3. (thieves’).—A crape mask: once a kind of vizard or veil worn by
women (Stow, 1539).
1838. Glascock, Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, ii. 126. The dark
lanterns—the mufflers—and the jemmy.
Muffling-cheat, subs. (old).—See quots.
1573. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65, s.v. A mofling chete, a napkin.
1777. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Muffling cheat ... a towel.
Mufti, subs. (military colloquial).—See quots. 1834 and 1836. Fr. en
pékin.
1834. Marryat, Peter Simple, xxxi. The governor’s aide-de-camps,
all dressed in mufti (i.e., plain clothes).
1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ii. The company was composed
chiefly of naval and military men, but there was also a sprinkling
of civilians, or muftees, to use a West India expression.
1854. Thackeray, Newcomes, vii. He has no mufti-coat, except one
sent him out by Messrs. Stulty, to India in the year 1821.
1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, xxxviii. He was dogged at the
distance of some thirty yards by an amiable policeman in mufti.
1865. A Son of the Soil, in Macmillan’s Mag., March, p. 389. He had
still a stolen inclination for mufti and wore his uniform only when
a solemn occasion occurred like this, and on grand parade.
1876. Grant, One of Six Hundred, i. I relinquished my gay
lancer-trappings, and resumed the less pretentious mufti of the
civilian.
1884. Notes and Queries, 6 S. ix. 398. Mufti ... the well-known
title of a Mahommedan high-priest ... officers in India, on
returning from their duties ... don pyjamas and loose white
jackets, and when so arrayed bear a resemblance to the white-robed
priests of Islam.
1888. Athenæum, 27 Oct., p. 554, col. 3. An elderly gentleman in
mufti.
Mug, subs. (common).—1. The face; the mouth.
1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 166. Face. Mug.
1818. Egan, Boxiana, ii. 41. A slight tint of the claret appeared
upon both their mugs.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. ’Twas all dicky with
Georgy, his mug hung so dead.
1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v.
1830. W. T. Moncrieff, The Heart of London, ii. 1. But how’s he to
disguise his mug from the turnkey?
1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 305. ‘And you have
said it with your own beautiful mug, Benjie Brail,’ quoth Dennis
Donovan.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, lvi. ‘Clive has just inherited the
paternal mug.’
1855. Punch, xxix. p. 3. Then I did the meek and lowly, Pullin’
sitch a spoony mug.
1857. O. W. Holmes, Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, iii. The smile
they carry has a quiet assertion in it, such as the champion of the
Heavy Weights ... wears upon what he very inelegantly calls his
mug.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
1860. Chamber’s Journal, xiii. 348. His face as a whole is termed
his mug.
1877. Greenwood, Dick Temple, Downy-looking Cove, the fair ’un; a
mug like that ought to be worth a fortune to him.
1883. Referee, 1 April, p. 2, col. 4. He is a low comedian ... and
has an awfully funny mug.
1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 10. The face of a cad with the
mug of a terrier pup.
2. (common).—A dolt. Also, a raw, or clumsy hand. See quots. 1851 and
1879.
1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, iii. p. 203. ‘We
sometimes have a greenhorn wants to go out pitching with us—a mug,
we calls them.’
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
1879. Auto. of Thief, in Macm. Mag., xl. 500. One being a mug at
the game.
1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, p. 4. Many eager souls were
longing for a chance to plunder such an obvious mug.
1889. Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, col. 1. The method of plucking
the mug varies according to circumstances.
1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 8 Feb., p. 7, col. 1. ‘Look here,’ said
another, ‘if you offer me a tip, do you suppose I’m going to be mug
enough to refuse it?’
1891. Morning Advertiser, 30 Mar. There was no doubt that these men
stole the orders from the office, and that Woodman and the females
had been used as what the police termed mugs in assisting to
dispose of the property.
1891. Lic. Vict. Gaz., 23 Jan. He was stopped by a policeman and
asked who the horse belonged to, and he gave the young mug’s name
and address.
1895. Pall Mall Gaz., 22 Jan., p. 2, col. 2. He expects the mug to
bet on his hand and to win the wager with the last trump.