1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 404. To take the
granny off them as has white hands.
Verb (thieves’).—To know; to recognise. Also to swindle.
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 461. The shallow
got so grannied in London.
Ibid., p. 340. If they granny the manley (perceive the signature)
of a brother officer or friend.
Grant. To grant the favour, verb. phr. (venery).—To confer the sexual
embrace; to spread (q.v.).
1720. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi. 58. If at last she grants the
favour, And consents to be undone.
1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, iv. 7. I ... never would grant the
favour to any man till I had drunk a heavy glass with him.
Grape-shot, adj. (common).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.
Grape-vine, subs. (American).—A hold in wrestling.
Grape-vine Telegraph, subs. phr. (American).—News mysteriously
conveyed. [During the Civil War bogus reports from the front were said
to be by the Grape-vine Telegraph.] Also Clothes-line Telegraph.
Grapple, subs. (common).—The hand. Also grappler. For synonyms, see
Daddle and Mauley.
1852. Hazel, Yankee Jack, p. 9. Give us your grappler on that, old
fellow.
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 246. Anything she
once put her grapples on she slipped inside.
Grapple-the-rails, subs. (Irish).—Whiskey. For synonyms, see Drinks and
Old Man’s Milk.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Grapple-the-rails, a cant name used in
Ireland for whiskey.
Grappling-irons (or -hooks), subs. (old).—1. Handcuffs. For synonyms,
see Darbies.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
1830. Buckstone, Wreck Ashore, i., 4. I hope the bailiffs have not
laid their grappling irons on young Miles.
2. (nautical).—The fingers. For synonyms, see Fork. Also Grapplers and
Grappling-Hooks.
Grass, subs. (Royal Military Academy).—1. Vegetables. Cf., bunny-grub.
Fr., gargousses de la canonnière.