Chapter 5

Floor,verb.(colloquial).—1. To knock down. Hence to vanquish in argument; to make an end of; to defeat; to confound.SeeFlooredandDead-beat.1785.Grose,Dict. Vulg. Tongue.Floorthe pig, knock down the officer.1821.Haggart,Life, p. 15. That moment the farmer let fly at the drover, whichflooredhim.1857.G. A. Lawrence,Guy Livingstone, ch. xxi. ‘When I saw him soflooredas not to be able to come to time, I knew there had been some hard hitting going on thereabouts, so I kept clear.’1821.Egan,Tom and Jerry, p. 10. Then (apostrophising ‘Maga’)floorme not.Ibid., p. 60,The Corinthian, being no novice in these matters,flooredtwo or three in a twinkling.1835.Coleridge,Table Talk(published posthumously). The other day I was what you may calledflooredby a Jew.1836.C. Dickens,Pickwick Papers,p. 425 (Ed. 1857). Even Mr. Bob Sawyer … wasfloored.1862.Mrs. H. Wood,The Channings, ch. v. ‘So if the master is directing his suspicions to the seniors, he’ll getfloored.’1870.L. Oliphant,Piccadilly, Pt. V., p. 196. ‘Whenever the mammas object to asking her on account of that horrid Lady Wylde,’ Ifloorall opposition by saying, ‘Oh, Lady Jane Helter will bring her.’1888.Sportsman, 28 Nov. Pope, who was the fresher, started at a terrific pace and drove his man all over the ring, ending byflooringhim.To floor the odds(betting men’s).—Said of a low-priced horse that pulls off the event in face of the betting.1882.Daily Telegraph, 16 Nov. The odds were, nevertheless,flooredfrom an unexpected quarter.[30]1889.Echo, 24 Jan. As the odds betted on Miss Jessie II. were easilyflooredby Marsden.2. (drunkards’).—To finish; to get outside of.E.g., ‘Iflooredthree half-pints and a nip before breakfast.’1837.Punch, 31 Jan. Dear Bill, this stone jug.… Is still the same snug, Free-and-easy old hole, Where Macheath met his blowens, and Wyldeflooredhis bowl.18(?).Macmillan’s Magazine(quoted inCentury Dict.). I have a few bottles of old wine left: we may as wellfloorthem.3. (university).—To pluck; toplough(q.v.).To floor a paper,lesson,examination,examiner, etc.,verb. phr.(university).—To answer every question; to master; to prove oneself superior to the occasion.1852.Bristed,Five Years in an English University, p. 12. Somehow I nearlyflooredthe paper.1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford. I’veflooredmy Little Go.To floor one’s licks,verb. phr.(common).—To surpass one’s self; tocut-around(q.v.).1844.Puck, p. 14. Now slowly rising, raised his pewter andfloored his licks.To have,hold, ortake the floor,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To rise to address a public meeting; in Ireland, to stand up to dance; and, in America, ‘to be in possession of the House.’1882.McCabe,New York, xxi., p. 342. A member making a bid below or an offer above the one whichhas the floor.1888.St. Louis Globe-Democrat. After a half hour’s recess Mr. Glovertook the floor.1889.Pall Mall Gazette, 11 Nov., p. 6, col. 1. The Duke of Rutland, however, who ‘took the floor’ non-politically at the end of the evening, was really ‘felicitous’ in his few remarks.Floored,ppl.adj.(colloquial).—1. Vanquished; brought under; ruined. For synonyms,seeDead-beatandinfra.English Synonyms.—Basketted; bitched; bitched-up; bowled out; broken up; buggered up; busted; caved in; choked-off; cornered; cooked; coopered up; dead-beat; done brown; done for; done on toast; doubled up; flattened-out; fluffed; flummoxed; frummagemmed; gapped; gone through St. Peter’s needle; gone under; gravelled; gruelled; hoofed out; in the last of pea-time, or last run of shad; jacked-up; knocked out of time; knocked silly; looed; mucked-out; petered out; pocketed; potted; put in his little bed; queered in his pitch; rantanned; sat upon; sewn up; shut-up; smashed to smithereens; snashed; snuffed out; spread-eagled; struck of a heap; stumped; tied up; timbered; treed; trumped; up a tree.French Synonyms.—Mon linge est lavé(pop.: = I have thrown up the sponge);coller sous bande(= to put in a hole: at billiards,bande= cushion);avoir son affaire(pop: = to have got a ‘settler’);aplatir(fam: = to flatten out);aplomber(thieves’: = to brazen down; to bluff);être pris dans la balancine(pop.: = to be in a fix);se faire coller(familiar);envoyer quelqu’un s’asseoir, ors’asseoir sur quelqu’un(popular).Italian Synonym.—Traboccare(= to overturn).[31]Spanish Synonyms.—Pesado(doubled-up: frompeso= weight);aculado(fromacular= to corner);arrollar(= to sweep away, as a torrent);aturrullar(= to shut up);cogite!(= ‘I’ve got you.’ or, ‘there I have you!’)2. (common).—Drunk; in Shakspearean ‘put down’: as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, ‘Never in your life, I think, unless youseeCanaryput me down.’ (Twelfth Night, i., 3). For synonyms,seeScrewed.3. (painters’).—Hung low at an exhibition; in contradistinction toskyed(q.v.), andon the line(q.v.).Floorer,subs.(common).—1. Anauctioneer(q.v.); or knock-down blow;cf.,Dig,Bang, andWipe. Hence, sudden or unpleasant news; a decisive argument; an unanswerable retort; a decisive check. Sp.,peso.1819.T. Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 20.For in thesefancytimes, ’tis your hits in themuns, And yourchoppersandfloorersthat govern the funds.1839.Swinton,Trial of Wm. Humphreys, p. 297. It is a downrightfloorerto the Grown.1856.Bradley(‘Cuthbert Bede’),Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green. The Putney Pet stared.… The inquiry for his college was, in the language of his profession, a ‘regularfloorers.’1861.H. C. Pennell,Puck on Pegasus, p. 20. What afloorersto my hopes is this performance on the ropes! Miss Mariannesuspensa scalis—(Would twere sus. per coll instead).1868.Cassell’s Magazine, 4 Jan., p. 213. ‘Ah, she hasn’t told you of the strokes I have had, one arter the other—cleanfloorers, and left like a log of wood in my bed.’2. (schools’).—A question, or a paper, too hard to master.3. (bowling alley).—A ball that brings down all the pins.4. (thieves’).—A thief who trips his man, and robs in picking him up; aRamper(q.v.).1809.G. Andrews,Dict. of the Slang and Cant Languages, s.v.Flooring,subs.(pugilists’).—Knocking down. Hence, to vanquish in all senses.1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. xii. Cross-buttocking … being as indispensable an ingredient, as nobbing,flooring, etc.Floor-walker,subs.(American).—A shop-walker.Flop,subs. and verb.(American university).—1. Abite(q.v.); a successful dodge.1856.Hall,College Words and Customs. Any ‘cute’ performance by which a man is sold is a goodflop, and by a phrase borrowed from the base-ball ground is ‘rightly played.’ The discomfited individual declares that they ‘are all on a side,’ and gives up, or ‘rolls over,’ by giving his opponent ‘gowdy.’ A man writes cards during examinations to ‘feeze the profs’; said cards are ‘gumming cards,’ and heflopsthe examination if he gets a good mark by the means. One usuallyflopshis marks by feigning sickness.2. (common)—A sudden fall or ‘flop’ down.3. (common).—A collapse or breakdown.4. (Forflaporflip, old).—A light blow.1662.Rump Songs, ii., 3. The good the Rump will do, when they prevail, Is to give us aflopwith a fox’s tail, Which nobody can deny.[32]Verb.(colloquial).—1. To fall, or flap down suddenly. A variant of ‘flap.’ Fr.,prendre un billet de parterre.1742.Fielding,Joseph Andrews, bk. iv. ch. v. She hadfloppedher hat over her eyes.1859.Dickens,Tale of Two Cities,bk. ii. ch. i. If you must gofloppingyourself down.1870.Public Opinion, 12 Feb. But even if they were more numerous and greater than they are, we should hold aloof from the crowd thatflopsin his presence with love and awe, as the dismal wife of Jerry Cruncherfloppedin pious misery.1883.The Theatre, Feb., p. 93. She is able to call in tumbling to the aid of tragedy, and bring the plastic arts to the portrayal of the passions; toflopthrough four such acts as these night after night, and finish with a death-scene warranted correct, to the very last kick and quiver.1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 118. He cursed under his breath each time he rose to follow, and smothered a yell of pain and horror each time heflopped down.2. (pugilists’).—To knock down; toFloor(q.v.).1888.Sporting Life, 15 Dec. ’E carntflopa bloke.Adv.(colloquial).—An onomatopœia expressive of the noise of a sudden and sounding fall. Often used expletively, asslap(q.v.) is, and the Americanright(q.v.)1726.Vanbrugh,Journey to London, Act I., Sc. 2. That down came Iflopo’ my feace all along in the channel.1860.Punch, v. 38, p. 255. ’Twixt two stools,flop, he let me drop, The fall it was my murther.1881.Jas. Payn,Grape from a Thorn, ch. vi. ‘She’ll roll down, papa, and comeflop.’To flop over,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To turn heavily; hence (in America), to make a sudden change of sides, association, or allegiance.Flop-Up,subs.(American).—A day’s tramp, as opposed to asot-down= half a day’s travel.1888.Detroit Free Press, 15 Sept. ‘Stranger, did ye lope it?’ (come on foot). ‘Yes.’ ‘A mile or a sot down?’ ‘More’n that. About a dozenflop-ups.’Flop-up-time= Bedtime.[Flop, too, is something of a vocable of all-work. Thusto flop in= (venery) to effect intromission;to flop round= to loaf; to dangle;to flop a judy= to lay out, or ‘spread’ (q.v.), a girl;to do a flop= (colloquial) to sit, or to fall, down, and (venery) to lie down to a man;to flop out= to leave the water noisily and awkwardly; belly-flopping= belly-bumping, coition; aflopin the gills = a smack in the mouth.]Florence,subs.(old)—‘A wench that has been touzed and ruffled.’1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew, and (1785)Grose, s.v.Floster,subs.(common).—A mixed drink: sherry, noyau, peach-leaves, lemon, sugar, ice, and soda-water.Cf.,Flesh-and-blood.Flouch.To fall(orgo),flouch(orfloush),verb. phr.(colloquial).—To come to pieces; to sag suddenly on the removal of a restraining influence: as a pair of stays.1819.Moore,Tom Crib, p. 13. Old Georgy wentfloush, and his backers look’d shy.Flounce,verb.(colloquial).—To move with violence, and (generally) in anger. Said of women, for whom such motion is, or rather was, inseparable from a great flourishing of flounces.Flounder,subs.(riverside thieves’).—1. A drowned corpse.Cf.,Dab, and for synonyms,seeStiff.[33]2. (Stock Exchange).—To sell, and afterwards re-purchase a stock, orvice versâ.1889.Echo, 1 Feb. A third expedient offers itself—namely, to turn round and buy; but this operation goes by the name of ‘floundering’ especially when the speculator loses both ways.Flounder-and-Dab,subs. phr.(rhyming).—A cab. For synonyms,seeGrowler.Flour,subs.(American).—Money. For synonyms,seeActualandGilt.Flourish,subs.(venery).—Coition in a hurry;flyer(q.v.); afast-fuck(q.v.). Also verbally. For synonymsseeGreensandRide.1796.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue(3rd ed.), s.v. To enjoy a woman with her clothes on or without going to bed.Verb(colloquial.).—To be in luck:e.g., ‘I flourish’ = ‘I am well off’; ‘Do you flourish,’ or ‘Are you flourishing?’ = ‘Have you got any money?’Flourishing,adj.(colloquial).—A retort to the enquiry, ‘How are you?’ The equivalent of ‘Pretty well, thank you?’To flourish it,verb. phr.(venery).—To expose the person.Flower,subs.(venery).—1. The femalepudendum. AlsoFlower-pot. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.2.In pl.(conventional).—The menstrual flux.Cf.,Flag, sense 3.1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Biancure, the monthlyflowersthat women have.1611.Cotgrave,Dictionarie.Le fourrier de la lune a marqué le logis, applicable to a woman that hath herflowers.Flower-Fancier,subs. phr.(venery).—A whore-master.Flowery,subs.(thieves’).—Lodging; entertainment; ‘square the omee for theflowery’ = pay the landlord for the lodging. [Lingua Franca.]Flowery Language,subs. phr.(colloquial).—A euphemism for blasphemous and obscene speech.Flower of Chivalry,subs. phr.(venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Flowing-hope,subs.(military).—A forlorn hope.Flub-dub-and-Guff,subs. phr.(American).—Rhetorical embellishment;high-falutin’(q.v.).1888.Detroit Free Press, August. Rev. Mr. Selah (to desk editor of theDaily Roarer)—‘Mr. Seezars, are you going to publish my prayer in full?’ Desk Editor—‘In full? Well, I guess not.’ (Changing his tone)—‘However, we’ll do what we can for you. By swiping out theflub-dub-and-guff, I guess we’ll have room to put in the points.’Flue,subs.(old). 1. The Recorder of London or any large town.Bamfylde Moore-Carew.2. (colloquial).—The filth, part fluff, part hair, part dust, which collects under ill-kept beds, and at the junctures of sofas and chairs;Beggar’s Velvet(q.v.).1860.Dickens,Uncommercial Traveller. ‘Arcadian London.’ A power they possess of converting everything intoflue. Such broken victuals as they take by stealth appear (whatever the nature[34]of the viands) to generateflue.…Ibid.‘Refreshment for Travellers.’ Take the old established Bull’s Head … with its old-establishedflueunder its old established four-post bedsteads.3. (common).—A contraction of ‘influenza.’Verb(common).—To put in pawn.In(orup)the flue,phr.(common).—Pawned. For synonyms,seePop.1821.Real Life,etc., I., p. 566.1851.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, II., p. 250. I’ve had sometimes to leave half my stockin fluewith a deputy for a night’s rest.Up the flue(orspout),adj. phr.(colloquial).—Dead; collapsed, mentally or physically.To be up one’s flue,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To be awkward for one.That’s up your flue= That’s a ‘facer,’ or that’s up against you.Flue-Faker(orScraper),subs.(common).—A chimney-sweep. [FromFlue+Faker(q.v.).]Minor clergy= young chimney sweeps. For synonyms,seeClergyman.1821.Egan,Tom and Jerry, p. 60. The ‘office’ has been given to ‘shove’ the poorflue-fakeragainst Tom’s light drab coat.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.1882.Punch.LXXXII., p. 185, col. 2.Fluff(orFluffings),subs.(railway clerks’).—1. Short change given by booking-clerks. The practice is known asFluffing.Cf.,Menavelings. Fr.,des fruges(= more or less unlawful profits of any sort).1890.Star, 27 Jan. Many porters on this line are but getting 15s. per week, and with regard to ‘tips,’ or, as we say, ‘fluff’—well, would you not think it mean to tell your servant when you engaged him that such were strictly forbidden by punishment with dismissal, and then proclaim to the world that with good wages and tips your servant was well paid.2. (theatrical).—‘Lines’ half learned and imperfectly delivered. Hence,To do a fluff= to forget one’s part.1891.W. Archer,The World, p. 28, col. 1, line 34. But even as seen through a cloud offluffthe burlesque is irresistibly amusing.3. (venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms,seeFleece.Verb.(railway clerks’).—1. To give short change.2. (common).—To disconcert, toFloor(q.v.).Cf.,Fluff in the Pan= a failure.3. (theatrical).—To forget one’s part. AlsoTo do a fluff.Fluff it!Intj.(common).—An interjection of disapproval: ‘Be off!’ ‘Take it away!’Fluffer,subs.(common).—1. A drunkard.Cf.,Fluffiness.2. (theatrical).—A player ‘rocky on his lines’;i.e., given to forgetting his part.3. (old).—A term of contempt.Fluffiness,subs.(common).—1. Drunkenness.Cf.,FluffyandFluffer.1886.Fun, 4 August, p. 44. A sullen-faced, clerical-looking young man, charged withfluffinessin a public conveyance, said he was sober as a judge when taken into custody.[35]2. (theatrical).—The trick, or habit, of forgetting words.Fluffy,adj.(common and theatrical).—Unsteady; of uncertain memory.Cf.,Fluffer(sense 2), andFluffiness(sense 2).1885.Referee, July 26, p. 3, col. 2. In the last act Groves and one or two others were either what actors callfluffyin their lines, or else Mr. Cross was guilty of irritating tautology.Fluke,subs.(common).—In billiards, an accidental winning hazard; in all games a result not played for; acrow(q.v.). In yachting an effect of chance; a result in which seamanship has had no part. Hence, a stroke of luck. Sp.,bambarria.1857.Notes and Queries, 2 S. IV., p. 208, col. 1. In playing at billiards, if a player makes a hazard, etc., which he did not play for, it is often said that he made a crow.… Another term is, ‘He made aflook(orfluke).’1869.Whyte Melville,MorN, p. 100. ‘Only lost a pony on the whole meeting,’ answered Dick triumphantly. ‘And even that was afluke, because Bearwarden’s Bacchante filly was left at the post.’1873.Black,Princess of Thule, ch. xix. ‘These conditions are not often fulfilled—it is a happyflukewhen they are.’1880.Hawley Smart,Social Sinners, ch. xxxii. ‘I suppose, by your asking the question, you have become acquainted with Mr. Solamo’s past.’ ‘That’s just it, Mr. Prossiter; by an oddflukeI have.’1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 144. He was now being cured only to be hanged, mostlikely, unless by some happyflukehe got off with imprisonment for life.Verb(common and billiards).—1. To effect by accident.1888.Sportsman, 20 Dec. Fortune once more assisted Mitchell, who, in trying to make a red loser,flukeda cannon, from which he got on the spot, and made forty-three winners in a break of 161.2.(schoolboys’).—To shirk.1864.Eton School Days, ch. xvi., p. 203. ‘By Jove! I think I shallflukedoing Verses; I should like to see Paddy drive tandem through College,’ said Butler Burke.To cut flukes out,verb. phr.(nautical).—To mutiny; to turn sulky and disobedient.To turn flukes,verb. phr.(nautical).—To go to bed;i.e.,to bunk(q.v.), or turn in.Fluky, orFlukey,adj.(common).—Of the nature of afluke(q.v.);i.e., achieved more by good luck than good guidance.1882.Standard, 3 Sept. Bonnor got aFlukeythree to square leg.1891.Licensed Vict. Gazette, 20 March. Now, Grady was a smart young Irishman who had thrashed Stevens twice in days gone by, and had won a somewhatflukeyvictory over Young Norley.HenceFlukiness= abounding influkes.1886.Ill. Sport. and Dram. News, 20 Feb., p. 579. There is noflukinessabout him: he makes his runs because he is an excellent batsman, and takes his wickets because he is an excellent bowler.Flummadiddle,subs.(American).—1. Nonsense;flummery(q.v.).2. (nautical).—A sea-dainty.1884.G. A. Sala, inIll. London News, July 19, p. 51, col.2. I suppose that when the friendly skippersgam[q.v.], they feast onflummadiddle, a dish composed, I am given to understand, of stale bread, pork fat, molasses, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.Flummergasted,ppl. adj.(colloquial).—Astonished; confounded. A variant offlabbergasted(q.v.).[36]1849.New South Wales: Past and Present, ch. i., p. 14. This coolness so completelyflummergastedthe fellow, that he kept talking until Mr. Day shot him through the shoulder.Flummery,subs.(colloquial). 1. Nonsense;gammon(q.v.); flattery.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Oatmeal and water boiled to a jelly; also compliments: neither … over-nourishing.1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. i. I shall … blow off as much of the froth as I can, in order to present the residuum free offlummery.1846.Thackeray,Yellow Plush Papers. She swallowed Lord Crabs’flumeryjust as she would so many musheruims.1854.Whyte Melville,General Bounce, ch. xii. None of the dubious, half-expressed, sentimentalflummery.2. (American nautical).—A kind of bread pudding.—Nordhoff.3. (old).—Oatmeal and water boiled to a jelly.—Grose(1785).Flummox,Flummocks, orFlummux,verb.(colloquial).—1. To perplex, dodge, abash, or silence; to victimize; tobest(q.v.); to disappoint. Alsoconflummox.To flummox(orconflummox)by the lip=to outslang(q.v.), or talk down;to flummox the coppers= to dodge the police;to flummox the old Dutch= to cheat one’s wife, etc. For synonyms,seeFlabbergast.2. (theatrical).—To confuse, toqueer(q.v.).Cf.,Corpse.3. (American).—Used in the passive sense = to abandon a purpose; to give in; to die.Subs.(American University).—A bad recitation; a failure.Flummoxed,ppl. adj.(thieves’ and general).—1. Spoilt; ruined; drunk;sent down(q.v.);boshed(q.v.); defeated; disappointed; silenced;floored(q.v.).1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xxxiii., p. 283. ‘And my ’pinion is, Sammy, that if your governor don’t prove an alleybi, he’ll be what the Italians call reg’larlyflummoxed, and that’s all about it.’1840.Whibley,Cap and Gown, p. 170. So many of the men I know Wereflummoxedat the last great go.1861.H. C. Pennell,Puck on Pegasus, p. 17. I feltflummox’din a brown (studyunderstood) old fellow.1864.Cornhill Magazine, Dec., p. 742. ‘I say, Tom.’ ‘Yes, mate.’ ‘If I should have a fit heave a bucket of water over me.’ Tom was too astonished, or, as he expressed it,conflummoxedto make any reply.1883.Daily Telegraph, 25 July, p. 2, col. 1. I’ll give Tom his due, and say of him that forflummoxinga cuss (Custom House Officer) or working the weed, I don’t know any one he couldn’t give a chalk to and beat ’em.1890.Punch, 30 Aug., p. 97. I’m fairflummoxed, and singing, ‘Oh, what a surprise!’Flummocky,adj.(colloquial).—Out of place; in bad taste.1891.F. H. Groome.Blackwood’s Mag., March, p. 319. ‘It is a nice solemn dress,’ she said, as she lifted a piece to examine it more closely; ‘there’s nothingflummockyabout it.’Flummut,subs.(vagrants’).—A month in prison.Seeflummoxed. For synonyms,seeDose.1889.Answers, 20th July, p. 121,col. 2. If you want to get rid of an importunate tramp tell him to ‘stow his patter,’ or you will get him aflummut.1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. He [patterer] mostly chalks a signal on or near the door. I give one or two instances.… ‘Flummut,’ sure of a month in quod.[37]Flump,verb. (colloquial).—To fall, put, or be set, down with violence or a thumping noise. Onomatopœic. Also tocome down with a Flump.Cf.,PlumpandCachunk.1840.Thackeray,Paris Sketch Book, ch. v. Chairs wereflumpeddown on the floor.1865.H. Kingsley,The Hillyars and the Burtons, ch. lxii. Before my mother had been a week in the partly-erected slab-house, the women began to come in, toflumpdown into a seat and tell her all about it.Flunk,subs.(American colloquial).—1. An idler, aLoafer(q.v.) orLawrence(q.v.).2. (AlsoFlunk-out).—A failure, especially (at college) in recitations; a backing out of undertakings.1853.Songs of Yale.In moody meditation sunk, Reflecting on my futureflunk.1877.Brunonian, 24th Feb. Aflunkis a complete fizzle; and adead flunkis where one refuses to get out of his seat.1888.Missouri Republican, 11thFeb.Riddleberger forced the presidential possibilities of the senate to a completeflunk.Verb.(American).—To retire through fear; to fail (as in a lesson); to cause to fail.Cf.,Funk.1838.Neal,Charcoal Sketches, IV. Why, little ’un, you must be cracked, if youflunk outbefore we begin.1847.The Yale Banger, 22 Oct. My dignity is outraged at beholding those who fizzle andflunkin my presence tower above me.1853.Amherst Indicator, p. 253. They know that a man who hasflunked, because too much of a genius to get his lesson, is not in a state to appreciate joking.1871.John Hay, ‘Jim Bludso of the Prairie Bell,’ inNew York Tribune, Jan. But he neverflunked, and he never lied, I reckon he never know’d how.Flunkey,subs.(nautical).—1. A ship’s steward.2. (American.)—An ignorant dabbler in stock; an inexperienced jobber.1862.A Week in Wall St., p. 90. A broker, who had met with heavy losses, exclaimed: ‘I’m in a bear-trap,—this won’t do. The dogs will come over me. I shall be mulct in a loss. But I’ve got time; I’ll turn the scale; I’ll help the bulls operate for a rise, and draw in theflunkies.’3. (American University.)—One that makes a complete failure in a recitation; one whoflunks(q.v.).1859.Yale Lit. Magazine.I bore him safe through Horace, Saved him from theflunkey’sdoom.4. (colloquial).—A man-servant, especially one in livery. Hence, by implication, a parasite orToady(q.v.). Fr.,un larbin.1848.Thackeray,Book of Snobs; ch. v. You who have no toadies; you whom no cringingflunkeysor shopmen bow out of doors.Whence,Flunkeyism= Blind worship of rank, birth, or riches. Fr.,la larbinerie.1857.J. E. Ritchie,Night Side of London, p. 23. Our trading classes, becoming richer and more sunk influnkeyismevery day.Flurryment,subs.(common.)—Agitation; bustle; confusion; nervous excitement. [Pleonastic, fromFlurry.]1848.Jones,Sketches of Travel, p. II. Mary and all on em was in a monstrousflurryment.Flurry One’s Milk,verb. phr.(common).—To be worried, angry, or upset;To fretone’skidneys(q.v.);To tear one’s shirt, orone’s hair(q.v.).[38]Flush,subs.(gamesters’).—A hand of one suit.Adj.(colloquial).—1. With plenty of money; the reverse ofhard up(q.v.);warm(q.v.).Also abounding in anything:e.g.flush of his patter= full of his talk;flush of the lotion= liberal with the drink;flush of his notions= prodigal of ideas;flush of her charms= lavish of her person; and so forth.1603.Dekker,Batchelor’s Banquet, ch. viii. Some dames of the company, which are moreflushin crownes than her good man.1605.The Play of Stucley, l. 538. They know he hath received His marriage money: they perceive he’sflushAnd mean to share with him ere all be gone.1663.Dryden,Wild Gallant, Act II.Con.Since you are soflush, sir, you shall give me a locket of diamonds of three hundred pounds.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Flushin the pocketc.full of money. The cull isflushin the fob, the Spark’s pocket is well lined with money.1767.O’Hara,Two Misers, Act I. What stops many an hopeful project? lack of cash—[looking archly at him]. Are youflush, Sir?1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.1846.Thackeray,V. F., vol. I. ch. xxviii. The expenses were borne by Jos and Osborne, who wasflushof money and full of kind attentions to his wife.1861.A. Trollope,Framley Parsonage, ch. viii. Allow me to draw on you for that amount at three months. Long before that time I shall beflushenough.1864.Economist, 29 Oct. The world was then, if such averycolloquial expression could be pardoned, ‘flushof cash,’ and it sent in that cash rapidly and at once.2. (common).—Intoxicated (i.e., full to the brim); alsoflushed. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.3. (colloquial).—Level:e.g.,flushwith the top, with the water, with the road, with the boat’s edge, etc.Verb.(common).—1. To whip.English Synonyms.—To bludgeon; to bumbaste; to breech (Cotgrave); to brush; to club; to curry; to dress with an oaken towel; to drub; to drybeat; to dry-bob; to drum; to fib; to flap; to flick; to flop; to jerk; to give one ballast; to hide; to lamm; to larrup; to paste; to punch; to rub down; to swinge; to swish; to switch; to trounce; to thump; to tund (Winchester); to wallop.SeealsoTan.French Synonyms.—Donner l’avoine(pop. = to give a feed of hay);allumer(popular);bouiser(thieves’:un bouis= a whip).Italian Synonyms.—Smanegrare;cotillare;corillare;cerire.2. (colloquial).—To clean by filling full, and emptying, of water:e.g., toflusha sewer; to wash, swill, or sluice away. Also to fill with water:e.g., toflusha lock.1884.HenleyandStevenson,Admiral Guinea, i., 8. Pray for a new heart;flush outyour sins with tears.3. (shooting).—To start or raise a bird from covert:e.g.,to flusha snipe, or a covey of partridges. Hence (venery)to flush a wild duck= to single out a woman forgrousing(q.v.).To come flush on one,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To come suddenly and unexpectedly (Marvell); to overwhelm (as by a sudden rush of water).[39]Flushed on the Horse,phr.(prison).—Privately whipped in gaol.Flush-hit,subs. phr.(pugilistic).—A clean blow; a hit full on the mark and straight from the shoulder. For synonyms,seeDig.1891.Lic. Vict. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 7, col. 2. Landed a very heavyflush hiton the mouth.Adv.(colloquial).—Full; straight;right on(q.v.).1888.Sporting Life, 15 Dec. Both cautious, Wilson with marked frequency leading off, and getting the leftflushon the face.Fluster,verb.(old).—To excite; to confuse, abash, orflummox(q.v.); to upset, or be upset, with drink.1602.Shakspeare,Othello, I., 3. The very elements of this warlike isle,—Have I to-nightfluster’dwith flowing cups.1711.Spectator, No.87. It is very common for such as are too low in constitution to ogle the idol upon the strength of tea, toflusterthemselves with warmer liquors.1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., ii., 261. When I vext proud Celia just come from my glass, She tells me I’mflustered, and look like an ass.1731.Fielding,Letter Writers. Act II., Sc. 5. Who hath taken me to the tavern, and, I protest, almostfluster’dme.Flustered(orFlustrated),ppl. adj.(old).—Excited by drink, circumstances, another person’s impudence, etc.; also mildly drunk.Cf.,Flusticated. For synonyms,seeScrewed.1686.Common. of Women, Prol. Another to compleat his daily task,fluster’dwith claret, seizes on a mask.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.flustered, drunk.1709.Steele,Tatler, No. 3. I … therefore take this public occasion to admonish a young Nobleman,who cameflusteredinto the box last night.1748.T. Dyche,Dict.(5th ed.)Flustered(a) … somewhatintoxicatedwith liquor.1750.Fielding,Tom Jones, bk. XIV.,ch. ix. This latter, though not drunk, began to be somewhatflustered.1779.The Mirror, No. 57. All of themflustered, some of them perfectly intoxicated.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.Flusticated, orFlustrated,ppl. adj.(old and colloquial).—Confused; in a state of heat or excitement.Cf.,Flustered.1712.Spectator, No. 493. We were coming down Essex Street one night a littleflustrated.1766.Colman,Cland. Marriage V., in works (1777) i. 271. Your mind is too muchflustrated, and you can neither eat nor drink.1843.Maj. Jones’ Courtship, I. Somehow I was soflustratedthat I tuk the rong way.1847.Porter,Big Bear, &c., p. 98. I sot down, being sorterflusticatedlike, thinkin’ of that skrape, last time I was there.Flustration,subs.(old and colloquial).—Heat; excitement; bustle; confusion;flurry(q.v.).1771.Smollet,Humphrey Clinker, I., 126. Being I was in such aflustration.1843.Major Jones’ Courtship, viii. The old woman’s been in a monstrousflustration’bout the comet.1847.Porter,Quarter Race, etc., p. 177. My wife is in a delicut way, and the frite might cause aflustration.1848.Jones,Studies of Travel, p. 21. The old woman was in such aflustrationshe didn’t know her lips from anything else.1872.Mortimer Collins,Two Plunges for a Pearl, vol. II., ch. vii. Then was this pretty little actress whom he admired in a great state offlustration.[40]Flute,subs.(old).—1. The recorder of a corporation.1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Tibia, aflute, arecorder, a pipe.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Flute, c. The recorder of London or of any other town.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.1825.Kent,Modern Flash Dict.Flute—the recorder of any town.2. (venery).—Thepenis. Also theone-holed,the living, orthe silent flute.To play a tune on the one-holed flute= to have connection.Cf., Dryden (Sixth Juvenal, line 107). ‘And stretch hisquail-pipetill they crack his voice.’ For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.1720.Durfey,Pills, etc., vi., 31. He took her by the middle, And taught her by theflute.1736.Cupid, p. 163. The Flute is good that’s made of Wood,And is, I own, the neatest; Yet ne’ertheless I must confess, Thesilent flute’sthe sweetest.Flutter,subs.(common).—1. An attempt, orshy(q.v.), at anything; a venture in earnest; a spree; a state of expectancy (as in betting). Hence gambling.1883.Echo, 26 Feb. p. 4, col. 2. I have no stable tip, but I fancy the animal named will at any rate afford backers aflutterfor their money.1889.Licensed Vict. Gazette, 8 Feb. Of course he told her he only went in for a littleflutteroccasionally.1890.Saturday Review, 1 Feb., p. 134, col. 1. They find out the addresses of people whom theyseeat the races—people whom they suspect to be fond of aflutter, and then an invitation is sent to a littlesoirée intime.1887.Henley,Culture in the Slums, iii. I likes a merry littleflutter, I keeps a Dado on the sly, In fact my form’s the blooming Utter.2. (common).—The act of spinning a coin.3. (venery).—Connection defloration.To have had a flutter= (1)to have been there(cf.,greens); and (2) to have lost one’s maidenhead.Verb.(common).—1. To spin a coin (for drinks); also to gamble.2. (common).—To go in for a bout of pleasure.To flutter the ribbons,verb. phr.(common).—To drive.1864.Eton School Days, chap. 1, p. 11. As I was going to be saying, I used toflutter the ribandsof the London Croydon and South Coast coach.[Flutter, if not a word of all-work, is a word with plenty to do. Thus,to have(ordo)a flutter= to have alook in(q.v.), to go on the spree, and (of both sexes) to have carnal connection;to be on the flutter= to be on the spree, and also (venery) to beall there(q.v.) oron the spot(q.v.);to flutter a judy—both to pursue and to possess a girl;to flutter a brown= to spin a coin;to flutter(orfret)one’s kidneys= to agitate, to exasperate;to flutter a skirt= to walk the streets; and so forth.]Flux,verb.(old).—1. To cheat; to cozen; to overreach. For synonyms,seeStick.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.2. (old.)—To salivate. Grose, (1785).Fly,subs.(old).—A familiar; hence, by implication, a parasite orsucker(q.v.). [In the sixteenth and seventeenth century it was held that familiar spirits, in the guise of flies, lice, fleas, etc., attended witches, who for a price professed to dispose of the power for evil thus imparted.][41]1596.Lodge,Incarnate Devils. This divel prefers an Ephimerides before a Bible; and his Ptolemey and Hali before Ambrose, golden Chrisostome, or S. Augustine: promise him a familiar, and he will take afliein a box for good paiment.1610.Ben Jonson,Alchemisti. You are mistaken, doctor, Why he does ask one but for cups and horses, A riflingfly, none of your great familiars.1622.Massinger,Virgin Martyr, ii., 2. Courtiers havefliesThat buzz all news unto them.2. (old).—A printer’s devil; specifically a boy who lifted the printed sheets from the press. [Now the vibrating frame used for the same purpose.]1688.R. Holme,Academy of Armory. These boys do in a printing-house commonly black and bedaub themselves, when the workmen do jocosely call them devils, and sometimes spirits, and sometimesflies.3. (trade).—A customer.4. (common).—The act of spinning a coin.Cf.,Flutter.5. (old).—A public wagon: afterwards (colloquial) a four-wheel hackney coach. Fr.,mouche(fly) = a public boat on the Seine.1714.Memoirs of John Hall, s.v.6. (common).—A policeman. For synonyms,seeBeakandCopper.1857.Snowden,Magistrates’ Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 446. A policeman; afly.Adj.(common).—1. Knowing;artful(q.v.); up to every move; cute. Alsofly to,a-fly,fly to the game, andfly to what’s what.Cf.,Awake, and, for synonyms,seeKnowing;fly dog(q.v.).1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, Cheese it, the coves arefly= be silent, the people understand our discourse.1823.W. T. Moncrieff,Tom and Jerry, Act II., Sc. 2.Jerry.Charlies’ fiddles?—I’m notfly, Doctor.Log.Rattles, Jerry, rattles!Jerry rattles! you’reflynow, Isee.1838.Glascock,Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, II., 4. That’s right; Iseeyou’reflyto every fakement.1850.Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb. ‘Low Lodging Houses of London.’ They say thefliestis easy to take in sometimes—that’s the artfullest; but I could do no good there.1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 260. ‘We were tooflyto send anybody to market but ourselves.’1861.H. Kingsley,Ravenshoe, ch. xxxv. [Chas. Ravenshoe to Shoeblack]. ‘On the cross?’ said Charles. ‘Ah,’ the boy said, ‘he goes outcly-fakingand such. He’s aprig, and a smart one, too. He’sfly, is Harry.’1876.Miss Braddon,Dead Men’s Shoes, ch. lii. ‘Go and fetch the cleverest police officer in Liverpool, and let him wait outside this door till I want him.’ ‘I’mfly,’ answers the youth, brightening at the prospect of excitement and remuneration. ‘Case of ’bezzlement, I suppose, Sir?’1877.Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 125. A certain prisoner, who was what is termed a veryflyman,i.e., a clever, scheming fellow … sounded him as to getting tobacco and other matters.188(?).Jenny Hill,Broadside Ballad. I’ve cut my wisdom teeth, some at top, some underneath.… So you needn’t try it on; I’mfly.1890.Punch, 30 Aug., p. 9. Briggs, Junior, a lobsculler called me; I wasn’t quiteflyto his lay.1891.Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 9 Jan. If you get among aflylot, why they’d skin you in less than no time.2. (common).—Dextrous.1834.Ainsworth,Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. No dummy hunter had forks sofly.1839.Reynolds,Pickwick Abroad, p. 223. We’ll knap a fogle with fingersfly.3. (venery).—Wanton.Fly-girl,-woman, or-dame= a prostitute.[42]1888.San Francisco News Letter, 4 Feb. ‘I’m just gettin’ sick’n tired o’ the way ’t themflydames go on, ’n the way’tthe fellahs hang round ’em ’n dance with ’em ’n so forth.’Verb.(thieves’).—1. To toss; to raise;to fly the mags= to toss up half-pence (cf.,subs., sense 4).1857.Snowden,Magistrates’ Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 447. To lift a window, toflya window.2. (pugilistic).—To give way: as, chinafliesin the baking.1865.G. F. Berkeley,My Life, II. 296. Heenan … told me his right hand was worth nothing to him, and we have since seen that his leftflies, or, in other words, becomes puffed, softened, or severely damaged by the force of his own blows.To fly around,verb. phr.(American).—To bestir oneself; to make haste. Alsoto fly around and tear one’s shirt.1851.Hooper,Widow Rugby’s Husband, p. 44. Old ’ooman,fly around, git somethin’ for the Squire and Dick to eat.To fly the flag,verb. phr.(colloquial).—1. To walk the streets.2. (vulgar).—To experience the menstrual flux.SeealsoFlag.To fly high(orrather high).—1.verb. phr.(common).—To get, or be drunk. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.2. (colloquial).—To keep the best company, maintain the best appearances, and affect the best aims:i.e., to be aHigh-flier(q.v.). Also, to venture for the biggest stakes in the biggest way.To fly low,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To make as little of oneself as possible; tosing small(q.v.); and (among thieves) to keep out of the way whenwanted(q.v.).To fly off the handle,verb. phr.(American pioneer).—To lose temper; to fail of a promise; to jilt; to die; alsoto slip off the handle(q.v.); to disappoint in any way. [In pioneer life for an axe to part company with its handle is a serious trial to temper and patience.]1843–4.Haliburton,The Attaché. You never see such a crotchical old critter as he is. Heflies right off the handlefor nothing.1867.Home Journal(New York), 21 July (speaking of a man who had succeeded to a large fortune it says) hewent off the handlein England rather unexpectedly.1871.De Vere,Americanisms, p. 195.If a fair lady loses her temper, or worst of all, if she breaks the tender promise, she is said tofly off the handle, and the disappointment is as serious to the unlucky lover as a lost axe to many a settler.1888.Pittsburg Chronicle.‘I can’t say thatI’amstuck on Sue Fitzpercy,’ remarked Amy. ‘She is liableto fly off the handle.’To fly out,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To get angry; to scold.1612.Chapman,Widow’s Tears, Act II., p. 317 (Plays, 1874). For wherefore rage wives at their husbands so when theyfly out? for zeal against the sin?1665–6.Pepys,Diary, 17 Jan. It is to be feared that the Parliament willfly outagainst him and particular men, the next Session.1712.Spectator, No. 479. He (Socrates) has said, My dear friend, you are beholden to Xantippe, that I bear so well yourflying outin a dispute.1855.Thackeray,Newcomes, ch. xx. ‘And then the Colonelflies outabout his boy, and says that my wife insulted him!’[43]To make the fur(orfeathers)fly,verb. phr.(common).—To attack effectively; to make a disturbance; to quarrel noisily like two tom cats on the tiles, who are said (in American) to pull fur, or to pull wool.1847.Porter,Big Bear, etc., p. 132. Thar, they’ve got him agin, and now thefur flies.1888.Denver Republican, 29 Feb. ‘Wait until the National Committee assembles on February 22,’ said the organizer, ‘and you will see thefur flyfrom the Cleveland hide.’To take on the fly,verb. phr.(vagrants’).—To beg in the streets; a specific usage of adverbial sense.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, II., p. 59. The ‘first move’ in his mendicant career wastaking them on the fly, which means meeting the gentry on their walks, and beseeching or at times menacing them till something is given.To fly a kite,verb.phr.(common).—To raise money by means of accommodation bills;to raise the wind(q.v.).1812. From an old DublinJester. [The story, however, with slight variations, is told of other judges. SeeN. and Q., S. ix., 6 326–394.] In a case before the Lord Chancellor of Ireland Mr. Curran, on behalf of the suitor, prayed to be relieved from the payment of some bills for which he had not received consideration, but only lent his name as an accommodation. Mr. Curran, in the course of his pleadings, mentioned the termskiteandraising the windseveral times, when his lordship requested to know the meaning of the words. ‘My lord,’ Mr. Curran replied, ‘in your country (meaning England) the wind generally raises the kite, but withus, significantly looking at the gentlemen of the bar,the kite raises the wind.’1848.Punch, XIV., p. 226. ‘The Model Gentleman.’ He never does ‘a little discounting’ nor lends his hand to ‘flying a kite.’1849.Perils of Pearl Street, p. 82.Flying the kiteis rather a perilous adventure.1880.G. R. Sims,Ballads of Babylon(Little Worries). You have akiteyou cannotfly, and creditors are pressing.1891.Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 23 Jan. Prince Alexis Soltykoff, who has beenflying kites, and getting into trouble thereby, is the only son of Prince Soltykoff, the steward of the Jockey Club.

Floor,verb.(colloquial).—1. To knock down. Hence to vanquish in argument; to make an end of; to defeat; to confound.SeeFlooredandDead-beat.

1785.Grose,Dict. Vulg. Tongue.Floorthe pig, knock down the officer.

1821.Haggart,Life, p. 15. That moment the farmer let fly at the drover, whichflooredhim.

1857.G. A. Lawrence,Guy Livingstone, ch. xxi. ‘When I saw him soflooredas not to be able to come to time, I knew there had been some hard hitting going on thereabouts, so I kept clear.’

1821.Egan,Tom and Jerry, p. 10. Then (apostrophising ‘Maga’)floorme not.Ibid., p. 60,The Corinthian, being no novice in these matters,flooredtwo or three in a twinkling.

1835.Coleridge,Table Talk(published posthumously). The other day I was what you may calledflooredby a Jew.

1836.C. Dickens,Pickwick Papers,p. 425 (Ed. 1857). Even Mr. Bob Sawyer … wasfloored.

1862.Mrs. H. Wood,The Channings, ch. v. ‘So if the master is directing his suspicions to the seniors, he’ll getfloored.’

1870.L. Oliphant,Piccadilly, Pt. V., p. 196. ‘Whenever the mammas object to asking her on account of that horrid Lady Wylde,’ Ifloorall opposition by saying, ‘Oh, Lady Jane Helter will bring her.’

1888.Sportsman, 28 Nov. Pope, who was the fresher, started at a terrific pace and drove his man all over the ring, ending byflooringhim.

To floor the odds(betting men’s).—Said of a low-priced horse that pulls off the event in face of the betting.

1882.Daily Telegraph, 16 Nov. The odds were, nevertheless,flooredfrom an unexpected quarter.[30]

1889.Echo, 24 Jan. As the odds betted on Miss Jessie II. were easilyflooredby Marsden.

2. (drunkards’).—To finish; to get outside of.E.g., ‘Iflooredthree half-pints and a nip before breakfast.’

1837.Punch, 31 Jan. Dear Bill, this stone jug.… Is still the same snug, Free-and-easy old hole, Where Macheath met his blowens, and Wyldeflooredhis bowl.

18(?).Macmillan’s Magazine(quoted inCentury Dict.). I have a few bottles of old wine left: we may as wellfloorthem.

3. (university).—To pluck; toplough(q.v.).

To floor a paper,lesson,examination,examiner, etc.,verb. phr.(university).—To answer every question; to master; to prove oneself superior to the occasion.

1852.Bristed,Five Years in an English University, p. 12. Somehow I nearlyflooredthe paper.

1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford. I’veflooredmy Little Go.

To floor one’s licks,verb. phr.(common).—To surpass one’s self; tocut-around(q.v.).

1844.Puck, p. 14. Now slowly rising, raised his pewter andfloored his licks.

To have,hold, ortake the floor,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To rise to address a public meeting; in Ireland, to stand up to dance; and, in America, ‘to be in possession of the House.’

1882.McCabe,New York, xxi., p. 342. A member making a bid below or an offer above the one whichhas the floor.

1888.St. Louis Globe-Democrat. After a half hour’s recess Mr. Glovertook the floor.

1889.Pall Mall Gazette, 11 Nov., p. 6, col. 1. The Duke of Rutland, however, who ‘took the floor’ non-politically at the end of the evening, was really ‘felicitous’ in his few remarks.

Floored,ppl.adj.(colloquial).—1. Vanquished; brought under; ruined. For synonyms,seeDead-beatandinfra.

English Synonyms.—Basketted; bitched; bitched-up; bowled out; broken up; buggered up; busted; caved in; choked-off; cornered; cooked; coopered up; dead-beat; done brown; done for; done on toast; doubled up; flattened-out; fluffed; flummoxed; frummagemmed; gapped; gone through St. Peter’s needle; gone under; gravelled; gruelled; hoofed out; in the last of pea-time, or last run of shad; jacked-up; knocked out of time; knocked silly; looed; mucked-out; petered out; pocketed; potted; put in his little bed; queered in his pitch; rantanned; sat upon; sewn up; shut-up; smashed to smithereens; snashed; snuffed out; spread-eagled; struck of a heap; stumped; tied up; timbered; treed; trumped; up a tree.

French Synonyms.—Mon linge est lavé(pop.: = I have thrown up the sponge);coller sous bande(= to put in a hole: at billiards,bande= cushion);avoir son affaire(pop: = to have got a ‘settler’);aplatir(fam: = to flatten out);aplomber(thieves’: = to brazen down; to bluff);être pris dans la balancine(pop.: = to be in a fix);se faire coller(familiar);envoyer quelqu’un s’asseoir, ors’asseoir sur quelqu’un(popular).

Italian Synonym.—Traboccare(= to overturn).[31]

Spanish Synonyms.—Pesado(doubled-up: frompeso= weight);aculado(fromacular= to corner);arrollar(= to sweep away, as a torrent);aturrullar(= to shut up);cogite!(= ‘I’ve got you.’ or, ‘there I have you!’)

2. (common).—Drunk; in Shakspearean ‘put down’: as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, ‘Never in your life, I think, unless youseeCanaryput me down.’ (Twelfth Night, i., 3). For synonyms,seeScrewed.

3. (painters’).—Hung low at an exhibition; in contradistinction toskyed(q.v.), andon the line(q.v.).

Floorer,subs.(common).—1. Anauctioneer(q.v.); or knock-down blow;cf.,Dig,Bang, andWipe. Hence, sudden or unpleasant news; a decisive argument; an unanswerable retort; a decisive check. Sp.,peso.

1819.T. Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 20.For in thesefancytimes, ’tis your hits in themuns, And yourchoppersandfloorersthat govern the funds.

1839.Swinton,Trial of Wm. Humphreys, p. 297. It is a downrightfloorerto the Grown.

1856.Bradley(‘Cuthbert Bede’),Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green. The Putney Pet stared.… The inquiry for his college was, in the language of his profession, a ‘regularfloorers.’

1861.H. C. Pennell,Puck on Pegasus, p. 20. What afloorersto my hopes is this performance on the ropes! Miss Mariannesuspensa scalis—(Would twere sus. per coll instead).

1868.Cassell’s Magazine, 4 Jan., p. 213. ‘Ah, she hasn’t told you of the strokes I have had, one arter the other—cleanfloorers, and left like a log of wood in my bed.’

2. (schools’).—A question, or a paper, too hard to master.

3. (bowling alley).—A ball that brings down all the pins.

4. (thieves’).—A thief who trips his man, and robs in picking him up; aRamper(q.v.).

1809.G. Andrews,Dict. of the Slang and Cant Languages, s.v.

Flooring,subs.(pugilists’).—Knocking down. Hence, to vanquish in all senses.

1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. xii. Cross-buttocking … being as indispensable an ingredient, as nobbing,flooring, etc.

Floor-walker,subs.(American).—A shop-walker.

Flop,subs. and verb.(American university).—1. Abite(q.v.); a successful dodge.

1856.Hall,College Words and Customs. Any ‘cute’ performance by which a man is sold is a goodflop, and by a phrase borrowed from the base-ball ground is ‘rightly played.’ The discomfited individual declares that they ‘are all on a side,’ and gives up, or ‘rolls over,’ by giving his opponent ‘gowdy.’ A man writes cards during examinations to ‘feeze the profs’; said cards are ‘gumming cards,’ and heflopsthe examination if he gets a good mark by the means. One usuallyflopshis marks by feigning sickness.

2. (common)—A sudden fall or ‘flop’ down.

3. (common).—A collapse or breakdown.

4. (Forflaporflip, old).—A light blow.

1662.Rump Songs, ii., 3. The good the Rump will do, when they prevail, Is to give us aflopwith a fox’s tail, Which nobody can deny.[32]

Verb.(colloquial).—1. To fall, or flap down suddenly. A variant of ‘flap.’ Fr.,prendre un billet de parterre.

1742.Fielding,Joseph Andrews, bk. iv. ch. v. She hadfloppedher hat over her eyes.

1859.Dickens,Tale of Two Cities,bk. ii. ch. i. If you must gofloppingyourself down.

1870.Public Opinion, 12 Feb. But even if they were more numerous and greater than they are, we should hold aloof from the crowd thatflopsin his presence with love and awe, as the dismal wife of Jerry Cruncherfloppedin pious misery.

1883.The Theatre, Feb., p. 93. She is able to call in tumbling to the aid of tragedy, and bring the plastic arts to the portrayal of the passions; toflopthrough four such acts as these night after night, and finish with a death-scene warranted correct, to the very last kick and quiver.

1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 118. He cursed under his breath each time he rose to follow, and smothered a yell of pain and horror each time heflopped down.

2. (pugilists’).—To knock down; toFloor(q.v.).

1888.Sporting Life, 15 Dec. ’E carntflopa bloke.

Adv.(colloquial).—An onomatopœia expressive of the noise of a sudden and sounding fall. Often used expletively, asslap(q.v.) is, and the Americanright(q.v.)

1726.Vanbrugh,Journey to London, Act I., Sc. 2. That down came Iflopo’ my feace all along in the channel.

1860.Punch, v. 38, p. 255. ’Twixt two stools,flop, he let me drop, The fall it was my murther.

1881.Jas. Payn,Grape from a Thorn, ch. vi. ‘She’ll roll down, papa, and comeflop.’

To flop over,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To turn heavily; hence (in America), to make a sudden change of sides, association, or allegiance.

Flop-Up,subs.(American).—A day’s tramp, as opposed to asot-down= half a day’s travel.

1888.Detroit Free Press, 15 Sept. ‘Stranger, did ye lope it?’ (come on foot). ‘Yes.’ ‘A mile or a sot down?’ ‘More’n that. About a dozenflop-ups.’

Flop-up-time= Bedtime.

[Flop, too, is something of a vocable of all-work. Thusto flop in= (venery) to effect intromission;to flop round= to loaf; to dangle;to flop a judy= to lay out, or ‘spread’ (q.v.), a girl;to do a flop= (colloquial) to sit, or to fall, down, and (venery) to lie down to a man;to flop out= to leave the water noisily and awkwardly; belly-flopping= belly-bumping, coition; aflopin the gills = a smack in the mouth.]

Florence,subs.(old)—‘A wench that has been touzed and ruffled.’

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew, and (1785)Grose, s.v.

Floster,subs.(common).—A mixed drink: sherry, noyau, peach-leaves, lemon, sugar, ice, and soda-water.Cf.,Flesh-and-blood.

Flouch.To fall(orgo),flouch(orfloush),verb. phr.(colloquial).—To come to pieces; to sag suddenly on the removal of a restraining influence: as a pair of stays.

1819.Moore,Tom Crib, p. 13. Old Georgy wentfloush, and his backers look’d shy.

Flounce,verb.(colloquial).—To move with violence, and (generally) in anger. Said of women, for whom such motion is, or rather was, inseparable from a great flourishing of flounces.

Flounder,subs.(riverside thieves’).—1. A drowned corpse.Cf.,Dab, and for synonyms,seeStiff.[33]

2. (Stock Exchange).—To sell, and afterwards re-purchase a stock, orvice versâ.

1889.Echo, 1 Feb. A third expedient offers itself—namely, to turn round and buy; but this operation goes by the name of ‘floundering’ especially when the speculator loses both ways.

Flounder-and-Dab,subs. phr.(rhyming).—A cab. For synonyms,seeGrowler.

Flour,subs.(American).—Money. For synonyms,seeActualandGilt.

Flourish,subs.(venery).—Coition in a hurry;flyer(q.v.); afast-fuck(q.v.). Also verbally. For synonymsseeGreensandRide.

1796.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue(3rd ed.), s.v. To enjoy a woman with her clothes on or without going to bed.

Verb(colloquial.).—To be in luck:e.g., ‘I flourish’ = ‘I am well off’; ‘Do you flourish,’ or ‘Are you flourishing?’ = ‘Have you got any money?’

Flourishing,adj.(colloquial).—A retort to the enquiry, ‘How are you?’ The equivalent of ‘Pretty well, thank you?’

To flourish it,verb. phr.(venery).—To expose the person.

Flower,subs.(venery).—1. The femalepudendum. AlsoFlower-pot. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.

2.In pl.(conventional).—The menstrual flux.Cf.,Flag, sense 3.

1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Biancure, the monthlyflowersthat women have.

1611.Cotgrave,Dictionarie.Le fourrier de la lune a marqué le logis, applicable to a woman that hath herflowers.

Flower-Fancier,subs. phr.(venery).—A whore-master.

Flowery,subs.(thieves’).—Lodging; entertainment; ‘square the omee for theflowery’ = pay the landlord for the lodging. [Lingua Franca.]

Flowery Language,subs. phr.(colloquial).—A euphemism for blasphemous and obscene speech.

Flower of Chivalry,subs. phr.(venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.

Flowing-hope,subs.(military).—A forlorn hope.

Flub-dub-and-Guff,subs. phr.(American).—Rhetorical embellishment;high-falutin’(q.v.).

1888.Detroit Free Press, August. Rev. Mr. Selah (to desk editor of theDaily Roarer)—‘Mr. Seezars, are you going to publish my prayer in full?’ Desk Editor—‘In full? Well, I guess not.’ (Changing his tone)—‘However, we’ll do what we can for you. By swiping out theflub-dub-and-guff, I guess we’ll have room to put in the points.’

Flue,subs.(old). 1. The Recorder of London or any large town.Bamfylde Moore-Carew.

2. (colloquial).—The filth, part fluff, part hair, part dust, which collects under ill-kept beds, and at the junctures of sofas and chairs;Beggar’s Velvet(q.v.).

1860.Dickens,Uncommercial Traveller. ‘Arcadian London.’ A power they possess of converting everything intoflue. Such broken victuals as they take by stealth appear (whatever the nature[34]of the viands) to generateflue.…Ibid.‘Refreshment for Travellers.’ Take the old established Bull’s Head … with its old-establishedflueunder its old established four-post bedsteads.

3. (common).—A contraction of ‘influenza.’

Verb(common).—To put in pawn.

In(orup)the flue,phr.(common).—Pawned. For synonyms,seePop.

1821.Real Life,etc., I., p. 566.

1851.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, II., p. 250. I’ve had sometimes to leave half my stockin fluewith a deputy for a night’s rest.

Up the flue(orspout),adj. phr.(colloquial).—Dead; collapsed, mentally or physically.

To be up one’s flue,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To be awkward for one.That’s up your flue= That’s a ‘facer,’ or that’s up against you.

Flue-Faker(orScraper),subs.(common).—A chimney-sweep. [FromFlue+Faker(q.v.).]Minor clergy= young chimney sweeps. For synonyms,seeClergyman.

1821.Egan,Tom and Jerry, p. 60. The ‘office’ has been given to ‘shove’ the poorflue-fakeragainst Tom’s light drab coat.

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

1882.Punch.LXXXII., p. 185, col. 2.

Fluff(orFluffings),subs.(railway clerks’).—1. Short change given by booking-clerks. The practice is known asFluffing.Cf.,Menavelings. Fr.,des fruges(= more or less unlawful profits of any sort).

1890.Star, 27 Jan. Many porters on this line are but getting 15s. per week, and with regard to ‘tips,’ or, as we say, ‘fluff’—well, would you not think it mean to tell your servant when you engaged him that such were strictly forbidden by punishment with dismissal, and then proclaim to the world that with good wages and tips your servant was well paid.

2. (theatrical).—‘Lines’ half learned and imperfectly delivered. Hence,To do a fluff= to forget one’s part.

1891.W. Archer,The World, p. 28, col. 1, line 34. But even as seen through a cloud offluffthe burlesque is irresistibly amusing.

3. (venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms,seeFleece.

Verb.(railway clerks’).—1. To give short change.

2. (common).—To disconcert, toFloor(q.v.).Cf.,Fluff in the Pan= a failure.

3. (theatrical).—To forget one’s part. AlsoTo do a fluff.

Fluff it!Intj.(common).—An interjection of disapproval: ‘Be off!’ ‘Take it away!’

Fluffer,subs.(common).—1. A drunkard.Cf.,Fluffiness.

2. (theatrical).—A player ‘rocky on his lines’;i.e., given to forgetting his part.

3. (old).—A term of contempt.

Fluffiness,subs.(common).—1. Drunkenness.Cf.,FluffyandFluffer.

1886.Fun, 4 August, p. 44. A sullen-faced, clerical-looking young man, charged withfluffinessin a public conveyance, said he was sober as a judge when taken into custody.[35]

2. (theatrical).—The trick, or habit, of forgetting words.

Fluffy,adj.(common and theatrical).—Unsteady; of uncertain memory.Cf.,Fluffer(sense 2), andFluffiness(sense 2).

1885.Referee, July 26, p. 3, col. 2. In the last act Groves and one or two others were either what actors callfluffyin their lines, or else Mr. Cross was guilty of irritating tautology.

Fluke,subs.(common).—In billiards, an accidental winning hazard; in all games a result not played for; acrow(q.v.). In yachting an effect of chance; a result in which seamanship has had no part. Hence, a stroke of luck. Sp.,bambarria.

1857.Notes and Queries, 2 S. IV., p. 208, col. 1. In playing at billiards, if a player makes a hazard, etc., which he did not play for, it is often said that he made a crow.… Another term is, ‘He made aflook(orfluke).’

1869.Whyte Melville,MorN, p. 100. ‘Only lost a pony on the whole meeting,’ answered Dick triumphantly. ‘And even that was afluke, because Bearwarden’s Bacchante filly was left at the post.’

1873.Black,Princess of Thule, ch. xix. ‘These conditions are not often fulfilled—it is a happyflukewhen they are.’

1880.Hawley Smart,Social Sinners, ch. xxxii. ‘I suppose, by your asking the question, you have become acquainted with Mr. Solamo’s past.’ ‘That’s just it, Mr. Prossiter; by an oddflukeI have.’

1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 144. He was now being cured only to be hanged, mostlikely, unless by some happyflukehe got off with imprisonment for life.

Verb(common and billiards).—1. To effect by accident.

1888.Sportsman, 20 Dec. Fortune once more assisted Mitchell, who, in trying to make a red loser,flukeda cannon, from which he got on the spot, and made forty-three winners in a break of 161.

2.(schoolboys’).—To shirk.

1864.Eton School Days, ch. xvi., p. 203. ‘By Jove! I think I shallflukedoing Verses; I should like to see Paddy drive tandem through College,’ said Butler Burke.

To cut flukes out,verb. phr.(nautical).—To mutiny; to turn sulky and disobedient.

To turn flukes,verb. phr.(nautical).—To go to bed;i.e.,to bunk(q.v.), or turn in.

Fluky, orFlukey,adj.(common).—Of the nature of afluke(q.v.);i.e., achieved more by good luck than good guidance.

1882.Standard, 3 Sept. Bonnor got aFlukeythree to square leg.

1891.Licensed Vict. Gazette, 20 March. Now, Grady was a smart young Irishman who had thrashed Stevens twice in days gone by, and had won a somewhatflukeyvictory over Young Norley.

HenceFlukiness= abounding influkes.

1886.Ill. Sport. and Dram. News, 20 Feb., p. 579. There is noflukinessabout him: he makes his runs because he is an excellent batsman, and takes his wickets because he is an excellent bowler.

Flummadiddle,subs.(American).—1. Nonsense;flummery(q.v.).

2. (nautical).—A sea-dainty.

1884.G. A. Sala, inIll. London News, July 19, p. 51, col.2. I suppose that when the friendly skippersgam[q.v.], they feast onflummadiddle, a dish composed, I am given to understand, of stale bread, pork fat, molasses, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.

Flummergasted,ppl. adj.(colloquial).—Astonished; confounded. A variant offlabbergasted(q.v.).[36]

1849.New South Wales: Past and Present, ch. i., p. 14. This coolness so completelyflummergastedthe fellow, that he kept talking until Mr. Day shot him through the shoulder.

Flummery,subs.(colloquial). 1. Nonsense;gammon(q.v.); flattery.

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Oatmeal and water boiled to a jelly; also compliments: neither … over-nourishing.

1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. i. I shall … blow off as much of the froth as I can, in order to present the residuum free offlummery.

1846.Thackeray,Yellow Plush Papers. She swallowed Lord Crabs’flumeryjust as she would so many musheruims.

1854.Whyte Melville,General Bounce, ch. xii. None of the dubious, half-expressed, sentimentalflummery.

2. (American nautical).—A kind of bread pudding.—Nordhoff.

3. (old).—Oatmeal and water boiled to a jelly.—Grose(1785).

Flummox,Flummocks, orFlummux,verb.(colloquial).—1. To perplex, dodge, abash, or silence; to victimize; tobest(q.v.); to disappoint. Alsoconflummox.To flummox(orconflummox)by the lip=to outslang(q.v.), or talk down;to flummox the coppers= to dodge the police;to flummox the old Dutch= to cheat one’s wife, etc. For synonyms,seeFlabbergast.

2. (theatrical).—To confuse, toqueer(q.v.).Cf.,Corpse.

3. (American).—Used in the passive sense = to abandon a purpose; to give in; to die.

Subs.(American University).—A bad recitation; a failure.

Flummoxed,ppl. adj.(thieves’ and general).—1. Spoilt; ruined; drunk;sent down(q.v.);boshed(q.v.); defeated; disappointed; silenced;floored(q.v.).

1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xxxiii., p. 283. ‘And my ’pinion is, Sammy, that if your governor don’t prove an alleybi, he’ll be what the Italians call reg’larlyflummoxed, and that’s all about it.’

1840.Whibley,Cap and Gown, p. 170. So many of the men I know Wereflummoxedat the last great go.

1861.H. C. Pennell,Puck on Pegasus, p. 17. I feltflummox’din a brown (studyunderstood) old fellow.

1864.Cornhill Magazine, Dec., p. 742. ‘I say, Tom.’ ‘Yes, mate.’ ‘If I should have a fit heave a bucket of water over me.’ Tom was too astonished, or, as he expressed it,conflummoxedto make any reply.

1883.Daily Telegraph, 25 July, p. 2, col. 1. I’ll give Tom his due, and say of him that forflummoxinga cuss (Custom House Officer) or working the weed, I don’t know any one he couldn’t give a chalk to and beat ’em.

1890.Punch, 30 Aug., p. 97. I’m fairflummoxed, and singing, ‘Oh, what a surprise!’

Flummocky,adj.(colloquial).—Out of place; in bad taste.

1891.F. H. Groome.Blackwood’s Mag., March, p. 319. ‘It is a nice solemn dress,’ she said, as she lifted a piece to examine it more closely; ‘there’s nothingflummockyabout it.’

Flummut,subs.(vagrants’).—A month in prison.Seeflummoxed. For synonyms,seeDose.

1889.Answers, 20th July, p. 121,col. 2. If you want to get rid of an importunate tramp tell him to ‘stow his patter,’ or you will get him aflummut.

1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. He [patterer] mostly chalks a signal on or near the door. I give one or two instances.… ‘Flummut,’ sure of a month in quod.[37]

Flump,verb. (colloquial).—To fall, put, or be set, down with violence or a thumping noise. Onomatopœic. Also tocome down with a Flump.Cf.,PlumpandCachunk.

1840.Thackeray,Paris Sketch Book, ch. v. Chairs wereflumpeddown on the floor.

1865.H. Kingsley,The Hillyars and the Burtons, ch. lxii. Before my mother had been a week in the partly-erected slab-house, the women began to come in, toflumpdown into a seat and tell her all about it.

Flunk,subs.(American colloquial).—1. An idler, aLoafer(q.v.) orLawrence(q.v.).

2. (AlsoFlunk-out).—A failure, especially (at college) in recitations; a backing out of undertakings.

1853.Songs of Yale.In moody meditation sunk, Reflecting on my futureflunk.

1877.Brunonian, 24th Feb. Aflunkis a complete fizzle; and adead flunkis where one refuses to get out of his seat.

1888.Missouri Republican, 11thFeb.Riddleberger forced the presidential possibilities of the senate to a completeflunk.

Verb.(American).—To retire through fear; to fail (as in a lesson); to cause to fail.Cf.,Funk.

1838.Neal,Charcoal Sketches, IV. Why, little ’un, you must be cracked, if youflunk outbefore we begin.

1847.The Yale Banger, 22 Oct. My dignity is outraged at beholding those who fizzle andflunkin my presence tower above me.

1853.Amherst Indicator, p. 253. They know that a man who hasflunked, because too much of a genius to get his lesson, is not in a state to appreciate joking.

1871.John Hay, ‘Jim Bludso of the Prairie Bell,’ inNew York Tribune, Jan. But he neverflunked, and he never lied, I reckon he never know’d how.

Flunkey,subs.(nautical).—1. A ship’s steward.

2. (American.)—An ignorant dabbler in stock; an inexperienced jobber.

1862.A Week in Wall St., p. 90. A broker, who had met with heavy losses, exclaimed: ‘I’m in a bear-trap,—this won’t do. The dogs will come over me. I shall be mulct in a loss. But I’ve got time; I’ll turn the scale; I’ll help the bulls operate for a rise, and draw in theflunkies.’

3. (American University.)—One that makes a complete failure in a recitation; one whoflunks(q.v.).

1859.Yale Lit. Magazine.I bore him safe through Horace, Saved him from theflunkey’sdoom.

4. (colloquial).—A man-servant, especially one in livery. Hence, by implication, a parasite orToady(q.v.). Fr.,un larbin.

1848.Thackeray,Book of Snobs; ch. v. You who have no toadies; you whom no cringingflunkeysor shopmen bow out of doors.

Whence,Flunkeyism= Blind worship of rank, birth, or riches. Fr.,la larbinerie.

1857.J. E. Ritchie,Night Side of London, p. 23. Our trading classes, becoming richer and more sunk influnkeyismevery day.

Flurryment,subs.(common.)—Agitation; bustle; confusion; nervous excitement. [Pleonastic, fromFlurry.]

1848.Jones,Sketches of Travel, p. II. Mary and all on em was in a monstrousflurryment.

Flurry One’s Milk,verb. phr.(common).—To be worried, angry, or upset;To fretone’skidneys(q.v.);To tear one’s shirt, orone’s hair(q.v.).[38]

Flush,subs.(gamesters’).—A hand of one suit.

Adj.(colloquial).—1. With plenty of money; the reverse ofhard up(q.v.);warm(q.v.).Also abounding in anything:e.g.flush of his patter= full of his talk;flush of the lotion= liberal with the drink;flush of his notions= prodigal of ideas;flush of her charms= lavish of her person; and so forth.

1603.Dekker,Batchelor’s Banquet, ch. viii. Some dames of the company, which are moreflushin crownes than her good man.

1605.The Play of Stucley, l. 538. They know he hath received His marriage money: they perceive he’sflushAnd mean to share with him ere all be gone.

1663.Dryden,Wild Gallant, Act II.Con.Since you are soflush, sir, you shall give me a locket of diamonds of three hundred pounds.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Flushin the pocketc.full of money. The cull isflushin the fob, the Spark’s pocket is well lined with money.

1767.O’Hara,Two Misers, Act I. What stops many an hopeful project? lack of cash—[looking archly at him]. Are youflush, Sir?

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1846.Thackeray,V. F., vol. I. ch. xxviii. The expenses were borne by Jos and Osborne, who wasflushof money and full of kind attentions to his wife.

1861.A. Trollope,Framley Parsonage, ch. viii. Allow me to draw on you for that amount at three months. Long before that time I shall beflushenough.

1864.Economist, 29 Oct. The world was then, if such averycolloquial expression could be pardoned, ‘flushof cash,’ and it sent in that cash rapidly and at once.

2. (common).—Intoxicated (i.e., full to the brim); alsoflushed. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.

3. (colloquial).—Level:e.g.,flushwith the top, with the water, with the road, with the boat’s edge, etc.

Verb.(common).—1. To whip.

English Synonyms.—To bludgeon; to bumbaste; to breech (Cotgrave); to brush; to club; to curry; to dress with an oaken towel; to drub; to drybeat; to dry-bob; to drum; to fib; to flap; to flick; to flop; to jerk; to give one ballast; to hide; to lamm; to larrup; to paste; to punch; to rub down; to swinge; to swish; to switch; to trounce; to thump; to tund (Winchester); to wallop.SeealsoTan.

French Synonyms.—Donner l’avoine(pop. = to give a feed of hay);allumer(popular);bouiser(thieves’:un bouis= a whip).

Italian Synonyms.—Smanegrare;cotillare;corillare;cerire.

2. (colloquial).—To clean by filling full, and emptying, of water:e.g., toflusha sewer; to wash, swill, or sluice away. Also to fill with water:e.g., toflusha lock.

1884.HenleyandStevenson,Admiral Guinea, i., 8. Pray for a new heart;flush outyour sins with tears.

3. (shooting).—To start or raise a bird from covert:e.g.,to flusha snipe, or a covey of partridges. Hence (venery)to flush a wild duck= to single out a woman forgrousing(q.v.).

To come flush on one,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To come suddenly and unexpectedly (Marvell); to overwhelm (as by a sudden rush of water).[39]

Flushed on the Horse,phr.(prison).—Privately whipped in gaol.

Flush-hit,subs. phr.(pugilistic).—A clean blow; a hit full on the mark and straight from the shoulder. For synonyms,seeDig.

1891.Lic. Vict. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 7, col. 2. Landed a very heavyflush hiton the mouth.

Adv.(colloquial).—Full; straight;right on(q.v.).

1888.Sporting Life, 15 Dec. Both cautious, Wilson with marked frequency leading off, and getting the leftflushon the face.

Fluster,verb.(old).—To excite; to confuse, abash, orflummox(q.v.); to upset, or be upset, with drink.

1602.Shakspeare,Othello, I., 3. The very elements of this warlike isle,—Have I to-nightfluster’dwith flowing cups.

1711.Spectator, No.87. It is very common for such as are too low in constitution to ogle the idol upon the strength of tea, toflusterthemselves with warmer liquors.

1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., ii., 261. When I vext proud Celia just come from my glass, She tells me I’mflustered, and look like an ass.

1731.Fielding,Letter Writers. Act II., Sc. 5. Who hath taken me to the tavern, and, I protest, almostfluster’dme.

Flustered(orFlustrated),ppl. adj.(old).—Excited by drink, circumstances, another person’s impudence, etc.; also mildly drunk.Cf.,Flusticated. For synonyms,seeScrewed.

1686.Common. of Women, Prol. Another to compleat his daily task,fluster’dwith claret, seizes on a mask.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.flustered, drunk.

1709.Steele,Tatler, No. 3. I … therefore take this public occasion to admonish a young Nobleman,who cameflusteredinto the box last night.

1748.T. Dyche,Dict.(5th ed.)Flustered(a) … somewhatintoxicatedwith liquor.

1750.Fielding,Tom Jones, bk. XIV.,ch. ix. This latter, though not drunk, began to be somewhatflustered.

1779.The Mirror, No. 57. All of themflustered, some of them perfectly intoxicated.

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Flusticated, orFlustrated,ppl. adj.(old and colloquial).—Confused; in a state of heat or excitement.Cf.,Flustered.

1712.Spectator, No. 493. We were coming down Essex Street one night a littleflustrated.

1766.Colman,Cland. Marriage V., in works (1777) i. 271. Your mind is too muchflustrated, and you can neither eat nor drink.

1843.Maj. Jones’ Courtship, I. Somehow I was soflustratedthat I tuk the rong way.

1847.Porter,Big Bear, &c., p. 98. I sot down, being sorterflusticatedlike, thinkin’ of that skrape, last time I was there.

Flustration,subs.(old and colloquial).—Heat; excitement; bustle; confusion;flurry(q.v.).

1771.Smollet,Humphrey Clinker, I., 126. Being I was in such aflustration.

1843.Major Jones’ Courtship, viii. The old woman’s been in a monstrousflustration’bout the comet.

1847.Porter,Quarter Race, etc., p. 177. My wife is in a delicut way, and the frite might cause aflustration.

1848.Jones,Studies of Travel, p. 21. The old woman was in such aflustrationshe didn’t know her lips from anything else.

1872.Mortimer Collins,Two Plunges for a Pearl, vol. II., ch. vii. Then was this pretty little actress whom he admired in a great state offlustration.[40]

Flute,subs.(old).—1. The recorder of a corporation.

1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Tibia, aflute, arecorder, a pipe.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Flute, c. The recorder of London or of any other town.

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1825.Kent,Modern Flash Dict.Flute—the recorder of any town.

2. (venery).—Thepenis. Also theone-holed,the living, orthe silent flute.To play a tune on the one-holed flute= to have connection.Cf., Dryden (Sixth Juvenal, line 107). ‘And stretch hisquail-pipetill they crack his voice.’ For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.

1720.Durfey,Pills, etc., vi., 31. He took her by the middle, And taught her by theflute.

1736.Cupid, p. 163. The Flute is good that’s made of Wood,And is, I own, the neatest; Yet ne’ertheless I must confess, Thesilent flute’sthe sweetest.

Flutter,subs.(common).—1. An attempt, orshy(q.v.), at anything; a venture in earnest; a spree; a state of expectancy (as in betting). Hence gambling.

1883.Echo, 26 Feb. p. 4, col. 2. I have no stable tip, but I fancy the animal named will at any rate afford backers aflutterfor their money.

1889.Licensed Vict. Gazette, 8 Feb. Of course he told her he only went in for a littleflutteroccasionally.

1890.Saturday Review, 1 Feb., p. 134, col. 1. They find out the addresses of people whom theyseeat the races—people whom they suspect to be fond of aflutter, and then an invitation is sent to a littlesoirée intime.

1887.Henley,Culture in the Slums, iii. I likes a merry littleflutter, I keeps a Dado on the sly, In fact my form’s the blooming Utter.

2. (common).—The act of spinning a coin.

3. (venery).—Connection defloration.To have had a flutter= (1)to have been there(cf.,greens); and (2) to have lost one’s maidenhead.

Verb.(common).—1. To spin a coin (for drinks); also to gamble.

2. (common).—To go in for a bout of pleasure.

To flutter the ribbons,verb. phr.(common).—To drive.

1864.Eton School Days, chap. 1, p. 11. As I was going to be saying, I used toflutter the ribandsof the London Croydon and South Coast coach.

[Flutter, if not a word of all-work, is a word with plenty to do. Thus,to have(ordo)a flutter= to have alook in(q.v.), to go on the spree, and (of both sexes) to have carnal connection;to be on the flutter= to be on the spree, and also (venery) to beall there(q.v.) oron the spot(q.v.);to flutter a judy—both to pursue and to possess a girl;to flutter a brown= to spin a coin;to flutter(orfret)one’s kidneys= to agitate, to exasperate;to flutter a skirt= to walk the streets; and so forth.]

Flux,verb.(old).—1. To cheat; to cozen; to overreach. For synonyms,seeStick.

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

2. (old.)—To salivate. Grose, (1785).

Fly,subs.(old).—A familiar; hence, by implication, a parasite orsucker(q.v.). [In the sixteenth and seventeenth century it was held that familiar spirits, in the guise of flies, lice, fleas, etc., attended witches, who for a price professed to dispose of the power for evil thus imparted.][41]

1596.Lodge,Incarnate Devils. This divel prefers an Ephimerides before a Bible; and his Ptolemey and Hali before Ambrose, golden Chrisostome, or S. Augustine: promise him a familiar, and he will take afliein a box for good paiment.

1610.Ben Jonson,Alchemisti. You are mistaken, doctor, Why he does ask one but for cups and horses, A riflingfly, none of your great familiars.

1622.Massinger,Virgin Martyr, ii., 2. Courtiers havefliesThat buzz all news unto them.

2. (old).—A printer’s devil; specifically a boy who lifted the printed sheets from the press. [Now the vibrating frame used for the same purpose.]

1688.R. Holme,Academy of Armory. These boys do in a printing-house commonly black and bedaub themselves, when the workmen do jocosely call them devils, and sometimes spirits, and sometimesflies.

3. (trade).—A customer.

4. (common).—The act of spinning a coin.Cf.,Flutter.

5. (old).—A public wagon: afterwards (colloquial) a four-wheel hackney coach. Fr.,mouche(fly) = a public boat on the Seine.

1714.Memoirs of John Hall, s.v.

6. (common).—A policeman. For synonyms,seeBeakandCopper.

1857.Snowden,Magistrates’ Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 446. A policeman; afly.

Adj.(common).—1. Knowing;artful(q.v.); up to every move; cute. Alsofly to,a-fly,fly to the game, andfly to what’s what.Cf.,Awake, and, for synonyms,seeKnowing;fly dog(q.v.).

1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, Cheese it, the coves arefly= be silent, the people understand our discourse.

1823.W. T. Moncrieff,Tom and Jerry, Act II., Sc. 2.Jerry.Charlies’ fiddles?—I’m notfly, Doctor.Log.Rattles, Jerry, rattles!Jerry rattles! you’reflynow, Isee.

1838.Glascock,Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, II., 4. That’s right; Iseeyou’reflyto every fakement.

1850.Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb. ‘Low Lodging Houses of London.’ They say thefliestis easy to take in sometimes—that’s the artfullest; but I could do no good there.

1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 260. ‘We were tooflyto send anybody to market but ourselves.’

1861.H. Kingsley,Ravenshoe, ch. xxxv. [Chas. Ravenshoe to Shoeblack]. ‘On the cross?’ said Charles. ‘Ah,’ the boy said, ‘he goes outcly-fakingand such. He’s aprig, and a smart one, too. He’sfly, is Harry.’

1876.Miss Braddon,Dead Men’s Shoes, ch. lii. ‘Go and fetch the cleverest police officer in Liverpool, and let him wait outside this door till I want him.’ ‘I’mfly,’ answers the youth, brightening at the prospect of excitement and remuneration. ‘Case of ’bezzlement, I suppose, Sir?’

1877.Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 125. A certain prisoner, who was what is termed a veryflyman,i.e., a clever, scheming fellow … sounded him as to getting tobacco and other matters.

188(?).Jenny Hill,Broadside Ballad. I’ve cut my wisdom teeth, some at top, some underneath.… So you needn’t try it on; I’mfly.

1890.Punch, 30 Aug., p. 9. Briggs, Junior, a lobsculler called me; I wasn’t quiteflyto his lay.

1891.Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 9 Jan. If you get among aflylot, why they’d skin you in less than no time.

2. (common).—Dextrous.

1834.Ainsworth,Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. No dummy hunter had forks sofly.

1839.Reynolds,Pickwick Abroad, p. 223. We’ll knap a fogle with fingersfly.

3. (venery).—Wanton.Fly-girl,-woman, or-dame= a prostitute.[42]

1888.San Francisco News Letter, 4 Feb. ‘I’m just gettin’ sick’n tired o’ the way ’t themflydames go on, ’n the way’tthe fellahs hang round ’em ’n dance with ’em ’n so forth.’

Verb.(thieves’).—1. To toss; to raise;to fly the mags= to toss up half-pence (cf.,subs., sense 4).

1857.Snowden,Magistrates’ Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 447. To lift a window, toflya window.

2. (pugilistic).—To give way: as, chinafliesin the baking.

1865.G. F. Berkeley,My Life, II. 296. Heenan … told me his right hand was worth nothing to him, and we have since seen that his leftflies, or, in other words, becomes puffed, softened, or severely damaged by the force of his own blows.

To fly around,verb. phr.(American).—To bestir oneself; to make haste. Alsoto fly around and tear one’s shirt.

1851.Hooper,Widow Rugby’s Husband, p. 44. Old ’ooman,fly around, git somethin’ for the Squire and Dick to eat.

To fly the flag,verb. phr.(colloquial).—1. To walk the streets.

2. (vulgar).—To experience the menstrual flux.

SeealsoFlag.

To fly high(orrather high).—1.verb. phr.(common).—To get, or be drunk. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.

2. (colloquial).—To keep the best company, maintain the best appearances, and affect the best aims:i.e., to be aHigh-flier(q.v.). Also, to venture for the biggest stakes in the biggest way.

To fly low,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To make as little of oneself as possible; tosing small(q.v.); and (among thieves) to keep out of the way whenwanted(q.v.).

To fly off the handle,verb. phr.(American pioneer).—To lose temper; to fail of a promise; to jilt; to die; alsoto slip off the handle(q.v.); to disappoint in any way. [In pioneer life for an axe to part company with its handle is a serious trial to temper and patience.]

1843–4.Haliburton,The Attaché. You never see such a crotchical old critter as he is. Heflies right off the handlefor nothing.

1867.Home Journal(New York), 21 July (speaking of a man who had succeeded to a large fortune it says) hewent off the handlein England rather unexpectedly.

1871.De Vere,Americanisms, p. 195.If a fair lady loses her temper, or worst of all, if she breaks the tender promise, she is said tofly off the handle, and the disappointment is as serious to the unlucky lover as a lost axe to many a settler.

1888.Pittsburg Chronicle.‘I can’t say thatI’amstuck on Sue Fitzpercy,’ remarked Amy. ‘She is liableto fly off the handle.’

To fly out,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To get angry; to scold.

1612.Chapman,Widow’s Tears, Act II., p. 317 (Plays, 1874). For wherefore rage wives at their husbands so when theyfly out? for zeal against the sin?

1665–6.Pepys,Diary, 17 Jan. It is to be feared that the Parliament willfly outagainst him and particular men, the next Session.

1712.Spectator, No. 479. He (Socrates) has said, My dear friend, you are beholden to Xantippe, that I bear so well yourflying outin a dispute.

1855.Thackeray,Newcomes, ch. xx. ‘And then the Colonelflies outabout his boy, and says that my wife insulted him!’[43]

To make the fur(orfeathers)fly,verb. phr.(common).—To attack effectively; to make a disturbance; to quarrel noisily like two tom cats on the tiles, who are said (in American) to pull fur, or to pull wool.

1847.Porter,Big Bear, etc., p. 132. Thar, they’ve got him agin, and now thefur flies.

1888.Denver Republican, 29 Feb. ‘Wait until the National Committee assembles on February 22,’ said the organizer, ‘and you will see thefur flyfrom the Cleveland hide.’

To take on the fly,verb. phr.(vagrants’).—To beg in the streets; a specific usage of adverbial sense.

1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, II., p. 59. The ‘first move’ in his mendicant career wastaking them on the fly, which means meeting the gentry on their walks, and beseeching or at times menacing them till something is given.

To fly a kite,verb.phr.(common).—To raise money by means of accommodation bills;to raise the wind(q.v.).

1812. From an old DublinJester. [The story, however, with slight variations, is told of other judges. SeeN. and Q., S. ix., 6 326–394.] In a case before the Lord Chancellor of Ireland Mr. Curran, on behalf of the suitor, prayed to be relieved from the payment of some bills for which he had not received consideration, but only lent his name as an accommodation. Mr. Curran, in the course of his pleadings, mentioned the termskiteandraising the windseveral times, when his lordship requested to know the meaning of the words. ‘My lord,’ Mr. Curran replied, ‘in your country (meaning England) the wind generally raises the kite, but withus, significantly looking at the gentlemen of the bar,the kite raises the wind.’

1848.Punch, XIV., p. 226. ‘The Model Gentleman.’ He never does ‘a little discounting’ nor lends his hand to ‘flying a kite.’

1849.Perils of Pearl Street, p. 82.Flying the kiteis rather a perilous adventure.

1880.G. R. Sims,Ballads of Babylon(Little Worries). You have akiteyou cannotfly, and creditors are pressing.

1891.Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 23 Jan. Prince Alexis Soltykoff, who has beenflying kites, and getting into trouble thereby, is the only son of Prince Soltykoff, the steward of the Jockey Club.

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