1791. Boswell, Johnson (1835), viii. 53. Mr. Elliot mentioned a
curious liquor peculiar to his country which the Cornish fishermen
drink. They call it mahogany; and it is made of two parts gin, and
one part treacle, well beaten together.
1855. Strang, Glasgow & its Clubs, 102. With his legs below the
tavern mahogany, and with his own tankard of mahogany before him.
To have one’s feet under another man’s mahogany, verb. phr.
(common).—To live on someone else.
To amputate one’s mahogany, verb. phr. (common).—To run away; to cut
one’s stick (q.v.).
Mahogany-flat, subs. (common).—A bug: cf. Heavy cavalry. For synonyms
see Norfolk Howard.
Mahometan-gruel, subs. (common).—Coffee.—Grose (3rd ed., 1796).
Maid. Neither wife, widow, nor maid, phr. (old).—See Maiden-wife-widow.
Maiden, subs. (Old Scots’ colloquial).—1. A decapitating machine.
1715. Pennecuik, Descr. of Tweeddale, pp. 16–17. Which fatal
instrument, at least the pattern thereof, the cruel Regent [Earl
Morton] had brought from abroad to behead the Laird of Pennecuik of
that ilk, who notwithstanding died in his bed, and the unfortunate
Earl was the first himself that handselled that merciless maiden.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. The rude, old guillotine of
Scotland, called the maiden.
1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 7 Mar., p. 2. col 1. A young Scotch gentleman
of good birth, named ‘A. Balfour,’ was executed by an instrument
called the maiden.
2. (colloquial).—In cricket, an over with no runs; in racing, a horse
which has never run. Also as adj.: as, a maiden-speech, a
maiden-attempt etc.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Maiden-sessions, when none are
hanged.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1882. Daily Telegraph, 2 Jan. The conditions contain no allowance
for maiden.
Maiden-gear, subs. (old).—The virginity. Fr. côte de tribulation.
1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, i. 130. My father takes me for a
Saint, Tho’ weary of my maiden geer, That I may give you full
content, Pray look, Sir Knight, the coast be clear.
Maidenhead, subs. (vulgar: once literary).—‘Newness; freshness;
uncontaminated state. This is now become a low word.’—Johnson (1755).
1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller [Grosart, v. 114]. He would let
Florence his mistres natiue citie have the maidenhead of his
chiualrie.
1598. Shakspeare, Henry IV, 1. 59. The devil and mischance look big
Upon the maidenhead of our affairs.
1694. Crowne, Married Beau, ii. 1. I’ll give your ladyship the
maidenhead of a new song of mine.
d. 1726. Wotton [Johnson]. Some ... have stained the maidenhead of
their credit with some negligent performance.
Maiden-town, subs. (Old Scots’).—Edinburgh; auld reekie. [From a
tradition that the maiden daughters of a Pictish King sought protection
there during a time of civil war].
Maiden-wife-widow, subs. phr. (old).—1. See quot.; and (2) a whore [Ray
(1767)].
1688. Randal Holmes, Academy of Armory, 404. A maiden-wife-widow,
one that gave herself up to a man that could never enjoy her
maidenhead.
Maid Marian, subs. phr. (old).—A wanton. [The character in the old
morris-dance was taken by a loose woman].
1598. Shakspeare, Henry IV, Falstaff. And for chastity Maid Marian
is deputy’s wife of the wand to thee.
Maids-adorning, subs. (rhyming).—The morning.
Maidstone-jailer, subs. (rhyming).—A tailor. For synonyms see
Prick-louse.
Mail, subs. (Stock Exchange).—In pl. = Mexican railway shares.
To get up the mail, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To find money to defend a
prisoner.
Main, subs. (gaming).—The averages of the number to be thrown at dice;
at (cock-fighting) the advantage on a series of battles.—Bee (1823).
To turn on the main, verb. phr. (common).—To weep. For synonyms see Nap
a bib.
1853. Bradley (Cuthbert Bede), Verdant Green, Part 3, p. 90. The
Mum cut up doosid this last time; You’ve no idea how she turned on
the main and did the briny.
Main-avenue, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see
Monosyllable.
Main-brace. To splice the main-brace, verb. phr. (nautical).—To serve
an allowance of grog; hence to drink.
1834. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xv. With a bottle of rum, procured
at the time they spliced the mainbrace.
1877. Harriet Martineau, Autobiography, vol. ii. Appendix p. 480.
Yesterday the captain shouted, for the first time, splice the
main-brace (give out grog).
Main-chance. See Chance.
Main-sheet, subs. (common).—Drink: specifically (in quot.) brandy.
1886. Grant Allen, In All Shades, ch. vii. ‘In Trinidad! Well,
well, beautiful island, beautiful, beautiful! Must mind they don’t
take too much mainsheet, or catch yellow Jack, or live in the
marshes, that’s all.’
Main-toby, subs. (old).—The highway, or main road. See toby.
Majority. To go over to (or join) the majority (or great majority),
verb. phr. (old).—To die. For synonyms see Hop the twig. [The
expression ἐς πλεόνων ἱκέσθαι is found in Crinagoras (Anthol. Palat.
11, 42), and penetrare ad plures in Plautus (Trin., ii, 2, 14). A
correspondent of the Illustrated London News (‘Echoes,’ Sept. 9, 1883)
writes: ‘The phrase joining the majority is a free translation of the
sepulchral formula, Abierunt ad multos, used by the Roman legionaries
in Britain’; but in all probability the English use of the expression
comes from quot. 1721].
1721. Young, Revenge, iv. 1. Life is the desert, life the solitude;
Death joins us to the great majority.
1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 1, col. 3. Henry
Saffrey, the Paris Leviathan, has joined the ever-increasing
majority. ‘Lucky Saff’ was very popular in the French capital.
Make, subs. (old).—1. See Mag.