy did not focus solely on the exploitation of racialism on the shop floor.

2. By extension, the workers on the shop floor considered collect. 1958 Listener 30 Oct. 680/2 A dispute between management and shop floor about the number of men to be employed upon a machine. 1977 Times 20 Apr. 4/7 They have decided to cancel... The shop floor is upset about it.

shopful

CjDpful). [See -ful.] As much or as many as a shop will hold.

1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. Ill) 231, I could wish you would bring me ashopfull. 1901 Spectator 12 Oct. 510/2

SHOPHAR

SHOPPING

319

One ‘shopful’ of customers may complete their purchases .. before another is admitted.

commonly called Shop-lifting. 1850 Ht. Martineau Hist. Peace (1877) III. 136 A lady was convicted for shop-lifting.

examining the goods exposed for sale. Also with around. Freq. transf.

shophar, var. shofar.

shopman ('Jopman).

1764, 1799 [see shop v. 5]. 1782 Charl. Burney in Mme. D'Arblay's Early Diary (1889) II. 300 They spent at one shopping £20 in Gauzes two or three years ago! 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xii, The delightful round of visits and shopping which forms the amusement, or the profession as you may call it, of the rich London lady. 1872 Howells Wedd. Journ. (1892) 311 They also had done a little shopping. 1940 Sun (Baltimore) 16 Feb. 24/2 By the simple expedient of ‘shopping around’ before making a deal, Walter N. Kirkman .. has succeeded in saving the State $13,300 a year in office rent here. 1971 Nature 10 Dec. 368/1 An author does much better by bargaining hard and honestly with almost any single good publishing house than by ‘shopping around’.

'shopkeeper, [f. shop sb. + keeper sb.] 1. One who carries on business in a shop. x53° Palsgr. 267/1 Schoppe kepar. 1626 B. Jonson Staple of News 1. iii. 44, I say ’tis nobly done, to cherish Shop-keepers, And pay their Bills, without examining thus. 1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 142 A shopkeeper will never thrive who despises small profits. 1817 J. Scott Paris Revis. 3 An elderly London shop-keeper.

b. a nation of shop-keepers: applied disparagingly to a nation whose chief interest and concern lies in commerce (now often, to England). Cf. quOtS. 1766, 1769 S.V. SHOPKEEPING a. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. iv. vii. (1828) III. 41 To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers.

c. attrib. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. iv. vii. (1828) 111. 43 A clause in the famous act of navigation established this truly shopkeeper proposal into a law.

2. slang. An article that has remained long in the shop unsold. 1649 G. Daniel Trtnarch., Hen. V, cccviii, Blunt Reason, as an vseless Toole they give; Old Shopkeeper, with rusted Conscience! 1764 Low Life 76 Petty Booksellers.. looking out their imperfect and antient Shopkeepers, that they may expose them to Sale.

Hence 'shopkeeperess nonce-wd., a female shopkeeper, 'shopkeeperish a., having the nature of a shopkeeper, 'shopkeeperism, the characteristics of shopkeepers as a class, 'shopkeepery, the body of shopkeepers. 1828 Miss Mitford Village III. 55 The whole farmerage and shopkeepery of the place. 1843 Carlyle Jrnl. in Froude Life Lond. (1884) I. 331 The boundless element of twaddle, dilettantism, shopkeeperism. 1858 Chamb. jfrnl. X. 261 No tight, prim, pale, eager shopkeeperesses. 1858 Clough Poems, etc. (1869) I. 120 Extremely shopkeeperish and merchantish.

'shopkeeping, sb. The keeping of a shop, the business of a shopkeeper. 1631 T. Powell Tom of All Trades 32 Little Skill, Art or Mystery, shall a man learne in Shop-keeping. 1753 Scots Mag. Aug. 374/2 If naturalized foreigners should set up shopkeeping. 1847 Grote Greece 11. xxxii. IV. 268 He advised Cyrus .. to enforce upon them .. habits of playing on the harp and shopkeeping. 1912 19th Cent. Jan. 61 His Majesty will make his rule in India a real government and not shop-keeping on the largest scale.

'shopkeeping, a. [f. shop sb. + keeping pr. pple. of keep v.] Having the characteristics of a shop¬ keeper; pertaining to a shopkeeper’s business. 1622 Rowlands Good N. & Bad N. 7 Her worship highly scorn’d shop-keeping trade. 1766 J. Tucker Four Tracts ill. (1774) 132 A Shop-keeper will never get the more Custom by beating his Customers: and what is true of a Shop-keeper, is true of a Shop-keeping Nation. 1769 Franklin Let. 27 Apr., Wks. 1838 VII. 441 This handicraft, shopkeeping state will, for its own sake, learn to behave more civilly to its customers. 1865 Sat. Rev. 7 Oct. 461/2 Nothing less suited than they are to the shopkeeping mind can be imagined.

'shopless, a. [-less.] Destitute of shops. 1888 Drummond Trop. Africa 5 This shopless.. land.

'shoplet. [-let.] A little shop. 1872 S. Butler Erewhon vii. 54 Even on this ledge of human society there was a stunted growth of shoplets.

f shop-lift, sb. Obs. [f. shop sb. + lift sb.2 (sense 6).] = shoplifter. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 106 Of the Shop lift. She is commonly well clad. Ibid. 191 The tenth is a Shoplift that carries a Bob, When he ranges the City the Shops for to rob. 1692 Scarronides 11. 1 How Grecian Shop-lifts.. Brake open honest Trojans doors. 1762 Bridges Horn. Trav. I. (1797) 297 Thus shoplifts see their brothers taken.

shoplift, v.

[Back-formation f. shoplifting vbl. $6.] To steal from a shop while pretending to be a customer, a. intr. 1820 [see SHEEP-STEAL ».]. 1843 Punch 8 Apr. 150/1 Policeman, here’s a wench Shoplifting, take the customer to jail. 1959 Times 9 Mar. (Britain’s Food Suppl.) p. ix/3 The temptation to shop-lift is one facet of the principle on which every self-service store depends. 1971 Guardian 22 Feb. 9/1 When Mrs Brown gets depressed, she starts to shoplift.

b. trans. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 741 A whore always shoplifting anything she could. 1979 K. Conlon Move in Game 1. iii. 39 She'd shoplifted a bottle of nail varnish remover.

'shoplifter, [f. shop sb. + lifter.] A person who steals from a shop, a shop-thief. 1680 [Kirkman] Eng. Rogue IV. xvii. 232 Towards Night these Houses are throng’d with People of all sorts.. Shoplifters, Foilers, Bulkers. 1770 Baretti jfrnl. Lond. to Genoa II. xxxiv. 2 A shop-lifter was once hang’d in England. 1881 A. Lang Library 47 The papers call lady shoplifters ‘Kleptomaniacs’.

'shoplifting, vbl. sb. [f. shop sb. + lifting vbl. $(>.] The action of stealing from a shop. 1698 Act 10 Will. Ill, c. 12 Preamble, The Crime of stealing Goods privately out of Shops and Warehouses,

[f. shop sb. + man s&.] 1. The owner of a shop. Now rare.

1591 in W. M. Williams Ann. Founders' Co. (1867) 74 Leaden Waits ar and have been used time out of mynd by all Shoppmen and Sellers of smaller Wares, i860 Ruskin Unto this Last iv. §76 note, He [the consumer] pays, probably, an intermediate ship-owner, velvet merchant, and shopman. 1888 Meredith Stave of Roving Tim vi, The shopman piles a heap While I perhaps am fasting.

2. An assistant in a shop. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 15 |P 2 My wife, though she could be of as much use as a shopman to me, if she would put her hand to it, is now only in my way. 1828 Ann. Reg. 370/2 William Noble, shopman with Mr. Rymer, Portsburgh, knew the prisoner Burke. 1892 [W. H. White] Mark Rutherford's Deliv. (ed. 5) 175 A shopman was at the counter. Comb. 1826 Miss Mitford Village II. 193 Home I returned,.. laden .. with huge packages,.. papered and pack-threaded in shopmanlike style.

3. A man employed in a railway workshop. 1926 Times 8 Mar. 9/4 He was glad to be able to state that the case of the railway shopmen had been advanced, i960 Listener 18 Aug. 250/1 They were trainmen, shopmen, telegraph operators, and so on, all highly specialized in their respective callings.

shopocracy (Jo'pDkrasi). [f. shop sb.: see -cracy.] Shopkeepers as a class aspiring to social importance; a wealthy or influential body of shopkeepers. So shopocrat ('Jopakraet) [-crat], a member of the shopocracy; also attrib. 1832 Poor Man's Guardian 9 June 419 ‘The Shopocracy’ in the neighbourhood.. were somewhat alarmed. Ibid. 29 Dec. 658/2 A shopocrat Parliament. 1841 Blackw. Mag. L. 63 We have left behind the regions of the great merchants, and of the shopocrats. 1881 [see territorialism i].

shoppe

(Jdp, 'Jbpi), an archaic form of shop sb. now used affectedly (as in the names of teashops, etc.) to suggest quaint, old-world charm. Cf. olde a.

1933 J- Betjeman Ghastly Good Taste 138 Arts and Crafts. Gentle folk weaving and spinning; Modem Church Furnishing; Old Tea Shoppes. 1948 [see gift shop s.v. gift sb. 9 b]. 1957 E. Pound tr. Rimbaud 15 What lures the aintient truss-maker from his shoppe whose luxury Sucked in the passers-by. 1979 L. Kallen Introducing C. B. Greenfield i. 10 This is a business office, not a tea shoppe.

shopper ('Jt>p3(r)). [f. shop v. + -er1.] 1. a. One who frequents a shop or shops for the purpose of inspecting or buying goods. i860 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 27 Aug. (1966) 632 She is very dainty-fingered, a beautiful ready workwoman, a capital shopper &c. 1862 Guardian 3 Sept. 847/2 It [Paris] is a city not only of pleasure seekers, but of keen and indefatigable shoppers. 1910 Annie Thornton Leaves Afghan Scrapbk. 170 This was [Queen] Ulya Hazrat’s messenger and chief shopper.

b. An advertising sheet or newspaper. 1958 Palmer & Gilmore in W. C. Clark Journalism Tomorrow iii. 32 The little advertising sheet, often called a shopper... In a few cases, the shopper can be converted into a fine-looking, profitable weekly newspaper. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 16 Oct., He would junk a lot of the expensive radio and TV commercials, spend the money instead in shoppers and small town weeklies, where you can buy the whole back page for $65.

C. A shopping bag or trolley. 1968 H. C. Rae Few Small Bones 11. v. 113 He bought enough tinned food .. to last him a full week, then lugging the laden shopper, set out along the main street. 1970 Kay p" askyd was to shorte. 1472-3 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 51/2 A corpus cum causa, retournable.. at a certeyn short day to come. 1523 Berners Froiss. I. cxv. 136 They wolde fayne haue had a short day, but it wolde not be. 1682 Scarlett Exchanges 42 If the Bill be at short sight. 1683 Lond. Gaz. No. 1864/8 As soon as the whole Sum is paid in, a short day will be appointed,.. for the drawing thereof. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 441 They were bound .. to commit the person so impeached, and then give a short day for his trial. 1747 Richardson Clarissa (1811) I. 311 You must not wonder that a short day is intended. 1912 Times 19 Dec. 19/4 Exchange on London, sight . Do., 60 days’ sight.. Do., Berlin, short sight,

b. Of notice: Given not long beforehand. 1811 Regul. Orders Army 23 Prepared .. on the shortest notice. 1850 Kingsley Cheap Clothes 6 So that an order may be executed ‘at the shortest possible notice’, if requisite.

fc. Phrase, at short hand: for immediate needs only. Obs. 1825 T. Jefferson Autobiog. Wks. 1859 I. 28 What matters it whether a landlord, employing ten laborers on his farm, gives them annually as much money as will buy them the necessaries of life, or gives them those necessaries at short hand?

f7. Quick, speedy, immediate. Obs. 1480 Coventry Leet Bk. 436 Yf the shorter remedy be not had therin, be liklihode it woll growe to gret Inconvenience. 1535 Harvel in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 11. II. 75, I thinke to go shortely to Anca. but I wil made shorte retorne by Godds grace, a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 62 This sudand accis to heigh feliecietie sould haue ane schort decay. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 663/2 The shorte decaye of that governement. 1780 Burke Corr. (1844) II. 364 There is no short remedy for our disease. 8. a. Of a speech, sentence, book, word, etc.:

Having a small extent from beginning to end; brief. Phrase, to make a long story short. Also f in short words: in few words, briefly, the short answer to (something) is (and variants) (colloq.), used to introduce a straightforward, immediate, or peremptory response or solution; also transf. and fig. c 1000 TElfric Saints' Lives I. iv. 140 We hit ssecgaS eow on pa scortostan wisan. 1340 Ayenb. 98 \>e bezechinge pet he ous made of his uayre yblessede moupe uayre guode ssorte an cleuiynde. CI375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 8 Hillarius, In schorth spech sayand pus [etc.], c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 221 Jesus Crist made it [the Paternoster], and comaundid it in schorte wordis. 1300 Gower Conf. I. 190 And forto make schorte tales, Ther cam [etc.]. 1411 26 Pol. Poems 40 At a sarmon wil bid a frere Make it short, or ellys be stylle. 1484 Caxton Fables of A If once viii, Thre fables wel shorte. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 7 A shorte recapitulacion. 1575 Gascoigne Glasse of Govt. 11. v. Wks. 1910 II. 40 Short tale to make, I [etc.]. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. in. 156 Fit names for Dogges. Their names that you geue them, must be short. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 11. xxx. 182 When I consider how short were the Lawes of antient times. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 1. Pref. a 2 b, They are only not so full as they would have been, had the Author liued to decipher the Short Notes. 1747 in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874) 150 A full double of the said summons with a short copy on the foot thereof. 1750 Gray Elegy 32 The short and simple annals of the poor. 1815 Scott Guy M. ii, A short rent-roll. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xii, Osborne’s were short and soldier-like letters. 1891 Olver & O’Reilly Imperial Tariff 262 When it is complete he makes a short copy. 1905 R. Bagot Passport ii. 8 To make a long story short, certain loans [etc.]. 1908 [Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 275 Important letters or short notes. 1955 New Statesman 24 Dec. 851/1, I suppose the short answer is money. 1962 Times 24 Nov. 4/6 The short answer is that they seem to indicate a far less cavalier attitude to viewers’ wishes on the part of the television companies than has previously been manifest. 1966 W. Cooper Memoirs of New Man 1. iv. 47 ‘The short answer to that, my dear, is No.’ ‘But what about the long answer?’ 1968 Guardian 10 June 7/6 There’s no short answer. We have tried .. to persuade our dealers that giving service increases sales. 1978 A. Price '44 Vintage vi. 69 We don’t get captured, Jack—that’s the short answer. 1980 N. Y. Times Book Rev. 23 Mar. 11/3 The short answer is: yes, it is ill will.

b. short story : a prose work of fiction, differing from a novel by being shorter and less elaborate; a novelette. Also attrib. Hence short-storyist. Also short short story, a very short story; also ellipt. as short-short. 1877 Independent 17 May 9/2 His various books have been eminently readable, in the highest sense of the adjective, and some of his short stories have been almost without a flaw in their glittering beauty, a 1882 Trollope Autobiogr. (1883) I. viii. 182, I had .. written from time to time certain short stories, which had been published in different periodicals. 1898 Daily News 13 Oct. 6/2 Any really good short story writer. 1902 H. Belloc Path to Rome 140 Terror..is half the plot of their insane ‘short stories’. 1923 J. M. Murry Pencillings 82 Mr H. G. Wells’s definition of the short story as a fiction that can be read in a quarter of an hour. 1929 Science Wonder Stories Nov. 485/1 A few years ago, a short story was anywhere from ten thousand to twenty thousand words. Of late the short, short story has gained ascendency in a number of magazines. A short, short story is one that runs to not more than fifteen hundred words. 1936 E. Bowen Faber Bk. Mod. Short Stories 17 H. E. Bates has, as a shortstoryist, already a substantial body of work to his

SHORT

325 name. 1940 G. V. Martin For our Vines have Tender Grapes iv. 32 Unemployed unemployables.. typing endlessly the Great American Saga., cannot sell a short-short to the Chicago Daily News. 1957 R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy vi. 166 The magazines go beyond the stories to the ‘short short stories’ or the ‘one-minute stories’. 1962 E. Lacy Freeloaders vi. 106 An airmail letter from my agent telling me he’d sold a short-short of mine. 1972 J. Symons Bloody Murder xiii. 164 The ‘short short story’ of 2,000 words or less. 1977 V. S. Pritchett Gentle Barbarian vi. 90 From a short-story writer’s point of view, the timing .. is perfect... Turgenev is a master of his craft.

c. Phrase, short and sweet: brief and pleasant; now usually more or less ironically, of an expression that is brief and severe or decisive, or that is excessively or unusually brief. *539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 68 The Englysh prouerbe is thus pronounced. Short and swete. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie in. xxiii. (Arb.) 272 Great princes .. who haue little spare leisure to hearken, would haue speeches vsed to them such as be short and sweete. 1624 Heywood Captives in. i. in Bullen Old Plays IV. 153 ’Tis short and sweete, wryte this in your own hand. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. xlix, Short and sweet, I pray you. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias vii. viii, After a conversation short and sweet, I left the steward. 1866 Harper's Mag. Oct. 674/2 The letter-book was consulted, and there stood, short and sweet, and right to the point: ‘Dear Sir’ [etc.]. 1882 H. Munby Let. 9 June in D. Hudson Munby ( 1972) 408, I don’t like burning your letters & I don’t like to keep them either —short & sweet is what I like from you. 1970 W. Smith Gold Mine xxxv. 92 Reasons first. I’ll make it short and sweet, right?

fd. ellipt. to make short: to cut one’s speech short. Also as inf. phrase: ‘to make a long story short’; to be brief. Const, of. Obs. 1556 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 246 Whereby the lord Williams cried, Make short, make short. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 1. viii. 9 And to make shorte,.. this tower was made .. for the garding and keeping of the fountayne. 1600 Lyly Love's Metam. iv. ii. 9 (Bond), To make short, a good wind caused him to goe I know not whither, a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. viii. (1691) 109 To make short of this matter. 1679 Moxon Mech. Exerc. viii. 142 But to make short of this Argument. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 640/1 To make short of my Story: In order [etc.]. 1823 New Monthly Mag. IX. 200/1 To make short of the story, Celso .. is put in possession.

e. Of a speaker: Brief, occupying little time. Now rare. 1515 Dk. Suffolk in Mrs. M. A. E. Wood Lett. Ladies (1846) I. 201 The queen was in hand with me the first day [after], and said she must be short with me, and shew to me her pleasure and mind. 1631 Star Chamber Cases (Camden) 30 My Lords,.. I shall be shorte. 1713 Addison Trial Count Tariff 7 Goodman Fact was very Short but Pithy. 1783 Burke Sp. Fox's E. Ind. Bill Wks. 1842 I. 292, I will endeavour to be a little shorter upon the countries immediately under this charter-government. 1839 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 81 Be short in thy words. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop lxvi, To be short with you, then, it leads me to this. If the truth has come out [etc.].

9. a. Of style of writing or speaking, hence of a writer or speaker: Concise. 1487 Caxton Bk. Gd. Manners iv. vii. (W. de W. c 1515) Kj, The langage of a mayde oughte to be prudent attempred and ryght shorte without habondaunce of wordes. 1530 Palsgr. 323/2 Shorte compendyouse, compendieux. Ibid., Shorte in communycacions, succint. C1532 Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 898 In all workes one ought to be shorte. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxv, Let me pray you to be short and explicit in what you have to say.

fb. to be short (inf. phrase) = ‘in short’. 1544 Beth am

Precepts War Ep. Ded. A vij, But nowe to be shorte, I take them beste englysshe men, which folowe Chaucer, and other olde wryters. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 2 To be short,.. what thanks had he? 1784 p. Wright New Bk. Martyrs 806/1 To be short, he has left the character, amongst his neighbours, of an honest man.

10. a. Of utterances (occasionally of gestures, etc.): Rudely, angrily, or sternly brief or curt. Of persons (chiefly predicative): Rudely or angrily curt in expression; returning short answers; snappish (const, with a person). 1390 Gower Conf. I. 308 Sche no merci on me leith Bot schorte wordes to me seith [etc.]. 1480 Coventry Leet Bk. 446 They gyven hem schort langage. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (Sommer) 102 Sorie for his short answere. 1588 Shaks. Tit. A. 1. i. 409 You are very short with vs, But if we Hue, weele be as sharpe with you. 1591 Lyly Endim. 111. i. 8 What make you Tellus to bee so short? 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 33 No other answer but only a short yes. 1706 Estcourt Fair Example v. i. 56 Flora. She gave me a thousand short Words whilst I dress’d her this Morning, nothing wou’d please her. 01726 Vanbrugh Journ. Lond. iv. i. 45 You are very short, Sir. 1855 Dickens Dorrit 1. xix, To-night he was quite—quite short with me. 1894 Sir J. Astley Fifty Yrs. Life I. 32, I got a trifle short with him.

fb. Not ‘long-suffering’; prompt to condemn. Obs. rare-'. 1483 [see LONG a. nc],

c. Hasty in temper, easily provoked, irascible. Said also of the temper. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 73 But the deuilL.had so blinded the eyes of his thought, that.. at euery purpose that was spoken afore him, hee was short and might not dissemble. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1664) 225 If Christ had .. been as wilfull and short as I was, my faith had gone over the brae and broken it’s neck. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, v, A wee bit short in the temper. 1885 Manch. Exam. 6 Mar. 5/3 Prince Bismarck’s short temper.

11. Of breath, breathing: Coming in hurried gasps, impeded. Of a cough: Abrupt, checked; recurring abruptly at frequent intervals, dry, fast. Of a pulse: Making short beats, quick.

a 1400-50 Stockh. Med. MS. 34 For schort onde. 1591 Deloney Maiden's Choice 8 Wks. (1912) 363 Ages breath is short. 1748 Richardson Clarissa VII. 208 Her breath being very short, she desired another pillow. 1799 Ht. Lee Canterb. T., Poet's T. (ed. 2) I. 185 The short and sudden cough .. instantly recalled his reason. 1820 Keats Eve St. Agnes viii, Anxious her lips, her breathing quick and short. 1822-29 Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) I. 614 Dyspnoea chronica. Short breath. [1843 Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xiv. 173 The pulse .. changed its character from a short and small to a full soft stroke.] 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 316 A short dry cough. 1870 Dickens E. Drood ii, Mr. Jasper’s breathing was so remarkably short. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 929 In regurgitation, on the contrary [we have] a short pulse not slowed.

12. a. Of a series or succession: Of small extent, having few members or terms. ? Obs. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 817 In this short File Barzillai first appears. 1788 Priestley Leet. Hist. 11. vi. 55 Out of a short collection of medals, he has given us an entire chronicle of the kings of Syria. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 9 A short edition.

b. short hour: an hour indicated by a few strokes of the clock. (Cf. small.) 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. 11. i, The short hours of night. 1861 H ughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xxxvi, Soda-water and brandy, and cigars, into the short hours. 1865 Kingsley Hereward xxvi, The monks of Peterborough prayed in the minster till the long hours passed into the short.

c. a short purse: a purse soon exhausted; scanty resources. So a short kennel, a small pack of hounds. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 148 Kyng Reyner..for al his long stile had to short a purse, to sende his doughter honorably to the kyng her spouse. 1827 Sporting Mag. XXI. 142 All gentlemen who have but a short kennel should look to the sort of hound they are to keep. 1835 T. Mitchell Acharn. of Aristoph. 46 note, A man with a long pedigree, and a very short purse.

13. Phonetics and Prosody. Applied to a vowel (less frequently to a consonant) when its utterance has the less of the two measures of duration recognized in the ordinary classification of speech-sounds. Also, in Prosody, of a syllable: Belonging to that one of the two classes which is supposed to be distinguished from the other by occupying a shorter time in utterance, short f accent, mark: the mark " placed over a vowel letter to indicate short quantity. For various inaccurate uses see long a. 13 a. c 1000 ./Elfric Gram. ix. (Z.) 32 Seo forme geendung is on scortne a. 1412-20 Lydg. Troy-bk. 11. 184, I toke non hede nouper of schort nor long, But to pe troupe, and lefte coryouste Bope of makyng and of metre be. 1573 Baret Alv. To Rdr., The last sillable saue one is short. 1585 Jas. I Ess. Poesie Pref. (Arb.) 55 Abone the heid of the shorte fute, I haue put this mark u. c 1620 Hume Brit. Tongue 1. ii. § 17 If this argument reached as wel to i short as i lang. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Short-Accent, in Grammar, shews that the time of Pronounciation ought to be short, and is marked thus \ 1770 Luckombe Hist. Printing 252 Vowels with the marks of Short and Long over them. 1827 Tate Grk. Metres in Theat. Greeks (ed. 2) 443 Which do not permit the short vowel precedent to form a short syllable. 1845 Proc. Philol. Soc. II. 138 The short u continues to represent the Gothic u. 1861 Paley JEschylus (ed. 2) 7 agst. Thebes 488 note, The vowel is properly long, but made short by position. 1952 [see checked ppl. a.1 1 b]. 1962 [see duration 1 c].

14. colloq. a. something short: undiluted spirits, short drink: a small measure of liquor; a drink which is relatively strong in alcohol and hence drunk in small measures; a dram of spirits or the like. Perh. originally from having a short name: e.g. ‘brandy’, not ‘brandy and water’. [1823: see B4F] 1837 Dickens Pickw. xlvi, If you’ll order the waiter to deliver him anything short. 1844 Hood Anacreontic iv, A drop of summut short. 1883 Daily Tel. 2 July 5/3 All these are short drinks—that is to say, drams. 1898 W. W. Jacobs Sea Urchins, Money-changers (1906) 224 I’ve got a bundle o’ cigars an’ a drop o’ something short in my pocket. 1937 A. J. Cronin Citadel 11. vii. 155 Challis.. was successfully and cheerfully despatching his third short drink. 1957 M. Spark Comforters iv. 85 Caroline and Laurence had been on short drinks, and both were rather lit UP- I973 J- Aiken in V. Whitaker Winter's Crimes 5 22 A large Whisky Mac—his favourite short drink.

b. Comm. (See quots.) 1841 G. Roberts Terms Trade & Comm. 43 Short; an expression of bankers when a cheque is cashed, not in small notes or gold, but by a short or ready method of giving one or more large notes, i860 Hotten s Slang Diet, s.v., Upon presenting a cheque, the clerk asks, ‘how will you take it?’ i.e. in gold or in notes? Should it be desired to receive it in as small a compass as possible, the answer is, ‘short’.

III. Not reaching to some standard. 15. a. Of things: Not coming up to some standard of measure or amount; inadequate in quantity, short measure, weight: defective quantity by measure or weight; also, a measuring rod, vessel, etc., or a scale-weight, which defrauds the purchaser, short commons: see commons; also fig.) so short allowance, rations, etc. Also short change (change sb. 7 b). Phr. in short supply: inadequate to demand. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 59 It were a schort beyete To winne chaf and lese whete. c 1430 Freemasonry 192 Suche a mon, thro3e rechelaschepe, My3th do the craft schert worschepe. 1596 Raleigh Discov. Guiana 47 We made but a short breakfast aboord the Galley in the morning, c 1610 Women Saints 80 Short and simple food. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 12

SHORT Some cottons here grow; but short in worth to those of Smyrna. 1662 Greenhalgh in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. III. IV. 282 Many short meals. 1668 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 72 We conceive the said certifycate to be short and expect that the same in that point be supplied. 1681 Flavel Meth. Grace xi. 242 The Law accepts no short payment. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. II. 273 Report is seldom short on the Reflecting Tart. 1745 P. Thomas Voy. S. Seas^ 3 We went to short Allowance of all Species. 1748 Anson’s Voy.u. xi. 257 Our water being now very short. 1753 Scots Mag. Feb. 98/1 The money..was short by 3d. 1789 Bentham Princ. Legist, xi. §24 You have detected a baker in selling short weight. 1820 Southey Wesley I. 227 They had been long upon short allowance. 1831 Lincoln Herald 16 Dec. 2/2 There was a very short attendance. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. vii. iv, A Baker who has been seized with short weights. 1852 Disraeli in Hansard Commons 9 Feb. 303, I cannot, however, help congratulating Parliamentary reformers on the content with which they have accepted the repast provided for them; the voracity of their appetites seems to me satisfied with very short commons. 1871 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 301 An excellent method of securing a prisoner when cord is short. 1874 Short change [see fluff sb.x 3 a]. 1901 ‘L. Malet’ Sir R. Calmady vi. vii. He’s certain to take them home short money. 1908 U. B. Sinclair Metropolis 351 Three times in a single day in another of these great caravansaries, Montague was offered short change. 1928 Foy & Harlow Clowning through Life 81 Our Peanut and juice vendors were all short change artists. 1942 Times Rev. 1941 3 Jan. p. v/4 There has been an exemplary pooling of machine tools and of other requisites in short supply. 1943 Sun (Baltimore) 7 Jan. 24/2 The State’s lawmakers are going to be on ‘short commons’ and the employes are going to be comparatively flush. 1951 D. Howarth Shetland Bus xi. 150 Larsen .. now found himself in urgent need of bootlaces, so he tried to take the opportunity to buy some; but they were ‘in short supply’, and he had to make do with string. 1970 Observer 13 Sept. 38/5 It’s shortcommons for tourists unless they’re white.

b. Qualifying a sb. denoting a period of time, distance, number, quantity, etc., to indicate an extent less than that expressed by the sb. short ton: see ton1 4. 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. Borrow Bible in Spain

3773/2 Within a short Mile. 1842 xxiv, A short league distant. 1913 Times 9 Aug. 19/2 Short tons.

c. Qualifying a noun of action, short delivery, shipment (Comm.): delivery or shipment of goods less in quantity than agreed on or invoiced. 1884 Weekly Notes 9 Feb. 32/1 There was a counter claim for short delivery and defective packing. 1891 Olver & O’Reilly Imperial Tariff 267 A certificate of short shipment from the searcher. 1901 Scotsman 13 Mar. 10/7 Loss., sustained .. in consequence of short delivery of a contract for coal.

d. Said of a book which has been cut down or cropped in the binding. (Cf. tall a. 7 b.) 1864

Reader No. 88. 304/3 The folio.. is quite perfect, but

‘short’.

16. Of a throw, a missile, etc.: Travelling too short a distance, not reaching the mark. Chiefly in Archery and Bowls: see quots. 1801, 1897. In Cricket: see 26 d. 1545 Ascham Toxoph. 1. (Arb.) 36 Escheweing shorte, or gone, or eithersyde wide. 1659 N. R. Prov., Eng. Fr., etc. 90 Short shooting loseth the game. 1801 T. Roberts Engl. Bowman 294 Short arrow, an arrow which falls short of the mark. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 129/2 (Bowls) Short bowl, one that does not reach the jack.

17. a. short of or \from (in predicative use, also qualifying a preceding sb. or neuter indefinite pronoun): Not fully attaining or amounting to (some condition or degree); not equalling (some other person or thing); inferior to; less than (a specified number or quantity). Also, finadequate to, not fully worthy of (obs.). Often with limiting adv. (far, little, much, nothing, etc.) or an expression of number or quantity used advb., indicating the extent of the deficiency. In mod. use, the original adjectival character of short in this application is much obscured, short of tending to be felt as a preposition. Occasionally the word governed by of is an adj. (e.g. in quot. 1837); cf. the similar use of (little, nothing) less than. 1560 Gresham in Burgon Life (1839) I. 322 If it is discovered, there is nothing short of death with the searcher, and with him who enters it at the custom-house. 1579 Fulke Heskin's Pari. 125 A long saying.., but not so long in wordes, as short of his purpose. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 494 b, Having regard rather to make manifest.. how much you were short yet of a true and perfect knowledge in the true doctrine of Divinitye. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (Sommer) 172 b, Those immoderate praises, which the foolish Louer thinkes short of his Mistres, though they reach farre beyond the heauens. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 48 [Gombroon] was a dozen yeares agoe, so short from the title of a Citie, that it could not boast of twelue houses. 1665 J. Sergeant Sure Footing 163 Let my Reader..see how far they are short from .. even an Attempt of Evidence. 1693 C. Mather Wonders Invisible World (1862) 16 It will be a thing little short of Miracle, a 1700 Evelyn Diary Apr. 1646, Cheese little short of the best Parmeggiano. 1747 Richardson Clarissa (1811) I. 47 Disgust little short of affrightment. 1748 Anson's Voy. 11. xii. 265 The Spaniards were not much short of two hundred. 1762 Kames Elem. Crit. i. (1774) I. 30 Words are so far short of the eye in liveliness of impression. 1780 Warner in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 398 Phil, has been unlucky at Sudbury, as he was one short of Marriot. a 1792 Sir J. Reynolds in Malone Wks. (1797) I. p. xxxi, A refined taste, which could not acquiesce in any thing short of a high degree of excellence. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 81 A crop, one fourth short of an average. 1806 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life vi. (ed. 3) 102 Nothing short of a full gallop will save your time. 1818 Byron Juan 1. lxii, Ladies.. Prefer a spouse

SHORT

326 whose age is short of thirty. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. vi. iv, And such a Constitution, little short of miraculous. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xiv. 280 It could be compared to nothing short of the day when Israel passed through the desert. 1879 McCarthy Own Times xxix. II. 401 He had everything short of genius. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 194/1 Short of war, certain preliminary measures of hostility are recognized. 1892 Law Times' Rep. LXVII. 199/2 Nothing short of that will do.

b. In expressions like little, nothing short of, the adj. is occas. used absol. 1838 F. A. P[aley] tr. Schomann's Assemb. Athen. Introd. 7 The archons were invested with little short of kingly power. 1879 B. Taylor Germ. Lit. 53 The colossal affectation of his career seems to us little short of idiocy. Mod. Little short of £1000 will be required.

18. In predicative use, chiefly of persons: a. Defaulting in payments. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie 11. (1625) 7 Divers summes wherein you were short in reckoning. 1864 Hotten's Slang Diet, s.v., A conductor of an omnibus, or any other servant is said, to be short when he does not give all the money he receives to his master.

fb. Lacking in performance. Defective in information. Obs.

Of an author:

a 1697 South Serm. III. 306 Very large in Pretence and Promise, but short in Performance. 1653 Ramesey Astrol. Restored To Rdr. 25, I have endeavoured to compare one Author with another.. and where one hath been short, I have inlarged with another. 1662 Pepys Diary 20 June, I do perceive that I am very short in my business by not knowing many times the geographical part of my business.

fc. Below the truth in one’s estimate or calculation. Obs. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. iv. xvii. 203 In two Voyages I differ but two Leagues, and that I was short.

d. Having an insufficient supply of money, food, or something else implied by the context; spec, not having the means to meet one’s engagements, to go short: to suffer privation, have less than enough. 1762-71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 65, I am so short in cash, that I am not able to pay my workmen. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. 11. ii, I have to settle for my coffee spec., and may be short. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop lxiv, ‘They kept me very short,’ said the small servant. ‘.. So I used to come out at night.. and feel about in the dark for bits of biscuit.’ 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 306 Short, that is, in want of the necessary means to comply with his obligations. 1894 G. W. Appleton Co-Respondent I. 106 I’m always short.. Would a loan of iool. be of any service to you? 1895 Cornh. Mag. Dec. 603 ‘So you goes short, Sarann?’ ‘I be used to ’t’, said Mrs. Bradley. 1901 Essex Herald 9 Apr. 5/5 Please cash the orders I enclose:.. don’t go short when you want any.

e. short of : having an insufficient quantity of. Also, not possessing, lacking (something necessary or desirable); in want of (something to complete the desired number). 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, in. 679 Their defenceless Limbs the Brambles tear; Short of their Wool, and naked from the Sheer. 1700 Farquhar Constant Couple 11. v, I am very short of Mony at present. 1721 Amherst Terras Fil. No. 33. 176 Young men, having been kept short of money at school. 1794 Nelson 8 July in Nicolas Disp. (1844) 1. 425 They will, from using as many again as is necessary, be soon short of that article, which probably cannot be supplied them. 1855 Dickens Dorrit 1. xxv, Allow me to take your hat —we are rather short of pegs. 1866 Crump Banking xi. 246 As it gives rise to the opinion that he is short of funds. 1897 Flor. Marryat Blood of Vampire xii, No one in this ’ouse is kept short of food. 1905 Elin. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 93 He might be useful to us, if we are short of a gun. 1908 Westmorld. Gaz. 21 Nov. 3/2 They were short of bailiffs.

f. Preceded or followed by a sb. or an expression of quantity, indicating what is lacking of the required number or amount, a shingle short: see shingle sb.1 i b. 1873 Trollope Phineas Redux in Graphic 22 Nov. 486/2 He did take the key with him.. . We were a key short at the time he was away. 1893 E. F. Benson Six Common Things 217 We are a lady short. Shall I tell her to come down to dinner? a 1914 Mod. The clerk was two pounds short in his cash. 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Great War I. 1 They were short one officer. 1944 M. Paneth Branch Street 97 Our last warden left us... Now we were two people short. 1976 J. Snow Cricket Rebel 43 We were more than 1 50 short when Derek joined me at the wicket. 1977 Cork Examiner 6 June 10/1 Cork .. were short three of their regulars.

g. U.S. Stock Exch. Having sold as yet unacquired stock which the seller hopes can be bought at a lower price before the time fixed for delivery. Also short of (such stock). Cf. short adv. 11. 1849 Merchants' Mag. (U.S.) XXI. 118 If he does not own the stock he is ‘short’, or what is the same thing, a ‘bear’. 1865 Harper's Mag. Apr. 616/2 If he has sold 500 Hudson for future delivery, expecting it to fall, he is pronounced ‘short of Hudson’. 1884 A. Daly Big Bonanza 20 The market opened lively with a demand for speculative shares by those who have been ‘short’ of the leading stocks.

h. short on: having an insufficient quantity of, deficient in respect of. 1922 P. A. Rollins Cowboy iii. 54 The actual ‘bad man’ was ‘short on conversation’. 1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags ii. 113 It’s just this kind of influence these children need... They’re rather short on culture at the moment. 1959 Omaha World-Herald 20 Dec. d 18/3 Many a gypsy, short on funds and long on nerve, is a master at avoiding inspections. 1977 Lancet 13 Aug. 357/1 Dr Bartsch’s comment, though interesting, is short on facts.

i. U.S. Of a race-horse, not in top form. Also in attrib. use.

1942 Sun (Baltimore) 1 May 17/1 Ben would prefer to pass the Derby altogether and point his guns at the Preakners’ $50,000 the following week, rather than take a chance on setting a ‘short’ horse back farther in the Derby, i960 Washington Post 23 May a 22 He said.. that Venetian Way was ‘short’, meaning the horse wasn’t quite ready for the 1J mile race. 1977 Time 20 June 51/2 Horsemen were quick to point out that he was slightly ‘short’—not in peak form —for the Kentucky Derby. 19. to run short, a. Of persons, etc.: To become short of, ‘run out’ of (something). Also without const. 1752 in Scots Mag. (1753) Sept. 452/1 Being run short of money. 1809 Naval Chron. XXII. 189 In consequence of running short of water. 1884 C. Reade in Harper’s Mag. Sept. 603/1 I’ve purchased this cutlery in case she may run short. 1890 S. Lane-Poole Barbary Corsairs I. vii. 81 Coron was running short of supplies. b. Of supplies: To become or prove insufficient in quantity; to become exhausted. 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. 1. 143 Turnips sometimes run short. 1894 Wolseley Marlborough II. 99 There was a great dearth of arms .. and the supply in the Tower soon ran short. transf. 1890 Iza D. Hardy New Othello III. vi. 131 The time was running very short. IV. Not tenacious in substance, friable, brittle. [Prob. connected with branch I through the notion ‘having little length of fibre’: cf. sense 3.] 20. Of edible substances: Friable, easily crumbled.

Phrase, to eat short: to break up or

crumble in the mouth, a. of crust, pastry, etc. Cf. SHORTBREAD, SHORTCAKE, SHORT CRUST. C1430 Two Cookery Bks. 52 f>an take warme Berme, & putte al pes to-gederys, & bete hem togederys with pin hond tyl it be schort & pikke y-now. 1594 Good Huswife's Handmaid 17 b, To make short paste in Lent. 1700 Congreve Way of World iii. xv. 46 You may be as short as a Shrewsbury Cake, if you please. 1888 Edmondston & Saxby Home Nat. 99 A thick cake, which may be made of either flour or oatmeal, and may be rendered ‘short’ by the use of fat. b. of fruit, meat, etc. 1648 Gage West Ind. 143 This is the Venison of America, whereof I have sometimes eaten, and found it white and short. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. xix. 186 Salmons are of a fatty, tender, short and sweet flesh. 1699 Evelyn Acetaria 57 The bigger Roots.. should .. eat short and quick. 1706 London & Wise Retir'd Gard. I. 1. vii. 35 Its Pulp eats short, and its Juice is sugar’d. 1856 Orr's Circ. Sci., Pract. Chem. 337 Vinegar makes the meat short, short meat being easy of digestion. 21. gen. Wanting in tenacity; friable, brittle. Phrase, to work short: to break or crumble when being worked. Of metals: cf. cold-short, redshort. 1607 Markham Caval. 1. (1617) 57 Lest..it burne and drie vp their hoofes, making them short and brittle. 1682 Grew Anat. Plants, Anat. Roots 86 All Piths and more simple Parenchyma’s, break short. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Diet. s.v. Corn-land, Some mix it [dung] with Sand, which causes it to work short. 1766 Compl. Farmer s.v. Mould 5 P4/1 And this will be the better yet, if it.. does not stick obstinately, but is short, tolerably light, breaking into small clods. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 139 Bismuth.. renders gold short and brittle. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 300 Pure clay.. affords a very short paste. 1859 Stationers' Hand-bk. (ed. 2) 105 Short, the technical term for the absence of strength in paper. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining s.v., Coal is ‘short’ when of a very friable or tender nature. f22. Of liquids: Not viscous. (Cf. LONG a. 4.) 1612 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. 1. xxii. (1634) 69 Let it be thoroughly dry, then take the glaire of egges, and straine it as short as water. V. In Combination.

23.

In

concord

with

sbs.,

forming

combinations used attributively or quasi-adj., as short-arm, -date, -distance, -form, -grain (see also sense 26 below), -haul (haul sb. 1 c), -hay, -hole,

-leaf,

-life,

-line, -notice,

-persistence,

-range, -stroke, -take-off, -time, -vowel, -water. 1902 Daily Chron. 3 May 8/6 As if he were going to do a •short-arm balance on the parallel bars. 1908 Installation News II. 45/2 Used for concealed work, in conjunction with a screwed shortarm bend or tee. 1909 Q. Retj. Oct. 358 British railways offer facilities for cheap, *short-date bookings. 1898 Daily News 15 July 5/1 These •shortdistance races are ruinous in their effect upon the breed of horses. 1947 Sun (Baltimore) 15 May 2/8 The bill carries a new set of tables for the so-called *short-form taxpayers— those with adjusted gross incomes of $5,000 or less. 1961 R. B. Long Sentence its Parts x. 234 The Appalachians, the Rockies.. are short-form phrasal proper names. 1972 Accountant 19 Oct. 487/2 The position [should] be clarified by an appropriate reference in the short-form report. 1947 L. P. De Gouy Gold Cookery Bk. xi. 766 There are many varieties of rice produced in the United States. They are .. of three general types, long grain, medium grain, and *short grain. 1970 Simon & Howe Diet. Gastronomy 326/2 Rice generally can be divided into long, medium and short grain types. 1895 Funk's Stand. Diet. II. 1658/1 The interstate commerce Taw forbids a greater charge in the aggregate for a shorter than for a longer distance over the same line .. and is commonly called the long and *short haul clause. 1939 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLIII. 900 This figure represents about 3 lbs. per rated h.p. of the engines, which is appreciably better than the figure for most modern shorthaul air liners, i960 Times 14 Nov. 13/6 The most popular aircraft in use for short-haul work is the Bristol Freighter. 1976 P. R. White Planning for Public Transport ix. 190 Increased fuel costs affect short-haul operations more radically than long-haul. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. 1. 3/1 It’s mainly on short-haul trains. 1843 A. R. Wallace in Life (1905) I. xiv. 208 The ‘*short-hay meadows’, as they are called [in South Wales]. 1901 Scotsman 8 Mar. 6/6 A •shorthole golf course in the park. 1796 B. Hawkins Let. 4 Dec.

SHORT in Coll. Georgia Hist. Soc. (1916) IX. 24, I. .came .. to oak and ♦short leaf pine. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 634/2 Short-leaf pine. 1969 T. H. Everett Living Trees of World iv. 51 /1 The shortleaf pine.. is found from New York to Florida and Texas and has dark bluish-green foliage. 1966 M. Woodhouse Tree Frog xix. 144 A self-contained ♦short¬ life powerplant. 1973 Guardian 16 Feb. 6/1 Foods classified by the Ministry as ‘short-life’—that is with a storage capacity after packing of less than three months—would eventually all be stamped with a ‘sell by’ date. 1977 Spare Rib July 40/3 (Advt.), Willing to expand the project into emergency and shortlife housing and building coops. 1941 L. MacNeice Poetry of W. B. Yeats vi. 114 Yeats.. is outstanding among modern poets for his mastery of the ♦short-line poem with three or four stresses to a line. 1974 Aiken (S. Carolina) Standard 24 Apr. i-b/i (caption) Train enthusiast Larry Raid, Denmark, Iowa, stands on the tracks of a shortline railroad that he has rebuilt from Keithburg, Ill., to Oakville, Iowa. 1853 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour xvii. (1893) 88 We are rather badly off for neighbours just here—at least for ♦short-notice neighbours. 1965 Math, in Biol. & Med. (Med. Res. Council) iv. 192 The 1 5-milspot cathode ray tube .. produces the ♦short-persistence flying spot, with a sweep diameter of 10 cm. 1973 Gloss. Electrotechnical, Power Terms (B.S.I.) 1. vi. 16 Shortpersistence screen, of a cathode ray tube. A screen whose luminance decays rapidly after the stimulus has been reduced or removed. 1869 Lowell Let. 16 July in Ogden Life E. L. Godkin (1907) II. 84 ’Tis an honest old-fashioned piece of straight-forward *short-range notions and carries an ounce ball. 1900 Daily News 23 May 5/6 A desperate short-range fight followed. 1838 Civil Etigin. & Arch.Jrnl. L 394/2 The ♦short stroke engines are propelling the boats ..faster than long stroke ones. 1921 A. W. Judge Automobile Aircraft Engines iv. 167 Tests, .show that at low piston speeds the short stroke engine has a somewhat better thermal efficiency. 1977 D. Bastow W. O. Bentley —Engineer xx. 337 The short stroke engine would be at least no worse off in terms of specific weight per horse-power. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Feb. 115/2 The Army pressed for ample supplies of vertical or *short take-off aircraft to move troops on the battlefield. 1973 Lebende Sprachen XVIII. 69/1 Britain’s aircraft manufacturers also have in mind a new medium size short take-off aircraft to replace the Hawker Siddeley 748. 1877 Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 130 In the army they have *short-time soldiers and long-time soldiers. 1898 Daily News 26 July 5/7 It was too large for such a short-time contract. 1965 Language XLI. 25 We can posit for Proto-Germanic a ♦short-vowel system consisting of four phonemes. 1791 R. Mylne 2nd Rep. Thames 20 In ♦short-water Time, or dry Seasons.

24. Parasynthetic derivatives in -ED2, unlimited in number, as short-armed, -barrelled, -billed, -bodied, -frocked, -handled, -leaved,-necked, -nosed, -vowelled, etc. 1606 Shaks. Tr. & Cr. 11. iii. 15 ♦Short-arm’d ignorance. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, ccxviii, Now a nearer Thirst Rages, and Short-arm’d Struggles makes ’em feel’t. 1833 Nyren Yng. Cricketer's Tutor (1902) 35 This is a puzzler to a short-armed batsman. 1847-9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 20/2 The Hydra viridis or short-armed polype. i832 J Rennie Butterfi. Moths 159 The *Short-barred White (Ditula scriptana).. The Short-barred Grey (D. semifasciana). 1978 R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xxxi. 365 He withdrew a small, ♦short-barreled revolver and handed it to Tennyson. 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 148 The ♦shortbeaked Purpura. 1891 Moullin Surg. 1248 An instrument shaped like a short-beaked lithotrite. 1835-6 Owen in Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 292/1 The ♦shorter-billed birds. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 88 Short-billed Marsh Wren. 1677 Lond. Gaz. No. 1257/4 A brown bay Gelding,.. strong made, ♦short bodied. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. vi. 366 In the short-bodied Lcemodipoda. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. It. Note-bks. (1872) I. 22 *Short-breasted coats. 1819 Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 425 Botys cucullatalis. The ♦Short-cloaked Moth. 1751 G. Edwards Birds IV. 248 The ♦Short-eared Bat. 1820 Scott Monast. Answ. Introd. Ep., The *short-faced president of the Spectator’s Club. 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. i. (1872) 15 Compare the English carrier Pigeon and the short-faced tumbler. 1915 G. Frankau Tid'apa ii. 17 Perched sideways, *short-frocked, on the mattress, he thought her a child in the gloom. 1933 Dylan Thomas Let. Nov. (1966) 52 My only sister passed through the stages of.. short-frocked flappery and social snobbery into a comfortable married life. 1622 T. Stoughton Chr. Sacrif. xii. 169 Of such *short haired Gentlewomen I find not one example either in Scripture or elsewhere. 1698 Phil. Trans. XX. 330 Carinated, shorthair’d stiff Pods. 1906 Olive C. Malvery Soul Market viii. 140 A thick-set, short-haired man. 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick II. xxxvi. 241 A ’short-handled sharp spade being sent up to him, he diligently searches for the proper place to begin breaking into the Tun. 1964 W. L. Goodman Hist. Woodworking Tools 29 The T- axe was gradually superseded from the middle of the 14th century onwards by the shorthandled version of type 3. 1715 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. II. xii, A ’short-hought man. 1592 Shaks. Ven. Ad. 295 This Horse .. Round hooft, ’short iointed, fetlocks shag, and long. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. I. 260 Cuttings are taken from the most fruitful, well-ripened, short-jointed boughs in autumn. 1748 M. Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina App. p. xxii, The ’short-leav’d Pine is usually a small tree. 1884 Sarcent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 200 Short-leaved pine. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV. v. i. 28 A couple of ’short-legg’d Hennes. 1886 Dufferin in Lyall Life (1905) II. 114 Our poor little short-legged Goorkhas. 1647 C. Harvey Schola Cordis x. 52 The ’short-lin’d circumference Of that threecorner’d figure. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) I. 66 (Remise Door), She walk’d .. with the slow, ’short-measur’d step of thoughtfulness. 1663 Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. 1. ii. 42 Having with the same liquor filled other small crystalline viols, though ’short-necked. 1845 Youatt Dog ii. 33 In the act of seizing the hare the short-necked dog may lose the centre of gravity and fall. 1849 D. Campbell Inorg. Chem. 286 The sulphide is introduced into a short-necked Florence flask. 1955 Archaeol. News Let. VI. 15 Professor Piggott proposed the replacement of the alphabetical classification by descriptive terms... Classes A and C should be known as ‘necked beakers’... Abercromby.. suggested that Class C—short necked beakers—was derived from Class A. 1970 Bray & Trump Diet. Archaeol. 36/2 The

327 international bell-beakers are uncommon in Britain, where they are replaced by local variants, the long-necked (formerly A) beakers of eastern England and the short¬ necked (formerly C) beakers of Scotland. 1693 Tate Dryden s Juvenal 11. (1697) 38 In vain, O Rome! thou dost thy Conquest boast Beyond the Orcades ’short-nighted Coast, c 1440 Promp. Parv. 59/2 Cammyd, or ’schort nosyd, simus. a 1652 Brome Queen & Concubine 11. iv. (1659) 31 Short-nos’d Dogs. 1681 Grew Museum 1. §vi. i. 128 The Short-Nos’d Snail. 1910 Blackw. Mag. Feb. 287/1 The Jumna, like all Indian rivers, is full of crocodiles both of the short- and long-nosed descriptions. 1948 C. L. B. Hubbard Dogs in Britain 3 Such breeds as the Pug and short-nosed dogs. 1839 T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale Introd. (ed. 2) 7 A row of widely separated, ’short-pointed, conical teeth. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2287/8 A bright bay, thick ♦short quartered. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 193 A pair of short-quartered high-heeled shoes. 1862 Rem. Golf 15 The Putter., is a *short-shafted, stiff club, with a large flattish head, and square face. 1681 Grew Musaeum 1. §vii. ii. 169 The ♦Short-Shell’d Beetle. 1647 Ward Simple Cobler 24 To borrow a little of their [women’s] loose-tongue Liberty, and mispend a word or two upon their long-wasted, but ♦short-skirted patience. 1901 C. Holland Mousme 40 My shortskirted, somewhat tomboy niece, a 1661 Holyday Juvenal (1673) 157 When Rome was burn’d By ♦shortslop’d Gauls and the Senonian brood. 1575 Turberv. Venerie vi. 14 The head .. is more to be esteemed when it is long than when it is *short snowted. 1815 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. vi. (1818) I. 177 A short-snouted weevil. 1896 H. Woodward Guide Fossil Reptiles Brit. Mus. 6 The Crocodiles.. are divided into a brevirostrine, or short¬ snouted section [etc.]. 1800 Shaw Gen. Zool. II. 7 *Shortspined Porcupine. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 60 Short spined Cottus. 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1768/4 A *short statured Man,.. broke into a House near Basingstoke. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xlvi, Travellers jogging past on little ♦short-stepped horses. 1694 Lond. Gaz. No. 2946/4 Flat hoofed, very *short strunted. 1874 Lubbock Wild Flowers ii. 34 A *short-styled plant. 1684 Lond. Gaz. No. 1910/4 A Dun coloured Mare..*short tailed. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 75 The short tailed held mouse. 1848 Gould Birds Austral. VII. PI. 39 Short-tailed Albatros. 1900 H. Lawson On Track 139, I was very ♦shorttempered. 1598 Marston Sco. Villanie 1. ii, A ♦short term’d tenancie. 1680 Otway C. Marius v. ii, The short-term’d Life Of one old Man. 1935 G. O. Curme Gram. Eng. Lang. II. xii. 307 In early Modern English there was alongside of the long-voweled bete or beat the *short-voweled bett. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Autour, A *short-winged hauke. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 63 The short-winged Eagle. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. 111. 473 In fine, short-wing’d, unfit himself to fly, His fear foretold foul weather in the sky. 1828 Sir J. S. Sebright Hawking (1828) 46 A short-winged hawk. 1869-73 T. R. Jones Cassell's Bk. Birds III. 287 Short-winged Cursorial Birds. 1653 R. Sanders Physiogn. 41 The *Short wristed, cut, and dissected, signifies Weakness of Body and Minde.

25. Combinations with participles in which short is used as a complement, as short-bitten, -cropped, -drawn, -growing, etc. 01586 Sidney Arcadia 1. Eel. (1598) 84 *Short-bitten grasse. 1884 Birch Kouyunjik Gallery Brit. Mus. 89 The horse has a *short-cropped mane. 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1561/4 A Sorrel Mare.. her Foretop cut off, and ♦short Dock’d. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxviii, She could discover by his *short-drawn sobs that it was a paroxysm of mental agony. 1889 Hardwicke's Sci. Gossip XXV. 195/1 The Morello and many *short-growing varieties of similar habit. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship 56 * Short-laid, implies ♦shorttwisted. 1869 Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 212 Men with tails.. are always *short-made and broad-shouldered. 1677 Lond. Gaz. No. 1170/4 A *short-truss’d Nag.

26. a. Special collocations and combinations: short-arc a. (see quot. 1972); short-arm a., (a) designating a punch thrown with the arm not fully extended; also ellipt. as sb.) (b) slang (orig. and chiefly Mil.), designating an inspection of the penis for venereal disease or other infection; also ellipt. as sb.; short-arse, -ass slang, a person of small stature; a person of little account; hence short-arsed, -assed a., of small stature; short back and sides, a haircut in which the hair is cut short at the back and sides of the head; also attrib.) short ballot U.S., a ballot in which only the more important offices are held up for election, the minor offices being filled by appointment; spec, (see quot. 1940); also, a form for such a ballot; also attrib.) short bath Dyeing (see quot.); f short-board (see board sb. 15); short cards U.S., one of various card games played for money (see quots.); also attrib. in sing.) short chain Chem. [chain sb. sg], a relatively small number of atoms (usu. of carbon) linked together in a line; usu. attrib. (with hyphen); short-cloak, a cloak coming down only to the elbows; short clothes, an infant’s short-coats (see short-coat sb. 2); also fig.) short con U.S. slang, a small-scale confidence racket; also (with hyphen) attrib.) short corner Hockey, a penalty hit taken from a spot on the goal-line up to within ten yards of the goal-posts, a penalty corner; short-cross, (a) Printing, ‘the shortest and also the broadest bar that divides a chase into quarters’ (Savage Diet. Printing, 1841); (b) Numism., a cross with arms extending only to the inner circle of the coin; also attrib.) short-cycle(d adjs. Bot., (of a rust fungus) not having a complete life cycle; short-day a., (of a plant) not flowering until the period of light each day falls below some limit;

SHORT short-eat Sri Lanka, a snack; short end, (a) pi. odds and ends (cf. end sb. 6 c); (b) see quot. 1844; (c) a remnant of cloth; (d) U.S. slang, the inferior part or share (of something), the losing end, a bad deal; (e) Comm, that part of a stock market which deals in short-term stocks; t short-ended a. Sc. [f. end var. of ande breath], short-winded; short-eyed a., short-sighted (in quot.^ig.); short focus, a focal point that is near to the lens; chiefly attrib., esp. in short-focus lens, spec., a photographic lens whose focal length is less than the length of the diagonal of the negative or plate with which it is used; short-frock, a short garment usually worn in childhood, hence/ig. in pi. habits, etc. associated with childhood; short fuse U.S. slang, a quick temper; hence short-fused a.) short game Golf, the style of golf played at the approach to and on the green; short gown, a dress with a very short skirt, worn by women engaged in house-work; also fa night-gown worn by a person of rank; also attrib. ) short grain, a condition of the fibres which gives rise to brittleness in wood (cf. short-grained a.); short-grass, (a) grass grown and trimmed as a lawn; (b) used, usu. attrib., to designate the vegetation of certain prairies; short-hairs pi. U.S. slang, a name given to a branch of the Democratic Party in the Western States who show discontent with the administration; also attrib. in sing.) short head, (a) Anthropology, a brachycephalic person; (b) Racing, a distance less than the length of a horse’s head; a horse that has lost by a short head; also attrib. and fig.) hence short-head v. trans., to defeat by a short head; also transf. and fig.) short-headed a., having a short head, spec. in Anthropology, brachycephalic; hence shortheadedness) short heeled a., having a short heel; fig. wanton; hence short-heels, a wanton person; short horse U.S., (a) = quarterhorse; also attrib.) (b) (see sense 18i above); short-line Rackets (see quot.); short linseed, ? a trade name for a kind of linseed-meal; shortlong, (a) Med. a technical name for a variety of Cardamom; (b) an iambic verse (nonce-use)) short-lunged a. = short-winded; in quot. fig.) short measure, an arrangement of the keyboard of a spinet in which advantage is taken of the ‘short octave’; short metre, a form of stanza used in hymn-writing, consisting of four lines of which the first, second, and fourth are of six syllables and the third of eight, usually expressed by the symbol s.M.; also vulgarly as adv. phr. quickly, soon; short octave Mus. (see quot. 1801); also in keyboard instruments other than the organ; short order U.S., an order for food to be prepared and served up quickly; a dish so served; also attrib.) Short Parliament, the Parliament which sat from 13 April to 5 May, 1640; short-period a., extending over or lasting for a brief period of time; recurring at short intervals; short-pipe, ? a kind of musket with a short barrel; short-punt v. intr. Rugby Football, to punt the ball a short distance; shortrest Billiards = jigger sb.1 5 g; short rib, (a) a popular name for any of the lower ribs which do not attach to the sternum; also a piece of butcher’s meat, esp. of pork, containing one or more of such ribs; (b) Printing, = cramp-iron 3; f short sail (see quot.); short sauce: see sauce sb. 4 a; short score Mus. (see quots. 1876, 1954); short-sea(s) a., of or pertaining to short sea crossings; short-service, military service limited to a prescribed short period; also attrib.) short shorts U.S., very short drawers or trousers; briefs; f short shouldered a., thick¬ set; short-silk, cotton having a short staple; t short-six, (a) - sixsb. 3 h; (b) U.S., a type of cigar (cf. long nine); short sleeve, a sleeve which does not reach below the elbow; also attrib.) hence short-sleeved a., having short sleeves; short-snorter U.S. Mil. slang, (see quot. 1954); also, a person who collects a shortsnorter; also attrib.) f short speaking, brevity in speech, ‘brachylogy’; short-spirited a., lacking forbearance or perseverance; short-splice (see quots.); short spoon Golf, a short wooden club (see spoon sb. 4 c); short-staff, a short cudgel, also a contest between two persons armed with such cudgels; short-staffed a., not adequately provided with staff, understaffed; short-stage a., with short distances between stopping places; also ellipt. as sb., a coach travelling in this way (obs. exc. Hist.)) short staple a., having a short fibre, a commercial term applied to cotton

SHORT of an inferior grade, also known as ‘upland cotton’; also absol.; short-stapled a., having a short staple (= prec. adj.; said also of wool); short stepper, a horse equally lame in all its legs; Short Street, an imaginary street where people in financial difficulty are supposed to reside; short suit Cards, a suit of which a player has few cards; also attrib.; hence short-suited a., having a short suit; also fig.; short sweetening U.S. dial., (a) cane sugar (as opposed to molasses); (b) maple sugar (as opposed to cane sugar); f Short-thigh Hist. = Curt-hose; f short-thinker, a person whose thought does not carry him far into a subject; short-title, the abbreviated title by which an Act of Parliament is officially designated; an abbreviated form of the full title of a book; also attrib.; short turn a., (of a wagon) constructed so as to turn easily in a short space; shortwaisted a. (of a person or a garment) short in the waist; also ffig-; short-warp (see quot.); shortweight v. trans., to give short weight to (see sense 15 a) (U.S.); short whist: see whist sb.3 a; t shortwindiness = short-windedness; shortwise adv., in the shortest direction; shortwitted a., lacking intelligence. 1955 Sci. News Let. 27 Aug. 136/2 Use of xenon and platinum eliminates the usual warm-up period required before today’s signaling searchlights can be used. The bulb, called a ’short-arc mercury-xenon lamp, was developed by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. 1972 Gloss. Electrotechnical, Power Terms (B.S.I.) iv. iii. 14 Short-arc lamp, discharge lamp in which the distance between the electrodes is small (of the order 1 mm to 10 mm). 1906 ‘H. McHugh’ Skiddoo! 10 To the Bury Little Bunch of Newspaper knockers who have so assiduously plied hammer and harpoon since this series began, I want to say that 575,000 John Henry books were sold up to March 1st, 1906. There is your answer, O Beloved of the ’Short Arm Jab! 1911 J. Masefield Everlasting Mercy 11 Billy bats Some stinging short-arms in my slats. 1919 in Wine, Women & War (1926) 307 Short arm inspection between vomits. Doctor sicker than patients. 1953 Sun (Baltimore) 5 Jan. (B ed.) 12/5 At the Gay street station you are taken to the second floor for a brief physical check, the army ‘short-arm’, given in this case to see if anything has turned up since your preinduction physical. 1975 C. Allen Plain Tales from Raj xv. 159 Periodical medical checks, known as ‘short arm inspections’, ensured that any man who availed himself of the ‘tree rats’ or ‘grass bidis' was properly dealt with. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die xl. 450 Before you go to bed with a guy, give him a short arm... You strip down his penis, you know, like you’re masturbating him, and if there’s a yellow fluid coming out like a drippage, you know he’s infected. 1706 ’Short-arse [see spud sb. 4]. 1949 D. M. Davin Roads from Home 212 That little shortarse tried to report him. 1962 H. Hood in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 203 ‘Now this Pearson,’ said one of the revellers, ‘he’s just a little short-ass. He’s just a little fellow without any brains.’ 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 54 ‘What’s her real name?’ I implored. ‘Jean.’ ‘Oh. The short-arse? Yeah, she’s all right. Boring dress.’ 1951 Partridge Diet. Slang (ed. 4) 1168/2 ’ Short-arsed, (of a person) that is short. 1962 Canadian Jrnl. Linguistics Autumn 49 Short-ass(ed). 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 114 He was a short-arsed little bastard—about fivefive. 1965 M. Allingham Mind Readers xxii. 241 A bony young man who.. wore ‘’short back and sides’. 1972 N. Bentley Events of that Week 72 The gents, in tweed caps or with their silvery short-backs-and-sides exposed to the unrelenting sun. 1974 ‘G. Black’ Golden Cockatrice v. 81 Mr Long favoured short back and sides hair-cuts for his personnel. 1982 Observer 16 May 4/3 Bejeaned teenagers seemed to outnumber the elderly short-back-and-sides ‘sweats’. 1909 R. S. Childs in Outlook 17 July 638/2 On such a ’short ballot basis the entry of our best men into public life becomes possible. 1914 Cycl. Amer. Government I. 104/2 A short ballot is any voting paper which requires the selection of only a few important candidates. 1940 Amer. Pol. Sci. Rev. Oct. 955 The term ‘presidential short ballot’ is applied to the ballot form in which the names of candidates for presidential electors are omitted, and only the names of the candidates for president and vice-president appear. 1952 R. Rienow Introd. to Government iv. xix. 362 A suggested reform would limit the offices upon which people vote to those which .. have a broad policy-making function. The plan is called the short ballot. 1968 Economist 27 July 33/3 As for the electors themselves, they could scarcely be more anonymous. In fact, thirty-five states have abandoned any attempt to tell the Voters who they are. Instead these states only use what is called ‘the short ballot’. 1911 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 753/1 ‘’Short bath’, i.e. a bath containing a minimum amount of dye liquor. 1644 Manwayring Seaman's Diet. 13 A ’short-boord, is when you stand-off but little. 1772-84 [see board sb. 15]. 1845 J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Simon Suggs 134 Thar never were a peaceabler or more gentlemanlier game o’ ’short cards played. 1876 Scribner's Monthly May 45 It is worthy of a short-card sharp and a keno flopper. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 105/2 Short card player, a gambler who plays all card games well except draw poker. 1938 H. Asbury Sucker's Progress 286 Short card games predominated, the favorites being Brag, Poker, Seven-Up and Whist. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §743/1 Short-card player, a poker player, esp. a cardsharp. 1940 Jrnl. Dairy Sci. XXIII. 1054 The ’short chain fatty acids are by products of this synthesis. 1961 Lancet 12 Aug. 343/1 There was a high content of shortchain acids and unidentified long-chain.. acids in the cholesterol esters. 1972 Jrnl. Chromatogr. LXXIV. 335 Measurement of short-chain fatty acids in various biological materials is becoming increasingly important in the physiology and taxonomy of microorganisms and in the dairy, food, and beverage industries. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iv. iv, ‘In his rustic farmer-clothes’; which he will wear always; careless of ’short-cloaks and costumes. 1816 E.

328 Jrnl. of Governess (1969) II. 140, I have been., making ’short-clothes for Mary... I think of having her weaned in a few weeks. 1843 C. Ridley Let. Nov. in Cecilia (1958) xii. 138, I believe it is much better for children to be put early into short clothes if they are well. 1921 J. Buchan Path of King xii. 246 He held that the country had grown up and couldn’t be kept much longer in short clothes. 1932 Detective Fiction Weekly 6 Feb. 126/1 Little tricks known as the ‘’short con’. 1948 Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. 667 Short-con workers operate on a modest scale, and are usually content with whatever money the victim has on him at the time he is rooked. 1965 H. Gold Man who was not with It viii. 67 This was better than . . any of the other shortcon moments of which Grack had told. 1967 J. Potter Foul Play i. 10 His team had failed to score from the resulting ’short corner. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 2 Nov. 22/5 Yateley .. reduced the arrears from a short corner. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing ix. §6. 35 [The Chase] hath two Crosses belonging to it, viz., a ’Short-Cross .. and a Long-Cross. 1870 Henfrey Eng. Coins 11. 23 Not many years ago there was much discussion whether these ‘shortcross pennies’, as they were called, belonged to the last coinage of Henry II, or the first issue of Henry III. 1904 Stainer Oxf. Silver Pennies (O.H.S.) 55 Short cross voided, each limb terminating in incurved segment of a circle. 1915 H. C. Travelbee in Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci. 1914 231 We note the teliospores of a ’short-cycled rust appearing on the aecial host of a long-cycled hetercecious rust. 1926 Shortcycle [see macrocyclic a. 1]. 1950 E. A. Bessey Morphol. & Taxon. Fungi xii. 396 Another anomaly in the life cycle of a short-cycle rust. Ibid. 397 In most of the short-cycled rusts studied.. it has been shown that the mycelium is of monocaryon type until the telium or aecium is formed, when dicaryon cells appear. 1920 Garner & Allard in Jrnl. Agric. Res. XVIII. 559 It will be convenient to use the expressions ‘long day’ as meaning exposure to light for more than 12 hours and ‘’short day’ as referring to an exposure of 12 hours or less. Ibid. 576 It [5c. Aster linear ifolius] is a typical ‘short-day’ flowering perennial. 1947 Sci. News IV. 129 By and large, short day plants flower if they receive 8-9 hours of light a day, and long day plants flower if they receive 14-16 hours of light a day. 1980 Sci. Amer. May 105 0caption) The cocklebier is a short-day plant and will flower only if it receives at least 8 5 hours of continuous total darkness each day. 1962 Housewife (Ceylon) Feb. 25 (Advt.), Order your:—’Short Eats .. Cakes & Pastries From Grosvenor Caterers. 1971 Times Weekender (Ceylon) 3 Oct. 4/7 She wanted to go to a creamery and after looking at the short-eats on display, ordered a special bun. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 252 Certen ryche men.. had packed up theyr ’short endes, & were gonne out of the Citie. 1635 in Foster Crt. Min. E. Ind. Comp. (1907) 95 What Gosnell may have brought home in ‘short ends’ he knows not. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 489 Lengthening the plough-chains by short-ends, that is, short pieces of chain, which are hooked in a similar manner, i860 Short end [see balk sft.2]. 1904 Ade True Bills 14 Each Partner naturally believed that he was getting the Short End of the Arrangement. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §371/2 Lose,.. get the short end. i960 Lebende Sprachen V. 35/1 Left¬ overs, remnants, short-ends. 1964 Financial Times 10 Feb. 9/1 A fair business was done in temporary funds in the Local Authorities loans market last week. Rates tended to move erratically at the short end. 1976 Scottish Daily Express 24 Dec. 12/1 At the short end of the market prices were clipped by £1/8. 1977 Time 8 Aug. 28/2 Annie went back to Broadway on the short end of a 6-2 score. 1979 E. Newman Sunday Punch xxiii. 205 You’re getting the very short end of the purse. 1595 Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Anhelus, pursie, or ’short-ended. 1721 Southerne Loyal Brother 1. i, No, no, Arbanes, no; thou’rt *short-ey’d here. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. IV. 408 Another.. method is to substitute for the sun its image formed in the focus of a convex lens of ’short focus. 1862 Illustr. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Industr. Dept., Brit. Div. II. No. 3154 The same camera can be used for either short-focus portrait or long-focus landscape lenses. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 580/2 The sun’s image formed by a lens or burning glass of short focus is our best mode of attempting to realize the conception of a luminous point. 1935 Discovery Jan. 25/1 The picture [sc. the oldest existing photograph] was taken on sensitised paper, probably with a small short-focus camera having a large-aperture lens. 1973 Focal Diet. Photogr. Technol. 559 Short focus lenses of normal angle are used in macrophotography at natural size or larger scales of reproduction. 1885 Kipling in Pioneer 27 Jan. 5/2 Clad in ’short frocks in the West, Are you growing the charms that shall capture and ravish the heart from my breast? 1900 G. Swift Somerley 37 The literary shortfrocks of Jules Verne and Henty. 1968 N. Y. Times 13 Oct. iv. 10 Tully, a fellow notorious around Sausalito for his ’short fuse. 1980 G. Thompson Murder Mystery xix. 149 Postel’s first-rate but he’s got a short fuse. You lie to him .. and he’ll walk off your case. 1979 Observer 16 Dec. 9/1 He’s quite ’short-fused, but he knows how to control his temper. 1858 Chambers's Jrnl. 4 Sept. 157/2 The ‘’short game’— coming into play when the ball lies from a hundred to one hundred and fifty yards from the hole. 1903 H. G. Hutchinson et al. Bk. Golf iv. ii. 238 Treat the combination of mashies (sometimes irons) and putting together, calling it the short game. 1976 Webster's Sports Diet. 386/2 Short game.., the aspect of play in which control of relatively short shots (as approach shots or putts) is of primary importance. 1473 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 13, j| elne of blac to lyne a ’schort gowne to the King. 1489 Ibid. 135 For xj elne of rede dammysk to lyne a lang gowne and the schorte gowne.. xxij li. 15.. Christ's Kirk 34 in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 283 Sa schamefully his schort goun set him. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, x, Her brown russet short-gown set off a shape, which time, perhaps, might be expected to render too robust. 1851 [see long-short, long a. 18]. 1861 J. Brown Horae Subs. Ser. 11. 132 Her bright young careless face, her tidy shortgown, and her dark eyes. 1947 J. C. S. Brough Timbers for Woodwork iv. 30 ’Short grain means that the fibres lie in such a direction that the timber may snap or fracture with practically no splintering. 1956 F. W. Jane Struct. Wood xi. 254 Where this type of grain occurs it is clearly impossible to produce lumber which is straight grained—the wood must, inevitably, have short grain and suffer from the defects associated with such a structural peculiarity. 1826 Cobbett Rural Rides (1885) II. 52 ’Shortgrass very neatly kept. 1916 Jrnl. Ecol. IV. 49 This Bouteloua mixed consocies, representing the most radical departure from the typical short-grass, really differs mainly Weeton

SHORT in the possession of a derived element. 1929 Weaver & Clements Plant Ecol. xvii. 401 The short-grass plains extend over areas in western Nebraska and include much of the western half of Kansas, eastern Colorado, [etc.]. 1961 Listener 7 Sept. 346/2 The short-grass plains of the Serengeti. 1867 Ball Players' Chron. 4 July 2/1 Being assisted by their brutish followers of the ’short-hair grade, they generally manage to make large hauls of plunder. 1875 Nation 1 Apr. 218 A very real division of the Democratic party in this city into two sets of politicians known familiarly as ‘Short Hairs’ and ‘Swallow Tails’—the former comprising the rank and file of voters, and the latter ‘the property owners and substantial men’. 1886 Chicago Tribune in Barrere & Leland Slang (1890) s.v., They did not resign, as had been hoped by the short-hairs. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. App. 642 Dudes and roughs, civil service reformers and office-holding bosses, short-hairs and college presidents. 1894 Stead If Christ came to Chicago 36 Mayor Hopkins was elected by the silkstockings on the one hand and the shorthairs on the other. 1883 J. Greenwood Odd People in Odd Places 107 Fancy him having that horribly anathematized ‘’short head’ all his own and in hand to do as he likes with—to revile it, and punch it. 1892 Athenaeum 3 Dec. 781/3 The long-headed race kept up a desultory warfare with the short-heads for many years. 1898 A. E. T. Watson Turf 133 There are legends of judges haying made mistakes in short head verdicts. 1922 Weekly Dispatch 12 Nov. 7 Danny caught him napping and shortheaded him on the post. 1932 A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms vn. 55 Teckla took the lead on the straight and won by a short-head from Bomba II. 1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned 1. 55 She successfully short-headed a wool merchant for the bath. 1963 J. Prescot Case for Hearing iii. 44 The favourite was beaten on the post... I was short-headed out of a fiver. 1976 Ld. Home Way Wind Blows xiii. 186 Had these two pulled their weight, I have no doubt at all that our short-head defeat would have been converted into a narrow victory, and a win at that time for the Conservative Party could well have smashed the Socialists. 1977 Irish Times 8 June 2/1 Frozen Tiger beat the flying outsider, Poppy Fields, by a diminishing short head. 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 170 ’Short-headed Toad. 1854 A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 68 Short-headed Serpents. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man 26 It exhibits .. a type .. which is intermediate between the long¬ headed and short-headed form. 1883 Academy 17 Mar. 190/1 That Turanian admixture is the cause of relative ’short headedness must for the nonce be relegated to the background. 1591 ? Nashe Wond. Strange Prognost. B 1 b, Some shalbe so ’short heeld & so quesie stomackt, that [etc.]. 1600 Surflet Country Farm 11. xlix. 322 This kind of meate [apples of love] is good for such men as are inclyned to dallie with.. short heeld huswiues. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Short heeled Wench, a girl apt to fall on her back. 1839 Macgillivray Brit. Birds II. 188 Short-heeled Field Lark. 1599 Porter Angry Worn. Abington (Percy Soc.) 35 Mistresse flurt, yon [sic] foule strumpet, Light a loue, ’shorte heeles! 1922 Breeders' Gaz. 24 Aug. 212/4 There is little doubt he came from Southern Illinois, the home of many well-known ‘’short-horses’. 1971 Amer. N. & Q. Apr. 127/2 They .. have had many and strong infusions of thoroughbred blood through the years, but not such that the prized short horse characteristics were lost. 1898 Encycl. Sport II. 244/2 (Rackets) * Short-line, the line on the floor at the distance of about 39 feet from the front wall and parallel to it. 1726 Act 13 Geo. I, c. 26 §2 Any Lintseed commonly called or known by the Name of ’Short Lintseed. 1871 Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 333 Cardamoms are distinguished according to their lengths by the respective names of shorts, ’short-longs, and longs, a 1881 O. W. Holmes Old Vol. Life ix, The first two in iambics, or shortlongs. 01687 ‘Auson’ On Elegy to Cleveland 4 in C.'s Wks. 279 Elegiacks .. too ’short-lung’d to parallel thy Fame. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 562/1 Three and two-third octaves, E to C—which by the ‘’short measure’ would be four octaves, C to C. 1718 ’Short metre [see common a. 19 b]. 1848 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. 1. ii, Ef it worn’t fer wakin’ snakes, I’d home agin short meter. 1801 Busby Diet. Mus., ’ShortOctaves. An appellation given to some of the lower octaves of an organ, because from the omission of some of the intermediate notes, the extreme keys lie nearer to each other than those of the full octaves. 1880 Grove Diet. Mus. II. 588/1 In the short octave two of the natural keys were omitted, and the succession stood thus: —CC (on the EE key), FF, G, A, B, C. 1961 A. Baines Musical Instruments through Ages iv. 77 The earlier instruments [of the harpsichord family] very generally had a ‘short’ or ‘broken’ octave in the bass. 1980 Early Music Apr. 215/1 In my own field of keyboard instruments, the important questions used to be how the jack mechanism worked and how the short octave was tuned. 1906 ‘O. Henry’ Four Million 103 The clatter of steel, the screaming of ‘’short orders’, the cries of the hungering and all the horrid tumult of feeding men. 1927 Amer. Speech 11. 414/1 The nomenclature of the shortorder restaurant. 1928 s. Lewis Man who knew Coolidge 1. 31 We plan to have a restaurant there serving short-orders twenty-four hours a day. 1956 J. Potts Death of Stray Cat vii. 75 Working .. as a short-order cook in his diner. 1978 J Updike Coup (1979) iv. 137, I.. worked as waiter and shortorder cook in various eating establishments. 1653 Cromwell Sp. 4 July in Carlyle (1845) II. 188 The state of affairs as they were before the ’Short, that is the last, Parliament. 1884 Gardiner Hist. Eng. IX. xci. 117 The Short Parliament.. had sat for three weeks. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 509/1 ’Short-period fluctuations between a maximum and minimum, within the limits of each single stroke [of a piston]. 1895 Knowledge 1 May 111/2 There is no longer any reason to doubt that all ‘short-period variables’ are really close binaries. 1900 Ibid. 1 Dec. 285/2 Brorsen’s Comet... This interesting short-period comet. 1923 P. B. Ballard New Examiner 107 For., an overwhelming majority, short-period testing, when properly carried out, is as sound and as valid as long-period testing. 1962 L. S. Sasieni Optical Dispensing viii. 195 A second pair of lenses for special purposes, or for shortperiod use. 1967 Oceanogr. Marine Biol. V. 128 Such a rise is a normal aspect of the short-period low-amplitude, climatic oscillations of the Holocene epoch. 1844 Queen's Regul. Army 99 For ’short-pipe 3d. 1937 C. Day Lewis Starting Point 1. iii. 48 The next time he received the ball, he ♦short-punted ahead. 1954 J. B. G. Thomas On Tour 184 Morgan was half through before he short-punted. 1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 935/2 The ‘’short rest’ (or ‘jigger’). 1592 Timme Ten Eng. Lepers K 3 b, Joab .. stabbed him under the

SHORT ♦short ribbes, and killed him. 1769 E. Bancroft Guiana 242 A little below the short ribs. 1912 Standard 20 Sept. 8/7 Bacon, Short Rib Sides. 1710 J. Harris Lex. Techn. II, *Short Sails, in a Man of War, are the same with the Fighting-sails, and are the Fore-sail, Main-sail, and Fore¬ topsail. 1876 Stainer & Barrett Diet. Mus. Terms 388/2 A * short or compressed score is when all the parts are arranged or transcribed so that they shall appear in two staves... In transcribing four-part music into short score, the two upper parts are arranged in the treble stave. 1946 A. Hutchings in A. L. Bacharach Brit. Music xvi. 207, I do not think that, even now, Rubbra finds it easy to bring off the orchestration conceived in his mind’s ear while writing his ‘short score’. 1954 Grove's Diet. Music (ed. 5) VII. 765/1 Short score, a term meaning either (a) a condensation of a vocal or instrumental full score for pianoforte or organ for use at rehearsal or (b) a composer’s first draft of a full score in which a large orchestral lay-out is reduced to a few staves. 1980 Early Music July 414/3 The collection is most unusual in that it.. has .. a fully notated ‘short-score’ keyboard accompaniment. 1952 J. W. Day New Yeomen of England iii. 40 The bargemen were a race apart, born and brought up to the ♦short-seas trade. 1966 Guardian 28 Feb. 16/7 The coastal and short-sea container services. 1976 Daily Tel. 9 Sept. 1/2 All cross-Channel and short-sea vessels crewed by union members will be affected immediately the strike starts. 1882 E. W. Hamilton Diary 19 Nov. (1972) I. 361 What struck him [sc. Mr. Gladstone] most was the magnificent appearance of the line regiments—an unanswerable proof against the charges of *short service. 1897 Daily News 9 Feb. 6/3 A sufficient short-service home army, and a really effective reserve force. 1905 ArnoldForster in Pari. Deb. 29 Mar. 1582 If we were allowed to take the Militia and make them the short-service Army. 1946 Sun (Baltimore) 24 Apr. 7/2 ‘What are briefs,’ asked Senator Millikin... Cheney dug into his satchel, came up with a pair, and waved them at Millikin. ‘Oh,’ said the senator. ‘*Short shorts.’ 1964 [see Jamaica b]. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 2 July 2-a (Advt.), Coordinate your tops with shorts from the great selection of short shorts cuffed or uncuffed and jamaica length shorts. C1386 Chaucer Prol. 549 He was *short sholdred, brood, a thikke knarre. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 11. (1872) 200 Cottons may be divided into the long silk and *short silk. Ibid., The United States generally furnish the short silks in the greatest quantity. 1831 H. J. Finn Amer. Comic Ann. 219, I wus drest all in white, and lookt like a ♦short-six goin to be dipt. 1838 W. E. Burton Burton s Comic Songster 188 Give me some short six’s. 1843 [see six sb. 3]. 1865 C. F. Browne A. Ward: his Trav. 57 Tom Slink, who used to smoke shortsixes and get acquainted with the little circus boys. 1885 Pioneer 19 Aug. 5/1, I buy me not twelve-button gloves, ‘short sixes’ eke, or rings. 1890 J. Jefferson Autobiogr. 146 The very cornerstone of Juliet’s balcony contained twenty pounds of the best ‘short sixes’. 1639 in Rec. Governor & Co. Massachusetts Bay (1853) I. 274 No garment shalbee made wrh *short sleeves, whereby the nakedness of the arme may be discovered. 1847 Dickens Dombey (1848) xxxv. 354 Mrs Skewton.. in a very youthful costume, with short sleeves. 1931 Mod. Woman Feb. 46 Length of short sleeve seam, 4J ins. 1969 Sears Catal. Spring/Summer 11/1 Short sleeve tops in windowpane printed plaid. 1976 Lady's Mag. Dec. 564/2 Short sleeves in small plaits. 1839 C. Bronte Caroline Vernon in W. Gerin C. Bronte (1967) viii. 133 [A] ♦short-sleeved frock, worked trousers and streaming sash that would better have suited the age of 9 or 10 than that of 15. 1973 F). E. Westlake Cops & Robbers 7 With the heat the way it was, I was glad the Police Department let its people wear a short-sleeved shirt in the summer. 1944 Sun (Baltimore) 1 May 13/5 A ‘*short-snorter’ made up of 18 pieces of currency. Ibid., The short-snorter fellowship consists of persons who have flown over salt-water. Its ‘membership card’ is a piece of currency signed by other short-snorters. 1954 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Ther. Slang (ed. 2) §896/1 Short snorter, an autograph list on a string of attached bills, usually of the currency in the countries visited. 1976 R. M. Stern Will ii. 15 On the study wall in a plain wood frame were the connected, signaturescrawled dollar bills.. called short-snorters, or some such silly name. ‘They were the in thing,’ his father had told him. .. ‘You carried them with you .. and got as many signatures as you could... If there ever was a reason, I’ve forgotten it.’ 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 568/35 Braciologia, a ♦shortspekynge. 1647 Trapp Comm. Epist., Marrow Gd. Authors 672 If God should be as *short spirited, what would soon become of all? 1673 Janeway Heav. Earth (1847) 149 God is not like short-spirited man. 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1789) Nni, The ♦short-splice is made by untwisting the ends of two ropes, or the two ends of one rope, and, having placed each of the strands of one .. in the interval between two strands of the other, to draw them close together; and then interweave the strands of one into the alternate strands of the other. 1858 Chambers's jfrnl. 4 Sept. 157/1 The names of the wooden-head clubs.. ♦shortspoon. 1901 Encycl. Sport II. 459/2 The long spoon, mid spoon, short spoon and baffing spoon .. are now rarely seen, having been supplanted by the brassy, and the modern irons andmashies. 1970 F. C. Avis Golf Diet. 196 Long spoon, the No. 3 wood; short spoon, the No. 4 wood. 1775 Sheridan Rivals iv. i, A bout at boxing, quarter-staff, or ♦short-staff. 1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned xxx iv. 334, I should get my patients to bed. They’re very *short-staffed. 1968 ‘M. Carroll’ Dead Trouble ii. 27 They’ve got a room but they’re short-staffed. I said we’d take our cases up. 1977 J. Sherwood Honesty will get you Nowhere i. 16 Matron .. was short-staffed, at her wits’ end to keep the place going. 1837 Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxii. 339 Numerous cads and drivers of ♦short stages. 1903 W. Gilbey Early Carriages & Roads 56 It seems .. certain that the year 1662 saw a great increase in the number of ‘short stages’—that is to say, coaches running between London and towns twenty, thirty, forty miles distant. 1963 Times 24 May (London Underground Suppl.) p. vi/4 Local transport in and around the Metropolis was by short-stage carriages, which ran from point to point (usually an inn). 1969 J- E. Tuffs Essex Coaching Days vii. 63 Spreading out from London in all directions was the net-work of short-stage coach routes. 1802 J. Simons Let. 15 Dec. in Steele Papers (1924) I. 341 ♦Short Stable [sic], or Green seed Cotton if the best Quality, 16 cents. 1858 Homans Cycl. Comm. s.v. Cotton 437/2 The ‘Georgian’, or ‘short-staple’, is [believed to be] the seaisland [variety of cotton] carried into the interior. Ibid. 438/1 The short staple cotton is more or less cultivated all

329 the way from the southern borders of Virginia, to the southwestern streams of the Mississippi. 1834 McCulloch Diet. Comm. s.v. Cotton (ed. 2) 436 [Cottons] are usually classed under the denominations of long and ♦short stapled. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 126 Short-stapled, or cloth-wool, is valued by the fineness .. and whiteness of its fibres. 1836 Head Home Tour 101, I perceived him to be what is technically called ‘a ♦short stepper’. 1920 in Further Lett, from Man of No Importance (1932) 79 Soldiering is an honourable but not a profitable profession, and landed property is apt to land the owner in ‘*Short Street’. 1938 Daily Tel. 25 July 9/1 She was finally unable to help Wilde, then penniless, for his defence: and having lived in ‘Short Street’ myself, I quite understood. 1876 A. CampbellWalker Correct Card p. xiii, * Short suit, one of which you hold originally not more than three cards. 1893 ‘L. Hoffman’ tr. Hertefeld's Game of Skat 8 As .. a suit consists of seven cards only, three or more constitute a long suit; and two or less a short suit. 1931 E. Culbertson Contract Bridge at Glance 43 With an Ace, a King, or honours not in sequence in one or two suits, and a worthless doubleton or a singleton in the third suit, lead the short suit. 1964 Frey & Truscott Official Encycl. Bridge 499/1 The short-suit lead is also indicated when there is a bidding inference that this is partner’s suit. 1935 Auden & Isherwood Dog beneath Skin 11. ii. 82 Hullo, you *short-suited? Here, let’s see your hand. 1940 C. Woolrich in Ellery Queen's Magicians of Mystery (1976) 281 Did I say she was beautiful? Double it in spades, and you’re still short-suited. 1850 Quincy (Illinois) Whig 19 Nov. 2/2 He put.. all the money she had in *short sweetening, and left her without a cent. 1883 [see long sweetening s.v. long a.1 18]. 1914 B. T. Washington Selected Speeches 218 This good lady asked whether we wanted long or short sweetening in our coffee. 1948 E. N. Dick Dixie Frontier 291 ‘Short sweetening’, or maple sugar, was also obtained in its raw state from the trees. 1596 Drayton (title) The Tragicall Legend of Robert Duke of Normandye surnamed ♦Short Thighe. 1711 Shaftesb. Charac. III. 302 They.. being necessitated thus to become ♦Short-thinkers, are contented to go no further than they are led by those to whom .. they apply themselves for Cure and Comfort. 1869 Act 32 & 33 Viet. c. 42 § 1 marg., ♦Shorttitle. This Act may be cited.. as The Irish Church Act, 1869. 1892 Act 55 Viet. c. 10 §2 The Short Titles Act, 1892. 1896 in A. H. Chester Diet. Names Minerals 1 (Advt.), Short-Title Catalogue of.. Publications... Arranged under subjects. 1945-51 D. Wing (title) Short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America.., 1641-1700. 1978 Amer. N. & Q. XVI. 151 /1 The short-title lists .. ought to be based on meticulous bibliographical descriptions. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2188/4 Lost.., a ♦short turn Waggon. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 46 Collars, light and *short wasted cuirasses and backes. 1592 Nashe Strange Newes M 1 b, This thy shortwasted Pamphlet. 1756 C. Smart tr. Horace, Sat. 1. ii. (1826) II. 21 But.. she is low-hipped, short-waisted [L. brevi latere], with a long nose, and a splay-foot. 1851 H. Melville Whale lx, The *short-warp—the rope which is immediately connected with the harpoon. 1932 T. S. Stribling Store vii. 73 It is much mo’ dangerous to accuse a white man of *shawt-weightin’ you when he ain’t ’an when he is. 1952 Sun (Baltimore) 8 Apr. (B ed.) 30/5 Many Harford county coal dealers apparently are short-weighting their customers. 1977 Time 7 Nov. 72/3 A leading Catholic contractor short-weights the church. 1545 Raynald Byrth Mankynde 116 The cough: and distillation of the heade: ♦short wyndynesse [etc.]. 1562 Turner Baths 8 b, They are good .. for shortwindines. 1865 Daily Tel. 22 Aug. 6/5 The bullocks’ half of the square.. is divided *shortwise, by the wooden barriers to which I have alluded. 1477 Norton Ordin. Alch. vi. in Ashm. 93 All *short-witted Men and mutable, a 1656 Hales Golden Rem. (1688) 255 Piety doth not require at our hands, that we should be either shortwitted or beggerly. 1809-10 Coleridge Friend (1865) 9 The more pitiable asthma of a short-witted intellect.

b. In names of animals, as short bill, a Brazilian bird, Phibalura flavirostris\ short diodon, a species of sunfish, Cephalus brevis\ short-eared owl, a light-coloured owl flecked with brown or black, Asio flammeus flammeus, distinguished by short ear-tufts and found in Europe, northern Africa, and North America; short-hair, one of a breed of short-haired cats; also attrib.; short-head, a name given by sailors to the young of the whale; short-sheep, a name given to a short-woolled sheep of the black¬ faced Scotch variety; short-tail, (a) a bird of the genus Pitta; (b) a name given to a small family of snakes, Tortricidae, found in India and America; short-wing, a diving bird of the group Brachypteri. 1820-1 Swainson Zool. Illustr. 1. PI. 31 Phibalura cristata. Crested *Shortbill. 1776 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 115 *Short Diodon... Sun-fish, from Loo. 1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. I. 71 The ♦Short eared Owl.. is found in the mountanous [«c] wooded parts of our island. 1833 Jardine Humming-B. 50 The short-eared owl. 1974 Times 20 Mar. 18/4 Twenty short-eared owls have settled on a Humber nature reserve. 1903 Ladies' Field 7 Nov. 347/1 Woodkirk Prince was pronounced the best ♦short-hair in the [cat] show. 1903 F. Simpson Bk. Cat vii. 99 The ranks of short-hair breeders. 1725 Dudley Whales in Phil. Trans. XXXIII. 257 At a Year old, when they are called *Short heads, they are very fat. 1805 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. II. 155 The black-faced sheep are short-legged, [etc.]. Hence they are often called ♦short sheep, in contradiction to the Cheviot, which are much longer bodied. 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf i, ‘Aweel, aweel, maister,’ said the attendant, ‘short sheep had short rents, I’m thinking.’ 1792 tr. Buff on s Nat. Hist. Birds III. 373 The ♦Short Tail. 1879 E. P. Wright Anim. Life 395 The Short-tails are a small family [ Tortricidae], the species of which are about six in number. 1839 Jerdon in Madras jfrnl. Lit. & Sci. X. 250 Black¬ headed *short wing. 1865 T. R. Jones Anim. Creation 459 The Short-wings (Brachypteres) exhibit considerable relationship with the Water-hens.

SHORT c. In names of plants or vegetable products, as f short-neck, a variety of pear having a rounded form; f short-shank, f -start, a variety of apple having a short stalk (so short-started adj.); short-top, a kind of radish; also attrib.; (so short-topped adj.). 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 295 The Rosewater Pear, the ♦Shortneck, so called from the shortness of its Form and Tail. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Cour-pendu, Pomme de cour-pendu, the *short-start, or ♦short-shanke; (an excellent apple). 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 294 The Shortstart, the Chesnut Apple, and the Great Belly are in many Places Apples of esteem. 1600 Surflet Country Farm 1. xii. 56 After the head beginneth to be ill, to eate one or two ♦short started apples, or some bitter almonds. 1786 Abercrombie Gard. Assist. Dec. 335 Radishes.—sow a few early ♦short-tops. Ibid. Jan. 6 Radishes—sow early shorttop kinds on warm borders, in open weather. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 653 The *short-topped scarlet [radish] is the best for a cottage garden.

d. In Cricket: short ball, a ball which pitches short of a length (see length sb. io); short hit, a ball which when hit does not travel far from the wicket; short leg (see leg sb. 6 c); short notch = short run (b)\ short pitch, the pitch of a short ball (q.v.); short slip (see slip sb.3 14); short square (leg), a square leg standing close in to the wicket; short stop = short slip (see also in Baseball, below). In Baseball: short field, that part of the field in which the short stop plays; also, = short fielder; short fielder, short stop (see quots.); also/ig.; see also in Cricket, above. 1911 Encycl. Sport. (Cricket) I. 495/2 * Short ball, a ball which pitches too far from the batsman to be a good length. 1856 Spirit of Times 6 Dec. 229/1 Adams, as *short field has for many years, been deservedly distinguished. 1948 N. Y. Times 25 Apr. 51/6 Jack Conway was shifted to the short field. 1961 J. S. Salak Diet. Amer. Sports 397 Shortfield,.. area around shortstop position, between second and third bases. 1857 Spirit of Times 18 July 309/3 He is a splendid ♦short fielder. 1874 H. Chadwick Base Ball Man. 27 The Short Fielders. In the present position of the game there is but one ‘short-stop’, and he stands to the left of the in-field between the second and third base positions. Ultimately however, a ‘right-short’ will be introduced. 1833 Nyren Young Cricketer's Tutor (1902) 76-7 John Small, .was the best short-runner of his day, and indeed I believe him to have been the first who turned the *short hits to account. 1843 ‘Wykhamist’ Pract. Hints Cricket, (caption) *Short leg or Middle On. 1851 j. Pycroft Cricket Field x. 191 Shortleg is often a very hardly used personage, expected to save runs that seem easy, but are actual impossibilities. 1877, 1894 [see leg sb. 6 c]. 1963 Times 14 Jan. 8/3 Jarman over¬ balanced in pushing the first ball he received to forward short leg. 1774 Laws of Cricket in Lillywhite Scores & Biogr. (1862) I. 17 If the strikers run a *short notch, the Umpire must call No Notch. 1877 Box Eng. Game Cricket 457 ♦ Short Pitch, in this the ball has a greater parabola than the half volley, i860 Baily's Mag. Aug. 364 Willsher, too, made a rare catch at ♦short square leg. 1963 Times 1 May 4/5 (caption) M. J. K. Smith (M.C.C.), at short square leg, ducks as P. J. Sharpe (Yorkshire) hooks a ball from J. A. Flavell during the match at Lord’s yesterday. 1977 Sunday Times 30 Jan. 30/4 He made it strike like a snake and Fletcher was caught at short square, c 1837 W. Martin Bk. Sports vi. 104 Order of the Players... 4 Long stop. 5 * Short stop. 1857 Spirit of Times 25 July 324/3 Second Nine Fahys, pitcher;.. Smith, short stop, i860 in H. T. Peters Currier & Ives (1942) PI. 162, I thought our fusion would be a ‘short stop’ to his career. 1874 Short-stop [see short-fielder]. 1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 406/2 Latterly [at Base-ball], an additional man has been introduced as right short-stop. Ibid. 407/2 The catcher, pitcher, first and third basemen, and short¬ stop comprise the in-field; the remainder the out-field. 1877 London Soc. XXXI. 533/1 Dorrington was almost as good at cover as Hillyer was at short-stop. 1912 Australasian 6 Jan. 21/2 Hobbs., was caught at short-stop by Carter. 1950 Nature Mag. Mar. 131/2 A sudden lunge with the net will often cut off its escape. If the net misses, a lucky shortstop may nab the lizard in passing. 1977 Time 8 Aug. 28/3 Andrea played shortstop and first base. 1978 Verbatim Feb. 2/2 If a batter hits safely between the shortstop and second, or second and first, the announcer will call that ‘a seeing-eye base hit’.

e. Comm., as short bill, a bill having less than ten days to run; short-exchange, exchange having a short time (commonly thirty days or less) to run; also the rate for collecting short bills; short-loan, a loan repayable at an early date; short-money, money to borrow or to lend upon short-time loans; short-paper, short bills; short-payment, payment at any early date after the completion of a transaction; short price, a low price (in Betting, low odds). Designating or pertaining to transactions in which a seller sells stock or goods that he does not at the time possess (cf. senses A. 18 g and C. 11), as short operation, position, sale, selling, side; short covering, the buying in of stock or goods to cover a short sale; short interest (see quot. 1900); short market (see quot.). 1808 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) II. v. 175, I will get him a *short bill for the copy-money the moment Constable returns. 1861 Goschen For. Exch. 86 The discount, which has to be deducted from the long bill before it can become equally available with the short bill. 1912 Times 19 Dec. 16/4 The Bank of England, which did a fairly large business in short bills at the official minimum. 1930 Daily Express 22 May 2/6 In late dealings the downward trend was more pronounced, but finally sporadic *short covering resulted in some improvement from the day’s levels. 1937 Sun (Baltimore) 17 Feb. 15/5 Steels, after putting on a draggy

performance during the morning, whittled down part of the early losses with the aid of what brokers described as short covering. 1973 Times 13 July 21/8 Prices by now were really moving. Record after record was smashed. Massive short covering helped to keep prices on the boil. 1866 Crump Banking vii. 154 Between Paris and London the *short exchange is the most prominent. 1866 Comm. & Fin. Chron. III. 75/2 During the week a moderate *short interest has been drawn out by the dullness of the market. 1900 S. A. Nelson ABC of Wall St. 159 Short ifiterest, that interest in the market which is represented by the aggregate sales of men who have sold at a price with the expectation of buying in at a cheaper price. 1949 Time 30 May 73/1 By mid-May, the short interest had risen 130,058 in a month to 1,628,551 shares. 1865 Standard 2 Sept. 2/1 The terms for *short loans in the early part of the day were z\ to 3. 1900 S. A. Nelson ABC of Wall St. 159 * Short market, an oversold market, with the aggregate contracts for the delivery of stocks exceeding the supply at a certain range of prices. 1865 Standard 2 Sept. 2/1 A variety of parcels of *short money afloat. 1899 Truth 23 Feb. 477/2 Short money is quoted at from 1 Jr to 2 per cent. 1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Mysteries Wall St. 202 A sale profit either in a ‘long’ or ‘*short’ operation. 1912 Times 19 Dec. 19/5 Sterling exchange has ruled strong for *short paper at 20 to 35 points advance in posted rates. 1884 Times (weekly ed.) 10 Oct. 13/2 Corn for long payments; bread for *short payments. 1931 Daily Express 22 Sept. 2/1 Short selling in the present circumstances would demoralise the market. Consequently all *short positions carried must be reported in detail each day. 1638 Cotton Tower Rec. 15 Security of payment at a long day and a *short price. 1856 H. H. Dixon Post & Paddock viii. 126 He was a fine large horse.. and was purchased as a yearling, for a short price. 1885 Field 7 Feb. 157/2 Although quoted at so short a price, Mineral Water [a greyhound] has not been backed by his owner. 1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Mysteries Wall St. 175 With .. realizations upon *short sales, Jerome felt rich enough to dissolve partnership. 1911 Amer. Year Bk. iqio 385/2 All of these bills were directed against the use of ‘options’, ‘short sales’, and transactions in ‘futures’. 1930 Daily Express 23 May 2/6 *Short-selling in Case Threshing Machine, which declined more than 18 points, was an unsettling factor. 1966 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Company Tve Kept iii. 71 We find .. fantastic spectacles which, like short-selling, are, as the late Otto Kahn stigmatised that operation, ‘inherently repellent to a right-thinking man’. 1902 A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden xviii. 139 He bought and sold on the *short side for cash and sold on the long side for credit.

B. Quasi-56. and sb. 1. The neuter adj. used absol. 1. With prepositions, forming adverbial phrases. a. in short (also Sc. f at short): briefly, concisely. From the 18th c. onwards used only as parenthetical phrase, introducing or accompanying a summary statement of what has been previously said, f in short and plain: briefly and plainly. C1386 Chaucer Clerk’s T. 521 He tolde him point for point, in short and playn. 1513 Douglas JEneis xi. x. 79 Thus said he, and with sic wordis at schort Mesapus to the fycht he did exhort. 1556 Lauder Tractate 266 Att schorte, 3e daylie do aduert To serue 30ur God with faithfull hert. 1575 Badger in Gascoigne's Kenelworth Castle Wks. 1910 II. 93 Though haste say on, let sute obtaine some stay,.. While that in short my state I doe display. 1660 Barrow Euclid Pref. (1714) 1, I shall here explain it to you in short. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. v. i, Upon philosophical Disquisitions or Experiments, or (in short) upon some such other thing as seems extrinsecal to the Doctrine that is according to Godliness. 1666 C’tess of Warwick Diary 19 Aug., I overslept myself in the morning, and was fain only in short to recommend myself to God for that day. 1690 W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 413,1 shall not think much to tell you in short what I think. 1748 Chesterf. Let. to Son 17 May, And, in short, [they] put themselves in every attitude but the right. 1833 Ht. Martineau Fr. Wines & Pol. iv. 61 These were, in short, the Orleans mob. 1846 Dickens Cricket on Hearth ii, The Blind Girl.. never knew that Tackleton was Tackleton, in short. 1847 C. Bronte Jane Eyre xi, Nothing in short was wanting to complete the beau ideal of domestic comfort. 1907 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 13 In short, my object is to instruct those who desire to become photographers.

fb. in short (? also Sc. at short): in a short time, quickly. Obs. belong to sense a.)

SHORT

330

SHORT

(The Sc. example may

1513 Douglas JEneis 11. xli. 82 Quhen na hoipe of reskew at schort is, My purpose I left, obeyand destanye. Ibid. in. ix. 36 Gif that I perishe it is 3k sum confort That I of mennis handis deis at schort. C1550 Rolland Crt. Venus ill. 584 His kin and freindis, and Father but mercie Was put at schort till exterminioun. 1560-Seven Sages 12 And sa at schort the barne delyuerit he. 1599 Sir J. Harington Nugae Ant. (1804) I. 276 For want of th’ artillerie, whiche coulde not arrive in shorte, the same beinge onlie drawen by the force of menne.

c.for short: as an abbreviation. e giwes i-somned were hi [hadde] schor[t]liche gret fere. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 519 For-py schal I neuer schende so schortly at ones. C1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 519 And shortly turned was al vp so doun Bothe habit and eek disposicioun Of hym this woful louere daun Arcite. 1483 Cely Papers (Camden) 138 Ze schall be payd be Easter and schorttlyer. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 1. § 1 Grete multitude of people can not shortly resort to put theym of at theire landyng. 1523 Berners Froiss. I. ccxxxviii. 344 The shortlyer y* ye do it, the gretter thanke we shall gyue you. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 600 The drawe Bridge could not be shortly drawen vp. 1596 Shaks. Merch. V. in. v. 31, I shall grow iealous of you shortly Lancelet, if you thus get my wife into corners? 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 448 A French ship.. shortly bound for Alexandria. 1798 Sophia Lee Canterb. T., Yng. Lady's T. II. 84 [They] only invited her from knowing the consequence she would shortly have a right to. 1836 J. R. Smith's Catal. Bks. Feb. 32 Shortly will be published, in one vol. 8vo.. Bibliotheca Cantiana. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 34 Very shortly a treaty is on foot for a matrimonial alliance between the houses of Plantagenet and Hapsburg. 1871 Blackie Four Phases Morals i. 14 Socrates.., after saying a prayer to the sun, shortly retired.

fb. quasi-sb. odd shortly = odd-come-shortly: see ODD Comb. 2. 1681 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 26. 2/2 We’l give him as good as he brings one of these odd shortlies, I warrant him.

3. At a short time after, before, fsyne. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 158 And so ye viscount Rochforth retorned into England, and so did the bishop of Bathe shortly after. 1593 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) I. 198 Shortlie after my deathe. c 1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 145 And so returning shortly after to his Excellency [I] related to him the success of my journey. 1752 Scotlands Glory 19 Some hundred of our ministers They shortly syne silenced. 1832 W. Palmer Orig. Liturg. I. 29 Shortly before, probably about the end of the fourth century, Jerome . . said [etc.]. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. To-day xviii. (ed. 3) 162 On a given morning .. shortly after noon. 1902 R. Bagot Donna Diana xxviii. 353 Perhaps you will.. ask him to meet us here shortly before four o’clock.

4. For a short time. rare. 1809 Campbell Gertrude 11. vii, And see thee once again whom I too shortly saw! 1815 Scott Guy M. xxvi, He’s been but shortly in office. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer xxi, A lady whom she knew but shortly.

5. In a small compass. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform, iii. 30 Dartis about him swyftlie could he fling, And rin ane rais and shortlie turne ane steid. 1833 Darwin Jrnl. 15 Oct., It has the power of turning very shortly in the air. 6. At a short distance, rare. 1908 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 205 Shortly south of Donabyu the river Irrawaddy dissolves its main stream.

7. Comb. Qualifying an adj. with the sense ‘having little length’. (Chiefly in Botany.) 1840 Paxton Bot. Diet., Shortly-acuminated,.. Shortlybifid, Shortly-two-cleft. 1875 Bennett & Dyer Sachs' Bot. 11. v. 558 More often the cotyledons remain thin like shortly stalked foliage-leaves of simple form.

shortness ('Jbitnis). [f. short a. + -ness.] 1. The quality or fact of being short in duration, linear magnitude, serial extent, etc.; absence of length, brevity. ciooo /Elfric Gram. xliv. (Z.) 266 Manega synd gyt Coniunctiones, pe we ne mason nu seejan on Sissere sceortnysse. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 44 Wip schortnesse of sermon. 1496-7 Act 12 Hen. VII, c. 2 The seid Statutes for shortnes of tyme syn the making of theym.. as yet may not be perfitely knowen. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. iii. i. 378 Such as the shortnesse of the time can shape. 1660 Heylin Hist. Ref., Mary (1849) II. 222 [Mary’s reign] was only commendable in the brevity or shortness of it. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 47 The shortness of the legs in the web-footed kinds. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia 11. vi, The shortness of our acquaintance. 1841 Latham Eng.

SHORT-STAY

336 Lang. 11. vii. 136 The comparative shortness of Vowel u. 1885 Law Times LXXVIII. 295/2 The shortness of the title might not have been a sufficient objection.

fb. Brevity writing.

or

conciseness

in

speech

or

C1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 297 Withe a quyet schortenes, they schal say that is to be seyde. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 104 Therfore must I vse so much the more shortnesse at this present. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shrew iv. iv. 39 Your plainnesse and your shortnesse please me well.

c.for shortness: for the sake of brevity, to save time or distance. Now rare. fAlsofor the sake of, because of shortness, etc. C1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 931, I leeue pe proloug for shortnes. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 1. 84 And many other were wounded, whose names be not rehearsed here, because of shortnesse. 1710 in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874) 153 Under the reservations provisions and declarations above exprest (which are here holden as sett down for shortnes sake). 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. iv. vii, Taking side-roads, for shortness, for safety.

fd. (a) A short period (of time), stature. Obs.

(b) Short

1596 Shaks. i Hen. IV. v. ii. 83 The time of life is short; To spend that shortnesse basely were too long. 1650 Don Bellianis x. 56 Don Bellianis, whose shortnesse reached not to the others middle. 1684 Contempt. St. Man 1. ii. (1699) 12 Most of those things, .even during the shortness of Time which they last, have a thousand changes.

2. Defective reach (of vision, memory, etc.). 1635 R. N. tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. iv. 586 The Queene made answer with shortnesse of minde. 1661 Cowley Cromwell Ess. etc. (1906) 361 A little mistake of the shortness of his sight. 1704 Swift T. Tub iii. 74 Yet has the unhappy shortness of my Memory led me into an Error. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. iii. iv, Their fatal shortness of vision. 1904 H. Paul Hist. Mod. Eng. II. ix. 192 The extreme shortness of his sight would have interfered with his efficiency as a soldier.

f3. Defectiveness, imperfection; pi. defects, shortcomings. Obs. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies 346 Since his raigne was but at the beginning of sciences, he could not chose but haue some defects and shortenesses. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacrae 1. i. §9. 10 Which.. through the shortness of their own reason doth appear to them to be so. 1736 Butler Anal. 11. iii. Wks. 1874 I. 181 The shortness of our faculties.

4. shortness of breath: a dyspnceic condition, breathlessness. 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 190 The water thereof distilled and drunke.. helpeth the cough, and shortnesse of breath. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 350 The dyspnoea of pleurisy without liquid effusion is chiefly shortness of breath.

5. The condition of being ‘short of something; deficiency, want (esp. of money, food, etc.); also, scantiness (of a supply, a crop, fa meal). 1669 Woodhead St. Teresa 11. 265 The meanness, and shortness of their Dinner. 1763 Scrofton Indostan i. (1770) 20 The poor and middling sort are only curbed by the shortness of their finances. 1831 SirJ. Sinclair Corr. II. 28 The shortness of the crop, will assist in reducing the price of lands still lower. 1838 Civil Engin. .2] 1. a. intr. To utter a loud call, to make a loud outcry expressive of joy, exultation, etc. or to raise an alarm, to incite to action, etc. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 877 Naupeles J?a3 hit schowted scharpe & ledden loude al-ha3 hit were A note ful nwe I herde hem warpe. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 635 And in the se it happede hem to mete—Vp goth the trompe—& for to schoute & schete. 1470-85 Malory Arthur v. viii. 173 The batails approached and shoue and showted on bothe sydes. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, iv. ii. 87 The word of Peace is render’d: hearke how they showt. 1611 Bible Job xxxviii. 7 When the morning starres sang together, and all the sonnes of God shouted for ioy. 1687 Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 1. 236 The People . .all shouted, and wished him a thousand Blessings. 1726 Swift Gulliver 111. i. 181, I called and shouted with the utmost strength of my voice. 1821 Shelley Hellas 931 Shout in the jubilee of death! 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola 11. i, He .. shouted in her ear.

b. to shout at, fon (a person): to assail with shouts, esp. of derision or anger. c 1384 Chaucer H.F. 1808 That euery wight gan on hem shout. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 57 The common people, as if they had never seene a stranger before shouted at mee after a barbarous fashion. CI730 Ramsay Wyfe of Auchtermuchty xv, On hir to cry, on hir to schout. c 1850 Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 576 They ran and collected round him, hooting and shouting at him.

f c. To vote by acclamation/or (a candidate for Parliament). (Cf. shouting vbl. sb. 1 c.) Obs. 1679 O. Heywood Diaries (1881) II. 104 Rode to York.. found them shouting for knights of the Shire.

fd. Said of animals making loud cries. Obs. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 570 Me thynkythe, I here my dragon schowt. 01568 Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 661 The mirthfull maveiss mirriest Schill schowttit throw the schawis.

e. Of a place: To resound with shouts. Of an inanimate thing: To make a loud uproar, rare. 1513 Douglas JEneis vm. v. 67 Euery schaw Schouttis agane of thair clamour and dyn. 1871 Macduff Mem. Patmos xx. 275 The valleys shouting with summer joy. 1880 Howells Undisc. Country x. 139 The fire shouted and roared within.

f. quasi-traws. (refl.) with complement. 1898 ‘Merriman’ Roden's Corner ii. 14 He waved his silk hat and shouted himself hoarse.

g. U.S. slang. Of things: To be unmistakably significant. Also in phrase norw you're shouting = ‘now you are speaking to the purpose’. 1876 Scribner’s Monthly Nov. 142/1 ‘Then why prevaricate?’ Said he perversely, ‘Now yer shoutin’!’ 1892 Howells Mercy 420 Northwick said simply, ‘Yes, I will go with you.’ ‘Well, now you’re shouting,’ said Pinney. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 25 July 3/1 Figures which, to use an Americanism, fairly ‘shout’.

h. Indirect passive. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. ii, Necker, for not being at the Seance, shall be shouted for.

fi. To be loud in support of a candidate. Cf. root v.2 1 d. U.S. Obs. 187S [i mplied in shouter2 i b]. 1907 N.Y. Evening Post (semi-weekly ed.) 21 Nov. 4 Federal office-holders in various Southern States have been dutifully shouting for Roosevelt.

2. a. trans. To utter (something) with a loud voice. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xxvi. 112 Be he the correnoch had done schout. 1607 Shaks. Cor. 1. i. 218 They threw their caps As they would hang them on the homes a’th Moone, Shooting their Emulation. 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan 1. 250 He .. lov’d to hear the Vulgar shout his Name. 1872 Morley Voltaire i. 8 Industriously shouting the cry of a church, the more effectually to reduce the faith to a vague futility.

SHOUTING

349

b. With clause or quoted words as object. £1374 Chaucer Troylus 11. 614 With that gan al here meyne for to shoute ‘A go we se, cast vp pe yates wyde’. 1595 Shaks. John v. ii. 103 Haue I not heard these Islanders shout out Viue le Roy. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 97, I heard a voice, at my side, shout out, in once-loved accents, O, my dearest mamma. 1887 Hall Caine Son of Hagar 11. i, ‘A canny morning, Mr. Christian’, he shouted.

c. fig. To indicate plainly. 1931 E. F. Benson Mapp & Lucia ii. 30 Red-brick houses with tiled roofs, that shouted Queen Anne and George I in Lucia’s enraptured ears. 1976 D. Francis In Frame iii. 48 From laquered hair via crocodile handbag to gold-trimmed shoes she shouted money.

13. a. To insult with a clamorous outcry; = to shout at (see 1 b). b. To welcome with shouts, acclaim. Obs. *375 Barbour Bruce ix. 366 Thai schowtit hym and scornyng maid, c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 122 This still for bargan Sym abyddis, And schowttit Will to schame. 1706 I. Watts Horae Lyr. (1743) 76 While our Hosannas all along the Passage Shout the Redeemer. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 698 The statesman of the day.. comes. Some shout him, and some hang upon his car.

4. (in senses a-e dial.) a. To call, summon (a person), b. To publish the banns of marriage of (persons): = cry v. 5 d. c. To call in (assistance), f d. to shout (a person) up, out of bed: to ‘call’ (a person) in the morning, to awaken (some one, from sleep by calling loudly. Obs. e. To urge on (an animal) to the attack by a vehement outcry. 1797 T. Wright Autobiog. (1864) 189 We therefore shouted the landlord out of bed. 1812 Ann. Reg., Chron. 38 After a while, the servant girl, Hannah Evans, came up to him to shout him up. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. 11. xii. I. 121 He stood obstinate siege from the Kaiser’s people.., shouted-in Denmark to help. 1888 Mrs. Riddell Nun's Curse I. vi. 106 He broke into a great laugh, and shouted the dogs on to her. 1895 Longman's Mag. Aug. 394 To goo an’ get the lass shouted afore thou knowed if hoo were willin’ to wed thee or not. Mod. (N.E. Derbyshire) I’ve got to go home; my mother’s shouting me.

f. To howl down or reduce to silence by shouts of disapproval. Also/ig. 1924 G. B. Shaw St. Joan vi. 89, I know that there is no faith in a Frenchman. [Tumult, which he shouts down.] 1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate iii. 59 Freddy’s thoughts whispered on, refusing to be shouted down by any other voice that might arise in his brain to hush them up. 1967 N. Freeling Strike out where not Applicable 36 Francis forces things sometimes by simply shouting her down. 1978 P. Moore Man, Woman, & Priesthood xi. 171 This challenge may be not only right, but vindicated; it cannot, however, be ignored and shouted down.

5. Australian and N.Z. slang, a. intr. To stand drinks, to treat a crowd of persons to refreshments. 1855 R Carboni Eureka Stockade 68 You shouted nobblers round for all hands—that’s all right; it’s no more than fair and square now for the boys to shout for you. 1856 H. W. Harper Lett, from N.Z. (1914) 10 The first person in New Zealand to ‘shout’ for me, which here means to ask you into a house of call and stand treat. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxxi, So I shouted for him and he for me. 1873 J. H. H. St. John Pakeha Rambles through Maori Lands v. 82 Our friend set to work pumping him, and ‘shouted’ liberally till the old fellow’s tongue was unloosed. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas, Lost Legion iii, We’ve shouted on seven-ounce nuggets. 1916 J. B. Cooper Coo-oo-ee iii. 36 Passing that stage of drunkenness, they started to quarrel over the question as to whose turn it was ‘to shout’. 1963 N. Hilliard Piece of Land 32 ‘Going to shout, Horace?’ Clarrie pulled out some change. 1981 National Times (Austral.) 25-31 Jan. 23/1 The tightwad .. wouldn’t shout if a shark bit him.

b. trans.

To call for (refreshments, drinks, etc.) in order to treat the bystanders. Also to shout (a person) to (a treat) and with indirect obj. 1855 [see sense a above]. 1867 A. L. Gordon Sea-spray, Credat Judaeus 139 You may ‘shout’ some cheroots, if you like. 1881 A Chequered Career 205 He then ‘shouted’ champagne, and assumed the most pompous airs. 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xiv. 185 He gave up beer.. in order to have it in his power to shout the young lady to 2 s. seats at the Royal. 1940 F. Sargeson Man & his Wife (1944) 64 If he had a win he’d shouts us plenty of beer and cigarettes. 1964 V. M. Grayland Grave-Digger's Apprentice xx. 119 If my luck’s in.. I’ll shout you to the pictures tonight for helping me out. 1965 S. T. Ollivier Petticoat Farm vii. 98 ‘Mingy old skinflints!’ hissed Jane. ‘They could have shouted us an ice-cream!’ 1977 Caravan World (Austral.) Jan. 35/1 On meeting an old friend a miner would shout him, not a drink as in other places, but a bath.

Hence 'shouted ppl. a. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. IV. 280 The gates swung backward at his shouted word. 1906 Belloc Hills & Sea 113 We heard .. the shouted order to mount.

f 'shouter1. Obs. rare. [f. shout s^.1 + -er1.] The master of a ‘shout’ or flat boat. C1325 in Grose Antiq. Repert. (1808) II. 407 Pour les Gages de ses vij Shouters.

shouter2 ('Jaut9(r)). [f. shout v. + -er1.] 1. a. One who shouts or cries out loudly; one who acclaims or applauds. 1692 Dryden Cleomenes 1. i, A peal of loud applause rang out, And thin’ed the Air, till even the Birds fell down Upon the Shouters Heads. 1820 Mme. D’Arblay Let. 15 Aug., The heroine passed.. surrounded with shouters and vociferous admirers. 1908 Academy 13 June 878/1 The English labourers in the Papal vineyard.. are silent, prayerful persons rather than shouters or sensationmongers.

fb. One who loudly supports a particular candidate. Cf. shout v. i i. U.S. Obs. 1875 Weekly New Mexican 13 Oct. 2/1 The Carleton and Perea ‘shouters’, got up a procession with banners, transparencies and noise. 1904 Rochester (N.Y.) PostExpress 26 May 4 The canvass .. was very thorough, Hearst shouters being busily engaged in every city.

2. a. A name applied to some Methodist congregations in the north of Ireland who used to leap and shout in their ecstasies. (Cf. Hampson Mem. Wesley, 1791, II. 75.) 1820 Polwhele Lavington's Enthus. Methodists Introd. p. cxii, Of a similar description with the Welsh Jumpers were the Irish Shouters.

b. In the West Indies, a member of a Baptist sect influenced by African religious practices. 1950 Caribbean Q. II. 11. 17 The Shouters and Shakers.. may practise a pseudo Christianity strongly influenced by African cult practices. 1956 M. Stearns Story of Jazz (I957) iii- 3° The northern religion did not make much headway except with a small group of converts to the Baptist faith in Toco, a village in the northeastern part of the island. They are called Shouters with some accuracy, for they generated enough excitement and noise to be officially banned. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropaedia III. 906/1 Charismatic leaders frequently organize distinctive local variants of Christianity, such as the Baptist sects graphically termed ‘Shouters’ or ‘Jumpers’.

3. Australian and drinks.

N.Z.

One

who

stands

1863 Lyttelton (N.Z.) Times 31 Dec. 4/1 Perhaps some of our readers do not know the extent to which the practice of ‘shouting’, or of inviting to drink at the ‘shouter’s’ expense, is carried even here. 1885 Sladen In Cornwall, etc. 156 {title) The sigh of the shouter. 4. One who participates in a shout (shout sb

.2

1 d); a gospel-singer; a type of blues-singer. U.S. 1867 Nation 30 May 433/1 A band, composed of the best singers and of tired shouters stand at the side of the room to ‘base’ the others. 1931 R. W. Gordon in A. T. Smythe et al. Carolina Low-Country 199 The shouters form a circle and proceed around and around in a sort of slow processional. 1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets xiii. 311 In barrel-house vein are his records, .with vocals by Joe Turner, then an unspoiled shouter. 1976 A. Murray Stomping Blues ix. 169 Joe Turner., has long been considered the Big Daddy of traditional blues shouters.

shouther,

variant of shoulder.

shouting ('Jaunt)), vbl. sb.

[f. shout

+

v.

-ING1.] The action of the vb. shout.

1. a. Loud crying, uproar, clamour; vociferous applause, acclamation; an instance of this. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2095 Ne how the grekes.. Tries riden al the place aboute.. with a loud shoutynge. 1535 Coverdale Job xxxix. 25 Ye noyse, the captaynes and the shoutinge. 1828 Egan Boxiana IV. 174 Cy.. fell on him so heavily that the shoutings were—‘He cannot come again.’ 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xliii, Dobbin . .kept up a great shouting.

fb. Applied to the song of birds. Obs. 1508 Dunbar Gold. schoutyng of the larkis.

Targe

26

The

skyes

rang

for

f c. An election carried out by acclamation. [1660 Milton Free Commw. Wks. 1851 V. 438 Not committing all to the noise and shouting of a rude Multitude, but permitting only those of them who are rightly qualifi’d, to nominate as many as they will.] 1679 O. Heywood Diaries (1881) II. 139 Captain Pockly fell ill at the shouting at York.

d. Phr. it is all over bar (fbut; occas. except) the shouting: said when the result of a contest or the outcome of an action appears certain. 1842 Apperley Life Sportsman xvi. 332 It’s all over but shouting.. Antonio’s as dead as a hammer. 1869 A. L. Gordon How We beat Favourite in Poems (1912) 140 The race is all over, bar shouting. 1897 Nat. Police Gaz. (U.S.) 26 May 7/4 It was all over ‘bar’ the shouting, but the youngster refused emphatically to give way. 1909 A. Bennett What Public Wants iv. 54 If I wasn’t sure that it’s all over except the shouting, I wouldn’t touch it. 1959 Times 12 June 5/3 In the absence of rain or miracles it was all over bar the shouting at Romford last evening. 1976 Western Morning News 25 Sept. 8/2 But if the Rhodesia affair is all over bar the shouting, can the same be said about South Africa?

fe. Loud support for a particular candidate. U.S. Obs. 1904 Minneapolis Times 29 May 6 Thus far most of the enthusiastic shouting for Gorman can be traced to the Gorman press bureau.

2. Standing drinks, treating. N.Z.

Austral. and

1862 E. Hodder Memories N.Z. Life 123 Among this class, going to these [public houses] and ‘shouting’.. is considered the acme of pleasure. 1874 A. Bathgate Colonial Experiences viii. 99 One of the greatest social evils in the gold-fields is the system of ‘shouting’. 1883 Longman's Mag. June 180 Shouting, a colonial expression for standing treat to strangers, is a common form of hospitality. 1911 E. M. Clowes On Wallaby iv. 106 Of course, men still go ‘on the bust’, cheques are planked down, and ‘shouting’—the Australian equivalent for ‘treating’—indulged in till all the money is finished. 1963 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 10 July 13/5 Costs incurred by licensing trusts iii dispensing free liquor or ‘shouting’ ostensibly for the purpose of encouraging patronage are under fire. 3. The performing of a shout (shout sb i d);

.2

a declamatory style of singing among American Blacks. 1871 in Rep. A2nd U.S. Congress 2 Sess. Joint Select Comm. Condition of Affairs Late Insurrectionary States: Georgia

SHOUTING (1872) I. 306, I have attended what they call their religious meetings; and they have what they call ‘shouting’. 1927 N.Y. Times Mag. 24 Apr. 4/1 The type of song used in shouting is peculiar and has had much to do with molding and changing spirituals. 1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets (1949) v. 109 The rhythmic style of singing which we shall call shouting, a style clearly derived from, or related to, the declamatory sermons of the rural preacher. 4. Comb.t as shouting distance = hailing

distance s.v. hailing vbl. sb. b; chiefly in phr. to be within shouting distance (of) (also fig-)',

shouting match,

a loud altercation. 1930 E. H. Young Miss Mole iii. 29 She must be within shouting distance of the rich old gentleman who was going to leave her a fortune. 1958 L. A. G. Strong Light above Lake 11 This is not to say that.. O’Hara was an angel, or within shouting distance of one. 1961 Guardian 20 Jan. 22/7 Different ways of making.. thermo-nuclear weapons cheaply are already within shouting distance. 1977 R. Gadney Champagne Marxist xiii. 83 I’ll station two men outside... One will be within shouting distance. 1970 M. Braithwaite Never sleep Three in Bed vi. 68 We would begin a full-scale debate on which way we should have turned. Soon it would develop into a shouting match. 1981 V. Glendinning Edith Sitwell xv. 189 Edith was able to field, in this shouting match, one impressive new ally—John Sparrow.

shouting ('Jautir)), ppl. a. [f. shout u. + -ing2.] 1. That shouts. 1600 Sir W. Cornwallis Ess. ii. xxx. (1631) 48 Patrone of the vulgar whose.. showting allowance hath such an operation with mans frailtie. 1716 Pope Iliad v. 627 And now the god .. Produced /Eneas to the shouting train. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 576 The hedges were lined with shouting spectators. 1892 Kipling Barrack-room Ballads, L’Envoi ix, Where.. the shouting seas drive by.

2. U.S. Denoting religious sects whose congregations express themselves by shouting, esp. in phr. shouting Methodist. 1851 T. A. Burke Polly Peablossom's Wedding 87 Forgeron was from that time ‘a shouting Methodist’. 1876 J. Burroughs Winter Sunshine 1. 23 About the only genuine shouting Methodists that remain are to be found in the coloured churches. 1941 W. C. Handy Father of Blues (1957) xi. 158 My mother was a ‘shouting Methodist’. 1959 [see religio-musical s.v. religio-].

Hence 'shoutingly advvociferously. Also fig. 1827 Poe Tamerlane 220 The dwindled hills, whence.. Gush’d shoutingly a thousand rills. 1866 Athenaeum 3 Nov. 562/3 He seems to lift his voice shoutingly. 1894 ‘Mark Twain’ Those Extraordinary Twins ii. 335 The new lodger, rather shoutingly dressed.

shove (Jav), sb.1 Forms: a. north. 3 scou, 4 chou, 5-6 schow; 5 shoffe, 6 shuffe, 6- shove, [f. shove a.1] 1. An act of shoving; a strong thrust or push to move a body away from the agent. 01300 Cursor M. 12033 Wit scholdur gaf he him a scou [Gott. chou]. c 1475 Rauf Coiljear 698 As he gat ben throw He gat mony greit schow. 1581 A. Hall Iliad 11. 21 They labor stil with heaue and shoue. 1762 in T. Mortimer Ev. Man own Broker (ed. 5) 93 note, An united shove commences, by which others, as well as I, have measured their length in a very dirty place. 1812 H. & J. Smith Ref Addr. 11. xi, But Mr. Thing-um bob, the prompter man, Gave with his hand my chaise a shove. 1871 Meredith H. Richmond v, Mr. Rippenger added a spurning shove on my shoulder to his recommendation.

b. fig. In various uses: An impulse given to make a person or thing move or act more quickly; a ‘push’ or exertion of influence to get a person through a difficulty or further him in his career; in schoolboy phrase, a hint or prompting to one who is backward with an answer. 1724 Calamy Howe's Wks. I. Life 7 Sir, said he [Fuller to Howe],.. I am a pretty corpulent Man, and I am to go thro a Passage that is very strait, I beg you would be so kind as to give me a shove, and help me thro. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 210 With all the tricks That idleness has ever yet contriv’d .. To .. give time a shove. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown 1. viii, Whose parsing and construing resisted the most well-meant shoves. 1873 Miss Broughton Nancy vi, It would be such a fine thing for all the family: I could give all the boys such a shove.

f 2. An onset, attack. Obs. c 1450 Merlin xiv. 219 Thei threwe down CCC at the firste shoffe in theire comynge. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. ix. (Wolf & Fox) iv, Thow can.. mak ane suddane schow vpoun ane scheip.

f3. Phr. all at a shove: by a single act. Obs. 1555 Watreman Fardle Facions 1. v. 51 Their maner of ordres, is not to make seuerally, for euery Goddesse and God, a seuerall priest, but al at a shuffe, in generall for all.

4. slang, a. a shove in the mouth: a drink, b. the shove: dismissal from employment. 1821 Egan Life in London x. (1870) 265, I vished to be a little nutty upon Dirty Suke.. so I gov’d her ‘a shove in the mouth’. 1899 R. Whiteing 5 John St. x. Did you get the shove to-day? Ibid, xxi, If it warn’t ready, he give the shove to the ’ole shoot.

5. Canadian. A forward movement of packed and piled ice in a thawing river. 1865 [see ice-shove, ice sb. 7 a]. 1890 Montreal Witness 19 Mar. 8/2 The shove may be expected every day.

shove (Jav), sb.2 [app. a corruption of shiv, shive sb.2, perh. assimilated to prec.] The woody core of flax or hemp. Also, a fragment of the stems of

SHOVE

350 flax or hemp broken off when ‘scutching’. Cf. sheave sb.2, shive sb.2, show sb.2 1688 Holme Armoury 111. 285/2 Both Flax and Hemp are first broken from the strong Stalks into large Shoves or Shivers. 1780 Young Tour Irel. I. 164 They scutch it to separate the heart or the shoves from the rest. 1855 Royle Fibrous PI. India 129 A layer of wood-like matter, which in some plants is called boon, or shove. 1910 Encycl. Brit. X. 486/1 When it is found that the fibre [of flax] separates readily from the woody ‘shove’ or core.

shove (Jav), v.1 Pa. t. and pa. pple. shoved (jAvd). Forms: see below. [A Com. Teut. (originally strong) verb: OE. scufan (sceaf, scufon, scofen) corresponds to OFris. skuva (NFris. skiiuw, skow, WFris. skouwe), MDu. schuven (mod.Du. schuiven), MLG. schuven (mod.LG. schuven), OHG. sciuban (MHG., mod.G. schieben, early mod.G. also schauben), Goth. (af)skiuban; also with weak conjugation, ON. sktifa, more commonly skyfa\ f. OTeut. root *skeubskaub-: skub-. As there are traces of a variant with/ instead of b (see shovel sb.), the pre-Teut. form is prob. *skeup-. The Gothic and HG. forms have the normal grade (eu) of the present-stem; the other forms have an ‘aorist-present’ with u as the root-vowel. The occasional OE. sceofan is generally regarded not as a descendant of OTeut. *skeub~, but as a late WS. phonetic development from scufan-, another possibility is that it resulted from the analogy of other verbs of the same conjugation; that it had a falling diphthong seems clear from its representation in later Eng. The phonetic development, OE. scufan, mod.E. shove (Jav) may be compared with OE. dufe, mod.E. dove (dAv). In Sc. and north, dial, the OE. word regularly became in the 14-16th c. showe, and should be represented in mod.Sc. by shoo (cf. Sc. 14-16th c. dowe, mod. doo, dove), but this has not survived (unless it be in shue to swing), being superseded by the Eng. shove.]

A. Illustration of Forms. 1. Pres.-stem. a. 1 sc(e)ufan (3 sing. pres. ind. scufeS, -iS, scyfS, seif6, seyft), 3 sc(h)uven, (shufe), 3-4 schouve, (4 schowf, s(c)howve, schowe, shouwe), 4-5 schove, (5 showe, schowwyn, xowyn, schoffe, 5-7 shuff, 6 schow, sowe, 7 shoove), 5- shove; )3. 1 sceofan, 3 seve, 4 scheve, 5 schyve; see also sheave v.2 a. a goo Scufan [see B. 1]. c 1000 /Elfric Gram. xxiv. (Z.) 137 Praecipito ic sceufe. c 1205 Scuuen [see B. 2.]. 01225 Ancr. R. 314 SchuueS hit ut. 01300 E.E. Psalter lxi. 5 Mi worth pai thoght to schouue awai. c 1320 Beues 2592 Whan pe beschop him scholde in schoue. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 58 Leueful is with force force of showue. c 1403 Shove [see B. 7]. c 1440 York Myst. xxxvi. 297 In Jesu side schoffe it pis tyde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 105/1 Showen [later v.rr. xowyn, shoue], impello. 1449 Rolls of Parlt. V. 152/1 Hevyng and shuffyng of her Chaffare out and home. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 106 He schowis on me his schewill mouth. 1653 Holcroft Procopius, Goth. Wars in. x. 93 To shoove it down. /3. ciooo /Elfric Gram, xxviii. (Z.) 171 Trudo, ic sceofe. c 1275 [see B3b]. c 1320 [see B. 7]. c 1440 Wyclifs Bible, Judges xvi. 19 To caste [M5. I., schyue] hym awei.

2. Pa. t. a. 1st and 3rd sing. a. 1 sceaf, (3 setef, sef, 3-4 schef, 4 shyf, scef), shoofe, shoif, s(c)hofe, shoff, schove, 4-5 s(c)hof, shoof, 5 shoef, shoove, (sheef, 6 schew); /J. weak 4 shufte, schuft, schovede, 5 showved, showvyt, schufte, shofed, showed, 6 shoffed, 5- shoved. 993 Batt. Maldon (Gr.) 136 He sceaf pa mid pam scylde. C1205 Lay. 9366 He pa scipen vt scsef [C1275 sef]. c 1275 [see B. ic]. C1290 St. Brendan 412 in 5. Eng. Leg. 231 After heore schip so swype he schef [v.rr. scef, schof, showved]. C1300 Havelok 871 Hauelok shof dun nyne or ten. C1350 Will. Palerne 3290 & schuft his scheld on is schulder. c 1381 Chaucer Pari. Foules 154 Til African my gyde Me hente and shofe [v.rr. shof, shoff, schofe, shoofe, shoif] yn at the gatys wyde. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 1578 Floripe .. shofed hire oute in to the flode. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 144 He showed hym oute att pe dure. 1470-85 Malory Arthur xm. ix. 624 Syr Bagdemagus.. sheef hym thorou the ryght sholder. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxiii. (Arb.) 95 How I shoef and stack. 01578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 67/31 The bischope .. schew out his toung.

b. plur. a. 1 scufun, sceufon, 1-2 scufon, -sceofon, 2-3 scufen, 3 scuven, (soven), ssove, 3-4 schoven, 4 shoven, schowen; etc. /3. weak (see sing.). Beowulf 215 [see B. 3 b]. Ibid. 3131 [see B. 2 b]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke iv. 29 Hig arison & scufon [1160 Hatton Gosp. scufen] hine of Caere ceastre. c 1205 Lay. 7859 Heo scuuen [C1275 souen] ut heore lof. Ibid. 20925 He scufen [C1225 souen] from pan stronde scipen. 1297 R* Glouc. (Rolls) 3103 Hii..uaste ssone [v.r. schofe] & drowe.

3. Pa. pple. a. 1 sc(e)ofen, -scoben, North. -seyfen, 2 i-scoven, 3 i-schuven, 4 schoven, 4-5 y-)s(c)hove, 4- shoven; jS. weak 4 s(c)hufte, schowved, 5 shuftyd, schowid, 5-6 shuffed, 7 shooved, 6 shoved. a. Beowulf 918 (Gr.) Da waes morgenleoht scofen and scynded. c i175 Lamb. Horn. 129 Heo weren iscouen. 0 1225 Ancr. R. 316 Hit is .. iSe schrifte ischuuen ut. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 107 Watres ben her Cer-under suuen. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 726 Thus by report was hir name I-shoue [v.rr. yshove, yshoue, y-schoue, shoue]. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 202 He .. Was schoven out of his empire. 1470-85 Malory Arthur xvii. vii. 699'The shyp was anone shouen in the see. 1764 Oxf. Sausage 197 Here.. The mouldy old Crust, Of Nell Batchelor lately was shoven. 1829 Landor Imag. Conv.y Wallace & Edw. /, Wks. 1853 I. 450/1 To be thrust and shoven.

B. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 44 He schulde be.. harde per-oute senowued. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xliii. (Tollemache MS.) A ly3t beme is broke oper schufte [1582 shuft] aside. 01400-50 Wars Alex. 4759 He wald haue schowid on pat schene. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione in. xliv. 115 pei ben shuftyd [v.r. shuffed] from oon to a noper. 1529 More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 1226/1 They shal bee pushed and shoued in by vyolence.

B. Signification. (Generally equivalent to thrust, push, but now less dignified in use, often suggesting some notion of rough, careless, or hasty action.) 1. a. trans. To thrust away with violence; to precipitate; to ‘cast’ (into prison, etc.). Obs. exc. arch. Beowulf 3131 Dracan ec scufun, wyrm ofer weallclif. 0 900 Cynewulf Elene 692 (Gr.) Scufan scyldijne.. in dryjne seaC. C1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wulcker 471/8 Precipitate, scufaS. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1029 If any schalke to be schent wer schowued per-inne. C1380 Sir Ferumb. 1369 By pe legges lifte he pe schrewe pan & schef hur out ech del. 1529 More Dyaloge ill. Wks. 1226/1 He that gathereth treasures shall be shoued into the grynnes of death. 01568 Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 210 Suthle he will ye schow Vnto the grund. 1844 Hood Forge n. xii, All at once he is seized and shoven .. Headlong into the blazing oven.

fb. to shove out: to force oneself to utter. 0 1225 Ancr. R. 314 Al so schal pe pet schriueS him, efter pe greate, schuuen ut pet smele.

fc. To thrust (a weapon, etc.) into or through a body. Obs. c 1275 Passion our Lord 499 in O.E. Misc. 51 He schef hit myd strenkpe pat to his heorte hit com. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 451 He wrapped a clop aboute his hond, and schove it in [to] pe leon his mowjje. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 288 He drew his knyfe & shewid it in his throte & kyllid hym. 0 1586 Sidney Astr. & Stella xiii. (1591) A 4 b, In verde fieldes, Mars beares a golden Speare, Which through a bleeding heart, his point did shoue. 1589 Warner Alb. Eng., Addit. to 2nd Bk. 166 Then /Eneas, .shoffed his Sworde through his [sc. Turnus’] Breaste.

f d. To reject, banish; to eject from an office or dignity, from a society, etc. Obs. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 53 He erneS here, t>at ure iouerd ihesu crist him shendeS and wile shufe fro him a domes dai. 0 1300 E.E. Psalter cxviii. io Fra pine bodes schouue [Vulg. repellas] noght me. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1740 pe medes schal be maysteres here, & pou of menske schowued. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 4940 Chesith eke gode men; and awey shoue The wykked. r 1421 26 Pol. Poems iii From worldis worschipe y am shoue. 1657 J. Watts Scribe, Pharisee, etc. 1. 177 So some hasty man would be heaving and shoving out the wicked from the godly,

fe. To impart, communicate. ? nonce-use. c 1626 W. Bosworth Arcad. & Sepha 1. 544 Her lips that oft did shove Life to the hearts of those that saw them move.

2. a. To move (a heavy or resisting object) forward by the application of muscular strength from behind; to push along with effort. c 1205 Lay. 17396 3e mote .. scuuen & hebben mid habere strenSe treon graste & longe. c 1290 St. Edward 167 in Eng. Leg. 51 Huy schouen it [sc. a horse] faste forthpe-ward and drowen. 1440 Capgrave Life St. Kath. v. 1846 Take to thin behoue Thyng that this bocher may not hale ne shoue, Take pou my soule. 1481 Caxton Reynard xii. (Arb.) 26 He shoof the table from hym. 1760 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 11, The breast-plough, which a man shoves before him. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xxiv. 404 He was the first to shove the gangway on to the vessel. 1887 Morris Odyss. xi. 596 With hands and feet for ever against the stone did he [Sisyphus] strain Up o’er the bent to shove it. fig. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) I. 300 Their events seem to come in great masses, shoved along by the agency of many persons.

b. To force (a person, etc.) onwards by pushing. Also, to cause to fall over (a cliff, etc.) or out of (a place) by a push. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 89 Hunulphus.. bete hym with his feest, and schuft [i>.rr. schufte, schyf] hym, and putte hym forp poru3 pe myddel of pe citee anon to pe walles. 1481 Caxton Reynard xii. (Arb.) 27, I.. shooue him forth so ferre that he fylle doun vpon the floer. 1579 Rastell's Expos. Terms Laws s.v. Manumission, The Lorde.. therewith shewed [edd. 1592 ff. shoued] him forward out of his hands [= & oue ceo il luy mise auant hors de ses maines]. 1780 Ann. Reg. 196 Mr. Gough, turned round, and shoved Atkins over the bannister. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias xi. x. (Rtldg.) 412, I should stand a very good chance of being shoved by the shoulders out of doors. 1865 Kingsley Herew. iii. My master shoved the fellow over after he had stabbed him.

c. To throw down with a push. 13.. K. Alis. (W.) 4250 He schof him quyely adoun. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 165 Part of the bank he schof doun riht. 1681 R. Knox Hist. Relat. Ceylon 22 It is their constant practice to shove down with their heads great Trees.

t d. Of winds or other natural forces: To drive, propel, impel. Obs. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. 11. pr. i. (1868) 32 pou shalt be shouen not pider pat pou woldest: but whider pat pe wynde shouep pe. c 1386-Frankl. T. 553 He knew ful wel how fer Alnath was shoue [t’.rr. schoue, y-schoue, yshoue] Fro the heed of thilke fixe Aries aboue. 14.. tr. Higden App. (Rolls) VII. 525 There come a whirlewynde .. and schufte in the body anone to the ynner wal of the chirche. 1614 Gorges Lucan 11. 66 Like as when whistling Southerne winde.. Shoouing the seas before his blast. 1705 Addison Italy, Pesaro 168 [tr. Claudian], The Seas.. shove the loaden Vessels into Port.

fe. fig. To bring into prominence. Also, to impel, urge forward in a course of action. Obs. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1381 If that I live, thy name shal be shove In English, that thy sleighte shal be knowe! 1572 tr. Buchanan’s Detect. Mary Q. Scots G ij, Causis .. sic as are able to shooue forwart and to push hedlang a hart for outrage nat able to gouerne it selfe.

SHOVE f. To urge (a horse) to a leap. 1869 ‘ Wat. Bradwood’ The O.V.H. xii, He shoved his horse at the rail.

3. spec. To propel (a boat or other vessel) either by pushing at the stern or with a pole worked from the inside. Also absol. JEneis vi. v. 15 Hymself the cobil did with his bolm furth schow. 1649 Ogilby JEneis v. (1684) 222 Old Portunus with his mighty Hand Shov’d him along. 1726 Swift Gulliver 1. viii, The seamen towed, and I shoved. 1802-19 Rees Cycl. XXXII, Set, a term used for a pole or shaft, used to shove boats along a canal, &c. 1837 Marryat Snarleyyow ix, I shoved on shore. 1513 Douglas

b. With out, off, or const, front, (a) trans. To launch (a boat) by means of a steady push applied at the stern. (b) absol. To push one’s vessel away from the bank. Also transf. of the boat. (a) Beowulf 215 (Gr.) Guman ut scufon..wudu bundenne. 01122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1048, & jewende pa Godwine eorl & Swejen eorl to Bosenham & scufon ut heora scipu. c 1205 Lay. 21590 Heo wenden pa scipen stronge to sculuen [read scuuen; C1275 seue] from pan londe. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 287 As we endeavoured with strength to shove her off, the vessel overturned. 1839 Marryat Phant. Ship xvii, The boats were shoved off. (b) *5*3 Douglas JEneis v. iv. 95 He and he Inforcis of to schowin the schip to saif. 1600 Holland Livy xli. iii. 1098 Others shove off from the wharfe. 1834 Marryat P. Simple xvi, The boat was not ordered to shove off. 1858 Longf. M. Standish v. 103 Into the boat he sprang, and in haste shoved off to his vessel.

c. intr. Of persons: to depart, go away. Const, with advbs., as off, f out, etc. Cf. push v. i h. colloq. (orig. U.S.). 1844 Spirit of Times 24 Aug. 302/2 As we shoved off from Fort P. our boys made the welkin ring, and away we dashed down the Apalachicola. 1856 ‘Mark Twain’ Adv. T. J. Snodgrass (1928) 31,1 shoved out for the Massasawit House. 1904 'O. Henry’ in McClure's Mag. Apr. 612/1 When dark came we fagged ’em a batch of bullets and shoved out the back door for the rocks. 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era 223/1 Shove off (Navy), to quit, go, flee, depart — from shoving off a boat from land or ship. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vii. 105 ’Ere, ’arf a mo’!.. Don’t shove orf. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 591 Well, I’ll shove along. 1936 J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle viii. 133 Them deputies knew we was goin’ to shove off before daylight. 1956 P. Scott Male Child ill. ii. 206, I wouldn’t dream of telling you to shove off. You’re there by Alan’s invitation. 1979 D. Anthony Long Hard Cure xiv. 113 My, look at the hour. I’d better shove off.

d. Similarly without adv. 1866 ‘Mark Twain’ Lett, from Hawaii (1967) 43, I then took what small change he had and ‘shoved’. 1884 Huckleberry Finn xl. 409 We just unfurled our heels and shoved. 1944 Sat. Even. Post 9 Dec. 82/3 Well, I guess I’ll shove. Good-by. 1954 C. Williams Touch of Death vii. 61 I’m going to shove. I can get away. 1975 N. Freeling What are Bugles blowing For? iv. 17, I have to ferry you down to the office... Let’s shove, shall we?

4. a. Without the notion of difficulty. To push (something) so as to make it slide along a surface or in a groove or channel; also to move up or down by pushing. *633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. v. xxvi, Six bands are set to stirre the moving tower: The first the proud band call’d, that lifts it higher; The next the humble band, that shoves it lower. 1725 T. Thomas in Portland Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) VI. 123 The bread .. was shoved along the table on platters. 1770 Luckombe Hist. Printing 357 Lest when he Runs in his Second Pull, the Face of the Plattin rub upon the Tympan, and shoves the sheet upon the Face of the Letter. c 1826 Lamb Elia Ser. 11. Wedding, He did not once shove up his borrowed locks. 1830 Herschel Study Nat. Phil. 11. vii. (1851) 193 A sheet of blank paper is placed upon a frame and shoved forwards. 1902 Violet Jacob Sheep-Stealers xv, He shoved the paper away impatiently.

fb. To put surreptitiously or improperly: const, in, on, under, out of. Obs. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus in. 1026 Folk now..wolde a busshel venym al excusen For pat o greyn of loue is on it shoue. 1412-20 Lydg. Troy Bk. 2876 Doubilnes so sli^ly was in schoue, As pouj he hadde sothly ben allied With trewe menyng. 1534 Jo ye Subv. More's False Found, titlep., He sweteth to set faste and shoue vnder his shameles shoris, to vnderproppe the popis chirche. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus i. 6 (1619) 93 He setteth himselfe in all ages to shove in, and hold in the Ministerie such persons as are too base for the dunghil. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1851 III. 295 Which conceit of the man cleanly shoves the King out of the Parlament. 1773 J. Berridge Wks. (1864) 74 To shorten man’s duty.. by shoving a commandment out of Moses’s tables.

c. (Chiefly colloq.) To put or thrust (carelessly or hastily) into a place or receptacle; also to thrust aside, away. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. iv, Dick Middlemas, on his appearance, shoved into his bosom a small packet. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. iv, All the characteristics are shoved away into the background, a 1864 Hawthorne Sept. Felton (1879) 78 My meditations are perhaps of a little too much importance to be shoved aside. 1911 Marett Anthropol. vi. 156 You need never allow yourselves to be shoved away into such an inhospitable region.

d. To push out of a position, away, by gradual encroachment. 1629 Leather: a Discourse n As darknesse shoues away Light. 1768-74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 645 Whoever bears this reflection in mind will not., be so apt.. to complain of seeing the rising generation grow up to shove them out of the world. 1789 T. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 271 The gash vein .. is frequently crossed and intersected by whin dykes or bars of hard stone, which generally shoves it a little to one side, off the true line of bearing. 1814

SHOVE-GROAT

35i D’Israeli Quarrels Auth. (1867) 538 The wit gradually shoved the antiquary off the end of the bench, i860 Maury Phys. Geog. (Low) xvi. §711 The land-wind .. shoves away the calms which preceded it from the hills to the coast. 1870 Mozley Univ. Serm. iii. (1877) 54 The most visibly flourishing and busy department shoves the others out of sight.

e. To put or place. (In colloq. and casual use without notion of effort.) Also with up, down. 1902 Wodehouse Pothunters v. 93 You might shove up the list to-night. 1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 23 At Dulwich .. we plunked things down, we shoved down notes or we shoved up lists. 1938 N. Streatfeild Circus is Coming vi. 76 He threw an envelope across to Santa. ‘Shove yours to Mr Stibbings in there, and lick it up.’ 1974 A. Fowles Pastime ii. 12 Shove your coat on the chair.

5. absol. and intr. a. To push, to apply force against an object in order to move it from its position. U900 O.E. Martyrol. 13 Dec. 218 Sume scufon, sume tujon .. and seo godes faemne hwaefire stod. c 1290 St. Lucy 109 in S. Eng. Leg. 104 Huy schoue and drowe al pat huy mbhte ake huy ne m^hten hire anne fote i-winne. 13.. K. Alis. (W.) 5889 The kynges oost.. broughtten gynnes to the walle, Houen, shouen, and drowen alle. ? c1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 534 Ful long I shof, and knokkide eke,.. Til that dore of thilk entre A mayden curteys openyde me. c 1425 Sev. Sages (P.) 1411 At hys dore he wolde inne, And hit was stoken with a pyne. He schof ther-onne. c 1450 Merlin xiii. 199 He hitte Agrauayn with his spere so sore that it preced two folde thurgh his haubreke, and therto he shof ther-on so harde that Agravayn fill to the erthe.

b. to shove at: to push against (an object) in order to displace or overthrow; \fig. to apply one’s energies to (a task); also, to make an attack on, try to overthrow (a person). (Also in indirect passive.) f to shove at the cart (fig.): to lend a helping hand (also ironical). 1421-2 Hoccleve Dialog 617 Now, good freend shoue at the cart, I yow preye. 1471 Paston Lett. III. 15 Iff ye be cleer owt off Doctor Aleyn danger, kepe yow ther, and her afftr ye maye schoffe as well at hys carte. 1542 Paget in St. Papers Hen. VIII, VIII. 705 Lay your heddes all three to gidre, and shove at the treatye, that it may take effect. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. vi. 22/2 in Holinshed, This Erie now liuyng, as hys Auncesters before hym, haue beene shrewdly shooued at by his euill willers, saying that [etc.]. 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. 1. i, Tis a maruaile thourt not turnd out yet! Hip. Faith I haue been shooud at. 1639 Ainsworth Ps. lxii. 4 Ye shall be a bowed wall, as a fence that is shooved at.

fc. of inanimate agencies. Obs. c 1400 R. Glouc. (Rolls) App. A. 14 Whar so hit bifalle)? pat pe erpe is so fast pat pe wynd ne passez he schouuep & prast pat al pe erpe quaki3e)?.

f6. a. intr. To push one’s way forward or onward, to press on. Chiefly with adv., on, along, etc. Obs. r 888 ZElfred Boeth. Met. xiii. (1895) 298 Swa deS eac sio sunne ponne hio on sige weorpeS.. merecondel scyfS on ofdaele. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus in. 487 He shof ay on, he to and fro was sent, c 1400 Destr. Troy 11804 An Erne.. Braid vp the bowels, & bere horn away, And showvet to the shippes of the shene grekes. 1520-30 Cornysh in Anglia XII. 238 The dere shoffe on the mede. 1563 Googe Eglogs, etc. (Arb.) 121 They .. forwarde shoue. 1581 A. Hall Iliad ix. 152 To supper let vs get vs nowe, sith night so farre on shoues. 1721 Dudley in Phil. Trans. XXXI. 167 A Moose .. shoves along side-ways.

fb. To make an attack with violence, to make a charge or onset. Obs. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1454 Schalkez to schote at hym schowen to £enne. 1415 Hoccleve To Knts. Garter 36 In honour of his name Shoue on & putte his foos to the outraunce! 1470-85 Malory Arthur v. viii. 173 Thenne the batails approuched and shoue and showted on bothe sydes.

f c. to shove down: to fall with force. Obs. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2083 Schyre schaterande on schorez, per pay doun schowued.

fd. to shove tumultuously.

and

heave:

to

move

The vbs. were commonly coupled also in other uses: see, e.g., quot. c 1205 in 2, 13 .. in 5, 1449 in A. 1 a; and cf. quot. 1581 under shove sb.x 1 and quot. 1568 under shoving vbl. sb. 1 1638 W. Lisle Heliodorus vii. 101 Diuers passions in her shoue and heaue. 1680 Otway Orphan iii. i, Thy little breasts, with soft compassion swelled, Shove up and down, and heave like dying birds.

e. transf. To protrude, project, rare. 1849 Cupples Green Hand xvi. (1856) 157 The huge sharp green notched aloe-leaves and fern shoving here and there out of it [the water].

7. a. To push about or jostle in a crowd; to make one’s way by jostling or elbowing.

^1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxiv. 515 Reynaude.. shoved himself among the thickest. 1671 tr. Marten's Voy. Spitzbergen in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. 11. (1694) 105 They shove themselves along just like an Eel. 1842 Lover Handy Andy viii, Biddy.. had shoved herself well before the door.

8. trans. To push (a person) with one’s body or elbows; to knock against, jostle. *530 Palsgr. 705/1, I shove one, I pusshe hym,je pousse. I pray the, shove nat whyle I am writyng. 1667 Pepys Diary 15 Sept., I did step back, and clap my breech to our pewdoor, that she might be forced to shove me to come in. 1805 Mar. Edgeworth Mme. de Fleury i, I shoved Victoire, and she pushed at me again. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia iii, Laughing and shoving each other about.

|9. To prop up. Obs. rare_1. (The reading is doubtful.) 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. xix. 20 Hit hadde shoriers to shoue [MS. I. schyuyn; MS. T. schyue; MS. G. schule] hit vp.

10. slang, a. To pass (counterfeit money); also to shove (the) queer. Now Obs. or rare, f b.. to shove the tumbler (see quot. a 1700). fc. to shove the moon (see quot. 1809). d.intr. (U.S.) To set out for home. e. to shove it: to depart; to desist from a course of action. Usu. in imp., as an expression of contemptuous dismissal. Cf. stick v.' i8d. 01700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Shove the Tumbler, to be Whipt at the Cart’s Tail. 1809 G. Andrewes Diet. Slang, Shoving the moon, to steal your goods away without paying the rent. 1859 Matsell Rogue's Lex. 79 Shove queer, pass counterfeit money. 1859 [implied in shover1 b]. 1873 G. W. Perrie Buckskin Mose ii. 36 If I had been detected in ‘shoving the queer’,.. they wouldn’t have cared one red cent. 1885 Leland Brand-new Ballads (ed. 2) 35 The one [note] I shoved was never worth a continental dam. 1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear 11. ii. 189 This man Pinto helped me to shove the queer... It means to pass the dollars out into circulation. 1941 Baker Diet. Austral. Slang 71 Stick it!, a contemptuous ejaculation. Also, ‘shove it!' 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) viii. 84 It wasn’t long after I left that he told them to shove it like I had. 1973 J. Wainwright Devil You Don't 18 ‘What say we pick one?’.. McGuire said: ‘Shove it. It’s not why we’re here.’ 1978 L. Stewart Same Time, Next Year (1979) xiii. 145 If he doesn’t like it he can shove it, but don’t worry—he won’t.

11. intr. (Canadian.) Of river-ice: To move forward so as to become more compact. Cf. shove sb.1 5. 1836 Montreal Transcript 29 Dec. 2/2 About one it [5c. the ice] shoved for the second time, when it remained stationary till dark. 1878 Boyd in Bartlett's Diet. Amer., When the St. Lawrence at Montreal has frozen over, it is not safe to cross it until the ice has shoved.

12. Comb.: shove-halfpenny, -ha’penny, a game similar to shovel-board; f shove-pike [pike s6.6], ? a weapon used in fighting at close quarters; f shove-up a. in shove-up socket, a contrivance forming part of a candlestick and designed to allow a candle to be burnt out to the end. 1841 Punch 27 Nov. 232/2 The favourite game of *shovehalfpenny was kept up till a late hour. 1894 Sir J. Astley 50 Yrs. Life I. 50 The aristocratic and bewitching game of shove-halfpenny. 1915 T. Burke Nights in Town 126 She shot knife, fork, and spoon across the table with a neat shove-ha’p’ny stroke. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 5 Moving from bar to shove ha’penny table. 1969 Listener 20 Mar. 381/3 The Camley Arms sounded such a nice pub, with piano on most nights and darts and shove-ha’penny in the public bar. 1763 Foote Mayor of Garrat 1. Wks. 1799 I. 167 We could get you a *shove-pike. 1751 Richardson in Mrs. Barbauld Corr. (1804) VI. 118 Her farthing candle blinking in its *shove-up socket.

shove v.2: see shover2. shove, dial, form of sheaf sb.; obs. pa. t. of shave v. t shove-board. Obs. rare. [f. shove (after next) + BOARD $&.] = SHOVEL-BOARD. 1522 in F. A. Inderwick Cal. Inner Temple Rec. (1896) I. 63 [None of the society shall play at the game called] Shoffe boorde [or] slypgrote. 1532 Ibid. 100 Shobebord [? read shovebord]. 1616 T. Scot Philomythie 1. (ed. 2) M 1 b, Their idle houres.. They spend at shoue-boord. 1623 in Simpkinson Washingtons (i860) App. p. xlvii, To Hartopp 3 daies making the new shove bord table 00 02 06.

shove-groat. Obs. exc. Hist. [f. stem of shove V.1 4- GROAT sb.] = SHOVEL-BOARD. (Cf. SLIDEGROAT, SLIP -groat.)

c 1290 Bekel 2217 in S. Eng. Leg. 170 Faste heo [wormes] schouen and cropen al-so ase ametene al a-boute. c 1320 Sir Beues 1407 So fast hii gonne aboute him scheue, As don ben aboute pe heue. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2161 Thenne gyrdez he to Gryngolet, & gederez pe rake, Schowuez in bi a schore, at a scha3e syde. c 1403 Lydg. Temple Glas 534 Gret pres of folk,.. To croude and shove—the tempil was so ful. 1530 Palsgr. 705/1 It is no good maner to shove in a dores a this facyon. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. v. xxxvi, An hundred shapes that through flit ayers stray, Shove boldly in. 1714 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to W. Montagu 24 Sept., There’s a little door to get in, and a great crowd without, shoving and thrusting who shall be foremost. 1849 Cupples Green Hand xiii. (1856) 127 Her want of actual headway making the Indiaman sag dead away to leeward, as she shoved into the force of the sea-stream. 1897 Mrs. E. L. Voynich Gadfly (1904) 60/2 The crowd of holiday masqueraders, laughing and shoving.

1488 in W. Kelly Notices illustr. Drama (1865) 181 [All persons were forbidden to play at].. checker-in-the-mire, or shove grote. 1541-2 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 9 § 1 Slyde-thrifte otherwise called shovegrote. c 1640 J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883-5) H* 363 The hours.. spent.. at bowles tenis Cockpit Shufgrote cards and dice. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iv. i. §19. 225. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! ii, Playing at shove-groat with Spanish doubloons.

b. refl. With adv. or phrase: To make one’s way by shoving.

1601 Hakewill Van. Eye xxix. (1615) 140 Bouling, shooting, coiting, shoufgrating, and the like.

b. attrib., as shove-groat table; shove-groat shilling, a shilling used in the game. *597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, 11. iv. 206 Quoit him downe (Bardolph) like a shoue-groat shilling. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iii. ii. [v], [They] made it runne as smooth of the toung, as a shoue-groat shilling. 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. 210 A Shove-groat table.

Hence groat.

’shovegroating,

playing

at

shove-

SHOVEL shovel CJav(3)1), sb. Forms: a. i scofl, -scobl, 3 ssofle, 3-5 schovele, 4-5 schovel, 5 schofylle, schovyl(le, schowulle, -elle, shofFul, showele, shovele, shoville, 5-6 schovell, shovill, 5-7 shovell, 6 schovyll, shoffell, choffell, shoovell, shovull, shovelle, showel, 6-7 showell, 7-8 shufle, 5“ shovel; /?. chiefly north. 3-6 schole, 4, 6 schule, 5 schoyll, schwll, 5-6 schowle, sholl, 5-6, 9 (dial.) shole, 5-7 schuill, 6 showll, schull, shoull, showle, 6-7 s(c)hoole, shoule, 6-9 shule, 8 shull, 8-9 (dial.) shool, shoo, 9 shoul, showl, shul; y. 1 ? scolf, 6 chollve, 6, 9 (dial.) sholve. [OE. scofl fern, corresponds to NFris. skofel digging shovel, MLG., LG. schuffel, shovel, weeding hoe, MDu. schofel, schojfel shovel (mod.Du. schoffel weeding hoe, whence scuffle sb.); the MSw. skofl, skofwel (Sw. skofvel), Da. skovl, Norw. skufl, are prob. from LG.; parallel forms with long root-vowel are OHG. scuvala fern. (MHG. schuvel, mod.G. schaufel) shovel, early mod.Du. schuivel, dial, schoefel shovel; the OTeut. type * skufl 0 is app. f. the root *skuf-, *skub- of SHOVE t).1] 1. a. A spade-like implement, consisting of a broad blade of metal or other material (more or less hollow and often with upturned sides), attached to a handle and used for raising and removing quantities of earth, grain, coal or other loose material. (In some dialects the word is applied to a spade.) baker's shovel = peel sb.2 2; coal-shovel, see coal sb.1 15; malt-shovel, see malt sb.1 4 b; paring-shovel, see paring vbl. sb. 4; also fire-shovel. a. c725 Corpus Gloss. 2051 Trulla: cruce, turl, scofl. Ibid. 2081 Vatilla: isern-scobl. ^825 Epinal Gloss. 1022 Trulla: scofl. a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 263 He sceal habban spade, scofle, wadspitel [etc.]. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2197 Vor 3e be)? men bet itei3t to ssofle [v.rr. schouele, shouell] & to spade .. )>an [etc.]. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. vi. 192 An heep of heremites.. wenten as werkemen with spades and with schoueles. c 1440 Jacob's Well 189 A schouyl hath iij. thynges; a scho, an heued, & an handyl. 1531 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 37 A lityll fyer choffell. 1602 Shaks. Ham. v. i. no Why doe’s he suffer this rude knaue now to knocke him about the Sconce with a dirty Shouell. 1718 Hickes & Nelson Kettlewell 1. xv. 107 The Apprentice-Boys would soon knock them on the Head with their paring Shovels. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xiii, The cashier (whose benevolent occupation it is to .. dispense sovereigns out of a copper shovel). 1906 Petrie Relig. Anc. Egypt xiii. 84 The winnowing shovels and rakes stuck upright. /3. a 1300 Holy Rood 42 (Ashm. MS.) \>o nome hi spade and schole. c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 519 Trobile beche furche fymere Schole spade mouke-forke. 1453-4 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 150, ij sholez ferro ligat. 1545 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VIII. 360 For ane dousan of schulis, xs. 1612 Sc. Bk. Rates in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 326 Schooles vngarnished the hundreth xli. 1785 Burns Ep. to J. Lapraik xi, What sairs your grammars? Ye’d better taen up spades and shools. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxxi, A beard like a baker’s shool. 1894 Crockett Raiders xv. 137 We made a grave.. and I went for spades and shools. y. ^875 Erfurt Gloss. 1022 Trulla: scolf. 1504-5 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 255 Payde for a chollve [cf. sholve ibid. 381] to pare the Chyrche iiij d. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 35 A.. wheelebarrow, sholue and a spade. 1583 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees i860) 78, j grape, and sholve, iij spades, and iiij irrone forkes 4s. 1858 Spurdens Suppl. to Forby, Sholve, a shovel.

b. In fig. context. c 1440 Jacob's Well 199 A skeet of contrycyoun, wyth a scauell of confessioun, wyth a schouyl of satysfaccyoun. Ibid. 203 pe schouyl, I telde 30U, was satysfaccyoun, pe scho per-of is almes-dede, pe heuyd is preyere, pe handyll is restitucyoun.

fc. shod-shovel: a shovel of wood edged or tipped with metal. Obs. 1465 in Finchale Priory Acc. (Surtees) p. ccxcix, j schoyd schoyll. 1526-7 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 339 For a Shod-shovill for the Church iiijd. 1606 Birnie Kirk Buriall (1833) 31 With shod-shooles to seugh up the sanctuary-ground.

d. Occas. used for: A shovelful. 1881 C. Whitehead Hops 8 The plant centres being covered with a few shovels of earth.

e. Phr. to be put to bed with a shovel, to be buried (Grose Diet. Vulgar Tongue, 1785). f. transf. The cue used in the game of shovelboard (sense 2). g. shovel and broom: rhyming slang for ‘room’. Chiefly U.S. 1928 M. C. Sharpe Chicago May 288/2 Shovel and broom, room. 1929 [see line sb.2 13 f]. 1938 Detective Fiction Weekly 23 Apr. 75/1 In Australian slang... a house is a ‘rat and mouse’ and a room a ‘shovel and broom’. 2. ? = SHOVELLER2. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Pale or cuellier, a bird called shouell.

3. The flat portion of the horn of a moose-deer. 1908 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 230/1 The brows were very good indeed, and the shovels cupped and broad. 4. = SHOVEL HAT. 1841 J. B. Mozley Let. in Purcell Life Manning (1895) I194 The straight-cut coat and the gentlest shovel. 1854 Thackeray Newcomes xxv, She managed the hat shop... My uncle the Bishop had his shovels there.

5. A person using a shovel. 1834-7 J- S. Macaulay Field Fortif. (1851) 54 Four shovels are placed on the berm,.. and the remaining 4 shovels and rammers on the parapet, c 1890 Engineer LXVII. 344 (Cent.) In the early days after the Crimean

SHOVELARD

352 War, the engineers in the Navy.. were technically known as shovels.

6. Mil. A contrivance fitted to a field-gun to act as a brake to lessen the recoil. 1899 Daily News 8 Mar. 4/3 They intend that a ‘shovel’ shall be fixed to our field guns... This ‘shovel’, or break, was described to me by several officers.

7. attrib. and Comb. a. simple attrib., as shovel hilt, f iron; similative, as shovel-beaked, -beard, -bladed, -ended, -footed, -handed, -headed, -mouthed, -shaped adjs.; objective, as f shovelcheaper, -maker. 1896 Roy. Nat. Hist. (ed. Lydekker) V. 516 marg. *Shovel-Beaked Sturgeons. 1864 Sala in Daily Tel. 26 Feb., Those bushy locks, that *shovel beard. 1901 Ibid. 18 Mar. 7/4 An Eton crew.. with *shovel-bladed oars. C1515 Cocke Lorell's B. 11 *Schouyll chepers. 1841 Pugin Pres. St. Eccles. Archit. (1843) 7 A *shovel-ended stole. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1098 *Schovelle-fotede was )>at schalke. 1836 E. A. Poe in Southern Lit. Messenger Aug. 595/2 Not a shovel-footed negro waddles across the stage. i860 Emerson Cond. of Life vii. Consid. Wks. (Bohn) II. 414 No *shovel-handed, narrow-brained, gin-drinking million stockingers. 1859 R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXIX. 161 Their huge *shovel-headed spears. 1888 Burt Stand. Timber Meas. 279 *Shovel Hilts. 1395 Cartular. Abb. de Whiteby (Surtees) 606 Pro ij *schole iryn, ij d. 1638 C.anterb. Marriage Licences (MS.), Elias Tonge of Charing, *shouell-maker. 1763 Ann. Reg., Chron. 106/2 A *Shovel-mouthed or cow-bellied shark. 1879 E. O’Donovan Merv Oasis (1882) I. 314 Queer long ‘shovelshaped oars.

b. Special comb.: shovel-bill = shoveller2; shovel-cultivator U.S. = shovel-plough; f shovel dog-fish ? = shovel-fish; shovel-duck dial. = shoveller2; shovel-fish, a fish of the genus Scaphirhynchus, esp. S. platyrhynchus; f shovel-groat = shove-groat; shovel head, (a) = shovel-fish; (b) the bonnet-headed shark, Reniceps tiburo (also attrib.); shovel-man, a labourer who uses a shovel; shovel-nose, a nose having the shape of and fulfilling the functions of a shovel, also attrib. in the names of certain animals and fishes having this characteristic; hence shovel-nosed adj., also transf.; shovel pass U.S. Sports, an underarm, forward pass made with a shovelling movement of the arms; so as v. trans. and intr.; shovel-penny = shovel-board; shovel-plough, an implement for clearing cornland of weeds; shovel-stirrup, a stirrup with a broad rest for the foot, extending behind the heel; shovel-sturgeon = shovel-fish; shovel-tree (see quot.); f shovelwood = shovel-tree. 1864 Atkinson Prov. Names of Birds, *Shovel-bill.. Anas clypeata. 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 236 They are sometimes very expeditiously covered.. with the mold-board or the *shovel cultivator. 1664 Hubert Catal. Rarities 13 A *Shovell Dogge fish. 1893 in Cozens-Hardy Broad Norfolk 47 *Shovel Duck. 1863 Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. III. 200 The two smaller figures represent the *Shovel-fish, so called from the curious form of its head. 1825 Jamieson s.v., Slide-thrift. A species of draughts in which the winner is the one who first gets his men off the board; also called *Shovel-groat. 1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 45 The second genus called the *Shovel-head (Scaphirhynchus), is represented by a single species. 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Synopsis Fishes N. Amer. 25 Shovel-head Shark. 1559 in Boys Hist. Sandwich (1792) 738 Every spade and *shovell man muste have .. iii laborers with wheale barrowes. 1898 H. Kirke 25 Yrs. Brit. Guiana iii. 37 The late Mr. W. R. once described him as ‘a good shovel man spoiled’. 1709 Lawson Voy. Carolina 153 One being called a Bottle-Nosed Whale, the other a *Shovel-Nose. 1768 Solander in Ann. Reg. (1769) Chron. App. 188/2 Shovel nose sharks. 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Synopsis Fishes N. Amer. 88 Shovel-nose Sturgeon. 1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Anim. Life 180 The shark .. running its shovel nose into the sand. 1707 Funnell Voy. v. 120 The *Shovelnos’d-Shark. 1837 J. F. Cooper England (ed. 2) I. 185 A shovel-nosed hat and a wig. 1948 News-Age-Herald (Birmingham, Alabama) 31 Oct. c-5/2 Frank Tripucka.. then *shovel-passed to Sitko. Ibid., Frank Tripucka .. faked a handoff to Bill Gay then shovel-passed it to Sitko. 1976 Honolulu Star Bull. 21 Dec. h-i/i Alabama trotted out such gimmicks as.. an underhand *shovel pass for a key 19-yard gain and an unbalanced line. 1887 Cassell's Encycl. Diet., *Shovel-penny. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 209 An implement for cleaning corn land is also used, called the *shovel plough. 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. 1. 96 Cast-metal rollers, and scrapers, or shovel-ploughs. 1883 V. Stuart Egypt 33 Most of the party were mounted on horses with carpet housings and *shovel stirrups, a 1894 Layard Autobiog. (1903) II. 34 Heavy shovel stirrups which served for spurs. 1875 E. D. Cope N. Amer. Batrachia & Rept. 87 The "'shovel-sturgeon (Scaphirhynchops). 1887 Darlington Folk Speech S. Chesh., * Shovel-tree, the handle of a spade. C1615 MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., Payd for a *shoufell wood v d and setting of it ane [sic] viij d.

shovel ('jAv(a)l), v.1 Forms: see the sb. Also 9 (dial.) shulve. [f. shovel sb. Cf. MLG. schuffelen, MHG. schuveln, schufeln (mod.G. schaufelri), Sw. skofla. Da. skovle, Norw. skufla, skovla.] 1. trans. To take up and remove with a shovel. Chiefly with adv.. or advb. phrase. Alsoyig. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 448/2 Schovelyn, wythe a schowelle, tribulo. c 1440 Jacob's Well 193, I lykened satysfaccyoun to a schouele to schouell out wyth pe crommys of )>e wose of dedly synne. 1590 in Harwood Lichfield (1806) 527 Payd ..

for shollynge snowe off the Churche. 1626 A. Speed Adam out of Eden xiv. (1659) 107 Shovelling the Corn from the sides of the roomes. 1791 Gentl. Mag. 24/2 The men that shovel the dirt out of the road. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxv, Tak the shule a bit, and shule out the loose earth. 1891 Smiles J. Murray I. vii. 141 The labourers were at work shovelling away the snow.

fb. to shovel down: to destroy by shovelling away. Obs. 1563 WIN3ET Cert. Tractates Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 5 To schuil doun thir wallis to the ground.

c. transf. (With adv.) To remove as rubbish; to move about roughly and without consideration. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxv, I haena lived sae lang in the warld neither, to be shuled out o’t that gate. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. 11. i, In such sort are poor mortals swept and shovelled to and fro. 1863 Hawthorne Old Home, Recoil. Gifted Woman I. 184 A great amount of rubbish, which any competent editor would have shovelled out of the way.

2. To excavate, dig up (the ground, etc.), dig (a hole, etc.) with a shovel. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. vm. (Preach. Swallow) xxxii, In the snaw he schuillit hes ane plane, a 1785 Ulysses' Answ. Ajax in Poems Buchan Dial. 37 The gutter’s sheeled. 1857 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XVIII. 1. 105 A man will ‘shool’ about one-eighth of an acre per diem.

3. To throw (quantities of some material) into a receptacle, to cast (earth, dust, etc.) on or upon something or somebody. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. iv. iv. 469 Some Hangman must.. lay me Where no Priest shouels-in dust. ci8oo ‘Broom blooms bonnie' x. in Child Ballads I. 184/2 It was nae wonder his heart was sair, When he shooled the mools on her yellow hair. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 98 The powder is shovelled into sacks. 1913 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 356/2 One of them.. was shovelling tipsy cake into his ample mouth. fig. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones x. iii, Partridge likewise shovelled in his share of calumny. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. 269 Thousands .. unshipped on the desert shore, shovelled as it were, into a strange land.

4. To gather (something) up in quantities as with a shovel. 1685 Penn Further Acc. Pennsylv. 9 Herring.. swarm in such shoales .. in little Creeks, they almost shovel them up in their tubs. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. iv. xi. Note n (1727) 187, I have seen .. Ducks shovel them up as they swim along the Waters. 1879 Daily News 22 Mar. 6/2 Storekeepers .. are simply shovelling up money.

5. intr. To use a shovel. 1685 Travestin Acc. Siege of Newheusel 30 No one offered to put out the fire, till the Duke of Lorrain came and began himself to shovel upon it. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xv. ii. V. 280 In relays, 3,000 of the Militia-men dig and shovel night and day. transf. 1815 Scott Guy M. xlvi. Is that all? thought Sampson, resuming his spoon, and shovelling away manfully. 1882 Payne-Gallwey Fowler in Irel. 39 You can discern .. the rippling bills as they shovel greedily along the ooze.

6. transf. shovel.

To turn (something) over with a

1775 W. Williamson Trials at York 29/2, I shoveled it [the earth] over, and threw it into that corner. 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 425 The salt and lime were .. mixed about three months before use and afterward shoveled over several times.

7. to shovel out: to distribute in shovelfuls, fig. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. v. iii. (1865) II. 85 George I shovelling out his English subsidies as usual.

8. trans. and intr. To intrude.

Obs. exc. dial.

1540 Palsgr. Acolastus 11. iii. Liij b, I wyll sowe me in i. I wyll thrust me in, or schole in [orig. a tergo me hinc inseram]. 1861 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds 403 He’ll shool in onnywhear, whear ther’s owt to be gotten. 1876 Mid. Yorks. Gloss., Shool, v.a. and slightly as a v.n. to intrude. Shovel is also in occasional active use with this meaning.

shovel (’Jav(3)1), v.2 Now rare. Also 5 schovel, 9 dial, shool, shulve. [app. a frequentative f. shove t;.1 Cf. shuffle v. In mod. use app. associated with shovel v.1] intr. To make movements with the feet, without raising them from the ground; to walk languidly or lazily. (Cf. shuffle v. i.) c 1430 Wyclif s Bible Job xi. io (MS. S.) Shoueling forth [t>.rr. stumblynge, hirtynge, Vulg. offendens] with his feet. e desturbour sal aperen bi fore Justises ant sewen his chartre. 1426 Cov. Leet Bk. 106, I neuer relesed ne made dede except oon shued afore all the seyd wurthy men. 1509 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) I. 199 They desire that the seid abbot may schow his charterys & Evidence. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 68 Wee rode a mile .. to the village Treviso, where the Dutchmen shewed a pasport. 1662 in Extr. St. Papers rel. Friends (1911) Ser. 11. 145 Hugh Tickell hauing the letter shown beleiues it to be the hand of John Dixon. 1866 Chamb. Encycl. VIII. 91/1 (Railways) A call by the guard to ‘shew tickets’ previous to starting.

b. to have (something) to show for (one’s labour, expenditure, etc.): to be able to exhibit as a result. 1727 Gay Begg. Op. 1. vii, I have this watch and other visible marks of his favour to show for it. 1826 Scott Jrnl. 6 Sept., Here is a fine spate of work—a day diddled away, and nothing to show for it. 1853 Lytton My Novel III. x. xxiv. 217 The Great Commoner had, indeed, ‘something to show’ for the money he had disdained and squandered. 1976 J. R. L. Anderson Redundancy Pay i. 11 He had been earning quite a lot of money, but had nothing real to show for it... They spent his salary as it came in.

fc. To produce for inspection with a view to military service; to muster. In Cock-fighting, to make an array of (cocks) on either side. Ohs. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. VIII. 39 The Queen priviledged them from shewing their Horses with the Laytie; yet so as they should muster them up for the defence of the Land under Captains of their own choosing. 1716 Lond. Gaz. No. 5436/4 There wilL.be 31 Cocks shewed of a side. 1730 Cheny Hist. List Horse-matches, etc. 167 Mr. Ruston fought Mr. Newton showing 21 Cocks aside for 2 Guineas a Battle.

d .fig. (Often of things quasi-personified). To (be able to) present to (physical or mental) view. 1611 Second Maiden s Tragedy 623 (Malone Soc.) The only enemye that my life can showe me. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 21 Nov. 1679, Such an hospitable costume and splendid magistrature dos no city in the world shew. 1705 Addison Italy, Monaco 13 Perhaps there is no House in Europe that can show a longer Line of Heroes. 1802 Wordsw. Misc. Sonn., Composed upon Westm. Bridge, Earth has not anything to show more fair. 1805-6 Cary Dante's Inf. xxix. 119 Sure not France herself Can show a tribe so frivolous and vain. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. Today xxxi. (ed. 3) 288 White’s can show a record of more than a century.

e. to show up: To hand up (a school-exercise, etc.) for inspection by a teacher or examiner. 1803 Pic Nic No. 14 (1806) II. 247 Shewing up our exercises to the Assistant of the form. 1912 Marg. F. Moore Two Sel. Bibliogr. Pref. 16 Students are encouraged to show up exercises in the transcription and extension of facsimiles.

f5. a. To bring or put forward for some purpose or use; to present (an object) to a person in order that he may take it or use it. to show water: to produce a fee. Obs. a 1300 K. Horn 1461 Harpe he gan schewe. a 1300 Cursor M. 12405 To me pou scau par-of pe tan ende for to drau And pou pe topur. att ma33 onn Ennglissh nemmnedd ben Millcenn, & shaewenn are. C1275 Orison of our Lord 52 in O.E. Misc. 140 pe muchel poleburne[sse].. J>at pu schawedest mon-kunne. 0 1300 Cursor M. 14303 Mikel luue he hir sceud par. c 1330 Spec. Gy de Warw. 263 Merci nele he shewe non. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. v. (1885) 119 To shew rigoure per as fauour awght to be shewid. 1526 Tindale Acts xxiv. 27 Felix willynge to shewe the Iewes a pleasure. 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. x. 10 And though the phisician shewe his helpe neuer so longe. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 1. iv. 15 But to Duess’ each one himselfe did paine All kindnesse and faire courtesie to shew [rimes with crew, knew]. 1653 Holcroft Procopius, Pers. Wars 1. 5 That onely is pure gratitude, which is shewen to the dead. 1667 Pepys Diary 9 Oct., He is troubled that my wife shows my sister no countenance. 1772 Johnson 21 Mar. in Boswell, Else we should have shewn his lady more civilities. 1799 Nelson 23 Sept, in Nicolas Disp. VII. p. cxcii, I feel much for the neglect showed him. 1870 Rogers Hist. Gleanings Ser. 11. 20 The king shows favour to the Lollards.

fb. Similarly, to show (one) a sign, token, semblance of. Also, to show the fruits of. Obs. 01450 Knt. de la Tour 76 She shewed hym.. signes and semblauntz of fals loue. 1565 j Phillip Patient Grissell 273 (Malone Soc.) Shewyng to you the fruites of true obedience.

fc. occas. To inflict (shame, a judgement). 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 311 And gar me schaw thy antecessouris schame. 01700 Dryden Life Lucian (1711) 16 To deter others from Satyrizing the new Dogma’s of Christianity by the Judgment shown on Lucian.

fd. To set or offer (an example) in one’s own person. Also of a thing. Obs. Pr. Consc. 1027 Yhit pe bodys of pe world in pair kynde, Shewes us forbisens to haf in mynde, How we suld serve God in our kynde here, Als pai do par. 1405 Bidding Prayer in Lay Folks Mass Bk. 64 So for to reuel the popil, and swilk ensaumpil for to tak or scheu thaim. 1484 Caxton Fables of Avian iii, He that wylle teche other ought to shewe good ensample. 1340 Hampole

f21. a. To put forth, exert (one’s power, strength). Also of things. Const on, against. Obs. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xi. ii. (1495) 385 Whan the wynde fyndyth obstacle and lette thenne he showuyth his myghte the stronger. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 47 The Romaynis .. schew sik power agaynis thame that thai slewe thair king. 1575 Gascoigne Kenelworth Castle Wks. 1910 II. 106 Syr Bruse shewing a great power upon the land. C1595 Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 14 That night the winde began to shew his force on us, drivinge us back againe to Palma.

b. To offer, attempt (resistance), to show fight: to display pugnacity or readiness to fight. (Properly of animals.) 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 185 The Ionas men .. without cause beat the miserable Blacks that shewed no resistance. 1827 Col. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 315 The.. birds showed such fight against the dogs. 1863 [see fight sb. 4]. 1907 J. H. Patterson Man-Eaters of Tsavo xvii. 189 The second rhino .. showed considerable fight as we attempted to approach its fallen comrade.

V. To make known by statement or argument. 22. a. To point out, reveal, make known; to make evident or clear, explain, expound. In ME. to confess (one’s sins). Also with forth, out. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 73 And for pat gult he solde his sunnes at srifte sheawen. c 1200 Ormin 1114, & nu icc wile shaewenn }uw All patt whatt itt bitacnepp. c 1230 Hali Meid. 3 (Titus MS.) As pu scheawest for8 al pat god punckeS, & helest al pat bitter bale pat ter liS under. 0 1300 Cursor M. 6662 A tabernacle all for to dight, parof he sceud pam pe slight. Ibid. 27293 [To] sceu his sinnes vte. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 212 (Wagner) Thy wykked thoughtes in thy breste Woldest pou never schewe to pe preste. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xc. 32 Gif thow can nocht schaw furth thi synnes perqueir. 1601 Shaks. All's Well iv. i. 93 O let me Hue, And all the secrets of our campe lie shew. 1666 C’tess of Warwick Diary 28 Aug., When I had showed before God all my trouble. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 363 The sovereign plant he drew,.. And shew’d its nature, and its wond’rous pow’r. 1772 J. H. Moore Pract. Navig. (1794) 116 All traverses are worked in the manner shown above. 1832 W. Palmer Orig. Liturg. I. 141 No material difference can be shewn between them. 1861 Paley JEschylus (ed. 2) Pers. 706 note, To show the syntax more clearly, TUpoais a>s deds has been marked off by commas. indirect passive. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 11. xxx. 179 It is necessary they be shewed the evill consequences of false Judgment. 1779-81 Johnson L.P., Gray IP4 In a short time many were content to be shown beauties which they could not see.

b. said of a thing. C1200 Ormin 6645 Affterr patt uss Latin boc Jmrrh hali} lare shaewepp. 13.. Cursor M. 1162 (Gott.) Caym sau his sinne was knaued, And pat pe erde had it schauede. 1375 Barbour Bruce 1. 566 The endentur till him gaf he, That soune schawyt the iniquite. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 223 b, The same beeyng unfolded & spred abrode shewed some high mysticall mater. 01586 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxvii. 6 The suythe sail schaw it selffe out to pair schame. 01700 Evelyn Diary 27 June 1653, Monsieur Roupel sent me a small phial of his aurum potabile, with a letter shewing the way of administering it. Ibid. 20 May 1688, The consequences of which a little time will shew. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 15 Words are aggregated in a manner which fails to show their relation to one another.

c. With a relative pron. or adv. and clause. (Often with indirect obj. of the person informed.) Said also of a thing. £1175 Lamb. Horn. 49 Nu we sculen heow sceawen hwilc hit is heom for to heren [etc.]. 01225 Leg. Kath. 2121 Ich schal schawin hu mi sweord bite i pi swire. £1290 5. Eng. Leg. 32/104 To tweie Monekus at Ierusalem him-sulf he cam bi ni}hte And schewede heom 3ware is heued lay. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6437 Bot first I wille shew whare es helle. 1382 Wyclif Acts ix. 16, I schal schewe to him, how manye thingis it bihoueth him for to suffre for my name. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 296 The seconde booke, where shall be shewyd how troye was reedyfyed. 1697 J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 38 He was then very busy shewing how he would have me build a ship. 1736 Butler Anal. 1. i. Wks. 1874 I. 30 Reason does not at all shew us, in what state death naturally leaves us. 1779 Mirror No. 1 (1787) I. 4 Time alone can show whether I be qualified for the task I have undertaken. 1839 Thackeray Fatal Boots Jan., The following letter from mamma to a friend.. will pretty well show you what a poor foolish creature she was. 1848- Van. Fair vi, Suppose we had shown how Lord Joseph Sedley fell in love.

d. With indirect obj.: To inform, instruct, teach (a person) how to or j to (do something). Also with ellipsis of the inf. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 61 Thow lytill bill,.. Thow schaw thame till Beleue in Christ. 1607 Shaks. Timon iii. iv. 17 lie shew you how t’obserue a strange euent. c 1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 42 Those parts of Logic which.. show men to distinguish betwixt truth and falsehood. 1697 J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 78 She asked who shewed him? he said, Lewis. The princess ordered Mrs. Wanley to tell me not to shew him any more, as she intended to have him taught regularly. 1916 ‘B. M. Bower’ Phantom Herd vii. 112 As to the break I made in getting those boys out here, you’ll have to show me—that’s all. 1976 J. E. Taylor in L. Wing Early Childhood Autism (ed. 2) viii. 209 He [sc. the autistic child] should not be shown how to perform, since this strengthens his dependence on other people.

|e. To teach (a lesson). [Cf. F. montrer.] 13.. Cursor M. 6861 (Gott.) Suilk was pe lessun and pe lare .. pat vr lauerd scheud to moysen. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. x. 36 Litel is he loued pat suche a lessoun scheweth. 1576 Gascoigne Droomme of Doomes Day Wks. 1910 II. 226 One night sheweth and teacheth carefulnesse to another.

ff. to show one’s mind: to reveal one’s thought or intention; to express one’s opinion or judgement. Also with forth. Obs. c 1520 Skelton Magnyf. 1646 To shewe you my mynde I wolde haue the lesse fere. 1562 Turner Herbal 11. (1568) 54 Now will I shew yow my mynde whych of all these myntes semeth unto me to be it. 1565 J. Phillip Patient Grissell 75 (Malone Soc.) Speake on my knightly knightes, eche one shewe forth your mind. 1611 Bible Lev. xxiv. 12 That the minde of the Lord might bee shewed them.

g. Used as an expression of defiance or selfassertion. With ellipsis of obj. clause. 1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. 1. ii. 28 ‘They shall see — I will show them!’ she said to herself with angry energy. 1910 A. Bennett Clay hanger 1. ii. 16 ‘I’ll show ’em!’ he muttered. And he meant that he would show the world. 1921 H. Williamson Beautiful Years 170 My aunt, what a riff-raff of new bugs, Spotty. We’ll show ’em, eh? 1935 C. S. Forester African Queen vi. 116 They hadn’t believed anyone would try to get down those gorges... Well, this’d show ’em. 1952 M. Laski Village x\i. 215 Never did I think I’d live to hear my friends making excuses for me... I’ll show them, she thought, I’ll show them. 1974 M. Babson Stalking Lamb iv. 32 Perhaps she wouldn’t come back and collect her at all—that would show her!

SHOW 23. a. To communicate, announce, declare, narrate, state, tell (a fact, story, news, etc.); to describe, give an account of. fAlso with forth. Now arch. 01300 Ten Commandm. 15 in E.E.P. (1862) 16 God commandid to ysay.. hou he ssold pe folke tech and to ssow ham god-is defens: of pe .x. commandemens. c 1325 Metr. Horn. 30 That he $uld schew him openly .. Of his felaw state sum tithand. C1330 Arth. & Merl. 7615 Lete we hem now at )?is segeing & schewe werres & wo. 1450-1530 Myrr. our Ladye 81 And my mouthe shall shew thy praysynge. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 11 He send his Apostlis .. to ger schawe the cristyn faith. 1530 Palsgr. 717/2, I shewe tydinges, or a message,^ annonce. 1535 Coverdale Judg. xiv. 13 Shewe forth hy ryddle, let vs heare it. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Mat tins, My mouthe shall shewe forth thy prayse. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1664) 224, I know ye desire news from my prison & I shall shew you news. 1657 Austen Fruit Trees 1. 86 Having shewed some profitable Instructions. 1723 Ramsay Fair Assembly ix, These modest maids inspire the muse In flowing strains to shaw Their beauties. 1883 R. W. Dixon Mono 1. viii. 21 For friendship’s sake I may not all declare, Nor more than fits the story shall be shown.

fb. with that or as and clause, or with complement. Also said of a book, writing, etc. Obs. a 1300 Cursor M. 699 Als scheus J>e bok. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 608 And he wald-e3ed was, as J?e writt schewys. c 1440 Jacob's Well 14 We denounce & schewe acursyd.. pat is to say, we schewe hem dampnyd.. And we schewe hem to be takyn to pe powere of sathan. c 1505 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 31 He schewyd hus that he had spokyn wc John Cauthorn. 1529 More Dyaloge in. WTks. 223/2 Frere Hierom .. came to hym.. shewing him that he wold cast of his abite. 1632 Lithgow Trav. 111. 83 Iohn Smith .. shewing me that all the Officers .. were in searching .. for me.

c. To set forth, allege (in a legal document). Often in petitionary formulae. 1425 Munim. de Metros (Bannatyne Club) 544 Schawand and pretendand pair rychtis and clamys on ilke syde. 1425 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 289/1 Shewyn and besechyn full benignely, your trew humble Liegies the Comens of this present Parlement. 1480 Cov. Leet Bk. 443 These ben the compleyntes of the Injuries & wronges don to Tho. Deram, .. shewed & deliuered be this present bill vnto Will. Shore, Mair of Couentre. 1531 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) II. 184 Most humbly Shewen and Complayn vnto your good lordship your daily Oratours. 1683 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 64 The Peticion was read shewing that the Mr. of said ship deney’d to pay them their wages. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 118 If 10 The humble petition of Penelope Prim, widow, Sheweth, That your petitioner was bred a clear-starcher and Sempstress.

d. To state, allege, plead (a cause, reason, etc.). Now chiefly in Law: see cause sb. 3 b. a 1225 Ancr. R. 112 \>e reisuns hwui beo8 her efter suteliche ischeawede. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1052 J>an wil I after shew .. Skille why men a man world calles. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. pr. ii. (1868) 114, I shal shewe pe more pikke and continuel resouns. 1535 Coverdale Josh. xx. 4 He .. shal.. shewe his cause before the Elders of the cite. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 707 Shee declared and shewed the cause, why she could not come to them in tyme. 1597 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 1045 Hope and Curage did .. Schaw skild and pithie resouns quhy That Danger lap the dyke. 1625 Gill Sacr. Philos. 223 Thus have I very briefly showen not many reasons, but rather how many reasons may be showen for this Christian assertion.

fe. to show law: to plead (for a suitor). Obs. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. viii. 53 He pat.. spekep for pe pore .. Coueitep not his goodes, Bote for vr lordes loue lawe for him schewep. 1377 Ibid. B. 11. 134 Ledeth hire to londoun, pere lawe is yshewed.

ff. absol. To tell, declare, expound; to speak as a representative for; to speak, tell, give an account of. With indirect obj.: To inform or apprise of. Obs. c 1230 Hali Meid. 13 J>is mihte is pat an pat i pis deadlich lif scheawe8 in hire estat of pe blisse undeadlich i pat eadi lond. 01300 Cursor M. 119, I sal yow schew.. Bre[fl]i of aipere testament. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. iv. 145 ]?e kyng.. rehersede pat Reson hedde Rihtfoliche I-schewet. 1399Rich. Redeles iv. 30 To chese.. cheualleris.. To schewe fTor pe schire in company with pe grete. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Verse) 205 Of swilk sufferance god schewes til vs In his godspel. c 1470 Henry Wallace 111. 319 He schew thaim of hys deide. C1500 Melusine 295 And shortly to shewe, he came & recountred hys brother. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 1. xvii. 19 [He] was sent to shewe the Bascha of our comming.

f24. To decree, award, assign (to a person) in a legal or formal manner; to fix or appoint authoritatively; to declare, make an award (that). In later use Sc. Obs. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1048, pa .. sceawede him mann . v. nihta gri6 ut of lande to farenne. a 1300 Cursor M. 26196 On seke man agh na scrift be laid, Bot pus gat o pe preist be said, sli scrift sceuid pan sal pou driue if pou war couerd to liue. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 125 )?is William often tymes fau3t wip pe kyng of Fraunce, nevere sodenly,.. but pe day of batayle i-schewed and assigned byfore. 1524 Registr. Aberdon. (Maitland Club) I. 390 This court wardis and schawis for law that [etc.]. 1540 Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 171 The court wardis and schawis for law, and it wes gewine for dome, that [etc.].

25. a. To prove, demonstrate (a fact, statement) by argument, reasoning, allegation of evidence or instances, experiment, etc. C1330 Spec. Gy de Warw. 399 J>at is preued and ishewed. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 264 And that.. I schal be reson prove and schewe. 1560 DAUStr. Sleidane's Comm. Pref. 4 Unlesse they could first shewe his erroure, he coulde not chaunge his opinion. 1626 W. Sclater Expos. 2 Thess. (1629) 200 It sufficeth to shew inualidity of the inference. 1793 Beddoes Math. Evid. 105 What is shewn to us by anatomy, we are just as sure of, as of that which is shewn to us by geometry. 1880

SHOW

360 Driver Hebr. Tenses App. III. (ed. 2) 260 This can be shewn inferentially from Hebrew itself.

b. With that and clause (or as..). c 1200 Ormin Pref. 30 Jesuss iss Amminadab, Swa summ icc hafe schaewedd. 1297 R- Glouc. (Rolls) 6975 God ap vaire issewed pat we gultelese bep. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 40 But forto schew pat God suffrede hym specyaly, pus ensampull I tell. 1584 Leycesters Commw. (1641) 64 Every falling out must have an attonement againe.. as I have shewed before. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 11. xxiv. 127 As hath been already shewn. 1765 Blackstone Comm. 1. viii. 303 Sir Edward Coke hath clearly shewn, that [etc.]. 1861 Paley JEschylus (ed. 2) Supplices 836 note, As Wilkinson shows from Aelian. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 238 Many arguments are used to show, that motion is the source of life. 1893 W. B. Smith Introd. Mod. Geom. 120 Show that tangents from two points on a centre ray form a kite.

c. With complementary obj.: To prove, make out (a person or thing) to be (something). Also with accus. and inf. 1563 WiN3ET Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 5 Gif the trew citienaris .. war recouncelit.. be sik meanis as we scheu Nehemias to hef bene. 1883 R. W. Dixon Mono 1. xv. 48 But here to my intent it is not main In that concern to show him right or wrong. 1893 W. B. Smith Introd. Mod. Geom. 262 The student may easily show it to be a rectangle.

d. to go to show: see go v. 42; freq. absol. in colloq. phr. it just (or only) goes to show. Also simply it just (or only) shows. Occas. with indirect obj. 1926 F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby ix. 209 It just shows you, don’t it?.. Jimmy was bound to get ahead. 1937 M. Sharp Nutmeg Tree xiv. 182 ‘Do you care for Galsworthy?’ asked Julia... Sir William replied that he did. Which just showed. 1945 E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited 11. i. 222 My wife’s in a terrible way. She’s an experienced sailor. Only shows, doesn’t it. 1952 M. Laski Village iv. 68 An elementary school-teacher, that’s what she was... Well, it just shows. 1977 J. Bingham Marriage Bureau Murders xi. 140, I was a little worried about you .. but.. here you are safe and sound, well, well, it just shows!

26. a. Of a thing: To be a proof, evidence, sign or indication of. C1330 Arth. & Merl. 1575 We sei^en.. her aboue Ouer ous a sky houe, pat ous schewed pe bi3ate Of swiche a ping on erpe late. C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 175 Her workes schewes pis wel, howevere pei speke by syde. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode 11. cxlviii. (1869) 135 Bi which disioynct is ysawed pe onhede of bretherhed. 1596 Shaks. j Hen. IV, hi. i. 181 You must needes learne, Lorde, to amend this fault: Though sometimes it shew Greatnesse, Courage, Blood. 1673 O. Walker Educ. (1677) 97 Huffing, and swaggering.. commonly shews want of spirit. 1750 Gray Long Story 138 Her air and all her manners shew it. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lvii, Having undergone such a process of blood-letting and calomel as showed the strength of his original constitution. 1859 Habits Gd. Society xi. 314 Nothing showing worse taste than to load your plate. 1884 Q. Rev. Jan. 215 Misprints, showing.. carelessness on the part of the corrector.

b. Const, clause with that, as, etc. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 450 Ah pi schene nebscheft & ti semliche schape schaweS wel pet tu art freo monne foster. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 70 J>at pe lond is pin, pi helm schewes it pe. C1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 145 As here wickid lif scewip. 01704 T. Brown Misc., Match for Devil Wks. 1711 IV. 147 His Habit, Cane, and formal Face, Shew’d he was of Geneva Race. 1847 Helps Friends in C. 1. vi. 98 All of it only goes to show how little we know of each other. 1861 Paley JEschylus (ed. 2) Agam. 1261 note, ‘Go on faring as you now fare’, viz. prosperously, as the context shows. 1868 Lockyer Elem. Astron. vi. (1879) 234 That nebulae are masses of glowing gas is shown by the fact that their light consists merely of a few bright lines.

c. Const, obj. with compl., or accus. and inf. 1560 Ovid's Narcissus Dj, For who dothe count [printed couet] him selfe of wyser skole Then dedes him showe, doth proue him selfe a foie. 1751 Labelye Westm. Bridge 77 Considerable Openings in the Joints shewed those Arches in some Danger. 1828 Duppa Trav. Italy, etc. 114 The walls of the city are now sufficiently entire to shew their extent to have been about three miles. 1871 Meredith H. Richmond xlvi, Their maxims show them to direct all their acuteness upon obtaining quality for their money.

27. show up. a. In school language: To report (a scholar) for punishment. 1845 College & T.B. Life at Westm. 25 Oct., I went into School not having done my Verses... I was therefore Shown-up, and .. pleaded my first fault.

b. To disgrace or discredit by a thorough exposure; to exhibit as an impostor or an imposture; to expose (a person’s faults, ignorance, misdeeds, etc.). 1826 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 325/2 A long article in the Quarterly Theological Review has fairly shown up the Yankee divine. 1829 Examiner 476/1 He threatened to‘show up’ my brother in the Age. 1865 Mill Exam. Hamilton 478 That mathematical mysticism, so mercilessly shown up by Berkeley. 1884 St. James's Gaz. 17 Oct. 3/1 The unpleasing process of ‘showing-up’ an unscrupulous adversary.

VI. intr. To be seen, be visible, appear. 28. a. To be or become visible; to make an appearance. Said of persons and things. Also transf., of a woman: to manifest visible signs of pregnancy (colloq.). 01300 Cursor M. 17288 + 254 f>is was pe first time pat iesus,.. Schewed til anyman after his vp-risyng. 1393 Langl. P. PL C. xi. 159 pe sonne som tyme for cloudes May nat shyne ne shewe on shawes on erthe. 1399-Rich. Redeles II. 52 panne comep .. Anoper proud partriche .. and houeth pe eyren.. and ffostrith and flfodith, tille ffedris schewe. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) iv. 23 Sche lyeth in an olde Castelle .. and schewethe twyes or thryes in the 3eer. c 1450 Merlin iii. 56 Than shewde the signe in the ayre that Merlin hadde seide. 1470-85 Malory Arthur xvi. ii. 666 They sawe an hand sheuyng vnto the elbowe. 1573-80 Tusser Husb.

(1878) 92 Rowle after a deaw, when barlie doth sheaw. 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 50 Til you can attaine wherwith to feed your guests when first they shew, Haste not their hatching. 1607 Shaks. Timon 1. i. 23 The fire i’ th Flint Shewes not, till it be strooke. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. 1. iv. (ed. 2) 61 One of the most dangerous rocks..only shows within two hours of low water. 1887 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad i, It dawns in Asia, tombstones show, And Shropshire names are read. 1891 ‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley vi, Where the lily-buds were just beginning to show. 1892 Bierce In Midst of Life 97 He showed against the sky, he and his horse, sharply defined .. as an equestrian statue. 1936 M. Mitchell Gone with Wind xxxviii. 681 Comforting herself .. with the belief that she did not show at all when thus covered. 1957 [see mistake sb. 1 d]. 1966 B. Askwith Step out of Time vi. 95 How the old lady knew, miss, we have no idea. Rose certainly hadn’t begun to show. 1979 R- Rendell Make Death love Me iii. 25 In that field Christopher was conceived... Pam would marry before she began to ‘show’.

b. Of a thing: To be seen (through, over, under, etc.) something that partly covers or conceals it. Also, to be visible as a fault or defect. 1842 Browning Soliloquy Sp. Cloister iv, Can’t I see his dead eye glow.. That is, if he’d let it show! 1844 Mrs. Browning Lost Bower xii, Few and broken paths showed through it. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxvi, Take care, don’t spoil the looks of it! cut underneath, where it won’t show. 1886 Manch. Exam. 13 Jan. 3/2 Were the paper a little better it would be perfect. As it is the type shows through the page. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert v. 39 The walls and towers of Warkworth, barely showing above the woods surrounding them. 1907 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 88 Markings.. which would show in the prints.

c. of immaterial things. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 31 Wherof the sothe schewe may, At Rome ferst if we beginne. Ibid. 308 Hate is a wraththe noght schewende. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 29 The disposicion of a manne dooeth not shewe so clere in his face. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxxvi. 158 b, True religion.. began to shew and take root. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped ix, It was plain he meant more by the words than showed upon the face of them.

fd. impers. = (it) is seen or shown, appears, is plain. Obs. C1386 Chaucer Pars. T. If 331 As sheweth here by the naddre. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 63 It scheweth ek how he can werche Among tho wyde furred hodes. C1391 Chaucer Astrol. 11. §32 As shewith by the canoun of thi kalender. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 35 Unstable is your mynde: that shewes by your garment. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 78 As it shalle shoo after. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform, xiii. 101 As schawis weill be 30ur Genalogie.

e. to show forth: to come forth to view, to show ahead: to take a position ahead (in a race). 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 121 The pomp of pryde ay furth shawis. 1500 Ortus Vocab., Compareo, to shewe forth. 1884 Cambr. Rev. 10 Dec. 132 At the start, Bristowe’s crew at once shewed ahead by about three feet.

f. Of an oil well: to give an indication of the presence of oil. Cf. show sb.1 5 c. 1904 Dialect Notes II. 389 Show, v., to promise oil. 1977 Times 2 Nov. 3 Almost five years ago to the day, Beryl [sc. an oil well] showed.

g. In catch phr. your slip (etc.) is showing (cf. slip sb.3 10, 4 c), addressed to someone thought

to be unwittingly exposing a fault. similar contexts.

Also in

1943 D. Powell Time to be Born v. 103 Pardon me, lady, your slip is showing. 1958 Spectator 1 Aug. 174/2 There were still standards, and hypocrisy, the homage of vice and virtue, was the duty of all public figures. But in a gratifying number of cases the slip showed and the shocked and gratified public learned that ‘Anything Goes’. 1968 [see credibility gap s.v. credibility c]. 1971 C. Fick Danziger Transcript (1973) 33 Your defense mechanisms are showing, Mr. Danziger. 1976 A. Miller Inside Outside vii. 83, I see in you a new broom, though your slip is still showing in places.

29. a. To appear in public, make a display in public. In mod. use chiefly colloq. (cf. b): To appear in company or society; to make an appearance in an assembly, among guests, etc. Also in weakened sense, an ellipt. use of sense 35 c, to put in an appearance, ‘turn up’. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. Prol. for Stage 14 To know How many Coaches in Hide-parke did show last spring. 1671 in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 22 All the troopes are to show in Hide Parke beefore the Prince of Orange. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Engl. Spy I. 215 He shows in Park. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. iii. x, The breakfast party did not assemble till noon, and then Lady Catherine did not ‘show’. 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs vii, Marian has a hump-back and doesn’t show. 1858 Trollope Dr. Thorne II. v. 91 He’ll be in presently. I believe he never shews till just before dinner. 1864 Dickens Mut. Fr. (1865) I. 1. xiii. 127 What if I.. take a look round?.. None of you need show. 1889 H. F. Wood Englishm. Rue Cain ix, I’ll show against him for any object of value. Sing? What do you think of this note.. ? iM j ean A. Owen Hawaii iii. 65 If the king was in the cabin of a vessel no subject might show on deck. 1907 B. M. Croker Company's Servant xxxiii. 335 ‘Gojar never shows by day,’ explained Talbot. 1951 T. Sterling House without Door vii. 81 Big-shots like that didn’t come to the police... The guy would never show. 1969 W. Garner Us or Them War xxxvii. 276 Jagger said flatly, ‘I’m staying until she shows.’ 1974 ‘J. le Carre’ Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy vii. 56 She didn’t show... It was the first time she’d broken a date.

b. Pugilism. To enter the ring as a combatant. 1813 Sporting Mag. XLI. 99 He showed with seeming reluctance about an hour after the appointed time. 1818 Ibid. (N.S.) II. 279 Johnson .. first showed and threw his hat in the ring. 1828 Egan Boxiana IV. 169 Turner., was far more likely to make his exit, than ever be made able to show again in the Prize Ring.

SHOWABLE

361

c. colloq. To exhibit oneself for money. 1898 Daily News 2 Apr. 6/1 He got a living by ‘showing’ in the various public-houses in the neighbourhood at entertainments got up for his benefit.

d. Comm. Of a commodity: To appear or be prominent in the market. I9I3 Times 11 Dec. 10/2 In insurance phraseology, ‘a good deal of radium has lately been showing.’ 1982 Times 13 July 16/1 Glaxo showed strongly, moving up i2p on revised profit forecasts. Ibid. 17 July 12/1 Mixconcrete showed very firm.

e. N. Amer. Horse-racing. To finish third or in the first three in a race. I9°3 J Ullman What's the Odds? 129 The customary limit of the handbooks around Chicago was twenty, eight and four, to win, place and show. 1936 [see place v. 5f]. 1968 Globe Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 27/1, I myself., usually bet $200 to show, or $50-$ioo-$2oo across the board. 1977 New Yorker 16 May 130/1 In the OTB betting shops.. he paid three dollars straight, three dollars to place, and three dollars to show.

30. a. With complement (adj. or look, seem, appear, arch.

To

1340 Ayetib. 44 Huanne po )?et zellep be wy3te purchacej? and maket> zuo moche J?et J?et ping pet me ssel we3e ssewep more heuy. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles 111. 368 \>e sonne pat so bri3te schewed. C1430 Lydg. Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 22 All is not golde that outward shewith bright. 1479 Paston Lett. III. 267 That my Lord of Ely is and shal be bettyr lord to me then he hathe shewyd as yet. 1513 Act 5 Hen. VIII, c. 4. § 1 If the same Worsted .. taketh any Wet, incontinent it will shew spotty and foul. 1572 in Bercher Nobility Worn. 0904) 31 Hitherto he hath shewid an Obstinate and a Foie. 1592 Timme Ten. Eng. Lepers E3 A Woolfe in a sheepes skinne sheweth a dead sheepe. 1635 Pagitt Christianogr. 1. ii. (1636) 82 The Pope to make his Jurisdiction to shew greater then it is, giveth many titles. 1671 tr. Marten's Voy. Spitzbergen in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. 11. (1694) 19 These Snow-Mountains show very strange to those that never saw them before. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 17b, Lead. . shews very handsome, and is not very expensive. 1747 Dr. Hoadly Suspicious Husb. 11. iv, Why, how dull and phlegmatick do you shew to me now? 1812 Examiner 11 May 292/1 Poor.. soils .. show .. very thin. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. iv. 101 How daintily epicurean the fellow shows. 1893 Oxford Mag. 1 Nov. 40/2 The wood when cut showed sound as a bell.

b. With adv. or advb. phrase: To present an appearance (specified by the adv.); to make a (good, bad, etc.) show or display. . CI375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptista) 645 Lowing in-to kine wel scheuis, pat is enhornit with gud thewis. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. 11. Wks. 1856 I. 27 They showe as well as if they were new. 1631 Massinger Emperor East v. iii, The falling out, and in, Betweene the husband and the wife showes rarely. 1632 Sir T. Hawkins tr. Mathieu's Unhappy Prosp. 243 Great wealth shews ill without honours. 1764 Reid Inquiry i. §6 Wks. I. 103/1 It [a puppet] shews tolerably by candle light. 1802 Mar. Edgeworth Moral T., Forester viii, The lady-patronesses.. contenting themselves with seeing the charity-children show well in procession to Church. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xi, Her imperfect and unequal gait, which shewed to peculiar disadvantage as she traversed this long gallery. 1851 J. H. Newman Catholics in Eng. 19 Here, again, things would show very differently, if Catholics had the painting. 1877 Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. 1. iv. 48 Becket never showed to more advantage than in moments of personal danger. 1912 Times 19 Dec. 13/5 He [a prize dog] moved and showed well and deserved his honours.

c. To look like. arch. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. Iii. 510 A white substance or pith, the whiche being drawen out, sheweth like long, white.. threds. 1605 Shaks. Lear 1. iv. 265 This our Court infected with their manners Shewes like a riotous Inne. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, iv. 805 Like a large Cluster of black Grapes they show. 01700 Evelyn Diary 14 July 1675, Holmby House, which being demolish’d in the late civil warrs, shews like a Roman ruine. 1877 Blackie Wise Men Greece 137 We shall show like an army of crows marching against eagles.

t d. With to and inf.: To appear or seem (to be, to do something); to affect, profess, pretend; to be seen evidently (to be or do). Obs. C1386 Chaucer Melib. P2386 Whan he sheweth to doon a thyng openly and werketh priuely the contrarie. 1402 Friar Daw Topias in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 109 And 3it 30ur sect susteynes wommen to seie massis, shewyng to trete a sacrament as preestes that thei were. 1575 Gascoigne Hemetes Wks. 1910 II. 481 Wth all semblaunt that mighte be, he shewed to sett by her but litle. c 1580 Sidney Ps. ix. xi, Then the Lord in judgment showes to raign. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 334 There are many mountaines which shewe to haue mettals. 1632 Bp. Hall Hard Texts, Matt. xii. 33 Be good, and shew to be such by the fruits which ye beare. 1653 H. Cogan Scarlet Gown 60 The Pope .. received him very graciously, and shewed to be glad of his recovered liberty.

fe. With as though, as if-. To have appearance which suggests that —. Obs.

an

1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 78 Pretendynge and shewynge outwardly as though it were of very mekenes. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 1. vii. 18 b, Skirmishing with their dartes, and showing as though they.. wold defende the water. 1657 Earl Monm. tr. Paruta's Pol. Disc. 102 The Romans.. in all their actions shewed as if they desired nothing but glory. 1670-1 Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. 1. (1694) 67 The Wood shews in many places as if there were Plantations. C1710 Celia Fiennes Diary (1888) 214 It makes all the houses shew as if they were cover’d with snow. 1725 Pope Shaks. Wks. I. Pref. 12 Which shows as if the friendship had continued thro’ life.

f. With ppl. adj. to show willing, to display readiness to please or satisfy, colloq. Willing is sometimes construed as a noun, in which case the verb belongs to branch IV.

1957 Loneliness (Women’s Group on Public Welfare) iii. 29 The older woman.. must ‘show willing’ and be adaptable. 1959 P. Bull I know Face i. 11 My father wanted me to be a chartered accountant... However, in order to show willing, I did settle for ‘journalism’. 1964 A. Wilson Late Call iii. 121 Luckily the poor creature was very willing, and there was one rule Sylvia always made—never turn off anyone who shows willing. 1973 J. Wilson Truth or Dare x. 121, I feel I’ve got to go, Claire, just to show willing.

31. to show for—. fa. To claim to be, have, or do (something). Obs. b. To give promise of, portend, ‘look like’, dial. a- 1577 tr- Bullinger's Decades HI. v. (1592) 330 Let this labour of mine not seeme to any man to bee .. lesse profitable than it sheweth for. 1628 Feltham Resolves I. xxvi. 83 Hee would make vs beleeue, Divinity is much short of what it shewes for. 1680 Filmer Patriarcha ii. §3. 36 As this Argument comes not home to our Point, so it is not able to prove that Title which it shews for. b. 1778 [W. H. Marshall] Minutes Agric. 2 Oct. 1776, The other evening shewed for rain. 1876 Surrey Gloss., Show for, to look like; e.g. 'It shows for rain uncommon’. 1886 W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., The wind’s up again, and I sim do show vor fine weather.

f32. show away = show off (33 a). Obs. *759 Goldsm. Bee No. 1 If 14 The French player.. begins to show away by talking nonsense. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 38 He paraded and shewed away, at a vast rate, concerning the divinely inherent right of monarchs. 1770 C. Jenner Placid Man ill. ix, Lord B. shewed away in all his glory.

33. show off. a. To act or talk for show; to make a deliberate or ostentatious display of one’s abilities or accomplishments, colloq. a 1793 G. White Nat. Cal., Observ. Birds (1795) 79 A fern-owl this evening.. showed off in a very unusual., manner. 1815 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 69 She puts me in mind of Miss Berry when she is showing off. 1894 D. C. Murray Making Novelist 201 He was tempted to swagger and ‘show ofT as children say.

b. Pugilism. round.

? To begin the attack, start a

1812 Sporting Mag. XL. 66 His antagonist shewed off at his head. 1821 Egan Boxiana (1830) I. 261 Dan showed off in good style .. and finished the round by knocking down his opponent.

34. show out. a. ? To become visible, emerge from obscurity or concealment; fig. to exhibit one’s true character. 1839 M. Walker Diary 9 Feb. in C. M. Drury First White Women over Rockies (1963) II. 143 Mrs. W. on first reaching us seemed in good humor & I hoped she had made her a better heart. But at supper table & even before she began to show out. 1846 De Quincey Syst. Heavens Wks. 1862 III. 179 Description of the nebula in Orion as forced to show out by Lord Rosse. 1859-Mackintosh Wks. XI11. 75 Rarely has a false idea been more suddenly caused to founder and show out. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms vi, The horse held up his head and snorted as he came abreast of us, and we showed out.

SHOW-BOAT the other side.

Cf. print-through 2, strike¬

through s.v. strike v. 88. 1947 New Book Faces (Lanston Monotype Machine Co., Philadelphia) 3/2 The ‘show through’ which is the result of printing in heavy color on thin or semi-transparent papers results in a loss of visibility and thereby affects readability. 1961 N. & Q. Apr. 160/2 A comparison of the facsimile with the original has shown that the fascimile is not so clear, but it has an adequate definition and the show-through, which occurs on several pages, does not seriously interfere with the reproduction. 1971 British Printer Jan. 80/2 The showthrough is slight enough to permit printing both sides. 39. show up. a. (Cf. 27 b.) The act of ‘showing up’ or exposing to ridicule, censure, or the like. Also, an instance of this; an expose. 1830 ‘Jon Bee’ Ess. Foote p. lxxvii, (Cent.) Treading closely on the heels of a threatened show up. 1840 Fraser's Mag. XXII. 372 We cannot muster up impudence enough to continue our show-up of Wightwick’s naughtiness. 01854 Mill Early Draft Autobiogr. (1961) ii. 93 In my father’s article the detailed shew-up of the Edinburgh Review had been left unfinished. 1854 Fraser's Mag. L. 253 Mr. Disraeli was to make a show-up of Mr. Gladstone’s finance. 1937 W. H. S. Smith Let. 30 Oct. in Young Man's Country (1977) ii. 97, I am beguiling myself., by reading Sinclair Lewis’s Elmer Gantry, a show-up of American Nonconformists. 1949 ‘G. Orwell’ Let. 16 June in Coll. Essays (1968) IV. 502 My recent novel is not intended as an attack on Socialism .. but as a show-up of the perversions to which a centralised economy is liable. 1961 Guardian 9 June 9/2 One of those tough, sexy, ostensibly moralistic showups. b. A police identification parade. U.S. slang. 1929 M. A. Gill Underworld Slang 11/1 Show-up, where suspects are viewed by the police. 1932 Sun (Baltimore) 12 Dec. 1/3 The authorities conducted a mysterious ‘show up’ today for De Larm .. police endeavoring to learn whether he had been seen in the vicinity .. at the time of the killing. 1949 Penguin New Writing XXXVI. 96 They were real cops though. I had .. to stand the showup .. and to put in twenty days at Juvenile. 1955 Sun (Baltimore) 22 Nov. 3/1 Lyman Brown.. picked Graham out of a ‘showup’ of seven jail inmates. showable ('J3uab(3)l), a. Also shew-, [f. show v. + -ABLE.] fl. Demonstrative, able to prove. Obs. rare-1. c 1400 tr. Seer eta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 96 And Jeanne comes to him a strengh shewable, or Philosophable, pat byholdys shappys vndirstandable. Ibid. 103 pat he be knowynge .. in arsmetyk, pat is ful soth and shewable. 2. Demonstrable, provable, rare-1. 1617 Hieron Penance for Sin iv. Wks. 1619 II. 103 This .. is shewable by Scripture. 3. That can be shown or presented to view. 1813 F. Burney 15 July Let. (1978) VII. 157 It was most fortunate that bit was shewable, for it gave propriety to the Measure. 1823 Lamb Let. to J. H. Payne 23 Jan., Mary., says you must write more showable letters about those matters. 1838 P’cess Elizabeth Lett. (1898) 347, I have so bad a swelled face I am not shewable.

b. U.S. = show off (33 a). 1889 Mary E. Wilkins Far-away Melody, etc. (1890) 258 See that old lady trailing her best black silk by... Ain’t it ridiculous how she keeps on showing out?

35. show up. a. To appear conspicuously or in relief. 1883 Truth 31 May 768/2 A brocade on which.. yellow marguerites.. showed up upon a ground of scarlet. 1891 Bax Outlooks fr. New Standpoint iii. 171 Most persons are afraid of something, but they, at times, show up brave on the background of persons who are afraid of something else.

b. To become prominent, to catch the eye. 1885 Field 31 Jan. 135/2 Some scrummaging took place at the half way till Ekin showed up with a good run, which brought the play to the North lines.

c. colloq. To put in an appearance; to be present or ‘turn up’ (at an appointed time or place). 1888 Lisbon (Dakota) Star 3 Feb. 4/1 Will Worden is expected to show up next week. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 167 Paul did not show up at the office next day. C1895 Thompson St. Poker Club 131 The regular members showed up, however, in force.

VII. The verb-stem in combinations. 36. show-and-tell. N. Amer. A method used in teaching young children, who are encouraged to bring objects to school and describe them to their classmates. Usu. as attrib. phr. [1948 Q. Jrnl. Speech XXXIV. 361/1 Those who volunteered to speak during the regular classroom shareand-tell period.] 1950 Amer. Childhood Sept. 18/1 Woodridge Elementary School in Austin, Texas, along with many other schools in the nation, began solving this problem three years ago through a ‘Show and Tell’ period, conducted almost every day in the first, second, and third grades. Ibid. 18/3 Pictures cause a great sensation at ‘Show and Tell’. 1958 J. E. Leavitt Nursery-Kindergar ten Educ. xi. 235 The virtues of ‘show and tell’ are too often dissipated in either agonies of shyness, or frantic last minute panics at home to ‘find something for show and tell’. 1962 P. Bracken I hate to housekeep Bk. (1963) vi. 62 The children might, at their Show-and-Tell sessions at school. 1980 in S. Terkel Amer. Dreams 112 No courses in show-and-tell and personality adjustment.

f37. show-away a. play, ostentatious.

(Cf. 32.) Given to dis¬

1775 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. liii. (1783) II. 137 Those shew-away fellows are mere pick-pockets. 1795 Han. More Sheph. Salisb. PI. 1. Wks. 1834 I. 265 A plain frugal man, who.. was remarked to give away more than any of his show-away neighbours.

38. show-through. Printing. The fact of print on one side of a sheet of paper being visible from

showance

('Jsoans).

rare.

[f.

show

sb.

+

-ance.] Showing, display, appearance. 1898 Hardy Wessex Poems 3 Sole the showance those of my onward earth-track—never transcended. 1908 Dynasts vii. ix. 346 My only course To make good showance to posterity Was to implant my line upon the throne. show biz. Also show-biz and as one word. a. Colloq. (orig. U.S.) abbrev. of show business. 1945 Variety 13 June 25/4 Big-league baseball already had rearranged its team travel schedules to a minimum. However show biz has done nothing about this yet. 1948 N. Y. Times 18 July 2E/7 Jack Pulaski... helped coin much of Variety's lingo, such as ‘show biz’. 1953 [see impression sb. 6 d]. 1959 R. Longrigg Wrong Number iv. 60 Got to extemporise in show biz. i960 M. T. Williams Art of Jazz p. i, A strange branch of big-time show biz. i960 New Left Rev. May-June 33/2 They have their ‘Pop Page’.. their key to Showbiz. 1971 ‘A. Burgess’ MF xv. 162 A lot of science gets turned into showbiz as they call it. 1976 Liverpool Echo 23 Nov. 6/4 Blackpool remains.. the heartland of Northern showbiz. b. attrib. 1945 Variety 30 May 28/3 (heading) Cantor’s Showbiz tribute. 1946 J. B. Priestley Bright Day viii. 243 Wouldn’t it be heavenly if you could mix them up— .. the retired majors .. and the Show Biz boys. 1959 News Chron. 17 Oct. 4/2 Skirmishes with showbiz brigands. 1976 A. Davis Television: First Forty Years 42 Many of the public had misgivings, for the word ‘newscaster’ suggested a show-biz American approach. Hence show-bizzy a. 1969 Listener 9 Jan. 62/2 The first night.. was a showbizzy occasion. 1973 S. Cohen Diane Game (1974) xvii. 149 After the welcoming speeches and .. show-bizzy, bouquetthrowing speeches, the stage was cleared. 1981 Times 20 May 14/5 Even more controversial, however, is Cardin’s idea to make Maxim’s more showbizzy with a series of monthly soirees starring international artists. show-boat. U.S.

[show ii.1]

A river steamer

on which theatrical performances are given. 1869 Atlantic Monthly July 85/1 The little steamer Banjo, a show-boat belonging to Dr. Spaulding, the manager of the Floating Palace, was advertised to be at Cape Girardeau. 1909 A. C. Rice Mr. Opp vii. 98 A new and handsome Show Boat will tie up at the Cove. 1926 E. Ferber Show Boat i. 13 Eager for entertainment as the dwellers were along the little Illinois and Missouri town,.. they came sparsely to the show boat. 1952 M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke v. 88 Lighted buses crawling by looked as big as showboats. 1977 N. Adam Triplehip Cracksman xii. 124 They were a mixed bunch .. drinker.. showboat gambler.

SHOWBOATER 'showboater. U.S. [f. prec. + -er1.] An actor on or manager of a showboat. Also fig., one who performs (in other contexts) in the theatrical style characteristic of a showboat player. 1951 P. Graham Showboats ii. 15 Green River., was in later years to become showboaters’ paradise. 1952 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 AprL 239/4 The show that Mr. Chapman, the first ‘showboater’^presented to the Mississippi Valley. 1968 ‘G. Bagby’ Another Day iii. 45 ‘What was wrong with him?’ ‘He was a clown. He was a showboater. He had a big mouth.’ 1969 Wall St. Jrnl. 10 Oct. 14/1 Some of the best umpires in baseball today are almost unknown to the fans... They’re not the showboaters. 1977 Time Jan. 56/2 Streisand is a showboater, a sort of one-woman Hippodrome whose roots are in the brassiest tradition of the American musical theatre.

Also 'showboating. 1951 P. Graham Showboats vii. 66 The years 1884-1889 were important.. to the growing institution of showboating. 1972 D. Ramsay Little Murder Music 71 Maybe there’s some other reason behind the recent tendency towards showboating. The fact is, there have been a lot of gimmicks lately. 1975 W. Safire Before Fall vi. 384 The proposal was what Nixon would call.. ‘showboating’, presented primarily for its political impact in the States .. with little chance of its acceptance by the North Vietnamese.

'show-box. [show si.1] A box in which objects of curiosity are exhibited; esp. a box containing a peep-show. 1748 Lady Luxborough Let. to Shenstone 28 Apr. (1775) 19 But were you to present me with the Views of the Leasowes, I own I should not put them into my show-box without pain. 1779 Warner in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 312 A Savoyard with a show-box. 1842 Hawthorne Twice-t. T. Ser. 11. Seven Vagabonds (1883) 125 Rescuing the showbox of such a couple from a mob of great double-fisted countrymen. fig. 1789 Burns Fragm. inscribed to C.J. Fox 23 Mankind are his show box.

show business, orig. U.S. [show si.1] 1. a. The entertainment industry, esp. light entertainment (formerly, always with the). Occas., people engaged in show business collectively. Cf. show biz. 1850 T. Ford Peep behind Curtain vii. 26 This gentleman has been engaged .. in the show-business, and is, beyond all question, the best. 1870 D. J. Kirwan Palace & Hovel v. 65 I’ve been in the show business for sixteen years... I fust began jumpin’, as a hacrobat in the penny gaffs. 1886 [see performing ppl. a. 2]. 1903 Century Mag. Apr. 819/1 General Grant.. declined to remain in town for the occasion, saying that he had had enough of ‘show business’. 1911 G. K. Chesterton Innoc. Father Brown v. 126 He happened to be picked up by some travelling show, and .. got on quite well in the show business. 1936 ‘P. Quentin’ Puzzle for Fools iv. 26 He was crazy to get into show business; stunts and strong-man acts. 1956 H. Grisewood in A. Pryce-Jones New Outl. Mod. Knowl. 426 The cinema and broadcasting to a large extent are part of what is called show-business. 1962 J. McCabe Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy i. 28 He had a great opening. All show business on the British Isles came to it. 1978 M. Muggeridge in R. Trevivian So you re Lonely 11 The Religious Broadcasting Department of the BBC., itself a curious no-man’s-land lying between show business and evangelism.

b. In catch-phr. there's no business like show business. 1946 I. Berlin (song-title) There’s no business like show business. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) vi. 62 It’s like they say, there’s no damn business like show business. You have to smile to keep from throwing up. 1972 Guardian 24 June 11/7 There is, as they say, no business like show business. 2. attrib. 1958 Punch 26 Feb. 278/1, I was delighted to see that Frankie Vaughan had been selected as Show Business Personality of the Year. 1961 Radio Times 6 Apr. 53/2 No .. illusions about the permanence of show-business reputations. 1976 M. Butterworth Festival! xi. 187 Feature stories on the show business stars.

showcase, sb. (a.) [f. show sb.1 + case sb.2] 1. A glass case for exhibiting delicate or valuable articles in a shop or museum. 1835 F. Lieber Stranger in Amer. II. ii. 64, I.. found there .. all the companions of my earliest youth, the show-cases .. with their old Nuremberg prints. 1879 Print. Trades Jrnl. xxvni. 12 Put up in inexpensive little show-cases. 1897 R. M. Stuart In Simpkinsville 121 Old Dr. Jenkins stood behind the showcase in his drug-store. 1935 D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night vi. 124 What a blessing I hadn’t put the Folio Chaucer and the other valuables in the show-cases. 1952 P. Wentworth Brading Collection xii. 69 Round the sides there were glass-topped show-cases. 1970 J. S. Hardman tr. R. Boulanger's Turkey 201 In the showcases against the wall .. are various glass objects.

2. fig. A place or medium for presenting (esp. attractively) to general attention (freq. in Theatr. contexts). Chiefly U.S. 1937 ‘M. Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge! 11. iii. 131 Scamnum is ..simply a Crispin show-case, dukedom and all. 1958 D. Ewen Compl. Bk. Amer. Musical Theater 79 It [sc. Walk a little Faster].. deserves to be remembered if only because it was the showcase for.. Duke’s most popular song, ‘April in Paris’. 1967 N. Freeling Strike out where not Applicable i. 7 Its park has been turned into a landscaped garden which is a showcase for the bulb industry. 1976 M. Butterworth Festival xi. 173 The entertainment world fell over itself to get into this, the biggest ‘showcase’ on earth. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters x. 364 Gibbons’ local was becoming a showcase of progressive unionism.

3. attrib. or as adj. Freq. fig. 1903 A. H. Lewis Boss 189 He’s no show-case proposition!.. To look at him folks might take him for a fool. 1934 Architect. Record Sept. 189 Show case height for

SHOWER

362 standard selling. 1937 ‘M. Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge! 11. iii. 131 The Duke has a show-case role. He’s an Elder Statesman. 1955 Times 10 May 3/5 The London Philharmonic Orchestra has broken out for the summer season with some showcase programmes. 1975 B. Garfield Death Sentence (1976) vi. 36 The First Ward [of Chicago].. included the showcase hoop.

Hence as v. trans. (orig. U.S.), to place in or as in a showcase (chiefly fig.). 1945 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. I. v. 387 A few of its [sc. Variety's] characteristic inventions will suffice: to ash-can, to angel, to showcase [etc.]. 1949 Jrnl. (Baltimore) 20 July 2/1 They showcase new acts, who want to be on TV. 1959 Spectator 14 Aug. 192/1 It [$c. the Festival Ballet] has show-cased any number of notable performers. 1961 Times 4 Feb. 11/5 An album which introduces a new verb to the English language. It has been recorded ‘to showcase’ 10 different bands at a Jazz Festival in Hi-Fi. 1982 Time Out 16 July 39/5 The film.. showcases both sides of Young’s music.

show-down. [f. show v. + down] 1. Card-playing. The act of laying down one’s cards with their faces up; also, the name of a game similar to poker. Also show-down poker (see quot. 1901). 1892 W. J. Florence Handbk. Poker 42 If a player miscalls his hands, innocently, and on the show-down has enough to win the pot, it remains his. 1898 W. C. Morrow Ape, Idiot, etc. 159 Never disclose your hand except on a showdown. 1901 R. F. Foster Poker 16 If the limit is ten cents only, and the blind is one, the game becomes ‘showdown Poker’ because a player will bet the limit on anything and everything. 1902 Wister Virginian xvi, Whatever hand he’s been holdin’ up, this is the show-down. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 1 Feb. 14/1 It is usual to have a ‘show down’ unless at least a three by tricks declaration has been arrived at. 1973 D. Westheimer Going Public v. 79 How about one hand of showdown poker?.. Low man does the job?

2. fig. An open disclosure of plans, means, etc.; also, a declaration or trial of one’s strength or position; a final confrontation, a reckoning (intended to be conclusive). 1904 F. Lynde Grafters ix. 131 ‘You don’t mean to say there is any doubt about our ability to do it?’ ‘Oh, no; I suppose not, if it comes to a show-down.’ 1909 E. Suffolk Gaz. 12 Jan. 7/5 When it comes to an academic show-down, we’ll make some of those rivals of ours sit up. 1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 9 July 4/4 It is quite time that there should be what is vulgarly known as a ‘show down’, and this ‘show down’ is what I have been endeavoring to bring about. 1927 Glasgow Herald 19 Aug. 10 An opportunity of ‘forcing a show-down’ concerning British flights in China. 1936 M. Allingham Flowers for Judge ix. 143 Salley has been stewing up for a row with his critics for some time and is spoiling for a show-down. 1945 E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited 241 If he has a show down with the old gang, they’ll just disappear. 1950 T. S. Eliot Cocktail Party iii. 161, I believe, Henry, if I may put it vulgarly, That Lavinia has forced you to a show-down. 1962 A. Lurie Love Friendship xvi. 310 When it comes to a showdown, women stick to their husbands. 1977 J. Crosby Company of Friends xvii. 113 Never had she told him her code name. Some things a woman needed—for the final showdown.

3. Comb., as showdown inspection U.S. Mil., a surprise inspection of kit. Also ellipt. 1920 in H. S. Duell Hist. 306th Field Artillery 4/1 First of numerous ‘show-down’ inspections for the missing ‘Laces, shoe, russet, pair, extra’. 1928 L. H. Nason Top Kick 27 When we get back to billets they’ll have a show-down, an’ anyone that’s shy, finds it on the payroll. 1943 Yank 2 Apr. 19 The Army custom of show-down inspection is unnerving. 1963 J. O. Killens And then We heard Thunder ii. 14 Showdown Inspection with all of your equipment spread out before you to be checked by the pink-cheeked officers.

showe,

.1

obs. form of shoe, shove v

showel(l,

obs. forms of shovel.

shower (lJ'au3(r)), sb.1

Forms: i scur, sceor, scyur, 3 sur, shur, 3, 5 scur, 3-4 schur, 3-7 showre, 4 shor, 4-6 schour, 4-7 schoure, shour(e, 5 pi. scoures, shure, shwre, schowr, 5-6 schowre, 5-7 shewer, 6 schower, schouer, 6-7 shewre, 7 showr, shore, 5- shower. [OE. scur str. masc. (also once scuran wk. pi.) corresponds to OS. skur masc., OFris. skur fit of illness (NFris. skyr shower, caprice), MDu. schuur (mod.Du. schoer with dialectal vowel), OHG. scur (MHG. schur, mod.G. schauer), OTeut. *skuro-z; also ON. skur fern, (but in early texts sometimes masc.), Goth, skura fern, storm:—*skurd. The suggested affinities are uncertain: see Uhlenbeck and Falk and Torp.] 1. a. A fall of rain, of short duration and (usually) comparatively light. Also, a similar fall of sleet or hail, rarely of snow. See also HML-shower, rain-shower, snow-shower. In various dialects the word may be applied to a continuous fall of rain lasting for many hours. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. xii. 54 Scyur [Rushw. scur] cymefi. a 1000 Andreas 512 (Gr.) J>onne sceor cymeS. a 1000 Lambeth Psalter lxxvii. 44 Heora scuras [imbres eorum]. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 175 Storm.. werpeft t>at water upward and arereS shures fele. C1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 751 The teres from hir eyen two Doun fille, as shour in Aperill. c 1407 Lydg. Reason Sens. 6310 Holsom as the Aprile shour Fallyng on the erbes newe. 14.. Voc. in Wr.Wiilcker 588/48 Imber, a shure. c 1550 Cheke Matt. vii. 25 Yeer fell a greet schower. 1576 Gascoigne Droome of Doomes day Wks. 1910 II. 248 The Lord God rayned from the

Lorde, (even from him selfe) not shewers nor dewe, but fyre and brimstone. 1618 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Pennyless Pilgr. C 2 b, All the day long it rayned but one showre. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 21 May 1645, After a showre has fall’n. 1759 Johnson Idler No. 49 f 5 A shower beating against his windows. 1817 G. Rose Diaries (i860) I. 42,1 was overtaken by a shower. 1907 W. Ewing Arab & Druze v. 63 A light shower drifted down the valley. fig. C1580 Sidney Ps. vii. i, O, save me from this persecutions show’r. 1663 Patrick Parab. Pilgrim xxx. (1687) 351 It pleased God so to order it, that this cloud [of indisposition] was cast about him without any showre. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. Prol. (1890) 19/2 We . .knew the lot of all men should be ours, A chequered day of sunshine and of showers.

b. Followed by qualification of rain, of hail, etc. a 1300 Floriz. & Bl. 272 He.. gan Blauncheflur bimene Wif> teres rive as a scur of rene. C1320 Sir Tristr. 1937 Of snowe was fallen aschour. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform, xv. 15 With schouris Of hailstaines, snaw, and sleit! C1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue 10 A shour of hael. 1678 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 412 A vast shore of raine. 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 181 Some showers of snow fell in the course of the day. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Passion Gf Princ. ix. III. 153 Strong gusts of wind, accompanied by fleeting showers of rain.

c. In extended use: A copious downfall of anything coming or supposed to come from the clouds or sky: in recent use often of meteors. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 227 So fro heuen to helle £>at hatel schor laste. 1562 Legh Armorie (1591) 16 b, Son of the high Ioue begotten vppon Danae shadowed in the golden shower. 1643 Baker Chron., Hen. II, 79 A showre of Blood Rained in the Isle of Wight two houres together. 1829 Chapters Phys. Sci. 433 The sky was overcast at mid-day with clouds of ashes, the showers of which covered every thing to the depth of several inches. 1835, 1856 Meteoric showers [see meteoric a. 3]. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 189 The solid materials are shot forth into the air and fall in showers around the mouth of the orifice.

d. A dust-storm: freq. qualified by a placename. Austral. 1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. 115/1 Darling Shower, a local name in the interior of Australia, and especially on the River Darling, for a dust storm, caused by cyclonic winds. 1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life (1944) 329 (heading) Wilcannia shower. Ibid. 331 The steady intensity of the shower augmented as I went on... The increasing broadside pressure, with the sand and dust, was becoming too much for the horses. 1933 A. B. Paterson Animals Noah Forgot 36 The Bogan shower, that is mostly dust. 1949 Geogr. Mag. Feb. 373 Duststorms are called, in various parts of the country as indicated by the change in operative names, Darling shower, Cobar shower, Bedourie shower and Wilcannia shower.

e. In prov. phr. I didn't come down in the last shower, indicating that one is not inexperienced, or not so raw as to be easily fooled. Chiefly Austral. [1906 ‘T. Collins’ Rigby's Romance (1946) 256 He didn’t come down with the las’ rain. Pity that sort of bloke ever dies.] 1944 L. Glassop We were Rats 51 I’m awake-up, I am... I didden come down in the last shower. 1951 F. Hardy Power without Glory 259 ‘It’s no use lying to me, Arty,’ John West said. ‘I didn’t come down in the last shower.’ a 1966 ‘M. na Gopaleen’ Best of Myles (1968) 277 No damn fear. I didn’t come down in the last shower. 1971 B. Vernon Big Day at Bellbird 135, I didn’t come down in the last shower, and neither did you.

f. A group or crowd (of people). Usu. derog., a pitiful collection or rabble, slang. 1942 G. Kersh Nine Lives Bill Nelson ii. 13 I’ve seen him with some of the lousiest showers of rooks you ever saw in your life. 1958 A. Hackney Private Life xiv. 139 That unit was an absolute shower. 1962 ‘H. Calvin’ System xiii. 176, I bet none of your shower ever even looked at Challen and his mob. 1967 M. Procter Exercise Hoodwink xiv. 100 ‘Have you still got the same shower in your lot?’ ‘Mainly. One or two new faces.’ 1973 Observer 1 Apr. 13/3 Some of the people who go out with the hounds these days are a shower... We can’t have people turning up as if they have been wearing the same pyjamas for a month. 1978 L. Davidson Chelsea Murders 1. v. 29 It’s a group. What I was thinking .. the Manson shower.

g. A term of mild abuse used of one person as opp. to a group, slang. 1949 M. Leigh Cross of Fire iv. 71 You bat-eyed, buttock¬ brained .. shower! 1959 S. Gibbons Pink Front Door ii. 23 Hasn’t he [sc. a baby] lain down yet} He is a little shower. 1966 O. Norton School of Liars iv. 63 I’m of finer stuff, personally. I don’t know why I waste my time playing with a shower like you. 1973 ‘P. Alding’ Field of Fire xv. 123 ‘You’re a right shower,’ said Welland.

2. a. transf. A copious fall or discharge of water or other liquid in drops. Often of tears; hence poet, a shower of grief, sorrow, etc. f to make showers: to weep. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 2048 Sike scoures were of blude . . J>at foies ferd in pe flosches to pe feterlakis. 1638 Heywood Wise Worn. iv. ii. G 2, Shall I the shower of all my griefe at once Power out before you? 1663 Patrick Parab. Pilgrim xxvii. (1687) 302 It was not possible so to repress them [tears], but that all concluded in a plentiful showre. 1818 Shelley Rosal. 1271 Rosalind .. wept A shower of burning tears, which fell upon His face. 1846 Mrs. Kirkland West. Clearings 25 This brought only another shower of tears. 1859 R. Hunt Guide Mus. Pract. Geol. (ed. 2) 233 This is effected by passing showers of water through the flue by which the [lead] fumes escape. 1874 Crookes Dyeing & Calico-Printing 655 Stuffs, previous to finishing, are moistened with an extremely fine shower, produced by allowing water to descend through a sieve of silk.

b. poet. Of light, sound, etc. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 350 The stars that, sprinkled o’er the vault of night, Seem drops descending in a show’r of light. 1820 Shelley To Maria Gisborne 70 When from the

SHOWER moist moon rains The inmost shower of its white fire. 1840 R. S. Hawker Cornish Ballads, etc. (1908) 73 What showers of gold the sunbeams rain!

c. Short for shower-bath. usual term.)

SHOWER

363

(Now the more

1873 ‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age xxxiii. 308 He has fell back on hot foot-baths at night and cold showers in the morning. 1889 Gunter That Frenchman iii. 24 You forgot to put the ice in the shower, Francois; it is hardly bracing enough. 1930 P. Macdonald Link xi. 218, I had a shower and rammed on some clothes. 1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 48 Must have a shower. I’ve been in a muck sweat all day. 1973 J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 59 The bathroom .. was small, but lush .. with .. a bidet and a corner shower.

d. Pyrotechny. A device for producing a shower of small slow-burning ‘stars’, which fall from a rocket. 1839 [see golden a. 10]. 1866 Chamb. Encycl. VIII. 35/2 Yellow stars and yellow showers are made of nitre [etc.].

e. N.Z. (See quot. 1943.) 1943 J. A. W. Bennett in Amer. Speech XVIII. 86 A shower is.. a light decorated covering spread over cups and saucers set out on a tray or table. 1957 J. Frame Owls do Cry 1. vi. 24 Parcels from the handwork sale, tablerunners and tea-showers in lazy-daisy and chain and shadow stitch. 1967 F. Sargeson Hangover xiv. 108 All was out of sight beneath a large and snowy fabric .. —the kind of gossamer thing he could remember his mother had coveted many years ago in a shop window and described as a shower.

3. Jig. a. A copious or liberal supply bestowed. 13.. K. Horn 334 (Harl.) Shame pe mote by shoure ant euel hap to vnderfonge. c 1460 Play of Sacrament 664 in Non-Cycle Mystery Plays 78 Of thy gret mercy lett vs receyue pe showre. 1616 Breton Invect. agst. Treason (Grosart) 3/2 Our gratious King, on whome ye King of Grace, hath rayn’d a shewre of his aeternall graces. 1748 Gray Alliance 18 Light golden Showers of Plenty o’er the Land. 1751 Affect. Narr. of Wager 39 The Sailors,.. poured upon them a very plenteous Shower of hard Names and Execrations. 1803 Wordsw. To Highland Girl, Sweet Highland Girl, a very shower Of beauty is thy earthly dower! 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India vi. i. III. 21 The revenues, from which so many showers of emolument fell. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men 1. iv. 405 Hawkins’s election .. was the signal for a shower of interesting letters of hearty congratulation.

b. An abundance of gifts of a similar kind presented by guests at a party to celebrate esp. a wedding or birth; a party given for this purpose. Also attrib. Also as second element in kitchen shower s.v. kitchen sb. 7, linen shower s.v. linen sb. 5, wedding shower, etc. U.S. 1904 Grand Rapids (Michigan) Even. Press 22 June 4 The ‘shower parties’ that through mistaken hospitality the wedded couple are forced to attend. 1926 Publishers' Weekly 26 June 2031/1 First comes June, then the showers, the wedding and after the honeymoon the settling down to a home life. 1949 Los Angeles Times Home Mag. 8 May 14/3 Wedding showers.. are a particularly warmhearted American custom. 1958 Even. Standard 10 Apr. 8/2 A shower.. is really a gift-giving party centred round a luncheon, tea or supper party. 1978 J. Carroll Mortal Friends iv. ii. 394 She didn’t explain, but implied that she wanted to discuss her trousseau and her silver and china patterns and the sort of showers she would want.

4. a. A copious fall or flight of solid objects, esp. of missiles. Also of blows. a IOOO Judith 221 (Gr.) Hie 8a fromlice leton for8 fleojan flana scuras. a 1000 Elene 117. 1375 Barbour Bruce xm. 43 The arrowis als so thik thai flaw,.. That thai ane hydwiss. schour can ma. 1508 Dunbar Golden Targe 195 The schour of arowis rappit on as rayn. 1570-6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent 291 They., made it raine suche a shoure of clubbes and coulestaues vpon the Monks Copes, cowles, & Crownes, that [etc.]. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot’s Trav. 1. 283 We could hear showers of Bullets batter against the Ships sides. 1736 Gray Statius i. 18 Batter Cadmus’ walls with stony showers. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. vi. (1842) 184 The breaking of the bubbles will throw up a shower of particles. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 115 They were received with a shower of stones. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom’s C. xxxiii, A shower of blows. 1877 Mary M. Grant Sun-Maid viii, And the leaves were falling in a crimson and russet shower all over the ground.

b. Physics. A number of high-energy particles appearing together; spec, a group generated in the atmosphere by cosmic radiation. 1933 Proc. R. Soc. A. CXXXIX. 702 Particles of great energy are thrown backwards in a direction nearly opposite to that of the incident shower. 1947 Sci. News IV. 125 Sixtyfive Geiger-Muller counters have been used to follow the direction of some of the rays and establish the width of one shower. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. III. 498/1 The electrons and photons of such showers are referred to as the soft component of the atmospheric (secondary) cosmic rays, reaching a maximum intensity at an atmospheric depth of 150-200 g/cm2. 1977 J. Narlikar Struct. Universe iii. 99 These showers contain particles produced after the cosmic rays have interacted with the atoms of the atmosphere.

f 5. a. A conflict, combat, battle, assault, attack. Also, an attack of pain; a pang, throe. Obs. Very common in ME. C1220 Bestiary 281 We sulen hunger hauen and harde sures. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6820 J>er myghte men se on bof>e partys A scharp schour by-twyxten enemys. C1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3939 In bataile.. Hym leuere is to suffre dethes schour, Than cowardly and schamefully flee, c 1420 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 732 For he was lyke to endure that day A gret mortall shoure .. With Vyce. 01513 Fabyan Chron. vn. (1811) 399 The Englisshmen susteyned many harde showres in Gascoyne & Guyan. c 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. (S.T.S.) 117 3e, hardest .. To him has felt of deith the schouris. 1637 Rutherford

Lett. (1664) 257 It cost Christ and all his followers sharp showers and hot sweats, ere they won to the top of the mountain.

f b. spec, in pi. Labour-pains. Obs. 14.. Athelston 636 (Zupitza) Harde schourys ferine took her stronge Bo)?e in bak and eek in wombe. a 1598 Rollock Lect. Passion xx. Wks. 1844 II. 230 It shall come upon them suddenly, even as the showres and dolor come on a woman who is travailing in birth. /., an instance of this. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xii. 40 Under sceawung longes jebeddes [sub obtentu prolixae orationis]. a 1300 Cursor M. 26110 Scrift es opin scheuing o breist Laufulli mad be-for pe preist. c 1325 Metr. Horn. 29 Of this openlic schauing Hauis Godd schawed many taking. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 25 By the ostencyon or shewynge of grace. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 225 There were great embracynges and shewynges of frendship on both sydes. 1709 Hearne Collect. 13 Mar. (O.H.S.) II. 176 Mr. Lhuyd .. made what he could by Shewing. 1765 Treat. Dom. Pigeons 11 When

SHOWING you observe the hen to sweep her tail to the cock .. which is termed shewing. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. 1. vii, In one of those wheelings and showings of new front.

b. with adv., as showing off, up. 1874 Garrod in Proc. Zool. Soc. 471 On the ‘showing-off of the Australian Bustard. 1887 ‘F. Anstey’ in Graphic 31 Dec. 727/3 He was annoyed with them for what he considered was ‘showing off. 1923 ‘K. Mansfield’ Doves' Nest 143 She detected that morning just the very faintest boyish showing off. 1962 N. Streatfeild Apple Bough xviii. 255 Wolfgang put on his showing-off voice... ‘I’m starring in this new picture.’ 1973 J. Patrick Glasgow Gang Observed vi. 64 Tim summed up.. the boy’s loss of face: ‘Whit a showin’ up in front o’ aw the boays.’

t c. to make showing of: to exhibit, display, reveal; to tell of, describe, relate. Obs. a 1300 Cursor M. 22298 par sal he.. sceuing make of his maistris. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 7626 Of whom y made bifore scheweing. 1477 Cov. Leet Bk. 422 To make a clere shewing of the same before certen oure .. Counsellors.

d. Cinemat. and Television. The projection of a film on to a screen; the exhibition or broadcasting of a film. Also, an instance of this. 1947 Ann. Reg. 1946 376 British films.. have brought S8,000,000 back to this country in 1946 from their American showings. 1967 Listener 6 July 15/1 The first London showings of.. New Faces filled a cinema in Tooting with a stream of unaccustomed patrons. 1972 ‘E. Ferrars’ Breath of Suspicion iii. 45 They had arrived just as the earlier showing of the film was ending.

e. A public exhibition of the work of an artist or fashion designer; an art or fashion show. 1967 ‘T. Wells’ Dead by Light of Moon (1968) i. 8 Wouldn’t you know something like this would happen at my first important showing? All the big art critics here, and somebody has to jinx the lights! 1969 ‘H. Pentecost’ Girl Watcher's Funeral (1970) iii. i. 136 It’s about my showing on Friday... The fashion writers and the trade journals haven’t given me much of a play. 1982 Times 3 Aug. 6/1 A decade or so ago, the couture salons of Paris were filled with American store buyers. At the showings this week, there weren’t any store buyers.

f2. A sight, spectacle. Obs. 971 Blickl. Horn. 187 Neron.. bead J?£et eall past folc come to ^isse sceawunga. £*1450 Brut 426 The meyre and aldremen .. lete .. make many diuerse shewyngis and sightis.

3. Old English Law. A duty or toll payable for the right of displaying goods for sale; = L. ostensio. In spurious charters of Edward the Confessor and William I; see Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 213, 215, Thorpe Diplom. 359, 411. ? 1121 Charter Hen. I in New Palaeogr. Soc. I. (1903) pi. 2o( i) Cum saca et soca .. et miskenninge et sceawinge. 12 .. Annales de Burton in Ann. Monast. (RoNs) I. 247 Liberi sint ab omni scoto et geldo.. et stallagio, schewinge, mischenninge. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 95 Schewynge, settynge for)? of marchaundise.

4. Manner of putting a case: in phrases on this showing (= if the facts be as thus represented), on one's own showing, etc. [1408 tr. Vegetius De re milit. (MS. Digby 233) If. 183 b/2 After wyse mennys schewyng.] 1857 Mill Pol. Econ. iii. xii. §7 (ed. 4) II. 70 On this showing, the notes at least of private banks are not money. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. x. 502 The revolt could not be justified on any showing. 1869 Latham, s.v.. This is proved even by your own showing. 1883 Manch. Guard. 17 Oct. 5/2 The st p which the United Kingdom Alliance wants Parliament to take is on their own showing a momentous one.

5. A statement or presentation of figures, accounts, or the like. Chiefly U.S. 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 51 This is a very meager showing, but an export of ten times the amount would be worse. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines Mining 453 We have been unable to obtain any data that justifies a showing so favorable. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 31 July 9/1 On the whole it is not at all a bad ‘showing’, and shareholders need not fidget.

6. U.S. An appearance or display of a specified kind. Phrases to make a (good or bad) showing. 1890 in Leffingwell Upland Shooting 459 [The greyhounds] made a very sorry showing in the public contests. 1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 240 Like all officers, I was intensely interested in the showing made by the different forces.

7. Outward appearance, ffair showing, fair appearance or seeming; persuasiveness (of speech). 1340 Ayenb. 36 Huanne pet hi [corn and vines] byep of uaire ssewynge. a het he him his seax araecan to screadigenne tenne aeppel. c 1200 Ormin 8118 He badd himm brinngenn aenne cnif An appell forr to shraedenn. 1639 O. Wood Alph. Bk. Phys. Secrets 197 Then shred off the inner bark of a white Bullas tree.

b. transf. To cut away a part of, cut down, shave away. Obs.

368

SHREDDING

c 1205 Lay. 5866 Keruefi eowre spere longe, & makiet heom scorte..scradiefi eower sceldes al of be smal enden.

4. a. To cut into shreds or small thin strips or slices; esp. in Cookery, so that the shreds curl. c 1386 Chaucer Clerks's T. 227 Wortes or othere herbes.. The whiche she shredde and seeth. 1388 Wyclif 2 Kings iv. 39 He gaderide therof gourdis of the feeld .. and schredde in to the pot of potage. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. viii. 139 A pound and vneis sixe yshrad be do. 1584 Cogan Haven Health 1. (1636) 64 Take unset Leekes. .shread them small and distill them. 1648 Gage West Ind. vi. 19 Had they beene but that night with the Indians, doubtlesse they had beene shred for their Suppers. 1656 Marnette Perf. Cook 115 Grate or shred fat Bacon or lard with a grater or knife. a 1756 Eliza Haywood Nero Present (1771) 197 Shred very fine a pound of suet. 1836 Marryat Japhet x, We were employed by Fleta in shredding vegetables. 1884 F. Boyle Borderland 371, I shredded some Spanish moss, bound up his wounds,.. and set out for home. 1908 Motor Boat 5 Mar. 133/2 To shred up some best yellow soap and dissolve it in water.

b. To cut or tear (textile stuff) into shreds or narrow strips; to reduce to shreds; also, to tear (paper, etc.) into shreds; spec, to reduce (documents) to unreadable strips or fragments by means of a shredder (cf. shredding vbl. sb. 4). 1613 J. May Decl. Estate Clothing v. 24 The vse of short thrums is likewise so ordered, that they take and shred into short length, and then lay it in steepe. 1810 in Risdon Surv. Devon p. xxiii, The.. Serges are shredded or cut up into small pieces. 1890 Hosie Three Yrs. W. China 19 There is an entire absence of machinery for washing and shredding rags. 1906 Conan Doyle Sir Nigel v, With his own hands he had shredded those august documents. 1950 PaperMaker Aug. 151 (Advt.), The ‘Watford’ Shredder and Duster.. gives most excellent results in shredding and dusting waste papers. 1974 Bernstein & Woodward All President's Men xiii. 267 People became afraid that the newspapers might be discovered, so someone said, ‘Shred them.’ 1980 Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 1/4 One of his jobs was to check and shred hundreds of bundles of secret and confidential papers.

f5. To cut or hack in pieces; to cut down. Obs. c 1275 Sinners Beware 328 in O.E. Misc. 83 fie feondes heom forp ledeb Bobe lychom and saule And beteb heom and schredeb? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2688 Thoffe my schouldire be schrede. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 293 Schyre scheldus they schrede. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 2563 Than shall we oute vppon them Ryde And shredde them downe as shepe in folde. 01548 Hall Chron., Hen. V, 59 b, The capitaines of Roan .. cut doune trees, shrede the bushes, destroyed the vines. 1627 Drayton Agincourt 30 Another wafts his Blade about his head, And shewes them how their hamstrings he will shread. 1633 B. Jonson Tale of Tub IV. iii, This sword shall shred thee as small unto the grave, As minced meat for a pye. 6. a. To divide into small portions. 1660 T. Lye in J. Nichols Morn. Exerc. (1845) V. 285, I shall not stand to shred the words into any unneccessary parts. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 145 Indivisibles, such as can’t be shread. 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities 1. v, Hunger was shred into atomies in every farthing porringer of husky chips of potato.

b. intr. To be reduced to shreds; to become divided or scattered into small portions. 1646 J. Hall Poems 1. 21 May these Roses here To palenesse shred, And Lilies stand disguised in new Red. 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Yankee at Crt. K. Arthur xliii. At last it [smoke] began to shred away lazily. 1891 Conan Doyle White Company x, The forest began to shred out into scattered belts of trees.

7. a. trans. To cut in two, sever, as with scissors: chiefly with reference to severing the thread of life. Now rare. 1565 J Phillip Patient Grissell 1887 Possesse thou myne while death deuide, & shred my File in twain. 1575 Gascoigne Posies, Dan Barth. Wks. 1907 I. 118 O sheare that shreadst the seemerent sheete of shame. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. ii. 52 When ye shred with fatall knife His line. 1614 Gorges Lucan 1. 4 When.. Atrops knife Shall shred in twaine thy time of life.

b. To divide into two parts, cleave. 1765 Museum Rust. III. lxxxix. 371 [The shepherd] must shred or open the wool. 1881 Daily Tel. 28 Jan., To see the beautiful hull shredding the water.

iv. 199 A grape fruit, which, with a shredded wheat biscuit, constituted her first meal. 1944 [see puffed ppl. a. c], 1980 Times 6 Feb. 13/8 The arrival of a truck loaded with packets of Shredded Wheat.

fb. Stripped of one’s wealth, fleeced. Obs. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden 38 Like a swearing shredded gamester, that looseth at one set all that euer he is worth.

t'shredden, a. Obs. rare.

[f. shred sb. + -en4.]

Made of shreds; patchwork. 1581 J- Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 433 b, I do shuffle together a number of raggs of auncient writers scraped together, to make upp a poore shredden coverlett, to cover the nakednes of their Idolatry.

shredder ('[red3(r)).

[f. shred v. + -er1. Cf. OFris. skredere clipper of coin, MLG. schroder, schrader (LG. schroder) pruner, etc., also tailor (whence Da. skraedder, Sw. skrdddare), MHG. schrotaere (mod.G. schroter) now chiefly in sense ‘stag-beetle’.]

f 1. A lopper or pruner of trees. Obs. 1589 Fleming Virg. Eel. i. note i, The lopper or shredder of trees. 1631 Anchoran Comenius' Gate Tongues 69 A lopper or shredder seates and putteth young graflfs, sciences, shootes and twigges to a seed plot.

f2. One who utters ‘scraps’. Obs. 1592 Nashe Strange Newes K 1 b, The short shredder out of sandy sentences without lime.

3. An instrument for shredding; fa pruningknife; a machine for reducing a substance to shreds; spec., a machine for reducing documents to small unreadable fragments. 1572 in Midland Counties Hist. Coll. II. 363 Item two billes & a shredder iiijd. 1887 American XIV. 24 The use of a shredder for reducing the canes to a pulp. 1950 [see shred v. 4b]. 1962, 1973 [seepaper shredder s.v. papers. 12]. 1977 New Yorker 27 June 23/1 Papers were discussed behind sealed doors .. and tossed into shredders.

|4. A front tooth, an incisor. Obs. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 138 The Fore-teeth or Shredders. 1683 Snape Anat. Horse v. vi. (1686) 210 The Incisores, Cutters or Shredders.

shredding

('frediq), vbl. sb. Also 5 s(c)hredyng(e, 6-9 shridding, 7 shreading. [OE. screadung: see shred v. and -ing1.] 11. Pruning or lopping of trees. Obs. ciooo ^lfric Gloss, in Wr.-Wiilcker 149/11 Putatio, screadung. C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 264 Scredynge of trees. CI440 Promp. Parv. 448/2 Schredynge, of trees and o)?er lyke, sarmentacio, sarculacio. i486 Nottingham Rec. III. 255 Felling and shredyng of wode. 1567 in F. J. Baigent Crondal Records (1891) 172 In shreddinge of busshes, heathe or fearne. 1601 Holland Pliny xvii. xxiii. I. 538 In lopping and shredding of trees. 1664 Evelyn Sylva 114 It may take root, and hasten.. to a sudden Tree; especially, if seasonable shreading be appli’d.

2. concr. a. A fragment; a shred. Now rare. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiv. 20 Tuoelf ceawlas vel fo8er screadunga fullo, duodecim cophinos fragmentorum plenos. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxvii. (1611) 241 It [the Common Prayer] hath a number of short cuts or shreddings which may bee better called wishes then prayers. 1672 Eachard Let. to B. D. (1705) 15, I knew of no better instance to represent the vanity of such kind of idle shreddings. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 112 The cloak and hat., worn to shreddings. 1853 Ruskin Stones Venice III. iii. 136 An artistical pottage composed of nymphs, cupids, and satyrs, with shreddings of heads, and paws of., beasts, and nondescript vegetables. 1867 Morris Jason vn. 183 She., cast therein Shreddings of many herbs.

fb. pi. or collect, sing. Primings or loppings (of trees). Obs. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cii. (1495) 667 The Arabees makith fyre of shredynge of the mirtus tree, c 1440 Promp. Parv. 449/1 Schredynge, or schrub.., putamen. 1529 in J. H. Glover Kingsthorpiana (1883) 70 Almaner of laufull loppe and schreddyng of trees. 1553 Respublica 102 The windefalles, the shriddinges, the flycinges. 1649 in T. West Antiq. Furness (1774) 178 Any shredings, lops, crops, under woods, and other woods. 1762 in Jrnls. Ho. Comm. 13 Feb. 1792, 255/1 A competent Quantity of Browsing of the Shredding of the Trees.

f3. ? Trimming with shreds of gold lace. Obs.

shred ([red), ppl. a. [pa. pple. of prec.] 1. = next. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 147 The stinging of shred Horshair. 1764 Eliza Moxon Eng. Housew. (ed. 9) 173 Put to ’em a little shred lemon-peel. 1806 A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 85 As much., shred onion, as will lie upon a quarter guinea. 1897 Mary Kingsley W. Africa 470 Shred-up palm-leaves.

f2. Pruned. Obs. C1648-50 Brathwait Barnabees Jrnl. Sweet briers, shred vines, privet bushes.

iv. (1818)

155

shredded ('[redid), ppl. a. [pa. pple. of shred v.] a. Divided, cut, or torn into shreds. shredded wheat, the grain of wheat cut by machinery into long filaments freq. eaten as a breakfast cereal. Often written with capital initials as if a proprietary term. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. ix. viii. 178 Others gnawing the small shreded tops of greene grasse.. vsed them for foode. 1656 Marnette Perf. Cook 241 Adde your shredded herbs thereunto. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Amb. 305 The ordinary Forrage for Horses is .. Rice mixt with shredded Straw. 1713 C’tess Winchelsea Misc. Poems 249 Ye shredded clouds that fall in Snow. 1864 R. A. Arnold Cotton Famine 514 The bleached waste of flax, or of shredded cotton-goods. 1891 Mrs. Marshall Cookery Bk. s.v., Blanched and shredded pistachio nuts. 1899 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 171/3 Shredded wheat drink, 1 -lb. package. 1906 Mrs. Beeton’s Bk. Househ. Managem. lxvii. 1721 Menus for simple breakfasts.. Buttered shredded wheat. 1911 Galsworthy Patrician 11.

1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. iv, I do not know whether such flouncing and shredding is becoming even in the rich.

4. Reducing to shreds; spec, the reducing of documents to small strips or fragments by a machine esp. for reasons of security. 1954 Paper-Maker Dec. 94 (Advt.), Watford Shredder and Duster. A speedy and efficient method of shredding, dusting and cleaning. 1966 Punch 15 June 864/3 The special executive type shredder involved the user in actually removing pins from documents before shredding. 1973 Times 18 May 11/4 Mr Odle said he did not know what documents Mr Liddy was destroying in the paper shredder but in retrospect he conceded that the shredding had been very significant.

5. attnb., as shredding-hook, -knife, machine, -scythe. c 1000 .Elfric Gloss, in Wr.-Wiilcker 106/15 Surculus, wingeardes screadungisen. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. John xv. 97 An unprofitable braunche, when it is cut of with a shreadyng hooke. 1577 Grange Golden Aphrod., etc. S iij b, Come Atropos therefore in haste On me to vse thy shredding knyfe. 1586 in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) I. 209 Time attendes with shredding sithe for all. 1615 Markham Engl. Housew. II. 40 Take a good quantity of blaunch’t Almonds, and with your shredding knife cut them grosly. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Shriddin Bill or Hook, a tool used for cutting out grass, briars, etc., from a ditch. 1975 R. L. Simon Wild Turkey xii! 77, 1 was in my office.. when I heard someone at the shredding machine. 1980 P. Kinsley Vatchman Switch xvii. 115 He switched on the shredding machine.

SHREDDING

369

shredding ('Jrednj), ppl. a. [f. shred -ING2.] Breaking up into shreds.

v.

+

1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi li. 501 Spectral trees, dimly glimpsed through the shredding fog. 1904 Dowden Browning 304 These change like the shifting and shredding clouds before our eyes.

shreddings, variant of shreadings. shreddy ('Jredi), a. [f. shred sb. + -y1.] Consisting of or resembling shreds; hanging in shreds, ragged. 1835-6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 61/2 An ash-coloured, fetid, semifluid pulp, mixed with shreddy filaments. 1855 Chamb. jfrnl. III. 49 His vest.. sombre-hued and shreddy with long service. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 142 [The hepatic substance] is found projecting in shreddy masses into the pus.

shredless ('Jredlis), a. [-less.] Of which not a shred remains. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. in. xlvii, Those [Banners] which waved are shredless dust ere now.

shredlet ('Jredlit). [-let.] A small shred. 1840 Tait's Mag. VII. 183 We’ll ’bide by its tatter’d shredlets, While leaf or breath remains.

t'shredling. Obs. rare—Ir>7shread-. [-ling.] A minute portion. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 105 That puzling Question, Whether a bulky Being be made up of a throng of cleaveless shreadlings?

shred-pie. Hist. Also shrid-. [prob. f. shred ppl. a. (cf. minced-pie).] A mince-pie. 1580 Tusser Husb. xxxi. iii. Shred pies of the best,.. and turkey well drest. 1651 S. Sheppard Epigr. 121 Christmasse Day. No matter for Plomb-porridge, or Shrid-pies. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iv. 182 How King Henry the sixth .. sent this Arch-Bishop, for a New-years-gift, a shred-pie indeed, as containing pieces of cloath and stuflf, of several sorts and colours, in jeer. 1834 Southey Doctor viii, A shred pie, which is a coarse north country edition of the pie abhorred by puritans. 1884 Besant Dorothy Forster xiii, The tables were covered with Yule-cakes.. not to speak of goose-pies, shrid or mince pies.

shreechowl: see shritch-owl. shreed, shreek, obs. ff. shred sb., shriek. shreevalty, obs. f. shrievalty. shreeve, obs. f. sheriff, shrive v. shref, obs. pa. t. shrive

v.

shrefe, obs. f. sheriff. t shreitch. Obs. rare. [? Representing dialectally OE. scric, scree ‘turdus’: see shrike s6.2] The missel-thrush, shrite. Cf. the local names holm-screech, screech-thrush, shrikecock. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 83 Turdus Viscivorus.. the Misletoe-Thrush, or Shreitch.

shreitch: see shritch.

SHREW

shrene, obs. form of shrine sb. fshrepe, v. Obs. [app. repr. OE. screpan str. vb.: see screpe t;.] intr. To scratch. 01225 Ancr. R. 186 And nis pet child fulitowen pet schrepeS [v.rr. schindleS, scratte8] a3ean, & bit upon pe 3erde? shreud(e, obs. f. shrewd.

shrevalty,

shreve,

obs.

ff.

shrievalty,

SHERIFF.

shrew (Jru:), sb.1 Forms: a. 1 screuua, screauua, scraeua, 6 shreaw, 6-7 shrewe, 6- shrew. 6 shrowe, schro, 8 shrow. y. 6 shyrewe, 9 dial. shirrow, sheroo, shorrow. [OE. screawa, sersewa, not found elsewhere in Teut. Some scholars refer the word to the OTeut. *skreu- to cut (see shred sb.), comparing, for the sense, MHG. schermus ‘sorex’, ‘glio’, ‘talpa’ (mod.G. schermaus mole, also a kind of mouse), OE. scirfemtis ‘sorex’ (related to sceorfan to cut). See, however, shrew sb.'1 With the jS forms cf. straw STREW v. It is possible that in the y forms there may be some mixture of the (? synonymous) OE. scirfe(mus): cf. the dial. sorrow = serve v. The absence of evidence for the word between the OE. period and the 16th century is remarkable; its place may have been supplied locally in ME. by erdshrew (i.e. earthshrew), though this, with its apparent corruptions hardshrew, hardishrew, harvest-shrew, nossro, nursrow (with prefixed N 3), is not recorded before the 17th century ]

1. Any of the small insectivorous mammals, belonging to the genus Sorex or the family Soricidae, much resembling mice but having a long sharp snout; a shrew-mouse. The common European shrew is Sorex vulgaris. For elephant, house, jumping, marsh, mole, musk, otter, pygmy, rat-tailed, river, tree, water shrew, see the qualifying words; also hardishrew. The shrew was popularly held to be venomous and otherwise injurious; cf. shrew ash, -bitten, -run below. C725 Corpus Gloss. M 336 Musiranus, screauua. et J?u scalt gan to bote and niman scrift £>er of al swa pe proest pe techet. Ibid. 9 3if hwa is swa sunful.. pet nulle for his ouermoS . his scrift ihalden. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 19

SHRIFT WandeS to me,.. and nemeS and doS scrift. c 1200 Ormin 9262 To wurrl>enn fullhtnedd att hiss hannd, & forr to takenn shriffte. 0 1300 Cursor M. 9090 Sin i haf serued to haue pe scam, Gis me mi scrift. Ibid. 26194 On seke man agh na scrift be laid. Ibid. 28300, I brake my scrifte vmquile mai falle. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (prose) 21 Lauerd giue vs sua vre scrifte at do, pat we may hys rengne cum to. a 1425 Cursor M. 23297 (Trin.) For pei wolde no shrifte take And at her ende amendes make.

2. The imposition of penance implying absolution, shrift came to be apprehended in certain contexts as = absolution. 0900 Poenitentiale Ecgberti 1. iii. in Thorpe Anc. Laws (1840) II. 172 5if he gewitnysse h£efS..J?aet he scriftes syrnde & husles. c 1030-60 Laws Northumb. Priests viii, 5if preost fulluhtes oSSe scriftes forwyrne. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8661 He.. deide wij>oute speche Wipoute ssrift & hosel. C1300 Havelok 1829 [Havelok] smot him sone ageyn the brest, That hauede he neuere schrifte of prest. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (prose) 6 Serif sal he do on J?aim, pare sinnis for to les. 1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. iv. ii. 223, I will giue him a present shrift, and aduise him for a better place. 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. 11. 1684, I leave it to the shrift Of their owne consciences. 1635 Quarles Embl. in. x. 161, I need no other shrift Than mine owne conscience. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth iii, Father Francis the Dominican, from whom she had her shrift to-day. 1867 Month VI. 21 When the words of shrift had been uttered.

13. A confessor. Obs. c 897 /Elfred Gregory's Past. C. xvi. 105 He Sonne ondette aelce costunge pe him on becume Seem mode his scriftes beforan Saem temple, a900 Cynewulf Crist 1307 Ne maeg purh past flaesc se scrift geseon on paere sawle. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 19 Jm scalt hit ibeten al swa pin scrifte pe tachet. a 1225 Ancr. R. 418 Ne mid breres ne ne biblodge hire sulf wiSuten schriftes leaue. 1638 New Litany in Bk. Sc. Pasquils (1868) 57 From bussie Bishops without orders, As master shrifts in ther borders [etc.], [i860 Hook Lives Abps. I. vii. 407 If a man will.. confess his sins to the shrift.]

4. to go, come to shrift, to resort to confession, seek the ministry of a priest in the sacrament of penance. Also f to seek to shrift. 1008 Laws JEthelred v. xxii, 5yme his Cristendomes jeome & jewunige gelomlice to scrifte. 01023 Wulfstan Horn, xxxix. (1883) 181 Ga man to scrifte. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 25 Ic wulle gan to scrifte for scome alswa do6 oSer men. C1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 32 Comep to srifte, forleted yure sennen, and per of biep a-soiled. c 1315 Shoreham 1. 948 Wanne he ne may to schryfte come, c 1400 Rule St. Benet (verse) 988 To be swift Eftir our sin to seke to schrift. 1583 Fulke Def. Tr. Script, vi. 192 To make the ignorant beleeue that the people went to auricular shrift. 1590 Tarlton's Newes Purgatory 13 The next time Lisetta came to shrift, after she had made her confession, and had receiued absolution. 1592 Shaks. Rom. & Jul. 11. iv. 192 Bid her deuise some meanes to come to shrift this afternoone. 1630 Dekker 2nd Pt. Honest Wh. 1. i. K4, Let the Gentlewoman alone, she’s going to shrift, a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 259 In the Church of Rome to go to Shrift Is but to put the Soul on a clean Shift. 1880 T. E. Webb Goethe's Faust iii. vii, [He] goes To shrift with nothing to disclose.

5. Confession to a priest; auricular confession; also, the sacrament of penance. More explicitly, f shrift of mouth. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 11 Muchel is us penne neod.. sod scrift. C1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 73 Drede lette6 pe mannes shrifte. a 1300 Cursor M. 25749 He .. mak to preist his costes cuth, Wit reuth of hert and scrifte o mouth. Ibid. 27444 It es als vnder sel o scrift him sceud al to consail. 1340 Ayenb. 14 Cristninge, conferminge, pe sacrement of pe wyefde, ordre, spoushod, pe holy ssrifte, and the laste anoylinge. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1114 Me thynketh ye haue suche a chaunce As shryfte wythoute repentaunce. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 279 Apon scheryft wyth mowthe and satysfaccyon yn dede. 1528 Tindale Obed. Chr. Man 96 b, Shrifte in the eare is verely a worke of sathan. 1567 Allen Def. Priesthood 215 Priuate shrifte, which they call nowe auricular confession. 1603 Drayton Heroic. Ep. iii. 92 As I should joy t’absolve thee after Shrift. 1652 Gataker Antinom. 40 Some Popish Priest, pressing men to shrift. 1662 Petty Taxes 6 When every particular sheep was., drest and shorn three or four times per annum by Shrift. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 54 Shrift was no part of her system. Yet she gently invited the dying penitent to confess his sins to a divine,

b. Phrases. f (a) under or in shrift: in a state of penitence. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 7 3ef we beod under sod scrifte. c 1200 10473, & taer tuss clennsepp] patt fir 3iff patt we rihht Her endenn unnderr shriffte. c 1205 Lay. 18435 ^E1c mon forS rihte dude hine vnder scrifte. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 422 An hundred 3er after is dead Adam fro eue in srifte abead. C1400 Rule St. Benet (prose) 4 \>at here liuis in clene scrift .. pai sail haue part wid him. Ormin

f (b) at, in shrift, at, in confession. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 27 Hwet wule mon et scrifte bute he wulle forleten his misdede? a 1225 Ancr. R. 46 ScheaweS ofte ine scrifte ower 3emeleaste her abuten. c 1330 Spec. Gy de Warewyke 796 \>at pu hit nilt in shrifte seie. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 58 When we in shrift reherce oure synnes. 1579 Lyly Euphues 28 Dost thou not laugh Liuia, to see my ghostly father keepe me heere so long at shrifte? C1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta iii. ad fin., ’Twas told me in shrift, Thou know’st ’tis death and if it be reueal’d. a 1625 Fletcher Love's Pilgr. 1. ii, I have called my conscience to confession, And every sillable that might offend I have had in shrift. 1793 Minstrel II. 144 Crimes so enormous that they dared not confess them in shrift.

t(c) transf. 1596 Warner Alb. Eng. xn. lxix. (1602) 291 Let this be spoken in Shrift, so was it spoke to me.

t(^) shrift’s even: Shrove Tuesday. 15 .. Colkelbie Sow 943 in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 1048 At schriftis evin sum wes so battalouss That [etc.]. 6. An instance of this; a confession on a

particular occasion. Phr. to make one's shrift, to hear a shrift.

SHRIKE

374 c 1275 Passion our Lord 549 in O.E. Misc. 52 pat we mote at vre scrift pane veond schende. a 1300 Cursor M. 27490 Ar he [a priest] ga to scriftes here pat he may pus first his praier. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (De Sancto Andrea) 896 Til hym pi schrift pu ma! c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 745 With a sown as softe as ony shryfte. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. 11. Wks. 1183/2 When it came to the penance geuing, the Foxe found y1 the most weighty synne in all hys shryft was glotony. 1622 Wotton in Reliq. (1672) 314 He took occasion at the next shrift, to confer certain doubts with his Confessor. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth ii, For the purpose of making their several shrifts in the confessionals. 1839 j.p. Kennedy Rob of Bowl xxxiii, In this temper he had made his shrift, and abjured the lawless life .. into which his passions had plunged him. 1865 Kingsley Herew. iii, He said .. that.. your shrift should be as short and as clean as David’s. fb. A thing confessed. Obs. rare. 1596 Warner Alb. Eng. xn. lxix. (1602) 292 Blab’d be our Shrifts to women, of simplicitie, or spight. fc. A place of confession, confessional, rare. 1604 Shaks. Oth. in. iii. 24 My Lord shall neuer rest... His Bed shall seeme a Schoole, his Boord a Shrift. 7. In a wider sense: Confession (of sin or wrong);

admission

(of

guilt);

revelation

(of

something private or secret). a 1340 Hampole Psalter vii. 18 pus shrift is noght of synne, bot of rightwisnes of god. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 173 Upon the schrifte of thi matiere. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 251, I schaw 30W, Sisteris in schrift, I wes a schrew euir. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. 1. i, lie studie .. To call my sonne vnto a happier shrift. 1633 Ford 'Tis Pity iii. F 3, His Vnkle .. Will hinder all, and call his Couze to shrift. 1668 R. L’Estrange Vis. Quev. (1708) 133 If this Gallant were taken to shrift. 1678-Seneca's Mor. 1. To Rdr., etc. 39 Then do I Recollect all that I have said, or done that day, and take my self to shrift. Ibid. 11. vi. 80 Our Vices will abate of themselves, if they be brought every day to the Shrift. 1865 S. Evans Br. Fabian's MS. 88 A dread Grew up between them such as those may tell Who have made shrift of love. f8. Rendering confessio of the Vulgate: Acknowledgement of the power and glory of God. Obs. 01300 E.E. Psalter xli. 5 In steuen of gladschip and ofe schrifte. C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 71 J>is song of pes children, where we maken an opin schrift pat God is passingli blessid. 1382-3 Esdras ix. 8 And now 3iueth shrifte, and gret doing to the Lord God of oure fadris. 01400 Prymer (1891) 23 Entrith his 3atis in schrift. 9. short shrift, orig. a brief space of time allowed for a criminal to make his confession before execution; hence, a brief respite; to give short shrift to, to make short work of. [1594 Shaks. Rich. Ill, iii. iv. 97 Make a short Shrift, he longs to see your Head.] 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. xxxii, Short were his shrift in that debate... If Lorn encounter’d Bruce! 1823-Quentin D. viii, They are like to meet short shrift and a tight cord. 1879 W. H. Dixon Windsor II. xxxi. 315 Short trial, shorter shrift, had been given to the chief criminals. 1887 Times 15 Feb. 4/3 Every argument.. tells with still greater force against the present measure, and it is to be hoped that the House of Commons will give it short shrift to-night. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 82 If he were brought to his trial he would have a short shrift and no favour. 10. attrib.: f shrift child, one who goes to confession to a certain priest, a penitent; shriftdistrict Hist. = shrift-shire; f Shrift Monday = Shrove Monday; shrift-shire Hist, [represent¬ ing

OE.

seriftscir],

the

district

in

which

a

priest exercised his functions; f shrift-silver, a fee paid on receiving priestly absolution; shrift¬ time pseudo-arch.,

Lent; f Shrift Tuesday

=

Shrove Tuesday. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades 580 By those confessions the confessours coulde cunningly .. robbe theyr *shrift-children . .of theyr substaunce. 1625 tr. Gonsalvius' Sp. Inquis. 125 That anie other ghostly Father had dealt in anie such like sort with anie of his shrift children. 1872 E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 196 The secular priest.. was not expelled from his ‘•shrift-district’. 1587 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 133, I came on *Shrift Munday last to Mr. Pawlet of Heryote. 1838 Soames Anglo-Saxon Ch. (ed. 2) 262 note, Right is it that no priest do any of those things that belong to another, either to his minster, or in his ‘shrift-shire. 1844 Lingard Anglo-Saxon Ch. (1858) I. iv. 144 note 2, These districts allotted to priests were called priestshires, shriftshires, and kirkshires. 1402 Reply of Friar Daw Topias in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 46 Thi paroche preest, Jacke,.. that nyl not., assoilen hem of her synne withouten ‘schrift silver. 1853 Rock Ch. of Fathers III. 11. xii. 223 All through ‘shrift-time or Lent. 1542 Will of J. Dowdynge of Cannington (MS.), On ‘Shryfte Twesdaye. shrift, v. rare. [f. prec.] trans. To shrive. 1611 Coryat Crudities 33, I saw a gray Frier shrift a faire Gentlewoman, which I .. mention because it was the first shrifting that euer I saw. 01683 Oldham Wks. (1686) 129 Thus I have made my shrifted Muse confess. 1699 R. L’Estrange Fables 11. vii, A New-marry’d Couple had a Toy took them in their Heads,.. to Shrift one another before they came together. 1849 Rock Ch. of Fathers II. vii. 461 The soul might wing its flight for its doom before God, shrifted, assoiled, aneled, and houseled. 'shrift-,father. schrefvader,

5

Obs.

exc.

schryffader.

arch. [f.

Also

shrift

sb.

4 +

father sb. (sense 6 a). Cf. ON. skriptafader.] A confessor. 0 1225 Ancr. R. 316 Inouh hit is to siggen so pet pe schrift feder witterliche understonde hwat tu wulle menen. 1340 Ayenb. 38 Hi ssollen do be pe rede of holy cherche oper be hire ssrifte-uaderes. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 457 Kyng Edredus.. sente to his schriftfader [MS. y schrefvader] Donstan. c 1430 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 229 To do such penaunce..As pi schrift-fadir pee councellis. 01450 Myrc 233 How and where he doth pat

synne, To hys schryffader he mote pat mynne. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (1888) 3 Quhou thay sal rekkine al thair sinnis to thair schrift fader. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xi. ix, In close and priuate cell, Where (but shrift fathers) neuer mankinde treades. 1853 Rock Ch. of Fathers III. 11. xi. 19 The penitential, a book which only shrift-fathers... might read. 1882 F. J. Child Ballads 1. 26/1 Louise then tries her shriftfather.

t 'shriftness. Obs. rare~°. -ness.] Confession.

[f. shrift sb.

+

c 1460 Promp. Parv. 401/1 (Winch. MS.) Schryftnesse, confessio.

shrig (frig), v. dial. [Cf. shrag.] trans. To lop off (branches), strip off (leaves); to strip (a tree, root, etc.) of its branches or foliage; fig. to strip (a person) of his possessions. 1601 Holland Pliny xvn. xii. I. 514 If the braunches thereof, or of any tree within-forth be shrigged. Ibid. xix. vi. II. 21 Having their uppermost leaves lightly shrigged off. Ibid, xxvi 1. vi. 275 The same root.. staieth a laske, in case it be first shrigged from the hairie strings thereof. 1609 —— Amm. Marcell. xix. x. 137 If all men were shrigged of their goods. 1873 W. P. Williams & W. A. Jones Gloss. Prov. Som., Shrig, to shroud or trim a tree.

t shright, $6. Obs. [Corresponding to scright = OFris. skrichte, MLG. schricht(e\ but perhaps (in the 16th c.) suggested by some passage like the following, where forshright = wearied with shrieking: — C1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 1147 (Harl. MS.), With brokyn vois al hois [v.r. hors] for shright [v.r. forshright] Criseyde To Troilus thise ilke wordes seyde.]

Shrieking; a shriek. 1556 Phaer JEneid iv. Kj, And mountaynes hie they fill with shright. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 57 With their itteous cryes, and yelling shrights. 1596 Ibid. vi. iv. 2 trawne with that Ladies loud and piteous shright.

S

f shright, v. Obs. [Either f. prec., or the pa. t. of shritch taken as inf.] To shriek. 01542 Wyatt in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 38 And ye so ready sighes, to make me shright, Then are ye slacke, when that ye should outstart.

shrike, sb.1 Obs. or dial. [f. shrike v. Cf. skrike s6.] = shriek sb. (In first quot., a shrill note.) c 1400 Destr. Troy 346 Small briddes .. With shrikes full shrille in the shire bowes. c 1450 Merlin i. 15 Whi made the childe this shrike? wilt thow slen it? 0 1547 Surrey JEneid 11. (1557) Cjb, The palace within confounded was .. with ruful shrikes and cryes. 1592 Shaks. Rom. Jul. iv. iii. 47 Loathsome smels, And shrikes like Mandrakes tome out of the earth. 1613 Heywood Silver Age 11. i, Acrisius heares their clamours and their shrikes [rhyme strikes]. 1651 Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year 11. ix. 109 The air became full of shrikes of the desolate mothers of Bethlehem for their dying Babes.

shrike (Jraik), sb.2 Also 6-7 shreek(e. [app. representing OE. serte, scree (glossing L. ‘turdus’), which was perhaps used generally for birds having shrill cries; shrike and shrike-cock are dial, names for the missel-thrush. Cf. SHREITCH, SHRITE. ON. solskrikja, which has ‘snowbunting’, not ‘shrike’.]

been

compared,

means

Any of the birds of the numerous species of the family Laniidse, characterized by a strong hooked and toothed beak; the majority of them are insectivorous, but several species, as the (Great or European) Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor, prey upon mice and small birds; = butcher-bird. b. Applied to similar birds of other families (e.g. Prionopidse), e.g. cuckoo, drongo, swallow shrike. Red-back(ed Shrike, Lanius collurio. 1544 Turner Avium Prsecip. F8, De Mollicipite.. Anglice a shrike, a nyn murder. 1598 Florio, Gazza sparuiera, a kind of lanaret hauke called a shreeke, or nine murther. 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 87 Of the Europaean Rapacious birds it is the least... In English it is called a Shrike. 1776 Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 604 The Flusher, or red back Shrike, and the great Shrike, breeds with us. 1851 F. O. Morris Brit. Birds I. 229 Great Shrike. [Syn.] Grey Shrike. Great Grey Shrike. Ash-coloured Shrike. Greater Butcher bird. Murdering Pie. Shrike. Shreek. 1855 Tennyson Maud 1. iv. iv, The Mayfly is tom by the swallow, the sparrow spear’d by the shrike, i860 G. Bennett Gatherings Natur. Austral. 283 The Australian Shrike or Butcher-bird, also called Rain-bird by the colonists (Vanga destructor). 1883 Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 29 The Helmeted Wood Shrikes (Prionops).

shrike, v. Obs. exc. dial. Also 4-5 schrike, schryke, 4-6 shryke. [Parallel to scrike v. (see SCR-); perhaps representing an OE. *scrican (cf. shrike sb.2) = Norw. skrika, Da. skrige.] = shriek v. fOf birds: To pipe. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 181 Elch wimman.. ^an hie be6 mid childe bistonden .. shrike) and reuliche biginneS. c 1300 Pol. Songs (Camden) 158 Heo biginneth to shryke, ant scremeth anon, c 1400 Destr. Troy 12973 Shene briddes in shawes shriked full lowde. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) II. 485 The ladies.. shryked and cryed dolorously. 1530 Palsgr. 705/2 She shriked so loude that a man myght her her tenne houses of. 1576 Turberv. Venerie 238 [At rutting time] a Badgerd shriketh. 1593 Shaks. Rich II, iii. iii. 183 Night-Owls shrike. 1629 Gaule Holy Madn. 283 To shrinke and shrike, at euery push and pricke. 1676 Hobbes Iliad xxi. 15 Grievous ’twas to hear them groan and shrike. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss. 1895 Lakeland Gloss.

SHRIKELET

375

Hence f 'shriking vbl. sb. and ppl. a. c *374 Chaucer Troylus v. 382 As Rauenes qualm or shrykyng [v.r. schrychynge] of pese owlys. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 449/1 Schrykynge. 1530 Palsgr. 267/2 Schrikyng or rortng out, escry. 1579 E. K. Gloss, to Spenser's Sheph. Cal. May 54 Piteous outcryes, and dreadfull shriking. 1583 Babington Commandm. 14 Christ.. dooth crie vppon vs with shriking sounde. 1648 Gage West Ind. 89 Judging every cry, every howling & shriking as an alarm to my death. 1650 Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples 1. 70 Shrikings, and howlings, with horrid curses.

shrikelet (’Jraikht). [f.

shrike sb,2 + -let.]

A

bird of the genus Vireolartius. 1866 P. L. Sclater & Salvin Exotic Ornith. Vireolanius melitophrys (Honey-browed Shrikelet).

shrill (Jril), sb. [f.

shrill v.

13

Cf. shirl s6.] A

shrill sound, cry, whistle, etc. 1591 Spenser Ruins of Time 581, I heard a voyce, which loudly to me called, That with the sudden shrill I was appalled. 1833 Brewster Nat. Magic viii. 179 The wiry shrill of the Jew’s harp. 1893 Month Sept. 19 The ceaseless shrill of the Cicala. 1904 Macnaughtan Gift 1. vi, The Gillie-Callum ended with a final shrill of the pipes.

b. Comb.: shrill-vein = shrilling-organ. 1880 Swinton Insect Variety 163 In Odontura Fischeri.. the shrill-vein [is] simply bowed instead of S-shaped.

shrill (Jril), a. and adv.

Also 4 shrille, 4-5 schrylle, 5 shrille, shrylle, scrylle, 6 shryll, superl. shrilst, 6-7 shril, 7 schril. (See also shirl a.) [ME. shrille, related to LG. schrell of sharp tone or taste, G. schrill (late 18th cent.). Cf. shrill v.~\ A. adj. 1. Of voice, sound: Of a sharp high-pitched piercing tone. c 1386 Chaucer Nun Pr. T. 575 (Hengwrt MS.), Ne made he neuere showtes half so shrille [ MSS. Ellesm. & Lansd. s(c)hill(e] When pat they wolden any flemyng kille. rX400 [see shrike r6.1]. 1545 Ascham Toxoph. (1904) 15 All voyces, great and small, base & shril, weke or softe. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. Ind. ii. 48 Thy hounds shall.. fetch shrill ecchoes from the hollow earth. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Isagoge, That [sc. the noise] of the bee is humming, but it’s shrill in the grassehopper. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 7 The shrill Matin Song Of Birds. 1742 Collins Eel. iv. 72 Loud along the vale was heard A shriller shriek, i860 Tyndall Glac. 11. i. 229 The shrill chirruping of innumerable insects. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay i, A sweet, slightly shrill soprano. 2. a. Emitting or producing a sound of this

kind: of persons or animals, their throats, etc. 1508 Stanbridge Vulgaria (W. de W.) Bvb, My brest is shryll. Vox mea est sonora. 1601 Shaks. Jul. C. 1. ii. 16, I heare a Tongue shriller then all the Musicke Cry, Caesar. 1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo ill. i, Weele be as shrill as you: strike a larum, drum. 1738 Wesley Ps. cxlvii. x, Let the shrill Birds his Honours raise. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 569 The first larum of the cock’s shrill throat. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. I. vii, Shrill women cry shame on us. 1866 Mysteries of Isis 207 Churl and noble, fair lady and shrill fish-wife. 1901 Macm. Mag. Apr. 447/1 One of his colleagues became shrill on the subject.

b. of an instrument or other inanimate object. 1567 R. Edwards Damon Pithias (1571) B ij b, Whose vertue, the shrill trump of fame so farre hath blowne. 1603 E. Fairfax Eel. iv, Ambling along the meads and rivers shrill. 1604 Shaks. Oth. in. iii. 351 Farewell the neighing Steed, and the shrill Trumpe. 1704 Pope Windsor Forest 96 Wind the shrill horn. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxx, The blast of a shrill bugle. 1835 Marryat Jacob Faithful xxxviii, The shrill whistles of the boatswain and his mates piping all hands to unmoor.

3. Characterized or accompanied by sharp high-pitched sounds. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 1013 Shrill ecstasies of joy. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. 1. xiii. iv, Let winds be shrill, let waves roll high. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. 111. vi, A shrill scene, but a brief one. 1844 Kinglake Eothen i, In a shrill and busy hotel. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. 1. vi, The night was black and shrill. 1893 Pater Plato 209 A single day of somewhat shrill gaiety, between two days of significant mourning.

4. In various transf. applications: Keen; sharp; pungent; poignant. glaring.

Also of colours: bright,

1608 Topsell Serpents 57 A shrill and quicke sence of hearing. 1650 Vaughan Silex Scint. Admission, How shrill are silent tears! 1864 Tennyson Voyage 12 The Lady’shead upon the prow Caught the shrill salt. 1904 M. Hewlett Queen’s Quair 1. viii, The Court went thither [i.e. to St. Andrews] with various great affairs in train, whose conduct throve in that shrill air. 1973 D. Lessing Coll. Afr. Stories II. 117 She wore a tight shrill green dress.

5.

Comb., as shrill-accented, -mouthed, -sounding, -toned, -tongued, -voiced (also transf. and fig.) adjs.; t shrill-bated, with a shrill sound as of voices in strife; f shrill¬ breasted, f -gorged, shrill-voiced, shrillthroated. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas 162 Inopportune, ’shrillaccented, The acrid Asiatic mirth. 1582 StanyhurstJEneis 1. 13 Gates with the metal dooe creake in ’shrilbated harshing. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. H 2 b. As many sortes of ’shrill breasted birdes as the Summer hath allowed for singing men in hir siluane chappels. 1855 Tennyson Maud 1. 1. iv, The ’shrill-edged shriek of a mother. 1605 Shaks. Lear iv. vi. 58 The ’shrill-gorg’d Larke. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 953 It maketh a *shril-like noise as the other kindes of Gnats do. 1621 Quarles Argalus & P. (1678) 84 The ’shrill-mouth’d Musick. 1838 Poe Narr. Arthur Gordon Pym xxiii. 188 A ’shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed within my ears. 1813 Walker Poems 90 (Jod.) Thro’ night’s dim arch the ’shrillton’d Ezzan rings. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair liv, The shrilltoned bell of the.. clock. 1592 Shaks. Ven. & Ad. 849 Like

SHRIMP

•shrill-tongu’d Tapsters answering euerie call. 1743 Blair Grave 532 The shrill-tongu’d Shrew. 1879 Morley Burke viii. 176 The eager, bustling, shrill-tongued crowd of the Voltairean age. a 1649 Drumm. of Hawth. Poems Wks. (■7it) 37 The gawdy hunts-man winds his ’shrill-tun’d horn. 1593 Shaks. Rich. II, v. iii. 75 What ’shrill-voic’d Suppliant, makes this eager cry? 1628 R. H. Owen's Epigrams iv. No. 156.33 The World’s so full of shrill-voyc’d iangling. 1728-46 Thomson Spring 590 The lark, Shrill-voiced and loud. 1895 Mrs. Wilson 5 Yrs. India 271 ‘My husband’ is the shrill-voiced reply. 1920 A. Huxley Leda 15 The sky Was full of strange tumult suddenly— Beating of mighty wings and shrill-voiced fear, i960 R. Campbell tr. Papo d'Arcos’s Nostalgia 44 The voiceless city of the shrill-voiced lights.

B. adv. 1. a. With a shrill voice or tone; shrilly. Now rare. 13.. Coer de L. 3999 For scorne he gan to lawghe schrylle. 01450 Le Morte Arth. 1376 ’Mercy!’ she cryed loude and shrylle. 01515 Cocke Lorell's B. 14 The bote swayne blewe his whystell full shryll. 1592 Kyd Murther I. Brewen Wks. (1901) 287 The blood of the iust Abel cried most shrill in the eares of the righteous God. 1632 Milton UAllegro 56 Through the high wood echoing shrill. 1742 Collins Eel. II. 10 Shrill roar’d the winds. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxx, Men laughed loud, and maidens giggled shrill. 1829-Anne of G. xii, I promise you the wind blew shrill.

b. Qualifying a ppl. adj. used attrib. (often hyphened). 1562 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 152 A shryll whystlyng wenche. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, ill. iii. 35 Your shrill-shriking Daughters. 1602-Ham. 1. i. 151 The Cocke, .with his lofty and shrill-sounding [Qo. 1603 shrill crowing] Throate. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. i. lxii, Shall Larks with shrillchirpt Mattens rouze from Bed.. Sols orient Head? 1867 Morris Jason 11. 298 While the harp-string and shrill¬ piping reed Still sounded. 1878 Masque of Poets 105 The shrill-blown trumpets.

f2. Clearly, brightly. Obs. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 80 Wyth schymerynge schene ful schrylle pay schynde.

shrill (Jril), v.

Also 4 schrille, 4-6 shrille, 5 shrelle, [skrille], 6-7 shril. [f. shrill a. Cf. G. schrillen.] 1. intr. Of a voice, cry: To sound shrilly. Hence of noises, the wind, or the like, or a place echoing with sound. 13.. K. Alis. 777 Bulsifal neied so loude, That hit schrillith into the cloude! 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis 11. 35 The inner lodgins dyd shrille with clamorus howting. 1591 Spenser Virg. Gnat 518 Their mightie strokes so shrild, As the great clap of thunder. 1647 H. More Song of Soul 11. App. iii, Its tearing noise so terribly did shrill, That it the heavens did shake. 1782 Mickle Proph. Q. Emma iv, When the female scream ascended, Shrilling o’er the crowded lawn. 1811 Scott Don Roderick 11. xix, First shrill’d an unrepeated female shriek! 1842 Tennyson Morte d'Arth. 201 A wind, that shrills All night in a waste land. 1884 L. Wallace Ben-Hur iv. iv. 166 His voice shrilled with passion.

2. To speak, cry, or sing with a shrill voice; to make a shrill noise. a. Of persons or animals. [c 1400 Anturs of Arth. xlviii, J>ene his lemmane one loft skrilles and skrikes.] -1440 Floriz & Bl. (MS. T) 756 pe mayde, al for drede, Bygan to shrelle [earlier MSS. crie, schrichen] and to grede. 1595 Spenser Epithal. 82 The Ouzell shrills, the Ruddock warbles soft. 1598 Florio, Querulare.. to shril, to.. chirp. 1639 H. Ainsworth Annot. Ps. v. 12 To showt, shrill, or cry aloud for sorrow. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. 11. vi. (1872) 81 The Tribune drones, .. the whole Hall shrilling up round it into pretty frequent wrath and provocation. 1896 A. Austin England's Darling 1. ii, The misselthrush That shrilled so gleefully.

b. Of an instrument of music, whistle, etc. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov. 71 Breake we our pypes, that shrild as lowde as Larke. 1590-F.Q. 11. iii. 20 A home, that shrilled cleare Throughout the wood. 1710 Philips Pastorals iv. 56 Thro’ all the Wood his Pipe is heard to shrill. 1842 Tennyson Sir Galahad 5 The shattering trumpet shrilleth high. 1879 E. Gosse New Poems 100 The first sharp snow is shrilling through the trees. 1903 Kipling 5 Nations 114 The whistle shrills to the picket.

3. trans. To utter, give forth (a sound, cry, words) in shrill tones; to exclaim or proclaim with a shrill voice. Also with out. 1595 Spenser Epithal. 129 Harke, how the Minstrels gin to shrill aloud Their merry Musick. 1606 Shaks. Tr. & Cr. v. iii. 84 Harke .. How poore Andromache shrils her dolour forth. 1613 Heywood Silver Age iii. i, Through all th’ Abysse, I haue shril’d thy daughters losse. 1613-Brazen Age 11. ii, What better can describe his shape and terror Then all the pittious clamours shrild through Greece? 1801 Lusignan I. 173 The terror of the feathered tribe, shrilled in the omens of an approaching tempest. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. xxi. (1882) 205 Gnats, beetles, wasps, . . may shrill their tiny pipes . . unchastised and unnoticed. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. ii, ‘Messieurs’, shrills de Breze. 1904 M. Hewlett Queen s Quair 1. vii, Lethington likened her to Diana on Taygetus shrilling havoc. 1947 A. Ransome Great Northern? i. 16 Roger’s voice shrilled out, ‘Sail HO!’ 1975 New Yorker 16 June 97/3 It was a lapse on Miss Sills’ part to shrill out a high E flat at the end of the first finale, but otherwise she was tender, touching, and sensitive.

4. To render shrill. rare~x. 1772 Foote Nabob Prol. Wks. 1799 II. contracts my muscles, shrills my tone.

285

If age

5. To summon with a shrill sound. rare~x. 1859 Masson Brit. Novelists iii. 204 The pibroch shrills them to the work they do.

shrilled (Jrild),

ppl. a. rare. [f. shrill v. and a. -I- -ed.] a. Sounded shrilly, b. Made shrill.

?I598 Marlowe Ovid's Elegies 11. vi. 6 For long shrild trumpets let your notes resound. 1880 L. Wallace BenHur 446 Look at my wrinkled face.. listen to my shrilled voice.

'shrilling, vbl. sb. [f.

The crying,

shrill v. -f- -ing1.]

utterance of shrill sounds, whistling, chirping, etc.

shrill

1639 H. Ainsworth Annot. Ps. xlvii. 2 Shout trimphantly to God with voice of shrilling. 1777 Mountain Poet. Reveries (ed. 2) 27 Th’ excursive shrillings of some Eunuch’s throat. 1778 G. White Selborne xlvi. (1789) 252 The shrilling of the field-cricket. 1887 D. C. Murray & Herman Trav. Returns xvii. 254 The maidens.. fled.. with clamorous shrillings. 1892 Tennyson Death of CEnone 21 A wailing cry .. Thin as the batlike shrillings of the Dead. 1901 W. Clark Russell Ship's Adv. v, The shrilling of the fife.

b. Comb, shrilling-organ, the soundproducing organ of a male cicada (Webster Suppl. 1902).

'shrilling, ppl. a.

[f.

shrill

v.

+

-ing2.]

Uttering or producing shrill sounds; sounding shrill, stridulous. 1566 Adlington Apuleius xxii. 46 Shrilling Zephyrus. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 1. v. 6 A shrilling trompett. Ibid. iii. viii. 29 With shrilling shriekes. 1633 P Fletcher Pise. Eel. 1. ii, The lads, Whose shrilling pipe, or voice the sea-born maiden glads. 1714 Gay Sheph. Week Friday 102 Shrilling crickets in the chimney cried. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxii, No sounds were heard but of the shrilling cock, and the deep-mouthed watch-dog. 1808 Scott Marm. iv. xxvi, The horses’ tramp and tingling clank,.. And charger’s shrilling neigh. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 259 The soul with shrilling cry, passed like smoke beneath the earth. 1908 Academy 23 May 809/1 The thorn-bushes began to rustle before a shrilling wind.

shrillish OJriliJ), a.

[f. shrill a.

+

-ish.]

Somewhat shrill. 1583 Babington Commandm. 141 Crie rather vp to heauen with shrillish shrike. 1587 M. Grove Pelops Hippod. (1878) 68 With shrillish notes I would ne stay nor stent of warbuling. 1863 Reade in All Year Round 12 Dec. 163 ‘Come in’, said a shrillish voice. 1886 Mrs. C. Praed Miss Jacobsen vii, Miss Croyle’s shrillish tones crossed the lawn.

'shrillness, [f. shrill a. + -ness.] The quality or condition of being shrill. 1581 Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. 11. (1586) 58 b, Those of Piemount, who with the shrilnesse of their wordes goe thorow ones eares. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. 239 The shrilness and asperity of the noise they make. 1709 Tatler No. 157 f 6 The Shrilness and Sharpness of the Sound. 1837 arlyle Fr. Rev. III. 11. vi, This shrillness getting ever shriller. 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. vii. 69 ‘Twang, twang!’ came a second report. I knew it was the whale-line by the shrillness of the sing. 1903 Morley Gladstone vi. v. II. 339 Cardwell adding with a certain shrillness that [etc.].

c

shrilly ('Jrili), a. Chiefly poet.

[f. shrill a. +

-y.] = shrill a. 1594 R. C[arew] Tasso (1881) 93 So spake he, and with him his fellowes all, Concording iangle in a shrilly sound. 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens’ Lusiad 126 The trumpet’s shrilly clangor sounds alarms. 1826 Hood Mermaid of Margate xxvii, The wild bird about him flew, With a shrilly scream. 1847 Bronte Jane Eyre xx, A sharp, a shrilly sound that ran from end to end of Thornfield-Hall. 1887 Morris Odyss. xii. 408 There came upon us at last The shrilly west loud piping with the rush of a mighty blast.

shrilly ('Jrili), adv. [f.

shrill a. + -ly2.] With a shrill sound or utterance; in shrill tones. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis 11. 23 Thee vauts haulf shrillye rebounded With clush clash buzing. 1587 Turberv. Trag. Tales 17 A dolefull noyse, Of one that in the groue full shrilly cryde. 1607 Shaks. Timon iv. iii. 155 That he may neuer more.. sound his Quillets shrilly. 1642 H. More Song of Soul 11. ii. iii. xl, Mount up aloft, my Muse, and now more shrilly sing. 1799 Coleridge Lines in Concert-Room vi, The gust pelting on the out-house shed Makes the cock shrilly in the rainstorm crow. 1818 Keats Teignmouth ii, The pipes go shrilly, the libation flows. 1910 Edin. Rev. Jan. 103 His enemies were shrilly protesting.

shrim (Jrim), v. Now dial. [OE. scrimman (only once); cf. shram, scrimp a. and v.\ intr. and pass. To shrink or shrivel; now chiefly in pa. pple., chilled, benumbed. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 6 5if monnes fot to hommum scrimme & scrince. 1846 [W. Sandys] Spec. Cornish Dial. 18 He squinnied, tell I were nigh shrimmed with his look. 1847 Halliwell, Shrimmed, chilled. Corn. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Shrim or Srim, to shiver; shrink or shrivel up with cold or fright; also of shrinkage in cooking.

shrimp (Jrimp), sb. Forms: 4-5 schrympe, 4-6 schrimpe, scrymppe, shrimp. schrimpen and v.\ cf.

shrympe, 4-7 shrimpe, 5 schrymp, srympe, shyrympe, 6 schriemp, 6[Prob. cogn. w. MHG. (MG.) str. vb., to shrink up: see scrimp a. also prec.

Sense 2 is prob. directly from the etymological sense 'shrunken creature’, but is now felt as transf. from 1.]

1. a. Any of the slender, long-tailed, longlegged (chiefly marine) crustaceans of the genus Crangon and allied genera, closely related to the prawns; esp. C. vulgaris, the common shrimp, which inhabits the sand on the coasts of Great Britain and is a common article of food.

SHRIMP Also, in a wider sense, applied to various similar crustaceans, as the families Mysidae and Gammaridae; see brine, fairy, opossum shrimp, etc. 1327 Wardrobe Acc. 20 Edw. II, 31/18 Shrimpis, 3d. C1430 Two Cookery-bks. 42 Take pe Luce, an pe Perche, & pe Schrympe, & sej?e hem. 1:1440 Promp. Parv. 449/1 Schrymp, fysche, stingus. r 1450 Brut 447 Grete Scrymppys. C1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 646 in Babees Bk., Shrympes welle pyked pe scales awey ye cast. 1553 Belon De Aquatilibus 273 Anglorum.. pisces ex Tamesi & aliis Britanniae fluminibus.. Roches, Daces, Tenche, Ruff, Schriemp, Prans. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxv. 190 The Periwincle, Prawne, the Cockle, and the Shrimpe, For wanton womens tasts, or for weake stomacks bought. 1674 Flatman Belly God 97 An ore-charg’d Stomack roasted shrimps will ease. 1770 Pittman Europ. Settlem. 5 Shrimps are found in the Mississippi as far as Natches. 1802 Bingley Zool. (1813) III. 389 The Shrimp is much smaller than the Prawn, and is by no means so much esteemed as food. 1848 Dickens Dombey vi, She partook of shrimps and porter. 1890 Hardwicke's Sci. Gossip XXVI. 280/1 The phantom shrimp (Caprella linearis) of S. Australia. collect, sing. 1867 Augusta Wilson Vashti viii, The boy.. whose sublimest idea of heaven consists in the hope that its blessed sea of glass is brimming with golden shrimp.

fb. Applied to a scaly monster. Obs. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 767 His scoulders ware schalyde alle in clene syluere, Schreede ouer alle the schrympe with schrinkande poyntez.

c. A shrimp or prawn used as a bait in angling. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports 236/2 Shrimps are used for angling in docks and canals, and are good baits for perch, if used alive. 1910 Encycl. Brit. II. 29/1 Odd attractions such as boiled shrimps, caddis-grubs, small frogs, maggots, wasp-grubs, &c. are sometimes successful. 1924 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 489/1, I would not trust the most experienced salmon with Michael Lydon and a Galway ‘shrimp’. 1931 Hardy's Anglers' Guide 31 The shrimp will wake the lazy dozer, and he’ll take it or your fly with a rush. Ibid. 180 Prawn and Shrimp Tackles. 1962 L. L. Bean Catal. 52 Bean’s shrimp fly is an excellent imitation of the natural food for trout.

d. A colour resembling that of a cooked shrimp, a bright shade of pink. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 12/1 Colored Surah silks.. in the following colors: green., shrimp, wine. 1927 T. Woodhouse Artificial Silk 81 The particulars of the colours and patterns are as under —No. 1. A shrimp ordinary crochet pattern. 1975 New Yorker 26 May 81 (Advt.), This plain white steerhide belt reverses to cool summer shades including seafoam green, shrimp, bone.

2. a. A diminutive or puny person (rarely

with okra pods; shrimp-hearted a., pusillanimous; shrimp-louse, (see quot. 1850); shrimp plant, an evergreen shrub, Justicia brandegeana (formerly Beloperone guttata), belonging to the family Acanthaceae, native to Mexico, and bearing small white flowers hidden in clusters of pinkish-brown bracts. 1872 B. Jerrold London p. viii, Smacks, barges shrimpboats. 1979 Guardian 22 Oct. 26/7 The size of mesh permitted on shrimp boats in British waters. 1937 America's Cook Bk. 180 Lobster or shrimp cocktail... Chill thoroughly and serve in cocktail glasses. 1977 J. Wainwright Nest of Rats 1. vi. 38 It was a nice meal. Shrimp cocktails, followed by a good mixed grill. 1969 Listener 12 June 814/1 The village chief himself asked us to a dinner of dried deer and shrimp crackers, chicken and lettuce. 1975 J. van de Wetering Outsider in Amsterdam (1976) vi. 79 He.. broke a piece of shrimp-crackers and grabbed the noodles. 1850 A. White List Specim. Crustacea Brit. Mus. 82 Bopyrus squillarum. Shrimp-fixer. [1805 Shrimp gumbo: see gumbo i b.] 1885 L. Hearn La Couisine Creole 21 (heading) Maigre shrimp gombo for Lent. 1889 J. Whitehead Steward's Handbk. iv. 337/2 Shrimp-gumbo.. not boiled after gumbo is in. 1938 C. H. Matschat Suwanee River 255 The supper was fresh shrimp gumbo, hot and highly spiced. 1796 Mrs. M. Robinson Angelina II. 187 You shrimp-hearted lubber. 1850 A. White List Specim. Crustacea Brit. Mus. 81 lone thoracicus. Mud shrimp-louse. 1941 L. H. & E. Z. Bailey Hortus Second 101 [Beloperone] guttata. Shrimp-plant. 1946 M. Free All about House Plants xvii. 153 The Shrimp Plant.. is a comparatively new introduction to the house-plant scene. 1956 X. Field Housewife Bk. House Plants in. 74 The Shrimp Plant has always been a favourite of mine. I delight in its prawn-like flowers. 1975 J. van de Wetering Tumbleweed (1976) ii. 18 There were plants on all window-sills.. the shrimp plant with a pink growth at the end of each stalk.

shrimp (Jrimp), v. [f. the sb.] a. intr. To fish for shrimps, b. trans. To fish (a pool, etc.) with shrimp as a bait. 1844 M. Hole Diary 26 Aug. in B. Massingham Turn on Fountains (1974) ii. 39 Making the most of our last day at old Blackpool... Loafed. Shrimped. 1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train n. v. 119 Torquay wasn’t bad. One could shrimp and prawn and fish. 1931 Hardy's Anglers' Guide 31 And remember too that you may shrimp a pool in this manner and revert to fly without any fear of your pool being disturbed. 1938 Mississippi (U.S. Works Progress Admin.) 169 In many instances, however, boats are oystering at one season and shrimping at another.

thing). Chiefly contemptuous. C1386 Chaucer Monk's Prol. 67 We borel men been shrympes. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 384b, He would have been a notorious Goliath over these little moathes, and simple shrimpes. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis III. 61 On a suddeyn we behold a windbeaten hard shrimp, With lanck wan visadge. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. v. ii. 594 When he [sc. Hercules] was a babe, a childe, a shrimpe, Thus did he strangle Serpents. 1602 Narcissus (1893) 167 Thou art my mother, I thy sonne, thy shrimpe. 1615 Exchange Ware Second Hand (ed. 2) C 1 b, Alas poore shrimpe, thou art nothing in my hands. 1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 142, I wondered how such a shrimp as you could dragg about such a great carcass as mine. 1840 Barham Ingot. Leg. Ser. 11. Aunt Fanny, And all for a ‘Shrimp’ not as high as my hat —A little contemptible ‘Shaver’ like that!! 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home, Near Oxford II. 35 Poor little shrimp that he was [sc. Pope]. 1905 Elinor Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 85 He did look such a teeny shrimp climbing after me! fig. 1634 S. R[owley] Noble Soldier 111. ii, The small ones [sc. poets] are but shrimpes of Poesie.

b. a shrimp of a —: a diminutive, a very minute or tiny —. a 1774 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 574 By continual ruminating upon this shrimp of a possibility. 1834 Marryat Peter Simple xxiv, If it bears me, it will not condescend to bend at your shrimp of a carcass. 1884 ‘H. Collingwood’ Under Meteor Flag 258 A little shrimp of a fellow named Fisher.

3. attrib. and Comb. 1611 Cotgr., Escruoelle, a little Shrimp-resembling worme. 1736 Bailey Diet. Domest., A Shrimp Pye. 1747 Mrs. Glasse Cookery 61 To make Shrimp Sauce. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 33 [P7 The shrimp-sauce not so good as Mr. H... and I used to eat. 1762-71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 191 The Shrimp-girl, a head, by Bartolozzi. 1791 Huddesford Salmag. 111 Shrimpscalders and bugkillers, taylors and tylers. 1828 Davy Salmonia 62 Small shrimp-like aurelia. 1855 Dickens Dorrit 1. xiii, A butter-boat of shrimp sauce. 1859 A. J. Munby Diary 18 July in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 39 She stood there leaning on her shrimp net (for she had been fishing). 1882 Cassell's Fam. Mag. 236/1 Shrimp-pink with white is one of the happiest and latest combinations. 1883 [see shrimping]. 1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 20 Sept. 11/2 She was dressed in a shrimp pink. 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 192 They are sometimes taken by hook and line, with shrimp-bait. 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Connecticut Yankee ii. 34 An airy slim boy in shrimp-colored tights. 1918 Shrimp paste [see Gentleman's Relish s.v. gentleman 7 c]. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo vii. 137 The different shells, their sea-colours of pink and brown and rainbow and.. shrimp-red. 1932 A. Huxley Brave New World iii. 38 Two shrimp-brown children emerged from a neighbouring shrubbery. 1973 J. Rossiter Manipulators viii. 90 A shrimp-pink shirt. 1976 Western Living (Vancouver, B.C.) June 50/2 A fishing village, processing salt fish, making shrimp paste, and doing a bit of duck-farming.

b. shrimp-boat, a boat engaged in fishing for shrimps; shrimp cocktail [cocktail sb. 4], a dish of boiled shrimps served cold in a sauce; shrimp cracker, a light, crisp cracker flavoured with shrimp and served as an accompaniment to Oriental food; shrimp-fixer, (see quot. 1850); shrimp gumbo U.S., a shrimp soup thickened

SHRINE

376

shrimped (Jrimpt), pa. pple.

Now dial. [f. *shrimp, parallel form to scrimp a. or v. + -ED.] Shrivelled, withered, shrunk; huddled up with cold.

1638 Rous Diary (Camden) 85 His hands were both shrimped and lame. 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 36 Such things as these go for Wit so long as they continue in Latin; but what dismally shrimp’d things would they appear, if turn’d into English. 1837 Mrs. Palmer Devon. Dial. 1. 19 Seeing Batt a shrimp’d up, her nadded and mean’d to en, that a shud come by the vire.

shrimper (’.frimpafr)). [f. shrimp sb. + -er1.] One who catches shrimps; also, a vessel engaged in shrimping. 1851 W. Collins Rambles bey. Railways ii. (1852) 14 We .. found ourselves in a small room, filled with shrimpers, sailors. 1864 Daily Tel. 11 Aug., A shrimper stranded. 1872 Calverley Fly Leaves (1884) 34 Has she wedded some gigantic shrimper, That sweet mite with whom I loved to play? 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 265/1 Leigh is the head¬ quarters of the Thames shrimpers.

f'shrimpet. Obs. [f. shrimp sb. + -et1.] (See quot.) 1688 Holme Armoury 11. xiv. 344/2 A Sea Prane, or Sea Shrimpet, or Shrimplet. It is somthing bigger then those of the river or fresh waters.

'shrimping, gerund and vbl. sb. [f. shrimp sb. + -ING1.]

1. Catching shrimps. 1848 Maunder Treas. Nat. Hist. 617 Shrimp-catching, or Shrimping, as it is termed. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. 1. vi. 128 Shrimping is carried on by many of the women. 1876 ‘Ouida’ Winter City iii, The women .. who go shrimping or oyster-hunting on fashionable sea-shores. attrib. 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 14 Model Shrimping Boat, showing how four shrimp nets are worked. 1886 Fenn Master Cerem. xxi, Fisherman Dick did his work with a shrimping net.

2. Fishing with shrimp as a bait. 1931 Hardy's Anglers' Guide 31, I have had splendid sport, owing to this way of shrimping.

shrimpish ('Jrim pi J), a. [f. shrimp sb. + -ish.] Diminutive, puny, insignificant. 1549 Chaloner Erasmus on Folly Div, What will suche shrimpysshe bodies dooe .. whan it cometh to handstrokes? 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. xiii. (1575) 161 b, Those same shrimpish armes of his. 1655-87 H. More App. Antid. vi. 330 How shrimpish he is and unfit to fill this place. 1664 Comenius' Janua Ling. 278 Slender, shrimpish, lean. 1881 Mrs. C. Praed Policy P. II. ix. 145 A shrimpish sprig of nobility.

Hence 'shrimpishness, insignificance. 1651 H. More Enthus. Tri., etc. (1656) 255 The shrimpishnesse of the second part of Eugenius his Answer.

'shrimplet, [-let.] A little shrimp. 1688 [see shrimpet]. 1884 Jaunt in Junk xv. 252 Some annoyingly nimble shrimplet.

shrimpy ('Jrimpi), a.

[f. shrimp sb.

+

-Y.]

Abounding in shrimps. 1859 Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 58 Margate the shrimpy, Ramsgate the asinine, Canterbury the ecclesiastical. 1875 Miss Braddon Hostages Fort. III. ii. 42 Margate’s crowded jetty or Pegwell’s shrimpy bay.

shrinal

('Jrainal), a. [f. next Containing or forming a shrine.

+

-al1.]

1884 N. & Q. 29 Mar. 251/1 The four daughters.. of whom one has left her name, St. Sidwell, in a shrinal church on the blood-stained spot.

shrine (Jrain), sb.

Forms: 1-2 serin, scryn, 3 s(c)hrin, ssrin, ssryn, 4-5 shryn, 4-6 schrine, schryne, 4-7 shryne, 5 schryn, schrene, shrene, 6 shreene, 6- shrine. [OE. serin str. n., corresp. to OFris. skrin (WFris. skryn chest, skrine coffin), MLG. schrin, MDu. and WFlem. schrine f., Du. schrijn n., OHG. scrini, serine n. (MHG. schrin n. and m., G. schrein m.), ON. skrin n. (Sw., Da. skrin); ad. L. scrinium case or chest for books or papers. Unexplained variants with e occur in OFris. skren, MLG., MDu. schrein, LG. schren, WFlem. schrene. L. scrinium is represented in Romanic by OF. escrin (see scrine), F. ecrin, Pr. escrin, It. scrigno, Sp., Pg. escrinio, and in OS1. skriniya, skrina, Lith. skrine, Russ, skrin.]

fl. A box, coffer;

a cabinet,

chest.

(Cf.

SCRINE.) In OE. and ME. applied to the ark of the covenant. c 1000 /Elfric Josh. iii. 8 pa sacerdas, pa pe pact serin [Vulg. arcam] beraS. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xii. 6 For^am pe he waes peof & haefde serin [Vulg. loculos]. c 1150 Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 546/29 Archa, serin. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 109 pe schryne of pe testament [arcam testamenti]. 1398-Barth. deP.R. xiii. ix. (Tollem. MS.), pe schryne of oure lorde [ed. 1582, the Arke]. 1516 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1869) I. 161 Item, in the compertas of Craufurdis ane standand bed, and ane schryne. 1560 Stirling Burgh Rec. (1887) I. 75 Ane schryne but the lid. 1658 Phillips, Shrine, a chest or cabinet.

2. a. The box, casket, or other repository in which the relics of a saint are preserved. Also, a tomb-like erection of rich workmanship, enclosing the relics of a saint. c 1000 /Elfric Saints' Lives xi. 275 pa jebrohte se bisceop ealle pa halgan ban on jelimplicum scrynum. c 1000 Horn. (Th.) II. 426 pa wolde se casere wyrean him eallum gyldene scryn. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1070 Hi namen paere twa gildene serines & .ix. seolferne. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. 37/125 pulke daye is bodi was in-to schrine i-bore. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9851 pulke 3er al so Seint egwine at euesham in ssrine was verst ido. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. vi. 48, I nolde fonge a fer^ing for seynt Thomas schrine. a 1400-50 Wars Alex. 5592 Of schene schemerand gold as it a schrine ware. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 4265 Byfore hurre shrene mekeliche he knelede doune. c 1450 Capgrave Life St. Gilbert xxxviii, pe schrine.. is.. born a-boute on pe schulderis of princes and lordis. 1551 Sir J. Williams Accompte (Abbotsf. Club) 1 The defacinge and takinge downe of shrynes. 1593 Shaks. 2 Hen. VI, 11. i. 63 A blinde man at Saint Albones Shrine,.. hath receiu’d his sight. 01638 Mede Wks. (1672) 677 The Miracles at the Shrines and Sepulchres of the holy Martyrs. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. xlv. IV. 455 The shrines of the apostles were guarded by miracles and invisible terrors. 1834 L. Ritchie Wand, by Seine 217 The exhibition of the relics took place.. and as each shrine was elevated, every knee touched the earth. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 24 It was a national as well as a religious feeling that drew great multitudes to the shrine of Becket. Prov. phr. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 553 Fare-wel shryne of whom pe seynt is oute.

b. In extended application: A receptacle containing an object of religious veneration; occas. a niche for sacred images. 1526 Tindale Acts xix. 24 A goldsmyth, which made silver schrynes [Gr. vaou?, Vulg. aedes\ Wyclif housis] for Diana. 1756-7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 58 On certain days of the year this crucifix is.. exposed to public view;.. seven persons having in their custody as many different keys of the shrine in which it is kept. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian vi, She passed several shrines and images half hid among the shrubs and the cliffs. 1894 J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 43 The bell of any famous saint., was enclosed in a shrine, made in its own form.

fc. fig. An object of veneration. Obs. c 1400 Beryn 1114 So excellent of bewte, pat she my3t be shryne To all othir vymmen.

d. The part of a church in which a shrine stands. Cf. feretory 3. 1833 Raine Brief Acc. Durham Cath. 50 Let us now enter the shrine. 1850 Parker's Gloss. Terms Archit. I. 427 Modern writers often erroneously apply the word shrine to the chapel or church in which the real shrine is deposited.

3. A case or casket for a dead body; also, a tomb or cenotaph of an elaborate kind. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 672 Sche..made hire subtyl werkemen make a schryne Of alle the rubyis & the stonis fyne..that sche coude espie. 1613 Purchas Pilgr. (1614) 660 They cast their dead into the RiUer, others reserued them at home in glasse shrines. 1613 R. C. Table Alph., Shrine, a remembrance for the dead. 1720 Pope Epit. Harcourt 1 To this sad shrine, whoe’er thou art! draw near. 1824 W. Fowler List Subj. Engravings, The Percy Shrine (Beverley). 1829 Scott Old Mort. Introd., This peculiar shrine of the Whig martyrs is very much honoured by their descendants.

4. transf. a. That which encloses, enshrines, or screens, or in which something dwells. a 1400 Chaucer To Rosemounde 1 Madame, ye ben of al beaute shryne As fer as cercled is the mapamonde. schryned in helle. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. vi, The soule, that shoulde be shrinde in heauen. 1602 Thomas Ld. Cromwell v. v, My soule is shrinde with heauens celestiall couer. 1614 Gorges Lucan ix. 387 Fild with grace diuine, That in his secret soule did shrine [tacita quern mente gerebat].

shrined (Jraind), a. [f. shrine sb. + -ed2.] 1. Containing a shrine or shrines. 1589 Fleming Virg. Georg, iv. 76 Reare vp .. foure altars .. Neere to the shrined temples of the goddesses.

2. Contained in a shrine. 1849 Rock Ch. of Fathers II. 395 He swore upon the shrined relics of their common patron saint.

'shrineless, a. [-less.] Having no shrine. 1892 Meredith Poet. Wks. (1912) 382 Showing her shrineless, not a temple, bare. 1898 A. Austin Lamia's Winter-Quarters 55 And through your shrineless pilgrimage you make Unending moan.

'shrinelet. [-let.] A little shrine. 1884 M. M. Macmillan Lett. (1893) 102 The panels of St. Laurence’s Vatican shrinelet.

Shriner ('Jrain3(r)). orig. and chiefly U.S. [f. shrine sb. + -er1.] A member of the Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, established in the U.S. in 1872. Also Shrinite. 1884 Proc. Imperial Council Anc. Arabic Order Nobles of Mystic Shrine 54 His brother .. was a Noble of the Shrine, and well up in all that makes an efficient and sincere Shrinite. 1886 Ibid. 85 The Walee.. was made a Shriner in 1883. 1927 E. O’Neill Marco Millions 11. i. 95 This costume is a queer jumble of stunning effects that recall the parade uniforms of our modern Knights Templar, of Columbus, of Pythias, Mystic Shriners, the Klan, etc. 1966 Economist 24 Dec. 1332/2 It appears that the celebrated Shriners are a sub-class of masons. 1979 P. Theroux Old Patagonian Express xii. 193 It was Club-going Hour. At the officers

mess and the VFW,.. the Shriners Club, the Masons.. the day’s work was done.

'shrining, vbl. sb. [f. shrine v. + -ing1.] Enclosing in or as in a a shrine; enshrining, encasing. 1574 tr. Josselin's Life 70 Abp. To Rdr. E2b, Their deathes, entermentes, entombinges, translations, and shryninges. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxviii. (1888) 181 If she be an honest woman .. were she not worth the wishing, and worthy the shryning? 1622 Wither Philarete F4b, Tis found, that costly shrining Did but hinder tothers shining.

'shrining, ppl. a. [f. shrine v. Embracing, enveloping.

4-

-ing2.]

1826 A. A. Watts Love's Wealth i, Whilst my shrining arms enfold, love,.. a prize like thee.

shrink, sb. [f. shrink v.] 1. a. An act of shrinking, flinching, cowering, etc.: fa shrug. 1590 Sir J. Smythe Disc. Weapons 23 b, After the first shrinck at the entring of the bullett. 1594 Daniel Cleopatra (Bang) 1729 Not a yeilding shrinke, or touch of feare Consents now to bewray least sence of paine. c 1645 Howell Let. to Capt. T. P. 1 Aug. 1622, He [the Spaniard] never speaks of her [Queen Elizabeth] but he fetcheth a shrink in the shoulder. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. m. Introd. 11, I saw a visible shrink in all Orders of Men among us, from that Greatness.. which was in the first Grain, that our God brought from Three sifted Kingdoms, into this Land. 01728 Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils (1729) I. 1. 230 A Shrink, or Contraction, in the Body since ’twas first form’d. 1832 L. Hunt Poems 179, I..almost wish with sudden shrink, That I had less to praise. 1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur 178 The shiver and shrink with which the sitter caught sight of him.

b. spec, in Textiles, the reduction in dimension of a fibre or fabric, usu. caused by treatment with water. 1947 J. T. Marsh Introd. Textile Finishing ix. 244 Modern anti-shrink treatments are based on .. two methods.

2. A psychiatrist. Cf. head-shrinker s.v. head sb.1 66. slang (orig. U.S.). 1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 i. 16 It was Dr Hilarius, her shrink or psychotherapist. 1969 C. Young Todd Dossier 78 What you’ve written may prove helpful. That’s what the man said, the shrink. 1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 31 Aug.-6 Sept. 1434/1 A number of value judgments were offered .. by a couple of the shrinks. 1978 M. Walker Infiltrator iii. 39 He could have gone to a pricey shrink who would have certified him too delicate for the Army. 1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Oct. 117/2 It does not take a shrink to see that a man so humanly flawed and artistically inept has got to be a loser.

3. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) shrinkproofing, -resistance, treatment, shrinkcontrolled, -proof, -resist, -resistant, adjs. 1967 Karch & Buber Offset Processes ii. 31 Controlled sheets of rubber with shrink-controlled material in the centre of the plate. 1969 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring/Summer 44/2 Shrink-controlled .. cotton. 1928 Shrink-proof [see colour-fast s.v. colour sb.' 19]. 1965 A. J. Hall Stand. Handbk. Textiles (ed. 6) v. 307 In recent years three important shrinkproof treatments have come into use. 1962 J. T. Marsh Self-Smoothing Fabrics ii. 11 The work is based fundamentally on the shrinkproofing of wool. 1963 A. J. Hall Textile Sci. v. 236 (heading) Shrink-resist finishes for cellulose fibre fabrics. 1958 Times 20 Oct. 13/2 This tweed has been woven for the school.. and tested for washability, shrink-resistance. 1967 Shaw & Eckersley Cotton xv. 131 (heading) Dimensional stability (shrink resistance). 1946 A. J. Hall Stand. Handbk. Textiles v. 275 (1caption) Sanforising machine for making fabric shrink resistant in washing. 1973 Times 9 Apr. 6/3 The main terms covered by the new standard will be..‘shrink resistant’, ‘crease shedding’. 1954 A. J. Hall Standard Handbk. Textiles (ed. 4) v. 280 The well-known London shrink treatment is widely used to remove residual stretch in a wool fabric.

shrink (Jrirjk), v. Pa. t. shrank (Jraerjk), pa. pple. shrunk (JrAr)k). Forms: i scrincan, 2-3 scrinke(n, 3-5 schrinke, 4-6 schrynke, shrynke, 5-6 s(c)hrynk, schrenk(e, (4 scrynke, schryngke, scherenke, shrynge, 6 shren(c)k(e, shryng, shrinck, schrink, scrincke), 6-7 shrinke, 6shrink. Pa. t. 1 scranc (pi. scruncon), 4 schrank, 5 schranke, 6-7 shranke, 7- shrank; 4 schronk, 5-7 shronke, 6 shroncke, shroonke, shrounke, 6-7 shronk, shrun(c)ke, 7- shrunk; wk. 6 Sc. schrinket, -it, 6- (now dial.) shrinked. Pa. pple. 1 (se)scruncen, (-scrungen), 2 scrunken, 4 schrunken, 4-5 shronken, 7 shruncken, 6shrunken; 5-6 shronke, 6 shroonke, shruncke, 6-7 shroncke, shrunke, 6- shrunk; wk. 6 Sc. schrenkit. [OE. scrincan (pa. t. scranc, scruncon, pa. pple. gescruncen) = MDu. schrinken (only in Kilian as obs. Flem.; ? from Eng.), Sw. skrynka to wrinkle (MSw. skrunkin pa. pple. shrivelled, wrinkled), Norw. skrekka, skrekka (pa. t. skrakk, skrokk, pa. pple. skrokken, skrokket). The causative is shrench v.1 The pa. t. originally had vowel change I shrank, we shrunke(n, but, as early as the 14th c., the properly plural form is found with a singular subject, and shronk, shrunk becomes frequent in the 15th c.; shrunk is the normal pa. t. in the 18th c., and still survives. The pa. pple. shrunken is now rarely employed in conjugation with the vb. ‘to have’; see also shrunk, shrunken.]

I. Intransitive senses.

SHRINK fl. a. To wither or shrivel through withdrawal of vital fluid or failure of strength. Obs. [C893 Alfred Oros. hi. ix. §3 \>a for J?aem ciele him jescruncan ealle pa sedra.] ciooo Sax. Leechd. I. 204 Hy [male and female pennyroyal] blowap Sonne nealice oJ>re wyrta scrincaj? & weorniaS. Ibid. III. 48 Seonuwa fortojene & 8a tan scrinceS up. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 411 J>anne his senewes gonne to schrynke [MS. y schryngke]. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) II. 497 His synewis shronke and withdrewe them. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus II. i. H ij, My chekes that hanged syde downe, do shrynke awaye. 1573-80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 40 Fruit gathred too timely .. wil shrink. 1611 Bible Gen. xxxii. 32 The children of Israel eate not of the sinewe which shranke.

b. To pine away. Obs. rare. C1205 Lay. 2278 per fore £>u scalt scrinkin [c 1275 de^e]. a 1586 Sidney Ps. xl. vii, Though I in want be shrinking, Yet God on me is thinking.

2. a. To become reduced in size, volume, or extent; esp. to contract through heat, cold, or moisture. Also with upy away. c 1275 Sinners Beware 245 in O.E. Misc. 80 Heo schule in helle Euer schrinke and swelle. e deye. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems ix. 9 To The, my sweit Saluiour, I me schirryve. Ibid. 137, I schryve me of all cursit cumpany. a 1529 Skelton Bouge of Court 215 To you oonly, me thynke, I durste shryue me For now am I .. dysposed To shewe you thynges that may not be disclosed. 01568 Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 92 Rvse with thi ransoner fro deid, And the of all thy synnys schryfe. 1625 Gill Sacr. Philos, i. 4 [Zeus] that shreeves himselfe to his wife Iuno for all his slipperie prancks.

4. intr. To confess one’s sins, go to confession. 01300 Cursor M. 26600 And for pe scam man thine scriuand. It sal for part o penance stand. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 317 We ben sett to schryve of love, c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 130 The wolf spake to hym, and shroue [r 1440 Raid. MS. confeste hyr] to pe preste. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1625 He wald . . of his synnes to him schryue f>at he synned in all his lyue. C1532 Du Wes lntrod. Fr. in Palsgr. 1069 The preest [in the mass].. fyrst shrivyng to us. 1802 Scott Gray Brother xxx, And who art thou, thou Gray Brother, That I should shrive to thee? 1832 Hawker Cornish Ball. (1908) 19 Tis not to pray—’tis not to shrive —Therefore, what does she there? 1844 Mrs. Browning Brown Rosary 1. x, A nun .. Who mocked at the priest when he called her to shrive.

fb. Rendering L. confiteri of the Vulgate: To ascribe praise and glory to God. Obs. a 1300 E.E. Psalter vii. 18, I sal schrive to Laverd after his rightwisnes. a 1325 Prose Psalter xxix. 4 SyngeJ? to our Lord .. and shryuef? to pe mynde of his holinesse. a 1340 Hampole Psalter vi. 5 He is noght.. in hell wha sail shrife til l>e. a 1400 Prymer (1891) 71, I schal schryue to thee lord in al myn herte.

f5. trans. To confess (sins).

SHROFF

381

Obs.

a 1300 Cursor M. 27105 To preist his sinnes scriue. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 330 [Ps. xxxii. 6], I seide, i shulde shryue my synnes a3ens me to hee, lord, c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7081 And all pe case to him he shraue.

fb. transf. To reveal, disclose.

Obs.

c 1374 Chaucer Troylus 11. 579 Now haue I plat to yow myn herte schryuen. a 1500 Chaucer's Dreme 2026 C.’s Wks. (1598) 365 b, Al my secre to you I plaine, and shriue. 1818 Keats Isabella viii, I cannot live Another night, and not my passion shrive.

6. To forgive, pardon (a sin), rare. The first quot. is doubtful. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 588 3yf )?ou trowyst synne shal be foneue withoute repentaunce & shryue [v.r. repente here & be clene schreuyn]. 1837 Hood Desert-Born 126 ‘Nay then’, cried I—(heav’n shrive the lie!) ‘to tell the secret truth.’

f7. a. To question, examine (a person). Obs. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse G 2, Beleeue me, thou shriuest me very neere in this latter demaund. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. xii. 26 She gan him soft to shrieue. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Viet. Earth xxxvii, Gently our Saviour shee began to shrive. Whither he wear the Sonne of God, or no.

fb. ? To inquire into (a matter). Obs. 1651 Cleveland Poems 37 Shrive but their Titles, and their money poize, A laird & twenty pound pronounc’d with noise, When construed, but for a plain Yeoman go, And a good sober two-pence.

8. a. To relieve (one) of a burden; fto rob. 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 169, I am here for shriuing those two fooles of their sinfull packe. 1899 R. Bridges Poems, Fair Brass 21 A .. tomb: Such as to look on shrives The heart of half its care.

b. To remove, lift (a burden) from. rare. [1641 Milton Animadv. Wks. 1851 III. 236 To shreeve the purses of unconfessing and unmortify’d sinners]. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. 11. lxxviii, To shrive from man his weight of mortal sin.

f 9. pass. ? To be bound in an obligation. Obs. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 138 The barons & pe clergie in on wer alle schryuen, Vnto kyng Henrie ageyn William suld be gyuen.

fio. trans. To reconcile (a person) to a course of action. Obs. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1325/2 To reconcile, shriue, & win hir maiesties subiects to their diuelish intent. 1594 Nashe Terrors Nt. D 1 Much wonder I how treason and murder dispense with the darknes of the night, how they can shriue themselues to it.

111. Const, gen. in OE., of in ME.: To reck of, care for. Obs. c 897 Alfred Gregory's Past. C. xliv. 322 Ne he ne scrife Saes hlisan buton hu he ryhtost wyree. Ibid, lv, Hi ne scrifon hwaefier hit ware Se daej 8e niht Sonne Sonne hi synjodon. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. x. 29 DeaS ne scrifeS. 13 .. K. Alis. 3884 (Bodl. MS.), Alisaunder nou3th of hym shroof [Line. Inn MS. gaf] Ac perciens to fore hym droof.

shrive, obs. form of sheriff. 'shrivel, sb. Also 6 shrevel. [f. shrivel v.] Something shrivelled up; fpl. wrinkles in the skin; a shrivelled skin; a contracted word. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health 11. lviii. (1557) Cj, Rvge is the latin woorde. In Englishe it is named shreuels whiche is a runninge together of the skyn in a mans face and necke. 1835 Blackw. Mag. XXXVIII. 153 We caught an eel, which we skinned, and wore the shrivel for many a day round our ankle. 1873 F. Hall Mod. Engl. 163 Nor is any regard for rule or regularity to be seen .. in our decurtate cab, cent, chap .. or in such shrivels as aid, alms.

shrivel ('Jriv(3)l), v.

Also 7 shriule. [Origin unknown. (Cf. Sw. dial, skryvla to wrinkle.)] 1. intr. To become contracted and wrinkled or curled up, as from great heat or cold. Also with up, away. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. 13 That shortly the heauens themselues shall shriule away like a scrowle. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Shrivel, to Wrinkle, to run up in Wrinkles or Scrolls. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 312 When the Stalks begin to shrivel at the part next the Branch. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 171 This elegant little Agaric is seldom found in full perfection, as it soon shrivels and loses its brilliant colours. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. vi. xxxi, When, shriveling like a parched scroll, The flaming heavens together roll. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 585 The incipient bunches twist and shrivel up just before coming into bloom. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. 392 Two .. ulcers which speedily scabbed, shrunk and shrivelled away. 1882 Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 457 It forms a papilla, .at the apex which shrivels when the spore ripens. pass. 1588 Greene Perimedes 11 Hir face shriueled, and parched with the Sunne. 1604 N. F. Fruiterers Secrets 27 When Pippins, and other long lasting fruite, begin to be shriueled. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne iv. 110 That his nose might be shrivelled with cold. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Passion & Princ. v, The lamb was shrivelled up to a cinder. 1885 Clodd Myths & Dr. 1. iii. 22 So scorched was it.. that it was shrivelled to the smallest of creatures.

b. transf. and fig. To be reduced to an inanimate or inefficient condition; (of a person) to shrink physically or mentally. 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 60 This Pagan Hierarchy shrivelled up with all the false Deities, and Priests therein. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm, xx, I swore that my rage and revenge should pursue his enemies, until they shrivelled before me like that scorched-up symbol of annihilation. 1835 Lytton Rienzi v. v, I felt his soul shrivel at my gaze. 1875 Farrar Silence Voices ii. 37 All life shrivelled into a miserable ‘if and an empty ‘might have been’. 1887 Jessopp Arcady iii. 70 Undeveloped faculties that shrivel for want of using.

2. trans. To cause to be contracted or shrunk into wrinkles. Often with up. 1608 Shaks. Per. 11. iv. 9 A fire from heaven came and shrivell’d up Their bodies. 1682 Grew Anat. PI. 10 Lest its new access into the Ayr, should shrivel it. 1751 Smollett Per. Pickle cv, Crabtree shrivelling up his face like an autumn leaf. 1782 A. Monro Compar. Anat. (ed. 3) 5 This . .covers the trunk, serving to shrivel the skin, in order to drive off insects. 1856 Mrs. Stowe Dred xxxiv, That fearful collapse, which .. shrivels the most healthy countenance .. to the shrunken.. image of decrepit old age. 1877 Thomson Voy. Challenger I. i. 17 In the tropics a saturated solution is much too strong, and shrivels up delicate tissues.

b. transf. and fig. To reduce to inanition, helplessness, or ineffectualness. 1663 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. viii. (1687) 30 This is ever the fruit of hard and penurious thoughts of God, that they shrivel up mens hearts too. 1683 Howe Union Prot. Wks. 1862 IV. 266 The want of such a diffusive love shuts up and shrivels the destitute parts. 1824-9 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 I. 68 Milton .. shrivelled up the lips of his revilers by the austerity of his scorn. 1844 Dickens Chimes iii, Wither me and shrivel me, and free me from the dreadful thoughts that tempt me in my youth! 1859 Habits Gd. Society ix. 284 How the very thought must have shrivelled her up. 1901 Scotsman 12 Mar. 7/4 A passage which the House listened to very closely, fully realising how it finally shrivelled up malignant gossip.

d. Comb. 1850 R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. vii. 147 An extremely ancient and shrivelled-looking Bushman. 1859 Boyd Recreat. Country Parson Ser. 1. viii. 303 Some utilitarian old hunks, sharp-nosed, shrivelled-faced.

shrivelling ('[nv(3)lir)), vbl. sb. [f.

shrivel v. +

-ING1.] The action of the verb shrivel. a 1631 Donne Serm. (1649) II. xv. 126 A shriveling of my flesh with superstitious and meritorious fastings. 1667 Phil. Trans. II. 454 Some shriveling of the outward skin of the Bark. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 441 Ventilation by continual currents of air.. acts in the same way as light, in producing shrivelling. 1883 Sunday Mag. July 435/2 The shrivelling of the Eastern Roman empire. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 600 If the sclerotic shrivelling be wellmarked.

'shrivelling, ppl. a. [f. shrivel v. That shrivels; Bot. = marcescent.

+

-ing2.]

1776 Withering Bot. Arrangem. Veget. 258 Stitchwort... Petals .. flat; oblong; shrivelling. 1816 A. Boswell Sheldon Haughs (1830) 167 Stealin change o’ shriv’lin time Had quench’d the vigour o’ his prime. 1849 De Quincey Engl. Mail Coach Wks. 1854 IV. 345 Like a shrivelling scroll from before the wrath of fire! 1873 Miss Broughton Nancy I. 33 Oh, spring! spring! with all your searching east winds, with your late shrivelling frost.

shriven 0,fnv(3)n), ppl. a. [pa. pple. of

shrive

v.] Confessed, absolved. 1846 Dickens Piet. Italy, Ital. Dream, I had my foot upon the spot, where .. the shriven prisoner was strangled. 1896 A. Austin England's Darling 11. iii, As every shriven soul must answer Him Whose Sceptre doth not pass.

shriver ('Jraiv3(r)). [f.

shrive v. + -er1.]

One

who shrives, a confessor. 1340 Ayenb. 140 pe ssrifte ssel by yhol, na3t todeld ine vele ssriveres. 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. 1. 64 Holy churche & charite choppe a doun swich shryuers. 1483 Cath. Angl. 338/2 A schryfer, confessor. 1593 Shaks. 3 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 108 When hee was made a Shriuer, ’twas for shift. 1637 N. Whiting Albino Bellama 83 The shreevers to their Lords returne with smiles. 1661 K. W. Conf. Char., Temporizer (i860) 51 Turne shrivers in nuneries.

'shriving, vbl. sb. [f.

shrive v. + -ing1.] The action of the verb shrive, shrift: a. Confession; b. the hearing of confessions. a 1225 Ancr. R. 268 Lease swefnes, & false scheauwinges [MS. T schriuinges]. 01300 Cursor M. 26101 To quam we sal vr scriuing mak. c 1400 Rom. Rose 6448 Who so hath in his felyng The consequence of such shryuyng. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 543 Better a short tale, than a bad long shriuing. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. xxi. 81 Those that by this Shriving of persons know much of their Interest or disinterest. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. xlix. 192 As for shriving,.. there can be no great harm in’t. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. iv. i, To the Priest they send her she gives thanks; but needs not any shriving. 1875 J. C. Cox Churches Derbysh. I. 171 After shriving had gone out of fashion the ringing of the bell [on Shrove Tuesday] was continued.

c. attrib. as shriving time; f shriving cloth, sackcloth worn by penitents; f shriving pew, seat, stool, a confessional.

f'shriveling. Obs. rare. [f. shrive v. + -ling.] Contemptuous term for: One under spiritual direction.

1487-8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 130 For naylles for pe schryvyng peawe. 1505 in H. J. Feasey Holy Wk. Cerem. (1897) 97 vj yernes perteynyng to the shryvyng stole for Lenton. 1534 Engl. Ch. Furniture (1866) 204 An altar cloth made of shryvynge clothes. 1545 Churchw. Acc. St. Dunstan's, Canterb. (MS.) For mendyng of ye Chyrche and makyng of ye schrewyng sett xiiijd. 1589-90 in J. C. Cox Churchw. Acc. (1913) 193 Payd for mendinge of a pewe called the shrivinge pewe is. 1602 Shaks. Ham. v. ii. 47 He should the bearers put to sodaine death, Not shriuing time allowed.

1603 Harsnet Pop. Impost. 104 He comforts his holy shriuelings, his ghostly good children, telling them .. [etc.].

shroad,

'shriveldy, a. [f. shrivelled + -y.] Withered. 1840 Mrs. Trollope M. Armstrong iii, A poor rickety, shriveldy sort of a child.

obs. f. shrewd.

shrivelled ('Jriv^ld), ppl. a. Also 6 shryveled,

shrob(be,

7-8 shrivel’d, 7- (now U.S.) shriveled, [f. shrivel v. + -ed1.] Drawn together or contracted so as to have or form wrinkles and to appear as if dried up.

shrode,

1565 Stapleton tr. Bede's Hist. Ch. Eng. 173 The vayne and soyle of that grounde is not shryueled nor fleaten, but grene and full of grasse. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Flower ii, Who would have thought my shrivel’d heart Could have recover’d greenesse? 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 26 The Mannatee .. her face is like a shriveled Buffolo or Cow. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 1. 158 When .. shrivell’d Herbs on with’ring Stems decay. 1726 Pope Odyss. xix. 88 These lean shrivelled limbs unnerved with age. 1770 Phil. Trans. LX. 304 A poor shriveled-up.. carcase of a bird. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxix, Pushing him back from her with her trembling hand and shrivelled arm. 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 91 Malt that is shrivelled is not of the best quality. 1882 W. Ballantine Exper. vi. 63, I never saw him without thinking of a shrivelled crab apple.

b. Of persons whose skin is wrinkled or whose limbs are withered or ‘dried up’. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone 11. i, Your shrivell’d sallad-eating artizans. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. II. 114 A shrivelled old lady, with a face of parchment. 1846 Mrs. Gore Engl. Char. (1852) 100 The name of French Cook conveys to the popular mind the image of a lean and shrivelled individual in a white nightcap and apron. 1877 Tennyson Harold iii. i, I, old shrivell’d Stigand.

c. transf. andfig. Contracted, reduced to small proportions. 1628 Donne Serm. (1660) III. iii. 37 That shiver’d, and shrivel’d, and ravel’d, and ruin’d soule. 1685 Reflect, on Baxter 11 Such a shriveled account as R. B. gives of this Chapter. 1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect II. 115 A repulsive countenance .. indicative of a naturally shrivelled heart and contracted soul.

shroe, shroff

obs. ff. shrub.

obs. f. shrewd, shroud.

obs. f. shrew sb.

Also 7 sheroff, -affe, -iffe, shrofe, 7-8 sheraff. [Anglo-Indian corruption of saraf.] A banker or money-changer in the East; in the Far East, a native expert employed to detect bad coin. (JrDf),

sharoffe,

sb.

sherrafe,

shraff,

1618 in Foster Engl. Factories Ind. (1906) 8 The sheraffs are poore and begerly. 1621 Ibid. 265 Wee cannot put of oure ryalls but as that onely sharoffe please to take them. Ibid. 352 Shrofes. 1625 Purchas Pilgrims 11. 1431 Twelve Sheriffes that is men to buy and sell Pearles, Diamonds, and other pretious Stones, and to exchange Gold and Silver. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 52 Amongst whom were Shroffs, or Money-changers. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 22/2 It is the custom of Shroffs to get the body of the bond wrote by their Gomastahs, and they sign it with their own hands. 1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master 11. 18 The breakfast soon dispatch’d, they’re off, To borrow money from a shroff. 1888 Kipling Departm. Ditties (ed. 3) 81 Deeply indebted to the village shroff. 1904 North-China Herald 27 May 1121/3 A shroff employed by Messrs. Musterberg & Co. attrib. 1882 'Fan Kwae' at Canton 58, I have heard of as much as fifty taels (about $70) being paid to an important Shroff-shop for such a transaction.

Hence shroff v. trans., to examine (coin) in order to separate the genuine from the base; also absol.\ whence shroffing vbl. sb. and ppl. a.; shroffing school, a school in which the art of detecting false coin is taught. I757 Clive in Beveridge Hist. India (1862) I. 592 [In vain did Clive represent that] the money could not be divided till it was shroffed, i860 T. L. Peacock Gryll Grange xviii, Two

SHROFFAGE stock-jobbing Jews, and a shroffing Parsee. 1878 H. A. Giles Gloss. Ref. 129 (Yule) Shroffing schools are common in Canton, where teachers of the art keep bad dollars for the purpose of exercising their pupils. 1882 ‘Fan Kwae' at Canton 55 The process of shroffing which it [money] underwent before being deposited in the treasury. 1906 Sat. Rev. 14 Apr. 451/1 The potential revenues of China are immense, but they are ‘shroffed’.. by every hand through which they pass.

shroffage ('Jrofid3). Also 7 shraffage, sherofferage. [f. prec. + -age. Cf. 16th cent. It. xarafaggio, Sp. cerafagio.] The commission charged for shroffing coin. 1629 in Foster Engl. Factories India (1909) III. 354 Shraffage is halfe a riall per every thousand rialls. 1676 Streynsham Master Diaries (1911) I. 394 The Councell doe know that there is a Sherofferage.. allowed in all these parts. 1766 T. Brooks Coins E. Indies 49 Brokerage i* per Cent. Shroffage 1 per Thousand. 1817 By-Laws Levant Co. 24 Commission and shroffage on cash remitted from one part of the dominions of the Grand Signior to another.. 1 per cent.

shroffe, obs. variant of shruff2. Shroftide,

Shroft

SHROUD

382

Tuesday,

obs.

ff.

Shrove-tide, Shrove Tuesday.

shrog. north, dial. [Parallel to scrog; see scr-.] A bush; also pi. underwood. C1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 455, I haue soght with my dogys All horbery shrogys. 15. Robyn Hood & Guy of Gisborne 113 They cutt them down two summer shroggs, That grew both under a breere. 1601 Munday Downf. Earl Huntingdon in. ii. E4b, From Barnsdale shrogs, to Notinghams red cliffes. 1703 Thoresby in Ray Philos. Lett. (1718) 336 Shrogs, a company of Bushes, of Hazel, Thorns, briers. 1824 [Carr] Craven Gloss., Shrogs, bushes or under¬ wood.

shroge, obs. form of shrug. Shropshire ('Jropj3(r)). The name (in OE. Scrobscir, Scrobbesbyrigscir) of a west-midland county of England, used as the distinguishing epithet of things coming from or associated with the county, as Shropshire cheese, damson, pie. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ill. (1586) 147 b, In England, the best Cheese is the Chesshyre, and the Shropshyre, then the Banbury Cheese. 1747 Mrs. Glasse Cookery 73 A Shropshire Pye. 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 298/2 (Damson) Much the finest variety., is that called the Shropshire damson.

b. (a) An old breed of horned sheep peculiar to Shropshire; (b) a modern breed of black-faced hornless sheep obtained by crossing with the Southdown. Also, an old breed of long-horn cattle, and of swine. 1768 A. Young Tour Southern Counties (1769) 139 That fine breed of hogs which at Barnet market are called the Shropshires. 1803 Plymley Agric. Shropsh. 241 The old Shropshire ox was remarkable for a large dewlap. Ibid. 260 The old Shropshire sheep . . have black or mottled faces and legs. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 358/2 Varieties of the short or middle-woolled breeds of sheep, and among them were the old Shropshires. 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 12 For quality of mutton, the Shropshire, by universal opinion, comes next to the Southdown.

shroub, obs. form of shrub. shroud (.fraud), sb.1 Forms: 1-3 scrud, (1 scruud, 3 srud, srut), 3-4 schrud, 3-6 shrud, 4-5 schrowde, 4-6 schroud(e, 4-7 shroude, (4 ssroud, shrout(e, 5 shrude, shrowed, 6 schrowd, shrow’d, shrowdde, 7 sroude), 5-7 shrowde, 5-9 shrowd, 4- shroud. [OE. scrud str. neut. = ON. skrud neut. (also skrude wk. masc.), fittings, furniture, ornament, also, some kind of textile fabric (Norw. skrud ornament, attire, MSw. skruper masc., state clothing, ornaments, Sw. skrud masc., attire); f. OTeut. *skrud-, long-wk.grade of *skreud- to cut (see shred sb.).] fl. a. A garment; an article of clothing; sing, and pi. (one’s) clothes, clothing, habiliments. Obs. ciooo i'ELFRic Gloss, in Wr.-Wiilcker 151/6 Habitus, scruud. c 1000-Gen. xlv. 22 And [he] sealde hira aelcum twa scrud. c 1200 Ormin i 37 All ane shridd wipp hali3 shrud 3ede he till Godess allterr. *71205 Lay. 5362 J?e°s eorles heom gerden mid godliche scruden [c 1275 scrude]. a 1225 St. Marher. 19 Feirlec ant strencSe beoS his schrudes. 13 .. E.E. Allit. P. B. 47 f>us schal he be schent for his schrowde feble. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. Prol. 2, I schop me in-to a schroud [B. in shroudes] A scheep as I were, c 1440 York Myst. xxix. 364 Lo, here a shrowde for a shrewe. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 599 Schaip the evin to the schalk, in thi schroud schene. 1508 Dunbar Tua mariit wemen 252, I wes schene in my schrowd. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 34 Thair semelie schroud likeas siluer scheue. 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido hi. iii, My princely robes.. are layd aside, Whose glittering pompe Dianas shrowdes supplies. 1638 G. Sandys Paraphr. Job xxxviii, Swadled, as new-borne, in sable shrouds.

b. In generalized use: Clothing, vesture. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1070 Swa maneja gersumas on sceat & on scrud [etc.], c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 63 Gif.. to pe flesce scrud and claatt unnclaennesse folbhenn. c 1205 Lay. 14869-72 Mi uader.. scunede [c 1275 sonede] pene cristindom & pa haeSene la3en luuede..pa we sculleS sceonien [c 1275 hatie], 01250 Owl & Night. 229 For vych ping pat schonyep riht, hit luuyep puster & hatep lyht. Ibid. 792 Vor myne crafte men me luuyep Vor pine strengpe men pe schunyep.

f2. a. To seek safety by concealment or flight from (an enemy, his pursuit, etc.). Obs. 0950 Guthlac xix. (Gonser) 159/7 And hine Ceolred se kyning hider and pider wide aflymde, an he his ehtnysse and his hatunge fleah and scunode. 1607 Shaks. Cor. 1. vi. 44 The Mouse ne’re shunn’d the Cat, as they did budge From Rascals worse then they. 1638 W. Lisle Heliodorus 11. 36 A liuing Greeke from dead /Egyptian ran, And long time that, which could not hurt him, shan.

b. To evade, elude (a blow, missile). Obs. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (Sommer) 317 b, But Amphialus seeing the blow comming, shunned it with nimble turning his horse aside. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. v. 4 [He] lightly shunned it [the stroke]. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 810, I forewarn thee, shun His deadly arrow.

3. To avoid (in mod. prose use always to avoid persistently or habitually) from repugnance, fear, or caution; to keep away from (a person or his society, a place, etc.); to avoid encountering or exposing oneself to (dangers, conditions), using or having to do with (a thing); to eschew, abstain carefully from (an action, an indulgence, etc.). a. with obj. a person, his company, etc. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 79 A1 se hwat se he forgulte wes al [animals] hit him ulel [? read uleh] and scunede. c 1250 Gen. Ex. 1864 Dat folkes kin god bad him sunen. 13 .. K. Alis. 6157 (Laud MS.), Aqueyntaunce of alle men hij shonep. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xi. 427 Euery man hym shonyeth. 1393 Ibid. C. xiv. 245 Ech man shonep hus companye. a 1450 Lovelich Grail lv. 76 The kyng was A lepre .. and so Orible.. that Eche Man schoned his Compenye. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. 11. i. 142 If you will patiently dance in our Round,.. goe with vs; If not, shun me and I will spare your haunts. 1607 Rowlands Famous Hist. 13 Society he shuns, and keeps alone. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 319 So passd they naked on, nor shund the sight Of God or Angel. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 88 Then he that sharp’d.. Was mark’d and shunn’d as odious. Ibid. vi. 307 The tim’rous hare.. Scarce shuns me. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. viii, So., shunning human approach, this troublesome old woman hid herself. 1880 Dixon Windsor III. xxiv. 238 The nobler class of Catholics shunned him.

b. with obj. a thing, a place, external conditions or circumstances, dangers, an enemy, etc. C1200 Ormin 9395 3iff patt tin e3he iss ali unnhal.. Itt shunepp.. pe sunness brihhte leome. a 1225 Ancr. R. 86 Vor 3if heo hit [hore fulSe] stunken, ham wolde .. speowen hit ut per, and schunien hit per efter. a 1250 Owl & Night. 590 (Jesus MS.) par to pu draust.. & oper clene stude pu schunest. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xi. 11 3e shulen not eete the flesh of hem, and the fain to deeth 3e shulen shonne [1388 eschewe]. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1548 Bot euery mon may well knowe & wyte What he was, by-cause pat he shynte & dred pe cresse. 1577 Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. 1. 18 Yf.. you finde it sweete, it is a signe of riche grounde.. yf it be saltishe, it is to be shunned. 1591 Shaks. Two Gent. 1. iii. 78 Thus haue I shund the fire, for feare of burning. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. |f 9 Neither is it the true man that shunneth the light, but the malefactour. 1697 Dryden JEneid Ded. (e), I have shun’d the Caesura as much as possibly I cou’d. For wherever that is us’d it gives a roughness to the Verse. 1710-11 Atterbury Serm. (1734) III. 93 It is not supposed, that we should have Power always to Resist, unless we before-hand do what is in our Power to Shun Temptation. 1717 Prior Alma 1. 482 He hates the fight, and shuns the foe. 1781 Cowper Charity 239 Thy lips have.. Taught me what path to shun and what pursue. 1847 Tennyson Princess Prol. 38 O noble heart who.. Nor bent, nor broke, nor shunn’d a soldier’s death. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 616 They rode on all day, shunning towns and villages. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi x. 204 A strange superstition makes them shun this sacred place. absol. 1818 Shelley Lines Euganean Hills 23 The dreamer .. Longing with divided will, But no power to seek or shun.

c. with obj. a mode of action, expression, or behaviour, an occupation, employment, subject of conversation, a mental condition or the like (often expressed by inf. or gerund). £•1175 Lamb. Horn, iii pet clene wif scunaS 3itsunge. C1200 Ormin 4502 Itt niss nohht lihht To betenn hefi3 sinne, & forrpi birrp pe shunenn a33 To fallenn ohht taerinne. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 13 pe man pe hit meSeS riht pe suneS aleS gestninge and idel wil. 1340-70 Alex. Dind. 449 Wip us schinep euery schalk in schippus for to saile. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 459 We schonep and forsakep foule slewpe and leccherie. £21400 New Test. (Paues) Tit. iii. 9 Bote schenye pou questyones of foly. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 11. xiii. 227 The vee of thilk thing is to be shoned, eschewid, and avoidid. 1544 Betham Precepts War 1. cxl. G vij b, Commaunde your souldyours, that they shunne to spoyle and robbe temples. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 1. x. 60 Thenceforth the suit of earthly conquest shonne. 1617 Moryson Itin. 1. 16, I ever shunned to goe twice one way. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. ix. 21 Had not Phoebus warn’d me .. To shun debate, Menalcas had been slain. 1742 Berkeley

SHUN Let. Wks. 1871 IV. 282, I would say, shun late hours. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 19 The thorny subject which they were delicately shunning in their conversation. 1847 Tennyson Princess 111. 205 We touch on our dead self, nor shun to do it. 1868 Nettleship Ess. Browning i. 40 The majority of those who are growing old .. shun looking back at all. absol. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. v. 169 Amonge monkes I mi3t be ac many tyme 4 shonye.

d. transf. and fig. Said poet, of things. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1101 So clene was his hondelyng vche ordure hit schonied. 1610 Shaks. Temp. iv. i. 116 Scarcity and want shall shun you. 1701 Addison Let. fr. Italy 56 See how the golden groves around me smile, That shun the coast of Britain’s stormy Isle. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iv. 101 The meteor-happiness, that shuns his grasp.

4. a. To escape (a threatened unwelcome task). Now rare or Obs.

SHUNT

392

evil,

an

(U.S.) 22 Apr. 55 (Advt.), Smooth roads, beautiful scenery —what more could a shunpiker want? 1961 M. Beadle These Ruins are Inhabited iv. 41 George’s reaction was to avoid all main roads—which is a good idea anyway if you’re not in a hurry, the virtues of shun-piking being self-evident. 1972 Alberta Motorist (Edmonton) Apr. 6/3 There are, of course, many times when shunpiking is preferable for the traveller. 1593 Passionate Morrice 81 But were not they shonne-thanks they would speake better of Honesties sonne.

’shun (Jaii). Colloq. abbrev. of attention 5, representing the verbal distortion and stress when used as a military command. 1888 Kipling Plain Tales from Hills 242 Stan’at—hease, 'Shun. 1928 Granta 2 Nov. 76/1 Prisoner! ’Shun. Move to the right in fours. 1955 W. Faulkner Fable 108 ‘Bridesman,’ he said but at that moment the major said ‘’Shun!’

c 1275 Moral Ode 159 in O.E. Misc. 63 Eure he wolde .. in godnesse wuyne Wi)? pax he myhte helle fur euer fleon and schonye. 1413-46 Hoccleve Minor P. i. 193 How may we two, the deeth eschue or shone? 1593 Shaks. 3 Hen. VI, 11. iii. 13 They follow vs with Wings, And weake we are, and cannot shun pursuite. 1614 Gorges Lucan vii. 295 That thus repulst thou shunst the griefe To see the slaughtred heapes that lye? 1667 Milton P.L. x. 1062 [He will] teach us further by what means to shun Th’ inclement Seasons, Rain, Ice, Hail and Snow. 1784 j ohnson in Boswell (1904) II. 537 If a man were to go by chance at the same time with Burke under a shed, to shun a shower. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. vi. 207 No man of woman born Coward or brave, can shun his destiny.

fshunch, v. Obs. rare. In

fb. To prevent the occurrence of (an action, event), to guard against (some inconvenience). Obs.

shunga ('Junga:). Also shun-ga. [Jap., f. shun spring + ga picture.] An example of Japanese erotic art; a painting or print of a pornographic nature.

1338 R Brunne Chron. (1725) 111 Bot Henry Dauid sonne,.. Contek for to schonne, to Steuen mad feaute. 1613 Lady E. Carew Mariam 1. i, For hee by barring me from libertie, To shunne my ranging, taught me first to range. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 111. 245 To shun this Ill, the cunning Leach ordains.. To feed the Females, e’er the Sun arise. 1796 Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 154, I devoutly wish you may be able to shun for us this war. 1798 Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Spring 159 Prowling Reynard.. To shun whose thefts was Giles’s evening care.

f5. intr. To shrink with dread; to be afraid. Obs. a 1000 Durham Ritual 32/5 Giscynia, metuere. 01300 Cursor M. 15173 pe fleche was dutand for to dei,.. It was ful sconand for J?e sare. a 1325 Maudelein 24 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 163 For euer he schone)? pax ha)? misgilt. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iv. (Jacobus) 164 pe bukis all he brocht.. and prayt him to bryne )?am sone. ‘Na’, said he, ‘for )?at I schone )?e rek of )?ame suld noyus be’. £*1440 York Myst. x. 244 It is goddis will, it sail be myne, Agaynste his saande sail I neuer schone.

16. a. To shrink back physically; to move or go aside (so as to escape or evade some person or thing); to fly (from an enemy, etc.); also with aside, away. Obs. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14128 pey cou)?e nought fighte, ne to-gydere wone, Ne at tyme stande ne schone. a 1375 Joseph Arim. 496 Betere hit were douhtilyche to di3en on or oune, pen wi)? schendschupe to schone and vs a-bak drawe. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 314 Ne no more schoune fore pe swape of theire scharpe suerddes. 14.. Sir Beues (O) 3591 Fro his stroke away they dyd shone. 1530 Palsgr. 704/1 And I had nat shonned asyde, he had hyt me in the eye. 1577 Test. 12 Patriarchs (1706) 152 If ye be good doers, both unclean spirits shall flee from you, and shrewd beasts shall shun for fear of you. 01586 Sidney Arcadia 111. (Sommer) 269 He shunned as much as he could, keeping onely his place for feare of punishment, a 1600 Flodden Field xli. in Child Ballads III. 357/1 Doubtlesse while your Hues wold last you wold never shun beside the plaine. fig- 1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bathes Ayde 11. 18 b, The salte taste is that, which .. byteth the tonge... The bitter taste is that, which seemeth to shunne away from the tongue.

b. To keep away, refrain from. Obs. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. iv. 23 Sone, waite tyme, and shone awei fro euel [Vulg. devita a malo). 1578 Hunnis in Parad. Dainty Devises 24 To shonn, from brails, debate and strife.

7. trans. To screen, hide. Now only dial. 1627 C. MacGeoghegan tr. Ann. Clonmacnoise 12 Fintan .. shunned himself from the violence thereof [i.e. of the flood] in a caue. Ibid. 13 All the foule .. gathered themselves there to shunn themselves. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Shun, to screen, e.g., a shrub planted to hide back premises.

8. dial. To shove, push. [Perh. another word.] Cf. shunt v. 3. 1674 Ray S. o StandeJ? stille, or sidlyng can go. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7320 Prothenor.. Set hym a sad dynt Sydlyng by-hynd. 1470-85 Malory Arthur x. lxiv. 524 Thenne they lasshed to gyder many sad strokes & tracyd and trauercyd now bakward now sydelyng. 1506 Mem. Hen. VII (Rolls) 290 So the King of Castile went sidling into the closet and drew the King in by the arm. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie in. (Arb.) 300 Such as retire from the Princes presence.. go backward or sideling for a reasonable space. 1609 W. M. Man in Moone (1849) 30 Hee hath the witte yet to enter sideling, like a gentlewoman with an huge farthingall. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 142 Crabs move sideling, Lobsters will swim swiftly backward. 1702 S. Parker tr. Cicero's De Finibus 1. 14 If all his Atoms must descend Sideling, they’ll never join one another. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 45 Sidelin to the fight They both come on. 1830 W. Phillips Mt. Sinai 1. 392 Or east, or west, or sideling to the north, Or south careering, it is follow’d still.

f 2. a. To or on one side {of a thing). Obs. rare. I543 Recorde Arithm. 132 b, Farthynges .. must be set in a voyde space sydelynge beneth the pennes. 1657 Howell Londinop. 349 Worcester House lies sideling of it. 1786 Burns Lord Daer v, I sidling shelter’d in a nook, An’ at his lordship steal’t a look.

fb. With an inclination to one side. Obs. 1603 Florio Montaigne (1634) 518 All Alexanders followers bare their heads sideling, as he did. 1612 Shelton Quix. 1.1. viii, I pray you sit right in your saddle, for you ride sideling, which proceeds, as I suppose, of the bruising you got by your fall. 1718 Motteux Quix. (1733) I. 62 Sit a little more upright in your Saddle; you ride sideling methinks.

f3. With the side toward something. Obs.-1

1548 Patten Exped. Scotl. Gvj, The enemies were in a fallowe felde, wherof the furrowes lay sydelyng towarde our men.

f4. On a side-saddle; facing to the side. Obs. 1603 Florio Montaigne 1. xlviii. (1632) 158 To ride up and downe.., ever sitting sideling, as women use. 1619 Middleton Love Antiq. Wks. 1885 VII. 326 Queen Anne .. being the first that taught women to ride sideling on horseback. 1698.1. Crull Muscovy 299 This Horse .. upon which the Patriarch rides sideling.

f5. So that the top and bottom are turned to the sides. Obs. rare. 1611 Florio, Catagraphi, images or pictures standing biase or sideline. 1712 Swift Public Sp. Whigs Wks. 1751 VIII. 9 A Fellow nailed up Maps in a Gentleman’s Closet, some sideling, others upside down.

B. adj. fl. Situated towards or at the side(s). Obs. 1548 Vicary Anat. iii. (1888) 27 [The] Parietales. .be the bones of the sideling parts of the head. 1552 Udall tr. Germinus' Anat. B iij b/2 The Chekes are the sydelynge parts of the face.

2. Directed or moving sideways; oblique. 1611 Cotgr., Oblique,.. sideling, bowed, winding. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Wars 18 Sideling and oblique Accusations were admitted. 1678 Dryden Kind Keeper 11. i. The peaking Creature,.. with a sideling Look, as if one Cheek carry’d more byass than the other. 1763 Dodsley Leasowes in Shenstone's Wks. (1777) II. 304 The eye is carried by a sideling view down a length of lawn. 1771 Foote Penseroso v. 237 The sideling glance Of bigot malice. 1828 Scott Fair M. Perth xxiii, Henry struck him a sideling blow on the steel head-piece. 1845 G. Oliver Coll. Biogr. Soc. Jesus p. iii, They cast no sideling glance to interest. 1890 Hall Caine Bondman 11. v, ‘We know you are watching him,’ he added, with a sideling motion of the head towards Government House.

b. fig.

Of speech, etc.: Indirect.

x789 Ross Helenore (ed. 3) 105 For Nory’s sake, this sideling hint he gae.

3. Having an inclination; sloping, steep. 1611 Cotgr., Collate,., a sideling, or sloping peece of ground. 1808 in Jamieson. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 44 The green hill’s sideling slope. 1854 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XV. 11. 246 It is a good plan to plough sidling ground in a circle. 1894 Harper's Mag. Feb. 356/2 Never have I seen hills as sideling as these.

Hence f 'sidelingwise adv. Obs.-1 1587 Holinshed Chron., Hist. Scotl. 102/2 Two Pictish horssemen running at Colgerme sidelingwise, bare him quite through.

sidelings (’saidligz), adv. Now dial. Forms: 4-6 sydlynges (5 -lyngs, 6 -lyngis, 9 -lins); 4-5 sidelynges (6 sedelinges, Sc. sidelingis), 6sidelings, 8-9 sidelins (-Ians, -lens); 5 (9 dial.) sidlings, 6 -lingis, 9 -lins. [f. side sb.1 + -lings. Cf. Fris. sydlings, Du. zijdelings, G. seitlings. In Sc. dial, also used as an adj.] 1. = sideling adv. 1; also, indirectly, with indirect speech; with a side-look. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 10869 Frolle vp stirte, & sydlynges glent. a 1400-50 Alexander 2057 J>e pouwere of Persy.. Se3es sidlings doun slayn of paire blonkis. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 4206 Right befor the king of kinges Manassen fel deid doun sidelinges. 1562 Turner Herbal 11. (1568) 93 Theophrast maketh orobum to grow sydlynges. 1593 Nashe Foure Lett. Conf. Wks. (Grosart) II. 263 In a verse, when a worde of three sillables cannot thrust in but sidelings. 1613 M. Ridley Magn. Bodies 16 That she wave not sidelings or turne about. 1675 V. Alsop Anti-sozzo 407 Why should others be forced to crowd in and wedge themselves through a narrow wicket sidelings? 1785 Burns To Wm. Simpson ii, Ironic satire, sidelins sklented, On my poor Musie. 1807-10 Tannahill Poems (1846) 70 I’ll sidelins hint—na, bauldly tell, I whyles think something o’ mysel’. 1856 J. Smith Merry Bridal 66 Sidelins he meets the cauld averted gaze O’them that kent him in his better days. f2. = SIDELING adv. 2 a. Obs. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1039 Bot thow moste seke more southe, sydlyngs a lyttille. C1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 309 Se that the deske.. be set atte sowth ende of that awter .. sidelyngs a fowre fote. 1533 Bellenden Livy 11. xxi. (S.T.S.) I. 216 Ane weyng of horss men come sidlingis f>e batall of Veanis. 1579 J. Jones Preserv. Bodie & Soul 1. xxvi. 49 In what sorte the light in the Chamber is to be placed... If sidelings, it may cause the Infant to proue squint. 1613 M. Ridley Magn. Bodies 16 If ankors by layd out, either forward, or backward, or sidelings. |3. = sideling adv. 3. Obs. 156* Hollybush Horn. Apoth. 10 Take a greate basin, set it sedelinges to a wall, so that it do leane holy vpon the wall.

4. Side by side; abreast. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 2730 Sick breid, abufe the wallis, there was, Thre cartis mycht sydlingis on thame pas. 1805- in Eng. Dial. Diet. 5. = SIDELING adv. 4. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia 300 Women sit on horseback sidlings, and men stradlings. 1898 in Eng. Dial. Diet.

'sidelong, adv.1 and a.1 Also side-long. [f. side sb.1 + -long. Cf. MDa. sidelangs, MSw. sidholangs adv.] A. adv. 1. Towards the side; sideways, obliquely. 1580 Baret Alvearie, Sidelong or sidewise, ex obliquo. 1589 Nashe M. Marprelate Wks. (Grosart) I. 121 A crooked generation, that loues to swym side-long with the Crabbe. 1602 R. Carew Cornwall 10 b, Their maner of working in the Loadmines, is to follow the Load as it lieth, either sidelong, or downe-right. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 197 As if.. waters forcing way Sidelong, had push’t a Mountain from his seat. 1718 Freethinker No. 17 Taking her Hoop in one Hand in a great Fury, she squeezes side-long through a Passage two Yards wide. 1816 Scott Antiq. xl, With these words she sunk back on the settle, and from thence sidelong

SIDELONG to the floor. 1867 Ruskin Time & Tide x. §58 That blue¬ lipped serpent—working its way sidelong in the sand.

2. Along the sides, rare-'. 1592 R. D. Hypnerotomachia 19 b, Which aulter (as I may tearme it) sidelong about, wrought with leaves.

3. So as to show the side. rare-'. 1610 Guillim Heraldry vi. v. (1611) 264 This forme of Helmet placed sidelong and close doth Ger. Leigh attribute to the dignity of Knight.

4. To the side o/; side by side; presenting the side to something. 1643 True Informer 40 The Parliaments Forces were within six miles side-long of him. 1803 Edwin III. iii. 49 When .. our bands were engaged in war, sidelong we fought. 1846 Hawthorne Mosses 11. xii, Seated within the shop, sidelong to the window. 1895 Kipling 2nd Jungle Bk. 203 Each [dog] was fastened sidelong to his neighbour’s neck.

5. On the side; with the side to the ground. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 333 Side-long as they sat recline On the soft downie Bank damaskt with flours. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. 1. xl, Behoves no more, But sidelong, to the gently-waving wind, To lay the well-tun’d instrument reclin’d. 1757 W. Wilkie Epigoniadiv. 95 He.. sidelong on the beach the galley laid. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. hi. 334 Side-long the plough beside the field-gate lay.

b. Inclining to one side in moving along a slope. 1879 J efferies Wild Life vi. 119 On the hills where the waggons have to run ‘sidelong’ to pick up the crops one side higher than the other. 6. As prep. By or along the side of. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §38 If she wyl not stande syde longe all the lambe, than gyue her a lytell hey. 1822 Scott Halidon Hill 1. ii, We’ll.. descend Sidelong the hill; some winding path there must be.

B. adj. 1. In a slanting direction; in a sloping position; inclining to one side; lying on the side. A. M. Guillemeau s Fr. Chirurg. 28/4 We must make the apertione sydelonge or contradictorye, when we purpose to iterate the phlebotomye. 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan v. 928 This [wave] lays the sidelong Alder on the Main, And that restores the leaning Bark again. 1748 Gray Alliance 91 With side-long plough to quell the flinty ground, c 1830 Longf. Spirit of Poetry 30 The .. upland where the sidelong sun .., at evening, goes. 1871 Palgrave Lyr. Poems 36 As he who whilst the side-long vase ran clear Dream’d down whole years in fancy. *597

b. spec. Of ground: Sloping. 1792 Belknap Hist. New-Hampshire III. 105 In side long ground, the stick by its rolling would overset the sled. 1802 E. Darwin Orig. Society iv. 165 Green sloping lawns construct the sidelong scene. 1838 Simms Public Wks. Grt. Brit. 36 The area of any cross section in sidelong ground. 1873 Robertson Engineering Notes 48 Sidelong ground must be cut into steps before embanking over it.

2. Directed to one side or sideways. 1608 Bp. J. King Serm. 24 Mar. 2 The comming so neare togither, of two .. so great festiuities .., giueth mee so iust an occasion, togither with my principal aime at the one, to haue a collateral, sidelong aspect at the other. 1635 Swan Spec. M. v. §2 (1643) 169 Their motion is a laterall or side-long motion. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 570 With a side-long look, Poor William thro’ the heart was struck. 1791 Cowper Iliad xxi. 319 With a sidelong sweep Assailing him. 1818 Byron Juan 1. clxxiii, Regarding both with slow and sidelong view. 1861 Thackeray Round. P., Ogres, He gives a dreadful sidelong glance of suspicion. 1887 Hall Caine Son of Hagar in. i, Indicating with a sidelong nod the room to the left. transf. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes in. xxii. 10 Yearly shall' bleed a festal Swine, That meditates the side-long Wound.

b. Glancing, moving, or extending sideways. 1818 Shelley Rev. Islam iii. xxxiv. 8 Past the pebbly beach the boat did flee On sidelong wing, into a silent cove. 1864 Swinburne Atalanta 1305 But the sidelong arrow slid. 1877 Tennyson Harold iii. i. 87 [It] shot out sidelong boughs across the deep.

3. Indirect; not straightforward or open. 1654 Z. Coke Logick 25 We have seen the direct degrees; now follow the Collateral, or sidelong, which is called Difference. 1697 C. Leslie Snake in Grass (ed. 2) 380 Their side-long Answers, and silly Excuses will not do. 1832 Ht. Martineau Homes Abroad vi. 82 They did not see the winks, and the side-long smiles. 1853 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 148 Hazarding promiscuous sidelong sort of observations, that might be taken up by anybody. 1883 Longman s Mag. Nov. 97 A sinister look, which even the Captain could not help noting in a sidelong fashion.

f 'sidelong, adv.2 and a.2 Obs. rare. [f. side adv.' and a. + LONG a.] = side a. and adv.' 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. Epil. (Arb.) 82 They be no boyes, which weare such side long gowns. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 354 And now the Foxe had gotten him a gowne, And th’ Ape a cassocke sidelong hanging downe.-Vision Bellay ix, An hideous bodie big and strong I sawe, With side-long beard.

'side-look, [side s6.‘] An oblique look; a sideglance. Also fig. 1705 Steele Tender Husb. iv. i, That Side-look hides the Mole on the left Cheek. 1820 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) I. 316 In that straight line he went on for fifty years, without one side-look. 1880 Blackmore Mary Anerley xli, With a sidelook he let her know that he did not wish to hurt her feelings.

So 'side-looker, -looking. 13.. MS. Digby 86 fol. 168 b, pe hare.. pe westlokere, The waldeneie, the sid-lokere. CI435 Torr. Portugal 1650 As he caste a side lokyng, He saw a lady in her bed syttyng.

'side-looking, a. [side sb.'] 1. Characterized by looking sideways. 1829 J. F. Cooper Wept of Wish-ton-Wish I. iii. 37 A demure, side-looking young woman kept her great wheel in motion. 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) iv.

429 36 Those others turned me back .. to the side-looking cast in Phyl’s eyes, her black hair short-cropped with a calculating wildness.

2. Producing or being a radar or sonar beam transmitted sideways and downwards, usu. from an aircraft for the mapping of relief. 1961 B. L. Cordry et al. in G. Merrill Airborne Radar xiv. 777 In side-looking systems .. the orientation of the antenna may not be changed easily. 1964 Jrnl. Geophysics Res. LXIX. 3824/1 Narrow-beam lateral echo sounders are similar to standard echo sounders except that the transducer is mounted to give a side-looking beam that is a few degrees below horizontal. 1971 P. O’Donnell Impossible Virgin i. 6 From film taken by side-looking radar he could penetrate .. the earth’s skin, to. .the bed-rock below. 1977 Sci. Amer. Oct. 93/? The acute grazing angle of the microwave illumination of side-looking radar emphasizes the form of the land, and the large areas that can be surveyed under constant conditions favor the recognition of extensive features.

t'sidely, adz;. Obs.~1 [f. sides^.1] In an indirect manner; indirectly. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 324 3if a man a3enstondip God and doit> a3ens his wille, 3k Goddis wille is fillid asideli [v.r. sydely] by punishinge of pis man.

'sideman. [f. side sb.1] fl. = SIDESMAN I. Obs. 1570 Foxe A. Gf M. (ed. 2) 2098/1 He beyng one of the Church Wardens or side men. 1577 Harrison England 11. v. (1877) 1. 134 In villages they are commonlie made churchwardens, sidemen, aleconners, constables. 1602 Carew Cornwall 82 Besides this Incumbent, euery parish had certaine officers, as Churchwardens, Sidemen. 1636 Davenant Wits iii. i, It is worth all the Bells in your Church Steeple, Though your Sexton and Side-men hung there too, To better the peal. 1682 in Picture of Liverpool (1834) 108 Thomas Mathews elected sideman for the remainder of the Year.

f2. A partisan. rare~x. Obs. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 93 The partie that brought it was a sideman of the Iesuits.

f3. (See quot.) rare~x. Obs. ci6oo Edmonds Obser. Caesars Comm. 130 The first, second and third, and so forward in each file, are called Sidemen in respect of the same numbes in the next file.

f4. = OYSTER sb. 3. Obs. 1632 Sherwood, The sidemen of a pullet, les huistres d'une poulle.

5. A supporting musician in a jazz or dance band. Cf. front man (ii) s.v. front sb. 14. orig. U.S. 1936 Amer. Mercury XXXVIII. p. x/2 Side man, any musician in the band except the leader. 1943 P. E. Miller Yearbk. Pop. Music 7/2 He began playing in bands just a few years later, and was soon accepted as a desirable sideman. 1961 Radio Times 21 Dec. 53/4 Jazz Club. Humphrey Lyttelton.. welcomes as his guests two former Lyttelton sidemen Jimmy Skidmore on tenor sax and Johnny Picard on trombone. 1977 J. Wainwright Do Nothin' till You hear from Me v. 67 Goodman and Dorsey.. had tight section work, when needed—but they let their sidemen cut loose, and weave their own patterns.

side meat. N. Amer. (chiefly Southern and Western U.S.). [side sfe.1] Salt pork or bacon, usu. cut from the side of the pig. 1868 Overland Monthly Nov. 468/1 But they do not thrive after transplanting any better than do the corn pone of Virginia. . and the ‘side-meat’ of Missouri. 1873 J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xxiv. 482 Two bright-eyed, graceful, copper-colored sehoritas bring me a supper of coffee, side meat, eggs, and tortillas de mais. 1939 J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath v. 43 But—you see, a bank or a company can’t do that, because those creatures don’t breathe air, don’t eat side-meat. 1957 M. Shulman Rally round Flag, Boys! (1958) xiv. 158 Accents that recalled hominy grits and sidemeat. 1975 G. V. Higgins City on Hill viii. 208 None of these intellectual-emotional phenomena is an adequate substitute for side meat and greens.

t'siden, adv. Obs. [OE. sidan, f. sid side a.] = side adv.' 1. 932 in Birch Cartul. Sax. II. 389 Of jehwilcum stowum wydan and sydan gegaderod. c 1205 Lay. 139 Muche lond he him 3ef..siden & widen. Ibid. 15405 He lette his men riden widen & siden.

f'sideness. Obs. [f. side a.] a. Length, b. Height (of a roof). c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xli. (Agnes) 158 God send sic sydnes in hyre hare pat scho wes cled mare ewinely with hare pane with hire clathis in hy. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 62 \?ei maken per abitis myche, bope in widnesse and sidnesse. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 474 Stepnesse, or sydenesse of a roof, elevacio. 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Sydenesse, longevr. 1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses Eij, The other contayneth neither length, breadth or sidenes (beeing not past a quarter of a yarde side) wherof some be paved. 1607 Markham Caval. 11. (1617) 258 When you.. haue made both the bitt cheekes of an euen sidenesse.

fsidenhand, adv. Obs. Also 5 sydnandys. [f. OE. sidan, gen. sing, of side side sb.' + hand si.) Aside; on one side of. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5019 Cesar conseilled wip Androche, J?at he wolde come out of pe cite, And turne a sidenhand o valeye. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 455/1 Sydnandys, or a-syde, oblique. 1538 Leland I tin. (1907) I. 9 The hedde of Avon Ryver risethe a litle sidenhand [printed -ham] of Gilesborow village, and cummith by it there first receyving a botom. [Cf. side-hand under side sb.1 27.]

side-on, adv. and a. [side sb.1 4- on adv. 7 b; cf. head-on adv. and a.] A. adv. ('side- on). With one side directed towards the point of reference;

SIDERAL from the side. B. adj. ('side-on). Directed from or towards one side; indirect. Of a collision: involving the meeting of one side of a vehicle with an object. 1909 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Avonlea xiv. 154 His farm is side-on to the Newbridge road. 1928 Daily Mail 16 Aug. 13/7 Side-on collisions frequently occur owing to blurred side curtains, i960 Times 10 June 19/1 He may have been a little more side-on at the moment of delivery. 1976 Ld. Home Way Wind Blows xi. 156 One of our delegation was sitting with a side-on view of the rostrum. 1977 J. Cleary Vortex viii. 204 Wind was hitting the car side-on.

'side-pocket, [side si.1] 1. A pocket in the side-portion of a garment (esp. a coat or jacket). 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 116 Pulling out his butcher’s knife from a sheath in his side-pocket. 1796 Grose's Diet. Vulgar T. (ed. 3) s.v., He has as much need of a wife as a dog of a side pocket; said of a weak old debilitated man. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xxx, Buttoning his coat over the arms, which were concealed in a side-pocket ingeniously contrived for that purpose. 1862 Whyte Melville Inside the Bar iii. 265 He’s no more use for a hunter now, than a cow has for a side-pocket. 1901 Macm. Mag. Apr. 465/2 He brought an old coat one day, and amused himself firing through the side-pockets. attrib. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 13 Jan. 4/2 He wore a..sidepocket jacket which fitted him like a glove.

2. (See quot.) 1850 R. G. Cumming Hunter’s Life S. Afr. (ed. 2) I. 23 Along the sides of the tent are suspended rows of square-cut canvas bags, called side-pockets.

'side-post, [side sfc.1] 1. One of the posts at either side of a doorway; a door-post. (Chiefly in Biblical echoes.) 1535 Coverd. Exod. xii. 22 Stryke it vpon the vpper poste and vpon the two syde postes. [Similarly 1572 and 1611.] 1697 C. Leslie Snake in Grass (ed. 2) 140 The striking of its Blood upon the Side-posts of their Houses. 1738 Warburton Div. Legat. II. 635 Striking the blood on the side-posts. 1865 J. H. Ingraham Pillar of Fire (1872) 562 To sprinkle its blood on the side-posts and on the lintel. 1874 Ruskin Val D' Arno 217,1 intended .. to have insisted, at some length, on the decoration of the lintel and side-posts.

2. A post supporting a roof at or towards one side of it. 1625 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 197 The sydepostes of ye roofe. 1850 Parker Gloss. Arch. (ed. 5) 427 Sideposts in a roof-truss, are posts placed in pairs at an equal distance from the middle. 1862 - Rickman’s Gothic Archit. 200 The vaulting-shafts or half pillars.. carrying either the ribs of the vault, or the side posts of the open timber roof.

'sider1. [f. side v.1 11.] One who sides with a person or cause; a partisan, adherent. 1616 J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. iii. 211 False dice and carders, with all cheatinge crewes, siders that feede, nay bio self-gaine-made faction. 1656 S. H. Gold. Law 4 What then can nocent Charls Stuart, or his siders with, say for themselves? 1665 Winstanley Loy. Martyrol. 171 A desparate Enemy to the Old King all along,.. a greater Sider with Cromwel.

Hence f 'sidership.

Obs.

1594 Nashe Unfortunate Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 21 The world is well amended, thought I, with your Sidership.

'sider2, forming the second element in a comb, or collocation, as near sider, a horse standing on the near side; hillsider, one living on a hillside, etc. See also insider and outsider. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley cxii, I like that near sider with the white fetlock. 1865 H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons xii, Those who think they know something of them might fancy that ‘Old’, ‘Vandemonian’, or even ‘Sydney Sider’, were not particularly offensive. 1891 S. C. Scrivener Our Fields & Cities 11 The Trentsiders have a manner peculiarly their own. 1898 [see hillsider].

sider, obs. form of cider. 'side-rail, [side sb.' 23 b.] A rail placed or fixed at the side of something. 1754 J. Bartlet Gentl. Farriery (ed. 2) 354 Let an assistant, standing on the side rail of a brake,. . raise the horse’s tail very gently. 1790 W. H. Marshall Rur. Econ. Midi. II. 437 Geering, the ladders and side rails of a waggon. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 34 By means of a crooked side-rail, bending archwise over the hind wheel, the bodies .. are kept low. 1852 Wiggins Embanking 132 Placing gates and side-rails to those marshes. 1903 Cornhill Mag. Oct. 571, I leaned against the side-rail [of the yacht] beside her.

sideral ('saidsral, 'sidaral), a. Also 6 syderail, 7-8 -al; 7 siderall. [ad. L. sider alis, f. sider-, sidus constellation, star. Cf. F. sideral, fsyderal (16th cent.).] 1. Of or pertaining to the stars; sidereal, starry. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. 11. 1. xxxviii. (1597) 170 b, The Astronomicall yeare is either Tropicall or Syderall. 1653 Gataker Vind. Annot. Jer. 48 He sends for those of his Egyptian Wizards, whome he deemed most skilful in the Sideral Science. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing 38 The Syderal Observations set forth in Tycho’s name. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. x. 7 So shone the earth, as if the sideral train, Broad as full suns, had sail’d the ethereal plain. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit. Wks. (Bohn) III. 2, I who am only waiting.. to.. put diameters of the .. sideral orbits between me and all souls.

2. Coming from, caused by, the stars. Chiefly of malign influences. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xiii. §27 As if it had beene a syderall infection or generall Lunacy. 1667 Milton P.L.

SIDERANT x. 693 These changes in the Heav’ns .. produc’d .. sideral blast, Vapour, and Mist, and Exhalation hot. 1708 J. Philips Cyder 1. 31 The vernal nippings and cold syderal blasts. 1799 Monthly Rev. XXX. 570 The virgin mud, fecundated.. by the sideral influence. 1805 Poet. Reg. 175 Worse than mildew hoar Or Sideral blast is he.

siderant ('sidarant), a. Path. [a. F. siderant.] Striking and paralyzing suddenly. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 664 The ‘type foudroyante’ of French authors, which may also be called the fulminant, siderant, apoplectic, or malignant type.

side'raphthite. [f. Gr.

SIDERO-

43°

iron + d^Bir-os

undecaying.] (See quot.) 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. hi. 39/1 A new alloy, which resembles silver, and is very ductile and malleable, is composed of 65 parts iron, 23 of nickel, 4 of tungsten, 5 of aluminium, and 5 of copper... The metal is called ‘sideraphthite’.

f 'siderate, v. Obs. [f. ppl. stem of L. sider ari to be planet-struck, f. sider-, sidus constellation, star.] trans. To strike with malign (sidereal) influence, to blast. Chiefly in passive: To be blasted, struck with lightning; also fig., to be thunder-struck. 1623 Cockeram 1, Siderate, to blast. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 335 Parts cauterized, gangrenated, siderated and mortified, become black. 1654 Vilvain Epit. Ess. v. xxxiii. 102 The 2 Persons that were suddenly siderated or slain and scorched in bed together with Lightning. 1679 V. Alsop Melius Inq. 11. v. 307 This is Demonstration that puts the Controversie beyond all exception, and the poor Non¬ conformists are siderated with the violence of it!

side'ration. Now rare. Also 7-8 syd-. [ad. L. sideratio blast, blight, palsy, f. siderari: see prec. So F. sideration, fsyderation (16th cent.).] 1. Blasting of trees or plants. 1623 Cockeram ii. Aivb, A Blasting thereof, Stellation, Syderation. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Syderation. Blasting of Trees with great heat and drought, Tree-plague. 1686 Goad Celest. Bodies hi. i. 383 If God hath ordained Sideration of Plants, or blasting of Fruits, must we accuse the Creation? 1691 Ray Creation (1714) 304 Producing a Mortification or Syderation in the parts of Plants. 1721 Bailey, Sideration, the Blasting of Trees or Plants, with an Eastern Wind or with excessive Heat and Drought. [Hence in Miller Gard. Diet. (1731).]

2. Sudden paralysis; complete mortification of any part of the body. 1612 Cotta Disc. Dang. Pract. Phys. 1. vii. 59 The sicke are also sodainly taken .. with a senseless trance and generall astonishment or sideration. 1638 A. Read Chirurg. iv. 27 An absolute coldnesse .. causeth the sideration or death of the part. 1638 Drumm. of Hawth. Irene Wks. (1711) 172 This hath been in them a Sideration, the Blasting of some unhappy Influence. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. vii. vi. (1852) 575 Rabid animals, which, by a most unaccountable syderation from Heaven, had now neither strength nor sense left ’em to do anything for their own defence.

3. Path. (See quots.) [1788 Med. Comm. II. 182 Sideratio, or Erysipelas of the head and face. 1809 Parr Med. Diet. II. 583 Sider atio,. .a sphacelus or a species of erysipelas, vulgarly called a blast.] 1828-32 in Webster (citing Parr). 1849 Craig, Sideration, in Pathology, a name given to erysipelas of the face or scalp, from an idea of its being produced by the influence of the planets.

sidere, obs. form of cider. sidereal (sai'diarwl), a.

Also 7-9 siderial (7 syd-); 7-8 sydereal (7 -all), [f. L. sidere-us, f. sider-, sidus constellation, star + -al1.] 1. Of or pertaining to the stars. 1647 H. More Pref. to Antipsychopannychia, Upon which pure bright sydereal phantasms unprejudiced reason may safely work. 1651 -Enthus. Tri. (1712) 32 That a Man has a sydereal body besides this terrestrial which is joined with the Stars. 1692 J. Salter Triumphs of Jesus 24 Display your Glories ye Syderial States. 1739 H. Coventry Philemon to Hydaspes in. 76 [A] most expressive, as well as permanent Symbol of the Sidereal Splendors. 1792 Phil. Trans. LXXXII. 26 Among the changes that happen in the sidereal heavens we enumerate the loss of stars. 1831 Carlyle Sort. Res. 1. iii, What thinks Bootes of them, as he leads his Hunting-Dogs over the Zenith in their leash of sidereal fire? 1868 Spencer Prine. Psychol. (1872) I. 1. vii. 137 That general Astronomy which includes our whole sidereal system. 1874 Farrar Christ I. iii. 29 That any strange sidereal phenomenon should be interpreted as the signal of a coming king, was in strict accordance with the belief of their age.

2. Star-like, lustrous, bright, rare. 1634 Bp. Hall Contempt., N.T. iv. xiv. 201 With what a blushing astonishment doth she behold his sydereall countenance cast upon her. 1649 J. H. Motion to Pari. 30 Provoking some sydereall and flaming soules to display themselves in their full.. lustre.

3. Of periods of time: Determined or measured by means of the stars. In sidereal day, month, year, time (see quots.). 1681 Wharton Disc. Yrs. e sekil.. cummis at aske pordir [= the order], man salle noght light¬ like gif it tam. Ibid. 39 When any riche man of pe sekil.. offirs his do^tir til god and til haly kirke. £1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 2500 Of his leuyng pai suld no3t wondir, Na halde it haly all pof it ware Solitary fra pe sekyll fare.

2. An age or period. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 429/1 The whyche god creatour .. be thanked .. by all the syecle and syecles. 1549 Compl. Scot. 3 The verteouse verkis dune be 30ur antecessours in oure dais ar euident til vs in this present seicle. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie II. xi. (Arb.) 125 Yet those trifles are come from many former siecles vnto our times.

3. A century. c 1532 Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1079 The Romayns [reckoned] by lustres, whiche ben fyve yeres:.. a secle is an hundred yere.

fsiede, v. Obs.~] [a. MDu. sieden (Du. zieden): see seethe v.) trans. To boil. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 30 Ye may doo what ye wille,.. ye may siede me, or roste, hange, or make me blynde.

siedge, obs. form of siege. fsief. Obs. rare. Also sieff, seif. [ad. Arab. shiyaf, f. shwf to see, to adorn oneself.] (See quots.) C1550 H. Lloyd Treas. Health F iij, Sief is a confectyon made after the fashion of a suger lofe & most be dyssoluyd in licour before it be receiuid. 1656 Ridgley Pract. Physick 128 The Collirium or Sieff that follows, is useful. [1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Collyrium, is an oblong or round Tablet or Trochisk, used formerly in Distempers of the Eyes; and was then called by the Arabian Name of Seif or Sief.]

siege (si:d3), sb. Forms: 3-7 sege (5 cege, seche), 4-5 segh(e; 4 seeg, 6-7 seege, seage, 6 saige; 4-5 sige, 5- siege, 5-6 syege, 5-8 seige; 5 sedche, 6 sedge, syedge, 7 seidg(e, si(e)dge, segge. [a. OF. sege, seige, siege (mod.F. siege):—pop. L. *sedicum, f. *sedem (L. sedem, sedes) seat. Hence also MDu. siege, siegye, siedse seat, siege.] I. 1. fa. A seat, esp. one used by a person of rank or distinction. Obs. a 1225 Ancr. R. 238 J?eos sege & teos seoue crunen haueS pi diciple peos ilke niht of earned, c 1290 *S. Eng. Leg. I. 228 Seue taperes weren in pe queor.. And foure-and-twenti segene;.. And pe Abbodes sege was a-midde pe queor. 13 .. E.E. Allit. P. C. 93 ‘Oure syre syttes,’ he says, ‘on sege so hy3e’. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 221 berynne is., dyuers oute goynges, benches, and seges [L. sedilia] all aboute. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3259 He..ledde hym to his tente,.. And in his real seege and his chaiere As blyue hym sette. 1470-85 Malory Arthur iii. ii. 101 The Bisshop .. blessid the syeges with grete Royalte.. and there sette the viij and xx knyghtes in her syeges. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 153 The scribe in writing. . Sitting in his siege acloyde with couetise. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ii. 39 Guyon..From lofty siege began these words aloud to sound. 1614 Lodge Seneca 148 The sieges in a Theater ordained for Knights, appertaine to all Knights of Rome. a 1616 B. Jonson Masque Oberon 213 note. The Knights masquers sitting in their severall sieges. fig. 1604 Shaks. Oth. 1. ii. 22, I fetch my life and being, From Men of Royall Seige.

fb. An ecclesiastical see. Obs. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2813 Change wor|> of bissopriches & pe digne sege iwis Worp ybro3t to kaunterbury, pat at londone nou is. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7760 He sente to Rome, to seint Romeyn,.. He kepte pe sege of the apostoylle. C1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paul) 398 Quhen pape cornel pe sege of rowme gouernyt wele. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 50 So pat ani ping be askid for bischoppis, abbots, or oper personis, to be putt in per segis. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 21 The kirk of Alexandrye. .said that sanct Petir maid his sege thare and his charter. 1547 Bk. of Marchauntes cvj, A woman which held and possessed the pontifical syedge two yeres. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. ix. 0599) 367 A day wherein.. are offered the tributes which are due to the seege Apostolike.

fc. Sc. A bench or form; a class. Obs. 1560 Bk. Discipline in Knox Hist. Ref. (Wodrow) II. 213 In the first Colledge . . of the Vniversitie thair be four classes or saigeis. a 1614 J. Melvill Diary (Wodrow) 69 Upon this premonition he continowes halff a yeir as guid a bern as was in the seage.

fd. A class or category. Obs.~l 1630 Brathwait Eng. Gentlem. (1641) 109 Wee shall first proceed with such as follow, being ranked in the same siedge, because recreations of the same nature.

e. Siege Perilous: the vacant seat at King Arthur’s Round Table which could be occupied without peril only by the Knight destined to achieve the Grail. Also^ig. [r 1230 La Queste del Saint Graal (1967) 4 Et einsi alerent tant qu’il vindrent au grant siege que len apeloit le Siege Perilleux. Ibid. 7 Tuit li compaignon de la Table Reonde

SIEGE furent venu et li siege aempli, fors seulement cil que len apeloit le Siege Perilleus.] C1470 Malory Works (1967) I. 102 But in the Sege Perelous there shall nevir man sitte but one, and yf there be ony so hardy to do hit he shall be destroyed, and he that shall sitte therein shall have no felowe. 1870 Tennyson Holy Grail & Other Poems 43 There stood a vacant chair... And Merlin call’d it ‘The Siege perilous’, Perilous for good and ill. 1922 J. Buchan Huntingtower xiii. 256 There in a coign of the old battlements he would prove an ugly customer to the pursuit. Only one at a time could reach that siege perilous. 1959 P. Le Gentil in R. S. Loomis Arthurian Lit. in Middle Ages xix. 261 Three scenes, the fateful occupation of the Siege Perilous and the two visits to the Grail castle, constitute the main pattern.

2. fa. A place in which one has his seat or residence; a seat of rule, empire, etc. Obs. C1374 Chaucer Boeth. 1. pr. iv. (1868) 13 Is pis pe librarie wyche pat pou haddest chosen for a ry3t certeyne sege to pe in myne house, c 1400 Maundev. (1839) xix. 211 In that Cytee was the firste Sege of the Kyng of Mancy. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 194/2 He ordeyned and Instytuted Parys to be the chyef syege of the royame. 1592 Warner Alb. Eng. viii. xliii. 206 He [Constantine] made his siege Bizantium, that retaines his name ere since. 1630 Brathwait Eng. Gentlem. (1641) 138 They may be fitly compared to the Hedge-hogge, who hath two holes in his siedge: one towards the South, another towards the North. fig. 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. 1. 56 He fixed her so fast in the siege of his remembraunce, as if he had been a yonge man. 1591 Lodge Catharos vi. 56 The braine, which according to some Philosophers is the siege of humane seed.

+ b. The place in which a thing is set, or on which a ship lies. Obs. rare. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2183 pe dore .. fle3 Out of pe Hokes & fram hir sege x. vet y-mete wel ne3. 15.. Ship Laws in Balfour's Pract. (1774) 622 (Jam.), Gif the ship be on ane hard saige, the master sould gar the shipman amend it incontinent, that the ship tak na skaith.

c. The station of a heron on the watch for prey. Hence, a group or flock of herons. A siege of herons is included in most of the old lists of ‘companies of beasts and fowls’. CI452 in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1909) in. 51 Sege of Betowrys. Sege of hayrynnys. Sege vnto a Castelle. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 113 Having found the Hearon at siege you must get you with your Falcon up into some high place. 1633 Massinger Guardian 1. i, A hearn put from her siege .. shall mount So high [etc.]. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. (1677) 205 If you finde a wild Hern at Siege. 1801 J. Strutt Sports Pastimes 1. ii. 28 A sege of herons, and of bitterns. 1937 J- W. Day Sporting Adventure 106 They [sc. herons] are about in pairs instead of the ‘sieges’ of half a dozen or more which one met only a month ago fishing on the tide line. 1977 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 5 June 3/2 A siege of herons flying home against a sunset sky.

f3. a. A privy. Also to go to siege, to go to stool, to ease oneself. Obs. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 12 (Add. MS.), 3if he may no3t go to sege onys a day, helpe hym hereto opere wit clysterye, opere with suppositorye. c 1440 Alph. Tales 122 pis clerk .. slew paim bothe, & cut paim in pecis & keste paim in a sege. 1544 Phaer Pestilence (1553) Oj b, He ought euery day to goe to siege once. 1555 Bp. Bonner Prof. Gf Necess. Doctrine Uj, Dooe they passe into the seage from us as other meates doe?

b. Evacuation. Obs. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 954 in Babees Bk., Aftur slepe and sege, honeste will not hit denay. 1539 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 55 b, If he which oftentymes unconstrayned hath had great sieges, be sodeynly stopped. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 574 The juyce of the wilde Letuce.. scoureth by siege the waterie humours. 1605 Timme Quersit. 1. v. 19 The philosophicall salt is of greatest virtue and force to purge:.. whether it bee the belly, by siege;.. or the body, by sweate. 1669 W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 244 Clogging medicines .. are.. carryed off by seidge. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresney's Amusem. 97 The Patient should swallow as much Aqua Fortis, as would dissolve the Knife.., and bring it away by Seige.

reduce or take it; an investment, beleaguering. Also const, of. Also transf. and fig. In early use sometimes approaching the concrete sense of ‘investing force’. For the phrases to lay and to raise a siege see lay v.1 19 and raise v.1 29. a 1300 Cursor M. 7070 Her-of thar naman be in were, Forqui pe sege lasted ten yeire. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1909 Ariadne, Nysus doughtyr stod vp-on the wal, And of the sege saw the maner al. 1415 Hoccleve Min. Poems ii. 197 Rede the storie of Lancelot de Lake,. . The seege of Troie or Thebes, c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn Hi. 200 He was not seen of theym that were atte the syege. 1515 Scot. Field 48 in Chetham Misc. II, Now leve we our king lying at the sedge. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 42 After many battels and sundry sieges, he subdueth them. 1609 Dekker Peace is Broken Wks. (Grosart) IV. 165 So many troubles .. following both the armies (by meanes of the tedious Siege). 1653 Holcroft Procopius, Goth. Wars 1. 12 Why fear you this seige.., secured by these walls and souldiers? a 1738 Swift Hen. I, Wks. 1768 IV. 275 In hopes to draw the enemy from the siege of so important a place. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1851) I. 237/1 He returned to the siege of Chalcedon. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles in. x, We must . . instant pray our Sovereign Liege, To shun the perils of a siege. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Mi lit. Diet. (ed. 3) 383/2 The penetrating power of the arms which would now be used at a siege is far greater than it used to be. 1911 Times 5 Jan. 6/2 {heading) Foreign opinion on the Stepney siege. 1980 Daily Tel. 5 June 8/6 Police forced their way into a flat . . after a man had barricaded himself in.. . During the twohour siege the man’s wife sustained a broken nose. fig. c 1600 Shaks. Sonn. lxv, O how shall summers hunny breath hold out Against the wrackfull siedge of battring dayes. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl Djb, lie lay hard siege to her. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies iv. §4. 29 So that noe part of the body .. be free from the siege of the dense body that presseth it. c 1700 Dryden Theo. Hon. 33 Love stood the siege, and would not yield his breast. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 93 If 3 Interest and passion will hold out long against the closest siege of diagrams and syllogisms.

b. Without article, to lay siege to: see lay v.1 19CI375 Sc. Eeg. Saints vii. {Jacob) 443 To Ierusaleme .. [he] com . . & gret sege gert till It lay. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxix. 38 Sone Sire Rollo wip his Route Bisette pat Citee wip sege a-boute. 1436 Hen. VI in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., Var. Coll. IV. 199 Kyng Edward .. lay at sege at the seid towne. 1513 Wriothesley Chron. (Camden) I. 9 The King of England that tyme lyenge at seege before Turney in France. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 5 That castle to assaile .. And lay strong siege about it. 1673 Temple United Prov. Wks. 1720 I. 26 He took the Place, after three Years Siege. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. xvi, If my Liege May win yon walls by storm or siege. 1848 W. H. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. II. 415 Since the king declared Paris in a state of siege. 1873 Mrs. H. King Disciples, Ugo Bassi vii. (1877) 258 Though choleric at times, Still a good ruler for a state of siege.

c. A period of illness, struggle, or difficulty. U.S. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxvi, From this [work] we escaped, having had a pretty good siege with the wooding. 1898 E. C. Hall Aunt Jane 9 She was as pale and peaked as if she had been through a siege of typhoid. 1929 Randolph (W.Va.) Enterprise 11 Apr. 1/1 The.. Literary Society had another heavy siege Tuesday night of this week. 1952 R. Chandler Let. 31 July (1966) 27 She is weakened by a long siege of bronchitis. 1975 Publishers Weekly 11 Aug. 113/1 After her own siege with breast cancer, the author consulted with other victims.

7. attrib. and Comb., chiefly designating apparatus, etc., used in carrying out a siege, as siege- artillery, -carriage, -gun, -machine, -park, etc.; also siege-craft, -day, f-garland, -operations, -ward; (in transf. senses) siege action, tactics.

1854 H. Miller Sck. & Schrn. (1858) 329 To roll up a large stone to the sort of block-bench, or siege, as it is technically termed, on which the mass had to be hewn.

1977 Evening Post (Nottingham) 24 Jan. 5/8 The threat to car jobs in the Midlands grew today as delivery drivers began another week of ‘*siege action’ at three big Leyland factories. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. iv. iv, Fire and thunder of *siege and field artillery. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 625 Siege-artillery, the ordnance.. used for overpowering the fire and destroying the defences of a fortified place. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2175/1 It is mounted on a ♦siegecarriage, and forms part of the train of an army. 1898 Athenaeum 29 Oct. 603/1 There is. . a treatise on *siegecraft in the Vatican Library. 1884 Mil. Engin. I. 11. 17 Separate intermediate depots .. containing the necessary supplies for a ‘♦siege day’. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 116 The same was called also an Obsidionall coronet or *siege-garland. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, ♦ Siege-gun, a heavy gun .. used to batter down or effect a breach in an enemy’s wall. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2175/2 Siege-gun carriages differ from those of ordinary field-pieces in being stronger and heavier. 1852 Grote Greece 11. lxxxii. X. 621 Having provided himself with fresh ♦siege-machines. 1862 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xii. ii. III. 194 There ensured a ringing frost;—not favourable for ♦Siege-operations. 1870 Pall Mall G. 13 Oct. 11 If.. the German ♦siege-park is composed of some four or five hundred guns. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Diet. (ed. 3) s.v. Park, A siege park comprises the guns collected together at the commencement of the investment of a fortress. 1977 P. Hill Fanatics 109 Those two have been trained in *siege tactics. 1859 Gleig Life Wellington xviii, He had no *siege-train at hand, nor any other means wherewith to approach the place in regular form. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Diet. (ed. 3) 384 Siege Train, the men, guns, and material collected together for the conduct of a siege. Ibid., * Siege Wagon, a general service wagon fitted with movable trays for shot and shell, c 1450 Lovelich Grail xiii. 353 They .. sien there Tholome .. That Comeng was tho to the ♦segeward. 1879 Man. Artill. Exerc. 135 Fivefeet ♦siege wheels with metal naves. 1888 Century Mag. Sept. 660/1 Pope .. surrounded the place by *siege-works in which he could protect his men.

II. 6. a. The action, on the part of an army, of investing a town, castle, etc., in order to cut off all outside communication and in the end to

b. siege economy, an economic situation in which the availability of imported goods is severely restricted by import controls and the

c. Excrement, ordure. Obs. 1515 Barclay Egloges ii. Wks. (1570) Biv, The lordes siege & rurall mens ordure Be like of Sauour. 1561 Hollybush Horn. Apoth. 3 Make pillets thereof., and put that into the bodye; the same retayneth the sege. a 1610 Healey Theophrastus (1636) 72 Then he tels you that his Sieges were blacker then broth. 1662 J. Chandler Van Helmont's Oriat. 183 Less is discussed out of us, with a small and more hard siege or excrement.

d. Comb., as siege-hole, -house. Obs. 1440 Coventry Leet Bk. 194 The sege houses in pe Westorcherd were graunte to hym. 1477-9 hec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 87 For clensyng of the Sege holis, xviijd. 1519 Horman Vulg. 170 b, A segehouse wold be vnder the open aire betwene two wallis. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. 1. 353 It is hid in a.. Siege-house or Jakes, where people Seldome come.

f4. The anus or rectum. Obs. 1561 Hollybush Horn. Apoth. 5 The same refrayne the vp braythinge into the head and driue downward to the siege. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 37 It helpeth .. the inflammation of the eyes, and fundament or siege. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 144, I beheld them excluded by the passage of generation, near the orifice of the seidge. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. v. Wks. 1851 III. 213 His body was diseas’d in his youth with a great soreness in the Siege.

5. techn. a. The floor of a glass-furnace. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts The central space is occupied by the grate-bars; and on either side is the platform or fire-brick siege. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 136 The rocky crust of clay left by the old pot on the furnace siege,

b. A hewer’s table or bench.

SIEGER

437

export of capital is curtailed; siege mentality, a defensive or paranoid attitude of mind based on an assumption of hostility in others. 1962 S. E. Finer Man on Horseback vii. 92 By 1940 the parties had been dissolved, the zaibitsu harnessed to a siege economy. 1979 H. S. Kent In on Act xii. 131 The phrase ‘siege economy’ is sometimes used today to conjure up a last desperate plight in which, under the protection of high tariff walls, we would try to grow our own food, labour grimly in our mines and make the things we needed most; and so control our foreign trade as to bring in the additional supplies that we could not do without. 1969 J. L. McKenzie Roman Catholic Church III. iv. 222 This revival could not have come about without relaxation of the ‘siege mentality’. 1976 Deb. Senate Canada 8 Mar. 11590/2 With the growing siege mentality in the suburbs of our major urban areas, the people know that crime is not under control.

siege (si:d3), v. Forms: 4-5 (6 Sc.)

sege, 5 seyge, 5 (6-7 Sc.) seige, 6 Sc. saige, 4- siege; 6 sedge, 6-7 siedge. [f. prec., or aphetic f. ASSIEGE v.] 1. trans. To besiege, beleaguer, lay siege to. 13.. K. Alis. ■zbb'j (Laud MS.), Quyklich to Tebe toun Hij wenten & seged it enviroun. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 348 Anon this Cite was withoute Belein and sieged al aboute. c 1440 Alph. Tales 226 per was .. neuer cetie pat he segid bod he wan it. CI470 Henry Wallace ix. 1662 The cuntre rais, quhen thai herd off sic thing, To sege Dowglace. 1515 Scot. Field 23 in Chetham Misc. II, Then our king.. Saith ‘I will sedge it aboute, within this seaven daies’. 1549 Compl. Scot. 89 The kyng of France vas past ouer the alpes to seige paue. 1615 Brathwait Strappado (1878) 165 There plant thy Cannon, siedge her round about, Be sure (my Boy) she cannot long hold out. 1637 Heywood Dial. iii. Wks. 1874 VI. 141 Great Babylon, Mighty in walls, I sieg’d, and seised on. 1762 Gentl. Mag. XXXIII. 333/1 ’Tis not for me our arduous toils to shew; Nor tell ’midst dangers how we sieg’d the foe. 1805 Scott Last Minstrel iv. iv, They sieg’d him a whole summer night. 1893 Nat. Obs. 7 Jan. 184/2 He lived in the Castle when the French sieged it.

f2. To place; to seat (oneself). Obs. rare. Orig. Cron. in. ix. 1086 Qwhar euir pat stane 3e segit se, par sal pe Scottis be regnande. 1594 R. C[arew] Godfr. Bulloigne (1881) 74 Part on the right, part on the left this band Siedgeth it selfe, their wreakfull king before. Pluto sits in the mids. C1425 Wyntoun

Hence sieged (siidjd) ppl. a. 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. v. (1593) 125 A chil-cold swet my sieged limmes opprest. 1592 Wyrley Armorie 140 These two could not agree, which he should part To sucker sieged frends. c 1611 Chapman Iliad v. 205 Since in a sieged towne, I thought our horse-meate would be scant. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. xviii. 415 Who, to remove the foe from sieged Harflew, sent, Affrighted them like death. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. 11. vii, In sea-storms and sieged cities and other death-scenes.

f'siegeable, a. Obs[f.

siege v.

+ -able.]

Capable of being besieged. 1569 Stocker tr. Diod. Sic. 11. xxxvi. 84 He entrenched it on that side it was siegeable.

Siegenian (sh'geman), a. Geol. [f. Siegen, name of a town and region in North RhineWestphalia, W. Germany, + -ian.] Pertaining to our designating a stage of the Lower Devonian in N.W. Europe, immediately above the Gedinnian, or the epoch or age during which it was deposited. Also absol. 1922 Proc. Geologists' Assoc. XXXIII. 12 The higher horizon also includes many Siegenian species. 1928 E. Neaverson Stratigraphical Palaeont. xi. 255 In Britain .. the Siegenian stage is best represented by the Meadfoot beds of South Devon. 1931 [see Famennian a.] 1967 M. R. House in W. B. Harland et al. Fossil Record 1. 47 The goniatites appear in the mid-Siegenian as simple primitive types which soon diversify rapidly. 1979 R. Anderton et al. Dynamic Stratigr. Brit. Isles x. 130/2 Non-marine faunas of ostracoderm and placoderm fish fragments and plant remains .. indicate a lower Devonian (Siegenian) age for the group.

siegenite (’siiganait).

Min. [f. Siegen (see prec.).] A nickeliferous variety of linnaeite. 1854 Dana Syst. Min. (ed. 4) II. 68 Siegenite.. is a Nickel-Linnseite. 1866 Watts Diet. Chem. IV. 44 NickelLinnteite. Siegenite. Linn^ite .. in which a considerable proportion of the cobalt is replaced by nickel.

'siege-piece, [siege sb. 6.] 1. A coin or piece of money, characterized by unusual shape and imperfect workmanship, struck and issued during a time of siege. 1736 Folkes Gold Coins 7, I have among the Siege-Pieces seen a Twenty-Shilling Piece of Gold, struck at Pontefract. 1798 H. Walpole Reminis, in Lett. (1857) I. p. xcii, My narrative will probably resemble siege-pieces, which are struck of any promiscuous metals. 1853 Humphrey Coincoil. Man. i. 5 The rude ‘siege pieces’ struck without coining apparatus in different parts of the kingdom. 1879 H. Phillips Notes Coins 12 There are various siege pieces of Charles I, who never in all his extremities resorted to the expedient of a debased coinage.

2. A piece of ordnance employed in sieges. 1799 Hist. Europe in Ann. Reg. 25/1 The French found in the towers of Joppa ten pieces of cannon and about twenty indifferent siege-pieces.

sieger ('si:d33(r)). Now rare. Also 6 Sc. 6-7 seiger. [f. siege

v.

segear,

+ -er.] A besieger.

1533 Bellenden Livy v. ix. (S.T.S.) II. 179 It had done during all pe said tyme mare dammage to pe segearis pan It gat. 1556 Aurelio & Isab. (1608) B v, He ordeyned that the house shoulde be sette aboute with his siegers. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. viii. (1623) 555 He gaue commaund to his Seneschalle .. to withdraw the Seigers. 1774 Poetry in Ann.

SIEGFRIED LINE Reg. 215 The more delay the siegers found,.. More fierce they mount the breach. 1825 Scott Betrothed xxix, Then let us make a fair sally upon the siegers. 1842 I. Williams Baptistery 1. iv. (1874) 41 To.. take his part With siegers or besieged.

Siegfried Line ('si:gfri:d lain). [tr. G. Siegfriedlinie, f. the name of the hero Siegfried of Wagner’s Ring cycle (and of the MHG epic poem the Nibelungenlied).] The line of fortifications occupied by the Germans in France during the war of 1914-18. Similarly, the line of defence constructed along Germany’s western frontier before the war of 1939-45. [1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Great War I. 204 The Hindenburg line, known to the Germans as ‘Siegfried’.] 1936 H. A. L. Fisher Hist. Europe 111. xxxiii. 1144 A position which had been fortified with elaborate care, and was known by the Germans as the Siegfried and by the English as the Hindenburg line. 1938 Times 25 Oct. 14/4 The evening newspapers [in Berlin] published to-day the first photographs of the so-called ‘Siegfried Line’, the massive fortifications which are being erected on the western frontiers of the Reich. 1939 Times 22 Sept. 6/7 What song is to be the ‘Tipperary’ of this war? The first candidate would seem to be ‘The Washing on the Siegfried Line’. Its chorus is sufficiently simple and singable: —We’re gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line. Have you any dirty washing, mother dear? We’re gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line... If the Siegfried Line’s still there. 1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 157, I rode straight through the Siegfried Line with dug-outs and then a line of anti-tank traps strung out across the countryside. 1978 E. Malpass Wind brings up Rain xxiv. 221 Cholera.. had broken out.. in the Siegfried Line.

II Sieg Heil (zi:g hail), int. Also Sieg-heil, sieg heil, etc. [Ger., lit. ‘Hail victory’.] The victory salute used by the Germans during the Nazi regime, esp. at political rallies, etc. Also as sb. and v. intr. Hence sieg-'heiling ppl. a. Cf. heil int. 1940 ‘N. Blake’ Malice in Wonderland ii. 31 The hysterical pitch of the Sieg Heils at a Nazi congress. 1944 V. G. Garvin tr. R. Gary's Forest of Anger xxii. 89 He has only done his duty. Nothing else. Sieg-heil! 1967 R. M. Stern Kessler Legacy iii. 29 Your newspaper character probably .. marched and Sieg Heiled with the rest of the boys. 1968 Guardian 25 Apr. 1/1, 200 dockers arrived.. to shout ‘Enoch! Enoch! Enoch!’ in ‘Sieg heil’ tempo. 1968 Listener 26 Sept. 403/3 Thus, by 1935, her pictorial records of militarised youngsters, marching young men and siegheiling fathers of families were worth uncountable battalions to the Fuehrer. 1976 Scotsman 20 Nov. (Weekend Suppl.) 2/6 The film, with its ‘Sieg Heils’ and hysterical atmosphere, is still trotted out in documentaries about the 1930s. 1978 A. Neave Nuremberg xxii. 257, I half expected them to rise, salute and cry 'Sieg HeiV\

sieging ('sirdar]), vbl. sb. [f. siege v.] The action of besieging; a siege. 13.. Cursor M. 7070 (Gott.), Here-of thar na man be in were, For qui J?e seging lastid ten 3ere. 1382 Wtyclif Isaiah xxix. 3, I shal kaste a3en thee an hep, and the strengthis I shal sette in to thi seging. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lxi. 255 Thenne the duke besegid long this castelle. And as thei wer thus in segeing [etc.]. C1470 Henry Wallace xi. 855 Wallace.. At Sanct Jhonstoun was at the segeyng still. 1504 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. II. 431 To Hannis, gunnar,.. for to pas in the Ilis to the segeing of Carneburgh. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 18 S. Jhones toun, efter lang seigeng, is tane. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. iv. v. (1872) 1. 435 Stralsund has been taken, since that, by Prussian sieging. attrib. 1809 Campbell Gert. Wyom. 1. iv, On plains [which] no sieging mine’s volcano shook. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. vii. x, Well for them, that Insurrection has only pikes and axes; no right sieging-tools! 1858-Fredk. Gt. xvm. xii. (1872) VIII. 21 Friedrich is not thought to shine in the sieging line as he does in the fighting.

siegnior, obs. f. signor. siek(e, obs. fF. sick. siel, obs. f. ceil v., seel v.; var. sile v. sieling, obs. f. ceiling. siely, obs. f. seely. Siemens ('siimanz, || 'zirmans). The name of four German-born brothers, Ernst Werner (1816-92), Karl Wilhelm or Charles William (1823-83), Friedrich (1826-1904), and Karl (1829-1906) (von) Siemens, used attrib. and in the possessive; 1. To denote processes or devices discovered, invented, or developed by one or more of the brothers. The brothers were closely associated in invention and manufacturing, and it is frequently not possible to attribute a given invention or process to any one of them. Their name is often combined with that of another inventor.

a. Steel-making. Sometimes in Comb, with the name of Pierre Blaise Emile Martin (1824-1915), French engineer, as Siemens pyrometer, regenerator; Siemens(’s) furnace, an open-hearth furnace; Siemens-Martin furnace = Siemens furnace; Siemens-Martin process, the process, invented by Martin, of melting pig iron and scrap steel together in a Siemens furnace, usu. in alkaline conditions; Siemens process, a process similar to the Siemens-Martin process, but usu. carried out in

SIERRA

438

acidic conditions; Siemens producer, a form of gas producer developed by the Siemens brothers (see producer 3). 1866 Chambers's Jrnl. 25 Aug. 543/2 For.. any .. process in which an intense heat is required, the Siemens furnace is eminently suitable. 1875 Lire's Diet. Arts (ed. 7) III. 909 Another modification of the Siemens process consists in the use of finely-divided iron in the spongy state.. instead of bars or other manufactured forms of malleable iron. Ibid. 910 Two processes are employed at the Landore works: the Siemens-Martin process, which consists., in dissolving scrap-metal or steel in a bath of pig-metal, to which spiegeleisen is finally added; and the ore-reducing process, a 1877 Knight Diet. Mech. III. 2365/2 In the MartinSiemens reverberatory furnace the decarbonization of the pig-iron is effected by the reactions, upon the molten bath, of wrought-iron or ore and of the furnace-flame. 1877 Siemens producer [see regenerator 2 a]. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 846/1 The most perfect method of utilizing the waste heat hitherto applied is that of the Siemens regenerator, in which the spent gases are made to travel through chambers, known as regenerators or recuperators of heat. 1881 Ibid. XIII. 294/2 The calorific value of a unit of weight of gas from a Siemens producer is about 650. Ibid. 304/1 The other Siemens pyrometer depends on the alteration of the electrical resistance of a platinum wire when heated. Ibid. 305/1 The ball of a Siemens pyrometer can be introduced into the tuyere through the orifice. Ibid. 348/2 The Pernot furnace.. is substantially a Siemens-Martin furnace with a rotating bed. 1923 Glazebrook Diet. Appl. Physics V. 515/1 The development of the mass production of steel by the Bessemer, Siemens, and subsequent processes rendered modern engineering possible on the present scale. 1973 R. D. Pehlke Unit Processes Extractive Metallurgy iv. 88 The Siemens-Martin process, commonly referred to as the open hearth process, was developed at about the same time as the Thomas process. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropeedia XVII. 640/1 The Siemens furnace used a grate for burning solid fuel,.. and the duct-work necessary to convey the gases from one end of the furnace to the regenerator chamber and the hot air to the grate at the other end was complex and inefficient. Ibid., Pierre and Emile Martin in France in 1864 built a furnace that was fired by gas and placed a set of two Siemens regenerator chambers at each end of the furnace. Ibid., This furnace became known as the Siemens-Martin furnace, or, more commonly, as the open-hearth furnace.

b.

In

similar

technical

applications,

as

Siemenses) direction finder, dynamo, {electro-)-dynamometer, relay, wattmeter, and

in the names of various forms of lamp. 1867 R. S. Culley Handbk. Pract. Telegr. (ed. 2) ix. 184 Siemens’ relay consists of an electromagnet of the usual horse-shoe form. 1879 Telegr. Jrnl. VII. 318/2 (heading) Siemens’ electric lamp. Ibid. 412/2 (heading) Siemens’ differential electric lamp. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 633/1 In the Siemens differential lamp,.. a potential or shunt coil and a current coil oppose each other; as the arc lengthens the current becomes less, and the potential greater, each acting to cause the carbons to approach. 1884 H. R. Kempe Handbk. Electr. Testing (ed. 3) xii. 284 Like galvanometers, the Siemens electro-dynamometer is not susceptible of great accuracy when readings are very low. 1886 J. Maier Arc & Blow Lamps v. 40 A large Siemens’ dynamo at 450 revolutions after two hours’ work became so hot that the electro-magnets began to fire. 1892 W. P. Maycock Electr. Lighting Power Distribution I. v. 122 Siemens’ wattmeter is very similar in appearance to the electro-dynamometer. 1912 Motor Manual (ed. 14) iii. 125 The Siemens metallic tungsten lamps are practically unaffected by shock. 1922 Glazebrook Diet. Appl. Physics II. 4/1 If the current measured passes through both coils the scale division will approximately follow a ‘square law’, as in the case of the Siemens dynamometer. 1927 S. H. Long Navigational Wireless v. 86 (heading) Instructions for operating the Siemens direction finder. 1930 T. E. Herbert Telegraphy (ed. 5) viii. 258 Siemens-Halske Relay. This relay is developed from the original Siemen’s [sic] relay. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encyl. Sci. Technol. IV. 476/2 If the same current flows through all coils in series, as in the early Siemen’s [sic] electrodynamometer.., the instrument can be calibrated as an ammeter.

2. Electr. f a. A unit of resistance, used esp. in Germany, slightly smaller than the ohm. Usu. in the possessive, as Siemens’(s) unit. Obs. 1867 R. S. Culley Handbk. Pract. Telegr. (ed. 2) 11. 30 ‘Siemens’ Unit’ is one metre of pure mercury, of one square millimetre section, at a temperature of 320. Thus the Ohm and the Siemens are really alike. 1899 J. E. Young Electr. Testing for Telegraph Engineers iv. 48 A third standard, Siemens’s unit, equals 0 954 B.A. ohm.

b. (Usu. written siemens.) [Named after Charles William Siemens.] A unit of conductance, equivalent to the mho. *935 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. XXI. 579 {table) Siemens. *936 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers LXXVIII. 238/2 The names ‘hertz’ and ‘siemens’ likewise were voted for the names of the practical units of frequency and conductance respectively. 1963 Jerrard & McNeill Diet. Sci. Units 128 The siemens is the practical unit of conductance and is equivalent to the mho... The unit, although approved by the I.E.C. in 1933 has not yet replaced the mho. 1972 [see Pascal 2]. 1978 Nature 27 July 379/1 Unit ion conductances of a few picosiemens or greater have been reported.

[1760 Shenstone Wks. & Lett. III. 309 A terra-sienna or very rich reddish brown. Ibid. 314 Terra-sienna is a delightful colour.] 1787 W. Williams Mech. Oil Colours 44 Siena earth .. is a fine colour, but comes little into use. [1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 642 Fawn-colour with burnt terra de sienna, or burnt umber and white.] 1853 Zoologist II. 4059 Minute granules of a rich sienna-brown hue. 1874 Coues Birds N.W. 150 They are of a light-green color,.. speckled with sienna and other rich shades of brown. 1876 Pall Mall G. 18 Oct. 4/1 Satchels of seeds, deep purple, sienna red, russet gold, and green.

2. Siena marble, a reddish mottled stone obtained from the neighbourhood of Siena. 1774 Builder's Magazine 129 The body of the work may be of statuary, and the columns of Syenna marble. 1802 Mrs. Edgeworth Let. 6 Dec. in C. Colvin Maria Edgeworth in France & Switzerland (1979) 46 The Salle for public Lectures is.. 30 feet high supported by 4 pillars of Sienna Marble. 1848 E. Ruskin Let. 20 July in M. Lutyens Ruskins Gf Grays (1972) xiv. 126 The pillars of polished Sienna marble... John said.. it made him quite sick. 1894 A. Heaton Record of Work PI. 8 {caption) Grate with brass mouldings, Sienna marble slips, and plain .. tiles. 1947 J. C. Rich Materials Methods of Sculpture viii. 228 Most of the Siena marbles are veined. Siena Unie, a bright yellow variety, appears to be the only one with little or no marking. 1975 Country Life May {Suppl.) 35 George III painted console table, with.. fine Siena marble tops.

sienc(e, obs. ff. science. Sienese (siia'niiz, sais'niiz), sb. and a. Also Siennese, [f. Siena, Sienna (see def.) + -ese.] A. sb. I. An inhabitant or native of Siena, a city in Tuscany. 1756-7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 86 The Siennese produce this inscription to invalidate the boast of the Florentines, c 1830 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XII. 479/1 Fora while the Siennese flattered themselves that their liberty would be recoverable. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 43 The Sienese took possession of their fortress.

2. An artist belonging to the Italian school of painting developed at Siena during the 14th and 15 th centuries. Also transf., a painting produced by such an artist. 1888 H. Attwell Italian Masters 6 The Sienese lack the robust simplicity of Giotto, and were little influenced by the austere spirit of Dante. 1921 A. Huxley Crome Yellow ii. 12 Henry Wimbush was forced to sell some of his Primitives .. four or five nameless Sienese—to the Americans. 1959 Listener 26 Nov. 940/2 Minor Sienese are thick on the ground and so are lesser painters of the Dutch school. 1977 ‘R. West’ Celebration 541 Oh, your Florentines, your Sienese, your Umbrians!

B. adj. Of or pertaining to Siena. 1814 J. Mayne Jrnl. 20 Oct. (1909) ix. 154 We walked through the principal parts of the town.. and enjoyed the pure Siennese tongue, c 1830 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XII. 499/2 They obtained possession of many of the Siennese ports. 1850 Mrs. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 392 In a rare Sienese print of the fifteenth century. 1882 ‘Ouida’ Maremma I. 73 The winged boys of the Siennese Masters.

sienite, sienitic, var. syenite, syenitic. Sienna: see Siena. Siennese, var. Sienese. siens, sienz, obs. ff. science. siens, sient, obs. ff. scion. sier, sierce, sierge, obs. cierge.

ff. sire,

searce,

sierozem ('siaraozEm). Soil Sci. Also serozem. [ad. Russ, serozem, f. seryigrey + zemlya earth, soil.] A type of soil, usu. calcareous and poor in organic material, that is characterized by a brownish-grey surface horizon grading into harder, carbonate-rich lower layers, and is developed typically under mixed shrub vegetation in arid climates. 1934 Soil Sci. XXXVIII. 485 On the steeper, and consequently drier, slopes sierozems (gray soils) are developed. 1965 B. T. Bunting Geogr. Soil xii. 142 The cooler Russian and Argentine deserts have light grey serozem. 1976 H. E. Dregne Soil of Arid Regions 79 A typical Serozem .. from near Isfahan in Iran .. had a 1 cm. thick desert pavement of fairly angular volcanic rocks overlying a loose, light brownish-gray, coarse sandy loam 4 cm. thick. 1977 J. C. F. Tedrow Soils of Polar Landscapes viii. 138 Traditionally, pedologists have focused their taxonomic investigations on the mature terrestric soils— Podzol, Chernozem, Sierozem, and so forth.

sien(ce, obs. ff. scion.

|| sierra (si'srs). Also 7 ser(r)a. [Sp. sierra:—L. serra saw.] 1. a. In Spain and parts of Latin America: A range of hills or mountains, rising in peaks which suggest the teeth of a saw.

Siena, Sienna (si'ens). Also fSyenna. [The name of a city and province in the Tuscany region of central Italy. In sense 1, ellipt. for Terra Sienna.] 1. (Usu. written Sienna.) a. A ferruginous earth used as a pigment in oil and water-colour painting (called burnt sienna when it has been exposed to a red heat), b. The colour of this pigment, a rich reddish brown. Also attrib. or Comb., as sienna-brown, -red.

1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 873 Peru is diuided into three parts, which they call Llanos, Sierras, and Andes. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 445 Spaine generally, is a masse of mountaines,.. the Rockie Seraes or Alpes so innumerable. 1691 Evelyn Corr. (1879) III. 469 There are vast ones [caves] under those Alps & Sierras from whence our rivers derive their plentifull streames. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 68 The Andes and Scirras [sic] are two Ridges of Mountains that run from North to South. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. 1. xxxii, Doth Tayo interpose his mighty tide? Or dark Sierras rise in craggy pride? 1843 Prescott Mexico III. v, Although the bleak winds of the sierra gave an austerity to the climate. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 673/1 The sierra of Peru may be .. divided into four sections.

SIERRA LEONE

SIEVE

439

attrib. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 422 Cyanocitta stelleri frontalis,.. Sierra Jay.

Siesta2 (si'esta). Chess. The name of a town in

b. In general use: A mountain-range of this

Italy, used attrib. in Siesta gambit, variation, a continuation of the Ruy Lopez opening popularized in a tournament held there (see quot. 1965).

description. 1807 R. Southey Lett, from England II. xxxiv. 95 A range of mountains standing in the three provinces of Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford... This sierra is justly admired for the beauty of its form. 1850 W. Irving Mahomet xxxii. (1853) 141 Their rocky sierras on the east separated Azerbijan from.. the shores of the Caspian. 1865 W. G. Palgrave Arabia I. 96 The main range of Djebel Shomer, a long purple sierra of most picturesque outline.

2. Astr. = CHROMOSPHERE. 1851 G. B. Airy in Mem. R. Astron. Soc. XXI. 7, I saw that the sierra, or rugged line of projections,.. had arisen. *871 Proctor Light Sci. 97 The objectionable word chromosphere (for chromatosphere) should be replaced by sierra. 1883 - in igth Cent. Nov. 876 In the sierra or chromatosphere the presence and nature of many other vapours are noted.

3. = CERO. 1889 in Cent. Diet. 1905 D. S. Jordan Guide Study of Fishes II. xvi. 266 Almost exactly like it [sc. the Spanish mackerel] in appearance is the pintado, or sierra. 1965 A. J. McClane Stand. Fishing Encycl. 793/2 Sierra are found along the Pacific coast of America from San Diego to Peru.

Hence si'erran a. 1873 B- Harte Fiddle town, etc. 92 It was in a Sierran solitude, where I had encamped. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 673/1 Sierran flora.

Sierra Leone (si'sra li'sun), the name of a republic of West Africa, used attrib. in Sierra Leone peach, a shrub or small tree, Nauclea latifolia (formerly Sarcocephalus esculentus) of the family Rubiaceae, native to tropical Africa, or its edible reddish fruit; = Guinea peach s.v. Guinea i. 1866 Lindley & Moore Treas. Bot. II. 1020/1 S[arcocephalus] esculentus has pink flowers and an edible fruit, of the size of a peach, whence it has been called the Sierra Leone Peach. 1965 M. S. Nielsen Introd. Flowering Plants W. Afr. xi. 173 Sierra Leone or Guinea Peach .. is a bush or small tree in savanna with dark red, juicy fruit balls.

Hence Sierra Le'onean, -ian, an inhabitant or native of Sierra Leone; also as adj.y of or pertaining to Sierra Leone. 1791 A. M. Falconbridge Let. 8 June in Narr. Two Voyages to River Sierra Leone (1802) iv. 83 The people appear more inclined to industry than the Sierra Leonians. 1897 M. H. Kingsley Travels W. Afr. 680 Bishop Ingram would have been able to write a more cheerful and hopeful book .. if the Sierra Leonians had had a thorough grounding in technical culture. 1910 T. J. Alldridge Transformed Colony ix. 75 The Sierra Leonean trader feels all this pretty badly, especially as every Sierra Leonean wants to trade. 1926 Chambers' s Jrnl. Nov. 660/1 Sierra-Leonean solicitors were hurrying to final interviews with retained advocates. 1957 M. Banton W. Afr. City vi. 104 At the [1931] census the term ‘Sierra Leonian’ was adopted for persons previously classified as ‘Liberated Africans and their descendants’. 1974 Times 4 May (Sierra Leone Suppl.) p. i/1 Rhythm plays a particularly important role in the way of life of all Sierra Leoneans. 1976 Sunday Times (Lagos) 31 Oct. 5/4 The Sierra Leonian repatriates.. played a much greater role.

sierse, obs. form of searce

.

v

sies, var. sis int. si'est, v. [f. next.] intr. To take a siesta. 1839 Chalmers in Hanna Mem. (1852) IV. vi. 76, I addressed a full church and siested as usual.

siesta1 (si'esta). [Sp. siesta (Pg. sesta):—L. sexta sixth (hour); hence, in Sp. and Pg., the hottest part of the day, rest or sleep taken at this time.] An afternoon rest or nap; esp. that commonly taken during the hottest hours of the day in tropical countries. Also transf. 1655 Howell Lett. IV. i, When he slept his Siesta (as the Spaniard calls it) or afternoon sleep. 1667 Earl Bristol Elvira 1. in Dodsley O. PI. (1780) XII. 147 What, sister, at your Siesta already? if so, You must have patience to be wak’d out of it. 1788 Burke Corr. (1844) III. 76 We have just risen from our siesta, and have no news. 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) 1. 156 Without his siesta and segar,.. he would think his lot a hard one in this world. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xix, After dinner we usually took a short siesta, to make up for our early rising. 1882 Miss Braddon Mt. Royal I. viii. 243, I must go and get my siesta, or I shall be as stupid as an owl all the evening. 1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist i. 19 Its crepuscular flowers are large as those of a wild rose when they open .. great mothlike petals languidly expanding, as if still oppressed with the long siesta of the day. 1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. iii. 27 The rhinoceros, startled suddenly from his midday siesta, rushes blindly at the intruder. fig. 1856 R. A. Vaughan Mystics (i860) II. 29 Most men prefer a sleeping conscience to a tender one; and for such the Romish Church offers a perpetual siesta. 1884 Sime To 6? Fro 8 On duty which knows no siesta.

b. Without article. 1834 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 123, I called with my handkerchief full of segars for the father, but he was at siesta, as they called it. 1869 Mrs. S. Hawthorne Notes Eng. & Italy in. ii. 322 It was the hour of siesta, and the monks were .. fast asleep. 1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 318 Deep recesses on either side for cushioned luxurious siesta. 1899 C. J. C. Hyne Further Adventures Capt. Kettle ii. 30 ‘Right,’ said Kettle. ‘I’ll siesta too.’ 1956 G. Durrell My Family & Other Animals xv. 201 The rest of the family, finding they could not siesta with the argument going on, assembled to find out the trouble. 1976 L. Deighton Twinkle, twinkle Little Spy i. 7 The staff have noisy arguments about who should siesta on the cold stone floor.

*935 Smith & Dash tr. Znosko-Borovsky's How to play Chess Openings 54 This line is known as the Siesta Gambit and has been much played in recent years. 1948 G. Abrahams Teach yourself Chess iii. v. 195 P to KB4 gives the Siesta variation which is playable. 1965 Listener 29 Apr. 651/3, 1 P-K4 P-K4 2 N-KB3 N-QB3 3 B-N5 P-QR3 4 B-R4 P-Q3 5 P-B3 P-B4: the so-called ‘Siesta’ variation, which, despite its name, leads to lively play and provides an early counter to White’s positional grip on the centre.

fsiester, Anglicized form of sistrum. Obs. 1595 Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Plectron, a fiddle¬ stick, or a siester pen.

si'estose, a. indolent.

rare-',

[f. siesta.]

Reposeful,

1845 Ford Handbk. Spain vn. 516 They prefer to enjoy a siestose negation not merely of comforts but of necessaries rather than to labour.

sieth, variant of sithe

v.,

to strain.

siethe, obs. form of scythe. siethes, variant of sithes, chives. Ilsieur1 (sjo(r)). Now arch. [Fr.: cf. monsieur.] Used as a courtesy title or form of address. 1772 in D. Arundell Sadler's Wells (1965) iii. 28 Principal dancers. Sieur Daigueville and his pupils. 1893 S. Weyman Gentleman of France I. iii. 66 You have not told me yet, sieur, where we stay to-night. 1901 G. B. Shaw Admirable Bashville ill. 124 Bumpkin Fitz Algernon de Courcy Cashel Byron, sieur of Park Lane and overlord of Dorset. 1981 P. Vansittart Death of Robin Hood 11. ii. 40 John’s dwarf, Sieur Marc,.. now discarded winter as he might a cloak.

Ilsieur2 (sjce:(r)). 5. Afr. [ad. Afrikaans seur, f. Du. sinjeur lord, master: ultimately related and assimilated to prec.] A respectful form of address or reference to a superior; master, ‘sir\ 1812 A. Plumptre tr. Lichtenstein's Trav. S. Afr. I. 118 The former [sc. the Hottentots] only address their master by the title of Baas (Master), while the slaves address him as Sieur (lord). 1886 G. A. Farini Through Kalahari Desert 312 You ought not to have stayed here last night; the klein Sieur was very anxious. 1942 ‘B. Knight’ Sun climbs Slowly xviii. 154 ‘Missis, Sieur,' she shrilled excitedly. ‘The veld is on fire.’ 1968 K. McMagh Dinner of Herbs 56 The maid who took the early morning coffee reported this to the sieur.

sieva ('siiva). [Origin unknown.] A kidney bean belonging to an American variety of Phaseolus lunatus, or its edible seed. 1888 G. D. Merrill Hist. Coos County v. 42 The Indians had .. a kind of bean called now ‘seiva [«c] bean’. 1949 Nat. Geogr. Mag. Aug. 159/1 The lima beans grown by the various Indian tribes.. varied from the present small types used by the Hopi Indians in the Southwest to the Sieva type found in the East. 1972 Y. Lovelock Veg. Bk. 1. 55 The scimitar-podded kidney bean.., also known as Hibbert, sieva or sugar bean, grows wild in tropical America and is also cultivated.

sieve (siv), sb. Forms: a. i sibi, 1-2 sife, 1-2, 5-6 syfe (syfa), 4 syfue, 4, 6 syffe, 5 syff, 6-7 siff; 4 seyf, 5 seyfe, sefe, 6 seiffe. /3. 4-7 sive (siue), 6 cive; 4-6 syve (syue), cyve (cyue), 6 seyve. y. 4-6 seve (seue, 5 sewe, ceve), 6 seeue, ceeue, 7 seeve, 6-7 seave. 8. 7 seive, scieve, 6- sieve. [OE. sife, = MDu. seve (Du. zeef), MLG. seve (LG. seve, sefe, etc.), OHG. sib, sip (G. sieb, also dial, sib, sip, siff, etc.). The stem, which may be ultimately related to that of sye, to strain, is the base of sift v.~\ 1. a. A utensil consisting of a circular frame with a finely meshed or perforated bottom, used to separate the coarser from the finer particles of any loose material, or as a strainer for liquids. In agricultural and similar work a sieve is usually distinguished from a riddle by having finer meshes. a. c725 Corpus Gloss. C 873 Crebrum, sibi. 9.. Ags. Gloss. in Wr.-Wulcker 215 Crebrum, cribellum, sife. riooo Sax. Leechd. II. 94 Asift J?urh sife, meng wi)? hunise. 1396-7 Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 214, 1 syffe. C1430 Two Cookerybks. 20 Take Appelys an sethe hem, an Serge hem J>orwe a Sefe in-to a potte. 1483 Cath. Angl. 339/1 A Syfe, crybrum. 1508 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IV. 110 For ane siff to sift gunpowdir, ij s. 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Syfe to cyfte corne in, crible. 1595 Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Excerniculum, a sife or boulteclaith. /J. C1320 Sir Tristr. 1946 A siue he fond tite, And bond vnder his fete. C1340 Nominale (Skeat) 529 Fan, berelep, and syue. 1382 Wyclif Eccl. xxvii. 5 As in the smyting of a cyue shal abide stille pouder. 11440 Promp. Parv. 78/2 Cyve for corne clansynge, cribrum, cribellum. Cyve, for mele, furfuraculum. 1530 Palsgr. 205 Cyve to syfte with, crible. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 184 You must strain the waxe through a siue, or such like thing. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. 11. xxi. 136 Here they had great plenty of rain, poured (not as in other places, as it were out of sives, but) as out of spouts. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 1. 95 The dust.. sticks to the faces of those that handle the Sive. v. c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 138 W[oman] weruth seue and riadell. 1357-8 Ely Sacr. Rolls II. 181 In ij seves et j redel emptis. c 1400 Lanfrone's Cirurg. 219 Boile it longe in watir, & Jeanne cole it J?oru3 a seue. CI430 Two Cookery-bks. 32 Take a seve or a whete-rydoun. 1577 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, 1835) 422 Five ryddells and seaves to wynnowe

corne, xd. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. 11. 33 If you would keep your rose cakes without worms, you must.. set them in ceeues. c 1620 Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 136 Our memory is like a seave. 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. 1. 19 Take Ashes burnt from any light Wood.. and put them into a Seeve. 8. a 1591 H. Smith Serm. (1592) 665 Like sieues which hold water no longer than they are in the Riuer. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 251 Sieves .. to sift the Lime and Sand withal. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 197 When it boils strain it through a fine sieve. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 30 The discs .. striking against the sides of the sieves, force it through the apertures. 1869 Phillips Vesuv. iv. 113 The upper part of the cone was perforated like a sieve. b. In phrases denoting something that cannot be done, or that is waste of labour. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 294 For as a Sive kepeth Ale, Riht so can Cheste kepe a tale. 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. i. in Ashm. (1652) 17 As he that fetcheth Water in a Sive. 1515 Barclay Egloges i. (1570) A vj/i Such thinges.. To thee be as sure as water in a siue. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 48 Suppose she were a Vestall,.. shee might carrie water with Amulia in a siue. 1616 Hieron Wks. I. 586 That which is said in the prouerb, where one doth milke a goate, another holds vnder a siue. 1686 Horneck Crucif. Jesus xxii. 741 That’s no better, than taking up water in a sieve, which runs out as fast as it is put in. 1813 Picken Poems II. 135 That wad been milkin’ his cow in a sieve. c .fig. Of things. c 1611 Chapman Iliad v. 511 Then stirring th’ idle siue of newe, did all their forces aske. 1643 Caryl Sacr. Cov. 4 The Articles passe them through a finer Sieve. 1647 May Hist. Pari. 1. vii. 73 Those inventions were but sives, made of purpose to winnow the best men. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 218 All that, as they thought, was past and gone with their ordination..; they had passed through the Bishop’s sieve. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 927 The infection was, so to speak, caught on the sieve—that is to say, the infected ships gave rise to cases of plague within the quarantine station. d.fig. Of persons; esp. one who cannot keep a secret. 1601 Shaks. All's Well 1. iii. 208 Yet in this captious, and intenible Siue I still poure in the waters of my loue. 1646 Quarles Sheph. Oracles vi, Here’s none but wee, I am no Sive? I prithee, Swain, be free. 1668 Dryden Even. Love 1. i, As you are a waiting-woman; as you are the sieve of all your lady’s secrets, tell it me. 1704 Swift T. Tub vii, Those judicious Collectors.., by some called the Sieves and Boulters of Learning. 1811 Byron Hints fr. Hor. 734 note, The sieve of a patron let it out. 2. a. As used by witches for sailing in. a 1585 Montgomerie Flyting 461 Nicneuen .. to teach it gart take it To saill sure in a seiffe, but compass or cart. 1605 Shaks. Macb. 1. iii. 8 But in a Syue lie thither sayle. a 1613 Overbury A Wife, etc. (1638) 158 Like a witch in a scive. 1820 Keats Eve St. Agnes xiv, Thou must hold water in a witch’s sieve. 1830 Scott Demonol. ix. 312 Another frolic they had, when, like the weird sisters in Macbeth, they embarked in sieves. b. As used for purposes of divination. Commonly sieve and shears. Cf. riddle sb.2 1 b. 1596 Lodge Wits Miserie 18 If he loose any thing, he hath readie a siue and a key. 1602 in Goudie Diary J. Mill 185 To quite hir selff.. for the turning of ane siff and riddill for ane pair scheiris. a 1635 Randolph Jealous Lovers 1. x, A man cannot find out their Meaning without the ‘Sieve and Sheers’. 1692 E. Walker tr. Epictetus' Mor. xxxviii, Questions which by Sieve and Sheers are try’d. i843 Lytton Last Bar. 1. v, Thinkest thou.. I can read thee all riddles without my sieve and my shears? 3. Used as a measure, or for holding anything. Also, a kind of basket used chiefly for market produce. a 1440 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 26 Sche answerd that she hadde but oonly .vii. Ceves ful of malte. 1464 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 272 Payd for di. a tymbre and iij. seyvys of letuse, iiij. s. 1556 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 92 Item xx mettes of barle sawne oppon the ground... Item xxvj seves of ottes sowin. 1636 Davenant Wits 1. i, Apple-Wives That wrangle for a Sieve. 1793 Steevens Notes Shaks. Tr. & Cr. 11. ii, Sieves and half¬ sieves are baskets to be met with in every quarter of Coventgarden market. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 587 In other parts the early gatherings are .. sent to the markets in half-bushel sieves. 1887 Parish & Shaw Kentish Gloss. 149 In West Kent, sieve and half-sieve are equivalent to bushel and half-bushel. 4. In calico-printing: (see quots.). 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 215 The colouring matter.. is spread .. upon fine woollen cloth, stretched in a frame over the wax cloth head of a wooden drum or sieve. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 197/2 The mordant., is applied to the block by pressing the latter upon what is termed a ‘sieve’ (a box covered with woollen cloth). 5. Math. a. In full sieve of Eratosthenes [tr. Gr.

kookivov 'EpaTooBcvovs,

f.

the name of the

Greek scientific writer of the 3rd c. b.c. who devised

it],

A method

of finding the prime

numbers in a (usu. consecutive) list of numbers by

deleting

in

turn

all

the

multiples

of all

possible prime factors. 1803 tr. Bossut's Gen. Hist. Math. 18 The famous sieve of Eratosthenes.. affords an easy and commodious method of finding prime numbers. 1857 Proc. Ashmolean Soc. III. 128 To Eratosthenes of Alexandria.. is attributed the invention of the method by which the primes may successively be determined in order of magnitude. It is termed .. ‘the sieve of Eratosthenes’. 1945 E. T. Bell Development of Math. (ed. 2) iv. 89 Boethius reproduced the sieve of Eratosthenes and offered some amusing trifles on figurate numbers. 1966 Ogilvy & Anderson Excurs. Number Theory viii. 97 There is no known formula that turns out the prime numbers. Essentially the only way to find them is by the use of the ‘sieve’ devised by Eratosthenes.

SIEVE b. A method of estimating or finding upper and lower limits for the number of primes, or of numbers not having factors within a stated set, that fall within a stated interval. 1897 Nature 6 May 10/2 (heading) Sieve for primes. 1952 Proc. Internat. Congr. Mathematicians I. 286 Ever since Viggo Brun introduced his ingenious sieve-method, it has been a very important tool in connection with problems in the theory of primes. 1972 M. N. Huxley {title) The distribution of prime numbers: large sieves and zero-density theorems.

6. attrib. and Comb., as sieve-basket, -bottom, -cloth, -drum, -fashion, -frame', sieve-witted adj. 1598 Chapman Seven Bks. Iliad Ded. A 4 b, Our siuewitted censors, through whose braines all thinges exact and refinde, run to the earth in heapes. 1609 N. F. Fruiterers Secrets 4 They poure them out gently into their siues, or broad baskets made siue-fashion. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 215 The inverted sieve drum should fit the paste tub pretty closely. Ibid. 216 The printer seizes the block .. and daubs it twice..upon the sieve cloth. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 332 The sieve-frame .. is 28 inches in length and 5 inches in depth. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Sieve-bottoms, attachments for the frame of a sieve made of horse-hair or wire, etc. 1893 K. Sanborn S. California 140 They .. placed acorns in a sieve basket.

7. a. Special combs.: f sieve-alphabet (see quot.); sieve analysis, a particle-size analysis of a powdered or granular material made by passing it through sieves of increasing fineness; f sieve-bone (see quot.); sieve lackey, a species of moth; sieve map, a map upon which the distribution of a number of features is depicted by means of transparent overlays; f sieve prophet (see 2 b); sieve-raggings (see ragging vbl. sb.3 2); f sieve-stone, a species of tufa. 1663 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. Index p. iv, A *Sieve-alphabet [§34 To write .. by holes in the bottom of a Sieve]. 1928 C. C. Wiley Princ. Highway Engin. ii. 25 Gravel should be well graded from fine to coarse. This is determined by a *sieve analysis. The sieve analysis curve for a high-grade gravel should approximate a straight line. 1971 R. Hardbottle tr. Grassmann's Physical Princ. Chem. Engin. v. 302 Sieve analysis, in which the grains are passed in succession through sieves of various finenesses, gives directly a cumulative curve, in which.. the masses or weights of the different fractions are given. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 11. 123 A little bone in the top of the nose, which is pierced through like to a litle siue. Hereupon it is called by the Phisicions the *siue-bone. 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 46 The *Sieve Lackey {Eulepia Cribrum) appears in June. [1938 E. G. R. Taylor in Geogr. Jrnl. XCII. 25 The last map.. is constructed on what I have termed the sieve method.] 1952 Monkhouse & Wilkinson Maps & Diagrams iv. 190 E. G. R. Taylor produced a map upon which all areas in Great Britain unsuitable for industrial location were indicated in solid black. These areas were determined by superimposing isopleths representing certain specific factors... This process was termed ‘sieving out’ and the resultant maps are sometimes referred to as ‘*sieve-maps’. 1965 Listener 27 May 774/2 When to these were added those areas of real natural beauty within the conurbation .. and areas of the highest agricultural value.. the result (which we called the regional sieve map) was an exceedingly complex jig-saw puzzle. 1638 Mayne Lucian (1664) 131 If but a *Sive-prophet appear among them,., they presently flock together, and gape at him. 1681 Grew Musseum ill. i. v. 305 The *Seive-Stone. Lapis Cribriformis.

b. In botanical terms sieve-like openings in the cells, as sieve-cell, disk, -vessel; also sieve-plate

SIFFLEUR

440

having reference to walls or ends of plant-

-pore, -tissue, -tube, i.

1875 Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. 23 The Sievestructure which occurs in the sieve-cells of the fibrovascular bundles of vascular plants. Ibid. 24 The opening of the sieve-pores has not yet begun. Ibid. 101 The latticed cells or sieve-tubes frequently have sieve- or latticed discs in their longitudinal walls. 1887 Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 5) 55 WThat are commonly known as sieve-tubes or sieve-vessels.

sieve, obs. form of seave, a rush. sieve (siv), v. Also 5 cyue, 6 sy(e)ue, syve. [f. sieve sb. Cf. MDu. and MLG. seven, zeven (LG. seven, sefen, etc.), MHG. siben (G. sieben), siffen.] 1. trans. To pass through a sieve; to sift or strain. 1499 [see the vbl. sb.]. 1530 Palsgr. 719/2 You can never make so fyne floure whan you do but syve your meale, as you shall do whan you boulte it. 1552 Huloet, Bult, raunge, or syeue meale, succerno. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 442 Sieving milk through a syle. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 909 A strong brine of salt and boiling-water. .is made and sieved through a cloth. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 225/2 The fibres of wood .. are then sieved according to fineness, collected, and pressed into pulp.

b. To take out by sifting. In quots. fig. i860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. cxxiii. III. 74 They will find no lack of reasons why they and their representatives should not be sieved out of parliament. 1885 Eng. Mech. 235 The blue or short wave-lengths of the spectrum are sieved out first.

2. a. To perforate with holes like a sieve. 1853 Whist le-Binkie Ser. 11. 29 Tak care o’ your breeks that they dinna get sieved.

b. To bore in the manner of a sieve. 1875 Lanier Symphony 32 We sieve mine-meshes under the hills.

3. intr. To pass as through a sieve. 1863 H. Melville Moby Dick exxv, Oh God! that man should be a thing for immortal souls to sieve through!

Hence 'sieving vbl. sb. 1499 Promp. Parv. (Pynson), Cyuynge or clensinge, colatura. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 8 Greediness., busies himselfe. . in syuing of Muckhills and shop dust, whereof he will boult a whole cartload to gaine a bowd Pinne. 1824 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1853 I. 79/1 After this sieving, after this pounding and trituration of the coarser particles [etc.].

sieved (sivd), ppl. a. [f. sieved. + -ed1.] Passed through a sieve. 1949 Nat. Geogr. Mag. Aug. 172/2 [Kale and collards].. in a finely chopped or ‘sieved’ form as food for babies. 1971 Nature 30 Apr. 559/2 Sanidines were extracted by elutriation of crushed and sieved pumice breccia.

'sieveful. [See -ful 2.] The fill of a sieve. Also fig■

a 1440 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 26 She mesurid one cevefull And yaue it to the mynystris. a 1658 Cleveland Char, of Diurn. Maker (1677) 102 A Sieveful of Ballads and Godly Books. 1693 Dryden Let. Wks. 1893 XVIII. 111 For feare the few damsins shou’d be all gone, desire her to buy me a sieve-full. 1725 Fam. Diet. s.v. Hop Garden, When it is thus fastned, cast in two or three Sievefulls of Hops. 1856 Morton Cycl. Agric. I. 193/2 A skilful workman takes a sieveful from the unfinished heap. 1895 Saintsbury Corrected Impressions x. 89 A very sieve-ful of holes.

sieve-like, a. [f. sieve sb.] Resembling a sieve; perforated like a sieve. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas 1. i. 369 Thence is’t that Garden-pots, the mouth kept close, Let fall no liquor at their sive-like nose. 1639 W. Sclater Worthy Commun. 3 So sieve-like are our memories, that they doe .. let slip .. what should better be retained. 01650 May Old Couple 111, So dying aldermen Pour out at once upon their sieve-like heirs Whole gusts of envi’d wealth. 1766 Compl. Farmer s.v. Glanders, The os ethmoides, or sieve-like bone, through which the olfactory nerves pass. 1837 P. Keith Bot. Lex. 257 When the juice of the sugar-cane has been boiled down to a syrup, it is put to cool into sieve-like vessels. 1887 Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 5) 56 The partition walls., are., only thickened in a sieve-like manner.

'sieve-maker, sieves.

[sieve sb.]

One who makes

14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wulcker 686 Hie cribrarius, syfmaker [printed fys-]. C1470 Promp. Parv. (K.) 457/2 Seve makere, ..cribrarius. 1572 in Essex Rev. (1906) XV. 212 Hugh Humfrey, the syvemakers son. 1601-01661 [see sievier]. 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6159/3 John Griffin,.. a Sieve-maker by Trade. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Sieve-maker, a manufacturer of screening machines and sieves. 1892 Daily News 9 Nov. 5/4 A peasant on foot and a sievemaker driving a single horse tarantass.

sieve-plate, [sieve vA.] 1. Bot. A sieve-like plate on the wall of a plant¬ cell. (Cf. sieve sb. 7 b.) 1875 Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. 24 The sieve-plates do not at present show anything of the subsequent more complicated structure. 1882 Vines ibid. 89 In this condition the septum, perforated by a number of pores, is termed a Sieve-plate; it is usually broader than the diameter of the tube, which therefore appears dilated at.. the sieve-plates.

2. Zool. (See quot.) 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 566 A calcareous plate placed at the base of the arm interradially, and called in the latter case a sieve-plate.

3. In paper-making, a plate through which pulp is strained.

M. B. Emeneau in Birnbaum & Puhvel Anc. Indo-Europ. Dialects 126 While Sievers-Edgerton’s law was in full working order, something other than purva- must have been the phonemic form. 1975 Lass & Anderson Old Eng. Phonol. 273 The earliest instance in Germanic.. of an important role being played by the long/short syllable dichotomy, is the set of phenomena associated with the vokalischen Auslautsgesetz (‘law of vocalic finals’), now usually called ‘Sievers’s Law’, or the ‘Sievers-Edgerton Law’.

Sievert ('siivat). The name of R. M. Sievert, 20th-c. Swedish radiologist, used to denote either of two units of dose of ionizing radiation, fa. Sievert unit (see quot. 1955). Obs. b. (Written sievert.) (See quot. 1977 ) 1945 C. W. Wilson Radium Therapy iii. 70 For the practical determination of the Sievert unit dose by this method, the measurement is made .. with a chamber having walls of a finite thickness. 1955 Gloss. Terms Radiology {B.S.I.) 19 Sievert unit, a unit of gamma-ray dose, being the dose of radiation delivered in one hour at a distance of 1 cm from a point source of 1 mg of radium element enclosed in platinum 0 5 mm thick. It is numerically equal to about 8 4 rontgens. 1977 Ann. ICRP I. ill. 4/1 The special name for the unit of dose equivalent is the sievert (Sv): 1 Sv = 1 Jkg ~ 1 (= 100 rem). 1982 Sci. Amer. Feb. 34/2 The data come from fairly high doses of radiation ( 5 sievert to two sieverts).

t'sievier. Obs. Forms: (see quots.). [f. sieve sb. + -IER.] = SIEVER. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 457/1 Syvy3ere, or maker of syvys {K. siveyer,.. P. syuyer), cribrarius. c 1460 Ibid. (Winch.) 84 Cyue3ere. 1601 F. Godwin Bps. of Eng. 529 The son of a poore man there, a Syueyer or Syve-maker by his occupation, a 1661 Fuller Worthies 1. Durham (1662) 297 William Siveyer was born at Shinkley.., where his Father was a Siveyer or Sive-maker. [1894 Wylie Hist. Eng., Hen. IV, II. 481 His father is said to have been a sievier or boltermaker.]

fsievy, a. Obs.-1 [f. sieve sb. + -y.] sieve, unable to retain.

Like a

1724 tr. Castelnau’s Mem. 47 When affairs of this kind come to be imparted to women, a sex so generally sievey that they can keep no secrets.

siew, siex, obs. forms of sue v., six. sif, var. SEIF. sifaka (si'faeka). Alsosifac. [Malagasy.] A small arboreal primate belonging to the genus Propithecus of the family Indriidse, native to Madagascar and distinguished by whitish silky fur with darker patches on the head and limbs, a hairless black face, and a long tail. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XVI. 429/1 It [sc. Cercopithecus Memaeus Cuv.] is a native of Cochin China and Madagascar, where it is called Sifac. 1901 W. Rice Animals 37 A smaller indri with a long tail is the sifaka, the native name of a pretty animal which.. goes about by day in bands of six or eight. 1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 1 Mar. (Home & Classroom Suppl.) p. ix/2 The monkey-lemurs, or sifakas, are purely arboreal. 1961 Listener 2 Nov. 709/1 A sifaka lemur seen in David Attenborough’s ‘Zoo Quest to Madagascar’. 1978 Nature 19 Oct. 587/1 White sifaka and ringtailed lemur populations have remained stable since 1963 in the privately protected 100-hectare reserve at Berenty.

sift, obs. form of sieve sb., sift v. sift, var. syph.

1891 in Cent. Diet.

'siever. Now rare or Obs. Also 5 cyver, 7 seaver. [f. sieve s6.] 1. A sieve-maker. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 78/2 Cyver, or maker of sevys.., cribrarius. 1616 Mem. St. Giles, Durham (Surtees) 46 Recd of Rychard Robeson, Seaver. ri8oo in H. Speight Nidderdale (1894) 384 Sievers, fellmongers, tanners, weavers, bleachers.

2. A sifter. 1835 Carrick Laird of Logan (1854) 189 Robin’s associates were three of the ‘Sievers’ of Sessantilly, the rival mill to Goodie.

Sievers ('siivaz, H'ziifars), the name of Eduard Sievers (1850-1932), German philologist, used attrib. of the rule formulated by him, (Beitr. z. Gesch. d. deutschen Sprache u. Lit. (1878) V. 129) that in Indo-European, (post-consonantal) unaccented i and u before a vowel were consonantal after a short syllable and vocalic after a long syllable; also, this rule as modified by later scholars, or as applied by them to particular early Indo-European languages. F. Edgerton {Language X (1934) 235 f. and elsewhere) played an important part in developing and modifying the rule, which is now sometimes called ‘Sievers-Edgerton’s Law’. 1934 Language X. 235 {title) Sievers’s law and IE. weakgrade vocalism. 1939 E. Prokosch Compar. Gmc. Gram. 92 The difference in treatment according to the character of the preceding syllable.. may have been Indo-European; this view was first expressed by Sievers... It is frequently referred to as ‘Sievers’ Law’. 1953 Jrnl. Eng. & Gmc. Philol. LI I. 149 The essential characteristic of the P[roto-]I[ndo-]E[uropean] resonants was their three-fold function as vowel, e.g. [i], consonant, [y], or vowel plus consonant [iy], as conditioned by the preceding phonemes; the description of this variation is generally known as Sievers’ Law. It is most clearly apparent in our Vedic Sanskrit documents. 1959 A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. 164 This interchange of % and i{ is called Sievers’ law. 1966

'siffilate, v. rare~l. [irreg. f. F. siffler: see next.] trans. To whisper. 1837 Marryat Dog Fiend ix, ‘He’s gone,’ was siffilated above and below.

siffle ('sif(3)l), v. Also 4-5 syfle, 5 sifle. [ad. F. siffler, fsifier:—L. stfilarey var. of sibilare: see sibilate v.] intr. To blow with a sibilant sound; to whistle, hiss. 13 .. E.E. Allit. P. C. 470 Sypen he .. sayez vnte Zeferus |?at he syfle warme. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 517 Quen Zeferus syflez hym-self on sedez & erbez. 1480 Caxton Ovicf s Met. xv. viii, The gode in forme of a serpent.. syfled after his avenement. 1491-Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) 1. viii. 13 b/1 Incontynent that the dragon aperceyued hym he came to hym siflinge. 1862 D. Richmond Through Life For Life xviii. 231 The damp, raw morning air, which siffled in from the open door. 1876 Mrs. Whitney Sights Ins. xxv, The air siffled gently through the low grass.

Hence 'siffling vbl. sb. and ppl. a. Also 'siffle sb., a sibilant rale {Cent. Diet. 1891). 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1221 Neither doe ordinary hounds understand the signes that huntsmen use, nor every horse the siffling and chirring of the escuirry. 1866 Cornh. Mag. Mar. 313 What joy when Angus drew a long siffling breath.

t 'sifflement. Obs.-1 [a. F. sifflement, f. siffler-. see prec.] A whistling noise. 1607 ? Brewkr Lingua I. i, Like to the winged chanters of the wood, Uttering nought else but idle sifflements, Tunes without sense, words inarticulate.

siffleur (siflcer). Also ferron. pi. siffleux. [Fr., lit. a whistler.] 1 .Canad. One of several animals that make a whistling noise, esp. the hoary marmot, Marmota caligata, or its flesh used as food. Cf. WHISTLER 2 b. 1703 tr. La Hontan's New Voy. N. Amer. I. 62 Certain little Beasts, call'd Siffleurs, or Whistlers. 1808 S. Fraser Jrnl. 18 June (i960) 86 They gave us a siffleur (marmot)

SIFT which is the first fresh meat we tasted since our departure. 1858 J. Palliser Jrnl. 22 Aug. in Palliser Papers (1968) 274 The only animal which we have seen is the siffleur, whose shrill whistle we heard for the first time close to our encampment. 1898 F. Russell Expl. Far North 249 Ground squirrels or ‘siffleux’ as they are known to the Company’s people, are a characteristic feature of the barren portions of Arctic America. 1949 Canad. Alpine Jrnl. May 32 They dined on ‘delicious siffleur’ which tasted on the tongue like 'very delicate mutton or the fat of sucking pig’. 1968 R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 209 La Guarde shot a couple of siffleurs — marmots or whistlers —lean, miserable things at that season.

2. (with fem. -euse). One who entertains professionally by whistling. 1827 T. Dibdin Reminiscences II. vi. 122 The following is from a celebrated siffleur-... ‘I Take the Liberty of Inclosing a few Lines, to Inform you that I am a Beautyfull Whistler If you Please to Give Me one Trial on the Stage.’ 1912 Music Hall & Theatre Review 11 Jan. 31/1 'Who is He’, a clever siffleur, charms everyone with his mimicry of birds. 1981 Times 26 Feb. 13/1 Melba’s friend Adeline Murrelli was not a singer but that almost forgotten artist, a siffleuse, or whistler.

sift, sb. rare. (In sense 1 = MDu. sifte, zifte (Du. zift), also MDu. and MLG. sichte. In other senses f. sift il] f 1. A sieve. Obs. 1499 Promp. Parv. (Pynson), Cyue or cifte, cribrum, cribellum. 1648 Hexham ii. s.v. Zijgen, To Runne through a Sift, or a Strainer.

2. The act of sifting (in quot. fig.); the fact of falling as from a sieve. 18x4 Mme. D’Arblay Wanderer I. 60, I don’t say this by way of a sift. 1866 B. Taylor Poet's Jrnl. Dec., The rustling sift of falling snow.

3. ‘Something that falls or passes as if from the meshes of a sieve; sifting or sifted material’ {Cent. Diet. 1891). 1876 G. M. Hopkins Wr. Deutschland iv, in Poems (1967) 52, I am soft sift In an hourglass. 1962 M. E. Murie Far North 11. ix. 192 The little sift of snow on the ice was marked only by tracks of ox.

sift (sift), v. Forms: 1 siftan, 4 siften (5 -yn), 6-7 sifte (6 siffte), 4- sift (7 siff); 1 syftan, 4-6 syfte, 5 cyftyn, 6 cyfte; 1 seftan, 5, 7 seft; also pa. pple. 5 syfte, 6 sefte. [OE. siftan, syftan, = MDu. sifteny suften (Du. zifteri), MLG. siften; also MDu. and MLG. (and hence G.) sichten, Du. and WFlem. zichten. The stem is that of sieve sb.] 1. trans. To pass (something) through a sieve, in order to separate the coarse from the fine particles, or to strain. C725 Corpus Gloss. C 873 Crebrat, siftiS. c 888 K. /Elfred Boeth. xxxiv. § 11 Swa swa mon meolo seft [v.r. sift]; 6aet meolo SurgcrypS adc 6yrel. ciooo /Elfric Gram. (Z.) 137 Cribro, ic syfte. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. T. 388 A1 this mullok in a sive y-throwe, And sifted, and y-piked many a throwe. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P R. xvii. lxvii. (Tollem. MS.), Mele is grounde at mylle, and sefted with a seue. C1415 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) p. xevi, A dyssh full of aysshes fayre syfte. c 1430 Two Cookery Bks. 38 pan bray hem smal y-now; & perow a crees bunte syfte hem. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 77/1 Cyftyn, cribro. 1530 Palsgr. 718/2, I wyll nat syft my meale thorowe this syve, it is to course. 1555 Eden Decades iv. (Arb.) 82 The myners.. in dyuers places syfted the same on the drye lande. 1603 in Gage Hist. & Antiq. Hengrave (1822) 23 Item, one her sholve made like a grate to seft the seacole w th. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 11. 85 They sweep a place very clean to sift the lime in, and when it is sifted they make it up in a heap. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 69 [f 11 Two of the Fair Sex, who are usually employed in sifting Cinders. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 171 Pound and sift three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar. 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Glass 303 The same powdered whiting. . may be used again .. upon being ground and sifted. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. 1. viii, A country contract which was to be sifted before carted,

b. In fig. or transf. uses. 1535 Coverdale Amos ix. 9 Though I siffte yc house of Israel amonge all nacions. 1589 ? Lyly Pappe w. Hatchet L.’s Wks. 1902 III. 408 They haue sifted the holie Bible, and left vs nothing as they say, but branne. 1611 Bible Isaiah xxx. 28 To sift the nations with the sieue of vanitie. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. iv. 8 The things of God.. lose their value and force, when they are sifted through so many hands. 1822 W. Tennant Thane of Fife 1. lxxv, When the North [wind] should burst his bleak confines, And in his icy boulter sift the snow. 1871 Tyndall Fragrn. Sci. (1879) I. iv. 129 The solar light is sifted by the landscape.

2 .fig. a. To make trial of (a person). In early quots. after Luke xxii. 31. a 1300 Cursor M. 15523 He wil pe sift nu if he mai, as man dos corn or bran. 1535 Coverdale Luke xxii. 31 Satan hath desyred after you, that he might siffte you euen as wheate. c 1590 Marlowe Faustus xiii, Sathan begins to sift me with his pride. 1624 T. Scott Vox Dei 76 Is it not a great and dangerous temptation, (o all yee that know what temptation is, what it is to be siffed, what it is to resist) that young men meet in the world? 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xv. 315 For these reasons Lady Elizabeth was closely kept and narrowly sifted all her Sisters reigne. 1718 Free-thinker No. 74. 140 The more .. the Sincere Man .. is sifted, the more he is intrusted.

b. To subject (one) to close questioning. 01566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (E.E.D.S.) 47 The knave beginneth to sift me. 1588 Greene Pandosto (1843) 37 He therefore began to sifte her more narrowly on this manner. 1617 Moryson Itin. ill. 30 Being curiously sifted by the guard at the City-gate, and being asked many questions. 1694 Gibson in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 235 For fear it should be some you have employ’d, I have got one to sift him. 1726 Swift Gulliver 11. vi, He multiplied his Questions, and sifted me thoroughly upon every Part of this

SIG

441 Head. 1756 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 16 May, I sifted Dr. Pringle himself, but he would not give me a positive answer. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xvii. You must speak with this wench,.. you must sift her a wee bit. 1861 Reade Cloister & H. Iv, Blind Hans’s boy .. was sifted narrowly by my master, and stammered and faltered.

1855 Longf. Hiaw. ii. 137 He it was who sent the snow¬ flakes Sifting, hissing through the forest. 1867 Augusta Wilson Vashti xxxiv, Golden leaves were sifting down on the marble floor. 1893 Scribner's Mag. Sept. 305/1 The April sunshine sifts in through an open window.

3. fig. To examine closely into, to scrutinize

1881 Blackmore Christowell vii, At this he worked hard, .. pulling asunder the fibrous clods, but not reducing them to siftage.

narrowly, so as to find out the truth. 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) n Thes men., whos opinions I have desirid to be thurrouly siftid. 1592 Timme Ten Eng. Lepers L4, Let no man take upon him to scan and sift Gods workes. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. I. viii. (1686) 23 We may explore and sift their verities. 1735 Berkeley Free-think. in Mathemat. § 15 Others who are not afraid to sift the principles of human science. 1774 J. Bryant Mythol. II. 189, I have endeavoured with great pains to sift the history to the bottom. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxxiv, We will sift this matter to the uttermost. 1849 Robertson Serm. Ser. 1. xxi. (1866) 350 It is.. very hard to sift a slander. 1884 L. J. Jennings Croker Papers I. i. 14 The art with which he sifted the evidence of the witnesses.

b. Similarly with out. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 85 When as Tatianus promised to sift out the darke speeches and hidden mysteries of Holy Scripture. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 11. 578 This word .. ought to teach us not to sift out the life of our soveraigne prince. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. vii. 272 If the cause be difficult, his diligence is the greater to sift it out. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Amb. 70 They were lodg’d in my house for some dayes, which I spent in sifting out their humour and manner of life. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Hist. 11. ii. §2 He tried to sift out the accounts of the money. 1827 Pollok Course T. 1, Severely sifting out The whole idea. ■fc. To search; to try. Obs. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl D.’s Wks. 1874 IV. 148, I will sift all the tauernes ith citty,.. lie find her out. 1627 E. F. Hist. Edw. II (1680) 18 They sift each way might break this fond inchantment.

4. To separate, to take or get out, by the use of a sieve. Also transf. and in fig. contexts. 1428 Eng. Misc. (Surtees) 6 He syfted oute of yt half a bushell of plaster and lyme. 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 87 The marchauntis straungers nowe use.. to sarse, syfte & trye out the best greyne. 1554-9 Songs Ball., Phil. & Mary (Roxb.) 4 And eke the fyne flowr from the bran nerly syfft. 1602 Narcissus (1893) App. 1. 7, I have sifted out.. the flower of my fancye. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows 1. §15. 21 Yet can the Lord .. as a few precious jewels in .. a great heap of rubbish sift them out. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 262 Having sifted out and thrown away all the finest particles. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. 1. v. 39 That it will be got sifted, like wheat out of chaff, from the Twenty-seven Million British subjects. 1872 W. K. Clifford Lect. (1879) I. 176 The lightest gas comes out quickest, and is as it were sifted from the other. refl. 1874 L. Stephen Hours Libr. (1892) I. iii. 109 In Pope . . the grain has sifted itself from the chaff.

b.fig. To find out, get to know, by a process of elimination or close inquiry. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary 11. 87 When by interrogation we sift out any thing. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxii. 195 To labour in sifting out a Philosophicall truth. 1726 Adv. Capt. R. Boyle (1768) 240, I endeavour’d to sift the Secret from him. 1805 G. Ellis Let. in Lockhart Scott (1837) II. ii. 75, I should think Ritson himself, .would be puzzled to sift out a single additional anecdote of the poet’s life. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. 11. vii, Then, perhaps, you may sift out some farther particulars. 1851 Helps Comp. Solit. x. (1874) 170 It will be investigated, and what is true in it be sifted out.

5. To clear or clean from impurities, etc., by means of a sieve; also fig.} to clean (one) out of money. 1591 Greene Conny Catch. 11. Wks. (Grosart) X. 95 He.. little suspected that his Countreyman the Setter had sifted him out of his money. C1632 Drumm. of Hawth. Elegy Gustavus Adolphus, You are at best but honourable Earth;.. how e’re sifted from that courser Bran Which doth compound, and knead the common Man. 1660 Sharrock Vegetables 17 Sift it from stones and rubbish. 6. a. To cover over, by letting something fall

through a sieve. 1563 Hyll Arte Garden. (1593) 14 The which allies and walkes you shall sift ouer with the finest sand.

b. To let fall through, scatter from or by means of, a sieve. Also/ig. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 204 If this [soil] be too stiff, sift a little Lime discreetly with it. 1674 Flavel Husb. Spiritualized (ed. 2) 264 The finest and richest mould must be sifted about the roots. 1747-96 Mrs. Glasse Cookery xx. 316 You must sift some fine sugar upon your cake when it goes into the oven. 1772 T. Simpson Vermin-Killer 26 Cover it lightly over with earth,.. sift it over the trap. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 85 Along the floor some sand I’ll sift. 1855 Delamer Kitchen Garden (1861) 37 After sowing,., sift over the top a thin layer of cinder-ashes or lime-rubbish. 1869 B. Harte Luck Roaring Camp 31 Again from leaden skies the snow-flakes were sifted over the land.

7. intr. To use a sieve; to do sifting. Chiefly fig., esp. to pry into, make inquiry. 1535 Coverdale Amos ix. 9 Like as they vse to sifte in a syue. 1590 Greene Never too Late Wks. (Grosart) VIII. 153, I hope this proffer is but a tryall.. to sift at my secret intent, a 1625 Fletcher Noble Gent. v. iii, Although he puts his nobles in disguise . . to sift into my words. 1641 Milton Atiimadv. Wks. 1851 III. 205 You sifted not so clean before, but you shuffle as foulely now. 1699 Bentley Phal. 287, I will not sift into them too minutely. 1779 Mme. D’Arblay Let. Dec., He has desired me to sift for what room you have, and to sound as to convenience. 1874 Slang Diet. 290 Sift, to embezzle small coins, those which might pass through a sieve—as threepennies and fourpennies—and which are, therefore, not likely to be missed. 8. To pass or fall as through a sieve. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 2/2 Madefye it with Rosewater least that it fal on a heap and sift throughe.

Hence ’siftage, sifted matter.

rare~l.

sifted (’siftid), ppl. a. [f. sift v.] That has been passed through a sieve. 1485 Nottingham Rec. III. 243, vij stryke of syfted lyme. 1563 Hyll Arte Garden. (1593) 154 Put fine sifted earth, either into an old basket, ordeepe earthen pan. 1605 Willet Hexapla Gen. 353 The plowed, tilled, or sifted feilds. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 298 A Composition made of slacked sifted Lime and Linseed Oil. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell vii. viii. 3 A genteel drive up to his door, With sifted gravel neatly laid. 1888 Rutley Rock-Forming Min. 8 A sifted sample .. of such fineness that each particle consists of one mineral species only. fig- J589 Nashe Martin Marprelate Wks. (Grosart) I. 95 The sifted Greeke witte of Father Augustine. 1878 Masque Poets 75 The sifted silver of the night Rained down a strange delight.

sifter (’sift3(r)). [f. as prec. + -er1.] 1. One who sifts, in lit. or fig. senses. 1579 Lyly Euphues Epist. Dedicatory, Though the stile nothing delight the dayntie eare of the curious sifter. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxxiv. (1592) 547 Some searchers and sifters of words. 1611 Cotgr., Cribleur, a sifter. 1720 T. Boston Fourfold State (1797) 311 Such is the exactness of the sieve and care of the sifter. 1752 Fielding Covent Gard. Jrnl. No. 23, They elude the enquiries of the most diligent sifters of antiquity. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. II. 172/2 A medium-sized dust-yard will employ.. six sifters. 1871 R. B. Vaughan S. Thomas of Aquin II. 646 He did not take for granted like the Sophist... He was a winnower and a sifter.

b. Ornith. (See quot.) 1872 Darwin Orig. Species (ed. 6) vii. 183 Ducks .. subsist by sifting the mud and water; and the family has sometimes been called Criblatores, or sifters.

2. A utensil or apparatus for sifting; a sieve; also dial., a fire-shovel, kitchen shovel. 1611 Cotgr., Crible, a siue, or sifter; raunging siue. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 209/1 The pulp is first made to flow from the vat upon a wire frame, or sifter. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2175/2 Sifters are used for sifting ashes from cinders; flour from lumps, etc. 1881 Porcelain Wks., Worcester 7 The number of pumps, sifters, and presses which are employed.

'sifting, vbl. sb. [f. as prec. + -ing1.] 1. The action of the verb, in various senses. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 77/1 Cyftynge, cribracio. c 1460 Ibid. (Winch.) 410 Syftynge [P. siffinge] or clensynge, collacio, collatura. 1473 Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 171 Tha sal do thar diligens .. with wedyng, renouyng and syftyng of seid. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 212 They moue them rownde aboute after the maner of syftynge. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Pari. 222 He scoffeth .. at our spirituall sifting of the sacrament. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 262 To intend the sifting and scanning of euery pretended way of saluation. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xvi. 432 Time will aske much, to the sifting out Of each mans disposition, by his deeds. 1736 Hervey Mem. I. 138 Examinations and siftings seldom turning to the account of those who have the reins of power. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iii. § 19. 70 The weighing and sifting of traditional testimony. 1884 Athenaeum 24 May 660/1 The heap has undergone a certain sifting and classification. attrib. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 283 Siftingmachines have been contrived for the purpose. 1861 Stephens & Burns Farm-buildings § 1773 In Mr. Downing’s work, a plan of what is there termed a ‘sifting-shed’ [for separating pigs] is given.

2. pi. That which is removed or separated by means of a sieve. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme 1. xxii. 131 The sheaues of wheate and rie are good for them: and sometimes bran mixed with siftings. 1611 Cotgr., Cribleure,.. siftings. 1763 Mills Pract. Husb. II. 280 note, The siftings would otherwise have been more considerable in so many years. 1845 Beck's Florist Jrnl. 30, I would recommend to add to it . . either sand, lime rubbish, or lime siftings. 1886 Daily News 15 Sept. 2/4 Tea..; black leaf, 8d. to is. id.; siftings, 5\d-

‘sifting, ppl. a. [-ing2.] That sifts or separates; searching. 1642 H. More Song of Soul 1. ii. cviii, How had she admired Thy sifting wit, thy speech and person lov’d. 1762 Crazy Tales 24 He was in such a sifting cue, Till she discover’d all she knew. 1850 McCosh Div. Govt. 1. ii. (1874) 51 Its superstitions could not stand the sifting light of modern science. 1895 Tablet 9 Nov. 739 The sifting power of water in motion is very great.

sig, sb. dial, and U.S. Also seg, sigg, zig(g. [Of obscure origin; the form does not correspond to older Flem. seycke (Kilian), G. seiche, in the same sense.] 1. Urine. 1691 Ray S. & E. Co. Wds. 113 Sig, Urine, Chamber-lie. 1746 Gentl. Mag. XVI. 408/2 [Exmoor Vocab.], Zigg, urine. 1825 Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 67. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. 670 The woollen factories used to supply to any householder who would .. undertake to ‘save’ the ’sig’, a tub or vat for the purpose.

2. A solution applied to the grain side of leather before it is stained black. ? Obs. 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 623 In the making of ‘sig’ stains, blacks and pastes for leather, borax is the currier’s friend. 1900 H. C. Standage Leather Worker's Manual iv. 69 Seasoning for Oil-Grain Leathers- This is sometimes called ‘sig’. It is a fluid which is put onto the skin, so as to dye or stain it, or otherwise prepare it for being blackened on the grain side. 1903 L. A. Flemming Pract. Tanning 51 A good ‘sig’ is made of forty gallons of water,

SIG

SIGHER

442

twelve pounds of salts of tartar, five pounds of bichromate of potash and one quart of ammonia.

fsig, v. Obs.~x [Cf. prec.] trans. To steep in, or sprinkle with, urine. 1581 in Southern Times 27 Oct. (1883) 3/4 That no tuckers do sig or wash any^-cloths upon the Sabbath Day.

sig., in printing, abbreviation of signature. 1866 G. Simpson Let. 30 May in Geo. Eliot Lett. (1956) IV. 263 Vol. II. is on the Machines up to Sig. K. 9 and the whole of it will be on to morrow. 1959 N. & Q. Dec. 461/1 In the Preface to the Lay-Reader of Richard Baxter’s Gildas Salvianus: The Reformed Pastor (1656), sig. C. 8, the following passage occurs. 1972 P. Gaskell New Introd. Bibliogr. 99 (caption) Sheet of duodecimo.. with two signatures.. (120 in 8s and 4s, 2 sigs.).

f sigalder, sb. Obs. rare. [f. OE. sige victory + galder.] A charm or incantation. ciooo Saxon Leechd. I. 388 Syge-jealdor ic begale, sisejyrd ic me weje. a 1225 Ancr. R. 208 Sigaldren [v.r. sigaldrie], & false teolunges, leuunge on ore & of swefnes, & alle wichchecreftes.

Hence f sigalder v., to enchant, bewitch. Obs. 1303 R- Brunne Handl. Synne 503 J?ere was a wycche, and made a bagge, A bely of lej?yr,.. She sygaldryd so pys bagge bely p>at hyt 3ede and soke mennys ky.

woodcleauers, &c., keepe time to their stroakes. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, The Collar 19 Recover all thy sigh-blown age On double pleasures. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xvii. lxiii. With such potent passion did she breath That sighclogg’d Word, a 1847 Eliza Cook Under the Moon ix. 1 We may breathe a farewell in a sigh-deepened tone. 1849 De Quincey Eng. Mail Coach Wks. 1862 IV. 331 Suggesting solemn and sigh-born thoughts. 1873 Brennan Witch of Nemi 12 Bathed in the streams of sigh-fermented tears. 1911 J. A. Thomson Biol, of Seasons 11. 193 When the young bird appears to be contented and very comfortable, it utters a plaintive, almost sigh-like cheep. 1964 J. C. Catford in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 32 Auditory effect, ‘sigh¬ like’ mixture of breath and voice: one form of voiced [h]. sigh (sai, Sc. six), v.

Forms: a. 4 sihe(n, 4-5

syhe(n, 5 syh(gh)yn; 4-5 si3(h)e, si33e (4 six-), sy3(h)e,

5

sye.

j3.

4-5

sighen,

4-7

sighe

(5

sighye?), 5-6 syghe, 6- sigh. y. Sc. 5-6 sych, 5-6, 9 sich. 8. 4-6 seigh, 5 seye (?), 6 segh; Sc. 5 seych, 9 seich, sech. e. Pa. t. 6-7 (9 dial.) sight (7 sigh’t), 6 seight.

[ME. sihen, sijen, sighen, etc., prob. a

back-formation on sihte, sijte, pa. t. of siche v., through

the

guttural

having

more

phonetic

appropriateness than the palatal sound. The old pa. t., however, survived in literary use down to the 17th cent.; it may also have been the source

t sigaldry. Obs. rare. Also 3 -rie, 4 sygaldrye. [f. prec. + -Y.] Enchantment, sorcery. 01225 [see sigalder s6.]. 13.. K. Alis. 7015 (W.), Quede and harme he wil me spye,.. Gef he wot of this sygaldrye [Laud trigoldrye] That this trowes [ = trees] kan lye. ? a 1500 Chester PI., Crucifixion (Shaks. Soc.) II. 69 Burye hym wher thy wil be, But look thou make no sigaldry To raise him up agayne.

Sigatoka (snjgs'tsuks). Also Sing-. [Name of the district of Fiji where the disease was first observed.] Used attrib. and absol. to designate a disease of banana plants caused by the fungus Cercospora musae, characterized by the appearance on the leaves of elongated spots, followed by rotting of the entire leaves. 1925 Agric. Circular Dept. Agric. Fiji V. 68 Sigatoka Disease—This is by far the most important of the banana diseases of Fiji. 1958 New Scientist 26 June 258/1 Sigatoka has spread to virtually all the banana growing areas since it was discovered in 1903. 1963 A. Burns Fiji 11. iii. 197 Leafspot disease, which affects bananas in various parts of the world, is often referred to as Singatoka Disease, because it was first identified in the Singatoka area of Viti Levu. 1972 C. W. Wardlaw Banana Dis. xi. 314 In Fiji, it became notorious in 1913 in the Sigatoka valley—hence the name ‘Sigatoka Disease’ or simply ‘Sigatoka’.

sig(g)e, obs. forms of siege sb. sigge(n, obs. forms of say v.1 sigh (sai, Sc. six), sb. Forms: a. 5 syhe, 5-6 syghe, 6 sygh; 4-7 sighe, 4- sigh. )3. Sc. 6 sych(e, 6, 8-9 sich, 6, 9 arch, siche, 9 sicgh; north. 9 seegh. [f. the vb.] 1. A sudden, prolonged, deep and more or less audible respiration, following on a deep-drawn breath, and esp. indicating or expressing dejection, weariness, longing, pain, or relief. a. 13 .. Cursor M. 15169 (Gott.), Ful mani sari sigh, i-wis, par sank tille his herte. C1381 Chaucer Pari. Foules 248 Withyn the temple of syghes [v.r. syhes] hote as fyre.., Whyche syghes engendryd were with desyre [etc.], c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483) iv. xxxi. 80 He draweth a depe sighe fro the herte rote, c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvi. 372 Rowland .. sawe not durandall his swerd, wherof he dyde caste a grete syghe. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems viii. 2 Thou may complain with sighis lamentable The death of Bernard Stewart. 1595 Daniel Civ. Wars 1. lxxxvii, Wringing her hands (as one that griev’d and prayd) With sighes commixt with words. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. 1. ii. 287 Stopping the Cariere Of Laughter, with a sigh. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xix. 440 In their sighes they breathed many a prosperous gale to Nassau’s party. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 7 |f 1 The Lady., said to her Husband with a Sigh, My Dear, Misfortunes never come Single. 1757 Gray Clerke 14 A sigh; an unavailing tear. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. II. ii. 19 A sigh uttered from the fulness of the heart, an involuntary aspiration born and dying in the same moment. 1878 M. A. Brown tr. Runeberg's Nadeschda 38 A sigh of admiration is His full heart’s only language now. transf. 1817 Keats I stood tip-toe 12 There crept A., noiseless noise among the leaves, Born of the very sigh that silence heaves. /9. 1513 Douglas JEneid xm. v. 115 Drawand the sobbis hard and sychis smart. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform, xi. 116 With sobbing sych I to 30U send This my complaint. 1593 A. Hume Treat. Consc. vi, [He] will vtter his passions .. with sichis, and with sobbes. 17.. Ramsay Some of the Contents ix, His eisy sangs.. Sail be esteimd quhyle sichs saft lufe betray. 1802 R. Anderson Cumbld. Ball. (c 1850) 32 Now, hey for seeghs and sugar words. 1879 G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie xlvi, She gae a gret sich, an’ a sab.

2. transf. A sound suggestive of a sigh.

made

by

the

wind,

1810 Scott Lady of L. 1. xi, Creeping shrubs, of thousand dyes, Waved in the west-wind’s summer sighs. 1815 Shelley Alastor 8 Autumn’s hollow sighs in the sere wood. 1848 L. HuNT^ar of Honey v. 64 Like the sigh that answers a wind over a churchyard.

3. Comb., as sigh-blown, -clogged, -like, -swollen, etc.

-born,

-broken,

01586 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 396 At length he ended His oft sigh-broken dittie. 1601 Markham Mary Magd. 3rd Lament 15,1 will suppresse my sigh-swolne sadnesse. 1611 Cotgr., Han, the.. sigh-like voyce, wherewith

of the variant sight v.2 Further variations are sithe v. and the dialect sife, siff.]

1. a. intr. To emit, give, or heave a sigh. In ME. freq. in phrase to sigh sore. a. 13 .. Cursor M. 2959 (Gott.), Abraham syhid in his hert ful sare. 1382 Wyclif Joshua xv. 18 She si3ide [1388 si33ide], as she sat in the asse. -Job iii. 24 Er I shul ete, I si3he. c 1420 Prymer (1895) 34 To we s^en, gronynge in pis valey of teeris. C1440 Promp. Parv. 455/2 Syhghyn, for mornynge (K. syhyn ..), suspiro. ft. a 1300 Cursor M. 14221 Quen thomas .. Hard pat ded was lazarus,.. He sighed sar. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 319 Sche fond non amendement To syghen. a 1400-50 Alexander 5584 J>e berne.. Sighis selcuthly sare & sadli he wepis. 1434 Misyn Mending Life 130 It is no meruell pof it say syghand: ‘Qwho sail gif me pe, my broper?’ 1530 Palsgr. 718/1 He syghed tyll his herte dyd nerehande bruste. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 342 To sigh, and to wincke as thoughe he were a slepe. 1669 Dryden Tyrannic Love ill. i, And when his strength is wanting to his mind, Looks back, and sighs on what he left behind. 1697Virg. Georg. iv. 673 On thee,.. in Desarts all alone, He call’d, sigh’d, sung. 1727-46 Thomson Summer 1188 They .. talk’d the flowing heart, Or sigh’d and look’d unutterable things. 1781 Cowper Expost. 722 My soul shall sigh in secret, and lament A nation scourg’d. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xli, The young knight sighed, therefore, and held his peace. 1854 Tennyson Marriage Geraint 307 Then sigh’d and smiled the hoary-headed Earl. y. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 350 Men mycht haiff sene.. knychtis, for thar luffis sak, Baith sich, and wep. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 972 Wallace tharfor sichit with hart full sar. 1508 Dunbar Twa Mariit Wemen 446, I sich, without sair hert, or seiknes in body. 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 459 The vther gaid hame .. Sichand, and durst say no mair. 1791 Learmont Poems 113 She sicht sair i’ her bed. 1884 D. Grant Lays & Leg. North 92 The Cooper didna sich an’ grain. 8. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xviii. 89 He seighed & sayde, ‘sore it me athynketh’. C1400 St. Alexius 122 (Laud MS. 108), His fader at horn seyet3 sore, & seyp ‘alias! alias!’ c 1440 Generydes 1416 Ye seigh gretly, I prae yow telle me why. 1529 More Dyaloge 1. Wks. 130/2 Some sely woman seking saint Sythe when she seghyth for miscasting of her kayes. 1877 Neilson Poems 57 (E.D.D.), They sech loud an’ lang. 1883 Currie Poems 44 (E.D.D.), Nae langer noo I seich and mane. e. ?ci550 Sir Andrew Barton in Surtees Misc. (1890) 65 The merchauntes answered, soore they sight. 1592 Breton Pilgr. Paradise Wks. (Grosart) I. 14/2 Shrinking downe, it sight, and spake no more. 1633 Cowley Poet. Blossoms, Constantia & Philetus 329 With that.. He sight, as if they’d coole his torment’s ire. 1689 Carlile Fortune-Hunters 1. i, He lookt indeed and sight, and set his Cravat-string, and sight agen. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Sight, sighed. b. fig. and transf. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 783 Nature from her seat Sighing through all her Works gave signs of woe. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 83. 3/1 To hear her after, Sigh in Welsh, (Which ill-bred Clowns will call a Belch). 1775 Sheridan Duenna 1. i, Tell me, my lute, can thy soft strain .. So softly sing, so humbly sigh, That [etc.]? c. Of the wind, trees, etc.: To make or give out a sound suggestive of a sigh. I757 Gray Bard 24 Hark, how each giant-oak, and desert cave, Sighs to the torrent’s aweful voice beneath! 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 104 Like yon neglected shrub.. That.. sighs at every blast. 1820 Scott Monast. ix, A chill easterly wind was sighing among the withered leaves. 1830 Tennyson Claribel 4 The solemn oaktree sigheth. 1855Maud 1. xxii. vii, Whenever a March-wind sighs He sets the jewel-print of your feet In violets. 2. a. To express desire or longing by the utterance

of

sighs;

hence,

to

wish

or

long

ardently. Const, for (fafter), or to with inf. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Phil. 8 Yet in soule our conuersacion is in heauen, sighing continuallye thither. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, In aliquam suspirare, to sigh after one, or for one. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. viii. 20, I was belou’d of many a gentle Knight,.. Full many a one for me deepe groand and sight. 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies 1. vi. 18 Many Spaniards .. sigh for Spaine, having no discourse, but of their countrie. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 2°5 If 3 The Foreigner- sighs after some British Beauty, whom he only knows by Fame. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Ep. 1. xx. 5 You . . fondly praise The public World, even sighing to be read,—Unhappy Book! 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest iv, He sighed for the time when the King’s cause should be again triumphant. 1855 Tennyson Maud 1. 11, Long have I sigh’d for a calm.

b. To be sorry, feel sorrow. Const, that, to. 1642 H. More Song of Soul 1. iii. 39 Fair semblances these Apterites Do make of good, and sighen very sore, That God no stronger is. 1670 Dryden Conq. Granada 1. iii. i, May your Heroick Act so prosperous be, That Almahide may sigh you set her free. 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 148 And which more blest? who chain’d his country, say, Or he whose Virtue sigh’d to lose a day?

3. trans. a. To speak or utter (words, etc.) with a sigh. Chiefly with advs., as forth and out. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 117 b, Some sighes out their woordes. Some synges their sentences. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. iii. i. 13 To.. sigh a note and sing a note. 1607-Cor. 1. i. 209 They., sigh’d forth Prouerbes. 1624 Quarles Job Militant §8 Bvt wretched lob, sigh’t forth these words, and said, Ah me! 1797 Jane Austen Sense & Sens, xxxvii, Marianne sighed out her similar apprehension. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Man of Many Fr. (Colburn) 120 It is rather too late .. for you and I to sit up sighing out romances in real life. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 1341 The Queen .. sigh’d in passing, ‘Lancelot, Forgive me’. 1879 Miss Braddon Cloven Foot xxxviii, ‘Yes,’ sighed Celia, ‘He went early on Tuesday morning’.

b. To emit, give out, impart, etc., by sighing. Freq. with advs., as away, forth, out. Also transf. 1593 Shaks. Rich. II, iii. i. 20 [I] Haue.. sigh’d my English breath in forraine Clouds. 1607-Cor. iv. v. 121 Neuer man Sigh’d truer breath. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 273 Sapores .. sighed out his affrighted ghost, at the age .. of seventy one. 1725 Pope Odyss. xiv. 51 Far from his country roams my hapless lord! Or sigh’d in exile forth his latest breath, a 1796 Burns On a Bank of Flowers iii, He gaz’d, he wish’d, he fear’d, he blush’d, And sigh’d his very soul. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxxv[i]. iii. Sweet after showers, ambrosial air,.. sigh The full new life that feeds thy breath Throughout my frame. 1875 Farrar Silence & Voices i. 5 Hundreds of martyrs sighed away their souls amid the flames.

c. With cognate obj. 1789 Blake Songs Innoc. f. 6, Think not, thou canst sigh a sigh, And thy maker is not by. 1847 C. Bronte^. Eyre II. ii. 37 She sighed a sigh of ineffable satisfaction, as if her cup of happiness were now full. 1888 Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere III. xli. 225 Robert sighed a long sigh.

4. a. To spend, consume, or while away (time) by sighing. Also with away and out. 1599 Shaks. Much Ado 1. i. 204 Thou wilt needes thrust thy necke into a yoke,.. and sigh away sundaies. 1653 Milton Ps. vi. 11 Wearied I am with sighing out my dayes. 1700 Prior Carmen Sec. 229 Sighing the Moments that defer Our Ease.

b. To bring into a certain state or condition by sighing. Also transf. and refl. 1603 Shaks. Meas. for M. 1. ii. 178 Thy head stands so tickle on thy shoulders, that a milke-maid, if she be in loue, may sigh it off. 1813 Scott Rokeby 11. i, The gale had sigh’d itself to rest. 1850 Mrs. Browning Sonn., Prospect, As fretful children do, Leaning their faces on the window-pane To sigh the glass dim.

5. a. To lament (an event, circumstance, etc.) with sighing. c 1600 Shaks. Sonn. xxx, I sigh the lacke of many a thing I sought. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. iii, No., kinsman left To weepe my fate, or sigh my funerall. 1695 Prior Ode Queen s Death, Ages to come.. Shall bless her Name, and sigh her Fate.

fb. To desire or long for (something). Obs. 1650 Earl Monm. tr. Senault's Man bee. Guilty 224 God’s beauty is then .. that, that we ought to sigh, all other desires are unjust.

sigh, erron. var. of sith, since; obs. var. sye. fsi3e. Obs. Also 3 sy3e, sy, si. [OE. sige, = OFris. si, OS. sigi (MLG. and MDu. sege, Du. zege), OHG. sigi, sigo, sigu (MHG. sige, G. sieg), Goth, sigis. OE. had also sigor, = ON. sigi (Sw. seger, Da. sejr).~\ 1. Victory in battle or conflict. f 893 K. Alfred Oros. i. ix. 42 p>a Cretense haefdon £>one grimlecan sije. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1066, Se Norrena cyng ahte sijes geweald. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 13 Ah ic eou 3ife si3e and streinj?e )?et 3e ma3en ower feond ouer cumen. c 1200 Ormin i 1421 To winnenn si3e & oferrhannd Off himm ^urrh Cristess hellpe. ^1205 Lay. 16199 ba heo ise3en pat heo si3en nscfden. Ibid. 17409 Heo swunken ful swiSe ah nsefden heo sy3e.

2. A position of victory or triumph. a 1200 St. Marher. 123 Ther ha schineth seoueuald schenre then the sunne i si ant i selhthe. a 1225 Juliana 11 (Bodl. MS.), Sei me hwi J>u forsakest py sy & ti selhSe.

3. Comb., as sije-craft; sije-fast adj. See also sigalder and sigaldry. A large number of combs, occur in OE. texts. c 900 tr. Baeda's Hist. 11. ix. 124 He sijefasst swa eft ham ferde. 971 Blickl. Horn. 167 Eallum Godes halgum he is sigefaestra & gecorenra. c 1200 Ormin 16958 J>att lede patt iss s|33efasst. C1205 Lay. 15 501 J?e king., bad heom.. fondien J?at soSe mid heore si3e-craften, whaer on hit weore ilong [etc.].

sigher ('sai9(r)). [f. sigh v.] One who sighs. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii, When my daughters exequies approach, Let’s all turne sighers. 1612 Two Noble K. 11. i, I could wish my selfe a Sigh to be so chid, or at least a Sigher to be comforted. 1703 Steele Tender Husb. iv. i, Never was there such a sigher.. as that unfortunate youth, during the absence of her he loved. 1740 Cibber Apol. (1756) I. 225 Their lovers are generally constant simple sighers, both of a mind. 1826 Scott Jml. 16 June, I have been no sigher in shades—no writer of ‘Songs and sonnets [etc.]’. 1879 Black Macleod of Dare xxx, Is she likely, .to prove a sigher?.. A woman who goes about the house all day sighing.

SIGHFUL sighful ('saiful), a. rare. [f. sigh sb. + -ful.] Sorrowful; sad. 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. iv. 1. Tropheis 1285 In a cave hard by he roareth out A sigh-full Song, a 1618-Hymn of Alms 276 A sighfull Air (though Soule-less) to respire. 1893 F- Thompson Poems 53 The dank thoughts that shiver Upon the sighful branches of my mind.

SIGHT

443

love. 1842 Mrs. Browning Gk. Chr. Poets ii. f 3 To go back sighingly to the tragedy, where we shall have to sigh again.

'sighingness. Obs.~1 [f. as prec. + -ness.] The condition of uttering sighs. t

a 1300 E.E. Psalter ci. 6 Fra steuen of mi sighingnesse [v.r. sikingnesse] Kliued mi mouth to mi flessche.

Hence 'sighfully adv. rare. 1900 Academy 27 Oct. 375/2 Cromwell..‘sought the Lord’.. sighfully and tearfully, beating his breast. 1905 W. J. Locke Morals Marcus Ordeyne x. 213 My aunt sighfully acquiesced, and for a while we discussed the depravity of human nature. 1925 T. Dreiser Amer. Trag. (1926) II. hi. xxv. 321 And here he wearily and sighfully drew forth his large white handkerchief once more.

sighing (’saiiT)), vbl. sb. [f. sigh v.] 1. The action of the verb; sorrow, grief. a. a 1309 E.E. Psalter xxxvii. 9 Lauerd,.. fra pe noght hid es mi sighinge. 01400 Hymns Virgin (1867) 27 My loue is euere in swinge While y dwelle in pis way. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy 1. 2295 Whan pat pei were to-gidre sette, pis Medea with sy3ing first abreyde. 1535 Coverdale Isaiah lxi. 2, I might geue vnto them .. ioyful oyntment for sighinge. 1596 Shaks. 1 Hen. IV, 11. iv. 365 A plague of sighing and griefe, it blowes a man vp like a Bladder. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. xx, From haunted spring.. The parting Genius is with sighing sent. 1703 Rowe Ulysses iv. i, Your Breasts that heave with sighing, a 1827 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 510 Often accompanied, in sighing, with deep and long drawn intonations, which we call groans. 1877 M. Foster Physiol. 11. ii. (1879) 356 Sighing is a deep and longdrawn inspiration chiefly through the nose followed by a somewhat shorter, but correspondingly large expiration. attrib. 01300 E.E. Psalter vi. 6 (Vesp. MS.), I swanke in mi sighinge-stede. 1603 Petowe Eliza's Funerall A iv, Your sighing weedes put off. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xxi. 15 In the quiver were Arrows a number, sharp and sighing gear. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Ep. 1. vii. 37 And o’er the flowing Bowl, in sighing Strain, [give me] To talk of wanton Cinera’s Disdain. /3. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints i. {Peter) 666 Cristne men pat saw pis thinge, faste cuth gret with ser sichinge. 1528 Lyndesay Dreme 333 Dolour Infinyte,.. With sobbyng, syching, sorrow, and with syte. a 1586 Montgomerie Misc. Poems lii, Oursett with inwart siching sair. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 224 Was nocht but grief.. And sichan’ ’mang the monkish bands.

b. With a and pi. An instance of this; a sigh. 01300 Cursor M. 1088 Quen he eie a-pon him kest, A sighing of his hert brest. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1040 Fyrumbras . . made a grete sy3yng. o 1400-50 Alexander 5052 With sare sighingis & sadd for sake of his wirdis. c 1440 Gesta Rom. ii. 6 As he lay in a certeyne tyme by the fire, in si3yngis and gryntingis. 1526 Pilgr. Per/. (W. de W. 1531) 59 b, Shewynge the same with swete teares and often syghynges. 01568 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) x. 53 Thair is nocht wie Can estimie My sorrow and my sichingis sair. 1651 Wittie tr. Primrose's Pop. Err. ill. 158 Broth made of an old cock.. is good for long feavers, sighings [etc.]. 1877 M. Arnold New Sirens 70 Round our hearts with long caresses, With low sighings, [1849 sighs hath] Silence stole.

2. transf. Of the wind, etc. 1653 Jer. Taylor Serm.for Year v. 60 The poor bird was beaten back with the loud sighings of an eastern winde. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxx, No sound was heard, except the sighing of the wind among the battlements. 1817 Shelley Pr. Athanase 11. ii. 43 The far sighings of yon piny dale Made vocal by some wind. 1842 Lover Handy Andy xxi, The gentle sighing of a broken pane of glass. 1869 Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 258 The sighing of the wind in the trees.

sighing ('sang), ppl. a. [f. sigh v.~\ 1. Accompanied by, uttered with, a sigh. Also transf. c 1440 Found. St. Bartholomew’s (E.E.T.S.) 22 This man, cummynge a-forne the Auter.., with sighynge terys his mercy mekely besowght. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xvi. (Percy Soc.) 68 And than to hym .. I did complayne, wyth syghing teres depe. 1633 P. Fletcher Elisa 11. 1, Sleep sighing words; stop all your discontenting; Sleep beaten breast [etc.]. 1821 Shelley Adonais xvi, Wan they stand and sere.., With dew all turned to tears; odour, to sighing ruth. 1863 I. Williams Baptistery 11. xxix. (1874) 155 Happy he, when .. earth’s sighing gladness Wrings the heart no more.

2. Of persons, etc.: That sigh(s). Also transf. 1593 Shaks. 3 Hen. VI, II. v. 117 My sighing brest, shall be thy Funerall bell. 1753-4 Richardson Grandison VI. xxxix. 255 In our happiest prospects, the sighing heart will confess imperfection. 1781 Cowper Expost. 309 Successive loads succeeding broils impose, And sighing millions prophesy the close. 1810 Jane Porter Scottish Chiefs xliii, I am no gloomy, no sighing recluse. 1850 Mrs. Browning Sonn. fr. Portug. ix, To let thee .. hear the sighing years Re¬ sighing on my lips renunciative.

b. transf.

Of the wind, trees, etc.

1746 Hervey Medit. (1818) 192 Let sighing Gales breathe .. in harmonious consonance to Him. 1821 Shelley Hellas 178 A wind Will rush out of the sighing pine-forest, i860 Kingsley Misc. II. 139 Between the high banks of sighing reed. 1890 'R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 302 The sighing, whispering, sad-voiced water-oaks.

'sighingly, adv. [f. prec. + -ly2.] In a sighing manner; with or accompanied by sighing. 1402 Hoccleve Lett, of Cupid 22 Her wordes spoken ben so syghyngly. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) II. 307 She answered syghynly; alas, holy fader [etc.]. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 253 Then turnd she sighingly within her bed. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. Progr. (1900) 40 Christian .. had no more talk but with himself, and that sometimes sighingly. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 137 The populace, sighingly, gave my Arabella for lost. 1791 Mme. D’Arblay Diary 5 Aug., The statues, busts, and pictures, which again I sighingly quitted, with a longing wish [etc.]. 1833 Mrs. Jameson Crt. Beauties Chas. II (1872) 170 He was for this time seriously and sighingly in

sighless ('sailis), a. rare.

[f. sigh sb.

+ -less.]

Giving or sending forth no sigh. c 1835 Mrs. Browning Felicia Hemans i, O’er the sighless songless lips, the wail and music wedding. 1838 Seraphim Epil. iii, So soon to lie Sighless, because then breathless, in the tomb.

sight (salt), sb.'

Forms: a. 1 sihfi, 2-3 sihSe (3 sihh-), 4 sipe, 4-5 sith, syth, 5 sythte; 1 sighS, 3 sig(S)he, sihjeSe, 4 zi3pe, zy3pe, 5 sy3th, 6 sygth. /S. 2-3 syhte, 2-4 siht(e, 3 seht(e, sichte, 4-6 Sc. sicht, sycht, 7 Sc. seicht; 3-4 se3t (4 sei3t), 3-5 si3t(e, 4 -tte), si3hte, sy3t(e; 3 sigt(e, sygte, 5 sygt; 4-6 syght (5 seght), 4-7 syghte, sighte, 3- sight; 4-7 site, 9 north, seet. [OE. sihd (rare, usually gesihd, gesiht, i-sight), = MDu. sicht, zicht (Du. zicht, Fris. sicht), MLG. sichte (hence Da. and Sw. sigt), OHG. siht (G. sicht), f. sih- the stem of see v. + -TH1.] I. 1. a. A thing seen, esp. of a striking or remarkable nature; a spectacle. In early use chiefly of something strange or supernatural. £950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark ix. 9 [He] bebead 6aem paette ne aenijum .. 6a sih6o sesaejdon. c 1160 Hatton Gosp. Mark xvi. 8 Hyo . . waeren aferde for pare sih6e pe hyo seseajen. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1607 Ha awundreden ham swi6e of pat sih6e. CI275 Lay. 3897 \?reo dai3es hit reinede blod... pat was a wel wonder siht. £1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 11. 911 Swa grysly a sight saw he never nane. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 115 Wherof the Cite sore afflyhte, Of hem that sihen thilke syhte. £ 1450 Merlin ii. 37 Vnder that water be two dragons that see no sight. £1470 Henry Wallace vii. 441 The sycht with out was awfull for to se. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 306 b, My hert bresteth to se this syght. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer 1. (1577) F ij, White teeth is a good sight in a woman. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 433, I saw in Irelands North-parts, two remarkable sights:.. The other as goodly sight I saw. 1700 Dryden Ovid's Met. xm. Acis, Polyphemus, & Galatea 157 What fouler sight can be, Than the bald branches of a leafless tree? 1742 Young Nt. Th. 1. 306 How sad a sight is human happiness To those whose thought can pierce beyond an hour! 1803-6 Wordsw. Ode Intim. Immort. i, The earth, and every common sight. 1854 Brewster More Worlds ii. 17 There is, perhaps, no sight in the material world more magnificent than that of the starry firmament. 1889 Mivart Orig. Human Reason 53 A name can only be a certain sound, or, if written, a certain sight.

fb. A vision. Book of sights, the Apocalypse. £950 Lindisf. Gosp. John, Int. 1 Iohannes..in pathma ealond past boc 6aera sighfiana [L. apocalipsen] eac awrat. £1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 32 Him-sulf he cam bi ni3hte, And schewede heom 3ware is heued lay ase it were in a si3hte. a 1300 Cursor M. 18984 Yur yongmen [sal] sightes se. Yur eldrin men sal dremes dreme. 1340 Ayenb. 133 Jx>u mi3t.. ete of pe trawe of Hue, ase god zayp ine pe boc of z\$pe. 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Sight that disceyveth ones jugement, illusion. 1581 A. Anderson Shield of Safetie (title-p.), Vpon Symeons sight, in hys Nunc dimittis. 1611 Cotgr., Vision, a vision, sight, apparition, fantasie. 1825 Lamb Mem. Liston in Eliana (1867) 64 He was subject to sights, and had visions.

c. pi. Those features or objects in a particular place or town which are considered to be specially worth seeing. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. 400 We tooke a Guide, and so proceeded in our sights. is leuedi duted noght pe sight O pis angel pat was sa bright, c 1386 Chaucer Knt's T. 1239 Wel hath Fortune y-turned thee the dys, That hast the sighte of hire, and I thabsence. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (1895) 75 The sonne of a heerd man, the whyche was as deed only by the syghte of the sayde dragon, a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xxiii. 68 They loste ye syght of ye castell, it was clene vanysshyd a way. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 11. i. 31 Wee had on our left hande the sight of the Ilandes. 1635 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Banish'd Virg. 30 But no sooner lost shee once the sight of him [etc.]. 1640 Bp. Reynolds Passions Ep. Ded., So far hath your Highness vouchsafed (having happened on the sight of this Tractate) to express favour thereunto. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 15 Therefore he never inform’d the Captain of the Sight of Land. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xxxii, I did think the sight on her would but vex your Reverence. 1845 Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 27 Unable any longer to bear the sight of one who had pleaded guilty to so great a crime. 1885 E. Garrett At Any Cost v. 85 He had had a preconceived idea which the sight of Mr. Sandison shattered for ever,

b. With possessive pron. or genitive case. £1175 Lamb. Horn. 79 Ierusalem bitacne6 grimes sihpe. £ 1200 Ormin 674 3iff he sep patt mann iss ohht Forrfaeredd off hiss sihhpe. £1275 Moral Ode 361 in O.E. Misc., Nis per no Murehpe so muchel so is godes syhte. £1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. T. 866 If pat youre eyen kan nat seen aright,

SIGHT

SIGHT

444

Looke bat youre mynde lakke noght his sight. 1594 Daniel Cleopatra iv. 1074 Although they need such actors of deceit, Yet still our sight seemes to vpbraid their wrong. 1607 Shaks. Timon 1. i. 255 You must needs dine with me... I am ioyfull of your sights. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. x. 70 You, (alas, that I shou’d find it so!) To shun my sight, your Native Soil forego. 1702 "Rowe Tamerl. 1. i, When thy lov’d Sight shall bless my Eyes again. 1873 Browning Red Cott. Nt.cap 263 Sully yourselves no longer by my sight!

Kentucky) 23 Jan. 15/7 Then a rule sprang up that a man should be allowed a sight for his money. 1940 O. Jacoby On Poker 150 Even though a player’s hand is beaten in sight, he should make no move to fold it except in his proper turn. 1964 E. Sinclair Poker v. 142 If a player who is beaten in sight bets against the cinch hand, he will be allowed to withdraw his bet from the pot after his attention had been drawn to the fact that he is beaten in sight.

c. Without article, chiefly in phrases as to catch, have, lose sight of.

1940 Economist 2 Mar. 385/1 A significant hint on the likely evolution of the British exchange control technique was provided last week on the occasion of the latest diamond ‘sights’ held in London. 1966 J. Wainwright Crystallised Carbon Pig xv. 74 The Diamond Corporation hold monthly ‘sights’—auctions, I suppose you could call them. They sell anything between three million and five million pounds’ worth of stones at each ‘sight’. 1978 Times 9 Mar. 23/6 The rough gems are sold by the CSO at 10 ‘sights’ (sales) a year. .. London holds the most important sights. 6. With omission of the dependent genitive, in

a 1225 Ancr. R. 106 To 3iuen pe ancre brihte sihSe of heouene. a 1300 Cursor M. 23330 pe seli sal o bairn ha sight, Bot pof pai se pam [etc.]. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xvn. 57 Feith had first si3te of hym, ac he flegh on syde. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Ireland (1896) 6 Mych hit gladet his hert-.bat he myght in fayr weder haue somdell syght of his lond. c 1595 Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 49 Our Generali sent Captain Jobson and the master to take sight of such commodities as they weare ladend withall. 1674 Boyle Excell. Theol. 11. iii. 155 That he was able at first sight of them to give each of the beasts a name expressive of its nature. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 111. 289 With Sight of Arms and Sounds of Trumpets nurst. 1748 Anson's Voy. 11. xii. 263 Our people ran after him.., but as he had the advantage of being on horseback, he soon lost sight of them. 1820 Keats Isabella xlviii, Wondering, Until her heart felt pity to the core At sight of such a dismal labouring. 1837[see catch v. 46]. 1898 Flor. Montgomery Tony 13 As if he dreaded losing sight of her. fig. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 73/1 It would not be much Matter what I began upon, for I would presently lose Sight of that. 1837 p. Keith Bot. Lex. 296 The conjecture was not lost sight of by contemporary or succeeding botanists. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 42 The higher the view which men take of life, the more they lose sight of their own pleasure or interest.

d. The first perception or view of something. Usually in phr. at or upon (the) sight of. 1471 Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 130 That incontinent vpon the sighte of thies ye schew [etc.]. 1565 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 341 The thrid day nixt eftir the resset and sycht heirof. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 1. ii. 7 At sight of which the Captaine generall went to lande. 1625 in Rymer Faedera (1726) XVIII. 60 Upon Sight of theis our Letters Patterns. 1670-98 Lassels Voy. Italy 11. 9 The servant upon sight of the paper, presently threw her fifty crowns. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. 361 On sight of them drew up their forces. 1771 Encycl. Brit. III. 351 /1 At sight of the sharps or flats prefixed to the tune to be sung,.. you have of course the places of the semitones. 1810 Scott Lady of Lake 11. xxvii, Sir Roderick.. Redden’d at sight of Malcolm Graeme.

e. A position or point commanding or giving a view of something. Chiefly in or within (\the) sight of. Also transf. 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxi. 241 He came within the syght of Burdeux. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 1. xii. 14 Passing further towards the sight of the yles De la Galite, & des Symboles. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 700 Fountaines, built within the sight of it [Ripon]. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. (1669) 279 The 16. About 10. in the morning we passed in sight of DoverCastle. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 321 When that the army of the Hoppingtots did peregrinate within sight of Gotham. 1822 Shelley tr. Calderon's Mag. Prodig. 1. 71 Even within the sight of the high towers of Antioch. 1890 Spectator 29 Nov. 764/1 We are not yet in possession of ritual peace, but for the first time we are fairly in sight of it. a

5. a. A view, look, or glimpse of something. C1205 Lay. 20929 Naenne siht of londe iseon heo ne mahten. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1623 He nolde pe gywes leue 3iue .. pat hii moste of pe boru enes abbe an si3te. 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. xx. 57 Faith on hym hadde furst a sight ac he fleih a-syde. C1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) lii, Quen aythir of othir hade a si3te, Suche a lufue be-tuene horn li3te. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 240 Schyr Jhone Butler.. Out fra his men of Wallace had a sicht. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 204 b, Whan the Pristes not without monye let them have a syght therof. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. 397 [His] presence to me after so long a sight of Hethnike strangers was exceeding comfortable. 1692 Ray in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 198 You should have had a sight of the Copy. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxviii, He had some difficulty, he said, to get a sight of his landlord. 1832 Ht. Martineau Homes Abroad vii. 99 One sight of a savage in a life-time was as much as most settlers had. 1857 Trollope Barchester T. xii, A sight of you, Mr. Harding, is good for sore eyes.

fb. at one sight, in a single look, from one point of view. Obs. c 1470 Gol. Gaw. 483 Seuyne score of scheildis thai schew at ane sicht. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 283 The City .. can not be seene all at one sight; saue on this Mountaine. c. fig. A look into a matter. Cf. insight sb 2 b. 1592 Greene Ned Browne Wks. (Grosart) XI. 27 There is no Art but he will haue a superficiall sight into. 1760-72 II. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 131, I joined myself to a house-painter.. on condition of his giving me a sight into his business.

.1

d. Sc. A station on the bank of a river, etc., from which the movements of salmon are observed. 1805 State Leslie of Powis, etc. 56 (Jam.), That the fishers used sights, during the fishing season, upon Fraserfield’s grounds..; that the westmost sight was above the Fluickyshot [etc.].

e. Poker. A show of hands; spec, one called for by a player who has insufficient chips or money to equal another’s bet, but bets as much as he can. U.S. 1821 G. Long Hoyle's Games Improved 162 The youngest hand .. may call a sight... If he calls a sight the cards must be shown in rotation, the player who calls showing last, and the best hand shown wins the pool. 1850 H. G. Bohn Bohn's New Hand-bk. Games 381 Should one of the party over¬ reach the amount that is in possession of an adversary, a 'sight' may be demanded. 1887 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville,

f. A sale of packets of uncut diamonds.

phrases related to 4d: a. at (-\the, as to the) first sight. (a) a 1300 Cursor M. 8029 He kneu pam at pe first sight. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) v. 40 At the firste sight.. Men knele to him. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 160 As to the first sicht, it semys that [etc.], a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 43 b, Hys serjante porter, which knewe hym at the fyrste sighte. 1579, 1702 [see first a. 1 e]. 1730 Bailey (fol.), Axiom,., a Proposition whose Truth every Person perceives at the first Sight. (b) a 1593, 1611 [see first a. 1 e]. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 11. xxvi. 137 In which definition, there is nothing that is not at first sight evident. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 166 f 3 You may see them at first Sight grow acquainted by Sympathy. 1773 Life N. Frowde 29 I’m glad to see him, however, he has pleased me at first Sight. 1846 Mill Logic 1. vi. §1 Propositions which at first sight present themselves as verbal. 1875 [see first a. 1 e].

b. at (formerly also on or upon) sight, used spec, with reference to the payment of bills. Also, in this connexion, after sight (see quot. 1835)(a) 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 277 Let it be expressed in your bill that the money be paid upon sight. 1682 Scarlett Exchanges 63 He that receives a Bill payable at sight, or some dayes after sight, &c. 1708 Mrs. Centlivre Busy Body 11. i, The frugal hand can bills at sight defray. 1767 Franklin Wks. (1887) IV. 86 Being payable in cash, upon sight, by the drawer. 1835 Penny Cycl. IV. 399/1 At first, no doubt, the order was to pay..‘on sight’. Ibid., In modern times, the more frequent practice has been to make them payable at so many days after sight. 1861 Goschen For. Exch. 53 We have.. considered all bills as drawn payable at sight. (b) 1673 Humours Town 60 One that will play at sight, tilt at sight (that is without Thought or Consideration), and whore at sight. 1721 Ramsay Ode to the Ph-vi, If they command the storms to blaw, Then upo’ sight the hailstanes thud. 1773 Phil. Trans. LXIII. 270 Those who are not able to sing at sight. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 205, I swore to shoot the old warrigal at sight. 1892 Speaker 3 Sept. 277/1 The cowboy who lives in constant apprehension of being shot at sight.

c. at (so many) days' (etc.) sight, of bills. 1701 Lond. Gaz. No. 3730/4 A Bill drawn.. at 6 days sight. 1716 Ibid. No. 5472/4 A Bill.. payable .. at 15 Days Sight. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xv, A goldsmith’s bill at six days’ sight. 1866 Crump Banking v. 100 Inland bills of exchange are drawn on demand, at so many days’, or weeks’, or months’, sight or date, as the case may require.

7. a. A look or glance (at something or in a certain direction). Now rare except in slang phr. to take sights, to observe, to watch. c 1275 Moral Ode 280 in O.E. Misc., per schule pe wrecche soulen iseon pat sunegeden bi sihtes. 13.. Cursor M. 7886 (Gott.), pe king kast anis on hir a sight, a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxix. iii. 119 pe damysele caste on hire a siht. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk v, Fortune euer since I was a lad, Did smile vpon mee with a chearefull sight. 01568 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iii. 18 Be sicht or smyle lat non knaw 30ur intentis. 1611 Cotgr., Oeil, the eye;.. a sight, a looke. 1700 Moxon Math. Diet., Compass, an Instrument, .much more easy to be understood by a Sight, than the best description. 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 141, I fell.. struck blind By the sight within your eyes. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman iii. xx, When you are coming down the alley give a sight up, sir, and you’ll see me. 1934 P. Allingham Cheapjack xiv. 175 He pointed out a RollsRoyce which stopped at the entrance of the fair... ‘Take sights at that Rolls,’ he said. ‘There’ll be some right mugs turn up in a minute.’ 1950 R. M. Howe Gross's Criminal Investigation (ed. 4) viii. 163/1 Take sights, looking out (especially for suitable house to break into). 1962 New Statesman 21 Dec. 897/3 Once we have all this information, we start ‘taking sights’, and this means watching the house, from the grounds, for the best part of a week.

b. An observation with a surveying or other similar instrument; an aim with a gun, etc. 1834 Reg. Deb. Congr. U.S. 25 Feb. 691, I supposed for once in my life I saw gentlemen in the open field, and might be able to draw a fine sight upon them. 1835 Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. viii. 121 Some sights obtained for the chronometer gave the longitude 94° ao'. 1849 H. Miller Footpr. Creator Pref. (1874) p. lxvi, Across which he may safely take his sights and lay down his angles. 1882 Floyer Unexpl. Baluchistan 151 All the way down I was either taking sights or working them out, and soon got pretty handy with my sextant.

c. slang. (See quots.) 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney II. 77 She proceeded to place her two hands extended in a right line from the tip of her nose.., after the fashiop of what is called taking a double sight, i860 Slang Diet. 214 ‘To take a sight at a person,’ a vulgar action employed by street boys to denote incredulity, or contempt for authority, by placing the thumb against the nose and closing all the fingers except the little one, which is agitated in token of derision. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 186/1 Playfully ‘taking a sight’ with extended finger and thumb.

d. U.S. ‘A straight stretch of road, as one along which a sight may be taken in surveying; a line uninterrupted by a bend or an elevation’ (Cent. Diet.). 1848 Bartlett Diet. Amer. 303 In North Carolina the distance that can be seen on a road is called a sight.

III. 8. a. The faculty or power of seeing, as naturally inherent in the eye; eyesight. CI200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 61 3if he binimeS us ure sihte,.. o6er us crokeS on fote ofier on honde. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 27 Ore swete louerd . . smot him and bi-nam him is si3t. 13 .. Sir Beues 3108 J>ow hauest so swonke.., pow hauest ne3 for-lore pe si3t. C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 308 pre si}tis fallen to man; pe first is bodili si3t, pat fallip to mannis eien, pe while he wakib- 1460 Capgr. Chron. (Rolls) 8 He began first graving in metallis, to plesauns of the sith. 1484 Caxton Fables of Alfonce xii, I praye to the goddes that they vouchesauf to send me my syght ageyne. 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Sight, ueve, uision. 1599 Davies Immort. Soul xxx. 13 Most Eyes have perfect Sight, tho’ some be blind. 1637 Heywood Lond. Spec. Wks. 1874 IV. 315 Sight is the most soveraigne sence, the first of five. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. Pref. 15 The knowledge of Man.. hath hitherto been determin’d by the view or sight. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 145 They are exceeding nimble, of an exquisite quick Sight. 1832 Ht. Martineau Ella of Gar. iii. 35 He has a keener sight into the place of storms than we. 1833 Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bd. 77 A spectacle that turns The sight o’ the eyes to pity. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 7 His sight was exquisitely keen and clear.

b. fig. Mental or spiritual vision. With definite article, spec. = second sight. Chiefly Sc. ri200 Ormin 5799 Fowwre der..J?att Godess peww Ezechyel Sahh purrh gastlike sihhpe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 94 bis .. cnowunge kumeS of gostliche sihSe. C1350 5. Ambrosius 43 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 8/2 pat inward siht pat Ambrose hedde in God Almiht. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 308 pe bridde .. is si3t of mynde of mannis soule. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy 11. 2848 3if pat euery wi3t Aduerten schuld & castyn in his si3t Of future ping [etc.]. 01586 Sidney Ps. xxv. i, To thee, O Lord most just, I lift my inward sight. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. 1. xiv. §7 The sight of their Mind more directly penetrative into the Divine presence. 1735 Bolingbroke On Parties 135 The Sight of the Mind differs very much from the Sight of the Body. 1781 Cowper Charity 395 The soul, whose sight allquick’ning grace renews. 1924 W. Holtby Crowded Street xxix. 195 They say she’s got the ‘sight’—you know, second sight. 1925 W. Duke Scotland's Heir x. 223 At the last the Sight came upon him, and he reared upright, crying with outflung arms that he saw bloody claymores. 1959 E. H. Clements High Tension v. 80 The factor stared at him. ‘Why, Kilmorrin, you have the sight!’ 1977 C. McCarry Secret Lovers x. 129, I do believe you see me in everything I do. If you haven’t the sight, then what is the explanation?

c. Contrasted with faith. c 1382 Bible (Wyclif) 2 Cor. v. 7 For we walken bi feith, and not bi cleer si3t. 1611 Ibid. (A.V.), For we walke by faith, not by sight. 1834 J. H. Newman Parochial Sermons I. xvii. 258 And all these inducements to live by sight and not by faith are greatly increased, when men are engaged in any pursuit which properly belongs to the intellect. 1858 W. Brock Sir H. Havelock xiii. 216 He might well have doubted of success had he walked by sight. 1871 H. Alford in Hymns Anc. Mod. (1875) 285/1 Forward, marching eastward Where the heaven is bright, Till the veil be lifted, Till our faith be sight. 1981 M. Green I believe in Satan's Downfall vii. 201 To walk by sight would be the very antithesis of the trusting walk of faith to which God’s Messiah, along with all men, was called.

9. a. The sense or power of vision in relation to the individual possessing or exercising it; freq. approaching to a concrete use, = eye or eyes. fFormerly also in pi. of a number of persons, etc. c 1200 Ormin 5495 Wibb batt itt iss inn heoffness a?rd Biforenn Godess sihhpe. 0 1225 Leg. Kath. 904 He is to ure sihSe unsehelich in his ahne cunde. 0 1300 Cursor M. 7886 pe king kest ans on hir his sight. 1340 Ayenb. 267 Ich wente myne zi3be uor to yzi be ilke holy ordres of be gostes. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 206 To make his soule fair.. to goddis si3tte as he makib him bisi.. for be si3tte of men. 1:1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 307 Kepyng ther sy3th, and ther countynaunce saddly and religiously. 1484 Caxton Fables of JEsop ill. x, Thow arte now moche playsaunt and fayr to the syghte of me. 1561 Hollybush Horn. Apoth. 35 The same are pale under their syghte and leane. 1592 Greene Disput. Conny Catch. Wks. (Grosart) X. 257 He.. would present his hart as a Tragick sacrifice to the sight of his cruel mistresse. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, iv. 587 The slipp’ry God will.. various Forms assume, to cheat thy sight. 1700 -Sigisrn. & Guise. 715 Nor farther word she spoke, but closed her sight. 0 1771 Gray Tophet 5 Our mother-church with half-averted sight. 1827 Keble Chr. Y. 7 A fouler vision yet; an age of light, Light without love, glares on the aching sight. pi. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, ix. (Percy Soc.) 33 O all ye cursed and such evyll fooes, Whose syghtes be blynded over all wyth foly. 1589 Greene Tullie's Love Wks. (Grosart) VII. 112 Beautiful Ladies tickled with an earnest desire to satisfie their sightes with his Personage. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 125 From the hill tops wee dazell our sights in view of that sandy, stony, sterill desert.

b. in one's sight, before one’3 eyes. c 1205 Lay. 25597 Me buhte a mire sih3eSe [c 1275 in mine sihte] bat ba sae gon to berne. 0 1300 Cursor M. 622 Fiss on sund, and fouxl on flight, Was broght all fort in his sight. 1382 Wyclif Rev. xiii. 13 It made fijr for to come doun fro heuen in to erthe, in the si3t of alle men. c 1450 Holland Howlat 62 Be I seyne in thar sicht,.. Sum will me dulfully dicht. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xliv. (Percy Soc.) 214 All thyng was visible In Goddes syght. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 5 b, He was advised by his frendes not to come in the Cardinalles syght. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 232 In the sight of the World, so as none should be able to denie it. 1812 Crabbe Tales ii. 370 His wife, his children, weeping in his sight.

c. to sight, to the eye; so as to be seen.

SIGHT a 1300 Cursor M. 23968 pai had him bath for-driuen and draun, Als sceud es us to sight, a 1400-50 Alexander 1252 It was semand to si3t as all pe soyle trymblid. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis 1. (Arb.) 28 We hard of no showting, too sight no sister apered. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Art Poet. 208 He breaks to Light, And pours his specious Miracles to Sight. 1784 Cowper Task 1. 602 Not rude and surly,.. And terrible to sight.

10. a. The range or field of one’s vision; chiefly in phr. out of one's sight. * 1865).

SIGHT

445

Also spec. (quot.

c 1200 Ormin 3387 h^33 wenndenn fra pa wakemenn All ut off J?e33re sihhj?e. c 1350 Will. Palerne 420 [He told] how sone of his sei3t pe bestes sehhen ware. 1390 Gower Cottf. HI. 377 Or be me lief or be me loth, Out of my sighte forth he goth, c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 19 For he na tyme suld be fra hys sicht. 1595 Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Horizon, the circle bounding our sicht. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 18 The visible things are gone out of our sight. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 1. 500 Watchful Herons.. Gain on the Skies, and soar above the Sight. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. (1812) I. vi. 321 The two armies lay in sight of each other. 1772-84 Cook's Voy. (1790) V. 1787 The ridge of mountains is interrupted by a plain of several leagues in extent, beyond which the sight was unbounded. 1819 Shelley Cenci 1. iii. 168 Now get thee from my sight. C1865 Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 76/1 The difficulty experienced by all persons.., is to find what is called their ‘sight’; that is, the focal distance of the lens.

b. Without article, in the phrases in sight, out of sight. See also out-of-sight adj. phr. (sb.). (а) a 1300 Cursor M. 15884 Petre he folud him on ferr, For durst he noght in sight. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xix. 175 Blessed mote pei alle be . . That neuere shal se me in si3te as t>ow doste nouthe. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) xxxvii, He wende that no mon hade him herd, For he se3he non in si3te. I55° Crowley Last Trumpet 1330 Kepe Gods feare in syght. 1656 Earl Monm. tr. Boccalini's Advts.fr. Parnass. 11. lxxix. (1674) 231 For fear of their Creditors, they have all played least-in-sight. 1717 Pope Iliad x. 222 And hostile Troy was ever full in Sight. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxvii, Bothwell Bridge was at a little distance, and also in sight. 1887 Bowen JEneid hi. 220 Goats in the meadows feeding without one watchman in sight. (б) ? a 1400 Arthur 342 pey saylej? faste: Arthour owt of sy3t ys paste, c 1450 tr. De Imitatione 1. xxiii. 30 Whan man is oute of si3t, sone he passij? oute of mynde. C1530 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. 79 If thou must spit, or blow thy nose, keepe thou it out of sight. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 133 Out of sight out of minde. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 171 As soon as I was out of sight, I walked further towards the East. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 77 If 6 Remembering the old Proverb, Out of Sight out of Mind, I left the Room. 1797-1805 S. & H. Lee Cant. T. I. 350 He perceived [them] driven down the coast, and nearly out of sight. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxiii, When the sea breeze died away she was nearly out of sight. 1885 Law Rep. 14 Q.B.D. 874 He remained, as he alleged, out of sight of anyone entering the shop.

c. out of {all) sight, immeasurably, beyond all comparison. 1821 in Byron's Wks. (1846) 586/1, I consider Don Juan as out of all sight the best of your works. 1835 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 26 In most respects my situation is out of sight more suitable than it was at Craigenputtock. 1880 Ch. Times 22 Oct. 684 Under the old management, it was out of sight the most comic journal in England.

11. a. The exercise of the faculty of vision; the act of seeing or looking; esp. by sight, freq. denoting merely visual, as contrasted with more intimate, knowledge. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 183 Me knowej? hem in eche lon'd bi si3te par me hem sej?. c 1330 Assump. Virg. 628 (Brit. Mus.), Oure mayne pee knewe pat ilke ny3t, Bothe bi speche and by sy3t. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xiv. 13, I.. soiled it with sy3te or sum ydel speche. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xx. (Percy Soc.) 98 On whome my hole delyght Dayly was sette, upon her to have sight, a 1568 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xiv. 5 The kocatrice keilis wc hir sicht. 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies 111. xvi. 172 A thousand sortes of hearbes and flowers,.. in such sort, as a man cannot well conceive them without sight. 1680 Evelyn Diary 30 Aug., He told us that the things most worthy of our sight would be [etc.]. 1700 Astry tr. Saavedra-Faxardo I. 334 Then came flocking to him .. those too who knew him not but by sight. 1831 Society I. 292, I assure you I mistook the person; Lord Conway is barely known to me by sight.

b. Examination, inspection, scrutiny, sight: (see quot. 1821).

bill of

In quots. 1452 and 1655 sense 12a is possible. 1452-3 Cal. Rec. Dublin (1889) 278 To gywe in the names of the tenantis.. by the sighte of R. Dowdall. 1619 in W. Foster Eng. Factories in India (1906) 79 Pretending itt to reserve them only for his first sight. 1655 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 188 Repaired and amended .. at ye sight and discression of Mr. Maior. 1662 Order Ho. Comm, as to Customs (1663) 1 For a Bill of sight, Bill of Sufferance, or any other imperfect Warrant. 1821 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs 327 A Merchant,, .ignorant of the real quantities and qualities of his Goods,.. may apply to the Collector and Comptroller for a Bill of Sight or View, in order that they may be brought on shore and examined. 1833 Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 52 §24 An entry by Bill of Sight.

c. line of sight: (cf. LINE sb.2 11). Also transf . with reference to the transmission of radio waves, etc.; freq. attrib. (with hyphens); line-ofsight velocity — radial velocity. 1559 [see line sb.2 11]. 1893 Ball Story of Sun 184 The amount of their movements along the line of sight. 1920 A. S. Eddington Space, Time & Gravitation viii. 135 In the case of the sun we know by other evidence exactly what the line-of-sight velocity should be; but we have not this knowledge for other stars. 1955 Times 18 July 8/2 The others [sc. ways of transmitting radio waves], employing in one case ‘very high’, and in the other 'ultra high’ frequencies, are extremely reliable but until now they have been limited to line-of-sight transmission. 1956 H. S. Jones in A. Pryce-Jones New Outl. Mod. Knowledge 129 When the

first measurements of the line-of-sight velocities of some of these objects [sc. spiral nebulae] were made, they were found to be surprisingly large. 1963 G. Troup Masers & Lasers (ed. 2) ix. 158 Infra-red masers might be applied to line-ofsight terrestrial communications. 1972 Sci. Amer. Feb. 76/1 Microwave radio links are limited to line-of-sight operation.

12. a. Opinion, estimate, judgement; respect, regard, view. Now rare. a 1300 Cursor M. 11853 ‘Godd men,’ he said, ‘quat es your sight O mi fader pat Jms es dight?’ 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. Prol. 32 Summe chosen Chaffare to cheeuen pe bettre, As hit semej> to vre siht pat suche men scholden. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3289 The secunde sir.. pat sewede thame aftyre Was sekerare to my sighte, and saddare in armes. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. ix. xix. (1541) Bbiv, He had nothir reuerence to god, nor sicht to the commoun weil. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 1. 419 At youre awin sychtis sche will sett fordwart that caus at hir power. 1607 in Antiquary XXXII. 242 To be disposed at the sight of [supervisors of will]. 1674. Playford's Skill Mus. III. 2, I assume that the true sight and judgment of the upper three must proceed from the lowest. 1851 Westcott Introd. Study Gospels viii. (ed. 5) 396 The first step to a right understanding of the Gospels must be the abandonment of this point of sight.

fb. Knowledge, skill, insight. Const, in. Obs. (Very common in the 16th cent.) 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Sight, knowledge, perspicasite. 1535 Cranmer Misc. Writ. (Parker Soc.) II. 303 Surely I do much marvel of them both .. having such sight in scriptures and doctors. i58i in Confer. 11. (1584) Miij, His sight in Greke was very litle or none at all. 1600 Dr. Dodypoll 1. ii. in Bullen O. PI. IV. 108 His sweete discourse, His sight in Musick and in heavenlie Arts.

IV. 13. a. The pupil of the eye. Now dial. C1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 247 Macula is a wem in a mannys i3e, & summe be white J?erof & sittip vpon f>e si3t of pe i^e, & summe bisidis pe si3t. 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Sight of the eye, le noyre de loyil. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 155 In either eie they haue two sights or apples. 1683 Snape Anat. Horse 111. viii. (1686) 123 The horney Tunicle or Coat of the Eye, with the pupilla or sight. 1736 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 14 What they mean by the Ground of the Eye, is the Pupil or Hole thro’ the Iris and Uvea, which the common People call the Sight of the Eye. 1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins xiv. (1883) 43/1 His eyes were small and blue, with a large black sight in the middle. 1808 Jamieson, Sicht of the ee. 1889 in Eng. Dial. Diet. (Yorksh.).

fb. A visor. Obs. 1508 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IV. 122 For the grathing of the gilt ermyt [sic] my Lord of Owbigne gaif the King and for making of ane new sicht to it. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 197 b, The point of the axe of the lord Scales happened to enter into the sight of the healme of the bastard. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 121 Their eyes of fire, sparkling through sights of Steele. 1654-66 Earl Orrery Parthen. (1676) 647 He pull’d down the sight of his Helmet,

c. pi. Spectacles. Now dial. 1619 H. Hutton Follies Anat. (Percy Soc.) 39 An aged man, which spectacles did use Having them filcht.., Fearing the thiefe would not his sights restore [etc.]. 1667 Pepys Diary 18 Oct., I bought me two new pair of spectacles of Purlington..; and his daughter.. do advise me two very young sights. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 350 Sights, spectacles, glasses. 1899 in Eng. Dial. Diet.

fd. (See quot.) Obs.~l 1640 in Entick London (1766) II. 165 Glass-plates, or sights for looking-glasses.

14. a. An appendage to a surveying or observing instrument, serving to guide the eye. 1559 W. Cunningham Cosmogr. Glasse 137 A ruler with two sightes, which we moue to and fro. 1571 Digges Pantom. 1. vii. Dj b, Forget not to haue two equall fine plates of brasse persed in the middes (for your sightes). 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. 11. xvi. 93 Take the Quadrant and look through the Sight at E. 1676 Phillips Purch. Pattern 131 If a man have but a Ruler with sights .. he may draw the foresaid lines to the several angles of the field. 1715 tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 282 A Quadrant.. and an Index moving upon its Center, furnished with Telescopic Sights. 1790 Burke Fr. Revol. Wks. V. 312 An accurate landsurveyor, with his chain, sight, and theodolite. 1833 Herschel Astron. ii. 83 The tube or sight, fastened on the circle, works in the solid metallic centring. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 93/1 This prism .. has, when so placed, a notched ‘sight’ on its upper surface.

b. A device, of the nature of a projection or notch, on a fire-arm or piece of ordnance, etc., to assist in taking aim; a telescopic device or other optical aid designed for this purpose; in one’s sights, visible through the sights of one’s gun; also fig., esp. in phr. to raise one’s sights, to adopt a more ambitious objective. In fire-arms and ordnance the sights are usually two in number, one at or near the muzzle and the other near the breech, the latter being adjustable so as to vary with the distance. In large guns the forms are often very complex. 1588 Lucar tr. Tartaglia's Colloq. Shooting 18 When the levell sight which is set uppon the mouth of the peece is precisely so high as the levell sight which is set uppon the taile of the peece. 1591 Sir J. Smyth Instr. Milit. 191 All their mosquets should be of one heigth or caliver of bullets with open sights. 1647 Hexham i, The sight of a crosse-bow, het gesight. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1128 The sight in a gun or cross-bow, scutula. 1847 Infantry Man. (1854) 34 The foresight is aligned through the back sight with the object. 1890 Times 6 Dec. 15/3 Thousands of rounds were fired so rapidly.. that in some cases the sights were actually melted. 1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path 1. 20 I’ve got ’im in my sights, and ’e’s getting bigger all the time. 1950 Economist 9 Dec. 1002/2 The United States must now raise its sights, in terms of both manpower and production. 1956 A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 151 Colonel Marshall.. had helped greatly in raising our sights as to the magnitude of the production task. Ibid. 339 It is in part the competition between societies that is forcing us to readjust our educational sights. 1959 N.Z. Listener 10 July 4/2, I did, for many months, seeing apprehensively that the Army would be raising its sights on compulsory marshalling of our

manpower little by little. 1962 Times 26 Apr. 7/3 Set your sights a little higher than the kitchen and try to trim your appearance to the job. Ibid. 5 Dec. 4/3 La wry setting his sights on a century. 1967 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 5 Dec. (1970) 596 First, he said, we have raised our sights. We have set our national goals to have a clean country. 1971 Nature 31 Dec. 499/2 Two years ago, the Government Actuary was estimating that the population would have grown from 56 million at present to .. 68 million by the turn of the century, but he has since been forced by more recent trends to lower his sights. 1976 J. Snow Cricket Rebel 35 They were not Gloucestershire batsmen at the other end of my sights that day but the England selectors.

c. Any of a number of nails in the sides and ends of a billiard table, used in marking out the table for some forms of carom billiards. 1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 419 A line is drawn down the centre of the table, from the centre nails or sights in the head and lower cushions. 1890 Champlin & Bostwick Cycl. Games & Sports 81/1 Each carom table has on it two spots, along an imaginary line drawn lengthways through the centre from the middle rails or ‘sights’ in the head and lower cushions: the first, opposite the second ‘sight’, is sometimes called the light red spot, the second, opposite the sixth ‘sight’, the dark red spot. 1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 939/1 In the case of the Triangular Baulk-line, lines are drawn at the four corners from the second ‘sight’ on the side-rails to the first sight on the end-rails, forming four triangles within which only a limited number of caroms may be made.

15. The opening in a picture-frame; that part of the picture which shows in this. 1850 [see sight-measure in 17].

V. 16. attrib. and Comb, (chiefly objective), as sight-aching, -fitting, -hungry, -hunter, etc. 1593 Nashe Christ's Tears Wks. (Grosart) IV. 224 The .. *sight-acking botches of theyr vnsatiate intemperance, they will vnblushingly lay foorth. 1611 Cotgr., Advenant, handsome,.. well beseeming,.. *sight-fitting. 1880 L. Wallace Ben-ILur v. xii. 349 There the close of the exercises found them, patient and *sight-hungry as at the beginning. 1848 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 185 That professional *sight-hunters should go *sight-hunting. 1743 Blair Grave 288 The Star-surveying Sage close to his Eye Applies the *Sight-invigorating Tube. 1593 Nashe Christ's Tears Wks. (Grosart) IV. 194 *Sight-killingly with his.. frownes, he shall teache him, both that he is, and what he is. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. iii. 1. Vocation 1008 What can the Sight of the *Sight-maker dim? 1610 Shaks. Temp. 1. ii. 203 Ioues Lightning, the precursers O’th dreadfull Thunder¬ claps more momentarie And *sight out-running were not. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. I. 12 Their enemies were hidden in their own *sight-proof bush. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 759 That *sight-refreshing green Is still the liv’ry she [Nature] delights to wear. 1814 F. Burney Let. 24 Aug. (1978) VII. 438 But for Heaven’s sake send him no more *sight-seekers, who expect ‘The Hero’ to give dinners, & shew Lyons! 1844 Alb. Smith Adv. Mr. Ledbury vi, The majority of sightseekers .. know .. little about the venerable edifice. 1895 E. Owen in Wks. G. Edwards p. ix, There were then no fashionable inns to give accommodation to sight-seekers. 1896 Cath. Mag. June 350 It would be happiness to add its name to our list of *sight-seen countries. 1596 FitzGeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 31 Monsters of nature, Nilebred Crocodiles, *Sight-slaying Basilisks. 1676 Marvell Mr. Smirke 44 The King of Virginia, that had two Squires .. to lift up his Eye-lids... I am not bound to be any of his *Sight-supporters. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 613 There was a slight attack of left hemiplegia with headache, vertigo, and *sight-troubles.

b. In terms relating to the taking of surveys or observations, or denoting appliances used for this purpose, as sight-alidade, -aligner, -angle, -beam, etc. 1900 H. M. Wilson Topogr. Surveying vii. 161 A small *sight-alidade was devised by the author both for sighting directions, and for determining elevations by vertical angulation. 1892 Greener Breech-Loader 97 The *sightaligner and adjustable gun, invented in 1882. 1571 Digges Pantom. 1. xxxiv. Kiijb, From the Centre thereof, extend right lines.., wryting as before vppon euery of them the names of their places or markes, whereof they are the *sight Angles, a 1400 in Halliw. Rara Mathem. (1841) 63 Go toward it and froward it til pi *sight beme passe by pe heght of pe 3erde and of pat thyng. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. 11. xiii. 82 The Sight-beams over the ends of the Crosses. 1859 Ruskin Perfective i. 99 The "“Sight-magnitude of a line is the magnitude which bears, to the real line, the same proportion that the distance of the picture bears to the distance of the object. 1835 C. F. Hoffman Winter in West II. 171 The long western rifle has three *sight~pieces on the barrel. 1874 j. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl i. 24 Sight-piece small and close the muzzle. 1859 Ruskin Perspective Introd. 9 The point S is to represent the point opposite which you wish the observer of your picture to place his eye in looking at it. Call this point the "“Sight-point. 1883 R. G. White W. Adams 121 He threw up his left arm, and took a "■sight rest on it [with his revolver]. 1731 W. Halfpenny Perspective p. iv, The Groove E, wherein the "“Sight-Staff slides to and fro. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. 11. xiv. 85 If you see all Skie and no Water, then draw your *Sight-Vane a little lower. 1863 A. Young Naut. Diet. (ed. 2) 297 The sight vanes are pieces of brass standing perpendicularly to the plane of the instrument.

c. In terms relating to the practice of watching the keys of a typewriter while typing, as sight method, system, technique, typing, typist, writer, writing. Cf. touch-typing, etc. s.v. TOUCH-. 1904 A. E. Morton Mod. Typewriting (ed. 2) 12 There are two methods of manipulation, one the ‘touch’, and the other the ‘sight’ system. 1918 M. B. Owen Typewriting Speed 145 The constant shifting of the eyes in sight writing. Ibid. 147 The sight typist writes spasmodically. Ibid. 153 Many sight writers use all the fingers. 1928 M. Crooks Touch Typewriting for Teachers ii. 10 A typist writing by the Sight method expends about six times as much .. energy .. as that expended by the Touch typist. Ibid. 11 The properly trained Touch typist is capable of greater speed than the

SIGHT Sight typist. 1935 A. C. Marshall Princ. Teaching Typewriting i. 1 It is.. hardly necessary now to advocate the ‘touch’ system as against ‘sight-typing’. Ibid. 2 The maximum speed ever attained by a sight-typist has never exceeded 60 per cent of that of equivalent touch experts. 1969 L. J. West Acquisition of Typewriting Skills viii. 183 Will not early sight typists form a habit of sight typing?.. How does one wean learners away from sight techniques?

17. Special combs.: sight bar, a metal bar forming part of the breech-sight of a gun; sight bill U.S., a bill of exchange payable on presentation; sight-board = sight-screen below; sight-chase, a chase in which the dogs hunt by sight; sight cheque, U.S., a cheque or draft payable on presentation; f sight-court, a place for public shows; sight draft = sight cheque; sight edge Naut., (see quot. 1948); sight feed, a device through which the feeding of lubricant or fuel may be seen; also (with hypen) attrib.\ sight gag, a joke which achieves its effect visually; f sight-glasses, spectacles; sight-holder, a diamond merchant entitled to buy diamonds at a sight (see sense 5 f above); sight liability, an obligation to pay money on presentation of a cheque or bill of exchange; sight-line, (a) (see quot. 1859); (b) a straight line extending from the eye of a spectator to an object or area being watched; spec, a line from the eye of a spectator in a theatre to the edge of the part of the stage which that spectator can see; sight-measure (see sense 15); sight-player, one who is able to play music at sight; so sight-playing; sightread v. intr. and trans., to read (a piece of music) at sight; sight-reader, one who is able to read music at sight; so sight-reading; sight record Ornith., a record of the sighting (not the capture) of a bird; sight-screen = screen sb.1 i g; sight-setter, on a warship, a member of a gun-crew whose duty is to keep the gun-sight at the correct elevation as shown by the range indicator (see also quot. 1973); f sight-shot, the range of vision; sight-singing, the practice or art of singing at sight; sight tube, (a) a tube through which observations are made; (b) a transparent tube connected to a tank or cistern so as to display the level of the liquid inside it. 1884 Naval Encycl. 751/2 * Sight-bar, a metal bar on which the range in yards, or in degrees, is marked. It is a part of the breech-sight, and, by raising or lowering it, different ranges are obtained. 1920 Carter & Arnold Field Artillery Instruction iii. 47 The rocking bar sight consists of a rocking bar.. and a sight bar. 1853 Southern Literary Messenger XIX. 89/2 Mr. Thompson agreed to accommodate him with a ‘sight bill on his correspondent in Raleigh. 1887 CourierJrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 5 May 7/3 Eastern exchange was firm, and there were more buyers than sellers of New York sight bills at 80c per Si,000 premium. 1898 K. S. Ranjitsinhji With Stoddart's Team (ed. 4) iii. 49 [At Adelaide] the ‘sight-boards behind the bowder’s arm appeared to be but reminders of the existence of such things for a better purpose in England. 1955 Miller St Whittington Cricket Typhoon I. i. 13 Tiny white pavilion and tinier white sight-boards. 1975 N. Nicholson Wednesday Early Closing vi. 129 Every.. excuse for hindrance and delay was.. tried — asking for the sightboards to be moved,.. looking round at the fielders, testing the bat. 1897 Outing XXX. 127/1 Just in time to witness a short but pretty ‘‘sight chase’. The dogs have seen the fox. 1863 E. Kirke’ My Southern Friends xxii. 232, I enclose you *sight check of Branch Bank of Cape Fear on Bank of Republic, for $10,820. 1553 Grimalde Cicero's Offices (1556) 87 ""Sightcourts, galereywalkes, and new churches, the more reuerentlie I fynde fault with for Pompeyus sake. 1850 G. N. Jones Florida Plantation Rec. (1927) 60 Your favor of the 22nd ult. enclosing *sight draft on Messrs Habersham for $200. 1904 ‘O. Henry’ Cabbages & Kings xiv. 254 It’s a gold mine. It’s a sight-draft on your president man for twenty thousand dollars. 1979 O. Sela Petrograd Consignment 34 At the bank.. letters of authority were presented, mandates altered and instructions given for the preparation of sight drafts. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 971/1 The projections of the plate and longitudinal *sight edges are drawn in the body plan on the floor. 1948 R. de Kerchove Internat. Maritime Diet. 676/2 Sight edge, the edges of the plates, in clinker-built plating, which are visible on the outside of the shell, on the top of decks and tank top, and on the opposite side from the stiffeners on bulkheads. 1888 Lockwood's Diet. Mech. Engin. 319 * Sight feed lubricator, a lubricator.. in which the flowing or non¬ flowing of the oil is always apparent at sight, being enclosed in, or having to pass through a glass vessel. 1902 A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors ix. 172 If a Dubrulle mechanical lubricator is used, examine the ball valves sometimes, and do not trust entirely to the sight feed. 1928 Daily Tel. 16 Oct. 7 Non-crushable back-lamps and sight-feed fuel gauges on the dashboard are in demand for the new cars. 1957 N. Y. Herald Tribune 7 Nov. 24/4 The line gags are like the ’"sight gags: they’re not quite sturdy enough to be up and around yet. 1977 Time 2 May 49/3 I Love My Wife., is dotted with paralyzingly funny sight gags. 1605 tr. P. de Loyes' Treat. Sped. 59 It is well knowne that ordinarily the spectacles or ""sight-glasses do make letters to seeme more great than they are indeede. 1973 Times 19 June (Bombay Suppl.) p. xii/3 Bombay has at least 2,000 diamond businesses, of which about 1,400 are members of the Diamond Merchants’ Association. Of these 43 are “"sightholders’ of the Diamond Trading Company of London, which means that they are notified of the 10 ‘sightings’ which the DTC holds every year. The sight-holders are the only people in India to whom the DTC will sell. 1930 Economist 27 Sept. 556/2 It may be desirable to modify

SIGHTER

446 present standards as regards the ratio of gold cover to notes and "sight liabilities. 1958 Spectator 24 Jan. 97/2 The proportion of sight-liabilities covered by reserves is no better than in 1945. 1859 Ruskin Perspective Introd. 9 Through the Sight-point, S, draw a horizontal line GH, right across your paper from side to side, and call this line the ’"Sight-line. 1917 E. B. Kinsila Mod. Theatre Construction iv. 60 One of the most important requisites in designing an auditorium is the establishment of correct sight lines. 1957 J. Osborne Entertainer 11 The sight-lines are preserved by swagging. 1958 Archit. Rev. CXXIII. 352/2 The second case [for the substitution of wire fence for hedgerow] is to provide sightlines at corners. 1971 P. Gresswell Environment 264 Sight lines have to be kept open at bends and corners. 1975 I. Melchior Sleeper Agent (1976) 11. 65 He positioned himself so that he had optimum sight lines down the side street. 1977 Time Out 28 Jan.-3 Feb. 43/2 Check seating plan before buying tickets as many seats have restricted sight lines. 1850 Jrnl. of Design IV. 58 ■"Sight measure 4J x 3J. 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. May 334/2 Ask an accomplished ""sight-player how he is able to translate so readily the symbols he reads with the eye into their relative notes. Ibid. 334/1 He maintains that s*ightplaying does not depend upon an accurate knowledge of the relationship between notes and keys. 1944 W. Apel Harvard Did. Music 680/1 The greatest enemy of sight¬ playing is playing by heart. 1903 A. W. Patterson Schumann 181 We want more than a facility to ‘"sight read’ in order to fully comprehend. 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene ii. 30 Jazz cannot at present be adequately noted down on paper, and if it could, would almost certainly be far too complex for players to sight-read. 1974 Guardian 22 Mar. 14/4 Paul Beard, the [orchestra] leader, asked him whether he would like to stay on, making him sight-read part of Vaughan Williams’s Fourth Symphony as an audition. 1866 Athenaeum No. 2000. 277/2 The best ’"sight-readers in Europe. 1874 Ouseley Mus. Form 5 A man may be a thoroughly accomplished musician,.. a perfect sight-reader [etc.]. 1864 Reader 30 Apr. 551/2 The singer’s power of independent “"sight-reading’. 1934 Brit. Birds XXVIII. 31 All but one of these are ‘’"sight-records’, but in some cases the writer had already made the acquaintance of the species in other lands. 1959 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles VIII. 35 A sight-record of a frigate bird observed off the south-west coast of Ireland on 25th May 1953 by W. K. Richmond, was published in the Fair Isle Bulletin. 1956 N. Cardus Close of Play 20 The sixth ball.. was fielded on the boundary’s edge at the "sight-screen behind MacDonald’s arm. 1977 T. Heald^ms* Desserts v. 92 At either end of the ground were white sightscreens on wheels. 1909 Cent. Diet. Suppl., "Sight-setter. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin xvi. 307 Some order came through a voice-pipe to the gun; whereupon the sight-setter twiddled a small wheel and peered anxiously at a graduated dial. 1920 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 332/2 Dully from the concealed gun positions echoed the calls of the sight-setters. 1973 J. Quick Diet. Weapons & Military Terms 400/1 Sight setter, the gun-crew member who sets the range and deflection data ordered by the officer controlling the fire. 1663 Cowley Ess., Obscurity, It only makes me run faster from the place, till I get, as it were, out of "sight-shot. .1801 Busby Did. Mus. s.v. Solmization, This preparatory exercise, so necessary to "sight-singing. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 29 Oct. 5/2 Sight-singing in elementary schools. 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick III. xxxviii. 221 The crushed copper ’"sight-tubes of the quadrant. 1859 Times 7 Jan. 8/4 He can enter an enemy’s harbour under water and make surveys, only showing above the surface a sight tube, no more than one half inch in diameter, and retire still under water. 1900 W. M. Stine Photometrical Measurements iii. 77 Adjust the telescopic sight tube until the different portions of the field are sharply outlined. 1905 Motor Manual (ed. 7) iv. 78 The oil., enters a series of sight tubes. 1951 Proc. Physical Soc. B. LXIV. 49 The level of the liquid in the annular gap can be deduced from observations of its level in a vertical sight-tube attached to the filling apparatus.

f sight, sb.2 Obs. Forms: 4 si3t(e, 4-6 sight, 6 syght. [Cf. sight v.2 Not related to Du. zucht, which is for earlier *suft.] A sigh. 01300 Cursor M. 15169 Mani sari sight [v.r. sigh, sikyng] ..par sane vn-til his hert. C1350 Will. Palerne 924 My seknes wij? my si3tes sumtime slakes. 1584 Lodge Forbonius & Prisceria 30 Not waying of her many louing sightes, Her watrie eyes, her secret moane by nights. 1584 Pleas. Com. Two Ital. Gentl. Dj, By the smoake of loouers scalding sightes [rime flightes]. t sight, sb 2 Obs. rare. [? ad. LG. sichte: see sift sb.] A sieve or strainer. 1559 Morwyng Evonym. 376 Pres it out strongly and put the decoction prest out through a wullen sight, and pres it out, that the substance may remaine in the sight.

sight (salt), v.1 Also 6 Sc. sycht, sicht. [f. sight sb.1 Cf. MDu. sichten, zichten (rare), G. sichten (naut.), Da. sigte, Sw. sigta.] 1. trans. fa. Sc. To look at, view, inspect, examine, scrutinize. Obs. 1556 Peebles Burgh Rec. (1872) 234 To., pas done with ane of the baillies to sycht the saidis stanis. 1578 Supplication General Assembly in Misc. Wodrow Soc. (1844) 402 Quhen as zour Grace hes sichtit thir our laboris. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 303 None of us all knowing what was in the Clogbags till they were sighted. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. 1. viii. §1 The Body must in this case be sighted by Physitians. 1706 in J. Watson Jedburgh Abbey (1894) 42 That necessar it is workmen be imployed to sight and repair the samyn.

b. To examine by taking a sight. 1884 Truth 13 Mar. 372/1 He reports.. that the rails, sighted crosswise, are not as true as they should be.

2. a. To get or catch sight of, to see, to get or go within sight of (anything). 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xm. lxxvi. 315 Nor doth our Eiesight see it selfe, nor Soule that sighteth it. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 375 Wilde beasts, whose hollow cryes, as we heard in the night, so we too often sighted their bodies in the day. 1819 O’Meara Trans. St. Helena 36 The remarks which he asserts to have been made relative to sighting Napoleon. 1853 Kane Grinned Exped. iv. (1856) 33 On the

same day.. we sighted the mountainous coast of Greenland. 1887 Besant World Went vii, We sighted her one morning at daybreak.

b. spec. Of bills: (see quot.). 1866 Crump Banking v. 103 A bill drawn at so many days’ sight, must be computed exclusively of the day on which it is sighted, and inclusively of the day it falls due.

c. To take aim at (an object); to level or aim (a fire-arm, etc.) at a target. 1871 Harper's Mag. Dec. 48/2 No sooner, however, did he ‘sight’, or try to sight, the horseman in question,.. than the thumping against the ribs again began. 1901 F. Norris Octopus 11. vi. 521 With the words, he dropped to one knee, and sighting his rifle carefully, fired into the group of armed men. 1976 D. Storey Saville 1. iv. 36 Take out the bullets, and sight it at various objects outside the window.

3. a. intr.

To take a sight, esp. in shooting.

1787 in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1924) XIX. 265 The mother of the complainants wife sighted with a compass from the tree. 1842 J. F. Cooper Jack o' Lantern xxviii, Together they sighted, and together they fired. 1883 Harper's Mag. Jan. 201/1 Then stooping and sighting along it, he moves the outer end of the lath. 1896 Daily News 27 July 9/3 He took matters very coolly, and sighted several times before he was satisfied.

b. With in. To correct the sights of (a fire-arm, etc.) by testing and adjustment. N. Amer. 1958 Washington Post 31 Oct. D6/3 The Berwyn Rod & Gun Club invites deer hunters to sight-in their rifles during all-day open house sessions on Nov. 2 and Nov. 9. 1971 W. Hillen Blackwater River x. 91, I started him off right by sighting-in his new rifle, and soon he was hitting the apple box every time. 1972 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 24 Sept. 13/1 Heading into the woods with a rifle that hasn’t been sightedin makes no more sense than driving an automobile without a gasoline gauge. 1980 Outdoor Life (U.S.) (Northeast ed.) Oct. 94/3 A Leupold 4X compact scope (made specially for the Kimber rifle) mounted and sighted in at the factory.

t sight, v.2 Obs. Also 5 Sc. sicht-, 6 syght. [? f. sight(e, pa. t. of siche v.] intr. To sigh. CI375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvi. (Nicholas) 1138 In his hart he mad mayne & sichtit sare. c 1450 Abce in Q. Eliz. Acad. 67 Be not to sadde, to sorry, ne sight not to deep, c 1475 in Rel. Antiq. I. 71 Whan other men doyth sleype, Thene do I syght and weype.

'sightable, a.

[f. sight

v.1]

Comparatively

clear. 1888 Times 18 Aug. 5/1 At 3 o’clock the chief officer reported that the weather was ‘sightable’, with occasional rain.

sighted (‘saitid), ppl. a. [f. sight sb.1 + 1. Having sight of a specified kind.

-ed.]

See also dim-, far-, long-, sharp-, short-, weak-sighted. I552- [see quick-sighted]. 1586- [see clear-sighted]. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 159 Of an ill tree I hope you are not so ill sighted in grafting to expect good frute. 1596 Spenser Hymn Beauty 235 Louers eyes more sharply sighted bee Then other mens. 1615 Chapman Odyss. vi. 162 That he might see this lovely-sighted maid. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 6 By which both senses being united Does render them much better sighted. 1791-3 in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1799) 1. 17 Who guide the helm of Britain half-seas over, Yet double-sighted keep an eye on Port. 1846 Ruskin Mod. Paint. II. in. xii. §1 Any of us whose heart is rightly tuned, or whose mind is clearly and surely sighted. 1866 S. B. James Duty & Doctr. (1871) 153 Uncivilized, imperfect-sighted heathen men.

b. Having sight like something specified. 1602 Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) iii. 643 Those are sighted like the bat, who see not the things most manifest in nature. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. 1. ii. 388 Make me not sighted like the Basilisque.

2. Endowed with sight; able to see. Also absol. 1836 Landor Minor Prose Pieces Wks. 1853 II. 467/2 Above all others, blind or sighted, he is so ready to take advantage of the slightest word, that [etc.], i860 Macm. Mag. III. 56 If the sighted would help the blind. 1888 Pall Mall G. 31 July 2/2 Two pretty boats manned each by six blind little lads and one sighted person. transf. 1887 Athenaeum 17 Dec. 818/3 Without sighted supervision the industrial competition [of the blind] with seeing workmen is too unequal to be maintained.

3. Furnished or fitted with a sight or sights. 1859 Musketry Instr. 28 It may sometimes occur that the rifle is not accurately sighted as to elevation. 1879 Man. Artill. Exerc. 142 The gun is sighted centrally. 1893 Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 432 One’s rifle ought to be carefully sighted up to at least four hundred yards.

4. (See quot.) 1873 Maxwell Electr. & Magti. I. 306 If the hair as seen through the lens appears straight and bisects the interval between the black dots it is said to be in its sighted position.

‘sightening. [f.

sight s^.1] In calico-printing, a fugitive colour used to test the quality of the work. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2176/2.

sighter ('sait9(r)). [f.

sight v.1]

fl.Sc. An inspector.

Obs.

1708 in Hist. Regality of Musselburgh (1857) 22 The two present magistrates and sighters to be present at the cutting and selling.

2. In card-sharping: (see quot.). 1894 Maskelyne Sharps Flats 196 ‘Sighters’.. are simply minute dots upon the faces of the cards.

3. A sighting shot in rifle or artillery shooting. Also transf. and fig. 1897 Times 23 July 8/1 Black, a sighter for tie shots, made 11 [bulls] in succession. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 24 July 4/3 They had .. to fire three tie-shots off with a sighter allowed. 1920 G. S. Gordon Let. 17 Sept. (1943) 139 You were charming about my article... Richmond, in a brief post-card, called the thing a ‘bull’s-eye’. I call it a sighter; and some day I

SIGHTFUL

t'sightful, a. Obs. [f. sight sb.1] 1. Visible. £*375 Sc. Leg. Saints 1. (Catherine) 369 [He] is a god,.. wnsichtfull and sichtfull bedene. 13187-8 T. Usk Test. Love Prol. (Skeat) 1. 58 The unsene privitees of god, made to us sightful.. in our contemplacion and understonding. Ibid. III. ix. 98 How was it, that sightful manna in deserte to children of Israel was spirtuel mete? 1545 Raynold Byrth Mankynde Hhvij, These vaynes appering.. immediatly vnder the skyn, very conspicuous and syghtful.

2. Endowed with sight; seeing. Also fig. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1596) 59 The vnderstanding groweth more sharpe and sightfull. Ibid. 97, I cannot forgoe to thinke, that the reasonable soule seuered from the body., hath a power sightfull. 1613 Chapman Masque Inns of Crt. Plays 1873 HI. 106 Tis passing miraculous that your dul and blind worship should so sodainly turne both sightful and witful.

3. Sightly, pleasant to the eye. 1565 Stapleton tr. Bedes Hist. Ch. Eng. 180 His priest.. set forth the buildinges with divers comely and sightfull workes. 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. xvi. 11 The fulnesse of joye is matched ageinste the syghtfull entycements of the worlde.

Hence f 'sightfulness, the power of seeing. Obs. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (1605) 149 Let vs not winke though void of purest sightfullness. Ibid. 219 My praier is Thou maist loue her, that I may see thy sightfullnesse.

sighth, obs. form of sithe, to sigh.

'sight-hole, [sight sb.1] A hole to see through, esp. in a surveying or other instrument. 1559 W. Cunningham Cosmogr. Glasse 29 Then rayse up and downe the ruler (having two sight holes made in it) unto the sonne. 1596 Shaks. j Hen. IV, iv. i. 71 Wee of the offring side Must, .stop all sight-holes. 1646 Earl Monm. tr. Biondi's Civil Wars vi. 72 Slain by the splinter of a Lance which wounded him thorow the sight-hole of his Helmet. 1692 Capt. Smith's Seaman s Gram. n. xxiv. 130 Which will shew at what height the Sight-hole standeth. 1769 Phil. Trans. LIX. 296 A small sight-hole, made through a piece of brass. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 50 The sight-hole .. is still unfurnished with a glass of any sort. 1898 Engineering Mag. XV1. 110/2 The sight-holes provided in the smokeboxes of certain stationary boilers of the locomotive type.

fb. The pupil of the eye.

SIGHTSMAN

447

shall have the second shot, i960 Times 11 Apr. 3/7 An early sighter by Albaladejo gave some inkling of what was in store in the matter of dropped goals.

Obs.

1670 Phil. Trans. V. 1027 They contract much their pupilla or sight-hole of the Eye.

sighting ('saitnj), vbl. sb.1 [f. sight v1] f 1. A method of cheating at dice. Obs. c 1752 Art 3t, bot.. makez signes as mounkes duse. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 467, I have ane secrete serwand,.. That me supportis of sic nedis, quhen I a syne mak. 1530 Palsgr. 702/2 I spake nothyng to him, but I shewed hym of it by signe otherwise. 1595 Shaks. John iv. ii. 237 Thou didst vnderstand me by my signes, And didst in signes againe parley with sinne. 1626 Bacon New Atl. 4 Warning us off by signes that they made. 1664 Butler Hud. 11. ii. 758 Then Hudibras, with face and hand. Made signs for Silence. 1712 Steele Sped. No. 454 If 4 The Coachmen make Signs with their Fingers. . to intimate how much they have got that Day. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest x, The moment Peter saw her he made a sign of silence. 1839 Fr. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 37 More by signs and dumb show than words. 1873 Dixon Two Queens xvi. ii. III. 193 Scores of starving men were ready on a sign to hunt him down.

fb. A show or pretence of something. Obs. c 1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) iii. 10 He made signe of etyng and feyned as he had etyn. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 230 The whyche.. made to hym synge of loue and of subgectyon .. vnder the shadowe of decepcyon. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 91b, Then he and all his companye made a signe of retraite.

c. A signal. 1601 Shaks. Jul. C. v. i. 23 Mark Antony, shall we giue signe of Battaile?.. No Caesar. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 298 The Charioteers started their horses upon a signe given. 1678 Life Black Prince in Harleian Misc. (1809) III. 144 The sign of battle, being given by King Philip, was entertained with clamours and shouts. 1708 Chamberlayne Pres. St. Gt. Brit. (1710) 349 From the top.. they made a Sign by Fire, when they apprehended any imminent Danger. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam x. vii, With secret signs from many a mountain-tower, With smoke by day, and fire by night.

2. a. A mark or device having some special meaning or import attached to it, or serving to distinguish the thing on which it is put. Freq. in sign of the cross (cf. CROSS sb. 3 b). C1290 5. Eng. Leg. I. 84 Heo made pe signe of pe croiz. 13 .. Cursor M. 6078 (Gott.), On ilk a post.. A sine of tau T make 3e per. 1393 Langl. P. PL C. xv. 40 Crist cam and confermede and holy kirke made, And in sond a sygne wrot. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1040 Vertew commaundyd euery wyght To pauyse hym vndyr the sygne of the roode. c 144° Pallad. on Husb. xi. 22 Now nede is sette a signe on euery vyne That fertile is, sciouns of hit to take For settyng. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 26 b, Marked .. not onely with the sygne of the crosse in our garmentis,.. but also (I trust) with the sygne of tau in our soules. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 334 With his crosiers staffe [he] maketh the signe of the crosse upon the highest walles. 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. 11. vi, Observing that several Herbs are marked with some Mark or Sign that intimates their virtue. I73-3 Berkeley Th. Vision Vind. §40 A great number of arbitrary signs, various and opposite, do constitute a Language. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, State Europe Note x, It was usual for persons who could not write, to make the sign of the cross in confirmation of a charter. 1833 N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. 236 The common visual signs on the retina.. are of all signs the most readily learned or understood. 1884 Cath. Diet. (1897) 258/1 The Church, accustomed to bless everything with the sign of the cross.

fb. A bookmark; = register sb.1 7a. Obs.~° 1483 Cath. Angl. 340/1 A Syne of a buke, registrum.

c. A conventional mark, device, or symbol, used technically (as in music, algebra, botany, etc.) in place of words or names written in ordinary letters. I557 Recorde Whetst. Sjb, Nombers Cossike, are soche as bee contracte vnto a denomination of some Cossike signe. Ibid. S ij b, There be other .2. signes in often vse, of whiche the firste is made thus + and betokeneth more: the other is made — and betokeneth lesse. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 104 The note whereupon the following part must begin, is marked with this signe .?. 1609 Dowland Ornith. Microl. 87 A signe is the successiue distribution of one and the same Close, in .. a Song. 1662 Playford Skill Mus. i. x. (1674) 32 The Perfect of the Less..; its Sign or Mark is made thus. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Character, Ordinarily.. in Algebra, the Sign [of multiplication] is omitted, and the two Quantities put together. 1832 Lindley Introd. Bot. 422 In botany a variety of marks, or signs, are employed to express particular qualities or properties of plants. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 150 Two minus signs in arithmetic or algebra make a plus.

fd. Math. A point. Obs. rare. 1570 Billingsley Euclid 1. def. 1, A signe or point is that which hath no part. Ibid., Vnity..is lesse materiall then a signe or poynt.

e. Math. That aspect of a quantity which may be either positive or negative. 1820 G. Peacock Differential & Integral Calculus 112 The sign of d2u may be easily determined. 1836 A. de Morgan Differential & Integral Calculus xiv. 369 When there is a change of sign, y is a maximum (M), or a minimum (m), according as the change is from + to — or from — to 4 (x increasing). 1924 G. F. Swain Structural Engin. xiii. 350 It is obvious that ti\ will have the same sign as ft, and w2 the opposite sign. 1957 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. ix. 597 Where biochemical oxygen uptake or production occurs, no general rule as to the sign of the divergence from saturation will be possible. 1978 C. P. McKeague Elem. Algebra i. 23 To multiply any two real numbers simply multiply their absolute values, the sign of the answer is 1. positive if both numbers had the same sign .. 2. negative if the numbers had opposite signs.

f3. A mark of attestation (or ownership), written or stamped upon a document, seal, etc. Obs. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. 11. 82 \>e Deede was a-selet, Be siht of sir Symoni and Notaries signes. 1377 Ibid. B. xx. 270, I wolde.. pat 3e were in £>e Registre, And 30wre noumbre vndre notaries sygne. c 1460 Oseney Reg. 133 The forsaide x. acris. .lien in the Northefelde of the foresaide towne with

SIGN

450 owre syne woonyd i-seeled. 1474 Caxton Chesse 11. i. (1883) 22 Not only her promises but their othes her sealis and wrytynges & signes of their propre handes. 1558 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 388 In wittnes hereof we have.. set hereunto our signes and common sealle. 1609 Bible (Douay) Jer. xxxii. 44 The fieldes.. shal be written in a booke, and the signe shal be stamped on, and a witnes shal be taken.

|4. A figure or image; a statue or effigy; an imprint. Obs. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. iv. 112 Bere no seluer ouer see pat berej? signe of pe kyng. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 229 he re is anoJ?ere signe and tokene to fore pe popes paleys; an hors of bras and a man sittynge J?eron. er as he stode. 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. vi. xxix. (1602) 143 For often Vprores did ensue for him, as vndeceast, Howbeit solemnely inter’d, himselfe, or Signe at least.

15. a. A device borne on a banner, shield, etc.; a cognizance or badge. Obs. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 158 Ane Croiz, pat Man fer isai3,.. hat was signe of is baner. C1350 Will. Palerne 3213 Swete sire, 3e me saye what signe is pe leuest to haue schape in pi scheld to schene armes? 1399 Rolls of Par It. III. 452 That thei.. gyf no Liverees of Sygnes, no make no Retenue of men. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 355 A garland of yuy he [Bacchus] chase for hys sygne. 1461 Coventry Leet-bk. 11. 319 [That they] neyther were ne vse oure most honnorable signe, nor any other lordes or gentilles signe, tokyn or lyuere. 1562 Legh Armorie 47, I will therfore shewe you of signes yf are borne, and do occupie the same Escocheon.

b. Something displayed as an emblem or token; esp. an ensign, banner, standard. Obs. c 1400 Song Roland 503 An C thoussand of good men . . with proud synes of silk lifte on loft, c 1440 York Myst. xvii. 222 Vn-to pat Prince I rede we praye, That till vs sente his syngne [sc. the star] vnsoght. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 305/1 He is had among the companye of Angels as banerer and berynge the signe of oure lord. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xxxviii. 4 The signe trivmphall rasit is of the croce. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scotl. II. 300 Monie standarts and syngis..left be the Jnglismen, be the Scotis ar tane. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 776 The great Ensign of Messiah blaz’d Aloft by Angels born, his Sign in Heav’n.

c. spec. A pilgrim’s token. Obs. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. vi. 12 An hundred of ampolles on his hat seeten, Signes of Synay and Schelles of Galys. c 1400 Beryn 171 Then, as manere & custom is, signes pere pey bou3te. Ibid. 175, 191.

d. pi. Insignia. Obs. rare. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 1016 Yet at the last.. He all those royall signes had stolne away. 6. a. A characteristic device attached to, or

placed in front of, an inn (fhouse) or shop, as a means of distinguishing it from others or directing attention to it; in later use commonly a board bearing a name or other inscription, with or without some ornament or picture. Also, a board giving information, directions, etc. 1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 405 That no person sille none ale out of his place, but he haue a signe at his dorre. c 1470 Promp. Parv. (K.) 456/1 Syne of an in. 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 42 The Englysh prouerbe is this. Good wyne nedeth no signe. 1593 Shaks. 2 Hen. VI, v. ii. 67 Vnderneath an Ale-house paltry signe, The Castle in S. Albons. 1617 Moryson I tin. m. 156, I did never see nor heare that they have any publike Innes with signes hanging out. 1667 Primatt City & C. Build. 69 Note, That they weigh with the Balconie, the Bars that are to fasten the sign thereunto. 1727 Swift Imit. Horace 11. vi. 72 To read the Lines Writ underneath the Country Signs. 1780 Mirror No. 82 Putting up their pictures as signs for their taverns and ale-houses. 1816 J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 91 The signs of the shops are very elegant; —that is to say, they are elegant for signs. 1859 Jephson Brittany ix. 134 The first thing that met my eye .. was a sign over a public-house. 1904, etc. [see road sign s.v. road sb. 9 b]. fig. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. 1. viii. 20 Fools! who to perswade men that Angels lodged in their hearts, hung out a devil for a signe in their faces. 01684 Leighton Wks. (1816) 429 Fantastic garb in apparel, which is the very bush or sign hanging out, that tells a vain mind lodges within. 1825 Scott Talism. iv, I am but the vile and despised sign, which points out to the wearied traveller a harbour of rest and security, but must itself remain for ever without doors.

b. In phr. at the sign of (the Bell, Sun, etc.). 1501 Alcock's Mons Perfect. Colophon, Enprynted at London in flete strete at the sygne of yc sonne by Wynkin de worde. 1542-3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 12 One little lane stretching from the said way, to the signe of the bell at Drewry lane ende. 1672 Heath's Flagellum Title-p., Sold at his Shop at the Signe of the Crown. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 94 We baited at an inn, at the sign of the Falcon. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones viii. viii, Chose for their house of entertainment the sign of the Bell. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xx, An appointment to meet with the others of his company at the sign of the Griffin.

f c. at the sign of the moon, in the open air by night. (After Fr. a Venseigne de la lune.) Obs. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage ill. x. (1614) 294 They often lodge (saith Willamont) at the signe of the Moone; and the like moderation they vse in diet and apparel. 1679 G. R. tr. Boaistuau's Theat. World 11. 107 The Souldier is for the most part always waking, having his Quarters at the Sign of the Moon.

II. 7. a. A token or indication (visible or otherwise) of some fact, quality, etc. Also the signs of the times, indications of current trends; now freq. as sing. phr. with leading indef. article. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3744 J>er nas nour aboute kni3t.. bot hii of sute were Of king arthures hous, oper som signe per of bere, Of robes oJ>er of armes. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 489 J>at was pe syngne of sauyte pat sende hem oure lorde. C1386 Chaucer Melib. §53 It is signe of gentil herte whan a man.. desireth to han a good name, c 1400 Lanfranc's

Cirurg. 181 If pe place be whijt & neische.. it is a signe of fleume. 1484 Caxton Fables of Avian viii, [He] hath shewed to the grete sygne or token of loue. 1525 Bible (Tyndale) (1526) Matt. xvi. 3 Can ye not discerne the sygnes of the tymes? 01533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) C iii b, He bare in his hande the signe or token of the office, wherby he lyued. 1594 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 285 All with black hoods, which with us is a signe of gentlewomen. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 228 Though it be no signe of a more polished, yet is it a marke of a greater wit. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, iii. 670 The Causes and the Signs .. Of ev’ry Sickness that infects the Fold. 1750 Gray Long Story 89 [It was] no sign of grace, For folks in fear are apt to pray. 1829 T. L. Peacock Misfort. Elphin x, They here found .. materials of spinning and embroidering, and other signs of female inhabitancy. 1833 Daily Nat. Intelligencer 17 July 3/3 We have stood upon our ‘reserved rights' of neutrality, to watch the signs of the times. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola xxii, Working people .. bearing on their dress or persons the signs of their daily labour. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. § 5. 202 The exile of Gaveston was the sign of the Barons’ triumph. 1907 Nature 14 Mar. 459/1 This book is an interesting sign of the times. 1921 J. Galsworthy To Let 11. xi. 214 ‘He's a sign of the times,’ muttered Soames, ‘if you like.’ 1953 A. J. Toynbee World West vi. 93 The people who have read the signs of the times and have taken action in the light of these indications are the obscure missionaries of half-adozen Oriental religions. 1977 Gay News 24 Mar. 19/3 Last year, perhaps as a sign of the times, Take Six notched up over 80 mentions in everything from the Daily Mirror to the Italian glossioso L'Uomo.

b. Used following.

without

const.,

or

with

clause

C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 258 Signes of pe olde lawe weren toknes of oure signes now, as pei ben tokenes of pe blisse of hevene. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 232 They haue many tokenys or syngnes by wych a man may deme the Physnomye. 1483 Caxton Cato 5 Of the foure Sygnes or tokens by whiche is knowen trewe loue. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 55 b, To axe of God a sygne wherby he maye testifie, that he careth for us. 01656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 192 The thing signed is usually put for the sign itself. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. x. (1695) 277 The using of Words, without clear and distinct Ideas; or, which is worse, signs without any thing signified. 1766 Gray Impromptus 12 A sign you have eat just enough and no more. 1833 Tennyson Two Voices 270 Know I not Death? the outward signs? 1885 S. O. Jewett Marsh Island xii, She never had given a single sign that she loved or meant to marry him. 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. II. xxii. 356 Language is a system of signs, different from the things signified, but able to suggest them, c 1902 C. S. Peirce Coll. Papers (1932) II. §92 Genuine mediation is the character of a Sign. 1922 tr. Wittgenstein's Tractatus 53 The sign is the part of the symbol perceptible by the senses. 1938 C. W. Morris {title) Foundations of the theory of signs. 1947, 1949 [see signifiant]. 1954 [see signifier b]. 1964 Gould & Kolb Diet. Soc. Set. 641/2 Sign denotes any stimulus which, because of association with another stimulus, elicits a response appropriate to but in the absence of the original stimulus. 1978 Incorporated Linguist Summer 60/3 Modern society’s haste to read inadvertently into signs (in the Barthesian sense) rather than decipher the simple message. 1979 S. G. J. Hervey Axiomatic Semantics vii. 61 By the law of excluded middle, any given sign is either simple or complex, but not both.

c. Without article, in phr. in sign of (or that). 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3986 Branches hii here Of oliue, as in signe pat hii a3en pays nere. 01300 Cursor M. 5121 He kist pam all in signe o saght. 1362 Langl. P. PL A. xi. 98 In signe pat I schulde bi-sechen hire of grace. 1474 Caxton Chesse 11. iv. (1883) 44 The kynge .. gyrdeth a boute them a swerde in signe that they shold abyde and kepe hym. 1546 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 30 In signe and takin herof my Lord Governour hes takyn baith thair handis. 1593 Shaks. 3 Hen. VI, lv. viii. 26 In signe of truth, I kisse your Highnesse Hand. 1611 Sir W. Mure Mes Amours 39 Receaue, in sing that thou hes won the field, The bow. 1718 Pope Iliad x. 321 In sign she favour’d their intent, A longwing’d heron great Minerva sent. 1865 Mill Exam. Hamilton 381 An animal is called a bull, in sign of its possessing certain attributes.

d. Theol. Phr. outward, visible sign and varr., in sacramental ordinances, the outward and visible aspect which symbolizes the inward and spiritual aspect. Also transf. 1553 J- Bradford in Coverdale Lett. Martyrs (1564) 293 There is Idolatry in worshipping the outwarde signe of breade and wyne. 1604 Bk. Com. Prayer, Catechism, Q. How many partes be there in a Sacrament? A. Two: the Outward visible signe, and the Inward spirituall Grace. C1816 J. Marriott Hymn, Grant to this child the inward grace, While we the outward sign impart. 1861 tr. O Food that Weary Pilgrims Love! in Hymns, Anc. & Mod. (Introits & Anthems) p. xvii, O Jesu, Whom, by power divine Now hidden ’neath the outward sign, We worship and adore. 1898 A. G. Mortimer Cath. Faith 1st Practice I. 124 The matter [of a sacrament] is the outward sign; the form that which determines the matter to its special use or purpose. 1921 J. Galsworthy To Let iii. x. 288 In the union of the great-granddaughter .. with the heir of a ninth baronet was the outward and visible sign of that merger of class in class which buttresses the political stability of a realm. 1931 V. Dixon Sebastian Wile 11. ii. §1 Her governess had said farewell, outward and visible sign that Martha’s days of childish servitude were over. 1938 Doctrine in Church of England II. 127 The ordinary scholastic use is to employ the word [jr. sacrament] as meaning the outward and visible sign. 1951 A. Powell Question of Upbringing iii. 157 Monsieur Dubuisson accepted the brandy as the outward and visible sign of reconciliation. 1962 Wilson & Templeton Anglican Teaching ix. 180 The Catechism., defines a Sacrament as ‘an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.. ordained by Christ Himself’.

e. U.S. The trail or trace of wild animals, etc. Sometimes in pi., but the sing, is the technical use. 1692 Cal. Virginia St. Papers (1875) I. 44 We Ranged about to see if we could find ye tract of any Indians, but we could not see any fresh signe. 1746 Neui Hampsh. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1834) IV. 208 By the sign of this ambush, and by the

SIGN sign of their going off, in a single file, it was supposed there could not be less than 50 or 60 Indians. 1821 J. Fowler Jrnl. 3 Nov. (1898) 33 Heare We find the first fresh Sign of bever. Ibid. 7 Nov. 36 We see old sign of Indeans... We again See the Sign of White men a Head of us. 1847 Ruxton Mexico ® Rocky Mts. xxi. 170 On the banks of the river I saw some fresh beaver ‘sign’. Ibid., We saw Indian sign on the banks of the river. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt, xxxii. 243 Buffalo ‘signs’ appeared as we rode into them. 1890 L. C. D Oyle Notches 68 We had noticed bear ‘sign’ in a thick patch of rose-bushes. Ibid., Lots of fresh ‘sign’, but no bear.

f. Med. An objective evidence or indication of disease (as opposed to a subjective one, or symptom)’, often used with the name of one who associated an indication with a disease characterized by it, to designate the former. *842 W. A. Guy Hooper's Physician's Vademecum (new ed.) 1. iii. 16 The word sign has not precisely the same meaning as the term symptom, though the two terms are sometimes used without much discrimination... Cough, expectoration, dyspncea, hectic fever, night sweats, and emaciation, are symptoms of pulmonary consumption, but they are not signs, for each of them may occur in other diseases; but cavernous respiration and pectoriloquy are signs. Ibid., The term physical sign is in common use among medical men: it means a sign which is an object of sense. Thus heat, redness, and swelling are physical signs of inflammation, pectoriloquy of phthisis, coagulable urine of disease of the kidney. 1851 R. P. Cotton Phthisis & Stethoscope i. 12 Physical signs by themselves, as a general rule, determine nothing more than physical conditions..; hence it is, that we require the use of other rules, as well as a knowledge of the patient’s history and general symptoms. Ibid. ii. 24 Diminished resonance is one of the earliest and most characteristic signs of phthisis. 1872 W. Williams Pnnc. & Pract. Vet. Surg. xiii. 244 The diagnostic signs of elbow-joint lameness are, first, the semi-flexed position of the limb . . whilst standing still; and the dropping of the head and anterior parts of the body during action. 1886 J. Finlayson Clin. Manual for Study Med. Cases (ed. 2) ii. 51 A pain is a ‘Symptom’ (subjective); a bulging chest, to which it may be due, is a ‘Sign’ (objective): giddiness is a ‘Symptom’ (subjective); the staggering resulting from it is a ‘Sign’ (objective). 1908 Practitioner Jan. 10 We do not obtain ankle clonus, or Babinsky’s, or Oppenheim’s sign. 1927 G. W. Deeping Kitty xv. 193 Mr. St. George had an undoubted paraplegia. There was definite spasticity of the lower limbs... Babinski’s sign was present. 1956 A. I. Littlejohn tr. D. Wirth's Vet. Clin. Diagnosis 1 Symptoms in the medical sense are not available to the veterinary diagnostician, but the substitution of the term ‘symptom’ for ‘sign’ in veterinary usage is widespread. 1971 S. Magalini Diet. Med. Syndromes 148/1 Dercum’s [syndrome]... Symptoms. Prevalent in women 40 to 60 years of age. Pain in part of body where localized accumulation of fat occurs. Asthenia, headache... Signs. Subcutaneous accumulation of fat elevated, dry, reddish, or bluish, anesthesia and diminished cutaneous sensibility. 1974 T. McGinnis Well Dog Bk. (1979) 95 Because your dogs cannot describe their feelings in words, they technically have no symptoms, only signs which are any objective evidence of disease or injury you can detect. 8. a. A trace or indication of something; a

vestige. Chiefly in negative phrases. 13 .. Seuyn Sag. 2934 (W.), So he traueld monethes thre, And no signe of hyr kowth he se. 1390 Gower Conf. 111. 315 With the craftes whiche he couthe, He soghte and fond a signe of lif. c 1440 York Myst. xi. 100, I se 3ondyr a ful selcouth syght, Wher-of be-for no synge was seene. 1567 Allen Def. Priesthood 228 Wherof yet in most Churches ther remaineth a smal signe, by disciplin geuen [etc.], c 1586 C’tess Pembroke Ps. cxv. iii, [No] signe of sound their throates can show. 1715 Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) II. 66 The Aqueducts .. whose Ruins and Signs are to be seen on the Road. 1726 Swift Gulliver 1. i, I.. could not discover any Sign of Houses or Inhabitants. 1795 Ann. Reg., Hist. 109 No signs of such an intention were perceivable. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton xxx. 407 There is no sign of life in this wild place.

fb. A mere semblance of something. Obs. 1607 Breton A Murmurer Wks. (Grosart) II. 8/2 Oh fine foole, how thou wouldest haue the signe of a man stand for a man? 1673 Dryden Marr. a-la-Mode 11. i, If it be but to punish that sign of a Husband there; that lazy Matrimony. 1693 Congreve Old Bach. iii. iii, I would not have you draw yourself into a premunire, by trusting to that sign of a man there.

9. An indication of some coming event; spec. an omen or portent. 13.. Cursor M. 22430 (Gott.), Forn domes-dai pai sal be sene, wid sorful sines ful fijf-tene. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 165 Soche pey declare^ certeynliche by schewynge of tokenes and of synnes [v.r. synes] J?at beep in suche a schulder boon. 1513 Douglas JEneid iv. viii, How Dido send hir sistir Enee to pray, And of the grisly singis did hir affray. 1542 Boorde Dyetary xl. (1870) 302 That there is lykle [«c] hope of amendment, but sygnes of deth. 1593 Shaks. 3 Hen. VI, v. vi. 44 The Owle shriek’d at thy birth, an euill signe. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 94 The auncient Iewes had this saying, that it is bonum omen, a good signe to see an old man in a house. 1725 Fam. Diet. s.v. Clouds, When. . waterish Clouds appear on the Tops of Hills, it is a Sign of Rain to follow. 1793 Cowper Tale 61 Seamen much believe in signs. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam x. xvi, These signs the coming mischief did foretell. 1833 Tennyson May Queen iii. x, If it come three times, I thought, I take it for a sign.

10. a. An act of a miraculous nature, serving to demonstrate divine power or authority. In Biblical use, after L. signum, Gr. orj^elov. a 1300 Cursor M. 13420 )ris was pe formast sign he did. Ibid. 13438 Sli signe did crist at pis bridall. 1382 Wyclif Acts iv. 22 The man was more than of fourty jeeris, in the which this sygne of heelthe was maad. 1611 Bible Acts ii. 43 Many wonders and signes were done by the Apostles. 1665 J. Spencer Vulg. Proph. 59 But every Sign is not (if we speak accurately) a Miracle. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic 1. iii. (1840) 73 Pharaoh, in contempt of Moses and Aaron, and the sign or miracle they had shown. 1876 Mellor Priesth. iv. 179

451 His hearers no sooner caught the word ‘faith’, than they demanded a sign which might warrant it.

fb. A marvel or wonder. Obs.-1 a 1400-50 Alexander 4934 Sire, pou sail see with pi si3t slike signes, or pou passe, As neuire segge vndire son sa3e bot pine ane.

II. Astr. a. One or other of the twelve equal divisions of the Zodiac, each distinguished by the name of a constellation and frequently denoted by a special symbol. C1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4803 pe twelfte day aftir, pe sternes alle And pe signes fra pe heven sal falle. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 108 Ther ben signes tuelve, Whiche have her cercles be hemselve Compassed in the zodiaque. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 2 Whan Phebus whas.. yronne Out of the signe, wiche callyd is aquary. 1483 Caxton Cato e v b, The man whych is borne in a good pianette or sygne. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xxii. (Percy Soc.) 105 He sette .. The bodies above to have their moving, In the xii. signes them selfe to domify. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 279 At that tyme the soonne was in the north signes. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 182 Vnder what Signe in heaven Britaine lieth. a 1646 J. G REGORY Posthuma (1650) 299 Now look what Sign of the twelv shall bee found to rise up in the Horoscope or Angle of the East, that is the SignRegent of that Hous or Citie. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 100 § 3, I was looking., on that Sign in the Heavens which is called by the Name of the Ballance. 1812 Woodhouse Astron. xxix. 289 The motions of Jupiter’s satellites are according to the order of the signs. 1868 Lockyer Elem. Astron. § 37 These are called the zodiacal constellations (very carefully to be distinguished .. from the signs of the zodiac bearing the same name).

fb. A constellation. Obs. rare. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xxiii. (Bodl. MS), Arcturus is a signe ymade of vij. sterres. Ibid., Orioun is a signe that ariseth in wintere. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xii. 46 The sygne of Oryon. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Orion., was .. translated among the sterres, & there is the signe called in latine Jugula. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Orion.

III. 12. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) signlanguage (also fig.), -maker, -speech, -talk; (sense 2 c) sign-symbol, (sense 5) sign-mark; (sense 6) sign-iron, -painter, -writer (writer 1 b), -writing; (sense 7) sign-situation, -system, -using vbl. sb. and ppl. adj., -word; (sense 11) t sign-carrier. 1653 R. Sanders Physiogn. 1 A Zodiack..; the Latins call it Signifer, that is to say, * Sign-carrier. 1778 Phil. Trans. LXIX. 44 On passing through the streets of London in his walks, before the ‘sign-irons were taken down. 1836 in Hist. Chesterfield (1839) 45 Having a sign, sign-iron, sign-post, or shew-board suspended from or in front of such house. 1847 T. H. Gallandet in Amer. Ann. Deaf & Dumb I. 59 They originate from elements of this ‘sign-language which nature furnishes to man wherever he is found, whether barbarous or civilized. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. ii. 25 The teacher remarked that I did not seem to be quite a beginner in the sign-language, i960 S. Plath Colossus 39 These .. sheets.. Speak in sign language of a lost other-world. 1981 Amer. Speech LVI. 130 Sign language is as adequate for the deaf as any vocal-auditory language is for a hearing person. 1889 Mivart Orig. Hum. Reason 66 Such a movement is a true ‘sign’, being a movement made depicting a fact with the intention of conveying to other minds the ideas of the "'signmaker. 1840 Browning Sordello iv. 387 The Kaiser’s ominous ‘sign-mark had first place, The crowned grim twynecked eagle. 1725 New-Eng. Courant 15 Feb. 1/2, I would oblige every ‘Sign-Painter to serve seven Years at College, before he presum’d to handle Pencil or Paint-Box. 1776 Burney Hist. Mus. I. 221 The painter should have had about the same degree of merit with a good sign-painter in Europe. 1814 Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary (1862) 11. 346 For fear the head should not be recognised as the saint’s, a brown cap is put upon it by the sign-painter. 1942 Burlington Mag. Jan. 9/1 Ireland takes this sketch as a proof that Hogarth contemplated setting up as a sign-painter. 1923 Ogden & Richards Meaning of Meaning i. 15 There may be a very long chain of ‘sign-situations intervening between the act and its referent. 1977 Daedalus Fall 105 Literature .. though it is.. a form of communication.. is cut off from the immediate pragmatic purposes which simplify other sign situations. 1873 Cayley in Messenger Math. II. 17 Theorems in Relation to Certain ‘Sign-Symbols. 1924 R. H. Bell Mystery of Words 101 A study of the general principles of language has brought out the nature of the linguistic ‘sign-system. 1977 R. H. Brown in Douglas & Johnson Existential Sociol. ii. 90 These norms and rules form a sign system that is itself subject to the feedback of experience. 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. 133 How was it my French didn’t go, and your ‘sign-talk did? 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. II. xxii. 357 In the human child.. these ruptures of contiguous association are very soon made; far off cases of ‘sign-using arise when we make a sign now; and soon language is launched. 1938 C. W. Morris Found, of Theory of Signs i. 1 Men are the dominant sign-using animals. 1957 C. E. Osgood et al. Measurement of Meaning i. 3 The behavior of the sign-using organism. 1894 N. & Q. 8th Ser. V. 6/1 It is a ‘sign-word only, not a term of affinity. 1871 J. Callingham Sign Writing i. 1 It is curious that the term ‘‘sign-writer’ is not to be found in any encyclopaedia or dictionary, ancient or modern... Even Kelly’s ponderous ‘Post Office London Directory’ does not deem the signwriter worthy of separate enumeration in its list of trades. 1977 J. McClure Sunday Hangman xiii. 151 A family of losers trying to find the right words for the signwriter. 1871 J. Callingham (title) ‘Sign writing. 1954 ‘J. Wyndham’ fizzle 49 Elmer was a house-painter who doubled in the less spacious art of sign-writing. 1978 Dumfries Gf Galloway Standard 21 Oct. 21/2 (Advt.), All types of signwriting undertaken.

b. Special combs., as sign-behaviour, behaviour that is dependent on a sign (sense 7); sign bit Computers, a sign digit located in a sequence of binary digits; sign-design (see quot. 1942); sign digit Computers, a digit, located in a sequence of digits, whose value

SIGN depends on the algebraic sign of the number represented; sign-event, a particular occur¬ rence of the use of a sign (sense 7); signprocess, the process whereby a token or indication becomes operative or functions as a sign; sign stimulus Biol., the component or characteristic of an external stimulus which is effective in initiating a particular innate behavioural response in an animal perceiving it, regardless of the presence or absence of the remainder of the stimulus; sign-vehicle, the token or indication that acts as a sign. 1946 C. W. Morris Signs, Lang. & Behav. i. 7 And goal¬ seeking behavior in which signs exercise control may be called sign-behavior. 1964 Gould & Kolb Diet. Soc. Sci. 641/2 Sigh-behaviour is found in all levels of animal life. 1962 Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Proc. (B.S.I.) 19 Where the sign digit is a binary digit it is often known as a sign bit. 1975 T. Bartee Introd. Computer Sci. ii. 47 The sign bit is set apart from the magnitude bits by a . in each word... An alternate technique uses a box for the sign bit. 1942 R. Carnap Introd. Semantics §3.5 The word ‘sign’ is ambiguous. It means sometimes a single object or event, sometimes a kind to which many objects belong. Whenever necessary, we shall use ‘sign-et>ent' in the first case, ‘sign-design' in the second. 1944 Mind LI 11. 36 The signdesign is what is usually meant when we use such words as ‘symbol’, ‘word’, ‘sentence’. It is the form or structure common to a set of actual occurrences (sounds, marks, gestures) whereby they function symbolically. 1974 M. Taylor tr. Metz's Film Lang. iii. 90 Between words—pure ‘sign events’ as they are called in American semiotics, events that never occur twice .. and language .. there is room for the study of ‘sign designs’, sentence patterns. 1947 A. W. Burks et al. in J. von Neumann Coll. Wks. (1963) V. 46 Our numbers are 40 digit aggregates, the left-most digit being the sign digit. 1950 Proc. R. Soc. A. CCII. 574 The first digit is regarded as a sign digit and a ‘binary point’ supposed to exist before the second digit. 1969 J. J. Sparkes Transistor Switching viii. 194 The sign digit is normally ‘o’ for positive numbers. 1942 Sign-event [see sign-design above]. 1973 Screen Spring/Summer 164 Spoken words.. are pure ‘sign-events’ incapable of being reproduced twice over and therefore impossible to study scientifically. 1946 C. W. Morris Signs, Lang. & Behav. i. 3 Terms which are commonly used in describing sign-processes. 1957 C. E. Osgood et al. Measurement of Meaning i. 5 A first step toward a behavioral interpretation of the sign-process. 1934 E. S. Russell Behaviour of Animals ii. 33 The principle of representative stimuli, or sign stimuli as we may call them for short, is illustrated not only in the flight reactions of animals .. but even more clearly in.. food-finding behaviour. 1967 A. Manning Introd. Animal Behaviour iii. 39 There are many examples of auditory and chemical signstimuli too. Turkey hens which are breeding for the first time will accept as chicks any object which makes the typical cheeping call. On the other hand.. deaf turkey hens kill most of their chicks because they never receive the auditory sign-stimulus for parental behaviour. 1975, 1980 Sign stimulus [see releaser c]. 1938 C. W. Morris Found, of Theory of Signs i. 4 In such cases 5 is the sign vehicle.., D the designatum, and I the interpretant of the interpreter. 1955 T. H. Pear Eng. Soc. Differences i. 33 Status symbols are sign-vehicles, cues which determine the status to be imputed to a person.

sign (sain), v.1 Also 4-7 signe, 5-6 sygne, 6 syne, 7 sine, Sc. singe, [ad. F. signer (fsiner) or L. signare, f. signum SIGN s6.] 1. 1. a. trans. To mark, protect, consecrate, etc., with the sign of the cross. CI305 St. Edmund 66 in E.E.P. (1862) 72 In mie foreheuede iwrite mie name pu schalt iseo; Signe j>erwij? pi foreheued & pi breost also, c 1315 Shoreham i. 15, Ich signi J>e wij? signe of croys. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Bapt. Inf., We receyue this childe into the congregacion of Christes flocke and doe sygne hym wyth the signe of the crosse. 1634 Canne Necess. Separ. (1849) 248 They are to wear surplices, sign children in baptism with the sign of the cross. 1753 Challoner Cath. Chr. Instr. 3 The Use of signing our¬ selves with the Sign of the Cross. 1834 K. H. Digby Mores Cath. v. vii. 193 St. Gregory the Great says, that it was the custom to sign the penitential bread with a cross. 1878 Gairdner Rich. Ill, vi. 269 He kissed the ground and signed himself with the cross.

b. To cross (esp. oneself). c 1400 Love Bonavent. Mirr. xlvii. (1908) 252 Than sche wipeth his face and kisseth it,.. and so signede and blessed hym. 1530 Palsgr. 718/1, I shall syne me on the forheed from the dyvell and all his angels. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xvn. cxxvii, How know I but thou art some fair-dress’d Feind To make me foul? and here himself he sign’d. 1855 Browning Fra Lippo Lippi 155 Shaking a fist at him with one fierce arm, Signing himself with the other because of Christ. 1861 Lytton & Fane Tannhauser 100 Then, sign thyself, and peaceful go thy ways.

c. To make the sign of (the cross) by a movement of the hand. 1810 Scott Lady of Lake iii. iv, He pray’d, and sign’d the cross between. 1872 A. de Vere Leg. St. Patrick, Baptism ii, With that small hand.. He signed the Cross. 1896 A. Austin England's Darling 1. i, Nay, sign the cross upon your brow and sleep.

d. To figure (the cross) in some material. 1825 Scott Betrothed x, Pointing to the cross signed in white cloth upon his left shoulder.

2. a. To place some distinguishing mark upon (a thing or person); to mark with a sign. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. viii. (Bodl. MS.), Grauers vse the peces J?erof [i.e. adamant] to signe and to pirle precious stones. 1601 Shaks. ful. C. ill. i. 206 Heere thy Hunters stand Sign’d in thy Spoyle, and Crimson’d in thy Lethee. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 228 They., wore garments of black, signed with a white crosse. 1697 Dryden JEneid ix. 130 There sprung A Light that sign’d the Heav’ns, and shot along. 1726 Pope Odyss. xix. 456 The

SIGN scar, with which his manly knee was sign’d. 1843 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. 11. vii. §20. 94 The reversed imagery of their darkness signed across by the soft lines of faintly touching winds. fig. 1582 N. T. (Rhem.) John vi. 27 For him the Father, God, hath signed^ -Eph. iv. 30 The holy Spirit of God: in which you are signed vnto the day of redemption, a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. vii. 329 Since the Israelites are signed with the holy seal in the flesh, they are thereby acknowledged for the sons of God. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 1. 634 Earth, Air, and Seas, with Prodigies were sign’d. 1862 F. T. Palgrave in Bk. of Praise (1866) 242 Saviour pure and holy, Sign us with thy sign.

b. To stamp as a sign upon something, rare. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. 1. vi. §16 The omnipotency of God, which is chiefly signed and engraven upon his works.

c. In pass. To have as signatures. 1706 Hearne Collect. 4 Feb., The leaves signed, ai. aiij.

f 3. To put a seal upon (something). Also intr., to use seals. Obs. 1382 Wyclif Rev. xxii. 10 Signe, or seele, thou not the wordes of prophecie of this book. 1581 Marbeck Bk. Notes 969 He .. put him in the bottomles dungeon, & shut him vp, & signed him with his seale. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 178 The Easterne Countries or ./Egypt doe not yet signe, sayth he, being contented with bare letters.

4. a. To attest or confirm by adding one’s signature; to affix one’s name to (a document, etc.). 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 11 Signe nor seale them not til thou haue ouerseen them. 1513-4 Act 5 Hen. VIII, c. 1 Preamble, Every writting obligatorie.. signed and sealed in fourme above rehersed. 1596 Shaks. Merck. V. iv. i. 397, I am not well, send the deed after me, And I will signe it. 1617 Moryson I tin. 11. 52 The Lord Deputies entertainement to be paid according to the List after following, which List was to be signed by the Lords. 1686 tr. Chardin s Trav. Persia 63 The Caimacan was ready to sign the Pass. 1713 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 16 Mar., They have had some expresses, by which they count that the peace may be signed by that time. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 22/2 It is the custom of Shroffs to get the body of the bond wrote by their Gomastahs, and they sign it with their own hands. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 199 Where an account is regularly settled between the parties, and signed by them, it will carry interest. 1874 T. Taylor Leic. Square iii. 64 His commission was not signed till April, owing to delays. fig. 1613 R. Hill Pathw. Piety (1615) M4 As the preaching of the Gospell is Gods powerfull instrument to sign our saluation. 1659 Milton Rupt. Comm. Wks. 1851 V. 401, I perswade me, that God was pleas’d with this Restitution, signing it as he did, with such a signal Victory. 1878 Ruskin Notes 50 Turner always signs a locality with some given incident.

b. To fix down, make over, give away, by signing. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 75 We would with our blood signe downe such spels on the Plaines [etc.]. 1712 Hearne Collect. 21 June, This Tenement he signed over to his Sons. 1846 Dickens Battle of Life 1, Signing away vague and enormous sums of money. 1858 Trollope Dr. Thorne I. xiv. 284 A man signs away a moiety of his substance.

c. With in. To secure the admittance of (a person) to a hotel, club, etc., by signing a register; to record the entrance of (a person) into a building, etc. 1930 A. P. Herbert Water Gipsies xxv. 368 Isn’t he sleeping in the hotel himself?.. Didn’t want to sign you in as his wife, I shouldn’t wonder. 1957 C. MacInnes City of Spades 1. xi. 79, I shall sign you in till Johnny come, and check with him later. 1971 R- Hill Advancement of Learning xvi. 222 ‘Have you been signed in?’.. Of course, it was a club. ‘Then you can’t buy a drink, can you?’ 1977 J. P. Anderson in Douglas & Johnson Existential Sociol. vi. 191 His face fell a foot when the social worker told him that Viejas Rehabilitation Center was the only place he could get in, that he would have to sign himself in for from three to six months. 1978 M. Z. Lewin Silent Salesman xviii. 107, I know of at least one person who was in Research [Laboratory] Three on the twenty-seventh who isn’t signed in or out.

d. With out. To secure the release of (a person or thing) by signing; to record the removal of (a thing) or the departure of (a person) from a building, etc. 1963 V. Nabokov Gift iii. 187 He signed out the complete works of Chernyshevski from the state library. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 11/6 The nurse replied that he had been signed out by the doctor. 1972 D. E. Westlake Cops & Robbers (1973) x. 137 Why don’t you shlep on back to the [police] station and sign us both out? 1978 [see sense 4c above].

5. a. intr. To affix one’s signature; also const. to. Also, to make a written contract with, and const./or, as authorization or acknowledgement of receipt, to sign on the dotted line: see dotted ppl. a. 1 c. 1617 Moryson Itin. 11. 150 Another letter.. signed below, not above (as she usually signed). 1655 tr. Sorel's Com. Hist. Francion xn. 27 It was therefore better.. to cause him.. to sign to whatsoever he had confessed. 1726 Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 32 The articles we signed to at Plymouth, were never read in our hearing. 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. 377 Though the witnesses must all see the testator sign,.. yet they may do it at different times. 1818 Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 27 Having signed and sealed for the future ‘Italy’, he will not let me allude to it now. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy-Bk. Prop. Law xviii. 137 They must both sign in your presence. 1879 O. W. Holmes Archbishop & Gil Bias 24 That is why my hand looks shaky when I sign for dividends. 1938 L. Bemelmans Life Class 11. iv. 160, I won’t pay for anything that isn’t properly ordered... I pay only for things I sign for. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xxii. 181 The only royalties I get are on my records made after I signed with Decca. 1957 C. Smith Case of Torches i. 10 ‘Some of the boys in the

SIGN

452 laboratory.. think they compromise their independence if they sign for something.’ ‘All the other boxes have been signed for.’ 1966 J. B. Priestley Salt is Leaving v. 61 If a Miss Tiller asks for me, tell her we’ve gone in. I’ve already signed for her. 1967 E. S. Gardner Case of Queenly Contestant xvi. 206 He said he would take care of all my expenses... I.. sign for meals in the hotel restaurant. 1974 Times 5 Feb. 11/7 John Alderton and Pauline Collins .. have signed with London Weekend Television to appear as husband and wife in a new comedy series. 1977 P. D. James Death of Expert Witness 11. 100 We let them borrow the key and they sign for it in a book in the office. fig. a 1704 T. Brown Lett, to Gent. & Ladies Wks. 1709 III. II. 91 Thou hast the daintiest smacking Lips in the Universe, that would invite a Hermit to sign and seal upon them.

b. (a) With off. gen., to record that one is bringing something to an end, to stop doing something; spec, (i) Broadcasting, to cease broadcasting, to announce the end of a broadcast; (ii) to fall silent, to withdraw one’s attention; (iii) to record leaving one’s work, to stop work; (iv) Bridge, to indicate by a conventional bid that one is ending the bidding. 1838 Emerson Addr. Cambr. Wks. (Bohn) II. 200 In the country neighbourhoods, half parishes are signing off, to use the local term. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2), To sign off, to release a debtor by agreeing to accept whatever he offers to pay. 1878 Mrs. Stowe Poganuc P. iii. 18 The revolution.. which broke up the State Church and gave to every man the liberty of ‘signing ofF, as it was called, to any denomination that pleased him. 1923 Sci. Amer. Nov. 310/3 The local broadcasting stations have ‘signed ofF for the night. 1929 Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking vi. 206 If you’re trying to propose to me, sign off. There is nothing doing. 1933 A. McCabe Contract without Tears 165 Had North wished to sign-off at this point he would have bid five diamonds. 1937 Speculum Apr. 268 Tired copyists expressed their relief at signing off from their labors. 1948 Times 2 Sept. 2/7 Reluctance to sign off with no additional values has led to many [Contract Bridge] players getting out of their depth. 1953 W. R. Burnett Vanity Row xxi. 188 Lynch was .. listening to a comedy programme... ‘Be with you in a minute... They’re just about to sign off.’ 1954 M. Procter Hell is City 1. v. 30 What time did you sign off?.. Since then you’ve been in some pub... You’ve been working on that murder, I suppose. 1957 F. Hoyle Black Cloud xi. 210 If the politicians started .. arguing.. the Cloud would sign off altogether. It’s not going to waste its time talking to gibbering idiots. 1962 Listener 1 Mar. 394/3 He bid 5 N.T., which by convention asked his partner to bid Six Diamonds if he held the King of the agreed suit, hearts, and otherwise to sign off in Six Hearts. 1965 ‘J. le Carre’ Looking-Glass War xxiii. 241 ‘The transmission’s stopped.’ .. ‘Did he sign off?’ 1971 H. Trevelyan Worlds Apart xvii. 193 By the summer of 1964 Khrushchev had decided to have nothing to do with Vietnam either and virtually signed off. 1974 R. M. Pirsig Zen & Art of Motorcycle Maintenance i. 23 John signs off every time the subject of cycle repair comes up. 1976 Times 1 May 12/7 North can hardly be blamed for seeking a slam when his partner could have ‘signed ofF by responding Five Diamonds to Five Clubs. 1976 Milton Keynes Express 30 July 13/1 In a statement Hawkins said he did not sign off because the Works job was only temporary and he was afraid he would not be able to sign on again. 1979 Irish Times 28 Sept. 3/1 A decision will be made later as to whether this progressive three-year-old will sign off for the season in the St Simon Stakes or the Champion Stakes.

(b) With on. spec, (i) to record one’s arrival at work, to begin work; (ii) to sign a contract to join an organization, etc.; (iii) to register at the Department of Employment (formerly Labour or Employment Exchange) in order to obtain unemployment benefit. (Cf. 6 c.) 1862 Railway Traveller's Handy Bk. 8 In most Government offices the employes are compelled to ‘sign on’, as it is called, when they arrive in the morning. 1885 St. James's Gaz. 23 Sept. (Cassell), One set of men signed on after having only seven hours’ absence from work. 1930 E. Pound XXX Cantos ix. 37 Until he signed on with Siena. 1936 N. Mitchison Fourth Pig 29 If I didn’t keep it up, there’d be a dozen knocking themselves over to get my job. And then it would be signing on again at the Labour. 1941 Illustrated 6 Sept. 21 She hands him the emergency slip. It says that he must sign on at 8 a.m. for the 9.30 special. 1955 Times 18 Aug. 5/1 Some of our men there had signed on for three or five years because they had been told they would learn a trade, but they were just batmen and doing no training at all. i960 C. MacInnes Mr. Love & Justice 45 Frankie had paid his last visit to the Labour because.. he wasn’t going through the comedy of ‘signing on’ any more. 1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry ii. 31 Bus drivers and conductors have instead to sign on... They may have to make a personal appearance before the traffic inspector to show that they are not drunk or otherwise unfit. 1976 Yorkshire Evening Press 9 Dec. 3/4 If you gave up work voluntarily then you could be disqualified from receipt of unemployment benefit for up to six weeks, and you would have to ‘sign on’ and hold yourself available for employment every week. 1981 B. Hines Looks & Smiles 18 You take this [card] up to the Social Security office and sign on at the time it says here. Ibid. 44 Miserable bunch of bastards, the sergeant said... Anybody’d think they’d been forced to sign on.

c. With up. To enrol, to enlist; to give support to. 1903 A. H. Lewis Boss 186 You can tell by th’way they go to bat, whether th’ Blackberry has signed up to them to kill our franchise. 1926 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 25 So she signed up for evening classes. 1942 E. Paul Narrow St. xxxiv. 306 It was generally accepted in our street after that that France was eager to sign up with Russia against Hitler. 1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags i. 69 What I thought of doing was to sign up with you... It’s a great help to start in a decent regiment. 1951 Listener 31 Jan. 172/2 Inducing other governments to sign up to professions of high moral and legal principles. 1975 M. Bradbury History Man vi. 99 I’ve

signed up for an evening class. 1977 T. Wema) Just Desserts i. 11 Collingdale had had to sign up as a novice friar.

d. With out, in. To record one’s departure from, arrival at, a hotel, club, etc., by signing a register; also fig. 1951 G. Greene End of Affair 11. ii. 65 It was.. as though I had signed out of the war. 1966 G. Burnett Dead Account xii. 97 And my name’s Brook. Where do we sign in? 1968 ‘G. Bagby’ Another Day—Another Death vii. 142 It seemed impossible that.. all the police who’d been poring over the book could have missed someone who signed in and hadn’t signed out. 1978 M. Z. Lewin Silent Salesman xviii. 108 I’d like a list of all the people who signed in or out of Research Three.

6. a. trans. To write or inscribe (one’s name) as a signature. 1817 Scott Lett. I. 407, I am about to sign my name three hundred times. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy-Bk. Prop. Law xviii. 137 Then you should sign your name in their presence. 1888 Besant Fifty Yrs. Ago 78 Forty per cent, of the men.. could not sign their own names.

b. refl. To denominate or designate (oneself) in a signature or signatures. 1885 Manch. Exam. 28 Sept. 5/2 A correspondent of last week’s Spectator, who signs himself a ‘Liberal Solicitor’.

c. To engage by the signing of an agreement. Also with on, up; also fig. 1889 in Cent. Diet., The Athletics have signed a new player. 1894 Times 25 Sept. 10/6 When crews are not signed on board, a large proportion of them are missing when the boat is ready to sail. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 27 Sept. 1/3 The men can only be ‘signed on’ in the presence of the Board of Trade officer. 1927 Wodehouse Meet Mr Mulliner i. 29 If George had been a member of the Olympic Games Selection Committee, he would have signed this woman up immediately. 1932 Radio Times 1 Apr. 5/2 Seversky immediately signed the violinist up for his broadcast. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) iii. 35 Joe Glaser, the big agent and manager.. signed me up on the spot. 1963 Wodehouse Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves iii. 26 While I personally .. would run a mile in tight shoes to avoid marrying Stiffy, I knew him to be strongly in favour of signing her up. 1980 G. M. Fraser Mr American xxiii. 442 Your friend Pip is to be one of the top turns in the cabaret—I suppose they signed her up as soon as they saw the early editions.

II. 7. a. trans. To indicate, signify, betoken. a 1375 Joseph of Aramathie 185 pat signede Ihesu crist.. was nout out-wip so cler bote wip-inne he was clene. a 1585 Polwart Fly ting w. Montgomerie 633 His asse eares .. signe in short space, The franticke foole sail grow madde like Mahowne. 1628 Gaule Pract. The. 36 That he hath lost it, doth but signe he had it not. 1652-Magastrom. 184 A broad forehead signes or marks a man stupid. 1845 Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 135 This branch, Which waveth high o’er all, oh, let it sign Thine own Eternal Son’s humanity. 1884 R. H. Newton Bk. Beginnings 127 The Asherah, the original of the Maypole, signs the productivity of nature.

fb. intr. To prognosticate, bode. Obs. 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. Cviij, To prophesie from Comets, or deuine, Tis foolerie; they neither cause nor signe. 1606 Shaks. Ant. & Cl. iv. iii. 15 Musicke i’ th’ Ayre. .. It signes well, do’s it not?

|8. trans. To designate. Obs.~1 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. 1. ii. 23 An Angle is most commonly signed by three Letters, the middlemost whereof sheweth the Angular Point.

9. a. intr. To make a sign or signs by some movement of the hand, etc.; spec, to use a sign language. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 494 Then signing to their heralds with his hand, They gave his orders from their lofty stand. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe viii, Prince John with his truncheon signed to the trumpets to sound the onset. 1869 Tennyson Coming Arthur 317 She..sign’d To those two sons to pass, and let them be. 1909 Webster., Sign, To communicate or converse in a sign language. 1977 Rolling Stone 16 June 46/1 Washoe used to sign to the others quite a bit, but of course the chimps she was signing to didn’t respond. 1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. 10/4 Strangely, many educators of deaf students don’t sign (use sign language). 1980 Nat. Geographic June 849 Bin was picking up sign language... He didn’t talk to Princess; he signed to her as he also did with other non-signing orangutans.

b. trans. To intimate, convey, by a sign; spec. to communicate or express (something) in a sign language. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. (Globe) 208 Upon this he sign’d to me, that he should bury them with Sand. 1820 Scott Monast. xix, He.. held up his finger to him as he signed farewell. 1821-Kenilw. xii, He, too, signed a mournful greeting to Tressilian. 1896 Harper's Mag. Apr. 724 [He] signed me next morning that we should camp here. 1909 Webster, Sign, To signify by, or express in a sign language. 1975 J - Goulet Oh's Profit i. 4 Liedlich and his wife, Nancy, had signed the month, the hand-dance that was the month April. 1975 Church Times 15 Aug. 2/2 The lessons will be signed by deaf readers and the Lord’s Prayer by one who is also blind. 1978 Oxford Times 16 June 2 The British Deaf Association Choir.. ‘signed’ the hymns.

III. 10. Comb ., as sign-in, the action of signing in (see senses 4 c and 5 d); also used attrib. and absol. of a register in which people sign in; sign-off, the action of signing off (see sense 5 b (a)); Broadcasting, the end of transmission, an announcement of this; also attrib.; sign-on, the action of signing on (see senses 5 b (b) and 6 c); Broadcasting, the start of transmission; sign-out, the action of signing out (see senses 4 d and 5 d); the signature of one who has signed out; sign-up, the action of signing up or the state of having signed up (see senses 5 c and 6 c); also, a person who has signed up; also attrib.

SIGN 1968 G. Bagby’ Another Day—Another Death vii. 142 He showed me the porter’s sign-in. The man had come in quite early. 1972 ‘J. Lange’ Binary 8 A guard with a sign-in book stood in front of the elevator. Graves.. took the pen and wrote his name, his authorization, and the time. 1978 S. Brill Tea?nsters iii. 115 Their names were the first entered every morning in the sign-in register at the Fund’s reception desk. 1942 E. Culbertson Official Bk. Contract Bridge xv. 187 Finally, there is the sign-off bid... The sign-off may be made even if the responder hold one Ace. 1949 Cavalier Daily (Univ. Virginia) 23 Sept. 1/3 A non-affiliated station .. will be on the air only during the daylight hours. Sign-on and sign-off times will vary from month to month. 1958 Listener 30 Oct. 709/2 The sign-off for his partner would clearly be Five Hearts, i960 News Chron. 27 June 3/1 One [question].. was used by the producer as a rather abrupt sign-off. 1961 [see sign-on below]. 1962 H. T. Moore Coll. Lett. D. H. Lawrence I. p. xxi, Lawrence’s sign-offline was often a foreign phrase. 1971 H. Trevelyan Worlds Apart xvii. 194 So now they could no longer stay silent and issued the expected ‘sign-ofF statement on Vietnam, evidence that they were powerless to take any diplomatic initiative. 1976 Time 20 Dec. 47/2 Remember his sign-off as he was being expelled from a Democratic Convention: ‘This is John Chancellor, somewhere in custody.’ 1948 Seafarers' Log 9 Jan. 5/2 One thing about the pay-offs and sign-ons we had: All the beefs were settled aboard ship to everybody’s satisfaction. 1949 [see sign-off above]. 1961 Time 19 May 53/1 The toughest TV critic.. dared the station and network operators and owners to sit down in front of their sets from sign-on to sign-off. 1968 ‘G. Bagby’ Another Day — Another Death vii. 142, I looked at the later sign-outs. Those covered the mob of cleaning women. 1940 Sun (Baltimore) 17 Sept. 9/7 Talbot, with a ‘sign up’ of 391,.. led all the counties. 1941 Ibid. 14 Feb. 7/1 ‘There is a direct need for immediate sign-up’ of nurses for army duty. 1945 National Legionnaire (U.S.) Sept. 1 (heading) Legion speeds sign-up of 12,000,000 War II victors. 1951 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 5 Mar. 3/2 Sign-ups through the end of last month totaled 1,033. x972 JtmL Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 118 A sign-up sheet was then distributed and students were asked to indicate whether.. they would be willing to volunteer for the experiment. 1974 News & Reporter (Chester, S. Carolina) 22 Apr. 10-A/1 This will be a singles tournament and sign up will start Saturday morning at 10 a.m. 1980 Dirt Bike Oct. 5/1 The little grayhaired lady at the sign-up booth is your wife, or your girlfriend.

fsign, v2 Obs. Forms: 4-6 signe, 5 segne, 5-6 sygne; 4 syngne, 5-6 syne. [Aphetic f. assign v.] trans. To assign, appoint. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 163 Tent & pauillon tille Isaac did he signe. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 35 >at alle the bretheren.. shullen ben redy at that day.. in wat stede that he syngnyt hem. c 1430 Lydg. Paternoster 284 in Min. Poems (E.E.T.S.), Cause his lord was ageyn hym ffell He was fetryd and signed to prysoun. 1467-8 Rolls of Par It. V. 621/1 Many arraunt Theves .. become Provers, and desire a Coroner to be signed unto theym to make their appelles of dyvers Felonyes. C1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) E iij, Like as a wise warriour signeth a souldiour For enemies aproching to watche and to espie. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxxix. 473 So euery man londyd excepte suche as were sygned to kepe the shyppes. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis 1. (Arb.) 19 The Emperor heaunlye. .too thee the auctoritye signed Too swage seas surging.

sign, obs. form of sine sb. and sing v. signable ('sain3b(3)l), a. [f. sign v.1 + -able.] 1. That may be signed (Ogilvie Suppl. 1855). 2. Capable of signing. 1802 Canning Let. in Diaries & Corr. Ld. Malmesbury IV. 96, I commit the paper to your discretion. If signable people should fall in your way, or if unsignable,.. use it.

fsignacle. Obs. Also 4-5 sygn-, 5 synacle; Sc. 6 signakle, 8 sinacle. [a. OF. signacle, sirtacle, etc., ad. late L. signaculum, dim. from signum SIGN sb.] 1. A sign, seal, mark, figure. 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. ix. 2 3e ben the sygnacle, or lith signe, of myn apostilhed in the Lord. ? c 1400 Lydg. JEsop s Fab. iii. 171 The name of god .. Is the signacle of the celestial seale. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione III. lix. 140 This grace is .. a propre signacle of pc chosen children of god. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 43 1 b/i He had the Sygnacle or fygure of the holy crosse in soo right grete reuerence that he eschewed to trede on hit. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems lxxxv. 18 All thing maling we dovne thring, Be sicht of his signakle. a 1555 Bradford Medit. (1607) 96 The sacrament of circumcision, which as the Apostle calleth the seale or signacle of righteousnes. 1656 in Blount Glossogr.

2. A sign or gesture. c 1450 Lovelich Grail xxxviii. 62 Whanne Nasciens knew that he hoi was Be the signacle of [ = made by] be Man In that plas. 1490 Caxton Eneydos v. 21 The sayd wymmen were alle dyssheuelled,.. makynge merueylous synacles, as theyr custume was in that tyme.

3. Sc. A slight token or trace. 1768 Ross Helenore I. 8 Never a sinacle of life was there. 1790 Shirrefs Poems Gl. 32 Sinacle, a grain, a small quantity.

signage ('saimd3). Chiefly N. Amer. [f. sign sb. + -age.] Signs collectively, esp. public signs on facia boards, signposts, etc.; the design and arrangement of these. 1976 Federal Suppl. (U.S.) CDXIV. 1168/1 All signage, stationery, forms, calling cards and other symbols are identical with no distinction between the main bank and the drive-in facility. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 21 Aug. 8/2 They are being a lot tougher on signage and landscaping and buildings. 1979 Amer. Banker 28 Feb. 4 The overall appearance of your bank, the building, the grounds, the signage. 1981 Beautiful Brit. Columbia Fall 16/2 Many British Columbians .. havetraced Lewis and Clark’s travels through the Pacific northwest, following rustic highway

453 signage and visiting the many historic stopping places. 1983 N.Y. Times 23 Oct. vm. 7/1 The cacophony of visual accents in the Times Square area—the graphics and the signage. 1986 Your Business Mar. 32/1 Every aspect of a company’s personality is reviewed.. to the design of invoices and signage.

signal ('signal), sb. [a. F. signal (OF. also seignal, seignau, etc.), = Pg. sinal, Sp. serial, It. segnale, med.L. signal(e, a Romanic formation on L. signum sign: see -al1 4. Used by Chaucer and Gower, but otherwise evidenced only from the end of the 16th century.] 11. a. A visible sign; a badge or symbol. Obs. C1384 Chaucer Ho. Fame i. 459 Tho saugh I.. alle the mervelouse signals Of the goddys celestials. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 57 In his hond He bar the signal of his lond With fisshes thre. 1601 Sir W. Cornwallis Disc. Seneca (1631) 7 His other signals of authority, the deckings of a corrupt minde.

b. A mark of distinction or honour. Obs. 1655 M. Carter Honor Rediv. (1660) 3 Vertue being still admired, and honored, and some signall put upon it. 1685 Bunyan Seventh-day Sabbath v, Now what another signal was here [i.e. at the day of Pentecost] put upon the first day of the week.

2. A sign, token, or indication (of something). In later use not clearly separable from sense 4. 1591 Shaks. 1 Hen. VI, 11. iv. 121 In signall of my loue to thee. 1594-Rich. Ill, v. iii. 21 (Qtos.), The wearie sonne .. Giues signall of a goodlie day to-morrow. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 1. iv, The bread and wine which were but the signalls or visible signes.. were made the things signified. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. 1. i. (1841) I. 12 ’Tis a signal that he has no thought of mercy in store for them. 1725-Voy. round World (1840) 320 All this while we saw no people, nor any signals of any. 1782 V. Knox Ess. xcv. (1819) II. 190 To whom we wish to display some signal of our love. 1820 Shelley Ode to Naples 113 The signal and the seal.. Art thou of all these hopes. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xviii, The arrival of the piano, which, as she conjectured, must have come from George, and was a signal of amity on his part.

3. A sign agreed upon or understood as the occasion of concerted action, esp. one ordering the movement of troops or ships; also fig., an exciting cause. 1593 Shaks. Rich. II, 1. iii. 116 Attending but the signall to begin. 1611 Cory at Crudities 16 Presently they gaue the Signall to Hernand Teillo, that lay vnder the towne with his ambuscado. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 702 All obey’d The wonted signal. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 176 The signal of battle being given with two cannon shot we marched in order of battalia. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1851) I. 60/2 The paean .. was the signal to advance. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague iii. iii, Go on deck, and tell me if thou seest The signal flying for close line of battle, i860 Tyndall Glac. 1. xix. 134 This was the signal for a grasp all round. 1874 Green Short Hist. vi. §5. 318 The meeting of the Emperor [Charles] with Henry at Southampton gave the signal for a renewal of the war.

4. a. A sign or notice, perceptible by sight or hearing, given especially for the purpose of conveying warning, direction, or information. 1598 Drayton Heroical Ep. Poems (1619) 212, I. .being ship’d, gave signall with my Hand Vp to the Cliffe where I did see thee stand. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 72 The Son gave signal high To the bright Minister that watch’d, hee blew His Trumpet. 1698 T. Froger Voy. 8 We likewise made signals to the other ships. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 1. 12 The Master.. order’d to fire a Gun as a Signal of Distress. 1732 Lediard Sethos II. IX. 281 The garrison beat.. a signal of surrender. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xii, And, as she drew nearer to Olivia, gave a signal and passed on to her cell. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles III. xxiii, It was a keen and warning look, And well the Chief the signal took. 1896 Law Times Rep. LXXIII. 615/1 A bell rang which was a signal.. that a train was coming.

b. An object serving to convey an intimation. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 1. 94 There is a small Church in the Sea,.. which serves for a Light-house and Signal. 1774 Mackenzie Mar. Surv. n. 84 When the Surveyor is at a proper Station, the Assistant must set up the black Signal. 1838 Railway signal [see railway 3]. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xlvii, He has something in his hand —he is holding it up as if it were a signal. 1878 Gurney Crystallogr. 105 Let these signals., be so placed that the same horizontal plane will pass through each of them.

c. A modulation of an electric current, electromagnetic wave, or the like by means of which information is conveyed from one place to another; the current or wave itself; also, a current or wave whose presence is regarded as conveying information about the source from which it comes. Also = signal strength, sense 5 e below. 1855 D. Lardner Electric Telegraph v. §121 The signals transmitted appear upon the telegraphic instrument informing the agent whence the dispatch will come. 1873 Trans. Inst. Engineers & Shipbuilders in Scotland XVI. 119 If several thousand Leyden Jars were distributed along an aerial line of telegraph .. the signals through the line would exhibit exactly the same inductive retardation as those sent through the actual submarine line. 1902 Proc. R. Soc. LXX. 256 For transmitting signals, an aerial wire or wires were attached to one of two spark balls fitted to an induction coil, the other ball being earthed. 1923 Radio Times 28 Sept. 2/2 After sunset signals may increase very considerably. 1958 Times 18 Jan. 7/3 The problem of how to reach Iraq and the Persian Gulf area with an adequate signal has yet to be solved. 1961 New Scientist 26 Jan. 199/3 The picture signal which indicates by amplitude modulation of a carrier wave how bright each point on a line should be, is interrupted at the ends of each line by synchronizing pulses. 1961 G. Millerson Technique Telev. Production ii. 19 The current, known as the video or picture signal, is subsequently

SIGNAL amplified and passed to the video switching console. 1965 New Statesman 30 Apr. 674/2 The signals received from it [sc. Early Bird satellite] on the ground are extremely weak —about one-millionth of a normal TV signal in a fringe area. 1970 J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers iv. 78 Signal delivered by the control section .. is just right for feeding into the power amplifier section. 1978 Pasachoff & Kutner University Astron. xi. 302 Various objects in space emit electromagnetic signals in the radio part of the spectrum.

5. attrib. and Comb. a. Attrib. with sbs. denoting something employed as, or used in giving, a signal or signals, as signal apparatus, arm (arm sb.1 6 c), beacon, bell, code, fire, flag, strip, etc.; also, denoting something used in receiving a signal or signals, as signal pad (pad sb 2 4). Also objective, as signal-processing. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 258/1 It is usual to affix a "‘signal apparatus to them. 1901 Railway Mag. May 463/2 A neighbouring *signal-arm falls. 1949 M. Taylor Railway Signalling i. 6 Near the top of the post is the signal arm which is always on the left of the post when the viewer is facing the signal. 1962 A. Lurie Love & Friendship xv. 293 Coarse grass grew along the track, and the signal arm was rusted at all clear. 1856 Kane^tcL Expl. I. xxvi. 345 A large ♦signal-beacon or cairn. 1897 D. Butler Ch. & Par. Abernethy 180 The mere use of the ♦signal-bell of the hand¬ bell-ringer. 1832 Marryat N. Forster xli, Captain Drawlock.. had the "‘signal-book in his hand. 1865 Alex. Smith Summer in Skye I. 266 The sailor in possession of the signal-book reads the signal. 1877 J. Habberton Jericho Road 94 Between the societies of neighboring counties there often existed "'signal-codes, and unwritten extradition and reciprocity treaties. 1952 M. K. Wilson tr. Lorenz's King Solomon's Ring viii. 82 The whole complicated ‘signal code’ of the jackdaw. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 290 The "■signal fires were blazing fifty miles off. 1802 James Milit. Diet, s.v., Although *signal flags, in modern engagements, have been generally laid aside [etc.]. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. xxx, Might not my father’s beadsman hoar.. Kindle a "‘signal-flame? 1758 in J. S. McLennan Louisbourg (1918) 414 Light gales and fair weather, later thick fog. Fired "■signal gun. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 336/2 A signal-gun to be fired. 1842 Lever J. Hinton vi, When the signal-gun announced the commencement of the action. 1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 74 The rocks, spray-clouded, are your signal guns. 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 13/2 The .. height of the lower or "“signal lamp. 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. July 479/2 The apparatus is simply a new glass for the signal-lamp, facing along the same way and throwing a powerful beam of light over the whole length of the arm. 1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train 1. i. 5 A signal lamp turned from red to green. 1804 Nelson 23 Feb. in Nicolas Disp. (1846) VII. p. ccxix, It is recommended .. to be careful that the *Signal-lights for knowing each other are clear. 1844 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VII. 237 Igniting the composition forming the signal light. 1881 "“Signal-light [see running light s.v. running vbl. sb. 17 a]. 1936 Discovery Sept. 289/2 Motor-car headlights, signal lights and searchlights. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 5 July 8-a/6 The Utah Highway Patrol requested drivers to stay off the roads as signal lights were off through much of the state. 1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma (1876) 270 These three texts .. may well stand as the great *signal-marks pointing to it. a 1873 Lytton Pausanias 36 From several of the vessels the trumpets woke a sonorous ♦signal-note. 1958 P. Kemp No Colours or Crest iv. 54 By the operator’s stool., were some *signal pads. 1975 T. Allbeury Palomino Blonde x. 63 The Morse came and he was getting it down on his signal pad. 1964 R. F. Ficchi Electr. Interference vi. 99 Another way to reduce susceptibility to unwanted signals in cables is to use various ♦signal-processing methods to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. 1766 R. Jones Fireworks iv. 135 *Signal-rockets .. are headed with stars, serpents, &c. 1887 Spectator 30 July 1019/2 A signal-rocket sent up from the flag-ship. 1802 James Milit. Diet, s.v., A continual discharge of these *signal shells. 1812 S. Rogers Columbus Poems (1839) 43 When hark, a ♦signal shot! 1850 R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Africa (1902) 101/1 Their comrades, .requested me to fire signal-shots at intervals. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 261 The whole party circles round the aerodrome until the ♦signal strips for ‘Carry on’ are laid out on the ground. 1954 W. Faulkner Fable 87 He reached the aerodrome and saw the ground signal-strip laid out on it;.. not until he saw the other aeroplanes on the ground or landing or coming into land did he recognise it to be the peremptory emergency signal to all aircraft to come down. 1828 Lights & Shades II. 259 The distant *signal-whistle of a gang of robbers. 1895 Mod. Steam Engine 5 1 The signal whistle is shown at g. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xxx, When mute Amadine they heard Give to their zeal his ♦signal-word. 1831-Ct. Rob. xxii, Thou wilt not forget that the signal word of the insurrection is Ursel.

b. With sbs. denoting a place or thing from which signals are given or worked, as signal box, bridge, cabin, gantry, house, etc. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay vi, I was.. intent on looking for the telegraphic ’signal-box 1884 Encycl. Brit. XX. 238/2 Distant signals.. worked by wire communication from the signal box, were, it is believed, first introduced.. in 1846. 1899 F. T. Bullen Way Navy 75 As I write comes a messenger from the ’signal-bridge.. with a copy of signal just made from the flagship. 1889 Findlay Eng. Railway 69 The ’signal cabin contains a most complicated piece of mechanism, called the ‘locking frame’. 1927 A. Mee Children's Treasure House III. 1819/1 A ’signal gantry (one of those large bridges covered with signals which stand near important junctions or great termini). 1939 [see gantry 2b]. 1976 Physics Bull. Dec. 556/1 A total of 15 signal gantries span the roadway for a distance of about 8 km. 1796 Gentl. Mag. LXVI. 1. 369 In the first distance is seen the ’signal-house, with Bogner.. beyond. 1892 E. Reeves Hotnewd. Bound. 160 Most of the signal-house keepers and dredge men along the canal seem French. 1811 Sir W. Scott Dodson's Rep. I. 19 Notice was given from the Spanish ’signal-post that an enemy was hovering on the coast. 1848 K. H. Digby Compitum I. 15 The notices, the signal-posts as it were, in life’s forest. 1802 James Milit. Diet, s.v., It is usual to fix a red flag.. to point out the spot where the general or officer commanding takes his station in front of a line. This is called the ’signal staff. 1898 Sir G.

SIGNAL Parker Battle of Strong xxxv, Not far from her was the signal-staff which telegraphed to another signal-staff inland. Upon the staff now was hoisted a red flag. 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xvii. (1818) II. 43 The soldiers at these *signalstations sat quite still during the intervals of silence. 1867 Augusta Wilson Vashti xxv, Under his steady gaze the blood rose slowly, to its old signal-station on her cheeks. 1766 Smollett Trav. I. x. 159 It seems to have been intended, at first, as a watch, or *signal-tower. c. With sbs. denoting persons connected with

signalling, as signal boy, corps, lieutenant, etc. Also objective, as signal fitter. 1888 Daily News 18 Dec. 6/4 The dead body of., the *signal boy at Spa-road Station .. was found .. on the line. 54 Earl Monm. tr. Bentivoglio's Wars Flanders 289

Also U.S. signaler, [f.

SIGNAL V. + -ER1.]

1. One who signals; esp. employed to transmit signals.

one

specially

1863 Littledale Offices East. Ch. 209 About the hour of Dawn all the signallers sound. 1869 Pall Mall G. 21 Aug. 12 A large force.. without signallers or telegraphists. 1887 Times 25 Aug. 4/4 The signallers with the column were very busy.

b. One who uses signals in card-playing. 1885 Proctor Whist ix. 98 An original signal.. should mean .. that the signaller is .. very strong in trumps.

2. A thing or apparatus used for signalling. 1872 Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms 108 A hand-clapper or signaller used as a bell. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 15 Oct. 7/2 An automatic signaller, which will.. save fogmen’s lives and be always ready.

signalling ('signalir)), vbl. sb. Also U.S. signaling, [f. signal n.] The action of making or transmitting signals. i860 Tyndall Glac. 11. x. 276 By rough signalling he first stood near the place where the first stake was to be driven in. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Diet. 424/1 Visual signalling was formerly carried on by semaphores, but it has been superseded by army signalling and sun telegraphy.

1886 Pall Mall G. 21 May 4/1 Any new system of signalling which may be arranged between two or more players. attrib. 1876 Daily News 30 Nov. 5/3 The loss of the Vanguard .. was in the main due to imperfect signalling arrangements. 1889 G. Findlay Eng. Railway p. vi, My obligations to.. the Signalling Superintendent.

1856. 1884 Symonds Shaks. Predec. viii. 269 Within the jurisdiction of the signataries.

signally ('signsli), adv. Also 7 signaly. [f. signal a. Cf. obs. F. signalement in the same sense.] In a signal or striking manner.

1649 J. Ellistone tr. Behmen's Epist. xxxii. §14 The Signate-star above your pole shall help you. 1710 tr. Werenfels' Disc. Logom. 101 Then follow.. the States, Amplications,.. Signate Matter,.. and whole Cart-loads of Qualitys. 1826 Kirby & Spence Entomol. xlvi. IV. 286 Signate.., marked with signatures. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 152 The second form of quiescent pupa, known as obtected, larvate, or signate, is characteristic of Lepidoptera.

1641 in Archaeologia I. 99 The Lord of hosts did signally appear for us. 01676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. 11. viii. (1677) 205 But if we follow the Account of the Septuagint,.. the advantage of the Increase would be signally greater. 1748 Anson's Voy. 11. iii. 139 The same cruelty which they had so often and so signally exerted against their Spanish neighbours. ri8oo Foster Life & Corr. (1846) I. 230 A being signally marked from her co-evals. 1856 Stanley Sinai Pal. i. (1858) 55 It is hard to recall another institution, with such opportunities so signally wasted. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. 433 All attempts to limit the choice of the electors beforehand had always signally failed.

'signalman, [f. signal sb. 3 and 4.] 1. A man employed to make, convey, display, or give signals. (Chiefly in Naval use.) *737 Chamberlayne's St. Gt. Brit. II. 115 Mr. John Dominick Grana, Signal-man. 1834 Capt. Marryat P. Simple (1863) 117 Our captain was determined not to see it, and ordered the signal-man not to look that way. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 626 Signal-man, the yeoman of the signals; a first-class petty officer in the navy. 1898 Kipling Fleet in Being 16 A signalman pattered by to relieve his mate on the bridge.

2. A railway employee who attends to the signals which show whether the line is clear or not. 1840 B'ham Jrnl. 28 Nov. 4/2 At every station there shall be an officer or officers under the name of ‘signal men’. 1866 Chamb. Jrnl. 111. 271 A very simple and complete method of communication between the signalman and switchman.

signalment ('signalmsnt). rare. [ad. F. signalement, f. signaler to mark out.] A description of a person wanted by the police; a distinguishing mark. 1778 Ann. Reg. 196 A French signalment, or hue and cry, was received at.. Bow Street ..of a most horrid murder. 1804 Bentham Mem. & Corr. Wks. 1843 X. 414 Were a signalment of this kind once established in the character of a mark of infamy is it not to be apprehended that the abovementioned custom of self-marking would cease? 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh vi. 399 The foiled police Renounced me. ‘Could they find a girl and child, No other signalment but girl and child?’

t'signance. Obs. rare. Also 5 sygn-. [See sign v4 and -ance.] Signification, indication. c 1400 Rowland at pey schul take of pe vengaunce. C1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 362 A straw for alle swevenes signifiaunce! 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 135 A signyfiance and a tokyne of connynge and vndyrstondynge. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour eb, Here may the sinnar take faire signyffyaunce or ensample. c 1570 Pride & Lowl. (1841) 3 Of his woords and speach who did misdeeme, Or sought not rather their signifiance.

I signifiant (sijiifjfl). Linguistics and Semiotics. [Fr., pres. pple. of signifier to signify.] A sound, symbol, or image, or a sequence of sounds, etc., as opposed to the meaning expressed; the physical element of a sign. Opp. signifie:. [1916 F. de Saussure Cours de Linguistique Generate 1. i. 101 Nous appelons signe la combinaison du concept et de l’image acoustique; mais dans 1’usage courant ce terme designe generalement l’image acoustique seule... Nous proposons de conserver le mot signe pour designer le total, et de remplacer concept et image acoustique respectivement par signifie et signifiant; ces derniers termes ont l’avantage de marquer l’opposition qui les separe soit entre eux, soit du total dont ils font partie.] 1939 [see Saussurean a.] 1947 Word III. 8 Signs are the primary objects of linguistic study. Words, word-groups, and sentences are all signs— signifiants linked with signifies. 1949 Archivum Linguisticum I. 1 But the morpheme is a sign in the sense of de Saussure, an association of a signifiant and a signifie upon equal terms. 1964 Language XL. 307 He [sc. Firth] rejected all distinction between langue and parole, and signifiant and signifie. 1973 [see mentalism 2]. 1973 Screen Spring/Summer 220 A signifiant (the pattern of alternating images) and a signifie (the indication of a simultaneity between the corresponding actions).

signifie (sig'mfik). Linguistics, [f. significant ifc.] = radical if), i c. Also attrib. Cf. phonetic if). 1923 B. Karlgren Analytic Diet. Chinese & SinoJapanese 1, I never use the term ‘radical’, as it wrongly conveys the idea of ‘radix, racine, root’ which is quite a different notion in general philology from that of signifie: the meaning indicating part in the Chinese character. Ibid. 4 Nine tenths of all Chinese characters consist of one ‘signifie’ and one ‘phonetic’. 1948 R. A. D. Forrest Chinese Lang. ii. 38 The signifie element in each case [sc. a character] denotes, or, more commonly, merely suggests, an order of ideas to which the meaning of the whole belongs. 1951 Shau Wing Chan Elementary Chinese p. xvi, The last category is known as Chuanchu... It includes characters having identical signifies and somewhat similar meanings but different phonetics. 1964 Language XL. 104 What sometimes appeared.. to be a graphic element totally unrelated to the phonemic shape of the morph in question and hence by default a semantic ‘key’ or ‘signifie’ was often in reality a phonetic element in the script. 1973 Sci. Amer. Feb. 54/2 When the ‘horse’ phonetic is combined with the signifie for ‘jade’, we have md, which means ‘agate’.

|| significacio (sigmfi'kaisisu). Also significatio. [med.L.: —L. significatio significance.] An allegorical meaning; an innuendo. 1933 R- Tuve Seasons & Months iii. 85 The common¬ place significatio of Phoebus is to be explained .. as a literary inheritance rather than the last faint rumbling of wheels in a pagan festival of the Sun. 1936 C. S. Lewis Allegory of Love i. 1 It is essential to this form that the literal narrative and the significacio should be separable. 1968 J. A. W. Bennett Chaucer's Book of Fame iii. 104 The emphatic negative is not a mere trope; it underlines the double significacio. 1969 R. A. Lanham Handlist Rhetorical Terms 92 Significatio,.. an innuendo.

significance (sig'nifikans). [a. OF. significance, or ad. L. significantia, f. L. significare to signify: cf. signifiance. Not frequent before the 19th cent., but cf. next.] 1. a. The meaning or import of something. C1450 Merlin ii. 39 Often axed Vortiger of Merlyn the significance of the two dragons. [Ibid. 40 significaunce.] 1649 Milton Eikon. viii. 73 Empty sentences, that have the sound of gravity, but the significance of nothing pertinent, a 1699 Stillingfl. (J.), If he declares he intends it for the honour of another, he takes away by his words the significance of his action. 1825 Coleridge Rem. (1836) II. 349 What the several significances of each must or may be according to the philosophic conception. 1851 D. Wilson Preh. Ann. (1863) II. iv. ii. 225 The special significance of the symbols. 1871 Ruskin Fors Clav. iii. 11 One great species of the British squire, under all the three significances of the name.

b. Without const.: Meaning; suggestiveness. 1814 Scott Wav. xxxvii, She gave Waverley a parting smile and nod of significance. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola iii. xxiv, To one who is anxiously in search of a certain object the faintest suggestions have a peculiar significance. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xxix. (1878) 501 She had looked at me strangely—that is, with some significance in her face.

2. Importance, consequence. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 15 Of such significance, that, for many years, it was counted a great exploit to pass this Strait. 1733 P. Shaw tr. Bacon's De Sap.

SIGNIFICANT

458 Vet. (1803) 77 All their endeavours, either of persuasion or force, are of little significance. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iii. §4. 12 Many of the statutes and ordinances .. derive their chief significance from their reference to Egyptian rites and institutions. 1867 Spencer First Princ. 1. i. §4 (1875) 17 In the existence of a religious sentiment.. we have a second evidence of great significance. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 155 The omission is not of any real significance.

3. Statistics. The level at or extent to which a result is statistically significant; freq. attrib., as significance level-, significance test, a method used to calculate the significance of a result; hence significance testing vbl. sb. 1888 J. Venn Logic of Chance (ed. 3) xix. 486 As before, common sense would feel little doubt that such a difference was significant, but it could give no numerical estimate of the significance. 1907 Biometrika V. 183 Let it be reasonable to suppose a quantity significant when it is j3 times its standard deviation, or P/ 6744Q times its probable error, then we have for significance test: m — M > [etc.]. Several other cases of probable error tests of significance deserve reconsideration. 1947 Ibid. XLVII. 139 The problem of testing the significance of difference between two proportions.. receives early attention in textbooks on mathematical statistics. Ibid., Such a difference in levels of significance in the solution of an everyday problem is obviously puzzling, i960 Amer. Sociol. Rev. XXV. 202/2 In the test of this hypothesis a Chi-square of 34 34 was obtained, considerably lower than Chi-square at the ten per cent significance level for 34 degrees of freedom. 1970 Nature 25 July 384/2 Calculations of significance are based on the significance of the difference between paired observations using Student’s t test. 1972 A. W. F. Edwards Likelihood i. 2 The rejection of the theory led to the flowering of alternative methods of inference, particularly significance-testing and estimation, to which we are heirs today. 1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society xi. 157 In psychology, for example, it is notorious that ‘results’ used to confirm hypotheses are often no better than random data because significance tests would validate almost anything.

significancy

(sig'mfikansi).

[See

prec.

and

-ANCY.]

1. The quality of being highly significant or expressive; expressiveness. C1595 Carew Excell. Eng. Tongue in G. G. Smith Eliz. Crit. Ess. II. 286 What soeuer tongue will gaine the race of perfection must runn on those fower wheeles, Significancye, Easynes, Copiousnes, & Sweetnes. Ibid. 288 Neither maye I omitt the significancy of our prouerbes, concise in wordes but plentifull in number. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. 11. 142 It is of brave significancy to expresse the.. cleansing quality of Christs blood. 1697 Dryden Virg. Postscr. to Rdr., Antiquated words .. are never to be reviv’d, but when Sound or Significancy is wanting in the present Language. 1709 Berkeley Th. Vision §125 By the clearness and significancy of what he says. 1712 Swift Let. Eng. Tongue Wks. 1751 IV. 241 Dunces of Figure, who had Credit enough to give rise to some New Word,.. tho’ it had neither Humour nor Significancy. 1824 Coleridge Aids Refi. (1848) 1. 301 Though its own beauty, simplicity, and natural significancy had pleaded less strongly in its behalf. 1847 C. Bronte J. Eyre xvii, ‘I will tell you in your private ear,’ replied she, wagging her turban three times with portentous significancy. 1871 J. R. Macduff Mem. Patmosxii. 162 This interpretation is brought out with greater force and significancy in the verse which follows.

2. The quality of being significant, of having a meaning or import. 1631 J. Burges Ansiv. Rejoined, Lawfuln. Kneeling 53 Significancy maketh a Ceremony to bee evill. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. 1. 247 The imposing of a significant Ceremony, is no more than to impose significancy upon a word. 1707 Norris Treat. Humility vii. 273 As there is significancy in motion, so there are some passions which motion only can speak. 1754 Edwards Freed. Will 11. x. (1762) 96 Again (if Language is of any Significancy at all) if Motives excite Volition, then they are the Cause of its being excited. 1816 J. Gilchrist Philos. Etym. 23 As there is a relation between these two methods of significancy, the one may be employed to explain the other. 1850 Blackie JEschylus II. 296 The significancy of a name affords of itself no presumption against its historical reality.

b. The meaning or import (of something). 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. 1. 50 If we withall take the word Martyr in the fullest importance and significancy of the word. 1668 Howe Blessedness Righteous (1825) 6 The word.. hath the significancy we here give it. 1774 Chesterfield's Lett. (1792) I. Advt. p. xi, They are so varied and their significancy thrown into.. so many different lights, that they could not be altered. 1786-1805 H. Tooke Purley (1829) I. 40 The right use, significancy, and force of all words except the names of Ideas. 1840 Blackw. Mag. XLVII. 1 53 These symbols had lost their significancy to the mob. 1866 Candlish 1st Ep. St. John xv. 167 Such is the import and significancy of the proposition that Jesus is the Christ.

fc. A significant thing.

Obs.

*635-56 Cowley Davideis iv. Note 28 That Oyl mixt with any other liquor, still gets uppermost, is perhaps one of the chiefest Significances in the Ceremony of Anointing Kings and Priests.

3. Importance, consequence. 1679 in Somers' Tracts I. 75 Of what little Significancy the Resolves of the Council.. are to the imposing a Supreme Ruler upon the Nation. 1712 Addison Sped. No. 317 |f 2 They are neither missed in the Commonwealth, nor lamented by private Persons. Their Actions are of no Significancy to Mankind. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. Ded. p. viii, This opinion of our own significancy will however be corrected by the judgment of the public. 1847 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 71 Zwingli. .kept mainly in view the practical significancy of scripture as a whole. 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. ii. (1904) 39/1 Men on either side., attached no significancy to the fact.

significans (sig'mfikaenz). Linguistics and Semiotics. [L„ pres. pple. of significare to signify.] = signifiant. Opp. significatum. 1964 E. Palmer tr. Martinet's Elem. General Linguistics i. 24 Every linguistic sign comprises a significatum, its meaning or value .. and a significans through which the sign is made manifest. 1972 Hartmann & Stork Diet. Lang. & Linguistics 209/1 Signifier... Alternative term: significans, .. signifiant.

significant (sig'nifiksnt), a. and sb. [ad. L. significantstem of significans, pres. pple. of significare to signify.] A. adj. 1. Full of meaning or import; highly expressive or suggestive: a. Of words, etc. 1579 E. K. Ded. Spenser's Sheph. Cal., Other some.., if they happen to here an olde word, albeit very naturall and significant, crye out streightway [etc.]. 1596 Bacon Max. & Use Com. Law Pref., Because it is most familiar to the Students and .. most significant to expresse conceits of law. 1620 Shelton Quix. To Rdr. A 2 b, Endeuour to deliuer with significant, plaine, honest, and wel-ordred words thy Iouiall and cheerefull discourse. 1668 Publisher's Pref. to Rolle's Abridgment 2 His Arguments were fitted to prove and evince,.. his words few, but significant and weighty. 1769 E. Bancroft Guiana 328 They are mutually entertained.. with a variety of fables, which are merry, significant, and replete. 1781 J. Ripley Sel. Orig. Lett. 41 Let the words English and Scotch be obliterated and lost in that more ancient and significant word Britons. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 117 He lived and died, in the significant phrase of one of his countrymen, a bad Christian, but a good Protestant. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 262 [He] breaks off with a significant hint.

b. Of things, gestures, actions, etc. 1643 Trapp Comm. Gen. xli. 11 That is, no vain dreame, but significant, and deserving an interpreter. 1710 Shaftesb. Charac. (1737) II. in. ii. 393, I saw so significant a Smile on Theocles’s Face, that it stopt me. 1778 Miss Burney Evelina lxxii, She looked at me with a significant archness that made me colour. 1831 Lamb Elia 11. Ellistoniana, Gathering up his features into one significant mass of wonder, pity, and expostulatory indignation. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. 87 The upper house had been treated in disputes which had arisen with significant disrespect. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. §5. 204 A significant act followed these emphatic words.

c. Important, notable. 01761 Law Comf. Weary Pilgr. (1809) 19 Whoever he is .. that seems .. to have made himself significant in any kind of religious distinction. 1857 Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. IV. vi. §6. 209 A little man may be a very significant man. 1890 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. Ser. ill. XL. 66 Arsenic acid can be evaporated .. without danger of significant volatilization.

2. a. Having or conveying signifying something.

a

meaning;

1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxv. §5 A special dislike they have to hear that ceremonies now in use should be thought significant. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 626 Their voyce was not a significant voyce, but a kinde of scrietching. 1693 J. Edwards Author. O. & N. Test. 103 Adam gave .. proper and significant names to all creatures. 1751 Harris Hermes Wks. (1841) 124 For all words are significant, or else they would not be words. 1843 Mill Logic 1. vii. §1 A general, which is as much as to say a significant name. 1871 C. Davies Metric Syst. iii. 157 The names of the months were to be significant.

b. Conveying information about the value of a quantity; esp. in significant digit, figure, a digit which has its precise numerical meaning in the number containing it, and is not a zero used simply to fill a vacant place at the beginning or end. Earlier terms are significative and signifying figure. 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 148 To have 6 Cyphers before the significant figure of each of them. 1706 Wr. Jones Syn. Palmar. Matheseos 22 Multiply the Significant Figures by the former Rules, and annex to the Product as many Cyphers. 1798 Hutton Course Math. (1799) I. 4 The first nine are called Significant Figures, as distinguished from the cipher, which is quite insignificant of itself. 1879 Thomson & Tait Nat. Phil. 1.1. §431 Few measurements of any kind are correct to more than six significant figures. 1938 A. E. Waugh Elem. Statistical Method ii. 8 If we are told that the distance is 1000 00 miles, there are six significant figures, since it was not necessary to put in the zeros to locate the decimal point. 1957 R. A. Buckingham Numerical Methods i. 6 The numbers 0000101 and 0 000999, both of which have the same absolute accuracy afforded by 6 decimals, and 3 significant figures, may yet have relative errors differing by an order of magnitude. 1962 C. Bell et al. Fund. Arith. for Teachers xi. 192 The value 3*1416 is said to be accurate to five significant figures. Ibid. xv. 231 If a measurement is expressed as a natural number, it is not always possible to determine the number of significant digits. 1965 I. Adler New Look at Arith. iv. 228 Zeros which are not significant can always be replaced by words which serve the same function. Ibid. 231 When two approximate numbers are multiplied, the product has at most as many significant digits as there are in that one of the two numbers that has the fewer significant digits. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 216/2 This [sc. a mathematical value] is not ‘significant’ but is printed out routinely. 1971 Physics Bull. Oct. 597/3 Does any analyst doing routine tests have the right to quote his result to four figures, and pretend that the fourth is also significant?

c. Significant Form, significant form Aesthetics, a hypothetical quality, thought to be common to all great works of art, that evokes an aesthetic response and is considered to be more significant than the subject-matter. 1914 C. Bell Art 11. i. 8 What quality is shared by all objects that provoke our aesthetic emotions?.. In each, lines and colours combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions. These relations and combinations.. I call ‘Significant Form’; and

SIGNIFICANTLY Significant Form’ is the one quality common to all works of visual art. 1914 R. Fry in Nation 7 Mar. 938/2 Why must the potter who is to make a superbly beautiful pot not think only of its significant form, but think first and most passionately about its functions as a pot? 1929 D. H. Lawrence Paintings 20 The critics stepped forth and abstracted his good apple into Significant Form, and henceforth Cezanne was Saved. 1959 H. B. Allsopp Future of Arts xiv. 120 Some abstractionists persist in seeking what Clive Bell called ‘significant form’ which is significant without being significant of anything. I suspect that this idea is nonsense. 1965 Brit. Jrnl. Aesthetics V. 113 Significant form cannot be attributed primarily to works of art on the ground that aesthetic emotion obtained from works of art is more intense than that felt in the contemplation of natural objects and pure forms.

3. Expressive or indicative of something. *793 Holcroft tr. Lavater’s Physiog. viii. 48 Blue eyes are generally more significant of weakness.. than brown or black. 1827 G. Higgins Celtic Druids Pref. p. i. Thus words are sounds significant of ideas. 1841 Helps Ess., Judgm. Other Men (1842) 37 The most important of his actions may be anything but the most significant of the man. 1867 Smiles Huguenots Eng. ix. (1880) 143 One of the first acts of Louis XIV .. was significant of his future policy with regard to the Huguenots.

4. quasi-ft/v. = significantly. 1861 Lytton & Fane Tannhauser 14 The sullen barons on each other stared Significant.

5. Statistics. Of an observed or calculated result, such as the difference between the means of two samples: having a low probability of occurrence if the null hypothesis is true; statistically significant, significant at some conventionally chosen level, freq. five per cent. A result is said to be significant at a specified level of probability if it will be obtained or exceeded with not more than that probability when the null hypothesis is true. 18857™/. P- Statistical Soc. (Jubilee Vol.) 187 In order to determine whether the observed difference between the mean stature of 2,315 criminals and the mean stature of 8,585 British adult males belonging to the general population is significant [etc.]. 1907 Biometrika V. 318 Relative local differences falling beyond + 2 and — 2 may be regarded as probably significant since the number of asylums is small (22). 1925 R. A. Fisher Stat. Methods Res. Workers iii. 47 Deviations exceeding twice the standard deviation are thus formally regarded as significant. 1931 L. H. C. Tippett Methods Statistics iii. 48 It is conventional to regard all deviations greater than those with probabilities of 0 05 as real, or statistically significant. 1969 Sci. Jrnl. Nov. 57/1 The attitude scores differed only slightly and the differences were not statistically significant. 1970 Nature 25 July 376/2 Analysis of variance gave highly significant population and fertilizer effects. 1971 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 29 Oct. 35/4 The result, although occurring more often than other conjunctions, did not occur often enough to be statistically significant; i.e. a statistician would have said it was a chance occurrence. 1971 Nature 26 Nov. 231/2 If.. fifteen experiments are performed to detect a relationship which is not present, the probability that one or more experiments will give a result significant at the 0 05 level is °'54-

B. sb. Something which expresses or conveys a meaning; a sign, symbol, indication. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. iii. i. 131 Beare this significant to the countrey Maide Iaquenetta. 1591-1 Hen. VI, 11. iv. 26 Since you are tongue-ty’d, and so loth to speake. In dumbe significants proclayme your thoughts. 1628 Feltham Resolves 11. xx. 64, I see not, but that Diuinity, put into apt significants, might rauish as well as Poetry. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1687) 435/2 The second Question concerning Words, is of their Power, irepi (rq^iaivovraiv, of Significants. 1825 Coleridge Aids Refl. (1848) I. 273 The contradictory admission, that Regeneration is the significatum, of which Baptism is the significant. 1830 Wordsw. Egyptian Maid 251 In my glass significants there are Of things that may to gladness turn this weeping.

Hence sig'nificantness, ‘significancy’ (Bailey, vol. II, 1727). significantly (sig'mfikantli), adv. [f. prec. + -ly2.] In a significant manner; so as to convey some meaning; expressively, meaningly. 1577 tr- Bullinger's Decades (1592) 445 He doth more significantly expres his meaning in that which followeth. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 75 Therefore Terence did significantly describe a good servant by the name of Dromo. 1663 Marq. Worc. Cent. Inv. §33 To write with a Needle and Thred.. so that one stitch shall significantly shew any letter. 1738 tr. Guazzo's Art Convers. 107 There are many who have a good Invention, yet want to express themselves significantly. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 321 There are those [waters].. that are significantly called mineral and medicinal. 1801 Charlotte Smith Lett. Solit. Wand. I. 307 They looked significantly at each other. 1877 Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. 1. vi. 69 An embassy was despatched to Rome, John of Oxford.. being significantly one of its members.

significate (sig'mfikat), sb. Also 5, 7 -at. [ad. L. significat-urn, pa. pple. neut. of significare to signify. So obs. F. significat.] That which is signified or symbolized. c 1449 Pecock Repr. n. v. 163 The likenes of a signe to his significat (that is to seie, to the thing signified bi him). 1569 J. Sanford tr. Agrippa’s Van. Artes 7 Wyse men haue taken in hand to make rules of speaking, that is, the constructions of the Regimente, and of the Significates. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1687) 435/2 Chrysippus divided Dialectick into two parts,.. of Significants, and Significats. 1827 Whately Logic 11. i. §3 A common term stands for several individuals. Note. These individuals are called its significates. 1874 Contemp- Rev. XXIV. 692 In a symbol there is always something more to be understood than the symbol itself—namely, the significates.

SIGNIFICATIVE

459 t significate, pa. pple. Obs. rare. [ad. pa. pple. of L. sigtiificare: see prec.] Signified, indicated. r432“5° tr. Higdeti (Rolls) II. 373 Thau3he fables be not trewe, neuertheles thei cause trawthe in the thynge significate by theyme. 1533 Bellenden Livy (S.T.S.) II. 272 Thus war sex centuris of horsmen ekit.. vnder the auld Names as war significate afore be augurys.

significatio, var. significacio. signification (sigmfi'keijsn). Forms: 4signific- (5 singn-), 5 signe-, 6 signifyc-; 4-5 signyfyc-; 4 sygnyfic-, 5-6 sygnifyc-, sygnyfyc- (5 -ffyc-), 6 sygnific-; also 4 -acioun, 5 -acyoun, -aciown, 4-6 -acion, -acyon (5 -asion). [a. OF. signification, -aciun, etc., or ad. L. significatio, noun of action f. significare to signify.] 1. a. The fact or property of being significant or expressive of something. a 1300 Cursor M. 3380 Bot pai it did for sum reson, And thoru significacion. c 1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) xxi. 96 It es no3t done withouten a grete significacion and a grete cause. c 1450 Merlin ii. 38 Send after alle the gode men of thi londe to se the bataile, for it hath grete singnificacion. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 471/2 He sayth that so it might in dede, yf yl the wycked Pope had not taken away the significacions of our sacramentes from vs. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxv. §5 Ceremonies destitute of signification are no better than the idle gestures of men whose broken wits are not masters of that they do. 1643 Trapp Comm. Gen. ix. 14 The Rainbow hath in it two contrary significations, viz. of rain, and fair-weather. 1788 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3)11. 290/2 An additional character.. is necessary, which has no signification when placed by itself.

b. Importance, Now rare or dial.

consequence,

significance.

1670 Clarendon Hist. Reb. xv. §42 Who, as soon as they were removed,.. were found to be of no signification, or to have influence upon any men. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 276 A station of life where .. gold .. would be of no value.., nay, not of signification enough to make a present of. 1760 Impostors Detected I. Advt. 7,1 met with the following MSS. which at that time I thought of little signification. 1794 Godwin Caleb Williams 84 It is no signification putting your questions to us. We only do as we are directed. 1839 Sir G. C. Lewis Gloss. Heref. s.v., Of no signification, of no importance. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss, s.v., It’s of no signification.

c. Semiotics. The process of signifying; the production of signs. 1946 C. Morris Signs, Language Behavior iv. 111 Since a sign can denote without its interpreter knowing whether or not it denotes .. it is evident that signification and knowledge are not limited to that portion of the world which acts as a direct stimulus to an interpreter’s behavior. 1957 J. Maritain in R. N. Anshen Language 1. v. 88 Animals make use of signs without perceiving the relation of signification. To perceive the relation of signification is to have an idea, i.e., a spiritual sign. 1973 Screen Spring/Summer 94 Each of them is in other contexts the signifying substance of one or more signification systems other than the cinema. Ibid. 109 In cinema signification (the process of the production of signs) is described by Metz as always more or less motivated, that is non-arbitrary.

2. That which is signified by something; meaning, import, implication. Freq. const, of. a. Of words, etc. spec, in Semiotics (see quots. 1964 and 1976). 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvn. clxii. (Bodl. MS.), Tabula .. is in one significacioun a mete borde. 1432-50 tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 155 Cresus askede then cownsaile of his Goddes, whiche deceyuede hym by a worde equiuocate,.. hauenge diuerse significaciones. c 1465 Pol., Rel., & L. Poems (1866) 37 This worde Anima hath many significacions. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 417/1, I sayde .. that this is trewe of the vsuall significacion of these wordes themselfe in the English tounge. 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. 1. ii. 10 b, Which are Greeke woordes of like signification. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. If 15 Diuersitie of signification and sense in the margine.. must needes doe good. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 1. iv. 13 The Name Body is of larger signification than the word Man. 1718 Free-thinker No. 62. 47 Care was taken, that the Children.. should have such Names as were of an agreeable Signification. 1769 E. Bancroft Guiana 206 The Fire Snake, as it is called, from the signification of its Indian name. 1844 Proc. Philol. Soc. II. 1 The form of the word, its sound and spelling, and the signification. 1881 Nature XXIV. 443 As one conversant with geography in any extended signification of the word. 1964 C. Morris Signification & Significance i. 3 ‘Significations’.. are not ‘entities’ in any objectionable sense, but certain describable aspects of complex behavioral processes in the natural world. 1976 T. Eagleton Crit. & Ideology iii. 72 The text takes as its object, not the real, but certain significations by which the real lives itself— significations which are themselves the product of its partial abolition.

b. Of things, events, etc. C1450 Lovelich Merlin 2929 Thou behyhgtest forto tellen me here the signefycaciown of the dragowns tweyne. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon vi. 152,1 shall expowne and declare vnto you the signyfycasion of this dreme. 1535 Coverdale Daniel ii. 6 Shewe me the dreame and the significacion of it. a 1610 Healey Cebes (1636) 106 Much talke had wee about the signification of this portraiture, but none could conceive truly what it should intend, a 1720 Sewel Hist. Quakers To the King, To dig up Antiquities from the dark, by searching out the Signification of Statues and Inscriptions. 1794 T. Taylor Pausanias’ Descr. Greece III. 104 The signification, too, of the entrails gave them the highest reason to hope that the gods would be propitious to them. 1855 Pusey Doctr. Real. Pres. Note A. 21 The natural signification is not changed on account of a signification annexed by the institution.

3. a. A thing, event, action, etc., which is significant or expressive of something.

13 .. Coer de L. 339 The tayle henge to the grounde: That was sygnyfycacioun The hethene folke to brynge doun. CI386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 159 That dremes ben significaciouns As wel of ioye as tribulaciouns. 1470-85 Malory Arthur x. lxiii. 523 The whiche was a ful wonderful beest and a grete sygnyfycacyon, for Merlyn profecyed moche of that beest. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. clxxxvii. [clxxxiv.] 572 As he rode forwarde in the forest of Mans, a great sygnifycacyon fell to hym. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Pari. 233 Saint Luke, & S. Paule, vse manifest tropes, figures, and significations. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. 14 Other Papists teach us, that in the masse is not the very same true and reall oblation, but onely a commemoration and signification of it. 1683 Perswasive to Communion 26 Are not Kneeling, and lifting up the Eyes, significations of the Reverence we owe? 1849 Lytton Caxtons 16 In all these fables, certain philosophers could easily discover symbolic significations of the highest morality, b. in signification of , in token of. rare. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. 11. §31 Now is thin Orisonte departed in 24 parties .., in significacion of 24 partiez of the world. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary 1. (1625) A 2 In signification of the will I have to doe unto your Lordship any acceptable service. fc. A sign, mark, indication, trace. Obs. 1576 Fleming tr. Caius' Eng. Dogges (1880) 5 (So that there be some signification of bloud shed) these Dogges.. can disclose & bewray the same by smelling. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 98 They have nothing but small bunches—as it were, significations of their horns to-come. Ibid. 395 A great floud of waters.. swept them all away, leaving no more behinde then naked and bare significations of former buildings. fd. A sign, gesture, cry, etc., serving to indicate desire or feeling. Obs. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 112 By his gestures and movings they conjecture his meaning ..; giving.. ready obedience to his significations. 1691 Ray Creation 1. 43 No Cruelty could be exercised towards them, which is contrary to the doleful Significations they make when beaten or tormented. 4. a. An indication or intimation of something. 1426 Lydg. De. Guil. Pilgr. 22234, I • • Prayed hir .. That sche wolde anoon devyse There-off by exposicyoun, A cleer sygnyffycacyoun. 1432-50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 209 The creaciones of wondres be causede otherwhile to the significacion of thynges to comme. 1542 Hen. VIII Decl. agst. Scottes Biij, All these.. gyue suche signification of theyr arrogancy, as it is necessary for vs to oppresse it in the begynning. 1586 Burghley in Leicester Corr. (Camden) 306 Comming to me with signification that he was to depart erly in the next morning. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients A3 Feeling myself inspired with courage by the signification of your noble desire.., I stoutly fell to my taske. 1674 Essex Papers (Camden) I. 238 You gave me an intimation of a. . Letter coming..., I returne you many thanks for this signification. 1719 Col. Rec. Pennsylvania III. 73 Until further Signification of his Majestys or their Excellencys Pleasure. 1741 Middleton Cicero III. ix. (ed. 3) 15 Caesar .. could never draw from the people any public signification of their favour. b. spec. Notification in proper legal form. *533-4 Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 20 §5 Letters patentes.. commaundyng such archebishop, to whom any such significacion shalbe made, to confirme the said election. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1589) 299 Patents and commandements should be held in suspence and deferred, thirtie daies after signification and knowledge of them. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Some Significations are to be made to the Person himself; or, at least, at his House. 1881 Daily News 17 Jan. 5/1 It was contended that the statutory deprivation .. displaced the old proceeding by signification to the Court of Chancery. Hence signifi'cational a. 1953 H. H. Price Thinking & Exper. iv. 117 Our question concerning the ‘tied’ (as opposed to ‘free’) character of significational thinking. tsig'nificatist. Obs. rare. [Cf. next and -ist.] (See quots.) .1585-7 T. Rogers 39 Art. (1607) 289 The Symbolists, Figurists, and Significatists, who are of opinion that the faithful at the Lord’s supper do receive nothing but naked and bare signs. 1625 Bp- Mountagu App. Caesar 297 The Figurists, Significatists, Symbolists, taught you this Doctrine, who acknowledge nothing, .but naked and bare signes. significative (sig'mfikatrv), a. and sb.

Also 5

significatyf, 6 -tyue, 6-7 -tiue, 7 -tyve.

[a. OF.

significatif, -ive, or ad. late L. significativ-us: see signify v. and -ative.] A. adj. 1. Serving to signify something; having a signification or meaning. a 1400 in Halliw. Rara Mathem. (1841) 29 A cifre tokeneth nothinge but he maketh other the more significatyf that comith after hym. c 1425 Crafte Nombrynge (1897) J3 l5011 most borow on of pe next figure significatyf in pat rewe. 1541 Coverdale Old Faith x. (1547) Hjb, Wherby Christ testified.. that all thinges significatyue in the tabernacle., were now fulfilled and abrogate. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. iv. (Arb.) 159 Which surplussage to auoide, we are allowed to draw in other words single, and asmuch significatiue. 1607 Schol. Disc. agst. Antichr. 1. i. 32 You shall finde the Crosses of the Lordes Supper to be significatiue alone. 1639 Robarts God's House & Service x. 81 It must be taken in that significative sence, which we give thereof, a 1734 North Lives (1826) I. 33 To say truth, barbarous as it [law French] is thought to be, it is concise, aptly abbreviated, and significative. 1756 J. Witherspoon Treat. Regeneration (1804) 146 Multitudes cannot be described in juster or more significative terms. 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xvii. (1818) II. 65 It does not appear that, like the bees, they emit any significative sounds. 1861 Max Muller Sci. Lang. Ser. 1. (1864) 338 In these sesquipedalian compounds the significative root remains distinct. b. Serving as a sign or indication of something.

SIGNIFICATIVELY

SIGNIFY

460

*637-50 in Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 264, I have receaved your short but right significative letter of your sound and ardent affection .. toward the cause. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 11. xxxi. 192 Those Attributes are to be held significative of Honour, that men intend shall so be. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. 240 So plain is it that an Hail-storm is significative of the incursion and assault of an enemie. 1713 Guardian No. 170, The use of letters, as significative of these sounds. 1859 Ruskin Two Paths v. §164 Your close-set wooden paling .. is significative of pleasant parks. 1875 Good Words II. 130 On various minds it [Niagara] leaves various impressions; and perhaps this is significative of its real power.

2. Highly significant or suggestive. 1677 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 540 After this weighty and significative message, the Secretary added [etc]. 1678 R. Barclay Apol. Quakers v. §20. 157 A familiar Example, yet very significative in this case. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. II. 122 On the night of the 8th September, Egmont received another most significative and mysterious warning, i860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. xi. §31 How strangely significative, thus understood, those last Venetian dreams of his become.

B. sb. A thing or word serving to signify or indicate something. 1641 ‘Smectymnuus’ Vind. Answ. ii. 36 The Surplice is a significative of divine alacritie and integritie. 1765 in Ann. Reg., Charact. (1767) 135 Attacah, Deliverance, Pihahiroth, whether an appellative or significative. 1788 tr. Swedenborg's White Horse 16 Scarce any one knows .. that those Significatives were derived from the Ancient Representative Churches to the Gentiles. 1893 N. Y. NewChurch Messenger 19 Apr. 243 Our entire written language is a system of significatives pure and simple.

Hence sig'nificativeness. 1665 J. Sergeant Sure Footing 31 You hold that any particular Text you alledge is truly a part of the Scriptures Letter, and not foisted in, or some way altered in its significativeness. 1697 - Solid Philos. 276 From the Nature of the Words, as Words; that is, from their Significativeness, i860 Worcester (citing Westm. Rev.).

significatively (sig'mfikativli), adv. [f. prec. + -ly2.] In a significative manner; by signif¬ ication; suggestively; expressively.

to signify.] That which is signified or denoted; Spec. = SIGNIFIE. Opp. SIGNIFICANS. 1865 s. Hodgson Time & Space ii. 44 It is of the utmost importance in reasoning to distinguish which kind of object or significatum it is which is expressed, or concealed, by a word or set of words. 1946 C. Morris Signs, Lang. & Behavior 17 Those conditions which are such that whatever fulfills them is a denotatum will be called the significatum of the sign. 1964 [see significans]. 1974 G. Leech Semantics v. 73 The set of conditions (e.g. the qualities of being edible, tasty, nourishing) which make the bone a denotatum of S\ [sc. a buzzer sound] constitute the significatum of the sign.

sig'nificature. rare_1. = significance i. 1855 McCosh Div. Govt. 11. i. (ed. 4) 124 The morphological significature of the limbs of vertebrate animals has likewise been determined by Professor Owen.

II significavit (sigmfi'keivit). Eccles. law. [L., 3rd sing. perf. indie, of significare to signify. Cf. OF. significavit (Godef.).] A form of writ employed in ecclesiastical cases; spec, one formerly issued by Chancery for the arrest of an excommunicated person; also, the bishop’s certificate on which such a writ is based. C1386 Chaucer Prol. 664 Of cursing oghte ech gilty man him drede.. And also war him of a significavit. 1559 Boke Presidentes 14 b, The fourme of a Sygnyficauit to the Metropolytane of the prouins vpon a newe foundacyon of a byshopriche. 1562-3 Act 5 Eliz. c. 23 §6 After any Significavit being of Recorde in the sayd Courte of Chancerie, the tenour of suche Significavit by Mittimus shalbee sent [etc.]. 1607 Middleton Phoenix 11. iii, No, No I say; if it bee for defect of Apparance, take me out a speciall Significant. 01683 J- Owen True Nat. Gosp. Ch. x. (1689) 216 Of what use a Significavit and Capias may be in this case I know not. 1714 Burnet Hist. Ref. III. 111. v. 261 He sent a Significavit of some Heretics to be delivered to the Secular Arm. 1767 Burn Eccl. Law II. 206 At the common law, a certificate of the bishop, whereupon a significavit was to be granted, ought to express the cause. 1881 Daily News 17 Jan. 5/1 The first point taken .. was that the Judge .. had no power to enforce obedience to an inhibition issued under the Act by the process of significavit.

1564 Rastell Confut. Jewel's Serm. 140 The body of Christ is, onlye .. sacramentallie, significatiuelye,.. imaginatiuelie, in the Sacrament. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Pari. 203 The same is eaten in the sacrament as in a mysterie, significatiuely. 1624 Gataker Transubst. 13 That the Bread be Christs body significatively (that is, by signification onely). a 1661 Fuller Worthies 1. vi. (1662) 18 Amiral (thus compounded) was significatively comprehensive of his Jurisdiction.

sig'nifics. [f. signific-ance, on the analogy of forms in -ics (see -ic 2). Introduced by Lady Welby in 1896.] A proposed science and educational method based upon the importance of realizing the exact significance of terms and conceptions, and their influence on thought and life.

significator ('sigmfikeitsfr)). [a. med.L. significator, agent-noun f. L. significare to signify. Cf. F. significateur.] 1. Astrol. a. The planet by which the querent or the quesited is specially signified (see quot. 1647).

The terms signific(al adjs., significally adv., and significian sb., have also been employed. 1896 Lady Welby in Mind (Jan.) 32 Taking advantage of the child’s endless store of interest and curiosity, it ought to be easy to make ‘Signifies’ or ‘Sensifics’ the most attractive of studies. 1903-Ibid. 161 Signifies, then, will bring us the philosophy of Significance, i.e. a raising of our whole conception of meaning to a higher and more efficient level.

1584 R. Scot Discov. Witcher, xi. xxi. (1886) 169 They seeke to find out the meaning of the significators, attributing to them the ends of all things. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. 48 When we name the Lord of the Ascendant, or Significator of the Querent, or thing quesited; we meane no other thing then that Planet who is Lord of that Signe which ascends, or Lord of that Signe from which house the thing demanded is required. 1671 Blagrave Astrol. Pract. Phys. Pref. 4 Who is strongest in the Heavens by essential dignities, shall afflict the Principal significator of the sick. 1815 Scott Guy M. iv, There was one significator, which pressed remarkably upon our astrologer’s attention. 1895 Mod. Astrol. I. 21 The position of the Significator, or lord of the Ascendant, in the fixed sign Taurus.

b. (See quot.) 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Ascendent, The Degree of the Equator which rises upon the Horizon, at the Time of the Birth of any one,.. is also called the First House, the Oriental Angle, and the Significator of Life.

2. That which signifies or indicates, rare. 1649 Heylin Relat. Observ. 11. 252 To leavy warre against the Parliament, shall stand alone, be the onely significator, and take up the whole roome in the Endictment. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 292 The most principal significator of the varieties of weather, the Countryman esteems the Moon to be.

significatory (sig'nifikstsri), a. and sb. [ad. late L. significatori-us.] A. adj. Serving to signify or intimate. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. vii. (1599) 288 Caesar caused to be publikely read the Popes writ, with many other letters significatorie from diuerse places. 1641 Wilkins Mercury xx. (1707) 82 These Informations by significatory Fires, have been of Ancient Use. 1663 Owen Vind. Animadv. Wks. 1851 XIV. 430 Hadrian.. refused to receive him into the society of patriarchs upon his sending of his significatory epistle. 1831 Keightley Mythol. 68 His name appears to denote invisibility, significatory of the nature of the realm over which he ruled. 1880 igth Cent. Sept. 430 The significatory relation between a substantive and its.. verb.

B. sb. A thing significative,

rare.

1660 Jer. Taylor Worthy Communicant i. 42 Here being (as in baptisme) a double significatory of the spirit, a word and a signe.., it is certain he will joyn in this ministration.

signifi'eatrix. Astrol. [L. fern, form corresponding to significator.] = significator 1 a. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. lxxiii. 421 The ) her Significatrix [being] neer the O- 1653 R. Sanders Physiogn. 152 The Moon is .. commonly significatrix in Flegmatick nativities.

significatum (signifi'kaitam). Linguistics and Semiotics. [L., neut. sing. pa. pple. of significare

|| signifie (sijiifje). Linguistics and Semiotics. [Fr., pa. pple. of signifier to signify.] A concept or meaning as opposed to its expression in a physical medium (phonetic, graphic, etc.); the semantic element of a sign. Opp. signifiant. [1916: see signifiant.] 1939 [see Saussurean a.]. 1947, etc. [see signifiant]. 1963 J. Lyons Structural Semantics iii. 41 Here it may be noted that there is no need whatsoever to posit a common conceptual ‘signifie’, or ‘meaning’, to account for identity of application between different languages.

'signified, ppl. a. (sb.) A. ppl. a. Indicated.

[f. signify v.]

1638 W. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 277 God fit us for the signified time. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 33 More gently, .then other Courts .. would have endur’d the least signifi’d dislike. 1786 A. Gib Sacr. Contempl. 1. 33 A signified and sealed promise of eternal life.

B. absol. as sb. That which is indicated; Linguistics and Semiotics = signifie (opp. signifier b). 1939 L. H. Gray Foundations of Lang. 16 In the speaker’s mind a concept arises... This concept is termed the signified. 1954, etc. [see signifier b].

'signifier. [f. as prec. -f -er1.] a. One who or that which signifies; a significator. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 383/2 He meaneth y'.. yc sacrament. . is no cause thereof.. but only a bare signyfier & a shewer therof. 1586 Lupton 1000 Notable Things §59 Whosoeuer falles sicke in that yere wherein there is an Eclipse, and the Signifiers of the sayd Eclipse be in the Ascendent [etc.]. 1607 Schol. Disc. agst. Antichr. 97 It is God who is the signifier vnto vs of things spirituall. 1624 [see signifying ppl. a.]. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. ill. vii. 143 It hath Muscles, which Platenis terms the signifiers of the Affections of the Mind.

the term ‘content’ its signified. 1976 T. Eagleton Cnt. & Ideology iii. 72 History, one might say, is the ultimate signifier of literature, as it is the ultimate signified. 1977 A. Sheridan tr. Lacan's Ecrits iii. 69 The symptom is here the signifier of a signified repressed from the consciousness of the subject. 1979 Daedalus Summer 72 He has only to offer the Signifier, ‘Lie’—which could mean ‘tell an untruth’—for Othello to snatch the Signified, ‘lie with’.

c. U.S. slang (chiefly Blacks’). One who boasts or makes insulting remarks or insinuations, esp. in an attempt to exceed others in exaggeration. 1962 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore July-Sept. 212 The monkey is a ‘signifier’, and one of the methods he uses for inflaming the lion is to indicate that the elephant has been ‘sounding’ on the lion. 196s H. Gold Man who was not with It xxii. 204 When he bragged like any carnie signifier, then I wondered where and why I was going. 1972 J. Maryland in T. Kochman Rappin & Stylin' Out 209 The following verbal play is indicative of the type that might be found in any of a number of shine parlors.. or street corners where the signifiers can be found congregating each day.

t signifure. Obs. rare. [app. a. OF. *signifeure, f. signifier to signify.] Signification, sign. C1450 Coventry Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 200 My baptyme is but signifure Of his baptyme. Ibid. 367 Have not prophetys .. Spoke be tokenys in signifure That Cryste xuld deye for 30ur valure?

signify (’signifai), v. Also 3-5 signe- (3, 5 singne-), 4-6 signy-; 4-6 sygni- (5 sygne-, syni-), 5-6 sygny- (5 syngny-); and 4 -fi, 3-5 -fie, 4-6 -fye. [ad. F. signifier (12th c., = Prov. signifiar, -ficar, Sp. and Pg. significar. It. significare), ad. L. significare, f. signum SIGN sfi.] 1. a. trans. To be a sign or symbol of; to represent, betoken, mean. C1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 27 pet Gold pet is bricht .. signefieth pe gode beleaue pet is bricht ine pe gode cristenemannes herte. a 1340 Hampole Psalter Prol., J?is boke is distyngid in thris fyfty psalmes, in pe whilk thre statis of cristin mannys religion is sygnifyd. 1402 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 56 Foure angels singnefien foure general synnes. 1470-85 Malory Arthur xm. xiv. 631 The two knyghtes sygnefyen the two dedely synnes. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 65 b, This signifieth my body. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lviii. §2 The secret grace which they [the sacraments] signifie and exhibit. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster 1. i, Then took he up his Garland and did shew, What every flower as Country people hold, Did signifie. 1687 Dryden Hind P. I. 424 For what is signify’d and understood, Is, by her own confession, flesh and blood. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 56 These words are intended to signify certain forms of civility. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty xi, The arrows [of Apollo] may be allowed to signify the sun’s rays. 1869 Ruskin Q. Air §8 It may be easy to prove that the ascent of Apollo in his chariot signifies nothing but the rising of the sun. absol. 1533 Frith Answ. More (1829) 331 Now, if they be signs, then they do signify, and are not the very thing itself. 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 228 Every voyce, therefore, that is significative, first of all signifies by the influence of the ccelestial harmony.

b. To betoken, foreshow, indicate something that is to take place. Also absol.

as

13.. K. Alis. 596 (Laud MS.), pe eye rounde shal signifie J?at he shal habbe seignorye Of pis rounde myddell erd. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 306 A Raven, be whom yit men mai Take evidence, whan he crieth, That som mishapp it signefieth. c 1440 York Myst. xv. 15 Or he be borne in burgh hereby,.. A sterne shulde schyne and signifie, With lightfull lemes. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 11, Y wille shewe you what youre auision signifiethe. c 1475 Brut (1908) 603 pete aperyd in pe ffirmament a gret sterre,.. whiche synified gret sorw, & myschef pat fylle aftyrward. 1530 Palsgr. 718/1, I sawe a marvaylouse thyng in the ayre yesterday what so ever it dothe signifye. 1665 Cowley in Johnson L.P. (1868) 8 What this signifies, or may come to in time, God knows; if it be ominous it can end in nothing less than hanging.

2. Of words, etc.: To have the import or meaning of; to mean, denote. a 1300 Cursor M. 22988 Ierom sais.. f>at Iosaphat mai signifi Vr lauerd dome. e kyng what of the dragouns was pe signefyeng. 1535 Coverdale Isaiah xx. 3 It is a token and signifienge of the thinge, that after thre yeare shal come vpon Egipte and Ethiopia. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Denoncement, a signifying, a declaring. 1664 H More Myst. Iniq. 33 Signes appropriated to the signifying of that honour we owe to God.

SIGNOR

b. U.S. slang (chiefly Blacks’). The act of boasting, baiting, insulting, or making insinuations. Also attrib.

1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh viii. 595 Poems.. Which moved me in secret, as the sap is moved In still March-branches, signless as a stone.

1959 A. Anderson Lover Man 21 ‘Y’all hush your signifying,’ I said. ‘That there’s a lady, and I won’t have y’all signifying ’bout her like that.’ 1964 Amer. Folk Music Occasional 1. 75 ‘Signifying’ is a children’s device, and is severely ‘put down' by adults. 1970 [see joning vbl. sA.]. 1974 II. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin’, (sf Playin' Dozens v. 206 Mezzrow describes a signifying scene in Big John’s bar in Harlem. 1977 Maledicta Summer 15 Young blacks have verbal contests like this in anti-family insults, called sounding or signifying.

sign-manual, [sign sb. + manual a. i.] 1. An autograph signature (esp. that of the sovereign) serving to authenticate a document.

'signifying, ppl. a. [-ing2.] a. That signifies or denotes; significant. f signifying figure, number: (see significant a. 2 b). 1542 Recorde Gr. Artes (1575) 43 Of those ten one doth signifie nothing... The other nyne are called Signifying figures. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Pari. 69 The same offering.. is called the passion . . of Christ,.. in a signifying mysterie. 1624 Bedell Lett. xii. 161 If..you finde you haue taken manie nullities for signifying numbers, manie smaller signifiers for greater; correct the totall. 1644 Bulwer Chirol. 2 There is a signifying voyce in the naturall signes of the Hand.

b. U.S. slang (chiefly Blacks'). insults, or makes insinuations.

That boasts,

1956 M. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) i. 11 The language is Creole French and the New Orleans Creoles call it a ‘signifying song’. In spite of its gaiety and rhumba-like rhythms, this song cuts two ways and the salt dame (dirty lady) to which it is addressed is about to have her reputation shredded. 1969 Negro Digest Sept. 14 Signifying poetry holds a special fascination for me. 1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin , Jivin', & Playin' Dozens v. 207 Deep down in the jungle where the coconuts grow/Lived the signifyingest motherfucker that the world ever know.

signing ('sainiij), vbl. sb. [f. sign v.1 + -ing1.] 1. a. The action of making or appending one’s signature; confirmation by signature. 1611 Cotgr., Signature, a signature, signing, subscribing. 1655 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 329 Since the signeing of my letter I received yours of Jun. 1st. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 82 [f 1 My Steward brings his Receipt ready for my Signing. 1771 Luckombe Hist. Print. 102 A patent ready drawn for queen Elizabeth’s signing. 1809 R. Langford Introd. Trade 20 The signing and endorsement must be attested by one witness. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 104 The signing of the treaty was deferred till the Lords Justices .. should arrive.

b. With adverbs, as signing-in, -off, -on, -out, -up. Also attrib. 1925 Paterson & Webster Man. Locomotive Running Shed Management viii. 103 The signing-on times of cleaners are arranged with due regard to the finishing times of the engines they are required to clean. 1948 H. Innes Blue Ice iii. 77 He gave the signing-off whistle.. then our attention was called back to the radio. 1950 Sport 7-11 Apr. 14/3 He is Allenby Chilton,. . to whom Liverpool gave a trial before the United engaged him, for a £10 signing-on fee, in 1938. 1965 ‘T. Hinde’ Games of Chance 11. iv. 203 The purpose of the signing-in book .. is to ascertain that all staff are arriving punctually. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 222/1 The computer equivalent of the signing out inspection of the report by the laboratory staff. 1973 Guardian 23 May 6/8 There is no signing-on at the new job centre. 1974 Hawkey & Bingham Wild Card xiv. 124 A laxness among certain members of staff regarding signing-out procedures for items drawn from stock. 1976 E. Dunphy Only a Game? v. 159 The signing-on fee is crucial in football these days. 1981 J. Scott Distant View of Death xii. 162 Signing in and signing out meant nothing to Rosher... He simply worked.

2. Eccl. The action of making the sign of the cross. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. II. vii. 84 They made several signings with the cross. 1877 J. D. Chambers Divine Worship 362 The number and time of these Signings certainly varied.

3. transf. One who has signed a contract. 1974 Motor Cycle 23 Mar. 10/6 (caption) Hackney’s new signing, Norwegian Dag Lovaas (left) chats with Kings Lynn international Malcolm Simmons. 1977 Times 4 Aug. 6/6 Macdonald, a £330,000 buy from Newcastle.. and Hudson, a £200,000 signing from Stoke .. were sent home.. because of alleged misconduct on the tour.

'signing, ppl. a. [-ing2.] That signs; entitled to sign; esp. signing officer (see quot. 1867). 1805 Collingwood 28 Oct. in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. 219 Signed by yourself, First Lieutenant and signing Officers. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word Bk. 624 A document.. certified by the signing officer and the surgeon. Ibid. 626 Signing officers, the captain, senior lieutenant, master and purser (now paymaster).

signior, etc.: see signor. signioresse, variant of seignoress. signless ('sainlis), a. [f. sign sb. + -less.] 1. Destitute of a sign, sign-board, or sign-post. 1684 S. G. Angl. Spec. 482 Their Signless Houses are a Sign of Rich and Eminent inhabitants. 1887 Hissey Holiday on Road 190 The modern hotel, of course, is signless. 1903 Smart Set IX. 110 That signless, dusty road.

2. Math. Of quantities: Having no sign of direction; having no distinction of positive or negative. 1875 Stewart & Tait Unseen Universe iii. §97 We now deal with quantities which cannot possess direction,.. and are therefore all to be treated .. as signless quantities... Now mass is of course a signless quantity.

3. Making no sign; motionless.

1428 E.E. Wills 83 And perto I point my signet and my syne manuell. 1459 Rolls Parlt. V. 351/2 All the Lordes.. and every of theym.. settyng therto his Seale and Signe manuell, as here under apperith. 1536 Wardr. Acc. Hen. VIII in Archseologia IX. 252 Geven under oure signe manuelle, at oure castille of Wyndesore. 1560 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 112 Thiese our Lettres signed with our signemanuell shalbe your sufficient warraunt. 1648 Chas. I Let. in Thoms Notes on Combe Martin (1902) 37 Giuen under our Sign Manuel At Court at Newport. 1688 Pennsylv. Arch. I. 103 Untill Wee shall send you New Orders under Our sign manual. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. iii. Wks. 1751 VIII. 325 Orders, and Directions,.. have been issued under the Royal Sign Manual. 1764 T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. (1765) 344 They were distinguished by King James.., by a letter under his sign manual. 1818 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) IV. iv. 113 The Crown-room.. was opened by certain Commissioners, under authority of a sign-manual. 1863 H. Cox I ns tit. iii. vi. 671 The Royal sign-manual, or signature of the Sovereign, is usually written on the upper-left-hand corner of the instrument. 1898 Bodley France iii. iii. II. 142 A personage.. who, by his sign-manual, can soften the severity of the revenue officials. fig. 1894 Mrs. Dyan Man's Keeping (1899) 58 The handshake, sign-manual of fealty.., did not pass between them.

2. A sign made with the hand or hands. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) I. xvi. 116 Commands which were uniformly given by signs manual.

t'signment1. Obs. In 5 si(g)ne-, 6 sygnement. [Aphetic form of assignment: cf. sign a.2] Assignment, appointment. 1429 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 147 He is redy to delyvir hym, and not abasshe, By signement of the kyng, tyme and place. 1479-81 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 106 Item, payd to Nevell the iremonger at the synement of the parysshe for diuerse stuffe boght of hym. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxxix. 121 They were payde of theyr wages, or had suffycyent sygnement, so yl they were pleased.

t'signment2. Obs.~l [f. sign v.'~\ A body of persons who have signed a document or agreement. a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archaeol. Soc.) I. 223 They name the former signment the Assembly of Ireland both Nobles and Comons;.. all the nobilitie of the faction did signe to this Henritian oathe.

II signor ('si:njo:(r)), sb. Also 6-9 signior (7 -iour, -ier). [It. signor, reduced form of signore signore, = Sp. senor, Pg. senhor, F. seigneur: — L. senior-em, acc. of senior SENIOR a. and sb. See also seigneur and seignior.] 1. In Italian use, or with reference to Italians: A term of respect placed before the name of a man in addressing him or speaking of him, now equivalent to the English ‘Mr.’ 1584-7 Greene Tritameron of Loue ii. Wks. (Grosart) III. 140 By my faith (Signior Aretino) you haue found such a knot in a Rysh as will bee so hard to vntye as Gordias was. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 85 A thousand thankes signior Gremio. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone 1. i, Signior Coruino, come most wisht for! 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 648/1 These are the Thoughts of Signior Muffei. 1756-7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 350 The houses of.. the signiors Verzi, Pompeii, and Pellegrini. 1818 Shelley Tasso 3 Did you inform his Grace that Signor Pigna Waits with state papers for his signature? Ibid. 13 O trust to me, Signor Malpiglio, Those nods [etc.]. 1863 Chambers's Encycl. V. 657/1 Ratazzi.. was succeeded in office by Signor Farini. fig. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. Dddi, Mounsieur Claret, and sweet Signior Sacke.

b. Used without the name, as a form of address, equivalent to ‘sir’ in English. 1590 Shaks. Com. Err. iv. i. 36 Good Signior take the stranger to my house. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Humour iv. iii, O but Signior, had you such a wife as mine is. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe The Italian i, The stranger.. said, ‘Signor, your steps are watched’. 1842 Lover Handy Andy iv, ‘Isn’t one fight a day enough for you, signor?’ said the doctor. 1863 ‘Ouida’ Held in Bondage (1870) 68 Thank you, signor, a thousand thanks.

c. An Italian gentleman, esp. a singer. 1779 Sheridan Critic 1. i, Haven’t we the Signors and Signoras calling here, sliding their smooth semibreves? 1782 V. Knox Ess. (1819) II. cxvi. 290 The door is always open to player signiors and signioras.

2. A person of note or distinction; one having rank or authority; a gentleman or nobleman; an overlord. See also grand signior. 01577 Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. (1609) 12 Amonge whom there is no right Lawe nor Commonwealth compact but onely the will of the Lord and Signior. 1630 Massinger Picture 11. ii, You Signiers Haue no businesse with the souldier. 1632 Lithgow Trav. 11. 63 The commodity of which redounds yearely to the Venetians, for they are Signiors thereof. 1668 R. L’Estrange Vis. Quevedo (1708) 50 You know they are Cavaliers and Signiors already, and now (forsooth) they have an Itch upon them to be Princes. 1748 Smollett Roderick Random lxvi, [He] promised to procure for us the company of an English signior. 1803 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) I. 56/2 The great mass of territorial proprietors in Denmark are the signiors, possessing fiefs with very extensive privileges. 1885 J. Payn Talk of Town I. 47 Wise and reverend signors may well have learnt by experience to take trifling annoyances with equanimity.

SIGNOR t signor, v. Obs._1 In 6 signour. [a. OF. signourer, seignorer, etc., f. seignor seigneur.] intr. To have lordship. 1559 Kal. Shepherds xxxviii. (Wally) kvb, Leo hath the great trees, that is to say he signoureth ouer them.

IIsignora (si-jiora). Also 7-8 signiora. [It. signora, = Sp. sefiora, Pg. senhora, a fem. formed on signore, etc.: see signor $6.] A term of respect applied to Italian ladies, corresponding to ‘Mrs.’ and ‘Madam’ in English; hence (with a, the, etc.), a lady of Italian nationality. a. 1636 Massinger Gt. Dk. Florence iv. i, I am in private to conferre a while With this Signiora. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes 1. vi. 19 The acts [of] Chivalry of the twenty four Signiora’s. 1766 [Anstey] Bath Guide x, But talks of the Op’ras and his Signiora, Cries bravo, benissimo, bravo, Encora. 1775 Ann. Reg. 11. 63 Anecdotes of Signiora Gabrieli, the celebrated Opera Singer. j9. 1766 Smollett Trav. v. I. 64 An Italian signora makes no scruple of telling you [etc.]. 1806 Surr Winter in London III. 39 ‘This is Francis’s writing beyond all question,’ said the signora. 1821 Byron in Moore Life (1832) V. 262 Got off my horse to walk in an avenue with a Signora for an hour. 1847 C. Bronte J. Eyre xxvii, I sought my ideal of a woman amongst English ladies, French countesses, Italian signoras, and German Grafinnen. I could not find her.

|| signore (si'jiore). signor.] = signor.

[It.,

the

fuller form

of

1594 [see SIGNORY 3]. 1622 Peacham Compl. Gent. i. 15 In Naples .. euery base groome .. must be termed Signore. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. 11. i, I know Bilson hath decipher’d us all the galanteries of Signore and Monsignore. 1820 T. S. Hughes Trav. I. ix. 267 That worthy signore was enjoying his siesta. 1856 Boker Betrothal ill. iii, I have an airy weapon that can.. make our satin signore Grovel for life.

I signoria (sijio'ria). [It., = Sp. sehoria, Pg. senhoria, F. seigneurie: cf. signory.] The governing body of some of the Old Italian republics, esp. that of Venice. 1549 Thomas Hist. Italic 79 b, All offices of preeminence, as of the Signoria. 1622 in Crt. & Times Jas. /(1848) II. 334 The Venetian ambassador gave notice of such a thing.., by order, as he said, from the signoria. 1686 Aglionby Painting Illustr. 362 When a Fisherman presents the Signoria of Venice with Saint Mary’s Ring. 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 327 His Excellency then made his speech to the Doge, and Signoria, in the English language. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. II. 276 Few towns appear to have fared so ill as Siena, in which.. for the signoria he also nominated the first set of members.

signorial (sii'njoarral), a. [f. signory + -al1. Cf. SEIGNORIAL.] Pertaining to a signory. 1875 Maine Hist. Inst. v. 123 The legacy from tribal sovereignty to signorial privilege. 1883 Symonds Ital. Byways iv. 69 They regarded knighthood as a part of their signorial parade.

;! signorina (sijio'rina). [It., dim. of signora signora.] The Italian term of respect applicable to a young unmarried lady. 1820 T. S. Hughes Trav. I. ii. 42 A long story about a beautiful signorina of ancient times. 1884 F. M. Crawford Roman Singer I. 31 The signorina was born here. Ibid. 72 My time is yours, signorina.

fsi'gnority. Obs. rare. In 5 sygnyoryte, 6 signioritie, 8 -ty. [Cf. OF. seignourite (Godef.), med.L. senioritas. See also seign(i)ority.] Lordship, government. a 1529 Skelton Col. Cloute 927 They shewe them polytyke, Pretendyng grauyte And sygnyoryte, With all solempnyte. 1547 Baldwin Mor. Philos. 29 The Athenians and Megarenes had made great warre.. to haue had the signioritie of his [Solon’s] country Salamina. 1792 Sibly Occult Sci. I. 26 Besides these seniorities of the sun, moon and planets, the fixed stars have also their principalities in the heavens.

t 'signorize, v. Obs. Also signiorize. [f. signor + -ize, or ad. obs. F. signoris(s)-, signoriz-, lengthened stem of sign-, se(i)gnorir, f. seigneur seigneur. See also seignorize v.] 1. intr. To rule, reign, have or exercise dominion. Usually const, in or over. a. 1594 Kyd Cornelia ill. iii. 212 Now Caesar.. Sits signiorizing in her seate. 1612 J. Davies (Heref.) Muse's Sacr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 49/1 Let that which thou mad’st not, neuer signiorize O’er me that thou hast made. 01658 Hewyt Serm. 171 (Todd), At the time that He was to come, Judah must lose the scepter; not then to rule or signiorize in Judah. £. 1594 Kyd Cornelia 1. 55 So many Nations.. Ore whom (saue heauen) nought could signorize. 1613 tr. Mexia's Treas. Anc. & Mod. Times 26/2 To the perdition of him [Adam] who had bin Created to Signorize and beare Maistry over all Beastes in the World. 1651 Howell Venice 24 Upon the Continent of Italie She [Venice] doth Signorize over three entire Provinces.

b. With it: To play the master, rare. 1611 Cotgr., Faire le dessus, to domineere, to signorize it.

2.

SIJKEN

462

trans. To govern, control, dominion or rule over (anything).

exercise

1594 Kyd Cornelia ill. ii. 8 Rome, thou are tam’d, and th’ earth .. Doth laugh to see how thou art signiorizd. 1600 Fairfax Tasso iv. xlvi, As proud as he, that signoriseth hell. 1602 J. Davies (Heref.) Mirum in Modurn Wks. (Grosart) I. 8/2 There doth shee sit. . And by hir might doth signiorize the Minde. Ibid. 26/2 Alphons, the tenth that Spaine did signiorize.

Hence f 'signorizing vbl. sb. and ppl. a. Obs.

1588 Kyd Househ. Phil. Wks. (1901) 261 Admonition., vttered with more austeritie and signiorising termes. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 89 Eleazer.. was the first that seminarizd thys hope of signiorizing and freedome amongst them. 1609 J. Davies (Heref.) Holy Rood Wks. (Grosart) I. 26/1 Fraile-Fleshes signiorizing Tyrant, fell.

t 'signorship. Obs. rare. In 7 signior-. [f. SIGNOR $6.] The rank or condition of a signor. Used as a form of address. 1636 Massinger Gt. Dk. Florence iv. i, ’Tis a device, .as shal make your Signiorship know I have not beene your Butlar for nothing. 1637-Guardian 1. i, Make choice Of either title, which your signiorship please.

signory ('siinjari). Forms: a. 5 Sc. sigeniery (!), 6 sygneoury, 6-7 signiorie, 6-9 signory. /3. 5 Sc. signery, 6-7 sygnory (6 syng-), signorie (6 sygn-), 5- signory. [Originally a. OF. signerie, signorie, etc., varr. of seignorie (see seigniory), subsequently influenced by It. signoria (see signoria).]

1. Lordship, domination, rule. a. c I375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvii. (Vincent) 106 Othir til our goddis sacrify & haf riches & sigeniery [sir]. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xi. (Percy Soc.) 44 Makyng them lese theyr worthy sygneoury. 1594 Kyd Cornelia ill. iii. 107 Th’ inextinguible thyrst of signiorie. 1604 T. Wright Passions v. §2. 216 His Lord and Maister will give him signiorie and authority over all he possesseth. 1632 W. Lithgow Trav. 11. 64 The Signiory thereof belongeth to Venice. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 146 This our recognition of a signiory paramount. 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages (1872) I. 423 The same sanction was given to those temporary delegations of the signiory to a prince. 01850 Rossetti Dante & Circle 1. (1874) 232 My heart, my mind, and all my life, Are given in bondage to her signiory. j8. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxviii. (Margaret) 330 And sa thru his ded mychtely of deid [he] oure-come pe signery. c 1440 Generydes 6980 He was a man of grete renown, Sowdon of perce with all his signory. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xxvii. 41 The ysle of Creth, the which was vnder their sygnorie. 1533 Bellenden Livy ill. xvii. (S.T.S.) II. 17 Quhat signorie, quhat wikkit empire is this.. pa.t 3e pretend? 1600 Holland Livy xxvi. i. 582 To..returne unto their old alleagence and obedience to their wonted signorie of Rome. 01660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archaeol. Soc.) II. 166 His.. designe is noe other thinge then the temporall signorie of this distracted kingdome. 1875 Maine Hist. Inst. v. 123 Eldest son after eldest son succeeded to the signory.

b. Authority or supremacy expressed in looks or bearing, rare. 1598 Yong Diana 243 They sawe two louely Shepherdesses (though by their coye lookes shewing a kinde of signorie and statelinesse aboue any other). 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iv. 300 Among the gallery portraits of our Leighs, We shall not find a sweeter signory Than this pure forehead’s.

2. A lordship, domain, territory. a. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 211 The kyngedomes and signiories whiche confine with the sayde sea. 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. vi. (1628) 181 Their proper Signiories, Lordships or places which they possessed. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 51 This region of Malabar., is divided into several Petit Signiories. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 673 They were empowered to receive gifts and bequests of money, houses, lands, signiories, nay even of slaves. transf. 1607 J. Davies (Heref.) Summa Totalis Wks. (Grosart) I. 11/1 These thrust out Reason of her Signiorie (The Braines) where erst she sate in Siluer Throne. /3. a x533 Ld. Berners Huon cxiv. 404 To conquere agayne your herytage, londys, and sygnoryes. 1598 Stow Surv. i. (1603) 3 The state, comunalty or Signory of the Trinobantes. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage v. viii. 412 To divide the soile into many Signories and Kingdomes. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. 1. Wks. 1851 III. 15 His Sons..won them Lands and Signories in Germany. 1753 Richardson Grandison (1781) V. xxix. 202, I shall take a view of the works projecting by the Duke of Modena, in order to render his little Signory considerable. f3. = signorship. Obs. rare—b 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits 225 Signore, your signory shall vnderstand, that souldiers who haue enioyed the libertie of Italy, cannot content themselues to make abode in Spain.

4. A governing body, esp. that of Venice or other mediaeval Italian republic. Cf. signoria. 1604 1'. Wright Passions v. 159 The Arcadian signorie consider .. the inhabitants .. barbarous, sauage, and wild. 1612 W. Shute tr. Fougasses's Venice II. 481 A goodly Church .. whither the Signory and Clergy doe yeerely goe in procession. 1652 M. Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 99 The Venetians and their Signiory for very many ages have been and are in possession of the aforesaid Gulf. 1756 Nugent Gr. Tour, Italy III. 138 The legislative authority is lodged in the great senate, consisting of the signory, and 400 noble¬ men. The signory consists of the Doge and twelve other members. 1820 Byron Mar. Faliero 1. i. 3 But still the Signory is deep in council. 1837 Hallam Hist. Lit. 1. iii. §59 The Palazzo Vecchio, in which the signiory of Florence held their councils. 1873 Dixon Two Queens IV. xx. viii. 108, ‘I hear on good authority,’ said Fisher to the Signory, ‘that Cardinal Wolsey is not now in favour of a divorce’.

sign-post, sb. [sign $&.] 1. a. A post supporting a sign, usually that of an inn or shop. 1620 Fletcher Chances iii. i. If this geer hold, Best hang a sign-post up, to tell the Signiors, Here ye may have lewdness at Liverie. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1851 III. 258 Hung out like a toling signe-post to call passengers. 1670 Moral St. Eng. 92 A good Inn hath very seldome a bad Sign-post. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 28 |f 3 When did the Lamb and Dolphin ever meet, except upon a Sign-Post? 1784 Cowper Task iv. 483 Fell Discord,.. Perch’d on the sign-post, holds with even hand Her undecisive scales. 1818 Byron Juan 1. ii, [They] fill’d their sign-posts then, like

Wellesley now. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 634 The signpost of the White Hart Inn served for a gallows. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. III. xix. 521 He..was menaced with being hanged, like Porteus of Edinburgh, upon a sign-post, if he did so. fig. 1889 Doyle Micah Clarke 107 We., were gazing in silence at this sign-post of death, when .. a bundle of rags .. at the foot of the gallows began suddenly to move.

b. attrib. and Comb., as sign-post dauber, painter, painting, picture. 1677 Dryden To Lee 51 But how should any sign-post dauber know The worth of Titian or of Angelo? 1682Medal Ep., But Sign-post painting will serve the turn to remember a Friend by. 1751 Earl Orrery Rem. Swift (1752) 83 While there remained a sign-post painter in the world. 1779 Mirror No. 9 Those same Latin scraps,.. which you sometimes hang out by way of sign-post inscription at the top of your paper. 1815 L. Simond Tour Gt. Brit. II. 216, I never saw such a collection of miserable sign-post pictures any where before.

2. A guide- or direction-post, set up to indicate the proper road to a place; a finger-post. Also fig. and attrib. 1863 Ld. Lytton King of Amasis 1. 11. iii, The stretched forefinger of a common sign-post. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 149, I came to a signpost directing me to the left. 1961 Atlanta Constitution 17 Aug. 5 In the . . breathless state of being in love the usual signposts that guide you to lasting and satisfying relationships are sometimes obscured. 1962 Listener 6 Dec. 958/2 He therefore studies talk more closely and discovers that.. by selecting signpost phrases, he can convey what is being felt by what is unsaid. 1969 I. & P. Opie Children's Games p. viii, Full use has been made of the signposts, clearly marked for those willing to look for them, that are provided by The Oxford English Dictionary and The English Dialect Dictionary.

So 'signpostless a., not equipped with or marked by sign-posts. 1962 Times 22 Feb. 14/4 The signpost-less lanes of Surrey. 1968 Economist 16 Mar. 12/2 A preposterous, unanalysable, ignorant, signpostless, meandering mess.

'signpost, v. Also sign-post. [f. prec.] trans. To direct or indicate by means of or in the manner of a sign-post; to equip or provide with sign¬ posts. Also fig. Hence 'signposted ppl. a., 'signposting ppl. a. and vbl. sb. 1895 A. A. Grace Maoriland Stories 105, I shall just sign¬ post ’em up to the station when they come. 1922 W. J. Locke Tale of Triona xxiii. 265 The road undulated .. with a steeply sloping drop of thirty feet to the valley. Such spots were grimly sign-posted for motorists. 1923 Daily Mail 19 May 5 Where the road is not so good and badly needs proper signposting. Ibid. 21 May 4 Dartmoor is moderately well signposted. 1930 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 8 May 5 The R. A.C. propose only to signpost the main arteries. 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 16 May 8/1 Even more marked improvements have been made. There are what are called ‘sign-posted’ reviews. 1946 E. Linklater Private Angelo viii. 81 They had reconnoitred, by routes that camel-ribs signposted, the farthest Libyan oases. 1953 X. Fielding Stronghold 57 A forbidden area metaphorically signposted ‘noli me tangere’. 1955 Times 6 Jan. 6/1 They were also signposting a ring road for through traffic avoiding the central London area. 1961 N. Q. Nov. 440/1 There are textual notes at the foot of each page, ludicrously signposted by a system of expanding alphabetical cycles. 1971 P. Gresswell Environment 104 Some councils are prepared to spend money on signposting. *975 J- B. Harley O.S. Maps p. xiii, A principal objective is to indicate what the map user is likely to find on a particular map series and.. to signpost what is omitted. 1976 Howard Jrnl. XV. 1. 39 The different themes and possible groupings of the essays could perhaps have been signposted better to make the reader’s task easier. 1978 A. & G. Ritchie Anc. Monuments Orkney 22 This cairn is approached by a signposted path on the N side of the Trumland to Westness road. 1981 Times 2 Sept. 21/1 It was as recently as June that the board [of Trusthouse Forte] reported on the six months to last April. This signposted a dreadful year for hotels.

Ilsignum ('signam). PI. signa. [L., see sign sb.] A mark or sign. 1848 Scottish Jrnl. Topogr. I. 296/2 The sword hilts [are] filagreed over with peculiar signa, probably cabalistic charms for the prevention of witchcraft. 1862 Chambers's Encycl. III. 638/2 In addition to his subscription, the notary was formerly in use in Scotland to add his signum, which was a flourish of the pen. 1875 Stainer & Barrett Diet. Mus. Terms, Signa, characters and signs in mediaeval music.

Hsigri ('sigri:). [Gujarati sagdl.] A fire or stove used for cooking. I949 J- R- Lawrence Indian Embers 56 All day our bedding is spread over wicker cages enclosing a charcoal sigri. 1954 J. Masters Bhowatii Junction 127 The invisible charcoal fumes from the sigri tingled in my nostrils. 1964 M. Malgonkar Bend in Ganges xxxiv. 334 Sundari was bending over the sigri.. turning the toast. 1970 ‘B. Mather’ Break in Line xx. 245 Out here, away from the charcoal sigri, the cold was intense.

tsigrim (also sigrums), obs. var. Isegrim. 01300 Vox Wolf in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 62 Quod the vox: ‘Wo is now there? Iche wene hit is Sigrim that ich here’. C1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 169 The sleyghti fox .. And sigrums chief wardeyn of the folde.

sih, obs. pa. t. of see v. siht(e, sihpe, obs. ff. sight. sihte, pa. t. of siche v. to sigh, siik, sijk, obs. ff. sick a. sijken, var. sick v.

SIJO

463

II sijo ('si:d33u). [Korean.] a. A type of Korean vocal

music,

b.

A

Korean

lyric

poem

usu.

consisting of twenty-four syllables divided into three lines. Also attrib. 1898 I. L. Bird Korea & her Neighbours xii. 191 There are three classes of Korean vocal music, the first being the Si-jo or classical style, andante tremuloso, and ‘punctuated with drums’. 1954 W. Stevens Let. 9 July (1967) 840 Here are your sijos... The poems are charming, at least to me. But Korean poetry .. is a delicacy, like bees’ knees and apple hips, i960 P. Hyun Voices of Dawn 28 The metaphysical sijo poets. 1971 Korean Folklore & Classics III. 86 The satto read sijo silently shaking himself.. to forget his tediousness. 1972 Korea Past & Present xiv. 319 Kagok is a five-stanza form which is accompanied by an orchestra, whereas Sijo is a three-stanza form without orchestra. But they are similar in the sense that both use Sijo poems as words. 1977 Korea (Korean Overseas Information Service, Seoul) 57/3 The most popular Korean poetic form, the Sijo. sijt, obs. f. SITE. sik, obs. form of sic a., sick, sike, Sikh. sika1 ('silks), red

deer,

[ad. Japanese sika deer.]

Sika

nippon,

native

to

A small

Japan

and

eastern China and widely naturalized elsewhere. Also attrib. 1891 in Cent. Diet. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 25 Feb. 4/3 The elk, the Virginian deer, and the Japanese and Manchurian sikas. 1900 Q. Rev. July 202 The Japanese sika, Chinese swamp deer and hybrids live wild in the state forests. 1909 E. Protheroe Handy Nat. Hist.: Mammals x. 365 The Sika.. is a beautiful brilliant chestnut, thickly spotted with white. 1957 *) Breland Animal Friends & Foes i. 38 Important deer.. include .. the sika deer of eastern Asia. 1966 Punch 19 Oct. 596/2 The sika-deer of Brownsea Island left its restricted space some years ago for the Dorset mainland. 1978 Lancashire Life Nov. 70/1 The last Lord Ribblesdale.. also introduced the Sika deer which roam the district to this day. 1981-2 Deer Farmer (N.Z.) Summer 3 But we have farmed other breeds, such as fallow and sika. I sika2 (’sika). [Bengali, ad. Skr. sikya sling.] A rope hanger for suspending baskets, etc. 1974 Observer (Colour Suppl.) 15 Sept. 40 (Advt.), Sikas are traditionally used in Bangladesh village homes instead of kitchen cupboards. 1979 Church Times 26 Oct. 13/3 Jute sikas (basket hangers), bags and place-mats from Bangladesh form an attractive part of Traidcraft’s range. Sikan, var. Sican. sike, syke (saik), sb.1 north, and Sc. Forms: a. 4syke, 6 sy(c)k, 9 seyke. saik).

j8. 7- sike, 8-9 sick (9

[The northern form repr. OE. sic sitch.

Cf. On. sik, Icel. siki, Norw. sik, sike, Da. sig (MDa. siig, sige), in the same sense.]

SIKSIKA

sike, sb.2 Now dial. Forms: 3 sic, 3-4 sik, 3-5, 9 sike; 4-5 syk(e, 9 dial. soik. [var. of siche sb. Cf. Fris. sike a breath.] A sigh. 0 1225 Ancr. R. 284 3if eni is pet naueS nout pe heorte pus afeited, mid seoruhfule sikes .. grede on ure Louerd. c 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xxxii. 92 Ich have siked moni syk, lemmon, for thin ore. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus in. 801 With a sik she sorwfully answerde. C1386 - Frankl. T. 136 Thanne wolde she sitte adoun.. And seyn right thus, with sorweful sikes colde. 14 .. Hoccleve Minor P. xxii. 364 Vp he threew an heuy syk, And hire awook. 1878 N. Q. 5th Ser. IX. 396 Her give a great sike, and then died. 1885 Brierley Ab-o'th-Yate Yankeeland ii. (E.D.D.), A good soik of relief.

fb. Without article: Sighing.

Obs.

c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1239 Dor sat his moder in sik and sor. c 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xi. 40 Me thuncheth min herte wol breke a two, for sorewe ant syke. 0 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxix. 61 Wip syk and serwe .. Heo souhte wher heo mihte wip him mete.

sike (saik), v. Now dial. Forms: a. 3-4 siken, 4-5 sikyn; 3- sike (5 si3ke), 9 dial, soik; 5-9 sick (9 dial. sic). |3. 3 syken, 4- syke (4 zyke). [var. of siche v. Cf. MDu. versiken to sigh, Fris. sykje to draw breath.] 1. intr. To sigh. a. ci 175 Lamb. Horn. 43 Summe of pan monne sare wepeS... Summe per graninde sikefi. 01225 Ancr. R. 32 Alle monne sores settefi in ower pouhte, & sikeS to vre Louerd. C1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 122 Seint Thomas wep In is heorte, and sore bi-gan to sike. 01320 Sir Tristr. 2621 Tristrem.. sikep, for sope to sain, Wip sorwe and michel pain. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1165 Dido, She siketh soore, and gan hire selfe turmente. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. xliv, Gif 3e be warldly wight, that dooth me sike. c 1450 Pride of Life 163 (Brandi), p>ou nast no nede to sike sore. 1864 Ramsbottom Lane. Rhymes 17 His mother, eh, Lord! heaw hoo soikt. 1889 T. Pinnock Black Country Ann. 67 (E.D.D.), We chaps cast.. eyes on the ground an’ we siked. /3. c 1250 Owl & Night. (J.) 1352 J>at heo vor summe sottes lore pe yorne bit and sykep sore. 0 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xxix. 85, I syke when y singe, for sorewe that y se. 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. xix. 16 ‘Now, certes,’ ich seide and sykede for ioye. C1430 Syr. Gener. 1046 Priuelie than he gan to syke. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 23 He was seyn often .. sykyng alow in his breste as a manne slepyng had wepte. 1515 Scottish Field 388 in Chetham Misc. (1856), His servauntes they maie syke, and sorowe for his sake.

b. dial. To sob or cry. 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Antiq. Gloss., Sike, to cry, lament, sob. 1851 Sternberg Northampt. Dial., Sike, to cry, sob, or violently bewail. f2. trans. To emit or give (a sigh). Obs.-1 c 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xxxii. 92 Ich have siked moni syk, lemmon, for thin ore.

sike, var. sic a., sick a. and v. sikel(l, obs. forms of sickle sb. Sikel, var. Sicel sb. and a.

1. A small stream of water, a rill or streamlet, esp. one flowing through flat or marshy ground, and often dry in summer; a ditch or channel through which a tiny stream flows. In former times freq. used as a boundary between lands, fields, etc. (cf. sense 2). [CI169 in Dugdale Monast. Angl. (1830) VI. 236 Ex alia parte nigrse quercus, usque ad sicam Polterkeved, quse cadit in Ring. 01214 Liber de Metros I. 78 Usque ad primum sicum ex aquilonali parte de Lilisyhates.] a. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8165 Sykes do je graue & groupe, pe water per-inne men schal scoupe. 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 300 The sykis alswa thair doune Sail put thame to confusioune. c 1425 Cast. Persev. 427 in Macro Plays, Myth I ryde be sompe & syke,.. certis panne schulde I be fryke. c 1480 Henryson Fables, Trial Fox xxxvi, To fetche watter this fraudfull foxe furth fure, Sydelingis abak he socht vnto ane syke. 1573 Nott. Rec. IV. 152 Stakyng of serteyne plankes in the medowes ouer serteyne syckes. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scotl. I. 145 Ouir dykes and dubis, sykes and seuches thay sould spang and leip. 1664-5 Act 16-17 Chas. II, c. n §1 Forty Acres.. in .. Thurlby Fenn.. are to be left for Lakes and Sykes for the receipt of Waters. 1726 Threlkeld Stirp. Hibern. 138 Marsh Marygold.. in the small Sykes or watery Plashes of moist Meadows.. copiously. 1818 Scott Lett. II. 4 My lake is but a millpond, my brooks but sykes. 01849 H. Coleridge Poems (1850) II. 192 He prized the stream that turned the wealthiest mills Less than the syke that trickles down the fell. 1889 Raine Hist. Hemingborough 165 Fenny ground traversed by sykes and ditches. attrib. 1719 Min. Baron Crt. Stitchill (S.H.S.) 180 Ground carrying grass tho’ never so coarse, such as that called Syke grass. j9. 1611 N. Riding Rec. (1884) I. 219 The passage at Noletbridge sike.. is decayed and many times very dangerous. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 41 A Sike: a little Rivulet. 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Sick, a small stream or rill. 1811 Willan in Archaeologia XVII. 157 Bor-sike, the name of a place, signifies the cottage by the sike. 1831 Hodgson in Raine Mem. (1858) II. 221 The bed of a sike that runs in the direction of the road. 1896 Blashill Sutton-in-Holderness 13 Certain low marshy channels called ‘sikes’. b. A gully; a dip or hollow. 1859 W. White Northumbld. & Border 363 On one of the slopes, a syke—that is a gully—was pointed out to me. 1884 N. & Q. 6th Ser. X. 455/1 In Yorkshire syke is understood to be a dip in the ground. f2. A stretch of meadow; a field. Obs. rare. 1479 Priory of Hexham (Surtees) II. 6 Idem t[enet] ij sykes prati,.. Adam del Hyll t[enet] j syk, et r. p. a. ij d. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 38 The Mount-Sikes is 5 dayworkes, and had in it.. seaven score and two grasse cockes..; the waine-way into this close is att the gate a little within the gate of the Greate-Sikes. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 331 A Sike, a Quillet or Furrow.

sikelatoun, var. ciclatoun Obs. Sikeliot(e, varr. Siceliot sb. and a. sikenes(se, obs. ff. sickness. siker, obs. f. sicker. siket. Now dial. Forms: 3-5, 9 siket (4 syket), 5-6, 9 sicket, 9 secket. [f. sike sb.1 + -et1: cf. SICHET. Recorded chiefly in the Latinized forms sikettus, -etusi] A small watercourse or sike. 1300 in Archaeologia (1857) XXXVII. 435 Per quendam sikettum qui vocatur Cavereswellebrok. Ibid., Inde per eundem sikettum usque ad. . Kavereshull. 1318-9 in Dugdale Monast. Angl. (1830) VI. 1. 558/1 In longitudine inter duos sikettos, quorum unus cadit inter Northwayt et Waytwra. 1479 Priory of Hexham (Surtees) II. 16 A fonte praedicto versus austrum per j sikettum usque Sewynscheles moss. Ibid., Per dictum bogg usque quoddam siketum. 1550 Survey Borders in Hodgson Northumb. (1828) II. in. 184 From thence till a place over a letche or litle sicket called the stepping stones. 1894 Heslop Northumbld. Gloss., Sicket, siket, secket, a small syke, a small brook, a rivulet.

Sikh (sik, si:k), sb. (and a.) Forms: a. 8-9 Seek, Seik, 8 Seekh, 9 Seikh. |3. 8 Syke, Syc, Sicque, 8-9 Sik (9 Sik), 9- Sikh (Sik’h, Sikh). [Hindi sikh (Skr. sishya), disciple. The spellings seek(h, sik{h, and the pron. (si:k), may have been due to association with Hindi sikh learning, sikhna to learn.] 1. A member of a monotheistic religious group, originally established in India (chiefly in the Punjab) by Guru Nanak in the early part of the 16th century. The majority of Sikhs are still located in the Punjab in northern India, but many are now living in other parts of India, and in Africa, Europe, the United States, and elsewhere. Sikhs became famous for their military prowess in the 19th century during the period of British imperialism. The Sikh religion requires its members, among other institutionalized customs, to wear a turban, and this has brought Sikhs into conflict with authorities in some countries outside India in the second half of the present century, mainly because of local regulations about the wearing of crash helmets on motor cycles. a. 1781 Wilkins in Asiatic Res. (1799) I. 288 That sect of people who are distinguished from the worshippers of Brahm, and the followers of Mahommed, by the appellation Seek. 1784 in Seton-Karr Select.fr. Calcutta Gaz. (1864) I.

13 The Seekhs.. have plundered all that quarter. 1800 Asiatic Ann. Reg. III. 5 1/1 It is imagined he has taken refuge in the country of the Seiks. 1830 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XXI. 283/2 marg., Seiks. j3. 1785 European Mag. IX. 453 For ease the slow Mahratta spoils, And hardier Sik erratic toils. 1815 Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) I. 109 All that is desirable to know respecting the Siks, the most remarkable part of the population. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 233/2 The Sikhs., consider the profession of arms the religious duty of every individual. 1896 Youngson 40 Yrs. Punjab Mission v. 39 A Sikh must possess five things—a dagger, an iron bracelet, short breeches, long hair, and a comb.

2. attrib. or as adj. Of or pertaining to the Sikhs. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXV. 1348/1 The principal alphabets formed from the Nagarl, are the Bengali., and Sikh or Punjabi. 1853 Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 257/1 A proclamation was issued, declaring the Sikh states., attached to the British dominions. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 718/2 The second volume of the Sikh scriptures. 1896 Youngson 40 Yrs. Punjab Mission v. 39 Gobind Singh.. renewed an old Sikh rite.

Hence 'Sikhism, the tenets or principles of the Sikhs. 1849 J- D. Cunningham Hist. Sikhs iii. 96/1 There are also elements of change within Sikhism itself. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 719/2 The numerous divisions into which Sikhism, as a system of belief and practice, has ramified. 1880 Sir R. Temple India in 1880 120 Sikhism .. is one of those inflammable things which a spark might kindle into a flame. 1896 Youngson 40 Yrs. Punjab Mission i. 4 Sikhism is like Buddhism a revolt from priestcraft and ritual.

sikhara, var. shikhara. sikil, obs. f. sickle sb.; var. of swikel a. Obs. 'siking, vbl. sb. Now dial. [f. sike®. + -ing1.] = sighing vbl. sb. 1. 0 1300 Havelok 234 per was sobbing, siking, and sor. 1340 Ayenb. 171 Vor^enchinge acse)? grat zor3e and greate zykinges of herte. C1400 Laud. Troy Bk. 662 Loue.. trauayles here wondir strong With thought and sykyng euere among, c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1865 He with sore sykyng and snobbyng bothe Vnswered pe monke. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 24 Amonge his lamentacions and sykynges .. he asayde .. to opene his yes. 1886 Brierley Cast upon World xviii, I hate to yer [= hear] that soikin’ an’ meeonin’. attrib. 13.. E.E. Psalter vi. 6 (Egerton MS.), I swank in mi sikinge-stede.

siking,ppl. a. rare-', [f. sikezl + -ing2.] That sighs; sighing. Hence f 'sikingness. 13.. [see sighingness]. ci6i6 Fletcher Thierry & Theod. v. i, Thou hast a bonny countenance and a blithe, promising mickle good to a siking wemb.

sikkell, obs. f. sickle sb.

Sikkimese (siki'miiz), a. and sb. [f. Sikkim (see below) + -ese.] A. adj. Of or pertaining to Sikkim, a country in the eastern Himalayas. B. sb. A native or inhabitant of Sikkim; collect, the people of Sikkim. 1861 J. C. Gawler Dispatch 15 Feb. in H. St. G. M. Mcrea Regimental Hist. 45th Rattray's Sikhs (1933) I. 149 Captain Impey’s column surprised the Sikkimese camp at Temi. 1938 G. Gorer Himalayan Village i. 36 During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the Lepchas fought with the Sikkimese against the continued invasions of the Nepali and Bhutanese. 1955 Times 3 June 7/3 The devout Sikkimese who asked that no human foot should profane the final high places that their faith holds sacred. i960 ‘S. Harvester’ Chinese Hammer i. 10 Sikkimese metalwork and Kashmiri brocades. 1973 Times 12 Apr. 8/7 The Bhutia-Lepchas and the Sikkimese Nepalis have, however, parity in the State Council. 1978 C. Humphreys Both Sides Circle xx. 212 The inhabitants were a blend of Lepcha, Bhutia and other races besides the native Sikkimese.

siklatoun, variant of ciclatoun Obs. siknesse, obs. f. sickness. sikni, obs. f. sicken v. sikonye, var. cicon(i)e, stork, Obs. sikr(a, varr. shikhara. Siksika (’siksika). Also fSeksikai, Siksikai. [Blackfoot, f. siksi- black + -ka foot.] The Blackfoot Indians, esp. those of the northernmost of the three peoples which comprise the Blackfoot. 1843 tr. Wied-Neuwied's Trav. Interior N. Amer. xix. 245 The Blackfeet form a numerous nation, which is divided into three tribes, speaking one and the same language. These tribes are— 1. The Siksekai or Seksekai, the Blackfeet properly so called. Ibid., The Siksekai signifies, in their language, Blackfoot. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXIX. 466/1 Blackfeet (Siksika). 1910 in F. Hodge Handbk. Amer. Indians 11. 570/1 A band of the Kainah division of the Siksika. 1923 M. Barbeau Indian Days in Canadian Rockies Addenda, 197 The Blackfoot.. were the Bedouins of the Plains.. . Their three subdivisions, consisting of the Blackfoot proper (or Siksika), the Blood, and the Piegan.. considered themselves as of one family. 1942 O. Lewis Ejfects of White Contact upon Blackfoot Culture ii. 7 The Blackfoot, Blood and Piegan tribes are at present time located on four reserves, of which three are in Alberta, Canada, and one in Montana... To avoid confusion we shall use the Blackfoot term ‘Siksika’ to refer to the Northern Blackfoot, and the term Blackfoot to refer to all three tribes. 1952J. R Swanton Indian Tribes N. Amer. 396 The Siksika

SIKUL are divided into the following subtribes: The Siksika or Blackfeet proper, [etc.].

and .. it is hoped that the use of lime and silanes will prevent further decay of the stone surfaces.

sikul(le, obs. ff.

sickle sb.

silanize ('saibnaiz), v.

sikynyn, obs. f.

sicken v.

Sikyonian,

var. Sicyonian sb. and a.

fsil. Obs. rare. [a. L. or Fr. sil ochre.] Some kind of ochre. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxm. xiii. II. 485 As touching Ochre or Sil, it is exceeding hard to be reduced into pouder. 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey 1. iii. 5 Colours amongst the Minerall Oare of Gold and Siluer, as Sil, Azure.

silage ('sailid3), sb.

[Alteration of ensilage, after silo.] 1. Green fodder preserved by pressure in a silo or stack; = ensilage 2. Also attrib. 1884 Pall Mall G. 25 Nov. 5/2 The testimony of all who have tried ensilage is that a given quantity of grass converted into silage [etc.]. 1894 J. K. Fowler Recoil. Old Co. Life xii. 136 The silo was opened and the silage proved excellent. 2. attrib. and Comb., as silage clamp (clamp

sb.3), loader, -maker, stack; silage-feeding, -making vbl. sbs.; silage-fed ppl. adj.; silage cutter, a stationary machine for chopping a crop into short lengths for silage and elevating it into a silo; also, a silage harvester; silage harvester, a machine

SILE

464

for cutting

a

standing crop

as

it

travels, chopping it into short lengths for silage, and elevating it into another vehicle. 1961 Farmers' Weekly 6 Oct. 117/1 The loose housing and the self-feed silage clamps. 1978 Cornish Guardian 27 Apr. 15/7 (Advt.), 131 acre accredited dairy farm.. milking parlour, silage clamp. 1962 Trans. Amer. Soc. Agric. Engin. XIX. 117 (heading) Code for testing silage cutters. 1967 Martin & Leonard Pritic. Field Crop Production (ed. 2) viii. 208 Corn and sorghum row crops for silage are harvested with a field silage cutter or a forage harvester. 1972 Country Life 15 June 1580/1 Silage feeding to the flock.. usually begins just before Christmas. Ibid. 1580/3 It is usually the practice in silage-fed flocks to introduce a cereal supplement just before lambing. 1931 J. B. Davidson Agric. Machinery xxv. 266 To reduce the labor of handling green fodder and to dispense with the use of binding twine, the operations of cutting and harvesting silage are combined in the silage harvester, and the cut silage is delivered to a wagon as it is drawn beside the harvester through the field. 1977 Cork Examiner 8 June 15/5 (Advt.), Used Kidd silage harvester, good working condition, £525. 1971 Power Farming Mar. 8/3 The operation of the American silage loader.. is explained in the captions to the accompanying photographs. 1924 W. J. Malden Grassland Farming xi. 152 The silagemaker has two points to consider. i960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 2 Feb. 55/2 Most of the people I have talked to have been experienced silage-makers. 1924 W. J. Malden Grassland Farming xi. 149 Heating is really an aid in silage¬ making, because under the moist heat the stiffest stems yield, and compression becomes easy, i960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. 73/2 In spite of the great progress in silage-making in the last few years, the amount of permanent grass and temporary leys made into hay in Britain still far exceeded the amount conserved by all the other processes put together. 1888 Times 24 July 13/1 In a season like the present a good silage stack is about the only means of securing and preserving grass.

Hence 'silage v. trans., to preserve by ensilage. 1885 Field 19 Dec. (Cassell), Any grass in excess of the requirements of the stock could be silaged.

silajit ('sibd3it). Also shilajatu, sillajeet, etc. [a. Hind, shila-jit, Skr. silajit, silajatu bitumen, f. Skr. sila rock + jit conquering or jatu essence.] A name given to various solid or viscous substances found on rock in India and Nepal (see quot. 1903), esp. a usu. dark-brown odoriferous substance which is used in traditional Indian medicine and probably consists principally of dried animal urine. 1811-12 F. Buchanan Acct. Bihar .3] A small immature herring, Clupea harengus, esp. one caught in northern European seas. 1921 Handbk. Norway & Sweden (Admiralty) viii. 157 The true sardine.. does not occur in northern waters. Norwegian ‘sardines’ are now known in commerce as ‘sild’. 1962 E. M. Cruickshank in G. Borgstrom Fish as Food II. iv. 195 With small fish like the sild, the entire fish is processed.

sild(e, var. seld adv. silde, obs. f. seld sb. (shed, building). silden, obs. f. shield v. sildom, obs. f. seldom. sile (sail), sb.1 north, and Sc. Also 4-5, 9 syle, 6 syelle, 8-9 dial. soil. [Of doubtful origin; perh. repr. OE. syl pillar, column.] A large roofingtimber or rafter, usually one of a pair. Also siletree. 1338-40 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 377, vij copule de syles longitudinis xvj pedum, et iiijor copule de syles longitudinis xxviijto pedum. 1371 Durham Halm. Rolls (Surtees) 111 Reparabit unam grangiam de uno pare de siles et duobus gauil forks. 1582 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, i860) 46 In the hay barne. Certaine sawen baulkes, viz., ix dormonds, and j sile. 1762 Phil. Trans. LII. 513 A round hole .. was pierced through the carved oak,.. and a piece of the main soil.. struck off. 1770 Ibid. LXI. 75 Upon this pillar rested a large oak soil. 1811 Aiton Agric. Surv. Ayrsh. 114 The roof was formed of strong cupples termed Syles, set up 8 or 10 feet distant from each other. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Syles, the principal rafters of a house. 1842 Gwilt Archit. Gloss. 1033 Soils, a provincial term, chiefly .. used in the north, signifying the principal rafters of a roof. 1878 Dickinson Gloss. Cumbld., Sile trees, the timber roof-blades of a thatched clay house.

sile (sail), sb.2 north, (and Sc.). Also 5-7, 9 syle, 6 syell. [a. ON. *sil (Norw. and Sw. sil): cf. sile A strainer or sieve, esp. one for milk. 1459-60 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 89, j pelvis cum foraminibus vocata j Syle. 1483 Cath. Angl. 339/2 A mylke Syle, colatorium. 1563 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, 1835) 207, ij great bowells, iij wodd skailles, one syle. Ibid. 208 One syell, j vergeus barrell, vj mylk bowlls. 1570 Levins Manip. 130 A Sile, colum. 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. 11. vi. (1668) 144 The bottom of this Syle through which the milk must pass, must be covered with a very clean-washt fine linnen-cloth. 1684 Yorkshire Dial. 35 Now let us hame and late for Bowls and Sile. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 352 Sile, a milk-strainer. 1825- in dial, gloss. (Yks., Northumbld., Lancs., Nott., Line., etc.).

sile (sail), sb.3 north, and Sc. Also 9 syle (dial. soil); sill. [Of Scand. origin: cf. ON. and Icel. sild, MSw. sildh, silp (Sw. sill), Norw. and Da. sild herring; also Icel. sili (older sil) a herring.] Young herring. a. 1769 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 288 The young herrings .. are then from half an inch to two inches long: those in Yorkshire are called Herring Sile. 1847 Halliw., Soil, the fry of the coal-fish. Cumb. 1863 Jean Ingelow Poems 186 Our folk call them syle and nought but syle, And when they’re grown, why then we call them herring. 1881 Day Fishes Gt. Brit. I. 295 The fry are called.. soil, poodler, billets or billiards up to one year of age. 1883 Day Fishes Gt. Brit. e. c 1400 Rowland & O. 401 Til a chambire gan pay syle, And gayly gan hym dighte. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1973 Sile furth of my sight in a sad haste. £-1420 Lydg. Lyfe Our Ladye (Caxton) d ij, And fysshe eke with fynnes silid fayre. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 14 As sober evening sweetly siles along. 1876 F. K. Robinson Whitby Gloss., Sde past, to glide by.

2. To fall or sink (down). Also dial., to subside. a 1400-50 Alexander 3043 (Ashm.), Siles doun on aithire side selcuth kni3tis, Sum darid, sum dede, sum depe wondid. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xvi, With sit siles he a-downe, To brittun him the king was bowne. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 524 He hard ane bugill blast.. As the seymjy sone silit to the rest. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 41 To Sile down: Lincoln, to fall to the bottom, or subside. 1827 Clare Sheph. Cal. 180 The white sand. . Now swimming up in silver threads, and then Slow siling down to bubble up again.

b. dial. To fall down in a swoon; to faint away. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss., To sile away, to faint away. 1820 Clare Rural Life (ed. 3) 152 ‘Your Nelly’s beguiled!* She said, and she siled on the floor. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss., Sile, to faint, to sink, or subside gradually.

3. fa. Of tears, etc.: To flow. Obs. £•1400 Destr. Troy 9210 Terys on his chekes Ronen full rifely .. J>en he driet vp the dropes, & [? read pat] dreghly can syle. 179° Grose Prov. Gloss., To sile o’er, to boil over.

SILE a 1800 Lord Derwentwater iii. in Bell Rhymes N. Bards (1812) 225 When he read the three next lines The tears began to sile. 1807 [see the ppl. a. below]. 1829 Brockett N.C. Gloss, (ed. 2), Sile, to percolate, to flow. 1878 Dickinson Cumbld. Gloss, s.v. Syle, ‘It syl’t and bled,’ after the manner of a syle.

b. dial. Of rain: To pour {down). 1703 Thoresby Let. Ray (E.D.S.), It Sites, i.e. rains fast. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Sile,.. to pour down with rain. 1865 Cornh. Mag. July 33 Rain in the Northern counties, when it falls perpendicularly, is said to ‘sile down’, as if in allusion to its passing through a sieve. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 171 ‘It’ll sile down till night,’.. replied the groom.

Hence f'siling vbl. sb. and ppl. a. Obs. C1400 Destr. Troy 1307 pe kyng.. siket full sore with sylyng of teris. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3794 Thane syghande he saide, with sylande terys. 1807 Stagg Poems 65 Rashly they scale the scattran swathe,.. An’ seylin sweats their haffets bathe.

sile, v.2 Now dial. Also 5-7, 9 syle, 8-9 Sc. seil, 8 soil. [Of Scand. origin: cf MSw. siila, sila, Sw. and Norw. sila in the same sense, perh. related to Fris. silje to sift.] 1. trans. To strain; esp. to pass (milk) through » a sieve or strainer. 14.. MS. Lincoln A. i. iy fol. 281 in Halliw. s.v., Temper it with hate ale, and sythene syle it thorowe a hate clathe. f 1450 Bk. Curtasye in Babees Bk. 322 Jx> euwere thurgh towelle syles clene His water into )?o bassynges shene. 1570 Levins Manip. 131 To syle milke, colare lac. 1615 Markham Eng. Houseiv. (1660) 150 You shall take your milk . . as it comes from the Cow, and syle it into a clean Tub. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 44 To Soil milk, to cleanse it. 1721 Kelly Sc. Prov. 274 Our Sowins are ill sowr’d, ill seil’d, ill-salted,.. and few o’ them. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 352 To Sile, to strain, as fresh milk from the cow. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xiv. The brown four-year-auld’s milk is not seiled yet. 1825- in dial, glossaries (E. Anglia, Northamp., Line., etc.). 1892 J. Lucas Kalm's Eng. 173 That which was over was siled in the above-named manner and made into butter. transf. 1820 Blackw. Mag. May 159 The.. gentle Nith canna call a single fin its ain,—they syle its current through the herling nets ’tween yule and yule. 1847 J Halliday Rustic Bard 264 The purest o’ water is siel’d through the rock.

f2. dial. To pour. Obs. 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss, s.v. Syle, He siled a gallon of ale down his throat.

Hence siled ppl. a.\ 'siling vbl. sb.

SILENCE

465

Also 'siler,

a milk-strainer (cf. siling-dish). 1615 Markham Eng. Housevi. n. iv. 109 marg., Silling of milke. a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, Sit'd Milk, skimmed milk. 1856 Henderson Pop. Rhymes 82 He handed her the milk-strainer, the milsey, or seiler.

fsile, v.z Obs. Chiefly Sc. Also 6-7 syle. [ad. OF. ciller {siller), f. cil eyelash, or med.L. ciliare (Du Cange). The usual English form is seel.] 1. trans. To sew up (the eyes of a hawk). rare-1. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. ii. (Tollemache MS.), Ofte pe y3en of suche briddes [hawks] bej? perc siled, closid oJ?er hid.

2. To cover (the eyes or sight). Also with up. C1500 Kennedie Passion of Christ 448 Sum.. filit his cristall eyne, And silit his sicht, as he a fule had bene. 1575 Reg. Privy Counc. Scotl. II. 479 Tuke thame nakit furth of thair beddis, and sylit thair eyis unto the tyme thay had distroyit the saidis houssis. 1629 Sir W. Mure True Crucifix 649 Now, siling vp his eyes, Hee streight must show Who him did most with causelesse strips infest.

b. fig. To deceive (the sight). 1584 Hudson Du Bartas' Judith 11. 155 Thus siling humain sight, it changed form: One while a Rod, one while a creeping worm. C1614 Sir W. Mure Dido & JEneas in. 422 Wast for this thow sought by slight To syle my sight, thy curst designes to cloake?

c. To deceive, beguile, or mislead (a person). A common Scottish use in the 16th century. 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 217 Dissymulance was besy me to sile. C1550 Lyndesay Trag. Abp. St. Andrews 205 With sweit and subtell wordis I did hym syle. 1585 Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 33 With doubtsum talk she craftely begylde, Not only Grece, but Spaine and Indes she sylde.

3. To cover, hide, conceal. c 1480 Henryson Test, of Cresseid 10 Quhen Titan had his bemis bricht Withdrawin doun, and sylit vnder cure, c 1500 Kennedie Passion of Christ 92 Silit he wes vnder schaddew of syn. 1513 Douglas JEneid xm. Prol. 42 Baith man and beste.. Involuit in tha schaddois warrin sild. 1551 Abp. Hamilton Catech. 70 Thai offend the Juge, fra quhom thai syle and hyde the veritie.

Hence f siled ppl. a. Obs. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform, iv. 129 Quhair Venus anis gettis in hir gouernance Sic sylit subiectis felterit in hir snair. 1612 J. Davies (Heref.) Muse's Sacr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 48/2 While like a siled Doue, we (Lord) aspire.

fsile, v.4 Obs. Also 5-6 syle. [Sc. and northern var. of ceil v.]

= ceil v. 2. (■1450 Holland Howlat 671 [A palace] Pantit and apparalit proudly in pane, Sylit semely with silk, c 1532 Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 949 To sile a wale, lambroisser. 1535 Coverdale J Kings vi. 20 He syled the altare with Ceder. Hence f siled ppl. a., ceiled. 1535 Coverdale Judges iii. 20 He sat in a syled Sommer perler. --Haggai i. 4 Ye y-oure selues can fynde tyme to dwell in syled houses.

sile-clout, -dish. quots.)

[f. sile sb.2 or v.2]

(See

1668 Markham's Eng. Housew. II. vi. 144 After your Milk is come home, you shall.. strain it from all unclean things through a neat and sweet kept Syledish. 1691 Ray N.C. Words A Sile-dish, a straining or cleansing Dish. 1876 F. K. Robinson Whitby Gloss., Sile-clout, the cloth stretched over the hole of the milk-strainer.

silen ('saibn). Also 6, 7 sylen(e. [ad. L. Silen-us, ad. Gr. Zei\r)vos: see Silenus.] 1. (Usu. with capital initial.) Gr. Mythol. One of the Sileni or wood-gods; a species of satyr. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witcher, vii. xv. (1886) 155 In our childhood our mother’s maids have so terrified us with .. satyrs, pans, faunes, sylens,.. that we are afraid of our own shadowes. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxv. x. II. 544 Lascivious wantonnesse, which he pourtraied by three drunken Sylenes making merrie and banketting togither. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 184/2 His [i.e. Socrates] appearance was not unlike that of the Silens and Satyrs. 1854 Keightley Mythol. (ed. 3) 206 Hermes and the Silens ‘mingle in love’ with the nymphs in pleasing caverns.

2. Zool. A species of macaque. 1848 tr. Hoffmeister's Trav. Ceylon, etc. 147 They were Silens, (Inuus Silenus) a species of short-tailed monkey.

sile'naceous, a. Bot. [f. silen-e + -aceous.] Belonging to the Sileneae, a division of the order Caryophyllaceae. Also si'lenal a. and sb., typified by the genus Silene\ a plant of this kind. 1836 Lindley Veget. Kingd. (1846) 495 The Silenal Alliance. Ibid., Natural Orders of Silenals. 1838 Penny Cycl. VIII. 475/2 Dianthus, a beautiful genus of Silenaceous Dicotyledonous plants.

silence ('saibns), sb. Forms: 3-6 scilence, 4-6 scylence, 6 scylens; 4-5 cilence; 5 sylens(e, 6 Sc. silens, 5-6 sylence, 3- silence, [a. OF. silence, scilence, ad. L. silentium, f. silere to be silent: cf. Prov. silenci, Sp. and Pg. silencio. It. silenzio.] 1. a. The fact of abstaining or forbearing from speech or utterance (sometimes with reference to a particular matter); the state or condition resulting from this; muteness, reticence, taciturnity. Occas. with a or in pi. a 1225 Ancr. R. 78 Ine silence & ine hope schal beon ower strencSe. Ibid., Heo mei ec hopien J?et heo schal ec singen Jmrh hire scilence sweteliche ine heouene. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 637 [He] gert scilence be mad, til he had sad pat wes in his gule. 1388 Wyclif Acts xix. 33 And Alisaundre axide with his hoond silence, and wolde 3elde a resoun to the puple. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 44 In Plutoys name [there was] commaundyd silence. 1474 Caxton Chesse 11. iii. (1883) 38 And oftetymes they selle as welle theyr scilence as theyr vtterance. 1535 Coverdale Job xxix. 21 Vnto me men gaue eare,.. & with sylence they taried for my councell. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, 11. ii. 178 No word to your Master that I am yet in Towne. There’s for your silence. 1601 Campion Wks. (1909) 24 Doe not demaund why I am mute: Loues silence doth all speech confute, a 1668 Davenant News fr. Plymouth 1. i, Silence becomes Men best, when Women talk. 1720 Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. I. ill. 157 The People intimidated, kept in a profound Silence for some Time. 1781 Cowper Retirement 414 The tongue .. Shall own itself a stamm’rer in that cause, Or plead its silence as its best applause. 1818 Shelley Julian 363 Nor dream that I will join the vulgar cry; Or with my silence sanction tyranny. 1847 Emerson Poems Wks. (Bohn) I. 471 Ye taught my lips a single speech, And a thousand silences. 1875 Farrar Silence & Voices ii. 29 What is called the silence of ignorance may sometimes be the silence of repudiation, sometimes even the reticence of scorn. 1967 G. Steiner Lang. & Silencers Dickens, Hopkins, Kipling are examples of modern writers whose root sensibility was oral, and who tried to adapt essentially oral means to the silences of print. personif. 1607 Shaks. Cor. 11. i. 192 My gracious silence, hayle: Would’st thou haue laugh’d, had I come Coffin’d home? 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 604 The wakeful Nightingale .. all night long her amorous descant sung; Silence was pleas’d. 1815 Shelley Alastor 65 And Silence, too enamoured of that voice, Locks its mute music in her rugged cell, a 1875 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 31 Elected Silence, sing to me. b. In the phrases to keep (or f hold) silence, to

break silence, in silence. (a) a 1225 Ancr. R. 22 Vrom pet, efter Preciosa, holdeS silence. C1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 228/324 Hov holde 3e so silence pat neuer on ne spekez with opur? c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 336 As pai come til his presence, he gert pe puple kepe scilence. c 1450 Rule Syon Monast. liii. in Collect. Topogr. 1. (1834) 31 Alle schal there kepe hyghe silence. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) I. 122 With this Iupiter helde his pees and kept scilence. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 18 He required him that his adversaries might kepe silence. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. 11, ix. 211 They kept a strict silence all the week. 1819 Shelley Cenci iv. iv. 88 He keeps firm silence; but these lines found on him May speak. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 102 This is an event respecting which it is impossible to keep silence. (b) 1390 Gower Conf. I. 86 Thus fulofte my silence I breke. C1400 Destr. Troy 2525 Than Troilus.. brake Sylense belyue, and abrode saide. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 42 He [Morpheus] mumbled soft, but would not all his silence breake. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 895 At length First to him¬ self he inward silence broke. 1718 Pope Iliad xix. 461 He broke Eternal silence, and portentous spoke. 1783 Burns Poor Mailie 12 At length poor Mailie silence brak. 1842 Browning Pied Piper iv, An hour they sate in council, At length the Mayor broke silence. (c) C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 93 We shulden be tymes reste, and preye to God in scilence. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 41 He kept the nyhte in peas and silence. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 993 pan sole in silence sail he sitt, And rays him self abouen his witt. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 566 In speech will I ever render

thankes, and in silence acknowledge my selfe most deepely endebted. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. 1. xvii. 75 But had the Crow his Food in Silence eat, Less had his Quarrels been. 1757 W. Wilkie Epigoniad vii. 192 Amaz’d we stood; in silence, each his mind To fear and hope alternately resign’d. 1827 *n Scott Chron. Canongate Introd. App., The next toast.. he wished to be drunk in solemn silence. 1889 Sat. Rev. 9 Feb. 145/2 A brave man suffers in silence.

c. to put to silence, to silence by argument or prohibition; fto put to death; also f 1° put silence (un)to, to reduce to silence. (a) 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxii. 34 Pharisees, heerynge that he hadde put silence to Saducees. 1508 Kennedie Fly ting w. Dunbar 41 Heir I put sylence to the in all partis. 1677 Yarranton Eng. Improv. 155, I know writing Books of Trade .. puts a silence unto the whole History, be it never so good. (b) 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) p. xxxvii, The ii. sonnys of Kinge Edward were put to silence. 1529 More Dyaloge 1. Wks. 127/1 Ye haue put me to sylence, that I dare not nowe bee bolde to tell you that I haue sene it my selfe. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love Brief Descr. iiij b, Which wordes so often he repeated, that thereby he put Barry to silence. 1601 Shaks. Jul. C. 1. ii. 290 Murrellus and Flauius, for pulling scarffes off Caesars Images, are put to silence. ci68o Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 499 So as to put them to silence. 1846 Trench Mirac. xix. (1862) 326 He had put them to silence and to shame before all the people. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xlii. 424 Tyndale.. would.. sometimes put all the dignitaries to silence by his arguments. fig. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 254 Such force and dexterity, as may be able to putte your overthwart obstinacy to scilence. 1590 J. Smyth in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 60 My little Booke. .shall be put to silence and abolished.

d. Used imperatively, = Be silent; make no noise. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. v. i. 266 But silence, heere comes Thisby. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 216 Silence, ye troubl’d waves, and thou Deep, peace. 1728 Pope Dune. ill. 165 Silence, ye Wolves! while Ralph to Cynthia howls. 1819 Shelley Cyclops 475 Silence now! Ye know the close device. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets vii. 225 Silence! Hush! what noise was this?

e. The renunciation of speech chosen or vowed by certain religious or monastic orders, esp. the Trappists; a period during which the members of a community or retreat renounce speech. Freq. in phr. the rule of silence. 1387, c 1450 [see sense 7 ]. a 1631 Donne Poems (1633) 69 Harmelesse fish monastique silence keepe. 1884 Addis & Arnold Cath. Diet. 804/1 Probably the most trying part of all the discipline is the silence, no monk being allowed to speak to his brother on any occasion. 1921 G. O’Donovan Vocations xxii. 305 Hush, Sister. The rule of silence is no joke. 1957 P. L. Fermor Time to keep Silence 67 There is a special dispensation from the rule of silence for the monks who deal with the abbey livestock when they are actually addressing their dumb charges. 1978 Oxford Diocesan Mag. Dec. 17/1 Then there was the two days’ retreat... At no time.. was the sense of fellowship more apparent than during the silence.

f. Proverbial phr. silence is golden, gives consent see consent sb. 1 c.

silence

1834 Carlyle Sort. Res. iii. iii, in Fraser's Mag. June 668/1 As the Swiss Inscription says: Sprechen ist silbern, Schweigen ist golden (Speech is silvern, Silence is golden). 1865 W. White Eastern England 11. ix. 129 Silence is golden, says the proverb. We apprehended the full significance thereof when far away from busy thoroughfares. 1935 M. V. Hughes Vivians vii. 138 ‘Did you tell him about that?’ ‘No, and I’m wondering whether I ought to?’ ‘I shouldn’t if I were you. Silence is golden.’ 1980 J. O’Neill Spy Game xxv. 239 ‘I’ll tell you the rest.. on the way back.’ He sealed her lips with a finger. ‘Meanwhile, silence is golden.’

2. a. The state or condition when nothing is audible; absence of all sound or noise; complete quietness or stillness; noiselessness. Sometimes personified. Also const, of (the night, etc.). 1382 Wyclif Isaiah viii. 6 The watris of Siloe, that gon with cilence. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. x. ii. (1495) 27 b, Derknesse is seen yf noo thynge is seen, & scylence is knowen yf noo thynge is herde. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xxxv. i Lucina schynnyng in silence of the nicht. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 59 Whenas all the world in silence deepe Yshrowded was. 1602 Shaks. Ham. 11. ii. 506 But as we often see against some storme, A silence in the Heauens. C1630 Milton Upon the Circumcision 5 Through the soft silence of the list’ning night. 1738 Wesley Hymns, ‘Regent of all the Worlds above' iii, Fair Queen of Silence, Silver Moon. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 84 Stillness, accompanied with sounds so soft, Charms more than silence. 1832 Macaulay Armada 49 Then bugle’s note and cannon’s roar the deathlike silence broke. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xix, There twice a day the Severn fills;.. And makes a silence in the hills. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 25 Can I.. sharpen ear to recognize Sound o’er league and league of silence?

b. Used allusively to denote the state beyond this life. Chiefly in pi. and with initial capital. 1803-6 Wordsw. Ode Intimat. Immortality ix, Power to make Our noisy years seem moments in the being Of the eternal Silence. 1851 Carlyle Sterling i. i, To return silently, with his small, sorely foiled bit of work, to the Supreme Silences. 1908 E. Miller Martyrs of the Moors 55 In fear and darkness his soul floated out to the great Silence.

c. Torwer of Silence, one of a number of small towers upon the summit of which the Parsees place their dead (see quot. 1865). 1865 Chambers's Encycl. VII. 300 Their dead are not buried, but exposed on an iron grating in the Dokhma, or tower of Silence, to the fowls of the air. c 1880 Grant Hist. India I. lxix. 359/1 The exposure of their dead in the Towers of Silence, to be eaten by the birds.

d. Phr. the rest is silence and varr., in allusion to the last words of the dying Hamlet (Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 368).

SILENCE 1910 Galsworthy Justice 11. 49 Once this cheque was altered and presented, the work of four minutes—four mad minutes—the rest has been silence. 1939 A. Huxley After Many a Summer 11. i. 187 If only the rest were silence!.. What joy if the rest of Wordsworth had been silence, the rest of Coleridge, the rest of Shelley! 1982 Daily Tel. 2 June 16/4 In most of the countries involved the eternal tug-of-war between Government and news media has long since ended. The curtain has fallen. The rest is silence.

refl. 1604 Shaks. Ham. in. iv. 4 lie silence me e’ene heere: Pray you be round with him. fig- *736 Butler Anal. 1. i. Wks. 1874 I- 18 How difficult it is to silence imagination enough to make the voice of reason even distinctly heard. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, And, for a time, silenced his conscience.

e. A period of silence observed in memory of the dead, esp. the two minutes’ silence kept on the anniversary of Armistice Day (11 Nov. 1918) or, since 1946, on Remembrance Sunday.

1604 Shaks. Oth. 11. iii. 175 Silence that dreadfull Bell, it frights the Isle, From her propriety. 1735 Sheridan in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 99 Upon desiring him to silence our dog. 1789 Cowper Mrs. Throckmorton s Bulfinch 59 That beak .. Might have repaid him well, I wote, For silencing so sweet a throat. 1810 Scott Lady of Lake in. iii, The mountain eagle. . spread her dark sails on the wind, And .. Silenced the warblers of the brake. 1859 Tennyson Merlin & V. 391 It is the little rift within the lute That by and by will make the music mute, And ever widening slowly silence all.

1919 Times 12 Nov. 15/6 The Great Silence... At 11 o’clock yesterday morning the nation, in response to the King’s invitation, paid homage to the Glorious Dead by keeping a two minutes’ silence for prayer and remembrance. Ibid. 16/1 On the Stock Exchange, after the silence, a gong was sounded. 1926 A. Topham Chron. Prussian Court xx. 245 We discussed among other things the Titanic disaster [1912] which had recently happened, and I remember referring to ‘the silence’ of two minutes by which the Canadian railways and churches had honoured the memory of the Canadians who had perished. 1929 B.B.C. Year-bk. 1930 78 Broadcasting the Silence November nth, 1928. 1972 ‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing (1973) xxii. 188 The game was preceded by a two-minute silence in memory of Billy Sicagusa. 1982 D. Phillips Coconut Kiss vi. 52 You march once round the playground and salute the flag... Then you go in for the two minutes’ silence.

3. a. Omission of mention, remark, or notice in narration. Chiefly in phrases to pass with, pass over in, silence. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge Prol. 114 It were no reason her name be had in scylence, But to the people her name be magnyfyed. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxxiii. 156 Ordinances, which I passe with silence. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa in. 131, I would much rather haue smothered such matters in silence. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 385 Eternal silence be thir doome. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 1 IP 3 As for the rest of my Infancy, there being nothing in it remarkable, I shall pass it over in Silence.

b.

Neglect or omission to write (about something); failure to communicate or reply. 1617 Moryson I tin. 11. 206 By Don Jeans silence from Spaine, this overture .. tooke no effect as long as the Queene lived. 1698 Froger Voy. Aj, The silence of all those who made the voyage with me, constrained me to expose it to publick view. 1771 Junius Lett. liv. (1788) 292, I under¬ stand that the public are not satisfied with my silence;—that an answer is expected of me. 1790 Paley Horae Paul. 11. i. 9 The silence of the historian .. concerning any contribution, might lead us to look out for some different journey.

f4. A small hammer used to command silence or order. Obs.~x 1556 in Jupp Acc. Carpenters' Comp. (1887) l39 He helde not his peess before the master hade knockyd with the sylence iij tymes.

5. Mus. A rest. 1752 tr. Rameau's Treat. Music 171 This Silence or Rest can be made but upon a Concord or consonant Note. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh v. 342 The soul.. With all its grand orchestral silences To keep the pauses of its rhythmic sounds.

6. Distill. Want of flavour in distilled spirit. (Cf. silent a. 5 c.) 1879 Spon's Encycl. Manuf. I. 229 Owing to its ‘silence’, there is no possibility of detecting afterwards from what source it has been obtained.

7. attrib. and Comb., as silence time, and in recent use silence-box, command, room, rule, etc.; silence-loving adj.; silence cabinet, (a) = silence-box; (b) (see quot. 1929). 1889 Telephone I. 471/1 The public is also admitted to a silence-box at the Nottingham Post Office. 1894 Daily News 28 Mar. 3/1 These particulars are telephoned into a silencebox at the Central Savings Bank. 1893 Preece & Stubbs Man. Teleph. 227 At most telephone exchanges a ‘silence cabinet’ is provided in the public office. 1929 B.B.C. Yearbk. 1930 309 In Savoy Hill there are nine studios, six of which are equipped with silence cabinets (these are small rooms adjacent to the studios from which the announcer can speak before switching over to the studio itself). 1855 F. W. Faber Growth in Holiness ix. 147 It wrung a cry even from the silence-loving Heart of our ever-blessed Saviour. 1912 W. Owen Let. 23 June (1967) 142 The firm Superintendent of their Sunday School, the silence-loving, and the melancholy-voiced, on that day capered about the lawn among them. 1958 S. Hyland Who goes Hang? xviii. 77 They were in the Silence Room of the Library, a room in which conversation.. is.. a tabu. 1959 T. S. Eliot Elder Statesman 11. 47 And remember, when you want to be very quiet There’s the Silence Room. With a television set. 1894 Daily News 14 May 5/1 He promised the modification and virtually the abolition of the silence rule. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 19 Speke wolde he nevere, as it is i-write in pe questiouns l?at he wroot in his scilence tyme. c 1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 268 Eche suster.. shalle answer thus a3ene in lyke voyce thof it be sylence tyme.

silence ('saitans), v. Also 6 silense. [f. prec.] 1. trans. To cause or compel (one) to cease speaking on a particular occasion; also, to overcome in argument. 1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. v. i. 181 Silence that fellow: I would he had some cause to prattle for himselfe. 1683 D. A. Art of Converse 18 If they happen to be silenc’d by another they become on a sudden ill humour’d. 1733 Present State of Popery 21 This learned priest has silenc’d the parson. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xiii, Paulo was silenced for a while by a significant look from his master. 1825 Scott Betrothed xvii, Silenced by this hint, the chirurgeon betook himself to his proper duty. 1877 Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. 1. iv. 47 The Archbishop of York peculiarly irritated Becket, and was silenced by a violent answer.

SILENT

466

b. To cause (an animal or thing) to cease from giving out its natural sound; to still, quieten.

c. To stop, suppress (a noise or sound). 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xvii, Silence her cursed noise, if you should throttle her. 1819-Ivanhoe xxxi, An awful pause of horror silenced each murmur of the armed spectators.

2. To reduce (a person, etc.) to silence by restraint or prohibition, esp. in order to prevent the free expression of opinions. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, v. ii. 97 Imagine me, taking your part. And in your power, soft silencing your Sonne. 1607 -Cor. 11. i. 263 He would Haue.. silenc’d their Pleaders, And dispropertied their Freedomes. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 38 We may not marvell, if not so often bad, as good Books were silenc’t. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 157 He saw that the R. Cath. Religion would be silenced in England. 1727 Boyer Diet. Royal 11, To silence the Play-house, interdire la Comedie. 1861 Hook Lives Abps. I. i. 2 Oppression was legalised and Parliaments were silenced. 1879 B. Taylor Germ. Lit. 165 If arms silence laws, they silence letters all the more speedily.

b. To put down, repress (any expression of feeling, etc.). 1647 Sanderson Serm. II. 207 To silence all tumultuous thoughts and secret murmurings of our evil hearts. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iv. xlvi. 380 Let them [5c. opinions] be silenced by the Laws of those, to whom the Teachers of them are subject. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & Fall xlv. IV. 434 The complaints of the people could no longer be silenced by the splendid names of a legislator and a conqueror. 1833 Ht. Martineau Tale of Tyne vii. 124 She vehemently silenced poor Tim’s suggestions. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §5. 139 A threat of excommunication silenced the murmurs of the clergy.

3. a. Mil. and Naval.

To compel (a gun, battery, or ship) to cease firing; to disable by superior fire; to stop (the fire of a gun). 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand, xxxiii, The enemy’s fire.. slackened, and towards evening was quite silenced. 1755 in Naval Chron. (1799) I. 9 We silenced three of her lower deck guns. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 345 The batteries .. opened on the town and fort, and soon silenced their fire. 1893 Forbes-Mitchell Gt. Mutiny 96 A number of the best shots.. were selected to try and silence the fire from the battery.

b. slang. (See quot.) 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., To silence a man, to knock him down, or stun him.

f4. To leave unmentioned or unnoticed; to pass over in silence, to omit. Obs. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. Epitome 381 The Surname Tuder: wherein .. that of Plantagenet is inclusiuely silenced. 1627 W. Sclater Exp. 2 Thess. (1629) 133 The., coniectures of the late Interpreter.. I willingly silence. 1660 Holm wood in J. Bland Trade Revived Pref., I was., injoyned.. to silence his name, and have accordingly delivered sundry books to divers worthy Persons under a Nonemus.

silencer ('saibns9(r)). [f. 1. One who, or that

silence v. + -er1.]

which, conclusive argument or retort.

silences;

a

1635 Strafford Lett. (1739) I. 419 Death (the great Silencer of all our Words and Thoughts). 1684 Baxter Twelve Argt. Post. N 3, Both Extreams .. are silencers of all that would undeceive them. 1817 Keats To Georgiana A. Wylie 64 Bane of every wicked spell; Silencer of dragon’s yell. 1871 G. Meredith Harry Richmond xv, But my retort .. was a silencer.

2. A piece of mechanism attached to a motor vehicle and used to silence or reduce the sound naturally caused by its working; also, a similar contrivance attached to a maxim gun, rifle, etc. 1898 Autocar 5 Feb. 93/2 A more satisfactory silencer than the average run of silencers on Bollees. 1905 Engineering 20 Oct. 529/3 This form of silencer is not necessarily confined to marine motors. 1926 G. Hunting Vicarion vi. 98 He must have had a silencer on his gun. 1950 G. Brenan Face of Spain vii. 149 Nine hours in a bus without a silencer.. over mountain roads full of pot-holes. 1958 Economist 25 Oct. 349/3 Silencers on the engines reduce their efficiency by 4 to 5 per cent, and the total weight of silencing equipment is 1,600 lb, equivalent to 8 passengers. 1978 R. Ludlum Holer oft Covenant iii. 44 He opened the door, pulled out his revolver and fired, the gunshot muted by a silencer.

Hence 'silencered a., of guns: fitted with a silencer (cf. silenced ppl. a. b). 1967 J. Wainwright Worms must Wait lxxxii. 214 They heard the tiny crack of the silencered Luger.

'silencing, vbl. sb. [f.

silence v. + -ing1.] The action of the verb in various senses. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 123 Neuer exceeding a penny a quart, day nor night; and this deare yeare, together with the silencing of his loombes, scarce that. 1635 Strafford Lett. (1739) I. 406 This only.. hath been my motive for the silencing this Business thus long. 1651 Baxter Saints' Rest 11. vi. §4 marg., About the time of the silencing of Ministers. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 607 From that time to his silencing, he was a very zealous person for promoting the cause. 1751 J. Brown Ess. Shaftesb. Charac. 62 So much for the silencing, which is the only conviction, of obstinacy and ignorance. 1895 Athenaeum 31 Aug. 281/2 Very probably there was some partial silencing of the archery on one flank of the English host.

'silencing, ppl. a.

[-ing2.]

That reduces to

silence; conclusive. 1800 Swanston Serm. & Led. I. 224 This was a silencing question. 1870 Daily Telegr. 6 Oct., It is impossible to give any silencing answer to those pestilent querists.

t'silency. Obs. rare. [See

silence sb. and -Y.]

Silence. 1634 Lenton Inns of Crt. Anagrammatist B iv, And, in Love’s silency, Whisperd each other, Lord, what a back hath he! 1642 H. More Song of Soul 1. ii. 20 The Moon in silency Doth passe by night. Ibid. iii. 65 In solem silency this vapour rose.

Silene (sai'liim). Bot. [mod.L. (Linnaeus), f. L. Silenus Silenus.] A genus of caryophyllaceous plants typifying the tribe Sileneae. Also (with lower-case initial) a plant belonging to this genus; catchfly. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xix. (1794) 274 In Cucubalus it [the calyx] is much inflated, and in Silene it is swelling. 1796 Withering Brit. PI. (ed. 3) II. 414 It is evident from Ray’s description that the Dover plant is a Silene, and not a Cucubalus. 1846 Lindley Veget. Kingd. 497 Some Silenes are scattered in many different parts of the globe. 1882 Good Words Mar. 184 Overgrown by masses of pink silene or tall graceful asphodels.

f5. To get rid of (a thing) by maintaining silence. Const, away. Obs.—1

Silenic (sai'limik), a. [f. Silen-us -IResembling Silenus or one of the Sileni.

1788 Mme. D’Arblay Diary IV. iv. 197 The subject., being always embarrassing to me,.. I silenced it away.

In both passages the reference is to Socrates. 1822 Shelley Prose Wks. (1888) II. 108 Appearances in themselves excessively Silenic. 1850 Grote Greece 11. lxviii. VIII. 605 Its effect was enhanced .. by the very eccentricity of his Silenic physiognomy.

6. intr. To cease speaking; to become silent or still, rare. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 30 The Heralds bad sone silence all and ceis. 1594 R. Carew Tasso (1881) 13 The olde man silenst here. Ibid. 91 There silenc’d she, and seemed a disdaine Royall and noble flamed in her face. 1886 Randolph Mostly Fools III. i. 25 The busy bustling room silenced and sobered instantly.

silenced ('saibnst), ppl. a. [f. prec.] a. That has been reduced or put to silence; spec, forbidden to preach or hold services on account of refusal to comply with some order. 1606 (title), A Christian.. Offer of a most indifferent Conference.. abovt the maine and principall Controversies betwixt the Prelats, and the late silenced and deprived Ministers. 1644 in Wilkins Polit. Ball, (i860) I. 15 The silenc’d clergy. . In your damnation will bear share. 1681 Baxter Apol. Nonconf. Min. 1 Apology for the Silenced ministers. 1731 Calamy Life (1830) I. i. 77, I went afterwards to Mr. Tatnal’s, who was the silenced minister of St. John Evangelist. 1737 Pope Horace, Ep. 11. i. 237 The silenc’d Preacher yields to potent strain. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxii, In yon field below, A thousand years of silenced factions sleep. 1825 Ld. Cockburn Mem. (1856) 352 Its old and long silenced claims., were now revived. 1836 H. Rogers Lz/e Howe iv. 150 Though Howe was an ejected minister, he could not consent to be a silenced one.

b. Of a gun: fitted with a silencer. 1965 [see gunsel 2]. 1974 ‘I. Drummond’ Power of Bug vii. 106 Why did the chap poke a silenced pistol through the window? 1980 Daily Tel. 15 Oct. 3 He would not shoot Henry MacKenny with a silenced firearm.

silenite,

-ic.]

obs. form of selenite.

silent ('saibnt), a. and sb.

[ad. L. silent-em, pres. pple. of silere to be silent.] A. adj. 1. a. Keeping or maintaining silence; refraining from speech or utterance; speechless, mute, dumb. Also, taciturn, reticent, reserved. Phr. strong silent man (or person, type, etc.): a man who conceals and controls his feelings.

1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Taciturnulus, somwhat silente. 1580 Fulke Dang. Rock 164 He is as silent as a Stone. 1588 Greene Penmedes Wks. (Grosart) VII. 22 Delia by being silent, seemed to consent. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. iv. iv. 178 Pol. She dances featly. Shep, So she do’s anything, though I report it That should be silent. 1664 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 167 Upon so extraordinary occasions .„ had I an hundred tongues I should be struck silent. 1715 Pope Iliad 1. 430 At awful Distance long they silent stand, Loth to advance, or speak their hard Command. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian i, Which kept him silent, notwithstanding his wish to speak. 1821 Scott Kenilw. vi, If I could think myself the cause of Tressilian’s ruin,.. I might be brought to be silent. 1840 Carlyle Chartism iv. 30 With this strong silent people have the noisy vehement Irish now at length got common cause made. 1848 Dickens Dombey i, They were both silent for a time, she weeping. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 374 Throughout the two dialogues Socrates continues a silent auditor. 1905 M. Beerbohm in Sat. Rev. 23 Sept. 401/1 He is going to cry? No, the hero is one of those strong, silent men. 1913 C. Mackenzie Sinister Street I. 11. xv. 407 She said I must be careful not to grow up into

SILENTIAL a strong silent Englishman, because their day was done. I9X9 A. A. Milne Not that it Matters 142 It is useless to model ourselves now on the strong, silent man of the novel whose face is a shutter to hide his emotions. 1936 W. S. Maugham Cosmopolitans 260 These for the most part are strong silent men who waste no words. 1978 L. Charteris Saint & Templar Treasure (1979) i. 25 I’ve always fancied myself as the strong silent type. absol. 1778 Miss Burney Evelina lxiv, She has neither leisure nor thought to attend to the silent.

b. transf. and fig. of things. 1605 Shaks. Lear 1. iv. 70 My duty cannot be silent, when I thinke your Highnesse wrong’d. 1659 Gentl. Calling (1696) 160 Idleness though a Crying sin .. hath been the silentest of my guilts. 1757 Gray Epitaph Mrs. Clarke 1 Where this silent marble weeps, A friend, a wife, a mother, sleeps. 1779 Mirror No. 61, There is a silent chronicle of past hours in the inanimate things amidst which they have been spent. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. viii, The song was silent, and the dance expired. 1838 Lytton Alice 16 Respect the silent heart of your mother. 1862 Tennyson Ded. Idylls 16 All narrow jealousies Are silent; and we see him as he moved.

c. Of animals, birds, etc. 1801 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds Suppl. II. 204 Silent Tanager... Inhabits the thick woods of Guiana... A solitary bird. 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 11. 330 Silent shrike... Native of the interior of Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. 2832 Tennyson CEnone 25 The grasshopper is silent in the grass. phrase. 1828 Lytton Pelham lx, The silent sow sups all the broth. 1855 Haliburton Nature & Hum. Nature I. vii. 201 The silent pig is the best feeder.

d. as silent as the grave: of a place, hushed, containing no natural noise; of a person, secretive, discreet. 1823 J. F. Cooper Pilot I. vi. 78 ‘Does he keep silent?’ ’As the grave.’ 1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 1 July (1946) 89 The house .. became silent as the grave. 1889 R. L. Stevenson Master of Ball. iii. 62 We.. lowered ourselves softly into a skiff, and left that ship behind us as silent as the grave. 1936 W. S. Maugham Cosmopolitans 269,1 will be as silent as the grave, but honestly I don’t understand. What does it all mean?

2. Of writers, books, etc.: Omitting mention of or reference to, passing over or disregarding, something in narration; containing no account or record. Const, f in, of, as to, f to. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 171 For (to be silent in matters of more auncient memory) about the yeare of our lorde 1300 [etc.]. 1629 Pemble On Zachary 92 Why were they silent of the other fasts, and touch onely vpon this? 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 398 Our Historians.. would not certainly have been silent of so considerable a structure, had they been the Authors of it. 1762 Foote Orators 1. Wks. 1780 II. 25 The Court-Register has been silent to the members of common-council. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 280 Although history be silent as to many other inundations of the like kind. 1858 Nat. Rev. Oct. 505 The men of letters are so silent of them as to indicate [etc.]. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 224 As to the other shire .. history is equally silent.

3. a. Characterized or marked by silence or absence of speech; performed, made, suffered, etc., in silence or without speaking. the silent system, a method of discipline enforced in a prison, penitentiary, etc., which imposes complete silence on all occasions. 1592 Daniel Compl. Rosamond 128 Sw'eet silent Rhetorique of perswading eyes. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxv. §5 Religion hauing likewise her silent rites. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. 204 Princes politickly understanding their mutual secret language (not to say silent signs). 1691 Hartcliffe Virtues 319 His Religion was to be placed in a sober and silent Piety. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. 1. xiv. 20 A Country-Life was then your silent Prayer. 1779 Mirror No. 27, That silent and majestic sorrow which commands our reverence and our admiration. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxviii, The younger knights told each other with their eyes, in silent correspondence [etc.]. 1836-7 Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xvii, We went over the House of Correction .. to witness the operation of the silent system. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 14 She took care that they should be silent tears. 1891 Fishing Gaz. 14 Feb. 85/3 Then he drank a silent whiskey and left.

b. Of letters: Not sounded or pronounced; mute. See also quot. 1662. 1605 Camden Rem. (1623) 27 The adding., of our silent E, in the end of some words. 1662 Playford Skill Mus. 1. viii. (1674) 26 Pauses or Rests are silent Characters, or an artificial omission of the Voyce or Sound. 1711 J. Greenwood Eng. Gram. 301 Other Letters.. are quiescent or silent. 1869 Ellis E.E. Pronunc. I. 570 The final e seems to have become silent even in 14. or 13. in the northern parts of the country. 1881 Tylor Anthrop. vii. 179 The now silent letters are relics of sounds which used to be really heard in Anglo-Saxon.

c. Unmentioned, unrecorded; marked by the absence of any record, rare. 1616 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. III. 46, I cannot keep silent the singular pietie & bouldnesse of a certaine woeman. 1868 Milman St. Paul's ii. 28 He was bishop .. for ten silent years. 1981 Macniven & Moore Literary Lifelines p. v, Silent corrections have been limited to restoring transposed letters.

d. (See quot.) 1888 Heron Church Sub-Apostolic Age 90 His quotations are what have been called ‘Silent’, without any mention of the source.

e. Of a cinema film: unaccompanied by sound recording. Also in extended use to designate that which is related to or concerned with the silent film industry. 1914 [see filmdom]. 1918 N.Y. Times 25 Nov. 11/3 (heading) Two opera stars in silent films. 1927 Melody Maker Sept. 933/3, I can see very little difference between the music appropriate to the spoken drama and that for the

SILENTIAL

467

silent screen. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? iv. 59 He was married to one of the big silent stars. 1967 Listener 30 Nov. 712/2 Rooming houses full of stars of silent pictures whom nobody remembers. 1977 R. Barnard Death on High C’s ii. 19 In Owen’s production .. you will be the silent-film heroine, and I will be the silent-film handsome seducer.

4. a. Characterized by the absence of sound or noise; quiet, noiseless, still. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. ii. i. 22 Till painefull studie shall outweare three yeares, No woman may approach his silent Court. 1594 -j-Rich. Ill, v. iii. 85 The silent houres steale on, And flakie darkenesse breakes within the East. 1638 Junius Paint. Anctents 14 The nights.. whose length is abundantly able.. to stirre up our phantasie by a silent quietnesse. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 547 Others more milde, Retreated in a silent valley, a 1770 Jortin Serm. (1771) V. 42 The Providence of God acts in a silent and mysterious manner. 1794 Coleridge Tears in Solitude 1 A green and silent spot, amid the hills, A small and silent dell! 1833 Tennyson Lotos Eaters 16 Three mountain-tops, Three silent pinnacles of aged snow. 1887 L. Oliphant Episodes iv. 67 It involved.. bark-canoeing on distant and silent lakes.

b. Making, or giving out, no noise or sound. 1753 Challoner Cath. Chr. Instr. 220 From .. this Day .. our Bells are silent throughout the Catholic Church. 1798 in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. p. clvi, The Guerrier and Conquerant.. continued for a considerable time to fire .. a gun or two, and about 8 o’clock .. were totally silent. 1827 Pollok Course Time ix, He went abroad, With foot as silent as the starry dews. 1859 Tennyson Marriage of Geraint 321 A piece of turret stair Worn by the feet that now were silent. 1890 R. Academy Catal. 52 North Sea fishermen call screw steamers ‘Silent Deaths’, from their noiseless approach.

c. Of machinery, etc.: operating causing a minimum of noise.

with

or

1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 524/1 Dr. Otto’s ‘silent’ engine, introduced in 1876, was the first successful motor of the modern type. 1904 A. B. F. Young Compl. Motorist (ed. 2) iv. 103 The silent working of the Lanchester car makes it also an extremely useful carriage for town use. a 1943 H. A. Whitcombe in J. Joyce Trams of Past (1979) 25 The citizens of Birmingham were proud of their steam trams and acclaimed them before all others for their.. smooth and silent running.

5. fa. Of the moon: Not shining. Obs. a 1646 J. Gregory Posthuma (1650) 202 The most easie deliverie .. is alwaies in the increas, toward and in the full of the Moon, and the hardest labors in the new and silent Moon. 01727 Newton Daniel 1. xi. (1733) 160 The Jews referred all the time of the silent moon, as they phrased it, that is, of the moon’s disappearing, to the old moon.

b. Inactive, quiescent, not operative. 1745 tr. Columella's Husb. iv. xxx, The proper time for setting them is before they bud, while the rods are silent [L. dum silent virgae]. 1828-32 [see silent partner, sense 7 below]. 1867 Argyll Reign of Law i. 34 In many animal frames there are what have been called ‘silent members’, members which have no reference to the life or use of the animal. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 203 A volcano, after being silent for ages, may suddenly start forth into fresh life. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 643 One of the so-called ‘silent’ areas of the brain; for lesions in this situation are not infrequently latent, that is unattended with definite localising symptoms. 1974 Nature 1 Feb. 295/2 Enhancing serum as used in series b was then absorbed to remove Ag-B antibodies but possibly not antibodies against (? serologically silent) products of other genes in the MHC, if such exist. 1979 Ibid. 5 July 12/3 The recessive scrapie allele is likely to be widespread but clinically ‘silent’ in these breeds.

c. Of distilled spirit: Possessing no flavour. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 405 Well purified or clean spirits, such as the distillers call silent whiskey. Ibid. 1255 A little silent spirit of wine being poured in. 1879 Spon's Encycl. Manuf. I. 228 The Irish distillers.. assert further that the Scotch produce or ‘silent spirit’ as they agree to term it.. possesses no flavour.

d. Med. Not giving rise to or showing readily apparent signs or symptoms. 1928 W. Overend Radiogr. of Chest II. iv. 49 There are two forms of silent pneumonia: a hilar which does not reach the pleura; and a cortical which does not reach the hilum. 1951 [see latent a. d]. 1979 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 171/2 We have had no great disease problem associated with them as yet but I have a feeling that the natural host is often a silent carrier.

6. Comb. a. With adverbial force, as silentblessing, -falling, -gliding, -marking, -speak¬ ing, etc. ci6ii Chapman Iliad xv. 35 Thou Flood, whose silentgliding waues, the vnder ground doth beare. 1728-46 Thomson Spring 882 Like silent-working Heaven, surprising oft The lonely heart with unexpected good. 1786 Burns Lament ix, Oft has thy silent-marking glance Observ’d us. 1820 Keats Lamia 11. 148 Wherefore flout The silent-blessing fate, warm cloister’d hours? 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xcv. 26 On the silence broke The silent-speaking words. 1868 J. H. Newman Verses Var. Occas. 157, I will.. view Each shrivelling stalk and silent-falling leaf,

b. Parasynthetic, as silent-footed, -lighted. 1845J. R. Lowell To Future in Graham's Mag. XXVIII. 52 And he can see the grim-eyed Doom From out the trembling gloom Its silent-footed steeds toward his palace goading. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. Concl. 112 The silentlighted town. 1895 Clive Holland My Japanese Wife 11 A white cat flits ghost-like and silent-footed across the path.

7. Special collocations: silent band = silent majority (b) below; silent cop (Austral.) (see quot. 1934); silent (dog) whistle, a highfrequency whistle producing a note audible to a dog but scarcely audible to a human being; silent heat (Vet.), ovulation occurring without the signs of oestrus; f silent highway, a river or canal (obs.); Silent Land, used allusively to denote the state beyond this life; silent

majority, (a) the dead; (b) the mass of people whose views remain unexpressed, esp. in political contexts; those who are usu. overlooked because of their moderation; silent partner (U.S.) = sleeping partner s.v. sleeping ppl. a. 5 a; silent policeman (N.Z.) = silent cop above; silent service (see quot. 1929); silent spring, in allusion to the title of the work by R. Carson (see quot. 1962), which drew attention to the danger to the natural environment inherent in the use of toxic chemicals; silent vote (U.S.), the vote of those whose political leanings are not known in advance of their vote being cast; so silent voter. 1866 G. Meredith Let. 15 Jan. (1970) I. 326 Will bawlings in the street avail?.. They irritate the slumbering dominant party, without strengthening the insurgent. What is being done in the Fortnightly, for instance.. does strengthen, while it increases the silent band. 1934 T. Wood Cobbers x. 122 A circle in the middle of cross-roads, for example, round which all traffic changing direction must swing; a round yellow blob, known here [sc. in Adelaide] as the Silent Cop, or the Poached Egg. 1959 D. Hewitt Bobbin Up 2 This was the corner, by the silent cop, where she and Roy had come to grief. 1961 C. Willock Death in Covert iv. 64 Attached .. to the lapel of Gumbe-Howard’s coat was a silent dog whistle, and attached.. to his heels was a silent dog. 1965 D. Francis For Kicks xiii. 173 That’s a silent whistle... For dogs... You can’t hear it very well.. but of course a dog can. 1980 J. W. Hill Intermediate Physics xvi. 150 The ‘silent’ dog whistle produces a note too high for the human ear but heard by a dog. 1950 N. Barron Dairy Farmer's Vet. Bk. vi. 65 Cows sometimes have short and possibly ‘silent’ heats that pass unnoticed, when the ovary produces the egg but the cow does not show any outward sign of being in season. 1970 W. H. Parker Health at alle pe londes . be sold, and pe Siluer j?ere-of spendyd to pe avaunc#*- *.-nt of lucie, my dowter.

3. Articles made of silver or an alloy of silver; silverware, silver-plate. 13.. K. Alis. (Laud MS.) 1156 He dude seruen Olympias In golde, in siluer [W. seolver], in bras, in glas. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xxxvi, In siluer sa semly pai serue t>ame of the beste. C1480 Paston Lett. III. 271, ij. lynen bagges..

SILVER with broke silver and j. old harneis gilt. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 313 The Persians for the most part eat in Porcellane or earth, not valuing Silver. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xliv, The profusion of gold and silver that glittered on the sideboards. 1842 Tennyson Will Waterproof 127 [He] Sipt wine from silver. 1864-Enoch Arden 742 For cups and silver on the burnish’d board Sparkled and shone. pi. 1830 Tennyson Recoil. Arab. Nts. 125 A million tapers flaring bright From twisted silvers.

4. The metal as used for the ornamentation of textile fabrics; silver thread, cloth of silver: see cloth sb. 9 c. 1423 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 255/1 Brauderie. .wrought with Gold or Silver of Cipre. 1566 in Hay Fleming Mary Q. of Scots (1897) 499 Ten hankis off gold and ten hankis of silver the fynest that can be gottin. 1599 Shaks. Much Ado 111. iv. 20 Cloth a gold and cuts, and lac’d with siluer. 1611 Cymb. 11. iv. 69 Her Bed-chamber.. was hang’d With Tapistry of Silke, and Siluer. 1805 Scott Last Minstrel v. xvi, His cloak was all of Poland fur, His hose with silver twin’d.

5. As a tincture in heraldry, more commonly called argent, but cf. quot. 1868. c 1450 Holland Howlat 415 A lyoun..Of siluir 3e se shold To ramp in array. 1478 in W. G. D. Fletcher Shropsh. Grants of Arms (1909) 12 A cross engrayled gold or bythwen foure rosses silver, and to his tymbre a gauntelet sillver sette in a wrethe gold. 1562 Legh Armory (1597) 4 Called Siluer, and biased by the name of Argent. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Metal, In Engraving [arms], Gold is expressed by dotting the Coat, &c. all over; Silver, by leaving it quite blank. 1814 Scott Lord of Isles v. xxxii, Saint Andrew’s cross, in blazonry Of silver, waving wide! 1868 Cussans Her. (1893) 50 In blazoning a Charge.. supposed to be actually composed of metal.. the terms gold and silver should be employed.

6. A silvery colour or lustre. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxii. (Arb.) 85 Wherin stode somme strange hystoryes whiche were of gold, of sable, of siluer. 1592 Shaks. Rom. & Jul. 11. ii. 108 By yonder Moone I vow, That tips with siluer all these Fruite tree tops. 1784 Cowper Task 1. 310 The willow such, And poplar, that with silver lines his leaf. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. m. iii. 71 See the pale azure fading into silver. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lviii, There were scarce three lines of silver in her soft brown hair. 1896 Black Briseis xvii, A swan came breasting along,.. leaving behind it two flashing divergent lines of silver.

7. a. A variety of insect, fish, bird, etc., having silvery colouring or markings. 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & M. 76 The Tawny Silver. 1875 Spectator (Melbourne) 19 June 81/1 Common fish, such as.. garfish, strangers, silvers, and others. 1879 L. Wright Pigeon Keeper 96 Silvers are divided into what is called brown barred and black-barred. 1903 F. Simpson Bk. Cat xii. 138 At present our silvers are too full of tabby markings. 1934 Nat. Geogr. Mag. Feb. 211 There are four distinct species of salmon which run up the Columbia: the chinook, silver, sockeye, and chum. 1955 [see Chinook b].

b. Photogr. A salt of silver, esp. nitrate of silver. 1891 in Cent. Diet. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 61 In the dark room add the silver to the collodion.

II. attrib. passing into adj. 8. a. Made or consisting of silver. These collocations may be employed as the base of formations like silver medallist (see 21a), silver trumpeter, etc. 1032 in Anglia XI. 8 Do hi ealle to g£edere pact pritig seolfor sticca. a 1300 Cursor M. 4858 He .. did a siluer cupe at hide In a sek. Ibid. 8242 A siluer cercle. ? 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 97 A sylvre nedle forth I drogh Out of an aguiler. 1424 E.E. Wills (1882) 58 One of my siluere girdeles. 1457-8 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 297 To ber ii. sylver masys befor the Baylyfys. i486 Bk. St. Albans evij, Clense theym clene with a syluer spone. 1530PALSGR. 270/1 Sylver vessell, uessaile dargent. 1563 WiN3ET Wks. (S.T.S.) 1. 114 Quhy iuge 3e the goldin and siluir chalissis? 1621 Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 33 The manufacture of gold and sylver thrydd. 1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 440, I am sure without this my Lord St. Alban’s would not have left a silver spoon in the house. 1685 Boyle Eff. Motion v. 55, I caused a Watch to be suspended by a little Silver-chain. 1725 Portland Papers VI. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) 83 Plenty of silver tumblers. 1764 Ann. Reg. 79 The size of the watch is something less than a silver two¬ pence. 1808 Scott in Lockhart (1869) III. xviii. 159, I.. have only hopes that he may be shot with a silver bullet. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade s.v., The British silver coinage consists of crowns, half-crowns [etc.]. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 84 You will value the old silver inkstand.

b. In fig. contexts. (See also spoon sb.) 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. 11. v. 764 We schollers fish for a liuing in these shallow foardes without a siluer hoock. 1605 Breton Honour Valour viii, To fish for honour with a siluer hooke. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Combattre, Those that with siluer weapons fight are sure to ouercome. 1679, 1798 [see key sb.‘ 3 b]. 1805 Scott Last Minstrel v. xiii, True love .. is the secret sympathy, The silver link, the silken tie [etc.]. 1843 Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. II. 1. xiii. 22 They may be bribed, as we proved.. when our cavalcade passed the barriers with a silver key.

c. Containing threads imitation of this.

SILVER

482

of silver,

or

some

1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Threads of pure Silver, interwove like a Silver Galoon, that has been burnt to get out the Silk. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory II. 298 Silver-twisthackle. Dub with the herl of an ostrich feather. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Silver-lace, wire coated with silver, and woven into lace. 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Diet. Needlewk. 225/1 The Gold and Silver Laces of the present day consist of warp threads of silk, or silk and cotton combined.

d. Mounted or plated with silver; wrapped in silvered paper. 1898 Daily News 6 Apr. 5/3 The prizes include silver handglasses and scent-bottles. 1904 Windsor Mag. Jan.

238/2 Tiny silver comfits wedged into every available little space.

9. Producing or yielding silver. c 1475 Piet. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 798 Hec argentifodina, a sylverquarelle. a 1490 Botoner I tin. (Nasmith, 1778) 105 Beereferrys ubi les sylver mynes fodiuntur. 1548 Elyot, Argentaria fodina, a. .syluer myne. c 1610 Women Saints 1 The precious earth of golde and siluer mines. 1648 Hexham ii, Een Zilver-ader, a Silver-veine. 1701 De Foe True-born Eng. 1. 6 With all the Silver Mountains of Peru. 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 257 They have for a long time been working it as a rich silver mine. 1839 De LA Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall x. 284 As true silver-lodes are found in it, it may also be termed argentiferous. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 344 Some promising silver-lodes have lately been taken up. 1892 Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 9 A promising market for various silver properties.

b. U.S. (See quot.) 1896 Westm. Gaz. 10 July 2/1 The ‘Silver Senators’—that is, the representatives of silver-producing States. 10. Of or pertaining to, connected with,

characteristic of, silver. 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 262 The gold-smith in the silver-streete. a 1618 J. Davies (Heref.) Witte's Pilgr. Wks. (Grosart) 11. 47/1 Riuers of Nectar ran on golden Sand (With siluer-cleerenesse) through that Paradice. 1670 Pettus Fodinae Reg. 33 Near to which are conveniently placed the Smelting and Refining Mills, which therefore are called the Silver Mills. 1681 Grew Musaeum in. ii. i. 324 White Silver Ore, or of a silver-colour, from Cremnitz in Hungary. 1813 Edin. Rev. XXII. 148 Von Buch engaged a place in the silver-waggon, i860 Chambers's Encycl. 1. 158/1 Our gold and silver standards similarly stated would be 917 and 925 respectively. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 73/2 This alleged fall, its causes, consequences, and remedies, constitute the ‘Silver Question’.

b. Denoting compounds of which silver forms a part. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XI. 442/1 Some silver amalgama is pressed upon it through a chamois skin. 1849 D. Campbell Inorg. Chem. 8 Silver-salts exposed to light become black by the absorption of oxygen. 1868 Fownes' Chem. (ed. 10) 354 When chlorine gas is passed over fused silver fluoride, silver chlorine is formed. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. II. 123/1 Gold of 20 carats with 4 carats of silver alloy.

c. Of or silverware.

pertaining

to

silver

articles

or

1648 Hexham ii, Een Zilver-schappraeye, a Silvercupboord. 1686, 1725 [see scullery i b]. 1883 Pall Mall G. 17 April 5/1 Finding that the silver trade has rejected .. what he proposed as a boon.

d. Advocating, relating to, etc., the adoption of silver as a currency or standard. 1879 Bradstreet's 22 Oct. 5/1 The silver men are as violent and rampant as ever. 1890 Daily News 10 Feb. 2/4 Why should we not have stored bullion instead? Silver men will probably answer [etc.]. 1893 Nation 29 June 467/1 The very little game which our silver-bugs.. are trying to play on us. 1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 271 The silver cabal won at every point.

11. a. Used for holding (silver) money, rare. 1526 Galway Arch, in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 402 Every man or woman which makith aquavitie, honied alle [or] singill alle to be ratified and sold, to paye the accostomid ratte to the silver boxe. 1773 Fergusson Sitting of Session vii, Gin ony .. has na lous’d his siller pocks, a 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1842) no Misers make Their heaven o’ a siller bag.

fb. Sc. Of payments, etc.: Made or levied in (silver) money. Obs. 1579 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 143 To pay tothamethe .. sylvir prices and maillis of the samyn. 1596 Melvill Autobiog. (Wodrow Soc.) 332 Setting.. lyff-rents successive for peyment of small silver-dewtie. 1597 Skene De Verb. Sign. s.v. Firmarius, Quhidder it be siluer-maill, victuall, or vther deutie. a 1688 Dallas Stiles 279 Which Lands.. amount in yearly free Rent.. to [so much] Silver-Rent. 1754 Erskine Princ. Law Scot. iv. ii. (1870) 587 Even intromission with the silver rent.

c. Played for stakes in silver coin. 1748 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 223 There were silver pharaoh and whist for the ladies.

12. Having the whiteness or lustre of silver; silvery. Chiefly poet. silver lining: see lining vbl. sb.' 2 b. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 636 And firy Phebus .. dryeth in the greues The siluer dropes hangynge on the leues. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 937 The freshnes of the clere wellys .. Made the colde siluer stremes To shyne ageyn the sonne bemes. c 1450-Secrees 1316 The lusty Silvir dewh in the grene meedys. C1450 Holland Howlat 410 Ane.. bure in till asure.. Siluer sternis so fair. 1593 Shaks. Rich. II, 11. i. 46 This precious stone, set in the siluer sea. 1605-Macb. 11. iii. 118 Here lay Duncan, His Siluer skinne lac’d with his Golden Blood. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. vii. 52 Fair Galatea, with thy silver Feet, O, whiter than the Swan. 1738 Gray Propertius iii. 21 Yonder Star.. with silver light Relumes her crescent Orb to cheer the dreary Night. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. 11. 202 In gentler climes their silver currents flow. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xii, A lodging .. which looked out upon the silver Thames (for Thames was silver then). 1879 Farrar St. Paul I. 257 Brightening more and more with the silver dawn.

b. Of the hair, beard, or head, when white with age. Also in fig. context. 1590 Nashe Pasquil's Apol. Wks. (Grosart) I. 253 Auncient men, vpon whose siluer heads the Almond-tree hath blossomde. 1592 Lyly Midas 11. i, If one be olde, & haue siluer haires on his beard. 1606 Sir Gyles Goosecappe v. i, This speech hath silver haires, and reverence askes. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. vii. xl, Her silver heads adorning, (Her dotage index). 1810 Jane Porter Sc. Chiefs xxviii, The long silver beard.. hung over his hands. 1833 Tennyson May Queen iii. iv, O blessings on his kindly heart and on his silver head! 1850-In Mem. lxxxiv, To reverence and the silver hair.

transf. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 43 You, Lord Arch¬ bishop, .. Whose Beard, the Siluer Hand of Peace hath touch’d. 1635-56 Cowley Davideis 11. 706 No Silver Rev’rence guards the stooping Age.

13. Of sounds: Having a clear gentle resonance like that of silver; soft-toned, melodious. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 142 We shal yelde a benigne & gentyll answere, & gyue a swete syluer sounde as ye tryed syluer. 1592 Breton C'tess Pembroke's Love vii, Some brought in musicke of most siluer sounde. 1613 W. Browne Brit. Past. 1. v. 93 A Swaine (with Lawrell crown’d) Marrying his sweet Noates with their siluer sound. 1629 Milton Hymn Nat. xiii, Let your silver chime Move in melodious time. 1725 Pope Odyss. 1. 426 The vaulted roof .. Reflecting to the queen the silver sounds. 1801 Busby Diet. Mus. s.v. Viol .] A fancy breed of domestic pigeon; a bird belonging to this breed. 1879 L. Wright Pigeon Keeper 174 Silverettes have silver shoulders, with white bars edged with black only, tail grey, with the usual spots.

silver-eye(s): see silver sb. 21c, d. silver fir. [silver tfe.] 1. A tall species of fir (Abies or Picea pectinata), native to southern and central Europe and some parts of Asia, introduced into Britain in the 17th century and extensively used for planting. The bark of the young tree is of a silvery grey, and the leaves have two broad white lines on the under-surface. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 365 Firs are of several sorts,.. but the best sort both for Beauty and Timber, is that which they call the Silver-Fir. 1789 Emmerich Forests xx. 78 There are three species of Needle Wood or Firs: the Norway Fir, the Scotch Fir, and the Silver Fir. 1832 Planting (L.U.K.) 89 The specimens of the silver fir (Pinus picea) at Blair Adam .. are remarkable for size and symmetry. 1882 Garden 23 Dec. 548/2 The Silver Fir is a majestic tree either singly or in clump. attrib. 1871 Kingsley At Last vii, Among the high Silverfir forests of the Pyrenees.

b. A tree belonging to this species. 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts I. 72 The greatest number of Silver Firs. 1892 Gardener's Chron. 27 Aug. 251/1 Some fine Silver Firs are here, one over 100 feet in height.

2. Applied to various other species of fir, usually with distinctive epithets (see quots.). The ‘silver firs’ are sometimes classed under the genus Picea, and the ‘spruce firs’ under Abies. 1834 Audubon Ornith. II. 426 The Balsam or Silver Fir.. is abundant in the State of Maine. 1874 Stewart & Brandis Flora N. West India 528 Abies Webbiana,.. Himalayan Silver Fir. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 225/1 The Silver Fir of Canada (P. balsamea).. furnishes the ‘Canada balsam’ used in medicine. 1880 Bessey Botany 412 The Giant Silver Fir, A. grandis, of Oregon and California.

silver-fish. Also silver fish. [Cf. Du. zilvervisch, G. silberfisch.] 1. One of various silver-coloured fishes found in different parts of the world. 1703 Dampier Voy. III. 1. 26 Mullets, Snappers, Silverfish, Garfish. 1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 342 The Silver Fish is smooth, broad, and thin, of a shining Pearl, or Silver Colour. 1731 Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope II. 203 The

fish at the Cape call’d Silver-Fish is of the shape of a carp. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 195 The Fish they call the golden and silver Fish, that are found in divers Provinces [of China]. 1748 Anson's Voy. 11. i. 125 We caught.. maids, silver fish, congers. 1852 Gordon in Zoologist X. 3458 Common Sea Bream... In 1849 many were caught by the fishermen, who gave them the name of ‘Siller-fish’. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 611 The Tarpum..is the ‘Silver-Fish’ of Pensacola. 1888 Stearns in Goode Amer. Fishes 407 The Silver fish or Grande Ecaille, is common everywhere on the Gulf coast. 2. An insect of the genus Lepisma, esp. L. saccharina

or

domestica;

a

bristletail

or

springtail. 1855 Lardner's Museum Sci. & Art VI. 62 A little insect, vulgarly called the silver-fish, or the silver-lady,.. usually found in damp and mouldy cupboards, and in old wood¬ work. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life 96 Some tall volume which he .. bent over with such delight, heedless of dust and silverfish and the gathered odour of years. 1893 Academy 7 Oct. 292/1 The pest of all book lovers, the ‘silver-fish’ or ‘silver coloured book-worm’. silver-foil. Also silver foil,

[silver sb. 8.]

1. Silver beaten out thin; silver-leaf. I439_4° Norwich Sacrist's Roll (MS)., Pro thurificacione .. cum sylverfoile circumsparso. 1499 in T. Sharp Dissert. Cov. Myst. (1825) 35 For colours and gold foyle & sylver foyle for iiij capps. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Argenteus, Argenteum folium, siluerfoile. 1685 Cole in Ray's Lett. (1718) 197 Some.. covered with a superficies as thin, and exactly of the Colour of silver Foil. 1835 Partington's Brit. Cycl. Arts II. 695/1 While the artist draws the paper from between the silver foil and the glass. 1883 Hardwich Photogr. Chem. 103 To illustrate its action in that particular, .. place pieces of silver-foil in two test-tubes. 2. = SILVER PAPER 2. Cf. FOIL sb4 d. 1944 N. Mailer in E. Seaver Cross-Section 338 The captain took out a chocolate bar... He separated a piece of silver foil from his teeth. 1974 N. Bentley Inside Information i. 8 He slid the outside wrapping off his bar of Whole Nut... Hidden between the wrapping and the silver foil underneath was a small piece of paper. silver-footed, a. poet. [f. silver sb. 17, after the Homeric apyvpoTre^a as an epithet of Thetis.] Having silvery feet; white-footed. Often fig. 1620 Middleton & Rowley World Tost at Tennis Induct. 34 By her side The silver-footed Thamesis doth slide. 1646 G. Daniel Poems Wks. (Grosart) I. 94 Yet Silver-footed Peace may blesse our feilds. 1685 Dryden Sylvae II. 50 By silver footed Thetis thou wert won For fierce Achilles. 1718 Pope Iliad xvi. 702 Who, chas’d for Murder thence, a Suppliant came To Peleus, and the silver-footed Dame. 1747 Mallet Amyntor & Theodora Wks. 1759 I. 124 The silver-footed dews. 1818 Keats Endym. 111. 51 The ministring stars .. Waiting for silver-footed messages. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. 1. 30 The silver-footed Thetis has contrived To o’erpersuade thee. silver gilt. Also silver-gilt.

1. Gilt silver or silverware. 1422 in E.E. Wills (1882) 50 Also I bequeth to Ionet Knolles a stondyng cuppe of siluer gilte couered. 1487 Paston Lett. III. 463 A playn standing cupp of silver gilt. 1533 Act 24 Hen. VIII, c. 13 No man shall weare.. any maner aglettes, buttons, broches of golde or silver gilte. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. 11. (1882) 25 Some will not sticke to sell you siluer gilt for gold. 1684 Evelyn Diary 17 Dec., Cover’d with chaines of silver gilt. 1844 A. P. de Lisle in E. Purcell Life (1900) I. vii. 123 In the sacristy is the shrine of St. Engelbert made of silver gilt. 1886 Guide Exhib. Galleries Brit. Mus. 180 A group of horsemen and prostrate figure, beaten out in silver gilt. Found at Perugia. fig. 1871 M. Collins Marq. & Merch. I. iv. 133 Amy., was pure gold: Angelina .. was only silver-gilt. b. attrib. or as adj. Made of silver gilt. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4099/1 The Envoy was served in Silver-Gilt Plate. 1842 Lover Handy Andy xlvii, He sported a silver-gilt snuff-box which was presented to him. 1895 Jewitt & Hope Corporation Plate I. 240 The earliest pieces in point of date are the magnificent silver-gilt rose¬ water dish and ewer. 2. An imitation of gilding, consisting of silverfoil varnished with a yellow lacquer. 1891 in Cent. Diet. So f silver-gilted a. Obs.-1 1560-1 Will of M. Bisset (Somerset Ho.), My silver gilted caul with chains. silver-glance.

Also

silver

silberglanz: see glance sb.2]

glance,

[ad.

G.

A variety of silver

ore; argentite. 1805 R. Jameson Min. II. 155 Silver-glance... Colour dark blackish lead-grey. 1808 Ibid. III. 267 Silver-glance .. is one of the most common and abundant of the silver-ores. 1856 Dana Min. (ed. 3) 94 Silver Glance.., when pure, consists of 86 5 parts of silver, and 13 5 parts of sulphur. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines Mining 214 The metallic contents are.. ruby silver, brittle silver, and sulphide of silver or silver-glance. silver grain. Also silver-grain,

grass.

Also

1600 R. Surflet Countrie Farme 11. xlii. 261 Siluer-grasse (so called, because the leaues doe resemble siluer on the backe side) doth delight in a moist and grassie ground. 1633 T. Johnson Gerarde's Herbal 18 Round headed Siluergrasse. At the top of the stalks.. there grow two or three round heads consisting of soft and white downie threds. Ibid., The heade of this (which I haue thought good to call Siluer-grasse). 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss., Silvergrass, striped grass; common in gardens. 1889 Maiden Useful Plants 82 Danthonia pallida,.. Silver Grass. 1893 Wiltsh. Gloss. 144 Silver-fern or Silver-grass, Potentilla Anserina.

silver-grey, a. and sb. [silver sb. 19.] A. adj. Of a silvery or silver-flecked grey colour; also, having silvery grey hair. 1607 Barksted Mirrha (1876) 22 You blushing girles, and parents siluer-gray. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2121/4 Lost a fine large silver grey Mare. 1785 Smellie Buffon's Nat. Hist. (1791) VII. 272 The silver-gray fox of North America, .is the isatis. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 102 A silver-grey cock belonging to Mr. John Angood. 1857 Dufferin Lett. High Lat. (ed. 3) 268 The silver-grey ridges of gneiss and mica slate that hem in the Nordland shore. 1897 Mary Kingsley W. Africa 177 Wreaths and clouds of silver-gray mist.

B. sb. a. A silvery grey colour. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 16 These little Insects .. are of a Silver Grey. 1792 Burns The Posie v, The hawthorn .. wi’ it’s locks o’ siller grey. 1864 Tennyson The Ringlet 6 Never chilling touch of Time Will turn it silver-gray. 1907 Mabel Peacock Lincolnshire Rhymes 43 Because his hair has caught A touch of silver-gray.

b. U.S. Politics. (See quot. 1859.) 1850 N. Y. Tribune 18 Oct. 5/2, I shall gladly fight on in this cause so long as I shall live, and ask no higher post than the proud one of a private in the Silver Grays. 1856 Household Wds. 9 Aug. 86 Silver-gray .. politically means a worshipper of the past,—a hoary-headed conservative. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2), Silver Grays. This term originated in the State of New York, and was applied to the conservative portion of the Whig party... It was observed that many were men whose locks were silvered by age, which drew forth the remark from some one present, ‘There go the silver grays!’

c. A variety of Dorking fowl having silvery grey plumage. 1889 E. Brown Poultry 45 Silver Greys.—This is perhaps the most beautiful of all the Dorking tribe.

silver-haired, a. [silver 17.] 1. Having hair silvered with age. Also^ig. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 148 Such., as have a due esteem of Silver-hair’d Antiquity. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xiii, The same tall, thin, silver-haired turnkey, whom he had seen on the preceding evening. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 147 He made the acquaintance of more than one silver-haired pioneer.

2. Having hair naturally of a silvery colour. 1678 Lond. Gaz. No. 1301/4 Mounted upon a brown silver-haired Gelding. 1766 Compl. Farmer s.v. Rabbit, The skins of the silver-haired ones [rabbits] sell better than any other. i8z7 Griffith tr. Cuvier V. 26 Simia Lagothrix Canus (Silver-haired Monkey). 1836 Sir G. Head Home Tour 248 Rabbits .. of a description called by the poulterers ‘silver-haired’, that is to say black with a sprinkling of white hairs, more or less. 1893 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. I. 279 The silver-haired bat has the most northern range of any American species.

silver-headed, a. [silver a. 17.] 1. = SILVER-HAIRED a. I. 1643 A. Ross Mel Helic. 128 Silver-headed age, which bows The back. 1797-1805 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. I. 378 A silver-headed domestic.. stood near. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxx, The silver-headed butler had withdrawn.

2. Headed with silver. 1759 Sterne Tr. Shandy 1. x, Garnished with a double row of silver-headed studs. 1981 M. McMullen Other Shoe (1982) ii. 14 She got about slowly.. with the help of a silver-headed ebony cane.

silver-hilted, a. [silver sb. 17.] Of a sword: Having the hilt of silver. 1002 in Thorpe Dipl. Angl. Sax. (1865) 544 Twa seolforhilted sweord. 1596 j Davies Epigr. ii, A silver-hilted rapier by his side. 1690 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. hi Our men.. found among them 50 silver hilted swords. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xl. The famous Sheppard .. when he appeared in public generally wore a silver-hilted sword at his side. 1887 Morris Odyssey x. 262 My war-sword silverhilted.

silverily ('silvarili), adv. rare. [f. silvery a. + -ly2.] = silverly adv. 1, 2. 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 44 This wet white gleam Twitches, and ebbs hitting, washing inwardly, silverily against his ribs, a 1930-Phoenix (1936) 40 You hear the nightingale silverily shouting.

[silver sb. and

grain sb.1 15.] (See quot. 1882.) 1801 [see grain s6.‘ 15]. 1832 Planting 8 in Lib. Usef. Kn., Husb. Ill, The wood of the elm .. is distinguished by having the medullary rays, or silver grain, equal, and not crowded. 1858 Carpenter Veg. Phys. §99 The thin plates which they form. . are known to carpenters and cabinet-makers as the silver grain. 1882 Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 13 1 If a thick stem is split longitudinally, the rays have the appearance, in many close woods, of glistening bands (the ‘Silver-grain’), traversing the prosenchymatous woody tissue in a radial direction. silver

The Australasian grasses Danthonia pallida, and Poa caespitosa. Also c. dial. The silverweed.

silver-grass.

[cf.

G.

silbergras.]

One or other of various species of

grass, esp.\

a. The striped or ribbon-grass,

b.

'silveriness. [f. silvery a.. + -ness.] quality or character.

Silvery

Cf. Sc. 'Sillerieness, richness in regard to money’ in Jamieson Suppl. (1825). 1856 Meredith Shav. Shagpat 352 None of earth were like to them in silveriness, c 1875 Cassell's Nat. Hist. III. 103 A fourth excels in the silveriness of his voice. 1885 Westmorl. Gaz. 17 Oct. 2/1 Salmon, whose silveriness had vanished by a month or two’s living in the fresh water.

'silvering, vbl. sb. [f. silver v. + -ing1.] 1. The action of the vb. in various senses. 1738 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Paper, Silvering of paper, as it is called, is another secret among the Chinese, practised [etc.]. 1753 Chambers’ Cycl. Suppl. App. s.v., Silvering.. is

SILVERING a species of gilding. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 728 To plate Looking-Glasses. — This art is erroneously termed silvering. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 592 The silvering of plane mirrors consists in applying a layer of tin-foil alloyed with mercury to their posterior surface. 1883 Science II. 60/2 On some occasions the silvering has been done at night.

b. attrib., as silvering bath, process, room. 1855 Orr's Circle Sci., Pract. Chem. 13 Any of the wellknown silvering compositions. Ibid. 41 Iron boilers.. in close proximity to the silvering-room. 1872 E. Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. 1. 171/2 If the pieces.. are plunged into a gilding or silvering bath.

2. concr.

Silver plating; a coating of silver, silver nitrate, or quicksilver. 1710 Tatler No. 245 If 2 A silver cheese-toaster with three tongues, an ebony handle, and silvering at the end. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Suppl. App. s.v.. The quick-silver thus laid on.. will make a fine silvering. 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. xvi. (ed. 3) 149 If the silvering is injured, it can .. be resilvered. 1873 E. Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. i. 209/1 Should a first silvering not be found sufficiently durable,.. apply a second or third coat.

'silvering, ppl. a. [f. silver v. + -ing2.] That silvers; making or becoming silvery. 1801 Southey Thalaba vi. xxiv, The very light came cool’d through silvering panes Of pearly shell. 1818 Milman Samor 264 Eamont..Went laughing down its sunny silvering course. 1873 G. C. Davies Mount. & Mere iv. 24 Beneath the silvering willows.

'silverish, a. rare. [f. silver^. + -ish.] Silverhued, silvery; fcontaining silver. 153° Palsgr. 324/1 Sylverysshe, argentin. 1648 Hexham 11, Zilverachtigh,.. Silverish, or full of Silver. 1747 Phil. Trans. XLIV. 503 The Crystal or Oriental Pebble.. is of a silverish Hue. 1890 Harper's Mag. Oct. 739/1 His eyes were a bright silverish blue.

'silverism. [f. silver sb. + -ism.] The policy of adopting a silver standard for coinage. 1895 Forum Feb. 674 The panic of 1893 was due to two social crazes—silverism and protectionism. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 14 July 9/2 The Chicago Convention has.. carried Silverism to a reckless extreme.

silverist. rare. = next. 1879 Madras Mail 5 Dec. 3 The.. Yankee, who thought he had converted the great Chancellor from the evil of his golden ways, and made him a silverist.

'silverite. Chiefly U.S. [f. silver sb. + -ite.] An advocate of a silver monetary standard. 1886 Science VII. 267 The attempt is made to cast a slur upon the ‘silverites’ by calling them inflationists. 1892 Nation 28 Apr. 313/2 The silverites contribute to the gayety of nations from time to time.

'silverize, v. rare. [f. silver sb. + -ize.] trans. To silver; to treat with a preparation of silver; to render silvery in colour. a 1618 Sylvester Quadrains of Pibrac cxix. Wks. (Grosart) II. 34 When like age shall silverize thy Tresse. 1808 Jamieson, Silverize, to cover with silver-leaf. 1832 H. Smith Poet. Misc. 29 He had glaz’d the streamlet o’er,.. And silveris’d the bow’r. 1864 Webster s.v. Silverize, This word and its derivatives are much used by photographers in reference to daguerreotype plates; as, a silverized plate.

silver lead. Also silver-lead. f 1. A composition of lead and tin. Obs. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 517 There is another deuise to* sophisticate tin, to wit, by mixing white and blacke lead one with another. ., and this maslen some call at this day, siluer lead or argentine.

2. Silver in combination with lead, esp. in the form of ore. Chiefly attrib. i860 Piesse Lab. Chem. Wonders 80 Small portions are also obtained from the silver-lead mines of ‘Old England’. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines Min. 227 The mines.. possess as much.. value as those of any other silver-lead camp on the coast. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 111/2 A button of silver lead is the result. Ibid., The assay of silver lead ores.

silver-leaf. Also silver leaf, [silver si.] 1. a. Silver beaten out thin; silver-foil. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Silver-Leaf, is that the Gold¬ beaters have reduced into fine, thin Leaves, to be used by Gilders, &c. 1780 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) V. 3300/1 In this manner silver-leaf is fixed and burnished upon brass in the making of what is called French plate. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 376 In the instances of tin-foil, gold and silver leaf, and some others, the hammer is again resorted to after the metals have been rolled. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 995/2 A yellow, transparent varnish spread over silver-leaf to give it the appearance of gold.

b. A single piece of this. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Couch, The Gilders use Couch for the Quantity of Gold or Silver Leaves applied on the Metals in gilding or silvering. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 195 You may lay on the gold or silver leaves with brandy. i875 Knight Diet. Mech. 1240 A silver leaf is sometimes laid over the knots in superior work.

2. A tree or plant having silvery leaves, as the white poplar. Also attrib., having silvery leaves. 1846-50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 507 Abele or Silver-leaf Poplar. 1881 Gentl. Mag. Jan. 66 Silver-leaf iron-bark country is always in high repute for grazing. 1889 Maiden Useful PI. 363 Acacia pendula,.. Boree, or Silver-leaf Boree.

3. A disease of Prunus and other woody plants caused by the fungus Stereum purpureum, which is frequently associated with a silvery sheen of the leaves and often fatal to affected branches. 1890 Blackmore Kit & Kitty III. ii. 27 Blister in a peach, or silver-leaf, or shanking in grapes. 1902 Jrnl. Linn. Soc. Bot. XXXV. 390 The disease known as ‘Silver-leaf is, so far

SILVER-SCALED

487 as I am aware, confined to the Prunese, and has been the subject of observation and investigation for more than a quarter of a century. 1929 Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. XIV. 163 Silver leaf, Stereum purpureum Pers. 1946 H. Wormald Diseases of Fruit & Hops iii. 57 The Silver Leaf Order of 1923 requires growers to cut off and burn all dead wood of plum and apple trees before 15th of July each year. 1969 P. Thrower Every Day Gardening xiii. 292/2 (caption) Branches and even complete trees can be killed by Silver Leaf disease, and fungal outgrowths form on the dead wood. First, however, the leaves take on a silvery sheen. 1977 Field 13 Jan. 66/1 Pruning [of plum trees] should be carried out in late spring.. and preferably in dry weather. This is to avoid infection by the silver leaf fungus.

silver-leaved, a. Also -leafed, [silver sb. 17.]

b. silvern wedding, = silver wedding (silver sb. 21). 1880 Daily Telegr. 29 Dec. 5/4 Silvern Weddings are celebrations of tolerably frequent occurrence nowadays.

2. Silver-coloured, rare. 1885 Harper's Mag. Apr. 815/2 Silvern as a silver bream. 1885 O. Crawfurd Woman's Reputation i, The little Ringwood brook.., a silvern thread amid the green meadowland.

'silverness, nonce-wd. [f. silver sb. 4- -ness.] The essential quality of silver. 1862 F. Hall Hindu Philos. Syst. 168 Instead of perceiving nacreness, he transfers the silverness.. to the nacre lying in his sight.

Having silvery leaves. 1731 Miller Gard. Diet. s.v. Coronilla, Silver-leav’d.. Colutea of Candia. 1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 231 A. Barba Jovis. Silver-leaved Anthyllis, or Jupiter’s Beard. 1831 Tennyson in Gem 131 With.. drooping daffodilly, And silver-leaved lily,.. I wove a crown. 1881 Gentl. Mag. Jan. 66 The silver-leafed variety [of iron-bark trees] is more ornamental than useful. 1889 Maiden Useful Plants 492 Eucalyptus melanophloia,.. Silver-leaved Ironbark.

'silverless, a. Also 8-9 Sc. siller-, [f. silver sb. + -less.] Without money; having no money. C1325 Pol. Songs (Camden) 324 Voiz of clerk is sielde iherd at the Court of Rome,.. silverles if he come. 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. x. 119 He sente hem forth seluerles in a somer garnement. 1737 Ramsay Sc. Prov. (1750) 14 A sillerless man gangs fast thro’ the market. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xxvi, Ye maunna gang this wilfu’ gate sillerless, come o’t what like, a 1837 Nicoll Poems (1842) 96 Folk sillerless may ca’ us,—We ha’e unco little gear.

silver-like,

a. [f. silver sb. + -like.] Resembling silver in colour or substance.

1611 Cotgr., Argentin, argentine, siluerie, of siluer, siluerlike. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 131 A roping, tough, silver-like thread of seed. 1684 Lister in Phil. Trans. XIV. 745 Sand., with Mica of.. Silver like, Gold like [particles]. 1849 D. Campbell Inorg. Chem. 133 Calcium is a white silver-like metal. 1900 Academy 30 June 556/1 Silver-like his naked limbs.

'silverling. Now arch. [ad. G. silberling (OHG. silabarling), Du. zilverling.] A shekel. 1526 Tindale Acts xix. 19 They counted the price of them and founde it fifty thousande silverlynges. 1535 Coverdale Isaiah vii. 23 Though there be a thousand vynes in one, and were solde for a thousand siluerlinges. c 1592 Marlowe yew of Malta 1, Here haue I purst their paltry siluerlings. 1641 J. Trappe Theol. Theol. Ep. Ded. A 4, Every of them for the fruits thereof, was to bring a thousand silverlings. 1740 Pococke Theol. Wks. II. 120/1 These are called Cesaphim, pieces of silver, or Silverlings. 1873 Kingsbury in Speaker's Comment. IV. 698/2 At least two hundred silverlings should be theirs.

'silverly, adv. [f. silver sb. + -ly2.] 1. With a silvery appearance or colour. 1595 Shaks. John v. ii. 46 Let me wipe off this honourable dewe, That siluerly doth progresse on thy cheekes. 1818 Keats Endym. 1. 541 This river.. begins to progress silverly Around the western border of the wood. 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama Exile 1397 Ask, if I caught not fair and silverly His blessing. 1871 R. Browning Pr. Hohenstiel 1144 On you glide Silverly till you reach the summit edge, Then over.

2. With a silvery sound. 1752 C. Smart Omniscience of Supreme Being 7 Cherubic Gratitude, whose voice To pious ears sounds silverly so sweet. 1820 Keats Hyperion 11. 128 When other harmonies, stopt short, Leave the dinn’d air vibrating silverly. 1888 Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere 368 Midnight! the sounds rolled silverly out.

silver mine: see silver sb. 9. silvern (’silvan), a. Now poet, and arch. Forms: a. 1 seol(o)fren, seolfryn, selfren, 3 selvren; 1 seolfern, 3 seoluern, 4 seluern. /9. 1 syl(o)fren, silfren, 5 sylvryn; 4-5 syl-, silueren(e, 5 cil-, silueryn, siluern(e, 6-7 silverne, 6- silvern. [OE. seolfren, silfren, etc., = OFris. selvirn, MDu. sil-, selverijn, sulveren (Du. zilveren, dial. zulveren)y OS. silu-y silobrin (MLG. sulveren, LG. siilvernf silvern), OHG. silbarin, silberin (G. silbern), Goth, silubreins: see silver sb. and -EN4.]

1. Made of silver; consisting of silver. a. c 888 K. /Elfred Boeth. xxxiv. §8 J>a gyldenan stanas, & pa seolfrenan. a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 29 Aug., Hi plejodon mid gyldenum applum on selfrenum disce. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1070, Hi namen pazre twa gildene serines & ix seolferne. c 1205 Lay. 22783 J?a bollen seoluerne mid wine iuulled. C1285 in Anglia IV. 194 Mid selvrene stikke me shal gold graven, c 1350 Leg. Rood 29 )?at he wuste bi pe seluerne by3e. /3. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xxi. 21 Gylden maSm, sylofren sincstan. 01300 Cursor M. 6145 p>e folk of israel to boru Asked silueren vessel sere. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xlv. 22 To Beniamyn he 3af thre hundryd silueren pens. 1420 E.E. Wills (1882) 42 My Sylvryn Gyrdyll to Thomas Pertnale. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 26/3 In the which wound, we must impose a silvern or goulden pipe. 1616 J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. vii. 227 White silverne swoord, and in his hand a pike. 1863 Grosart Small Sins (ed. 2) 37 Not a bell, silvern or golden, but was ‘holy’. 1897 F. Thompson New Poems 70 Make me chainlets, silvern, golden. fig. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. iii, As the Swiss Inscription says: Sprechen ist silbern, Schweigen ist golden (Speech is silvern, Silence is golden). 1868 Silent Hour i. 4 Speech is, after all, not the silvern but the golden thing, when rightly used.

silver ore. Also silver-ore. [silver s&.] An ore containing silver. dark red silver ore, pyrargyrite. light red silver ore, proustite. 1297 R- Glouc. (Rolls) 16 Engelonde is vol ino3.. Of seluer or & of gold. C1325 Pol. Songs (Camden) 338 He fareth in a while as thouh he hadde silver ore. c 1350 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 150 Men pat soght for siluer ore, Within pe erth so gun pai crepe. Ibid., Oj?er mynours f»eder fore For to seke pam syluer ure. 14.. Voc. in Wr.Wiilcker 596 Mineria, a myne vel Ore .., as .. syluer ore, etc. 1454 Rolls of Parlt. V. 272 Many mynes of silver oures. 1670 Pettus Fodinae Reg. 2 The Metal which is digged from those Veins is called Oar, as Silver oar. 1789 j. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 257 The cobalt was last of all cut out below by silver ore. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 122 Red Silver Ore.—This species is denominated Red chiefly from the colour of its streak. 1805 R. Jameson Min. II. 177 Black Silver-Ore... Colour iron-black. 1834-6 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 414/1 Silver ores, properly so called, are very rare in England. 1837 Dana Min. 417 Brittle Silver Ore, Lunites rhombicus. Ibid. 425 Flexible Silver Ore, Elasmites rhomboidens. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines ©* Min. 443, I have roasted nearly four thousand tons of silver-ore during the past year.

silver paper. Also silver-paper. 1. A fine white tissue-paper. 1800 M. Edgeworth Birth-Day Present in Parent's Assistant (ed. 3) II. 14 She was obliged to go down with her basket but half wrapped up in silver paper. 1817 Byron Beppo lvii, The.. frontispiece of a new Magazine,.. Colour’d, and silver paper leaved between That and the title-page. 1851 Mayhew London Lab. 1. 374/1 Those gown-pieces .. are almost as thin as silver-paper. 1873 Miss Broughton Nancy II. 246 As if I had just emerged from the manifold silver papers of a bandbox. attrib. 1854 Mrs. Gaskell North & South iii, The pear, which he had delicately peeled in one long strip of silverpaper thinness.

2. Paper covered with silver-foil. Also, thin metal foil, used chiefly as a damp-proof wrapping for tobacco and confectionery. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2186/1. 1905 Strand Mag. XXIX. 274/1 He has been sorting out the pieces of ‘silver paper’, as he calls them, in which packets of tobacco are wrapped. 1929 B.B.C. Year-bk. 1930 404 The balance of the subscriptions .. is paid into the local Radio Circle Funds, which are further increased in various ways such as by the sale of ‘silver paper’. 1976 W. Trevor Children of Dynmouth iii. 65 The one he’d taken had green silver paper on it, a chocolate-covered toffee.

3. Phot. solution.

Paper

sensitized

with

a

silver

1898 H. Maclean Photogr. Print. Process xvi. 139 Those known as silver papers, such as gelatino-chloride, collodiochloride, albumenised, and bromide papers.

silver plate. Also silver-plate. 1. a. A thin flat piece of silver. 1526 Tindale Matt, xxvii. 5 And he cast doune the sylver plates in the temple and departed. 1563 Homilies 11. Agst. Idolatry 1. F fj, Shall the goldsmyth couer hym with golde and caste hym into a fourme of syluer plates? 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Silver, A Tincture of Silver [made] by dissolving thin Silver Plates.. in Spirit of Nitre. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XV. 37/z The ring.. is first tinned, and then the silver-plate is gently hammered upon it. 1845 Athenaeum 203 The delicately sensitive film which is formed on the silver plate in the Daguerreotype process. 1865 Chambers's Encycl. VII. 509/1 The sensibility of the silver plate was still further increased by Mr. Goddard.

b. A silver dish in the form of a plate. 1710 Tatler No. 245 If 2 A broad brimmed flat silver plate for sugar with Rhenish wine.

2. collect. Vessels or utensils made of silver or an alloy of silver. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 184 Pewter vessels .. compared with silver plate, a 1653 Gouge Comm. Heb. xiii. 1 As silver-plate cleared is counted new, so this Commandment. 1717 Ramsay Elegy on Lucky Wood iv, Her peuther glanc’d .. Like siller plate. 1851-4 Tomlinson's Cycl. Useful Arts (1867) II. 531/1 The alloy of silver and copper used .. for the manufacture of silver-plate. 1861 Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 45 Round the apartment.. was displayed in close array the silver and pewter plate. Comb. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 469 Areta, his siluer plate keeper.

3. Used as a jocular representation of Fr. s'il vous plait please, slang. 1919 Yank Talk 4/1 (caption) Silver plate! Loan me a coupla francs! 1920 Dialect Notes V. 79 Silver plate, s’il vous plait. ‘More of the mutton, Mr. Brown, silver plate.’

silver-scaled, a.

[f. silver sb.

17.]

Having

silvery scales. 1430-40 Lydg. Bochas vm. xxv. (1558) 18 Bryght siluer scaled domageth the dragon. C1450 - Secrees 674 Whysperyng tounges of taast moost serpentyn, Silvir scalyd whoos mouth is ful of blood. 1513 Douglas JEneidxu. Prol. 55 The syluer scalyt fyschis on the greit. 1653 Walton Angler i. 37 The silver-scaled fish that softly swim Within

SILVERSMITH the sweet brooks chrystal, watry stream. 1827 Scott Highl. Widow v, Will the ocean afford you the silver-scaled salmon of the Awe? 1861 W. F. Collier Hist. Eng. Lit. 403 A silverscaled twenty-pounder.

Gt. Brit. II. 85 White-salmon.. is locally known as., whiting, phinock, moudie-trout, silverwhite.

silversmith ('silvasmiB).

1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2772/1 Kremnitz white, krems white, and silver white are synonyms of white-lead.

[f. silver sb. Cf. MDu. silver-, selver-, sulversmit (Du. zilversmid), OHG. silbir-, silbersmit (G. silberschmied), Sw. silfversmed, ON. silfrsmidr, MSw. silfsmiper.\ A worker in silver; one who makes silverware. a 1000 Colloq. JElfric in Wr.-Wiilcker 99 Ic haebbe.. isenesmi)?as, goldsmij?, seolforsmi^. 1382 Wyclif Wisd. xv. 9 That me spute with gold smythis, and siluer smythis. 1534 Tindale Acts xix. 24 Demetrius, a silversmyth [1526 goldsmyth], which made silver schrynes for Diana. 1706 Phillips (ed. 6), Silver-smith, one that makes all sorts of Silver and Gold-Plate. 1794 Ld. Auckland Corr. (1862) III. 250, I wrote to you on the 9th of this month a sort of silversmith’s letter. 1827 Southey Hist. Penins. War II. 476 Silversmiths were forbidden to purchase any articles in silver. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 146 The productions of the silversmith are principally the result of hammering.

Hence 'silver.smithing. 1931 E. Wenham Domestic Silver ii. 8 No period in the history of British silversmithing manifests more varying foreign influences than that of the sixteenth century. 1969 T. Lloyd in R. Blythe Akenfield xiv. 222 There is something else I do—silversmithing. I learnt it at evening classes. 1981 Times. Lit. Suppl. 20 Feb. 194/5 Ashbee’n emerges as a many-sided creativity, embracing architecture, silversmithing and printing.

silver-tongued, a. [f. silver sb. 17.] Having a pleasant or melodious utterance; sweet-spoken; eloquent. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse Wks. (Grosart) II. 61 Siluertongu’d Smith, whose well tun’d stile hath made thy death the generall teares of the Muses. 1618 Vicars Commend. Verses in Sylvester's Wks. (Grosart) I. 10/2 Admired SilverTongued Sylvester. 1713 Warder True Amazons 17 Relying too much upon the silver-tongued Virgil. 1827 Pollok Course of Time\ 11. (i860) 178 Silver-tongued Hope Promised another harvest. 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles xv. 150 He—good, silver-tongued man —heeded not the miserable jest.

silver-tree. Also silver tree. 1. A tree with silvery lanceolate (Leucadendron argenteum), Province, South Africa.

SILVICS

488

native

to

leaves Cape

1731 Medley Kolben’s Cape G. Hope II. 224 The Silver Tree... These trees., are, particularly, much seen about Constantia. 1785 G. Forster tr. Sparrman's Voy. Cape G. Hope (1786) I. 32 The silver-tree, as it is called, exhibited the whole year throughout its glossy white, or silver gray leaves. 1845-50 Mrs. Lincoln Lect. Bot. 145 The Silvertree (Protea argentea) has soft leaves resembling satin, of a silver colour. 1893 K. Sanborn S. California 159 To S. Africa they are indebted for the silver tree.

2. A West Indian tree or shrub belonging to

2. A pure white lead used by artists; Chinese white.

silver wire. Also silver-wire, [silvers^.] Wire made from silver. Also with a and pi. 14.. Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 565 Argentifilum, sylver wyre. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Silver-Wire, is Silver drawn thro’ the Holes of a Wire-drawing-iron, and by this Means reduced to the Fineness of a Thread or Hair. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 21/2 When leaf-silver or fine silver-wire is heated by voltaic electricity, it bums with a fine green flame. 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 754/1 The.. silver wire being, of course, composed of pure silver. 1884 Knight Diet. Mech. Suppl. 728/2 A porous jar.. surrounded by a silver wire. attrib. 1849 Noad Electricity 203 Chloride of silver., decomposed by silver-wire poles. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 617 A portion was then removed from the middle line, and the edges united again by silver-wire sutures.

Hence silver-wiry a. 1891 Hardy Tess (1900) 9/2 Elderly women.., their silver-wiry hair and wrinkled faces.

silver-wood, [silver sb.] One or other of several West Indian trees and shrubs (see quot. 1864). 1693 in Phil. Trans. XVII. 620 The Silver-wood or White-wood, called by our Author Leucoxylum, is by him supposed the same with the white Brasil. 1725 Sloane Jamaica II. 78 Silver-Wood. This tree.. has an almost smooth grey bark, with some very white spots on it. 1864 Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Ind. 787/2 Silver-wood, Guettarda argentea, Zuelania laetioides, and Mouriria myrtilloides.

silver-work, [silver sb. Cf. MDu. silver-, sulverwerc (Du. zilverwerk), MLG. sulverwerk, -work, MHG. and G. silberwerk.] 1. Articles made of silver; silver vessels or ornaments; silverware. fAlso pi. I535 Coverdale Isaiah xxx. 22 Yf ye destroye the syluer workes of youre Idols. 1538 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VII. 87 All furnist chaip and ruvell witht silver werk. 1648 Hexham ii. s.v. Zilver-werck, Plate or Silver-worke to serve at a table. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Silver, Silver works, as spurs, wrought hilts, &c. are boiled in salt, alum and argol, to give it a whiteness and clearness. 1820 Scott Monast. xvi, Every bit of.. silver work have we been spoiled of since Pinkie Cleuch. 1899 Daily News 16 May 8/4 The artificer may be seen at work in the room in which Messrs. Liberty show the silverwork.

3. An Australian forest-tree. 1889 Maiden Useful PI. 604 Tarrietia argyrodendron,.. Silver Tree.

'silverware.

[silver s6.] Articles, esp. tableware, made of silver or an alloy of silver. i860 Ruskin Unto this Last iv. §57, I very seriously inquire why ironware is produce, and silverware is not? 1892 Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 17 "The supper table with its fruit, flowers, crystal, silverware and decorated china.

'silverweed.

Also silver-weed, silver weed. [silver sb. Cf. Du. zilverkruid, G. silberkraut.] 1. A common wayside plant of the genus Potentilla (P. anserina) with prostrate rooting stems and silvery leaves; goose-grass or wild tansy. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 86 This herbe is now called.. in English Wilde Tansie or Siluer weede. 1605 Timme Quersit. in. 181 Let them be steeped or infused in water of siluer weed, called wilde tansey, and of parietory of the wall. 1671 Phillips (ed. 3), Silverweed, an herb called in Latin Argentina. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 187 Silver-Weed, Bull-Rushes, and other aquatick Herbs. 1782 J. Scott Poet. Wks. 12 Comfry white, and hoary silverweed. 1832 Veg. Subst. Food of Man 182 Silver-weed., growing in some parts of Scotland .. in times of scarcity made a substitute for bread. 1863 Gardener's Chron. 23 May 493 The Silver Weed is a great pest in the arable field, and especially where some damp spots remain. 1880 Jefferies Gt. Estate 129 Underfoot.. the silverweed opened its yellow petals.

2. (See quots.) 1796 Withering Brit. PI. II. 326 Sibbaldia procumbens.., Procumbent Silver-weed. 1848 Craig, Argyreia, Silverweed. An East Indian genus of plants, so named from the silvery appearance of their leaves.

silver-white, a. and sb. [silver 56.] A. adj. Of a silvery whiteness. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. v. ii. 905 Ladie-smockes all siluer white. 1715 Rowe Lady Jane Grey iv. i, Say thou, whose Head is grown thus Silver White. 1810 Crabbe Borough xiii. 31 His hair all silver-white, Shaking and shining. 1864 Skeat tr. Uhland's Poems 2 Buoyed on clouds all silverwhite.

B. sb. 1. local. The white trout or finnoc. 1834 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. 51 This fish I consider to be .. the Silver White of the Tweed tacksmen. 1882 Day Fishes

b. In names of trees or plants, as silvery acacia, hair-grass, honeysuckle, oak. 1859 Miss Pratt Brit. Grasses 75 Air a caryophyllea .. (Silvery Hair-grass)... Its panicle is of a silvery grey colour. 1889 Maiden Useful PI. 293 Acacia subcaerulea,.. Silvery, or Blue-leaved Acacia. Ibid. 552 Grevillea striata,.. Silvery Honeysuckle. Ibid. 599 Stenocarpus salignus,.. Silky Oak. Silvery Oak.

3. a. Having a clear gentle metallic resonance; silver-toned, melodious. 1600 Dr. Dodypoll in. v. in Bullen Old PI. Ill, Hanging on every leafe an orient pearle Which strooke together with the silver winde Of their loose mantels, made a silvery chime. 1824 Byron Juan xv. lxi, The silvery bell rang. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia ix, In his ears one silvery voice was ringing. 1884 St. James's Gaz. 21 June 5/1 A peculiar soft silvery tone which contrasts very strikingly with the English bands.

b. Silver-voiced. 1821 Byron Diary Wks. (1846) S3112 Burdett is sweet and silvery.

4. Producing silver; containing silver. 1870 J. Orton Andes Amazon vii. (1876) 120 At one end of the valley, perched above the clouds, is silvery Potosi. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 154 It is only requisite to melt the silvery gold.

5. Comb. a. Qualifying other adjs., as silverygreen, -silken, -white, etc. 1796 Withering Brit. PI. (ed. 3) IV. 242 Stem hollow, silvery grey. 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 11. 588 Silverybrownish Slow-Worm. 1831 Poe To Helen Poems (1859) 62 Through heaven There fell a silvery-silken veil of light. 1836-9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 174/1 The brilliant silverywhite appearance so characteristic of the fibrous membranes. 1882 Garden 25 Nov. 469/3 Silvery pink, becoming darker with age.

b. Parasynthetic or instrumental, as silveryeyed, -leaved, -lined, -sided, -tongued, etc. 1752 Hill Hist. Anim. 252 The silvery-eyed, red Sparus .. is also a very beautiful fish. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 461/2 Silvery-leaved iron-wood, a native of Carolina. 1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 196 Geranium Argenteum. Silveryleaved Crane’s Bill. 1864 Tennyson Islet 20 Over-stream’d and silvery-streak’d With many a rivulet. 1872 Jenkinson Guide to Lakes (1879) 211 The storm was succeeded by masses of silvery-lined clouds. 1885 E. W. Hamilton Diary 29 Jan. (1972) II. 783 The German Ambassador whom Bismarck suspects of being too silvery-tongued over here.

Silvester, -trial, varr. Sylvester, -trial.

2. A place where silver is smelted. 1674 Ray Collect. Wds., Smelting Silver 119 The History of these Silver-works may be seen in Dr. Fullers Worthies of Wales, General, p. 3.

fsilverwort. Obs.~° = silverweed i. 1611 Florio, Atanasi, tansie or siluerwort.

the genus Eugenia. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica (1789) 240 The shrubby Philadelphus, with Myrtle leaves; or the Silver Tree... This little tree is frequent in the red hills.

close inshore. 1959 A. C. Hardy Open Sea II. ii. 229 The little silvery pout.. is an even more deep-water species. 1804 Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 1. 63 *Silvery Salmon, Salmo Argentinus. 1871 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 374 The Prairie Mole, or the *Silvery Shrew Mole (Scalops argentatus).

t silvery, sb. nonce-wd. [f. silver sb.] = Silver sickness (silver sb. 21). 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 335 J?anne oon of pe peple cride and seide, ‘It is no squynacie but silverie [u.r. selvery] that it aillej?’.

silvery ('silvan), a. [f. silver sb. + -y. Cf. Du. sulverich, zilverich, G. silberig.] 1. a. Having the hue or lustre of silver. 1611 Cotgr., Argentin, argentine, siluerie. 1704 Petiver Gazophyl. iii. §26 This is a flat edible Fish,.. Silvery above and brown below. 1742 Pope Dunciad iv. 421 Of all th’ enamell’d race, whose silv’ry wing Waves to the tepid Zephyrs of the spring, Or swims along the fluid atmosphere. 1796 Twining Trav. India, etc. (1892) 2 His thin silvery locks curled round the collar of his old-fashioned .. coat. 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms 1. 86 While yet the silvery glory lies, Above the sparkling foam. 1857 Livingstone Trav. S. Africa viii. 167 This bush has fine silvery leaves. 1886 Ruskin Praeterita I. 290 One small bright silvery likeness of a cloud.

b. silvery iron, an inferior kind of pig-iron, more commonly called white iron. 1861 Sir W. Fairbairn Iron 67 Under these conditions, it makes what is called white or silvery iron.

2. a. In names of animals, birds, and fishes, as silvery fox, gibbon, gull, shrew mole; silvery gade, hair-tail (see quots.); silvery pout, a small marine fish, Gadiculus argenteus thori, belonging to the cod family and found in north-western Europe and the Mediterranean; silvery salmon (see quot.). Also in some names of moths, as silvery arches, broad bar, hawk (Rennie, 1832). 1781 Pennant Hist. Quadrup. I. 241 The *Silvery Fox .. abound in the wooded eminences in Louisiana. 1827 Griffith tr. Cuvier II. 44 The Silvery or Black Fox. Ibid. 368 The Silvery Fox (Canis Argentatus) is a species which has been known for a long time. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 195 The *Silvery Gade, Motella argenteola. 1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 64 The second species (Couchia argentata) is commonly known as the Silvery Gade. 1827 Griffith tr. Cuvier I. 209 The Ash-coloured or *Silvery Gibbon, also called the Wou Wou. 1871 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 81 A species which is called the Wow-wow, or Silvery Gibbon (Hylobates leuciscus). 1785 Pennant Arctic Zool. II. 533 *Silvery Gull, Larus argentatus, Gull with a white head and neck, c 1875 Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 207 The last-named species.. from its lighter colour is often called the Silvery Gull. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 182 The *Silvery hairtail, trichiurus lepturus. 1871 Day Fishes Gt. Brit. I. 154 The hair-tail or silvery hair-tail, blade-fish. 1925 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles 155 The *Silvery Pout is not often met with

silvex ('silveks). [f. L. silv-a wood, woodland + Eng. -ex.] A hormone weedkiller that is also effective against some woody plants; 2-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)propionic acid. 1954 Proc. Southern Weed Conf. VII. 268 Silver was active in causing cell elongation and adventitious root formation but not active in causing formative effects. 1973 Ashton & Crafts Mode of Action of Herbicides ix. 131 These growth regulators enhance the herbicidal effect of silvex on poison ivy. 1976 Columbus (Montana) News 3 June (Joliet Suppl.) 4/5 Dandelions are more difficult to control after they flower. Spraying with 2, 4-D, silvex or dicamba (Banvel) is recommended... Silvex also gives excellent control of chickweed.

silvi- fsilvi), comb, form of L. silva wood, woodland. Cf. also sylviculture, silvi-. silvical ('silviksl), a. [f. as silvics + -ical.] Of or pertaining to silvics. 1909 in Webster. 1919 Jrnl. Forestry XVII. 276 The Commission of Conservation of Canada has during several seasons conducted silvical investigations... Studies of natural regeneration, with special reference to the effects of repeated fires, have been carried out. 1931 Ecology XII. 568 Muller was probably the first to look upon the humus layer in the forest as a natural biological unit, and . . he was able to characterize two main types of humus layer and their biological and silvical properties. 1977 Jrnl. Arnold Arboretum Harvard Univ. LVIII. 307 (heading) Silvical characteristics of sugar maple.. in northern Cape Breton Island.

silvichemical (silvi'kemikal). [f. silvi- + chemical a.] Any chemical obtained from part of a tree. 1963 L. C. Bratt in Abstr. Papers 144th Meeting Amer. Chem. Soc. iid The name ‘silvichemicals’ is used in this paper to define chemicals and special products made from tree components, primarily wood, bark, and oleoresins as well as from pulp mill by-products. 1965 Jrnl. Forestry LXIII. 163/1 The silvichemicals may be divided into the two broad classifications of complex polymers or mixtures and pure organic chemicals. 1974 Finnish Chem. Lett. VII. 262 There are clear opportunities for the creation of a profitable enterprise producing .silvichemicals from technical foliage.

silvicide ('silvisaid). [f. silvi- + substance that kills trees.

-cide1.]

A

1950 in Forestry Terminol. (Soc. Amer. Foresters) (ed. 2) 75/i ■ 196° Jrnl. Forestry LVlll. 403/2 Thinning white pine stands with silvicides might be expected to result in serious backflash damage. 1976 Amer. lndustr. Hygiene Assoc. Jrnl. XXXVII. 418/1 The increasing use of organic arsenicals .. as silvicides in forestry has raised questions concerning the health and safety of exposed workers.

silvics ('silviks). [f. L. silva, sylva + -ics: see -ic 2.] The scientific study of the growth and

SILYL

489

SIMETITE

life of forest trees, as a department of forestry, orig. and chiefly U.S. Cf. silvical a.

simagre. Obs. rare. [ad. F. simagree, unknown origin.] An affected air or look.

I9°7 (April 17) U.S. Dept. Agric., Forest Service Order No. 132 Silvics. [The title has been changed (April 17, 1913) to the ‘Office of Forest Investigations’.] 1946 Jrnl. Forestry XLIV. 965/1 The forester’s knowledge of the silvics of the species was pretty thin. 1948 H. J. Oosting Study of Plant Communities (ed. 2) xii. 317 An important part of a forester’s training is forest ecology, or silvics, in which he learns the scientific background upon which silvicultural practices are based. 1975 Agriculture Handbk. (U.S. Dept. Agric.) No. 486 (title) Quaking aspen: silvics and management in the Lake States.

1678 Dryden Kind Keeper in. i, By these languishing Eyes, and those Simagres of yours, we are given to understand, Sir, you have a Mistress in this Company. 1700 -Ovid's Met. xm. Acis, Polyphemus & Galatea 31 Now in the Crystal Stream he looks, to try His Simagres, and rowls his glaring eye.

silyl ('sailail, -Id). Chem. [f. sil(ane + -yl.] The univalent group or radical — SiH3; any substituted derivative of this, esp. one in which alkyl groups replace the hydrogen atoms. Usu. attrib. 1916 Jr til. Chem. Soc. CX. II. 319 The radicles -SiH3, 'ShHs, and -S12H3 would be respectively designated silyl, disilyl, and disilenyl. 1939 Ibid. 1030 Some of the other possible reactions of the silyl radicals are more favoured than that with ethylene. 1970 Nature 25 July 335/2 The preparation of silyiated ylides of phosphorus, arsenic and sulphur, in which the silyl group is both a stabilizing and an efficient leaving group.

Hence sily'lation, a reaction or process in which a substance is converted into a form having silyl substituents; also 'silylate v. trans., to subject to silylation; 'silyiated ppl. a.\ 'silylating vbl. sb. 1938 Nature 3 Dec. 997/1 Trimethylsilylammonium chloride is a convenient silylating agent. 1949 Chem. Abstr. Subject Index 1937-1946 8856/2 Silylation. 1966 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. LXXXVIII. 3390/1 Bis(trimethylsilyl)acetamide .. is a silylating agent superior, in many respects, to the presently used methods. Ibid. 3390/2 Silylations of ‘good’ acceptors—alcohols, amines, carboxylic acids—can be carried out with monosilylamides since the rapidly established equilibria lie far on the product side. Ibid. 3391/1 The vapor pressure of the silyiated product. 1969 Kirk-Othmer Encycl. Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) XVIII. 262 A method of silylating biologically active compounds. 1972 Science 12 May 683/3 Silylation was effected in pyridine with a mixture of hexamethyldisilazane and trimethylchlorosilane. 1978 Experientia XXXIV. 1380/1 The material. . was silyiated with 200^1 of trimethylsilylimidazole at 65°C for i2-i5h.

Sim1, [abbrev. of the personal name Simon.] f Sim subtle, a subtle or crafty person. Obs. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osorius 170b, Whereupon Simme Suttle argueth from destruction of the consequent on this wise. 1599 Hakluyt Voyages II. 11. 84 In his latter yeeres this Sim suttle buried himselfe in a fouresquare graue,.. seuerely forbidding it to be opened.

Sim2. Now Hist, [abbrev. of Simeonite.] A Simeonite; esp. at Cambridge, an evangelical, religious, or quiet man. 1851 Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. 40 Passing for a terribly hard-reading man, and a ‘Sim’ of the straightest kind, i860 Slang Diet. 214 Sim, one of a Methodistical turn in religion; a low-churchman; originally a follower of the late Rev. Charles Simeon. 1883 Times 22 Oct. 9/5 To be a Simeonite at Cambridge—the undergraduates abbreviated it into ‘Sim’,.. — was to wear a badge of reproach.

sim, var. of sum adv. and conj.\ dial. f. seem v. sima ('saima). Geol. Also Sima. [a. G. sima (E. Suess Das Antlitz der Erde (1909) III. n. xxiv. 626), f. L. si-licium silicon + magnesium magnesium.] The continuous basal layer of the earth’s crust, composed of relatively heavy, basic rocks rich in silica and magnesia, that underlies the sialic continental masses and forms the crust under the oceans; the material of which it is composed. The lower limit of the sima is generally taken to be the Mohorovicic discontinuity. 1909 [see Nife]. 1925 Glasgow Herald 29 Sept. 9 In continental regions it [sc. sial] both rises higher to form the land surface, and extends downwards into or displaces somewhat the sima, just as a ship floats on and displaces the water. 1944 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. iv. 41 Certain rocks of the kinds grouped together as sima (e.g. basalt) contain calcic plagioclase, but others are free from felspar. All of the sima rocks, however, are characterized by the abundance or predominance of heavy, greenish silicate minerals. 1950 P. H. Kuenen Marine Geol. ii. 127 If America were plowing through the sima westwards.. one would expect a raising of the sima in front of the continent. 1970 L. Knopoff in Johnson & Smith Megatectonics of Continents & Oceans vi. 120 It seemed plausible to assert that the top of the mantle was a chemically homogeneous material. In many of the older geology texts, this material was simply called sima to describe a dense, basic rock from which the less dense, more acidic sialic crust could be derived by some process of differentiation.

Hence si'matic a., of or pertaining to the basal crust or the material of which it is made. 1942 R. A. Daly Floor of Ocean ii. 59 The oceanic sectors of the earth are characteristically simatic... Also simatic is any vitreous basalt which may form ‘pockets’ in the crust. 1955 [see SIALIC a.']. 1971 Proc. 2nd Symposium Upper Mantle Project (Council of Sci. & Industr. Res., New Delhi) p. xix, Resting on the simatic crust, the continental blocks move, as if riding on the conveyor belt.

sima, obs. variant of cyma.

of

simandro, simantron, varr. semantron. simar (si'ma:(r)). Forms: 7- simarre, simar (7 -arr); 8- symar (9 seymar). [ad. F. simarre, ad. It. cimarra, zimarra: cf. cymar and chimer1.] 1. = cymar i. Also fig. a. 1641 Ariana 201 A Persian simarre, or mantle. 1671 tr. Palafox's Conq. China xxxii. 581 Their Habit is either a certain Vest, or Simar. 1720 Pope Iliad xviu. 685 The maids in soft simars of linen drest. 1784 tr. Beckford's Vathek (1883) 128 They were wrapped in simars whiter than alabaster. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe vii, A simarre of the richest Persian silk. 1828 tr. Manzoni's Betrothed Lovers I. iv. 119 Trailing simars, broidered with work of Arabia. 1893 Cent. Mag. Aug. 640/2 The dancing girl in soft simar. /3. 1700 Dryden Flower Leaf 341 The ladies, dress’d in rich symars were seen Of Florence satten. 1796 Mrs. J. West Gossip's Story II. 78 A white frock altered into a Grecian symar for the occasion. 1813 Byron Giaour 1273, I saw her.. shining in her white symar, As through yon pale gray cloud the star. 1831 J. Wilson Noctes Ambr. Wks. III. 328 The winter.. in green symar changin afore the gratefu’ gaze intil the .. spring. 1886 W. Alexander S. Augustine's Holiday 217 Dark sultanas dress’d in white symars.

2. = CYMAR 2, CHIMER1. 1840 H. Ainsworth Tower of London (1864) 5 They were attired in the scarlet simar, and surplice with its snowy lawn sleeves, proper to their order. 1886 tr. Hugo's Notre Dame vm. ii, The simar had the worst of it in its collision with the cassock.

simaruba (sims'ruibs). Bot. and Med. Also 8-9 simarouba. [Native name in Guyana, known in Europe from c 1713, at first in the French form simarouba; the ending -ba is characteristic of Carib tree-names.] 1. A tree of the genus Simaruba, esp. S. amara or officinalis (formerly called Quassia Simaruba), a native of northern Brazil, Guyana, and some West Indian islands. Also attrib., as simaruba bark (see 2), family, tree. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Simarouba. The bark of this plant is very successful in the cure of dysenteries. 1756 Browne Nat. Hist. Jamaica 345 The bark of the root of this tree [Terebinthus] is thought to be the Sima-rouba of the shops. 1769 E. Bancroft Nat. Hist. Guiana 84 The Simaruba tree is peculiar to Guiana. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs (1821) 40 Simarouba Bark, is the Bark of the root of a species of Birch-tree, not yet sufficiently described. 1849 J. H. Balfour Man. Bot. §831 Simarubaceae, the Quassia and Simaruba Family. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1060/1 S. amara. . yields the drug known as Simaruba-bark, which is, strictly speaking, the rind of the root.

2. The bark of the root of Simaruba amara, which contains quassine and is employed medicinally as a tonic or astringent. 1778 Wright in Edin. Trans. (1790) II. 79 The disorder was happily cured by the simaruba. 1789 Cullen Mat. Med. II. 75 My account of the effect of bitters in the dysentery will perhaps explain the virtues ascribed to simaruba. 1822-34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 376 Decoction of bark with simarouba. 1876 Curling Dis. Rectum 115 Vegetable astringents, such as simaruba and krameria. 1898 p. Manson Trop. Dis. xviii. 312 Boil half an ounce of simaruba in a pint and a half of water.

simarubaceous (simarui'beijas), a. Bot. [f. mod.L. Simarubacese (Richard, 1808), f. prec.] Belonging to the order of tropical trees and shrubs which includes Simaruba and Quassia. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 200/2 A genus of plants belonging to the Simarubaceous order. 1852 Th. Ross tr. Humboldt's Trav. I. vi. 213 Among simarubaceous plants, the Quassia amara, celebrated in the feverish plains of Surinam.

simazine ('sim-, 'saimaziin). Formerly also -in (-in). Also with capital initial, [f. sim- (ad. sym(metric a.) + tri)azine.] A colourless crystalline compound, 2-chloro-4,6-bis~ (ethylamino)-i,3,5-triazine, C7H12N5C1, which is a selective weedkiller applied as an emulsion or wettable powder. 1956 Proc. 13th Meeting N. Central Weed Control Conf. 57/1 During 1956, an experimental herbicide.. designated as Simazin, was released to experiment stations for test purposes. 1957 Chem. Abstr. LI. 9995 The herbicides CMU .. and Simazine .. are used .. to prevent weed growth in grafting vineyards after the spring weeding. 1958 Times 10 Nov. 19/2 Another chemical on which interest is focused is Simazin.. which kills a wide range of weeds. 1971 Ideal Home Apr. 120 Keep it weed free with an annual application of a simazine weedkiller like Weedex before weeds appear. 1978 Financial Times 2 Dec. 13/3 Rose beds kept clear of weeds by small annual applications of simazine.

crossing and hadn’t moved as he went by, only stared menacingly at him. 1976 Drum (E. Afr. ed.) Sept. 3/1 Has Amin now recognised his weakness? What does he now think and say? Does he still claim to be the simba of Africa?

simbal(l, obs. forms of cymbal. 'simball. U.S. [Cf. cymbal 4.] A doughnut. 1865 Mrs. Whitney Gayworthys iii, They had popped corn, and roasted apples, and eaten simballs. 1892 Maria L. Pool Roweny in Boston xvii. 263 Mrs. Tuttle was frying doughnuts... Mrs. Tuttle called these fried cakes ‘sim¬ balls’.

simber, obs. form of simmer v. simber salt, obs. form of somersault. f 'simblic, a. Obs. [f. Gr. ai/i/JAios or crifqSAtjios, f. alpPXos beehive.] (See quot.) 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1004 Mingled with liquid Pitch and Simblick Honey; Dioscorides saith Sicilian Honey is called Simblick.

simblin, variant of simlin. simehah ('simxs). Also simeha, Simchah. [a. Heb. simhd rejoicing.] A Jewish private party or celebration. 1932 L. Golding Magnolia Street 11. ii. 295 Perhaps, after all, it’ll be a good match. There will be a simchah. 1959 H. Pinter Birthday Party 11. 35 Mazoltov! And may we only meet at Simchahs! 1973 Jewish Chron. 19 Jan. 42/2 (Advt.), Arkay caterers. Specialists in home, hall and marquee catering for all simehas.

Simchat Torah ('simxat 'toara). Also Simehas, Simchath, Simhat, and hyphened, [a. Heb. simhat tora, f. simhat, construct case of simha simchah, -I- Torah.] The final day of the festival of Succoth, on which the annual cycle of the reading of the Torah reaches its completion. 1891 M. Friedlander Jewish Relig. II. 480 Twice a year we have special occasion for fulfilment of this duty, viz., on Simchath-torah and on the Seder-e\ening. 1905 Jewish Encycl. XI. 365/1 The name ‘Simhat Torah’ came into use after the introduction of the one-year cycle for the reading of the Law. 1907 Oesterley & Box Relig. Worship Synagogue ill. xx. 374 In some places it has.. been customary for the children to tear down the ‘booths’ (sukkoth), and burn them on Simchath Torah. 1927 A. Feldman Sabbath Spice & Festival Fare 30 On Simehas Torah., there is a ‘procession’ of the Scrolls, i960 Jewish Chron. 8 Apr. 35/3 To dance on Simchat Torah, Is there a greater pleasure? 1973 Synagogue Light Sept. 56 (caption) Israeli Hassidim celebrating Simhat Torah at the Western Wall. 1975 C. Potok In Beginning iv. 213, I thought of the way my father., had danced with the Torah on Simchat Torah. 1978 I. B. Singer Shosha v. 98 Only on Simehas Torah were girls allowed inside a house of worship.

sime. north, dial. Also syme, seyme. [a. ON. sima neut. (Norw., older Sw. and Da. sime, Sw. dial, simme), = OS. simo masc. (hence OE. sima), OFris. sim rope, cord. See also simmon sb.2] a. A straw rope. b. (See quot. 1781.) 1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss. 97 Syme, a frame of straw to set pans on. 1825 J. Briggs Rem. 223 (E.D.D.), He could twist the syme, but could not wash it in the Cocker. 1899 Dickinson & Prevost Cumbld. Gloss., Syme, seyme, a straw rope used for holding down the thatch of stacks.

simenel(l, obs. forms of simnel. Simeonite (’simianait). [f. the name of the Rev. Charles Simeon (1759-1836) + -ite1 1 b.] a. A follower or adherent of Simeon or a supporter of his theological doctrines; a Low Churchman or Evangelical. Also abbrev. Sim2. 1823 Egan Grose's Diet. Vulgar T., Simeonites (at Cambridge), the followers of the Rev. Charles Simeon..; they are, in fact, rank methodists. 1837 Wilberforce in Ashwell Life (1880) I. iv. 112 The Simeonites are not likely to invite us. 1884 World 3 Dec. 16/2 Dr. Law attracted a vast number of Low Church people to Weston, and at one time the town was as full of ‘Simeonites’ and their disciples as Bath or Cheltenham.

b. attrib. or as adj. 1837 Wilberforce in Ashwell Life (1880) I. iv. 112 The good people there tell him one of us is to be the new (Simeonite) Rector. 1850 Macaulay in Trevelyan Life (1876) II. 254, I found the stairs, the passages, and the very street.. full of parsons, Puseyite and Simeonite. 1893 ‘Mark Rutherford’ Catharine Furze vi, The patronage was in the hands of the Simeonite trustees.

Hence 'Simeonism, doctrines of Simeon.

adherence

to

the

ou falle ynne. C1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2357 Here may men se . . How foul es syn and how fylande. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5078 Trowe not that I wolde hem twynne, Whanne in her love ther is no synne. c 1470 Henry Wallace Hi* 323 Bot thou do so, forsuth thou dois gret syne. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 60 This lesson must not so curiously bee kept, as though it were sinne to make the deuision of fower, or flue partes. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. iv. iii. 177, I that am honest, I that hold it sinne To breake the vow I am ingaged in. 1631 High Commission Cases (Camden) 210 Such as will’lye in sinne and goe on without repentance. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 613 Because ’tis sin to misemploy an hour. 1758 S. Hayward Serm. i. 4 We are all under the guilt of Sin. 1773 Mrs. Chapone Improv. Mind (1774) II. 14 It is your part to retire from such an occasion of sin. 1807-8 Wordsw. Eccl. Sotin. 11. xxv, Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost With the least shade of thought to sin allied. 1842 Tennyson St. Simeon Stylites 120 A sinful man, conceived and born in sin. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. ii. 32 Old Jewish sin was heathen sin—it was open.

b. Personified. *593 Shaks. Lucr. 882 In thy shady cell.. Sits Sin, to seize the souls that wander by him. 1632 R. Bernard Isle of Man 5 Thus we see what an ungrateful Villaine Sin is to his best friends. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 230 Meanwhile .., Within the Gates of Hell sate Sin and Death. 1818 Shelley Eugan. Hills 249 Sin smiled so as Sin only can. 1842 Tennyson Love Duty 8 Shall.. Sin itself be found The cloudy porch oft opening on the Sun?

c. In phrases child, or man, of sin; as black, or ugly, as sin. Also like (or worse than) sin: vehemently, intensely, vigorously. Cf. like the devil s.v. devil sb. 16. 1610 Shaks. Temp. in. iii. 53 You are three men of sinne. 1821 Scott Kenilw. x, Though I am as ugly as sin, I would not have you think me an ass. 1827-Chron. Canongate iv, They .. bowed civilly if folk took aff their bannets as they gaed by, and lookit as black as sin at them that keepit them on. 1840 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 3rd Ser. viii. 102 Who the plague can live on sugar-candy? I am sure I couldn’t. Nothin’ does for me like honey; arter a while I get to hate it like sin. 1842 Tennyson Vision Sin 5 From the palace came a child of sin. 1868 ‘Mark Twain’ Let. 8 Jan. (1917) I. 143, I have been working like sin all night to get a lecture written. 1929 W. Scott Mask i. 16 By the way, Father, dear—who is it that Peter Marlin hates worse than sin?

d. to live in sin: to cohabit outside marriage. 1838 Ann. Rep. Bath City Mission in G. R. Taylor AngelMakers (1958) 67 Front attic, two aged people living in sin. 1855 C. Kingsley Westw. Ho! II. vii. 213 Why, not..to know whether.. she’s married to him or not.. and I not to know whether she’s living in sin or not, Mr. William. 1925 A. P. Herbert Laughing Ann 92 Don’t tell my mother I’m living in sin. 1974 R. B. Parker Godwulf Manuscript vii. 56 A couple of freaky kids living in what my aunt used to call sin.

3. a. A pity; a shame. Still in colloquial use, esp. in Sc. See also Sc. Nat. Diet. c 1300 Havelok 1976 It is hof him mikel sinne; He maden him swilke woundes j?rinne. C1470 Henry Wallace v. 501 ‘To dede in Forth he may for vs be brocht.’ Lord Persye said, ‘Now suthlye that war syne’. 1831 C. Darwin Let. 6 Sept, in F. Darwin Life (1887) I. v. 207 He takes out twenty chronometers, and it will be a ‘sin’ not to settle the longitude.

fb. A fear of doing wrong. Obs. rare. C1300 Havelok 2375 bat he ne sholde neuere blinne, Ne for loue, ne for sinne, Til pat he haueden Godard funde. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 518 To byrn and sla off thaim he had na syne.

4. Comb. a. With pa. pples., chiefly in instrumental use, but sometimes denoting ‘in sin’ or ‘from sin’, as sin-absolved, -bom, -burthened, -clouded, -crushed, -drowned, etc. Combs, of this type are extremely common from about 1590 to 1670, and again from about 1850. 1563 B. Googe Eglogs viii. (Arb.) 68 With gredy mouth he alwayes feeds vpon the Syndrownd soule. I591 Sylvester Du Bartas 1. v. 832 Christ, who, sin-thrall’d man to free, Became a captive. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 137 Farewell sinne sowed flesh. Ibid. 161 This triple headed Pope with all his sin-absolued whoores. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xm. ccxv, The Curse which Heav’n injoin’d to grow On Sin-condemned Earth. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 596 Whom thus the Sin-born Monster answerd soon. 1681 Flavel Meth. Grace ix. 188 What joy must it be to a sin-burthened soul to hear the voice of pardon. 1792 R. Cumberland Calvary (1803) II. 49 That sacred flesh, whose bleeding stripes Heal’d our sin-wounded souls. 1843 J. G. Whittier Hum. Sacrifice in Lays of my Home 475 Oh! Never yet upon the scroll Of the sin-stained, but priceless soul, Hath Heaven inscribed ‘Despair!' 1849 J. C. Hare Par. Serm. II. 98 The inmost Desire of his own sin-crusht soul. 1868 J. H. Newman Verses Var. Occas. 253 While song is hushed .. In the sin-laden air. 1882 H. S. Holland Logic & Life (1885) 187 The borders .. of this sin-clouded sky. 1896 E. Dowson Let. May (1967) 363 Except that I want to see your classically sin-stained countenance, I should not even think of a week in Paris.

b. With pres, pples. and vbl. sbs. in objective use, as sin-afflicting, f -beeting, -chastising, concealing, -doing, etc. Also instrumental, as sin-soiling (see 4e). This type is common in the 17th and 19th centuries. c 1200 Trin. Coil. Horn. 121 Ich com to .. understonden po sinbetende on rihtwisnesse. 1144o Alph. Tales 3 Not alonelie for hur syn-doyng. . sho was sparred in a cloce cell iij yere. 1493 Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 148 They be in greete peryll that breke the feest.. in synnedoynge. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse Wks. (Grosart) II. 44 Wise was that sinwashing Poet that made the Ballet of Blue starch and poaking stick. 1593 Shaks. Lucr. 767 O comfort-killing

SIN

505 Night, Vast sin-concealing chaos! 1611 J. Davies (Heref.) Sco. Folly ccxviii, Thy scourge of Vice, thy sinne-afflicting Muse. 1681 J. Flavel Meth. Grace xxviii. 492 Earnest desires of our souls to God in prayer.. for sin-mortifying grace. 1738 Wesley Ps. lxxx. 20 The Sin-consuming Virtue. 1774 J. Edwards Hist. Redemption (1793) I. iv. 85 If they came to such a dreadful sin-revenging God immediately they should die. 1819 Shelley Cenci iv. ii. 32 His death will be But as a change of sin-chastising dreams. i860 Pusey Min. Proph. 18 Very beautiful to devils must be the sin-loving soul.

c. With agent-nouns, in objective use, as sinabsolver, -discemer, -forgiver, etc. 1592 Shaks. Rom. & Jul. in. iii. 50 Being a Diuine, a Ghostly Confessor, A Sin-Absoluer. a 1716 Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 88 One that makes Sin, We might render it a Sinmaker. «*39 J Rogers Antipapopr. xv. §1. 312 A huge, disciplined, active army:.. not of sinopposers, but of slavemakers. 1849 J. A. Carlyle Dante's Inf. 48 That sindiscerner sees what place in Hell is for it. 1870 W. Graham Lect. Ephesians vi. 137 The character of the sin-forgiver should not degenerate into the sin-indulger.

d. With adjs., as sin-black, -dark, -guilty, -like, -proud. 1594 Nashe Terrors of Night Wks. (Grosart) III. 220 The diuell keepeth his audit in our sin-guilty consciences. 1614 Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue 197 Thou couldst not cleanse These Sin-proud shining Halls. 1617 A. Newman Pleas. Vis. 22 The stately Court,.. whose sin-like hew Dazles the Eyes of euery Wight. 1812 Shelley Devil's Walk xxii, Cormorants are sin-like lean, Although they eat from night to morn. 1855 Bailey Mystic 29 With sin-black hills engirthed. 01915 Joyce Giacomo Joyce {1968) 10 She stands beside me, pale and chill, clothed with the shadows of the sindark nave.

e. With vbs., in the sense ‘by sin’, as sineclipse, -merit. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 214 Our soules they keepe not from sinne-soyling, but are the onely instruments, so to soile and sinne-eclipse them. Ibid. 257 To make vs more wary of sinne-meriting it.

5. attrib., as sin-bane, custom-house, -entanglement, -gluttony, -guilt, -guiltiness, etc. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. iii. 1. Vocation 100 Sucking the ♦Sin-bane of Assyrian ayre. 1673 Egane {title), The Book of Rates now used in the *Sin Custom-House of the Church of Rome. 1668 J. Owen Expos. Ps. exxx. Wks. 1851 VI. 381, I who am in the depths of ♦sin-entanglements. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 79 [To] kill the body & the soule both of her vnbounded *sinne-gluttonie. 1645 Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 227 He .., by a ♦singuilt, hath transgressed a law. 1650 Trapp Comm. Exod. xx. 17 That the people might, .bee admonished of their ♦singuiltiness. 1861 Reade Cloister H. lxvii, The pair were driving a bargain in the *Sin market. 1850 Lynch Theoph. Trinal x. 201 The ♦sin-miasma from the evil will of a man. 1650 Hubbert Pill Formality 14 A form of godliness without the power of it, may well be called the devils *Sin-Mould. 1535 Coverdale Zech. xiv. 18 This shalbe the *synneplage of Egipte and the synneplage of all people. 1624 Gataker Transubst. 202 Nor was there ever any ♦sinne-sacrifice without blood-shead. 1824 Southey Sir T. More (1831) I. 327 The *sin-score was settled with St. Kentigern in the regular way. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. i. 11. Imposture 562 The farther this foule *sin-spring flowes, It still more muddy and more filthy growes. 1615 Brathwait Strappado (1878) 154 True, I was blind, when thy *sin-Syren voice Made me despise my selfe.

6. Special combs.: sin-bin slang (chiefly N. Amer.) = penalty box (a) s.v. penalty sb. 5; also transf.; f sin-boot, repentance, penance; sin bosun Naval slang, a ship’s chaplain; sin-buster U.S. slang, an evangelist; a clergyman; sin city slang, a title applied jocularly or otherwise to a city considered to be a place of vice; sin-eater, one hired to take upon himself the sins of a deceased person by means of food eaten beside the dead body; so sin-eating; sin-flood [after G. siindflut, an alteration of OHG. sin-vluot general flood], the Deluge; f sin-money money brought as an offering in expiation of sin; sin-rent, a payment made to obtain absolution for sins; sin-shifter slang, a clergyman; f sin-wood, mad with sin. 1950 Amer. Speech XXV. 104/2 *Sin bin, the penalty box where hockey players are sent for a few moments for infraction of rules, etc. 1958 Herald Tribune (Grand Prairie, Alberta) 11 Mar. 5/3 [The] game saw 37 minutes spent in the sin-bin. 1973 Times 10 Dec. 8/2 This game showed that it would be worth while trying the ice-hockey system of onthe-spot discipline with a ‘sin-bin’ to allow players to cool down. 1982 Daily Tel. 25 Feb. 19/5 It often took several months for an infant who has created chaos to be removed to a special school or a ‘sin bin’, c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 135 Alle weldede beofi freomfulle to *sun-bote. C1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 137 Ure drihten him bed fulenen on watere to synbote. 1948 Partridge Diet. Forces' Slang 170 * Sin boson [sic], the, the Chaplain, R.N. (Lower-deck.) 1964 Navy News Dec. {H.M.S. Royal Arthur Suppl.) 1/2 Well, at least the Sin Bosun doesn’t seem too old, and did you see him get all punchy during deck-hockey yesterday? I931 L. Cochran Flood Tides vi. 56 ‘The Reverend Billy Swinnerton is to conduct a revival here.’.. ‘Not that ole ♦sin-buster?’ 1973 Guardian 17 Oct. 15/3 Leicester people .. saw Nottingham as a sort of ♦sin city because people there went to the pub at night. 1975 ‘A. Thackeray’ One Way Ticket 11. 95 What’s going to happen in Chicago?.. All you want to do is run amok in ‘Sin City’. 1686-7 Aubrey Gentilisme, etc. (1881) 35 A Loafe of bread was brought out, and delivered to the *Sinne-eater over the corps, i860 Murray's Handbk. S. Wales Introd. 26 The superstition of the Sin-Eater is said to linger even now in the secluded vale of Cwm Amman. 1832 Hone Year Bk. 19 July 858 An usage called *sin-eating undoubtedly arose in catholic times. 155°

Spir. Perle xxiv. (1560) 232 When as the whole worlde beside were destroyed with the *sinne flood. 1892 J. Lucas tr. Kalm's England 408 Whether all these strata came into their present shape at the sin-flood.. I leave others to divine. 1611 Bible 2 Kings xii. 16 The trespasse money, and ♦sinne-money was not brought into the house of the Lord. 1899 Trevelyan Age Wycliffe 142 Wycliffe’s position about pardons, *sin-rents, and the abuse of the confessional. 01912 ‘T. Collins’ Rigby's Romance (1946) 187 ‘Not a proper *sin shifter,’ objected Dixon. ‘You can’t chris’n a kid, nor yet say the (adj.) words over people.’ 1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dialects 45 Sin-shifter, an army chaplain. 1966 ‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse II. 98 Sin-shifter, a parson, priest, or rabbi, c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1073 Dat folc vnseli, ♦sinne wod,.. wulden him Sor gret strengfie don. Coverdale

sin (sin), v. Forms: a. i syngian (synngiga, -eja), 3-4 sungen; i singian, 3 singen, 4 syngen. ft. 2-3 sunegen (2 -eghen, 3 -egi), 3 sinegen, sinigen, synegen, 4 synegy, senegen. y. 3 sune3en, sine3en (sinn3hen), 4 sen(ne)3en, zene3i, synewi, sinie. S. 3, 5 sunne, 5 senne; 4-7 sinne, 4- sin; 4-6 synne (5 synnyn, cynnyn), 5 syn(e. [OE. syngian :—*sunigdjan, f. *sunjd, OE. syn(n sin sb.; cf. Du. zondigen, G. siindigen, ON. syndgask refl. (Icel. syndga). This is normally represented in ME. by sungen, singen (cf. ming v.), but in early ME. the types sunigen and siinijen also appear. The shorter siinnen, sinnen are probably due to the influence of the sb., with which the vb. finally became identical in form.] 1. intr. To commit sin; to do a sinful act. a. c825 Vesp. Ps. iv. 5 Eorsiafi & nyllafi syngian. C897 K. Gregory's Past. C. xvii. 109 Is Searf Saet hie jedon .. fiaet hie ne durren syngian. c 1000 /Elfric Numbers xxii. 34 Balaam ewa26, Ic singie nitende. 01200 Moral Ode 258 per inne bofi.. po pe sungede muchel a drunke and an ete. 01225 Ancr. R. 420 note, Ancren, sume sungifi in hare wim[p]lunge na lesse pene lefdi. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 172 God saj bi-fore quat after cam, Sat singen sulde firme adam. C1320 Cast. Love 1381 bor\v Adam we sungeden furst vchon. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. viii. 165 J?at.. preyers don sauen Soules pat han sunget seuen sipes dedlich. 1393 Ibid. C. 1. 109 Hure syre sauh hem syngen and soffrede hem don ille. j3. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 19 3if we suneged, we hit sculen beote. c 1250 Owl Night. 928 Ich wisse men myd myne songe, pat hi ne sunegi nowiht longe. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 44/336 pe menbre )>ov most keruen of 3ware-with)> J?ou isunegut hast, c 1340 Nominate (Skeat) 384 Homme suette et pecche, M[an] wischith and senegith. 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. xv. 112 He pat knowe)? cleregie can sonnere a-ryse Out of synne, and be saf J?ow he synegy ofte. y. c 1200 Ormin 3970 patt illke mann ne sinn3he)>)? nohht. 12.. Prayer our Lady 29 in O.E. Misc. 193 Ifurn ich habbe isune3et mid wurken & midd muSe. CI310 St. Edmund 450 in E.E.P. (1862) 83 If y ne wende synewi dedliche, y nolde neuere hit do. 1315 Shoreham vii. 874 po man senne3ed in paradys, A1 chaungede pat flesch a-mys. 1340 Ayenb. 20 Ine pri maneris me may zene3i be )>ise zenne. 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. xxiii. 15 Sopeliche he synewep nat pat so wynne)? hus fode. 8. 01300 Cursor M. 7955 ‘Sinned i haf,’ coth dauid pan. 1338 R Brunne Chron. (1810) 339 Adam first gan synne, did pat God forbede. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 194 He syneth not, but whoso asketh I-styrryd with concupiscens .. senneth venialy. 1426 Audelay XI Pains of Hell 21 Hengyng.. Sum be pe membirs of here body, pat pai han sunnyd with in herthe leuand. 1530 Palsgr. 718/2, I have synned in glotonny to night, I have stolne a horse. 1569 Rogers Glasse Godly Love 186 Wee dailie and hourely continually sinne. 1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. 11. ii. 163 The Tempter, or the Tempted, who sins most? 1688 Dryden Brit. Red. 285 Thus Israel sinned, impenitently hard. 1714 R. Fiddes Pract. Disc. 11. 237 A man may .. deceive him-self, and sin on with the hopes of an after-repentance. 1825 Lytton Falkland 119 Do not tell me that I sin, when I .. nurse the delirium [etc.]. 1859 Tennyson Merlin & V. 610 That he sinn’d is not believable. /Elfred

b. Const, against (fin, to, with, etc.). ^825 Vesp. Psalter cxviii. 11 In heortan minre ic ahydde jespreocu 8in, fiaet ic ne syngie 5e [L. tib{\. C893 K. Alfred Oros. vi. x. 264 pa saede him hiora an .. p?et he .. miclum on paem syngade. ciooo Ags. Gosp. Matt, xviii. 15 5yf pin bropor syngafi wifi pe. 13.. Cursor M. 2986 (Gott.), Fra touche of hir i saued |?e, pat pu suld noght sinne in me. C1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 313 3if pin brother synne)? in pee, J?ou shalt snybbe hym. 1414 Brampton Penit. Ps. (Percy Soc.) 22, I have synned to the alone, And forfetyd ofte before thi sy3t. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xxxix. 9 How shulde I then do so greate euell, and synne agaynst God? 1605 Shaks. Lear in. ii. 59,1 am a man, More sinn’d against, then sinning. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 11. xxix. 169 He that is subject to no Civill Law, sinneth in all he does against his Conscience. 1732 Pope Ess. Man 1. 130 Who but wishes to invert the laws Of Order, sins against th’ Eternal Cause. 1772 Junius Lett, lxviii. (1788) 343 Your conscience already tells you, that you have sinned against knowledge. 1841 Trench Parables (1877) 408 Strictly speaking, we can sin only against God. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xxxii, I think I have never sinned against her.

c. spec. To commit fornication or adultery with (or fon) one. 01225 Ancr. R. 56 Bersabee.. makede him sunegen on hire, so holi king ase he was. c 1290 5. Eng. Leg. I. 262/46 To alle pat with hire sunegy wolde euere redi heo was. 1375 Cursor M. 26261 (Fairf.), )x>u prest take kepe )ou synne no3t wip pine awen shepe. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 143 3if I seie eny of 30ure ordre synne wip a womman, I wolde helye hym wip myn mantel. £1440 Gesta Rom. 140 (Add. MS.), Whan he hadde synned with her, he had her more in hate than he before loved her. 1530 Palsgr. 719/1 All sortes of lecherye be naught, but specially to synne with a wedded woman. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 248 Another sinning on such heights with one, The flower of all the west and all the world, Had been the sleeker for it.

SIN d. To offend against some principle, standard, etc.; to be faulty or wrong. a 1704 T. Brown Wks. (1711) IV. 99 This Government.. sins against the Spirit of the Revolution. 1822 Byron Juan vi. lii, The most regulated charms of feature, Which painters cannot catch like faces sinning Against proportion. 1861 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const, v. 74 Our English system sins against all these canons, and sins grievously. 1888 Nation (N.Y.) 6 Dec. 464/2 Quite cleverly painted, and sinning chiefly by excessive prettiness.

2. trans. a. To do, perform, or perpetrate sinfully; to commit (a sin). C1315 Shoreham 1. 136 A1 pat he hep iseneged her.. Eliinge brengep hit to nou3te. 1682 Southerne Loyal Brother iv. ii, Gifted rogues, That .. Sin or unsin rebellion to the crowd. 1823 Praed Troubadour 1. 80 He sinned few crimes, loved many times. 1859 Hawthorne Marb. Faun xi, While there remains so much to be sinned and suffered in the world. 1879 J. Hawthorne Laughing Mill, etc. 81 In the end the sin was sinned.

b. to sin one's mercies, to be ungrateful for one’s blessings or good fortune. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet let. i, I know your good father would term this sinning my mercies. 1849 Mrs. Oliphant Marg. Maitland I. viii. 244 Surely, Mr. Allan,.. it would be sinning your mercies. 1891 Sat. Rev. 14 Mar. 328/1 Without wishing in any way to sin our mercies.

c. to sin one's soul, to incur the guilt of sin. dial.

(Fairf.), The fresshest syn the worlde was first bygonne. 1405 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 178 He owyth my mastyr ffor the londe that the sayd Roper had syn he deyde ffor hys wyffe. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxi. 212 Shew me where ye haue ben syn I saw you. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. 11. Wks. 1192/2 It neuer hath had any sample lyke, sinne the world began vnto now. 01536 Songs, Carols, etc. (E.E.T.S.) 52 Owr kynde ys frayle,.. & ever hath bene syne we knew vs. 1785 Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xii, It’s e’en a lang, lang time indeed Sin’ I began to nick the thread. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede iv, Adam’s niver touched a bit o’ victual sin’ home he’s come.

2. Seeing or considering that, o 1300 Cursor M. 11212 Sin godd wald pat it sua suld be. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 946 God war worthy mare to be lufed pan any creature,.. Syn he es maker of althynge. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 28 Syn al power is of God,.. man may do no ping, but if he 3eue him pe mi3t. 1484 Caxton Fables of Auian xvi, Syn I hold the now, thou shalt not scape fro me. o 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxi. 211, I care not whether I lyue or dye syn I haue founde you. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (I733) I- 8 Now, woer, sin ye are lighted down Where do ye win. 1818 Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck iii, I wish ye had suffered under ony hand but mine, sin’ it be your lot. 1877 Holderness Gloss. 126/1.

fb. So sin that. Obs. c 1375 Cursor M. 3167 (Fairf.), Quar sal we take a beste pis sacrifise to make, syn pat we haue bro3t nane. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. 11. §4 Me semeth conuenient, sin pat I speke of the assendent, to make of it special declaracioun. 1474 Caxton Chesse 11. iv. (1883) 44 Syn that a knyght is capitayn of a batayll the lyf of them..lyeth in his hand.

1894- in Eng. Dial. Diet.

3. With preps, and advs. a. To bring (oneself) into a state, or beyond something, by sinning. 1665 Walton Life Hooker 37 These had sinned them¬ selves into a belief that there was no God. 1680 C. Nesse Ch. Hist. 191 They had sinned themselves beyond the reach of all remedies. 01716 South Serm. (1823) I. 170 Few consider what a degree of sottishness and confirmed ignorance men may sin themselves into.

b. To drive or force away (also hence) by sinning. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. 11. (1900) 164, I have sinned away your Father, and he is gone. 1688 Dryden Brit. Rediv. 292 For we have sinned him hence. 1694 Providences of God 84 The Lord grant we may not sin away our Mercies, i860 Pusey Min. Proph. 207 Souls which have sinned away the grace of God and are beyond its reach.

c. (See quots.) 1652 Loveday tr. Calprenede's Cleopatra Ded. A 2, At such times as your silent Authority gave me leave to want better imployment, this trifle was Sinn’d into English [from French]. 1777 Fletcher Bible Calvinism Wks. 1795 IV. 241 The basest and vilest of men who have not yet sinned out their day of salvation.

sin, Sc. variant of sun. sin (sin), adv.t prep., and conj. Now Sc. and north, dial. Also 4-6 (9) syn, 8-9 sin’, 8 sun; 4 sine, 6 syne; 5-6 synne, 6-7 sinne. [Contracted form of sithen: cf. sen, syne, and since. In later use freq. written sin’, as if an abbreviation of since. The common early spelling syn, and the rare sine, syne, do not indicate a long vowel.]

A. adv. 1. Then, thereupon; afterwards, subsequently.

sinapoline

506

thereafter,

Frequent in Caxton. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 290 Alwey on dragon hem kepte; Syn were pey stolen pe while he slepte. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 218 Hapeles hy3ed in haste with ores ful longe, Syn her sayl was hem aslypped on sydez to rowe. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) I. 92 He hath putte hym self in armes wyth oute my knowleche And syn sendeth for me. c 1489 -Sonnes of Aymon ii. 64 Theyr moder.. ranne for to kysse theym .. and sin asked what thei had doon of theyr fader. C1500 Melusine 245 He toke by force of armes the Erie of Fyerbourgh and syn passed in Austeryche.

2. From that time onwards. 1405 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 178 He hathe ocupyde the lond evyr syn. 1484 Caxton Fables of JEsop v. x, Yf euylle is syn happed to me it is wel bestowed. 1485 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 339/1 The first day of this present Parlement or at any tyme syn. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss, s.v., I sa him last Jamsmas and I hennot sin him sin. 1886 S. W. Line. Gloss. 131 He’s never addled owt sin.

3. Ago; before now. Also long sin, for a long time before (quot. 1596). 1490 Caxton Eneydos xii. 44 The bodyes longe syn destroyed & conuerted in-to poulder. 1530 Hickscorner in Hazl. Dodsley I. 175 Devotion is gone many days sin. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. xi. 44 Knowing his voice although not heard long sin, She sudden was reuiued therewithall. 1796 R. Walker Plebian Pol. (1801) 32 Boh this war ov eawars wud hah bin ore monyoah yeor sun. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss. 74/2 It’s a gud lang time sin. 1886 S.W. Line. Gloss. 78, I heard the bell knoll a piece sin.

B. prep. From, after; subsequent to. a 1300 Cursor M. 5670 Sin quen was pou vr dempster? Ibid. 13651 Ne it i-wiss was neuer herd Sin pe biginning ope werld. 1455 in Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. (1880) 5 The King is wel amended,.. and hath ben syn Cristemes-day. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 225 Never sin that tyme was no kyng crowned in gascoyn. C1500 Melusine 102 My lady syn your departyng hath doo made..this toun. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 352, I have not seen him sin Tuesday. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xix, Things were strangely changed.. sin’ the sad and sorrowfu’ Union. 1886 in Cheshire Gloss.

C. conj. 1. From or since the time that. fAlso rarely with that. 01300 Cursor M. 9323 For sin pat we war born in werld Sua selcut sagh we neuer herd. 13 .. Ibid. 22192 (Edinb.), A soru suilc was neuir are, Sin man was made. . And sine pe werde it firste bigan. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 229

sinabar, obs. form of cinnabar. Sinaean (sai'niisn), a. rare, [irreg. f. late L. Since, ad. Gr. Zlvai (Ptolemy), prob. ad. Arab. Sin, the empire of China.] Chinese. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 390 From the destind Walls Of Cambalu .. To Paquin of Sinaean Kings. 1893 R. Wilson tr. Figuier's Human Race iii. 292 The nations belonging to the Sinaean branch .. have not the features of the Yellow Race so well defined as those belonging to the Mongolian branch.

|| sinagot (sinago). [Fr., f. Sene, a fishing village on the Gulf of Morbihan, on the west coast of France.] A two-masted Breton fishing-boat. 1927 L. Richardson Brittany & Loire 213 Very red are the sails of the sinagots. 1975 Mariner's Mirror LXI. 93 The name for this type, which, like a Chinese junk, sets its two yards at almost right angles to their respective masts, is sinagot.

Sinaic (sei’nenk), a.1 rare~K [irreg. f. late L. Sinse (see Sinaean a.) + -ic.] = Sin/ean a. 1872 tr. Figuier's Human Race 205 We will separate it [the Yellow Race] into three branches—the Hyperborean, the Mongolian, and the Sinaic branches.

Sinaic (sai'nenk), a.2 [f. Sinai + -ic.] = next.

Si'nanthropoid Sinanthropus.

a.

[-oid],

resembling

1928 Daily Tel. 17 Apr. 9/3 A human tooth as old as the Java ape man.. has been named Sinanthropus, or ‘the Peking man’. 1931 A. Keith New Discoveries Antiquity of Man xvii. 260 The Sinanthropic mandibular fragment is broken short at the socket for the second incisor. 1937 Ann. Reg. 1936 52 Parts of three skulls of Palaeoanthropus showing Sinanthropoid features .. were found in the Upper Pleistocene in Tanganyika. 1965 B. E. Freeman tr. Vandel's Biospeleology iii. 22 Sinanthropus used caves for shelter. 1978 Nagel's Encycl.-Guide: China 298 Great pride was taken in the discovery of remains of ‘sinanthropus’ which were older still than those found at Zhou Kou dian by Teilhard de Chardin.

sinapate (’sinopeit). Chem. [f. sinap-ic + -ate1 c.] A salt formed by the action of sinapic acid on an alkali. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. vii. §1. 498 note, An insoluble sinapate of baryta. 1868 Watts Diet. Chem. V. 308 All the sinapates, excepting the barium-salt, decompose with great facility.

sinaper, variant of sinoper. sinapic (si'naepik), a. Chem. [See next and -ic.] Of, pertaining to, or derived from sinapine. sinapic acid, an acid obtained from sinapine by the action of potash and soda. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. vii. §i. 497 note, This base, when acted upon by potash or soda, is decomposed into sinapic acid, and a new alkali, termed sinkaline. 1868 Watts Diet. Chem. V. 308 Sinapic acid crystallises in small prisms.

sinapine (’sinspin). Chem. Also-in. [f. L. sinapis mustard + -ine5.] ‘An organic base, existing as a sulphocyanate in white mustard-seed’ (Watts). 1838 Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 903 There exists in it [mustard] a peculiar crystallizable body, to which they gave the name of sulphosinapisin\ but which has been shortened by Berzelius into sinapin. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. vii. §1. 497 note, An aqueous solution of sinapine has an intense yellow colour. 1878 Kingzett Anim. Chem. 277 Von Babo and Huschbrunn discovered a base named sinkaline as a decomposition product of sinapine.

si'napisin(e. Chem. -ine5.] (See quots.)

[irreg. f. L. sinapis

+

1840 Pereira Elem. Mat. Med. 11. 1267 We learn that black mustard seed contains myronate of potash, myrosyne, .. sinapisin, free acid,.. and some salts. 1868 Watts Diet. Chem. V. 310 Sinapisine, the name given by E. Simon .. to a white, scaly, crystalline substance, which he obtained from black mustard-seed by extraction with alcohol and ether. 1875 Ibid. 2nd Suppl. 832 Sinapisine sulphate is insoluble in ether.

at singing and pat gleu Our leuedi hir sun ihesu knew. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xi. 145, I [was] saued, as 3e may se, with-oute syngyng of masses, c 1400 Rule St. Benet 1162 In ayn oper plase sais he J>at angels sal our synging se. C1440 Promp. Parv. 78 Cyngynge of songe, cantus. Ibid., Cyngynge of masse, celebracio. 1484 Paston Lett. 111. 314 Sche seyd that ther wer non dysgysyngs, ner harpyng, ner lutyng, ner syngyn. 1535 Coverdale i Chron. vii. 31 They mynistred before the habitacion of the Tabernacle of witnes with synginge. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. May 21 With singing, and shouting, and iolly chere. 1611 Bible Song Sol. ii. 12 The time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. 1632 Lithgow Trav. in. 90 They are naturally inclined to singing. 1700 Tyrrell Hist. Eng. 11. 763 Yet was he received by the Clergy with a Solemn Procession and Singing. 1772 Wesley Jrnl. 21 Apr., Every one stood up at the singing. 1817 Shelley Fragm., To one Singing 2 Upon the liquid waves of thy sweet singing. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting 72 The horrid noise which the Kaffirs made, and call singing. 1872 T. Hardy Under Greenw. Tree Pref., Some of these compositions which now lie before me .. are good singing still.

b. With a and pi. An instance of this. Now N. Amer. (chiefly Southern), a gathering joined for collective singing, esp. at a church; a hearty sing-song. C1374 Chaucer Troylus 111. 1716 In blisse, and in syngynges, This Troylus gan all his lyf to lede. c 1440 Jacob's Well 164 Leccherous maners, as kyssynges, felynges, dern syngynges. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 454 Their Diriges, their Trentals, and their shrifts, Their memories, their singings, and their gifts. 1661 Papers Alter. Prayer-bk. 80 They use not the same prayers, singings or readings. 1684 Foxe's A. & M. III. 390 Neither their singings, nor their sayings, shall bring us out of Hell, i860 O. L. Jackson Colonel's Diary (1922) 17, I was at a singing at Woodward Church. 1934 C. Carmer Stars fell on Alabama 11. ii. 49 Ain’t seen him since the singin’ down at Samanthy. 1949 B. A. Botkin Treas. S. Folklore 1. iv. 93 All through the South, of course, the church is an important social and cultural

SINGING

516 force, its sociability running the gamut of church-going.. bush-arbor revivals, all-day singings with dinner on the grounds, church suppers, singing schools, [etc.]. 1962 E. Lucia Klondike Kate viii. 172 Families got together for ‘singings’ around the parlor piano and to play games. 1975 Budget (Sugarcreek, Ohio) 20 Mar. 3/5 They all had supper at the Lehman home and a singing was held later in the evening.

c. The action of turning informer or laying information against someone. Cf. sense 4 d of the vb. Criminals’ slang. 1937 Sat. Even. Post 18 Dec. 85/1 One actually preferred a three-year penitentiary term to singing. 1940 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 21 Mar. 3 (heading) ‘Singing’ at murder syndicate’s hunting ground. 1973 Times 12 Apr. 7/4 The terrified ‘singing’ of the Sicilian ‘Valachi’ to delighted magistrates in Palermo has landed 36 Mafia suspects in jail.

2. a. The emission of a clear musical note by fermenting or heated liquids. C1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 113 3ifT pe wyne reboyle, how shalle know by hys syngynge. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss, s.v., The sound made by damp wood when burning is also called singing.

b. Teleph. A continuous self-excited oscillation of audible frequency in a telephone circuit, normally resulting from excessive positive feedback. 1923 T. E. Herbert Telephony xxvi. 829 If two repeaters are in circuit, spaced so closely that the line loss between them is less than the gain given by each ‘singing’ or ‘howling’ will persist continuously. 1962 C. F. Boyce OpenWire Carrier Telephone Transmission xi. 231 Singing affects not only the channel which is unstable but may also cause crosstalk into another system or overloading of line amplifiers. 1975 R. L. Freeman Telecommunication Transmission Handbk. vi. 48 To control singing all four-wire paths must have some loss.

3. A sound of a musical character having its origin in the ears or head. 1605 Chapman All Fools v. i, I’ll swear I had A singing in my head a whole week after. 1614 W. B. Philosopher's Banquet (ed. 2) 78 The iuyee.. allayes the singing in the Eares. 1656 Harrington Oceana (1700) 163, I have a singing in my head like that of a Cartwheel. 1766 Phil. Trans. LVII. 70 The giddiness in my head, singing in my ears,.. were now considerably abated. 1889 Jrnl. Anthropol. Instit. XIX. 119 Singings in the ear, gurglings in the throat.

4. attrib. and Comb., as singing commercial, face, gear, -master, matter, robes, -school, skill, -voice; singing-bone, dial., the funny-bone; singing book, a book to sing from; singing-e’en, Sc., New Year’s eve; singing game, a traditional children’s game in which singing accompanies associated actions; f singing gift (see quot.); f singing loaf, = singing bread; singing-muscle, one of the syringeal muscles of a singing-bird {Cent. Diet.)', singing point Teleph., the maximum gain that a telephone repeater can have without being liable to self¬ oscillation in the circuit; f singing psalms, the metrical version of the psalms used for singing in church; T singing wine, ? wine used in celebrating mass. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss., * Singing-bone, the sharp bone at the edge of the elbow. 1580 Allen in J. Gillow Haydock Papers (1888) 17 To employ the same summe.. upon a payre of organs, one table, and certayne “singing bookes. 1607 [? Brewer] Lingua 1. ix, When shall wee heare a new set of singing-books, or th’ viols, or the consort of Instruments. 1793 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1885) XXII. 148 Voted to obtain 6 Psalm Books and 6 Singing Books for the use of the Parish. 1872 Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Fireside Stories 130 They tore out all the leaves of the hymn-books, and the singin’-books besides. 1948 B. Rose Wine, Women & Words 11, I wrote the first “singing commercial. 1955 New Yorker 23 Apr. 74/1, I approached Mr. Chayefsky’s film with no great hope that the thing would prove to be much more interesting than a singing commercial. 1806 A. Douglas Poems 24 “Singin’-e’en she’s owre aft seen, She’s shakin’ hands wi’ fifty. 1846 Dickens Cricket on Hearth 11, He hadn’t what is generally termed a “singing face. 1881 Folk-Lore Rec. III. 11. 169 The following ‘“Singing Games’ are still played and sung by the children of Booking, in Essex .. I. Mary’s gone a-milking .. II. Thread the Tailor’s needle .. III. Nuts in May [etc.]. 1905 G. Ade Let. 7 Nov. (1973) 33 One or two of the old-fashioned singing games which went as well in the Sho-Gun. 1975 B. Meyrick Behind Light xiv. 183 Playing the singing games ‘Jenny is a-weeping’, ‘In and out the stalky bluebells’. 1530 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) I. 26 That he shall have his tytle and “singynge geyr boughte at the coste of my sayd wyeffe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 456/2 “Syngynge 3yfte, or reward for syngynge, syparium. 1530 Tindale Pract. Prelates fviij, A great deale of flower wolde not make so manye hostes, as they call them, or “synginge loues. 1546 Phaer Bk. Childr. {1553) Tviij b, Make a fewe pylles of aloes,.. wynde them in a piece of a singing lofe,.. and let them be swalowed. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 112 If 2 He., employed an itinerant “Singing-Master.. to instruct them rightly in the Tunes of the Psalms. 1754 N. Y. Mercury 11 Mar. 3/2 William Tuckey, Singing-Master, Desires to inform all lovers of Psalmody, that. . all persons may be taught by him on very reasonable terms. 1891 Harper's Mag. Oct. 813/1 The precentor, or singing-master, as he was called, was a tall young man in a black suit with white ruffles. 1928 W. B. Yeats Tower 2 And to be the singing masters of my soul. 1976 J. Drummond Funeral Urn xvii. 89 He was planning to make a concert singer of her. He’d engaged a singing-master—ostensibly to train the Amber choir, but in fact for Bess. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxxvii, If there is any truth in your news, is it a “singing matter, you scoundrel? 1924 K. S. Johnson Transmission Circuits for Telephonic Communications xiv. 166 The “singing point or the limiting condition beyond which satisfactory operation of the repeater cannot be maintained.

1934 Post Office Electr. Engineers Jrnl. XXVII. 231/2 The vertical scale gives the singing point of a repeater in decibels. 1679 Bunyan Fear of God Wks. 1852 I. 473, I will set it before thee both as it is in the reading and in the “singing psalms. 1710 W. Beveridge Wks. (1846) VIII. 615 Great endeavours .. have been made.. to cast out the Old, and bring in a New Version of the Singing-Psalms. 1841 De Quincey Homer & Homeridse Wks. 1857 VI. 362 When his “singing robes were on,.. the rhapsodos held his stick in his right hand. 1736 Ainsworth, A “singing school, ludus musicus. 1838 G. F. Graham Mus. Comp. Introd. p. x, In the sixth century Pope Gregory I established a singing-school at Rome. ci6oo F. Davison in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 331 Let my tongue lose “singing skill. 1880 Lanier Sci. Eng. Verse i. 28 These are the limits for the human “singingvoice. 1558 Fraternity Holy Ghost, Basingstoke (1882) 9 Item payed for “singinge wyne, ij d. b. Of places used for singing in, as singing-

gallery, -house, loft, -pew, -place, -room, -seat, theatre. 1688 Miege Grt. Fr. Diet. \,Jube,.. a singing Place, a 1700 Evelyn Diary 14 Sept. 1644, At the end of it is a Cupola or singing theatre. 1750 Phil. Trans. XLVI. 708 The ReadingDesk stands just by the Singing-Pew. 1770 Ibid. LXI. 74 The lightning entered .. through two places in the roof, one near the singing loft. 1774 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1884) XXL 271 Voted Liberty to beuld a singing Seat in the front of the Gallearry Pues. c 1820 S. Rogers Italy, Como (1839) 211 That shady nook, a singing place for birds. 1842 F. Witts Diary 22 Oct. (1978) 167 The remains were to be deposited at the west end of Upton St. Leonards church, under the singing gallery, near the font. 1850 Thackeray Pendennis xx, The theatres and singing-houses which these roaring young blades frequented. 1851 J. W. Hudson Hist. Adult Educ. 157 Singing-rooms are numerous, prosperous and constantly well-attended. 1864 Whittier Wreck of Rivermouth 109 In the singing-seats young eyes were dim. 1883 C. C. Perkins Ital. Sculp. 139 A singing-gallery (cantoria) in the Cathedral. 1902 A. Bennett Anna of Five Towns ii. 34 Mynors.. should have been in his place in the ‘orchestra’ (or, as some term it, the ‘singing-seat’) of the [Methodist] chapel. 1976 S. Wales Echo 27 Nov. 12/6 (Advt.), Sing along with Mike and Charles at the newly decorated singing-room upstairs.

'singing, ppl. a. Also 4-5 syngynge. [-ing2.] 1. 1. a. That sings; giving forth song. C1340 Nominale (Skeat) 128 Syngynge man silden weputh. C1586 C’tess Pembroke Ps. lxvi. ii, All earth, I say, and all earth dwellers, Be of his worth the singing tellers. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, 1. ii. 198 The singing Masons building roofes of Gold. 1779 Mirror No. 24, We have the whistling plow-man, the singing milk-maid. 1798 Coleridge Fears in Solitude 3 O’er stiller place No singing skylark ever poised himself. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. 515 The bright visions, Wherein the singing spirits rode and shone. 1882 J. Parker Apostolic Life I. 12 Like a singing angel newly sent from the glad heavens.

b. In names of birds, etc. 1864-5 Wood Homes without H. xii. (1868) 218 A most beautiful pensile nest is made by the Singing Honey-Eater (Ptilotus sonorus). 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 253 The Batrachidae are represented on the Pacific coast by the ‘Singing-fish’, or ‘Toad-fish’, Porichthys porosissimus.

2. Specially or professionally employed in singing; engaged or hired to sing: a. singing man, a man engaged to sing in an ecclesiastical choir. 1527-8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 346 Paide to a singing-man of Sent Anthis.. for keping of our lady mas. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 156 To haue plaide it on the Organes with a quier of singing men. 1602 Campion Art Eng. Poesie ii. 6 Sir Thomas Moore.. makes two sundry Epitaphs vpon the death of a singing man at Westminster. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. 11. xvii. 179 He heavily aggravated the debauchednesse of Singingmen. 1725 Portland Papers VI. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) 100 Mr. Bierly.. married a daughter of Dan. Williams the Singing-man of Westminster. 1789 Burney Hist. Mus. III. i. 22 He procured a singing-man’s place in the cathedral of Norwich. 1801 Busby Diet. Mus., Singing-Man, the appellation formerly given by the common people to the gentlemen of cathedral choirs. 1905 E. Candler Unveiling of Lhasa xiv. 269 The Abbot begins the chant, and the monks, facing each other like singing-men in a choir, repeat the litany. fig- 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 120 As many sortes of shrill breasted birdes, as the Summer hath allowed for singing men in her siluane chapels.

b. Similarly singing boy, clerk. Also, in other than ecclesiastical use, singing girl, woman. *535 Coverdale 2 Chron. xxxv. 25 All the synginge men and wemen [1611 the singing women]. 1548 Elyot Diet., Cantrix,.. a syngyng woman. 1666 Pepys Diary 26 Feb., And hither come cushions to us, and a young singing-boy to bring us a copy of the anthem to be sung. 1682 N.* O. Boileau's Lutrin iv. 25 Let Singing-boyes Whose Pension’s pay for’t, do those Drudgeries! 1709 Steele Tatler No. 41 If 6 Mr. John Taplash .. desires your Vote for Singing-Clerk of this Parish. 1776 Addit. Wks. Pope I. 35 With wives I never sin, But singing girls and mimicks draw me in. 1820 T. Mitchell Aristoph. II. 302 The dicast.. enters with a torch in one hand, and leads a singing-girl in the other. 1880 Browning Muleykeh 59 For a couple of singing-girls his robe has he torn in two.

3. singing bird, a bird that sings; a songster. Usually applied to cage-birds; the pi. is also sometimes used as a rendering of oscines 2. *565 Cooper Thesaurus, Cantnces aues, syngyng byrdes. *593 Shaks. Rich. II, 1. iii. 288 (Q.1), Suppose the singing birds musitions. 1626 [see singer1 1 b], 1711 Addison Spect. No. 5 If 7 The next time it is Acted, the Singing Birds will be Personated by Tom-Tits. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 339 Of the Canary-bird, and other hard billed Singing-birds. 1818 Scott Rob Roy v, They are like imprisoned singing-birds. 1871 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 772 It is owing to the capacity of the air-cells that the Singing Birds are enabled to prolong their notes.

SINGING BREAD Mealy-

4. a. That makes or gives out a sound of a musical character (cf. sing

SINGLE

517

transf. 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. 111. iv, mouthed inquisitors, and shaven singing-birds.

.1

v 6). 1565 Cooper Thes., Sagitta stridens, a syngyng arow 1620 Quarles Argalus & P. hi. Wks. (Grosart) III. 274/1 His winged messenger.. did hide His singing feathers in his wounded side. 1642 Fuller Holy ts? Prof. St. v. xvi. 423 Malice, which,., like hollow singing bullets, flies but halfway to the mark. 1716 Pope Iliad v. 214 Through the thick storm of singing spears he flies. 1791 Cowper Iliad xviii. 432 The water in the singing brass Simmer’d. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. 235 Sounds Sweet as a singing ram of silver dew. 1855 Longf. Hiaui. Introd. 48 Beyond them .. Stood the groves of singing pine-trees.

b. singing arc, a direct current arc across which is connected a tuned circuit, causing the arc to oscillate and emit a sound at the frequency of the tuned circuit, singing-buoy, a buoy having something attached which gives out a singing sound, singing coal (see quot. 1883). singing glass (see quot. 1875). singing hinny (north, dial.), a kind of cake which emits a hissing sound while cooking on a girdle, singing sand, desert or beach sand that emits a singing, whistling, humming, or other continuous sound when disturbed, singing tree, a West Indian tree, the pods of which make a singing sound when stirred by the wind. 1903 Sci. Abstr. VI. 30 The author suggests replacing the ordinary high-capacity condensers necessary to produce Duddell’s ‘‘singing arc’ by the much less costly aluminium condenser. 1906 Electrician 21 Dec. 375/1 Limitations as to frequency .. beset the use of the singing arc as a transformer of the direct mains current into uninterrupted highfrequency alternating current. 1950 Starling & Woodall Physics xxxvi. 874 The singing arc.. where electrical and thermal factors are involved in the maintenance of oscillations. 1894 Outing XXIV. 460/2 A ‘singing-buoy had been torn from its moorings. 1855 J. Phillips Man. Geol. 193 Strata, including ‘singeing [sic] coal. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coaim. 223 Singing Coal, a bed of coal from which gas is ordinarily issuing from the partly-exposed face in the mine, producing a hissing sound. 1669 Pepys Diary 23 Feb., I had one or two ‘singing-glasses made, which make an echo to the voice, the first that ever I saw. 1792 G. Galloway Poems 34 To see.. Mr. Cartwright’s singing glasses. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2187/1 Singing-glass, a thin, sonorous glass vessel, which yields an echo when vibrated by a sound. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Singin or * Singing-hinny, a kneaded spice cake baked on the girdle; indispensable in a pitman’s family. 1863 Mrs. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers iv, Neither cream nor finest wheaten flour was wanting for ‘turf-cakes’ and ‘singing-hinnies’. [1884 Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1883 251 (heading) The singing beach of Manchester, Mass.] 1897 Mary Kingsley W. Africa 175 A patch of *singing sand under my feet. 1941 R. A. Bagnold Physics of Blown Sand CSf Desert Dunes xvii. 251, I have found singing sand on the slip-faces of both seif and barchan dunes and of drifts formed under the shelter of cliffs. 1970 R. Johnston Black Camels of Qashran viii. 133 The night¬ long background music of the dunes was silenced. They were through the singing sands. 1885 Lady Brassey The Trades 340 The flamboyant. .is very abundant here [the Bahamas]; as is also the ‘^singing’ tree, which we first saw in Jamaica.

II. 5. Of the nature of singing; having the musical qualities of song. 857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xii. 664 France had not possessed a single man who dared to think for himself.

c. With even, or implying this. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 351 Sometimes they find a difficulty in rearing even a single nest. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague 11. iii. 25, I don’t expect this Plague Will change its quarters, long as it has left A single man alive. 1879 L. Stephen Hours Libr. Ser. iii. 183 From a single phrase, as from a single gesture, we can often go far to divining the character of a man’s thoughts.

6. a. Sole, only, one. Also used for emphasis with a superlative, b. Mere. 1639 Ld. Digby Lett. cone. Relig. (1651) 61 By the easy abuse, if not by the single use of Images. 1728 R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. xviii, These are not the single Enemies I have to encounter with. 1748 Melmoth Fitzosborne Lett. xlviii. (1749) II. 30 That he should not leave so important a creature as man, to the single guidance of his own precarious faculties. 1827 Southey Hist. Penins. War II. 672 Heroes who carry victory with their single presence. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 287 The single bed of a poor family had sometimes been carried away and sold. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. v. 87 To the outer world the earlier period of the race, with the single exception of Abraham, was an entire blank. 1969 [see loop v.x 7]. 1972 New Yorker 8 July 1 (Advt.), The single biggest travel buy to anywhere, ever. 1978 Church Times 15 Dec. 11/2 Sir Ronald has also, since last September, been chairman of the Central Board of Finance in Church House, and is thus the single most powerful figure in Church finance.

7. Standing alone in comparison with other persons or things; unique, singular. 1633 Ford 'Tis Pity iv. i, That you may know my single charity, Freely I here remit all interest I e’er could claim. 1658 Whole Duty Man vi. §13 He will be sure to commit them [sins], rather than run the disgrace of being too single and precise. 1728 R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. 22 Some there are who appear single in Opinion, only to be continually opposite to the common Judgment of Mankind. 1750 H. Walpole Lett. (1848) II. 347, I.. am almost single in not having been to see him. 1786 J. Jay in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) IV. 131 Favor your country with your counsels on such an important and single occasion. 1815 Mackintosh Sp. Ho. Comm. 27 April, Wks. 1846 III. 358 Single among representative assemblies, this House is now in the seventh century of its recorded existence. 1817 H. T. Colebrooke Algebra, etc. Notes & Illustr. p. xlvii, The Romaca and Paulisa are single of the names.

II. 8. a. Unmarried, celibate. (See also quot. 1847.) Also absol. as pi. single man, a bachelor, single woman, a spinster; fa prostitute (quots. 1530 and 1657). 1303 R- Brunne Hand! Synne 7361 3yf weddyd man sengle woman takefu C1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 73 And sugetis taken ensaumple at here curatis, boJ?e weddid men & sengle. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 11. iv. 155 A syngil man and a syngil womman. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xxxii. (Percy Soc.) 156 Who that is single and wyll have a wyfe, Right out of joy he shall be brought in stryfe. 1530 Palsgr. 270/2

Syngle woman, a harlot, putayn. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 28 The Single man committing fornication sinneth lesse than the Adulterer. 1657 Howell Londinop. 337 No Stew-holder, or his Wife, should let or stay any single Woman to go and come freely at all times. 1685 Baxter Paraphr. N.T. 1 Cor. vii. 26 No doubt but it is much more for their., quiet to be single, than to have a Wife or Husband. 1747 Gentl. Mag. 485 A lady.. thinking Mr. C. single and disengaged. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia x. x, A single woman is a thousand times more shackled than a wife. 1817 Byron Beppo xxxviii, The fair single part of the creation. 1847 Lipscomb Buckingham I. 582 The inmates,.. being.. single persons, whether having been married or not. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. xciii. III. 298 No one dreams of drawing any distinction between the single and the married. fig. 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, 1. i. 15 Men might say Till this time Pompe was single, but now married.

b. Of, pertaining to, or involving celibacy, esp. in single life. For the phrase single blessedness, see blessedness b. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. 55 As in my other letters I required you not to leade a syngle lyfe. 1557 N.T. (Geneva) 1 Cor. Argt., He answereth to certeine pointes.. touching single life. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 596 Lawes were enacted touching the single lives of Priests. 1612 Bacon Ess., Marr. & Single Life (Arb.) 266 A single life is proper for Churchmen. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 112 If 6 They that have grown old in a single state. 1773 Foote Bankrupt 1. Wks. 1799 II. 100 A single service is best suited to me. 1812 Crabbe Tales viii. 251 But shall his Bride your single state reproach? 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney I. iv. (1850) 62 Without having changed her state of single¬ unblessedness. Comb. 1597 Beard Theat. God's Judgem. (1631) 410 These are the godly fruits of those single life-louers, to whom the vse of marriage is counted vnlawful.

c. Designating a person who is bringing up a child or children without the assistance of a marital partner. Chiefly in phr. single parent {family). 1969 J. Sprey in B. Schlesinger One-Parent Family 16 Stigmatization of the single-parent family, and especially of single parents, does occur. 1976 Women's Report Sept./Oct. 7/1 This, coupled with the fact that more women are voluntarily becoming single mothers by refusing to have their babies adopted has caused the government to set up a Cabinet Committee on Family Affairs. 1977 C. Fremlin Spider-Orchid vii. 55 Peggy Summers was having teenage troubles at last, and wasn’t managing so marvellously as a single parent after all. 1980 Times 24 Jan. 9/8 Gingerbread caters for all categories of single parents; the divorced, separated, widowed, unmarried, or those whose partners may be in hospital or prison.

f9. In slight raiment; without cloak or armour; marked by scantiness or simplicity of clothing. Obs. 13.. K. Alis. 204 (Laud MS.), Dame olympias, amonge pis pres, Sengle rood, al mantel les. 13.. Coer de L. 1067 And seyngle in a kertyl he stood, Abood the lyon fers and wood. 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1071 [They] ounarmede him J>o anon, & wan he was sengle amoung hem per, hy auysed is schap echon. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 353 Men of £is lond .. beej? sengle of clopinge, scarse of mete, cruel of herte. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour {1868) 168 He was not so gay aourned, ne so sengle of clothes, but he had on hym good and warme gownes.

f 10. Of cloth, garments, etc.: Of one thickness of material; unlined. Obs. C1375 Sc. Leg. Saints v. (John) 152 Skantly had Ilkane of l>a a singill clath, fore-owtine ma. 01450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 168 A hood of scarlatte sengle & wythoute furrynge. Ibid. 169 A shorte and sengle gown withoute lynynge. 1459 Paston Lett. I. 475 Item, j. gowne of blewe felwett.., slevys sengle. 1530 Palsgr. 270/2 Syngle gowne, robe sengle. Ibid., Syngle kyrtell, corset simple. 1552 Inv. Ch. Goods (Surtees) 24 One vestment of blewe single sattene. 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 90 A much more sparing dyet is fitter; and a single-coat, though it be never so ancient and thin, is fully sufficient.

11. a. Composed or consisting of only one part, feature, etc.; not double, compound, or complex; also, of the ordinary or small size, as distinguished from double a. 4. For various special uses, see 17. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 347 Many depe diches and castelles sengle, double, and treble, and many wardes strongliche i-walled. 1449 in Cal. Proc. Chanc. Q. Eliz. (1830) II. Pref. 55 sengell gistes of pe same flore at pe fronte shullen be in brede.. ix inches. 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 347, v. doble polyves and a sengelle. 1521 Fisher Serm. agst. Luther Wks. (1876) 324 A sengell threde is nothynge so stronge as is a double. 1540 in Greene Hist. Worcester II. App. p. ii, Item ij masers, one with a dowbilbond, the other with a sengylbond. 1592 West 1st Pt. Symbol. 1. §26 b, When a thing is purchased or gotten .. by gift or legacie, or some other such single title. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 45 Single Rafters six and three Inches. Ibid. 96 Nor do provident builders rivet locks only at the one side, for that a thief within doores .. makes that single riveting of no use as to security. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 154/2 The maner of which beatings is performed by single and double.. blows. 1711 Mi lit. Sea Diet. s.v. Tenaille, The Single Tenaille, a Work, the Head whereof is form’d by two Faces, making one Angle Rentrant. 1827 Steuart Planter's G. (1828) 192, I mean single carts, or carts drawn by one horse. 1845 Proc. Philol. Soc. II. 89 The vowels generally, whether single or diphthongal, are sounded as they are in Italian. 1862 Smiles Engineers III. 89 A single line furnished with sidings to enable the laden waggons to pass the empty ones. 1875 Knight Did. Mech. 2480 A single whip .. is the simplest tackle. It consists of one single block and a fall.

fb. Of artillery. Obs. 1546 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 54 Small artailyery sik as double falcoun, single falcoun. 0 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 367 Collveringis, myans and doubill falcouns, singill falcouns and hagbuttis of fund.

SINGLE

519

c. Of flowers: Having only one whorl or set of petals; also, of plants: Bearing such flowers; opposed to double a. 1 d. 1551 Turner Herbal (1568) 30 Ther groweth a flour like a syngle rose in the tope of thys herbe. 1594 Plat Jewel-ho. ill. 33 You may also drie Paunsies, Stock-gilliflowers, and other single flowers. 1615 W. Lawson Country Houseui. Gard. (1626) 54 The sweet muske Rose double and single. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 198 Single and double Hepatica. 1731 Miller Gard. Diet. s.v. Hyacinthus Tuberosus, The Single sort is by far the fairer Flower. 1796 C. Marshall Gardening v. (1813) 62 No single flowers should be suffered to grow in a garden where there are double ones. 1812 New Botanic Garden I. 29 With single blue flowers, with double blue flowers. 1852 G. W. Johnson Cottage Gard. Diet. 339 In double flowers.. the corolla is much more durable than in single ones. d. Intended for or accommodating one person. 01859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiii. V. 73 A single bedroom. 1867 Augusta Wilson Vashti xxxiii, A strip of faded carpet stretched in front of a small single bedstead. 1886 Pascoe London of To-day i. (ed. 3) 34 Single bed¬ rooms cost from 45. to 155. per day. 112. a. Simple; plain; without qualification or addition. Obs.

further

c 1421 26 Political Poems 105 While obley in yrnes or boyst ys stoken, Hit nys but bred, and sengyl bake, c 1450 Lovelich Grail lii. 705 Whanne Piers vndirstood that he A kyng was Of so hy degre, and wende he hadde ben A sengle knyht [etc.]. 1453 Rolls of Par It. V. 271/1 Bynde hem. .by obligation or obligations, aswell sengell as conditioned. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme in. liv. 556 Some doe make this oile after the simplest and singlest sort. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. 1. xix. §vi, God Almighty intended not that single Theft should be punished by death. 1736 Butler Anal. 1. ii. 47 Perhaps divine goodness.. may not be a bare single disposition to produce happiness.

fb. Slight, poor, trivial. Obs. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 11. viii. 184 Ymagis of God .. forto make bi hem sengil and leuke remembrauncis. 1585 Daniel Notable Deuises Wks. (Grosart) V. 302 Hauing.. maried a wife of singulare beautie, but (according to the common rumour) of single honestie. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, 1. ii. 207 Is not your voice broken? your winde short? your wit single? a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Queen of Corinth ill. i, He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice. 1638 Rawley tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1650) 19 The Sect of the Essenes among the Jews.. used a single or Abstemious Diet.

13. a. Of beer, ale, etc.: Weak, poor, or inferior in quality; small. Now arch. Also transf. 1485 in 9th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. I. 177/2 A vessell of single bere to the gonners, xii d. 1505 in 10th Rep. ibid. App. V. 392 That there be no sale bread, singill ale, nor honyed alle.. mad in towne, but by ffre men. 1594 Knack to Know a Knave in Collier Five Old Plays (Roxb.) 386 Your drinke is too strong... Single beere is better far both for your profit and your seruants health. 01635 Bp. Corbet Poems (1647) 30 Although I thinke Poets were nee’r infus’d with single drinke. Ibid., Let your Channels flow with single tiffe. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4032/4, 11 Pieces of single French Brandy. 1820 Scott Monast. xviii, An hogshead of ale at Martlemas, of the double strike, and single ale at pleasure,

b. Of whisky: pure, not mixed or blended. 1920 Glasgow Herald 22 July 4 No man who knows whisky when he tastes it would prefer them [sc. advertised blends] to a ‘single' whisky. 1958 Spectator 27 June 838/1 It would have been before the days of proprietary whiskies; it would be interesting to know which 'single' or ‘self whisky he used and its strength. 1968 I. C. Taylor Highland Whisky (An Comunn Gaidhealach) 5 It is an excellent dry single malt. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds vii. 136 Twelveyear-old single-malt Scotch.

14. a. Simple, honest, sincere, single-minded; free from duplicity or deceit. 1519 Horman Vulg. 55 He is a good sengyll soule, and can no harme. 1595 Spenser Col. Clout 727 Single Truth and simple Honestie Do wander up and downe despys’d of all. 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, V. iii. 38, I speake it with a single heart, my Lords. 1633 Ford Broken H. iv. i, Sure, he’s an honest, very honest gentleman; A man of single meaning. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. in. §20 To single Hearts doubling is discruciating. 1809 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 134 To those whose views are single and direct, it is a great comfort to have to do business with frank and honorable minds. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxiii, [Such as] nothing but a pure and single heart [could have] expressed. I°73 Whitney Oriental & Ling. Stud. 83 The single devotion of the Brahman student. b. Of the eye, after Biblical use. 1526 Tindale Luke xi. 34 When thine eye is single; then is all thy body full of light. 1577 F. de Lisle's Legendane I iv, Considering with a single eye the parties in this cause ye shall finde that [etc.]. 1669 N. Morton New Eng. Mem. A 2 I onely crave of thee to reade this following Discourse with a single eye. ci68o Beveridge Serm. (1729) 1- 63 He that looks upon these words with a single eye. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. 343 Keep your eye single, and your hands clean. 1884 Century Mag. Mar. 925 All readers of his know.. how absolutely single his eye is.

15. Of a combat or fight: Between two persons; man to man. (See also combat sb. 1 b.) [1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 46 b, If it be enemie to enemie single, they then are not to discharge their peeces.J 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. 1. iii, I saw him, hand to hand, In single fight with their Lord Generali. 1610 Holland Camden s Brit. 360 Who in this Hand by a single combate tried it out. 1639 Fuller Holy War 11. i. (1840) 48 He., killed Rodulphus, the duke of Saxony, in single fight. 1711 Addison Sped. No. 9 If 7 The President , was said to have killed half a dozen in single Combat. Ibid. No. 70 If 5 Let you and I end our Quarrel in single Fight. 1820 Scott Monast. xxxvii, Reserving my right to defy my Lord of Murray and my Lord of Morton to single duel. 1838 Arnold Hist. Rome I. 4 At last Ascanius met him man to man and slew him in single fight. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. App. 706 That the two kings shall decide the matter by single combat.

16. In quasi-advb. use.

01450 Le Morte Arth. 1795 Non Armore he dyde hym vppon Bot A Robe All sengle wrought, a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 58 [The] Countroller.. is thirde in estate .. aftyr the Steward, but at no tyme .. within thys courte covered in servyse, and but single served. 1681 Lond. Gaz. No. 1663/4 They lye Unmored, and ride single, and intend to Sail this Afternoon. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 83 They commonly lay twelve or fourteen loads of Chalk upon an Acre, where they lay it single. 1837 Lockhart Scott III. x. 343 My venerated friend, who was—unlike, perhaps, some others of the company at that hour—able to hear accurately, and content to see single.

III. 17. a. Special collocations; single act (Theatr.), a performance (orig. in vaudeville) by one entertainer; also, an entertainer who performs unaccompanied; single anchor (see quot. 1867) also/if/.; \ single billet, single-stick; single bond (Chem.), a chemical bond in which the two atoms share one pair of electrons only; single care (see quot.); single change (see quot. 1688); single chant (see chant sb. 2); single cream, cream with a low fat content; single crorwn (Naut.), a single crowning given to a knot (see crown v.1 14, crowning vbl. sb. 4); single end (Sc., chiefly Glasgow), a one-roomed flat; single entry, (a) (see entry 9 b); (b) listing of a title at only one place in a catalogue, bibliography, or index, without crossreferences; an entry so created; single fare, the charge for conveyance on an outward journey (but not back); single file, a line of men one behind the other; single Gloucester (see Gloucester); single house (see quot. 1818); single-jack (N. Amer.), a short hammer used in percussive hand-drilling by one person alone; single line (see quot.); f single officer (see quot.); single premium, a sum which covers the entire cost of insurance in a single payment; j single rapier, the rapier only (without dagger); single reed (Mus.), a reed or blade of other material that serves as the sounding apparatus of certain wind instruments; f single sentinel or soldier, a private soldier (Sc.); single shot, used, usu. attrib., with reference to a facility for producing a single event where repeated action is normal, as on an automatic weapon; single side band (Telecommunication), either of the two side bands normally associated with the carrier of a broadcast transmission; freq. attrib. with reference to a method of transmission in which only one side band is transmitted, the other being suppressed along with the carrier; also short for single side band transmission; f single sword, ? singlestick; single ten, the ten of a card-suit; (see also quot. a 1700); single ticket, a ticket entitling a traveller to a single journey outward, as opp. to a return ticket (cf. return sb. 1 e). 1952 Granville Diet. Theatrical Terms 163 * Single act, a solo performance in vaudeville, e.g. a ballad singer, a juggler, an acrobat, an impersonator, or a raconteur, i960 B. Keaton My Wonderful World of Slapstick v. 89, I went to New York to see if I could get work there on my own. As a single act. That’s what vaudeville people called it. 1822 C. Arbuthnot Let. 2 Sept. (1941) 31, I wish you to keep yrself at ‘single anchor, for shd. the Govt, be broken up, you must hurry to me. 1839 Marryat Phant. Ship viii, The Ter Schilling .. lay at single anchor. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Wordbk. 627 Single anchor, a ship unmoored, having hove up one bower, rides by the other. 1613 Beaum. & Fl. Captain 11. i, No more Than .. Fighting at ‘single Billet with a Barge¬ man. [1889 G. M’Gowan tr. Bernthsen's Text-bk Org. Chem. i. 50 A double bond between two carbon atoms is looser, and therefore more easily broken than a single one.] 1903 Walker & Mott tr. Hollemati’s Text-bk. Org. Chem. I. 150 When a ‘single bond between two carbon atoms is converted into a double one, the directions of the affinities of each of the two carbon atoms must undergo an appreciable alteration. 1966 Williams & Fleming Spectrosc. Methods in Org. Chem. iii. 45 The stretching vibrations of single bonds to hydrogen give rise to the absorption at the high frequency end of the spectrum. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 429 The law which enables a person of unsound mind .. to be placed .. under what is technically designated ‘‘Single Care’ —that is, under certificates in the house of a medical man or other person. 1688 Holme Armoury III. 462/2 The ‘Single Change, is when all the Bells ring, and one is changed only from Round Ringing. 1872 Ellacombe Bells of Ch. in Ch. Bells Devon iii. 39 About the year 1642 .. single changes were first attempted. 1861 J. S. Adams 5000 Mus. Terms 91 * Single Chant, a simple harmonized melody extending only to one verse [etc.]. 1875 Stainer & Barrett Diet. Mus. Terms s.v. Chant, A single chant is in two strains, the first of three, and the second of four bars in length. 1955 J. G. Davis Diet. Dairying 320 The manufacture of cream was prohibited during the war but in 1951 sale was permitted for a few weeks. The standards laid down were: ‘single cream 18 per cent, (usually homogenised), double cream 48 per cent. 1962 Listener 26 July 155/1, J pint of real single cream. 1979 A. Parker Country Recipe Notebk. viii. 108 Single cream is thin cream for pouring. It will not whip. 1808 ‘Single crown [see double wall]. 1883 Man. Seamanship Boys' Training Ships (Admiralty) (1886) 121 Formadoublewall, single-crowned, then lay the strands by the sides of those in the single-crown. 1897 J. Wright Scenes Sc. Life 27 ‘A ‘single en’, or one apartment. 1935 McArthur & Long No Mean City i. 1 Cavity beds are .. a feature of the Glasgow slums... The ordinary ‘room-and-kitchen’ apartment, and even the one-roomed ‘single-end', always include a cavity

SINGLE bed or beds. 1981 P. Turnbull Deep c=f Crisp & Even iv. 60 He took a single end in Maryhill and sent for his wife. 1826 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 462/2 The more obvious method .., which is called Book-keeping by ‘Single Entry. 1849 Freese Comm. Class-Bk. 103 If my books were kept by single entry, I should simply credit Smart & Co. for the coffee. 1963 Guide to Universal Decimal Classification (B.S.I.) i. 7 Generally speaking, each document gets only one entry in the classified file, and this method of ‘single entry’ is assumed for the time being. Many UDC users, however, favour a method of ‘multiple entry’, whereby a document on Harvesting of cereals, for instance, would get an entry under both Cereals and Harvesting. 1976 B. Buchanan Gloss. Indexing Terms 123 Single entry systems fail to correct completely the separations caused by the application of a citation order..; for this, multiple entry systems are necessary. 1777 P. Thicknesse Year's Journey I. vii. 52, I could not refrain from giving her a double fee, for a ‘single fare. 1841 C. Dickens Let. 14 Sept. (1969) 11. 383, I wish you’d take an opportunity.. of asking all about the Fares—what a single fare is—what a double fare—what a cabin with child-stowage. 1972 C. Fremlin Appointment with Yesterday i. 11 A small oblong of card-board... ‘Single fare, £ 1.40’ is what it said. 1670 Cotton Espernon 11. 394 He therefore commanded some Foot Companies to steal over silently, and by ‘single Files. 1853 Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges 255 Sufficient only to support infantry marching in single file. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. v. 83 To place the different elements of a sentence in succession, in single file so to speak. 01700 Evelyn Diary 16 July 1654, The humourous old Knight has built a long ‘single house of 2 low stories. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xxvi, Dumbiedikes was what is called in Scotland a single house; that is, having only one room occupying its whole depth from back to front. 1961 Press (Vancouver) 1 Sept. 11 The mechanization of mines in 1890—the replacing of hand-steel, ‘single-jack and double-jack, by drilling machines—had created new problems. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2187/2 * Single-line, a single rein leading from the hand of the driver to a strap forked a little behind the hames, and proceeding thence to the bit-rings. 1759 in Eng. Historical Rev. (1897) XII. 763 We are ‘Single Officers, that is, only one Livetenant to a Company. 1877 Cassell's Family Mag. Jan. 83/2 Net ‘Single and Annual Premiums. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 171/2 We conclude.. that the single premium at age 20 for a wholeterm assurance of £1 according to the Hm mortality table, reckoning interest at 3 per cent., is £-32886 or 6s. yd. 1975 R. L. Carter Handbk. Insurance 11. §i.2.8 The single premium bond is essentially an investment contract in which a lump sum is paid to the insurance company at the inception of the policy, and .. invested in units. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 31 [p 3 The historian mentions, when he attack’d Thalestris, it was only at ‘single Rapier. 1883 Grove Did. Mus. III. 90/1 It is possible to replace it [sc. the Double reed] in both these instruments by a ‘single reed of clarinet shape, beating against a small wooden mouthpiece. 1920 U. Daubeny Orchestral Wind Instruments vi. 55 There are no instances of the single reed in Egyptian sculpture, but cylindrical pipes of great age fitted with single-beating reeds have been found in Greece. 1964 S. Marcuse Musical Instr. 478/1 Single reeds are idioglott or heteroglott... The beating reed is the most common among Western single reeds (the clarinet reed, for example). 1721 Wodrow Hist. Suff. Ch. Scot. II. v. (1830) II. 168 A person of quality,.. standing before an ensign, lieutenant, or ‘single sentinel. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 29 We fired three rounds with the Tommy gun from the hip (with the ‘single-shot mechanism). 1971 J. M. Smith Digital Logic iv. 67 The oneshot or single-shot generator is a device for producing a pulse output from a trigger signal input. 1977 ‘J. McVean’ Bloodspoor xx. 263 Hanson switched the Schmeisser regulator to single-shot and started to fire back. 1923 Proc. IRE XI. 40 It is of particular importance for long wave radio telephone transmission where the width of a ‘single side¬ band is so large a fraction of the total frequency range available that the number of independent channels is at best very limited. Ibid. 41 The use of single side-band transmission has probably progressed farthest in connection with carrier telephony over wires. 1959 K. Henney Radio Engin. Handbk. (ed. 5) xviii. 8 In most commercial single¬ side-band transmitters the SSB signal is generated in an SSB generator at a frequency in the range of 100 to 500 kc. 1976 Electronics Today Internat. July 10/3 In areas around cities, these channels are congested and so many stations have changed over to Single Sideband, which gives higher communications efficiency and an extra 48 channels. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxvii, Not knowing.. how far the manners of a ‘single soldier might have been corrupted by service in a great house. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 159/1 Two Fencers,.. makeing triall of their skill, with back¬ sword or ‘single sword, sword and buckler and the like. 1593 Shaks. 3 Hen. VI, v. i. 43 Whiles he thought to steale the ‘single Ten, The King was slyly finger’d from the Deck. 0 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Single-ten, a very foolish, silly Fellow; also Nails of that size. 1829 Hunter Hallamshire Gloss., Single-ten, A person playing at Whist may be heard to say: I have neither ace, face, nor single-ten. 1859 A.B.C. or Alphabetical Railway Guide Aug. 121 London, Paris, and the Continent... Fares throughout (‘Single Tickets, available for four days), First Class, 28/0; Second Class, 20/0. 1979 ‘J. le Carre’ Smiley's People (1980) xvii. 212 He bought a second-class single ticket to Hamburg.

b. With sbs. in -er, as single-driver, -hander, -loader, -peeper, -roomer, -seater (see also attrib. uses at 18), -sticker, -striker, etc.; single-boater (see quot. 1933); single-decker, t(a) U.S. (see quot. 1896); (b) an aircraft, tramcar, etc., having only one deck; now. usu. a single-decked bus; freq. attrib.', single-hander, (a) an action performed single-handedly or without assistance (in quot. 1877, a chase) (rare)’, (b) one who sails a boat single-handed; a single-handed yachtsman. 1933 S. Bradford Shell-backs 70 A ‘single boater is a trawler not fishing with a fleet but on its own. 1934 W. Wood Fleeters iv. 59 The single-boaters.. far outnumbered the fleeters. 1896 C. H. Haswell Reminisc. Octogenarian in N.Y. xv. 332 James P. Allaire had constructed.. a fourstory house designed for many tenants... It is what is now

SINGLE termed a ‘*single-decker’, that is, but one suite of rooms on a floor. 1910 Sphere 20 Aug. 176/1 The first aeroplane illustrated is the Santos Dumont aeroplane or single-decker. 1930 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 12 Feb. 6/3, I see that the L.C.C. has been selling off old single-decker tramcars at £5 apiece. 1935 S. Peckett Echo's Bones, The little single¬ decker. 1935 Discovery Feb. 58/2 In these vehicles the main entrance is in front, beside the driver as in many single¬ decker coaches already on the road. 1954 M. Procter Hell is City 1. i. 11 A red-and-white bus.. was approaching... It was a. .single decker. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxx. 196 At the bottom of the street was a single-decker bus. 1976 P. R. White Planning for Public Transport iii. 56 The rearengine layout was also adopted for single-deckers. 1897 Pall Mall Mag. Mar. 347 The ‘^single driver’ is the familiar name applied to locomotives propelled by one pair of driving-wheels. 1877 Coursing Calendar Autumn 1876 217 War Note never seeing the hare, Adventurer fell in for a *single-hander of great length, the first-named being drawn ultimately. 1893 Outing XXII. 145/2 The cost of a single¬ hander depends on the size of the boat. 1954 H. Innes Strange Land 1. 18 ‘There should be two men on board her. ’ ‘Well, this bloke was single-handed.’..‘He was a single¬ hander all right.’ 1976 P. Heaton Single-handers i. 26 Alain Colas .. is a racing singlehander, a competitor. 1887 Daily News 6 Oct. 6/2 The rifle can then be used as a *singleloader. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., * Single peeper, a person having but one eye. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 305 They are recorded as ‘single peepers’,.. having lost an eye. 1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks PI. xxvi, A 50 h.p. Gnome ’•‘single-seater. 1972 ‘M. Yorke’ Silent Witness 11. ii. 19 Twin chairs were not so bad... But this chair-lift was a single-seater and you rode alone. 1887 Daily Telegr. 10 Sept. 2/5 None of the big *single-stickers.. showed any signs. 1898 Cycling 62 Repeating bells are preferable to *single-strikers. 1889 20th Cent. (N.Y.) Apr. 6 He says that is a fair question which no "'Single-taxer ever answers, but that if it is evaded the whole single-tax theory vanishes.

18. With sbs., forming combs. used attributively, as single-action, -bar, -beat, -cell, -channel, -coil, -colour, cylinder, etc.; single¬ cell protein, protein derived from a culture of single-celled organisms; single-electrode (Chem.), with reference to a half-cell considered in isolation; single-lens reflex (camera) (Photogr.), a reflex camera in which the lens that forms the image on the film is also used to provide the image in the viewfinder (by means of a mirror behind the lens that is automatically moved out of the way when the shutter release is operated) (cf. SLR s.v. S 4 a); single-plate clutch (see quot. 1940); single-start (Engirt.), designating a screw-thread or worm gear that has one continuous thread along its entire length; single-vision (Ophthalm.), (of spectacles) of whicb each lens is a single optical element; not bifocal, etc.; single-wire, designating an electrical wiring system in which current is carried by one wire, the return being provided by the chassis or frame of the apparatus or installation or the earth. Combs, of this type have been very frequent in recent use. For a number of technical examples, see Knight Diet. Mech. (1875) and Suppl. (1884). 1852 Seidel Organ 36 *Single-action bellows., is generally very small. 1863 A. Young Naut. Diet. 20 Atmospheric, or Single Action, Engine. 1964 Amer. Speech XXXIX. 104 There is a break—in speech, a "“single-bar juncture; in writing, a comma or dash—between the noun and its juncture. 1966 ‘M. Halliday’ Wicked as Devil iv. 36 Helen switched on a single-bar electric fire. 1688 Holme Armoury in. 398 A "“Single Beak Pellican with a screw, of some.. called a Screw’d tooth Forcer. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch fijf Clockm. 241 The chronometer and duplex are the best known examples of "‘single-beat escapements. 1838 Bell Diet. Law Scot. 867 In the "'Single Bill roll is inserted all petitions.. and other notes or applications to either Division of the Court. 1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society ix. 127 Marx, by contrast, has a "‘single-cause theory: all the evils of society arise from private property; abolish that, and they will disappear. 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 228, Fig. 152 represents the *single-cell apparatus. 1968 Mateles & Tannenbaum Single-Cell Protein i. 7 Some may wonder where the name ‘*Single-Cell Protein’ came from and why it was adopted. It was invented at M.I.T. in May 1966, as a result of the insistent prodding of Professor Carroll Wilson. 1970 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 19 June 14 Single cell protein is one of the most ‘exotic’ of various new food sources. 1977 Single cell protein [see single-celled, sense 19 below]. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ii. 33 *Single-channel ‘monophonic’ recordings. 1977 Proc. R. Soc. Med. LXX. 382/1 Single-channel extracochlear stimulation will only provide low frequency information. 1967 N.Y. Herald Tribune (Internat. ed.) 11-12 Feb. 3/7 (Advt.), Walk on or drive on to one of these fine ultra-modern *single-class ships for an overnight crossing in absolute comfort. 1977 Listener 17 Mar. 347/3 They built .. for the propagation of middle-class values .. a vast process of specialised, single-class development. 1962 Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors iii. 38 One pass of the specimen is then equivalent to several passes in a *single-coil apparatus and the removal of impurities is accelerated. 1935 B. Rackham in Chinese Art (Burlington Mag. Monographs) 20 The beauty of celadon, turquoise, crackled white and other "“single-colour glazes. 1964 Gloss. Letterpress Rotary Printing Terms (B.S.I.) 19 Single colour unit, a section of the press embodying one printing couple to print one side of the web in one colour, i960 Guardian 9 Nov. 8/3 The ‘News Chronicle’.. charged for display advertising at the rate of £13 per *single column inch. 1976 J. Bingham God's Defector iv. 43 A single-column picture of himself at the church door. 1955 Notes on Science in USA 1954 (Brit. Commonwealth Scientific Office, N. Amer.) 29 The large number of experiments that are now being performed on "'single crystal specimens. 1956 Nature 14 Jan. 77/2 In fundamental research, much work is being

520 done on single-crystal specimens, whereby grain-boundary effects and some other variables are eliminated. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 125 * Single cylinder machines, machines for printing one side at a time only. 1929 Times 2 Nov. 4/7 The chassis, with rather lighter driving axles and springs is sold for "“single-deck and coach operation. 1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World ii. 84 Single-deck tunnel kilns, i860 All Year Round No. 66. 382 ‘Which knot?’ asked Toby. ‘Single or double wall, ^single or double diamond?’ 1913 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. XXXV. 24 No satisfactory method has been found for determining the absolute magnitude of any "“single electrode potential. 1965 Phillips & Williams Inorg. Chem. I. ix. 312 It has proved very difficult, some believe impossible, to measure absolute single-electrode potentials. 1944 Stewart & Wilson Rec. Adv. Physical & Inorg. Chem. (ed. 7) 384 It is probable that "'single electron bonds.. enter into the average final structure for diborane. 1968 M. S. Livingston Particle Physics iii. 39 The spectra of single-electron atoms such as He + and Li + 7. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 27 June 1 A service between London and Paris with "“single-engine modified Service aircraft. 1978 R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xxxvii. 423 A small single-engine plane circled in the night sky above the flat pasture in Chambery. 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 238 One and threequarters pound of *single-eye pieces produced ten pounds. 1967 R. Ardrey Territorial Imperative iii. 93 Unlike any other ape and like few monkeys, the gibbon lives in a *singlefamily group, paired on a territory usually for life. 1980 Washington Post 4 Dec. dci, 49 buildings containing about 600 units are being transfered from rental status or private single-family ownership to condominiums. 1899 Morrow Bohem. Paris 138 A "“single-file march round the room is started. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. i. §1 (1862) 15 An additional screen of "“single iron plate. 1892 Greener Breech Loader 6 The cheaper quality laminated steel,.. known in the trade as single-iron Damascus. 1977 Time 19 Dec. 29/3 The right-to-lifers are "‘single-issue individuals... They vote on what he or she says about abortion. 1946 H. Jacob On Choice of Common Lang. 39 Four "“single-language frequency lists. 1978 Language LIV. 8 Table 2 shows the number of entries which fulfill the structural conditions for apical displacement, after we eliminate single-language entries and the disqualified ones. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Diet. 772/1 *Single-layer winding, a type of armature winding in which there is only one coil-side per slot. 1946 Nature 21 Sept. 422/1 The reflectors consist of single-layer and multiple-layer films. 1936 Discovery Aug. 237/1 The camera.. has 4* times the stereoscopic parallax of the "“single-lens ana five-lens cameras. 1940 A. L. M. Sowerby Wall's Diet. Photogr. (ed. 15) 547 In a single-lens reflex, pressure on the release first lifts the mirror.., and then releases the focal-plane shutter. 1955 T. A. Longmore Med. Photogr. (ed. 5) ill. 374 Being a single lens reflex camera there is a complete absence of parallax, so that the image seen on the focusing screen is exactly the same as that which will be recorded on the film. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 825/2 A single-lens camera may be provided with a beam splitter.., giving two adjacent photographs on the normal picture area. 1962 L. S. Sasieni Optical Dispensing xiii. 334 Apart from the single-lens magnifiers.. there are a number of telescopic units. 1977 L. Gaunt Olympus Bk. 8 The final part of the 35 mm single-lens reflex viewing system is the eye-piece lens, focused on the viewfinder screen via the reflecting surfaces of the prism. 1771 Luckombe Hist. Print. 271 Neat Workmen prevent a division of a "“single-letter syllable at the end of lines. 1878 H. MacColl in Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. X. 26 The monomial (or single-letter) statements. 1964 D. Ward in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 393 For the convenience of readers not familiar with Cyrillic a single-letter transliteration system is given. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Diet., * Single lever bridge, composed of two frames locking into each other, and not meeting at a greater angle than 120°. 1886 Willis & Clark Cambridge I. 330 Each chamber had a lofty narrow "“singlelight window. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 543 The shaft of.. the "“single-lip auger. 1880 Grove Diet. Mus. II. 591/2 Soon after the Restoration, Ralph Dallam built an organ for St. George’s Chapel, Windsor... It was a *single-manual organ only. 1978 Early Music Oct. 585/1 An Italian single¬ manual harpsichord bearing a spurious inscription dated 1740 but actually of earlier date. 1884 E. W. Hamilton Diary 2 Dec. (1972) II. 746 Lord Hampden.. likes the system of "“single-member Districts, for which he has long been an advocate. 1889 Pall Mall G. 29 Oct. 2/1 In 1885, the country was practically divided into single-member electoral districts. 1956 J. Lqtz in L. White Frontiers of Knowl. xiv. 221 The single-word, or better, *singlemorpheme sentences of the young child.. cannot be analyzed into phonemes nor combined into sentences, i860 G. Prescott Elect. Telegr. 108 The double-needle telegraph may easily be arranged so that it shall act as a "“single-needle telegraph only. 1949 L. Feather Inside Be-bop i. 6 The ’•‘single-note solo style was a complete departure from the pattern of solos in chords established by .. conventional jazz guitarists. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 698 Water closet.. with opaque "“singlepane oblong window. 1892 A. M. Worthington Dynamics of Rotation ii. 20 Any rigid body may be regarded as made up of such ideal "'single-particle systems. 1970 G. K. Woodgate Elem. Atomic Struct, v. 87 For N non-interacting electrons with no spin-orbit interaction we find it convenient to go back to the single¬ particle representation. 1941 Pacific Affairs XIV. 76 The emergence of a fully totalitarian ‘"“single-party State’. 1979 E. Norman Christianity & World Order v. 66 Tanzania—a country with a rigidly enforced socialist collectivization and a single-party constitution. 1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes iii. 93 The vertical plate is tack-welded in position .. and then finally welded by either the "“single-pass or the multiple-pass techniques. 1969 Computers & Humanities IV. 43 Clearly, there should be much less occasion for careless errors and omissions in a multiple-pass system like Regener’s than in a single-pass system like iml. 1957 Loneliness (Women’s Group on Public Welfare) iii. 41 The number of '•‘single-person households.. increased by 104 per cent between 1931 and 1951. 1900 Jrnl. Brit. Inst. Electr. Engin. XXIX. 246 The motor is being supplied with ’•'single-phase currents. 1946 Nature 31 Aug. 307/2 The electrolytic polishing of multi-phase metals is usually more difficult than that of single-phase metals owing to differing properties, .of the different phases. 1979 Dictionaries I. 31 Editors are not restricted to *single-phrase descriptions. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 31 The ‘"“single-piece bow’ is made of one rod of hickory, lancewood, or yew-tree. 1926

SINGLE Motor Man. (ed. 26) iii. 49 (caption) *Single-plate clutch, showing internal details. 194° Chambers's Techn. Diet. 772/2 Single-plate clutch, a friction clutch.. in which the disc¬ shaped or annular driven member, fabric-faced, is pressed against a similar face on the driving member by springs. 1970 K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobk. v. 45/1 The clutch, common to both the 600 and 600D series engines, is a conventional dry, single plate type with a spring cushioned hub as part of the driven plate. 1957 Simpson & Weir Weaver's Craft iii. 25 A tightly packed weft of thick handspun or ’•‘single-ply rug wool. 1967 Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967-68 13/2 A segmented skirt of single-ply neoprene-nylon fabric. 1935, *959 *Single-point [see instantaneous a. id]. 1979 North Sea Progress (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co.) 6 The field will be served by tankers at single-point mooring buoys to take the oil production. 1931 Illustr. London News 29 Aug. 342/3 The electrical system is 12 volts, with ’•‘single-pole wiring. 1975 G. J. King Audio Handbk. x. 223 The slope of a single pole RC network always ultimately assumes a rate close to 6 dB/octave. 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. xv. (ed. 3) 138 A kind of lace, called ‘’•'single-press’, was manufactured. 1919 Daily Mail Year Bk. 112/2 Many thousands of these are in service; to which the term ‘"“single-purpose machines’ is applied. 1943 J. S. Huxley TV A v. 27 The single-purpose costs which can be directly allocated to one or other of the functions. 1971 Fremdsprachen XV. 46 Each single-purpose use may be justified on its own, but the complete effect of piecemeal development can be chaos. I931 p- Jacob Orchestral Technique iii. 23 The Clarinet ("“single-reed instrument). 1976 D. Munrow Instr. Middle Ages & Renaissance vi. 39/4 The French word chalumeau has been applied to the shawm as well as a detached double-reed bagpipe chanter.. and the single-reed precursor of the clarinet. 1856 • Stonehenge’ Brit. Rur. Sports 11. 11. xi. 363/2 One pound is the usual allowance for "“single-rein bridles. 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 251 Neither neat nor efficient ’•‘single-row hedge can be made without the aid of stakes. 1946 Nature 5 Oct. 469/1 The aircraft rocket enabling a *single-seat fighter to deliver a salvo equal in hitting power to the broadside from a small cruiser. 1967 Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967-68 8/1 It has built a single-seat vehicle designated Naviplane N 101. 1910 R. Loraine Diary 10 Apr. in W. Loraine Robert Loraine (1938) vi. 104 A small "“single-seater monoplane. 1930 Engineering 7 Mar. 316/1 Following upon a recent order for five Bristol Bulldog all-steel single-seater fighter aeroplanes, the Latvian Government has placed a further order.. for seven additional Bulldog machines. 1973 J. Leasor Host of Extras i. 21 In i9ii..with a single-seater body.. a Rolls-Royce covered a quarter-mile stretch at Brooklands at 101 miles an hour. 1845-50 Mrs. Lincoln Led. Bot. v. 166/2 Sicyos angulata, *single-seed cucumber. 1961 Guardian 11 Dec. 7/7 Higher salaries .. have made a *single-set drama .. cost more nearly Si00,000. 1971 J. Elsom Theatre outside London x. 181 Low-cast, single-set comedies, with the occasional mystery play or classic revival. 1939 A. H. Whipple Educ. up to Fifteen Years 36 Experiments should be conducted in "“single-sex schools to ascertain .. whether or not the education of girls should differ in important respects from that of boys. 1980 Times 19 Feb. 2 Applications to Oriel, the only remaining men’s single-sex college, are down again. 1892 Brighton Sir P. Wallis 278 One of the finest "“single-ship actions ever fought. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 410/2 * Single-sole shoes or ‘pumps’. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. in Holinshed I. 23/2 A meaner tower might serue such ’•'single soule kings as were at those daies in Ireland. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. 1. 105 To see what a single-sole Gentleman I was, and how like a naked cottage I lookt. 1872 Dublin Rev. Apr. 444 What can be done in the way of "“single-span Gothic churches. 1958 M. L. Hall Newnes Compl. Amat. Photogr. ii. 32 "“Single-speed rotary or single-leaf shutters, placed either in front of or behind the lens. 1975 Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) vi. 95 Unfortunately, if most of their reading is of the single-speed kind, children will be habituated to becoming single-speed readers. 1922 Glazebrook Diet. Appl. Physics II. 891/2 ’•'Single-stage amplifiers. 1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes iv. 40 Single-stage separators had effected the enrichment of the U-235 on a laboratory scale to about the degree predicted theoretically. 1956 Spaceflight I. 24/1 The first stage resembles the Viking rocket which attained a record altitude (for single-stage rockets) of 158 4 miles in 1954. 1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes xiv. 301 On a “"single-start thread the lead and the pitch are identical. 1975 Bram & Downs Manuf. Technol. iv. 120 The depth of a single-start thread stands in a definite relationship to its pitch. 1947 A. Waring Approach to Better Housing ii. 33 While not advocating the provision of *single-storey dwellings for large families. . nevertheless these can be planned for small families and aged people.. quite as successfully as the twostorey dwelling. 1970 D. Goldrich et al. in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. v. 183 They are housed predominantly in single-story dwellings on individual plots. 1964 C. Barber Linguistic Change in Present-Day Eng. iv. 86 The word greatcoat is a modern example of a transitional state between a double-stress and a “"single-stress form. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 47 When a ’•‘single-stroke steam-engine is made to turn a mill. 1959 Wimsatt & Beardsley in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. LXXIV. 595 The ’"single-syllable foot occurs in lines that sound like this: ‘Weave, weave, the sunlight in your hair’. 1959 Daily Tel. 6 Mar. 21/3 The Ministry has suggested that ’•‘single-tier highway authorities with less than 200,000 people in their areas should be set up in Greater London. 1977 Whitaker's Almanack 1978 624 For the purpose of local government Northern Ireland has a system of 26 single-tier district councils. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 398 The second [instrument].. is termed a ’•'Single tooth Pincer, of some a Forcer, c i860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 74 The top¬ masts are made in one spar, and are called '•'single tree. 1865 Lubbock Preh. Times 345 They have single-tree canoes. 1904 A. B. F. Young Compl. Motorist xi. 247 There are some "“single-tube pneumatic tyres in which the whole of the fabric is constructed in one piece. 1935 Discovery Feb. 44/1 (1caption) Guide-cradle for launching single-tube rockets. 1963 Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 13 Single-tube core barrel, the simplest core barrel, having only a single cylindrical tube. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Diet. 772/2 * Single-turn coil, an armature coil consisting of a single turn of copper bar. 1962 Corson & Lorrain Introd. Electromagn. Fields vi. 236 We consider single-turn coils for

SINGLE simplicity. 1883 Whitaker's Aim. 445/1 The Huascar is an iron low freeboard ‘single-turret ram. i860 ‘Single wall knot [see single diamond knot]. 1936 Discovery Aug. 237/1 The world s largest ‘single unit multi-lens aerial mapping camera. 1973 Tucson (Ariz.) Daily Citizen 22 Aug. 27/2 We have passed the time when we can afford the luxury of building single-unit homes. 1959 Gloss. Terms Packaging (B.S.I.) 43 * Single-use tube, a tube with sufficient contents for one use only. 1969 Computers & Humanities III. 138 The heavy-duty Selectric typewriter also requires frequent adjustments for uniform impressions, plus a single-use ribbon for publication output. 1962 L. S. Sasieni Optical Dispensing vii. 174 Logically a ‘single-vision lens prescribed for reading would be the most comfortable. 1971 Optometry Today 24 This team is capable of examining, prescribing, fabricating and dispensing single-vision lenses, mounted in frames, on the spot. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 48 In Sussex they use much the ‘single Wheel-plough. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 228/2 In 1892.. he established communication between Lavernock Point and an island called Flat Holme.. by placing at these positions insulated ‘single-wire circuits, earthed at both ends. 1913 V. B. Lewes Oil Fuel iv. 108 The single-wire system must not be adopted for any part of the electric lighting installation in vessels carrying petroleum. 1907 W. James Pragmatism vii. 239 All the great ‘single-word answers to the world’s riddle, such as God, the One, Reason, Law, [etc.]. 1964 R. H. Robins Gen. Linguistics 284 Compound verbal expressions i .. fulfil some of the semantic functions of the single-word tense forms of other languages. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 497, B, the ‘single worm screw.

19. Parasynthetic, as single-banked, -bar¬ relled, -bedded, -blossomed, -celled, -coloured, -decked, -edged, -ended, -engined, etc. Also single-seatedness sb.; single-stranded (Biochem.), (of a nucleic acid) consisting of only one sequence of nucleotides; hence single¬ strandedness. Many examples of this type occur in recent use. 1861 Illustr. Lond. News 13 July 35 One of its best ‘singlebanked life-boats. 1821 E. Baker Remarks on Rifle Guns (ed. 8) 114 The average weight of a ‘single-barrelled gun should be from 61bs to 61bs 40Z. 1850 R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 83/1, I took my heavy single-barrelled rifle. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Speeches (1923) 83 He possessed a single-barrelled fame before; he will possess a doublebarrelled fame now. 1788 J. Woodforde Diary 20 May (1927) III. 27, I had a very good ‘single bedded Room to night. 1892 I. Zangwill Childr. Ghetto III. 188 Here single-bedded cabins could be had as low as fourpence a night. 1972 ‘G. North’ Sergeant Cluff rings True xix. 146 The single-bedded ward had its memories... A constable . . watched the bed in which the Sergeant had once lain wounded. 1762 Phil. Trans. LII. 660 Some *single blossomed plants .. of the Gardenia. 1899 W. James Talks to Teachers xiv. 163 In biology, we used to have interminable discussion as to whether certain ‘single-celled organisms were animals or vegetables, until Haeckel introduced the new apperceptive name of Protista, which ended the disputes. 1977 G. Scott Hot Pursuit xii. 105 Single cell protein is produced by single-celled animals: bacteria, yeasts, fungi, that sort of thing. 1703 tr. H. van Oosten Dutch Gardener 11. iv. 60, I think the ‘single colour’d to be the best.. because the tulip that is already changed and striped, doth easily mix her colours together; and this is the reason why the single colours that come from them, have not so strong a colour as those from the single coloured ones. 1940 W. Stevens in Accent Autumn 12 The single-colored, colorless, primitive. 1869 ‘Single-decked [see double¬ deck]. 1972 ‘G. North’ Sergeant Cluff rings True xiv. 112 The single-decked bus.. laboured up the hill. 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 62 The richer sort haue ‘single edged swords with sharpe points. 1817 Miller Bampt. Lect. 40 The single-edged sword of temporal visitation fell blunted from the hearts of stone. 1952 Proc. IRE XL. 11/1 Since the output is ‘single ended, the feedback can be made directly from the midpoint of the output stage to a preceding singleended stage. 1975 Official Transcript Techn. Papers Ann. Nat. Cable Television Assoc. Convention (New Orleans) 24 Investigations were conducted on an operating cable television system to explore methods of increasing the channel capacity of broadband single-ended amplifiers. 1964 Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. II. 47 Transportation was by means of ‘single-engined aircraft. 1978 R. V. Jones Most Secret War xxxiv. 301 It happened that a unit of singleengined fighters had been formed in the preceding weeks by Major Hajo Herrmann. 1803 Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 11. 265 ‘Single-finned Bullhead... The gill-covers consist of a single lamina. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 209 Of both which sorts there are great Variety of Colours, some being double, and others ‘single Flowered. 1756 Hill Brit. Herbal 440 Great single-flowered Mountain Hawkweed. 1840 Hodgson Hist. Nor thumb. III. 11. 361/2 Orthotrichum cupulatum, ‘Single-fringed sessile fruited Bristle-moss. 1846 Grote Greece 1. xxi. II. 261 The case .. against‘single¬ headed authorship of the Odyssey. 1847 Ld. Lindsay Chr. Art I. 130 A black single-headed, hoary-haired giant. 1889 G. Findlay Eng. Railway 48 The steel rails.. are of the single-headed section. 1721 R. Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nature 91 Some of the Pigs will be Cloven-footed, and others ‘single-hoofd. 1777 Pennant Brit. Zool. IV. 16 Claws with a ‘single-hooked moveable fang. 1800 Shaw Gen. Zool. I. I. 198 ‘Single-horned Rhinoceros. 1721 Lond. Gaz. No. 6012/6 A Man and a Woman in a Lane, ‘single Hors’d. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 8 Sept. 5/3 He was driven in a single-horsed brougham. 1725 Fam. Diet. s.v. Colchicum, A yellow, ‘single-leav’d Flower. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay v, They were ‘single-masted. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 300 Many have certainly a reticulum of bundles, even when they are “single-nerved’. 1840 J. W. Bowden Life Gregory VII. I. 60 The long ‘single-pointed mitre. 1905 J. London Let. 4 Apr. (1966) 169 You and I are both fighters, and ‘single-purposed fighters too. 1933 'R. Crompton’ William — the Rebel viii. 164 They were all large, single-purposed, unsmiling men. 1920 U. Daubeny Orchestral Wind Instruments vi. 55 Somewhat similar rude ‘single-reeded pipes are still used by Italian shepherds and Roman pifferari. 1911 G. B^Shaw Getting Married 129 Very few couples can live in a ‘single-roomed tenement without exchanging blows quite frequently. 1808 Bentham

SINGLE

521 Sc. Reform 36 The many-seated has given place to ‘singleseated judicature. 1830-Corr. Wks. 1843 XI. 40 In this sub-department.. you find . . many-seatedness established —by you, ‘single-seatedness, I see, is preferred. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sicyoides, The ‘single-seeded Canada cucumber. 1870 Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 272 The olive fruit., is a smooth, elliptical, single-seeded drupe. wv siphon, used in various terms of Zool. and Bot., as .siphono'branchiate sb. and a.; si'phonogam; ,siphono'gamic a.; sipho'nogamous a.; sipho'nogamy; si'phonoglyph (-glif); .siphono'glyphe (-'glaifii); sipho'nophoran sb. and a.\ 'siphonophore (-foa(r)) sb. and a.; sipho'nophorous a.\ si'phonopod; sipho'nopodous a.; 'siphonostele Bot., a stele consisting of a core of pith surrounded by concentric layers of xylem and phloem; so ,siphono'stelic a.; also (rare) 'siphonostely, the state of being or having such a stele; .siphono'stomatous a.\ 'siphonostome; sipho'nostomous a.\ .siphono'xanthin (also siphona-), a xanthophyll pigment, C40HS6O4, present in certain green algae; .siphono’zooid: (see quots.). Various other combs, of doubtful currency, such as siphono-cladaceous, -clamydate, -gnathoid, etc., are given in recent Dictionaries. 1842 Brande Diet. Sci., etc. 1120 *Siphonobranchiates,.. an order of Gastropods, including those in which the branchial cavity terminates in a tube or siphon more or less prolonged, by which the respiratory current of water is received and expelled. 1849 Craig, Siphonobranchiate a. 1898 tr. Strasburger's Text-Bk. Bot. 431 The pollen-tubes .. conduct the two generative cells to the egg-cell. The Phanerogams have accordingly been termed by Engler, *Siphonogams. 1900 B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms 242/1 ♦Siphonogamic. 1891 Nature 17 Sept. 484 From another point of view karyogamy is .. *Siphonogamous: karyogamy is effected by a tubular outgrowth from one or both of the gametes. 1900 B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms 242/1 *Siphonogamy. 1894 Jrnl. Marine Zool. I. 78 The single *siphonoglyph giving attachment to the ventral pair of directive mesenteries. 1883 Phil. Trans. CLXXIV. 693 On the Ciliated Groove (*Siphonoglyphe) in the Stomodseum of the Alcyonarians. Ibid. 694, Tpropose to call this groove ‘the siphonoglyphe’. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 725 [One end of the mouth] leading into well marked grooves strongly ciliated known as gonidial grooves or siphonoglyphes. Ibid. 775 A *Siphonophoran has been variously regarded (1) as an assemblage of organs, or (2) as a colony of polymorphic zooids. Ibid. 775 note, The Siphonophoran tentacle .. is sometimes attached directly to the coenosarc. 1842 Brande Diet. Sci., etc. 1120 *Siphonophores,.. a name given by Escholtz to an order of Acalephes, to which he refers those species which have no central digestive cavity, but simply isolated tubes. 1883 Century Mag. Sept. 733/2 The vapory, translucent siphonophores.. lived contentedly in their glass prison. 1884 Riverside Nat. Hist. I. 106 The Siphonophore fauna of the Mediterranean Sea. 01843 Encycl. Metrop. VII. 267/1 The *Siphonophorous Order are.. distinguished by the

absence of any stomach. 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 555/1 The variously modified units of the siphonophorous colony. Ibid. XVI. 684/1 In embryo *Siphonopods.. the suckerbearing lobes of the fore-foot are truly podial structures. Ibid. 669/1 *Siphonopodous Cephalopods in which the inflected lateral margins of the mid-foot are fused so as to form a complete tubular siphon. 1902 ^Siphonostele [see mesarch 1]. 1969 F. E. Round Introd. Lower Plants x. 123 The central tissue in the siphonosteles is often sclerified. 1899 E. C. Jeffrey in Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. V. 160 The two primitive types of stele described above may.. be appropriately designated, protostelic and *siphonostelic respectively. 1969 F. E. Round Introd. Lower Plants x. 123 A simple stele is formed. This consists either of a stellate mass of xylem surrounded by a few rows of simple phloem cells or, in the aerial parts of Psilotum and Tmesipteris, becoming siphonostelic. 1899 E. C. Jeffrey in Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. V. 160 The primary vascular axes of living Lycopodiales rarely present the phenomena of ^siphonostely. 1872 H. A. Nicholson Palaeont. 244 In a second group the aperture of the shell is notched in front; and the shell is said to be ‘*siphonostomatous\ 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 460/1 Latreille .. admitted into the class Crustacea 12 orders, ..the Ostrapods, the Xyphosures, and the *Siphonostomes. 1842 Brande Diet. Sci., etc. 1120 Siphonostomes,.. a family of Crustaceans, comprehending those which have a siphon-shaped mouth for suction. Ibid., Siphonostomes... By M. de Blainville the term is applied to those gastropods which have the opening of the shell prolonged into a siphon, a 1843 Encycl. Metrop. VII. 278/1 All the pieces of the mouth can be accounted for in the *Siphonostomous Order. 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., Siphonostomous, a designation of animals with a siphon¬ shaped mouth for suction. 1949 H. H. Strain in Franck & Loomis Photosynthesis in Plants vi. 162 *Siphonaxanthin. Green algae of the order Siphonales yield significant quantities of this ketonic pigment that closely resembles fucoxanthin with respect to spectral absorption properties. 1964 Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. II. 217 Within the Chlorophyta, the Siphonales differ from the other members in possessing siphonein and siphonoxanthin. 1973 V. J. & D. J. Chapman Algae (ed. 2) vi. 137 The discoid chloroplasts. . lack siphonaxanthin so characteristic of the siphonaceous Chlorophyceae. 1881 H. N. Moseley Corals in Rep. Sci. Results Voy. Challenger 1873-76 II. 118, I propose to term in the case of Alcyonarians, in which there are two kinds of zooids,.. the aborted polyps (zooids of Kolliker) ‘*siphonozooids\ Ibid. 119 The siphonozooid cavities are only about one-fifth the length of the autozooid cavities. 1896 tr. Boas' Text Bk. Zool. 114 The constant presence, in various Alcyonarians, of arrested individuals (siphonozooids).

'siphosome. Zool. (f. Gr. olw-v siphon + aoipta body.] The lower part of a siphonophore stem, bearing the reproductive and nutrient organs. 1891 in Cent. Diet. 1898 Sedgwick Textbk. Zool. I. 139 Two parts may be distinguished in it [the coenosome]—an upper part, the nectosome.., and a lower part, the siphosome, bearing the nutritive and reproductive organs.

siphre, -yre, obs. forms of cipher sb. siphuncle

('saifAt)k(3)l). Zool. [ad. L. siphunculus, dim. of sipho siphon.] 1. A small canal or tube traversing and connecting the shell-chambers in certain cephalopods; = siphunculus, and siphon sb.

si'phunculated, a. Zool. [Cf. prec.] Possessing or furnished with a siphuncle. 1828-32 in Webster (citing Say). 1851 Mantell Petrifactions v. §5. 459 The Phragmocone, or chambered, siphunculated, internal shell. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. viii. 532 The Tetrabranchiata possess an external chambered siphunculated shell.

|| si'phunculus. Zool. PI. -culi. [L. siphunculus a little pipe, dim. of sipho siphon.] 1. = siphuncle 1. Anglicized as siphuncule by Mayne Expos. Lex. (1858). 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 121 A siphunculus carried the whole length of the shell [of the nautilus]. 1764 Phil. Trans. LIV. 48 The siphunculus of the Belemnite is always upon the verge of the chamber, or cell. 1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 164 The chambers divided by winding septa, pierced by a siphunculus always placed at the outer side. 1836 Buckland Geol. & Min. xv. §3 (1837) I. 332 Families of fossil chambered shells, that possessed siphunculi.

2. Ent. A tubular appendage on the abdomen of aphids, which lets out a waxy substance when the animal is attacked that acts as an alarm pheromone; (formerly believed to be the tube from which honeydew comes). Usu. called a cornicle. 1939 V. B. Wigglesworth Princ. Insect Physiol, x. 233 At the apex of the abdominal tubes or siphunculi of Aphids are ostioles .. which allow wax-laden blood cells to escape. 1975 Jrnl. Zool. CLXXV. 280 When prodded or attacked by parasites or predators aphids often exude these cells bathed in fluid from their siphunculi.

sipid ('sipid), a. rare. Also [Back-formation from insipid a.] 1. Savoury; = sapid a. 1.

7

sippid.

1623 Cockeram 1, Sippid, sauorie. 1660 F. Brooke tr. he Blanc's Trav. 237 The flesh of Crocodile .. was wholesome, white, and sipid. 2. fig- — SAPID a. 3. 1908 A. Symons in Sat. Rev. 17 Oct. 480/2 The music was . . gay, rattling, sipid, voluptuously melodious. Hence si'pidity, savour, flavour, rare-'. 1880 Miss Bird Japan I. 233 It is.. used everyw here.. to give sipidity to their otherwise tasteless food.

siping ('saipn]), vbl. sb. Now dial. [f. sipe v.] The action of percolating, oozing, etc.; the result of this; also pi., water or other liquid that has oozed or leaked. 1503 Png. Misc. (Surtees) 30 So that no fylth .. discend from the same swynstye.. excepte yt it be by sipynge, or casualtie. 1621 Granger On Eccl. 316 The siping through of waters into the house. 1808 in Jamieson. 1825- in dialect glossaries, etc. (Northumb., Yks.). ci88o in Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. (1894) 644 Sandy gravel, with a small siping of water.

So 'siping ppl. a.

Also as adv.

1398 Trevisa Barth. De PR. vii. lix. (Bodl. MS.), Whanne pe posteme is in state men schal vse temperinge pinges and scheding and naissching and cypingg. 1642 H. More Song of Soul 1. iii. 24 Here fifty Sisters in a sieve do draw Thorough-siping water. 1862 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds 408 A siping wet neet.

sipirs, obs. form of cypress3.

3 a1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 161 The most important part of this organ, the continuous siphuncle. 1862 Kearley Links in Chain v. 103 A membranous tube termed the Siphuncle, which originating in the body of the nautilus in the outer chamber passes through all the partitions in succession. 1870 H. A. Nicholson Man. Zool. li. (1875) 368 The function of the siphuncle is unknown, except in so far as it doubtless serves to maintain the vitality of the shell. transf. 1866 Blackmore Cradock Nowell xxxv. (1883) 213 This flint has traversing it from pole to pole a thread, a spindle, a siphuncle of the richest golden hue.

2. Ent. A small siphon or suctorial organ; spec. = siphunculus 2. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxiii. 363 Replaced by an exarticulate retractile tube, which exerts a retractile siphuncle. Ibid, xxxiv. 472 The siphuncle, which is the suctorious part, being first retracted within the tubulet. 1899 Cambr. Nat. Hist. VI. 589 Another highly peculiar structure [in aphids] is the siphons, frequently called nectaries, honey-tubes, or siphuncles. 1962 G. A. Tulloch J. R. de la Torre-Bueno's Gloss. Entomol. (rev. ed.) 268 Siphuncle, the cornicle of the aphids.

'siphuncled, a.

Zool. [f. prec. + -ed1.] Possessing or furnished with a siphuncle. 1847 in Webster (citing Buckland). 1851 Woodward Mollusca 1. 77 Shell, mucro (only known) chambered and siphuncled.

si'phuncular, a. Zool.

[f. L. siphuncul-us + -ar.] Of or pertaining to, acting or serving as, a siphuncle. Also, of or pertaining to a siphunculus. 1832 Owen Mem. Pearly Nautilus 46 The siphuncular apertures of the septa. 1851 Richardson Geol. viii. (1855) 230 An external, many-chambered shell, with a siphuncular tube passing through the chambers. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 464 Siphuncular collars generally directed backwards. 1975 Jrnl. Zool. CLXXV. 278 Prodding the abdomen and pinching the legs of a sycamore aphid induces it to produce siphuncular exudate.

si'phunculate, a. Zool. [f. as prec. + -ate.] = next. 1875 Blake Zool. 244 A shell which is external, manychambered, and siphunculate. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 738/2 The spiral-chambered and siphunculate shell of Spirula.

sipling ('siplii)), north, and obs. Sc. Forms: 6 suppline, syplin, syeppaling, 8 sippleing; 7, 9sipling, 9 siplin’, -lin. [perh. ad. OF. souplin a shoot of a tree (Godef.); as a mere var. of sapling the change of vowel would be difficult to account for.] A sapling.

15*3 Douglas ZEneid in. i. 47 Quhar hepthorne buskis.. grew hye, And evin syplinnis of myrthus. Ibid. vii. xiv. 87 And a haill suppline of a gret myrtre. 1610 North Riding Rec. (1884) I. 186 To cutt upp young siplings of asshe & hassells. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 35 Young Plants or Sippleings, as we here call them, of Oak, Ash or Aller. 1807 R. Anderson Cumbld. Ball. (1881) 108 Wid a spur on my heel, a yek [= oak] siplin in han. 1849- in dialect glossaries (Northumb, Durh., Cumb.). sipman, obs. form of shipman. Siporex ('sipDreks). A proprietary name for a type of cement or concrete (see quots.). 1938 Trade Marks Jrnl. 27 July 913/1 Siporex 583, 757. Slates, bricks, blocks, beams, piles, pillars, posts, tiles, pipes, drains and shaped pieces, all made of cement or concrete for use in building or construction. Internationella Siporex Aktiebolaget.. Sweden .. 24th February 1938. 1943 Archit. Rev. XCIV. 68/1 The Masshallen in Gothenburg — a large covered sports hall in steel, concrete and siporex —is also by Eriksson. 1965 Economist 5 June 1176/2 Siporex is an autoclaved lightweight aerated concrete product which was first developed in Sweden some thirty years ago, and is now used all over the world.

sipper ('sip3(r)). [f. sip v. + -er1.] sips; hence, a drinker or toper.

One who

1611 Cotgr., Piailleur, a bibber, sipper, wine-swiller. 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair in. i, They are all sippers, sippers o' the city; they look as they would not drink off two pen’orth of bottle-ale amongst ’em. 1702 Baynard Cold Baths II. (1709) 381 Sippers of Brandy and spirituous distill’d Liquors. 1806 Surr Winter in London II. 233 Only look.. at the difference of beef steak breakfasters, and the sippers of souchong! 1866 Meredith Vittoria viii. (1889) 62, I promised my Rosellina, my poppy-headed sipper, a red-wine evening. 1891 Leeds Mercury 27 May 5/2 Half a dozen gentlemen.. sipping tea..; each sipper wears a tall hat. fig. 1850 McCosh Div. Govt. (1852) 206 He is probably an idle dreamer, or a sipper of the sweets of literature.

SIPPERS

SIR

545

sippers (’sipaz).

Naut. slang,

[f. sip sbsee

-er6.] A sip (of rum), esp. taken from another’s

tot, as a reward for some service celebration; spec, (see quot. 1944).

or

in

1944 J. P. W. Mallalieu Very Ordinary Seaman 99 For his service in measuring the rum the Leading Hand of the mess was entitled to ‘sippers’ from every man, a ‘sipper’ being a taste of each tot. 1945 Penguin New Writing XXIII. 49 Old three-badge A.B.’s offer him ‘sippers’ from their tots of rum and protect him from over-zealous killicks. 1956 H. Tunstall-Behrens Pamir 25 A bottle appeared with enough in it to give us all ‘sippers’. 1977 R. Baker Dry Ginger viii. 100 Two brothers, one old enough to be allowed his tot of rum, and the other too young.. known respectively as ‘Gulpers’ and ‘Sippers’ Young.

sipper-sauce, dial.: see sibber-sauce.

f'sippet, sb.' Obs. rare. Also 6 syppet.

[Cf. sip

sb. and -et1.] A little sip. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 367 Here is an olde typpet, And ye wyll gyue me a syppet Of your stale ale. 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 98 Shee drinketh .. but water mixed with wine: in such wise, that with her sippets none may .. kill his thirst.

sipple ('sip(3)l), v. Also 6 syp-, 7 scipple. [f. sip V. + -LE 3.] 1. trans. To drink (liquor, etc.) slowly or by small sips; to sip up.

t siquare. Obs. Also 4 siquar, sequar; 5 Sc. sith(t)-, syth(t)ar, -ware. [Origin and precise form doubtful.] Period or point of time; moment. Chiefly in phr. in that siquare.

1566 Drant Horace, Sat. i. iii. B v, The man doth sipple up the brothe. 1570 Levins Manip. 141 To sypple, sorbillare. 1683 G. M[eriton] Yorkshire Ale (1685) 7 At the first they did but sipple up This rare Ambrosia. 1748 Smollett R. Random xlvi. (1817) II. 96 Improperly applied to the taking of coffee, inasmuch as people did not drink, but sip or sipple that liquor. 1832-53 Whistle-Binkie Ser. 1. 14, I had not learn’d to sipple tea.

Very common in the Cotton MS. of the Cursor M., but usually altered in the other MSS. Otherwise recorded only in the Sc. Leg. Saints, where the forms should perhaps be written with sich-, as in Horstmann’s edition. 01300 Cursor M. 5656 He sagh an egypcien ful sare Smit a juu in pat si-quare. Ibid. 12301 J?e barn frendes fra pat siquar Held iesum in wirscip mar pan ar. a 1400 Sc. Leg. Saints i. {Peter) 631 He saw cryst in pat sythware pas in hewine. Ibid. ii. {Paul) 306 In pat sithar.

2. intr. To sip liquor or the like leisurely. 1607 Markham Caval. vii. (1617) 19 Distempered with heate.., which you shall plainely perceiue by his continuall desire to drinke and scipple. 1816 Scott Antiq. ix, The body had got sic a trick of sippling and tippling wi’ the bailies and deacons when they met. 1819-in Lockhart (1837) IV. ix. 294 You had better drink a bottle of wine on any particular occasion, than sit.. and sipple at an English pint every day.

Hence 'sippling vbl. sb.

Also attrib.

1601 Holland Pliny xx. xxi. II. 72 The seed of Mallows .. sodden in milk and taken after a sippling sort. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1159 To spend all the day in sipling. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. I. 33 They all drink it sipping..; so that being in a Coffee-hane.. one hears a pretty pleasant kind of sippling musick.

sippet (’sipit), sb.2 Also 6-7 syppet, 7 sippit, -ett,

fsippo. Obs.—1 [ad. Pg. sipo.] A liana.

cippet. [app. intended as a diminutive of sop sb.

1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 207 They run among some Sippoes or Withes that run into the tree.

Cf. supett in the earlier Wycl. version 2 Sam. xiii. 8.] 1. A small

piece of toasted

or fried bread,

usually served in soup or broth, or with meat, or used for dipping into gravy, etc.; a small sop. 1530 Palsgr. 270/2 Syppet a lytell soppe, tatin. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme v. xxi. 720 Some do make sippets or small slices (as they call them) of bread dried vpon the coales. 01655 Sir T. Mayerne Archimag. Anglo-Gall. No. 47 (1658) 41 Serve it up with brown bread, and sippets fryed with butter. 1693 Crowne Country Wit ill. iii, See that the mutton broath have white bread sippets in it. 1747-96 Mrs. Glasse Cookery v. 42 Lay round them stewed spinage pressed and cut like little sippets. 1764 Eliz. Moxon Eng. Housew. (ed. 9) 71 When you dish it up take off the lid, and . .cut the lid in sippets. 1826 Polwhele Trad. & Recoil. I. 139 The fresh boiled round of beef, with onions and sippets, welcomed my arrival. 1843 Tait's Mag. X. 142 Having leisurely buttered his sippets of crisp dry toast. 1887 Fenn Master Cerem. iii, She threw some of the sippets in, and began tasting the broth in an unpleasant way. b. transf. A small piece of something; a mere fragment. 1613 Beaum. & Fl. Captain iv. iii, Come pre’thee leave this sadness,.. This mumps, this Lachrymse, this love in sippets. 1647 J. C[leveland] Char. Lond. Diurn. i It is an History in Sippets; the English Iliads in a Nut-shell. 1751 Ld. Cobham in Walpole Geo. II (1822) I. v. 117 He did not like cutting the government out into sippets. 1761 Colman Prose on Sev. Occas. (1787) I. 83 A vast variety of thin volumes, containing certain sippets of philosophy, morality, and the arts. 1888 Athenaeum 30 June 822/2 Those fragments are portions of a whole .., not [to be] doled out in literary sippets. 2. attrib. and Comb., as sippet-brewis, -pudding, -shaped. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais I. xxi, Store of good minced meat, and a great deal of sippet-brewis. 1830 Dolby Cook’s Did. 452/2 Sippet Pudding. — Cut a small loaf into extremely thin slices [etc.]. 1837 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. 1. Leech of Folkestone (1905) 74 The occasional presentation of a sippet¬ shaped billet-doux. Hence 'sippet v., to cut into sippets, rare. 1681 Chetham Angler’s Vade-m. xxxix. §6 (1689) 257 Sippet it and garnish the dish.

sipping ('sipit)), vbl. sb. [f. sip v. + -ing1.] 1. The action of the vb.; drinking by sips; also,

sipress, -is, -ous, obs. ff. cypress3. sipunculan (sai'pAijkjobn), sb. and a. [f. mod.L. name of phylum Sipuncula: see sipunculid.] a. sb. A burrowing unsegmented worm of the phylum Sipuncula, found in sandy littoral regions, b. adj. Of or pertaining to a worm of this kind or the group as a whole. 1975 Nature 30 Oct. 818/2 There is convincing evidence that myohaemerythrin, a monomeric protein found in the retractor muscles of the sipunculan worm Themiste pyroides, and the protomers of haemerythrin have quite similar tertiary structures. 1977 P. E. Gibbs Brit. Sipunculans 7 Whilst sipunculans show clear embryological affinites with the Annelida, it is now generally agreed that.. they are best regarded as a distinct and separate phylum.

1597 Bp. Hall Sat. 11. v, Saw’st thou ever Siquis patch’d on Paul’s church dore, To seek some vacant Vicarage before? 1599 Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. ill. i, Enter Caualier Shift, with two Siquisses in his hand. Ibid., The aduancement of a Siquis or two. 1601 Weever Mirr. Martyrs A 3 b, Set vp a Siquis, giue intelligence, That such a day shall be my Tragedie. 1611 Cotgr., Plaquard,.. a Bill, Siquis, or Libell stucke vpon a post, &c. 1646 H. Moseley in Beaum. Fl.'s Plays I. (1905) p. xiii, Therefore now I put up this Si quis, that whosoever hereafter happily meetes with it [etc.]. 1674 Marvell Reh. Transp. 11. 48, I understood that he had sent out a general Siquis thorow his own Province. 1817 C. Hodgson Instr. Candidates Holy Orders 3 Form of notice or ‘Si quis’, and of the certificate of the same having been published in the church of the parish where the candidate usually resides. 1843 Hook Ch. Diet. 523 In the case of a Bishop, the Si quis is affixed.. on the door of Bow Church. 1904 Wright & Neil Protestant Diet. s.v. Ordination, If the candidate had left the university and is living elsewhere, a notice must be published... This notice is known as a si quis. attrib. 1609 Dekker Gull's Horn Bk. Wks. (Grosart) II. 235 The first time that you venture into Powles.., presume not.. to cast an eye to Si quis doore.

2. slang. (See quot.) si'puncular, a. Zool. [f. sipuncul-us + -ar.] Of or belonging to the genus Sipunculus of gephyrean worms. 1841 Forbes Hist. Brit. Starfishes 254 Pallas, in his Miscellanea Zoologica,.. has figured two English Sipuncular worms.

si'punculid, sb. (and a.) Zool. [f. mod.L. (Linnaeus Systema Naturae (ed. 12, 1766) I. 11. 1078); see prec. and -id3.] A gephyrean worm of the family Sipunculidae. Also as adj. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 619 A caecum is sometimes present at the commencement of the rectum in Sipunculids. 1893 Proc. Zool. Soc. 328 The papillae., characteristic of the skin of Sipunculids. 1928 Russell & Yonge Seas i. 20 The Sipunculids.. have a protrusible proboscis and a tough leathery body. 1941. 1967 tsee *echiuroid a. and j6.]. 1974 Sci. Amer. Apr. 88/2 Probably a fourth type consisted of unsegmented burrowers that fed on surface detritus and gave rise to the modern sipunculid worms.

si'punculiform, a. Zool. rare. [f. as prec. + -(i)form.] Having the form of a small pipe or of a sipunculus. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 270/2 The Sipunculiform Holothurite. Body more or less suddenly attenuated backwards.

a single act of this; a quantity taken at a sip. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 78 Cyppynge of drynke, subbibitura. 1483 Vulgaria 15 b, See now wyth their syppynge what wyne thei haue dronken. 1534 More Comif. agst. Trib. ill. xxvi. (1847) 306 The little sipping that our hearts should have here now. 1597 J. Payne Royal Exch. 6 O praye for a fore taste and sum sippinge of this greate supper. 1611 Cotgr., Piaison, a bibbing, sipping, tipling. 1617 Moryson Jtm. ni. 89 The Weomen of Germany have a custome to helpe their.. Friends, by sipping of the cup. 1822-7 Good Study Med. (1829) 1. 187 A little toast and water alone, taken in small sippings. 1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times l. 34 The sipping and gurgling of tea. transf. 1886 F. Harrison Ess. 211 How different this from the critic’s sipping of new books! 1891 Miss Dowie Girl in Karp. 219 Her aprons were darker than in the other villages of my sipping. b. attrib. and Comb., as sipping-drink, etc. 1589 Nashe Anat. Absurd. Wks. (Grosart) I. 61 May not a man as soone surfet by eating a whole sheepe.. as by the sipping taste of sundry dainties? 1648 Hexham ii, Een.. Zuyp-dranck,.. a Sipping-drinke. 1821 Scott Kemlw. 1, If you call on your host for help for such a sipping matter as a quart of sack. 1871 Athenaeum 26 Aug. 273 Perhaps their sipping disposition has something to do with their fall. -j-2. = sippet sb.2 1. Obs. rare. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xiii. 6 Let my sister. . make me a syppynge or two, and that I maye eate it of hir hande. Ibid. 8 She toke floure,.. and made him a syppynge.

si'punculoid, sb. and a. Zool. [-oid.] A. sb. Any member of the group Sipunculoidea of gephyrean worms.

'sippingly, adv. [f. sipping ppl. a. + -ly2.] By

1877 Mallet in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 3rd Ser. XIV. 397 On Sipylite, a new Niobate, from Amherst County, Virginia. 1881 Watts 3rd Supp!., Sipylite, a niobate,.. associated with albanite and magnetite, and occasionally with a few large crystals of hydrous zircon.

or in sips. Also transf. 1814 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. LXXIV. 275 Theology is sippingly tasted. 1858 Chamb. Jrnl. IX. 201 He takes it, not sippingly and with gusto,.. but.. in large quantities.

|| si quis (sai kwis), sb. Also si-quis, siquis. [L. si if, quis any one (sc. invenerit, etc.), the opening words of the notice or bill (see def.) when written in Latin.] 1. A public intimation, notice, or bill, freq. one exhibited on a post, door, etc., requesting information, advertising something lost, or the like; in later use only Eccl., a notice, required in certain cases, intimating that a candidate seeks ordination, and asking if any one knows of any impediment.

1857 Agassiz Contrib. Nat. Hist. U.S. I. 78 The Sipunculoids appear to be more closely related to the Annulata than to the Holothurioids. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 430 Forming with the Brachiopoda and Sipunculoids an isolated group.

B. adj. Of Sipunculoidea.

or

belonging

to

the

group

1881 Nation 1 Dec. 435/1 The report on the Gephyrea, or Sipunculoid worms. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 431/1 The Sipunculoid Gephyraeans.. possessing identically this arrangement.

|j sipunculus (sai'pAijkjubs). Zool. PI.-culi. [L. sipunculus, var. of siphunculus siphunculus.] A gephyrean annelid with a retractile proboscis, belonging to the typical genus of the family Sipunculidae. 1841 Forbes Hist. Brit. Starfishes 252, I have represented the Sipunculus alive in a Periwinkle shell. Ibid. 255 It is very probable that several other minute Sipunculi inhabit the British seas. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. v. 247 A larval Sipunculus about ^ of an inch long.

sipylite (’sipilait). Min. [f. Sipyl-us, one of the children of Niobe + -ite1 2 b.] (See quots.)

1864 Slang Diet. 231 Si Quis, a candidate for orders.

Hence ||si quis v. trans., to advertise for. 1713 Gentleman Instructed 11. x. 186, I must excuse my Depart.., otherwise he may send Hue and Cry after me, and Si quis me in the next Gazette.

sir (s3:(r)), sb. [Reduced form of sire sire sb., the shortening being due to the absence of stress before the following name or appellation. The forms sore, sur(e may represent OF. sor or sieur, the oblique case of siref] A. Illustration of forms. a. 4- sir (6 sirr, 6-7 Sr), 5~7 sYr1297- (see examples in B).

f$. 3-6 ser, 4-5 sere. a 1300 Cursor M. 27450 Sere biscop, ta god kepe. C1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 6 (Cambr.), His name was sere Thopas. 01400-50 Alexander 182 Seses, seris, of 30ur syte. c 1444 Capgrave Life St. Kath. iv. v. 441 This grete noyse, seres, what may it bee? 1451-Life St. Gilbert 112 The fayre tour .. whech )?ou say, Ser Pope, is pe grete excellens of pi dignite. 1509 in Scott. Jrnl. Topogr. (1848) II. 120/2 Ser Wil3eam Synclair of Wairseytt, Kny[ch]t. y. 5 sur, sure, sore. ? 01400 Arthur 285 Hys worthynesse, sur Emperour, Passey Muche alle 3owre. a 1400 Sir Degrev. 289 The doughty knyght sure Degrevaunt. C1410 Sir Cleges 443 Sore, for thy corteci, Smyghte me no more! c 1425 Abraham's Sacr. 435 in Non-Cycle Myst. Plays, Lo! sovereyns and sorys, now haue we schowyd [etc.].

8. Sc. 4-5 scher(e, 5 schyr, 5-6 schir (5 shir). In later Sc. also STIR (cf. stirrah). 1375 Barbour Bruce xvn. 494 Till schir Robert the douchty king. 1396 in Scott. Antiq. XIV. 217 Scher Henry Synclar, Erie of Orkynnay. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. IX. xviii. 125 Schirris, I thank God and al 30W. c 1459 Regist. de Aberbrothoc (Bann.) II. 105 Honorabile and wirschypful schyris. 1473 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scotl. I. 43 A lettre to Schire James Ogilvy of Erly. 1550 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 84 Schir George Douglas of Pettindreicht Knycht. 1574 Satir. Poems Reform, xiii. 6 Schirs, is thair ony heir Quhais lornay lyes unto Dundie?

B. Signification. I. 1. a. The distinctive title of honour of a knight or a baronet, placed before the Christian name (frarely the surname). 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10822 Sir hubert de boru & opere pat in prison were ido. 13.. Gate. Gr. Knt. 387 Sir Gawan, so mot I pryue,.. pis dint pat pou schal dryue. c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 6 (Lansd.), A knyht was faire and gent.., His name was sir Thopas. c 1440 Contin. Brut (1908) 437 Sir Henry Beauford, Cardynall, and Bisshop of Winchestre. 1488-94 Ld. Fitzwalter in Paston Lett. III. 343 Zowir lofyng cosyn, J. Sir Fytz Wauter. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 41 The lady Margarete Bowmer wyffe unto sir John Bowmer,.. but she was the wyffe of one Cheyny, for he solde hare unto sir Bowmer. 1596 Spenser State Irel. (Globe) 667/2 [A grant] of New-castell to Sir Henry Harrington, and of..Fearnes to Sir Thomas Masterson. 1627 Hakewill Apol. (1630) 272 Sir Drake whom well the worlds end knew. 1645 Symonds Diary (Camden) 217 Sir Nich. Kemys was governour when Gerard came. 1711 Addison Sped. No 112 f 2 My Friend Sir Roger, being a good Churchman [etc.]. 1819 Shelley

SIR Peter Bell 3rd vi. xv, He never read them;—with amaze I found Sir William Drummond had. 1899 Fitzpatrick Transvaal fr. within (1900) 286 Sir Alfred Milner., commanded the entire confidence of the Uitlanders.

b. In transf. uses, as Sir Harry, John, Sydney, Timothy (see quots.). Sir Berkeley coarse slang [after Berkeley Hunt: see berk], the female genital organs; hence transf., sexual intercourse, ‘sex’; Sir Garnet: see Garnet5. See also barleycorn i b and Roger de Coverley. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Sir Timothy, one that Treats every Body, and Pays the Reckonings every where. 1808 Jamieson, Sir John, a close stool. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet., Sir Sydney, a clasp knife, a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Sir Harry, a close-stool. 1937 J. Curtis There ain't no Justice xvii. 175 She gives me plenty of the old Sir Berkeley, but she knows how to look after herself, I guess.

2.

Applied retrospectively to notable personages of ancient, esp. sacred or classical, history. Now only arch. a 1300 Cursor M. 4249 Sir putifar wel vndirstod pat ioseph was o gentil blod. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace 24 Sen pe tyme of sir Noe. c 1400 Sc. Trojan War (Horstm.) 1. 215 Jasone, the gentile, With hys falow, schyr Hercules. ou commys, speke honestly To ser or dame. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 1. xvii. 20 Taking with him to accompanie him the sir of S. Veran. 1601 Shaks. Twel. N. ill. iv. 81 A sad face, a reuerend carriage,.. in the habite of some Sir of note. 1611-Cymb. 1. vi. 160 A Lady to the worthiest Sir, that euer Country call’d his. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India P. 45 In one of their open Pagods.. stands a Venerable Sir at the upper end. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. 11. ii, A talking Sir that brawls for him in Taverns. 1740-1 Richardson Pamela II. 354 On Tuesday Morning, my dear Sir rode out, attended by Abraham. 1847 Tennyson Princ. Concl. 102 Why should not these great Sirs Give up their parks some dozen times a year? 1854 Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Poet. Imag., Our little sir, from his first tottering steps,.. does not like to be practised upon. 1922 W. J. Locke Tale of Triona i. 9 A proud old Anglo-Indian family, all Generals and Colonels and Sirs and Ladies. 1952 ‘W. Cooper’ Struggles of Albert Woods iv. i. 202 Albert thought ..there must be a connection between Jameson’s appointments and his becoming a Sir. 1974 P. Gore-Booth With Great Truth Respect 374, I argued hard and explicitly on behalf of my diplomatic colleagues because becoming a ‘Sir’ is one of the tools of the trade.

b. spec, a schoolmaster, colloq. or humorous. I955 [see sense 7 a above]. 1961 Guardian 1 Dec. 7/2 [The] users will be grateful to Sir for providing . . a smashing set of answers. 1968, 1973 [see Miss sb.2 3 f]. 1980 Daily Tel. 31 Mar. 10/3 Sir never repeated any part of a question.

11. A parson or priest. Now dial. (Cf. 4.) 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 390 But this good Sir did follow the plaine word. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss. 74/2 ‘Here’s t’ sir cumman’ = Here’s the clergyman coming.

sir (s3i(r)), v. [f. prec.] 1. trans. To address (a person) as ‘sir’. Also with up. 1576 R. Peterson Galateo (1892) 47 He that is wont to be (Sird) and likewise (Sirreth) other. 1600 1st Pt. Sir J. Oldcastle 11. i, Sum. Sir, I brought it not my lord to eate. Harp. O, do you sir me now? 1722 De Foe Relig. Courtsh. 1. ii. (1840) 68 Don’t worship me and sir me now. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1768) I. viii. 43 My Brother and Sister.. Sirr’d him up, at every word. 1806-7 Poet. Reg. 179 Learn . . To frown importance while they cap and sir ye. 1861 Leys Mem.J. D. Maclaren v. 94 In his kind and sincere way he sirred some cabman, porter, or poor man. 1890 L. C. D’Oyle Notches 8 ‘I don’t know, sir, I’m sure,’ said the stranger... ‘Don’t sir me! don’t you know my name?’

2. intr. person.

To use the term ‘sir’ in addressing a

*798 Southey To M. Hill 7 Sir-ing and Madam-ing as civilly As if the road between the heart and lips Were.. a weary and Laplandish way.

Hence 'sirring vbl. sb. 1836 W. E. Forster in Reid Life (1888) I. 76 [He is] remarkably civil to me, and he gives me such quantities of sirrings—that is, he says sir so often.

sir, obs. f. sire sb. sir, variant of (Anglo-lnd.) seer. sirab, var. serab. sirah, obs. f. sirrah. siratro

(si'rsetrau). [f. initial letters (as indicated) of Commonwealth Scientific and .Industrial Research Organization + atro(purpureus the specific epithet of the parent plants.] A tropical legume of the variety so called, developed at the C.S.I.R.O. Pasture

SIRBACE Research Station, Samford, near Brisbane, by E. M. Hutton in the early 1960s from Mexican strains of Macroptilium (Phaseolus) atropurpureum. 1962 E. M. Hutton in Austral. Jrnl. Exper. Agric. II. 117/1 Two Mexican strains of P[haseolus] atropurpureus .. were crossed, and this resulted in the development of a new bred strain which has been named Siratro. 1975 Nature 31 July 409/1 An isolate from nodules of Trema cannabina .. is a strain able to nodulate siratro. 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 628/2 The Legume Siratro is probably the most outstanding example of pasture plant breeding... It is now the most widely grown pasture legume in southern and central Queensland.

sirbace, obs. f. surbase. sircar: see sirkar. sirce (Sc.): see sir sb. 7 b. sircot, obs. f. surcoat. sircue, var. circue v. Obs. sircule, obs. f. circule v.

SIREN

547 c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 21 J?e Erchebischope of Caunterburi sire Ode. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2009 To pis senatour.. Sire maximian. CI330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 785 Sire Eneas was per-of fayn. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 192 And panne strumpatis & peuys preisen sire iacke or hobbe & williem pe proude clerk, a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 407 A frenche romance that sire Robert, Bisschope a lycoln, made. f2. With common nouns, = sir sb. 6. Obs. (a) c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 15 ‘Sire Aumperour,’ he seide. a 1300 Havelok 2861 Sire erl,.. And pou wile mi consayl tro, FuT wel shal ich with pe do. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 837 Sire knyght, quod he, my mayster and my lord, c 1400 Brut lvi. 50 perfore, sire kyng,.. we bene comen into 3oure lande. 1484 Caxton Fables of AEsop v. ix, Syre kynge god yeue good helthe. c 1500 Melusine 264 ‘By my feyth, sire knight,’ said geffray. (b) c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 840 And ye sire clerk lat be your shamefastnesse. - Nun Priest's Prol. 26 Wherfore sire Monk daun Piers by youre name I pray yow [etc.]. Ibid. 44 (Corpus), Come ner sire prest com hider sir Iohn. fb. = sir sb. 6 b. Obs. C1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 242 Sire [v.r. Sir] olde lecchour, lat thy Iapes be. c 1500 Melusine 28 By my feyth, sire vassal, hit commeth to you of grette pryde [etc.]. Ibid. 29 Sire musarde. 3. Without following sb. In early use = sir $8.

fsirculey, var. circulet circlet.

7.

15.. Bk. of Precedence in Q. Eliz. Acad. 16 The sword borne by an Earle, the cappe and Sirculey borne by an Earle.

echo of French usage. a 1225 Ancr. R. 52 Me leoue sire,.. is hit nu so ouer vuel uor te toten utward? c 1290 *S. Eng. Leg. I. 49 ‘A, sire,’ quath pe lu^ere Quiene,..‘Furst ichulle to pe drinke’. 13.. K. Alis. 2099 (W.), A knyght com sone rennyng, And saide, ‘Sire, up on hast!’ 1390 Gower Conf. III. 301 ‘Ha, lieve sire,’ tho quod sche, ‘Now tak the harpe’. 1470-85 Malory Arthur vn. xviii. 240 Sire said the reed knyght.. al this wil I do as ye commaunde. at sumtyme sete in her sale syres & burdes. 1422 tr. Seer eta SecretPriv. Priv. 217 This yonglynge .. aftyr be-came a grete Sire in the realrne. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 42 And sa was Romulus all hale lord and syre. 1513 Douglas AEneid ix. iv. 58 Soupyt in wyne and sleip [are] baith man and syre. C1586 Sidney Ps. xviii. iv, Then thundred heav’nly sire. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 780 Podagra.. quietly laid herself down at the feet of this corsie sire. 1812 Shelley Devil's Walk xxviii, With delight its Sire to see Hell’s adamantine limits burn. . fb. A lord or ruler of a specified place. Obs. a 1300 Cursor M. 22256 A king.. pat of pe romain sal Impire Hali lauerd be and sire. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 14 In Charlemayn courte, sire of Saynt Dinys. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 250 Of thilke Empire He was coroned Lord and Sire. 1415 Hoccleve To Sir J. Oldcastle 265 Almighty god thow lord of al, and Syre. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 25 Where is Pirrus, that was lord and sire Of Ynd? 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1491 Syrus, that soleme syar of Babylon. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 217 For his reward.., Of tha landis tha maid him lord and syre. 5. A person of some note or importance; an aged

or

elderly

man.

Also

generally,

man,

fellow. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. xi. 62 Nou is vche boye bold bropel an oper, To talken of pe Trinite to beon holden a syre. c 1440 Ipomydon 1643 He semyd a foie, that queynte syre, Bothe by hede and by atyre. a 1500 Debate of the Carpenter's tools 241 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 88 The wymbulle spekes lyke a syre. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 145 Fra sic a syre, God 30W saif, my sueit sisteris deir! 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. iv. 32 That maliciouse and crafty olde syre. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 388 Our men, regarding his age, began to make much of him;.. whereat the old sier showed himselfe very glad. 1630 Tincker of Turvey 41 This smith was a quaint sire, As merry as bird on brier. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 715 At length a Reverend Sire among them came. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. 1. 688 To name an infant meet our village sires. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. xxiv, ‘What says the monk?’ — ‘The holy Sire Owns, that.. She sought his skiff.’ 6. A father; a male parent; also, a forefather. (Cf. GRANDSIRE i.) Now chiefly poet. c 1250 Lutel Soth Serm. 81 in O.E. Misc. 190 Hire sire and hire dame pretep hire to bete. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. Prol. 189, I herde my sire seyn.. J>ere pe catte is a kitoun, pe courte is ful elyng. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2492 (Phyllis), Fals in loue was he rygh as his syre. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13198 J?at noble he stale Fro the souerain hir Syre, & soght with hir furth. 14.. Sir Beues 1283 + 244 He made a fyre And threwe per yn dam & syre. 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. I. 4 Whose sire was the old earl of Bedford. 1582 Stanyhurst AEneis 11. (Arb.) 64 Pyrrhus shortlye wyl hither, Thee soon fast bye the syre, thee syre that murthred at altars. 1674 Milton P.R. 1. 86 His Mother then is mortal, but his Sire He who obtains the Monarchy of Heav’n. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, ill. 282 Nor be with harmful Parsimony won To follow what our homely Sires have done. 1742 Gray Adversity 9 When first thy Sire to send on earth Virtue, his

darling Child, design’d. 1791 Cowper Iliad 11. 57 The sceptre of his sires he took. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles 11. xxxii, In distant ages, sire to son Shall tell thy tale of freedom won. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. hi. 177 My sire the daughter gave him and the government. attrib. and Comb. a 1835 Motherwell Poet. Wks. (1847) 10 ’Tis Harold — ’tis the Sire-bereaved—Who goads the dread career, a 1849 Mangan Poems (1859) 442 Shame to me,.. my sire-land, Not to know thy soil and skies!

b. fig. and transf. 1718 Prior The Flies, Sire of Insects, mighty Sol. 1784 Cowper Task n. 674 Profusion is the sire. 1821 Shelley Adonais iv, He died, Who was the Sire of an immortal strain. 1871 Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue vi. 245 The venerable sire of Gothic philology, Jacob Grimm.

7. A male parent of a quadruped; esp. stallion. Correlative to dam.

a

1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §68 She shall haue moste comonly a sandy colte,.. neyther lyke syre nor damme. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 11. 54 Beastes haue no other care of their yong ones, but onely.. vntill they bee able to feede.. themselues: afterward, both syre and damme and little ones forget one another. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 229 The Pharsalian Mores evermore bring Foals very like their Syre. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. 1. 32 So Kids and Whelps their Sires and Dams express. 1733 Pope Ess. Man 111. 126 Thus beast and bird their common charge attend; The mothers nurse it, and the sires defend. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 423 Although both sire and dam may possess some good points, yet in the offspring these will be lost. 1859 Jephson Brittany iii. 30 They must not feed their sires upon straw. transf. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 568 The mind and conduct..: Each, sire and dam of an infernal race, Begetting and conceiving all that’s base.

sire (sais(r)), v. Also 6 syre. [f. sire sb.] trans. To beget or procreate; to become the sire of: a. Of persons, or in general use. 1611 Shaks. Cymb. iv. ii. 26 Cowards father Cowards, & Base things Syre Bace. 1835 Longf. Outre-mer Prose Wks. 1886 I. 119 He was a gross, corpulent fellow,. .sired by a comic actor. 1891 Zangwill Bachelors Club 82 His father had just that measure of talent which so often sires a genius. transf. 1902 Owen Wister Virginian xiv, The blamed thing was sired by a whole doggone Dutch syndicate.

b. spec. Of animals, esp. horses. (The more frequent use.) 1828-32 in Webster. 1882 Pall Mall G. 1 July 6/2 These also are animals with rare pedigrees... Several are sired by Kisber. 1894 Astley 50 Years Life II. 190 He sired some real good hunters.

sire, obs. variant of Sc. syre, drain. siredon (sai'rirdsn). [a. late L. Siredon, ad. Gr. £€Lp7]8ujv, late form of Zeipf)v siren. Named by Wagler (1828-33).] The axolotl. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 56/1 Siredon, Wagler’s name for the Axolotl. 1875 Cope Check-list N. Amer. Batrachia 63 The Siredons, or larval Amblystomae. 1879 E. P. Wright Anim. Life 402 Dumeril has also shown that the Siredons were capable of reproduction.

siree, var. sirree. sireen (sai'rim).

Also syreen. Repr. colloq. (now chiefly U.S.) pronunc. of siren sb. (esp sense 7 b). 1915 Kipling Fringes of Fleet 11 Five damned trawlers with their syreens blowing. 1940 Economist 28 Sept. 398/2 The air raids have produced some more new war words... A quite inexplicable new word is the ‘sireen’, which has widely ousted the siren. Its slight resemblance to Eileen and Doreen suggests that it may have arisen from a desire to give the noise a feminine personality. 1943 G. Greene Ministry of Fear 1. i. 16 This time of night... It’s the sireens. 1957 W, Faulkner Town xxiv. 363 Mr. Connors went to his [car] that had the red light and the sireen on it. 1977 J. Cleary Vortex i. 20 The siren began to wail again:.. ‘I wish he’d blow up that goddam si-reen.’

sireland (’saiabnd).

nonce-wd. [f. sire sb., punningly after Ireland.'] The land of one’s birth; one’s native country or fatherland. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 182 Cranly’s eleven true Wicklowmen to free their sireland. 1939-Finnegans Wake (1964) 428 Sireland calls you.

sireless (’saralis), a. [f. sire sb. + -less.] Having no sire; fatherless. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas n. i. i. Eden 583 The Beast is lust-less, sex-less, sire-less, mute. .] A member of the celebrated Club which met at the Mermaid Tavern. Due to confusion of the siren with the mermaid: see siren sb. 2. 1616 Coryat Trav. Eng. Wits 37 Right Generous, louiall, and Mercuriall Sirenaicks. Ibid. 42 Farewell noble Sirenaicks!

II. attrib. and Comb. 8. a. Attrib., in sense ‘characteristic of, resembling that of, a Siren’, as siren air, beauty, note, etc.

'sirename. rare. [Alteration of sirname surname, after sire $6.] A patronymic; a family name.

01568 Ascham Scholem. 1. (Arb.) 75 Noble personages,.. whom all the Siren songes of Italic, could neuer vntwyne from the maste of Gods word. 1588 Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 43 Be not led away by the Syren sounds and intisements of yong Iohn. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. i. iii. Furies 787 Whose Syren-notes Inchaunt chaste Susans. 1600 Shaks. Sonn. cxix, What potions haue I drunke of Syren teares? 1665 J. Spencer Vulg. Proph. 2 Soft and siren words and periods which.. make a pretty sound in the ear. 1728-46 Thomson Seasons, Spring 991 Her syren-voice, inchanting, draws him on To guileful shores, a 1743 Savage Valentine's Day 19 Far from that shore, where syren-beauty dwells. 1788 Burns Written in Friars-Carse Hermitage iii, Pleasure with her siren air May delude the thoughtless pair. 1827 Keble Chr. Y., Wednesday before Easter, Be silent, Praise, Blind guide with siren voice. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 712 The gentle breathing of the south wind .. was but a siren song which had lured them to their destruction.

|| sirene. Now rare or Obs. sirene.] = siren sb. 7.

b. Appositive, as siren daughter, enemy, hag, etc. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. 11. Wks. 1851 III. 149 The invocation of Dame Memory and her Siren Daughters. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 76 How silly were their Sages heretofore To fright their Heroes with a Syren-whore? 1742 Pope Dune. iv. 541 Others the Syren Sisters warble round, And empty heads console with empty sound. 1768-74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 561 Then the siren enemies are busiest about us. 1794 Coleridge Lines on a Friend who died of a frenzy Fever, Vice, siren-hag! in native ugliness. 1836 Newman Siren Isles in Lyra Apost., The craft of Siren choirs. 1871 Farrar Witn. Hist. ii. 76 When .. the music of Memory and her syren daughters has been brought low. 1923 E. Sitwell Bucolic Comedies 90 Where sirenbirds sip Bohea.

c. Forming adjs. or ad vs., as siren-haunted, -voiced; siren-like. a 1617 Bayne Led. (1634) 235 Siren-like songs, a 1704 T. Brown Libertine i. Wks. 1711 IV. 144 No more shall your Voice, Syren-like, charm my Heart. 1819 Mrs. Hemans Tales & Hist. Scenes, Death of Conradin 244 Bid him guide Thy steps Those syren-haunted seas beside. 1879 Geo. Eliot Theo. Such ii. 44 The siren-haunted sea.

9. In sense 6, as siren form, formation, -like. 1831 South Otto's Path. Anat. 1. 32 The most perfect degree of coalescence in the human subject, the syren formation, in which even the whole of the lower extremities are united into one common limb. 1849-52 Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 11. 964/1 Sympodia or Siren-like form. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 764/2 Another curious result of defective separation of symmetrical parts is the siren form of foetus.

10. In sense 7 b, as siren alarm, signal, -trumpet, siren suit, a one-piece costume resembling overalls or a boiler-suit, orig. designed for wear by women in air-raid shelters; later, worn by either sex, and as a fashion garment. 1950 G. B. Shaw Farfetched Fables n. 107 He is interrupted by a siren alarm, followed by an artillery salvo. 1976 Ld. Home Way Wind Blows iv. 72 Some time in the early hours of the next morning there was a siren alarm, and we all trooped down to the basement of No. 10. 1899 F. T. Bullen Way Navy 70 Making our presence known to one

1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 305 b, It should bee called our sire name, that is to say ye name of our fathers bloudde. 1552 Ord. St. Barthol. Hosp. Diij, Ye shall manifestly declare. . the names and sirenames of so many as that yeare haue died in the house. 1588 Greene Perimedes Wks. (Grosart) VII. 17 Pharao the last king of Memphis of that sirename. 1871 M. Collins Marq. & Merch. I. iii. 100 Old Reuben Mowbray had an excellent surname or sirename.

Also sirene.

[F.

1830 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) IV. 777 This is precisely the principle of the Sirene of Baron Cagniard de la Tour... The Sound produced is clear and sweet, like the human voice. 1850 Pract. Mech. Jrnl. III. 149 {title). On the Sirene, a new sound producer. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 745/1 More complex forms, such as Helmholtz’s double sirene.

fsireneal, a. Obs. rare-'. In 6 syreneall. [irreg. f. siren sb.] Of or given by sirens. 1592 R. D. Hypnerotomachia 53 b, [Nymphs] which .. did alter their Musicke and Instruments, and during the banquetting, others with an Angelike and Syreneall consent, did tune the same to their handes.

fSireniacal, a. Obs. rare. [Cf. Belonging to the Mermaid Club.

Sirenaic.]

1616 Coryat Trav. Eng. Wits 32 Pray commend me to M. Protoplast, and all the Sireniacall gentlemen. Ibid. 37.

sirenian (sai'rimian), sb. and a.' Zool. [f. mod.L. Sirenia, f. L. Siren siren sA.] A. sb. Any member of the order Sirenia of fish¬ like aquatic mammals. 1883 Science I. 346/1 The discovery of a new fossil sirenian in South Carolina. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 114 The Sirenians or Sea-Cows. 1894 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. II. 567 The existing Sirenians resemble the Cetaceans in having their fore-limbs converted into flippers.

B. adj. Pertaining to or having characteristics of the order Sirenia.

the

1891 in Cent. Diet.

t sirenian, a} Obs. Also syrenian. [f. siren sb. + -IAN.]

1. Of or characteristic of a siren; alluring, seductive, deceitful. 1600 Tourneur Trans. Metamorph. Ii, To her Syrenian Song the Knight gave eare. 1633 Prynne 1st Pt. Histriom. Ep. Ded., So desperately infatuated with their Syrenian enchantments. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche viii. cxxxiv, No wanton Dress, no Tongue’s Sirenian Grace.

2. Inhabited or frequented by alluring women. 1659 Howell Lexicon, Ital. Prov., In that Syrenian Citty [Naples] tis found that one hair of a woman can draw more then a hundred yoaks of Oxen.

Sirenian, var. Siryenian sb. and a. sirenic (sai'renik), a. rare. Also 8-9 syrenic (8 -ick). [f. siren sb. + -ic.] 1. Melodious; charming, fascinating, alluring. ■v

SIRENICAL

2. Of persons: Sweet-singing. 1797 Anna Seward Lett. (1811) IV. 393 Nor less was he charmed with the vocal duetts and trios of our syrenic friends.

si'renical, a.

Also 6-7 syrenicall, sirenicall. [f. as prec. + -ical.] 1. = sirenic a. 1. Now rare.

7

-ical,

1599 Broughton's Lett. ii. n This is the Syrenicall allurement of your attendant tXoSo^a. 1609 Sir E. Hoby Let. to Mr. T.H. 4 Freeing., my deare countrimen from your Syrenicall deceit. Ibid. 92 Bobbing your credulous Ladies with these Syrenicall insinuations. 1662 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. in. IV. 283 They play on loud virginals joyntly to their singing, which.. make up a syrenical and spherical harmony. 1900 Upward Eben. Lobb 254 There was not much that was sirenical about this instrument. t2. = SIRENIC a. 2. Obs. 1604 Marston Malcontents III. iv, But here’s a couple of sirenical rascals shall enchant ye: what shall they sing, my good lord?

Hence si'renically adv. 1888 Punch 4 August 53 We loathe deserted wives and sirenically influenced (if we may coin an epithet) husbands.

si'reniform, a. rare. [f.

6 + -(i)form.] Of human monsters: Having the lower extremities abnormally united in a single limb. siren

t849-52 Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 11. 965/1 A surgeon., supposed that the Sireniform monster had been formed during a very difficult delivery.

'sirenize, v. Now rare. Also 6 syranyze. [f. SIREN sb. + -ize.] trans. To delight or charm; to allure or enchant. Also intr. (quot. 1656). 1584 H. Constable Diana vn. viii, Thy transparent eyes .. Whose dumbe conceits diuinely syranyze. 1592 G. Harvey Four Lett. iv. Wks. (Grosart) I. 212 That same gentle kindnes,.. that abandoned odious Hatred; That Sirenized Furies. 1623 Cockeram i, Syrenize, to enchaunt, to bewitch. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Sirenize, to play the Siren, to attract or allure, as Sirens do with singing.

b. To charm out of a certain state. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 123 What soule is so metaphusicall subtile, that can humorously sirenize heauens soule, Iehovah, out of the concealments of his Godhead?

sirenoid ('sairsnoid), a. (sb.). Ichth. [See def. and -OID.] Of or belonging to the group Sirenoidei of dipnoid fishes. Also sb., a lung-fish of this group (Cent. Diet.). 1875 tr. Schmidt's Desc. e sedes pat.. arcturus saw ben waxen heye comes whan pe sterre sirius eschaufej? hym. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 294 margSerius is otherwyse cauled Canicula, this is the dogge of whom the Canicular dayes haue theyr name. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis iii. (Arb.) 75 Thee fields cleene fruictlesse thee dogstar Sirius heated. 1697 Dryden JEneid x. 382 So Sirius, flashing forth sinister lights, Pale human kind with .. famine frights. 1715 tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 512 An Image of the Sun, as bright as Sirius to an Eye given in Position. 1727 W. Broome Poems 38 When sultry Sirius.. Flames in the Air, and cleaves the glowing Plains. 1756 Mason Ode Memory ii. Poems (1774) 20 If Sirius flame with fainting heat. 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 252 As the fiery Sirius alters hue, And bickers into red and emerald. 1883 j efferies Story My Heart i, I prayed .. now with the Pleiades, now with the Swan or burning Sirius. transf. 1891 Hardy Tess (1900) 83/2 Each gem turned into an Aldebaran or a Sirius—a constellation of white, red, and green flashes, that interchanged their hues with her every pulsation.

Ilsirkar ('s3:ka:(r)). Anglo-Ind. Forms: a. 7 sercar(e, -carr, -cor; 7 sarkar, 9 surcar; 8 sircar, 8-9 sircar, 9 sirkar. 7 cercarr, circare, 8-9 circar. [Urdu (Pers.) sarkar, f. Pers. sar head + kar agent, doer.] fl. The court or palace of a native king or prince. Obs. 1619 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1906) I. 160 We weare sent for to the Governors to cut price of our clothes for the Princes sercarr. 1623 Ibid. (1908) II. 303 [Three pictures]

delivered into the Prince his sercare. 1626 Ibid. (1909) III. 141 [A commodity] which beloungeth to our masters cercare. 2. A province; a revenue division. Cf. circar. 1627 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1909) III. 176 The Decies of Surrat Cercare .. will not obey the Kings firmaen, though the Divan.. seemeth to urge them. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 532 Large provinces called Soubahs, which were subdivided into sircars and Purgunnahs. 1800 Asiatic Ann. Reg. II. 15/2 The great failure has occurred in the northern sircars; where. . the collections are still attended with difficulty. 1806 T. Maurice Ind. Antiq. I. 285 Multan contains 3 sircars, divided into 8 pergunnahs.

3. The State or Government. 1798 Edmonstone in Owen Wellesley's Desp. (1877) 61 The allied Sircars look to no other object than the security and tranquillity of their own dominions. 1800 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1844) 1- 54 To make the people pay the circar according to the exchange fixed at Seringapatam. 1883 Mateer Travancore (1891) 179 The principal temples .. are under the immediate control of the Sirkar or native Government. 1896 B. M. Croker Village Tales 118, I fled to the plains, where I have taken road contracts for the Sirkar, and prospered.

4. A house-steward (usu. native). 1772 Verelst View Eng. Govt. Bengal Gloss, p. v, In common usage in Bengal, the under Banyans of European gentlemen are called Sircars. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 47/2 The cloth which common sircars tie round their loins. 1796 Eliza Hamilton Lett. Hindoo Rajah (1811) II. 187 My English Sircar, who has the uncontrolled disbursement of my money, c 1803 Mrs. Sherwood in Life (1847) xv. 269 These persons were .. stewards, or head servants,—persons in Calcutta called Circars.

5. A native writer or accountant; a clerk employed in a merchant’s office for making purchases, etc. 1828 Asiatic Costumes 41 The surcars are brokers, agents, and clerks, in all the public offices in Calcutta. 1905 Statesman 23 Aug. 3/4 The accused.. was a bill collecting sircar in the employ of the complainant.

|| 'sirki. Anglo-Ind. Also 9 sirky, seerky. [Hindi sirki.] a. The upper part of the culm of a species of tall reed-grass, Saccharum Munjia or Sara, native to India, b. Matting made of this. 1801 Asiatick Researches VII. 463 Hoogla or Sirkee mats. 1810 T. Williamson Vade Mecum I. 489 This seerky is composed of the stems of the surput, or tassel grass. Ibid. 490 In India those itinerants [$c. gipsies].. invariably shelter themselves under seerky. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1064/1 Sirki. 1886 Yule & Burnell Anglo-Ind. Gloss. 666/1 It is from the upper part of the flower-bearing stalk of surkunda that sirky is derived.

sirloin ('s3:bin). Forms: a. 5-8 surloyn, 6-7 -loyne, 7 -loi(g)ne, -line, 8- surloin (8 sur-loin). /3. 6 serlyn, 7 sir-loyne, 8 sir-loyn, sirloyn; 7 srloin, 8 sir loin, 8-9 sir-loin, 8- sirloin, [ad. OF. *surloigne, var. of surlonge, f. sur over, above + longe loin sb. The spelling sirloin shows the same tendency as sirname for surname, sirples (obs.) for surplice', its final prevalence may have been largely due to the fictitious etymology variously stated in the following quotations. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. vi. ii. 299 A Sir-loyne of beef was set before Him (so knighted, saith tradition, by this King Henry [the Eighth]). 1732-8 Swift Polite Conv. ii. 121 Miss. But, pray, why is it call’d a Sir-loyn? Lord Sparkish. Why,.. our King James First,.. being invited to Dinner by one of his Nobles, and seeing a large Loyn of Beef at his Table, he drew out his Sword, and.. knighted it. 1822 Cook's Oracle 163 Sir-Loin of Beef. This joint is said to owe its name to King Charles the Second, who dining upon a Loin of Beef,.. said for its merit it should be knighted, and henceforth called Sir-Loin.]

1. The upper and choicer part of a loin of beef, used for roasting. Also const, of. a. 1554 Church-w. Acc., St. Marg. Westminster (Nichols, 1797) 14 A surloyn of beef, 6s. 8d. 1559-60 Old City Acc. Bk. in Archasol. Jrnl. XLIII. 175 Paide for a surloyne of beffe, vs '\\i)d. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Gt. Eater Kent 9 A calfe, a surloyne of roast biefe, a pigge. 1661 Pepys Diary 21 Nov., We had a good surloyne of rost beefe. 1718 Free¬ thinker No. 9. 57 Many.. prefer.. a Surloin of Beef, or a Haunch of Venison. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol 11. 132 A Spit he seiz’d, Just reeking from the fat Surloyn. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie II. ii. 23 When he has gotten his surloin or his steak. 1885 Times 9 Apr. 9 The production of a perfect shorthorn surloin. fig. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden 48 Let’s haue a dozen spare ribs of his rethorique,.. and a whole surloyne of his substantiallest sentences and similes. attrib. 1601 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 296 The surloine peece of the beefe. 1885 Times 9 Apr. 9 A riband-patterned surloin /9. 1525 Old City Acc. Bk. in Archaeol. Jrnl. XLIII. 172 Payd to the Bochsar for a greyt serlyn, xvid. 1623 Althorp MS. in Simpkinson Washingtons (i860) App. 46 A srloin, a rumpe,.. and a rond of beef. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. 1. 119/1 When .. fish is gone,.. then these venerable fathers .. can take a Sir-loyne of Beefe [etc.]. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 517 ff 2 He had lost his Roast-Beef Stomach, not being able to touch a Sirloin. 1760 Sarah Fielding Ophelia (1785) II. iv, The first cut of a sirloin of beef was better. 1819 S. Rogers Human Life 13 Then the huge ox shall yield the broad sir-loin. 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney III. 67, I hold it an article of faith to have a sirloin of beef upon my table on Sunday. 1865 Miss Braddon Doctor's Wife xv, A sidetable was laid for him, and a great sirloin was brought in.

b. transf. Of persons. 1648 Mayne Amorous War 1. i, I doe feele, One of my Surloynes going. 1757 E. Perronet Mitre 11. lxxxvii, The news makes all their Sur-loins crack: Down drops each stounded head. 1823 Byron Age of Bronze xviii, To see

SIRLY proud Albyn’s tartans as a belt Gird the gross sirloin of a city Celt.

2. With punning allusion to sir sb. 1. (Cf. the etym. note above.) 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Great Eater of Kent 10 That he should presently enter combate with a worthy knight, called Sir Loyne of Beefe, and ouerthrow him.

f sirly, a. Obs. rare. Also 4 serreli, 6 serly, syrlye. [f. sir sb. 4- -ly1. Cf. surly a.] Lordly, haughty, imperious. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3316 Now William.. stifli forj? rides, so serreli purp pe cite al him-self one, pat eche wei3h was awondred. 1570 Levins Matiip. 100 Serly, imperiosus. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. July 203 Sike syrlye shepheards han we none, They keepen all the path. 1600 Holland Livy xxxv. xxxviii. 911 Syrly lords (say they) were the Macedonians, and rigorous. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xix. i, Thine own erected head To far more solid Wretchedness doth bow Than ever made the vilest Reptile be The foot-stool of Contempt to sirly Thee.

sirmark('s3:ma:k), sb. Also 9 surmark. [f. mark sb.1 The first element is prob. sur- over, above, although sir- is the earlier and more usual form.] One or other of several marks made upon a mould to indicate where the respective bevellings are to be applied to the frame-timbers of a vessel. a. 1664 E. Bushnell Cornpl. Shipwright 15 Make Sirmarks to them. 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 26 Then hang up a Ribbon at the Floor Sirmark. Ibid. 52 In the Length, 3, 4, or 5 Sirmarks are made, according to the Length of the Piece. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 401/1 The lowermost diagonal.. which is named the lower sirmark, at which place the bevellings are taken for the hollow of the floors. 1833 Richardson Merc. Mar. Arch. 4 Length of midship floor 10 feet 3 inches from sirmark to sirmark. 1879 Cassells Techti. Educ. IV. 190/1 A line or batten is stretched from some point in the middle-line of the keel to the corresponding heads or sirmarks on opposite sides. j8. 1846 A. Young Naut. Diet. 250 The points, called surmarks, where the respective bevellings are to be applied to the timbers. 1894 Outing XXIV. 21/2 A cross.. on the staff line and also on the stem .. called the surmark.

Hence 'sirmark v.

SIR-REVERENCE

550

? Obs.

1664 E. Bushnell Compl. Shipwright 16 The Moulds being made and Sirmarked to the body of the Vessell.

sirmyse, obs. form of surmise v. sirname, obs. form of surname. siroc ('sairnk, sfrok). Forms: a. 8- siroc. (9 sirocc). j3. 8-9 sciroc. y. 8-9 siroch. [a. earlier F. siroc, siroch (now siroco), or ad. It. sirocco.] sirocco sb. 1.

=

Freq. written with a capital letter. a. 1775 in Ash. 1786 European Mag. IX. 286 The fierce Siroc prevails! 1800 Southey in C. C. Southey Life (1849) II. 93 A detestable burning blast, a bastard sort of siroc. 1827 Montgomery Pelican Isl. 111. 25 Every wind From the hot Siroc to the wet Monsoon. 1867 Emerson May-Day, etc. Wks. (Bohn) III. 438 These the siroc could not melt. 1789 [see b]. 1819 W. S. Rose Lett. I. 289, I attribute .. this strange influence of perfumes to the Sciroc. 1879 M. D. Conway Demonol. I. 11. vii. 184 Here sciroc, there hurricane, and often tornado. y. 1800 Helena Wells Constantia Neville (ed. 2) I. 261 The grass looked as if it had endured the baleful effects of the blighting Siroch. 1825-9 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor V. xxix. 122 That woody vale,. .where no burning siroch blows.

b. attrib. and Comb. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 190 A sciroc wind, or a rainy day, or a hard frost. ci8o8 R. K. Porter Russ. & Swed. (1813) II. xlii. 193 The Siroc sultriness and oppression.. increases at every step. 1809 Brydone Tour thro’ Sicily xx. 207 Lest we should be caught by the Sirocc winds. 1829 Poe Tamerlane Poems (1859) 215 Like rain Upon the Siroc-withered plain.

sirocco (si'rokau), sb. Also 7 syrocco, 8 syrocca, serocco; 7, 9 scirocco, 9 scirrocco. [a. It. sirocco, scirocco (also scilocco), — Sp. siroco (also xaloque), Pg. xarouco, Prov. siroc, older F. siroc, siroch (also siloc, sciloque, etc.), ad. Arab, sharq east, f. sharaqa (the sun) rose. Cf. prec.] 1. a. An oppressively hot and blighting wind, blowing from the north coast of Africa over the Mediterranean and affecting parts of Southern Europe (where it is also moist and depressing). Usually with the. a. 1617 Moryson Itin. 1. 211 The South-East winde (which the Italians call Syrocco) did blow very contrary to us. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 706 Forth rush.. Eurus and Zephir with thir lateral noise, Sirocco, and Libecchio. *756-7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 96 The woods south of Rome are kept up as a fence against the Sirocco, or south¬ west wind. 01791 Wesley Serm. lxix. Wks. 1811 IX. 251 There will be no Sirocco in Italy. 1818 Mrs. Iliff Poems sev. Occas. (ed. 2) 120 When dire Sirocco.. From Afric’s burning sands mephitic vapours brings. 1859 Hawthorne Marble Faun xl, Where the sirocco steals away their strength. 1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 21 The sirocco was blowing up and down the streets. transf. 1848 J. S. Robinson Sk. Gt. West 17 The dreaded Sirocco.. burns us even through our clothes. 1870 Weekly Standard (Buenos Aires) 21 Dec. (Suppl.) col. 6 The Sirocco on Wednesday was so terrible that in the effort to keep cool, the mind reverted to icebergs and Polar travels but all in vain. 1872 E. Braddon Life India ii. 14 From the west blows a scorching wind, the sirocco of. .the Daodpore desert.

/3. 1819 Shelley Lett. Prose Wks. 1880 IV. 134 My health is better so long as the scirocco blows. 1861 Miss Beaufort Egypt. Sepulch. & Syrian Shrines II. 223 Under the balmy skies of the early spring, before the horrible scirocco begins to blow. 1866 Howells Venet. Life iii. 33 The insidious heat of the scirocco.

b. With a and pi. a. 1700 J. Jackson Let. 2 Feb. in Private Corr. S. Pepys (1926) I. 278 But the weather being changed and the Sciroccos now blowing into the place of the Tramontains, this design is become impracticable. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. 1. ii. 572 The atmosphere is thick and dusky; ’Tis a sirocco. 1884 St. James's Gaz. 11 Dec. 10/2 The storm., was followed by a sirocco, which lasted until noon. (3. 1841 FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 71 We have incessant rain, which is as bad as your sciroccos. i860 Mrs. Harvey Cruise Claymore vii. 134 A khamseen was blowing;.. this wind, which is an exaggerated scirocco, brings clouds of hot sand from the desert.

c. fig. A blighting influence; a fiery storm. 1864 G. A. Sala Quite Alone I. ii. 40 Now Scandal’s sirocco seized a spiteful anecdote, and twirled and twisted and sent it spinning. 1865 J. H. Ingraham Pillar of Fire (1872) 401, I. .have passed through a sirocco of the soul.

2. ellipt. A sirocco drying-machine (see 3). 1890 Daily News 2 Sept. 2/5 When the hops have been sufficiently rolled .. they are.. placed in the drying machine or sirocco. 1892 Walsh Tea 105 In the process of‘firing’ the leaves are .. placed in layers in a hot-air machine, known as a ‘Sirocco’.

3. attrib., as sirocco blast, -dust, fog, gale, weather, wind-, also sirocco fan, a fan for forcing a strong current of air into a mine, etc.; sirocco drying-closet, drying-machine, oven, a closet, machine, or oven for drying hops or tea-leaves, by means of a hot, moist current of air (cf. 2). 1894 Gladstone Horace in. xxiii. 5 Your vines shall mock "scirocco blasts. 1885 C. G. W. Lock Worksh. Rec. Ser. iv. 115/2 About a third of the tea., is cured in Davidson’s socalled “"sirocco’ drying-closets. 1890 Pall Mall G. 1 Oct. 2/3 The first “"Sirocco’ drying machine (in which hops are being made into tea). 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 266/1 The dust or sand of dried lakes.. borne away into the upper regions of the atmosphere,.. may descend again .. in the form of ‘red-fog’, ‘sea-dust’, or ‘*sirocco-dust’„ 1861 Miss Beaufort Egypt. Sepulch. Syrian Shrines II. xxiii. 295 The mountains., were veiled in a dreamy, sad-looking "scirocco fog. 1895 F. M. Crawford Casa Braccio xxxvi, Then came November with its pestilent "sirocco gales and its dampness. 1890 Daily News 2 Sept. 2/5 The machinery consists of a "Sirocco oven and a patent tea roller. 1897 Hughes Mediterranean Fever v. 193 It [sc. ice] will also be needed in warm and "sirocco weather. 1777 A. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 253 The same effect.. which .. the "sirocco winds have upon the inhabitants of Sicily. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 19 An enfeebling and unhinging power, like that of the Sirocco wind.

si'rocco, v. rare. Also scirocco. [f. thesb.] intr. and trans. To blow (about) like the sirocco. 1921 D. H. Lawrence Let. 16 Nov. (1962) II. 677 It has blown, the wind, and snowed on Calabria, and sciroccoed till we are all of us in fragments. 1937 J. Squire Honeysuckle & Bee vi. 170 The monotonous maudlin refrain of a song about the Isle of Capri... As it faded away, I remembered where, when it had already sciroccoed the world for six months, I had last heard it.

si'roccoish, a. nonce-word. In 9 scir-. [f. sirocco sb. + -ISH.] Somewhat resembling that produced by the sirocco; oppressively hot and moist. 1837 J: F. Cooper England (ed. 2) III. 195 We are more elastic.. in a clear bracing air, than in one that is close and sciroccoish.

siron, variant of ciron Obs. The Latin pi. sirones, syrones occurs in works of the 17th cent., as the transl. of Mouffet’s Theat. Insects (1658) 1094. 1744 tr. Boerhaave's Inst. III. 294 The Sirons, as they are called, dwell in these Cells when they cause the Itch.

Ilsirop (siro, 'siimp). [Fr.: see syrup sb.] (A drink made from) a sweetened fruit-juice concentrate. 1871 Monthly Packet Oct. 369 The sirops and Savoy cakes had been disposed of. 1889 E. Simcox in K. A. McKenzie E. Simcox & G. Eliot (1961) ii. 55 Ending up. .with sirop at some cafe in the small hours. 1933 ‘G. Orwell’ Down & Out xvii. 126 Two children .. sharing a glass of sirop. 1966 H. Yoxall Fashion of Life xxiii. 206 We consumed sirops called citronade, grenadine, framboise. 1978 Times 22 July 8/7 The continental ‘sirops’, in mint, grenadine and blackcurrant flavours, are available in good delicatessens.. for under £1.50.

sirope, obs. f. syrup. sirp(e)cloth, varr. of surpcloth Obs. sirples, -us, obs. ff. surplice. sirrah ('sirs). Now arch. Forms: a. 6 syra, syrra (syrria?), 6-7 sirra. /S. 6 syrha, syrrha, 6-7 sirha, sirrha. y. 6 sirah, 7 syrrah, 7- sirrah. 8. 6 serea, serray, serrha, 9 dial, serrah. See also stirrah. [f. sir sb. The additional syllable had probably no definite origin, though explained by Minsheu as the interj. ah or ha.] 1. A term of address used to men or boys, expressing contempt, reprimand, or assumption of authority on the part of the speaker; sometimes employed less seriously in addressing children.

a. 1526 100 Merry Tales (Rastell) xlii, Sirra I vnderstand that thou dost ly euery night with my wyfe when I am from home. 1548 Crowley Confut. N. Shaxton Gjb, A, syra, there said you wel! 1605 Shaks, Macb. iv. ii. 30 Sirra, your Fathers dead, And what will you do now? 1641 W. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I 289 The Bishop saying ‘Sir’, was mistaken to have said Sirra, and called to the bar. /3. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 2 Sirha, when our..graundsires were alive thei spake plainly in their mothers tongue. 1579 G. Harvey Two Lett. ii. 64 Ah Syrrha, and Iesu Lord, thought I, haue we at last gotten one, of whom his olde.. Companions may iustly glory. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. 11. v. 61 Syrha, sirha, lie know the trueth of all. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxv. x. II. 538 Sirrha, (quoth he) remember you are but a shoemaker. y. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. 1. i, But, heare you, sirah. 1631 High Commission Cases (Camden) 194 Nay, sirrah,.. I knowe not what will become of you. 1656 S. Holland Don Zara 171 Syrrah, Though I cannot prove how, or where thou attainedst those glorious Arms, yet [etc.]. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 105 P3, I assure you Sirrah, I wont go to the Devil for you. 1796 Mme. D’Arblay Camilla IV. 169 Sirrah, I’ll break your bones! 1821-2 Shelley Chas. I, ii. 106 Go, sirrah, and repent of your offence Ten minutes in the rain. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! vii, ‘You mean Captain Drake, your worship?’ ‘I do, sirrah’. 8. 1547 Hooper Answ. Bp. Winchester Tj, See thy God, knele downe serea and hold upp thy handes. 1566 Drant Horace Sat. 1. iii. B iij b, What serray what I say? (Quod he) doste thou not know thy selfe? 157° Levins Manip. 1 Serrha, heus, io. 1833 Close Satirist 164 I’ll fetch the, thau idle serrah!

b. Used attributively with appellations or proper names. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. iii. 121 Sirra Costard, I will infranchise thee. 1591 Greene Conny Catch. 1. Wks. (Grosart) X. 59 Sirrha collier, know that we are here all assembled as a grand Iurie. 1603 Dekker & Chettle Grissil 11. i, But, Sirha Rice, when’s the day? 1663 Cowley Cutter of Coleman Str. 1. ii, I, Sirra Jack-an-apes, if you start when your father speaks to you. i860 Ainsworth Ovingdean Grange ix. ii. 341 Give me a glass of brandy, sirrah host.

f2. Applied to women (seriously or in jest). Obs. 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. ii. i, Sirrah Bellafront,.. thou shalt sit at the upper end, punk. 1617 Fletcher Valentinian 11. iv, Ah Sirrah; And have we got you here? faith Noble Lady, We’l keep you one month Courtier. 1676 Etheredge Man of Mode ill. i, Adod, sirrah, I like thy wit well. 1710 Swift Jrnl. Stella vii, You lose all your money at cards, sirrah Stella. 1711 Ibid. 11 July, Stella, hussy, don’t you remember, sirrah [etc.].

sirree. dial. Also sur-,

sor-, sarree. [f. sir sb. (cf. prec.); prob. a modification of the common dialect sirry, surry, etc.] Sir, sirrah. See also no SIREE, YES SIREE. 1823 Knight's Quarterly Mag. I. 300 Oi say, sirree, where be’st the gwain?

sirreng,

obs. form of syringe.

sir-'reverence, sb. Obs. exc. dial. Also 6

se-,

7 sa-reverence. [Alteration of save (abbreviated to sa’) reverence: see save prep. 4 and reverence sb. 5.] f 1. sir-reverence of, with all respect for, with apologies to. (Cf. reverence sb. 5.) Obs.

save,

1575 Gamm. Gurton v. ii, Sir reuerence of your masterdome, and you were out a-doore [etc.]. 1594 Lodge & Greene Looking Gl. 326 And sir, sir-reuerence of your manhood and genterie, I haue brought home such mony as you lent me. 1614 Rich Homestie of Age (1844) 14 His manners, that hauing to tell a sober tale to a Justice of peace, would still begin his speeches with ‘Sir reuerence of your worships honesty’. 1634 Massinger Very Woman 11. iii, The beastliest man— . .(Sir-reverence of the company)—a rank whoremaster.

fb. Without const. Obs. a. 1590 Shaks. Com. Err. iii. ii. 91 A very reuerent body: I such a one, as a man may not speake of, without he say sir reuerence. 1592 G. Harvey Four Lett. Wks. (Grosart) I. 171 And, sir reuerence, how lowsy he and the mother of Infortunatus were. 1614 B. Jonson Bart. Fair Induct., Hee has (sirreuerence) kick’d me three, or foure times about the Tyring-house. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes Pref. Verses, And makes the Country Neighbourhood about Swallow, Sir reverence, what he voideth out. 1687 Mrs. Behn Lucky Chance IV. i, Plain Fulbank, —methinks you might have had a Sir-reverence under your girdle, Sir. /3. 1596 Harington Metam. Ajax Let. A ij b, A thing that I cannot name wel without saue-reuerence. 1598 Deloney Jacke Newb. x. 115, I was a woman when she was, a sereverence, a paltrie girle. 1658 Burton Comm. Antoninus Itin. 223 So great was his despite against him, meerly because he was Sacerdos Maritatus, which forsooth he cannot name without a Sa-Reverence. 1681 Blount Glossogr. (ed. 5), Sa-reverence, salva reverentia, saving regard or respect; an usual word. fc. With punning allusion to sir sb. i. Obs. *593 G. Harvey Pierce’s Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 270 They neither feare Goodman Sathan,.. nor Sir Reuerence, nor milord Gouernement himselfe.

2. Human excrement. *592 Greene Ned Browne Wks. (Grosart) XI. 33 His face, ..and his Necke, were all besmeared with the soft sirreuerence, so as he stunk. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. Iii, For four.. Days I hardly scumber’d one poor Butt of Sirreverence. 1738 Bracken Farriery (1749) 218 It was a Bolus made of Sirreverence or Human Dung, begging the Reader’s Pardon. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 30 Apr., As a plate of marmalade would improve a pan of sir-reverence. 1828- in dial, glossaries (Yorksh., Durham).

b. With a. A piece or lump of this. 1592 Greene Upstart Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 235 As far as a hungry sow can smell a sir reuerence. 1683 Dryden Vind. ‘Duke of Guise’ Wks. 1725 V. 333 If I cry a Sir-

SIRRHA

sirrha, obs. form of sirrah.

me nothing to eat but semalina and kofee. 1926 E. Lewis Mantis 1. iv. 79 ‘Sis, man!’ Hugo had scolded him, ‘you go to see one of these private fellows.’ 1949 Forum 26 Mar. 15 The elegant word ‘sies!’ is in evidence when persons to whom objection is taken are present or even mentioned. 1972 Star (Johannesburg) 15 Nov. 18 The majority of young Afrikaans people .. cannot speak English and .. have no intention of doing so. Ag sis! Praat English.

sis,

obs. variant of sice.

-sis, suffix, repr. Gr. -ats in nouns of action, as in ANALYSIS, ARSIS, MERISIS, PERISTALSIS, etc. Also

in some nouns denoting a specified diseased state, as filariasis, phthisis, psittacosis, SEPSIS.

fsirright. Obs[f. sirs6.] A right pertaining to the male line. 1623 tr. Favine's Theat. Honour VII. ii. 204 Rodolphe alleaged that the Dukedome .. was .. a Male Fief of the Empire, from which .. Daughters were excluded, and so the sirright ceassing, he was the very neerest heire. sirring, obs. f. syringe. sirris, variant of siris. sirrup, obs. f. syrup. sirse (Sc.): see sir sb. 7 b.

sirship ('s3:Jip). [f. sir sb. position of a Sir; baronetcy.

SISKIN

SSI

Reverence, and you take it for Honey, make the best of your Bargain. 1704 N. N. tr. Boccalini's Advts.fr. Parnass. III. 174 To try an Important Experiment, whether it was possible for em to preserve a Sir Reverence. 1720-1 Lett.fr. Mist sjfrnl. (1722) II. 315 To pass by the Sir-reverence, and the good Dousing the Dragon met with. 1836-48 B. D Walsh Aristoph. Acharn. iv. vii, May Providence Send to the hand of this fine shark A newly-born sir-reverence. 111840 Frere Aristoph. Acharn. 1170 Let him grasp for his defence A ponderous sir reverence. Hence f sir- reverence v. Obs. rare. 1665 Head Eng. Rogue I. iii. 27 Another time sirreverencing in a paper, and running to the window with it. 1697 Cibber Woman's Wit iv. 52 O Lord Sir! I do Sirreverence your Person.

+

-ship.]

The

1873 Gentl. Mag. July 101 A baronet.. whose grandfather . . had left his descendants nothing to support the dignity of the hereditary Sirship. sirt, var. syrt Obs. sirtes, -is: see Syrtis Obs. sirup, obs. and U.S. var. syrup. sirurgien: see chirurgeon and surgeon.

I sirvente (sirvat). Also syrvente, sirvent. [a. F. sirvente or ad. Prov. sirventes, serventes (cf. OF. serventeis, -ois, It. serventese, Sp. serventesio), app. f. servir to serve, but the connexion is not quite clear. The French and English form has arisen by taking sirventes as a pi.] A form of poem or lay, usu. satirical, employed by the troubadours of the Middle Ages. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xvii, The knight.. asked his host whether he would choose a sirvente in the language of oc, or a lai in the language of out. 1840 Browning Sordello 11. 516 To get A notion of the Troubadour’s intent In rondel, tenzon, virlai or sirvent. 1878 Stubbs Study Med. Mod. Hist. vi. (1900) 141 Some few sirventes or satiric lays that entitle Richard [I] to the name of a trouvere.

Siryenian (s3:'ji:ni3n), sb. and a. Also Sirenian, Syrianian, -jenian, Syryenian, Ziranian, Zyrenian. [f. mod.L. Syrisenus (ad. Russ. zyryanin, -ane Zyrian sb. and a.) + -ian.] = Zyrian sb. and a. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. III. 552/1 Sirenian St. Matthew. 1878 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 700/1 Finnic or Ugrian represented by.. Siryenian. 1879 Ibid. IX. 291/2 The Permian Finns comprise the Siryenians,.. the Permian proper,.. and the Votyak. 1908 [see Permian a. (sb.) 2]. 1910 Encycl. Brit. X. 389/1 The Syryenian headquarters are at the town of Ishma on the Pechora. 1911 Ibid. XXVI. 317/2 Syryenians (also Sirianian, Syrjenian, Zyrenian, Ziranian, Zyrian and Zirian), a tribe belonging to the Permian division of the eastern Finns. 1930 Liddell & Scott Gr.-Eng. Lex., Kamazs .. borrowed perh. fr. UgroFinnish, cf... Syrianian pis ‘hemp’. sis (sis), sb. Also siss. Colloq. abbrev. of sister

sisal ('sais(3)l; formerly also 'sisal, si'sail). Also sissal and with capital initial. [See def.] 1. The name of a port in Yucatan, used attrib. with fibre, grass, hemp, to designate the prepared fibre of several species of Agave and Fourcroya, which is largely exported from that place for use in rope-making. Also sisal plant, the aloe or other plant from which the fibre is obtained. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 724/1 None of its agricultural products yield articles of export, except the Sisal hemp. 1859 All Year Round No. 32. 126 The sisal hemp, which is the product of the Agave Americana, is also very enticing to the speculator. 1887 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 6 May 4/8 A cargo of sisal grass for the Plymouth Cordage Company. 1889 Times 9 Mar. 4/3 The issue was an Act. . to give substantial encouragement.. to the cultivation of the sisal fibre. 1889 D. Morris Kew Bulletin No. 27. 60 The true Sisal plant is Agave rigida. attrib. 1878 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 36/2 The prosperity which Yucatan in recent years owes to the development of the Sisal hemp trade. 1882 Christy New Commercial PI. No. 6. 43 The Giant Lily or Sisal Hemp Plant of South America (Fourcroya gigantea). 1893 Westm. Gaz. 27 May 6/2 Some thousands of acres of sisal hemp plantations.

2. ellipt. = prec. Chiefly attrib. 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 24 White Sisal Rope. White Sisal Lines. 1895 Daily News 7 Sept. 2/3 Hemp has shown renewed activity... Sisal also is firmer. 1896 Pall Mall Mag. May 65 Almost all the settlers of this island [sc. Andros] are engaged in Sisal cultivation.

3. Special combs., as sisalcraft, -kraft, a waterproof material with a core of sisal fibres. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Diet. 774/1 Sisalcraft. 1945 Jrnl. R. Army Med. Corps LXXXIV. 98 The sisalcraft and blankets already sewn up. 1948 Spectator 9 Apr. 430/1 The wooden huts in which the occupants of Antarctic bases live are specially designed with layers of tinfoil and sisalkraft between the inner and outer walls. 1961 [see sark v. 2]. 1962 Economist 8 Sept. 956/1 The conventional materials.. such as bituminised sisalcraft and burlap.

sis-boom-bah (sisbuim'ba:), int. and sb. U.S. Also -ah. [Echoic, repr. the sound of a skyrocket: a hissing flight (sis), an explosion (boom), and an exclamation of delight from the spectators (bah, ah): see skyrocket 2.] A shout expressive of support or encouragement to a college team. Hence as sb., enthusiastic or partisan support of spectator sports, esp. football. [1867: see sky-rocket sb. 2]. 1924 Dialect Notes V. 276 Sis-boom:-ah,-bah (college yells). 1961 M. Beadle These Ruins are Inhabited (1963) iv. 48 Fresh from the land of sis-boom-bah .., the Americans had a hard time at first learning to applaud good play by either team. 1970 Time 17 Aug. 64 For the next 2I years it was girls, Basks and sisboom-bah. But the public image concealed an all-night reader.

siscoe, variant of cisco.

II sis (si:s, sis), int. S. Afr. Also feess. [ad. Afrikaans sies (also used), perh. ad. Hottentot si or tsi.] An ejaculation expressing disgust or disappointment. 1862 A. W. Drayson Tales at Outspan 67,1 have lost more cattle from the attacks of hytenas than I have from lions, or leopards, and as to sheep, cess, I’ve had nearly a whole flock worried by them. 1909 Gape 30 Apr. 6 Sis for her. She gave

zizel.] A

kind of ground-squirrel (see quots.). 1880 Cassell's Nat. Hist. III. 93 Of the Old World species the best known is the Sisel, or Suslik (Spermophilus citillus), which is abundant in Central and Eastern Europe, and in Siberia. 1894-5 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. III. 79 The suslik or sisel of North-Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.

t sisel, a. Obs.-1 [a. ON. sysl, related to sysla sb. work, business, sysla vb. to be busy, etc.] Occupied, engaged. C1325 Metr. Horn. 112 Quen hali kirc bigan newli, Sain Jon was sisel, and bisi, In ordaining of priestes and clerkes, And in casting kirc werkes.

I! siser. Bot. rare. [L. siser, perhaps the same as Gr. alaapov (whence mod.L. sisarum).] The water-parsnip or skirret (Sium sisarum). 1548 Turner Names Herbes 74 Fuchsius rekoneth that our skyrwort, or skyrwit is a kinde of siser. 1562-Herbal 11. (1568) 139 The roote of Siser sodden is pleasant to the mouth. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Siser, in botany, a name given to the skirret. 1858 Mayne Expos. Lex., Sium Sisarum, systematic name of the siser or skirret, formerly considered aromatic.

siser,

obs. form of sizar.

siserary (siss'resri).

Now dial. Forms: 5 sessarary, 7 sesarara, 8 ceserera; 7 sas-, 8-9 sass-, sussarara (9 sassaray); 7 sursurrara; 8 siserari, 8-9 -ary, 9 -ara; 7 sissara, 8-9 sisserara, 9 -ary. [Popular corruption of certiorari.] f 1. A writ of Certiorari. Obs. 1481-90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 196 My Lord payd to the Clerk of the Pece for a sesserary for the Vekery of Wyrmyngforde ij.s. vj.d. 1607 Middleton Phoenix Cj, Heere a writ of Demur, there a Procedendo, heere a Sursurrara, there a Capiendo. 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. Giij, They cannot so much as pray, but in law, that their sinnes may be remou’d, with a writ of Error, and their soules fetcht vp to heauen, with a sasarara. 1620 Melton Astrolog. 67 Sissaras, Writs, Latitats and Procidendos. 1760-1 Smollett Launcelot Greaves ii, O! that there was a lawyer here to serve him with a siserari.

2. with a siserary, suddenly, promptly.

with

a

vengeance;

1607 W[entworth] S[mith] Puritan Widow ii[i]. iii, If it be lost or stole .. a Cunning Kinsman of mine .. would fetcht againe with a Sesarara. 1765 Sterne Tr. Shandy vm. xxi, It was on Sunday in the afternoon, when I fell in love all at once with a sisserara. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxi, ‘As for the matter of that,’ returned the hostess, ‘.. out she shall pack with a sassarara’. 1770 Goldsm. Vicar W. (ed. 4) xxi, Gentle or simple, out she shall pack with a sussarara [edd. 1766, 1767 sass-]. 1829 Bentham Jusffce & Cod. Petit., Abr. Petit. Justice 71 I’ll fetch you up with a sisserary. 1857 G. W. Thornbury Songs of Cavaliers & Roundheads 55 Tossing off Canary cups, With a Sassarara.

3. A severe rebuke or scolding; a sharp blow; a torrent of (language). 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 15 May, I have gi’en the dirty slut a siserary. 1826 Scott Woodst. x, Master Holdenough . . attacked it with such a siserary of Latin as might have scared the devil himself. 1850 G. W. Reynolds Myst. of Court i. 16 He was just inflicting a Sassarara upon the waiter for not keeping up a cheerful fire. 1893 Cozens Hardy Broad Norfolk 5 One boy will give another a clip o’ the head .., and once I heard a fellow say he had given another a sisserara.

4. A loud clanging noise. 01770 ‘Lady Ouncebell' v. in Child Ballads II. 207 He heard the bells of the high chapel ring, They rang with a ceserera. a 1850 Ibid. 209 They made a loud sassaray. 1884 Athenaeum 3 May 578/1, I .. at last gave such a sussarara on the bell that I thought the deafest person must hear.

sisers,

obs. f. scissors.

siserskite, sisham, sisi,

sb. 1656 Dr. Denton Let. 20 Nov. in M. M. Verney Memoirs (1894) IILix. 3i5We had need call a councell for marryinge and givinge in marriage, you for your sis, she for hers, and I for mine. 1808 Lady Lyttelton Let. 18 Dec. (1912) ii. 53 But oh, Bob, pity your poor Mam and Sis, when they will have to set out on a bleak morning, over such rough, splashy, squashy, jolting and jumbling roads as ours. 1835 Knickerbocker VI. 293 All the friends called her sister,., which, as the half was easier to be bandied about than the whole,.. soon dwindled into ‘sis’. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2), Siss and Sissy, contractions for sister, often used in addressing girls, even by their parents. 1872 C. M. YongeP’j & Q’s iii. 19 ‘I knew you were a jolly old sis,’ said Horace with a hug. 1891 M. E. Ryan Pagan of Alleghanies 133 Folks call boys ‘bud’ sometimes, jist like they call girls ‘sis’. 1924 Lawrence & Skinner Boy in Bush vi. 86 Skippin’ up an’ down like sis. 1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men (1970) 1. x. 220 Sis Cat, we both got a li’l money. 1948 M. Allingham More Work for Undertaker ii. 26 ‘Who was she? Your only love?’ 'Gawd, no! My sis.’ 1970 M. Walker Prophets for New Day in S. Henderson Understanding New Black Poetry (1973)11. 161, I rundown to Sis Avery’s. 1974 D. Gray Dead Give Away i. 14 You’ll be wearing clothes at the Private View, won’t you, Sis?

sisel ('sisal), sb. Zool. [ad. G. ziesel: cf.

var. sysertskite.

var. shisham.

var. seesee.

siscowet (’siskaoet).

Also ciscoette, ciscovet, siskawitz, -iwit, -owet, etc. [Odjibwa, meaning literally ‘cooks itself (Goode).] A variety of the great Lake trout of N. America, found in Lake Superior. 1847 C. Lanman Summer in Wildern. 159 A fish called ciscovet, is unquestionably of the trout genus, but much more delicious. Ibid. 161 The white-fish, ciscovet, and lake trout. 1849 H. W. Herbert Fish & Fishing 145 The Siskawitz is rather shorter and stouter than the Mackinaw fish. 1854 C. Lanman Adv. Wilds N. Amer. xxxiv. 253 We cannot leave Mackinaw without making a passing allusion to the fish whose Indian name is ciscovet. It is a handsome fish, unquestionably of the trout family. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anirn. 496 The Siscowet, Salvelinus Namaycush. 1888 - A mer. Fishes 468 The amateur is likely to confound the Namaycush with the Siscowet. 1902 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 243 Ciscoette. A name of the lake herring. Apparently a derivative, with French diminutive suffix, from Cisco (q.v.), but rather a corruption of Siskowit. attrib. 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 318 Siscowet Salmon .. is probably a local variety rather than a distinct species.

sise,

obs. variant of sice, size.

fsiseangle. Obs. rare. [f. sise sice + angle.] A hexagon. So f siseangled a. 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. Def., Likewyse shall you iudge of siseangles, which haue sixe corners. 1567 Whetst. Ciij, Quadrate, Cinkeangeled, Siseangeled.

sisimbrium, sisith,

obs. var. of Sisymbrium.

var. zizith.

siskawitz,

var. of siscowet.

siskin ('siskin). Also 6 sysken-, 7 sisken. [ad. G. dial, sisschen or zeischen, = older Flem. sijsken, cijsken (Kilian; Du. and Flem. sijsje), Da. sisgen, a dim. form based on MHG. zisec (also zise; G. zeisig), MLG. ziseke, sisek (Norw. sisik, sisk, Sw. siska), which are app. of Slavonic origin; cf. Pol. czyzik, czyz, Russ, chizhek’, chizh’.] 1. A small song-bird, in some respects closely allied to the goldfinch; also called aberdevine. By older writers sometimes identified with the greenfinch. 1562 Turner Herbal 11. (1568) 134 It [sesamum] groweth in Germany .. and men fede byrdes with the sede of it there, namelye Syskennes. 1567 Maplet Gr. Forest 80 She most commonlye hatcheth hir yong in the Larkes Nest or Siskins, which Siskin is not much vnlike to the Goldfinch. 1616 Surfl. & Markham Country Farme vii. lxx. 731 The Siskins Hue, some fiue, others eight yeares. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Isagoge dj b, All sorts of little birds, as sparrows,.. wrens, witwalls, siskens. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 512 The Siskin, which is an irregular visitant, said to come from Russia. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 169 The Siskin and Linnet only forsake us in severe winters. 1813 Montagu Ornith. Suppl. s.v. Siskin, The Aberdevine or Siskin, is in size between that of the Greater and Lesser

SISKOWET Red-poles. 1841 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. 252 The siskin (Carduelis spinus) .. is sometimes very abundant. 1894-5 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. III. 385 From Japan to the British Isles the common siskin (Chrysomitris spinus) is found in suitable localities.

2. Applied with defining words to various small birds related to or resembling the siskin. 1783 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds II. I. 292 Mexican Siskin .. inhabits Mexico. Ibid. 293 Chinese Siskin .. inhabits China. 1839 Audubon Ornith. Biog. V. 46 Black-headed Siskin, Fringilla Magellanica. Ibid. 85 Arkansaw Siskin, Fringilla psaltria. 1874 Coues Birds N. W. 116 Arkansas Goldfinch; Mexican Siskin. 1884-N. Amer. Birds 354 Chrysomitris pinus,.. American Siskin.

3. attrib., as siskin finch, group-, siskin-green, a light green inclining to yellow; siskin-parrot,

a small parrot of the genus Nasiterna {Cent. Diet.). 1805-17 R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 59 Siskin-green forming the connecting link with yellow. 1815 Stephens in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. IX. II. 467 Siskin Finch. Ibid. 471 Mexican Siskin Finch. 1879 E. P. Wright Anitn. Life 260 A peculiar sort of green approaching to sage-green, but so peculiar as to give rise to the name of ‘siskin-green’. 1894-5 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. III. 385 A less well-known member of the siskin group is the citril finch (Chrysomitris citrinella).

siskowet, sisme,

variant of siscowet.

obs. f. schism.

sismograph,

-meter,

variants

of

seismo¬

graph, -METER.

sisour(e, sisours,

obs. ff. sizer.

obs. f. scissors.

fsispar

(also sy-), ? obs. f. side-spar. I532-3 Durh. Househd. Bk. (Surtees) 173 Pro sarracione \ rod in sparres et sisparres. Ibid., Walplaytts et sysparres.

siss, sb. [Cf. next.] A hissing sound. 1870 Talmage Crumbs Swept Up 397 The chuck and siss and smoke of the bar, as it plunged into the water.

siss (sis), v. Also 4 ciss-, sciss-, syss-.

[ME. cissen, sissen, = MDu. cissen, Du. and LG. sissen, of imitative origin; cf. G. zischen and sizz ».] intr. To hiss. Now dial, and U.S. In dial, use also trans., to hiss (a person), to incite (a dog) by hissing: see Eng. Dial. Diet. 13.. W. de Bibbesworth in Wright Voc. (1857) 152 Serpent ciphele, scisset [v.r. cisses]. CI400 MS. Bibl. Reg. 12 B. i. f. 12 (Halliw.), Sibilus est genus serpentis,.. a syssing. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 21 Their peeces.. sometimes lieth sissing in the touchhole or peece. 1828- in dialect glossaries (Yks., Lane., Chesh., Line.). 1828-32 Webster, Siss, to hiss; a legitimate word in universal popular use in New England. 1859 in Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2). 1886 S.W. Line. Gloss, s.v., I’ve always a sissing noise in my head. Ibid., If a sup o’ rain were to fall, it would siss.

siss

(obs. Sc.); see sithe, time,

siss,

var. sis sb.

sisserskite,

teak, are not safe from their devastating fangs. 1874 Stewart & Brandis Flora N.W. India 150 Sissoo is very elastic, it seasons well, does not warp or split, and takes a fine polish. attrib. 1873 Balfour Cycl. India (ed. 2) IV. 184/1 Sissoowood oil,. . an empyreumatic medicinal product. 1874 Stewart & Brandis Flora N.W. India 150 Sisso wood is esteemed highly for all purposes where strength and elasticity are required. Ibid., Supplies of large Sissoo logs.

sissors, -oures, sissy

obs. forms of scissors.

('sisi). colloq. [f. sis sb. + -y6; cf. cissy sb.

and a.] 1. A sister. 1846 Dollar Newspaper (Philadelphia) 22 Apr. 1/7 ‘Sissy Jane’ smoothed back my hair, and smiled at me. 1854 Dickens Hard Times 1. vi. 41 When Sissy got into the school here.. her father was as pleased as Punch. 1859 [see siss sb.']. 1865 K. H. Digby Short Poems 39 The little one grasping, with such a tight hold, The frock of sweet sissy, herself not too bold. 1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career xiii. 107 Don’t be frightened, sissy, I never kiss girls. 1939 Joyce Finnegans Wake 94 It made ma make merry and sissy so shy.

2. An effeminate person; a coward. 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 27 Aug. 3/2 Look and walk too much like sissies to do much fightin’. 1899 T. Hall Tales 131 ‘Well, you are a sissy,’ said Blinks contemptuously. 1926 British Weekly 9 Sept. 473/3 A religious ‘sissy’ was anathema to me. 1932 S. Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm xvii. 237, I want red blood. I don’t want no sissies, see? 1938 L. MacNeice Zoo iv. 74 The Sealyham, say the older breeders, is becoming a sissy. 1969 C. Himes Blind Man with Pistol ii. 25 The sissies.. were colored and mostly young. They all had straightened hair..; long false eyelashes. 1977 Time 21 Feb. 40/2 Smokers proved to be sissies when deprived of cigarettes.

3. attrib. or as adj. a. Effeminate; cowardly.

sissars, -ers,

SISTER

552

obs. forms of scissors.

obs. var. sysertskite.

|| sissonne. [F. sissonne, sissone: see Littre and Hatzfeld.] (See quot. 1957.) 1706 J. Weaver Orchesography Table 35 A Table of Sissonnes or Cross leaps. 1892, 1913 [see ciseaux]. 1930 Craske & Beaumont Theory & Pract. Allegro in Class. Ballet 47 Sissonne dessus... Other sissonnes are sissonne dessous, s. en avant, s. en arriere, etc. 1947 N. NicolaevaLegat Ballet Education iv. 109 Sissone is another step which has many variations. Sissone simple on the cou-de-pied is taken from V pos., the right leg in front; a spring into the air, pushing from the ground equally with both feet and with straight knees; land on the left leg. 1957 G. B. L. Wilson Diet. Ballet 247 Sissonne, or pas de sissonne, probably from pas de ciseaux, a scissor-like movement... With a slight plie, the dancer springs into the air to the fifth position, alighting on one foot with a demi-plie, with the other leg extended to the back, front, or side; the back foot is then closed to the supporting foot (a sissonne fermee).. . If the dancer lands on one foot with the other on the coup-de-pied .. it is a sissonne simple (or ordinaire). 1968 J. Winearls Mod. Dance (ed. 2) iii. 87 This sissonne is a combination of the three elements, light—quick—and peripheral.

Ilsissoo ('sisu:). Also seesoo seesu, sissu. [Urdu (Hindi) sisu.] 1. A valuable Indian timber-tree, Dalbergia Sissoo. 1810 T. Williamson E. India Vade M. II. 71 This [wood], which is called the sissoo, grows in most of the great forests, intermixed with the saul. 1854 Hooker Himalayan Jrnls. I I. 340 note, The Cuttack forests are composed of teak, Sal, Sissoo, ebony,.. and other trees of a dry soil. 1876 Cornhill Mag. Sept. 318 Studded here and there with tall clumps of sal and sissu. attrib. 1810 T. Williamson E. India Vade M. II. 72 Some sissoo-trees grow to a great height. 1859 J. Lang Wanderings in India 358 The Governor-General.. wore his head as high as a seesu-tree. 1874 Stewart & Brandis Flora N. W. India 149 The Sissoo tree is indigenous in the sub-Himalayan tract.

2. The timber obtained from this tree. 1810 T. Williamson E. India Vade M. II. 71 Sissoo is, of late, more employed than formerly for the frame, ribs, knees, &c. of ships. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales I. 162 The beams too of the houses, if not of bamboo, sissoo, or

1891 Harper's Mag. Aug. 485/2 He approached and sat near me, deep in conversation with a young gentle-man with sissy whiskers. 1893 Sunday Mercury (N.Y.) 14 May 15/5 {heading) Sissy men in Society.—Powdered, Painted and Laced. They swarm at Afternoon Teas. 1899 T. Hall Tales 121 Scotty was, in the newspaper vernacular, ‘a sissy boy’, or, in other words, a bit effeminate. 1926 British Weekly 2 Sept. 452/3 There was nothing ‘sissy’ about him. He was a born fighter. 1932 S. Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm xvii. 241 Thassa sissy sort of a name, but it’ll do. 1941 ‘R. West’ Black Lamb & Grey Falcon II. 152 The monuments.. had apparently been produced by a pastry-cook under the influence of Persian art. Such sugary little scrolls and swaps, such sissy little flowers in pots, such coy little etchings of swords on the soldiers’ tombs. 1959 Spectator 25 Sept. 408/2 All the kudos goes to the campaign-scarred, inkstained veteran: none to the new bug in his sissy clean blazer. 1970 P. Dickinson tr. Aristophanes' Wasps in Plays I. 192 That sissy son of Chaireas prances In with his mincing walk. I977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds xi. 260 No cutter ever wore gloves. They slowed a man down... Besides, gloves were sissy. b. sissy bar, a metal loop rising from behind the seat of a bicycle or motor-cycle. 1969 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 19 June 40/1 (Advt.), The ‘Super Cycle’ breed with hi-rise handlebars on a cantilever frame... the 36" Sissy bar, [etc.]. 1974 R. B. Parker God save Child vi. 49 Another motorcycle... A big one,.. small front wheel, sissy bar behind.

Hence sissifi'eation, effeminacy; 'sissified a., effeminate; 'sissiness, effeminacy; ‘sissyish a., somewhat effeminate. 1889 W. D. Howells Hazard of New Fortunes II. 64 The New York fellows carried canes..; and they were both sissyish and fast. 1905 J. C. Lincoln Partners of Tide iv. 78 To be seen with girls was not so ‘sissified’ in his mind as it used to be. 1926 Harper's Mag. Feb. 350/2 In spite of his funny sissiness there was not a dog in town that did not love him. 19381. Goldberg Wonder of Words xv. 305 Mr Sokolsky establishes a correlation between high bloodpressure and masculinity, and between low blood-pressure and femininity or sissification. 1959 E. Pound Thrones xeix. 57 In statement, answer; in conversation Not with sissified fussiness (chiao’) Always want your own way. 1973 Guardian 1 June 10/5 The much-publicised Warhol Factory mystique.. thinly veils a highly reactionary, bigoted and sissified neo-Nazi boutique. 1975 N. Y. Times 12 Sept. 38/6 Mr. Mahan said that the other cowboys on the rodeo circuit had generally accepted his fashion business, and that none of them considered it ‘sissyish or effeminate’.

sist, sb.

Sc. Law. [f. the vb.] A stay or suspension of some proceeding; spec, an ‘order or injunction of the Lord Ordinary prohibiting diligence to proceed’ (Bell). 1693 Stair Instil, (ed. 2) iv. Iii. 755 Therefore (by Act of Sederunt Nov. 9. 1680) Fourteen Days are only allowed for Sists of Execution, from the Date the Bill was signed. Ibid., That it may be known what Sists are granted, the Clerks of the Bills are ordained to make an Alphabetick Inventar of Bills Refused or Sisted. 1721 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 562 A sist in case of heats and debates in a session, until superior judicatories took up the differences. 1753 Stewart's Trial App. 121 He gave notice to the tenants of Ardshiel, that he had procured a sist for them against the decreet of removing. 1765-8 Erskine Inst. Laiv Scot. iv. iii. § 18 A sist granted on a bill without passing it, expires also in fourteen days. 1800 A. Carlyle Autobiogr. 287 The solicitor.. immediately granted the alarmed brethren a sist. 1838 W. Bell Diet. Law Scot. 961 Where intimation of the application or sist in the Bill-Chamber has been made to the charger. transf. 1831 Sir W. Hamilton Discuss. (1853) 216 ln contempt of a sist on the proceedings by the Elector of Mentz.

sist, v. Sc. [ad. L. sistere to cause to stand, etc., a reduplicated form corresponding to stare to stand.] 1. a. trans. To stop, stay, or suspend (some proceeding, etc.), esp. by judicial decree.

1652 Reg. Commiss. Gen. Assembly (S.H.S.) III. 553 Their desire and overture for sisting the present differences had been mett by the Commission. 1679 Lond. Gaz. No. 1406/2 We have thought fit hereby to sist and supersede all Execution upon any Letters of Caption. 1716 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 192 The Assembly might now declare, that they did not.. design to.. rescind a sentence passed in the Commission; but only.. had sisted its execution. 1831 Church Patronage Reporter Jan. 9 If it [patronage] enjoys the high sanction of the pages of inspiration, we may here sist our procedure. 1881 J. H. Stirling Text-bk. Kant 6 The whole business of metaphysic .. is summarily sisted. 1885 Law Rep. 10 App. Cases 174 His Lordship sisted the appellant’s action until the decision of the action of declarator. absol. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. 11. x. § iii. If a pursuit were intented before them, upon a Bond, they behoved to sist, if the Bond was alledged to be false.

fb. intr. To cease, desist, stop. Obs. a 1676 Bp. Guthrie Mem. (1748) 60 An accident which .. fell out upon the second of July, and imported, that the covenanters meant not to sist there. 1676 Row Contin. Blair's Autobiog. xii. (1848) 456 Neither did the persecuting Prelatis rage then sist. a 1707 Sir D. Hume Domestic Details (1843) 55 My cause being in the roll, I had no mind it shall sist on any account.

2. trans. fa. To present (oneself) before a court. Also without const. Obs. rare. 1643 Sc. Acts, Chas. I (1870) VI. 1. 5 The Convention.. haveing given warrant to Charge the erle.. to compeir with all diligence and sist his persone befor thame. a 1722 Lauder Decisions (1759) I. 680 Where a prisoner .. grants a bond .. to sist himself such a day, or else pay the debt.

b. To cause or order (one) to appear before a court; to summon or cite. 1721 Wodrow Hist. Suff. Ch. Scot. iii. i. (1830) III. 7 He was sisted before the committee for public affairs. 1752 Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) p. vi, The Manner of apprehending and sisting Delinquents before the Court. 1801 A. Ranken Hist. France I. 283 On being sisted before the court, security or bail was taken. 1857 Gilfillan Life Waller 16 He., was sisted before the Court of War, and condemned to die. 1868 Act 31 32 Viet. c. 100 §98 Nothing herein contained shall prevent.. the Court from sisting any person upon his own application.. as a party to the cause.

3. To place or posit. rare~x. 1836 Sir W. Hamilton Discuss. (1853) 313 Some., have preposterously sisted nature as the first or generative principle.

fsistence1. Obs. rare—[aphetic assistance.] Aid, help.

form

of

a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vi. cxlviii. (1811) 134 With the sistence of the cytezyns of the same, the sayd Cytie was defendyd.

fsistence2. Obs. rare-1, [f. L. sist-ere sist v. + -ence.] Stopping. 1640 Howell Dodona's Gr. 187 Extraordinary must be the wisdome of him who floateth upon the streame of Soveraigne favour, wherein there is seldome any sistence, twixt sinking and swimming.

sister ('sist3(r)), sb. Forms: a. i sweostor, sweoster (swester, swaester, sw-, su-, soester); swostor, -tur; swustor, -tur, -ter; swystor, -tar, -ter, swistor, -ter. j3. 1-7 suster (4 -tir, -tyr). y. 3-4 soster (4 zoster). S. 2 sister (4 -terre, -tre, -tur), 5, Sc. 5-6 sistir (5 -tire, 6 seister); 4 scyster, syister, 4-6 syster (4 -tre, 6 -tur), 4-5 systyr, 5-6 Sc. -tir; 4 cistir, 5 -ter, cyster, -tire, -tyr. [Common Teut.: OE. sweoster, swuster, etc. (see above), = OFris. swester, OS. swestar (LG. swester), OHG. swester, swister (G. schwester), Goth, swistar; forms without w appear in OFris. suster, sister (WFris. sister, soster, EFris. suster, NFris. soster, sester, etc.), MDu. and MLG. suster (Du. zuster, LG. suster, suster), ON. and Icel. systir (Norw. and Sw. syster, Da. soster). Of the three ME. types, suster and soster represent OE. forms with the w absorbed, while sister appears to be from Scandinavian. The Teut. stem *swestr- stands for an original swesr-, and has cognates in OSlav. and Russ, sestra, Lith. sesu, Skr. svasa (svasr-), L. soror {:—*swesor), OIr. siur, Welsh chwair.] I. 1. a. A female in relationship to another person or persons having the same parents. (Also applicable to female animals.) Sometimes loosely used in the sense of half-sister, and in that of SISTER-IN-LAW. a. 0900 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 658, Haefde hine Penda adrifenne.. for)>on he his swostor [Laud MS. swustor] anforlet. Ibid. an. 888, Sio waes I'Elfredes sweostor cyninges. r925 Ibid. an. 922, J>a jefor ^pelflted his swystar Kt Tame-worpije. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke x. 40 Ne is 6e jemnise piette soester min forleort mec [etc.], r 1000 j'Elfric Gen. xii. 13 Seje nu, ic pe bidde, paet pu min swuster sij. moo O.E. Chron. (MS. D) an. 1067, Da begann se cyngc .. jyrnan his sweostor him to wife, a 1122 Ibid. (Laud MS.) an. 1048, Jja .. betsehte hy his swyster to Hwerwillon. Ibid. an. 1091, Eadgar .. for to pam cynge .. & to his swustor. [i. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud Ms.) an. 604, Saeberht Ricolan sunu /Efielberhtes suster. 1154 Ibid. an. 1140, Eustace., nam pe kinges suster of France to wife, r 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 147 po two sustres wepen for here broSres deaS. c 1200 Ormin 6382 )?a susstress.. Werenn Labaness dohhtress. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2643 pat worpi mayden pat was Williams suster. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) xxviii. 288 Thei taken hire Doughtres and hire Sustres to here Wyfes. 1470-85 Malory Arthur iii. ii. 101 By reson ye ar myn neuew, my susters sone. 1542 Boorde Dyetary xxxvii.

SISTER

b. In older forms of the plural. In OE. the plural had either the same forms as the singular, or appears as sweostra, -tru, etc. These subsequently assumed the pi. -n of weak nouns, and gave the common ME. forms sustren, sostren, sistren, etc. (cf. brethren). In general literary use these were finally discarded about 1550 in favour of the pi. in -s, which is found as early as c 1200. a. 0900 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 718, Hiera swostur w*run Cuenburj & Cu^burh. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt, xiii. 56 Suoester [Rushw. swsester] his alle. C975 Rushw. Gosp. Mark vi. 3 Ah ne swester her usih miS sindun? c 1000 Saxon Leechd. III. 62 Neojone waeran No$J?ees sweoster. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8710 Miche bale hade his brether, and his blithe sister. Ibid. 10759 Myche pite was of Priam .., With sobbyng of syster, pat semly were euer. ?I562 ChildMarriages 65 One of my suster is maried alreadie. j3. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark vi. 3 Ahne suoestro [ciooo swustra, cn6o swustre] his her miS usic sint? ciioo O.E. Chron. (MS. D) an. 1067, Mid his modor & his twam sweostran. [cn6o Hatton Gosp. Mark iii. 35 Se is min moder & min broSer & mine swustren.] c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 435 pat t>ou sum-3ware f?ine sostrene do in-to ane nonnerie. 1297 R- Glouc. (Rolls) 7560 His moder & is sostren tuo mid him sone he nom. 1340 [see sense 5]. 1387-8 T. Usk Test. Love III. i. (Skeat) I. 93 As sustern in unitie they accorden. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) ix. 102 Sarra. .and Melcha.. weren Sustren to the seyd Lothe. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 2077 Hurre sustron weptone. c 1440 Jacob's Well 49 Bretheryn or systerynes chylderyn am in pe secunde degre. c 1507 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 202, I recommend me to you,.. and to all my brethren and sistren. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 30 b, You have other parentes, other brethren, sisterne, and nephewes. 1580 Wills Inv. N.C. (Surtees, 1835) 432, I will that all the goodes be devyded equallye amongeste my Brethren and systeringe childringe. 1843-8 [see 5]. 01849- tsee 3 b]. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2), Sistern, for sisters. A vulgar pronunciation sometimes heard from uneducated preachers at the West.

fc. Used to designate the mother-in-law of one’s daughter. Obs. 1701 Evelyn

SISTER

553

(1870) 298 He dyd kylle his wyfe, and his wyfes suster. ? 1562 Child-Marriages 65, I have gevin her xx8; and I wilbe as good vnto my suster Katherine. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. in. iv, Gods will, my suster shall see him. y. 1275 Lay. 25534 be fader weap a )?ane sone, soster o f>an broker. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 880 Morgan.. of pe eldor soster was. C1320 Str Tnstr. 720 3our owhen soster him bare. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 308 Fedra hire yonger Soster eke, A lusti Maide. Ibid., To sen hire Soster mad a queene. 8. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3855 Dor was moyses sister dead. 01300 Cursor M. 2410 pou art my sister and i pi broker. c *33° R- Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2328 J>erfore y schal myn heritage Gyue l>y sistres in mariage. 1375 Barbour Bruce 1. 51 He was cummyn off the offspryng Off hyr that eldest systir was. 1:1440 Promp. Parv. 78/2 Cystyr, by pe faderys syde oonly, soror. c 1449 Pecock Repr. in. iv. 298 That ech man ou3te forbere ouer myche loue to.. britheren and sistris. 1535 Starkey Let. in England {1878) p. xx, The weyght of such maryage betwyx brother & systur. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shrew 1. ii. 263 Her father, .will not promise her to any man, Vntill the elder sister first be wed. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 579 The inheritance became divided among the sisters of the said John Tiptoft. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Wars 423 Prince Maurice, and his Sister, who was marryed to Count Hohenlo. 1741-2 Gray Agrip. 118 Daughter, sister, wife, And mother of their Caesars. 1794 Coleridge To a Friend {Charles Lamb), I, too, a sister had, an only sister. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxix, I trust , your honour will allow me to speak with my sister? 1877 Tennyson Harold v. ii, There was more than sister in my kiss, And so the saints were wroth,

Diary 28 Mar., I went to the funeral of my

sister Draper.

2. fig. a. One who is reckoned as, or fills the place of, a sister. In mod. specific uses: (i) a (fellow) prostitute; (ii) a (fellow) feminist; (iii) among Blacks, a Black woman, sisters under the skin: see skin sb. 6j. c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xii. 50 Min broSer & suoester [Rushw. swuster] & moder is [he]. C1200 Ormin 15709 Weppmenn & wifmenn bape Sinndenn till ure Laferrd Crist Full dere brej?re & susstress. 1340 Ayenb. 89 He is my broker and my zoster and my moder. 1382 Wyclif Prov. vii. 4 Sey to wisdam, My sister thou art. C1400 26 Pol. Poems 137 Thus sayde I .. vnto wormes sekurly,.. ‘My systren all ye bene’. Ibid., I shall call hem sustres. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xxiv. 394 The maidens.. that day were called the Sisters of their god Vitzliputzli. 1831 Scott Ct. Robt. Introd. Addr. |f 19 What do they whisper, thou sworn sister of the Eummenides? 1847 A. Harris Settlers & Convicts vi. 94 When ‘her sister’ (so they usually speak in the sisterhood of sorrow) came here, she came too. 1870 Free Lance 16 Apr. 123/1 The working sisters of this great city are waking up to a sense of what they ought to do in making future provision for themselves. 1889 Girl's Own Paper 28 Sept. 824/3 A better day.. has dawned .. on our sisters, the working girls of this country. 1899 ‘J. Flynt’ Tramping 1. iv. 94 If he can only have some outcast woman, or ‘sister’, as he calls her., he is a comparatively happy fellow. 1912 H. Ellis Task of Social Hygiene iii. 104 ‘La femme libre’.. must be a woman of reflection and intellect who, having meditated on the fate of her ‘sisters’.. shall give forth the confession of her sex .. in such a manner as to furnish the indispensable elements for formulating the rights and duties of woman. 1912 in C. McKay Songs of Jamaica 16 Me watch de vine dem grow, S’er t’row dung a de root. 1926 L. Hughes Weary Blues 37, I got a railroad ticket, Pack my trunk and ride. Sing ’em sister! Got a railroad ticket, Pack my trunk and ride. 1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men (1970). l- vii- i64 De cow went bustin’ on down de back-road wid de ole man till they met a sister he knowed. 1940 J. Crad Traders in Women v. 130 Then she left her ‘selling position’ and it was immediately occupied by one of her ‘sisters’. 1944 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. II. 36 Sister, n., a woman. W. N[orth] Carolina]. 1968 Ramparts May 12 Our sisters in Vietnam have taught us many lessons. 1973 Black World June 90/2 Sister Williams breaks her book down into three major parts. 1976 R. B. Parker Promised Land xix. 110 When the sisters call you...

Talk to them of obligation and sororal affiliation. 1977 C. McFadden Serial (1978) iii. 13/1 The sisters weren’t invariably as supportive as she’d hoped they’d be. 1979 Guardian 5 May 12/2 Becoming Britain’s first woman Prime Minister is one [achievement], whatever the sisters may say, that can only change perceptions of what women can aspire to.

b. A female holding a similar position to another; a fellow-queen, etc. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, v. ii. 2 Vnto our brother France, and to our Sister, Health and faire time of day. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xvii, If. .it was needful to continue some restraint on the person of her unhappy sister of Scotland.

3. a. A female member of a religious order, society, or gild; spec, a nun. Also with special designations as Sister(s) of Charity, of Mercy, etc. (a) c 900 tr. Baeda's Hist. iv. xxiii. (1890) 340 Sumu haliju nunne .. waes .. restende in sweostra slaeperne. Ibid., pa jeseah heo oSere sweostor ymb heo restende. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. iii. 54 pat vche mon schulde seye, Ich were suster of [3our] house. C1380 Antecrist in Todd Three Treat. Wyclif {1851) 125 But take we heede to.. nunnes and sustris & see hou pei folowen Crist for pe more partie. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 3 To noriche more loue bytwene pe bretheren and sustren of pe bretherhede. c 1440 Alph. Tales 174 A sister of fraternitie of Oegniez. 1482 in Eng. Hist. Rev. XXV. 122 Ye kepar of oure ye sistrenes librarie. 1530 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 16, I bequeith.. to the priorisse of Thikhid and hir systers iijs. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 205 The Sisteris gray, befoir this day, Did crune within thair cloister. 1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. 11. iv. 18 One Isabell, a Sister, c 1660 in J. Morris Troubles Our Cath. Forefathers (1872) vi. 257 For Subprioress she appointed Sister Anne Tremaine, one of our old Sisters that came from St. Ursula’s. 1796 Mrs. M. Robinson Angelina III. 24 The grey sisters were endowed with five hundred marks an hour, to say masses. 1816 Southey Poet's Pilgr. Proem xvi, Behold the black Beguine, the Sister grey. 1844 Mem. Babylonian Princess II. 16 Mass being concluded, each sister departs to pursue her particular employment. 1861 M. Arnold Pop. Educ. France 112 They regard them .. with far less indulgence than the schools of the Sisters. (b) 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 181/2 There are a Roman Catholic church .. and an establishment of the Sisters of Charity. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 180 We had sick-nurses .. Catholic ‘Sisters of Mercy’. 1898 C. Bell tr. Huysmans' Cathedral viii. 145 Sisters of the Visitation, Sisters of Providence, Sisters of Good Comfort,.. all lived in hives close round Chartres.

b. A female fellow-member of the Christian Church as a whole, or of some body or association within this. In quot. 1607 used allusively in bad sense. For the vocative use, which appears earlier, see 5. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 1. xiii. 63 Therbi [thou] enhauncidist thi silf aboue thi Cristen britheren and sistren. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 70 Wyllynge in his herte euery persone as his brother or syster in god, to haue the same graces and glory. 1533 More Apol. iv. Wks. 849/2 Now was this word taken vp, & walked about abrode among the brethren & sistern. 1577 Fulke Answ. True Christian 23 Our deare brethren and sistern begotten in Iesu Christ by the gospell. 1607 Dekker & Webster Westw. Hoe 11. ii. Wks. 1873 H- 307 The Seruing-man [has] his Punke, the student his Nun in white Fryers, the Puritan his Sister. 1738 Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 107 The rest of the day we spent with all the brethren and sisters. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xxix, This is one of the precious sisters, and we’ll take her word. a 1849 H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) I. 375 We united brethren and sisteren of the three kingdoms. 1861 N. A. Woods Tour Pr. Wales in Canada 261 The cortege had to be eked out with the Temperance Brethren and Sistren.

fc. sisters of the bank, prostitutes. Obs. 1550 Crowley Inform. Petit. 472 Immodeste and wanton gyrles haue hereby ben made sisters of the Banck (the stumbling stock of all frayle youth).

d. A member of a body of nurses; also spec, a head-nurse having charge of a ward in an infirmary or hospital. Also, prefixed as a title to the name of a nurse. Sister Dora [f. the name of the celebrated nurse Dorothy (‘Dora’) Pattison, 1832-78], a type of nurse’s cap (see quot. 1971). i860 [see nursing vbl. sb. 1 b]. 1873 Mrs. Brookfield Not a Heroine II. 158 Two ‘Nursing Sisters’, from an excellent institution,.. took turns day and night to attend upon [him]. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 424 The Matron .. who is guided by the reports of the ‘sisters’ or ‘chargenurses’. 1924‘R. Hall’ Unlit Lamp xlvi. 314, I made swabs at the Town Hall at Seabourne.. . I had a Sister Dora arrangement on my head; we all had, it made us look important. Some of the women wore aprons with large red crosses on their bibs. 1949 N. Mitford Love in Cold Climate 11. viii. 276 Doesn’t it seem funny to have talcum powder and .. boring old Sister waiting.. for somebody who doesn’t exist? 1971 J. Manton Sister Dora xvi. 266 [Dora Pattison] made herself up a new cap, still tied with a butterfly bow and streamers under the chin but folded smoothly back over her dark hair. It was to be known to generations of nurses as ‘a Sister Dora’. 1976 C. Storr Unnatural Fathers iii. 34 Kind Sister Tucker.. faithful in her professional code of discretion, bustled upstairs.. to attend to her interesting patients. 1978 Church Times 29 Dec. 11/3 The little white cap worn by nurses everywhere became known within the profession as ‘a Sister Dora’. 1979 ‘C. Aird’ Some die Eloquent i. 11 When Sister Casualty.. had trouble-makers in her patch she would ring down to the police station. Ibid. iii. 37 Sister Stork’s on the other phone to the delivery ward.

4. a. Used to designate qualities, conditions, etc., in relation to each other or to some kindred thing. a 1200 Vices & Virtues 29 All Sat hire suster, Se rihte 3eleaue, hire se^eS, all hie [sc. hope] hit fastliche hopeS. c 1230 Hali Meid. 17 Ah wel is him pat folheS wit godes dohter for ha halt wiS meidenhad pat is hire suster. a 1300 Cursor M. 9547 pe first o pam was cald merci,.. Pees pe feirth sister hight. 1399 Langl. P. PI. C. xii. 98 Ich shal pe

kenne to clergie,.. hue is sybbe to pe seuen ars and also my soster. 1443 Lydg. in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 212 In thes seven sustryn was no divisioun; Cheef of ther consayl was Humilitas. 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. vi. (1883) 133 Virginite whiche is suster of angellis. 1599 Shaks. etc. Pass. Pilgr. 104 If music and sweet poetry agree,.. the sister and the brother. 1604 N. D. 3rd Pt. Three Conversions Eng. 179 Vayne glory .. with her other sisters, inobedience, boasting, &c. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 10 Thou with Eternal wisdom didst converse, Wisdom thy Sister. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam v. v, Science, and her sister Poesy, Shall clothe in light the.. cities of the free! 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life 11. ii. (1876) 58 Inspiration decidedly the sister of daily labor.

b. Applied to mythological or imaginary beings; esp. the {fatal or three) sisters, the Fates or Parcae. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 733 O fatale sustrin! which, or eny clothe Me shapyn was, my destyne me sponne. C1384 -H. Fame iii. 1401 The myghty Muse.. Caliope, And hir eighte sustren eke. 1402 Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. 489 Or I was born, my desteny was sponne By Parcas sustren, to slee me, if they conne. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 11. iv. 155 This opinioun, that iij. sistris (whiche ben spiritis) comen to the cradilis of infantis, forto sette to the babe what schal bifalle to him. C1475 Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice 388 Scho send hym doun vnto the sisteris thre. 1559 Mirr. Mag. (1563) Bij, Whose fatall threde false fortune nedes would reele, Ere it were twisted by the susters thre. 1592 Lodge Euphues Shadow (Hunterian Club) 79, I should be confirmed .. euen to ouercome the insupportable trauailes of the sisters. 1605 Shaks. Macb. 1. v. 8 These weyward Sisters saluted me, and referr’d me to the comming on of time. 1637 Milton Lycidas 15 Begin then, Sisters of the sacred well. 1744 Akenside Pleas. Imag. 11. 59 The harmonious Muse And her persuasive sisters. 1859 Habits of Gd. Society v. 194 Should the weird sisters, in a fit of bad temper [etc.]. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 325 Hark on a joyous day what prophet-story the sisters Open surely to thee.

5. In the vocative, as a mode of address, chiefly in transferred senses. Also colloq. as a mode of address to an unrelated woman, esp. one whose name is not known. ci 175 Lamb. Horn. 5 Leoue bro6re and sustre 3e hi-hered hu [etc.], a 1225 Ancr. R. 68 J?is nis nout uor ou, leoue sustren, iseid ne uor o8er swuche. 1340 Ayenb. 265 Sle3)?e zayj?.. ‘Now bro^ren and zostren y-hyrej? my red and yuej? youre’. 1451 Capgrave Life St. Aug. 3 1 pan schuld pei pley, as Wiclif disciples played, ‘Sistir me nedith’. C1545 Coverdale Church in Denmark Wks. (Parker Soc.) I. 469 My right dear and entirely beloved brethren and sistern in Jesu Christ. 1584 R Scot Discov. Witcher, xii. vii. (1886) 181 Thou shalt See sister underneath The grounde with roring gape. 1600 Shaks. A.Y.L. iii. v. 75 Will you goe Sister? Shepheard ply her hard. 1603 Dekker Batcheler's Banq. Wks. (Grosart) I. 202 Sister, good morrow, what newes I pray? 1761 Gray Fatal Sisters 51 Sisters, weave the web of death. 1764-J. T. 5 ‘Lord! sister,’ says Physic to Law. 1780 Mirror No. 98, And who taught you drinking songs, sister Juddy? 1843 R. Carlton New Purchase I. 203 Brethurn and sisturn, it’s a powerful great work, this here preaching of the gospul. 1848 in Century Mag. (1882) Apr. 886 Pray for me, brethren! pray for me, sisteren. 1906 H. Green At Actors' Boarding House 56 He got up and walked over to her bench. ‘You up agin it too, sister?’ he said, gently. 1926 E. O’Neill Great God Brown 1. iii. 40 Blessed are the pitiful, Sister! 1929 W. Faulkner Sartoris 11. iii. 97 A voice in the other room boomed in rich rolling waves ‘Mawnin’, sister,’ it said. 1934 ‘E. M. Delafield’ Provincial Lady in Amer. 60 Shouted at by a policeman who tells her: Put your lights on, sister! 1943 Amer. Speech XVIII. 88 [New Zealand English] Sister is also used for a girl as a term of address. It is not.. a recent adoption from American films, but a relic of the whaling slang of a century ago. 1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax xi. 103 Just waiting for your boy friend, duckie .. ? You want the best, we got ’em, eh, sister? 1953 H. Miller Plexus (1963) iii. 127‘He doesn’t need advice,’ she replied. ‘He knows what he’s doing.’ ‘O.K. sister, have it your way then!’ With this he turned abruptly to me again. 1976 ‘R. Boyle’ Cry Rape i. 6 Come on, sister. .. Why won’t you stay and talk to me? I’m a nice guy. 6. pi. The seven chief stars in the constellation

of the Great Bear. See also seven sisters. C1450 Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 10/266 Hys bryght plowgh of sterrys, and eke the systyrrys at ther stent, The quyche he namyd the sterrys seuyn.

7. a. A thing having relationship to another.

close

kinship

or

1613 Dekker Strange Horse Race Wks. (Grosart) III. 327 There should you behold a Mine of Tynne, (sister to Siluer). 1622 Bonoeil Art of Making Silke Title-p, The two renowned and most hopefull Sisters, Virginia, and the Summer-Ilands. 1736 Gray Statius i. 54 The sun’s pale sister, drawn by magic strain. 1752 Young Brothers 1. i, The days of life are sisters. 1789 J. Williams Min. Kitigd. I. 176, I am really concerned for the metropolis and her younger sisters. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. 1. xxxii, Where Lusitania and her Sister meet, Deem ye what bounds the rival realms divide? 1867 J. L. Porter Giant Cities of Bashan 155 Olivet overtopping its sister [Mt. Moriah] three hundred feet. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 49 Sparta., in laws and institutions is the sister of Crete.

fb. pi. The strings of a staircase. Obs.~x 1518 Lett. & P. Hen. VIII, II. II. 1371 A block to set the systers of the stairs upon, 3 ft. long, 18 inches broad, 10 inches thick.

c. One of the cheeks of a cider-press. 1813 Rudge Agric. Surv. Glouc. 225 The cheeks, or ‘sisters’, are two strong upright pieces of oak, kept to their places by being let into the ground. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 291 An improved cider-press..; B B the cheeks or sisters.

d. (See quot.) 1892 Pall Mall G. 18 Feb. 1/3 The term ‘sister’ used for the stool on which the lace-makers place their pillows. 8. ellipt. for sister-line (see 10 b), -block. 1653 R Sanders Physiogn. 2 The same Signs, with the Sisters relating to the Lines. 1834 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 29 ‘What blocks have we below—not on charge?’ ‘Let

SISTER me see, sir, I’ve one sister, t’other we split in half the other day.’

II. attrib. and Comb.

9. The old uninflected genitive remained in common use down to the 16th cent, (latterly only in Sc.) in terms of relationship, esp. sister son; rarely in other uses, as sister bed, part.Now Obs. exc. arch, in sister-son. {a) 835 Charter in O.E. Texts 448 Donne ann ic his minra sw^star suna. £900 tr. Baeda's Hist. iv. xvi. [xviii.] (1890) 308 Se w£es his sweostor sunu. cnoo O.E. Chron. (MS. D) an. 1054, His sunu Osbarn & his sweostor sunu Sihward. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3525 King arthures soster sone pe king howel was. 01300 Cursor M. 21130 Iacob. .was our lauerd sistur sun. 1375 Barbour Bruce 1. 557 Modreyt his systir son him slew. 14.. Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 575 Consobrini, systersones. 1480 Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 3 One fayre ladye, suster-doughtere to the Kynge of Fraunce. 1483 Cath. Angl. 341 /1 A Syster husbande, sororius. 1529 Rastell Pastyme (1811) 35 Albert.. was slayne by his syster sonne. 01578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 354 The empreouris sister douchtaris. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 10 Dauid of Abirnethie, his sistir sone. 1680 in Cloud of Witnesses (1871) 85 The Earl of Mar’s mother and I being sister-bairns. 1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King vi. 255 Frealaf, Helm’s sister-son. 01973-Silmarillion (1977) xvi. 136 The King., looked with liking upon Maeglin his sister-son. (b) C1440 Alph. Tales 174 Sho purseyvid & saw a multitude of fendis rumyand abowte hur sister bed. 1793 Statist. Acc. Scotl. VII. 584 The son got two merks, and the daughter one; hence the sister part, a common proverb in Shetland to this day.

10. Appositively, in the sense of ‘fellow’: a. With designations of persons (or animals). 1687 T. Brown Saints in Uproar Wks. 1730 I. 77 The kingdom.. is ten times as populous as when the legend supposes you and your sister-trollops to have lived there. 1702 Addison Dial. Medals Wks. 1766 III. 29 The SisterGraces hand in hand Conjoin’d by love’s eternal band. 1708 Wycherley Let. to Pope 13 May, Her artful innocence., will.. make her sister rivals of this age blush for spite, if not for shame. 1775 Abigail Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 89 Spending the day with my namesake and sister delegate. .

SIT

556

Forms: (see below).

Pa. t. and pa.

pple. sat (saet). [Common Teut.: OE. sittan (sset, sxton, seseten)i = OFris. sitta (WFris. sitte), MDu. sitten, zitten (Du. zitten), OS. sittian, sittean (MLG. and LG. sitten), OHG. sizzan, sizzen (G. sitzen), ON. and Icel. sitja (Norw. sitja, sitta, sita; MSw. sitia, sittia, Sw. sitta-, Da. sidde): — Teut. type *sitjan, for which Goth, had sitan. The stem *set-, pre-Teut. *sed-, is widely represented in the cognate languages, as in Lith. sedeti, Lat. sedere, Gr. ileadai (cf. iSos seat), etc. In some senses there has been confusion between sit and the corresponding causal verb set, analogous to that which has existed between lie and lay, but in modern use the two verbs are clearly distinguished. Some ME. examples of this confusion, in senses where it does not otherwise occur, are probably no more than scribal errors.] A. Illustration of forms. 1. Infin. a. i sittan (syttan, sitton), 2-4 (7) sitten (3 Orm. sittenn), 4-5 sytten, 5 syttyn, cyttyn (6 erron. sitting). c888 K. TElfred Boeth. vii. §3 Hu meahtest )?u sittan.. ? 971 Blickl. Horn. 237 He jeseah.. Matheus ae nne sitton. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137, He ne myhte.. sitten ne lien, f 1200 Ormin 14086 He wollde sittenn )?aer. 1377 Langl. P. PL B. xiv. 218 None, .sitten ne mowe fere longe. C1440 Promp. Parv. 78/2 Cyttyn, sedeo. Ibid. 457/1 Syttyn, on a sete. [1513 Douglas JEtieid vm. vi. 127 He.. mayd him sitting doun. 1642 H. More Song of Soul in. 26 A lamp, that men do sitten by.] j8. 1 sitta, 3-6 sitte (4 zitte), sytte. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xx. 23 Sitta.. to suiSra minra. att Davij? kingess kinness menn .. Wij?}? Aaroness kinness menn Off sij?re wserenn sammnedd. Ibid. 7293 Alle pa J?att herrdenn itt & wisstenn itt off sij?re.

sith(t)ware (obs. Sc.): see siquare.

(7 seeth-). [f. prec. + -es -s1: cf. since adv., etc.] A. adv. fl. = sith adv. 1. Obs. In later use with tendency to pass into sense 3. x377 Langl. P. PI. B. vi. 65, I wil sowe it my-self and sitthenes wil I wende To pylgrymage. c 1400 Brut lxix, Merlyn saw pat sterre,.. and sipenes he quok and wepte tenderly. ? 1479 in Eng. Gilds 414 [He] ordeigned by the same fro that tyme sethens, every mayre on Mighelmas daie to be chargid [etc.]. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 31 The slaves were not sithence seene, by whom they beleived the Prince to bee betraied. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. 11. 94 Certain principall Persons, conceived signall for Sanctity in that Age, and sithence put into the Calender of their Saints. 1757 Dyer Fleece 11. 311 Sithence the Fleeces of Arcadian plains .. bore esteem. f2. = sith adv. 2. Freq. with ever. Obs. 1560 in Marsden Cases Crt. Admiralty (Selden) II. 119 Our said subjectes have feared ever sethence to trime .. any shippes of warr. 1599 Buttes Dyets Drie Dinner Fij, Ever sithence, it hath bene a by-word: an Almond for the Parrat.

fsithy-coat. Obs.-1 (Meaning obscure.) 1657 Reeve God's Plea 125 They must be rents, rags, slashes, Sithy-coats, and sack-cloth people, that must undertake this work.

t'sitiate, v. Obs.-' [irreg. f. L. siti-re to thirst -t- -ate3.] intr. To thirst. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 130/2 Let him drincke of this water when he Sitiateth.

t si'ticulous, a. Obs.~1 sitis thirst.] Very dry.

[ad. L. siticulos-us, f.

1620 Venner Via Recta vii. 116 They engender cholericke and siticulous humors.

sitient ('simnt), a. rare. [ad. L. sitient-em, pres, pple. of sithe to thirst.] (See quot. 1656.) 1656 Blount Glossogr., Sitient,.. thirsting, coveting, desiring much. 1821 Blackiv. Mag. VIII. 358 Rheumatism doth not seem to have made thee less esurient or sitient.

sitiles, obs. form of cityless. sit-in, a. and sb. orig. U.S.

[The phrase sit in (see sit v. 24 and -in3) used attrib. and as sb.] A. adj. Of a strike, demonstration, etc.: in which persons occupy a work place, public building, etc., esp. in protest against alleged activities there. Of a person: participating in such a strike or demonstration. Also, of or pertaining to such a strike or demonstration. 1937 Sun (Baltimore) 3 Apr. 7/2 (caption) The Synthetic Yarn Federation Local 2214.. is staging a ‘sit-in’ strike at Covington. 1938 Topeka (Kansas) Capital 26 Nov. 12/5 [Daladier] used.. police to eject sit-in strikers from factories. 1941 Sun (Baltimore) 15 Apr. 3/3 (heading) New York students stage ‘sit-in’ protest. Spurn holiday to make demonstration against proposed school closing. 1948 Ibid. 25 Nov. 1 /4 Passengers aboard the strike-bound luxury liner Queen Elizabeth today were ordered to get off by Friday, but approximately 900 said no and voted for a ‘sit-in’ strike. 1959 Times 10 Jan. 6/7 A warning to passengers not to repeat the recent ‘sit-in’ strikes on the London Underground was given yesterday, i960 Time 14 Mar. 21/1 Negro ‘sit-in’ demonstrations at segregated lunch counters. i960 Guardian 25 July 7/3 The two men had agreed .. to express ‘support for the objectives of the sit-in demonstrators’ in the South. 1973 Black World Mar. 37 Pressure for opening the main-stream of American life to Blacks mounted in the 1950’s—the sit-in kids, the Supreme Court School Desegregation Decision, [etc.]. 1973 Times 17 Nov. 8/2 During May [1936] the French Treasury almost ran out of funds... There was .. a great wave of ‘sit-in’ strikes. 1980 Washington Post 1 Feb. A2/1 Their refusal to budge officially launched the sit-in phase of the civil rights movement.

B. sb. 1. A sit-in strike or demonstration. 1937 bl. Y. Times 29 May 1/7 Fifty members of the Workers Alliance who tried to stage a sit-in at City Hall yesterday were removed .. by a dozen policemen. 1941 Sun (Baltimore) 15 Apr. 3/3 He approved the ‘sit in’ as an ‘orderly and dignified protest’, i960 Newsweek 22 Feb. 27 What some Negroes were calling the ‘sit-down’ and some the ‘sit-in’, i960 Commentary June 525/2 The spread of similar picket lines to other cities.. seems to have been as spontaneous as the sit-ins themselves. 1965 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 11 Mar. (1970) 250 Some of the Civil Rights marchers had walked into the White House.. and refused to budge. A sit-in in the White House! 1973 Law Reports'. Appeal Cases Nov. 858 A sit-in per se is not threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour. 1976 Times 10 May 20/5 Sit-ins and work-ins are used by employees.. increasingly.. as a tactic in collective bargaining. 1978 Cornish Guardian 27 Apr. 1/1 Mothers who last year threatened to stage a sit-in on St. Austell’s Truro Road are again worried that a child is going to be knocked down and killed there.

2. A participant demonstration. U.S.

SITTER

566

SITILES

in

a

sit-in

strike

or

1963 R. I. McDavid Mencken's Amer. Lang. 557 Most lay newspapers would simply describe such persons [sc. sittersin] as sit-ins. 1970 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 19 Mar. 1/8 A group of people willing to commit civil disobedience will sit down on the pavement in front of the building, obstructing the entrance. If these sit-ins are arrested, another group will take their place. Hence 'sit-inner = sit-in sb. 2. 1946 Sun (Baltimore) 26 Oct. 3/1 Sixty American War Department civilian employes.. held to their rooms in the luxury Hotel Excelsior tonight as the midnight deadline approached for them to obey army orders to move out. Officially an army spokesman said no action was contemplated against the defiant ‘sit-inners’ until after midnight, i960 New Left Rev. Sept.-Oct. 39/2 The police hosed and clubbed the sit-inners. sit-in-’ems, sitinems ('sitinamz), sb. pi.

slang (now rare or Obs.). [Repr. a colloq. pronunciation of sit in them + pi. -s.] Trousers. 1886 in H. Baumann Londinismen 179/2. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 418 Don’t stain my brandnew sitinems. siting ('saitnj), vbl. sb.

[f. site v.2] The action of locating or placing buildings, trenches, etc. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 449/2 Trace or Siting of Trenches —The system on which trenches are laid out [etc.]. Ibid., The siting of the trenches will depend on the ground. 1918 Cornhill Mag. June 621 The short-sighted policy adopted in the siting and construction of schools. 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Apr. 310/2 A practical handbook on the siting, construction and upkeep of garden pools. 1946 Nature 2 Nov. 600/2 Areas of exceptional natural beauty or great historic interest should be avoided if their character would be impaired by the siting of a town. 1980 New Age (U.S.) Oct. 37/2 This arrangement.. has resulted today in more than sixty so-called ‘energy wars’ going on in this country between utilities or siting authorities and the politically weaker rural people. sitio- (sitiau), combining form of Gr. olrlo-v food made from grain, bread, as siti'ology [cf. F. sitiologie], (see quots.). sitio'mania, sitio'phobia [cf. F. sitiophobie], morbid repugnance or aversion to food. Cf. sito-. 1849 Craig, Sitiology, a treatise upon aliments. 1858 Mayne Expos. Lex., Sitiology,. .the doctrine or consideration of aliments ..; dietetics. 1887 Cassell's Encycl. Diet., Sitiomania. Ibid., Sitiophobia. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 379 Acute cases with great nutritional disorder, when great insomnia, sitiaphobia [sic], or suicidal impulse is present.

Obs. rare. Forms: sit(t)isott, -sotte, setisot, sitisote. [Of obscure formation; the final element may be sot r6.] Some kind of game (see quots.). fsitisot.

01300 Cursor M. 16623 Wit him pai plaid sitisott, and badd pat [he] suld rede Quilk o paim him gaf pe dint. Ibid.

24027 O clai £>ai kest at him pe clote, And laiked wit him sitisote. 13.. St. Alexius 366 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 182 Som keste atte him stone & clotte, Som plaied wij? him sitti-sotte.

can be given which prevents the cholesterol which is in the diet from being absorbed through the wall of the intestine. 1974 M. C. Gerald Pharmacol, xxii. 401 Sitosterols enhance the elimination of cholesterol in the feces.

sitizen,

sitrep ('sitrep). Mil. Also Sit. Rep., Sitrep, Sitrep. Abbrev. of situation report s.v. situation

obs. Sc. form of citizen.

Sitka

('sitka). [a. Tlingit sheet’ka (town of) Sitka, lit. ‘outer side of Baranof Island’.] 1. (A member of) a local group of Tlingit Indians formerly living principally in this North American Indian town. Also formerly, the variety of the Tlingit language spoken there. Also attrib. or as adj. 1829 J. S. Green in Missionary Herald (1830) XXVI. 343 The Sitka Indians have built their village under the guns of the fort, so the Russians can easily defend them-selves from their depredations. Ibid. 344 The Sitka I think is peculiarly soft and musical. 1836 [see Chilkat]. 1873 Alaska Herald 9 July 4/2 The Hydahs, Chilcats, Tarkous, Ouchanons, and Sitkas participated. 1879 W. G. Morris Public Service of Alaska 14 In the fall of 1877, a potlatch was given at Sitka by Jack, chief of the Sitkas, and it is estimated correctly he gave away on that occasion 500 blankets. 1910 F. W. Hodge Handbk. Amer. Indians II. 582/2 Sitka,.. a Tlingit tribe.. on the w. coast of Baranof id., Alaska.

2. The name of the town, used attrib. or absol. to designate trees native to the region, as Sitka cedar, cypress, the Alaska cedar, Chamsecyparis nootkatensis, of the family Cupressaceae; Sitka pine, spruce, a large conifer, Picea sitchensis, of the family Pinace®, or its light softwood timber. 1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 580 The most valuable tree of this region [5c. Alaska] is the Sitka cedar. Ibid. 178 Chamaecyparis Nutkaensis... Yellow Cypress. Sitka Cypress. 1884 N.Y. Times 5 Oct. 5/2 The white spruce, or Sitka pine .. grows to a height of 150 and 175 feet. 1895 Funston & Coville in Contrib. U.S. Nat. Herbarium III. 328 The great bulk of this forest is composed of Sitka spruce. 1920 Nature 29 July 692/1 The Sitka or silver spruce .. might be called the aluminium of timbers. 1928 Daily Mail 9 Aug. 13/4 The Duchy estates on Dartmoor, where it is hoped to plant 5,000 acres with sitka, Norway spruce, and Douglas fir. 1948 Antioch Rev. Winter 48 This would be the first step toward cutting off the magnificent Douglas fir and Sitka pine from 300,000 acres. 1965 G. Maxwell House of Elrig vi. 98 The needles of unthinned sitka. 1975 W. Condry Pathway to Wild ix. 151 If that other western American, the Sitka spruce, now planted so multitudinously in Britain, were also going to be given the chance of making forests of giant trees.. then conservationists might be less unhappy with it. 1977 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. 1. 39/2 (Advt.), This fine piano was made specially for us. Its quality features include.. solid Sitka spruce soundboard.

Ilsitkamer ('sitkamar). S. Afr. Also sit-kamer, zitkamer, zit-kamer. [Afrikaans, f. Du. sit sitting + kamer room.] A sitting-room, a lounge. 1902 ‘Intelligence Officer’ On Heels of De Wet 88 Those cushions you have on your front seat came out of the Nieuwjaarsfontein sitkomer [sic]. 1904 Argus (Cape Town) Christmas Ann. 12 He saw his mother standing at the door of the zitkamer. 1912 F. Bancroft Veldt Dwellers 31 It was smoke-room, bar-room, and general zit-kamer combined. 1929 J. G. Van Alphen Jan Venter, S.A.P. 249 The sitkamer was packed with visitors. 1935 P. Smith Platkops Children 84 The sit-kamer is so beautiful you know, that Ou-ma Carel never lets the sun shine in it excep’ for a little on Sundays. 1955 W. Robertson Blue Wagon i. 3 Van Zyl and John .. entered the sit-kamer, as the general living-room of the place was called. 1964 J. Neintjes Manor House 7 We entered a lounge on the right, the sitkamer—a large room with a high ceiling on beams. 1971 J. A. Brown Return 79 The door of the cuckoo-clock in the sitkamer banged in and out.

sito- (saitau), combining form of Gr. ctIto-j food made from grain, bread, as si'tology, = sitiology; sito'mania, sito'phobia, = sitiophobia; hence sito'phobic a. (Cent. Diet. 1891). 1864 Webster, Sitology. [Hence in recent Diets.] 1882 Ogilvie's Imperial Diet. IV. 93/2 Sitomania, morbid repugnance to or refusal of food. Ibid., Sitophobia may consist in repugnance to all food, or merely to particular viands. It is a frequent accompaniment of insanity. 1902 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 4 Jan. 1 The gastric condition of twenty insane patients who manifested sitophobia.

sitol(e,

variants of citole Obs.

11.

1943 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target xxiii. 173 The daily Sit. Rep. had now identified seven Italian and at least three German divisions in the line. 1947 D. M. Davin For Rest of our Lives 307 He thumbed through his log with its patrol reports, phone messages, sitreps, all the raw material from which he must first form in his mind a clear picture of what the enemy was up to. 1955 E. Waugh Officers Gentlemen 264 The B.G.S. said: ‘We got a sitrep from the Halberdiers three hours ago.’ 1961 I. Fleming Thunderball xxiii. 240 I’m going to., get a signal off to Navy Department, give them a Sitrep. 1968 P. Kinsley Pimpernel 60 ii. 37 Look over a couple of Sit-reps which I received yesterday. 1975 D. W. S. Hunt On Spot i. 11 In fact what he [sc. Wellington] wrote was a succinct report on the fighting of the past four days. It was in the first place the equivalent of the modern ‘Sitrep’, which a general, or his staff in his name, telegraphs every night.

Hsitringee (si'trind3i:). Anglo-Ind. Also 7 citterengee, cittringe, sittron-, sitterne-, siturngee, 8 sittringe(e), 9 satrin-, sattran-, satrun-, sitringe, sut(t)rin-, -gee, -jee; satrangi, -ji, shatranji. [ad. Urdu shatranji, f. Persian shatranj chess, with reference to the original chequered pattern.] A carpet or floor-rug made of coloured cotton, now usually with a striped pattern. 1621 in Foster Eng. Factories lnd. (1906) I. 354 [With the help of skins], cittringes, [etc., they saved most of them from harm]. 1688 J. Peachey in W. Hedges Diary (1888) II. cclxv, 2 Citterengees, charged before. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India P. 93 They .. seat themselves in Choultries,.. commonly spread with Carpets or Siturngees. 1785 in Seton-Karr Sel. Calcutta Gaz. (1864) I. 111 To be sold by Public Auction .. The valuable effects of Warren Hastings, Esquire,.. Carpets and Sittringees. 1785 Calcutta Gaz. 3 Mar. 7/2 To be sold by public auction .. The valuable effects of Warren Hastings, Esq... Carpets and Sittringes. 1825 Heber^w/. 4 Jan., Sitringees were laid, by way of carpet, on the floor. 1825-9 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor III. xxi. 240 The pavement was spread with a sitringe, or carpet of striped cotton, the manufacture of the country. Ibid. V. xxix. 80. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. iv. 917/2 Cotton carpets (Satrunjees) of different sizes—from Bengal. 1858 P. L. Simmonds Diet. Trade Products, Sattrangee, Satringee, a kind of fibrous striped mat or carpet made in India. 1859 M. Thomson Story of Cawnpore xii. 189 They provided us with straw to lie upon, and gave us a sutringee each (a piece of carpet) to cover our bodies. 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 129/2 Cotton carpets or Suttringees are a cheap substitute for woollen fabrics in almost universal use throughout India. 1881 Ibid. XII. 762/1 Carpets and rugs may be classified into those made of cotton and those made of wool. The former, called satranjis and daris, are made chiefly in Bengal and northern India. 1904 G. Watt Indian Art at Delhi 1903 273 If to this list be added .. the rug the dart or satranji, the series of chief artistic textile articles of Native dress and household use may be regarded as complete. Ibid. 446 A larger market might be found in India for shatranjis than has as yet been attained. 1969 E. Bharnani Decorative Designs & Craftsmanship of India iii. 33 In North India.. cotton rugs (Daris and Satrangis) have been produced in several areas since a long time.

sitryn(e, obs. forms of citrine. sits vac: see sit sb.2 sittell, sittelness, obs. Sc. ff. subtle(ness. I sittella (si'teb). Austr. [mod.L. (Swainson, 1837), dim. of sitta, ad. Gr. oittt; nuthatch.] A species of small tree-creeping bird, somewhat resembling the nuthatch, native to Australasia; a tree-runner. 1848 Gould Birds Australia IV. pi. 102 Sittella Leucocephala, White-headed Sitella. Ibid., My collection contains three specimens of this new species of Sittella. 1890 in Morris Austral Eng. (1898) 419 Sittellas. [Close season.] From the first day of August to the 20th day of December.

sitten ('sit(3)n), ppl. a. Sc. and north, dial. [pa. pple. of sit 11.] For various mod. dial, uses, see the Eng. Dial. Diet.

sitosterol

(sai'tDstarol). Biochem. [ad. G. sitosterin (R. Burian 1897, in Sitzungsber. der K. Akad. der Wissensch. (Math.-Nat. Classe) CVI. nb. 549), f. Gr. cjIto-s grain, bread + G. -sterin after phytosterin (see phyto-); cf. phytosterol, -sterol.] Any of a number of closely similar crystalline sterols, most of them isomers of formula C29H50O, first isolated from corn oil and widely distributed in plants; spec, the most common such substance, /3-sitosterol, also called CINCHOL. Before 1926 considered to be a single substance. 1898 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. LXXIV. 1. 72 A substance.. is obtained which resembles the cholesterol of bile in external appearance and in composition..; it is named sitosterol. 1926 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. XLVIII. 2986 The substance corresponding in composition to sitosterol.. is not homogeneous. It is a mixture containing at least three isomeric sterols.. . It is proposed to name these isomers a-, and y-sitosterol. 1943 Ann. Reg. IQ42 358 Work on algal chemistry showed that sitosterol, the characteristic sterol of the phanerogams, is common to the green algae. 1962 H. Burn Drugs, Med. & Man v. 57 The substance sitosteroi

11. well sitten, having horseback). Obs. rare.

a

good

seat

(on

1500-20 Dunbar Poems xxvii. 70 The tailjeour that v/es nocht wieill sittin, He left his sadill. < 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 38 He micht counter Will on horss, For Sym wes bettir sittin Nor Will.

f2. sitten-up, settled in stirred or moved. Obs.~1

habit,

not easily

1671 J. Livingstone Let. to Partshoners Ancram 15 Their fire edge might help to kindle-up old sitten-up professours.

sitter1 ('sit3(r)). Also 4 siter, sittere, 5 syttarre, 6 sittare. [f. sit v. + -er. Cf. WFris. sitter, MDu. sitter, zitter (Du. zitter), G. sitzer.] 1. One who sits or occupies a seat: a. In general use. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xlix. 5 He .. sail call.. all perfite men to be siters wip him and deme. 1388 Wyclif Rev. V. 1 Y say in the rbthond of the sittere on the trone, a book. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9140 Hit semyt by sight of sitters aboute, As the moron mylde meltid aboue. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 457 Syttare, at mete, conviva. 1565 Cooper Thes., Sessor, one that sitteth: a sitter. 1608 Dispute Quest. Kneeling 73 Not kneelers at any distance from the table,.. but sitters at the

SITTER table. 1626 Bacon Sylva §740 The Turks are great Sitters and seldom walk. 1650 Bounds Publ. Obed. (ed. 2) 47 Few or many sitters in the House, is not a thing of our examination, if they be above forty. 1806 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. IV. 561 Oft from the sitter tales fall about; and from the recumbent, lies. 1837 W. B. Adams Carriages Introd. 18 The seat, for a single sitter, was placed in the centre of the poles. 1897 Miss Broughton Dear Faustina xiv, In a quarrel the sitter has always an advantage over the stander. fig. 1862 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. 11. Poet. Wks. (1879) 277/1 A large majority .. who hold with Djedalus, the primal sitter-on-the-fence, that [etc.].

b. A person who sits to an artist, photographer, or sculptor, for a portrait, etc., or as a model. 1649 Lovelace Poems 62 As if thou.. didst draw With those brave eyes your Royall Sitters saw. 1816 Galt Life B. West 69 [The artist’s] youth and the peculiar incidents of his history attracted many sitters. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. xxxvii. (1844) II. 37, I am going further to get sitters than any of my fellow artists ever did. 1883 Hardwick's Photogr. Chem. 297 The roof over the sitter.. must also be opaque.

c. A passenger in a rowing-boat, as distinct from the rowers or steersman; spec, at Eton (see quot. 1827). 1653 Appleton Fight Legorn-Road 5 Captain Cox in the Elizabeth’s Shallop with nine Oars and four Sitters. 1676 Bond. Gaz. No. 1086/3 A single Boat, with but two Sitters, • besides the ordinary crew of Rowers. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 66 A boat put off.. with four oars and one sitter only. 1827 Ann. Reg. 480/2 Mr. Canning was the sitter in the ‘ten-oar’ at the Eton regatta, a post of honour which is always reserved by the boys for some favoured visitor. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. 1. i, His boat had no cushion for a sitter, no paint, no inscription.

fd. Cards, etc. One who actually takes part in a game, as distinct from one who stands by and bets on it. Obs. rare. 1748 Smollett R. Random lii. He then explained the difference between the sitters and the betters; characterized the first as old rooks, and the last as bubbles.

e. Sc. One who has a seat in a church. 1838 Chalmers Wks. XII. 212 A sitter in the Church of St. John.

f. (See quot.) 1851 in Mayhew Lond. Lab. II. 35/1 Five men worked [at ‘translating’ shoes] and slept there, and three were sitters —that is, men who paid 15. a week to sit there and work, lodging elsewhere.

g. One who has a sitting with a medium. 1909 in Webster. 1928 Daily Mail 25 July 6/2 If media were unable to get into a trance the sitting was cancelled and the money returned to the sitter. 1961 W. H. Salter Zoar vi. 73 The sitter brings with him marked plates which he gives the medium. 1977 ‘L. Egan’ Blind Search ii. 32 One of their perennial sitters, Claire Ewing., a researcher herself, not an emotion-harried sentimentalist seeking reassurance.

h. U.S. slang. (See quots. 1938, 19482.) 1938 S. Hart New Yorkers 183 Bowery barkeeps employed homeless men and women as ‘sitters’ to shiver near the fire on wintry nights and thus evoke the sympathy of cash customers who would treat them to drinks to the great profit of the house. 1948 Sun (Baltimore) 7 Aug. 5/4 Violations, particularly of sitters’ rules, would mean suspension or barring women from the licensed premises. 1948 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. 682 Women who frequent taverns or night-clubs, getting a percentage on the drinks they induce male patrons to buy, are.. sitters.

i. A baby-sitter. 1943 Life 8 Nov. 100/2 (caption) Matt Thomson stays home with baby... Once they would have hired capable ‘sitter’. Now only inexperienced girls are available. 1951 H. MacInnes Neither Five nor Three 1. i. 11 She and Jon couldn’t come to the party because the baby was sick or they couldn’t get a sitter, i960 Sunday Express 26 June 5/3 He has a first-class nurse and a ‘sitter’ while I am away. 1975 [see sit v. 1 g].

j. A participant in a sit-in or sit-down. 1961 Britannica Bk. of Year 537/2 Sit in,.. and sitter, terms used in connection with the attempts by Negroes to eat in cafes and restaurants from which they were normally excluded. 1961 Guardian 22 Sept. 12/4 There are still people who think that marchers and sitters can be dismissed because some are oddly dressed.

|2. One who sits on a horse or other animal; a rider. Also transf. Obs. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxxii. 17 be sittere on pat hors sail noght be safe in habundaunce of his vertu. 1382 Wyclif Num. xxii. 25 Whom seynge, the asse ioynede hym silf to the wal, and briside the foot of the sitter. -2 Macc. iii. 25 Forsothe sum hors apeeride to hem, hauynge a dreedful sitter. 1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) ciijb/i, But if this same colte be broken at the last, His sitter ruleth and him refrayneth fast. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 659 Hornets . . getting upon the poor Bees backs, they use them in stead of a Waggon or carriage: for when the silly Bee laboureth to be discharged of his cruel Sitter: the Hornet.. spareth not to kill. . his .. chief maintainer.

f3. A name for the hare. Obs.-' 13 .. MS. Digby 86 fol. 168 b, fie sittere, be gras hoppere, pe Fitelfot, pe fold sittere.

4. A female bird, esp. a domestic hen, which sits on eggs for the purpose of hatching them. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. (1623) 137 A Henne will be a good sitter from the second yeare of her laying to the lift. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 256 The oldest [hens] being always reckoned the best Sitters, and the youngest the best Layers. 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 229/1 The plan of giving the eggs to another sitter. 1884 L. F. Allen Amer. Farm Bk. 493 The hen [turkey].. is an inveterate sitter, and carefully hatches most of her eggs.

5. With advs., as sitter-by, -out, -up; sitter-in: (a) a baby-sitter; (b) one who takes part in a sitin; (c) one who sits in with a band (sit v. 24 f). (a) 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. 11. 167 Princes that haue theyr sitters by, to whom they commit theyr office to

SITTING

567 rule and gouerne in their stede. 1804 Charlotte Smith Conversations, etc. II. 79 It is very dull tho’, Mamma, to the sitters-by. 1850 Clough Dipsychus 11. iv. 89 Life..still delights to turn The tide of sport upon the sitters-by. i860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. clx. III. 173 He must be excused by the honourable members who complained of something in his pocket injurious to the sitters-by. (b) 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster 11, Not a bed Ladies? y’are good sitters up. 1822 Lamb Ess. Elia, Confess. Drunkard, They were men of boisterous spirits, sitters up a-nights, disputants, drunken. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. lxxi, There’s them can pay for hospitals .. choose to be sitters-up night and day. (c) 1829 Caroline B. Southey Ch. on Churchyards II. 292 An unwearied sitter out of.. Dr. Hartop’s long stories. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford i. 14 Miss Jessie could not play cards: but she talked to the sitters-out. (d) 1947 J. L. Burn Recent Advances in Public Health ix. 132 To enable husband and wife to go out together, a ‘sitters in’ service to look after the baby has been established in some areas. 1951 M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael vii. iv. 330 ‘We shan’t even be able to go to the club.’ ‘We’ll get a sitterin for them.’ i960 Guardian 30 Dec. 10/5 The husband .. [acted] as the sitter-in when his wife was on evening shift. 1962 Maroon (Univ. of Chicago) 20 July 1 (heading) Convict Cairo sitters-in; fine each $300. 1963 Economist 8 June 1013/1 Negro ‘sitters-in’.. gather daily to decide who shall court arrest. 1968 Blues Unlimited Dec. 12 Jake recorded with his current group.. plus assorted sitters-in. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 6 Nov. 7/2 Members of the Jess Roden Band are some of our favourite ‘sitters-in’. 1976j. 1 M. Stewart Memorial Service vi. 92 There would be eruptions. ‘Demos’ would be held, buildings sat in by sitters-in.

6. Anything easy or (apparently) certain of performance; an easy catch, stroke, or shot; a sitting target; a certain winner; a certainty. 1898 Tit-Bits 25 June 252/3 A ‘sitter’ is a catch which falls absolutely into the hands. 1903 G. L. Jessop in H. G. Hutchinson Cricket v. 117 The missing of a ‘sitter’ by some lazy fieldsman whose thoughts were anywhere but on the game. 1908 A. S. M. Hutchinson Once aboard Lugger 1. iv. 50 ‘You know I got ploughed?’ ..‘Bad luck, I suppose? I thought it was a sitter for you this time.’ 1917 H. A. Vachell Fishpingle ix. 183 ‘Down ours,’ enjoined Lionel to his [golfing] partner. ‘Y'ou’ll do it, Joyce. It’s a sitter.’ 1918 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 239/1 ‘A sitter, by the Great Hook Block!’ cried Carstairs. ‘A transport full of Boches!’ 1923 Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves v. 54 An absolute sitter came unstitched in the second race at Haydock Park. 1927 Observer 3 July 18/1 A series of very bad shots, including a double fault by Borotra, the missing of absolute ‘sitters’ by both players and the driving of many easy balls into the net well over the baseline. 1946 Sunday Dispatch 8 Sept. 6/2 Midway through the second half Bradley missed a sitter when Roper centred across an open goal. 1951 N. M. Gunn Well at World's End xix. 156 A pheasant showed, an old cock. The bird stood. We stood. ‘Granville, my boy,’ he said to me, ‘I always want you to remember this: Confucious never shot at a sitter.’ 1973 A. Hunter Gently French ii. 16 They use two [routes]... The trouble is they just alternate them... So they were sitters for a villain like Quarles. 1977 Times of Swaziland 11 Feb. 14/2 When Wire Kunene was given a sitter on a plate by the evergreen Sugar Ray Zulu, Kunene let slip the chance. 1980 Amer. Speech 1976 LI. 294 Sitter, ball that is soft and easy to return.

sitter2 ('sit3(r)). Oxford University slang, [-er6: cf. bed-sitter.] A sitting-room. 1904 [see -er6]. 1925 Glasgow Herald 24 Oct. 6 If lectures are to be broadcast, the temptation to listen to them in the quiet and comfort of one’s own sitter will be irresistible.

fsitterine, obs. form of citrine B. 2. 1571 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 139 Stones called Sitterines and Topiasses with enamellings.

sittim, obs. form of shittim. sittine ('sitain), sb. and a. Ornith. [f. mod.L. Sittime.] a. sb. A member of the Sittime, a sub¬ family of the Linnaean genus Sitta. b. adj. Of or pertaining to this family (Imp. Diet. 1882). 1829 Griffith tr. Cuvier VII. 345 The Sittines.. differ only in having the bill a little more compressed.

sitting ('situ)), vbl. sb. Also 3 sittunge, 4-5 sittyng (4 cyttynge), sytting, 5-6 -yng(e, etc. [f. sit v. + -ING1.] 1. a. The action of the vb. sit, in various senses; the fact of being seated; an instance of this. a 1225 Ancr. R. i 56 Hwat oSer god cumeS of pisse onliche sittunge, pet Ieremie spekeS of. c 1325 Prose Psalter cxxxviii. 1 Lord,.. pou knewe ..my sittyng and my risynge. 1382 Wyclif Lam. iii. 63 The sitting , and the ajeen rising of hem see; Y am the salm of hem. c 1400 Destr. Troy 440 Flit is wonder of the wit of this wise kyng, Wold assent to pat sytting. c 1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 325 The lay brethren .. keping the same stondynges and syttyngs that the quer doth. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 233 b, This syttynge signyfyeth none other but the peace of the soule. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 197 Is the skill in sitting of an horse no honour at home? 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 107 Without the highest attain’d Will be for thee no sitting, or not long On David’s Throne, a 1700 Evelyn Diary 30 Nov. 1680, The place of sitting was now exalted some considerable height from the paved floore. 1730 Bailey (fol.), A Siege is the Sitting or Encampment of an Army round a Place. 1874 Blackie Self-Cult. 41 Why should a student indulge so much in the lazy and unhealthy habit of sitting?

fb. Order or place of sitting (at table, etc.). C1380 Antecrist in Todd Three Treat. Wyclif (1851) 127 J?ei wolen sitt ful h^e in furst sittyngis at pe sopers. CI386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 902 And eek that euery wight in his degree Haue his estaat in sittyng and seruyse. ? a 1400 Arthur 51 For no pryde scholde aryse For any degree of

syttynge. 1494 in Or din. Household (1790) 112 The sitting of all Dukes, Earles, and Barons sonnes.

fc. The fact of being sat in or occupied. Obs.-' c 1440 Lovelich Merlin 4490 They .. axeden .. why that place was voyde of syttyng, and why that som good man mihte not sytten there.

d. Carriage or posture of something,

rare.

1709 Steele Tatler No. 9 IP 3 Miss.. immediately at her Glass, alters the Sitting of her Head. 1816 Jane Austen Emma II. iv. 69 His air as he walked by the house—the very sitting of his hat. 2. a. The action on the part of hen-birds of

sitting on and hatching eggs; incubation. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 39 In pe somer seson whane sittinge nyeth, pat ich foule with his fere folwith his kynde. c 1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) vii. 25 \>e egges bringges furth briddes withouten sittyng of hen. 1611 Cotgr., Couvement, a brooding, sitting on. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 128^3 The Male [Bird].. amuses and diverts her [the Hen] with his Songs during the whole Time of her Sitting. 1787 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) I. 292 [They] are really the foolishest geese I ever beheld, for they choose all times for sitting but the spring. 1830 Southey Young Dragon 1. v. 10 With amianth he [the dragon] lined the nest, .. To bear the fiery sitting. 1854 Meall Moubray's Poultry 425 For sitting, the newest [eggs] are to be preferred.

b. A number of eggs placed under a sitting bird for incubation; a clutch. 1854 Meall Moubray’s Poultry 426 The differences of the seasons.. must have a considerable effect upon the chances of hatching a sitting of eggs. 1895 Elworthy Evil Eye 406 A sitting of eggs is a number just as well known as a baker’s dozen—thirteen. 3. a. The fact of being engaged in the exercise

of judicial, legislative, or deliberative functions; an instance or occasion of this; a meeting of a legislative or other body; the period of time occupied by this. CI400 Ywaine & Gaw. 3446 It es the assyse, Whils sityng es of the justise. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 240 The eight daye of Aprill was the thirde sytting of the fathers in the Counsell at Trent. 1598 Child-Marriages 173 It is fuly Concluded .. at this, her Maiesties generall Sessions, by the said Justices in their open Sessions and full sittinge. 1660 Milton Free Commw. Wks. 1851 V. 452 If all this avail not to remove the Fear or Envy of a perpetual Sitting, it may be easily provided [etc.]. 01700 Evelyn Diary 1 Oct. 1678, The Parliament, growing now corrupt and interested with long sitting and court practices. 1764 Ann. Reg. 1. 50 The speaker was twenty hours in the chair, which was the longest sitting, by three hours, that is remembered to have happened. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xvii, The brief interval.. betwixt the dismissal of the audience and the sitting of the privy council. 1855 Prescott Philip II, 11. xi. (1857) I. 269 These discussions occupied many and long protracted sittings of the council. 1896 Law Times C. 356/2 The first sitting of the new court was held on the 10th inst.

b.

Yorks. A statute or hiring fair. Now pi.

1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 135 Masters that wante servants, and servants that wante masters, have the benefitte of the next sittinge to provide for themselves. Ibid. 136 When servants goe to the sittinge, they putte on theire best apparrell. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 352 Sittings, statutes for servants. 1851 N. & Q. 1st Ser. III. 328/2 It is customary once a year for men and women servants out of place to assemble in the market places of Hedon and Patrington .. and there await being hired. This very ancient custom is called Hedon Sittings or Statutes. 1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-Talk 369 We’re off for Pockli’ton sittins.

c. Among the Society of Friends, a gathering or meeting for family worship. 1841 Gurney Jrnl. in Braithwaite Mem. II. 261 We were favoured with a very good family sitting after breakfast... I had to minister to them all.

4. A thing or place upon or in which one sits; a seat, esp. in later use, sitting accommodation for one person in a church or other place of worship. Also fig. £1400 Maundev. Trav. (1839) ix. 106 In that Cytee [Samaria] was the syttinges of the [ten] Tribes of Israel. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 119 The nature of these is .. to cast about for the sitting of the Beast, and so having found it, with continual cry to follow after it till it be wearyed. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Sitting, a single seat or sitting in a pew. 1835 I. Taylor Spir. Despot. 168 The number of sittings between one wall of a chapel and its opposite. 1874 Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 339 From £10 to £12 per sitting is, I think, a fair estimating price.

5. A spell of remaining seated: a. In phr. at a or one sitting, during a single period of sitting; at one time or spell of continuous action, work, or study. 1596 Shaks. Merck. V. ill. i. 117 Your daughter spent in Genowa .. one night fourescore ducats. Shy... Fourescore ducats at a sitting! fourescore ducats! 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 47 To finish this Piece up at one sitting. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 72 f 8 Others who have smoaked an Hundred Pipes at a Sitting. 1731-8 Swift Polite Conv. 198, I was assur’d .. that she lost at one Sitting to the Tune of a hundred Guineas. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xlvi, You should question me for half-a-dozen hours at a sitting, and welcome. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 76/1 They [turtles]. .lay at one sitting to the number of a hundred eggs. 1887 Jessopp Arcady iv. 120 The incredible bulk of food that they will make away with at a sitting.

b. In other uses. 1621 Bp. Hall Heauen upon Earth §4 [Gorges] who .. can freely carue to themselues large morsels at the next sitting. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. 1. ii, The man is a monster, without one redeeming quality that I could discover in a seven hours’ sitting. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xlv, Every time that he got a headache from too long an after-dinner sitting. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 370 The symptom often

SITTING departs suddenly during the course of the first sitting [for treatment by electricity].

c. A spell of sitting to an artist, sculptor, or photographer for a portrait, etc. 1706 Art of Painting (1744) 333 He drew his picture for him at several sittings. 1762-71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 243 He .. generally obtained one or two sittings for the completion [of the portrait]. 1829 Lytton Devereux 11. viii, I am going to give Kneller my last sitting. C1865 Wylde's Circ. Sciences I. 147/2 The muscles of the neck are apt to become fatigued if a long ‘sitting’ be necessary. 1884 Harper's Mag. Sept. 522/2 His ordinary mode of proceeding in the case of a portrait was to make a realistic study during the sitting. fig. 1818 Hazlitt Eng. Poets iv. (1870) 106 Dryden recurs to the object often, takes fresh sittings of nature [etc.].

d. A seance. 1880 Hare in W. H. Harrison Psychic Facts 14 The medium.. gave me another sitting at her own dwelling.

e. One in a series of (esp. two) servings of a meal, spec, in the restaurant-car of a train. 1959 P. Moyes Dead Men don't Ski i. 13 The lights of the train came on .. and .. the bell sounded .. for First Dinner. Jimmy.. was.. due to dine at the first sitting. 1962 N. Streatfeild Apple Bough vii. 101 An attendant from the restaurant-car looked in. ‘Luncheon tickets?’ he asked. The man said: ‘Second sitting, please.’ 1965 E. Brown Big Man ix. 74 I’ll clean up the cabin while you are at lunch. You are second sitting. 1977 C. Allen Raj i. 25/2 Gongs were sounded to mark the arrival of each course... Older travellers preferred the second sitting.

6. a. With advs., as down, in, out, up. For northern dial, uses, see the Eng. Dial. Diet. (а) 1535 Coverdale Lam. iii. 63 Thou seist also their sittinge downe and their rysinge vp. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 220 The sitting doun of the schip called the Cardinal!.. betuix Sanct Colmes Inch and Crawmond, without any occasioun, except negligence. 1617 Moryson I tin. 11. 141 Some few shot of the Spaniards offered to disturbe our sitting downe [= encamping], but were soone beaten home. 1667 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 218 It being now but seven days till the sitting down of the Parliament. 1707 Freind Peterborow's Cond. Sp. 43 The only contrivance by which the sitting down of such a handful of men .. could have had the effect of a regular envestment. 1881 Miss Yonge Lads & Lasses Langley ii. 67 When there was a sitting down, Frank had been used to.. put his head on his arms and be comfortable. (б) 1547 Bk. of Marchauntes eij, If any woman lye in childbed, they to go to say gospels and to be at the syttyng vp and chirching. 1607 Chapman Bussy d'Ambois 111. ii, I, watching my lady’s sitting up, stole up at midnight from my pallet. 1810 T. Williamson E. India Vade-M. II. 112 This ‘sitting up’.. generally took place at the house of some lady of rank,.. who for three successive nights, threw open her mansion. 1817 Jane Austen Let. 22 May (1932) 493 Words .. fail.. to describe what a Nurse she has been to me... There was never any sitting-up necessary. 1900 M. Beerbohm in Sat. Rev. 6 Jan. 12/2 Was not a pantomime .. the most brilliant occasion for ‘sitting-up’? (c) 1902 Mrs. Alexander Stronger than Love xi, Nothing short of two valses and one ‘sitting-out’ can atone for it. (1d) 1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets x. 237 The band instrumentation was kept normal, and men alternated with one another in the process known as sitting in. 1977 ‘C. Aird’ Parting Breath iv. 54 The students .. squatted on the floor... ‘Sitting-in means sitting down, I reckon,’ remarked one student.

b. attrib. (See quots.) 1874 W. Lennox My Recollections II. 29 A sitting-down supper was announced. 1893 Keith 'Lisbeth 11. ii, I hope you’ll excuse it’s not being a sitting-down tea. 1895 E. F. Benson Dodo 11, xi. 232 The music .. was quite loud enough to be heard distinctly in a small, rather unfrequented sittingout room. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 460 A change from the lying-down to the sitting-up position. 1900 Westm. Gaz. II Apr. 3/2 Thousands of shirts, sitting-up jackets, socks, pyjamas. 1900 Traveller 4 Aug. 106/2 On the Caledonia there was a minimum of space... There were no sitting-out places. 1902 E. Glyn Refl. Ambrosine 53, I went to no more sitting-out places [at a ball]. 1939 Sun (Baltimore) 5 Apr. 26/2 An abundance of unoccupied land for playgrounds, sitting-out areas, walks and service streets. 1964 V. J. Chapman Coastal Veg. ix. 212 Maritime cliffs are often the haunt of sea birds, either as nesting areas or as ‘sitting out’ places. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 19 June 17 (Advt.), It gives full pillow support to head and back for firm sitting-up comfort.

1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., * Sitting breeches, one who stays late in company, is said to have his sitting breeches on, or that he will sit longer than a hen. 1664 Pepys Diary 14 July, I went, and found him busy in trials of law in his great room; and it being *Sitting-day, durst not stay. 1894 Daily News 6 March 2/1 He was not absent from the House one sitting day. 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl. ix. 151 If it was later in the day, it might be to our advantage to try a ♦sitting-shot.

'sitting, ppl. a. [f. sit v. -f -ing2. In senses 1 and 2 after OF. (bien) seant.] fl. a. Of garments or articles of apparel: Fitting well or closely to the body. Obs. rare. 12 .. Prayer 42 in O.E. Misc. 193 Inne mete & inne drinke ic habbe ibeo ouerdede, & inne wel sittende schon. a 1400 Rom. Rose 2263 Poyntis and sieves be welle sittande, Right and streght on the hande. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 457/1 Syttynge clothe, or streythe, strigium. a 1500 Flower Leaf xxi, In surcotes whyte, of veluet wel sitting.

fb. (Well) placed or formed. Obs.~l c 1450 Merlin xiv. 227 She was sklender a-boute the flankes and the haunche lowe and comly well sittynge.

f2. a. Becoming, befitting; proper, suitable; appropriate. Freq. preceded by well. Const, to, unto, rarely for, or that. Obs. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 986 To hem [the arrows] was wel sitting and able The foule croked bowe hidous. c 1400 Beryn 1041 Fawnus for Agea, as it was wele sitting, Made ful grete ordenaunce for hir burying. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy 1. 1262 A wel beseyn meyne, Lyche as was sytting vnto his degre. 61449 Pecock Repr. ill. ix. 333 It bisemeth and it is sitting .. that the 3euer 3eue his 3ifte .. mediatli. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vii. ccxxxii. (1811) 265 It is not vnworthy to the.. for to the it is sittynge for noblesse of bloode. 1564 Haward Eutrop. x. 114 Not all together so hedefull aboute hys affayres as it was sittinge & fitte for soo myghtye a prince, c 1575 T. Hacket Treas. Amadis de Gaule 284 This .. shall be a thing very well syttyng and convenient to your accustomed graciousnesse.

fb. In attributive use. Obs. rare. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 953 He salu3ede J?at sorowfulle with sittande wordez. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour biiijb, [The] nose .. is the most syttyng membre that a man .. may haue.

3. That sits in, possesses the right to, or holds, a position, office, or tenancy. sitting member, a Member of Parliament actually holding a seat in the House of Commons at the time referred to. (a) 1706 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) VI. 19 Petitioners against sir Thomas Bellot and Mr. Cotton, the sitting members. 1813 Exam. 1 March 139/1 Three of the Sitting Members.. were not duly elected. 1890 M. S. Williams Leaves of Life II. v. 44 A property which he had bought when sitting Member for Preston. (b) 1768 Ann. Reg. 57 The sitting Magistrates.. at the Rotation-office in Whitechapel. 1843 Chambers's Edin.Jrnl. 45/2 The case being brought before one of the metropolitan police courts, the sitting magistrate committed the soldier for trial. (c) 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 614 The new conditions will be made as if the sitting tenant were a stranger. 1884 Rogers Six Cent. Work & Wages I. 54 Raising rent on the sitting tenant, to use a modern phrase.

4. That sits: a. Of animals or birds, esp. of henbirds whilst hatching. 1611 Cotgr., Couveresse, a sitting henne. C1709 Prior Dove xiii, Have You observ’d a sitting Hare, List’ning [etc.]? 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm 11. 708 Places should be chosen for placing the sitting hens in. 1883 Century Mag. 682 A deep,.. elaborate structure, in which the sitting bird sank.

fb. Bot. Sessile. Obs. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 82 Sitting Flowers, are those which have no Fruit-stalk. Ibid. 328 In Leontodon Taraxacum the down is supported on a long pedicle, in all the other English species it is sitting. 1837 P. Keith Bot. Lex. 17 It is .. placed immediately on the ovary or pistil, and is said to be sitting. 1851 Richardson Geol. vii. 203 Leaves are.. either sessile or petiolate, that is, either sitting or having footstalks.

c. Of persons, figures, etc.: Seated. 1839 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 426 Monument of Maximilian-Joseph I... Colossal sitting figure. 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin i. 12 Sitting, lying, languid shapes. 1887 Mahaffy Gk. Life & Thought vi. 112 The proposal.. to carve Mount Athos into a sitting figure.

7. attrib. and Comb., as sitting apartment, bath, box, -chamber, height, muscle, parlour, part, etc.

d. Of a huntsman’s target: stationary, and so easily hit. Freq. fig. (orig. Mil.) in sitting bird, duck, etc.

1849 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard (1855) 89 The partition between the laying and *sitting apartments. 1843 Abdy Water Cure 67 Copious water drinking, short ♦sitting baths, and wet bandages on the body. 1849 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard (1855) 87 Laying and ^sitting boxes may be placed at either side of the building. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. hi. xi, Here was the governor’s sleeping-cabin [on board]—his lady’s ♦sitting-cabin [etc.]. 1886 R. F. Burton Arab. Nts. (1887) III. 6 A mansion, wherein were furnished ♦sitting-chambers. 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 176 These were Stones but of a *sitting height at utmost. 1822-7 Good Study Med. (1829) IV. 348 A high narrow chair with a straight back that hardly allows of any flexion to the ^sitting muscles. 1854 Meall Moubray's Poultry 424 The construction of ♦sitting-nests on one side of the. .night-house. 1789 G. White Selborne lxxxvi, Within sight of some window in the common ♦sitting parlour. 1730 Fielding Tom Thumb 11. x, While the two stools her ♦sitting-part confound, Between ’em both fall squat upon the ground. 1775 Adair Amer. Ind. 396 After sleeping two hours in a ^sitting posture. 1573 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 350 For chargys aboute the swanes.. at the *syttynge tyme and uppynge tyme.

1867 Trollope Claverings I.x. 126 The man who fires at a sitting bird is known to be no sportsman. 1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 270 Carriers are sitting birds for enemy surface craft. 1944 Reader's Digest May 53 (heading) Why tankers are no longer sitting ducks. 1948 Harper's Mag. Apr. 290/2 Ever since Sinclair Lewis gave the first lessons in marksmanship, men of the Senator’s type have been sitting ducks for the opposition. 1949 Sat. Even. Post 16 July 23/3 (1caption) Rescuing downed aviators sometimes got a sittingduck submarine fired on by our own quick-triggered forces. 1954 J Blish in If, Worlds Sci. Fict. No. 4. 38/2 You’re a sitting duck for a real infection if you abuse your time during convalescence. 1958 A. Gilbert’ Death against Clock vi. 89 ‘It could be he was financin’ another establishment and didn’t want Mrs M. to know. And Wife No. 2 might be makin’ trouble.’ ‘Simpler to put her light out in that case.’ .. ‘Ah, but then he’d be a sitting duck for the police. Someone always comes forward in cases like these to say he . .saw the dear departed with a gent.’ 1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze vii. 183 We had learned that for tanks to land before tank obstacles had been breached was lethal; they would inevitably be halted, and would become sitting ducks. *977 J- D. White’ Salzburg Affair xiii. 109 Narrow streets, he’d be a sitting target. 1978 J. Wainwright Thief of Time 195, I have no ‘gentlemanly’ distaste at shooting sitting targets; wood pigeons, rabbits, hares.. let them be motionless .. and I have meat for supper.

b. Special combs.: sitting-breeches (see quot.); sitting-day, a day on which a legislative or deliberative body sits; sitting-shot, a shot taken in a sitting position.

SITUATE

568

e. fig. That can hardly be bungled.

1932 Evening Standard 28 Jan. 11/2 They had a hand which contained a ‘sitting’ game in Spades—one of two had five to the four top honours, i960 I. Peebles Bowler's Turn 190 Against these two Dexter with a bit of luck (dropped at square leg at 30 and off a sitting return by Worrell at 32) played confidently.

5. dial. To which one sits down. 1889 Westall Birch Dene I. 251 A ‘standing gill’ cost a penny, a ‘sitting gill’ three-halfpence. 1898 Cobban Angel 180 To take a sitting drink, .with the Gordon gentlemen.

f'sittingly, adv. Obs. [f. sitting ppl. a. + -ly2.] In a befitting or becoming manner; fittingly; suitably. .4]

1. A cannon throwing shot six pounds in weight. 1684 J. Peter Relat. Siege of Vienna 108 Six pounders, 2. 1748 Anson's Voy. 11. iv. 169 Four six pounders, four four pounders, and two swivels. 1790 Beatson Naval & Miltt. Mem. II. 166 A light brass six-pounder to be fixed in the bow of their long-boat. 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 347/1 The report was smart like that of a six-pounder. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. V. xx. 568 Cornwallis planted .. some six-pounders on his own left. fig. 1797 in Lockhart Scott (1837) I. viii. 263 Clerk and I are continually obliged to open a six-pounder upon him in self-defence. attrib. 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) VI. 220 The Portuguese six pounder brigade,

b. A shot weighing six pounds. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 628 He was himself hit by a second ball, a sixpounder.

f2. (See quot.) Obs.~° 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Six pounder, a servant maid, from the wages formerly given to maid servants, which was commonly six pounds.

'sixscore, a. Now arch. [f. six a. +

score sb.

16.] Six times twenty, one hundred and twenty. a\ J?e mesure & pe mett of all pe mulde couthe, \>e sise of all pe grete see. 1530 Palsgr. 270/2 Syse of a mannes body, corpulence. Ibid., Syse of any thyng, moyson. 1621 Donne Anat. World 1. 12 When, as the age was long, the sise was great; Mans grouth.. recompenc’d the meat. 01676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. ^1677) 65 The humane Brain is.. much.. larger than the Brains of Brutes, having regard to the size and proportion of their Bodies. 1707 Norris Treat. Humility x. 376 The cloathing of humility does as it were conform itself to the size of the wearer. 1796 C. Marshall Gardening xiii. (1813) 181 The size of a hot bed, as to length and breadth. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. m The size of some stems is truly astonishing. 1880 Bessey Botany 146 The absolute size of leaves varies greatly also.

b. Preceded by of, or in later use with ellipse of this, of a (or one) size, of the same magnitude or dimensions. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3815 Protheselus the pert kyng was of pure shap, Semely for sothe, & of Syse faire. 1470-85 Malory Arthur v. viii. 173 Now arte thow better of a syse to dele with than thou were. 1560 Bible (Genevan) Exod. xxxvi. 9 The curtaines were all of one cise. [Also 1 Kings vi. 25.] 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. i. 124 Of the Size royal, is that peece which shooteth a bullet from seuenteene pound waight vpward. 1657 Austen Fruit Trees 1. 63 Young trees of a smaler sise. 1677 Plot Oxfordshire 108 Of different colours, figures, cizes. 1767 Phil. Trans. LVII. 490 The crystals of this salt were in general.. more of a size, than those of the gooseberry. 1781 Cowper Ep. Lady Austin 95 A seed of tiny size. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop v, ‘Why don’t you hit one of your own size,’ said the boy. 1884 Pae Eustace 13 The two men were about a size. 1893 Hodges Elem. Photogr. 115 A frame the exact size of the window.

c. In abstract use: Magnitude. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 352 They Limb themselves, and colour, shape or size Assume. 1701 Grew Cosmol. Sacra 1. i, The mixture of cize and figure, can beget nothing but cize and figure. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 67 Whose shape would make them, had they bulk and size, More hideous foes [etc.]. 1845 Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 12 The church of St. Julian, equal in size to most cathedrals. 1848 Dickens Dombey v, The books precisely matched as to size. 1886 Ruskin Praeterita I. vi. 199, I had always a quite true perception of size, whether in mountains or buildings.

d. Suitable or normal dimensions, rare exc. in phr. to cut {chop, etc.) down to size: see CUT v. 54 h. colloq. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 65/1 The plants.. should be thinned, and .. may be used as they attain size till August. 1953 Time 20 July 40/3 He kept Stalin down to size. 1962 Listener 17 May 883/1 The complexity and psychological depth abandoned in hacking the novel down to size. 1972 N. Y. Times 3 Nov. 39/6 Once the warlord armies supporting him were chopped down to size.., he was content to fade away.

e. Thickness or thinness (of a liquid mixture); consistency (cf. size v.1 4 c). 1863 Wise New Forest Gloss., ‘The size of the gruel’ means its consistency. 1889 C. T. Davis Bricks & Tiles (ed. 2) 147 The temperer having secured the proper plasticity, or ‘size’ for the clay.

f. In colloq. phr. that's {about) the size of it, etc.; that is what it amounts to, that is the situation. i860 Whyte Melville Mkt. Harb. 30 Nothing to do, and lots of time to do it in! that seems to be about the size of it. 1880 ‘Mark Twain' Tramp Abroad viii. 71 ‘Bloodshed!1 ‘That’s about the size of it,’ I said. 1914 G. Atherton Perch of Devil 1. 89 That’s the size of it, only I couldn’t ever say it like that. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 305 Talking about the Gaelic league and the antitreating league and drink, the curse of Ireland. Antitreating is about the size of it. 1966 D. Francis Flying Finish ii. 21 ‘He just went to Italy and didn’t come back?’ ‘That’s about the size of it,’ Simon agreed. 1973 ‘M. Innes’ Appleby's Answer xv. 134 It’s money that’s really in his head... That’s about the size of it, wouldn’t you say?

11. a. A particular magnitude or set of dimensions; esp. one of a series in the case of various manufactured articles, as boots, gloves, etc. 1591 Percivall Span. Diet., Punto, ..the sise of a shoo. c 1610 Donne Lett, xxxii. Wks. 1839 VI. 338 There is not a size of paper in the palace, large enough to tell you how much I esteem myself honoured in your remembrances. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 104 He is certainly a Size above ordinary in his own Conceit. 1711 Land. 6az. No. 4899/4 Another silver Mazarene, a size larger. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Size, a term of measure amongst shoemakers, equal to one third part of an inch. 1836-7 Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xx, Her white satin shoes being a few sizes too large. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 329 It appears also that there is a size which meets with less

resistance from atmospheric influence than others. 1872 Calverley Fly Leaves (1903) 9 To haste .. to .. the glover, Having managed to discover what is dear Netera’s ‘size’. fig. 1879 Hutton in Bagehot's Lit. Studies I. p. lxii. He was ‘between sizes in politics’.

b. Used ellipt. with a sb. following. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 41 Cut your sturgeon into what size pieces you please. 1771 Luckombe Hist. Print. 215 The Writings of that Father [St. Augustine] were the first Works done on that size Letter. 1846 Britt an tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 308 After this first trial you can judge what size eye will do next. 1886 Caulfeild Seamanship Notes 3 Different size cables. 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bulletin II. 159 A large size plate.

c. to try (something) (on) for size: to consider (an idea, theory, etc.) to see whether it fits the facts. Also loosely, to try out or sample, colloq. (orig. U.S.). 1956 ‘E. McBain’ Cop Hater (1958) viii. 70 ‘Try this for size,’ Bush said. ‘I’m listening,’ Carella said. 1967 ‘E. Queen’ Face to Face xxix. 127 ‘All right,’ said the Inspector. ‘Let’s try this on for size: You knew what Spotty had to sell, didn’t you?’ 1969‘J. Fraser’ Cock-pit of Roses x. 81 ‘I know some bugger’s been pinching ’em, if that’s what you’re getting at.’ Try that on for size, you devil, his look seemed to say. 1979 A. Boyle Climate of Treason (1980) viii. 258 Trying his boss’s desk for size, Philby noticed the untidy array of memoranda and pending files in the in-tray. 1980 J. McClure Blood of Englishman xxiv. 221 She was shaking the sardines into a saucer. ‘There, kitty! Try those for size.’

12. a. Magnitude, extent, rate, amount, etc., as a standard of immaterial things. Also in phrases (see later quots.). 01530 Heywood Love 1509 (Brandi), As the horse feleth pleasure in syse .. aboue the tre, So feleth he .. aboue ye. 1579 Spenser Two other Lett. i. 56, I hope you will vouchsafe mee an answeare of the largest size. 1597 Shaks. Lover's Compl. 21 Shriking vndistinguisht wo, In clamours of all size both high and low. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage 111. xii. 257 Although those dayes shall be of a larger size then these. 1701 Swift Contests Nobles Commons Wks. 1755 II. 1. 25 The power of these princes., was much of a size with that of the kings in Sparta. 01715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 133 He understood well the size of their understandings. 1780 Cowper Progr. Error 283 Errors, of whatever size. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss, s.v., ‘He talks at a fearful size;’ i.e. he talks big. 1836-8 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 299 One day I was adrivin’ out at a’most a deuce of a size, and he stopped me. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining 224 Size, in reference to a fault-, this word means the extent of the displacement or the throw.

b. Of persons in respect of mental or moral qualities, rank or position, etc.; thence, class, kind, degree, order. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. 11. v. (1692) 151 Which showeth .. that Christians of all sizes, great and small, are but Brethren. 1699 Bentley Phalaris 497 Our Mock Phalaris is a Sophist of that size, that no kind of Blunder is below his Character. 1719 Swift To a Young Clergym. Wks. 1755 II. 11. 5 A plain sermon intended for the middle or lower size of people. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 207 Can we impute to God that, which is below the common size of men? 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Art Poet. 506 But God, and Man, and letter’d Post denies, That Poets ever are of midling Size. 1844 Emerson Ess. Ser. 11. vi, The cause is reduced .. to suit the size of the partisans. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 8 There are things enough to be said of Voltaire’s moral size.

c. pi. As adv. Many times, far.

.. for the *size range were calculated in this way. 1955 New Biol. XIX. 95 Some particles in the mitochondrial sizerange appear to be proplastids. 1962 Science Survey III. 296 Shoals of large salmon were observed to remain inactive at the tail of the pool while a smaller size-range of salmon and trout ascended successfully. 1757 Washington Lett. Writ. 1889 I. 473 Nor shall I delay to send the companies’ ♦sizerolls, when they come to my hands. 1832 Regul. & Instr. Cavalry 11. 16 Each Troop forms on its own parade, in rank entire according to the size-roll. 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 155 The form of Size Roll.. is so arranged as to sub-divide the three divisions for each height, —‘small,’ ‘middling,’ and ‘large,’—each into three classes. 1865 Bower Slate Quarries 31 The average price of *size slates, tons, and slabs. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2192/1 * Size-stick, the shoemaker’s measuring-stick to determine the length of feet.

size (saiz), sb.2 Forms: 5 cyse, 5-7 syse, 6 syes, 6-7 sise, syze, 7- size. (Possibly the same word as prec., but the history is not clear. Cf. Sp. sisa, given by Minsheu (1599) as ‘solder for golde’, but explained in later Sp. diets, in accordance with sense 1. Florio (followed as usual by Torriano) gives both It. sisa and assisa in the sense of size ‘that painters use’, but later It. diets, do not confirm this.]

fl. A glutinous or viscid wash applied to paper, parchment, etc., to provide a suitable ground for gilding, painting, or other work. Obs. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 456/2 Syse, for bokys lymynynge. c 1485 E. Eng. Misc. (Warton Club) 73 To make a cyse to gyld unburned gold on bokys. 1573 Art of Limming Title-p., The maner how to make sundry sises or grounds to laye silver or gold upon. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 595 Whatsoeuer is to be pargetted with this Maltha.. ought first to be rubbed throughly with a size of oile. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vn. xxxiv. 49 Take Red Lead.. or Yellow Oker, well ground with Oyle of Spike or Turpentine; this is the Sise: Then draw with that the Figure you would have in Gold. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Limning, There are always applied two Lays of hot Size e’er the Colours.. are laid on. 1763 W. Lewis Phil. Comm. Arts 62 For gilding on wood, &c. with what is called water-size, the parchment or leather size above-mentioned is mixed with whiting, and several layers of the mixture spread upon the piece.

b. Printing. (See quot.) 1888 J acobi Printers' Vocab. 126 Size, the preparation used for printing with bronze.

2. A semi-solid glutinous substance, prepared from materials similar to those which furnish glue, and used to mix with colours, to dress cloth or paper, and for various other purposes. I53° Palsgr. 270/2 Syse for colours, colie de evir. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Color, Liquidus.. . Moyste, tempered with sise as peynters vse. 1582 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 359 Paste bord, paper, and paste, white, sise, verte, syneper. 1658 W. Sanderson Graphice 78 Old rotten size, to bind the Colours together. 1714 Mandeville Fab. Bees (1733) I. 234 What size is to white walls, which hinders them from coming off, and makes them lasting. 1747 Franklin Conjecture Wks. 1887 II. 107 Paper wet with size and water will not dry so soon as if wet with water only. 1800 Phil. Trans. XC. 367 The various degrees of viscidity and tenacity which characterize mucilage, size, and glue. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 63 The outer face of the veneer and the surface of the table are wetted with very thin glue, or with a stiff size. 1883 Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. 11. 302/1 Size of very different qualities is made at glue-works.

1861 Emily Dickinson Lett. (1897) II. 241 All our Lord demands, who sizes better knows than we.

3. The buffy coat on the surface of coagulated blood in certain conditions. Cf. sizy a.

13. Special combs., as size-bone, whalebone the length of six feet or above; size distribution, the way in which size varies

1770 Phil. Trans. LX. 387, I shall next.. enquire into the formation of the inflammatory crust, or size, as it is called.

of

among members of a population of particles; size effect, an effect due to size; size-fish, a whale yielding size-bone; size-group, those constituents of a population whose sizes fall within a specific range; f size-land, a narrow strip of ploughed land; size-range, a range of sizes; a size group; size-roll, (a) a military roll showing the size of each man; (b) ‘a piece of parchment added to a roll* (Simmonds, 1858); size-slate, a slate having certain definite dimensions or measurements; size-stick (see quot.). 1820 Scoresby Arct. Regions II. 419 The *size-bone or such pieces as measure six feet or upward in length is kept separate from the under-size. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 527/2 The figures given are the values of ‘size-bones’,.. which is twice the value of whalebone under that length. 1925 Trans. Faraday Soc. XXL 381 (heading) A simple method of obtaining the *size distribution of particles in soils and precipitates. 1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. v. 250 In the past, size-distribution analysis has usually involved time-consuming measurements on individual grains or particles. 1943 Ann. Appl. Biol. XXX. 216/2 The loss in weight increases progressively from / to IV indicating the existence of a *size effect. 1968 C. G. Kuper Introd. Theory Superconductivity v. 92 The discrepancy between the experiments and the London theory has been interpreted as a size effect, arising from the scattering of normal electrons by the n-s boundary. 1820 Scoresby Arct. Regions II. 419 The captain and some of the officers .. having a premium on every *size fish. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 628 The harpooner gets a bonus for striking a ‘size-fish’. 1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revolution no The total population can be separated into four *size-groups, corresponding to the produce of the four successive years that each grub lives in the soil before it turns into a beetle. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth ix. 132/2 They contain both filamentous and globular structures, and the latter occur in more than one size-group. 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husb. I. i. 75 [In Middlesex] they plow two, three, or four of these *size-lands into one broad-land. 1924 Industr. & Engin. Chem. XVI. 930/2 The figures given

4. attrib., as size-colour, -gelatin, -manu¬ factory, -manufacturer, -water. 1603-4 Act 1 Jas. I, c. 20 § 1 As well with Oyle Colours as Size Colours. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Limning, That the Size-Colours hold the best. 1738 Ibid. s.v. Book-binding, The leaves being wetted with the size-water. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Size-manufacturer, a boiler down of skins, etc., and maker of size. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 20 Substances.. from size, horn, and isinglass manufactories. 1873 T. H. Green Introd. Pathol. 123 Others are softer, more resembling size-gelatin.

fsize, sb.3 Obs. Forms: 5 sise, 6 sys(s)e, syce, 5-7 size, 6-7 syze. [perh. ad. OF. sis, siis six: cf. size sice and six B.] A certain kind or size of candle, used esp. at court and in churches. a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 22, x candells wax, for the sizes of the chamber. Ibid. 41 He setteth up the sises in the King’s chambre. 1518 Lett. & Papers Hen. VIII, II. 11. 1515 Pure wax for morters, quariers, priketts and sysys. 1560 Acc. Fratern. Holy Ghost, Basingstoke {1882) 13 Item paid for tapers & Syces at whitsontyde, ij 5. 1570 Googe Pop. Kingd. in. 37 To whome [Christ] if that they light a syse, his mother hath six againe. 1611 Cotgr., Bougie,.. a size or small round candle vsed in churches. 1659 Heylin Examen Hist. 1. 288 Upon the Communion Table they .. never set more then two fair Candles with a few small Sizes neer to them. attrib. 1552 Huloet, Size candle. 1559 Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 91 Payd upon Easter day in the mornynge for a sysse candle, jd.

size, variant of sice (six in dice). size (saiz), v.1 Forms: 5 syse, 5-8 sise, 8 cise, 6size. [f. size sb.1, or, in early use, aphetic for assize v.] f 1. trans. To regulate or control, esp. in relation to a fixed standard. Obs. a 1400-50 Alexander 4654 Many seerties we seet [read he set] pat sysed all pe werde. 1467 Coventry Leet Bk. 335 pat pe Mair ordeyn iiij assisours to sise pe watir at all Milles within J?is Cete. 1579 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 402 All other measures, .to be vewed, tryed, sised,

allowed, and sealed. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 247 Ye coyn they vse is either of brasse or els rings of Iron, sised at a certein weight in steede of money. 1613 in W. M. Williams Founders' Co. (1867) 23 The said Weights .. shall.. be sized by the Standard at Founders’ Hall. 1656 W. Webb in D. King Vale Roy all 11. 213 This Maior.. sized the Wines,— Muscadine at 7d. the quart, Sack at iod. and other Wines at six pence. 1698-9 Act 11 Will. Ill, c. xv. §1 A Vessel.. made, sized,“-and equalled unto the said Standard. 1766 Entick London IV. 79 All makers of brass weights.. are obliged to have their.. weights sized by the Company’s standard. 1771 Phil. Trans. LXI. 467 My weights were most accurately sized.

2. a. In University use (at Cambridge, Harvard, and Yale): To enter as a ‘size’ upon the buttery or kitchen books; to score (an amount) against oneself in this manner. Also transf. 1598 E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 47, I knew thee when thou war’dst a thred-bare gowne: Siz’d eighteene pence a weeke. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnassus v. ii. 2048, I vse to size my musicke, or go on the score for it, lie pay it at the quarters end. 1630 Randolph Aristippus Wks. 1875 I. 14 Drinking college tap-lash .. will let them have no more learning than they size, nor a drop of wit more than the butler sets on their heads. 1790 Laws of Harvard Coll. 38 They may be allowed to size a meal at the kitchen. 1811 Laws of Yale Coll. 31 The Butler shall make up his bill against each student, in which every article sized or taken up by him at the Buttery shall be particularly charged.

b. intr. To order ‘sizes’, or have them entered against one. Skial. (1878) 11, I have sized in Cambridge, and my friends a season, Some exhibition for me there disburst. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnassus iv. ii. 1691 You that are one of the Diuels fellow commoners, one that sizeth in the Deuils butteries. 1617 Minsheu Ductor s.v., To size is to set downe their quantum, i.e. how much they take in their name in the Buttery-booke. 1706 Phillips (ed. 6), To Size,.. to Score as Students doe in the ButteryBook of a College at Cambridge. 1852 Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (ed. 3) 19 Soup, pastry, and cheese can be ‘sized for’, that is, brought in portions to individuals at an extra charge. 1859 Slang Diet. 93 If a man asks you to supper, he treats you; if to size, you pay for what you eat. 1598

E

SIZER

580

SIZE

Guilpin

f c. trans. To allowance (oneself); to eke out with something extra. Obs. Serpents (1658) 727 It is said, they eat earth by measure, for they eat so much every day as they can gripe in their fore-foot, as it were sizing themselves, c 1614 Fletcher Wit at Sev. Weap. 11. i, To be so strict A Nigard to your Commons, that you are fain To size your belly out with Shoulder Fees. 1607 Topsell

f3. To state the size of (something). Obs.~x a 1661 Holyday Juvenal (1673) 250 The pygmies .. being but one foot high (as some size them).

4. a. To make of a certain size; to give size to; to adjust in respect of size. Also with out. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. iii. (1623) 4 They serue to size out the Summer-doore to his due space of foure square inches. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 21 Pieces of Lead sized to, and nailed over the said Bolts. 1701 Grew Cosmol. Sacra 1. i, That the parts of the organ be fitly cized, shaped and set together. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §290 The smaller end of it being sized as near as possible to the manholes of the floors. 1862 Trans. III. Agric. Soc. (1865) V. 233 There is no provision made for ‘sizing the gavels’ [in reaping]. 1897 F. C. Moore How to build Home 90 The firststory beams are to be sized and leveled upon the sill and upon the foundation wall. 1981 Sci. Amer. Apr. 30/1 Second, says Dr. Derry, the book was sized to fit into a briefcase. fig. 1733 Revolution Politicks vn. 44 Sizing his Words at such a rate as one yet willing to be understood that he had not stray’d from his Brethern in Point of Loyalty. 1742 Richardson Pamela IV. 284 He is so exactly siz’d and cut out for a Town Fop, Coxcomb, or pretty Fellow. 1899 [see PANHANDLER i].

b. Agric. (See quots.) 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 53 You must not let it lie long before you strick, sise, or plow it up into small Ridges. 1808 Young's Ann. Agric. XLV. 342 [He] sizes the field, as it is styled, that is, draws out new ridges or stitches nearly in the direction of the old original ones. 1844 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. 1. 5 These.. are what is termed sized; that is,. . the ploughman sizes them by going one bout, or by once going and returning up the field.

c. To reduce (clay) to the proper consistency for moulding. 1889 C. T. Davis Bricks & Tiles (ed. 2) 147 It is necessary to grind the same clay .. several times .. before it comes to the proper degree of plasticity for moulding; this operation is called ‘sizing the clay’.

5. a. To classify or arrange according to size. Also transf. to class or rank (with others). Townsmen's Petition Wks. 1875 IE 658 With proctors and with testers grave Our bailiffs you may size. 1649 Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 197 Size your Horses or Oxen equal. 1677 Yarranton Eng. Improv. 46 They sort and size all the Threads so, that they can apply them to make equal Cloaths. 1735 Somerville Chase 1. 82 The Multitude Dispers’d, to size, to sort their various Tribes. 1805 Edin. Rev. VI. 463 Instead of being scientifically classified, and (if we may so speak) accurately sized, we may expect to find them [i.e. facts] tossed together with little judgment. 1886 Law Times' Rep. L111. 696/2 The said broken products were then sized and separated. e ferthe inche is, whan false cysourys gon vp-on qwestys, & puttyn a man fro his ry3t thrugh a fals verdy3te. a 1450 Myrc 1665 Alle fals sysourus and okererus. 1614 in W. M. Williams Founders' Co. (1867) pys

SIZER

581

30 Persons.. that shall be Auditors, Clerk, Bedell, Sizer, Searcher, or Searchers, shall take the severall Oathes. sizer ('saiz3(r)). [f. size a.1] A device for testing

dressing warp. 1880 J. Dunbar Pract. Papermaker 55 Strain through a fine wire into the sizing box. 1887 Moloney Forestry W. Africa 405 It has.. been recommended as a sizing material for photographic prints.

the size of articles, according to size.

sizing, yeast: see sizzing.

2

or for separating them

1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. iii. 52 Making a true round hole in a thin peece of Brass,.. you may try if the cast bullet will just.. fill that hole .. This thin peece of Brass, with a round hole in it, is call’d a Sizer. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Sizers, machines used in Ceylon made of perforated sheet zinc or wire gauze, for separating the coffee into three sizes.

3

(’saizafr)). [f. size t?.2] One who applies size to any article. sizer

1863 C hambers s Ertcycl. III. 276/1 Average weekly wages: . . Sizers,.. 25J. C1890 W. H. Casmey Ventilation 8 The reason why so many old sizers are found with joints twisted out of all natural shape by rheumatism. sizer, variant of sizar. sizers, obs. form of scissors. siziness ('saizinis). Also 8 sizyness.

[f. sizy a.] The quality or state of being sizy or glutinous; viscosity.

1

SJAMBOK

Common in the 18th cent, with reference to the blood. 1701 Floyer Cold Baths 1. 25 Windiness or Siziness of the Humours. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 226 Disorders arising from the sizyness of the juices. 1797 J. Downing Disord. Horned Cattle 3 This medicine .. thins the blood, and dilutes its siziness. sizing ('saiziq), vbl. sb.1

[f. size v.1]

1. a. In University use: The action or practice of procuring ‘sizes’ from the buttery or kitchen; a portion or quantity so obtained; a size. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 104 The Butler or Manciple of Trinitie Hall.. trusted him for his commons and sizing. 1628 Shirley Witty Fair One iv. ii, I have had a head in most of the butteries of Cambridge, and it has been sconced to purpose. I know what belongs to sizing. 1661 Blount Glossogr. s.v. Size, In Cambridge they call it Sizing. 1736 in Athenaeum (1906) 20 Jan. 76/2 Commons, 10 weeks, £1 35. 4d. Sizings, £1 ns. 6d. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar Tongue, Sizings, Cambridge term for the college allowance from the buttery, called at Oxford battles. 1833 Pierce Hist. Harvard Univ. 219 We were allowed at dinner a cue of beer, which was a half-pint, and a sizing of bread. 1834 in Cottle Rem. Coleridge & Southey (1847) 304 What little suppers, or sizings, as they were called, have I enjoyed. 1852 Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (ed. 3) 20 Two tables .. which .. go through a regular second course instead of the ‘sizings’.

b. trarisf.

A share or allowance.

1822 Byron Werner iv. i, As for merriment And sport,.. our sizings were Even of the narrowest. 1885 Sat. Rev. 3 Jan. 1/1 There appears to have also been a .. tendency.. to stint the metropolitan counties of their sizings. f2. = assizing vbl. sb. Obs.~l aim to cess, & skale ^air gadering. 1582 St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 510 note, Unto suche tyme as the Kyng retorne homewardes, and scail his host. 1541 Ibid. V. 199 We ar contentit pat baith ye armyis in all partis be skalit. 1598 Extr. Aberd. Reg. (1848) II. 174 Gif the said schooll be dissolvit and skaillit, it will tend to the prejudice of the youth of this town. 1791 Learmont Poems 43 Stick baith the sermon an’ the tune, An’ skale the kirk. 1886 ‘H. Haliburton’ Horace 11 Then Patie’s waukened wi’ a kick, An’ skells the meetin’. reft. 1375 Barbour Bruce xii. 465 3e sail se als soyne at thai .. sail brek aray, And scale thame, our harness to ta.

fb. To break up (one’s home). Obs. c 1550 Rolland Crt. Venus 1. 551 Men & wemen hes skalit thair hale houshald. 1567 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 516 Diverse .. landis are laid waist, and mony honest houshaldis constrenit to skaill thair houssis. 1637 Rutherford Lett. 1. clxxxii. (1664) 352 Were it not that want paineth me, I should have skailed house & gone a begging long since.

fc. To annul (a proclamation). Obs.~x a 1583 Sir J. Balfour Practicks (1754) 345 To proceid aganis ony persoun that aucht to keip proclamatioun, the samin standand vndischargit or skaillit.

|6. To compel (an army, etc.) to scatter or disperse; to put to flight, to rout. 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 428 And Douglas.. full egirly Assalit, and scalit thame hastely. Ibid. vn. 299 Fortoun has traualit vs this day, That scalit vs so suddandly. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. 1492 Befor pe laif pai knychtis pen.. Pressit paim fast to skayl pat rowt. 1482 Caxton Treviso's Higden ill. xiv, And there his men were beten.. and skayled euery from other. 1533 Bellenden Livy 1. x. (S.T.S.) I. 57 To skail pame in sindry partis he began to fle. 1581 Satir. Poems Reform, xliv. 328 Iudas sail luge 30U, and God sail scale 3our nest, a 1600 Floddan F. viii. (1664) 73 The gray gooswing did work such greif, And did the Scots so skoure and skaile. 1732 Eben. Erskine Serm. Wks. 1871 I. 485 By the fall of Adam the family was skailt. 1843 Coquetdale Fishing Songs (1852) 109 Deil scale the byke frae Redlees Syke.

fb. To raise (a siege). Obs. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. 2970 Sa sail we pruff pat sege to skail, or gar remuff. 1533 Bellenden Livy 11. vi. (S.T.S.) I. 147 How Caius mucius.. causit porsena to scale his sege. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform, xxxix. 60 To Glasgow [they] past with mony trapit steid, Thair skalit the sege.

III. 7. In passive: To be in a scattered or dispersed condition. a 1300 Cursor M. 22304 Cummen I am to gedir yow pat has been scaild ai to nu. 1375 Barbour Bruce xii. 466 Quhen we se thame scalit swa, Prik we than on thame hardely. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 282 The chas was gret, scalyt our breid and lenth. 1513 Douglas JEneid vi. xi. 58 The byssy beis .. On diuers colorit flouris scalit wyde. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 45 Money of the earleis freindis being skailed of the toune. 8. intr. Of persons, assemblies, etc.: To

separate, disperse, break up, scatter. e on worde rede.

2. trans. ? To spread or scatter hurriedly. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1186 J?enne was )?e sege sette pe Cete aboute, Skete skarmoch skelt, much skafe lached. Ibid. 1206 H^e skelt was pe askry pe skewes an-vnder.

Hence f 'skelting vbl. sb. Obs. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1089 The Grekys .. Skairen out skoutewacche for skeltyng of harme. Ibid. 6042 With skowte wacche for skathe & skeltyng of harme.

skelter (’skelt3(r)), v. [f. the second element in

fskelp, a. Obs.~x [f. next.] Good for galloping on (cf. SKELPING vbl. sb.).

helter-skelter.] intr. To dash along, hurry, rush, scurry.

1607 Markham Caval. in. (1617) 30 But if he haue not sweat at all, then you shall vpon some faire skelpe earth gallop him till you make him sweat.

1852 R. F. Burton Falconry Valley Indus i. 8 Those that were on the wing began skeltering in headlong flight. 1868 Wallace Malay Archip. 65 Numbers of women skeltered away as I walked through the village. 1899 Daily News 24 Nov. 4 They will come skeltering back fast enough.

skelp, v.1 Chiefly north, and Sc. Also 5-6 skelpe, 9 scelp. [prob. imitative.] 1. trans. To strike, beat, slap, smack, in later use spec, on the breech. a 1400-50 Alexander 1924 Ledis me him hedire, pat I may him skelp with a skorge. CI440 York Myst. xxxiii. 338 Skelpe hym with scourges and with skathes hym scorne. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 2207, I shall skelpe the on the skalpe; lo, seest thou that? 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. v. iii, I’m friends wi’ Mause,.. Altho’ they skelpit me. 1797 Brydges Horn. Trav. II. 348 Euripylus, who saw them skelp him, Resolved at any rate to help him. 1861 Reade Cloister & H. Iii, Why not take ’em by twos across thy knee, and skelp em till they cry Meculpee? 1888 F. Hume Madame Midas 1. iii, They should hae been skelped for their idleness. absol. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 133 She scolds at the lasses, she skelps at the bairns.

b. To drive with blows. 1824 in Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 126 Mons Meg we’ll drag out, and we’ll thunner him down, We’ll skelp him to hell. 1861 R. Quinn Heather Lintie (1863) 131 My fair opponents skelp me aff. 1876 Smiles Sc. Natur. i. 17 A byke was regarded as a glorious capture,.. because of the fun the boys had in skelpin’ out the bees.

2. E. Anglia.

To kick violently.

01825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia 303 Skelp, to kick with violence. 1895 Rye E. Angl. Gloss.

3. intr. To skip, trip, walk, or run rapidly; to hurry. Also with it. 1721 Ramsay Rise & Fall of Stocks 68 Instead of coach, on foot they skelp it. 1786 Burns Holy Fair ii, Three hizzies, early at the road, Cam skelpan up the way. 1790- Tam o’ Shanter 81 Tam skelpit on thro’ dub and mire. 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf vi, If he will not take warning,.. and no keep skelping about here. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Skelp, to move quickly, to skelp away. 1902 Belloc in Academy 3 May 453/1 Two hundred leagues and a half Marched I, skelped I, slipped I.

skelp, v.2 [? f. skelp sb.2, or a special use of prec.] trans. To beat out into a skelp. Hence 'skelping vbl. sb.2 (in quot. attrib.). 1803 A ris's Gaz. (Birmingham) 26 Dec. 2/4 (Advt.), Lot 1. A forge and mill.. recently used as a plating or skelping forge. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 139 The sheet, when drawn from the furnace, is skelped upon the floor, or on an iron plate.

'skelper1. dial. [f. skelp v.‘] One who slaps or smacks; also, a specially large thing or tall person. 1790 Burns To a Gentleman, etc. 7 That vile doupskelper, Emperor Joseph. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss., Skelper, a large thing of any kind. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss., Skelper, a tall, lanky youth.

'skelper2. [f. SKELP ».2] forging skelps.

A hammer used in

Hence 'skeltering ppl. a. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xxii, After the long dry skeltering wind of March.., there had been a fortnight of soft wet.

skelton, obs. form of skeleton. Skel'tonian, a. [-ian.] = Skeltonical. 1867 Hales in H. & Furnivall Bp. Percy's MS. I. 211 Some Skeltonian doggrel about the famous fight. 1889 Lowell Latest Lit. Ess. (1891) 139 Did not Skelton borrow his so-called Skeltonian measure from France?

Skel'tonic, a. and sb.

[-IC.]

a. adj. = next.

1843 Dyce in Skelton's Wks. I. p. cxxix, A poem called Philargyrie .. has been frequently mentioned as a ‘Skeltonic’ composition. 1938 L. MacNeice Mod. Poetry 190 Witness his [sc. Auden’s] Skeltonic polemic. 1954 C. S. Lewis Eng. Lit. in Sixteenth Cent. 1. i. 72 Pars Prima is in rough trimeters of Skeltonic type. Ibid. ii. 137 There would be no problem if all Skelton’s Skeltonic poems had been on this

b. sb. pi. Skeltonical lines.

Also sing.

1908 G. Saintsbury in Camb. Hist. English Lit. II. 212 Irregular octosyllables, sometimes approaching ‘Skeltonics’. 1923 A. Huxley in Athenaeum 12 Nov. 655/2 Skelton, whose .. variations on the decasyllable are mostly .. rough skeltonics. 1936 N. & Q. 21 Nov. 362/1 The Skeltonic consists of short verses of two, three or four accents .. varying in syllabic content.. and rhyming in groups of anything from two to five or more lines at a time. 1954 C. S. Lewis Eng. Lit. in Sixteenth Cent. 1. ii. 136 The problem about the source of Skeltonics sinks into insignificance beside the critical problem. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Mar. 295/3 [Hood’s] ‘A Public Dinner’ catches exactly in its breathless Skeltonics the noise and hurry of the occasion.

Skeltonical (sksl'tDnikal), a.

[f. the name Skelton (see def.) + -ical.] Of verse: Pertaining to, or characteristic of, John Skelton (c 1460-1529); consisting of short irregular lines with frequent running on of the same rime. 1589 in Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry xxxiii, A Skeltonicall salutation .. Of the Spanish nation. 1601 Munday Downf. Earl of Hunt. III. iii. I ij, You fall into your vaine, Of ribble rabble rimes, Skeltonicall. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. 11. 245 A Skeltonicall salutation to those that know how to reade. 1843 Dyce in Skelton’s Wks. I. p. evii, Examples of the metre called Skeltonical. Ibid. p. cxxix, Which has some Skeltonical lines. Ibid., Various Skeltonical passages. 1873 Morley Eng. Lit. (1886) 217 This form of verse, which has been called Skeltonical, appeared in the delicately playful Boke of Phyllyp Sparowe.

'Skeltonize, v. rare_1. [f. as prec. + -ize.] intr. To compose Skeltonical verse. 1822 Scott Nigel v. motto, Skelton Skeltonizeth.

1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 139 Which was formerly done almost exclusively by the forge-hammer or skelper.

skelum, obs. form of skelm sb.

skelpie-limmer. hussy.

'skelvy, a. Sc.

Sc.

[f. skelp w.1]

A jade,

1611 Cotgr., Bigle, skenning, squinting, looking askew, or nine waies at once. Ibid., Vuarlouque squinteyed, skenning, askew-looking. 1688 Holme Armoury 11. 427/1 Squint Eyed, to sken or look awry. 1694 Crowne Married Beau Epil., Then on her cullies she begins to sken; She pats their cheeks, and calls ’em—pretty men. 1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss. 95 Sken, to squint. 1818- in northern and north-midland dialect glossaries, etc. 1861 Waugh Birtle Carter's T. 14 Skens a bit, lass!.. He skens ill enough to crack a lookin’-glass.

skene1 (skim). Now Hist, or arch. Forms: a. 6-7 skayne (6 scayne), skaine, 8 skane. /J. 6-7 (9) skeyne, 6 skeyn, 6-7 skeine, 7- skein, y. 6-7, 9 skene (7 skine), 7-8 skeen (7 -e), 9 skien. 8. 6-7 skeane, 7- skean. e. 8-9 skian. [a. Irish (and Sc.) Gaelic scian, sgian (genitive sceine, seine) knife (cf. W. ysgien). The a and /3 forms prob. represent the Gaelic ones with ei, and the others those with ia or i.] 1. A form of knife or dagger, in former times one of the chief weapons of the Irish kerns, and also in use among the Scottish Highlanders. The word was also loosely applied by writers of the 16th and 17th centuries to a dagger or small sword of any kind. a. 1527 Will of Bolde (Somerset Ho.), My blak sattyn doblet, my skayne, & a paire of blak hoses, a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V, 60, xvi. hundreth Ireshmen armed in mayle with dartes and skaynes after the maner of their countrey. 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. v. 220 Persey thrust him through the hart with Hermes hooked skaine. 1600 Holland Livy xxii. xlviii. 461 Short daggers or skaines hidden under their cuirasse and harnesse. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxii. 1579 For their weapons [they] had but Irish Skaines and Darts. 1735 Phil. Trans. XL. 426, I was called to Thomas Conway, who had received a Wound with a Skane or great Knife. /3. 1530 Palsgr. 271/1 Skeyne a knyfe. 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices ill. (1540) 128 Therof rose bearyng of skeynes and murdrers. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 42/2 The bill against the spar, and the sword against the skeine. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 431 A certaine shag¬ haired fellow.. drawing out his skeine or short curtle-axe. at we englene ivere Mawe beon o buten ende. c 1330 Amis & Amil. 843 Darstow into bataile go, A1 quite and skere you make? c 1395 Plowman’s Tale 987 Of the bishop he hath powere To soyle men..; His absolucion may make hem skere.

b. Const, of sin, etc. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 424/140 Ich am her In mi purgatorie, forte ich beo of mine sunnes seker. 13.. Ibid. (MS. Bodl. 779) in Herrig’s Archiv LXXXII. 311/238 [Christ] was bore of pe mayde pat was of sinne skere. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 203 He schulde be skeer of his synnes.

2. Free from injury, harm, or molestation; unhurt, unmolested; also const, of. Freq. in quit and skere. a 1225 Juliana 50 We schulen sechen efter wrake .. pat ne schulen ha beon sker of ure weorre. c 1275 Passion of Our Lord 372 At eure Muchele feste euervyche yere Schal ich pere gywene kyng lete gon al skere. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7936 \>e kyng pankede God ho. hat so quit & sker had lat hym go. a 1400 Lybeaus Disc. 297 For love of swete Jhesus, Now let us passe skere.

3. Destitute, devoid, of something.

skep, v. [f. prec.]

2. intr.

1951 P. Abraham Wild Conquest I. 1. ii. 48 All they are going to do is to stop working for us. So that skepsel Johannes says. 1953 M. Murray Fire Raisers xiv. 131 How can we bring up our children decently when there are skepsels like that about? 1968 K. McMagh Dinner of Herbs 32 You know how the volk love meat and don’t mind where it comes from. Poor skepsels! 1975 W. M. MacMillan My S. Afr. Years 143 There was I remember one terrible case of a horrible old rascal who sold his step-daughter to a Hottentot. I remember that the schepsel was soundly punished.

rare—

1842 Dumfries Herald Oct., Flowers as thick as swarms of bees a-skepping.

Hence 'skepping vbl. sb. 1883 J. Martin Remin. Old Haddington 322 The keeping and skeping of bees.

skepe, obs. pa. t. scape v. skepen, -on, obs. forms of schepen. 'skepful. Also -full. [f. skep sb. + -ful2.] The fill of a skep; as much as a skep will contain. Also figc 1570 Durh. Deposit. (Surtees) 195 She borre one skepfull of sande to the buyldynge of the aulter. Ibid., 2 skepfull of clay. 1832 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. lxii. in Blackw. Mag. Sept. 402 Why, the ballads swarm out every morning by the skep-full. 1855 [Robinson] Whitby Gloss, s.v. Skep, The tithes of certain grain were paid to Whitby Monastery in ‘Skepfuls’, but the specific amount of a skepful does not appear. 1906 N. & Q. Ser. x. V. 45/1 A log of wood, a bushel of corn, or a skepful of some farm produce.

f’skepper. Obs. Also 6 scepper. [f. skep sb.] A maker of skeps. 1499Nottingham Rec. III. 300 Edmund Bartlet, skepper. 1527 in Non-Cycle Myst. Plays p. xxx, Bagmakers, Sceppers, Wyerdrawers & Cardmakers.

skepping, variant of skipping vbl. sb.2 II skepsel ('skepsal). S. Afr. colloq. Also schepsel. [Afrikaans skepsel, Du. schepsel, f. scheppen to create.] A creature; freq. used as a derogatory designation for a Black or Coloured person. Also attrib. or as adj. 1844 J. Backhouse Narr. Visit to Mauritius & S. Afr. xxxiv. 620 The coloured, who are generally styled Heathens, Schepsels, Creatures. 1899 B. Mitford Weird of Deadly Hollow 125 Your baas? Confound you, it's my buck. Leave it alone, you schepsel. 1920 R. Y. Stormberg Mrs. Pieter de Bruyn 96 Swartz was called a Hottentot, a Shangaan, a skepsel and a few other elegant compliments, and being a full-blooded and-very proud Basuto his eyes rolled at the insult. 1943 J. Burger Black Man's Burden 67 The Boer farmer treats his workers in a kindly and tolerant fashion; he does not refer to them as ‘bloody niggers’, but as skepsels.

C1250 Doomsday 78 in O.E. Misc. 166 G08 awariede gostes, feondes ifere, In-to berninde fur; of blisse 3e beoh skere.

4. Skere Thursday, = Skire Thursday. Sc. Cf. Norw. skjaer-. Da. skaer-, Sw. skdrtorsdag. 1498 Acc. Lord High Treas. Scot. I. 384 To serue the pur men of thair siluir on Skeyr Thurisday at the seruice. 1498 in Rec. Old Aberdeen (1899) 15 Nundinas. .in Cena Domini ante Pascha vulgariter nuncupata Skeyrthurisday.

B. adv.

Quite; entirely; altogether.

a 1225 Leg. Nath. 867 Al ich forsake her, & cweSe ham al sker up. c 1275 Moral Ode 159 in O.E. Misc. 63 He myhte helle fur.. schonye, And lete sker al pes worldes weole. a 1400 Lybeaus Disc. 1914 Maboun .. To-karf that sworde .. A twynne quyt and skere.

t skere, v. Obs. Also 3 skeren, 4 skeri, -y, sekere, skiere. [Related to prec.: cf. MSw. and Sw. skdra, MDa. skiaere, to cleanse, purify, clear (a person), etc.] 1. trans. To free (a person) from blame or accusation; to acquit (one) of a penalty or charge; to clear, exculpate. a 1225 Ancr. R. 308 3if hu wreiest he wel her, God wule unwreien he her, and skeren mid alle. C1275 Fragm. Song 7 in O.E. Misc. 101 He vs skere of he tyhing, hat sunfule schulle an-vnderfon. c 1400 Launfal 795 They seyden .. Hyt was long on the quene, and not on Launfal, Therof they gonne hym skere.

2. refi.

To clear (oneself) of a charge, etc.

a 1250 Owl & Night. 1302 Bute hit of wicchecrafte were par of pu wrecche most pe skere. 13 .. K. Alis. 3995 (Laud MS.), Of traisoun me wil I skere. fI320 Pol. Songs (Camden) 156 Of scathe y wol me skere. CI425 Set’en Sages (p ) 3398 Bot thou may the fayrer skere Of that thyn sone haves tolde here.

b. Without construction, or with clause. CI275 Lutel soth Sermun 85 (Jesus Coll. MS.), Euer heo wule hire skere ne com hire no mon neyh. 1-1290 5. Eng. Leg. I. 99 He tormentede pare-fore manie Men pat ne mbten heom noujt skere. 13.. K. Alis. 3998 (Laud MS.), Antiochus seide, ‘pou ne mijth pe skere’.

c. To defend or save (oneself). 1390 Gower Conf. I. 58 In this wise himself he skiereth, So that he hath the wordes weyved And thurgh his Ere is noght deceived. Ibid. 175 Sche lieveth noght al that sche hiereth, And thus fulofte hirself sche skiereth.

Hence f 'skering vbl. sb. Obs. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6885 Ac 3if.. heo hire skeringe do after mi lokinge. 01400 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 6958 To do my penaunce [MS. a. sekeringe].

skere, obs. f. scare. skerel(e, varr. of scarle Obs.

SKERF skerf: see skerl, var.

scarle Obs.\ obs. f. skirl v.

skerling, var.

skirling sb.

skerlyt, obs. form of scarlet sb. and a. llskerm (skerm).

South Africa. Also skarm, scherm, schirm. [Afrikaans skerm, a. Du. scherm, = G. schirm screen, protection.] a. A screen or barrier constructed of brushwood or the like, to serve as a protection for troops, as an ambuscade from which to shoot game, or to prevent cattle from straying, b. A temporary dwelling used by nomads. 1835 A. Smith Diary 4 Nov. (1940) II. 272 Have neither cattle nor chiefs, cut all the hair off, use red clay, have no fixed residence, make skerms under a bush. 1861 C. J Andersson Okavango xxv. 262 A few bushes having been cut down, and a sort of skarm constructed, we both ensconced ourselves at night-fall therein. 1864 T. Baines Explor. in .S'.-11" Afr. 131 Two or three schemas for night¬ shooting had been thrown up. 1885 Rider Haggard Solomon’s Mines iv, We went to work to build a scherm. 1894 E. Glanville Fair Colonist xxiv. 186 The gentlemen, you know, will take a tent, and our dining-room will be a skerm. ‘Good gracious! what is that?’ ‘A large canvas drawn over the waggon-top and stretched out to some trees, with canvas sides and an open front.’ 1905 Outlook 29 July 124/1 \yith a terrific crash a mob of cattle burst from their scherm of thorns. 1936 C. Birkby Thirstland Treks x. 118, I saw white men living in skerms—huts made of matting laid over frames of thorn-bush boughs. 1943 D. Reitz No Outspan 70 Lion roared about our skerm. i960 Africa 4 Oct. 343 It always amuses me to speak of residence when I visualize the nomadic IKung.. building their nest-like grass shelters (scherms) for a stay of a few weeks. 1963 R. Lewcock Early igth Cent. Architecture in S. Afr. viii. 137 In the small frontier farmhouses cooking was done in the open air, behind a simple screen shelter, or ‘skerm’.

skermish(e, etc., skerre,

sketch

593 scarf sb.2

obs. ff. skirmish.

obs. f. scar sb.1, scare v.

skerret, -it,

obs. ff. skirret1.

skerrick ('skerik). Now chiefly Austral, colloq. (orig. dial.). Also skerrik, Sc. skourick; 9 scurrick, skirrack, skirrick, skurrick. [Origin uncertain: cf. scuddick.] f 1. (See quot.) Obs. 1823 Grose’s Diet. Vulgar T. (ed. Egan), Scurrick, a halfpenny. Cant.

2. A small amount; a small fragment; the slightest bit. Usu. in neg. contexts. 1825 Jamieson Etym. Diet. Sc. Lang. Suppl. 407/2, I care nae a skourick. 1841 R. W. Hamilton Nugae Literariae 359 Skerrick, the smallest thing or fraction. ‘Not a skerrick remaining.’ ‘Not worth a skerrick.’ 1859 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words 6? Phr. Cumberland 104 Nay, aa 1 nut give a skurrick mair. 1863 Bairnsla Foak's Annual 14 A son ov hiz woddant gie a skirrick a nowt ta noabdy. 1873 Halifax Orig. Illuminated Clock Almanack 11 He cooarted a lass ’at didn’t care a skirrack fur him. 1890 J. D. Robertson Gloss. Dial. &? Arch. Words used in County of Gloucester 135 You shan’t use a scurrick of anything that belongs to me. 1916 Bulletin (Sydney, N.S.W.) 16 Mar. 47/1 Nothing found at all of them? Not a skerrick. 1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xxv. 269 These wadless blokes of the Never-Never have to pay road, car, petrol, State, Federal and Unemployment Relief taxes, and never get a skerrick in exchange. 1947 H. Drake-Brockman Fatal Days 116 Eddie had rushed off without leaving a skerrick of kindling; he often did. 1962 A. Upfield Will of Tribe i. 13‘And no tracks ..you said.’ ‘Not a skerrik of a track.’ 1969 D. Clark Nobody's Perfect v. 139 ‘Any luck?’ ‘Not a skerrick,’ said Green. 1972 South China Morning Post 18 Aug. 5/2 The felon was made to pick up every skerrick of refuse. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds vii. 143 If I had paid you a skerrick of attention it would have been all over Gilly in record time.

f skerry, sb.1 Obs. Also 6 skerrey. [Of obscure origin.] (See later quots.) 1540-1 Will W. Coney (Somerset Ho.), A little boote otherwyse callyd a Skerrey. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 1. 531 Little punts or boats that will carry but two apeece (which they call Skerries). 1851 Sternberg Northampt. Dial., Skerry, a small boat, formerly much used in the fenny districts. 1861 Smiles Engineers I. 25 Islands .. to which the Croyland men went in their boats or skerries to milk the cows -the boats being so small that they could carry only two men and their milk-pails.

skerry ('skeri), sb.2 [Orkney dial., f. ON. sker (Norw. skjer, Sw. skar, Da. skser), whence also Gael, sgeir.] A rugged insulated sea-rock or stretch of rocks, covered by the sea at high water or in stormy weather; a reef. 1. a. With reference to Scotland, esp. those parts of it formerly under Scandinavian influence. 1612 Sc. Acts, Jas. VI (1816) IV. 481/1 Ony landis, annuel-rentis, lies, skerreis, holmes .. within the erldome of Orknay. 1654 Blaeu Atlas Scotia 135 Minim® partes vocantur Scopuli (vulgari apud Incolas Orcadum nomine Skerries). 01688 T. Wallace Descr. Orkney (1693) 93. 1795 Statist. Acc. Scot. XV. 300 Near this Pentland Skerry, there are two or three other skerries or rocks, on which there is not nourishment for any tame living creature. 1805 Barry Orkney Islands 18 There are several [islands] which are overflowed at high water, and have scarcely any soil.. . These.. are called Skerries. 1823 Scoresby Jrnl. Whale Fish. 373 The islands, or skerries, which.. skirt the forbidding coast on the western side of the Hebrides. 1875

W. MHlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 62 The rocks stretch seaward in rugged ledges and skerries.

b. In general use. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. v. (1856) 40 Rocky islets known to the Danes as ‘skerries’. 1870 Morris Earthly Par II. in. 512, I see his black bows strike The hidden skerry. 1885 S. TROMHOLT/Iaroro Borealis II. 251 Between islands and tiny skerries, the steamer speeds on.

2. Without article. 1847 H. Miller Test. Rocks i. (1857) 19 Rock and skerry are brown with sea-weed, a 1856 -Rambles Geologist in Cruise of 'Betsey' (1858) 273 The tempest weltered round reef and skerry. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas, Coastwise L. i, From reef and rock and skerry- over headland, ness, and voe.

skerry ('skeri), a. and sb.3 [Of uncertain origin.] 1. adj. Of the nature of shale; shaly, slaty. a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, Skerry, shaley.. . Derb. Spoken of coals. 1829 Glover's Hist. Derby I. 59 Brown skerry stone. 1876 Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. xvi. 296 Grey shale and thin skerry laminae.

2. sb. Earth or stone of a shaly nature. 1844 II. Hutchinson Pract. Drainage Land 140 From this depth .. was nine feet to the water, then one foot of yellow skerry and sand. 1881 Leicester Gloss. 240 Skerry, the thin, grey, partially laminated bands occurring in the red brick earth near Bosworth. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 224 Skerries, greenish-white micaceous sandstone.

skerry, Sc. variant of scarry a.1 a 1830 Thomas Rymer x. in Child Ballads I. 325/1 It’s dont ye see yon broad broad way, That leadeth down by yon skerry fell?

skers, skersytye,

obs. ff. scarce, scarcity.

skerth. dial. [? a. ON. skard: see

scarth s^.1] A

small watercourse. 1851 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. 11. 291 [Lincolnshire], The river. . is augmented by numerous highland streams, ‘delphs and skerths’, on each side. Ibid. 302 A network of drains, dykes, eaus, and skerths.

sketch (sketj), sb.

Also 7 scetch, schetch (schetse, schytz). [ad. Du. schets or G. skizze (fskitze, skize), neither of which is recorded before the 17th cent., ad. It. schizzo, whence also Sp. esquicio, F. esquisse (fesquiche): the source of the It. word is supposed to be L. *schedius (cf. schedia raft, schedium extemporaneous poem), Gr. tj^eSioy done or made off-hand, extempore. In the following examples the foreign origin of the word is still indicated by the spelling: 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent, p. xlvii, A Schytz or hasty Piece of Painting done by a great Hand is of great Value. 1693 P. Pett Barlow’s Rem. Pref. A viij b, Intending only what the Dutch Painters call a Schytz, and not a perfect Delineation or Draught. 1697 W. Pope Life Bp. Ward 149 The first Schetse of a Comedy calld the Paradox.]

1. a. A rough drawing or delineation of something, giving the outlines or prominent features without the detail, esp. one intended to serve as the basis of a more finished picture, or to be used in its composition; a rough draught or design. Also, in later use, a drawing or painting of a slight or unpretentious nature. a. 1668 [see 2]. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece Pref., Both he that designed it from my Scetch, and the Engraver after him. 1694 Phil. Trans. XVIII. 179 This .. moulding.. would be far better exprest by a Scetch that should.. represent the bottom and top of two of them. 0. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. n. 145, I have made a little Sketch of this which will serve to give an Idea of those of Tschehel-minar. 1709 Pope Ess. Crit. 23 As the slightest sketch, if justly trac’d, Is by ill-colouring but the more disgrac’d. 1751 Hollis in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 380 The Designs that have been taken of them hitherto, have been rather Sketches.. than accurate and exact Plans. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxii, In these little sketches she generally placed interesting groups characteristic of the scenery they animated. 1819 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) IV. viii. 246 Constable has offered Allan three hundred pounds to make sketches for an edition of the Tales of My Landlord. 1863 Geo. Eliot Rornola xviii, All about the walls hung pen and oil sketches of fantastic seamonsters. transf. 1713 Guardian No. 149, We have a kind of sketch of dress, if I may so call it, among us, which .. is called a Dishabille. 1831 Scott Ct. Robt. iii, But in this respect his fancy probably filled up the sketch which his conjectures bodied out. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 242 His [sc. the donkey’s] bray is.. an experimental sketch for the neigh of her finished animal.

fb. (See quot.) Obs.~° 1688 Holme Armoury in. 149/1 Schetches, are touches on a Paper with the point of a Charcoal in drawing out of any Figure, and so by little and little running over the whole Work.

2. a. A brief account, description, or narrative giving the main or important facts, incidents, etc., and not going into the details; a short or superficial essay or study, freq. in pi. as a title. 1668 Charleton Ephesian & Cimm. Matrons 11. 76 Whereof I have here drawn no perfect Picture, but only a rude Scetch. 1715 Bentley Serm. x. 366 After this short but true sketch of Popery. 1744 Harris Three Treat. Wks. (1841) 5 Thus.. have you had exhibited to you a sketch of art. You must remember, however, it is but a sketch. 1780 Mirror No. 96, I offer you a small sketch of an incident, supposed to have happened in the times of our forefathers. 1831 D. E. Williams Sir T. Lawrence II. 301 [This] renders necessary some sketch of the establishment of the Academy of painting in Ireland. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I.

7 Here our narrative, even as the merest sketch, comes to its natural close. (b) 1758 L. Temple Sketches Preface, The Author of the following Papers chuses to call them Sketches. 1835-6 Dickens (title), Sketches by Boz. 1876 D. Donovan (title). Sketches in Carbery, Co. Cork; its Antiquities [etc.].

b. The general plan or outline, the main features, of anything, rare. 1697 Dryden Virgil, Ess. Georgies (1721) I. 207 We are beholden to him [Theocritus] for the first rough Sketch of a Georgic. 1796-7 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xxvii, Everything. . was finally settled according to Charlotte’s first sketch. 1803 G. Ellis Let. in Lockhart Scott (1837) I. xi. 394 If the sketch of that story was previously known.

3. Mus. a. A short piece, usu. for the pianoforte, either slight in construction or vividly descriptive. c 1840 Sir W. S. Bennett (title), Three Musical Sketches.

b. A preliminary study made during the progress of, or in preparation for, a finished work or composition. 1883 Grove's Diet. Mus. III. 528 The Movement. . affords us examples both of preliminary sketches and an amended _ whole. Ibid. 529 The volume presents some intensely interesting sketches for an Andante.

4. A short play or performance of slight dramatic construction and usually of a light or comic nature (see quot. 1892); also, a musical performance by one person, in which playing, singing, and talking are combined. 1789 W. Dunlap Darby's Return (title-page), A comic sketch. As performed .. for the benefit of Mr. Wignell. 1829 H. Foote Compan. to Theatres 74 Satirical sketches, or slight comic pieces on the follies of the day, have likewise been produced here with good effect. 1861 Mayhew Lond. Lab. (ed. 3) III. 132/2 We always did a laughable sketch entitled Billy Button’s Ride to Brentford. 1881 Daily Telegr. 27 Dec., Mr. Corney Grain.. now gives a supplementary musical sketch, entitled ‘Master Tommy’s Theatricals’. 1892 Daily News 3 June 2/2 ‘Sketches’—the new name for small or condensed, and in some cases, mutilated stage plays, the acting time of which shall not be more than 40 minutes, and the performers in which shall not be more than six.

5. slang. A small quantity; a drop. 1894 Astley Fifty Years Life II. 258, I have had. .just a sketch of whisky with water from the burn.

6. A ridiculous sight, a very amusing person; so hot sketch, a comical or colourful person. slang. 1917 S. Lewis Job xx. 299 You women cer’nly are a sketch! 1921 H. C. Witwer Leather Pushers x. 269 This Roberts is a hot sketch for a fighter, anyways! 1925 E. Hemingway In Our Time (1926) 84 You’re a hot sketch. Who the hell asked you to butt in here? 1926 Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Diet. 9/2 He's a sketch, he’s comical. 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel v. 399 ‘He’s a hot sketch,’ said one of the girls to the other. 1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement xi. 604 You do look a sight, Dad... I never saw such a sketch.

7. attrib. and Comb., as sketch-block, -map, -pad [pad $6.3], -plan. 1782 R. Cumberland Anecd. Painters (1787) I. 194 His figures., are slight and sketch-like. 1872 W. W. Smyth Mining Stat. 38 The geological sketch-map, which accompanies this paper. 1886 Guide Exhib. Galleries Brit. Mus. 235 A sketch-plan of the Battle of Aboukir. 1892 Daily News 19 May 2/4 The practice of sketch artists, sketch authors, and sketch managers has been.. to pay copyright fees. 1893 Photogr. Ann. 281 You must.. practise with a pencil and sketch-block the.. foreshortening of objects. 1961 M. Spark Prime of Miss Jean Brodie iii. 64, I went to get a new sketch pad. 1981 Listener 5 Nov. 546/2 The drawings.. offering imaginative ideas to any child with a sketch-pad.

sketch (sketj), v. Also 7 scetch. [f. prec. or ad. Du. schetsen, G. skizziren.] 1. trans. To describe briefly, generally, or in outline; to give the essential facts or points of, without going into details; to outline. 1695 Dryden Dufresnoy's Art Paint. Pref. p. xii, To contemplate those Idea’s, which I have onely sketch’d, and which every man must finish for himself. 1751 J. Harris Hermes 1. ii. (1786) 19 Now a Sentence may be sketch’d in the following description. 1814 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) III. x. 312 The language most animated and poetical; and the characters sketched with a masterly enthusiasm. 1841-4 Emerson Ess. xix. Wks. (Bohn) I. 237 The history of the State sketches in coarse outline the progress of thought. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. 285 The history of the city will be more fittingly sketched at another stage.

b. With out (cf. 2 a). 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispetis. Ded., Could I but scetch out a faint Idea of Your Glorious Actions, a 1779 Warburton Wks. (1811) X. 201, I have at present nothing to do with its various abominations, here sketched out. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & B. II. xii. 302 To sketch out.. what we conceive to be a better mode of supplying some account of Madame de Sevigne. 1867 Ruskin Time & Tidexxm. §154, I have sketched out this scheme for you somewhat prematurely.

2. To draw the outline or prominent features of (a picture, figure, etc.), esp. as preliminary or preparatory to further development; to make a sketch or rough draught of (something); to draw or paint in this manner. a. With advs., as in, out, over. 1725 Watts Logic (J.), Some admirable design sketched out only with a black pencil, though by the hand of Raphael. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 66 For this purpose, a map of the soil is sketched out—we presume, from imagination. 1831 D. E. Williams Sir T. Lawrence I. 331 The pupil confined himself to pen and ink drawings, sketched over with Indian

SKETCH

SKEW

594

ink and bistre. 1886 G. Allen Maimie's Sake i, He sketched in lightly the face and figure. transf. 1818 Hazlitt Charac. Shaks. Plays (1838) 244 This is little more than the first outlines of a comedy loosely sketched in.

b. Without qualifying term. 1786 Reynolds Notes Mason's tr. Dufresnoy xi, The method of Rubens was to sketch his compositions in colours. 1807 Hutton Course Math. (ed. 3) II. 73 Sketching on the sides the shape or resemblance of the fences or boundaries. 1855 Tennyson The Brook 102 Sketching with her slender pointed foot Some figure.. On garden gravel. i860 Tyndall Glac. 1. xxvii. 213, I sketched some of the crystals. transf. 1847 De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun vi, She had soon sketched and finished a dashing pair of Wellington trousers.

c. intr. To admit of sketching. 1883 Holme Lee Loving fi? Serving I. ii. 27 Those poke bonnets .. sketched well.

3. intr. or absol. To practise sketching; to draw or paint sketches. 1874 R Tyrwhitt Our Sketching Club 29 If you will only practise measuring heights and distances with thumb and pencil, whenever you sketch,

b. To proceed in a sketchy manner. (Cf. prec. 4-)

1888 Howells Annie Kilburn xv, We have to cut some of the business between Romeo and Juliet, because it’s too long, you know... But we sketch along through the play.

sketch, Sc. f.

skate sb.2 and v. (see Eng. Dial.

Dict.)\ dial. f. scatch sb.1 (a stilt).

sketcha'bility.

[f. as next + -ity.] The quality

of being sketchable; suitability as a subject for a

sketch. 1840 T. A. Trollope Summer in Brittany I. 253 To .. try the sketchability of a water-mill. 1883 H. James Portraits of Places 48 In the wonderful.. Genoese alleys the traveller is really up to his neck in the old Italian sketchability.

sketchable ('sketjab^jl), a.

[f.

sketch

i\]

Suitable for being sketched; effective as the subject of a sketch. 1862 H. Marryat Year in Sweden II. 182 Wyk, a place most sketchable, situated on a branch of the fiord. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile 533 Thinking to find a sketchable point of view inland, we struck down towards the plain.

'sketch-book. [f. sketch sb.] 1. A book having leaves of drawing-paper specially reserved sketches in.

or

adapted

for

incompletion, and from exaggeration. 1885 Athenaeum 6 June 719 The tendency to sketchiness is not great where the materials .. lie .. ready to the hand.

b. techn. (See quot.) 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 173 Sketchiness is the technical term for the tendency of patterns to show lines of spacing across the cloth in a way that is objectionable.

sketching ('sketfirj), vbl. sb. [f. sketch v.] 1. The action of the verb sketch; something sketched, a sketch. Also with down. 1824 W. Irving Life & Lett. (1864) II. 226, I enjoy the first conception and first sketchings down of my ideas. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 215 You remember poor George’s fondness for picturesque views and sketching. 1884 Athenaeum 5 Jan. 20/1 It was a crazy oddity with much scribbling and even schoolboy-like sketching by some one in the last century. 2. attrib.f as sketching-basket, -block, -book,

-case, -club, -pencil, -umbrella, etc.

-ramble,

-stool,

-tour,

1806-7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life vi. xxxv, In a sketching ramble—a charming morsel of the picturesque breaking out upon you. 1812 Combe Syntax, Picturesque iii. 212 His well-stuffd bags, with all their hoard Of sketching-tools. Ibid. xvm. 70 He., from his pocket took His pencil and his sketching-book. 1843 D. G. Rossetti Let. 7 July (1965) I. 16 There have been two meetings of the Sketching Club since your departure. 1848 Dickens Dombey xiv, A set of sketching materials. 1852 C. M. Yonge Two Guardians i. 9 They set off.. Marian carrying her little sketching-basket. 1861 G. Musgrave By-Roads France 45 Folding up my sketching stool and strapping it on to the havresac. 1865 G. M. Hopkins Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 86 Shewing a sketching-block, he asked if there would be any objection to his sketching there. 1874 R. Tyrwhitt Our Sketching Club 67 Get.. a good sketching-block. 1890 C. M. Yonge More Bywords viii. 269 There’s .. our sketching tour in August. 1902 A. Bennett Anna of Five Towns x. 247 Beatrice, with easel and sketching-umbrella. 1939-40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 375/1 Sketching umbrellas. Cream cover, lined green, wind valve, jointed stick, and spike, closes up to 34! in.—42/-.

'sketching,/>/>/. a. [f. sketch v. + -ing2.] That sketches; occupied with sketching. Hence 'sketchingly adv. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's iv, A sketching gentleman that lives .. at the Cleikum of Aultoun yonder. 1869 Pall Mall G. 16 Aug. 10 Telling., how he himself had been guide to Horace Vernet as he rode sketchingly along to his namesake’s dwelling-place.

making 'sketchist. rare. [f. sketch sb. 2 + -ist\ after novelist, etc.] A writer of literary sketches.

skete,

var. sheet sb.1, sheet adv. and a.

skethill, var. scathel a.

skeuomorph ('skju:3umo:f). [f. Gr. okcuos vessel, implement + popTj form.] 1. An ornament or ornamental design on an artefact resulting from the nature of the material used or the method of working it. 1889 H. Colley March in Trans. Lancs. & Cheshire Antiq. Soc. VII. x66 The forms of ornament demonstrably due to structure require a name. If those taken from animals are called zoomorphs, and those from plants phyllomorphs, it will be convenient to call those derived from structure, skeuomorphs. 1979 Nature 6 Dec. 632/2 So-called ‘skeuomorphs’ in architecture that involve conversion of originally necessary features into purely decorative patterns.

2. An object or feature copying the design of a similar artefact in another material. 1938 Proc. Prehistoric Soc. IV. 82 This necklace type is best known in jet from northern Britain, where it has.. provided the type of which the gold lunula is a skeuomorph. 1943 Antiquity XVII. 7 Stone skeuomorphs of wooden fences. 1977 [see skeuomorphic a. below]. 1981 Chartered Mechanical Engineer Sept. 20/3 ‘Skeuomorphs’ seem to be very common in motor car design, particularly where changes are made from ferrous metals to non-ferrous metals or plastics.

Hence skeuo'morphic a., of, pertaining to, decorated with, or having the character of a skeuomorph or skeuomorphs. 1889 H. Colley March in Trans. Lancs. & Cheshire Antiq. Soc. VII. 168 The transfer of thong-work from the flint axe, where it was functional, to the bronze celt, where it was skeuomorphic. 1895 A. C. Haddon Evol. Art 6 The reader is referred to the section on skeuomorphic pottery. 1905 [see anthropomorphic a. 2]. 1928 R. A. S. Macalister Archaeol. Ireland vi. 277 Celtic interlacement .. is skeuomorphic-, that is, it is derived from the patterns produced by a technical process—in this case, by weaving. 1930 J. L. Myres Who were Greeks? viii. 464 When a potter, working in red clay.. fashions clay vessels so that. . they resemble metal work or leather work or basketry.. his style is ‘skeuomorphic’. 1951 B. Z. Seligman N. & Q. Anthropol. (ed. 6) ill. 311 Note whether the design is., skeuomorphic. 1959 J. D. Evans Malta iii. 127 The skeuomorphic carving of some of the inner halls of the rockcut monument of Hal Saflieni. 1977 T. Shaw Unearthing Igbo-Ukwu 15 When something is originally made in one material and is then translated into another, but by its form and decoration reveals the original model which it imitates, this is called a ‘skeuomorph’, and the object in the new material is said to be ‘skeuomorphic’. Thus the bronze pot described is skeuomorphic of an ordinary pottery vessel.

Scott IV. vi. 197 Encountering some odd figure, armed with a sketch-book, evidently bent on a peep at the Great Unknown. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxii, Dobbin used to carry about for her her stool and sketch¬ book. 1884 Harper's Mag. Feb. 338/2 My friends take their sketch-books.

1837 Tait's Mag. IV. 576 The phrase might have been restricted to essayists, or, were the term admissible, sketchists. 1893 Star 22 June 1/8 The popular legal sketchist.

b. As the title of a book containing essays or studies of a more or less descriptive nature.

sketch-map: see sketch sb. 3.

skyveyne; 4 skyuen, 5 skywen. [ad. ONF. eskevein, var. of OF. eschevin (mod.F. echevin): see echevin and scabine.] A steward of a gild.

sketchy ('sketfi), a. [f. sketch sb. + -y.] 1. Giving only a slight or rough outline of the main features, facts, or circumstances without going into details: a. Of writings or authors.

1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 46 To chesen an Aldirman .. and foure skeuaynes, trost men and trewe, for to kepyn and reseyuen pe goodes.. of pe gilde. Ibid. 64 To chesyn alderman and skyueynys that ben profitable for the Gylde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 458 Skyveyne, of a gylde (5. skywen).

1837 Lockhart

1820 Irving (title), The Sketch Book of Geoffrey 1843 Thackeray {title). The Irish Sketch-Book.

2. A note-book containing a preliminary sketches or studies.

Crayon.

composer’s

1883 Grove's Diet. Music III. 528 Beethoven .. left behind him a whole library of Sketch-books. Ibid. 529 Some of the Sketch-books in the Royal Library at Berlin.

sketcher1 ('sketj^r)). [f. sketch v. + -er1.] 1. One who sketches a picture, portrait, etc. 1812 Combe Syntax, Picturesque 11. 128 I’ll do as other sketchers do—Put any thing into the view. 1831 D. E. Williams Sir T. Lawrence 1. 234 As a sketcher of likenesses, he disclosed the future power of the President. 1840 T. A. Trollope Summer in Brittany I. 70 As perfect a little domestic landscape as a sketcher could desire. 1888 W. P. Frith Autobiog. III. v. 137 Creswick, though by nature a lazy fellow, was a pretty constant sketcher.

b. One who writes an outline sketch, or who jots down preliminary memoranda. 1851 J. H. Newman Posit. Cath. Eng. 311 Those who write books about a people or a school are hardly more than extempore sketchers; or they paint from memory. 1883 Grove's Diet. Mus. III. 526 Others, again—the Sketchers, par excellence—began even their greatest works by noting down a few scraps of Subject, which they afterwards modified, enlarged, and improved.

2. An implement for sketching. 1894 Baring-Gould Des. S. France I. 159 With a sketcher of flint,.. a primeval man amused himself in delineating, .such animals as he pursued in the chase.

'sketcher2. Sc. Also 8 skyteher, 9 skatcher. [f. sketchy Sc. form of skate v.] A skate. For the Sc. sketcher, etc., a skater, see Eng. Dial. Diet. 1790 A. Wilson Rabby's Mistake Poet. Wks. (1846) 101 Owre the loch’s clear frozen face, On skytehers thrang, in airy chase, Flew mony a cheery chiel. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's iii, I thought sketchers were aye made of airn. 1865 G. Macdonald A. Forbes xxvi, A new strap for my skatcher.

sketchily ('skstfili), adv. [f.

sketchy a. + -ly2.] In a sketchy manner; without elaboration or detail. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Passion Princ. iii, The character of the lieutenant was sketchily given. 1870 Daily News 5 Dec., Her account of the country is lightly and sketchily written. 1886 G. Allen Maimie's Sake i, A few stray lines made to do duty sketchily for a rough idea of the imaginary picture.

sketchiness ('sketjinis).

+ -ness.] The state or condition of being sketchy. 1843 Ruskin

treatment

are

[f. as prec.

Mod. Paint. I. 11. viii. 119 His modes of alike removed from sketchiness or

1805 Edin. Rev. VII. 136 These two extremes, of meagre copying, and of imitation so free and sketchy as to leave no likeness, are to be found in our two translations of Homer. 1828 J. Sterling Ess. (1848) II. 50 Sketches of society,— very sketchy indeed,— .. make up the miscellany. 1854 S. Lover Handy Andy (ed. 4) Pref., A story thus originated could not be other than sketchy and desultory. 1884 Law Times LXXVI. 358/1 On particulars of breaches and of objections he is very sketchy.

b. Of style, etc. (in writing or painting). 1811 Self Instructor 527 This style of painting is intended to be light and sketchy. 1852 Motley Corr. (1889) I. v. 137 The thin, sketchy, and slight manner in which the whole was executed. 1871 Athenaeum 3 June 686 In the second volume .. The style is not so sketchy, but we have rather a fragment of a picture than the picture itself.

2. Of pictures, etc.: Of the nature of, or resembling, a sketch; consisting or composed of outline without much detail. >859 Gullick & Timbs Painting 288 A sketchy generalized resemblance of an object. 1864 I. Taylor in Good Words 231 These sketchy portraits, inserted.. in the very midst of the reported speeches. 1884 igth Cent. Jan. 31 The well-known column .. around which Landseer’s very sketchy lions watch. fig. 1817 Keats Lett. Wks. 1889 III. 96 It [Wordsworth’s ‘Gipsy’] is a kind of sketchy intellectual landscape. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey v. xv, A party of this kind should be more sketchy in its style; the outline more free, and less detail.

3. colloq. Of a light, flimsy, unsubstantial or imperfect nature. Also fig.

skeut, obs. f.

scout sb.3

fskevin. Obs. In 4 skeuayne, skeuyn, skyueyn, 5

fskevinage.

Obs. ONF. eskevinage, mod.F. echevinage): the jurisdiction of a

Also skun-, scunage. [ad. var. of OF. eschevinage see prec.] A district under local magistrate.

In English use only with ref. to the precincts of Calais. 1449 Rolls of Parlt. V. 149/2 Withoute the Towne, in the Procincte longing to the same, called the Skevinage. 1487 Ibid. VI. 404/2 Th’ Office of Baillyve of the Scunage of Calais. 1529 Lett. & Pap. Hen. VIII (1876) IV. iii. 2392 A house place .. within the scunage of Calais.

Skevington’s daughter, gyves, irons: see Scavenger’s daughter.

fskew, sb.1 Obs. Also 4 skewe, skwe, skiu, scue. [prob. of Scand. origin and related to sky rft.1] 1. The sky or heaven. 01300 E.E. Psalter xvii. 13 Mirke watres pat ware ofe hewe In pe kloudes of pe skewe. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 483 Ho [5c. the dove] skyrmez vnder skwe & skowtez aboute. C1375 Cursor M. 1341 (Fairf.), J>is tree was of sa mykil in sijt, pat to pe skew ra3t pe top. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10182 The skew [MS. skrew], for pe skrykyng & skremyng of folke, Redoundet with dyn.

2. pi. The skies, heavens, or clouds. c 1320 Cast. Love 1494 \> e wey he made vs to lede J>orw pe skewes [F. tiuwes], per he code. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1206 Hi3e skelt was pe askry pe skewes an-vnder. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9637 That day was full derke.. With a Ropand Rayne rut fro the skewes.

1878 H. S. Wilson Alpine Ascents i. 16 A scrappy sort of sketchy fragmentary breakfast. 1897 Mary Kingsley W. Africa 563 A house with no doors, and only very sketchy wooden window-shutters. 1943 E. B. White Let. 13 Mar. (1976) 238, I am hoping that my health (which has been rather sketchy lately) will improve. 1977 Horse & Hound 14 Jan. 7/3 He survived some decidedly sketchy jumps in the early stages.

skew (skju:), sb.2 Forms: 3 sc(u)we, 5 scue; 3

|| skete (ski:t). [ad. mod. Gr. okt)tos, f. Gr. doKTjTTjs monk, hermit.] An association of hermits belonging to the Greek Church.

1. fa. A stone specially intended or adapted for being placed with other similar ones to form the sloping head or coping of a gable, rising slightly above the level of the roof. Obs.

1869 Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 68 When a number of these retreats are assembled round a central church, a skete (aoKT)TT)piov) is formed, which in some cases differs from a monastery only in not possessing an independent constitution. 1887 Riley Athos 79 The sketes, or priories, have no voice in the government of the community.

scyue, skyue, 4 skewe, 7- skew (9 Sc. skeu). [ad. OF. escu (mod.F. ecu)-.—L. scutum shield. Both the OF. escu and L. scutujn occur in this sense in early accounts (1253) of Westminster Abbey: see G. Scott Westm. Abbey (1863) 239. The OF. word may also be the source of scu, a screen or partition, given in Promp. Parv. 450/2 and 468/2.]

1278 Bursar's Rolls, Merton Coll, in Archaeol. Jrnl. II. 143 Item eidem iij.s. iij.d. per xx pedibus in longitudine de quibusdam lapidibus qui vocantur seuwes et ponuntur in opere in tecto parve domus retro coquinam. 1288 Ibid., Item in xviij ped’ de skyues empt’ xviiyd, precium pedis j.d.

)

SKEW *359-6o Ely Sacr. Rolls II. 193 In iiijxx iiij ped. de skewes empt., prec. pedis j.d. [1445-6 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 392, 45I feet of ‘Scuez’. . are bought for the construction of the walls.] 1635 in Paterson Hist. Musselburgh (1857) 146. vij' double and single treis, and about jm, skewis. collect. 1428 in Heath Grocers' Comp. (1869) 6 Ashler, coyne, skew, ragge, chalke, flint, tyles, and estriche boarde! 1533 m Bayley Tower of London (1821) I. App. p. xxix, In skew and crests to the same spacys on the west side. Ibid., At the Juell Hows doore, iij. spacys covered w‘ skew and crest.

b. The line of coping on a gable. Chiefly Sc. *789 D. Davidson Seasons 43 High on the sklentin skew, or thatched eave, The sparrow .. Seeks out a dwelling-place. 1823 Galt Entail xlix, I paid . . the Glasgow mason .. for the count o’ his sklater that pointed the skews o’ the house. 1861 Stephens & Burn Farm-Buildings §279 There are no skews [in this gable], the slating projecting over the walls.

c. A skew-corbel (see 2). The genuineness of this sense is somewhat doubtful. 1845 Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 4) I. 340 The term skew is still used in the north for a stone built into the bottom of a gable or other similar situation to support the coping above.

2. attnb., as skew-corbel, -put, -stone, -table. Parker appears to have formed skew-table out of scutable, which is given by J. T. Smith Antiq. Westm. (1807) 207 in a translated document of 1330; on the same page occurs sencrestes, which may be a misreading of scu-crestes. 1 *833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §947 The gables are to be slated over, and the skew-stones (the coping-stones of the gables, called barge-stones in England) are to be laid over the slates, but to project 3 inches over., the walls. 1845 Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 4) 340 Skew-table was probably the course of stone weathered, or sloped, on the top, placed over a continuous set-off in a wall. 1850 Ogilvie, Skewcorbel, Skew-put, a stone built into the bottom of a gable to support the coping above. 1851 Turner Dorn. Archit. II. ii. 31 The spring stones or skew-tables of the gables.

3. A slate used in forming the gutter of a roof. 1899 Evesham Jrnl. 1 Apr. (E.D.D.), The centre one is the ‘bottomer’, on either side are two ‘tie-lyes’, and above and below in the next course two ‘skews’.

skew (skju:), sb.2 Also 7 scew. [f. skew a. or v.2] 11. A side-glance. Obs. rare. 1622 S. Ward Christ All in All (1627) 29 Whateuer good workes we doe with an eye from his, and a skew vnto our owne names,.. the more penaltie of pride belongs vnto vs. 1884 G. Forbes in W. Thomson Molecular Dynamics 289 So the coefficients sighed and gave a last tangential skew And a shook hands with b & c and S and T and U, And with a tear they parted.

2. a. A slant; a deviation from the straight line; an angle, esp. that at which a bridge spans a road or river; a sideward movement. 1688 Holme Armoury in. 261/2 Scew or Campher, is the cutting off of a corner of a Wall. 1840 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 232/2 The projections of all the lines of pressure are equal to .. each other,.. whatever may be the angle of the skew. 1885 Scientific American 1 Aug. 64 In the completed structure there are .. no two skews alike. 1903 Daily Chron. 18 Feb. 3/3 The skew in the chancel he attributes.. to an alteration having been carried out by rule of thumb.

b. transf. A slip, an error. 1869 Furnivall in Bk. Precedence Pref. p. xvii, Thus one of the many skews in the Harleian Catalogue was set straight.

c. on the (or a) skew, on the slant, slantwise. 1881 Young Every Man his own Mechanic §399. 175 All these bits are secured in the main stock on a skew. 1891 C. James Rom. Rigmarole 174 Birds that flew dead straight, birds that seemed to work on the skew. 1894 Times 22 Sept. 13/4 Over the Lune, which is crossed on the skew, the span is 350 ft.

3. Mining. (See quots.) 1789 T. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 27 Skews and backs are only local joints of an irregular curved figure, which often resemble hitches. Ibid. 330 A skew is an irregular discontinuous mineral fissure,.. which generally lies in a very slanting irregular position. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coalm. 224 Skews,.. irregularities in the roof indicating danger from falls.

4. Statistics. Skewness. 1974 Listener 7 Nov. 595/2 The skew in the graph is at both ends. 1978 Nature 2 Mar. 39/1 The distribution is not symmetrical but displays positive skew, a feature held in common with observations at lower frequencies.

fskew, sb.* Cant. Obs. [Of obscure origin ] A cup; a wooden dish. 1561 Awdelay Frat. Vacab. (1869) 83 A skew, a cuppe. 1641 Brome Joviall Crew 11. Fivb, This is Bien Bowse, this is Bien Bowse, Too little is my Skew, a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Skew, a Begger’s Wooden Dish. 1754 Song in Farmer & Henley Slang s.v., To thy Bugher [= dog] and thy Skew, Fitch and Jybes, I bid adieu.

skew (skju:), sb.5 Cornish dial. [? Cornish.] A drizzling rain; a driving mist. Also fig. 1839 W. E. Forster in Reid Life (1888) I. v. 128, I am in a regular Cornish skew as to the future,.. can’t see an inch before me. 1880- in Cornish glossaries.

skew (skju:), sb.6 Harrow slang. [Cf. skew v.5] a. A difficult passage for translation or explanation, b. An entrance examination held at the end of a term. Also attnb.

fskew, sb.8 Obs.-1 [Cf. scow sb.2 2.] A coracle. 1577 Harrison Descr. Brit. iv. in Holinshed I. 5/2 These Scots .. vsed .. to steale ouer into Britaine in leather skewes.

skew (skju:), a. and adv. Also 7 skue, scue. [Cf. skew v.2 and askew adv.] A. adj. 1. a. Having an oblique direction or position; turned to one side, slanting, squint. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xxx. xi. 397 He had with his gray eyes a skew cast at all times, and looked sterne. 1639 Crabtree Led. 106 Thy skew legges are so distant one from another, that it is unpossible that thou shouldest ever gall thine Ankles. 1651 H. More Enthus. Tri. (1712) 44 It is far easier for her to.. fetch in some odd skue conceit from a remote obscure corner, than to think of what is nearer. 1684 Burnet Theory Earth I. 195 Its right and parallel situation .. was chang’d into an oblique; in which skew posture it hath stood ever since. 1850 Parker Gloss. Archit. I. 429 The common coping of a wall, which consists of a sloped or skew surface surmounted by a roll moulding, i860 Wraxall Life in Sea v. 130 The skew mouth running vertically, make[s] their appearance something frightfully odious. 1881 E. B. Tylor Anthropology 63 The Tatar and Japanese faces show the skew eyelids of the Mongolian race.

f b. Distorted, perverted; macaronic. Obs. 1607 Brewer Lingua in. v, I remember about the yeare 1602. many vsed this skew kind of language.

c. Statistics. Of a statistical distribution: not symmetrical about its mean. Cf. skewed a.2 2. A distribution is said to be skew (or skewed) positively or to the right if its third moment about its mean is positive, so that its larger tail lies to the right; and conversely. 1894 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. CLXXXV. 107, I have succeeded in resolving this mortality-curve into components which are not.. all of the normal type, but become, as we approach infinite mortality, of the skew form. 1905 Drapers' Co. Res. Mem. (Biometric Ser.) II. 22 The theory of skew variation will give regression curves.. containing product terms in x and y. 1929 Jrnl. du Conseil IV. 219 The area of the curve has been reduced to about half its original dimensions, but it has not been rendered very skew. 1936 Bot. Rev. II. 229 The distributions of the less common grasses are markedly skew. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 210/2 The first is fairly symmetrical but discloses one outlying value; the second is notably skew to the right.

2. a. In special collocations, denoting that the thing in question deviates from a straight line, or has some part not at right angles with the rest, as skew arch, bridge, girder, etc., or skew bevel, chisel, facet, former, iron, etc.; skew gearing, gearing consisting of two cog-wheels having non-parallel, non-intersecting axes; so skew gear', skew nail, nailing (cf. skew-nail vb., sense 3). 1845 Ford Hdbk. Spain 1. 257 First observe a singular Moorish *skew arch. 1857 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. (ed. 3) II. 447, I speak of what are called Skew Arches, in which the courses of stone or brick of which the bridge is built run obliquely to the walls of the bridge. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 668 They fulfil the office of bevil wheels, or rather of *skew-bevil wheels. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 349/2 The teeth have then a peculiar form, and the wheels are called skew-bevels. 1838 Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 546, I have found a good story of a *skew bridge at Caen. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 245 The art of building oblique or skew bridges appears to have been known on the Continent as early as 1 530. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 354/1 One *skew, or corner chisel. 1881 Young Every Man his own Mechanic §644. 296 The tools used in carving are the chisel, the gouge, the skew-chisel, the parting tool. 1751 Jeffries Treat. Diamonds G? Pearls (ed. 2) Gloss., In Brilliants, there are two sorts, *skew or skill facets and star facets. 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc. iv. 74 The *Skew-Former .. is seldom used by Joiners, but for cleansing accute angles. 1908 J. Richardson Mod. Steam Engine ix. 159 Fig. 150 shows the usual bevel gear, and Fig. 1 51 the *skew gear now used in preference. 1929 Times 2 Nov. 4/7 The oil pump, driven by skew gear from the camshaft, is in the sump. 1975 Ryder & Bennett Mechanics of Machines iv. 112 Skew or spiral gears (which are helical gears of differing helix angles forming a mating pair) are used to transmit motion between non-intersecting shafts. .6] a. to be skewed, to fail in repetition, b. To fail in doing (a repetition). 1859 Farrar Eric 53 He would laugh when any one told him how he had escaped ‘skewing’ (i.e. being turned) by reading it off. 1899 ‘Martello Tower’ At School & at Sea 36 Skew. .signified failure in a lesson, as: ‘I skewed my rep (repetition) this morning’. 1905 H. A. Vachell The Hill iii, It doesn’t pay to be ‘skewed’.

fskewage, obs. variant of scavage. 1444 Rolls of Parlt. V. 68/1 Thei pay Skewage for the same merchaundises atte Suthampton. 1503 Ibid. VI. 550/2 An Act concerning Skavage or Skewage.

skew-back. [f. skew sb.3 or v.2 + back adv.] 1. Arch. The springing-line of an arch; the sloping surface on which either extremity of an arch rests; a course of stone or brickwork, an iron plate, etc., immediately supporting the foot of an arch. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 279 According to the breadth of the Piers between the Windows, so ought the Skew-back or Sommering of the Arch to be. Ibid. 280 The line AC, which is vulgarly called the Skew-back for the Arch. 1725 W. Halfpenny Sound Building 36 Set off the Skew-Back from / to E, and .. / will be the Centre to which the SkewBacks .. are directed. 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 34/1 The arching for the support of the stairs is to be .. springing from cut skew backs, and properly keyed in. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 87/1 A plate of cast-iron is usually laid upon the stone skew-backs, extending the whole width of the bridge. 01878 Sir G. Scott Led. Archit. II. 40 The arches are turned in Roman bricks,.. a steep skewback being formed for their springings.

b. A ring on the inside wall of a blast-furnace, by which the area is diminished. 1884 Knight Did. Mech. Suppl. 820/1.

2. Mech. A cap or other casting made to receive the end of a diagonal rod or brace.

skewbald ('skjuibold, -bo:ld), a. and sb. Also 7 skewbal’d, 8-9 -ball, 9 squebald. [Cf. skewed a.1 and piebald.] A. adj. Of animals, esp. horses: Irregularly marked with white and brown or red, or some similar colour.

as variants of cover v., and newt from earlier evet.

Properly distinct from piebald (see quot. 1866), which is sometimes inexactly used for it. 1654 J. Cleveland Poems 38 Th’ Apparatour upon his skew-bal’d horse. 1692 London Gaz. No. 2777/4 A skew¬ bald Gelding about 14 hands. 1702 Ibid. No. 3870/4 A Strawberry Gelding.., with a skew bald Face (the white coming over his off Eye). 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France II. 20 Yesterday however shewed me what I knew not had existed—a skew-ball or pyeballed ass. 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 992 Captain, a fallow and white dog, with skewbald face. 1866 W. Watson Youatt's Horse xv. 346 When the white is mixed with black it is called ‘pie-bald’, with bay the name of ‘skew-bald’ is given to it. 1876 World V. 19 A middle-aged gentleman of hermit habits on a skewbald cob. 1884 Liverpool Echo 2 May, Thoroughbred Horse,.. beautifully spotted red roan, squebald and piebald.

1679 Evelyn Sylva (ed. 3) xxi. 100 The Wild Cornel or Dog-wood good to make Mill-Cogs, Pestles,.. Butchers Skewers, Sec. 1688 Holme Armoury in. 292/2 A Butchers Cambril, Or, between two Scuers. Ibid. 315/1 He beareth Azure, two Skewers or Flesh pricks. 1704 Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 266 He with Iron Skewer, pierces the tender Sides of both, their Legs and Wings close pinion’d to their Ribs. 1729 - Direct. Serv. ii, Send up your Meat well stuck with Scewers, to make it look round and plump. 1809 Asiat. Researches IX. 60 These leaves are. . used all over India to make baskets, and made fast together, with skewers, from the fibres of the bambu. 1837 Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 33 [Bleacher], To these pieces of canvass, the ends of the web of calico .. may be fastened by wooden ‘skewers’. 1881 Young Every Man his own Mechanic §79. 33 It is the wood used by butchers for making wooden skewers. fig. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton xii, Transfixed by the redhot skewers of jealousy.

B. sb. A skewbald horse. 1863 G. A.. Sala Capt. Dangerous I. iii. 47 She was to have her pony, with John coachman on the skewball, sent to fetch her every Saturday. 1883 Times 30 May 5/1 Mr. Frisby’s skewbald was at some disadvantage in this class.

skewed (skjuid), a.1 ? Obs. Also 5 scued, skevyd, 5-7 skued, 7 skude, skewd. [Of doubtful origin: perh. f. OF. escu shield (cf. L. scutulatus as a colour of a horse, f. scutula platter), but there is also close resemblance in form and sense to I cel. skjottr, the history of which is equally obscure.] Skewbald. In quot. 1495 the reading of the Bodleian MS. is scawed, translating maculosum of the original. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 703 (E.E.T.S.), The skewed goos, the brune goose as the white Is not fecounde. Ibid. iv. 810 The gray [horse], the goldenhered and the skued [v.r. scued]. 1481-90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 507 Item, payd to Richard Wayfer..for a skevyd nagg iiij.s. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xvm. lxxvi. 830 Some Catte is whyte, some red, some blacke, some skewed and specklyd. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 142 Some be flybytten, Some skewed as a kytten. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 116 b, The yelowish and the skued or pied horses are discommended almost of all men. 1611 Cotgr., Pecile, a pide, or skude colour of a horse. 1616 J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. xi. 323 Skewd was his horse, of manie colors chaunginge. a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose s.v., A skew’d horse, one of two colours. a.2 [f. skew sb.3 or a.2] l.a. Set obliquely or aslant; skew. Also Comb.

skewed (skjuid),

1611 Bible j Kings vi. 4 marg., Windowes broad within and narrow without; or skewed and closed. 1619 Fletcher Wild Goose Chase iv. i, As I live I am asham’d, this wench has reach’d me,.. This skew’d ey’d Carrion. 1840 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 109/1 It is in the construction of railroads that the skewed arch meets with its most important application. 1895 C. R. B. Barrett Surrey iii. 95 The eastern half of the chancel is skewed internally.

Hence skew-backed a. (see quot.).

1. a. A long wooden or metal pin, used especially to fasten meat or the like together, to keep it in form while being cooked.

b. A metal pin used to fasten an article of dress or to secure the hair. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 234 A fringed blanket, fastened about her shoulders with a copper skewer. 1825 Bentham Ration. Reward 303 The buckles of the Romans, and the skewers employed by Queen Elizabeth. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 222 Two plaited bands of hair.. fastened up with a flat silver or gilt skewer.

c. A pin on which a bobbin is placed. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 158 But single bobbins are set on skewers in the reel in correspondence with the single spindles on the copping rail. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 315/1 The bobbins., are mounted .. on a creel which has skewers for their reception.

d. Applied contemptuously to a weapon. 1838 James Robber vii, Let us look at your skewer in a handle, my Lord. 1848 Sinks of London Laid Open 124/2 Skewer, sword. 1934 A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Australia xxxviii. 254 There’d be ‘skewers’ flying in all directions. Rotten wounds they’d make—barbed, you know.

2. attrib. and Comb., as skewer-full, -machine, -maker', skewer-piece (see quot. 1867); skewer tree, wood, the spindle-tree, from the wood of which skewers are made. (a) 1782 J. Scott Poet. Wks. 95 The green skewerwood seeds of scarlet shows. 1863 Prior Brit. PL, Skewer-wood, from skewers being made of it, a shrub called in the Western counties Skiver-wood, Evonymus Europaeus. 1894 Cornh. Mag. Feb. 164 The square berries of the skewer tree little known except to the birds and the gipsies. (b) 1832 Marryat N. Forster xl, Strung together like what we call ‘skewer pieces’ on board of a man-of-war. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 629 The meat being then divided into messes, the remnants are cut into small pieces termed skewer-pieces. 1875 Knight Did. Mech. 2194/2 Skewermachine. 1880 Times 10 Dec. 3/4 Tempting the hungry passers-by to purchase a skewer-full of the dainty roast. 1885 Instr. Census Clerks 1881 46 Skewer Maker.

b. figi960 Economist 25 June 1330/1 This triple structure [of a book] is a magnificent achievement,.. but its magnificence is . . skewed at its foundation... The skewness derives from Professor Hayek’s perfectly legitimate definition of freedom. 1977 New Yorker 17 Oct. 78/2 She quickly came to share her husband’s feelings about the skewed state of the world. 2. a. Statistics. = skew a. 1 c. 1940 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. XXX. 259 A difficult test tends to produce a positively skewed score-scatter. 1953 E. Mayr et al. Methods & Princ. Systematic Zool. vii. 134 A skewed curve is a curve in which the mode.. is above or below the mean. 1977 Lancet 5 Feb. 311/1 In our hands, the crude breath-test results are highly skewed, but logarithmic transformation does produce a distribution which is indistinguishable from normal. 1977 R. E. Megill Introd. Risk Analysis iii. 22 The distribution shown in Fig. 3.1 is skewed to the right; i.e. it has more values to the right of its highest frequency (mode) than to the left.

b. Of a sample representative.

or

data:

biased,

not

1975 Amer. Speech ig73 XLVIII. 6 Since the data used for restructuring would have been external and skewed, one would expect attempts at restructuring to be only partially successful. 1977 Times 12 May 23/2 Quotas .. are at present heavily skewed in favour of those countries which were economically powerful when the [International Monetary] Fund was set up.

3. Distorted; shifted in emphasis or character. 1935 G. K. Zipf Psycho-Biol. of Lang. iii. 105 A range of frequency where the skewed phoneme t in ts would be most stable. 1965 E. Haugen Norwegian Eng. Diet. 40/1 The typical East Norwegian (Oslo) [vowel] system is markedly skewed (in the same direction as Swedish)... The whole system has undergone a counterclockwise movement. 1980 Nature 17 Jan. 234/1 Critics.. argued that the military control of research meant such research would inevitably be skewed towards the production of weapons of mass destruction. 1981 Time 7 Dec. 79/2 The wildness of the cat, its .. skewed version of reality.

fskewel. Obs.~' [prob. a. OF. escuele (mod.F. ecuelle).] ? A dish, platter. 1567 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, 1835) 278, iiij litle wood skewells, xijd; v laten bassings.

1884 Knight Did. Mech. Suppl. 820/1. 1905 Bond Goth. Archit. 259 The upper surface of the top springer .. against which the first voussoir of the real arch .. starts, is said to be skewbacked.

In the Nottingham Rees. II. 86 (an entry of 1411) it is probable that skuer should be read as skumer, scummer.]

skewer (’skju:3(r)), sb. Also 7 scure, scuer, 8 scewer. [A variant of skiver sb.1, which is prob. the more original form: cf. kever, kiver, and cure

skewer ('skju:3(r)), v. Also 8 skuer. [f. the sb.] 1. trans. To fasten (meat, etc.) with a skewer; to pierce with a skewer or skewers. Also const. together, up, upon. 1701 Wolley Jrnl. New York (i860) 29 Some be of Bears Skins and Rackoon Skins sewed or skuered together. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece 1. ii. 147 Skewer them and roast them or stove or bake them, just as you please. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 69 Skewer your hare with the head upon one shoulder. 1806 A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 69 Skewer the fillet as close as possible. 1834 Marryat P. Simple v, A piece of stick.. upon which were skewered .. pieces of beef and pork. reft. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxxiii, If thou takest all that trouble of skewering thyself together, like a trussed fowl. fig. 1850 Dickens Dav. Copp. xliv, Britannia, that unfortunate female.., skewered through and through with office pens and bound.. with red tape. 1871 Member for Paris II. 10 He. .served him up every day to the readers of the Pavois, skewered through and through with an epigram.

b. To run through, transfix, with a sword or other weapon. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. m. iii. Perhaps not to part, but to fall mutually skewered through with iron. 1861 C. Reade Cloister & H. xliii, He felt his arm hot, then cold, and there was an English arrow skewering it. 1870 Miss Bridgman R. Lynne I. xiii. 214, I thought I was being skewered by a horrid savage. reft. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. xi. 311 The bird alighted there, and skewered itself upon the lance. c. To place upon skewers. Cf. skewer sb. i c. j835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 379 There are 1656 under 18 years of age, of whom .. 108 [are employed] in . . skewering cops.

2. To fix, fasten, or secure to or into something else with, or as with, a skewer or skewers; to truss. Const, in, into, to, also down, up. 1777 Sheridan Trip to Scarborough v. ii, Why should you .. suffer the rascals thus to skewer down my arms like a rabbit! 1799 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. VII. 139 We’ll see what fare the butler’s foresight Has skewer’d into my knapsack. 1815 Hist.J. Decastro III. 331 He saw a great long thing lying on the ground skewered up in a white cloth. 1840 P. Parley's Ann. 364 The grenadier turned down his bayonet, and skewered him to the ground. 1890 Nature 30 Oct. 641 The mats are skewered on to two long bamboos. fis• *838 Coleridge in Lit. Rem. III. 174 When so strict a Calvinist.. could skewer such frippery patches .. on the sober gown and cassock of a Reformed and Scriptural Church!

SKEWES

1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xxvi, He skewered his great eyes into mine. 1876 A. J. Evans Through Bosnia iv. 135 1 hey took a sharp stake .. and .. skewered it right through the carcase.

Hence 'skewered ppl. a'skewering vbl. sb. *794 T. Wedge Agric. Chester 58 The more perfectly the whey is got out of the cheese, by skewering, thrusting^ and pressing, the less air will be left in it. 1806 A. Hunter Culina (fd: 3) 237 Take the steaks,. . then roll them up, and secure ™r f£rm by skewering. 1839 Mag. Dom. Econ. IV. 243 1 he cheese.. is turned and the pressure and skewering continued. 1868 Daily Tel. 29 May, The Chinese belles, with their crimped .. and skewered hair.

Skewes ('skjunz,

skjurz). Math. The name of S. Skewes (b. 1899), South African born mathematician, used attrib. and in the possessive to designate an extremely large number, relevant in the theory of the distribution of prime numbers, having the value expfexp (exp 79)). The first pronunc. is that used bv the Skewes family. In 1933 (Jrnl. London Math. Soc. VIII. 277) Skewes claimed that, for some value of a less than this number, the number of primes less than a exceeds dx/\nx. 1949 Kasner & Newman Math. n Quiller-Couch Rem. Oxford (O.H.S.) 200 Various vessels, moored in view, Skiff, gig, and cutter, or canoe. 1845 in Sherwood Oxford Rowing (1900) 26 All skiffs or boats constructed for less than four oars .. are to be fitted .. with a sufficient deck or covering made of wood or waterproof canvass. 1883 Boats of the World 26 Edward Hanlan’s paper skiff, which .. has been sent along faster than any one-man boat of either hemisphere. 1886 Bourne in Encycl. Brit. XXI. 31/2 The skiff is wider and longer than the gig and of greater depth, and, rising higher fore and aft, with rowlock placed on a curved and elevated gunwale,.. rows lighter than the gig. attrib. 1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 46 Aug. 4/1 With rowlocks rising high from the gunwales, on the well-known skiff system still preferred on the Thames. 1895 Daily News 6 July 10/1 The Skiff Club inaugurated its first season with a successful series of races in Teddington Reach.

b. A light kind of sailing-boat in use on the St. Lawrence. Also attrib. 1891 Harper's Weekly 19 Sept. 713/4 High winds and heavy seas have no terrors for the skiff sailors. Ibid., The manner of sailing these skiffs is unique. Hence 'skiffless a., without a skiff or skiffs; 'skiffman, one who mans a skiff. 1829 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. N. Scotl. (1834) 50 Behind spreads wide a skiffless shore. 1868 Gorrie Summers & Winters Orkneys vii. 231 The skiffmen make good bargains.

skiff, sb.2 Chiefly Sc. [f. skiff v.2] 1. A slight gust of wind or shower of rain, etc. Also, a light flurry or cover of snow.

skier ('ski:9(r)). [f. ski sb. + -er1.] a. One who

1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 56 Whan skiffs o’ wind blaw aff the brae. 1870 in Public Opinion 23 July 110 An occasional skiff with the syringe, to keep the foliage free from dust. 1895 N.B. Daily Mail 20 June 4 Notwithstanding a slight skiff of rain. 1928 Dialect Notes VI. 88 Skiff or skift as applied to snow.. means a thin coating. 1959 E. Collier Three against Wilderness xix. 193, I saw the track in a skiff of snow, half a mile from the cabin. 1966 M. & O. Murie Wapiti Wilderness iv. 44 We were glad enough to have a skiff of snow, it made study and counting of tracks so much easier. 1975 Budget (Sugarcreek, Ohio) 20 Mar. 10/5 The weather.. has been colder with skiffs of snow here and there.

uses or travels on skis; a ski-runner; b. a waterskier. See also ski-ing vbl. sb.

2. A slight something.

1895 Advance (Chicago) 4 Apr. 967/2, I have seen an expert skeer go down a long steep hill with the swiftness scarcely equaled by a bird. 1924 K. Furse Ski-Running 56 By his tracks shall a Ski-er be judged! 1941 Life 4 Aug. 54/1 In water-skiing the skiers hang on to a 75-ft. rope behind a speeding motorboat and skim along the water as fast as 45 m.p.h. 1959 P. Moyes Dead Men don't Ski iv. 48 Not a bad skier... Could have used him in the Team in the old days. 1973 V. Canning Finger of Saturn v. 97 The boat was moving into the small quay now. Its speed slackened and the skier dropped low into the water.

1839 Moir Matisie Wauch xxvii. (ed. 2) 363 Wait a moment, till I give a skiff of description of our neighbour Reuben. 1884 Stevenson Lett. (1901) I. vi. 320 I have had a skiff of cold and was finally obliged to take to bed.

skier, variant of skyer.

b. refl. To row or scull (oneself) in a skiff. In quot. fig.

Festus 270 In the bright, hot, blue-skied East. 1903 L. C. Smithers Burtons Arab. Nts. 7 The., sensuousness of the hot-skied East glows from every tale. i839-52 Bailey

3. Cricket. Of a ball: Hit or sent up high in the air. Also transf. of a stroke. 1868 Morning Star 19 June, Judging the bound of the ball when it lands after a high throw or skied hit.

skief, variant of scaife.

skier, var. skyr; see also ski v. skieve, var. skive sb. skiey, variant of skyey a. skiff (sklf), sb.1 Forms: a. 6-7 skiph, skiffe, 6 skyfe, skyffe, 6- skiff. /S. sciffe, 7 sciph. y. 7 schiff(e, schiph. [ad. F. esquif (i549), Sp. and Pg. esquife, or It. schifo: the source of the Romanic word is prob. OHG. seif ship, boat.] 1. A small sea-going boat, adapted for rowing and sailing; esp. one attached to a ship and used for purposes of communication, transport, towing, etc. Hence, a small light boat of any kind. a. 157s Laneham Lett. (1871) 13 The hoounds harroing after [deer], az they had bin a number of skiphs too the spoyle of a karuell. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 8 The Currant., was so fierce, that he could not get in with his Skiffe, because he had no helpe to row. 1587 Greene Euphues Wks. (Grosart) VI. 243 Hee sent secretly one of his sonnes in a little skyfe to Pisandros. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman’s Gram. vi. 26 Great ships haue also other small boats called Shallops and Skiffes, which are with more ease .. rowed to an[d] againe. 1652 Needham tr. Selden’s Mare Cl. 228 Those scouting Skiphs which were joined with the bigger sort of Pinnaces or light Vessels. 1719 De Foe Crusoe II. (Globe) 328 Their Long-Boat, and a great Shallop, besides a small Skiff. 1791 W. Gilpin Forest Scenery II. 96 The port of Lymington.. is chiefly frequented by light skiffs, rigged in the cutter-form, with a jib and boom. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xx. 61 We took a little skiff that lay on the beach, and paddled off. 1875 W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 95 In later times Lochryan was frequented by the skiffs of the Gaelic tribes. transf. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Epid. 66 If in two skiphs of cork, a Loadstone and steele be placed. attrib. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. vn. iii, The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk.

sketch,

trace,

touch,

etc.,

of

skiff (skif), v.1 [f. skiff sb.1] 1. f a. trans. To cross, row, or sail over (a river) in a skiff. Obs.~] a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Two Noble Kinsmen 1. iii, Perill and want contending, they have skift Torrents, whose roring tyranny and power I’th least of these was dreadfull.

1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iv. xvii, I hope she steered herself, skiffed herself, paddled herself to the ceremony.

2. intr. To row or scull in a skiff; to go on the river in a pleasure-skiff. Hence 'skiffing vbl. sb. 1869 Bp. McDougall in Morgan Univ. Oars (1873) 314 They .. should .. confine themselves to mild four-oars and skiffing. 1885 M. Pattison Mem. I. 151 We were together every day, skiffing, walking, teaing. 1898 T. Arnold in 19th Cent. Jan. 106 We used often to go skiffing up the Cherwell.

skiff, v.2 Sc. [Perhaps an alteration of skift v.2, but cf. scuff v.] 1. intr. To move lightly and quickly, esp. so as barely to touch a surface; to glide, run, etc., in this manner. Hence 'skiffing vbl. sb. 1725 Ramsay Gentl. Sheph. 1. i, Neat she was.. As she came skiffing o’er the dewy green, a 1758-Guardians of the Fair, Watchful guardians of the fair, Who skiff on wings of ambient air. 1791 A. Wilson in Poems & Lit. Prose (1876)11. 19 See Sweet Peggy skiffin’ow’r the lee. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 66 He saw the Vicar.. Fast scamperin’ and skiffin’. 1866 R. Chambers Ess. Ser. 11. 31 A hurrying across upper floors, and a skiffing up and down stairs.

2. trans. To touch lightly in passing over; to skim. 1807-10 Tannahill Poems (1846) 83 Rude storms assail the mountain’s brow That lightly skiff the vale below. 1843 Nicholson Hist. Tradit. Tales 234 [They] skiff the water on the wing.

skiffle ('skif(a)l). orig. U.S. [Origin unknown.] 1. Formerly (U.S.), a style of jazz music popular at rent parties, deriving from blues, ragtime, and folk music, and played on standard and improvised instruments. Later, a form of popular music developed from this in the 1950s (esp. in the United Kingdom), in which the

vocal part is supported by a rhythmic accompaniment of guitars or banjos and other more or less conventional instruments; a song written in this style. Cf. washboard. 1926 {jazz-music title) Chicago skiffle. 1930 Paramount Dealers' List Apr. 2/1, 12886—Home Town Skiffle —Part I. Descriptive Novelty—All Star. 1946 in Carey & McCarthy Jazz Directory {1949) 167 Dan Burley and his Skiffle Boys .. Skiffle Blues. 1948 N. Y. Age 9 Oct. 2/7 Fletcher insisted on looking over the Skiffler’s shoulder trying to dig the riffle that make the skiffle. 1957 Times 3 May 13/4 Earnest young women will not consent to hear even skiffle, unless they are sure of the reverberation factor of the sitting room. 1959 Times 27 June 7/3 Skiffle is a form of Do it Yourself that depends entirely on song and has the supreme merit of persuading its devotees to make music for themselves. 1966 P. J. Kavanagh Perfect Stranger xiv. 199 It was the age of skiffle but the ethos had reached Djakarta before the technique. 1973 ‘J. Marks’ Mick J agger (1974) 55 Chris Barber and Ken Colyer were the leaders of the skiffle movement. I was with the very first Barber-Colyer Skiffle Band, and when they split up, I left because I didn’t actually enjoy skiffle. 1976 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXIV. 603/2 One of the most cheering things that came out of skiffle was the fact that it got children singing, because they sang in groups.

2. U.S. Blacks. = rent party s.v. rent sb.1 4 c. (Perhaps the original sense.) 1946 [see percolator c]. 1956 S. Longstreet Real Jazz Old & New 126 You could always get together and charge a few coins and have a skiffle... The money paid the rent.* 1974 [see percolator c].

3. a. attrib., as skiffle band, group, music. I957 Sing Out! Spring 30 In the first decade of the 20th Century, these New Orleans boys called themselves a ‘Skiffle’ band. 1981 Washington Post 8 Jan. DC7 The Sun¬ shine Skiffle Band.. has become a favorite at area folk festivals. 1953 Melody Maker 10 Oct. 15/1 London Jazz Club.. Ken Colyer’s Sensational Jazzmen and Skiffle Group. 1957 C. Brooke-Rose Languages of Love 215 A skiffle group—consisting of two guitarists, a thimble¬ fingered drummer with a wooden washboard, and a man sweeping a carpet-brush rhythmically over three metal strings drawn taut across a saucepan. 1976 Dumfries ou make an euen skyft. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxiv. 392 Is ther none other skyfte Bot syfte, lady, syfte? 1470-85 Malory Arthur vi. xvii. 211 Make ye as good skyfte as ye can; ye shal bere this lady with you on horsbak vnto the pope of Rome. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 481/2 He will haue a clappe on the tone cheke or the tother, make what skyfte he can.

t skift, sb.2 Obs.

^ (See quot.)

1783 W. Gordon Livy 1. iv. (1823) 20 The water had subsided and left the trough or skift [L. alveus], in which the infants had been exposed, on dry ground.

skift, sb.3 “Variant (chiefly N.Amer.) of skiff sb.2 1808 B. Hunt Diary 25 Dec. in Chester Co. (Pa.) Hist. Soc. Bull. (1898) 17 May be call’d green Christmass: a small skift of snow. 1877 May Laffan Hon. Miss Ferrard I. vii. 191 The autumn leaves rustling under foot and flying off in sudden skifts across the dry ruddy grass. 1927 Amer. Speech II. 364 Skift of snow, a small amount of snow. 1947 Canad. Cattlemen (Winnipeg) Dec. 148 Farmers regard ‘a skift o’ rain’ as an adjunct to the fermentation of the natural juices in the semi-green corn blown into the [silo]. 1970 I. Petite Meander to Alaska iv. 34 We had seen practically every rock, headland, light, skift of sea birds rising, tree, and deserted beach cabin.

1656 Suffolk Co. (Mass.) Deeds (1880) I. 2 [We are] desired by Jno. Blackman to Appfrize] a smale skifte taken vp adrift. 1807 J. R. Bedford in Tenn. Hist. Mag. (1919) V. 118 They would board us in their skift without the inconvenience to us of going to shore. 1816 U. Brown Jrnl. 12 Sept, in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1916) XI. 222 Wm. Wells .. prevails with me to go with him down the River ij Miles to what he called a skift. 1885 Century Mag. Aug. 505/2 Visitors call it a skiff, natives a skift. 1935 G. Santayana Last Puritan in. x. 395 You were perfectly happy here, sculling in your skift.

skift, v.1 Obs. exc. dial. Forms: 4-6 skyft, 4-5 -e (5 scyfft), 4-5, 9 skift (8 Sc. skifft), 5 -e. [a. ON. skipta (MSw. skipta; Norw. and Sw. skifta, Da. skifte) to divide, change, etc., = OE. sciftan, To

shift,

change,

or

'ski-ing, vbl. sb. Also skiing, [f. ski v.] 1. The action of travelling or running on skis, esp. as a sport. 1893 Daily News 31 Jan. 5/3 If we had winter worth speaking of here, ski-ing would soon take a prominent place among our field sports. 1895 Advance (Chicago) 4 Apr. 967/2, It must be a very funny sight, that of the skeeing down hill. 1911 A. Bennett Card xi. 273 Ski-ing became the rage... The Captain said ‘skee’, but he did not object to ‘shee’... People with no shame .. said brazenly ‘sky’. 1927 E. Hemingway in V. W. Brooks Amer. Caravan 46 In the Silvretta the ski-ing had been all right, but it was spring ski¬ ing. 1975 New Yorker 21 Apr. 40/3 It has been raining a lot, ruining the skiing.

2. Water-skiing. 1971 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird xii. 161, I have never yet met.. a man who with greater clarity could teach me to water-ski... I made a reasonable success, for a beginner, at skiing.

3. attrib.

skift (skift), sb.4 Var. skiff sb.1 U.S. dial.

SHIFT V.] 1. trans.

skilfully

602

SKIFT

move

(something). 13.. Cursor M. 23678 (Edinb.), Sun and mon, and stern on lift, pat ai wit stiring er nu skift,.. Fra pat tim stil sal pa\ stand. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 709 Now haf pay skyfted my skyl & scorned natwre. C1440 Alph. Tales 389 He wolde nevur skyfte his clothis bod ons in a yere. 1470-85 Malory Arthur ix. xl. 405 Lete see now yf ye can skyfte it with your handes. 1828- in many north, dial, glossaries, etc. (see Eng. Dial. Diet.).

f2. To arrange, devise, manage, or order (something). Obs. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 569 ‘fms schal I,’ quoth kryste, ‘hit skyfte, pe laste schal be pe fyrst pat strykez.’ ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 32 Scathylle Scottlande by skylle he skyftys as hym lykys. Ibid. 1643 Loke 3e skyfte it so pat vs no skathe lympe.

1921 A. Lunn Alpine Ski-ing 16 {caption) Ski-ing slopes at Scheidegg. 1932 Auden in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1978) Aug. 283 A waxen sandboy in skiing kit. 1946 G. Millar Horned Pigeon xx. 306 The first passengers to arrive. . wore ski-ing clothes. 1951 ‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids vi. 107 She had chosen a dark-blue skiing suit. 1961 ‘J. le Carre’ Call for Dead xviii. 191 She met Dieter on a skiing holiday in Germany. 1978 S. Sheldon Bloodline ii. 30 He skipped skiing lessons in order to go into the village with Anna.

ski-joring (ski:'d333rii]). Also skijoring. [Seminaturalized alteration of Norw. ski-kjoring, f. ski SKI sb. + kjoring driving (f. kjore to drive).] A winter sport in which a skier is pulled over the snow by a horse or horses (or by a motorized vehicle). 1920 Punch 17 Mar. 204/1 Skating, sliding, curling and yodelling in the intervals of ski-ing, skijoring, skilacking and skihandlung. 1927 Sunday Times 13 Feb. 17/2 In the skijoring races on the Lake,.. the well-known Swiss hockey player fell. 1946 G. Stimpson Bk. about Thousand Things 473 The winter sport in which a person on skis is drawn over the snow or ice by a horse is called skijoring. 1963 Guardian 13 Feb. 13/3 Every type of winter sport.. skating, skijoring, bob-sledding. 1980 G. M. Fraser Mr. American xvi. 296 Ski-joring.. is when you have horses to pull you along on skis.

Also ski-'jorer, a skier who engages in ski¬ joring. 1936 ‘F. Beeding’ Nine Waxed Faces 193 Then.. I led it back to where Granby was bending over the skijorer.

fskikart. Obs. [? f. skick v.] An old name for the hare.

f3. To divide, distribute, or make division. Obs.

01325 in MS. Digby 86 fol. skikart.

c 1420 Sir Amadas 644 (W.), Bot skyfte me evon,.. Gyffe me my parte, Y wyll awey. Ibid. 656 Oderwyse skyft wyll not wee, Bot at yor wyll schall hit bee. f 1425 Cast. Persev. 108 in Macro Plays 80 His good .. he wolde pat it were seyfftyd a-mongis his ny kynne.

skil (skil).

f4. intr. To ordain; to act, devise. Obs. c 1325 Metr. Horn. 61 Bot Godd that skilfulli kan skift, Mad them alle serely spekand. C1500 Medwall Nature 1. (Brandi) 574 Well enured men, suche as.. can best for you in tyme of nede skyft.

5. To undergo shifting, change, or removal; to change one’s place, etc. Obs. exc. dial. 13 .. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 19 Oft bot?e blysse & blunder Ful skete has skyfted synne. a 1400-50 Alexander 467 To skyre skarlet hewe skyftis hire face. Ibid. 5040 Baldly he wepis, pat he so skitly suld skifte. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 67 The sun now frae the twal hour point Had nearly skifftit twa hours yont. 1847 E. & A. Bronte Wuthering Heights xxiv, He mad ye skift properly. 1848 Tales of Kirkbeck 155 A huge carved oak rocking chair ‘fearfu’ lubbardly for skifting’.

fb. To escape, get away from. Obs. c 1440 York Myst. xxvi. 41 Why, sir, to skyfte [pr. skyste] fro his skath We seke for youre socoure pis sesoune.

Hence f'skifting distribution.

vbl.

sb.,

division,

c 1440 Alph. Tales 249 So per fell a grete debate.. for skiftyyng of pis money betwix J?aim.

skift, v.2 Sc. [Perhaps only a special use of prec.; see also skiff v.2] intr. To move lightly and quickly; to skip, run, glide, etc. a 1586 Sir R. Maitland Poems (Maitl. Club) 30 Use not to skift athort the gait. 1640 Canterburians Self-Conviction Postscr. 13 But ye skift out here much further to an extravagance. 1790 A. Wilson To W. Mitchell Poet. Wks. (1846) 112 High ower my head the sheep in packs, I see them mice-like skift. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 182 And Arnold’s nakit ghaist was seen Loupin’.. And skiftin’ owr the roofs like fire.

'skifter, v. (See quot. and cf. prec.) 1887 Mrs. C. Reade Maid o' the Mill xxii, He murmurs spasmodically and skifters off down the stairs.

[a. Haida sqil.]

168 b, pe scotewine, pe

= sablefish. Also

'skilfish. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 170/1 Halibut, herring, salmon, cod, and coal-fish or ‘skil’ (this last also rich in oil and a valuable food-fish) are likewise abundant [off the coast of British Columbia]. 1897 C. R. Tuttle Golden North 124 One of the most delicious of deep water fish is the skil, or black cod, as it is sometimes called. 1910 F. W. Hodge Handbk. Amer. Indians II. 591/1 Skil. A local name of the black candle-fish. 1923 D. K. Tressler Marine Prod. Commerce 736/2 Skilfish (Anoploma fimbria). A common food fish from Unalaska to Monterey. 1964 G. C. Carl Some Common Marine Fishes Brit. Columbia 48 The giant skilfish .. may attain a weight of 200 pounds.

t'skilfer. Obs. rare. [a. Du. schilfer (fschelfer) fragment, scale; cf. skalfering.] 1. A small piece; a splinter. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 10/2 If you perceave anye skilfers or splinters by the which that membrane might be pricked. 1599-tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 342/2 If., there weare one little skilfer, or smale bone.

2. pi. Scurf; dandruff. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 3/1 It expelleth alsoe the skilfers of youre heade. Ibid. 47/1 This doth not onlye expelle all skilfers of the heade.

skilful ('skilful), a. and adv. Forms: 4 sceluol, skileful; 4-6 skylful, 5-6 -full(e, 6 skyllfull; 4-5 skilfulle, 4-7 -full, 4- skilful (6, 9- (chiefly U.S.) skillful, 9 Sc. skeelfu’). [f. skill sb. + -ful.] fl. a. Endowed with reason; rational; also, following reason, doing right. Obs. a 1300 Cursor M. 21334 Mai na skilful man pis wern. 13 .. St. Erkenwolde 278 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 272 For as he says in his sothe psalmyde writtes: J?e skilfulle & pe vnskathely skeltone ay to me. c 1380 Lay Folks Catech. 19 (Lamb. MS.), He made skylful creaturis as angelys and man. e pridde part of hony, boiled and skemed. 1548 Elyot, Despumo, to skimme or clarifie any licour. 1570 Levins Manip. 131 To Skimme, despumare. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. II. i. 36 Are you not hee That.. Skim milke, and sometimes labour in the querne? 1611 Cotgr., Escumer,.. to skimme, or clarifie, liquor. 1744 Berkeley Siris §1 The clear water, having been first carefully skimmed. 1771 Mrs. Haywood New Present for Maid 32 When it boils, skim it clean. 1826 Art Brewing (ed. 2) 114 Boil the first mash one hour... Then skim and cleanse, c 1850 Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 643 Morgiana.. put the pot on the fire to make the broth, but while she was skimming it the lamp went out. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 49/1 When the lead is all melted it is skimmed, and then drawn off into the mould. fig. 1618 Bolton Florus 11. vi. (1636) 105 He might not seeme to have once sipt or skimd the honour of their chastity so much as with beholding them. 1673 S'too him Bayes 115 He had rak’d hell and skim’d the devil for it. 1704 in Pennsylv. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 350, I wish we may ever be skimmed so as to leave anything pure behind.

b. Agric. To plough (land) very lightly. 1799 A. Young Agric. Line. 163 Skim it with plough very thin to make it fine. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 468 A few surface weeds appearing, he skimmed the land, without turning a furrow.

2. a. To remove or collect by skimming. Also in fig. context. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iv. xlvii. 387 Fairies.. Feast upon the Cream, which they skim from the Milk. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 1. 393 She .. Boils in Kettles Must of Wine, and skims, With Leaves, the Dregs that overflow the Brims. 1778 Han. More Florio 1. Dramas, etc. 176 He lik’d those literary cooks Who skim the cream of others’ books. 1887 Ruskin Prseterita II. 141 We bought three cows, and skimmed our own cream. 1894 W. J. Dawson Making of Manhood 30 We forget that the newspaper skims the scum of life.

b. To take off or away by skimming. A\so fig. 1670 W. Simpson Hydrol. Ess. 86 Upon these waters .. is found a kind of white cremor..; this being skim’d off [etc.]. 1744 Berkeley Let. on Tar Water §8 The oil that floated on the top and was skimmed off. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 379 Skim off the skin which will appear on the surface. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 403 The most pure part is skimmed off, and becomes fine oil. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. ii. §3. 81 The lighter and decayed seeds float, and are skimmed off.

fig. 1676 Hobbes Iliad xx. 456 And with his Sword he skim’d his head away Helmet and all. 1780 Cowper Progress of Error 343 To purge and skim away the filth of vice. 1926 W. R. Inge Lay Thoughts of Dean 11. x. 157 Civilisation tends to sterilise the ablest part of a nation. In each generation it skims off the cream and leaves the milk thinner.

fc. To" scoop up as if by skimming. Obs.~l 1665 Fox in Bickley Life (1884) xviii. 264 The water.. ran about the room so that I was fain to skim it up with a platter.

d. To conceal or divert (some of one’s earnings or takings, freq. from gambling) to avoid paying tax on them; also absol. Also with off. U.S. slang. 1966 Nat. Observer (U.S.) 5 Sept. 7/3 Certain Las Vegas gamblers have been ‘skimming’ millions of dollars in casino winnings —taking a cut of the receipts before the tax collector had a chance to get his share. 1973 Sun (Baltimore) 24 July A7/8 Noting the frequent discrepancies in amounts of cash transferred between people and the huge sums involved, he asked: ‘Do you have any information, Mr Strachan, of anyone skimming?’ 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die xviii. 194 Gronevelt felt that hotel owners who skimmed money in the casino counting room were jerks, that the FBI would catch up with them sooner or later.

3. a. To cover with a thin layer, as with scum. 1666 Dryden Annus Mirab. cxiii, Where the false tides skim o’er the cover’d Land, And Sea-men with dissembled Depths betray. 1859 Hawthorne Marble Faun xli, The Fountain of Trevi skimmed almost across with a glassy surface.

b. intr. To put on a thin layer. £•1865 Mrs. Spofford Pilot's Wife in Casquet of Lit. IV. 25/2 The chocolate skimmed all over with a coat of cold oil at last. 1896 Kipling in Sat. Rev. Christmas Suppl. 1/1 The beach-pools cake and skim.

4. To throw lightly over or upon the surface of something. 1774 Foote Cozeners hi. Wks. 1799 II. 187 Some saffron, or snuff, just skimmed over his face. 1831 Holland Manuf. Metal I. 141 Water, during the the operation, being frequently skimmed upon the surface to displace the scales. II. To scour (the sea, etc.); = scum v. 2. c 1440 Brut ccxlv. 383 J>e erle toke his meyne, and went to schyppe, and skimmed the see,.. pat no maner enymys durste rowte vpon J?e see. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vn. (1811) 573 The whiche scowryd and skymmyd ye see ryght well and manfully.

6. a. To deal with, treat, or study, in a slight and superficial manner. Also with over (cf. 9 c). 01586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (1605) 179 Who, (but skimming any thing that came before him) was disciplined to leaue the through-handling of all to his gentle wife. 1665 Glanvill Def. Van. Dogm. 51 Such as love only to skim things, and have not the patience to keep their minds to a deep and close attention. 1727 Boyer Diet. Royal 11, To skim a thing over, (to pass it over slightly) effleurer une matiere [etc.]. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias 1. i. If 2 He had never skimmed the first principles of it [Latin]. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. 11. vi. (1864) 88 They skim the surface of the thought. 1876 Gladstone in Contemp. Rev. June 3 Parliament dived into the question, which the Bench had only skimmed.

b. esp. To read rapidly or carelessly; to glance over without close attention. 1799 Han. More Fem. Educat. (ed. 4) I. 187 The kind of books here recommended, if thoroughly studied, and not superficially skimmed. 1820 Byron Blues i. 22 Where I just had been skimming a charming critique. 1833 T. Hook Parsons Dau. 1. xii, The London paper.., which Harvey undertook to skim for the benefit of his friend. 1884 G. Allen Philistia II. 75 He. .was skimming the telegrams in an unconcerned manner.

7. a. To move, glide, fly or float, lightly and rapidly over or along (the ground, etc.). 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, iv. 76 Then stooping on the Meads and leafy Bow’rs, They skim the Floods. 1716 Gay Trivia 11. 232 The Ball now skims the Street. 1735 Somerville Chase 111. 101 Smooth as Swallows skim The new-shorn Mead. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 143 One of the most rapacious little animals that skims the deep. 1809 Campbell Gert. Wyom. 1. ii, The happy shepherd swains.. skim, perchance, thy lake with light canoe. 1849 M. Arnold Resignation 71 The red-grouse.. Skims, now and then, the shining ground. 1878 J. Buller New Zealand I. ii. 27 Wild fowl skim the surface of the water. fig. 1884 Pall Mall G. 4 Apr. 5/1 Lady Duffus-Hardy.. has skimmed a large expanse of country in order to cull these blossoms for our delectation.

b. To pass over (a surface) with close approach or very slight contact. 1796 Morse Amer. Geogr. I. 42 On that day the sun, when lowest, skims the horizon without setting. 1822 Imison Sci. & Art I. 414 If you now turn to the north you will find that some just skim the horizon. 1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times II. 111 The oar, instead of deeply entering the water, only slightly skimming the surface.

8. To cause to fly lightly; to throw (a thing, esp. one having a flat surface) so that it maintains an evenness of balance or poise in its flight. 1611 Cotgr., Ricochet, the sport of skimming a thinne stone on the water. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) IV. 138, I skimmed my hat after him to make him afraid for something. 1768 Woman of Honor III. 245, I took the guinea, and .. the window being open, I skimmed it out. 1816 Scott Antiq. xliii, He skimmed his cocked-hat in the

air. 1818-Hrt. Midi, i, Hearing the .. voice of the guard as he skimmed forth for my grasp the expected packet. 1887 Mary Cowden Clarke Girlhood Shaks. Heroines vii. 174 To skim both bread and trencher to the other end of the hall.

9. a. intr. To sail, glide, float, fly, run, etc., with a light and easy motion, on or close to some surface, or through the air. In very frequent use from c 1700. 1591 T. Eliot Disc. Warre 18 The little Pyrate, that did but skimme vp and downe the sea in a litle Brigandine. 1630

SKIMMER

606

SKIMBACK

R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 7 The winds skimming over the face of them, fannes the coole vapour all over those quarters. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 1. 497 Sportful Coots run skimming o’er the Strand. 1705 Berkeley Cave of Dunmore Wks. 1871 IV. 507 A rivulet.. skims along the side of the cave. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol hi. 287 As the slick Lev’ret skims before the Pack. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xv, The barges were seen skimming along the moon-light sea. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxiii, The hard glazed hat in question skimmed into the room like a bird. 1865 W. G. Palgrave Arabia II. 302 An English-built yacht skimmed by. 1886 Manch. Exam. 8 Jan. 6/1 The sleighs skim along very smoothly and lightly as long as the ponies keep their feet. fig. 1704 Norris Ideal World 11. iii. 151 Others who are for skimming over the surfaces of a great many things, without going to the bottom of anything. 1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. I. 1. x. 271 They skim lightly over the surface and never touch the greater part lying at the bottom. 1820 Scott Monast. xxxi, I hate the judgment that, like the flesh-fly, skims over whatever is sound, to detect and settle upon some spot which is tainted. 1874 H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. iii. §2. 187 The science of comparative religion skims round the outside of the region.

b. To glance over, without reading closely. 1738 Mrs. Pendarves in Mrs. Delany Lett. & Corr. (1861) I. 30 Your last letter, which .. I skimmed over to satisfy myself of your health. 1741 Watts Improv. Mind 1. iv, Plumeo skimmed over the pages, like a swallow over the flowery meads. 1800 Mrs. Hervey Mourtray Family I. 89 Why in such a hurry? Let me first just skim over the paper. 1843 Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. I. 1. i. 14 He was skimming over my introductory epistle.

c. To pass over lightly, without dwelling upon or treating fully. 1741 Watts Improv. Mind 11. viii. Wks. (1801) 234 They skim lightly over the arguments. 1765 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 430 Our blemishes and foibles.., which the eye does not willingly fix upon, but is apt to skim lightly over. 1824 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. 11. v. 263 He skims over rather than dives into the subjects of which he treats. 1884 Spectator 4 Oct. 1319/2 He is skimming over a real difficulty, which is not to be evaded by eloquent talk.

d. To go over lightly with the scythe. C1830 Glouc. Farm Rep. 26 in Husb. III. (L.U.K.), The rank grass.. is ‘skimmed over’ or mown, and made into hay for young stock in the winter.

10. To glance round the horizon. 1817 Keats I stood tip-toe 17 There was wide wandering for the greediest eye,.. Far round the horizon’s crystal air to skim.

'skimback. U.S. local. [? f.

skim v.~\ A North

American river-fish (see quots.). 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 119 Carpiodes cyprinus, Quillback; Spear-fish; Sail-fish; Skim¬ back. 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 437 Carpiodes velifer, the .. ‘Skim-back’ of the Ohio River, is a fish often seen in the markets.

'skimble-skamble, a., sb., and adv. Also 7 scimble, and 6-7, 9 scamble, 7 scemble. [f. SCAMBLE v., with usual variation of vowel in the first element: cf. clitter-clatter, tittle-tattle, etc.] A. adj. 1. Confused, incoherent, nonsensical, rubbishy. In modern use only after the Shakspere passage. 1596 Shaks. i Hen. IV, iii. i. 154 Such a deale of skimblescamble Stuff, As puts me from my Faith. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. 11. 111/2 Here’s a sweet deale of scimble scamble stuffe. 1822 Byron Vis.Judg. Pref., Hence all this ‘skimble-scamble stufF about ‘Satanic’. 1864 Dasent Jest Earnest (1873) II. 69 He talks a deal of ‘skimble skamble’ stuff about ‘askance’. 1880 Ruskin Arrows of Chace II. 281 My belief is they scarcely sang a piece of pure Rossini all night, but had fitted in modern skimble-skamble tunes.

2. Accompanied by confusion or disorder. 1826 Hone Every-day Bk. II. 995 They skurry, In a skimble skamble hurry.

B. sb. Confused or worthless discourse. Also, writing of this nature. 1619 J. Taylor (Water P.) Kicksey Winsey B 7, He .. askes ..where’s the wind.. With such fine scimble scemble, spitter spatter. 1818 Byron Let. 1 June in Works (1900) IV. xvii. 238 Did you read his skimble-skamble about Wordsworth being at the head of his own profession, in the eyes of those who followed it? 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. 11. ii. (1866) 159 After a good deal of skimble-skamble of this nature.

C. adv. Confusedly; in confusion. 1775 in Ash. 1845 S. Judd Margaret 1. xvii. (1871) 140 The flakes shaded and mottled the sky, and fell twirling, pitching, skimble-scamble.

'skim-.coulter. Agric. [f.

skim v.] A coulter fitted with a plate of iron or steel which shaves off the top-layer of the ground and turns it into the furrow. 1797 Monthly Mag. Dec. 447/1 Mr. Ducket was the original inventor of the skim-coulter... It consists of a thin plate of iron, with a sharp edge, fixed horizontally to a common coulter. 1803 A. Young in Hunter Georg. Ess. III. 163 This is entirely prevented by the skim-coulter, which is applicable to every sort of soil. 1825 Cobbet Rural Rides 26 There was a skim coulter that turned the sward in under the furrow. 1881 Eleanor Ormerod Manual of Injurious Insects 81 A skim-coulter attached to the plough.

b. attrib. in skim-coulter plough-, also used as vb. 1799 A. Young Agric. Line. 74 Two skim-coulter ploughs, two drill markers. 1832 Planting iii. 23 (L.U.K.), To have the surface scarified, horse-hoed, or skim coulter ploughed. 1834 Brit. Husb. I. 264 (L.U.K.), Skim-coulter ploughs have been used to obviate this inconvenience.

Hence ’skim-,coultered a.

1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 542 It may be better to follow the practice adopted in some districts of using a skim-coultered plough. 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. 1. 416 No plough ever yet invented will effect this object so well as a skim coultered plough.

skime, v. north, dial. Also 8-9 skyme. [perh. a. ON. skima to peer, look about one, = OE. scimian (of the eyes) to be dim or dazzled. Cf. also Norw. dial, skimla to squint.] intr. To squint, look askance. 1691 Ray N.C. Words 63 To Skime, to look a squint, to glee. 1788- in dialect glossaries (Yks., Line., Notts.).

skimi,

var. shikimi.

skimish ('skimij). slang, [ad. Shelta skimts to drink, skimisk drunk.] Alcoholic drink; liquor. Also 'skimished a., drunk. 1908 W. H. Davies Autobiogr. Super-Tramp xxiv. 211, I seldom lie down at night but what I am half skimished (half drunk), for I assure you I never go short of my skimish. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid iv. 40 He had been drinking all that skimish without having had a bite to eat.

skimiter,

obs. form of scimitar.

skimmed (skimd), ppl. a. [f. skim v.] 1. a. Cleared of impurities by skimming. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Seer. 44 Adde to it twoo vnees of skimmed Honnye. b. skimmed milk, = skim-milk i. 1623 [see skim-milk]. 01722 Lisle Husb. (1752) 275 We in Leicestershire give them skimmed-milk and whey. 1743 R. Maxwell Sel. Trans. Agric. 347 Sour Milk, as it is commonly called, skimmed Milk, Whey, and the like. 1815 Smith Panorama Science fsf Art II. 813 Another mode of varnishing plaster,.. is to brush it over with skimmed milk. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. Troub. 1. xxiv, They had a quart of skimmed milk, and were glad to get it. 1868 Rep. U.S. Commiss. Agric. (1869) 438 In every instance, except one, the milk sold as pure milk was skimmed milk. Comb. 1837 Flemish Husb. 62 in Husb. III. (L.U.K.), Some skimmed-milk cheese for family use. 1842 J. Aiton Domestic Econ. (1857) 215 Milk is also manufactured into butter, and what is called skimmed-milk cheese.

c. Of cheese: Made from skimmed milk. 1881 Chicago Times 16 Apr., This compound can be used only in the manufacture of skimmed cheese. 1893 Daily News 25 Dec. 5/5 A cheese with no brand on it will be classed as skimmed cheese.

2. Removed or collected by skimming. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. 11. iii, He speakes all creame, skimd, and more affected then a dozen of waiting women.

skimmer ('skim3(r)), sb. Forms: a. 4 skemour, 5 skemere. jS. 4-5 skymour(e, 5 skymere, 5-6 skymer, 7 skimer. y. 4 skymmoure, 6 skymber, 7 skymmer; 5- skimmer (8 schimmer). [In older senses ad. OF. escumoir and escumeur (esquemeur): see scummer sb. In later use also f. skim v. + -ER1.] 1. a. A shallow utensil, usually perforated, employed in skimming liquids; also, any utensil or implement by means of which skimming or some analogous process is performed. a. 1392 Earl Derby’s Exp. (Camden) 153, j skemour, j ladell. Ibid, i 54, ij skemours de laton emptis, iij s. 14.. Lat.Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 613 Spumatorium, a skemere. c 1440 Douce MS. 55, fol. 24 b, Bete on the clothe with a skemere or a ladell to make it sadde and flatte. /3. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 17 Gader it to-gederys with a ladelle or a Skymoure. 1459 Paston Lett. I. 490, ij. ladels and ij. skymers of brasse. 1542 in Harrison Ann. Old Manor House (1893) 211> ij brase ladyls and ij skymers of laten. 1607 Althorp MS. in Simpkinson Washingtons (i860) App. 6 Brasen skimers v. 1686 in Essex Rev. (1906) XV. 172 Two pestls, one brass skimer. y. 1481-90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 66 Item, a skimmer, iiij d. £21553 Udall Royster D. iv. iv, I with our skimmer will fling him one flappe. 1589 [? Lyly] Pappe w. Hatchet Ciiij, Giue me my skimmer, Martins mouth hath sod vnskimde these twelue months. 1600 Holland Livy xxiii. xix. 487 Great store of nuts .. which floated downe the channell unto Casilinum, and with grated skimmers of wicker were taken up. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 913 Take away the froth that riseth, twice a day, with a wooden skimmer that hath holes in it. 1707 Curios, in Husb. Gard. 124 You may take off with a Skimmer, the Corn that Swims on the Water. 1750 Blanckley Naval Expos. 153 Skimmers, made with a round Hoop of Iron,.. are used by the Scavengers for clearing Chips, etc. which float on the Surface of the Water. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 403 Shallow tinned iron or copper ladles, called skimmers. *843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 345 Some persons judge of the heat proper for pouring, by applying the skimmer to the surface of the metal. 1883 ‘Annie Thomas’ Mod. Housewife 76 As soon as this is melted, take out the oysters with a skimmer.

b. (See quot.) 1887 Goode Fisheries 3 Fish. Industr. U.S. 559 As soon as the oysters are opened they are placed in a flat pan with a perforated bottom, called a skimmer, where they are drained of their accompanying liquor.

C. U.S. A clam or scallop, the shell of which may be used for skimming milk, etc. Esp. the black clam, Cyprina islandica 1881 E. Ingersoll Oyster Industry 248 Skimmer, the Cyprina islandica, or big beach clam. (South shore of Long Island.) 1891 in Cent. Diet. 1949 R. J. Sim Pages from Past 65 The big surf clam, or skimmer (Mactra solidissima Chemn.), lies bedded dowrn in great colonies off shore. d. A device or craft designed to collect oil

spilled on water.

SKIMMER 1971 Petroleum Rev. May 203/2 (caption) The skimmer straddles the boom and the suction box is about to be immersed to suck up the oil floating on the surface of the water. 1976 M. Machlin Pipeline li. 516 Heavy duty floating skimmers will be deployed to recover as much oil as is feasible. 1977 Times 25 Apr. 1/4 A fleet of skimmers is steaming from Stavanger to suck up the oil and transfer it to waiting tankers.

f2. =

scummer sb. 2. Obs. rare. *387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 261 Men of Saxonia .. beej? boJ?e li3ter and strenger pan oper skymours of pe see.

3. a. One who skims a liquid, rare. 1611 Cotgr., Escumeur,.. a scummer, or skimmer of liquor.

b. One who conceals or diverts some of his earnings or takings in order to avoid paying tax on them. U.S. slang. Cf. skim v. 2d. 1970 Wall St. Jrnl. 23 Mar. 13/1 Some skimmers.. give themselves away by keeping track of their true earnings. A New York dentist, for instance, devised a dot-dash code for his office records. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters vi. 241 The cash was being split, some to be counted for taxes and the rest to go to the skimmers.

4. One who skims in reading. I751 Skelton Deism Rev. viii. (ed. 2) II. 302 There are.. different degrees of Skimmers: first, he who goes no farther than the Title-page. 1864 Realm 15 June 6 Nor is it quite fair to newspaper readers or skimmers to expect them [etc.] 1907 Outlook 9 Nov. 605/1 For the judicious skimmer there is in these handsomely illustrated volumes a rich store of entertainment.

5. Ornith. A bird of the North American genus Rhyncops, esp. the black skimmer (R. nigra). The name has reference to the manner in which these birds obtain their food, by skimming small fish, etc., from the surface of the water with the lower mandible. 1785 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds III. 11. 347 Black Skimmer, Rynchops nigra. 1826 Stephens in Shaw Gen. Zool. XIII. 135 The Skimmers are distinguished from all other birds by the verv extraordinarv form of their beak. 1838 Audubon Ornith. IV. 204 The hoarse cries of the Skimmers never ceased more than an hour. 1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 651 The number of birds on Cape Cod is very great, and among them are many rare ones for the North, such as the black skimmer, or shear-water. 6. a. A form of horse-hoe; a shim. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Nov. 375 The hand-hoes destroy those that are too near the beans for this skimmer or horsehoe.

b. U.S. A form of skim-coulter (Cent. Diet. Suppl.). c. A metal hook for trundling a child’s iron hoop. Now chiefly Hist. 1891 R. Pearse Chope Dial. Hartland, Devonshire 70 Skimmer, a hooked iron rod used by children for trundling iron hoops without striking them. 1953 L. Daiken Children s Toys iii. 38 In Victorian times the old-fashioned metal hoop was controlled by a ‘skimmer’, the vernacular name for the hook-and-handle apparatus held in the hand. 1961 Listener 12 Oct. 549/2 For boys they [sc. hoops] were of iron, driven along and steered by an iron hook we called a skimmer. 1979 This England Winter 66/3 The tool used to both drive and check the hoop had a hook at the end of a short length of steel with a wooden handle, and was called the ‘skimmer’.

7. a. One who scours, or passes lightly and quickly over, the sea, land, etc. 1831 Fraser's Mag. III. 436 The poor skimmers over sea and land whom our friend so justly denounces. 1863 Janet Hamilton Poems & Ess. 75 The cooing dove, the cawing rook, The skimmers of the lake and brook. 1893 McCarthy Red Diamonds II. 47 Skipper Borringer.., a persistent skimmer of the seas.

b. Applied to vessels, spec, to a particular type of yacht. Hence also, a hydroplane, hydrofoil, hovercraft, or other vessel that has little or no displacement at speed. 1844 Mrs. Houston Yacht Voy. Texas II. 235 Thou ‘Skimmer’ of the untamed sea. 1862 London Rev. 16 Aug. 139 Only at the yachting stations will the tapering spars and the snowy wings of the skimmers of the seas be found. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 11 Sept. 7/2 The skimmer.. is the only type which can be driven at abnormal speeds with a small sail area. 1909 J. I. Thornycroft in Engineering 12 Mar. 365/1 Vessels which greatly reduce their displacement when travelling at high speeds are generally called ‘hydro-planes’, but this name is not altogether satisfactory, as the surfaces on which they glide are not always planes. To call such vessels ‘gliders’ or ‘skimmers’ has been suggested as more appropriate... The latter word will be used to describe boats which at high speeds are heavier than the water they displace. 1920 Yachting Monthly XXIX. 20 Owing to the fact that she was an unballasted skimmer she had an unfortunate habit of capsizing at moorings. 1945 J. J. Fahey Pacific War Diary 308 The General, Admiral, Captain and a few other officers left the ship in a skimmer for a picnic. 1967 {title) Jane’s surface skimmer systems 1967-68. 1971 Morning Star 30 Mar. 9/1 Soviet sea-going skimmers type Kometa-M are furnished with log, radio, radar and other navigation safety instruments. 1975 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 22 June 5/1 They are not hovercraft or hydrofoils but ‘skimmers’—ships which can take off from the water and thunder along a few score cm above it, supported on huge airliner-type wings.

c. A hat; a broad-brimmed boater, esp. of straw. Formerly, skimmer hat. slang (chiefly U.S.). 1830 J. F. Watson Annals of Philadelphia 176 Other articles of female wear.. [include] a ‘skimmer hat’,., of a very small flat crown and big brim, not unlike the present Leghorn flats. 1929 Amer. Speech IV. 430 Among the terms which the daily press credits Mr. Dorgan with inventing are: ..skimmer (hat). 1939 M. B. Picken Lang. Fashion 73/3 Skimmer, flat-crowned sailor, usually of straw, having wide, straight brim. Worn and so-called by students at Eton College. 1946 Sun (Baltimore) 14 Jan. 12/1 New Yorkers

607

SKIMMING

who patronize such places pay several times over the original cost of their skimmers, in tips alone, during the course of a year. 1974 P. de Vries Glory of Hummingbird ii. 13 The thoroughly incompatible straw hat... The brightly banded boater, or ‘skimmer’ or ‘katy’. d. A sheath-like dress that fits closely to the lines of the body. Chiefly U.S. 1964 N. Y. Times 9 Dec. 5 Irish linen skimmer with a flirty scalloped hemline! 1968 Tel. (Brisbane) 2 Feb. 14/7 Cotton crepe skimmers .. finished with set-in sleeves and a self bow trim. 1974 News Press (Darlington, S. Carolina) 25 Apr. 3 (Advt.), Our large collection includes wraps, skimmers, pleated coat dresses, fit ’n flares [etc.]. 8. a. Golf. A particular kind of low stroke. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 11 Sept. 4/2 The shot was a sliced skimmer off a wooden club. b. Cricket, etc. A ball that travels with a low trajectory. c 1868 in H. Chadwick Scrapbks. XI. 5/1 An over-throw of Hatfield allowed Wilkins to seize second; he then stole to third, and ran in on Fisler’s ‘skimmer’ to left field. 1897 K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket iii. 119 Strawyard promptly drives it just as expected —a real ‘skimmer’ 6 feet over extra-cover’s head. 1908 N. Y. Even. Jrnl. 11 June 17/1 Twice Honus dug up slashing skimmers that Mike shot past Leach. 1911 P. F. Warner Bk. of Cricket v. 114 Haigh was bowling, and .. Palairet batting, when a ‘skimmer’ came towards the pavilion straight for me. 1930 A. P. F. Chapman in Lonsdale & Parker Game of Cricket vii. 114 The catches sent him are a varied assortment—‘skiers and skimmers’—but he rarely gets an easy one. 1980 Amer. Speech 1976 LI. 294 Tennis slang... skimmer, ball gliding lightly and rapidly over the net. 9. attrib., as skimmer-cake (see quot. 1863); f skimmer hat: see sense 7 c above; skimmer shell U.S., the shell of a clam or scallop (cf. sense 1 c). 1795 J- Woodforde Diary 9 Feb. (1929) IV. 172 Dinner to day, boiled Beef & a Skimmer-Cake. 1863 Wise New Forest Gloss., Skimmer-cake, a small pudding made up from the remnants of another, and cooked upon a ‘skimmer’, the dish with which the milk is skimmed. 1880 Golden Hours XII. 520/1 Two pretty shells of the kind that children call ‘skimmer shells’. 1889 Hardy Wessex Tales 25 Helping himself to a cut piece of skimmer-cake. skimmer

('skim3(r)),

shimmer v.

v.

[Northern

var.

of

The sk- suggests a Scand. origin,

but there is no trace of the form in ON., and mod.Sw. skimra may be from German.] 1. intr. To shimmer, glitter, gleam. 01440 [implied in the vbl. s6.]. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 353 To Skimmer, to shine, to glitter. 1835 New Monthly Mag. XLIII. 68 Weeds.. which, now black, now tipped with light, skimmered and danced in the night air. 1845 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. 234 It skimmers from the play of light upon those numerous.. crystals. 1863 Miss Yonge Hist. Christian Names I. 255 The pale pure electric light that skimmers on the topmast. 2. To flutter, move rapidly. For other dialect variations of sense, see Eng. Dial. Diet. 1824 Hogg Wks. 1865 I. 464 He was bounding over the heads of the maidens, and making his feet skimmer against the ceiling, a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia 304 Skimmer, to flutter or frisk about lightly. 1845 S. Judd Margaret 1. xvii, Some were .. skimmering away through the bright air. 1891 in Pall Mall G. 28 Sept. 7/3 The hawk darted down, skimmered along the ground a distance, and was then lost in a wood. • Hence 'skimmering vbl. sb. and ppl. a. c 1440 York Myst. xvii. 123 Be ony skymeryng [v.r. skemeryng] of the skye When 3e shulde knawe owthir kyng or knave? a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, Skimmer, a skimmering light, i.e. glimmering. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Skimmerin, the flickering of the rays of light. 1855 [Robinson] Whitby Gloss, s.v., ‘A fine skimmering morning,’ a splendid dawn betokening a fine day. t skimmer, obs. Sc. form of scumber v. «is85 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 780 Leane limmer, steale gimmer! I sail skimmer in thy mouth. skimmi, var. shikimi. skimmia.

Bot.

[mod.L.

(C.

P.

Thunberg

Nova Genera Plantarum (1783) iii. 57), f. Jap. (mijama-) skimmi, the name of the plant.] evergreen belonging

shrub to

of

the

the

family

genus Rutaceae,

so

An

called,

native

to

Japan, China, or the Himalayas, and bearing panicles of small white flowers followed by red berries. Cf. shikimi. 1853 Curtis's Bot. Mag. LXXIX. 4719 {heading) Japan Skimmia. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1064/2 Skimmia, the name of a genus of evergreen shrubs, with oblong entire stalked leathery dotted leaves, and flowers in terminal panicles. 1882 Garden 1 Apr. 210/1 These Skimmias are excellent evergreens. 1908 G. Jekyll Colour in Flower Garden xi. 104 Here are green Aucubas and Skimmias. 1925 A. J. Macself Flowering Trees & Shrubs xi. 179 Cuttings of Skimmias root very well in sandy peat under bell-glasses, i960 Times 24 Sept. 9/3 There are .. the skimmias, but here we have to be .. more careful, because some of them are monosexual. 1980 Plantsman I. 237 Skimmias prefer deep heavy fertile acid moist soils. 'skim-milk. [f. skim v. + milk sb.] 1.

Milk

with

the

cream

skimmed

off

or

otherwise removed. Also in fig. context. 1596 Shaks. 1 Hen. IV, 11. iii. 36 (Qq.), I could deuide my selfe, and go to buffets, for mouing such a dish of skim milke [1623/0//0 skim’d Milk] with so honorable an action, a 1712 W. King Misc. Poems, The Old Cheese, This is Skim-milk, and therefore it shall go. 1799 A. Young Agric. Line. 297 He ..gives first new, then skim milk. 1808 Curwen Econ. Feeding Stock 63 The skim-milk was included in the butter

account. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. I. 382/1 He lived principally upon ‘parritch’ and skim milk. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 132 If fat be removed from the milk as in ‘skim’ milk, rickets follows. fig. 1778 The Love Feast 11 Craft’s blue skim-Milk is best for Tools to lap. 1872 Punch 4 May 180/2 The genuine outpouring of the milk and cream, and none of the skimmilk of human kindness. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 14 Nov. 7/1 The idea prevailed that the cream had been extracted from the .. revelations, leaving little but skim milk behind.

2. attrib., as skim-milk cheese, etc. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1012 In making skim-milk-cheeses the milk is set in the leads or pans as usual. 1836 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 220 It’s no skimmilk story, I do assure you. 1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 15/2 On the whole it is a better cheese than our Suffolk skim-milk cheese. 1876 Clinical Soc. Trans. IX. 38 On the adoption of the skim-milk treatment.

'skimminess.

rare[f. skimmy a. + -ness.] Resemblance to skim-milk.

1887 F. W. Robinson In Bad Hands III. 90 The general skimminess of the fluid [sc. milk].

'skimming,

vbl. sb. [f. skim v.] 1. That which is removed or obtained by

skimming. Usually pi. 01450 M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 198 Put hyt in a panne ouer pe fuyr, & skem hyt wel as long as eny skemmyng wol aryse. 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire (1891) 250 The smoake that the people reported to see and the skyminges of potts. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1096 Apply that skimming of the air, that is, those cobwebs that are scattered in Autumn. 1750 Ellis Mod. Ilusb. V. iii. 57 (E.D.D.), The skimmings [of soaked wheat] he sowed by themselves. 1777 Cook's Voy. (1784) I. 1. vii. 130 They relished the very skimmings of the kettle. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 211 The last skimmings are termed fleetings, and are generally reserved for the use of the servants. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Skimmings,.. thick syrup or scum in sugar-boiling. fig. 1553 Respublica 98 The skimmynges, the gubbins of booties and praies. 1838 Thackeray in Fraser's Mag. Mar. 353 Skimmings from ‘The Diary of George IV’. 1845 Huxley in Life (1900) I. i. 14 These are but the top skimmings of these five years’ living. 1883 PennellElmhirst {title), The Cream of Leicestershire: Eleven seasons’ skimmings; notable runs and incidents of the chase.

2. a. The action of removing floating matter from the surface of a liquid, etc. Also^ig. 1611 Cotgr., Escumement,.. a scumming, or skimming. 1642 Rogers Naaman 252 After a short skeaming off a little of the sweet of their will. 1774 Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772 II. 299 The great scallop-shell is made use of in the dairies of this country for the skimming of milk. 1826 Art Brewing (ed. 2) 115 Repeat the skimming until no yeast rises. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxxii, I . . will return in the skimming of a bowie. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. ii. §1. 65 The impurities, which are afterwards removed by skimming.

b. The practice of concealing or diverting some of one’s earnings or takings to avoid paying tax on them. U.S. slang. Cf. skim v. 2 d. 1966 Economist 10 Sept. 1023/3 The report ascribed the allegations of skimming and underworld connections to excessive zeal displayed by the department. 1966 Wall St. Jrnl. (Eastern ed.) 23 Nov. 32 The term ‘skimming’ refers to the alleged practice of some casino operators of failing to report the full amount of their gambling revenues to state and Federal tax authorities, and often distributing this unreported income to alleged secret interests in their casinos. 1970 Ibid. 23 Mar. 13/1 A few years ago in Philadelphia, the owner of a large pizza parlour was suspected of skimming. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 23 Oct. 2/4 To correct the common practice of ‘skimming’ (underreporting the income from bingo games), the commission suggests that all states require operators to report the percentage of the take that actually goes to the intended charity. 1982 Daily Tel. 24 Aug. 11/2 Charged in connection with a ‘skimming’ operation—siphoning off money to avoid tax—at a Las Vegas casino.

3. a. The action of reading (over) hastily. 1711 Gay Pres. St. Wit in Arber Garner VI. 506 A lively instance of those Wits who.. ‘will endure but one skimming’. 1751 Skelton Deism Revealed viii. (ed. 2) II. 302 They run over a book with all imaginable haste [etc.]: this they call skimming. 1862 Helps Organiz. Daily Life 85 The skimming over [of the pamphlet] was effected in half an hour.

b. The action of causing to skim through the air. 01745 in Lees Hist. Inverness-shire (1897) xi. 169 Such loud huzzas and schimming of bonnets up into the air.. was not heard of for a long time.

4. attrib., as skimming-gate, -iron, -ladle, etc. skimming net, a fishing-net with a handle, a dip-net. 1639 J2th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. IX. 8 One Skiminge spoone with holes in it. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Nov. 375 They use a kind of skimming plough.. having a flat share, somewhat like a mason’s trowel, with two long wings projecting backwards. 1806 Lewis & Clark Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1905) IV. xxv. 292 Those people have a number of buffalow robes. They have great number of skimming nets. 1813 Ellis Brand's Pop. Antiq. II. iii Mr. Douce derives it from the Skimming-Ladle. 1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 14/2 When the curd is properly formed, it is cut horizontally in thin slices by the same skimming-ladle. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 578 A scum on the surface, which is removed with skimming irons. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 344 The pot is now lifted out., and carried to the skimming-place. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. 11. viii. 194 note. Taken with the skimming net. 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron 201 The recess .. for the skimming of the metal is known as the skimming gate.

'skimming,

ppl. a. [f. skim w.] 1. Moving lightly along or close to a surface;

flying in an easy gliding manner, etc.

01685 Otway Epist. to Mr. Duke 33 Where skimming swallows o’er the surface fly. 1783 Burns ‘Notv Westlin Winds’ iv, Thick flies the skimming Swallow. 1821 Clare Vi/I. Minstr. I. 7 Like skimming bees That fly and flirt about. 1859 Maury Phys. Geog. §432 We know that it is not such a skimming current as the geologist would make, which runs from_one lake to another. 1894 Outing XXIV. 223/1 The dead leaves lift and whirl as though from an earthskimming cannon shot.

2. fig. Touching merely the surface of a subject; not deep or thorough. 1728 Morgan Algiers II. v. 307 A bare superficial, skimming knowledge in the French. 1844 II. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 181 There are more ways than one of grooming a horse, as may be witnessed by the skimming and careless way in which some ploughmen do it. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 20 June 1/3 With all this light and skimming talk.

3. Serving to skim a thing over. 1843 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VI. 211/1 The first, or ‘skimming’ coat of the covering being laid on of a thickness of ^ inch.

4. Cricket. Of a bowler: that bowls the ball w ith a low trajectory (obs.). Also, of a shot which carries low and fast. Cf. skimmer 8 b. 1851 W. Clark in W. Bolland Cricket Notes 132 Suppose you have what I call a skimming Bowler. 1888 A. G. Steel in Steel & Lyttelton Cricket iii. 165 The low skimming fast bowler is generally an easy man to play. 1930 Morning Post 9 Aug. 14/1 Woolley .. made a low skimming drive over the ring at long-on for 6 off S. Staples.

'skimming-dish. [skimming vbl. sb. 4.] 1. A dish suitable for skimming with; esp. one used in skimming milk or in cheese-making. 1688 Holme Armoury ill. 333/1 A little broad flat Dish made of Wood, called by Dairy Women a Scimming Dish. 1713 Addison Guardian No. 124, Who on her skimmingdish carves her name. 1785 W. W. Pepys in Roberts Mem. Han. More (1835) I. 384 To send you a skimming-dish,.. towards setting-up housekeeping. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1017 The operator stirs up the unbroken curd from the bottom with the skimming-dish. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede ix, Have you become an amateur of damp quarries and skimming-dishes?

b. fig. Something comparable to a skimmingdish in respect of shallowness. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas M. x, The adherents of the inexplicable more than hinted that their antagonists were .. mere skimming-dishes in point of depth. 1885 Sat. Rev. 3 Jan. 11/1 The Englishman not inaptly calls the American’s boat a ‘skimming dish’.

c. U.S. A shallow yacht-built type of boat used on the coast of Florida. 1884 J.A. Henshall Camping in Florida ii. 15 The boats are .. of light draught and center-boarders. There are the ‘skimming-dish’, the ‘pumpkin-seed’ and the ‘flat-iron’ models.

2. attrib. in f skimming-dish hat. 1766 Smollett Trav. I. vi. 99 That unshaken patriot still appears in the same.. skimming-dish hat, and slit sleeve. 1773 J- Berridge Wks. (1864) *93 A dozen skimming dish hats, such as gentry wear. 1855 Willis's Current Notes V. 58/2 The Skimming-Dish Hat.

'skimmingly, adv. skimming

manner;

[f. skimming ppl. a.]

esp.

SKIN

608

SKIMMING-DISH

lightly,

In a

carelessly,

superficially. 1847 Webster, Skimmingly, by gliding along the surface. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Charac. xiv. 361 How skimmingly he relates that, ‘having flown over many knavish professions, he settled down in rogue.’ 1900 Pilot 16 June 494/2 Of all these.. men he gossips in an easy, skimming style; too skimmingly, indeed, for the most part.

skimmington ('skimiritan). Also skyming-, skimmen-, skimmerton; skimmiting, -ity, etc. [Possibly from skimming (see quot. 1639 in sense 1) + -ton as in simpleton, with the object of simulating a personal name.] fl. The man or woman personating the illused husband or the offending wife in the procession (see 2) intended to ridicule the one or the other. Also transf., a husband whose wife is unfaithful to him; a shrewish woman. Obs. 1609 Butler Fem. Mon. iv. (1623) Ij, Yet when they haue it [^c. their desire], let them use poore Skimmington as best they may, especially in publike, to hide his shame. 1634 Heywood & Brome Lane. Witches H.’s Wks. 1874 IV. 234 Enter.. a Skimington, and his wife on a horse. 1639 Divers Crabtree Lectures Frontispiece [representing a woman beating her husband with a skimming-ladle], Skimmington, and her Husband. 1813 Ellis Brand's Pop. Antiq. II. 110 If they stopped at any other door and swept there too, it was a pretty broad hint that there were more Skimmingtons, i.e. Shrews in the town than one.

2. A ludicrous procession, formerly common in villages and country districts, usually intended to bring ridicule or odium upon a woman or her husband in cases where the one was unfaithful to, or ill-treated, the other. Also attrib. (cf. b). For varying accounts of the reasons for, and the character of, the procession, see the Eng. Dial. Diet. 1634 Heywood & Brome Lane. Witches H.’s Wks. 1874 IV. 230 Hearke ye, do you heare it? There’s a Skimington towards, gentlemen. C1679 Oldham Wks. (1854) 125 Like pageants of Lord Mayor, or Skimmington. 1714-5 Bagford in Leland's Collect. I. p. lxxvi, I might here mention the old Custom of Skimington, when a Woman beats her Husband. 1753 Miss Collier Art. Torment. Concl. (1811) 221 Where the strength of arm is with the wife, she generally uses it in a manner to excite her neighbours to lampoon her by a Skimmington. 1865 St. James' Mag. July 511 The ‘skymington’ is still in use for henpecked husbands and

shrewish wives. 1886 Hardy Mayor of Casterbr. xxxix, The rude music of the skimmington ceased. Ibid, xl, He knew nothing of the skimmington-ride.

b. In phrase to ride (the) skimmington, to hold a procession of this kind. 1697 View Penal Laws App., A Table of.. Misdemeanors, Offences and Nusances... Riot and Riding Skinnington [$*V]. a 1712 W. King Monarch 1 When the young people ride the Skimmington, There is a general trembling in a town. 1796 Grose's Diet. Vulgar T., Riding Skimmington. 1822 Scott Nigel xxi, You would do well not to forget whose threshold was swept when they last rode the Skimmington upon such another scolding jade as yourself. 1831 Examiner 396/2 One of those scenes called ‘riding skimmerton’, or rustic country justice, took place on Monday evening last at Bitterne.

3. A row, quarrel. rare~x. 1753 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 479 The Speaker.. was so misrepresented by the Attorney-general, that there was danger of a skimmington between the great wig and the coif.

'skimmy, a. rare~x. [f. skim of skimming; superficial.

v.]

Of the nature

1893 Critic 7 Jan. 6/2 A sketchy and ‘skimmy’ study of the romance as distinguished from the novel in the United States.

'skimmy-dish. rare~l. = skimming-dish. 1823 W. Cobbett Rural Rides (1830) I. 347 What! young gentlemen go to plough! They become clerks or some skimmy dish thing or other. skimobile ('skiimabiil). N. Amer. [f. ski sb. + -mobile.] 1. A car or chain of cars used to carry skiers up a mountain; a ski-lift. 1946 Richmond (Va.) News Leader 9 Jan. 4/2 A ski-mobile ascends Mount Cranmore, near North Conway, N.H., taking skiers to the top of a 2,052 foot rundown. 1979 United States 1980/81 (Penguin Travel Guides) 483 Its oddball skimobile is one of the oldest lifts in New England.

2. A small vehicle for travelling over snow, with caterpillar tracks at the back and steerable skis in front. Cf. snowmobile. (Now the usual sense.) I955 Kingston (Ont.) Whig-Standard 6 Apr. 25/3 With the advent of snowmobiles and skimobiles, most dog teams are now used for dog races. 1969 ‘R. Stark’ Blackbird (1970) xx. 127 There were a couple of skimobiles down there, little open scooters with skis in front and treads in back. 1974 R. B. Parker God save Child ii. 8 Shopping centers, a fish market, a skimobile shop.

skimp, a. [Of obscure origin: not in general use until late 19th c.] Scanty; = scrimp a. 1775 Songs & Poems Costume (Percy Soc.) 255 Then the fops are so fine, With lank waisted chine, And a skimp bit of a hat. 1890 Athenaeum 9 Aug. 189/3 Breaking up other measures, especially those of the ode, into skimp lengths of like sort. 1926 [see love-curl s.v. love sb.* 16]. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 244 Sneed turned his attention to considering the skimp possibles; there were no probables for the job.

skimp (skimp), sb. Chiefly dial, and colloq. [f. the adj. ] A small or insignificant piece of something; a small or scanty article, esp. a fashionably skimpy garment. 1862 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds 118 He thowt ’at t’ moin was necessary tul his existence, and.. he hed one maade o’ white paaper, an’ oiled here an’ thear, so as to resemble skimps o’ cloud, as seen to the physical eye. 1925 Bulletin (Glasgow) 11 Apr. 10/2 She surreptitiously dabbed a little skimp of a handkerchief in her eyes. 1966 Seventeen June 92 A skimp., of stinging green French cotton. 1979 B. Malamud Dubin's Lives vi. 211 She wore a yellow skimp, her bosom snug in the fabric, her legs .. good to see in short dresses.

skimp, v. [Cf. skimp a.]

= scrimp v. 1879 in Webster Suppl. 1880 R. G. White Every-Day English 13 The a in catch is moderately broad;.. and consequently it is ‘skimped’ by all who are inclined to be slovenly. 1888 Rider Haggard Col. Quaritch i, In those ages men did not skimp their flint, and oak, and mortar. absol. 1888 Eggleston Graysons xix, The woman who has . .schemed and skimped to achieve her attire.

skimped (skimpt), ppl. a. Also 9 scimpit. [Cf. SKIMP V.] = SCRIMPED ppl. a. 1839 Carleton Fardorougha v. (1848) 55 Only your cothamore’s too scimpit for me. i860 Mayne Reid Hunters' Feast i, Bradley’s garments, on the contrary, were tightfitting and ‘skimped’. 1884 Lang in Cent. Mag. Jan. 323/1 Stone walls can never seem so squalid and skimped as the London houses of dirty, yellowish brick.

skimper-scamper, adv. [f. scamper v.f with usual variation of vowel.] In hurry and confusion. 1778 Miss Burney Evelina xlvi, And there all the lamps are broke,—and the women run skimper scamper.

skimpily ('skimpili), adv. [f. skimpy a. + -ly2.] In a skimpy manner or style. 1859 W. H. Gregory Egypt I. 314 She would..have dressed herself more becomingly, and less skimpily. 1866 Contemp. Rev. II. 487 They are carelessly and ‘skimpily’ got up goods. 1887 Fenn Master Cerem. iii, She recrossed the skimpily furnished drawing-room.

'skimpiness. [f. skimpy a. quality of being skimpy.

+

-ness.]

The

1879 Miss Braddon Vixen xxxi, The faded and unknown hue of the substantial brocade, the skimpiness of the satin. 1884 Punch 2 Feb. 53 [A female] who had tried to make up for the skimpiness of her figure by the breadth of her hatbrim.

‘skimping, ppl.

a. [f. skimp a. and v.] Skimpy; marked by skimpiness. 1775 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. xcv. (1783) III. 193 Sir, what a skimping waistcoat is here! neither cut, nor turn, nor slope, nor figure. 1803 Mary Charlton Wife & Mistress III. 213 He was downright tired of the Skimping out-ofthe-way doings as is here. 1862 Sala Seven Sons I. vi. 125 A little milliner’s girl in a skimping plaid shawl. 1889 ’R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxii, The miserable, scrambling, skimping life we had lately been used to. Hence skimpingly adv. 1853 Lytton My Novel ill. xv, The Squire and his son Frank were large-hearted, generous creatures in the article of apology, as in all things less skimpingly dealt out.

'skimping,

vbl. sb. [f. skimp v. + -ing1.] The

action of the verb. 1898 A. Beardsley Let. Jan. (1970) 425, I must try and boil the book down but it’s so rich and full of chances that skimping would be a sin. 1977 blot Car Oct. 125/3 (Advt.), No skimping to cut cost.

'skimpings. Mining. skimmings.] (See quots.)

[?

alteration

of

1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 222 The water is poured off from the surface of the Tin, and the light waste upon it is skimmed off and laid by itself, to be buddled over again by the name of the Skimpings. Ibid. 238 The Ore swims uppermost, and is skimmed off in the manner of Tin skimpings. 1839 De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall, etc. xv. 577 If divided into three, the two upper portions were termed top and bottom skimpings. i860 Eng. at of his owen skyn wole kerue a thong,

b .fig. (See quots.) Quot. 1579 echoes Persius Sat. v. 116 ‘veterem pelliculam retines’, which Cooper (1565) renders ‘thou art the olde man still; thou hast still thine olde skinne’. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 133/1 We shall be alwayes in part lead away with our old skin, and there will be great remnants of the old man in vs. 1632 Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry 11. ii, They skip into my lord’s cast skins some twice a year. 1828 Lytton Pelham xxxiv, That great epoch, when vanity casts off its first skin. 1856 Mayhew Gt. World London 39 The wealth in which the merchants of Rag Fair deal. . is merely the offal of the well-to-do—the skins sloughed by gentility.

c. Without article, as a material. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 88 When skin is exposed to solutions containing tannin, it slowly combines with that principle.

d. The bare (human) skin. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 748, I in my skin hopping around. 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) xvi. 142, I asked her to bring her swimming clothes .. because we were not to swim in our skins today. 1976 Western Mail (Cardiff) 27 Nov., The great day dawned, Wales v Africa, Wales in skins and Jack Sharkey’s and S. Africa in white (skins meant no jerseys).

e. U.S. Blacks' slang. The skin of the palm of the hand, as making contact in shaking or slapping hands in friendship or solidarity. Freq. in phr. to give (some) skin, imp. gimme some skin (also as sb.). 1942 Z. N. Hurston in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 223/2 ‘Gimme some skin!’ ‘Lay de skin on me, pal!’ Sweet Back grabbed Jelly’s outstretched hand and shook hard. 1944 D. Burley Handbk. Jive 85 The act of ‘Gimme-someskin’ involves some theatricals, an intricate sense of timing, plenty of gestures. 1967 Harper's Mag. Nov. 62/2 Once— when I came in on the break behind him at precisely the right point—Pops gave me some skin. He reached out his dark old hand.. and I turned my hand, palm up... Pops lightly brushed my open palm in a half-slap, the jive set’s seal of approval. 1972 B. G. Cooke in T. Kochman Rappiti & Stylin' Out 33 The gestural expressions of ‘giving skin’ and ‘getting skin5 are very common in the black community. 1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin', & Playin' Dozens iv. 119 The viewer of TV sporting events will often observe black athletes, and whites too now, giving skin after a home run, a touch-down, or at the start of a basketball game. 6. In allusive phrases: a. Denoting oppressive

or severe treatment, or summary punishment. C1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 73 J?us, as god sei)? of tyrauntis, pei taken here skyn fro pe bak. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles 11. 32 pey plucked the plomayle from pe pore skynnes. Ibid. 126 3e .. plucked and pulled hem anon to pe skynnes. 1549 Latimer 3rd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 96 She can bringe the Iudges skynne ouer hys eares. Ibid. 97 He wyll for wyddowes sakes .. plucke ye Iudges skinnes ouer theyr heades. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 55 Many., who in regard of their age, ..being esteemed as dead men, haue made young men to tremble and quake, who earst purposed to plucke their skin ouer their eares.

b. skin and bone(s), denoting extreme emaciation or leanness. Also, a very lean person. Hence skin-and-bony adj. Also skin and grief. c 1430 Hymns Virgin (1867) 73 Ful of fleissche Y was to fele, Now.. Me is lefte But skyn & boon, a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. V, 16 b, In .. whose reigne she dyed, when she had nothyng but a reueled skynne and bone. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 134 Yet art thou skyn and bone. 1617 Moryson Itin. 1. 251 My self being nothing but skin and bone, as one that languished in a Consumption. c 1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 22 She languished and pined away to skin and bones. 1748 Richardson Clarissa VII. 201 Her features are so regular.. that were she only skin and bone, she must be a beauty. 1827 Perils & Captivity (Constable’s Misc.) 224 We arrived, extenuated and reduced to skin and bone. 1886 H. Baumann Londinismen 180/2 Skin-and-bones.., skin-and-grief.. haut und knochen, diirre Person. 1888 W. D. Lighthall Young Seigneur 73 ‘Heh, heh, heh!’ cried an old skin-and-bones. 1906 [see gramophone]. 1912 D. H. Lawrence Let. 24 Dec. (1962) I. 172 They want me to have form: that means, they want me to have their pernicious ossiferous skin-and-grief form, and I won’t. 1935 C. Day Lewis Time to Dance 61 You silly great fulminating bogeyman! You’re nothing but a laugh and a daft skin-and-bony man. 1955 G. Greene Loser takes All 1. vii. 43 The horse was all skin and bone and I had forgotten that the road was uphill. 1981 B. Granger Schism i. 9 The old man .. was just skin and bones. Maybe they could fatten him up.

c. to sleep in a whole skin, etc., to escape being wounded, to remain uninjured. 1555 J- Pkoctor Hist. Wyat's Rebellion 45 The common saiynge, Good to slepe in a whole skinne. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 114 The foole is crafty inough to sleepe in a whole skin. 1600 Holland Livy xxxii. xxi. 823 b, To enter into no armes at all, to sit still and sleepe in a hole skin. 1694 Echard Plautus 110 Begon in a moment, as you hope to sleep in a whole skin. I7°4 J Pitts Acc. Moham. ii. 16 The Algerines are a very timorous sort of People, willing to sleep in a whole Skin. 1813 Southey March to Moscow x, He was besides in a very great fright, For a whole skin he liked to be in. 1897 W. E. Norris Marietta's Marriage xliii, We’ll assume.. that your anxiety to keep a whole skin justified you in taking to your heels.

SKIN f d. as the skin between one's brows, etc., used to emphasize the force of an adjective. Obs. 1575 Gamm. Gurton v. ii. 121, I am as true, I wold thou knew, as skin betwene thy browes! 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. II. i, Punt. Is he magnanimous? Gent. As the skin between your brows, sir. 1614-Barth. Fair iv. iii, Tou shalt be as honesht as the skin between his hornsh. a 1643 Cartwright Ordinary v. iv, I am as honest as the skin that is Between thy Brows.

e. to the skin, through all one’s garments; hence, thoroughly, completely. Also, leaving no clothing on the body. (а) 1582 Allen Martyrdom Campion (1908) 84 After these iiij had been searched unto their skinnes, and nothing found upon them. 1605 Shaks. Lear iii. iv. 7 This contentious storme Inuades vs to the skin. 1611 Cotgr., Traverse,.. wet through, or (as we say) to the skinne. 1764 Foote Mayor of G. 1. (1783) 14, I don’t believe .. that they were ever wet to the skin in their lives, c 1885 A. W. Pinero in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of igth Cent. (1973) IV. 338, I’m wet to the skin and frightfully hungry! 1938 R. D. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 60 It was useless to try and find shelter, and the two runaways were soaked to the skin in a minute. 1974 S. Milligan Rommel 128 The rain had temporarily stopped. .. We were all soaked to the skin and bloody miserable. (б) 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 749 The Sauages.. giuing all to their naked skinne .. for the trifles he gaue them. 1634 Massinger Very Woman v. v, We were boarded, pillaged to the skin, and after Twice sold for slaves, a 1639 W. Whateley Prototypes 11. xxxiv. (1640) 181 The Egyptians would rather sell themselves to the skinne, yea sell themselves and all, then they would.. take corne by force.

f. out of one's skin, denoting excessive exertion, or more usually (with jump, etc.) extreme delight, excitement, high spirits, or surprise. (a) 1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus 1. 38 Hymselfe as one ready to leape out of hys skynne for joy,.. declared [etc.]. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 94 The marchant, if his gaines doe safe come in, Is with joy ready to leape out on’s skinne. 1668 H. More Div. Dial. iii. xxxvi. (1713) 283 How transported are my Spirits, that I am ready even to skip out of my skin for Joy! 1732 Fielding Miser v. i, I am ready to leap out of my skin for joy. 1798 Colman Blue Devils 1. i, ’Twould make me jump out of my skin with joy. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias x. vii, Scipio .. was ready to jump out of his skin for joy at the sight of me. i860 Trollope Castle Richmond III. xiii. 246 So is we all ould frinds, an we’re all glad—out of our skins wid gladness. 1891 N. Gould Double Event xv. 101 The horse .. looked in splendid condition, ‘fit to jump out of his skin’, to use a racing term. (b) 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse Wks. (Grosart) II. 40 The souldiour may fight himselfe out of his skinne. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. vii, Why should he be made .. to drive the poor beast out of its skin?

g. by (or with) the skin of one’s teeth, with difficulty, narrowly, barely. In the original form with, etc., the phrase is a literal translation from the Hebrew text of Job xix. 20; the Vulgate and Septuagint render the passage differently. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Job xix. 20, I haue escaped with the skinne of my tethe. 1647 Clarendon Contempl. Ps. Tracts (1727) 510 He reckoned himself only escaped with the skin of his teeth, that he had nothing left. 1825 J- Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 109 Skin o’ my teeth, I guess, if it hadn’t been for Watty boy. 1893 Nation 9 Feb. 99/2 His eldest son was implicated in the robbery.., and came off by the skin of his teeth. 1894 Sala Lond. Up to Date 66, I got in by the skin of my teeth.

h. to save one's skin, to save oneself from loss or injury. 1642 Rogers Naaman Index, ./Equivocating with our conscience .. for the saving of our owne skin, is abominable. 1692 R. L’Estrange Fables liv. 54 Dangerous Civilities.., wherein ’tis a Hard Matter for a Man to Save, both his Skin, and his Credit. 1890 W. Stebbing Peterborough viii. 155 A poltroon who was ever considering how to save his skin. 1898 Doyle Tragedy Korosko v, He was taken prisoner.. and had to turn Dervish to save his skin.

i. Miscellaneous phrases (see quots.). For the Sc. skin and birn, see burn sb.3 2 b. a 1592 Greene Jas. IV, iii. i, Thou shalt both have thy skin full of wine and the rest of thy money. 1630 Lennard tr. Charrons Wisd. 11. ii. (1670) 236 We must discern the skin from the shirt, c 1680 South Serm. (1715) I. 36 If Mens Religion lies no deeper than their Skin. 1731-8 Swift Pol. Conv. 46 Why where should she be? You must needs know; she’s in her Skin. 1770 Gentl. Mag. XL. 560 To express the Condition of an Honest Fellow.. under the Effects of good Fellowship, it is said that he [has].. Got his Skin full. 1790 Mme. D’Arblay Diary Feb., I shall pity those men when the book comes out! — I would not be in their skins! 1796 Grose's Diet. Vulg. T., In a bad skin, out of temper, in an ill humour. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss, s.v., ‘To be in another’s skin,’ to be in his place or situation, a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circle 1. (1874) 221 Him who sticks so in his skin. Ibid. 224 Messer Angiolieri’s slipped his skin. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvi. ii. (1872) VI. 142 It is certain Voltaire was a fool..not to have a thicker skin, i860 Whyte Melville Holmby House I. xi. 151 Lady Carlisle laughed under the skin. 1886 G. B. Shaw How to become Musical Critic (i960) 115 The one [$c. actor] gets into the skin of one character: the other only puts on the clothes of twelve. 1896 Daily News 1 June 3/2 Mr. Tree may be said .. to have got into ‘the skin of the part’, as the French have it. 1916 J. R. Towse Sixty Years of Theater xxiii. 361 In the church scene, Miss Rehan won her audience by a fine display of honest womanly indignation, but she never really ‘got into the skin’ of Beatrice. 1959 M. Summerton Small Wilderness i. 11 He got under the skin of the role and lived it... He was given a small part in the spring production. 1963 Listener 28 Mar. 564/2 Those who enjoy the fun of getting inside someone else’s skin.

j. under the skin, in reality, as opposed to superficial appearances. Esp. in phr. sisters under the skin (after quot. 1896).

1896 Kipling Seven Seas 193 For the Colonel’s lady an’ Judy O’Grady Are sisters under their skins! 1946 A. Christie Hollow iii. 31 They were the same, sisters under the skin, Mrs. Pearstock from Tottenham and Mrs. Forrester of Park Lane. 1959 [see impulse sb. 6 c]. i960 P. Gallico Mrs Harris goes to New York ii. 24 Mrs Schreiber poured it all forth to her sympathetic sister-under-the-skin, Mrs Harris, i960 Economist 8 Oct. 149/1 The old ladies who booed him .. are sisters under the skin to the dockers who met him with a placard curtly advising him to ‘drop dead, you bum’. 1975 D. Francis High Stakes xi. 160 Merchant bankers are pirates under the skin. 1977 Times 19 Apr. 14/2 Sub specie aeternitatis, you might say, the Richmond dustmen and Jimmy Edwards are brothers under the skin.

k. to get under (a person’s) skin, (a) to affect the deep feelings of; to irritate, to annoy; (b) to come to an understanding of, to empathize with. Artie vi. 54 Say, Miller, if I was to beat his whole face off I could n’t ketch even. He got way under the skin on me. 1927 H. T. Lowe-Porter tr. T. Manns Magic Mountain I. v. 300 What’s the matter? Has any-thing got under your skin? 1927 H. Crane Let. 12 Sept. (1965) 3°7>.I think I really succeed in getting under the skin of this glorious and dying animal [5c. the Indian]. 1933 F. Baldwin Innocent Bystander (1935) vii. 132 That pleased her, she had got under his skin, he had at least admitted something. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart 1. viii. 143 ‘That is why she annoys me so.’ ‘You once said she’d been very kind.’ ‘Indeed she has— that’s her way of getting under my skin.’ 1942 A. Christie Five Little Pigs 1. iv. 32, I think you are interested in—character, shall we say?.. To get under the skin, as it were, of your criminal. 1948 L. A. G. Strong Trevannion xvi. 297 ‘Aren’t you perhaps afraid the inadequacy may be on your side?’.. ‘Damn you, Walter. You do get under a man’s skin.’ 1972 D. Delman Sudden Death iii. 58 Do I bug you, Mr Mathews? Do I get under your skin? 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds xvii. 455, I can keep you, because I’ll never let you get under my skin. l. no skin off one's nose and varr. (colloq.), a 1896 Ade

matter of indifference to one. 1920 S. Lewis Main Street xxv. 312 Go to it. No skin off my ear, Nat. Think I want to be fifth wheel in the coach? 1926-Mantrap viii. 95 If you think .. that it’s any skin off my nose to lose the pleasures of your company.. you got another think coming. 1930 Amer. Mercury Dec. 420/1 It ain’t no skin off of Hymie’s bugle. 1934 J. O’Hara Appointment in Samarra vi. 158 Okay. No skin off my ass. 1938 D. Baker Young Man with Horn 1. iv. 30 It was no skin off Jeff what color his old lady painted the piano. 1955 A. Miller View from Bridge 102 Don’t thank me... It’s no skin off me. i960 D. Lytton Goddam White Man v. 113 But it was no skin off my nose that she was dead. 1963 Australasian Post 14 Mar. 51/2 If you want to yap on like a drongo in the DTs it’s no skin off my bugle. Go ahead: be a gig! See if I care! 1966 J. Porter Sour Cream v. 60 Our arrival was no skin off her nose and she didn’t pay all that much attention to us. 1971 B. Malamud Tenants 35 Make it like eight [o’clock] or around that if it’s no skin off you. If I miss a day don’t fret on it. 1972 R. Milner in W. King Black Short Story Anthol. 378 Then Clyde said it was no skin off his ass. 1978 L. Meynell Papersnake xiv. 188 It was no skin off my nose... My heart wasn’t hurt, even if my pride was.

m. (here's to the) skin off your nose and varr.: used as a toast. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 260 Here's to the skin off your nose: Your good health! 1936 Wodehouse Young Men in Spats ii. 42 ‘Well, skin off your nose,’said Pongo. ‘Fluff in your latchkey,’said Barmy. 1949 [see mud sb.1 3]. 1959 D. Eden Sleeping Bride ix. 85 Philip handed her a drink and she added, ‘Here’s the skin off your nose.’

n. skin and blister, sister. Rhyming slang. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 260 Skin and blister, sister. (Rhyming slang.) 1935 G. Ingram Cockney Cavalcade x. 170, I saw your skin and blister last night. 1972 G. F. Newman You Nice Bastard 348 Skin and blister, sister.

7. A membrane covering any internal part of an animal body. gold-beater's skin: see gold-beater 1 b. C1400 Lanfranc s Cirurg. 169 )?e stomak & \?e guttis is ordeyned a skyn, pat is clepid pe siphac. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 69 Swynez grese wele y-clensed of pe litel skynnez and smal y-kutted. c 1475 Piet. Voc. in Wr.Wulcker 749 Hoc fren, the sekyn of the brayne. 1590 Barrough Meth. Physick 11. ix. (1639) 84 If the skins [pleurae] which be joyned all the length of the breast within be inflammate. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol Anat. Introd., The internal Skin of the inner Cavities. 1702 J. Purcell Cholick (1714) 7 The two Skins of the Mesentery. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 1138 Skins may be expectorated abundantly. 8. Anything which resembles skin in nature or

use; an outer coat or covering of anything. a. The outer covering of certain fruits and vegetables; the peel or rind; also, the bark or rind of a tree or plant. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P R. xvii. civ. (Bodl. MS.), Plinius .. seip pat frute of siliqua is swete:.. and pe skynne perof is y3ete. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis’ Seer. 22 b, You shal take the rootes of..wilde Mallow, and scrape from them cleane their skinne or barke. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, v. i. 56 The skinne [of the leek] is good for your broken Coxcombe. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes( 1673) 81 The body of this plant is soft,.. and between the skins, water issues forth as you cut it. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 11. 34 The Cucumbers are so good in Aleppo, that.. the Francks also eat them green, skin and all. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 116, I have often seen the very Skin, or Rind of the young Roots left behind in drawing. 1826 Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 190 The moment the skin [of the apple] is first cut. 1862 Miller Elem. Chem. Org. iii. § 1 (ed. 2) 160 Red grapes may be made to yield a ‘white’ wine ..; but if the skins be left in the fermenting mass [etc.]. 1874 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 511 Yellow pine timber.. placed at first skin to skin, and afterward 2 feet apart.

b. A pellicle, a film. Also fig.

SKIN

610

SKIN

1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 64 Those remedies whiche ought., to drawe a skinne ouer my wound. 1671 Grew Anat. PL 1. ii. (1684) 15 The Cuticle becomes a Skin; as we see in the growing of the Coats of Cheeses, of the Skin over divers Liquors, and the like. 1678 Hobbes Decam. viii. 98 For the skin of the Bubble is Water. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chem. I. 385 In the same manner take off a second skin that will form on the surface of the Lead. 1793 T. Beddoes Calculus, etc. 279 The heat of boiling water would not.. produce a skin upon milk without the presence of air. 1831 Brewster Optics xiii. 110 Covered with gauze or muslin, or with a skin of dried skimmed milk. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 81 It is this white solid substance which forms the thin skin on the surface of the water.

c. In miscellaneous uses (see quots.). 1611 Shaks. All's Well 11. ii. 29 As fit.. as the pudding to his skin. 1677 Descript. Diamond Mines in Misc. Curiosa (1708) III. 243 The Diamonds .. are very well spread, large Stones.., they have generally a bright Skin. 1763 Museum Rust. I. 94 It enables the land .. to come speedily to a good skin (as we term it), or coat of grass. 1875 Dawson Dawn of Life ii. 12 If they [Laurentian hills] could be flattened out they would serve as a skin much too large for mother earth in her present state. 1894 Nature 26 July 289 Observations hitherto made in the earth’s outer skin.

d. The surface of a piece of cast or rolled metal. 1840 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 425/1 The removal of the exterior skin of a casting greatly increases the corrosive action of salt water and its combined air. 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools App. 54 It is used to form a hard and impenetrable skin to a piece of grey cast iron by the process called chilling.

e. Arch. The facing of a wall, in contrast to the material in the heart of it. 1884 Mil. Engin. I. 11. 84 To have only a thin skin on the outside which could readily be knocked out by a crowbar. 1897 Daily News 23 Nov. 6/5 The disintegrated condition of the inner masonry .. rendered impossible the project.. of replacing the inside masonry without disturbing the ‘skin’.

f. The outermost layer of a pearl. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII . 446/2 A pearl of the first water should possess, in jewellers’ language, a perfect ‘skin’ and a fine ‘orient’. 1935 L. Kornitzer Pearls Men xix. 165 Keep on inspecting your pearl... When the blemish has been removed and a clean bright skin shows up, the worst is over. Smooth the skin with the finest emery paper you can obtain. 1976 B. W. Anderson Gemstones for Everyman xxiii. 300 The finest cultured pearls have come from waters off the north Australian coast... The oyster used here is the large pinctada maxima. The resultant cultured pearls are also large and have very thick skins.

g. The outer or surface layers of a conductor, in which alternating current tends to be concentrated at high frequencies. 1891 [see skin effect, sense 16 below], 1891 [see skin resistance, sense 16 below]. 1893 J. J. Thomson Recent Res. Electr. & Magn. iv. 260 When the vibrations are very rapid the currents are practically confined to a thin skin on the outside of the conductor. 1943 C. L. Boltz Basic Radio vii. 121 As the frequency is increased, the current is concentrated more and more in the outer layer—the ‘skin’ —of a conductor. 1958 j Shepherd et al. Higher Electr. Engin. vii. 182 The effect increases with frequency, until at high frequencies the current is almost entirely in the ‘outer skin’ of the conductor.

h. slang. A tyre. 1954 Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 2 Sept, in Amer. Speech (1956) XXXI. 305 Skin, a tire. 1977 Hot Car Oct. 62/1 The answer is to run at the same pressure as the standard tyres, as by dropping the pressure any more than two pounds, you could cause sidewall failure, even in the big American skins.

i. A duplicating stencil; spec, the part that actually goes on the duplicator. 1965 G. M. Beer Machines for Office Workers iv. 73 When the [correcting] fluid is applied [to the stencil] it will. . seep through the incisions and make the carbon.. adhere to the wax sheet; subsequently, at the duplicator, the carbon and backing sheets are removed, and in doing this it is .. possible that the re-formed skin will also be detached so that both the incorrect letter, and the correction over it, appear on the duplicated sheet. 1972 T. Lilley lK' Section xl. 203 She had typed the ‘skin’; he would check it and then run off about four hundred copies. 1973 Daily Tel. 25 Apr. 13/8 It was then discovered that one foolscap duplicating skin could produce only 10,000 copies. Four skins had to be typed and ‘run off.

9. Naut. a. The planking, or iron plating, covering the ribs or frame of a vessel. (а) 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1780), Planking is some¬ times called ‘laying on the skin’, by the artificers. 1814 Phil. Trans. CIV. 11. 287 The ribs are covered by a skin of greater or less substance from the extreme ends of them to the keel or back bone. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxxii. 444 The entire bulkhead was in a blaze, as well as the dry timbers and skin of the brig. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 629 Skin, this term is frequently used for the inside planking of a vessel, the outside being the case. 1886 Pall Mall G. 26 Aug. 4/1 The boat is most substantially constructed;.. the skin being of mahogany three-eighths of an inch thick. (б) 1862 Times 7 Mar., The 18 inches of wood between the armour and iron skin. 1883 Nares Constr. Ironclad 5 The plates forming the outer and inner bottoms or skins are rivetted on.

b. (See first quot.) 1841 Totten Naval Text Bk. 394 Skin, that part of a sail, when furled, which remains outside and covers the whole. ci86o H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 49 What cloth will you take for furling the spanker in a skin? The third from the leech. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 134 Gather up the skin, shaking the slack sail well down into it.

c. transf. The outer covering of any craft or vehicle (or a constituent layer of this); esp. of an aircraft or spacecraft. 1921 Flight XIII. 247/2 The skin below the chines is formed of two thicknesses of mahogany planking. .. One ply of varnished cotton fabric is laid between the mahogany skins. 1937 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 846 It is proposed

to form the skin of the wing from two separated sheets of plywood. 1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway iii. 64 Here in the aircraft everything was firm and steady and secure; the even tremor of the engines, the faintly heard rush of air oyer the outer skin, these bred confidence. 1962 G. Cooper in Into Orbit 29 The crews are equipped with .. a fire axe for cutting through the capsule’s skin. 1973 Times 3 May 4/1 They found that the whole of the skin of the caravan was full of blocks of cannabis. 1973 Terry & Baker Racing Car Design & Development vi. 135 Increasing safety-consciousness caused the FI A to stipulate that, for 1972, the outer skins of all Formula 1 monocoques had to have a maximum thickness of 16 swg. 1977 D. Beaty Excellency i. 8 The company to which it [sc. an aircraft] belonged had been painted out... What remained against the silver duralumin skin was AN-.

10. a. Used as a term of contempt. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Skin, a term applied to a person, as expressive of the greatest contempt; as ‘Ye’re naething but a nasty skin’. 1889 Century Mag. Dec. 227 Occasionally he would refer to the president of the Off-shore Wrecking Company, his former employer, as ‘that skin’. b. U.S. slang. = skinflint. 1900 Ade More Fables 30 Some of the Folks .. used to say that Henry was a Skin, and was too Stingy to give his Family enough to eat.

c. Without contemptuous implications: a person (of a specified kind). Chiefly Anglo-Ir. 1914 Joyce Dubliners 152 Ah, poor Joe is a decent skin. 1939 ‘F. O’Brien’ At Swim-Two-Birds 166 A decent skin if ever there was one, said Slug with warmth, a man that didn’t stint the porter. 1958 B. Behan Borstal Boy iii. 258 These were lies .. that Cragg was muttering about the Colonel, who wasn’t a bad old skin at all,.. since he got to know us. Ibid. 266 He seemed a decent old skin. 1966 F. Shaw et al. Lern Yerself Scouse 22 Ee's a good skin, he is an agreeable fellow.

d. slang. A horse or mule. 1923 E. Hemingway Three Stories & Ten Poems 32 They take the first batch of skins out to gallop. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 260 A skin, a horse: mule. 1941 Baker Diet. Austral. Slang 67 Skin, a horse, ‘generally the property of a professional wayfarer’. e. slang. = skinhead 2 (b). 1970 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 15 Apr. 7/1 You gotta decide what family you are going to join, the hairies or the skins. 1978 R. Westall Devil on Road iv. 26 Those Midland sods must be crazy.. . I shouted the rudest things you can shout at skins. 1981 Times 22 July 11/3 ‘There’s good and bad skinheads,’ is as far as he will go... The picture is complicated: there are black skins, and there are non-violent skins... Certainly, many of the skins are thugs.

11. U.S. A card game in which each player has one card which he bets will not be the first to be matched by a card dealt from the pack. 1925 Messenger Dec. 386/1 Playing ‘skin’ for matches. 1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men 1. iii. 72 Ah played skin wid de Devil for mah life. 1973 J. Scarne Scarne's Encycl. Games xvi. 310/1 The game of Skin is dead even; that is, dealer and player have exactly equal chances of winning. 1978 Moore & Levine Big Paddle (1979) i. 15 Larsen loves skin. He’ll go all over looking for a skin game.

12. the Skins, the nickname of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards or, formerly, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers [properly a corruption of Inniskilling, assimilated to the sb.]. 1938 R. Hayward In Praise of Ulster 235 The Indian Mutiny, South Africa and the Great War brought fresh glories to the valiant ‘Skins’. 1949 St. J. Ervine Craigavon 11. xlvi. 233 The history of ‘the Skins’, the nickname of the Inniskilling Fusiliers, is rich with the jewels of courage. 1954 L. MacNeice Autumn Sequel 67 The Skins have gone to Kenya with their trousers smartly creased. 1981 J. Johnston Christmas Tree 25 Did you have a brother in the Skins?

III. attrib. and Comb. 13. Attrib. a. In sense ‘of, in, connected with, the skin’, as skin care, colour, -disease, -flake, -furrow, -tint, -tissue, etc. 1615 H. Crooke Body of Man 349 Betwixt the fleshy membrane and the skinne runne certaine vessels called Skin-veities. 1676 Marvell Mr. Smirke Wks. (Grosart) IV. 16 ’Tis a pitiful giddy.. insect, ingendered.. in every marish, can but run a pore thorow and give but a skinnewound. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 57 Lay the feet over them the skin side up. 1864 W. T. Fox Skin Dis. 15 The unchangeable elements, in the teaching of skin pathology. 1865 Chambers's Encycl. VII. 363/1 Pellagra, at one time, the name of a loathsome skin-disease. 1880 Nature 28 Oct. 605 On the Skin-furrows of the Hand. 1896 Peterson's Mag. VI. 231/2 The skin-tints are less clear and warm than the same painter’s ‘Bubbles’. 1930 E. Pound XXX Cantos xv. 66 Skin-flakes, repetitions, erosions. 1944 Horizon Mar. 172 The grey matter of the brain-rind was originally skin-tissue. 1949 M. Mead Male & Female i. 19 The sensitivity of our skin-tissues. 1954 V. Dengel All about You vi. 141 There are four points to proper, daily skin care. 1969 V. J-R. Kehoe Technique Film Television Make-Up (ed. 2) iii. 40 (heading) Skin care products. 1972 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 27 May 18/2 The idea of discrimination based on skin color is beyond their comprehension. b. In sense ‘made, or consisting, of skin’, as

skin-bag, skin-boat, -cover, etc.

-bottle,

-canoe,

-case,

1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 214 Our costly skinne-cases could keepe vs from consuming to dust. 1647 J. Trapp Comm. Luke i. 59 A skin-bottle hanging in the smoke of filthy desires. 1761 Ann. Reg. 128 This plate is to be moved round,.. rubbing it with a small skin cushion. 1804 W. Clark in Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Expedition (1904) I. 87 The Indians pass this river in Skin Boats which is flat and will not turn over. 1808 Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) 11. 155 We., nearly compleated the frame of a skin Canoe. 1827 J. Holmes Hist. United Brethren i. (ed. 2) 7 The skin-boat is.. from forty to fifty feet long, and proportionally broad and deep, i860 Skin-bag [see atta].

4

SKIN 1871 W. Morris in Mackail Life (1899) I. 246 Skin shoes tied about the ankle with neat thongs. 1895 Scully Kafir Stories 123 He carried a small skin wallet slung to his waist. 1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars xxviii. 237 Having cut one of their skin-bags to pieces. 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ix. 408 They drew the skincovers over their boats. 1968 G. Jones Hist. Vikings 1. i. 17 These hunters, fishermen, and food-gatherers from the south .. developed the skin-boat.

14. Objective, a. With pres, pples., as skinbreaking, -clipping, -fitting, -piercing, -plastering, etc. *593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 226 Those skin playstring Painters. 1599-Lenten Stuff ibid. V. 229 The curtaild skinclipping pagans. 1611 Cotgr., Ratoire,.. a skinne-breaking oyntment. 1784 Cowper Task v. 141 Arrowy sleet, Skin-piercing volley, blossom-bruising hail. 1889 J. J. Thomas Froudacity 40 The skin-discriminating policy induced .. since the abolition of slavery. 1891 Miss Dowie Girl Karp. 244, I listened open-eyed to the herd’s bear statistics, literally skin-clamming as these were. 1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow iv. 91 She wore an elegant, skin¬ fitting coat. 1947 Science News IV. 11 The men who went into enemy ports during the war wore skinfitting dresses.

b. With verbal sbs., as skin-cutting, -grafting, -healing, etc. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xxvii, The other three are picked men, who will not fear their skin-cutting, i860 Tomlinson , Arts & Manuf. Ser. 11. Leather 25 When they are in the state of pelt, they are split... This is effected by means of a.. machine called the ‘skin-splitting machine’. 1870 Lancet 27 Aug. 306/2 (heading) Skin-grafting. Ibid. 22 Oct. 566/2 Mr. Francis Mason has performed the operation of skin grafting on granulating surfaces in nine instances. 1876 Clinical Soc. Trans. IX. 30 During this period skin grafting was practised continuously. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 380 Manipulations cannot be begun upon wounded surfaces until skin-healing is complete.

c. With agent-nouns, as skin-dealer, -dresser, -hunter, -preserver. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Skin-dealer. Ibid., Skin-dresser, a currier, or furrier. 1890 Daily News 9 Sept. 7/1 A brother.. who carried on business as a furrier and skin-dresser. 1893 Scribner's Mag. June 794/1 Wholesale slaughter by skin-hunters has nearly destroyed the Platypus in some districts. 1893 Daily News 16 Feb. 5/5 No fewer than three taxidermists or skin preservers.

15. a. With past pples., as skin-built, -clad, -covered, -peeled, -spread. a 1661 Holyday Persius (1673) 294 Who without heed .. praise thee so, That (skin-peel’d asse!) thy self dost first cry, Hoe! 1823 Joanna Baillie Poems 260 Whilst travellers from their skin-spread couches rise. 1846 H. G. Robinson Odes of Horace 11. vi, Galesus’ tide, Sweet to the skin-clad flocks. 1883 Boats of World 27 Two examples of skin-built canoes. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 113/2 Stilicho .. planted the cruel Goths, his ‘skin-clad’ minions, in the very sanctuary of the empire. 1897 Yeats Secret Rose 1 A large house with skin-covered wattles for the assembly. 1977 Proc. R. Soc. Med. LXX. 234/1 Any open lesion is more dangerous than a skin-covered one.

b. Misc., as skin-like, -thin adjs., (to the) skinward adv. 1699 R. L’Estrange Erasm. Colloq. (17n) 302 That wears Linen above, and woollen to the Skinward. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 82 Skinny, or Skin-like .., tough, thin, and semi-transparent, like gold beater’s skin. 1847-9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 1. 9 Gelatinous skin-like integument of the compound body. 1946 W. de la Mare Traveller 12 Their skin-thin gills. 1966 P. Scott Jewel in Crown iv. 171 The tough little shell of skin-thin masculinity that used to harden the outward appearance of the British military wives.

16. Special combs.: skin-beater slang (now Obs. or rare), in a jazz- or dance-band: a drummer; skin beetle U.S., a greyish-brown beetle of the genus Trox or a brown, hairy beetle of the family Dermestidte, feeding on carrion or other organic material; skin-bone, an ossification in or of the skin; skin-book, a book made of parchment or vellum; skin-bound a., having the skin tensely drawn; hide-bound; skin-changer, one supposedly able to metamorphose himself or herself; skin cream, an oleaginous cosmetic preparation for care of the skin; skin depth Electr. [cf. sense 8g], the distance from the surface of a conductor at which an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency is attenuated by a factor of i/e (e — 2-718...); also fig.-, skin-drying vbl. sb. (Founding), drying of the surface of a greensand mould before casting; so skin-dried a.; skineater, a moth or beetle which infests and destroys prepared skins or furs; skin effect Electr., the tendency of an alternating current of high frequency to flow through the outer layers only of a conductor, resulting in an increase in effective resistance; skin-faro, U.S. (see quot. and skin game)-, skin-finish, a particular style of chasing in bronze; skin flap Surg., a portion of living skin attached to the body by one edge so that it remains alive while it is used to close a wound after amputation, or in plastic surgery; skin-flick slang, a film of a pornographic type; skin-food, a preparation for improving the skin; skin friction, the friction developed between a solid and a fluid or gaseous body; esp. the friction between the surface of an aircraft or the like and the air; skin game, (a) (see quots. 1882,

611 1897); also transf. and fig.; (b) the pornography trade; (c) = sense 11 above; a game of this; skin graft, a piece of living skin which has been surgically transferred to a new site or to a different individual; also, the process of making such a transfer; also as v., to subject to the process of skin-grafting; skin house slang, (a) a gambling establishment; (b) an establishment providing pornographic entertainment; skin magazine colloq., a magazine containing nude photographs, a pornographic magazine; skinman, a skin-dresser or skin-dealer; skin-mark, a merchant’s mark; skin-merchant, a skin-dealer (see also quot.); skin packaging, a method of packaging in which the article, placed on a backing plate which is to form part of the package, has a plastic film cover thermoformed on to it; skin pass Metallurgy, a final cold-rolling, effecting a small reduction in thickness, given to heat-treated strip steel in order to improve surface and mechanical properties; skin-plating, metal plating forming the skin of a vessel; skin-pop v. intr. (slang, orig. U.S.), to inject a drug subcutaneously (cf. main-line v.); so as sb., the action of skin¬ popping; also fig.; hence skin-popper; skin¬ popping vbl. sb.; skin potential, the electrical potential between different points on the skin, esp. as exhibited in the galvanic skin response; f skin-prints, tattoo-marks; skin resistance, f (a) = skin friction above; f (b) the resistance of the skin (sense 8 g) of an electrical conductor; (c) the electrical resistance of the skin of an organism; skin-scraper, a strigil; skin-search sb. and v. (slang) = strip-search sb. and vb. s.v. strip v.1 27 a; skin-sensory a., of or pertaining to the skin together with the sensory apparatus; skin test sb., a test to see whether an immune reaction is elicited when a substance is applied to or injected into the skin; so skin-test v. trans., skin testing vbl. sb.; skin tonic, a cosmetic astringent for the skin; skin trade (orig. U.S.), commerce in animals’ skins; also^zg.; also = skin game (b) above; skin-vision, the power of perceiving distinctions of light by means of the skin; skin-wool, wool taken from the skin of a dead sheep; skin-worm, the Guinea worm; skin-yard, a yard used for the working of skins. 1936 Amer. Mercury XXXVIII. p. x/2 *Skin beater, the drummer man. 1953 N.Y. Times Book Rev. 13 Sept. 33/3 Red, the reefer-smitten skin beater. 1842 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects New Eng. Injurious to Vegetation 11 *Skinbeetles .., bone-beetles.. act the useful part of scavengers. 1895 J. H. & A. B. Comstock Man. Study Insects 559 The skin-beetles .. are small or of medium size. 1942 [see larder beetle s.v. larder1 3]. 1972 Swan & Papp Common Insects N. Amer. xx. 436 Skin beetles feed on carrion, skin, feathers, and dung. 1862 Cockayne St. Marherete Title-p., Now First Edited from the *Skin Books. 1883 G. Stephens Bugge's Stud. North Myth. Examined 33 The oldest known Swedish skin-book dates after 1250. 1799 Underwood Dis. Childhood (ed. 4) I. 130 Of which [tightness of the skin] further notice will be taken under the article of ’"Skinbound. 1803 Beddoes Hyg'eia ix. 136 Except in a very close room, I feel as if skin-bound for days together. 1927 E. V. Gordon Introd. Old Norse 224 Berserks were probably named ‘bear-shirts’ from a superstition that they were ‘♦skin-changers’. 1937 J. R. R. Tolkien Hobbit vi. 121 He is a skin-changer. He changes his skin: sometimes he is a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 537/1 Violet oatmeal ♦skin cream. 1979 P. Ferris Talk to me about England in. 133, I appear to be missing a pot of special vitamin skin-cream. 1941 J. A. Stratton Electromagn. Theory ix. 536 One may assume for conductors of arbitrary cross section that the field and current distributions near the surface differ negligibly from those near the surface of an infinite plane provided the radius of curvature is very much greater than the *skin depth. 1962 Corson & Lorrain Introd. Electromagn. Fields x. 338 The skin depth decreases if either the conductivity a, the permeability Km, or the frequency / increases. 1966 Listener 5 May 653/3 Myshkin’s apparent niceness and gentleness, his ridiculousness, are the surface, the skin depth of his assumed role. 1954 *Skin-dried [see skin-drying vbl. sb. below]. 1970 E. Parkes et al. in K. Strauss Appl. Sci. in Casting Metals ix. 321 (heading) Skin dried and dry sand moulding. 1888 Lockwood's Diet. Mech. Engiti. 324 *Skin drying effects the removal of a portion of the moisture and diminishes the risk of a blown or a scabbed casting. 1954 J. E. Garside in A. J. Murphy Non-Ferrous Foundry Metall. v. 171 Pouring should be completed as soon as possible after skin-drying owing to the fact that the moisture from the backing sand slowly penetrates towards the skin-dried mould face. 1891 Electrician 29 May 91/1 Sir William Thomson recalled attention to the tendency of alternating currents to avoid the central portions of metallic conductors, thereby giving rise to an increase of resistance which has been occasionally alluded to under the name of the ‘*skin effect’. 1965 Wireless World Aug. 401/1 The h.f. resistance is increased partly by skin effect, and more significantly by eddy currents induced in the lossy magnet system. 1882 McCabe New York xxxix. 545 *Skin-faro.. offers no chance whatever to the player. 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. III. 19/2 This mode of chasing, called., in English ‘♦skin-finish’, is .. only found on work of the best class. 1873 Brit. Med. jfrnl. 15 Mar. 286/2 He took a large *skin-flap from the front below the knee, a smaller flap behind, and left just enough of the bones to fit an apparatus. 1974 R. M.

SKIN Kirk et al. Surgery v. 73/2 Skin flaps are used to close large defects in situations where sound healing is essential, when good quality of skin is desirable and when the local blood supply would not sustain free grafts. 1968-70 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) 111 - IV. 110 *Skin flick, n. A pornographic movie. 1969 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 7 June 13/3 We ran family movies for nine years and almost went broke. For the last three years, we’ve been showing skinflicks and doing much better financially. 1975 P. Webb Erotic Arts viii. 280 In the ’60s .. film-makers became aware of the commercial possibilities of the voyeur film, or ‘skinflick’. 1898, etc. ♦Skin-food [see food sb. 2 b]. 1977 B. Pym Quartet in Autumn ix. 81 Turning her attention to the wash basin she noted .. a jar of skinfood and a tube of Steradent tablets. 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 518/2 The two principal causes of the resistance to the motion of a ship are the *skin friction and the production of waves. 1907 F. W. Lanchester Aerodynamics vi. 220 In actual planes it is impossible to do away with thickness, so that in addition to skin friction there must be the possibility of a longitudinal pressure component due to the shape of the plane. 1919 R. H. Goddard Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes 9 The resistance, R, may be taken as independent of the length of the rocket by neglecting ‘skin friction’. 1948 Sci. News VII. 24 In the same way a body moving through air loses energy by skin friction (analogous to conduction). 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 683/1 During acceleration to supersonic speeds the external surface of the structure becomes hotter due to skin friction from the air flow. 1868 M. H. Smith Sunshine & Shadow in New York 405 The square game .. is played only by gentlemen, and in first-class houses;.. the ♦skin game .. is played in all the dens and chambers, and in the thousand low hells of New York. 1882 McCabe New York xxxix. 545 The ‘skin game’ is used, with the majority of the visitors, for the proprietor is determined from the outset to fleece them without mercy. 1897 R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 623 Skin Games, those in which a player cannot possibly win. 1904 W. H. Smith Promoters 98 We built the bridges finally,.. for we weren’t really working a skin game. 1920 Galsworthy Skin Game 1. 19 She wants to sell, an’ she’ll get her price, whatever it is. Hillcrist. (With deep anger) If that isn’t a skin game.. I don’t know what is. 1958 Economist 1 Feb. 398/2 The.. ironies of German political life: the strange mixture of elements .. that mingle in the Bonn skin game. 1970 Times Educ. Suppl. 18 Dec. 1/1 The censor and the skin game. 1973 J. Scarne Scarne's Encycl. Games xvi. 308 (heading) The skin game. 1973 E. McGirr Bar del's Murder i. 10 As a very small [antiques] dealer, I was no opposition... His business is rather a skin game. 1976 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 7 Jan. 10/3 The longrespected publication had been sold and new publishers had changed big game to the skin game. 1978 Skin game [see sense 11 above]. 1871 Lancet 22 Apr. 535/1 On taking off the plaster the *skin-grafts were found adhering. 1900 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 May, Epit. Med. Lit. 74 The wound should be allowed to granulate and subsequently be skin grafted. 1930 A. H. Davis Burns xxi. 195 Most surgeons .. find that heteroplastic skin grafts are universally unsuccessful. 1935 P. H. Mitchiner Mod. Treatment of Burns & Scalds v. 54 Riverdin’s or Thiersch’s skin grafts give excellent results. 1977 D. Bagley Enemy xxxi. 251 Gillian .. had just had the operation for the first of the skin grafts. 1871 Galaxy K11. 61 A ‘*skin’ house, as the dens where cheating games are played are called. 1902 Farmer & Henley Slang VI. 227/1 Skinhouse, a gambling den. 1970 Harper's Mag. July 34 The skin houses were mostly playing short subjects—a girl taking a bath in a sylvan stream, a volley-ball game in a nudist camp. 1972 Diet. Contemp. Colloq. Usage (Eng. Lang. Inst. Amer.) 27/1 Skin house, a theater featuring nude women or films of nude women. 1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) i. 29 Some gunsel I’d heard was hanging out in the skin houses and taxi-dance joints. 1968 Rat 13-16 May 11/1 Two prophylactics and a ♦skin magazine was found in President Kirk’s drawer. 1980 Cosmopolitan May 319/1 Men often use pictures as stimulation when they masturbate (hence the popularity of so-called skin magazines), but women do so much less often. 1788 Biddle Autobiogr. (1883) 227 *Skinmen, breechesmakers and glovers. 1829 P Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 220 At a proper age, JEM turned out to earn an honest penny, and was apprenticed to a skyver, or skinman, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 1970 M. Tarmey Skinman vi. 128 He sat hunched and helpless in the chair.., a skinman without any skins. 1736 H. Bourne Hist. Newcastle 89 There are higher up this Isle.. other Three Characters, which are the Merchants ♦Skin-mark. 1789 Brand Hist. Newcastle I. 278 note. Skin marks were not used instead of arms, but rather as distinct insignia appropriated to the profession of merchandise, a 1792 Burgoyne Lord of Manor in. ii. (D.), I am .. vulgarly called a recruiting dealer, or more vulgarly still, a ♦skin-merchant. 1962 A. L. Griff Plastics Extrusion Technol. vi. 122 In *skin-packaging, the coated board can now be the base, while coated flexible film can be the skin. 1971 Engineering Apr. 63/2 Two commercial systems of skin packaging are in general use. The Soag-Stanley process uses an uncoated board, the other a coated and perforated board. 1939 J. Dearden Iron & Steel Today x. 149 A single pass through a *skin pass mill then brings it to its final thickness. 1977 R. B. Ross Handbk. Metal Treatments (S? Testing 351 On the production side, the Skin pass will be used to produce the final surface finish and simultaneously achieve slightly improved mechanical properties. 1869 Sir E. Reed Shipbuild. ix. 174 The fastenings of the stringer angle-irons connecting it with the ♦skin-plating. 1953 Kramer & Karr Teen-Age Gangs i. 35 You get a big fat mouth every time you give that leg of yours a *skin-pop. Ibid. 243 Skin-pop, to inject drugs, usually heroin, under skin into body. 1959, 1964 [see main-line v.]. 1971 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird xvi. 242 You can’t deny we gave your social habits a skin-pop. 1970 Daily Tel. 30 Jan. 19/1 She had also ‘*skin-popped’ (injected drugsjust below the surface of the skin) and taken a vast assortment of pills. 1953 Kramer & Karr Teen-age Gangs i. 35 A very expert *skin-popper, Hoppy is. 1970 H. Waugh Finish me Off 48 No marks. She must be a skin-popper. 1952 Sunday Times 3 Feb. 5/4 ‘♦Skin popping’.. consists of scratching open a place in the skin and injecting heroin or morphine there. 1970 Observer 3 May 3/1 When the addicts run out of veins to inject, because of scars and ulcers, they try skin¬ popping— injecting just under the skin or into a muscle. 1936 Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. CXVII. 189 (heading) *Skin potential and impedance responses with recurring shock stimulation. 1967 Venables & Martin Man. Psychophysiol. Methods ii. 58 The permeability of the cell membrane is a

SKIN physiological phenomenon, and measurements of skin resistance and skin potential must be made within physiological limits. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 237 The chief men and women have *skin-prints, as a brave kind of Gallantry. 1875 English Mechanic 3 Sept. 634/3 We have sufficient data from which the *skin-resistance [of a ship’s hull] can be determined. 1891 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers XX. 479 When we deal with conductors of about a centimetre in diameter there is no apparent effect of this skin resistance. 1895 H. Lamb Hydrodynamics xi. 575 The frictional or ‘skin-resistance’ experienced by a solid of ‘easy’ shape moving through a liquid. 1904 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. CLVII. 248 The skin resistance of copper bonds increases with time. 1927 Brain L. 231 We have learned that the skin resistance is invariably decreased both by pain and by elevation of body temperature. 1942 S. R. Hathaway Physiol. Psychol, xi. 236 The level of skin resistance has a low inverse correlation with neuroticism. 1971 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. LXXXV. 88 Each record was analyzed by recording the averaged skin resistances for the last two minutes of the resting period and for each minute of the stimulus film period. 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 555/1 Blunted strigils or *skin-scrapers. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 107/2 *Skin search, an arrested person who is stripped naked and his body thoroughly searched for narcotics. 1970 G. Jackson Let. 4 Apr. in Soledad Brother (1971)212 Our cells were being invaded by the goon squad: you wake up, take your licks, get skin-searched. 1973 Time 26 Mar. 64 So far, none of the three new guards in California’s state prison system for men have been assigned to conduct ‘skin searches’ of nude prisoners for contraband. 1979 F. Forsyth Devil's Alternative xvii. 386 If you are thinking of giving me a weapon, don’t bother. On my return I am to be skin-searched. 1879 tr. Haeckel's Evol. of Man I. ix. 270 The first of the secondary germ-layers, the *skinsensory-layer. 1925 W. W. Duke Allergy xv. 207 She gave positive *skin tests to a number of extracts including wheat. 1943 W. C. Boyd Fund. Immunol, xi. 424 Patients should not be skin tested without previous adequate history and physical examination. 1961 New Scientist 16 Mar. 696/1 All the components cause a positive reaction in the skin tests commonly used for allergic responses. 1971 R. Scott Wedding Man ii. 65 Every Asian child was skin-tested [for tuberculosis] as soon as possible after arrival. 1925 W. W. Duke Allergy xv. 206 One’s first impression of *skin testing is likely to be one of disappointment. 1963 L. V. Crawford in F. Speer Allergic Child xxvii. 420 Although the mechanics of skin testing are simple, considerable experience is required for proper interpretation. 1906 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 27 Jan. 5/1 (Advt.), Special Sales. Toilet Goods.. *Skin Tonics. Perfumes. 1971 M. Lee Dying for Fun xxxiv. 167 The fragrance of Lapsang Souchong, mingled with the tang of skin tonic. 1710 W. Byrd Secret Diary (1941) 186 About 5 o’clock Robin Hix and Robin Mumford came to discourse about the *skin trade. 1885 List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 101 (heading) Fur and skin trade. 01953 Dylan Thomas {title) Adventures in the skin trade. 1977 Time 19 Sept. 41/1 The city [sc. Boston] set aside this seedy downtown area three years ago for X-rated movies, pom shops and other facets of the skin trade-in hopes of being able to contain them. 1883 Nature XXVII. 399 Experiments with regard to the ‘*skin-vision’ of animals. 1805 Luccock Nature of Wool 340 The *skin-wool is not usually found most plentiful where the stock of sheep is most heavy. 1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning (ed. 2) 71 With short wool, especially if it be skin wool, the rollers should be closed up. 1857 tr. Kiichenmeister's Anim. & Veg. Parasites I. 398 Amongst the Germans it is known as .. the *skin worm,.. leg-worm,.. and Pharaoh’s-worm. 1879 E. R. Lankester Advancem. Sci. (1890) 40 The skin-worm (Demodex folliculorum). 1885 Manch. Exam. 7 Apr. 4/7 A fire occurred .. in Mr. Pryce Parry’s *skinyard and wool warehouse.

skin, variant of skeen. skin, v. Also 6-7 skyn, skinne (6 scinne). [f. skin sb. Cf. Norw. skinna to cover with skin.] I. 1. a. trans. To furnish or cover with skin; to cause skin to form or grow on; to heal by the formation of skin. Also with over. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health cix. 41 b, After that incarnat the place and so skyn it. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 39/2 We must.. with an exsiccating plaster cure them, and soe skinne them. 1614 W. B. Philosopher's Banquet (ed. 2) 55 Fresh-Butter skinnes the rawnesse of the throate. 1697 Dryden Ded. JEneid Ess. (Ker) II. 210 The wound was skinned; but the strength of his thigh was not restored. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. 1. x, He looks like a death’s head skinned over for the occasion. absol. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 272 It [aloe] is.. a great healer, and that which vniteth & skinneth quickly.

b. In fig. contexts. fAlso with up. 1602 Shaks. Ham. in. iv. 147 It will but skin and filme the Vlcerous place. 01659 Bp. Brownrig Serm. (1674) II. xx. 253 They had skin’d up the sore, and yet, it breaks out in their Soul again, c 1750 Warburton Serm. ii. Wks. 1811 IX. 47 The wounds, our own earth hath formerly received,. . which though skinned over by time and human culture, are seen. 1796 Coleridge The Destiny of Nations 410 Short Peace shall skin the wounds of causeless War. 1880 McCarthy Own Times lx. IV. 337 He does not seem to have considered the difference between skinning over a wound and healing it.

c, fig. To cover (over) in some slight or superficial manner. 1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. 11. ii. 136 Authoritie .. Hath yet a kinde of medicine in it selfe That skins the vice o’ th top. 1650 Nicholas Papers (Camden) 191 It is to be feared your Amsterdam affaires are rather skinned than cured. 1658-9 Sir A. Haslerigge in Burton's Diary (1828) III. 104 It may be skinned over for a time, but will break out. The people are not pleased. 1796 Burke Regie. Peace Wks. 1842 II. 289 It is only their assured and confident expectation.. that skins over their mischievous dispositions with a momentary quiet. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. 1. x, The objects of which (so thinly were they skinned over) were just as evident to Emma as to Lady Frances. 1850 Merivale Rom. Emp. ix. (1865) I. 372 This open rupture was with difficulty skinned over at the last moment.

SKIN-COAT

6l2

2. a .fig. To clothe, attire, rare. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. 11. iv, You never skin’d a new [? = anew] beautie more prosperously in your life. 1610 Beaum. & Fl. Scornf. Lady 11. ii, Off with your husks; I’le skin you all in Sattin.

b. To cover with a skin or skins. rare~]. 1618 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1606) I. ioThejarres are all fild, stoped close, skyned, and marked with the distinction of the fruits.

c. absol. To put a good skin on cattle. rare~x. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 190 The largest pasture.. will neither skin nor tallow, or, in other words, is fit for nothing but young stock.

d. Naut. (See quots.) 1815 Burney Falconer's Diet. Marine s.v., To Skin up a Sail in the Bunt, is to make that part of the canvas which covers the sail when furled, smooth and neat, by turning the sail well up on the yard. 1841 Totten Naval Text Bk. 394 To skin the sail up smooth is to turn it well up, and so as to cover the sail neatly and smoothly.

e. Shipbuilding. (See quot.) c 1850 Rudim. Nav. (Weale) 141, Planking is often termed skinning the ship.

3. intr. To form skin; to become covered with skin; to grow a new skin; to heal over in this way. Also fig. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 181 The sooner it skinneth, the sorer it festereth. 1654 H. L* Estrange Chas. I (1655) 124 Her excoriated carkasse began to skin again. 1763 Mills Pract. Husb. IV. 345 All suckers must be cut away from the root, and the place.. smoothed with a knife; for then it will soon skin over. 1829 Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 129 If the ulcer skins over in that way, the quacks will exult in having wrought a cure. 1843 R. J- Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxix. 392 The centre [of the ulcer] granulated and skinned naturally. 1891 Rider Haggard Nada xxxv, The hole in his skull skinned over.

II. 4. a. trans. To strip or deprive of the skin; to flay; to peel. 1591 Percivall Span. Diet., Desollar.., to skin, to pul off the skin. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 1. 246 The Crocodile is very strong, and one day as I caused one of them ..to be skinned [etc.]. 1725 Fam. Diet. s.v. Pears, When they are off the Fire, stir, skin them, and squeeze about half a Lemon upon them. 1791 Boswell Johnson 3 Apr. 1779, A fishmonger who was skinning an eel alive. 1853 Soyer Pantropheon 167 It was necessary to skin the bird very carefully. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 210 They may skin me alive, if they please.

b. To rub or scrape the skin off; to bark. Also transf. 1855 Jarves Art Hints 383 Almost every one of his pictures have been more or less skinned, to use an expressive term, by the carelessness of cleaners. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xiii. 167 It is the same hummock you skinned your shins upon. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 97 My feet were already skinned in several places.

c. In phrases denoting excessive meanness or desire for gain, esp. to skin a flint. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. vii, May I be broil’d like a Redherring, if I don’t think they are wise enough to skin a Flint. 1834 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 195 Report says, that she would skin a flint if she could. i8Si Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 134 They’d skin a flea for his hide and tallow. 1859 Lever D. Dunn iv, I was .. brought up amongst fellows would skin a cat. 1884 [see flint sb. 4].

d. to skin the cat (U.S.), to perform a gymnastic exercise involving passing the feet and legs between the arms while hanging by the hands from a horizontal bar and so drawing the body up and over the bar; also transf. and fig. 1845 S. Judd Margaret 11. i. 199 Their several diversions, snapping-the-whip, skinning-the-cat, racing round the Meeting-house, or what not. 1888 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Story of Keedon Bluffs v. 88 He did not wait a second but ‘skinned the cat’ among the rafters. 1905 N.Y. Even. Post 14 Oct., We have learned how to hide behind the back log of ‘environment’ or to ‘skin the cat’ in morality on the score of ‘heredity’. 1907 C. E. Mulford Bar-20 viii. 80, I used to shinny up this here wall an’ skin th’ cat getting through that hole up there. 1931 Sun (Baltimore) 29 May 12/7 You saw them skin the cat On the high trapeze. 1946 B. Treadwell Big Bk. Swing 125/2 Skin he cat; ride, brother, ride.

e. To keep (one’s eyes) open. U.S. colloq. 1865 N.Y. Herald in Farmer & Henley Slang (1891) II. 361, Keejr a padlock on yer mouth and skin yer weather eye. 1875 J G. Holland Sevenoaks x. 133 Skin yer eyes, now, Mr. Balfour, we’re cornin’ to a lick.

f. fig. To beat or overcome completely. U.S. slang. 1862 Charleston (S. Carolina) Mercury 9 Aug. 1/5 They were ‘skinning’ the soldiers of other regiments the ‘tallest kind’. 1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights iv. 110 ‘Purty good little places,’ said he, ‘but the home place skins ’em all.’ 1981 Verbatim VII. 111. 7/2 Puns (‘Eagles skin Washington’)., offer limitless possibilities to the enterprising sports journalist.

5. To strip or pull off (a skin, etc.); to remove by drawing off inside out. 1658-9 in Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 228 They skin off your skin. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxiv. [f 11 Having carefully skinned off the Film with the edge of the Slice. 1759 Martin Nat. Hist. I. 28 Turf of the Ground, skinned off, and burnt to Ashes. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xxxi, Skin the stockings off,.. or you’ll bust ’em. transf. 1896 Lillard Poker Stories ii. 59 Many a time I’ve seen a game player just skin off his watch and ring .. and play them in.

6. intr. To shed or cast the skin; to lose the skin by rubbing. 1772 Ann. Reg. 96/2 It skins every year; and its skin is said to be a remedy against the cramp. 1908 Gilbert Murray tr. Aristoph., Frogs 1. ii, When all my shoulder’s skinning, simply skinning.

7. slang, a. trans. To clean out (a person) at play. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet, s.v., To strip a man of all his money at play, is termed skinning him. 1864 Daily Telegr. 19 Oct., The gamblers did their best to give us fits; but in less than half an hour, sir, the little squaw she skinned the crowd. 1889 H. O’Reilly Fifty Yrs. on Trail 343 In less than two or three hours [to] be skinned out of every cent.

b. To strip (of clothing or money); to fleece by exactions or swindling. 1819 Massachusetts Spy 24 Mar. 3/1 They will not be able to skin the people as deep as they did during their former reign. 1839 C. F. Briggs Harry Franco II. vi. 76, I wish I may be blown into a gin shop if I warnt skinned clean O! The young woman had .. picked my pockets of every cent. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 71 Perhaps he gets ‘skinned’ (stripped of his clothes and money from being hocussed, or tempted to helpless drunkenness). 1892 Spectator 12 Mar. 364/2 Suppose the Emigration Trusts skin the emigrants until they stop emigration. 1898 Eclectic Mag. LXVII. 607 Some new device is invented for enmeshing and skinning the investor.

c. skin the lamb (see quots.). 1864 Slang Diet. 232 Skin the Lamb, a game at cards, a very expressive corruption of the term lansquenet... When a non favourite wins a race ‘bookmakers’ are said to skin the lamb. 1883 Graphic 21 Apr. 410/2 The Ring are enormous winners on the race, the majority having ‘skinned the lamb’.

8. To exhaust or impoverish by excessive fishing, cropping, etc. 1867 F. Francis Angling vii. (1880) 274 He does not want to skin the stream. 1895 Forum (N.Y.) Sept. 8 To renovate the soil which had been ‘skinned’ in the days of slavery.

9. U.S. slang, fa. trans. and intr. To copy or crib. Obs. 1835 J- Todd Student's Manual (ed. 3) 115 Should you allow yourself to think of going into the recitation-room, and there trust to ‘skinning’, as it is called in some colleges. 1837 Yale Lit. Mag. Feb. 138 A student is said to skin a problem, when he places the most implicit faith in the correctness of his neighbor’s solution of it, or at least sufficient to warrant bestowing upon it the rites of adoption. 1849 Yale Lit. Mag. XV. 81 Never skin a lesson which it requires any ability to learn. 1851 Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (1852) 381 Classical men were continually tempted to ‘skin’ (copy) the solutions of these examples. 1851 B. H. Hall College Words & Customs 430 ‘At Yale College,.. in our examinations,’ says a correspondent, ‘many of the fellows cover the palms of their hands with dates, and when called upon for a given date, they read it off directly from their hands. Such persons skin .

b. intr. To abscond, make off, slip away; (U.S.) with out, to depart hastily. Also with through, to slip through, to pass by a narrow margin. 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly (1877) 254 You jest gether up your traps and skin out of this. 1894 Outing XXIV. 442/1 The hero, .would never have been one could he have skinned for cover in time. 1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Self-Made Merchant xi. 141 If you would make a downright failure or a clean-cut success once in a while, instead of always just skinning through this way. 1920 W. Camp Football without Coach 57 The best a runner can hope for is a chance to skin through that opening before it ceases to exist.

c. With out: To produce, display. 1873 J- Miller Life amongst Modocs iv. 44 Four aces! and what else? Skin ’em out, skin ’em out! C1895 Thompson St. Poker Cl. 42 Mr. Williams proudly skinned out three jacks and a pair of kings.

d. To glance over, examine. 1895 Cornh. Mag. Aug. 174 Each man skinned his cards and tried his hardest to look disappointed.

10. In phrases used as adjs. 1869 W. Morris in Mackail Life (1899) I. 203 If you had passed a week at this skin-’em-alive place. 1891 Miss MacEwen Three Women in One Boat 87 A good old skin-your-nose encounter.

III. 11. trans. and intr. To inject (a drug) subcutaneously. Cf. skin-pop v. s.v. skin sb. 16. slang. J953 W. Burroughs Junkie vi. 57 He had to shoot in the skin about half the time. But he only gave up and ‘skinned’ a shot after an agonizing half-hour of probing and poking and cleaning out the needle, which would clog up with blood. 1970, 1972 [see main v. 2].

skinch (skintf), v. and int. north and Midland dial. [Origin unknown.] A. v. intr. To encroach, to cheat. B. int. A formula used by children in a game to demand a truce. 1891 S. O. Addy Gloss. Words Sheffield Suppl. 52 Skinch, v. to encroach, to shorten distance. When a boy playing at marbles moves his taw nearer to the ring than he ought to do he is said to skinch, i.e., to encroach unfairly. 1893-4 O. Heslop Northumberland Words II. 649 Skinchl the cry for parley in a boys’ game. 1914 D. H. Lawrence Prussian Officer 262 Willy could hear the endless calling and shouting of men’s voices. ‘Tha’rt skinchin!’ 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. viii. 150 ‘Croggie’ is.. general in West Hartlepool although the usual term in County Durham is ‘skinch’.

skin-coat. Also 6 skyn coit, skincote, -coate. [f. SKIN sb. + COAT r6.] 1. A coat made of skin. 153.I Acc. Lord High Treas. Scotl. VI. 181 To begary the samyne doublet, and to begary ane skyn coit, v ] quarteris veluot. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 76 Am not I a Gentleman, though tirde in a shepheardes skincote.

f 2. transf. A person’s skin.

Obs.

1589 Hay any work (1844) 9, I will lay on load on your skincoat for this geare anon. 111592 Greene fas. IV, 1. Proh., Ay engraued the memory of Boughon on the skincoate of some of them. 1611 Cotgr., Escailler,. .to beat,

\

SKIND bethwacke, belabor the skin-coat of. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais II. xvii, I will have their skin-coat shaken once yet before they die. 3

t skind, v. Obs-1 [a. ON. skynda (so mod.Icel., Norw., and Sw.; Da. skynde), = OE. scyndan, OS. skundian, etc.] trans. To hasten. c 1250 Gen. &f Ex. 1989 De chapmen skinden here fare, In to egipte ledden Sat ware.

skin-deep, a. and adv. [f. skin sb. 5 + deep a. and adv.] A. adj. Penetrating no deeper than the skin; superficial, shallow, slight: a. As a proverbial limitation of beauty, or in similar connexions. a 1613 Overbury A Wife, etc. Wks. (1856) 37 All the carnall beauty of my wife, Is but skin-deep. 1687 Boyle Martyrd. Theodora iv. (1703) 49 Nor any of our sex ought to think skin-deep beauty as great a blessing, as ’tis an applauded one. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iv. ii, Beauty that s only skin deep Must fade like the gowans of May. 1740-1 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xcix. 484 Beauty is but a specious .. recommendation, a mere skin-deep perfection. 1854 Spencer Personal Beauty Ess. (1891) II. 394 The saying that beauty is but skin-deep, is but a skin-deep saying. 1869 McLaren Serm. Ser. 11. v. 79 Moses’ face shone, but the lustre was but skin deep.

, b. Of wounds, incisions, etc. Also transf. 01613 Overbury Charac., Ordinary Fencer Wks. (1856) 112 His wounds are seldome above skin-deep. 1805 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 30 The skin-deep scratches, which we can make or find on the surface of the earth. 1841 Emerson Method of Nat. Wks. (Bohn) II. 222 But the thunder is a surface phenomenon, makes a skin-deep cut. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile xix. 566 As for his wounds, they were literally skin-deep.

c.fig. in various contexts. 1657 Trapp Comm., Ps. xvi. 9 Their joy is but skin-deep. 1677 Horneck Gt. Law Consid. vii. (1704) 399 A few slight and skin-deep reflexions. 1730 T. Boston Mem. xii. 434 Denoting the skin-deep joy of ungodly men. 1766 Fordyce Serm. Yng. Women (1767) II. x. 130 Skin-deep and short¬ lived allurements. 1825 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 362 The little faults are all skin-deep, and she is excellent. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 251 The effect upon the hearers was, after all, but skin-deep.

B. adv. To the depth of the skin; in a superficial manner; superficially, slightly. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. vii. xiv, Caro, cursed damme of sinne,.. Yet seems (skin-deep) most fair. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 218 They have little horns which grow but skin-deep, mooving them as their ears. 1702 Steele Funeral 11, When I know her further than Skin-deep, I’ll tell you more of my mind. 1796 Burke Regie. Peace Wks. 1842 II. 288 Stings that have penetrated more than skin-deep into my mind. 1864 Kingsley Rom. & Teut. iv. (1875) 100 He was but a wild man of the woods .. polished over skin-deep with Roman civilization.

skin-diver, [f. skin sb. + diver.] One who dives or swims underwater without a full diving suit or a fixed line to the surface. Hence skindiving vbl. sb. and ppl. a.; [as back-formation] skin-dive v. intr., to dive or swim underwater as a skin-diver; also as sb., an act or instance of skin-diving. 1932 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 20/1 They relied solely upon their skin divers—the divers’ technical term for a naked man. 1938 D. Long Sailing all Seas in Idle Hour ix. 121 The finest ‘skin’ divers in the world come from lonely atolls such as Penrhyn, where only ‘skin’ diving is allowed. 1950 Schenk & Kendall Shallow Water Diving iv. 74 This equipment is used in the sport commonly known as ‘Goggling’ or ‘Skindiving’. 1951 Skin Diver Dec. 2 The name of The Skin Diver was picked because it includes everyone interested and participating in underwater fishing and hunting. Ibid., We want to publish any and all items of interest to our skin diving readers. 1952 Time 17 Nov. 50/3 Bucher, poised on the rail of the small ship bobbing in the rough water, was aiming to become the first man ever to ‘skin-dive’ (i.e., without the aid of artificial breathing apparatus) deeper than 115 ft. 1953 J. Y. Cousteau Silent World i. 9 Vanity coloured our early skin dives. We plumed ourselves at the thought that we latecomers could attain the working depths of pearl and sponge divers who had made their first plunges as infants. Ibid., Dumas’s skin-diving technique consisted of floating face under water and breathing through a schnorkel tube. 1959 L. Smith One Hour v. 69 For hours, we’d engage in this philosophical skin-diving. 1964 M. McLuhan Understanding Media xxiii. 233 The smarter advertisers have made free with fur and fuzz, and blur and buzz. They have, in a word, taken a skin-dive. For that is what the TV viewer is. He is a skin-diver, and he no longer likes garish daylight on hard, shiny surfaces. 1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 iii. 57 There stood Di Presso, in a skin-diving suit and wraparound shades. 1970 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 14 Oct. 7/6 At Taveuni, the prince took time off to swim and skindive. 1973 J. Leasor Host of Extras vii. 127 He adjusted his mask and went over backwards in the way of the trained skin-diver. 1975 N. Y. Times 6 Nov. 20/2 Skindiving Israeli scientists are exploring the sunken fortifications of the city of Acre. 1977 B. Pym Quartet in Autumn iv. 37 ‘It’s the swimming that would attract me.’ ‘You mean skin-diving and that sort of thing?’

'skinflint. Also 7-9 skin-flint, [f. skin v. 4 c + flint s6.] One who would skin a flint to save or gain something; an avaricious, penurious, mean or niggardly person; a miser. 01700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Skin-flint, a griping,., close-fisted Fellow. 1761 A. Murphy Citizen 11. i. An old miserly good for nothing skin-flint. 1791 A. Wilson Laurel Disputed Poet. Wks. (1846) 125 How skin-flint graned his pocks o’ goud to loss. 1816 Scott Antiquary xi, It would have been long, .ere my womankind could have made such a reasonable bargain with that old skinflint. 1840 Thackeray Catherine x, It is a pity that old skinflint should

613 be in the way of both your fortunes. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 226 Which sum the captain, who was a regular skinflint, said was far too much.

b. attrib. or as adj. Miserly, mean. 1789 Parker Life's Painter xiv. 114 The miser, that skin¬ flint old elf. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. v. (1857) 86 The skin-flint wife of a ‘paper minister’. 189s Zangwill Master II. vii, By persuading some small skinflint dealer to cheat him.

Hence 'skinflinty a., niggardly; 'skinflintily adv., in a niggardly manner; 'skinflintiness, 'skinflintism, niggardliness, parsimony. 1861 Lond. Rev. 16 Feb. 170 Love of approbation,.. for the time, conquers her native skinflintiness. 1886 F. R. Stockton Casting away of Mrs. Leeks & Mrs. Aleshine 11. 122 If he undertook to be skinflinty he’d better try it on somebody else besides us. 1893 Columbus (Ohio) Disp. 10 July, The rewards of ‘skinflintism’ are not great in the long run. 1899 Daily News 19 Sept. 6/1 He behaved skin-flintily to Max Muller. 1901 Munsey's Mag. XXV. 431/2 The man with the skinflinty heart.

skin fold. Med. Also skin-fold, skinfold. [f. skin sb. + fold sb.3] A fold of skin and underlying fat formed by pinching, as a measure of nutritional status; freq. attrib., as skinfold thickness; skinfold cal(l)iper(s), a pair of callipers for measuring the thickness of such a fold. 1921 Amer. Jrnl. Physical Anthrop. IV. 224 For the estimate of the quantity of the skin and of the subcutaneous fat, the writer uses the thickness of the skin fold on the upper arm, above the biceps; on the forearm.. and on the abdomen. 1950 Nutrition Abstr. & Rev. XX. 250 Pinching a skinfold to obtain a rough estimate of the thickness of the subcutaneous adipose tissue and, by inference, of the fatness or leanness of a subject, is an old clinical procedure. 1954 Jrnl. Lab. Gf Clin. Med. XLIII. 969 The skinfold thickness is read to the nearest half millimeter on the slide scale. Ibid. 970 A skinfold caliper.. which is easily manipulated with one hand. 1961 L. Martin Clin. Endocrinol, (ed. 3) ii. 54 Measurements by skin-fold calipers have shown that from birth until three months.. there is a rapid increase in fat deposition. 1973 Times 17 May 20/1 Using skinfold calipers, designed by and for doctors working on obesity, the thickness of the fat layer at four sites on the body is measured. 1977 Lancet 1 Jan. 17/2 Skinfold thickness measurements provide a non-invasive and reproducible means of measuring subcutaneous fat in newborn babies.

'skinful. Also 9 -full. [f. skin sb. + -ful.] 1. The quantity contained within the skin. 1650 Howell Lett. III. 4, I could willingly, .return this small skinfull of Bones to my common Mother.

2. A quantity that fills a skin vessel. 1802 Southey King Ramiro xii, So he gave him.. a skinful of wine to quench his thirst. 1863 Kinglake Crimea II. 195 That simple skinful of water which .. is the life of men passing a desert. 1885 Century Mag. XXIX. 652/1 Well do I remember how at each well the first skinful [of water] was tasted all around.

3. As much as the skin can hold: a. As much as any one can drink. 1788 Columbian Mag. Oct. 557/2 Determined, as they said, once more to get a skin-full of liquor. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. II. 234 When he has no liquor at all, or when he has a skinfull. 1839 Thackeray Fatal Boots (1869) 348 On this night I had my little skinful,—for there was no stinting. 1886 W. Graham Social Problem 203 Why should I work, when I . . can get my skinful?

b. transf. A full allowance; as much as one wants or cares for. a 1779 D. Graham Leper the Taylor 1. Writ. 1883 II. 116 Poor Sandy went home with a skinful of terror. 1869 W. S. Gilbert Bab Ball., Sir Macklin v, He wept to think each thoughtless youth Contained of wickedness a skinful. 1897 Pall Mall Mag. Dec. 501 His men had had a skinful of fighting and short commons just before.

'skinhead, colloq. [f. skin sb. + head sft.1] 1. (A person with) a bald head. 1953 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang (1954) §430/5 Bald-headed man,.. cue ball, skinhead, turret top. 1957 M. Shulman Rally round Flag, Boys! vi. 66 Oscar was a bow-legged, barrel-chested man with a skin head. 1976 ‘O. Jacks’ Assassination Day v. 85 ’Ow long you gonna be, skinhead?.. Your wig’s slipping.

2. A person with a shaven head or closely cropped hair; spec. (a) a recruit to the U.S. Marine Corps; (b) in the U.K., a youth (often one of a gang), also typically characterized by wearing workman-like clothing and heavy boots, and by a tendency to aggressive behaviour. 1953 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang (1954) §825/2 Cue ball, skinhead, a fellow with a crew haircut. 1956 Amer. Speech XXXI. 190 He will administer a royal chewing out (tongue lashing) to the hapless skinheads (recruits; so-called because of their completely shaven heads). 1969 Daily Mirror 3 Sept. 12/1 A group of teenagers ..wear tight and rather short jeans, coilarless T-shirts, exposed braces, big steel-capped boots and hair erased almost to their scalps. The lack of hair is what gives them their generic names.. crop-heads, skin-heads or peanuts. The boots are good for kicking. 1971 Daily Tel. 13 Apr. 1 Gangs of Hell’s Angels and skinheads marred Easter Monday seaside outings. 1973 C. Mullard Black Britain iv. xi. 131 According to an eye-witness a gang of white skinheads savagely attacked a black youth who today is nearly blind as a result. 1975 I. Shaw Nightwork vii. 84 The skinheads are preparing the ground. .. One morning we’ll wake up and the tanks will be rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue and the machine guns will be on every roof. 1978 Lancashire Life Apr. 27/1 The index can be visualised: Beats, Jesus Freaks, Groupies, Skinheads, Punks.. the procession seems endless, and to many is evoked by one word—Hippies. 1980 Herald (Melbourne) 9 Apr. 5/3

SKINK Thousands of skinheads shouting Nazi slogans invaded the resort in special trains.

skink (skirjk), sb.1 Zool. Forms: a. 6, 9 seine, 7, 9 scinck, 7-9 scink. /3. 7 skinke, 8 skinc(k, 6skink. [a. older F. seine (now scinque), or ad. L. semeus, ad. Gr. oKiyKos.] A small lizard (Scincus officinalis) common in northern Africa and Arabia, formerly regarded as of great value in medicine for its stimulative qualities; also, any lizard belonging to the same family (the Scincidse). a. 1590 Barrough Meth. Physick 182 Also the parts of scinces which embrace the reines. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 693 There have been some that have reckoned Scinks and Lizards among worms. 1681 Grew Musaeum 1. iii. 48 The Scink . . hath .. short Legs, a flat and broad Foot like a Hand, with very short Toes. 1775 Phil. Trans. LXV. 246 Gulls, the scink, the leech,.. &c. are all said to feel., approaching changes of weather. 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 1. 281 The Scink is one of the middle-sized or smaller lizards. 1854 Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 275 Herbivorous .. scinks, called, on account of the shape of the teeth, cyclodus. 1872 Humphry Myology 37 In the Seine this portion.. is quite separate in its whole length. /J. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas 1. vi. 200 Th’ horned Cerastes, th’ Alexandrian Skink. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 316 Much like to this kind is the Skink (whom some haue named the land Crocodile). 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 171 Skincks. — Some Authors have ascribed much to these as Alexipharmicks. 1831 Griffith tr. Cuvier IX. 237 The skink of pharmacopolists .. does not exceed the length of six or eight inches. 1880 Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 296 The Skink inhabits the western and northern parts of Africa. attrib. and Comb. 1790 J. White Jrnl. Voy. N.S. Wales 242 The Scincoid, or Skinc-formed Lizard. 1896 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. V. 166 The skink tribe.. are a very numerous family.

skink, sb.2 Now rare. Also 7 skinck, skinke. [In sense 1 ad. early mod.Du. or LG. schenke, repr. MDu., MLG., and MHG. schenke (rarely schinke), OS. skenkio, OHG. scenko, scene ho, etc. In sense 2 from skink v.] 1. A skinker; a tapster or waiter. In later use only spec, (see quot. 1847). 1603 J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos Wks. (Grosart) I. 21/1 O Skinck, how blessed wert thou in his loue That drue thee on. 1786 Francis the Philanthropist I. 172 Mr. Francis and his companion had friends of every rank, from the humble skink to the dignified .. doctor. 1847 Halliw. s.v., In a family the person latest at breakfast is called the skink, or the skinker, and some domestic office is imposed or threatened for the day, such as ringing the bell, putting coal on the fire, or, in other cases, drawing the beer for the family.

2. a. Sc. use.)

Drink, liquor.

(In contemptuous

1824 Scott St. Ronan s xxxii, The wine!.. puir, thin, fushionless skink it was. 1844 Ballantine Miller Deanhaugh xvi. 247 Jail beer was poor, thin skink for gentlemen who had drank claret after dinner every day for twenty years.

b. pi. (See quot.) 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 126 Skinks, an old term applied to drink—or drinking around the imposing stone in order to celebrate some auspicious occasion.

skink, sbJ Sc.

Now Obs. exc. Hist. Also 7 skinck. [prob. ad. MLG. schinke (see next), either with ellipse of some word for ‘broth’, or with simple transference from the meat to the liquid.] A kind of soup made from shin of beef. Also attrib. C1575 Balfour Practicks (1754) 235 The air sail haue.. ane butter-plait, ane skink-plait, ane beif plait, ane luggit disch. 1602 in Henderson Old World Scotl. (1893) 14 Ane dische of bruise, and ane uther of skink or kaill. 1626 Bacon Sylva §45 Wee finde also that Scotch Skinck (which is a Pottage of strong Nourishment,) is made with the Knees, and Sinewes of Beefe, but long boiled, a 1682 Sempill Blythsome Wedding 72 There will be meal-kail and castocks, And skink to sup till you rive. 1790 Shirrefs Poems 210 Guid barley broth and skink came next. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 169 It was of this piece that the old favourite soup of Scotland, called skink, was made. 1893 Henderson Old World Scotl. 57 Its quality was very similar to that of the strong Lowland soup called skink.

fskink, sbf Obs.-1 [ad. LG. schinke schinkeri), OHG. scinca, scinco.] Ham.

(G.

1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Gt. Eater Kent 12 He cares not for. . the sawsedge of Bolognia, the skink of Westphalia.

t skink, sb.b Obs. variant of skunk sb. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. III. ix. 381 The skink.. resembles a polecat in shape and size. 1809 Spirit Public Jrnls. XIII. 2 Where’er the skink-ey’d Gallic pest Flings taint and uproar o’er the ball. 1824 Coleridge Aids Refi. (1848) I. 90 As., the skink and squash are treated by American woodmen, who turn their backs upon the fetid intruder.

skink, v. Now dial, or arch. Forms: 4 skynke, 6 7 skinke (6 skincke, 7 scinke); 6 (9) skynk, skinck, 6- skink. [ad. MDu. or MLG. schenken (cf. OFris. skenka\ ON. skenkja, Sw. skdnka, Da. sksenke), corresp. to OE. scencan shench v.] 1. trans. To pour out or draw (liquor); to offer, present, serve (drink, etc.). ri386 Chaucer Merch. T. 478 Bacus the wyn hem skynketh al aboute. 1513 Douglas JEneid vii. iii. 90 In flacon and in skull Thai skynk the wyne. 1607 W. Barksted Mirrha (1876) 45 The Queen of loue.. forc’d her to skinke so much, the iuice ran ore. 1635 Shirley Lady of Pleas, iv.

ii, A drawer is my Ganymede: he shall skink Brisk nectar to us. 1667 Davenant & Dryden Tempest iv. iii, Hem! skink about his grace’s health again. 1728 Ramsay Last Sp. Miser xxvii, And like dub-water skink the wine. 1806 R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads I. 221 They skinked the mead, and they skinked the wine. 1899 Lumsden Edin. Poems & Sangs 130 Stout Scotsw drink to me skynk.

|2. To fill with liquor; to pour liquor into. Obs. 1513 Douglas JEneid vn. iii. 62 Now skynk, and offer Jupiter, coupis full. 1558 Phaer JEneid vii. Sivb, Now skinke your cups to Ioue, and great Anchises cheerely cal. 1594 Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. H, lie haue them skincke my standing bowles with wine.

3. absol. To draw, pour out, or serve drink; to wait on a company (see quot. 1785). 1591 Fletcher Russe Commonw. (Hakl. Soc.) 17 For that cause [they] called this newe citie by the name of Naloi, that is skinck or poure in. 1594 Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. Wks. (Grosart) XIV. 93 Villaines, why skinck you not vnto this fellow? 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Penniless Pilgr. Wks. 1. 123/2 And No-body did drinke, and winke, and scinke. 1676 Hobbes Iliad 1. 562 And then the Gods laught.. outright, To see the lame and sooty Vulcan skink. 1755 Smollett Don Quixote iv. xiv. II. 425 Truce with your compliments and skink away, honest Tosilos. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., To skink, is to wait on the company, ring the bell, stir the fire, and snuff the candles; the duty of the youngest officer in a military mess, a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia 304 Skink, to serve at table; particularly to serve the guests with drink. 1845 S. Judd Margaret 11. vi. (1871) 260 Come crush a glass with .. all this nice company. You have skinked quite long enough.

f4. Sc. To make a present of; to make over to another. Obs. rare. 1508 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1882) I. 117 Vpoun his gude warkmaneschip and gyding thai skynk him the tymmer of the auld ruf. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1848) lxxxv. 156 If this had not been, I would have skinked over and foregone my part of paradise and salvation, for a breakfast of dead, moth-eaten earth. Ibid, lxxxviii. 163 Do we not sit far in our own light, to make it a matter of bairn’s play, to skink and drink over paradise.

Hence 'skinked ppl. a. 1598 Florio, Mesciuto, skinkt, powred or filde wine.

t 'skinkard. Obs. rare. Also 7 skinkird. [f. skink v. + -ard.] A tapster. 1615 Brathwait Strappado (1878) 11 To be a drudge.. Vnto the base-borne Skinkird bred in Hell. 1632 Marmion Holland's Leaguer 11. iii, Thou hast a noble wit and spirit, wench, That never was ordained for any skinkard T’engender with.

skinker ('skinksfr)). Now arch, or dial. Also 6 scincker, skincker, skynker. [ad. MDu. or MLG. schencker (schincker), or f. SKINK v. + -ER1.]

1. One who draws, pours out, or serves liquor; a tapster; (see also quot. 1847 s.v. skink sb.2 1). 1586 Praise of Musicke 51 That banquet of the gods where Vulcan plaid the skinker. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 444 The butler or skinker asked him how much he should poure out for everie one. 1647 C. Harvey Schola Cordis vi. 3 See how the hellish skinker plies his bowle. 1681 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 15 (1713) I. 98 From rebellious Taps, and Tapsters and Skinkers, Libera nos. 1702 S. Parker tr. Cicero's De Finibus 11. 63 My Skinker perceives himself.. agreably affected in filling me out a Glass when he has no Inclination to drink. 1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake 24 Thrice did they drain th’ allotted store And wondering skinkers dun for more. 1830 Lamb Let. to W. Wordsworth Wks. 1900 XII. 128 [Vulcan] the two-handed skinker. 1852 Hawthorne Blithedale Rom. II. xi. 206 Some old-fashioned skinkers and drawers.. were spreading a banquet. 1887 Browning Parleyings Wks. 1896 II. 733/2 The skinker fast brimmed Their glass with rare tipple’s enticement.

fb. The constellation Aquarius. Obs. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas 1. iv. 278 Mean-while the Skinker, from his starry spout, After the Goat, a silver stream pours out. Ibid. 11. ii. iv. Columnes 418 On th’ Azure steep Our Parents plac’t a Skinker: and by him, Two silver Fishes in his flouds to swim.

f2. A jug or similar vessel used for skinking with. Also attrib. Obs. 1594 Wills Invent. N.C. (Surtees, i860) 245 The butterye .. ij hodgsheads,.. j quarte potte, j skinker. 1600 Will of Sir R. Bedingfeild (Somerset IIo.), Silver wine pot called a Skynker. 1639 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. IX. 7 Four great flagons... 10 Skinker potts. 7 Tankards. 1646 Will of Estcourt (Somerset Ho.), A deepe silver bason with a silver skinker.

'skinking, vbl. sb. [f. skink v.] The action of pouring out or serving liquor. Also attrib. 1592 R. D. Hypnerotomachia 57 The skinking pottes.. were all of pure fine Gold. 1598 Florio, Versatione,.. a skinking. 1611 Ibid., A powring or skinking forth. 1631 Mabbe Celestina ix. 105, I know no better office at boord, then to fall a skinking. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm’d (1827) 102 Had Bacchus sell been there,.. for skinkin', He couldna weil hae blam’d the drinkin’.

'skinking, ppl. a. [f. skink v.] 1. That skinks; wine-giving. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis iii. (Arb.) 74 With nauye we passed By mounts of Nazon too skincking Bacchus alotted.

2. Sc. Thin, watery. (Cf. skink sb.2 2.) 1786 Burns To a Haggis viii, Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware That jaups in luggies. a 1894 Stevenson St. Ives xxvii, A pint of skinking claret.

skinkle

('skink(3)l), v. Sc. [perh. a frequentative f. ON. skina to shine.] intr. To

SKINNER

614

SKINKARD glitter, glisten, appearance.

sparkle;

to

have

a

showy

17.. Lord Thomas xix. in Percy Reliques, It skinkled in their een. 1791 A. Wilson Laurel Disputed Poet. Wks. (1846) 127 Ae night the lift was skinkling a' wi’ starns. 1888 Glasgow Evening Times 15 Oct. 2/6 A handful of flame which .. merely skinkles on the window-panes.

Hence 'skinkling ppl. a. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 205 Row’t in a skinklan plaid. c 1795 ? Burns Poem on Pastoral Poetry iv, Squire Pope but busks his skinklin patches, O’ heathen tatters! 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 30 Or flee about on skinklin’ wing, Like butterflies. 1849 Symington Harebell Chimes 104 Death lurks in its skinkling fire.

skinless ('skinlis), a. Forms: 5 skin-, skynles, 6 skinne-, 6-7 skinlesse, 8- skinless, [f. SKIN sb. + -less.] Destitute or deprived of skin; having only a very thin skin; spec, of sausages and similar meats. t fleisch pere pe cros sittith is skinles 8c ouer-runne wip bloodrowis. 1484 Caxton Fables of JEsop v. ix, The wulf ranne aweye skynles. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 11. 59 The head woulde bee very deformed if it were skinnelesse, where it is couered with haire. 1600 Hosp. Incurable Fooles Aiv, Those skinlesse Snailes that lift vp their homes for nothing. 1611 Cotgr., Fricandeaux, short, skinlesse, and daintie puddings. 1706 London & Wise Retir'd Gard. I. vii. 28 The .. skinless Pear is a kind of Russelet in Shape and Taste. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VI11. 3 10/1 What is it that’s born Skinless, flies Wingless, and goes roaring to Death? 1850 Kingsley A. Locke xxi, He was looking, .at the skinless cast on the chimney-piece. Ibid., He looked round again at the skinless man. 1891 Atkinson Last of Giant-killers 78 He [the raven] pranced about on his [the wolf’s] scraggy skinless carcase. 1954 Food Manufacture 1 Nov. p. xi (Advt.), Visking food and sausage casings are.. available through Viskase Limited... Visking Nojax for skinless sausages. 1959 E. H. Clements High Tension vi. 119 ‘He’d bring.. cevabcici—.. ‘Sausages, you mean.’ ‘Oh yes... Special skinless ones., from a shop in Soho.’ 1968 R. Clapperton No News on Monday v. 52, I helped myself to a couple of skinless sausages from the refrigerator. 1972 D. Bloodworth Any Number can Play xvii. 170 He.. had .. eaten a tin of skinless frankfurters with a puree of mashed yam. fig. 1859 Sat. Rev. 19 Mar. 331/2 There was nothing in it to make the most skinless man in existence wince.

Hence 'skinlessly adv. 1859 Boyd Recreat. Country Parson (1862) 86 Not only are they themselves skinlessly sensitive [etc.].

'skinlet. rare. [f. skin sb. + -let.] A thin skin; a membrane. 1598 Florio, Cuticula, a filme, a skin or skinlet, a thin rinde or pill. Ibid., Milza,.. a filme or skinlet.

skinned (skind), ppl. a. [f. skin sb. and il] 1. I. a. Having a skin, esp. of a specified kind. C1400 Maundev. (1839) xix. 206 In another Yle ben folk, that gon upon hire Hondes and hire Feet, as Bestes: and thei ben alle skynned and fedred. 1611 Cotgr., Marmote,.. a little muddie fish, headed, skinned, and finned, like an Eele. 1641 Brome Joviall Crew ill, Oh here they come. They are delicately skin’d and limb’d. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 260 Skate is skin’d like a File. 1727 Philip Quarll (1754) 3 These Fish are.. skinned like a Mackerel.

b. With defining term prefixed, as clean-, darkr, fox-, hard-, loose-, etc. See also thick- and thin-skinned. 1450-80 tr. Seer eta Secret. 32 Kepe the fro fische pat is hard skynned. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. § 56 Se that he [an ox] haue a brode ryb, and a thycke hyde, and to be lose-skinned. 1598- [see rough-skinned a.]. 1611 Cotgr., Poire d'amiot, a yellow, and hard-skind Peare. 1665 Brathwait Comment. Two Tales (1900) 45 What Sir Raynard, ye fox-skin’d Chuffe. 1827 [see fair a. 18]. 1893 F. Adams New Egypt 58 An English official,.. having a lean, clean-skinned body. 1897 Watts-Dunton Aylwin iii. vi, A bright-eyed, darkskinned little girl.

2. Of wounds, etc.: Covered with skin. Also with over. 1640 Bp. Reynolds Passions xxvii. 288 Which like a skinn’d wound doth wrankle inwardly. 1739 S. Sharp Surg. p. xxx, The Edges of it in process of time, tuck in, and growing skinn’d and hard, give it the Name of a callous Ulcer. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 90 My wounds, though not skinned, were healing apace. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias xi. ix. IF6 A wound imperfectly skinned over.

3. Covered with a layer (of something). 1684 T. Burnet Theory Earth 1. 145 When the earth grows discolour’d and skin’d over. 1837 Wordsw. Musings near Aquapendente 193 From pavement skinned with moss.

II. 4. a. Stripped of the skin. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 404 Their [frogs’] flesh shows white and lovely as they lie in the markets skin’d and ready prepared. 1826 Scott Woodstock xxxii, The boy, whose appearance [was] not much dissimilar to that of a skinned rabbit in a livery. 1861 Macm. Mag. June 131 Birds and their eggs, skinned animals, and insects.

b. colloq. In phr. to keep one's eye skinned, etc., to keep a sharp look-out. 1833 Political Examiner (Shelbyville, Kentucky) 22 June 4/1,1 wish I may be shot if I dont think you had better keep your eyes skinned so that you can look powerful sharp, lest we get rowed up the river this heat. 01859 Traits Amer. Humor (Bartlett), Keep your eye skinned for sign. 1887 Farrell How He Died 22 The reverend josser. .kept his eye skinned. 1898 Kipling Fleet in Being iii, We kept a skinned eye on her.

c. Beaten, bested, overcome completely; esp. in to have (got) (a person or object) skinned, colloq. (orig. U.S.).

1904 ‘O. Henry’ Cabbages & Kings iii. 56, I guess you’ve got us skinned on the animal and vegetation question. 1908 ‘Yeslah’ Tenderfoot S. Calif, ii. 22 When it rains in California, it’s got all the rest of the country skinned to death. 1913 R. Brooke Let. c 23 July in Coll. Poems (1918) Mem. p. lxxxiv, ‘Sir, I may tell you that in my opinion you have Mr. Noyes skinned.’ That means I’m better than him. 1927 E. Wallace Feathered Serpent iv. 47, I came down here to make a few inquiries... I’ve got these reporter guys skinned to death!

d. = skint a. Also with out. colloq. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 107/1 Skinned out, broke; without funds. 1957 C. MacInnes City of Spades 1. xii. 93 Why’s he left me skinned in hopeless destitution? 1958 Observer 14 Dec. 7/8 I’m skinned, I know I can always count on someone helpin’ me.

skinner1

('skin3(r)). Forms; 5 scynner(e, schynnere, skynnar(e, 6 skynar, 5-7 skynner, 6skinner. [f. skin sb. or v. + -er1. Cf. ON. skinnari, MSw. skinnare, Norw. skinnar.] 1. One whose work or business is concerned with the preparation of skins for commercial purposes. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P R. xvm. lxxv. (Bodl. MS.), [The cat] is ofte for his faire skynne itake of pe skynner and islayne & ihuylded. 1418 Nottingham Rec. II. 116 Johanne Crophyll, skynner. 1484 Caxton Fables of JEsop v. xvii, Theyr skynnes were good for to make mantels with, yf skynners myght haue them. 1542 Boorde Dyetary (1870) 249 Let your skynner cut both the sortes of the skynnes in smale peces tryangle wyse. 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 268 He began to tell me that by his art he was a Skinner. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme 873 The skinners are woont to make stomachers to lay ouer the stomacke. 1675 Ogilby Britannia Introd., The Principal Companies are the Mercers,.. Skinners. 1859 C. Barker Assoc. Principle ii. 45 One Hinde, a citizen and skinner of London, lent to Henry IV. the sum of £2000. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 852/2 Seven of the livery companies of London .., the Mercers’,. . the Salters’,.. and the Skinners’. attrib. 1794 R. Gray in Scott Stat. Acc. Perth (1796) 38 This corporation has a very convenient skinner-work.

2. a. One who removes the skin; a flayer. 1699 Dampier Voy. II. 11. iii. 98 Then the Hockser immediately Mounts, and Rides after more Game, leaving the other to the Skinners, who are at hand, and ready to take off his Hide. 1884 Good Words June 391 /i In districts where the game is abundant more skinners were enlisted.

b. An implement used for skinning animals. 1872 A mer. Naturalist VI. 223 The specimen could have been used as a knife, or ‘skinner’, although now its edge is too irregular and dull for skinning.

3. U.S. One of a number of marauders who committed depredations on the neutral ground between the British and American lines during the War of Independence. [see cow-boy 2]. 1821 J. F. Cooper Spy i, This poor opinion of the Skinners was not confined to Mr. C^sar Thompson. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan III. 290 Who knows but you are one o’ the tories yourself.. or one o’ the skinners? 1857 [see cow-boy 2]. 1882 Lecky Engl, in 18th Cent. IV. 129 The loyalist banditti called the Skinners.

4. a. (See quot.) 1856 Mayhew Gt. World London 46 ‘Skinners,’ or women and boys who strip children of their clothes.

b. A fleecer. Also in racing slang (see quot. 1874 and cf. skin v. 7 c); esp. common in Australia to mean (a) a horse that wins a race at very long odds; (b) any betting coup. 1856 Doran Knights & their Days ix. 142 They are constituted the legal skinners of all sojourners among them. 1874 Slang Diet. 293 Skinner, a term among bookmakers. ‘May we have a skinner,’ i.e., may we skin the lamb. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 13 Apr. 5/2 Yesterday’s race .. resulted in what the sporting public, high and low, graphically describe as a ‘skinner’. The bookmakers.. do the skinning. 1903 A. M. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise xii. 292 A skinner!—greatballs-of-fire! a skinner! 1907 A. Wright Keane of Kalgoorlie 66 Although he had gone up in the weights considerably, his owner decreed that he should win the Rosehill handicap, and give the ‘shop’ another ‘skinner’. 1930 Technique of Betting 7 Frequently a race is won by a horse against which the bookmaker has not laid any bet, and the book then shows a profit of 100%- the bookmaker has what he calls a ‘skinner’. 1934 T. Wood Cobbers viii. 96 Charles.. would lay two to one port-wine jelly, five to apple-pie... Tonight we had college pudding and jam tart. Charles .. said it was a skinner for the books. 1974 Sydney Morning Herald 8 Oct. 17 Skinner for bookmakers. 1977 A. C. H. Smith Jericho Gun v. 60 At twelve to one, which is the forecast SP here, it’s a skinner.

5. One who makes skin to grow. In quot. fig. 1660 Gauden Slight Healers Pubhck Hurts 43 Pretenders to heal, superficial skinners.

6. (See quots.) 1881 Day Fishes Gt. Brit. I. 278 Poullach.. In the Channel those the size of a whiting are termed codlings and skinners. 1881 Cassell’s Nat. Hist. V. 59 When Cod are of the size of Whiting they are termed Codlings and ‘Skinners’.

7. A driver of a team of horses or mules; occas. also, a lorry driver. N. Amer. 1870 [see mule skinner s.v. mule' 5 c]. 1910 E. Ferguson Janey Canuck in West 91 The teamsters are called ‘skinners’. I met them all on the log road. 1924 Scribner’s Mag. Dec. 645/1 The skinner with the longest words travels the fastest. 1929 Amer. Speech V. 147 Since the driver of the old time orecar was called a mule-skinner or mule-whacker, the driver of the modern motor-propelled car is a motor-skinner, sometimes just a trammer. 1939 J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath ii. 14 A guy that never been a truck skinner don’t know nothin’ what it’s like. 1954 E. F. Hagell When Grass was Free 3 A single line attached to the next leader’s bit and passed back along the teams to the teamster or ‘skinner’.

8. a skinner semi-adj.: ‘skint’, broke; empty. N.Z. colloq.

4

SKINNER

SKINTLE

615

1943 New Writing XVIII. 68 So I paid for the pair of us, which left me practically a skinner. 1967 Landfall XXI. 241 Sure you’re a skinner? Not a drop in the place, I mean? 1981 Macquarie Diet. (s.v. skinner), The beer’s a skinner.

Skinner2 (’skin3(r)). The name of the American psychologist, B. F. Skinner (b. 1904), used attrib. to indicate the theories or methods concerned with conditioning human or animal behaviour associated with him; esp. as Skinner box, a box in which an animal is isolated, equipped essentially with a bar or other device that it learns to use either to obtain a reward or to escape punishment. *93%Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. XXIII. 507 A modified form of the Skinner apparatus. 1940 Ibid. XXVI. 614 (heading) The variability of extinction scores in ‘Skinner-box’ experiments. 1951 E. R. Hilgard in S. S. Stevens Handbk. Exper. Psychol. 530/1 It is possible to train animals in the Skinner box to do what the experimenter wishes. 1962 Listener 13 Sept. 390/1 The technique for measuring the pressure applied to a lever by a rat in a Skinner-box. 1973 Nature 27 July 241/3 The method of‘operant conditioning' in a Skinner box can be used to investigate physiological changes that accompany habit formation. 1980 Brown & Wallace Physiol. Psychol, xv. 457 Most of the principles of learning were derived from studies on a single animal (the white rat) in a single learning situation (instrumental 'conditioning in the Skinner box).

Skinnerian (ski'marian), a. and sb. [f. prec. +

c. Impoverishing, exhausting. 1856 Trans. Michigan State Agric. Soc. VII. 171 The old plan of constant cropping without manure, or ‘skinning’, will ruin the land. 1888 Harper's Mag. Mar. 559 The skinning of the land by sending away its substance in hard wheat is an improvidence of natural resources.

d. A physical or verbal beating; a hammering. U.S. slang. 1929 Chicagoan 17 Aug. 22/2 In this period he [sc. Carl Sandburg] wrote the poetic denunciation of the Rev. Billy Sunday that.. remains as the most thorough skinning that the evangelist ever received. 1972 J. W. Thompson in W. King Black Short Story Anthol. 260 Daddy .. has taught me several different ways to skin a cat, and that redhead doesn’t know it yet, but he’s got a skinning coming.

3. (See quot.) slang. Cf. skin v. ii. 1973 Daily Mail 3 Apr. 19/4 Skinning, injecting drugs under the skin.

4.

attrib., as process, table.

skinning-apparatus,

knife,

1835-6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 602/2 The skinning process takes place in this stage. 1859 G. A. Jackson Diary 8 Jan. in F. Hall Hist. Colorado (1890) II. 521 Dug and panned to¬ day until my belt knife was worn out; so will have to quit or use my skinning knife. 1864 Wheelwright Spring Lapl. 296 Hoping soon to see it lying on his skinning table! 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2196/1 Skinning-apparatus, a mechanical appliance for removing the hides from animals. 1884 Good Words June 391 /1 The skinning knives did duty as table knives.

skinnis, var. of ME. kinnes: see kin sb.1 6 b.

-ian.] A. adj. Of or pertaining to B. F. Skinner’s

behaviourist theories or methods. B. sb. follower or adherent of B. F. Skinner.

A

1958 Psychol. Bull. LV. 148/2 The studies to be reviewed in this paper follow this Skinnerian paradigm. 1964 H. J. Eysenck Exper. Behav. Therapy 11. 187 One possible reason why Skinnerians have restricted them-selves in this fashion. 1965 Language XLI. 98 The extreme Skinnerian view that the correct inductive generalization can be accomplished with no need for anything more than positive instances. 1977 H. J. Eysenck You & Neurosis v. 168 Skinnerian behaviourism has become a ‘school’, in the same way as Freudianism did many years earlier. Skinnerians concentrate exclusively on a very small area of psychology. 1979 Nature 29 Nov. 440/1 The sales techniques used in Iran, and no doubt they are now being used in other Third World countries, were a balanced compound of Skinnerian Psychology and gangsterism.

So 'Skinnerism, Skinnerian behaviourism. 1969 Times Educ. Suppl. 16 May 1640/2, I fear the growth of Skinnerism and its rats and pigeons. 1979 Nature 24 May 355/1 They bring us a metatheoretical commitment to a hard-line Skinnerism, according to which even the editorial policy of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior is dangerously revisionist.

skinnery ('skinsri). Also 5 skynnery. [f.

skin sb.

+ -ERY.]

f 1. Skins or furs collectively. Obs.

'skinnum.

[See quot. domestic pigeon.

1854.]

A variety of

1854 Meall Moubray's Poultry 277 It is perhaps owing to the loose skinny eyes and bill.. that they are vulgarly called ‘Skinnums’. 1867 Tegetmeier Pigeons ix. 100 My skinnum was in his hand. Hurrah! the prize was mine.

skinny ('skim), a. and sb. [f. skin sb. + -y1.] A. adj. 1. Consisting or formed of skin; resembling skin membranous.

or

film;

cutaneous,

1573 Baret Alv. s.v. Flie, To flie with skinny winges. 1601 Holland Pliny xxm. Proem, The bones charged with purulent and skinnie matter. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 236 Heere is also to be obserued a skinny Ligament. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 6 The Bee hath four dry pellucid skinny wings. 1753 N. Torriano Gangr. Sore Throat 94 Those loosened Pieces of skinny Membranes. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 734 The middle row of scales the largest, all more or less membranaceous and skinny. 1805 Med. Jrnl. XIV. 71 Whirls .. surrounded by a skinny sheath. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 660 So the hair sprang up in the skin, being of a skinny and stringy nature. fig. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. 1. Wks. 1851 III. 11 Settling in a skinny congealment of ease and sloth at the top. Comb. 1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 351 L. Scariosa, Skinny cupped Liatris.

c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 946 To drapery & skynnery euer haue ye a sight.

2. a. Of, pertaining to, or affecting, the skin. rare.

2. A place where skins are dealt with for commercial or other purposes; the working premises of a skinner.

1611 Cotgr., Peaucier, skinnie; of, in, or belonging to, the skinne. 1737 Bracken Farriery lmpr. (1756) I. 186 In cutaneous or skinny Distempers. Ibid. 246 An excellent Medicine in Skinny Disorders.

1480 Wardr. Acc. Edzv. IV (1830) 131 Canvas in the Skynnery j. Ibid. 146 A lb’ of threde delivered into the Skynnery for skynners to wirk with. 1483 Cath. Angl. 342/1 A Skynnery, pelliparium. 1827 Mackenzie Hist. Newcastle II.716 There are some extensive tan-yards and skinneries in Newcastle. 1883 J. Martin Reminis. Old Haddington 84 There was long ago a tannery and skinnery at its termination.

'skinniness, [f. skinny a.] The quality of being skinny; leanness, emaciation. 1727 Bailey, vol. II. [Hence in later Diets.]

skinning ('skiniij), vbl. sb. [f. skin v.] 1. a. The action or process of covering with skin, or of forming a new skin; cicatrization, healing. Also with over, and fig. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health 49 For skynnynge of a place there is nothing shal skyn so sone as it wyl. 1633 Wotton Lett. (1907) II. 341 But whether these be perfect cures or but skinnings over.. will appear hereafter. 1638 A. Read Chirurg. ix. 66 We are not to goe about the skinning of the wound before the flesh bee somewhat higher than the naturall skin. 1739 S. Sharp Surg. Introd. 2 The first Stage of Healing.. is by Surgeons call’d Digestion;.. and the last, or skinning-over, Cicatrization. 1793 J. Hunter Treat. Blood, etc. Wks. 1837 III. 496 Therefore contracting and skinning are probably effects of one cause. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 455 The parts towards the centre may be so long kept from skinning, that the granulations may become weak.

b. Naut. (See quots.) 1846 A. Young Naut. Diet. 284 Skinning, a term used for planking a vessel, c 1850 Rudim. Nav. (Weale) 138 Planking, covering the outside of the timbers with plank; sometimes . . called ‘skinning’.

2. a. The removal, or stripping off, of skin; the fact of having the skin removed or rubbed off. Also fig. 1775 in Ash. 1837 W. Irving Cap/. Bonneville I. 141 These .. are bound to exert themselves.. in taking beavers, which, without skinning, they render in at the trader’s lodge. 1878 Spurgeon Serm. XXIV. 699 The skinning of flints and the driving of screws are practised by many people as if they were positively meritorious. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 105 My feet were not yet quite well, after the skinning they had got coming over the trail from Wallace.

fb. Fleecing, plundering. Obs. rare 1686 tr. Chardin’s Trav. Persia 347 Places for the skinning of strangers, who are reputed to be rich.

b. Lying next the skin. Gentlew. Comp. 114 Take the rumpend of the Back-bone, and lay it with the skinny side upward. 1675 Han. Woolley

5. 'Having the skin prominently shown; lacking flfesh; thin, lean, emaciated. 1605 Shaks. Macb. I. iii. 45 Each at once her choppie finger laying Vpon her skinnie Lips. 1724 Ramsay Health 118 With skinny cheek, pale lips, and blood-run eyes. 1781 Sir J. Reynolds Journ. Flanders Wks. 1797 II. 29 The daughter of Herod .. is rather beautiful, but too skinny and lean. 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. 11. 127 Skinny shrivelled grain produces food weak and unsubstantial. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown 11. iii, His long skinny arms all covered with anchors and arrows and letters. 1879 Sat. Rev. 4 Oct. 415 A chicken .. sometimes skinny and often ill-kept.

4. Mean, miserly, niggardly, stingy. 1833 Hood Public Dinner 152 The subscription still skinny. 1838 Holloway Prov. Diet., Skinny, mean; inhospitable. 1890 Lancet 2 Aug. 246/2 As a rule, the whole of the men in a factory would contribute, and ‘skinny’ ones were not let off easily.

5. Of clothing: tight-fitting. 1970 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird vii. 96 Janey’s friends.. in skinny sweaters and bell-bottomed corduroy trousers. 1972 Vogue Feb. 63 Long skinny jacket over beautifully cut pants. 1982 Times 2 Apr. 10/3 Teddy bear fur over skinny suede skirts. 6. Special collocations, as Skinny Liz, a thin

girl

or

woman

(see

also

quot. 1940); skinnymalink, -links, -linky (chiefly Sc.), a thin or emaciated person or animal; also attrib. or as adj.; skinny-rib a., of a sweater, etc., fitting tightly across the ribs [the apparent connection with rib stitch is accidental]; also ellipt. as sb. 1940 M. Marples Public School Slang 190 St. Bees .. used wimp (a corruption of women) and the Arabic bint of women in general, while *skinny liz was applied, almost as a nickname, to any elderly woman. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 169 Thin people.. skin and bones, skinny,.. skinny guts, Skinny Liz, skinny-malink. 1961 N. Fitzgerald Black Welcome iv. 95 She takes no interest in .. eatin’. That’s why she’s such a Skinny Liz. 1892 Brechin Advertiser 6 Sept. 3 Twa *skinamalinks o’ the genus horse. 1904 ‘H. Foulis’ Erchie iii. 15 Wee skina-malink craturs dottin’ up the passages in U.F. kirks carryin’ the books. 1916 Dialect Notes IV. 280 Skinny-malink, a very thin person. ‘O, she’s a regular skinny-malink.’ Usage jocular. 1935 S. Beckett Echo's Bones, The chagrin of the old

skinnymalinks. 1956 Sunday Times 22 Jan. 2/5 There used to be a children’s song in Aberdeen relating the adventures of a thin man called ‘Skinamalinky Lang Legs’, which is still sung as a skipping song, etc.: Skinamalinky lang legs Umbrella feet. 1979 L. Derwent Border Bairn vi. 71 A skinnymalink of a laddie with holes in his stockings. 1973 Tucson (Arizona) Daily Citizen 22 Aug. 48/2 (Advt.), Men’s fashionable, *skinny-rib . . acrylic pullover. 1976 Milton Keynes Express 25 June 11/1 (Advt.), Skirts, blouses, and skinny ribs.

B. sb. 1. a. Austral. A girl or woman. ? Obs. b. A thin person. 1941 Baker Diet. Austral. Slang 67 Skinny, a girl or young woman. 1959 [see Skinny Liz, sense A. 6 above]. 1977 Time 6 June 48/2 The skinnies of the world have, in effect, righteously established fitness standards that reward their own strengths and forgive their weaknesses.

2. Information; rumour (see also quot. 1959). slang (chiefly U.S.). 1959 Amer. Speech XXXIV. 156 What's the skinny means ‘What’s up?’ 1974 E. Brawley Rap (1975) 11. xxiii. 363 Come to lay some skinny on you that I picked up off the vine. 1979 D. Anthony Long Hard Cure xxi. 162 Who killed her, Butler? Let’s have the skinny. 1980 L. Cody Dupe xxiii. 165 Give them the skinny but keep the kudos.

'skinny, v. [f. the adj.] intr. To lose flesh; to become skinny or skinnier. Usu. with down. 1939 J- Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath xxii. 423 She thinned out and she skinnied out, an’—she dropped that baby, dead. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 30 June 6-B/3 She joined tops after a neighbor started skinnying down to the system. 1981 TV Picture Life Mar. 61 /1 (Advt.), All the difficult ‘skinnying-down’ has been done for you while you slept.

'skinny-dip, v. slang (orig. U.S.). [f.

skinny a. 3 + dip v. 8.] intr. To swim naked. So as sb., a naked swim; 'skinny-dipper, a person who swims naked; 'skinny-dipping vbl. sb. 1966 Punch 12 Oct. 557/2 Nearly a year has passed since three members of the San Francisco Sexual Freedom League went skinny-dipping in the San Francisco bay. 1967 Wentworth & Flexner Diet. Amer. Slang Suppl. 704/2 Skinny-dip, to swim in the nude. 1970 J. Howard Please Touch 14 Except for a couple of furtive midnight skinnydips I had never taken off my clothes in public. 1971 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 26 May 19/4 It was never resolved if the chickens got over the light problem or the skinny dippers were apprehended by the constable. 1971 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 17 July 1/7 Two young men decided to skinny-dip near Rexburg, Idaho and left their clothes in their sail boat, but the boat sailed out of reach. 1975 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 9 Mar. 30/6 Perth. — Skinnydippers breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when Police Minister Ray O’Connor said .. they could carry on stripping. 1977 Times 11 Apr. 5/7 His guests took skinnydips in baths of champagne. 1980 L. Birnbach et al. Official Preppy Handbk. 190/1 Once every summer, teenagers are caught skinny-dipping after dark. 1981 Times 20 Apr. 4/8 One weekend no less than 36 people were arrested for ‘skinny-dipping’.

t'skinster. Obs. In 3

skinnestere. [f. skin v. +

-ster.] A female skinner. 1270 Close Roll 2 Edw. I, memb. 7d, skinnestere.

skint (skint), a. colloq. [Var.

[Agnes] the

skinned ppl. a. (see

sense 4d).] Penniless, broke. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 260 Skint, to be, hard up. 1935 G. Ingram Cockney Cavalcade vii. 97 Edina [sic] offered him a shilling. ‘That’s all right... I ain’t “skint” yet.’ 1955 G. Freeman Liberty Man in. iv. 158 If he had enough to pay, it would just about leave him skint. 1962 New Statesman 18 May 708/3 All I want is a bike and ten pounds a week in me pocket—there’s one thing I can’t stand and that’s being skint. 1977 S. Milligan in Observer (Colour Suppl.) 6 Nov. 32/2 McGonagall.. journeyed on foot (he was skint) from Dundee to Balmoral. 1981 Times 27 Aug. 17/3 Are the British really as skint as we tend to make out?

skin-tight

('skintait), a. and sb. [skin sb.] A. adj. Fitting tightly to the skin; close-fitting. Also fig.

1885 Pall Mall G. 14 Apr. 4/2 The skin-tight bodice which forbids all graceful, easy movements, a 1891 T. C. Crawford English Life 91 (Cent.), Pink skin-tight breeches met his high patent-leather boots at the knee. 1895 Outing Dec. 202/1 When these boots are on they are skin-tight everywhere. 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist v. 280 They., gave orders to jarvies in highpitched provincial voices which pierced through their skintight accents. 1977 Sounds 9 July 31/1 ‘Cathedral’, ‘Dark Star’, ‘Cold Rain’ and ‘In My Dreams’ are all skintight songs, questioning, but personal and without pretension.

B. sb. pi. Close-fitting nether garments. 1899 Daily News 6 Apr. 7/4, I should have to admit some who go along the Portsmouth road in skin tights.

skintle ('skint(3)l), a. and

sb.

[? f. skintle

v.]

(See quots.) 1889 C. T. Davis Bricks, Tiles, etc. (ed. 2) 135 The straight courses, pillar, hangers, and skintle bricks. Ibid. 136 The ‘skintles’ are the bricks set diagonally in order to tie the over-hangers together.

skintle ('skint(3)l), v. Also scintle. [perh. for squintle, f. SQUINT a.] trans. To separate and reset (half-dried bricks) at angles to each other, so as to complete the drying. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 280/2 When half dry the bricks are separated somewhat (scintled), to allow free access of the air. 1904 A. Griffiths Fifty Yrs. Public Serv. 236 They dried slowly, and were regularly ‘skintled’, or rearranged so that the air might get all round them.

So 'skintling vbl. sb.\ also as adv.

1836 Penny Cycl. V. 408/2 After the bricks are partially dried, another operation takes place, called ‘skintling . 1841 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. IV. 341/1 note. When the bricks have stood a few days, they are reset with a greater space between them, which operation is called scintling. 1889 Science XIII. 335/2 When dry, they [the bricks].. are carried in wheel-barrows and set ‘skintling’, or at angles across each other.

skio: see skeo. skiogram, -graph, etc.: see skiagram, -graph, etc.

skip (skip), sb.' Also 5 skyp(pe, 5-7 skippe (6 szkippe). [f. skip k.1] 1. a. An act of skipping; a slight bound or spring, hop, skip, and jump (see hop sb.2 3). CI440 Promp. Parv. 290/2 Lawnche, or skyppe, saltus. CI450 Mir. Saluac. (Roxb.) 165 The ydicus [sic] made a skippe fro heven to the anone. 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 19 For mirth of May, wyth skippis and wyth hoppis, The birdis sang vpon the tender croppis. 1647 Trapp Marrow Gd. Authors in Comm. Ep. 655 Father Latimer.. suddenly gave a skip in the floor for joy. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., The Address, Nor did I mount them [the steps] with a skip and a couple of strides. 1807-8 Irving Saltnag. (1824) 80 She was a young lady of most voluminous proportions, that quivered at every skip. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped ii. The woman .. turned with a skip, and was gone. fig. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. Pref., Whether by Art’s rude force, or Natures skip I know not. 1667 Pepys Diary 26 Apr., And hath come into his place .. with a great skip over the heads of a great many. 1817 Scott in Lockhart (1837) IV. iii. 84, I.. had hoped.. to have indulged myself with a skip over the Border.

b. =

LEAP

SKIP

616

SKIO

sb.'

3.

1844 II. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 478 Two or three thorough skips are quite sufficient for the purposes of conception,

2. a. An act of passing from one thing or point to another with omission or disregard of what intervenes. 1656 Earl Monm. tr. Boccalini s Advts.fr. Parnass. 1. v. (1674) 8 Not conferring places upon her Nobility by skips and leaps, but by degrees and gradation. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 127 Nor do I imagine that the skips from the one to another will be found very great. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. v. (1856) 36 To avert the disastrous consequences of a twelve hours’ skip in their polar reckonings. 1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect I. 197 It is a long skip between 1789 and 1807.

b. Mus. A passing from one note to another at a greater interval than one degree. 1730 Treat. Harmony 29 It is only in the foresaid Skips that we can make use of Discords upon the accented Part of the Bar. 1869 Ouseley Counterp. Canon & Fugue vii, In three-part counterpoint skips are always to be avoided. 1873 H. C. Banister Music 53 Two successive wide skips in the same direction being generally undesirable.

c. Matter in a book which may be skipped in reading. 1833 Macaulay Ess., Walpole (1897) 275 In his books there are scarcely any of those passages which, in our school days, we used to call skip. 1889 Hannay Capt. Marryat viii. 122 The scenes in which his heroines are on the stage are skip. Amine’s appearances, however, are not skip.

d. Poker. = skip straight s.v. skip v.1

8.

1880 J. Blackbridge Compl. Poker-Player vii. 48 ‘Skips’ consisting of alternate cards in sequence for instance, 3,5,7, 9, Jack. 1905 R. F. Foster Practical Poker 75 A skip is almost twice as difficult to get as any other straight, the exact odds against it being 423 to 1.

e. Radio. The phenomenon of the poor or non-existent reception of signals from a particular station which occurs between points where signals propagated directly from the station become undetectable and points where signals begin again to be received owing to reflection in the upper atmosphere. Also applied to the silent region itself, and to radio signals received from beyond it. 1925 [see skip region, sense 5 below]. 1927 O. F. Brown Elem. Radio-Communicatioii xvi. 203 The existence of the skip is explained by there being insufficient electrons to bring the wave down again until the angle of incidence becomes that corresponding to the 500 range. 1931 Observer 8 Nov. 18/5 Because of ‘skip’ it will hardly ever be audible in this country. 1965 B. Sweet-Escott Baker St. Irregular iv. 114 The ‘skip’ was explained .. as being the heavenward arc made by the path of the waves emitted by the short-wave transmitters. 1976 Perkowski & Stral Joy of CB vii. 68 The FCC purposely limited CB operations to distances under 150 miles to preclude the use of skip. 1976 Sq (N.Y.) Feb. 88/2 When CB skip starts rolling in, he says that’s the time to start tuning 25 to 50 MHz.

f. In automatic data processing, the action of a machine (e.g. a punch) in passing over material not requiring the functioning of the machine; a computer instruction or routine specifying such action. 1946 [see skip bar, sense 5 below]. 1962 Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 91 Machines in current use can perform the function called skip wherein a field in which no punching is required is rapidly passed under the punch knives, which are not active at the time. 1966 H. P. Hartkemeier Data Processing iv. 199/1 All functions of the machine are stopped while a skip is taking place. 1969 P. B. Jourdain Condensed Computer Encycl. 468 An unconditional skip is a computer instruction demanding that the next n instructions be ignored. 1976 Kernigan & Plauger Software Tools iii. 80 Skip produces n blank lines.

3. [prob. short for skip-kennel.] A footman, lackey, or manservant. In later use spec, at

Trinity College, Dublin, a college-servant, a scout. 1698-1700 Ward London Spy vii. Wks. 1706 I. 157 As a Courtiers Footman when he meets his Brother Skip. 1716-20 Lett.fr. Mist's Jrnl. (1722) I . 142, I was surprized to see a Skip transformed so speedily into a Trumpeter. 1732 Dodsley The Footman 91 Then to the hall I guide my steps, Amongst a crowd of brother skips. 1839 Lever H. Lorrequer xiii. Call your own skip .., damn me if I’ll be your skip any longer. 1884 Punch 22 Mar. 141/2 A good man once, now, so his skip informs me,.. smokes six or seven pipes of strong tobacco .. every night.

4. N. Amer. colloq. One who absconds, spec, to avoid paying debts; one who defaults in payment. 1915 J R- Foote Mod. Collection Methods 32 In some lines of business, much, and in some, most of the collection department work is the tracing of skips. A skip is a handy term used to describe a debtor who finds it easy to forget to leave any tracks when he moves his earthly possessions. 1939 Amer. Speech. XIV. 240 Skip, guest who leaves without paying his bill. 1949 Collier's 8 Jan. 27/1 Kleinman’s book of procedures lists exactly 110 ways to trace a skip. 1978 Detroit Free Press 14 Apr. 2C/2 Jean Phelan traces all kinds of hard-to-locate ‘skips’ — the defaulters who have ‘skipped’ out.

5. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 2e) skip distance, region, zone; (sense 2 f) skip bar\ (sense 4) skip-trace, -tracer, -tracing vbl. sb. 1946 Ann. Harvard Computation Laboratory I. 274 Cards may be punched containing a function in the first columns of the cards and a serial number in the last columns of the cards. After the function is punched, a duplicating card and ’•'skip bar control the punch. 1926 Physical Rev. XXVII. 189 Larmor’s theory of refraction due to the electrons of the Kennelly-Heaviside layer does not explain the ‘*skip distances’ for short radio waves. 1977 T. Allbeury Man with President's Mind vii. 75 The radiated strength was fifty kilowatts.. a power of about seventy-five kilometres due east. It would be the skip distance that carried it to Washington, or a relay from London. 1925 Proc. IREXIII. 680 An uncertain region not far from the transmitter has been introduced between 100 and 350 miles during the summer night range and a *skip, or entirely-missed, region, occurs in the winter night ranges between 100-350 miles. 1970 K. Conway Naked Nemesis ii. 18 The last one hadn’t paid me... There wasn’t enough involved for me to start a *skip-trace on him. 1980 J. Gardner Garden of Weapons 11. i. 119 The Yanks think we need it [sc. a safe house] for a skiptrace outfit. They think we’ve lost somebody. 1953 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang (1954) §460/18 *Skip tracer, a tracer of defaulting debtors, i960 P. S. Beagle Fine & Private Place i. 12 You ran away from it [sc. life] nineteen years ago, and it follows you like a skip-tracer. 1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 14 Sept. 3/2 Mr. Lillie testified that he is a skip-tracer who tracks down persons who default on their debts then change addresses, i960 J. Blish Galactic Cluster 124 If he has rebuilt., the Universe to accommodate a private *skiptracing firm . . I .. see no reason why we can’t countercheck him. 1977 B. Garfield Recoil xi. 134 This is . . better than repossessing cars and skip-tracing. 1926 Physical Rev. XXVII. 192 The *skip zone was not very sharply defined. 1946 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 27 Jan. 1. 16/6 The skip zone is one of the knottiest problems of present-day radio communications. skip, sb.2 Also skipp. [var. of skep sb. (q.v. for skip in other senses).] In mining or quarrying, a bucket, box, basket, cage, or wagon, in which materials or men are drawn up or let down. Also gen., a large container for the reception and conveyance of materials or rubbish. 1815 Ann. Reg., Chron. 86 Some colliers were descending into a coal pit,.. five in one skip and four in the other. 1841 in Hartshorne Salop. Ant. Gloss. 1884 Building News 15 Aug. 283/3 The mortar and other rubbish was also lowered in skips. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Diet. 775/2 Skip,.. a bucket used for the transport of spoil or materials and hung for this purpose from a crane or cableway. 1950 Landfall (N.Z.) IV. 125 We start loading seasoned timber into one of the skips. 1972 Daily Tel. 17 Jan. 3/3 Householders who leave builders’ skips —large containers which can be hired to take away rubble —at the kerbside for collection by a special vehicle face fines of up to £ 100 under a law coming into force today. 1978 Cornish Guardian 27 Apr. 8/8 There will be a skip placed at the Town Hall, St. Columb and at the entrance to Halloon Avenue, St. Columb Road, on Friday, 28th. April, and at the Town Hall and Public Conveniences, Indian Queens on Friday, 12th. May, 1978 for Bulk Household refuse collections. attrib. 1875 J. H. Collins Met. Mining 75 A plan of a shaft with double skip-road adapted for wheels. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2196/2 Skip-shaft (Mining), one boxed off by itself for the skip to ascend and descend in. 1951 J. Clemo in D. V. Baker One & All 260 He had worked as a loader in a clay-pit near Pengarth, and one winter’s day he had been crushed by a skip-waggon. 1972 Conyus in A. Chapman New Black Voices 219 Shoveling straw Into the mouth of the skip loader. 1976 Star (Sheffield) 29 Nov. 12/5 (Advt.), Sale, TK skip lorry. 12 months’ test.

.3 Orig. Sc. [abbrev. of skipper s(l2] The director or captain of a curling or bowling team or side. Also gen., a captain, a commanding officer, a manager, a boss. skip, sb

1830 Memorab. Curl. Maben. 29 The other skips having arranged among themselves, the boards were selected [etc.]. 1862 Chambers's Encycl. III. 368/1 Sides are made up, usually consisting of four against four, with a director styled skip for each. 1881 Sat. Rev. No. 1318. 138 A great moorland farmer having to figure as skip on the one side. 1921 Amer. Legioji Weekly 28 Jan. 7 The skip wanted to investigate. 1930 T. Fredenburgh Soldiers March! xxv. 201 Better get into a wagon somewhere, .in case the Skip starts prowling. 1948 M. Allingham More Work for Undertaker xiii. 163 I’ve been chinning with the old Skip and he says Bang on, jolly good show. 1955 Times 15 Aug. 8/5 In rink games the ‘skip’, or captain, of each side stands

near the jack to direct his men by voice or signal where their next shot should arrive. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 35/5 In addition to winning several minor bonspiels, the Thornhill skip is in the last 16 for the Ontario Curling Association Championship. 1970 Wall St. Jrnl. 8 July 18/6 If you’re ever called up to play baseball in the big leagues, be sure to call the manager ‘Skip’. Managers like40 be called Skip. 1973 D. Kyle Raft of Swords (1974) viii. 81 On the flight deck..the young navigator said, ‘I don’t really understand what we’re looking for, skip.’ ‘Just Russian warships.’ 1977 N.Z. Herald 8 Jan. 1-10/3 Who are Arthur Connew’s great heroes in all those many years and thousands of ends of bowling? J. S. Martin in the singles and Jimmy Mingins and Mort Squire as skips. 1977 S. Wales Guardian 27 Oct. 4/5 Skip Mr. Cliff Davies invested new members to the scout troop.

skip, sb.4 [f.

skip v2] (See quots.) 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Skip, in sugar-making in the West Indies, a charge or strike of syrup from the coppers. 1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iv. 163/2 The difficulty is determining the exact moment when the boiling of the ‘sling’ in the striking-teach must cease, i.e. when to make a ‘skip’.

fskip, sb.5 Obs.~° (See quot.) 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 260/2 Goat skins are reckoned by the skip, which is 50 Skins.

skip, sb.6 Abbrev.

of schipperke. 1895 Our Dogs I. 128/2 The best class of Skips ever seen in England.

skip (skip), sb.7 orig. Sc. [Origin obscure.] The peak of a cap. 1888 A. G. Murdoch Scotch Readings (Ser. 2) 29 Ye’re surely no ettlin’ to put on that ugly twa-faced kep .. wi’ the skip baith back an’ fore? 1969 M. Pugh Last Place Left ii. 11 He adjusted his American fatigue cap so that the skip almost covered his eyes. 1974 H. MacInnes Climb to Lost World xi. 207 ‘Hiya, Jo. Did you make it?’ asked Don, peering up from beneath his cap skip.

skip, v.'

Forms: 4-6 skippe (4 schippe), 4-7 skyppe (5 sekyppe), 6 skype; 4- skip (4 schip, ?scep, 4-6 scip), 5 skyp(p, 6-7 skipp. [app. related to MSw. skuppa, skoppa in the same sense (cf. also SCOPE v.'), but the history of the vowel is not clear.] 1. intr. 1. a. To raise oneself off the ground by a light and graceful movement; to spring or leap lightly and easily, spec, in the exercise of skipping with a rope. are-with ay cry and skryke. c 1340 Nominate (Skeat) 744 Senge braie, Ape scrikith. c 1380 Sir Ferumbr. 1609 Loude pay cryede & skry3te an hye: ‘Mahoun wat is py red?’ c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1671 He woke w( J?at & sciykede for fere, c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 129 (Douce MS.) \>e birdes in pe bowes, J?at one he goost glowes, pei skryke [Ireland scryken] in pe skowes. ^1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 232 For all if she stryke, yit fast will she skryke. 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 98 Hee is such a sneaking fellowe, that., touch him and he will scrike. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. iv. 18 The litle babe did loudly scrike and squall. a 1600 Flodden Field i. (1664) 8 Their names make., children skrike.

2. To weep, cry. 1905 Eng. Dial. Diet. V. s.v., Hoo skrite’t so when hur mother deed I thow’t hoo’d ne’er ha done. Ibid., I can tell by yur een as yo’n bin skrikin’. 1977 P. Carter Under Goliath xxvi. 142, I stood there .. skriking my eyes out like a mammy’s boy... I really cried my eyes out in the loft. 1978 Lancashire Life Apr. 42/3 Second un poor little soul Did nuthin’ else but skrike.

Hence skriking vbl. sb. and ppl. a.\ skriker, one who skrikes. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7352 hare salle be swilk rareyng and ruschyng .. And skrykyng of synfulle. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10182 The skrew for pe skrykyng & skremyng of folke, Redoundet with dyn drede for to here, c 1440 Promp. Parv. 450/2 Scrykynge, of chyldyr, vagitus. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 11. 112 Notwithstanding his pitifull lamentation and skrikings. 1631 R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. (1640) 241 They shall never more be heard, though with much violence they throw their scrikings into the Aire. 1632 Lithgow Trav. IX. 401 A scriking noyse, as if it had beene the chirking of Frogs. 1891 Atkinson Last of Giant-Killers 149 Others used to call it the ‘Scriker’ because of the awful scrikes (shrieks) it uttered. 1937 J. R. R. Tolkien Hobbit iv. 76 The yells and yammering, croaking, jibbering and jabbering; howls, growls and curses; shrieking and skriking, that followed were beyond description. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 186 In the area of Blackburn, Bolton, Manchester, Stockport, and Halifax the term ‘skriking’ [sc. for ‘crying’] is common, the noun being ‘skriker’.

skrim, v. Sc. In 5-6 scrym, skrym. [ad. OF. scrimir, var. of escremir, eskermir, etc.: see skirmish v.] intr. To skirmish; to dart. Hence 'skrimming vbl. sb. For possible traces of the vb. in modern Sc. see Jamieson’s Diet., s.v. Scrim and Skrim.

SKRINE *375 Barbour Bruce xix. 521 Thar wes ilk day Iustyng of wer, And scrymmyng maid full apertly. C1450 Holland Howlat 67 Sum skripe me with scorne, sum skrym at myn E. r5*3_ Douglas TEtieid xii, v. 68 Ane gret flycht or ost Of fowlis .. Quhilk on thar wyngis .. Skrymmys heir and thar. *535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 610 Ane lang quhile thair he la, With greit scrymmyng and carmusche euerie da.

skrine, obs. form of screen sb.1 skua ('skjuia). Ornith. [Adopted by Hoier (C1604) from the Faeroese skugvur (earlier *skuvur), = ON. skufr (in mod.Icel. skumur), of uncertain origin.] A predatory gull belonging to the genus Stercorarius, esp. the largest European species, 5. catarrhactes, which breeds in Shetland, the Faeroes, and Iceland. 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 349 Hapning to read over the description of Hoier’s Skua .. I find it exactly agrees with ours, so that I do not at all doubt but this Bird is the Skua of Hoier. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 417 They hold a knife erect over their heads, on which the Skua will transfix itself. 1777 Forster Voy. round World I. 109 We saw a bird .. which proved to be the skua or great northern gull. 1826 Stephens in Shaw Gen. Zool. XIII. 1. 214 The Skuas are more partial to fish.. than the Jagers. Ibid. 216 Pomarine Skua. 1896 ]. Skelton Summers & W. Balmawhapple I. 216 The tarrock skims lightly along, and screams as the skua comes prowling round the cape. 1 b. attrib. in skua-gull. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) II. 447 headline. Skua Gull. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 370 Solan geese, skua-gulls and land birds on the wing. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 26 A sort of false cere occurs in some water birds, as the jaegers, or skua-gulls.

skuddiller, variant of scudler, scullion, skue, obs. form of skew a. fskue, v. Obs.~° (See quot.) 1611 Cotgr., Raser les eaux, to skimme ouer, to skue [? read skud] or sayle vpon, the water.

fskuett. Obs.-' [app. related to skewer sb. Cf. SCUET.] (See quot.) 1728 E. S mith Compleat Housewife (ed. 2) 35 To make Skuetts. Take fine, long, and slender Skewers; then cut Veal Sweet-breads into pieces, like Dice, and some fine Bacon into thin square bits;.. and then spit them on the Skewers [etc.].

skugry, obs. Sc. form of scuggery. skul, obs. form of scull, skull sb.1 skulduggery, orig. U.S. Also 9 scullduggery; skullduggery. [altered f. SCULDUDDERY.] Underhand dealing, roguish intrigue or machination, trickery. 1867 A. D. Richardson Beyond Mississippi xi. 134 From Minnesota had been imported the mysterious term ‘scull¬ duggery’, used to signify political or other trickery. 1890 N. Q. Ser. vii. X. 224/1 Some two or three years ago one of the Newr York papers .. announced that a missionary on the Congo intended to return to America and blow up the whole scullduggery; meaning, apparently, to expose the false pretences on which money had been collected for the mission. 1892 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 7 Nov. 7/4 Unfounded Charges of Skulduggery. 1893 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 22 Dec., The United States Courts.. are now very busy affixing the penalties for violations of the national banking laws and for general skulduggery in the management of the institutions. 1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights ix. 239 It began to look to me like Hen was up to some skulduggery. 1929 M. A. Gill Underworld Slang 11/1 Skull duggery, dirty work. 1936 H. Hagedorn Brookings iii. 49 America at.. its worst in financiering, political machination and the skullduggery of the stock market. 1949 J. Steinbeck Russian Jrnl. ix. 215 The political skulduggery of the Kremlin. 1957 A. Grimble Return to Islands vii. 130 Disgraceful stories of all the skulduggeries he had got away with by suborning government officials. 1962 D. Francis Dead Cert ix. 108 The skulduggery that goes on in respectable little old Brighton. 1980 Times 3 Jan. 10/2 Watergate was such a sensational piece of skulduggery.

Hence [as back-formation] 'skuldug v. trans., to extract by trickery, nonce-wd. 1936 W. Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! vi. 178 This Faustus who .. skuldugged a hundred miles of land out of a poor ignorant Indian.

skulk (skAlk), sb. Also 4-5 sculke, 6 scoulke, sculck; 5 skulke. [f. the vb.] 1. One who skulks or hides himself; a shirker. CI320 Langtoft Chron. (Rolls) II. 248 The roghe raggy sculke Rug ham in helle! 1838 Knickerbocker XI. 448 Spotswood had told the middie that Tudor was a great ‘skulk1, and would probably be reluctant to turn out. 1847 H. Melville Omoo iv, ‘Where’s that skulk, Chips?’ shouted Jermin down the forecastle scuttle. 1894 Blackmore Perlycross 107 You are an honest fellow, Jemmy, whatever skulks and sneaks may say.

f2. A number, company, or gathering (of persons or animals given to skulking). Obs. Chiefly in echoes of a list of ‘proper terms’, and having at no time much real currency. c 1450 in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1909) 25 A Skolke of freris. A Skolke of thewys. A Skolke of foxys. i486 Bk. St. Albans fvj b, A Skulke of Theuys [etc.]. 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 90 Ony persone or persones.. that make ony sculke or be a receyuer or a gederar of euyl company. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 502/1 He shall doe [miracles] in hys catholike church, and suffereth none to be done among all the scoulkes of heretykes. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis, etc. (Arb.) 138 An armoure.. wheare scaals be ful horriblye clincked Of scrawling serpents,, with sculcks of poysoned adders. 2594 O. B. Quest. Profit. Concern. 10

SKULKING

629

Notwithstanding all this, there remained a sculke of such, as neither care nor castigation could amend. [1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Sculk, (among Hunters) a Company, as A Skulk of Foxes. 1801 Strutt Sports & P. 1. i. 17. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. (1821) II. 50 We say a flight of doves.., a skulk of foxes. 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 380 A cloud of foxes .. (the term, an old book told me years ago, should be a sculk of foxes).]

3. An act of skulking. 1858 Wraxall Wild Oats xxv, [He] preferred being locked in till twelve, ‘doing a skulk’, as he elegantly termed it.

skulk (skAlk), v. Forms: a. 3 sculkin, 4 sculke, 4sculk, 7 sculck. ft. 4 skulc, 4- skulk, 4, 7 skulke. y. 3 scolk-, 5 Sc. scowk-, 6 scowlke, scoulk, 7 scouke, skowke. [app. of Scand. origin: cf. Norw. skulka to lurk, lie watching, Da. skulke, Sw. skolka to shirk, play truant.] There is app. a remarkable lack of evidence for the currency of the word in the 15th and 16th centuries, compared with its frequency in earlier and later use.

1. intr.

To move in a stealthy or sneaking fashion, so as to escape notice. Usually with advs. and preps., as about, away, into, etc. fAlso reft. a. a 1225 Ancr. R. 400 Nis non pet muwe etlutien [v.r. auuey sculkin] pet heo ne mot him luuien. a 1300 Cursor M. 13741 Ne wist hai neuer quat to sai; Bot ilkan sculked paim awai. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1788 Alle thyng it brestes in sonder, Als it sculkes by diverse ways. 1642-4 J. Vicars God in Mount (1844) 149 Lord Paulet.. took his way toward Myneard, and so to sculk over into Wales. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 24 He was .. forced to .. creep and sculk into every place for fear of being taken and hanged. 1773 Johnson in Boswell (1831) II. 484 It is a poor thing for a fellow to get drunk at night, and sculk to bed. r 1825 Mrs. Sherwood Houlston Tracts II. No. 32. 6 The three servants sculked by her to get out of the room. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 525 Plotters and libellers by profession,. .who were forced to sculk in disguise through back streets. /3. 01300 E.E Psalter cxviii. 158, I sagh wemmand and skulked awai. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 93 Awey he skulketh as an hare. C1400 Sowdone Bab. 2651 Take withe the .iij. hundred knightes.. Leste pat lurdeynes come skulkynge oute. 1419 26 Pol. Poems 69 pe glosers skulked away, for shame of here sooles. 1677 W. Hubbard Narrative (1865) I. 209 The Enemy.. killing a Man at Weymouth, another at Hingham, as they lay skulking up and down in Swamps and Holes, c 1720 Prior True's Epitaph 19 He.. Ne’er skulk’d from whence his sovereign led him. 1804 Naval Chron. XII. 338 The enemy .. skulking out of Toulon for a mile or two, and then .. skulking into port again. 1850 D. G. Mitchell Reveries Bachelor 245, I went up at night, and skulked around the buildings. 1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect II. 382 The peasant, when drunk, skulks to his home from the public-house through by-ways.

b. transf. and fig. 1665 Hooke Microgr. liv. 211 Some mischief that makes it [a louse] oftentime sculk into some meaner and lower place, and run behind a mans back, a 1694 Tillotson Serm. clii. (1748) VIII. 369 As if things.. did break forth into being and sculk again into nothing.. ‘at the beck of his will’. 1800 Coleridge Piccolom. 1. iii, Beware you do not think That I by lying arts.. have skulk’d into his graces. 1865 Ruskin Sesame i. § 16 There are masked words droning and skulking about us in Europe just now.

2. To hide or conceal oneself, to keep out of sight, to avoid observation, esp. with some sinister motive or in fear of being discovered; to lurk. a. a 1300 E.E. Psalter cxi. 9 Sinful sal se,.. And sal sculke to be awai. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15887 A1 pat ilke day he sculked; Among pe pouere men he hulked. 1484 in Litt. Cantuar. (Rolls) III. 311 Sculkynge in wodys be day and lyinge a wayte to robbe the Kynges lyege people. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 217 A Leopard that sculkt in the aforesaid thicket. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T.i. 15 Man is a yong Lyon,.. lurking and sculking to doe mischiefe. 1736 Fielding Pasquin v, The fox, Wise beast, who knows the treachery of men, Flies their society, and sculks in woods. 1806 H. Siddons Maid, Wife, & W. I. 108, I.. must sculk, a dishonourable, an abandoned fugitive. 1894 Gladstone Horace iii. xii. 22 Sculking where the woods are thick. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xxxviii. 15 To skulke als irain Jjou made saule his. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8287 Hengist byforn had don hem skulke In wodes, in hilles, to crepe in hulke. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 129 Our Ianizaries discharged their harquebuses, lest some should haue skulkt within. 1709 Dampier Voy. III. 11. 165 She [a boat] seeing us coming that way,.. skulked behind a point a while. 1834 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 42 They told me that they had seen two sailors skulking behind the piles of timber. 1884 Gilmour Mongols 265 Most Mongols would prefer to endure two or three years’ imprisonment, to being compelled to skulk for life. transf. 1664 H. Power Exp. Philos. 11. 117 The spontaneous Dilatation.. of that little remnant of Ayr skulking in the rugosities thereof, c 1750 Shenstone Ruin d Abbey 293 The bigot pow’r Amidst her native darkness skulk’d secure. 1838 Dickens Nickleby xix, A smile, which seemed to skulk under his face. y. 1530 Palsgr. 699/2 A daye tale he scoulketh in corners and a nyghtes he gothe a thevyng. 1533 More Debell. Salem Wks. 994/2 Heretikes.. wont but to crepe together in corners, and secretly scoulk together in lurkes lanes. 1611 Cotgr., Blotir, to squat, skowke, or ly close to the ground. 1659 Torriano Eng.-Ital. Diet., To scouke, nascondersi.

b. To hide, to withdraw or shelter oneself, in a cowardly manner. Freq. with behind. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. xm. 256 Reuoke the foe, thy wounds, and vsuall feare; Behind my target sculk. 1681 Dryden Span. Friar iv. ii, Should a common Soldier sculk behind, And thrust his General in the Front of War. 1781 Cowper Conversation 375 But counterfeit is blind, and skulks through fear, Where ’tis a shame to be asham’d t’appear. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge li, They shall not find

us skulking and hiding, as if we feared to take our portion of the light of day. 1877 W. Black Green Past, xi, I ’ll fight any one of you—ah! skulk behind the women, do! transf. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 207 He stood at bold Defiance with his Prince;.. and sculk’d behind the Laws. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 122 Every rancorous knave.. may skulk behind the press of a newsmonger.. without running the least hazard of detection or punishment. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xxvii, But my love did not long remain skulking thus behind the hedge of honour.

c. To shirk duty; spec, to malinger. 1781 Cowper Table-T. 312 Let magistrates alert perform their parts, Not skulk or put on a prudential mask. 1826 Hutchison Pract. Obs. Surg. 191 The sick list having been . . delivered in to the captain, with a particular mark against the name of every man either sculking or suspected of sculking. 1843 H. Gavin Feigned Diseases 23 Marines.., much more than sailors, are found frequently skulking, owing to the severity of their exercise. 1887 Besant The World Went iv, [He] is not one who will skulk, or suffer his crew to skulk.

3. trans. a. To shun, keep away from, avoid, in a skulking manner. c 1620 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 8 I’le skulk the place where God hath sent me to. 1835 Tait's Mag. II. 377 What school-boy would dare to skulk a fight? 1847 Fraser's Mag. XXXVI. 561 Southey, in his wonted mode, skulks the affair of the Bay of Naples.

b. ‘To produce or bring forward clandestinely or improperly.’ 1846 Worcester, citing Eclectic Rev.

skulker ('skAlk^r)). Also 4, 6 sculker(e, 4 scolker, 5 sculcare, Sc. scoukar. [f. prec. T -er1. Cf. MSw. skulkare, Norw. skulkar.] 1. One who skulks, in various senses. fAlso as a name for the hare. 13.. Names of Hare in MS. Digby 168 b, pe wint-swifft, pe sculkere, pe hare-serd, pe heg roukere. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 491 He hap wi)? hym flemed men and scolkers aboute. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3119 Than skyftes )?es skouerours,.. Diskoueres for skulkers that they no skathe lymppene. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 180 Skour weyll about for scoukaris in the se. c 1530 Pore Helpe 384 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 266 A man that wyl not vary, And one that is no sculker. 1728 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 401 The numbers that are for laying him aside.., too often hedgers and skulkers. 1800 Coleridge Wallenstein 1. vii, Did we confine thee not to let that skulker .. pass the gates of Pilsen! 1841 C. Mackay Pop. Delusions II. 30 He.. was now a solitary skulker in the forests. 1870 Dickens E. Drood xv, It’s good advice, whichever of you skulkers gave it.

b. spec. (See quot. 1785.) 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Skulker, a soldier who by feigned sickness or other pretences evades his duty, a sailor who keeps below in time of danger [etc.]. 1826 Hutchison Pract. Obs. Surg. 191 The plan I adopted, when serving afloat, to lessen the sick list of sculkers, as they are technically termed in the navy. 1887 Spectator 9 July 932/1 Serjeant Lawrence, .was particularly hard on skulkers.

2. A moth, Graphiphora latens. 1832 Rennie Butterfl. Moths 54 The Sculker.. appears in summer. Rare. South of Scotland.

3. Ornith. (See quots.) 1867 H. Spencer Princ. Biol. vi. viii. §349 ‘Skulkers’ is the descriptive title applied to the Water-Rail, the Corn-Crake, and their allies, which evade enemies by concealment. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 241 Their shy retiring habit of skulking among the rushes has caused them to be sometimes called Latitores (skulkers).

f 'skulkery. Obs. Also 5 sculkery, scolcurye, skolkerye, skoulkery. [f. skulk v. + -ery.] The practice of skulking. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 7602, I may not longe it suffry Off that Achilles with his sculkery. Ibid. 8360. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1644 For na skomfitoure in skoulkery is skomfite euer.

skulking ('skAllui)), vbl. sb. [f. skulk v. + -ING1.] The action of the verb, in various senses. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5130 Bote hii J?us mid scolkinge vpe pe englisse wende. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 3 pei went tille Snawdone..To purueie pam a skulkyng, on pe Englis eft to ride. 1375 Barbour Bruce vii. 130 Thai var fayis to the kyng, And thoucht to cum in-to scowkyng [v.r. sculking], And duell with hym. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 451/1 Sculkynge, cleptura. 1611 Cotgr., Tapissement,.. a crooching, skowking, or ducking downe. 1659 Hammond On Ps. lxxxviii. 18 The lying hid, and sculking of friends. 1751 J. Brown Shaftesb. Charac. 9 These hussars.. by sudden evolutions and timely skulking, can do great mischiefs. 1805 Med. Jrnl. XIV. 415 Intemperance and skulking were never so little practised in any fleet as in this. 1867 F. Francis Angling ix. (1880) 333 The artifices of salmon are multifarious... ‘Skulking’ is a common one.

b. attrib., as skulking hole, place. 1:535 Coverdale i Macc. ix. 40 Then lonathas and they that were with him, rose out of their skoukinge places agaynst them. 1655 Gurnall Chr. in Arm. xiv. (1669) 301/i The Quakers.. have their skulking hole to which they run from the Scripture. 1831 Scott Ct. Robt. ii, The lightfooted Grecian.. dodged his pursuer from one skulking place to another.

'skulking, ppl. a. [f. as prec. + -ing2.] 1. That skulks or hides; sneaking, lurking. 1619 Fletcher False One 1. i, I bought it Of a skulking Scribler for two Ptolomies. 1639 Lismore Papers Ser. 11. (1888) IV. 37 The malignitie of some Skulkinge enviers of my preferment. 1728 Morgan Hist. Algiers II. v. 320 What have we to do with the History of a Crew of starving, beggarly, skulking Pyrates? 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 571 The Moravians.. are apprehensive of a visit from some of their skulking parties. 1803 Naval Chron. X. 82 The skulking French row-boats.. make sure work of taking prizes. 1828 L. M. Hawkins Annaline I. 171 You gave that

skulking rascal.. money when you spoke to him. 1878 Bosw. Smith Carthage 208 A few skulking marauders. fig. 1654 H. L’Estrange Chas. I (1655) no An old skulking statute long since out of use.

2. Characterized by skulking. 1658 W. Burton I tin. Antoninus 39 Such as by stealth, and in a skulking way, did what they did. 1674 Marvell Reh. Transpt-11. 38 That anonymous and sculking method both of Writing and Licensing. 1742 Young Nt. Th. vm. 487 But thy Great Soul this skulking glory scorns. 1826 Scott Woodst. xx, That skulking and rambling mode of life. Hence 'skulkingly

adv.

1847 in Webster. 1878 C. J. Vaughan Earnest Words for E. Men 118 The good thing [presented itself] timidly, skulkingly.

sb.1

skull (skAl),

Forms:

a. 3-5 scolle, 4-5 scol,

scoll, 5 scole; 5 skolle, 5-6 skoll, 6 skol.

)3. 3> 5

schulle, 4-7 sculle (6 scoulle, 7 scoule), 6-7 scul, 6-9 scull,

y. 4-6 skulle, 6-7 skul, 5- skull.

[Of

obscure origin: first prominent in south-western texts

of the

13-14th

centuries,

usually in

the

form scolle. A foreign origin is indicated by the initial sc-, sk-, but the locality of the early examples is against connexion with ON. skoltr (Norw. skolt, skult, Sw. skult, dial, skulle) skull, poll, or with Norw. dial, skul, skol shell (of nuts or eggs). There is correspondence of form with Du. schol, MLG. schulle, MHG. (and G.) scholle (OHG. scolla, scollo) earthy crust, turf, piece of ice (cf. also Sw. skolla metal plate), but there is no evidence that these were ever used in the sense of ‘skull’. The same difficulty applies to OF. escuelle, escule dish, nor would this readily have assumed the early form scolle.]

1. a. The bony case or frame containing or enclosing the brain of man or other vertebrate animals;

the

cranium;

also,

the

whole

bony

framework or skeleton of the head.

a. CI290 *S. Eng. Leg. I. 168 Robert de brok.. poru3 pe scolle smot is swerd. c 1330 King of Tars 521 Summe pleyed of the heved, And summe heore scolles icleved. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 115 Golgotha is to menynge a baar scolle. For whan .. mysdoeres were J?ere byheded, pe hedes were i-left J?ere. C1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 216 Watir pax is gaderid in children hedis, ouper it is wipinne pe scolle or wipoute l>e scolle. c 1450 Two Cookery-bks. 79 Take a plouer, and breke his skoll, and pull him dry. 1506 Kal. Sheph. (Sommer) 102 In the skol ben two bones which ben called parietalles that holdeth the brayne close and stedfast. 0. a 1225 Ancr. R. 296 Ne 3if him neuer in3ong auh tep him oSe schulle, uor he is eruh ase beore peron. c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 8 Greue, fountayne, et haterel, Sched, molde, and sculle. 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings ix. 35 Thei founden not, no bot the scul, and the feet, and gobitis of the hond. .r. slake] be sett penance, c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Verse) 2343 3it sail bai not barn-self it [sc. their task] slake, Bot suffer it for godes sake. 01425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 49 pe 3 day, forsob, remeuyng be emplatstre, be bolnyng in party was slaked. 1530 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture 618 in Babees Bk., If that thou spent past thy degree, thy stock thou soone shalt slake. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 749 Taken in the same maner they slake the bellyes of suche as have the dropsie. 1612 Woodall Surgeon's Mate Wks. (1653) 80 Wheat bran., doth slake and swage the hard swellings. 8. To render less acute or painful; to abate,

mitigate, or assuage. Now rare. a 1300 Cursor M. 9641 pat sua bou wald his sorus slak, pat he moght dom be-for pe tak. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 11 He fonde up also halsynge coniuresouns for to slake wib siknesse. 0 1400 Stockholm Med. MS. i. 84 in Anglia XVIII. 297 f>is drinke xal.. slakyn be terys euerychon. c 1440 Alph. Tales 212 His brethir boght pai wuld somwhat slake his truble. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xxvii. (Percy) 120 Dame Venus, .all thy payne may sone redresse and slake.

•v

SLAKE 1578 Lyte Dodoens 317 The roote.. slaketh the gryping paynes of the belly. 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin 11. 57 Hope of Lawful gain might slake my Anguish. 1821 Shelley Adonais 192 Wake thou,.. and slake.. A wound more fierce than his, with tears and sighs.

t b. To relieve (one) from or of sorrow, etc.; to comfort. Obs. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xciii. 13 hat pou slake him fra daies ille. c 1330 King of Tars 733 That ilke lord ful of miht. Of serwe he may me slake, c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxix. (Cosme & D.) 254 Prayand J?ame for goddis sake hyme of his sorou for to slake. 14.. Sir Beues 711 So him solaste \v.r. slaked] )?at mai, pat al is care wente awai. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xxiii. 28 Thow knawis thy self gif he was diligent To get thy peax, and slaik the of that weir, a 1585 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 230, I want wares And salues, to slake thee of thy saires.

|9. To make less vehement, violent, or intense; to diminish the force or fury of. Obs. 01300 E.E. Psalter lxxxviii. 10 Stiringe of his stremes slakes pou. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 746 And eek the pope, rancour for to slake, Consenteth it. C1470 Henry Wallace vii. 672 He thocht to slaik Makfad3anys hie curage. 15 .. in Q. Eliz. Acad., etc. 45 J?at schall sclake hym of hys mode. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 501 Who of his great goodnesse. . vouchsafed a little to slake the tempest. 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. 1. 453 She often makes Our peace , with God, and his displeasure slakes. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. vii. 126 The just chastisements of their offended Consciences being slaked.

b. To allow to diminish in vehemence or vigour; to moderate (one's anger, etc.). Now rare. a 1300 Cursor M. 18357 J?°u pat t>i wreth sua suetli slakes, And fra pi folk pair sinnes takes. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 96 Hire oghte of mercy forto slake Hire daunger. a 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) 1. xxxviii. (1859) 42 To this she hath goodly agreed hyr selue, slakyng hyr ryghtwys rygour. 1591 Lyly Endym. 1. ii, He shall slake that loue which he now voweth to Cynthia. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 356 The Quene for her humanitie and gentlenes, slaiket her seueritie. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. Apol. 558 If there be any that would slake their zeal in this point. 1887 Morris Odyss. 1. 73 But Poseidon Girdler of Earth his anger will not slake.

10. To appease, allay, or satisfy (desire, thirst, •(hunger). Said either of the person or of the means. (a) C1325 Metr. Horn. 80 He umthoght him.. How he might this ilk nonne fange To slake his lust that was so strange. 1538 Bale God1 s Promises 1, Plages of coreccyon Most grevouse and sharpe, hys wanton lustes to slake. 1594 Shaks. Lucrece 425 His rage of lust by gazing qualified; Slakt, not supprest. 1608 Hieron Wks. I. 722 Crucifie my lustes,.. slake and quench in me this vnlawfull heate. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam iv. iv, In life and truth, Might not my heart its cravings ever slake? 1839-52 Bailey Festus 188 Each, apart, too soon will tire; Altogether slake desire. 1894 S. Weyman Lady Rotha iv, All who could not get into the house to slake their curiosity or anger. (b) c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. in. pr. ii. (1868) 71 Ryche men han y-nou3 wher wi)? pei may staunchen her hunger, and slaken her prest. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xvm. 366 May no drynke me moiste ne my thruste slake. 1615 Chapman Odyss. XI. 796 Tormented Tantalus.. could not slake His burning thirst. 1713 Addison Cato 1. iv, Amidst the running stream he slakes his thirst. 1784 Cowper Task 11. 509 A crystal draught Pure from the lees, which often more enhanc’d The thirst than slak’d it. 1869 Phillips Vesuv. viii. 213 Here wild boars and deer slake their thirst in small lakes. 1876 Gladstone Homeric Synchr. 28 Fine springs .. slaked the thirst of the Explorer’s workmen during the excavations. (c) c 1385 Chaucer L.G. W. 2006 Ariadne, In to the bestis throte he shal hem [i.e. balls] caste To slake his hungir. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1820 par with pair hungyr forto slake. 1568 Jacob & Esau II. ii, Give me somewhat, wherwith to slake mine honger. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 52 They slaked had the feruent heat Of appetite with meates of euery sort. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 492 Men may.. eat to slake hunger and content nature.

11. To quench or extinguish (fire); to cause to burn less strongly. Also in fig. contexts. c 1566 Merie Tales of Skelton in S.’s Wks. (1843) I. p. lxvii. The fire being quickly slaked, Skelton cam in with his frendes. 1611 Bible 2 Esdr. v. 8 The fire shalbe oft.. [marg. slaked] againe. 1657 J. Watts Vind. Ch. Eng. 125, I hope I have slaked your flame, and stopt your mouth with a.. better ordinance, a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose s.v., To slake a fire is to put on small coals, that it may not burn too fast. 1842 Lover Handy Andy xxvi, ‘Only for two days,’ said Charlotte, trying to slake the flame she had raised. 1868 Milman St. Paul's vii. 144 By mitigating.. the pains of inevitable Purgatory, slaking the penal fires [etc.].

12. To cool or refresh by means of water or other fluid. Also^ig. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 311 He boorded soo for kyng William hadde i-slaked his greet wombe w\p a drynke pat he hadde i-dronke. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters Aij, Sorell water.. slaketh all hote thynges bothe within the body and without. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. 1. i, Ere Sol had .. slakte his smoaking charriot in her floud. 1749 Smollett Regicide 11. vii, In the blood that warms Thine heart, perfidious, I will slake mine ire! 1822 Lamb Elia u. Conf. Drunkard, When a draught from the next clear spring could slake any heats which summer suns. . had power to stir up in the blood. 1850 Whittier All's Well, The clouds, which rise with thunder, slake Our thirsty souls with rain. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. (1894) x. 235, I reached a little patch of snow, and managed to slake my parched lips. refl. 1873 Dixon Two Queens XXI. v. IV. 152 The great passion of the age began to slake itself with blood.

b. To moisten, wet, soak. (Cf. 6d.) 1810 Scott Lady of L. 11. xiv, A mass of ashes slaked with blood. 1820 - Monast. xxxv, Oatmeal slaked with cold water. 1824 L. M. Hawkins Apnaline III. 35 The rebels retraced their steps, leaving this fertile province slaked in blood and ashes.

647

SLAM

fl3. To render less active or vigorous. Obs. 1549 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Phil. II. 9 Howbeit your good wil was not slaked,.. yet you wanted oportunitie to sende the thinges. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 121 James Earle of Douglas .. past fordwart with displayit banner to slaike the kingis airmie lyand at the seige of Abercorne. 1608 Shaks. Per. in. Prol. 1 Now sleep yslaked hath the rout. fb. To remit or slacken (exertion, etc.). Obs. 1586 Drake in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. II. 304 We then slaked no possyble travel or dyllygence. 1594 R. Carew Tasso (1881) 22 Vnto some Frigate light get thee aboord, And towards Greekish soyle no sayling slake.

f 14. a. To put off, delay. Obs.~] 1544 St. Papers Hen. VIII, X. 48 It seamith that the Bushop slakith the sending of the Cardinals to thEmperour.

fb. To neglect, allow to pass. Obs. 1560 Frampton Narr. in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) I. 230 They asked me, Why I did so slake the time, and not declare the truth.

slake (sleik), v.2 dial. Also 6, 9 slaik, etc. [a. ON. (Icel. and Norw.) sleikja (MSw. slekia) to lick.] intr. and trans. To lick with the tongue; to smear, daub, wet slightly, etc. Common in Sc. and north, dial, use; for variations of sense see the Eng. Dial. Diet. I535 Lyndesay Satire 2173 Set thou not by, howbeit scho kisse and slaik it. 1808 Jamieson, To Slaik,.. to bedaub. 1811 Willan in Archaeologia XVII. 158 Slake, to smear, to wet, or bedaub. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 5 Adders rough, and gruesome horrid,.. gluey tongues did slake and feed. 1871 c. Gibbon Lack of Gold xxx, The mischievous ones were busy.. ‘slaking’ neighbour’s doors with sowens. transf. 1807-10 Tannahill Poems (1846) 68, I never had an itchin’ To slake about a great man’s kitchen, And like a spaniel lick his dishes.

slaked (sleikt), ppl. a. [f. slake d.1 + -ed1.] fl. Loosened; slackened. Obs.—1 C1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. met. i. (1868) 152 Fortune, pat semeh as pat it fletij? wij? slaked or vngouernede bridles.

2. Of lime: Hydrated; slacked. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Fuse, Chaux fusee, slaked, or sleckt lime. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. i. (1814) 20 Slaked lime was used by the Romans for manuring the soil. 1837 J. T. Smith Vicat's Mortars 79 The heat given out by a large quantity of slaked lime. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. v. 173 Adjacent to these reservoirs are others containing pure slaked lime.

slakeless ('sleiklis), a. [f. slake v.1 + -less.] Incapable of being slaked, quenched, or mitigated; insatiable. 1596 R. Linche Diella (1877) 36 My slakelesse payne hells horror doth exceede. 1819 Byron Proph. Dante i. 115 The . .slakeless thirst of change. 1832 Fraser's Mag. V. 361 To glut her slakeless thirst for blood. 1842 Gentl. Mag. Jan. 26 note, This wholesale spiller and slakeless thirster of blood.

t 'slaken, v. Obs. Also 4 slakyn. [f. slake a. + -en5: cf. the later slaken v.] 1. intr. To grow slack; to abate. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5993 Here synne shal noper be fonyuen ne slakyn Vn-to pey 3elde J?at pey haue takyn. C1330-Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9473 When he was ded, his side gan slaken; Lightly was hen pe castel taken. 01352 Minot Poems ix. 49 J>e pride of sir Dauid bigon fast to slaken. 1633 T. James Voy. 103 The Storme began to ‘slaken. 1675 Essex Papers (Camden) I. 308 Least any may pretend ignorance or thinke we should slaken therein.

slalom (’sladDm).

[a. Norw. slalam, f. sla sloping + lam track.] 1. A downhill race in which skiers, descending singly, describe a zigzag course between artificial obstacles, usu. flags. Freq. attrib. 1921 British Ski Year Bk. 274 Slalom race on Inner-Arosa practice slopes. 1927 A. Lunn Hist. Skiing xviii. 227 However, the Slalom was worth a trial, and in 1922 the Alpine Ski Challenge Cup became a Slalom race. 1950 Times 13 Feb. 7/5 The Kandahar Ski Club, which originated the modern downhill racing movement (the slalom is a British invention worked out at Miirren), still insists that its candidates shall pass a test in soft snow. 1966 L. Deighton Billion-Dollar Brain 1. vii. 58 Three sets of skis.. one set of which were slalom skis. 1972 C. Short Naked Skier i. 2 She did a slalom turn.. . I stood for a while looking at the ski tracks she had left. 1980 Daily Tel. 26 Jan. 32 The shadow of Switzerland’s Marie-Therese Nadig, who beat her in both the downhill and giant slaloms in the 1972 Winter Games.

2. Water-skiing. A run along a zigzag course defined by buoys. Also attrib. 1949 Sun (Baltimore) 25 July 14/1 Mary Lois Thornhill.. yesterday added the slalom to the trick riding and jumping titles she won on Martin Lagoon. 1963 Newsweek 23 Sept. 66/3 Billy Spencer, the youngest of the 99 competitors in the world water-skiing championship at Vichy, France, finished his first slalom run. 1978 G. Wright Illustr. Handbk. Sporting Terms 154/1 In Slalom—a timed run through two lines of buoys—half a point is awarded for every buoy successfully rounded and also for returning to within the boat’s wake before the next buoy.

3. A race in which canoeists weave between obstacles, esp. along a course of rapid water. Freq. attrib. 1956 N. McNaught Canoeing Man. vii. 86 Most local slaloms take place on weir-type courses. Ibid. 88 Slalom organizers must ensure that a rescue boat is always manned and ready. 1964, 1969 [see kayaking vbl. sb.] 1969 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. li. 7 Slalom kayak,.. a highly maneuverable kayak constructed with more curve rocker in the keel than a downriver or combination kayak. 1973 R. Fiennes Headless Valley vii. in Then in 1969 two Russians, expert slalom canoeists, set out to navigate the Liard. 1977 Herald (Melbourne) 17 Jan. 2/5 Kaine had a junior kayak for a year, but found it did not perform as well as the slalom boat his father built.

4. An exercise or contest in which a motor vehicle is driven along a zigzag course defined by markers. Also attrib. 1965 Listener 15 Apr. 578/1 There is a keen following of motor racing among the Swiss: entries are not lacking in their speed hill climbs, rallies, and slaloms (or ‘wigglewoggles’ between pylons). 1972 National Observer (N.Y.) 27 May 19/2 Next came a slalom exercise through a long row of traffic cones. You must swerve the car to the right of the first cone, to the left of the second, back right around the third. .. It teaches braking and shows how much more your car can take and ‘do’ than you thought. 1974 Rules of Game 297/1 Slalom, or autotest, competitions are a test of maneuverability. Cars attempt the course singly. Each car starts with o points and receives 1 point for each second taken and 10 points for each marker touched. The winner is the driver with the fewest points at the finish.

5. A similar race or activity in Skateboarding. (See also quot. 19762.) Also, a track suitable for this.

slaker ('sleikafr)). rare. [f. slake ti.1 + -er1.] 1. One who slakes, assuages, or quenches.

1976 A. Cassorla Skateboarder's Bible 11 Slaloms could not be held on a steep grade or be set up with widely spread cones because of the poor turning capacity of the boards. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 3 July 12/3 Slalom, as in skiing, going downhill and weaving around markers. 1978 Skatcat's Quiz Bk. (R. Soc. Prevention of Accidents) 2/1 You need a 6" wide deck to start with. Flexi for slalom. Stiffer for free-style. 1978 Cornish Guardian 27 Apr. 13/4 The playgrounds were flat and the youngsters wanted the excitement of bowls and slaloms which the Polkyth park would have.

1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 34 Where be subduers and slakers of all vyce! 1554-9 Songs & Ball. Phil. Mary (Roxb.) 3 He ys owr swete savyor and slaker of sadnes. 1611 Cotgr., Estancheur, a.. slaker, quencher (of hunger, thirst, &c.).

Hence as v. intr., to perform or compete in a slalom, to make frequent rapid (slalom) turns; 'slalomer, 'slalomist, one who slaloms; 'slaloming vbl. sb.

2. trans.

To assuage, mitigate.

1629 Sir W. Mure True Crucifix Wks. I. 275 Till God thy Dolours slaken, in some sort.

2. A sluice or stop-gate; = slacker i. 1664-5 Act 16-17 Chas. II, c. 11 § 11 The Slakers to take off the Surplusage of Waters. 1767 Hull Navigation Act 1072 Leave open any of the gates, doors, or slakers.

slake-trough. trough.

[f. slake v.'

12.]

=

slack-

1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 228 He then dips the hammer in the slake trough, and lets fall upon the anvil a few drops of the water it picks up. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2198.

1956 N. McNaught Canoeing Man. vii. 90 An individual slalomist who overturns is disqualified on that particular run. Ibid., Strength and skill are needed for successful slaloming. 1973 Times 28 Sept. 36/5 Forty miles of pistes where you can schuss, trek, slalom, langlauf. 1976 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 30 July 9/1 What they are all doing is skateboarding—zooming and slaloming and ‘hanging ten’ and catamaraning on four-wheeled boards. 1977 Skateboard Special Sept. 5/1 The best slalomists still use wide wheels to prevent the board wobbling at high speed. 1978 Guardian Weekly 12 Feb. 24/3 Whether he is the world’s greatest ever slalomer no-one can say.

slakin: see slaken sb.

slam (slaem), sb.1

slaking ('sleikuj), vbl. sb. [f. slake v.1 + -ing1.] The action of the verb in various senses.

slam v.*]

C1400 in J. R. Boyle Hedon (1875) App. 120 In slakyng dicte calcis xj.d. 01425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 11 pe slakyng or esyng of the akyng and brennyng. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Estanchement de soif, slaking of thirst. 1587 A. Fleming Contin. Holinshed's Chron. III. 1548/2 With the slaking of the one followed the forgetfullness of the other. 1620 Church-w. Acc. Pittington, etc. (Surtees) 78 Item payed for a foother of lyme, iij s. iiij d. .. Item for bearing it in and slaking, iiijd. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 200 That sort of lime .. which heats the most in slaking.

slaky ('sleiki), a. [f. slake sb.3 + -y.] Muddy. 1841 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. 250 The low and slaky shore that extends from Berwick Bay to Fenham Flats. 1901 Trails. Stirling Nat. Hist. Soc. 70 The swampy ground had assumed a different aspect. Its slaky condition had disappeared.

Also 7 slamm.

[Related to

1. a. A severe blow; a violent impact. 1672 J. Blakeston Lazarillo ii. ix, He gave me half a dozen.. punches with his knee, and as many slamms with his girdle. 1829 A. W. Fonblanque Under 7 Administr. (1837) I. 306 Their whole career is a series of tumbles, backslidings, and cogent slams of the head against the wall.

b. A violent blow administered to a ball, slang (chiefly U.S.). 1931 Lit. Digest 18 Apr. 40, I remember when a hit was a .. clout,.. slam .. but never . .just a hit. 1978 Chicago June 274/1 Engrossed as each team was in setting up the ball for a slam, the players’ concentration was marred by the explosion of tear-gas canisters some distance away.

2. a. A violent closing of a door, etc., producing a loud resounding noise; the noise so made, or a noise of this nature. 01817 Jane Austen Persuasion (1818) IV. viii. 147 The various noises of the room, the almost ceaseless slam of the

door. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxiv, Both the slam and the scowl were lost upon Sam. 1861 J. Pycroft Agony Point (1862) 334 A slam was heard at the hall door. 1871 Bp. Fraser in Hughes Life (1887) 204 Closing his prayer-book with an angry slam. 1898 Munro J. Splendid xi. 109 The crack of the musket.. falling away in a dismal slam that carried but a short distance.

b. dial. (See quot.) 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss., Slam, a peculiar mode of ringing the bells.

3. An insult or ‘put-down’. U.S. slang. 1884 I. M. Rittenhouse Jrnl. in Maudf 1939) 296 Oh! did I tell you that Mr. Hough to atone for his ‘slams’, said, ‘I did want to make one gallant speech, but I hardly dared, about how remarkably well you looked Tuesday night.’ 1944 B. A. Botkin Treas. Amer. Folklore 111. 410 Certain formulae are identified with disparaging or insulting wisecracks, or ‘slams’. 1980 R. L. Duncan Brimstone i. 22, I don’t take that description as a slam. I was a great piece of ass. 4. = slammer 3. Usu. with the. Chiefly U.S.

slang. i960 R. G. Reisner Jazz Titans 164 Slam, jail. 1965 A. Nowhere City (1966) xi. 118 That was really thinking fast. I guess you saved me a night in slam. 1972 J. Wainwright Requiem for Loser vi. 132 Reginald Drover. Escapee from one of Her Majesty’s slams. 1972 S. Greenlee in W. King Black Short Story Anthol. 95 Uncle Benny told him that getting a bad teacher for a year was like being in the slam, and you just did your time and didn’t let it bug you. 1978 J. Gores Gone, no Forwarding vii. 40 You’re going to the slam for fifteen. Lurie

5. Special Combs, slamdunk U.S. Basketball [cf. dunk v.~\, a forceful shot in which a player jumps and slams the ball down into the basket. 1976 N. Y. Times 25 May 35 The only one-eyed candidate who would know how to put in a slamdunk on a New York playground has new financial life. 1981 Washington Post 25 Feb. E7/3 Robinson had 32 points and Jones put on a slam¬ dunk show to finish with 17.

SLAM-BANG

648

SLAM

five-game skid with a little help from a pair of homers from Bill Robinson, one a grand slam.

3. attrib. in contract, hand.

Bridge,

as

slam

bid(ding),

1929 M. C. Work Compl. Contract Bridge p. xi, The partner .. must jump if his hand warrant it—either one step .. or a vault toward a *slam bid. 1947 E. Klein Enjoy your Bridge 11. xiii. 114 Be content to win a perfectly safe contract and leave your slam bids for a later stage. 1927 WorkWhitehead Auction Bridge Bull. Feb. 141 Contract in its original form, minus the recently introduced ‘vulnerable’ feature and ’"slam bidding, made its first appearance abroad some fifteen years ago. 1974 Times 16 Feb. 13/2 Slam bidding is treated in most text books as if it.. cannot be covered by ordinary approach bidding. 1938 *Slam contract [see control sb. 3e]. 1959 Listener 8 Jan. 84/2 There is every reason to hope for a slam contract in some suit. 1977 Times 16 Apr. n/8 He .. bid Three Diamonds which .. in conjunction with the cue-bids, produced a slam contract in the wrong suit. 1937 J. Crane Crane Syst. Contract Bidding 78 (heading) Examples of a bidding game and *slam hands from matches. 1979 Reese & Flint Trick 13 17, I didn’t know anything was wrong till that slam hand near the finish.

fslam, sb.3 Obs. [a. LG. slam (whence Sw. slam), = G. schlamm mud, slime.] Refuse matter separated from alum in the preparation of this. There appears to be no evidence for the currency of the word later than the 17th cent.; the entries in various technical dictionaries of the 19th cent, are app. derived from Bailey (1728). 1650-1 North Riding Rec. V. 65 Throwing the slam of allome into the water-course. 1678 Phil. Trans. XII. 1054 That which they call Slam, is first perceived by the redness of the Liquor when it comes from the Pit. 1681 Grew Musaeum ill. in. i. 343 Certain Nitrous and other parts call’d Slam.

slam, sb.i rare. [Cf. next, and mod.Yks. slam a slovenly person.] ? An ill-shaped person.

slam (stem), sb2 Also slamm. [Of obscure origin.] f 1. The card-game ruff and honours. Obs.

1697 Vanbrugh Relapse v. v, Hoyden. I don’t like my lord’s shapes, nurse. Nurse. Why, in good truly, as a body may say, he is but a slam.

1621 J. Taylor (Water P.) Motto D4 Ruffe, slam, Trump, nody. 1648 Herrick Hesp., Upon Tuck 281 At Post and Paire, or Slam, Tom Tuck would play. 1674 Cotton Compl. Gamester (1680) 82 At Ruff and Honours, by some called Slamm, you have in the Pack all the Deuces.

fslam, a. Obs.~1 (See quot.)

2. a. The fact of losing or winning all the tricks in a game of cards, esp. in whist. 1660 in Wilkins Polit. Ball, (i860) I. 148 Thus all the while a Club was trump,.. Until a noble General came, And gave the cheaters a clear slam. 1674 Hickman Quinquart. Hist. (ed. 2) 229 The Doctor hath one Card more left to play, which if it hit not, he will have a perfect Slam, a 1700 Diet. Cant. Crew, Slam, a Trick; also a Game entirely lost without getting one on that side. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 435 Notes upon Hoyle, who is vastly erroneous in many places, particularly in calculating the slam. 1850 Bohns' Hdbk. Games 85 When a player calls, and his partner refuses to answer, although he has the power, they cannot gain a slam. 1864 Reader 827/1 He lost a slam—that is to say, he did not win a single trick.

b. With the qualifying terms grand and little, small or minor, chiefly in Bridge. 1814 C. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved 188 These declarations will supersede that of Boston simply... The highest, called Grand Slam, is undertaking to get 13 tricks. 1892 Pall Mall G. 14 May 3/1 In two of the ‘hands’ to be played the ‘grand slam’ is won. 1897 R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 623 (Bridge), Little Slam, winning 12 out of 13 possible. 1899 A. Mainwaring Cut Cavendish 48 ‘Grand slam’, i.e. taking every trick [at bridge], or ‘minor slam’, every trick but one. 1921 F. Irwin Compl. Auction Player i. 25 To take all, or all but one, of the tricks is to make a slam. The former is called a grand slam, and is worth 100 above the line. The latter is called a small slam, and is worth 50. 1937 N. de V. Hart Slams a la Culbertson 1. vi. 53 If he has his maximum count.., he will bid Small Slam even without a five-card suit. 1959 Listener 1 5 Jan. 146/2 West might then content himself with the small slam. 1977 Times 3 Sept. 7/2 South made an overtrick in the small slam.

c. grand slam (transf.): (a) a complete success; spec, victory in all of a series of matches or competitions; (b) an attack in force; forceful or decisive behaviour; (c) in Baseball, grand slam (homer, home run): (see quot. 1974). (o) 1920 D. H. Lawrence Let. 5 Feb. (1962) I. 619, I feel that this is the time to make our grand-slam. 1966 D. F. Galouye Lost Perception viii. 86 We’re going to try for a grand slam—knock them all out at once with nuclear stuff the next time we pin down their locations. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. 11. 7/1 He was the world’s No. 1 amateur in 1962 and only the second player in history to accomplish the ‘Grand Slam’. 1976 Scottish Daily Express 24 Dec. 14/1 We are the Home International champions after a Grand Slam of victories against England, Wales and Northern Ireland. (6) 1933 F. Richards Old Soldiers never Die ix. 123 Dawn broke .. and we were anxiously waiting for the time when the Grand Slam commenced. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 May 322/5 Churchillian impetuosity and grand-slam rashness. 1963 Times 7 Mar. 8/3 The most persuasive argument for retaining Checkmate in the Royal Ballet’s repertory.. is the opportunity for grand slam acting it offers to its protagonist, the malevolent Black Queen. (0 1953 Sport June 58/1 Bill Carr knocked his pitch over the fence for a grand-slam homer. 1961 Sports Illustr. 2 Oct. 10/2 Baltimore’s Jim Gentile hit a grand slam homer off Don Larsen in Chicago one rainy night last week. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 30 Apr. 1. 8/2 (Advt.), It’s as exciting as a ninth inning grand-slam! 1974 Rules of Game 168/3 A grand slam home run is a home run hit when the bases are loaded, i.e. when three men are on base. It scores four runs, the maximum possible from one hit. 1978 Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. E 3/1 The Pirates finally put it together and broke a

1691 Ray N.C. Words 137 A slam or slim Fellow is a skragged, tall, rawboned Fellow.

slam (slaem), v.1 [Possibly of Scand. origin: cf. Sw., Norw., and Icel. slamra (also MSw. and Icel. slambra), Sw. dial, slamma, Norw. slemma (slemba), to slam.] 1. trans. To beat or slap vigorously, dial. 1691 Ray N.C. Words 137 To Slam one, to beat or cuffe one strenuously. 1825-56 in Eng. Dial. Diet.

2. a. To shut (a door, window, etc.) with violence and noise; to bang; to close with unnecessary force. Also with advs., as down, to, up. 1775 Ash, Slam (v.t. a colloquial word), to shut with a noise. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. vn. viii. (1820) 504 He.. slammed down the window. 1816 Scott Antiq. vi, The clang of several doors which he.. slammed with force behind him. 1873 Black Pr. of Thule ix. 142 He would slam the door to again. 1892 Greener Breech-Loader 186 The practice of slamming the gun up is dangerous.

b. Freq. with in one’s face; often fig.

1726 G. Roberts Four Yrs. Voy. 320, I no sooner rais’d my Head in Sight, but slam came three or four Stones at me. I755 Smollett Quix. (1803) II. 129 Slam went his head to the ground. 1796 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Middlesex Election Wks. 1816 IV. 178 Slam off a [= he] went, without more ado; Nort could his bacon save. 1914 G. B. Shaw Misalliance 42 Theyre coming slam into the greenhouse. 1930 E. Pound XXX Cantos xviii. 82 An’ he run damn slam on the breakwater.

5. a. To be severely critical, to utter insults. U.S. slang, rare. 1884 I. M. Rittenhouse Jrnl. in Maud (1939) 291 When I and Mr Hough arrived late Dr Benson and Mr Parsons slammed right and left at the tardiness.

b. trans. U.S.).

To criticize severely,

colloq. (orig

[1914 ‘High Jinks, Jr.’ Choice Slang 18 Slamming contest, a condition where two or more individuals are engaged in criticism. ‘A Knockfest.’] 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap ii. 57 Couldn’t even agree on the same kind of cocktail. Both slamming the waiter. 1932 G. Atherton Adventures of Novelist vi. xiii. 380 She took care I should constantly be slammed. 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose 252 They come with bright and tinkling vivacity until I slam them down. 1962 J. Symons Killing of Francie Lake ii. 19 You go on the air and slam negro landlords and they’ll be saying you’re anti-negro. 1978 j Irving World according to Garp v. 89 A long, cocky letter, quoting Marcus Aurelius and slamming Franz Grillparzer.

6. intr. Const, prep. crash.

To move violently, to

1973 Times 2 Nov. 13/6 Rosa . . savagely slamming around the kitchen. 1976 M. Machlin Pipeline lvi. 566 The lifeboat was now slamming through the choppy two and three foot high waves at over twenty knots. 1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) 11. iv. 209 She didn’t even see the small stone wall until she had slammed into it.

Hence 'slamming vbl. sb. (spec, of boats: see quot. 1948) and ppl. a. 1796 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Wks. (1816) IV. 186 One scoundrel.. with a slammin stick, Corn’d souse upon my sconce. 1868 J. R. Green Lett. (1901) 11. 204 There was a great slamming of pew doors. 1892 Daily News 29 Apr. 5/4 The wing of a slamming door shut in front of him. 1893 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Mar. 58 Formerly the posts, both hanging and slamming posts, were made of oak. 1935 Engineering 18 Jan. 55/1 ‘Pounding’ or ‘slamming’ damage is looked upon as no more than a normal circumstance .. of cargo vessels trading across the North Atlantic. 1948 R. de Kerchove Internat. Maritime Diet. 685/1 Slamming almost always takes place forward... Slamming damage is usually ascribed to dynamic pressures arising from impact of the ship’s hull upon the surface of the water, and from the actual impulsive displacement of water caused by the downward movement of the ship when pitching. 1972 C. Mudie Motor Boats & Boating 17 If such a craft were to be taken to sea she would rapidly be found to be.. apt to break her back from slamming when pitching.

slam (stem), v.2 [f. slam s&.2] 1. trans. To beat by winning a slam; also dial., to trump. Hence transf., to beat completely. 1746 Hoyle Whist 80, D having seven Spades in his Hand wins them, and consequently Slams A and B. 1907 Daily Mail 5 Sept. 6/1 He [a race-horse] absolutely slammed his field.

2. intr. To win a slam. 1833 W. H. Maxwell Field Bk. 489.

fslam, vA Obs. rare. A substitution for damn v. 5, perh. suggested by slam sb.2

1786 in Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1861) Ser. 11. III. 421, I hear.. that you squander away your money.. and then slam the doors in the King’s face! 1826 Scott in Lockhart (1839) VIII. 238, I propose to slam the door in the face of all and sundry for these three years to come. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. I. 348 They always wait where they think there’s the slightest chance of effecting a sale, until the door is slammed in their face.

a 1657 N. Wallington Notices Chas. I (1869) II. 94 They returned only burning and slamming themselves in rage and malice. 1760 Foote Minor 1. Wks. 1799 I. 243 Slam me, but the man’s mad! 1797 Brydges Horn. Trav. I. 321 But ev’ry syllable is true, Or slam me if I’d tell it you!

c. To dash, throw, push, etc., with some degree of violence or force. Also fig.

SLAM V

1870 ‘Mark Twain’ Lett, to Publishers (1967) 49, I can slam you into the lecture field for life and secure you ten thousand dollars a year as long as you live. 1899 Gardiner Cromwell 192 One of them slammed an overturned creamtub on the head of another. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 24 Oct. 5/3 Slamming every available man into the firing line. 1902 Cornish Naturalist Thames 150 When the winter storms slam the roaring billows against the cliff faces.

d. to slam on the brakes, to apply the brakes of a motor vehicle, etc. suddenly; also fig. 1958 L. Uris Exodus iv. iii. 501 Zev slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. 1975 Business Week 1 Sept. 23 The rule is designed to prevent a truck from jackknifing or jumping a lane when drivers slam on the brakes at 20 mph to 60 mph. 1975 Economist 4 Oct. 11 Can the driver [sc. contextually General Franco] be persuaded to look forward instead of back, or can someone else intervene to slam on the brakes? 1976 Business Week 11 Oct. 96 A radar unit in the nose .. that warns the driver of road hazards ahead and slams on the brakes if he fails to do so. 1982 Chr. Sci. Monitor 13 Apr. 7 Inflation has dropped dramatically as the quasi-independent Federal Reserve Board slams on the brakes of high interest rates.

3. intr.

Of doors, etc.: To shut, or strike against anything, with violence and resounding noise. Also with advs., as down, to, etc. In recent use freq. employed to denote any violent action or loud noise. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 359 To shut a door violently, or to let it slam to of itself. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. v. vi, The huge Drawbridge slams down. 1858 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 52 Big doors slam and resound when anybody comes in. 1893 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Mar. 58 The gates are so hung that, if carelessly left open, they will always slam to and fasten.

4. Used with adverbial force: With a slam or heavy blow; suddenly and violently.

slam-bang, adv., a., and v. Also slam bang. [f.

.1 4 + BANG V. 8. Cf. SLAP-BANG adv., a., and s6.] A. adv. With a slam and a bang; with noisy violence. 1840 R. M. Bird Robin Day 25 Five or six hundred field pieces blazing away slambang. 1847 in Halliw. 1853 Hawthorne Tanglewood T. (Chandos) 201 He would fetch his club down, slam bang, and smash the vessel into a thousand pieces. 1887 F. R. Stockton A Borrowed Month 159, I sent an arrow slam-bang into the lantern.

B. adj. 1. Noisy, violent. 1823 ‘J. Bee’ Diet. Slang 158 Slam-bang shops, places where gourmands of the fourth rate regale;.. probably, from ..the ‘slam-banging’ of the doors, plates, and tools. 1889 Advance (Chicago) 14 Mar., The friends of the Sabbath are not what some .. slam-bang reformer would have the world believe. 1957 Economist 28 Sept. 999/1 With all the diplomatic finesse of a runaway bulldozer, the governments of the major powers are conducting a slambang exchange of public accusations. 1981 H. R. F. Keating Go West, Inspector Ghote ii. 25 Fred Hoskin’s slam-bang voice broke in on his thoughts.

2. In weakened use: exciting, impressive, firstrate. Also, vigorous, energetic, colloq. 1939 Sun (Baltimore) 4 Dec. 13/4 The balance of the card will be made up of some real slam-bang preliminaries. 1942 Ibid. 17 June 1/8 American heavy bombers have entered the Mediterranean sea war in slambang fashion. 1952 B. Malamud Natural 20 A slambang young pitcher who’d soon be laying them low in the big leagues. 1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1061/2 We have this plot for a slam-bang topical novel about the Johnson administration. 1972 D. Delman Sudden Death (1973) v. 126 You were good today. I watched you. Slam-bang. 1975 Publishers Weekly 2 June 49/1 A very cerebral English mystery, with .. a finale that is full of slambang action. 1979 Radio Times 5 11 May 23/2 It was described by Judith Crist as a ‘slam-bang top-quality grown-up adventure which thumbs its nose at authority and morality’.

SLAMMABLE

649

C. vb. 1. intr. To slam and bang. 1837 Miss Sedgwick Live & Let Live (1876) no She slam-bangs about the house. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas 51 My engines Through all the seas, slam-bangin’ home again, Slam-bang too much.

2. trans. To assail violently. 1888 The Voice (N.Y.) 12 July, You might as well denounce the legal profession because of the shysters .. as to slam-bang newspapers because there are recreant editors.

Hence 'slam-,banging vbl. sb. 1823 [see sense 1 of the adj., above], 1843 Knickerbocker XXII. 41 The creaking on its rusty hinges and slam-banging of the sign of the Devil-Tavern. 1889 The Voice (N.Y.) 1 Aug., When you take up a Prohibition organ, you will find it full of political slang and slambanging.

slammable ('slaem3b(3)l), a. rare. [f.

.1

slam v

+ -able.] Of a door, etc.: capable of being slammed (shut). 1976 T. Stoppard Dirty Linen 9 Separate table with good slammable drawers for Maddie.

'slammakin, 'slammerkin, sb. and a. Chiefly dial. Also 9 slammockin, slomm-, slummackin, etc.; 9 slommacking, -icking, -ocking, 20 slummocking. [Of obscure origin; the shorter forms slammack(s, slommack(s occur widely in dialect, but are not recorded before the 19th century. Mrs. Slammekin, who is described as affecting a careless undress, is a character in Gay’s Beggars' Opera (1727). It is more probable that the colloquial word suggested the name than that it was subsequently derived from it.]

A. sb. f 1. A loose gown or dress. Obs.-' 1756 Connoisseur No. 134 ]P 7 A burgess’s daughter.. who appeared in a Trolloppee or Slammerkin, with treble ruffles to the cuffs.

2. A slovenly female, a sloven, a slattern. Grose Diet.

Vulgar T., Slammakin, a female sloven, one whose clothes seem hung on with a pitch fork, a careless trapes. 1808 Jamieson, Slammikin, a drab, a slovenly woman; Loth[ian]. 1839 Sir G. C. Lewis Gloss. Here/., Slammockin, a slattern. jS. 1822 W. Irving Braceb. Hall (1823) I. 103 A brisk, coquettish woman; a little of a shrew, and something of a slammerkin. a.

1785

B. adj. Untidy, slovenly. Ash Suppl. (1775) gives ‘Slammerkin (a droll word), irregular in motion, making a sudden transition’; the existence of this sense is very doubtful. a. 1794 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Soldier of Tilbury Wks. 1812 III. 241 So slammakin, untidy, ragged, mean, Her garments all so shabby and unpinn’d. 1864 Le Fanu Uncle Silas III. 157 Holding out with finger and thumb .. her slammakin old skirt. Ibid. 261 The vainest and most slammakin of women. j3. 1837 Thackeray Professor Wks. 1900 XIII. 499 That saucy, slammerkin, sentimental Miss Grampus. 1863 Examiner 14 Nov., His Minerva is a tawdry slammerkin slattern. 1887 Miss Braddon Like & Unlike xxxvii, The slammerkin Irish housekeeper. y. 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Ant. Gloss., Slommacking,.. unwieldy, clumsy. ?ri8so H. & A. Mayhew The Good Genius xvi, A nasty slommicking bit of goods, with her things all hanging about her anyhow. 1873 Daily News 30 Aug. 5/6 His high cheek bones and slommocking gait, i960 R. Collier House called Memory iv. 53 A big slummocking girl with cropped hair and braying laugh. 1978 S. Radley Death & Maiden iv. 37 They’re a slummocking family., always have been.

slammer ('slaem3(r)). [f. slam v.'] 1. A violent gust (of wind). 1891 Field 7 Mar. 344/4 A strong westerly wind .. came off the Barn Elm grounds in regular slammers at times.

2. One who slams (doors, etc.). 1892 Chamb. Jrnl. 11 June 372/1 He is a quiet neighbour —no slammer or tramper.

3. Prison, gaol. Usu. with the: occas. the stammers. Cf. slam sb.1 4. slang (orig. U.S.). 1952 G. Mandel Flee Angry Strangers 358 I’m hip what you was doin wit Ange while I was in the slammer. 1961 Rigney & Smith Real Bohemia p. xvii, Slammer, jail. 1970 E. Bullins Theme is Blackness (1973) 177 I’m into a heavy petty criminal thing, man. The Man is always ready to vamp on you and take you off ’round here or put you in the slammers. 1975 B. Garfield Death Sentence (1976) v. 31 Less than one per cent of Chicago’s crimes are solved, in the sense that some joker gets tried and convicted and sent to the slammer. 1977 D. Bagley Enemy xv. 131 This one’s not for the slammer. He’ll go to Broadmoor for sure.

fslamp. Obs.~° (See quots.) 1611 Cotgr., Chinfreneau, a slampe, iert, wipe; thumpe. Ibid., Truellee,.. a clap, slat, or slamp with a Trowell.

slampaine, -pam: see slampant.

fslampamb. Obs.-' (Meaning obscure.) Halliwell’s explanation appears very unlikely. 01573 New Custom 11. iii, I will never staye, Tyll I finde meanes to ridde the beaste out of the waye. I wyll cut him of the slampambes,.. Where so ever I meete him.

fslampamp. Obs. rare [Of obscure formation: cf. Du. slampampen to revel.] (See quots.) 1593 G. Harvey New Lett. Wks. (Grosart) I. 282 A homely gallimaufry of little Art, to requite her dainty slaumpaump of little wit. 1593-Pierce’s Super, ibid. II. 277, I haue seldome .. tasted a more vnsauory slaumpaump of wordes. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 79 Let them look to it.. for the course they take in commending this course Himpenhempen Slampamp, this stale Apple-squire.

f slampant. Obs. rare. Also 6 slampaine, -pam. [Of obscure origin and doubtful form.] A trick.

to give one the (or a) slampant, to play a trick on, to circumvent or hoodwink, one. Cotgrave prob. copied North’s rendering of Fr. trousse. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. in Holinshed (1808) VI. 30 The townesmen being pinched at the heart, that one rascal in such scornefull wise should give them the slampaine. 1579-80 North Plutarch (1595) 805 Polyperchon,.. meaning to giue Cassander a slampant and blurt,.. sent letters Pattents vnto the people at Athens. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis iv. (Arb.) 116 Shal a stranger geue me the slampam? With such departure my regal segnorye trumping? 1611 Cotgr., Trousse,.. a cousening tricke, blurt, slampant.

slan (slaen). [Invented word, from the novel by A. E. van Vogt: see quot. 1940.] In works of Science Fiction: a being of superior intelligence, physique, etc.; a superman. Hence used gen. among fans of this type of literature. 1940 A. E. van Vogt Sian in Astounding Sci. Fiction Oct. 27/1 They., accuse Samuel Lann, the human being and biological scientist who first created slans, and after whom slans are named —Samuel Lann: S. Lann: Sian—of fostering in his children the belief that they must rule the world. 1955 Koestler Trail of Dinosaur 143 Fen gather in clubhouses called slanshacks, ‘slan’ meaning a biologically mutated superman. 1969 H. Warner All Our Yesterdays ii. 42 ‘Fans are slans!’ became the rallying cry of the Cosmic Circle. 1975 E. Weinstein Fillostrated Fan Diet. 119 Slan shack, a place where more than two fans live. 1980 Verbatim Autumn 10/1 ‘He’s a slan’ is the fannish equivalent of ‘He’s a helluva guy’.

slan, dial, variant of sloe. slanchways, var. slaunchways, -wise adv. and a.

slander ('sla:nd3(r), -ae-), sb.

Forms: a. 3-6 sclaundre, 4-6 -der (4 -dire, 5 -dir); 4 sclawndire, 5 -dre, -dyr, -der; 4-6 sclander, -dre (6 -dir), 4 sclondre. /3. 4-6 sklaunder (4 -dere, -dir, 4-5 -dre, 5 -dur, -dyre); 5 sklawnder (5-6 -dyr); 5 (Sc. 6-7) sklander (-dyr, 6 Sc. -dir, -dre). y. 4-7 slaunder (4-5 -dre, 5 -dere), 4 slawndire; 5 slandyre, 6slander. [ad. AF. esclaundre, OF. esclandre, an alteration of escandle, ad. L. scandalum: see scandal sb.] 1. The utterance or dissemination of false statements or reports concerning a person, or malicious misrepresentation of his actions, in order to defame or injure him; calumny, defamation. a. c 1290 -S'. Eng. Leg. I. 165 pov mis-seist mi louerd pe king;.. ho mi3te soffri swuch sclaundre bote he nome par-of wreche? enne ich waes on bedde iswaued mid soft mine slepen. 12 .. Prayer our Lady 9 in O.E. Misc. 192 Slep me haS mi lif forstole richt half oSer more, c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 137 Goo .. to Morpheus, Thou knowist hym well, the god of slepe. 1430-40 Lydg. Bochas 1. viii. (1544) 15 She gaue him milke, ye slepe fell in his hede. 1513 Douglas JEneid viii. vii. 84 The plesand naturall slep .. can he tak. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. viii. 38 Sleepe they sayd would make her battill better. 1617 Moryson Itin. 11. 46 My selfe being at all howers (but time of sleepe) admitted into his chamber. 1658 Whole Duty of Man ix. §i. 75 Sleep comes as a medicine to weariness, as a repairer of decay. 1742 Gray Propertius ii. 17 If sinking into Sleep she seem to close Her languid Lids. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 139 Sleep is,.. to some, a very agreeable period of their existence. 1821 Byron Sardanap. iv. i, If Sleep shows such things, what may not death disclose? 1884 Day Fishes Gt. Brit. I. p. xix, Does sleep or a periodical season of repose for the organs of the senses, ever visit fish? transf. 1818 Shelley Rosalind & H. 1207 Then a dead sleep fell on my mind. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 716 Among other notions which they had imbibed, was that of a sleep of the soul after death.

b. Freq. in prepositional phrases, as to, in or j* on, out of or f of, sleep. (Cf. also asleep adv.) In some of the phrases with to it is not always clear whether the noun or verb is intended. (a) Beowulf 1251 Sigon pa to sleepe. at wel a-wakej? pe slepynge Of sleep of dep so long. 1562 Win3ET Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 3 Sleuthfull marinaris and sleipand sterismen. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. 11. i. 170 The iuyee of it, on sleeping eye-lids laid. 1605Macb. 11. ii. 53 The sleeping, and the dead, Are but as Pictures. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativity xxvii. Her sleeping Lord with Handmaid Lamp attending. 1775 Sheridan Duenna 1. i, My sleeping love shall know Who sings. 1812 Crabbe Tales xvi. 467 A sleeping boy the Mother held the while. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 260 Group respiration may frequently be seen in sleeping children. Prov. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 764 It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake. 1562 [see dog sb. 17 k]. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, 1. ii. 174 Since all is wel, keep it so: wake not a sleeping Wolfe. 1623 Wodroephe Marrowe Fr. Tongue 505/2 Do not awake the sleeping Cat. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet let. xi, Best to let sleeping dogs lie. 1864-86 [see dog sb. 17k].

(b) Sleeping Beauty (occas. Princess), the heroine of a fairy tale (Charles Perrault’s La belle au bois dormant) who slept for a hundred years, until woken by the kiss of her prince; also (sometimes with small initial) applied allusively and joc. to any sleeping or unconscious person; also attrib. and transf. 1729 R. Samber Perrault's Tales iv. 32 (heading) The sleeping beauty in the wood. 1830 Tennyson (title) The sleeping beauty. 1893 S. J. Weyman Gentleman of France III. xxviii. 91 The Castle before us. .might have been that of the Sleeping Princess, so fairylike it looked. 1907 E. Glyn Three Weeks iv. 64 The Austrians.. are naturally awake, whereas you English are naturally asleep, and you yourself are the Sleeping Beauty, Paul. 1909 Mrs. H. Ward Daphne ii. 40 It had been a Sleeping Beauty story so far. Treasure for the winning—a thorn hedge—and slain lovers! 1936 C. Day Lewis Friendly Tree vii. 97 Who could wake the Sleeping Beauty with a kiss of friendship? 1955 E. Bowen World of Love vii. 126 Sleeping-beauty briars., swung at her. 1965 J. Porter Dover Two ii. 26 A rather smudgy photograph of Curdley’s Sleeping Beauty lying motionless in her hospital bed. 1967 V. Nabokov Speak, Memory vi. 136 The terra-incognita blanks map makers of old used to call ‘sleeping beauties’. 1977 D. Bagley Enemy xxiii. 179 You can go in and wake the sleeping beauties. 1979 A. Price Tomorrow's Ghost ii. 28 You can be our Sleeping Princess in the Library, and I shall come and wake you with a kiss.

b. Occupying a bed or beds in a certain place. sleeping attorney (see quot. 1809). 1809 Kendall Trav. I. 184 It has been found that a sleeping attorney may be rendered very profitable... His business is to secure a lodging in one of the many-bedrooms, which at the public inns, happen to be chiefly occupied by a large part of the jury sworn to try the cause. 1876 T. Hardy Ethelberta (1890) 32 We’ve a house full of sleeping company, you understand. c. Of plants: (see sleep v. 3 b). 1757 J- Hill Sleep of Plants 3jn what are called the sleeping plants. 1796 Stedman Surinam II. xxv. 230 The

SLEEP-OUT

sleeping plant, so called from its leaves.. clapping close together from sun-set to sun-rise.

d. In specific names of animals, etc. 1803 Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 250 Sleeping Gobiomore..: supposed to take its name from the slowness of its movements. 1859 D. Bunce Trav. with Dr Leichhardt ix. 94 We disturbed many of the short, knobby-tailed sleeping lizard (Agama). 1883 Harper’s Mag. Jan. 189/1 The eyes of the sleeping monkey (nyctipithecus). 1897 G. C. Bateman Vivarium 119 The Stump-tailed Lizard (Trachysaurus rugosus), also known as the Two-headed Lizard and the Sleeping Lizard, comes from Australia.

e. Seen in sleep. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. (1787) III. 139 The mind of Alaric was ill prepared to receive, either in sleeping or waking visions, the impressions of Greek superstition.

f. sleeping policeman-, see policeman i e.

f2. Inducing sleep; soporific. Obs. rare. Cf. sleeping vbl. sb. 2 c. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 162 A few wellys.. That made a dedly slepynge soun. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 447 One is called Solanum somniferum, that is to say Sleeping Night¬ shade. 1597 Gerarde Herbal 11. Ii. 269 Dwale or sleeping Nightshade hath round blackish stalks.

3. Numb: devoid of sensation. 1562 Turner Baths 3 These baths are good for.. the unfelinge and slepinge membres. 1818 Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck xii, On pretence of a sleeping leg. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 640 Pressure, not in itself severe, will in time produce the well-known sleeping foot.

4. a. Inactive, torpid, quiescent. 1538 Starkey England ii. iii. 208 Thys celestyal doctryne .. ys neuer gyuen to idul & slepyng myndys. 1598 J. Davis Epigr. ii, Whilst in his sheath his sleeping sword doth bide. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. 1. i, The magic Numbers rouze our sleeping Passions. 1754 Gray Pleasure fr. Vicissitude 6 Till April starts, and calls around The sleeping fragrance from the ground, a 1822 Shelley Fragm. Unf. Drama 184 Those words in which Passion makes Echo taunt the sleeping strings. 1851 Brimley Ess. (1858) 119 As means, he may .. use them to move and rouse the sleeping soul.

b. sleeping table, an immovable apparatus on which ore is washed. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 815 The grilles anglaises are similar to the sleeping tables used at Idria. 1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall Mines 207 Then follow the picking, stamping, and washing on a kind of sleeping table.

c. sleeping rent, a dead rent (see dead a. 30). 1870 Law Rep. 5 Comm. Pleas 584 There is no stipulation that the tenant shall pay any sleeping rent or minimum rent, or any rent in the event of no clay being raised during the term.

5. a. sleeping partner, a partner in a business who takes no share in the actual working of it. 1785 in Grose Did. Vulg. T. 1818 Scott Rob Roy i, Your father, though his fortune was vested in the house, was only a sleeping partner, as the commercial phrase goes. 1887 W. P. Frith Autobiogr. I. xvii. 203 A sleeping partner in a cloth firm at Leeds. transf. 1848 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. 1. Introd., Associated (though only as sleeping partner) in a book. 1884 Rider Haggard Dawn xxxvi, His sole motive in consenting to become, as it were, a sleeping partner in the shameful plot.

b. (See quot.) 1889 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right (1899) 66/2 A transfer of a ‘sleeping quarter share’, that is, a proportion of the property of the claim, involving a sixteenth of the entire profit, without the necessity of representing or paying for the services of an able-bodied miner.

6. Quiet, silent; motionless. 1784 Cowper Task 1. 763 The moon-beam, sliding softly in 'between The sleeping leaves. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxviii, The lonely murmur of these woods, and the view of this sleeping landscape. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 257 The long lines of painted villas reflected in the sleeping canals. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton xix. 276 The chimneys and slates of the sleeping houses.

Hence f 'sleepingness, sleepiness.

Obs.

1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. v. (Bodl. MS.), 3if. .pe woodenes durej? pre daies with slepingnes,.. J?ere is no hope of rekoueryng.

'sleepingly, adv. [f. prec.] Sleepily. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 237, I doe not use to view the statues and images made by Art sleepingly and slenderly. 1683 Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly (1722) 25 To jog sleepingly through the World in a dumpish, Melancholly Posture cannot properly be said to Live. 1862 S. Wilberforce Sp. Missions (1874) 282 Allowing them to go on sleepingly, and comfortably. 1891 Temple Bar May 122 The facchini.. struggled sleepingly upstairs for my luggage.

announced that he considered the disease to be due to a kind of trypanosome, conveyed from one person to another by the bite of a species of tsetse-fly called Glossina palpalis. 1926 Encycl. Brit. III. 558/1 Sleeping sickness is now treated by compounds of arsenic..; by compounds of antimony..; and by a drug of undisclosed composition called Bayer 205, or Germanin. 1958 L. van der Post Lost World Kalahari (1961) vi. 109 A small African outpost on the edge of the sleeping sickness country of Northern Bechuanaland. 1970 Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. II. xix. 7/2 Sleeping sickness in West Africa differs clinically and epidemiologically from the condition in East Africa. In the West, the disease generally runs a chronic course, in the East it is acute.

3. = sleepy sickness 2. Now rare. 1918 Proc. R. Soc. Med. XII. (Med. Section) p. xvii, The term ‘sleeping sickness’.. would not be an inappropriate name for this epidemic [5c. encephalitis]. 1920 Lancet 13 Mar. 620/2 Some popular term for encephalitis lethargica less cumbrous than ‘lethargic encephalitis’ and free from the objection to ‘sleeping sickness’. 1921 Times 3 Feb. 7/2 The Registrar-General’s returns for the week .. show that there were 21 cases of sleeping sickness {encephalitis lethargica) notified .. in London alone. 1961 L. E. Bollo Introd. Med. & Med. Terminol. xiv. 148 The von Economo type of encephalitis (encephalitis lethargica, or sleeping sickness) is said to be of unknown etiology... African sleeping sickness, caused by protozoa of the genus Trypanosoma, is discussed later.

f 'sleepish, a. Obs. Also 6 slepy(s)she, -ish(e, sleapish. [f. sleep sb. + -ish.] Somewhat sleepy. 1530

Palsgr.

324/1

Slepysshe,

heavy

of

slepe,

sommeilleux. 1551 Turner Herbal 11. 46 They shal fall into a forgetfull and a slepishe drowsines. 1633 Ford Love's Sacr. iv. i, Your sleepish and more than sleepish security. 1675 Traherne Chr. Ethics 338 Temperance .. puts activity and vigour into it, that it may not be a sleepish but heroick vertue.

sleepless ('sliiplis), a. Also 5 sleples, 6 slepelesse, 6-7 sleeplesse. [f. sleep sb. + -less. Cf. (M)Du. slapeloos (Kilian slaeploos), OHG. slaflos (G. schlafios).] 1. Deprived of sleep; unable to sleep. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy I. 3546 To Medea he hath pe weye take, And sche abood sleples for his sake. 1483 Cath. Angl. 344/2 Sleples, exsompnis. 01542 Wyatt in Tottel’s Misc. (Arb.) 80 The body still away slepelesse it weares. c 1586 C’tess Pembroke Ps. lxxvii. iii, Whole troupes of busy cares.. Tooke up their restlesse rest In sleepie sleeplesse eies. 1700 Ken in Bk. of Praise 272 When in the night I sleepless lie. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. 1. 4 Which Thou and I alone.. Behold with sleepless eyes. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xliii, He lay all that night sleepless and yearning to go home. 1888 Allies Holy See & Wand, of Nations 83 The monks, called from their never intermitted worship, the Sleepless.

2. Yielding no sleep; marked by the absence or want of sleep. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. 1. xxvi, That they may., couch their head In soft, but sleeplesse down. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Amb. 12 We had a sleepless night of it. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Udolpho xxxv, She started from a sleepless pillow, to welcome the day. 1815 Byron ‘My soul is dark’ ii, It hath been by sorrow nursed, And ach’d in sleepless silence long. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvii. vii. (1872) VII. 74 The Old Inn, hospitable though sleepless, stands pleasantly upon the River-brink. 1876 Miss BraddonJ. Haggard's Dau. II. 38 A sleepless night shed the sober light of reason upon those clouds of sentiment.

3. Continually active or operative. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. 1. 194 Oh mark the sleepless energies of thought. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. 1. 280, [I] thus devote to sleepless agony This undeclining head. 1848 Gallenga Italy I. p. xxv, Thought remained anxious, sleepless, rebellious. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 8 The quivering nerves of a sleepless memory.

b. Unceasing in motion; ever-moving. 1795-1814 Wordsw. Excurs. ix. 212 The sleepless ocean murmurs for all ears. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. 1. xiv, Winds are rude in Biscay’s sleepless bay. a 1822 Shelley To E. Williams vi, The sleepless billows on the ocean’s breast.

4. Used punningly: (see quot. and sleepy i c). 1865 Slang Diet. 235 Sleepless-hats, those of a napless character, better known as wide-awakes.

Hence 'sleeplessly adv. 1847 in Webster. 1896 Daily News 4 Jan. 5/3 sleeplessly guards his maize during the whole night.

He

'sleeplessness, [f. prec.] The state of being sleepless; esp. inability to sleep, insomnia.

sleeping sickness, [sleeping vbl. $6.] 1. In general and fig. senses. 1551 R Robinson tr. More's Utopia 11. M.v.r, Is there annye man so possessed wyth stonyshe insensibilitie, or with the sleping sicknes, that he wyll not graunt health to be acceptable to hym and delectable. 1647 W. Jenkyn {title), A Sleeping Sicknes the distemper of the Times. 1904 Jni/. R. Microsc. Soc. Apr. 179 Sleeping Sickness of Silk-worms .. is in no wise due to the micro-organisms of the mulberry leaves.

2. Path. Any of several similar diseases caused by protozoans of the genus Trypanosoma and transmitted by flies of the genus Glossina, prevalent in tropical Africa, and characterized by the proliferation of the trypanosomes in the blood and changes in the central nervous system leading to apathy, coma, and death. Also attrib. ,1875 Gore in Brit. Med. jfrnl. 2 Jan. 5/1 The Sleeping Sickness of Western Africa. 1897 Manson in Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 485 Sleeping sickness is a disease of the central nervous system; beri-beri of the peripheral. I9°5 tsee Gambia]. 1908 W. S. Churchill My African Journey v. 96 On April 28th, 1903, Colonel Bruce, whose services had been obtained for the investigation of ‘sleeping sickness’..,

1646 Bp. Hall Balm of Gilead (1652) 221 In three years he [Maecenas] slept not.. an hour; which .. Lipsius thinks good to mitigate with a favourable construction, as conceiving an impossibility of an absolute sleeplessenesse. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 11. ill. vi, Convulsing with strange pangs the whole sick Body, as in such sleeplessness and sickness the ear will do! 1861 Flor. Nightingale Notes Nursing (ed. 2) 53 Sleeplessness in the early night is from excitement generally. 1886 Manch. Exam. 8 Feb. 5/4 A correspondent .. provides a new remedy for sleeplessness.

'sleep-out, sb. and a. [f. vbl. phr. to sleep out: see sleep v. 1 k.] A. sb. A veranda, porch, or outbuilding providing sleeping accommodation; a sleeping area not in the main building. Austral, and N.Z. 1941 Coast to Coast 84 ‘A nice scone and a nice cup of tea and a lay-down in the sleep-out,’ Mrs Smith was saying in her warm, motherly voice. ‘You’ll be fine then.’ 1962 A. Seymour One Day of Year 7 A multiple set, main areas being the kitchen; the ‘lounge’; and Hughie’s study, which is a glassed-in sleepout at the side of the house. 1977 N.Z. Herald 5 Jan. 2-15/8 (Advt.), Well-established country tearooms with 3-brm attached acorn... There is almost an acre of grounds plus a sleepout to go with this bargain. 1979

Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 29 Apr. 26/3 The sleep-out.. is now back to veranda play space.

B. attrib. or as adj. Of a person: that sleeps away from the premises, non-resident. 1958 V. P. Johns Servant’s Problem i. 11 It concerned the household in which she was the sleep-out, full-time maid. 1961 in Webster s.v., The sleep-out cooks and maids were coming to work.

'sleep-over, sb. (and a.) Chiefly U.S. [f. vbl. phr. to sleep over: see sleep v. i j. ] A. sb. a. (See quot. 1935.) b. An occasion of spending the night at a place other than one’s residence. B. attrib. or as adj. Involving spending the night away from one’s residence. Of a person: that stays the night. 1935 Amer. Speech X. 236/1 A contributor testifies that in part of Pennsylvania, in college use, a sleep-over is a permission to stay away from church and remain in bed on Sunday morning. 1974 [see sleep-in a.]. 1975 [see sleep v. ij]. 1979 Sunset (Desert ed.) Apr. 156/2 (caption) At night wall hanging unhooks to become a feather-soft mat for sleep-over guests.

'sleep-walk,

v.

[Back-formation

SLEET

684

SLEEP-OVER

f.

&& Iphigenia 29 Love.. oft to virtuous Acts inflames the Mind, Awakes the sleepy Vigour of the Soul. 1807 Wordsw. White Doe iii. 107 Not loth the sleepy lance to wield, And greet the old paternal shield. 1885 Times (weekly ed.) 16 Oct. 4/2 This district was not.. sleepy on the question of political opinion and political action. (b) 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 444 The iuyce with Capons grease anointed on, helpeth raw heeles and sleepy galles. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss, s.v., An apple or pear beginning to rot is said to be sleepy. 1796 Ibid. (ed. 3), Sleepy, much worn: the cloth of your coat must be extremely sleepy, for it has not had a nap this long time. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §1975 Where the conduit pipes are of great length., the water., is found to lose much of its strength, and become what is technically called sleepy. 1834 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 372, I expect her to drop every minute, like an over-ripe sleepy pear. 1885 J. Long Brit. Dairy-Farm. 82 Almost every one connected with the dairy knows what ‘sleepy’ cream is... The whole of the cream assumes the appearance of froth.

d. sleepy lizard, one of several Australian lizards of the family Scincidae, esp. the shingleback, Trachylosaurus rugosus, found in the southern part of the country. 1883 [see

BLUE TONGUE, BLUE-TONGUE

2]. 1887 F. McCOY

sleep¬

Zool. Victoria xiv. 120 Not uncommon about Melbourne,

walking vbl. sb. and ppl. a.\ intr. To walk while

where it is generally called the ‘Bluetongued Lizard’, or ‘Sleepy Lizard’.

asleep; to be in a state resembling that of a sleep¬ walker. Also fig. 1923 in Englische Studien (1935) LXX. 119 The heroine sleep-walks. 1954 Gramophone XXXI. 445 She sleep-walks noisily, but with dramatic vigour. 1976 E. O’Brien in New Yorker 16 Aug. 30/1 Every night Mrs. Reinhardt sleepwalked. 1981 I. McEwan Comfort of Strangers i. 18 She sleepwalked from moment to moment, and whole months slipped by without memory, without bearing the faintest imprint of her conscious will. 1982 Daily Tel. 21 Dec. 4/6 Mr Reagan .. accused Congress of ‘sleep-walking’ into the future.

'sleep-walker,

[sleep sb. 7.] One who walks while asleep; a somnambulist. 1747 Gentl. Mag. XVII. Index, Sleep-walker, strange action of. 1794 Sporting Mag. IV. 106 A Sleep-walker and Sleep-talker perambulated and muttered. 1833 Ht. Martineau Charmed Sea iii. 38 Your life is like the adventure of a sleep-walker. 1871 Napheys Prev. .] A button for fastening the loose sides of a wristband or cuff, esp. the cuff of a shirt-sleeve; a sleeve-link. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2203/4 Four Turky Stone SleeveButtons, sett in Gold, and Enamell’d. 1748 Anson's Voy. in. in- 393 His watch,. . snuff-box, sleeve-buttons and hat. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. vii, You are in a place where a man’s life has been taken for the sake of his gold sleeve-buttons. 1848 Marryat Little Savage (Rtldg.) 167 Having felt great inconvenience for want of sleeve-buttons to hold the wrist¬ bands of my shirt together. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abr. 245 Cuffs fastened with large oxydised silver sleevebuttons.

sleeved (slirvd), ppl. a. Also 5 slevid, 6 slieved, sleued, Sc. slewit. [f. sleeve v. or sb. Cf. OE. seslefed.] a. Fitted or provided with sleeves; having sleeves of a certain kind. See also long-, short-sleeved, etc. 01500 Chron. London (1905) 202 Which said ladyes rode vpon .. white palfrays in gownys of white Satyn slevid. 1555 Watreman Eardle of Facions I. iv. 48 Longe garmentes downe to the foote, slieved, and close rounde about. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 1367/1 Then I put on him a sleued coate of mine. 01700 Evelyn Diary 11 Jan. 1682, With leather socks... a rich scymeter, and large calico sleeved shirts. 1823 Southey Lett. (1856) III. 386 A sleeved waistcoat of washing-leather. 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xiv. 163 The same composition is repeated upon the sleeved jupon of the Earl. 1880 [A. J. Munby] Dorothy ill. 1895 In her russet-grey frock,.. Sleeved to the wrists, of course.

b. Fitted or covered with a sleeve or sleeves (in sense 7 of the sb.). 1905 Engineering Rev. XIII. 272/1 The Hyatt bearing has .. been successfully applied to sleeved axles, both in small

4

SLEEVEEN

687

cars and heavy ’buses and lorries. 1970 lS. Harvester’ Moscow Road i. 13 A stereophonic phonograph and two racks of sleeved discs. 1976 Gramophone June 51/3 The pressing is beautifully smooth, and the disc is attractively sleeved; the cover is a water colour of the composer by his son.

sleeveen ('sli:vi:n, slir'viin). Ir. and Newfoundland. Also sleiveen, slieveen. [ad. Ir. sltghbhtn, slibhin sly person, trickster.] An untrustworthy or cunning person. *834 S. Lover Legends & Stories of Ireland (Ser. 2) 295 How the man was chated by a sleeveen vagabone. 1888 W. B. Yeats Fairy fi? Folk Tales Irish Peasantry 220 In trust took he John’s lands, — Sleiveens were all his race. 1892 J. Barlow Irish Idylls viii. 215 He isn’t the slieveen to be playin’ fast and loose wid your dacint little slip of a girl. 1955 L. E. F. English Historic Newfoundland 36 Slieveen, a deceitful person, a 1966 ‘M. na Gopaleen’ Best of Myles (1968) 104 A thief, a fly-be-night, a sleeveen and a baucaghshool. 1973 G. Pinsent Rowdyman 42 Mr. Lowe told Will all about his friendship with our father and about how decent a fellow he was, but that Will had ‘the looks of a sleeveen about him’. Ibid. 53 Well, I took my eyes off him for a half a second and that sleeveen jabbed me in the gut with two hard fingers. 1975 D. O’Sullivan in D. Marcus Best Irish Short Stories (1977) II. 95 ‘O, the crabbed, conniving little sleeveen.’ ‘She’s up in London now, dancing in the Harp.’

slfeeve-fish. [Cf. sleeve sb. 5.] A fish of the family Loligo; esp. the common calamary or squid, Loligo vulgaris. 1611 Cotgr., Taute, a Calamarie, or sleeue-fish. 1710 Sibbald History of Fife 54, I have found these Crabs, we call Keavies, eating the Slieve-Fish greedily. 1820 T. Mitchell Aristoph. I. 127 On a table or dish. There shall lie a sleevefish. 1840 tr. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 340 The Sleeve-fish .. have in the back, instead of a shell, a horny lamina in the shape of a sword or lancet.

'sleeveful. rare-1. In 5 Sc. sleiffull. [f. sleeve 56.] The fill of a sleeve. C1475 Henryson Poems (S.T.S.) III. sleiffull of slak, pat growis in the slus.

151

With

ane

sleeveless ('sliivlis), a. [f. sleeve sb. + -less.] 1. Of a coat, jacket, or other garment: Having no sleeves; made without sleeves. C950 Rule St. Benet (Schroer) lv. 89 Haebban hy eac.. scapulare, paet is jehwaede cujelan and slyflease. ciooo ./Elfric Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 151 Colobium, slefleas scrud. C1430 Hoccleve New Cant. T. 56 Our lady clothid in a garnement Sleuelees, byfore him he sy appeere. 1532-3 Act 24 Hen. VIII, c. 13 To weare..in their dubieties and sleuelesse cotes, cloth of golde of tissue. 1562 Richmond. Wills (Surtees) 166 One sleveles coote of frees, a 1631 Donne Sat. iv. (1633) 338 Sleevelesse his jerkin was, and it had beene Velvet. 1687 Shadwell Tenth Sat. Juvenal 42 The Colour of the Mantle or Sleeveless Gown for the better sort was White. 1799 Cowper The Salad 23 Then baring both his arms—a sleeveless coat He girds. 1857 S. Osborn Quedah xxiv. 344 A red sleeveless waistcoat.. hung slack round his person. 1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths I. 65 One of those sleeveless, legless, circus-rider’s tunics.

2. fa. Of words, tales, answers, etc.: Futile, feeble; giving no information or satisfaction; irrelevant, trifling. Obs. Very common c 1570-1600, esp. in sleeveless answer. 1387-8 T. Usk Test, of Love 11. viii. (Skeat) 1. 77 A wyse man .. loketh and mesureth his goodnesse, not by slevelesse wordes of the people, but by sothfastnesse of conscience. c 1440 Jacob's Well 181 For summe, in schryfte, schal tarye pe preest wyth sleueles talys, pat no-thyng longyth to schryfte. 1524 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1822) V. 342 His Majesties awnswer unto such a sieveless messeage was [etc.]. 1546 St. Papers Hen. VIII, XI. 61 For youe knowe.. how long youe laye there, and coulde have no answere butt a sleveles answere. 1579 W. Fulke Conf. Sanders 706 Fie vppon this horrible idolatrie which is defended with such a sleueles excuse. 1600 Look About You D ij b, You sent Iacke Daw your sonne.. To tell a sleueles tale! 1650 Milton Eikon. (ed. 2) vi. 54 With no more but No, a sleevless reason, .. to be sent home frustrat and remediless. 1685 Reft. Baxter Pref. A 3 b, He moving a many sleeveless Questions, unseasonably, to ensnare him, and entangle him. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Sleeveless story, a Tale of a Tub, or of a Cock and a Bull.

b. Of errands: Ending in, or leading to, nothing; having no adequate result or cause. Very common c 1580-1700; sometimes used of pretended errands on which a person is sent merely to be out of the way for a time. 1546 Heywood Prov. (1867) 14 And one mornyng tymely he tooke in hande, To make to my house, a sleeueles errande. r577-87 Holinshed Chron. III. 284 So as all men might thinke that his prince made small account of him, to send him on such a slevelesse errand. 1603 Dekker Batchelors Banquet Wks. (Grosart) I. 214 Shee .. had of purpose sent them forth on sleeuelesse arrands. 1663 J. Spencer Prodigies (1665) 232 God never sent an Angel from Heaven upon a sleeveless errand. 1716 M. Davies Athen. Brit. II. 181 He was employ’d by Pope Alexander the third, upon a sleeveless Errand to convert the Sultan of Iconium. 1785 G. A. Bellamy Apol. (ed. 3) II. 165 He might have conveyed it to me in a letter; and not have brought me to town upon such a sleeveless errand. 1790- in dial, glossaries (Westm., Yorks., Suffolk, etc.), i860 Warter Sea-board II. 306 His whole life is but a slieveless [sic], useless, errand! 1931 L. Storm Dragon xvii. 293 I’d never have the courage like you .. to venture forth on what might be a sleeveless errand. 1948 Chambers’s Jrnl. 320/2 And, as soon as they were settled in, he had McGilchrist ride openly away, putting it about he was satisfied all the talk of whisky-’stilling was a pack of lies by ill-doing ones willing to give the King’s officer a sleeveless errand. 1959 I. & P- Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. iv. 58 In some [sc. schoolchildren’s tricks] he [sc. the dupe] is sent on sleeveless errands.

c. In general use: Paltry, petty, frivolous; vain or unprofitable. Obs. exc. arch, or dial. 1550 Bale Eng. Votaries 11. 106 Whan stryfes .. were risen betwen monkes and their bishoppes for sleuelesse matters. r657 Hawke Killing is M. 18 If we examine his Characters, Marks, and Scutchion of a Tyrant, which he would fasten on his Highness sleeve, we shall find them sleeveless, and altogether impertinent. 1673 Kirkman Uni. Citizen 208, I was arrested upon sleeveless and idle occasions, undeserved and unlookt for. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias viii. xi. f2 You may perceive, I have not entangled you in a sleeveless concern. 1821 Scott Fam. Lett. (1894) II. xvii. 111 He., had no honourable mode of avoiding the sleeveless quarrel fixed on him. 1867 Waugh Tattlin' Matty ii, He thinks o’ nought i’ th’ world but race-runnin’ an’ wrostlin’,.. an’ sich like sleeveless wark as that.

+ d. Of a suit: Made in vain; futile. Obs.-1 1600 S. Nicholson Acolastus 11. lxv, My suite was sleeueles, thy regard so colde, As if that I anothers tale had tolde.

3. dial. Of persons: Devoid of ability or character; shiftless, idle, incompetent. 1854- in dial, glossaries (Lane., Yorks., Northampton).

Hence 'sleevelessness. 1882 Sat. Rev. 25 Nov. 687/1 The good-natured sleevelessness of Irish landlords. 1890 Ibid. 5 July 3/2 His easy-going sleevelessness might have led to the ruin of the whole expedition.

sleevelet ('sliivlit). [f.

sleeve sb. + -let.] A small sleeve. Also, a detachable sleeve used to protect the ordinary one from dirt or wear, or to give additional warmth. 1889 John Bull 2 Mar. 150/1 Even the tiny sleevelets were edged with fur. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 28 Sept. 3/2 The narrow little open sleeve, with close-fitting sleevelets.

sleeven, var. of sliven ppl. a. 'sleever. local, Austral., and N.Z. (See quots. 1896, 1899.) Also, a measure of drink (usu. of beer) contained in a sleever. Cf. long-sleever s.v. long a.1 18. 1896 N.B. Daily Mail 7 Apr. 2 ‘The sleever,’ containing 13 fluid ounces, or 2 3~5ths gills, imperial measure, was another customary Welsh measure. 1899 N. & Q. Ser. ix. III. 8/1 A ‘sleever’ of beer.. contains about three-quarters of a pint. 1936 ‘R. Hyde’ Passport to Hell v. 89 Places where the police weren’t so quick off the mark if the landlord passed a few sleevers over the counter after six o’clock. 1941 Baker Diet. Austral. Slang 67 Sleever, a drink, esp. a large drink. 1970 ‘H. Carmichael’ Remote Control i. 8 ‘I haven’t got a glass with a handle so you’ll have to make do with a sleever.’.. She brought his beer. 1975 B. Meyrick Behind Light viii. 99 Herby used to nip up to the New Inn, buy a ‘sleever’ of beer and bring it back.

sleeve-silk:

see sleave-silk.

sleeving ('sliivn]), vbl. sb. [f. sleeve v.] 1. The action of the vb; the putting or fastening of sleeves to a garment. 1495-6 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 219 For new slevyng of vj awbis & for parelyng of iij. 1502 Privy Purse Exp. Eliz. of York (1630) 22 For upper bodyeng, sieving, and lynyng of a gowne of blake velvet. 1527 Dunmow Churchw. MS. 6 For sleuynge of an awbe.

2. Agric. A piece or ridge of ground on either side of a furrow. ? Obs. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 56 The Horses.. treading hard on the sleevings of the Stitch, causes the Ground to lie flat. 1759 - Pract. Farmer Gloss, s.v. Combing, Tho’ a little sharp Ridge, or Sleeving be left, yet in a Manure [? read manner], this is neat clean Ploughing.

SLEIGHING sleigh (slei), sb. Chiefly U.S. and Canada. Also 8 slay, sley. [Originally U.S., ad. Du. slee, contracted form of slede slead sb.] 1. A sledge constructed or used as a vehicle for passengers, usually drawn by one or more horses. 1703 S. Sewall Diary 11 Dec., Corps is brought to town in the governours slay. 1705 Ibid. 11 Jan., The governour and his lady essaying to come from Charlestown to Boston in their slay,.. his four horses fell in [to the water], and the two horses behind were drown’d. 1721 New Engl. Courant 25 Dec., They went to church in a sley. 1768 Francis Lett. (1901) I. 81 The Amusements among the Ladies .. is riding upon the snow in Sleighs, a kind of open coach upon a sledge, drawn by a pair of horses. 1805 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 31 The Canadian glows with delight in his sleigh and snow. 1838 Stephens Trav. Russia 70/1 An enormous sleigh, carved and profusely gilded, and containing a long table with cushioned seats on each side. 1878 Lady Brassey Voy. Sunbeam 18 At the summit we found basket-work sleighs, each constructed to hold two people, and attended by a couple of men, lashed together.

2. a. A sledge or sled employed transport of goods over ice or snow.

for the

1748 in Temple & Sheldon Hist, of Northfield, Mass. (1875) 259 The snow coming so soon after the river was froze.., and the river not strong enough to drive up provisions, that I was forced to have it carried upon Indian sleys. 1796 Morse Amer. Geogr. I. 493 Upwards of 1200 sleighs entered the city daily .., loaded with grain of various kinds, boards [etc.], a 1817 T. Dwight Trav. New Eng., etc. (1821) II. 208 The produce of these tracts is conveyed to market chiefly in sleighs. 1836 Backwoods of Canada 67 No better mode of transport than .. through the worst possible roads with a waggon or sleigh.

b. Mil. (See later quots.) 1797 Nelson 17 July in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 414 The Theseus to make a slay for dragging cannon. 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 663 Field artillery.. has also been transported by sleighs, as in Canada. The sleigh is a platform placed on runners 16 inches high and 3 feet broad. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Diet. 388/2 The term sleigh is also given to the carriage on which heavy guns are moved in store.

3. The bone of the upper jaw in a spermwhale. 1874 C. M. Scammon Marine Mammals N. Amer. viii. 75 Next to and above the bone of the upper jaw (which is termed the ‘coach’ or ‘sleigh’).

4. attrib. and Comb., as sleigh-dog, -man, -robe, -runner, etc.; sleigh-driving; sleigh bed N. Amer., a type of bed resembling a sleigh, having head- and footboards curving outwards; a French bed; sleigh-cutter (see cutter sb.2 3). 1902 F. C. Morse Furnit. of Olden Time iii. 77 Plainer bedsteads in this [French bed] style were made, veneered with mahogany, and they are sometimes called *sleigh beds, on account of their shape. 1950 W. Bird Nova Scotia iii. 87 Those who spend the night in the ancient bedrooms, perhaps sleeping on the great ‘sleigh bed’ that remains in one. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 14 Feb. 4/4 (Advt.), Antique Marketry Furniture, Ca. 1790, Dresser w/mirror, highboy, desk, two sleigh beds. 1846 J. Taylor Upper Canada 33 *Sleigh-cutters are a simple but elegant carriage, without wheels. 1806 Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) 72 My *sleigh dogs brought me ahead of all by one o’clock. 1884 S. E. Dawson Handbk. Canada 121 *Sleigh-driving, tobogganing, and skating are the pastimes of winter. 1884 Chambers's Jrnl. 5 Jan. 11/1 The *sleighman seats himself on one side of the sledge. 1747 Boston Gaz. 22 Dec., A pair of handsome *slay runners. 1824 Longf. in Life (1891) I. iii. 37 There was very little snow left beneath the sleighrunners.

sleigh (slei), v. Also 8 slay. [f. the sb.] intr. To travel or ride in a sleigh. Also with it.

3. A tubular covering for a cylindrical object, esp. of insulating material for an electric cable, etc.; material used for this purpose.

1728-9 S. Sewall Letter-bk. 11. 264 They waited there for convenient snow to slay it to Salem. 1868 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 375, I have been sleighing about to that extent, that I am sick of the sound of a sleigh-bell.

1923 Wireless World 12 May 168/2, \ lb. No. 20 tinned copper wire and a quantity of insulating sleeving of various colours. 1933 Electrician 10 Feb. 185/2 Woven sleevings, stockingettes or circular tapes of cotton or silk are varnished and used extensively for insulating wire connections of windings, radio sets,.. etc. 1978 SLR Camera Nov. 31/3 Should it prove to be undersize, the best policy will be to use suitable piece of thin-walled aluminium tube (available from model shops) as sleeving.

Hence 'sleigher, one who rides in or drives a sleigh.

sleezy, variant of

sleazy a.

sleft, ppl. a. rare. [f. sleave v.] fl. Slashed, cut. Obs.-1 1627 Drayton Agincourt cclxxix, Here a sleft shoulder, there a clouen scull.

2. sleft silky sleaved silk. 1752 tr. Gemelli-Careri s Voy. round World iv. 1. viii. (Churchill), Some being of a cane colour,.. others yellow, but soft as any sleft silk.

slegh,

obs. f. sly a.

1830 Southey in Q. Rev. XLII. 81 As much to the delight of the sleighers as to the annoyance.. of those who make their way on foot. 1874 Daily News 19 Jan. 5/5 The sleighers and the occupants of the carriages.

sleigh-bell,

[sleigh s6.] a. One of a number of small bells (see quot. 1859) attached to a sleigh or to the harness of a horse drawing it. CI780 in Amer. Poems (1793) I. 208 Mind and have the sleigh-bells sent. 1849 Longf. Kavanagh xxviii, The chiming sleigh-bells, beating as swift and merrily as the hearts of children. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. 414 Sleighbell, a small hollow ball, made of bell-metal, having a slit in it that passes half round its circumference, and containing a small, solid ball of a size not to escape. 1873 B. Harte Fiddletown 50 It was the sound of sleigh-bells.

b. Used for orchestral purposes. 1895 Army & Navy Stores List 1672 Sleigh Bells... Set of 12 on handle for Band or Orchestral use. 1898 Eng. Mechanic 8 July 481 ‘Sleigh-bells’ are generally strung on a wire in ring-form, and fitted with a handle.

sle3ly, obs. f. slyly adv.

sleght,

obs. f. SLEIGHT,

sleghte {pa. t.)\ slehliche, fsleided

see sletch v.

obs. variant of slyly adv. (also sleded), irreg. var. sleaved.

1597 Shaks. Lover's Compl. 48 She .. Found yet mo letters sadly pend in blood, With sleided silke.. enswath’d. 1608 -Pericles iv. Prol. 21 When they weaude the sleded silke With fingers long, small, white as milke.

c. sleigh-bell duck, the American black scoter. 1888 G. Trumbull Names of Birds 107 In the vicinity of Rangely Lake, Me., this bird is the Sleigh-bell Duck.

sleighing ('sleiuj), vbl. sb. [f.

sleigh sb. or v.] Riding in or driving a sleigh, esp. as a pastime; also, the state of the ground when this is possible. 1780 Hamilton Wks. (1886) VIII. 33 When the sleighing arrives, it will be an affair of two days up and two days down.

a 1817 T. Dwight Trav. New Eng., etc. (1821) II. 403 The inhabitants are rarely furnished with good sleighing. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 15/2 The weather being

SLEI3LY unusually mild. ., there was no sleighing. 1886 Manch. Exam. 8 Jan. 6/1 Some of the gentry in the West End have taken to sleighing. attrib. 1775 A. Burnaby Trav. 50 In the winter., it is usual to make what they call sleighing parties, or to go upon it in sledges. 1870 Daily News 22 Apr., Five pounds for what in Canada are known as ‘sleighing rights’.

slei3ly, obs. f. slyly adv. 'sleigh-ride, sb. Also sleighride, sleigh ride. 1. A ride in a sleigh. Also fig. 1770 J. Hiltzheimer Diary (1893) 2 Apr. 20 Took a sleigh ride, the ‘five mile round’, with wife, sister, and son Tommy. 1828 H. J. Finn et al. Whimwhams 22 Such worthy gentlemen happen to remember. . a winter’s breakfast at a country inn, after a sleigh-ride of ten miles for an appetite. 1849 Longf. Kavanagh xii, Last week we had a sleigh-ride, with six white horses. 1902 W. D. Hulbert Forest Neighbors (1903) 181 Not even a sleigh-ride on a winter’s night can set the live blood dancing as it will dance and tingle up there above the clouds. 1956 E. B. White Let. 14 Jan. (1976) 412, I am cheered up when I see our political giants discovering that the lil ole writing game isn’t quite the sleighride they like to think it is.

2. U.S. slang. The action of taking a narcotic drug, usu. cocaine; the euphoria resulting from taking a narcotic drug. Usu. in phr. to take (go on) a sleigh ride and varr. Cf. snow sb.1 5 d. 1925 Flynn's 4 Apr. 818/2 Sleigh-ride, a jab of morphine from a hypodermic syringe, or the resulting state of intoxication. 1928 M. C. Sharpe Chicago May xxxi. 286 Taking a sleigh ride, getting morphine. 1938 D. Castle Do your Own Time xxix. 251 ‘He took to going on sleigh rides.’ ‘No! Where the hell did he get the snow?’ 1942 Detective Fiction Apr. 56/2 Julio is very fond of his hop. Anything from the weed to a sniff of snow. Suppose he gets on a big sleigh ride and talks out of turn. 1963 ‘D. Shannon’ Death of Busybody iv. 52 It was just some dope out on a sleigh-ride.

3. U.S. slang. An implausible or false story; a hoax, a deliberate deception. Freq. in phr. to take (someone) for a sleigh ride, to mislead (someone). Cf. ride sb.1 1 f (a). 1931 G. Irwin Amer. Tramp & Underworld Slang 172 An absolutely impossible or unlikely idea or action, or.. the cheating or fleecing of a victim... ‘We gave him a sleigh ride’—we cheated him by a false story or by sharp practice. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §202/2 Incredible story, sleigh ride. 1950 Sun (Baltimore) 13 Mar. 1/1 House Republicans, charging that the taxpayers are being taken for a ‘bureaucratic sleighride’. i960 Wentworth & Flexner Diet. Amer. Slang 486/2 Sleighride, an instance of being cheated, believing a lie, or being taken advantage of. Almost always in the expression ‘taken for a sleighride’.

Hence as v. intr., (a) to ride in a sleigh; (b) to take a narcotic drug. Also 'sleigh-rider; 'sleigh¬ riding vbl. sb. 1807-8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 7 He recollects perfectly the time when young ladies used to go a sleigh¬ riding. .without their mammas. 1833 Knickerbocker I. 207 Arrived at the Plains, the sleigh riders stopped at a tavern. 1845 Judd Margaret ill. (1851) 377 In winter, we sleighride, coast, skate, snow-ball. i883 Wheelman (Boston, Mass.) I. 434, I was making my first trial of it [sc. a bicycle] in the snow, among the sleigh-riders. 1915 G. BronsonHoward God's Man vi. iii. 376 Whadda you been doing? -sleigh-riding? Stick to the long bamboo, Charley—that snow’s awful bad for the imagination. Ibid. vn. i. 409 Petty’s kind had been profitable ‘sleigh-riders’ when he provided ‘snow’ on Seventh Avenue. 1929 Detective Fiction Weekly 13 Apr. 599/1 He’s a sleigh rider. You know, sniffs coke. Made a fortune writing papers for booze hustlers and has spent every dime of it on snow. 1934 C. de Lenoir Hundredth Man i. 13 Sniffing heroin or cocaine is ‘sleigh¬ riding’. 1949 Summit Valley Times (Argo, Illinois) 1 Dec. 4/3 Santa, who now reigns the Christmas card realm, in 1919 managed to sleighride onto only a handful of cards for children. 1977 H. Waugh Secret Room of Morgate House (1978) xxxiv. 164 Between times they sleighrode, and even walked. 1982 j. Adair Founding Fathers xii. 267 The New Englanders adopted . . skating and sleigh-riding from their Dutch neighbours.

sleight (slait), sb.1 Forms: a. 3 sleahpe, 4 slei3pe, 4- 5 sle3J>e (sleghpe); 4 slyhpe, sly3th, sli3th; also 3 sleppe, 4 slipe, slythe, sleipe, sleype, 4-5 sleithe, sleyth(e. /3. 4-5 sle3t, sleghte, 4-7 sleght; 4 sleyhte, sleihte, 4-5 sley3te, slei3t, 4-6 sleyghte, sleighte, 4-7 sleyght, 4- sleight (5 slieght, 6 slaight); also 4-7 sleyte, 5 sleyt, 6 sleite. y. 4 sly3t, sli3t, slyghte, 5-6 slyght (6 slyht), 4-8 slight; Sc. 5- 6 slycht, slicht (6 slichte). [Early ME. slejp, ad. ON. slcegd (Icel. slaegd, Norw. slogd; MSw. slogdh, Sw. slojd sloyd sb.), f. slceg-r sly a. For the change of the final -p or -th to t cf. height. The three leading types of ME. and later forms are illustrated under some of the senses below, and the following are instances of the chief variations from each of these: — a. C1275 Lay. 23345 Mid sleppe he mot slakie lope his bendes. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 177 pey .. fitep wip sleipe and wip cauteles. Ibid. IV. 317 Naso.. techep slipe of love craft, a 1400 Gloss, in Rel. Ant. I. 6 Calliditas, a queyntyse or a slythe. c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) II. xlv. (1859) 51 By falshede, sleyth, and by extorcion. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 458/2 Sleythe, astucia. /3. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7151 Knyghtes pat conne of sleytes. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1650 Hypsipyle & Medea, Thour the sleyte of hire enchauntement. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 111 pis pout is sterid to him bi sleyt of pe fend. 14.. Promp. Parv. 64/1 (K.), Cavtele, or sleyte,.. cautela. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Warwick viii, Tooke the towne by sleyte. 1577 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 56 To marke withall Ulisses Sleites. 1621 Quarles Esther ii, Who playes a happy game with crafty sleyte.

688 y. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 488 He thoucht to virk with slicht. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 177 With subtilitee or slycht. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 160 Gif that he culd be slicht or 3k ingyne. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 295 Be sum slichte and quyet craft.]

1. Craft or cunning employed so as to deceive; deceitful, subtle, or wily dealing or policy; artifice, strategy, trickery. Now rare or Obs. In very common use down to the 17th cent., and frequently contrasted with strength, might, or force. a. c 1275 Lay. 17210 Hit was isaid wile, pat betere his sleahpe [v.r. liste] pane vuele strengpe. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4610 pe Bretons wist hit wel ynow, Bot of per sleigpe lystnep now. 1340-70 Alex. & Dind. 301 To faren in pe feld & fonde wip slyhpe For to refe pe brod of briddus of heuene. a 1400 Sir Degrev. 791 As wymmen conn mychel sly3th. /3. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8800 Strengpe ys god wyp trauaille; per strengpe ne may, sleyght wil availle; Sleyght & connyng dop many a chare. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 931 Dido. Whan troye brought was to distruccioun By grekis sleyghte. c 1440 York Myst. xxii. 88 Sen thy fadir may pe fende be sotill sleghte. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 377/2 How they myght by sleyght and deceyte.. falle on good crysten men. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 81 His kynsefolkes .. shoulde haue taken eyther by sleyghte or force as many of owre men. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis 11. (Arb.) 45 Thear sleight and stratagems had beene discoouered easlye. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, 103 By which Kind of Sleight rather then Stratageme the Towne of Dam was taken. 1650 Clarke Eccl. Hist. (1654) I. 44 The Devil striving against him with all the might and sleight that could be invented. 1841 Emerson Led., Conservative Wks. (Bohn) II. 270 Every interest did by right, or might, or sleight, get represented. y. 01400 Rom. Rose 3158 It preveth wonder welle, Thy slight and tresoun every deelle. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 13036 ‘Now,’ seyde he, ‘kythe 30ure slyght! Let se now 3©ure qwayntyse’. 1578 Timme Calvin on Gen. 297 Satan used his subtle slight to discredit the miracles wrought by God. 1596 Drayton Legends iv. 395 Much wrought they with their power, much with their slight. 1652 Urquhart Jewel Wks. (1834) 212 Who by hook and crook,.. slight and might, having feathered their neste to some purpose. 1699 Temple Hist. Eng. 565 He endeavoured to ward this Blow, by Slight rather than Force. 1712-4 Pope Rape Lock 11. 103 Some dire disaster, or by force, or slight.

f2. Prudence; wisdom, knowledge. Obs. a 1300 E.E. Psalter civ. 20 He lered his princes als him-self reght, And his aldemen teched sleght. C1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7697 pat wate he best thurgh wytt and sleght, What space pat way contened of heght. c 1400 tr. Seer eta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 55 Of his [a king’s] purueyance and his sleghte.

3. Skill, skilfulness, cleverness, or dexterity in doing or making something, in handling a tool or weapon, etc. Now rare. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 127 With gret sleihte Of werkmanschipe it was begrave. C1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) xxix. 131 pe whilk was made thurgh sleight and wirking of men. 1470-85 Malory Arthur xix. ix. 788 He.. put his ryght hand and his suerd to that stroke, and soo putte it on syde with grete sleyghte. 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. F viij, Tryflinge things, and things in dede of very slender sleight. 1581 Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. 1. (1586) 4 b, And as it is not possible without great labour and sleight to take awaie the false imagination [etc.], a 1668 Lassels Voy. Italy (1670) l. 215 To it they go, with great nimbleness, sleight, and discretion. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil n. iv, He manages with a sleight particular to himself. 1753-4 Richardson Grandison (1781) II. iv. 68 With what a sleight. . he pushed down my drawn sword. 1825 Scott Betrothed xix, I have already given you a proof of sleight which has alarmed even your experience, c 1855 Mrs. Moodie in Borthwick Brit. Amer. Reader (i860) 185 The squaw with a peculiar sleight threw her papoose over her shoulder. y. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1289 Deuised he pe vesselment, pe vestures clene, Wyth sly3t of his ciences, his souerayn to loue. C1400 Destr. Troy 10673 Mony wondit pat wegh .., And mony slogh .. with slight of his bowe. c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 137 On the syde a doore with slyght be-neyth shal thou take. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 350 Suche as are donne by the slight & arte of man. 1681 Chetham Angler's Vadem. xi. §1 (1689) in People stand and wonder at the slight, and strength, by which they see Salmons leap. 1786 Burns To a Haggis iii, His knife see Rustic-labour dight, An’ cut you up wi’ ready slight. 1821 Joanna Baillie Metr. Leg., Wallace xxx, As house-wife’s slight, so finely true, The lengthen’d thread from distaff drew.

sleight b. spec. Skill in jugglery or conjuring; sleight of hand. 1664 Butler Hud. 11. iii. 4 Lookers-on feel most delight, That least perceive a Juglers slight. 1850 S. Dobell Roman ii. Poet. Wks. (1875) 22 The juggler’s sleight, That with facility of motion cheats The eye. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 25 Soon he ’gan to use his magic sleight: Into a lithe leopard, and a hugging bear He turned him.

5. Adroitness, activity, smartness, nimbleness of mind, body, etc. In later use after or influenced by sleight of hand. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2084 Ariadne, Sende you grace and sleyght of hert also Yow to defende. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 167 He chastede pe Schytes pat my3te nou3t be overcome toforehonde by sleype of witte. 1398Barth. De P.R. xm. xxix. (Tollem. MS.), Also fische ben diuerse in scharpnesse of felynge and in slipe [1495 sleyghte] of wit. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 206 He has a foolish Slight of Wit, that catches at Words only, and lets the Sense go. 1744 Fielding Tumble-down Dick Wks. 1784 III. 402 Gin’s genius all these things reveals, Thou shalt perform, by slight of heels. 1829 Macaulay Misc. Writ, (i860) I. 353 A new sleight of tongue to make fools clap. 1865 Reader No. 123. 506/2 Hawking all his old wares, performing his sleight-of-mind. Comb. 1809-10 Coleridge Friend (1818) III. 114 Mere empty disputants, sleight-of-word Jugglers.

6. A cunning trick; an artful device or design; a piece of subtle dealing or policy, intended to deceive or mislead; an artifice, ruse, stratagem, or wile. Now rare. Common in the 16th and 17th cent. /3. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1181 Pride and pompe and covatyse, And vayn sleghtes, and qwayntyse. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 293 pei bryngen up newe sle^tis of covetise. c 1400 Love Bonavent. Mirr. (1908) 142 3if thou wilt knowe the sleites of the deuel and be not begiled with his false suggestiouns. c 1440 Jacob's Well 153 God takyth an othe after pe symple vnderstondyng, & no3t after wyles & sley3tes. 1545 Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 34 As Leo.. in his boke of sleightes of warre telleth. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. 11. 15 This is a prettie sleight to deceaue the Purueyor. 1606 Dekker Seven Sins 11. (Arb.) 19 He resolues therefore to make his entrance, not by the sword, but by some sleyght. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 230 The manner of guarding the Sea and the subtile sleights they made use of for that purpose. 1713 Swift Upon Himself Misc. (1735) V. 57 His watchful Friends preserve him by a Sleight. 1759 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 354 We are plain people, un¬ practised in the sleights and artifices of controversy. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. II. i. (1869) 13 A rare fellow.. of infinite sleights and evasions. 1875 E. White Life in Christ v. xxviii. (1878) 463 The feminine sleights of forgetting or over-laying the daily remembrance of the terrible fact. y. 1577 Harrison England 11. vi. (1877) 1. 161 Such slights also have the alewives for the utterance of this drinke. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 53 We haue found out a slight to hammer it to anie heresie whatsoeuer. 1623 Middleton More Dissemblers iv. i, Let your slights be fine, facetious. 1663 Butler Hud. 1. ii. 747 All thy tricks and slights to cheat, And sell thy Carrion for good Meat. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 68 A variety of slights, deceits, impostures,.. and depredations.

b. A feat of jugglery or legerdemain; a trick or action performed with great dexterity, esp. so quickly as to deceive the eye. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. ix. 13 For he in slights and iugling feates did flow, And of legierdemayne the mysteries did know. 1609 Bible (Douay) Exod. vii. comm., Other strange thinges done by enchanters .. are not in deede true miracles, but.. sleights, by quicknes and nimblenes of hand, called legier-demain. 1699 Garth Dispens. iii. 33 That Jugler which another’s Slight will show, But teaches how the World his own may know. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 145 Taking the largest Buds,.. with a very quick Slight before the Sap is dry, put them into a little Incision .. in the Bark. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 22 Sleights of art and feats of strength went round. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iii. iii. 158 The sleight of casting up a certain number of sharp instruments into the air, and catching them alternately in their fall. 1857 H. Reid Led. Brit. Poets iii. 108 A curious and elaborate representation of the sleights of alchemy. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 532 The various sleights [in card-tricks] above described.

fc. A design or pattern. Obs.~x 1590 Spenser F.Q. 1. vii. 30 Thereby his mortall blade full comely hong In yuory sheath, ycaru’d with curious slights.

b. Const, in or at (something). I535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 250 The Romanis .. in battell sic prattik had and slycht. ci6ii Chapman Iliad 11. 637 Thaumaciae,.. and Olison the cold, Duke Philoctetes gouerned, in darts of finest sleight. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ill. 102 As these Western men do bear away the Bell for might and sleight in wrastling. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Travels 1. 174 They have a wonderful slight in stealing. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 204 Not knowing the Slight he had at packing the Cards. 1803 Ann. Rev. I. 31 Docility to instruction, sleight in the mechanic arts. 1896 Dial. Notes (Amer.) I. 424 She had a good slight at hoein’.

4. The precise art or method, the special knack or trick, of (doing) something. Now dial. fAlso with other constructions. 01300 Cursor M. 6662 A tabernacle all for to dight, parof he sceud pam pe slight. 1547 Heywood Four P’s (Copland) Biij b, Ye knowe it is no whit my sleyghte To be a iudge in matters of wayghte. 1600 Holland Livy xxvm. xxxvii. 697 The Balears.. do exceed and surpasse others in the cast and slight thereof. 1607 Middleton Michaelmas Term 11. ii, ’Tis the slight, To be remember’d when you’re out of sight. 1642 Rogers Naaman 368 Get once the slight of it (as we say) and then halfe the worke is at an end. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 210 As Scriveners take more Pains to learn the slight Of making Knots, than all the Hands they write. 1861 Barr Poems 10 (E.D.D.), Weel doon, my lass!.. My word! Ye hae the slight o’t. 1882 Jamieson's Sc. Diet. s.v. Slicht, I hae the slicht o’t noo.

f sleight, sb.2 Obs. Forms: i sliht, slyht, -slseht, 1, 3 sleht, 3 slejht, slept, 4 sle3te, slei3t. [OE. slyht, etc. = slight (: — *sleahti), from the stem of slean (:—*sleahan) slay v.1 Cf. slaught s6.] Slaughter. C893 K. Alfred Oros. v. xi. 238 -/Egper ge on peoda forherjiunge, ge on cyninga slihtum, ge on hungre. a 1000 in Assmann Ags. Horn. xv. 177 Sume ic slaspende beswac,.. sume mid slehte & sume on some, c 1205 Lay. 2544 Bitweonen him araes.. sle3ht [C1275 slept] & muchel seorwa. Ibid. 3995 Swi6e heo was sari for sorehfulle pan slehte. c 1315 Shoreham iii. 245 Ofte pe mannes sle3te aryst, WTere man hy3t wenep wel lyte. 1330 Arth. & Merl. 6654 (Kolbing), per was miche slei3t of man.

sleight (sleit), sb.3 dial. Also 7 slaight, 9 slait, slate. [Of obscure origin.] A pasture, esp. one for sheep; chiefly in comb, sheep-sleight. 1670 Aubrey Introd. Surv. N. Wilts in Misc. (1714) 32 Anciently the Leghs (now corruptly call’d Slaights), i.e. pastures, were noble, large Grounds. 1813 Davis Agric. Wilts. Gloss, s.v. Sleighting, A sheep-down is frequently called a sheep-sleight. 1825- in south-western glossaries, etc. 1854 J^nl. P- Agric. Soc. XV. 11. 438 Much benefit is obtained by chalking those sheep sleights retained as permanent pastures.

SLEIGHT

689

t sleight, a. Obs. Forms: 5 sleyghte, 6 sleyght, slight, 6-7 sleight, [f. sleight sb. L Marked or characterized by subtle craft, cunning, or strategy; artful, crafty, wily. 1495 Treviso's Barth. De P.R. XIII. xxvi. 461 Some [fish] ben wonderly sleyghte [Bodl. MS. sly3e] and wyly to scape. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vi. cxlix. (1811)136 Gryffon hauynge suspeccion to y' Saxons,.. leste they wolde betraye hym,.. made for that tyme, a sleyght agrement. 1547 The Bk. of Marchauntes bvb, In their practyke they be sowple and sleight. 1583 Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. in. 113 The Enemy., went on with all the cunning and slight meanes that possibly coulde bee deuised.

2. Skilful, skilled; expert, clever. a IS13 Fabyan Chron. (1811) 3 To remytte to theym that ben sleyght And sharpe in lecture, and haue kept theyr studyes.

3. Of juggling, etc.: Dexterous, deceptive. More Atisw. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1098/2 Their false and abhominable blasphemous lyes vpon Chrystes woordes, .. their sleyght iuggelyng ouer the bread, c 1555 Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 81 Besides a crafty sleight legerdemaine, there concur two notable untruths. 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. A viij, Who .. at his hands coulde gayne A tallant by collusion and sleight ligerdemayne. 1634 Milton Comus 155 (Cambr. MS.), Thus I herle My powder’d spells into the spungie air, Of power to cheat the eye with sleight illusion. 1533

4. Comb., as sleight-eared, -handed. 1^67 Drant Horace, Ep. To Rdr. *iiij, Or if oure reader were not rather sleight earde, then cleareeyed. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche ix. clxx, There lay.. quick mutations, Sleight-handed Tricks, importunate Courtesies.

sleight, v. Now dial. [f. sleight sZ).1] fa. intr. To deal guilefully. Obs. b.trans. To deceive, beguile, cheat. 1530 Palsgr. 721/1, I sleyght with one, I deale craftelye or subtelly with hym. Ibid., Truste hym nat, he sleyghteth with every bodye he dealeth with. 1876 Robinson Whitby Gloss. 176/2 Sly ted, or Sleighted, cheated.

sleight, obs. form of slight sb., a., and v. t 'sleighter. Obs. rare. In 4 slei3ster, 6 slayhter. [f. sleight sb.2, after slaughter sb.] = slaughter sb. Also in comb, sleighterhouse. C1330 Arth. & Merlin 1879 (Kolbing), po Angys al pis slei3ster sei3e, Wij? al his mi3t anon he flei3e. 1585 Shuttleworth's Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 25 A grete roppe for the wyndlas in the slayhter housse.

t'sleightful, a. Obs. rare. Also 4 slyhtful, 5-6 Sc. slichtfull, etc. [f. sleight sb.*] Full of, characterized by, craft or artifice; crafty, cunning. 1380 Lay Folks Catech. (Lamb. MS.) 1220 J>ey be mysdoers, sotel, and slyhtful dysseyuers. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems lxvi. 7 The sweit abayd, the slichtfull trane, For to considder is ane pane. 1613-6 W. Browne Brit. Past. 11. iv, Wilde beasts forsooke their dens on woody hils, And sleightful otters left the purling rils.

Hence f 'sleightfully adv. Obs. rare.

SLENDER

t'sleightness. Obs. rare. In 6 sleyght-, slight-, [f. SLEIGHT sb.1 + -NESS.] Craftiness, adroitness, or subtlety of dealing or policy.

the sleighty words and cunning evasions of the deceitful spirits of this world. 1888 Doughty Arabia Deserta I. 74 Property, all of his own strong and sleighty getting.

1526 Pilgr. Pref. (W. de W. 1531) 90 b, Fraude, disceyte or sleyghtnes, periury,.. with suche other. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iv. (1577) Vvij, As occasion serueth wyth slightnesse to enter in fauour with hym. Ibid., Aristotle so well knew the nature of Alexander, and with slightnesse framed himselfe so wel therafter.

sleih, obs. f.

sleight of hand. Also sleight-of-hand, [sleight sb.1] 1. Dexterity or skill in using the hand or hands for any purpose; expertness in manipulation or manual action. [c 1400 Destr. Troy. 10306 Achilles .. flange at the knight, [and] Slough hym full slawthly with sleght of his hond. e. Ibid., Efter sleauj?e is uoryetinge. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 355 pey .. 3eueJ> hem alle to idelnesse and to sleuce. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 228 A grete vysage and broode tokenyth slewthe in manere, as Oxeen and Assis. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1749 Why er we J?us in sleuth sett? 1513 Douglas JEneid x. vi. 46 Than na delay of sleuth, nor feir, ne bost, Wythheld Turnus. 1529 Rastell Pastyme (1811) 77 Slewth, gloteny, and other

SLEUTH pleasurs. 1557 Paynell Jugurtha 92 There was neuer man whiche obtayned.. euerlastyng name by cowardise or sleuth. ci6oo Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 1560 Then let us remuve, And sleip nae mair in sleuth. 1629 Sir W. Mure True Crucifix 3113 Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 294 Not in the Bed of slouth Reposing.

b. As a ‘proper term’ (cf. sloth sb.1 3). i486 Bk.^St. Albans fvj, A Sleuth of Beeris.

2. Slowness, slow movement, rare_1. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 207 By pe sleuj?e of pe manere of tunes.

sleuth (slu:0), sb.2 Forms: 3-4 slojt, 4-5 sloth, 4 slotht, slog(t)h; 5 Sc. sloith, slouth, sluth(e, 5 Sc., 9 sleuth. [In sense 1 a. ON. (and Icel.) slo3 (Norw. slod, slo) track, trail. In sense 2 ellipt. for SLEUTH-HOUND.]

f 1. a. The track or trail of a person or animal; a definite track or path. Also fig. Obs. c 1200 Ormin 1194 3iff J?u.. foll3hesst a33 claennessess slop, & laeresst me to foll3henn. a 1300 Cursor M. 1254 In pat way sal pou find forsoth pi moders and mine our bather slogh [v.r. sloth]. Ibid. 1285, etc. 1375 Barbour Bruce vii. 44 Iohne of Lorn Persauit the hund the sleuth had lorn. 1429 in Cal. Doc. rel. Scot. (1888) IV. 404 Gif onny man., makking lauchful sluthe as the trewis wil, be slayne. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 137 The sloith stoppyt, at Fawdoun still scho [5c. the dog] stude.

b. attrib., as sleuth-dog, etc. £•1470 Henry Wallace v. 96 Bot this sloth brache [w.r. sluth ratche].. On Wallace fute folowit so felloune fast. 1802 Surtees Fray Suport ix. in Scott Minstrelsy, Lang Aicky .. Wi’ his sleuth-dog sits in his watch right sure. 1822 Scott Peveril xli, The sleuth-dog, which, eager, fierce, and clamorous in pursuit of his prey, desists from it so soon as blood is sprinkled upon his path.

2. a. A bloodhound. Hence sleuth-like adj. b. orig. U.S. A detective. Also transf. 1872 N. Y. Fireside Compan. 13 May 4/3 The name of the story is Sleuth, the Detective and a more remarkable and thrilling story has seldom ever been written. 1876 N. Amer. Rev. CXXIII. 371 The quiet, untiring sluth-like assiduity with which Mr. Silden was ferreting out their wrong¬ doings. 1904 ‘O. Henry’ Cabbages & Kings iv. 73 Goodwin followed at increased speed, but without any of the artful tactics that are so dear to the heart of the sleuth. 1907 Black Cat June 11 The sleuths whose protection he had invoked. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 2/3 The ‘sleuth’ that tracks down the murderer. 1949 Manch. Guardian Weekly 22 Dec. 2/3 A school of newspaper sleuths who attributed every declaration of American foreign policy to the hidden hand of George Kennan. 1958 ‘J. Byrom’ Or be he Dead v. 69, I gather you have Miss Canning as your assistant sleuth. 1979 Oxf. jfrnl. 16 Nov. 1 (caption) Amateur sleuths Gordon Murray and Jane Lawton... Their investigations launched a top-level probe into an Oxford business.

t sleuth, a.1 Sc. Obs. rare. Also 7 slueth. [irreg. f. sleuth sft.1] Slothful, slow. 1567 Gude a3 he hit do sleuuolliche. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P R. v. iii. (Tollem. MS.), Bestis pat haue to gret brayne ben ful slewful.

slewing vbl. sb.': see slew sb.4 slewing, vbl. sb.2 [f. slew v.] 1. gen. In senses of the verb. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2207 Slewing, in serving land artillery, turning the piece on the spot where it stands, equivalent to training on shipboard. 1892 Pall Mall G. 27 July 5/2 The railway disaster.. was brought about by the slewing of the up line.

2. spec. The response of a control mechanism or electronic device to a sudden large increase in input, esp. one that causes the device to respond at its maximum rate (the slewing rate or speed). Usu. attrib. 1958 O. J. M. Smith Feedback Control Systems vii. 201 The infrequent large-magnitude changes of the average input to a servo produce slewing of the output at maximum velocity. 1962 R. N. Clark Introd. Automatic Control Systems vii. 270 The large signal (or slewing speed) response characteristics of a system. 1975 G. J. King Audio Handbk. ii. 47 The maximum frequency at which full power can be obtained is a function of the amplifier’s slewing rate, which is different from rise time.

slew-rope. Naut. Also slue-, [f. slew v.} rope used in slewing an object.

A

1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Slue-Rope, a rope peculiarly applied for turning a spar or other object in a required direction. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 64 Put two slue-ropes round the masts.

slewth, var. sleuth. sley, var. slay sb.1-, obs. f. slay v., sleigh sb., sly a.

sleyh, obs. f. sly a. sleyre, var. skleir Obs. sleythe, obs. f. sleight sb.1 sli, var. slike a. (such), sly a. f slibber-sauce. Obs. Also 7 sliber-. [? f. older Flem. slibber (Kilian), slime, ooze, = MDu. slibbe, Du. slib; LG. slibb(e: cf. slibbery a. The relation to sibber-sauce and slabber-sauce is not clear.] 1. A compound or concoction of a messy, repulsive, or nauseous character, used esp. for medicinal purposes. 1527 Tindale Parab. Wicked Mammon Wks. 65/1 His stomacke .. longyng after slibbersause and swashe, at which a whole stomacke is readye to cast hys gorge. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 116, I loath almost to thincke on . . all their slibber sawces, whiche bring quesinesse to the stomacke. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 423 Oftentimes also they make sliber-sauces of it selfe without any other mixture, a 1656 Ussher Ann. (1658) 288 [He] was but a weak spirited man, .. by such slibber-sauces, and drugs as Olympias had procured to be given him.

of this

slice (slais), sb.1 Forms: a. 4 sclyce, 5 sclice; 4, 7 sclise, 5 sclys(e, 6 Sc. sclyise; 5-6 sklyce, sklyse (6 -ss), 5, 7 sklice, 6-7 sklise. /9. 5-7 slyce (6 slyese), 6 slise, 5- slice, [ad. OF. esclice, esclisse (mod.F. eclisse) splinter, shiver, small piece (of wood, etc.), vbl. sb. f. esclicer: see slice z;.1] 1. f 1. A fragment, a shiver, a splinter. Obs. 13.. K. Alis. 3833 (Laud MS.), Hij braken speres alto slice [v.r. sclyces]. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vm. xxxi. 5153 A sklysse of pe schaft, pat brak, In til his hande a wounde can mak. 1577-87 Holinshed Chron., Hist. Scotl. I. 278/1 This worthie prince James the second was slaine by the slice of a great peece of artillerie, which by ouercharging chanced to breake. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 102 At last in Paris, standing besyd a singular combatt, [the duke] is slane with a sklyse of a speir.

2. a. A relatively thin, flat, broad piece cut from anything. Freq. const, of or from. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 48 In horn pou cast With sklices of bacon. 15.. Christ's Kirk 133 in Bonn. MS. 286 Fra his thowme thay dang a sklyss. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 752 If it be a wound hee healeth it after the same manner, applying a round slice of Beauers stones. 1700 Dryden Ovid's Met., Baucis & Phil. 65 High o’er the hearth a chine of bacon hung; Good old Philemon seiz’d it.., Then cut a slice. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Veneering, The Wood intended for Veneering, is first saw’d out into Slices, or Leaves about a Line thick. 1811 Knox & Jebb Corr. II. 42 Having . . taken a slice off my right thumb, whilst pruning a rose tree. 1859 W. S. Coleman Woodland, Heaths at alle .. wenep pat pu segge sop. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 351 For so wel can ther noman slyke. Ibid. 365 He can so wel hise wordes slyke To putte awey suspecioun.

fb. To flatter, treat pleasantly. Obs. c 1250 Long Life 43 in O.E. Misc. 158 3ef pe world wiS weole pe slikeS ]?at is for to do pe wo.

3. To make (the skin, hair, etc.) sleek or glossy, esp. by some special treatment. a 1300 Cursor M. 28026 Yee leuedis .. Quen yee yow-self sua slight and slike, Yee sai pat men you wille besuike. 1377 Langl. P. PL B. 11. 98 To sitten and soupen..Tyl sleuth and slepe slyken his sides. 1555 Watreman Fardle of Facions 11. viii. 181 No face painted, no skinned slicked, no countrefeicte countenaunce. C1570 [Jefferies] Bugbears 1. iii, He is coombed and slicked and wasshed. 1593 Munday Def. Contraries 21 Oftentimes they.. rub, slick, chafe and washe themselues, only to seeme faire. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Kt. Burning Pestle 11. iii, A gentle Squire.. Who will our Palfries slick with wisps of straw. 1620-6 Quarles Feast for Wormes 1089 He.. Stayes not to bathe his weather-beaten ioynts, Nor smooth’d his countenance, nor slick’t his skinne. 1838 Holloway Prov. Diet., To slick, to comb, or make sleek, the hair. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) I. xiii. 98 Slicks down his long hair, and rubs his oiled limbs to a polish. absol. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. Epil., They neuer stande content,.. But paint and slicke til fayrest face be foule.

4. colloq. (See quot.) i860 Slang Diet. 218 Slick,.. as a verb,.. has the force of ‘to despatch rapidly’, turn off, get done with a thing.

slicked (slikt), ppl. a. [f. slick a.] a. In various senses of the vb. Also with back, down. 1594 O. B. Quest. Profit. Concern. M j b, These Boare pigs and Beare whelpes,.. for all their slickt coates and smooth tongues, vnderstand not what courteous behauiour and gentle deeds meane. 1629 Z. Boyd Last Battell 952 A slicked tongue and a slacke hand keepe other companie. 1674 Cotton Compl. Gamester (1680) 85 The rest.. will slip off from the slickt Card. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4067/8 Lost.., a yellow coloured slick’d Greyhound Bitch. 1921 E.

O’Neill Diffrent 1, in Emperor Jones 215 His hair [is] wet and slicked in a part. 1937 A. Christie Murder in Mews 163 It was the good-looking young man with the slicked-back hair who had spoken. 1949 E. de Mauny Huntsman in his Career 11. 128 There was dandruff on the collar from his slicked-back, fair hair. 1964 Economist 20 June 1365/2 Mr McNamara’s slicked-down patent leather hair. 1975 B. Garfield Death Sentence (1976) xi. 57 Latins, with slicked hair. 1976 N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone iv. 86 He had a distinctly Arabic look about him, slicked-down black hair. 1977 Listener 17 Nov. 653/2 People with slicked-back hair .. jitter-bugging round the radio.

b. With up: dressed up, smart, elegant; also fig., made more sophisticated, orig. U.S. 1836 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 133 Now this grand house has only two rooms down stairs, that are altogether slicked up and finished off complete. 1867 Atlantic Monthly Jan. 109/2 Is this my farm?... It looks more slicked up than ever it used to. 1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song 1. xi. 81 Montpellier Square.. was all slicked up since he was last there. .. Builders and decorators must have done well lately. 1957 R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy xi. 276 The new-style popular publications.. are pallid but slicked-up extensions even of nineteenth-century sensationalism. 1979 Tucson Mag. Apr. 34/1 In the same wave came.. the new City Hall and the slicked-up El Presidio Park.

'slicken, v. rare.

[f. slick a. + -en5.] trans. To

make smooth or polished. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. 442 The Eban stone which Goldsmiths vse to slicken their gold with. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 15 A Band.. Starched, Slickened and Smoothed by the care of the Landress. Ibid. 292 A Shooemakers polishing stick .. is that wherewith they polish and slicken their Leather. 1893-4 Heslop Northumbld. Gloss., Slickened, polished. Used to describe the appearance found on the planes of bedding where a fault in the strata has occurred.

slickens ('slikins). U.S. [? f.

slick s£>.2]

(See

quots.) 1882 Cent. Mag. XXV. 337 It is the lighter soils of the hydraulic mines and the pulverized matter from the quartzmills of the mining region which constitute ‘slickens’. 1894 New York Tribune 1 Feb. 1/3 All of this [500 acres] will be covered with ‘slickens’, washings from the mines in the mountains, and thus be rendered valueless.

slickenside ('slik(3)nsaid). Also -sides, [f. dial. slicken, var. of SLICK a. + side si.1] 1. Min. A specular variety of galena found in Derbyshire. 1768 Mettam in Whitehurst Formation of Earth (1778) 188, I send you, by the bearer, two specimens of our slickensides, containing all the variety of minerals where the explosions happen. 1789 J. Pilkington Derbyshire I. 195 Slickenside with a smooth surface on each side... The crackling and explosions caused by scraping these slickensides with a pick-ax are well known. 1810 Millar J. Williams' Min. Kingdom II. App. 448 Slickenside, which is a variety of galena, or sulphuret of lead, is also a product of these [Derbyshire] mines. 1850 Ansted Elem. Geol., Min. etc. Gloss., Slickensides,.. one of the ores of lead found in Derbyshire.

2. Geol. A polished (and sometimes striated) surface on the wall of a mineral lode, or on a line of fracture in a rock-mass; a smooth glistening surface produced by pressure and friction. 1822 Conybeare & Phillips Geol. Eng. G? Wales 401 These planes, when separated, are the slickensides of the mineralogist. 1859 R. Hunt Guide Mus. Pract. Geol. (ed. 2) 164 The Slickensides evidently point to some sliding or grinding motion in the mass constituting the lode. 1880 Nature XXI. 459 A kind of universal slickenside, consequent upon the crushing of a rock consisting of thin laminae of different texture. attrib. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. 1. xxxiv. 462 The direction of these joints (many of which have slickenside surfaces). 1884 Nature 13 Nov. 35 Parallel with the slickenside-lines. 1888 Prestwich Geol. II. 134 Extreme lateral pressure, the result of which is the formation of slickenside surfaces, often strongly striated.

Hence 'slickensided ppl. a. 'slickensiding vbl. sb.

and pa. pple.\

1875 Dawson Dawn of Life ii. 32 This graphite is composed of contorted and slickensided laminae. 1883 Science I. 191/2 A roof of slickensided ‘soapstone’. 1884 Geol. Mag. 553 The dissolution being unequal, caused bosses to be left standing up, which were then ‘slickensided’ by the downward movement of the chalk. Ibid. 552 This movement would be. . amply sufficient to account for the slickensiding observed.

slicker ('slik3(r)). [f. slick a. or v.] 1. a. A tool used for scraping or smoothing leather. (Cf. sleeker.) 1851-3 Tomlinson Cycl. Arts & Manuf. (1867) II. 34/1 The cylinder drags the hide under the governor, which acts similarly to a slicker, i860 - Arts & Manuf. Ser. 11. Leather 20 It is.. well rubbed with a smooth lump of glass called a ‘slicker’. 1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 277 The hides are ‘whitened’ by scraping them with a whitening slicker. b. A tool used for smoothing the surfaces of moulds in founding. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2208/1.

2. orig. and chiefly U.S. A waterproof overcoat; spec, a loose-fitting oilskin outer garment, usu. of a bright yellow or orange colour. 1884 Harper's Mag. July 300/1 Carry, .a rubber pillow, and a ‘slicker’. 1888 Home Missionary (N.Y.) May 14, I put on my thick overcoat, then a duster, and over them my slicker. 1910 C. E. Mulford Hopalong Cassidy xx. 126 After throwing his saddle on his horse he went back to the house to get his ‘slicker’, a yellow water-proof coat. 1953 M. Peake Mr Pye xxii. 176 Tintagieu.. now wore a black oilskin

slicker. 1971 N.Z. Listener 19 Apr. 56/5 One was a nuggety bloke in a sou’-wester, oilskin slicker, and bowyangs. 1978 R. Ludlum Holer oft Covenant iii. 43 Police and maintenance crews were everywhere, distinguished from one another by the contrasting black and orange of their slickers. .

3. = city slicker s.v. city 9. orig. and chiefly U.S. 1900 ‘J. Flynt’ Notes Itinerant Policeman iii. 62 Pick¬ pockets! .. You just bring the slickers in. 1932 J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan vi. 230 Swan, the slicker, who wore a tout’s gray checked suit with narrow-cuffed trousers [etc.]. 1936 Sat. Morning Advertiser (Durant, Okla.) 14 Mar. 1/3 {heading) ‘Slicker’ insurance agents better be a bit wary now. 1946 Wodehouse Money in Bank xii. 106 I’m going to put it across that slicker.. if it’s the last thing I do. 1978 Morecambe Guardian 14 Mar. 15/4 He becomes a sort of Midnight Cowboy, lost and confused by the slickers around him.

4. U.S. = SILVER-FISH 2. 1902 L. O. Howard Insect Bk. 380 (Order Thysanura.) The insects of this order are usually of very small size... They comprise the little insects known as springtails, bristletails, fishmoths or slickers. 1962 Metcalf & Flint Destructive & Useful Insects (ed. 4) xix. 905 The silverfish or slicker .. is uniform, silvery or greenish gray.

Hence as vb. trans., to cheat; to defeat by being ‘slick’. 1935 H. Davis Honey in Horn xxii. 376 His entertainment had mostly been swindling and slickering them. 1971 Laver & Collins Educ. Tennis Player xiii. 157 It happens all the time, an older, less powerful team who understand the principles of doubles slickering a couple of youths who might be considerably superior in singles. 1974 Tel. (Brisbane) 4 Sept. 30/4, I thrive on guys who try to slicker me. 1979 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 16 May 41/8 What was it Charlie had said about being slickered?

slickered (‘slikad), a. U.S. [f. slicker sb.2 + -ed2.] Wearing a slicker. 1972 C. L. Cooper Black 151,1 could see .. slickered cops smoking on duty. 1975 New Yorker 10 Mar. 29/1 About twelve horses on the track, a few running hard, their slickered riders standing tall in the stirrups.

slicking ('slikii)), vbl. sb. [f. slick v.] 1. a. The action of making sleek or smooth, etc. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 27 By crafty sliking they make the same Fustions to appere to the comen people fyne, hole and sounde. 1600 Abbot Jonah 592 Are there not which take more care of their slicking and of their platting, then of the Kingdom of Heaven? 1636 Lyly's Euphues Fiij, I loath almost to thinke on .. the sliking of their faces. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2192/1 The size is flour-paste,.. and the operation on the rope is called snugging, slicking, or finishing. attrib. 1588 Churchyard in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. (1823) II. 595 As it were rubde and smoothde with slickingstone. 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Ant. Gloss., A shoemaker talks about slicking the soles of his shoes with a slicking stick. 1896 Archseol. Jrnl. L111. 46 Thumb-flints, or slicking-knives, also occur.

b. spec.

In hat-making: (see quot.).

1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2208/2 Slicking,.. the attaching of the fur nap to the felt body.

2. With up: the action of making (oneself, a place, etc.) neat and tidy. U.S. colloq. 1855 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. VI. 495 The farm needs a good deal of slicking up to make the general appearance equal to what nature has done for the land. 1907 Springfield (Mass.) Weekly Republ. 9 May 1 Denver has been having her period of spring slicking up.

3. Mining. In pi.

Narrow veins of ore.

1843 J. Y. Watson Compend. Brit. Mining 81.

slickly ('shkli), adv. Also 6 slickely. [f. slick a. + -LY2.] 1. Sleekly, smoothly, rare. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 93 Let their heads bee slickely comb’d. 1973 Daily Tel. 11 Jan. 17/1 Walter Albini likes to see his male models with their hair oiled slickly down like George Raft’s.

2. Cleverly, deftly. 1893 Daily News 14 Apr. 2/2 Look . . how slickly they are painted, with what knowledge and skill. 1927 Daily Tel. 16 Aug. 12/5 The play .. needs to be more slickly produced and better acted in order to be made convincing. 1978 K. Royce Satan Touch vi. 99 Slickly he turned his hand down to indicate the chair.

slickness ('sliknis). [f. slick a. + -ness.] 1. Smoothness, rare. 1667 Phil. Trans. II. 482 Some of which [stones, Calculi] were so bestow’d as to slide upon others, and had thereby worn their flats to a wonderfull slikness. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 28 June 3-A/1 It’s a three-quarter ton pickup with skid-trailer, painted the bright orange of the Montana Highway Department. It tests the slickness of the road surface.

2. Smartness. 1872 Daily News 5 Aug., I know not whether the uniform .. gives him a greater appearance of what in the North is called ‘slickness’.

3. Dexterity, cleverness. Now freq. derog. 1895 Daily News 5 June 7/2 A,mere sketch, it is true, but with all his slickness and deftness of execution. 1899 Ibid. 22 Apr. 9/4 The slickness of the painting.. is quite admirable. 1927 Music & Letters July 321 Pure artistry may decline to a mere slickness and facility. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage iv. 112 Anything cheap, shoddy, shallow or clever to a degree of slickness, is out of place.

slickster ('slikst9(r)). U.S. slang, [f. slick sb.1 + -ster.] A swindler. 1965 C. Brown Manchild in Promised Land xiv. 332 All the Muslims now felt as though 125th Street was theirs. It used to belong to the hustlers and the slicksters. 1973 [see run v. 52h].

•v

SLICKSTONE

697

'slickstone. Now rare. Also 4, 6 slike-, 5 slyk-, 6 slycke-. [f. slick v. Cf. ON. slikisteinn (Ncrw. slikjestein).] = sleekstone. CI325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 172 A slikestone. c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 158 W[oman] oft with slikeston slikyth. 14.. Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wulcker 563 Amethony a slykston. Ibid. 593 Litatorium, a slykston. 1530 Palsgr. 271 Slyckestone, lisse a papier. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 15 Their shooes shined as bright as a slike-stone. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes 75 Shining as parchment dyed green, and slickt with a slick-stone. 1674 Cotton Compl. Gamester (1680) 85 Some have a way to slick with a Slick-stone all the Honours very smooth, c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. x. §96 A large smooth shining Gowry, which is used for a Polish or Slick-stone. 1771 Mrs. Haywood New Present for Maid 267 Smooth them [ribands] with a glass slick-stone. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs (1821) 242 Slick Stones, the 100—£o 8s. od. 1893-4 Heslop Northumbld. Gloss, s.v., Slickstones were sometimes made with a stalk or handle. 1895 Stand. Diet., Slickstone,.. Archeol., a pre-historic stone implement used in preparing skins.

slick-worm. Sc. (See quot. and cf.

sleck sb.) Statist. Acc. Scotland XVII. 469 This brook has a rich muddy bottom, in which there is plenty of slick-worm (a species of food which the trout peculiarly delight in). 1796

slid, sb.

Now rare. Also 6 slidd, slydd-. [Obscurely related to sled sb. or slide u.] A device by which something may be slid along the ground; a sled or sledge; a skid. ISI3 Life Henry V (Kingsford) ill A slidd laden with greate stakes and with other greate peeces of greene wood. 1519 Horman Vulgaria 244b, This house may be remoued with trocles, & slyddis. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes nz If they pave the waies, between the Canes, for the Slids and Assinigoes to passe. 1788 Trans. Soc. Arts VI. 203 The advantages of the high wheels, and troughs or slids, over common wheels. Ibid. 207 The troughs or slids which accompany the Carriage, are to be placed under the wheels. 1904 Dundee Advertiser 15 Aug. 6 The hay ‘slipes’ or ‘slids’ for shifting the coles or ricks to the shed.

b. ? A load sufficient for a sled. Archit. Soc. Diet, s.v., Thirty-four pollards produced a slid, and an average slid produced 13 faggots, or about 7J slids to a hundred faggots. 1887

slid, a. Sc. Also

6 slide, slydfe. [Related to slide

«•]

1. Slippery. Pal. Hon. hi. ii, Ane passage.. Hewin in the roche of slid hard marbell stone. 1513- JEneid vn. vii. 29 Full slyde scho slyppis hir membris our allquhayr. 17 .. Ramsay Betty & Kate iii. On a slid stane, or smoother slate. 1737-Sc. Prov. (1750) 37 He has a slid grip that has an eel by the tail. 1808 Jamieson, Slid ice, ice that is glib. 1850 Struthers Poet. Wks. II. 239 The brawling burn We ploutered aft, slid eels to snare. 1899- in Eng. Dial. Diet. 1501 Douglas

2. fig. a. Mutable, changeable, uncertain. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. 1. lv, The slide inconstant destenie or chance. Ibid. in. lxxviii, This warldis glorie, Maist inconstant, maist slid and transitorie.

b. Smooth, polished, sleek, sly. 1719 Ramsay Ep. J. Arbuckle 50 Something sae auldfarran, Sae slid, sae unconstrain’d and darin. 1721Poems Gloss, s.v., He’s a slid lown. 1725-Gentle Sheph. 1. i, Ye have sae saft a voice, and slid a tongue. 1896 in Eng. Dial. Diet.

slid, ppl. a. [f.

slide ».] Uttered with a kind of

sliding tone. 1898 Kipling Day's Work 320 It was the unreproducible slid r, as he said this was his ‘fy-ist’ visit to England, that told me he was a New Yorker.

’Slid, int. Obs. exc. arch. Also 7 slydd. [abbrev. of God's lid (eyelid): see god sb. 14 a.] A form of oath, common in the 17th century. Merry W. ill. iv. 24 lie make a shaft or a bolt on’t, slid, tis but venturing. 1606 Sir G. Goosecappe 1. ii, Slydd there’s not one of them truely emphaticall. 1650 Cowley Guardian 11. ii, Here’s company; ’slid I’ll fight then. 1689 Dial. betw. Timothy & Titus 6 Slid! this is insufferable. 1855 Kingsley Westui. Ho! iii, ’Slid, it seems half a life that I’ve been away. 1598 Shaks.

slidable,

SLIDE

sclydyr, sklyder. [OE. slidor, f. slid- weak grade of slidan slide v.] A. adj. 1. Slippery; on which one readily slips. Also as quasi-s/>. (quot. 1501). a 1000 Runic Poem 29 Is byp oferceald, unjemetum slidor. c 1280 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 168 be oper was pat heo [a bridge] was so slider, pat me ne scholde per on no3t gon. CI303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5260 \>t plank pat on pe brygge was, was as sledyr as any glas. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 63 Somme may nou3t clymbe on pe hilles, pe wey is so slider, c 1440 Promp. Pare. 459/1 Slydyr (or swypyr as a wey), lubricus. 1483 Cath. Angl. 322/2 Sclidere (A. Sclydyr), labilis. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. lv, Thay na grippis thair micht hald for slidder. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1840, I trowe it be a frost, for the way is slydder. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform, xxi. 31 Clyde banks .. thay sail find slidder, Quhen kindlit is Gods ire.

b. fig. or in fig. context. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) xxxiv. 7 Syn heora wejas pystre and slidore. c 1250 Ouil Sf Night. 956 pu schalt falle, pi wey is slider. £1400 26 Pol. Poems 22 He wol the lede in wayes slidre. 1533 J. Heywood Mery Play 296 The way to heven is very slydder.

c. fig. From which one may easily slip or fall; uncertain, mutable. c 1480 Henryson Fables, Wolf & Wether xxii, Bewar in welth, for hall benkis ar richt slidder. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 4977 Sen je .. Hes causit me for to consydder Quhow warldlye Pompe and glore bene slydder. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 151 Oft tymes thay find that seit most slidder That they haue keipit in the kingis menoritie.

2. Inclined to slip or fall. rare. 1388 Wyclif Lam. iv. 18 Oure steppis weren slidir in the weie of oure stretis. a 1500 in Ratis Raving 103 Men suld considyr That womenis honore is tendyr & slydder.

3. Of a smooth or slippery nature. 1388 Wyclif Prov. xxvi. 28 A slidir mouth worchith fallyngis. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxxviii. (Bodl. MS.), 3if he were slider and smo^e within by slidernes mete schuld passe oute. Ibid. xi. ii. (Tollem. MS.), Eyer [air] is of slider kynde, and perfore he entrej? and comeh in to dennes of pe erj>e. 1686 G. Stuart Joco-ser. Disc. 20 My Tongue is grown sae slip and slidder.

B. adv.

In a sliding or unstable manner.

a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. Iii. 149 Mony folk slod to helle slider. C1400 26 Pol. Poems iv. 7 And hem-self stoden so slydere. c 1430 Hymns Virgin (1867) 49 In heuen blis 3e stooden full slidir.

('slid3(r)), v. Now dial. Forms: 1 slid(e)rian, 5 slideren, slyder(yn), slydre, slidre; 3 sliddren, 7- slidder, 9 Sc. scl-, sklidder. [OE. slid(e)rian, = MDu. slid(e)ren, slidderen, LG. sliddern, G. schlittern, a frequentative from slid-, the weak grade of slidan slide v.] 1. intr. To slide, to slip. slidder

For variations of sense see the Eng. Dial. Diet. c897 K. /Elfred Gregory's Past. C. xxxviii. 276 (Cotton MS.), Donne hie on monijfaldum wordum slidriaS. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) xvii. 35 Mine fet ne slideredon. Ibid. xxxvii. 16 5if hy geseon past mine fet slidrien. 14.. Langland's P. PI. A. v. 113 (Univ. Coll. MS.), I mai it not trowe pat he ne schulde slideren heron, so was [it] pred bare. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 7119 Yiff they slydre, or falle doun, Thys Emperesse .. doth hem releue. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 4152 So hard thei smote than to-gedre, Out of here sadils thei gan to slidre. C1440 Promp. Parv. 459 Slyderyn (K. slidyn). 1697 Dryden JEneid 11. 751 With that he dragg’d the trembling Sire, Slidd’ring through clotter’d Blood, and holy Mire. 1720 Pope Iliad xxi. 267 His feet, upborn, scarce the strong flood divide, Slidd’ring, and stagg’ring. 1806 Beresford Miseries Hum. Life 11. ix, Feeling your foot slidder over the back of a toad. 1851 G. H. Kingsley Sport & Trav. (1900) 508 Angular pieces of stone .. ‘sliddering’ down by the ton. 1879 Trans. Dev. Assoc. XI. 516 These tiny animals.. creep and slidder under stones.

2. trans. To make slippery or smooth. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. lxxi. (1495) 903 Yf mylke is tomoche corrupte it slydereth the roughnesse of the stomak. 1891 in Eng. Dial. Diet. Hence 'sliddering vbl. sb.

Also attrib.

a 1225 Ancr. R. 252 Vondunge is sliddrunge. 1866 Mark Lemon Wait for the End v. 54 Those were the dancing days of Old England, putting to shame our shambling, hopping, sliddering times.

var. slideable.

Obs. [f. slidder Slipperiness, smoothness. Also fig.

f slidderness.

slidage (’slaidid3). Canadian, [f.

slide t>.] The

payment for the right of using a log slide. 1884 Law Rep. 9 App. Cases 411 A promise to pay slidage for the use and occupation of such works., could not be enforced.

'slidden,ppl. a. rare. [Seeslides. A. 3 b.] That has slipped or slid down. 1827 Hodgson Northumberland I. ii. 165 note, The celebrated figure.. cut in high relief upon a huge block of ‘slidden’ sandstone rock.

'slidder, sb. dial. [Cf. slidder a. and v.] A trench or hollow running down a hill; a steep slope. For other uses see the Eng. Dial. Diet, a 1793 G. White Selborne, Obs. on Veget. (1853) 301 One of the slidders, or trenches, down the middle of the Hanger .. is still called strawberry-slidder. 1842 Dumfries Herald Oct., Tearing and wearing his corduroys, up trees and down slidders, to very reasonable tatters. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Slidder,.. a track down the hill side for the water.

f 'slidder, a. and adv. Obs. Forms: a. 1-2 slidor, 2-6 slider (4 -ere, 5 -ur, -re), 4-5 slidir, 5-6 slyder (4 -ir, s -yr, -ere); 4 sledyr, 4-5 sleder; 1 sliddor, 5- slidder (6 -yr, slydder, -ir). jS. 5 sclidere, -yr,

a.]

971 Blickl. Gl. (Ps. xxxiv. 6), Slidornis, lubricum. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 4 Many men felden doun for slidirnesse of his weie. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxxviii. (Bodl. MS.), 3if he were slider and smoJ?e within, by slidernes mete schuld passe oute. 11400 Comm. Luke i. 15 (MS. Bodl. 43), He is seid a perfit man whiche.. feelij? not pe slidirnesse or leccherie of 3ong wexinge age. c 1475 Henryson Orph. Eur. 305 For slyddrenes skant mycht he hald his feit. 1483 Cath. Angl. 323/1 A Sclidyrnes, labilitas. 'sliddery, a.

Now dial. Forms: 3 slid(d)ri, 5 slydrye, 6 slyddry, -rie, 6-7 slidrie, 8 slidd’ry, 8-9 sliddry; 3-5 slideri, 4 -ery, slydery, sledery (6 Sc. -erie), 5, 7 (9) slidderie, 9 sliddery. [f. slidder v. + -y. Cf. MDu. sliderich.] 1. Slippery; on which one may readily slip. a 1225 Ancr. R. 252 To wel we hit wuteS hu pe wei of hisse worlde is sliddri. c 1280 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 221 Bi a luytel bosk he tok his hondlyng, And set his feet on a slidri bas. C1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 160 [The way is] slidery. 1382 Wyclif^- xxxviii. 22 Thei han drenchid thee doun in the myre, and in the sledery thing thi feet, c 1480 Henryson Fables, Preach. Swallow xxxi, Slonkis and slaik maid slidderie with the sleit. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. 11. xxxix. 163 They can unuthe stande upon theyre fete so slydrye it is. 1513 Douglas JEneid x. vi. 42 Slyddry glar so from wallis went That oft thar feyt was smyttyn vp on

loft. aere lyfte slidan. 1375 Barbour Bruce in. 701 The schippys our the wawys slayd. 1382 Wyclif 2 Sam. xxii. 11 He.. slood vpon the pennys of the wynd. c 1400 Destr. Troy 12690 [f>ai] Letyn sailes doune slide sleghli & faire. 01547 Surrey AZneid 11. 302 Thus slided through our toun The subtil tree, a 1599 Spenser F.Q. vii. vii. 43 Two fishes.. Which through the flood before did softly slyde And swim away. 1629 Quarles Arg. & Parthenia in. 2 April’s gentle showers are slidden downe, To close the wind-chapt earth. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 302 He took me rais’d,.. over Fields and Waters, as in Aire * Smooth sliding without step. 1712 Addison Spectator No. 3^9 If 9 The Gods .. slide o’er the Surface of the Earth by an uniform Swimming of the whole Body. 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 214 The vestige of the coal is sure to slide down the slope of the ground. 1824 Landor Imag. Conv., Gen. Kleber & French Officers Wks. 1853 I. 43/1 The officer slided with extended arms from his resting-place. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 401 The metal could be made to slide upon itself without puckering. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. xii. 364 Whitish-green spots .. over which the pencil usually slid as if the spots were greasy.

b. To move in this manner while standing more or less erect upon a surface, esp. that of ice. Formerly used of skating, now distinguished from it. C1340 Nominate (Skeat) 164 M[an] sliduth vp-on hyse. I53° Palsgr. 721/1, I have sene one in Hollande slyde as faste upon the yse as a bote dothe in the water whan it is rowed. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 11. xxi. 58 b, [He] mounteth vpon your backe, and so with his feet slydeth vp and downe vpon you. 1617 Moryson I tin. in. 34 The Virgins in Holland,.. hand in hand with young men, slide upon the yce farre from their Fathers house. 1681 Dryden Span. Friar hi. ii, As Boys [fear] to venture on the unknown Ice, That crackles underneath ’em while they slide. 1715 Desaguliers Fires Impr. 38 Those that Slide, Scate, or use any other violent Exercise in frosty Weather. 1776 Johnson in Boswell (Oxf. ed.) I. 41, I answered I had been sliding in Christ-Church meadow. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 4 Many thousands came sliding or skating along the frozen canals. 1883 Harper s Mag. Dec. 93/1 ‘Do you slide?’ ‘I never have slidden much.’

c. To slip off something. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 68 The Souldiers .. vpon whom the Snow fell, and slid not off, became miserably distressed. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 300 A.. white precipitate subsides to the bottom, and slides off the glass.

d. Baseball. To perform a slide (sense i e). 1891 Harper's Weekly 23 May 391/4 His base running, in spite of his care about sliding, is of the old-time quality that has already won two championships for Yale. 1904 J. J. McGraw Science of Baseball 67 He shouldn’t slide unless his pants are properly padded. 1932 Baseball Mag. Oct. 501/2, George Watkins, quick to grasp Dazzy’s slight slip, turned on a full burst of speed and slid across home plate with the only run of the game. 1977 Rolling Stone 30 June 76/2 Do you always think about baseball players when you’re making love?.. I couldn’t figure out why you kept yelling, ‘Slide!’

e. Surfing. To ride across the face of a wave. 1931 Country Life in Amer. Jan. 57 If the wave proves exceptionally steep, keep to the stern of the board and then, after you ‘catch’ the wave, head the board at an angle to it. This will enable you to ‘slide’ with the wave. 1959 J. Bloomfield Know-How in Surf iii. 27 The gradually breaking crest enables the body to slide down its front at an angle of approximately 45 degrees.

f. Curling. To move forwards while delivering the stone. 1936 F. B. Talbot Mr Besom starts Curling xiii. 34 Many good players slide out of the hack as they deliver the stone. 1950 K. Watson Curling i. 1 Whether you slide or do not slide, that follow-through is essentially the smooth delivery of the stone.

2. Of streams, etc.: To glide, flow. Now rare. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 266 A wounde upon his side Sche made, that therout mai slyde The blod withinne. a 1425 Cursor M. 11984 (Trin.), Ihesu soone in pat tide lett pe watir rynne & slide. 1513 Douglas JEneid v. xiii. 71 The flude Tibir throw Lawrent feildis slidis. C1586 C’tess Pembroke Ps. xlvi. ii, A river streaming joy, With purling murmur safelie slides. 1633 P. Fletcher Pise. Eclogs 1. v, Where Thames and Isis heire By lowly /Eton slides. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. 1. xiii. 32 To suck out the wheyish Blood which slides along that way. 1738 Common Sense II. 176 It has neither rushed down the Rock, nor slided thro’ the Plain. 1746 W. Mason On the Cam Poems 1830 II. 11. 49 Without a rill the even tide Slided silently away. 1819 Wiffen Aonian Hours 90 Ever from his lid a tear would slide. 1833 Tennyson Eleanore 109 As waves that up a quiet cove Rolling slide.

3. Of reptiles, etc.: To glide, crawl. Now rare. 01300 Cursor M. 894 >ou worm,..t>ou sal slid apon pi brest. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxix. (Cosmo & D.) 261 As pe serpent had entre in at his mouth,.. one pe sammyne wise it slad oute. 01400 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 222 Neddre,.. vppe pi breste pou schalt slyden. 1530 Palsgr. 721/1 It is a wondrouse thyng to se an adder or a snake slyde so faste as they do and have no fete. 1561 T. Norton Calvin’s Inst. 1. xiii. 44 These slippery snakes doe slide away. 1607 Topsell Serpents (1658) 601 He espyed the Snake to

699 slide up into the bed-straw. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot’s Trav. II. 39 These thieves slide cunningly along upon their bellies like Snakes. 1856 [see sliding ppl. a. 3].

4. a. To move, go, proceed unperceived, quietly, or stealthily; to steal, creep, slink, or slip away, into or out of a place, etc. 1382 Wyclif r Kings xx. 39 Keep this man; the which if were slyden aweye, thi lijf shal be for the lijf of hym. o 1400-50 Alexander 4456 Quen 3e ere slide hyne. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 1333 Slely he slayd throuch strenthis off Scotland. 1530 Palsgr. 721/2 Who wolde ever have thought it, that he shulde have slydden out at this narow hole. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 1. i. 54 So slyding softly forth, she turnd as to her ease. 1602 Marston Ant. Sf Mel. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 33 Then, noble spirit, slide, in strange disguise, Unto some gratious Prince. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, iv. 594 The slipp’ry God will.. attempt to slide away. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 365 You observe how he slid away .. as soon as I open’d my Door. 1760-72 II. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 126 Slouching my hat, I slid out of doors. 1829 Lytton Devereux 11. iii, Steele slid into a seat near my own. 1889 D. C. Murray Dang. Catspaui 7 An officer of the court slid to the door of the judge’s apartments. fig. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxviii. (Adrian) 212 Hou pu had grace criste for to kene,.. and pu fra hym pis [= thus] slad! 1594 Kyd Cornelia HI. i. He slides More swiftly from mee then the Ocean glydes. b. colloq. To make off. Orig. U.S. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. 415 To slide, to go, be gone, be off. 1873 B. Harte Fiddletown, etc. 85 She led William where he was covered by seventeen Modocs, and—slid! 1904 [see busy sb.2]. 1932 E. Wallace When Gangs came to London xxvii. 269 There’s only one word that any sensible man can read in this situation, and that word is—slide!

II. 5. a. To pass away, pass by, so as to disappear, be forgotten or neglected, etc. Now rare. ri250 Owl & Night. 686 For Alured seyde of olde quide & yet hit nis of horte islide. 13.. in E.E.P. (1862) 132 Knowe J?is worldly honoure Hou sone pat hit is forj? islyde. C1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 769 Bothe Troylus and Troye toun Shal knotteles thorugh out here herte slyde. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4032 Frostes were faren,.. The slippond slete slidon of the ground. 1503 S. Hawes Examp. Virt. xiv. ccxcviii, That his redolent buddes shall not slyde But euer encrease. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1663) 60 Thus this slander slided away with the time. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 391 Presently the black hairs will fall and slide away, and in some short time there will come white. 1824 Lamb Elia 11, Capt. Jackson, Alack, how good men, and the good turns they do us, slide out of memory.

b. With let (or allow). In later use freq., to let (something) take its own course. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 26 In his lust present was al his thoght,.. Wei ny alle othere cures leet he slyde. a 1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS. I. 492 [Let him] put his wylle in gode J?ewes, And alle wikked let slyde. c 1440 Capgr. Life St. Kath. 1. 935 3e wyl not lete J?is mater slyde, parde. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (1590) 107 With a calm carelessness, letting each thing slide. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. Ind. i. 6 Therefore.. let the world slide. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Charge, To take no thought, passe the time merrily, let the world slide, a 1859 in Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2) 241 If California was going to cost the Union so much, it would be better to let California slide. 1885 Manch. Exam. 3 June 5/1 The question at issue was not allowed to slide. 1897 Field 6 Feb. 166/1 The supine way we English have of letting things slide.

c. Of time: imperceptibly employed.

To pass, slip away, go by, or without being profitably

c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 351 So sholdestow endure, and laten slyde The tyme. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 3 Thus have I lete time slyde For Slowthe. 1592 J. Davies Immort. Soul xxx. x, Since our Life so fast away doth slide, c 1600 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 824 The season With slowthing slyds away. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 147 Time slides away like the running streame. 1716-8 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. I. xii. 44, I need not.. tell you how agreeably time slides away with me. 1734 Fielding Old Man taught Wisdom Wks. 1784 III. 119 How happily must my old age slide away, i860 Hawthorne Marble Faun (1879) II. vii. 76 Let the warm day slide by. 1897 WattsDunton Aylwin 1. iv, In this manner about six weeks slid away. 6. fa. To fall asleep, etc. Obs. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8150 By-neJ?e pe erpe.. Is a water rennyng dep, pat makes py werk slyden o slep. 13 .. E.E. Allit. P. A. 59, I slode vpon a slepyng sla3te. c 1400 Destr. Troy Prol. 6 Off aunters [that] ben olde .. And slydyn vppon slepe by slomeryng of Age. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 68 Apon a sleip he slaid full sodandly. 1513 Douglas JEneid vii. Prol. 111 On slummyr I slaid full sad. b. To pass easily or gradually into some

condition, practice, etc. fAlso in early use with to. In some contexts there is connexion with sense 9. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. 11. iv. (1495) 31 Aungels neuer slyde to vice nother to synne. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione 1. xxv. 38 He pat eschui)? not smale defautes, litel & litel shal slide in to gretter. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. 1. ix, That ye to fraylte shall not slyde. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love 79 b, When they shall here any of the Familie slide into any of these affirmations. 1754 Young Centaur ii. Wks. 1757 IV. 137 Thus, looking out for some shadow of excuse, we naturally slide into groundless doubts. 1766 Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wm. (1767) I. vi. 230 She will.., when her province is enlarged, slide into the duties of it with readiness. 1802 Mrs. J. West Infidel Father II. 128 Even Lord Glanville, while he made his bow, so far slided into equivoque [etc.]. 1847 Helps Friends in C. I. iii. 36 When an honourable man .. slides into some dishonourable action. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. Carlyle's Lett. I. 144, I had slid into something of correspondence with Lockhart.

c. To pass by easy or gradual change or transformation into some other form or character.

SLIDE a 1500 Sir Cawline xxii. in Child Ball. II. 59/1 The timber these two children bore Soe soone in sunder slode. 1731 Pope Ep. Burlington 66 Parts answ’ring parts shall slide into a whole. 1763 J. Brown Poet. & Music vii. 143 The Narrative.. did easily slide into dramatic Representation. 1847 Helps Friends in C. I. vi. 96 The great danger..of representative government, is lest it should slide down from representative government to delegate government. 1862 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) VIII. lxiv. 99 Rhetorical amplifications slid swiftly into direct mis-statements. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxiv. 503 It was an easy step for the patron to slide into the beneficiary.

7. a. To move, pass, make way, etc., in an easy or unobtrusive manner. C1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. pr. xii. (1868) 106 The deuyne substaunce.. ne slydep nat in to outerest foreine binges. r 1386 -Can. Yeom. Prol. 129 That science is so fer vs beforn, We mowen nat.. It ouer-take, it slit awey so faste. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. Iii. 149 Mony folk slod to helle slider. ^1450 Myrr. Our Ladye 198 Righte so the holy goste vouched safe to slyde in to the hartes of the prophetes. 1577 F. de Lisle's Legend. Cijb, Seeking., to slyde in among the princes, and beare the like port as they. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas 1. vii. 255 The Fall Of Eden’s old Prince; whose luxurious pride Made on his seed his sin for ever slide. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 14 The which places of the Sunne are now changed and sliden backe in the Iulian Kalender. 1697 Collier Ess. (1702) 11. 183 A good Conscience.. makes him slide into the Grave by a more gentle and insensible Motion. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) I. i. 2 So desirous .. of sliding through life to the end of it unnoted. 1792 Mary Wollstonecr. Vind. Rights Worn. 8, I shall try to avoid that flowery diction which has slided from essays into novels. 1820 Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 136 The poet’s verse slides into the current of our blood. 1858 Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. iii. 25 All lecturers .. have ruts and grooves in their minds, into which their conversation is perpetually sliding.

b. Of speech or music, or with reference to these; spec, (see quot. 1875). 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 3 Euery Orater should earnestly labour to file his tongue, that his woordes maie slide with ease. 1864 Browning Abt Vogler xii, I feel for the common chord again Sliding by semitones. 1875 Stainer & Barrett Diet. Mus. Terms s.v., To slide is to pass from one note to another without any cessation of sound, or distinction between the intervals.

c. Of the eye or sight: To pass quickly from one object to another. 1756 Burke Subl. & B. iii. xv, The deceitful maze, through which the unsteady eye slides giddily. 1784 Cowper Task 1. 511 The weary sight.. slides off, Fastidious, seeking less familiar scenes.

III. 8. a. To slip; to lose one’s foothold. a 1225 Ancr. R. 252 )?er on geS him one in one sliddrie weie, he slit & falleS sone. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 212 Heo was so slider, pat man ne mi3te pare-oppe gon bote he slide and felle a-doun. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 596 For hapnyt ony to slyde or fall, He suld be soyne to-fruschit all. 1485 Caxton Paris & V. 18 Hys hors slode and thenne geffroy overthrewe to the erthe. 1530 Palsgr. 721/2 He slydde and bothe his fete folded underneth him. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 213 To the entent that the horses should not slide on the Pavement. 01700 Evelyn Diary (Chandos Classics) 187 Capt. Wray’s horse.. slid downe a frightfull precipice. *763-5 Churchill The Times Poems 1767 II. 19 So sure, they walk on ice, and never slide. 1819 Shelley Cenci iii. i. 12, I see a woman .. motionless, whilst I Slide giddily as the world reels. fig. 1388 Wyclif Lam. iii. 53 My lijf slood in to a lake. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 241 He makth a treigne, Into the which if that he slyde, Him were betre go besyde. 1624 Massinger Renegado v. vii, Tho’ the descent Were steep as hell, I know I cannot slide. 1668 Bp. Hopkins Serm. (1685) 45 We are apt to slide off from the smoother part of our lives, as flies from glass. 1795 Burke Regie. Peace iv. Wks. 1907 VI. 399 It is not possible that the downhill should not be slid into.

b. Of the foot: To slip. Also^ig. 1340 Ayenb. 149 Huanne pe on uot slyt, pe o)?er him helpp. 1382 Wyclif Deut. xxxii. 35, Y shal 3eeld to hem in tyme, that the foot of hem slyde. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 147 b/1 Hys foot slode so that he fyl in to the Ryuer. 1535

Coverdale 2 Sam. xxii. 37 Thou hast enlarged my goinge vnder me, and myne ankles haue not slyded. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 1. xi. 45 His nigh forwearied feeble feet did slide, And downe he fell. 1831 Scott Cast. Dang, xx, His foot sliding in the blood of the young victim.

c. In general use: To slip. Also with advs. and preps. 1388 Wyclif Deut. xix. 5 The yrun slidith fro the helue, . . and sleeth his freend. c 1400 Anturs Arth. 617 The swerde sleppis on slante, and one the mayle slydys. 1470-85 Malory Arthur 1. xvi. 58 The swerd slode doune by the hauberk behynde his back. 1610 Barrough Physick 11. xii. (1639) 90 Their temples be slidden downe, their eyes be hollow. 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. xiii. 228 Its point will not describe a Circle on the greatest Extuberances of the Globe, but will slide off it. 1748 Johnson Vis. Theodore Wks. 1796 II. 399 The declivities grew more precipitous, and the sand slided from beneath my feet. 1834 W. Godwin Lives Necromancers 340 Just as he thought he had caught him by the hand, the miserable wretch slided from between his fingers. 1859 Tennyson Merlin & V. 737 The snake of gold slid from her hair. fig. 1820 Scott Monast. xxii, Muttering these last words, which slid from him, as it were unawares.

9. fig. To lapse morally; to commit some fault; to err or go wrong. a 1000 Salomon 378 Donne he jeong fsereS, hafaS wilde mod,.. slideS jeneahhe [etc.], c 1250 Owl & Night. 1390 Nis wunder nou pa\\ he abide, Vor fleysses lustes hi make!? slide. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xix. 16 Ther is that slideth in his tunge, but not of inwit. 1436 Pol. Poems (Rolls) 11. 182 When grace shynethe sone are wee slydynge. C1540 Coverdale tr. Calvin's Treat. Sacrament Cij, The rule, whyche yf we folowe, we shall neyther slyde nor erre. at slidyng fortune turned to grete vtter chaungynges of binges. C1386-Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 179 That slidynge science hath me maad so bare, That I haue no good. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems lxvi. 5 The slydand joy, the glaidness schort. 1597 Daniel Civ. Wars 11. xxx, The slyding faith of those That cannot long their resolution hold. 1628 Feltham Resolves 11. ix, We dye with doing that, for which only, our sliding life was granted. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. in. 62 His Name who made the Sphere, And shew’d the Seasons of the sliding Year. 1765 [E. Thompson] Meretriciad 11 Erase thy vices with the sliding day.

f b. Of persons: Slippery, unreliable; apt to fall or transgress. Obs. c 1435 Chron. London (Kingsford, 1905) 45 A man, the which is nat slyding in his tunge. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione 1. iv. 6 )?ei knowij? mannys infirmite redy to euel & sliding ynow in wordes. Ibid. in. xxii. 90, I am so slidyng & so weike to wipstonde passions.

2. Slippery; steeply sloping, rare. c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 160 Le chimyti trop lidaunt, slidery (sclidinde). 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 704 By fertil vale of Pelethun his sliding road. 1616 W. Browne Brit. Past. 11. iii, A hill, whose sliding sides A goodly flocke, like winter’s covYing, hides.

3. a. That moves by sliding or slipping; flowing, gliding, etc. C1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. metr. ii. (1868) 152 f>e flowynge ordre of ps slidyng water. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2976 The slydande spere of his hande sleppes! 1483 Cath. Angl. 323/1 Sclydynge, labens. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems lxxvi. 3 Quhat is this lyfe bot.. A slyding quheill ws lent to seik remeid. 1562 Pilkington Exposit. Abdyas Pref. 8 Safelye slips away the slyding shippe. 1604 B. Jonson Entertainm. Wks. (1616) 882 The many falls Of sweete, and seuerall sliding rills. 1634 Milton Comus 892 By the rushy-fringed bank .. My sliding Chariot stayes. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 126 Thy throne A sliding car, indebted to no wheels. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mech. 664 The laws which regulate the friction of rolling and sliding bodies. 1856 Bryant Prairies 107 Sliding reptiles of the ground, Startlingly beautiful,

b. Accompanied by a sliding movement. 1796 Hist. Ned Evans I. 198 Lord Rivers advancing to Edward with a sliding bow. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm, xxii, Craigengelt.. made a sliding bow to the Marquis. 1838 Lytton Alice v. vi, Mrs. Merton, with a sliding bow, had

SLIDINGLY already quitted the room. 1948 Assoc. Football (‘Know the Game’ Series) 31/2 A sliding tackle done fairly is not dangerous .., especially when clear contact is made with the ball, and should therefore not be penalised. 1974 Liverpool Echo (Football ed.) 12 Oct. 1/2 Foggon went racing through again, but Boersma took the ball off him with a splendid sliding tackle. *.

4. Of language or music: Flowing easily. 1627 Drayton Agincourt 207 Dainty Sands that hath to English done,

Smooth

sliding Quid.

1678

L’Estrange

Seneca's Mor. (1702) 376 His Speech was rather Easie, and Sliding, than Quick. 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 560, I think that they With sliding voices lean from heavenly towers. 1875 Stainer & Barrett Diet. Mus. Terms, Sliding relish, a grace in old harpsichord music. 1876 Lowell Among my Books Ser. 11. 156 His attempts to naturalize the sliding rhymes of Sannazzaro in English. II. I n special uses.

5. Of a knot: Made so as to slip along a cord; running. 1591 Percivall Sp. Diet., Corrediza, a sliding knot. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau s Fr. Chirurg. 34b/2 We must tye the endes of the threde together, and with a slidinge knott binde the same together. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. I. 253, I.. knit a sliding knot vpon the instep of one of his feete. 1818 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) III. 26/1 If one or many of the fixed knots.. be replaced by sliding knots, or moveable rings. 6.

a.

Designating

parts

of

apparatus

or

machinery which slide, or are characterized by some

sliding

-joint, etc.;

device,

as

sliding-bar,

-collar,

sliding contact, a connection in an

electric circuit that can be slid along a length of resistance wire; see also s.v. sliding

vbl. sb. 2 b;

sliding valve = slide-valve. 1778 [W. H. Marshall] Minutes Agric., Digest 54 note, The ^Sliding bar. . ought to be set at such a depth, as .. to have a collection of mould before it. 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bulletin II. 293 By means of the sliding-bar.. this instrument can be adapted to reduce from negatives of almost any size. 1849 Mech. Mag. Apr. 314 The ^sliding carriage in or upon which is to be placed any log.. intended to be cut. 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. xiv. 239 The Neck of the ^Sliding Collar. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 125 The balls will fall towards each other, and let down the sliding collar. 1872 Jrnl. Soc. Telegr. Engineers I. 208 The wire with *sliding contact was apt to wear if much used. 1926 R. WT. Hutchinson Wireless 77 Sliding contacts can be moved to and fro along two brass sliding rails. 1971 B. Scharf Engin. & its Language xxi. 307 In order to vary the value of one of the known resistances a rheostat may be used, or two of the known resistances may be replaced by a single wire of known resistance with a sliding contact. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 225 * Sliding Joint, a boring rod made in two portions, one sliding within the other. 1869 Rankine Machine Hand-tools PI. L2 The spindle is keyed by a ^sliding key. 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4855/4 A Silver Jewel Watch,. .the ^sliding Piece on the Dyal-plate. 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 175/1 Instead of fixing the wire to the telescope tube, it is stretched across a sliding-piece. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 325 The nuts of the screws .. are not screwed fast to the *sliding plates. 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. x. 49 The same process by the aid of the lathe and the *sliding-rest. 1833 Holland Manuf. Metal II. 44 Some very handsome pruning instruments of the *slidingshears description. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 862 Small wires and other pieces are also held in a species of pliers,.. called pin-tongs, or *sliding-tongs. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 11 Nov. 5/1 The new Daimler engine may be said to have brought us to the end of the first stage of the *slidingvalve principle. 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 350/2 The method of reading the figures of the stave itself, instead of the *sliding vane. b. Designating doors, lids, panels, etc., which are opened or shut by sliding. 1715 Desaguliers Fires Impr. 96 There must be ^sliding Boards, or Doors. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 983 At the pit mouth, where shutters or sliding boards must be used. 1829 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 104 They must all admit of communication . . by ^sliding Double Doors. 1887 Times 14 Oct. 3/6 A short tramcar,. . having a sliding door at each end. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. Gloss., *Sliding hatches, covers or shutters fitted in grooves. 1894 Doyle Memoirs Sherlock Holmes 100 A small wooden box, with a *sliding lid. 01817 Jane Austen Northanger Abbey (1818) II. v. 76 Have you a stout heart? —Nerves fit for *sliding pannels and tapestry? 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic xi. 275 The chess-player may be introduced into the chest through the sliding panel. 1862 Chambers's Encycl. III. 93/1 Later in the reign, the royal carriages had sliding panels. 1929 Motor World 29 Mar. 199/1 One or other of the various types of sun-saloons (folding or *sliding roof) may be offered at an extra charge. 1959 Observer 1 Mar. 21/6 Although many will welcome the sliding roof, the handle is rather prominent. 1766 T. H. Croker et al. Compl. Diet. Arts & Sciences II., s.v. Madder col. 4, The *sliding-shutters are pulled down. 1842 Francis Diet. Arts, Sluice,., a description of sliding shutter made in a lock or flood-gate. 1889 Welch Text Bk. Naval Archit. xii. 131 The air can enter into the various compartments through sliding shutters or louvres. 1724 in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1911) VI. 1 Two ^sliding windows.. with good frame shutters. 1880

Diet. Leading Techn. & Trade Terms Archit. Design & Building Construction 207/1 Another form of opening and closing window is one used in domestic structures of a humble character, and termed a ‘sliding’, sometimes a ‘rolling window’. 1976 H. MacInnes Agent in Place xxv. 260 A stretch of sliding windows opening onto a balcony.

7. Naut., etc. a. sliding keel, an extra deep keel which slides vertically through the bottom of a vessel.

Also

SLIGHT

702

attrib.

1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 376/1 Captain Schank’s vessel with three sliding keels beat the other vessel. 1802 Naval Chron. VII. 40 The idea of sliding keels is taken from the balza of South America, c 1850 Rudim. Nav. (Weale) 148 Sliding keels, an invention of.. Captain Schank, of the Royal Navy, to prevent vessels being driven to leeward by a side wind. 1876 T. Hardy Ethelberta (1890) 251 ‘That one you

saw was a cutter..,’ he replied. principle.’

‘Built on the sliding-keel

b. In various uses (see quots.).

'slidingly, adv. [f.

sliding ppl. a.] In a sliding manner; with a smooth, gliding movement.

For sliding-gunter (Naut.) see gunter 2. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm, xxxi, As bold a smuggler as ever ran out a sliding bowsprit. 1846 A. Young Naut. Diet. 34

1644 Digby Nat. Bodies xiv. §7. 120 They come slidingly one ouer an other. 1870 Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. 1. (1873) 23 What a slidingly musical use he makes of the sibilants.

The planks fitted under the bottom of the ship to descend with her upon the bilge-ways, are termed sliding planks, sliding baulks, or bilge coads.

'slidingness. rare~x. [f. as prec.] quality; easy movement or flow.

c. sliding seat, a seat in an outrigger which moves backwards and forwards with the action of the rower; also, a seat which can be slid out beyond the gunwale of a yacht. 1874 Ann. Reg., Chron. 36 The sliding seats, which were used for the first time in this race, must be pronounced a complete success. 1884 St. James' Gaz. 29 Mar. 6/1 University crews have rowed the course on sliding seats. 1895 Outing XXVI. 463 ‘Sliding-seats’ began to get longer and longer, until the champion sailed, not in his boat, but stretched entirely outside of it.

8. a. sliding rule, a mathematical gauging or measuring instrument consisting of two graduated parts, one of which slides upon the other, and so arranged that when brought into proper juxtaposition the required result may be obtained by inspection. Now usu. slide-rule, q.v. 1663 Pepys Diary 15 Apr., Reading of my book of Timber measure, comparing it with my new Sliding Rule. 1684 T. Everard (title), Stereometry made easie, or the description and use of a new gauging rod or sliding-rule. 1701 Moxon Math. Instr. 19 Sliding Rules, for gauging and measuring; ingeniously contrived and applied. 1798 Nicholson's Jrnl. I. 450 On the Advantage of inverting the Slider in many operations on the Common Sliding Rule. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic xi. 294 The figures.. were not exhibited to the eye as in sliding rules and similar instruments. 1895 Daily News 20 Nov. 9/4 A small sliding rule gives the value of any required number of shares at the above fractions at any necessary numerator.

fb. So sliding gauge, Gunter (see quots.). Obs. 1683 Moxon Printing xii. iv, The Sliding Gage is.. a Tool commonly used by Mathematical Instrument-Makers... Its Use is to measure and set off Distances between the Sholder and the Tooth, and to mark it off from the end, or else from the edge of your Work. 1701-Math. Instr. 18 Sliding Gunter, made of Box, with a middle piece that slides between 2 pieces, with Lines to answer Proportions by inspection: chiefly used by Mariners. 1727-41 [see gunter ib].

9. sliding scale: a. A sliding rule. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Sliding-Rules or Scales, are Mathematical Instruments [etc.]. 1788 Phil. Trans. LXXVIII. 126 A small thermometer with a sliding scale. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2210/2 Sliding-scale, a rule with a sliding member.

b. A scale or standard (of payments, wages, etc.) which rises or falls in proportion to, or conversely to, the rise or fall of some other standard. 1842 C. Guest Jrnl. 14 Feb. (1950) vii. 129 His opinion that in times of scarcity the fixed duty he proposes would have to give way, which is exactly the argument the Tories use when advocating the sliding scale. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pres. 11. iii, Neither do we ascertain what kind of Cornbill he passed, or wisely-adjusted Sliding-scale. 1869 Rogers Hist. Glean. I. 183 The agricultural interest suffered .. and we owed the latest sliding-scale to their importunities. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 226 Sliding Scale, a mode of regulating the amount of wages in mining districts by taking as a basis for calculation the market value of coal or iron. attrib. 1868 Rogers Pol. Econ. xiv. (1876) 192 During the existence of the sliding-scale system of duties. 1882 Daily News 3 June 6/4 The leaping prizes .. are arranged on a sliding-scale principle.

10. a. sliding hernia (Med.) (see quot. 1958). 1910 Spencer & Gask Pract. Surg. xvii. 995 Retro¬ peritoneal hernia. . . The caecum or sigmoid flexure may slide up and down behind the peritoneum, ‘Sliding hernia’, ‘Hernie par glissement’. 1936 Cole & Elman Textbk. Gen. Surg. xxv. 753 Sliding hernias descend so readily that a truss is rarely satisfactory in maintaining reduction. 1958 D. L. B. Farley in L. Oliver Basic Surg. xiii. 198 Hernia ‘en glissade’ (‘sliding’ hernia) refers to herniation of a viscus such as the caecum or bladder which has an extraperitoneal surface. 1974 R. M. Kirk et al. Surgery vi. 78 Sliding hernia. If the lower oesophagus and cardia straighten out and slide into the chest, the competence of the cardiac sphincter may be impaired so that gastric contents reflux into the oesophagus.

b. sliding filament (Physiol.), used attrib. to designate the model of the action of striated muscle in which contraction results from filaments of actin and of myosin sliding past one another. 1957 Jrf}l. Biophys. & Biochem. Cytol. III. 640 The results which have been described above give full support to the ‘sliding filament model’ of striated muscle. 1973 Times 14 Aug. 14/7 This .. provided the main basis for the ‘sliding filament’ theory of muscle contraction, now universally accepted.

11. sliding parity (Econ.) = crawling peg s.v. crawling ppl. a. b. 1966 Economist 25 June 1440/2 A tiny minority advocates completely free exchange markets... Possibly a majority favours continued official intervention to set limits to market fluctuations... But an increasing minority favours a compromise system, variously called the crawling peg .. or . .the sliding parity. 1970 Times 9 Feb. 20/1 It sets out to demolish the arguments of those who are. . downright hostile to the introduction of the so called sliding parity or crawling peg.

Sliding

a 1586 Sidney Arcadia 11. (1622) 200 In Tragedies.. he had learned, besides a slidingnes of language, acquaintance with many passions.

'slidness. Sc. rare. [f.

slid a.] Smoothness. 01758 Ramsay To Duncan Forbes iii, Enjoy.. and judge the wit And slidness of a sang.

slie,

obs. f. sly a.

slieghly,

obs. f. slyly.

slieveen,

var. sleeveen.

’Slife

(slaif), int. Obs. exc. arch. An abbreviation of God's life (see god sb. 14 a) used as a petty oath or exclamation. 01634 Chapman Rev. Hon. iii. ii, ’Slife, a prince, And such a hopeful one, to lose his eyes is cruelty prodigious. 1693 Congreve Old Bach. 1. i, Hold hold, ’slife that’s the wrong. 1740-1 Richardson Pamela III. 324 ’Slife—I’ll thresh my Jades .. when I come home. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. iv. iii, Behind the screen! ’Slife, let’s unveil her! 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Slife, an exclamation, i860 Whyte Melville Holmby Ho. vii, ’Slife, Frank,.. you’ve the devil’s luck and your own too.

fsliffe. Obs.-1 [Of obscure origin; perh. an error for slude.] ? Mica. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. I. 24 It was clear and diaphanous like a thin film of Sliffe or Muscovy-glass.

slift1. Now dial, or Obs. [Related to slive v.1; cf. rift

and

n'w.]

(See

quot.

1823,

and

cf.

SLEAVING.) 1657 Reeve God's Plea 252 These slifts, which have been taken from you, are grown up to a wonderful height. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Wds. 361 Slift, a slip off a growing plant or shrub, rent, not cut off.

slift2. E. Angl. [Of obscure origin.] The fleshy part of a leg of beef. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia 307 The grand round of beef is the upper and under slift together. 1869 N. & Q. 4th Ser. IV. 33 A sirloin of beef, roast ribs of beef, and a boiled slift of beef. 1897 Rye Norfolk Songs, etc. 70 Nor is slift of beef preferred by Norwichers to sirloin.

slifter ('slift3(r)). Now dial. [Related to

slift1

and slive v.1 Cf. also obs. or dial. G. schlifter gully, watercourse.] 1. A cleft or crack; a crevice. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 21 The chapping, clefts, or slifters, in the body, which come by cold. Ibid. 536 There are also certain slifters or clifts in the hoofs of Horses, which are cured in one nights space. 1611 Cotgr., Fente, a cleft, rift, slifter, chinke. C1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lane. Dial. (1775) 21 Oth Leawp-hoyles, on th’ Slifters ith Leath Woughs. a 1800 in Pegge Suppl. Grose. 1828 in Carr Craven Gloss. 1874 Waugh Chimney Corner (1879) 170 There isn’t a slifter, nor a ginnel, nor a gorsebush.

f2. A splinter. Obs. 1606 G. W[oodcock] Lives Emperors in Hist. Ivstine LI 5, Henry the French king was slaine by the slifter of a speare broke vpon him.

Hence 'sliftered ppl. a., riven asunder, cloven. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. l, Straight chops a wave, and in his sliftred panch Downe fals our ship. 1866 Waugh Lane. Songs (1870) 50 He toots abeawt, i’ th slifter’t cleawd To find a bit o’ sky.

sligh, sli3(e, slight,

obs. ff. sly a.

obs. f. sleight sb.1 and a.

slight (slait), sb. Also 6-7 sleight, [f.

slight a. and th] fl. A very small amount or weight; a small matter, a trifle. Obs.

I549-^2 Sternhold & H. Ps. lxii. 9 The sonnes of men deceitfull are, on ballaunce but a sleight. 1601 Sir W. Cornwallis Ess. ii. xxix. (1631) 35 No lawes being so excellent as those that.. being slights produce the weightiest and best effects. 1647 H. More Poems 130 The same sleights By turns do urge them both in their descents and heights. 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc. iv. 66 Yet it is but a sleight to those Practice hath inur’d the Hand to.

fb. In phr. to make a (etc.) slight (of).

Cf.

slight a. 5 d. Obs. c 1619 R. Jones Serrn. Resurrection (1659) 11 His Disciples were .. such tall fellows with their weapons, that they made it but a sleight either to withstand or assault a whole multitude. 1704 J. Pitts Acc. Moham. ix. (1738) 190 He made a slight of that. 1730 Burdon Pocket Farrier 38 There is a Lameness..; Our Farriers make great Slight of it.

2. Display of contemptuous indifference or disregard; supercilious treatment or reception of a person, etc.; small respect for one. 1701 Penn in Pennsylv. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 48 Pray don’t hurt him by an appearance of neglect, less of slight. 1740-1 Richardson Pamela IV. 268, I don’t care that such a Proposal should be received with undue Slight. 1841 D Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 359 The subjects he has written on .. incurred the slight of the cavillers of his day. 1867 Howells Ital. Journ. 250 Treating him with good-natured slight. 1897-Landlord at Lion's Head 374 He knew too

SLIGHT well his mother’s slight for Whitwell to suppose that he could have influenced her.

3. An instance of slighting or being slighted. 1719 D’Urfey Pills (1872) V. 57 This Slight bred sad domestic Strife. 1780 Mirror No. 91, We see daily examples of men .. who meet with slights where they demand respect. 1825 Scott Jrnl. 23 Dec., He was kindly treated, but., suspected slights .. where no such thing was meant. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iii. 267 They revenged the studied slight which had been passed by Henry on themselves. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 123 He could hardly have passed upon them a more unmeaning slight.

slight (slait), a. and adv. Forms: a. 4 sli^t, sly3t, 4- slight (6 slighte), 7 slite; Sc. 6 slycht, slichte, 6slicht. fl. 4 sle3t, 5 siei3te; 4-5 sleght, 4-7 sleight. [ME. (orig. northern) slight, sleght, ad. OScand. *sleht- (ON. slettr, Icel. slettur, Norw. slett; Sw. slat, Da. slet), = OE. *sliht (only in eordslihtes adv.), OFris. sliucht (WFris. sljucht), OS. sliht, MDu. and MLG. slecht, slicht (Du. slecht, LG. slicht, slecht), OHG. and MHG. sleht (G. schlecht, schlicht), Goth, slaihts; the relations of the stem are uncertain.] A. adj. 1. Smooth; glossy; sleek. Obs. exc. dial. a 1300 Cursor M. 4562 Me thoght.. J?ai i com in a medu 1 slight. ri400 Destr. Troy 3063 The slote of hir slegh brest sleght for to showe, As any cristall clere. 1483 Cath. Angl. 344/1 A Sleght stone, lamina, licinitorium. 1530 Palsgr. 324/1 Sleight or smothe, alis. 1535 Coverdale i Sam. xvii. 40 He.. chose fyue slighte stones out of the ryuer. 1596 Harington Metam. Ajax 4 The contentments;.. if we catch them they proue but like Eeles, sleight and slipperie. 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. 33 Vpon the same place rubbe a sleight stone, and then with it sleight all the swelling. 1866 Edmondston Shetl. Orkn. Gloss. 108 Slight, smooth, unruffled, applied to the sea. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss. 465. 1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorksh. Folk-Talk 372. fig. a 1300 Cursor M. 26582 Noght wit wordes fayr and slight Agh pou for to plane pi plight.

2. Slender, slim, thin; of a small and slender form or build. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 190 J?at gracios gay.. So smoJ?e, so smal, so seme[ly] sly3t. c 1400 Rom. Rose 7257 Beggers.. With sleight [MS. sleight] and pale faces lene. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 28 The roote is sleight or single. 1683 Brit. Spec. 46 They had only little Skiffs, the Keels and Footstocks whereof were made of slight Timber. 1810 Scott Lady of L. 1. xviii, E’en the slight hare-bell raised its head. 1849 C. Bronte Shirley xxviii. Some fine slight fingers have a wondrous knack at pulverizing a man’s brittle pride. 1877 Mrs. Forrester Mignon I. 10 A slight dark girl is singing an old English Ballad.

b. slight falcon = falcon-gentle. 1591 Fletcher Russe Commw. (Hakl.) 14 They have., great store of hawkes, the eagle, the gerfaulcon, the slightfaulcon, the goshawke. 1615 Latham Falconry (1633) 17 Although the Faulcons gentle, or slight Faulcons, are by nature all of one kind. 1725 Fam. Diet. s.v. Hawk, The Long-wing’d, which last Hawks are the Faulcon or SlightFaulcon. 1828 Sebright Obs. Hawking 3 The slight falcon .. and the goshawk.. are the two species generally used in falconry.

3. Of light, thin, or poor texture or material; not good, strong, or substantial; rather flimsy or weak. 1393-4 Rolls of Parlt. III. 322/2 [Dont les Leyns cressantz es ditz Countees sont unes maneres des Leyns appellez] sleght wolle. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 242, xxxv boltes of Sleght Canvas price of euery bolte xs. 1505 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. III. 80 Ane cheseb of rede chamlot to the Gray Freris of Air, with cors of slicht gold. 1558 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 17 Howe many maskes, and whether riche or slite. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 18 He that could make a garment slightest and thinnest carried it away. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 145 The soile of the countrey for the most parte is of a sleight sandie moulde. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 91 For which price, but very slight work hath been furnished. 1790 Bruce Source Nile I. 105 This slight structure of private buildings seems to be the reason so few ruins are found. 1807 G. Chalmers Caledonia 1. ii. I. 69 Their infantry were .. armed .. with slight shields, short spears, and handy daggers.

b. Lacking in solid or substantial qualities. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay’s Voy. in. xi. 90 b, The Turks do content themselues with slight meates and easily dressed. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 180 The slightest kind of musick.. are the vinate or drincking songes. 1603 Drayton Odes i. 86 To those that with despight Shall terme these Numbers slight Tell them their Judgement’s blind. 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. iii. xi. §3 Slight Rhetorications, no sound Arguments, a 1715 Burnet Own Time iii. (1724) I. 414 He has published many books,.. but all full of faults; for he was a slight and superficial man. 1736 Butler Anal. II. v. Wks. 1874 I. 211 This may be but a slight ground to raise a positive opinion upon. 1823 Scott Quentin D. Introd., Every species of author-craft, slighter than that which compounds a folio volume of law or of divinity. 1886 Manch. Exam. 3 Nov. 3/3 Fiction is represented by a good but rather slight story.

fc. Foolish, unwise. Obs.-' 1663 Butler Hud. 1. i. 775 But no Beast ever was so slight, For Man, as for his God, to fight.

4. Of persons: fa. Of little worth or account; mean, low; humble in position. Obs. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xvi. 235 Hard I neuer.. that a knafe so sleght Shuld com.. and refe me my right. 1586 Lupton Notable Things (1675) 271 It would be a disparagement to him and to her to marry such a sleight fellow. 1588 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 268 Ane grite nowmer of slicht men and invyous personis. 1651 Weldon Crt. K. Chas. /, 206 Otherwise it had been impossible so many grave Judges should have been over-ruled by such a slight and trivial! fellow, a 1700 Evelyn Diary 8 Apr. 1685, Very meane and slight persons (some of them gentlemen’s servants, clearkes, and persons neither of reputation nor interest).

SLIGHTEN

703 fb. Unworthy of confidence or trust. Obs.-' 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. iv. i, He that knows great men’s secrets, and proves slight, That man ne’er lives to see his beard turn white.

fc. Loose in morals.

Obs.— 1

1685 Caldwell Papers (Maitl. Cl.) I. 159, I having.. been suspicious of her being a slight person, would goe into no room with her.

5. Small in amount, quantity, degree, etc. *53° Palsgr. Introd. p. xvi, For the same cause, they gyve somtyme unto theyr consonantes but a sleight and remisshe sounde. 1588 Lambarde Eirenarcha ill. iv. 368 By a sleight view and rehearsall of the most part. 1601 Bp. W. Barlow Serm. Paul's Cross 48 That sleight feares make women shrike. 1663 S. Patrick Parab. Pilgrim x. (1687) 58 If he knew that he conceived so much joy from such slight appearances and shadows of comfort. 1726 Gay in Swift’s Wks. (1841) II. 591, I have been very much out of order with a slight fever. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. 11. i. 14 Their Toils could raise But slight Returns of Gratitude and Praise. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. iii The effect is very slight, and at thirty feet it would probably be altogether imperceptible. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. ix. 581 It has also a slight, peculiar, but not unpleasant odour. 1871 C. Davies Metric Syst. iii. 177 A slight attention will give thirds, sixths, and twelfths.

b. Unimportant, trifling. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. V, 17, I doubt not some man wyl thynke this woman to be to slight to be written of emong graue and weyghtie matters. Ibid., Hen. VIII, 18 The lordes of Englande.. made report to their capitain accordyng, whiche thought it verie sleight, a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 146 Are we furious upon every sleight occasion? 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, iv. 8 Slight is the Subject, but the Praise not small. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xiii, I do no injustice .. when I say he is too slight to be weighed with the Douglas. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iv. 109 O for such, my friend, We hold them slight. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxvi, Therefore I am glad to take this slight occasion—this trifling occasion,.. to say that I attach no importance to them in the least.

c. Used emphatically in the superlative. 1599 Shaks. Much Ado 11. i. 272, I will goe on the slightest arrand now to the Antypodes that you can deuise to send me on. 1750 Student I. 57 The cautious father., was upon the watch.. on every the slightest occasion. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 244 Those loose theories to which none of them would chuse to trust the slightest of his private concerns. 1825 Bentham Offic. Apt. Maximized, Indications (1830) 43 Of the extortion.. not any the slightest intimation. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxv, He never had had the slightest liking for her. 1879 R. K. Douglas Confucianism iii. 72 The Sage.. pursues the heavenly way without the slightest deflection.

d. to make slight of, to regard or treat as of little importance or consequence. 1606 G. W[oodcock] Hist. Ivstine ix. 39 But they.. made slight of his defiance and hostile forces. 01632 T. Taylor Gods Judgem. 11. iii. (1642) 40 Though men make slite of these .. butcheries. 1740 tr. De Mouhy's Fort. Country Maid (1741) I. 53, I was startled, but my Governess and her Niece made slight of it. 1796 J. Moser Hermit of Caucasus II. 58 He at first made slight of his indisposition.

e. Wanting in fullness or heartiness. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 237 The King.. asking him what he was, received but a slight answer. 1706 Hearne Coiled. 27 Jan., Ye Duke.. receiv’d them after a slight manner. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 238 Slight was his answer ‘Well — I care not for it’.

f. Performed with little exertion. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. i 8 i He .. in contempt, At one slight bound high overleap’d all bound Of Hill or highest Wall.

f6. Slighting, contemptuous. Obs. rare. 1632 Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry 11. ii, Recant your stern contempt and slight neglect Of the whole court and him. 1688 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 245 Saying you may command the Judges, ..and other slight and scornfull Expressions he vsed.

7. Comb., as slight-billed, -bottomed, -limbed, etc.; also slight-seeming. 1660 Brett Threnodia viii, Slight-bottom’d Passion’s quickly spent, a 1697 Aubrey Brief Lives (1898) II. 241 Sir John [Suckling] was but a slight timberd man, and of midling stature. 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3942/4 A black slight Limb’d Mare,.. narrow Ey’d. 1803 Beddoes Hygeia ix. 196 How essential it is to check even slight-seeming nervous disorders in their commencement. 1847 Tennyson Princ. vii. 249 If she be small, slight-natured, miserable, How shall men grow? 1895 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. IV. 117 The slight-billed parraquet,.. the sole representative of its genus.

B. adv. 1. Poorly, slightly; contemptuously. 1606 Shaks. Ant. & Cl. 1. i. 56 Is Caesar with Anthonius priz’d so slight? 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 109 Think not so slight of glory. 01716 Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 313 In this corrupt Age.. perhaps Oaths are thought much slighter of than ever they were in former Times.

2. Slimly, slenderly. Chiefly in Comb. 1667 Primatt City & Co. Builder 69 A plain Balconie,.. made very slight, may not be worth above three pence half penny the pound. 1800 Asiatic Ann. Reg. IV. 19/1 The Hindus of the lower provinces are a slight made people. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. iv. iv, That other, his slight-built comrade, and craft-brother.

3. Slightly; to a small extent. 1671 Milton Samson 1229 Come nearer, part not hence so slight inform’d. 1727-46 Thomson Summer 1590 The neck slight-shaded, and the swelling breast.

slight (slait), v. Forms: a. 4- slight, 7 slyght, 8Sc. slicht; 4, 7 slite. /3. 5 sleght, 7 sleight, slaight. [In sense 1 f. slight a. 1, or a. OScand. *slehta (ON. and Icel. sletta, Norw. sletta, Sw. slatta, Da. slette). In sense 2 ad. Du. slechten, LG.

slichten, or G. schlichten to level. In senses 3-4 f. slight a. 5.] f 1. trans. To make smooth or level. Obs. a 1300 Cursor M. 28026 Leuedis,.. Quen yee yow-self sua slight and slike, Yee sai pat men you wille besuike. 1483 Cath. Angl. 344/1 To Sleght, lucibrucinare. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Calendrer vne toile, to slighte a webbe, or linnen. 1613 Markham Eng. Husb. 1. 1. ix. (1635) 51 You must not at any time sleight or smooth your Corne, but after a shower of Raine. 1620-Farew. Husb. (1625) 50 After your ground is sowne and harrowed, you shall then clotte it, sleight it, and smooth it.

2. To level with the ground; to raze (a fortification, etc.). Obs. exc. Hist, (common c 1640-80). 1640-4 in Rushw. Hist. Coll. ill. (1692) I. 368 That the works may be slighted, and the places dismantled. 1667 Temple Let. to Ld. Holies Wks. 1720 II. 37 When the Works were about half slighted,.. came seven or eight hundred French Horse. 1698 T. Froger Voy. 28 A Council was held to determine, whether the Fort should be kept or slighted. 1974 Country Life 28 Mar. 747/3 In March 1645-46, Parliament gave orders that Corfe [Castle] should be slighted. 1976 E. N. Luttwak Grand Strategy of Roman Empire ii. 57 It was standard practice to slight the defenses once the site was left. 1977 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 24 Dec. 1619/1 Mrs Barbara Castle shattered the political confidence of consultants as effectively as Henry 11 slighted his opponents’ strongholds. fig. 1646 H. Lawrence Comm. Angels 187 Till you have overcome your enemie and sleighted his workes. 1676 Cudworth Serm. 1 Cor. xv. 71 Christ our Lord.. slighted and dismantled that mighty Garrison.

3. a. To treat with indifference or disrespect; to pay little or no attention or heed to; to disregard, disdain, ignore. a. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, v. ii. 94 Heare your owne dignity so much prophan’d, See your most dreadfull Lawes so loosely slighted. 1619 Drayton Odes xii. 22 The time I knew She slighted you, When I was in her fauour. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. 11. 131 The Count slighted his Excommunication, conceiving his Head too high for Church-Censures to reach it. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Indies II. 1. 225 He. .told me, that he had taken much Pains to serve me, but that I slighted his Service. 1780 Cowper Progr. Error 419 We slight the precious kernel of the stone, And toil to polish its rough coat alone. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Napoleon, He delighted in the conversation of men of science,.. but the men of letters he slighted. 1865 Dickens Our Mut. Friend iii. iv, The confidences of lovely women are not to be slighted. £. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 84 Like him which in hast sleighted his good friends. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 120 Neither is that to bee sleighted here which wee find in the letters of David. 1673 Cave Prim. Chr. ill. iv. 333 Do my Souldiers think thus to Sleight my Royal Orders?

fb. To put off disdainfully. Obs. 1601 Shaks. Jul. C. iv. iii. 5 Wherein my Letters, praying on his side,.. was slighted off. 1627 S. Ward Life of Faith 66 Many gulls and gallants we may heare sometimes slight off death with a iest, when they thinke it out of hearing.

fc. To throw contemptuously. Obs.~x 1598 Shaks. Merry W. iii. v. 8 The rogues slighted me into the riuer with as little remorse, as they would haue drown’de a blinde bitches Puppies.

fd. intr. with at. To be indifferent. Obs.-1 1618 Wither Juvenilia (1633) 538 When to bar me ought He sees it fit, He doth infuse a Mind to sleight at it.

4. To gloss or pass (a thing) over carelessly or with indifference. ? Obs. 1620 R. Waller in Lismore Papers (1887) Ser. 11. II. 248 Though I coniectured the busynes yet I sleighted it ouer with a kinde of pretended ignorance. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 470 This his Majestie takes for an high point of his Soveraigntie, and will not have it slighted over in any fashion whatsoever. 1656 Phillips Purch. Pattern 144 But this must not alwayes be so slighted over, lest you run into great errour. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. x, I lodge a complaint before you as a magistrate, and you will find it serious to slight it over.

5. dial. To do (work) carelessly or negligently. 1854 [see slipstring 2].

fSlight, int. Obs. An abbreviation of God's light (see god sb. 14 a), used as a petty oath or exclamation. 1598 B. JONSON Ev. Man out of Hum. 11. ii, ’Slight, an it had come but four days sooner. 1605 Chapman All Fools Plays 1873 L 119 Slight hence, the olde knight comes. 1668 Sedley Mulb. Gard. 11. ii, ’Slight here’s Sir John.

slighted ('slaitid), ppl. a. [f.

slight v.]

1. Treated with indifference or disdain. 1619 A. Newman Pleas. Vis. 33 The slighted outcast, he did lye. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iii. vi. (1848) 44 By the meanest Creatures, and slighted’st object. 1719 Young Busiris 1. i, The slighted altars tremble. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 51 Not to understand a treasure’s worth Till time has stol’n away the slighted good. 1848 Dickens Dombey ix, His breast was full of interest for the slighted child. 1870 Bruce Life of Gideon ii. 43 You will.. fall into the.. hands of a slighted and therefore grievously insulted God.

f2. Levelled, razed.

Obs.

1636 Denham Poems, Virg. JEneis 11. 28 All through th’ unguarded Gates with joy resort To see the slighted Camp, the vacant Port. 1716 Pope Iliad vm. 218 High o’er their slighted trench our steeds shall bound.

'slighten, v. rare. Also 7 sleighten. [f. slight a. or v.] 1. trans. = slight v. 3. 1605 B. Jonson Sejanus v, It is an odious wisdome to blaspheme, Much more to slighten, or deny their powers. 1633 Ford ’ Tis Pity iv. ii, She, as ’tis said, Slightens his love, and he abandons hers. 1646 Featly Dippers Dipt 37 The custome of our Mother the Church.. is no way to be slightned [1645 sleighted] or rejected.

2. To make smaller or more slight. 1954 P. Toynbee Friends Apart vii. 90 Dysentery.. had thinned his face and slightened his broad body.

Hence 'slightening ppl. a. 1916 A. Quiller-Couch Art of Reading (1920) i. 14 God forbid that anyone should hint a slightening word of what our sons and brothers are doing just now.

slighter ('slaitsfr)). Also 7 sleighter.

[f. slight

v. + -er1.] One who slights or disdains. 1646 Saltmarshe Groans for Liberty 29 Sermon sleighters. 1651 Baxter Saints' R. (ed. 2) iv. 65 Unworthy sleighters of Christ and glory, a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840)111. 151 Italians (the admirers only of themselves and the slighters-general of all other nations). 1747 Doddridge Mem. Col. Gardiner (1808) 72 The miserable condition of those that are slighters of pardoning grace. 1846 Trench Mirac. 67 The breaker through and slighter of the apparitions of sense. f

slightfully, adv.

SLIKE

704

SLIGHTER

Obs.-1

[f.

slight

sb.]

Slightingly. 1627 W. Sclater Exp. 2 Thess. (1629) 169 And why so slightfully regard we euidences or authorities brought to auouch doctrines as being de fide?

1866 Carlyle Remin. (1881) I. 269 Charles himself was a swart, slightish, insipid-looking man. 1881 Watson in Jrnl. Linn. Soc., Zool. XV. 265 Operculum testaceous, scored with slightish radiating lines.

slightly ('slaitli), adv. Also 6 slyghtly, sleyghtly, sleightlie, 6-7 -ly. [f. slight a. + -ly2. Cf. MDu. and MLG. slechte-, slichtelik{e, MHG. slehtlich(e, G. schlechtlich.] 1. Slimly, slenderly; flimsily, unsubstantially. 1521 Coventry Leet-bk. 673 That they put sufficient stuf in them .., and that they make them not slyghtly. 1529 Act 21 Hen. VIII, c. 12 § 1 Traces, halters and other tacle ben by the said persons sleyghtly and deceyvably made. I549”5° Act 3 & 4 Edw. VI, c. 2 § 1 The same Clothes soe sleightlie and subtillye made. 1602 Shaks. Ham. iv. vii. 22 So that my Arrowes Too slightly timbred for so loud a Winde, Would haue reuerted. 1635-56 Cowley Davideis 11. 325 That fatal net, Which though but slightly wrought, was firmly set. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V.n. 148 To raise the prices.. and manufacture the said goods more slightly and fraudulently than before. 1745 Pococke Descr. East ll. 1. 197 A well of good water, from which the city is supplied by an aqueduct very slightly built. 1847 C. Bronte jf. Eyre xi, She was quite a child,.. slightly built.

b. Loosely, slackly.

t'slightily, adv. Obs. rare. [f.

slighty a.]

a. Carelessly, b. Slightingly; disdainfully. 1679 Penn Addr. Protestants 1. 6 Sin gives the deadliest of all Wounds to Mankind; I grieve to say it, but ’tis too true; there is no Wound so slightily healed. 1740 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. IV. 459 We make no Doubt, however slightily he may treat us [etc.].

'slightiness.

Obs. rare. Carelessness, indifference.

f

[f.

as

prec.]

1662 Newcome Diary (Chetham Soc.) hi A sudden crosse had God brought on mee.. for my sleightyness and neglect of meditation. 1678 Young Man's Calling 19 Neglect and slightiness in the means of our salvation.

'slighting, vbl. sb. [f. slight v. -I- -ing1.] f 1. The action of levelling (ground). Obs. 1613 Markham Eng. Husb. 1. 1. ix. (1635) 50 A Rouler.. is for this purpose of sleighting and smoothing of grounds of great use and profit. 1615-Eng. Housew. 11. v. (1668) 130 So fine a mould as you can possibly break with your harrows, clotting beetles, or sleighting.

2. The action of razing or demolishing. exc. Hist.

Obs.

1640 Kirkcudbright War-Committee's Minute Bk. (1855) 66 In obedience of the warrand .. for slighting of the hows of the Threive. c 1645 Tullie Siege of Carlisle (1840) 14 Daily skirmishes . . and now and then the sleighting of a work. 1707 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 39 The immediate slighting the said castle and demolishing.. the outworks thereof. 1936 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 June 479/4 In spite of Cromwellian ‘slighting’ and the quarrying of local builders and road-makers, so much .. still remains. 1977 H. R. Loyn Vikings in Britain v. 95 Evidence of possible slighting of fortifications at Cricklade and Cadbury, may well indicate the confidence of the new regime at least in Wessex under Cnut and Earl Godwin.

3.

The action of treating disregard, or indifference.

with

disdain,

1622 Fletcher Beggar's Bush hi. iv, Yet will ye love me? Tell me but how I have deserv’d your slighting? 1659 C. Noble Mod. Answ. Immod. Queries 6 To charge him with neglects and slightings and disregardings to his friends. 1711 Brit. Apollo No. 15. 2/1 She has return’d to her former Reservedness and .. slighting of me. 1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. 11. II. v. 104 Prone to believe he is the subject of any intentional slighting.

4. The action of glossing over. ? Obs. 1617 Hieron Wks. II. 325 My silence, my conniuence, my slighting ouer of these things.

'slighting, ppl. a. [f. as prec. + -ing2.] 1. Conveying or implying a slight; of a contemptuous or disdainful character. 1632 B. Jonson Magn. Lady 1. i, To hear yourself., glanced at In a few slighting terms. 1641 Baker Chron.,John 96 In this slighting humour he returnes into England. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 405 [It] was generally looked upon as a scornful slighting and very unfair way. 1825 Scott Betrothed xviii, The Constable felt the full effect of this slighting reception. 1892 Athenseum 21 May 658/2 A slighting allusion to one of his literary productions.

1599 Shaks. Much Ado 1. i. 289 The guardes are but slightly basted on. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 967 The facil gates of hell too slightly barrd. 1821 Scott Kenilw. v, The flower had been stuck so slightly into the cap.

2. Without much care or attention; carelessly; lightly. 01557 Mrs. Basset Let. in More's Wks. 1435/1 For the instruction of my conscience in the matter, I haue not sleightly looked, but by many yeres studied & aduisedly considred. 1594 Kyd Cornelia 1, [Fortune] slightly sowes that sildom taketh roote. 1617 Moryson Itin. 1. 197, I slightly passe over the places described in my former passage those waies. 1679 Moxon Mech. Exerc. vii. 120 He that knows how to work curiously, may when he lists work slightly. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ill, I know they are too valuable to be so slightly kept. 1843 Bethune Sc. Fireside Stor. 36 Affection may try to .. pass slightly over the darker evidence against him.

b. Without much interest, heartiness; indifferently.

insistence,

or

1599 Drayton Idea viii, I say I loue, you slightly aunswer I? 1709 Swift Vind. Bicker staff Wks. 1757 II. 1.474 There is one objection .. which I have sometimes met with, though indeed very slightly offered. 1779 Johnson L.P., Mallet, When Mallet entered one day, Pope asked him slightly what there was new. 1833 Ht. Martineau Loom & Lugger i.v. 78 Mrs. Draper slightly returned the farewell of her visitors.

c. With slight exertion or effort, rare. 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, 11. iv. 112 You haue by Fortune .. Gone slightly o’re lowe steppes. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 58 He catched at the upmost bar with his left hand, and, throwing himself slightly over, opened the gate.

3. Easily, readily; weakly. 1594 Kyd Cornelia 11, He that retyres not at the threats of death, Is not, as are the vulgar, slightly fraied. 1596 Shaks. Merch. V. v. i. 167 You were too blame,.. To part so slightly with your wiues first gift, c 1605 Rowley Birth of Merlin iv. i, Is it the weakest part I found in thee To doubt of me so slightly? 1646 J. Whitaker Uzziah 4, I should wrong goodnesse .., if I should sleightly give that title to unknown persons. 1825 Scott Betrothed xix, She has .. advisers, who may not.. recommend to her to sit down slightly with this injury.

4. With little respect or ceremony; disparagingly, slightingly. Now rare. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. iii. ii, I’le censure it slightly, and ridiculously. 1623 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1908) II. 244 The sending of the young Prince and ould gentlleman so slightly from the Kinge is by some conjectered to bee a ploott. 1654 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 136 Walter Montague doth proceed to speeke very slitly of the Kings commands. 01779 Warburton Wks. (1811) IX. 260 Learned Men, who have affected to think slightly of the Religion of their Country. 1825 Scott Betrothed xv, I am not to be treated as an ordinary person, who may be received with negligence, and treated slightly with impunity. 1892 Lumsden Sheep-head 289 The country lass they’ll slightly pass, An she were dirt.

5. In a slight or small degree; to a slight extent.

slightingly ('slaitir)li), adv. [f- prec. +

1594 Kyd Cornelia v. 331 O radiant Sunne that slightly guildst our dayes. 1663 Cowley Verses & Ess., Liberty, I do but slightly touch upon all these particulars of the slavery of Greatness. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxviii, He bade her good morning, and, bowing slightly to the count, disappeared. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xxxvi, As the Duke tapped slightly at it, a person .. unlocked the door. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. 11. vi, He had breakfasted but slightly. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man 17 Sometimes worn down to the surface of the mud, sometimes projecting slightly above it.

1636 Davenant Wits Wks. (1673) 208 You speak slightingly of it, As if ’twere a poor thing. 1654 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 51 Ormond replied, ‘perhaps his Lordship had a faculty to make any thing good’, and slitingly neglected him. 1740-1 Richardson Pamela II. 291 Hush! said he: I will not bear to hear her spoken slightingly of! 1790 Beatson Naval & Milit. Mem. I. 42 By failing in this hazardous exploit, which he had treated so slightingly. 1831-3 E. Burton Eccl. Hist. xvi. (1845) 359 The passages .. might lead us to think slightingly of his candour. 1881 Saintsbury Dryden iii. 65 Dryden speaks slightingly of these University prologues.

1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. xiii. 70 My cause, but slightly knowne, May mooue the harts of warlike Myrmydons. 01700 Evelyn Diary 3 June 1666, The Duke of Albemarle was slightly wounded. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. 11. §8 Those who are even slightly read in our philosophy. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 108 A slice of Apple slightly boiled. 1791 Gentl. Mag. 22/1 A servant maid, who from her childhood had been slightly deaf. 1835 J. Duncan Beetles (Nat. Lib.) 126 The outer edge of the elytra is slightly sinuated at the apex. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 371 To William he was already slightly known. 1884 Cent. Mag. Jan. 419/2 After a heavy rain the stream was.. slightly darker in hue.

2. Acting contemptuously or disdainfully. 1684 Roxb. Ball. (1886) VI. 85 Never did a slighting Lover So much cruelty discover As this Tyrant doth to me. a 1697 Aubrey Lives (1898) I. 277 A squeamish, disobliging, slighting, insolent, proud fellow. -ly2.] In a slighting manner; contemptuously, disdain¬ fully; with little regard or respect.

So 'slightingness, disdainfulness,

rare-1.

1683 Cave Ecclesiastici, Greg. Naz. 328 The Emperor quickly discern’d the slightingness of his carriage.

slightish ('slaitij), a.

[f.

slight a.

+ -ish1.]

Somewhat slight, slender, or small. 1761 Ann. Reg., Useful Projects 128/2 She.. only complained of a slightish pain and heaviness in her head.

b. Used to qualify a following pple. or adj.

c. Forming attributive collocations with pples. or adjs., and frequently hyphened. 1800 Shaw Gen. Zool. I. 1. 245 Slightly hairy Trichechus. 1804 Ibid. V. 1. 48 Slightly gilded Salmon. 1829 W. Ellis Polynesian Res. I. ii. 55 Resembling, .the white of a slightly boiled egg. 1833 Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 311 Slightly-worn and angular flints. 1837 J. T. Smith tr. Vicat's Mortars 26 A large disengagement of hot slightly-caustic vapour. 1892

Greener

Breech-Loader 54 Slightly-used guns of their

cheaper qualities.

slightness ('slaitnis). [f. as prec. + -ness.] The character or quality of being slight, in various senses of the word. 1. Lack of substance, strength, thoroughness, etc. 1607 Shaks. Cor. iii. i. 148 It must omit Reall Necessities, and giue way the while To vnstable Slightnesse. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 104 The service and firmness of the Cast-Lead, and the sleightness and the charge of the other. 1727 Bailey (vol. II), Sleaziness (of Cloth), Slightness of Workmanship. 1788 Sir J. Reynolds Disc. xiv. (1842) 254 The slightness which we see in his [Gainsborough’s] best works cannot always be imputed to negligence. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India I. n. iv. 163 It is treated with a negligence and slightness due to a matter of subordinate importance. 1856 Ruskin Mod. Paint. II. in. i. x. §3 It is. .easy to know the slightness of earnest haste from the slightness of blunt feeling, indolence, or affectation.

2. Smallness in amount, degree, etc. 1747 tr. Astruc's Fevers 206 A mild fever, through the slightness of the inflammation. 1846 Hawthorne Mosses fr. Manse 11. xii. (1864) 254 Glancing with imperceptible slightness at the artist’s small and slender frame. 1884 Manch. Exam. 13 Dec. 5/2 The slightness of the change is duly appreciated elsewhere. 1889 Law Rep. 14P.D. 109 The absence or slightness of the evidence.

3. Slimness, slenderness. 1797-1805 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. V. 128 He had a fixed redness in his face, and had lost the slightness of his person.

t slightually ('slaitjurali), adv. Obs. U.S.joc. [f. slight(ly adv. + actually adv.] Actually slightly. 1859 E. H. N. Patterson Jrnl. 29 Mar. in L. Hafen Overland Routes to Gold Fields (1942) 79 The weather has been beautiful, although last night was ‘slightually’ frosty. 1873 ‘Mark Twain’ Gilded Age xxix. 266 The Hooverville Patriot and Clarion had this ‘item’:—Slightually Overboard.

slighty ('slaiti), a. Obs. exc. dial. Also 7 sleighty. [f. slight a. + -Y.] f 1. Superficial; lacking in thoroughness. Obs. 1619 J. Dyke Caveat (1620) 19 If so slighty and easie a performance will discharge it. 1650 Baxter Saint's R. in. viii. (1654) 156 The neglect or slighty performance of that great duty. 1671 Eachard Obs. Answ. Cont. Clergy 129 Where any thing is advised or commanded after this slothful and slighty way.

fib. Of persons: Negligent, careless. Obs. 1655 Gurnall Chr. Compl. Arm. vii. 200/1 Till this be done, thou wilt be but sluggish and slighty in thy endeavours for faith. 1661 Newcome Diary (Chetham Soc.) 8, I was slighty in secret prayer this morninge.

fi2. Slighting, contemptuous; light. Obs. 1642 J. Ball Answ. Canne i. 118 In his other writings .. he is insolent, censorious, scornfull and slighty. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. To Rdr., Should I say 1 had slighty thoughts of it [etc.].

3. Slight, unimportant, unsubstantial, slender, weak.

trivial;

also,

1669 Gurnall Chr. in Arm. xxiv. §4. 317/2 Thou mayst not think thou goest upon a slighty errand. 1679 Mansell Narr. Popish Plot Addr. C2, Nor does it argue more of Wisdom, to rear such a Massive .. Structure .. upon so slender and sleighty a Foundation. 17*3 M. Henry Wks. (1855) I. 132/1 To neglect them or make but a short and slighty business of them, a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia 307 Slighty, slim, weak. 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Ant. Gloss., Slighty, slight, feeble, insufficient, unenduring. 1882 in W.

Wore. Gloss.

t sligo. slang. Obs.~x (See quot. and tip v.) 1775 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. lxxii. (1783) III. 34, I tips Slappim the sligo, and nudges the elbow of Trugge, as much as to say, Soho!.. I have him in view.

slike, sb.

Sc. and north. Now rare or Obs. Forms: 5, 8 slyk (5 slyik), 5-6 slyke; 5-6, 9 slike (6 slik); 9 sleyk. [? OE. *sltc, = Fris. slyk, MDu. slijc, sliec (Du. slijk), MLG. slik, slyk (LG. slik), OHG. slich (G. dial, schleich): see slitch and cf. slick sb.2] Mud, slime, sludge. I375 Barbour Bruce xiii. 352 Bannokburne, that sa cummyrsum was Of slyk, and depnes for till pas. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. iv. iii. 263 Slyk and claye mycht t?an be seyn Qwhar wattyr deip befor had beyn. C1500 Kennedie Passion of Christ 230 In cauld and hunger rynand throw slik and clay. 1513 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IV. 525 To bere the tymer furth of the slyke that came up fra the Margret. 1513 Douglas JEtieid 1. viii. 83 Drivin to land By force of storme, the slyke thai ws deny. 1704 in Ess. Witchcraft (1820) 143 William was desired to bring some slyk. 1812 W. Hall Local Hist. Fens 11 Seeing rudds run by shoals ’bout the side of Gill sike, Being dreadfully venom’d by rolling in slike. 1870 Robson Evangeline 356 An’ in the sleyk poor Feely stuck.

t slike, a. Obs. Chiefly north. Also 4-5 slyk, slyke, slic, 4 slik, sli. [a. ON. slik-r (Norw. and Sw. slik, Da. slig), for earlier *swa-likr, = Goth. swa-leiks ‘so-like’: see such a.] Such. Also with numerals (cf. sic a. 1 b). a 1300 Cursor M. 6786 To cumlinges do yee right na suike, For quilum war yee seluen slike. Ibid. 7472 Ilk dai he come in place, And batail bede wit sli manace. 13 .. Gosp. Nicod. 1092 (Harl. MS.), To spek of his pouste, yhe may meruaile slyke fyue. C1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 253 Wha herkned euere slyk a ferly thyng? 1446 in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. (1900) XLVI. 527 Slike distress was never seen within the said town. 1483 Cath. Angl. 344/2 Slyke, huius modi.

Hence fslikins, of such a kind.

Obs.~]

01300 Cursor M. 12010 Ioseph sun Slikins maistris do was won Bifor pe folk of israel.

SLIKE slike, obs. form of slick a. f slike, v. Obs.~' [Cf. MLG. and LG. silken (NFris. slike), OHG. slihhan (MHG. slichen, G. schleichen) to slide, glide, creep, etc.] intr. To slide, glance. c 1400 Anturs of Arth. xlviii. The squrd slippus on slonte, and on the mayle slikes.

slily: see SLYLY adv. slim, sb.

[f. slim a.] fl. A lanky, lazy, worthless, or despicable person. Obs. 1548 Elyot Longurto, -onis, a longe slymme. 1589 Alb. Eng. vi. xxxi. (1602) 153 Lesse mannerd, and worse gated than this Saturns-Eue-made Slim God neuer made. 1611 Cotgr., Couille... a heartlesse, faint-hearted, or white-liuered slimme. Ibid.. Longue eschine, a luske, slimme, longbacke, or slowbacke. Warner

2. A course of slimming, a diet; usu. in phr. sponsored slim. 1977 Gay News 7-20 Apr. 8/1 Barrie announced his intention to go on a sponsored 'slim'. People were asked to sign pledge forms to give a certain amount of money for every pound Barrie would lose between Cambridge and Oxford. 1977 Navy News Aug. 30/6 Bill Skilliter went on a sponsored slim and lost 3St.

slim (slim), a. [a. Du. or LG. (also Fris.) slim, repr. MDu. slim(p, slem(p, MLG. slim(m, slym(m, slem, — MHG. slim, slimm- (G. schlimm), OHG. *slimb crooked, perverse, bad, mean, etc.] 1. a. Slender, (gracefully) thin. Said of persons (or animals), less freq. of things. (a) 1657 G. Thornley Daphnis Chloe 61 He’s small and slim, and so will slip and steal away. 1692 R. L’Estrange Fables 1. lv. 55 A Slim, Thin-Gutted Fox made a Hard Shift to wriggle his Body into a Hen-Roost. 1712 Steele Sped. No. 266, I was jogged on the Elbow.. by a slim young Girl of.. Seventeen. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty xi. 83 Imagine the slim figure of a Mercury, every where neatly formed for the utmost light agility. 1843 James Forest Days ii, A man somewhat above the middle size, of a slim and graceful figure. 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. iv. (i860) 90 The swiftest and slimmest wolves would have the best chance of surviving. (b) 1824 Dibdin Library Comp. 564 Who possess the interminable slim quartos. 1827 Hood Tim Turpin 38 With a cudgel in his hand — It was not light or slim. 1886 Mrs. Ewing Mary's Meadow 69, I put them into a slim glass on my table. transf. 1876 Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. 11. 241 An organ . . capable equally of the trumpet’s ardors or the slim delicacy of the flute.

b. Small, slight; of little substance; poor. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 326 If this be all they are good for, it is.. a very slim benefit they afford. 1717 Killingbeck Serm. 376 Now how vain and slim are all these, if compared with the Solid .. Encouragement which our Religion offers. 1862 Maury in Corbin Life (1888) 214 The chances of your getting this [letter] are slim. 1877 G. Fraser Wigtown 370 They seemed to have rather slim faith in the stability of the structure.

c. dial. Of fabrics: Flimsy, thin. 1813 Picken Poems I. 123 To weer slim trash o’ silk. 1880 Poet. Sk. 39 (E.D.D.), His claes were the slimmest that ever ye saw. Watt

d. Meagre, scanty, sparse. 1852 Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (ed. 2) 130 We had a very slim audience, not more than a dozen. 1892 Nation 1 Sept. 156 Various reasons are given for the slim attendance.

e. Delicate; not robust. 1877 S. O. Jewett Deephaven (1893) 205 She’s had slim health of late years.

f. Of clothes: cut on slender lines; designed to give an appearance of slimness. 1884 [see scoop-shovel bonnet s.v. scoop sb.' 7]. 1970/71 Kay's Catal. Autumn-Winter 145/1 Crimplene Skirt elegantly slim with a raised stripe effect. 1979 Daily Tel. 4 June 17/3 (Advt.), One of the most handsome and utterly wearable of this spring’s suits is the linen-y slim one in a soft lilac-grey.

f2. Of jests: Sly, malicious. Obs. rare. 1668 H. More Div. Dial. 1. xxx. (1713) 65 He does indeed say so, but by way of a slim jear to their ignorance. 1681 Glanvill Sadducismus I. (1682) 161 It cannot be said by any man in his wits, unless by way of sport or some slim jest.

3. Of persons, their actions, etc.: Sly, cunning, crafty, wily, artful. In recent use adopted from S. African Dutch. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 43 Slim... It’s a word generally used in the same sence with Sly. 1703 Thoresby Lett, to Ray s.v., A slim customer. 1768 Ross Rock & Wee Pickle Tow 67 She was never ca’d chancy, but canny an’ slim. 1848 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. 1. ix, I wish I may be cust, Ef Bellers wuzn’t slim enough to say he wouldn’t trust! 1899 Times 26 Oct. 5/2 The issue of the proclamation by the Boers. . is regarded., as a ’slim’ (crafty) move on the enemy’s part.

4. Comb. a. Parasynthetic, etc., as slim-ankled, -built, -faced, -footed, -leaved, -legged, -muzzled, -pointed, -sandalled, -shanked, -tailed, -textured, -waisted, etc. 1824 Dibdin Library Comp. (1825) 729 Out of 333 slimwaisted quartos and octavos. 1834 Wrancham Homerics 11 Him . . Pitying, slim-ancled Ino spied. 1838 Poe Narr. A. G. Pym xix. 160 Slim-legged hogs. 1862 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 10 And spread Slim-pointed seagull plumes. 1866 - Jrnls. Sf Papers (1959) 142 After six a very slimtextured and pale causeway of mare’s tail cloud running N.E. and S.W. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. (1870) I. 1. 371 The slim-leaved trees against the evening sky. 1870 Ibid. III. IV. 16 Close by that a slim-trunked tree did grow. 1872 Hardy Under Greenwood Tree I. 1. ii. 22 The slim-faced martel had knocked ’em down tp.me because I nodded to en

SLIME

7°5 in my friendly way. 1873 Howells Chance Acquaintance i. (1883) 22 Villages,.. each clustering about its slim-spired church. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abr. x. 95 A long, slim¬ legged boy, he was, encased in quite a short shirt. Ibid. 96 Into the midst of this peaceful scene burst that slim-shanked boy in the brief shirt. 1885 Black White Heather i, A slimbuilt built and yet muscular young man. 1912 W. de la Mare Child's Day 14 But there, Ann dear, You’d rather be A slim-tailed mermaid In the sea. 1914 D. H. Lawrence Prussian Officer & Other Stories 20 His slim-legged, beautiful horse. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 530 Milly Bloom, fairhaired, greenvested, slimsandalled .., breaks from the arms of her lover. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts Flowers 61 Cyclamens putting their ears back. Long, pensive, slim-muzzled greyhound buds. 1927-Mornings in Mexico 83 Donkeys, mules, on they come .. great bundles bouncing against the sides of the slim-footed animals. 1978 W. F. Buckley Stained Glass 225 Himmelfarb . .grinned at his long-legged, slim-faced, lightly freckled assistant. 1981 A. Sewart Close your Eyes C Sleep vi. 57 He was slimwaisted and muscular looking.

b. slim-cake, a kind of plain cake used in Ireland; slim hole Oil Industry, a drill hole of smaller diameter than normal; usu. attrib. (with hyphen); slim volume, a book of verse by a little-known poet (freq. mildly derog.)\ hence slim vol colloq. abbrev. 1847 Paddiana (1848) I. 219 His share of the *slim-cake alone would have furnished him with indigestion for a month. 1894 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 318 Where we found tea and Irish slim-cakes provided for us. 1953 World Oil June 112/3 Analysis of areas favorable and unfavorable to *slim hole drilling may have been influenced by the performance of available bits in the various types of formations encountered. 1959 Wall St.Jrnl. (Eastern ed.) 20 July 15/3 ‘Slim-hole’ drilling .. employs conventional equipment — but less of it. The idea is to substitute small pipe and other tinier tools to do a job historically done by larger, more costly units. 1972 L. M. Harris Introd. Deepwater Floating Drilling Operations iii. 16 Some companies use slim-hole designs and special-clearance couplings on casings. 1975 A. P. Szilas Production & Transport of Oil & Gas iv. 345 (1caption) Bottom-hole arrangements for the sucker-rod pumping of slim holes. 1920 E. Wallace Daffodil Mystery iii. 23 Thornton Lyne was a store-keeper, a Bachelor of Arts, .. and the author of a *slim volume. 1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 242 The accent, I gather, is on culture—lots of slim vols in the house now. 1979 Church Times 1 June 5/3 Friends will.. welcome a slim volume of his poems that has come out.

slim, v. [f. slim a.] 1. trans. With away: To waste (time) in idling. Chiefly dial. 1812 Thom Amusem. 35 (E.D.D.), Bids them mind their meat and wark, And not to slim their time away.

2. To scamp (work). Also with over. Chiefly dial. 1808 Jamieson s.v., In the very same sense we say, To slim o'er, to do one’s work in a careless and insufficient way. 1847 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 393 Postie had also helped to beat the carpets, considering that Eaves was rather slimming them. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss, s.v., A shoemaker, who brought his apprentice up before the magistrates, complained that ‘he slimmed his work so, he could put up with it no longer’.

3. a. To make slim or slender. Chiefly dial. 1862 Mrs. Norton Lady of La Garaye I. 115 The rich purple of her velvet vest Slims the young waist, and rounds the graceful breast.

b.fig. To reduce in size or extent. Freq. const. down. 1963 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 16 Dec. 19/1 He set out to slim the budget. 1971 Daily Tel. 16 Aug. 11/6, I have slimmed down my holding of Westland Aircraft.. by selling 1,250 at 46£p. 1976 A. White Long Silence xix. 169 We’d been able to slim our plan down considerably, to make do with the minimum of men. 1980 Daily Tel. 18 Jan. 1/8 Sir Charles Villiers, British Steel’s chairman, ended weeks of speculation over the future of two plants.. when he said both works would be slimmed.

4. intr.

To try to reduce one’s weight by dieting; to become slim. Also with down. Also fig1930 Punch 2 Apr. 366/2 The hostess ate hardly any. She is slimming. 1937 L. C. Douglas Forgive us our Trespasses xiii. 254 As the minutes slimmed down to four, three, two, Dinny found his heart beating rapidly. 1963 ‘E. McBain’ Ten Plus One xii. 158, I was too fat... But the funny part was, once I slimmed down, I didn’t want to be an actor any more. 1975 G. Howell In Vogue 1/2 ‘Dressing on a war income’ was a regular feature [in British Vogue],.. recommending that women should slim in order to use less fabric.

Hence 'slimmed-down ppl. a.; also 'slimdown (usu. attrib.). 1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. B14/5 Other corporations are impressed by their strong cash positions, their slimmeddown lease structures and their good earnings. 1978 N. Y. Times Mag. 23 July 23/2 Frye-boot chic was swept aside as big-top looks became slimdown looks. 1980 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 1/2 There may be a repeat of the late-1979 confrontation over the British Leyland slimdown and efficiency programme. 1981 Times 7 Aug. 20/3 Mercantile House continued to advance in its slimmed-down form.

slime (slaim), sb. Forms: i, 3 slim, 3-5 slym, 5 slyym, 3-7 slyme; 5- slime. [Common Teut.: OE. slim, = Fris. slym, slim, slim, MDu. slijm, slym- (Du. slijm), MLG. slym, slim (LG. slim), MHG. slim (G. schleim), ON. slim (MSw., Norw., Da. slim, fsliim). The stem is prob. related to that of L. limus.\ 1. a. Soft glutinous mud; alluvial ooze; viscous matter deposited or collected on stones, etc.

a 1000 in Wr.-Wulcker 195 Borbus, cena, slim, c 1050 Ibid. 439 Limus, slim, c 1150 Cant. Ps. lxvii. 2 Afestnod ic aem on .. slim dipae. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 338 Anonri3t pe se wende a3ein, with watur and with slyme. 01300 E.E. Ps. lxviii. 2, I am festened in slime [that] depe esse. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 133 Nilus .. bycause of slym pat rennej? ^erwith .. make}? pe londe fatte. 1422 tr. Seer eta Secret., Priv. Priv. 191 God wold not fourm woman of the Slyme as he dud man. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. 1. 762 See slyme .. and slyme of flood, With other donge ymynged, is right good. 1568 Withals Diet. 7 b/1 Slime or mudde in water, dicitur limus. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 1. i. 21 As when old father Nilus gins to swell.. His fattie waues do fertile slime outwell. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii, Let him feed on slime That smeares the dungeon cheeke. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, iv. 414 The teeming Tide.. Makes green the Soil with Slime, and black prolific Sands. 1756-7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 432 The struggling of the fish, in order to extricate itself at first from the slime. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 24 An oily slime, found in the bottoms of ditches and of weedy pools. 1867 Augusta Wilson Vashti xxxiii, A greenish slime overspread the lower portions of the w all, and coated the uneven pavement. 1894 S. Weyman Lady Rotha xxiii, The clinging slime and the reek of the marsh.

b. Applied to bitumen. 1530 Tindale Prol. to Five Bks. Moses Wks. 6/2 That slyme was a fatnesse that issued out of the earth, like vnto tarre; and thou mayst call it cement, if thou wilte. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xi. 3 They toke bryck for stone, & slyme for morter. 1601 Holland Pliny vii. xv, The very clammie slime Bitumen. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 298 The rest his look Bound with Gorgonian rigor.. And with Asphaltic slime. 1764 Harmer Observ. iii. § vii. 97 Norden describes the Egyptian .. architecture as differing from the Roman, being of mud and slime. 1853 Layard Nineveh & Babylon 202 To bring fresh slime to the surface, the Arabs threw large stones into the springs.

2. a. A viscous substance or fluid of animal or vegetable origin; mucus, semen, etc. a 1225 Ancr. R. 276 Nert tu icumen of ful slim? c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 191 pare feol out of eiper ei$e Fuylj?e ase pe\ it were slym. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 334 pei coruen hit of me & wosch awei mi slym. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 9115 A lyknesse off ordure, And a statue off slyym vnclene. 1530 Palsgr. 271/1 Slyme of fysshe, lymon. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 291 The Decoction of Betonie.. doth dense and scoure the breast and lunges from flegme and slyme. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 434 Tenches .. with their glutinous slime. 1617 Hieron Wks. II. 219 Like that slime which the snaile leaues when it creepes. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 195 Too frequent Rains infect them with Slime and Snivel. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 167 The earth-worm .. takes hold by the slime of the fore part of its body. 1796 Withering Brit. PI. (ed. 3) IV. 110 Branches shaped like a worm, filled with slime containing granulations. 1822-7 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 227 The discharge thrown up consists of acrid slime and porraceous bile. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 180 The masses of starch containing slime.. have not yet been discovered in the plants in question.

b. Applied to star-jelly (see jelly sb.1 2 b). 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. in Ashm. Theatr. Chem. Brit. (1652) 191 The Slyme of Sterrs that falleth to the grownde. 1642 H. More Song of Soul 11.1. i. 2 Like to a Meteor, whose materiall Is low unwieldy earth, base unctuous slime. 1656 Cowley Misc., Reason ii, So Stars appear to drop to us from skie,.. But when they fall. . What but a sordid Slime is found?

3. fig. a. Applied disparagingly to the human body, to man in general, or to single persons. c 1315 Shoreham iv. 112 pat dot? pat mannes body ybered Nys bote a lyte slym. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 565 Saynt Bernard says.. pat ‘man here es nathyng elles Bot a foule slyme’. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 2 He ys not but a wryche and slyme of erth. 1504 Atkynson tr. De Imitatione iii. xiv. 209 Lerne, thou erth & slyme, to humble the. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 11. x. 50 What time th’ eternall Lord in fleshly slime Enwombed was. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. v. v, Ant. Scum of the mud of hell! Alb. Slime of all filth! 1652 Benlowes Theoph. v. xv. 63 Dares mortal Slime.. expresse What ev’n Celestials do confesse Is inexpressible?

b. Applied to what otherwise disgusting.

is

morally

filthy

or

i575~85 Sandys Serm. 156 Now that Christ hath cleansed vs from our sinne, let vs not swinelike returne to wallowe in that slime againe. 1593 Nashe Strange Newes Kj, Art, like yong grasse.., was glad to peepe vp through any slime of corruption. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 70 Drunkennesse, whose putrefactious slime Darkens the splendour of our common wealth. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. 11. iii. (1869) 66 It is varnished over with the slime of servility. 1898 G. Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 15 What raised This wallower in old slime to noblest heights.

4. a. Mining. Finely crushed or powdered metallic ore in the form of mud. 1758 Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 180 Thus the slimes are finished, and brought to as great a degree of purity as the size of the tin.. will permit. 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 226 Leavings of Tin .. consist of slime and tails. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 751 The metallic slime being first floated in the water of the trough, then flows out and is deposited in the tank. 1855 J. R. L[eifchild] Cornw. Mines 205 The ore, on issuing forth, deposits its rough in the first basin, and its slimes in the following basins. 1874 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 415 By slimes or slums I do not mean to include any slimes whatever from the pan-tailings. Ibid., The slimes here spoken of.. have never been worked at all.

b. Also anode slime. The deposit of insoluble material formed at the anode in the electrolytic refining of copper and some other metals; = anode mud s.v. anode c. 1902 J. McCrae tr. Arrhenius' Text-bk. Electrochem. xvi. 276 The other impurities, such as gold, silver,.. and lead, remain undissolved, or form insoluble compounds .. and falling from the anode, collect in the so-called anode slime. 1935 W. A. Koehler Princ. & Applic. Electrochem. II. xxiii. 170 A large part of the silver produced is obtained from the slimes which are a by-product from the electrorefining of

SLIME baser metals, especially from the refining of copper, lead, nickel, and zinc. 1954 M. C. Sneed et al. Comprehensive Inorg. Chem. II. ii. 128 Copper refinery slime is a dirty-black mixture of very finely divided copper and metallic and nonmetallic anode impurities. 1969 H. T. Evans tr. Hagg's Gen. & Inorg. Chem. xxxvi. 749 Silver and gold by-products of the production of copper are collected in the anode slime during copper_electrolysis.

5. techn. (See quot.) 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 1164 The thin stuff, called slimes, upon the surface of the starch, is removed by a tray of a peculiar form.

6. attrib. and Comb. a. In sense 1, as slimebank, -bath, lagoon; slime-browned, etc. 1597 Marlowe Ovid's Elegies hi. v, Floud with reedegrowne slime bankes. 1756 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 421 Here is also.. a muddy bath. [marg.] Slime bath. 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens’ Lusiad ix. 370 Each joyful sailor .. with firm tugs the rollers from the brine, Reluctant dragg’d, the slime-brown’d anchors raise. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xxviii, I saw the boat.. waiting for them at the slime-washed stairs. 1877 Ruskin St. Mark's Rest 1. ii. 23 The crocodile, ..slime-begotten of old. 1897 Mary Kingsley W. Africa 338 More specimens of those aw ful slime lagoons.

SLIMMING

706 Vachell The Hill i, When he does come over on our side of the House, he slimes about in carpet slippers.

c 1400 Destr. Troy 8096 Hit pleaside hir priuely, playntyde ho noght, Let hit slip from hyr slyly, slymyt perat.

1574 T. N[ewton] tr. Gratarolus' Direct. Health Lj, Suche fishes.. neuer are embroyned with anye filth or diertie slimishnes. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 32/1 Washinge the sayed horseleeches with your handes, from all ther viscositye and slimishnes.

slimed, ppl. a. rare. [f. slime sb. or v.1] Full of,

slim jim (slim d3im). Also slim Jim, Slim Jim.

covered with, slime; slimy.

[Rhyming combination of slim a. and the proper name Jim.] A very slim or thin person.

tslime, v.3 Obs.~x (Meaning uncertain.)

1393 Langl. P. PI. C. viii. 1 Tho cam sleuthe al byslobered with two slymed eyen. 1563 A. Nevell in Googe Eglogs, etc. (Arb.) 83 For thou.. Dost by thy Snares and slymed Hooks entrap the wounded Harts. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 785 A certain glutinous kinde of Jelly, or slimed juice. 1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet ii. 201 He., stooped and began to drag away the slimed and rotten branches. 1952 Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 110/1 A dark, dank, and sepulchral sphere of silent stone, where passage succeeded passage in an unending monotony of slimed and moss-grown solitude. 1972 F. Warner Lying Figures iv. 43 Two bodies .. still slimed from the womb.

'slimeless, a. rare~i. [f. slime sb. + -less.] Free from slime or filth.

b. In sense 2, as slime-gland, -pore, -track; slime-secreting adj.

1672 Life & Death of Jas. Arminius Those pure and slimeless Fountains.

a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 24 As the snail cannot but leave a slime-track behind it. 1883 Science I. 433/2 A terminal slime-gland accentuated by a short deep groove. 1896 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. V. 570 A ciliated slimesecreting band. Ibid. VI. 344 The hinder end of the foot.. terminating in a conspicuous mucus or slime-pore.

f'slimely, a. Obs.~l Slimy.

c. In sense 4, as slime-ore, -table, -tin, -yard', slimes dam (S. Afr.); slime-coated adj., -separator, -silvered adj., etc. 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 238 It still retains much dirt and mud, whence it is called Slime Ore. Ibid., It may be trunked . . the same as slime Tin. 1874 Raymond Statist. Mines Mining 414 The shaking collects the floured and slimecoated quicksilver. Ibid. 415 In such cases it is necessary to build slime-yards outside the mill. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2210/2 Slime-separator. 1927 Joyce On Beach at Fontana in Pomes Penyeach, A senile sea numbers each single Slimesilvered stone. 1956 Archit. Rev. CXX. 48/3 There are three main varieties of dump, the sand dumps .., the rock dumps .., and the slimes dams, 50 to 100 feet high, covering wide areas, flat-topped. 1971 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) (Mag. Section) 28 Mar. 11/5 That square outline you see at the corner of what looks like a Witwatersrand slimes dam is, in fact, the remains of a Roman army camp.

7. Special combs.: slime-eel (see quots.); slime-flux, a slimy excretion on trees; slimefungi, = myxomycetes; slime-head, a fish of the sub-family Berycoidea\ slime-moulds, = slime-fungi; slime-sponge (see quot.). i860 Wraxall Life in Sea v. 129 The *Slime Eel (Myxine glutinosa) bears a great likeness to the Lamprey. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 681 The ‘Slime Eel’.. is found on the Atlantic coast north of Cape Cod. 1897 W. G. Smith tr. Tubeufs Dis. Plants 141 According to Ludwig, species of Endomyces have much to do with the *slime-flux of trees. Ibid. 523 The vegetative body of the *Slime-fungi consists of naked protoplasm without a firm membrane. 1896 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. V. 353 The Berycoids or *Slime-Heads. Ibid., The slime-heads.. are all marine fishes, with a practically cosmopolitan distribution. 1880 Bessey Botany 170 Even in the lowest plants, the *Slime Moulds.. will contract into rounded masses. 1899 Nature 21 Dec. 173/2 We do not think that the adoption of the name ‘slime moulds’ is a happy one. 1883 W. S. Kent in Fisheries Bahamas 38 The skeletonless *Slime-sponge (Halisarca Dujardinii) more usually resembles.. dabs of red-currant jelly scattered upon the surface of the rocks or seaweeds.

slime (slaim), a.1 [f. slime sb. Cf. Fris. slymje, LG. slimen, G. schleimen to give out slime, clean from slime, etc.] 1. trans. To smear or cover with slime.

& Simon Episc. I. 22

1528 Paynell Salerne's Regim. Ojb, A tenche..is a freshe water fyshe, whose skynne is slyppery and slymely.

'slime-pit. Also slime pit. 1. In or after Biblical use: A pit or hole yielding asphalt or bitumen. 1530 Tindale Prol. 5 Bks. Moses Wks. 6/2 Slyme was their morter, chap. 11. and slyme pittes, chap. 14. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xiv. 10 Yl brode valley had many slyme pyttes. 1611 Bible Gen. xiv. 10 And the vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits. 1737 Whiston tr. Josephus, Antiq. 1. ix, They pitched their camp at the vale called the Slime Pits. i853 Layard Nineveh & Babylon 202 In an hour the bitumen was exhausted for the time,.. and the .. moon again shone over the black slime pits. 1895 Sayce Patriarchal Palestine iv. 178 Here were the ‘slime-pits’ from which the naphtha was extracted.

(See quot. 1925.)

1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist ii. 104 He had . .eaten slim jim out of his cricket cap. 1925-Let. 31 Oct. (1966) III. 129 This is a kind of sweet meat made of a soft marshmellow jelly which is coated first with pink sugar and then powdered, so far as I remember with cocoanut chips. It is called ‘Slim Jim’ because it is sold in strips about a foot or a foot and a half in length and an inch in breadth.

3. attrib. Designating something long and thin or narrow, as slim-jim pants, tie, etc. Also ellipt. in pi. 1916 R. Frost Mountain Interval 60 That ought to make you An ideal one-girl farm, And give you a chance to put some strength On your slim-jim arm. 1956 Amer. Speech XXXI. 307 Frontier Pants .. slimjims, long pants, tapered so closely that they must be zipped at the ankles, or must have slits. 1957 [see jean 2 b]. i960 Guardian 9 Mar. 6/1 Warm flannelette lined corduroy ‘slimjims’. 1962 Times 13 Apr. 6/4 Worthing Museum .. is asking for a Teddy boy costume, ‘with narrow trousers, fancy waist-coat, three-quarter jacket, Slim Jim tie and thick-soled crepe sneakers’. 1962 Spectator 27 Apr. 536 The spade ties everyone wore before the slim jims came in. 1973 O. Sela Portuguese Fragment (1974) xi. 61 He wore a long sleeved white shirt and slim-jim tie.

slimline, slim-line (’slimlain), a. [f. slim a. + line sb.2 14 b.] a. Slim, narrow, gracefully thin in style or appearance. Occas. absol. as sb.

b. fig. Exiguous, economical, unnecessary elaboration.

t'slimikin, a. Obs.~l [f. slim a.] Small and

slimily ('slaimili), adv. [f.

slimy a. 4- -ly2.] In

a slimy manner; with accompaniment of slime. 1606 S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 117 They are slippery Eles indeede,.. being so slimily and sordidly giuen, as they may not be handled. 1878 Black Macleod of Dare I. 180 The inside of this glass box was alive with snakes. . slimily crawling over each other. 1883 Cent. Mag. July 422/2 At length, the long submerged streets.. rose slimily out of the retreating waters.

'slim-in. Also slim in. [f. slim v. + -in3.] A course of (usu. sponsored) slimming undertaken by several people in competition with or in support of one another. 1973 Inverness Courier 31 July 5/4 A sponsored ‘slim-in’.. recently raised £15. 1977 Cornish Times 19 Aug. 10/1 The sponsored ‘slim in’ was won by Mrs V. Humphries.

sliminess ('slaiminis). Also 6 slymy-, slymines. [f. as slimily adv. + -ness.] The state or quality of being slimy; slimy character or consistency.

'sliming, vbl. sb. 1. (See quots.)

1842 Tait's Mag. IX. 374 Stealthily, serpently, he slimed his way Unto the pay-master. 1851 G. H. Kingsley Sport & Trav. (1900) 533 The happy insouciance of a snail ‘sliming’ up the side of the Parthenon.

1615 Latham Falconry Gloss., Sliming, is when a Hawke muteth from her longwaies in one intire substance; and doth not drop any part thereof. 1895 Elworthy Evil Eye 41 [The cobra] then gave [the hawk].. another sliming and soon made a meal of him.

The skins are removed to a beam and there ‘slimed’, that is, scraped on the flesh side to remove a slimy substance which exudes from the pores.

2. transf.

1745 Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1861) II. 383 You know I am a little slimikin thing, not unlike a perch or an eel.

1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 234 The slimy earthy parts are carried by the water into a slime pit just below. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 752 Slime pits or labyrinths, called buddle holes in Derbyshire, are employed to collect that matter. 1882 U.S. Rep. Prec. Met. 610 A copper miner.. would tell you .. what a large proportion would go to enrich the slime pits.

2. a. To make (one’s way) in a slimy fashion, b. intr. To crawl slimily; to become slimy.

1723 J. Nott Cook's e lutle daui5.. slong & ofsloh wi6 a stan to deaSe pe stronge Golie. 1699 Potter Antiq. Greece 111. iv. II. 52 We are told by some .. that young Children were not allow’d any Food by their Mothers, ’till they could sling it down from the Beam, where it was plac’d aloft. b. To throw or cast (stones, etc.) by means of Also fig. c 1315 Shoreham vi. 26 })ou ert pe slinge, py sone pe ston bat dauy slange golye op-on. 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1126/1 An heauy thing it is to here of hys yong a sling.

foolishe Dauid, that hath thus.. with the slyng of hys heresyes slonken [sic] hymselfe to the deuill. 1539 Bible j Sam. xvii. 49 Dauid put his hande in his bagge, and toke out a stone, and slange it. 1560-(Geneva) Judges xx. 16 All these colde sling stones at an heere breadth, and not faile. 1648 Hunting of Fox 26 One of which [stones] being sling’d against the face of that uncircumciz’d Philistine, made him measure his length on the earth. 1737 [see sling i]. 1825 Scott Betrothed iv, A hail-storm of shafts, javelins, and stones, shot, darted, and slung by the Welsh. 1861 C. Reade Cloister H. xliii, The besiegers kept constantly slinging smaller stones on to the platform. c.

absol.

To

cast

or

discharge

missiles

by

A\so fig. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 459/2 Slyngyn, fundo, fundibalo. 1530

means of a sling; to use a sling.

Palsgr. 721/2, I holde the a penye I slynge as farre as thou. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1663) 30 They vexed one another, they slinged one at another, but there was none to bridle them. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 53 The Rhodians slinged further, than the Persians could sling. 1861 Reade Cloister & H. xliii, The besieged slung at the tower, and struck it often.

2. a. To throw, cast, hurl, or fling (a person or thing)

in

some

direction

or

to

some

point.

Usually const, with preps, or advs. Common in 14-15th cent. Now chiefly dial, or colloq. c 1290 5. Eng. Leg. I. 355 bat bodi.. into ane diche man it drov3, and pare-inne man it slong. e destrer onon he slang, Als arewe of bowe forJ> he sprang, c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 14252 He let his stede to him fiyng Als harde as he myght slyng. c 1430 Hymns Virgin (1867) 120 Thorowe the strength off pt wynd Into the Welken hitt schall slynge. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis (Arb.) 137 From whence, with flownce furye slinging, Stoans, and burlye bulets, lyke tamponds, maynelye be towring. 1790 Beatson Naval & Mil. Mem. I. 214 The ship, for some time, was ungovernable, and slung up in the wind. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 65 Thou corner-chair. In which I’ve oft slung back in deep despair.

6. To advance, walk, etc., with long or swinging strides. Chiefly Sc. or north, and Austral. 1808 in Jamieson. 1818 J. Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck iii, I slings aye on wi’ a gay lang step. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss. s.v., ‘My horse slings away at a girt rate,’ that is, he quits the ground with apparent ease. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer vi. 48 All day they was very sulky and slinged along, and wouldn’t feed. 1893 J. A. Barry Steve Brown's Bunyip 17, I saw the man slinging off into the scrub.

7. Of a millstone: To swing from side to side. 1875 Knight

SLINGER

709

Diet. Mech. 1020/1.

8. to sling off (at), to jeer (at). Austral, and N.Z. colloq. 1911 S. Rudd Dashwoods 24, I heard yer both slingin’ off. 1916 Anzac Bk. 31,1 could not understand them slinging off at 'im and ’im thinking they were treatin’ ’im like as ’e was one of themselves. 1921 K. S. Prichard Black Opal xiii. 112 The rest of the men continued nevertheless to ‘sling ofT, as they said, at Bully and Roy O’Mara as they saw fit. 1941 Coast to Coast 232 ‘Why was he so wild?’ ‘Aw, it was just some chaps’d been slinging off at him,’ I said, i960 N. Hilliard Maori Girl iii. vii. 221 The pakehas think you’re slinging off about them or saying something rude. 1963 J. Cantwell No Stranger to Flame v. 86 ‘Stop it,’ Barry said, flushing. ‘Stop slinging off.’ 1975 M. R. Liverani Winter Sparrows II. xv. 232 She glowered at the driver suspiciously.

5 Clarrie, he ain’t gone off in six months. Must sling to the cops. Wonder how much he pays ’em. 1953 T. A. G. Hungerford Riverslake vi. 130 ‘Sling, Stefan!’ When the Pole looked at him uncomprehendingly Murdoch whipped a ten-pound note out of the bundle and handed it to the ringkeeper. ’He don’t know,’ he explained. ‘It's the first time he’s played.’ 1971 F. Hardy Outcasts of Foolgarah 56 On first name terms with every shire President so long as they didn’t forget to sling when backhanders came in.

sling (slirj), v.2 Also 6 slyng. [f. sling $6.2] 1. a. trans. To place in, or secure with, a sling or slings in order to admit of or facilitate hoisting or lowering; to raise up or let down by means of a sling or slings. 1522 MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., For the dyner of iij men that holp slyng and lyft the cow that broke her legg. c 1625 Nomenclator Navalis (MS. Harl. 2301), Slmg is to make faste anie Caske, Ordnance, Yarde, or ye like in a paire of Slings. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 81 [He may] have himself [let] down .. to the bottom of the Sea .. and sling the Ship, and Guns. 1771 Luckombe Hist. Print. 327 He .. slings the Stone in two strong pack-threds, placing one towards either end of the Stone. 1803 Phil. Trans. XCIII. 322 The ship being in the fore-mentioned state,.. I next proceeded to sling her; which was done with two nineteen-inch cables. 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools PI. O 3, It terminates with the usual hook and swivel for slinging the load.

b. With adverbial complement. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman s Gram. xiii. 60 Let vs. .sling a man ouer boord to stop the leakes. 1692 Dryden Cleomenes 1. i, Amidst the shouts Of mariners, and busy care to sling His horses soon ashore, he saw not me. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. iii. xi, The horses were slung down into the stalls. 1890 Doyle White Company xv, Horse after horse was slung by main force up from the barges.

2. Naut. To pass chains or lashings round (a sail or yard) to secure it to the mast. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 6 Fore-mast men, to take in the Topsayles,.. Furle, and Sling the maine Saile. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. 1. ii. 19 Sling our Main Yard, with the Chains in the Main-top. 1777 Cook Voy. S. Pole ill. ii. II. 17 The yard is slung nearly in the middle, or upon an equipoise. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 632. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2211/2 To sling the yards for action is to secure them at the slings by iron chains fitted for the purpose.

3. To hang or suspend, to fix or fasten (something) about the person in a sling or in a loose manner so as to be carried easily. Usually const, with preps., as across, from, or over (the shoulders or back); at, by, (up)on, to, etc. (the side, arm, etc.); about or round (the neck or person). 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 153/1 Granadeers haue a care. Sling your musketts. 1791 Cowper Iliad 1. 55 The God,.. with his radiant bow And his full quiver o’er his shoulder slung, Marched in his anger. 1814 S. Rogers Jacqueline 1. 41 He slung his old sword by his side. 1833 Regul. & Instr. Cavalry 1. 169 The lance is slung on the left arm. 1859 Jephson Brittany vi. 82 A guitar slung round her neck by a blue ribbon. 1885 Law Rep. 14 Q.B.D. 725 A police constable saw the appellant.. with some rabbits slung over his back.

4. a. To hang up or suspend, esp. from one point to another; to put up (a hammock). Also in phr. to sling one's hammock, to have a period of time off-duty to get used to a new ship. Naut. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iii. 150 From Rivers drive the Kids, and sling your Hook. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World .Dissected (1708) 97 Sling him up in a Hammock, and he shall lie a whole Night. 1730 A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 18 These Theatres were not founded in the Ground, but slung, and supported in the Air; that is, they both rested on Hinges and Pivots. 1779 Mirror No. 17 The poor little creatures sleep .. in a hammock, slung up to the roof. 1824 Miss L. M. Hawkins Annaline II. 213 Attendants [were] slinging their grass woven hammocks. 1853 Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 354 The platform or road-way is slung, by vertical tackles, to points equidistant from each other. 1883 Law Rep. 11 Q.B.D. 506 The dock owner supplied .. an ordinary stage to be slung .. outside the ship for the purpose of painting her. 1913 T. T. Jeans John Graham SubLieutenant R.N. iii. 58 There was no ‘school’ till morning, the Padre had a day off ‘to sling his hammock’. 1917 ‘Taffrail’ Sub iii. 92 ‘You’ll have to-morrow to sling your hammock and to get used to the ship, youngster,’ he went on. 1946 G. Hackworth Jones Sixteen Bells 1. iv. 67 Reggie was hardly given a day to ‘sling his hammock’ before he was instructed to take over the afternoon watch.

b. to sling the monkey, a kind of game played by sailors. 1838 Bentley's Miscell. III. 588 But I say,, .did you ever play sling the monkey ? Ibid. 589 I’m bless’d, shipmates, if we didn’t sling the monkey in fine style. 1893 Sloane-Stanley Rem. Midshipm. Life II. iii. 51 Whilst we Middies were playing sling the monkey the ship’s company were diverting themselves in a variety of ways. [A full description of the game is given on page 50.]

5. techn. in Pottery. (See quot.) 1851-3 Tomlinson's Cycl. Arts (1867) II. 343/2 If the clay be very foul, or full of stones, it is slung; that is, as the clay issues from the pug-mill it is cut into lengths of about 2 feet with a sling, or wire-knife.

sling, v.3 U.S. [f. sling sb.3 i.] intr. To drink

1939 K. Tennant Foveauf*. 11. 172 ‘I’m slinging it to Hamp,’ Bardy said sullenly. 1949 L. Glossop Lucky Palmer

1600 Holland Livy xlii. lxv. 1154 Most hurt they had by certaine weapons called Cestrosphendonse (’"sling darts). A new kind of dart this was and lately devised, a 1899 Oliver tr. Kerner's N.II. Plants II. 833 The fruits of Dorycnium and Acanthus may be taken as types of a large group designated by the name of *Sling-fruits. 1589 Fleming Virg. Georg. 1. 6 Now one with *slingnet beats vpon the riuer brode and large, Reaching vnto the very depth. 1866 Mrs. Gaskell Wives Daughters 1. x. 112 He had been out dredging in ponds and ditches, and has his wet sling-net, with its imprisoned treasures .. over his shoulder. 1896 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. V. 205 We mention as a second genus of this group the *sling-snakes, of which there are about twenty known species. 1888 Andrews Temple Mystic 79 None further the *sling-spear threw. 1853 J. Palliser Solitary Rambles & Advefitures Hunter in Prairies vi. 144, I saw my stag begin to fall in the rear of the band, and his pace slacken to a *sling trot, i860 W. H. Russell Diary in India I. xvi. 247 Stewart and I at once started off at a sling trot. 1866 Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Daughters xxix, The long sling-trot, so well known to the country people as the doctor’s pace.

slinge (slind3), v. dial. Also slindge, sleenge. [Of obscure origin.] lounge, loaf, etc.

intr.

To slink, skulk,

1747 Relph Poems Gloss., To slinge, to go creepingly away, as ashamed. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Slinge, to skulk, to sneak, to creep about. 1834 Lover Leg. Irel. Ser. 11. 232 What are you slindging there for, when it’s minding your work you ought to be? 1842-Handy Andy xiv, Idle blackguards who were slingeing about the place eternally.

slinger ('slirp(r)), sb.1

Also 5-6 slynger, -ar(e. [f. sling u.1 + -er. Cf. OHG. sling-, slengari, -eri, etc. (MHG. slingaere, -er, G. schlinger), MDu. slinger, MSw. sliungare (Sw. slungare)-, also OF. eslingour, -ur, etc.] 1. One who casts missiles by means of a sling, esp. a soldier armed with a sling. Now chiefly arch, or Hist.

1382 Wyclif 2 Kings iii. 25 The cyte is enuyround of slyngers. a 1400 Octouian 1599 (W.), Spermen, slyngers, and arblasteres. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 459/2 Slyngare, fundibuiarius. C1550 N. Smyth tr. Herodian iii. 33 All the Mauritanyan Slyngers that were in his seruyee. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 211 The Inhabitants [of Dorset] of all English-men were the cunningest slingers. 1671 Milton Samson 1619 Behind [him] Archers, and Slingers, Cataphracts and Spears. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Wars Jews 1. vii. §3 The slingers of stones beat off those that stood above them. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. 1. V. 241 The heights had been occupied by the archers and slingers of the confederates. 1825 Scott Betrothed iv, Their own archers.. were supported by numerous bodies of darters and slingers. 1870 Emerson Soc. onne on pone si pan. Ibid. III. 38 Wyrc slypan of waetere & of axsan, genim finol, wyl on psere slyppan.

2. a. Curdled milk. Now U.S. c 1425 26 Pol. Poems 110 My hert shulde be stedefast, hast lopred as mylk, and slep in pou3 t, R^t as chese pou croddest me fast. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2) 416 Slip, milk turned with rennet, etc., before the whey separates from the curd.

b. slip cheese, curd: (see quots. 1784, 1854). 1784 Twamley Dairying Exemp. 31 When the whole is in a state of Slip Curd, or Slippery Curd, which is a state all Curd is in, before it becomes solid Curd. 1846 j. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 207 Some dairy-maids now add the slip curd. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss., Slipcheese, soft cheese, plate-cheese: that which is made without crushing out the whey.

f3. Mud, slime. Obs. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 459/2 Slyp (S. slype, P. slypp), idem quod slyme. 8 J. J. Waddell Concrete Construction Handbk. xxxiv. 1 The ultimate approach in incorporating a slipform into building construction is to slipform all vertical concrete. Ibid., Slipforming is a faster method of construction than conventional forming. Ibid. 2 Slipformed-concrete. 1975 Offshore Sept. 147/1 Tests are complete on the slip-forming of inclined legs for a deepwater concrete platform. 1981 Times 12 Mar. 3/6 The contractors are slip forming 2,000 metres of double track. This track-laying method was first used in 1967.

ruptured or injured, causing pain in the back or (if nerve roots are compressed) in other parts of the body, colloq.

slipped (slipt), ppl. a} [f. slip ti.2] f 1. Cut obliquely. Obs.

slip-in: see slip- 2.

l6l8 in Cripps Old Eng. Plate (1901) 281 Spoons with slipped ends.

slip-knot ('slipnDt). Also slip knot. [f. slip v.1] a. A knot which may readily be slipped or untied, b. A knot so constructed as to slip along the cord or line round which it is made; a running knot; also, a noose.

2. Her. Of plants, etc., used as charges: Represented as torn off from the stem.

1659 Torriano, Cdppio, a slipknot that may be untied. 1679 Moxon Mech. Exerc. vn. 126 They .. fasten the rest of the Line there, upon the Line Rowl with a Slip-knot, that no more Line turn off. 1710 Managers' Pro n Hampsh. and Wiltsh. glossaries.

slo, obs. form or var. of slay v., sloe, slough sb.1 sloak, variant of sloke1. sloam, variant of sloom. sloan (slaun). Sc. rare. [Of obscure origin: the form in northern English dialects is y/o«.] severe snub or reproof; a ‘taking-down’.

A

1824 Scott St. Ronan's i, None so likely as Meg to give them what in her country is called a sloan. 1828-Hrt. Midi. Note xix, To have an opportunity of reviling the Judges to their faces, or giving them, in the phrase of his country, ‘a sloan’.

Sloane Ranger (sbon 'reind33(r)), sb. and adj. phr. [Blend of Sloane Square, London, and Lone Ranger, a well-known hero of western stories and films.] (Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of) an upper class and fashionable but conventional young woman in London. Also occas. extended to any member of the class to which such young women belong, and ellipt. as Sloane. Hence ‘Sloaneness. 1975 P- York in Harpers & Queen Oct. 190/3 The Sloane Rangers .. are the nicest British Girl. Ibid. 191 /z The Sloane Rangers always add tone. They never put on prole accents, like self-conscious Oxford boys in the sixties. Ibid. 191/3 Once a Sloane marries and moves to Kennington and starts learning sociology through the Open University, she is off the rails. Ibid., Sloaneness, some people would say, is a track to be liberated from. Ibid. 192/3 Sloane Ranger pet hates. . incense, Norman Mailer. 1978 Evening Standard 21 Aug. 13/2 A way of life neither Mayfair, nor West End nor Sloane Ranger, but which is summed up in the words Cafe Society. 1978 D. Mackenzie Deep, Dark & Dangerous i. 55 Emma .. was a hell of a lot different to the succession of Sloane Rangers who had been her predecessors, harpies bent on getting far more than they gave. 1980 S. Allan Dead Giveaway xv. 154 She wore a cashmere sweater, .a Sloane ranger type. 1981 j. Mann Funeral Sites xviii. 111 The allEnglish Phoebe with her Sloane Ranger voice and manners. 1982 Barr & York Official Sloane Ranger Handbk. 10/1 Sloane Rangers hesitate to use the term ‘breeding’ now (of people, not animals) but that’s what background means. 1983 Times 16 Apr. 3/7 (headline) Bogus Sloane Ranger lived like a lord. Ibid. 3/8 He even emulated the voice of those known as Sloane Rangers and men about town.

sloap, sloath, obs. ff. slope, sloat, variant of slote.

sloth.

slob

(slob), sb.1 [Mainly a. Irish slab (slob) mud, slab sb.2-, but cf. also slobber sb. and Du. slobbe, Fris. slobbe, slob clout, swab, slut.] Chiefly in Irish use, or with reference to Ireland.

1. a. Mud, esp. soft mud on the sea-shore; ooze; muddy land. 1780 Young Tour Irel. II. 75 Under the slob or sea ooze he dug some very fine blue marie. 1828 Croker Leg. S. Irel. II. 188 Being very near plumping into the river .. and being stuck up to the middle. . in the slob. 1879 W. H. Dixon Royal Windsor II. xv. 163 Landing on the Essex shore, he hid himself in the slob. 1882 Payne-Gallwey Fowler in Irel. 26 When the birds gather on an island of slob .. at about half-tide.

SLOB b. A stretch of mud or ooze. 1842 S. C. Hall Ireland II. 178 The same master Ned I tended duck-shooting over the slobs, i860 Athenaeum 28 Jan. 134 Those vast tracts.. were then extensive slobs, covered with water at every tide. 1884 Macm. Mag. Sept. 357 Like some fair river which.. ends its course amid dull flats and muddy slobs.

c. A sloppy mass; a mess. 1885 Reports Provinc., Devon 108 (E.D.D.), That gravel, when wet, will make a slob.

d. Canad. — slob-ice, sense 4 below. 1878 North Star (St. John’s, Newfoundland) 30 Mar. 3/1 The bay here was caught over last week, and a string of ‘slob’ made its appearance across the mouth, but the heavy sea of Thursday broke it all up. 1907 J. G. Millais Newfoundland ii- 44 They themselves had hooked seventeen white coats out o’ the slob (shore ice). 1920 W. T. Grenfell Labrador Doctor ix. 174 This ice is of very different qualities. Now it is ‘slob’ mixed with snow born on the Newfoundland coast. I951 Beaver Sept. 20 Wind half a gale, temperature away down and slob in harbour and around schooner turning to ice.

2. A large soft worm, used in angling. 1815 Sporting Mag. XLV. 96 A gentleman was angling with the maiden slob for trout. 1890 in D. A. Simmons 5. Donegal Gloss.

3. A dull, slow, or untidy person; a careless or negligent workman; a lout, a fat person; one who is gullible or excessively soft-hearted, a fool; a person of little account, slang. ' 1861 Clington Frank O'Donnell 101 A heavy-looking poor slob of a man. 1863 Le Fanu House by Church-yard I. v. 65 The Lord Mayor, a fat slob of a fellow. 1887 T. E. Brown Doctor 187 The dirty mob Of a cap that was at her —Aw a reglar slob. 1894 Union Printer (N.Y.) 21 Apr. 5/3 (Standard Diet.), It is easier for a good man to set 40,000 ems a night than it is for a slob to set 20,000. 1904 ‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 252/2 Slob, a person easy to impose upon; an untidy person. 1904 G. V. Hobart Jim Hickey i. 16 You’re a warm young guy When you start to buy—You’re a slob when you lose the price! 1927 H. V. Morton In Search of England x. 185 He was no beauty to look at, but then women seem to like the ugly slobs, don’t they? 1938 R. Flannagan County Court 36 That praying old slob, Jones, has three boys and every one of ’em has run away. 1950 Wodehouse Nothing Serious 29 ‘The poor old slob,’ she murmured. 1953 If; Worlds of Sci. Fiction Sept. 40/1 Speaking. . as an ordinary slob that doesn’t follow rarefied reasoning very well. 1958 S. Ellin Eighth Circle 11. xv. 123 A big, fat, gutless, slob. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 168 The unfortunate fat boy.. is known as:. . slob, [etc.], i960 ‘E. McBain’ Heckler v. 60 There are people.. who always look like slobs... The tendency toward sloppiness first exhibits itself when the subject is still a child. 1966 A. Cavanaugh Children are Gone 11. vi. 49 ‘I’m a slob,’ Shirley said. ‘I’m not an intellectual.’ 1970 R. Price Gt. Roob Revolution 7 The hucksters who control the .. mass media think they are manipulating what they refer to as ‘the slobs’. 1972 T. P. McMahon Issue of Bishop's Blood (1973) ii. 17 He’s a real slob for his employees. He buys them houses, goes to their bar mitzvahs. 1978 J. Irving World according to Garp ix. 184, I think you’re an irresponsible slob.

4. attrib. (in sense i), as slob-weir; slob ice orig. Canad., densely-packed, sludgy ice, esp. sea ice; slob trout, a brown trout, Salmo trutta, which stays in a river estuary instead of going further out to sea. 1835 E. Wix Six Months Newfoundland Missionary's Jrnl. (1836) 16, I crossed through the ‘*slob ice’, which was very thick in Conception Bay, to Port de Grave. 1920 W. T. Grenfell Labrador Doctor vi. 132 The slob ice had already made ballicaters and the biting cold of winter so far north had set in with all its vigour. 1955 Sci. Amer. Apr. 52/3 On the way to Little America, its first Antarctic port of call, the Atka saw very little of the drifting ice pack that surrounds the continent. It passed through a few ‘bergy bits’ and pieces of ‘slob ice’ — melting remnants of the pack. 1965 F. Russell Secret Islands vii. 88 The island was isolated because it was surrounded by impassable slob ice. 1907 WT. L. Calderwood Life of Salmon i. 6 In the West of Ireland we have.. the so-called *slob trout. 1930 G. H. Nall Life Sea Trout vi. 75 These brown Trout, feeding in brackish and salt water, are numerous, and special names have been given to them, such as ‘Slob Trout’, and ‘Estuarine Trout’. i960 C. Willock Angler's Encycl. 190/1 Slob-trout: sometimes called bull trout, are brown trout that migrate only as far as the estuary. 1851 Newland The Erne p. viii, The destruction of the intrusive *slob-weirs.

slob (slob), sb.2 rare. [var. of slab sb.1] A slab of timber. 1776 G. Semple Building in Water 32 You may Spike on the Slob or Plank. 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Ant. Gloss., Slob, an outside board, ‘a shide’.

slob (slob), v. [f. slobs^.1] trans. To slop (out); to express by slobbering. So 'slobbed ppl. a. 1887 Parish & Shaw Diet. Kentish Dial. 152 Slobbed, slopped, spilt. 01918 W. Owen Poems (1963) 69 Drooping tongues from jaws that slob their relish. 1946 B- Marshall George Brown's Schooldays 56 The master began to slob out the tapioca.

slobber ('slDbsjr)), sb. Also 5 slober(e, slobur. [Related to slobber v. Cf. slabber sb.1 and slubber s6.‘] 1. Mud or slime; slush, sleety rain; a sloppy mess or mixture. CI400 Destr. Troy 12529 In the Slober & the sluche slongyn to londe, There he lay. r 1440 Promp. Parv. 459/2 Slobur, or slobere, feces immunde. Ibid., Slobur, or blobur of fysshe and oper lyke, burbulium. 1841 Carlyle Let. in Atlantic Monthly LXXXII. 450/2 For a week past there has been nothing but sleet, rime and slobber, the streets half an inch deep with slush. 1879 Shropshire Gloss., Slobber, thin, cold rain, mixed with snow; a sloppy sleet. 1887 5. Cheshire

727

SLOBBERY

Gloss. S.V., ‘A slobber o’ reen an’ snow’.. is a slight downfall of rain mixed with snow.

2. Slaver, slabber. Also pi., a disease in rabbits marked by excessive salivation. 1755 in Johnson. 1775 Ash, Slobber, liquor spilled, slaver. 1889 K. W. Knight Book of the Rabbit (ed. 2) 274 That unpleasant and often fatal complaint, slobbers—i.e., running at the mouth. 1902 C. G. Harper Cambridge Road 73 Lips running with the thin slobber of the drunkard.

3. A jelly-fish. 1863 J. G. Wood Illust. Nat. Hist. 743 We now come to a very large order of acalephs,.. familiar under the title of Jelly-fishes, Slobbers, and similar euphonious names.

d. To muddle away (a thing). 1889 Daily Express (Dublin) 4 Feb. 2/7, I frankly owned that they had slobbered away the money since in an unjustifiable manner.

Hence 'slobbered ppl. a. (also with on). 1811 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. LXV. 142 They did not, however, tolerate any slobbered work. 1862 Scrope Volcanos 429 Overflowing waves of slobbered drops of highly viscid lava. 1863 Whyte Melville Gladiators 329 Syllables that drop like slobbered wine from the close shaven lip. 1880 Paper & Print. Trades Jrnl. xxxi. 37 It was dulled and ruined by the slobbered-on paste.

'slobber-chops, [f. prec. Cf.

slabber-chops.]

'slobber, a. [f. prec. or next.] 1. Clumsy, awkward.

One who slobbers in eating, etc. Also dial., a variety of pear.

1866 C. Spencer Mod. Gymnast 43 This [the short swing, or circle] is designated by the euphonious name of the ‘Slobber Swing’, as it is rather a clumsy way of doing it.

1667 Davenant & Dryden Tempest 111. i, I have Other affairs to dispatch of more importance betwixt Queen Slobber-Chops and my self. 1832 W. Stephenson Gateshead Local Poems 66 I’ll tell you slobber-chops, You’ll find that sooner said than done—perhaps. 1857 Holland Bay Path xvii. 192 What do you mean, you little Slobberchops?

2. Wet and flabby. 1895 Daily News 12 July 6/3 slobber lips, all red and wet.

The crushed nose, the

slobber ('slobsjr)), v. Also 5 slober. [Related to slabber v. and slubber v. The vowel corresponds with that of Du. slobberen (Fris. slobberje) to slap up, to eat or work in a slovenly manner. There is little evidence for the simple word before the 18th cent., but the compound by-slober beslobber occurs in ME. In the E.E. Allit. P. C. 186 the form sloberande is prob. an error for slomberande slumbering. Modern dialects exhibit some minor variations of sense not illustrated here: see the Eng. Dial. Diet.]

1. intr. a. To feed in a slabbering or slovenly manner. Now dial. 14.. in Wright Songs & Carols (Percy Soc.) 63 Nor bryng us in no dokes flesche, for thei slober in the mer. 1847 in Halliw. 1877-89 in Sheffield and Line, glossaries.

b. To slaver. Cf. slabber v. 4. I733 Swift Life & Charac. Dean S. Wks.

1745 VIII. 125 But, why would he, except he slobbered, Offend our patriot, great Sir Robert. 1755 Walpole Lett. 29 Sept. (1857) II. 472 As at present there are as many royal hands to kiss as a Japanese idol has, it takes some time to slobber through the whole ceremony. 1826 Scott Woodst. xxii, Bevis slobbered and whined for the duck-wing. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 74 It was no light thing thatroyalty should be exhibited to the world stammering, slobbering, shedding unmanly tears. 1893 Earl Dunmore Pamirs II. 231 The old gentleman slobbered in a most infantine way.

c. dial. To blubber, to cry. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss. 89/1 He slobber’t an’ yool’t like a barn. 1893 Cozens-Hardy Broad Norf. 35 The terms for crying, such as slobber and blare.

d. fig. to slobber over, to be over-attentive or over-affectionate towards (someone); to be exaggeratedly enthusiastic about (something). 1825 Scott Fam. Let. 21 Feb. (1894) II. 239 Think how many antiquarian chops have slobbered over the fiery trial. 1892 ‘ Mark Twain’ Amer. Claim, xiii. 139 They treat you as a tramp until they find out you’re a congressman, and then they slobber all over you. 1914 W. Owen Let. 28 Aug. (1967) 282 He received me like a lover. To use an expression of the Rev. H. Wigan’s, he quite slobbered over me. 1927 D. L. Sayers Unnatural Death 111. xxii. 257 Miss Climpson had little difficulty in reconstructing one of those hateful and passionate ‘scenes’ of slighted jealousy... ‘I do everything for you —you don’t care a bit for me..!’ And ‘Don’t be.. ridiculous... Oh, stop it, Vera! I hate being slobbered over.’ 1978 p. Theroux Picture Palace viii. 50 Even if they had slobbered over every blessed picture in the place they would not have understood.

2. a. trans. To wet in a dirty or disagreeable manner; to beslaver, befoul. Cf. slabber v. i and 2. 1709 W. King Art of Cookery 29 The Cook that slobbers his Beard with Sack Posset. 1732-8 Swift Polite Convers. 210 It is not handsome to see one hold one’s Tongue; Besides I should slobber my Fingers. 1835 Politeness & Good-breeding 67 Never cram your mouth so full, that. . the contents.. slobber your own cheeks and chin. 1840 Thackeray Paris Sk.-bk. (1872) 241 They all wear pinafores; as if the British female were in the invariable habit of wearing this outer garment, or slobbering her gown without it. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. 1. iii. (1872) I. 26 He .. took to investigating one of his shoe-buckles; would.. slobber it about in his mouth.

b. To make wet with kissing. 1724 Swift Corinna Wks. 1755 III. 11. 154 She made a song, how little miss Was kiss’d and slobber’d by a lad. 1831 Trelawny Adv. Younger Son I. 51 She.. slobbered my cheek, and parted from me. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. 474 Whose cheek he slobbered with kisses.

3. To utter thickly and indistinctly. i860 Forster Gr. Remonstr. 98 He not only slobbered his words when he talked, but drank as if he were eating his drink. 1890 Tablet 4 Jan. 10 Some person or other with unctuous eloquence slobbering out the shibboleth of civil and religious freedom.

4. a. To execute carelessly or in a slovenly way. Usu. with over. 1694 Locke in Ld. King Life 204 Our Company of Stationers, having the monopoly here . ., slobber them over as they can cheapest. 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 339/1 [Water-colours] exceedingly rough and sketchy, not to say slobbered. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss, s.v.. To do work in a slovenly, untidy manner, is to slobber it over.

b. To slur over. rare—*. a 1734 North Examen in. vii. §99 (1740) 581 But see what false disingenuous Dealing here is to slobber over a base Business that will remain an eternal Shame to his Party.

c. To deal out in a clumsy manner, rare-*. 1859 Trollope Bertrams xxii, She went on slobbering out the cards, and counting them over and over again.

slobberer ('slDb3r3(r)). 1. One who slobbers.

[f. slobber v. + -er1.]

1744 Ozell tr. Brantome's Sp. Rhodom. 99, I have observed a great many of your gigantic People .. to be mere Dolts, Slobberers and Oafs, both by Nature and Art.

2. (See quots.) 1787 W. H. Marshall E. Norfolk (1795) II. 388 Slobberers, slovenly farmers. 1847 Halliw., Slobberer, a jobbing tailor.

slobberhannes

('slDbahaems). [Origin unknown. Perh. ad. Du.: cf. Du. dial, slabberjan the name of a game, and Du. Hannes Jack.] A card-game for four persons played with only high-ranking cards, in which the object is to lose tricks. Also, a point scored at this game. 1877 W. B. Dick Mod. Pocket Hoyle (ed. 8) 211 Slobberhannes... The object of the game is to avoid making points, as the player who first gets ten points loses the game. Ibid. 212 If a player scores all of the three foregoing points, he receives one point extra, which is called ‘Slobberhannes’. 1952 J. B. Pick Phoenix Diet. Games 276 Slobberhannes (4 players). Played with a pack from which all cards below seven have been withdrawn. 1964 A. Wykes Gambling vii. 165 Greek hearts.. and slobberhannes are slightly simpler variations on the trick-losing theme.

slobbering

('slDbarirj), vbl. sb. [f. slobber v. +

-ING1.]

1. The action of the verb, in various senses. 1784 J Barry Led. Art vi. (1848) 226 Amidst all his [Titian’s] dashing and slobbering, there is still remaining [etc.]. 1839 Hood Literary Literal 14 The slobbering of a hungry Ursine Sloth. 1883 Simcox Latin Literature iv. ii. II. 36 The expression of such feeling came easy as slobbering. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 736 There is rarely any affection of swallowing, although slobbering is not uncommon. attrib. 1839 Thackeray Fatal Boots Aug., The kissing and slobbering scene went on again.

2. slobbering bib, a slabbering bib. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of QuaL (1809) III. 149 [He] advanced without a mask in petticoats, a slobbering bib, and apron. 1792 Young Trav. France 9 Giving a babe a blue slobbering bib instead of a white one! 1826 Scott Woodst. x, A band as broad as a slobbering bib under his chin.

slobbering ('slobarir)), ppl. a. [f.

slobber v. + That slobbers, in senses of the verb; characterized by slavering. -ING2.]

1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. iii. iv, ’Twill teach you to kiss closer, Not like a slobbering Dutchman. 1782 Mason Dean & Squire Wks. (1810) 422/1 When, bless each little slobbering mouth, It had not cut a single tooth. 1787 Beckford in Italy, etc. (1834) II. 133 A good-natured, slobbering grey-beard. 1830 [E. Hawkins] Atiglo-Fr. Coinage 154 The prince is a slobbering idiot. 1855 Smedley H. Coverdale xxi, She found the baby in a great state of slobbering splendour. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. 464 His big head, his slobbering tongue.

'slobberness.

[f. slobber sb. or w.] Slovenliness; slovenly writing.

1880 Papers Manch. Lit. Club vi. 193 The influence of this facility on lesser men has simply rendered all this kind of slobberness hateful.

slobbery ('slobari), a.

Also 4-6 slobery.

[f.

slobber sb. or v. Cf. MDu. slobberich, Du. dial.

slobberig.] 1. Characterized by slobber or slobbering; disagreeably wet, slimy, or dirty. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvm. xxvii. (Bodl. MS.), An olde hounde is ofte slowe and slobery. 1541 Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Worn. 96b, Lykewyse no more do I alowe fylthy and slobery rayment. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, iii. v. 13, I will sell my Dukedome To buy a slobbry and a durtie Farme. 1710-11 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 22 Jan., The weather had given a little, as you women call it, so it was something slobbery. 1712 Ibid. 18 Dec., We have terrible snowy slobbery weather. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. 1. ix, A watery, pulpy, slobbery freshman and new-comer in this Planet. 1848 Walsh Aristophanes, Clouds 1. i, Slobbery kisses, Profusion, gluttony and Venus’es. 1887 W. P. Frith Autobiogr. I. 27 Sucking an orange in a loud slobbery fashion.

2. Of a soft, yielding texture. 1826 J. Wilson Nod. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 178 You keep rugging at the lang slobbery worsted till it comes aff.

3. Slovenly, careless. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. ix. ii. (1872) II. 406 His continual haste, and slobbery manner of working up those

SLOBBY Hundred and odd volumes of his. very slobbery job, John.

1881

slobby ('slDbi), a. [f. slobs^.1 +

Leic. Gloss, s.v., A

-y.]

1. Muddy.

1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss., Slabby or slobby, muddy, sloppy. 1886 Pall Mall G. 18 Feb. 5/1 There now only remained the geese, far up on the slobby ooze. 1897 Butler Brit. Birds IV. 155 The grasses which grow on the slobby foreshores.

2.

a. Sloppy, sentimental, b. Of or pertaining

to a slob (slob sb.1 3). 1913 R. Brooke Let. 3 July (1968) 479, I had a bad fit of home-sickness this morning. . . I threw up quite a lot of slobby old memories. 1967 Spectator 4 Aug. 131/1 To be honest, backbone isn’t, as it were, at the forefront of my character. I am pretty slobby within. 1970 W. Burroughs Jr. Speed (1971) v. 108 Vicki told me that I looked like a slobby bum. 1976 W. Goldman Magic u 1. ix. 181 She’d end up stranded some place maybe with .. some slobby dummy. 1976 New Yorker 9 Feb. 84/3 Peter Boyle’s role is small, but . . he does slobby wonders with his scenes as the gently thick Wizard.

slob-furrowing, vbl. sb. [Cf. slob s(l2] furrowing; ribbing. Also slob-furrow v.

Rib¬

1787 W. H. Marshall E. Norfolk (1795) I. 142 In slobfurrowing, the flag is turned toward the plowed ground, the coulter passing fifteen or sixteen inches from the last plowfurrow. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 346 There the old grass-fields, when it is proposed to burn the sward, are rib or slob furrowed about the beginning of winter. Ibid. 579 This in some places is termed by farmers rib-furrowing, and in others slob-fur rowing.

slobgollion (slDb'gDljan). Whaling slang. [Origin unknown: cf. slumgullion.] A substance found in sperm-oil (see quot.). 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick III. viii. 65 It is called slobgollion; an appellation original with the whalemen... It is an ineffably oozy, stringy affair, most frequently found in the tubs of sperm, after a profound squeezing, and subsequent decanting.

slob-land. Also slob land. [f. slob s^.1 i.] 1. Muddy ground; esp. alluvial land reclaimed from the water. 1861 Times 4 Oct. 7/4 A large acreage of slob land... Slob land varies in character, but here it is a rich marine alluvium. 1881 Ibid. 10 Feb. 4/3 He.. enclosed from the tide a considerable area of useful slob-land.

2. A stretch of ground of this kind. 1862 Limerick Chron. 8 Feb., The people’s thoughts., became fixed on the slob lands of Corkanree. 1890 J. Healy Insula Sanctorum 139 The slob-lands of the harbour have been reclaimed.

sloch, Sc. form of slough sb.2

13.. Gaw. & Gr. Kt. 412 For pou may leng in py londe, & layt no fyrre, bot slokes.

fb. Of fire: To go out. Obs.~1 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 161 Quhen men takis the brandis fra the grete fyre, it slokis the sonar.

2. trans. To put out, extinguish, quench (fire, thirst, etc.). Also^ig. CI375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxi. (Clement) 34 Fore be withdrawine of acces Is slokit oft sic wantones. Ibid. xlix. ( Tecla) 85 Slete & snaw.. slokit pat fir alsone as men a candel suld haf done, a 1500 in Ratis Raving (1870) 24 f>ow sal finde the froyt thar-of mony 3ere efterwart, and sal slok mekle syne. 1513 Douglas JEneid 11. xi. 13 Watter to sloik the haly fyr. 1755 in Johnson. 1819 Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 100 Untill his hail-life’s drowth were slockit. 1842 Vedder Poems 232 The rain in torrents poured. It slockit at ance the witch’s fire.

fb. To suppress, bring to an end. Obs.~] 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 126 The autoritee of the grete officer ryale slokis as than, and gerris cess, the autoritee of the smallare officer.

Obs.

1655 in A. Laing Lindores Abbey Burgh of Newburgh (1876) 238 He was slokin ye lym and mixing it with sand.

slock (slok), v.2 Now only south-western dial. Also 5-7 slocke, 9 sloke. [? ad. AF. *esloker, esloquer, OF. eslochier, etc. (see Godef.), to move, shake, stir.] 1. trans. To entice away; to draw or lead away by some allurement. Also dial., to convey clandestinely, to pilfer. 1483 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 336 That none of the said crafte slocke ony manis prentise. 1604 Babington Notes Exod. xxi. 5 To slocke away (as wee speake) a mans seruant. . was a grieuous sinne with God. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., The chillern.. be all a-slocked away wi’ prizes.. and that to the meetin-house. 1897 Hocking in Christian World Xmas No. 3 They’re trying to slock (entice) away others who do come.

2. To entice, allure, lead on, tempt. 1594 Carew Tasso (1881) 10 What so may slocke or pricke a courage stout. Ibid. 113 In vaine she sought to slocke, or with mortall Sweetnings t’enroll him in Cupidos pay. 1850 Beck's Florist 50 The bright sun of February .. slocks (in Cornish vernacular) the young and eager buds to unfold their premature growth.

1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Slocker or Slockster,.. one that entices away other Mens Servants; a Kid-napper.

slock-dolager: see sock-dolager. slocken ('slDk(9)n),

v. north, and Sc. Forms: 4-9

sloken, 4-6 slokyn,

5-6 (9) slokin (6 -yne); 4, 6

slokkin, 4 (9) slokken, 6 slo(c)kne, 6- slocken (9 -an, -in), Sw.

[a. ON.

slokna (Norw. slokna, slokkna,

slockna, older Da. slogne, slugne), f. slokinn,

pa. pple. of

1. trans.

slokkva: see slock v.1]

To quench, extinguish, put

flame, etc.).

out (fire,

Also in fig. context.

2.

To

suppress,

destroy, stamp

put

down,

do

away

with,

out. Also with adjectival compl.

a 1300 Cursor M. 18360 Lauerd.., sua pou slockens al vr sin. a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxxii. 14 When he .. slokens pe temptacioun wip sorowe of pyne. c 1425 St. Mary of Oignies 11. iii. in Anglia VIII. 158/6 pe whiche good man.. was casten downe and slokenyd nere for sorowe. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 522 And kindill agane his curage thocht it wer cald sloknyt. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 7 Ane meik answer slokins Melancolie. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 352 The Quene with litle labour slokned out this seditioune.

3.

To quench or allay (thirst).

.] intr. and trans. To drink, sup, or eat greedily, noisily, or coarsely. 1802 in Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poet. IV. Gloss. 1808 in Jamieson. 1825- *n northern and western dial, glossaries. [See Eng. Dial. Diet, for other senses.]

slorry, slory, dial, and obs. ff. slurry v. slosh (sIdJ), sb. [Cf. next and slush rfe.1] 1. Slush, sludge. 1814 Southey Lett. (1856) II. 342 Now that it is converted into good wholesome slosh, I resume my morning walks. 1851 Illustr. Lond. News 27 Sept. 395/2 High furtrimmed boots, the very things for American sloughs and slosh. 1887 Ashby Sterry Lazy Minstr. (1892) 50, I care not a feather for slime or for slosh!

2. a. Watery, weak, or unappetizing drink; watery, sodden, or unappetizing food. 1819 ‘R. Rabelais the Younger’ Abeillard & Heloisa 198 A pow'rful dose of slosh administer’d by way of emetic. 1861 F. W. Robinson No Church viii, ‘Beer, brandy, rum, gin, anything but slosh,’ he muttered, as Mary placed a cup of tea at his side. 1899 ‘A. Raine’ Berwen Banks 156 Ay don’t want her cup o’ tea! Never could bear the slosh. 1923 Blunden Christ's Hospital 201 Slosh, boiled rice. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 163 Any kind of milk pudding is ‘slosh’ or ‘baby pudding’. 1980 Telegraph (Brisbane) 16 Jan. 2/3 Honesty in advertising. A sign outside a Noosa Heads fast food shop ‘American Slosh’.

b. Weak and trifling work or writing. 1894 G. B. Shaw Let. 2 June (1965) I. 440

The assumption that society likes the sort of loyal, constitutional, jingo, pietistic slosh it has to pretend to like. 1896 Q. Rev. July 194 Rossetti in confounding all previous schools under the term ‘slosh’ is as much out of court as Ruskin in ignoring Dutch painting. 1915 E. M. Forster Let. 2 Aug. in P. N. Furbank E. M. Forster (1977) II. i. 19 He [sc. Rupert Brooke] was essentially hard: his hatred of slosh went rather too deep.

3. A quantity of some liquid. 1888 Cornh. Mag. Oct. 375 Corn-cake washed down with a generous slosh of whisky.

4. A blow, an act of striking. 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas x. 107, I recalled that I had noticed her hand quiver once or twice, as if itching for the slosh. 1977 Daily Mirror 12 Apr. 20/5 (caption) I’ll give you such a slosh when I get up from here.

5. A game played on a billiard table with six coloured balls and one white, with which each player tries to pocket the coloured balls in a certain order. 1938 [see hypomanic j6.]. 1951 G. Frankau Oliver Trenton xxiii. 180 His brother-in-law was teaching her to play slosh. 1961 E. Waugh Unconditional Surrender 1. iv. 60 Guy spent the remaining hours of his fortieth birthday at Bellamy’s playing ‘slosh’. 1976 Daily Tel. 29 Apr. 18 The equipment was suitable not only for billiards but also for ‘slosh’.

slosh (sIdJ), v.1 [f. prec. or imitative.] 1. intr. To splash about in mud or wet. 1844 Kinglake Eothen ii, Then on we went, dripping and sloshing. 1847 Lord Haddo Mem. (1866) I. 16 We..slosh through the moor to a shepherd’s house. 1894 Sir J. D. Astley 50 Yrs. Life I. 286, I then slipped, slid, and sloshed down into Balaclava.

2. U.S. about.

To move aimlessly; to hang or loaf

1854 in Bartlett (1859). 1864 Daily Telegr. 29 Aug., I am the rather loafing about Canada. I am ‘sloshing around’, as the Louisiana negroes .. are said to ‘slosh’. 1879 Tourgee Fool's Errand vi. 26, I was just sorter sloshin’ around loose¬ like.

3. a. To make a splashing sound. 1888, etc. [implied at SLOSHING vbl. sf>.'] b. Of liquid: to splash; to flow in streams. 01953 E. O’Neill Touch of Poet (1957) 1. 35 When he attempts to raise the glass to his lips the water sloshes over his hand. 1969 L. Michaels Going Places 59, I might, as I toppled, blood sloshing through my lips, beg forgiveness. 1977 ‘J- le Carre’ Honourable Schoolboy i. 29 The rain poured off them.. sloshing in red rivulets round their ankles.

4. trans. a. To pour or dash (liquid); to splash, throw, pour, or swallow carelessly. Also fig. Usu. with advbs. colloq. 1875 Chicago Tribune 3 Sept. 2/5 The Ring-paid scribblers and papers will slosh on the usual amount of whitewash. 1885 Century Mag. Nov. 63/2 If mining records was ever kep’ as they’d ought to be, and not sloshed round so public like. 1899 G. B. Shaw Let. 26 Apr. (1972) II. 85, I dipped into the book . ., and sloshed down a heap of words. . . But it is a scandalously poor job of a review. 1926 E. Ferber Show Boat x. 221 Often he sloshed down whole gallons of river water before she came. 1936 M. Mitchell Gone with Wind liv. 934 He picked up the decanter and sloshed a glassful, untidily. 1945 Everybody's Digest Aug. 86 He sloshed on his sombrero and went outta there, heatin’ his axles. 01953 E. O’Neill Touch of Poet (1957) m. 100 He sloshes whiskey from the decanter into both their glasses. i960 J. Stroud Shorn Lamb xxii. 239 It had.. attic bedrooms and Harry used to go up there and slosh paint about. 1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin xv. 91 He laughed a deep, manly laugh and sloshed down some beer. 1978 ‘J. Lymington’ Waking of Stone vi. 149 She sloshed out porridge into plates.

b. To pour or dash liquid upon, to douse. colloq. 1912 G. W. Deeping Sincerity ii. 18, I can’t stand these counter-bouncing little beasts like Threadgold. He’s only fit to slosh people with treacle and water. 1917 H. Garland Son of Border xxviii. 371, I generally managed to slosh myself with cold water from the well. 1979 Amer. Poetry Rev. Mar./Apr. 26/2 Rain began to pelt the cars and slosh the yard and spatter down the flowers.

5. colloq. To hit, to strike; to crush, to defeat. A\so fig. Cf. slash v. 2 b. 1890 Kipling Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) 11 We sloshed you with Martinis, an’ it wasn’t ’ardly fair; But for all the odds agin’ you, Fuzzy-Wuz, you broke the square. 1904 E. Nesbit Phoenix & Carpet v. 94, I say, slosh ’em.. and get clear off with the swag. 1914 C. Mackenzie Sinister Street II. iv. ii. 881, I wouldn’t half slosh his jaw in, if I was a man. 1918 R. P. Fleming Let. in D. Hart-Davis Peter

Fleming (1974) 33> I saw one [adder] coiled up asleep in some bushes, and picked it up by the tail.. and we took it into the open and sloshed it. 1921 A. S. M. Hutchinson If Winter Comes 11. vii. 138 These Balkan chaps set to, to slosh Turkey. 1933 Punch 18 Oct. 421/1 ‘I wish to contradict the rumour that I wish to slosh Sir Stafford Cripps,’ says Mr. Ernest Bevin. 1967 N. Freeling Strike out where not Applicable 75 Somebody sloshed him, if I may be allowed the word. e mon.. Set sadly pe scharp in J?e slot euen, Hit hym vp to pe hult, pat pe hert schyndered. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2254 O-slante doune fro pe slote he slyttes at ones! C1400 Destr. Troy 3063 The slote of hir slegh brest [was] sleght for to showe. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece 1. i. 43 If a Child.. has Pain in the Back, or Slot of the Breast. 1808 Jamieson, Slot of the breast, the pit of the stomach; where the breast-bone slopes away on each side, leaving a hollow. e I sese hem to-gedere. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 9 Bot Slowthe mai no profit winne, Bot he mai singe [etc.]. C1425 Cast. Persev. 898 in Macro Plays, Lechery, Slawth, & Glotonye, to mans flesch 3e are fendis Fre. 1609 Dekker Warres Wks. (Grosart) IV. 115 Sloth, by reason that he is troubled with the gout, busies himselfe little with State matters. 1769 Gray Ode Installat. 4 Dreaming Sloth of pallid hue.

C. Comb., as sloth-jaundiced, -promoting, -shunning adjs.

-loved,

1591 Sylvester Du Bartas 1. vi. 868 What can be hard to a sloath-shunning Spirit? 1598 Ibid. 11. ii. 11. Babylon 530 Down in my sloath-lov’d bed again I shrink. 1754 ‘J. Love’ Cricket 1. 64 Of sloth-promoting sports, forewarn’d, beware! 1794 Coleridge Lines on Friend Poems (1907) 27 Energic reason and a shaping mind... Sloth-jaundiced all!

2. Slowness; tardiness. C1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 313 \>us many men for sich slow)?e of sharp reprouyng synnen meche. £-1386 Chaucer 2nd Nun's T. 258 If it so be thou wolt with-outen slouthe Bileue aright. 1451 Capgrave Life St. Aug. 21 Augustin be-

SLOTH gan to accuse him-self sor..of pe slauth of his returne to God. 1628 Ford Lover's Mel. v. i, Wherefore drop thy words in such a sloth? 1729 Shelvocke Artillery v. 379 [To] fill all his.. Fuzes or Trains of Communication with a Composition whose Sloth he has been assured of. 1815 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 265 From sloth of proceedings, an embargo was permitted to run through the winter.

3. As a ‘proper term’, by later writers taken to mean: A company of bears (or erroneously, boars). C1452 in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1909) in. 52 A Slouthe of Beerys. Ibid. 53 A slothe of bayris. c 1470 Hors, Shepe, & G. (Roxb.) 31 A slouth of beres. [Cf. sleuth sb.1 1 b.] 1616 Bullokar Eng. Exp., Slozvth, a heard or company of wild Boares together. 1688 Holme Armoury 11. 132/1 The Proper terms given to Beasts when they are in Companyes. .. Beares, a Slowth. 1801 Strutt Sports Past. 17 A sloth of bears.

4. An edentate arboreal mammal of a sluggish nature, inhabiting tropical parts of Central and South America. Two genera of sloths are recognized, viz. Bradypus, with three toes on the fore-feet, and Cholaepus with only two. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage 704 note, The Spaniards call it.. the light dog. The Portugals Sloth. The Indians, Hay. 1681 Grew Musseum 1. 11. i. 11 The Sloath... An Animal of so slow a motion, that he will be three or four days, at least, in climbing up and coming down a Tree. 1699 Wafer Voy. (1729) 401 The Sloath. Is a very slow-paced Animal, taking a whole Day in going fifty Paces. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 343 Of the sloth there are two different kinds, distinguished from each other by their claws. 1834 McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 93 The Sloths have cylindrical molars, and sharp canini longer than those molars. 1894-5 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. III. 207 Sloths are mainly nocturnal; and in their usual attitude they hang suspended back downwards. fig. 1826 Hood Last Man 160, I . .never was one of the sloths. 1852 H. Rogers Eclipse of Faith (1864) 140 Man has been gradually crawling up, a very Sloth in ‘progress’, from the lowest Fetichism and Polytheism.

b. Applied, usually with distinguishing epithets, to other animals, as the sloth-bear, the koala or koolah, the slow lori or lemur, and the mylodon or megatherium. See also ground sloth s.v. ground sb. 18 b. (a) 1790 Shaw Naturalist's Misc. II. pi. 58 The Ursine Bradypus, or Ursiform Sloth. 1793 Pennant Synop. Quadr. (ed. 3) II- 243 Ursiform Sloth with a long and strong nose, truncated at the end. 1800 Shaw Gen. Zool. I. 1. 160 The Ursine Sloth is about the size of a Bear. 1827 Griffith Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. II. 238 The Ursus Labiatus, placed erroneously by Pennant and others among the Sloths, under the name of the Ursine Sloth. (b) 1813-27 [see koala]. 01862 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. I. 468 The name of Australian Sloth.. has been applied to it [the Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus] because it is able to cling with its feet to the branches after the manner of the sloths. (c) 1827 Griffith Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. I. 229 The Slow Loris, or Sloth of Bengal {Lemur tardigradus, L.). 1903 Lydekker Mostly Mammals 314 The name ‘sloth’ is not infrequently misapplied by travellers to the slow-lemurs of India and the Malay countries, or to their cousins the galagos of Africa. {d) 1842 Owen {title), Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth, Mylodon robustus. Ibid. 147 The osseous frame-work of the gigantic extinct Sloths.

c. A species of Protozoa (see quot.). 1859 P. H. Gosse Evenings Microscope (1877) 392 Two more species of this extensive genus [Euglena].. have received the appellations of the Pear {E. pyrum) and the Sloth {E. deses.)

5.

Special combs.: sloth-animalcule (see quots.); sloth-bear, an Indian species of bear (Melursus labiatus or ursinus); sloth-monkey, the slow loris or lemur; sloth-tree, the South American trumpet-tree (Cecropia peltata), whose leaves are eaten by the sloth. 1871 Carpenter's Zool. II. 230 A number of minute creatures, well known to microscopic observers as *Sloth or Bear-Animalcules. 1889 Geddes & Thomson Evolution of Sex vi. §5. 72 The degenerate water-bears or slothanimalcules {Tardigrada). 1835 Penny Cycl. IV. 90/2 Labiated Bear, or *Sloth Bear. at es alle slotered in syn. c 1430 Syr Getier. (Roxb.) 7066 ‘Abide,’ she seid, ‘so mot I thee, More slotered thei most be’. £1440 Promp. Parv. 460/1 Sloteron, or defowlyn, maculo, deturpo. 1825- in dialect glossaries, etc. (Sc. and South-western).

2. intr.

To be slothful or slovenly.

Sc.

*553 Douglas's JEneid iv. Prol. 164 Thou auld hasard leichoure,.. That slotteris [Small's ed. flotteris] furth euermare in sluggardry. 1808 Jamieson, Slotterin, slutterin, acting in a slovenly manner; Loth[ian].

Hence f'slotterbug, a dirty or filthy person. £ 1440 Promp. Parv. 460 Sloturburgge slotyrbugge], cenulentus, rnaurus, obcenus.

[other

texts

'slottery, a. Sc. and dial. Also Sc. slottry. [f.

slotter a.] Todd (18 r8) gives slottery from Urry’s ed. of Chaucer (Knt.'s T. 2025), but the correct reading is flotery.

1 .Sc.

Sluggish, slothful. •

I5I3 Douglas JEneid vi. iv. 87 The slottry Sleip, Deidis cusing of kynd. 1808 Jamieson, Slottry, slumbering, drowsy, inactive: Loth[ian].

2. dial. Of weather, etc.: Wet, dirty. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss., Slottery weather, foul, wet weather. 1866 G. W. Thornburv Greatheart II. 244 The roads [round Boscastle, Cornwall] are slottery.

sloth sb.1] Slothfulness. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5075 3yt ys pyi an vnkynde slogh^hede, J>at a man vnnej).. wyl wurschep God derwrjdy.

'slotting, sb. rare. = slot sb.3 1. 1909 B. Grohman Master of Game 262 All of which may lead his slotting to be mistaken for the tracks of a hind.

SLOTTING

SLOUGH

739

slotting ('slDtir)), vbl. sb. [f. slot v.2] 11. Sc. The practice, on the part of butchers,

1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt, ix, Fierce glances lower under the slouch of broad sombreros.

intentionally rides slowly in the early stages of a race.

of ‘scoring’ flesh. Obs.

slouch, obs. Sc. f. slough sb.2

1881 Jefferies Wood Magic II. iv. 102 The sloucher took up his quart, and said that he saw ‘no call’ to hurry. 1897 Daily News 21 Dec. 8/3 Well-dressed gentlemen are seen alongside the sloucher, with neck hidden in a shawl.

1647 Extr. Burgh Rees. Stirling 193 The actis and ordinances.. anent slotting and spuilyeing of flesche.

2. a. The action of making or cutting a slot or slots. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 689 There is no slotting, as in the common harrow, but the bulls and bars are simply crossed. 1879 Organ Voicing 20 When fairly voiced, the slotting may be commenced.

b. attrib., as slotting auger, bar, machine(ry. 1841 Civil Eng. 6? Arch.Jrnl. IV. 234/1 Improvements in slotting machines. Ibid., The fourth part is an improvement in the slotting bar. 1863 Q. Rev. CXIV. 298 The planing, slotting, or turning machinery of these factories. 1869 Rankine Mach. Hand-tools PI. P17, The ordinary turning, planing, and slotting tools. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 185/1 The Slotting Auger cuts laterally.

3. Coal-mining. (See quot.) 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 227 Slottings, coal cut away in the process of holing.

4. a. The action of threading through a hole or slot. Also, ornamentation with threading. 1923 Daily Mail 18 June i Filet lace and hem stitching, finished ribbon slotting at low waist line.

b. The action or condition of fitting in a slot

.2

(slot sb 6). Also attrib. 1959 Washington Post 26 Dec. A19/1 Ratings have climbed despite the show’s unhappy time slotting between ‘Laramie’ and ‘Bronco’, without a big show preceding it on the network. 1968 [see slot t>.2 6].

slottysshe, obs. form of

sluttish a.

slouch (slautj), sb. Forms: 6 slouche, sloutche, 7 slowch(e, 7- slouch (8 dial, zlouch). [Of obscure origin: cf. slouk, and dial, slotch in the same sense. Senses 3 and 4 are from the vb.] 1. a. An awkward, slovenly, or ungainly man; a lubber, lout, clown; also, a lazy, idle fellow. Freq. in 16th and 17th c. as a term of disparagement without precise significance. 1515 Barclay Cyt. £sf Uplondyshman Prol., A lordes stomake and a beggers pouche Full yll accordeth, suche was this comely slouche. C1566 Merie Tales of Skelton in S.’s Wks. (1843) I. p. lxv, A cobler . . which was a tall man and a greate slouen, otherwyse named a slouche. 1608 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. iv. iv. Decay 1077 The louzie Couch Of some base Ruffon, or some beastly Slouch. 1642 H. More Song of Soul 1. iii. 8 A foul great stooping slouch with heavie eyes, And hanging lip. 1709 Brit Apollo No. 61. 3/2 A Capacious Pouch, Which look’d like Tail at Rump of Slouch. 1714 Gay Sheph. Week 1. 39 Begin thy Carrols then, thou vaunting Slouch. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Slouch,.. a negligent slovenly fellow. 1808 J. Stagg Misc. Poems 143 Ye’d luok but silly slouches. 1881- in dial, glossaries (I. of W., Berks., Lancs.). 1884 Stevenson Lett. (1901) I. 342, I recognise myself, compared with you, to be a lout and slouch of the first water.

b. orig. U.S. slang. A poor, indifferent, or inefficient thing, place, person, etc. Chiefly in the negative phrase no slouch of (something); also const, at or with qualifying phr. (а) 1796 A. Barton Disappointment in. i. 73 He’s no slouch of a fellow. 1840 C. F. Hoffman Greyslaer II. 11. x. 23 You are no slouch of a woodsman to carry a yearling of such a heft as that. 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. iv. 27 It ..became a most lamentable ‘slouch of a journal’. 1879 Tourgee Fool's Errand 308 The mare.. was no slouch, either. 1888 Lees & Clutterbuck B.C. 1887 xxxiii. (1892) 366 We came to Spokane Falls, which seemed to be ‘no slouch of a city’. 1924 Galsworthy White Monkey in. x. 281 ‘No slouch of a miracle!’ he thought, ‘modern town life!’ (б) 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl. viii. 139, I guess you a’n’t much of a ‘slouch’ at shooting. 1898 F. T. Bullen Cruise ‘Cachalot' x. 107 He was no ‘slouch’ at the business either. 1956 People 13 May 4/5 But Tony, no slouch when it comes to showmanship, helped it along by wearing., a rose brocade dinner jacket. 1961 Coast to Coast 1959-60 42 Speaking of Bradman, Mr Stulpnagel, they say you were no mean slouch with the bat yourself. 1967 FIENNES I tried to run a Railway ii. 7 He, Happy, himself no slouch at basic English, was revolted by George’s language. 1978 R. Holles Spawn v. 42 He was making his pile... He’s certainly no slouch in the business world.

2. ellipt. A slouch hat or bonnet. 1714-28 in N. & Q. 5th Ser. XI. 247/1 Paid 20s. for a ribbon and slouch for Molly, c 1754 Garrick Epil. Fielding's Fathers, The high-cocked, half-cocked quaker, and the slouch, Have at ye all! 1867 F. H. Ludlow Fleeing to Tarshish 189 With his long grey hair streaming from under his slouch. 1891 E. Kinglake Australian 107 His hat is either small, round and hard, or a black slouch.

3. a. A stooping, or bending forward of the head and shoulders, in walking; a loose, ungainly carriage or bearing; a walk or gait characterized by this. 1725 Swift Corr. Wks. 1841 II. 579 He hath a sort of a slouch in his walk! 1771 Mackenzie Man of Feeling xi, He was known by the slouch in his gait, and the length of his stride. 1835 Marryat J. Faithful iii, The slouch in the back is taken out, their heavy walk is changed to a firm.. tread. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. 1. xii, Making himself more roundshouldered .. by the sullen and persistent slouch. 1885 J. Runciman Skippers & Shellbacks 258 The slight slouch that most of our men cultivated.

b. Const, of (the shoulders, etc.). 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 881 The carter.. plods with double slouch of shoulder. 1892 Stevenson Across Plains v. 176 The very slouch of the fellows’ shoulders tells their story.

4. The fact or condition of slouching or hanging down loosely. ^

slouch, a. rare. [f. the sb. or v., or backformation from combs, like slouch-eared.] f 1. Drooping or hanging loosely; slouching. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 207/1 Temptation or Sathan .. is drawn with a Dragons head and Wings, to the middle like a Man with slouch hanging Breasts. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4540/8 A.. Bay Gelding,.. hath large slouch Ears. 1829 Widowson Pres. St. Van Diemen s Land 142 A very large head, Roman nose, slouch ears.

2. dial. Comb.

Clownish, loutish; slovenly.

Also

1837 Thornber Hist. Blackpool 110. 1886 Spectator 1587 An educated loafer, the aimless, shiftless, slouch-souled dependant. 3. Slouched. (Cf. slouch hat.) 1812 E. Weeton Let. 15 June (1969) II. 34, I had on a small slouch straw hat, a grey stuff jacket, and petticoat. 1844 Louisa S. Costello Bearn Pyrenees I. x. 179 All the bathers.. were in cloaks and slouch bonnets.

slouch (slaotf), v. [app. f. the sb., or the ppl. a. (slouching), which is found earlier. Cf. dial. slotch in sense i.] For dialect forms and senses, see the Eng. Dial. Diet.

1. intr. To move or walk with a slouch or in a loose and stooping attitude. Const, with advs. or preps. 1754 Fielding J. Wild 1. xiv, They with lank ears and tails slouch sullenly on. 1768-74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 151 The circumstance of slouching through mire, a 1845 Barham Ingold. Leg. Ser. iii. Jarvis's Wig (1905) 502 In a few minutes his tiny figure was seen ‘slouching’ up the ascent. 1862 Sala Seven Sons 11. vii. 179 He slouched to and fro on his beat in the dockyard. 1886 Jerome Idle Thoughts 42 A genuine idler.. is not a man who slouches about with his hands in his pockets. fig. 1880 Times 30 Aug. 4/3 They slouched through their lives with a look of cheerful ignorance on their faces.

b. To carry oneself with a slouch or stoop; to droop the head and shoulders. 1755 Johnson, Slouch, to have a downcast clownish look. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., To slouch, to hang down one’s head. 1884 Cambridge Rev. 10 Dec. 131 He slouched over his oar very badly at the finish. 1900 Elinor Glyn Visits Elizabeth (1906) 54, I am going to be like her, and not like the women at Nazeby (who all slouched).

c. Of a hat: To hang down, droop. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xliii, Even the old hat looked smarter;.. instead of slouching backward or forward on the Laird’s head [etc.]. 1845 Browning Flight of Duchess x, What signified hats if they had no rims on, Each slouching before and behind like the scallop?

2. trans. To put on, or pull down, (one’s hat) in such a way that it partly conceals the face. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 126 Slouching my hat, I slid out of doors. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxvi. The villains wore their hats much slouched. 1818 - Br. La?nm. ix, His hat was unlooped and slouched. [1828-32 in Webster; hence in later Diets.]

b. Const, over (the face, brow, etc.). 1806 Surr Winter in London I. 165 Slouching his hat over his face, he motioned Edward.. to depart. 1858 Lytton What will He do? 11. xiv, He wore a large hat of foreign make, slouched deep over his brow. 1870 Morris Earthly Paradise III. iv. 41 [He] slouched down his hat Yet farther o’er his brows.

3. a. To go or make (one’s way) in a slouching manner. In quot. fig. 1861 Geo. Eliot S. Marner 58 Having slouched their way through life with a consciousness of being in the vicinity of their ‘betters’.

b. To stoop or bend (the shoulders). 1865 Kingsley Herew. II. xi. 170 The Wake slouched his shoulders, and looked as mean a churl as ever.

c. To make (a bow) with a slouch or stoop.

slouch hat. [Cf. slouched ppl. a.] A hat of soft or unstiffened felt or other material, esp. one having a broad brim which hangs or lops down over the face. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. iv. iii, A grand controversy which there was, as to ‘slouch-hats or slouched-hats 1843 Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. I. 1. i. 11 A celebrated doctor who wore a slouch hat. 1891 Mrs. Clifford Love-Lett. Worldly Woman vii. 92, I prefer. . thick muddy shoes and a slouch hat to a slim umbrella and a frock-coat.

So slouch-hatted a., wearing or having a slouch hat. 1826 Scott Woodst. v, A slouch-hatted, long-cloaked, sour-faced fanatic. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. v. i, Much may remain unfixed .. in the Slouch-hatted heads, in the French Nation’s head. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 1 Oct. 5/3 A group of slouch-hatted warriors.

'slouchily, adv. [f. slouchy a.] In a slouchy or slovenly manner. 1890 Saba J. Duncan Social Departure 79 Wearing their European jackets still a little slouchily. 1891 Daily News 14 Oct. 5/5 Two. .slouchily dressed policemen.

'slouchiness. [f. slouchy a.] The state or condition of being slouchy or slovenly. 1891 in Cent. Diet. 1897 Amer. Ann. Deaf Sept. 334 Certain personal habits of our pupils,.. slouchiness when sitting or standing.

slouching ('slautfii)), vbl. sb. [f. slouch v.] Ungainly walking, lounging or loafing, etc. a 1764 Lloyd Dial. 285 As some take stiffness for a grace, . .And others, for familiar air Mistake the slouching of a bear. 1891 Scrivener Our Fields & Cities 80 The men you see standing in groups.. are branded lazy fellows, who prefer slouching to any other condition.

slouching ('slautjiij), ppl. a. [f. as prec.] 1. Hanging down, drooping; heavy, rare. 1611 Cotgr., Oreilles lasches, slowching, or hanging eares. 1655 tr. Com. Hist. Francion iii. 76 A famisht Norman . . fell into such a passion against the Pastry-man,.. that he flung all the Crust of the Pye at his slouching Chops. 1886 Westm. Rev. CXXV. 85 He had.. rather rough-hewn slouching features.

2. Of persons: Having an awkward, stooping, slip-shod carriage or gait; walking or moving with a slouch. 1668 H. More Div. Dial. 11. xxi. (1713) 157 The forcing of a rich, beautiful and vertuous Bride upon some poor slouching Clown. 1845 Dickens Chimes iii. 126 A slouching, moody, drunken sloven. 1868 Helps Realmah vii. (1876) 146 It did not. .enable him to perceive a timid, slouching figure. 1874 Burnand My Time xi. 95 A slouching young man .. touched his hat to me.

3. Of a hat: Having a brim which hangs over the face. Also transf. of other garments, etc.: Hanging down in a loose untidy manner; slovenly. 1691 tr. Emilianne's Frauds Rom. Monks (ed. 3) 406, I go to the Lawyers.. with my great Slouching-Hat. 1719 D’Urfey Pills I. 354 Next then the slouching Sledo, and our huge Button, And now our Coats, flanck broad, like Shoulder Mutton. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xxxiv, Enveloped from head to foot in an old, frowsy, slouching horse-cloth. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xxiii, They wear the sombrero, or broad slouching hat of Spain. 1878 Bret Harte Man on Beach 115 His thought was not always clothed in the best language, and often appeared in the slouching, slangy undress of the place and period.

1897 Meredith Amazing Marriage viii, Woodseer passed him, slouching a bow.

4. Marked or characterized by a slouch or clumsy stooping carriage or bearing.

slouch-eared, a.

ai773 Chesterfield (Todd), The awkward, negligent, clumsy, and slouching manner of a booby. 1774 in Burke Corr. (1844) I. 513 Formerly they had a slouching, slovenly air. Now every peasant.. is erect and soldier-like. 1838 Dickens Nickleby xliv, The man.. lingered with slouching steps by the wayside. 1888 F. Hume Mme. Midas 1. Prol., He was followed by the dumb man with bent head and slouching gait.

Now rare or Obs.

[app. f.

slouch sb.] Having loose hanging ears. 1556 Olde Antichrist 11 That men maye se what a slowche eared asse his is. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Qui a les Oreilles lasches & pendantes, hanging eares, or slouch eared. 1607 Brewer Lingua iii. vi, There was an old .. slouch-eard slaue that looking himselfe by chance in a Glasse died for pure hate. 1793 Pennant Quadr. (ed. 3) II. 313 Sloucheared Bat with large pendulous ears, pointed at the ends. 1855 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. VI. 511 The original English breed [of hogs] —those long-legged,.. slouch-eared, big¬ headed .. animals.

slouched (slautjt), ppl. a. [f. slouch w.] 1. slouched hat, a slouch hat. Also, one worn in such a manner that the brim hangs over the face. 1779 Mirror No. 47 If 4 Dressed in a short coat, and an old slouched hat with a tarnished gold binding. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., A slouched hat, a hat whose brims are let down. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, vi, Others in large loose¬ bodied great-coats, and slouched hats. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xiii, Every common ruffian-looking fellow, with a slouched hat. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 34 His hair falls down From ’neath a wide slouched hat of brown.

Hence 'slouchingly adv., in a slouching or slovenly manner. 1858 Chambers' s Jr nl. IX. 106 Men lounging about., in slouched attitudes, and slouchingly attired. 1889 Mary E. Carter Mrs. Severn II. 11. ii. 141 Man and dog advanced slouchingly.

slouchy ('slautji), a. [f. slouch sb. and v. + -Y.] Slouching, in various senses; slovenly, untidy. Freq. in recent U.S. usage. 01693 Urquhart's Rabelais ill. xvii. 141 What meaneth this.. wagging of her slouchy Chaps? 1864 I. Taylor in Good Words 227 The ample auburn locks are in part huddled up within a broad-bordered slouchy cap. 1868 M. H. Smith Sunshine & Shadow N. York 283 His dress slouchy and countrified, his oratory uninviting. 1882 Cent. Mag. XXV. 176 Looking like a slouchy country bumpkin.

2. Slouching, slouchy. 1858 Chambers's Jrnl. IX. 106 Men .. standing in groups, in slouched attitudes, and slouchingly attired.

sloucher ('slautj3(r)). [f. slouch v.] One who slouches, or walks with a slouching gait; a slouch; spec, in Horse-racing, a jockey who

slough (slau), sb.1 Forms: a. 1, 3-4 sloh, 1 slos(h, 5 slogh, 4-5 sloghe (5 sloghte); 4 slowh, slow3 (5 -e); 4 slouhe, slou3(e, 4- slough (6 -e), 5 sclough, 9 Sc. slouch. 4, 6-7 slowe, 4-8 slow, y- 1,3,5 slo, 4-5, 9 dial. sloo. (See also slew sb.1)

SLOUGH [OE. sloh {slog, slo), of doubtful origin; perhaps ultimately related to slonk.] 1. a. A piece of soft, miry, or muddy ground; esp. a place or hole in a road or way filled with wet mud or mire and impassable by heavy vehicles, horses, etc. a. c 900 tr. Baeda's Hist. v. vi. (1890) 400 past hors .. sume sloh on paem waeje mid swiSpran raese oferhleop. a 1023 Wulfstan Horn. xlvi. (1883) 239 Deah se man nime aenne stan and lecge on ful sloh. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 142 Of the welles brinke Or of the pet or of the slowh. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13547 Wanto the lond, Thurgh the slicche and the slyme in J?is slogh feble. 01425 Cursor M. 15826 (Trin.), Forp pei ihesus drowje And lugged him .. ouer hilles, dale, & slow3e. 1483 Cath. Angl. 345/1 A Sloghte, tesquum, vel tesqua, volutabrum. C1500 God Speed the Plough 14 By downe and by dale and many a slough. 1577 Harrison Descr. Brit. xix. in Holinshed I. 114 Manie a slough [would] proue hard ground that yet is deepe and hollow. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. 11. Wks. 1851 V. 78 Many a time enclos’d in the midst of sloughs and quagmires. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. I. 9 They drew near to a very Miry Slough.. . The name of the Slow was Dispond. 1732 Swift Corr. Wks. 1841 II. 682 Every meadow a slough, and every hill a mixture of rock, heath, and marsh. 1784 Cowper Task hi. 5 One who.., having long in miry ways been foil’d.., from slough to slough Plunging [etc.]. 1827 Scott Chron. Canongate iii, An old-fashioned road, which, preferring ascents to sloughs, was led in a straight line. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. ii, The sloughs were exceedingly murky. transf. 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. xvi. 187 And then piloted my dogs out of their slough. 1890 E. H. Barker Wayfaring in France 27 Sand sloughs into which they may step unawares. /3. 13.. K. Alis. 6075 (W.), Into theo mores they heom drowe, To quede paththes, to quede slowe. c 1386 Chaucer Manciple's Prol. 64 (Hengwrt MS.), He hath also to do moore than ynow To kepen hym and his capil out of the Slow. 1537 Bury Wills (Camden) 132 Mendyng the fowle slowys betwene thys my howse and Reuyttes gate. 1642 Rogers Naaman 558 To lie as a beast in a slow. 1678 [see above]. 1710 Acc. Distemper Tom Whigg 11. 44 Breaking his Horse’s Back as he plung’d into a Slow. y. a 1000 in Birch Sax. Chartul. I. 530 Of pan slo to pan lytlan beorhe. Ibid. II. 41 In readan sloe. C1250 [see b]. a 1300 Assump. Virg. 507 Cast we it in a foule sloo. c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 267 Now is my cart out of the sloo parde! c 1425 Castle Persev. 2242 in Macro Plays, Lete slynge hem in a fowle slo. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 13597 By brookys and bv sloos fowle, A-mong the clay they hym dyffoule. [1891 Hartland Gloss, s.v. Slough, A bye-road at H. is called Sloo Road, and an adjoining field Sloo Park.]

b. fig. A state or condition (esp. of moral degradation) in which a person, etc., sinks or has sunk. C1250 Owl Night. 1394 Vor mony wymmon hauep mysdo pat aryst vp of pe slo. C1340 Hampole Psalter xxix. 3 Wha sa gifts paim til lustis of fleysse.., pai light in pe sloghe, and pai ere enmys of Jesu crist. 1415 Hoccleve Sir J. Oldcastle 105 Ryse vp, a manly knyght, out of the slow Of heresie. c 1425 Castle Persev. 2757 in Macro Plays, J?us hast pou gotyn, in synful slo, of pyne neygboris, be extorcyon. 1593 Q. Eliz. Boeth. 1 v. pr. iii. 81 See you not in what a great slowe [L. caeno] wicked thinges be wrapt in. 1632 Star Chamber Cases (Camden) 105 For this man Carrier when he talks of religion he is in a slowe. 1742 Young Nt. Th. vi. 222 Ambition, av’rice; the two daemons these, Which goad thro’ ev’ry slough our human herd. 1768-74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 149 To take the adventurous leaps of folly, or plunge into the sloughs of vice. 1823 Roscoe tr. Sismondi's Lit. Europe (1846) I. viii. 257 A disgusting slough swallows up those, who abandon themselves to choleric passions. 1850 Ht. Martineau Hist. Peace iv. ix. (1877) III. 35 The clergy sank into a deeper slough of popular hatred. 1888 H. Morten Hospital Life 22 It had .. lifted her out of the miserable slough in which marriage had landed her.

c. Slough of Despond, after Bunyan’s use (see 1 a and despond si.). 1776 Twining in Country Clergyman of the 18th C. (1882) 31,1 remember slumping all on a sudden into the slough of despond, and closing my letter in the dumps. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, i, The miry Slough of Despond, which yawns for insolvent debtors. 1839 Fr. A. Kemble Resid. Georgia (1863) 12 If one individual.. were to raise himself out of such a slough of despond. 1884 Haweis My Musical Life I. 137 Musical criticism has been in the same Slough of Despond.

2. The matter of which a slough is composed; soft mud or mire. ? Obs. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1662 Euch strete.. bute sloh & slec, eauer iliche sumerlich. 1393 Langl. P. PL C. xm. 179 Bote yf pe sed pat sowen is in pe sloh sterue, Shal neuere spir springen vp. a 1425 Cursor M. 1964 (Trin.), Also 3e ete of no flesshe elles pat in slou3e & erpe dwelles. 1732 Swift Epist. Corr. Wks. 1841 II. 682 You can’t ride half a mile .. without being in slough to your saddle-skirts. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. 1. iv. (1862) II. 261 Covered over with weeds, slough, and all the filth of the sea. 1776 G. Semple Building in Water 71 A Hole, which was immediately filled up with Slough.

3. A ditch, dike, or drain; also, a cart rut. ? Obs. 1532 Hervet Xenophon's Treat. Househ. (1768) 67 Thinke you than that we do not make the dyches and sloughes in the fieldes for a good cause? 1598 Florio, Carreggista, the rut or slough of a cart wheele. 1640 G. Abbott Job Paraph. 169 By his labour and skill he cuts out passages and sloughs in the hard stony rocks. 1685 Phil. Trans. XV. 956 In the Bog, observe which way the little Sloughs run; be sure to cut their drains across them.

4. N. Amer. (slu:). = slew sb.1 Also, a side channel of a river, or a natural channel that is only sporadically filled with water. 1714 Rep. Record Commissioners (Boston Registry Dept.) (1877) III. 217 Between his old house & the Slough or Small Bridge. e is her ende. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/2 Slummerare, dormitator, dormitatrix. a 1631 Donne Progr. Soul xv, As a slumberer stretching on his bed. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam 1. xxiv. 3 Such mysterious dream As makes the slumberer’s cheek with wonder pale. 1871 Meredith H. Richmond (1886) 2 A hard rider, deep drinker and heavy slumberer.

'slumberful, a. [f. slumber sb. Marked by slumber.

+

-ful i.]

1844 Mrs. Browning Drama Exile Wks. (1904) 134 Your bodies shall lie smooth in death, and straight and slumberful. 01849 Mangan Poems (1859) 203 In slumberful stupor.

slumbering ('slAmbaruj), vbl. sb. [f. slumber v. Cf. MDu. slumer-, sluymeringhe (Du. sluimering), MHG. slommeringe, slummerunge (G. schlummerung), Sw. slumring).] 1. The state, condition, or fact of being in a slumber; sleeping; sleep. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Kt. 1182 As in slomeryng he slode, sle3ly he herde A littel dyn at his dor. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. If 705 Thanne cometh Sompnolence, that is, sloggy slombrynge, which maketh a man be heuy and dul, in body and in soule. c 1450 Lovelich Merlin 12364 He ne slepte .. tyl that lady was fallen in Slombring. C1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld. 42 Whan nede drew hem to slombryng or slepe. 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 30 Whylis I stode musynge.., In slumbrynge I fell and halfe in a slepe. 1592 Kyd Span. Trag. ill. xv, For in vnquiet quietnes is faind, And slumbring is a common worldly wile. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. in. xxxii. 196 A man .. not having well observed his own slumbering. 1864 [see sluggarding vbl. sb.].

b. An instance or occasion of this; a slumber or slumberous condition; a sleep. CI374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 67 Ever lay Pandare a bedde, half in a slomeringe. Ibid. v. 246 Whan he fil in any slomeringes. C1440 Gesta Rom. lxx. 324 (Harl. MS.), per com vpon him such a slombring, that.. he most nedis slepe. 1470-85 Malory Arthur v. iv. 165 As the kyng laye in his caban in the shyp he fyll in a slomerynge. 1611 Bible Job xxxiii. 15 In slumbrings vpon the bed.

2. attrib., as slumbering bed, cup, posture, etc. 1535 Coverdale Isaiah li. 17 Thou that hast.. sucked out the slombringe cuppe to the botome. 1581 Derricks Image Irel. 11. E iv b, And other some to stiffle quight in slumbryng bedde that lyes. 1595 Barnfield Cassandra xxxii, Heerewith awaking from her slumbring sleepe. 1825 Scott Talism. xv, Rising from his slumbering posture.

inoperative, or quiescent. 1582 N.T. (Rhem.) 2 Peter ii. 3 And their perdition [1611 their damnation] slumbereth not. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 24 Now conscience wakes despair That slumberd. 1727 De Foe Hist. Appar. iii. (1840) 23 As the Scripture says in another case, his damnation slumbereth not. 1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope 1. 460 The might that slumbers in a peasant’s arm. 1818 Scott Rob Roy v, As my kinsman’s politeness seems to be still slumbering. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 383 We see the lowering tempest which slumbered behind this appearance of confidence. b. To be calm, peaceful, or still. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 312 Dull as their lakes that slumber in the storm. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxxiii, The clouds of mist which might otherwise have slumbered till morning on the valley. 1830 Tennyson Arab. Nts. 79 The garden-bowers and grots Slumber’d. c. To flow, move

along, sleepily or peacefully. Note-bks. (1879) II. 69 The

1868 Hawthorne Amer. stream .. slumbers along.

'slumbering, ppl. a. [f. as prec.] 1. That slumbers or is asleep; dozing. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 103 With mochel wo.. His slombrende yhen he upcaste. c 1742 Gray Ignorance 16 Dost thou .. Still stretch .. The massy sceptre o’er thy slumb’ring line? 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. in. 830 Th’ expecting people view’d their slumbering priest. 1817 Byron Manfred 11. iv, I have.. Startled the slumbering birds from the hush’d boughs. 1895 Sir H. Maxwell Duke of Britain i. 4 We stroll through the slumbering camp.

b. Marked or characterized by slumber; idle, indolent; drowsy. 1538 Starkey England 1. i. 5 For the mayntenaunce of theyr idul and slomeryng lyfe. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 567/1 Sprightly I start, and free from slumb’ring yawn, Leave the soft bed. T784 Cowper Task 11. 774 Her, whose winking eye And slumb’ring oscitancy mars the brood.

2. Quiet, peaceful; calm, still, motionless.

1632 Milton L'Allegro 54 Oft list’ning how the Hounds and horn Chearly rouse the slumbring morn, c 1635 Arcades 57 Ere the odorous breath of morn Awakes the slumbring leaves. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xliii, When.. slumbering ocean faint and fainter glows. 1849 Ruskin Seven Lamps vi. §xx. 182 An influence from the silent sky and slumbering fields. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 161 At no great distance lay the slumbering sea-lake.

3. Dormant, inoperative, quiescent; torpid. 1703 Rowe Ulysses 11. i, And thou Revenge! Shoot all thy Fires, and wake my slumb’ring Rage. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxviii, When Montoni absolutely refused it, her slumbering mind was roused. 1818 Byron Corsair 1. xi, The slumbering venom of the folded snake. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 223 In Franconia the slumbering fires of discontent burst forth. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 195 Its shape led hardly any one to suspect that the mountain was a slumbering volcano. Hence 'slumberingly advin a slumbering

manner; 'slumberingness.

rare-0.

1647 Hexham i, Slumberingly, sluymachtighlick. 1648 Ibid. 11, Vaeckerigheydt, Sleepienesse, Slumbringnesse. 1847 Webster, Slumberingly. [Hence in later Diets.]

'slumberless ('slAmbalis), a. [f. slumber sb. + -less.] Obtaining or yielding no slumber; sleepless. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. 1. i. 563 The present is spread Like a pillow of thorns for thy slumberless head. 1884 Cent. Mag. XXIX. 88 The overstraining and almost slumberless labor of the last days and nights.

t 'slumberness.

Obs. [f. slumber Sleepiness, somnolence; sloth, indolence.

$6.]

£1440 in Roy's Rede me (Arb.) 164 Parsones, vicaries, pat ben slepers in lustes of ye flesshe and in slomebernes. 1495 Treviso's Barth. De P.R. (W. de W.) vii. xxxii. 246 Of quakinge of the herte kynde heete fayllyth and therof bredeth slombrenesse and slouthe.

slumberous ('slAmbarss), 'slumbrous, a. Also 5 slombrous, 8-9 slumb’rous. [f. slumber sb. + -ous. The older form is slumbrous (cf. wondrous), but that with the e is the one given by Johnson (1755) and has been the commoner spelling during the 19th cent.] 1. Inclined to slumber or sleep; unduly given to slumber; somnolent, lethargic. 1495 Treviso's Barth. De P.R. xix. xiii. 872 In theym whyche doon slepe tomoche, and in slombrous men, the body is pale and dyscoloured. 1733 P. Whitehead State Dunces 82 At length a slumbrous Briton clos’d his Eyes. 1826 Scott Jrnl. 9 July, Rather slumbrous to-day from having sat up till twelve last night. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect, vi, My sister clutched me, as a slumberous offence to the company’s eyesight, and assisted me up to bed. 1895 Zangwill Master iii. xi, Behind a casement a slumbrous old crone snuffed herself. b. Of the eyes, or eyelids: Heavy or drooping

with slumber or sleep. 1828 Landor Wks. (1876) II. 121 Her eyes, slumberous with content. 1845 Longf. Belfry of Bruges, Carillon v, He .. finds his slumbrous eyes Wet with .. tears. 1887 Hall Caine Son of Hagar 1. viii, The man lifted his slumbrous eyelids.

2. Bringing or inducing sleep; soporific. a. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 615 The timely dew of sleep Now falling with soft slumbrous weight inclines Our eye-lids. 1725 Pope Odyss. 11. 444 Ev’ry eye with slumbrous chains she bound. 1751 Cambridge Scribleriad v. 30 The senseless chief the slumbrous potion quaft. 1810 Scott Lady of L. 1. xxxii, While our slumbrous spells assail ye. 1842 Tennyson Day Dream, Sleeping Beauty i, The slumbrous light is rich and warm. 1887 Bowen fEneid iv. 486 Over them moist sweet honeys and slumbrous poppies to pour. 1839 Longf. Voices of Night Prel. iv, A slumberous sound, a sound that brings The feelings of a dream. 1850 B. Taylor Eldorado viii. 52 Scarcely a leaf stirred in the slumberous air; and giving way to the delicate languor [etc.]. 1877 Black Green Past, xxxvii. The continuous, monotonous murmur of sound was soothing, slumberous, dreamlike.

3. Moving very slightly or slowly; quiescent or at rest; calm, still, peaceful.

lying

1765 Beattie Judgm. Paris cxv, Faint heaves the slumberous wave. 1794 W. Blake Songs Experience Introd. 15 Morn Rises from the slumbrous mass. 1833 Tennyson Lotos Eaters 13 Some [streams] thro’.. shadows broke. Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below. 1858 G. Macdonald Phantastes xvii, Across a shining, slumberous landscape. 1898 G. F. R. Henderson Stonewall Jackson I. 390 The buzzards sailing lazily above the slumbrous woods.

4. Appropriate to, characterized by, suggestive of, slumber or sleep. 1818 Wordsw. Pilgrim's Dream 18 The murmur of a neighbouring stream Induced a soft and slumbrous dream. 1826 Scott Jrnl. 12 Mar., I was interrupted by a slumberous feeling which made me obliged to stop once or twice. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. viii. (1856) 59 There was something about them [icebergs] so slumberous and so pure. 1889 Spectator 9 Nov. 632/1 The slumberous condition in which the mental faculties grow torpid.

5. transf. Marked or characterized inactivity, indolence, or sluggishness.

by

a. 1809 Irving Knickerb. (1861) 100 The tempestuous times .. which overhang the slumbrous administration of the renowned Wouter Van Twiller. 1885 Contemp. Rev. July 13 The slumbrous reign which gradually became intolerable to the commonalty. /9. 1876 Miss Braddon J. Haggard's Dau. I. 7 The great Anglican revival has doubtless awakened that slumberous old parish-church into new life and vigour. 1889 Times 17 Jan. 9/4 The British plantations would have remained, .as slumberous as they have been in the past. b. Of places, etc.: Quiet, sleepy, tranquil.

SLUMBEROUSLY

'slumberously,

adv. [f. prec.] In a slumberous, drowsy, or sleepy manner; quietly, tranquilly, indolently, etc. a. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell 3rd vn. xv. 2 A printer’s boy, .. Fell slumbrously upon one side. 1826 Scott Jrnl. 1 July, I wrote a page or two last night slumbrously. /9. 1816 L. Hunt Rimini in. 490 She was used to leave her cares Without, and slumberously enjoy the airs. 1827 N. P. Willis Widow of Nain 13 Upon his spear the soldier lean’d . .And slumberously dozed on. 1898 Bodley France 111. i. II. 40 As a rule the rural municipalities slumberously perform their useful functions.

'slumberousness.

[f.

as prec.]

Sleepiness,

drowsiness. 1842 Mrs. Browning Grk. Chr. Poets (1863) 95 A slumberousness without a dream. 1863 Sala in Temple Bar VIII. 72, I have carried my slumberousness about with me.

slumbersome ('slAmbsssm), a. [f.

slumber sb.

+ -some.] Slumberous, sleepy. 1884 Bath Jrnl. 19 Apr. 8/1 Who could persuade it to be lulled into slumbersome silence. 1892 Black & White 27 Aug. 255/2 My inventive genius was slumbersome.

slumbery ('slAmbsri), a. Now rare or Obs. Also 4, 6 slombry, 6 slombre, 6, 7 slumbry; 5 slomry. [f. slumber sb. -I- -y. Cf. Fris. slommslumerich, MDu. slumerich (Du. sluimerig), G. schlummerig, Sw. slumrig.] Slumberous, sleepy; of the nature of slumber. C1386 Chaucer Pars. T. If 724 Thanne wexeth he slough and slombry. c 1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 252 If any., sluggeschly slepe, or be slomry, in any conuentual acte. 1530 Palsgr. 324/1 Slombrye, slepysshe, pesant. 1578 Phaer Asneid vi. Qiij b, On the ground himself he spred .. and groueling lay with slumbry head. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. vi. 26 That.. shadie couert, whereas lay Faire Crysogone in slombry traunce. 1605 Shaks. Macb. v. i. 12 In this slumbry agitation, besides her walking,.. what. . haue you heard her say? 1616 Drumm. of Hawth. Poems B j b, Lampe of Heauens Christall Hall,.. who makes the vglie Night At thine Approach flie to her slumbrie Bowrs. 1818 Keats Endym. 11. 406 Tenderly unclos’d, By tenderest pressure, a faint damask mouth To slumbery pout.

slumbrous, variant of

SLUMP

757

1863 Hawthorne Old Home (1879) 130 She liked the old slumberous town. 1869 Daily News 23 Jan., In slumbrous country towns or quiet country houses people go to bed early and get up early. 1883 American VI. 282 This quiet corner of a sleepy town in a slumberous land.

slumberous a.

slumdom ('slAmctam).

[f. slum sb. + -dom.] Slums collectively; the inhabitants of the slums. Also, the condition or character of slums or slum-dwrellers. 1882 Church Rev. XXII. 187 We have wandered through slumdom. 1890 Pall Mall G. 16 July 2/1 To reform our prison system, to plant out slumdom in the country. 1896 Night & Day Feb. 2/3 Lodging houses in the deeps of London slumdom. 1927 G. B. Shaw in Yorks. Even. News 30 Nov. 9/2 Civilisation means ‘Respect my life and property and I will respect yours.’ Slumdom means ‘Disregard my life and property and I will disregard yours.’ 1962 Economist 18 Aug. 593/1 Another 60,000 old houses slip into slumdom. 1973 Daily Tel. 7 Nov. 13/1 A pre-war, cottage-type housing estate that is slipping into slumdom as fast as the downward slope will take it.

slum'gullion. slang. (chiefly U.S.). [Probably a fanciful formation.] 1. (See quot. 1874.) 1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It iv. 44 He poured for us a beverage which he called ‘Slumgullion . 1874 Slang Did. 297 Slumgullion, any cheap, nasty, washy beverage.

2. a. ‘Offal or refuse of fish of any kind; also, the watery refuse, mixed with blood and oil, which drains from blubber’ {Cent. Diet. 1891). U.S. b. A muddy deposit in a mining sluice. Also transf. U.S. 1887 B. Harte Millionaire & Devil's Ford 146 We preach at them for playing in the slumgullion, and getting themselves splashed. 1894 - in My First Book 264 A quantity of slumgullion which really belongs to the sluices of a placer mining camp. 1906 C. de L. Canfield Diary of Forty-Niner 27 The mud we were sending down the stream buried them under slumgullion. 1948 O. Weston Mother Lode Album 82 The miners.. insisted on calling it ‘Slumgullion’, because when it rained the knee-deep adobe mud was no small problem.

c. A kind of watery hash or stew. Chiefly U.S. 1902 J. London Daughter of Snows 45 ‘What do you happen to call it?’ ‘Slumgullion,’ she responded curtly, and thereafter the meal went on in silence. 1904 E. Robins Magnetic North iv. 59 ‘Mix ’em with cold potaters in a salad.’ ‘No, make slumgullion,’ commanded O’Flynn. 1932 J. Dos Passos 1919 17 Bedbugs in the bunks in the stinking focastle, slumgullion for grub. 1959 A. Sillitoh Loneliness 7 The first thing a long-distance cross-country runner would do .. would be to run as far away from the place as he could get on a bellyful of Borstal slumgullion. 1976 T. Walker Spatsizi x. 115 For want of a better word we called it slumgullion.

slumgum ('slAtngAm). U.S. Also slum gum. [f. sb.2 -I- gum sb.2] The residual wax, propolis, and other impurities that remain when the honey and most of the wax are extracted from honeycombs by warming them.

slum

1890 Gleanings Bee Culture XVIII. 704/2 The cappings are laid on this perforated tin, and, when they melt, the wax and honey run through into the chamber below, leaving

what Californians call the ‘slumgum’ on the tin above. 1917 Rep. Iowa State Apiarist 36 A third of the weight of this slumgum is wax and should be saved. 1946 R. A. Grout Hive & Honeybee xxii. 544 Slumgum is the material remaining after some rendering treatment has been performed on comb material. It may be more or less rich in beeswax and is usually dark brown or almost black in color. 1980 Bee Craft LXII. 154/2 The water .. had to heat to the extractor temperature and this allowed the dross or slum gum to coagulate on the under surface of the straining cloth.

slumless ('sLvmlis), a.

[f. slum sb.1

+• -less.]

Containing no slums. 1924 Glasgow Herald 8 Mar. 7 The difference between almost slumless Diisseldorf and slummy Glasgow is not altogether in municipal policy or school education. 1946 P. Bottome Lifeline xxx. 235 Berlin.. bustling, selfdetermined, ordered, slumless. 1966 Guardian 16 May 15/3 Any big-city mayor.. can successfully achieve a relatively slumless city.

slummer (’slAm3(r)). [f. slum sb.1 and z;.1] 1. One who visits the slums, esp. from charitable or philanthropic motives. 1887 Pall Mall G. 29 Sept. 3/2 The risk of giving a violent shock to literary slummers. 1889 J. Hatton J. L. Toole i. 20 ‘Slumming’ is a modern fashion, but both Irving and Toole were always slummers. 1894 Sala London up to Date 2 The writer who is ambitious to become an efficient ‘slummer’.

2. An inhabitant of the slums. 1888 Pall Mall G. 18 Oct. 3 Gaffs, those penny places of amusement partronized by slummers. 1889 The Voice (N.Y.) 7 Mar., Had this wanton insult.. come from some shirtless slummer it would have signified little.

'slummery.

rare. [f. collectively; slumdom.

slum

sb.1]

Slums

1892 Ld. Rosebery in Daily News 16 Dec. 2/4 Cleaning out the Augean stables of slummery.

'slumminess.

[f. slummy a. + -ness.] state of being slummy.

The

[f. slum w.1]

2. a. The visitation of slums, esp. for charitable or philanthropic purposes. 1884 Chr. World 22 May 391/3, I am not one of those who have taken to ‘slumming’ as an amusement. 1894 D. C. Murray Making of Novelist 87 Slumming had not become the fashion at that time of day.

b. attrib., as slumming expedition, party. 1884 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 1 Oct. 2/3 The slumming party engaged in conversation audibly. 1888 Cath. Press 18 Aug. 272/3 The Isle of Dogs has recently been the scene of some new slumming expeditions for the ladies.

c. fig. with defining adj. Cf. sense 4 b of the vb. 1933 Dylan Thomas Let. (1966) 70 Few understand the works of Cummings, And few James Joyce’s mental slummings. 1958 [see demotic a. 2]. 1977 M. Drabble Ice Age 1. 35 She accused Anthony of hypocrisy, of intellectual slumming, of folie de grandeur, of brain fever.

So 'slumming ppl. a.

'slummock, v. Also slummuck. [var. of the common dial, slommack, slammack: see the Eng. Dial. Diet.] 1. trans. To eat up greedily. 1854 P. B. St. John Amy Moss 64 They must be in force. They’ve slummucked the pigs and the cow-beef, and left no mark.

2. intr. To move about awkwardly or clumsily. Also transf. of speech. 1883 A. E. T. Watson Racecourse & Covert Side 291 Don’t let his head go too loose, or else he’ll slummock all over the place. 1893 Kipling Many Invent. 234 His speech, which up to that time had been distinct,.. began to slur, and slide, and slummock.

'slummock, sb. dial, and colloq. [Var. of dial. slammock'. see Eng. Dial. Diet, and slummock v.] A dirty, untidy, or slovenly person; a slut. Freq. as a disrespectful term of address. Cf. SLAMMAKIN sb. 2. examples

? 1861 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 28 Feb. (1966) 643 A tall, gentlemanly, slammocky-as-to-figure man. 1897 Miss Kingsley W. Africa 120 This tidy, carefully minute way, so entirely different from the slummacky African methods of doing things. 1899-- W. African Stud. i. 23 It had too its varying moods of tidiness, now neat and dandy coiled, now dishevelled and slummocky. 1914 Kipling in Nash's Mag. June 278/1 The rough-ironed table-linen,.. the slummocky set-out of victuals at meals. 1926 W. de la Mare Connoisseur 65 A help from the village—precious little good she was. Slummocky—and stupidl 1947 M. Penn Manchester Fourteen Miles iii. 34 Grandma Winstanley was .. a slattern. .. Lizzie couldn’t abide her slummockiness. 1953 J. Cary Except the Lord xxxviii. 169 Girls after a few months service would return on holiday not only in smart clothes but with quite new scorn for what they called our slummucky ways. 1962 J. Cannan All is Discovered ii. 29 ‘An attractive woman?’ ‘No, sir. A slummacky sort. More like a gyppo.’ 1973 P- White Eye of Storm viii. 376 Her hands had been coarsened by menial grind, her body made slommacky by childbearing. 1974 H. R. F. Keating Underside xix. 187 The doom-laden slummockiness of his bohemian days.

slummy ('slAmi), a.1 [f. slum sb.1 4- -y.] 1. Given to frequenting the slums. 2. Of the nature of a slum; abounding in or possessing slums. Also absol. 1873 C. M. Davies Unorth. Lond. I. 352 Out of Goldsmith’s Row, which is slummy,.. turns a court which is slummier still. 1885 M. Pattison Mem. I. 14 Oxford, not then overbuilt and slummy, looked.. charming. 1892 Spectator 5 Mar. 332/1 Where the street verges on the slummy. 1906 Pall Mall G. 5 Mar. 4 The slummy novel, probably, is no longer fashionable.

3. Slovenly, careless. 1881 in Pall Mall G. 8 Sept. (1886) 13/2 It was to draw and to paint most carefully, and to avoid slummy, sloppy work,.. that we banded ourselves together.

f'slummy, a.2 Obs.~1 [f. ME. slumme, var. of slume sloom w.1] Drowsy; inclined to slumber. a 1225 Ancr. R. 258 Hwo mei beon, uor scheome, slummi & sluggi & slouh.

slummy ('slAmi), sb. colloq. Also slummie. [f. slum sb.1 -I- -Y6.] A slum-dweller. 1934 P. O’Mara (title) Autobiography of a Liverpool Irish slummy. 1964 A. Prior Z Cars Again xvi. 158 The remains of many meals stood on .. a newspaper... It was a typical slummie’s house. 1973 ‘J. Patrick’ Glasgow Gang Observed xii. lit Big Fry .. tauntingly called out: ‘We’re the slummiesl’

slump (sLmp), sb.1 Sc. [a. LG. slump heap,

1884 Pall Mall G. 17 Mar. 6 One of my recently acquired slumming friends. 1892 Tablet 30 July 171 Sir Rufus .. is an admirable foil to a slumming Marquis.

dial,

slummocky, a. dial, and colloq. Also (rarely) slammocky, slommachy, slummacky, slummucky. [Cf. slummock v., and see the Eng. Dial. Diet. s.v. Slammocky.] Slovenly, untidy. Hence 'slummockiness.

b. Dealing with the slums or slum-life.

1839 Slang Did. 34 Slumming, passing bad money. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 127 Slumming, a slang term used to describe the secreting of type or sorts.

19th.-cent.

slummocking: see slammakin a.

a i860 in Oxford use. (Cf. slum v. 3 a.)

1888 Black Adv. Houseboat xxiv, We had encountered next to nothing of the slumminess that is supposed to be characteristic of canals. 1926 A. Huxley Two or Three Graces 176 It was a slummy street... It was not hard to know where respectable slumminess ended and gay Bohemianism began. 1961 Guardian 29 Mar. 9/3 Being overcrowded does not necessarily imply slumminess.

slumming ('sUmii)), vbl. sb. 1. slang. (See quots.)

but a clever slummocker in America. 1905-Let. 16 Sept. in J. G. Huneker Steeplejack (1920) II. 258 The reason I call you a slummocker and heap insults on you, is that you are very useful to me in America, and quite friendly; consequently, you must be educated or you will compromise me. 1940 C. Stead Man who loved Children (1941) ix. 376, I have to let that great big slummicker wash the dishes and smash every glass and plate in the house.

in

Eng.

Dial.

Diet.

s.v.

Slammock sb. 1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song 186 Chris found herself dancing with Mistress Mutch, the great, easy-going slummock. 1953 L. Hill tr. Anouilh's Waltz of Toreadors in J. C. Trewin Plays of Year VIII. 444 A slummock, a girl who hasn’t even washed! 1966 M. Kelly Dead Corse i. 10 ‘You are the greatest slummock,’ she said. ‘How can you bear to lie on an unmade bed?’ 1974 P. Flower Odd Job ix. 59 He wiped Norah’s table-top... Norah was a slummock.

slummocker

('slAm9k3(r)). dial. Also [Of obscure ulterior etym.: see SLAMMAKIN sb. and a.\ slummock v. This form is not recorded in dialect diets.] = slammakin sb. 2; an awkward or careless person. slummicker.

1905 G. B. Shaw Let. 13 Aug. in A. T. Schwab James Gibbons Huneker {1963) xiii. 167 You will never be anything

mass, quantity (im slump kopen to buy in the lump), = Du. slomp, Fris. slompe. The LG. word is also the source of Da., Sw., and Norw. slump.] 1. A large quantity or number; chiefly in phrases by or in {the) slump, rarely in a slump, as a whole, not separately or individually, collectively; in the lump. (a) 1795 Statist. Acc. Scotl. XV. 344 The brae farms, and the pasture land, are let by slump; it is impossible to say what they rent per acre. 1808 Jamieson s.v., Coft by slump. 1851 H. Stephens Bk. Farm (ed. 2) II. 742 The grain is.. paid in slump or advance at the middle of the year’s engagement. (b) 1814 Scott Diary 10 Aug., Marriages and baptisms are performed, as one of the Isles-men told me, by the slump. 1827 Blackw. Mag. XXI. 893 We would not give General Holt. . for all the Greek chiefs in a slump. 1866 Blackie Homer & Iliad 1. 29 There is a tendency to fling away honest old traditions in the slump.

2. attrib. and Comb., as f slump number, a large or round number; f slump reckoning, a reckoning in round numbers; slump sum, a lump sum; slump work, = lump work (lump sb.1 9)1718 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 397 At a slump reckoning of 900 ministers at 1000 merks per piece. 1721 -Hist. Stiff. Ch. Scot. (1830) III. 341 The slump number he has taken., from the Scots Mist. 1808 Jamieson s.v., Slump wark, work taken in the lump. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1052 In hiring,.. it is not unusual to give a slump sum for the harvest. 1862 Beveridge Hist. India v. iv. II. 334 From this transaction alone a slump sum of fifty lacs.. had been obtained. 1877 Dawson Orig. of World viii. 189 Creation was not a sort of slump-work to be perfected by the operation of a law of developement.

slump (slAmp), sb.2 [f. slump v.2] 1. Stock Exchange. A heavy fall or sudden decline in the price or value of commodities or securities.

SLUMP 1888 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 22 Dec. 4/2 There was another slump in oil on the Consolidated Exchange to-day... Opening at 89^,.. the price dropped to 87!- 1895 Tablet 19 Oct. 623 In a single week there has been a slump to the extent of twenty-two million sterling. 1895 Daily News 20 Nov. 8/3 The Glasgow Commercial Exchanges to-day took a gloomy view, and prices fell with a slump.

2. transf. a. A sudden or heavy decline or falling off; a collapse, spec, in Econ., a sharp or sudden decline in trade or business, usu. accompanied by widespread unemployment; freq. with reference to a particular instance, esp. the Great Depression of 1929 and subsequent years. 1888 Howells A. Kilburn xxv, What a slump!—what a slump! That blessed short-legged little seraph has spoilt the best sport that ever was. 1896 Westm. Budget 3 Jan. 3/1 There is clearly no ‘slump’ in the matrimonial market. 1897 Leeds Mercury 10 July 11/4 It., became apparent that a slump in the demand for cycles had set in. 1922 H. A. Silverman Substance of Economics xv. 231 Industries grew to depend increasingly on one another... It became inevitable.. that a ‘boom’ or a ‘slump’ in one branch should synchronize with similar conditions elsewhere. 1930 Engineering 10 Jan. 42/2 To discover opportunities for employment on such jobs during industrial slumps. 1936 J. M. Keynes Gen. Theory Employment, Interest & Money iv. xvi. 218 In the succeeding ‘slump’ the stock of capital may fall for a time below the level which will yield a marginal efficiency of zero. 1936 N. Streatfeild Ballet Shoes vi. 89 ‘Well, I can’t go back to Kuala Lumpur.’ ‘Why?’ ‘A thing called a slump.’ 1952 Granta 15 Nov. 12/1 We wanted to fight Fascism, War and the Slump. 1953 M. Scott Breakfast at Six iii. 24 Bought all this land—got it cheap in slump time. 1957 I. Cross God Boy (1958) iii. 27 Then there was the slump .. and then I never did get a chance with that hotel in Wellington. 1976 Economist 16 Oct. 13/2 A record rise in mortgage charges during a building slump.

b. Geomorphol. A landslide in which soil, sediment, or the like slides a short distance with some degree of cohesion and usu. a slight backward rotation owing to the concavity of the surface of separation from the parent mass; movement of this kind; also, a mass of material that has so fallen. Chamberlin & Salisbury Geology I. iv. 218 Creep, slumps, and landslides. 1949 F. J. Petti JOHN Sedimentary Rocks iv. 145 A structure of similar appearance.. is reported from some limestones and dolomites. The cause of the folding may be due to subaqueous slump. 1954 W. D. Thornbury Princ. Geomorphol. v. 104 Mantle rock.. is moved downslope by creep, slump, other types of mass-wasting, and by sheetwash. 1963 D. W. & E. E. Humphries tr. Termier's Erosion & Sedimentation vii. 166 Water-laid phenomena (slumps, low-angle cross bedding) are observed, and suggest that eolian sands have been blown into a shallow sea. 1964 V. J. Chapman Coastal Veget. i. 2 A large scale change induced by a major cliff-fall or slump. 1970 W. H. Matthews Geol. made Simple (rev. ed.) viii. 117 Slump is a common occurrence along the banks of streams. 1978 A. L. Bloom Geomorphology viii. 178 An elaborate engineering technology has been developed to predict the surface of rupture beneath a slump in order to drill into it and drain the water from the vicinity. 1905

{heading)

c. Engin. The height through which the top of a mass of fresh concrete sinks when the mould containing it is removed, as in the slump test (see sense 4 below). 1920 D. A. Abrams Design of Concrete Mixes (Bull. No. 1, Structural Materials Res. Lab., Lewis Inst., Chicago) 13 Normal consistency .. requires the use of such a quantity of mixing water as will cause a slump of \ to 1 in. in a freshly molded 6 x 12-in. cylinder of about 1:4 mix. 1934 S. C. Hollister in L. C. Urquhart Civil Engin. Handbk. vii. 562 Concrete for buildings ranges from 4 to 6 in. slump. 1977 D. E. Branson Deformation of Concrete Structures i. 48 Creep correction factors... May be marginal but normally can be neglected for slumps up to 4 in.

3. gen. A slumping movement or fall. 1850 S. Judd Richard Edney i. 12 Move carefully! It is a slip, or a slump, all the way through. 1867 ‘T. Lackland’ Homespun 1. 90 A .. black snake .. slid down with a slump .. into the water. 1900 S. Hale Let. 29 Apr. (1919) 361, I let my huge bulk down with a slump.

4. attrib., as (sense 2 b) slump bed, bedding, block, series, sheet, structure; slump test Engin., a test of the consistency of fresh concrete in which the slump is measured following the removal of a mould of specified size and shape (usu. the frustum of a cone). 1974 Sedimentology XXI. 2 Exposures of banks and slump beds extend along the whole of the coast. 1949 F. J. Pettijohn Sedimentary Rocks iv. 145 The disturbance is restricted to layers a mere inch or two thick. Such deformation is usually due to subaqueous slump or gliding and has been termed ‘slump’ or ‘glide bedding’. 1964 Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) v. 13 Slump bedding, disturbed strata interbedded between undisturbed strata, caused by flow of newly deposited sediment. 1969 D. J. Easterbrook Princ. Geomorphol. xi. 228 During movement of a slump block, secondary slumps may develop and produce a stair-step-like series of parallel slump blocks. 1978 A. L. Bloom Geomorphology viii. 178 Vegetation or even houses may be carried intact on the surface of a large slump block. 1937 O. T. Jones in Q.Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XCIII. 272 In view of the fact that a thick mass.. may have been formed by successive sliding or slumping of sediments, it is proposed to speak of it as a slump series, and where it is reasonably certain that a mass is the'result of a single episode, that mass is referred to as a slump sheet. A slump series is or may be.. made up of several slump sheets separated by a greater or lesser thickness of normal mudstones. 1976 Jrnl. Geol. Soc. CXXXII. 125 Sequence 4, in the upper part of the slump sheet, is most complexly deformed, showing closed and

SLUNG

758 contorted folds. 1963 Geol. Mag. C. 205 The slump structures which characterize the Torridonian red sandstones of North-West Scotland. 1975 J. L. Wilson Carbonate Facies Geol. Hist. viii. 238 The limestone.. has graded beds, lamination, microbreccias and slump structure. 1920 F. L. Roman in Engin. & Contracting 3 Mar. 241/1 Cone No. 1 . .was far better than a cylinder for determining the consistency of concrete by means of a ‘slump’ test. 1975 Concrete Inspection Procedures (Portland Cement Assoc.) iv. 41 A slump test is made at the start of the operation each day and whenever the appearance of concrete indicates a change in consistency.

slump (sUmp), v.1 Chiefly Sc. [f. slump sb.1] 1. trans. To lump; to put, place, regard, deal with, etc., as one quantity, mass, or group. Freq. to slump together. (а) 1822 W. J. Napier Pract. Store-farming 147 No farmer ever gives in an offer, first, for the value of the pasture, and then, for the landlord’s improvements. He may say that he slumps them all together. 1856 Ferrier Inst. Metaph. 61 The inconceivable as here laid down, is thus slumped together .. with the absolutely inconceivable. 1873 J. Geikie Gt. Ice Age i. 4 The deposits, which were at one time slumped together,.. are really the records of a long series of changes. (б) 1827 Scott Jrnl. 14 Jan., I have let my cash run ahead since I came from the Continent. —I must slump the matter as I can. 1828 Steuart Planter's G. (1848) I. 314 He slumps the whole under one head. 1890 Cochran-Patrick Evid. Mining Royalties Commiss. No. 7613, Copper, lead, tin,., are mentioned by name, and the others are slumped.

2. intr. To club together in paying. 1849 G. Cupples Green Hand ii. (1856) 25 Slump together for the other guinea, will ye?

Hence 'slumping vbl. sb. 1822 W. J. Napier Pract. Store-farming 147 This ‘slumping’.. will never serve to pay to the landlord that identical interest [etc.]. 185 o Chambers's Jrnl. 23 Mar. 191/2 The slumping of the whole loss into the arbitrary.. sum of five pounds. 1873 J. C. Maxwell in L. Campbell Life (1882) 439 The slumping together of multitudes of cases.

slump (sUmp), v.2 Chiefly dial, and U.S., esp. in earlier use. [Probably imitative: cf. plump v.1 Norw. has slumpa in sense 1, as well as in that of Sw. slumpa, Da. slumpe, from LG. slumpen, G. schlumpen to come about, happen by accident.] 1. a. intr. To fall or sink in or into a bog, swamp, muddy place, etc.; to fall in water with a dull splashing sound. Also in fig. context. 01677 Barrow Serm. (1686) III. 191 [The young men] walk upon a bottomless quag into which unawares they may slump. 1684 I. Mather Remark. Provid. (1846) 28 Being in this swamp that was miry, I slumpt in and fell down. 1776 T. Twining in Country Clergyman of the 18th C. (1882) 31, I remember slumping on a sudden into the slough of despond, and closing my letter in the dumps, a 1828 Bewick Mem. (1862) 116 Thinking the bog she had to pass through, might be frozen hard enough to bear her, she ‘slumped’ deep into it. 1835 New Monthly Mag. XLIII. 159 We dreaded to meet even a single sleigh, lest in turning out, the horses should ‘slump’ beyond their depth, in the untrodden drifts. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 52 This enables the birds to run lightly over the floating leaves of aquatic plants, by so much increase of breadth of support that they do not slump in. fig- 1835 Gilchrist Bards Tyne 416 (E.D.D.), Newcassel hes fairly slump’t into disgrace.

b. Const, through, beneath, etc. Also fig. 1856 Lowell Lett. I. 296 No danger of her slumping through the clouds. 1871-Study Wind. (1886) 44 The man may slump through,.. where the boy would have skimmed the surface. 1884 Harper's Mag. Aug. 337/1 But one awful night Kampen.. simply ‘slumped’, as they say in the far west, beneath the waters and mud that ingulphed it.

2. a. Of the wind: To fall, drop. 1855 Trans. Philol. Soc. 36 (Norfolk words), The wind slumped. 1894 Outing XXIV. 376/2 The breeze had been gradually dying for an hour, and now it bid fair. . to slump entirely at midnight.

1854 Lowell Jrnl. Italy Prose Wks. 1890 I. 115 He., paces the deck.. much as one of those yellow hummocks goes slumping up and down his cage. 1887-Old Eng. Dramatists (1892) 18 In such collections as Dodsley’s ‘Old Plays’, where we slump along through the loose sand.

4. trans. a. To throw down heavily; to slam. 1836 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 126 She slumped down her nittin, and clawed off her spectacles. 1853 G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas I. 233 Some shivering adorer, who stands in the night air till John has slumped the tight door into the panel.

b. local. (See quots.) 1874 C. J. Palmer Perlust. Gt. Yarmouth II. 260 note, The suitor who lost his cause was said to be ‘slumped’. Ibid., ‘Slumped agin’, was shouted derisively to one who had been a second time unsuccessful.

c. To cause to depreciate suddenly. 1899 Church Times 13 Oct. 421/1 Suppose some ‘bear’ determines to ‘slump’ the market.

Hence slumped, 'slumping ppl. adjs. 1899 Church Times 13 Oct. 421/1 The vicious operations of the slumping bear and the tossing bull. 1937 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XCIII. 277 Local after-slides.. added low ridges on the surface of the major slumped mass. 1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. iii. 31/2 There is a good deal of glacial debris and slumped ground under the thick forest. 1976 J. E. Sanders et at. Physical Geol. vii. 244 A slumped mass usually does not travel very far nor spectacularly fast.

stamper

('slAmp3(r)), v. rare. [Probably imitative: cf. prec. 3, and G. schlumpern to go about in a slovenly or slipshod condition.] intr. To move or travel heavily or with difficulty on account of miry or muddy roads; to flounder through or along. 1829 G. Robertson Rural Recoil. 38 In wet weather they became mere lairs, (sloughs,) in which the carts or carriages had to slumper through in a half-swimming state. 1894 Smiles J. Wedgwood x. 92 The lanes were scarcely sufficient for the slumpering along of packhorses, let alone for carts.

slumpflation

(sUmp'fleiJon). Econ. [Portmanteau blend of slump sb.2 + in)flation 6: cf. stagflation.] A state of economic depression in which decreasing output and employment in industry are accompanied by increasing inflation. 1974 W. Rees-Mogg Reigning Error iv. 75 So-called stagflation and slumpflation are the inevitable reflection of the progressive divergence between a rising nominal and a falling real supply of money. 1976 Economic Jrnl. LXXXVI. 171 Chronic slumpflation has given rise to much agonising reappraisal of doctrines that were hardening into orthodoxies. 1980 Economist 23 Feb. 13/1 The government can get less slumpflation in British industry only by making life easier for the employers’ wage negotiators. 1981 J. Sutherland Bestsellers xix. 201 Portugal wallows in the slumpflation that will eventually lead to fascism.

slumping ('slAmpii)), vbl. sb.2 Geomorphol. [f. slump v 2 + -ING1.] The fall of soil, sediment, or the like in a slump (SLUMP sb 2 3 b). 1907 R. D. Salisbury Physiography vi. 106 Slumping is very common on slopes composed of unconsolidated material, such as clay or accumulations of loose rock. 1944 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. x. 148 Similar conditions favour landslides on a bigger scale, wherever slumping (Fig. 63) or sliding (Fig. 64) can occur on the sides of undercut slopes, precipices, and cliffs. 1979 Geogr. Mag. July 668/3 Many sub-circular pans on the Essex marshes may be formed by the blocking-off by slumping and vegetation overgrowth of the large number of creek heads which appear rounded in outline.

‘slumpy, a.1 Sc. [f. slump sb.1] Taking things in the lump; rough, general. 1864 R. Reid Old Glasgow 35 Here nothing is said about square yards ..; but half-acres, or thereby, are set forth in a fine slumpy manner.

b. To slide off heavily; to plump down; to fall or collapse clumsily or heavily. spec, in Geomorphol. of soil, sediment, etc.: to fall in a slump (sense 2 b).

slumpy ('sUmpi), a.2 Also slumpey.

1884 Burroughs Pepacton 217 Its body slumps off, and rolls and spills down the hill. 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Yankee at Crt. K. Arthur v, Clarence had slumped to his knees before I had half finished. 1905 Chamberlin & Salisbury Geology I. iv. 220 Where a stream’s banks are high., considerable masses sometimes slump from the bank. 1920 Engin. Contracting 3 Mar. 241/i Large voids or stone pockets tend to cause the concrete specimen to slump on one side rather than vertically. 1937 Q.Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XCIII. 276 Sediments accumulating on a sub-aqueous slope would slide or slump if the weight increased beyond a certain amount. 1978 Friedman & Sanders Princ. Sedimentol. xii. 400/1 Strata that slumped and were deformed may be., overlain by turbidites.

1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 366 Such a meadow is said to be slumpy. 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 250 A large extent of rushy ground, either dry and hard, or slumpy and wet. 1883 E. H. Rollins New Eng. Bygones 79 The slumpy drifts had to be cut down beforehand to make the roads passable.

c. Of stocks, values, etc.: To fall heavily or suddenly. Also with f off- (Cf. slump sb.2 1.) 1888 in Farmer Americanisms (1889) 495/2 ‘How’s North¬ western this morning, Uncle Zeke?’ asked Dick... ‘Slumped off six points, hang it!’ scowling viciously over his paper. 1896 Daily News 9 Dec. 10/7 The market again slumped down on further indications of a heavy crop movement. 1898 Ibid. 8 Mar. 3/6 Prices slumped from 2 to 5 points generally.

d. transf. and fig. 1925 Sunday Times 20 Sept. 12/6 Where one’s sympathy slumps and all one’s optimism fails is in face of two depressing facts. 1970 Daily Tel. 16 May 12 Better pay and conditions are essential if police morale is not to go on slumping. 1977 Cork Examiner 6 June 7/1 The over-night leader, .slumped to an 80 in his second round for 150.

3. To move or walk in a clumsy, heavy, or laborious manner. Also fig.

[f. dial. slump a marshy or muddy place; cf. LG. schlump in the same sense.] Marshy, swampy, muddy, boggy.

slumscape ('sLmskeip).

[f. slum sb.1, after

landscape, etc.: cf. scape sb.3] Slum scenery, or

a picture of this. 1947 Wyndham Lewis Let. Apr. (1963) 405 Down another [road] moved a great slumscape painter. 1967 N. Times 4 May 41/5 They walked slowly through the scarred and dreary slumscape.

'slumward(s, adv. [f. slum sb.1 2.] direction of the slums.

In the

1892 Pall Mall G. 12 Oct. 2/2 It was the Congregationalists.. who set much of the current of assistance slumward in recent years, 1897 F. T. Bullen Cruise ‘Cachalot’ 318 Draggled branches borne slumwards by tramping urchins.

t'slunchin,

obs. variant of luncheon i. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. 11. 274 For our last course.. we had a thinne slice of cheese,. . alleaging that those thicker slunchins would dull our wits. (sIaij), ppl. a.1 [f. sling v.1] fl. Of an animal: Dropped prematurely. Cf. slunk ppl. a.

slung

or

cast

SLUNG *r- Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 82 It should be wrapt in the skin of a calf, or a slung hart, and bound to the left arm. 2. Thrown by means of a sling. For Sc. slung stane see sling-stone. 1893 Huxley Evol. Ethics 3 It may be likened to the ascent and descent of a slung stone. slung (ski)),

ppl. a.2

[f. sling u.2]

slur (sl3:(r)),

r773 J- Jacob Obs. Wheel-Carriages 84 Of the method of hanging coaches, and other slung vehicles. 1868 U.S. Rep. Munit. War 242 To fire a slung rocket.. from a ship against a ship would not be very difficult. 1891 Daily News 31 Oct. 5/7 Her great, open fireplace, with its slung kettle. slunge, variant of slounge slung-shot.

U.S.

v. dial.

slung, pa. pple. of sling

[f.

v.2~\ A shot, piece of metal, stone, etc., fastened to a strap or thong, and used as a weapon (cf. 1848).

1848 Bartlett Diet. Amer., Slung-shot, an offensive weapon formed of two leaden or iron bullets fastened together by a piece of rope five or six inches long. 1858 O. \\ . Holmes Aut. Break/.-t. (1883) 27 A slung-shot could not have brought her down better. 1883 A. K. Green (Mrs. Rohlfs) Hand fsf Ring i, The man .. having evidently been hit on the head by a slung-shot.

sb.

slunk (slAi]k),

Sc.

[var.

of slonk

s6.]

A

muddy or marshy place; a miry hollow. 1665 J. Fraser Polichron. (S.H.S.) 346 Not adverting to a slunk or breach in the sea bank, his horse tumbled. 1727 P. Walker in Biogr. Presbyt. (1827) II. 18 Lying in the Dearslunk, in Midst of a great flow Moss. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm d (1827) 88 Amang the harbour’s sludge and mud; They row’d [= rolled] thegither in the slunk. 1892 in Eng. Dial. Diet. (Antrim). slunk,

v. Sc. rare. [Cf. prec.] intr. To wade in

mud or mire. 17.. Ramsay To W. Starrat 28 Feckfu' folk can..slunk thro’ moors, and never fash their mind. slunk (skqk),

ppl. a.

Cast prematurely.

v. 3.] Of calves:

[f. slink

Cf. slung

ppl. a.1 1.

1837 Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 371 Drum-heads are made.. from abortives, or at least very young sucking calves called ’slunk’ by the workmen.

U.S. (See quot.) 1903 Goode & Gill Amer. Fishes 527 These spent

'slunker.

females [rr. sturgeons] are called ‘slunkers’, and are of little value. slup,

v.

[In early use, cf. SLOP

schluppen

to

suck.

To sup, swallow.

v.2 2, and G. dial.

Modern

represent an echoic form.

examples

may

trans.

Cf. slurp w.]

Hence slup

sb., the noise of

ppl. a. and vbl. sb. 1598 Marston Sco. Villanie I. ii. C3, Lewd Precisians ..

slupping; 'shipping

take the simbole vp As slouenly, as carelesse Courtiers slup Their mutton gruell. 1947 Time 7 Apr. 74/2 A julepslupping burlesque of a Southern politico. 1949 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 2 Mar. 10 (caption) Put a muffler on that soup sluppin’. 1949 H. Hornsby Lonesome Valley 11 The mule slupped the clear water. 1952 J. Steinbeck East of Eden 23 There was no talk at supper. The quiet was disturbed only by the slup of soup and gnash of chewing. 1971 G. Ewart Gavin Ewart Show 1. 28, I am a bottle of wine .. slup me rough and homely and I’ll taste fine. slur (sl3:(r)),

sb.1

slore, 7 slurre.

Now

dial. Also 5 sloor, 5, q_

[Of obscure origin.

Cf.

MDu.

slore (Du. sloor, sloerie) a sluttish woman.] Thin Cf. slurry sb. Also fig. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/1 Sloor \v.r. slore], or sowr.., cenum, limus. a 1614 D. Dyke Myst. Selfe-Deceiving (1614) or fluid mud.

382 Yet it [work] may not be foule, being soyled, and slubbered with the slurre of a rotten heart, a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia 308 Slur,.. loose, thin, almost fluid mud. 1829 Brockett N.C. Gloss, (ed. 2), Slore, dirt, sump. 1878 Miller & Skertchly Fenland iv. 131 Slur—thin washy mud. slur (sl3:(r)),

1.

sb.2

Also 7 slurr.

[f. slur

v2]

fa. A gliding movement in dancing.

Obs.

1598 Marston Sco. Villanie hi. x. H 3, In discoursing of the gracefull slur: Who euer heard spruce skipping Curio Ere prate of ought, but of the whirle on toe. 1667 Dryden Secret Love v, I can .. walk with a courant slurr, and at every step peck down my Head. 1673 Wycherley Gent. DancingMaster iv. i, One, two, three, and a slur. b.

dial. A slide; a sliding course.

f2. A method of cheating at dice (see slur

v.2

Obs.

e hungriest hound .. Ne durst lape of pat laueyne so vnloveli it smakith.

smaker: see smacker sb.3 Obs. Smal'caldian, a. [-ian.] = next. 1679 Ness Antichrist 185 The slaughter of the witnesses .. fulfilled in the Smalcaldian war. 1882-3 Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. I. 323 During the Smalcaldian War the city sustained a long siege with great heroism.

Smal'caldic, a. [ad. mod.L. Smalcaldic-us, f. Smalcaldia, ad. G. Schmalkalden, a town of Thuringia.] Of or pertaining to Schmalkalden in connexion with the early history of Protestantism. 1668 H. More Div. Dial. iv. xxxvii. (1713) 39s The condition.. of the Reformation in Germany before the Smalcaldick War. 1716 M. Davies Athen. Brit. II. 36 Cromwell.. joyning his Master’s Interest with that of the Protestant Smalcaldick League in Germany. 1882-3 Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. II. 1575 After the end of the Smalcaldic war. 1902 Gairdner Hist. Eng. Ch. 16th C. xii. 237 The princes and cities of the Smalcaldic League.. agreed to support each other, .in defence of the Augsburg Confession.

t small, sb.1 Obs. rare. [OE. smsell (= MIcel. smell-r, Norw. smell, Sw. small, Da. smaeld, also fsmald), related to *smellan str. vb. (cf. Icel. smella, etc.) and smyllan wk. vb., of imitative origin.] A smack or blow; an onset, shock. r950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xviii. 22 An astod Sara Sejna salde dynt vel smaell miS honde uutearde Saem haelende. CI205 Lay. 27052 At pan uorme smaellen Romanisce veollen: fiftene hundred folden to grunden.

small (smorl), a. and sb.2

Forms: 1 smael, 1, 3 smel, 1, 3-7 smal; 3-7 smale, 5 Sc. smaill; 5 smalle, 5- small; 6 smaul(e, 5-6 Sc. smaw, 8-9 Sc. sma', sma. [Common Teutonic: OE. smael, = OFris. smel (WFris. smel, NFris. smel), MDu. (Du.), OS. (MLG., LG.), OHG. (MHG.) smal (G. schmal), ON. smal-r (rare; Norw., Sw., and Da. smal, are perh. mainly from LG.), Goth. smal-s; connexion with ON. and Icel. sma-r (Norw. and Da. smaa, Sw. sma) small, OHG.

SMALL

smahi (MHG. smaehe) insignificant, is doubtful, and relationship to forms outside of Teut. (as OSlav. main) somewhat uncertain.

In the later

Continental languages the prevailing sense is that of ‘slender’, ‘narrow’. The form smale, representing OE. disyllabic forms, is common in ME. and occurs as late as the 17th cent.] A. adj. 1.

1. a. Of relatively little girth or circum¬

ference in comparison with length; not thick, stout, or fleshy; slender, thin. Now dial. exc. of the waist. £725 Corpus Gloss. G 155 Gracilis, smel. c 888 K. /Elfred Boeth. xxix. §1 Him .. ne hangaS nacod sweord ofer Saem heafde be smale praede. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. (Rolls) II. 122 Wip pam smalan wyrme. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 207 Smiten of smale longe 3erden. c 1250 Owl & Night. 73 J>i body is scort, pi swere is smal. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. vi. 28 With middel smal ant wel y-make. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 48 Fair was the yonge wyf, and therwithal As eny wesil hir body gent and smal. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/2 Smalle, as a wande, gracilis. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxix. 113 Dydo.. [had] handes soupple and thynne, with long fyngers and smalle. 1530 Palsgr. 324/2 Small, lyke a fyne threde or a heare, delye. Small as a woman in the waste or a wande, gresle. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 4 Rapier blades being so narrow, and of so small substance. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. 1. i. 11. vi. (1651) 22 A like skin .. struck upon by certaine smal instruments like drum sticks. 1683 Moxon Printing xi. |f 23 They .. prick the Oynion fast upon the end of a small long Stick. 1712 Lond. Gaz. No. 5022/2 An Allowance shall be made.. in consideration of wast in reducing the same [‘big wire’] to small Wire. 1779 Mirror No. 25, Now that small waists have come into fashion again. 1818 Moore Fudge Fam. Paris i, Like an hour-glass, exceedingly small in the waist. 1870 J. Hartley Budget 119 (E.D.D.), He wor soa small he luk’d like a walkin’ clooas prop. b. spec. Applied to the more slender portions of the intestines; esp. small gut(s). ciooo ./Elfric Gloss, in Wr.-Wiilcker 159 Ilia, smaelepearmas. c 1275 XI Pains of Hell 152 in O.E. Misc., Ne beo pe J?arm ne so smel, Eft heo werpe{? al in al. i486 [see gut sb. 2]. 1548 Elyot s.v. Lactes, Some saye that they bee caules, wherein the small bowelles dooe lye. After other, the small guttes, by the whiche the meate passeth. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. 1. i. 11. iv, The guts, or intestina,.. are divided into small and great, by reason of their site and substance, slender or thicker. aer hit smalost waere, pvet hit mihte beon preova mila brad to paem more, a 1000 in Birch Cartul. Sax. II. 600 Andlangan fc>es smalan pa6es. c 1205 Lay. 5867 ScradieS eower sceldes al of pe smal enden. C1386 Chaucer Prol. 329 Girt with a ceint of silk, with barres smale. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 165 Dido., kutte pe hyde into a pong pat was ful long and ful smal. 1424 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 152 Item pro ij payr smale bandis ad ostia in campanili, 6d. 1473 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 16, viij elne of smale rybbanis for the King. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 183 Cornwall.. waxeth smaller and smaller in manner of an home, c 1710 Celia Fiennes Diary (1888) 252 Ye rest is filled with haire, Jewells and gold, and white small Ribon. 1803 Plymley Agric. Shropshire 339 The small cloth is about one-eighth of a yard narrower than the other. II. 3. a. Of limited size; of comparatively restricted dimensions; not large in comparison with other things, esp. of the same kind. Also used to qualify such words as dimensions, size. Phr. small is beautiful, expressing a belief that small-scale institutions, systems, etc., are more desirable than largescale ones; also as adj. phr. a. c888 K. Alfred Boeth. xvi. §2 Da smalan wyrmas 8e Sone mon aejSer ge innan je utan wyrdaS. a 1225 Juliana 154 An angel myd a naked swerd . . hew it al to smale peces. r 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 63/329 Wilde foules, smale and grete. 01300 Cursor M. 375 pe light wit sterns, gret and smale. c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 49 Ther spryngen herbes grete and smale. C1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) xxii. 100 pai hafe twa smale holes in steed of eghen. 1488 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 494 A dyche of smale thornes and breres. C1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) F. iij, The rauen neuer shall sing.. like other birdes smale. 1562 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 220 Smaill sweit smaragde. 1578 Nottingham Rec. IV. 52 An ironmonger of smale made wares, videlicet, of nayles, horse shues [etc.]. j9. c 1000 Saxon Leechd. II. 180 Flaesc.. lytelra wuhta, smaelra fujla. C1290 5. Eng. Leg. I. 319 Ho-so hath of fuyre mest, he is smal and red. C1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 1445 [It was] smallare sum part.. J?ane pe todire leg had bene. CI391 Chaucer Astrolabe 1. §21 Euery smal deuysioun in a signe. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 14 Take peions and hew horn in morselle smalle. 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 271 In noon smal boke thei may be writen. 1530 Palsgr. 324/2 Small as a massyfe thing is of quantite, petit.

1560 Rolland Seven Sages 26 Ane proper sterne he saw, That was richt cleir perfite and wonder smaw. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa vii. 290 Abundance of cattell here are both great and small. 1657 Austen Fruit Trees 1. 63 Whereas young trees of a smaler sise may be removed with all their Roots. 1737 [S. Berington] Mem. G. di Lucca (1738) 174 Their Horses, as I observed before, are but small. 1751 D. Jefferies Treat. Diamonds (ed. 2) 20 Small Stones (which means Stones under the weight of a carat). 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 140 The top of the small cylinder, should have a communication with the bottom of the larger cylinder. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxvi, A very small comfortable house in Curzon Street. 1868 Lockyer Elem. Astron. §627 The smaller bodies attract the larger ones. Phr. 1973 E. F. Schumacher {title) Small is beautiful. 1975 Country Life 25 Dec. 1784/1 Adapting Schumacher’s phrase, we decide that not only small but piecemeal is beautiful. 1976 Seed V. v. 6/3 Included are articles on selfsufficiency, ‘small-is-beautiful’ politics and agriculture and nutrition. 1977 D. James Spy at Evening xxiv. 193 Small Is Beautiful—but big pays more. 1978 Times 23 Mar. 16/3 Mr. St John-Stevas.. has proclaimed that ‘small is beautiful’. There will be ‘no more of those monster schools’. 1979 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts July 468/1 It is worth mentioning another and different pressure upon the nature and shape of the hospital: and that is the vague but pervasive notion that ‘small is beautiful’.

b. Of places, countries, etc. Also in phr. (ifs a) small world and varr.: a comment on an unexpected meeting with an acquaintance or other similar coincidence. a 1000 in Birch Cartul. Sax. III. 210 pat lond at Silham .. and alle pe smale londe pat pere to bereth. 1382 Wyclif Luke xiv. 21 Go out soone in to grete stretis and smale streetis of the citee. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 427 To thee, that born art of a smal village. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 1. v. 13 All of them [5c. islands] being but little or small. 1611 Bible Numb, xxxii. 41 lair.. tooke the small townes. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 373 This small City is neighbour to two others. 1846 McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 166 Rutland, the smallest of the English counties. 1869 A. R. Wallace Malay Archip. (1902) xix. 221 A small country like Holland .. having possession of a very small island. Phr. 1895 A. W. Pinero Second Mrs. Tanqueray iii. 147 Mr. Ardale and I have met in London... They say the world’s very small, don’t they. 1959 M. Gilbert Blood & Judgement i. 17 He was in the pub tonight... It’s a small world, isn’t it? 1967 R. Rendell Wolf to Slaughter iii. 21 ‘Small world,’ he said... ‘That bloke was in here yesterday.’ 1973 ‘H. Carmichael’ Too Late for Tears v. 69, I might’ve guessed even if I hadn’t seen.. you at the inquest in Aylesbury. Small world, isn’t it? 1979 S. Barlay Crash Course 1. 13 ‘How did you know?’.. ‘It’s a small world.’

c. Of children, etc.: Not fully grown or developed; young. Also, of a sibling: younger. small boy has become fairly common in modern colloquial use, but is felt to differ in connotation from little boy, usually by suggesting greater activity and independence, also small girl CI250 Gen. & Ex. 656 Of his kin bi his liue dai;.. wel fowre and .xx. Shusent men,.. wiS-uten wif-kin and childre smale. 14.. W. Paris Cristine 141 (Horstm. 1878), What hathe Cristyne, my doughter smalle, Done with oure goddes? 1484 Caxton Fables JEsop v. x, He fond a sowe, and her smal pygges with her. 1786 G. Washington Diary 5 July (1925) III. 86 That Cowpers Jack and Day, with some small boys and girls,.. were assisting the farmer. 1796 H. McNeill Waes o' War iii. v, Monster! wha could leave neglected Three sma’ infants and a wife. 1821 J. F. Cooper Spy I. i. 14 A small boy was directed to guide him to his room. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diamond ix, There was a garden that certain small people might play in when they came. 1876 C. M. Yonge Three Brides II. xv. 292 He still looked on the tall, young man as the small brother to be patronized, and protected. 1891 L. T. Meade Sweet Girl Graduate xxii. 182 Three small girls were making themselves busy with holly and ivy. 1896 Westrn. Gaz. 12 Dec. 1/3 To the great delight of various small boys. 1903 Daily Chron. 5 Jan. 6/7 In some cases the parents may threaten to leave our employ unless we give work to their small children. 1923 E. E. Cummings Let. 28 July (1969) 99 What happens to my ‘small’ ‘sister’.. is not among the interests of my own completely erratic .. existence. 1936 N. Streatfeild Ballet Shoes iv. 58 About twenty small girls .. were learning tap-dancing. 1949 ‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar xii. 100 If he had ever had a small sister he would have liked her to be just like Jane. 1973 M. Mackintosh King & Two Queens i. 14 ‘Go away, small girl,’ Frances commanded. 1977 A. Wilson Strange Ride R. Kipling i. 23 The strength of Rudyard’s love for his small sister.

d. Of words: Short, simple, f Also of language: Simple, plain. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 18 Dan man hem telled soSe tale Wid londes speche and wordes smale. 1679 V. Alsop Melius Inq. 1. iii. 135 As if we were not as much obliged to tell the People their duty as God our wants in small English. 1821 Byron Sardanap. 1. ii. 511 Your first small words are taught you from her lips.

e. local. Of a river, water, etc.: Low, shallow. 1791 W. H. Marshall W. England (1796) II. 258 Some days ago.. the water was unusually low—provincially and not improperly ‘small’. 1886 in Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., I an’t a zeed our water zo smaal, not’s years.

4. a. Used with collective nouns, denoting the limited size of the individual things, pieces, etc. small print: freq. applied to the detailed information or conditions qualifying the principal text of a document, and printed in a smaller type; also attrib. and fig. Cf. fine print (fine a. 7i). 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvm. i. (Bodl. MS.), Bestes pat etep smal gras and herbes. 1479 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 425 All smalwodde to be dischargid at the Bak. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xxiii. 11 A pece of londe full of small corne. C1588 in J. Morris Troubles Our Forefathers Ser. 11. (1875) 310 A very large narration .., which contained six-and-fifty sheets of paper written .. in a very small letter. 1683 Tryon Way

SMALL to Health iv. (1697) 83 No Baker can preserve the pure white Colour in his fine small Bread, if he be not quick about it. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 50 A small Print might easily be read by it. 1778 Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Lenton, Round ore, small ore, and smithum. 1785 T. Jefferson Notes on State of Virginia xxii. 323 A large octavo volume of small print. 1856 [see print sb. 8]. 1879 London Society Christmas No. 64/1 A brilliant little flirt.. who condescended to waste on me a good deal of small artillery. 1893 Spon Mechanic's Own Book (ed. 4 >-330 Smaller wood is got from the branches of trees. 1902 Owen Wister Virginians xxiv, The quakingasps . . are in small leaf. 1944 Blunden Cricket Country xvi. 161 What all these curious titles [of games said by Rabelais to have been played by Gargantua] meant in practice may be left to the small print of the commentaries. 1970 ‘W. Haggard’ Hardliners xi. 126 His contract had been terminated under some small-print clause he hadn’t much studied. 1971 Daily Tel. 2 Nov. 14 Some interest attaches therefore to the ‘small print’ of the Queen’s speech and how far it avoids firm undertakings on some of the more controversial measures. 1972 A. Price Col. Butler's Wolfs, ii. 136 There was nothing in the small print about having to like the men one served with. 1974 Times 17 Aug. 12/5 The collapse will.. strengthen Government moves to reform the 'small print’ [holiday] booking conditions. 1979 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 18 Nov. 35/2 The Prince of Wales reckoned he got the better of the PM in one or two exchanges on the small print of recent Cabinet memoranda.

b. Of money: Of little size and low value; consisting of coins of low denomination, small change-, see change sb. 7. 1561 Awdelay Frat. Vacab. (1869) 55 Thou hast shewed vs none but small money. 1624 Gataker Good Wife 11. 9 The Kings Almoner may cast small siluer about. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Indies I. xxi. 249 Paid in small Money to discharge the Accounts of the Shoemaker, Taylor [etc.], a 1894 Stevenson St. Ives (1902) ix. 65 Here are four pounds of it in .. notes, and the balance in small silver. fig. 1879 Meredith Egoist xxxiii, If we are not to be beloved, spare us the small coin of compliment on character.

c. Of a family: Consisting of young children. small help (see quot. 1903). 1829 Brockett N.C. Gloss, (ed. 2) s.v., In our Northern phraseology, a small family means a family of young children, however numerous. 1895 Edin. Rev. Apr. 422 For the sake of her unborn babe and her large small family. 1903 Daily Chron. 5 Jan. 6/7 One official of a mill-owning company .. admits that ‘small help' - anglice ‘child labour’ —is a great mistake.

5. Little in amount or quantity: a. Of material things, or properties naturally connected with these, as number, quantity, etc. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5394 Ac is gode moder ofte smale 3iftes him tok. 01300 Cursor M. 972 Qui sal pi parte be sa smal? C1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 128 My wages been ful streite and ful smale. ^1450 Merlin xv. 257 Thei ete soche vitaile as thei hadde, but it was full small, c 1470 Henry Wallace vm. 1340 His wynnyng was in Scotland bot full smaw. a 1530 J. Heywood Play of the Wether 1116 (Brandi), This nomber is smale, there lacketh twayne of ten. 1577 B. Googe Heresb. Husb. (1586) 146 Seeing that, .the profit of the Milk is not smal. 1593 Shaks. 2 Hen. VI, iv. x. 20 This small inheritance my Father left me. 1626 in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., Var. Coll. (1907) IV. 171 The necessitie of useing some smale quantitie of bay salt therein. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vn. 323 [I did] in all my trauells prosecute the like course of a small diet,.. often too small against my will. 01700 Evelyn Diary 13 July 1684, Some small sprinkling of raine. 1779 Mirror No. 12, I am a plain country-gentleman, with a small fortune and a large family. 1809 Med. Jrnl. XXI. 25 This should certainly be the smallest dose I would use in this disease. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 287 The revenue of England, under Charles the Second, was small. 1890 Wormell & Walmsley Electr. Serv. Man 139 The comparatively small currents passing through a single incandescent lamp.

b. Of immaterial things, as actions, faculties, feelings, etc. The exact sense varies to some extent with the sb., and in some cases the reference is rather to effect, force, or capacity than to amount. a 1300 Cursor M. 16946 Alle pe pines o pis werld to tell pai war ful small [v.r. to his ner but smalle]. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 6 My wittes ben to smale To tellen every man his tale. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. Froissart I. xcvi. 118 They .. fledde to the market place, but they kept but a small order. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk vi, My travayle was not smal. 1611 Bible 2 Kings xix. 26 [They] were of small power. 1697 J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 33 His appetite was but small, considering how active he was. 1726 Swift Gulliver 11. viii, I had gotten a small cold. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 262 They consider the loss of them as but a small misfortune. 1810 Crabbe Borough xviii. 80 Ilis spirits low, and his exertions small. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 170 As culpable as her small faculties enabled her to be.

c. Denoted by a number which is among the least of a series; of low numerical value or ordinal rank; low. spec, of playing-cards. 1391 Chaucer Astrol. 11. §21 For so gret a latitude or for so smal a latitude is the table compowned. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vi. iii. 112 Small Latitudes, or Countreys betwixt the Tropicks. 1672 Wycherley Love in a Wood 1. ii, Like the small cards ..; when the play begins, you should be put out as useless. 1748 Hoyle Games (1778) 94 Three small Clubs or Spades, Queen and two small Hearts, King and one small Diamond. Play a small Trump. 1863 Hoyle's Games ii. 23 Having only a few small trumps, make them when you can. 1910 W. Dalton ‘Saturday’ Bridge iii. 63 Suppose that he holds ace, king, and three small diamonds, and ace, knave, and two small hearts. 1973 Country Life 10 May 1331/2 The declarer.. led a small Spade to dummy.

6. a. Only a little or slight amount or degree of (something); not much; hardly any. c 1386 Chaucer Prioress' T. 84, I kan but smal grammeere. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iv. iv. 442 It schulde not bicome me or eny man, having ful smal witt and discrecioun [etc.]. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 2 Some may be excellently lerned, & yet haue but small felyng of these

SMALL

768 thynges. 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. 1. (1586) 35 b, It wil also grow wel yenough .. in any ground with small labour. 1649 Drumm. of Hawth. Hist. fas. V, Wks. (1711) 97 But small confidence could be long among reconciled enemies. a 1693 Ashmole Berksh. (1719) I. 151 The small need the Lady had of Physick. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 11. (Globe) 328 They had indeed small Hope of their Lives. 1786 Burns Holy Fair xxv, Sma’ need has he to say a grace. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe v, You do but small credit to your fame, Sir Prior! 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. x. 619 They had paid small attention to the etiquette of courts. 1874 Motley John of Barneveld I. i. 28 He had small love for the pleasures of the table.

b. no small, great, considerable, much, a good deal of. Cf. no a. 2 b.

marked;

1548 Hall Chron., Rich. Ill, 50 b, He tooke there newes as a matter of no small momente. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 52 The plucking downe of Images, hath procured us no smale displeasure. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events aj b, This variety being no small attractive. 1697 J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 49 To the no small joy of the Prince and Princess. 01770 Jortin Serm. (1771) II. xi. 217 It is no small impertinence to take hold of the attention of others. 1779 Mirror No. 62. 211 There, to my no small surprise, I found the Dean. 1843 Macaulay Ess. III. 552 There was .. no small curiosity to know how he would acquit himself.

c. Used in the superlative for emphasis: The least; the slightest. 1596 Shaks. i Hen. IV, iii. ii. 159, I will dye a hundred thousand Deaths Ere breake the smallest parcell of this Vow. 1604-Oth. ill. iii. 188 Not from mine owne weake merites will I draw The smallest feare, or doubt of her reuolt. 1716-8 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. I. xxxi. 104, I never can forget the smallest of your.. Commands. 1797-1805 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. I. 382 He risked .. life, if he betrayed the smallest suspicion, a 1828 Bentham Wks. (1843) I. 240 In the most direct terms, and without any the smallest doubt, disguise, or reserve. 1891 Law Times XCI. 2/2 The court, without the smallest hesitation, made absolute the rule for a habeas corpus.

d. in the smallest, in the least, rare. 1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. iv. ii. 179, I may make my case as Claudio’s, to crosse this in the smallest. 1827 Carlyle Germ. Rom. III. 276 The best wives will complain of their husbands to a stranger, without in the smallest liking them the less on that account. 1864-Fredk. Gt. IV. 35 Not molesting Prince Karl in the smallest.

7. Of no great length; short, brief: a. Of time. 1430-40 Lydg. Bochas vm. v. (1558), But a small season last his prosperite. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 32 The duke of Somersets battayl.. wer wythin a smal season, shamefully dyscomfited. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 1. xv. 16 b, Within this small time I indeuoured .. to see.. the things most notable. 1611 Bible Isaiah liv. 7 For a small moment haue I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ill. 91 Within a small time he found the Captaines promise and performance different. 1707 Curios, in Husb. & Gard. 25 Their Fragility and small Duration. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 27 The small Stay we made here .. lost us at least 60 or 70.. able Men. 1815 Scott Guy M. xlii, A letter to compose, about which he wasted no small time. 1874 W. S. Jevons Princ. Sci. xiii. (1900) 299 The duration of the spark was immeasurably small.

b. Of journeys, distance, etc. ri450 Lovelich Merlin 10137 (E.E.T.S.), Smale jornes they gonne to ryde The contre to serchen jn that tyde. 1579 North Plutarch, Caesar (1612) 729 The souldiers .. by small iourneys came at length vnto the citie. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Garden (1626) 23, I suppose twenty yards distance is small enough betwixt tree and tree. 1766 Goldsm. Vicar W. v, At a small distance from the house. 1885 W. K. Clifford Common Sense Exact Sci. iii. (1892) 96 Instead of counting feet we count inches, which are smaller than feet. transf. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiv. V. 229 The flesh of wild animals and the green fat of the turtle.. went but a small way.

8. Composed or consisting of, containing, few individuals or members; numerically little or weak. fAlso of years: Few. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 807 Our power is to smaw;.. To few we ar agayne yon fellone staill. 01569 Kingesmyll Man's Est. xi. (1580) 69 Where thei found that sillie Shepherde with his smal flocke. 1594 Parsons Confer. Success. 1. 189 He being a child of so smale yeares. 1611 Bible 2 Chron. xxiv. 24 The armie of the Syrians came with a small companie of men. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 914 A small but faithful Band Of Worthies. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier vi. (1894) 80 A small party of the musketeers followed me. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. 1. V. 185 The right of peace and war is now confined to a small, and the actual exercise to a much smaller, list of respectable potentates. 1802 J ames Milit. Diet. s.v. Guard, Quarter Guard is a small guard commanded by a subaltern officer. 1874 Treas. Bot. Suppl. 1342/2 A small group of plants from New Grenada and Peru. 1889 A. R. Wallace Darwinism 80 Species of large genera vary more than species of small genera.

9. a. Constituting a lower standard (of weight, size, etc.) than another having the same designation, b. Falling somewhat short of the proper or usual standard. 1554 Hasse in Hakluyt's Voy. (1886) III. 94 They divide the small pound into 48 parts. 1640 in Entick London (1776) II. 166 Catling, the great gross, qt. 12 small gross of knots. 1660 Act 12 Chas. II, c, 4 Schedule s.v. Bosses, Bosses for Bridles the small groce, cont. 12 dozen. 1698 Froger Voy. 47 The island of St. Ann,.. from which they are distant two small leagues. 1705 tr. Bosnian's Guinea 11, I have travelled above three small days Voyage upon it. 1753 R. Clayton in Maundrell Journ. Jerus. 18 After an ascent of a small half hour we came to a most delicious fountain of cold water. 1834 Lowndes' Bibliogr. Man. I. 84 Austin’s Urania... London, 1629. small-8vo. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v. Long-hundred, A hundred of five score is called a small-hundred. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 127 Small post, a size of writing paper, i6\ x 13! inches.

c. Introducing a repetition of the initial letter of a word to show that it has general rather than specific reference or that it is a less serious variety of the thing denoted. Cf. capital a. 5 b, big a. 3 h. 1952 Observer 18 May 7/6 Back to liberalism-with-asmall-1 they trail, i960 Times 22 Oct. 8/1 A newspaper that is serious, lively, and radical with a small r. 1968 Globe & Mail Mag. (Toronto) 13 Jan. 2/4 A general mood of smallc conservatism in the country. 1971 ‘A. Garve’ Late Bill Smith v. 139 They were both ardently liberal with a small ‘1’. 1974 W. Garner Big enough Wreath xii. 165 You’re not out of trouble but I’m just beginning to spell it with a small t. 1979 L. Meyer False Front ii. 14 They came from different sides of the track, but that wouldn’t have been enough to stop a small ‘d’ democrat like Winston.

III. 10. a. Composed of fine or minute particles, drops, etc. In later use chiefly of rain. c897 K. /Elfred Gregory's Past. C. lvii. 437 Swi6e lytle beoS 6a dropan 6aes smalan renes, ac hi wyrcea6 6eah swi6e micel flod. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. (Rolls) I. 240 Senim of 6ysse wyrte.. swyj?e smael dust. Ibid. II. 86 Senim j?onne smael beren mela. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 85 pe ilke pe fole3e6 pes fleisces lust, Alse de6 pet smalchef pe winde. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xxx. 36 Whanne thow hast pownede alle .. into moost smal powdre. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xii, Boyle mastyke and sence in smale poudre. Ibid., Take water and smale salte. 1574 Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 406 The exhorbitant derth of small salt within this realme. 1583- [see salt sb.' 1 b]. a 1586 Sidney Ps. xviii. xi, I bett these folkes as small as dust. 01649 Winthrop New Eng. (1853) I. 209 The Rebecka,.. two days before, was frozen twenty miles up the river; but a small rain falling set her free. 1676 Wood Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. 1. (1694) 177 Thick Fogs with small Rain. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Indies I. xxii. 262 A small Rain happened to fall that damped my Powder. 1823 Scott Quentin D. i, Heaven, who works by the tempest as well as by the soft small rain.

b. Fine, as opposed to coarse, applications.

in various

01000 in Thorpe Dipl. Angl. 158 Tu hund greates hlafes and J?ridde smales. C1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 357 Artocobus, smael hlaf. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 226 As smylt mele vnder smal siue smokes for-^ikke. 1450-80 tr. Secreta Secret, liii. 32 Some metes are smale, and some metes are grete, and some are mene. 1742 Lond. & Co. Brewer 1. (ed. 4) 72 If high dried, a gross Grinding is best, otherwise a smaller may be done. 1856 Morton Cycl. Agric. I. 193 This is to be done by sieves just smaller in the mesh than the size of the grain. 1891 Hartland Gloss., Small-sieve, a finemeshed wooden sieve used in Rewing.

fc. Of air: Thin, rarefied. Ota.-1 1495 Treviso's Barth. De P.R. xiv. xlv. 483 The ayre is.. more smalle and clere than in ualleyes.

11. Of cloth, yarn, garments, etc.: Fine in texture or structure. Obs. exc. dial. In the case of cloth it is sometimes difficult to decide whether examples belong to this sense or to 2. £•900 tr. Baeda iv. xxv. 354 Da fsmnan .. swa oft swa hio aemtan habba6, paet hio smaelo hraejel weofa8 and wyrca5. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 163 His alter clo5 [is] great and sole, and hire chemise smal and hwit. 1473 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 13, xiij elne of smale Hollande clath for iij sarkis and a curche. 1488 Ibid. 150 For viij elne of small braide clayth to be sarkis to the King. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. p. xxxvi, In the vale of Esk is sa quhit and small wol, that it hes na compair in Albion. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xi. 123 b, They bring.. smal clothes of diuers sorts and colours .. from .. Cambaye and Ormmus. 1637 Bury Wills (Camden) 169 There is some sixe and thirtie grosse of small yarne. 1901 in Eng. Dial. Diet., Small weft, a very fine sort of yarn. Lancashire].

12. Of low alcoholic strength; light, weak: a. Of specific liquors, as ale, wine, etc., or diluted forms of these. See also small beer. C1440 Promp. Parv. 460/2 Smal wyne, villum. 1467 in Eng. Gilds 382, iij. galons of smale ale for ].d. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xxv. 13 O! 3e heremeitis.., That.. drynkis no wyn confortatiue, Bot aill and that is thyn and small. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 53 b, Theyr vynes brynge forth but temperate and small wynes, as reed, claret, and whyte. 1605 London Prodigal 1. ii, Let me haue sacke for vs old men: For these girles and knaues small wines are best. 1664 Dryden Rival Ladies Ep. Ded., It being at best, like small Wines, to be drunk out upon the Place. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 336 If your Fruit be unripe, or your Cyder small. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. 270 Small Ale without Hops. 1789 Buchan Domest. Med. (1790) 149 His drink may be small negus,.. and sometimes a little weak punch. 1827 Good Study Med. (1829) I* I7° The drink [should] be small brandy and water. 1864 Daily Telegr. 17 Mar., Customers, who had contrived to make themselves uncommonly merry with pots of the smallest ale. 1879 Stevenson Trav. Cevennes 33 The wine is of the smallest.

b. Of drinks, beverages, or liquors in general, sometimes applied to such as are non-alcoholic. In quot. 1471 said of water in contrast to spirit. 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. 1. xi. in Ashm. (1652) 131 The better therefore shall be Solucyon, Then yf thou dyd it wyth Water small. 1544 Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1560) I vj, To abstayne from all kyndes of wyne, & to use himselfe to small drinke. 1626 Bacon Nat. Hist. §394 By Making Drinks, Stronger, or Smaller with the same Quantity of Mault. 1675 E. Wilson Spadacrene Dunelm. 86 Stronger Stomachs must be content with smaller Beverages, and Wine diluted. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4108/3, 16 Tuns, and 2 Hogsheads of Small Beveridge and Anjue Wine. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) VI. 372 Cheated by a stronger liquor for a smaller. 0 1800 in Good's Study Med. (1829) V. 573 Encouraging the eruption, by taking small warm liquors, as tea, coffee, winewhey, broth, and nourishing meats.

c. In general use: Weak, thin. rare. 1676 Wiseman Surg. Treat. 488 His drink was decoct, sarsae [sarsaparilla], but so small, as it was little better than water. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 68 The leaves of it boiled in small Broth.

•v

SMALL 13. a. Of sound or the voice: Gentle, low, soft: of little power or strength; not loud, harsh, or rough. c 1250 Gen. Exod. 4056 Luuelike and wiS speche smale, To wenden hem fro godes a3e. C1386 Chaucer Prol. 688 A voys he hadde as smal as hath a goot.-Miller's T. 174 He syngeth in his voys gentil and smal. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 28/1 After the stroke of the fyre descended a swete sowne of ayer softe and smalle. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Vox tenuata, a small voyce. 1611 Bible i Kings xix. 12 After the fire, a still small voice. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece 11. xviii. (1715) 351 They proposed their Question in a small whispering Voice. 1750 Gray Elegy 73 In still small accents whisp’ring from the Ground. 1753 Miss Collier Art Torment. 11. ii. (1811) 129 Throw a languidness into your countenance; let your voice grow small. 1842 Lover Handy Andy xxxviii, So still was it, that he could hear the small crumbling sound of the dying embers as they decomposed. 1880 Miss Broughton Sec. Thoughts 1. xii, ‘Thank you,’ she says, in a small voice.

b. Of vowels: Narrow, close; spec, in Gaelic phonology of the vowels e and t, and of certain consonants when in contact with these. 1599 Minsheu Sp. Grain. 6, E .. in Spanish .. must neuer be so small as the English ee, as fee, wee. 1707 Lhuyd Archaeol. Brit. 299 That as the Vowels are divided into Broad and Small; so the Diphthongs and Triphthongs ending in a, o, or u, are Broad; and those in e or i Small. 1736 Ainsworth Lat. Diet. 11. s.v. /, The next small vowel e. 1801 A. Stewart Elem. Galic Gram. 20 They [/, n, r] have the small sound when .. they are preceded or followed by a small vowel. 1830 Macleod & Dewar Gael. Diet. s.v. Leathan, Upon the same principle, the rule ‘Caol ri caol’ regulates the small vowels.

14. Of wind: Light, slight, gentle. 1542 Lament. & Piteous Treat, in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) I. 235 A smal and softe wynde. 1671 tr. Frejus' Voy. Mauritania 9 We held on our course, .with a small Westwind. 1698 Froger Voy. 154 We had a small gale that was favourable enough. 1748 Anson's Voy. 11. iv. 162 A small breeze springing up from the W.N.W. 1802 M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) II. 108 Small wind, nearly ahead.

15. Of the pulse: Beating weakly. 1755 Phil. Trans. XLIX. 50 The pulse small, the mouth and tongue foul. 1797 Monthly Mag. III. 230 A quick and small pulse. 1834 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 544 If a pulse be exceeding hard, and at the same time small, then it has been called a wiry pulse. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 849 The pulse is small, rapid, and thready.

IV. 16. a. Of persons: Low or inferior in rank or position; of little importance, authority, or influence; common, ordinary. Now rare. In early use with ref. to military importance. c 1205 Lay. 436 A1 l?at smale mon-kun he dude 3eond pea muntes. Ibid. 21803 His smale uolc he setten alle bi weste siden. c 1375 Barbour Bruce ix. 569 His small folk gert he ilk deill Vith-draw thame till a strate neir by. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 1. ii. 128 To deme.. euynly betwene grete men and Smale, ryche and Power. C1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon viii. 187 All the small people had ben all dead for hungre. 1517 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 397 That every tope man paye xl.j. and every small man xx.s. 1561 WiN3ET Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 6 The smallaste ane that sail perise throw 30ur negligence. 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, v. i. 129 Your Enemies are many, and not small. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. 111. vii, At dinner, some of the smaller neighbours were invited. 1863 Miss Mulock Mistr. & Maid xxii, She was altogether a very great lady, and Hilary.. felt an exceedingly small person beside her.

b. Having but little land, capital, etc.; dealing, doing business, etc., on a small scale, spec., the small man, the typical small businessman. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. 1. vii. 99 Philip next Morn our honest Pedlar found, Dealing his Iron Merchandise around To his small Chaps. 1835 C. F. Hoffman Winter in West I. 79 They were chiefly plain people, small farmers and graziers. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 480 Two beasts, such as the small yeomen of that time were in the habit of riding. 1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke II. xi. 154 In helping to pass the Reform Bill, [they had] only helped to give power to the two very classes who crushed them—the great labour kings, and the small shopkeepers. 1887 Hindley Hist. Catnach Press 257 From a small beginner in the world, Catnach was soon able to see his way clear to amass a fortune. 1926 Chesterton Outl. Sanity iv. iii. 170 If the small man found his small mechanical plant helped to the preservation of his small property, its claim would be very considerable. 1931 V. Woolf Waves 255 How comforting it is to watch the lights coming out in the bedrooms of small shopkeepers on the other side of the river. 1935 M. Egan Dominant Sex 1. 27 In these days of trusts and combines the small man hardly stands an earthly. 1947 McCallum & Readman Brit. Gen. Election IQ45 iii. 63 The Conservatives .. professed that they were not in favour of the growth of monopoly, and that they were anxious to curb it for the sake of the ‘small man ’• 1948 Koestler in Partisan Rev. XV. 38 The petite bourgeoisie —the store-keeper, artisan, small businessman, white-collar worker, i960 A. Clarke HorseEaters 9 Thousands Bred yearly will fatten Small farmers. 1973 Sat. Rev. Soc. (U.S.) Mar. 58/1, I was a small farmer ..and there’s no way you can do it today. You need technology and you need efficiency .. and you can’t afford .. it if you’re down there on a small farm. 1974 Times 12 Nov. 14/2 The Smaller Businesses Association.. set up to champion the interests of the small business man. 1976 R. Barnard Little Local Murder ix. 106 ’Aven’t you ’eard ’ow difficult things are for the small shopkeeper?

17. a. Of minor rank, note, or importance, in respect of some specified office, function, etc. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 27 pe smale kynges of pe lond all were pei comen. 1382 Wyclif Prol. Bible i. 1 Alle these xij smale prophetis ben o book. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 126 The autoritee of the grete officer .. gerris cess the autoritee of the smallare officer. 01578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 57 The haill bischopis, pryouris, and wther small preistis. 1588 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 311 The small barronis and freehaldaris of this realme. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. 1. ii, A speciall gentle, That. . Consorts with the small poets of the time. 1763 Churchill

769 Ghost ill. 860 Confine thy rage to weaker slaves, Laugh at small Fools, and lash small Knaves. 1765 Gray Shaks. 6 Fumbling baronets and poets small. 1826 Disraeli V. Grey 11. xii, A small author, and smaller wit. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 260 All their confederates, from Caesar.. down to the smallest Margrave.

b. That is (such) to a small or limited extent, degree, etc. Sometimes used to suggest the converse of the noun. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. Froissart I. cccxxxii. 519 He was but a small gentylman,.. for a very gentylman wyll neuer set his mynde on so euyll an entent. 1567 Allen Def. Priesthood 207 Where there is nowe putte no difference betwixte small offendours and moste greuouse sinners. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 71 Zenall Chawn .. (our small friend, at our being in his Citie). 1653 H. Cogan Scarlet Gown 125 They were but small friends to Pamphilio, and as such, they shewed themselves obstinate against his elections.

c. With negative, in emphatic use. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 83, I remember of an other, and that no small birde, whiche was better learned then wise. 1657-61 Heylin Hist. Ref. 1. ii. §4. 38 This Master Cook.. was apt enough to think himself no small fool at a joynt of Divinity. 1784 Unfortunate Sensibility II. 72 The master of the inn .. was no small body, for he was the owner of the vessel we came in.

18. Of things, etc.: Of little or minor consequence, interest, or importance; trifling, trivial, unimportant. With quot. 1483 cf. Cotgrave’s ‘Menues pensees,.. idle, priuate, or prettie thoughts.’ c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5702 Noght anly of gret dedes of elde, Bot of smale dedes of hair yhouthe. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. 11. pr. vii. (1868) 59 3e seken 30ure gerdouns of pe smale wordes of strange folke. 1451 Capgrave Life St. Aug. (1910) 8 Thus lerned he pe smale scienses, as spellyng, reding and constrewyng. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour mjb, She shalle euer be in melancholye and in smalle thoughtes. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems lvi. 2 Think that small partis makis grit seruice. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 8 He .. conferred the same vnto the Normanes and that for very small and light causes. 1624 Donne Devot. Wks. 1839 III. 552 We have heard of Death upon small occasions and by scornful Instruments. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. (1839) 85 How a man should.. pick his teeth before company, and such other points of the small morals. 1734 Fielding Intrig. Chamber¬ maid 1. iv, She sent me, Sir, of [ = on] a small message to you. *837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. 1. iii, And then walk majestically out again, to embroidery, small-scandal, prayers, and vacancy. 1893 Academy 13 May 412/1 The fact.. accounts, no doubt, for certain small recurrent defects in it.

19. Not prominent or notable; humble, modest; unpretentious. In later use chiefly in the phrase in a small way. C1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 381 A1 were it so she were of smal degree, Suffiseth hym hir yowthe and hir beautee. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V, 65 Therfore I over passyng small names and muche doyng, wil returne [etc.]. 1611 Bible Job viii. 7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase. 1809 European Mag. LV. 19 An emporium no less respectable in a small way. 1815 Jane Austen Emma iii, She lived with her single daughter in a very small way. 1872 T. Hardy Under Greenw. Tree Pref., A composer in a small way.

20. a. Base, low; mean, ungenerous. 1824 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 52 The pitiful propensity .. to vent their small spite at their [the American] character. 1874 Green Short Hist. 755 The smaller passions, the meaner impulses of the world around him. 1890 Spectator Oct. 468/1 That is trickery, not statesmanship; and .. it is small trickery too.

b. Incapable of large views or great actions; small-minded, mean-souled. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. iv. iv, A man unfit for Revolutions? Whose small soul.. could by no chance ferment into virulent alegar? 1871 Smiles Charact. iii. (1876) 84 Small men may be envious of their fellows, but really great men .. love each other. 1881 J. F. Clarke SelfCulture 258 Among the flippant and the frivolous, we also become small and empty.

c. As complement with feel and look-. Humiliated, mortified, injured in self-respect. Cf. sense 16 a. 1784 E. Sheridan Jrnl. 6 Oct. (i960) 31 Linley came to see my Father, he received him very kindly but poor L. look’d very small. 1840 Mrs. Trollope Widow Married xix, I should feel a little small at being seen in such a place. 1863 T. Taylor Ticket-of-Leave Man iv. i. 74 You’ve no right to be.. coming after a chap, to make him look small this way. 1894 A. Robertson Nuggets 190, I felt very small, for the scoundrel had been within my grasp, and 1 had let him slip.

V. 21. a. Special collocations. small ad, small advertisement, a small advertisement in a newspaper, usu. in a separate section devoted to such and printed with lack of display; Small-Back, Death, imagined as a skeleton; small balls, a variety of ironstone; small body, in Printing (see quot.); smallbcrurgeois adj. = petit bourgeois; so small bourgeoisie-, small capitals, in Printing, capital letters differing little in size from the lower-case letters of the same fount; small caps = small capitals-, small cattle, cattle below the size of oxen, as calves or sheep; small chisel (see quot.); small chop [chop s6.6] (W. Afr. colloq.), small items of food; small circle, in spherical trigonometry (see quot.); small end, in a piston engine, the end of a connecting rod nearer to the piston; also attrib.-, smallest room (colloq.), the lavatory of a particular building (cf. small room below); f small figures, Arabic numerals; small folk, = small people-, small-for-dates, (of a new¬

SMALL born baby) smaller than would be expected in view of the time since its conception; small fortune-, see fortune sb. 6; small fruit (N. Amer.) (see quot. 1892); smallgoods (Austral.), sausages, bacon, etc.; small-hand (see hand sb. 16); small hand-paper (see quot.); small helm, Naut. (see quots.); small-holder, one who owns or works a small-holding; small holding, (a) a holding smaller than an ordinary farm; also spec. (see quot.); (b) the practice or occupation of working a small-holding; f small meat, ? meat sold in small quantities; small paper, in Printing, paper of the ordinary size, as distinct from large paper (LARGE a. 8 b); small part, a minor part or character in a play; small people, in local use, the fairies; small- pipe(s), a Northumbrian bellows-filled bagpipe; f small play, play for low stakes; small room (colloq.), a lavatory (cf. smallest room above); small round, sail(s, Naut. (see quots.); small screen, television; also attrib.-, small seed (see quot. 1950); small slam\ see slam sb.2 2 b; small stores (Naut.), (a) items for personal use or consumption on a sea-voyage; (b) U.S. articles of regulation issue clothing; a shop selling these; also attrib. (in sing, or pl.)\ small stuff (see quots.); f small-world, = microcosm. See also DEBT sb. 4 f, HOUR 3 b, PICA1 2, POTATO 5 a, RAISIN 2 b, TITHE, TRUNK, etc., and SMALL ARM(S, BEER, -CLOTHES, etc. 1922 *Small ad [see ad]. 1961 ‘F. O’Brien’ Hard Life vi. 45, I put a small ad. in one of the papers. 1969 Sunday Times 2 Mar. 8/3 To recruit models, they ran a string of small-ads asking: ‘Are you really ugly?’ 1978 J. Wainwright Ripple of Murders 11 A small ad. in the Personal Column .. will read, ‘J. D. Message received.’ 1919 Times 6 Nov. 2 *Small Advertisement order form. 1937 M. Allingham Dancers in Mourning xxiii. 285 Uncle William put down The Times. He had been looking at the small advertisements. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxxvii, Men have queer fancies when old *SmallBack is griping them; but Small-Back must lead down the dance with us all in our time. 1793 A, Young Agric. Sussex 13 A marl sets on, in the different depths of which the iron-stone comes on regularly in all the various sorts as follows: 1. * Small balls, provincially twelve foots, because so many feet distant from the first to the last bed. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing 20 Long-Primer and downwards are accounted *small Bodies. 1930 A. Bennett Imperial Palace lv. 414 Customers of the *small bourgeois class. 1974 N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 134 A very small-bourgeois existence, with a canary. 1970 F. C. Weffort in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. xi. 398 They did not feel so much like members of a decadent *small bourgeoisie, but rather like operators with a stable position moving toward the better. 1770 Luckombe Hist. Print. 250 *Small Capitals are mostly used to denote, that a more particular stress and emphasis is intended by the Author. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 127 Small capitals, the smaller capitals laid in the upper case, distinct from the full capitals. 1856 Geo. Eliot in \Vestm. Rev. Oct. 454 She informs us, with all the lucidity of italics and *small caps, that function, not form,.. weakly engrossed her’. 1967 Style Man. (U.S. Govt. Printing Off.) (rev. ed.) iii. 31 In matter set in caps and small caps., capitalize all principal words. 1593 Benefits Observ. Fishdays, The number of Beefes aforesaid,.. and other *small Cattel, as Calues, Sheepe, and Lambes innumerable. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2219 * Small-chisel, a burin or graver used by engravers. 1963 M. Laurence in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 140, I use the shallow ones to put groundnuts in.. for *small-chop with drinks. 1971 J. Spencer Eng. Lang. W. Afr. 11 Pidgin words, known and used by almost everyone,.. who has lived in the coastal areas of West Africa . . chop n and v, ‘food’ and ‘eat’, and its recent extensions in phrases such as small chop, ‘cocktail eats’, chop box,.. etc. 1873 Pryde Pract. Math. 365 Circles, whose planes pass through the centre of the sphere, are called great circles; and all others, *small circles. 1850 T. Tredgold Steam Engine (ed. 3) I. ix. 7 Into these guide-blocks are fixed the cross-heads, forming the bearings for the *small ends of the connecting rods. 1908 Autocar Handbk. (ed. 2) ii. 38 The gudgeon pin end of the connecting rod is called the small end, and the other end the big end. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 36/2 The ordinary small-end bronze bush system with gudgeon pins fixed in the piston was used. 1948 A. W„ Judge Mod. Motor Engineer (ed. 4) I. ix. 208 After a considerable period of running ., the small-end brush may wear oval, due to the more or less vertical thrust of the connecting rod. 1971 B. Scharf Engin. ar leuinges to pair smale left pa\. 1388 Wyclif Matt, xviii. 6 Who so sclaundrith oon of these smale, that bileuen in me. C1430 Syr Tryam. 1556 ‘A lytulle lower, Syr,’ seyde hee, ‘And let us smalle go wyth thee’,

b. A child, a little one. 1907 W. De Morgan Alice-for-Short xxx. 300 How much can you remember of all that time, Alice? You were only a small, you know. Ibid., I wasn’t such a small as all that. 1947 Forum (Johannesburg) 5 Apr. 37/1 In a dozen other ways the prefects are the right-hand men of their Housemasters and me, and many a small owes a very great debt indeed to them. 1968 Guardian 1 Apr. 7/3 Leave two smalls to the tender mercies of a baby sitter? 1981 P. Dickinson Seventh Raven vi. 75 After each performance there’s always a dozen smalls wandering miserably around.

2. Persons of low or inferior rank or position, or of little ability or attainment. Chiefly in phr. great and small, or small and great. 13 .. E.E. Psalter cxviii. 130 Schirenes of pi speche lightes wit, Vnderstanding to litel [Egerton MS. smale] giues it. 13 .. Cursor M. 6014 (Gott.), Jjair king pai banned, gret and small, a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxiii. 1152 Heil pou .. Kyng of gret and smalle. c 1440 Ipomydon 96 All spake of hym, bothe grete and smalle. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxiii. 12 Yee he blesseth all them that feare the Lorde, both small & greate. 1597 I. T. Serm. Paules Crosse 29 The cause of the smalle, as well as the greate. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 97 Quacking Mountebanks are admitted in the Bed-chambers of great and small. 1781 Cowper Truth 375 Envy, ye great, the dull, unletter’d small.

3. fa. Little, not much. Also with of. Obs. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 279 Touchende Usure I have al herd, Hou thou of love hast wonne smale. a 1425 Cursor M. 18246 (Trin.), Now is oure kyngdome fordone al Of monkynde gete we ful smal. 1444 Lydg. in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 215 To thynke mochyl, and seyn but smal. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. 1. i. 86 Small haue continuall plodders euer wonne. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. ix. 20 Hauing small, yet doe I not complaine Of want. 1640 King 1st Poor North. Man 144 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 298 Let me in, Ise give thee a good

771

SMALL

single penny. I see thou wilt ha small, ere thou’t doe for nought. Comb. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. 1. i. 253 There did I see.. that vnletered small knowing soule.

fb. by small and gradually, slowly. Obs.

small,

by

degrees;

x558 Phaer JEneid I. C ij b, He.. by smal and smal doth make The Queene forget her husband dead. Ibid. vi. 128 By small and small to landward than I swamme. 1593 Shaks. Rich. II, iii. ii. 198, I play the Torturer, by small and small To lengthen out the worst, that must be spoken.

4. fa* in or to small, in fragments. Obs. a 1400-50 Alexander 1309 Quen it was smeten in small.. Ilka gobet his gate glidis fra othire. a 1450 Myrc Par. Pr. 256 Leste to smale pey done hyt breke.

b. in small (rarely the small), on a small scale; in little. In early use in reference to painting, etc.: In miniature. (а) 1611 Tourneur Ath. Trag. 1. ii. You have giuen me her picture in small. 01700 Evelyn Diary 22 Oct. 1644, The Labours of Hercules in massy silver, and many incomparable pictures in small, a 1716 South Serm. (1823) III. 259 His soul; that noble copy and resemblance of its Maker, in small indeed, but [etc.]. 1762-71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 132 Vandyck actually made the design, but.. it was executed only in small by Ph. Frutiers. (б) 1765 Museum Rust. IV. lxii. 273 Let him beware of trying experiments from books, except in small. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §219 note, I have made trial of this method, both in small and in large. 1847 H. Bushnell Chr. Nurture (1861) 11. v. 316 We are infants too, men and women in the small. 1855 Browning Old Pictures in Florence xxi, Where the strong and the weak.. Repeat in large what they practised in small.

f5. a. With a and pi. A small quantity or amount; a little piece, a morsel. Obs. x373“4 Chaucer Compl. to his Lady 113 And ye lete me thus sterve, Yit have ye wonne ther-on but a smal. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat., Wail. Jeremiah v. Lj b, That we might haue a smal of bred, our carcas to contente. 1567 Horace, Ep. 1. x. Ej, For that he will not knowe to vse and lyue vpon a small. 1624 Sanderson Serm. I. 243 Can there be greater unthankfulness, than to grudge Him a small, who hath given us all?

b. In or after proverbial use. plural ending.) ? Obs.

(Also without

1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2366 Many smale makel? a grete. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. §362 The prouerbe seith that manye smale maken a greet. 1542 Heywood Prov. (1867) 30. *553 Respublica 1. i. 109 Yet manye a smale makith a greate. 1602 Carew Cornwall 68 b, The stock, which by many smalls, groweth to a meetly greatnes. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 305 All which are but as Suburbs to the new Caire, that of many smalles make vp a Countrey, rather then a City. 1737 Ramsay Sc. Prov. (1750) 73 Mony sma’s make a great.

c. in (or by) smalls, portions, or sums. Sc.

in

small

amounts,

1529 Extr. Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1871) 8 At na personis.. regrait nor by meill to sell the samyn agane in smallis. 1584 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 649 His haill vicarage is bot tuelf pundis or thairby, pait to him in smalis, in iiis and iiiis in sum placis. 1637-50 Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 287 Fifty merks (whilk he confessed .. he had at sundrie tymes stollen out of the boxe in smalls). 1825 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 114 God’s blessings are aye God’s blessings, though they come in sma’s and driblets. 1865 Glasgow Her. in Pall Mall G. 3 Aug. 10/1 Some speculating genius who saw a chance of turning a dishonest penny by retailing it in smalls. 6. The small, slender, or narrow part of

something: a. Of the leg. 1489 in Ann. Reg. (1772) Antiq. 151 After that a Gounne had borne away his foote by the small of the legge. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §15 They be two yardes longe, and as moche as the small of a mannes legge. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 459 A long coate of white veluet, reaching to the small of his legge. 1623 Markham Cheap Husb. (ed. 3) 47 The smals of his fore-legs, vnder his knees, and for the smals of his hinder legges somewhat below the spauin ioynts. 1697 Dampier Voy. I. 32 A piece of Cotton Cloath about the small of their Leg, from the Ankle to the Calf. 1726 Swift Gulliver 1. i, His Excellency, having mounted on the small of my right leg. ellipt. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. v. ii. 645 Lon. His legge is too big for Hector. Boy. More Calfe certaine. Dum. No, he is best indued in the small. 1630 Drayton Muses Elizium Nymphall i. 107 A swelling Calfe, a Small so fine, An Ankle, round and leane. 1715 Lond. Gaz. No. 5328/4 Large Legs, the Small pretty big.

b. Of the back (for belly). ? 1536 Latimer in Lett. Suppress. Monast. (Camden) 148, I am in a fayntt werynesse over all my body, butt cheffly in the small of my backe. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 51 The marrow of a Bui beaten and drunk, cureth the pain in the smal of the belly. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 215 |f 7 Our best Customers show but little above the Small of their Backs. 1803 Med. Jrnl. X. 528 Severe pain in the head and small of the back. 1884 Hunter & Whyte Ducats & Dau. xviii, His eyes fixed on the small of the coachman’s back.

c. Of a whale (= the part of the tail in front of the flukes). 1725 Phil. Trans. XXXIII. 256 With those Fins they clasp about her Small, and so hold themselves on. 1845 Gosse Ocean v. (1849) 230 The head gradually sinks, the ‘small’ is projected from the water, and presently the ‘flukes’ of the tail are raised high in the air. 1903 Strand Mag. Nov. 536/1 His blubber.. being.. nine inches [thick] on the belly and six inches on the ‘small’.

d. Of things (see quots.). c 1475 Piet. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 779 Hie stilus, a smal of a pelyr. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet. 11, The Small of the Sword, lefoible de /’ Epee. 1847 Infantry Man. (1854) 22 The right hand grasps the small of the butt. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Small, ..that part of the anchor-shank which is immediately under the stock. 1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.E.

Africa 133 Holding the small of the stock in my right hand, and the barrel in my left.

7. the small, that which is trifling, petty, or unimportant. a 1225 Ancr. R. 314 Al so schal pe pet schriueS him, efter pe greate, schuuen ut pet smele. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 54 These pretended plans of universality,.. which make her descend into the infinitely small. 1836 Emerson Nature 67 To magnify the small, to micrify the great.

8. Small coal; slack. In recent use also pi., varieties of small coal. Also Comb. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. II. 83/2 Frequently they mix them up with ‘the small’ of north country coals of better quality. 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durham 48 Small Leader, a lad employed to put away small, to a stow-board, from the hewer working by separation in a narrow place. 1898 Daily News 21 Mar. 3/6 Not for some years have best steam smalls been in such demand.

9. pi. a. Small clothes; formerly, breeches; now underclothes. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xvi, A difficult process it is to bow in green velvet smalls. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lvi, Her footman, in large plush smalls and waistcoat. 1886 Jerome Idle Th. 133 An eager, bright-eyed boy, with .. dandy shoes and tight-fitting smalls. 1943 N. Coward Middle East Diary (1944) 80 Their mothers stood nearby washing out a few ‘smalls’ in the shallows. 1951 People 3 June 4/6 Most of those who do send out to the laundry still wash smalls and personal linen themselves. 1973 Guardian 12 Mar. 10/2 Not many Americans.. can have a clear idea of what to use the bidet for, apart from soaking the smalls.

b. Parcels or consignments of comparatively little weight (see quots.). Also attrib. 1889 Manch. Exam. 4 May, The word ‘smalls’.. is used to represent the thousands of small parcels which are daily forwarded from the warehouses or Manchester and other large cities to shopkeepers throughout the kingdom. Ibid., A firm whose ‘smalls’ traffic is very extensive. 1890 Times 4 Dec. 11/2 Then with regard to ‘smalls’, or quantities of less than 3 cwt.;.. hitherto in Birmingham ‘smalls’ had been defined to be quantities less than 2 cwt.

c. Small kinds of bread; fancy bread, rolls, etc. ‘Freq. in advertisements.’ N.E.D. 1892 Glasgow Her. 22 Apr. 2/1 Baker..; one well up in smalls and pastry.

d. In miscellaneous uses (see quots.). 1883 Good Words July 443/1 Small broken rice, known as ‘smalls’. 1884 Pall Mall G. 13 Dec. 9/1 He saw him have several halves of whisky—‘smalls’ they were called there. a 1891 Engineer LXX. 126 (Cent.), The ore .. is tipped from trucks on to a grating of iron bars about 2j in. apart; the ‘mine smalls’ pass through. 1895 J. W. Anderson Prospector's Handbk. (ed. 6) 166 Smalls—Small-sized pieces of ore and gangue. 1919 H. Etheridge Diet. Typewriting 125 May be in either capitals and smalls or all capitals. 1947 M. Morris in ‘B. James’ Austral. Short Stories (1963) 344 Make it another small... All round. 1976 Wymondham & Attleborough Express 10 Dec. 21/2 Mediums [5c. eggs] from 46p to 43P per dozen with only smalls below this rate.

e. Small advertisements. 1942 New Statesman 11 July 25/3 The members of staff usually responsible for selecting ‘smalls’ and rejecting those that are undesirable. 1959 Times 2 Dec. 9/4 The Press figure does not take into account the booming Classified advertising revenue, or ‘Smalls’.

10. pi. At Oxford: The colloquial term for the examination officially called Responsions. The evidence is not sufficient to show whether the name is due to the old expressions in parvisiis or in parviso (see parvis 2), through association with parvis abl. pi. of parvus small; cf. however the use of parvis disputationibus in the Laudian Statutes, App., iii. §9, p. 271. 1852 Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (ed. 2) 92 The Little Go (at Oxford the Smalls). 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. x, I ought to be going up for smalls myself next term. 1880 Mrs. Lynn Linton Rebel of Family ii, He had been ‘ploughed’ for ‘smalls’ and everything else.

11. the smalls, in theatrical use (see quot. 1891). 1891 Ardrossan Her. 11 Sept. 4 Having travelled much through the smalls (a theatrical term applied to towns not boasting a regularly built and properly appointed theatre). 1907 H. Wyndham Flare of Footlights xxx, Wanted.. Smart Young Gent to tour the smalls.

12. small and early, a small evening party not intended to continue to a late hour. [1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. xi, For the clearing off of these worthies, Mrs. Podsnap added a small and early evening to the dinner.] 1880 Ld. Beaconsfield Endymion lxxvii, Well, there are not many dinners among them, to be sure... Small and earlies. How I hate a ‘small and early!’ 1888 H. James Partial Portr. 360 To the afternoon tea, to the fashionable ‘squash’, to the late and suffocating ‘small and early’.

small (smoil), adv. Forms: 1, 4-5 smale, 5 smalle, 4-7 smal, 5- small, [f. small a.] 1. Into small pieces or morsels. In some examples perh. the adj. used predicatively. c888 K. /Elfred Boeth. xiii, J>eah 8u hi smale todsele swa dust. 1381 in Knighton Chron. (Rolls) 138 Iakke Mylner.. hath grounden smal smal. £1430 Two Cookery-bks. 6 J>an choppe hem smale. Ibid. 10 Tese it smal an bray it in a morter. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 278 The floures are blewe,.. with five little leaves underneath them, very small cut and jagged. 1650 Trapp Comm. Levit. xvi. 12 This incens smalbeaten might figure Christ in his Agonie. 1653 Walton Angler 1. iii. (1896) 57 Bruise or cut very smal into your butter, a little Time. 1759 R. Brown Compl. Farm. 81 Geese will.. fatten well on carrots cut small. 1815 j. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 811 A quarter of an ounce avoirdupoise of the finest white soap, grated small.

f 2. a. To a small extent or degree; little, not much; slightly. Obs. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Peter) 411, I dred rycht small pine angelis. C1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 592, I wepte but smal.

SMALL 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 11 He trompit nocht small, quhen he send his Apostlis our all the warld to ger schawe the cristyn faith. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages Prol. ii, I knew small quhat hir mater did mene. 1593 Shaks. Lucr. 12.73 ^ thou dost weep.., it small avails my mood. 1637 Strafford Lett. (1739) II. 83 But in Truth, this moves me very small.

fb. Const, to one’s gain or profit. Obs. 1582 A. Munday Eng. Rom. Life 61 Promising.. hee would informe the Pope of it, which should bee but small to their profite. 1587 Holinshed Chron. (1808) III. 94 The Frenchmen.. sometimes made issues foorth, but small to their gaine.

3. a. Quietly, gently; in a small or low voice. 13.. K. Alis. 7239 (Laud MS.), Alisaunder gynnej? Ieigh3e smale. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. 1. ii. 49 That’s all one, you shall play it in a Maske, and you may speake as small as you will. 1598-Merry W. 1. i. 49 She has browne haire, and speakes small like a woman. 1887 Stevenson Mem. & Portraits viii, The reposing toiler, thoughtfully smoking, talking small, as if in honour of the stillness.

fb. Slyly; wantonly. Obs.-' C1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 16 She helde not her astate .., for she loked smal and wynked ofte.., and euer loked ouer the shuldre.

4. to sing small: fa- (See quot.) Obs.~° 1623 Cockeram I, Minurize, to sing small, to faine in singing.

b. colloq. To adopt a humble tone or manner; to use less assertive language, or to qualify or withdraw a previous statement; to say nothing, to be silent or dumb. See also the Eng. Dial. Diet, for dialect usage. I753_4 Richardson Grandison (1812) I. 120, I must myself sing small in her company; I will never meet at hardedge with her. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Sing small, to be humbled, confounded, or abashed, to have little or nothing to say for one’s self. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. 11. Row in Omnibus, Fiddle-de-dee’s at the top of the tree, And Doldrum and Fal-de-ral-tit sing small! 1880 Gladstone in Morley Life vm. vii. (1905) II. 354 Sir R. Peel endorsed the remonstrance and I had to sing small.

5. In a fine or small manner; on a small scale, etc. Also in small-dr awn, -set adjs. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 197 It would be no art.. to spin small, and make hypocrisy a goodly web, and to go through the market as a saint among men. 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3944/4 Also John Simonds, a small-set Fellow. 1820 Keats Lamia 11. 47 Her open eyes, Where he was mirror’d small in paradise. 01918 W. Owen Poems (1920) 13 And terror’s first constriction over, Their hearts remain small drawn.

6. Naut. Close to the wind. 1848 J. F. Cooper Oak-Openings II. xiv. 203 All the difficulty was reduced to steering so ‘small’, as seamen term it, as to prevent one or the other of the lugs from jibing. 1911 J. Barten Compl. Naut. Pocket Diet. 192 Steer small.

small (smo:l), v. rare. Also 5 smalyn, smale. [f. small a. Cf. OE. smali^an (rare), MDu. smalen (smallen), MLG. smalen, smelen, MHG. smaln (G. dial, schmalen) and smeln (G. schmaleri), older Da. smale, smalle.] 1. trans. To make small; to lessen, reduce. rare. C1400 Lanfrone's Cirurg. 85 Smale pe lippis of woundis pat ben greate. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/2 Smalyn, or make lesse, minoro. 1611 Cotgr., Apointi,.. sharpened, or smalled, at the point. 1962 ‘K. Orvis’ Damned CS? Destroyed xiv. 95 Welch smalled his hands against his desk.

2. intr. To become small; to diminish, grow less. Hence 'smalling ppl. a. a 1618 Sylvester Woodman's Bear liv, I saw,.. Smalling down by measure’s law, Her straight comely shapen back. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 36 By sucking at the smalling Pipe, more of the Air., may be suck’d out. 1899 T. Hardy Departure Poems (1902) 7 The broad bottoms rip the bearing brine—All smalling slowly to the gray sea line.

smallage ('sm3:lid3). Forms: a. 3 smal, 4 smale ache, 5-6 smalache, 5-7 -ach, 6-7 smallach(e. /3. 5 smalege, -edge, 6-7 smalledge, 7 -adge, 6smallage. [f. small a. 21 b + ache s6.2] One or other of several varieties of celery or parsley; esp. wild celery or water parsley, Apium graveolens. Now rare. a. c 1290 St. Cuthbert 52 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 360 ‘Nim,’ he seide, ‘pe milk of one kov .., Iuys of smal-Ache do par-to’. a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 11 Apium simpliciter, ..smale ache. C1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 94 Leie on pis confeccioun maad of flour of wheete & hony & ius of smalache. £1450 M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 101 Take smalache, reed fenel, rewe, verueyne [etc.]. 1545 Raynold Byrth Mankynde 134 The decoction of rosemarye,.. alexander, smallach, &c. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 606 Smallache hath shyning leaues of a darke greene colour. 1603 Holland Plutarch 719 Afterwards when these [Isthmian] Games were accounted, they translated thither., the chaplet of Smallach. p. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wiilcker 711 Hoc apium, smalege. 1530 Palsgr. 271/2 Smallage an herbe, ache. 1562 Turner Herbal (1568) 40 Smallage hath suche a strong savor,. . that no man can .. eat it with hys meate. 1636 W. Denny in Ann. Dubrensia (1877) 13 Each three yeeres Victor was with Smallage crown’d, Whose pendant leaves, his head enshadow’d round. 1685 Temple Ess. Gardens Wks. 1720 I. 178 The Plants he mentions, are the Apium, which tho’ commonly interpreted Parsly, yet comprehends all Sorts of Smallage, whereof Sellery is one. 1712 Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 2 The large Smallage, which the Gardiners falsly call Macedonian-Parsley. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvii. (1794) 236 Our wild Smallage,.. which is common by ditches and brooks, cannot be rendered esculent by culture. 1822-7 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 248 The cicuta virosa, or water-hemlock, the leaves of which have been mistaken for

SMALLISH

772 smallage. 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 290/2 Celery,.. a biennial plant.. which, in its native condition, is known in England as smallage. attrib. c 1550 H. Lloyd Treas. Health giv, Smalladge rote hanged aboute thy necke doth alay the tooth ache, a 1648 Digby Closet Opened (1677) 130 Smallage Gruel. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1063 Give in Wine the decoction .. of the Cyprus Nut, Smallage-seed. 1853 Soyer Pantroph. 141 When it is cooked, add pepper and smallage seed.

'small-arm. Also small arm. [Back-formation from small-arms, at first in attrib. use.] 1. attrib. a. Using or provided with smallarms. 1805 E. P. Let. in Polwhele Trad. & Recoil. (1826) II. 577, I acted both in the capacity of a commanding officer,.. small-arm-man, and powder-boy. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle xv, Fire, small arm men, and take good aim. 1892 Brighton Sir P. Wallis 67 The Chesapeake had attached much importance to her small-arm force.

b. Intended or adapted for small-arms. 1807 Ann. Reg., Hist. Europe 219/2 Small-arm ammunition. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Diet. 390/2 Small-arm Cartridge.

2. A fire-arm which may be carried in the hand. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2219/2 Small-arm, a term including muskets, rifles, carbines, and pistols. 1881 Greener Gun 113 Owing to the introduction .. of the Snider breech-loader, which prevented the general use of the Whitworth small-arm in military circles.

Hence 'small-armed a., provided with smallarms; 'small-,armoury, an armoury for smallarms. 1766 Entick London IV. 340 Two.. rooms, one of which is a small-armoury for the sea-service. 1806 A. Duncan Nelson 50 Their force consisted of 80 marines, and 180 small-armed seamen. 1812 Examiner 31 Aug. 553/1 To disperse some small armed men collected on the shore.

'small-arms. [f. small a. + arm sb,2 2.] Fire¬ arms capable of being carried in the hand, as contrasted with ordnance. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 2702/2 Powder, small Ball, and small Arms. 1748 Anson's Voy. in. viii. 379 Her topmen. .made prodigious havock with their small arms. 1817 Pari. Deb. 756 During the war no less than three millions of small arms had been manufactured there for the use of the Allies. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. III. 267/2 The fire of modern smallarms has become so infinitely more deadly. attrib. 1858 Bright Sp., Reform 10 Dec., The Government small-arms establishment at Enfield. 1905 H. Newman in E. Candler Unveiling of Lhasa x. 192 Then followed several hours of cannonading and small-arms fire.

small beer, [small a. 12a.] 1. Beer of a weak, poor, or inferior quality. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 359 For drinke, they had none but small Ale or Beere. 1592 Nashe Four Lett. Conf. Wks. (Grosart) II. 242 His Poetry more spiritlesse than smal beere. 1636 Massinger Gt. Dk. Florence 11. ii, Such as eat store of beef., may preserve their healths With that thin composition called small beer. 1690 J. Mackenzie Siege Londonderry 56/2 That every Soldier.. shall be allowed a quart of small Beer per diem. 1721 Amherst Terras Fil. (1726) App. 317,1 think there ought to be something allow’d besides small-beer and apple-dumplings. 1770 Massie Tax upon Malt 6 The Quantity of small Beer annually brewed for Sale in England and Wales, is about Two Millions Three Hundred Thousand Barrels. 1822 Imison Sci. & Art II. 168 The liquor in this state is pretty nearly of the colour of small beer. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. 11. Bl. Mousquetaire 535 The Black Mousquetaire was as dead as Small beer!

2. transf. a. Trivial occupations, affairs, etc.; matters or persons of little or no consequence or importance; trifles. [1604 Shaks. Oth. 11. i. 161 To suckle Fooles, and chronicle small Beere. 1710 Addison Whig Examiner No. 4 |f 5 As rational Writings have been represented by Wine; I shall represent those Kinds of Writings we are now speaking of, by Small Beer.] 1777 J. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 464 The torment of hearing eternally reflections upon my constituents, that they are.. smallbeer,.. is what i will not endure. 1844 Thackeray B. Lyndon xiv, All the news of sport, assize, and quarter-sessions were detailed by this worthy chronicler of small-beer. 1883 Fortn. Rev. Sept. 379 A twice-told tale, or a chronicle of small beer.

fb. (See quot.) Obs.-' 1789 T. Wright Meth. Watering Meadows (1790) 23 Our farmers .. call even the second running [of the water] by the significant name of small-beer.

c. to think small beer of, or variants of this: To have a poor or low opinion of (oneself or others). Chiefly with negatives, colloq. 1825 C. Westmacott English Spy I. 32 He was not thought small beer of. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes xxxix, She thinks small beer of painters, J. J. —well, we don’t think small beer of ourselves, my noble friend. 1873 Punch 18 Jan. 30/2 Is it consistent for. . a teetotaller to think no small beer of himself?

3.

attrib. a. In sense 1, allowance, -firkin, wort, yeast.

as

small-beer

1743 Lond. & Co. Brewer 11. (ed. 2) 157 The small-beerfirkin being 9 Gallons. 1746 W. Thompson R.N. Adv. (1757) 47 The Fleet sailed without Small Beer Allowance. 1801 Med. Jrnl. V. 275, I recommended them to procure some small-beer yeast. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 741 Litmus blue is prepared by boiling litmus in small¬ beer wort.

b. In fig. uses (cf. sense 2), as small-beer air, character, chronicle, etc. 1648 G. Daniel Eclog iii. 262 Eudaemon, still.. in Small¬ beer ayre [you] Flutter with feeble wings. 1682 Mrs. Behn City Heiress 29 That.. Puritanical, Phanatical, Small-beer

face of thine. 1721 Amherst Terrae Fil. (1726) App. 318 A lad may.. chop logic as glibly in a college, where they eat and drink like Christians, as in any small-beer hall whatsoever. 1789 Gouvr. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) II. 92 If the reigning prince were not the small-beer character that he is. 1824 Westm. Rev. July 181 The second volume [of Redgauntlet] contains a diary, or small-beer journal. 1861 Thackeray Round. Papers, Small-beer Chronicle, In the House of Commons what small-beer orators try to pass for strong?

4. Comb, (sense drawer, -drinker.

1), as small-beer brewer,

1638 T. Whitaker Blood of Grape 31 When as water or small-beere-drinkers looke like Apes rather then men. 1721 Amherst Terrae Fil. No. 25 (1726) 132 Under pain of having his said lucubrations burnt. . by the hands of the small-beer drawer. 1743 Lond. Co. Brewer 11. (ed. 2) 159 Two considerable Small-Beer Brewers.

small-clothes. Also smallclothes, [small a. 3.] 1. Breeches; knee-breeches. (Cf. small sb. ga.) 1796 J. Hunter Trav. 297 The immensity of their breeches, (for, in spite of the fashionable phrase, it would certainly be a perversion of terms to call them small¬ clothes). 1812 W. Combe Syntax, Picturesque xx, One who was in full fashion drest,.. His small-clothes sat so close and tight. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diamond iii, Two great footmen, with red whiskers and yellow plush smallclothes. 1883 J. Hawthorne Dust I. 84 He leaned back in his chair, with one hand in the pocket of his small-clothes.

2. transf.

One who wears breeches.

1825 Coleridge Lett., Convers., etc. II. 210 An audience of respectable smallclothes and petticoats.

small coal. Also small-coal, [small a. 4.] 1. Charcoal. Obs. exc. Hist. 1638 Ford Fancies v. i, Your suds and pan of small-coal. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 88 Smal-coale is commonly known unto all, and for this use is made of Sallow, Willow, Alder, Hasell, and the like. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4094/3 The Bran and Smallcoal made at their Office on Tower-hill. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Coal, An Artificial Fuel made.. by half burning the Branches and Roots of Trees; properly call’d Charcoal, and Smallcoal.

2. Coal of small size; slack. 1665 Dudley Mettall. Martis (1854) 8 Knowing that if there could be any use made of the Smal-coale.., then would they be drawn out of the Pits. 1677 Phil. Trans. XII. 898 The Men .. hid themselves as well as they could in the loose sleek or small Cole. 1755 Johnson, Slack, small coal; coal broken in small parts. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 205 Small-coal is thrown.. into the hollow fire to replace that which is burned. 1891 Weekly Notes 136/2 The small coal was mainly produced by the friction of the blocks while being brought to the surface.

3. attrib., as small-coal man, question, trade, etc. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 129 He lookt like a SmallCoal-man. 1715 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 103 Thomas Britton.. set up the Small-coal Trade. 1847 Thackeray Curate's Walk Wks. 1900 VI. 552 The Curate was very deep in conversation with a small-coalman. 1898 Daily News 6 May 2/7 At the same time there was a vehement dispute on the small coal question.

small-craft. [See

craft sb. 9 a.] In attrib. use, as small-craft man, vessel, etc. Also transf. 1693 Dryden, etc. Juvenal iii. (1697) 51 He.. whom t’other Day A small-craft Vessel hither did convey. 1711 Shaftesb. Charac. (1737) III. 97 We essay-writers are of the small-craft or galley-kind. 1832 Carlyle Remin. (1881) 1. 33 On board some small-craft man of war. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 143 Captain Jerry had the habit, which smallcraft men are apt to get, of consulting aloud with himself.

small-eyed, a.

[small a. 23.] eyes. Also transf. of spectacles.

Having small

1630 Drayton Noah's Flood 481 The small-ey’d slowworm held of many blind. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2176/4 A black Negro Man,.. small in the Waste, small Ey’d. 1801 Shaw Gen. Zool. II. 11. 502 Small Eyed Cachalot, Physeter Microps. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 433 The Small-eyed Ray, raia microcellata. 1840 Dickens B. Rudge iv, Sim .. was an old-fashioned,.. sharp-nosed, small-eyed little fellow. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 5 Oct. 9/3 Small-eyed spectacles made at the suggestion of Sir Isaac Newton.

small fry: see

.1

fry sb

small-headed, a.

4.

[small a. 23.]

Having a

small head. 1611 Cotgr., Saupe, a small-headed,.. vnwholesome seafish. 1752 Hill Hist. Ariim. 113 The great, thick, small¬ headed Testudo. 1775 Phil. Trans. LXVII. 13 A tall small¬ headed tree. 1812 A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. VI. 62 Small¬ headed Flycatcher, Muscicapa rninuta. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 221 Pleuronectes microcephalus, Small-headed Dab. 1854 H. Miller Sch. Schm. (1858) 320 A tall, large-bodied, small-headed man.

smalling, ppl. a.: see small v. smallish ('smoilij), a. [f. small a.] Somewhat small; rather little. ? 01366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 826' His shuldres of a large brede, And smalish in the girdilstede. 1611 Cotgr., Menuet, smallish. 1763 Cole in Collect. Topogr. & Gen. (1837) IV. 48 The 4th coffin has nothing on yc plate, and is a smallish one. 1764 H. Walpole Let. to G. Montagu 24 Dec., I send you a decent smallish muff, that you may put in your pocket. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 440 The pieces of ice were fortunately of smallish dimensions. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. 1. v. (1872) I. 42 Small troubles, the antagonism to which is apt to become itself of smallish character. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 385 These cattle are smallish and weak.

SMALL-LEAVED

773

small-leaved, a. Also small-leafed, [small a.] Having small leaves. 1699 M. Lister Journey to Paris 209 The Tree most in use here, was the small-leaved Horne-Beam. 1731 P. Miller Gardeners Diet. s.v. Tilia, The small-leav’d Lime-tree. 1827 Griffith tr. Cuvier V. 80 Rhmopoma Microphylla (Small¬ leaved Rhinopome Bat). 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 50 Graceful tufts Of small-leaved ferns. 1889 Maiden Useful PI. 561 Laportea photiniphylla.. . Small-leaved Nettle. Ibid. 466 Eucalyptus hsemastoma... In the extreme south a variety sometimes goes by the name of ‘Rough’, or ‘Small-leaved Stringybark’. 1962 R. Page Educ. Gardener v. 159 The small-leaved elm Ulmus pumila.. seems resistant to elmdisease. 1967 Coast to Coast 1965-6 209 The dunes gave way to the..hardy small-leafed bushes. 1979 P. Theroux Old Patagonian Express xxi. 322 These sparse, small-leaved thorn bushes create the illusion of green. small-mouth, a. [small a. 22.] Of bass: Small-mouthed. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 401 The Big-mouth Black Bass,.. and the Small-mouth Black Bass, rnicropterus dolomiei. 1909 Daily Chron. 22 Sept. 1/6 Bass of the small mouth variety live better in fresh water, b. ellipt. as sb. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 401 The Smallmouth shares with the Large-mouth in the Southern States the names ‘Jumper’, ‘Perch’, and ‘Trout’. Ibid. 402 The Small-mouths found their way into the Hudson in 1825 or soon after. «

small-mouthed, a.

[small a. 23.]

Having a

small mouth; spec, of certain fishes (see later quots.). 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §78 The .ix. propertyes of an asse. The fyrste is to be small-mouthed. 1611 Cotgr., Derbro, a kind of small-mouthed .. Sea-fish. 1803 Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 11. 445 Small-mouthed Sparus, Sparus Microstomus. 1839 Yarrell Suppl. Brit. Fishes 36 The Small-mouthed Wrasse, Crenilabrus exoletus. 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 485 Micropterus dolomiei, Small-mouthed Black Bass. smallness

('smoilms).

Also

4-7

smal-,

6-7

smale-, 7 smalle-; 4-7 -nesse, 5-7 -nes (5 -nez). [f. small a.] f 1. Slimness; slenderness. Obs. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 181 Whan pe lymes beef .. as they schulde be in schappe,.. quantite, and gretnesse and smalnesse. et me ssel recordi zueteliche and smalliche be little stechches alle pe guodnesses of oure lhorde. C1475 Cath. Angl. 346/1 Smally, minutim. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 301 His leaves are not so smally cut. 1598 Florio, Piouelicare, to drizle, to mizle, or raine smallie. 1610 Markham Masterp. 11. lii. 299 Water wherein.. the hearb of arsmanarck hath bin wel sod in, and smally chopt. 1662 Chandler Van Helmont's Oriat. To Rdr., Gold and Silver, how smally soever they may be divided.

2. By a smali number; sparsely, scantily. 01513 Fabyan Chron. v. (1811) 111 This swerdman .. fand ye kyng smally accompanyed. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI (1809) 196 Besieged the citie of Arques,.. whiche was smally defended and sone gotten. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies 1. ix. 32 Although it bee in a climate more commodious .., yet is it smally peopled and inhabited.

3. a. In only a slight or small degree; to a small or limited extent; not much, very little. Freq. preceded by but. (a) 1523 Ld. Berners Froissart I. ccxxxviii. 343 This courtesy.. dyde the prince to the kynge, the whiche after was but smally rewarded. 1553 ^rende Q. Curtius ill. 39 The hurt of his shoulder, whereof the skin was but smally perished. 1622 Fotherby Atheom. 1. ii. 11 Which you doe but smally credite. 1656 Earl Monm. tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. 1. xxv. 42 Seneca quitted the Audience with this but smally satisfactory resolution. (b) 1532 in J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. (1868) I. 221 We think this answer . . will smally please you. 1549 Chaloner Erasm. on Folly Qiijb, In case ye smally beleve myne, marke, I praie you, his owne woords. a 1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N. T. (1618) 541 It is needlesse, or at least smally to the purpose. 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 109, I cannot prove, .that a man smally beneficed must of necessity be dissolute.

b. With verbs of considering, regarding, etc. Very common from c 1550 to c 1630. 1532 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. 213 All such acts made for reformation .. be smally regarded. 1562 Mountgomery in Archaeologia XLVII. 220 Ower natiue Inglishe sowldior, . . whome wee smallie consider. 1609 R. Barnerd Faithf. Sheph. 16 They smally account of our translations. 1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. I) 303 Smally valuing either Gold, or Pearles as I doe.

smalt (smoilt), sb. (and a.). Also 6, 8 smalte, 7 smault(e. [a. F. smalt (cf. Du. smalt, G. schmalte), ad. It. smalto smalto.] 1. a. A species of glass, usually coloured a deep blue by oxide of cobalt, etc., and after cooling finely pulverized for use as a pigment or colouring matter. 1558 W. Warde tr. Alexis' Seer. 1. vi. 118 b, Take white smalte well beaten in poulder. 1573 Art of Limming p. iiij, Smalte or florrey being tempered in a shell with gumme water maketh a blewe. 1612 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. 83 The principale blewes.. are Blew bice, Smalt. 1618 Patent Specif. (1856) No. 7. 1 And shall also make the same Smaulte as good .. as the Smault heretofore brought from beyond the Seas. 1688 Holme Armoury in. 149/2 Smalt, some call it blew Starch; because much used by Landresses in their Starch to make it blew. 1763 W. Lewis Phil. Comm. Arts 325 Being strewed upon oil paintings for a sparkling black in the same way as smalt is strewed for blue. 1791 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. 1. Notes 52 The Saxon mines have till very lately almost exclusively supplied the rest of Europe with .. zaffre and smalt. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 302 The.. nickel.. must not be suffered to become oxidized, lest it should spoil the colour of the smalt. 1862 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. ii. §3 (ed. 2) 102 The starch is washed, mixed with a little smalt, to give it the blue tinge preferred in the market. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 225/2 The beauty of the blue colour, upon which the value of smalt depends.

b. pi. Various kinds of this. rare. 1598 R. Haydocke tr. Lomatius 111. 106 Azures and smaltes shaddow those skiecolours, which are made of them and white mixed together.

2. A deep blue colour like that of smalt. 1881 Spectator 2 July 860 Red and yellow, and emeraldgreen and smalt, all figure together on the same ribbon or dress piece. 1904 19th Cent. July 136 The cruder smalts and chromes and dead gold of old illuminators.

3. A piece of coloured glass. Cf. smalto. 1864 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 581/2 The pieces of glass of every shade of colour are technically called smalts', they are generally opaque. 1887 Sir G. W. Cox Cycl. Comm. Things (ed. 6) 391 Roman Mosaics are pictures composed of little pieces of coloured glass called smalti or smalts. Ibid., The smalts are made in long slender rods of many thousands of different colours and shades.

4. a. attrib. and Comb., as smalt-blue adj., -maker,

etc.;

smalt-blue,

1681 Grew Musaeum iv. in. 376 A piece of Smalt-Glass. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., The necessity of having expert workmen for the smalt-making. Ibid., Intelligent persons are necessary in the smalt-works. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 27 Smalt blue,.. paler than the preceding [azure blue]. 1834 Mrs. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sci. xx. 174 A smalt-blue finger glass. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 302 A round smalt furnace. 1855 J. R. L[eifchild] Cornw. Mines 216 An ore of cobalt,.. from which the beautiful blue glass and smalt-blue are made. 1921 Diet. Occup. Terms (1927) §143 Smalt maker, places powdered mixture of cobalt oxide, silica (pure sand) and potassium carbonate into a wheeled fireclay crucible [etc.]. 1923 Chambers's Jrnl. 15 Dec. 36/1 The supreme obstacle confronting the smalt-makers.

b. As adj. Of the colour of smalt; deep blue. 1880 Mrs. C. Reade Brown Hand & W. I. 2 A courtyard roofed in by the smalt heaven of Italy.

Hence 'smalter, one who prepares smalt. 1923 Chambers's Jrnl. 15 Dec. 36/1 The Venetian glassmakers.. were content to purchase their requirements from the ‘smalters’ of Germany.

smaltine ('smorltain). Min. -INE5.] Tin-white cobalt.

1705 Addison Italy 377 Old Roman Mosaic, compos’d of little Pieces of Clay half vitrify’d, and prepar’d at the GlassHouses, which the Italians call Smalte. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 80 These smalti are vitrified but opaque, partaking of the nature of stone and glass, or enamels. 1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths I. 14 Buttons of repousse work, or ancient smalto. 1896 Daily News 27 Mar. 2/1 The work of producing the ‘smalto’, or choice opaque glass of various colours.

smalts (smDilts).

[app. the plural of smalt taken as a sing.] = smalt sb. 1.

1610 Folkingham Art Surv. 11. vi. 57 Pasture would be put into a deeper Greene made of the mixture of Azure and Smalts with Pincke. 1669 Sturmy Mar. Mag. vn. xxxiv. 49 With Blew Smalts strew very thick the Border while it is wet. 1800 Henry Epit. Chem. (1808) 257 The substance termed smalts, used as a colouring substance. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs (1821) 64 The calx of Cobalt has the property, that it can be melted into a blue glass, called smalts. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 82/2 The principal use of smalts is for bluing paper.

smaragd ('smasraegd). Now rare. Forms: a. 3-8 smaragde, 4- smaragd (6-7 smarag). /3. 6

smalmy, var. smarmy a.

furnace, -glass, powder blue.

Coloured glass or enamel used for mosaic work, etc.; a small cube or piece of this.

[f. smalt sb.

+

1837 Dana Min. 402 Smaltine usually occurs in veins, accompanying other ores of cobalt and ores of silver and copper. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 81 Smaltine or speiss cobalt, an arsenide of the isomorphous bases, cobalt, nickel, and iron.

'smaltite. Min. [f. smalt + -ite1 2 b.] = prec. 1868 Dana Min. 71 Cobaltite. .and smaltite afford the greater part of the smalt of commerce. 1875 Encycl. Brit. 11. 635/1 The ores employed in the metallurgy of arsenic are . . arsenical pyrites, smaltite, and cobaltite.

||'smalto. Also pi. smalti (8 smalte). [It. (cf. med.L. smaltum, from 9th cent.), of Teutonic origin and related to smelt v. Cf. amel sb.]

smaradg, 6-7 smaradge. [a. OF. smaragde (more commonly esmaragde, esmeraude, -aide: see emerald), or ad. L. smaragdus smaragdus. Cf. MDu. and Du. smaragd, MHG. smaragt (G. smaragd, fschmaragd).] A precious stone of a bright green colour; an emerald. a. 01272 Luue Ron 174 in O.E. Misc., Smaragde, Beril, and crisopace. 13.. K. Alis. 5683 (Bodl. MS.), Safyres, Smaragdes, & Margarites. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 135 In pe whiche londe beej?.. smaragdes, and oper precious stones, c 1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) vii. 25 pare pai fynd .. pe fairest smaragdes pat er ower whare. 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 265 Habergeownys also with smaragdis grene, & helmys with iacinte clere. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 158 The Smaragde is the trew emerode. 1580-3 Greene Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 43 What is more pleasaunt to the sight, then a Smaragde, yet what lesse profitable, if it be not vsed? 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 178 The famous sealing-ring of Polycrates was a Smaragde. 1686 Plot Staff or dsh. 55 Borax or green Earth .. is the better, by howmuch the nearer it comes to the colour of a true Smaragd. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v.. The Oriental Smaragds are .. the hardest, and their Splendor the most vigorous. 1847 Thackeray Novels by Eminent Hands, Codlingsby III. xxiv, Ruby, amethyst, and smaragd. 1885 R. F. Burton Arab. Nts. (1887) III. 41 Its skirts were set with the greenest smaragds. transf. 1562 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 220 Cherie maist chaist,.. Smaill sweit smaragde, smelling but smit of smot. 1567 Maplet Gr. Forest 20 The Smaradge hath his name of his excellent and fresh greene colour. 1608 Topsell Serpents 804 It is also said that, if a viper do behold a good smaradge, her eyes will melt. 1635 Swan Spec. M. (1670) 259 The Emerald is a precious stone of a green colour, something like unto the Smaradge. 1688 Holme Armoury II. 41/1 The Smaradge, is of an excellent fresh green, far passing any Leaf.

sma'ragdian, a. rare.

[f. smaragd + -ian.] (See quot. and smaragdine a. 2.) 1673 Two Strange & Wonderful Prophets, etc. Title-p., A New Prophecy lately discovered, written on a Smaragdian Table, by a Learned Rosy Crusian.

smaragdine (sma'raegdin, -am), sb. and a. Also 5 smaragdin, -yn(e, -en, -an, -one, 6 smaradine. (ad. L. smaragdin-us of emerald, a. Gr. apapaySiv-os, f. apapaySos’. see SMARAGDUS. Cf. OF. smaragdine sb., mod.F. smaragdin, -ine adj.] A. sb. — SMARAGD. This use is due to a misunderstanding of the Vulgate text of Rev. iv. 3 ‘similis visioni smaragdinse’, which in turn is an inaccurate rendering of the Gr. ofxoios opaoei opapayblvcp. 1382 Wyclif Rev. iv. 3 The reynbowe was in the cumpas of the seete, lijk to the si3t of smaragdyn. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 112 Ther sitten fyve Stones mo: The smaragdine is on of tho. c 1400 Destr. Troy 924 J>is stone full of strenght,.. smaragden hit hat. 1423 Jas. I. Kingis Q. civ, Off bestis sawe I mony diuerse kynd:.. The pantere, like vnto the smaragdyne. 1584 R. W. Three Ladies of Lond. D iv, Besides I haue Diamondes, Rubyes, Emerodes,.. Smaradines,.. and almost of all kinde of precious stones.

B. adj. 1. Of or belonging to, consisting of, a smaragd; resembling that of a smaragd; of an emerald green. 1591 Lodge Catharos Fjb, He putteth a Smaragdine stone in his nest, against venemous beastes of the mountaines. 1611 H. Broughton Req. Agreement 56 Now what meaneth this: A Rainbow was about the throne, in sight Smaragdine. 1651 French Distill, v. 170 If gold and silver together, a Smaragdine colour. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. xlvi. 283 Smaragdine (Smaragdinus), the green splendour of the emerald. 1839-48 Bailey Festus 29/1 The spiritual sun, The Heavenly Earth smaragdine,.. still exist. 1855 - Mystic, etc. 91 That smaragdine mirror (their chief toy Which all the angels wrought). Comb. 1651 French Distill, v. 168 A smaragdine-greene. 1842 W. Howitt Life Germany 349 Lakes and floods of the most lovely smaragdine-coloured waters.

2. smaragdine table, a mediaeval Latin work on alchemy, Tabula Smaragdina (publ. 1541), attributed to the Egyptian Hermes Trismegistus. 1597 tr. Hortulanus (J. de Garlandia), A brief Commentarie upon the Smaragdine Table of Hermes of Alchemy. 1652 H. P. (title). Five Treatises of the Philosophers Stone... To which is added the Smaragdine 1 able. 1712 Steele Sped. No. 426 If 6, I shall never forget the venerable Air of his Countenance, when he let me into

SMARAGDITE the profound Hermes.

Mysteries

SMART

775 of the

Smaragdine

Table

of

smaragdite (sma'raegdait). Min. [a. F. smaragdite (Saussure, 1796), f. Gr. ofidpayS-os SMARAGD + -ITE1 2 b. Cf. Gr. 0(j,apay8iT7)s (Ai0o?).] A brilliant grass-green or emerald-green variety of amphibole or hornblende. In early use occasionally identified with diallage, to which it bears some resemblance. 1804 Edin. Rev. III. 306 The triple identity of the smaragdite, or diallage, the schiller spath, and the’labrador horn-blende. 1823 W. Phillips Min. (ed. 3) 71 Smaragdite is of a brilliant or emerald green colour, and of a silky or pearly lustre. 1873 Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. XIII. 373 The grains of smaragdite are very indistinct in form.

Ilsmaragdus (sms'raegdas). Now rare. [L., a. Gr. op.apay8os, first recorded in Herodotus; the form pidpayhos also occurs in poets. The word is probably foreign to Greek, and connected with Skr. marakata, marakta emerald.] = smaragd. 1382 Wyclif Rev. xxi. 19 The first foundement, iaspis;.. the fourthe, smaragdus. c 1400 Three Kings Cologne 45 In J?is hille is founde a preciouse stone pat is cleped f?ere smaragdus; and pis stoon .. is kitte out of pis hille. i486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. a ij b, The secunde stone is cald Smaragdus, a grauely stone signifiyng vert in armys. 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 23 The precyous stone called Smaragdus (which is ye true Emerode). 1592 Lodge Euphues Shadow Biij, Who so liueth in Passan, must beare the stone Smaragdus with the Griphon against the stinging of Serpents. 1681 Grew Musaeum in. 1. iv. 287 The Smaragdus, growing together with a pale Amethyst in one Matrix. 1748 J. Hill Hist. Fossils 596 The Gem, call’d by the antients Smaragdus, or the Emerald, was evidently the same with that we now know by that name. 1875 Emerson Lett. ou art smart’, c 1449 Pecock Repr. 1. i. 5 In this trowing and holding thei ben so kete and so smert and so wantoun. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 114 The curst, sharp, smart,.. implacable and wanton-rowling-eyed Women. 1933 E. O’Neill Ah, Wilderness 11. 60 Tommy... Uncle Sid’s soused again. Mrs. Miller... You be quiet! Did I ever! You’re getting too smart! 1955 W. C. Gault Ring around Rosa v. 59 Don’t get smart, Callahan. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) i. 4 This time Cousin Ida beat me for being smart with her.

9. a. Of persons: Quick, active; prompt. is word be said, Ful smertli pai pam pider graid. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 3323 parfor pai swippe )?urgh purgatory Als a foul pat flyes smertly. 1*1400 Pilgr. Sozvle (Caxton) 1. xxxiii. (1859) 37 That bylle whan it was leyd in the balaunce peysed so sore, that smartely that other syde aroos. f 1450 Merlin xx. 324 Thei ronne to armes hastely, and peyned hem harde to be smartly armed and soone. ? 01550 Freiris Berwik 563 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 303 Vpoun his feit he stude, And throw the myre full smertly than he 3ude. 1711 Budgell Sped. No. 161 If 3 A Trip which was given him so smartly that I could scarce discern it. 1833 Reg. & Instr. Cavalry 1. 112 Come smartly to the position of ‘Attention’. 1849 Dickens Barn. Rudge xxxv, The horsemen wheeled smartly round. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Apr. 281 They walked smartly past the door.

3. Cleverly, neatly; wittily.

SMASH

778 1673 Remarques Humours Town 46 He replied handsomely and smartly. 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 204 And Tertullian himself, briefly and smartly [says] Omnis Spiritus ales est. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1759) II. 115 Smartly put, Betty. 1859 Hawthorne Transformation ii, What old man.. could have turned a silly compliment more smartly than that! 4. Handsomely, elegantly, fashionably. 1836 Marryat J. Faithful xxxvi, He expended all his earnings on dressing himself smartly, and making presents to her. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story i, Upon this .. the two managed to live pretty smartly, and to maintain an honourable reputation. 1891 Leeds Mercury 27 Apr. 4/7 The guests dressed very smartly, and the wedding was a really pretty one. Comb. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxii, Dressed in a smartlycut snuff-coloured coat. 1859 Reeve Brittany 236 Two smartly dressed girls came to the door. 'smart-money, [f. smart sft.1] 1. A sum of money paid to sailors, soldiers, workmen, etc., as compensation for disablement or injuries received while on duty or at work. 1693 Lond. Gaz. No. 2836/3 Smart-Money to such Seamen as have been Wounded in Their Majesties Service. 1696 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 28 No seaman.. not registred shall have any smart money. 1758 J. Blake Mar. Syst. 62 To say nothing of smart-money, those in the navy are entitled to short allowance money. 1809 Langford Introd. Trade 112 Also to all such pensions, salaries, smartmoney, .. which .. may be due. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 262, I do hope.. that the King of Prussia will double that poor fellow’s smart-money, i860 Eng. & For. Mining Gloss, (ed. 2) 63 Smart money, money paid weekly by the owners to persons who have received an injury in the work. b. Any compensation made for injury or the like; also spec, in U.S. law (see quot. 1851). 1749 Fielding Tom Jones ill. viii, Mr. Allworthy gave Tom Jones a little horse, as a kind of smart-money for the punishment. 1851 A. M. Burrill New Law Did. 11. 936 Smart-Money. .. Damages beyond the value of a thing sued for, given by a jury in cases of gross misconduct or cruelty on the part of a defendant. 1890 Hall Caine Bondman 11. i, He .. sent Adam Fairbrother an instant warning, with halfa-year’s salary for smart money. 2. Money paid to obtain the discharge of a recruit who has enlisted in the army. 1760 Cautions & Advices to Officers of Army 144 This Sum the Officer generally divides among his Recruiting Party,.. and the more there are who pay this Smart-money, as they call it, the more they share. 1778 Ann. Reg. 196 The law .. gives a certain time for those who are inlisted to get off, upon returning the inlisting money and what is called the smart money. 1844 Queen's Regul. & Ord. Army 390 When Recruits are set at liberty by a magistrate, on the payment of smart-money. 1894 Daily Telegr. 11 Jan. 5/7 When a young man he enlisted, but his father paid the smart money,.. and secured his release. b. Money paid on account of cancelling or not fulfilling a bargain or agreement, or in order to free oneself from some disadvantage, recover some lapsed privilege, etc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxvii, Fie accomplished the exchange ..; nor did I hear further of his having paid any smartmoney for breach of bargain. f3. (See quot. and cf. garnish sb. 5.) Obs. 1856 De Quincey Conf. Wks. 1862 I. 151, I have always looked upon this fine of five or seven shillings (for wax that you do not absolutely need) as a sort of inaugural honorarium entrance-money, what in jails used to be known as smart money. smartness

('smaitms).

smertnesse.

[f. smart a. + -ness.]

Also

4

smartnes,

5

1. Pain, smarting, rare. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2226 Disceyt, and., inward fikilnesse, Bulteth out schame, and cause)? gret smartnesse. 1855 Bain Senses & Intell. 11. ii. §7 (1864) 184 A sensation of smartness is produced. 2. That which induces pain or distress; sharp discipline; severity (of something). 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4966 To chastyse hem wy)> fyn awe And with pt smartnes of pe lawe. 1653 Binning Serm. (1845) 561 If you find not the Smartness of the Gospel ..ye are yet in your Sins. 1666 Phil. Trans. I. 359 They [waters] had a rough smartness, as if they carried Sand or Gravel into the Eye. 1706 Z. Cradock Serm. Charity (1740) 17 Mov’d by the smartness of a present calamity. 3. Vivacity and wit in conversation or writing. 1656 Artif. Handsom. iii Those sharp, Satyricall, and popular invectives.. To which your Ladyship hath given as much (or more) edge and smartnesse, as ever I found from any. 1664 Dryden Rival Ladies Ep. Ded., The sudden smartness of the answer. 1711 Steele Sped. No. 132 [f 2 The Quaker, who happened to be a Man of Smartness, answered. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 174 If 8 With no other hope than that of gaining the reputation of smartness and waggery. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) II. viii. 39 His letters to Strafford display some smartness, but no great capacity. 1886 Manch. Exam. 27 Jan. 3/2 He has been led astray by that passion for smartness which is the bane of contemporary criticism. 4. Trimness or fashionableness in dress, etc. I752_3 A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 17, The more humble, whose Genius does not exceed the Smartness of a Cut Bob. 1801 tr. Gabrielli's Mysterious Husb. IV. 164 She .. had an air of smartness which rather prepossessed the Prince’s household in her favour. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xxii. 578 Several of the complaints refer to undue smartness in dress. 1892 Mallock in N. Amer. Rev. July 29 Smartness .. represents the perfection of superficial living, and it has a natural.. influence over persons of a certain temperament. 5. a. Briskness, activity, alertness. 1867 Macgregor Voy. Alone (1868) 34 Hasty smartness is slowest. 1873 Daily News 27 Aug., Their thorough

efficiency and soldierly smartness in a cavalry soldier’s best work.

b. Mil. Neatness of dress and combined with brisk orderly bearing.

person

1861 Times 24 Sept., A want of the .. soldierly spirit which begets attention to personal smartness. 1886 Pall Mall G. 19 Oct. 4/3 Keep your person and accoutrements always neat, and acquire that quality.. ‘smartness’. 6. Extreme cleverness or shrewdness, esp. for

one’s own advantage. Chiefly U.S. 1800 M. Edgeworth Little Merchants in Parent's Assistant (ed. 3) III. 111 His son’s smartness was no longer useful in making bargains. 1819 M. Wilmot Let. 8 Dec. (1935) 34 We have got ourselves settled in.. with fewer plagues than almost any family of strangers could boast. This we owe. .to Willys smartness in his quiet way. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 171/1 This smartness has done more in a few years to impair the public credit.. than dull honesty.. could have effected in a century. 1843 Marryat M. Violet xxxvi, I was perfectly au fait to all the tricks of Arkansas’ smartness. 1890 Spectator 26 Apr., Mr. Blaine .. instructed his supporters in the Press and on the platform to proclaim the ‘smartness’ of his scheme.

'smartweed. Chiefly dial, and U.S. [f. smart sb.1 or a.] A name given to various species of Polygonum, esp. the arsesmart or water-pepper (Polygonum Hydropiper). 1787 W. H. Marshall E. Norfolk (1795) H. 388 Smartweed, biting and pale-flowered persicarias; arsmart. 1848 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. XVI. 247 The Smart-weed as a Remedy for Mercurial Salivation. 1883 E. H. Rollins New Eng. Bygones 50 About my grandfather’s gate smart-weed and dock-weed and plantain grew profusely. Ibid. 181 The smart-weed bed underneath them was always hunted by eager children.

smarty ('sma:ti), sb. and a. orig. U.S. Also smartie. [f. smart a. 11.] A. sb. A would-be smart or witty person; a smartly-dressed person; a member of a smart set. 1861 Calif. Mag. Aug. 39/2 ‘Juvenile smartys’ are interesting, even to a vagabond. 1876 ‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer i. 22 Smarty! You think you’re some, now. Ibid. xviii. 156 That Saint Louis smarty that thinks he dresses so fine. 1880- Tramp Abr. xxiii. 198 The village smarties recognized a treasure in Nicodemus, right away—a butt to play jokes on. 1902 Owen Wister Virginians xxvii, ‘He is a smarty,’ said he, once or twice. 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 89 But it is hard to be tolerant with the smarties. 1932 Auden Orators 11. 44 Poops and smarties, Who pilfer always but are never whipped. 1933 R. Strachey Many Happy Returns 11. 123 A gala night at the ‘Shadwell Palace’, dancing those Limehouse blues with her smartie. 1956 L. McIntosh Oxford Folly viii. 118 It’s amazing how easy it is for anyone like me, with no background, to pose as an Oxford smartie. 1957 M. Millar Soft Talkers xxi. 204 ‘Do you happen to know how much it was?’ ‘No, and neither do you, smartie.’ 1962 A. Bourne Doctor's Creed ii. 46 The worst payers were what we used to call the ‘West End Smarties’, flimsy young women who would appear from nowhere with no doctor’s letter or tangible recommendations.

B. adj. a. Smart-alecky; ostentatiously smart. 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi xxxiii. 370 The barkeeper.. was gay and smarty and talky. 1940 Horizon Feb. 68 Another line of attack is to concede that the first number is interesting, but to add that it is middlebrow and ‘smarty’. 1948 M. Allingham More Work for Undertaker vi. 83 He was full of smarty ideas and had no manners, i960 D. Potter Glittering Coffin vi. 96 A smarty gossip column. 1967 G. Kelly in Coast to Coast 1965-6 104 The local smarty boys, the privileged class.

b. Special Combs, (also written smarti-), as smarty-boots, (orig. U.S.) -pants colloq., an overly clever person, a know-all, a smart alec; also attrib. or as adj. 1962 Times 7 June 16/3 The phoney-ness of a smartiboots Ivy League undergraduate. 1962 John o' London's 22 Nov. 467/1 A cold, well-bred English smarty-boots. 1965 J. Porter Dover Two xiii. 166 He was grateful that smartieboots MacGregor had overlooked the obvious, too. 1970 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 6 Dec. 31/3 His selfconfidence and satisfaction in his own life got under people’s skin.. phrases like ‘Smartie Boots’ were attached to him. 1979 Guardian 12 Nov. 13/7, I am not trying to be wilfully iconoclastic or smarty-boots when I say that.. Picasso simply is not the greatest painter of the 20th century. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? iv. 57 One of those Vassar smarty-pants. 1953 M. Dickens No More Meadows vi. 266 [Amer. loq.] He jumped right in with his slick talk. .. That smarty pants. 1967 N. Marsh Death at Dolphin viii. 199 Hawkins, Mr. Smartypants, has a little chat. 1969 Punch 26 Mar. 465/3 Cage Me a Leacock (BBC-2) owed everything though not, I hope, the smarty-pants title—to Braden’s enormous enthusiasm for his subject. 1976 Listener 24 June 815/2 Technologically outclassed and outsold by pinstriped smartipants from foreign business schools. 1981 Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Feb. 158/3 The smartypants youthfulness is very period.

smash (smaej), sb.' (f. smash zj.1] 1. a. dial, or colloq. A hard or heavy blow. (In earliest quots. fig.) 1725 E. Wigan Let. 25 Sept, in N. D. Mereness Trav. Amer. Colonies (1916) 156 They design to keep out look-outs every way and be ready to give them a Smash in their Towns. 1779 T. Twining in R. Twining Recr. & Stud. (1882) 68 This last American smash of Sir George Collier’s. 1780 Ibid. 79, I want nothing but one good smash at the French fleet. 1816 G. Muir Minstrelsy 24 (E.D.D.), Their shoon wi’ tackets Were ca’d as fu’ as cobler’s smash Cou’d get them thacket. 1886 Willock Rosetty Ends (1887) 21 Seizin’ a hoe.. he made a smash at the beast. 1898 Daily News 24 Nov. 7/3 Sharkey came back with his right, delivering several smashes on Corbett’s wind.

SMASH b. Lawn-Tennis. A hard and fast overhand volley. Also in Badminton, Table Tennis, etc. 1882 Daily Telegr. 18 July 2 Fourth game: Won by E. Renshaw, after some grand play, ‘smashes’ being frequent. 1894 Outing XXIV. 297/2 One of Hovey’s smashes brought an end to the situation. 1950 Badminton (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 30/1 The smash is perhaps the most vulnerable stroke in the game. 1981 G. MacBeth Kind of Treason xvi. 156 ‘Fourteen-fifteen,’ said Yoshida, serving again. He’d lost the point.. by a wasted smash. 2. fa. slang. Mashed turnips. Obs. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T. s.v., Leg of mutton and smash. 1799 Sporting Mag. XIII. 360 W. S. Green,.. for a wager of a leg of mutton and smash, drank three pints of Cogniac brandy in half an hour.

b. A shivered or broken-up condition. Chiefly in phrases to break, knock etc., or go, to smash. Also used fig. (cf. 4 a). (a) 1798 Charlotte Smith Yng. Philos. III. 124 She royally thought her carridge would have been broke to smash. 1807-8 Irving Salmag. (1824) 203 He determined to do the thing genteelly, to go to smash like a hero, and dashed into the limits in high style. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. 11. iv. (1849) 54 It beats Shedry and Abendy to immortal smash. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack v, [It] had .. knocked his figure¬ head all to smash. 1874 Huxley in Life (1900) I. xxviii. 413 The .. arrangements all went to smash. (b) 1857 Hughes Tom Brown 11. ii, The door panels were in a normal state of smash. 1883 Stevenson Treasure I si. v, You cannot imagine a house in such a state of smash.

3. a. A loud sound of breaking or crushing; a severe or extensive crushing, shivering, or breaking of anything, esp. accompanied by a crashing sound; a violent collision or impact. 1808 Jamieson, Smash,.. the sound of breaking, a crash. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle i, I could distinctly hear a heavy smash as the large and ponderous blocks.. struck the doomed sailor. 1841 [see railroad line s.v. railroad sb. 3 a]. 1853 Lowell Mooseheadjrnl. Prose Wks. 1890 I. 4 The last great railroad smash. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola xiv, One of the dim floating lights disappeared with a smash from a stone. 1876 Bristowe Th. Bract. Med. (1878) 113 A smash of the leg. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 27 Apr. 4/2 If the brakes fail to hold it is impossible to avoid a bad smash. 1957 M. Spark Comforters viii. 196 If I hadn’t had the smash I’d have got you last autumn.

b. Geol. (See quot.) 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 775 The Lower Chalk formation.. contains many ruptures and dislocations, ‘smashes’ as they are now commonly called.

4. a. Commercial failure; stoppage through insolvency; bankruptcy. (Cf. crash sb.1 2 b.) 1839 Lockhart Ballantyne-humbug 114 He was careful enough to give his wife £250 on the very morning of the smash! 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. x, A commercial smash kills a hundred men’s houses for them. 1867 Trollope Chron. Bar set I. xxxix. 341 There is no saying what day a smash may come.

b. A crushing defeat or overthrow. 1888 Spectator 30 June 878 A smash of Sir E. Watkin by an instinctive vote of the House. 1896 Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign v. It was a final smash to the enemy in the north.

c. A break-up of some kind; a revolution. 1890 Spectator 2 Aug., The ‘smash’ at Buenos Ayres, which has been expected for the last six weeks,.. took place last Saturday.

5. a. An American beverage made of spirit, ice, water, sugar, and flavoured with mint. 1850 [see brandy-smash s.v. brandy sb. 2]. 1859 F. Fowler Southern Lights 52 A Smash, ice, brandy, and water. 1861 Times 10 July, Thirsty souls, who have hastened on board .. for a julep, a smash, or a cocktail. 1871 [see corpse reviver s.v. corpse sb. 6]. 1909 [see brandy-smash s.v. brandy sb. 2]. 1958 A. L. Simon Diet. Wines, Spirits & Liqueurs 147/2 Smashes, mixed iced drinks always with a spirit foundation and some mint flavouring. 1973 Wodehouse Bachelors Anonymous xiii. 170 What more likely than that he should have fetched up in Hollywood, made a packet, perished of a surfeit of brandy smashes, and left that packet to that nephew.

b. An alcoholic drink, esp. wine. slang.

smashed

779 acts, .and besides, he was a smash of a poet.’ 1973 Black World Apr. 18/2 All smash Broadway musical hits. 1975 D. Francis High Stakes 232 The oddly mixed party proved a smash-hit success. 1978 Times i Nov. 13/1 [His] aim.. has been to expand a truthful little ethnic comedy into a popular smash.

smash, sb.2 slang.

[Of doubtful origin: not clearly connected with prec.] 1. a. Counterfeit coin. Also in comb, smashfeeder (see quot. i860). 1795 Potter Diet. Cant, Smash,. .bad coin. 1839 Slang Diet. 34 Smashfeeder, a silver spoon, i860 Ibid. 219 Smashfeeder, a Britannia metal spoon,—the best imitation shillings are made from this metal.

b. Loose change. 1821 D. Haggart Life 13 M’Guire got L.7 of smash; I got a L.10 banknote. 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) ii. 22 Soon I was buying his drinks and meals, and he was hitting me for ‘smash’ (change) at regular intervals. 1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned iii. 21 Giving her his smash on pay-night so’s she can blow it. 1965 Australasian Post 4 Mar. 47 Russell goes on to point out that all loose change is sometimes known as ‘smash’.

2. (See sling v1 3 f.) smash (smaej), v.1

[Probably imitative: cf. Norw. dial, smaska to crush, slaa i smash to knock to smash (Ross).] 1. trans. f 1. slang. (See quot.) Obs. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Smash, to kick down Stairs.

2. a. To break (anything) in pieces violently; to dash to pieces; to crush, shatter, or shiver. 1778 Foote Tailors 11. iii, While others shall assault each house of call, Smash all their slates, and plunder every box. 1786 in R. Twining Recr. & Stud. (1882) 139 To have his legs and arms smashed. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxiii, The first person he met was Frank Kennedy, all smashed and gory. 1820 Shelley Vis. Sea 145 Some hideous engine whose brazen teeth smash The thin winds and soft waves into thunder. 1851 G. H. Kingsley Sport & Trav. (1900) 530 The bottle is smashed, smashed to atoms! 1885 Hornaday 2 Yrs. Jungle xviii. 198 Nearly every bamboo.. had been pulled down and smashed to splinters.

b. In imprecations, with or without object expressed. 1819 Midford in Coll. Songs 47 Smash! Jemmy, let us buss, we’ll ofF, And see Newcassel Races. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Smash, a kind of oath among the pitmen near Newcastle. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle viii, Smash my eyes, man, but them barrels be full of pimento. 1894 Clegg David's Loom 181 Smash me! I won’t be guilty of bragging.

c. Bookbinding. To flatten or compress (the sheets of a book) before binding. 1875 [implied in smashing machine].

3. a. To dash or fling (anything) with noise and violence; to batter; to cause to strike hard. c 1800 The Earl o’ Bran’ xxviii. in Child Ball. IV. 444/2 An he smashed them doun a’ bane by bane. 1822 Ainslie Land of Burns 200, I reft at the rock.., an wou’d hae geen a warl’ to been able to lift it, an smash’t it in amang them. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. viii. 55 If you give me one word out of your head, I’ll smash your face in. 1864 Bp. Wilberforce in Life (1882) III. v. 137 My mare .. smashed my head on the gravel. 1872 Spurgeon Treas. David lviii. 6 It is asked that their grinders may be smashed in, broken off, or dashed out.

b. Lawn-Tennis. To strike (the ball) violently and swiftly in an overhand volley. Also absol. and in Badminton, Squash Rackets, etc. 1882 Daily Telegr. 18 July 2 W. ‘smashing’ a ball into the net, left the game and sett in his brother’s favour by six games to two. 1890 St. Nicholas Sept. 921 He told them.. when to ‘smash’ a ball. 1965 Badminton (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) (ed. 2) 31/1 The man should take the shuttle as early as possible, playing drives when the shuttle is too low to smash. 1968 Squash Rackets (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 43/1 You cannot smash a good high lob as you can at lawn tennis. Ibid. 4.4/2 A lob that was too high above the player’s head has been smashed on to the tin.

N. Amer.

4. a. To defeat utterly; to crush completely; to overcome, overwhelm, or destroy.

1959 Maclean's Mag. 15 Aug. 28/2 So I had a couple of smashes and marched in. 1966 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Mar. 35/8 Every time you wanted a smash the check girl would hand the coat to you over the counter, so you could get your mickey without actually taking the coat out. 1975 Amer. Speech 1972 XLVII. 153 Let’s get in the wind and belt some smash.

1813 Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary (1862) II. 443 It is difficult to smash above one hundred and eighty thousand men resting on fortified bulwarks. 1845 Disraeli Sybil (1863) 226, I am told.. that the police were regularly smashed. 1865 Examiner 18 Mar. 162 Suddenly to set aside the spirit and substance thereof for the purposes.. of ‘smashing’ a particular bill is an act of suicidal wrong. 1884 Western Daily Press 28 May 8/5 To join in a British expedition to ‘smash’ the Mahdi.

6.

A great success; a film, person, play, song, etc., which enjoys popular success; a hit (hit sb. 4). Also attrib., esp. in smash hit. 1923 Variety 11 Oct. 16 (heading) ‘Rosie O’Reilly’ and ‘The Fool’, Loop’s Two Smash Hits. 1930 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Oct. 841/1 An entirely strange girl; whom anyone would have admitted to be a ‘smash’. 1931 Daily Express 21 Sept. 9/3 The magnates who had contracted to buy the picture indulged in fits of doubt concerning its prospects as a boxoffice ‘smash’. 1935 Amer. Speech X. 193/2 Terminology from other fields aids the fashion editor... The sports writer is also responsible for the smash hit dinner dress. 1935 Wodehouse Blandings Castle xii. 305 Our whole programme is built around it. We are relying on it to be our big smash. 1948 W. S. Maugham Colonel's Lady in Quartet 201 The English publisher said to him: ‘We’ve not had a success like this with a book of verse for twenty years.’.. The American publisher said to him: ‘It’s swell. It’ll be a smash hit in America.’ 1949 R. Chandler Let. 23 Apr. (1981) 174 You can’t make me into a smash bestseller. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xix. 158 Holiday on Broadway was a sellout, and the first performance made us think we had a smash. 1961 Amer. Speech XXXVI. 110 It was a smash commercial success. 1969 R. Lowell Notebk. 1967-68 71 Eliot dead, you [sr. Ezra Pound] saying, ‘And who is left to understand my jokes? My old Brother in the

b. To render insolvent or bankrupt. 1857 Borrow Rom. Rye xli, My father did his best to smash the Bank of England by passing forged notes, and I did my best to assist him. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.t. ix, Folks rich once,—smashed up.

II. intr. 5. To move rapidly with shattering effect; to dash or smite violently; to crash. 1835 Monteath Dunblane Trad. (1887) 122 Headlong he over hillocks rush’d, And wet through bogs and mosses smash’d. 1842 Lover Handy Andy xviii, You may smash away as hard as you can. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxv. 314 Picking up the silver dollar, he sent it smashing through the window-pane out into the darkness. 1898 Sir W. Crookes Addr. Brit. Assoc. 25 The quick moving molecules, smashing on to the surface, have their energy reduced.

6. colloq. To fail financially; to be ruined; to become insolvent or bankrupt. Also with up. 1839 Hood My Son & Heir xix, A Glazier?—what if he should smash! 1862 Sala Seven Sons III. vii. 142 A firm that had smashed for so tremendous an amount. 1876 Besant & Rice Golden Butterfly (1877) 211 The Republic.. cannot hope to pay its dividends—Must smash up, in short.

7. To break or fly in pieces, esp. as the result of a blow or impact. 1904 W. W. Jacobs Dialstone Lane ii. 27 The pipe fell from the listener’s fingers and smashed unheeded on the floor.

III. 8. a. Used adverbially, as in to go (also run) smash. 1818 [see go v. B, 10]. 1823 Spirit Public Jrnls. (1824) 204 The last went smash through the shop window into the street. 1842 Lover Handy Andy vi, Here the hens flew against the dresser, and smash went the plates and dishes. 1849 T. T. Johnson Sights Gold Region xxii. 211 The afternoon of our ‘first day out’ was signalized by running smash into a big sycamore tree. 1888 Veitch Dean's Dau. I. i. 25, I saw the great egg go smash against her head.

b. to play smash: to come to grief; to wreak havoc with. dial, and U.S. colloq. 1841 Spirit of Times 2 Jan. 523/2 Bill Spence got drunk and played smash with all the arrangements. 1842 D. Vedder Poems 84 Slates an’ tiles, frae aflf the houses, On the causey crown played smash. 1887 Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) 17 Jan. 1/7 (caption) Plays Smash With a Passenger Train on the Fitchburg Railroad. 1903 W. N. Harben Abner Daniel ii. 11 Yore pa’s as bull-headed as a young steer, an’ he’s already played smash anyway. 1912 Dialect Notes III. viii. 585 Play smash,.. a euphemism for play hell or play the devil. 1915 Ibid. IV. iii. 187 Play smash, .. to make a great blunder; do a thing wholly wrong.

smash, v,2 Cant. [Cf. smash s6.2] 1. trans. To pass (counterfeit money). 1801 Sporting Mag. XIX. 88/1 He had never seen any [forged notes] that were better done; he had smashed several. 1811 in Lexicon-Balatronicum. 1851 Household Words 25 Jan. 423, I [a bad shilling] remained to be ‘smashed’ (passed) by my master. 1898 A. M. Binstead Pink 'Un & Pelican x. 229 The small tradesman, afraid to smash his notes at a bureau, had them still intact when the police called upon him. 1905-Mop Fair ii. 28 The imaginary ‘bailiff who spoke about the handcuffs is well known in the neighbourhood.. while the counterfeit ‘tipstaff who smashed the cheque is a dog-fighting publican.

2. (See quot.) 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet., To smash a guinea, note, or other money, is, in a common sense, to procure, or give, change for it.

[f. smash v.1 + being smashed.

smashable ('smaej3b(3)l), a. -able.] Capable of 1884 Yates Recoil, iv, smashable. 1888 Lees & 31 He.. smashed all the

The complete smash of everything Clutterbuck B.C. i88j iii. (1892) smashable furniture.

smash-and-grab. Also smash and smash’n-grab. [f. smash v.1, grab v.]

grab,

Used attrib. to designate a type of robbery in which the thief smashes a shop-window and grabs the goods there displayed. Also transf. and fig., and absol. Hence smash-and-grabber; smash and grabbing vbl. sb. 1927 J. C. Goodwin Crook Pie ii. 52 ‘Smash and Grab’ raids seem to be the order of the day. 1928 Daily Tel. 9 Oct. 12/2 Three men in a motor-car were concerned in a smashand-grab raid. . . One of them threw a stone through the window. They then seized all the cameras available and returned to the car, which was driven away before a chase could be started. 1932 [see screwer 2]. 1933 Blunden Charles Lamb vii. 206 A literature of the smash-and-grab type.. seems to have some chance of superseding the thorough, persuasive, modulated and interwoven style. 1937 A. L. Rowse Sir Richard Grenville v. 106 A smashand-grab run upon the Isthmus of Panama. 1938 [see pick¬ up sb. a(vi)]. 1939 T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Practical Cats 23 They were.. remarkably smart at a smash-and-grab. 1944 G. B. Shaw Everybody's Political What's What? xxvi. 232 Monstrous world wars and smash-and-grab revolutions. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 145/2 A commercial society dedicated to the smash and grab and one-man fury of enterprise, i960 Observer 24 Jan. 5/1 A sausage team always had to work three-handed... One to do the smash and grabbing. 1965 H. I. Ansoff Corporate Strategy (1968) iii. 39 In reaction to the public outrages at the ‘smash’n-grab imperialism’ of the nineteenth century, business has acquired a sense of social responsibility. 1970 Oxf. Times 23 Oct. 1/6 A smash and grab raid was carried out on the shop of Horns, .shortly before midnight. 1973 W. M. Duncan Big Timer iv. 29 They tell me there was a smash-and-grab at Shader’s, miss. 1978 Daily Mail 25 Jan. 12/2 Robbery with violence.. used to be a ‘snatch’ or a ‘smash-and-grab’.

smashdom ('smaejdsm).

[f.

smash

sb.1

+

-DOM.] The state of being (financially) smashed. 1859 Sala Twice r. Clock (1861) 201 It was indeed the great knell of universal railway smashdom.

smashed (smaejt), ppl. a. [f. smash v} + -ed1.] I. Crushed; broken to pieces. Also fig. and smashed-down, -up. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell 3rd. 1. xv, Smashed glass—and nothing more! 1857 Janet Hamilton Lessons fr. Gt. Biogr. (1859) 289 A pile of smashed pillars and scorched timbers. 1897 Mary Kingsley W. Africa 251 A mass of slimy gray abomination on a bit of plantain leaf—smashed snail. 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 227/1 Smashed (Navy), reduced in rank. 1915 J. Webster Dear Enemy 325 Our poor smashedup doctor. 1918 W. S. Churchill in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1977) IV. Compan. 1. 365 Ought we to build our lives & policy & the future arrangement of the world on the unreal basis of a smashed-up Russia & an invincible Germany. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 109/1 Smashed, to have lost all material possessions. 1938 E. Blunden in Times Lit. Suppl. 8 Oct. 633/2 Nor the dead in smashed-down den. 1982 J. Hansen Gravedigger iii. 24 No abandoned or smashed-up Rollses.

2. Intoxicated, drunk; under the influence of drugs; ‘stoned’, slang (orig. U.S.).

SMASHER 1962 J. D. MacDonald Key to Suite (1968) viii. 139 Are you figuring on getting smashed? 1968 New Scientist 26 Sept. 679/2 The males rapidly acquired a taste for the stuff [5c. alcohol], bent their elbows with great application, and soon became smashed. 1968 A. Young in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 147 Turns out he was half-smashed and half-drunk because he’d smoked some dope when he got up that morning, then on the way to school he’d met up with Wine, so the two of them did up a fifth of Nature Boy, a brand of sweet-wine. 1973 D. Laing Freaks 20 He would get smashed on two and a half pints of Worthington E from the wood, and fall about misquoting the poetry of the beat generation. 1977 New Society 27 Jan. 185/3 If you’re smashed out of your skull all the time on peyote, then even the bizarre patronage of Marlon Brando must seem tolerable.

smasher1 ('smaej3(r)). [f. smash v.1] 1. slang. a. Anything uncommon, extra¬ ordinary, or unusual, esp. unusually large or excellent. 1794 Gentl. Mag. LXIV. 1. 216/1 Smasher.. signifies any thing larger than common, a 1800 in Pegge Suppl. Grose. 1853 Moodie Life Clearings 106 If you make it twelve and a half cents, you’ll have a. smasher [= a full house]. 1894 Daily News 11 Sept. 5/1 Lord Rosebery’s colt, who, if not the ‘smasher’ which his precipitate admirers declared him to be .., is above the average of high-class three-year-olds.

b. A very pretty or attractive woman; an attractive man. 1948 Partridge Diet. Forces' Slang 173 To a Scotsman an attactive girl was ‘a wee smasher’. 1949 J. R. Cole It was so Late 61 ‘Yes. No kidding,’ Don said. ‘But she was easier to look at than anything around here. She was a smasher— straight she was!’ 1957 A. Wilson Bit off Map & Other Stories 74 When the jeunes filles met Rodney, Jackie, .put her head on one side and said, ‘I say, isn’t he a smasher!’ 1963 Security Gazette V. 1. 13/2 The applicant for a shorthand typist’s job—she was a smasher. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds xviii. 458 In a long black wig, tan body paint and my few scraps of metal I look a smasher.

2. colloq. a. A severe or crushing reply, article, review, etc. 1828 Blackw. Mag. XXIV. 189 His reply .. was a complete smasher. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis xxxi, He’s a tremendous hand at a smasher. 1864 Reader No. 100. 674/1 The Edinburgh Review had ‘come down a smasher on Robert Browning’.

b. A bad or damaging fall; a heavy blow. 1829 P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 706 Tom, by the effect of this smasher, lost his equilibrium. 1875 Buckland LogBook 4 The horses will come a terrific smasher. 1897 Daily News 1 June 8/2 Before I could consider,.. I had fetched him the smasher.

3. An appliance or machine which smashes or crushes; spec, a bookbinder’s compressingmachine; a form of embossing-press. 1822 W. James Naval Hist. (1826) I. 47 Its destructive effects .. induced its ingenious inventor to give it the name of smasher. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 44 The folded sheets are sometimes condensed in another American machine called ‘The Smasher’. 1882 J. B. Nicholson Art Bookbinding 44 A powerful embossing press, technically called a smasher.

4. One who smashes. 1884 Pall Mall G. 4 July 1/2 Every day the smashing is postponed .. the more likely will it be that the Mahdi will be the smasher and we the smashed. 1921 [see double-faulter s.v. double a. C. 3]. 1928 B. Nuthall Learning Lawn Tennis vii. 114, I am not an expert smasher myself.

5. attrib. in smasher hat, a slouched hat. Also ellipt. 1891 E. Glanville Fossicker xviii. 156 The Dutchmen stared at him from under the brims of their felt ‘smashers’. 1892 J. R. Couper Mixed Humanity i. 4 A wide-awake, called in South Africa a ‘smasher’. 1894 C. H. W. Donaldson With Wilson in Matabeleland ix. 189 Brown cord jackets and ‘smasher’ hats, bandoliers and rifles. 1899 G. H. Russell Under the Sjambok x. 107 The men.. are content to put a piece of crape round the arm and smasher hat.

SMATCH

780

smashery ('smasjari). [f. smash v.1] smashing or destruction; a state of smash.

A

1830 Galt Lawrie T. in. i. (1849) 84 Having a smashery among his crockery ware. 1849 E. Forbes in Wilson & Geikie Life xiii. 465 It is the most singular mince-meat smashery of about eight feet of shales and chert-bands. 1854 Lever Dodd Family Abroad xxxii, The smaller details are, a universal smashery, with occasional vestiges of that part of the creation consigned to hair-dressers.. and milliners.

smashing ('smaejiij), vbl. sb.1 [f. smash v.1] 1. The action of smash v.1 in various senses. 1821 Galt Ann. Parish xxii, There was such a smashing of the poor weans, as had not been known for an age. 1842 De Quincey Marquess Wellesley Wks. 1858 VIII. 28 The last great political act of Lord Wellesley was the smashing of the Peel ministry in 1834. 1886 Law Times LXXX. 285/1 Mere smashing of windows was held not to be a felonious demolition. 1902 ‘Linesman’ Words Eyewitness 285 That they .. endure smashing after smashing, is .. as admirable as it is marvellous.

2. attrib., as smashing branch, capacity, pcruoer\ smashing-machine, a heavy press used by bookbinders (Knight Diet. Mech. 1875); smashing-press, an embossing-press (Ibid. Suppl. 1884). 1849 Punch XVII. 214 A Bankrupt., to superintend the smashing branch. 1889 Pall Mall G. 19 Feb. 2/3 The smashing capacity even of a lion is .. limited. 1892 Greener Breech-Loader 152 The increased range and smashing power of the large shot.

'smashing, vbl. sb.2 [f. smash v2] (See quot. 1812.) 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet., Smashing, uttering counterfeit money; smashing of queer screens, signifies uttering forged bank notes. 1891 M. Williams Later Leaves xii. 144 When once a man commences smashing or passing, he never gives up the practice.

smashing ('smaejiij), ppl. a.1 [f. smash v.1] 1. That smashes, in various senses. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle i, A heavy smashing thump against our bows. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley xcii, A smashing volley was poured into the squadron. 1853 W. Irving Life & Lett. (1864) IV. 124 Thackeray .. said the Bostonians had published a smashing criticism on him. 1884 Pall Mall G. 23 Oct. 1/2 [To] deal them a smashing blow by an appeal to the country.

2. colloq. Very good; excellent; sensational.

greatly

pleasing;

171911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. vi. 164 When you get dressed up a bit.. you’ll do a smashing business. 1914 W. Owen Let. 27 Dec. (1967) 310, I come in hungry to find a ‘smashin’ dinner. 1922 [see crack sb. 1 d]. 1944 M. Paneth Branch Street 8 When the children came .. to play in the house they thought it ‘smashing’. 1948 Mind LVlI. 418 The fact is, the verification principle is a metaphysical proposition—a ‘smashing’ one if I may be permitted the expression. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 Oct. 564/2 It is not her fault that the publishers, in big letters on the jacket, promise ‘as smashing a last sentence as we can recall!’ That promise is not fulfilled. The final twist is surprisingly unsurprising. 1977 Chem. in Brit. XIII. 118/2 This is a smashing book for anyone interested in surface chemistry and physics to have available on his bookshelf.

Hence manner.

'smashingly

adv.,

in

a

smashing

1884 Pall Mall G. 19 Mar. 2/1 A man.. who is too keen to pause unless he is hit smashingly. 1923 Daily Mail 8 Sept. 6/6 Her volleying is splendid, And smashingly she serves. 1956 ‘C. Blackstock’ Dewey Death iv. 75 He was so smashingly handsome. 1970 Daily Tel. 21 July 13/4 The Ferand evening midis of white organdie, smashingly printed with swirls of grey and cocoa.

'smashing, ppl. a.2 [f. smash v.2] a. Counterfeit, forged. b. Engaged ‘smashing’.

in

smasher2 ('sm£ef3(r)). slang, [f. smash sb.2 or v.2] 1. One who passes or utters counterfeit coin or forged notes.

1857 Borrow Romany Rye xli, My father had paid for the horses with his smashing notes. 1899 Pall Mall G. 15 May 7/3i 98 per cent, of the ‘smashing’ fraternity make silver and not gold money.

1795 Potter Diet. Cant, Smasher, a passer of counterfeit coin. 1796 Colquhoun Police Metropolis 107 The Dealer.. for the most part disposes of it to the utterers, vulgarly called Smashers. 1836 Lincoln Herald 20 Dec. 4/2 Several individuals have been imposed upon by the smashers. 1857 Borrow Romany Rye xli, When I said that my father was a smasher, I meant one who passes forged notes. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 18 Sept. 3/1 Most frequently the single-handed ‘smasher’ contents himself in passing one coin in an evening. fig. 1872 Punch 2 Mar. 97/1 Some smashers have lately been trying to pass the base word ‘cablegram’.

'smash-up. Also (U.S.) smashup. [f. smash sb.1 or v.1] a. A complete smash. Also fig.

2. A counterfeit coin. rare-'. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. (1864) II. 488/2 Every bit of it, every coin,.. was bad - all smashers.

3. A receiver of stolen property, rare. 1929 C. Humphreys Gt. Pearl Robbery i. 60 The goods might be disposed of to a ‘smasher’, that is, a receiver of stolen property.

smasheroo (.smaejs'ru:). slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.). [f. smash sb.1 + -EROO.] A great success. 1948 Life 26 Jan. 47/2 The press snickeringly reported Virginia’s coming-out party, a smasheroo, right down to the 500 bottles of ginger beer, the spots left on the furniture. i960 S. Kauffmann If it be Love in. iv. 211 A smasheroo. All seven reviews were great. 1962 John o' London's 11 Jan. 43/3 In the historical hokum-pokum bracket there’s been one real smasheroo, El Cid. 1967 Punch 29 Nov. 822/2 A smasheroo musical will bring its creators vastly more. The most spectacular example of this in recent years is Hello, Dolly! 1975 New Yorker 17 Mar. 92/1 Is one going to make the burning a big Broadway smasheroo of a scene?

1858 Holland Titcomb's Lett. viii. 74 Follow it, and see how long it will be before you come to a stump and a smash¬ up. 1890 S. W. Baker Wild Beasts I. 16 A hollow bullet., is intended . . to secure an expansion and smash-up of the lead upon impact with the animal. 1892 Cath. News 27 Feb. 5/5 May this smash-up of his facts remain as a warning to him. 1940 W. Empson Gathering Storm 67 Politicians, etc., living now, who made a smash-up of international affairs. 1974 [see military police s.v. military a. 3 b]. 1978 11. Wouk War & Remembrance xxxix. 399 Historians tend to miss the awful simultaneity of the fourfold smashup.

b. spec. A collision, esp. of road or rail vehicles; a crash. Chiefly U.S. 1856 M. J. Holmes 'Lena Rivers 36 The old lady, sure of a smash-up this time, had attempted to rise. 1875 H. W. Shaw Josh Billings' Farmer's Allminax 13 Got the orfull smash up on the rale rode. 1923 M. B. Watts Luther Nichols 354 There had been .. a smash up; a delivery-wagon .. had run head-on into that there stone. 1931 Kansas City Times 3 Oct. e/6 What could run more typically true to form than a smashup when that bee got up a motorist’s pants leg a short time ago ? 1978 J Irving World according to Garp xii. 236 They all drive so fast... If it weren’t for you, I sometimes think they’d be having their smashups right in my living room.

smatch (smaetj), sb.1 Forms: 2 smecch, 3 smech; 4, 6-7 smach, 5-6 smache, smatche, 6 smatch. [ME. smech, smach, app. an alteration of OE.

smsec smack sb.1, under the influence of smatch v.] 1. Taste, smack, flavour; falso, the sense of taste. a 1200 St. Marher. 9 On his hehe hokede neose )?reaste smeorSrinde smoke ut smecche forcuSest. ei smau3te [C. smauhte], 1682 Hickeringill Black Non-Conf. Wks. 1716 II. 152 Revenge .. to a polluted Palate. . relishes and smach’s more sweet.. than Muscadine and Eggs.

b. fig. To smack of something. 01380 Wyclif IVks. (1880) 393 J»e whiche smachen of symony and extorcion. 01380-Sel. Wks. II. 226 Many men wenen pat al pes newe sectis.. smatchen sumwhat of

■v

SMATCHCOCK heresie. 1565 Jewel Reply Harding (i6n) 327 This terme, All, heere smatcheth of spight. 1578 Banister Hist. Man 1. 22 Allowing his description therin to retain and smatche of veritie. 01604 Hanmer Chron. Ireland (1809) 15 The Hebrewes by reason of their peregrination and captivities do smach of the Chaldees, Syriack and Arabick tongues. 1613 Day Festivals viii. (1615) 242 The new Cask will ever smatch of that wherewith it hath beene seasoned.

c. trans. To smack of (something). c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 27 So eche secte smatchij* many synnes. Ibid. 28 A1 t?es J?ree sectis mote nedis smatche errour. 1402 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 64 Sith alle that is not groundid smacchith grete synne. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie 11. xiv. (Arb.) 140 They smatch more the schoole of common players than of any delicate Poet Lyricke or Elegiacke. Ibid. hi. xix. 243 Such as smatch moral! doctrine and teach . . good behauiour.

2. trans. To taste, feel the taste of. Also fig. a 1225 Ancr. R. 94 Hit is a derne healewi pet no mon ne icnoweS pet naueS hit ismecched. Ibid. 106 He smeihte galle on his tunge, uorto leren ancren pet heo ne gruchie neuermore uor none mete, a 1240 Ureisun in O.E. Horn. I. 189 A1 pet ich abbe.. mid mup ispekin oper ismaht. c 1400 Beryn 3 122 He held it nat al foly pat Geffrey did clatir,.. For parcell of his wisdom to-fore he had smaught.

Hence f 'smatching vbl. sb. Obs. a 1225 Ancr. R. 64 Spellunge & smecchunge beoS ine muSe boSe, ase sihSe is iSen eien. c 1230 Hali Meid. 13 Hire fif wittes, sih6e & heringe, smecchunge & smealunge & euch limes felunge.

f 'smatchcock. Obs. rare. [Of obscure origin.] a. A collop. b. A spitchcock. 14.. Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 584 Frixa, a colhoppe, or a smachecok. 1746 Moufet & Bennet's Health's Impr. 276 Either to broil them [sc. lampreys] as Smatchcocks [1655 Spitchcocks], or to bake them.

smatchet ('smaetfit). Sc. Forms: a. 6 smachart, 6, 9 smatcher, -ert, 9 -art, -ard. jS. 7 smatched, 9 smatchet (-it). [Of obscure origin.] An insignificant contemptible person; a chit. a. C1582 Montgomerie Flyting (Tull.) 623 For schismes, and Symonie, pat smachart [Harl. smatched] wes schameit. 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 996 Bot ay the mair this smatcher gettis. The closser garris he keip the yettis. 1846 W. Cross Disruption xxxii, Some other smatchert they call Duncanson it seems is coming. 1878 • Saxon’ Galloway Gossip 98 (E.D.D.), A sort of misleer’t kind of a smatchart. /3. 16.. Montgomerie's Flyting (Harl.) 473 Where that smatched hade sucked, so sair it was to shed it. 1834 Tait's Mag. I. 428/1 These Oxford smatchets too, singing through their noses, in mockery of the Dissenters! 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb (1873) 1 Impident smatchet that he is.

t'smatchless, a. Obs.-' In 3 smechleas. smech smatch s^.1] Devoid of savour.

SMAZKY

781

[f.

a 1225 Ancr. R. 138 Al ure deden, & al pet we wurcheS wiSuten salt, pet is, wisdom, al punches God smechleas.

S-matrix: see S II. n. smatter ('smset3(r)), sb. [f. the vb.] 1. Superficial knowledge; a smattering. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 205 Unskilfulness, bungling,.. slubber, smatter. 1690 Temple Ess. Learning Wks. 1720 I. 297 Other Sciences .. were in a manner extinguish’d .., excepting only a Smatter of Judicial Astrology. 1787 W. Taylor Scots Poems 6 An’ than jog on wi’ rhymin smatter To toom my noddle. 1881 Thompson Proc. U.S. Superintendents' Conv. 35 The mistake lies in the substitution of smatter for knowledge. 1883 Adams College Fetich 27 That worthless smatter of the classics.

2. pi. Scraps, trifles, fragments; small sums. 5c. 1766 A. Nicol Poems 76 He can pray, and tell long scrifts of Greek, And broken smatters of the Hebrew speak. 1808 in Jamieson.

smatter ('smaetafr)), v. Forms: 4 smatre, 4-6 smater, 6 smatyr, 5- smatter. [Of uncertain origin. Similar forms occur in Sw. smattra to patter, crackle, rattle, etc., G. schmettern to dash, resound, etc., but real connexion is very doubtful. In dialects there is also a verb smatter to smash: see the Eng. Dial. Diet.] 1. fa. trans. To dirty, smirch, pollute, defile. Obs. The sense in the Chaucer passage is not quite certain. 13.. in Reliq. Antiq. I. 240 Swarte smekyd smethes smateryd with smoke. 1:1386 Chaucer Pars. T. If 857 Yet wol they Kisse..and smatre [v.r. smater] hem. 1575-6 Durham Deposit. (Surtees) 278 They of St. Margaret’s wolde not smatter ther own church yard with thoise that then died in the plage. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 110 To say the Iesuits are all smattred with Atheisme, I will not. Ibid. 245 More odious stuffe then I haue handled, or am willing to smatter my pen withall.

b. U.S. To splash, splatter. Also intr. 1893 N. & Q. 15 July 45 In the daily reports of the interesting Lizzie Borden murder trial, recently held in Massachusetts, I notice the peculiar use of the words smatter, smattering, and smattered in reference to splashes of blood. 1958 S. A. Grau Hard Blue Sky III. 125 The first heavy drops fell and smattered in the dust. 1974 D. Richards Coming of Winter v. 144 The man had on a long grey coat, smattered with mud.

|2. a. intr. To talk ignorantly or superficially, to prate or chatter, of something. Obs. c 1440 Lovelich Merlin 3167 Where-offen with sorwe smateryth he of ony thing that to vs longeth for to be? c 1522 Skelton Why nat to Court? 711 For I abhore to smatter Of one so deuyllysshe a matter. But I wyll make further relacion. 1571 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 41 Damon smatters as well as he, of crafty

philosophy. 1733 Swift On Poetry 51 Of State-Affairs you cannot smatter, Are aukward when you try to flatter.

fb. Without const. Obs. c 1475 in Wright Songs & Carols (Percy Soc.) 89 Trow ye that they lyst to smatter, Ore ageynst ther husbondes to clatter? 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 1194 How Cownterfet Cowntenaunce .. With Crafty Conueyaunce dothe smater and flater. 1592 Shaks. Rom. & Jul. in. v. 172 Good Prudence, smatter with your gossip, go. a 1661 Holyday Juvenal (1673) 263 Such rules .. your nurses teach children, when they can scarce smatter. 1691 E. Taylor Behmen’s Theos. Phil. 204 No Tongue or Pen can more than smatter, at the recital of the love-inspired Words.

3. a. To have a slight or superficial knowledge or practice of\ to dabble, to be a smatterer (in or at something). 1530 Palsgr. 722/2, I smatter of a thyng, I have lytell knowledge in it. Ibid., He smattereth a lytell of the lawe. *547 Boorde Brev. Health Pref. 2 Fooles and incipient persons.. wyl enterpryse to smatter and to meddle to mynyster medecynes. 1573 L. Lloyd Marrow of Hist. (i6'53)2i8Ifa man can but smatter in six or seven languages he is noted to be a rare fellow. 1805 G. McIndoe Poems 151 That’s no’ to hinder me to smatter . . At making rhyme. 1827 Hood Craniology 39 Just as in making broth they smatter By bobbing twenty things in water. 1882 Harper’s Mag. LXV. 595, I never knew you to smatter.

b. To go through in a superficial manner. 1881 Mahaffy Rep. Irish Schools 26 The system makes it far more lucrative to smatter through all these things than to learn the great subjects.

4. trans. To talk or utter without proper knowledge or proficiency. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Woman iv. ii, The barber smatters Latin, I remember. 1663 Butler Hud. 1. i. 185 In proper terms, such as men smatter When they throw out and miss the matter. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 68. 3/1 So harsh and so mean are the Lines that you smatter. 1819 Metropolis II. 253 A man.. who could at least smatter a little French, i860 Thackeray Lovel i, He smattered words in not a few foreign languages.

5. To dabble in (a subject); to study or learn superficially. 188341 merican XXVI. 281 Then I smatter botany some. 1885 Stevenson Dynamiter Wks. 1907 VI. 191, I have smattered law, smattered letters, smattered geography, smattered mathematics.

knowledge and superficial knowledge—between beginning, and a feeble smattering.

a firm

fb. A slight trace or symptom. Obs. — ' 1763 Phil. Trans. LI 11. 197 The patient, at the usual time for the return of his fit, felt some smattering of his distemper.

c. A small amount or number. 1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 31 Aug. 1442/6 The news that does appear —other than a smattering of inconsequential rubbish—is., thinly disguised opinion. Ibid. 1464/2 There were 10,000 men (and a smattering of women) of letters in the UK. 1975 D. Nobbs Death of Reginald Perrin 154 There was a surprised pause, then a smattering of applause, which grew slowly into a tolerable ovation.

2. The action of discoursing or studying in a superficial manner, rare. 1649 Milton Observ. Articles Peace Wks. 1851 IV. 564 The changing forsooth of Monarchy into Anarchy, sounds so like the smattering of some raw Politician. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. ii. 70, I would advise them to leave off this dabbling and smattering in Philosophy.

'smattering, ppl. a. [f.

smatter v.] fl- ? Ready for smacking or kissing. Obs.~x

a 1450 Mankind (Brandi) 597, I wyll.. geett me a lemman wyth a smattrynge face.

|2. Given to prating or talking. Obs.~x 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 2121, I warne you beware of to moche lyberte;.. [of being] To flatterynge, to smatterynge, . . To claterynge, to chaterynge [etc.].

3. Dabbling; imperfectly learned. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xli. (1887) 236 Simple coniectures of some smattering writers concerning the matter of his traine. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 93 A bookish smattering Grecian. 1683 Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 140, I, who am but a smattering Novice in Divinity.

4. Slight, superficial, imperfect. 41589 Theses Martinianae 31, I haue a prety smattering gift in this Pistle-making. 1604 F. Hering Mod. Defence 32 Hauing attained any little smattering knowledge. 1686 tr. Chardin s Coronat. Solyman 124 Writers of Travels, who understood not the Eastern Languages or at least had but a smattering understanding of ’em. 1818 Moore Fudge Fam. Paris ix. 481 My French .. Is, on the whole, but weak and smattering. 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life xi. ii. 406 That smattering acquaintance with questions of religion, politics, and literature which the world calls ‘well-informed’.

Hence 'smatteringly adv.

smatterer ('smsetar3(r)).

Also

6 smaterar, smatrer, 6-7 smaterer. [f. smatter v.] One who has only a slight or superficial knowledge of (now rare) or in a matter; a dabbler. Also used without const. (a) 1519 Horman Vulgaria 41b, Smaterars or bunglers of physyke. Ibid. 92 b, He is a smaterar of grammar. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 844 The captious smatterers of Rhetorique. 1810 D. Stewart Philos. Ess. 162 A degree of celebrity among the smatterers of science. (b) 1529 More Dyaloge 111. Wks. 244/2 Some proude smaterer in learning. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 342 A man .. would thinke that in versifying he is but a smatterer. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. il iii. i, Smatterers in other mens matters. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 104 More mischiefe cometh from such Smatterers in Physick, than those more ignorant. 1711 Addison Sped. No. 58 jf 13 For the Benefit of our modern Smatterers in Poetry, a 1763 W. King Lit. & Polit. Anecd. (1819) 150 A bare smatterer in the Latin tongue. 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages (1872) III. 283 Chilperic . . was a smatterer in several kinds of literature. 1893 Jessopp Stud. Recluse Pref. p. ix, A clergyman with a cure of souls.. must give up all hopes of being anything but a smatterer in science. (c) 1586 W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 20 Noble Poetry, pittifullie mangled and defaced, by rude smatterers. 1599 H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner D ij, Such hurt.. ensueth by .. medling with medlers or common smatterers. 1637 Gillespie Eng.-Pop. Cerem. 111. viii. 138 Every smatterer among them hath this much in his mouth, a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 213 As Smatterers prove more arrogant and pert, The less they truly understand an Art. 1748 Smollett Rod. Random (1812) 1. 257 No smatterer could read as I had done. 1805 D’Israeli in Smiles Mem.J. Murray {1891) I. ii. 48 Could you secure the numerous Smatterers of this age, you will have an enviable body of subscribers. 1882 Manch. Guard. 5 Sept. 6 Once off a very special line of his own Dr. Richardson is, we fear, no better than a smatterer.

'smattering, vbl. sb. [f. smatter v.] 1. a. A slight or superficial knowledge in or of something. Also without const. (a) 1538 Starkey England 1. i. 17 Such haue only a lytyl smateryng in gud lernyng. 1631 Brathwait Whimzies, Almanack-maker 14 Wherein, trust me, hee ha’s a pretty smattering. 1704 F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 55 Known to every one who has but the least smattering in Distillations. 1806 Beresford Miseries Hum. Life iv. i, Your utter incapability of ever arriving at the slightest smattering in any of the infernal dialects. 1856 N. Brit. Rev. XXVI . 255 It is the only alternative to a superficial smattering in all things. (b) 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 10 Euerie priuate Scholler. . beganne to vaunt their smattering of Latine. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 785 Onely a little smattering of learning he had. 1742 Richardson Pamela IV. 43, I propose to give you a Smattering of the French and Italian. 1836 Marryat Japhet iv, I soon obtained a very fair smattering of my profession. 1874 L. Stephen Hours Libr. (1892) II. ii. 33 He had., given his son the chance of acquiring a smattering of ‘scholarship’. (c) 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 219 It were a great deale better that they had no learning at all and knew their owne ignorance, than any little smattering, vnperfit in his kinde. 1612 Brinsley Ludus Lit. 108 They who haue had but a smattering, or some little beginning. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 3 That dangerous and so much fear’d station, which is call’d Smattering. 1865 Ruskin Sesame 161 There is a wide difference between elementary

1849 Maury in Corbin Life (1888) 52 To see how smatteringly they are taught, look at the great majority of middle-aged women. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 433 As we task ourselves To learn a language known but smatteringly.

’smatter of fact. Also smatterer fact, smatter fact, etc. Repr. colloq. pronunc. of phr. as a matter offact. Cf. fact 6 a. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt iv. 44 Besides, smatter fact, I’ll tell you confidentially. Ibid. vi. 85 Smatter of fact, there’s a whole lot of valuable time lost even at the U., studying poetry and French and subjects that never brought in anybody a cent. 1957 V. S. Naipaul Mystic Masseur iii. 39 But, smatterer fact, I don’t like the idea. 1968 A. Clarke Darkened Room v. 59 Oh, I don’t mind... ’Smatter o’ fact. . I like it. 1972 ‘J. & E. Bonett’ No Time to Kill vi. 67 ’Smatter of fact, my real name’s Gladys, but.. I took to Carmen... ’Sides, now I’ve picked up the lingo, a lot of ’em tell me what good English I speak. 1978 D. Bloodworth Crosstalk vi. 45 S’matter of a fact, that one’s a cinch.

'smattery, sb. [f.

smatter sb. or v.] Smattering;

superficial knowledge. 1892 Sat. Rev. 16 Jan. 77/2 Freedom from sciolism and ‘smattery’.

'smattery, a. [f. smatter 56.] Superficial; of a smattering character. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 14 Feb. 2/2 A small library of the popular literature of the subjects, some of which was as smattery as Madame herself.

smaw, obs. Sc. variant of

small a.

smay (smei), v. Now dial. [Aphetic for dismay v.1 or esmay v.] intr. To shrink, to flinch; to feel disinclined, etc. Hence 'smaying vbl. sb. 1632 Holland Cyrupaedia 8 But Cyrus,.. not smaying at all, ..readily came upon him againe with a reply. 1667 P. Henry Diaries & Lett. (1882) 205 He was of a strong healthy constitution, not smaying for cold in school, like other children, as his master hath told me. 1678 Bp. Croft Second Call 30 Men in Duels.. receive deadly wounds one after another without any smaying, as if they felt them not. 1841in Cheshire and Shropshire glossaries.

smaze (smeiz). [Blend of

smoke sb. and haze

sb.] A mixture of smoke and haze. 1953 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 21 Nov. 1/6 (1caption) Manhattan skyscrapers look like misty dreamcastles as a combination of smoke and haze drifts around them. Called ‘smog’ by most people, the smoke-haze combination might more aptly be termed ‘smaze’. 1953 N. Y. Times 22 Nov. 1/1 From smaze and smog, the city got down to an old-fashioned ocean fog yesterday. 1958 Manch. Guardian 22 Nov. 4/4 Over seven million domestic chimneys emit at low level smoky particles and tarry substances which cause the urban ‘haze’ (or ‘smaze’) in industrial areas, i960 Daily Tel. 16 Nov. 1/8 A Weather Bureau official described the condition as a kind of smog¬ like haze. ‘Call it smaze,’ he said. 1968 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 3 July 3/7 That smoky, cloudy, dirty stuff that’s been hanging around blurring the buildings of Brisbane these last few mornings is not smog, it’s smaze.

t'smazky, a. Obs.~x (Meaning obscure.) 1599 Middleton Micro-cynicon A 5, Auant,.. lie anger thee inough, And fold thy firy-eyes in thy smazkie snufe.

SMEACH smeach, variant of smeech sb. smear (smi3(r)), sb. Forms: i smeoru, -o, smeru, -o, -a, 3-5 smere (4 smer), 7 smeer, 6-7 smeare, 8- smear (9 techn. smeir). [In sense 1 common Teutonic: OE. smeoru, smeru, etc., = OFris. smere (EFris. smiri, smer, NFris. smer, smor, WFris. smoar), MDu. smere, smeer (Du. smeer), and smare,„ smaer, OS. smero (MLG. smere, smer), OHG. smero, smer (MHG. smer, G. schmer) fat, grease, ON. smjgr (Icel. smjer, Sw. smor, Da. and Norw. smor) butter:—OTeut. *smerwa neut. The stem smer-, with different suffix, is represented in Goth, by smairpr neut., fat. Cognate forms outside of Teut. are Lith. smarsas fat, OIr. smir (Gael, smior) marrow, and perh. Gr. p.vpov ointment. The later senses are mainly, if not entirely, f. the vb., like G. schmiere. In OE. the w of the stem appears regularly in the genitive and dative smeor(u)wes, -we, smer(e)wes, -we, etc.]

fl. a. Fat, grease, lard; ointment. Obs. c725 Corpus Gl. U 257 Unguentum, smeoru. £-825 Vesp. Ps. xvi. 10 Smeoru his [hie] bilucun. ciooo Sax. Leechd. I. 74 Cnucije wiS eald smeoru. Ibid. II. 68 Heorotes smera oppe gate op pe gose. c 1200 Ormin 13244 Nohht purrh nan eorpli3 smere, acc all purrh Hali3 Gastess sallfe. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1573 In heuene deu, and erSes smere, [Esau] Gatte him bliscing. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1306 (Kolbing), Newe schon pat man hap bou3t,.. And smere, to smere hem al about. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. vii. (Tollem. MS.), pe fatnesse perof.. is mad white and tumid in to talowe and smere. 1447 Bokenham Lyvys Seyntys (Roxb.) 78 Full of pyke rosen oyle and smere. c 1450 M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 201 Tak pe crotyng of a goot, & old smere of a red swyn. 1611 Cotgr., Oing, (Hogs) grease, or seame; smeare. 1648 Hexham ii, Smeeren,.. to Rub with Grease or Smeare.

fb. A ‘company’ of curriers. Obs. c 1476 in Hors, Shepe, & Ghoos (Roxb.) 4 iv b, A Smere of coryers. i486 Bk. St. Albans f vj b, A Smere of Coryouris.

+ 2. Smeared or dirty condition. Obs.~1 1600 Hosp. Incurable Fooles 79 Neither was he like a tinker in any thing, but only the smeare and collour of his beard.

3. a. A mark, smudge, or stain made by smearing, or suggestive of this; a layer or patch of some substance applied by smearing. 1611 Cotgrave, Macheure, a blacke.. smeare. 1793 Holcroft tr. Lavater's Physiogr. xliv. 225, I see through his disguise, as I should the hand of a great master through the smear of varnish. 1859 Reeve Brittany 50 As the figures were moving, no trace of them is seen [in the stereograph], except a light smear along the shops. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. 1. iii, Roof, and walls, and floor, alike abounding in old smears of flour, red-lead, and damp. 1888 Rutley Rock¬ forming Min. 25 The smears of balsam being ultimately cleaned off with a piece of rag or silk moistened with benzol. fig. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. vm. iv. (1872) III. 20 Here is the unprecise but indubitable fact, as the Prussian Dryasdust has left us his smear of it.

b. A small quantity of some substance prepared for microscopical investigation by being smeared upon a slide, esp. a sample of human or other cells obtained without surgery; vaginal smear, a smear of cells obtained from the vagina, studied to detect cervical cancer of the womb. 1903 Med. Record 7 Feb. 209 Gonococci were demonstrated .. by smears only. 1904 Brit. Med. Jrnl. Sept. 599 A smear from the red marrow in the case appeared identical in character with the picture of the blood film. 1917 Stockard & Papanicolaou in Amer. Jrnl. Anat. XXII. 227 In order to examine the vagina [of a guinea-pig] thoroughly we have introduced a small nasal speculum which facilitates clear view of the interior and a smear is made of any fluid that may be present. Ibid., A study of the vaginal smears from guinea-pigs. 1920 Proc. Nat. Conf. Social Work 1919 58 Dr. Knight’s plan of requiring a smear [for the detection of venereal disease] from every female child coming under their care would seem a wise precaution. 1925 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 8 May 1422/2 The guinea-pig is a particularly suitable animal for such an investigation, on account of the regularity of its estrual cycle. The use of vaginal smear examinations makes it possible to detect the return of estrus in a very exact way. 1928 G. N. Papanicolaou in 3rd Race Betterment Conf. 530 In a case of benign tumor everything you find in a vaginal smear is more or less normal... In contrast to this, in.. cases.. of malignant tumors, there are some definite characteristic changes. 1943-Diagnosis Uterine Cancer vi. 34 Vaginal smears made after the operation continued to show the carcinoma cells in considerable numbers. 1958 Cervical smear [see Papanicolaou]. 1966 Listener 4 Aug. 151/1 Cervical smear centres for the early diagnosis of womb cancer .. have .. been outstandingly successful. 1969, etc. [see Pap s6.4]. 1975 Nature 9 Oct. 480/1 The presence of sperm cells in vaginal smears taken [from rats] the following morning was taken as positive indication of pregnancy.

c. A slanderous or defamatory remark; an attempt to defame by slander, colloq. (orig. U.S.). 1943 Sun (Baltimore) 22 Oct. 8/3 ‘This is an outright smear,’ Stromberg asserted. 1953 E. Simon Past Masters iv. v. 256 Our only hope is to get some sort of official enquiry .. to scotch all the smears. 1958 Spectator 15 Aug. 225/2, I would have expected from Mr. Lehmann not that implied smear but approving pats on both our heads. 1959 Listener 25 June iii 5/1, I became aware of a gentle campaign of smear. 1977 E. Ambler Send no More Roses x. 246 There is the smear, and I’m the subject of it.

f4. slang. A painter; a plasterer. Obs. c 1700 Street Robberies Consider'd, Smeer, a painter. 1725 New Cant. Diet., Smear, a Painter, a Plaisterer, &c. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Smear, a plaisterer.

782

5. a. An application for smearing sheep. 1802 C. Findlater Agric. Surv. Peebles 190 note, He proposes a smear composed of butter, train oil, and turpentine. 1870 G. Armatage Every Man his own Cattle Doctor 559 Arsenical dips and mercurial smears.

b. A product in the making of sugar. 1843 G. R. Porter Sugar Cane (ed. 2) 220 The wet heads are cut off and put into a large mould; these are called bastard heading or smear.

c. Fishing. (See quot.) 1848 Johns Week at Lizard 241 Pollack are often attracted round the boat by what the fishermen call ‘smear’, that is, offal of fish and bilge-water, which they occasionally throw overboard.

d. Pottery. A mixture used for glazing. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2220/1 Smeir, a semi-glaze on pottery; common salt added to an earthenware glaze. 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. in. 221/1 ‘Smears’ and ‘flows’ are glazes applied by volatilization. 1897 [see semi-glaze, SEMI- 7j].

6. In Jazz, a short glissando; a slurring or sliding effect produced by a brass instrument, esp. a trombone. 1926 [see portamento]. 1944 New Yorker 1 July 29/2 Someone may advocate extending a note or cutting it off. The sax section may want to put an additional smear on it. 1959 M. T. Williams Art of Jazz (i960) iv. 36 Those devices that gave .. the illusion of smear and roughness to his tone.

7. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) f smear-gavel (see gavel sb.1), -monger-, (sense 3 c) smear document, interview, job, journalism, merchant, -monger, process, sheet, story; (sense 4 b) smear preparation; smear campaign, a plan to discredit someone or something, or to destroy a reputation, by means of smears; f smear-dock, Sc. -docken, English Mercury; f smear-gelt (see quot.); smearglaze, = 5 d; hence smear-glazed adj.; f smear nep, bryony; smear-shading, a method of shading used in glass-painting; so smearshadow; smear tactics, the tactics used in a smear campaign; smear test, a test for cancer of the womb made by microscopic examination of a smear (see sense 3 b); smear-word, a word which in spite of its literal meaning is used to imply something derogatory. 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 7 May 1/5 He called the Lobby Committee ‘a snooping committee’ which was engaged in ‘a smear campaign’, a campaign of ‘terror and intimidation’ against newspapers and magazines which dare to criticize activities of the New Deal. 1978 N. Freeling Night Lords vii. 31 We’ll get accused of a smear campaign against RollsRoyce cars. C1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 162 Mercurial, smerowo[r]t (smerdocke). 1775 Tippermalluch Receipts 12 (Jam.), Rub the person over with the juice of Allgood (called in Latin Bonus Henricus, others call it the Smear-docken). 1940 Sun (Baltimore) 18 Oct. 22/6 This was the pamphlet attacked by Republicans as a ‘smear document’. 1977 M. Walker National Front vii. 183 Tyndall denied responsibility for the smear document. 13 .. Eng. Gilds (1870) 359 Euerych sellere of grece and of smere and of talw3 shal.. to pe kynge a peny, in pe name of smergauel. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Smear gelt, a bribe. 1893 E. A. Barber Pottery Gs? Porcelain of United States vi. 82 Glaze, which in the kiln would vaporize and form a slight deposit on the ware, technically known as ‘smear’ glaze. 1971 L. A. Boger Diet, World Pottery & Porcelain 320/1 Smear glaze was a development following salt glaze and is frequently mistaken for it. 1963 Times 26 Jan. 11/7 The delicately smear-glazed porcelain more usually associated with small Victorian statuary and so suggestive of marble that it was known as parian ware, i960 New Statesman 23 Jan. 96/1 But the elaborate smear interviews and paragraphs in Sydney were nobody’s mistake, but just the boys obeying orders. 1970 E. Ambler Intercom Conspiracy iii. 73 It was a smear job hashed up to discredit one or another of his clients’ competitors. 1967 Punch 8 Feb. 190/2 This touched the muddiest depths of smear journalism, full of cheap sneers and nasty innuendo. 1963 Times 15 May 9/2 The finding on this point was a bitter disappointment to the smear merchants. 1297 Placita coram Rege m. 11 (1897) 65 Johannes le Smeremongere. 1304 in Cal. Pat. Rolls 32 Edw. I, 284 Ralph le Smermonger. 1967 Punch 8 Feb. 190/2, I read with great satisfaction the editorial.. on the smearmongers of the Press and other vehicles of opinion. a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 43 Viticella, smernepe. 1904 Brit. Med. Jrnl. Sept. 602 Smear preparations were also made in order that the form of the individual cells might be more closely studied. 1958 Times 26 Feb. 9/5 Mr Gaitskell’s intention was, I imagine, to minimize the value of the report and rob it of its influence .., another application of the now well-known ‘smear’ process. 1847 Winston Hints Glass Painting (1867) 284 A stipple shadow is .. always more transparent than a smear shadow of equal depth. 1848 - Glass Painting (1865) 80 The first and oldest kind of shading may be called Smear shading, and the second Stipple shading. 1951 Observer 16 Dec. 7/4 He is instructed to dismiss five people.. accused by a smearsheet of Communist sympathies. 1947 New Statesman 22 Nov. 404/3 The Garry Allighan affair has done great harm in confirming in the minds of thoughtless people the smear stories about politicians that are put about by people who are not thoughtless. 1955 ‘E. C. R. Lorac’ Ask Policeman v. 56 They didn’t want the Sunday papers to write up Rosetta Towers as a smear story. 1945 West Va. Rev. Nov. 40/1 In recent years there has developed in his country a group of press agents who have adopted ‘smear’ tactics. 1974 Times 14 Feb. 22/3 In the old days they used to be called smear tactics but this year.. mini-Watergates. 1950 Consumer Rep. XV. 367/1 The smear test for uterine cancer is done by scraping tissue .. from the rear of the vagina. 1977 Spare Rib May 19/1 Yearly smear tests are important as they give early warning of a disease which takes 15 years to develop. 1938 I. Goldberg Wonder of Words xv. 298 The term Bolshevik

SMEAR .. becomes so encrusted with non-political significance that it loses any sharpness of outline.. and grows into what has been called ‘a smear-word’ —a word that takes on whatever emotional color the speaker may .. desire. 1961 Twentieth Cent. Jan. 87 ‘Philology’, that smear-word among students everywhere.

smear (smra(r))’, v. Forms: a. 1 smirian (smiran), 3 smirien, 4 smyrie. Pa. t. 1,3 smirede (1 -ide), 4 smired, smyrede. Pa. pple. 3 i-smiret. ]3. 1 smyrian (-igan), 1-3 smurien. Pa. pple. 3 ismured. y. 1 smerian, 3 smeorie, 4 smerie; 3 smeren, 4-6 smere (4 smer), 6-7 smeere, Sc. smeir, 7 smeer; 6-7 smeare, 6- smear. Pa. t. 1-4 smerede, 3-4 smered (5 -yd), 4 smerd. Pa. pple. 2-3 i-, 2-4 y-smered (4 -smerd), 3, 6 smered (Sc. 6 smerit, smeiret). [Common Teutonic: OE. smir-, smyr-, smerian (also smir-, smerwan), f. smeoru, smeru smear sb., = OFris. *smera (EFris. smere, smiiri, NFris. smer, smerri, smore, WFris. smarre, fsmerre), MDu. smeren, smieren, smaren (Du. smeren), MLG. smeren (schmarn, schmirn), OHG. smirwan (MHG. smirwen, smirn, G. schmieren, fschmereri), ON. smyrva, -ja (MSw. smyrja, smoria, Sw. smorja; MDa. smorie, Da. smore).] 1. trans. To anoint with oil, chrism, etc., as a symbolic ceremony. In later use only with contemptuous force. C825 Vesp. Ps. lxxxviii. 21 In ele haljum minum ic smirede hine. c 1250 Gen. £f Exod. 2457 Cristene foie .. ben smered Sor quiles he liuen, WiS crisme and olie. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9377 Vr lige louerd pat yeled is, & ismered to Ihesu Crist, a 1300 Cursor M. 7377 Vn-to king pou sal him smer. 1340 Ayenb. 93 Of pise oyle byep ysmered )>o pet god her ymad kynges and lhordes of pe wordle. 1550 Crowley Inform. & Petit. Sel. Wks. (1872) 154 So long as ydle bealies may come to the bishope and be smered for money. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxx, What will be left to the descendant .. of Charlemagne,.. save to be smeared with oil at Rheims, and to eat their dinner under a high canopy? fig. C825 Vesp. Ps. xliv. 8 Smirede Sec god .. mid ele blisse. a 1200 Vices & Virt. 33 For Si haueS Sin lauerd ismered pe mid Sa ele of blisse.

2. a. To anoint, to rub or daub (a part of the body) with oil, grease, or some similar preparation. Said also of the oil, etc. In later use with suggestion of sense 4. C825 Vesp. Ps. cxl. 5 Ele .. synfulles ne smireS heafud min. 971 Blickling Horn. 69 Maria genam an pund deorwyrpre smerenesse, & smerede paes Haelendes fet. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 17 J?onne Su faeste, smyra pin heafod, and pweah pine ansyne. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 53 Alswa do6 monie of pas wimmen heo smurieS heom mid blanchet, pet is pes deofles sape. c 1305 Judas Iscariot 126 in E.E.P. (1862) 110 Wip pis swete oignement heo smired oure louerd per. C1315 Shoreham 1. 374 For oyle smerep pane champion, bat me ne schel him festne. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 11. 775 The Groom .. stript for Wrestling, smears his Limbs with Oyl. 1717 Prior Alma 11. 454 The Indian Fair Is nicely smear’d with Fat of Bear. 1772-84 Cook's Voy. (1790) I. 33 Their., foreheads.. being generally smeared with brown and red paints. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi xi. 231 Their foreheads were smeared with white flour. 1885 Clodd Myths 1. vi. 105 They smear themselves with black paint in memory of that tradition. fig. 971 Blickling Horn. 73 5if we nu willap ure saula smerian mid mildheortnesse ele. a 1225 Ancr. R. 244 Beoden smurie6 him mid swete oluhnunge, auh teares prikie6 him.

fb. To prepare (a dead body) with unguents before burial. Obs. c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xiv. 8 [Hia] forecuom to smiriane [Rushw. smiranne, Cp. smyrianne, Hatt. smeriene] lichoma min on bebyrjennise. CI055 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 299 Mid pam man smyraS ricra manna lie. 01225 Ancr. R. 372 Nicodemus brohte smuriles uorte smurien mide ure Louerd. £-1250 Gen. & Ex. 2442 Iosep dede hise lich .. Wassen, and riche-like smeren.

3. a. To anoint medicinally; to treat (a wound, etc.) with a copious application of some thick or greasy medicament. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. John ix. n Monn .. lam worhte & smiride ejo mino. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 114 Smure pact sar jelomelice mid. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 79 An helendis Mon .. wesch his wunden mid wine and smerede mid oli. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1600 pe engles wiS smirles of aromaz smireden hire wunden. a 1290 5. Eng. Leg. I. 277 He let is heued ofsmyte, and smeorie [Harl. smyrede] him with is blod. a 1300 Cursor M. 13 547 Wit pis vn-to pe erth he spitt,.. And smerd par-wit his oper ei. 14.. Sir Beues 3857 + 16 (MS. C.), [He] smeryd hur with oyntment. 1807 Med. Jrnl. XVII. 446 Mischief must extend, although the injured parts be smeared with turpentine. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvi. 331 We were in the habit of smearing it [w. the skin] with zinc ointment for several days successively. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vii. 269 We smear him with grease and gunpowder in lieu of sulphur. fig. a 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 7 And bringue with him pe eoyle of milce.. to smeorie pare-with and bringe of pine bine fader and alle his.

b. To rub (sheep) with a mixture fitted to keep wet out of the fleece and prevent disease or vermin. c 1395 Plowman's Tale ill. i. (Thynne, 1542), Ne Christes apostels were never so bold No such lordshippes to hem enbrace; But smeren hir sheep and kepe hir fold. 1561 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 94 Sic sanctitude was Sathanis sorcereis, Christis sillie scheip and sobir flok to smeir. 1684 [see smeared ppl. a. 2]. 1796 Statist. Acc. Scotl. XVIII. 570 In .. November the whole stock is smeared; a practice which .. is found to be.. beneficial. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1115 When the skin of sheep is covered with such

SMEAR-CASE substances they are said to be smeared. 1884 L. F. Allen New Amer. Farm Bk. 439 Smearing, or salving sheep, is a custom little practiced in this country.

4. a. To spread, daub, cover thickly or in patches, with some unctuous, greasy, sticky, or dirty substance. Sometimes said of the substance. Also rarely with in. (a) 971 Blickling Horn. 73 pzet nasfre ne afulaj> past mid hire gesmered bip. c 1200 Ormin 994 Bulltedd brasd .. smeredd wel wipp elesasw. c 1330 Arth. Merl. 599 (Kolbing), Were 3our werk ysmerd per wip, Euer it wold stond in grip. 1340 Ayenb. 60 Hy smeriep pane way of helle mid hony. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 68 The fende alweye wolde smere her in the face with the brennynge piche, grese, oyle, lede, and terre. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 88 Her shone smered wyth talowe. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 196 These they smere or annoint with the pytche of molten Bitumen. 1614 Gorges Lucan iv. 161 All their bits were smeared ore With dusty dryed frothy gore. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 727 A Vessel of huge bulk .. Smeard round with Pitch. 1744 Berkeley Siris §9 Stems of trees, smeared over with tar, are preserved thereby from being hurt by.. goats. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 123 The unctuous substance with which it is smeared. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm, xxxiv, The fatal weapon was found in the chamber, smeared with blood. 1877 Black Green Past, i, I don’t suppose he smears his hands with treacle. (b) I592 Arden of Feversham v. i, Sweete Arden, smeard in bloode and filthy gore. 1607 Shaks. Cor. 1. vi. 69 If any such be heere.. that loue this painting Wherein you see me smear’d. 1807 j. Barlow Columb. v. 204 His troops .. smear their paths in blood.

b. Without const. a 1225 Ancr. R. 378 He strecchefi him touward us ase ping pet is ismured. 13 .. Seuyn Sages 1151 (W.), In ech [hole] he pelt a dosele, And smerede the holes al aboute. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxvi. (Bodl. MS.), Men vseth to smere pe iointe of an Elephant to dry pe better. 1531 Tindale Exp. 1 John (1537) 82 One.. had nede of greace to grease shues or smeere bootes. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii, Let him feed on slime That smeares the dungeon cheeke. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1638) 302 Other Temples have other Pagods;.. some of them are painted or smeered black; others red. 1763 Churchill Proph. Fam. Poems 1767 I. 90 Slugs, pinched with hunger, smear’d the slimy wall. 1805-6 Cary Dante, Inf. xxi. 8 Tenacious pitch, to smear Their unsound vessels. 1900 Daily News 4 June 6/2 The youngsters were smeared to the eyes.

c. fig. (a) Chiefly const, with, and usually implying something base or discreditable; (b) (without const.), to attempt to discredit (a reputation, etc.) (colloq., orig. U.S.). 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Jas. II. 37 Why are you smeared with the vaine pleasures of this world? 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 296 Sche smeiris baith his mynd and eires with thir wordes. 1598 Barkcley Felic. Man (1631) 171 Happi’s the man . .whom glory does not smeere With lying drosse. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. 11. iii. If the least soyle of lust smeers my pure love. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. xm. lvii. 243 After Nights soot smears Heav’n, day gilds its face. 1847 Helps Friends in C. 1. iv. 63 People smearing each other over the stupid flattery. 1879 ‘E. Garrett’ Ho. by Works II. 165 She would not smear his memory by any falsehoods now. 1936 W. Irwin Propaganda e cure is resting and smering by somme vnguementes. 1611 Cotgr., Linition, a smearing, annointing,.. rubbing. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 247 Smearing, daubing, c 1790 Imison School Arts II. 54 Lay a piece of clean paper upon it, to prevent smearing. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1154 They are collected together,.. in order to undergo the operation of smearing or salving. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. xxxvi. (1856) 326 A smearing of red sealing-wax. 1893 Handbk. Brit. Pottery & Pore. (Mus. Pract. Geol.) 58 Smearing.. is produced by the evaporation, or volatilisation, of certain glazes in closed saggers. 1893 [see dagga2]. 1948 E. Rosenthal African Switzerland iii. 34 Smearing., is a Basuto custom. You may have noticed that all the native huts are covered on the outside with a layer of mud, and this again is worked into all kinds of pretty and complicated patterns. That is smearing. attrib. 1814 Scott Wav. xlv, The hovel.. seemed to be intended for what is called, in the pastoral counties of Scotland, a smearing-house. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1117 The sheep should be laid on the smearing-stool. 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 397 The smearing material is a salve composed of tar and butter. 1940 G. Seldes Witch Hunt p. xiii, But surely there ought to be some resort to the American spirit of fair play in combating underhanded smearing campaigns.

2, In Jazz, the production of a smear or glissando. 1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz ii. 61 The subtle slurring and smearing of to-day would have astonished some of the early players. 1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1958) vi. 66 Filhe .. contrasted his low-register looping and smearing with Bab Frank.

smearing ('smisrii)), ppl. a.

[f. smear v. + In Jazz, pertaining to a smear or slurring effect, b. Slanderous. -ING2.]

a.

1958 P. Gammond Decca Bk. of Jazz iv. 57 The smearing, broad glissandi of Christian’s trombone. a 1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1976) II. 627 We also have to overcome something else—the stream of anti-government propaganda, smearing, snarky, derisive, which comes out of Fleet Street.

'smearless, a. [f.

smear $6.] Free from smears;

not smeary. 1885 Spon Mech. Own Book (1893) 461 The surface.. is smearless, hard, and brilliant.

t smearwort. Obs. Forms: i smeoru-, smerowyrt, 4 smerowo(r)t, 5 smerw(o)rt, smerewourt. [OE. smeoruwyrt (see smear sb. and wort sb.), — MDu. smere-, smeerworte (Du. smeerwortel), MHG. smerwurz {G. schmeerwurz, schmerwurz).] One or more plants of doubtful identity (see quots.). c 725 Corpus Gloss. U 98 Ueneria, smeoruwyrt. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 114 Deos wyrt pe man aristolochiam, & oSrum naman smerowyrt nemneS. C1325 [see smear sb. 7]. 14.. Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 565 Aristologia, Smerwort. Ibid. 596 Mintuosa, Smerwort. 01400-50 Stockholm Med. MS. fol. 203 Mercurie or papwourtz or pe more smerewourt: mercurialis. c 1450 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 193 Unctuosa,.. selhele uel smerwrt.

smeary ('smiari), a. Also 6 smery, smearye, 6-7 smeerie, smearie. [f. smear sb. or v. Cf. NFris. smeri, smorig, WFris. smoarrich, smoarch, MDu. smerich (Du. smerig), MLG. smerich (LG. smerig, G. dial, schmerig, G. schmierig), MSw. smorug (Sw. smorjig), MDa. smorugh, -ig.] 1. Marked or characterized by smears; showing smears or dirty marks; bedaubed, begrimed. 01529 Skelton Ware the Hawke 324 Masyd, wytles, smery smyth, Hampar with your hammer vpon thy styth. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis iii. (Arb.) 78 You shal be so gaunted in hunger, That youre smeary tabils you wyl most greedelye swallow. 1625 Purchas Pilgrims 11. 1769 The said place being all black, smeerie, and foule therewith. 1844 Thackeray in Fraser's Mag. XXIX. 710 The Wilkie-like pictures of Mr. Fraser, with their peculiar smeary manner. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect, xliii, A smeary newspaper long out of date. 1883 D. C. Murray Hearts I. 226 A crying woman whose eyes were actually growing smeary whilst she wept.

2. Tending to smear or soil; of a greasy or unctuous nature. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis Ded. (Arb.) 9 That bast theyre papers with smearie larde sauoring al too geather of thee frying pan. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 35 b/1 Her sweat is fattye, axungiouse, and smearye. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xi. If 23 Trane-Oyl.. [makes the ink] dull, smeary and unpleasant to the Eye. 1708 Rowe Royal Convert iii, A smeary foam works o’er my grinding jaws. 1718-Lucan's Pharasalia ill. 1015 The smeary Wax the bright’ning Blaze supplies. 1757 tr. HenckeVs Pyritologia 317 If again exposed to the air, it becomes smeary, moist, and fluid. 1816 W. Smith Strata Identified 9 Mouldering when dry; smeary when wet. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 252 A good housekeeper who does not like to set her butter on the table in a smeary state, keeps it in summer on ice.

SMEAT fsmeat, a. Obs. [OE. smite, of obscure origin.]

f Smectymnist, obs. variant of next.

Of gold: Refined, pure.

1648 E. Symmons Vind. Chas. I Pref., He then, and the Smectymnists since, and Pirn after them, took great pains.

C725 Corpus Gloss. O 24 Obrizum, smaetegold. a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 27 Dec. 8 Hie wurdan sona to pam golde pe man hateS abritsum, paet is smaete gold, a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1070, be kynehelm .. eall of smeate golde. a 1200 St. Marker, n Guldene 3erde alre gold smeatest. 01225 Leg. Kath. 1655 Glistinde & gleaminde, as hit were seoluer oSer gold smeate.

smeath (smi:0).

local. Also 7 smieth, 7, 9 smethe, 9 smeeth. [Obscurely related to smee.] 1. The smee. Also smeeth duck. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxv. 67 The gossander.. With whom the widgeon goes, the golden-eye, the smeath. 1634 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 17 Two pellstarts, two smeathes, two shovelars. Ibid. 23 Smeathes he keeps in a hut ..covered with a net. 1674 Josselyn Voy. New Engl. 101 But of Ducks there be many more sorts, as .. Puets, Plovers, Smethes, Wilmotes [etc.]. 1893 Cozens-Hardy BroadNorf. 47 Smee—Widgeon, Smeeth Duck.

2. U.S. In New Jersey: The pintail duck. 1888 G. Trumbull Names to it as Smethe.

SMEEK

784

Portr. Birds 38 Others refer

f Smec(k, abbrev. forms of Smectymnuus: see Smectymnuan. 1663 Butler Hud. I. iii. 1166 The Handkerchief about the neck Canonical Crabat of Smeck. 1664 Ibid. 11. ii. 524 Remember how .. We .. New-modell’d th' Army, and Cashier’d All that to Legion Smee adher’d.

smec(c)he, obs. forms of smatch v. smechfe, obs. forms of smeech sb. smeck, var. schmeck.

Smectymnuan (smek'timnjuisn), sb. and a. [f. Smectymnuus (-vvs), a fictitious name made out of the initials of the five authors of An Answer to a Book, etc. (1641). The writers thus indicated were Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Young, Matthew Newcomen, and William Spurstow. The book was written as a reply from the Presbyterian side to Bishop Hall’s Humble Remonstrance.]

A. sb. One or other of the authors of the work published under the name of Smectymnuus; also, one who accepted the views of these writers. 1646 Bp. Maxwell Burden Issachar 56 A sufficient evidence, to evince this truth against the Smectymnuans. 1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v., From thence they and their Followers were called Smectymnuans. 1733 Neal Hist. Purit. II. 400 The Smectymnuans admit that our blessed Saviour taught his disciples a form of prayer. 1874 Masson Milton I. p. xxx, There were other pamphlets, of retort and rejoinder, between Hall and the Smectymnuans, in all of which Milton advised and assisted the five Smectymnuans.

B. adj. Pertaining to, connected with, or characteristic of the Smectymnuans. 1673 S. Parker Reproof Reh. Transp. 182 How little., sufficiently appears.. by the great Smectymnuan labours. 1678 Pol. Ballads (Wilkins, i860) I. 205, I would as soon turn back to mass.. As buckle to Smectymnuan laws. 1882-3 Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. II. 1417 He was one of the chiefs in the Smectymnuan Controversy with Bishop Hall in 1641. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 329/1 The famous Smectymnuan pamphlet in reply to Hall was mainly Young’s.

'smectic, a. (and sb.)

[ad. L. smecticus (Pliny), ad. Gr. ofjLrjKTLKosy f. o/jit/x^Lv to wipe, cleanse; cf. smegma.] 1. Cleansing, abstersive, detergent. rare. 1675 Evelyn Terra (1676) 40 Smooth to the touch, as the most Smectic Earths and Maries themselves. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 124 The Smectic and Figuline Earths. 1858 Mayne Expos. Lex., Smecticus, cleaning;.. smectic.

2. Physical Chem. Applied to (the state of) a mesophase (a liquid crystal) in which the molecules all have the same orientation and are arranged in well-defined planes. Also as sb.y a smectic substance. Cf. nematic a. [ad. F. smectique (G. Friedel 1922, in Ann. de Physique XVIII. 276).] 1923 [see nematic a.]. 1936 Mineral. Abstr. VI. 237 In addition to the fuller’s earths and smectic clays the series includes montmorillonite, confolensite, [etc.]. 1940 Glasstone Text-bk. Physical Chem. vii. 505 In the smectic state normal liquid flow does not occur: the movement is of a gliding nature, in one plane. 1971 New Scientist 14 Jan. 63/2 Once the smectic mesophase had formed, the continuous or ‘closed’ bimolecular sheets would isolate the aqueous compartments from their neighbours. 1974 Nature 25 Jan. 178/3 As yet uncategorised smectics probably exist, for example, the smectic phase of 4'-n-octyl-4cyanobiphenyl described by Gray.

Il'smectis. rare. [ad. Gr. a kind of fuller’s earth.] (See quots. and next.) 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Smectis,.. Fullers-Earth. 1783 Phil. Trans. LXXIII. 227 It feels like hard soap, or rather like that kind of stone which the mineralogists call Smectis. 1794 Sullivan View Nature II, How is a clay to be distinguished from the smectis or soap-rock? 1905 Oban Advertiser 19 Aug. 3 By different authors, the ‘lapis nephriticus’ has been considered as an agate, a jasper, a gypsum, and a smectis.

smectite ('smsktait). Min. [See prec. and -ite1 2 b.] a. A kind of fuller's earth. Hist.

Now Obs. exc.

1811 J. Pinkerton Petrol. I. 278 [Iconite contains] a combination which nearly corresponds with the smectite of Cimolus. 1868 Watts Diet. Chem., Smectite, a term., applied .. more particularly to an argillaceous mineral from Cilly in Lower Styria,.. and another from Conde in France. 1932 Amer. Mineralogist XVII. 198 It seems hardly worth while to retain the two names smectite and montmorillonite for what appears to be the same mineral.. . It seems in the best interests of science to continue the name montmorillonite, and to drop that of smectite. 1942 Ibid. XXVII. 810 The differential thermal curve for the smectite sample.. is like that of montmorillonite... This is in agreement with Kerr’s.. conclusion [prec. quot.] that smectite is not a valid species because of its similarity to montmorillonite.

b. = montmorillonoid. So smectite group = montmorillonite group s.v. montmorillonite b. I955 G. Brown in Clay Minerals Bull. II. 296 Smectites is the name proposed for the minerals at present variously known as montmorillonoids, montmorins, minerals of the montmorillonite group and frequently even montmorillonites. Smectites are defined as minerals composed of 2:1 or triphormic layers, which, when the readily exchangeable cations are replaced by Na+ and the material is saturated with glycerol, give a basal spacing of 18A approximately. 1957 R. Greene-Kelly in R. C. Mackenzie Differential Thermal Investigation of Clays v. 140 By far the most abundant dioctahedral smectite is montmorillonite. 1966 [see montmorillonite a]. 1975 Amer. Mineralogist LX. 66/1 The significant chemical and physical properties of smectites often depend on the nature of the interlayer exchange ions. 1979 Sci. Amer. Apr. 78/1 {caption) Smectite group of clay minerals, formerly called the montmorillonite group, has extremely fine-grained, irregular and thin-layered crystals.

smeddum ('smedsm).

Forms: i smeodoma, -uma (smetuma ?), smed(e)ma, smidema, 8 smedim, smeadum, 8-9 smeddum (9 -am). [OE., of obscure origin.] 1. A fine powder; esp. fine flour. (For other late examples see smitham.) C725 Corpus Gloss. P 497 Polenta, smeodoma. 0900 Leiden Gloss. 74 Simila, smetuma. ( 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 258 Semin Sas wyrte butan wyrttruman, cnuca mid smedman. Ibid. II. 132 Senim acrinde, & drige, & wire to smedman. 1808 Jamieson, Smeddum, the powder or finest part of ground malt; also called malt smeddum.

b. A powder used for medical purposes, or as a vermin-killer. 1786 Burns To a Louse v, O for some rank, mercurial rozet, Or fell, red smeddum. 1828 Examiner 35/1 We cannot touch precious ointment without scenting of smeddam.

c. Mining. = smitham 2. 1853 Ure Diet. Arts (ed. 4) II. 37 ‘Undressed smeddum,’ being what has passed through the sieve of the hotchingtub. Ibid., ‘Smeddum,’ after being dressed or cleared from all foreign substances.

2. Sc. Spirit, pith, ‘go’; alertness of mind and vigour in action; energy. 1790 D. Morison Poems 4 He has nae smeadum. 1791 Learmont Poems 215 A guidly band Did smedim shaw on ilka strand. 1821 Galt Ann. Parish xxx. Lacking somewhat of that birr and smeddum that is the juice and flavour of books of that sort. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 129, I was fairly tongue-tied; For I had na the smeddum to chide her. 1897 Crockett Lads' Love iii, He had been harmlessly expending all the pith and smeddum of his blows upon a.. bolster.

smedy, obs. Sc. variant of smithy sb. smee1 (smi:). dial, and U.S. [Prob. a later form of smeath. It is not clear how either form is related to early mod.Du. smeente (Du. smient), LG. sment widgeon, G. schmi-, schmii-, schmeiente a small wild duck.] 1. A name variously assigned to the smew, widgeon, pochard, and scaup-duck. 1668 Charleton Onomast. too Boscas Mergens, the Diving Widgeon; in Norfolcia, the Smee. 1889 H. Saunders Brit. Birds 463 The Smew, or Smee—sometimes called Nun .. is the smallest member of the genus. 1893 [see smeath 1 ].

b. stnee-duck, a pochard. 1862 Johns Brit. Birds 516 On some parts of the coast of Norfolk I found that they are included with the Wigeon under the common name of ’Smee-Duck’.

2. U.S. In New Jersey: = smeath 2. 1888 G. Trumbull Names & Portr. Birds 38.

Smee2 (smi:). The name of Alfred Smee (1818-1877), English surgeon and experi¬ menter, used attrib. and in the possessive to designate an obsolete type of primary cell or battery he invented (Phil. Mag. (1840) XVI. 315), consisting of zinc and platinum (or platinized silver) electrodes in dilute sulphuric acid. 1852 F. S. Williams Iron Roads 314 Great inconvenience arose from the spilling of the acid solution used in Smee’s batteries. 1873 F. Jenkin Electr. & Magnetism xv. 215 The Smee battery is better than the copper zinc battery. 1950 G. W. Vinal Primary Batteries i. 16 Smee’s cell of 1840 avoided.. the difficulty experienced with polarization in other single-fluid batteries. Ibid., The electromotive force of the Smee cell was low, about 0 5 volt, which was its principal disadvantage.

smeech (smi:tf), sb.

Now dial. Forms: 1-2 smee, 2-4 smech, 3-4 smeche, 9 smeech, smeach.

[OE. smee, variant of smic, smyc (see from the stem of smeocan smeek equivalent northern forms see Smoke; dense or thick vapour, etc. context.

smitch sb.), v. For the smeek s6.] Also in fig.

Also in mod. south-western dial, ‘fine dust’, ‘stench’, etc.: see the Eng. Dial. Diet. C825 Vesp. Hymns xii. n Claene jeleafa coelende slepes smee semetjie. c 888 K. /Eflred Boeth. xxvii. §3 Hi losiaS swa swa sceadu oS8e smee. ciooo Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) ci. 3 Dagas mine gedroren syndan, smece selice. a 1200 Moral Ode in O.E. Horn. I. 177 Eure per is vuel smech, pusternesse and eie. C1250 Old Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 28 We mowe sigge pet stor signefieth pe herte, and se smech luue of gode. c 1315 Shoreham iii. 192 )xm ert a sot, and my3t do bet, Ans so si3st yn pe smeche. 1340 Ayenb. 66 A1 alsuo huanne me aly3t pet uer, lhapp pet smech efter pe layt. 1847 Halliw., Smeech,. . obscurity in the air, arising from smoke, fog, or dust. South and West. 1875 M. G. Pearse D. Quorm 38 A faggot o’ green furse ’pon the fire, .fillin’ the house with smeach and smoke. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. 684 Your bakehouse chimley do make such a smeech.

smeech, v. Now dial. Also 9 smeetch, smeechy. [f. prec.] 1. trans. To blacken or soil with smoke. ? Obs. 1611 Cotgr., besmeere.

Patrouiller,

to

smeech,

begrime,..

2. intr. To send off smoke, vapour, or the like; to smoke. 1837- in south-western dialects.

3. trans. To perfume or scent. 1897 F. T. Jane Lordship xxvii, The hawthorn smeetched the air all round.

Hence 'smeecher; smeeching vbl. sb. 1611 Cotgr., Patrouilleur, a smeecher, begrimer, besmearer. Ibid., Patrouillement, a smeeching, begriming, besmearing. 1907 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 5 Oct. 210 (Cent. Diet. Suppl.), While the kiln is in operation, the escape of the arsenic fumes can be detected here and there in the form of little jets, which the workmen describe as ‘smeeching’.

smeek, sb. Latterly Sc. and -fnorth. Forms: a. 2-5 smeke, 3 smee, 4 smek, 5-6 smeik, 5, 8smeek. jS. 2-4 smike, 5 smyk(e. [The more northern forms representing OE. smee and smic, smyc: see smeech sb. and smitch si.1] 1. Smoke arising from burning or smouldering matter; reek. Also in fig. context. Also in mod. Sc. use, ‘a strong or foul smell’. a. c 1200 Ormin 1088 J>aer wass swa mikell smee Off recless att tatt allterr. C1250 Moral Ode 9 in E.E.P. (1862) 22 Ne myht ic isen be-fore me for smeke ne for myste. c 1325 Metr. Horn. 104 Rekeles .. gifs smek that smelles wele, And fer men mai the smek fele. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xix. 18 The smeek steyde vp of it as of a furneys. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy 1. 191 But inwarde brent of hate .. The hoote fyre, & fit ther was no smeke. £*1440 Pallad. on Husb. vn. 69 Yf the smeke Perpetuel vppon their dwellyng reke. c 1590 Montgomerie Sonn. xxv. 2, I grein to sie the sillie smiddy smeik. 01774 Fergusson Farmer's Ingle Poems (1845) 35 Heathery truffs the chimney fill And gar their thickening smeek salute the lift. 1785 Burns Vision iii, The spewing reek, That fill’d, wi’ hoast-provoking smeek. The auld clay biggin. 1874 W. Allan Hame-Spun Lilts 160 Wi’ smeek, I thocht they’d baith been smored. j8. 01200 Moral Ode in O.E. Horn. I. 161 Ne michte ich seon bi-fore me for smike ne for miste. o 1300 Cursor M. 2742 \>e smike it reches to pe seki. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xi. 362 Let vessel hit, & sette hit vp in smyke. c 1460 Promp. Parv. (Winch.) 459 Smore with smyk, fumigo.

b. In pi. Also in fig. context. 01200 Vices & Virt. 129 Hwanene cumeS manies kennes smekes of unpolemodnesse. c 1400 Sc. Trojan War 11. 856 With quhilk birnyng now it reikis, As wele apperis by pe smeikis. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xv, So ny3e discumford was hee, For smelle other smekis.

2. attrib. and Comb., as smeek^ house; -like adj. a 1200 Vices & Virt. 129 De pu wunest on Se smec-huse of Sine likame. 01400 Stockh. Med. MS. ii. 951 in Anglia XVIII. 330 Dun-red is his flour, be erbe smek lik in colour.

smeek, v. Latterly Sc. and fnorth. Forms: 1 smeocan, 2 smeken, 5 smekyn; 3-4 smeke, 9 smeak, smeik, 9- smeek. [OE. smeocan str. vb. (pa. t. smeac), = MDu. smieken (rare), G. dial. smiechen, related by ablaut to OE. smocian smoke v. and to MDu. smoken, G. schmauchen. Perh. also partly repr. OE. smecan, smican: cf. prec.] 1. intr. To emit smoke; to reek; to send out or give off steam or vapour. Also in fig. context. 01000 Gloss, in Wr.-Wulcker 244 Fumigabunt, smeocap. c 1000 ./Elfric Exod. xix. 18 Eall Sinai munt smeac [L. fumabat]. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 338 Heortes mearh jebaerned oS p£et hyt smeoce. c 1325 Prose Ps. ciii. 32 \>e which touchep pe mounteyns, and hij shul smoken [z>.r. smeke]. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy 1. 4380 For hatred olde to brenne can nat lete With newe flawme ..; 3if it nat smeke, it is pe more to drede. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/2 Smekyn, or smokyn, fumo, fumigo. Ibid., Smekyn, or smokyn as hote lycure, vaporo.

2. trans. To apply smoke or fumes to, esp. in order to cleanse, cure, dry, etc.; to fumigate. ciooo Sax. Leechd. I. 352 WiS cyrnla sare, smeoc pone man mid gate hsrum. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xlix. {Thecla) 111 be fire pat ves dycht to bryne me, to brule & smeke. 1808 Jamieson, Smeik, Smeek, to dry by smoke. 1815 Pentiecuik's Tweeddale 90 note, Smeeking our heads o’er the fire a’ winter. 1882 Jamieson's Sc. Diet. IV. 303/1 To smeek fish, i.e. to cure them. Ibid. 303/2 To smeek yarn, to smeek the room.

SMEEKY

785

b. To suffocate (bees), to drive out (an animal), by means of smoke. 1816 Scott BL. Dwarf xviii, Elshie’s skeps o’ bees, .shall ne’er be smeekit by ony o’ huz. 1821-Pirate xxxv, My bees were as dead as if they had been smeaked. 1882 J. Walker Jaunt to Auld Reekie 219 Smeek in his hole the snoozing badger. f3. To scent with incense; to cense. Obs.~1 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xxiv. zi And as torax, and galban, and vngula,.. I smekede my dwelling; and as balsame not mengd is my smel. Hence smeeked, 'smeeking ppl. adjs. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xii. 20 Smeocende [Hatt. smekende] flex he ne adwaescl*. 13.. in Reliq. Antiq. I. 240 Swarte smekyd smethes smateryd with smoke. 'smeeky, a.

Sc. Also 6 smeikie, 9 smeekie. [f.

smeek sb. + -y.] Emitting, full of, filled with, smoke; smoky. c 1590 Montgomerie Sotin. xxx. 13 The smeikie smeithis cairs not his jrassit trauel. 1811 A. Scott Poems 144 (Jam.), Thro’ smeekie flame they him addrest. 01837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 96 (E.D.D.), The smeeky hames o’ our toun. smeetch, dial, variant of smeech v. smeeth (smi:0, smi:S), a. and sb. Obs. exc. dial. Forms:

1 smoeSe,

1-3 smeSe, 2-4 smepe, 4-5

smethe, smeth (4 smith), 9 dial, smeeth, smeath, 'smeede, smee.

[OE. smcede, smeSe (:—*smopi-),

related to smod smooth a., which is rare in OE. but from c 1400 has almost entirely supplanted smeeth.] A. adj. Smooth; free from roughness. c 725 Corpus Gloss. P 511 Politis, smoeSum. r825 Vesp. Hymns xii. 7 Dec stefn smoeSu hlydeS. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xix. 23 Cyrtil unruh vel smoeSe. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke iii. 5 Unjerydu [beoS] on smeSe wejas. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 219 J>at he [a rod] he riht and smal and long and smepe. 01225 Ancr. R. 2 be on riwleS be heorte, be makeS hire efne & smeSe. a 1300 Cursor M. 3490 be first was born was rogh as hare, be toper child was smeth and bare. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxxv. (Bodl. MS.), pe flessch of pe lunges is nassche and smepe. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 47 Thou hit sethe With otene grotes, pat ben so smethe. 1808 Jamieson s.v., Smeeth in the mou, a phrase applied to a horse that has lost mark of mouth. 1878 Dickinson Cumbld. Gloss. 89/2 Smeeth, Smee, smooth. 1894 Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. 661 Smeede, smooth... This often occurs in place-names. B. sb. A level space. E. Anglian dial. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/2 Smethe, or smothe,. .planicies. 01825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Smeath, an open level of considerable extent. [Rye (1895) adds, commonly pronounced and printed Smee.] 1893 Cozens-Hardy Broad Norf. 70 Smeaa—used for marshland, as ‘Down by the carnser and over the smeaa’. smeeth (smi:S), v. smeSian,

smeSan,

Obs. 2

exc.

smejnen,

dial. 3

Forms:

smeSen,

1

4-5

smej?e, 4-6 smethe, 8 smeath, 9 smeeth.

[OE.

smedian and smefian, f. smede smeeth a.]

trans.

To make smooth. Also absol. ciooo Sax. Leechd. II. 210 /Erest him is to sellanne paet pone inno6 stille & smepe. 01100 in Napier O.E. Glosses 47/2 Salebrosos complanans anfractus, woge smepiende hylcas. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 31 He wile seggen and foxliche smepien mid worde, Nabbe ic nawiht per-of. 01225 Ancr. R. 4 Rihten hire & smeSen hire is of euch religiun.. al pe strengSe. C1230 Hali Meid. 27 Ah Ichulle scheawen hit al wiS falschipe ismeSet. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvn. lvii. (Bodl. MS.), Enula .. hap vertu to plane and to smethe .. and to comforte senewes. Ibid. xix. xlv, Bitter pinges .. bi .. drynes.. bep made smepinge & softinge. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorks. II. 353. 1829 Brockett N.C. Gloss, (ed. 2), Smeeth, to smooth. 1886 Holland Chester Gloss., Smeeth, to iron linen. 1894 Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. 661 Smeeth (the th as in seethe), to smooth. 'smeethly, adv. smepelyche,

? Obs.

-lich,

-ly,

Also 3 smeSeliche, 4 4

smetheliche,

5

Sc.

smeth(e)ly. [f. smeeth a. 4- -ly2.] Smoothly. 01225 Leg. Kath. 356 J?eos meiden.. smirkinde smeSeliche 3ef him pullich onswere. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Kt. 1789 Smepely con he smyle. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 259 pe kyng excused hym self smepeliche. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vm. 5072 (Wemyss), And he, as bourdand, said smethly: ‘Man, will pov haif of me iusting’ [etc.]. 1808 in Jamieson. 'smeethness.

?

Obs.

Also

1

smejmys, 4 smepe-, 4-5 smethenes.

smeSnysse, [f. smeeth

a.] Smoothness. ciooo ^Elfric Horn. I. 26 He forgeaf.. hreoflium smeSnysse. c 1050 Suppl. JElfric's Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 177 Planities, smepnys. 1388 Wyclif i Kings vi. 18 And al the hows.. hadde hise smethenessis, and hise ioynyngis maad suteli. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxvii. (Bodl. MS.), pe same bones. . meue pe more spedefullich by smepenes and softenes. C1470 Promp. Parv. (K.) 460/2 Smethenes, planicies. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Smeethness, smoothness, Clydesfdale]. || smegma ('smegma). Phys. [L. smegma, a. Gr. ofiriypa a detergent, soap, or unguent, f. ogL-qxw. cf. SMECTIC a.] A sebaceous secretion, esp. that found under the prepuce. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Bailey, etc., give ‘Smegma, soap, or any thing that scours; a wash-ball’, but there is no evidence that the word was ever current in English in these senses. 1819 Pantologia X, Smegma,.. soap; any concrete substance resembling it, as the hardened matter often found, in the morning, on the lachrymal caruncle. 1876 Duhring Dis. Skin 108 In the newly-born infant, the smegma serves a valuable physiological function. 1899 tr. Jaksch's Clin. Diagnosis viii. (ed. 4) 407 The microbe of

smegma readily loses its colour under the action of that substance.

fsmeg'matic, sb. and a. Obs. Also 7 smegmatick(e. [ad. mod.L. smegmatic-us, f. Gr. oi±r)yna, op,fjyp,ar-\ see prec.] A. sb. Anything that cleanses; a cleanser, a detergent. 1623 Cockeram i, Smegmaticke, any thing hauing the power to cleanse and scoure as Sope doth. 1695 J. Edwards Perfect. Script. 192 Smegmaticks, munditiers, cleansers, adorners, are useful.

B. adj.

Detergent; abstersive.

1656 Blount Glossogr., Smegmatic, that hath the power or strength to scoure or cleanse, as soap. 1658 Phillips, Smegmatick, belonging to Soap, of a scouring faculty. 1675 Evelyn Terra (1676) 23 Bolus’s, Rubrics, and Okers, Figuline, Stiptic, Smegmatic, &c. 1710 T. Fuller Pharm. Extemp. 344 Smegmatic Pills.

fsmeigh, a. Obs.~x [Early ME. smegh, related to OE. smeagan to consider.] Clever, cunning. Hence f'snieighly adv.\ f'smelghness, wisdom, skill. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 195 De man .. pat is smegh oSer man to bicharren, and to bi-swiken. Ibid. 71 Gif it was erfe6 to forften, and smeihliche bicharede. Ibid. 205 pat clene.. kinde pat god haue6 per-on broht pureh his smehnesse.

fsmeke, v. Obs. rare. [a. MDu. or MLG. smeken (OHG. smeichan, G. schmeichen, etc.).] intr. To flatter, fawn. Hence f'smeking vbl. sb. ri440 Promp. Parv. 460/2 Smekynge, or mevyn wythe plesaunte tokenys. Ibid. 476/1 Styryn, or mevyn wythe plesaunte tokenys, pat ys clepyd smekynge, blandior. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 91 They flatre and smeke, and plese the prynce for theyr synguler auayl.

smelite fsmiilait). Min. [f. Gr. o^Xrj soap + -ITE1 2b. Named by E. F. Glocker, 1845.] = KAOLINITE. 1850 Ansted Elem. Geol., Min., etc. 188 The following are, also, hydrous silicates of alumina—Pholerite,.. Groppite, and Smelite. 1868 Watts Diet. Chem., Smelite, an aluminic silicate from Telkebanya in Hungary.

smell (smel), sb. Forms: a. 2-7 smel (3 smeal, 4 smeol), 3-6 smelle, 4- smell. 2-4 smul, 4 smil, smyl, 5-6 smyll. [Related to smell v. The OE. equivalent is stenc stench.] 1. The sense of which the nose is the organ; the faculty of smelling. Now usually in sense, organ, etc., of smell. (a) c 1200 Trin Coll. Horn. 183 Hie .. binimeS pe eien here sene,.. muS here smel. a 1225 Ancr. R. 104 Smel of neose is pe ueor6e of pe vif wittes. 1567 Maplet Gr. Forest 106 He is not onely of most swift pace, but also of smell. 1599 Davies Immort. Soul xvii. i. (1714) 72 In the Nostrils she doth use the Smell. 1617 Moryson I tin. 111. 35 He who hath a quicke smell, is troubled with more stinkes, then he is refreshed with sweet odours. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg, iv. 44 Wild Thyme and Sav’ry.. Sweet to the Taste, and fragrant to the Smell. 1712-3 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 3 Jan., I have no smell yet, but my cold something better. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 317 He stops to examine, by his smell,.. the emanations that may come either from his enemy or his prey. 1805 A. Duncan Mar. Chron. III. 145 A certain brackish flavor, offensive both to the taste and smell. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 324 Smell was impaired on the side of the lesion. (b) 1710 J. Clarke tr. Rohault's Nat. Philos. (1729) I. 179 The Power of exciting the Sensation of Smell in us. 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 549 The lower Mammalia, in which the organ of smell is highly developed. 1872 Huxley Physiol, viii. 194 The organ of the sense of smell is the delicate mucous membrane which lines a part of the nasal cavities. 1900 Pollok & Thom Sports Burma ii. 40 Elephants have a very keen sense of smell.

2. a. That property of things which affects the olfactory organ, whether agreeably or otherwise; odour, perfume, aroma; stench, stink. a. a 1175 Lamb. Horn. 53 Jmrh pe sweote smel of pe chese he bicherreS monie mus to pe stoke. CI220 Bestiary 747 in O.E. Misc., Ut of his Srote cumeS a smel. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1588 SwiSe swote smeal com anan prefter. a 1300 Cursor M. 1014 Flours par es wit suete smelles. C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 114 pe hous was fillid of smel of pe oynement. C1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) xviii. 84 pe water chaungez diuersely his sauour and his smell, c 1440 Alph. Tales 96 Sownd of watir rynyng, & syngyng of burdis, and gude smell of flowris. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 33 Fragrant, all full of fresche odour fynest of smell. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 90 Muske though it be sweet in ye smel, is sowre in the smacke. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 5 The streets are broad, but very filthy and full of ill smels. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 379 The Silvan Lodge .. that like Pomona’s Arbour smil’d With flourets dec’t and fragrant smells. 1747 Tricks of Town laid open (ed. 3) 19 He’s distinguishable from the rest of his Species, both by his Smell, Garb, Shape and Aspect. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 184 As smells are often rendered agreeable by habit, so also tastes may be. 1847 Helps Friends in C. 1. iii. 33 There was such a rich smell of pines. 1885 Law Times LXXIX. 74/2 There was a nasty smell about the premises. /9. C1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 99 On pe holi fleis bileueS pe shap and hiu and smul of ouelete, and on pe holi blod hew and smul of win. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 8 A suote smul pare cam of heom pat smelde in-to al pat lond. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1009 Hii deiep poru smul of pe lond. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 137 pe smyl perof slou3 hope bestes and foules. 1475 Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 70 The herbers of so soote smyllis.

b. An aromatic substance, or the use of this. rare.

SMELL 01533 Ld. Berners Golden Bk. M. Aurel. (1535) Ddijb, The vices that they brought [from Asia] to Rome:.. The patritiens bearyng Measques, the Plebeyens usynge smelles. 1697 Phil. Trans. XIX. 480 All Methods of Cure in the Paroxysm [of apoplexy], are ridiculous and useless, except Smells, and Blooding in the Jugular.

3. fig. a. A trace, suggestion, or tinge of something. Also without article, or with adj. Hence, the special, indefinable, or subtle character of the object, event, etc., described. C1475 Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice 25 Off forebearis thay tuke tarage and smell. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 140 This saiyng hath scacely any smelle or sauour of Diogenes, although he beareth the name of it. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 151 To haue a smack and smel of auncient Latium. 1617 Hieron Wks. 129 There is with Thee not so much as any smell or shadow of iniustice. a 1688 Bunyan Saints' Privilege Wks. 1855 I. 669 Without the least smell or tang of imperfection. 1702 S. Sewall Diary (1882) III. 398 Mrs. Thacher. .troubled at her Marriage to Mr. Kemp,.. some smell of Relation between them. 1882 Nature XXVI. 59 The methods have a German ‘smell ’. 1948 • N. Shute’ No Highway ii. 38 Fifteen years in the aircraft industry... One gets to know the smell of things like this. 1974 J. Thomson Long Revenge iii. 40 The smell of the case had come back to him .. and he had the feeling that there was a great deal more to it.

b. That quality by which anything is felt or suspected to be near at hand. 1691 J Norris Pract. Disc. 36 They.. won’t so much as come within the Smell of Danger. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxx, My spirit likes the smell of gold as well as yours. 1973 Times 19 Dec. 14/7 Things are looking up: there is a smell of success in the air. i98i Listener 2 July 3/1 There’s a smell of success: people really think they can shift governments.

4. An act of smelling; a sniff. Also fig. c 1560 Ingelend Disobedient Child (Percy Soc.) 16 He hath of knaverye tooke such a smell. Ibid. 45 After that I had taken a smell Of their good wyll and fervent love. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 16 So many hundred poor Souls, that would reckon it a Blessing to have but one savory Smell at his Flesh-pots. 1817 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) IV. ii. 66 What do you think Constable would give for a smell of it? 1878 J. s. Campion On Frontier (ed. 2) 25 The winner gets a drink and the losers a smell at the cork of the bottle.

5. attrib., as smell-reach, -sense; smell fox, the wood anemone, Anemone nemorosa; smelltrap, a trap to intercept and carry off bad smells. a 1652 Brome Mad Couple well matched iv. i, Out of the smell-reach of your Lord’s perfum’d gloves. 1851 Kingsley Yeast vi, Among high art and painted glass, spade farms, and model smell-traps. 1887 Pall Mall G. 10 Aug. 5/1 A guardian affected by anosmia, or absence of the smell-sense. 1892 C. M. Yonge Old Woman's Outlook in Hampshire Village 49 The beloved Anemone nemorosa—the wind-flower —or, as the village children unpoetically call it, ‘smell foxes’. 1898-John Keble's Parishes xv. 172 Smellfox, anemone. 1931 M. Grieve Mod. Herbal I. 34 Anemone (Wood).. Synonyms. Crowfoot, Windflower, Smell Fox.

smell (smel), v. Forms: a. 3-5 smellen (5 -yn), 3 smeallen; 2-6 smelle, 4-7 smel, 4- smell. Pa. t. 4-6 smelde (4 smeld), 5- smelled (6 Sc. smellit), 6- smelt. Pa. pple. 3 i-smelled, 3, 6- smelled, 5 -id, 7- smelt. /3. 2-4 smullen, 4 smille, 4-5 smylle. Pa. t. 4 smulde, smilde. [Early ME. smellen and smullen, no doubt of OE. origin, but not recorded, and not represented in any of the cognate languages. In the pa. t. and pa. pple. both smelled and smelt are in use, but the latter is now the more frequent of the two in British English.]

1. trans. 1. a. To have perception of (an object, odour, etc.) by means of the olfactory sense. to smell powder-, see powder sb.1 3 b. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 153 Hwenne pe nose biS open to smelle unlofne bre$, a 1240 Ureisun in O.E. Horn. I. 189 Of al J?et ich abbe.. wiS neose ismelled. 01300 Cursor M. 23456 (Edin.), In J?is lif hauis man gret liking .. Swet speceri to thef and smel. c 1350 Leg. Rood (1871) 57 Anon per com so swete a smul.. pat al hit smulde wi^ gret Ioye pat in pe cuntre weren pere. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvi. 372 Whan mawgis had passed over the water bayard smelled hym & began to crye. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xxiv. (Percy Soc.) 109 The nose, also, every ayre doth smel. 1589 Nashe M. Marprelate Wks. (Grosart) I. 80 As good a Hound for his sent to smell a feast as euer man sawe. 1611 Bible Tobit viii. 3 The which smell, when the euill spirit had smelled, hee fled into . . Egypt. 1691 tr. Emilianne's Observ. jfourn. Naples 89 The Mole, it seems,.. no sooner had smelt the Oar, but crept into another Hole near to it. 1779 G. Keate Sketches fr. Nat. (ed. 2) II. 209 Paris may be smelt five miles before you arrive at it. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 830 Civeted fellows, smelt ere they are seen. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle iii, A boy, who had seldom smelt powder fired in anger before. i860 Dickens Uncomm. Trav. xvii, I can smell the heavy resinous incense as I pass the church.

b. To inhale the odour or scent of (a thing); to sniff at; to examine in this way. 1830 G. Cruikshank Gentl. in Black i. (1831) 5 ‘Confound this head-ache.’..‘Pshaw! pshaw! smell this bottle,’ said the stranger. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXV. 241/i To smell each other’s head or neck is the only mode of salutation practised. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. of To-day xl. (ed. 3) 343 They import from Paris .. flowers so natural that one is tempted to smell them.

2. a. To perceive as if by smell; esp. to detect, discern, or discover by natural shrewdness, sagacity, or instinct; to suspect, to have an inkling of, to divine. to smell the ground, of ships: see ground sb. 2 b. C1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 216 Men schullen in spirit smelle pe swettenesse & pe holynesse of iesu crist & his lif. 1382 -Job xxxix. 25 Aferr he smellith bataile. 01548

SMELLABLE Chron., Hen. VI, 136 b, He secretly smelled, that some men priuely disdained his aduancement. a 1553 Udall Royster D. 11. iii, If I beginne first, he will smell all my purpose. 1635 Pagitt Christianogr. 11. vi. (1636) 61 Lest the Lay people should smell their Idolatrie. 1668 Pepys Diary 30 Aug., Lord Brouncker,.. I perceive, and the rest, do smell that it comes from me, but dare not find fault with me. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull (1727) 56 We were overjoyed.. not smelling what was at bottom of the plot. 1798 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Tales of the Hoy Wks. 1812 IV. 408 The people never smelt the cheat. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. in. vii, A victorious Parlement smells new danger. 1885 A. B. Ellis W. African I si. xi. 267 The reverend father at once smelt a miracle. Hall

Lyon for strength .. excell Man? Doth not.. the Vulter smel better. 1607 Shaks. Timon iv. iii. 160 Downe with the Nose .. Of him, that his particular to foresee, Smels from the generall weale. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 41 i Every lower facultie Of sense, whereby they hear, see, smell, touch, taste. 1726 Swift Gulliver 11. i, Two rats., ran smelling backwards and forwards on the bed. 1824 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I* 283 We walked and smelt for half an hour. 1898 Daily News 23 July 6/2 It will be the object of this Committee, .to go smelling in Shoreditch.

III. 8. a. intr. To give out, send forth, or exhale an odour; to have a smell, scent, etc.

1538 Bale Three Laws in, And hast thou so longe dyssembled thus with me. Infidelitas. Yea, for aduauntage, to smell out your subtylyte. 1579 E. K. Gloss, to Spenser's Sheph. Cal. June 25 They woulde. .smell out the vntruth. 1629 Wadsworth Pilgr. viii. 84 Smelling vs out to be English, [they] made vs rise out of our beds. 1688 Penton Guardian s Instruction (1897) 29 Humility and want of Learning (which Children are apt to smell out). 1756 Mrs. Calderwood Jrnl. (1884) 339 The Scots folks have an excellent nose to smell out their Countryfolks. 1811 Sporting Mag. XXXVII. 76 To smell out a little bargain. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxvii, I never smell out a secret, but I try to be either at the right or the wrong end of it. 1892 Rider Haggard Nada 12 A rich man .. had lost some cattle, and came with gifts to Noma, praying him to smell them out.

c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 53 He .. bret hine [the cheese] for pon J?et he scolde swote smelle. 11220 Bestiary 751 in O.E. Misc., Al Sat eure smelleS swete. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1526 Mi swete lif, se swoteliche he smecheS me & smealleS. c 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xxx. 88 Hire erbes smulleth suete. C1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 505 He cheweth greyn and lycorys To smellen sweete. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 514 Chaunge hit ofte vntil hit better smylle. 1484 Caxton Fables of JEsop ill. xx, Hit smelleth lyke bame. 1530 Palsgr. 722/2 Take away this fysshe, it smelleth nat very well. 1562 Turner Herbal 11. (1568) 126 Sage is a long bushe,.. smellinge wounderfully. 1610 Shaks. Temp. 11. ii. 26 Hee smels like a fish. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 319 Herbs of every leaf, that, .made gay Her bosom smelling sweet. 1726 Swift Gulliver iv. viii, I observed the young animal’s flesh to smell very rank. 1806 Med. Jrnl. XV. 486 The whole matter smelt very sour as it was dug. 1842 Parnell Chem. Anal. (1845) 294 A combustible gas, smelling like bisulphuret of carbon. 1885 Hornaday 2 Yrs. Jungle xxvi. 304 It smelled like sulphuretted hydrogen.

4. To distinguish (one thing from another) by the smell. Chiefly jig.

b. spec. stink.

1582 in Scoones Four C. Eng. Lett. 39, I know your L. will soone smell deuises from simplicity, trueth from trecherie. a 1592 Greene fas. IV, 1. ii, I can smell a knave from a rat. 1829 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1853 II. 7/2 The judges there can smell silver from gold through a Russia-leather portmanteau.

c 1375 Cursor M. 14322 (Fairf.), He smellis, for iiij. dayes ar gane syn he was lokin vnder a stane. 1584 Cogan Haven Health 263 When the Waters and feelds smoke and smell. 1608 D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 80 Beeing told that his breath did smell. 1684 Contempt. State Man 1. iv. (1699) 35 If he reach old Age.. his Breath smells.

5. To find or make (one’s way) by the sense of smell. Also fig.

c .fig. Also in phr. not to smell right, to have an air of being not quite in order.

1605 Shaks. Lear in. vii. 93 Go thrust him out at gates, and let him smell His way to Douer. 1838 T. Mitchell Clouds of Aristoph. 82 He and his school were provided with noses, which smelt their way into sources of knowledge.

1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xi. 426 pere smit no fringe so smerte, ne smelleth so soure, As shame. 1579-80 North Plutarch, Artaxerxes (1896) VI. 112 Me thinketh this smelleth like a lye. 1602 Shaks. Ham. iii. iii. 36 Oh my offence is ranke, it smels to heauen. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. 1. 339 The hope of torturing him smells like a heap Of corpses, to a death-bird after battle, [a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. iii. 157 That corrupt and tyrannical dynasty whose offences smelt to heaven.] 1939 ‘N. Blake’ Smiler with Knife x. 154 It doesn’t sound like Fascism. It doesn’t smell like Fascism. 1950 ‘J. Tey’ To love & be Wisexvii. 219 It’s.. the whole set-up... It doesn’t smell right. 1969 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 21 Dec. 11/1 Jock could not have been nicer... As a matter of fact he has been so nice that it smells bad. 1974 J. Thomson Long Revenge iii. 33 Finch was inclined towards accepting the case... And yet.. he hesitated... It still did not smell right to him.

b. to smell a rat: see rat sb.1 2 a. 3. To search or find out by, or as by, the sense of smell. Chiefly fig.

II. intr. 6. a. To exercise, employ, make use of, the sense of smell in relation to a specified object. Const, at, of (now U.S.), fon, or to f\unto). The const, to is by far the most frequent down to the 19th cent., during which at has become usual. (a) c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 35 Mid j?e nose f>arto te smullen. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1669 To pulle a rose of al that route.. And smellen to it wher I wente. 1477 Norton Ordin. Alch. v. in Ashmole (1652) 71 It is not wholesome to smell to some Cole. 1545 Raynold Byrth Mankynde 132 Let the chyld smell to rue, and to asafetida. 1586 B. Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 191 b, Lord William,.. in taking of the Cup, did smell to the wine. 1607 Markham Caval. 11. (1617) 32 This Saddle when you first present to the Horse, let him smell to it. 1670 J. Smith Eng. Improv. Reviv'd 213 The Root smelled unto is good for the same purpose. 1757 W. Thompson R.N. Adv. 20 Dogs., would not even smell to it. 1803 Beddoes Hygeia ix. 99 The patient drank tea.. and smelt to a tuberose. 1890 O. Crawfurd Round the Calendar 147 Their flowers can be plucked or smelled to without bending the back. (b) 1530 Palsgr. 722/2 Smell at my coller, and you shall parceyve whether it be I that stynke or nat. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies xxxviii. §5. 333 If the smell do please it, the beast will alwayes be smelling at it. 1704 N. N. tr. Boccalini's Advts.fr. Parnass. III. 280 He bid some of his Priests.. smell at the French-men’s Hands. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes v. vi. 10 But You .. at Crusts are smelling. 1836 Landor Pericles & Aspasia cxxxi. Wks. 1853 II. 406/2 She smells at it and turns away. 1863 Reade Hard Cash III. 115 She smelt at her salts, and soon recovered that weakness. (c) 1624 Quarles Sion's Sonn. xv. 4 When I smelt of my returned hand. 1815 Mrs. Inchbald Child of Nature 1. iii, Here—smell of this bottle—it will do you good. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xv. 130 She recommended to him to smell of hartshorn. 1852 G. W. Curtis Lotos-eating 3, I have not yet done.. smelling of all the flowers. 1912 F. J. I Iaskin Amer. Govt. 276 He took out the cork, smelled of it, and then replaced it. 1919 E. O’Neill Moon of Caribbees 30 His foot hits a bottle. He stoops down and picks it up and smells of it. (d) 1626 J. Yates Ibis ad Caesarem 11. 77 Error is the weed we so much smell on. 1684 Bunyan Pilg. 11. 25 Fetch something, and give it Mercie to smell on, thereby to stay her fainting. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 207 To which hole they bring the Mare for the Horse to smell on. 1784 New Spectator No. 3. 3 Having examined and smelled on the leaves, she was satisfied.

f b.fig. To take or get a slight touch or taste of, to pay some slight attention to, a thing. Obs. (a) *553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 165 The unlearned or foolishe phantasticall, that smelles but of learnyng. 1583 Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. 11. 46 b, Not without his great domage, which hee shall both feele, and smell of againe. 1600 ? Webster Weakest goeth to Wall Giijb, And dogs keepe out of the Chauncell, ye shall smell of the whip else. (b) c 1580 J. Hooker Life Sir P. Carew in Archaeologia XXVIII. 98 He in noe wise coulde frame the younge Peter to smell to a bo[o]cke. 1653 Gauden Hierasp. 152 Were there never so sweet.. flowers gathered,.. these supercilious novellers will not vouchsafe to smell to them.

7. Without const. To possess or exercise the sense of smell; to be able to perceive odours, or to be engaged in doing this. Also fig. a 1300 E.E. Psalter cxiii. 6 Nese-thirles pai haue, and smel sal noght. 01325 Prose Psalter cxv. 6 Hij ne shul nou3t smullen. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 87 Ere and yhe and nase and mouth, Wherof a man mai hiere and se And smelle and taste in his degre. 01500 Adrian & Epotys 68 in Brome Bk. 27 The joy [of heaven] may no tonge telle, Tyll domys day thow he woll smell. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 153 Doth not the

SMELL-FEAST

786

To give out an offensive odour; to

d. To give rise to suspicion; to have an air of dishonesty or fraud. 1939 Sun (Baltimore) 12 Dec. 3/3 What ‘smelled’ about the.. case appeared to have been saved by committee counsel for later inquiry. 1950 Austral. Police Jrnl. Apr. 118 It smells, it is something to be wary about; highly suspicious. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard ii. 78 Things., wouldn’t always get past the sharp-eyed QC. If a case smelt, he would smell it. 1973 ‘H. Howard’ Highway to Murder viii. 103 There’s a wrong slant to this affair. I can’t put my finger on it—but it smells.

9. a. To exhale or emit the odour of, to have the smell of, something. Also rarely on (now dial.). (а) 1526 [cf. b]. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Ps. xlv. 8 All thy garments smell of myrrhe and aloes, and cassia. 1599 Davies Immort. Soul xvn. ii. (1714) 72 They smell best, that do of nothing smell. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 94 They gave him a bottle that smelt of Oyle. 1711 W. King tr. Naude's Ref. Politics iii. 109 The answer of a peasant to King Henry, that The pouch will always smell of the herring. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 443 Calcined until it no longer smelled of arsenic. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxi, One of the.. men already smells of sherry. 1855 Tennyson Maud 1. vi. vi, That oil’d and curl’d Assyrian Bull Smelling of musk and of insolence. (б) 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. 1. xix. F vij, All nighte to sprall and stryue with wyne, all day on it to smell [L. putere]. 1758 Binnell Descr. Thames 179 Its observable that he is thought by some to feed on Water-Thyme, and that he smells on it, at his first being taken out of the Water.

b. To have or exhibit a touch, tinge, or suggestion of something. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 77b, Not for., promocyon or other profyte,.. for all these smelleth of ypocrisy. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 3 marg., He supposeth that both their victories will smell of crueltie. 1649 Milton Eikon. xxvi. Wks. 1851 III. 503 Praises in an enemy are superfluous, or smell of craft. 1671 J. Davies Sibylls 11. xxiv. 137 That the Relation of his Adventures smell (as much as may be) of a Romance. 1741 Berkeley Wks. (1871) IV. 270 Most modern writings smell of the age. 1756 Law Lett. Important Subj. 115 Such a free way of speaking.. of my own books may have been suspected of smelling too much of self-esteem. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. 1. i, Some., seem to hint afar off at something which smells of Agrarian law. 1887 Spectator 17 Sept. 1241 Proposals smelling of confiscation.

c. Of literary work, in the phrases to smell of the candle, lamp, oil, etc., to show signs of being laboured and artificial. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 333 Pythias obiected.. that his argumentes of rhetorike smelled all of the candle. 1579 [see lamp sb.1 1 b]. 1616 Hieron Wks. I. 586 It is an honour to a sermon, when (as the saying is) it shall smell of the candle. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. Prol. (for the Court), A work not smelling of the lamp. 1650, 1675 [see oil sb.1 3 d]. 1732, 1768 [see lamp sb.1 1 b]. 1839 Hallam Hist. Lit. iii. vii. §17 Even his letters to his sister, smell too much of the lamp. 1871 Lowell Study Windows (1886) 282 His

sentences.. smell of the library. 1887 [see lamp sb.1 1 b]. 1927 Galsworthy Castles in Spain 154 At times he wrote stories unworthy of him. At times his work smelled of the lamp. 1953 G. S. Fraser Modern Writer his World ill. iv. 254 This desire of his.. to be ‘complex’ and to bring in a wide range of cultural references at all costs does make his work sometimes smell a little of the lamp.

10. trans. (something).

To

have

or

emit

a

smell

of

c 1586 C’tess Pembroke Ps. xlv. iv, Mirrh, Aloes, Cassia, all thy robes doe smell. 1598 Shaks. Merry W. iii. ii. 70 He smels April and May. 1603-Meas.for M. in. ii. 194 She smelt browne-bread and Garlicke. 1854 Thackeray Wolves the Lamb Wks. 1899 XII. 16 There’s.. crumbs on your cheek, and you smell sherry, sir!

11. colloq. To cause to smell; to fill or affect with an (offensive) odour. Also with out. 1887 Aberd. Evening Express 5 Sept. 2/6 Parts [of a whale] which are still in such a condition that they would smell the whole museum. 1978 Lancashire Life Oct. 83/3 Ah must ‘a’ smelt the class-room a’et When a’ them odours mingled. 1979 ‘J. Ross’ Rattling of Old Bones ii. 17 How. .can you have a dead body smelling out the house and not know it?

smellable ('sm8lab(3)l), a. [f. -able.] Capable of being smelt.

smell v.

+

c 1449 Pecock Repr. 11. v. 162 Marie Magdalen .. vsid the oynement as a seable and a smelleable rememoratijf signe. Ibid., Smelleable signes as encensis. 1843 Commissioner 104 It seemed as if he was being pelted with everything eatable, drinkable,.. smellable, thinkable, that the world ever produced. 1881 Grant Allen Evolutionist at Large 12 [Ants] probably think of most things as smellable only.

'smellage. U.S. ? local. [Alteration of smallage.] Officinal lovage, Levisticum officinale, of the family Umbelliferae. 1836 A. H. Lincoln Familiar Lect. Bot. (ed. 5) 110 [Ligusticum] levisticum (smellage,) leaves many .. Medicinal. 1889 R. T. Cooke Steadfast iii. 43 A nosegay of lavender, damask roses, smellage, old man, clove pinks [etc.].

smelled, a. rare. [f. smell sb.] With qualifying terms: Scented; smelling. 1617 Extr. Aberd. Burgh Rec. (1848) II. 350 Weele washine and weele smellit naprie. 1725 Sloane Jamaica II. 52 A red ungratefully smell’d moist pulp or paste.

smeller ('sm8ta(r)). Also 6-7 smellar. [f. smell V.

-I- -ER.]

1. a. One who has or exercises the sense of smell; one who smells out, etc. 1519 Horman Vulgaria 45 They that haue nostrellis strayght forth be good smellars. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. I53I) 25& The smellers or felers therof hath thought them selfe rauysshed as yf they had ben in paradyse. 1562 J. Hey wood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 171 The smeller of smellers then, thou art euyn he. 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magick viii. i. 218 Adding a little Musk, to gain an easier reception of the Smeller. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacrae ill. i. § 12 The first smellers out of so great a design. 1888 H. W. Parker Spirit of Beauty (1891) 92 Calderwood shows how the sensationalists would evolve a whole philosophy of mind and morals from a smell, and that, too, without a smeller.

b. slang. ‘A prying fellow; one who tries to smell out something; a sneaking spy’ (Cent. Diet.). 2. fa. Cant. A garden. Obs.~° 1610 Rowlands Mart. Mark-all Eiv, Smellar, a garden; not Smelling cheate, for thats a Nosegay.

b. One who has a smell; a stinker. a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour iv. i, Such nasty smellers, That.. They might have cudgell’d me with their very stink.

3. A feeler; a slender tactile organ, hair, etc.; esp. one of the whiskers of a cat. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 180 Of the Eyes and Head of a Grey Drone-Fly... As concerning the horns.., the feelers or smellers.., the Proboscis [etc.]. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 378/2 Smellers, or kind of Whiskers, at his Nostrils. 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Smellers, a cat’s whiskers. 1840 Peter Parley's Ann. I. 266 Mosette felt her smellers crackle close to her nose. 1899 Daily News 18 Apr. 8/2 A black tom cat. .. White chest, white hind legs, and white smellers.

4. slang, a. The nose; pi. the nostrils., 01700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew. 1822 Blackw. Mag. II. 594 Here was . . a hit on the wind a douss on the smeller. 1853 ‘C. Bede V erdant Green 1. xvi, Come on .. and let me have a rap at your smellers. 1894 Nation 29 Nov. 399/3 He would rather not have to draw his claret and close his peepers and mash his smeller and break his breadbasket.

b. A blow on the nose. Also transf. 1824 Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1825) 38 He swore he would tip me a smeller. 1864 Daily Telegr. 3 Sept., The Metacomet, which was hitting out wildly,.. delivered to the Hartford a ‘smeller’ intended for the rebel ram. 1872 Punch 6 Apr. 150/2 What in low fighting slang is called a smeller.

5. fig. Anything remarkable for exceptional violence, severity, strength, etc. a. = snorter1 2 b. b. slang. A heavy fall; usu. in phr. to come a smeller. Cf. stinker 6 c. 1898 Kipling Fleet in Being v. 55 Good old gales—regular smellers. 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 278 Smeller, (2) to come a smeller, ramasser une pelle. 1934 Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves ix. 92 A man’s brain Whizzes along for years exceeding the speed limit, and then something suddenly goes wrong with the steering gear and it skids and comes a smeller in the ditch.

'smell-feast. Also 6 smellefyeste, smelle-, smelfeast(e. [f. smell v. (or sb.) + feast s6.] 1. One who scents out where feasting is to be had; one who comes uninvited to share in a feast; a parasite, a greedy sponger. Now arch. (very common c 1540-1700).

SMELLFUNGUS 1519 Horman Vulgaria 77 Smellefyestes, lyckedysshes, and franchars come vncalled. 1542 Udall Erasm Apoph. 199 Parasites, wer called suche smellefeastes as would seeke to bee free geastes at riche mennes tables. 1602 F. Hering Anat. 13 Our Smell-feast will be sure to haunt the Houses and Tables of Rich and great Men. 1664 H. More Myst. Ititq. 21 Like so many smell-feasts they hankered near the Altars to enjoy the nidorous fumes. 1692 L’Estrange Fables (1694) 33 The Fly is an intruder and a common Smell-feast that spunges upon other people’s trenchers. 1708 O. Dykes Refl. upon Eng. Prov. 163 The Flatteries of Sicophants and Smell-Feasts. 1869 Browning Ring & Book vm. 39 The Smell-feasts rouse them at the hint There’s cookery in a certain dwelling-place. 1884 Dillwyn Jill II. ix. 135 That smell-feast of a Sue meanwhile had profited by the commotion.

b. attrib. Parasitic, sponging. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. i. vii. Fij, I am a smelfeaste belly-god, idle and full of slouthe. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 339 These smel-feast-parasites in comedies. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xx. 343 These smell-feast birds .. came to feed on their carcases. 1772 Nugent Hist. Friar Gerund II. 67 Some smell-feast friars of different communities.

2. ‘A feast at which the guests are supposed to feed upon the odors (Webster, 1864).

only

of

the

viands’

smellfungus (smd'fAggas). Also 8 smelfungus. , PI. -fungi (-’fAndjai). [The name by which Sterne designated Smollett on account of the captious tone of the latter’s Travels through France and Italy (1766).] A discontented person; a grumbler, faultfinder. Also attrib. [1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., In the Street, Calais, The learned Smelfungus travelled from Boulogne to Paris,.. but he set out with the spleen and jaundice, and every object he pass’d by was discoloured or distorted.] 1807-8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 15 Let the grumbling smellfungi.. rail at the extravagance of the age. 1842 Mrs. F. Trollope Visit Italy II. xxiii. 380 Smellfungus people, who love to torment themselves.

smellie ('smell), [f. smell v. 4- -ie, after talkie.] A (hypothetical) cinema or television film in which smell is synchronized with the picture. Usu. pi. Cf. feely. 1929 A. P. Herbert in Punch 8 May 508/3 These early smellies made a great sensation, particularly Fish, a strong story written ‘around the life of a San Francisco fishwife of homicidal tendencies’. 1949 Sun (Baltimore) 12 Apr. 6/6 (cartoon caption) Soviet Smellies present ‘Uncle Joe’s Pipe’. 1958 Spectator 20 June 801/3 We had an Esther Williams picture and I wanted to advertise it as a smellie, with an ozonair machine in the foyer... The circuit wouldn’t wear it, though. 1977 Time 11 Apr. 33/2 Another treat in the works: smellies—a futuristic device attached to the [T.V.] set will emit aromas into the living room.

smelliness ('smelinis). [f. smelly a. + -ness.] The condition of being smelly. 1892 Critic Mar. 139 The chronic smelliness of undrained China.

smelling ('smElirj), vbl. sb. [f. smell v.] 1. a. The sense of smell. Cf. smell sb. 1. CI175 Lamb. Horn. 75 Hore loking, hore blawing, hore smelling, heore feling wes al iattret. c 1230 Hali Metd. 13 Sih&e & heringe, smecchunge Sc smeallunge. a 1300 Cursor M. 17017 Hering, sight, smelling and fele. 1382 Wyclif i Cor. xii. 17 If al the body be heeringe, where is smellinge. 1426 Audelay Poems 7 Thi heryng, thi seyng,.. thi smellyng, here be iij [senses], c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1444 It was odour wondir swete, pat par with his smellyng mete. 01533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) I ij b, He had a good and a quycke smellyng. 1592 Wyrley Armory, Ld. Chandos 95 Sweet is fresh aire to lost prisoners smelling. 1633 Bp. Hall Occas. Med. §93 Smelling, is one of the meanest, and least useful of the senses. 1638 R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. Ill) 101, I have lost as well my smelling as my taste. 1710 Brit. Apollo No. 72. 3/1 He lost his Smelling. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) HI- io5 His senses of smelling and hearing are in no less perfection.

b. The act or fact of smelling. Also with out. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xxiv. (Percy Soc.) 109 Whan that the nose therof hath smellinge. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Odor, The smellyng .. of a thyng. 1611 Cotgr., Halenement, ..a smelling, or searching out. 1709 Tatler No. 66 [P 15 They cannot ever after come to the Use of their Teeth, or get smelling of a Crust. 1869 Spencer Princ. Psychol, in. iv. I. (1872) 304 Smelling obviously implies the contact of dispersed particles with a specially modified part of the organism. 1893 Daily News 20 Sept. 5/4 A smelling-out case by witch doctors. 1899 Rider Haggard Swallow ix, She never took part in the ‘smelling-out’ of human beings for witchcraft.

f 2. Odour, scent, smell. Obs. 13 .. K. Alis. 2573 (Laud MS.), Swete is pc smellyng of pc flore. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. 337 (Harl.), Lo, f?us by smellyng and by J?redbare array If pat men list, his folk hey knowe may. C1480 J. Watton Spec. Christiani 46b, Ther of come swete smellyng; Sweter felt neuer man here lyuyng. 1483 Cath. Angl. 346/1 A Smellynge, odor. 1611 Cotgr., Senteur, sent, odor, smelling, sauor.

3. attrib. Cant.

SMELT

787

fa. smelling cheat (see quots.).

1567 Harman Caveat 84 A smelling chete, a garden or orchard. 1610 [see smeller 2 a],

b. smelling-hair, -organ, etc. (cf. smeller 3). 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Ep. Ded., Almost as slender .. as a Catts smelling haires. 1871 Darwin Desc. Man 11. ix. 328 Thread-like bodies, which are believed to act as smelling-organs. 1872 - Orig. Spec. (ed. 6) ii. 33 The other has antennae much more abundantly furnished with smelling-hairs.

c. smelling-bottle, a phial or small bottle for containing smelling-salts or perfume ready for use. 1722 Defoe Memoirs of Plague 239 In a Word, the whole Church was like a smelling Bottle. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 259 My sister began to. . use her smelling-bottle. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. Concl., When tea had been carried round, handkerchiefs and smelling bottles prepared [etc.]. 1842 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 150 He .. bought me a very nice smelling-bottle. 1871 M. Collins Marq. & Merch. III. xii. 285 Ethel’s smelling-bottle revived one or two .. ladies. 1936 W. Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! vi. 195 Clytie.. stood impassive beside the wagon that last day, following the second ceremonial to the grave with the silk cushion and the parasol and the smelling-bottle.

d. smelling-salts, a preparation of carbonate of ammonia and scent for smelling, used as a restorative in cases of faintness or headache. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xlvi, Vinegar, hartshorn, and smelling-salts. 1892 Mrs. Clifford Aunt Anne I. 35 She thought he was ill, and.. offered him some smelling-salts.

smelling ('smeliij), ppl. a. [f. smell v.] 1. Giving out a smell or odour. Chiefly with qualifying term (see also sweet-smelling). 13.. Cursor M. 3695 (Gott.), Quen he had felt his smelland clath .., ‘)?is voice,’ he said, ‘pat i here, Is of Iacob’. 13.. in Reliq. Antiq. I. 40, I lilie of the valeyes, that is most white chast love and moste smeljene. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) ii. 11 Therfore thei made that pece [of the cross].. of Cypres; For it is welle smellynge. 1483 Cath. Angl. 346/1 Smellynge, odorabilis, odorifer. 1530 Palsgr. 324/2 Smellyng, that maye sone be smelled, odoratif. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. in. ix. 84 b, A .. viall ful of sweete and smelling water. 1591 Florio 2nd Frutes Ep. Ded., Some .. pronosticate of faire, of foule and of smelling weather. 1611 Cotgr., Regnard, a long-tailed, and rankesmelling fish. 1848 Dickens Dombey viii, It was not, naturally, a fresh-smelling house. 1888 ‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. x, A particularly nasty smelling ferret.

2. Having the sense of smell, or the faculty of perceiving by smell, rare. 1598 Marston Pygmal. iv. 150 But Grillus subtile¬ smelling swinish snout Must sent,.. and needes will finde it out. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 121 Unto all these smelling Dogs I may also adde the water Spagnel.

smell-less ('smellis), a. [f. smell sb. + -less.] 1. Giving out no smell; scentless. 1612 Two Noble Kinsmen 1. i, Dazies smel-lesse, yet most quaint. 1683 Salmon Doron Med. 11. 516 An almost colour¬ less, smell-less, tast-less Liquor. 1855 J. F. W. Johnston Chem. Common Life I. xiii. 331 The nearly smell-less juice acquires a fetid.. odour. 1882 Nature XXVI. 187 Methyl alcohol, in a state of purity, is smell-less.

2. Having no sense of smell. 1873

Mivart

altogether, Porpoises.

as

is

Elem. Anat. the case in

113 They may.. abort the probably smell-less

smellsip ('smelsip), v. nonce-wd. [f. smell v. + sip v.] trans. To smell and sip almost simultaneously. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 170 He smellsipped the cordial juice and .. set his wineglass delicately down.

‘smell-smock, [f. smells. + smock sb. i.] 11. A licentious man. Obs. In early use employed suggestively as a surname. 1550 Bale Image Both Ch. 11. xi, Ser Saunder smell smock, our parish priest. 1562 Pilkington Expos. Abdyas • 98 So can our belligoddes, the Popes Sir Jhon smell smocke, smel a feast in all parishes nere him. 1607 Middleton Fam. Love 11. iii, To prevent this smell-smock, I’ll to my friend. 1634 Heywood Maidenh. well lost 11. Wks. 1874 IV. 125, I thinke you’le proue little better then a smell-smocke. That can finde out a pretty wench in such a Corner. 1673 R. Head Cant. Acad. 147 These attractions.. drew on a number of Smell-smocks, which courted her.

2. dial.

As a plant-name, applied to (a) the cuckoo-flower, (b) the wood-anemone, and (c) the wood-sorrel. 1876- in dialect glossaries, etc. (cf. Britten & Holland Plant Names and the Eng. Dial. Did.).

smelly ('smell), a. [f. smell sb. + -y.] a. Emitting a bad smell or smells; stinking. Also fig. 1862 H. Marryat Year in Sweden II. 398 Down the centre runs a straight canal ‘awful smelly’. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. 192 They can’t abide anything smelly or foul. 1879 Hare Story Life (1900) V. xx. 219 It was a crowded, rolling, smelly steamer.

b. Suspicious, rare. 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 1944 [see ride v. 9c]. 1970 G.

278 Smelly,.. louche, vereux. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 227 Seems a bit smelly, Terry. I should blow him out.

smelt (smelt), sb.' [OE. smelt, = obs. G. schmelt, schmelz (Gesner), Da. smelt (from c 1600): cf. Du. smelt, Flem. smelte, G. schmelte sand-eel, also Norw. smelta a small species of cod or whiting. Relationship to OE. smolt, smylte is very doubtful.] 1. A small fish, Osmerus eperlanus, allied to the salmon, and emitting a peculiar odour; the sparling or spirling. t 725 Corpus Gl. S72 Sardas, smeltas. 1328-9 Exch. K.R Memoranda m. 125 Quoad capcionem piscis qui vocatur smelt, c 1358 in Eng. Hist. Rev. XXIV. 742 Item in smelt ijd. 1421 Contin. Brut 447 Gurnard rosted... Smelt ffryed. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/2 Smelte, fysche. 153° Palsgr. 271/2 Smelte, a fysshe, esp[er]lang. 1558 Act 1 Eliz. c. 17 §4 Places where Smelts, Loches,.. Gudgions or Eels, have

been used to be taken. 1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornw. 30 Of round fish there are Brit, Sprat,.. Smelts, &c. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Impr. (1746) 282 Smelts are so called because they smell so sweet. 1767 Phil. Trans. LV1I. 285 The smelt are a very small sort of fish,.. used for garnish to those that are larger. 1769 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 264 The smelt inhabits the seas of the northern parts of Europe. 1825 S. & Sarah Adams Compl. Servant 86 Smelts, when fresh, have a fine bright appearance,.. and a fragrant smell, like a cucumber. 1896 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. V. 503 The beautiful and delicately flavoured little fish known as smelts are represented by three species. fig. 1791 Boswell Johnson (Oxf. ed.) II. 567 Sir, you were a Cod surrounded by smelts. Is not this enough for you?

b. A fish of a related species, esp. Osmerus mordax of the American coast. 1836 W. Irving Astoria III. 189 A daughter of the oneeyed potentate Comcomly, who held sway over the fishing tribe of the Chinooks, and had long supplied the factory with smelts and sturgeons. 1839 Yarrell Brit. Fishes Suppl. 11. 16 The Hebridal Smelt. 1868 U.S. Rep. Commiss. Agric. (1869) 330 Spawn .. of the white fish,.. the Belgrade smelt, and the wall-eyed pike. 1883 Sir A. Shaw Newfoundland Fisheries 7 The American ‘smelt’ swarms on all parts of the coast.

c. Applied to various other small fishes, in the south of England freq. to the atherine or sandsmelt. 1776 Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4) III. 287 Atherine... This species is very common in the sea near Southampton, where it is called a Smelt. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 224/1 Retropinna contains but one species, R. richardsonii, which is known as the New Zealand Smelt. 1898 Morris Austral Eng. 421 Smelt, name given, in Melbourne, to the fish Clupea vittata. Ibid., The Derwent Smelt is a Tasmanian fish, Haplochiton sealii.

|2. a. transf. A simpleton. Obs. In quot. 1607 there is allusion to 2 b. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. 11. iii, What’s he, Mercurie? Mer. A notable smelt. 1607 Dekker & Webster Westw. Hoe iv. ii, To see how plaine-dealing women can pull downe men: Moll, you’le helpe vs to catch Smelts too? a 1625 Fletcher Love's Pilgr. v. ii, Talk what you will, this is a very smelt.

f b. Used allusively in the phrase westwardfor smelts (see quots.). Obs. 1607 Dekker & Webster Westw. Hoe 11. ii, But wenches, with what pullies shall wee slide., out of our husbandes suspition, being gone Westward for smelts all night. 1608 Great Frost in Arber Eng. Garner (1895) 1. 85 Say, have none gone ‘westward for smelts’, as our proverbial phrase is? 1619 (title), Westward for Smelts: or, The Waterman’s Fare of mad-merry Western Wenches.

3. north, dial. A smolt. See smolt sb.1 1. 01633 Coke On Litt. 11. xlvii. (1642) 478 Yong Salmons, or Salmon peals, or Salmon Smelts. 01672 Willughby Hist. Pise. iv. iv. 189 Nostratibus in fluvio Ribble agri Eboracensis Salmones primo aetatis anno Smelts dicuntur; secundo Sprods. 1677, 1769 [see smolt sb.1 i/J]. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Smelts, the fry of the salmon; generally called salmon-smelts. 1842 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. 4 He took Smelts of the Salmon with their silvery sides.

4. attrib., as smelt-boat, family, fishery, -fishing, -leap, net. *384-5 Cal. Lett. Bk. lH' Lond. (1907) 255 [Eight nets called] smelt net [of unlawful mesh]. 1620 Middleton Chaste Maid iv. iii, She would not stay for oars; but took a smelt-boat. 1630 in Binnell Descr. Thames (1758) 78 That no Peter-man do fish with any Hagan or Smelt Net below London Bridge. Ibid. 79 No Fisherman .. shall lay down in the River.. any Smelt-Leaps before St. Paul’s Day yearly. 1795 Cole Yng. Angler's Comp. Title-p., The Best Method of Smelt-Fishing. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 543 The Smelt Family, Microstomidae. 1888-Amer. Fishes 492 The smelt fishery is increasing yearly in importance.

f smelt, sb.2 slang. Obs. [Of obscure origin.] A half-guinea. 1635 Shirley Lady of Pleasure v. i. He.. pays the rooks That went their smelts a piece upon his hand. 1688 Shadwell Sq. Alsatia 1, Pr’ythee, noble Squire, equipp me with a couple of Meggs, or two couple of Smelts. [1822 Scott Nigel xxiii, That noble Master Grahame, whom you call Green, has got the decuses and the smelts.]

fsmelt,a. Obs.~1 [? a. ON. smelt-r enamelled.] ? Enamelled, polished. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1667 A tabill.. all of triet yuer, Bourdurt about all with bright Aumbur, J?at smelt is & smethe.

smelt (smelt), v. [prob. ad. MDu. or MLG. smelten (smilten), whence also MSw. and Sw. srndlta, Norw. smelta, Da. smelte, = OHG. and MHG. smelzen (G. schmelzen), a weak trans. verb corresponding to a strong intr. (of the type smeltan, smalt) found in the same languages. The stem appears to be a variation of that of melt w.1] trans. To fuse or melt (ore, etc.) in order to extract the metal; to obtain or produce (metal) by this process. 1543 >n Mem. Fountains Abbey (Surtees) 403 For smelting one pece leade. 1602-3 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham) 149 To Henry Orrell, bellfounder of Wyggan, for smeltinge the lead ashes, xx*. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 165 Which they Smelted .. not far off, where they had Mills, &c. for the purpose. 1729 Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 32 This slag is afterwards smelted again with Cowke only. 1812 Brackenridge Views of Louisiana (1814) 148 The floats have no tiff, and are the most easily smelted. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 317 It was not then the practice to employ coal for smelting the ore. 1873 Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. I. 10/1 The best plan of smelting brass is to melt the copper in a black-lead crucible first. absol. 1831 [see smelt-furnace below].

SMICKERING

788

SMELTfig. 1850 Carlyle Latter-d. Pamph. viii. (1872) 277 Who will smelt.. these scandalous bewildering rubbishmountains. 1874 H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. iv. §6. 272 God .. will scorch and smelt the true metal in the furnace.

smelt-, the stem of smelt v. in combination, as smelt-furnace, -house [Du. smelthuis, G. schmelzhaus], -mill, places where smelting is carried on.' 1684 Phil. Trans. XVII. 741 When the Smelt-Houses were up at Keswick,.. this Work was left good. 1771 Ann. Reg. 90 Destroying the wear of Mr. Smith’s smelt-mill. 1831 Carlyle Sort. Res. 1. vi, Those jingling sheet-iron Aprons, wherein your otherwise half-naked Vulcans hammer and smelt in their smelt-furnace, i860 Indenture, The cottage, shop, and buildings formerly a smelthouse.

laughing. Cf. OHG. smieron (MHG. smieren, obs. G. schmieren, LG. smeren) to smile.] to laugh smere, to laugh lightly, merrily, or contemptuously. c 1275 Lay. 14981 bane king hit pohte game inoh, for hire speche he smere loh. c 1290 Childhood Jesus 984 in Horstmann Altengl. Leg. (1875) 34 His Moder..gret Joye hadde and I0U3 smere a non. 13.. S. Eng. Leg. (MS. Bodl. 779) in Herrig Archiv LXXXII. 409/22 Sysin po for gladnesse gan to ley3e wel smere. c 1380 Ferumb. 386 be Sarzyn gan to lawe smere, & to Olyuer sayde pan [etc.].

fsme'riglio. Obs.-'1 [a. It. smeriglio a merlin.] A certain piece of ordnance. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xviii. (Roxb.) 137/2 Rabbenett or Rabnett or smeriglio is 300 weight.

The

smelted ('smsltid), ppl. a. [f. smelt v. + -ed1.] Fused, melted.

smerk(e, smerky, obs. ff. smirk, smirky.

1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 44 This deception is made., chiefly from smelted glass. 1794 Sullivan View Nature II. 142 The fusion and fluidity of smelted lavas. 1895 Daily News 20 Nov. 9/5 The quantity of stone crushed .. has yielded 1,632 ounces of smelted gold.

fsmerl, sb. Obs. Also 4 smerle, smerel. [Backformation from SMERLES, taken as a plural: cf. riddle sb.'] Ointment.

smelter ('smelt9(r)), sb.1 [f. smelts. + -er1. Cf. Du. smeltery MSw. and Sw. smaltare, G. schmelzer.] 1. One who smelts; a workman engaged in smelting; also, an owner of smelting-works. 1455 in Mem. Fountains Abbey (Surtees) 364 [Nicholas Bucke employed by the abbot as a] smeltar [at his lead mines]. 1582 in Trans. Jewish Hist. Soc. (1903) IV. 93 All manner of Charges of fireworke and smeltars wages. 1778 W. Pryce Min. Cornub. 68 The smelter having taken to himself perhaps one part more for his expence. 1812 Brackenridge Views Louisiana (1814) 149 The miners usually.. dispose of their ore to the smelters. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. 1. ii. §1 (1876) 19 The miners and smelters who extracted or prepared the iron. 1891 Daily News 6 July 2/6 Manufacturers and smelters are not disposed to accept forward contracts at the current rates.

b. smelter's fume (see quot.). 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2220/1 Smelter's Fume, the metallic fume resulting from the smelting of lead, the sublimation of zinc from ore, mercury from cinnabar, etc.

2. Smelting-works; a smeltery. Orig. U.S. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 235 Several smelters are in course of construction to reduce these ores to ingots at home. 1890 Pall Mall G. 12 July 3/2 On completion of eight additional smelters and other works.

3. attrib.y as smelter-man, returns. 1896 Columbus (Ohio) Disp. 4 Sept., The millionaire smelterman. 1898 Liebold Woman Proposes 68 We tax the gross output of the mines based on the mill and smelter returns.

smelter ('smelt3(r)), sb.2 [f. smelt sb.1 + -er1.] One who fishes for smelts; a smelt-catcher. 1845 Zoologist III. 1080 A smelter may be deemed the personification of patience. 1883 G. C. Davies Norf. Broads iii. 23 The smelter passes the night in his boat.

smeltery ('smeltari). [f. smelt Du. smelterij, G. schmelzerei.] ores are smelted.

v. + -ery.

Cf. A place where

1814 in Cleland Rise & Progr. Glasgow (1820) 267 Brass founderies and lead smelteries. 1888 Harper's Mag. Sept. 592 The product of the smeltery in 1886 had a money value of $1,105,190-76. 1893 C. G. Leland Mem. II. 57 The slag or debris of an iron smeltery.

smelting ('smeltnj), vbl. sb. [f. smelt v.] 1. The action of the verb smelt. 1531-2 Durh. Househ. Bk. (Surtees) 78 Et Nicholao Kyrchus et socio pro smeltynge 110 ma. petr. plumbi 6s. 6d. 1582 in Trans. Jewish Hist. Soc. (1903) IV. 94 Takeinge the said vitriall or Coppris from the ure before it Come in to the first smeltinge. 1665 Hooke Microgr. Pref., Smelting. . seems capable of being improv’d, a 1691 Boyle Wks. (1772) V. 741 What Tools are used in smelting, their Figures, use, &c. 1729 Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 32 The Dross of the Ore on smelting is called Slag. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 86/2 In the smelting of copper ores, quartz is used. 1851 D. Wilson Preh. Ann. II. in. ii. 85 Smelting and working of iron with fires of wood. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 26/1 The smelting, conducted in large blast furnaces, disengages the metal from the oxygen and earths of the ores. fig. 1882 Froude Carlyle II. 130 The incompleteness of the smelting shows all the more the actual condition of his [Carlyle’s] mind.

b. A process or product of smelting. 1872 Daily News 12 Oct., The sulphur smoke of the smeltings kills vegetation.

a 1300 Cursor M. 7334 fus saul haue pai mad pair king, Wit smerl and als wit coruning. Ibid. 11503 A smerl o selcuth bitturnes. 01300 E.E. Psalter cxxxii. 2 Als pe smerle in heued onon Falles in berde. .of Aaron.

Hence fsmerl v. trans., to anoint. f 'smerling vbl. sb. Obs.

Also

01300 Cursor M. 7328 He sal be smerld pair king to be. Ibid. 9338 Quen he pat haliest es cumen, Your smerling sal fra yow be nummen.

smerle (sm3:l). [a. Flem. smerle, prob. a special application of older smerle (now smerlijn) merlin.] A variety of the domestic pigeon. 1869 Tegetmeier Pigeons iv. 47 We had a pair of Smerles, or Short-faced Antwerp cocks. 1879 L. Wright Pigeon Keeper 210 A really Belgian pigeon called the Smerle.

f smerles. Obs. Forms: i smyrels, 3 smuriles, smirles; 3-4 smerieles, smerles (4 -lis). [OE. smyrels, f. smyrian to smear v. Cf. MSw. smyr-, smorilse (Sw. smorjelse), MDa. smorielse (Da. smorelse).] Ointment. In Small’s Metr. Horn. 17 the form smersles may either be an error for smerles, or the pi. of smersel, = ON. and Icel. smyrsl. a 1000 Canons Edgar 66 in Thorpe Laws II. 258 We laeraS past preosta jehwilc asgSer hzebbe je fulluht-ele je seocum smyrels. ciooo ./Elfric Horn. II. 508 He jehaelde an masden, mid halwendum smyrelse jehaljodes eles. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 145 [Mary Magdalene] nam ane box .. and hine fulde mid derewurSe smerieles. 0 1225 Leg. Kath. 1599 pe engles wifi smirles of aromaz smireden hire wunden. 0 1300 Cursor M. 14003 A bost sco has o smerles nummen. C1325 Metr. Horn. 97 The thrid gift thai him tok Was a smerlis, als sais the boc. 1340 Ayenb. 187 He ne may na3t polye pane guode smel of pe ilke smerieles.

f'smerlin. Obs. [ad. G. schmerling. Cf. Da. smer-, Sw. smarting.] A loach or groundling. [1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 81 They have one most delicate kinde, called Smerling, which in Prussen I did eate.] 1668 Charleton Onomast. 157 Cobites Aculeata,.. the Smerlin. [Hence in Ainsworth (1736) and later Diets.]

SMERSH, Smersh (srmij). [Russ, abbrev. of The popular name of the Russian counter-espionage organization, originating during the war of 1939-45, which is responsible for maintaining security within the Soviet armed and intelligence services.

smert' shpionam, lit. ‘death to spies’.]

1953 I- Fleming Casino Royale xxvii. 217 He would take on smersh and hunt it down. Without smersh, without this cold weapon of death and revenge, the M.W.D. would be just another bunch of civil servant spies. 1955 H. Hodgkinson Doubletalk 1 Still to be met with are.. SMERSH (smert shpionam: death to spies), the war-time name for the Soviet Army Counter-espionage organisation. 1961 D. Moore Highway of Fear iv. 27 Faster!.. The Smersh zombies .. are right behind you. 1967 E. Grierson Crime of One's Own ix. 73 All this nonsense of Calvert being some type from SMERSH —and Mason’s the Man from Uncle, I suppose? 1977 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Apr. 534/3 Missing .. from . . the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .. are two Abakumovs, Andrei Ivanovich .. and Viktor Semenovich, head of Smersh during the Second World War and Minister for State Security after it.

2. attrib.y as smelting bellows, fire, -furnace, -hearth, -house, mill, etc.

smert, obs. or dial, variant of smart.

1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 767 Minerall men, who have their smelting house by Derwent side. 1664 Oldenburg in Boyle's Wks. (1772) VI. 150 It is like the smelting miln-smoke. 1667 in Pettus Fodinas Reg. (1670) 35 Five Pair of large Smelting Bellows. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v. Smelt, A .. Furnace.. call’d, The smeltingFurnace. 1778 W. Pryce Min. Cornub. 68 It has been carried to the smelting-house, as it came out of the earth. 1815 J Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 819 The mixture is calcined over a smelting fire. 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 106/2 In the time of the Romans smelting works were carried on in the neighbourhood. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 339 What are known as smelting-ores in this district are the richer grades carrying usually 300 ounces of silver and upwards per ton. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 100 The air driven into the smelting-hearth was cold.

smetana ('smetana). Also with Fr. spelling smitane (smitan). [a. Russ, smetana sour cream, f. smetat’ to sweep together, collect.] Sour cream. Freq. attrib. as smetana (or smitane) sauce, a sauce made with sour cream and seasonings, usu. served with meat.

smere, obs. form of smear sb. and v. fsmere, adv. Obs. Also4smare. [Representing OE. smsere, found only in galsmxre given to

1909 M. Ronald Century Cook Bk. (rev. ed.) 606 Smetana sauce... Pour a cup of thick sour cream into the pan, let it just brown, and then pour over steaks. 1938 Zionist Rev. 11 Aug. 13/1 For supper there is bread and smetana. 1939 A. L. Simon Cone. Encycl. Gastron. I. 48/1 Smitane, Sauce. Sour cream and onions. 1963 I. Fleming On H.M. Secret Service (1964) xxiii. 242 Rehriicken mit Sahne. That’s saddle of roebuck with a smitane sauce. 1968 A. Tack Spy who wasn't Exchangedxii. 91 He ordered a sour milk and cream mixture called Smetana. 1978 Chicago June 242/2 Our favorites are the eggy cheese blintzes.. Lithuanian schnitzel with smetana (sour cream) sauce, veal cordon bleu, etc. 1979 N. Freeling Widow xiv. 83 Any sort of sauce you like except tomato. Smitane maybe.

S meter: see S II. io. fsmeth. Obs.~° (See quot.) 1656 Blount Glossogr., Smeth or Smoothery, a medicine or physical Ointment to take away hair.

smeth(e, obs. forms of smeeth a. and v. smeuse (smjurs, smju:z), sb.

Also smeuce, smewse, -ss, smu(i)ce, smuse, etc. [Alteration of meuse sfe.] A hole in a hedge, wall, etc.: see meuse sb. and cf. smoot sb.1 A common dialect form, esp. in N. Midland counties. 1819 in C. W. Hatfield Hist. Notices Doncaster {1866) I. 70 By the aid of his dark lantern he knew every smeuce in Wharncliffe or Tankersley parks. 1871 Peacock Ralf Skirl I. 255 There was a smuice through the hedge just again’ where I was stan’in’. 1883 Pennell-Elmhirst Cream of Leicestersh. 304 There was only one hole—and that a mere smeuse—in the next blackthorn wall.

Hence smeuse v.

= meuse v.

1851 R. Hill in Gosse Nat. Jamaica 388 The terrier., smuicing it under the brushwood. 1862 Whyte Melville Inside Bar x, The hounds threw their tongues merrily enough, when they were ‘smeusing’ through a fence.

smew (smju:).

[Origin and relation to smee saw-billed duck (Mergus or Mergellus albellus) belonging to the merganser group; the white nun. The female is known as the red-headed smew. uncertain.]

A

1674 Dent in Ray's Lett. (1718) 21 A Pocker, a Smew, three Sheldins. 1678 Ray tr. Willughby's Ornith. 338. 1709 Phil. Trans. XXVI. 466 Mergus major cirratus, the Smew, or White Nun. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 439 Red-headed Smew. The head is slightly crested, and of a rust colour. 1785 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds III. 11. 429 The Smew is seen in England only in winter. 1838 Audubon Ornith. IV. 350 The Smew is a bird of extremely rare occurrence in the United States. 1891 Nature 4 June 106/2 Last January a friend showed me a smew.. shot on the Dee, near Chester. attrib. 1829 Griffith tr. Cuvier VIII. 626 Smew Merganser, Mergus Albellus.

smewk, obs. form of smook, smoke. smiche, obs. or dial, form of smitch sb. fsmick,

v.

Obs.

rare.

modification of smack v2 trans. and intr. ? To kiss.

[prob. a jingling Cf. smick-smack.]

1572 Schole ho. Women 132 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. no Haue you once turned your eye and back, An other she wil haue to smick and smack. 1685-8 in Bagford Ballads (1876) 68 You smack, you smick, you wash, you lick, you smirk, you swear, you grin.

t'smicker, a. Obs. Forms: 1 smicer, 3 Orm. smikerr, 6-7 smicker. [OE. smicer: cf. OHG. smehhar, smechar (MHG. smecker) elegant, delicate.] 1. Beautiful, elegant, fair, handsome. In later use only of persons. C725 Corpus Gl. (Hessels) E 141 Elegans, smicre. 0 1000 in Cockayne The Shrine (1864) 163 pat he mage windan manijne smicerne waen & manij aenlic hus settan. 0 1000 in Thorpe Dipl. Angl. Sax. (1865) 536 Hio. .bit pa?t hi findon betweox him twa smicere scencingcuppan into beodern for hi. c 1200 Ormin 13679 fmrrh whatt he fell. . Inntill nip hellepine, & warrp till atell defell pser Off shene & smikerr enngell. 1590 Tarlton News Purg. (1844) 114 The Smith seeing what a smicker wench the Coblers wife was,.. sorrowed at the good fortune of the Cobler, that he had so faire a wife. 1590 Lodge Euphues (1592) Pivb, A smicker boy, a lyther Swaine, heigh ho a smicker Swaine: That in his Loue was wanton faine, with smiling looks straight came vnto her. absol. 1639 J. Smyth in Glouc. Gloss. (1890) 201 Smoke will to the smicker: meaninge, If many gossips sit against a smokey chimney the smoke will bend to the fairest.

2. Of looks: Smirking, gay. 1589 Peele Eclogue Gratulatory 4 Why bin thy looks so smicker and so proud?

3. Loose or lax; wanton. 1606 Ford Fame's Memorial xxx, Reguardfull of his honor he forsooke The smicker vse of court-humanity.

'smicker, v.

Now only Sc. Also 9 smikker. [app. f. prec.] f 1. intr. To look amorously or wantonly at or after a person. Obs. 1668 Dryden Even. Love iii. i, Must you be smickering after Wenches, while I am in Calamity? 1668 Davenant Man's the Master 11. i, No, no, I see I may make love long enough before you smicker at me.

2. Sc. To smile or smirk. 1802 Sibbald Chron. Scot. Poetry Gloss., Smikker, to smile in a seducing manner. 1819 Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 7° At him, my grandsher, and the Vicar,.. The god o’ gaups did laugh and srpikker. 1888 Delday in Edwards Mod. Sc. Poets 12th Ser. 41 To pass the time and have a chat, And see them sweetly smicker.

Hence f'smickering vbl. inclination. Obs.

sb., an amorous

1699 Dryden Let. to Mrs. Steward 28 Sept., We had a young doctour, who rode by our coach, and seem’d to have a smickering to our young lady of Pilton.

'smickering, ppl. a.

rare-'. That smirks or

smickers. 1930 W. de la Mare Poems for Children 17 All turned their heads with a smickering smile.

SMICKET

789

smicket ('smiket). Now dial. Also 7-8 smickit. [app. dim. of smock s6.] A woman’s smock or chemise; a small smock. In use during the 19th cent in many dialects. c 1685 Adv. to Maidens Lottd. ii. in Bagford Ballads (1878) 935 ^usan and Joan they will have a Top-Knot, although they have never a Smicket. c 1690 in Roxb. Ball. (1883) IV. 439 Stripping of all their Cloaths, their Gowns, their Petticoats, Shoes and Hose, Their fine white smickits then stripping. 1718 Ozell tr. Tournefort’s Voy. I. 219 Over this Smicket they wear a large smock. Ibid., Thus are their richest Smickets no better than a penitential Shirt. 1772 Brydges Horn. Trav. (1797) I. 337 His dear Nelly, who had scarce An undarn’d smicket. 1815 W. Hi Ireland Scribbleom. 141 Misses. .Who, drench’d, ne’er catch cold, though without change of smickets. 1820 Combe Syntax, Consol, v. II. 199 The white smickets wave below, While .. The petticoats appear’d as banners. 1897 E. Phillpotts Lying Prophets 177, I found the wrhole fortune hid beneath her smickets.

t’smickly, adv.

Obs.~1

[Cf.

smicker

a.]

Elegantly, finely. 1624 Ford Sun's Darling n. i, Ray. What’s he that looks so smickly? Fol. One that loves mutton so well, he always carries capers about him.

smig. Also smigg. [Of obscure origin.] (See quot. a 1880.) Also attrib., as smig bait, herring. 1879 Standard 17 July 3/7 The mackerel were so intent upon chasing shoals of smigg, that numbers of them were stranded on the beach, a 1880 Buckland Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes 281 If a basket of whitebait be examined in April there will be found a large number of minute fish 1 in. to in. long, perfectly transparent, with a large eye and no scales visible, the body being covered with a few black spots. These are called ‘smig herring’. Ibid. 282 The spratty stuff and the ‘smig’ bait comes up the river first.

'smiggins. Cant. (See quots.) 1825 Knapp & Baldwin Newgate Cal. III. 489/1 The Water in which the beef was boiled is thickened with barley, and forms a mess called smiggins. 1828 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 63 Descanting upon the sorrows of sour smiggins (cold-meat hash). 1839 Slang Diet. 34 Smiggins, nickname for a soup given on board the hulks.

'smiggot. rare~x. Devon. A particle, atom. 1823 New Monthly Mag. VIII. 502 Deuce a smiggott of aught wonderful saw we.

smight, obs. form of smite v. smil, obs. form of smell sb.

smick-smack, sb. and a.

[Cf. smick v. and

smack sb.2]

«

fA. sb. A smacking noise; a smacking or frequent kissing. Obs. CI550 Lusty Iuventus in Hazl. Dodsley II. 85 What a hurly-burly is here! Smick smack, and all this gear! 1677 Miege Fr. Diet. ii. s.v. Smack, Smick-smack, baisotement.

B. adj. Elegant, first-rate.

rare~K

1802 Spirit Publ. Jrnls. VI. 186 The Bacchanalian glees were loudly applauded, and the smick smack repast went off with its usual eclat.

smiddie, -dy, north, and Sc. varr. 'smiddum. Mining,

smithy sb.

[varr. of smeddum.] SMITHAM 2. Also dttrib.

=

1821 W. Forster Section Strata (ed. 2) 341 The Ore, that collects at the bottom of the Tub, is called Smiddum. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Smiddum-tails, in mining, the sludge or slimy portion deposited in washing ore. 1892 Heslop Northumb. Gloss., Smiddum, small particles of lead ore [etc.].

smidge (smid3).

[Origin unknown, perh. f. smitch sb.2: cf. next.] A tiny amount. Orig. and chiefly U.S. 1905 Dialect Notes III. 65 Smidge, smitch, n., smallest piece, tiniest particle. 1934 Sun (Baltimore) 21 Sept. 1/6 Every last smidge of his record will be investigated. 1965 Auden About House (1966) 17 Surrender my smidge Of nitrogen to the World Fund. 1967 lE. Queen’ Face to Face xli. 184 Do you suppose I might have a smidge of that, Inspector? It looks so good, and I haven’t had any breakfast. 1973 Observer 28 Oct. 48/4 Inviting us to buy their mail¬ order course for a smidge under £13. 1976 Washington Post 15 June A7/2 A Democratic Party that can’t even afford. . a smidge of debate.

smidgen ('smidyn). orig. and chiefly U.S. Also smidgeon, smidgin, smitchin, etc. [Origin unknown, perh. f. smitch sb.2 -1- -en, -in, repr. dial, pronunc. of -ing1: cf. prec.] A tiny amount, a trace; a very small person or thing. 1845 C. M. Kirkland Western Clearings 71 They wouldn’t have left a smitchin o’ honey. 1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds 611 Not a smidgeon left—just bodaciously chawed up and spit out. 1886 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. XVII. 43 Smidgen, ‘a small bit, a grain’, as ‘a smidgen of meal’, is common in East Tennessee. 1913 [see clip sb.2 4]. 1930 Va. Quarterly Rev. 6 Apr. 249 He can testify perhaps . . that he has had a bait, a snack, or a mere smidgen of them. 1952 J. Steinbeck East of Eden xxiii. 289 You little, silly, half-pint, smidgin of a wife. 1954 R. Millar Waiting for Gillian in Plays of the Year X. 346 There’s a smidgin of Gordon’s in the whisky decanter, i960 Wodehouse Jeeves in Offing iv. 45 ‘No will of her own?’ ‘Not a smidgeon.’ 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 37 (Advt.), Whether you’re nine months or ninety years old, plump or twiggy, tall as a tree or small as a smidgeon. 1971 N.Z. Listener 18 Oct. 11/5 It’s an unknown quantity often combined with just a smidgen of skill. 1973 People's Jrnl. (Inverness & Northern Counties ed.) 15 Dec. 4/5 My family would eat mince pies to a band playing so long as there’s at least a smidgeon of rum butter to wipe over the top crust. 1982 R. Conquest in Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Dec. 1385/4 Any writer allowing the merest smidgin of Soviet reality into his work was headed straight for Magadan.

smie,

dial, variant of smy (fish),

smifligate, -ation,

variants of spiflicate v.,

SPIFLI CATION. 1839 Dickens Nickleby xxvii, Mr. Pyke threatened with many oaths to ‘smifligate’ a very old man. Ibid., Conjecturing.. that smifligation and bloodshed must be one and the same thing.

smift. Mining. [Of obscure origin.] A kind of fuse or slow match used in blasting. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 836 Paper rubbed over with gun¬ powder or grease, for the smifts or fuses. Ibid., A paper smift . . is then fixed to the top of the rush-tube. 1871 W. Morgans Mining Tools 137 A ‘smift’, which is variously made of either a bit of touch-wood, touch-paper, greased candle-wick or paper,.. is attached by a bit of grease or clay to the outside end of the train.

SMILE b. transf. and fig. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 23 To see if the Continent were as full of smiles, as the seas were of fauours. 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, 11. iv. 187 Me thought I stood not in the smile of Heauen. 1727 Dyer Grongar Hill 82 Transient is the smile of Fate. 1757 Gray Bard 82 Fell Thirst and Famine scowl A baleful smile. 1814 Scott Lord of Isles v. vi, The sun .. Now tinged them with a parting smile. 1831Cast. Dang, xi, A knight, who.. was poor in worldly goods, and in the smiles of fortune. 1859 Tennyson Marriage of Geraint 350 Turn, Fortune, turn thy wheel with smile or frown.

c. Const, of (some quality, feeling, etc.). 1779 Mirror No. 64, I discovered a smile of satisfaction in the countenances of most of the guests. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxvi, Where he was surrounded with plenty, elegance, and smiles of welcome. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxx, At this moment another smile of deep meaning passed between Dalzell and Claverhouse. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xx, Beyond the first smile of recognition. 1859 Habits of Gd. Society vii. 246, I never yet saw a smile of pity or sympathy on his face.

2. colloq. A drink, esp. of whisky, orig. U.S. 1839 Spirit of Times 24 Aug. 294/3 We all agreed to take another smile. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2) 420 Smile, a drink, dram. 188. G. H. Kingsley Sport & Trav. (1900) vi. 186 You just take a ‘smile’ of the real, old, blue-grass Bourbon. 1889 Jerome Three Men in Boat ii, Harris., proposed that we should go out and have a smile.

smilacin ('smaibsin). Chem. [a. F. smilacin, f. smilac-, stem of smilax + -in1.] Parillin.

3. a. Comb., as smile-covering, -frowning, -peopled, -tuned, -wreathed adjs.; smile-maker.

1836 Brande Chemistry (ed. 4) 1047 The parillin and smilacin of Palotta and Folchi, I have not been able to identify. 1838 Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 137 Smilacin is obtained from the root of the Smilax sarsaparilla. 1871 Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 336 Sarsaparilla contains.. a peculiar principle occurring as a white powder, Smilacin, of which little is known.

a 1618 Sylvester Sonn. i. Wks. (Grosart) II. 50 Eyes cloudy-clear, smile-frowning, stormy-calm. 1676 Wycherley PI. Dealer 11. i, I cou’d not sit to a vain young Smile-maker tho’ he flatter’d me. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam 11. xxxiv, The tranquil strength which cradled lay In her smile-peopled rest. 1825 Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Sutherl. I. 123 A consequent smile-covering frown from the young lady, c 1845 Mrs. Browning An Island xxv, Yea, soon, no consonant unsmooth Our smile-tuned lips shall reach. 1895 in Westm. Gaz. 12 June 7/3 His sparkling eyes and smilewreathed face telling of the zest with which the novelty was enjoyed.

smilacina (smaib'saina). [mod.L. (R. L. Desfontaines 1807, in Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. IX. 51), f. smilac-, smilax + -ina2.] A perennial herb of the genus so called, belonging to the family Liliaceae, native to North America or temperate parts of Asia, and bearing terminal clusters of small white flowers; also called false Solomon’s seal. 1808 Curtis's Bot. Mag. XXIX. 1155 (heading) OvalLeaved Smilacina. 1890 Harper's Mag. Apr. 709/1 The little smilacina lifts its spike of tiny, fragrant blossoms. 1970 B. Miles Bluebells & Bittersweet viii. 141/3 Though perhaps not as well known [as Solomon’s seal], smilacina wants the same situation.

smilax ('smailaeks). Bot. [a. L. smilax (Pliny), a. Gr. CT/LuAaf bindweed, etc.] 1. A large genus of liliaceous plants typical of the order Smilaceae, or a species of this genus, the tuberous rootstocks of which constitute the sarsaparilla of commerce. In earlier writers, as Morwyng (1559) and Turner (1562), smilax is used in other senses of the L. and Gr. word, after passages in Pliny or Dioscorides. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 190 Some haue said that Smilax is of 2 sorts: the one.. climbing trees, & tufted in the head with clusters., of berries. ci6io Fairfax Eclogues iv. xv, Bay, Smilax, Myrtle .. Grew there. 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. ill. xxii. 432 Smilax,.. Bindweed; it opens the belly, dissolves hard swellings. 1710 W. King Heathen Gods & Heroes xxvii. (1722) 134 The Ivy, the Smilax, or Ropeweed, . . were the Vegetables that he [Bacchus] delighted in. 1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 30 There was also an abundance of small prickly vines entwined among the bushes, of a species of smilax. 1839 Audubon Ornith. Biog. I. 302 The Green Briar, or Round-leaved Smilax,.. is common along fences. 1874 Coues Birds N.W. 162 The ravines overgrown with smilax and brambles. attrib. 1899 F. V. Kirby Sport E.C. Africa xi. 124 A mass of thorny shrubs woven into an almost solid block by a growth of convolvulus creepers and of the twining smilax yam.

2. A climbing species of asparagus, Myrsiphylium asparagoides, much used for decorative purposes. 1870 Daily News 13 June, The sprays of smilax, the roses and violets, bloomed from baskets in the windows. 1887 The Lady 20 Jan. 38/3 A large square of pink plush was outlined against the white damask, with a broad, graceful border of smilax.

smile (small), sb.1 Also 6 smyle, 7 Sc. smyl. [f. smile v. Cf. MHG. smiel, Da., Sw., Norw. smil (NFris, smiil, from Da.).] 1. a. An act of smiling; a slight and more or less involuntary movement of the countenance expressive of pleasure, amusement, affection, etc., or of amused contempt, disdain, incredulity, or similar emotion. Also in phr. (to be) all smiles, i.e. wreathed in smiles. 1562 Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 78 Better is the last smyle, than the fyrst laughter. 1591 Nashe Pref. Sidney's Astr. Stella in G. G. Smith Eliz. Crit. Ess. II. 228, I will leaue you to. .offer your smiles on the Aulters of Venus. 1621 Quarles Div. Poems, Esther (1638) 105 Where are thy maiden-smiles, thy blushing cheeke? 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 239 This sweet intercourse Of looks and smiles. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. II. xliv. 20 Every smile is waited for with impatience and envied by those who cannot obtain it. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho vii, St. Aubert gave him a friendly smile for his compliment. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xiii, The duke was all smiles and courtesy. 1875 Grindon Life xiv. 173 There are more smiles in the world than there are tears. 1916 G. B. Shaw Pygmalion in. 154 Higgins:.. Dont be nervous about it. Pitch it in strong. Clara (all smiles): I will. Good-bye.

b. attrib., as smile-line, -wrinkle. 1921 W. de la Mare Memoirs of Midget xxiv. 158, I looked at his long, fair eyelashes and the smile-line on his cheek. 1977 New Yorker 19 Sept. 58/3 Firkusny is a tall, lithe, trim man with gray hair, blue eyes, and smile lines in his face which soften an almost austere handsomeness, a 1930 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) in. 254 The smile-wrinkles on the fresh, pleased face, they give odd quivers.

smile, sb.2 dial. Also smale. [Representing OE. smy^el ‘cuniculus’ (only in glosses), related to smugan to creep.] (See quot.) 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, Smile, the same, I believe, or nearly, as Smale; the form or fourm, or seat of a hare.

smile (small), v.

Forms: a. 4-5 smylle, 4-6 smyle, Sc. 5-6 smyll, 7 smill, 4- smile. 6-7 smoyle, 7, 9 dial, smoile. [ME. smllen, — OHG. smilan (in pres. pple. smilenter-, MHG. smielen), also Da. smile (hence NFris. smile), Norw. and Sw. smila; these are prob. adoptions from a MLG. *smilen, which may also have been the source of the English word.] I. intr. 1. a. Of persons: To give to the features or face a look expressive of pleasure or amusement, or of amused disdain, scorn, etc. to smile in one's sleeve: see sleeve sb. 2d. a. 01300 Cursor M. 2731 ‘Thar pe noght in hethyng smylle.’ Sco said, ‘for soth smild i noght’. 1338 R. Brunne Chrofi. (1810) 185 Philip held him stifle, & bigan to smyle. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 14 For with a goodly lok sche smyleth. c 1440 Alph. Tales cccl. 241 So pis Cardinall smylid, & commendid hym for his gude tale, c 1475 Rauf Coiljear 711 The King preuilie smylit, Quhen he saw that bald. 1530 Palsgr. 722/2, I smyle, I make a countenaunce towarde laughyng and laughe nat outryght, je me soubzris. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 128 b, He .. began to smile, & contempne theyr answere. 1601 Shaks. Jul. C. iv. i. 50 Some that smile, haue in their hearts I feare Millions of Mischeefes. 1670 Clarendon Hist. Reb. xm. §4 They., reprehended him very sharply if he smiled on those days. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 2 If 5 He can smile when one speaks to him, and laughs easily. 1754 Shebbeare Matrimony (1766) II. 107 She hung at Sir William’s arm, Smiling in his Face. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lvi, He.. would smile when George came down late for breakfast. 1898 J. Arch Story Life xv. 357 Chamberlain was smiling all over his face. (3. 1599 Breton Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 49/1 And,.. like an olde horses neyghing, would he be smoyling. 1614 -I would & I would not lxxix, I would I were an honest Countrey-Wench, That only could make Curtsey, smoile, and blush. 1864 Tennyson N. Farmer 1. xiv, Loook ’ow quoloty smoiles when they seeas ma a passin’ boy.

b. transf. and fig. 1594 1st Pt. Contention viii, In that I intreat you to vse her well. The world may smile againe and I may Hue, To do you fauour if you do it her. 1596 Shaks. Two Gentl. 1. ii. 63 When inward ioy enforc’d my heart to smile. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 480 Then let me not let pass Occasion which now smiles; behold alone The woman [etc.]. 1747 Gray Fav. Cat 28 Malignant Fate sat by, and smil’d. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxii, Thy soothing strains the pensive heart beguile, And bid the visions of the future smile, a 1822 Shelley Mutability (2) 1 The flower that smiles to-day To¬ morrow dies. 1825 Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Sutherl. I. no Now indeed was the crisis of his fate at hand, every thing smiled.

c. In the slang phrase I should smile, used to ridicule an idea (chiefly U.S.). Also in phr. to come up smiling: see COME v. 74 b. 1883 C. H. Hoyt Bunch of Keys in, in Five Plays (1944) 48 ‘Single room?’ ‘Well, I should smile.' 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Conn. Yank. ix. 113 They actually wanted me to put

SMILEFUL in! Well, I should smile. 1891 Youth's Companion 138 Sing for nothing? Well I should smile!

d. Of eyes: to express pleasure, amusement, etc. I759 C. Wesley in J. & C. Wesley Funeral Hymns 2nd Ser. 37 Those laughing eyes shall smile no more, a 1889 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 37 And May has come, hairbound in flowers, With eyes that smile thro’ the tears of the hours. 1938-DYLAN Thomas in Seven Winter 17 She wept in her pain and made mouths, Talked and tore though her eyes smiled. 1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet iv. i. 289 His face changed—something fleeting, quizzical, but not smiling, his eyes did not smile.

2. a. To look on, upon, at, or to a person with a smile or pleasant expression. Also with advbs., as back, down, over, up. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 228 Achilles.. upon himself to smyle Began, when he was so besein. r 1440 Bone Florence 1790 He at them can smyle. 1558 Phaer JEneid 1. A iiij, The maker of the Gods and men to her all swetely smyles. 1581 Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. 11. (1586) 73 b, To smile upon euerie man, is rather a signe of a vaine minde, then of a cheerefull countenance. 1676 Hobbes Iliad (1677) 15 His mother on him smil’d. 1711 Addison Sped. No. 69 |f 2 Sir Andrew, who often smiles upon me as he sees me bustling in the Crowd. 1749 Smollett Gil Bias xii. xiii. (1782) IV. 268 At these words of my god-daughter, I smiled to her father. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho lii, Ludovico smiled at Annette, and bowed to Emily. 1845 [see rank sb.1 3 b]. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest viii, Edward .. smiled upon the little girl, i860 A. J. Evans Beulah xx. 177 He smiled dowm into her tearful face. 1866 Mrs. C. J. Newby Common Sense II. 88 The cheerful rallying tone awoke something of the old pride in him, and he smiled up. 1889 R. L. Stevenson Master of Ballantrae iv. 111 How was he to smile back on the deceiver? 1896 Mrs. Steel Face Waters 11. iii, They had smiled on little Sonny Seymour as he passed them. 1905 E. M. Albanesi Brown Eyes of Mary iii. 38 She smiled up at him from under the white sunshade. 1908 Smart Set June 89/1 The girl pushed aside the screen and smiled over at her. 1949 A. Miller Death of Salesman 132 He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. 1952 E. O’Neill Moon for Misbegotten 1. 40 She smiles down at Jim, her face softening. transf. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 499 In the Spring time, the medowes arraied with pleasant flowers smile upon the beholders. 1667 Milton P.L.v. 124 When fair Morning first smiles on the world. 1821 Shelley Adonais xxxii. 8 On the withering flower The killing sun smiles brightly.

b. To look on or upon one with favour, approval, or encouragement. Freq. fig. t 1400 Rom. Rose 4355 It is of Love, as of Fortune,.. Which whylom wol on folke smyle. And gloumbe on hem another whyle. 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 218 Fair Calling did oft apon me smyle, And Cherising me fed wyth wordis fair. 1594 Shaks. Rich. Ill, v. v. 20 Smile Heauen vpon this faire Coniunction, That long haue frown’d vpon their Enmity. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 220 Yet was it [i.e. a palace] able to smile upon Alexander, when hee extracted thence to pay his Soldats. c 1657 Sir W. Mure Hist. Ho. Rowallane Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 250 At yl time the Court seemed to smill vpon him. 1709-10 Steele in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 345 My Lord Hallifax has smiled upon his labours. 1748 Gray Alliance 16 If equal Justice with unclouded Face Smile not indulgent on the rising Race. 1833 Ht. Martineau Tale of Tyne iii. 60 It is the duty of government to smile on undertakings which favour the industry of the people. 1878 Bosw. Smith Carthage 281 Circumstances .. seemed to smile on the project.

c. To show by the features one’s amusement (or pleasure) at something. £•1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Mary Egypt) 509 3one 3onge man .. at myn fule speke smylit in hy. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2123 Ariadne, This lady smylith at his stedefastnesse. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 1384 Than Wallace smyld a litill at his langage. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 3 Time it is when raging warre is done, To smile at scapes and perils ouerblowne. 1623 Camden Rem. (1636) 245 Our first finest Poets may smile at the verses of that time as succeeding ages .. will haply smile at theirs. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 912 While he withdrawn at their mad Labour smiles. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 11. (Globe) 356 The Spaniard only smil’d at that, and made him no Answer. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam 11. xxxix, Wherefore dost thou smile At what I say? 1879 Mrs. A. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 60 Though they may smile inwardly at your ways,.. they will never allow the smile to be outwardly seen.

3. Of physical features, things, etc.: To have or present an agreeable or pleasing aspect. Common in 18th cent, poetry. 1594 Kyd Cornelia iv. ii, O Faire Sunne, that gentlie smiles From the Orient-pearled lies. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 165 Cheard with the grateful smell old Ocean smiles. 1703 Rowe Fair Penitent II. i, A better Order of succeeding Days Come smiling forward, white and lucky all. 1769 Sir W. Jones Palace Fortune Poems (1777) 26 Each meadow blossom’d, and each valley smil’d. 1805 Wordsw. Elegiac Stanzas 19 A sea that could not cease to smile. 1878 Bosw. Smith Carthage 11 A country smiling with cornfields and gardens.

4. Of wine, beer, etc.: To sparkle. ? Obs. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew s.v. Mantles, When Drink is brisk and smiles. 1721 Mortimer Husb. (ed. 2) II. 325 It flushes violently out of the Cock.. and then stops on a sudden, and pearls and smiles in a Glass like any bottled Beer. 1828 in Carr Craven Gloss.

5. (U.S.) slang. To drink; to have or take a drink. 1858 [see smiling vbl. sb. 2]. 1865 J. C. Hotten in ‘Artemus Ward’ His Book 18 note, ‘Let us take a tod’ was formerly a common phrase. Recently, however, ‘To Kiss the Baby’ and to ‘Smile’ have taken its place. 1870 Daily News 7 Feb., This ‘gentleman’. . asked me to ‘smile’. I had learned by experience that this is the slang phrase for ‘taking a drink’.

SMILING

790

II. trans. 6. a. To bring or convert into a specified condition by smiling. Const, in, into, out of, etc. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. v. ii. 465 Som Dick That smiles his checke [= cheek] in yeares. 1601-Twel. N. III. ii. 84 He does smile his face into more lynes, then is in the new Mappe. 1608- Pericles V. i. 139 Thou doest looke like patience, .smiling extremitie out of act. 1728 Young Love of Fame 1. 46 What author shall we find.. The courtly Roman’s smiling path to tread, And sharply smile prevailing folly dead?

b. To dismiss, get rid of, drive away (something) with a smile or smiles; to while away (time), dry up (tears), in or by smiling. Also with down, out. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 142 The great ones of thy court have audaciously smiled away the gloom and horrors of guilt. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. 11. 78 When sober Judgment has his throne resigned She smiles away the chaos of the mind. 1803 Visct. Strangford Poems of Camoens Sonn. xx. (1810) 106 Those charming eyes, within whose starry sphere Love whilom sat, and smil’d the hours away, c 1850 Mrs. Browning Hector & Andromache 102 She received him straight To her bosom’s fragrance— smiling up her tears, i860 G. Meredith Evan Harrington xi. iii ‘Another!’ the hostess instantly smiled down the inhospitable outcry. 1885 ‘L. Malet’ Col. Enderby's Wife 1. iii, A woman’s reputation must not be smiled away. transf. 1827 Hood Hero 6? Leander xxviii, The drowsy world shone brighten’d in reply; And smiling off her fogs, his slanting beam [etc.]. 1936 R. Campbell Mithraic Emblems 52 It is the blossom in our blood With folded petals smiling out the sere, Brown, shuffled slippers of the limping year.

f7. To treat with contempt or disdain; to deride, laugh at. Obs.~1 1605 Shaks. Lear ii. ii. 88 A plague vpon your Epilepticke visage, Smoile you my speeches, as I were a Foole?

8. a. To answer or repeat by smiling. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. ill. (1632) 91 Thou smil’st my smiles: when I a teare let fall, Thou shedd’st an other.

b. To exhibit, indicate, or express by smiling; to grant, bestow, etc., with a smile; with direct speech as obj., to say with a smile. Also fig. and with in (quot. i860). 1646 J. Hall Poems 29 Yet it is midnight still with me, Nay worse, unless that kinder she Smile Day. 1803 W. R. Spencer Year of Sorrow 46 Thy Susan.. Smiled no sweet sunshine on thy closing day. 1814 Byron Lara 11. xvii, He .. sadly smiles his thanks to that dark page. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. xlvi. (1856) 423 They cannot be said to smile a welcome upon the navigator, i860 Lever One of Them iii, ‘The very remark I was about to make, my Lord,’ smiled in Mrs. Morris. 1880 Daily Telegr. 21 Feb., She smiled disbelief. 1886 ‘M. Gray’ Silence of Dean Maitland III. ii. 35 ‘This is alarming,’ smiled the dean. 1902 H. James Wings of Dove xv. 231 ‘He won’t., make up his mind about me.’ ‘Well,’ Milly smiled, ‘give him time.’ 1936 W. Holtby South Riding iii. iii. 175 ‘Well, Dolly, I hope you’re looking after these young men,’ smiled Carne shyly. 1976 H. MacInnes Agent in Place xix. 208 ‘Not for me,’ Georges smiled.

c. With cognate object; To give (a smile, esp. one of a specified kind). 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxiii, Mr. Weller junior smiled a filial smile. 1862 Miss Braddon Lady Audley xl, She smiled the queerest smile. 1868 Helps Realmah ii. (1876) 21 The Caliph smiled a grim smile.

Hence 'smileable a., at which one may smile; smiled ppl. a., spoken or given with a smile; also with out. 1830 Blackw. Mag. XXVIII. 893 All speak,.. or smile, of all the speakable.. and smileable little interesting affairs. 1850 W. C. Bennett Baby May Poems 12 Tiny scorns of smiled reprovings That have more of love than lovings. 1892 C. E. Norton Dante's Parad. i. 5, I was divested of my first doubt by these brief little smiled-out words.

'smileful, a.

[f. smile sb.]

Full of smiles;

smiling. 1609 Armin Maids of More-Clacke Eiv, Be smilefull, and expresse no griefe in sithes. 1850 in Ogilvie. 1895 Advance (Chicago) 1 Aug. 157/1 The epoch is signalized with garlands and high festival, with assemblies tearful and smileful.

Hence 'smilefulness. 1887 ]•’. Wilson Alma Murray as Juliet 13 The flickering smilefulness with which she uttered the lines.

smileless (’smaillis), a. [f. smile s6.] 1. Of persons, the features, expression, etc.: Exhibiting severe.

no

smile;

never

smiling;

grave,

1719 Lady Wardlaw Hardyknute xxxiv, With smyless luke, and visage wan, The wounded Knight replied. 1837 Wordsw. Night thought 11 Ingrates who wear a smileless face The whole year through. 1838 Lytton Alice xi. i, Pale, wan,.. smileless, she was the ghost of her former self. 1882 C. D. Warner W. Irving x. 295 The smileless prig has begun to weary even the popular fancy. 1892 G. Hake Mem. xxxv. 115 That free, smileless expression.

b. Of words, etc.: Uttered without a smile. 1810 S. Green Reformist I. 208 She either replied not at all, or only answered her by a smileless monosyllable. 1877 Daily News 30 Nov., It is a fearfully impressive thing to listen to his smileless, unaltering harangues.

2. Devoid of brightness or cheerfulness; dark, dull, cheerless. 1858 Lytton What will he do? vi. ix. And so the old man, whose life had been so smileless, died smiling. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakfast-t. iv, That smileless eternity to which they look forward, a 1873 Lytton Pausanias 60 The very moonlight upon these waters, cold and smileless.

Hence 'smilelessly adv.\ 'smilelessness.

1844 J. T. Hewlett Parsons & W. xxvi, Not only smileless herself, but the cause of smilelessness in others. 1869 Aldrich Story Bad Boy 68 At seven o’clock my grandfather comes smilelessly down stairs. smiler ('smaita(r)).

[f. smile v.]

1. One who smiles. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1141 Ther saugh I.. The smyler with the knyfe vnder the cloke. 1668 Dryden Even. Love Epil. 5 Where a lot of Smilers lent an Ear To one that talk’d. 1694 Poet Buffoon'd 1 Much like the Losers and the Winners, One Smiler and two hundred Grinners. 1742 Young Nt. Th. 1. 315 Know, smiler! at thy peril art thou pleas’d. 1795 Aikin Even. Home xxix. (Dove) 507 Through her pale and emaciated features, he saw something of his little smiler. 1855 Smedley H. Coverdale i, A .. pleasant smile it was too.., making the smiler look particularly handsome. 1876 T. Hardy Ethelberia (1890) 279 Noticing that a few Gallic smilers were gathering round. b. As a moth-name: (see quot.). 1832 Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & Moths 77 The Smiler (Polia Polymita). 2. slang. A kind of shandy-gaff. 1892 Daily News 16 Nov. 2/3 A singular mixture of beer and lemonade known in Manchester as a smiler. 1900 Ibid. 30 Apr. 5/1 To take these generous liquors in the diluted forms of ‘shandy-gaff or ‘smiler’. Smilesian (’smailzian), a. the

name

of

Samuel

Also Smilesean.

Smiles

+

[f.

-ian.]

Of,

pertaining to, or characteristic of Samuel Smiles (1812-1904),

author of Self-Help (1859)

and

other works for those who wish to ‘improve’ themselves by personal effort and initiative, or his

thought

and

writings.

Also

occas.

Samuel-'Smilesian. 1889 G. B. Shaw Fabian Essays in Socialism 23 With all its he. private property’s] energy, its Smilesian ‘self-help’, its merchant-princely enterprise,.. what has it heaped up, over and above the pittance of its slaves? 1928 A. Huxley Point Counter Point xvii. 298 Most Smilesian souls must smell rather nasty, I should think. 1929-Do what you Will 151 There are .. occasions—and this is what.. the SamuelSmilesian morality refuses to admit—when a man ought to permit himself to be subdued to things. 1968 Punch 29 May 792/2 It was up to the individual in a Samuel Smilesian way to restore his own fortunes through personal effort. 1969 G. M. Brown Orkney Tapestry ii. 53 Religion was Smilesian — heaven looked with favour on those who strove to improve themselves—unto him that hath shall be given. 1981 J. S. Bratton Impact of Victorian Children's Fiction ii. 45 In the year after the Great Exhibition, a thrusting optimistic appeal to Smilesean self-confidence.. was certainly the shape of things to come. smilesmirk smile

v.

+

('smailsm3:k), smirk

v.]

v.

intr.

nonce-wd. To

smile

[f. in

a

smirking manner. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 262 She smilesmirked supercilious. 'smilet.

rare.

Also 6 smylet.

[f. smile si.]

A

little or slight smile. 1592 Fraunce C'tess Pembroke's Ivy church ii. ii, I.. knew her face to be framyng Now with a smylet’s allure, and now to repell with a frownyng. 1605 Shaks. Lear iv. iii. 21 Those happy smilets, That play’d on her ripe lip. 1845 J. J. Hooper Taking Census in Some Adventures Capt. Simon Suggs 175 The wrinkles on Mr. Kuncker’s face formed themselves into fifty little smilets. 1906 E. Phillpotts Portreeve 8 Her pretty mouth was sunny with smilets. smiley ('smaili), a.

Also smily.

[f. smile sb.]

1. a. Inclined to smile; readily smiling. 1848 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. 1. The Courtin' x, All kind o’ smily round the lips An’ teary round the lashes. 1873 Leland Egypt. Sketch Bk. 120 How they contrived to be so laughy and smiley on pumpkin-seeds and cold water I cannot conjecture. 1969 D. Francis Enquiry vii. 97 It’s your eyes... Dark and sort of smiley and sad. 1976 H. Kemelman Wednesday Rabbi got Wet iii. 21 A short man . . with a round head and smiley face. b. Smiling; cheerful. 1970 Sunday Times 8 Feb. 15/2 If the instruction wasn’t nice and smiley, it’d upset me. 1972 Times 1 Dec. 20/2 China — new from France with the smiley face in black on yellow. 1976 R. B. Parker Promised Land (1977) vii. 35, I.. said goodby w ith smily pleasant overtones in my voice. 2. Caused by or causing a smile. 1974 Times 22 Jan. 11/5 For smiley lines which are too deep, just paint out the start of them with a highlight. 1977 Rolling Stone 13 Jan. 52/2 To the extent that he includes these fast, cheerful numbers and smiley oddities such as Cole Porter’s ‘True Love’ and the impenetrable fable ‘Crackerbox Palace’, Harrison seems hoping to achieve fresh popularity. smiling (’smailiq), vbl. sb.

[f. smile v.]

1. The action of the verb; an instance of this, a smile. Also transf. and fig. c *375 Sc. Leg. Saints xli. (Agnes) 129 Scho.. at his vordis mad smylyng in manere of scornyng. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 119 A Nonne .. That of hir smylyng was ful symple and coy. 11440 Promp. Parv. 461/1 Smylynge, subrisus. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemeti 230, I turne it in a tender luke, .. And him behaldis hamely, with hertly smyling. 1553 Bale Vocacyon 27 They flonge vp their cappes.. with smylinges and laughinges most dissolutely. 1642 Fuller Holy Prof. St. III. vii. 167 The beere will be sower for the Suns smiling on it. 17.. Ramsay Marriage of Lord G. vi. Wks. 1877 II. 218 I’ll study thy delight.. And.. Fix throughout life a constant smiling. 1771 Junius Lett. xlix. (1788) 268 May the gift of smiling never depart from him! 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. 111. 24 Wonder not thou .. at this my smiling. attrib. a 1500 Chaucer's Dreme in Speght (1598) 359/1 That smiling signe Was token that the hart encline Would to requests reasonable.

SMILING 2. U.S.

Drinking, tippling.

1858 in Bartlett Diet. Arner. (1859) 420 There are many more fast boys about—some devoted to the sex—some to horses—some to ‘smiling’. 1864 Reader 7 Apr. 451/3 Tobacco-chewing.. and smiling (the new Yankee phrase for liquoring-up).

smiling ('smailir)), ppl. a. [f. as prec.] 1. a. That smiles; covered with or wearing a smile or smiles. 01300 Cursor M. 11509 Ful suetlik wit smiland chere, [He] biheild paa giftes riche and dere. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshman (Percy Soc.) 12 Anone came our Lorde.. And her saluted, with swete and smylynge chere. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 1. xx. 24 b, A smiling and dissembling countenance. 1602 Shaks. Ham. 1. v. 106 Oh Villaine, Villaine, smiling, damned Villaine! 1663 S. Patrick Parable Pilgr. xxvii, He thought he saw a Man coming to him with a very smiling aspect. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 222 That house.. Where grey-beard mirth and smiling toil retired. 1812 Combe Syntax, Picturesque xx. 12 His hat a smiling face o’erspread. 1820 Scott Monast. xxi, I can judge of the dark purpose, though it is hid under the smiling brow. 1840 Thackeray Cox's Diary June, One of the meekest, smilingest little men I ever saw.

b. transf. or fig. 1576 Gascoigne Philomene Wks. 1910 II. 182 But smyling lucke, bewitcht This peerelesse Prince to thinke, That [etc.]. 1692 Norris Curs. Reft. 22 These indeed are pretty smiling sentences. ? 1713 Parnell On Q. Anne's iPeace Posth. Wks. (1758) 260 Here smiling Safety.. Securely walks, and chearful Plenty there. 1796 Burney Mem. Metastasio III. 154 Your own talents,.. and smiling time of life, render your election certain. 1837 Lockhart Scott IV. i. 17 By.. representing every thing in the most smiling colours.

2.

Characterized by smiles or a smiling manner; accompanied by a smile or smiles. Also fig■ 1803 Jane Porter Thaddeus, Her smiling tears spoke more than her lips. 1842 Browning Incident French Camp iii, Then off there flung in smiling joy, And held himself erect By just his horse’s mane, a boy. 1901 G. Douglas Ho. Green Shutters 207 The cunning old pryer went on, with a smiling suavity in his voice.

3. transf. Of physical features, etc.: Looking bright or cheerful; pleasant, agreeable to the sight. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 108 Smiling calmness silver’d o’er the deep. 1742 Gray West 1 In vain to me the smileing Mornings shine. 1750-Elegy 63 To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land. 1805 Wordsw. Elegiac Stanzas 38 Not for a moment could I now behold A smiling sea. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xvi, The grand .. desert of Andalusia, once a smiling garden. 1879 Edinb. Rev. CL. 436 The hill above is populous with smiling villas.

4. Of beer, etc.: Sparkling. ? Obs. 1725 Fam. Diet. s.v. Bottling of beer, Scum off the same again, and while it is in a smiling Condition, put three Spoonfuls to each Bottle.

5. Comb., as srniling-featured, -lipped, -sweet. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. ii. iv. Columnes 710 Those eyes so smiling-sweet. 1827 Pollok Course T. (1854) 207 Ye srniling-featured daughters of the sun! 1936 C. S. Lewis in Oxford Mag. 14 May 575/2 The smiling-lipped Assyrian, cruel-bearded king.

'smilingly, adv. [f. prec.] In a smiling manner; with a smile or smiles. C1500 Three Kings' Sons 138 Than seide he smylyngly [etc.]. 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 38 She began thus smilingly to assault him. 1624 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. III. 174 Nay then, smilingly quoth I, your Majestie will [etc.]. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 18 His Feet, ..he often pulling up into his Cott or Couch, would smilingly cross them. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 117 He smilingly shook hands with all the domestics. 1828 Moore Swiss Air i, He Into his bark leaped smilingly. 1883 Contemp. Rez'. XLIII. 40 The Queen looks smilingly around her as of old.

b. transf. Pleasantly, agreeably, cheerfully. 1806 Wordsw. Horn Egremont Castle 70 Bold Hubert lives in glee: Months and years went smilingly. 1846 H. G. Robinson Odes of Horace 11. vi, Most smilingly on me that nook, Beyond all others, seems to look. 1858 Lytton What will He do? I. iv, How smilingly the stream flows on.

'smilingness. [f. as prec.] A smiling condition or expression. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. hi. xvi, The very knowledge that he lived in vain.. Had made Despair a smilingness assume. 1835 New Monthly Mag. XLI11. 73 The kindness of the eye, the smilingness of the lip, are no more there.

fsmilt, a. Obs.~' In 4 smylt. ? Fine. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 226 As smylt mele vnder smal siue smokes for-I>ikke.

fsmilt, v. Obs.-' [? Cf. dial, smilt the milt of a fish.] intr. (See quot.) 1721 Mortimer Husb. (ed. 2) I. 341 Many Corns will smilt, or have their Pulp turn’d into a substance like thick Cream.

smily, var. smiley a. S-mine. Also S mine. [Abbrev. and anglicization of G. schiitzenmine, lit. ‘infantryman mine’.] Used, esp. in the war of 1939-45, to designate a variety of enemy anti¬ personnel mine. 1944 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target 206 The enemy had sown elaborate mine fields—heavy Teller mines and deadly anti-personnel S mines. 1945 [see anti-personnel s.v. ANTI-1 4 (iii)]. 1972 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 1 Sept. 16/2 In the last war the Germans devised a series of anti-personnel devices, including the S-mine & the ‘butterfly-bomb’. 1977

SMIRK

791 C. McCullough Thorn Birds xv. 351 Sometimes a man would step on an unexploded S-mine.

smirch (sm3:tf), sb. Also 7 smyreh. [f. next.] 1. A dirty mark or smear; a stain; a smudge; also, that which smirches or dirties. a 1688 Bunyan Saints' Privilege Profit Wks. 1855 I. 647 That men might see their smyrehes when they came to wash, a 1688 - Water of Life (1838) 430 Crystal.. is without those spots and streaks and smirches that are in other precious stones. 1850 Allingham Poems, Wayside Well viii, Sheltered cool and free from smirch In thy cavelet shady. 1863 J. Thomson Sunday at Hampstead 1. v, Away from the smoke and the smirch. 1890 Doyle White Company iv, The fellow was but a brown smirch upon the yellow road.

2. fig. A moral stain or flaw; a blot or blemish; a fault or defect. 1862 T. A. Trollope Marietta iii, One who had blemished the fair escutcheon of the family by a smirch of heresy. 1877 L. Morris Epic of Hades iii. 241 Before the soil And smirch of sadder knowledge.. Sully its primal whiteness. 1897 Outing XXIX. 559/2 That strange insensibility to the sufferings of animals which draws such an ugly smirch across the whole Latin race.

smirch (sm3:tf), v. Also 5-6 smorch, 7 smerch, smyreh. [app. ad. OF. esmorcher to torment, torture (as by the application of hot metal), with slight transference of sense.] 1. trans. Of things: To make dirty, soil, sully, or discolour (something) by contact or touch. 1495 Treviso's Barth. De P.R. xvi. lxxx. 579 Leed hathe a manere nesshnes, and smorcheth his honde that towchyth it. 1572 Bossewell Armorie 11. 77 The stalke therof broken, smorcheth them that touche it all with yealow. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 268 Chaos and ragg’d stone Smircht with blacke Pumice, there reioyce, ore-growne with mournfull Cypresse. 1791 Cowper Odyss. xix. 12 [Weapons] smirch’d and sullied by the breath of fire. 1791-Iliad xxm. 338 A cauldron of four measures, never smirch’d By smoke or flame. 1805-6 Cary Dante, Inf. xv. 26 His parch’d looks.. smirch’d with fire. 1834 Taylor Philip van Artevelde 1. v, Twinkles the re-illuminated star, And all is out of sight that smirched the ray. 1844 Hood Workho. Clock 28 Dingy with smoke.. And smirch’d besides with vicious soil. 1894 Sala London up to date 1. vii, The rain beats down on the smoke, and the smoke on the fog; and all three.. smirch your face and hands.

b. To tan (the face). rare~x. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth x, The sun was high, It smirch’d her cheek, it dimm’d her eye.

2. Of persons (or animals): To stain, smear, or befoul (the face, person, etc.) with or by means of something dirty or having staining properties. Also refl. and with adjectival complement.

t'smiring. Obs. rare. [ad. G. schmiering.] A variety of sandpiper. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Impr. 99 Ochropodes. Smirings live in watrish Copses with worms, and are a fine and delicate meat.

'smiris. ? Obs. Also 7 smyris. [a. Gr. oplpis or OfjLVpLS.]

= EMERY sb. I. 1610- [see emery sb. 1]. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Isagoge e8b, All may have Sculpture by the powder of smiris, except the adamant. 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 74 The best sort of Smiris serves for several uses. 1778 W. Pryce Min. Cornub. 65 Those which are mistaken by many for distinct sorts of Fossils, are the Haematites, or Bloodstone; . .the Smiris, or Emery. 1803 Phil. Trans. XCIII. 82 It is not.. improbable, but that some other substance has been occasionally denoted by the term smiris, emeril, or emery.

smirk (sm3:k), sb. [f. smirk v.] 1. An affected or simpering smile; a silly, conceited, smiling look. C1560 Ingelend Disobedient Child in Hazl. Dodsley II. 297 How many smirks and dulsome kisses! 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. iii. Palinode, From Spanish shrugs, French faces, smirks, irpes, and all affected humours. 1675 Wycherley Country Wife iv. i, He has the canonical smirk, and the filthy clammy palm of a chaplain. 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. II. liv. 81 A jolly face, and a stupid smirk in his countenance. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia v. i, He was regarding her with a facetious smirk. 1814 Scott Wav. lxi, Fortunately the bride, all smirk and blush, had just entered the room. 1882 Miss Braddon Mt.-Royal III. viii. 164 ‘It is a poet’s privilege to worship the beautiful, Leo,’ said the Baron, with a self-satisfied smirk.

\ 2. slang. (See quot.)

Obs.-°

a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Smirk, a finical, spruce Fellow.

smirk (sm3:k), a.

and adv. Also 6 smyrke, 6-7

smirke.

smirk

[app.

f.

v.; but perh. partly

suggested by smicker a.]

A. adj. 1. Neat, trim, spruce in dress or appearance; pleasant, agreeable. Also U.S., smug. Now chiefly dial. 01530 Heywood Love (Brandi) 349, I am at one poynt with women all, The smotest, the smyrkest, the smallest [etc.]. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb. 72 Seest, howe brag yond Bullocke beares, So smirke, so smoothe, his pricked eares? 1598 Florio, Trisciato, smooth, vp-straight, smug, smirke, handsomlie drest vp. 1614 J. Davies (Heref.) Eel. betw. Yng. Willie Old W. 159 Thy past’rall Minstralsy Beating the aire, atweene resounding Hils, Draw to thee Bonibels as smirke, as hy. 1648 Herrick Hesp., Nuptial Song Sir C. Crew vii, The smirk Butler thinks it Sin, in’s Nap’rie, not to express his wit. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 43 Shaws whilk road is best to follow Fu’ sweet an’ smirk. 1847 Halliw., Smirk, neat; trim. Oxon. 1873 ‘Ouida’ Pascarel II. 246 Italy cannot be trim and smirk in modern wise and modern gear.

|2. Of mental faculties: Quick, ready, smart.

1600 Shaks. A. Y.L. 1. iii. 114 lie put my selfe in poore and meane attire. And with a kinde of vmber smirch my face. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 215 By chance his dog.. smerched his lips with the tincture. 1853 Arnold Sohrab & Rustum 711 He seiz’d .. the dust which lay around, And threw it on his head, and smirch’d his hair. 1865 Kingsley Herew. II. xi. 166, I will go. .and smirch myself brown with walnutleaves.

1607 Walkington Opt. Gl. xii. 67 A nimble dextericall, smirke, praegnant, extemporary invention. Ibid. 82 A smirke, quick, & dextericall wit.

3. transf. To cast discredit or disgrace upon (a

1556 Heywood Spider & Fly xii. 13 Wherat the spider, smirke, and smothlie smiled.

person, his honour, etc.); to bring into illrepute; to taint or tarnish. Said of actions, etc., .or of persons. (a) 1820 Scott Monast. xxv, In public opinion, their names will be smirched and sullied with a stain which his tardy efforts cannot entirely efface. 1878 Jefferies Gamekeeper at H. 216 Their infamy spreads abroad, smirching the whole class to which they belong. 1887 T. A. Trollope What I remember II. x. 173 Those lower thoughts as well as lower passions which smirch the human soul. (b) 1856 Aytoun Bothwell 1. xv, They durst not so have wronged their blood, And smirched their fair renown. 1870 Dixon Tower II. xxxi. 319 No man’s name .. had yet been smirched by Carr. 1885-94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Mar. xix, He changeth dynasties, and on the head Of duteous heroes .. Smircheth the laurel that can never die.

Hence 'smircher; 'smirching vbl. sb. 1495 Treviso's Barth. De P.R. vm. xvii. 327 He [sc. the moon] semyth not wemmyd wyth noo species and smorchynge. 1862 T. A. Trollope Marietta ii, Unrevealed smirchings of noble names. 1888 Scottish Leader 11 July 4 There will soon not be a place left in his character on which the amateur smircher may operate.

smirched (sm3:tjt), ppl. a. [f. prec.] Marked, soiled, made dirty, etc., with a smirch or stain. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, iii. iii. 17 Impious Warre,.. with his smyrcht complexion. 1599-Much Ado iii. iii. 145 The smircht worm-eaten tapestrie. 1746 Smollett Advice 72 From the smirch’d scullion to th’ embroider’d Peer. 1833 M. Scott Cruise Midge (1859) 489 He hung motionless across the rope like a smirched and half burnt fleece. 1863 Woolner My Beautiful Lady 157 Here a smirched artisan who merely bolts The plates of iron fortress.

'smirchless, adv. [f. smirch $6.] leaving a smirch or stain.

Without

1848 Herschel Ess. (1857) 739 The thrice royal robe of ermined proof Whence stain glides smirchless, shame ashamed flies.

'smirchy, a. [f. as prec.] Marked with a smirch or smirches. 1889 Wright Chalice of Carden xxvii, [His] smirchy countenance was irrigated with watercourses of tears.

|3. Eager, ardent. Obs.~1 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk a Neron pset gehyrde, pa smercode he. a 1023 Wulfstan Horn. (1883) 140 bonne j?u smercodest and hloje, ponne weop ic biterlice. 01225 Leg. Kath. 356 J>eos meiden lette lutel of al J?et he seide, & smirkinde smeSeliche 3ef him pullich onswere. 01500 in Ratis Raving, etc. (1870) 108 [Let her] kep her [self] in kirk To kek abak, to lauch, or smyrke. 1577-82 Breton Toyes Idle Head Wks. (Grosart) I. 37/1 But who so smirking smiles with merry cheare, That countenance shewes that some good newes is neare. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 500 A sober Matron weeping, and a light Courtesan smirking. 1604 Friar Bacon's Proph. 131 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 273 He would smirke and she would smile. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Smirk, to smile, or look pleasant. 1747 Relph Poems Gloss., To Smurk, to smile. 1796 Mme. D’Arblay Camilla IV. 327 The young perfumer came, smirking and scraping, into the room. 1833 Tennyson The Goose 20 The parson smirk’d and nodded. 1862 Sala Seven Sons I. iii. 51 The little man comes smirking and bowing up to her. 1883 Stevenson Silverado Sq. 63 He had a projecting under-lip, with which he continually smiled, or rather smirked.

b. Const, at, on, or upon a person, etc. 01500 in Ratis Raving, etc. (1870) 86 With mekil langag but mesure, Smyrkand one euery creature. 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 762 He wyll set men a feightynge and syt hymselfe styll, And smerke, lyke a smythy kur, at sperkes of steile. 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. A iij, The cheares of men as theie will smerke on those that vse to smyle. 1707 Refl. upon Ridicule 207 An Old Dotard smirking upon a Young and Handsome Woman. 1839 Dickens Nickleby iii, Gentlemen smirking at each other out of blue and brown skies. 1880 W. H. Dixon Windsor III. xiv. 130 Dick smirked at Alice. transf. 1846 Landor Imag. Cotiv. I. 121 Any vices or follies.. rather than those that. . smirk on us in silks and satins at our churches.

SMIRKILY |2. trans. To trim up, to make neat or spruce. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Ep. Ded. cijb, Will it please you to bee cosmologized and smirkt?

3. To utter with a smirk,

SMITE

792

smirr, Sc.

(pi)smizzan (MHG. smitzen, G. schmitzen). Cf.

variant of smur.

also MDu., Du., and LG. smetten, Fris. smette.]

'smirtle, sb. Sc. [f. next.] A smirk.

rare-1.

1813 W. Beattie Poems {1871) 9 Ilka face a smirtle put on.

1879 Browning Martin Relph 129 Till the first knave smirked ‘You brag Yourself a friend of the king’s?’

Hence 'smirker, one who smirks. 1756 Cowper Connoisseur No. 138 [p4 The Smirkers and Smilers, wh© so prettily set off their faces .. by a je-ne-sfaiquoi between a grin and a dimple.

'smirkily, adv. [f. smirky a. + -ly2.] = SMIRKINGLY adv. a 1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 135 There they were today looking at Jennie rather smugly and smirkily. 1978 Guardian Weekly 5 Feb. 18/3 Cryptic allusions.. to padlocks and fetters, which most recent biographers have smirkily interpreted as meaning that he was a masochist.

smirking ('sm3:kirj), ppl. a. [f. smirk v.]

'smirtle, v. Sc. Also 7 [var. of smirkle v.] Also transf.

intr.

smirtell, 8-9 smurtle.

To smirk or smile.

1651 Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 240 Lethington smirtelled, and rounded in her eare. 1722 W. Hamilton Wallace 1. iii, Then Wallace did revive, And leugh, and smirtl’d at them in his sleeve. 1768 Ross Helenore, etc. 144 Now I think I may be cocky, Since fortune has smurtl’d on me. 1806 Jamieson Pop. Ballads I. 296 ‘Hech!’ quo’ Will,.. And smurtled at Dory Maclean.

smish. Cant. [App. a later

form of mish 56.]

(See quots.) 1807 H. Tufts in E. Pearson Autobiogr. of Criminal (1930) iv. 292 Smish, a shirt. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet., Smish, a shirt. 1864 Slang Diet. 237 Smish, a shirt or chemise.

1. That smirks or smiles affectedly; simpering. Said of persons, or their features.

11.

ciooo ^lfric Horn. I. 430 Hine befran 5a Decius mid smercigendum muSe. C1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) Ev, Their smerking paynted chin. 1593 Harvey Pierce's Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 7 Some smirking minions are fine fellowes in their owne heades. 1606 Drayton Pastorals, Eglog ix, I met a smerking bony lasse, They call her Daffadill. 1673 Humours Town 39 This is the wondrous Mystery,—that Smirkin Monsieur wears so many badges of the Ladies Favours. 1753 Miss Collier Art Torment. 11. iii. (1811) 156 It is easy to guess, my dear, by your smirking countenance, who is expected to-day. 1825 Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Sutherl. 1. 123 Grace, whose back was turned towards the smirking group, did not perceive this evolution. 1868 Miss Braddon Dead-Sea Fruit vi, A smirking young man pounced immediately upon the stranger.

smit (strut), sb.1 Forms: i smitte, 4, 7-8 smitt, 5

2. Accompanied or characterized associated with, a smirk; affected.

by,

i577_82 Breton Toyes Idle Head Wks. (Grosart) I. 37/1 The smyrking looke declares a merry minde. 1592 Greene Disput. Address p. ii, What amorous glaunces, what smirking Oeyliades. 1676 Etheredge Man of Mode 11. i, He ever had a notable smerking way with him. 1728 Young Love of Fame v. 513 Her grizzled locks assume a smirking grace. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 160 The smirking commonplace of his countenance, a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. in. Ho. Warming (1905) 477 With a sort of smirking, self-satisfied air.

|3. Of wine, etc.: Sparkling. Obs. 1648 Herrick Hesp., The Hock-Cart, If smirking Wine be wanting here, There’s that, which drowns all care, stout Beere.

'smirkingly, adv.

[f. prec.] manner; with a smirk.

In a smirking

1567 Drant Horace, Ep. 1. vi. Dij, Thou thy selfe moste smerkinglye.. Saye father, brother, to eche one. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) V. 147 Hanging smirkingly upon all I said. 1773 Berridge Wks. (1864) 89 It would do you good to see how smirkingly they go to church in summer. 1856 W. White Through Tyrol xiii. 273 The bridegroom.. looked as smirkingly jovial as could be expected.

'smirkish, a. rare. [f. smirk a. or sb.] Smiling, pleasant; somewhat smirky or simpering. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. Ep. Ded., Tickled into such a laughing briskness, and fudged up into such a smirkish liveliness. 1834 Beckford Italy II. 368 The fair Naiads, comfortably fat, and most invitingly smirkish.

'smirkle, v. Sc. Also 6 smyrkle, 9 smerkle. [f. smirk v. + -le 3.] intr. To smirk or smile. Hence 'smirkling ppl. a. The sb. smirkle is also illustrated by Jamieson (1825). ? c 1590 Knox's Hist. Ref. iv. (Wodrow) II. 409 As this wes said, Ledingtoun smyleit [MS. G. smyrklit], and spak secreitlie to the Quene in hir eare. 1597 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 925 (Waldegrave), Experience then smyrkling smyld. 18 .. Lord Dunwaters iii. in Child Ballads IV. 117 He gave a smirkling smile. 1819 Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 19 The friskier for the flytin’, they Gafifaw and smirkle in their play. 1839 Chalmers Mem. (1851) IV. 74 The minister I saw smiling and smerkling, in his own characteristic way, at the more ludicrous passages.

f'smirkly, adv. Obs.-1 [f. smirk a. + -ly2.] Smirkingly. 01586 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1622) 258 Venus was glad to heare Such proffer made, which she well shewed with smiling cheare... And smirkly thus gan say [etc.].

smirky ('sm3:rki), a.

Sc. and U.S. Also 8-9 smerky. [f. smirk sb. or a. + -Y.] Smart, neat, smiling; simpering; of the nature of a smirk. 17.. Ramsay To Duncan Forbes v. Wks. 1877 II. 318 How smirky look’d the little wight. 1835 Fraser's Mag. XI. 229 A very haughty dame among her fellow-servants of her own sex, but rather smirky and sly with the men. 1848 [A. B. Longstreet] Georgia Scenes 197, I overtook a swarthy, bright-eyed, smerky little fellow. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abr. ii. 92 He introduced himself, smiling a smirky smile borrowed from the courtiers of the stage.

smirles, var. of smerles, ointment, Obs. Smirnoff ('sm3:nDf). The proprietary name of a brand of vodka. 1948 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 26 Apr. 1008/1 Smirnoff. .for vodka and kummel. Claims use since 1914. 1959 Trade Marks Jrnl. 15 Apr. 411/2 Smirnoff... Vodka. W. & A. Gilbey Limited. 1961 Twining Bros. (Oxford) Wine List Autumn 15 Vodka etc. Smirnoff 65.5° 39/4. 1965 ‘M. Fallon’ Keys of Hell v. 50 One of the bottles contained Smirnoff, his favourite vodka. 1977 New Yorker 3 Oct. 46/2, I got out the Smirnoff,.. and finished it off.

Sc. smyt(e, 5- smit. [OE. smitte (related to smittian smit ti.1), = MDu. smitte, MLG. and LG. smitte (hence MDa. and Da. smitte, MSw. and Sw. smitta), MHG. smitze (G. schmitze). Cf. MDu. smit, LG. smit (MSw. smit, Sw. dial. smitt), OHG. smiz, bismiz (MHG. smitz, G. schmitz)-, also MDu. and MLG. smette, MDu., Du., Fris., LG., and Sw. smet, OHG. bismez. All of these forms have the senses ‘spot, stain, smear’, etc. In later use the word is northern and Sc.] f 1. A sullying spot or stain; a taint or blemish. Freq. Jig. of moral taint. Obs. c 1030 Rule St. Benet (Logeman) 4 Se Se ingae)? butan smittan, swylce wyrcS rihtwisnesse. a 1100 in Napier O.E. Glosses 93/2 Inluuiem, i. inmunditiam, worn, smittan. a 1300 Cursor M. 9462 pat sin .. nan of left, wit-vten smitt, pat euer was vnder heuen born, c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. {Paul) 867 Blowmand bewte but wane or smyt of sawle and body togiddir knyt. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. 1858 Bot qwhat at sal be put in wryte Off falssit sal ber nakyn smyte. a 1500 in Ratis Raving, etc. (1870) 92 For lesing is sa foul a smyt, That quhay sa euer be taynt with It [etc.]. 1562 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 220 Smaill sweit smaragde, smelling but smit of smot.

f2. Smut in grain. Obs.~° 158s Higins tr. Junius' Nomenclator 144/2 The smit, blasting, or burned blacknes of the eares of corne. f3. (See quot. and smut sb. 3.) Obs.-1 1670 W. Simpson Hydrol. Ess. 65 Those unripe mines which the cole-miners often .. find and call Smitts, as being an imperfect cole.

4. A soft reddish earth or clayey ore, esp. used for marking sheep. ? Obs. a 1728 Woodward Fossils 2 The softer Ruddle, or, as ’tis call’d in the North, Smitt. 1789 j Williams Min. Kingd. I. 440 Kidney ore is found in small masses blended in a red, staining, soft clay or earth, called smit, which is also an iron ore. 1794 Hutchinson Hist. Cumb. I. Catal. 52 The reddle, called by the country people clayey iron ore, rud, and smit.

b. A mark of ownership put upon sheep. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Smit, a sheep mark. 1886 Pall Mall G. 9 Aug. 4/1 A ‘Shepherds’ Guide’ setting forth the tar marks, smits, and ear-slits peculiar to the sheep of each farm in the township.

5. A particle of soot; a smut, black spot. 01825

in Jamieson Suppl. s.v. Smut. 1862 C. C. Dial. Leeds 413 ‘Smitted’ clothes, or rather the ‘smits’ themselves, are the plague of the housewife on the washing day. Robinson

6. Infection; contagion. 1829- in northern and Sc. dialect glossaries, etc.

1. trans.

To stain or mark in some way; to

colour or tinge; to smut. Also in fig. context. a 1000 Gloss. in Wr.-Wiilcker 244 Funestauere, maculauere, smittodan. c 1205 Lay. 17701 Iblaecched he hxfede his licame, swulc ismitte of cole, c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paul) 272 Of his hals firste milk out ran, pe knychtis clathis pat smyttit pan. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. iii. (Tollem. MS.), The brayne hah but Iitell of blood leste he were infecte and smetted [1495 smytted] with pe coloure perof. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 28 Thai ar all smyttit with that ilke myrknes, of the quhilk the sternis was blekkit. 1876 Robinson Whitby Gloss. 177/1 Smitted,.. dotted all over; specked on the surface. f b. To contaminate, taint, or infect with sin, guilt, etc. Obs. a 1300 E.E. Psalter cv. 36 Dropen es pe land in blodes swa; And smitted in werkes of pa. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 198 He was not smyttid wij? pryde ne wij? coveityse. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. iii. iii. 616 Bot Mempris Smyttit wes with [v.r. of] mony vice, a 1500 in Ratis Raving, etc. (1870) 3 The trespas that Adam and Eue commytyt,.. quhar-throw al mankynde was smitit. 1562 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 157 Giff thow persave sum sen3eour it hes smittit, Solist J?ame softlie nocht to perseveir. absol. a 1500 in Ratis Raving, etc. (1870) 92 For lesing is sa foul a smyt,.. It smytis sa sare it partis neuer. c. To tarnish or sully; to bring into disgrace or discredit. c 1386 Chaucer Troylus v. 1545 As regnes shal ben flitted Fro folk to folk, or whan they shal ben smitted. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vm. v. 854 (Cott.), His litil leaute neuirj?eles He smyttit par in his processe. 1786 Burns Farewell toj. Kennedy 3 If e’er Detraction shore to smit you, May nane believe him! d. To mark (sheep) with smit or ruddle. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Smit, to mark sheep. 1895 Ellwood Lakeland & Icel. 56 Lambs are so smitted when first put upon the fell, and sheep at clipping time. 2. Of contagious diseases, etc.: To infect, affect by contagion. Also in fig. context.

Freq.

in pa. pple. with with. a 1100 in Napier O.E. Gloss. 120/2 Caccabatus morbo, smittud mid adle. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 521 pane amesit sum thing his care, quhen his seknes smytit hym sare. 1427 Sc. Acts, Jas. I (1814) II. 16/1 Item at pe bischoppis .. inquire diligently in pare visitatiounis .. gif ony be smyttit with lippir. a 1500 Ratis Raving 1. 178 Thir thingis.. Wyll smyt men that are hail & fere. 1585 R. Parsons Chr. Exerc. Ep. Ded. 3 The readers of them that are before smitted with that kinde of infection. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 353 To Smit, to infect. 1829- in dialect glossaries, etc. (see Eng. Dial. Did.). b. Of persons or animals: To convey or communicate a disease to (another); to infect. 1877- in dialect glossaries, etc. smitane: see smetana. smitch, sb.1 Now dial. Forms: 1-2 smic, smyc, 3 smyche, 3, 9 smiche, 9- smitch.

[OE. smic,

smyc, var. of smec (see smeech sb. and smeek sb.), with

development

of form

Smoke arising from

as

in

die

ditch.]

burning or smouldering

matter; also dial., grime, dirt, dust, smut, etc. e fule smiche. c 1275 Sinners Beware 95 in O.E. Misc., Heo schule.. in helle smyche Acoryen hit ful wrape. 1847 Halliw., Smitch, dirt, but generally applied to smoke or dust. West. 1880 W. Cornwall Gloss. 52/2 Smitch, the smell or smoke arising from anything burnt in frying.

fsmit, sb.2 north. Obs. In 4 smitt(e, smite, 5

smitch (smitj), sb.2 (and adv.) Sc. and U.S. [Of

smyte. [Possibly related to next and to smite v., and orig. denoting a small piece struck off: cf. Norw. smitt (Ross) and G. schmitzen in the same sense. In the later quots. the rime-words indicate the form smite: the common mod. dial. smite does not quite correspond to this.] A very small piece or portion; a little bit.

Also used adverbially {rare). Smitchel is also used in the same sense in U.S. n840 J. Ramsay Eglinton Park Meeting xxxv, Every smitch o’t was a kin’ o’ red. 1884 Advance (Chicago) 10 July, A little smitch of an island. 1963 M. McCarthy Group viii. 177 Neat but not gaudy, in a plain skirt and shirtwaist,.. an old cameo brooch.. —general effect a smitch Victorian.

01300 Cursor M. 18735 Left he noght t>ar-of a smitt, Of all pe lagh, pat he ne held it. a 1325 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 146 Ich comand pe. . pat pi fader liif be write, & min also, eueri smite, c 1425 Seven Sages (P.) 1959 The Emperour.. wende hit were al gospel That the clerkys dyden hym to wite, And al was fals every smyte.

smit, sb.3 Now dial. Also 5 smytt. [Related to

doubtful origin: cf. smit s6.2]

smitch (smitf), v.

Now dial.

A particle, bit.

[f. smitch sft.1]

trans. To affect with smoke or smut. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. v. (1626) 101 That soile.. Now barren grew... Now, too much drouth annoys; now, lodging showres: Stars smitch, winds blast. 1878 F.. W. L. Davies Mem. Jf. Russell 71 The country-people, .left their milk-pans on the fire till the cream was ‘smitched’, or perhaps burned.

smite v. Cf. MLG. smit, G. schmiss, schmitz, in

the same sense.] A blow; a stroke; also, the sound of striking. Cf. smite sb.1 1. c 1430 Sir Try am. 1565 Tryamowre on the hedd he hytt, He had gevyn hym an evylle smytt, But his swerde braste. a 1803 Lord William ii. in Scott Minstrelsy, She heard a smit o bridle reins. 1895 Longman's Mag. Oct. 641, I have got the death smit.

smitchy (’smitfi), a. colloq. rare. [f. smitch sb.2 + -Y1.] Tiny. 1888 Kipling Plain Tales from Hills 245 The Copper that takes you up is an old friend that tuk you up before, when you was a little, smitchy boy. smite (smait), sb.1

Also 4-5 smyt-, 5 smete.

[f.

smite v. But the ME. examples represent smite,

smit (smit), v. Latterly north, dial, and Sc. Also 4-5 smyt. Pa. t. i smittode, 5 smytted, Sc. smyt(t)it, 7- smitted. Pa. pple. 1 smittud, 4 smetted, smyttid, 5 -ed, 5- smitted; Sc. 5 smyttit, smitit, 5-6 smittit; 3 i-smitte, 9 smit, smitten. [OE. smittian (f. the weak grade of smitan smite v.), = MDu. and MLG. smitten (hence MDa. and Da. smitte, MSw., Sw., and Norw. smitta), OHG.

of similar formation to bite bit 36.'] 1. a. A stroke or heavy blow with a weapon, the hand, etc., or the sound made by this.

Now

chiefly rhet. (Cf. smit sb.3) c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 207 )>enne me hine pined mid hunger,.. and smerte smiten of smale longe 3erden. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9013 bo be smite [v.r. smytyn] of lance was ido to pe suerd hii nome. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 9774 (Kolbing), It carf so wel, men mijt delite, pat witeb be

SMITE geaunce of )ns smite. 1340 Ayenb. 140 Ase zone ase he yhyerl> bane smite of pe lodes-manne. 14.. Sir Beues (S.) 4145 + 16 J>at boujt Beues a good smyte [t>.r. smete], 1819 Tennant Papistry Storm’d (1827) 205 The Mainkirk rang wi’ slaps and smites. 1828-32 in Webster.

b. Cricket. A hard hit made by a batsman. 1888 R. H. Lyttelton in Steel & Lyttelton Cricket ii. 39 There is one hit in particular that in these days is very seldom seen —that is, the smite to long-leg with a horizontal bat. 1898 G. Giffen With Bat & Ball ii. 19 Since Trott hit one over [the boundary] at square leg, Jack Lyons and Tom Garrett have effected a similar smite. 1905 Vachell The Hill xii, We used to think you a slogger, but you never came anywhere near that smite of Scaife’s.

2. fa- A slight indication or intimation of something. Obs. (Cf. cast sb. 9.) 1640 G. Him in N. Wallington Notices Reign Chas. I (1869) I. 128, I might say more, but this I do to give you a smite of our condition.

b. A small or least amount; a particle. U.S. and dial. 1843 R. Carlton* New Purchase I. xix. 175 Not a smite of noise, only my breathing and a sort of pittin-pattin sound of my heart. 01852 F. M. Whitcher Widow Bedott P. (1856) v. 50 But it dident do a smite o’ good. 1913 [see ream sb.3 d].

f smite, sb.2 Sc. Obs. In 5-6 smyte. [ad. MDu. smiete or MLG. smite (Du. smijt, LG. smite, ' Norw. smit, smitt, G. schmeite, schmiete), of obscure origin.] A rope attached to one of the lower corners of a sail. 1494 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 253 Item, fra Will Forstar, tua smytis and ane peis of auld toll [= tow, rope], xviij s. 1512 Ibid. IV. 304 Tua smytis of gret 3arne of viijc xlv pund wecht.

with the plague. 1714 Young Force Relig. Wks. 1752 I. 87 She smote her lovely breast.

y. 2nd pers. 1-3 smite, 3-4 smete. 3rd pers. 4 smite, 5 smete. CI150 Canterbury Ps. iii. 8 J>u ofsloje vel smite. 1-1205 Lay. 8157 J>U me smite [1:1275 smete], 121325 Prose Ps. iii. 7 Jjou smete alle bat were 03ains me. 13 .. Guy Warw. (A.) 942 Gij 03am to him smite [rime hete], 14.. Ibid. (C.) 1196 He .. smete in a grete swowne.

S. 3-5 smette, 5 smet; 3 smatte, 4 smat. These would normally represent an OE. *smxtte, pa. t. of *smxtan, corresponding to MHG. smeizen. c 1250 Gen. fsf Ex. 2684 He bi-loc hem & smette a-mong. a 1300 K. Horn 607 J>e sarazins he smatte J>at his blod hatte. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8540 Hengist ageyn anoper smat [rime sat]. Ibid. 16371 J?ey smette to-gedere so bitterlyke. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy I. 4187 Lamedoun .. smet A riche cercle from his basenet. 1470 Maldon Court Rolls (Bundle 47, No. 4), Turned that other ende of the forke and smette hym. e. 6 smytt, smitt, 6-7 smit. 1561 Machyn Diary (Camden) 259 [It] smytt downe serten grett stones. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 1. ii. 18 Vpon his crest With rigour., he smitt. 1614 Gorges Lucan iii. 115 The rowers one another smit. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. 11. iio Great-heart.. smit the head .. from his shoulders.

b. Pl. a. 1 smiton, 3-5 smiten, smyten, 4 smyton, 5 -yn; 3-4 smite, 4-5 smyte; 3-4 smitte(n, 4 smytte(n. c725 Corpus Gloss. F 387 Funestauere, smiton. c 1205 Lay. 5183 Heo smiten to-gaedere. Ibid. 30097 Mid longe sweorden heo smitten, c 1275 Passion our Lord 388 in O.E. Misc. 48 Hi., smyten [him] vnder pat ere. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xiv. 5 The kingis.. smytyn Raphaym. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxii. (Arb.) 86 His seruauntis. .smyten and bete the asse.

p. 3-5 smete, 4-5 smeten, 5 smetin, -on. smite, dial, a particle: see smit sb.2 smite (smait), v. Forms: (see below). [OE. smitan (smat, smiton, smiten), = OFris. smita (WFris. smite, EFris. smite, smit, NFris. smit) to throw, MDu. smiten (Du. smijteri) to throw, strike, MLG. and LG. smiten to throw, OHG. smizan to smear (also bismizan to smear, sully, uzsmizan to cast out; MHG. smizen, G. schmeissen to throw, strike, smear, excrete), Goth, bi-, gasmeitan to smear. In the Scand. languages represented by MSw. and Sw. smita (smeta), Norw. smita, Da. smide, which are prob. from MLG. The development of the various senses is not quite clear, but that of throwing is perh. the original one. The compound besmitan is common in OE., and forsmite occurs in ME.]

A. Illustration of Forms. 1. a. Inf. (and Pres. stem) i -smitan, 3 smiten (-enn), 3-4 smyten, 5 smytyn; 3- smite (4 north. smete), 4-6 smyte (5 smyit), 5-6 Sc. smyt, 5, 7 smytt, 5 smyght, 6-7 smight; 4 smit, north, smett, smitt(e. c 1000 Saxon Leechd. III. 14 Smite mon 6a sealfe .. on )?aet heafod. c 1160 Hatton Gosp. Matt. v. 39 5if hwa pe smite on p'\n swi6re waenge. C1200 Ormin 14677 To smitenn itt to daede. C1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 61 He wile smite mid., swuerde. c 1250 Owl & Night. 78 A1 pat pu myht.. smyten. 01300 Cursor M. 5656 He sagh an egypcien.. Smit a juu. Ibid. 15798, I wil noght pat )?ou smete. 1382 Wyclif Gen. viii. 21, I shal smyte no more. 1:1440 Promp. Parv. 461/1 Smytyn, ferio, percutio. Ibid., Smyte fyyr, fugillo. C1450 MS. Douce 55 fol. 3, Smytt it in feyre pecys. 1535 Coverdale i Kings xx. 35, I praye the smite me. 1539 Bible (Cranmer) John xviii. 23 Why smyttest thou me? 1570 Levins Manip. 151 To smyte, percutere, ferire. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iv. 21 For him likewise he quickly downe did smight. c 1635 Sir W. Mure Ps. cxli. 5 Wks. (S.T.S.) 11 218 Me let the righteouse smytt. 1641 Hinde jf. Bruen 18 Smighting their consciences. 1663 S. Patrick Parab. Pilgrim xxxi. (1687) 379 To have a Dead Palsie smite your loyns.

b. 3rd pers. sing. 2-4 smit, 4.-5 smyt, 5 smytt(e. 01200 Vices & Virt. 13 Se 6e smit under 6a eare. C1340 Nominale (Skeat) 188 Man with hamur smyt on the anfelde. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 40 Whan. .the spore The horse side smit to sore, It grieveth ofte. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) v. 45 This Ryvere comethe rennynge..; and aftre it smytt unto Londe.

2. Pa. t. a. Sing, (latterly also pi.) a. 1-2 smat, 3-6 smat (3 smaet), 4-6 smate. (After 1300 north. and Sc.) 1-725 Corpus Gloss. I. 352 Inpingit, smat, jemaercode. m60 Hatton Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 68 Hwset ys se pe pe smat. c 1205 Lay. 203 17 Me hine sm*t mid smterte 3erden. a 1300 Cursor M. 20957 A jugelur wit blindnes he smat [v.r. smate]. c 1440 Alph. Tales 516 With his spere he smate hym thrugh. 1513 Douglas TEneid ix. xii, Quhou Turnus the big Pandarus smat [v.r. smate] down.

/S. 3-7 smot, 4 smoth, 5 smotte, 6 smott; 4- smote (also 4-5 pi. smoten), 4-5 smoot, smoote (also 5 pi. smooten), 5 smoitte, 6 Sc. smoit, 7 smoat(e. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2925 Oc Moyses wirm hem alle smot. 171300 Havelok 2654 Ubbe.. smoth Godrich. 01325 Prose Ps. lxviii. 31 Hym bat tou smote, c 1340 Ayenb. 48 Jjeruore smot god.. onam. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 415 Petir.. smoot of Malcus eere. 1:1400 Sowdone Bab. 1796 Thay.. smoten down right al a-boute. c 1450 Merlin xv. 237 Anoon thei smote to-geder fercely. 1490 Caxton Eneydos lvi. 152 She smotte grete strokes. 1535 Coverdale i Sam. xxiv. 5 It smote him .. in his hert. 1590 Spenser F.Q. in. 1. 28 She.. downe him smot. 1604 Shaks. Oth. v. ii. 356, I..smoate him, thus. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 30 The Lord smot him

SMITE

793

c 1275 Lay. 5183 Hii smete to-gaderes. 13.. Coer de L. 3988 They schotte to hem, and hard smeten. 14.. Guy Warw. (C.) 2897 On per helmes pey smete. 1481 Caxton Reynard xii. (Arb.) 27 They smeton, beten, and wounded hym.

c. Weak forms. 5 smit-, smytide, 9 smited. 1388 Wyclif 2 Kings ix. 27 Thei smytiden hym. 1858 Kingsley The Red King 54 Tyrrel he smited..that day.

3. Pa. pple. a. 4 y-, 5 i-smyten; 4-6 smyten (4-5 -yn, 5 -on, -un); 3-5 smiten (4 -in, -on). c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3690 Dor wur6 3he .. wi6 lepre smiten. a 1340 Hampole Psalter iii. 7 J?ou has smyten all contrariand til me. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 378 Ysmyten wi)? goddis vengance. 1382-Gen. xii. 6 Smytun with meldew. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 249 He.. The Princes hefdes..Hath smiten of. c 1450 Merlin xv. 239 Than were the saisnes.. harde I-smyten. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour avj, A crysten man had his hede smyten of.

P- 3 hii-, 3-4 y-. 3-5 i-smite; 4 i-, 4-5 y-smyte; 4 (6 arch.) smite; 4-5 (6 arch.) smyte. C1275 Lay. 10855 Hii-smite he was in fihte. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6186 per were duntes ari3t ismite. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 8047 (Kolbing), Mani paien to de)? [were] ysmite. C1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1323 As hyt hadde smyte oures twelve. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 123 He was i-smyte wi)? a palsy. 14.. 26 Pol. Poems xxvi. 117 Nowe hathe age y-smyte me. c 1450 Contin. Brut 366 J>at bo)?e her hedis schulde be smyte of. 1513 Douglas JEneid 11. vii. 17 Sum Greikis victouris war smyte [v.r. smite] deid. y. 4-5 i-smeten; 4-5 smeten, -yn, 5 -on. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 477 He was i-smeten wi)? pe vice of pride. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 91 After prime be smeten. 14.. 26 Pol. Poems xxvi. 173 Now hathe ■ age smetyn.. My thryd feder. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 44 Roulland .. had smeton hys vncle.

8. 4 i-, 5 y-smete; 4-5 smete, 5 smet. 1303 R. Brunne HandL Synne 11920 A lymme .. smete yn pallesye. 13 .. Coer de L. 4956 How the batayle was i-smete. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 369 pe enemyes.. were ismete wi)? blyndenesse. 14.. in Babees Bk. 35 With thys bytel be he smete. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/2 Smet, or smytyn, percussus.

e. 4, 6- smitten, 5-6 smytten (5 -yn, 6 -yne, smyttin). a 1400 Cursor M. 7603 Saul has smitten a thusand. a 1483 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 59 That the messes be smyttyn [etc.]. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. iv. iv. 238 To make theyre hedes to be smytten of. 1551 Bible Isaiah 1. 2 Was my hande cleane smitten of? 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 65 Hys hond was smyttyne of. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows iii. §84. 340 By Saul they were .. smitten.

£. 5-6 smytte, 5 i-smyt, 5-6 smyt(t; 4, 6- smit. 121400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xliii. 144 Al for my misdede Was he so felli smit! 1423 Jas. I. Kingis Q. Ivin, Artow seke, or smyt with Ielousye? 1:1425 R. Gloucester’s Chron. 5254 (Digby MS.), Heueden bet were of smytte. a 1536 Songs, Carols, etc. (E.E.T.S.) 123, I hope this gonne was well smytt. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 29 Smit with the love of sacred song.

17. 6-7 smot, 6-9 smote; 7 smotten. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ill. ii. 46 Till thou in open field adowne be smot. 1597 Beard Theatre God's Judgm. (1612) 309 To be smote with the edge of the sword. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 473 Elah, smotten and killed while he was drinking. 1768-74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 523 Turning the right cheek to him that has smote the left. 1813 T. Busby Lucretius II. vi. 676 What cities have they smote!

B. Signification. I. trans. fl. To pollute, blemish. Obs.-1 1:725 Corpus Gloss. F 387 Funestauere, smiton.

f 2. To smear (a substance) on something. Obs. c 1000 iTlfric Exod. xii. 7 Nymon of his blode and smiton on aejSer jedyre.

II. 3. a. To administer a blow to (a person, etc.) with the hand, a stick, or the like; to strike or hit; to beat or buffet; to slap or smack. Now rhet. and rare.

cn6o Hatton Gosp. Matt. v. 39 2>yf hwa pe smite on J?in swi6re waenge. a 1300 K. Horn 503 He smot him a litel wi3t & bed him beon a god kni3t. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxvi. 67 Thanne thei spitten in to his face, and smyten hym with buffetis. c 1440 Gesta Rom. i. 3 Pie makith sorowe nowe.. For he smot not pe ymage [with the arrow]. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems lxxii. 29 Dispituouslie syne [they] did him smyt. a 1608 Dee Relat. Spirits (1659) 1. 82 He smit the round Table with his rod. 1675 J. Owen Indwelling Sin xii. (1732) 147 The Case was the same with Asa in his Anger, when he smote the Prophet. 1718 Free-thinker No. 109 The Fairy, .smote him on the Shoulder with a Golden Wand. 1791 Cowper Iliad ix. 708 Oft would she smite the earth. 1841 Dickens Barn. Rudge viii, Half pausing for an instant now and then to smite his pocket. Ibid, xxxix, He smote Mr. Tappertit on the back. fig. a 1225 Ancr. R. 324 Smit him anonriht mid te 3erde of tunge schrifte. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 310 To smyte hem with the same rodd With which I am of love smite. 1611 Bible Jer. xviii. 18 Come and let vs smite him with the tongue. [Also in earlier versions.] 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., To smite one's tutor, to get money from him.

b. To strike with the foot (for spur). Also said of the foot. Now rhet. or poet. 13 .. Guy Warw. (A.) 4059 Mani he smot of fot & fest. 13 .. Sir Beues (A.) 3398 Sire Morice of Mounclere His stede smot [v.r. prekyd] a3enes Sabere. 1821 Joanna Baillie Metr. Leg., Wallace xxxvii, And proudly smote the ground with firmer tread. 1829 Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 110 Happy that the virago’s foot did not even smite him. 1842 Tennyson Morte d'Arth. 190 Juts of slippery crag that rang Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels.

c. To strike or touch (a harp, etc.) so as to produce musical sounds. Now poet. 1:1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 777 Eke whan men harpe strynges smyte,.. Loo with the stroke the ayre to-breketh. i486 Bk. St. Albans d j b, Then smyte youre tabur, and cry huff, huff, huff and make the fowle to spryng. 1784 Cowper Task v. 682 Ah, tinkling cymbal,.. Smitten in vain! such music cannot charm [etc.]. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 34 Love took up the harp of Life, and .. Smote the chord of Self. 1847-Princ. iv. 38 A maid, Of those beside her, smote her harp, and sang.

td. Naut. (See quot.) Obs. ~° a 1625 Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301) s.v. Smitting, This Line is called a Smitting Line. Soe they smite the missen, that is pull the Roape that the Saile maie come downe. [Hence in Harris and later Diets.]

e. Cricket. To hit with great force; to defeat by hard hitting. 1891 W. G. Grace Cricket iv. 127 Mr. I. D. Walker., smote them to the tune of 90. 1904 F. C. Holland Cricket 28 After you have smitten him [sc. the bowler of yorkers] full-pitch two or three times, he will soon stop bothering you in this way. 1982 P. Tinniswood More Tales from Long Room vii. 87 My next sermon will take as its text: ‘And, lo, Harry Halliday was a plump man, yet many a six did he smite for Yorkshire.’

4. Of the Deity, in or after Biblical use: To visit with death, destruction, or overthrow; to afflict or punish in some signal manner. (Cf. 8b.) CI150 Canterbury Ps. iii. 8 For6aen pu ofsloge vel smite ealle wi6ergiende me. a 1300 E.E. Psalter civ. 34 He smate al firstkinned in land of pa. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 189 The hond of hevene him smot In tokne of that he was forswore. c 1440 Jacob's Well 126 p>e more pat god smyteth hem wyth his wreche. 1535 Coverdale j Sam. xxv. 38 The Lorde smote him, so yx he dyed. 1611 Bible Ps. lxix. 26 Let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, a 1737 Abp. Wake (J.), Let us not mistake God’s goodness, nor imagine, because he smites us, that we are forsaken by him. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 464 The Governor of all.. has interpos’d, Not seldom, his avenging arm, to smite Th’ injurious trampler upon nature’s law. 1843 Whittier C. Southwick 142 The Lord shall smite the proud, and lay His hand upon the strong.

5. a. To strike with a weapon, etc., so as to inflict serious injury or death; also, to strike hard with a cutting tool. Now rhet. or poet. Freq. const, through, upon, etc. (a certain part), to smite.. hip and thigh: see hip sb.1 2d. c 1205 Lay. 6503 J?e king droh his sweord,.. and pet deor he smat a-nan uppe pat haeued-baen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4473 Lucye pe senatour was mid a spere )?oru ysmite. a 1300 Cursor M. 6671 Qua smites man in wil to sla, He sal him-self be slan alsua. 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 136 He smat the first sa rygorusly Vith his spere,.. Till he doun to the erd hym bare. C1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) xi. 43 In pat place sawe Dauid )?e aungell smytand pe folk with a swerde. C1450 Contin. Brut 423 There this persone smote this ffrere Randulf, and sloue hym. 1513 Douglas JEneid vi. iii. 46 Smyte with the ax did rair the aikis hie. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. ix. 29 Ne yeelded foote,.. But being doubly smitten likewise doubly smit. 1641 G. Sandys Paraphr. Song of Solom. v. ii, The Watch .. In this pursuit the Afflicted found: Smot, wounded [etc.]. 1676 Hobbes Iliad iv. 427 He smote was with a Spear into the Brain. 1842 Tennyson Morte D'Arth. 25, I am so deeply smitten thro’ the helm That without help I cannot last till morn. 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama Exile 64 This the sword.. That smote upon the forehead, Lucifer The angel. refl. c 1385 Chaucer L.G. W. 915 Thisbe, To the herte sche hire self smot. 1514 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. I. 103 The said Ranalde, with a small knyff that he had secrett, smott hym self. fig. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 66 Deeth menaceth euery age and smyt. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 35 That blinded God, which hath ye blindly smit, Another arrow hath. 1813 T. Busby Lucret. I. iii. 1250 Great Homer lives no more, Smote, like the rest, by Time’s relentless power. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iii. 176 From my breast the involuntary sigh Brake, as she smote me with the light of eyes.

b. With compl. to death (cf. death sb. 12) or dead. Also in fig. context. c 1200 Ormin 14677 Abraham., hoff pe swerd..To smitenn itt [5c. Isaac] to daede. C1330 Arth. & Merl. 8047 (Kolbing), Mani paien to de)> [were] ysmite Wi)? swerdes of

SMITE stiel. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. 111. 322 What smyth pat ony [weapon] smytheth be smyte perwith to dethe. 1513 Douglas JEneid v. ix. 91 In the skyis [he] smate hir deid. 1819 Shelley Lines Castlereagh Admin, ii, The abortion with which she travaileth Is Liberty, smitten to death. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxviii. 113 When those monster birds .. his arrow Smote to the death.

C1470 Henry Wallace XL 1366 Thi febyll wordis sail nocht my conscience smyt. 1535 Coverdale i Sam. xxiv. 5 It smote him afterwarde in his hert, because he had cut of the typpe of Sauls garment. 1606 Shaks. Ant. Cl. v. ii. 104 A greefe that smites [pr. suites] My very heart at roote. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam vii. xxii, Her flight., smote my lonesome heart more than all misery.

c. In or after Biblical use: To strike, or strike down, in battle; to kill, slay.

11. a. To strike or impress (the mind, etc.) favourably or attractively. Chiefly in pa. pple. and const, with.

a 1300 Cursor M. 3971 pat quils esau smat an o pe tua pe toper party suld scape him fra. 1382 Wyclif Josh. vii. 5 The whiche .. ben smyten of the men of the cytee of Hay. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Josh. x. 19 Followe after your enemies, and smite all the hindemost. 1597 Beard Theatre God's Judgem. (1612) 309 He caused, .the Citie of the Priests to be smote with the edge of the sword. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows in. §84. 340 By Saul they were once, and again smitten: and finally by David they were utterly vanquished. 1754 Young Centaur 11. Wks. 1757 IV. 136 Not Babylon alone has been smitten at a banquet, and perished in its joys.

f6. Of birds or animals: To strike with beak, claw, horn, hoof, etc. Obs. c 1205 Lay. 20172 Hauekes hine [the crane] smiteS. c 1250 Owl Night. 78 Al pat pu myht myd clyure smyten. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. in. met. vii. (1868) 80 pe bee.. styngep he hertes of hem hat ben ysmyte. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xxi. 28 If an oxe with the horn smyte a man. 14.. Lat. & Eng. Prov. (MS. Douce 52) fol. 16 While he hors kykys war that he the ne smyte.

7. a. Of hail, lightning, flame, etc.: To strike and injure; to destroy, blast. 1382 Wyclif Exod. ix. 25 The hawle smoot.. alle that weren in feeldes,.. and al erbe of the feelde smoote the hawle. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 63 Romulus was ismyte wih lbtnynge. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3755 Whan the flawme of the verry brond .. Had Bialacoil with hete smete. 1480 Robt. Devyll 343 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 233 A man had ben as good as haue be smytten with thonder, As to haue a stroke ofhyshand. 1535 Coverdale Exod. ix. 31 Thus the flax and the barlye were smytten. c 1630 Milton Arcades 52, I .. heal ..what the cross dire-looking Planet smites. 1760 Sterne Ser?n. III. 136 The hopeful youth..; some cruel distemper lays him prostrate upon the earth, smit and shrivelled up with a malignant blast. 1813 T. Busby Lucret. II. vi. 676 Eruptive winds, what cities have they smote! 1820 Shelley Vis. Sea 61 Six the thunder has smitten, And they lie black as mummies.

b. To beat or dash against (something). c 1440 Jacob's Well 248 pe more grauel & sonde is smet & betyn wyth flodys of pe se, pe more salt & bytter it is. 1624 Quarles Job Militant hi. 43 Which [wind] with a fullmouth Blast Hath smote the House. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude I. 440 With the din Smitten, the precipices rang aloud. 1839 Longf. Hyperion ii. 6 The storm-wind smites the wall of the mountain cliff.

c. Of sunlight, etc.: To beat or shine strongly upon. Also in fig. context. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. iv. iii. 28 As thy eye beames, when their fresh rayse haue smot The night of the dew [etc.]. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 244 Where the morning Sun first warmly smote The open field. 1788 Anna Seward Lett. (1811) II. 107 On an open plain smote by the summer’s sun. 1832 Tennyson (Enone 54 Far up the solitary morning smote The streaks of virgin snow. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 43 A broad beam of the garish light Smote with a glory her golden hair.

8. a. Of diseases, distempers, etc.: To attack, affect suddenly or grievously. Freq. in pa. pple., and const, by or with (a malady, etc.). C1250 Gen. & Ex. 3690 Dor wurS 3he Sanne wiS lepre smiten. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 11920 A lymme pat ys .. smete yn pallesye. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 123 Constantyn was i-smyte wip a strong meselrie. c 1425 Cursor M. 11817 (Trin.), pe palesy smoot his oon side. 1663 S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxxi. (1687) 379 You may as well desire.. to have a Dead Palsie smite your loyns. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. 446 Abbot Mannig..had been smitten by paralysis. transf. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 179 A province considered even at Petersburg as smitten with sterility. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. 1. i, A France smitten .. with plague after plague.

b. Of personal agents, or of the Deity (cf. 4). 01300 Cursor M. 20957 A jugelur wit blindnes he smat. c 1440 Jacob's Well 126 pey se no3t how god smyt hem in here body, wyth sykenes & tribulacyoun. 1535 Coverdale Zech. xiv. 12 This shalbe the plage, wherwith ye Lorde wil smyte all people. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 30 He forgat himselfe, till the Lord smot him with the plague.

9. To infect, imbue, impress, strike suddenly or strongly with some feeling or sentiment. Chiefly in pa. pple. 01300 Cursor M. 15643 Wit strang dred he smiton was. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 136 Withoute good discrecioun This king with avarice is smite. 1423 Jas. I. Kingis Q. lviii, Artow seke, or smyt with Ielousye? 1535 Coverdale Job xxi. 6, I am afrayed, and my flesh is smytten with feare. 1622 Fletcher Prophetess 111. i, ’Twas I that, .smote ye all with terrour. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 562 But Satan smitten with amazement fell. 1718 Pope Iliad 1. 354 Smit with love of honourable deeds. 1829 Hood E. Aram 50 The Usher took six hasty strides, As smit with sudden pain. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 7 Tyrants, who, when at the height of greatness, were smitten with remorse.

10. a. Of the heart, conscience, etc.: To discompose or disquiet (one); to affect painfully. 1382 Wyclif 2 Sam. xxiv. 10 The herte of Dauid smoot hym, aftir that the puple is noumbred. 1611 Bible i Sam. xxiv. 5 Dauids heart smote him, because he had cut off Sauls skirt, a 1700 Evelyn Diary 5 May 1659, My heart smote me for it. 1805-6 Cary Dante's Inf. xix. 121 Meanwhile, as thus I sung, he, whether wrath Or conscience smote him, violent upsprang. 1886 ‘H. Conway’ Living or Dead 11. v, I said good-bye with a coldness for which my heart smote me.

b. To distress or perturb (a person, the mind, conscience, etc.).

SMITE

794

1663 S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. (1687) 158 They note the pretty stories,.. and here and there a small sentence which smites their fancy. 1728 Pope Dune. iii. 229 See now, what Dulness and her sons admire! See what the charms, that smite the simple heart. 1784 Cowper Task v. 560 Smit with the beauty of so fair a scene. 1847 H. Miller Test. Rocks (1857) 3 Smit by the singular ingenuity of the philosophic infidel. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 191 Plato is smitten with some features of government which he finds in Egypt. b. To inspire or inflame with love; to enamour.

Chiefly in pa. pple. and const, with or by. 1663 Pepys Diary 1 Jan., Lord Chesterfield.. is.. put away from Court upon the score of his lady’s having smitten the Duke of Yorke. 1677 Miege Fr. Diet. 11. s.v., To smite a man, or cause him to fall in love with her. 1687-Gt.Fr. Diet. 11. s.v., To be smitten with a Woman, to be passionately in love with her. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 80 |f 3 Phillis one Day.. smote the Heart of a gay West-Indian. 1755 Mem. Capt. P. Drake II. xiv. 243 He soon gave me to understand he was smitten with the Landlady. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xvii, Young Lieutenant Spatterdash . . was evidently and quickly smitten by Mrs. Crawley. 1871 B. Taylor Faust. 1. iii. (1875) II. 32 Hath one of you a girl with whom he’s smitten?

12. Of thoughts: To strike or occur suddenly to (a person). 1870 W. M. Baker New Timothy 104 (Cent.), A sudden thought smote her.

III. 13. a. To strike or cut off (the head, a limb, etc.) with a slashing blow. (Common in ME.) c 1205 Lay. 9204 He lette smiten him of paet hsefde. c 1275 Passion our Lord 198 in O.E. Misc. 43 Seynte peter .. smot of Malkes ere. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1817 Lucrece, Men myghte smyte of hire arm or hed. c 1450 Merlin xiv. 222 He and Frelent were besy to smyte of his heed. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 674 He.. commaunded his heade there to be smitten off. a 1618 Raleigh Mahomet (1637) 203 With his own hands cut his throat and smoat off his head. b. To strike or knock, to drive or force with a

blow or stroke, away, back, from, offy out, over, etc. (Common in ME.) Also transf. a 1300 Cursor M. 6705 Qua smites vte his thains eie. 1382 Wyclif Matt. x. 14 Smytith awey the dust fro 3oure feet. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 1. 438 How he lost hys steris-man. Which that the stere.. Smote ouer borde. 14.. 26 Pol. Poems xxvi. 73 Now hathe age y-smete me fro My pryncipall feder of Iolyte. 1470-85 Malory Arth. iii. vi. 106 Syre gauayne smote hym of his hors. 1535 Coverdale Susanna i. 25 Then ranne there one to the orcharde dore, & smote it open. 1559 Machyn Diary (Camden) 207 Hytt brust in pesses, and on pesse.. smott on of ys leg[s] a-way. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 393 Repressing or smiting backe the swelling incident to wounds. 1684 [see A. 2a. e].

14. a. To knock, beat, or strike down (fadown), to the earth or ground. (Common in ME.) c 1290 S'. Eng. Leg. I. 3 16 Hov is pat hit.. smit a-doun wel grete treon? a 1300 K. Horn 639 Hi gonne me assaille,.. I smot hem alle to grunde. a 1400 Lybeaus Disc. 1185 Thre stedes heoddes doun ryght, He smot at strokes thre. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 172 To ground he smat him quhar he stud. 1530 Palsgr. 723/1 This wynde hath smytten downe almost all my corne. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 28 With that her mortall speare She mightily auentred towards one, And downe him smot. 1611 Bible Judges xx. 39 Surely they are smitten downe before vs. 1858 Sears Athan. 11. xii. 250 He .. smote him blind to the earth beneath the blaze. fig- ^1330 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 339 That is muchel reuthe to wite, That alle manere godnesse is thus adoun ismite. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxlii[i]. 3 For the enemie.. smyteth my life downe to the grounde. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. 249 The last hopes of the House of Godwine had been smitten to the ground. fb. With down. To droop or lower (one’s head

or countenance). Obs. £•1305 in Wright Pol. Songs (Camden) 193 When the Kyng of Fraunce y-herde this tydynge, He smot doun is heved. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus 11. 540 With that he smot his heed adoun anone, And gan to motre. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis iii. (Arb.) 80 Downe she smote her visadge.

15. a. To hew, cut, chop, or break in pieces, fragments, etc. Const, with preps., as ay in, ony to. Also in fig. context. (Common in ME.) a 1320 Sir Tristrem 495 pe chine he smot atvo. c 1375 Cursor M. 21593 (Fairf.), In foure pecis pai hit smate. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 109 A firy thonder sodeinly He sende, and him to pouldre smot. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxii. 126 Smite the gurdill [of lechery] in thre, scil. in prayer, fastyng, and almesdede. 1530 Palsgr. 723/1 He hath smytten his harnayes al to peces. 1611 Bible Ecclus. xxxvi. 10 Smite in sunder the heads of the rulers. b. To bring into a certain condition by, or as

by, striking. Also with adj. compl. rare. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (181 o) 46 pei were a partie smyten in to elde. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 67 If we look not wisely on the Sun it self, it smites us into darknes. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. iii. vii, Rabidity smites others rabid.

116. a. To strike (fire) from a stone or other hard substance. Cf. slay v.1 2. Obs. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 237 He brou3te a fuyr-Ire ant a ston, }?are-with to smite me fuyr. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lxvi. 298 Whan he ny3t com; he maide .. smot fire at a stone. 1616 B. Jonson Barriers Wks. 966 When in a day of honour fire was smit. 1671 J. Webster Metallogr. vii. 115 He nameth four of other colours, forth of which fire is smitten. fb. To let out (blood) by lancing. Obs.~x

1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §58 Take a bloud-yren, and set it streight vppon the vayne, and smyte him bloudde on bothe sydes.

17. a. To strike, deal, or give (a blow, stroke, etc.). 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4441 Vewe duntes hii smite. c 1320 Cast. Love 1148 Grete boffetes among me him smot. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 72 Thei smyten strokes bot a fewe. C1450 Merlin xxiii. 424 Merlin.. drough that wey. . smytinge grete strokes from oke to oke. 1490 Caxton Eneydos lvi. 152 She smotte grete strokes with her swerde. 1851 Hawthorne Snow Image, etc. (1879) 84 A terrible blow shall be smitten.

fb. To engage in or fight (a battle). Obs. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 269 Hii smite per an bataile hard an strong inou. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 14 Under Elendoune pe bataile was smyten. 01470 Harding Chron. cxvil. i. 6 Syxe batayles agayne King Knout he smote. 1600 Holland Livy XL. 1. 1091 [He] smit a brave and fortunate battaile with the Vaccei. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 317 This battell was smitten in the yeare of Grace 457.

•fc. To make or produce (a wound, etc.) by smiting. Obs. 01400 Stockh. Medical MS. i. 298 in Anglia XVIII. 302

3if a gret wounde .. be .. with a wepyn wyckydly smetyn. 1470-85 Malory Arth. 11. xviii. 97 They hadde eyther smyten other seuen grete woundes. 1535 Coverdale i Sam. xix. 8 Dauid wente forth .. and smote a greate slaughter, so that they fled before him. 1581 Munday Brief Discourse in Arb. Garner VIII. 215 note, Drawing his dagger, he smit a great hole in it.

18. a. To drive, hammer, knock, strike (a thing) with some degree of force against, into, ony etc., something else. o 1300 Cursor M. 6261 In pe see his wand he smat. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4422 Nemny bar pe scheld o sker, & Iulius smot his swerd ouer fer. 01400-50 Alexander 3678 Smeten was smaragdans in-to pe smeth werkis. 1502 Arnolde Chron. 165 Make pinnys of wylowe and smyte them faste in. 1593 Shaks. Lucr. 176 His falchion on a flint he softly smiteth. 1611 Bible Judges iv. 21 Then Iael. . went softly vnto him, and smote the naile into his temples. 1670 Pettus Fodinae Reg. 41 Then the Smiter of Irons.. smites them upon the Monie. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. iv. ii, Large clubs, which they smite angrily against the pavement! Ibid. 11. 1. xii, Each smiting heartily his palm into his fellow’s.

b. To strike, dash, or clap together (fsamen) or against each other. 01300 Cursor M. 11998 Iesus samen [Trin. togider] his handes smat. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxlii. (1495) 946 Cymbales.. ben smytte togider and sowneth and ryngeth. 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xiii. 2 Yf ye one be smytten agaynst the other, it shal be broken. 1611 Bible Numb. xxiv. 10 Hee smote his hands together. 1671 J. Webster Metallogr. vi. 102 Which rubbed hard or smitten together forcibly,.. give sparks of fire. 1842 Tennyson Morte e lyoun smoot in to pe Est. 1481 Caxton Godfrey cxxx. 194 Thyse thre smote in emong the .xxx. turkes. 25. a. To strike, to pass or penetrate, in, into, or through something. ri290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 316 3wane pe wynd and pat fuyr smiteth poru3 pe watur-cloude. C1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 362 The deeth he feeleth thurgh his herte smyte. 1393 Langl. P. PL C. xx. 323 pe smoke and pe smorpre pat smyt in oure eyen. C1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 377 In my face the levening smate. 01425 Cursor M. 11824 (Trin.), pe fester smoot pour3e his body. 1535 Coverdale i Sam. xix. 10 The iauelynge smote in the wall. 01652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. vi. 187 From whence the objects of dread and admiration., smite and insinuate themselves into their senses. 1869 Tennyson Coming Arthur 57 But Arthur.. Felt the light of her eyes into his life Smite on the sudden. fb. To give pain to one’s heart. Obs. 01300 K. Horn 1481 Hit smot to homes herte So bitere pat hit smerte. c 1450 Coventry Myst. 81 3our swemynge smytyht to myn hert depe. f c. To occur suddenly to one. Obs. c 1440 Alph. Tales 20 It smate in his mynd pat it was bod ane illusion of pe devull. |26. To change, pass, fall, into something. Obs. c 1305 St. Dunstan 74 in E.E.P. (1862) 36 Treofiinge heo smot her and t>er in anoper tale sone. 13 .. Gaw. 6? Gr. Knt. 1763 With smofe smylyng & smolt pay smeten in-to merpe. 14.. Guy Warw. (C.) 1196 To pe erthe he felle downe And smete in a grete swowne. smiter ('smait3(r)). Also 3 smitar, 4 smitter, 4-7 smyter, 5 -ere.

SMITH

795

xxii. 49 Lorde, shal we smyte with the swerde? 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme 178 If he see that he beginne not to smite and snort,.. he shall leade him by the reines out of the stable. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 250 Satan .. Saw where the Sword of Michael smote. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. vi. iii, Louis .. clutched the tongs, and even smote with them. 1890 Doyle White Company vii, There was one, indeed,.. who smote out like a true man. fig. c 1400 Beryn 1456 Yeur wyff woll sikirliche.. smyte with hir tunge. 1624 Quarles Sion's Elegies 11. xix, That God that smit, oh, mooue that God to heale. b. To strike with a hammer in doing smith-

[f. smite v.

+

-er1.

So Fris.

smiter, Du. smijter, G. schmeisser, etc.] 1. a. One who smites, strikes, or buffets; a beater, striker. 131225 Ancr. R. 156 Heo wule..a3ein t>e smitare beoden uor6 hire cheoken. a 1300 Cursor M. 6685 fie smiter sal quite his lechyng, And pe scath of his liging. 1382 Wyclif Isaiah 1. 6 My bodi I 3af to the smyteres, and my chekes to the

pulleris. 1495 Treviso's Barth. De P R. XVIII. lxv. 280 Whan a lyon is wounded he.. resyth on the smyter. 1535 Coverdale Isaiah xxvii. 7 Smyteth he not his smyter, as euel as he is smytten himself? - Lam. iii. 30 He oflfreth his cheke to the smyter. 1608 A. Willet Hexapla Exod. 477 The smiter was to bee apprehended. 1664 J. Tombes (title), Saints no Smiters; or, Smiters Civil Powers not the Work of Saints. 1813 Byron Corsair ill. viii, Therefore came I.. To smite the smiter with the scimitar. 1870 Jebb Sophocles’ Electro (ed. 2) p. vi, Pelops, smiter of horses. fig. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. 118 Lanfranc shone forth as the irresistible smiter of heresy.

fb. [After L. percussor.) An executioner. Obs. Virg. Antioch 253 in Horstm. Allengl. Leg. (1878) 30 A smiter 3if per beo to day, Me to sle, nou icomen in [etc.], c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 61 The batayl of my stryf fulfylled, I abyde the swerd of the smyter. c 1440 Capgr. St. Kath. v. 1885 The mayde leyde foorth hir nekke fayr & white. And thus she seyde on-to the smytere thoo. 111380

c. One rare~l.

who

applies

a

thing

by

striking.

1670 Petti s Fodinse Reg. 41 Then the Smiter of Irons, after they be graved, smites them upon the Monie. d. dial. (See quot.) 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, Smiter, one who does any thing with energy; or in a striking manner.

e. Cricket. A hard-hitting batsman. 1897 W. J. Ford in K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket vii. 267 A little mercy should be shown to the muscular if unscientific ‘smiter’. 1897 D. Moffat Crickety Cricket 25 Stoddart the smiter has carried his bat For a grandly made three-figure score. 1944 E. Blunden Cricket Country iv. 53 Poor Charles could not solve the problem of getting this smiter caught in the deep field.

2. fa- A weapon with which one smites; a sword, a scimitar. Obs. Partly, if not entirely, suggested by simiter ‘scimitar’. 1591 Lyly Endym. 1. iii, It is my Simiter; which I by construction often studying to bee compendious, call my Smyter. 1593 Nashe Four Lett. Conf. Wks. (Grosart) II. 202 Put vp thy smiter, O gentle Peter. 1633 B. Jonson Tale Tub iv. iii, Put thy smiter up, and hear; I dare not tell the truth to a drawn sword. 1648 Leg. Capt. Jones 2 His fatall Smiter thrice aloft he shakes.

b. Cant. An arm. rare~°. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew. [Hence in Bailey, Grose, etc.]

3. A variety of fancy pigeon (see quot. 1778). 1668 Charleton Onomast. 76 Gyratices,.. Clappers, & Smiters. 1676 Willughby Ornith. 11. xv. 132 Percussores, Anglice Smiters. 1678 Ray tr. Willughby 182 Smiters.. do not only shake their Wings as they fly: But also.. clap them so strongly, that [etc.]... Our Country-men distinguish between Tumblers and Smiters. 1778 G. White Selborne lxxxiv, Pigeons, and particularly the sort called smiters, have a way of clashing their wings, the one against the other, over their backs, with a loud snap, c 1800 D. Girton Pigeon Fancy er 107 The smiter .. nearly resembles the tumbler, the size excepted, it being a much larger bird. 1854 Meall Moubray's Poultry 277 Smiter.—This sub-variety, if it ever existed as distinct, has now entirely disappeared. attrib. 1783 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds II. 11. 614 Smiter Pigeon, Le Pigeon batteur.

smith (smi0), sb. Forms: 1-3 smiS, 4 smip, 3smith, 5 (7) smithe; 2 smyS, 3-4 smyp, 4-7 smyth (5 smy3t), 5-6 smythe; 4-5 smeth, 6 Sc. smeith. [Common Teut.: OE. smid, = OFris. smeth, smid(WFris. and EFris. smid, NFris. smet, smer, smas), MDu. smit {smet), smid (Du. smid), MLG. (and LG.) smid, smed, OHG. smid, smit (MHG. smit, smid-, G. schmied, fschmid), ON. smidr (Icel. smidur, Norw. smid; MSw. smiper, smidher, etc., Sw. and Da. smed); Goth, smipa (in aizasmipa coppersmith) differs in declension. The relations of the stem are doubtful. The original sense was app. craftsman, skilled worker, in metal, wood, or other material, and this general use still remains in Icelandic.] 1. One who works in iron or other metals; esp. a blacksmith or farrier; a forger, hammerman. Also freq. as a second element in combs., as black-, copper-, gold-, gun-, iron-, lock-, silver-, tin-, whitesmith. In the early examples referring to Joseph, the word does not mean ‘carpenter’, but is simply used to render L.faber. Beowulf 1452 Swa hine fyrndajum worhte waepna smiS. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 55 Ah ne Sis is smiSes vel wyrihta sunu? c 1000 /Elfric Gramm, xxxvi. 216 5yf Su cweSst hie cudo,. . Sonne byS hit nama, smiS. a 1200 Vices Gf Virt. 51 He was buhsum ane deadliche manne, Iosepe 5e smiSe. c 1275 Passion our Lord 59 in O.E. Misc., Hi seyden, he is a smyj?es sune, ne beo we noht his frend. a 1300 Cursor M. 23238 Als it war dintes on a stej?i pat smythes smittes in a sme]?ey. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 159 He was a Smith With Jupiter, which in his forge Diverse thinges made him forge. C1450 Merlin xxiii. 427 The Emperour.. sente to seche a smyth to bynde hym in chaynes and feteres. 1484 Caxton Fables of JEsop ill. xii, The forge of a smythe. 1530 Palsgr. 187 A farrer or a smythe that shoeth horses. 1595 Shaks. John iv. ii. 193, I saw a Smith stand with his hammer (thus) The whilst his Iron did on the Anuile coole. 1657 Baxter Call to Unconverted (1666) 187 Like the Smiths dog, that is brought by custom to sleep under the noise of the hammers. 1704 T. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 49 By incessantly following his Blow, the Smith can bring Heat into his Bar of Iron. 1784 Cowper Task v. 219 The first smith was the first murd’rer’s son. 1851 D. Wilson Preh. Ann. (1863) II. iii. ii. 83 The excellence of the ancient Celtic smiths. fig. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. i. 237 True, every man is, fortune suae faber, the Smith to beat out his own fortunes. 1687 Dryden Hind Panther iii. 1268 The Doves repented, tho’ too late Become the Smiths of their own Foolish Fate.

2. a. In special collocations, as smith’s coal, craft, dust, water, work (see quots., sense 3, smithy sb. 4, and smith-work). 1578 Lyte Dodoens 175 It groweth.. whereas there hath bene myning for Iron and *Smithes cole. 1881 Young Every Man own Mechanic 649 The fuel used is fine coal generally called ‘Smith’s coal’ or ‘slack’. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 229 Tubalcain fonde first *smythes craft and grauynge. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 69 A man may say they haue practised smithes craft all their lyfe. 1614 Raleigh Hist, of World 1. 1. vi. §4 Tubal and Tubalcain (inuentors of pastorage, smiths-craft, and musick). 1568-9 Sarum Churchw. Accs. (Swayne, 1896) 283 Sande and *smythes dust, 2d. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 33 SmithsDust is either the Scales beaten off at the Anvil, or Iron Filings. 1544 Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1560) Hiiijb, Julep of roses with a litle of *smiths water. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Ferraria aqua, smithes water in the cole trough wher in they quench yron. 1626 Bacon Sylva §84 Smiths water or other Metalline water. 1714 French Bk. Rates 331 Iron-Axels, Hinges, Axes, and such like ^Smiths Work. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. III. 381 Most of the smith’s work is taken by weight.

fb. smith's balm (see quot.). Obs. rare. 1597 Gerarde Herbal 561 Smithes Bawme, or carpenters Bawme, is most singular to heale vp green wounds..: Dioscorides and Pliny [call].. this kind of Bawme.. Iron woort.

3. attrib., as smith-shop (chiefly U.S.: also smith's shop), -tool; also f smith-coal, smithycoal; f smith-man, an iron-smelter; smith ore (see quot.); f smith-water, smithy water; f smith-wife, a female smith. 1521 Maldon Liber B. fol. 58 (MS.), Due naves onerate cum *Smythcoll. 1645-52 Boate Ireland's Nat. Hist, (i860) 124 In the place where this Mine standeth, do lie little Smith-coals above the ground. 1408 in Eng. Hist. Rev. XIV. 519 In stipendio Johannis Gylle, *smythman alias blomer. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 228 *Smith Ore,.. a rich brown haematite iron ore. 1651 Early Rec. Dedham, Mass. (1892) III. 179 Whensoever the said shopp shall be no longer vsed for a *smithes shopp .., then it shall be remoued out of the high way. 1710 Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1884) XI. 105 Ordered that complaint be made.. against Enoch Greenliefe for making a Smith Shop in his buildings. 1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Oct. xxii. 236 The Ploughman here has seldom Occasion to go to a Smith’s Shop. 1755 New Hampsh. Probate Rec. (1916) III. 705 The Corner where Geo. Warrens Smith Shop Stands, a 1816 B. Hawkins Sk. Creek Country (1848) 30 At the public establishment there is a smith’s shop. 1882 Econ. Geol. Illinois III. 150 The coal.. is.. used in an adjoining smith-shop. 1899 Daily News 17 Nov. 5/2 At last there came a deputation from the boilershop and smith-shop. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 11. 1. i, He sends for his *smith-tools. 1541 Copland Guydon's Form. R iv, [To] be put with *smyth water.. tyll it be thycke. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wiilcker 692 Hec fabrissa, a *smyth wyfe.

smith (smi0), v. Forms: a. i smiSian, 3 smiSien, smipien; 3 smiSie, 4 smythye, 5 -ie; 4-5 smith-, smyth-, 5 smyp-, 7- smith. /S. 1 smeoSian, 3 smeodSien, 4-6 smeth-, 5 sme)>-, smethe. [Common Teut.: OE. smidian, smeodian, = OFris. *smithia (WFris. smeije, EFris. smithi, NFris. smede, smere), MDu. and Du. smeden, MLG. smeden (LG. smeden, smeen), OHG. smidon (MHG. smiden, G. schmieden, ■\schmeden), ON. and Icel. smiSa (Norw. and Sw. smida. Da. smede), Goth, gasmipon, f. the stem of smip- smith sb. There is little evidence for the word from the 15th to the 19th cent., and the modern instances may be derived anew from the sb.]

1. trans. To make, construct, or fashion (a weapon, iron implement, etc.) by forging; to forge or smithy. c 1000 ^Elfric Saints' Lives in. 126 He.. het him smiSian on smaetum golde anre culfran anlicynsse. a noo in Napier O.E. Glosses 14/2 Fabricate, smeo]>ud. C1205 Lay. 1563 Wa wrSe auer J?ene smiS pa pe mid honden smeodSede [c 1275 smi^ede]. a 1225 Ancr. R. 52 Ofte a ful hawur smiS smeoSiS a ful woe knif. C1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 576 (Ellesm.), A smyth.. That in his forge smythed plough harneys. a 1400-50 Alexander 5515 pan made he smythis to .. smethe him achaiere. 1483 Cath. Angl. 346/1 To smethe, fabric are, cudere. 1647 Hexham i, To Smith, smeden. 1833 Keightley Fairy Mythol. I. 258 Sigurd took the very best sword That the Dwarfs had ever smithed. fig. a 1225 Ancr. R. 284 A1 J?es world is Goddes smiSSe, uorte smeoSien his icorene.

b. To fashion articles out of (iron, etc.); to forge or hammer into an implement, rare. CI340 Nominate (Skeat) 136 Homme forge fer et quiuere, Man smethuth Irun and copur. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. iii. 305 Alle pat bereth baslarde .. Shal be demed to pe deth but if he do it smythye In-to sikul or to sithe.

c. To deal with by heating and hammering; to hammer or beat (a blade, etc.) on an anvil. c 1400 Vis. Tundale (Wagner) 1077 Hem tought, pai were not smethed [v.r. smyhyd] inowe, But throwe a fire efte hem drowe. 1831 Holland Manuf. Metal I. 281 The whole [penknife blade] is then smithed, or smartly hammered after it has ceased to be soft. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 683 The blade .. is smithed or hammered, so as to make the saw quite flat. 1851-4 Tomlinson's Cycl. Useful Arts (1867) I. 483/1 After forging, the blade is smithed, or beaten on an anvil.

2. intr. To work at the forge; to practise smith-work. Also fig. c 1205 Lay. 30743 Brien enne smiS funde, pe wel cuSe smiSie. a 1300 E.E. Ps. cxxviii. 3 Ouer mi bak smithed sinful ai. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxxviii. 3 Abouen my bak synful smythid. 1893 Month Feb. 198 Others sail-making, carpentering, smithing [etc.].

SMITHAM Hence smithed ppl. a. J542-3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 6 Pinnes.. shalbe double headed,.. wel smethed, the shanke wel shauen.

smithereening work. 1964 Economist 16 May 699/2 Dum¬ dum bullets or smithereening explosives. 1973 N. Y. News 21 Aug. 53/1 He’d like to smithereen the crystal ball.

smitham ('smiSsm).

Forms:

smithereens (smiSs'riinz), sb. pi.

smithum,

9

7-8

smitham.

[var. of smeddum, in sense 2 perh.

smithem,

7 smithom,

(9)

smytham,

8-9 8-9

associated with smith sb. or v.] 1. The finest particles or dust of ground malt. Also attrib. Now dial. 1620 Markham Farew. to Husb. (1625) 61 Your Malt-dust which is the sprout, come, smytham, and other excrements of the malt. 1649 Blithe Eng. Improver Impr. (1652) 127 That so it may receive part of Smithom-Meale. 1883 Almondbury Gloss. 123 Smithum, the smallest of malt. 2. Mining. The finest part of lead ore, usu. obtained

by

passing

through

a

sieve,

and

afterwards ground to powder. 1653 Manlove Customs Lead Mines 274 Trunks and Sparks of oar. Sole of the Rake, Smytham, and many more. 1681 T. Houghton Compl. Miner Gloss., Smytham is Lead Ore stamp’d and pounded down [etc.]. 1747 Hooson Miner s Diet. s.v. Buddie, They must have clear Water enough, otherwise the Smytham will look bad. 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 244 To separate and cleanse the Ore, which they call Smitham. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 751 The sediment called smitham is taken out, and piled up in heaps. 1865 Meteyard J. Wedgwood I. 125 After the vessels are painted, they lead them with a sort of lead ore they call ‘Smithum’. 3. Coal-mining. (See quots.) 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 228 Smithem or Smytham. 1. Fine slack. 2. Clay or shale between two beds of coal. 1891 Sheffield Gloss. Suppl. 53 Smithum, small coal, slack. Smith &

Wesson

('wesan).

[The names of

Horace Smith (1808-93) and Daniel B. Wesson (1825-1906), founders of a firm of gunsmiths in Springfield, Mass.] The proprietary name of a make

of

firearm,

esp.

a

type

of

cartridge

revolver. i860 Charleston (S. Carolina) Mercury 6 Nov. 3/3 (Advt.), Smith & Wesson’s seven shooters. 1865 [see Remington]. 1881 G. W. Romspert Western Echo 115 The second ball from my Smith & Wesson stretched him struggling upon the earth with a bullet through his lungs. 1893 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 16 May 1058/1 Revolving firearms. Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Mass... Essential feature, the word and character Smith & Wesson. Used since 1857. 1928 Trade Marks Jrtil. 14 Nov. 1822/1 Smith and Wesson. 482,778. Revolvers and Pistols. Smith and Wesson Inc. 1957 J. E. Parsons Smith & Wesson Revolvers i. 13 The Smith & Wesson revolver had arrived as a de luxe presentation item. 1964 E. S. Gardner Case of Phantom Fortune (1970) xix. 192, I show you a Smith and Wesson revolver. 1981 Daily Tel. 18 June 18/5 They prefer to throw truncheons rather than draw a 0.38 Smith & Wesson. 'smithcraft.

Also 9 smith-craft,

[f. smith sb.

Cf. OE. smidcreeft.] The work, craft, or art of a smith. In Johnson’s quotation from Raleigh the genuine reading is smiths-craft (see smith sb. 2). 1755 in Johnson, i860 Artist & Craftsman 425 If your locks want.. picking to pieces, my old smithcraft may stand us in some stead. 1889 P. A. Bruce Plantation Negro 233 It is in smithcraft alone that he would have a wide.. field. fsmithe.

Obs.

Forms: i smippe, smiSpe, i, 3

smiSSe, 3 smiSe, 4 smyppe, smyFe; 1 sme6e, 5 smeFe.

[OE. smippe, smidde (: — *smipjon, f. the

stem of smith sb. or v.), = OFris. smithe, smitha, MDu.

and

Flem.

smisse, smesse (Du.

smidse),

OHG. smiththa, smidda; also OFris. smitte, -a (Fris. smitte), MDu. smitte, smit, OHG. smitta, -e,

-i (MHG.

smitte,

G.

dial,

MLG. smede (LG. smede, sme),

schmitte), OHG.

and

smida

(obs. G. smide, schmide, now schmiede). Some of these forms are due to the influence of the word for smith. For the Scand. forms see smithy s6.] = smithy sb. 1. a 900 tr. Baeda's Hist. V. xv. (1890) 442 He.. jewunade in his smiSpan daejes & nihtaes sittan & liegan. c 1000 /Ei.fric Horn. I. 64 Ga6 to smiSSan, and fandia8 pises goldes. c 1030 Rule St. Benet (Logeman) 23 SmeSe peer we ealle pas Sine jeornlice wyreean. a 122s Ancr. R. 88 Vrom mulne & from cheping, from smiSe,.. me tiSinge bringeS. c 1305 St. Dunstan 60 in E.E.P. 36 A priuei smyppe bi his celle he gan him biseo. fig. a 1225 Ancr. R. 284 A1 pes world is Goddes smiSSe, uorte smeoSien his icorene. 'smither, sb. rare. Also 5 smyther. [f. smith v. + -er1.] A smith or smithier; a hammerman. 1435 Coventry Leet Bk. 185 The Jorneymen . . of all of?er Craftes.. except hakmen and smythers wurche in hur own houses and nott in hur masters housz. 1881 Instruct. Census Clerks 45 Cutlery: • • Blade Smither. Ibid., File Making: Forger. Heater. Striker. Smither. 1976 Star (Sheffield) 3 Dec. 19/4 (Advt.), Retired Smither required for part-time light Machine Knife Smithing work. f 'smither, a. Obs. ? Agile, active. Perhaps an error for swyper swipper a. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xlii. 543 (Ireland MS.), Gauan was smyther and smerte, Owte of his steroppus he sterte.

colloq. and dial. [var. of next, with Irish diminutive ending, and either adopted from, or the source of, mod.Ir. smidirin.] Small fragments; atoms. Usually in phrases to knock, split, blow (etc.) to or into, to go to, smithereens. Also fig. 1829 G. Griffin Collegians II. xxii. 157 A body would tink it hardly safe to stand here under ’em, in dread dey’d come tumblin’ down, may be, an’ make smiddereens of him, bless de mark! 1841 S. C. Hall Ireland I. 68 The harness that was broke into smithereens. Ibid. III. 303 The sun . . split it into smithereens. 1861 Clara F. Bromley Woman's Wand. 189 A celestial worthy .. whose prowess and exploits .. seem to have beaten Saint George and the dragon quite to smithereens. 1883 Black Shandon Bells xxxiii, He’d have knocked the whole town to smithereens. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 372 Crew and cargo in smithereens. 1927 D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico 16 The sun went bang, with smithereens of birds bursting in all directions. 1933 Sun (Baltimore) 22 Dec. 22/6 A substantial charge of dynamite—enough, in fact, to blast the bridge to smithereens. 1961 J. I. Packer Evangelism Sovereignty of God ii. 31 Books like Deuteronomy and Isaiah and John’s Gospel and Romans smash it [sc. a man-centred outlook] to smithereens. 1976 Time 27 Dec. 36/3 The result is another kind of supernova, a fantastic explosion that blows the star to smithereens, dispersing into space most of the remaining elements that it had manufactured during its lifetime.

'smithers, sb. pi. colloq. and dial. [Of obscure origin; cf. prec.] = smithereens. 1847 Halliw., Smithers, fragments; atoms. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 171 One brother

Line. 1847 is a rascal — another a spend-thrift.. —the family all gone to smithers. 1857 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 341 Having one’s nerves ‘all gone to smithers’. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iv. xiii, Blowed us into shivers and smithers.

smithery ('smiGari). [f. smith sb. + -ery. Cf. Fris. smidterij, smitterij, Du. smederij, G. schmiederei.] 1. The trade, occupation, or art of a smith; smithcraft, smithing, smith-work. 1625 A. Gill Sacr. Philos. 11. xxiv. 188 All the objects of Smithery, locks, guns, swords, and the like, a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Somerset, in. (1662) 21 More I have not to say of Dunstan, save that.. his skill in Smithery was so great [etc.]. 1705 tr. Bosman's Guinea 128 Their chief Handicraft, with which they are acquainted, being the Smithery. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Lock, The Lock is reckon’d the Masterpiece in Smithery. 1841 Faraday in Bence Jones Life (1870) II. 146, I love a smith’s shop and anything relating to smithery. 1850 K. H. Digby Compitum III. 201 Different labours, such as.. masonry, carpentry, smithery, and saddlery. attrib. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. 11. 128 Leave we him at the Furnace in Smithery-work. b. In fig. uses. 1796 Burke Let. to Noble Lord Wks. II. 271 The din of all this smithery may some time or other possibly wake this noble duke. 1831 De Quincey Whiggism in Relat. to Lit. Wks. 1859 VI. 33 From all this sonorous smithery of harsh words.. nothing adequate emerged.

2. The forge or workshop of a smith; a smithy; esp. in British Admiralty dockyards, the building in which the smith-work is done. 1755 in Johnson. 1861 Times 24 May 7/8 The ironworks at Chatham consisted of a mere wreck of a smithery. 1871 Daily News 5 Sept., An extensive range of black sheds near the sawmills in the Royal Arsenal.. are about to be removed, and replaced by a large smithery.

Smithfield1 ('smiGfiild). [The name of a locality in London (orig. Smethefield, f. smethe smooth), long celebrated as a market for cattle and horses, subsequently the central meatmarket.] 1. A cattle- or meat-market, rare. 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 154 Hercules, to whom the Romans dedicated two temples, one of them in the Roman Smithfield or Forum Boarium. 1900 N. & Q. Ser. ix. VI. 389/2 In a Welsh paper I have just read that a certain lady .. has offered to provide ‘a free library and a Smithfield’ for the town of Newton.

f2. Smithfield bargain, a sharp or roguish bargain, one ‘whereby the purchaser is taken in’ (Grose); also transf., a marriage of interest, in which money is the chief consideration. Obs. 1662 J. Wilson Cheats v. v, Is not this better, than a Smithfield bargain? 1710 Brit. Apollo No. 77. 3/2 Sure Apollo will not encourage Smith-field Bargains. 1753 Richardson Grandison VI. x, The hearts of us women .. are pleaded with to rise against the notions of bargain and sale. Smithfield bargains you Londoners call them. 1775 Sheridan Rivals v. i, To find myself made a mere Smithfield bargain of at last! fb. So Smithfield match. Obs.~x 1742 Fielding J. Andrews 11. vi, He resolved never to marry his daughter on a Smithfield match; that whoever had love for her to take her, would, when he died, find her share of his fortune in his coffers.

tiny

Smithfield2 ('smiGfiild). U.S. The name of a town in Virginia, used attrib. to designate a type of ham cured by a special process which originated there.

fragments. Hence smithe'reening ppl. a. 1927 H. Crane in Transition Dec. 136 Lo, Lord, Thou ridest! Lord, Lord, Thy swifting heart Naught stayeth, naught now bideth But’s smithereened apart! 1959 Listener 5 Mar. 429/2 A bomb in a suit-case timed shortly to do its

Properly applied only to hams cured within the corporate limits of Smithfield. 1908 Sat. Even. Post 31 Oct. 25/2 Next to singing a hymn, nothing gives him so much pleasure as a Smithfield ham. 1947 R. Berolzheimer U.S. Regional Cookbk. 188

smithereen (smiSs'riin), v. [f. smithereens sb. pi.]

trans.

To

SMITH-TRAGER

796

smash

or blow

up

into

Smithfield ham... The hogs fatten rapidly by foraging in the peanut fields after the crop is harvested, special care is taken in curing and smoking. 1973 M. R. Crowell Greener Pastures 113 Smithfield ham is truly worth it all. 1977 Times 15 Oct. 13/5 Seek out a Virginian friend.. and sip mint juleps.. until the Smithfield ham and spoon-bread are ready.

Smithian ('smiGian), a. [f. the surname Smith (see defs.).] 1. Devised or suggested by William Smith (1769-1839), the founder of stratigraphical geology. 1819 Phil. Mag. LIV. 133 A stratigraphical or Smithian arrangement of the fossil shells.

2. Of or pertaining to, accepting or holding the principles of, Adam Smith. The sbs. Smithianism, Smithism, have also been recently employed. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 365/2 The successive rise and reign of three doctrines—the mercantile, the physiocratic, and the Smithian. 1891 W. S. Lily Shibboleths 198 The whole Smithian school of political economists.

smithiantha

(smiGi'aenGa). [mod.L. (P. Magnus in C. E. O. Kuntze Revisio Generum Plantarum (1891) II. 977), f. the name of Matilda Smith (1854-1926), botanical artist + Gr. av8os flower (with fern, ending to conform with the gender of names it superseded).] A small, perennial, rhizomatous herb of the genus so called, belonging to the family Gesneriacese, native to Mexico, and bearing hairy, cordate, variegated leaves and clusters of red, yellow, or orange bell-shaped flowers; = Gesnera 1961 Times 27 Sept. 6/6 Colourful smithianthas, better known under their familiar name of gesneria. 1979 A. Huxley Success with House Plants 364/3 Smithianthas grow best in medium light.

smithier ('smiSia(r)). Now arch, and rare. Also 5 smythier(e. [f. smithy v. + -er, or in early use f. smith v. + -IER.] A smith. Also/ig. C1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode 11. cxlviii. (1869) 134 Dame justice, the smythiere of vertues, and the forgeresse. 1435 Coventry Leet Bk. 182 Then the Cardwirdrawers and the myddelmen most nedes bye the wire.. of the smythiers. Ibid., And then the smythier, lest he lost his Custemers, wolde make true goode. 1876 Morris Sigurd 11. (1898) 89 And there was I, I Regin, the smithier of the snare.

smithing ('smiGiq), vbl. sb. [f.

smith v.] The action of the verb smith; the art or process of fashioning or forging metals; forging. 1435 Coventry Leet Bk. 181 He .. may.. do myche harme .. in the smethyng, yif he be necligent & mysrule his Iron, that he wirkithe. Ibid. 1 84. 1483 Cath. Angl. 346/1 A Smethynge,fabricatura. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. Pref., I intend to begin with Smithing, which comprehends not only the Black-Smiths Trade, but takes in all Trades which use either Forge or File. 1831 Holland Manuf. Metal I. 89 In the forging of the blades just named, there is a final hammer process called smithing. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 227 note, Wheels for railways display many curious examples of smithing. attrib. 1714 J. Wyett Suppl. to Ellwoods's Life (1765) 400 Not to use his own smithing Metaphors of clinching and rivetting. 1889 E. Matheson Aid Book Engin. (ed. 2) 722 Hydraulic smithing-machines.

smithite (’smiGait). Min. [f. the name of G. F. Herbert Smith (1872-1953), English min¬ eralogist + -ITE1.] A sulpharsenite of silver, AgAsS2, found as red tabular monoclinic crystals. 1905 Nature 13 Apr. 574/2 Further crystallographic and chemical details were given of the three new red minerals from the Binnenthal originally described by R. H. Solly, and named by him Smithite (after G. F. Herbert Smith), Hutchinsonite (after A. Hutchinson), and Trechmannite after C. O. Trechmann). 1905 R. IT. Solly in Mineral. Mag. XIV. 74 Smithite is associated with hutchinsonite, sartorite, and rathite in the white dolomite of the Lengenbach. 1938 Econ. Geol. XXXIII. 155 Proustite occurs .. in magnificent eutectic relationships with smithite. 1968 I . Rostov Mineral. 173 Pyrostilpnite, aramayoite, and smithite have perfect pinacoidal cleavage... Smithite is very soft, the other minerals have a hardness between 2 and 3.

'smithsonite.

Min. [Named by Beudant (1832), after James Smithson (1765-1829), who had distinguished it from calamine.] 1. Silicate of zinc. ci835 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 520/1 Smithsonite. Electric Calamine. Ibid. 527/1 Smithsonite. Silicate of Zinc. 1878 Gurney Crystallog. 55 Smithsonite.. is zinc silicate crystallised with one equivalent of water.

2. U.S.

Carbonate of zinc.

For the difference between the English and the U.S. use of the word, see note on calamine. 1856 Dana Rudim. Treat. Min. 86 Carbonate of Zinc (Calamine, Smithsonite). 1896 Chester Diet. Min. 251 Smithsonite,.. found in drusy incrustations or in botryoidal or stalactitic forms.

Smith-Trager (smi0'treig9(r)). Linguistics. = Trager-Smith. 1959 Canadian Jrnl. Linguistics V. 1. 8 The Smith-Trager schema for plotting the English phonemes and the diaphonemic relations between idiolects and dialects is a case in point. 1964 W. S. Allen in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 9 This should not be taken to imply an acceptance of the 4-term (Smith-Trager) stress system.

SMITH-WORK 'smith-work,

[smith sb. Cf. MDu. smedewerck (Du. smeedwerk), MHG. smidewerc (G. schmiedewerk).] Work performed or done by a smith; also, the work or occupation of a smith. 1720 in Jrnl. Derbysh. Archaeol. Soc. (1905) XXVII. 215 For smith worke, [£]o 3 2. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. 11. i, He .. determines on a little smith-work; and so.. is learning to make locks. 1869 Rankine Mach. Hand-tools App. 56 The fitness of bar iron for shipbuilding and smith-work is tested by bending and punching it cold.

smithy ('smiSi), sb. Forms: a. 4 smijn, 5 smypi; 5 smythie, 5-6 -y, 6 -ye, smithee, 6-7 smithie, 7smithy; 4 smejn, smethi, smepey, 5-7 smethey, 5-6 smethy, 7 smethie. /8. Sc. and north, dial. 6-7 smydy, 8 smidy; 5-6 smyddy, 6-9 smiddie, 6smiddy; 5 smede, smedye, 6 smedie, 5-7 smedy, 6 smeddy. [ad. ON. smidja (Icel. smidja, Norw. smidja-, MSw. smidhia, smidia, Sw. smedja, Da. smedie), = OE. smidde: see smithe si.] 1. The workshop of a smith; a blacksmith’s shop; = forge sb. 2. Also occas., a portable forge. a. C1300 Cursor M. 23238 (Edin.), Als it war dintes of a stipi J?at smipis smitis in pair smipi [Cott. smepey, Gott. smethi]. C1440 Promp. Parv. 461/1 Smythy,fabricia. 1496 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 289 Item, for bering of xxx waw ' of irn fra the marchant buthis to Thom Barkaris smythy, xlvd. 1546 Yorks. Chantry Surv. (Surtees) 247 One cotage or smythye and a garthyne. 1562 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, 1835) 207 The Smethey. One paire of bellowes [etc.]. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 512 In the smithies where brasse is made and wrought. 1700 Dryden Ovid's Met. xil. 390 His blazing Locks .. hiss’d, like red hot Iron within the Smithy drown’d. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 10 July, Finding the tools of the defunct, together with some coals, in the smithy. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 486 It proved to be a moveable smithy, furnished with all tools and materials necessary for repairing arms and carriages. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 229 Not when I pass a smithy; for then the iron bars make a tremendous noise. fig. 1865 Sat. Rev. 12 Aug. 204/1 The extent to which rivals in Paris, Liege, or Elberfield, were likely to supplant the great British smithy [Birmingham]. 1866 Kingsley Herew. vii, They hammered at each other in the devil’s smithy. j8. CI425 Wyntoun Cron. 1. v. 228 Quhar men war wirkand at a smedye \v.r. smyddy]. 1497 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 328 For tua laid of colis, in Melros, to the smyddy. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xxxiii. 56 For smowking of the smydy. 1580 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 320 Item, in the smiddie, ane ime studie [etc.]. 1665 Brathwait Comment. Two Tales 50 Those antient Verses.. That Scholar well deserves a Widdie, Who makes his Study of a Smiddie. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 19 At Kirk or Market, Mill or Smiddie. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 122 Like .. a vice in a smiddy. 1899 Crockett Kit Kennedy 243 Kit had trysted with the orra-man to meet him at the smiddy. fb. = bloomery1. Obs. rare~'. 1565 in West Antiq. Furness (1774) App. IX, The queen’s majestie’s woods .. are like to fall into great decay .. by reason of certain iron smithies there lately erected and demised.

2. Smithcraft; smith-work. rare. 1804 W. Taylor in Crit. Rev. III. 541 Important inventions; as that of clothing, of fire, of smithy, of foundery. 1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall 178 Details of the Expenses,.. Smithy, Carpentry, and Sawing, £1,701 190.

3. attrib., as smithy ashes, bellows, cur, dust, -fire, vice, work, etc. 1469-70 Durh. MS. Rolls (Surtees) 642 Le Smethyhouse infra Abbathiam. 1495 Naval Accs. Hen. VII (1896) 158 Smythy Bellowes. ij payer. 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 762 Lyke a smythy kur. 1556 Knaresborough Wills (Surtees) I. 73 My smithie geare. 1611 Cotgr., Escume de Mareschal, the refuse, or drosse of yron; smithie dust. 1669 Records Baron Crt. Stitchill (S.H.S.) 54 For smydy werke, one pund eight shillings. 1677 Churchw. Acc. Pittington, etc. (Surtees) 241 Item for smiddy ashes, is. enk f>at wy3es schal be by hem war, worlde withouten ende.

smog (smog). [Blend of smoke sb. and fog $6.2] 1. a. Fog intensified by smoke. Cf. photochemical smog s.v. photochemical a. 1905 Daily Graphic 26 July 10/2 In the engineering section of the Congress Dr. H. A. des Voeux, hon. treasurer of the Coal Smoke Abatement Society, read a paper on ‘Fog and Smoke’. He said it required no science to see that there was something produced in great cities which was not found in the country, and that was smoky fog, or what was known as ‘smog’. 1905 Globe 27 July 3/5 The other day at a meeting of the Public Health Congress Dr. Des Voeux did a public service in coining a new word for the London fog, which was referred to as ‘smog’, a compound of ‘smoke’ and ‘fog’. 1938 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 12 May 7 In the opinion of many medical authorities, ‘smog’ is the principal reason why Pittsburgh has the highest pneumonia death rate in the United States. 1950 Economist 25 Feb. 432/2 Smog is a problem, far from completely understood as yet, of air contamination not by smoke, but by the fumes and gases —sulphur compounds, chlorine and so on—given off by modern industrial processes such as oil refining, chemical manufacturing and metallurgy. 1955 Sci. Amer. May 63/3 At first it was thought that smoke, dust, sulfur dioxide and hydrofluoric acid were responsible for the smog [in Los Angeles], but soon it became clear that these known pollutants, in the concentrations measured on smoggy days, could not cause the physiological effects observed... It was then that A. J. Haagen-Smit.. suggested that peroxides and ozonides of hydrocarbons were responsible for smog. 1961 L. Mumford City in History xv. 479 Nor have they eliminated the unburned hydrocarbons which help produce the smog that blankets such a motor-ridden conurbation as Los Angeles. 1975 D. Lodge Changing Places ii. 71 It was difficult to tell whether the sediment thickening the atmosphere was rain or sleet or smog.

b. fig. A state or condition of obscurity or confusion; something designed to confuse or obscure. 1954 Ann. Reg. 1953 I. 54 Lord Reading .. described it [sc. the Russian Note] in the House of Lords as 18 pages of ‘somewhat dismal and turgid “smog”’. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 30 June i-a/i When the political smog clears, Billings city government somehow continues to function. 1978 D. Bloodworth Crosstalk xxiv. 191 He hoped. . Zoe’s gift might pierce the gathering smog? Because things were getting tough, and the Russians were . . accusing the Maoists of trying to flood Moscow with narcotics.

2. attrib. and Comb., as smog-bank, -burner, mask, producer; smog-bound, -free, -producing adjs. 1975 Country Life 16 Jan. 130/2 Take a commuter jet from Los Angeles to San Francisco... You rise above the smogbank. 1970 New Scientist 1 Jan. 8/3 Smogbound, noisedeafened, misanthropic Londoners. . might be taking their high blood pressure with them. 1961 Engineering 27 Jan. 175/3 The smog-burner is a mechanical rather than a chemical or catalytic device. 1959 News Chron. 19 June 4/3 The six-bedroom houses hardly get dirty in California’s smog-free climate. 1981 Times 6 Aug. 7/7 Smog-free sunsets over the Indian Ocean. 1954 Ann. Reg. 1953 iv. 391 The year 1953 might well be remembered as the one in which ‘smog’ masks first appeared. 1979 Listener 5 July 6/1 Visiting journalists [to Tokyo]., were amazed to find they didn’t have to wear smog-masks. 1951 Sun (Baltimore) (B ed.) 31 Dec. 14/2 More than a dozen Baltimore firms have been definitely albeit informally tagged as smog producers. 1970 New Scientist 13 Aug. 324/1 Efforts to curb autopollution concern the directly poisonous or smog-producing colourless emissions of carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.

Hence as v. trans. N. Amer. colloq., (a) with out, up: to cover or envelop in smog; (b) with in: to confine or imprison because of smog; (freq. pass.); smogged ppl. a. 1966 P. Tamony Americanisms (typescript) No. 14. 2 The era of the motor-car smogged up greenery. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 4/1 Mr. Lewis was ‘smogged in’ at Sudbury.. and was unable to arrive in time for the Ottawa meeting. 1974 Science News 24-31 Aug. 136 Conventional geodesy depends on clear lines of sight, and in the Los Angeles basin these are often smogged out. 1982 Chr. Sci. Monitor (Mid-Western ed.) 8 Dec. 12 Yet you can’t do it because they have to meet the same pollution standards they do in heavily smogged areas.

smogger ('smDg3(r)). [Origin unknown.] (See quots.). 1958 F. Jennings Men of Lanes 217 Veteran tramps have their road-sign language, by which they communicate with each other... Vagabonds call it ‘smogger’, and it is said to have been introduced into England by gipsies in the time of Henry VIII. 1975 Indexer IX. 131/2 Supposing, for example, you see a chalk mark (a ‘smogger’) made by a tramp on your gate-post, consisting of two large and slightly overlapping circles, you could identify this as meaning ‘tell a pathetic story’, but if the sign consisted of three small circles in a line, it would mean ‘money usually given here’.

SMOGGY smoggy (‘smDgi), a. [f. smog + -y1.] Characterized by the presence of smog. Hence 'smoggily adv. I9°S Daily News zb July 9 Observations had proved that, even in the most ‘smoggy’ periods, there was far less of the evil element in the early hours of the morning. 1948 Smog Problem in Los Angeles County 17/1 Smoggy days are usually days of high temperature. 1965 P. Wylie They Both were Naked 11. vi. 291 When the fourth day was smoggily born in the black-smudged, yellow opacity that was air I ordered coffee. 1978 P. Niesewand Underground Connection 25 A smoggy wind blew across the crowded platform as a train thundered in.

smogless ('smDglis), a. [f. smog + -less.] Free from smog; characterized by the absence of smog. 1948 G. Marx Let. 27 July (1967) 192 On a smogless day our gleaming skulls can be seen as far east as Cedar Rapids. i960 Spectator 30 Sept. 501 /i In an attempt to bring the smogless society a little closer, the Minister asked.. the official black areas to submit their plans for smoke control. 1971 Nature 19 Feb. 549/1, I measured the atmospheric extinction in three wavelengths on 3 1 clear, smogless nights at the Mount Wilson Observatory.

smogue: see smug. t'smoiliness. Obs.~l (See quot.) I53° Palsgr. 271/2 Smoylynesse, fylthynesse, honnievr.
.] 1. intr. To sneak, creep; to wander or prowl round (somewhere). 1904 in Eng. Dial. Diet. 1950 R. Moore Candlemas Bay 223 Then he realized his mother would probably send him back for the dish, so he smooched glumly in to retrieve it. i960 I. Jefferies Dignity Catherine has actually lost one of her teeth!.. The poor Cat will be a rare frightful snaggle tooth. 1821-Let. 17 Mar. 99 Instead of being hideous in the snaggle tooth age .. she is.. improved. 1825 Jennings Obs. Dial. W. Eng. 71 Snaggle-tooth, a tooth growing irregularly. 1859 Slang Diet. 96 Snaggle teeth, uneven, and unpleasant looking dental operators. 1897 S. Watson Life's Look-out 67 Every building had its own lurch inwards or outwards, like a mouthful of snaggle teeth. 1906 Dialect Notes III. 157 You’ll be a snaggle-tooth before you’re twenty, if you don’t quit eating so much candy. 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 227/2 Snaggle-tooth, woman of lower order., who, lifting her upper lip when scolding, shows an irregular row of teeth.

'snaggle-toothed, a. [app. f. snag sb.'] Having snaggle-teeth. Also fig. 1585 Higins tr. Junius' Nomencl. 452/1 s.v. Dento. 1688 Holme Armoury 11. 427/1 Snaggle, or Rake toothed, is when the teeth stands at a distance, one from the other. 1884 J. C. Harris Nts. Uncle Remus 105 I’m snaggle-toofed an’ double j’inted. 1945 B Macdonald Egg & I (1946) 85 On grey winter days its snaggle-toothed horizon could be seen plainly. 1954 Caribbean Quarterly III. IV. 231 Albert is a bright-eyed, snaggle-toothed little man. 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 32 That snaggle-toothed chap in the comic button-up white suit,.. —put him in a proper pinstripe and he’d pass for an Eastbourne estate agent! 1977 Time 14 Feb. 21/3 Entertainment is provided by.. a Hollywood dropcloth view of snaggle-toothed Mount Kenya.

823

SNAIL

snaggly (’snsegli), a. Chiefly dial, and colloq. [f. as snaggle sb.: see -Y1.] Irregular; tangled; ragged. 1794 W. Clark Jrnl. 4 Aug. in Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. (1914) I. 422 The army was conducted.. through intolerable thick woods & the earth covered with Snagley underwoods. 1882 F. W. P. Jago Anc. Lang. & Dial. Cornwall 269 ‘Snaggly teeth’, i.e., very irregular or ill¬ shaped teeth. 1968 P. S. Beagle Last Unicorn xiv. 206 Squat, snaggly trees that had never yet bloomed were putting forth flowers in the wary way an army sends out scouts. 1978 R. Jansson News Caper vi. 55 The bullet., bounced off something metal before it hit her, because the wound is all snaggly.

Cath. Angl. 346/2 A Snele,.. limax. 1828- in dial, glossaries (Yorks., Chesh., Line., Leic.), in form sneel. y. c 1305 Land Cokayne 40 in E.E.P. (1862) 157 J>e lond is ful of oJ?er gode... per nis dunnir, slete, no hawle, No non vile worme no snawile. transf. 1579 Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 58 They were wont, in olde time, to haue paynted snayles in their houses. 1851 Planche Pursuivant of Arms (1873) I25 Snails are borne by the family of Shelley. fig. 1590 Nashe M. Marprelate Wks. (Grosart) I. 245, I wonder how these seelie snayles, creeping but yesterdaie out of shoppes and Graumer-schooles, dare thrust out theyr feeble homes. 1596-Saffron Walden Ep. Ded., It shall neuer put foorth his snayles homes againe.

fb. A tortoise or turtle. Obs. fsnag-greet. Obs. [app. f. snag sb.3 4- greet grit sb.*] (See quot. and cf. snail-cod.) 1651 R. Child in Hartlib's Legacy (1655) 34 Snag greet: which is a kind of earth taken out of the Rivers, full of small shels. [Hence in Worlidge (1669) and some later works.]

snaggy ('snaegi), a.1 [f. snag sb.1 + -y.] 1. Having snags or sharp protuberances; jagged, knotty; snag-like. 1581 Studley Seneca, Medea 134 Cause yee the snaggy wheele to pawse that rentes the carkas bound. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 1. vii. 10 His stalking steps are stayde Vpon a snaggy Oke. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. ii. (1632) 62 Envie.. a snaggy staffe .. tooke Wreathed with thornes. 1888 Harper's Mag. Apr. 735 A multitude of blackened snaggy shapes protruding above the water. 1895 Jane Barlow Lisconnel ix. 212 His snaggy stick lay at a little distance. fig. 1857 Fraser's Mag. LVI. 358 We do not think that your genuine snaggy fellow belongs to any class in particular.

2. Of teeth: Suggestive of snags. 1703 Motteux Quix. (1733) III 210 Her Teeth.. seem’d to be thin and snaggy.

3. Abounding in, full of, snags. 1806 W. Clark in Lewis & Clark Orig. Jrnls. Lewis Clark Expedition (1905) V. 380 The Sand bars.. confined the [river] to a narrow Snagey Chanel. 1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase ix. 58 To learn the nature of ‘mash land’ — ‘rooty and snaggy land’ [etc.]. 1864 J. K. Hosmer ColorGuard xii, We passed into snaggy lakes at last. 1891 Pall Mall G. 22 Oct. 2/1 The river is., a turbulent, snaggy stream to navigate.

'snaggy, a.2 Sc. and dial. [Cf. snag v.1] tempered, peevish, snappish, cross.

Ill-

1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss. 96 Snaggy, tetchy, peevish. 1806 A. Douglas Poems 130 Quo’ Maggy fell snaggy, ‘Ye lie, you loun, an’ joke’. 1823- in dial, glossaries (Suffolk, E. Anglia, Lines.). 1898 B. Gregory Side Lights 405 The stalwart President.. had become spasmodic, snatchy, and at times snaggy.

snag-tooth, [f. snag sb.1 Cf. snaggle-tooth.] A snag-like tooth. 1655 Cotgrave Wits Interpr. (1662) 253 How thy snagteeth stand orderly, Like stakes which strut by th’ water side. 1727 in Bailey (vol. II.). 1890 Amer. Anthropologist Oct. 316 Projecting canines or ‘snag teeth’ are so common in low faces as to be universally remarked.

snail (sneil), sb1 Forms: a. 1 snejel, snejl, snasjel, snaegi, 4-7 snayl, 5-7 snayle (5 snaylle); 3, 5- snail (6 snaill), 5-7 snaile, 6-7 snale. /3. 1 snel, snsel, 5 snele, snyle, 9 dial, sneel. y. 4 snawile. [OE. snegel, snaegel, etc., = MLG. sneil (LG. snal, sniel, etc.), OHG. snegil (MHG. snegel, G. schnagel, now dial, with variants schnaf schnel, etc.), ON. and I cel. snigill (Norw. and Sw. snigely Da. snegl).] 1. a. One or other of the terrestrial or freshwater gasteropods having a well-developed spiral or whorled shell capable of housing the whole body; also formerly (and still dial, and Sc.) a slug. The common types of the true snail belong to the genus Helix (esp. H. aspersa or hortensis, the common gardensnail, and H. pomatia, the edible snail) or Clausilia, of the family Helicidae. a. c 725 Corpus Gloss. C 630 Cocleae, lytle snejlas. ciooo Sax. Leechd. II. 110 5if nseddre slea man, l>one blacan snejl aware on halij waetre. c 1000 /Elfric Gloss, in Wr.-Wulcker 121 Limax, snaijl. Testudo, jehused snaejl. 01250 Owl & Night. 87 Snayles Mus and fule wihte Beoh Jnne cunde. 13 .. Coer de L. 3836 Anon they.. gunne to drawen in her homes, As a snayl among the thornes. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) xv. 169 Thei anoynten here Hondes and here Feet with a juyee made of Snayles. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy 11. 3313 Wrinkled double, like an hornyd snail. 1542 Boorde Dyetary viii. (1870) 249 Beware that you do not lye in .. such chambres as myse, rattes, and snayles resorteth vnto. 1592 Shaks. Ven. Ad. 1033 As the snail, whose tender horns being hit, Shrinks backward in his shelly cave. 1633 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. §29 See there two snails. One hath a house; the other wants it: yet both are snails. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 226 If People were sensible of the hurt they do, they would no more eat them, than they would Frogs, Snales. 1727 Gay Fables 1. xxiv, A snail, Beneath his house, with slimy trail Crawls o’er the grass. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) III. 113 The noise which the snail makes in moving the water. 1813 Bingley Anim. Biog. (ed. 4) III. 467 The garden snail, hedge snail, and grove snail. 1871 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 566 The common Snails .. not unfrequently become formidable pests to the horticulturist, from the ravages caused by their voracity. B. c 825 Epinal Gloss. 611 Limax, snel. [ciooo jDlfric Gloss, in Wr.-Wulcker 122 Chelio,.. saesnael.] c 1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) xxi. 96 per er in hat land so grete snyles hat in f?aire schelles three men or foure may be herberd. c 1440 Alph. Tales 157 He commandid J?at pis vglie burth .. sulde be closid in a stone, as a snyle is in hur shell. 1483

1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 377 Whan pis snayl was i-roted, pe senewes were i-streyned with ynne pe skyn of he snayles hous. 1398-Barth. De P.R. xvm. evii. (Bodl. MS.), pere beh foure manere [snails], londe snailles & see stronde snailles & venny snailles .. [1495 and ryuer snayles].

c. Applied to various animals allied to, or resembling, the snails or slugs. (Cf. sea-snail.) 1541 Copland Guy don's Quest. Chirurg. N iij, The moste dyfference is of blode lettynge, for it draweth the blode deper than the boxynge or the snayles [= leeches]. 1666 J. Davies tr. Rochefort's Caribby Isles 78 There is a kind of Snailes, called by the French Soldats that is Souldiers, because they have no shells proper and peculiar to themselves. 1731 Medley tr. Kolben's Cape Good-Hope II. 209 The Nabel-Snail has an upper and an under Shell, like a Muscle. Ibid. 208 The Shell of the Sea-Porcupine Snail is . . arm’d on almost every Part with long Prickles. 1783 Justamond tr. Raynal's Hist. Indies IV. 134 On the coast of Guayaquil.. are found those snails which yield the purple dye so celebrated by the antients. 1794 Reports Agric. Survey Camb. 111 In the first stage of this disease [sc. the blood-rot] the liver has not been infected with the snails, or plaice [= liver-fluke]. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIII. 337/1 The jfanthina, or Oceanic Snail. 1865 Mrs. L. L. Clarke Common Seaweeds i. 23 As we gather a bunch of seaweed, we shake out dozens of a pretty little snail called Rissoa. 1884 [see snail-bore in sense 7].

2. a. Used with reference or allusion to the exceptionally slow motion of the snail. a 1000 Riddles xn. 70 (Gr.), Me is snaejl swiftra. 1533 J. Heywood Mery Play 421 (Brandi), Go and hye the, as fast as a snayle. 1599 Porter Angry Women Abington (Percy Soc.) 105 A man may bee as slowe as a snaile, but as fierce as a lyon. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 252, I .. went forward like a snaile, till despairing of going further I fell upon the ground. 1652 Collinges Caveat for Prof. xiii. (1653) 71 Sure.. our Saviour drove snails as he went, he reckons so long for his journey! 1778 Miss Burney Evelina lxxv, During our whole ride, I thought the carriage drawn by snails. 1821 Combe Syntax, Search Wife ill. (Chandos) 303 He, by degrees, would seldom fail T’ adopt the gallop of a snail. 1862 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds 406 As slaw as a sneel. 1881 Freeman in Stephens Life & Letters (1895) II. 244 Riding .. at the pace of a snail.

b. snail's gallop, pace, an excessively slow or tardy pace, rate of progress or motion, etc. a 1400-50 Alexander 4095 J?an sny3es par, out of pat snyth hill as with a snayles pas, A burly best. 1565 Cooper, Testudineus gradus, a slowe pase: a snayles pase. 1707-91 [see gallop sb. 3 c]. 1793 Mme. D’Arblay Lett. 12 Sept., That snail’s pace with which business is done by letters. 1816 Sporting Mag. XLVII. 32 Every thing short of eight miles per hour is accounted snail's pace. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xvi, The snail’s pace at which we were proceeding. 1901 Scotsma?i 5 Nov. 6/8 For a time they were able to get along at a snail’s gallop, men leading the horses with torches and lanterns.

c. A slow or indolent person; a sluggard. 1590 Shaks. Com. Err. 11. ii. 196 Dromio, thou Dromio, thou snaile, thou slug, a 1593 H. Smith Serm. (1866) II. 83 Every snail shall step before thee, and take thy crown from thee. 1641 Brome Joviall Crew iv. i. When he comes, he comes apace; he’s no snail, I assure you. 1915 Dialect Notes IV. 198 We’ll have to wait for Edith. She’s such a snail. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xvii. 366 He [sc. a latecomer] is a.. Snail.

f3. a. A structure or formation resembling a snail-shell; a testudo. Obs. 1408 tr. Vegetius' De Re Milit. iv. xiv. (MS. Laud 416), The gynne that is clepid the snaile or pe wilk is a frame made of good tymbyr. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 66/2 Cercle, clepyd the snayle, as of pentys, and other lyke, spira. 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey 44 Ground-plots are.. externall, as Groves, Arbours, Bowers, Mounts, Mazes, Snailes.

fb. Mil. A formation resembling the letter D; = lima^on 1. Obs. 1579 North Plutarch (1895) III. 57 As for the order of their battelles, they knewe not what it ment, nor to cast them selves into a snaill or ringe. 1581 Styward Mart. Discipl. 1. 67 How to bring them into a Ring, an Esse, or a Snaile, verie profitable for young Souldiers. 1591 Garrard's Art Warre 87 This order of a D. otherwise called a snaile.

4. pi. A species of medick (usually Medicago scutellata) having snail-shaped seed-pods. 1629 Parkinson Parad. 339 Medico spinosa altera. Small thorney Buttons, or Snailes. 1730 Miller Gard. Diet. s.v. Medica Cochleata, The Snail-Trefoil, commonly call’d in the Seed-shops Snails. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece 11. iii. 371 Sow these dwarf annual Flowers.., Snails and Catterpillars. 1846-50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 229 M. scutellata (Snails)... This curious plant derives its name from the singular nature of its fruit, which is twisted like the shell of a snail. 1858 R. Hogg Veget. Kingdom 269 Some years ago .. some.. were admitted into the annual flower borders under the singular names of Snails, Bee-hives,. . and similar names suggested by the fancied resemblance of their pods to these subjects. 1866 [see snail-plant in 7]. 5. Mech. a. A flat, spirally curved piece of

metal; esp. a toothed disc of this shape forming part of the striking mechanism of a clock; a spiral cam.

SNAIL 1696 W. Derham Artificial Clockm. (1759) 7 The Snail, or Step-Wheel in Repeating-Clocks. 1764 Ann. Reg. 1. 79/1 The quarter and half quarter snail. Ibid., The hour snail and star. 1825 J- Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 38 The collar.. is formed like a snail or camm, which will act upon either of the levers. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 942 The punch being driven through the plate by one revolution of a snail or cam. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 252 Clockmakers generally mark off the snail on the clock itself after the rest of the striking work is planted.

b. (See quot.) 1834-6 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 280/1 The German snail is an apparatus of nearly the same kind [as the Archimedes’ screw]; it consists of a cylinder with its spiral projections detached from the external cylinder or coating within which it revolves.

6. attrib. and Comb. a. In sense 1, as snailbroth, -culture, -eater, -feast, -garden, snailtrace, -track, etc.; snail-green, -nacreous, -nosed adjs. 1771 Mrs. Haywood New Present for Maid 41 *Snail Broth. 1875 Chambers's Jrnl. XII. 46 Any one desiring a lesson in *snail-culture, may learn all about it in the Tyrol. 1889 Science-Gossip XXV. 281/1, I would suggest that conchologists pay some attention to.. these *snail-eaters. 1875 Chambers's Jr nl. XII. 46 The Newcastle glassmakers hold an annual *snail-feast. 1895 A. H. Cooke Molluscs iv. 119 Escargotieres, or "'snail-gardens, still exist in many parts of Europe. 1931 V. Woolf Waves 25 Louis regards the wall opposite with *snail-green eyes. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 19 Turbinated Shell-Fish of the *Snail Kind. 1883 Science I. 492/1 A small open square used as a *snailmarket. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts Flowers 60 Cyclamen leaves .. Spurned with mud *Snail-nacreous Low down, i960 S. Plath Colossus 10 In their jars the *snailnosed babies moon and glow. 1887 Jefferies Amaryllis xxxii, My sister, as was in a decline, used to have "“snail-oil rubbed into her back. 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon 11. hi. ii. 85 A *snail paste which enjoyed a certain amount of repute. 1900 Daily News 13 Oct. 6/6 Circular lines of fine black braid following each other in what is called the *snail pattern. 1780 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) VI. 4572/1 With small yellow flowers, succeeded by small, round, *snail-shaped fruit. 1845 Lindley Sch. Bot. v. (1858) 56 Medicago orbicularis (Snails). Legumes unarmed, snail-shaped, orbicular. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1805) III. 580 The Romans.. kept these animals in what were called Cochlearia, or *Snail Stews. 1966 J. Merrill Nights & Days 42 The brief *snail-trace Of her withdrawal dries upon our faces. 1930 D. H. Lawrence Nettles 20 All those nasty police-eyes like "“snail-tracks smearing the gentle souls that figure in the paint. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern .] The action of cutting with a snap. 1639 Crabtree Led. 57 With thy snippery and snappery thou thinkest to go shear away with all.

'snappily, adv.

[f. snappy a.] 1. Snappishly. 1890 Gunter Miss Nobody xvii, ‘I may and I may not,’ he says shortly and snappily. 1898 Daily News 24 Aug. 4/7 The ‘Post’ to-night snappily remarks [etc.].

2. Smartly, nattily; crisply, deftly. 1936 J. T. Farrell $1,000 a Week (1942) 141 He looked unobtrusively at two snappily dressed young fellows on his left. 1947 People 22 June 5/1 Another snappily-togged Ascot-bound party of bright young things noisily piling into a glittering £5,000 limousine. 1977 ‘A. Stuart’ Snap Judgement 16 A strong, blue-eyed, snappily dressed young

man. 1981 E. Agry Assault Force v. 53 Mac reversed the Audi snappily into the nearest driveway.

snapping ('snaepirj), vbl. sb. [f. snap v.] 1. The action of the vb. in various senses: a. In intransitive senses. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. 11. (1882) 50 When they come to the cutting of the haire, what snipping and snapping of the cycers is there. 01734 North Examen Pref. (1740) 14 Such Snapping and Quarrelling would not clearly answer his Book. 1812 M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) II. 196 The only way to account for the fire is by the snapping of the hemlock wood. 1815 j. Smith Panorama Sci. Art II. 196 If a person not electrified held his hand near the tube while it was rubbed, the snapping was very sensible. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 47 The snapping and snarling [of wolves], varied by a howl. 1891 Daily News 7 Nov. 6/4 In consequence of the snapping of an axle.

b. In transitive senses. Also with up. 1646 J. Hall Horae Vac. 113 Hee playes not well at draughts, that onely can avoyd snapping when it comes to a pinch. 1741 Compl. Family Piece 11. ii. 344 You must remember in Snapping, that you never give a Fish time to run .., but hook and draw him out directly. 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf ii, There’s me, and my twa brothers,.. will be wi’ you .. in the snapping of a flint, i860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. cxxxix. III. 115 An abiding arrangement, opening its capacious jaws for the snapping-up of the guilty. 1885 Law Rep. 29 Chanc. Div. 453 There was no snapping of a judgment in the Irish action.

|2. Thieves' cant. The proceeds of a theft or robbery; a share of stolen goods claimed by a snap. (Cf. snappage.) Obs. 1591 Greene Conny Catch. 11. Wks. (Grosart) X. 122 When he hath the window open and spyes any fat snappings worth the Curbing, then streight he sets the Warp to watch. Ibid., Which stolne parcells, they in their Art call snappinges. 1602 [see snappage].

3. attrib., as snapping movement, noise, sound, etc.; snapping-point, the point at which something will snap, or someone’s strength or endurance will fail; snapping time, -tool (see quots.). 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 193 A sharp pain .. which was accompanied by a snapping noise. 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 30 A vivid spark will dart between them, accompanied by a sharp snapping sound. 1870 H. A. Nicholson Man. Zool. (1880) 375 Keeping up a constant snapping movement. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2229/2 Snapping-tool, a stamping-tool used to force a plate into holes in a die. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 229 Snapping Time, a short period of rest during a shift in which a collier takes his snap. 1933 G. Arthur Septuagenarian s Scrap Bk. 272 And like all good artists, like Sarah herself, she is a ‘traqueuse' whose head feels hot and hands are cold on a first night, and who, with fever in the veins and nerves strained to snapping-point, will yet perhaps give the most inspired performance of the whole run. 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) i. 20 To have not only mud but sticky honeycomb all over her shiny, clean linoleum was the snapping-point. 1982 India Today 15 Feb. 125/2 Relations between the Government and the judiciary are stretched to snapping point.

'snapping, ppl. a. [f. as prec.] 1. Sharp, curt, snappish; peevish, petulant. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1851 III. 255 His designe was.. with quips and snapping adagies to vapour them out. 1718 Ockley Saracens (Bohn) 177 Omar, .grew very angry:.. at last he wrote a short snapping sort of a letter. 1746 Exmoor Scolding (E.D.S.) 106 Go, ye rearing, snapping, tedious, cutted Snibblenose! 1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths III. 17 Snapping creatures are thought so sweetly sincere.

2. a. That snaps or breaks suddenly. 1823 Lamb Elia 11, Amicus Redivivus, Marvellous escapes — ..by orchard pranks, and snapping twigs. 1899 F. V. Kirby Sport E.C. Africa xx. 218 Our ears were gladdened by the sound of a snapping branch.

b. That makes a sharp cracking or snapping noise. 1891 Outlook Dec. 238/1 In the tender light of the rising sun he creeps downstairs, avoiding that squeaking board and that snapping step. 1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 170 They emerged from the narrow, roofless tunnel of snapping and hissing cane, still galloping, onto the open ridge below. 1968 B. Hines Kestrel for Knave 132 Every time he tried to escape [from the shower] the three boys bounced him back, stinging him with their snapping towels as he retreated.

3. a. That snaps with the jaws or beak. 1873 G. C. Davies Mount. & Mere xiv. 116 Such screaming and laughing as they pulled the struggling snapping brutes ashore. 1890 S. W. Baker Wild Beasts II. 29 The force of the snapping jaws would crush any human bone.

b. snapping-turtle, one or other of the North American freshwater tortoises of the family Chelydridse, esp. Chelydra serpentina, the alligator terrapin. Also snapping tortoise. (Cf. snapper sb.1 5 c.) 1784 J. F. D. Smyth Tour U.S. A. I. 338 One kind of them bites very fiercely when incensed..; these are called Snapping Turtles. 1808 T. Ashe Trav. Amer. II. 234 The Indians call this by a name which implies the snapping tortoise. 1828 [see salt river 2 a], 1840 Knickerbocker XVI. 54 The.. snapping-tortoises, frogs, squirrels, and such small deer, are their flocks and herds. 1848 Bartlett Did. Amer. 316 Snapping-turtle, a reptile common to all parts of the United States, so named from its propensity to snap at everything within its reach. 1850 Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 205 On the shore of the lake we caught a tortoise, called here the snapping-turtle. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 153 The more northern species, Chelydra serpentina, known everywhere throughout the United States as the ‘Snapping Turtle’.

SNAPPINGLY c. snapping beetle (or bug), snapping mackerel (see quots.); snapping shrimp, a shrimp of the family Alpheids, which uses its large chelae to make a snapping noise; also called the pistol shrimp. 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 93 These insects [sc. Elateridx] are known in Europe by the common name of ‘skip-jacks’,.. and in America as ‘snapping beetles’, and erroneously ‘snapping bugs’. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 433 The Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix,.. [is] in some parts of New England called ‘Snapping Mackerel' or ‘Snappers’. 1941 Steinbeck & Ricketts Sea of Cortez 194 Sponges and tunicates under which small crabs and snapping shrimps hid themselves. 1964 Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. II. 431 The clicking of snapping shrimp . . is a form of ambient sound when one is concentrating on the sounds of fish.

4. Violent, severe, extreme; usu. as quasi-arfu. 1845 Knickerbocker XXV. 87 I’ve got a snapping head¬ ache. 1876 Wide Awake (Boston, Mass.) July 19/1 The night was snapping cold. 1905 K. D. Wiggin Rose o' the River 93 The snapping cold weather and the depth to which the water was frozen were aiding it.

snappingly ('snaepnjli), adv. [Cf. prec.] With a snap or snaps; snappishly. Also, briskly, smartly. Cf. snappily adv. 2. 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. Bvij, He redeth them so fearse, And doth theire workes so snapingly and snatchingly rehearse. 1884 J. Parker Apost. Life III. 13 When was ‘Good-bye’ said quite snappingly and briefly and with abruptness? 1896 Westm. Gaz. 12 Dec. 1 Numerous dogs of every breed and aggressiveness career snappingly about. 1976 Gramophone Dec. 1016/1 The second subject [is] held in a more or less strict tempo but flecked with fine, subliminally caught colours, the mordents now fluttering like spread acciaccaturas, now expressive, now snappingly exact. 1978 Ibid. Apr. 1756/2 Bernstein, as one would expect, is ideally alive and snappingly rhythmic at the opening of the last movement’s allegro section.

snappish (’snaepij), a. Also 6 snappyshe, -ishe, 7 snapish. [f. snap v. + -ISH.] 1. Of persons: Using, or apt to use, sharp, harsh, or uncivil language; peevish, testy, or illnatured in speech or reply. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 319 b, He found his wife coumbresome, crabbed & snappyshe unto hym. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. i. in Holinshed, Here percase some snappish carper will.. snuffingly snibbe me, for debacing the Irish language. 1626 R. Bernard Isle of Man (1627) 20 Scrupulosity .. is an unsociable and snappish fellow. 1672 O. Heywood Diaries (1883) III. 119 Clark.. was churlish and snappish. 1740 Richardson Pamela I. 47 Our Cook .., who is a little snappish and cross sometimes. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xlii, I found him morose and snappish. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 400 [Dyspeptics] are likely to become irritable and snappish.

b. Of manner, etc.: Marked or characterized by sharpness or curtness of speech. 1836 Random Recoil. Ho. Lords xiv. 334 The contemptuous and snappish manner in which he spoke to deputations. 1848 Dickens Dombey li, ‘Well,’ says Mrs Pipchin, in her snappish way, ‘he’s pretty much as usual’. 1885 Manch. Even. News 16 July 2/3 A most femininely snappish tone of voice.

c. Of the sea: Somewhat choppy or rough. 1867 Macgregor Voy. Alone (1868) 85 When we.. met the short, snappish sea in the bay, every wave dashed over me.

2. Of words, language, etc.: Sharp, curt, peevish, ungracious. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. (1895) 10 Aferd that at euery snappishe worde theire nose shalbe bitten of. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 277 b, Your crabbed and snappish accusation agaynst Luther. 1603 Breton Packet Mad Lett. 1. lxviii, I haue receiued your snappish Letter. 1665 Pepys Diary 22 Dec., Vexed at a snappish answer Madam Williams did give me. c 1740 Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1861) I. 35 No one ever heard him say a snappish or cross thing to me. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 198 The smart And snappish dialogue, that flippant wits Call comedy. 1896 H. M. B. Reid Cameronian Apostle viii. 122 The snappish criticisms recorded in the Presbytery minutes.

f3. Bold, forward, impudent. Obs. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 783 If any wedlockbreakers .. dare be so snappish to enter.. into anothers house [etc.].

4. Of a dog, etc.: Inclined or prone to snap. 01700 in B.E. Diet. Cant. Crew. 01710 Pope Imit. Eng. Poets, Spenser 19 The snappish cur. . Close at my heel with yelping treble flies. 1727 Gay Fables xlvi. 13 A village-cur, of snappish race. 1862 H. H. Dixon Scott & Sebright 199 He [a horse] went to Malton, and a very rough snappish customer they thought him.

b. transf.

(Cf. sense 2.)

1842 Lover Handy Andy xv, The snappish barking of the pets was returned by one hoarse bay from ‘Bloodybones’.

5. Breaking with a snap; ‘short’. 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXIX. 297 The crust.. is exceeding crisp, dry, and snappish.

'snappishly, adv. [f. prec.] In a snappish manner; in or with sharp, ungracious, or peevish language; curtly, abruptly. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke ii. 39 So did he also at an other time more snappishly make aunswere unto theim. 1602 Middleton Blurt, Master-Constable in. iii, You can¬ not ’scape without a pardon here, if you take us up never so snappishly. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius’ Voy. Amb. 266. The other making answer somewhat too snappishly, c 1765 Flloyd Tartarian T. (1785) 45/1 ‘What is that to you!’ said the porter very snappishly. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxi, He said rather snappishly: ‘Who is with me in this case?’ 1885 Manch. Exam. 12 Aug. 6/i The hon. member..had been rather snappishly put off.

837

SNAP-SHOT

'snappishness. [f. snappish a.] The fact or quality of being snappish; sharpness, curtness, or peevishness of language or speech. 1598 Florio, Proteruita, frowardnes,.. skittishnes, snappishnes. 1727 Bailey (vol. II), Snappishness, Crossness, Peevishness, Crabbedness in Speech. 1757 Rutty Spiritual Diary (1776) 2nd month, no. 26, Cursed snappishness,.. on a bodily indisposition. a 1801 Wakefield Mem. (1804) I. 25 He threatened with great snappishness to flog me. 1836 Hook G. Gurney III. 174 The cause of my old lady’s snappishness to-night. 1876 Miss Braddon J. Haggard's Dau. xi, A little extra snappishness on the part of Judith.

snappy ('snaepi), a. [f. snap v. + -y.] 1. a. = snappish a. 1. 1834 in B. Gregory Side Lights (1898) 157, I am inclined to be snappy when I am told [etc.]. 1858 E. B. Ramsay Scot. Life & Char, iv, Snappy and disagreeable.. in their replies. 1889 Jerome Three Men in Boat 155 Harris and George and I were quarrelsome and snappy and ill-tempered.

fig. 1643 J- P-, {title), A Spirituall Snapsacke for the Parliament Souldiers, containing cordiall encouragements.

t'snapsauce. Obs. rare. [f. snap

v.

4- sauce sb.]

= slapsauce 1. Also attrib. 1611 Cotgr., Fripe-sauce, a snap-sauce, licke-dish, lickorous fellow. [1653 Urquhart Rabelais 11. xxx, Hector, a Snap-sauce Scullion.]

t'snapshare. Obs. [f. snap v. + share sb.] A share or portion obtained as an extra emolument. 1538 Cowley in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 11. II. 95 They gayne yerely ij1 M. markes by their fermes and fees besydes their snap shares. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke iii. 32 A porcion of the parties gooddes beyng seased as a forfaict, may come to their snapshare in rewarde of theyr false accusacion. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 20 A patrone of a benefice wil haue a poore yngrame soule to beare the name of a persone for xx marke, and the patrone hymself wil take up for his snapshare as good as an .c. marke.

b. = SNAPPISH a. I b. 1890 Star 13 Oct. 4/1 Hard work.. doesn’t improve Sir Peter’s temper, and consequently he was in a particularly snappy mood to-day. 1892 Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 16 This request.. is given in an off-hand, snappy kind of a way.

2. = SNAPPISH a. 2. 1886 St. James' Gaz. 25 Sept. 5/1 The Queen’s Speech . . might even be called curt and snappy. 1897 W. H. Thornton Rem. W. Co. Clergyman iii. 84 We grew warm, and our conversation snappy.

3. Sc. (See quot.) 1825 Jamieson Supply Snappy, keen in business, disposed to take the advantage of another, Ang[us].

4. = SNAPPISH a. 4. 1881 Harper's Mag. LXIII. 496 Sharing the vehicle with a snappy terrier. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 701 Dogs inoculated .. fell into emaciation, foamed at the mouth and became snappy.

5. Of the nature of, producing or emitting, a snap or crack; crackling. 1878 Jefferies Gamekeeper at H. 120 Short sharp snappy sounds. 1894 Outing June 190/2 The birch .. makes a hot, snappy, cheerful fire.

6. colloq. a. Cleverly smart, bright, or pointed (of language, etc.); full of ‘go’; brisk. 1871 ‘Mark Twain’ in Galaxy Apr. 615/2, I compressed it into a snappy foot-note at the bottom. 1873 ‘Susan Coolidge’ What Katy did at Sch. vi. 88 We’ll never use the whole name ..: we’ll say, ‘the S.S.U.C.’ That sounds brisk and snappy. 1901 Athenaeum 17 Aug. 209/3 Mere stage back grounds for snappy tales, generally realistic. 1955 Times 27 Aug. 8/4 Her clean texture, snappy rhythm, and general strength of tone and purpose all betokened a true grasp of the composer’s style. 1977 N.Z. Herald 8 Jan. 2-12/4 (Advt.), Painting roofs, for free quotes phone the expert. Snappy service.

b. Neat and elegant; smart, ‘natty’, snappy dresser, someone who dresses in a stylish or natty manner. 1881 Punch LXXX. 310/3. 1887 W. Rye Norfolk Broads 57 The frame of a very ‘snappy’ little pleasure wherry. 1897 Outing XXX. 108/1 A snappy team of grays. 1925 New Yorker 9 May 27/1, I always used to be a snappy dresser. 1958 [see dude v.]. 1977 P. Theroux Consul's File 174 A woman waiting for her lover.. whom she would describe as a snappy dresser, a riot, a real card.

c. Having a brisk smack or flavour. 1892 Walsh Tea 164 Many.. teas are full and round in body, pungent and ‘snappy’.

d. U.S. Designating weather characteristic of a cold snap (snap sb. 7 a, b). 1928 J. C. Lincoln Silas Bradford's Boy 149 It was a clear, snappy early winter day. 1951 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xv. 60 Snappy,.. said of crispy cold weather.

7. a. Quick, sudden, instantaneous; jerky. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakf.-t. viii. 216 The drygoodsman’s life behind his counter is a succession of sudden, snappy perceptions. 1882 [Lees & Clutterbuck] Three in Norway xxiv. (1888) 182 It was almost impossible to get even the snappiest of snap-shots at the agile bird. 1896 MRS. Caffyn Quaker Grandmother 212 To give her a snappy hand-shake.

b. Phr. to make it snappy: to make haste, to get a move on. 1926 G. Frankau My Unsentimental Journey ii. 31 After that we ‘made it snappy’ (Anglice— got a move on). 1945 A. Huxley Let. 10 Apr. (1969) 520, I wish there had been space in my review to quote you at length on these subjects, But, alas, I had to ‘make it snappy’. 1976 J. I. M. Stewart Young Patullo ix. 195 Make it snappy. Taxi’s waiting.

||snaps. Also snapps. snaps.] = schnapps.

[a. Du., Da., or Sw.

1845 [C. H. J. Anderson] Swedish Brothers 8 A trifling scratch,.. which a snaps will soon cure. 1865 Slang Diet. 238 Snapps, Hollands gin.

'snapsack. Now dial. Also snap-sack. [ad. LG. snappsack (hence G. schnappsack), f. snappen snap v.] A knapsack. Common from c 1650 to 1700. 1633 Shirley Contention Djb, She cannot eate a Snapsacke, Nor carry baggage. 01656 Ussher Ann. (1658) 515 Mithridates sent all the prisoners.. home, with provision in their snapsacks. 1670 Phil. Trans. V. 2097 A very large Heart,.. the figure of which was not Conical, but like a Souldiers pera or Snapsack. 1716 Church Philip's War (1867) II. 22 He finding .. three Snapsacks of Powder, went immediately to the Army. 1725 Bailey Erasm. Colloq. 7 If you put nothing into my Snapsack but Healths, I shall carry them with ease. 1881 Isle Wight Gloss. 33 Snapzack, a knapsack.

snap-shooter (’snaepju:t3(r)). [f. snap-.] 1. One who practises or is skilled in snap¬ shooting. 1887 Field 8 Jan. 41/1, I cannot but believe that our brilliant snap-shooters .. are born, not made.

2. One who takes snap-shot photographs; a camera suitable for this. Also snapshooter. 1890 Anthony's Photogr. Bulletin III. 200 It may become a ‘snap shooter’, by taking the cork out. 1896 J. Ashby Sterry Tale Thames ii, [It] won’t go down in these days of the universal kodak and perpetual snap-shooter. 1904 Car X. 240 (caption) Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt, Jr.,.. is reluctant to pose before a camera, but occasionally falls a victim to wily ‘snapshooters’. 1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon iv. 72, I had always taken a camera with me on my climbs, but had been little more than a holiday snapshooter.

snap-shooting, vbl. sb.

[f. snap-.] The practice of taking snap-shots (esp. in senses 1 and 2). 1872 Gentl. Mag. Dec. 664 Snap shooting, as it is termed, is very effective sometimes by experienced gunners. 1883 Cent. Mag. Aug. 493 Snap-shooting is generally understood to consist in putting the gun to the shoulder and firing the instant it is in position. 1979 G. MacDonald Camera iv. 57 Snapshooting was .. a .. haphazard affair... Most snaps were still portraits of family and friends.

snap-shot ('snaepjot), sb.

Also snap shot, snapshot, [f. snap-.] 1. a. A quick or hurried shot taken without deliberate aim, esp. one at a rising bird or quickly moving animal. 1808 Col. Hawker Diary (1893) I- 11 Almost every pheasant I fired at was a snap shot among the high cover. 1846 Greener Set. Gunnery 164 Were a bird to spring in a situation where we could get only a snap shot. 1899 F. V. Kirby Sport E.C. Africa iii. 42, I got in a snapshot, tumbling her over like a rabbit. fig. 1865 Pall Mall G. 2 Aug. 1 Our courts of law are distinguished from those of other countries by taking snap¬ shots at justice.

b. One who fires such shots; a snap-shooter. 1845 capital least it 41 /1, I

F. Tolfrey Sportsman in Canada II. v. 131 It is practice is this snipe-shooting for a youngster; at makes a man a good snap-shot. 1887 Field 8 Jan. myself am a snap-shot.

2. a. An instantaneous photograph, esp. one taken with a hand-camera. Also transf. and fig. [i860 Herschel in Photogr. News 11 May 13 The possibility of taking a photograph, as it were by a snap-shot —of securing a picture in a tenth of a second of time.] 1890 Rev. Reviews II. 489/2 The annexed snap-shots were taken with a hand camera. 1903 ‘O. Henry’ in Everybody's Mag. Aug. 194/1 You see a man doing nothing but loafing around making snapshots. 1930 [see hustle v. 5]. 1950 G. B. Shaw Farfetched Fables iii. 109 What are you doing here?.. Only hiking round the island. May I take a snapshot? 1975 P. Fussell Gt. War & Mod. Memory i. 10 British and German soldiers.. meeting in No Man’s Land to exchange cigarets and to take snapshots. transf. and fig. 1897 Daily News 3 May 8/3 Your Yankee interviewer is a snap-shot incarnate. 1902 A. Dobson Richardson vii. 196 The language of literature seems to tend .. towards the cultus of the short-cut and the snap-shot. 1928 Observer 17 June 10/2, I asked President Masaryk.. if he could give me a snapshot of the difference between what he found when he came to Prague in 1918, and what he has the satisfaction of seeing now. 1962 M. McLuhan Gutenberg Galaxy 241 He [sc. Montaigne] bred up a great race of self-portrayers by means of the mental snapshot. 1978 p. O’Donnell Dragon's Claw iii. 47 Snapshots of sight and sound, of touch, taste, and smell.

b. Computers. A record of the contents of some or all of the storage locations in a computer at a particular stage in the execution of a program (see quot. 1963). Freq. attrib. 1963 Gregory & van Horn Automatic Data-Processing Systems (ed. 2) xii. 473 Some simplified forms of post¬ mortem routines give only a storage snapshot, which is a complete copy of all storage locations at the time the processor stopped. A snapshot routine may also list the instruction that caused the program to stop, the current contents of arithmetic units and indexes, and perhaps, several of the most-recently executed jumps thus indicating the path of program control. A differential snap-shot lists the contents of storage locations that have changed from their initial value or from their value in a prior snapshot. 1966 IFIP-ICC Vocab. Information Processing 85 When a trace program gives output only on selected instructions, or for selected conditions, it is called a snapshot program. 1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. vi. 244 An alternative is to take a series of snapshots at points in the program section.

SNAP-SHOT 3. In various sports, a quick shot (of the ball, etc.) at goal. 1961 Times 29 May 4/3 [In Polo.] After Hanut had scored with a lovely snapshot to make it 3 2. 1963 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 21 Jan. 16/3 [In Hockey.] Hull responded by taking a quick pass from Balfour and scoring on a quick snap-shot. 1976 Oadby & Wigston (Leics.) Advertiser 26 Nov. 15/4 [In “Football.] Saints hit back and a snapshot by Jim White hit the crossbar.

4. attrib., as snap-shot photograph(y, system, etc. 1892 Greener Breech-Loader 266 Dr. Carver shoots on the snap-shot system, shooting both barrels in quick succession at the pigeon. 1893 Hodges Elem. Photogr. (1907) 15 What is popularly called ‘snap-shot’ photography. 1894 Daily News 26 May 6/1 The book is illustrated with .. interesting views, some of them from snapshot photographs. 1894 [see enlarger ib], 1901 Merwin & Webster Calumet lK' xv. 288 Young men with snap-shot cameras waylaid Bannon. 1967 J. Philip et al. Best of Granta 1. 17 The winning photo in The Granta Holiday Snapshot Competition shows a couple kissing on a beach. 1977 R. E. Harrington Quintain iii. 24 He searched the terrain, storing quick snapshot impressions. 1977 N. Y. Rev. Bks. 23 June 25/3 The crudely chronological order of snapshotsequences pasted in family albums.

'snap-shot, v. [f. the sb.] a. intr. or absol. To take snap-shots with a camera, b. trans. To photograph (a person, etc.) by means of a snap¬ shot. Also^ig. ‘Freq. in recent newspaper use.’ N.E.D. 1894 Amer. Ann. Photogr. 63 Many.. think it just the thing to commence with a detective camera and snap-shot. 1898 Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 29 One of our party desired to ‘snap-shot’ the scene. 1907 Outlook 17 Aug. 206/2 All the peculiar attitude of our race toward dancing was suddenly snapshotted in that absurdity. 1932 Essays & Stud. XVII. 84 Thackeray found them [5c. the railways] vulgar, but amusing for the opportunities they gave of snapshotting people. 1980 Daily Tel. 21 Nov. 15/1 The play snapshots pretty' sharply Jimmy’s furtive park meetings with his waif.

c. To shoot (something) taking deliberate aim.

SNARER

838

quickly

without

1928 Daily Express 6 Dec. 19/3 Mr Blyth. .. was a fairly deliberate shot, and liked to take his high birds neatly and quietly, but could nevertheless snapshot a woodcock in thick covert with an effortless ease.

Hence 'snap-.shotter, -.shottist, one who takes snap-shot photographs; 'snapshotting ppl. a. 1899 C. G. Harper Exeter Road 211 All trooped back to Amesbury, the *snapshotters disgusted beyond measure. 1978 Nature 7 Dec. 647/2 Mr Sankhala also remarks that the *snap-shotting tourist is so preoccupied with shutter speeds, lens apertures and focussing that he fails to see anything around him. 1891 Scottish Leader 28 Sept. 6 The Shah of Persia is an enthusiastic *snap-shottist.

fsnap snorum, obs. f. snip-snap-snorum. 1622 MS. Archd. Oxon. c. 157 fol. 85, Edward Camell for playing at Snape snorum on the Sabaoth day.

snap-work. Also snapwork. [f. snap-.] fl. Sc. A firelock. Obs. 1568 Satir. Poems Reform, xlvii. 53 Snapwark, adew, fra dagmen dow nocht stand. 1676 Row Contin. Blair s Autobiog. xi. (1848) 298, 400 men with bows and long Snap works. et te hude snaw hwit swartete as hit snarchte \v.r. snercte] ant barst on to bleinen.

snare (snea(r)), sb. Forms: 2 sneare, 4- snare, 5 snayr, 6 snayre, 6-7 Sc. snair, 4 snarr, 5-6 snar. [In sense 1 a. ON. snara (feel, snara, Norw. snara, snora, snuru\ MSw. and Sw. snara, Da. snare) noose, snare, = OHG. snarahha snare, and related to OHG. and MHG. snar (obs. or dial. G. schnarre), OS. snari (MLG. and LG. snare, snar), MDu. snare, snaer (Du. snaar), string. Sense 2 is probably from the Du. or LG. forms.] 1. a. A device for capturing small wild animals or birds, usually consisting of a string with a running noose in which a foot or the head may be caught. Also in fig. context. a 1100 in Napier O.E. Glosses (1900) 26/2, Tenticulam, .1. decipulam, Reiman, snearan, wocie. a 1300 E.E. Psalter ix. 16 In pis snare whilk pa\ hid swa Gripen es pe fote of pa. c 1325 Metr. Horn. 70 Lorde, what thyng sail passe qwyte, And be noght in this snarres tane. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxiii. (Bodl. MS.), Ofte by swete soune pe fouler bringej? hem to grenes and snares swetlich. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 461/2 Snare, laqueus, pedica. 1483 Cath. Angl. 346/2 A Snare .., vbi A gylder. 1535 Coverdale Amos iii. 5 Taketh a man his snare vp from the grounde, afore he catche somwhat? 1570 Levins Manip. 202/40 A Snayre, laqueus, pedica. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 1. 413 The proper time .. For stalking Cranes to set the guileful Snare. 1731 Medley tr. Kolben's Cape G. Hope II. 149 Several Snares, made of Horse-Hairs, twisted together, are hung between the Branches. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 167 They either catch them in snares, or take them by surprize. 1847 Tennyson Princ. 1. 218 The nightingale, Rapt in her song, and careless of the snare. 1885 Hornaday 2 Years Jungle ix. 99 They.. set no snares, dig no pitfalls, nor capture game in any way whatever.

b. In fig. and allusive uses. a 1300 Cursor M. 29532 pat J?ou mai lightloker pam here, Ar t>ou be laght in findes snarr. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxxiii. 6 pe swetnes of pis life is snare pat pe deuyl gildirs men with. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy 1. 3648 Blendid with lust,.. Til in pe snare pei ben englued faste. 1451 Capgrave Life St. Aug. 12 Faustus, a grete snare of pe deuele, for pis man was pe moost famous heretik of all pe Manicheis. 1538 Starkey England 11. i. 156 The daungerys and snarys of the world. 1576 Gascoigne PhilomeneWks. 1910 II. i82Bewtie was the guileful bayte, which caught their lives in Snare. 1641 Milton Reform. 1. Wks. 1851 III. 30 Such commands were no commands, but snares. 1710 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett, lxvii. 112 Ignorance.. exposes them to the snares of any.. extreme. 1779 J. Moore View Soc. France (1789) I. i. 5 He who has the vigour to disentangle himself from the snares of deep play. 1825 Scott Betrothed xxvii. Their very virtues become snares to them. 1844 Ld. Denman Judgment O'Connell 1 Trial by jury itself, instead of being a security to persons who are accused, will be a delusion, a mockery, and a snare. 1866 Martineau Ess. I. 235 Dr. Mansel falls, we think, into the same snare.

fc. A noose, a halter. Obs.-1 1388 Wyclif Matt, xxvii. 5 He passide forth, and 3ede, and hongide hym silf with a snare [L. laqueo].

d. Surg. A device, on the principle of a snare, for removing morbid growths. 1884 M. Mackenzie Dis. Throat & Nose II. 269 Snares have been used for many years for the removal of polypi. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 690 The larger growths.. are best removed by the cold snare. Many advocate the use of the incandescent snare.

2. a. One of the strings of gut, rawhide, or (more recently) wire, which are stretched across the lower head of a side-drum. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xvi. (Roxb.) 61/1 The seuerall parts of a drumme... The Snares, which is made of Bowell strings. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Snares, the cords which pass across the diameter of one hoop at the end of a drum. 1875 Stainer & Barrett Diet. Mus. Terms s.v. Sidedrum, The lower [surface] having catgut strings called snares, stretched across to check the reverberation.

b. ellipt. for snare-drum, sense 3 b. 1938 D. Baker Young Man with Horn i. iv. 28 He could, of course, play his snare and .. sooner or later he’d have money enough to buy a piano. 1950 A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll 64, I had a drummer that hit his snares so loud that one night I gave him a couple of fly swatters for a gag. i960 ‘E. McBain’ Give Boys Great Big Hand xii. 137 The big one is the bass drum, and that round black case is what they call the snare. 1973 J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 31 The drummer giving his snare a series of flicks with the wire brushes.

3. attrib. and Comb. a. In sense 1, as snarecord, -trap, wire; snare-wise adv. CI375 Sc. Leg. Saints xii. (Matthias) 288 Resone wald J?at his throt ware vith a snar cord hangyt ful sare. 1611 Cotgr., Anses.., th’ ends of ropes tyed snare-wise, or made into nooses. 1804 Lewis & Clark Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1905) VI. 274 Baling Invoice of Sundries for Indian Presents.. 3 Rolls Ear Wire, 3 do Snare Wire. 1889 Pall Mall G. 30 Sept. 6/3 They manufacture a clever snare-trap for the wild geese. 1953 P. Provencher I live in Woods iv. 36, I am in no danger because I have my axe, matches, fishing lines and snare-wire. 1964 C. Willock Enormous Zoo iv. 56 Snare wire began to make its appearance most frequently. .. Catching animals with wire snares attached to large logs is understandably popular.

drums.. received several small shot in the batter heads, which they went through, but immediately struck out again by the Rims, and touch’d not the snare heads. 1873 T. B. Aldrich Marjorie Daw 130 Morning and evening we heard the spiteful roll of their snare-drums. 1875 Stainer & Barrett Diet. Mus. Terms s.v. Drum, The lower head has occasionally strings of catgut stretched over its surface, and then it is called a snare drum. 1884 Harper's Mag. Sept. 513/2 The little snare-drum trotted bravely along. 1926 E. Ferber Show Boat v. 96 A snare drummer who was always called a ‘sticks’, and the bass drum, known as the bull. 1941 W. C. Handy Father of Blues (1957) i. 5 The youngster would.. beat on the strings in the manner of a snare drummer. 1961 A. Baines Mus. Instruments xiv. 335 ‘Snares’.. consist of a number of gut or wire strings stretched across the lower skin or ‘snare head’. 1966 Crescendo Apr. 30/3 Complete with snare drumming that would make the Dagenham Girl Pipers turn green with envy. 1976 New Yorker 8 Mar. 108/3 He would hit the snare directly, or hit the snarehead and the rim.

snare (snes(r)), v. Also 5 snarre, 6-7 Sc. snair, 6 snayre. [f. snare sb. Cf. Norw. snara\ MSw. sndria (Sw. sndrja), MDa. snerie, snerge (Da. snsere), in similar senses.] 1. a. trans. To capture (small wild animals, birds, etc.) in a snare; to catch by entangling. 1388 Wyclif Isaiah xxviii. 13 That thei.. falle backward, and be al to-brokun, and be snarid, and be takun. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 461/2 Snaryn, or snarlyn, illaqueo. 1530 Palsgr. 723/2, I snare, I catche in a snare, je prens au las. 1548 Elyot, Laqueus, an halter, any thynge that one is snared or intangled in. 1570 Levins Manip. 202/44 To Snayre, illaqueare. 1610 Shaks. Temp. 11. ii. 174, I.. will. . show thee a Iayes nest, and instruct thee how to snare the nimble Marmazet. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 1. 365 To fire the Brambles, snare the Birds. 1781 Cowper Retirement 401 To carve his rustic name upon a tree, To snare the mole. 1832 Lytton Eugene A. iii. iii, I should not be surprised if you snared one of Squire Nixon’s hares by the way. 1878 Bosw. Smith Carthage 422 The cultivated portions., swarm with quails, vast numbers of which are snared in nets by the natives. absol. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. 1. 813 He poach’d the wood, and on the warren snared. 1863 [H. W. Wheelwright] Spring & Summer in Lapland 144 Where every one shoots and snares just as he pleases.

b. fig. To entangle, entrap. 1401 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 55 Cauteles and sle^tes, ech intrikid in other, to snarre symple soules. c 1430 Life St. Katherine (Roxb.) 31, I se wel pat )?ou woldest wyth py venoms sotyltees snare vs. 1535 Coverdale Exod. x. 7 How longe shall we be snared after this maner? 1567 Gude Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 216 Be thow not snairde in Venus snair. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 38 Cast downe thy looke, Least prides bait snare thee on the devils hooke. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 16 Those ten tribes were justly snared by Jeroboams calves. 1810 Scott Lady of Lake 11. xxviii. Themselves in bloody toils were snared. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 780 Who wove coarse webs to snare her purity. refl. C1550 Coverdale Fruitful Lessons (1593) Oiij, Who so goeth about to bind the truth, dooth knitte and snare himselfe with vnlowsable bands. 16.. Sir W. Mure Sonn. to Margareit iv, Alace!.. To snair myselfe in hope to be reliued. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 26 Adore it, but snare not thyselfe with it.

c. U.S. To catch, to win by a small margin. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §650/6 Win ... snare a win. Ibid. §679/5 Field a ball; catch . . . snare a hit. 1948 Sun (Baltimore) 26 Nov. 17/1 Double Brandy .. came from next to last to snare the second money about a half length in front of Brookmeade Stable’s Gnu.

2. Surg. and Path. To catch in a loop, esp. in order to remove; to cut off with a snare. 1884 M. Mackenzie Dis. Throat & Nose II. 355 An instrument for snaring nasal polypi. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 794 A peritoneal adhesion by which a loop of bowel is snared and acutely strangulated.

Hence snared (snead), ppl. a.\ 'snaring vbl. sb. (also attrib.) and ppl. a. C1440 Promp. Parv. 461/2 Snarynge, or snarlynge, illaqueacio. a 1586 Sidney Ps. xviii. ii, To my snaring grave togoe. 1591 Percivall Sp. Diet., Enlazamiento, intangling, snaring. 1605 Earl Stirling Alexandr. Trag. 11. Chor., Then snaring laws did not extend The bounds of Reason. 1640 1 . Carew Willing Prisoner ii, Her murdring glances, snaring haires,. so please me. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. Ill. v, Driven mad like the snared lion. 1845 Disraeli Sybil (1863) 160 Meditating the snaring of a hare. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 899 The artificial snaring of tumours. 1923 Beaver Mar. 236/1 Having some snaring twine she killed sufficient rabbits to keep herself and child alive. 1971 A. Fry Long Journey iv. 18 The snaring wing, a long brush fence with a few ‘escapes’.., each set with a snare. Ibid. ix. 52 Three or four men could work together, driving animals .. toward a snaring fence.

snare, variant of snath(e v. dial. t'snareful, a. Obs.-1 snares; insidious.

[f. snare sb.]

Full of

a 1618 Sylvester Cup of Consolation 35 Wks. (Grosart) II. 263 All the snarefull Wiles, And cunning Colours of mysterious Guiles.

'snareless, a. [f. snare sb.] a. Free from snares. 1823 Caroline B. Southey Poet. Wks. (1867) 139 Stopt was the busy mill-wheel now, Snareless the rippling brook,

b. Without a snare. *97$ Early Music Jan. 29/1 Drums are often snareless, though the pictorial evidence is that the cylindrical drum almost always had a snare.

b. In sense 2, as snare-drum, -head, pin, etc.

snarer (’sne3r3(r)). [f. snare t>.] One who sets snares or traps. Also/ig.

1688 Holme Armoury ill. xvi. (Roxb.) 61/1 The seuerall parts of a drumme... The Snare head. Ibid., The Snare pin, or Screw. 1704 [E. Smith] Athenian Oracle III. 423 Their

1597 Middleton Wisd. Solomon xvii. 14 Snare without snarer, net without a bait. 1623-More Dissemblers 11. i, He .. has broke through the net.. And left the snarer here

SNARK

839

herself entangled. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. 1. 178 Snarers and smugglers here their gains divide. 1885 Law Times Rep. LI I. 327/1 The proviso did not apply to snarers like Gilham, who captured birds on certain lands.

snark (sna:k), sb. [Invented by ‘Lewis Carroll’ (C. L. Dodgson) in The Hunting of the Snark (1876).] An imaginary animal. Also Comb. 1879 Temple Bar Nov. 391 Hunting for snarkes is a very pleasant occupation, if you do but make-believe strong enough. 1888 Lees & Clutterbuck B.C. 1887 xxvi. (1892) 297 There is quite a Snark-hunting ring about it. 1895 K. Grahame Golden Age 90 Some sinuous and snarklike conflict on the mat.

snark (sna:k), v. dial. [Corresponds to MLG. and LG. snarken (NFris. snarke, Sw. and Norw. snarka), MHG. snarchen (G. schnarchen, fschnarken), of imitative origin: cf. snork d.] 1. intr. To snore; to snort. 1866 N. Q. 3rd Ser. X. 248/1, I will not quite compare it [a sound] to a certain kind of snarking or gnashing. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 9 Nov. 4/1 All of a sudden she (the mare, I suppose he meant) snarked an’ begun to turn round.

2. intr. and trans. To find fault (with), to nag. 1882 Jamieson's Sc. Diet. IV. 314/2 To Snark,.. to fret, grumble, or find fault with one. 1904 E. Nesbit Phoenix & Carpet x. 185 He remembered how Anthea had refrained from snarking him about tearing the carpet.

snarky ('sna;ki), a. colloq. [f. snark v. + -y1.] Irritable, short-tempered, ‘narky’. 1906 E. Nesbit Railway Children ii. 49 Don’t be snarky, Peter. It isn’t our fault. 1913 J. Vaizey College Girl xxiv. 326 ‘Why should you think I am “snarky”?’ ‘Because—you are1 You’re not a bit sociable and friendly.’ 1953 E. Coxhead Midlanders x. 247 I’ve known you were the soul of kindness, under that snarky way. I returned to begin this snatch of a letter before dinner was ready. b. A brief view; a glimpse. 1816 L. Hunt Rimini 11. 133 For leafy was the road, with ..distant snatches of blue hills between. 1842 Louisa S. Costello Auvergne I. 319 Planted with gigantic trees, from openings between which are charming snatches of country. 8. a. A short passage, a few words, of a song, etc.; a small portion, a few bars, of a melody or tune. 1602 Shaks. Ham. iv. vii. 178 Which time she chaunted snatches of old tunes. 1795-1814 Wordsw. Excurs. 1. 569 He.. whistled many a snatch of merry tunes. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xl, Madge was .. singing her own wild snatches of songs and obsolete airs. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 111. in. viii, Not a musical Patriot can blow himself a snatch of melody from the French Horn. 1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 10 It was quite natural that he should, .begin to sing a snatch of the tenor air to me. b. ellipt. in the same senses. 1823 Lamb Elia 11. New Year's Coming of Age, Singing.. a number of old snatches besides, between drunk and sober. 1847 Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole vii. (1879) 66 Having carolled which snatches, he played a kind of symphony. 1890 Saintsbury Elizab. Lit. i. 9 Sometimes.. both syntax and prosody.. recall the ruder snatches of an earlier time. f9. A quibble; a captious argument. Obs. 1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. iv. ii. 6 Come sir, leaue me your snatches, and yeeld mee a direct answere. 1687 R. L’Estrange Answ. Dissenter 33 There are several Snatches in This Paper, that are either Founded, or Pretend to be Founded upon the Resolution, and Obligation of Laws. 10. That which is obtained in snatches. 1879 J.D. Long JEneid p. v, This, the snatch and pastime of the last year, is not printed because there is want of it. 11 .ellipt. (See quot. 1867 and snatch-block.) C1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 98 The hawser is hauled in through the snatch. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 636 Snatch, any open lead for a rope: if not furnished with a sheave, it is termed a dumb snatch, as on the bows and quarters for hawsers. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 180 The snatch for the mast rope must be fitted with a bolt. 12. Mining. (See quot.) i860 Eng. & For. Mining Gloss, (ed. 2) 79 Snatch, a small chimney at surface,.. used to ventilate very limited under¬ ground workings by means of one shaft. 13. An illicit line used in fishing. 1899 in Eng. Dial. Diet, s.v., Charged with using a snatch for the purpose of catching salmon. 14. dial, and slang. The female pudenda. Also attrib. Cf. sense 6 b. 1904 in Eng. Dial. Diet. 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions in. iv. 851 She said. See? and pulled up her dress to show me her ... to show there weren’t any marks on her ... anywhere else on her body.—You mean on her snatch. 1961 J. Heller Catch-22 xxvii. 303 She .. twisted away, fleeing far enough .. for Yossarian to lunge forward and grab her by the snatch again. 1969 P. Roth Portnoy's Complaint 193 Know what I did when I was fifteen? Sent a lock of my snatch-hair off in an envelope to Marlon Brando. 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 128, I was vexed and disappointed that the contact with the bibi had been so commercial, so perfunctory — why, .1 had not even seen or touched her snatch. 1978 j. Updike Coup (1979) v. 191 Sooner a black man mate with a lazy shitsmeared sow.. than entrust his ebony penis to the snatch of a white devil mare. snatch (snaetj), v. Also 3 snecchen, 4-5 snacche, snache, 6 snach, snatche; 7 pa. t. snaught.

[Of

obscure origin: perhaps related to snack s6.2]

1. intr. a. To make a sudden snap or bite (at something). a 1225 Ancr. R. 324 Ase ofte ase pe hund of helle kecche6 ei god from pe,.. smit hine so luSerliche pet him loSie to snecchen eft to pe. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xxvi. 788 Whan pei [flies] fleep a3ens his face, he [a hounde] snacchep after [1495 snatchyth at] hem wip his moupe. c 1400 Beryn 651 The dogg lay evir grownyng, redy for to snache. 1568 Jacob Esau 11. ii, Esau. If I had thee, I woulde eate thee, to God I vowe... Ragau. Fall ye to snatching at folkes: adieu, I am gone. 1595 Shaks. John iv. i. 117 And, like a dogge that is compell’d to fight, Snatch at his Master that doth tarre him on. 1718 Bp. Hutchinson Witchcraft 6 In that Madness.. the Person will Bark, and Snatch at those that are near. 1828 [see snatch- b]. fig. 1561 T. Norton Calvin s Inst. 1. To Rdr., I thinke there is no man, that hath ben snatched at, bitten, & torne in sonder with moe sclaunders than 1.1581 j. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 59 b, You come at the length to our Church, the orders whereof you do captiously snatch at. b. To make a sudden catch at a thing, in order to secure hold or possession of it. Also fig. 1530 Palsgr. 723/2, I snatche at a thynge hastelye to take it,je happe apres. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. in. ii. 29 Briars and thornes at their apparell snatch. 1604- Oth. v. ii. 275 This looke of thine will hurle my Soule from Heauen, And Fiends will snatch at it. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low-C. Wars 375 The Government.. was snatched at on the one side by the Wife..: On the other side, by some Noblemen. 1789 Mme. D’Arblay Diary 6 Jan., I had previously entreated my father to snatch at any possible opportunity of expressing his satisfaction. 1829 Scott Anne of G. i, All.. snatched at bushes and rocks by which to secure themselves. 1831 -Cast. Dang, xix, To snatch at any such occasion as shall be ministered to me. 1882 J. Parker Apost. Life I. 93 The Apostles did not snatch at praise for themselves. 2. a. trans. To seize, to take or lay hold of, suddenly, smartly, or unexpectedly.

C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13889 J?e lyon for hunger snacches & slep pe best pat he first lacches. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1170 Snatche a puddyng tyl the rost be redy. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 17 The Sarazin .. Snatcheth his sword, and fiercely to him flies. 1616 J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. vii. 262 Algarsife.. snaught his swoord, and with a loftie whiff, rann vppon Camball. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 11. 60 He snatches a man, and jumping into the water with him, carries him over to the other side. 1728 Young Love Fame 1. 47 Will no superior genius snatch the quill, And save me, on the brink, from writing ill? 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. v. iv, All green things are snatched, and made cockades of. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 83 The fisher¬ man hastily snatched the sealed leaden stopper. fig. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, iv. v. 192 It seem’d in mee, But as an Honour snatch’d with boyst’rous hand. 1823 Scott Quentin D. i, Those advantages, which.. the Duke would have snatched with an armed hand.

b. With immaterial object: To take, obtain, acquire, etc., in a hasty or improper manner, or so as to take advantage of a momentary chance. *563 Foxe A. & M. 1367/1, I could wyshe more faythfull dealyng with Gods woorde, and not to .. snatche a part here and another there. 1598 Drayton Heroical Ep. viii. 98 My lips haue waited,.. And snatch’d his words, ere he could get them forth. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. 11. (1626) 30 What should shee doe? but.. snatch a parting kisse? 1667 Milton P.L. x. 1025, I fear least Death So snatcht will not exempt us from the paine. 1726 Berkeley Let. Wks. 1871 IV. 138, I shall nevertheless snatch the present moment to write you short answers. 1789 Belsham Ess. I. xi. 212 Let not., persons.. pretend to snatch those graces which are beyond the reach of art. 1829 Lytton Disowned 40 Let us snatch what happiness is yet in our power. 1879 igth Cent. No. 32. 665 He seeks, at times, to snatch a verdict for his client by ignoring.. evidence. 1891 Labour Commission Gloss., Snatching a victory by getting an advance in wages. The method employed is to choose a time when the masters are divided in opinion.

fc. refl. Obs.-'

To

catch

or

entangle

(oneself).

1575 Gascoigne Flowers, etc. Wks. 1907 I. 99 His wayting still to snatch himselfe in snare.

d. spec, (a) To steal, esp. by snatching; (b) slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.), to kidnap. 1765 Ann. Reg. I. 215 It was agreed that Matthews and Byfield should that night pick pockets or snatch hats. 1887 G. W. Walling Recollections N. Y. Chief of Police xviii. 254 His most brilliant exploit was his ‘snatching’ of Si00,000 from the Royal Insurance Company’s office in Broadway in broad daylight. 1919 Wodehouse Coming of Bill (1920) 1. i. 12 As if she had caught him in the act of endeavouring to snatch her purse. 1932 Detective Fiction Weekly 17 Dec. 23/2 It’s dollars to doughnuts the kid was snatched up in the park. 1934 Sun (Baltimore) 10 Mar. 1/7 Banghart had introduced him to the Touhy mob just before the market speculator was ‘snatched’. 1936 Detective Fiction Weekly 6 June 12/1 It’s one more sweet-running crate. Just about the sweetest I ever snatched. 1973 ‘I. Drummond’ Jaws of Watchdog xii. 156 Why didn’t we snatch him in the street and take him away someplace?

e. To partake hurriedly of (food, sleep, etc.). 1803 M. Wilmot Let. 6 Aug. in Russian Jrnls. (1934) 1. 34 We rose with one accord, dress’d, snatch’d a cup of Coffee and got into Mdm R-’s Carriage. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §94/13 Eat a small or hurried meal,.. snatch a bite. Ibid. §251/6 Take a nap,.. snatch a wink. 1952 M. Steen Phoenix Rising i. 27 I’m snatching a sandwich at the club. 1977 M. Kenyon Rapist x. 121 He might snatch two hours’ sleep .. if he swallowed a couple of sleepers.

f. to snatch it or one's time: to resign, to leave a job and take the wages due. Austral, slang. 1941 Argus (Melbourne) Week-End Mag. 15 Nov. 1/4 Snatch your time, resign from the Army, or threaten to leave. 1944 A. Marshall These are my People 158 ‘I suppose you struck some bad bosses in your time?’ ‘If they’re bad, I snatch it.’ 1962 T. Ronan Deep of Sky 55 What’s more, when we pass Silverton I’m snatching my time. 1973 F. Huelin Keep Moving 83 What are yous goin’ to do? Snatch it or stay?

3. a. To seize, catch, or take suddenly from or out of one’s hands, etc. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 11. i. 43 Out of her gored wound the cruell steele He lightly snatcht. 1617 Moryson I tin. 1. 219 They sent out their boyes to scorne us, who .. snatched from us our hats and other things. 1663 S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxiii. (1687) 244 She sometimes .. threw it abroad among the people; and then again snatched it out of their hands. 1737 [S. Berington] Mem. G. de Lucca (1738) 106 He snatch’d it out of my Hands with a prodigious Eagerness. 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. ill. 109 [Men] Forth snatch’d me from the pleasant cloister’s pale. 1878 M. A. Brown Nadeschda 35 He hurries off, with the intent to snatch The savage garland from her locks. fig. 1607 Shaks. Timon iv. iii. 441 The Moones an arrant Theefe, And her pale fire, she snatches from the Sunne. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 1. viii. 33 Such as they have, that entring into any discourse, are snatched from their purpose. 1781 Cowper Table-T. 689 He snatch’d it [the laurel] rudely from the muses’ hand. 1825 Scott Talism. viii, Nor befits it our fame that a brave adversary be snatched from our weapon by such a disease. 1848 Gallenga Italy I. p. xxvi, The sons of the north are snatching from your hands the sceptre of the arts. absol. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. To Rdr., While we .. snip here and snatch there from some of them.

b. With immaterial object. (Cf. 2 b.) 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. v. ii. 382 It were a fault to snatch words from my tongue. 1725 Pope Odyss. 1. 13 Oh, snatch some portion of these acts from fate, Celestial Muse! 1755 Johnson Let. 4 Feb. in Boswell, Snatch what time you can from the Hall, and the pupils [etc.]. 1795 Coleridge Sibyl. Leaves, Eolian Harp 10 How exquisite the scents Snatched from yon bean-field! 1845 James Arrah Neil iv, All were anxious to snatch a few hours from the gloomy thoughts that hung over the times. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. 116 That a new English host was coming to snatch the victory from the conquerors.

SNATCHc. To remove or avert hastily. Const, from. 1796 Mme. D’Arblay Camilla I. 316 She snatched her hands from her face. 1855 Tennyson Brook 101 But Katie snatch’d her eyes at once from mine.

4. With adverbs: fa. With down: To devour hastily. Obs.~1 1519 Horman Vulg. 39 b, Beware snatche nat thy meate downe to gredelye.

b. To catch, pick, or take up, suddenly or smartly. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 173 One of these wylde men .. soodenly snatched vppe a childe of therse. 1592 Ard. of Feversham v. i, Chast Diana Would .. Fling down Endimion and snatch him vp. 1638 F. Junius Paint. Ancients 112 So were they taught that Art whose instruments they had snatched up. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 276 The Women .. never are snatch’d up for their Great Fortunes. 1784 Cowper Task v. 49 His dog.. snatches up the drifted snow With iv’ry teeth. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. 1. iii, Scarcely, .could they snatch up their ‘enormous hoops’. transf. 1575 Gascoigne Certain Notes Instruct. (Arb.) 33 The light accent is depressed or snatched vp.

c. To seize and take away suddenly. 1608 Shaks. Per. iii. i. 24 Why do you make us love your goodly gifts, And snatch them straight away? 1684 Contempl. State Man 1. ii. (1699) 15 That which Time spares, is often snatcht away by the covetousness of the Thief, a 1770 Jortin Serm. (1771) II. xvii. 332 The Devil is here said to snatch the wood away from such persons. 1820 Shelley Hymn Merc, xxix, And from the portion.. I will snatch my share away.

d. To pull or tear off quickly (and roughly). 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 1. 33 They snatch it quickly off of the fire, or stir it. 1709 Steele Taller No. 45 If 7, I snatched his Hat off his Head, a 1763 W. King Polit. Lit. Anecd. (1819) 63 One of Cromwell’s soldiers snatched off Sir William Smyth’s hat. 1847 Sarah Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 371 Those who were standing near snatched off the wax of the seal.

5. To remove quickly from sight, etc.; to hide or conceal suddenly. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis 1. (Arb.) 20 Thee clowds snach gloomming from sight of Coompanie Troian Both Light and welken. 1711 Pope Temple Fame 354 A sudden cloud strait snatch’d them from my sight. 1835 Lytton Rienzi 1. xii. 90 The long herbage, and the winding descent, soon snatched her ill-omened apparition from the desolate landscape. 1887 Bowen JEneid 1. 88 Clouds snatch from the Teucrians’ sight Sunlight and sky. 6. a. To remove suddenly from this world or

life. Used in passive and freq. with away and from. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xlvi. § 1 Rather to bee taken then snatched away from the face of the earth. 1601 Shaks. All's Well v. iii. 154, I am a-feard the life of Hellen (Ladie) Was fowly snatcht. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. no William Bradbridge.. was snatcht away with a sudden death. 1694 F. Bragge Disc. Parables ix. 335 The covetous rich fool, that trusted in his riches,.. was suddenly snatched from them to give account of his stewardship. 1752 Berkeley Th. Tarwater Wks. III. 501 Several who are snatched away by untimely death. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 167 They.., unregretted, are soon snatch’d away From scenes of sorrow into glorious day. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 11. in. vii, Wailing ..that a Sovereign Man is snatched away. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Good Men I. Pref. p. xiv, He was snatched away while affording.. fresh promise of a truly brilliant Professorial career.

b. To cut off from, by sudden removal. 1799 Cowper Castaway 63 When, snatch’d from all effectual aid, We perish’d, each alone.

7. To save or rescue from or out of danger, etc., by prompt or vigorous action. 1601 Shaks. Twel. N. in. iv. 394 This youth that you see heere, I snatch’d one halfe out of the iawes of death. 1696 Tate & Brady Ps. cxliv. 7 And snatch me from the stormy Rage. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Antiq. vi. vi. 169 They snatched him out of the danger he was in. 1791 Burke Corr. (1844) III. 215 The men who.. snatch the worst criminals from justice. 1876 Miss Braddon J. Haggard's Dau. II. 22 Every soul snatched from darkness and death was a rich harvest. 1893 Matheson About Holland 10 A great part of it has been snatched from the sea.

8. In miscellaneous uses (see quots.). 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche vii. cxxiv, Through the air they snatch’d their greedy way. 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi Koivt) xvi. 256 The Spartan valour, who being struck down by a mortal blow, used to snatch their mouths full of earth [etc.]. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 209 But Edith’s eager fancy hurried with him Snatch’d thro’ the perilous passes of his life.

9. Naut. To place (a line) in a snatch-block. 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1780) Eee, To snatch the main-bowline, or put it into the snatch-block. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxvi. 136 The line is snatched in a block upon the swifter. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 181 Snatch the top-gallant sheets.

10. intr. Of a mechanism or its control in a motor vehicle, aircraft, etc.: to operate in a jerky or rough manner. 1932 Motoring Encyl. 137/1 When.. fabric disks have settled down and worn smooth, they are sometimes prone to snatch and engage fiercely. 1942 B. J. Ellan Spitfire xii. 65 His ailerons were obviously snatching too, as first one wing and then the other would dip violently. 1955 Times 12 July 12/6 The car tested was inclined to ‘snatch’ in the transmission if the speed was allowed to drop too low in top gear.

Hence 'snatching ppl. a. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth vi, Those naked, snatching mountaineers, who are ever doing us wrong.

snatch-, the verb-stem used in combs.: a. Naut. Denoting devices capable of rapid attachment, or to which a rope can be quickly

SNATH

842 attached, as snatch-cheek, -cleat, t-pulley, -sheave (cf. snatch-block).

-hook,

1485 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 50 Snache poleis, ij. 1495 Ibid. 192 Snache poleyes with oon shever of brasse to ye same. 1842 R. Burn Fr. Techn. Diet. 162 Taquet a gueule, .. snatch-cleat. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 73 A snatch cheek on the after side of the .. yard-arm. Ibid. 76 Rove .. through a snatch sheave. 1891 Cent. Diet., Snatch-cleat, a curved cleat or chock round which a rope may be led.

b. In objective combs., as snatch-apple, f -cly, -grace, \-pasty (see quots.). 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet., A Snatch-pasty, un Voleur de Pdtez. 1796 Grose's Diet. Vulgar T., Snatch cly, a thief who snatches women’s pockets. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Snatch-apple, an apple suspended by a string, with which children amuse themselves by snatching at it with their teeth. 1884 Browning Ferishtah (1885) 65 No scape-grace? Then, rejoice Thou snatch-grace safe in Syria! C. = SNAP- e. 1884 E. W. Hamilton Diary 15 Mar. (1972) II. 577 A motion .. which .. the Opposition supported in the hope of taking the Government by surprise and putting them in a minority by a snatch division. 1889 Spectator 7 Dec., He secured a snatch-vote in favour of a permanent system of arbitration. 1893 Times 21 June 9/4 It is impossible to suppose the snatch-division .. has settled the point. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 22 June 5/3 What Ministerialists regard as a snatch reverse in Supply.

d. Denoting the practice or use of snatching, as snatch-thief\ snatch-back, the action of taking back; also attrib.\ (see also quot. 1905); snatch crop, a crop grown for quick returns without regard to the future productivity of the soil; also attrib. and fig.] snatch squad Mil., a group of soldiers detailed to seize troublemakers in a crowd; also transf. 1905 Dialect Notes III. 94 Snatchback, change for the worse in circumstances... ‘That’s a snatchback for him.’ 1949 New Statesman 24 Dec. 750/3 The distress caused by the snatch-back is no less tragic than would be suffered by natural parents who were forcibly deprived of their children. 1962 A. Sampson Anat. of Britain xxiii. 377 Hirepurchase .. companies.. could be ruthless in enforcing ‘snatch-backs’ if payments had lapsed. 1965 E. Gundrey Foot in Door xvii. 123 ‘Snatchback’ machines, that is ones which had to be returned to dealers by people who failed to keep up their H.P. payments. 1979 H. S. Kent In on Act ix. 101 The main objects of the Bill were, first, to make sure that the hire-purchaser knew what he was paying.. secondly, to restrict the seller’s rights to ‘snatch back’ the goods on default... The most dear to Ellen’s heart was the ban on the snatch-back. 1937 H. G. Wells Brynhild v. 58 Fellows like Blatch can reap a harvest.. at ten per cent... There are too many authors. Blatch is able to live by snatch crops. 1959 Listener 30 July 179/2 The heart of the soil.. had been weakened by the greed of the snatch-crop farmers. 1970 Financial Times 23 Mar. 1/1 About 150 youths moved out of Bogside .., smashing windows .. and stoning the Army ‘snatch squad’. 1976 Western Mail (Cardiff) 22 Nov. 1/2 A snatch squad of animal lovers seized 11 beagle pups in a night-time commando-style raid on a top-security breeding centre in West Wales. 1982 Times 1 Sept. 3/1 Snatch squads tried ineffectively to combat roaming gangs of pickpockets. 1887 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 1 May 13/2 Where the bonnet-buyer is there is the pickpocket and snatch-thief also. 1892 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 3 Nov. 3/7 A snatch thief arrested. 1903 igth Cent. Mar. 507 The snatchthief who relies on his swiftness of foot.

'snatchable, adj. [f. snatch v. + -able.] That may be snatched or seized. 1896 A. Morrison Child Jago 167 Hoping for a temporary absence of the shop-keeper, which might leave something snatchable. 1899 W. James Talks to Teachers vi, The child sees a snatchable object in some one’s hands.

'snatch-block. Also snatchblock, snatch block. [snatch- a.] A block having a hole in one side to receive the bight of a rope. 01625 Nomenclator Navalis (MS. Harl. 2301), Snatch block is a greate Block with the Sheever in it and a Notch cutt through one of the Cheeks of it by which Notch they reeve anie Roape into it. [Hence in Harris, Chambers's Cycl. Suppl., etc.] 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1780) s.v. Block, A snatch-block; a top-block; a voyal-block [etc.]. 1793 Trans. Soc. Arts XI. 173 Passing through proper snatchblocks. 1839 Civil Eng. .‘] intr. To stumble. a 1400-50 Alexander 3995 Sire Porrus with a proude swerd him on pe pan strikis So snelle at he snatirs with.

snath (snae0), sb. Chiefly dial, and U.S. Forms: a. 6 snythe, 9 snithe. /S. 7- snathe, 9 snaythe, snaith. y. 8- sneath, 9 sne(a)the, sneeth. S. 8snath. [Variant of snead sb., but all the forms are irregular and difficult to account for.] The pole or shaft of a scythe. a- J574 R- Scot Hop Garden (1578) 28 Thys helue shoulde boowe somewhat lyke to a Snythe, br to the steale of a Sythe. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss, s.v. Snathe, Snithe, the crooked handle or long shank of a mowing scythe. 8. 1691 Ray 5. E.C. Words 114 A Snathe, the handle of aSithe. 1848 Bartlett Diet. Amer. 317 Snathe. 1888 Addy Sheffield Gloss. 224 Snaith or Snathe. 1899 Dickinson & Prevost Cumbld. Gloss. 301/2 Snaythe. y. 1704 Did. Rust. (1726) s.v. Snead, Sneath, the handle of a Scithe, or the like Tool. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 849 The handle, or sned or sneath,.. is made either curved . .orstraight. 1866 G. Stephens Runic Mon. I. 314No Sithe could be handled without its pole or shaft or sneath or sned. 1907 ‘J. Halsham’ Lonewood Corner 150 The two ‘doles’ or grips on the sneath.

SNATH

843

S. 1782 J. Scott Amceb. Eel. ii. Poet. Wks. 119 There crooked snaths of flexile sallow make. 1839 Civil Eng. & Arch.Jrnl. II. 231/1 An improvement in the Scythe Snath. 1864 Whittier Wreck Rivermouth 89 O mower, lean on thy bended snath. 1881 Metal World No. 22. 343 Suppose the centre of gravity of the snath be.. 4 in. from the bodv of the snath.

snath(e, v. dial. Also 7 sneath, 7, 9 snare, 8 snaze (?). [app. ad. ON. sneida (Norw. sneida', MSw. snetha) to cut, slice; but the sense is more precisely that of OE. snxdan sned t>.] trans. To prune or lop (trees, etc.); to remove by lopping. Hence 'snathing vbl. sb.; also attrib. 1485 Nottingham Rec. III. 230 For snathing of treez. Ibid., For makyng of a m'cccc. xl. kyddez of oke of |>e seid snathinges. 1609 Burgery of Sheffield 312 A payne laid that every person do snath and brush ther hedges. 1641 H. Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 121 Yow are to snath off all the small tw'igges and boughes. Ibid., Hee hayth for this purpose a little broad snathinge axe. 1691 Ray N.C. Words 65 To Snathe or snare, to prune Trees, to cut off the Boughs of Ash or other Timber trees. 1781 J Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss. 96 Snaze, clip an hedge. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Snathe, to prune, to lop. 1866 Brogden Prov. Lines., Snare, to cut large boughs off a tree.

SNEAK

1932 Amer. Speech VII. 336 Snazzy, agreeable; attractive.

1935 N. Ersine Underworld & Prison Slang 68 That’s a snazzy dressup you’ve got. 1938 W. Chambers Once too Often i. 17 It was indeed a very snazzy setup and I wondered how many months he was in arrears with his rent. 1944 R. Chandler Let. 16 Dec. (1966) 43, I had a very snazzy beginning which they cut out, because it didn’t really have anything to do with detective stories. 1946 ‘P. Quentin’ Puzzle for Friends iii. 27 Think what a snazzy life you’ve got. All the money in the world. No worries. No work. 1956 ‘J. Wyndham' Seeds of Time 214 You come here with your ritzy ways and your snazzy talk, i960 News Chron. 30 Sept. 4/5 Rod . . takes off his snazzy smoking jacket to rescue his .. girl friend. 1968 J. Lock Lady Policeman ix. 82 They’ve made the plain uniforms look as snazzy as possible with whiterthan-white hat-bands, belts and gaiters. 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 115, I see you’re all togged up... It’s really snazzy you look. 1974 Early Music Jan. 24/2, I am convinced that the snazzy rhythms and syncopations that one often hears are wrong. 1978 C. Leopold Casablack 1 A snazzy, loose-fitting pinstripe that was emphatically fashion in.. 1942.

1519 Horman Vulg. 31 All mooris and men of Ynde be snatte nosed: as be gootis, apis, and beeys. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 223 Silenus.. was an eiuill disfigured apyshe bodye, croumpe shouldreed, shorte necked, snatnosed.

t'snatted, a. Obs. [Of obscure origin.] Snub. 13 .. K. Alis. 6447 (Laud MS.), Hij haue visages euelong, And snatted nosen, pat ben wrong. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 285 3e stryvej> for a man wij> snatted nose. 1398 —— Barth. De PR. xvm. xevi. (1495) 842 The ape hight Simea in grewe and hath that name of snattid nose:. . for thei ben snattyd in the nose, c 1440 Promp. Parv. 461/2 Snattyd, or schort nosyd, simus.

t 'snatter, v. Obs. rare. [ad. Du. snateren (so in MDu., MLG., and MHG.) or LG. snat(t)ern (G. schnattern, Sw. snattra), of imitative origin.] intr. To chatter. 1647 Hexham i. (Birds), The Pie snatters, den Exter snattert. 1662 R. Mathew Uni. Alch. 189 Many will be angry and snatter at it. t

snattines,

obs. variant of snottiness. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 11. 377 From hence commeth spettle, snattines of the nose, catharres, & distillations.

t snattock. Obs. [Of obscure origin.] A scrap, fragment. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes in. xi. 148 From rags, Snattocks, Snips, irreconcilable and super-annuated Smocks and Shirts. Ibid. xiii. 160 The Letter.. crumbled into such miserable Snattocks that the Divell could not piece it together.

fsnatty, obs. variant of snotty a. 1545 Elyot, Mucosus, snatty or sniueled. 1647 Hexham i, Sneevelly or snatty, snotachtigh.

fsnavel, v.1 Sc. Obs.-1 In 5 snawil. [Imitative: cf. snaffle v., and Sw. dial, snavla.] intr. To snuffle. C1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xvi. (Magdalene) 459 \>e child cane snawil pan, & grape pe modyr pape, for fud to tak.

snavel fsnaev(3)l), v2 slang and dial, (now chiefly Austral.). Also snawle. [Perh. var. snabble v. or snaffle v.4] trans. To steal; to appropriate, to grab. For further material see Eng. Dial. Diet. s.v. Snavel vb.2 and sb.2 a 1790 H. T. Potter New Diet. Cant Flash (ed. 2, 1795) 54 Snavel, to steal when running. 1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 162 Snavel, to steal, by snatching, probably, or concealing any small property by piece-meal. 1903 lT. Collins’ Such is Life 18 Well, we had a bunch o’ keys at the camp. I had snavelled ’em at the railway station. 1919 W. Downing Digger Dialects 46 Snawle, take by stealth; steal; capture. 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 4 Oct. 10/1 Could we but snavel that We’d incontestably be home and dried In this keen race. 1948 V. Palmer Golconda xiii. 100 They’re booming the notion o’ a new township and snavelling all the land within a mile o’ it. So f 'snaveller, a thief. Obs. rare. 1781 G. Parker View of Society II. 168 The Snaveller.. coaxes the child up some by-alley,.. and grabbles the whole.

snaw(e, snawy, Sc.

and north,

variants of

SNOW, SNOWY.

snawith: see snowish a. snax (snaeks), snack sb.2

commercial var. snacks, pi. of

1947 I. Brown Say the Word 17 Why does such shopwindow spelling, Sox and Snax, irritate me so? 1965 I. Fleming Man with Golden Gun v. 70 A hand-painted sign said 'Snax'. 1980 ‘M. Yorke’ Scent of Fear vii. 62 She bought sandwiches at Takeaway Snax.

snayballe, obs. form of snowball. snaype, obs. form of snape v.1 snazzy ('snaezi), a. slang (orig. U.S.). [Origin unknown.] Excellent; attractive; classy, stylish, flashy.

4. slang. A soft-soled, noiseless slipper or shoe. 1862 Female Life in Prison I. xvii. 211 The night-officer is generally accustomed to wear a species of India-rubber shoes or goloshes on her feet. These are termed ‘sneaks’ by the women [of Brixton Prison]. 1883 Greenwood Strange Company (ed. 2) 321 ‘Sneaks’. .are shoes with canvas tops and indiarubber soles. 1904 A. Griffiths 50 Yrs. Public Service xiv. 204 His footsteps were.. deadened by the ‘sneaks’, or cloth slippers, worn to conceal his whereabouts. 5. U.S. colloq. = sneak preview s.v. sneak- a. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? iv. 60 We’ll know better after the sneak.. . And .. when we see whether Mr. and Mrs. Public buy tickets. 1967 Boston Globe 5 Apr. 57/1 (heading) Sneaks slated at music hall. 1978 E. Tidyman Table Stakes 11. vi. 265 The studio agreed to give the production three previews... The first ‘sneak’. .took place at a small theater in Redlands.

snead (sni:d), sned (sned). Now dial. Forms: a. 1 snaed, 3 snede, 7-9 sneed, 9 sneyd, sneid; 7snead. 0. 9 sned. See also snath sb. [OE. snaed, of obscure origin and not represented in the

fsnat-nosed, a. Obs. [Cf. snatted a.] Snubi nosed.

good bowling was unsuccessful, they put in Tailor Humphreys to bowl twisting sneaks. 1899 Lubbock Mem. Eton xviii. 278 A long hop to leg would have been a more suitable ball than a straight sneak.

cognate

languages.]

The

shaft or

pole

of a

scythe. a. c 1000 /Elfric Horn. II. 162 Hwilon eac befeoll an si8e of 8am snsede into anum deopan seaSe. 1235-52 Rentalia Glastonb. (Somerset Rec. Soc.) 165 Et [habebit] de herba quantum potest levare cum sidsnede. 1664 Evelyn Sylva xii. §2 These Hedges are. .kept in order with a Scythe of four foot long..; this is fix’d on a long sneed or streight handle. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 357 A short strong Sithe.. fitted with a strong Snead. 1813 Davis Agric. Wilts, in Archaeol. Rev. (1888), Scythe, or Sive—The handle [is] called the snead. 1825- ‘n dial, glossaries, etc. (Somerset, Northampt., Chesh., Warwicks.). 1885 Calendar of Prisoners at Mids. Sessions, Taunton 30 June, William Chorley .. stealing a scythe and snead. /3. 1825- in dial, glossaries (Northumb., Shropsh., Northampt.). 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 849 The curved sned is usually made of willow. 1901 Scotsman 1 Apr. 8/7 He sent his servant. . for a scythe sned. sneak (sni:k), sb.

Also 7 sneake. [app. f. sneak

u.] By earlier writers used as a suggestive personal name: —1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, 11. iv. 12 See if thou canst finde out Sneakes Noyse. 1633 B. Jonson Tale of Tub v. viii, Was she .. wench to that Sneake-Iohn? 1. a. A sneaking, mean-spirited, paltry, or despicable person;

one who acts in a shifty,

shabby, or underhand manner. Jerry Sneak: see jerry sb.1 6. a 1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary iv. v, I’ll suffer no such sneaks As you to offend this way. 1668 Pepys Diary 8 Mar., When all is done, he is a sneake; who owns his owing me £ 10 .. and yet cannot provide to pay me. 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin 11. x. 159 The Devil,.. being baffled, packs away, like a silly Sneak as he was. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story iii, We call him tuft-hunter, lickspittle, sneak. 1848- Van. Fair v, The sneak of an usher jeered at him no longer. 1848 B. D. Walsh tr. Aristophanes' Knights 11. iii, I knew not.. that you had been so long.. a sneak and a shuffler. 1874 L. Stephen Hours Libr. (1892) II. v. 174 A penitent is generally a bit of a sneak. b. One who robs or steals in a sneaking manner, or who enters places clandestinely for that purpose. (See also area-sneak s.v. area 2 b.) 1785 Grose Diet. Vulgar T., Sneak, a pilferer. 1839 Slang Diet. 34 Sneaks, boys who creep into houses, down areas, or into shops, etc. to enter the premises. 1902 Westrn. Gaz. 30 June 2/3 The genuine poacher—the real article we mean, not the commercial midnight game sneak. 2. Cant. a. The act or practice of stealing in unperceived in order to rob; a robbery effected in this manner.

Usu. in phr. upon the sneak.

Also more generally on the sneak, on the sly, by stealth, under concealment. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew s.v. Ken-miller, 'Tis a bob Ken, Brush upon the Sneak, ’tis a good House, go in if you will but Tread softly. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet. s.v. Gammon, A thief detected in a house which he has entered, upon the sneak, for the purpose of robbing it. Ibid., Morning-sneak, going out early to rob private houses or shops by slipping in at the door unperceived [etc.], c 1863 T. Taylor Ticket-of-Leave Man 1. 9 Pottering about on the sneak, flimping or smashing a little when I get the chance. 1930 Amer. Mercury XXI. 458/1 You got to work strictly on the sneak. All the spots are hot. 1935 Sun (Baltimore) 13 July 9/6 A few of them [sc. betting spots] were ‘sneaking’ with just as many customers as ever.. . These spots ‘on the sneak’ usually are located in the upper floors of Loop skyscrapers. 1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 86 If the road mob decides to work on the sneak, that is, without advance arrangements in any locality, [etc.]. 1982 Chicago SunTimes 6 Aug. 71 /1 He does so with all the glee of a schoolkid reading Playboy magazine on the sneak. b. The act of stealing away or running off in a sneaking manner. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet, s.v., One or more prisoners having escaped .. by stealth, without.. alarming their keepers, are said to have .. given it to 'em upon the sneak. 1901 Wide World Mag. VI. 478/1 Geronimo and his blood-thirsty cut-throats had ‘made a sneak’, that is, left their reservation and were on the war-path. 3. Cricket. A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter. 1851 J. Pycroft Cricket Field vii. 105 Cowley.. put on one Tailor Humphreys to bowl twisting underhand sneaks. 1862 - Cricket Tutor 52 Sneaks jump about and twist with the ground. 1886-Oxford Mem. II. 93 Once, when

sneak (sni:k), v. Also 6 sneke, 7 sneek, sneake. Pa. t. and pple. also (orig. and chiefly U.S.) snuck. [Of doubtful origin: the form does not agree with that of early ME. sniketi, OE. snican to creep, crawl (cf. ON. snikja, Norw. snikja, Da. snige, in senses similar to ‘sneak’), and the historical gap is very great. The stem sneakappears a little earlier in sneakish(ly a. and adv.] I. intr. 1. To move, go, walk, etc., in a stealthy or slinking manner; to creep or steal furtively, as if ashamed or afraid to be seen; to slink, skulk: a. With advs., as away, down, in, off, out, etc. 1596 Shaks. i Hen. IV, IV. iii. 58 A poore vnminded Out¬ law, sneaking home. 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 138, I hope he will not sneake away with all the money. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. 11. iv, Where’s Madrigall? Is he sneek’d hence? 1709 Steele Tatler No. 9 If 3 Miss having heard enough, sneaks off for Fear of Discovery. 1740-2 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xix. 31 [The cook] was hot with her work; and I sneaked away. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xlvii, To avoid people, and sneak on unobserved. 1877 Black Green Past, i, The two women were sneaking off by themselves. 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 17 Dec. 3/3 He grubbed ten dollars from de bums an den snuck home. 1932 J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan ii. 55 They had all snuck in and were having a good time, making trouble. 1969 Oz May 3/1 It was sticking out of a dustbin —the mag I mean .. so I snuck off to the park and had a good old read. 1976 S. Brett So Much Blood xvi. 191 At the interval Charles and Frances snuck out to the pub. 1979 Vassar Q. Summer 17/3, I have come around the back way and snuck up, as we say in Nebraska, on my subject. fig. and transf. 1643 Wither Campo-Musse 72 That Delusion Which had so hotly charg’d me, sneaked thence. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Sussex iii. 96 When the Sun ariseth the Moon sneaketh down obscurely. 1857 S. Osborn Quedah xii. 159 Towards dusk a small canoe sneaked out, under the plea of fishing.

b. With preps., as about, after, from, into, etc. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, 1. ii. 171 To her vnguarded Nest, the Weazell (Scot) Comes sneaking. 1607 Fletcher Woman Hater v. iv, There are they still poor rogues,.. sneaking after cheeses. 1609 Rowlands Dr. Merrie-man (Hunterian Cl.) 20 The Rusticke .. softly sneaking out of doores, About his message goes. 1714 Pope Let. to Caryll 25 Sept., I have.. sneaked along the walks with that astonished and diffident air [etc.]. 1749 Smollett Gil Bias 1. xiii, But I made no reply, and very wisely condescended to sneak into the straw. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. 11. Man of Many Fr. II. 51 They ..sneaked from my door with every mark of., servile cowardice. 1835 Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. ii. 22 Appearing disorderly and dirty, as they .. sneaked about the ship. 1879 E. K. Bates Egypt. Bonds II. viii. 191 Like truant schoolboys who sneak into the busy schoolroom. 1940 R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely vi. 36, I snuck in there and grabbed it. 1958 J. Kerouac On Road 11. viii. 159 Four sullen fieldworkers, snuck from their chores to brawl in drinking fields. fig. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil 11. v, Being ashamed, as well as discouraged, they sneaked out of the world as well as they could. 1838 Emerson Address, Cambridge Wks. (Bohn) II. 200 Now man is ashamed of himself; he skulks and sneaks through the world. 1871 Browning Balaustion 1549 To thee who livest now Through having sneaked past fate apportioned thee.

c. Without const. (Freq. used to denote want of courage, independence, or straightfor¬ wardness, without reference to place or move¬ ment.) 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. (1848) 358 As these Russians could not take a better way than that of not sneaking, to avoid the having their Rites and Persons undervalu’d. 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin 11. 184 For he .. scorn’d to stand, and sneak with hands in Pocket. 1699 Bentley Phalaris xi. 266 He sneak’d like a Cock, that hangs down his wings when he’s beaten. 1732 Pope Ep. Cobham 154 Tom struts a Soldier,.. Will sneaks a Scriv’ner, an exceeding knave. 1779 Johnson L.P., Pope, Pope was reduced to sneak and shuffle, sometimes to deny, and sometimes to apologize. 1845 Nonconformist V. 133 Law .. may allow .. them to sneak — but law cannot wipe away the reproach of sneaking. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas M. ix, If you know where he’s sneaking .. you may tell him to spare himself the journey o’ coming back home. fig. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Militant 121 Thus Sinne in Egypt sneaked for a while. 1692 Vindication 15 Vice.. always sneaks when bravely born up to. 1765 Beattie Judgm. of Paris cii, Coward Office .. sneaks secure in insolence of state. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 83 How blest she’d been,.. If, ere want sneak’d for grudg’d support from pride [etc.].

d. U.S. colloq. To make off quietly.

SNEAK1896 G. Ade Artie 7 I’d a’ sneaked early in the game. 1901 Scribner's Mag. Apr. 409/1 When you get over the fence,.. yell fire till the crowd comes, then sneak.

2. To cringe or be servile to (a person, etc.). ci66o South Serm. (1715) I. 32, I need salute no great Man’s Threshold, sneak to none of his Friends or Servants. 01704 T. Brown Oxford Scholars Wks. 1730 I. 10 Pitiful curates and chaplains, that must sneak to the groom and butler. 1796 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 383 We sneak to the regicides, but we boldly trample on our poor fellow-citizens. 1873 Browning Red. Cott. Nt.-cap. iv. 257 Why else to me .. Sneak, cap in hand, now bribe me to forsake My maimed Leonce, now bully, cap on head. transf. 1707 Hearne Collect. 30 Sept., Our Bishops sneak to the old Cause.

3. School slang. To peach, inform, tell tales. 1897 Daily News 3 June 7/2 Sneaking, in the ethics of public school boys, is the unpardonable sin. 1902 Spectator July 46/2 The boys.. usually prefer to suffer rather than ‘sneak’ of one of their companions.

II. trans. 4. To turn or draw aside, to put or thrust in or into, to move or slide to, etc., in a stealthy manner. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche i. xlvii, Stout Trees.. From this dire Breath sneak’d their faint heads aside. 1684 Otway Atheist in. i, Sneak what Ready-mony thou hast into my Hand. 1754 Connoisseur No. 32 (P 3, I see a man every minute stealing out a dirty muckender, then sneaking it in again. 1889 Macm. Mag. Aug. 253/1, I lay stirless, softly sneaking my right hand to the pistol. 1892 Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 275 When Lawrence’s name comes up for membership, he sneaks in a black-ball, as many another prig .. has done before. 1968 j M. Ullman Lady on Fire (1969) xii. 160 You’ve got a new lead. Maybe something the sister told you after you snuck her out of that hotel. 1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at Office (1972) 12 There was some suspicion that a couple of guests had snuck friends in. 1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion 1. vii. 69 He wanted to sneak her into his room. ref7. 1680 Advice to Soldier ii. in Harl. Misc. (1753) I. 467, I have seen some of those Gallants .. in the Middle of a Seafight, .. sneak themselves behind the Main-mast.

b. To keep out of sight; to hide, rare_1. 1701 Wake Ration. 222 (Todd), Some sins dare the world in open defiance, yet this [sc. slander] lurks, and sneaks its head.

c. To pass through in an underhand or stealthy manner. 1891 Daily News 29 Jan. 2/4 Mr. Stephens .. objected .. to this cruel and unjust Bill being ‘sneaked’ through Parliament. 1896 Voice (N.Y.) 5 Mar. 2/4 A most important measure is being sneaked through the general assembly.

f5. To do or act (one’s part) in a sneaking or cringing manner. Obs._1 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, ccxcii, Something hidden lifts the Thought To Noble Actions, when they heare ’em told, And Hee who Sneaks his part, will praise ’em bold. 6. a. Cant. (See quot.) 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet, s.v., To sneak a place is to rob it upon the sneak. Ibid., One or more persons having escaped from their confinement by stealth, without., alarming their keepers, are said to have sneak'd 'em.

b. colloq. To steal in a sneaking or stealthy manner; to filch; to take or partake of surreptitiously. 1883 Daily News 14 Sept. 3/7 The various kinds of people who visit public libraries for other than legitimate purposes, such as .. those who sneaked umbrellas, and those who stole books. 1889 Jerome Three Men in Boat ix. 142 Somebody must have sneaked it, and run off with it. 1900 Dialect Notes II. 61 Sneak, to appropriate. 1921 E. O’Neill Emperor Jones i. 160 When I sleeps, dey sneaks a sleep, too, and I pretends I never suspicions it. a 1953 - More Stately Mansions (1964) 11. iii. 136 Each sneaks a suspicious, probing glance at the other. 1955 J. H. O’Hara Ten North Frederick (1956) 34, I can sneak us another drink. 1956 M. Duggan Immanuel's Land 107 The conductor stood on the bucking platform, sneaking a cigarette. 1968 Globe Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 6/2 If they did have these smoking areas .. the students wouldn’t have to sneak a smoke in the washroom. 1978 j. Irving World according to Garp ii. 30 He was happy to run errands for the patients, deliver messages, sneak food.

sneak-, the sb. or verb-stem used in combs., as sneak-boat U.S., a boat by which one may readily move or approach unobserved; esp. a sneak-box; sneak-box U.S., a small, flat, shallow boat used in wild-fowl shooting, and when in use masked with brush or weeds; sneak-current Electr., current which escapes or strays owing to leakage or imperfect insulation (1904 in Cent. Diet. Suppl.); sneak-guest, one who makes public the events of private social gatherings at which he is a guest; sneak¬ hunting, hunting from an unobserved approach; sneak-pasty a., insidious, sneaky; sneak preview orig. U.S., a showing of a (usually unnamed) cinematic film prior to regular release, to test audience reaction; also transf. and fig.; hence sneak-preview v. trans., (a) to show (a film) in a sneak preview; (b) to have a sneak preview of (something); sneak¬ shooting, the shooting of wild-fowl from a sneak-boat (Cent. Diet.); sneak-thief (orig. U.S.), one who steals or thieves by sneaking into houses through open or unfastened doors or windows; also, a pickpocket, a snatch-thief; also attrib.; hence sneakrthief vb. trans. (nonce-wd.);

SNEAKING

844 sneak-thiefery, -thievery; sneak-thieving vbl. sb. 1853 Laws General Assembly of Maryland 220 Any person or persons [who] shall use any sink boats, *sneak boats or floats,.. shall be subject to a fine. 1882 D. Kemp Yacht Sailing xvi. (1884) 258 The home of the sneak-boat, or sneak box, or devil’s coffin, as the contrivance is indifferently termed, is Barnegat Bay. 1889 Bucknill Submarine Mines 232 The Howell [torpedo].. is inferior only as an arm for a sneak boat, or for a vessel attempting to run a blockade. 1879 N. H. Bishop 4 Months in a Sneak-Box (1880) 1 The comical-looking .. Barnegat *sneak-box, or duck-boat. 1884 Knight Diet. Mech. Suppl. 826/2 The New Jersey sneak box is from 12' to 14' in length. 1899 K. B. Miller Amer. Telephone Practice xxiii. 275 It frequently happens.. that a very small current.. will not be sufficient to blow the fuse... These currents are very appropriately termed “"sneak currents’. 1934 A. L. Albert Electr. Commun. xii. 325 Currents slightly in excess of the normal operating values .. are often called ‘sneak’ currents. 1930 Times Lit. Suppl. 9 Jan. 18/1 Creevey .. was in fact (if a very modern term may be forgiven because it is so apt) a ‘*sneak-guest’. 1958 Listener 18 Dec. 1045/1 He [5c. Boswell] was regarded in society as something of a ‘sneak guest’. 1878 E. B. Tuttle Border Tales 45 By ’"sneak-hunting, one man can kill a whole band of elk. 1980 Outdoor Life (U.S.) (Northeast ed.) Oct. 84/3 Sneak hunting is a difficult and time-consuming sport. 1681 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 15 (1713) I. 101 Some creeping *Sneakpasty Schismatick would have informed against you. 1938 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 28 Nov. 1/6 A double-barreled, two-blizzard “"sneak’ pre-view of the 1938 edition of winter. 1939 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 858/1 In America, pre-views, frequently called ‘sneak pre-views’, have always been allowed. 1949 Sun (Baltimore) 28 Jan. 13/4 (Advt.), Sneak preview—tonight at 11.40 p.m. Even though the producers say we mustn’t tell — we can hint it’s .. one of the funniest comedies you’ve ever seen! 1950 Ibid. 14 Sept. 16/1 The film was sneak-previewed in Hollywood. 1952 Art Digest 15 Sept. 5/1 Sneak Preview. On the theory that our readers like to know in advance about important art events, we summarize.. the 1952-53 season. i960 Sunday Express 18 Dec. 9/3 Paris-bound passengers were given a sneak preview of Britain’s ‘pennyfarthing’ airliner, the Vickers Vanguard. 1972 Guardian 24 May 13/7 The old-established Oregon primary.. served as a sneak preview of the multimillion dollar Californian entertainment. 1975 New Yorker 22 Dec. 31/2 Our pal., delights in opportunities to see things in advance, so he was easily persuaded last week to accept our invitation to sneakpreview the new open-air observation platform twelve feet above the roof. 1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Sept. 990/2 This selection brings together poems from all five of her [sc. P. Beer’s] published collections, plus a satisfying sneak preview of what one hopes will be her sixth. 1859 G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 82 * Sneak-thief, a fellow who sneaks into areas, basement-doors or windows, or through front doors by means of latch-keys, and entering the various apartments, steals any thing he can carry off. 1866 Harper's Mag. Nov. 690/1 A female ‘sneak thief and a ’longshoreman now appear. 1877 Talmage Serm. 58 The meanest sneakthief that comes up.. at the Tomb Court, a 1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 100 That is why business seems to me despicable, and most love-affairs, just sneakthief pocket-picking of dressed-up people. Ibid. 242 The jixery perhaps never picked a man’s pocket But my god, they sneak-thiefed his very genitals away from him. 1959 M. Cumberland Murmurs in Rue Morgue xix. 117 He is the sneak-thief type and the petty blackmailer. 1976 Liverpool Echo 6 Dec. 7/9 Wrexham Police to-day warned shoppers to be on the lookout for sneak thieves after a woman shopping in a chemist shop in the town had £200 stolen from her bag. 1923 *Sneak-thiefery [see gangsterdom]. 1963 V. Gielgud Goggle-Box Affair xvii. 177 Nothing else was taken, so it wasn’t just *sneak-thievery. 1973 E. Berckman Victorian Album 82 So there I was, practising deceit on Christabel and sneak-thievery on Mrs Rumbold. 1884 Cent. Mag. Mar. 653/2 The offences are nearly all trivial, most of them being petty larceny and *sneak-thieving.

b. In misc. other uses, passing into adj.: that acts or is effected by stealth, deceit, or surprise; unexpected. 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 19 July 8/3 His ‘sneak hop’ from New York to Ireland terminated successfully. 1943 [see fringe sb. 2 b]. 1943 Sun (Baltimore) 27 Dec. 5/2 A sneak air attack might be attempted by the enemy on Christmas Day. 1944 Ann. Reg. 1943 1. 21 The soundness of the air defence .. had compelled them to confine themselves largely to ‘sneak’ raids on coastal towns. 1952 Sun (Baltimore) 17 June 4/1 The snail-spread sneak disease, bilharzia. 1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 59 The act of theft from the person by stealth is .. referred to as a sneak job. 1970 [see lead sb.2 5 c]. 1971 ‘L. Black’ Death has Green Fingers ii. 18 Horace was a wonderful sneak photographer. 1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 14 Dec. 11/6 A sneak raider stole £740 takings from the Triangle toy shop.

’sneakaway. rare. [f. sneak v. i a.] One who makes off in a sneaking manner. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 6 June 1/3 Men who know themselves beaten already, but are not the cowards and sneakaways we sometimes make them out to be.

t 'sneakbill. Ohs. Also 6 sneke-, sneek-, 7 sneake- (and sneaksbill). [Of obscure origin: cf. sneaksby.] A mean or paltry fellow; a starved or thin-faced person. Also attrib. 1562 J. Hey wood Prov. Epigr. (1867) 72 Why will ye .. I shall folow hir will? To make me Iohn drawlache, or such a snekebill. 1577 Kendall Floures of Epigr. 9 Perchaunce thou deemst me in thy minde, Therefore a sneekbill, snudge vnkinde. 1611 Cotgr., Chiche-face, a chichiface, micher, sneake-bill, wretched fellow. Ibid., Visage de bee, a sneake-bill, sharp-nose, chittiface. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais 1. liv, Here enter not base pinching Usurers,. .chichie Sneakbil rogues.

sneak-cup, app. an error for sneak-up sb. 1596 Shaks. 1 Hen. IV, 111. iii. 99 Falst. How? the Prince is a Iacke, a Sneake-Cuppe. 1673 S'too him Bayes 99 You

will but cry like Falstaff (when the Prince asked him if he had said he was a Sneak-Cup).

sneaker ('sni:k3(r)). [f. sneak v.] 1. A person or animal that sneaks; a sneak. 1598 Florio, Origlione, an eauesdropper, a listner,.. a sneaker, a lurking knaue. C1613 Middleton No Wit like Woman's iv. ii, I thought they were some such sneakers. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. in. ii. iv. i. (1651) 519 A long lean rawbone, a skeleton, a sneaker. 1715 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 66 He being one of the Sneakers and terribly afraid of disobliging the debauched Court of K. George. a 1734 North Examen iii. viii. §37 (1740) 611 The Courtiers that were more used to Sneakers, than to Men of clear Courage. 1800 Coleridge Piccolomini 11. xiv, Not a sneaker among us, thank heaven. 1826 Scott Jrnl. 7 Mar., We have more sneakers after Ministerial favour than men who love their country. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi vii. 161 He soon departed and we heard no more of the majestic sneaker.

2. fa. A small bowl (of punch). (Common from c 1710 to c 1740.)

Obs.

(a) a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Sneaker, (of Punch) a small Bowl. 1726 G. Roberts Four Yrs. Voy. 71 He would take me on Board the Scooner with him, to treat me with a Sneaker of Punch before parting. 1743 Fielding_7. Wild 11. iv, He called for a sneaker of punch. 1772 in Jas. Forbes Oriental Mem. (1813) IV. 217 He then ordered five sneakers of a mixture which he denominated punch. (b) 1714 Spect. No. 616 fP4, I have just left the Right Worshipful and his Myrmidons about a Sneaker of Five Gallons. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews 1. xiii, Mr. Barnabas.. having.. drank a bowl of punch .., returned to take the other sneaker; which when he had finished [etc.]. 1775 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. lxxxviii. (1783) III. 157 A little snug place.. where we might take a friendly sneaker together.

b. A glass of brandy. 1805 Ramsay Scotl. & Scotsmen 18th C. (1888) II. 293 He had a small sneaker of brandy before retiring to his bed¬ room. 1821 Blackw. Mag. IX. 60 Step to the corner and fetch me a sneaker of brandy. 3. colloq. (orig. and chiefly U.S.) = sneak sb. 4*

1895 in Funk's Stand. Diet. 1900 G. Ade More Fables 193 His Job on this Earth was to put on a pair of Pneumatic Sneakers every Morning and go out and investigate Other People’s Affairs. 1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn iv. 56 Firm but fearful in his rubber sneakers. 1930 ‘S. S. Van Dine’ Scarab Murder Case iv. 61 He got relief by wearing white canvas sneakers with rubber soles. 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas xii. 126 You could scarcely expect to turn up in sneakers and a sweater, my good fellow. 1948 J. Steinbeck Russ. Jrnl. (1949) 13 She wore canvas sneakers. 1959 Manch. Guardian 24 June 7/2 The international uniform of jeans and sandals or sneakers. 1967 A. Henri in Penguin Mod. Poets X. 55 The daughters of Albion .. lacing up blue sneakers over brown ankles. 1974 A. Lurie War between Tates v. 95 It was Jeffrey who started it; he could not find his left sneaker. 1981 Sunday Express Mag. 26 July 16/3 (1caption) Shades of throwaway chic for pop singer, Graham Bonnet. Old sneakers and a borrowed suit? 4. Cricket. = sneak sb. 3. 1851 J Pycroft Cricket Field iv. 63 With the primitive fashion of ground bowling, called sneakers, forward play could have no place. 1909 in Cent. Diet. Suppl.

Hence 'sneakered a., clad in sneakers. 1961 ‘E. Fenwick’ Friend of Mary Rose (1962) iv. 39 He heard .. a soft jump—as of sneakered feet. 1976 ‘E. McBain’ Guns (1977) i. 34 He floats on sneakered feet to the back door of the car. 1979 Listener 3 May 613/2 Their crew-cut, pony¬ tailed, sneakered sons and daughters.

sneaker-snee, variant of

snickersnee v.

sneakiness ('sniikmis).

[f. sneaky a.] character or quality of being sneaky.

The

1859 Boyd Recreat. Country Parson (1862) 63 Sneakiness .. is worse than the most indiscreet honesty. 1865-Crit. Ess. (1867) 3 His sneakiness as a patriot, his corruption as a judge.

sneaking ('sniikiij), vbl. sb. [f.

sneak v.]

action of the vb. in various senses. preps, and advs.

The Also with

1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, cxliv, But sneaking smells of Peasant, though they weare Blue Ribbands. 1656 North's Plutarch Add. Lives 43 He built a house without his Camp for all strangers.., whereby he prevented their sneaking into his Camp. 1706 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 217 By his Sneaking and Cringing. 1772 T. Simpson Vermin-Killer 20 They appear shy, but that is from your sneaking after them. 1829 Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 23 An assiduity.. which sometimes almost verges towards sneaking. 1895 Outing XXVI. 403/2 By hard sneaking it was possible to get within about two hundred and fifty yards.

sneaking ('sniikiij), ppl. a. Also 7 sneeking. [f. sneak a.]

1. That sneaks; moving, walking, acting, etc., in a furtive or slinking manner. Also transf. 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 98 Hee is such a sneaking fellowe, that.. touch him and he will scrike. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Biij, They will.. call him a sneaking Eaues-dropper. 1659 in Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 71 Where is then the anarchy, the sneaking oligarchy? 1673 A. Walker Leez Lachrymans 26 He had a great mans mind, not a little sneeking, servile, narrow, soul. 1710 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 34 Authoriz’d to be printed by our sneaking Vicechancfellor]. 1726 Dyer Country Walk 75 The sneaking tribe of Flattery. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 227 Lurking footpads and sneaking pickpockets. 1839 Dickens Nickleby xiii, A nasty, ungrateful, pig-headed, brutish, obstinate, sneaking dog. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 99 Several of these sneaking beasts [coyotes] were prowling round. Comb. 1828 Lights & Shades I. 292 The same sneakinglooking animal, whether you meet with it in a palace or a jail.

SNEAKINGLY

84s

SNEGK

fb. sneaking-budge, one who steals or robs alone; also erron. (quots. 1743- 51), stealing, pilfering. Obs.

s.v., A poor Sneaks, or a poor Sneaksby (that is a pitifull Fellow, that scarce dares shew his Head), a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Peeking Fellow, a meer Sneaks.

1588- [see sneaped, sneaping ppl. adjs.]. 1691 Ray N.C. Words 65 Herbs and Fruits sneapt with cold weather.

01700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew. 1743 Fielding J. Wild 1. viii, Wild .. looked upon borrowing to be as good a way of taking as any, and, as he called it, the genteelest kind of Sneaking-budge. 1751-Amelia 1. iii, I find you are some sneaking-budge rascal.

t ’Sneaks, int. Obs.~1 An abbrev. of God’s neaks (see god sb. 14 b and neakes), used as a petty oath. (Cf. ’Snigs.)

1611 Sec. Maiden s Trag. iii. i, Nay I am gon, Ime a man quickly sneapt. 1640 Brome Antipodes iv. ix, Doe you sneap me too my Lord?.. I had No need to come hither to be sneapt. 1659 Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 391 They set him at light,.. and made the poor man retire sneaped to his colonel. 1691 Ray N.C. Words 65 Children easily sneaped. 1865 S. Evans Brother Fabian's MS. 5 My lord Archbishop sneaps us for our sloth. 1886in dial, glossaries, etc. (Lines., Staffs.). fig. and transf. 1623 Bp. Hall Works (1837) V. 141 That we do enough hate our corruptions; when, at our sharpest, we do but gently sneap them. 1642 H. More Song of Soul ill. iii. 18 Life that’s here, When into it the soul doth closely wind, Is often sneep’d by anguish.

fc. Niggardly, mean, near. Obs. 1696 W. Mountagu Holland Pref. 2 We were not Sneaking, .but thriftily Liberal. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones x. iii, Fie had some few blemishes . ., yet being a sneaking or a niggardly fellow, was not one of them 1773 Foote Bankrupt in, No gentleman can accuse me of being sneaking. Dingey, give him six pence. transf. 1697 Tryon Way to Health vi. 116 How many stingy sneaking Names will they call us?

2. Marked or characterized by, partaking or suggestive of, sneaking; hence, mean, contemptible. 1582 Stanyhurst JEneis iii. (Arb.) 84 But Scylla in cabbans with sneaking treacherye lurcketh. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xm. xxiii, No Conventicle’s sneaking Cloisters hid Those Doctrines. 1658 Verney Mem. (1907) II. 73 He has an extraordinary sneaking countenance and way with him. 1724 Welton Chr. Faith & Pract. 223 It was, methinks, as sneaking a submission .. as it was a false assertion. 1770 Foote Lame Lover 1, An absolute monarch i to sink into the sneaking state of being a slave to one of his subjects. 1845 Ld. Campbell Chancellors lxxiii. (1857) III. 402 They, in a sneaking and paltry manner, pretended that they were not prepared. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. 1. i, It’s worthy of the sneaking spirit that robs a live man.

|3. Mean in appearance or amount; petty, paltry, contemptibly poor or small. Obs. 1703 R. Neve City & C. Purchaser 87 Sometimes little sneaking ill-contrived Stair-cases are built in a good comely large Structure. 1733 Fielding Quix. Eng. 11. i, For a sneaking fee he pleads the villain’s cause. 1779 Mme. D’Arblay Diary 20 Oct., A meaner, more sneaking and pitiful wig .. did I never see.

4. Of feelings, affection, etc.: Unavowedly cherished or entertained; not openly declared or shown; undemonstrative. Freq. in a sneaking kindness. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. 303, I believe I have a sneaking kindness for the sneaking fellow. 1753-4 -Grandison (1812) I. 290 (D.), You., shall reveal to me your sneaking passion, if you have one. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 244 Some sneaking virtue lurks in him, no doubt. 1842 Thackeray Miss Tickletoby's Lect. vii, I can’t help having a sneaking regard for him. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. ix. (1894) 204, I have a sneaking, .belief in the virtues of the scrambling Briton. 1897 Miss Kingsley W. Africa 676, I have a sneaking sympathy with these good people.

'sneakingly, adv. Also 6 snekingly, 7 sneekingly. [f. prec.] 1. In a sneaking manner; not openly or boldly. 1598 Florio, Gatto gatto, groping, creeping,.. sneakingly as a cat. 1599 Linche Anc. Fiction Miij, The Serpent., snekingly conueyeth her selfe away. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch xxi, Doe all things like a man, not sneakingly. 1678 Otway Friendship in F. iv. i, How sneakingly will he look when he shall find his mistake. 1726 Brice's Weekly Jrnl. 17 June 1, I shall not.. sneakingly hang my Head, under the smartest Strokes .. of Adversity. 1778 Mrs. Scott in Doran Lady of last Cent. (1873) x. 243 If she ever does ill, she will do it sneakingly. 1835 Tait's Mag. II. 377 Certain senators, who, having boldly given the lie, give sneakingly the hand of reconciliation. 1873 Miss Broughton Nancy I. 80 We hurriedly and sneakingly enter the drawing-room.

f2. Meanly; niggardly. Obs. 1695 De la Pryme Diary (Surtees) 74 He behaved himself the sneakinglyest to him that can be imagined.

3. Without open declaration; unavowedly. 1730 [A. Hill] Progr. Wit 7 Unborn to cherish, sneakingly approves, And wants the Soul to spread the Worth, he loves. 1879 Browning Martin Relph 141 Suppose I had sneakingly loved her myself, My wretched self.

'sneakingness.

rare. quality; sneakiness.

[f. as prec.]

Sneaking

C1647 Boyle Agst. Swearing Wks. 1772 VI. 16 Such persons are deeply accessary .. by a sneakingness, which .. implies a guilt. [1687 in Miege. 1727 in Bailey (vol. II).]

sneakish ('sni:kij'), a. [Cf. sneak sb. and v.~\ f 1. ? Farcical, ludicrous. Obs.~1 1570 Levins Manip. 145 Sneakish, bardus, mimus.

2. Somewhat sneaky. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. IV. 302 The sneakish courtly gentleman. 1897 'Tivoli’ Short Innings xv. 227 Well, it was a beastly, sneakish trick.

Hence 'sneakishness. 1895 A. H. S. Landor Corea 114 It is generally associated with sneakishness, treachery, and perfidy.

'sneakishly, adv. rare. In 6 sknekyshely. [See SNEAK v. This is the earliest example of the stem.] Meanly, despicably. Also, in a sneaking or stealthy manner. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 270 b. All men .. cried out upon Duke Maurice, whiche serued him so sknekyshely, whome he oughte to haue honoured as his father. 1867 ‘T. Lackland' Homespun 1. 55 He begins with throwing a glance at her sneakishly. 1912 Daily News 11 May 6 When men come together to profess a creed they come courageously... When they come together in a clique they come sneakishly.

f sneaks, sb. Obs. rare.

= sneak sb. 1.

1653 W'. Ramesey Astrol. Restored To Rdr. 17 Domineer abroad, be a sneaks at home? 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet. 11.

1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. ii, S’neaks, and I were worth but three hundred pound a yeare more, I could sweare richly.

f 'sneaksbill. Obs. rare. = sneakbill. 1602 Dekker Satirom. I ivb. Come Grumboll, thou shalt Mum with vs; come, dogge mee sneakesbill. a 1643 Cartwright Ordinary iii. ii, A base thin-jaw’d sneaksbill, Thus to work gallants out of all.

'sneaksby. Now rare. Also 6 snekesbie, 7 sneaksbie, etc. [Of obscure origin: see -by 2, and cf. prec. and sneakbill.] A mean-spirited person; a paltry fellow. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Niez, an idiote,.. a simple soule, a snekesbie. 1611 Cotgr., Coquefredouille, a meacocke, milkesop, sneaksbie. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 III. 274 To be termed.. a demure Sneaksby.. Men can hardly brook. 1690 Dryden Amphitryon 11. ii. There is no comparison between my master and thee, thou sneaksby. 1785 in Grose Diet. Vulgar T. .] A small piece, morsel.

Now Sc. and north. Also 9 snick-, [f. sneck sb.1 + drawer sb.1: cf. latchdrawer and draw-latch.] One who draws or lifts a sneck or latch (in order to enter stealthily); a crafty, flattering, or sly fellow (cf. quot. 1808).

c 1000 Saxon Leechd. II. 268 Senim raedices .iii. snaeda. c 1000 /Elfric Saints' Lives I. xii. 62 \>a hwile 6e se bisceop maessode and began to etenne he feoll pa act fieere forman snsede. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 181 Enes he [Adam] j?ar-offe bot, and wearS par mide acheked, and J?ureh pat one snede wearS al his ofspring acheked.

1402 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 98 3oure prowde losengerie that rune abowt as snek-drawers. 1806 R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads I. 295 Whan the tittlin aid snick-drawers fell to. 1808 Jamieson s.v., An auld sneck-drawer, one who, from long experience, has acquired a great degree of facility in accomplishing any artful purpose. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xiii, Doited idiot! —that auld clavering sneck-drawer wad gar ye trow the moon is made of green cheese. 1846 Chalmers in Hanna Mem. (1852) IV. xxiv. 457 He was just too much of a sneck-drawer.

snee

sneck-drawer.

So 'sneck-draw; also sneck-drawing vbl. sb. and ppl. a., sneck-drawn a. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xvi, There’s many a lying *sneck-draw sits close in kirk. 1894 Crockett Raiders xxxi, I ken the Maxwell lads and I ken the hill sneck-draws. 1785-6 Burns Addr. to Deil xvi, Ye auld, ’•'snick-drawing dog! 1818 Scott Br. Lamm, xxi, The old sneck-drawing whigamore her father, c 1830 Hogg Bridal of Polmood vii, Onye sikkan wylld sneckdrawinge and pawkerye. 1820 T.

(to cut): see snick or snee.

snee, variant of sny (to swarm), dial.

sneeker-snee, variant of

snickersnee v.

sneer (snis(r)), sb. Also 8 snear. [f. the vb. Cf. NFris. sneer a scornful remark.] 1. An act of sneering; a look or expression implying derision, contempt, or scorn; a disdainful or scornful remark or utterance, esp. one of a covert or indirect nature. 1707 Refl. upon Ridicule 107 He is applauded with a Sneer. 1711 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 251 He looks upon Atterbury’s Complement as a Snear. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. iii. i, A sneer at my understanding. 1816 J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) p. xvii, By making this confession I shall incur the sneers of those .. who have strong prepossessions

and few scruples. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 113 Halifax, .answered with a sneer that there was no danger. 1879 H. George Progr. Pov. 11. iii. (1881) 121 Amid the scoffs.. and the sneers that stab like knives.

b. Without article: Sneering, scorn. 1791 Ld. Auckland Corr. (1861) 396 He speaks even of those who are opposed to his government.. without either sneer or acrimony. 1841 in Leic. Gloss. (1881) 246 He could not bear To see her treated with such scorn and sneer.

2. Sc. A snort. Jamieson (1825) also gives ‘the act of inhalation or inspiration by the nostrils’; ‘the act of a horse, when colded, in throwing the mucus from his nostrils’; ‘the hiss of an adder’. 17.. Lochmaben Harper in Child Ballads IV. 18/1 When she came to the harper’s door, There she gave mony a nicher and sneer.

sneer (sni9(r)), v.

Also 7 sneare, 7-8 snear. [prob. of imitative origin. The relation to NFris. (Sylt) sneere to scorn, is not clear.

Apparent examples of snere, snered, and snering occur about 1300 in the E.E. Psalter ii. 4, xxxiv. 16, lxxviii. 4, and lxxix. 7, as renderings of L. irridebit, deriserunt, and derisus; but two of the MSS. have variants swere, swered, swering. The translator was evidently influenced by the OE. glosses bismerad, bismeradon, bismerung, and it is very doubtful whether he was using a word which was really known to him.]

1 .intr. Of a horse: To snort. Now dial. fAlso trans., to send out with snorts. 1553 Douglas' JEneid vii. v. 101 With twa steme stedis .. At thair neis thyrles the fyre fast furth snering out. 1607 Markham Caval. (1617) vi. 12 If., you doe now and then spirt a little Vinegar into his nostrels,.. it will both make him sneare and neese. 1814 in Hone Every-day Bk. II. nisThe colt.. scampered off sneering, with his tail on his ‘riggin’. 1878 Dickinson Cumbld. Gloss, s.v., If a horse sneers efter he coughs he’s nut brokken windit.

b. Sc. Of an animal: To make a twitching movement with the nose. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 447 On the extrusion of the calf, the first symptom it shews of life is a few gasps.., and then it opens its eyes, and tries to shake its head, and sneer with its nose.

2. To smile scornfully or contemptuously; to express scorn, derision, or disparagement in this way; to speak or write in a manner suggestive or expressive of contempt or disparagement: a. Const, at a person or thing. 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 357 The Wits of this age that are ready to snear and flear at any such profession, a 1744 Pope (J.), I could be content to be a little sneered at in a line. a 1763 W. King Polit. & Lit. Anecd. (1819) 20 The French seemed to sneer at this behaviour of the German officers, and looked on them with a kind of contempt. 1814 Scott Wav. liv, Flora, observing the Lowland ladies sneer at the comparison, produced some reason to shew that it was not altogether so absurd. 1858 Max Muller Chips (1880) III. i. 30 Luther was sneered at because of his little German tracts. 1874 L. Stephen Hours Libr. (1892) I. x. 361 Walpole sheltered himself behind .. a pension to sneer at the tragi-comedy of life.

b. Without const. 1735 Pope Prol. Sat. 202 Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 182 The fear Lest fops should censure us, and fools should sneer. 1818 Shelley Rosalind 655 Men wondered, and some sneered to see One sow what he could never reap. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. iii. iii, Philosophedom sneers aloud, as if its Necker already triumphed. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes i, If authors sneer, it is the critic’s business to sneer at them for sneering. fig• 1835 L. Hunt Poems (1844) 96 Sneereth the trumpet, and stampeth the drum.

f3. To laugh foolishly or smirkingly; to grin. 1683 Wood Life 17 Feb., They .. stand silent, while their abbettors sneare and grin. 1695 Ibid. 23 Mar., With Mr J. Ecc. at the house next the Half-Moon: two snearing and laughing wo[men]: he sneared and laughed with them. 1705 R. Beverley Virginia 11. xviii. (1722) 121 A Fourth would fondly kiss, and paw his Companions, and snear in their Faces, with a Countenance more antick, than any in a Dutch Droll. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 11. (Globe) 558 Our .. Pilot, who had always something or other to say to make us merry, came sneering to me, and told me [etc.].

b. dial.

(See quot.)

a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Sneer, to make wry faces, without intention of expressing contempt or insult.

c. Naut.

(See quot.)

1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., To ‘make all sneer again’ is to carry canvas to such an extent as to strain the ropes and spars to the utmost.

4. trans. To utter with a sneer or in a sneering tone. 1693 Congreve Old Bach. 1. iv, I confess I have not been sneering fulsome lyes and nauseous flattery. 1864 Tennyson Voyage 78 ‘A ship of fools,’ he sneer’d and wept. 1904 A. E. Glover 1000 Miles of Miracle x. (1908) 126 He sneered some contemptuous word.

5. To speak or write of (a person or thing) with scorn, contempt, or disparagement; to deride or decry. Obs. exc. dial. 1707 Refl. upon Ridicule 94 When People ridicule and sneer you. 1740-2 Richardson Pamela III. 41 Wedlock, which used to be very freely sneered by him. 1755 B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. 64 Blackmore’s Banter on the Philosophers, .proved more his own than their Ignorance, when he thus sneers them, a 1900 in Eng. Dial. Diet, s.v., He sneered me shameful.

6. To curl up (the lip) in contempt or scorn. rare. *775 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. liii. (1783) II. 136 A pennyworth, sir!—cried the steward, (sneering up his upper-lip, till it touched the tip of his nose ..) a pennyworth!

SNEERER

847

7. To affect in a certain way by sneering; to drive or force by means of sneers or scornful speech or manner: a. Const, with preps., as from, into, out of. 1737 Savage Of Public Spirit 325 Careless of Whispers meant to wound their Name, Nor sneer’d nor brib’d from Virtue into Shame. 1859 Habits of Gd. Society vii. 243 Who contradicts us flatly, and sneers us into insignificance. 1867 Augusta Wilson Vashti xviii, The world has not sneered it [feminine constancy] entirely out of existence. reft. 1841 Thackeray Sec. Funeral Napoleon iii, It sneaks and bullies and sneers itself into place.

b. Const, with advs., as away or down. 1816 Scott Antiq. xii. But dinna ye sneer awa the lad Lovel. 1838 Lytton Alice vi. ii, Proclaimed a sublime genius in the same circles which sneer down Voltaire. 1868 Whyte Melville White Rose xlviii, Very likely they were laughing over his infatuation and sneering her fair fame away. 1868 Helps Realmah viii. (1876) 237 Sneering can do a great deal: you can sneer down, at any rate for the moment, truth, honour [etc.]. refl. 1847 Helps Friends in C. 1. iv. 68 He mutters to himself sarcastically, sneering himself up as it were to the attack.

sneerer ('sni3r3(r)). [f. prec.] One who sneers. 17*3 Guardian No. 29, The Sneerers.. always indulge their mirth at the expence of their friends, and all their j ridicule consists in unseasonable ill-nature. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1851) II. 795/2 The laughter of these sneerers has cost their country many a tear. 1824 Byron Def. Transformed 1. ii, Oh, thou everlasting sneerer! Be silent! 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain ii, The sneerers and scoffers at religion do not spring from amongst the simple children of nature. 1874 B. Taylor in Life (1884) II. 652 The sneerers and cavilers are growing silent one by one.

'sneerful, a. [f. sneer sb.] a. Of persons: Given to sneering, b. Of words, etc.: Of the nature of a sneer; scornful. a 1763 Shenstone Economy iii. Wks. 1764 I. 303 Cell ever squalid! where the sneerful maid Will not fatigue her hand! 1844 Tupper Heart xi. 120 Out-swearing and outthreatening our sneerful stock-jobber. 1880 S. Wales Daily News No. 2514. 6/6 We had a sneerful and insulting answer.

Hence 'sneerfulness. 1873 Leland Egypt. Sketch-Bk. 204 Cherishing feeling of scorn or sneerfulness against them.

no

sneering ('snisrn]), vbl. sb. [f. sneer v.] The action of the verb

SNEER.

1687 Miege ii. Sneering, a kind of ridiculous Laughter. 1847 Hare Guesses Ser. 1. (ed. 3) 345 Sneering is commonly found along with a bitter, splenetic misanthropy. 1868 [see sneer v. 7 b]. 1908 Edin. Rev. Oct. 421 The Baron was equal with her in the matter of sneering.

b. attrib., as sneering match, E. Angl. dial, a grinning match (Forby, a 1825); sneering muscle, a muscle instrumental in producing a sneering expression on the face {Cent. Diet. 1891).

sneering ('sniarit)), ppl. a. [f. as prec.] 1. That sneers; wearing a sneer. 1681 N. N. Rome's Follies 17, I believe the sneering sluts laugh’d at me. 1695 Wood Life 23 Mar., Two snearing and laughing wo[men]. 1716 C’tess Cowper Diary (1864) 114 Lord Townshend is the sneeringest, fawningest knave that ever was. 1792 Mary Wollstonecr. Rights Worn. vii. 285 Thou startest from a dream, only to face a sneering frowning world. 1823 Lamb Elia 11. Poor Relations, The streets of this sneering and prying metropolis. 1841 Browning Pippa Passes Poems (1905) 168 White sneering old reproachful face. fig. 1832 L. Hunt Poems 173 The harsh bray The sneering trumpet sends across the fray.

2. Of the nature of, marked or characterized by, a sneer; scornful, contemptuous, dispar¬ aging. 1692 L’Estrange Fables 1. clvi, The Fox in a Snearing Way advis’d him.. not to Irritate a Prince against his Subjects, c 1695 H. Anderson Court Convert 221 You must .. With sneering Praise guild o’er his blackest Crimes. 1771 Junius Lett. liv. (1788) 293, I.. will not descend to answer the little sneering sophistries of a collegian. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xli, His countenance presenting.. the habitual expression of sneering sarcasm. 1848 W. H. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. II. 316 They were received with a sneering indifference. 1877 Dowden Shaks. Primer vi. 78 Greene’s sneering allusion to Shakespere in the ‘Groatsworth of Wit’.

'sneeringly, adv.

[f. prec.] In a sneering or scornful manner; with a sneer. 1711 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 127 This he spoke sneeringly and by way of derision and Contempt. 1740-2 Richardson Pamela II. 227 Well, Child, said she, sneeringly, how dost find thyself? 1813 Byron Br. Abydos 1. v, Sneeringly these accents fell. 1865 Miss Braddon H. Dunbar ii, James Wentworth laughed sneeringly. 1886 W. J. Tucker E. Europe 243 ‘They now rejoice in the aristocratic name of Desewffy,’ said he sneeringly.

'sneerless, a. [f. sneer s6.] That does not sneer; free from sneers. 1884 Birreli. Obiter Dicta 157 A sneerless Gibbon and an impartial Macaulay.

'sneery, a.

[f. sneer rft.] scornful character.

Of a sneering or

1872 Lever Ld. Kilgobbin lix, The summary., was acrimonious and sneery. 1919 D. Ashford Young Visiters viii. 53 Ethel patted her hair and looked very sneery. 1949 D. Smith I capture Castle iii. xv. 289 ‘Does he believe in it?’ ‘No, he's always very sneery.’ 1967 Punch 22 Nov. 776/1 It has taken twenty years to get rid of the amateurs, and the

SNEEZEWEED

professionals.. are having a hard time breaking down the sneery reputation gained. 1977 N. Y. Rev. Bks. 9 June 10/4 The sneery attitude toward surgeons that many physicians .. were at one time wont to affect.

footnote-, Caxton Golden Leg., Litanies (= fol. xxii/i of ed. 1483). See also the variants in the quots. below.] 1. a. intr. To drive or emit air or breath

sneesh (sni:J). Sc. and north, dial. Also 9 sneish;

involuntary and convulsive or spasmodic action,

8-9 snish. [? Back-formation from next: but cf. snush sb., of which the Gloucester dial, snish is probably a variant. Ir. Gael, has snaois.] a. Snuff, b. A pinch of snuff.

accompanied by a characteristic sound. In quot. 1493 = to snort. 1493 Festivall (W. de W.) 108 b, Whan he herde ony man speke of theym anone for grete angre he wolde snese [1483 Caxton fnese] at the nose. 1495 Treviso's Barth. De P.R. xvii. xxxviii. 625 Yf it [sc. cummin] is.. blowen in to the nosethrilles,.. it makith a man snese [Bodl. MS. fnese]. 1540 R. Jonas Byrth Mankynde 30 b, Let her be prouoked to sneese with the pouder of eleborus or pepper. 1570 Levins Manip. 211 To Sneeze, sternutare. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 1. xvii. 44b, To spit or to seniese. 1601 Holland Pliny xxvm. ii. II. 297 If one chaunce to sneese after repast. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 403 One custom which prevails generally in foreign countreys.. is to salute those that sneez. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 35 If 3 Being unused to Snuff, some Grains from off her upper Lip made him sneeze aloud. 1753 Scots Mag. Nov. 544/2 They bowed with a graceful simper to a lady who sneezed. 1849 Lytton Caxtons 61 You certainly have caught cold; you sneezed three times together. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. lxii, There are conditions under which the most majestic person is obliged to sneeze. b. refl. To bring (oneself) into a certain state by

The verb sneesh to snuff, and sneesher a snuffer, are also current in mod. Sc. dial, (recorded from 1801-9). 1786 Har'st Rig xix, Led on by Malcolm,.. Wha taks his snish. 1817 [R. D. C. Brown] Lintoun Green 57 Whan takan’ o’ a sneesh. 1874 Hislop Scot. Anecd. 6 She did not care one pinch o’ snish! attrib. 1825 [see sneeze sb. 3].

'sneeshing. Sc. (Ir.) and north, dial. Forms: a. 8 snishon, -en, 9 -an (8 snichen, snitian), 8-9 snishin(g. 7, 9 sneeshon, 9 -an, 8-9 sneeshin(g, sneeshin’, 9 sneechin(g, etc. [Alteration of sneezing vbl. sb. 2 b, perhaps after Highland or Irish pronunciation: cf. Sc. Gael, snaoisean, Ir. snaoisin.] 1. Snuff. a. 1714 R. Smith Poems (1853) 12 Thy vile snichen, and thy brose. 1720 Pennecuik Helicon 65 A Mill with Snitian, to pepper her Nose. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 91 A Mill of good snishing to prie. 1761 in Hull Select Lett. (1778) I. 314, I have sent you a little Provision of the best Preston-Pans Snuff,.. with one Bottle of Highland Snishon. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm, xii, Bid her fill my mill wi’ snishing. 1847 Le Fanu T. O'Brien 213 Take a pinch iv the snishin. /3. 1808 Jamieson, Sneeshin,. .the vulgar name for snuff. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxi, A’ the siller I need is just to buy tobacco and sneeshin. 1824-Redgauntlet ch. vii, Will ye try my sneeshing? 1900 Crockett Little Anna Mark xxi, The noblest sneeshan in the worl’.

2. A pinch of snuff. Chiefly with negatives, used to denote something of very slight value or significance. 1686 G. Stuart Joco-ser. Disc. 13, I drew my Box, and teuk a sneeshon. 1723 Meston Knt. of Kirk Poems (1767) 25 Else they are not worth a snishen. 1787- in Scottish use (Eng. Dial. Diet.).

3. attrib., as sneeshing-box, -horn, -mill or -mull. 1717 Ramsay Elegy Lucky Wood x, To the sma’ hours we aft sat still, Nick’d round our toasts and snishing-mill. 1780 W. Forbes Dominie 1. 79 His fishing-wand, his sneeshingbox. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 133 The luntan pipe, an’ sneeshin mill, Are handed round wi’ right guid will. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxiii, I could take my aith to that sneeshingmull amang a thousand. 1825 Jamieson Supply SneeshinHorn, a horn used for holding snuff. 1858 Porteous Souter Johnny 28 I’m Souter Johnny’s sneeshin’-Box.

sneevel. Sc. var.

snivel sb. and v.

sneeze (sni:z), sb. [f. the vb.] 1. A powder or preparation for inducing sneezing; snuff. Obs. exc. north, dial. 1632 tr. Bruel's Praxis Med. 7 A sneeze of bastard Pellitory, Pepper. C1746- [see b], a 1800 in Pegge Suppl. Grose. i857- in Lane. dial. (Eng. Dial. Diet.).

2. An act of sneezing; a sudden and involuntary expiration of breath through the nose and mouth, accompanied by a characteristic sound. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. ix. 199 Upon a sneeze of the Emperour of Monomotapa, there passed acclamations successively through the city. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 458 As inconsiderable, And harmless, if not wholsom, as a sneeze To mans less universe. 1839 Dickens Nickleby iv, The little boy on the top of the trunk gave a violent sneeze. 1874 Carpenter Ment. Phys. 1. i. (1879) 17 Whilst the act of coughing can be excited by a mandate of the will,.. we can¬ not thus execute a true sneeze.

3. attrib. (sense

1),

as

sneeze-box, -horn, -lurker (see quots.); sneeze gas, a substance used to incapacitate people by causing them to sneeze when it is inhaled or absorbed through the skin. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lane. Dial. (1775) 40 [Sneeze-horn]. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Sneeze-horn or Sneesh-horn, a common sort of snuff-box, made of cow’s horn. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xliii, To think of.. the Artful Dodger going abroad for a common twopenny-halfpenny sneeze-box! 1864 Slang Diet., Sneeze-lurker, one who throws snuff in a person’s face and then robs him. 1918 E. S. Farrow Diet. Mil. Terms 567 Sneeze-gas, a gas which produces paroxysms of sneezing, so that it is difficult to keep on a mask if any of the gas is inhaled. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. III. 45/1 Sternutators, sometimes called sneeze gases or vomiting gases, cause physical discomfort.., and general malaise to such an extent that a casualty results.

sneeze (sni:z), v. Forms: 5 snese, 6-8 sneese (6 seniese), 6- sneeze, 7 sneez. [app. an alteration of fnese v., due to misreading or misprinting it as ‘fnese’, after the initial combination//?- had become unfamiliar. Fnese had app. gone out of use early in the 15th cent., its place being mainly supplied by nese neeze v. The adoption of sneeze was probably assisted by its phonetic appropriateness; it may have been felt as a strengthened form of neeze. In the following places where sn- is printed in modern editions the correct reading is fn-: — Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 389; Chaucer Manciple's Prol. 62 (Camb. MS. Gg4. 27); Lanfranc's Cirurg. 197; Caxton’s Trevisa (Rolls) V. 389

suddenly through the nose and mouth by an

sneezing. 1668 R. L’Estrange Vis. Quev. vii. (1702) 268 By how much it is more Honorable to Dye upon a Swords-point.. than for a Man to snivel and sneeze himself into another World. 2. colloq. With at: To regard as of little value, worth, or consideration; to despise, disregard, underrate. Chiefly in the negative phrase not to be sneezed at. (a) 1806 Surr Winter in Lond. II. 90 It’s a sort of thing a young fellow of my expectations ought to sneeze at. 1838 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. 1. B. Maguire's Acc. Coronation viii, If any bould traitour.. Sneezes at that, I’d like to see the man! 1902 Daily Chron. 12 June 9/3 Supposing this fire had occurred in Hackney,. . it would have been ‘sneezed’ at, if I may so put it. (b) 1813 Scott 24 Aug. in Lockhart, As I am situated, £300 or £400 a-year is not to be sneezed at. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack 1, She was a prize ‘not to be sneezed at’. 1891 N. Gould Double Event 82 A thousand pounds.. was not a thing to be sneezed at. 3. trans. To eject or cast by sneezing. 1677 Johnson in Ray's Corr. (1848) 128 Horsemen are not agreed what that is the foal is said to sneeze, which they call a milt. 1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 76 Their horses .. Vast phantom shapes with eyeballs rolling white That sneeze a fiery steam about their knees. 1961 G. Durrell Whispering Land viii. 194 Anyway, when I had sneezed some of the dust out of my nose, I clapped dutifully outside the gate. 4. To utter with a sneeze. Also with out. The allusion in the first quot. is to Catullus xlv. 9-10. 1851 Tennyson E. Morris 80 Shall not Love to me, As in the Latin song I learnt at school, Sneeze out a full Godbless-you, right and left? 1873 Ld. Houghton Monogr. 260 The preacher.. at once sneezed out the name Ker-shaw several times in various intonations. Hence 'sneezing ppl. a. 1642 H. More Song of Soul 11. 1. i. 22 Swift as the levin from the sneezing skie. sneezer ('sni:z3(r)).

[f. sneeze v.]

1. One who sneezes. 1648 Hexham ii, Een Nieser, a Sneeser. 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. ill. 65 The Ancients said, that Sneezers., were indicated by excrementitious humours.. in the Ventricles, .of the Brain. 1801 Monthly Mag. XII. 224 He proves from Petronius.. that the custom of blessing sneezers was established among the Romans. 1882 Lubbock Orig. Civil. App. 495 A sneeze .. is evidence .. that the sneezer was possessed by some evil-disposed spirit. 2. In various slang, colloq., or dial, senses: a. A snuff-box. b. The nose. c. A dram or drink, esp. a stiff one. d. A pocket-handkerchief. The Eng. Dial. Diet, gives other purely dial. uses. a. 1725 New Cant. Diet., Cog a Sneezer, Beg a.. Snuff¬ box. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet. 1839 Slang Diet. 34. b. 1820 Sporting Mag. VI. 271 Hawkins put a tremendous nobber on the tip of Paddy’s sneezer. c. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, Sneeser, or Sneezer,.. also .. means a dram. 1841 J T. Hewlett Parish Clerk I. 290 He knew he should get a sneezer of something short for his trouble. 1868 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 363 My New York landlord made me a ‘Rocky Mountain sneezer’. d. 1857 Slang Diet. 19. e. Something exceptionally good, great, strong, violent, etc., in some respect (cf. quots.). 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, Sneeser, or Sneezer, a severe blow. 1836 Haliburton Clockm. i. viii, It’s awful to hear a minister swear; and the only match I know for it, is to hear a regular sneezer of a sinner quote Scripture. Ibid, xiii, I have one [horse] a proper sneezer, a chap that can go ahead of a rail-road steamer. 1855 F. Francis Newton Dogvane (1888) 242 What a fine breeze we have! a regular sneezer. 1867 Smyth Sailor’s Word-bk., Sneezer, a stiff gale of wind. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 22 July 3/1 The ball he bowled Fry with .. was what he would himself describe as a ‘sneezer’. 'sneezeweed. Also sneeze-weed. 1.

U.S.

[f. sneeze v.]

The plant Helenium autumnale, or

other species of the same genus. 1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. 224 Helenium autumnale, L. (Sneeze-weed). 1857-First Less. Bot. (1866) 130 In the Sunflower .. it consists of two thin scales ..; in the Sneeze¬ weed, of about five very thin scales. 1885 J. M. Coulter Bot. Rocky Mt. Region 196. 2. Austr. (See quots.) The two quotations refer to the same plant.

1877 F. von Mueller Bot. Teachings 58 The Sneezeweed (Cotula or Centipeda Cunninghamii). A dwarf, erect,.. odorous herb;.. can be converted into snuff. 1889 Maiden Usef. PL 195 Myriogyne minuta,.. ‘Sneezeweed’ of Southern New South Wales.

'sneezewood. Also sneeze-wood. [f. sneeze v., probably after Cape Du. nieshout.] A South African timber tree, Ptaeroxylon utile; also, the wood of this tree. 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. vi. 219 A saffron-coloured timber, called sneeze-wood, from the effect of its pungent scent when newly cut. 1854 Pappe Silva Capensis (1862) 5 Ptaeroxylon Utile... From the fact of its producing violent sneezing when sawn or otherwise worked at, it has received the name of Sneeze-wood. 1880 Silver & Co.'s S. Africa (ed. 3) 130 Melkhout, Olive-wood, and Sneezewood.

b. attrib., as sneezewood spade, stump, tree, etc. 1877 J. A. Chalmers Tiyo Soga i. 7 The sneezewood spade gave place to the crooked plough-share. Ibid. 11 The branches of the sneezewood tree. 1880 Bessey Botany 535 Ptaeroxylon utile, the Sneezewood Tree of the Cape of Good Hope, furnishes a hard and durable timber. 1887 Miss E. Money Dutch Maiden (1888) 229 Nodding away on his sneeze-wood stump.

'sneezewort. Also 6 sneesewoort, 7 -wort, 8-9 sneeze-wort. [f. sneeze z>.] 1. The plant Achillea Ptarmica, bastard or wild pellitory, the dried leaves of which are powdered and used as a sternutatory. 1597 Gerarde Herbal 484 The small Sneese woort hath many rounde and brittle braunches... The smell of this plant procureth sneezing. Ibid. 607 Sneesewoort is called of some Ptarmica. 1629 Parkinson Parad. 288 We vsually call it double wilde Pelletorie, and some Sneesewort, but Elleborus albus is vsually so called. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 47 There is also a Pseudopyrethrum which is call’d Ptarmica or Sneezewort which grows in Meadows. 1786 Abercrombie Arr. in Gard. Assist. 48 (Ptarmica) or sneeze¬ wort double flowered. 1858 R. Hogg Veget. Kingdom 455 Ptarmica vulgaris, or Sneezewort, is also a native of Great Britain. 1901 Scotsman 12 Nov. 8/1 The sneezewort is remarkable for its pungent qualities. attrib. 1855 Miss Pratt Flower. PI. III. 323 Sneeze-wort Yarrow. 1861 S. Thomson Wild FI. 111. (ed. 4) 306 The sneeze-wort yarrow (Achillea ptarmica).

2. Applied to other plants: a. The white hellebore, Veratrum album [cf. neeze-wort]. 1629 [see 1]. 1671 Skinner Etymol. Ling. Angl., Bot., Neese, or Sneese-wort, Helleborus albus. 1799 W. Tooke View Russ. Emp. I. 383 Wolf s bane and sneeze-wort [note, Veratrum] are taken against almost all accidents.

b. American, quots.).

SNELL

848

SNEEZEWOOD

Austrian

sneezewort

(see

1611 [see sneezing vbl. sb. 3 b]. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 Sneeze-wort, Austrian, Xeranthemum. 1846-50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 342 Helenium autumnale, American Sneeze-wort.

sneezing ('sniizir}), vbl. sb.

Also 5 snesynge, 6 Sc. sneisin(g, snising,

sneesyng, 6-8 -ing, 7 snizing. [f. sneeze v.] 1. a. The action of the verb; an instance of this. 1495 Treviso's Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxxxi. 688 Powder therof [sc. of pepper] makyth snesynge [Bodl. MS. fnesinge]. 1545 Raynold Byrth Mankynde 67 Farthermore she muste be prouoked to sneesyng. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Esternuement, a sneesing. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 523 In sternutations or sneezings. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 200 Aristotle hath a Probleme, why sneezing from noone unto midnight was good, but from night to noon unlucky. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 220 Sneesing promotes the Motion of the Blood, and excites the Pulse. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1851) I. 138/1 A Sneezing was heard from the right. 1818 E. Thompson Cullen's Nosologia (1820) 203 Contagious inflammatory fever with sneezing. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xiv, He was taken with a violent fit of sneezing. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 98 Abnormal visceral or reflex movements, such as. . sneezings, yawnings, or hiccoughings. fig. 1691 Beverley 1000 Yrs. Kingd. 31 From Time to Time.. there have been Sneesings by a Power of God, as I may so express it, of this Prophecy.

b. pi. Matter emitted in sneezing. rare~]. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 431 The sneezings of a Musk-cat is an excellent remedy against the resolution of the sinews or the Palsie.

f2. a. A preparation or powder inducing sternutation; an errhine or sternutatory. Obs. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. n. v. n. iv, Sneesings, masticatories and nasalls, are generally receiued. 1632 tr. Bruel's Praxis Med. 61 A sneezing of pepper, Hellebore. 1653 W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored 119 Of the administration of gargarisms, or sneezings, and such like.

fb. Snuff. Obs. (Cf. sneeshing i.) 1648 Dunfermline Kirk Sess. Rec. (1865) 25 Those that offers and takes snising in the kirk. 1672 Essex Papers (Camden Soc.) 7 Who euer sels Ale, Tobacco, Sneezinge Broges, &c. is an Irish Merchant. ?ci68o F. Sempill in Poems Sempills (1849) 70 A mill of good snizing to prie. 1720 Swift Irish Feast Wks. 1755 IV. 1. 27 Give us a pinch Of your sneezing.

3. attrib. and Comb. a. as sneezing-coffer, -maker, -mill, -powder, -tobacco; sneezing gas = sneeze gas s.v. sneeze sb. 3. 1611 Cotgr., Sternutatoire, a sneezing medicine, or powder. 01616 Beaum. & Fl. Kt. of Malta II. iv, Bring a little sneezing powder in your pocket. 1626 Bacon Sylva §38 Sneezing-powder and other powders or Liquors (which the Physitians call Errhines). 1643 Dunfermline Kirk Sess. Rec. (1865) 12 Those who.. taks yr sneising tobacco in the most remott.. pairt of yc said yle. 1659 in Macgill Old Rosssh. (1909) 377 Walter Denune, sneisin maker. 1681 Colvil Whig's Supplic. 11. 134 And there his Sneezing Milne and

Box lyes. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet., Sneezer or SneezingCoffer, a snuff-box. 1918 H. H. Tudor Let. 13 Nov. in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1977) IV. Companion 1. 415 The shell you speak of may be sneezing gas, which is not deadly. 1939 H. F. Thuillier Gas in Next War xvi. 145 The General Disarmament Conference of the League of Nations sitting in 1932 sought to divide the known chemical war agents into .. two categories [lethal and non-lethal], and to obtain agreement for the use of the non-lethal kind, i.e. the lachrimatory (tear gases) and the sternutatory (sneezing gases) in war. 1979 Guardian 25 Aug. 12/6 Soup.. always tastes the same when you have accidentally emptied the pot of fine grey sneezing powder into it. 1982 London Mag. June 31 Once he bought sneezing-powder from the joke-shop in New Oxford Street. fb. sneezing-wort, = sneezewort. Obs. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Esternuer, Sneesingwort, or sneesewort of Austria, wild Pellitorie of Spaine. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece in. 219 With long sharp leaves, with streight Nerves, in shape like Sneezing Woort. 1741 Compl. Family Piece 11. iii. 397 You have now in Flower the. .double Ptarmica or Sneezing-wort.

c. sneezing brick (see quot.). 1887 Archit. Soc. Diet. VII. 97 Sneezing Brick, one of the names given to the burnt bricks which case the clamp before burning.

sneezy ('sni:zi), a. [f. sneeze sb. + -Y.] a. Of persons: Inclined to sneeze, b. Of things: Causing one to sneeze; dusty. 1839 Hood Sweep's Compl. 41,1 find my suppress’d voice very uneasy, And comparable to nothing but having your tissue stopt when you are sneezy. 1848 Dickens Dombey lvii, They.. have signed their names in one of the old sneezy registers. 1896 Punch 7 Mar. 112/1 East winds always make me feel snappy and sneezy.

sneg, sb. Obs. exc. dial. [ME. snegge, — MLG. snigge, MHG. snegge, snecke, G. schnecke.] A snail. Cf. snag sb.3 1340 Ayenb. 32 po anliknej? pan pet ne dar na3t guo ine pe pepe uor pane snegge )>et sseawe)? him his homes. 1880-7 *n Kentish and Cornish glossaries.

sneg, v. Sc. [Of osbeure origin: cf. sneck n.2] trans. To cut. Jamieson (1808) also gives sneg as a sb. 1718 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. in. xii, [She] sneg’d the raips fow snack, We’ er knife that day. 17.. -Address of Thanks xviii, Bring to the warld the luckless wean, And sneg its infant thrapple. 1808-57 in Eng. Dial. Diet.

sneg-stone. [? f. sneg $6.] (See quot.) 1815 W. Smith Map Strata Mem. 17 The clay, with some modifications (and in some parts of it beds of Sussex Marble or sneg stone).

sneipe, v. Obs._1 [perh. identical with snape and v.2] intr. ? To become pinched.

.1

v

C1300 Old Age vii. in E.E.P. (1862) 149, I snurpe, i snobbe, i sneipe on snovte. [Cf. sneap-nose.]

fsneir, v. Sc. Obs.~x [app. repr. OE. snyrian, snyrgan to hasten, if not an error for steir.) intr. To sail. a 1568 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 190 This 3eir bayth blythnes and abundance bringis, Naveis of schippis outt[h]roch pe sea to sneir.

sneith, a. Sc. ? Obs. [Of obscure origin.] Smooth, polished. Also fig. 1513 Douglas JEneid xi. i. 94 The gapand deidly wound .. Amyd his sneith and fair slekyt breist bane. 1808 A. Scott Poems 121 This put the dame in perfect wrath; Her words they werena sneith.

t sneke. Obs. rare. Also 6 snyke. [Of obscure origin.] A cold in the head. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 461/2 Sneke, or the poose,.. catarrus. C1460 Play Sacram. 616 All tho yr haue ye poose, ye sneke, or ye tyseke. 1530 Palsgr. 272/1 Sneke, pose, rime. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health cccvi. 100 The 306 chapitre doth shewe of the Pose or Snyke.

Ilsnekkja ('snekja). PI. snekkjur, perron.) snekkar. [Icel.: see snack s/>.‘] An ancient Icelandic or Scandinavian longship. 1847 N. H. Nicolas Hist. R. Navy I. i. 10 The Scandinavians are said to have possessed small boats with . . twelve seamen, and a longer kind of vessel called ‘snekkar’ or serpents, chiefly used for war, with twenty rowers. 1889 P. B. du Chaillu Viking Age II. ix. 137 The snekkja was a somewhat smaller long-ship, of which frequent mention is made; but sometimes it must have been as large as a dragonship. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 865/1 The famous snekkjur or serpents, said to be represented on the Bayeux tapestry. 1970 Foote & Wilson Viking Achievement vii. 236 The longship was the real warship, with at least twenty benches. One common sort was called snekkja.

snjallr (Icel. snjallur, Norw. snjall, snjell, snell', Sw. snail, Da. snild); the Scand. languages exhibit a great variety of senses.] A. adj. 1. a. Of persons: Quick in movement or action; prompt, smart, active, strenuous; f good. In ME. freq. as a general epithet of commendation. In later Sc. use tending towards the sense of ‘sharp, keen’. Beowulf 2971 Ne meahte se snella sunu Wonredes ealdum ceorle hondslyht jiofan. a 1000 Bi Monna Craeftum 52 (Gr.), Sum bianne erest hit is isene Hwar is pe snelle, hwar pe kene.

b. Similarly of animals (or things). ? Obs. a 1000 Phcenix 123 (Gr.), Se haswa fugel.. fareS feprum snell flyhte on lyfte. a 1000 Andreas 505 On brim snoweS snel under sejle. a 1250 Owl & Night. 918 farest so dop on yde[l] wel pat springe)? bi burne pat is snel. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 4668 Mi stede pai han, pat is so snelle. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 2234 Stedys that were bolde and snelle. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxix. (Arb.) 106 So subtyl and snelle was the foxe, that many tymes whan the wulf wende wel to be sure of hym, he sterte thenne bytwene his legges. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 25 Thay [sc. solan geese] ar sa snell and suift of flicht.

fc. Const, to (with sb. or inf.). Obs. CI150 Canterb. Ps. xiii. 3 [6] Hirae fet \\raepe vel snelle to aejiotaenae vel to scedende blod. c 1275 Sinners Beware 41 in O.E. Misc. 73 Ne may no tunge telle . . of pare pyne of helle; J>ar-to we beo)? to snelle. 1340-70 Alex. Dind. 437 Hie boldus to bulde be we not snelle. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. (1901) 558 To fleo folye be snelle. c 1400 Rowland & O. 403 To arme hym wele pay were full snelle.

2. Keen-witted, clever, sharp, acute, smart. c 1425 Seven Sages (P.) 53 The mayster was wys and snel. c 1440 York Myst. xii. 111 Melachiell, that proffett snell, Hais tolde vs of that babb so bright, a 1450 M yrc i 2 i Teche hem alle to be war and snel, That they conne sey pe wordes wel. 1719 Ramsay First Answ. Hamilton x, Europe had nane mair snack and snell At verse or prose. 1861 J. Brown Horae Subs. II. 273 He had no want.. of quick, snell remark, often witty and full of spirit.

3. Severe, sharp, unsparing. a 1425 Cursor M. 16628 (Trin.), Sore pei au3te him drede: pe folke pat were so snelle [Cott. fell], a 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus iv. 184 [To] caus Ladeis to.. be haldin .. Baith odious, and snell as ane serpent. 1742 R. Forbes Ajax (1755) 17 Fa wi’ snell words him sair did snib. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxi, He’s snell and dure eneugh in casting up their nonsense to them, as if he had nane o’ his ain. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle xii, Conscience is a rough lad,.. and I am keen and snell also.

4. Of weather; Keen, bitter, severe. 01300 Cursor M. 6018 pe seuend on-sand pat si)>en fell, Was a weder ful selcut snell [Gott. fell]. 1375 Barbour Bruce ill. 377 Sa hard anoy thaim then assayit, Off hungir, cauld, with schowris snell. 1513 Douglas JEneid vii. Prol. 139 Chiverand for cauld, the sessoun was so snell. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 342 The snaw so snell ay dryvand with sic drift. 1677 Nicolson in Trans. R. Soc. Lit. (1870) IX. 319 Snell, sharp, bitter. 1785 Burns To a Mouse iv, Bleak December’s winds ensuin, Baith snell an’ keen! 1822 Blackw. Mag. XI. 119 The wintry air is snell and keen. 1881 R. Buchanan God & the Man III. 209 We .. passed the snell season without the loss of a single soul aboard.

5. a. Grievous, painful.

heavy,

stinging;

rigorous;

01300 Cursor M. 7759 O pis batail )>at was sa snell, pe force a-pon )>e king it fell. 13.. Ibid. 16638 (Gott), pai gaue him buffetes snell. 14.. Sir Beues (E) 4312 + 147 In hys hand a mase ful snel, pat was maad off good steel. 1755 Ramsay To J. Clerk 88 [He] gave the scarlet whore a box Mair snell than all the pelts of Knox. 1790 A. Wilson 2nd Ep. to Kennedy Poet. Wks. (c 1846) 117 This is the last, the snellest lick, That I’ll e’er get frae Fortune’s stick. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. xi, That was a snell law. i879 J White Jottings 154 (E.D.D.), Bear life’s rebuffs, Tho’ they’re aft unco snell.

b. Sharp-tasted; pungent. snell (snel), sb. U.S. [Of obscure origin.] A short line of gut or horsehair by which a fish-hook is attached to a longer line. 1846 Spirit of Times 9 May 126/2 [The bass] was taken with a jointed rod, with a single gut snell, after half an hour’s play. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2) 238 Leader, a length of finely twisted hair, gut, or grass, for attaching an angler’s hook to the line; a bottom. Called also a Snell. 1883 Cent. Mag. July 381/2 Reeling up his line to the snell of the hook. 1894 Outing XXIV. 452/2, I .. rigged the strongest leader and the heaviest snell and hook in my box.

snell (snel), a. and adv. In later use Sc. and north. Also 1-5 snel, 3 snaell, 4-5 snelle. [Common Teut.: OE. snel, snell, = OS. (MLG. and LG., MDu. and Du.), OHG. (MHG.) snel, snell- (G. schnell), swift, quick, active, etc., ON.

1835 Carrick Laird Logan iyz (E.D.D.), That’s just the mustard I mean, an gay snell mustard he is whiles. 6. Shrill, clear-sounding. C1730 Robin Hood & Bp. of Hereford vii. in Child Ballads III. 198/2 He put his horn in to his mouth, And a snell blast he did blow, c 1820 Beattie Arnha' (1826) 58 Douff like drum, and snell like cymble.

B. adv. 1. Quickly, promptly, swiftly. 01300 Cursor M. 14946 Wat yee brewer qui.. I weind again sua snell? 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 801 His ost him answerd snelle, ‘Of )>at turnament y schal 30U telle’. CI420 Chron. Vilod. 556 Horn a3eyn he come fulle snelle. 1895 Crockett Men of Moss Hags xlvii, We held fast and snell to the eastward.

2. Vigorously, strongly, keenly, etc. c 1330 Arth. Merl. 1322 (Kolbing), pe messangers bad him )?o telle, Whi it was he I0U3 so snelle. C1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 519 3et wes lewit hym a schele to

SNELL schrape his scabbis rycht snel. 01400-50 Alexander ioQS hire Porrus him on )>e pan strikis So snelle at he snatirs wnh. c 1479 Henry Wallace 11. 250 He saw, As to hys sycht dede had him swappyt snell. 1728 Ramsay Robt., Richy, & Sandy (1877) II. 5 Ae rough night the blatt’ring winds blew snell. 1773 Fercusson A aid Reekie 35 Poems 1789 II 93 Antrin fock may ken how snell Auld Reikie will at morning smell. 1884 R. Buchanan The Lights of Leith 1. i, While the wintry gale.. Blew snell thro’ sail and shroud.

Hence 'snellness, sharpness, keenness. X9X5 J. Buchan Salute to Adventurers i. 15 That bold girl singing a martial ballad to the storm and taking pleasure in the snellness of the air.

snell, v.

U.S. [f. snell sb.] trans. To tie or fasten (a hook) to a line. Hence snelled ppl. a. 1891 in Cent. Diet. 1893 Outing XXII. 123/2 Well-made securely wrapped, double-snelled Aberdeen.. are very satisfactory hooks, i960 Washington Post 29 Apr. D9 The somewhat cumbersome assembly of one or more spinner blades ahead of a snelled or long-shanked hook. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 28 June 2-D (Advt), Packages of 6 snelled hooks.

Snellen ('snebn).

Ophthalm. The name of Hermann Snellen (1834-1908), Dutch ophthalmologist, used attrib. and in the possessive to designate: (a) a scale of similar square-serifed type-faces of different sizes, all 'subtending the same angle at different rated distances, proposed by him in 1862 (in his Echelle Typographique) and used to print test cards which are presented at known distances to ophthalmic patients who are asked to read out as many lines as they can; also, the letters, test cards, etc., associated with this scale; (b) a fraction which expresses a patient’s visual acuity as the actual reading distance over the rated distance of the smallest Snellen letters read. 1864 T. Longmore Alan. Instructions Defective Vision in Soldiers ii. io The emmetropic eye can read Snellen’s types at any of the indicated distances. 1866 H. W. Williams Rec. Adv. Ophthalm. Sci. 29 Two other series have been added as reading tests... Both of these are almost perfectly accurate in their gradations of sizes, —and correspond, the first with the same numbers of Snellen’s scale, the second with those of Jaeger’s test. 1912 L. Laurance Visual Optics & Sight Testing iv. 73 The visual acuity, as expressed by a Snellen fraction, varies .. with the health of the person. 1934 C. S. Price Improvement of Sight by Natural Methods ii. 21 The large cards or charts bearing a series of sizes in the types are conveniently known as ‘Snellen Charts’, i960 N. Bier Correction Subnormal Vision i. 4 A person with visual acuity of 6/60 Snellen or better should not ordinarily be regarded as blind. 1971 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. LXXXIV. 85 He measured visual acuity, using Snellen letters at 10 meters.

Snell’s law (snelz).

Optics. [Named after Willebrord van Roijen Snell (1591-1626), Dutch astronomer and mathematician, who formulated the law in 1621.] The law which states that for a ray of light passing from one uniform medium to another the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction are always in the same ratio. 1873 J. Tyndall On Light i. 24 Snell’s law of refraction is one of the corner-stones of optical science, and its applications to-day are millionfold. 1935 Dawson & Porritt Rubber 404/1 Stretched rubber shows double refraction, i.e. a ray of light entering the rubber from air or a vacuum is split up into two rays, one of which., obeys Snell’s law of refraction, whilst the other .. does not unless it travels in a certain critical direction. 1974 Nature 18 Jan. 156/2 Snell’s law and a value of 167 for the refractive index of the lens were used to determine the angles of refraction at the surfaces of the lens.

snelly ('snell), adv. Also i snellice, 4 snellich, -lik. [f. snell a. Cf. MDu. snellike, -lijc (Du. snellijk), MLG. snellik(en, OHG. snellicho, MSw. snialle-, sniellelika.] In a snell manner; quickly, smartly, severely, etc. a 1000 Bi Manna Wyrdum 82 (Gr.), Sum sceal.. snellice snere wraestan. C1305 Land Cokayne 163 And euch monke him taketh on, And snellich berith forth har prei. C1325 Metr. Horn. (1862) 59 His sawel.. bes felaw wit the fend, That snellik sal it scham and schend. 13.. K. Alis. 2524 (Laud. MS.), Vche bare xij. oper xvj. kni3th, Wei arenged snelly to fi3th. 1790 Shirref Poems p. xix, At first he frown’d, and said, right snelly, It’s gryte presumption. C1790 Pickering in Burns' Wks. (ed. Chambers, 1857) IV. 91 The snaw drives snelly through the dale. 1836 M. Mackintosh Cottager's Daughter 70 The thumbkin was maist snelly screwed. 1881 J. Ballantine in Modern Scot. Poems III. 30 Snelly the hail smote the skeleton trees.

Ilsnelskrif ('snelskrif). 5. Afr. [Afrikaans, f. snel rapid + skrif writing.] A system of shorthand for the Afrikaans language. Also attrib. 1949 Cape Argus 16 Apr. 11/2 (Advt.), Take a rapid course .. in book-keeping, Afrikaans, snelskrif, shorthand, [etc.]. 1952 Cape Times 2 Aug. 9/7 Typists who qualify for shorthand and snelskrif tests. 1972 Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown) 1 Sept. 2 Bilingualism, shorthand, snelskrif, typing .. are all essential.

snepe, a. rare [Of obscure origin; sneep and snape in the same sense are given as current in Line.] Foolish, silly. a 1250 Owl & Night. 225 Hit (dnehep bope wise & snepe, Nouht pat pu singe, ac pat pu wepe.

849 snercte: see snarche ’ t snese, v. Obs. rare. [OE. (d)snisan, f. snds spit, skewer. Cf. ON. sneisa to spit.] trans. To run through with a weapon. 01225 Ancr. R. 212 Hwu pe deoflen schulen.. mid helle sweordes alsnesien [u. rr. snesen, sneasin] ham puruhut.

snet(te, error in Phillips (1658) and some later Diets, for suet. tsnetched, a. Obs.r' [? Related to sneck «.2] Slaughtered. \ 1567 Golding Ovid’s M.et. v. (1593) id8 Like a snetched ox Strait tumbling downe against the ground his groveling face he knox.

sneuel, -ill, etc., obs. forms of snivel. tsneve, v. Obs. [Cf. Icel. snefja to scent out; Norw. snev (also snevl, Icel. snefill) scent, hint, suspicion.] trans. To smell or smell at. Hence 'sneving vbl. sb. C 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 37 Alse swin pe uulit‘6 and wroteS and sneuieS aure fule. Ibid. 183 Hie .. binimeS .. Eien here sene,. nose here sneuenge, and muS here smel. Ibid. 207 He haueS.. mid his ejen bihelden pat he ne sholden .. and alse mid nose sneued.

snevel(l, etc., obs. forms of snivel. 'snever, a. dial. [ad. ON. snsefr (stem sneefr-, MSw. snafr-, Da. snsever, also MSw. snafw-, Sw. snaf, Norw. snsev, snev) narrow, tight.] Narrow; slender, slight; neat. 1640 Brathwait Lane. Lovers iv. 18 We han store of goodly Cattell;.. peepe here and peepe there, aw the wide dale is but snever to them. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 43 A Snever-spawt, a slender stripling. 1691 Ibid. (ed. 2) 66 Snever, slender: an usual Word. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 354 Snevver, slender and neat. 1855 [Robinson] Whitby Gloss, s.v., Snever, Sneever.

snevyll, snevylysshe, obs. ff. snivel(lish. snew, v. ? Obs. Forms: 1 sniwan (sniu-, sniuw-), 3-4 snywe(n, 3 sniuw-, 4 sneuw-, 4-6 snewe. [OE. sniwan, = WFris. snije (sneie, snie), NFris. snt, sneie, snaie, MDu. sniwen, snien, MLG. snighen, snygen, OHG. sniwan (MHG. sniwen, snigen, snien, G. schneien, dial, schneuen, schneiben, etc.): — *snigwan-, related by ablaut to SNOW sb.1 The evidence for survival in mod. dial, is very slight; it is doubtful whether snew, to swarm, is the same word.]

1. intr. To snow. C 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) N117 Ninguit, sniuwiS. C900 tr. Baeda's Hist. 11. xiii, [If] hit rine & sniwe & styrme ute. a 1000 Epist. Alex, in Cockayne Narrat. Angl. (1861) 23 Da cwom J?aer micel snaw and swa miclum sniwde swelce micel flys feoll. n Jamieson Suppl. 1828- in north, dial, glossaries, etc. (see also Eng. Dial. Diet.). 1899 Hall Caine Shadow of Crime xxiv, ‘Saucer een,’ said Mrs. Garth with a snirt.

SNIRT

SNITHING

858

snirt (sn3:t), v. north, dial, and Sc. Also 8-9 snert. [Imitative: cf. SNURT v.] intr. To laugh in a suppressed manner; to snicker.

they were hidin’ in the house, and he snitched to the Immigration. 1966 P. Moloney Plea for Mersey 14 The Captain .. had snitched to the police that his cargo was being pilfered.

1724 Ramsay in Evergreen (1761) II. 15 Now let hir snirt, and fyk her fill. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 2 They gang by ye wi’ sic a huff, An’ pridfu’ caper, snirt, an’ snuff, As gif Death ne’er meant them a cuff. 1829- in north, dial, glossaries. 1871 Black Daughter of Hetk (1872) 94 The Whaup grew very red in the face and ‘snirted’ with laughter.

b. trans. To inform or give evidence against (a person or accomplice). rare~'.

'snirtle, v. Sc. and north, dial. [f. prec. -t- -le 3.] intr. To laugh in a quiet, suppressed, or restrained manner; to snigger. 1785 Burns Jolly Beggars xlii, But though his little heart did grieve.., He feigned to snirtle in his sleeve. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 112 The Dominie .. fain wad fa’ a laughing; He snirtles wi’ his neb and snirks. 1887 J. Service Life Dr. Duguid iv. 26 Her aul’ worl’ cracks and stories often mak me snirtle and laugh.

snish, snishing: see sneesh, sneeshing. fsnit1. Obs.~] In 5 snytte. [Related to snite v.] The glowing part of the wick of a candle when blown out. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1277 J>is mayde .. blewe ou3t anone sodanly—Bot pe weke hulte stylle pe snytte.

pe ley3t

snit2. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.). [Of uncertain origin (see quot. 19392).] A state of agitation; a fit of rage or bad temper; a tantrum, sulk. Freq. in phr. in a snit. 1939 C. Boothe Kiss Boys Good-bye 11. i. 105 ‘I declare, Mrs. Rand, I cried myself into a snit.’ ‘A snit?’ ‘I do deplore it, but when I’m in a snit I’m prone to bull the object of my wrath plumb in the tummy.’ 1939 Sat. Rev. Lit. 23 Dec. 12/1 The membership could hardly be said to be in a snit,.. as nobody in Georgia seems ever to have heard of either the word or the state of being until Miss Clare Boothe isolated and defined it. 1962 J. Potts Evil Wish x. 136 If you hadn’t been in such a snit when I came upstairs I’d have told you so. 1971 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 21 Jan. 4A/3 If New York solves its problems through gambling, every state in the union is going to follow suit except Nevada, which will probably secede from the nation in a snit. 1975 J. Goulet Oh's Profit xxxvii. 208 The President of the United States had bawled him out and left Cambridge College in a fierce snit. 1980 N. Y. Times 8 Jan. D 16, I was recently .. put in charge of six other copywriters, two of them men. The men are in a quiet snit.

snitch, sb. slang. [Of obscure origin.] f 1. A fillip (on the nose). Obs. 1676 Coles,

Snitch,.. a fillip,

a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant.

Crew, Snitch,.. a Filip on the Nose.

2. To catch by means of a noose or loop. 1900 Daily News 13 Oct. 8/2 The pike.. is killed anyhow, ‘shot at sight’, or snitched with a wire loop, or netted.

3. To take surreptitiously, purloin; to steal or ‘pinch’, slang. 1904 N. Y. Times 6 June 9 They reached Coney Island by snitching rides. 1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise iii. 46 He first of all snitched people’s ideas without telling them, and then didn’t give them the credit for it. 1948 L. A. G. Strong Trevannion xvii. 323 You love a girl faithfully for years, and some glib sod comes along at the heel of the hunt and snitches her from you. 1958 [see booksy a.]. 1976 M. Machlin Pipeline xxx. 348 How about that guy who snitched a whole D-9 tractor, brand-new?

Hence 'snitching ppl. a. and vbl. sb. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet. s.v. Snitch, An informer, or tale-bearer in general, is called a snitching rascal. 1923 W. S. Maugham Our Betters iii. 172 You really might have left Tony alone. This habit you have of snitching has got you into trouble before. 1933 Sun (Baltimore) 24 Aug. 6/7 Not long ago we had the fine stirring story by Neil Swanson ‘The Judas Tree’, and now comes a snitching of that title by Leslie Ford, who calls his new detective thriller ‘The Clue of the Judas Tree’. 1961 B. Malamud New Life (1962) 298 He had been thinking of discussing with him Bullock’s concern with athletes but it was too much like snitching. 1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) ii. 39 ‘Okay,’ I said, giving him a chance to rationalize his snitching, which all informants have to do when they start out.

f'snitchel, sb. slang. Obs. [Cf. snitch sb.] A fillip (on the nose). 1676 Coles, Snitchel, a fillip, a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Snitchel, A Filip on the Nose.

Hence f 'snitchel v. Obs. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew. s.v. Gig, Snichel the Gig, Fillip the Fellow on the Nose.

fsnitch’ems. Obs.~l A card-game. 1798 Sporting Mag. XI. 150 The game of snitch-em’s. This game may be ranked among the fairest games on the cards. [Description follows.]

snitcher ('snitf^r)). slang, [f. snitch v.] fl.(See quot.) Obs.~1 1761 Ann. Reg. 11. 51/1 He was a respectable member of.. the Bucks,—Bloods,— Snitchers,—Choice Spirits.

2. An informer, peacher; = snitch sb. 3.

2. The nose. 01700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Snite his Snitch, Wipe his Nose, or give him a good Flap on the Face. 1895 Rye E. Angl. Gloss. 204 Pull her snitch for her. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 3 July 2/1 As the.. egg.. broke on the ‘snitch’ of the Socialist candidate.

3. An informer; one who turns King’s or Queen’s evidence. In the phr. to turn snitch. 1785 in Grose Diet. Vulgar T. ci8oo in Byron Juan xi. xix. Note 14, She’ll surely turn snitch for the forty—That her Jack may be regular weight. 1906 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 589 He employs that phenomenon of despicability.. in Western parlance called a snitch . . to work up the lawsuit. 1930 Forum Dec. 375/1 A police informer in New York, for instance, is a stool or snitch. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 189 The tell tale is.. a sly, a snitch or snitcher (common, especially in the Midlands). 1965 J. Wainwright Death in Sleeping City 142 The ‘snitches’ and the ‘grassers’ and the ‘stoolpigeons’ whispered out of the corner of their mouths, and money changed hands. 1979 S. Rifkin McQuaid in August ix. 97 Lopez was an informant.. a paragon among snitches.

4. Phr. to have (or get) a snitch on (someone): to have a grudge against or ‘down’ on; to dislike. N.Z. slang. 1943 J. A. W. Bennett in Amer. Speech XVIII. 90 A person [in New Zealand] complaining of another’s ill-will might also say, ‘He’s got a proper snitch on me’—obviously a variant of ‘to snitch upon’ (to inform against). 1948 Landfall II. 109 These jokers didn’t understand the snitch Myers had on you, seemed to think it was right that Myers should always be tormenting you. 1953 O. E. Middleton Short Stories 28 He wasn’t a man to get a snitch on his neighbours because of a bit of bad luck and it wasn’t long before he was his own self again. 1959 G. Slatter Gun in my Hand viii. 91 Got a snitch on me and put me in crook with the boss.

5. Comb., as snitch-rag slang, a handkerchief. 1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling borrow your snitch-rag, Gemini?

1801 Sporting Mag. XIX. 88 Nadin asked him, how he knew the man had snitched him?

Wood 1. i. 25 Can I

snitch (snitf), v. [Of obscure origin: cf. prec.] 1. a. intr. To inform upon or (now usu.) on a person; to peach, turn informer. Also, to reveal or give information to (someone), slang. 1801 Sporting Mag. XIX. 88 A man who is now in Chester Gaol and has been snitching about me. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet, s.v., To impeach or betray your accomplices, is termed snitching upon them. 1839 A. Somerville Hist. Brit. Leg. v. 105 How one of these had frequently threatened to snitch—or tell who stole the bridle. 1867 Crim. Chronol. York Castle 189 Wright,.. finding that Norburn had been snitching, also made a confession. 1910 ‘O. Henry’ Whirligigs xiii. 157 Say, don’t snitch to the tenants about this, will yer? 1926 J. Black You cant Win xix. 279 If I get a job some copper will snitch on me to my boss. 1933 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 26 Jan. 1/8 He did it, he said, because she ‘snitched’ on him when he played truant from school. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? v. 83, I felt a little guilty about snitching on my neighbor. 1957 A. Miller View from Bridge 1. 33 The family had an uncle that

1827 Examiner 796/2 He had committed hundreds of robberies, but would not confess them, as it might implicate other parties, and he scorned to be a snitcher. 1859 in Slang Diet. 97. 1862 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds 415 Ah nivver wor a snitcher.

3. pi. Strings used by policemen in place of handcuffs. Sc. 1864 Slang Diet. 238 In Scotland Snitchers mean hand¬ cuffs. 1887 Service Life Dr. Duguid xxvi. 168 The polisman never had the snitchers in his pooch.

snite (snait), sb.1 Now dial. Forms: 1, 6- snite, 4-7 (8) snyte, 5 snyghte, snyhte, sny3t, 6-7 snight. [OE. snite (also in comb, wudusnite), apparently not represented in any of the cognate languages.] 1. = snipe sb. 1. Some distinction between snite and snipe is implied in the following entries in MS. Cott. Nero A. vi. (early 15th cent.):—fol. 165 v, Plouer, snytys, snypys, larkys; fol. 177 r, Ploueres, snytes, quaylys, snypys. C725 Corpus Gloss. A 138 Acegia, snite. c 1000 TElfric Voc. in Wr.-Wulcker 132 Aceta, snite, uel wudecocc. c 1325 [see snipe sb. 1]. 1363 in Riley Memorials London (1868) 312 A snyte, i£d. 1382 Wyclif Isaiah xxxiv. 11 The snyte [L. ibis] and the crowe dwelle shul in it. a 1400 Sqr. lowe Degre 323 With deynty meates that were dere;.. Both storkes and snytes ther were also, c 1400 Lydg. Churl & Bird in Minor P. (Percy Soc.) 192 A downghille doke [is to thee] as deynte as a snyghte. 1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) Cvb/2 A shamfull rable.. presumeth to indite, Though they have scantly the cunning of a snite. 1581 J. Bell Haddon s Atisw. Osorius 374 Ill may the Snight the Woodcock twight for his long bill. 1604 Drayton Owle 947 The witlesse Woodcocke, and his Neighbour Snite. 1688 Phil. Trans. XVII. 713 These passages are also in the Heads of Snites. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. lix. (1737) 244 Snytes... ThistleFinches. 1837- in Devon and Cornwall glossaries, etc. 1893 Baring-Gould Mrs. Curgenven xlix, Widgeon, nor wild goose, hearn, and snite.

fb. Applied to species of birds resembling the snipe. Obs. 1694 Martens' Voy. Spitzbergen in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. 11. 72 This Snite, which is also called the Strand-runner. ., is no bigger than a Lark.

f2. As a term of abuse. Obs.

Cf. snipe sb. 3.

1653 Urquhart Rabelais 1. liv, Here enter not vile bigots, hypocrites, Externally devoted Apes, base snites. 3. attrib., as fsnyte-knave, a jack-snipe (cf.

snipe-knave s.v. SNIPE sb. 8). 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Un, Deux pour vn, the Snyte-knaue; tearmed so, because two of them are worth but one good Snyte.

f snite, sb.2 Obs. —1 Also snyt. [Cf. WFris. snjit, snitte a spit or sprinkling of rain.] (See quot.) snof snuffing, snuffling, cold in the head, scent (of a thing), G. schnuff scent, nose, LG. snuff nose, snout; also MDu. snuuf, snuyf, LG. snuf snuffing, snuffles.] 1.

An

(or

the)

act

of snuffing,

esp.

as

an

expression of contempt or disdain. I57° Dee Math. Pref. 10 Other (perchaunce) with a proud snuffe will disdain this litle. 1593 Abp. Bancroft Daungerous Positions iv. iii. 140 These points are.. passed ouer with a snuffe, and with great disdaine. 1629 Gaule Holy Madnesse 198 Nought but a glance, a puffe, a snuffe, a frown. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias iv. viii. f 9 That hound-like snuff at an ill construction, with which the devil has armed the noses of the most charitable. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 178 Ere a horrible reek.. Set the dogs on the snuff. 1849 C. Bronte Shirley viii, His nostrils emitted a derisive and defiant snuff. 1866 [see snivel sb. 4]. b. A persistent snuffling; a disease in sheep. 01585 Montgomerie Fly ting 308 The snuff and the snoire, the chaud-peece, the chanker. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 13 June 10/2 A sheep affected soon becomes thin and languid, and its painful snuffling has led farmers to call the disease ‘snufF. f2. A puff, blast. Obs. 1613 J. Davies (Heref.) Muse's Tears Wks. (Grosart) I. 15/1 Then, let Fates Snuffes and Puffes as winds of Grace, Serene the Heauen of your Maiestick Face. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 439 Though it lye long in the moulds by reason of cold snuffes of weather. 3. Smell, odour, scent. 1763 Stukeley Palseogr. Sacr. 93 The immortal, the eternal,.. wants not the snuff of mortal incense, for his, but for our own sakes. 1844 Hood The Turtles 34 All whiffs, and sniffs, and puffs, and snuffs. From metals, minerals, and dyewood stuffs. 4. An inhalation, a sniff, of something. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie lxxv, Take a snuff of caller air on the brow of the hill. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. 151 One snuff of anything disagreeable being.. sufficient to put an end to all her earthly trials. snuff (snAf), sb.3

[prob. ad. Du. and Flem. snuf

or snuif (VfFris. snuf) in the same sense, app. an abbreviation of snuiftabak (cf. LG. snuvtobak, G.

schnupftabak,

for

which

Swiss

dial,

has

schnupf, schnopf): cf. prec. and SNUFF v.3] 1. a. A preparation of powdered tobacco for inhaling through the nostrils (in the Southern United States, usually taken orally). The practice of taking snuff appears to have become fashionable about 1680, but prevailed earlier in Ireland and Scotland (see smutchin and sneezing vbl. sb. 2 b). 1683 Lond. Gaz. No. 1800/4 James Norcock, Snuffmaker and Perfumer,.. sells all sorts of Snuffs, Spanish and Italian. 1703 Ibid. No. 3963/3 Tobacco at 2d. per lb. Snuff 4d. 2q. per lb. 1724 Swift Reasons agst. Exam. Drugs Wks. 1755 III. 1. 127 The makers of snuff, who.. employ by far the greatest number of hands of any manufacture of the kingdom. 1796 Mme. D’Arblay Camilla III. 142 She perceived him, a few yards off, taking a pinch of snuff. 1815 Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) I. 307 Their snuff is a dry and fine powder like Scotch snuff. 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, He took snuff with everybody. 1849 [see dip v. 5]. 1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 23 Ercole takes snuff when he is not smoking. 1891 M. E. Ryan Pagan of Alleghanies 105 [Does] your deity of the lower world.. chew snuff? 1907 Dialect Notes III. 230 Dip (snuff), v.t., to smear snuff on the gums with a brush made by chewing the end of a small stick. 1913 [see dip v. 5]. 1951 W. Faulkner Knight's Gambit 87 We watched him take . . a tin of snuff and tilt a measure of it into the lid and then into his lower lip, tapping the final grain from the lid with .. deliberation. transf. 1709 Brit. Apollo No. 4. 4/2 A Most Excellent Cephalick Water, or Liquid Snuff. fig. 1719 D’Urfey Pills V. 90 A Wench .. Gave Snuff to me, Out of her Placket box. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell 3rd in. xix. 3 Sometimes the poor are damned indeed To take.. Cobbett’s snuff, revenge. b. Any powder used like snuff, esp. for medical purposes; a sternutatory or errhine. rare. 1861 S. Thomson Wild FI. in. (ed. 4) 306 Of one, the sneeze-wort yarrow (Achillea ptarmica), the leaves.. are used as a snuff in head affections. c. The colour of snuff. Also attrib. or as adj. 1951 [see MUSTARD sb. i fj. 1974 Times 26 Nov. 19/6 Colour combinations .. snuff/ice, blue/white. 2. a. A pinch of snuff. [So WFlem. snuuf.] 17.. Ramsay Vision xxi. Poems 1877 I. 127 Gallus sneerd and tuke a snuff. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi. Prol., I will enrich . . thy nose with a snuff from my mull. 1863 A. H. Charteris Life Robertson x. 308 A snuff between his finger and thumb which he had no time to take. 1897 Pryde Queer Folk Fife 87 In his excitement he took four or five snuffs consecutively. b. Used to denote something of small value. 1809 Donaldson Poems 72 My memory, man, ’s no worth a snuff. 1844 W. Cross Disruption xviii, I wadna gie a snuff for ony minister but a parish minister. 1881 W. Walker in Edwards Mod. Sc. Poets Ser. III. 106 They’ll care nae a snuff though grim poverty shake ye. c. A pinch, a very small quantity, of something. 1842 J. Aiton Domest. Econ. 258 Put a snuff of the carbonate of soda into the broth pot when it first comes to

boil. 1883 Cassell's Bk. Sports & Pastimes 50 A snuff of sand, or tuft of grass, to give the requisite elevation.

3. In colloquial phrases: a. up to snuff, knowing, sharp, not easily deceived; up to the required or usual standard, up to scratch. Also attrib. 1811 Poole Hamlet Trav. 11. i, He knows well enough The game we're after: Zooks, he’s up to snuff. 1823 Egan Grose’s Diet. Vulg. T. s.v. Up, Up to snuff, and a pinch above it. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxi. An up-to-snuff old vagabond. 1879 Howells L. Aroostook xxii, You American ladies are so—up to snuff, as you say. 1906 J. London Let. 31 May (1966) 204 As usual, your criticisms are right up to snuff. 1931 Punch 4 Nov. 495/2 Now Romney painted well enough, And Reynolds too, they say, And Gainsborough’s things are up to snuff, And Lawrence had his day. 1943 E. B. White Let. 20 Mar. (1976) 239 The Central Park piece.. is up to snuff or better. 1944 R. Lehmann Ballad & Source 204 Madame Jardine says you’re to go and see her for a few minutes. Only a few to-day. She’s not quite up to snuff. 1974 S. Ellin Stronghold 33 He did not.. go as far as some Quakers by convincement and suggest that birthright Quakers are not quite up to snuff. 1982 N. & Q. Feb. 83/1 The publisher’s rejection of such received proceedings reflects, I suppose, their commitment to a databank, annual slices of which will suffice to bring future editions of their guides up to snuff.

b. to beat to snuff, to beat utterly. 1819 Blackw. Mag. V. 638 All other Colleges, thou beat’st to snuff.

c. in high snuff, in high feather; elated. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xvi, The Sandwich-Islanders rode down, and were in ‘high snufT.

d. to give (one) snuff, to deal sharply or severely with; to punish. 1890 [R. C. Lehmann] Harry Fludyer 30 He rather gave me snuff about my extravagance. 1896 Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign vii, Then with eager haste.. he dashed up the rocks to 'give the nigger snufT.

4. attrib. and Comb., as snuff-bottle, -colour, hand, -handkerchief, -mundungus, -rasp, -shop, -spoon, -stain, -stick, -work-, obj. and obj. gen., as snuff-grinder, -maker, -manufacturer, -merchant, -taker, -taking, -using; instrumental and parasynthetic, as snuff-clad, -headed, -stained; similative, as snuff-brown. Also SNUFF-BOX, -COLOURED, etc. 1850 Spirit of Times 16 Mar. 41/3 Did you see.. that old *snuff-bottle? 1884 Gilmour Mongols 90 After snuff bottles had been exchanged. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi. Prol., A new coat (*snuff-brown, and with metal buttons). 1857 Livingstone Trav. xvii. 319 He had on a snuff-brown coat. 1790 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Elegy to Apollo Wks. 1812 II. 278 In proud disdain their *snuff-clad noses rise. 1698 Phil. Trans. XX. 461 Down of a dark yellowish *Snuff-Colour. 1883 T. Hardy in Longman's Mag. July 256 Her dress and that of the children were mostly of faded snuff-colour. 1763 Brit. Mag. July 337/1 He next took up salt with the finger and thumb of his ’"snuff hand. 1695 Motteux tr. St. Oloti's Morocco 65 His Face muffled up in a *Snuff-Handkerchief, of a dirty hue. [1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 4 May, I have been a mighty handkerchief-monger, and have bought abundance of snuff ones since I have left off taking snuff.] 1849 Zoologist VII. 2393 The pochard is a “"snuff-headed wigeon’. 1683 Lond. Gaz. No. 1800/4 *Snuffmaker and Perfumer. 1764 Ann. Reg. 108 A dreadful fire broke out in the workshop of a snuff-maker. 1822 (title), The British Perfumer, ’"Snuff-Manufacturer, and Colourman’s Guide. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midi, xxxv, My worthy *snuff-merchant. 1678 Butler Hud. 111. ii. 1006 After h’had ministred a Dose Of ’"Snuff-Mundungus, to his Nose. 1711 Swift Wks. (1824) II. 407 A fine *snuff-rasp of ivory. 1859 Fairholt Tobacco (1876) 244 A similar snuff-rasp to this. 1767 S. Paterson Another Trav. I. 192, I had recruited myself at one of the best *snuff-shops in Bruges. 1802 Edin. Rev. I. 109 Doomed to quiet repose in a snuff-shop. 1892 Rider Haggard Nada xx. 166 Watching the two of them over the edge of my ’"snuff-spoon. 1914 Joyce Dubliners 13 The red handkerchief,.. blackened .. with the ’"snuff-stains of a week. 1791 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Magpie & Robin Wks. 1812 11.473 With *snuff-stain’d neckcloth. 1879 Tourgee Fool's Err. (1883) 43 She had a *snuff-stick in her mouth. 1710 Tatler No. 141 [f6 The Whetter is obliged to refresh himself every moment with a liquor, as the ’"Snuff-taker with a powder. 1857 E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. Scot. Life & C. iii, The inveterate snuff-taker. 1775 Ash, * Snuff-taking, the act or practice of taking snuff, a 1797 in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 565 Allowing 16 hours to a snuff-taking day. 1801 Southey Lett. (1856) I. 174 As I have written a reasoning defence of snuff-taking. 1813 Examiner 17 May 318/1 The reader has heard of his inordinate snuff-takings. 1886 Pall Mall G. 10 Aug. 11 /3 ’"Snuff-using.. is on the decline. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs (1821) 259 No Tobacco Stalks or ’"Snuff-work allowed to be imported on penalty of forfeiture.

5. Special combs.: snuff-bean, the tonkabean, used for scenting snuff; one of these kept in a snuff-box for this purpose; snuff-dipper U.S. (see quot. 1859); also snuff-dip ping] snuff-gourd, a bottle gourd, the dried shell of the fruit of Lagenaria siceraria, a white-flowered annual vine; = snuff-box gourd s.v. snuff-box 3; snuffman, a dealer in snuff; snuff-paper (in contemptuous use), bank-notes; snuff-swab U.S. (see quot.). 1898 in Eng. Dial. Diet, s.v., In the corner o’ his mull there aye lay buried a scentit *snuff-bean. 1845 T. J. Green Texian Exped. x. 137 We believe the most filthy of all practices is that of your.. ‘’"snuff-dippers’. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2) 424 Snuff-dipper, one who makes a practice of chewing snuff. 1896 Amer. Missionary Oct. 324 One sister who had been a snuff-dipper for more than twenty years, i860 E. M. Cowell Jrnl. 22 Apr. in M. W. Disher Cowells in Amer. (1934) 65 The ladies have a habit.., “"snuff dipping’ which is openly practised in the South, and

SNUFF privately indulged in, in the North. 1896 Amer. Missionary Oct. 324 The vile habit of snuff-dipping. 1901 Kipling Kim iv. 99 The lama dipped deep into his *snuff-gourd. 1921 United Free Church Missionary Rec. June 190/2 Her dress consists simply of a ragged apron of goatskin, and a snuffgourd hung round her neck. 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6195/7 Abraham Carcas,.. ’"Snuffman. 1852 Savage R. Medlicott iii. i, The shop of a snuffman of the present day. 1826 Scott Mai. Malagr. iii. 8 The want of gold, to supply the place of that ’"snuff-paper of yours. 1872 De Verb Americanisms 63 The dipping-stick is also called ""snuff-swab.

snufT, int. Sc. = stuff int. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. 11. i, Spin! Snuff! — Gae break your wheel. 1807-10 R. Tannahill Poems (1846) 21 Toot, snuff! ’bout news ye needna be sae thrang.

snuff (snAf), v.1 Also 5-6 snoffe, 6-7 snuffe. [f. snuff sb.1 LG. snuppen, G. schnuppen, are used as in sense 1.] 1. a. trans. To free (a candle, wick, etc.) from the snuff, by pinching or cutting this off, or removing it with a special instrument. c 1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 367 To lyghte and quenche the tapers and candles, and snoffe them. 1465 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 492 Item, the same day my master bowt a snoffer to snoffe wyth candeles. 1530 Palsgr. 724/1 Snoffe the candell, I can nat se to write els. 1573 R. Lever in Luckombe Hist. Print. (1771) iii The first lighteth the candle.. and the second doth but snuff it. 1652 N. Culverwel Lt. Nature 1. ii. (1661) 9 Some unskilful ones, while they go about to snuff the Candle,.. put it out. 1691 T. Birch Life Boyle B.’s Wks. 1772 I. p. cxxxiv, When the candles are newly snuffed and so the light increased. 1753 Hanway Trav. iii. xxxiii. (1762) I. 151 In the middle of the room, .was one large wax-candle; which they snuffed with scissers. 1793 Phil. Trans. LXXXIV. 100 The candle being occasionally snuffed when it appeared to stand in need of it. 1815 j Smith Panorama Sci. Art II. 316 The candle or lamp.. should have a thick wick, which should be snuffed clean. 1841 Dickens Barn. Rudge x, John .. placed a pair of .. candlesticks on the table, and snuffed the lights they held. 1887 T. A. Trollope What I remember I. i. 26 Two tallow candles, requiring to be snuffed by snuffers lying in a little plated tray. absol. 1637 Heywood Pleas. Dial. Wks. 1874 VI. 321 To cleare the taper, if you snuffe too deepe, Out goes the light.

b. fig. To make clearer or brighter; to purge. 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 355 It shall not be ouermuch .. euerie weeke .. once or twice to purge and snuffe the soule. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 348 The ministers of Christ must be.. throughly snuffed from all affections of the flesh. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 1. v. 22 By exact definitions first snuffed, and purged from ambiguity. a 1715 Halifax On C'tess Dowager of*** 5 Mopsa .. Sets up for charming, in her fading days; Snuffs her dim eyes to give one parting blow.

c. To suppress temporarily, rare_1. 1650 Fuller Pisgah 1. x. 33 The Babylonish captivity did onely snuffe Judah for seventy years.

d. slang. = sense 2d below. 1973 C. Alverson Fighting Back xxv. 129 Wait’ll you see what you’ve got when Speranza finds out that you put Gino in a position to get snuffed. 1976 F. Warner Killing Time 1. i. 7 They had to sneak over and come back with a prisoner, and most got snuffed themselves. 1978 T. Gifford Glendower Legacy (1979) 158 We should have snuffed this little shit when we had the chance.

2. With out: fa. To remove by snuffing. Obs. C1430 Wycliffite Bible Exod. xxv. 38 Where tho thingis, that ben snottid [v.r. snuffid] out, ben quenchid.

b. To extinguish, put out; to cause to go out or disappear from sight. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet. 11, To snuff out the Candle. 1818 Byron Juan xi. lx, ’Tis strange the mind, that fiery particle, Should let itself be snuff’d out by an article. 1841 Dickens Barn. Rudge iii, Slight yellow specks, that seemed to be rapidly snuffed out one by one. 1890 Science-Gossip XXVI. 271 During these occupations the light of the star is instantaneously snuffed out, as it were, when overtaken by the moon’s limb.

c. To eclipse, efface, wipe out; to terminate (life). 1852 Hawker Diary (1893) II. 340, I hope to see the Minie snuffed out, no matter by whom. 1873 C. M. Davies Unorthodox London I. 46 At first the attempt was made to ‘snuff out’ ‘The Sling and the Stone’. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. (1892) II. v. 149 A silly coxcombry to be.. snuffed out by the worldly cynicism of the new generation. 1929 Hall & Niles One Man's War iii. 25 We.. knew .. that many lives would be snuffed out ere long. 1981 Telegraph (Brisbane) 23 Jan. 4/5 A prosecution witness today admitted she was content that the life of the man known as ‘Mr Asia’ should be snuffed out.

d. slang. To kill, to murder. 1932 E. Wallace When Gangs came to London xxviii. 285 Eddie would have snuffed out Cora. 1973 Philadelphia Inquirer 7 Oct. (Today Suppl.) 12/1 ‘You’re saying you’re going to snuff that guy out before you know?’.. ‘The people who are murdered didn’t get an equal chance.’ 1980 E. Behr Getting Even xv. 174 If I cause too much embarrassment, they’ll just snuff me out.

3. a. intr. To die. slang or colloq. Also const. out. 1865 Slang Diet. 239 Snuff out, to die. 1895 A. C. Trav. N. Queensland xxi. 186 The old man was very feeble, and looked like snuffing out before he had completed his story. 1916 C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke v. 43 They think she’s snuffed, an’ plant ’er in ’er tomb. Bicknell

b. With it: = prec. slang. 1885 Sims Rogues & Vagabonds iv. 21 Josh Heckett isn’t going to snuff it just for a crack on the head. 1896 Daily News 26 Mar. 6/4, I have the pleasure to inform you that your mother-in-law snuffed it.

SNUFF snuff (snAf), v.2 Also 6 snoffe, 6-7 snuffe. [prob. ad.

MDu.

snoffen,

snuffen

to

snuffle,

etc.,

corresponding to G. dial, schnuffen, fschniiffen (cf. also LG. and MHG. snufen, G. schnaufen), either of imitative origin, or related to MDu. snuven, etc.: see SNUVE v.

In sense 8 perhaps

directly from snuff s6.3] 1.

trans.

SNUFFING

882

1. To draw up or in through the

nostrils by the action of inhalation. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters D iv, The same water snuffed upward in the nose is very good to puryfye the hede. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 101 Snuffinge vp into theyr nosethryls the pouder. 1579 E. K. Gloss. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Feb. 75 Venteth, snuffeth in the wind. 1608 D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 59 b, For euen so likewise may those little Atomies be snuft vp with the ayre. 1632 tr. Bruel's Praxis Med. 151 We will make a powder, .and snuffe this vp into the nose. 1697 Phil. Trans. XIX. 681 The Juice of this Weed being snuft up the Nose, is good to make one sneeze. 1746 Berkeley Sec. Let. Tar-water §15 Tar-water hath been snuffed up the nostrils. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia ix. i, Then I take a walk.. and snuff in a little fresh country air. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxviii, Snuffing up his breath through his nose. 1872 Huxley Physiol, viii. 197 When we wish to perceive a faint odour more distinctly, we sniff, or snuff up the air. fig- 1629 H. Burton Truth's Triumph 224 These Pontificians . . snuffing vp the winde of vaine opinions. 1639 G. Daniel Vervic. 485 Like to those Who put on Sullen lookes, and grumble short, Who Snuffe poore Women vp, with a hot Nose. 2. To inhale, draw up, into or through the nostrils. to snuff pepper: see pepper sb. 4 b. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health §264 The pouder of Peper.. snuft or blowen into the nose doth make quycke sternutacions. 1615 Rowlands Melancholie Knt. 13 Snuffe some into your nostrils till you neese. 1642 H. More Song of Soul in. 1. xxix, The nostrills snuff perfumed wind. 1726 Pope Odyss. xix. 508 The pack impatient snuff the tainted gale. 1774 Nicholls in Corresp. w. Gray (1843) 175 There I snuffed once more the fragrance of that air. 1814 Scott Wav. xxxviii, The leading Highlander snuffed the wind like a setting spaniel. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. 111. iv. 239 The Persian merchants stood and snuffed the scent Of frankincense. fig. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby ix. vi. 325 They snuffed the factious air, and felt the coming storm. b. To draw out by snuffing. rare~x. 1648 Hexham ii, Snuyven, ofte snuffen, to Snuffe out the Snot or Filth out of ones Nose. |3. To clear (the nose) by inhalation. Obs. 1561 Hollybush Horn. Apoth. 3 If he can not snoffe his nose. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais 1. xx, Master Janotus with his Adherents vowed never to blow or snuffe their noses, until judgement were given. 4. To detect, perceive, or anticipate, by inhaling the odour of. Also freq. jig. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 1. 519 The Cow .. from afar can find The Change of Heav’n, and snuffs it in the Wind. a 1763 Shenstone Elegies xxii. 82 E’en now the villain snuffs his wonted prey. 1790 P. Francis in Four C. Eng. Lett. (1880) 307, I snuff it [i.e. mischief] in the wind. I taste it already. 1810 Southey Kehama vi. i. What if the hungry tiger.. Should snuff his banquet nigh? 1830 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) I. 287 The high church and the tories snuff the possibility of another revolutionary war. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ii. 41 The old bull snuffed danger in the wind. 5. To smell at, examine by smelling. 1859 Brown Rab & Fr. § 11 He [a dog].. snuffed him all over. 1874 Blackie Self Cult. 29 Like the racing of some little dog about the moor, snuffing everything and catching nothing. 1888 T. Frost Country Journalist iii. 34 He observed a dog .. snuff the earth at the edge of the swampy ground. II . intr. 6. To draw air, etc., into the nostrils by an effort of inhalation; to do this in order to smell something. Also const, after, at. a. 1530 Palsgr. 724/1, I snoffe, as a man doth, or a horse, je reniffte. Herke how he snoffeth. 1535 Coverdale Jer. ii. 23 Like a wilde Asse.. that snoffeth and bloweth. fi. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 163 Than sir Isembarte.. snuffed in the nose, and bette togyder his teth. 1553 Respublica in. iv. 775 Come the devill, yf hym luste, staring and snuffing. 1614 B. Jonson Bart. Fair 11. v, Go, snuffe after your brothers bitch. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal 1. (Arb.) 43 So Boar and Sow, when any storm is nigh, Snuff up, and smell it gath’ring in the Skie. 01720 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) II. vn. 61 But the bull snuffing, went a little back, a 1761 Cawthorne Antiquarians 265 Quick to his side he flies amain, And peeps, and snuffs, and peeps again. 1826 Scott Woodst. iii, The good hound .. continued to snuff around Joseph Tomkins’s cloak. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ix. 389 He elevated head and tail, snuffed, trotted, and snorted. 1879 Beerbohm Patagonia iv. 61, I woke, roused by some horse which .. was snuffing at me curiously. b. Const, up one’s nose. 1714 in Addison Lover No. 10, He will also snuff up his nose and spit it out as he eats. 1741 Chesterf. Lett. 25 July, Tricks such as snuffing up his nose. 1756 C. Smart tr. Horace, Sat. 11. vii. (1826) II. 161, I am easily seduced by my appetite; I snuff up my nose at a savoury smell. 7. To express scorn, disdain, or contempt by snuffing; to sniff.

Freq.

const, at a thing or

person. Now rare or Obs. (a) 1544 Phaer Bk. Childr. (1553) Aij, Suche.. will doo nothinge but detract and iudge other, snuffing at all that offendeth the noses. 1575 Gascoigne Glasse of Govt. Wks. 1910 II. 69 That one being ignorant of that others punishment, shall never grudge or snuffe at the same. 1643 Lismore Papers Ser. 11. (1888) V. 139 Being snuffed at by some great ones, none of the rest wold signe. 1677 Gilpin Demonol. Sacra (1867) 107 Satan first presented these services as a wearisome burden, then they snuffed at them.

(b) 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. De Arte Poet. Avij, The noble, honorable rytche.. will snuffe, and take it peper in the nose. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 61/2 Curssed shall he be, that shal dare to snuffe against his creator. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 332 When the word of God is preached,.. many worldlings begin by and by to snuffe. 1674 Bunyan Christ. Behaviour Wks. 1852 II. 568 It argueth pride when .. thou snuffest and givest way to thy spirit to be peevish. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias xn. vi. (Rtldg.) 431 If any of my acquaintance should snuff or snigger when they call me Don.

8. To inhale powdered tobacco; to take snuff. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iii. ii. Prol., The auld anes think it best.. to .. Snuff, crack, and take their rest. 1826 Disraeli V. Grey v. ii, ‘Do you snuff?’ and here he extended to Vivian a gold box. 1858 E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. Scot. Life & Char, v, I hope you do not let him snuff so much as he did. 1881 Du Chaillu Land Midnight Sun II. 92 The men and women smoked and snuffed a great deal.

snuff, vfi Cant. [f. snuff sb.3 1.] intr. To blind (a shopkeeper) with snuff in order to steal. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Diet. s.v. Snuffing.

snuff, v.4 techn. [Of obscure origin.] trans. To smooth (leather) in the process of currying. 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather 429 The leather is then set out either by machine or hand, and hung to dry, and when dry .. is taken down and snuffed with a buffing slicker.

'snuff-box. [snuff sb.3 i.] 1. a. A box for holding snuff, usually small enough to be carried in the pocket. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet. ii, A Snuff-box, une Tabatiere. 1707 Refl. upon Ridicule 207 The Snuff-boxes she has in Pockets, and the Profusion she makes of Snuff. 1711 ‘J. Distaff’ Char. Don Sacheverellio 4, I have heard the Lid of a Beau’s Snuff-Box crack in his Pocket. 1786 Mme. D’Arblay Diary 25 July, She had brought the Queen’s snuff-box, to be filled with some snuff. 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, Colonel Bulder and Sir Thomas Clubber exchanged snuff-boxes. 1846 McCulloch Brit. Empire (1854) I. 293 Those beautifully jointed and varnished wooden snuff¬ boxes, long in universal demand. 1882 Sergt, Ballantine Exper. xxiii. 221 The owner of the snuff-box is the proprietor of the hall.

b. musical snuff-box, one fitted mechanism capable of playing tunes.

with

1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ix. Passion & Princ. ix. III. 139 It was actually handed round the room like a musical snuff-box, or any other indifferent trinket. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour 1, The child, who had been wound up like a musical snuff-box, then went off as follows. 1881 Grove's Diet. Music III. 542.

c. A puff-ball or similar fungus; usually devils' snuff-box (see devil sb. 25 c.). 1883- in Hampshire and Somerset glossaries.

2. slang. The nose. 1829 P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 251 He came up with a frown .. and, without the slightest ceremony, opened with a fillip on the Gipsy’s snuff-box. 1853 4C. Bede’ Verdant Green 1. xvi, There’s a crack on your snuff-box.

3. attrib. and Comb., as snuff-box maker, painting, wright; snuff-box bean, a species of sea-bean used medicinally, or the plant producing this; snuff-box gourd, a species of Lagenaria. 1714 Lond. Gaz. No. 5268/10 Snuff-box-maker. 1765 H. Lett. (1840) V. 68 Snuff-box-wrights, milliners, &c. 1884 Athenaeum 9 Aug. 183/3 After a trial of snuff-box painting at Mauchline, Leitch came to London. 1884 De Candolle's Orig. Cultivated PL 245 Other less common varieties have a flattened, very small fruit, like the snuff-box gourd. Walpole

Hence 'snuff-boxer, a seller of snuff-boxes. a 1871 De Morgan Budget Parad. (1872) 153 Fifty years ago a fashionable snuff-boxer would be under inducement .. to have a stock with very objectionable pictures.

snuff-coloured, a. [snuffs^.3 i.] Of the colour of snuff; brown, brownish. Cf. snuff-colour s.v. snuff sb.3 4. 1787 Latham Suppl. Gen. Syn. Birds I. 129 Snuffcoloured Creeper... The head, neck, and back, are of a deep cinnamon, or snuff-colour. 1803 Syd. Smith Delphine Wks. 1859 I. 45 A grave old gentleman, in a peruke and snuffcoloured clothes, i860 All Year Round No. 65. 351 A man in a high and long snuff-coloured coat. 1892 E. Reeves Homew. Bound 80 Dressed in deep snuff-coloured trousers and loose blouse or coat.

snuff-dish, [snuff sb.1 1.] A dish to hold the snuff of candles or lamps; a snuffer-tray. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Exod. xxxvii. 23 And he made for it seuen lampes with ye snuffers, & snufdishes thereof of pure gold. 1611-Exod. xxv. 38 And the tongs thereof, and the snuffe dishes therof shalbe of pure gold. 1667 Pepys Diary 2 Feb., This night comes home my new silver snuffe-dish, which I do give myself for my closet. 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4379/4 One Pair of Snuffers and Snuff Dish. 1800 Mar. Edgeworth Parent's Assist. (1831) II. 207, I was hunting for the snuff-dish; as I knew it must be for candles.

snuffer1 ('snAf3(r)). Also 5-6 snoffer. [f. snuff v.1] 1. a. An instrument used for snuffing, or snuffing out, candles, etc. In later use only in plur. form (also a pair of snuffers). a. 1465 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 492 Item, the same day my master bowt a snoffer to snoffe wyth candeles. 1517-8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 296 Paid .. for Snoffers of plate for to put owte the tapurs. 1535 Coverdale Exod. xxv. 38 Snoffers and out quenchers of pure golde. 1574 Churchw. Acc. St. Edmund's, Sarum (Wilts. Rec. Soc.) 82 The makynge of the Snoffer to serve candelles in the churche.

/9. 1538 Elyot, Emunctorium, an instrumente [etc.].., a snuffer. 1596 Harington Metam. Ajax (1814) 106 Like to the snuffers or extinguishers wherewith we put out a candle. 1656 W. Du Gard tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Uni. 225 The snuffers ready at hand, to snuff the wick ever and anon. 1687 Chernock in Magd. Coll. (O.H.S.) 232 Why did you tear the Buttery book with the snuffers? 1747 Franklin Lett. Wks. 1887 II. 72 We light candles, just blown out, by drawing a spark among the smoke between the wire and snuffers. 1764 J. Ferguson Lect. iii. 33 To this kind of lever may be reduced several sorts of instruments, such as scissars, pinchers, snuffers, i860 Mayhew Upper Rhine Introd. 3 Here it is that our eyes are still cheered with the sight of a pair of snuffers. 1885 Athenaeum 7 Feb. 189 In [Hogarth’s] ‘Night’ the small man.. is known by the snuffers hanging at his girdle to be a drawer at a tavern. fig. 1630 Lennard tr. Charron's Wisd. 1. Pref. 6 Sounding him to the quick, entring into him with a candle and a snuffer. 1642 Howell For. Trav. (Arb.) 77 If these Lights grow dim, there is a Trienniall Snuffer for them. 1827 Hare Guesses Ser. 1. (1873) 10 A critic should be a pair of snuffers. He is oftener an extinguisher. b. transf. The finger and thumb as used for clearing or wiping the nose. 1843 Marryat M. Violet xxvii, Employing.. the pair of snuffers which natural instinct has supplied him with. 2. One who snuffs candles. (Cf. candlesnuffer 2.) 1611 Cotgr., Moucheur, a snyter, wiper, snuffer. 1722-7 Boyer Diet. Royal 1. s.v. Moucheur, The Snuffer, He that snuffs the Candles at the Play-house. 1761 Churchill Rosciad Poems 1769 I. 14 Then came.. snuffer, sweeper, shifter, soldier, mute. 1762 Foote Orator 1. Wks. 1799 I. 191 What is all this business about here? Snuffer. Can’t say, Sir. 1814 W. Wilson Hist. Dissent. Churches iv. 78 Betty Gray had been a snuffer of candles at the playhouse. 3. attrib. and Comb, (in sense 1), as snuffer(s)box,

-dish,

-handle,

-pan,

-stand,

-tray,

snuffers- maker. 1677 Lond. Gaz. No. 1260/4 Two large silver Candlesticks, and Snuffer Pan. 1686 Ibid. No. 2203/4 A Silver Snuffer-dish and Snuffers chain’d. 1773 Lond. Chron. 7 Sept. 248/3 The following articles were assayed and marked;.. bottle stands, snuffer pans [etc.]. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. 11. i. (1849) 42 He took his cigar out of his mouth, .. trimming it on the edge of the snuffer-tray. 1843 Ainsworth's Mag. III. 180 Spectacle cases and snufferstands. 1844 Civil Eng. & Arch.Jrnl.YW. 130 Moulded per gross, like.. snuffer-dishes, inkstands, metal buttons, and brads! 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, Snuffers'-maker, a manufacturer of metal snuffers. 1898 G. B. Shaw Man of Destiny 203 With a couple of candles alight, and a broad snuffers tray in the other. 1952 B. & T. Hughes Three Centuries of Eng. Domestic Silver v. 82 The upright snuffer stand, with a vertical socket to receive the snuffer box, was a late Charles II innovation. Ibid. 84 An immense amount of ingenuity now began to be lavished upon the ornamentation of snuffer handles, i960 H. Hayward Handbk. Antique Coll. 260/1 Snuffer-tray, oblong or oval tray with or without small feet and scroll and ring handle at side for holding snuffers. 1971 Country Life 10 June 1434/1 A snuffers tray inscribed four years after it was made ‘In Memory of Mrs. Jane Parsons, Oct. nth, 1750’.

snuffer2 ('snAf3(r)). 1. One who snuffs,

[f. snuff t>.2]

or who sniffs disdainfully, a 1610 Babington Wks. (1622) 102 Let all snuffers and brow-beaters of honest men consider this. 1648 Hexham ii, Een Snuyver, a Snuffer. f2. slang or dial. In pi. The nostrils. Obs. a 1658 Cleveland Sing-song xxvi, Sybill so sweet, Whose Cheeks on each side of her Snuffers did meet, As round and as plump as a Codlin. 1703 Thoresby Let. to Ray (E.D.S.), Snuffers, for the nose, or nostrils. 3. One who takes snuff. 1882 J. Snodgrass tr. Heine's Relig. Philos, in Germany 11. 89 You know that he [$c. Frederick the Great] composed French verses,, .was a prodigious snuffer, and believed in nothing but cannon. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 99, I knew an elderly gentleman who was a great snuffer. 1903 R. Lawson in R. Wallace Life & Last Leaves 628 He was an inveterate snuffer. 4. U.S. local. A porpoise. 1829 T. C. Haliburton Hist. & Statist. Acct. NovaScotia II. ix. 404 Fish—Whale Species... Snuffer. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 14 On the Atlantic coast occurs most abundantly the little Harbor Porpoise, Phocaena br achy cion Cope, known to the fishermen as ‘Puffer’, ‘Snuffer’, ‘Snuffing Pig’.

'snuffiness. [f. snuffy a.2] The state of being snuffy. Jamieson Suppl. (1825) gives ‘Snuffiness, sulkiness’. 1834 Carlyle in Froude Hist. First 40 Years (1882) II. 449 A tendency to pot-belly and snuffiness. 1885 Even. Standard 14 Nov. (Cassell), There is a snuffiness, a stuffiness, a general seediness about the former. 1891 Daily News 20 June 5/5 Pocket-handkerchiefs only came in with snuff, and were of coloured foulard to hide snuffiness. snuffing ('snAfir)), vbl. sb.1 [f. 1. a. The action of removing

snuff u.1] the burnt part of

a wick from a candle or lamp. IS9I Percivall Sp. Diet., Despavesadura, the snuffing of a candle. 1638 Quarles Hieroglyphics iv. i. Too much snuffing makes a wast. 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi Koirq xxi. 209 If the lights burn dimme, it is a wildness instead of snuffing to put them out. 1763 W. Lewis Phil. Comm. Arts 28 The Lamps require frequent snuffing and smoke much. 1837 P. Keith Bot. Lex. 360 The candle burns with a clear and brilliant flame, and the wick needs no snuffing. 1884 E. Yates Recoil. I. 44 Tallow-candles, which required snuffing .. about every quarter of an hour. fig. 1641 Milton Reform. 1. Wks. 1851 III. 22 The dim Taper of this Emperours age that had such need of snuffing. b. The burnt part of a wick which is removed with snuffers or otherwise. Also fig.

SNUFFING

883

*574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 357 The bason of gold, wherein they should bestow the snuffings of the lampes. 1652 N. Culverwel Lt. Nature 1. xviii. (1661) 164 The snuffings of Nature, and Reason will never make up a Day. 1789 Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 155 Many dirty things,.. as spiders, cobwebs, snuffings of candles, &c. 1817 Byron Beppo lxxv, These unquench’d snuffings of the mid¬ night taper. attrib. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet. 1, Porte-mouchettes,.. a snuffing pan.

2. The action of putting out or extinguishing. 1881 Nation (N.Y.) XXXII. 442 The snuffing out of the school by a parietary regulation. 1897 Advance (Chicago) 29 July 144/1 The great triumph of Parnell, and his sad, inglorious snuffing-out.

3. With out: dying. 1922 P. A. Rollins Cowboy iii. 55 His demise was sometimes referred to as his ‘snuffing out*.. or ‘passing in his checks’.

snuffing ('snAfir)), vbl. sb.2 [f. snuff v.2] 1. The action of drawing in air through the nose; sniffing, snuffling. 1540 Morysine tr. Fives' lntrod. Wysd. Fiijb, What snuffynge of the nose, what grennynge of the tethe. 1609 W. M. Man in Moon (1849) 11 He .. keepeth such a snuffing and puffing, a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Custom of Country iv. iv, You seem to have a snuffing in your head Sir, A parlous snuffing. 1661 Evelyn Fumifugium (1825) 225 Is there under heaven such coughing and snuffing to be heard, as in the London churches and assemblies of people? i860 Mayne Reid Hunters' Feast xxii, I heerd now and then the snuffin’ o’ the bar. fig• I573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 32 Seeming nether to be ignorant of the contents of them [letters] nor of M. Nuces snuffing at them. .r. sokyngly] and nat ouer hastily. 1434 Misyn Mending Life 119 \>o all we may not gedir our hartis to-gidyr as we wold, 3it may we not leef, bot sokandly stody we to grawe, )?at at pe last Ihesu criste may stabil vs. CI440 Promp. Parv. 463/2 Sokyngly, idem quodesyly. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. (1877) 309 Amannes enemies in battaill, are to be ouercomed .. sokingly one pece after an other. 1555 Watreman Fardle Facions 1. ii. 30 The heate of thaier sokyngly warmeth the cold ground. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxiv. Jf 5 This is also call’d a Soft Pull; because it comes Soft and Soakingly and easily down.

fb. On or with a slow fire. Obs. c 1450 Two Cookery-bks. 72 Lete hit boile sokingly on a faire charcole til hit be ynogh. CI467 Noble Bk. Cookry (1882) 36 Rost it sokingly. 1530 Palsgr. 595/1 It is rosted sokyngly, il est cuit, or rosty tout a loysir. 1598 Epulario B iv, Let it bake sokingly in the ouen till it be throughly baked. 1638 Shirley Mart. Soldier iv. ii, Oh! the Generali Belizarius for my money;.. hee will roast soakingly within and without.

2. So as to saturate or drench. In the 16th cent, quots. sense 1 may be implied. 1540 R. Jonas tr. Roesslins Byrth Mankynde 1. iv. 19 Then with a sponge or other cloth dypped in the fore-sayde bathe, let her sokyngly washe her feet. 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 521 The broth of Rapes is good for the same purpose, [the heels] being washed and bathed therein sokingly. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 100/2 The driving rain, which now poured down more soakingly than ever.

b. fig.

Deeply, profoundly.

G. Harvey Pierce's Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 63 You .. may closely sitt, or sokingly ly at your bookes. 1647 Trapp Comm. Jas. iv. 9 Savouringly and soakingly, with a deep and down right sorrow. 1593

soak-mill, var. of soke-mill: see soke sb.1 4.

soal(e, soall, obs. forms of sole sb. and v. soam (ssum). Sc. and north. Forms: a. 5 soym(e, 5 somme, 6 so(l)me, 8- soam. /3. 5-7 sowme, 6 soume, sovme, 8 sowm. [prob. a. OF. some, somme, soume, saume (med.L. sauma, sagma: see seam sb.2) pack-saddle, horse-load; but the difference in the sense is not accounted for by the existing evidence.] 1. A rope or chain, attaching a draught-horse or other animal to a wagon, plough, etc.; a tracerope. Also attrib. in soam-chain. a. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 180 Hastyly He suld stryk with the ax in twa The hede-soyme. Ibid. 233 He .. hewit in twa the soym in hy. c 1459 Reg. Aberbrothoc (Bann. Cl.) II. 108 Owr bailye.. straik the sommys in twa and hewyt the plwche. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 171 Thair wapynis .. [they] maid thame all in somes to thair pleuche. 1582 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, i860) 46, ij plewes.. with socke and culter, viij draught yokes, viij somes. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 255 The soam of the pair immediately before the hindmost must be fixed.. to the beam. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 103 That inconvenience is prevented in the plough by using a long chain (provincially a soam). 1844 H. Stephens Book of Farm I. 626 The leading horses are thus yoked by a second set of common swingtrees to the end of the soam. Ibid., The middle horse pulling by the soam-chain. /3. 1404 Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 398, ij cultris,.. iij plogherbandis, viij sowmes. 1451 Durh. Depos. (Surtees) 30, iij crokes, j sowme. 1513 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IV. 513 For xx stane of towis to be soumes for the gunnys. 1572 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, 1835) 350, ix sowmes, iiij lewes, iij cowters. 1662 in Pitcairn Crim. Trials III. 603 addokis did draw the plewgh, as oxen; qwickens wer sowmes. 1752 Rec. Elgin (New Spalding Cl.) I. 465 Sowms, thramels, rigwoodies,.. and all other .. work of. . straw, bent or rushes.

2. Coal-mining. (See quots.) Hist. Newcastle II. 681 In low seams, [the coals are drawn] on trams, pulled by two small cords, called soams, by a boy. 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durh. 30 A little boy, who performs his part by pulling the tub by a couple of ropes or traces.. called soams. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-rn. 229 Soams, a pair of cords about three feet in length, by which foals and half marrows pull tubs along the roads. 1789 Brand

xvii. 354 Arsenic is specially liable to cause optic atrophy, usually total, when administered in the form of trivalent benzol-ring compounds such as atoxyl or soamin. 1920 J. M. H. McLeod Dis. Skin vi. iii Arylarsonate Group, which consists of atoxyl or soamin, arsacetin, and orsudan, was at one time much in favour but has fallen into disuse recently.

'soaming, ppl. a. ? error for sowningy sounding. 1642 H. More Song of Soul iii. ii. 31 A dead glasse.. shapes as they passe As well may see; Lutes heare each soaming diapase.

so-and-so, sb., a., and adv.

Also so and so, soandso. A. sb. 1. An indefinite phrase (= ‘such a thing, person, number,’ etc.) used in place of a more lengthy statement, or as a substitute for an expression or name not exactly remembered or not requiring to be explicitly stated. (a) 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. vii. 2 So whylome didst thou to faire Florimel; And so and so to noble Britomart. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic 1. iv. (1840) 108 A deep sleep shall come upon you, and you shall dream so and so. 174° Cheyne Regimen 330 That.. he must trust or believe .. so and so, and do so and so in consequence. 1831 Scott Ct. Robt. xxix, If you persevere in your uncivil intention, I will do so and so. 1880 Muirhead tr. Rules of Ulpian xxiv. § 18 To that man .. let my heir give so-and-so. (b) 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle ii, What’s his name of this, and so-and-so of t’other. 185s Thackeray Newcomes lviii, His London Agents were Messrs. So-and-so. 1883 ‘Annie Thomas’ Mod. Housewife 88 I’ve left most of them for the next time; but the So-and-so’s .. will be here. (0 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle i, In the year one thousand eight hundred and so and so. 1861 T. A. Trollope La Beata I. i. 2 Number so-and-so in such-and-such a street. 1866 Ruskin Crown Wild Olive {1873) 46 Divine service will be ‘performed’.. at so-and-so o’clock.

2. Used euphem. as a term of abuse for a person (occas. a thing). Also, with weakened force, as a term of affection. 1897 W. S. Maugham Liza of Lambeth iii. 42 ‘You little so-and-so!’ said Liza, somewhat inelegantly, making a dash at him. 1931 D. L. Sayers Five Red Herrings xii. 132 Some rigmarole about always finding the so-and-so hanging round his place and he wanted to have it out with him. 1943 Lafayette Alumnus (Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.) Nov. 5/1 Hiya, Joe, you old so-and-so, haven’t seen you since that time, etc., etc. 1945 Penguin New Writing XXVI. 55,1 told ’em all that but they wouldn’t listen, the ignorant soandsos. 1956 B. Goolden At Foot of Hills vi. 124 ‘He felt he oughtn’t to leave his work.’ ‘Poor old so-and-so.’ 1958 ‘A. Bridge’ Portuguese Escape i. 13 The Countess is a hardbaked, publicity-minded old So-and-so, with about as much consideration for other people as a sack of dried beans! 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 107 It’s not much good you staying out if some other so-and-so is going to work it, is there? 1973 Times 28 Nov. 13/5 The set [of an opera] is an absolute so-and-so to walk about on. 1977 B. Pym Quartet in Autumn i. 9 ‘Hoping to get off early, lazy little so-and-so,’ said Norman.

B. adj. 1. Paltry, worthless; indifferent; poor in health or circumstances; so-so. Now dial. 1655-6 Desborough in Thurloe Papers IV. 396, I . . acquainted him that such of his brethren .. were so and so, and desired him .. to advise them tacitly to resign. 1756 Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans I. 119 You see. .that I am your best friend still, though to be sure you are but so and so. Ibid. 131 You know the Doctor died but so and so, as to circumstances. 1883 Almondbury Gloss. 124 So and so, used for so so, paltry, feeble. 2. euphem. as a term of abuse. 1929 E. Wallace Kennedy the Con Man iv. in Red Aces 173 ‘That’s what we pay rates and taxes for, and no so-andso policemen in sight!’ He did not say ‘so-and-so’, but Mr. Reeder thought his profanity was excusable. 1942 B. Himes Lunching at Ritzmore in Black on Black (1973) 177 You would .. resume your discussions .. on defense .. or the F.B.I., or the ‘so and so’ owners of Lockheed, or that (unprintable) Aimee Semple McPherson. 1959 Listener 30 July 186/2 Some [clients] are good, some are indifferent, some are a so-and-so nuisance.

C. adv. 1. To a certain number or degree. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows 1. xxix. 44 Papists .. mumbling over so and so many times the Creed.

2. In a certain manner or way. 1653 W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored To Rdr. 12 Thinking he might have improved it so and so, much better. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 420 Vertue and Vice are nothing else but the Soul so and so affected or modified. 1726 Butler Serm. Rolls Chap. vii. 133 Things were so and so circumstantiated. 1736-Anal. 1. ii, Forewarning us.. that if we act so and so, we shall have such enjoyments.

3. With only moderate prosperity, success, etc. 1844 Ballantine Deanhaugh ii. 41 'How’s the coal trade gaun on?’ 'Just so and so.’

4. As a mere intensive. 1959'A. Fraser’ High Tension v. 60 ‘Why can’t Hugh help then? Or won’t he?’ 'Not so-and-so likely.’

Soanean ('ssuman), a. [f. the name of Sir John

Soamin ('sausmin). Pharm. Also soamin. [f. so(dium + amin(o-.] A proprietary term for sodium />-aminophenylarsonate (= atoxyl), formerly used to treat skin diseases.

Soane (see below) + -an.] O.f, pertaining to, or characteristic of Sir John Soane (1753-1837), British architect, or the buildings designed by him. Also Soa'nesque [-esque], ’Soanic [-ic], adjs.

1908 Trade Marks Jrnl. 13 May 763/2 Soamin... Chemical substances prepared for use in Medicine and Pharmacy. Henry. Solomon Wellcome, trading as Burroughs, Wellcome and Co.,.. London EC.; Manufacturing Chemist. 1909 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 19 Jan. 759/2 Henry Solomon Wellcome, London, England. Filed Nov. 2, 1908. Soamin... Sodium Paraamino-phenylarsonates. 1918 J. H. Parsons Dis. Eye (ed. 3)

1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 168/2 He thought proper to limit the time of the ‘Soanean Museum’ being opened to the public to two days in each week for three months in the year. 1945 E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited 1. iv. 72 It was an aesthetic education to live within those walls, to wander from room to room, from the Soanesque library to the Chinese drawing-room. 1948 Archit. Rev. CIV. 64/1 An extravagant blend of Soanic abstraction and Italian

SOAP grolesquerie. 1974 Sherwood & Pevsner Oxfordshire 815 A doorway with Soanean incised decoration.

soap (saup), sb. Forms: a. 1-2, 4-5 sape, Sc. 5-6, 9 saip, 9 saep; 5 sepe, 9 north, seeap, syep. /3. 3-8 sope, 5 swope, shope, soope, 5, 7 soppe, 6 sopp, soopp, souppe. y. 6-7 soape, 7- soap. [A word widely represented in the European languages. Within the Teutonic group the forms are OE. sape, OFris. type *sepe (WFris. sjippe, EFris. sepe, NFris. sip), MDu. seepe (Du. zeep), MLG. and LG. sepe (hence Da. ssebe), OHG. seifa, seipha (MHG. seiffe, saiffe, etc., G. seife); the ON. and Icel. sapa (Norw. saapa, Sw. sapa) is app. from OE. The early Teut. *saiponis the source on the one hand of Finnish saip(p)io, saip(p)ua, Lapp, saipo, and on the other of L. sapo (first mentioned by Pliny), whence It. sapone, F. savon, Sp.jabon, Pg. sabao, Roum. sapun, sapon, etc. Whether the word is of purely Teut. origin is doubtful; its occurrence in some of the Tartar languages may indicate that it was introduced by early trade from the East.] I. 1. a. A substance formed by the combination of certain oils and fats with alkaline bases, and used for washing or cleansing purposes. Now usu. distinguished from detergent sb.\ soap is prepared from natural oils and fats and is precipitated by the ions (notably calcium) present in hard water. a. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 76 Meng wit? sote, sealt, teoro, .. eald sape. Ibid. 124 Lyt>re mid sapan. c 1050 Voc. in Wr.Wulcker 439 Lumentum, sape. 1371 in York Minster Fabric Rolls (Surtees) 9 Et in sape empto 6d. c 1400 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 265 Somme can with a pound of sape Gete him a kyrtelle and a cape. 1455 in Charters, etc. Edinb. (1871) 80 Wyne, sape, irne, lynnyn clayth. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems liv. 9 Scho schynes lyk ony saip. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 23 Suppoise thow wesche the self with saip. 1813 Picken Poems II. 79 Nor saip nor water e’er it fan’. 1876 Robinson Whitby Gloss. 165/1 Seeap, soap. j8. a 1225 Ancr. R. 66 More noise he makeS to 3eien his sope, J?en a riche mercer al his deorewurSe ware. 1297 RGlouc. (Rolls) 143 Sope aboute couentre & ire at gloucestre. 1339-40 Ely Sacr. Rolls II. 92 In sope empt. pro lotura albarum. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 1. xx. 127 Of bathing and of waisching with oyl and swope. 1499 Cov. Corpus Chr. Plays (1902) 89 Paid for shope and gresse to the whyles j.d. 1515 Sel. Cases Star Chamb. (Selden) II. 99 He bought Soopp, Tarre, Irne, ..and Retailled the same. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 158 As though oyle coulde not be wyped awaye .. with sope. 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa 11. 47 They make no sope in all the countrey, but.. use to wash with lee made of ashes. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 156 Heer is also made Sope not inferiour for goodness to that of Castile. y.1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 11. 45 Most part of them would not take Money, but onely Soap, or Tobacco, and chiefly Soap. 1756-7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 249 Bologna is likewise celebrated for essences,.. soap, and snuff. 1839 Dickens Nickleby vii, You’ll always find a little bit of soap in the kitchen window. 1884 Knight Diet. Mech. Suppl. 827/1 The blocks of rough soap are first cut into thin shavings. 1940 J. H. Wigner Soap Manufacture i. 20 In the textile trades soap is largely used for removing the natural impurities from the fibre and detergent properties are the main consideration. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XII. 393/1 In ordinary usage the term soap specifies an alkali metal or substituted ammonium salt of a straight-chain carboxylic acid 10-18 carbon atoms in length, and the name detergent is given to synthetic materials of similar structure. 1972 Materials & Technol. V. x. 295 In synthetic anionic detergents, the main weaknesses associated with the traditional carboxylate soaps, namely, precipitation in hard water and decomposition in acidic solutions, are avoided by the use of other hydrophilic groups in place of the carboxylate group. Prov. 1592 Lodge Euphues Shadow G 3, Who washeth the Asses eares, looseth both his Sope and his labour, i860 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xxiii, ’Twas waste of soap to lather an ass.

b -figc 1175 Lamb. Horn. 53 Monie of J>as wimmen .. smurieS heom mid blanchet pet is £>es deofles sape. 1377 Langl. P. PI. B. xiv. 6 With pe sope of sykenesse pat seketh wonder depe. 1725 Bailey Erasm. Colloq. 570 Such as by the Lather of Tears, and Soap of Repentance,.. have washed away their Pollutions. 1840 Hood Kilmansegg, Christening x, Washing his hands with invisible soap, In imperceptible water.

c. In the slang phrase, how are you off for soap? The early examples afford no clue as to the origin of the expression, and their date is against the view that the sense of ‘money’ (see below) was intended. 1834 Marryat P. Simple iv, A young lady .. looked at me very hard and said, ‘Well, Reefer, how are you off for soap?’ 1837 Thackeray Ravenswing viii. 1886 Baring-Gould Crt. Royal I. ii. 20 They., put their heads into his shop, and asked how he was off for soap. d. slang. Flattery. Cf. soft soap sb. 2. 1854 D. G. Rossetti Let. 11 May (1965) I. 193, I heard from MacCrae who offers £50 for the water-colour, with all manner of soap and sawder into the bargain. 1859 >n Slang Diet. 98. 1876 Diprose Laugh & Learn {Farmer), Flattery is the confectionery of the world. In polite society it goes by the name of soap. 1957 W. Faulkner Town (1958) x. 149 ‘The pattern,’ Uncle Gavin said. ‘First the soap, then the threat, then the bribe.’

e. U.S. slang. Money; now esp. that used in bribery. i860 M. O’Connor Lines to Rich Young Lady iii. (Funk & W.), If thy father hath ‘the soap’. Do not wash your hands of me. 1892 Nation 24 Nov. 385/3 This, combined with

895 more or less ‘soap’, causing his defeat.

was undoubtedly instrumental in

f. no soap: an announcement of refusal of a request or offer, failure in an attempt, etc.; ‘nothing doing’, slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.). 1926 Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Diet. 11/2 No soap, can’t talk business. 1929 E. Wilson I thought of Daisy iii. 153 If he tries to cut in on you, don’t letum— I’ll just tellum, no soap! 1932 J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan vi. 216 Studs said he’d take a dozen or two when Nate brought them around. Nate tried to collect in advance; but Studs was no soap for that. 1939 W. Faulkner Wild Palms 42, I told him. Not that I was to meet you at a hotel. I just said, suppose I did. And he still said no soap. 1948 A. N. Keith Three came Home iii. 72 We would, .call across... ‘No-soap!’ or ‘Not to-night!’ 1957 J. Kerouac On Road {1958) 1. xiii. 86 Terry and I tried to find work at the drive-ins. It was no soap anywhere. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon vi. 93 ‘The police tried to trace the handkerchief, I take it?’ ‘They did, but no soap.’

g. not to know (someone) from a bar of soap: not to have the slightest acquaintance with. Austral, colloq. 1938 Smith's Weekly 26 Nov. 23 {caption), I don’t know you from a bar of soap. 1943 K. Tennant Ride on Stranger xxv. 319 ‘Why doesn’t she marry the child’s father?’.. ‘It’s my belief she doesn’t know him from a bar of soap.’ 1970 J. Cleary Helga's Web vii. 130 I’ve never met any of his— interests. Certainly not this girl. I dunno her from a bar of soap.

h. = SOAP OPERA I a. *943 N.Y. Times Mag. 28 Mar. 19 Within these specifications, there is a deal of shrewd craftsmanship in the preparation of the ‘soaps’. 1958 New Statesman 12 Apr. 455/3 Pay-TV will lure whatever is good in television now and leave those who cannot afford to pay for programmes stuck with an unvaried diet of soap and corn. 1969 A. Arent Laying on of Hands vi. 46, I was one of five writers doing a daytime soap. One script a week. 1974 Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 20 Apr. 5A/2 Agnes .. had landed a job dialoging soaps for well-known television writer Irna Phillips. 1978 Amer. Poetry Rev. July/Aug. 19/3 If you turn on day-time T.V. you will see most of his actors playing rather similar roles in the soaps.

2. a. With distinguishing terms, denoting a particular make or kind of soap, as alkaline, arsenical, 6a//, black, hard soap, etc.; also soap of Alicant, lime, soda, etc. See also Castile, soft soap, and curd, lead, marine, resin or rosin, soda, Spanish soap. 1703 Art's Improv. I. 49 You may mix with your Gluten, either Milk, or Soap of * Alicant. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 171 /1 White soda soap .. in a less pure state,.. is called Alicant, Venice, or Spanish soap. 1786 Phil. Trans. LXXVI. 156 Then evaporating it, [I] obtained a true “alkaline soap. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting iii. 73, I .. regretted much that I had no “arsenical soap to preserve the skin. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., “Ball-Soap, commonly used in the North, is made with Lyes from Ashes, and Tallow. C1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 40 Ane oyntement made of “blakke sope and poudre of bole. 1618 Breton Courtier & Countryman Wks. (Grosart) II. 14/2 Tell her we haue blacke Sope enough already. 1704 Diet. Rust., etc. (1726) s.v., For black Soap, ’tis made with strong Lye.. and Whale or Fish-Oil, commonly called Train-Oil. I753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Brick, Some also mention . . “brick-soap, made in oblong pieces. 1882 Flor. Nightingale in Quoin's Diet. Med. 1046 Wash hands and nails carefully with “carbolic soap. 1704 Diet. Rust., etc. (1726) s.v., Soft soap, such as are the ‘common soap, so called, and black soap, c 1840 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 434/1 Common soap is composed of any kind of oil.. with fixed alkali. 1612 tr. Benvenvto's Passenger 1. i. 23 “French sope to scouer my hands. 1611 Bible Malachi iii. 2 Like a refiners fire, and like “fullers sope. 1638 Penit. Cotif. (1657) 346 Whose drosse..is so much .. as no Fullers sope can cleanse, c 1840 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 435 [Soft] soap from oleaginous seeds, called “green soaps. 14.. in Walter of Henley's Husb. 49 Medell it with “harde sope or tarre. 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa ill. 195 The inhabitants make great store of liquid sope, for they know not how to make hard sope. 1704 Diet. Rust., etc. (1726) s.v., The other hard soap is made in the same manner. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 102 Fixed oil, in combination with soda, forms the finest kind of hard soap. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 1142 According to the practice of the United Kingdom, six or seven days are required to complete the formation of a pan of hard soap. 1884 W. S. B. Mc'Laren Spinning (ed. 2) 28 The lime.. unites with the oil and tallow, forming what is called an insoluble “lime soap. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 1143 Soda which contains sulphurets is preferred for making the “mottled or “marbled soap. 1704 Diet. Rust., etc. (1726) s.v., That known by the name of “perfumed Soap, c 1865 Letheby in Circ. Sci. I. 329/2 The compounds of fatty acids with potash are called “potash-soaps. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 1149 The “scented soap.. speedily consolidates. 1611-2 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 198 Twoe pound of “swete sope. c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 76 Of which forseid [things] “white sope may euer more be necessary to a leche. 1539 Elyot Castle Helthe 58 They be somtyme made .. of white sope. 1725 Family Diet, s.v., To make White Soap, take Two Hundred Pounds of Black Salt¬ wort [etc.]. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 812 The finest white soap grated small. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 1144 Of “yellow or rosin soap.

b. soap of glass, or glassmaker's soap (see quots.). 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 409 A mineral, called the soap of glass,.. is the oxide of a peculiar metal called manganese. 1895 Bloxam's Chem. (ed. 8) 481 Manganese dioxide (glassmaker’s soap) is often added as an oxidising agent.

c. rock soap, a variety of bole. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 425 Magnesian Silicates... Bole. Earthy, in nests and veins... Stolpenite, Rock Soap, Plinthite .. are varieties.

3. With a and pi. A kind of soap.

SOAP 1562 Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 113 The wild rape., serueth for scouring oyntmentes and sopes. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. Min. 115 It’s used also in powders, sopes,.. and suffumigations. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 158 This Soap is very scarce in France. 1744 Berkeley Siris §58 Common soaps are compositions of lixivial salt and oil. 1806 Culina 175 The yolk of an egg.. is a natural soap, and in all jaundice cases, no food is equal to it. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) p. lx, Soaps are hydrates, water being always present in them as a constituent. 1842 Bischoff Wool Manuf. II. 84 It would bring to this country the manufacture of fine soaps.

II. 4. attrib. a. In misc. use, as soap bath, -bell (Sc.), business, -factory, -film, -froth, -lather, -pad, -pipe, -tablet, etc. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvii. 339 “Soap baths .. always constituted the first steps of treatment in every form of eruption. 1720 Ramsay Rise & Fall of Stocks 24 As little bairns frae winnocks hy Drap down “saip bells. 1862 G. Wilson Religio Chem. 19 A soap-bell sails through it with impunity. 1635 Laud Diary Wks. 1853 III. 223 The “soap business was.. settled again upon the new corporation. 1861 Eng. Cycl., Arts (sf Sci. VII. 636 Some of the “soap-factories of the present day. 1924 R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind iii. 105 A “soap-film is produced upon a wire-frame.. and upon it a little noose of thread is cast in whatever form it may take. 1976 Sci. Amer. July 93/3 The area-minimizing principle alone is sufficient to account for the overall geometry of soap films and soap bubbles. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. v. iii, But Towns are not built of “soap-froth. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. I. 238 His face frothed up to the eyes with soap lather. 1832 Carlyle Misc. (1857) III. 48 With artificial fictitious soap-lather. 1820 J. Cleland Rise Progr. Glasgow 87 An Act was made for encouraging “Soap manufactories. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 170/1 The “Soap Manufacture is one of considerable importance. 1958 Listener 16 Oct. 627/1 Scour round the inside with a steel wool “soap-pad. 1956 S. Beckett Malone Dies (1958) 2i,I remember the “soap-pipe with which, as a child, I used to blow bubbles. 1866 Treas. Bot. 952/2 Saponine, a vegetable “soap-principle. 1880 J. Dunbar Pract. Paper-maker 54 “Soap size, made and used in the interior of Russia. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl iv. 52 Happiness is a sort of “soap-tablet —he won’t be happy till he gets it. 1799 Hull Advertiser 28 Dec. 2/3 Ten casks “soap tallow. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 170 “Soap Trade. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 204/2 In England the soap trade did not exist till the 16th century. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 577 The roasted “soap-waste was then withdrawn. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Seer. 41 Mingle it with the saied “Sope water. 1847 W. C. L. Martin Ox 155/1 Injections, .of soap-water and oil.

b. In the names of apparatus used in making soap, as soap-cauldron, copper, kettle, mill, etc. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Seer. 19 b, It shall be good to set the saied cawdron .. as “Sope cawdrons be set. 1790 in Essex Rev. (1906) XV. 87 The sugar-houses and soap-cauldrons. 1863 in Richardson & Watts Chem. Technol. I. 680 Any alkali.. which may be introduced into the “soap copper. 1873 Weale Diet. Arch, s.v., “Soap-engine, a machine upon which the slabs of soap are piled to be cross-cut into bars. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. vi. §1. 372 It is then cleansed or transferred to the “soap frames to cool. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 660/2 Curb,.. an inclined circular plate around the margin of a “soap or salt kettle. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 1145 The “soap-pans used in the United Kingdom are made of cast iron.

c. In the sense of ‘used for holding soap’, as soap basket, -case, chest, dish, tray. 1926-7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 122 Wire sponge and “soap basket. For hanging on bath, etc. — 1/-. 1975 New Yorker 17 Nov. 145/1 We found an assortment of brass soap baskets to hook over the side of the tub. 1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. ii. 53 In all such machines, whether called ‘dye-becks’, ‘“soap-becks’, or others. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 260/1 A soap-beck contains soap-suds. 1895 Meredith Amazing Marriage viii, He came back bearing his metal “soap-case. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. iii. i, Likewise coffee-chests, “soap-chests. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xlii, An old cracked basin, ewer and “soap-dish. 1851 Mayhew London Lab. I. 368/1 A green and white chamber service .., with “soap trays and brush trays.

d. (in sense 1 h), soap fan, land, star, watcher. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 10 July 16/2 Real soap fans have a dozen or so fan magazines, newspapers, and newsletters. 1948 Soapland: see soap opera i a. 1977 Guardian Weekly 17 Apr. 18/1 People who resent the behaviour of a character she plays don’t walk up and slap her, as has happened to more than one American soap star. 1978 Times 29 Aug. 1/8 The dedicated soap watcher, .can switch channels for a solid five hours .. until, at 4.30 p.m... soap-land is closed for another day.

5. Comb. a. With nouns denoting persons, as soap-grinder, -monger, -patentee, -projector, -seller, etc., or in names of appliances, as soapcutter, -holder, -saver. Also SOAP-BOILER, -MAKER. (a) 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wiilcker 687 Hie smigmator, a sopseler. 1549 Bale in Cheeke Hurt of Sedition (1641) Pref. aivb, Some they sold to the Grociers and Sope-sellers. 1646 {title), A Looking-Glasse for Sope-Patentees... making discovery of a new Project.. propounded (by the Sope-Projectors) to the Parliament. 1648 Gage West Ind. Table, The Sope-houses at Lambeth, with the Sope Patentee belonging to them. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 337 Let the sope-mongers learn not to counteract their boasted agent. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 456 Lime is used by the soap-manufacturer to render soda caustic. 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 77 Dry Soap Grinder. Soap Trimmer. {b) 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §631 Space for soapholders, brush-trays, &c. 1884 Knight Diet. Mech. Suppl. 827/1 Soap Cutter, an apparatus for caking or barring soap. 1919 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 366/4 Wire soap saver 7 c. 1973 Listener 25 Jan. 117/2 The soap-saver .. was made like a diffuser-spoon, but bigger, with a basket of open wire-mesh.

SOAP b. With vbl. sbs., as soap-barring, -cutting, etc. Chiefly in attrib. use. 1851 Catal. Gt. Exhibition p. c, Soap-cutting Machine. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2232/2 Soap Barring and Caking Machine. Ibid. 2233/1 Soap-crutching Machine. 1899 Daily News 23 May 10/2 Soap Stamping and Packing Departments.

c. Similative, as soap-like, -smooth adjs. 1858 Mayne Expos. Lex. 1169/1 The offensive soap-like substance. 1866 Treas. Bot. 952/2 Trees .. possessing soap¬ like properties. 1949 E. Pound Pisan Cantos lxxvi. 45 By the soap-smooth stone posts.

d. Instrumental, as soap-filled adj. 1970 Which? May 149/2 The cheapest soap-filled pads cost nearly 2d each. 6. a. Special combs.: soap-ball, a piece of soap

formed as a ball, now esp. by the admixture of starch; soap-cerate (see quots.); f soap-earth, soapstone; soap extract, -fat, -fish (see quots.); soap flakes />/., soap in the form of thin flakes for washing clothes, etc.; soap-house, a soap¬ boiler’s premises; soap leaf, a leaf of soap (see leaf sb.1 10 b); soap-lees, spent soap-lye; soapliniment (see quots.); soap-lock U.S., a lock of hair made smooth by the application of soap; hence, one who wears such, a low fellow, a rough or rowdy; soap-lye, a caustic alkaline lye obtained by running water upon alternate layers of soda ash and quicklime, and used in soap¬ making; soapman Sc., a soap-maker; soap plaster, a healing-plaster chiefly composed of soap; soap powder (see quot. s.v. soap extract)-, also loosely, detergent in the form of a powder; f soap-scale, a kind of clay (see quot.); soapstock, soapstock, a crude, partially saponified mixture of fatty acids formed as a by-product in the refining of natural fats; soap-test (see quot.); soap-work(s, a soap-manufactory. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 420 Those *sope balls that are to polish the skin and to rid it from wrinkles. 1829 Scott Doom of Devorgoil ill. ii, My soap-ball is of the mild alkali made. 1852 Royle Man. Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 540 Ceratum Saponis Compositum. Compound *Soap Cerate, a i860 Wood & Bache Dispensatory U.S. (1865) 1044 Soap-cerate, .is used in scrofulous swellings and other instances of chronic external inflammation. 1876 Harley Royle's Man. Mat. Med. (ed. 6) 243 Soap Cerate Plaster. This is a mixture of lead, soap, and the acetates of lead and soda. 1696 Phil. Trans. XIX. 228 There is a considerable natural curiosity in the Neighbourhood of Smyrna, called by the Franks *SoapEarth. 1758 Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 70 Near Smyrna there is a fine whitish soap-earth. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 204/1 ‘Soap powders’ and ‘*soap extracts’ are simply preparations of alkalis. 1879 Webster Supply * Soap-fat, the refuse of kitchens, used in making soap. 1876 Goode Fishes of Bermudas 60 A ‘*Soap-fish’ also occurs, probably either Rhypticus saponaceus.. or Promicropterus maculatus. 1926-7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 38/2 *Soap Flakes—lb., -/8. I933 4G. Orwell’ Down & Out in Paris & London xii. 91 There are no soap-flakes, only the treacly soft soap. 1967 N. Freeling Strike out where not Applicable 137 It was a little like a copywriter presenting an advertising campaign to a soapflakes manufacturer. 1648 Gage West. Ind. 5 Of the *Sope-houses at Lambeth. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet. 1, Savonnerie,.. a Sope-house, a Place where Soap is made. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXV. 80 The corner of the soap house. 1854 Hull Improv. Act 33 Any candle-house .. or soap-house. 1909 Cent. Diet. Suppl., *Soap-leaf. 1925 [see leaf sb. 10b]. 1978 Times 4 Nov. 24/5 Good presents for adults: a book of soap leaves. 1746 Langrish Exper. upon Brutes 19 Injecting too great a quantity of *Soap-lees. 1789 Buchan Domest. Med. (1790) 327 The caustic alkali, or soap-lees, is the medicine chiefly in vogue at present for the stone. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 169/1 The nuisance of soaplees waggons passing through London. 1852 Royle Man. Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 540 Linimentum Saponis... *Soap Liniment... Stimulant Embrocation. A vehicle for Opium, &c. 1864 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 141/2 Soap Liniment, or Opodeldoc, the constituents of which are soap, camphor, and spirits of rosemary. 1840 Picayune (New Orleans) 30 Aug. 2/2 Howard .. is described as .. wearing moustaches and *soap-locks. 1842 ‘Uncle Sam’ Peculiarities I. 119 You are an incendiary, a robber by profession, a soap-lock and a loafer. 1848 Bartlett Diet. Amer. 319 Soap-lock, a lock of hair made to lie smooth by soaping it. Hence also .. a Rowdy or Loafer. 1854 Marion Harland Alone xvi, Shaking .. at the prospect of., the loss of your soap-locks. 1864 T. L. Nichols 40 Yrs. Amer. Life I. 173 A German Jew, with.. soaplocks that would have astonished the Bowery in the palmiest days of soaplockism. 1774 T. Percival Ess. (1776) III. 144 The *soap ley is so caustic . . that it can be taken only in the smallest quantity. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. viii. 547 It is digested in an imperfect soap ley. 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. 11. 311/1 The.. production of crude glycerine from spent soap-lyes. 1813 Picken Poems II. 79 In vain was fill’d the *saipman’s pan. 1789 Med. Comment. II. 344 The.. applications were changed for a *soap plaister. 1876 Harley Royle's Man. Mat. Med. (ed. 6) 243 Soap Plaster. 1865 H. Mayhew Shops & Companies of London 199/1, I can always make quick work of my washing by using ‘Harper Twelvetrees’ Glycerine *Soap-Powder’, and it makes the clothes beautifully clean and white. 1964 M. Drabble Garrick Year xii. 193 Putting in my second instalment of soap-powder. 1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 325 Some of the mark-up on soap powders.. could be avoided. 1704 Diet. Rust. (1726) s.v. Clay, Cowshot-Clay, or the *Soap-scale lying in Coal-mines. 1895 J. Lewkowitsch tr. Benedikt's Chem. Analysis of Oils, Fats, Waxes xii. 632 (heading) Examination of the fatty matter (‘*soap stock’). 1924 Myddleton & Barry Fats iii. 35 The recovery of oil from the soap-stock depends for its commercial success upon the ruling prices of the edible oil. 1972 Materials & Technol. V. x. 279 [In soap-making] use is also made of by-product fatty materials such as soapstocks and curd oils. 1861 Eng. Cycl., Arts & Sci. VII. 637 * Soap-

SOAP-BOILER

896 test, a solution of white curd soap in proof spirit; it is used in ascertaining the amount of hardness of waters. 1649 Sc. Acts, Chas. II (1872) VI. 11. 300/2 The preiudice whilk the decay of the *Sopeworkis has occasioned to the kingdome. 1695 Ibid., Will. Ill (1822) IX. 491/2 The said Robert Douglas his Soap work. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 1143 Great waste of alkali.. in many soap-works.

b. Forming names of plants or trees, or their products: soap-apple (see quots.); soap-bark, a vegetable principle obtained from certain trees, as the Quillaja Saponaria of Chile, the common soapwort, Saponaria officinalis, and allied species, and used as a substitute for soap; saponin; soap-bulb, the soap-plant; soap-fruit, = soapberry i; soap-gentian U.S., soapwort gentian; soap-nut, = soapberry; also attrib.; soap-plant U.S., an American liliaceous plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, used as a detersive; also, the soapberry; soap-pod (see quots.); soap-root (see quot. 1866); soap-tree, one or other of various species of trees or plants (see later quots.), of which the roots, leaves, or fruits yield a substitute for soap; also attrib.; soapweed, f(a) the soapwort, Saponaria officinalis; (b) a North American plant (see quots. 1884, 1890); soapwood, the timber-tree or shrub Clethra tinifolia, native to the West Indies; also, a North American plant (see quot. 1771). 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 ’Soap Apple, Sapindus. 1864 Webster, Soap-plant, one of several plants used in the place of soap, as the Phalangium pomeridianum, a Californian plant... It is called also soap-apple and soap-tree. 1861 Eng. Cycl., Arts & Sci. VII. 636 A substance called *soap bark was brought to Europe from some tropical country in 1859. 1866 Treas. Bot. 952/2 Its bark, called Quillai or Soap-bark, is rough and dark coloured. 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. 11. 139/1 An article.. is brushed with a cold decoction of soap-bark. 1874 Treas. Bot. Suppl. 1279/2 Chlorogalum pomeridianum... The bulbous root, when rubbed in water, makes a lather..: hence it is known as the *Soap-bulb. 1666 J. Davies tr. Rochefort's Caribby Isles 48 One fruit.. about the bigness of a small Plumb., is commonly called the *Soap-fruit. 1845-50 Mrs. Lincoln Lect. Bot. App. 105 Gentiana saponaria,.. *Soap gentian. 1858 Simmonds Diet. Trade, * Soap-nut, a name for the seed of the Mimosa abstergens. 1866 Treas. Bot. 5/2 The pods of Acacia concinna are used in India like those of the soap-nut for washing the head. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 665/1 Soap nuts are the fruits of various species of Sapindus, especially •S. Saponaria, natives of tropical regions. 1847 Ruxton Adv. Mexico xxv. 222 A barren rolling prairie.. covered with the palmilla or *soap-plant. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2) 425 Soap-plant (Chlorogalum pomeridianum), a plant common in California and New Mexico. 1891 Cent. Diet. s.v., Indian soap-plant,.. the soapberry Sapindus acuminatus, and .. the Chlorogalum. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1068/1 * Soap-pods, the Chinese name of the pods of several species of Csesalpinia. 1891 Cent. Diet., Soapnut,.. the fruit of .. Acacia concinna... Also [called] soap-pod. 1846 Lindley Veg. Kingd. 497 Vaccaria vulgaris.. contains Saponine, as also does the Egyptian *Soap-root. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 793/1 The Egyptian Soap-root (Gypsophila struthium), and the Spanish Soap-root (G. Hispanica),.. have been employed for washing from time immemorial. 1666 J. Davies tr. Rochefort's Caribby Isles 48 There are two sorts of Trees .. called the *Soap-trees from the vertue they have to whiten clothes. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 206 The Soap Tree [Sapindus]... The seed vessels of this plant are very detersive and acrid. 1859 All Year Round No. 32. 127 In Chili there is a soap-tree called Quillaya saponaria. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 503 New shorn wool which is very soft, and not trimmed with *sope-weed. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 401 Y[ucca] filamentosa, commonly called amole or soap-weed. 1890 Gunter Miss Nobody iv, Bare of everything .. but gemma grasses, soap weed, and small cacti. 1732 Phil. Trans. XXXVII. 450 *Soap-wood. The Bark and Leaves of this Tree being bruised and mixed with Water produce a Lather. 1771 R. F. Forster Flora Amer. Sept. 17 Soapwood, Rhexia virginica. 1864 Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Ind. 787/2 Soapwood, Clethra tinifolia.

soap (ssop), v. Also 7 sope, 9 Sc. saip, saep. [f. soap sb. Cf. WFris. sjipje, Du. zeepen, G. seifen, Da. sxbe, Sw. sapa.] 1. irons. To rub, smear, lather, or treat in some special way with soap. Also with up. *585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. 11. xxi. 58 b, After that hee hath well soaped and rubbed your bodie.. wyth a purse of Stammin,. . he washeth you with very cleare water. 1611 Cotgr., Savontie, soped, or washed in sope. 1677 Compl. Servant-Maid 65 If there be any dirty places soap them a little, then take a little hard brush and soap it well [etc.]. 1725 Fam. Diet. s.v. Clear-Starching, Take your Lace and roll it.., and between every Roll soap it with Soap. 1771 Mrs. Haywood New Present for Maid 265 They [cambrics, etc.] should be.. well soaped. Ibid., Linen soaped as above .. will be freed of all stains. 1802 Colman Poor Gent. 1. i, Answer me,.. Who have [= has] soap’d up and flower’d your numskull after such a fashion? i860 Rawlinson Herodotus ix. cx. IV. 473 This is the only day in all the year on which the king soaps his head. 1875 F. J. Bird Dyer's Hand-bk. 50 The pieces.. are finally washed and soaped.

2. slang. To address with smooth or flattering words; to flatter. r853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green I. x, The tailor and robemaker .. visibly ‘soaped’ our hero in what is understood to be the shop-sense of the word. 1865 Dickens Dr. Marigold i, These Dear Jacks soap the people shameful, but we Cheap Jacks don’t.

b. With over: (see quot.). 1857 Slang Diet. 19 Soaped him over, humbugged him.

soap, dial, form of swop v. soap and water, [soap sb.] The commonest method of washing, used in phrases referring to standards of personal cleanliness. Also attrib. 1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. II. hi. ii. 151 The demand of society for fresh air and soap and water has considerably increased. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas Marner xiv. 243 A great ceremony with soap and water, from which baby came out in new beauty. 1907 G. B. Shaw Major Barbara in John Bull's Other Island 168 Trans-figured men and women carry their gospel through a transfigured world .. practising what the world will let them practise, including soap and water, color and music. 1922 E. O’Neill Hairy Ape iv. 37 Their faces and bodies shine from a soap and water scrubbing. 1961 L. Mumford City in History xv. 469 The spread of the soap-and-water habit might well account for the lowering of infant mortality rates. 1973 A. MacVicar Painted Doll Affair iii. 39 She was an enthusiast for soap and water, as her schoolgirl complexion showed.

Hence soap-and-water v. trans. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxi, By-the-bye, she’ll soap-andwater that ’ere tablet presently. 1883 Pall Mall G. 27 Oct. 2/1 So soap-and-watering the infant Gargantua as to fit him for a Sunday school.

f soap-ashes. Obs. [soap sb. Cf. Du. zeepaschen, G. seifenasche.] Ashes of certain kinds of wood used in forming a lye in soap¬ making. C1515 Interlude of Four Elements (Percy Soc.) 30 Pyche, and tarre, and sope asshys. 1557-71 A. Jenkinson Voy. & Trav. (Hakl. Soc.) II. 208 Sope ashes are not here in such request that they will acquite the Chardges. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia 11. 25 Of Ash and Elme they make sope Ashes. 1651 French Distill, vi. 194 Boyle it in a Lixivium made of sope-ashes. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 392 The great goodness there is in these Soap-ashes and all others. 1794 T. Davis Agric. Wilts 132 In the neighbourhood of towns, soap-ashes are frequently.. used as a manure. 1837 R* Ellis Laws 6? Regul. Customs III. 401 Soap Ashes are synonymous with Wood Ashes.

soapberry ('saupben). Also soap-berry, soap berry, [soap s6.] 1. The fruit or nut of various species of Sapindus (esp. S. Saponaria), or of Acacia concinna, used in certain countries as a substitute for soap; a soap-nut. 1693 Phil. Trans. XVII. 621 The Sope-Berry, which is properly a Plumm, or between Nut and Plumm. 1819 Pantologia X, Saponaria nucula,.. soap berries. A spherical fruit, about the size of a cherry. 1858 Mayne Expos. Lex. 118/2 Bermuda Berry, common name for the soap-nut, or soap-berry produced by the Sapindus saponaria.

2. a. One or other of the trees bearing this fruit. 1716 Petiveriana I. 222 Soap-berry,.. Arbor Saponaria. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 Soap Berry, Sapindus. 1871 Kingsley At Last xi, There is a young one fruiting finely in the Botanic Garden at Port of Spain .., a cousin of the Matapalos and of the Soap-berries. 1874 Stewart & Brandis Flora N. West India 108 S[apindus] Saponaria,.. the West Indian Soapberry, is grown in the West Indies.

c. N. Amer. A deciduous shrub, Shepherdia canadensis, of the family Elaeagnacese, native to North America, and bearing small yellow flowers followed by edible red berries; also, the berries of this shrub; = buffalo-berry s.v. buffalo 5.

1904 A. G. Morice Hist. N. Interior Brit. Columbia 61 The soap-berries were ripening. 1923 Beaver Dec. 104 In Central British Columbia it [sc. Indian ice cream] was made by working to a lather the dried soap berry. 1957 J. R. & I. M. Christie Story Okanagan Falls 42 Soap-berry.. bears its gay red-currant-like berries now only for the birds to enjoy. 1963 Beaver Autumn 40/1 The interior fresh-water Indians.. readily gave soapberries, kinninnick leaves and bark for smoking.

3. attrib., as soapberry family, tree. 1725 Sloane Jamaica II. 132 Sope-berry Tree. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sapindus, There is only one known species of this genus,.. the soapberry tree. 1819 Pantologia X, Sapindus rigidus, ash-leaved soap-berry tree. A native of the West Indies and America. 1847 Darlington Amer. Weeds, etc. (i860) 87 Saptndacese. Soap-berry Family... Fruit capsular or berry-like. 1866 Veness El Dorado xi. 119 The root, bark, and seed covering of the huruwassa or soap berry tree is an admirable substitute for soap.

soap-boiler, [soap sb. Cf. Du. zeepzieder, G. seifensieder.] 1. One who boils (the ingredients of) soap; a soap-maker, soap-manufacturer. x594 Plat Jewell-ho. 77 A wise, wealthie, and ancient Sopeboyler, dwelling without Algate. 1651 French Distill. iii. 80 Quench them in the strongest Lixivium that Sopeboylers use. 1661 Evelyn Fumifugium (1825) 220 Brewers, diers,.. salt and sope-boylers, and some other private trades. 1712 Addison Sped. No. 488 f 1, I have a Letter from a Soap-boiler, who condoles .with me [etc.]. 1752 Foote Taste 11, A Bristol farthing, coin’d by a soap-boiler to pay his journeymen, in the scarcity of cash. 1838 Lytton Alice vi. iv, The whisper spread among bankers and brewers and soap-boilers and other rich people. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 331/2 There is an increasing demand for it [sc. caustic soda] on the part of bleachers and soap boilers. transf. 1877 Bagehot Biogr. Stud. (1881) 316 Some of the middle-aged men of business, the ‘soap-boilers’, as the London world disrespectfully calls them.

b. In collocations (cf. soaper i c). 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 291 Take Soap-boylers Liquor or Lee which is very sharp and strong. 1815 J. Panorama Sci. Art II. 451 The common bottle-

Smith

SOAP-BOILING glass is .. made with .. soap-boiler’s waste ashes. 1834-6 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 475/2 Green Bottle Glass.. is commonly made of soap-boiler’s waste and sand.

2. A pot used for boiling soap; a soap-pan. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 152 The only utensil we could hit upon . . to cook him in was a soap-boiler. j875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2233/1 A soap-boiler having a large pipe which receives the vapors rising from the kettle.

SOAP OPERA

897 If you can climb a soaped pole. 1890 Clark Russell Marriage at Sea xx, He looked highly soaped and polished.

'soapen, v. [f. soaps&. + -en5.] trans. To smear or rub with soap. Hence 'soapened ppl. a. 1732 Fielding Cov. Garden Trag. 1. ix. With my own hands I’ll wash thy soapen’d shirt.

soaper (’ssupsfr)). soap-boiling, vbl. sb. [soap sb.] The business, occupation, or process of boiling soap. 1634 in Rymer Foedera (1732) XIX. 507 The said Trade of Soap-making or Soap-boiling. 1714 Mandeville Fab. Bees (1733) II- i52 Soap-boiling, grain-dying, and other trades and mysteries. 1780 Phil. Trans. LXX. 351 Perhaps the addition of this caustic substance would increase its .. value, when employed in soap-boiling and other arts. 1834-6 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 435/1 The first portion.. is of course the strongest, and is reserved for the last operation of soap-boiling. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 203/1 The process of soap-boiling is carried out in large iron boilers. attrib. 1884 Knight Diet. Mech. Suppl. 827/1 The interior of a soap boiling kettle.

'soap-box. [f. soap sb. + box sb.2] a. A box for holding soap; orig. and still occas., a small receptacle for a ball or bar of soap; later esp. a wooden case in which soap is or may be packed, traditionally used as a makeshift stand for a speaker; hence used fig. and allusively. 1660 Act 12 Chas. II, c. 4 Sched. s.v. Boxes, Soap-boxes the Shock, containing three-score boxes. 1834 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. III. 143/3 A soap-box! A thing with a lid which is found on almost every wash-stand in Great Britain. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6130, Sponge tray, soap boxes, and brush trays. 1907 J. London Road 211, I get up on a soap-box to trot out the particular economic bees that buzz in my bonnet. 1912 Town Topics 16 Nov. 3/4 The days when a couple of.. clerks on inverted soap boxes .. were his staff. 1926-7 Army Navy Stores Catal. 104/3 Soap box. Useful for travellers —each 1/6. 1928 Observer 1 Apr. 21/4 To use the language of Australian politics, ‘Soapbox must be met by soapbox.’ 1933 E. O’Neill Days without End 1. 32 If you knew what a burden he made my life for years with his preaching. Letter upon letter—each with a soap box inclosed, so to speak. 1943 K. Tennant Ride on Stranger xxiii. 295 She made no answer to this outburst which, she felt, was only old Shanno blowing off steam... ‘Back to your soap box,’ she said briefly. 1945 N. Mitford Pursuit of Love xiii. 97 She became an out-and-out Communist.. preaching her new-found doctrine.. from a soap-box in Hyde Park. 1948 M. Laski Tory Heaven xi. 153 At his feet, a wax-faced baby moaned incessantly in a soap-box. i960 H. Hayward Antique Coll. 260/1 Soap-box, spherical box of silver, pewter or brass for soap-ball, standing on moulded base with screwon or hinged pierced or plain cover. 1968 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 13 Dec. 19/2, I look upon my wealth, and now the House of Lords, as useful soap boxes. 1977 Time 14 Nov. 59/3 The primary U.S. condition for rejoining is that the I.L.O. get off its political soapbox.

b. attrib. (chiefly with reference to public speaking from a soap-box); soap-box cart, a child’s cart made from a soap-box; so soap-box derby [Derby i d], 1918 National Geographic July 8/1 (caption) The soap-box orator and his auditors. 1924 Telephone Topics XVIII. 262 {heading) Public address system supersedes soap box oratory. 1927 T. C. Pease United States 546 The choice of party candidates by manipulation of party conventions and soap-box primaries. 1933 Dylan Thomas Let. Sept. (1966) 21 You must excuse my slight soap-box attitude. 1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags i. 72 Soap-box orators screaming their envy of the rich. 1950 Manch. Guardian Weekly 4 May 3/2 The ‘Soap Box Derby’ is an American festival rather more important to some.. youngsters than the Fourth of July, i960 Times 1 Mar. 13/1 The theatrical appeal of her soap-box oratory. 1977 J- van de Wetering Death of Hawker xiii. 119, I like inventing. I was always making soap box carts when I was a child.

Hence (U.S.) soap-box v. intr., to speak from or as from a soap-box; soap-boxer, one who speaks from a soap-box; soap-boxing vbl. sb. 1913 Industrial Worker (Spokane, Washington) io Apr. 4/1 They do want all the publicity that can be given them by the press, by the locals, soap-boxers, and by individual conversation’ 1919 U. Sinclair Jimmie Higgins iv. 42 If he could have an assistant.. the soap-boxing could go on every night. 1926 E. O’Neill Great God Browni. iii. 41 When you got to love to live it’s hard to love living. I better join the A.F. of L. and soap-box for the eight-hour night! 1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 78/3 He’s been a soap boxer for the IWW (actually he sang and his brother spoke).

soap-bubble, [soap sb.] An iridescent bubble composed of a thin film of soap and water. 1800 M. Edgeworth Parent's Assistant (ed. 3) V. 100 Two other little children .. came to him to beg, that he would blow some soap bubbles for them. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 351 By means of the bladder and pipe for filling soap-bubbles with hydrogen. 1830 Herschel Study Nat. Phil. 252 Very thin films, either of a liquid (such as a soap-bubble), or of air. 1872 Ruskin Eagle’s Nest §131 Can you explain the frame of a soap-bubble? fig. 1828 Emerson in Life (1888) II. 44 The talk has been mere soap-bubbles. 1861 Boyd Recreat. Country Parson Ser. II. 195, I have heard men, who spoke in large soapbubbles.

soaped (saupt), ppl. a. [f. soap sb. or v.] 1. Impregnated with soap; soapy, rare. 1729 Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 12 Bubbles of soaped Water. Ibid. 13 The Tenacity of common Water is very small when compared to that of soaped Water.

2. Smeared, covered, washed, etc., with soap. 1805 Med. Jrnl. XIV. 139 The body was well rubbed with soaped flannel. 1825 Scott Jrnl. 8 Dec., Hunting a pig with a soap’d tail. 1850 CarlylE Latter-d. Pamph. v. (1872) 161

Forms; 3, 5 sopare, 4, 7 soper, 5 sopere, 6- soaper. [f. soap sb. Cf. Du. zeeper soap-boiler.] 1. fa. One who sells soap. Obs. b. A soap¬ boiler, soap-maker. Now Hist. c 1225 Aticr. R. 152 A sopare, pet ne bereS buten sope & nelden, remS & }eie6 lude & heie pet he bereS. 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. vi. 72 Sopers and here sones for seluer han be knyghtes. 14.. Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wiilcker 612 Smigmator, a sopere. £1440 Promp. Parv. 465/1 Sopare, marchaunt.., saponarius. 1591 Percivall Sp. Diet., Xabonero, a soaper, Saponarius. 1632 in Rymer Foedera (1732) XIX. 381 Divers Persons in .. the Society of Sopers within the Citty of Westminster. 1641 Short Relation cone. Soap-Business 12 The white soape made by the Soapers of Westminster spoyled and burnt the Linnen. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 247 The waste of soapers .. may be made use of in the same way. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Soaper, a soap-boiler; Aberd[een]. 1828 D’Israeli Chas. /, II. i. 21 It was urged that barrels of the new soap had been sophisticated by the malice of the old soapers. attrib. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 594 [For making] Green window glass, or broad glass... 10 pounds of soaper salts [etc.].

c. In collocations, as soaper's ashes, liquor, lye, waste. (Cf. soap-boiler i b.) 1725 Family Diet. s.v. Blood-running Itch, Others wash the Horse once or twice in Soaper’s Liquor. 1766 Museum Rusticum VI. 309 To make a trial.. betwixt these ashes., and soapers waste. 1793 Trans. Soc. Arts V. 48 Seed steeped in Soaper’s ashes. 1817-8 Cobbett Resid. U.S. (1822) 76, I see people go with their wagons five miles for soaper’s ashes; that is to say, spent ashes. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 331/2 The remaining liquor., is commonly called soaper’s lye.

d. A manufacturer of soap. 1965 Economist 16 Oct. 303/2 Denied any real difference to exploit, the soapers have not even got an expanding market to sell in. 1979 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Dec. 60/1 The glassmakers and soapers responded to the growing shortage of domestic potash in several ways. 1982 Shell Technol. No. 3. 6/2 Manufacturing the surfactant molecules known as detergent active matter falls, normally, into the domain of the chemicals industry. Combining this active matter with the other constituents of a modern synthetic detergent and marketing the finished product is the concern of ‘soapers’.

2. techn. (See quot.) 1909 Cent. Diet. Suppl., Soaper, in calico-printing, a machine in which the cloth is washed with soap. 3. = soap opera i a. N. Amer. colloq. 1946 Time 26 Aug. 56/3 The result: Pepper Young's Family, one of radio’s most popular soapers. 1972 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 4 Feb. 2/1 The CBC soaper Whiteoaks of Jalna rates only slightly higher than a documentary on the mating habits of the tsetse fly. 1981 TV Picture Life Mar. 6/1 Daytime soapers were dealing with sex and violence far more explicitly than their night-time brothers for quite a while.

soapery ('ssupari). Also 7-8

soaperie. [f. soap sb. Cf. Du. zeeperij.] A soap manufactory. 1674 in J. Cleland Rise °htes of soSe bereusinge, Se makieS Se herte sari and sobbiende. 1451 Capgrave Life St. Aug. 22 With ful sobbyng voys uttirryng all J>ese wordes. 01586 Sidney Ps. vi. vii, God hath heard the weeping sobbing voice Of my complayning. 1600 Shaks. A. Y.L. 11. i. 66 Weeping and commenting Vpon the sobbing Deere. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. 1. 455 Some struck and sobbing fawn. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. i, With a sobbing gaslight in the counting-house window. 1895 Westrn. Gaz. 14 May 2/2 There were sobbing sides amongst the best when we reached the foot of the Pass.

2. Of the nature of a sob or sobs. 1871 Standard 23 Jan., She gave a sobbing sigh, and fell .. insensible. 1894 A. Robertson Nuggets 209 A low sobbing sound caught my ear.

sobbingly ('sr>bii]li), adv. [f. prec. + -ly2.] In a sobbing manner; with sobs. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Interruptus, To speake sobbingly. 1570 J. Phillip in Farr Sel. Poet. Eliz. II. 527 They.. sobbingly did shewe by sighes Their straunge tormenting paynes. 1611 Speed Hist. Grt. Brit. ix. xxii. (1632) 1123 [He] sobbingly desired them to be content. 1831 Blackw. Mag. XXX. 717 He answered, sobbingly, ‘My boy has only done his duty’. 1884 J. Parker Apost. Life III. 21 His heart arose to tell what it was then able only sobbingly to say.

sobby (’sDbi), a. Now dial, and U.S. [f. sob v.2] Soaked; saturated with moisture; soppy. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Evieux, Sobbie earth, soyle full of springs. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 66 The sobby and waterish places of the body. 1720 Welton Suffer. Son of God II. xv. 398 Lying upon the cold and Sobby Ground. 1847 in N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 191 Sent in their wet and sobby condition to New York. 1854 Miss Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v. Sob, The land is very sobby. 1887 Scribner's Mag. I. 416/2 The sobby earth of the graveyard.

so being, conj. Chiefly Sc. Also 6 sa beand, 9 saebein; 8 saebeins, 8-9 -biens, 9 -bins. [Elliptic for it so being that: see so adv. 3d.] 1. = sobeit 1. 1559 Caldwell Papers (Maitl. Cl.) I. 75 For ony occasione bygane or for to come, sa beand ye samyn promoif nocht of hir self. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 226 We wd all buy Christ, so being we might make price ourselves. 1870 J. K. Hunter Life Studies Char. 231 He would make her a lady, so-being she would join the teetotal society.

2. Seeing that; since. 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 263 As the Dragon persecuted the Womans Seed,.. so being he could not hinder her going into the Wilderness. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. 1. i, Wha can help Misluck, Saebeins she be sic a thrawin-gabet Chuck? Yonder’s a Craig. 1805 M’Indoe Million of Potatoes iv, But saebins this is auld term-day, The rent nae doubt ye’ll gar us pay.

sobeit (sao'bint), conj. and sb. [Originally three words so be it (and still sometimes so written): see so adv. 3d, and cf. albeit, howbeit.] 1. conj. Provided that; if; if only. i583 Golding Calvin on Deut. cli. 38 b, Yet doeth hee not lay them to our Charge, sobeit that wee mislike of them. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. 1. fix. (1739) 109 They might have anything, sobeit they would suffer him to enjoy his Crown. 1839 Longf. Hyperion 11. ix, The heart of his friend cared little whither he went, so be it he were not too much alone.

2. sb. The exclamation ‘So be it’ (= let it be so). 1609 Ev. Woman in Hum. 1. i. in Bullen O. PI. IV, Thou answerest me an houre after.. like to a Sexton with a Sobeit or Amen.

sober ('s9ub9(r)), a. Forms: 4-6 sobre, sobur (6 Sc. sobor), 5 Sc. sobyre, -ire, 5-6 Sc. sobyr, -ir, 4- sober, [a. OF. sobre (so mod.F., = It., Sp., Pg. sobrio), ad. L. sobrius, which expresses the opposite of ebrius drunk: the ulterior etym. is doubtful. The French word is also the source of MDu. and Du., MLG. and LG. sober.] Various senses of the word tend to pass into or involve each other, and it is frequently difficult to decide which of these was principally intended by the writer.

I. 1. a. Moderate, temperate, avoiding excess, in respect of the use of food and drink; not given to the indulgence of appetite.

SOBER 1338 R. Brunne Chroti. (1810) 311 Of Arthure men say .. he was.. sobre & honest. 1340 Ayenb. 221 Sobre ine mete and ine drinke. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 11 Thurgh hem that thanne weren goode And sobre and chaste, c 1440 Gesta Rom. 11. xxii. (Add. MS.), That we be sobre in mete and drynk, that we mowe come to everlastyng mede. 1530 Palsgr. 324/2 Sobre of meate and drinke, sobre. 1606 Chapman Gentl. Usher iii, Shees as discreete a dame As any in these countries, and as sober, But for this onely humour of the cup. 1677 Horneck Gt. Law Consid. v. (1704) 246 How the sober nation many times conquers the more debauched and vicious.

b. Of diet, etc.: characterized by the indulgence.

Moderate, temperate; absence of excess or

1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xxxi. 37 Helthe is of soule and of body, sobre drink. 1538 Starkey England 11. ii. 179 You schal see veray few of sobur and temperat dyat, but they haue helthy and welthy bodys. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 35 Sober diet is good. 1629 Hinde J. Bruen (1641) x. 33 And many other such naturall helpes may we use for our sober refreshing and delight. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes 1. xx. 4 The Vintage of the Sabine Grape, But yet in sober Cups, shall crown the Feast. 1797-1805 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. I. 365 The sober cheer of which you have already partaken.

c. Similarly of conduct, inclination, etc. 1509 Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 293 Her sobre temperaunce in metes & drynkes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 1 Of all Gods workes .. There is no one more faire and excellent Then is mans body,.. Whiles it is kept in sober gouernment. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Sat. 11. iii. 8 When Saturn’s jovial Feast Seem’d too luxuriant to your sober Taste, Hither you fled.

2. a. Not addicted to the use of strong drink; habitually temperate in, or abstaining from, the use of alcoholic liquor; abstemious. 1382 Wyclif Titus ii. 2 That olde men be sobre, chast. c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 1533 Men moste enquere .. Wher she be wys, or sobre, or dronkelewe. 1474 Caxton Chesse 11. i. (1883) 21 That the dronken men shold be punysshyd And the sobre men preysed. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 39 He reckons a sober Chaplain in the Navy, to be a down-right Nonconformist. 1729 Law Serious Call ii. (1732) 27 When she feels this intention she will find it as possible to act up to it, as to be strictly sober and chaste. 1815 Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) II. 39 They are a sober people, and have none of the vices of the Eusofzyes. 1890 Besant Demoniac v. 50 A sober man himself, even a total abstainer. transf. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Cone. Weapons Ded. 13 Archerie, which is the soberest exercise of all others to auoide drunkennes and other euills.

b. Of things: Not intoxicating. a 1795 Cowper Moralizer Corrected 10 The sober cordial of sweet air.

3. a. Free from the influence of intoxicating liquor; not intoxicated; not drunk. Also fig. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 443, I appele..from Alisaundre pe dronke to Alisaundre pe sobre. 1387-8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. viii. (Skeat) 1. 48 Right as whan any person taketh willing to be sobre, and throweth that away, willing to be dronke. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 339 Thou sobre [L. sobrius] hast medled not only with thy Nece, but also with thy Sister and daughter. 1596 Shaks. Merch. V. 1. ii. 93 Very vildely in the morning when hee is sober, and most vildely in the afternoone when hee is drunke. a 1637 B. Jonson Goodwife's Ale in Athenaeum (1904) 1 Oct., You easily may guesse I am not quite Growne sober yett by these poore lines I wright. 1691 Hartcliffe Virtues 73 They thought, their Counsels might want Vigour, when they were sober, as well as Caution, when they had drank. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia viii. i, ‘ What little dog, Sir?’ cried Delville, who now began to conclude he was not sober. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xv, He is as sober as sleep can make him, after a deep drink. 1885 Christ. World 15 Jan. 38/5 The Heathen Chinee .. is generally civil and always sober. fig. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 16 Than schalt thou have a lusti drauhte And waxe of lovedrunke sobre. transf. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts ii. 10 This was the sobre fulnesse of swete wine. 1831 Scott Cast. Dang, v, The sober hours of the morning.

fb. Fasting. Obs.~1 I535 Coverdale Dan. vi. 18 The kynge wente in to his palace, and kepte him sober all night, so that there was no table spred before him.

II. 4. a. Of demeanour, speech, etc.: Grave, serious, solemn; indicating or implying a serious mind or purpose. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 532 He..sayde to hem with sobre soun, ‘Wy stonde 3e ydel }?ise dayez longe?’ 139° Gower Conf. III. 64 Sche him axeth.. Fro whenne he cam, and what he wolde, And he with sobre wordes tolde. CI400 Pilgr. Sowle v. x. (Caxton) 1483). 101 Pacyence come pryckyng with a sobre chere and hitte Ire in the helme. C1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 320 Ther songe schal be sadde, sober, ande symple withe out brekyng of notes, and gay relesynge. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshman (Percy Soc.) 16 Tell forthe thy sentence, And I shall here the with sobre pacyence. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 40 To do his message.. bothe with a bolde countenaunce, and a sober demeanure. 1600 Shaks. A. Y.L.y. ii. 76 Orl. Speak’st thou in sober meanings? Ros. By my life I do. 1633 P- Fletcher Purple I si. xi. ix, The Islands King with sober countenance Aggrates the Knights, who thus his right defended. 1697 Dryden JEneid 1. 219 He sooths with sober words their angry mood.

b. In the f sadness.

SOBER

901

phrases

in

sober

earnest

or

Skelton Magnyf. 682 uses Sober Sadnesse as a name. 1593 [see sadness 2b]. 1615 Bedwell Moham. Impost, iii. § 108, I say .. in sober sadnes, that thou and all such .. ought to obserue it well. 1667 Poole Dial, between Protest. & Papist (1735) 181 In sober Sadness, it is enough to make any serious Christian abhor your Church. 1819 J. Keats Let. 21 Sept. (1931) II. 426 Isabella is what I should call.. ‘A weak¬ sided Poem’ with an amusing sober-sadness about it. 1836 Pusey in Liddon Life (i893>f. xviii. 425 In sober earnest, I

wish that we could have given you more time to think about it. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. i. 8, I have been startled by hearing it. . urged in sober earnest very far outside the range of savage life.

5. a. Quiet or sedate in demeanour; of grave, dignified, or discreet deportment; serious or staid in character or conduct. 1362 Langl. P. PL A. xi. 121 J?enne schaltou seo Sobre And Symple-of-speche. C1393 Chaucer Gentilesse 9 Truwe of his worde, sobur, pitous, and fre. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3791 Ulexes .. was .. Sad of his semblaundes, sober of chere. c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 308 Perseys war trew,.. Sobyr in pes, and cruell in battaill. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas, xvi. (Percy Soc.) 75 Be ye pacyent and sobre in mode. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 66 A yonge chylde as sober as a man of fiftye yeres. 1596 Shaks. Merch. V. iii. ii. 78 What damned error, but some sober brow Will blesse it? 1632 Milton Penseroso 32 Com pensive Nun, devout and pure, Sober, stedfast, and demure. 1693 tr. Blaticard's Phys. Diet. (ed. 2), Medicus, a Physician, a Man highly skilful in the art of Physick, modest, sober and courteous. 1722 De Foe Relig. Courtsh. 1. ii. (1840) 43, I would have been the soberest, gravest, young fellow, that ever you saw in your life. 1783 Crabbe Village 11. 13 Some of the sermon talk, a sober crowd. 1833 Ht. Martineau Brooke Farm ix. 109 So sober in her manner, that no one set about guessing whom she would marry. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 253 Sober people predicted that a girl of so little.. delicacy would not easily find a husband.

b. Of bearing, movement, etc.: Showing no trace of haste, impatience, or the like. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4988 Semblant made he sobur so as it him paide, but.. in hert it liked him wel ille. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xix. (Christopher) 361 Cristofore J?an of sobyre wil rase, & sad j^ame sone till: ‘frendis, tell me quhat 3e seke!’ 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 86 Our Newes shall goe before vs,.. And wee with sober speede will follow you. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. 11. 380 Legions, .move to meet their Foes with sober Pace. 1814 Scott Lord of Isles vi. xvi, Pacing back his sober way, Slowly he gain’d his own array.

6. a. Of natural forces (fanimals), etc.: Quiet, gentle, peaceful. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvm. xeix. (Bodl. MS.), Whan he is tyed to a fige tree he leuej? al his fersenes & is sodenlich sobre. C1400 Destr. Troy 2009 The se wex sober .., Stormes were stilie. C1440 Pallad. on Husb. 1. 1031 A sobur brook arnydde or ellis a welle. c 1500 Lancelot 2477 The soft dew one fra the hewyne doune valis.. And throw the sobir and the mwst hwmouris Vp nurisit ar the erbis. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 242 Thay sayled with a sober and safte wind. 01605 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 43 (Wreittoun), The aire was sober, soft and sweet. 1662 Chandler Van Helmont's Oriat. 117 Sober rains are great with young of dew. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Scotch mist, a sober, soaking Rain. 1821 Clare VilL Minstr. I. 14 As sober evening sweetly siles along.

b. Of actions: Free from harshness or violence. 1455 in Charters, etc. Edinb. (1871) 81 He salbe arrestit in sobir maner as said is. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 185 He salbe content of thair sobir and gracious governaunce. 01548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 19 Thei by sobre meanes and gentle exhortation brought all the souldiers to the campe.

7. a. Of living, etc.: Characterized temperance, moderation, or seriousness.

by

1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Gen. Conf., A godly, righteous, and sobre lyfe. 1565-6 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 418 Sanctandrois, quhair he wes in sobir and quiet maner, belevand to haif levit at Goddis peace, o 1629 Hinde J. Bruen iii. 10 Sober and single dancing of men apart. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil 1. ix. (1840) 102 He led a very religious and sober life. 1781 Cowper Hope 129 Men .. Live to no sober purpose, and contend That their Creator had no serious end. 1810 Crabbe Borough xi. 186 A pious friend, who with the ancient dame At sober cribbage takes an evening game. 1825 Scott Talism. vii, The dog., looked as if he were ashamed that anything should have moved him to depart so far out of his sober self-control.

b. Of a book: Serious, moral. 1844 Mrs. Houston Yacht Voy. Texas I. 48 Reading their Prayer Books, or some sober book from the ship’s library.

8. a. Of a temperate or moderate disposition; not readily excited or carried away; of a calm, dispassionate judgement. 1564 Brief Exam. 7* The sagest and sobrest in this common wealth .. conceyue a better opinion of them. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacrse in. iv. §13 It is the constant acknowledgement of all sober inquirers into the original of the Greeks. 1685 Wood Life 12 Aug., The phanatiques (nay, some sober men) thinke that this army .. is to bring in popery. 1718 Free-thinker No. 77, His very Attempts .. are sufficient to make sober Men dread the fatal Consequences. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. ii. iv. (1869) I. 360 Sober people.. would not venture into the competition. 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xi. (1857) 157 The many soberer dreamers who were led to interpret amiss a surer word of prophecy. i860 Farrar Orig. Lang. ii. 38 Some of the most profound and sober intellects in Europe, a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1873) III. v. 392 The sober and patient spirit of the English intellect.

b. Not desirous of great things or high estate; humble, unambitious. 1659 Hammond On Ps. xxxix. 7. 210 Fit to be the matter of a sober mans ambition. 1750 Gray Elegy 74 Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife, Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray. 1790 Burns Ballad Dumfries Election 132 The Robin in the hedge descends, And sober chirps securely.

9. a. Of colour, dress, etc.: Subdued in tone; not glaring, gay, or showy; neutral-tinted. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. I. ii. 132 Now shal my friend., offer me disguis’d in sober robes .. as a schoole-master. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 832 Hungarians.. attired in long sober garments of very fine purple cloth. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 599 Twilight gray Had in her sober Liverie all things clad. 1781 Cowper Charity 262 Ev’ning in her sober vest Drew the grey curtain of the fading west. 1794 Mrs.

Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho i, Till the shadows of twilight melted its various features into one tint of sober gray. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. ii. 139 This contrast between the brilliant colours of the flowers and the sober hue of the rest of the landscape. 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 195 The sober tints of its feathers in winter. transf. 1814 Sporting Mag. XLIII. 258 His palet is sober and clean, his pencil animated,

b. Unexciting or uneventful; dull. 1838 Prescott

Ferd.

Isab. I. Pref. p. xiv, The many

sober hours I have passed in wading through black-letter tomes, i860 Hawthorne Marble Faun (1879) II. xii. 127 That life of sober week days.

10. a. Free from extravagance or excess. 1607 Shaks. Timon iii. v. 21 With such sober and vnnoted passion He did behooue his anger ere ’twas spent. 1794 Burke Duration of Parliaments Wks. II. 484 So was Rome destroyed by the disorders of continual elections, though those of Rome were sober disorders. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 164 That sober freedom out of which there springs Our loyal passion for our temperate kings. 1856 Macaulay Goldsm., Misc. Writ. (1882) 303/2 The mirth of the ‘Goodnatured Man’ was sober when compared with the rich drollery of ‘She Stoops to Conquer’.

b. Moderate, sensible; free from exaggeration; not fanciful or imaginative. 1619 Gorges tr. Bacon's De Sap. Vet. 141 We must therefore with a sober and humble iudgement distinguish betweene humanitie and diuinitie. 1674 Brevint Saul at Endor 115 They who will speak at a soberer rate, compare the Virgin to the Moon. 1771 Fletcher Checks Wks. 1795 II. 260 An expression which may be used in a sober, gospel sense of the words. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 65 Ev’n when sober truth prevails throughout, They swear it, till affirmance breeds a doubt. 1825 Horne Introd. Script, (ed. 5) II. App. vi. 788 The notes .. give a sober but practical and evangelical exposition of the allegory. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars iv. 169 How much or how little of sober fact there may be in those thrilling incidents.. it is impossible to say.

11. Guided by sound reason; sane, rational: fa. Of persons. Obs. 1638 R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II) 24 They have painted mee.. a mad man amongst the sober. 1657 R. Carpenter Astrol. Ded., In a Bedlam-house the mad People have their sober Keepers. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. 11. xxvii. (1695) 186 Humane Laws not punishing the Mad Man for the Sober Man’s Actions. 1786 Boswell Jrnl. Tour Hebrides (ed. 3) 213 Mad all his life, at least not sober,

b. Of the mind, discourse, etc. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. 1. viii. 36 If some man in Bedlam should entertaine you with sober discourse. 1672 Sir T. Browne Let. Friend §22 [They are] content to think they dye in good understanding, and in their sober senses. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 86 He was.. in a state of mind sober enough to consider death and his last end. 1842 Lover Handy Andy xliv, While the people in their sober senses .. were taken in, the old lunatic.. could look down and see [etc.].

III. 12. a. Of things: Small, insignificant, slight; paltry, trifling, poor. Chiefly Sc. ? Obs. c 1440 Alph. Tales 228 He wrote vnto hym & said at he had done hym a litle sober trispas. 1523 State Papers, Hen. VIII (1836) IV. 24 To breke the Chauncellour.. fro the Governour, whiche Your Grace think wold bee doone with a sober thing, a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I.35 Sober goodis and geir with peace and concord growis ay mair and mair to great substance. 1602 Campion Art Eng. Poesie 27 He.. only makes Th’ earth his sober Inne, but still heau’n his home. 1629 Sir W. Mure True Crucifixe 2340 His greatest wealth a sober seamelesse coate. 1643 Milton Divorce 11. xvi, When they cannot reap the sobrest ends of being together in any tolerable sort. 1796 Statist. Acc. Scotl. XVII. 343 It requires the utmost exertion of his industry.. to .. afford a maintenance, very sober indeed, to his family.

tb. Moderate or few in number. Obs. 1513 More Rich. Ill (1883) 15 The Queenes frendes.. broughte the Kynge vppe .. with a sober coumpanye. 1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. E vij, We .. ar here now but with a sobre cumpenie. [Margin.] Sober, is the proper terme whearby the Scottes doo signifie smal, litle, easy, or slender. 1581 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 420 Thair being sober nowmer of personis thairon.

13. Sc. Of persons: fa. Of low degree; humble, mean; of little importance or dignity. Obs. 1533 Bellenden Livy iv. xvi. (S.T.S.) II. 107, I am bot ane sobir knicht of romane armye. 1565 Extr. Burgh Rec. Aberd. (1844) I. 361 Of euery mariage, xviij d. of honest or reche folkis, and xijd. of sobir folkis. 01578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 87 The iniurieis done to ony of them or the soberest of theme.

b. Of little use or worth. 1808 Jamieson s.v.,

A sober servant, a very indifferent one.

c. In poor health; not very well. 1808 Jamieson s.v., in

Very sober, ailing a good deal. 1882-

Eng. Dial. Diet.

IV. 14. Comb., chiefly parasynthetic, as soberblooded, -clad, -coloured, -disposed, -hued, -living, -looking, -spoken, etc.; also sober-like, -sad, -wise. 1597 Shaks. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 94 This same young ‘soberblooded Boy doth not loue me. 1892 T. Wright Blue Firedrake i, A replica of his own starched, sober-minded and *sober-clad self. 1851 Borrow Lavengro I. xxv. 317 They were dressed in ‘sober-coloured habiliments. 1892 ‘Mark Twain’ Amer. Claimant xvi. 168 He drops into the stoodio as sober-colored as anything you ever see. 1775 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. xiv. (1783) I. 125 To the great annoyance of many ‘sober disposed people of the parish. 1867 Augusta Wilson Vashti xxxiv, To-day all ‘soberhued reflections were exorcised. 1592 Wyrley Armorie 117 He.. backe his fighters drue Full ‘soberlike rash perils to eschue. i960 Times 4 Mar. 13/7 There is a hard-working, ‘sober-living, self-respecting section among them. 01817 Jane Austen Northanger Abbey (1818) I. xi. 183 The morrow brought a very ‘sober looking morning. 1863

SOBER Hawthorne Our Old Home 77 A *sober-paced pedestrian. 1593 Shaks. Lucr. 1542 So *sober-sad, so weary, and so mild, c 1614 Sylvester Micro-cosm. 374 If sober-sad, Merry Greeks mee Meacok call. 1647 Cromwell in Stainer Sp. (1901) 44 Every *sober-spirited man. 1934 W. S. Churchill Marlborough II. xiv. 304 These were very unusual expressions for the *sober-spoken and matter-offact Marlborough. 1592 Shaks. Rom. & Jul. in. ii. 11 Come ciuill night, "Thou *sober suted Matron all in blacke. 1727-46 Thomson Summer 746 The sober-suited songstress trills her lay. 1842 Tennyson You ask me Why 6 It is the land .. That sober-suited Freedom chose. 1850 W. Collins Antonina iv, The *sober-tinted trees. 01591 H. Smith Wks. (1866) I. 471 He .. teacheth them here not to be over-wise, but *sober-wise. a 1618 Sylvester Little Bartas 1053 Wks. (Grosart) II. 94 Sound is the soule, which resteth (sober-wise) Content in Thee.

sober ('s3ub3(r)), v. Forms: 4-6 sobre, 4- sober (5 soberyn), 4 sobur (5 sobor), 4-5 sobir (5 sobyr). [f. sober a. Cf. late L. sobriare to make sober, OF. sobrier to live soberly.] 1. trans. 1. a. To reduce to a quiet or gentle condition; to appease, pacify. CI375 Sc. Leg. Saints x. (Matthew) 443 [He] gat be-for pam pat ware wrathe, & sobryt pam. r 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 206 Sobre and appeese suche folk as falle in furye. c 1440 Alph. Tales 193 Sho sayd: ‘Dere Son! Meng pi rightwusnes with mercie!’.. And pan hur Son was soberd & sayd [etc.]. 1483 Cath. Angl. 347/2 To Sobyr, mitigare, placare. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 341 With Pecht and Saxone first he hes maid peice, All outwart weir to sober and gar ceiss.

b. To moderate, quieten (one’s feelings), by the exercise of self-control. Also refl. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 332 With that he sobreth his corage And put awey his hevy chiere. urh fene wude wunder ane softe. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 75 pis holie Man wende forth a-mong heom alle wel softe. a 1300 Cursor M. 17288 + 127 For drede pa\ stynted oft For ferd of he lews, and sithen welk ful soft. C1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1535 He softe into his bed gan for to slynke To slepe longe. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. xi. 33 Him follow’d Yar, soft washing Norwitch wall. 1742 Collins Passions (1807) 141 [Runnels] Dashing soft from rocks around. 1820 Keats St. Agnes xxix, Then by the bed-side. . soft he set A table.

b. In the specific names of animals, birds, plants, etc.

b. With or at a slow or leisurely pace; not hastily or hurriedly.

1803 Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 11. 517 *Soft-backed Labrus, Labrus Malapteronotus. 1837 Swainson Classif. Birds iii. iii. II. 16 The soft-backed shrikes, or Malaconoti. 1678 Ray tr. Willughby's Ornith. iii. ii. §1. 362 Wormius his Eider or *soft-feathered Duck. C1711 Petiver Gazophyl. vi. §lviii. Soft-feathered Cape Coralline. 1833 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. 29 Hieracium molle—’"Soft-leaved Hawkweed. 1840 Hodgson Hist. Northumb. III. 11. 361/2 Byrum carneum, Soft-leaved Thread-moss. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. June 417/2 The soft-leaved Rose (Rosa mollis). 1890 Science-Gossip XXVI. 136 The soft-leaved cranesbill (Geranium molle). 1801 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds Suppl. II. 224 *Soft-tailed Flycatcher.

1390 Gower Conf. I. 100 He set hire on his hors tofore And forth he takth his weie softe. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 2982 Polidonias Come afftirward with qwene Eleyne, Rydyng soffte vpon the pleyne. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxi. 211 All soft may men go far. 1550 Crowley Last Trump 895 Thou hast forgotten to go soft, thou art so hasty on thy way. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. 11. xxi, Or where old Cam soft-paces o’er the lea In pensive mood.

32. With vbs., as soft-board, -boil, -talk. See also SOFT-LAND V. 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) xxvii. 417 Then the leather is taken down and soft-boarded and hung up to thoroughly dry. 1884 Knight Diet. Mech. Suppl. 828 Softboarding, boarding or bruising the leather on the flesh-side. 1832 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) II. 327 Now just reflect, — meditate for as long time as would soft-boil an egg. 1903 G. B. Shaw Let. 21-2 Dec. (1972) II. 384 Mrs Robertson .. would have had to get her brains extracted and her face soft-boiled to play the poor pitiful creature Judith [in The Devil's Disciple]. 1970 H. McLeave Question of Negligence (1973) xxii. 170 The pressure in number-two boiler room is hardly high enough to soft-boil an egg. 1968 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 15 Apr. 21/2 Young Gentry used artificial bait and said he also had to soft talk the fish as he pulled him in. 1968 B. Mather Springers x. 100 He asked peevishly when the hell we would be moving—and where? I soft-talked him and said any minute.

33. With ppl. adjs., as soft-looking. i860 C. M. Yonge Hopes & Fears I. ii. 33 Honora thought her the prettiest child she had ever seen.. such a softlooking little creature. 1924 ‘R. Crompton’ William—the Fourth vi. 87 He said he’d rather be killed than go to an ole dancing class anyway, with that soft-looking kid.

soft (soft, -0:-), adv. Forms: i, 3-6 softe (5 soffte, 6 safte), 4- soft. [OE. softe, = OS. safto, OHG. sanfto, samfto (MHG. sanfte, samfte, G. sanft): see prec.] Softly, in various senses. 1. 1. a. In a quiet or peaceful state; in a comfortable or easy manner; on a soft bed, couch, etc.; (-luxuriously. Now poet, or arch., esp. in to sleep soft. a 1000 Genesis 179 He .. softe swaef. c 1000 Saxon Leechd. II. 292 Reste [he] hine softe. C1205 Lay. 4004 per he laei softe & .. slepte. Ibid. 6346 He wes a wel god mon & softe he wolde libben. 13.. Cursor M. 3796 (Gott.), Wele was he gladid of pat sight, Soft him thoght he slep hat nyht. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. lviii. (Bodl. MS.), pis yuell bredeth in ham pat leue esilich and softe, and trauayleh butte litel. c 1400 Brut lxvii. 63 Y shal 3eue 30W soche a medecyne pat 3e shulle swete anone ry3t, and softe slepe. 1601 Shaks. All's W. iv. iii. 368, I will.. sleepe as soft As Captaine shall. 1607- Timon iv. iii. 206 Thy Flatterers. . drinke Wine, lye soft. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 254 Soft on the flourie herb I found me laid. .781 Cowper Anti-Thelyphth. 8 Fancy .. laid her soft in Amaranthine flow’rs. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. ix, The riches of the East expended that they might sleep soft and wake in magnificence. 1850 Mrs. Browning The Sleep iv, Sleep soft, beloved!

b. In soft wrappings, surroundings, etc. a 1400-50 Alexander 2401 pat Iowell.. pat was full sekirly & soft all in silke falden. c 1440 York Myst. xviii. 196, I pray he .., happe hym warme, And sette hym softe. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 39 They were smoothly appareled, soft lodged, daintely feasted.

c. ellipt. for soft class (in travelling by train in China or the U.S.S.R.). Also transf.} first-class. 1939 ‘M. Innes’ Stop Press 1. ii. 44 As a matter of fact, he’s on the train now. But of course travelling soft. 1976 Times 13 Nov. 11 /1 Trains in China are made up of classless coaches but you travel hard or soft according to your position.

2. a. In a gentle manner; without harshness, roughness, severity, or violence. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xx. 7 Du.. jesewenlicra softe wealdest scirra gesceafta. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3874 An oSer siSe he went is 6o3t Betre and softere. a 1300 Cursor M. 58

4. In a low voice or tone; with a soft, melodious, or pleasing sound; not loudly or harshly. CI290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 232 pis Monekes beden seint Brendan, pat he softe speke. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9769 pis godeman sat adoun akne .. & wel softe .. sede pis orison. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 187 The wys man wenethe he Softe laghyth. 1470-85 Malory Arthur v. v. 167 She .. sayd Syre knyghte speke softe, for yonder is a deuyll. 01536 Songs, Carols, etc. (E.E.T.S.) 118 Syng softe, I say, leste yowr nose blede. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 11. xii. 71 The waters fall with difference discreet, Now soft, now loud. 1603 Shaks. Meas. for M. iv. i. 69 Little haue you to say When you depart from him, but soft and low, Remember now my brother. 0 1763 Shenstone Nancy of Vale iii. Wks. 1777 I. 128 When from an hazle’s artless bower Soft warbled Strephon’s tongue. 1784 Cowper Task hi. 779 And streams .. Now murm’ring soft, now roaring in cascades. 1820 Keats Lamia 11. 199 Soft went the music the soft air along. 1896 Housman Shropshire Lad Iii, The wanderer.. Halts on the bridge to hearken How soft the poplars sigh.

f5. Sweetly, odorously. Obs.~l 01300 Cursor M. 9357 Sco smelles better pen piment, And wel softer [Fairf. soter] hir uestement pan ani recles )?at es brent.

6. To a slight degree or extent; slightly, rare. 13 .. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xlix. 371 For muche to bi-hote & 3iue but softe, Makep mon to be chalanged ofte. 1812 Nezu Bot. Gard. I. 46 The leaves are spear-shaped, soft waved and entire.

|7. soft and fair(ly), softly, gently, leisurely. Obs. (Cf. 8 b and fair adv. 7.) 1390 Gower Conf. III. 194 Thus have I told thee softe and faire Mi feith. 1530 Palsgr. 842/1 Softe and fayre, tout bellement. 1535 Coverdale Tobit xi. 3 Let the husholde with thy wife and ye catell come soft & fayrly after vs. 1565 Cooper Thes., Cunctanter, slowly; safte and fayre; leasurely. 1625 Purchas Pilgr. II. 1104 That the Queen should follow soft and fair. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 29 The Arts .. are in processe of time soft and faire forged by a continuall meditation. Prov. 1681 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 32 (1713) I. 208 Soft and fair goes far in a Day. 0 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew s.v. Fair, Soft and Fair goes far. 1736 Ainsworth i. s.v., Soft and fair goeth far, festina lente.

8. a. Used as an exclamation with imperative force, either to enjoin silence or deprecate haste. Freq. preceded by but, and sometimes followed by you. Now only arch. (a) c 1550 Cheke Matt, xxvii. 49 And ye resideu said, Soft, let vs se whiyer helias com to save him or no. C1590 Marlowe Faustus ix, Soft, sir; a word with you. 1601 Shaks. Twel. N. 1. v. 312 Not too fast: soft, soft. 1611Wtnt. T. iv. iv. 402 Soft, Swaine, a-while, beseech you. 01822 Shelley "Tis midnight now' 82 Soft, my dearest angel, stay. 1852 M. Arnold Tristram & Iseult i. 7 Soft —who is that stands by the dying fire? (b) a 1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias in Dodsley O. PI. 0754) I- 241 But soft, sirs, I pray you huysh. 1589 [? Lyly] Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 22 But soft, I must now make a graue speach. 1639 N. N. tr. Du Bosq's Compl. Woman 1. 8 But soft, wee take nothing from Pagans. 01721 Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) I. 179 A night.. All black, and terrible! but soft! stand close. 1782 Han. More Moses iii. 14 No one sees me. But soft, does no one listen! 1820 Byron Blues 11. 24 A rabble who know not—But soft, here they come! (c) 1599 George a Greene Greene’s Wks. (Rtldg.) 256 Nay, soft you, sir! you get no entrance here. 1602 Shaks. Ham. iii. i. 88 Soft you now, The faire Ophelia! 1635 Mede Wks. (1672) 836 But soft you there, I like not that Method.

fb. So soft and fair, soft and peace. Obs. 157b Gascoigne Steele Glas (Arb.) 69 Cruel? nay iust, (yea softe and peace good sir) For Iustice sleepes. 1599 Shaks. Much Ado v. iv. 72 Soft and faire Frier, which is

SOFT

933

Beatrice? 1611 Cotgr., Tout beau, take your leisure, soft and faire, not too fast. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull (1727) 63 Soft and fair, gentlemen, quoth I; my mother’s my mother.

II. Comb. 9. a. With pres, pples. (or advs. from these), as soft-brushing, -circling, -ebbing, etc. Similar examples, but unhyphened, are freq. in 18th cent, poetry. 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. iv. 11. Magnificence 701 One, in the fresh shade of an Apple-Tree, Lets hang its Quiver, while soft-pantingly ’T exhales hot Vapour. 1667 Milton PL. vii. 300 Wave rowling after Wave, ..If steep, with torrent rapture, if through Plaine, Soft-ebbing. 1710 Philips Pastorals ii. 6 Their Notes soft-warb’ling to the gladsome Spring. 1726 Pope Odyss. xvn. 310 They heard, soft-circling in the sky. Sweet Airs ascend. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes in. xi. 18 The Dog of Hell, Immense of Bulk, to Thee soft-soothing fell. 1820 Keats Lamia 1. 43 The God .. soft-brushing, in his speed, The taller grasses. 1845 F. W. Faber Let. 29 Jan. in R. Chapman Father Faber (1961) vi. 103 When I know how miserably sinful and soft-living I have been, I ought never to have stepped out in the way that I have done. 1875 Longf. Hanging of Crane iv. 22 Limpid as planets .. Soft-shining through the summer night, a 1918 W. Owen Poems (1963) 103 And through those snows my looks shall be soft-going. 1925 E. Sitwell Troy Park 45 Like curd soft-falling. 1944 E. Blunden Shells by Stream 49 The cloud soft-flaming past the mountain wall.

b. In attributive use. Freq. in 18th cent, poetry; many examples are given by Jodrell. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. 111. 401 As some soft-sliding rill ..Extends itself at length unto a goodly stream. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche iv. ccxlv, By the side Of some softmurmuring Current. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes in. xix. 20 The soft-swelling Pipe, and the Hautboy sonorous. 1768-74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 263 Benign, soft-shining goddess! [Hope]. 1791 Coleridge Mathem. Problem iii, The soft-flowing daughter of fright. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague Poems 1825 I. 299 Sinking down As through softyielding waters murmuring round me. 1827 Keble Chr. Year, Visitation Sick, The light from those soft-smiling eyes. 1829 D. Jerrold Black-Ey'd Susan 1. i. 13 That pretty piece of soft-speaking womanhood. 1836 Mrs. Browning Poet's Vow 11. xiii, The silence left By that soft-throbbing speech. 1888 W. Whitman November Boughs 33 And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower... I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain. 1892 Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 13 Here a soft-treading waiter knocks upon the door. 1916 D. H. Lawrence Amores 24 Soft-sailing waters where fears No longer shake. 1965 F. Sargeson Memoirs of Peon iv. 73 The shapely soft-speaking Maori girl .. brought me a plate of sandwiches. 1975 New Yorker 5 May 109/1 He hit a great, soft-falling shot seven feet beyond the flag. 1977 Times 17 Mar. 18/6 A soft-living Mayfair clientele.

10. a. With pa. pples., -extended, -roastfed), etc.

as

soft-bedded,

1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Seer. 26 b, A new laied Egge, soft roste. 1725 Pope Odyss. vii. 435 There, soft-extended,.. Ulysses sleeps profound! 1726 Ibid. xix. 119 A seat soft spread with furry spoils prepare. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iv. 654 Their distant strain,.. Soft wafted on celestial pity’s plume. 1831 Carlyle Sort. Res. 11. ix, Not sufficiently honoured,.. soft-bedded, and lovingly cared-for.

b. In attributive use. soft-spun, loosely twisted in spinning; also transf.’, opp. hard-spun s.v. hard adv. 8e. See also soft-landed ppl. a. Other examples are given by Jodrell. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 28/1 We must first let him suppe in a soft-dressed egge. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xx. ccxciii, Those lusty Thoughts which in a softlay’d Dream [etc.]. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, ccxlviii, Spred the feild ore with Soft-Spun Carcasses. 1682 Mrs. Behn City Heiress 8 The stealths of Love, the softbreath’d murmuring Passion. 1748 Thomson Castle Indol. I. xx, The soft-embodied fays through airy portal stream. 1768 Phil. Trans. LX. 122 They have shoes of soft-tanned moose skin. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mech. 481 This soft and soft-glazed pottery is easily scratched by a knife, a 1835 Mrs. Hemans To the New Born Poems (1875) 5°2 Bending o’er thy soft-seal’d eyes. 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Intioc. Abr. xxx. 324 A lace-work of soft-tinted crystals of sulphur. 1893 Outing XXII. 123/1 The soft-finished, braided raw-silk line. 1902 W. de la Mare Songs of Childhood 96 As if it were a perfect jewel in the morning’s soft-spun hair. 1906 Soft spun [see hard spun s.v. hard adv. 8e]. 1940 E. Blunden Poems 1930-40 193 Choose this soft-tinted willow tree. 1964 H. Hodges Artifacts ix. 129 Excessively twisted, or hardspun, yarns may kink.. while soft-spun threads with little twist may untwist further.

11. With adjs., as soft-bright, -lucent, -sloruo. 1593 Shaks. Lucrece 1220 Her mistress she doth give demure good-morrow, With soft-slow tongue, true mark of modesty. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 11. 1. iv, Light Apollo, so clear, soft-lucent. 1863 Ld. Houghton Sel.fr. Wks. 216 Disparted all those soft-bright diadems.

fsoft, v. Obs. [f. the adj.] 1. trans. To render (a person, the heart, etc.) less harsh, severe, or obdurate; to mollify, appease, pacify. a 1225 A tier. R. 244 Eadie bonen softeS & paieS ure Louerd. 1390 Gower Cotif. I. 318 Witt and resoun conseilen ofte That I myn herte scholde softe. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode I. Iii. (1869) 31 Whan it is fulfilled with olde sinne, and harded, j softe it, and make it weepe. c 1477 Caxton Jason 47 b, Ther is no herte of lady so hard but by the vertu of youre requestes muste nedes be softed and molefied. 1533 Bellenden Livy v. xiii. (S.T.S.) II. i94The distributioun of pir landis softit.. pe myndis of small pepill. 1594 Spenser Amoretti xxxii, Yet cannot all these flames.. her hart more harde then yron soft awhit.

b. Const, to and inf. c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 90 But anoon porphyry softed pe kepers to consente.

2. To allay, abate, or assuage the heat, intensity, or pain of (an injury, sore, etc.). Also with double accusative..

SOFT-CENTRED

(a) a 1200 St. Marher. 5 Lauerd loke to me, ant haue merci of me, softe me mi sar. CI375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxviii. (Adrian) 295 With a faire clath scho clengit pare bilis, & softyt hurtis pat ware sare. 14.. Siege Jerus. (E.E.T.S.) 5 Canste pou any.. craft vpon erpe To softe pe grete sore pat sittep on my cheke? c 1440 Promp. Parv. 463/1 Softyn, or esyn of peyne,.. mitigo, allevio. 1527 Andrew Brunsuiyke's Distyll. Waters C iv. It softeth the goute podagra in the fete. (b) c 1440 Promp. Parv. 463/1 Softyn, or comfortyn yn sorowe and mornynge, delinio. c 1470 Got. & Gaw. 1055 Wes nowthir solace nor sang thair sorow to soft.

3. To mitigate or moderate, to lower or reduce the intensity of (a passion, emotion, etc.). c 1400 Apol. Loll. 112 Wat pat is offrid in felony in pe sacrifice of God it softip not, but sterip his wrape. a 1470 H. Parker Dives & P. (W. de W. 1496) vi. x. 380 The Iacke is softe & nesshe and by his softenesse .. softeth & feynteth all strokes pat cometh there ayenst. 1533 Bellenden Livy 1. iv. (S.T.S.) I. 30 Providing so pai wald soft pe Indignacioun of pare myndis. Ibid. III. xi. 293 His collegis.. set pame pe maist presand way pai mycht to soft his preiss.

4. To make (words) plausible or specious. 1382 Wyclif Ps. liv. 22 Softid ben the woordis of hym vp on oile; and thei ben speris. -Prov. ii. 16 That thou be take awey fro an alien womman, and fro a straunge, that softethfL. mollit] hir woordis.

5. To render physically soft. context.

Also in fig.

a 1400 Prymer (1895) 60 Whe^er t?ou hast not softid me as mylk; and hast cruddid me to-gideres as chese? c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 52 The erthe also is softed wyth rayn and a3eynward made hard wyth froost. 6. reft. To calm or restrain (oneself)- rare-'. c 1480 Henryson Fables, Fox, Wolf Husbandman xxiii, Schir,.. we ar at it almaist; Soft 30W ane lytill, and 3e sail se it sone.

7. intr. To become or grow soft in various senses. c 1275 Lay. 12042 pe wind gan a-legge an J?at weder softi. a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxxxiii. 2 My hert softid in swetnes of luf.

Hence f 'softing vbl. sb. and ppl. a. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. xlvii. (W. de W. 1495) 890 Bi grete drynesse they be made smothyng and softynge. 14 .. Siege Jerus. (E.E.T.S.) 6 per is a warlich wif.. pax hap softyng & salue for eche sore out. 1611 Cotgr., Amollissement, a softing, mollifying, making tender. Ibid., Amollissant, softing, mollifying.

Isofta ('sDfta). Also sophta. [Turk, softa, ad. Pers. suhtah lighted, set on fire (by the teacher, or by zeal for study).] In Turkey, a Muslim theological student; also generally, a pupil engaged in professional studies at a secondary school. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 315 Thus haue we taken a leisurely view of the Turkish Hierarchy from the poore Softi to the courtly Cadilescher and pontifical Mufti. 1880 Menzies Turkey Old & New II. 249 The Softas.. were angry with the Government, and threatened the Sultan with deposition. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 3 Oct. 5/1 The Softas, or Mussulman theological students.

softball ('softbad, so:ft-). Also soft-ball, soft ball, [f. soft a. -1- balls/i.1] i. Confectionery. (As two words or with hyphen.) A soft globule of sugar formed (e.g. by dropping into water) as a means of testing that the mass of sugar being boiled has reached a certain stage; hence used attrib. and absol. to designate this stage. 1894 E. Skuse Compl. Confectioner 70 Add the cocoanut slices and allow the whole to boil, for say ten minutes, or until the sugar comes to a soft ball. 1907 J. Kirkland Mod. Baker, Confectioner & Caterer IV. iv. 13 The soft-ball or full-feather degree is tested by making a small bulb of sugar between the fingers while cooling in cold water. 1921 [see panoche 2]. 1980 T. Stobart Cook's Encycl. 404/1 Soft ball --n6°C (240°F). The sugar clinging to the skimmer will now, when shaken, produce a feathery, downy effect. The syrup is now beginning to thicken and will form a soft ball if a little of it is dropped into cold water.

2. orig. N. Amer. a. A game resembling baseball but played on a smaller field with a larger ball that is pitched underarm. 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 2 July 5/3 The remainder of the morning was occupied by the younger members of the party in playing soft ball and other less strenuous games. 1947 J. Steinbeck Wayward Bus 54 A big and muscular young woman who taught ice hockey and softball and archery at the university. 1977 F. F. Fixx Compl. Bk. Running p. xvi, Someone who all his life had played tennis, touch football and Saturday-afternoon softball shouldn’t be thus laid low.

b. A ball of the kind used in the game of softball. 1914 Vanity Fair Feb. 49 (caption) Soft ball, soft hands and a soft game. 1918 Playground Sept. 223 Suffice it to say that Playground Baseball.. differs from ordinary baseball in four ways, namely; (1) A big soft ball is used [etc.]. 1974 [see softball throw, sense c below]. 1975 R. Kroetsch Badlands 136 Lumps of ice the size of softballs.

c. attrib., as softball court, field, game, team', softball question, a question that is easy to answer; softball throw, an athletic event in which a softball is thrown as far as possible. 1943 J. S. Huxley TV A ix. 73 The playground is floodlit to give the adults a soft-ball court after their day’s work is over. 1958 j Kerouac On Road iii. i. 180 A softball game was going on under floodlights. 1974 News & Press (Darlington, S. Carolina) 25 Apr. 11/1 Beverly Robinson won first-place in the long jump and the softball throw. 1976 New Society 28 Oct. 209/3 ‘Why Switzerland?’ may seem the ultimate softball question, its answer to be found behind those discreet name-plates along Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse.

x977 J- Cheever Falconer 4 There was a softball field where the gallows had stood. 1977 Set. Amer. Nov. 15/2 He has also collaborated with Groth ‘on a number of double plays for the physics department softball team’.

3. Tactical slow and gentle play in lawn tennis. Also attrib. So soft-balling ppl. a., soft-ball v. trans. and intr. 1961 Times 18 May 5/2 Not only did Sangster adapt his game to the slow court and a soft-balling opponent. 1962 Times 25 Apr. 4/7 It was the Chilean’s soft ball game that ruffled his opponent’s feathers. Ibid. 26 June 4/2 Playing soft ball, and apparently resigned to defeat, he was offered a reprieve by a casual opponent. 1976 Observer 2 May 23/2 Miss Mottram, who was being made to run hard and dig deep on the dusty red court to stay in the game, decided to soft-ball her, to slow the pace. 1980 Amer. Speech 1976 LI. 294 Softball, play slow soft shots.

soft-billed, a. Ornith. [soft a. 31.] Having a soft bill. Also in specific names. 01705 Ray Synop. Avium (1713) 68 In Tenuirostras, Soft Bil’d Birds.. and Crassirostras, Hard Bil’d Birds. 1771 G. White Selborne xiii, Many of our soft-billed summer birds of passage. 1785 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds III. 11. 522 Soft-billed Duck.. inhabits New Zealand. 1826 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. (1863) 97 A soft-billed bird, that requires as much care as a nightingale! 1871 Darwin Desc. Man 11. xvi. (1890) 490 Many of the soft-billed birds are songsters.

soft-board(ing: see soft a. 32. soft-bodied, a. Zool.

[soft a. 31.]

Having a

soft body. 1782 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) IX. 6617/2 These tender and soft-bodied animals [sc. frogs]. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxv. 655 In soft-bodied insects they [the legs] seem usually more firm and unbending. 1846 Patterson Zool. 27 The molluscous or soft-bodied animals, which are known as shell-fish. 1872 H. A. Nicholson Palaeont. 59 No trace of the past existence of which has yet been obtained, or, from their soft-bodied nature, is ever likely to be.

soft-boiled, a. [f. soft-boil vb. s.v. soft a. 32.] 1. Of an egg: boiled but not hard-boiled. Also transf. 1889 Kipling in Macmillan's Mag. Dec. 153/1 You niver had a head worth a soft-boiled egg. 1906 Woman's Home Companion Nov. 5/3, I have plenty of towels and soap and soft-boiled eggs. 1948 W. Stevens Let. 2 Apr. (1967) 582 How good grated Parmesan is on soft-boiled eggs. 1954 —-—Let. 23 July (1967) 841 The weather has been all sparkle with a hot day and soft-boiled night thrown in now and then. *975 J- McClure Snake iii. 37 His big, soft-boiled eyes, with pouches beneath them like black egg-cups.

2. Of a person: mild, easy-going; impractical; opp. hard-boiled a. 2.

naive,

01930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 258 O you hard-boiled conservatives and you soft-boiled liberals Don’t you see how you make bolshevism inevitable? 1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags iii. 191 Father’s friends were all hard-boiled and rich... And then I met Cedric who was poor and very, very soft-boiled. 1963 Times 26 Feb. 16/4 But, say the T.V.A. enthusiasts, there is a psychological stimulus in receiving a rebate as opposed to merely not paying tax from the start. Is the British businessman really so soft-boiled? 1978 D. Grylls Guardians & Angels iv. 142 Dickens[’s].. pantheon is crammed with a soft-boiled array of credulous infantile adults.

soft centre.

Also soft-centre, [f. soft a.

+

centre sb.]

1. a. A soft filling inside a chocolate. attrib.

Also

[1930 H. W. Bywaters Mod. Methods of Cocoa & Chocolate Manuf. xxv. 251 During recent years chocolates containing soft creme centres.. have increased in popularity.] 1947 ‘G. Orwell’ in Tribune 7 Mar. 11/3 The same kind of charm as belongs to a pink geranium or a softcentre chocolate. 1959 [see centre sb. lie],

b. transf.

A chocolate with a soft filling.

1970 II. McLeave Question of Negligence (1973) ii. 18 Every time Lord Blye turned nasty.. her consumption of petit fours and soft centres soared. 1974 P. Haines Tea at Gunter's xiv. 149 Me.. lying about on the settee eating soft centres, and Mantovani on the radiogram.

2. A soft heart, esp. in contrast with a tough exterior; a vulnerable or weak core. Also attrib. 1955 E. Blishen Roaring Boys iv. 194 The fierceness and roughness of the boys was of the surface.. . The longer I stayed there, the more aware I became of this soft centre. 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 148, I gathered from the female novelists I had been reading.. that the malleable, softcentre syndrome was no longer considered attractive. 1974 Bookseller 20 July 197/1 Most of the publishers I’ve known have had soft centres. They love to be loved, especially by their authors.

soft-centred, a. [f. prec.] 1. Of a person or his attitudes: soft-hearted; of works of literature, art, music, etc.: having a weak, vulnerable, or sentimental core. 1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 8 Nov. 674/4 Like his attack on the Monarchy his attachment to Socialism is essentially emotional and soft-centred, i960 Listener 3 Mar. 425/2 The fact that the catalyst is a woman friend.. does not make the play any less soft-centred. 1963 Times 7 Mar. 15/3 Like all nice Cockney Jewish characters, Harryboy is soft-centred. 1973 Art Internat. Mar. 57/1 His resulting paintings., proved to be simply a murky, soft-centered brand of Cubism. 1977 Broadcast 10 Oct. 17/2 Michael Arlen .. [was] a writer of immense but somewhat soft-centred sophistication.

2. Of a chocolate; having a soft centre. 1970 C. Wood ‘ Terrible Hard', says Alice viii. 110 A softcentred milk chocolate. 1978 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Apr.

SOFTEN 438/3 Diamond Jim Brady.. regularly ate a twelve-course dinner.. ending with five pounds of soft-centred chocolates.

Hence soft-'centredness. 1967 Guardian 10 Apr. 6/6 The critics.. began to note .. a soft-centredness about Britain, a complacency, a reluctance to scrap and build. 1981 Economist 28 Nov. 47/1 A mixture of Saudi soft-centredness, Arab pettiness and Syrian bloody-mindedness has led the Arabs to miss a rare opportunity.

soften ('sDf(3)n, -o:-), v. Also 4-5 softne, 5 Sc. softine, 9 Sc. saften. [f. soft a. 4- -en. Cf. soft v.] 1. trans. 1. a. To mitigate, assuage, or diminish; to render less painful or more easy to bear. C1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 50 That blisful sight softneth al my sorwe. c 1415 Hoccleve Min. Poems 62 Let your hy worthynesse Oure indigences softne, & abate! 1708 Pope Ode St. Cecilia's Day vii, Music can soften pain to ease. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) II. 13 It would very much soften those apprehensions. 1822 Scott Peveril xxxii, His lady, who. . shared and softened his imprisonment. 1823 - Quentin D. x, All who had contributed to soften the term of his exile. 1842 Lover Handy Andy xlix, After the lapse of a few days had softened the bitter grief. absol. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xlii. (Agatha) 149 Godis angele .. vith dew of hewine ma softine sa, pat )?i fyre sal me do na wa. C1400 Rom. Rose 1925 It softned heere, and prikkith there.

b. Similarly with off. 1790 Mme. D’Arblay Diary Jan., To soften off, by the air, a violent headache, I determined upon walking to Chelsea. 1849 Froude Nemesis of Faith 224 All that woman’s care.. could do to soften off her end was done.

fc. With personal object: To relieve from pain. Obs.~1 ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2601 This prissonere syr Priamus .. Sais that he has saluez salle softene vs bothene.

2. a. To render more impressionable or tender; to affect emotionally. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love 102 f>e saule softynand per j>ou ..pi tempyll has ordand. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. no, I behold them soft’nd and with tears Bewailing thir excess. 1827 Scott Jrnl. 7 Nov., I. .fairly softened myself like an old fool, with recalling old stories till I was fit for nothing but shedding tears. 1874 Mozley Univ. Serm. ix. (1877) 195 Misfortune, adversity, soften the human heart.

b. To enervate, weaken, render effeminate. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 51 Howe.., before Poets did soften vs, we were full of courage, giuen to martiall exercises. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xii. 64 The Sirens will so soften with their song.. His loose affections. 1670 Cotton Espernon 1. III. 104 A negligent and voluptuous Prince, whose nature being softned, and unnerv’d by ease [etc.]. 1780 Mirror No. 94, Softening too much the mind of a young girl, who has to struggle with the difficulties of life. 1828-32 Webster s.v., Troops softened by luxury.

c. To make more gentle, delicate, or refined. Also with into. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 10 IP 2 Every Temper., is to be animated and softned by the Influence of Beauty. 1781 Cowper Charity 96 This genial intercourse .. softens human rock-work into men. 1831 Sinclair Corr. II. 370 Attention to music .. softens the temper. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. 249 This mixture probably softened the manners of the people from the first. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. I. 1. 112 Though some divine thought softened all her face.

3. To mollify or appease; to render less harsh or severe. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 128 Bot marie softnys his ire als oure best mediatrice. 1593 Shaks. Lucr. 591 All which together.. Beat at thy rocky.. heart, To soften it. 1603-Meas.for M. 1. v. 70 All hope is gone, Vnlesse you haue the grace by your faire praier To soften Angelo. 1725 De Foe Voy. r. World {1840) 342 To soften them a little, and in some measure to please them. 1780 Mirror No. 101, Nor was his resentment softened even by her husband’s leaving the army. 1835 Thirlwall Greece I. vi. 199 When the sacrifice was designed to soften the anger of an offended deity. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 637 That good prelate used all his influence to soften the gaolers. 1864 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. xv. (1875) 243 It still appeared possible to soften, if not to overcome, their antagonism.

4. a. To make physically soft or softer; to lessen the hardness of (a substance). 1530 Palsgr. 724/2 It is harde yet, but I shall soften it well ynoughe. 1591 Shaks. Two Gentl. 111. ii. 79 Orpheus Lute, .. Whose golden touch could soften steele and stones. 1604 -Oth. iv. iii. 47 Her salt teares fell from her, and softned the stones. 1656 Verney Memoirs (1907) II. 51, I see the same sunn that softens Wax, hardens clay. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 227 Sometimes deceivers will soften the amber and put into it some extraneous matter. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) 1. 53 With Fire he .. hardens clay, softens iron. 1853 Soyer Pantroph. 288 They were first softened in milk and honey. absol. 1610 Markham Masterp. 11. clxxiii. 484 Armoniacke drieth, cooleth, softneth, and draweth.

b. To make (water) soft. 1771 Mrs. Haywood New Present for Maid 267 Hard water may be softened by laying chalk in the bottoms of the wells or ponds. 1867 Bloxam Chem. 43 Clark’s process for softening waters.

c. Usu. with up. To reduce the strength of (a defensive position) by bombing or other preliminary attack; also transf. Hence fig.: to undermine the resistance of (a person), colloq. (orig. U.S.). 1940 W. L. Shirer Berlin Diary (1941) 378 Stuka divebombers are softening the Allied defense positions, making them ripe for an easy attack. 1942 Sun (Baltimore) 3 Feb. 1/5 Japanese air raiders engaged in a grand-scale effort to soften up the stronghold for a final invasion thrust. 1949 F. Maclean Eastern Approaches in. xv. 490 United States Army Air Force Mustangs had ‘softened up’ the target.

SOFTENING

934 1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting 89 They will enable you to knock out or at least ‘soften up’ an opponent. 1951 Here & Now (N.Z.) May 8/2 These fellowships are part of the general system of ‘softening up’ overseas journalists and persuading them to see the advantages of the American way of life. 1952 S. Kauffmann Philanderer (1953) xii. 193 ‘You make me feel pretty cruel,’ he said... Then in a moment she smiled. ‘You said that just to soften me up.’ 1962 Listener 1 Nov. 706/1 The farming industry is being softened up by the clear indications from ministers that changes are coming in the whole support system, whether or not we go into Europe. 1974 Daily Tel. 21 Sept. 15 A man who had told police of goings on in Soho was kidnapped in broad day¬ light, tied to a chair and softened up to find what he had said. 1980 G. B. Trudeau Tad Overweight, ‘Over there’s my Soviet-made Makarov mortar.* ‘Mortar? What do you use the mortar for?’ ‘Deer hunting. I like to soften up an area before I hunt it.’

5. a. To modify or tone down; to render less pronounced or prominent. In certain contexts there is implication of other senses. (a) 1670-1 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 382 The clause that makes them riots is thrown out, and severall other clauses softned. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 399 If 5 They.. do not see our Faults, ..or soften them by their Representations. 1714 Pope Lett. Wks. 1736 V. 216, I know you will think fit to soften your expression when you see the passage. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. Iii. V. 422 Their stern enthusiasm was softened by time and prosperity. 1812 Crabbe Tales xvii. 153, I in vain had tried To soften crime, that cannot be denied. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. 463 The scarcely ambiguous answer was something softened the following day. 1879-Caesar xx. 346 Others proposed to send a deputation to soften the harshness of his removal. (b) 1810 Crabbe Borough ii. 41 For time has soften’d what was harsh when new, And now the stains are all of sober hue. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies 159 There was a smoky haze in the atmosphere .., softening the features of the landscape. 1884 Manch. Exam. 1 Sept. 5/4 An awning.. softened the light and hid the bare rafters.

b. Const, into or to. I753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty vi. 29 Horror is softened into reverence. 1784 Cowper Task 1. 365 ’Tis the primal curse, But soften’d into mercy. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 725 These shades, duly softened into each other, will give the idea of a round body. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. II. Lay of St. Cuthbert iii, And he utters—a word which we’ll soften to ‘Zooks!’

c. With down (or away). 1799-1805 Wordsw. Prelude xiv. 246 Thou didst soften down This over-sternness. 1809 Malkin Gil Bias xi. iv. If 3 Throughout my narrative I softened down the passages likely to give umbrage to my patron. 1866 Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Dau. iv, Mrs. Hamley tried sometimes to.. soften away opinions which she fancied were offensive to the doctor. 1869 Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 264 Inconsistencies .. are modified and softened down. 6. To make softer in sound. For Ainsworth’s use see the note to soft a. 3 b. 1736 Ainsworth Lat. Diet. 11. s.v. D, This letter.. is a t hardned, as t is a d softned. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxvi, He spoke to her in accents somewhat softened from their usual harshness. 1824 Byron Def. Transf. 1. ii, How the soldier’s rough strain seems Soften’d by distance to a hymn-like cadence! 1890 Science-Gossip XXVI. 17 In our modern word ditch the final letter has been softened or weakened.

II. intr. 7. a. To become soft or softer in various non-physical senses; esp. to become more gentle, tender, or emotional; to grow fainter or less pronounced; Comm, to lose firmness. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. 11. ii. 40 We do not know How he may soften at the sight o’ th’ Childe. 1722-7 Boyer Diet. Royal 1, S'adoucir,.. to soften, to grow soft. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, The terror of La Motte began to subside, and the grief of Adeline to soften. 1794-Myst. Udolpho iii, Its savage features gradually softened. 1838 T. Mitchell Aristoph. Clouds 31 The scholar.. gradually softens at this submission, and becomes sociable and communicative. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xxi. viii. (1872) X. 163 His eyes .. softened finely in hearing, or telling, some trait of nobleness. 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. viii. 212 Never was heart so hard but it softened before so much gentleness. 1947 Kiplinger Washington Let. (Kiplinger Washington Agency) 5 Apr., Consumers are not buying quite enough to take up all production. Luxury markets began to soften last fall. 1982 Daily Tel. 6 July 15 American rates might soften following the publication of reassuring money supply figures on Friday evening. 1982 Times 17 Aug. 12 The shares softened 2p to i68p after announcement of the results.

b. Const, into. 1730 Thomson Hymn 25 Shade unperceived so softening into shade. 1771 Junius' Lett. liv. (1788) 296 By what gentle degrees the furious, persecuting zeal of Mr. Horne has softened into moderation. 1820 L. Hunt Indicator, Deaths Little Children 203 The pain that is in it softens into pleasure.

c. With away, down, or off. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Ital. xii, The responses softened away in distance. 1833 Ritchie Wand. Loire 122 The rocks soften down on the right, and the village of Bouchemain appears. 1840 Dickens Master Humphrey's Clock (Tauchn.) III. 285 A crowd, which .. softened off in a confused heap of faces. 1879 Browning Halbert & Hob 6 Most wildness by degrees Softens away! 8. To become physically soft. 1626 Bacon Sylva §840 Many of those Bodies, that will not Melt,.. will notwithstanding Soften. 1727 Boyer Diet. Royal 1, S'amollir,.. (perdre sa durete), to grow soft, tender or pliant, to soften. 1838 Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 182 When heated it softens at 302°. 1900 Jrnl. Soc. Dyers XVI. 7 The acetate .. does not begin to soften below a temperature of 150° C. softened (sDf(a)nd, -o:-), ppl. a. 1. Made yielding.

or

rendered

[f. soften v.~\

physically

soft

or

1600 Surflet Countrie Farme 95 Mixing.. the powder of a softned bricke in her meate. 1688 Boyle Final Causes iv. 191 To., make a Second Attrition of their already much Softned Aliments. 1830 Knox Beclard's Anat. 340 The softened nervous substance is sometimes at the point of being liquid. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 871 The softened central area of the tumour.

b. Characterized by softening or softness. 1839-47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 720b, The softened condition of the brain is doubtless due to a similar cause. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xv. 183 Certain phenomena.. indicate a softened state of the heart.

2. Rendered soft or softer, in other senses. 1716 Pope Iliad vi. 622 The soften’d chief., dried the falling drops, and thus pursued. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxii, Then.. her softened thoughts returned to Valancourt. Ibid, xxxviii, The softened music, floating at a distance, soothed her melancholy mind. 1829 Scott Rob Roy Introd., A softened account of this anecdote. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxvii, ‘Get up, child,’ said Miss Ophelia in a softened voice. 1873 Symonds Greek Poets xii. 404 Its pearly greys and softened greens. 1894 Mrs. Dyan Man's Keeping (1899) 311 She.. saw that new softened look in his eyes.

softener ('sDf(3)113(1-), -o:-). [f. as prec.] 1. One who or that which softens, in various senses; a mollifier. Also with down. 1608 Hieron Wks. I. 722/1 Whose blood is.. the principall softner of the heart. 1611 Cotgr., Mollifieur, a mollifier, softener. 1668 Charleton & P. M. Ephes. & Cimm. Matrons 72 You are.. the obstacles to honour; the softners of courage. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes 1. xxxii. 20 Thou Softner of each anxious Care. 1839 Dickens Nickleby viii, One of the best softeners of a hard bed. 1894 H. Nesbit Bush Girl's Rom. 27 A true helpmate and softener-down of the rough edges. 1954 A. J. Hall Stand. Handbk. Textiles (ed. 4) iv. 265 It is important not to use softeners which reduce the fastness of coloured goods to light. 1973 Times 1 June 11/5 It tests the water every night, working its little two-inch square brain-box attached to the softener.

2. spec. A painting-brush of soft hair. 1843 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VI. 305/1 Passing a dry brush, called a ‘softener’, lightly over it. 1873 E. Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. 1. 6/2 For shading, camel or sable hair brushes, called Softeners, are generally used.

'softening, vbl. sb. Also 6 soughtening, 6, 8 softning. [f. as prec.] 1. a. The action or process of making or becoming soft, in various senses of the adj. Also with a and pi. 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 21 It purgeth.. gently by soughtening of the belly. 1580 Hollyband Treas.Fr. Tong, Mollification, softning. 1611 Cotgr., Attendrissement, a softening, mollifying. 1719 Waterland Vind. Christ's Div. 223 After the Disguises and Softenings, and Colourings had been carried on so long. 1744 H. Brooke Love & Vanity 124 O such a pretty knack at painting! And all for soft’ning and for sainting! 1802 D. Stewart Life & Writ. Robertson I. 42 To unite in his portraits the truth of nature with the softenings of art. 1853 J - H. Newman Hist. Sk. Ser. 11. 1. iii. 105 When their strength declines .. there is no softening, no misgiving. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 203 After this a general softening (that is to say, the graduating of light into shade). 1919 R. D. Bangay Oscillation Valve 203 Any serious ‘softening’ of the valve will entirely upset its characteristics and action. 1945 Electronic Etigin. XVII. 338/3 A high grid leak may very rapidly cause softening of the valve. 1946 Ann. Reg. 1945 214 The constant harping on the subject [of Turkish Armenia] in the Soviet Press, accompanied by attacks on the regime in power in Turkey, conveyed the impression that the familiar process of softening would in due course be followed by a formal demand. 1957 Economist 30 Nov. 809/1 The recent softening of the markets for petroleum products, i960 N. Mitford Don't tell Alfred xx. 216 When some softening up on these lines had been delivered the campaign settled down to its real objective. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. B1/2 It was too early to tell whether this marked a reversal of the softening trend in these important loans to businesses. 1977 P. Strevens New Orientations Teaching Eng. ii. 24 The integration of prior ‘softening-up’ with initial presentation and subsequent consolidation and repetition.

b. Path., esp. in softening of the brain. 1830 R. Knox Beclard's Anat. 340 The softening is a very frequent alteration of a part of the central nervous mass. 1835 Cycl. Pract. Med. IV. 5/1 When softening of the brain is accompanied by an increase of bulk. 1843 Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xv. 184 Softening of the heart exists in typhus fever. 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 74 This state of yellow softening. Ibid., Red softening. 1854 Jones & Sieveking Pathol. Anat. 250 White softening.. is chiefly met with in the parts most remote from the grey matter.

2. spec. (See quots.) 1728 Chambers Cycl., Softening, in Painting, the mixing and diluting of Colours with the Brush or Pencil. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Softening, of lead, the removal of antimony and other impurities.

3. attrib., as softening disease, tool, softening iron, in leather-working, an iron plate upon which the wetted hides of animals are stretched; softening-machine (see quot. 1875); softening works, works for softening drinking-water. *834 Cooper Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 368 note, In the ramollissement, or softening disease, the spleen never becomes so large as when it is indurated. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 767 They would not bear working upon the softening iron. Ibid., The softening tool is an iron plate [etc.]. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2238/1 Softening-machine, (Leather,) a machine.. for beating the hides in water to saturate them. 1888 Daily News 7 June 6/7 A pumping station and softening works. Ibid., The softening plant.

b. With up, in sense 4 c of the vb., as softeningup period, process, raid, technique, trick. I95I R.A.F. Rev. Apr.-Mar. 32/3 They helped to cover Allied bombers on ‘softening-up’ raids on the European

SOFTENING fortress. 1953 L. P. Hartley Go-Between x. 127 The softening-up process, as we should call it now, which he had put me through had been enough. 1954 J. Stein Basic Everyday Encycl. 558/1 This ‘softening-up’ technique broke communications, disrupted production, disorganized civilian existence, destroyed the German air force. 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 229 After a softening up period, another attack was launched. Our attack! 1976 B. Lecomber Dead Weight viii. 90 Leaving the suspect to stew.. is the oldest softening-up trick in the book.

soft-footed, a. [soft a.

31.] Having feet which

tread softly. In early use jig. 1612 Chapman Rev. Bussy d'Ambois v. iii, The black softfooted hour is now on wing. 1656 Cowley Pindar. Odes, 2nd Olympique viii, Soft-footed Winds.. Dance through the perfum’d Air. 1736 Ainsworth i. s.v., Soft footed, mollipes. 1894 Outing XXIlI. 346/2 The soft-footed maid had just left them. 1947 Auden Age of Anxiety (1948) ii. 47 In the soft-footed Hours of darkness.

Hence soft-footedly adv. softening, ppl. a. Also 7-8 softning, 8-9 Sc. saftening. [f. as prec.] 1. Causing to become soft, tender, etc. (a) c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 353 Of mollificatif medicyns or softenyng. 1631 Widdowes Nat. Philos. 36 His oyle for hot and softning nature helpeth diseases of the brest. 1735 Bracken Gentlem. Pocket Farr. 11 note, You ought to keep the Foot.. covered with any softning Poultice. 1760-72 II. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 151, I got some softening cream, and spread it over the burn. 1861 Paley JEschylus (ed. 2) Prometh. 388 note, Reducing a swelling by softening applications. (b) 1643 Milton Divorce viii. Wks. 1851 IV. 39 To unsettle our constancie with timerous and softning suggestions. 1668 Davenant Mari's the Master v. i, [Do you] yet strive, with softning pity, to allay that courage? 1729 Law Serious Call xvii. (1761) 293 We may deceive ourselves.. with vain and softening comments upon these words. 1794 E. Williams Poems II. 4 He., blended with her glaring hues The soft’ning tints of Art. 1847 Prescott Peru IV. iii. (1850) II. 300 When .. time had .. thrown its softening veil over the past. 1894 Mrs. Dyan Man's Keeping II. 126 Under the softening shade of her parasol.

2. Becoming soft, gentle, tender, etc. 173° Thomson Hymn 5 Wide flush the fields; the softening air is balm. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. xviii. (1856) 140 With a gradually softening tint. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. ii, ‘I can believe that,’ said Miss Abbey, with a softening glance at the little creature. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 250 Occasionally the enlarged and softening glands adhere to a contiguous organ.

soft-eyed, a. [soft a. 31.] Having soft or gentle eyes; tender-eyed. *735 Pope Prol. Sat. 286 The verse.. That tends to.. Give.. Innocence a fear, Or from the soft-eyed Virgin steal a tear! 1777 Potter JEschylus, Supplicants 109 Soft-ey’d Humanity dwells here. 1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 239 She is meekness itself, my soft-eyed little cousin. 1897 Mamie Dickens My Father as / recall him 82 The latter, a soft-eyed, gentle, good-tempered St. Bernard.

1834 Lytton Pilgr. Rhine xi. (1840) 139 He [the fox] walked very soft-footedly.

Obs. [f. soft sb. + yearn a.] Desirous of ease or luxury. Also tsoft-3erne, love of ease. Obs. tsoft-3ern, a.

c 1200 Trin. Coll. Horn. 75 J?e soft3erne fedeS hem seluen helle fur to honde and fote. Ibid., Softjerne and ednesse lette6 J>e mannes shrifte pinchefi )?at he ne mai polen hunger ne pirst ne o6er pine.

t softhead1. Obs. rare. In 4 soft-, zofthede, 5 softhed. [f. soft a. + -head.1 Softness; gentleness; delicacy. 6*1340 Hampole Psalter cxliv. 7 J>e mynd of pe haboundaunce of pi softhede pai sail rift. 1340 Ayenb. 267 Of alle zofthede and nesshede. c 1440 Jacob's Well 238 In valeys of lownes be .. moysture,.. softhed & neschhed.

soft-head2, [f. soft a. + head sb.1] One who has a soft head; hence, in mod. use, a silly or stupid person; a simpleton. (Cf. next.) 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 22 The Brasilians’ Heads.. are as hard as the wood that growes in their Country,.. and when they will injure any white Man, they call him soft¬ head. c 1872 Hartley's Yorks. Ditties Ser. 11. 64 Shoo must be a poor little softheead. 1892 Manning Pastime Papers 86 To be treated as dreamers, enthusiasts or soft-heads.

soft-headed, a. [soft a. 31.] Weak in intellect; foolish, silly, stupid. 1667 Dryden & Dk. Newcastle Sir M. Mar-all iii. i, Adieu soft-headed Sir Martin. 1721 Bailey, Cully,.. a Fool, a soft headed Fellow. 1782 Mme. D’Arblay Diary 4 Nov., This young man is very.. good, and soft-hearted; but alas! he is also soft-headed. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xxxii, He is a strange, soft-headed, sleepy sort of man. 1884 Christian World 21 Feb. 139/4 Large numbers of deluded women and soft-headed men.

Hence soft-headedness. 1862 Whyte Melville Inside Bar iii, Probably he was making a mental computation of my soft-headedness.

soft-hearted, a. [soft a. 31.] Having a soft or soft-finned, a. Ichth. [soft a. 31.] Having soft fins. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) III. 60 The fish ..that have soft or cartilaginous fins, are called Soft-finned Fish. 1851 Gosse Nat. Hist., Fishes 200 The Soft-finned Fishes are, in general, inferior to the Spinous-finned in [etc.]. 1896 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. V. 395 These spiny-finned eels are an exact analogue of the true soft-finned eels. Ibid. 430 The Soft-finned Fishes, — Suborder Anacanthini.

soft-'focus, a. and sb. Also soft focus, [f. soft a. + focus $6.] A. adj. a. Photogr. Characterized by or producing a deliberate slight lack of clarity and definition in a photograph. 1917 P. L. Anderson Pictorial Photogr. ii. 42 It should be noted that the soft-focus lens .. has greater apparent depth,, both of field and of focus. 1940 A. L. M. Sowerby Wall's Diet. Photogr. (ed. 15) 600 It is generally considered that the most pleasing soft-focus effects are obtained by superposing a diffused image upon a more sharply-defined one, this giving a kind of ‘halo’ round the lights. 1958 [see sense B]. 1975 Publishers Weekly 13 Jan. 58/1 Aided by lovely softfocus photographs.., Miss Bailey tells the story of a little seedling blown away from its mother tree too soon. 1977 J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 31 The design of soft focus lenses leaves one pronounced optical error, ‘spherical aberration’. This gives halos to highlights and a general softness of outline. 1978 P. Theroux Picture Palace ix. 71 Photographs looked freckled and corpse-like, soft-focus poses that might have been painters’ instant fossils.

b.fig. Diffuse, blurred, unclear, imprecise. 1961 W. T. Jones Romantic Syndrome viii. 227 We might begin.. by making a count of soft-focus imagery in the works of various poets. 1965 Punch 17 Nov. 712 You will see the advantage of reviewing single instalments. It allows elbow-room to savour the glittering detail. Handle the whole book and you fall back on soft-focus generalities, the tiny individual flavours lost. 1975 New Yorker 24 Feb. 127/1 The voice is soft-focus, not keenly projected, but of pleasant quality in the middle ranges. 1979 Listener 16 Aug. 214/4 This [play] .. was full of winsome Irishness and soft-focus sentimentality.

B. sb. A deliberate slight lack of clarity and definition in a photograph. Also jig. 1958 P. Pollack Picture Hist. Photogr. xx. 261 Dr. P H. Emerson held that soft focus corresponded to natural vision and that soft-focus photography was an art superior to all other graphic arts. 1961 W. T. Jones Romantic Syndrome viii. 235 Once the critic replaces a vague liking for ‘romantic qualities’ with a preference for ‘soft-focus’.. he is much more likely to make an adequate assessment of the work of the poets and painters. 1977 Practical Photogr. Jan. 23/4 To suggest that this method of obtaining soft-focus costs ip is ridiculous.

SOFTLY

935

susceptible heart; tender-hearted. 1593 Shaks. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 307 Fye Coward woman, and soft harted wretch. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. 1. Wks. 1856 I. 17 Why weepes soft hearted Florisell? 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xviii. ix, Hear then, O all soft-hearted Turtles. 1782 Miss Burney Cecilia v. x, The soft-hearted Mr. Arnott. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xiv, He was only a soft-hearted grateful fellow. 1881 Jowett Thucyd. I. 195 Do not be soft-hearted at the sight of their distress.

Hence soft-heartedness. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Mercy, pitie, mercie, softhartednesse. 1808 Edin. Rev. XII. 273 A sort of soft¬ heartedness towards the sufferings of individuals. 1874 Contemp. Rev. Oct. 711 A reputation for soft-heartedness goes far with the crowd.

softish ('sDftiJ, -o:-), a. [f. soft a. + -ish.] Somewhat soft; rather tender. Also Sc. and north, dial., somewhat wet or rainy. 1589 Fleming Virg. Georg, v. 14 To wind.. the limber speares about with softish leaues. 1656 W. Du Gard tr. Comenius' Gate Lot. Uni. 29 A round lump, softish, beneath chamfered. 1681 Grew Musaeum iii. 1. ii. 268 ’Tis softish, and somewhat brown. 1766 J. Bartram Jrnl. 4 Feb. 60 A softish rock full of sea-shells. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXV. 309/1 A little hair softish and curling. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. xvi. 271 A bed of softish limestone. transf. 1736 Ainsworth i, Softish (silly), ineptus, stupidus.

soft-'land, v.

Astronautics. Also softland. [Back-formation from next.] trans. and intr. To land slowly without serious damage, esp. on another planet or a satellite. trans. i960 Aeroplane XCIX. 540 (caption) The Surveyortype probe .. should be capable of soft-landing between 100 and 300 lb. of scientific equipment on the Moon, i960 Times Mag. (Seattle) 29 May 22 The first lunar vehicle may be a small robot to be soft-landed on the moon within the next five years. 1966 Times 7 Apr. 9/3 This was to have been the final test flight before the United States attempts to softland a real Surveyor space-craft on the moon. 1967 New Scientist 1 June 549/3 The balloon itself was constructed of fine polythene and helium-filled... It was soft-landed and recovered for further use. 1970 Guardian 21 Sept. 3/7 Russia today soft-landed its Luna 16 unmanned spacecraft on the moon’s barren Sea of Fertility. intr. 1964 Yearbk. Astron. 1965 135 The LEM will detach from the orbiting parent and soft-land on the Moon. 1967 New Scientist 3 Aug. 242/2 Surveyor III, which soft-landed on 20 April this year returned over 6000 TV pictures. 1969 Daily Tel. 18 July 1 Reports from Moscow. .say that Luna 15 is ready ‘to soft-land on the moon today’ and collect moon dust. 1975 Times 7 Apr. 6/1 A manned Soyuz spacecraft. . soft-landed southwest of the western Siberian town of Gorno-Altaysk.

Hence soft-'focus v. trans., soft-'focused ppl. a. (both/i^. in the examples).

So soft-'landed ppl. a.; soft-'lander, a vehicle that is capable of making or has made a soft landing.

1957 Archil. Rev. CXXI. 319 The whole effect is to blur and ‘soft-focus’ the precision-made look which has been one of the chief qualities of the curtain wall. 1977 New Yorker 27 June 35/1 Rose did not like to look at them, at their softfocussed meekly smiling gratitude.

1958 Proc. Lunar & Planetary Exploration Colloquium July 13/1 Would you .. talk about the design and weight distribution of this soft-landed payload? 1961 Aeroplane C. 510/3 Russia’s long-range space programme is said to include sending two spaceships to the Moon by 1967. They

would be preceded by unmanned ‘soft-landers’ depositing supplies and propellants. 1966 Guardian 28 Dec. 7/1 Luna-13.. is returning more information than any other soft lander, whether Russian or American. 1969 Nature 12 July 123/1 Between 1966 and 1968, seven Surveyor softlanders were launched which among other things tested the surface strength [of the moon]. 1971 Ibid. 26 Nov. 211/2 Such data will be of value in interpreting the findings of softlanded spacecraft on other planets. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 20/1 The surface panoramas transmitted back to Earth from the Soviet soft-landers Veneras 9 and 10 show a barren landscape that contains both angular and rounded rocks.

soft

landing,

softlanding.

vbl.

sb.

Astronautics.

Also

[f. soft a. + landing vbl. s6.]

1. a. A landing of a spacecraft that is slow enough for no serious damage to be incurred. Cf. SOFT a. 22 d. 1958 Proc. Lunar & Planetary Exploration Colloquium July 13/1 With a soft landing on the moon one might put down a payload of 225 to 800 pounds, but.. only about 10 to 25 percent of this would be usable for instruments. 1959 Washington Post 24 Mar. A6/4 He said the first ‘soft landing’ on the moon and return probably will be made with a multi¬ stage chemical-fueled vehicle. 1966 Listener 24 Mar. 427/1 The main events [of 1966] have been the soft landing on the Moon . ., and the progress of the two Venus rockets. 1967 New Scientist 25 May 448/2 Each of these craft will consist of., an experimental capsule to enter the Martian atmosphere and . . make a soft landing either by parachute or .. by means of retro rockets. 1971 Guardian 1 July 1/5 The Soyuz made a normal re-entry and soft landing.

b. fig1969 Sci.Jrnl. Jan. 54/3 Should one bombard with excess energy or attempt.. a ‘soft landing’ where the energy of the incoming particle is just enough to allow it to penetrate the barrier, be captured and form the compound nucleus. 1973 Newsweek 17 Sept. 65/2 Even if the President succeeds in pulling in the rampaging economy for a soft landing, of course, the arrival will be nonetheless bumpy for many.

2. attrib. or as adj. i960 Aeroplane XCIX. 541/2 Mr. Stoller said that in 1962 three Ranger vehicles were planned to rough-land payloads on the surface of the Moon. These will be followed by the soft-landing mission. 1962 [see landing-place i c]. 1965 Guardian 29 Dec. 3/7 The Apollo moon landing programme .. depends on highly sophisticated soft-landing techniques. 1969 New Scientist 27 Feb. 439/2 The upshot of the planetary experiments should be to discover more about the suitability of Mars to support life; and to select possible sites for future soft-landing craft.

softling

('sDftlir), -d:-), sb. Also 6 saftlynge. soft a. + -LING1.]

1. An effeminate weakling.

or

unmanly

person;

[f.

a

1547 Homilies 1. Agst. Adultery (1559) Yj, Nor adulterers, nor saftlynges, nor sodomites. 1576 Bp. Woolton Chr. Man. L 6 b, Effeminate men and softlings cause the stoute man to waxe tender. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas 11. iii. iv. Captaines 983 Ador’d of Flatterers, Of Softlings, Wantons, Braves, and Loyterers. 1605 I. Taylor Restoration of Belief 40 This Emperor—no softling himself.

2. A soft little hand, mouse, etc. 1817 Keats Endym. iv. 316 This cannot be thy hand, and yet it is; And this is sure thine other softling. 1855 Browning Fra Lippo Lippi 10 And nip each softling of a wee white mouse.

3. attrib. Of a soft nature. 1732 Websted Wks. (1797) 198 A softling head! that spleeny whims devour. 1874 D. Gray Poet. Wks. 137 With her softling finger tips She touched my hand.

softly, a. Now dial,

and U.S.

[f. soft a.]

1. Of sound, etc.: Quiet, gentle, soft. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Ep. 276 Out of the hill ranne a pleasant spring, which made a gentle and softly sounde. 1653 Holcroft Procopius, Gothic Wars iv. 141 They., heare a softly voice calling them to the businesse. 1859 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) II. 291 Their decorous and softly steps.

f2. Soft; yielding to pressure. Obs. 1589 Fleming Virg. Georg, iii. 39 The foie or colt.. laies down to rest his softly legs.

f3. Of pace: Easy, slow, gentle. Obs. 1572 Lavater Ghosts 59 The image goeth before with a softely pase. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. vii. 6 The gentle Prince ..they spyde, Ryding a softly pace. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple I si. vi. lxxvii, The stealing night with softly pace. 1647 Trapp Comm. Epist. 671 When God came to punish Adam he came slowly,.. with a softly pace and still voice.

|4. Characterized by gentleness, weakness, simplicity, or effeminacy. Obs. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Lives Emperors in Hist. Ivstine Hh4 This was a prince of a softly wit. 1643 Baker Chron. (1653) 46 The softly disposition of his son Robert. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. 1. 83 A Person, as he saith himself, of such a tame and softly humour. 1740-42 Richardson Pamela IV. 258 ^ Viscount, whose softly Character, and his Lady’s.. res ul Conduct to him, notwithstanding that, are both so well known.

5. Of persons: a. Slow in action; lacking in energy or enterprise. 1664 Verney Memoirs (1899) IV. 74 Many of them are very slow, and (as we call them) softly persons. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet. 11. s.v., A softly man, a Man that lacks to be stirring. 1770 J. Adams Diary 8 July Wks. 1850 II. 245 The softly people where I lodge .. are the opposites of every thing great, spirited, and enterprising. 1869 Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks xxvii, All that softly shiftless class, who .. are never to be found with anything in hand at the moment that it is wanted.

b. Simple, foolish; soft-headed. Now dial. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet. 11. s.v., A softly Man, a Nidget, or Ninny. 1715 Jane Barker Exilius I. 101 If woman did not

SOFTLY moderate his Rule, He’d be a Tyrant, or a softly Fool. 1883 Almondbury Gloss. 124 Softly, soft-headed; foolish. softly ('sDftli, -or-), adv. Forms: a. 3-5 softeliche (4 -lyche), 4-5 softliche (4 -lich). /S. 4 softili, 4-6 softely

(5

-lie);

4

softli,

4-

softly

(5

sofft-,

6

soughtly), 5-6 softlie (6 -lye); 6 saftlie, saftely, 8(Sc. and dial.) saftly. [f. SOFT a. + -LY2. Cf. Du. zachtelijk, G. sanftlich, sanftlich.] 1.

Gently,

manner

as

to

SOFTNESS

936

carefully, avoid

tenderly;

causing

pain

in or

such

a

injury;

without force or violence; with gentle action. a. a 1225 Ancr. R. 368 Ne gropie hire non to softeliche. 13 .. Guy Warw. (A) 1614 And so he dede sikerliche, & se)?J?e he was heled softliche. 1362 Langl. P. PL A. v. 7, I sat Softeliche a-doun and seide my beo-leeue. /3. a 1300 Cursor M. 8043 Quen pe kyng come ner paa tres, .. He drou pam softili vp i-nogh. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 98 Into hire bedd myn herte goth, And softly takth hire in his arm. 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 85 Sethe hem softly to pe half. CI440 Gesta Rom. 11. xxiii. (Addit. MS.), The Fadir.. had lever slee him softly than he shuld so rente hym self. 1545 Raynald Byrth Mankynde 65 Then must ye fayre and softely thrust it backe agayne. 1592 Arden of Feversham ill. vi, Then softly drawes she foorth her handkercher. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. f 13 Who gladly would heale the soare .. softly and sleightly.-Acts xxvii. 13 And when the South wind blew softly,.. they sailed close by Creete. 1695 Ld. Preston Boeth. 111. 151 It is then the Sovereign Good which ruleth all things powerfully, and disposeth them softly. 1784 Cowper Task 1. 762 The moon¬ beam, sliding softly in between The sleeping leaves. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague 11. ii. 219 How softly on the dreamer’s head They lay their.. hands. 1841 James Brigand xxiv, Meyrand will treat you tenderly and softly. 2. With a soft or subdued voice or utterance; in a low or gentle tone. 13 .. Cursor M. 5140 (Gott.), per cam to him a messager, And tald him softli in his ere. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. 111. 38 J?enne com per a Confessour.. And seide ful softely in schrift as hit weore. C1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode 1. lxxi. (1869) 41 Serteyn, quod j softeliche, ynowh me lakketh. 1544 Litany in Priv. Prayers {1851) 570 Such among the people as have books .. may read them quietly and softly to themself. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 5 Thereat she sighing softly, had no powre To speake a while. 1614 Donne Lett. (1631) 196 One thing I must tell you, but so softly, that I am loath to hear myself. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 1. 49 They that are present say softly, or aloud, if they please [etc.]. 1719 De Foe Crusoe 11. (Globe) 447 Some [words] he spoke softly, and I could not well hear, others audibly. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxviii, Emily sighed softly, and bowed her thanks. 1829 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1853 I. 574/1, I must come behind your chair and whisper softlier. 1894 H. Gardener Unojf. Patriot 314 They shook hands over the situation and both fell to crying softly. 3. a. With a slow, easy, or gentle pace or motion. 1362 Langl. P. PI. A. 11. 135 On a sysoures backe pat softly trotted. 1393 Ibid. C. xvi. 29 We reuerencede reson, and romed forth softeliche. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6088 On a staffe he leend, he went forthe softely. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 78 b/2 Late thy famylye come softly after with thy wif. 1531 Elyot Gov. (1534) 92 b, As farre or nyghe the marke is his arowe whanne he goeth softly, as whan he renneth. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Isaiah viii. 6 This people hathe refused the waters of Shiloah that runne softely. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 268 Surcharged .. with the spoile, he was glad to march softlier. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iv. xxiv. 282 Jaques spurr’d and spurr’d, and switch’d, Ride softlier Jaques, shee beseech’d. 1721 Swift Let. to Stella 30 Apr., He could easily have overtaken me; for I walked softly on purpose. 1759 R. Brown Cornpl. Farmer 13 Ride him half an hour softly. 1822 Shelley Faust 1. 75 You give me full permission To lead him softly on my path. fb. In a leisurely manner. Obs. rare. c 1440 Alph. Tales 186 He began to syng pis antem,.. and sang it softlie vnto pe end. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 128 b, Looke besides that they be .. great feeders, but softly, and not ouerhastily. c.fair and softly, see fair adv. 7, and sense 10 below. (Cf. soft adv. 7.) 4. a. Quietly, silently, noiselessly; lightly. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 138 Out at the dore he gooth .., Whan pat he saugh his tyme, softely. 01400-50 Alexander 698 He.. Sylis softely him selfe pe cite with-outen. 1587 Turberv. Trag. Tales (1837) 152 And up they thrust the same [i.e. the door], And softly entred in. 1610 Shaks. Temp. iv. i. 194 Pray you tread softly, that the blinde Mole may not heare a foot fall. 1681 Glanvill Saduc. Triumph Pref. Fivb, Therefore not to make much noise to disturb these infallible Huffers. ., I softly step by them. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 207 When the cat walks, it treads very softly, and without the least noise. 1865 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 274 Coming down stairs very softly, for fear of waking me. 1902 R. Hichens Londoners 5 She withdrew from the room as softly as a cat. b. So as to avoid observation or notice; unobtrusively. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 389 We next inquire, but softly and by stealth. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 11. 11. vi, Necker sees good .. to withdraw softly, almost privily. 1889 Macm. Mag. Aug. 253/1, I lay stirless, softly sneaking my right hand to the pistol. c. softly, softly, catchee monkey (and varr.): proverbial phr. advocating caution or guile as the best way to achieve an end.

Also ellipt. as

softly, softly and (with hyphen) attrib. 1907 G. Benham Cassell’s Bk. of Quotations 849/1 ‘Softly, softly’ caught the monkey.—(Negro.) 1942 N. Balchin Darkness falls from Airx. 176 Softly catch monkey.. . That’s the answer, i960 Times 1 Oct. 7/2 That colloquial adage — ‘softly, softly, catchee monkey’. 1962 P. Brickhill Deadline xiii. 152, I didn’t pursue it any further then. Softly, softly, catchee monkey—and I hated that phrase. 1967 Autocar 28 Dec. 7/1 Softly, softly is our policy too, but not

at such expense in time. 1970 Sunday Times 5 July 11 {heading) Ulster: end of ‘softly, softly’. 1971 E. F. Schoeters in B. de Ferranti Living with Computer viii. 71 Users are naturally applying a ‘softly-softly’ approach. 1979 Now! 14 Sept. 53/2 Sadat and Begin, .are both adopting a ‘softly-softly’ approach to the Palestinian problem.

5. a. In ease or comfort; so as to be soft or comfortable; luxuriously. a 1400 N. T. Prol. (Paues) 6 Bote he seij? pat f>is wysdom ne is no3t y-founde in pe lond of men pat lyfej> softelyche. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 58 Etyng and slepyng more swetely or softely. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Recubare mollius, to lie more softely. 1648 Hexham ii, Zachtelick slapen, to sleepe Softly or Quietly, a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 80 They endured great hardships; for those parts were not fit to entertain men that had been accustomed to live softly. 1825 Scott Talism. vii, His couch was trimmed more softly than his master’s. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxviii. 5 Whom nor softly to rest love’s tender sanctity suffers. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 75 When You make your nest here .., ’Twere well to feather it softly.

b. With or in soft surroundings. 1567 Maplet Greene Forest 46 It groweth in waterie places and those softlye dighted and banked about. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. vn. vi, Beautiful all; softly embosomed; as if in sadness, in the dim moist weather!

f 6. With quiet resignation. Obs.~1 c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Prose) 45 Sho sal recaiue pe cumandement softelie and wid mekenes.

|7. In small quantity. Obs. rare. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Verse) 1610 J?arfor es wit.. Wine or aile softly to tast.

8. Gradually; gently. 1784 Cowper Task ill. 629 The shapely knoll, That, softly swell’d and gaily dress’d, appears A flow’ry island. 1835 Lytton Rienzi vi. iii, A high but softly sloping and verdant hill. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 269 Hills which round softly upward to Monte Cavi.

9. In a subdued manner. 1817 Shelley Pr. Athanase 1. 63 A cloud.. Through which his soul.. Shone, softly burning. 1882 Sharp Rossetti iii. 184 Behind.. is a figure, also softly aureoled.

10. Used interjectionally: = soft adv. 8. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shrew 1. ii. 238 Softly my Masters. 1611 - Wint. T. iv. iii. 76 Softly, deere sir: good sir, softly. 1671 Milton Samson 115 Softly a while, Let us not break in upon him. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xvi, ‘Fair and softly,’ replied the officer. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xvii, ‘Softly, softly; don’t thee snap and snarl, friend,’ said Phineas.

11. Comb. a. With ppl. adjs., featured, -hinted, -shadowed, etc.

as

softly-

1598 Shaks. Merry W. 1. iv. 25 A softly-sprighted man, is he not? 1842 Tennyson Day-Dream 89 Glows forth each softly-shadow’d arm. 1844 Kinglake Eothen xxiv, He sent me a softly-worded message. 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities 11. ix, His softly-slippered feet made no noise. 1876 ‘Ouida’ Winter City ix. 249 Making the trifle the medium of a softlyhinted tenderness. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 342 This .. lent to her softly-featured face at whiles a look.. that imparted a strange yearning tendency to the beautiful eyes.

b. With ppl. adjs. and pres, pples., as softlybreathing, -burning, -gliding, etc. 1681 Dryden Span. Friar v. i, I.. listned to each softlytreading Step. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. 11. i, The sprightly String and softly-breathing Flute. 1725 Pope Odyss. xv. 390 The softly-stealing pace of Time. 1818 Gentl. Mag. LXXXVIII. 62/1 Thames does, by Oxford, softly-pacing, run. 1864 W. C. Bryant Thirty Poems 38 The softly gliding, bashful stream. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 168 The softly-gliding magical motion. 1907 Joyce Chamber Music p. xv, Eastward the gradual dawn prevails Where softly-burning fires appear. 1918 D. H. Lawrence New Poems 48 Ah, love, Could I but.. remove Its softlystirring, crimson welling-up Of kisses! 1923 - Birds, Beasts Flowers 38 Vicious, dark cypresses: Vicious, you supple, brooding, softly-swaying pillars of dark flame. 1924 E. Sitwell Sleeping Beauty xvii. 68 To catch the softlysmiling wind.

c. With adjs., as softly dark, -strong, sweet. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xv, A single note .. That, softly sweet, at distance dies. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 11. v. ii, Parliaments.. which .. were to follow in softlystrong indissoluble sequence. 1898 H. Newbolt Admirals All 31 The Norman arch, the chancel softly dark.

softness ('sDftnis, -d:-). Forms: 1 softnys(se, 4 softnis; 2-7 soft-, 4-7 softenesse, 4, 6 softe-, 4-7 softnes, 7- softness; 6 saft(e)nesse, 8- Sc. saftness. [f. soft a. -I- -ness.] The state or quality of being soft, in various senses. 1. 1. Ease, comfort; delicacy, luxury; easy or voluptuous living. riooo /Elfric in Assmann Ags. Horn. ii. 59 Under Moyses laje men moston lybban on maran softnysse .. J?onne nu. a 1225 Ancr. R. 196 J>et flesch put propremen touward swetnesse & touward eise, & touward softnesse. a 1340 Hampole Psalter iv. 9, I sail slepe.. with all softnes. 1451 Capgrave Life St. Gilbert xvi. 86 To take hardnesse for softnesse, labour for ese. 1607 Shaks. Timon v. i. 36 A Satyre against the softnesse of Prosperity. 1654 tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 181 If he live in the softness of Plenty, and a peaceful Estate. 1704 Hearne Duct. Hist. (1714) I. 389 He spent the next year in Softness and Luxury. 1766 Ann. Reg. 11. 10 The French noblesse .. spend their lives in indolence, softness, and dissipation.

2. a. Mildness, gentleness; character or disposition.

tenderness

of

01300 E.E. Psalter cxliv. 7 Minde of mighthed of pi softnesse Sal pai rift. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xlv. 4 In feith and softenesse of hym [Moses], he made hym hoely. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 463/1 Softenesse, or myldenesse, mansuetudo, benignitas. 1526 Tindale Phil. iv. 5 Lette youre softenes be knowen unto all men. 1563 Bp. Sandys in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) xxxv. 356 My lenity and softness was such, that I was not willing to touch him. 1639 Saltmarsh Policy 239 As

though it were more out of regard than your owne softnesse. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 298 For contemplation hee and valour formd, For softness shee and sweet attractive Grace. 1726 Pope Odyss. xxiii. 105 To softness lost, to spousal love unknown. 1779 Mirror No. 22, Sometimes.. I have thought she breathed a softness of soul that tempted me to believe her generous. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xviii, Are we to be slain in our own streets for the King’s softness of heart? 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. 1. i, With her softness and musical speech. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset II. lxii. 193, I found with him.. a softness of heart for which I had not looked.

b. A display or instance of gentleness or tenderness; a soft word or speech. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxxiv. 3 And hir [sc. Dinah] sory he swagide with softnessis. a 1637 Jonson Horace Art Poet. 326 The free spectators .. Were to be staid with softnesses. 1678 Otway Friendship in F. 10 Whispering his softnesses and making his vowes. 1719 Young Busiris 1. i, O how unlike the softnesses of love! 1882 Mrs. Oliphant Lit. Hist. Eng. 1790-1825, I. 4 The rude and homely life, in which few softnesses existed,

3. Weakness of character or disposition, effeminacy; lack of firmness; timidity, pusil¬ lanimity. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. 1. ii. §6 From some weakness of body or softness of spirit. 1651 C. Cartwright Cert. Relig. II. 27 By shunning death, he confesseth his weaknesse (or softnesse) of spirit. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. II. 247 One great Design is to break the softness of a Nature, too indulgent to Flesh and Blood. 1748 Anson's Voy. 11. xiv. 288 The timidity and softness of our enemy. 1821 Byron Mar. Fal. 11. ii, In Bertram There is a hesitating softness, fatal To enterprise like ours. 1879 G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie xxii, A certain gentle indifference she showed to things considered important, the neighbours attributed to weakness of character, and called softness.

II. 4. a. The state, quality, or property of being soft to the touch, of yielding to pressure, of lacking hardness, firmness, etc. c 1175 Lamb. Horn. 83 Oli haueS huppen him lihtnesse and softnesse and hele. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P R. v. xxvii. (Bodl. MS.), By smej?enes and softenes and nasschenes of grustel. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 463/1 Softenesse, or smothenesse, lenitas. Ibid., Softenesse, yn towchynge, mollicies, mollicia. 1545 Raynald Byrth Mankynde 24 In saftnesse of skyn, and plumpnesse of the body fatter and rounder. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 11. (1586) 67 b, The ripenesse whereof is deemed by .. the softnesse of the berrie. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. 11. ii, Those now lawne pillowes, on whose tender softnesse [etc.]. 1673-4 Grew Anat. PL, Anat. Trunks (1682) 138 Its Softness, depending on the numerousness .. of the Aer-Vessels. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 39 Hardness or softness in stones proceeds from two causes. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 355 All that warmth and softness which are so much valued in the furs of the northern animals. 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 5 In Organized structures, softness (resulting from the large proportion of fluid components) may be considered the distinctive quality. 1863 Bates Nat. Amazons II. 56 One would mistake it.. for a kitten, from .. the softness of its fur. transf. 1877 Fortn. Rev. Dec. 846 An adaptation to the hardness of their hearts, or.. the softness of their brains.

fb. Smoothness, calmness. Obs.~x C1205 Lay. 25549 For pere softnesse [of the sea] Ardur gon to slaepen.

c. softness of the pulse, the state when the blood-tension is low, so that the artery feels soft and easily compressible. a 1793 Hunter On Blood 11. iii. (1794) 318 Softness is not to be depended on as a mark of health. 1813 J. Thomson Led. Inflam. 73 A softness and fullness of the pulse. 1822-7 Good Study Med. (1829) II. 45 Hardness and softness of the pulse, together with .. wiriness, are not quite so easily learnt as its fulness and smallness.

d. The property or quality (in water, etc.) of being soft. 1815 J Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 487 All these waters, however, possess the property called softness, that is, they will dissolve soap. 1826 Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 34 Beers. . attenuated so low as to insure transparency and softness.

e. The state or property (of a material or device) of being soft, in extended technical usage. 1900 Set. Trans. R. Dublin Soc. VII. 121 The addition of 2 to 5]; per cent, of silicon to steel.. increases the magnetic softness. 1919 R. D. Bangay Oscillation Valve 204 [A blue glow] is produced by the energy expended by the electrons as they collide with the atoms, and if noticeable is a certain indication of the softness of a valve. 1945 Electronic Engiti. XVII. 338 The maximum value [of the grid leak resistance] . . is limited by the danger of causing softness to develop in the succeeding valve. 1980 Sci. Amer. Apr. 94/3 The magnetic ‘softness’ and high resistivity of glassy alloys also make them likely candidates for the ‘read’ and ‘write’ heads in magnetic tape recorders and magnetic disk memories.

f. Ecort. With reference to commodities, prices, etc.: a state of or tendency towards depression. Cf. SOFT a. 28 b. 1927 Comm. Financ. Chron. 20 Aug. 961/1 When sterling is firmer a stronger tone develops in the entire European list. On the other hand when sterling reacts, softness develops in the rest of the list. 1930 Economist 27 Sept. 569/1 Apart from the recent weakness in grain and cotton prices, and softness in the copper market, the commodity price structure seems to be strengthening. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. B5/1 William S. Brewster, chairman, attributes the disappointing results to softness in the economy.

5. Freedom from harshness; mellowness. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 351/1 To hear the softness of Italian song. 1772- 84 Cook's Voy. ill. xiii. II. 266 One sung a very agreeable air, with a degree of softness and melody which we could not have expected. 1840 C. O. Muller's Hist. Lit. Greece iv. §5 That softness and flexibility [of Flomer’s

A

SOFT PEDAL

937

language]. 1885 Miss Braddon Wyllard's Weird i. I. 22 She pronounced the last word with peculiar softness. 6. Mildness, balminess. 1828 Duppa Trav. Italy, etc. 181 The air, though cold, had somewhat of softness in its temperature. 1837 Disraeli Venetia v. x, The softness and the splendour of the morn. 1851 Dixon W. Penn xxi. (1872) 182 The climate had the softness of the south of France. 7. Absence of hard or sharp outlines. 1855 Orr's Circ. Set., Inorg. Nat. 186 The characteristic of this scenery will be softness of outline. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 711 In collotype work the especial aim .. is to get softness with plenty of detail rather than hardness.

soft pedal, sb. foot-lever on

[f. soft a. a

+

pedal sb. ib(b).] A

pianoforte which

softens the

tone. Also fig. (in senses corresponding to those of the vb.: see next) and (with hyphen) attrib. 1856 M. C. Clarke tr. Berlioz' Treat. Mod. Instrumentation & Orchestration 79 A pedal much less used than that which raises the dampers.. is the soft pedal (or one-string pedal). 1861 [see pedal sb. 1 b]. 1880 Grove Diet. Mus. 11 723/1 He .. thus produces something of the shifting soft pedal timbre. 1911 A. B. Reeve Poisoned Pen 255 But can’t it be done with the soft pedal? 1936 Times 12 Oct. 8/5 Some people thought that the ‘soft pedal’ should be put on the entertainment factor of a zoo, but he [sc. J. S. Huxley] did not agree. 1958 Times 8 Oct. 6/1 What this particular play demands from a film director is a certain application of the soft pedal. 1961 Sunday Express 23 Apr. 1 /2 President de Gaulle—whose soft-pedal policy . . has sparked off this third rebellion. 1973 Junkin & Ornadel Piano can be Fun 69/2 Calling the damper pedal the ‘loud’ pedal neatly distinguishes it from the left foot pedal which is called the ‘soft’ pedal.

soft-pedal, v.

[f. prec.]

trans. and intr. (freq.

const, on). To reduce the loudness or volume of (a noise); to reduce in force or effect; to tone down, play down, go easy on. 1915 R. Wagner in Sat. Even. Post 16 Oct. 15/2 The scene was rehearsed time and again, but always the action looked faked because of the necessity of soft-pedaling such a blow. 1916 G. A. England Pod, Bender & Co. i. 6 Can that! Soft pedal on that chatter, Ben! 1926 R. H. Davis Over my Left Shoulder xxix. 204 ‘Captain Sam heap mad!’ replied the Peacemaker, with no effort to soft pedal the announcement. 1927 Daily Express 19 July 3/4 Both parties are at present ‘soft pedalling’ on the world-revolution thesis. 1931 F. F. Bond Mr. Miller of'The Times' 170 The leading educational centres tended to stress the utilitarian studies and soft-pedal those courses which sought merely cultural ends. 1932 K. S. Prichard Kiss on Lips & Other Stories 20 He softpedalled about Rose, and the skinflint of an aunt who threatened to take her away. 1944 Auden Sea & Mirror in For Time Being i. 8 Be frank about our heathen foe, For Rome will be a goner If you soft-pedal the loud beast. 1953 A. Upfield Murder must Wait v. 47 ‘We’ll get something out of her.’ ‘You will soft-pedal,’Bony said quietly. 1957 W. H. Whyte Organization Man 52 Out of respect for the sense of the meeting you tend to soft-pedal that which would go against the grain. 1965 Listener 27 May 764/1 He must have the drug or endure the sheer agony which the romanticists soft-pedal: high-fever, shivering, fits of vomiting, [etc.]. 1978 R. Hill Pinch of Snuff vi. 55 You’re noted for softpedalling on these squatters. Hence soft-'pedalling vbl. sb. 1952 G. Raverat Period Piece x. 197 Uncle Lenny was far too judicious to need soft-pedalling. 1979 New Statesman 6 July 3/3 The concern of homophile organisations to make homosexuality an acceptable alternative has led to a distinct soft-pedalling on ticklish issues like paedophilia and transvestism.

soft sawder: soft-shell. 1. attrib.

see sawder sb. and v.

Also soft shell, [f. soft a.] In the specific names of animals:

Provided with a soft shell;

= soft-shelled i .

soft-shell clam, crab = soft clam, crab a. 29 c; soft-shell turtle, a freshwater

s.v. soft turtle of

the genus Trionyx. 1805 J. Ordway Jrnl. 26 May in Wisconsin Hist. Coll. (1916) XXI I. 218 Passed 2 creeks.. in one of them saw Soft Shell Turtle. 1818 Amer. Monthly Mag. II. 296 Soft shell Clam. These animals.. are excellent eating. 1844 J. E. DeKay Zool. N.Y. vi. 11 During this interval, they are known under the name of Soft-shell Crabs, or Shedders. 1847 Knickerbocker XXIX. 494 A battle between a soft-shell turtle.. and a terrier puppy, i860 Mayne Reid Hunter's Feast xii, The ‘soft-shell’ crabs and small tortoises common in the American waters. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 152 The food of the Soft-shell Turtles consists of small fishes, snails, and other small animals. 1887 Soft-shell crab [see diamond-back a.]. 1891 Webster (1897), Softshell clam,.. the long clam. 1977 E. Leonard Unknown Man No. 80 xx. 202 Softshell crabs, very good fish, steak. 1980 Washington Post 27 June (Weekend Suppl.) 36/1 You mustn’t rush through the throng, hoagie in one hand, softshell crab sandwich in the other. transf. 1883 Goode Fish. Indust. U.S. 51 This Crab is eaten in both the hard and soft shell condition. 2. attrib. That adopts or advocates a moderate or temperate course or policy. U.S. 1845 Knickerbocker XXVI. 285 The ‘Hard and Soft Shell Baptists’. 1859 Bartlett Diet. Amer. (ed. 2) 426 Soft-shell democrats,. .the less conservative division of the New York Democrats. 1865 Pall Mall G. 12 May 1 The type of what the Americans might call the ‘soft-shell’ Radicals. 1872 De Vere Americanisms 241 Such are the Soft Shell Baptists, so called on account of their less stern manners and less rigid principles. 3. ellipt. a. = soft sb. 4 b. U.S. 1845 [see HARDSHELL sb. 2]. 1853 N.Y. Tribune 2 Apr. (Bartlett s.v. Hard-shell), The difference between a Hardshell and a Softshell. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 201/1 The ‘Soft Shells’ were ‘Free-soil’ Democrats.

b. A soft-shelled lobster, crab or turtle. U.S. 1830 R. C. Sands Writings (1834) H. 230 The soft-shell of the Red River. 1846 T. B. Thorpe Myst. Backwoods 156 It is Turtle Lake from its abundance of ‘green, amphibious soft-shells’. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 783 ‘Black Lobster,’ ‘Soft-shell,’ ‘Berried Lobster.’ 1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men 1. iii. 79 Ah’m gointer prune a gang of soft-shells (turtles). 1941 Louisiana (Writers’ Program) 227 ‘Soft-shells’ and ‘busters’ (shedding crabs from which the old shell is pried off) are coated with cracker meal and fried. 1942 [see hardshell a. 1]. 1958 R. Conant Field Guide Reptiles & Amphibians 70 The Florida Softshell lives chiefly in lakes; all the others are river turtles to a large degree.

soft-shelled, a. [soft a. 31.] 1. Having a soft shell. Chiefly in specific names of animals; esp. of the soft-shell crab or turtle. 1611 Cotgr., Horde, a soft-sheld egge. 1771 Phil. Trans. LXI. 267 We call it the soft shelled Turtle. 1796 Rec. Stmthtown, N. Y. (1898) 129 Any person not an inhabitant.. taking Soft shelled clams within the limits of said Town shall pay six pence for every bushel. 1835 J. J. Audubon Ornith. Biogr. III. 239 He knows.. how to watch the softshelled turtle’s crawl. 1856 Rep. Comm. Patents 1855: Agric. (U.S.) p. xviii, The ‘soft-shelled’ almond . . is the variety recently introduced and distributed by this Office. ci88o Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 256 The other Soft-shelled Tortoise {Trionyx ferox).. is a voracious animal. 1883 Goode in Fisheries Exhib. Lit. (1884) V. 15 Soft-shelled clam, My a arenana. 1884-Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 152 The species of Soft-shelled Tortoises, Trionychidse. Ibid. 776 The common edible Crab or Blue Crab—Callinectes hastatus... These ‘soft-shelled Crabs’ are much esteemed by many. 1948 [see paper-shelled adj. s.v. paper sb. 12]. 1953 G. M. Durrell Overloaded Ark xiii. 223 It was a species known as the Soft-shelled Turtle: the shell is fairly smooth and domed, and it protruded round the edge in a great soft rim.

2. transf. (Cf. soft-shell 2.) 1890 Daily News 4 Feb. 5/3 Dissentient Liberals of the soft-shelled species.

soft soap, sb. Also soft-soap. [f. soft a.] 1. a. A smeary, semi-liquid soap, made with potash lye; potash soap. 1634 in Rymer Foedera (1732) XIX. 567/1 That no soft Soap be sold .. for above three pence the pound. 1641 Short Relation cone. Soap-Business 4 To make soft soape with Berilla. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Soap, The Soft Soap .. is either White or Green. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 331 Potassa enters into the composition of soft soap. 1883 Specif. Alnwick & Cornhill Rlwy. 11 In drilling the holes no oil is to be used, but only soft soap and water.

b. With pi. A make or kind of this. 1783 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) X. 8196/2 In soft or liquid soaps, ..cheaper oils are employed. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. vi. §2. 371 The base .. of the soft soaps is potash. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 357/2 The hard, the soft, and the marine soaps.

2. slang. Flattery; blarney; ‘soft sawder’. Also attrib. orig. U.S. 1830 Reg. Deb. Congress U.S. 12 Apr. 774, I will not use the vulgar phrase, and say he has been pouring soft soap down the backs of the New York delegation. 1842 People's Organ (St. Louis) 15 Apr. 2/2 The magnificent bombshell, rammed full of pride, aristocracy,.. soft-soap, curiosity, folly, display, nonsense, man-worship and small-talk, was touched off. 1848 Bartlett Diet. Amer. 320 Soft soap, flattery; blarney. A vulgar phrase, though much used. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxford xxxiii, He and I are great chums, and a little soft soap will go a long way with him. 1901 Delannoy fig,000, xxxix, ‘You’re the most sensible woman I’ve ever met.’ ‘None of your soft-soap, now!’ 1934 Sun (Baltimore) 6 Nov. 2/2 Assailing Governor Lehman for his ‘soft soap’ manner of campaign, the park commissioner .. renewed his assault on the Lehman banking family. 1961 Radio Times 6 Apr. 21/2 ‘Nobody likes to watch a soft-soap interview. People want the facts and they can take them,’ says Robin Day. 1977 Irish Times 8 June 9/6 The public would not be fooled by this ‘crazy parade of soft-soap offers’.

soft-soap, v. Also soft soap, [f. prec.] 1. trans. To flatter, ‘soft-sawder’, slang. 1840 [Mrs. Whitcher] Widow Bedott Papers xxv. (1883) 114 Ye don’t ketch me a slanderin’ folks behind ther backs and then soft-soapin’ ’em to their faces. 1843 in Bartlett Diet. Amer. (1848) 320, I am tired of this system of place¬ men soft-soaping the people. 1883 A. K. Green (Mrs. Rohlfs) Hand Ring xxv, I am not a clumsy fellow at softsoaping a girl.

2. To treat or coat with soft soap. 1900 Daily News 7 Aug. 3/4 Long poles .. plentifully softsoaped.

Hence soft-soaper; soft-soaping vbl. sb. 1841 J. T. Hewlett Parish Clerk II. 7 Zach, therefore,.. set up in the soft-soaping and deceiving line of business. 1852 ‘ Mark Twain’ in Hannibal Jrnl. Sept. 16 He was narrowly watching this soft-soaper of Democratic rascality. 1904 Blackw. Mag. May 619/2 There are some soft-soapers who never advance and never aspire.

soft-soapy, a. rare. [f. soft soap sb. + -Y1.] Flattering, ingratiating, unctuous. 1904 J. C. Lincoln Cap'n Eri iii. 36 The thing to do is to be sort of soft-soapy and high-toned.

soft-solder, v. Also soft-sodder. [f. soft solder-. see solder sb.1 4.] 1 .trans. To unite, mend, etc., with soft solder. Hence soft-soldered ppl. a. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 433 Copper, brass and iron are soft-soldered. Ibid. 444 It is very essential that all softsoldered joints should be particularly clean. 1900 Hasluck Model Eng. Handybk. 122 The flue and both ends of the boiler should be brazed in their places, not soft-soldered.

2. = soft-sawder, s.v. sawder v. Cf. solder^.1 4b. U.S. colloq.

SOFTWARE 1866 C. H. Smith Bill Arp, so called: Side Show of Southern Side of War 159 Wouldn’t you think that as a matter of policy they would soft sodder us a little and quit their slanderin? 1905 J. C. Lincoln Partners of Tide vi. 111 He soft-soddered me till I felt slippery all over,

soft-spoken, a. Also 9 Sc. saft-. [f. soft adv.] 1. Of persons: Having, or speaking with, a soft or gentle voice; plausible, affable. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Worn. 1. ii, One.. who is exceedingly soft-spoken; thrifty of her speech. 1826 Miss Mitford Village Ser. 11. (1863) 375 George Gosseltine, a sleek, smooth, silky, soft-spoken person. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xix, In gorgeous liveries as soft-spoken servants at gambling booths.

2. Of words: Spoken softly, gently, or affably; persuasive. 1887 Morris Odyss. x. 70 So I spake, and with words softspoken besought them thereunto.

software ('sDftwe3(r), -d:-). [f. soft a. + ware sb.3, after hardware i c.] 1. Computers, a. The programs and procedures required to enable a computer to perform a specific task, as opposed to the physical components of the system (see also quot. 1961). b. esp. The body of system programs, including compilers and library routines, required for the operation of a particular computer and often provided by the manufacturer, as opposed to program material provided by a user for a specific task. In early use, the word was interpreted widely to include program material written by a user, as well as systems programs, and also occas. the cards and tapes by means of which programs and data are read into the system. Popular usage, as represented by sense 2, is freq. wider in meaning than the current more restrictive technical usage (sense b). i960 Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery June 381 Nearly every manufacturer is claiming compatibility with all other equipment via such software as Cobol. 1961 Computer Bull. June 42 The programming expertise, or ‘software’, that is at the disposal of the computer user comprises expert advice on all matters of machine code programming, comprehensive libraries of subroutines for all purposes, and the pegasus/sirius scientific autocode. 1962 D. S. Halacy Computers iii. 54 Punched cards, which fall into the category called computer ‘software’ are cheap, flexible, and compatible with many types of equipment. 1964 Observer 13 Dec. 1/1 The toughest problem was the ‘software’ — particularly the ‘supervisory programme’, the complex instructions which enable the machine to handle many tasks simultaneously. 1965 Hollingdale & Tootill Electronic Computers 192 The cost of developing and making the computer itself (the hardware) is matched by the cost of making programming schemes for it (often, regrettably, termed software). 1966 New Scientist 25 Aug. 433/3 The cost of providing ‘software’—the programmes for operating the computer on a wide range of problems—is enormous... The user needs to find the bureau which has the appropriate software for his problems. 1967 Cox & Grose Organization & Handling Bibl. Rec. by Computer 1 About three years ago, it became clear.. that the computer software which was provided and maintained by the manufacturers was not suited to some of the problems of handling and processing large files of data. 1969 P. Dickinson Pride of Heroes 187 A rather wet young man who sells software for computers. 1971 B. de Ferranti Living with Computer 89 Software, all computer programs, or that part of a computer system that is not hardware. 1972 Computer Bull. XVI. 85/1 In those days [5c. 1966] the term ‘software’ was still thought rather disreputable, and the concept was probably thought rather vague... More recently, ‘software’ has become more particularised and often seems to refer to what we might call ‘system software’, that is, excluding any programs written for specific applications... Thus we have ‘software packages’ and ‘application packages’, and people who write software consider themselves superior to mere programmers. 1977 K. Heggstad in P. G. J. van Sterkenburg et al. Lexicologie 163 The unit price of hardware is going down... On the other hand software costs are rising equally dramatically. 1978 J. McNeil Consultant i. 30 Hardware is what you can touch—the actual computer, all its peripheral devices... Without software all that is quite useless... Software, computer programs—they’re the same thing... My software staff are very strictly monitored.

2. transf. and fig. 1963 Flight International LXXXIII. 186/1 To get at the total commitment one has to consider the ‘software’ aspect very closely: for every controller at the scope there may need to be five in the background. 1966 National Observer (U.S.) 21 Feb. 8/3 This deal.. is the latest.. in a series of corporate marriages combining.. ‘the software and the hardware’ of education. 1967 Punch 24 May 770/3 This documentary was a refreshing change from most space-age reportage, dealing sympathetically with the families of the astronauts living outside the perimeter fence of the Manned Spacecraft Centre in Texas: the software rather than the hardware. 1969 Guardian 29 Mar. 4/8 The ‘Talking Page’ .. is .. being launched with a mass of matching software—a maths course, a reading course, an English course for immigrants. 1978 Gramophone June 136/3 They [5c. players for digitally recorded discs] will be usable with normal stereo amplifiers and speakers but, of course, they will be incompatible with existing software (records and cassettes). 1979 Observer 11 Nov. 33/2 It was phrased in terms of Israel giving the United States ‘software’—a more flexible attitude on the Middle East—in return for ‘hardware’—arms and military equipment.

3. Special Combs.: software engineering, the professional development, production, and management of system software; so software engineer; software house, a company that specializes in producing and testing software; also fig. 1969 Naur & Randell Software Engin. (NATO) 81 Is it possible to have software engineers in the numbers in which

SOFT WOOD

SOGGY

938

we need them, without formal software engineering education? 1979 Jensen & Tonies Software Engirt. 14 The software engineer is not a theoretician as is the computer scientist. 1969 {title) Software engineering; report of a conference sponsored by the NATO Science Committee, Garmisch, Germany, 7th to 11th October, 1968. 1973 K. W. Morton in F. L. Bauer Adv. Course Software Engin. i. A. 4 When we sit down at a console to write an Algol program, it is software engineering which determines how easy it is to achieve this end. 1982 I. Sommerville Software Engin. i. 3 Software engineering is now maturing into a fully fledged discipline. 1969 New Scientist 6 Nov. 285/1 Today there are just over 2000 software houses throughout the world, mostly in America. 1982 Listener 23-30 Dec. 31/1 If the world’s wealth is maximised by specialisation, Britain should become its ‘software house’.

soft wood, soft-wood. Also as one word, [soft a]

1. a. Wood which is relatively soft or easily cut; esp. coniferous trees or their timber. Also attrib. 1832 Planting (L.U.K.) 77 The.. discriminating characters of hard and of soft woods. 1857 Gray First Less. Bot. 147 In soft woods, such as White-Pine and Basswood. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 478 Of the forms of vessels,.. the reticulately thickened are present exclusively or principally in succulent soft woods. 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 48 Softwood .. As applied to trees and logs, needle-leafed, coniferous... Softwood.. A needle-leafed, or coniferous, tree. 1914 Moon & Brown Elem. Forestry 218 Many of our hardwoods are much softer in their wood structure than certain conifers or so-called softwoods. 1930 Observer 26 Jan. 20/4 Every year in Finland, Sweden and Russia millions of pine trees are felled and shipped to London... The trade name for such timber is softwood. 1968 j. Arnold Shell Bk. Country Crafts xxxi. 321 Yew, though as hard and heavy as oak, is classified as a soft-wood. 1977 J. L. Harper Population Biol. Plants iv. 94 In some hardwood and softwood forests in Maine the buried seed population diverges remarkably in species composition from that of the vegetation.

b. Sap-wood, alburnum. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 21 In woody stems of several years’ growth.. the more recent exterior layers are known as soft wood or alburnum.

sog (sog), sb.2 dial, and U.S. Also zog.

[Of obscure origin.] A drowsy or lethargic state; a sleep, doze, stupor.

1874 S. P. Fox Kingsbridge (ed. 2) 268 A bit of a zog. 1880 W. Cornwall Gloss. 53/1 She is in a sweet sog. 1887 Scribner's Mag. II. 738 Ezra .. waved a limp hand warningly toward the bedroom-door. ‘She’s layin’ in a sog,’ he said.

sog, sb.3 ? Obs. A large whale. 1839 Knickerbocker XIII. 379 He was a most extraordinary fish; or, in the vernacular of Nantucket, ‘a genuine old sog’, of the first water. 1850 Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. xii. 164 There she blows! Oh, she’s a beauty! A regular old sog! A hundred-barreler! 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick II. xxxix. 261 Such a sog! such a sogger! Don’t ye love sperm!

sog (sog), v. Now dial. Also 9 zog. [Of obscure origin: cf. sog sb.1 and Norw. dial, soggjast, soggast, in sense 1. The Promp. Parv. has the comb, water-soggon ’aquosus’.]

1. intr. a. To become soaked, or saturated with wet. 1538 [see sogging ppl. a.]. .2] The solution of a problem. c 1600 Shaks. Sonti. lxix. 14 Why thy odor matcheth not thy show, The soyle is this, that thou doest common grow.

fsoil, sb.6 Obs._1 In 6 soyle. (Obscure.) Possibly an error for spoyle, although this is the rime-word in the second line of the stanza. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iii. 16 As when two Tygers .. cruell battell twixt themselues doe make, Whiles neither lets the other touch the soyle.

soil, dial, variant of sile sb.1 and 3. soil (soil), v.1 Forms: 3 suilen, 5 suyle, sule; 3-4 soilen, 4-7 soyle, 5-7 soile (5 sole); 6-7 soyl, 7soil. [ad. OF. suill(i)er, soill(i)er, etc. (mod.F. souiller), — Prov. sulhar, app.:—pop. Lat. *suculare, f. L. suculus or sucula, dim. of sus pig.] 1. trans. 1. To defile or pollute with sin or other moral stain. Also absol. a 1225 Ancr. R. 84 OSer speche soileS & fuleS. Ibid. 158 Men pet suiled hore lippen mid misliche spechen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7209 Prustes.. mid lechors mod A1 isoyled. 1340-70 Alex. & Dind. 336 Alle manir pingus pat mihte vs soile wip sinne. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 985 Thow art soyled .. Off the synne orygynal. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 11. vii. 62 My soule was soyld with foule iniquitie. 1835 Lytton Rienzi 11. iv, The instruments he must use soil himself:.. the times will corrupt the reformer. 1842 Manning Serm. i. (1848) I. 5 The lusts of the flesh soiled his spiritual being.

2. a. To make foul or dirty, esp. on the surface; to begrime, stain, tarnish. Also spec., of a child or patient: to make foul by defecation (esp. when involuntary); freq. absol. Hence 'soiler. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8971 Wanne he pi moup cusste pat so villiche isoiled is. c 1305 St. Edmund in E.E.P. (1862) 71 So drie pat no clop .. noping isoilled nas. 1377 Langl. P. PL B. xili. 458 Thus haukyn pe actyf man hadde ysoiled his cote. C1450 Lovelich Merlin (E.E.T.S.) 11383 With his swerd on honde, that soyled hit was with hors blood & mennes. 1530 Palsgr. 724/2, 1 soyle, I fyle a thynge with wearyng so that the glosse of it dothe fade, je salle. 1593 Shaks. Rich. II, 1. iii. 125 That our kingdomes earth should not be soyld With that deere blood which it hath fostered. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 229 Much handling soileth things and maketh them lose their brightnesse. 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Diet. 11. s.v., To soil (or slur) his Clothes, salir ses Habits. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 555 The stain Appears a spot upon a vestal’s robe, The worse for what it soils. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 360 Instead of it we have an earthy opaque powder which soils the hands. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 337 At any time the covering gets soiled or damaged, a fresh one can be attached. 1943, etc. [implied in soiling vbl. sb1 b]. 1943 Our Towns (Women’s Group on Public Welfare) iii. 85 The mother of the enuretic and the soiler does not teach her child.. control of its natural functions. 1956 Brit. Med.Jrnl. 15 Dec. 1390/1 The mother or other adults show no resentment or disgust when the child soils the floor or the body of the person caring for it. absol. 1805-17 Jameson Char. Min. 257 When a mineral taken between the fingers, or drawn across another body, leaves some particles, or a trace, it is said to soil or colour. 1821 - Man. Min. 85 It is composed of dull dusty particles, which are feebly cohering. Soils feebly, a 1961 in Webster, s.v. ]soil, Patients also showed infantile reactions .. continually wetting and soiling. 1977 New Society 17 Feb. 333/1 When she started school she still wet and soiled by day and night.

b. fig. and in fig. context. 01623 Pemble Grace Faith (1635) 48 This water was much soyled by them with the mudde of many idle fables. 1680 Otway Orphan 11. iv, You have soyl’d this Gem, and taken from its value. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. 1. xx. 15 But soon as vulgar Hands thy Beauty soil, The Moth shall batten on the silent Spoil. 1805 Scott Last Minstrel v. xx, Foul treason’s stain, Since he bore arms, ne’er soil’d his coat.

c. To treat by smearing. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 445 Lead works are first smeared or soiled around the intended joints, with a mixture of size and lamp-black, called soil.

3. fig. a. To sully or tarnish; to bring disgrace or discredit upon (a person or thing). 1593 Shaks. Rich. II, iv. i. 23 Either I must, or haue mine honor soyl’d With th’ Attaindor of his sland’rous Lippes. 1596 Sir T. More (Malone Soc.) 1220 The good Emperour . . will not soyle his honor with the theft of Englishe spoyle. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. v. Wks. 1856 I. 64, I am come To soyle thy house with an eternall blot. 1678 Marvell Corr. *Wks. (Grosart) II. 604 Angel hath so soiled you by representing some very late treating.. that it will be difficult to wash off those suggestions. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. iv.

iv, Black falsehood has ineffaceably soiled her name. 1891 Spectator 29 Aug., Subjects that have been much soiled and confused by the host of impostors.

fb. To charge (a person) something; to asperse. Obs.~]

falsely

with

1642 R. Carpenter Experience 1. xviii. 122 They brought in the arme of a dead man, with intention to soyle him with murther and sorcerie.

4. intr. To become dirty or stained; to take on a stain or tarnish. 1530 Palsgr. 724/2, I love to weare satten of Bruges, but it wyll soyle anone. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 35 To lifte the Gentlewomens roabes from the grounde, for soyling in the duste. 1882 Imperial Diet. IV. 127/2 Silver soils sooner than gold.

II. 5. intr. and f refl. Of a wild boar or deer: To roll or wallow in mud or water. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) ii, ferine he will go into pe stanke and shalle soile hym J?er. Ibid, v, Whan men hunteth pe boore, communlich pei go to pe soyle and soileth hem in pe drytte. 1570 Levins Manip. 214 To soyle as a sowe, luto volutare. 1884 Jefferies Red Deer vi. 102 A stag generally drinks before entering the cover, and afterwards ‘soils’, that is, lies down and rolls in the water.

6. Of a hunted stag: To take to water or marshy ground; fto swim down. C1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) ii, Somtyme he shall soyle downe with pe water halfe a myle or more or he come to londe. c 1470 Hors, Shepe & G. (Roxb.) 29 Assone as he [a hart] taketh the Riuer, he suleth. a 1700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Soyl, when any Deer is hard Hunted, and betakes himself to Swimming in any River. 1847 Marry at Childr. N. Forest viii, The stag made for a swampy ground .. and stood at bay... ‘He has soiled,’ said Edward. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 4 Oct. 4/3 The pack streamed away.. to Chalk Water, where the stag soiled.

III. f 7. To cohabit with. (Cf. soil sb.3 5.) Obs. 1722 Steele Conscious Lovers iv. ii, Such a Husband soils with his Wife for a Month perhaps—then Good b’w’y’ Madam—the Show’s over.

fsoil, v3 Obs. Forms: 4-7 soyle, 5-6 soylle, 6 soyl; 4-7 soile, 4-5 soill, 6 soil, Sc. soil3e. [ad. OF. soille pres. subj. or soil pres. ind. of soldre, soudre:—L. solvere to release, loosen: see assoil t).] 1. trans. To absolve (a person) from sin, etc.; = assoil v. 1. a 1300 Cursor M. 29379 be man pat has pam for to yeme Mai soill pam and pair mendes deme. ? 13.. Incestuous Daughter 127 in Herrig Archiv LXXIX. 422 pe prest soylyd hyme of his synnys. 13.. K. Alis. 7926 (W.), So God me soile, Thou schalt have Calabre and Poyle. c 1400 Ploughman s T. in Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 333 Of the bishop he hath powere To soile men or els they been lore. 1530 Palsgr. 724/2, I soyle from synne, je assouls.

2. To set free of, release from, an obligation, etc. Cf. assoil v. 3. 1382 Wyclif i Macc. x. 33 Eche soule.. Y leue wilfully with out money; that alle be soiled of her tributis. 1402 J. Upland 427 in Skeat's Chaucer VII. 203 Whan ye han assoiled me that I have said,.. I shall soill thee of thyne order, and save thee to heven!

3. To resolve, clear up, expound, or explain; to answer (a question). 1382 Wyclif Judges xiv. 12 Y shal purpose to 30W a dowtous word, the which if 3e soylen to me [etc.]. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) 1. xciii. 127 b/2 Thy questyons ben lyghte to soylle, and lyghte to be answerde. 1533 Bellenden Livy ill. xviii. (S.T.S.) II. 21 To soil3e this questioun ane law was promulgate in comites centuriat. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 309, I have not learned to soyle no riedles. 1603 Harsnet Pop. Impost. 77 Now a few questions I must soyle, and then I wil proceede to your holy geare. 1611 Cotgr., Souldre, to..cleere, or soile, a doubt.

4. To refute (an argument or objection); to overcome by argument; = assoil v. 7. C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 432 Herby Aristotle soylij? an argument, bi whiche it my3te seme to folis pat kynde failip to man. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 660/1 It is impossible .. for Tyndall.. to soyle the reason and auoyde it. 1567 Jewel Def. Apol. iv. i. 359 To avouche and proue the Truthe: After that to soile the obiections brought againste the Truthe.

fsoil, v.3 Obs. Also 6-7 soyle, 7 soile, soyl. [f. soil sb.3 9.] trans. To supply or treat (land) with dung or other fertilizing matter; to manure. 1593 Norden Spec. Brit., Msex & Herts, n. 18 About the towne is a kinde of chalke,.. a stonie Marie, more fit to make lime then to soyle the grounde. 1610 Folkingham Art Surv. 1. x. 24 Brittle and fickle Mould.. is best soyled with well rotted horse-dung. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxi. 123 The distribution of this goodly commodity.. to manure their ground, which soyled with it, bears three crops in one year. 1692 South Serm. (1697) I. 395 Just as they Soyl their Ground, not that they love the Dirt, but that they expect a Crop.

soil (soil), v.* [? f. soil sb.3 8.] 1. trans. To feed (horses, cattle, etc.) on freshcut green fodder, originally for the purpose of purging; fto feed up or fatten (fowls). 1605 [see soiled ppl. a.2]. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. iii, Fie . . send you Brawn and Bacon, and soil you every long vacation a brace of foremen, that at Michaelmas shall come up fat and kicking. 1715 Lond. Gaz. No. 5325/1 He designs .. to stay about three Weeks at Perez.., to Soil his Cavalry according to the Customs of the Turks. 1736 Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.) s.v., To soil horses, is to scour or purge ’em, by giving ’em green meat, as tares, green clover, and the like. 1776 A. Young Tour Irel. (1780) I. 172 A few sow clover, which increases, to mow for soiling their cows. 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. 1. 352 Milch cows give more milk when soiled than when pastured. 1840 Penny

SOIL Cycl. XXII. 192/2 The great advantage of soiling cattle is the increase of manure of the best quality, which is thereby produced. 1868 N. Q. 4th Ser. II. 308/2 To soil a horse with clover or vetches.

2. With off: To employ, make use of, as fodder for soiling cattle, etc. ? Obs. 1778 [W. H. Marshall] Minutes Agric., Observ. 30 This part was soiled-off or plowed-in. 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts I. 155 Vetches, which were soiled, or fed off, with sheep.

soil, v.5 [f. soil sb.1 7.] trans. To earth up. 1844 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. 1. 92, I soiled the drills up again.

soil, obs. var. sile

v}

'soilage. Also 6-7 soylage. [f. soil sb.3 or v.1 + -AGE.] fl. ? A charge or toll for depositing filth or refuse. Obs. 1593 Norden Spec. Brit., Comic. (1728) 98 Salt-ashe,.. a pretye market towne... It hath anchorage and soylage of all straunger ships, and the profit of a passage betwene it and Deuon. [Hence in later topographical works.]

|2. Rubbish, dirt, filth; manure. Obs. 1598 Stow Surv. iii. (1603) 14 Casting of soylage into the streame. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 379 Moorish ground; in short space raised, by soilage of the Citie vpon them. 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magic iii. xiv. 93 Apply the Pomegranate-tree roots with this kind of soilage or dunging. 1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. Dedekindus' Grobianus 49 Your proper Steps from Mire obscene defend; And leave the Dirt and Soilage to your Friend. 1758 Binnell Descr. Thames 166 Where the common Rakers of the City use to repose and lay all their Soilage.

3. The act or process of soiling; the condition of being soiled. U.S. rare. 1926 Publishers' Weekly 22 May 1679/2 One of the practical problems of retail bookselling is the depreciation of stock due to soilage.

soil-dish, variant of sile-dish, strainer. 1796 Hull Advertiser 24 Sept. 4/3 When the curd is come .. take it out with a soil-dish altogether.

soile (soil). Cornish dial. Also 7-9 soil, 7-8 soyle, 9 soyl. [? An irregular local variation of SEAL sb.1 The variation also occurs in Newfoundland English (see Diet. Newfoundland Eng.).] The common seal. Cf. swile. 1602 Carew Cornw. I. 34 b, The Seale or Soyle, is in making and growth, not vnlike a Pigge, vgly faced, and footed like a Moldwarp. 1672 Josselyn New Eng. Rarities 34 The Soile or Sea Calf, a Creature that brings forth her young ones upon dry land. 1674 Ray Coll. Words, Fishes 107 On the Rocks near the Lands end they often find the Phocze (which they call Soils) sleeping. Ibid., They distinguish between Soils and Sieles: the Siele they affirm to be a Fish .. much less then the soile, and not taken upon our Coasts. 1758 Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 284 Among the quadruped reptiles we may reckon the seal or sea-calf, vulgarly called in Cornwall the Soyle. a 1863 Tregellas Cornish Tales (1868) 61 Haling the soils up from the say. 1880 W. Cornwall Gloss. 53/1 •

soile, obs. Sc. form of sole sb.1 soiled (solid), ppl. a.1 Forms: 3 suiled, 6-7 soyled, 7 soild, 6- soiled, [f. soil v.1] Defiled; stained, dirtied. Also fig. Comb, soiled dove Austral, and N. Amer. slang., a prostitute. a 1225 Ancr. R. 158 Ich am a man mid suilede lippen. 1530 Palsgr. 324/2 Soyled, ord. 1588 Kyd Househ. Phil. Wks. (1901) 272 In the Kitchin, or other soyled places which may spoile or ray her garments. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 41 Vpon the soiled gras The dead corse of an armed knight was spred. 1671 Milton Samson 123 In slavish habit, ill-fitted weeds O’re worn and soild. 1693 Dryden, etc. Juvenal xv. (r 697) 373 One .. Licks the soil’d Earth,.. While reeking with a mangled Ombite’s Blood. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 425 It may be conveniently used for whitening soiled books and prints. 1882 Sydney Slang Diet. 8/1 Soiled doves, the ‘midnight meeting’ term for prostitutes and ‘gay’ ladies generally. 1883 Thomas Mod. Housewife 22 That cracked mirror, spoiled carpet, and soiled sofa. 1929 Soiled dove [see hustler 2 c]. 1962 E. Lucia Klondike Kate iii. 95 The line between the dance-hall girls and those of Lousetown was a thin one.. because the soiled doves from across the river intermingled in the variety halls to pick up customers. Comb. 1897 ‘S. Grand’ Beth Book xvi. 140 A white sheet filched from the soiled-clothes bag. 1905 M. BarnesGrundy Vacill. Hazel 59 A soiled-looking man turned the corner of the lane. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 325/3 Soiled Linen Bags.. Sack shape. 1939 M. Allingham Mr Campion & Others 181 He’s only over here for four days and yet he’s brought. . a neat little soiled-linen bag embroidered with his monogram.

soiled,ppl. a.2 rare. [f. soilll4] Fed with freshcut green fodder. 1605 Shaks. Lear iv. vi. 124 The Fitchew, nor the soyled Horse goes too’t with a more riotous appetite. 1811 Monthly Mag. XXXIV. 393/1 The condition of the soiled cattle and milch cows, surprized even those most convinced of the advantage of the system.

soiled, a. [f. soil sb.1] Having a particular or specified kind of soil. c 1645 Howell Lett. I. 11. xv. (1655) 89 The Province .. is far greater, more populous, better soyld, and more stor’d with Gentry. 1799 [A. Young] Agric. Line. 9 This sinks again into another part of the various soiled vale to the Wolds. 1815 M. Birkbeck Journ. thro' France 68 A surface .. as fruitful as a well-soiled plain.

soiler: see soil

SOILY

944

.1

v

2 a, free-soiler.

soilie,

variant of Sc. sulye Obs.

'soiliness. rare.

[f. soily a.1] The state or condition of being soiled; soiled or dirty matter. a 1626 Bacon Physiol. Rem. in Baconiana (1679) 98 To make proof of the Incorporation of Silver and Tin,.. and to observe.. whether it yield no soiliness more than Silver? 1650 Fuller Pisgah 11. iv. iv. 70 Whether the Priests .. made use thereof [5c. a laver] to discover all soiliness in them before they washed.

soiling, sb. Obs.~° [app. for siling, f. sile 2.] (See quot.)

t

soiling ('soilio), ppl. a.' [f. soil w.1] That stains or soils; polluting, defiling. 1812 Cary Dante, Purg. xxx. 52 To save My undew’d cheeks from blur of soiling tears. 1820 Clare Poems Rural Life (ed. 3) 120 From soiling dew the butter-cup Shuts his golden jewels up. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. lxvii, Dreading the soiling inferences of his mind.

1

v

1573-80 Baret Alv., A Soiling, a great opening, or gaping of the earth, as it were a deepnesse without bottome.

soiling ('sDilirj), vbl. sb.1

280/2 A thin layer of ashes.. is spread over the surface [of the hardened malm in brick-making] (this process being technically called soiling).

f soiling, ppl. a.2

Obs.-'

[f. soil v.2]

Of the

nature of a refutation; confuting. CI449 Pecock Repr. II. xviii. 255 To make a cleer soiling answere to the xiije argument.

[f. soil v.1]

1. a. The action of making or becoming dirty, tarnished, or stained. Also fig. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Salissure, fouling, soyling. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. iv. (1627) 29 To keepe their bookes from soyling, or marring under their hands. *635-56 Cowley Davideis 1. 871 Thus Souls live cleanly, and no Soiling fear. 1643 Milton Divorce 11. xix. Which .. is rather a soiling then a fulfilling of mariage-rites. 1809 Naval Chron. XXII. 277 To remove any soiling it might have received. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 530 Thus avoiding soiling of the glass.

b. Defecation (usu. when caused by incontinence or stress in a patient or child). 1943 Our Towns (Women’s Group on Public Welfare) iii. 83 Some evacuated children were guilty of deliberate wetting and soiling, i960 I. Bennett Delinquent & Neurotic Children iii. 113 Faecal incontinence, and soiling episodes. 1980 Jrnl. R. Soc. Med. LXXIII. 217 The affected children themselves are liable to behavioural problems such as temper tantrums, soiling and school refusal. 2. spec. (See soil v 5 and 6.) Also attrib. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Peter II. 19 The sowe hath washed .. in vayne, if she by and by after she is washen, returne to the soylinges that she had gone from. 1856 ‘ Stonehenge’ Brit. Rur. Sports 82/2 The deer’s haunt is called his lair;.. where he rolls, his soiling-pool. 1884 Jefferies Red Deer vi. 102 They have their regular ‘soiling-pits’ —watery places or shallow ponds. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 18 Aug. 3/1 ‘Soiling,’ or taking water, less frequently results in throwing hounds off the scent.

.1

t'soiling, vbl. sb.2 Obs. [f. soil 1. Assoilment, absolution.

v.2]

a 1300 Cursor M. 29535 Gain cursing gode all es be-warr, And if f ou wat pou ert pair-in His soilling seke wit-vten blin. £•1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 481 Whanne per soyling & per bynding acordide wip god in heuene. £*1400 Apol. Loll. 67 herfor pe causis are to be peysid, and pan power of bynding and soiling is to be vsid. 1529 More Suppl. Souls Wks. 290 Blessing and cursing, cyting, suspending and soyling.

soill, obs. Sc. variant of sole v.1 fsoillart. Obs.-' [f. soilll1] A name given to the hare. 13 .. MS. Digby 86 fol. 168 b, He shal saien on oreisoun In pe worshipe of pe hare .., pe go-bi-dich, pe soillart. soilie, obs. Sc. form of sole sb.1 soilless ('soillis), a.'

[f. soil si.1]

a. Destitute or devoid of soil or mould. 1828-32 in Webster (citing Bigsby). 1853 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIV. 1. 19 The steep, rugged, and nearly soilless sides and crags of the limestone. 1865 Spratt Crete I. 20 A bared and almost soilless part of the mountain-face. 1971 Daily Tel. 2 Oct. 8/3 Put each young plant in a pot of its own.. using, .one of the peat-based soilless mixtures. b. Applied to methods of growing plants without soil. Cf. hydroponics. 1938 Sat. Even. Post 20 Aug. 14/2 Having caught the public imagination, soilless farming has the trappings of another ‘bubble’. 1946 Soil Sci. LXII. 71 Artificial or soilless cultures have been used very extensively during the last 30 years in plant nutrition studies. 1974 D. Harris Hydroponics ii. 45 Although called variously ‘aggregate culture’, ‘soil-less culture’, ‘nutriculture’, or ‘chemiculture’, Dr Gericke’s term is so universally used that all forms of growing plants without soil are loosely referred to as ‘hydroponics’. 'soilless, a.2 [f. soil sb.3] Free from soil or stain. 1868 Geo. Eliot Spanish Gypsy 1. 61 As innocent as opening flowers,.. soilless, beautiful. f'soilness, var. of (or error for) soiliness. a 1626 Bacon Physiol. Rem. in Baconiana (1679) 95 It will be sweeter and cleaner than Brass alone, which yieldeth a smell or soilness.

2. Solution, explanation, answering. C1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 386 panne he putte in dede soilyng of pis questioun. 1388-Dan. iv. 3 Thei schulden schewe to me the soilyng of the dreem. c 1500 Three Priests Peblis in Pinkerton Sc. Poems (1792) I. 11 Desyrand for to wit the solyeing Of this questioun, this probleame, and this dout. C1530 L. Cox Rhet. (1899) 64 Confutacion is the soilynge of suche argumentes as maye be induced agaynste our purpose. 1548 Geste Priv. Masse 113 The soylyng of these two last recited scryptures.

'soiling, vbl. sb.3 ? Obs. [f. soil v3] 1. The action of treating land with manure or compost; manuring, dunging. 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. iii. 112 Any Tin-mines,.. Marie, or Chalke-pits, slimie or moorish earth, fit for soyling of land. 1665 Voy. E. India 362 Which.. doth so enrich their Land, which they never force. . by Soyling of it. 1696 J. Cary Ess. Coyn 28 Well manured Lands, whose plentiful Crops do soon repay the Charge of Soiling laid out on them.

2. Manure; droppings of animals. 1610 Folkingham Art Surv. 1. x. 26 Plinie reports that Ashes are in such request for soylings neere vnto Po, that they burne their Horse-dung to make them. 1626 Bacon Natural Hist. §666 That Powdring [sc. dust], when a Shower commeth, maketh a kinde of Soyling to the Tree. 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts I. 148 All of these, together with the subsequent soilings of the sheep, left the land in admirable condition.

'soiling, vbl. sb.4 [f. soil v.4] 1. The action or practice of feeding horses, cows, etc., on fresh-cut green fodder, originally in order to cause purgation. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 330 For this purgation is most necessary for Horsses, which is called soyling, and ought to continue ten daies together, without any other meat. 1770 Pennant Brit. Zool. IV. 48 They [sc. Persian horses] are fed with chopped straw,. . and instead of soiling, are fed with new-eared or green barley. 1799 Washington Writ. (1893) XIV. 225 For spring, summer, and autumn, it is expected, that soiling of them on green food .. will enable them to perform their work. 1832 Scoreby Farm Rep. 27 in Husb. (L.U.K.) Ill, By the practice of soiling, an arable farm may be made to support as much live stock as a grazing one. 1893 Times 11 July 4/1 Oats put in [among rye] promptly would give food for soiling or cutting in the autumn. attrib. 1840 Penny Cycl. XXII. 193/1 Those countries where the soiling system is most universally adopted.

2. dial. (See quot.) a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Soiling, the last fattening food given to fowls when they are taken up from the stack or barn-door, and cooped for a few days.

'soiling, vbl. sb.b■ [f. soil sb.*] The action of covering with soil. Also techn. (quot. 1876). 1794 Wedge View Agric. Cheshire 21 Soiling with the plough is thus performed:.. the ground .. is split, or turned both ways upon the young plants. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV.

soil-pipe: see soil sb.1 10 and soil sb.3 9. fsoilth. Obs.-1

[f. soil v.1 + -th1.] An act or

instance of soiling or staining. 1581 Mulcaster Posit, xl. (1887) 225 At home spoiles, soilthes, twentie things, are nothing in the parentes.. eye. soilure ('soiljuo(r)).

Also 4, 7 soylure.

[a. OF.

soilleure (mod.F. souillure), f. soillier soil r.1] The currency of the word in the 19th cent, is prob. altogether due to the instance in Shakespeare. 1. Soiling, sullying, staining. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8501 pe bodies hii gaderede & vorbarnde horn echon,.. so pat hii were Wipoute soylure in clannesse al out maisters fere. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 7 Elaine.. Guarded the sacred shield .. , Then fearing rust or soilure fashion’d for it A case of silk. 1893 J. K. Ingram De Imitatione Pref. p. viii, The writing has..suffered from friction or soilure. b .fig. (Common in recent literary use.) 1606 Shaks. Tr. Cr. iv. i. 56 He merits well to haue her, that doth seeke her, Not making any scruple of her soylure, With such a hell of paine. 1873 Alice Cary Last Poems 114 Soilure of sin.. Cannot harm thy hand so pure. 1888 G. Gissing Life's Morning I. iii. no With minds disengaged from anxiety of casual soilure. 1890 W. Watson Poems (1906) I. 29 From soilure of ignoble touch Too grandly free. 2. A stain, blot, or blemish. 1829 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 II. 235 He did not conduct him amid flowers and herbage, where a fall would have only been a soilure to our frail human nature. 1895 Zangwill The Master iii. viii, Why had people besmirched the Creation with soilures of cynicism. soily ('sdiIi), a.' sb.2 or ti.1]

Also 6 soilly, 7 soylie.

[f. soil

f 1. Apt to soil or stain. Obs. 1575 Laneham Lett. (1871) 40 A substauns.. nether so .. brittl to manure az stone, nor yet so soily in vse. Ibid. 50 Fayr alleyz .. with sand, not light or to soft, or soilly by dust, but.. pleasaunt too walk on. 1605 Willet Hexapla in Gen. 215 The goodly outward rine or skinne onely doeth keepe in the filthie soylie embers. 2. Of the nature or character of soil or tarnish. 1631 Fuller Joseph's Coat, David's Sin xxxii, So spots of sinne the writer’s soule did staine, Whose soylie tincture did therein remaine. Ibid., David's Repentance iv, I desire His soylie sinnes with deluges to scoure. 3. Soiled, stained, dirty. 1631 W. B. Touchstone Gold & Silver Wares 36 When your Touch-stone is.. foul or soily, it may be taken off, by wetting it. 1748 Richardson Clarissa VI. 151 Methinks.. you are a little soily, to what we have seen you. 1771 T. Hull Sir W. Harrington (1797) III. 214 White sprigg’d muslin,., now so soily, and hung in such a manner,.. as made her indeed a strange figure. 1890 Pall Mall G. 13 Feb. 2/1 A case .. in which are packed .. three or four damp, hot, and soily figures.

SOILY soily, a.2 Also 8 soiley. [f. soil sft.1] Of the nature of soil; like that of soil or mould. !747 Hooson Miner’s Diet. Q3, Veins Strick into this RachilL.in a confused manner, being throne into Joynts, but they are Soiley. 1878 Scribner's Mag. XVI. 684/2 Away they went, mare and man,.. with a decided soily aroma following them.

soilyie, variant of Sc. sulye Obs. *774 G. Gifford in Low Orkney (1879) 143 Property transmitted by a Deed called a Soind bill. Ibid. 144 The disponer delivered the Soind bill to the purchaser.

soiour, obs. f. soldier. soiour(e, soiowryn, varr. sojour sb. and v. Obs. v.,

sore a. and adv.

II soiree (sware), sb. [F. soiree evening, evening party, f. soir evening: —L. serum late hour, neut. of serus late.] An evening party, gathering, or social meeting. (See also swarry.) soiree dansante: see dansant a. 1793 F. Burney Jrnl. 8 Apr. (1972) II. 58 He asked how my Mother did? I said if he came any soiree, he would probably see. 1802 C. Wilmot Let. 3 Jan. in T. U. Sadleir Irish Peer on Continent (1920) 22 We have had abundant specimens of Plays, Balls, Soirees, The’s, &c. 1820 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 190, I had a soiree last night. 1836 in Col. Hawker Diary (1893) H. 107 We had a regular merry soiree on board, and did not leave till past nine. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh hi. 391 For exhibition in my drawing-rooms On zoologic soirees. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 621 Friends’ Photographic Society... A soiree is held each winter.

Hence soiree v. trans., to entertain at an evening party or parties. Also soireean a., soireety nonce-words. 1826 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I- 397 It has been hard work to dine and soiree all the people. 1834 Jekyll Corr. (1894) 328 This bustle and the eternity of parliamentary sittings keep London in a state of interest and soireety. 1853 Jerdan Autobiogr. IV. 71 To be in readiness for the reception of the soireean guests.

soirn, soit, obs. Sc. ff. sorn

v.,

sojourn ('sa-, 'sd-, 'ssod^n), sb. Forms: a. 3 surgerun, suriurn, 3-4 suriuren. j8. 4 soiorn(e, 4, 7 soiourn(e, 5 soiurne, sojorne, 7- sojourn, y. Sc. 5 su(d)iorne, 6 su(d)georne. [a. OF. surjurn, sujurn, sojorn, etc. (= It. soggiorno, Pg. and obs. Sp. sojorno), vbl. sb. from surjurner, etc.: see SOJOURN v. The stressing so'journ occasionally appears in poetry.]

1. A temporary stay at a place.

t soind, obs. variant of schynd.

soir, obs. Sc. f. soar

SOJOURNEY

945

suit sb.

|| soit (swa), int. [Fr., third pers. sing. pres. subj. of etre to be.] So be it. 1889 E. Dowson Let. 16 Nov. (1967) 116 Your letter greatly cheered me—especially by the hope it held out of a meeting at Philippi. Soit! 1912 T. E. Lawrence Let. 23 June (1954) 217 It seems the Turks suffered a defeat the other day somewhere: soit: it won’t hurt Turkey, a 1935Mint (1955) 141 The R.A.F. claims to order our sitting and standing, our lying down and our going forth. Soit: but let its direction be extremely good. 1958 L. Durrell Mountolive iv. 90 Well, soitl

|| soixante-neuf (swasat ncef). [Fr., lit. ‘sixtynine’.] Simultaneous cunnilingus and fellatio. Cf. sixty-nine s.v. sixty a. 2 b. 1888 P. Perret Tableaux Vivants xiii. 109 In familiar language this divine variant of pleasure is called: faire soixante neuf (literally, to do ‘69’). 1970 E. M. Brecher Sex Researchers iv. 98 By a delicate turn of phrase, van de Velde awards his post-Victorian nihil obstat to the practice of soixante-neuf. 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 53 The other couple were writhing about still, now seemingly poised for a session of fully robed soixante-neuf.

||soixantine. rare—', [ad. F. soixantaine, f. soixante sixty.] A period of sixty days. 1722 De Foe Hist. Plague (1756) 235 Then a body may be capable to continue infected .. not a Quarentine of Days only, but a Soixantine, not only 40 Days but 60 Days or longer.

’soize, dial, form of size sb.1 sojar, obs. Sc. variant of soldier sb. sojer, dial, or colloq. form of soldier sb. and v. sojett, variant of suget (subject) Obs. f sojour, sb. Obs. Also 4 soiur, 4-5 soiour(e; 5 surioure. [a. OF. sojur, sujur, etc. (later sejor, sejour, mod.F. sejour sejour), shortened form of sujurn sojourn sb.] Sojourn. 13 .. Sir Beues 3435 panne anon, wij? oute soiur, A wente to pat emperur. 1338 R Brunne Chron. (1810) 274 pe Scottis pat were with inne .. pe Baliol suld pam wynne out of pat soioure. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 721 In pe sammyne toure, quhare his wif mad surioure. C1400 Rom. Rose 4282 The which is shette there in the tour, Fulle longe to holde there sojour. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 246 Skarsly thre monethys he holdith heer sojour. CI450 Merlin xxii. 398 The kynge Ban and the kynge Bohors were nothinge at soiour.

f sojour, v. Obs. Also 4 soioure, -en, 5 soi(o)wryn. [ad. OF. sojur-, shortened stem of sojurner sojourn v.] intr. To sojourn. C1330 Arth. & Merl. 7269 (Kolbing), Lete we hem here soiouringe & speke of pe oper kinge. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 129 But lordis, & ladies namely, schullen soiouren amongis hem many 3eris. a 1400 R. Brunne's Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4183 (Petyt MS.), Long ne wald he soioure ne rest. 1593 Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. 7 Isaac and Jacob sojoured as strangers and peregrines in the land of Canaan.

fsojourant. Obs.~° = sojournant. 1499 Promp. Parv. (Pynson) Pijb, Soioraunt.

a. c 1250 Gen. e traces

(a) 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. 11. ix, Large Ovens to bake in, the soales thereof, rather of one or two intire stones, than of many bricks. 1847 Halliwell, Sole, the floor of an oven. Line. 1876 Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. vii. 136 Leckstones were largely used for the linings and soles of ovens.

(b) 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 579, a is the ash pit vaulted under the sole of the furnace. 1864 Q. Jrnl. Sci. I. 493 When it is required to make steel, the coverings of the sole.. are omitted. 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. ill. 56/1 The sole of the furnace is usually 16 to 24 ft. square.

c. Naut. (See quots.) c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 149 Sole, a sort of lining to prevent wearing or tearing away the main part to which it may be attached; as to the rudder, bilgeways, &c. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., The decks of the cabin and forecastle in some ships, respectively called the cabin and forecastle soles.

4. a. = sill sb.1 i and 2. Cf. window-sole. Now rare. 1419-20 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 144 Et in ij liminibus de quarcu et ij soles de esch emt. pro ij sperys de novo faciendis in praedicta domo. 1433 Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 53, iij balkes, iiij stanzons, vij bandclogs, iij soles. 1541 in Proc. Antiq. Scotl. (i860) III. 161 In heicht fra the sollis of the said queir duris .. xxxij futtis. 1625 Burgh Rec. Glasgow I. 347 The soillis of thair windois being fywe futes abone the flure. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. xxix. 42 A Gally-pot of Fair-water .. will set it self level being placed upon the Sole of the Window. 1709 Phil. Trans. XXVI. 290 The Water, in some, was as high as the Soles of the Windows. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 139 Generally a great number of small articles are thrown on the sole of a work-horse stable window. 1866 Brogden Prov. Lines., Sole,.. the seat of a window. 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 473/1 Sill or Sole.., the horizontal base of a door or window-frame.

b. Naut. and Fortif. (See quots.) 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine (1780), Sole, a name sometimes given to the lower side of a gun-port, which however is more properly called the port-sell. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 248 The sole of the embrazure is the bottom, or space, between the cheeks, or sides. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 432 The slope of the bottom of the embrasure, called the ‘Sole’.

c. Mining. (See quots.) 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 843 It may happen that the floor of the gallery shall not be sufficiently firm to afford a sure foundation to the standards; and it may be necessary to make them rest on a horizontal piece called the sole. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 229 Sole, a piece of timber set underneath a prop.

d. A flat tile used as a rest or support for a draining-tile or drain-pipe. 1843 Mech. Mag. XXXIX. 191 Flat tiles, or soles, are formed in nearly the same manner. 1847 Dwyer Pract. Hydraulic Eng. 115 When the tiles and soles, or pipe tiles are used in minor drains, each tile should rest equally upon two soles. 1881 Mechanic 519 An excellent plan is to lay soles or flat tiles and in these to set half-pipes or bridge-pipes.

5. fa. The rim of a wheel. Obs.~] 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §5 On marreis ground and soft ground the other wheles be better, bycause they be broder on the soule.

b. The inner circle of a water-wheel (cf. quot. 1797)*673-4 Grew Anat. PI., Trunks (1682) 138 So also the Ladles and Soles of a Mill-wheel are always made of Elm. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 332 Elm is a Timber.. proper for Water-works, Mills, Soles of Wheels, Pipes, Aquaducts. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 903/2 The inner circle.. is called the Sole of the wheel, and usually consists of boards nailed to strong wooden rings of compass timber.. firmly united with the arms or radii. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 84 Burn’s overshot-wheel.. forms a large hollow cylinder by its buckets and sole.

c. The lower frame-timbers of a wagon, cart, etc. (cf. quots. and sill sb.1 1 b). 1843 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VI. 265/2 The timber framing which carries the hinge on which the body of the [railway] wagon turns in the act of tipping, is called the ‘soles’. 1851 Coal-Trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 49 Sole, the part of a chaldron waggon or coal-tub frame to which the bearances for the wheels are attached, and into which the sheths are inserted. 1876 Robinson Mid- Yks. Gloss, s.v., The soles of a cart are the middle supporting timbers of the body. 6. a. The lower part, bottom, or under surface

of anything. Chiefly in more or less specific uses (cf. next). 1615 Crooke Body of Man 629 In Fishes onely the very tippe of the tongue is loose, the rest is fastened downe vnto the Soale of the mouth. 1660 Markham's Eng. Housew. 11. ii. 72 Put in the soal of a Manchet, a good quantity of sweet butter, and season it with Pepper [etc.]. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 289/1 The parts of a Shuttle are,.. the Sole, is the Bottom of it, which is smooth shod with Iron Plate. 1769 Falconer Diet. Marine {1780), Fond d'affut, the sole or bottom of a gun-carriage. 1791 Selby Bridge Act 4 The sole of the said bridge .. shall not be less than three feet above the ..top of the present artificial or flood banks. 1811 Acc. Game Curling 3 The under surface, or sole, as it is called, is polished as nicely as possible, that the stone may move easily along. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 649 The lower piece, or sole of the engine.., is screwed down .. to a strong board. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 1392/2 A block or tray with a flat sole. 1887 Jamieson's Sc. Diet. Suppl. 224/1 Sole,.. the flat bottom of the head of a golf-club.

b. esp. The under part or surface of a planestock, plough, rudder, electrical instrument, etc. (a) 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc. iv. 64 The Iron.. will rise above the Sole into the Mouth of the Stock, and consequently not touch the Stuff. Ibid. vi. 113 The under-side of a Plain is called the Sole. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Builder 229 The edge of the iron of a plane is said to be rank-set when it projects considerably below the sole. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 499 The sole of a long plane is in a great measure the test of the straightness of the work. 1875 Carp. & Join. 26 In the carpenter’s plane the sole quickly deteriorates, and must then be planed off true again. (b) 1766 Museum Rust. VI. 427 Keep but the sole of the plough level in the ground. 1831 Sutherland Farm Rep. 71 in Husb. (L.U.K.) Ill, The ploughing [is] so deep as to leave

SOLE some of the lime visible below the plough sole. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 156 In every plough, not only the parts above named, but the sole or under plate,.. are of iron or cast metal. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 290. (c) 1855 Orr's Circ. Sci., Elem. Chem. 217 One half of the instrument [i.e. the electrophorus]—to which the term 'sole' has been given —is now prepared, and it only remains to form the cover. wi866 R. M. Ferguson Electr. 190 The condenser is generally placed in the sole of the instrument [an induction coil], and does not meet the eye. (d) 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Sole of the Rudder, a piece of timber attached to its lower part to render it nearly level with the false keel.

c. A smooth or flat surface or side. 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 164 Sole of Planks; the flat Side of them. 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 367 The stones in the boulder-clay.. have one or more flat sides or ‘soles’, are smoothed or polished [etc.].

7. fa. (See quot.) Obs.~l 1610 Folkingham Art Surv. 1. iii. 5 The vpper Crust is the Soile or Soale of the Earth.

b. The under surface of land or soil; the subsoil, rare. 1683 in Macfarlane's Geogr. Collect. (S.H.S.) II. 139 This clay is not so good a sole as the other. 1796 in Robertson Agric. Perth (1799) 518 By this means I put the sole of the arable ground, or under surface, as far as I can from the upper surface. 1859 R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geogr. Soc. XXIX. 158 Its sole displays quartzose sand, with scatters of granite.

c. A (good, etc.) surface or bottom in a field, turf, etc. 1846 Brockett N.C. Gloss, (ed. 3) II. 146 If it be smooth and level it is said to have a good sole. 1893 W. Fream Youatt's Compl. Grazier x. i. 898 Crested dogstail grass.. contributes materially to the production of a good ‘sole’ in the turf of pastures. 8. a. Mining. The bottom or floor of a vein,

level, or working. 1653 Manlove Customs Lead Mines 274 Sole of the Rake, Smytham, and many more. 1667 Primatt City & C. Builder 5 They have the conveniency of driving a drift or sough, from the bottom of the hills to the sole of the Rake. 1747 Hooson Miner's Diet. B iv, The Sole and Roofe, or Skirt. Ibid. S iv, When Doorsteds are used, and the Sole of the Drift so soft, that it will not bear the Forks. 1789 J Williams Min. Kingdom I. 278 The soles of the string were nearly upon a level with the soles of the vein. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 981 Pitcoal, A platform about 3 feet high is left at the sole. 1886 Holland Chesh. Gloss., Sole. Salt-mining term. The bottom of the mine.

b. The bottom or lowest part of a valley, etc. 1880 V. L. Cameron Future Highway II. xii. 257 Their tents were pitched as low down as possible, some in the very sole of the valley. 1886 R. F. Burton Arab. Nts. (abr. ed.) III. 410 His men took to flight and fled along the sole of the Wady.

c. dial. The bottom of a furrow. 1877 in Peacock N.W. Line. Gloss. 232/1.

d. Geol. The underlying or lowest thrust plane of a thrust. 1889 H. M. Cadell in Trans. R. Soc. Edin. XXXV. 347 This experiment shows that underneath a series of beds, repeated and heaped together by small thrusts, inclined perhaps at considerable angles, there runs.. a major thrust or ‘sole’, inclined at a lower angle, along which the whole mass may have travelled for considerable distances. 1907 J. Horne in B. N. Peach et al. Geol. Struct. N.W. Highlands Scotland xxxii. 464 Owing to.. the friction along the unyielding lower plane or ‘sole’ of the thrust, there was a tendency in the materials to fold over and curve under. 1965 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. (ed. 2) ix. 225 Along the sole of a major thrust severe crushing and grinding of the rocks is to be expected.

e. Geol. The lowest layer of ice in a glacier, containing rock debris. 1930 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. CCXIX. 13 A rock fragment subjected to the abrasion processes in action on the sole of a glacier. 1952 Jrnl. Glaciol. II. 128 This deposit is then pulled along in a continuous manner by the movements of the glacier, thus forming the sole. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 87 In the roofs of these cavities we see the rockstudded glacier sole.

f. Geol. stratum.

SOLE

958

The under-side of a sedimentary

1957, etc. [see sole marking, sense 9 below]. 1972 H. Blatt et al. Origin Sedimentary Rocks v. 170 Such structures are normally observed in the field on the sandstone sole. 1972 F. J. Pettijohn et al. Sand & Sandstone iv. 114 The flute.. preserved as a raised structure or flute cast on the underside or sole of the overlying sand bed.

III. 9. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib., as sole board{ing, channel, clout, cushion, etc.; sole-bar (also solebar) (see quots.); spec, a longitudinal member forming part of the under-frame of a railway carriage or wagon; sole mark, marking Geol., a feature that is found on the undersurface of sedimentary strata which overlie softer beds, and is the cast of a depression originally formed in the surface of the lower bed; sole-plate (also soleplate) (see quots.); spec, the metal plate forming the base of an electric iron. 1829 Glover's Hist. Derby I. 242 Needham, a London framework-knitter, placed the trucks on the ♦solebar. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 414 The sloping edge d m represents the enlargement of the sole-bar, on which the share is fitted. 1909 Cent. Diet. Suppl., Sole-bar, an out-side sill in a railway car. 1930 Engineering 24 Jan. 102/2 The main frame.. consists of two longitudinals or solebars. 1977 Modern Railways Dec. 486/1 Current new stock .. has an all¬ aluminium underframe with the solebars made from continuous extrusions. 1577 Burgh Rec. Glasgow I. 67 The said erle furnesand glasbandis, *soil-burdis, lyme, and sand.

1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 326 On the inside of the shroud-plates are formed the grooves for securing the ends of the buckets and of the ♦sole-boarding. 1891 Cent. Diet., * Sole-channel, in a boot- or shoe-sole, a groove in which the sewing is sunk to protect it from wear. 1821 Scott Pirate xv, The sock, and the heel, and the ’"sole-clout of a real steady Scottish pleugh. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Sole-clout, a thick plate of cast metal attached to that part of the plough which runs on the ground. 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 188/2 The pads or ♦sole-cushions of the spreading feet [of the camel] are divided into two toes. 1417 in Eng. Misc. (Surtees) 11 Fra the *sole end of the frunt before in to the streteward. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 414 The breadth of the ♦soleflange [of a plough] is 2 inches. 1961 J. Challinor Diet. Geol. 185/1 *Sole-marks. 1972 J. F. Pettijohn et al. Sand & Sandstone 1. iv. 113 Although they occur in almost all sands, sole marks are particularly abundant in turbidites where they provide the best means of determining current flow. 1978 Friedman & Sanders Princ. Sedimentol, iv. 110/2 (caption) Sole mark assemblage dominated by counterparts of flutes .. and transverse scour marks. 1957 P. H. Kuenen in Jrnl. Geol. LXV. 231/1 In a number of papers .. mention is made of the occurrence of various types of markings on the sole of the graywackes. The present paper aims at presenting a coherent record of these *sole markings. 1976 R. C. Selley Introd. Sedimentol. vii. 211 Flutes, grooves and tool marks are three of the commonest sole markings found as interbed sedimentary structures. 1859 Todd's Cycl. Anat. V. 531/1 The remarkable dorsal hump, and.. the cushion-like ♦sole-pad of the Dromedary. 1706 Stevens Span. Diet. 1, Soleta, the ♦Sole-part of a Stockin. 1869 Sir E. Reed Shipbuild. iv. 60 In.. the screw ships of the Royal Navy.., the ♦sole-piece is very broad and shallow in wake of the aperture. 1901 Black Scaffolding 50 The next thing to do is to prepare a sole piece out of iiin. by 4m. which is laid on the firm ground so as to make a little less than a right angle with the inside of the outermost shore. 1741 Phil. Trans. XLI. 564 This ♦Sole-plate answers the Shape of the Foot. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm 11. 31 o The sole-plate on which the superstructure of the [crank-] engine is raised. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2244/2 Soleplate, the back portion of a water-wheel bucket, i960 Housewife Apr. 86/2 The sole-plate, being extra thin, heats quickly. 1974 Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald 24 Apr. (Sears Advts. Suppl.) 2 Has a 21-vent soleplate. Steams up to 30 minutes at a low setting. 1434 in Rogers Agric. & Pr. III. 551/1 [Two] ♦soolshoon. 1808 Jamieson, Soleshoe, a piece of iron, on what is called the head, or that part of a plough on which the sock, or share, is fixed. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 408, H is the sole-shoe on which the plough has its principal support. 1593 Rites & Mon. Ch. Durh. (Surtees) 23 The said sockett [of a cross] was maid fast with iron and lead to the *sole stone. 1839 Ure Diet. Arts 1248, f, the sole-stone [of a smelting-furnace], of granite, hewn out basin-shaped. 1884 Knight Diet. Mech. Suppl., *Sole Tile, a flat or bellying tile .., for the bottom of sewers, muffles, or other objects.

b. Misc., as sole-bound, -shaped, sole-deep, --walking. 1610 Folkingham Art Surv. 1. viii. 19 Burnt, parched, soale-bound,.. and wet spewing grounds. Ibid. x. 24 Crustclung and Soale-bound soyles. 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life 48 The sole-shaped locomotor disc known as the ‘foot’. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2243/2 A vertically moving sole-shaped die. 1891 Hardy Tess (1900) 105/1 The snow., lay soledeep upon the floor. 1894 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 284 There still exists on this island a singular cat.. which is plantigrade (sole-walking).

c. Objective, chiefly in names of implements or machines (see quots.). 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2242-3 Sole-beating, -channeling, -cutting (etc.) Machine. Ibid. 2243 Sole¬ finishing Tool. Ibid. 2244 Sole-shaper. 1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 279/2 The curved outline of the sole is cut by passing the strips beneath two curved sliding or revolving knives in a ‘sole-cutting machine’. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 933 In ‘sole stitching’ by American machinery the men are said to have become mercurialised by volatilisation of the metal.

sole (soul), sb.2 Forms: a. 4- sole (5 soel). /9. 7-8 soal(e, 8 soall. [a. OF. (also mod.F.) sole (= Sp. suela), of the same origin as prec., agreeing in sense with L. solea (whence Pg. solha, It. sogliola).] 1. a. A common British and European flat-fish (Solea vulgaris or solea), highly esteemed as food; one or other of the various fishes belonging to the widely-distributed genus Solea. a. 1347 Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 41 In playces, sperling’, et soles emp., vj s. x d. 1372 in Riley Mem. Lond. (1868) 367 [Certain fish called] Soles. C1450 Two Cookery Bks. 103 Sole, boiled, rost, or fryed. Take a sole, and do awey \>e hede [etc.], c 1480 Cely Papers (Camden) 189 Item whelkes, iiij d. Item iij solys, vij d. c 1520 L. Andrew Noble Lyfe 111. lxxxv, Solea is the sole, that is a swete fisshe and holsom for seke people. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 300 Dryed fysshe as soles, maydens, playces,.. & such other. 1620 Venner Via Recta iv. 72 The Sole verily is to be reckoned among the meats of primest note. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxviii. (1663) 108 It is not possible to deliver the store of fish that is taken in this river, chiefly Soles and Mullets. 1769 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 190 The sole is found on all our coasts. 1827 Southey Devil's Walk xlviii, Now soles are exceedingly cheap. 1840 Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 324 All the Soles are excellent fishes, and may be had in good condition nearly all the year. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 324 The sole is common on the British coasts, and in season from May to November. B. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. 1. 117/1 The pide-coat Mackrell, Pilchard, Sprat, and Soale. 1696 Phil. Trans. XIX. 350 Here are also good plenty of large Soals, taken in Troul-nets. 1714 Gay Trivia 11. 294 The jointed Lobster, and unscaly Soale. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 33 If 7 Dined alone in my room on a soal. 1797 P. Wakefield Mental Improv. (1801) I. 102 A small pectunculus or cockle, is the prey of the soal.

b. In collective singular. In quot. 1700 with punning allusion to soul sb.

1661 Childrey Brit. Baconica 18 Soale and Playce (both which follow the tide into the fresh rivers). 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. 21 An Old Burly Drab, that Screams out the Sale of her Maids and her Sole at the same Instant. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 336 Serve him with ven’son, and he chooses fish; With soal —that’sjust the sort he would not wish. 1899 Daily News 15 July 5/1 Sole is dear again, even more than usually so.

c. In the names of various dishes, as sole bonne femme [bonne femme s.v. bonne C]; sole (d la) Colbert (see quot. 1877); sole (a la) meuniere [meuniere a. and adv.\, sole Veronique (see quot. i960). 1846 A. Soyer Gastronomic Regenerator 115 Sole a la Colbert,.. sole .. butter .. chopped parsley .. chopped tarragon and chervil.. lemon juice. Ibid., Sole a la Meuniere, .. sole .. chopped onions .. butter.. lemon .. cayenne pepper. 1877 E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. of Table 136 The sole of Colbert.. is a fried sole which after being cooked is boned and then filled with maitre d’hotel butter and with lemon-juice. 1928 D. L. Sayers Unpleasantness at Bellona Club vii. 71 He .. had a sole Colbert very well cooked. 1930 R. Lehmann Note in Music v. 205 He. .ordered sole bonne femme, a mixed grill, salad, trifle, a welsh rarebit, i960 Good Housek. Cookery Book 95/2 Sole Veronique,.. sole .. mushrooms .. wine .. cream .. grapes .. butter. 1966 Harper's Bazaar Sept. 87/3 She.. does sole Veronique with lichees instead of grapes. 1967 G. Greene May we borrow your Husband? 185 For a while the sole meuniere gave them an excuse not to talk. 1978 F. Mullally Deadly Payoff xi. 142 The two burly men would, .plough through a hearty meal of sea-food, sole meuniere and Stilton. 1979 ‘L. Black’ Penny Murders iv. 38 Kate.. declared she would make it a fish day .. a sole. Should it be Veronique with white grapes, or a la Duglere [mV], cooked in white wine with tomatoes and shallots?

2. With distinguishing terms. See also lemon sb.2 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 141 Common Sole. Spotted Sole. 1839 Yarrell Suppl. Brit. Fishes 36 The Solenette, or Little Sole. 1840 tr. Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 324 S. vulgaris, the Common Sole, is dark-brown on the upper part. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 263/2 Of the subgenus Monochirus, one species is found on the British coast, and is known by the names Variegated Sole, Red-backed Flounder, &c. (M. lingua tulus).

3. In American and Australasian use: One or other of various fishes belonging to related genera (esp. Achirus) or to the family Pleuronectidae. 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 841 Achirus. Soles. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 175 The much-prized Sole of Europe, Solea Vulgaris, does not occur in the Western Atlantic. .. Its nearest representative, the American Sole, is found along our coast from Boston. Ibid. 182-188. 1898 Morris Austral Eng. 426. 1903 Goode & Gill Amer. Fishes p. lxviii.

4. attrib. and Comb., as sole fillet, potage, -pritching, -skin; sole-like adj. 1725 Fam. Diet. s.v. Fish Pot ages, To prepare a Sole Potage for Fish Days. Ibid. s.v. Sole, A Dish of Sole Fillets with a Lentil-Cullis. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales II. 118 He dwelt with delight on sole-pritching, mackerel-fishing, and cod-fishing. 1859 Sala Gaslight & D. x. 120 Dried soleskins wherewith to clear the decoction of the Indian berry. 1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 67 The second sub-order [of Anacanthmi] consists of the Sole-like division, the Pleuronectoidei.

sole (soul), sb.3 Now dial. Forms: 1 sal, 3 sol, 4, 6, 9 sole, 5 soole, 7 soale, 9 soal, etc. (See also sale sb.3) [OE. sal, = OS. sel (MLG. and LG. sel, seil), MDu. seel (Du. zeel, Fris. seel), OHG. and G. seil, ON. seil, Goth. *sail (cf. insailjan vb.). Cf. seal sb:3 and v.2] 11. A rope, cord, etc. Obs. Beowulf 1906 }?a wxs be maeste.. sejl sale faest. c 1000 Gen. 372 Me .. rideQ racentan sal. c 1275 XI Pains of Hell 162 in O.E. Misc. 151 Of heom hi token vnriht mol, For-J>i hi drayej? myd such sol. 1345-6 Ely Sacr. Rolls (1907) II. 139 In soles empt. pro dictis Bauderykk.

2. spec. A rope or cord for tethering or tying up cattle; a wooden collar or yoke used to fasten a cow, etc., in the stall. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 463 Soole, beestys teyynge, trimembrale,.. ligaculum. 1530 Palsgr. 272/2 Sole, a bowe about a beestes necke. 1547 Salesbury Welsh Diet., Aerwy, sole. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 38 Soles, fetters, and shackles, with horselock and pad. 1647 Hexham i, A Sole to tye beasts. 1660 Chirk Castle Acc. (1908) 93, 3 dozen of soales to tye the cattle. 1826- in dial, glossaries and texts (N.Cy., Lancs., Chesh., Derby, Shrops., Heref.). 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Sole, the noose or loop made of wood attached to one end of the foddering cord, in order to strain the cord up tight.

sole, sb.* Kent. dial. ? Obs. [OE. sol mire, a muddy or miry place (freq. in place-names), = OHG. sol (MHG. sol, sol, G. dial, sol, sohl).] A pond or pool. 15.. in Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.) 48 Besyde the watteringe-sole in thende of Yckhame Streete. 1736 J. Lewis Hist. Thanet (ed. 2) 38 Soal, a dirty Pond of standing Water. 1736 Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.) 48 Sole, a pond, or pool.

sole, obs. f. soul sb.; dial. var. sowel, stake. sole (ssol), a. Forms: 4-5 soul(e, 5 sool(l (sowle, soell), 5-6 soole, 5- sole. [a. OF. soul (fern. sotile), sol (fern, sole), also sul, suel, seul (mod.F. seul, seule), = Prov. sol, Pg. so, Sp. and It.

SOLE solo:—L. solum, acc. sing, of solus alone. In later use prob. to some extent directly from Latin.] 1. Having no husband or wife; single, unmarried; fcelibate. Chiefly in legal use and freq. of women. Now rare or Obs. a. In predicative use. The quotations in the first group illustrate the common phrase to live sole.

(a) c 1386 Chaucer Merck. T. 836 Ne wold he that sche were love ne wyf, But ever lyve as wydow.., Soul as the turtil that lost hath hir make. fi430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 134 And for it is an impossible To fynde ever suche a wyfe I wil live sowle duryng my lyfe. 1469 Bury Wills (Camden) 45 Yf she will leve sowle withowth an husbonde. 1541 Barnes Wks. (1573) 311/2, I doe not reprooue that Priestes doth lyue sole. 1570-6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 95 King Edward the Confessor (being otherwise of himself disposed to haue liued sole) tooke unto his wife Edgitha. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. 163 Indeed Grindal, living, and dying sole, and single, could not be cockering to his own children. (b) 1418 E.E. Wills (1882) 34 3if Ionet my wif kepe here soole, withoute husbonde, Twelf-monthe after my decese. 1464 Rolls of Parlt. V. 525/2 Eny Gyft or Graunte, by us to hir made while she was soule. 1520 in Laing Charters (1899) 82 As longe as she kepeth hirselve sole and wydow. 1548 Somerset Epist. to Scots Bnjb, Yov wil not kepe her sole and vnmaried. 1596 Bacon Max. & Use Com. Law ix. (1630) 36 The reason is, because shee was once sole. 1726 Ayliffe Par ergon 107 Some others are such as a Man cannot make his Wife, though he himself be sole and unmarry’d. 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises 11. 289 That her said daughter Martha should pay unto her daughter Mary 30/. yearly, while sole and unmarried.

b. Attrib., or placed immediately after the sb. woman sole, = feme-sole s.v. feme. (a) 1464 Rolls of Parlt. V. 548/2 As if she .. were woman soule. 1509-10 Act 1 Hen. VIII, c. 18 §2 She [shall] be able .. to sue in her owen name only as a Woman sole. 1628 Coke On Litt. 66 If a woman sole shall doe homage. 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. i. §47. 21 If a woman sole enfeoffe a stranger. (b) 1464 Rolls of Parlt. V. 549/1 If she were or had been soule woman at the tyme. 1485 Ibid. VI. 285/2 The Countess shall hold . . as anie other sole persone not covert of anie Husband. 1558 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 7 Albeit he were a sole man without charge of w'ife or children. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. 11. v. Hiijb, Least some shoulde replye..That thou doest good to sole olde men. 1618 J. Wilkinson Coroners & Sherifes 11. 22 Where any .. do make themselues to be beloved of any sole woman, as maide, or widow. 1753-4 Richardson Grandison (1781) I. xiv. 84 To what evils.. might not I, a sole, an independent young woman, have been exposed?

f c. Of life: Pertaining to or involving celibacy. Common from c 1550 to 1590. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 45 These lawes doe declare, how little it is for the common weales aduancement, that.. a Citee should be lesned for loue of sole life. 1579 W. Fulke Ref. Rastel 791 He which hath forsaken the profession of sole life, and fallen to.. marriage. 1598 Barckley Felic. Man v. (1603) 534 Some [men] like a sole life, others thinke it no life without a companion.

2. a. Without companions; apart from or unaccompanied by another or others; alone, solitary. Usually predicative. Common c 1400-1450, and freq. with the addition by himself or herself. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3023 He was not soole, for ther was moo; For with hym were other twoo. 1412-20 Lydg. Chron. Troy 1. 29 The kyng. .went allone In-to a wode for to make his mone, Sool by hym silfe. 1474 Caxton Chesse iv. ii. (1883) 168 Whan the kynge hath goon so ferre that alle his men be lost, than he is sole. 1530 Palsgr. 324/2 Sole, alone or solytary, seul. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas 1. i. 77 Shall valiant Scipio Thus himselfe esteem, Never less sole then when he sole doth seem? 1650 Howell Fam. Lett. II. 121, I am oft times sole, but seldom solitary. 1716 Pope Iliad viii. 250 Sole should he sit, with scarce a God to friend. 1728-46 Thomson Spring 722 All abandon’d to despair, she sings Her sorrows through the night; and on the bough, Sole-sitting [etc.]. 1817 Byron Manfred 11. ii. 10, I should be sole in this sweet solitude. 1857 Arnold Rugby Chapel Wks. (1890) 310 Sole they shall stray. attrib. 1609 Bible (Douay) Baruch iv. 16 A wicked nation .. which.. have led away the beloved of the widow, and made the sole woman [L. unicam] desolate of children. 1789 Triumphs Fortitude I. 136 As I have none to accuse but myself, so none but myself (sole being as I am) can be involved in its consequences.

fb. Separated from another. Obs c 1407 Lydg. Reson

SOLE

959

Sens. 2703, I abood, Lefte al sool

fro my maistresse.

c. Of places: Solitary, lonely; secluded. 1598 Yong Diana 43 When I behold The place so sorrowfull and sole, a 1618 J. Davies (Heref.) Wit's Pilgr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 42/1 No State so holie, nor no place so Sole.. but is full of Doubt. 1887 Swinburne Locrine 1. ii. 190 There is a bower .. still and sole As love could choose for harbourage.

3. a. Being, or consisting of, one person only. corporation sole: see corporation 3. 1399 Langl. R. Redeles I. 62 All was felawis and felawschepe,. . No soule persone to punnyshe pe wrongis. 1616 R. C. Times Whistle (1871) 58 Although he had noe other company But his sole single selfe to satisfie. 1654 Fuller Two Serm. 6 No meere man by his sole selfe without Gods assistance. 176s Blackstone Comm. I. 469 These [two powers] are very unnecessary to a corporation sole. 1861 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const, xvii. 272 n., Each chapter is a corporation aggregate, and each parson is a corporation sole.

fb. one sole, one and no more, one only, a single (person or thing). Obs. C1450 Merlin vii. no Eche of yow is but oon sole man. 1450-80 tr. Secreta Secret, xxvii. 20 Truste thou neuyr in oon sool ffisiciane. 1613 W. Browne Brit. Past. 1. i, A jewell, which was never sent To be possest by one sole element.

1626 C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 352 The Ambassador had not.. disbursed one sole denier. 1639 N. N. tr. Du Bosq's Compl. Woman 1. F 4, Is there one sole word in all this worke, to. .engender an evill thought?

f4. a. In predicative or quasi-advb. use: With no other person or persons; without participator, partner, sharer, etc., in something, esp. in rights, duties, or possessions. Obs. C 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. viii. 49 Lete ihesu be sool py derlyng and py special. 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 190/1 Eny thyng by us to hym graunted soule, or by us graunted to hym and eny other person or persons joyntly with hym. 1477 Ibid. VI. 194/2 Every other persone to whose use the said Duke is sole seised in eny Castelles. 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. iii. §205. 92 One of the Chapter is sole seised in fee of his owne right of land. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 100, I, when no other durst, sole undertook The dismal expedition.

fb. Standing alone; uncontrolled by others. 1748 Richardson Clarissa xiii. I. 74 My father himself could not bear that I should be made Sole, as I may call it, and independent.

5. One and only: a. Of things. 1497 Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. Cj/i For ye sole ryghtwysnes is in him. 1592 Sol. & Pers. 11. i, The murtherer will escape Without reueuge, sole salue for such a sore. 1617 Moryson Itin. 11. 113 Sir Arthur Chichester had taken the sole Castle held in those parts.. by Brian mac Art. 1696 Whiston The. Earth 11. (1722) 185 This is the sole way of bringing natural Knowledge to perfection. 1726 Swift Gulliver iv. xii, But as my sole intention was the public good, I cannot be altogether disappointed. 1798 Ferriar Varieties of Man 223 Those who read for the sole purpose of talking. 1829 Lytton Devereux 1. iii, I believe my sole crime was candour. 1862 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. (ed. 2) iii. §3. 177 In this case water and the compound ether are the sole products. 1883 Gilmour Mongols xxiii. 285 He was.. the sole support of his father.

b. Of persons. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge 11. 1506 Athalia.. Commaunded to slee the kynges children all That she myght regne sole princesse imperiall. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 167 b, Lady Alice, the only child and sole heire of Thomas Montacute. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. xii. 30 For death t’ adward I ween’d did appertaine To none, but to the seas sole Soueraine. 1647 in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 214 In that will my father was left sole executor. 1652 Nicholas P. (Camden) 321 Ld Culpepper design’d by some both in France and Holland to be the K.’s great and sole minister in Holland. 1736 Butler Anal. 11. vii. Wks. 1874 I. 351 The sole author of such a work. 1771 Junius Lett, xlviii. (1788) 264 You have .. maintained, that the house of commons are the sole judges of their own privileges. 1836 Thirlwall Greece III. 233 Laches, now sole commander, landed a body of the allied troops on the Sicilian coast. 1839 Fr. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 74 The sole manager of these estates. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 399 Sent to me by Mr. Scholzig, who is their sole agent. absol. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 28 O Sole in whom my thoughts find all repose!

c. Singular, unique, unrivalled. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxvi. (1495) 921 This vnyte [of the Trinity] muste be sole and synguler wythout pere. 1595 Shaks .John iv. iii. 52 This [murder] so sole, and so vnmatcheable. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 272 He seems A Phoenix, gaz’d by all, as that sole Bird When .. to /Egyptian Theb’s he flies. 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. 11. 487 The priestly ephod in sole glory swept, When Christ ascended. 1867 Howells Ital. Journ. 178 There is a lovely palm-tree, rare, if not sole in that latitude. 1870 Deutsch Rem. (1874) 193 God is sole of His kind.

fd. Placed before a sb., in the sense of ‘alone’ following it. Obs. rare. Irel. Wks. 1720 I. 119 Many.. may come, not only as to a publick kind of Solemnity, but as to a great Mart of the best Horses. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes ii. 113 Such a multitude of People were fed.. during their continuance together at those Solemnities. 1763 J. Brown Poet. Music §4. 41 Hymns or Odes would be composed, and Sung by their Composers at their festal Solemnities. 1834 K. H. Digby Mores Cath. v. vii. 218 Assisting on Easter day at the divine office of this great solemnity. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I- 426 The king engaged in a remarkable solemnity on the spot which had witnessed his last battle,

fb. A ceremonial procession. Obs.

SOLEMNIZATE

f 3. Applied concretely (see quots.). Obs. fI435 Torr. Portugal 1591 My two dragons hast thou slan, My solempnite they were. 1449 Churchw. Acc. St. George's, Stamford in Nicholls (1797) 133, I bequethe to the seyd Chirch of Seynt George a solempnitie of array for the fest of Corpus Christi.

4. fa. Proper or regular performance. Obs.-' c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 2 At Marches mone, in contrey that is colde, Putacioun hath his solempnite [L. celebratur],

b. Law. Necessary formality, such as requisite to make an act or document valid.

is

1588 in T. Morris Provosts of Methven (1875) 72 The solempnitie of the law.. [being] obseruit. 1590 Swinburne Testaments 6 The testament is imperfect in respect of solemnitie, wherein some of the Legall requisites.. be wanting. 1665 Caldwell P. (Maitl. Cl.) I. 63 Not being sealled be the seall of the partie, quilk was ane essentiall solemnitie of contracts. 1669 Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. 158 If she be Plaintiff, the Summons in the Process need not have the solemnity of 15 dayes. 1871 Markby Elem. Law §171 The contract.. should be accompanied by certain solemnities as they are called. 1875 K. E. Digby Real Prop, x. §1 (1876) 374 No solemnity short of a deed is regarded by our law as sufficient to create a right of this kind.

5. The state or character of being solemn or serious; impressiveness; gravity; a solemn utterance or statement. 1712 Addison Spectator No. 405 f 3 That Solemnity of Phrase, which may be drawn from the Sacred Writings. 474* C. Middleton Cicero 1.1. 2 A writer, u'ho loves to raise the solemnity of his story by the introduction of something miraculous. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxvii, The solemnity of this silence .. subdued her spirits. 1822-7 Good Study Med. (1829) II. 486 At present, from a knowledge of the circulation of the blood, we can smile at these nugatory solemnities. 1883 Froude Short Stud. IV. II. i. 164 Subjects which in our fathers’ time were approached only with the deepest reverence and solemnity.

t solemnizate, v. Obs. Forms: 6 solempnisate, -zate. Sc. solem(p)nizat. [f. ppl. stem of med.L. solem(p)nizare.] trans. To solemnize. 1538 Cranmer Misc. Writ. (Parker Soc.) II. 360 Marriage contracted and solemnisated in lawful age. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xiv. 80 He dyd solempnisate the day of his birth. 1585 Rec. Elgin (Spald. Cl.) 4 That he sail solemnizat the band of matrimonie.

solemnization (.sDbmni-, -nai'zeijsn). Forms: 5 solempnysacion, 6 -yzacion, -izacion, -isacion; 5 solemnyzacyoun, 6 -izacion, 6-isation, solemnization, [a. OF. solem(p)nisation, -ization, or ad. med.L. solempnizatio: see solemnize v. and -ATION.] The action of solemnizing or celebrating in a ceremonial manner. 1447 Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 32 Wych tyme as shuld the solemnyzacyoun Been of that cherche. 1555 Watreman Far die of Facions 11. xii. 271 Hegoeth vp to the aultare,.. and so procedeth in the Solempnisacion of yc Masse. 1586 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (1911) IX. 167 For the solemnisation of which popish feast we thought these persons would assemble themselves together. 1631 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. II. III. 267 On Friday my Lord of Essex .. was present at the solemnization of his mothers funeral. 1651 Baxter Infant Bapt. 295 The secondary.. Act, and Instrument, being but the Ceremonial solemnization. 1820 Monthly Rev. XCI. 501 A solemnization of this kind .. would in my judgment. . have a happy influence. 1863 H. Cox lnstit. in. iii. 626 Coronation was but a.. national solemnization of the descent.

b. spec. The celebration or performance of a marriage. 1497 Bp. Alcok Mons Perf. Diij, The solempnysacion of the maryage of the spouse of heuen. c 1535 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 11. II. 89 For the solempnisacion of matrimonie betwene you. 1548-9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Offices 13 The forme of solemnizacion of matrimonie. 1625 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. III. 190 The solemnization of the Nuptialls of our King and Queen and the Madam of France. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. 77 Out came, with great diffidence,.. a proposal of speedy solemnization. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xiii, To urge an immediate solemnisation of their marriage. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. xvii. 506 The solemnization of the marriage was extorted from his Majesty against his will.

f solemnize, sb. Obs.-' Solemnization; solemn rite.

SOLEN

963

1636 Strode Floating Isl. n. iv, Enter in the midst of the song Amorous ushering the solemnity. 1707 Loud. Gaz. No. 4374/1 When the Solemnity came near St. Mark’s-Place, the Norton Galley hoisted the Union Colours. 1731 Gentl. Mag. 1. 441 A Representation of the Solemnity and Procession of the Lord Mayor of London thro’ the City.

[f.

the

vb.]

1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 4 Though spousd, yet wanting wedlocks solemnize.

solemnize ('sDbmnaiz), v. Forms: 4-6 solempnise (5 -ese, -ish), 5-6 -yse, -yze, 6-7 solempnize; 6- solemnise (6 -yse), solemnize, [ad. OF. solem(p)niser, -izer (= Sp. and Pg. solemnizar), or med.L. solemnizare: see solemn a. and -IZE. In older verse the stressing so'lemnize occasionally appears.] 1. trans. To dignify or honour by ceremonies; to celebrate or commemorate by special observances or with special formality. 1382 Wyclif 1 Esdras i. 20 There is not solempnisid such a pasch in Irael, fro the times of Samuel. 1460 Capgr. Chron. (Rolls) 66 Hermes wrot a book that Estern day schuld evyr be solempnyzed on a Sunday. 1480 Caxton Myrr. III. x. 155 To solempnise suche dayes as holy chyrche hath ordeyned. 1530 Palsgr. 724/2 The bouchers in London solempnyse savnte Lukes daye above all feestes in the yere. 1597 Beard Theatre God's Judgem. (1612) 272 To

the end the better to solemnize his entrie to the crowne, commaunded a sumptuous and pompous banket to be prepared. 1623 Lisle JElfric on O. & N. Test., Many thousands of Angels solemnised his birth with heavenly songs. 1652 Loveday tr. Calprenede's Cassandra 1. 22 These two enraged Princes solemniz’d their mutuall fury by the death of so many thousands. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Antiq. xix. vii. §1 Agrippa was solemnizing his birth-day. 1787 Burns Ode Birthday Pr. Chas. Edward 15 We solemnize this sorrowing natal day, To prove our loyal truth. 1838 Thirlwall Greece xliii. V. 317 The king solemnized his triumph with great magnificence at Dium.

2. To celebrate (a marriage) with proper ceremonies and in due form; also, to perform the ceremony of (marriage). 1426 Lydc. in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 136 And there in Troys also was solempnesed The mariage, to conferme up the peas. 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 2 § 11 So that thoes espousels be solempnysed in Churche, Chapell, or Oratory. I533-4 slct 25 Hen. VIII, c. 12 The mariage, whiche was solempnised betwene his maiestie and .. the lady Catherine. 1588 Greene Penmedes Wks. (Grosart) VII. 84 Bradamant .. with great pompe solempnised the Nuptials. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 66 They buy their wives of their parents, and record the contract before the Cadi, which they after solemnize in this manner. 1657 in Verney Mem. (1904) II. 120 The mariage of the Protector’s daughter to Warwick’s sonne, is forthwith to bee solempnized. 1713 Guardian No. 7 IP 3 The immature marriages solemnized in our days. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xiii, He found a priest who would solemnize their nuptials. 1847 Emerson Poems, Musketaquid Wks. (Bohn) I. 484 And wide around, the marriage of the plants Is sweetly solemnized. 1886 Act 4Q Viet. c. 14 § 1 No person shall be subject to any proceedings in any court.. for solemnizing matrimony between the aforesaid hours.

b. To wed ceremonially,

nonce-use.

1592 Breton Pilgr. Parad. Wks. (Grosart) I. 20/2 Where sacred mercy first did solempnize The spirite to the fleshe in mariage.

c. absol. To marry. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) IV. 168 Let the articles be drawn up, and engrossed; and solemnize upon them. 1804 Eugenia de Acton Tale without Title I. 112, I am unalterably resolved never to marry any other woman: and . .should I solemnize upon her recovery [etc.].

3. To hold, observe, perform, fproclaim, etc., with some amount of ceremony or formality. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 233/2 Wherfore themperour establisshed.. that the counseyl shold be solempnysed at mylane. 1487-8 in Prymer (E.E.T.S.) 170 The Banys where solempnishyd & published betwixt Annes Skerne.. and Peres Courteys. 1548-9 (May) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion 121 The Minister hauyng alwayes some to communicate w ith him, may accordingly solempnise so high and holy misteries, with al.. due ordre. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. Prose Addit. 341 There., did [/Eneas] solemnize an Anniuersarie at the Tombe of his father. 1603 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. III. 72 To-morrow.. wee doe solemnise the funerails.. of her late Majesty. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. v. Wks. 1851 III. 117 To solemnize some religious monthly meeting different from the Sabbath. 1703 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. VII. 149 The Anniversary Service for Henri 4 was Solemnized this Morn. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxxiii, The scene of solemnizing some high national festival. 1835 Thirlwall Greece x. I. 427 The Megarian peasantry were compelled to solemnize the obsequies of every Bacchiad. 1897 G. Allen Type-writer Girl xvii. 189 Dinner solemnised, we withdrew to the comfortable divans of the balcony.

f4. To celebrate with praise or commenda¬ tion; to laud or glorify. Obs. 1514 Barclay Ecloges iv. (1570) Cvb/2 And to what vices that princes moste intende, Those dare these fooles solemnize and commende. C1586 C’tess Pembroke Ps. cviii. i, My hart is bent. . God’s name to solemnize, a 1619 Fotherby Atheom. 11. i. §7 (1622) 184 Vnto the Sunne, whose glorious regiment All dayes solemnize. 1652 Loveday tr. Calprenede's Cassandra 1. 49 The bravery of the Course was solemnized with a generall Shout. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2266/1 We cannot be satisfied .. that what Your Majesty hath now done for them, should be more Solemnized, than what You have always done for us.

5. To make solemn; to render serious or grave. 1726 Pope Odyss. xvii. 245 Holy horrors solemnize the shade. 1760-72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 140 Such an inward awe and veneration .. as, for a while, sunk his spirits, and solemnized his features. 1802-12 Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) II. 561 He solemnizes histone., and beholds in the air a host of difficulties. 184s Martineau Misc. (1852) 114 A religious ceremonial invested with every beauty that may touch and solemnize their hearts. 1871 Mozley Univ. Serm. vi. (1876) 131 That remarkable desire .. seems to be innate in all,.. the desire to be solemnised. People like being awed. absol. 1865 Mozley Miracles vii. 133 A supernatural fact .. is a potent influence; it rouses, it solemnizes. 6. intr. To speak or meditate solemnly. 1836 Fraser's Mag. XIV. 733 [He] had sermonised and solemnised in sepulchral vaults and feudal towers.

Hence 'solemnized ppl. a. 1641 G. Sandys Paraphr. Song Solomon in. iii. 13 At that solemniz’d Nuptiall Feast.

mariage. 1634 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc). 64 It was as long in solemnizing as our marriages. 01714 Sharp Imit. Christ iii. Wks. 1754 V. 266 The feast of the dedication, for the solemnizing of which we find our Saviour making a journey to Jerusalem.

'solemnizing, ppl. a. [f. as solemnizes or renders solemn.

who

1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist., Eusebius x. iv, Setting before our mind the author and solemnizer of this present Feast. 01634 R. Clerke Serm. (1637) 518 The second regard is of the Solemnizer,. . Christ himselfe. 1706 Stevens Span.-Eng. Diet. 1, Solemnizador, a Solemnizer.

'solemnizing, vbl. sb. [f. as prec.] The action of celebrating solemnly or ceremoniously. 156s Stapleton tr. Bede's Hist. Ch. England 180 The catholike solemnising and dewe observation of the time of Christes resurrection. 1591 Horsey Trav. (Hakl. Soc.) 171 Great feastings and trumps was at the solempnicinge of this

That

1614 Selden Titles Honor 137 The Dancers or Singers, and number of the solemnizing Sacrificers. 1807 C. Simeon in Carus Life (1847) 218 This had a sweetly solemnizing effect. 1859 Cornwallis New World I. 228 No solemnising associations seemed to connect themselves with the.. hallowed ground. 1871 Mozley Univ. Serm. v. (1876) 105 This judicial character of war., enables it to produce its solemnising type of character.

t 'solemnly, a. Obs.~] [-ly1.] Of a solemn or sacred character. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 106 Who ys he that wolde not ful gretly sorow to see so feire and so solemly a body to be caste under so grete iniuriis and sore peynys.

solemnly ('sobmli), adv. Forms: a. 4 solemplike, -liche; 4-6 solemply (4 -lie, 5 -lye, sollemply); 4 solemliche, 6 -ly. p. 4 soil-, solempneliche; 4-6 solempnely (4 -lie, 5 -li), solempnly (6 -lie); 5-6 sollempn(e)ly. y. 6 solemnelie, 6-7 -ly, 6- solemnly, [f. solemn a. 4-ly2. Cf. OF. sollempnement, L. sollemniter, MDu. solem(p)nelic, -lijc.] In a solemn manner, in various senses of the adj.; ceremoniously, formally; gravely, seriously, etc. a. a 1300 Cursor M. 6097 In mining sal ye hald pis dai,.. Solemplike wit-in your lai. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 391 To brenne noble bodies whanne pey were dede, and kepe pe askes solempliche in solempne place. C1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 19 Solemplye [they] gan him conveye in dede Up into the chirche. 1473 Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 172 The forsad Robert and Thomas .. swur sollemply vpon the haly wangelis. 1535 Coverdale Judith xvi. 26 The daye wherin this victory was gotten, was solemply holden. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 22b, The kyng.. was by the senate and magestrates solemply receyued. 1565 Cooper Thes. s.v. Celebro, To bryng solemly to buriynge. fi. a 1325 MS. Rawl. B. 520 If. 30 b, pat te notes ant te fins . . ben communeliche and sollempneliche i-radde. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15401 He was byried ful solempnely. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 329 The hihe festes of Neptune .. Sollempneliche thei besihe. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iv. iv. 445 To whom Poul wrote more in quantite and more solempneli and oftir. 1470-85 Malory Arthur vm. xxxvi. 328 They were wedded and solempnly held theyr maryage. I5I3 More Hist. Rich. Ill, Wks. 60/1 She was solempnely sworne to say the trouth. 1587 Greene Euphues Wks. (Grosart) VI. 177 Being sollempnly set in a coole Arbour. y. 1556 Robinson More's Utopia 11. (Arb.) 134 After that warre is ones solemnelie denounced. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 170 b, I founde of late.. an Owle sitting solemnly in the nest. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Epid. 239 Eve.. was not solemnly begotten, but suddenly framed. 1671 Milton Samson 1731 To fetch him hence and solemnly attend With silent obsequie. 1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. I. iii. 12 The thick shade of the trees .. is solemnly delightful. 1766 Goldsm. Vicar i, I solemnly protest I had no hand in it. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam v. xli, Solemnly and slow. . the wind bore that tumult to and fro. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 507 The right of the people to resist oppression.. had been solemnly recognised by the Estates of the realm. 1874 Green Short Hist. vi. §5. 315 Luther’s works were solemnly burnt in St. Paul’s.

solemnness, variant of solemness. solemnsides ('sDtam.saidz), a. and sb. [f. solemn a. -1- -sides as in sobersides.] A. adj. Excessively solemn or serious. B. sb. An excessively solemn or serious person. 1922 J. M. Barrie Courage 36 Courage. I do not think it is to be got by your becoming solemnsides before your time. 1957 J- Kirkup Only Child ii. 50 People who are ‘solemnsides’ cannot account for self-mockery. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 155 Sobersides, solemnsides.

fsolemnty. Obs. In 4-5 solempte. [prob. a reduced form of ME. 'solempnete.] Solemnity. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9632 As a-nouj?er chyld shuld ha be pat hade receyuede the solempte. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xxiii. 41 And 3e shulen halowe the solempte of hym seuen dayes.

fsolemny, a. and adv. Obs. In 5 solempny, -ni. [f. solemn a.] A. adj. Solemn. C1420 Chron. Vilod. 1797 Bot a solempniere dedicacione for-sothe per nas In Wylton neuer byfore |>at day y-done. 1448-9 Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 51 And euery man that he coude off myrth or pley Schuld schewe yt.. this solempny day. CI450 Godstow Reg. 489 That the fest of seynt Margarete myght be the more solempnyere and the more devoutly be halowed and honoured.

B. adv. 'solemnizer. rare. [f. prec.] One solemnizes or performs a solemn rite.

prec.]

Solemnly. (Cf. solenny adv.)

c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 1207 pare solempni with honoure pai grathit for it a sepulture, a 1470 Contin. Brut 493 And in euery town by pe way he had solempny his Dirige on pe evyn, & masse on pe morne.

f solen, a. and sb.' Obs. Also 5 solenne. [a. OF. solenne (= It. solenne), ad. L. sol-, sollennis, var. of sollemnis solemn a.] A. adj. Solemn, in various senses. 1432-50 tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 297 A feste of gandres was made solenne and kepede at Rome in the kalendes of Iune. c 1460 Promp. Parv. (W.) 421 Solenne, or festful, festiuus. 1530 Palsgr. 325/1 Solen, nat cherefull, pencif. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 530 Syne grauit [he] wes in to his

graif.. with sacrifice solen Of Cristin wyis with mony nobill men. 1570 Levins Manip. 62 Solen, solennis.

B. sb. ? A formal residence. 1447 Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 29 In this seyd cherche was an abbeye, A solenne of munkys whil that it stood.

solen ('ssobn), sb.2 [a. L. solen, or Gr. oooXjjv, channel, pipe, syringe, shell-fish, etc. So F. solen.] 1. Zool. The razor-fish, Solen ensis or siliqua. 1661 R. Lovell Anim. & Min. 240 Solen... The flesh is sweet; they may be eaten fryed or boiled. 1752 Hill Hist. Anim. 170 The large, brown, common Solen, called the Razor-shell and Sheath-shell. 1776 Mendes de Costa Elem. Conchol. 233 Shells with valves, that, .are always open and gaping in some part; as chamas, pinnae, solens, etc. 1834 McMurtrie Cuvier s Anim. Kingd. 268 In the Solens, properly so called, the shell is cylindrically elongated. 1841-71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. 538 The Solen excavates for itself a very deep hole in the sand. Comb. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 319 Solen-like Nymphidae.

2. Surg. (See quots.) 1693 tr. Blancard's Phys. Diet. (ed. 2), Solen, an oblong Instrument which Surgeons use, to contain a broken Member. 1875 Knight Diet. Mech. 2244/1 Solen,.. (a) a cradle for a broken limb; (b) a tent or tilt of splits or wands to hold the bed-clothes from contact with a broken or sore limb.

Hence (from sense 1) sole'nacean sb. and a.\ sole'naceous a. 1842 Brande Diet. Sci., etc. 1130/1 Solenaceans, Solenacea,.. the name of a family of Dimiary Bivalve Mollusks, of which the razor shell (Solen) is the type. 1850 Ogilvie, Solenaceous, relating to the Solenaceans.

solender, obs. form of sallender. soleness ('ssulnis). Now rare. [f. sole a.] 11. Solitude; solitariness. Obs. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 11. xv. 235 Forto haue quietnes and soolnes to preie to God or to a Seint. 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices 1. (1540) 63 A large house is ofte a reproche to his master, if there be in it soolnesse and no recourse. 1612 J. Davies (Heref.) Muse's Saer. Wks. (Grosart) II. 68/2 Solenesse, brings sadnesse; Company, but strife, a 1618 Sylvester Monodia 100 Her selfe to sadnesse and to solenesse taking.

2. The state or condition of being sole, alone, or apart. 1587 Golding De Mornay vi. 90 The first God.. being afore the Beeer, and alone,.. yet.. abydeth still in the solenesse of his vnitie. 1631 R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. xi. (1635) 274 He is much troubled with solenesse in suffering. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 39 The laurel importing conquest and sovereignty, and so by consequence soleness in that faculty. 1748 Chesterf. Lett. (1792) II. clx. 74 An advantage which France has;.. which is (if I may use the expression) its sole-ness, continuity of riches and power within itself. 1889 Macm. Mag. Jan. 205/1 The Greek islander is never coarse, balanced, as he is, with curious soleness, between the barbarian and the gentleman.

solenette (saol'net, sDb'net). Also solonette. [Irregularly f. sole sb.2 + -(n)ette.] The little sole, Monochirus linguatulus or Solea minuta. 1839 Yarrell Suppl. Brit. Fishes 36 The Solenette, or Little Sole. 1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 73 The Solenette .. attains a length of five inches. 1882 Day Fishes Gt. Brit. II. 45 Soleaparva... Solonette. 1883-Catal. Internat. Fish. Exhib. 161 In some small forms, as the Solonette. 1892 Chambers's Eticycl. IX. 559/2 The Solenette .. is the smallest British species.

'Solenhofen. [See def.] Solenhofen slate or stone, a fine-grained variety of limestone, used esp. in lithographic printing, quarried in the upper beds of the Jurassic formation at Solenhofen in Bavaria. So Solenhofen bed. 1833-4 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 634/1 Solenhofen beds. In the centre of the German Jura., occur beds of white fissile limestone, now universally employed in lithography. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 256/1 The Jurassic limestone of Solenhofen, commonly called the Solenhofen slate. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 698/1 The Solenhofen stone, in its chemical decomposition, consists of lime and carbonic acid.

so'lenial, a. [f. solen-ium + -ial.] nature of a canal or pipe.

SOLERET

964

SOLEN

Of the

1900 G. C. Bourne in Trans. Linn. Soc., Zool. VII. x. 532 Fresh solenial outgrowths of the chief members give rise to new lateral members.

'solenite. [a. F. solenite: see solen sb.2 and -ite1 2 a.] A fossil razor-fish or solen. 1828-32 in Webster. 1849 Craig, Solenite, a fossil Solen, of which Lamarck describes five species as occurring in the neighbourhood of Paris. 1850 Ogilvie s.v., Fragments of solenites are found in the Essex cliffs.

Hsolenium (sao'liiniam). PI. solenia. [mod.L., ad. Gr. oa>XfivLov, dim. of ocoXfjv solen sb.2] (See first quot.) 1900 G. C. Bourne in Trans. Linn. Soc., Zool. VII. x. 522 The anastomosing canals lined by endoderm which place the zooid cavities in communication have been variously named ‘stolons’, ‘nutritive-canals’, ‘ccenenchymal tubes’, and so on. I propose to call them solenia. Ibid. 532 The anthostele sends up a solenium.

t'solenly, adv. Obs. rare. [f. solen a. + -ly2.] Solemnly; ceremoniously. 1393 Langl. P. PI. C. iv. 54 In masse and in matyns.. we shullel? synge Solenliche and sothlich as for a sustre of oure ordre. CI400 Destr. Troy 8738 There set was full solenly besyde the high aulter, A tabernacle.

fso'lennial, a. Obs.~° [f. L. solenn-is: see solen a.] Also f so'lennic a. (See quots.)

Theory Electr. & Magnetism 254 A number of elementary circuits placed at equal distances apart along any line with their planes at right angles to that line is called a solenoid.

1623 Cockeram 1, Solennicke, vsuall once a yeere. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Solennial, yearly, used or done every year at a certain time, publick, solemn, accustomed.

2. Med. A kind of cage for containing a patient during medical treatment.

tso'lennit, var. solemnit solemned a. Obs. 1562 WiN3ET Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 27 Ane notable cause of thir solennit dayis geuis the said renownit Father Augustine.

fso'lennity. Obs. Forms: 5 solenite, 5-6 solennite, 6 -itye, 7 -ity. [a. OF. solennite (= It. solennita), var. of solemnite solemnity.] Solemnity, formal celebration, etc. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 2753 He wente to that solennite, The temple and that Ioye to se. C1400 Destr. Troy 9091 Priam prestly gert ordan A gret solenite. Ibid. 9094 With Sacrifice & solenite vnto sere goddes. c 1475 Harl. Contin. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 446 Within whiche solennite he made iiij erles. 1565 Stapleton tr. Bede's Hist. Ch. Eng. 182 The solennite whereof beginneth in the euening of the xiiij. daye. 1595 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 360 Within the Octaves & solennitye of St. Lawrence. 1647 J. Taylor Lib. Proph. ii. 51 That they should with so great pomp and solennities engage mens perswasions.

So f solenni'zation [F. solennisation], solemnization, f'solennize v. [F. solenniser, It. solennizzare], to solemnize, to perform, fsolenny adv. [cf. solemny adv.], solemnly. Obs. c 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 71 This is the hyest fest of oure *solennyzacion. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. ill. 345 And in this mone.. Thy graffyng good hit is to *solennize. 1588 Greene Perimedes Wks. (Grosart) VII. 42 The marriage of the Gentlemen was sollenised the next weeke after. 1480 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 315 A Masse of the Holi Goste *solenny sayde and song. 1485 Ibid. 319 The Maire..and commynes, bene sworne all and singlerly solenny on the bocke.

soleno- (ssu'liinso), combining form of Gr. acuAijv channel, pipe, etc., as so'lenocyte, one of the cells found in the nephridia of certain polychaetan worms; so'lenodon(t, one or other of certain insectivorous mammalian rodents native to the West Indies and America, as the agouta, S. paradoxus, or the almiqui, S. cubanus; sole'nogyne, soleno'stelic a., Bot. (see quots.); soleno'stomatous a., of, belonging to, or resembling the genus Solenostomus of lophobranchiate fishes. Various other examples, as solenoconch, solenoglyph, solenopharynx, solenostome, etc., are recorded in some recent Diets. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 882 The blind branches are beset with peculiar cells, the *solenocytes. 1840 Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 80 The *Solenodon.. resembles a gigantic Shrew, but with coarse fur. 1871 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 362 The existence of a Solenodon in some of the mountainous parts of the island of Cuba. 1896 Sclater in Geog. Jrnl. VII. 288 The affinities of which.. seem on the whole to approach the Solenodonts. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1071/2 *Solenogyne, a little Australian perennial herb of the Compositae, now united with Lagenophora under the name L. Solenogyne. In aspect it is very like our own daisy. 1900 B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms 243/1 *Solenostelic,.. having a tubular stele with internal and external phloem (Jeffrey). i85.5 J- Phillips Man. Geol. 60 According to the ordinary .. notion of their food, gasteropodous mollusca with shells may be ranked thus: —Holostomatous phytophaga, .. *Solenostomatous zoophaga.

solenoglyph (sau'liinsuglif).

Zool. [ad. F. solenoglyphe, mod.L. Solenoglypha (A. H. A. Dumeril 1853, in Mem. Acad. Sci. XXIII. 417), f. soleno- + Gr. y\vr) carving.] A venomous snake belonging to a group characterized by extra venom glands and grooved fangs which can be retracted. Also as adj. Hence soleno'glyphous a., of or pertaining to a snake of this kind. 1913 G. A. Boulenger Snakes of Europe v. 56 The Proteroglyphs (Cobras, Coral-snakes, Sea-snakes) and the Solenoglyphs (Vipers, Pit-vipers, Rattlesnakes) may be regarded as the diverging extremes in the development of the poison apparatus. 1965 R. & D. Morris Men & Snakes viii. 177 With the vipers, pit vipers and rattle-snakes, we come to .. the Solenoglyphous forms... These are the socalled ‘Folding-fang’ snakes. 1968 R. D. Martin tr. Wickler's Mimicry in Plants & Animals xii. 112 The vipers have the most specialised tooth-form,.. a longitudinal canal that functions as a poison syringe. This condition is called solenoglyph. 1969 A. Bellairs Life of Reptiles I. v. 195 If the skull of a poisonous snake is examined, whether it be a proteroglyph or a solenoglyph, it very often appears that there are two fangs in each maxilla, set side by side.

solenoid ('sDbnoid, ’ssutanoid). [a. F. solenoi.de, f. Gr. oojXjjv: see solen s6.2] 1. Electr. An electro-dynamical spiral, formed of a wire with the ends returned parallel to the axis; a series of elementary circuits arranged on this principle. 1827 J. Cumming Man. Electro Dynamics 240 In the case of a straight solenoid (an electro-dynamic cylinder) 6 is the angle between the axis of the solenoid and the extremity of the cylinder. 1832 Handbk. Nat. Philos., Electro-Magnet. xii. §270 (L.U.K.) 83 Collecting together a great number of similar helices.. and uniting them in one mass. Such an arrangement is called by Ampere an Electro-dynamic Solenoid. 1881 Nature XXV. 167 The main current is made to pass through a pair of concentric solenoids, and in the annular space between these is hung a solenoid. 1897 Curry

1901 Brit. Med. Jrnl. No. 2092 Epit. Med. Lit. 19 The subject was seated in a large solenoid or cage, and expired through a gasometer. 1903 Ibid. No. 2203. 654 The successful treatment of diphtheria and tetanus within the solenoid.

3. attrib. and Comb., as solenoid-operated adj.; solenoid brake, a brake actuated by the movement of a core into or out of a solenoid when an electric current is passed through the latter; similarly solenoid lock. 1914 Machinery Dec. 328/1 A new automatic solenoid brake for crane, hoist, lift bridge and similar service has recently been developed. 1963 Jones & Schubert Engin. Encycl. (ed. 3) 1168 One type of solenoid brake adapted for mill, crane and hoist motors and similar classes of service, is so arranged that the brake mechanism is held in the off or release position by a coil and plunger. 1976 L. Deighton Twinkle, twinkle Little Spy iv. 41 The glass door, .had an electric solenoid lock. I had to push the override. 1956 Nature 14 Jan. 84/2 Two solenoid-operated valves are incorporated in the flow line. 1971 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. LXXXIV. 325 The four match stimuli were presented by the second projector through a solenoid operated shutter which varied exposure duration.

solenoidal (sdI-, sauta'noictal), a. [f. prec. + -al1.] Of, pertaining or relating to, a solenoid; of the nature or having the properties of a solenoid. spec, of a vector field: having no divergence anywhere, and hence expressible as the curl of another vector field. 1873 Maxwell Electr. Magn. I. 21 The distribution of the vector quantity is said to be Solenoidal. 1873 J. C. Maxwell Electr. & Magnetism I. 23 The whole space can be divided into tubes of this kind provided dXJdx 4- dY/dy + dZ/dz = o, a distribution of a vector quantity consistent with this equation is called a Solenoidal Distribution. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 230/2 Solenoidal Magnets. . [are] such that the vector I satisfies the solenoidal condition. 1897 Curry Theory Electr. e bisshop sayd; ‘Nay, son,.. here hase bene a noder emperour of long tyme’. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. 11. Wks. 1183/2 The Foxe .. charged hym to .. lye styll and sleepe lyke a good sonne. 1603 Shaks. Meas.for M. in. i. 161 Duke. Son, I haue ouer-heard what hath past between you & your sister. 1820 Scott Monast. xxv, ‘Prove thy strength, my son, in the name of God!’ said the preacher. Ibid, xxxii, ‘Even now, if thou wilt,’ said the Sub-Prior,.. ‘come hither, my son, and kneel down’. 1914 G. B. Shaw Misalliance 5 Bentley:... I should like to wring your damned neck for you. Johnny {with a derisive laugh): Try it, my son. 1959 E. H. Clements High Tension vii. 121 No good brooding, son. 1967 Listener 22 June 807/2 He was then asked to accompany the police to the police-box in order to confirm his identity. He replied, ‘Look, son, I am not moving from this spot. If you want me you will have to arrest me.’ 1974 S. Marcus Minding Store (1975) ix. 188 Mr. Seeligson said, ‘Son, you’ve done me a great favor. I appreciate all the trouble you’ve gone to.’

4. Son of God: a. Jesus Christ. (Cf. 2.) Also t God's son. Hence Son-of-godship. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xxii. 70 Cuoedon 6a alle, 6u .. ar6 sunu godes. C1200 Ormin 267 Till £>att Godess Sune Crist Himm shollde onn eorfe shaewenn. c 1250 Gen. Ex. 403 And 3et sal godes dere sune In 3ure kin in werlde wunen. C1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5044 In.. archaungel steven, And in pe son of Goddes awen beme. C1400 Rule St. Benet (Prose) vii. 12 Als tapostil saide of godis sune. a 1529 Skelton Prayer to Second Person 2 O benygne Jesu,.. The only Sonne of God by filiacion. 1588 Kyd Househ. Phil. 449 Wks. (1901) 250 For our worlde was dignified with the presence of the true Sonne of God. 1667 Milton P.L. hi. 138 Beyond compare the Son of God was seen Most glorious. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Son of God Created the World; the Son of God was Incarnate. 1817 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XLIV. 315 This claim to the sonof-godship renders the facts irrefragably certain. 1884 Addis & Arnold Cath. Diet. (1897) 900/1 The ideas.. are applied to Christ, and united to the doctrine of his generation as the Son of God before the world was made.

b. A divine being; an angel. 1382 Wyclif^o6 xxxvii. 7 Who dide doun the corner ston of it, whan .. alle the sones of God shulden io3en? 1560 Bible (Geneva) Job i. 6 marg., Meaning, the Angels which are called the sonnes of God. 1599 Davies Immort. Soul vii. ix. (1714) 47 The Angels, Sons of God are nam’d. 1643 Caryl Expos. Job I. 37 The Angels .. are the Sons of God by temporal Creation. 1671 Milton P.R. 1. 368, I came among the Sons of God, when he Gave up unto my hands Uzzean Job. 1784 Cowper Task v. 821.

c. One spiritually attached to God. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. John i. 12 [He] jesalde 6aem maeht suno godes wosa. 1382 Wyclif Rom. viii. 14 Sothli who euere ben lad by the spirit of God, thes ben the sones of God. 1643 Caryl Expos. Job I. 1887 That priviledge is assured to the Sons of God (1 John 3. 2) ‘We shall see him as he is’. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 617 That sober Race of Men, whose lives Religious titl’d them the Sons of God.

5. son of man: a. One of the human race; a mortal. Also pi. sons of men. c 825 Vesp. Psalter viii. 5 Hwet is .. sunu monnes for6on 6u neosas hine? ciooo Ags. Ps. lxxix. 16 Si J?in seo swi6re hand .. ofer mannes sunu. a 1300 E.E. Psalter iv. 3 Mennes sones, towhen of hert vnmeke? 1382 Wyclif Isaiah li. 12 Who [art] thou, that thou drede of a deadly man, and of the sone of man. 1562 WiN3ET Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 14 Thow sone of man, the house of Israeli is turnit into drosse. c 1639 Sir W. Mure Ps. cxlvi. 3 Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 226 Trust not in princes, in the sone Of man who can not save. 1671 Milton P.R. 1. 237

b. spec. Jesus Christ.

6. a. A male descendant of some person or representative of some race. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. i. 1 Boc cneurise haelendes cristes dauides sunu abrahames sunu. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptist) 63 Mony sonnis of israel. . to god, par lord, turne sal he. c 1386 Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. 62 Though that I, unworthy sone of Eve, Be synful. c 1450 Holland Howlat 577 The Dowglass .. Wan wichtly of weir.. Fra sonnis of the Saxonis. 1599 Shaks. Much Ado 11. i. 66 Adams sonnes are my brethren. 1781 Cowper Expost. 124 Such .. People and priest, the sons of Israel were. 1830 Scott Monast. Introd., They have no share in the promise made to the sons of Adam.

b. One who inherits the spirit, or displays the character, of some person, etc. C1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 268 perfore seij? austyn..^at J?ou art his soone whoos werkis )?ou dost. 1382-Judges xix. 22 Camen men of that cytee, the sones of Belial, c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. fP 896 Thay were the sones of Belial, that is, the devel. 1508 Dunbar Poems vii. 12 Welcum the soun of Mars of moste curage. 1594 Kyd Cornelia iv. i. i67Braue Romaine Souldiers, sterne-borne sons of Mars. 1672 Dryden Defence Wks. 1883 IV. 240 They can tell a story of Ben Jonson, and, perhaps, have had fancy enough to give a supper in the Apollo, that they might be called his sons. 01700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Crew, Son of Apollo, a Scholar... [Son of] Venus, a Lover of Women. [Son of] Mercury, a Wit. 01700-1785 [see Mars i].

c. A member or adherent of a religious body or order, or a follower of the founder of one. 1416 Munim. de Melros (Bann. Cl.) 539 Alle pe Sonnys of oure hali modir pe kirk. 1590 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 189 To be ruled by you as an obedient son of the Society. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 174 Young knights., professe themselves Sonnes of the Church. 1630, 1695 [see mother sb.1 2 c]. 1757 in Morris Troubles Cath. Foref. (1872) 1. iv. 206 A son of Ignatius, a Priest of the Society of Jesus. 1851 Pugin Chancel Screens 83 More than a hundred sons of S. Benedict.

d. son of-: at one for the title of a sequel used joc. to designate institution, etc., that predecessor.

time a common formula to a book or film; hence a programme, product, is a derivative of its

1929 E. R. Burroughs {title) Son of Tarzan. 1934 Picturegoer 23 June 20/3 Son of Kong... By no means a second King Kong this picture, nevertheless, has some clever technical qualities. 1941 ‘B. Graeme’ {title) Son of Blackshirt. 1965 [see horror film s.v. horror sb. 6]. 1966 ‘O. Mills’ Enemies of Bride iv. 47, I produced a scintillating piece of non-fiction called .. Elizabethan Domestic Drama.. . I got a sequel — Son-of-Elizabethan-Domestic-Drama .. into print as well. 1971 R. Petrie Thorne in Flesh iii. 45 We don’t want you playing Son of Sexton Blake... You could get hurt. 1976 Gramophone Nov. 910/1 The XSV/3000 is recognizably a ‘son of’ the XUV/4500Q: it has the same slim-line body and lightweight fixing wings. 1979 Daily Tel. 29 Mar. 6/3 {heading) Cheaper seats likely if ‘Son of Concorde’ flies. 1981 Times 19 Nov. 13/1 President Reagan .. has now formally endorsed .. negotiations .. on strategic arms reductions (now known as ‘Start’, son of Salt).

7. a. One who is characterized by the presence, possession, influence, use, etc., of some quality or thing. C950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke x. 6 And jif 6er sie sunu sibbes, wuna6 ofer hia sibb iuera. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. P312 Forther ouer, it maketh hym pat whilom was a son of Ire to be son of grace. Ibid. If 335 Therfore be we alle born sones of wratthe and of dampnacion perdurable. 1596 Shaks. j Hen. IV, 11. iv. 191 They are villaines, and the sonnes of darknesse. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. i. 329 Amongst all the sonnes of pride, he is the king. 1648 Prynne Plea for Lords 5 They are the Sonnes of Conquest introduced by the Conquerour. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. 42 Certain Sons of Parchment, call’d Solicitors and Barristers. 1748 j ohnson Van. Hum. Wishes 250 The fierce Croatian, and the wild Hussar, With all the sons of ravage crowd the war. 1770 J. Adams Diary 1 July, Wks. 1850 II. 243 Came home and took a pipe after supper with landlord, who is a staunch, zealous son of liberty. 1803 Visct. Strangford Poems of Camoens Notes (1810) 127 Locks of auburn, and eyes of blue, have ever been dear to the sons of song. 1872 De Vere Americanisms 313 Sons of wax is neither an uncommon nor an uncomplimentary name for them [boot and shoe makers].

b. A person regarded as the product offspring of a certain country or place.

or

son of the soil: see soil sb.' 5 b. 1595 Shaks. John v. ii. 25 We, the sonnes and children of this Isle. 1628 Milton Vac. Exerc. 91 Whether thou be the Son, Of utmost Tweed, or Oose, or gulphie Dun. 1667P.L. 11. 692 Art thou hee, Who.. Drew after him the third part of Heav’ns Sons? 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Ep. 1. i. 75 Ye Sons of Rome, let Money first be sought. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 112 Could Nature’s bounty satisfy the breast, The sons of Italy were surely blest. 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 235 These good hearted, hospitable, .sons of the west. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xli, They have taught him their language, which he already speaks as well as if he were a son of the prison. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. 55 The

SON foreign spoiler .. insensibly changed into the Son of the soil, into an Englishman. transf. 1712 Blackmore Creation vi. 272 See, her tall Sons, the Cedar, Oak, and Pine, The fragrant Myrtle, and the juicy Vine.

c. In miscellaneous fig. uses. 1617 Fletcher Valentinian v. ii. song, Easie, sweet,.. thou son of night, Pass by his troubled senses. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. 1. vi. i, As 3n actually existing Son of Time, look, .at what the Time did bring. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 3 Man, who is a worm, and the son of a worm.

d. In terms of abuse or contempt. Also used ellipt. for son of a bitch. See dunghill sb. 2, gun sb. 6 c, sea-cook s.v. sea sb. 23, SHOEMAKER, WHORE. 1951 W. Faulkner Collected Stories 171 Are you going to sit there and let a black son rape a white woman on the streets of Jefferson?

e. Son of Heaven (f Heaven's Son) [tr. Chinese tianzi], the Emperor of China; loosely, any Chinese. Cf. celestial a. 4 and sb. 2. Pilgrimage IV. xvi. 369 The King’s Title is, Lord of the world, and Sonne of Heaven. 1838 Gutzlaff & Reed China Opened II. xxvii. 541 To gain such honours as 1613 Purchas

the Mongol princes pay to Heaven’s Son, requires a wellstored treasury. 1850 North-China Herald 9 Nov. 58/4 One of the common appellations of the Emperors of China has been and still is Tien Tsze, ‘the Son of Heaven!’ 1923 S. Merwin Silk (1924) 136 It is now my privilege to serve him who is in all but official style the Son of Heaven. 1938 Foreign Affairs XVI. 201 A dignity which the 'Sons of Heaven’ consider has belonged to them for thousands of years. 1973 J. Leasor Mandarin Gold i. 1 The Emperor, Tao Kuang, the Son of Heaven, who ruled his celestial empire from .. Peking, the forbidden city.

f. (horny-handed) son of toil, labourer. Now often ironically.

SONATINA

1002

a

manual

1873 Q■ Rev. CXXXV. 543 The peculiar virtues of the horny-handed sons of toil received a severe shock in 1848, and finally collapsed in 1871. 1902 ‘Mark Twain’ in N. Amer. Rev. Apr. 441 A crowd of ten thousand.. proud, untamed democrats, horny-handed sons of toil.. and fliers of the eagle. 1933 Wodehouse Heavy Weather xvii. 298 You look like one of those Sons of Toil Buried by Tons of Soil I once saw in a head-line. 1976 Times 23 Mar. 19/4 There won’t be any room for your actual horny-handed sons of toil in the TUC; there’ll be too many sharp-suited managers.

8. a. son-before-the-father, a name given to various plants, as the willow-herb, meadowsaffron, coltsfoot, etc., on account of the flowers appearing before the leaves or because of some other peculiarity. See Britten & Holland Diet. Engl. Plant-names 442. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 1. li. 74 The second [= red willow herb] is called of some .. Filius ante patrem, that is to say, the sonne before the father. 1597 Gerarde Herbal 1. lxxxii. 131 The Latins thought this a fit name for it Filius ante Patrem: and we accordingly may call it, the Sonne before the Father. 1688 Holme Armoury 11. 65/1 The Son before the Father, so called of some Herbalists. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Son-aforethe-father. Common Coltsfoot. 1869 N. & Q. 4th Ser. III. 35/1. Ibid. 91/1.

b. son-of-the-sun, the frigate-bird. 1895 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. IV. 287 The frigate-bird, which has received the title of the Son-of-the-sun, is one of the most swift and active of all pelagic birds.

9. attrib., as son-spouse, -worship; son-lover, a son who is his mother’s lover. 1850 Thackeray Pendennis xxxvi, Son-worship amongst mothers. 1897 Q. Rev. July 69 The Great Goddess of Asia, attended by her mystic Son-spouse. 1913 D. H. Lawrence Let. Jan. (1932) 102 The old son-lover was CEdipus.

son (ssun), sb.2 Also sone. [a. Sp. son, lit. ‘sound’.] A slow Cuban dance and song in 2 time; son Afro-Cubano, a form of the son influenced by Negro dances. 1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz vii. 167 The Son is far more refined than the Rumba, and when properly danced, is plaintively alluring. The Son is always danced in very slow tempo. This Cuban music is particularly characterized by the continual recurrence of singing. 1939 [see macumba], 1954 Grove's Diet. Mus. (ed. 5) III. 215/1 When AfroCuban dances penetrated the port towns of Cuba they were assimilated by Spanish-Cuban folk music... The hybrid forms are then designated by such titles as son afro-cubano. 1956 M. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) iii. 26 The Rhumba, Conga, Son Afro-Cubano, Mambo, and Cha-Cha are predominantly African. 1958 E. Borneman in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz xxi. 270 The sone itself usually consisted of an eight-bar theme for solo voice, followed by an improvised four-bar tag, called montuno, that was sung in choir and repeated twice. Whereas the themes of the sones were usually lilting tunes of obviously Spanish descent, the montunos were unmistakably African. 1964 W. G. Raffe Diet. Dance 469/2 As a ballroom dance, the Son remained very popular until about 1950, when the Mamba began to supersede every other dance in Cuba. 1973 [see rumba dancer s.v. rumba sb. 2].

son, obs. form of sound sb., sun sb.1 son, v. rare. Also 3 sunen. [f. the sb.] f 1. intr. To conceive a son. Obs. c 1250 Gen. a he pa pis leoS asungen haefde, pa forlet he )?one sang. a 1300 Cursor M. 1030 par sune es soft and suet sang. 1340 Ayenb. 60 f>e dyeules noriches J?et.. do£> ham slepe ine hare zenne be hare uayre zang. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 18127 Thei halpe hit in with mochel sang, c 1450 Holland Howlat 943 Thar with dame Natur has to the hevin .. Ascendit sone.. with solace and sang. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 27 After some dog in Highland sang. fi. a goo Cynewulf Crist 1649 Dzer is engla song, eadijra blis. 6:950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xv. 25 MiSSy.. [he] geneolecde to huse, jeherde huislung & paet song. 6:1205 Lay. 30617 per wes blisse & muche song, c 1275 Moral Ode 347 in O.E. Misc., per is alre Mureh^e mest myd englene songe. C1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4025 Of song & of mynstrecye Alle men gaf hym pe maystrie. C1440 Promp. Parv. 464/2 Songe, cantus. Ibid., Songe, of a manne a-lone, monodia. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 7 b, They shall., here theyr songe & melody, a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 214 b, And in the toppe was mervailous swete armony both of song and instrument. 1577-87 Holinshed Chron. I. 122/2 He.. went about in Mercia to teach song. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 29 Smit with the love of sacred song. Ibid. ix. 25 This Subject for Heroic Song Pleas’d me. 1791 Cowper Judgm. Poets 17 To poets of renown in song, The nymphs referr’d the cause. 1808 Scott Marm. 1. Introd. 271 The mightiest chiefs of British song Scorn’d not such legends to prolong. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 30 As eloquence exists before syntax, and song before prosody. 1878 Masque Poets 11 Sing! Sing of what? The world is full of song!

2.

a.

A

metrical

composition

adapted

for

singing, esp. one in rime and having a regular verse-form; occas., a poem.

a. c 897 K. Alfred tr. Gregory's Past. C. 409 Da singa6 Sone sang Se nan mon elles singan ne mass. 971 Blickl. Horn. 45 J?a J?e on heofenum syndon, hi f?ingiaj? for pa pe Jjyssum sange fyljea)?. 621200 Vices & Virtues 15 Da aingles of heuene .. sunge Sane derewurSe sang, Gloria in exselsis deo. £21300 Cursor M. 23 Sanges sere of selcuth rime, Inglis, frankys, and latine. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 250 Herdtow euere slyk a sang er now? c 1400 Destr. Troy 3474 Why fare ye thus now, With., sanges of myrthe. C1440 York Myst. xx. 43 Of sorowes sere schal be my sang. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 16 Thay that prouokis ony ewil desir. . with sangis or wordis or foul takine. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 74 To sing sangs of joy and blythnes. 17 .. Ramsay Address to Town Council 6 Sweet Edie’s funeral-sang. 1785 Burns 1st Ep. toj. Lapraik iii, There was ae sang, amang the rest, Aboon them a’ it pleas’d me best. ft. 6:825 Vesp. Psalter xxxii. 3 SingaS him song neowne. £•1175 Lamb. Horn. 63 Godes songes beoS alle gode; to pere saule heo senden fode. C1205 Lay. 7005 He cuSen al )?eos songes, & pat gleo of ilcche londe. a 1250 Owl & Night. 722 Vor-l?i me sing}? in holi chirche, An clerkes ginnej? songes wirche. 6:1320 Sir Tristr. 2654 Of ysonde he made a song. 1340 Ayenb. 68 \?e holi gost.. make}? his ychosene zinge ine hare herten pe zuete zonges of heuene. c 1425 Cast. Persev. 2336 in Macro Plays 147, iij mens songys to syngyn lowde. 1470-85 Malory Arthur x. xxxi. 464 The harper had songe

SONG his songe to the ende. 1560 Daus tr.

IOO4

Sleidane's Comm. 238 b,

Dyverse Songes beesydes accustomed in churches doe instructe us of the benefyte of Chryst. 1598 Barnfield Pecunia iii. And add some Musique to a merry Songue. 1649 F. Roberts Clavis Bibl. 384 Songs being choice succinct pieces gratefull to the eare, helpfull to the memory and delightful to the heart. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 13 My adventrous Song. Ibid. in. 413 Thy Name Shall be the copious matter of my Song. 1718 Free-thinker No. 69. 100 Much of the same Nature with our Song of ‘Britons strike Home’ &c. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. x. I. 244 On the faith of ancient songs, the uncertain .. memorials of barbarians. 1820 Shelley To a Skylark 90 Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought. 1878 Trelawny Records Shelley, etc. ix. 109 Inspiring it towards songs and other poetry.

b. the Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, one of the books of the Old Testament. 1382 Wyclif Song Sol. (heading), Heer gynneth the booc that is clepid Songus [v.r. Song] of Songis. 1568 Bishop's Bible (headline), The songue of Solomon. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Pari. 7 He nameth .. the book of Psalmes,.. and the Song of Salomon. 1611 Bible Song Sol. i. 1 The song of songs, which is Solomons. Ibid, (heading), Solomons song. 1781 Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry III. xxxvi. 317 There were numerous versions of Solomon’s Song before the year 1600. 1803 Good {title), Song of Songs: or, Sacred Idyls. Translated from The Original Hebrew. 1856 S. Davidson Bibl. Criticism ii. 19 The song of Deborah exhibits such [dialectal] appearances. So does the Song of Solomon.

c. Naut. (See quot.) 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 638 Song, soundings by the leadsman in the channels.

the call

of

d. Mus. A musical setting or composition adapted for singing or suggestive of a song, song ■without words, an instrumental composition in the style of a song (after Mendelssohn’s title ‘Lieder ohne Worte’); also transf. 1871 S. Smiles Character viii. 219 Cheerfulness.. gives harmony of soul, and is a perpetual song without words. 1875 Stainer & Barrett Diet. Mus. Terms s.v., The second subject of a sonata is sometimes called the ‘Song’. 1883 Grove's Diet. Mus. III. 368/1 The Song, as we know it in his [Schubert’s] hands,.. set to no simple Volkslieder, but to long complex poems,.. —such songs were his and his alone. 1883 R. Prentice Musician 11.95 The second movement [of a Beethoven sonata] is a veritable Song without Words. 1938 Oxf. Compan. Mus. 885/1 Song without words, a term introduced by Mendelssohn to cover a type of onemovement pianoforte solo, throughout which a well-marked song-like melody progresses, with an accompaniment. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropsedia XI. 902/1 She [sc. Fanny Mendelssohn] had herself written some of the Songs Without Words attributed to her brother.

e. transf. A sound as of singing. 1822 Shelley Triumph Life 463 That falling stream’s Lethean song. 1877 Daily News 3 Nov. 6 New troops without a military history, who have never heard the song of an enemy’s bullets. 1895 Snaith Mistr. Marvin xii, The song of metal filled the room.

3. The musical utterance of certain birds. In OE. also used of the cry of the sea-gull and eagle.

a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xiii. 50 Fugelas.. stunaS eal geador welwinsum sane. C1200 Ormin 7931 Wop wass uss bitacnedd wel fmrrh cullfre & turrtle bape; Forr pe^re sang iss lie wipp wop. a 1250 Owl £2? Night. 221 J>u miht mid pine songe afere Alle pat herep pine ibere. C1386 Chaucer Manciple's T. 201 To the crowe he stert, ..And made him blak, and raft him al his song. 1484 Caxton Fables of JEsop iv. iv, The goddes .. haue gyuen .. to the nyghtyngale fayr & playsaunt songe. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 80 Self willed folke.. vse ofte the Cuckowes song. 1590 Spenser F.Q. 11. vi. 13 No bird, but did her shrill notes sweetly sing; No song but did containe a louely dit. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 41 The night-warbling Bird, that now awake Tunes sweetest his love-labor’d song. 1725 Fam. Diet. s.v. Canary-Bird, To make a right choice of this Bird, and to know when he has a good Song. 1773 Phil. Trans. LXIII. 290 What is called the song of the Canary bird. 1816 Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire i. (1818) 31 A very small warbler, the only one that appeared to have any song. 1877 Jefferies Gamekeeper at II. vii. (1890) 169 All the birds whose song makes them valuable.

4. a. In various transf. or fig. uses. The sense ‘a subject or theme of song’ occurs in several passages of the Wycliffite (see quot. 1382) and later versions of the Bible. Beowulf 787 p>ara pe .. gehyrdon gryreleoS galan .. sijeleasne sang. Ibid. 2447. 1382 Wyclif Job xxx. 9 Now forsothe I am turned in to the song of hem. -Lam. iii. 14. 14.. Sir Beues (M.) 1232 For sone thy songe shall be: welawey! 1436 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 154 At the sowth-west corner Off gonnes he had a song; That anon he left that place, c 1440 Jacob's Well 155 f>e feend makyth his men to synge pe song of helle, pat is ‘alias & welle-away’. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark vii. 52 The foresayed songe was songen in vaine to the deafe Phariseis. 1576 Fleming Patiopl. Epist. 325 Sing this song to others. 1594 Shaks. Rich. Ill, iv. iv. 509 Out on ye, Owles, nothing but Songs of Death. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 76 The ordinarie burthen of their song is, that all the world is naught. 1653 Binning Serm. (1845) 597 Many listen to the Song of Justification, but they will not abide to hear out all the Song. 1707 Lockhart Papers (1817) I. 223 He returned it to the clerk .. with this despising and contemning remark, ‘Now there’s ane end of ane old song’. 1872 A. De Vere Legends St. Patrick 124 Shall I lengthen out my days Toothless,.. Some losel’s song?

b. In phrases denoting continuance or change in statements, attitude, etc. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 260 Now schalt thou singe an other song. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 393 b, It is the self same song, that hath now ben songen many Yeres. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 97 It's the same old Song of Stark Love and Kindness, which they have pip’d to each other these many Years. 1786 Burns Earnest Cry & Prayer xv, She’ll teach you, wi’ a reekan whittle, Anither sang. 1796 Grose's Diet. Vulgar T. (ed. 3) s.v., He changed his song; he altered his account or evidence. 1822 Scott Nigel ii, Let me

catch ye in Barford’s Park,.. I could gar some of ye sing another sang.

c. A fuss or outcry about something. 1843 Cracks about Kirk II. 9 Thae convocation chiels that are makin’ sic a sang aboot their sufferings. 1863 Mrs. Riddell World in Church II. 157 She had foreborne likewise and no one made a song about it.

d. a song in one's heart, a feeling of joy or pleasure. 1930 L. Hart With a Song in my Heart 4 With a song in my heart; —I behold your adorable face. 1946 Hansard Commons 9 Apr. 1807, I will find, and find with a song in my heart, whatever money is necessary to finance useful and practical proposals for developing these areas. 1978 Times 9 Jan. 13/1 Does the lending rate come down? Then every conservative owner-occupier has a song in his heart.

e. on (full) song, in good form, performing well, colloq. 1967 Autocar 27 Dec. 10/1 The close and even spacing of the ratios.. make it easy to keep the engine ‘on full song’ during hard driving. 1971 Daily Tel. 21 Aug. 16/1 As the table reveals, most of the leading unit trust managers have at least one fund that is ‘on song’. 1974 Observer 3 Feb. 24/5 Really on song since beating Manchester City in the Cup, Forest won 5-1. 1981 Radio Times 11 Apr. 23/2 If you are on song nothing will break your concentration.

5. Used to denote a very small or trifling sum, amount, or value, or a thing of little worth or importance. Freq. an old (also a mere) song. a. In the phr .for a(n old) song, for a mere trifle, for little or nothing. (a) 1601 Shaks. All's Well iii. ii. 9, I know a man that had this tricke of melancholy hold a goodly Mannor for a song, a 1639 W. Whateley Prototypes 11. xxvi. (1640) 25 To have so little esteem of the outward means of salvation, as to part with them for a song as we say. 1707 Reflex, upon Ridicule 262 He retrenches the Number of his Servants or their Wages, and would have them serve, as they say, for a Song. 1751 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 395 The whole-length Vandykes went for a song! 1808 Pike Sources Mississ. 1. App. 10 You will perceive that we have obtained about 100000 acres for a song. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. xvii, I assure you, the things were going for a song. 1890 Jessopp Trials Co. Parson iv. 173 A brief report was published, and may be purchased now for a song. (b) 1650 H. More Observ. in Enthus. Tri. (1656) 78 Truth is not to be had of God Almighty for an old Song. 1658-9 Burton's Diary (1828) III. 239 Haply he compounded for an old song. 1705 Phil. Trans. XXIV. 1997 An old Book might be bought for an old Song, (as we say). 1796 Grose's Diet. Vulgar T. (ed. 3), It was bought for an old song, i.e. very cheap. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. lix, The cost would be a trifle —an ‘old song’, Set to some thousands. 1889 T. A. Trollope What I remember III. 32 They were acquired ‘for an old song’.

b. In other uses. 1798 Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) I. 53 Oh, fly, Sir! or your life’s not worth a song! 1854 Marion Harland Alone xxvi, Some care, some responsibility—that is a mere song, though. 1879 Hesba Stretton Needle's Eye II. 208 It was a pretty place once, but now it’s hardly worth an old song.

6. song and dance, a. A form of entertainment (spec, a vaudeville act) consisting of singing and dancing. Freq. attrib. orig. U.S. [1628 F. Drake World Encompassed 76 They yet continued their song and dance a reasonable time.] 1872 S. Hale Let. 16 Jan. (1918) iii. 78 He did a ‘Song and Dance’, two, in fact. 1872 Chicago Tribune 13 Oct. 5/6 First week of the distinguished song and dance artists. 1895 N. Y. Dramatic News 23 Nov. 13/3 The first double song and dance team was comprised of Wash Norton and Ben Cotton. 1940 Chatelaine Apr. 36/2, I practiced my song-and-dance act for weeks. 1959 R. Longrigg Wrong Number iv. 58 So up she pops from hell or wherever, just the time for a bit of song and dance. 1968 Radio Times 28 Nov. 53/1 The songand-dance patter comedian. 1977 Time Out 17 23 June 47/2 Pleasant Nilsson-like song ’n’ dance numbers.

b. fig. A rigmarole, an elaborately contrived story or entreaty, a fuss or outcry. Also attrib. colloq. (orig. U.S. slang). Cf. sense 4c. 1895 E. W. Townsend Chimmie Fadden 6 Den, ’is whiskers gives me a song an’ dance. 1900 B. Matthews Confident To-Morrow 9 And it ain’t a song-and-dance I’m giving you either. 1913 Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 292, I don’t see how this song and dance helps us any. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt xxxii. 375 George, what’s this I hear about some song and dance you gave Colonel Snow about not wanting to join the G.C.L.? 1949 Time 5 Sept. 2/3 Labor Leader Preble.. was not impressed by ‘the song and dance about [Stefan’s] mother and sister being persecuted and murdered’. 1958 ‘E. Dundy’ Dud Avocado iii. vi. 266 If only he hadn’t felt obliged to make such a song and dance about it. 1967 ‘S. Woods’ And Shame Devil 118 ‘’Appen tha means well,’ he said, his speech suddenly broadened almost out of all recognition, ‘and ’appen tha’s joost making a song and dance.’ 1980 J. Ditton Copley's Hunch 11. ii. 132 The Prime Minister wants to make a song and dance about it.

7. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib., as songcraft [cf. OE. sang-, songerzeft], -feast, etc. 1855 . Longf. Hiaw. Introd. 109 A half-effaced inscription, Written with little skill of *song-craft. 1880 W. Watson Prince's Quest (1892) 60 Seeing his charmed songcraft of no might Him to ensnare. 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Music iv. 36 While these.. Savages continue in their present unlettered State .., no material Improvements in their * Song-Feasts can arise. 1881 Blackw. Mag. April 517 The bleak solitudes of the *Song-land on the Border. 1944 C. Day Lewis Poetry for You vi. 61 The chief thing which poets took over from the *song-lyric and preserved in the new lyrical poetry was..‘singleness of mind’. 1884 Harper's Mag. March 537/2 Two pieces of *song-music. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 429/1 Audible sound, which may possess the distinctions of *song-notes (musical sounds). 1845 Browning Lett. (1899) I. 17 These scenes and ♦songscraps are such mere escapes of my inner power. 1947 A. Einstein Music in Romantic Era xiv. 187 With Op. 24, the

SONG Heine *song-sequence, he [sc. Schumann] began to write lieder. 1930 P. Geddes et al. (title) *Song-sheet and welcomes. 1967 A. L. Lloyd Folk Song in England i. 29 The countless Sorrowful Lamentations of hanged men did not become anchored in tradition.. perhaps because the songsheets bearing these effusions are of late appearance. 1876 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 176 So tiny a trickle of ♦songstrain. 1845 W. Stevenson Church Scotl. Pulpit I. 84 It is only from the full.. heart that a ♦song-stream of devotion can freely flow. 1884 Jefferies Life of Fields 60 The ♦songtalk of the finches rises and sinks like the tinkle of a waterfall. 1809 E. Cutler Diary 28 Aug. in J. P. Cutler Life & Times E. Cutler (1890) v. 98 Very soon a man began to sing a hymn in a familiar ♦song-tune. 1824 Mrs. Cameron Marten & his Scholars viii. 49 John.. began presently to whistle a songtune. 1967 A. L. Lloyd Folk Song in England iii. 139 As feudal society gives way to capitalism .. recitative melodies are replaced by song-tunes. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 273/1 That true ♦song-warble which we get in the stornelli and rispetti of the Italian peasants.

b. Objective, as song-composition, with agentnouns, as song-composer, -enditer, -maker, -singer, -wright, -writer, or with vbl. sbs. and ppl. adjs., as song-singing, -writing. 1947 A. Einstein Music in Romantic Era xiv. 184 There were no Italian *song-composers. Ibid. 191 The procession of musicians who contributed to Romantic ♦songcomposition. 1713 Rowe Jane Shore Prol., Those venerable ancient *Song-Enditers Soar’d many a Pitch above our modern Writers. 1787 Burns Let. to W. Nicol 1 June, It’s true, she’s as poor ’s a *sang-maker. 1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 10 The rich.. harmonies of later songmakers. 1733 Weekly Reg. 8 Dec., Clerks of kitchens, ♦song-singers, horse-racers, valets-de-chambre. 1743 Francis tr. Horace, Odes iii. x. 18 Thy Husband, who gives up his Heart for a Ditty To a *Song-singing Wench. 1839 D. Black Hist. Brechin vii. 157 Zealous song-singing ladies. 1848 W. Allingham Diary 26 Sept. (1907) ii. 43 Dine at Peter Kelly’s,.. much song-singing afterwards. 1888 R. Buchanan Heir of Linne ii, Peasants and fishermen enjoyed his gifts of conversation and song-singing. 1892 Athenaeum 23 July 124/3 He places Herrick above Shakspeare as a ♦song-wright. 1821 Mrs. Hemans in H. F. Chorley Mem. (1837) 1. 83 This being my first appearance before the public as a *song-writer. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 273/1 His songs illustrate an infirmity which even the Scottish song-writers share with the English. 1772 J. Aikin (title) Essays on ♦song-writing. 1809 Belfast Monthly Mag. Mar. 164/2, I promise .. method in my handling the theory and practice of song-writing. 1810 J. Aikin (title), Essays on Song-Writing. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 273 Here, indeed, is the crowning difficulty of song-writing. 1947 A. Einstein Music in Romantic Era iv. 35 The song-writing Berlin purists.

c. Miscellaneous, as song-fraught, -like, -rapt, -timed, -tuned, -wild, -worthy adjs. 1855 Bailey Mystic 32 ♦Song-fraught wavelets lipped with light. 1861 F. W. Faber Hymn, Nativ. our Lady i, ♦Songlike breezes ever blowing. 1885 W. B. Yeats in Dublin Univ. Rev. July 137 A wandering *song-rapt bird. C1873 J. Addis Eliz. Echoes (1879) 94 Circled with Maenads’ ♦songtimed, dance-timed bounds. 1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 205 Take from the wall now, my *song-tuned Lyre. 1937 Blunden Elegy 15 The flight of one small *song-wild lark Finds heaven. 1855 Patmore Angel in Ho. 11. i. Prel. i. More *Song-worthy and heroic things Than .. war. 8. Special combs.: song-ballet, (a) U.S. dial.,

a ballad; (b) a theatrical work combining songs and ballet; song-box, the syrinx of a bird; songcycle [cf. G. liederzyklus], a series of songs intended to form one musical entity, and having words dealing with related subjects; song-flight (a) flight of a characteristic pattern made by a bird as it sings, in a territorial display; songform Mus., a form used in the composition of songs; spec. [tr. G. liedform\ the form of a simple melody with simple accompaniment, or that of a work in three sections of which the third is a repetition of the first; song-fowl poet. = song¬ bird 1; song-grosbeak, one or other species of the American genus Zamelodia\ song-hit colloq., a song which is a popular success; song-motet, a simple type of motet; song-muscle (see quot.); song-perch, a place where a bird perches to sing, so as to establish its territory; song period, the part of the year during which the birds of a species sing; song-plugger orig. U.S., a person employed to popularize songs, esp. by performing them repeatedly; hence song¬ plugging vbl. sbsong-plug v. trans., songplugged ppl. a.; song-post = song-perch above; song stylist, a singer admired for his or her style; song-tide, time of divine service; songvoice, the voice as used in the act of singing. 1915 Dialect Notes IV. 190 ♦ Song-ballet, n., a song or ballad. 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 15 June 6/7 Visitors will join the mountaineers to sing their ‘song ballets’. 1962 Auden Dyer's Hand (1963) 484 We have translated.. Brecht’s text for the song-ballet Die sieben Todsiinden with music by Kurt Weill. 1899 J. A. Thomson Sci. Life 187 The bird’s song is nothing to the morphologist, except in so far as the anatomy of the syrinx or ♦song-box is concerned. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 3 May 3/3 Two ♦song-cycles made up his programme yesterday. 1942 E. Blom Music in England x. 168 Arthur Somervell’s settings of poems from Tennyson’s ‘Maud’, which have remained among the world’s few great songcycles. 1978 Listener 30 Mar. 412/4 A mature song-cycle by Dallapiccola. 1936 Nicholson & Koch So?igs of Wild Birds 9 ♦Song-flight is an extra means of making the singer temporarily as conspicuous as possible. 1961 A. J. Berger Bird Study vi. 186 Song, song flights, and other special displays serve an orientation function: they attract a female to the male’s territory or to a nest site. 1884 R. Prentice Musician: Grade j 4 The simplest ♦song-form is constructed

SONG

1005

on two or three sentences only. 1902 H. C. Banister Mus. Anal. i. 2 There is a term now in vogue to designate the simplest of all plans or forms: ‘Song-Form’ or ‘Aria-Form’. 1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets (1949) v. 109 The blues are essentially a song form. 1954 Grove's Diet. Mus. (ed. 5) VII. 962/2 The term ‘song form,’ derived from the German, has unfortunately been used by different writers with different significations. The vagueness which results and the fact that the term is not happily chosen gives rise to doubts whether it had not better be entirely abandoned. 1877 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 71 Not that the sweet-fowl, ♦songfowl, needs no rest. 1839 Audubon Syn. Birds N. Amer. 132 Coccoborus, *Song-Grosbeak. Coccoborus cseruleus, Blue Song-Grosbeak. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 389 Zamelodia ludoviciana, Rose-breasted Song Grosbeak. Zamelodia melanocephala, Black-headed Song Grosbeak. 1914 ‘High Jinks, jr.’ Choice Slang 18 *Song hit, a popular song. 1918 [see hit sb. 4]. 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene 9 Pop, pop music, popular entertainment music as typified by the ‘songhit’. 1942 H. Hewitt Harmonice Musices Odhecaton vi. 69 A few’ ‘*song-motets’ find a place in the Odhecaton. 1974 Early Music Oct. 219 Some of his [sc. Dufay’s] most elegant Latin compositions .. are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and their treble-dominated texture and lyrical charm —they resemble chansons in many ways—explain why they are called song-motets. 1885 Newton in Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 29 [As] by the action of the syringeal muscles .. the sounds uttered by the Bird are modified, they are properly called the ♦Song-muscles. 1934 British Birds XXVIII. 15 If a male is on his *song perch when his hen quits her eggs, he usually follows her., to her feeding ground. 1975 I. Rowley Bird Life v. 61 The kookaburra defends a large area, but in particular a number of song perches. 1908 British Birds I. 367 In the middle of the ♦song-period all the individuals of a species found in any locality sing every day. 1961 A. J. Berger Bird Study vi. 171 Many species have a short song period (post-breeding) after the molt has been completed. 1927 Daily Express 22 Sept. 9/3 ‘Clap Yo’ Hands’ must have been ♦song-plugged for ten minutes right off... ‘Do-DoDo’ is another song-plugged number. 1923 N.Y. Times 7 Oct. ix. 2/1 *Song plugger, a retiring representative of a song publisher planted in the audience to call for songs, whistle refrains and applaud. 1927 Melody Maker May 437/1 Song pluggers are.. vocalists lent by the music publishers to the dance bands just for the nights on which these bands are due to broadcast, and, of course, sing only their employer’s numbers. 1976 R. Sanders in D. Villiers Next Year in Jerusalem 208 Gershwin.. embarked upon his musical career at sixteen as a Tin Pan Alley song plugger and composer. 1927 Melody Maker May 433 (heading), ♦Song¬ plugging thro’ the ages. 1972 P. Black Biggest Aspidistra 1. iii. 29 The song-plugging wave did not recede until 1948, when the BBC and the publishers managed to draw up an agreement. 1938 British Birds XXXI. 320 The habitat was on open grassy ground with stones and sallow bushes as ‘♦song posts’. 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 15 June 6/7 Special guests will be.. Miss Florence Clark, of Detroit, noted ♦song stylist. 1973 Black Panther 24 Mar. 7/1 Elaine Brown, community activist.. is also a musician, composer, lyricist and song stylist. 1853 Rock Ch. of Fathers III. 11. 14 If wayfaring.. had hindered him from being with his brethren at public *song-tide in the house of God. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 431/2 The glottis must be disciplined .., and proceed gradually from the *song-voice to that of speech.

song, obs. pa. t. and pa. pple. sing

v.1

Song, var. Sung.

'song-bird,

[song s6.]

1. A bird having the power of song; a singingbird.

(Cf. songster 3.)

1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. iv. iii. (1824) II. 338 Of the nightingale and other soft-billed song birds. 1783 Encycl: Brit. (ed. 2) X. 8670/1 The deficiency of most other song¬ birds in that country. 1857 Livingstone Trav. xvii. 325 It is remarkable that so many song-birds abound where there is a general paucity of other animal life. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets viii. 235 Like song-birds rejoicing in their flight.

2. transj. A superb (female) singer. 1886 C. E. Pascoe London of To-day x. (ed. 3) 106 The reigning queens of song.. are hardly overpaid. Such song¬ birds are exceedingly rare. 1896 Godey's Mag. Apr. 412/2 The second of the noted Magyar song-birds within current recollection was Etelka Gerster.

'song-book.

[song

sb.

Cf.

MDu.

sane-,

zaneboee, MLG. sankbok, Du. (ge)zangboek, G. gesangbnch, Sw. sangbok, ON. songbok, etc.] 1.

One

of

the

service-books

Saxon church (see quots.

of

the

Anglo-

1853).

ciooo Canons of JEIfric xxi. in Thorpe Laws II. 350 pxt synd pa haljan bee, saltere,.. & maesse boc, sang-boc, & hand boc. c 1000 in Kemble Cod. Diplom. IV. 275, .11. fulle sangbec and .1. nihtsang. 01700 Evelyn Diary 31 Aug. 1654, A vast old song book or service, and some faire manuscripts [at St. John’s College, Cambridge]. 1853 Rock Ch. of Fathers III. 11. 18 Out of the Antiphoner .. came forth the full song-book or whole service for the canonical hours. Ibid. 20 The song-book corresponded with the Salisbury portous and the Roman breviary.

2. A book of songs. 1489 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 114 To \Vil3eam Sangstare of Lythqow for a sang bwke he brocht to the King, a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 372 As if her eyes had beene his song-Booke, he did the message of his minde in singing these verses. 1656 Earl Monm. tr. Boccalini s Advts.fr. Parnass. 11. xiv. (1674) 157 Apollo.. received his Song-book with .. extraordinary affection. 1683 W. Lloyd in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 187, I have besides a Welsh Song-book. 1848 Dickens Dombey xlix, The little table where the Captain had arranged the telescope and songbook. 1851 Mayhew Land. Lab. I. 298/1 The sale of songbooks in the streets.. is smaller than it was two years ago.

f'songer.

Obs. [OE. sangere, sgngere, = OHG.

sangari (MHG. senger. G. stinger), ON. sgngvari

(Sw. sangare, Da. sanger), MDu. sanger (Du. zanger), etc.] A church-singer; a psalm-writer. C 900 tr. Baeda’s Hist. iv. ii. (1890) 258 Buton Iacobe pxm songere bi psem we beforan ter ssegdon. 971 Blickl. Horn. 207 Se bisceop |>a Sser jesette gode sangeras & maesse-preostas. c 1200 Trin. Coil. Horn. 117 Alse |>e holi songere seiS on his loft songe.

songewarie: see songuary. songfest ('sDrjfest). orig. and chiefly N. Amer. [f. song sb. + fest: cf. G. sangerfest.] An informal session of group-singing; a festive sing-song. 1912 J. Sandilands Western Canad. Diet. 9/1 Songfest, a feast of song. 1916 Dialect Notes IV. 354 Songfest. ‘There’s to be a songfest at the church Friday night.’ 1953 Matich. Guardian Weekly 12 Nov. 9/1 According to the ‘New York Times’:.. Their problem has been greatly complicated by the fact that each time they have tried to speak to the prisoners through the camp public address system the P.O.W. bosses have organised song fests, thrown rocks, .or set up a deafening clamour. 1961 ‘1. Ross’ Old Students Never Die (1963) viii. 109 The image of Jackie and Alison, holding hands and bowing to us after their little songfest. 1979 Yale Alumni Mag. Apr. 30/2 Fifty members of the two groups gathered for a gay, impromptu songfest in Pushkin Square.

songful ('sDijful), a. [f. song sb. + -ful.] Abounding in song; musical, melodious.