Keelie,subs.(Royal High School, Edin.: obsolete).—A town boy. Now = “cad.”
Keep.ToKEEP CHAPEL,verb. phr.(University).—Seequot. 1852.
1850.Household Words, ii. p. 161. “As you have failed to make up your number of chapels the last two weeks,” such were the very words of the Dean, “you will, if you please,KEEPeveryCHAPELtill the end of the term.”
1852.Bristed,Five Years,&c., 32. The undergraduate is expected to go to chapel eight times, or, in academic parlance, toKEEPeightCHAPELSa week.
To keep cave,verb. phr.(Eton).—To watch and give warning on a tutor’s approach.
1883.Brinsley Richards,Seven Years at Eton, ch. iv. Another had to mount guard in the passage, or on the staircase,TO KEEPcave.
Kick.To kick over,verb. phr.(Winchester).—To kick a ball up in the air, when it is rolling along, or lying on the ground: considered very bad play.—Mansfield(c.1840).Ibid., 217.Kick-in.—In a game at football the bounds on each side were kept by a line of Juniors, whose duty it was toKICKthe ballINagain whenever it passed outside the line.SeeKicking-in.
Kicking-in,subs.(Winchester).—Seequot., andKick.
c.1840.Mansfield,School-Life at Winchester College, p. 138. But football wasn’t all beer and skittles to the Fags. There was an institution calledKICKING-IN, which, while it lasted, was much worse than “watching out” at cricket, although it had the very great merit of not continuing so long; for, even on a whole holiday, we seldom had more than two hours of it.
Kick-off,subs.(Winchester).—Taking the football in hand and kicking it into the air: this was done after eachSchitt(q.v.),Gowner(q.v.), orGoal(q.v.) by the losing side, and whenever a ball that had been kicked up in the air had been caught by one of the other side.—Mansfield(c.1840).
Kid,subs.1. (Winchester).—Cheese.
2. (The Leys).—A boy under fifteen. HenceKID-SIXES= football forKIDS—six a side.
Kill,verb(Winchester).—To hurt badly.
1800.Edgeworth,Castle Rackrent, “Glossary.” This word [KILL] ... means not killed, but much hurt. In Ireland, not only cowards but the brave “die many times before their death.” There “killing is no murder.”
1836.Marryat,Japhet, iii. Sure enough it cured me, but wasn’t I quiteKILTbefore I was cured.
Kill-me-quick,subs.(The Leys).—A tuck-shop cake.
King Edward’s, Birm.—A curious custom exists here of inherited nicknames:e.g.Years ago a boy named Pearson was nicknamed “Jelly”; every Pearson, though unrelated to the other, for many years afterwards was nicknamed “Jelly.” A trio of brothers have been successively named “Tiddley,” others “Topsy,” and “Bowie.” An elder brother was called “Pussy,” and his younger brother “Kitten.”
Kings,To get kings,verb. phr.(Eton).—To obtain a scholarship at King’s Coll., Cambridge.SeeRipping.
Kingsman,subs.(Cambridge).—A member of King’s College.
1852.Bristed,Five Years, 127. He came out the winner, with theKINGSMAN, and one of our three.
Kip,verb(Royal High School, Edin.).—To play truant. Common throughout Scotland. [Possibly from “skip.”]
Kish,subs.(Marlborough).—A cushion: in ordinary use doubled up under the arm for carrying school books, as well as for sitting on in Form or Hall. Asverb= to use a cushion as a weapon of offence.SeeCompound-kish.
Kittle-nine-steps,subs. phr.(Royal High School, Edin.: obsolete).—A pass on the very brink of the Castle rock, to the north, by which it is just possible for a goat or a High School boy to turn the corner of the building where it rises from the edge of the precipice.SeeHell-and-neck-boy.
Klondyke,subs.(The Leys).—A cross-country run to St. Botolph’s.
Knave,subs.(Christ’s Hospital).—A dunce: at Hertford, aKNACK.
Knock.To knock in,verb. phr.(Oxford).—1. To return to College afterGATEis closed.
1825.English Spy, i. 155. “Close the oak, Jem,” said Horace Eglantine, “and take care no oneKNOCKS INbefore we have knocked down the contents of your master’s musicalmélange.”
1837.Barham,Ingoldsby Legends, p. 464 [ed. 1862]. That same afternoon Father Dick, who as soon WouldKNOCK INor “cut chapel,” as jump o’er the moon, Was missing at vespers—at complines—all night! And his monks were of course in a deuce of a fright.
1853.Cuthbert Bede,Verdant Green,I.xi. At first, too, he was on such occasions greatly alarmed at finding the gates of Brazenface closed, obliging him thereby toKNOCK IN.
1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, p. 458 [ed. 1864]. There’s twelve striking. I mustKNOCK IN. Good night. You’ll be round to breakfast at nine?
2.To knock out,verb. phr.(Oxford).—To leave college after hours: of out of college men only.SeeKnock in.
1861.H. Kingsley,Ravenshoe, vii. Five out-college men hadKNOCKED OUTat a quarter to three, refusing to give any name but the dean’s.
1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, xlv. p. 503 [ed. 1864]. “Hullo!” he said, getting up; “time for me toKNOCK OUT, or old Copas will be in bed.”
3.To knock up,verb. phr.(Christ’s Hospital).—To gain a place in class:e.g.IKNOCKED UP, and “IKNOCKEDJonesUP.” The Hertford equivalent isOX UP(q.v.). Both forms are now obsolete.
Knuckle.To knuckle down,verb. phr.(Winchester).—To kneel.
1748.Dyche,Dict.(5th ed.).Knuckle-down(verb) to stoop, bend, yield, comply with, or submit to.