A little boy who gets into a house through the sink-hole, and then opens the door for his accomplices: he is so called, from writhing and twisting like a snake, in order to work himself through the narrow passage.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
A small dark cell in Guildhall, London, where disorderly apprentices are confined by the city chamberlain: it is called Little Ease from its being so low that a lad cannot stand upright in it.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
A young chimney-sweeper.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
A slovenly fop; one finely dressed, but dirty.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
Seriously…it’s in the dictionary as a phrase used then…I’m not making this stuff up…
Of sufficient quality : meeting an applicable standard
Also can mean a shrewd or sharp person.
A groom in livery.
In novels, you may read a tiger as the servant who rides in the back of a curricle and takes the reins after his master exits.
The feeding, stabling, and care of horses for pay : livery stable : a concern offering vehicles (as boats) for rent
The distinctive clothing or badge formerly worn by the retainers of a person of rank : a servant’s uniform : distinctive dress : garb : an identifying design (as on a vehicle) that designates ownership
fib : pretentious nonsense
A fib, or falsity.
An impressive, pompous, or fashionable air or display : a person dressed in the height of fashion : a person of high social position or outstanding competence
A gentleman. A well-dressed map. The flashman bounced the swell of all his blunt; the girl’s bully frightened the gentleman out of all his money.
