Verb. (American thieves’).—See quot.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Lion. Be saucy; lion the fellow;
make a loud noise; substitute noise for good sense; frighten;
bluff.
Cotswold lion, subs. (old).—A sheep. See Cotsold and Lammermoor
lion.
1537. Thersites [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), i. 400]. Now have at
the lions on Cots’old!
1600. Sir John Oldcastle, i. 2. You old stale ruffian, you lion of
Cotswold.
1659. Harrington, Epigrams, B. iii. Ep. 18. Lo then the mystery
from whence the name, Of Cotsold lyone first to England came.
1672. Ray, Proverbs [Bohn (1893), p. 204], s.v.
To tip the lion, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lion, to tip the lion, to squeeze
the nose of the party tipped, flat to his face with the thumb.
To put one’s head into the lion’s mouth, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To
put oneself into a desperate position.
As valiant as an essex lion, phr. (old).—As valiant as a calf.—Ray
(1767).
Lion-drunk, adj. phr. (old).—See quot.
1582. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, in Wks. (Grosart), ii. 81–2. Now
have we not one or two kinde of drunkards onely, but eight
kinde.... The second is lion-drunk, and he flings the pots about
the house, calls his Hostesse whore, breakes the glasse windows
with his dagger, and is apt to quarrele with any man that speaks to
him.
Lioness, subs. (common).—1. A female celebrity; a woman of note.
1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, vii. All the lions and lionesses.
1837. Dickens, Pickwick, xv. Mr. Tupman was doing the honours of
the lobster salad to several lionesses.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, xli. For the last three months Miss
Newcome has been the greatest lioness in London; the reigning
beauty.