3. (theatrical). Part of a scene, hinged and painted on both sides,
used in trick changes.
Flirtatious, adj. (American).—Flighty.
1881, W. D. Howells, D. Breen’s Practice, ch. i., “Oh, you needn’t
look after her, Mr. Libby! There’s nothing flirtatious about
Grace,” said Mrs. Maynard.
Flirt-gill, Flirtgillian, or Gill-flirt, subs. (old). A wanton; a
chopping girl (q.v.); specifically a strumpet. For synonyms, see
Barrack-hack and Tart.
1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, ii., 4. Scurvy knave! I am none
of his flirt-gills.
1713. Guardian, No. 26. We are invested with a parcel of
flirt-gills, who are not capable of being mothers of brave men.
1729. Gay, Polly, ii. 4. While a man is grappling with these
gill-flirts, pardon the expression, Captain, he runs his reason
aground.
1822. Scott, Fort. of Nigel, ch. v. She is a dutiful girl to her
god-father, though I sometimes call her a jill-flirt.
Flirtina Cop-all, subs. phr. (common). A wanton, young or old; a men’s
woman (q.v.).
Float, subs. (theatrical).—The footlights: before the invention of gas
they were oil-pans with floating wicks. Cf., Ark-floater.
1886. Saturday Review, 24 July, p. 108. To an actor the float is
not what it is to a fisherman.
1889. Answers, 8 June, p. 24. He slapped me on the back, put me in
a hansom, and cried, ‘We’ll have you behind the float (footlights)
in a week.’
If that’s the way the stick floats. See Stick.
Floater, subs. (Stock Exchange).—An Exchequer bill; applied also to
other unfunded stock.
1871. Temple Bar, XXXI., 320. On the Stock Exchange, where slang
abounds, floaters is a term which would puzzle outsiders. Floaters
are Exchequer bills and their unfunded stock.