Leaf, subs. (American thieves’).—See quot.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Leaf.... ‘I will be out in the
leaf,’ ‘I will be out in the autumn.’
To go off with the fall of the leaf, verb. phr. (Irish).—See quot.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Leaf, to go off with the fall of
the leaf, to be hanged; criminals hanged in Dublin, being turned
off from the outside of the prison, by the falling of a board,
propped up, and moving on a hinge like the leaf of a table.
Leafless-tree, subs. (Old Cant).—The gallows. For synonyms see Nubbing
Cheat. Fr. la sans-feuille.
1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford.... Oh! there never was life like the
robber’s.... And its end—why, a cheer from the crowd below, And a
leap from a leafless tree.
Leak, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see
Monosyllable.
1720. Gay, Tales, ‘Work for a Cooper’. Her coats rose high, her
master saw—I see—he cries—(then claspt her fast) The leak through
which my wine has past.
Verb. (American thieves’).—1. To impart a secret.—Matsell (1859).
2. (old).—To make water.—Grose (1823). Hence to spring a leak = to
piss.
Leaky, adj. (old).—See quots.
d. 1704. Lestrange [Century]. Women are so leaky that I have hardly
met with one that could not hold her breath longer than she could
keep a secret.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Leaky.... One who cannot keep a
secret is said to be leaky.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.