Lick-spittle, subs. (old).—A toady. Fr. un lèche-bottes. For synonyms
see Snide. Also as verb.
1629. Davenant, Albovine, iii. Lick her spittle From the ground.
This disguised humility Is both the swift, and safest way to pride.
1729. Swift, Libel on Delany and Carteret. His (Pope’s) heart too
great, though fortune little, To lick a rascal statesman’s spittle.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, xvii. Averring that they were a parcel
of sneaks, a set of lickspittles, and using epithets still more
vulgar.
1856. C. Bronte, Professor, v. You mean, whining lickspittle!
1857. Thackeray, Shabby Genteel Story, iii. We call him
tuft-hunter, lickspittle, sneak, unmanly.
1887. Hannay, Smollett, p. 96. No surgeon was ever quite such a
fool, coward, figurant lick-spittle as Mackshane.
Lick-twat, subs. (old).—A fellator; a cunnilingist (q.v.).
1656. Fletcher, Martiall, xi. 67. A lick-twat and a fencer too.
Lie, subs. (common).—See Whole cloth and White lie.
Verb. (old).—To be in pawn. For synonyms see Pop.
1609. Man in the Moon [quoted by Nares, s.v. Lie]. Sir, answered
the begger, I have a good suite of apparell in the next village
which lieth not for above eightpence, if you will helpe me to that
first I shall thinke myselve beholding unto you.
To lie low, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To conceal one’s thought, or one’s
intentions. Also to keep to one’s bed.
1847. Porter, Big Bear etc., p. 129. ‘Lay low and keep dark,’ says
I.
1884. F. Anstey, Giant Robe, xxxviii. So you’ve very prudently been
lying low till you could get Master Mark off his guard, or till
something turned up to help you.
1890. Athenæum, 22 Feb., 241. 2. It becomes clear in the first
chapter, or at any rate in the second, that John Ardell’s intended
heir is only suppressed, that he is lying low only in a
metaphorical sense.
To lie off, verb. phr. (turf).—To make a waiting race. To lie out of
one’s ground = to ‘lie off’ too long, so as to be unable to recover
lost ground.
To lie around loose, verb. phr. (American).—To loaf; to be out of
employment.
To lie flat, verb. phr. (common).—See to lie low.
To lie like truth, verb. phr. (common).—To lie with verisimilitude and
propriety.
1876. Hindley, Cheap Jack, 3. The fraternity ... are always
supposed, and by common consent allowed, to lie like truth.
To lie down, verb. phr. (old).—To be brought to bed.
1582. Lyly, Euphues and his England [quoted by Nares]. I have
brought into the world two children: of the first I was delivered
before my friends thought me conceived; of the second, I went a
whole yeere big, and yet when every one thought me ready to lie
down, I did then quicken.
1720. The Hartlepool Tragedy [quoted by Nares]. I promis’d her
fair, that I would take care Of her and her infant, and all things
prepare At Hartlepool town, where she should lie down; Poor soul
she believ’d me, as always she’d done.
To lie in, verb. phr. (Royal Military Academy).—To keep one’s room when
supposed to be out on leave.
To lie in state, verb. phr. (venery).—To lie between two women.
Lie with a latchet (or lie made of whole cloth) (common).—An
out-and-out falsehood. Also lie laid on with a trowel.
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, v. ch. 30. If you hearken to those who
will tell you the contrary, you’ll find yourselves damnably
mistaken, for that’s a lie with a latchet; though ’twas Ælian, that
long-bow man, that told you so, never believe him, for he lies as
fast as a dog can trot.
1672. Ray, Proverbial Phrases, 200. That’s a lie with a latchet,
All the dogs in the town cannot match it.
A lie nailed to the counter, subs. phr. (common).—A detected falsehood
or slander.
1888. Texas Siftings, 20 Oct. ‘That lie was nailed a good while
ago.’ ‘I know it,’ chuckled the C. L., ‘but it is easy enough to
pull out the nail.’
1888. Denver Republican, 6 May. The La Junta Tribune has scooped
all the papers in the State by nailing the first campaign lie this
season.
Lie-abed, subs. (colloquial).—A sluggard.
1763. Foote, Mayor of Garratt, i. If you had got up time enough,
you might have secured the stage, but you are a lazy lie-a-bed.
1859. Reade, Love Me Little &c., x. David was none of your
lie-a-beds. He rose at five in summer, six in winter.
Life. See Bet and Death.
Life-preserver, subs. (American thieves’).—1. A slung shot.—Matsell
(1859).