Chapter XX: Part 20

1629. Fonseca [Eng. by J. M.]. Devout Contemplations. Bee it by
hooke or by crooke, by right or wrong.

1678. Butler, Hudibras, iii., 1. Which he by hook, or crook, had
gather’d.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. By Hedge or By Style, by Hook
or by Crook.

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

1781. Cowper, Letter to Newton, 12 July. And by hook or crook, with
another book, If I live and am here, another year.

1820. Reynolds [Peter Corcoran]. The Fancy. Father, ere our purpose
cool, Get down by hook or crook to Liverpool.

1824. Hitchings and Drewe, Hist. Cornwall, ii., 214. The prior’s
cross, on which is cut the figure of a hook and a crook, in memory
of the privilege granted ... to the poor ... for gathering such
boughs and branches of such trees ... as they could reach with a
hook or by a crook ... whence ... they will have it by hook and by
crook.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 363. We must be manned
by hook or crook, you know, however unwilling to distress running
ships.

1868. Reade and Boucicault, Foul Play, p. 54. Several
fellow-creatures have cheated me. Well, I must get as much back, by
hook or by crook, from several fellow-creatures.

1883. W. Black, Yolande, ch. xlix. I should get you a ticket by
hook or by crook, if I failed at the ballot; I heard that one was
sold for £40 the last time.

1888. Rider Haggard, ‘Mrs. Meeson’s Will’ [in Illustrated News,
Summer Number, p. 5, c. 1]. Somehow or other, it would go hard if,
with the help of the one hundred a year that he had of his own, he
did not manage, with his education, to get a living by hook or by
crook.

With a hook at the end, phr. (common).—A reservation of assent; over the left (q.v.); in a horn (q.v.). Cf., hook, intj.: and Hookey Walker.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Hookey Walker—and with a hook,
usually accompanied by a significant upliftment of the hand and
crooking of the forefinger, implying that what is said is a lie, or
is to be taken contrary-wise.

1843. Moncrieff, Scamps of London, i., 1. Bob. Will you have some
gin? Fogg. Gin—Yes! Bob (turning away). Ha—ha!—With a hook ... I
wish you may get it.

1870. Traill, Saturday Songs, p. 22. It’s go and go over the left,
It’s go with a hook at the end.

Off the hooks, phr. (old).—Out of temper; vexed; disturbed; out of sorts. Fr., sortir de ses gonds = off the hinges (q.v.). For synonyms, see Nab the rust.

1639–61. Rump Songs. ‘Bum-fodder.’ That’s a thing would please the
Butchers and Cooks, To see this stinking Rump quite off the hooks.

1665. Pepys, Diary, 26 May. In the evening by water to the Duke of
Albemarle, whom I found mightily off the hooks, that the ships are
not gone out of the River; which vexed me to see.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hooks. Off the hooks, in an ill
Mood, or out of Humour.

d. 1704. L’Estrange [quoted in Ency. Dict.]. Easily put off the
hooks, and monstrous hard to be pleased again.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iii., 22. Another that’s in the
Blacksmith’s Books, And only to him for remedy looks, Is when a Man
is quite off the hooks.

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

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxx. Everybody that has meddled
in this St. Ronan’s business is a little off the hooks—... in plain
words, a little crazy.

Hook and Snivey (or Hookum Snivey), subs. phr. (old).—1. An imposture; specifically, the getting of food on false pretences.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, ii., 79. ‘Hook and Snivey, with
Nix the Buffer’ [Title].

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hook and Snivey with Nix the
Buffer. This rig consists in feeding a man and a dog for
nothing.... Three men, one of whom pretends to be sick and unable
to eat, go to a public house; the two well men make a bargain with
the landlord for their dinner, and when he is out of sight feed
their pretended sick companion and dog gratis.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf. s.v. Hook and Snivvy—practised by soldiers
in quarters when they obtain grub for nix.

1835 in Comic Almanack 1835–43 (Hotten), p. 17, Zoological Society
at Hookem Snivey. A new animal has been transmitted from No-Man’s
Land, which has been named the Flat-Catcher.

2. (old).—An impostor as described in sense 1.

3. (streets).—A contemptuous or sarcastic affirmation, accompanied by the gesture of taking a sight (q.v.) or playing hookey (q.v.).

4. (thieves’).—A crook of thick iron wire in a wooden handle, used to undo the wooden bolts of doors from without.

1801. Edgeworth, Irish Bulls, With that I ranges ’em fair and even
on my hook ’em snivey, up they goes.

Hooked, adj. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hookt, over-reached, Snapt,
Trickt.

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

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

Hooker, subs. (Old Cant).—1. A thief; an angler (q.v.). Also, (modern) a watch-stealer; a dip (q.v.). Cf., quots. 1567 and 1888.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 35. These hokers, or Angglers, be
peryllous and most wicked knaues, ... they customably carry with
them a staffe of v. or vi. foote long, in which, within one ynch of
the tope thereof, ys a lytle hole bored through, [leaf 9] in which
hole they putte an yron hoke, and with the same they wyll pluck
vnto them quickly any thing that they may reche ther with.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 8 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). They
are sure to be clyd in the night by the angler, or hooker, or such
like pilferers that liue upon the spoyle of other poore people.

d. 1626. John Davies, Scourge of Folly, p. 34. [Wks., Ed. Grosart].
A false knaue needs no brokers, but a broker Needs a false knaue (a
hangman or a hooker).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hookers, the third Rank of
Canters; also Sharpers.

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

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. No strange Abram,
ruffler crack, hooker of another pack.

1888. Tit Bits, 17 Nov., p. 82, col. 2. There are usually three men
in a gang; the hooker having got into conversation with his man,
number two ‘covers’ his movements, whilst number three (on the
opposite side of the street) keeps a look-out for the ‘enemy.’ The
hooker, having by careful manipulation got a hold of the desired
prize, detaches it from the chain by breaking the ring and passes
it to number two, who in turn passes it on to number three, from
whom it is usually transferred to a receiver and melted down within
a few hours of its being purloined.

2. (American).—A prostitute: i.e., a fisher, angler, or Hooker of men. For synonyms, see Barrack Hack and Tart.

Hookey. To play hookey, verb. phr. (American).—To play truant; to do Charley-wag (q.v.).

1876. Clemens [Mark Twain], Tom Sawyer, p. 100. Took his flogging
... for playing hookey the day before.

To do (or play) hookey (or hooky), verb. phr. (common).—To apply the thumb and fingers to the nose; to take a sight (q.v.); to coffee-mill (q.v.).

Hookey Walker! (or Walker!) intj. (common).—Be off! go away. Also implying doubt. Cf., with a hook. [Bee: From John Walker, a hook-nosed spy, whose reports were proved to be fabrications.]

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hookey Walker, An expression
signifying that the story is not true, or that the thing will not
occur.

1843. Dickens, Christmas Carol [1843], p. 169. ‘Buy it,’ said
Scrooge. ‘Walker!’ said the boy.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Old Woman Clothed in Grey.’ For
mere unmeaning talk her Parch’d lips babbled now,—such as
Hookey!—and Walker!—She expired, with her last breath expressing a
doubt If ‘his Mother were fully aware he was out?’

1840. ‘Characters of Freshmen’ (Whibley, Cap and Gown, p. 183). The
pestilent freshman ... is very pugnacious, and walking in the
streets suddenly turneth and asketh a huge snob ‘what the deuce he
meant by that?’ Whereat the snob (having done nothing at all)
coolly answereth (as the Pestilent Freshman intended he should)
Hooky Walker, provocative of a combat.

Hooking-cow, subs. (Western American).—A cow that shows fight.

1887. Francis, Saddle and Mocassin. One ... was ... a hooking-cow,
and to escape her repeated charges tested all our ability.

Hook-pointed (or Hook-pintled), adj. (venery).—Imperfectly erected. Cf., Lob (q.v.).

Hook-pole Lay, subs. phr. (old).—Pulling a man off his horse by means of iron hooks at the end of a long pole, and plundering him. (Smith, Lives of Highwaymen, III., 192, 1720).

Hook-shop, subs. (American).—A brothel. [Hooker (q.v.) = prostitute.] For synonyms, see Nanny-shop.

Hoop, subs. (American).—1. A ring.

2. (Devon).—See Bullfinch.

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

Verb (old).—To beat. To well hoop one’s barrel = to thrash soundly. For synonyms, see Tan.

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

To hoop it (or go through the hoop), verb. phr. (old).—1. To pass the Insolvent Debtor’s Court; to get hooped up = whitewashed (q.v.). For synonyms, see Dead-broke.

2. (old).—To run away. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, 116. I have heard
them tell ... boys ... who have hooped it from home that they had
better go back whilst they had a home to go to.

Hooper’s Hide, subs. phr. (old venery).—Copulation. For synonyms, see Greens.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 278. The while that his wife with
Willy Was playing at Hooper’s Hide.

Hoop-stick, subs. (common).—The arm. For synonyms, see Chalk Farm.

Hoosier, subs. (American).—A native of Indiana. [Perhaps the most reasonable of several ingenious explanations is, that in the early days the customary challenge or greeting in that region was, ‘Who’s yer?’ (who’s here?): pronounced hoosier.—Norton.]

1843. D. Corcoran, A Genuine Hoosier. An original character is your
genuine Hoosier. By genuine, we mean such a one as has all the
attributes that peculiarly belong to the back-woodsmen of the West.

1847. Darley, Drama in Pokerville, p. 197. None of them ‘cotton’d’
to him more kindly than an elderly hoosier from the innermost
depths of Indiana.

1848. Durivage, Stray Subjects, p. 79. There is a swarm of
‘suckers,’ ‘hoosiers,’ ‘buckeyes,’ ‘corn-crackers,’ and
‘wolverines’ eternally on the qui vive in those parts.

Hooter, subs. (American).—1. A steam-whistle; an American devil (q.v.).

2. (colloquial).—A wooden trumpet, so contrived as to make a horrible noise.

3. (American).—A corruption of ‘iota’: e.g., ‘I don’t care a hooter for him.’

Hooting-pudding, subs. (provincial).—A plum-pudding with such a paucity of plums that you can hear them hooting after each other.—Slang, Jargon, and Cant.

Hop, subs. (common).—A dance. [Generally informal, as a Cinderella (q.v.).] Also, as in quot. 1579, the motions of dancing. For synonyms, see Skip.

1579. Gosson, Schoole of Abuse, p. 33 (Arber’s Ed.). He gaue
Dauncers great stipends for selling their hopps.

1811. Jane Austen, Sense and S., ch. ix. At a little hop at the
park, he danced from eight o clock till four.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hop—a contra-dance of ordinary persons
and promiscuous company is ‘a hop’ and ‘a penny-hop’ from the price
formerly paid for admission.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, iv. He gave them from time to time a
very agreeable hop.

1847. Thackeray, Mrs. Perkins’s Ball (Mr. Larkins). To describe
this gentleman’s infatuation for dancing, let me say, in a word,
that he will even frequent boarding-house hops, rather than not go.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 189. The ‘temple’ was
generally cleared for a hop two or three times during the week.

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 121. You’ll be at old Coleman’s
hop to-night, I suppose; so bye! bye! for the present.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 129. Two undress-balls—hops
they were.

1882. Daily Telegraph, 13 Nov., p. 5, c. 3. At all seasons there is
an immense amount of dancing; and at Washington there are continual
‘hotel hops’ in the winter.

1887. W. S. Gilbert, Patience, ii. Prefers suburban hops To all
your Monday Pops.

1889. Lippincott, Oct., p. 447. Hang me if she isn’t always on the
plain, or at a hop, with one of those twin kids!

1892. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads. ‘Gentlemen Rankers.’ To dance
with blowzy housemaids at the regimental hops.

Hop-and-go-kick, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A lameter; a Hop-and-go-one. Cf., Dot-and-carry-one.

To hop the wag, verb. phr. (common).—To play truant, or Charley-wag (q.v.).

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., 207. They often
persuaded me to hop the wag, that is play truant from school.

To hop (or jump) over the broom (or broomstick), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To live as husband and wife; to live (or go) tally (q.v.).

1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, ii., 3. Jump o’er a broomstick, but
don’t make a farce on The marriage ceremonies of the parson.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 336. There was
always a broomstick wedding. Without that ceremony a couple weren’t
looked on as man and wife.

1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, xlviii., 227. This woman in
Gerrard Street, here, had been married very young, over the
broomstick (as we say), to a tramping man.

c. 18(79). Broadside Ballad, ‘David Dove that Fell in Love.’ By L.
M. Thornton. The girl that I had hoped to hear Pronounce my happy
doom, sir, Had bolted with a carpenter, In fact hopped o’er the
broom, sir.

To hop the twig, verb. phr. (common).—1. To leave; to run away; to skedaddle (q.v.). For synonyms, see amputate.

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

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 143. Hop the twig ... means
to depart suddenly.

1830. Egan, Finish to Life in London, p. 217. I have lost my
ticker; and all my toggery has been boned, I am nearly as naked as
when I was born—and the cause—the lady bird—has hopped the twig.

1884. Daily News, 31 Oct., p. 3, c. 1. They knocked the Liberals
down as fast as they could until they got too numerous and strong,
and then we hopped the twig.

1888. All the Year Round, 9 June 543. To hop the twig ... and the
like, are more flippant than humorous.

2. (common).—To die; to ‘kick the bucket’ (q.v.); to peg out (q.v.). Also To hop off.

English Synonyms. To be content; to cock up one’s toes; to croak; to cut (or let go) the painter; to cut one’s stick; to give in; to give up; to go to Davy Jones’ locker; to go off the hooks; to go under; to go up; to kick the bucket; kickeraboo (West Indian); to lay down one’s knife and fork; to lose the member of one’s mess; to mizzle; to pass in one’s checks; to peg out; to put on a wooden surtout; to be put to bed with a shovel; to slip one’s cable; to stick one’s spoon in the wall; to snuff it; to take an earth bath; to take a ground sweat.

French Synonyms.—Passer l’arme à gauche (pop.: = to ground arms); casser sa pipe (= to break one’s pipe); dévisser or décoller son billard (= to break one’s cue); graisser ses bottes (= to grease one’s boots); avaler sa langue (= to swallow one’s tongue); avaler sa gaffe (= to lower one’s boat-hook); avaler sa cuiller or sa fourchette (= to swallow one’s spoon or one’s fork); avaler ses baguettes (military: = to swallow one’s drumsticks); n’avoir plus mal aux dents (= to get rid of the toothache: mal de dents, also = love); poser sa chique (pop.: = to put down one’s quid); claquer (familiar: = to croak); saluer le public (theat.: = to go before the curtain); recevoir son décompte (military: = to get one’s quietus; décompte = also [military] a mortal wound); cracher son embouchure (= to spit one’s mouthpiece); déteindre (pop.: = to wash off one’s colour); donner son dernier bon à tirer (familiar: in American = to pass in one’s checks; properly = to send one’s last proof to press); lâcher la perche (pop.: = to hop the twig); éteindre son gaz (pop.: = to turn off one’s gas. Cf., to snuff it); épointer son foret (pop.: = to blunt one’s drill, as in boring); être exproprié (pop.: = to be dispossessed); exproprier (= to take possession of a debtor’s land); péter son lof (sailor’s); fumer ses terres; fermer son parapluie (pop.: = to close one’s umbrella); perdre son bâton (pop.: = to lose one’s walking stick); descendre la garde (pop.: = to come off guard); défiler la parade (military: = to face about); tortiller, or tourner de l’œil (pop.); perdre le goût du pain (pop.: = to lose one’s appetite); lâcher la rampe (theat.: = to chuck the footlights); faire ses petits paquets (pop.: = to pack up one’s traps); casser son crachoir (pop.: = to break one’s spittoon); remercier son boulanger (thieves’: = to thank the baker; boulanger = the Devil); canner; dévider à l’estorgue (thieves’); baiser or épouser la Camarde or camarder (pop: = to hug, or go to church with, Mother Bones [Camarde = Death]); fuir (thieves’: = to flee or escape); casser son câble (pop.: = to slip one’s cable); casser son fouet (pop.: = to break one’s whip); faire sa crêvaison (pop.: crêver = to burst up); déralinguer (sailors’: = to loose from the bolt-rope); virer de bord (sailors’: = to tack about); déchirer son faux-col (pop.: = to break one’s collar); dégeler (= to thaw); couper sa mèche (coachman’s: = to cut off one’s lash); piquer sa plaqu (sailors’); mettre la table pour les asticots (pop.: = to lay the cloth for the worms); aller manger les pissenlits par la racine (pop.: = to go grubbing off dandelion roots); laisser fuir son tonneau (familiar); calancher (vagrants’); laisser ses bottes quelque part (familiar: = to leave one’s boots about); déchirer son habit (pop.: = to tear one’s coat); déchirer son tablier (pop.: = to tear one’s apron); souffler sa veilleuse (pop.: = to blow out one’s candle: cf., to snuff it); pousser le boum du cygne (pop.); avoir son coke (familiar: = to get one’s cargo); rendre sa secousse (pop.); rendre sa bûche (tailors’); rendre sa canne au ministre (military: = to resign one’s commission); rendre sa clef (gipsy: = to give in one’s key); rendre son livret (pop.: = to pass in one’s checks); passer au dixième régiment (military); s’ennuyer (pop.: = to be at death’s door); chasser les mouches (pop.: to go fly-catching); ingurgiter son bilan (popular); resserrer son linge (pop.); faire sa malle (pop.: = to pack one’s trunk); avaler le goujon (pop.); s’habiller de sapin (pop.: = to put on a wooden surtout); avoir son compte (pop.); battre de l’œil (thieves’); s’évanouir (pop.: to mizzle); machaber (pop.: machabre = the Dance of Death); glisser (pop.); s’en aller dans le pays des marmottes (pop.: marmotte = puppet); déménager (pop.: = to move house).

German Synonyms.—Krachen gehen; niftern; pegern or peigern; schochern or verschochern (= to get black); verschwarzen.

Italian Synonyms. Sbasire (= to faint); sbasire su le funi (= to faint on the rope).

Spanish Synonyms.—Hacer bodoques (= to take an earth bath); liarlas (= also to run away); obispar; corvado (= bent, curved); cierto (= certain).

1839. Dance, Alive and Merry, i., 1. Couldn’t you wait a bit till
she’s hopped off, and then you and I could marry, and be ladies and
gentlemen?

1841. Punch, I., 2, 2. Clare pines in secret—Hops the twig and goes
to glory in white muslin.

1842. Punch, vol. II., p. 20, c. 2. Yet henceforth—dash my wig!
I’ll live with thee, with thee I’ll hop the twig!

1863. Fun, vol. IV., p. 188. The night when Cromwell died a storm
tore up many of the trees [of St. James’s Park]—though what
connexion there may be between the destruction of their branches
and the hopping the twig of the Protector, we leave to our
philosophical readers to decide.

1870. Chambers’s Miscellany, No. 87, p. 26. That her disease was
mortal, was past a doubt, and a month or two more or less could
make no difference, provided she hopped off ... before the year was
expired.

On the hop, adv. phr. (common).—1. Unawares; at the nick of time; in flagrante delicto. Also On the h. o. p.

1868. Broadside Ballad, ‘The Chickaleary Cove.’ For to catch me on
the hop.... You must wake up very early in the morning.

1870. London Figaro, 26 Aug. If to catch any of the more ordinary
folk on the hop is to secure a laugh, what must it be to catch the
Tycoon ‘on the—top?’

1872. Daily Telegraph, 3 Sept. Goodbye, Johnny: before I leave you,
One more kiss before I go. For to catch me on the hop.

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall, 32. I never saw a smarter hand at
serving in a shop, For every likely customer she caught upon the
’op.

2. (common).—On the go; in motion; unresting.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 22. A deal on the ’op.

3. (colloquial).—See Hip.

Hopeful (or Young Hopeful), subs. (colloquial).—A boy or young man; in sarcasm or contempt.

1856. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Tales of College Life, 24. He’ll
be no end riled at seeing his hopeful play truant in this fashion.

Hop- (or Hap-) Harlot, subs. (old).—A coarse coverlet; Cf., Wrap-rascal.

1807–8. Hollinshed, Chronicles of England, ch. 12. Covered only
with a sheet, under coverlets made of dag-swain, or hop-harlots.

Hopkins (Hoppy, or Mr. Hopkins), subs. (old).—A lameter. For synonyms, see Dot-and-go-one Giles.

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

Don’t Hurry, Hopkins! phr. (American).—Ironical to persons slow to move or to meet an obligation.

Hop-merchant (or Hoppy), subs. (common).—A dancing master; a caper-merchant (q.v.). Also, a fiddler.

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

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

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

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

1892. Sydney Watson, Wops the Waif, ch. iii., p. 4. Who-ay, Cully,
here’s Hoppy with the rozin.

Hop-o-my-thumb, subs. (common).—A dwarf.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in Wks. v., 248. Though the greatnesse
of the redde herring be not small (as small a hoppe-on-my-thumbe as
hee seemeth).

1603. Dekker, etc., Patient Grissell, IV., ii., in Wks. (Grosart)
vi., 195. Bab. No; he shall not haue them [children]: knocke out
his braines, and saue the little hop-a-my-thombes.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xi. You pitiful hop-o’-my-thumb
coxcomb.

1764. O’Hara, Midas, i., 5. You Stump-o’-the-gutter, you
Hop-o’-my-thumb, A husband must for you from Lilliput come.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hop-o-my-Thumb. She was such a
hop-o-my-thumb that a pigeon, on sitting on her shoulder, might
pick a pea out of her a—se.

1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xi. A mean-looking hop-o’-my-thumb
sort of person.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Account of a New Play.’ A
hop-o’-my-thumb of a Page.

English Synonyms.—Go-by-the-ground; grub; grundy; Jack Sprat; little breeches; shrimp; stump-of-the-gutter; tom-tit. See also, Forty-foot.

Hopper, subs. (colloquial).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

To go a hopper, verb. phr. (sporting).—To go quickly.

Hopper-arsed (or Hipped), adj. (old).—Large in the breech. Also (as in quot. 1529) snaggy-boned. Also as subs.

d. 1529. Dunbar, Poems, ‘Complaint to the King’ (1836, i., 144).
With hopper-hippis and hanches narrow.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, ii., 1. Moreover, she is
bow-legged, hopper-hipped, and, betwixt pomatum and Spanish red,
has a complexion like a Holland cheese.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hopper-arst, when the Breach
sticks out.

1704. King, Orpheus and Eurydice (Chalmers, English Poets), vol.
ix., p. 284. A lady of prodigious fame, Whose hollow eyes and
hopper breech Made common people call her witch.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 351. And there’ll be hopper-arsed
Nancy.

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

Hopper-docker, subs. (old).—A shoe. For synonyms, see Trotter-cases.

Hop-picker, subs. (common).—1. A prostitute; also Hopping-wife. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1888. Indoor Paupers, p. 55. Numbers of them go regularly to the
hop-gardens; and each man must have a female companion—a hopping
wife as she is termed.

2. in. pl. (gaming).—The queens of all the four suits.

Hopping-Giles, subs. (common).—A cripple. For synonyms, see Dot-and-go-one.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1885. Household Words, 27 June, p. 180. St. Giles is the patron
saint of cripples; hence a lame person is mockingly called hopping
giles.

Hopping-jesus, subs. (colloquial).—A lameter. For synonyms, see Dot-and-go-one.

Hopping-mad, adj. (American).—Very angry.

Hop-pole, subs. (common).—A tall, slight person, male or female. For synonyms, see Lamp-post.

1850. Smedley, Frank Farleigh, p. 5. I was tall for my age, but
slightly built, and so thin, as often to provoke the application of
such epithets as hop-pole, ‘thread-paper,’ etc.

Horizontal-refreshment, subs. (venery).—1. Carnal intercourse; cf., Upright. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride. [Fr., une horizontale = a prostitute.] Also, To Horizontalise.

2. (common).—Food taken standing; generally applied to a mid-day snack at a bar.

Horn, subs. (common).—1. The nose. Also, Horney. For synonyms, see Conk.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Horney—a nose; one that resounds
in expectoration.

2. (common).—A drink; a dram of spirits. For synonyms, see Go.

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, p. 193. Go on, Venus. Take another horn
first.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West. p. 126. They called the
Scotchman to take a horn.

3. (venery).—An erection of the penis. [Properly of men only; but said of both sexes. In the feminine equivalents are Cunt-itch and Cunt-stand].

Hence To get (or have) the horn, verb. phr. = to achieve erection;
to cure the horn = to copulate; horning and horny, in course of, or
disposed to erection; hornification, subs. = the state, or process,
of erection; hornify (see verb), = to get (or give) the horn; Miss
Horner, subs. = the pudendum muliebre; old horney (or hornington) =
the penis.

English Synonyms.—Cock- (or prick-) stand; Irish toothache; in one’s Sunday (or best) clothes; the jack; hard-on (American); horn-colic; horn-mad (said also of an angry cuckold); fixed bayonets; lance in rest; the old Adam; standing; on the stand; stiffened up; the spike.

4. (old).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

5. (colloquial).—Also in pl., see verb.

Horn, verb (colloquial).—To cuckold. [Becco (= a he-goat) and cornuto (= a horned thing) are good Italian for a cuckold; in Florio (Worlde of Wordes, 1598) andar in cornouaglia senza barca (i.e., to go to Cornwall without a ship) = to win the horn; and the expression, as the example from Lydgate appears to show, may very well have been imported into English from the Italian. Also, it seems to have begun to be literary about the middle of the sixteenth century, when the Italian influence was at its height. For the rest it passed in triumph into written English, was used in every possible combination, had a run at least two centuries long, and is still intelligible, though not in common service.] See Actæon, antlers, bull’s feather, freeman of bucks, etc.

Hence, to hornify (see subs., sense 3), and to graft (or give)
horns; to wear horns = to live a cuckold; horner, subs. = a cuckold
maker; horn-mad, adj. phr. (q.v.); horned, adj. = cuckolded;
horn-grower (or merchant) subs. = a married man; horn-fever, subs.
= cuckoldry; to exalt one’s horn, verb. phr. = (1) to cuckold, and
(2) to rejoice in, or profit by, the condition; to wind the horn =
to publish the fact of cuckoldom; horns-to-sell, subs. phr. = (1) a
lewd wife, and (2) a wittol; to point the horn = to fork the
fingers in derision (as in Hogarth’s ‘Industrious and Idle
Apprentice,’ 1790, plate v.); horn-works = the process of
cuckolding; at the sign of the horn = in cuckoldom; horn-pipe =
(see quot. 1602); horned herd, subs. phr. = husbands in general
(specifically, the city men, the Citizens of London, the cuckolding
of whom by West-end gallants is a constant theme of seventeenth
century jokes); gilt-horn, subs. = a contented Cuckold; spirit of
hartshorn = the suspicion or the certainty of cuckoldom; long
horns, subs. = a notorious cuckold; knight of Hornsey, also member
for Horncastle, subs. phr. = a cuckold, etc.

d. 1440. Lydgate, Falle of Prynces, ii., leaf 56 (ed. Wayland,
1557, quoted in Dyce’s Skelton, 1843, ii., 132). To speke plaine
Englishe made him cokolde. Alas I was not auised wel before
Vnkonnyngly to speake such language: I should haue sayde how that
he had an horne.... And in some land Cornodo men do them call, And
some affirme that such folk have no gall.

c. 152(?). Hick Scorner (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, i.,
180). My mother was a lady of the stews, blood born, And (Knight of
the Halter) my father wore an horne.

c. 1537. Thersites (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, i., 412).
Why wilt thou not thy hornes inhold? Thinkest thou that I am a
cuckold.

c. 1550. The Pride and Abuse of Women (176 in Early Pop. Poetry,
ed. Hazlitt, iv., 237). And loke well, ye men to your wives.... Or
some wyll not styche.... To horne you on everye side.

1568. Bannatyne MSS. ‘The use of Court,’ p. 765 (Hunterian Club,
1886). Vp gettis hir wame, Scho thinkis no schame For to bring hame
The laird ane horne.

1574. Appius and Virginia (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, iv.,
118). A hairbrain, a hangman, or a grafter of hornes.

1575. Laneham’s Letter (ed. 1871). p. 40. With yoor paciens,
Gentlmen, ... be it said: wear it not in deede that hornz bee so
plentie, hornware I beleeue woold bee more set by than it iz, and
yet thear in our parts, that wyll not stick too auoow that many an
honest man both in citee and cuntree hath his hoous bv horning well
vphollden, and a daily freend allso at need.

c. 1580. Collier of Croydon (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875,
viii., 436). My head groweth hard, my horns will shortly spring.

1586. Lupton, 1,000 Not. Things, ed. 1675, p. 261. Take heed thou
art not horn’d, and then fetcht home.

1597. Hall, Satires, i., 8. Fond wittol that would’st load thy
witless head, With timely horns before thy bridal bed. Idem, ii.,
7. If chance it come to wanton Capricorne, And so into the Ram’s
disgraceful horne.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., Act i., sc. 2. Well, he hath the
horn of abundance and the lightness of his wife shines through it.

1598. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, v., 1. See, what a drove of
horns fly in the air, Winged with my cleansèd and my credulous
breath.

1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, ed. 1641, v., 41. The adulterous
Sargus.... Courting the Shee Goates on the grassie shore Would horn
their husbands that had horns before.

1599. Jonson, Every Man Out of his Humour, iv., 4. Now horn upon
horn pursue thee, thou blind, egregious, dotard.

1600. Look About You, Sc. 10 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875,
v., 415). By adding horns unto our falcon’s head.

1600. Shakspeare, As You Like it, iv., 2. Take thou no scorn to
wear the horn, It was a crest ere thou wast born.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado about Nothing, i. Then up comes the
devil with his horns upon his head, looking like an old cuckold.
Ibid. v. 1. But when shall we see the savage bull’s horns on the
sensible Benedict’s head.

1601. Jonson, Poetaster, iv., 3. And there is never a star in thy
forehead but shall be a horn if thou dost persist to abuse me.

1602. Campion, English Poesy (Bullen, Works, 1889, p. 248). Mock
him not with horns, the case is altered.

1603. Philotus (Pinkerton, Scottish Poems, 1792, iii., 17). Sen
thair may be na uther buit? Plat on his heid ane horne.

1604. Marston, Malcontent, i., I. Mendoza is the man makes thee a
horned beast: ’tis Mendoza cornutes thee.

1605. Jonson, Volpone, ii., 4. Volp.: Nay, then, I not repent me of
my late disguise. Mos.: If you can horne him, Sir, you need not.

1605. Chapman, All Fools, v., 1 (Plays, 1874, p. 75). And will you
blow the horn yourself where you may keep it to yourself? Go to,
you are a fool. Ibid. (p. 76.) It may very well be that the devil
brought horns into the world, but the women brought them to the
men.

1607. How a Man May Choose a Good Wife From a Bad, ii., I.
(Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ix., 28). Quando venis aput, I
shall have two horns on my caput.

1607. Dekker, Northward Hoe, Act i., p. 8. If a man be deuorst,
whether may he haue an action or no, gainst those that make horns
at him. Ibid. iv., p. 54. This curse is on all letchers throwne,
They give horns and, at last, hornes are their owne.

1608. Rowlands, Humor’s Looking Glass, p. 22. Besides, shee is as
perfect chast as faire. But being married to a jealous asse, He
vowes shee horns him.

1609. Jonson, Epicœne, iii., 1. By that light you deserve to be
grafted, and your horns reach from one side of the island to the
other.

1616. Jonson, Devil’s an Ass, v., 5. And a cuckold is, Wherever he
puts his head, with a wannion, his horns be forth, the devil’s
companion.

1618. Samuel Rowlands, The Night Raven, p. 25. ’Tis this bad liver
doth the horne-plague breed, Which day and night my jealous
thoughts doth feed.

1623. Cockeran, Eng. Dict. s.v. Sargus, an adulterous fish which
goes on the grassie shore, and hornes the hee Goates that had horns
before.

1627. Drayton, Agincourt and Other Poems, p. 174. Some made mouthes
at him, others as in scorne With their forkt fingers poynted him
the horn.

1629. Davenant, Albovine, ed. 1673, p. 436. ’Twas a subtle reach to
tell him that the King had horn’d his brow.

1633. Rowley, Match at Midnight (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875,
xiii., 40). horning the headman of his parish and taking money for
his pains.

1633. Ford, Love’s Sacrifice, iii., 3. Fernando is your rival, has
stolen your duchess’s heart, murther’d friendship; horns your head,
and laughs at your horns.

1637. Beaumont and Fletcher, Elder Brother, iv., 4. I shall have
some music yet At my making free o’ th’ company of horners.

1640. Rawlins, The Rebellion, i., I. (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed.,
1875, xiv., 15). Fresh as a city bridegroom that has signed his
wife a grant for the grafting of horns.

1643. Brome, A New Diurnal. (Chalmers, Eng. Poets, 1810, vi., 667).
Prince Rupert, for fear that his name be confounded, Will saw off
his horns, and make him a Roundhead.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Women Pleased, v. 3. I shall then be
full of scorn, Wanton, proud (beware the horn).

1653. Middleton and Rowley, The Spanish Gypsy, iii., I. Beggars
would on cock-horse ride. And boobies fall a-roaring, And cuckolds
though no horns be spied, Be one another goring.

1653. Davenant, The Siege of Rhodes, p. 34. It stuffs up the
marriage bed with thorns, It gores itself, it gores itself with
imagined horns.

1657. Middleton, Women, Beware of Woman (1657), iii., 2. Cuckolds
dance the hornpipe, and farmers dance the hay. Idem., iv., 2. Go,
lie down, master; but take care your horns do not make holes in the
pillow-beers.

1659. Lady Alimony, i., 2 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv.,
280). My scene, Trillo, is horn alley. Ibid., iii., 6 (p. 340).
Doubt nothing, my fellow Knights of hornsey.

1661. Webster, Cure for a Cuckold (1661), v., 2. He that hath horns
thus let him learn to shed.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, iv., 1 (Dodsley, Old Plays,
4th ed., 1875, xiv., 473). I hope to exalt the Parson’s horn here.
Ibid., (p. 477). Only to fright the poor cuckholds and make the
fools visit their horns. Ibid., v., 4 (p. 519). Methinks my horns
ache more than my corns. Ibid. ib. (p. 520). I have seen a cuckold
of your complexion: if he had lent as much hoof as horn, you might
have hunted the beast by the slot.

1664. Butler, Hudibras, II., ii. For when men by their wives are
cowed, Their horns of course are understood.

1668. L’Estrange, Visions of Quevedo, p. 251 (ed. 1708). He that
marries, ventures fair for the horn, either before or after.

1672. Ray, Proverbs (in Bohn, 1889), s.v. He had better put his
horns in his pocket than wind them. Idem. (p. 184). Horns and gray
hairs do not come with years. Idem. id., Who hath horns in his
pocket let him not put them on his head.

1675. Wycherley, Country Wife, v., 4. Epilogue: Encouraged by our
woman’s man to-day, a horner’s part may vainly think to play.
Ibid., i., 1. I make no more cuckolds, sir. [Makes horns.] Ibid.,
iv., 3. If ever you suffer your wife to trouble me again here, she
shall carry you home a pair of horns.

1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, iv., 1. First, the clandestine
obscenity in the very name of horner.

d. 1680. Butler, Remains (1757), ii., 372. His own branches, his
horns, are as mystical as the Whore of Babylon’s Palfreys, not to
be seen but in a vision.

1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, iv., 15. Pox choke him. Would his
horns were in his throat.

1695. Congreve, Love for Love, iv., 15. The clocks will strike
twelve at noon, and the horned herd buzz in the Exchange at two.

1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, iv., 3. Should I ever be tried
before this judge, how I should laugh to see how gravely his goose
cap sits upon a pair of horns!

1700. Congreve, Way of the World, iii., 7. Man should have his head
and horns, and woman the rest of him.

1702. Steele, The Funeral or Grief à la Mode, Act. i., p. 22. This
wench I know has played me false, and horned me in my gallants.
[Note.—That the speaker is a female shows the word to have been
transferable to the other sex.]

1708. W. King, Art of Love, pt. x. (Chalmers, English Poets, 1810,
ix., 274). Sometimes his dirty paws she scorns, While her fair
fingers show his horns.

1708. Prior, Poems. ‘The Turtle and Sparrow,’ line 302–9. ‘Two
staring Horns,’ I often said, ‘but ill became a sparrow’s head’ ...
‘Whilst at the root your horns are sore, The more you scratch, they
ache the more.’

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 174. Who’s the Cuckoo, Who’s the
Cuckold, who’s the horner?

1728. Patrick Walker, Alexander Peden, ‘Postscript’ (ed. 1827, i.).
A profane, obscene meeting called the horn-order.

1737. Fielding, Tumble-Down Dick, Works (1718) iii., 408. Think it
enough your betters do the deed, And that by horning you I mend the
breed.

d. 1742. Somerville, Occasional Poems (Chalmers, English Poets,
1810, xi., 238). If I but catch her in a corner, Humph! ’tis your
servant, Colonel Horner.

1759–67. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, ch. xxxvii. Nor have the
horn-works he speaks of anything to do with the horn-works of
Cuckoldom.

1765. C. Smart, Fables, xi., line 66. And though your spouse my
lecture scorns. Beware his fate, beware his Horns.

d. 1770. Chatterton, The Revenge, i., I. Let her do what she will,
The husband is still, And but for his horns you would think him an
ass. Idem., ii., 4. Have you come horning.

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

1786. Captain Morris (Collection of Songs), The Great
Plenipotentiary, (9th ed. 1788, stanza ix., p. 43). She had horned
the dull brows of her worshipful spouse Till they sprouted like
Venus’s myrtle.

d. 1796. Burns, Merry Muses, ‘Cuddy the Cooper,’ p. 84. On ilka
brow she’s planted a horn, An’ swears that there they shall stan’,
O.

1813. Moore, Poems, ‘Re-inforcements for the Duke,’ iii., 209. Old
H——df——t at horn-works again might be tried.

1816. Quiz, Grand Master, canto vii., p. 199, line 10. (She)
smil’d, declaring that she scorn’d him, (She might have added that
she’d horn’d him).

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, c. xxxvi. O what a generous
creature is your true London husband! Horns hath he, but, tame as a
fatted ox, he goreth not.

1825. Scott, The Betrothed, ch. xvii. I ever tell thee, husband,
the horns would be worth the hide in a fair market.

To draw in one’s horns, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To withdraw or to retract; to cool down.

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

To horn off, verb. phr. (American). = To put on one side; to shunt. [As a bull or stag with his horns.]

1851. Hooper, Widow Rugby’s Husband, etc., p. 69. You horned me off
to get a chance to get gaming witnesses out of the way.

In a horn, adv. phr. (American).—A general qualification, implying refusal or disbelief; over the left (q.v.).

1858. Washington Evening Star, 26 Aug. I have mentioned before the
innumerable comforts—in a horn—of the old White Sulphur Springs.

To wind (or blow) the horn, verb. phr. (old).—To break wind; to fart (q.v.).

1620. Percy, Folio, MSS., ‘Fryar and Boye.’ Her tayle shall wind
the horne.

To cure the horn, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. See Horn, subs., sense 3. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

To have the horn, verb. phr. (venery). See Horn, subs., sense 3.

To come out of the little end of the horn, verb. phr. (common).—To get the worst of a bargain; to be reduced in circumstances. Also, to make much ado about nothing. Said generally of vast endeavour ending in failure. [Through some unexpected Squeeze (q.v.)].

1605. Jonson, Chapman, and Marston, Eastward Hoe, i., 1. I had the
horne of suretiship ever before my eyes. You all know the devise of
the horne, where the young fellow slippes in at the butte-end, and
comes squesd out at the buckall.

1624. Fletcher, Wife for a Month, iii., 3. Thou wilt look to-morrow
else Worse than the prodigal fool the ballad speaks of, That was
squeezed through a horn.

1847. Porter, Big Ben, etc., p. 37. How did you make it? You didn’t
come out at the little end of the horn, did you?

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, etc., p. 24. You never saw such a run
of luck; everywhere I touched was pizen, and I came out of the
leetle end of the horn.

1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 3 July, i., 2. The ‘great Trek,’ in that
expressive transatlantic phrase, has toddled out of the little end
of the horn.

Horn-colic, subs. (venery).—See Horn, subs., sense 3.

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

Hornet, subs. (common).—A disagreeable, cantankerous person.

Hornie (or Horness), subs. (old).—1. A constable or watchman; a sheriff.

1819. Vaux, Life, s.v. Horney, a Constable.

1821. Haggart, Life, 51. The woman missing it immediately, she sent
for the hornies.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Horness.

2. (Scots’).—The devil; generally Auld Hornie (q.v.).

1785. Burns, Address to the Deil. O thou! whatever title suits
thee, Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie.

Hornify, verb. (colloquial).—See Horn, subs., sense 3 and verb.

2. (venery).—See Horn, subs., sense 3.

Horn-mad, adj. (old).—1. See quot. 1690.

1593. Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors, ii., 1. Why, mistress, sure my
master is horn-mad.

1599. Henry Porter, The Two Angry Women of Abingdon (Dodsley, Old
Plays, 4th ed., 1875, vii.). And then I wound my horn, and he’s
horn-mad.

1604. Marston, Malcontent, i., 7. I am horn mad.

1605. Jonson, The Fox, iii., 6. Yet I’m not mad, Not horn-mad, see
you.

1639–61. Rump Songs, [1662], 293. The Country has grown sad, The
City is horn-mad.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Woman’s Prize, ii., 6. After my
twelve strong labours to reclaim her, Which would have made Don
Hercules horn-mad.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Horn-mad, stark staring Mad,
because Cuckolded.

1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, iv., 22. Ay, I feel it here; I
sprout; I bud; I blossom; I am ripe horn-mad.

1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, iv., 20. She forks out cuckoldom
with her fingers, and you are running horn-mad after your fortune.

1695. Congreve, Love for Love, v., 8. She’s mad for a husband, and
he’s horn-mad.

1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, iv., 3. Thou’rt horn-mad.
Prithee, leave impertinence.

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

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxvi. Ye might as well expect
brandy from beanstalks, or milk from a crag of blue whunstane. The
man is mad, horn-mad, to boot.

1825. Harriette Wilson, Memoirs, ii. 228. The little he did say was
chiefly on the subject of cuckolds and cuckolding. His lordship was
horn-mad.

2. (venery).—Sexually excited; lecherous; musty (q.v.). Also, Horny.

Hornswoggle, subs. (American).—Nonsense; humbug (q.v.). For synonyms, see Gammon.

Verb (American).—To humbug; to delude; to seduce.—Slang, Jargon, and Cant. Cf., In a horn.

Horn-thumb, subs. (old).—A pickpocket. [From the practice of wearing a sheath of horn to protect the thumb in cutting out.] See Thieves.

1569. Preston, Cambises (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1874, iv.,
235). But cousin, because to that office ye are not like come,
Frequent your exercises, a horne on your thumbe, A quick eye, a
sharp knife.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, ii. I mean a child of the
horn-thumb, a babe of booty, boy, a cut-purse.

1614. Greene, Looking-Glass [Dyce], p. 138. I cut this from a
new-married wife by means of a horn-thumb and a knife.—Six
shillings, four pence.

Horrors, subs. (common).—The first stage of delirium tremens. For synonyms, see Gallon-distemper. Also low spirits, or the blues (q.v.).

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 50. Paying the penalty in a
fit of horrors.

1857. Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (quoted by Bartlett). This
poison (fusil oil), which acts with terrible results on the nerves;
seeming like a diabolical inspiration, stirring up mania,
convulsions, and the horrorsin an incredibly short space of time.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. iv., ch. viii. What are
popularly called ‘the trembles’ being in full force upon him that
evening, and likewise what are popularly called the horrors, he had
a very bad time of it; which was not made better by his being so
remorseful as frequently to moan ‘Sixty threepennorths.’

1864. F. W. Robinson, Mr. Stewart’s Intentions, ch. i. ‘Well,
sermons always gave me the horrors, and engendered a hate of the
sermonizer.’

1883. Stevenson, Treasure Island ch. iii., p. 20 (1886). If I don’t
have a dram o’ rum, Jim, I’ll have the horrors.

1889. C. Haddon Chambers, In Australian Wilds. He’s sober now, you
see; but he managed to get blind drunk before eleven o’clock this
morning, and last week he narrowly escaped an attack of the
horrors.

1892. Henley and Stevenson, Three Rags, ‘Admiral Guinea,’ iv., 3.
It’s the horrors come alive.

2. (common).—Sausages. See Chamber of Horrors and Dog’s-paste.

3. (thieves’).—Handcuffs. For synonyms, see Darbies.

Horse, subs. (common).—1. A five-pound note. See Finnup.

2. (thieves’).—Horsemonger Lane Gaol. Also the Old Horse. Now obsolete.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, 1, p. 457. The only
thing that frightens me when I’m in prison is sleeping in a cell by
myself—you do in the Old Horse and the Steel.

3. (American).—A man: generally in affection. Also Old Hoss, or Hoss-fly.

1838. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. xviii. He
is all sorts of a hoss, and the best live one that ever cut dirt
this side of the big pond, or t’other side either.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 74. What in the yearth did you do
with old Hoss on the road?—He ain’t gin out, has he? Ibid., p. 70.
None of your stuck-up imported chaps from the dandy states, but a
real genuine westerner—in short, a hoss!

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 5. Hyar’s a hoss as’ll make
fire come.

1857. Gladstone, Englishman in Kansas, p. 43. Here, boys, drink.
Liquors, captain, for the crowd. Step up this way, old hoss, and
liquor.

Verb (venery).—1. To possess a woman. For synonyms, see Ride.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, iv., 3. Say’st thou so, filly? Thou
shalt have a leap presently, I’ll horse thee myself, else.

2. (workmen’s).—See quots. Cf., Flog the dead horse.

1857. Notes and Queries, 2 S., iv., p. 192. A workman horses it
when he charges for more in his week’s work than he has really
done. Of course he has so much unprofitable work to get through in
the ensuing week, which is called dead horse.

1867. All the Year Round, 13 July, p. 59. To horse a man, is for
one of two men who are engaged on precisely similar pieces of work
to make extraordinary exertions in order to work down the other
man. This is sometimes done simply to see what kind of a workman a
new man may be, but often with the much less creditable motive of
injuring a fellow workman in the estimation of an employer.

The gray mare is the better horse. See Gray-mare.

Horse foaled of an acorn, subs. phr. (old).—1. The gallows. For synonyms, see Triple-tree.

1760–61. Smollett, Sir L. Greaves, ch. viii. I believe as how ’tis
no horse, but a devil incarnate; and yet I’ve been worse mounted,
that I have—I’d like to have rid a horse that was foaled of an
acorn (i.e., he had nearly met with the fate of Absalom).

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

1827. Lytton, Pelham, ch. lxxxii. The cove ... is as pretty a
Tyburn blossom as ever was brought up to ride a horse foaled by an
acorn.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 8. ... As to this little
fellow ... he shall never mount a horse foaled by an acorn, if I
can help it.

2. (military).—The triangles or crossed halberds under which soldiers were flogged.

Old- (or Salt-) Horse, subs. (nautical). Salt beef. Also Junk and Salt-junk.

1889. Chambers’s Journal, 3 Aug., 495. Mr. Clark Russell declares
that salt-horse works out of the pores, and contributes to that
mahogany complexion common to sailors, which is often mistakenly
attributed to rum and weather.

One-horse, adj. (American). Comparatively small, insignificant, or unimportant.

1858. Washington Evening Star. On Friday last, the engineer of a
fast train was arrested by the authorities of a one-horse town in
Dauphin County, Pa., for running through the borough at a greater
rate of speed than is allowed by their ordinances.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 221. The indignant settler who has
been ill-treated, as he fancies, in court, denounces his attorney
as a ‘miserable, one-horse lawyer;’ and the Yankee newly arrived in
England does not hesitate to declare that ‘Liverpool is a poor
one-horse kind of a place,’ a term applied by Mark Twain to no less
a city than Rome itself; and a witty clergyman of Boston inveighed
once bitterly against ‘timid, sneaking, one-horse oaths, as
infinitely worse than a good, round, thundering outburst.’

1891. National Review, Sep., p. 127. Mr. Marion Crawford’s Witch of
Prague (Macmillan & Co.) is, as his compatriots would say, rather a
one-horse witch.

To be horsed, verb. phr. (old).—To be flogged [from the wooden-horse used as a flogging-stool]; to take on one’s back as for a flogging.

1678. Butler, Hudibras, pt. III., c. 1. The spirit hors’d him like
a sack Upon the vehicle his back.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xvii. Our unfortunate hero
was publicly horsed, in terrorem of all whom it might concern.

1857. Thackeray, Virginians, ch. v. Serjeants, school-masters,
slave-overseers, used the cane freely. Our little boys had been
horsed many a day by Mr. Dempster.

1881. Notes and Queries, 1 Jan., p. 18. I got well horsed for such
a breach of discipline.

To fall away from a horseload to a cartload, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Horseplay. Fallen away from a
horseload to a cartload, spoken ironically of one considerably
improved in flesh on a sudden.

To flog the dead horse.—See Dead-horse and Horse, verb. sense 2.

To put the cart before the horse, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To begin at the wrong end; to set things hind-side before.

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

To put the saddle on the right horse, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To apportion accurately.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Horse. Set the saddle on the
right horse, lay the Blame where the Fault is.

To ride on a horse with (or bayard of) ten toes, verb. phr. (common).—To walk; to use the Marrowbone-stage. Cf., Shanks’s Mare.

1606. Breton, Good and Badde, p. 14. His trauell is the walke of
the woful, and his horse Bayard of ten toes.

1662. Fuller, Worthies, Somerset, ii., 291. At last he [Coryat]
undertook to travail into the East Indies by land, mounted on an
horse with ten toes.

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

As good as a shoulder of mutton to a sick horse, phr. (old).—Utterly worthless.

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, ii., 1. Counsel to him
is as good as a shoulder of mutton to a sick horse.

As strong as a horse, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Very strong: a general intensitive.

Horse and horse, adv. phr. (American).—Neck and neck; even.

Horsebreaker (or Pretty Horsebreaker), subs. (colloquial).—A woman (c. 1860), hired to ride in the park; hence, a riding courtesan. See also quot. 1864. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. iv., p. 33 (1873). Kate
Mellor was a horsebreaker, a bonâ fide horsebreaker; one who curbed
colts, and ‘took it out of’ kickers and rearers.

1865. Public Opinion, 30 Sep. These demi-monde people, anonymas,
horsebreakers, hetairæ ... are by degrees pushing their way into
society.

Horse-buss, subs. (old).—A loud-sounding kiss; a bite.

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

Horse-capper (-coper, -coser, -courser, or -chaunter), subs. (common).—A dealer in worthless or ‘faked’ horses. [Originally good English. To cope = to barter.] See Chanter. Hence Horse-coping and Horse-duffing.

1616. Overbury, Characters (Rimbault, 9th ed., 1856, p. 120). An
arrant horse-courser hath the trick to blow up horseflesh as the
butcher does veal.