To chuck, chuck it, or chuck up, verbal phr. To abandon; ‘turn up’;
dismiss; turn out of doors; to give up. Also chuck it up = ‘drop it.’
[From the custom of throwing up the sponge at a prize fight in sign of
defeat. Often corrupted into jack up.—See Sponge. A French equivalent
is laisser tout en plan.
1869. Daily Telegraph, 6 Sept. ‘Season at Baden.’ Why is it that
Englishwomen can never combine their colours, or put on their
clothes? Are their maids used to haymaking when at home, and do
they ‘pitch’ on the petticoats, and give three cheers and have beer
when they finish the work by chucking up the dress?
1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xxvi. ‘But here, Cis, if you
mean business, take my advice and chuck that corps.’
1883. Miss Braddon, Phantom Fortune, ch. xxv. She knows on which
side her bread is buttered. Look how easily she chucked you up
because she did not think you good enough.
To get or give the chuck, phr.—To dismiss, or be dismissed, Cf., bag
and sack.
1889. Sporting Times [quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant]. And I
shall get the blooming chuck as well as fourteen days.
Chuck up the sponge.—See Sponge.
To chuck [oneself] about or into, phr.—To move expeditiously. For
synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle. Also, to fall into.
1860. Funny Fellow, 7 May, p. 1. Hollo, my kiddy, stir your stumps,
And chuck yourself about.
Chuck her up, phr. (cricket).—An expression of delight. [From the
practice of throwing the ball into the air after a successful catch.]
[The verb, to chuck, is attached in an active sense to any number
of objectives, and may be taken as equivalent to ‘to perform’ or
‘do.’ Thus ‘to chuck a fag’ = to ‘give a beating’; to ‘chuck a
turd’ = to ‘rear,’ to evacuate; to ‘chuck a tread’ = to have
intercourse; to ‘chuck a jolly’ = to undertake a bout of chaff; to
‘chuck a fit’ = to have an epileptic, or apoplectic, seizure; to
‘chuck a cram’ or ‘a kid’ = to lie, etc.]
Hard-chuck (pigeon fanciers’).—A long distance; also a trying flight.
From Gravesend to London is considered a hard-chuck, as the low, flat
country is bare of landmarks.
Chuck a Curly, verbal phr. (military).—To feign sickness; to malinger.
[For possible derivation, see general remarks on Chuck, in a preceding
paragraph, + curly, ‘doubling up,’ or writhing, as in pain.]
Chuck a Jolly, verbal phr. (costermongers’).—To bear up or ‘bonnet’: as
when a costermonger praises the inferior article his mate or partner is
trying to sell. This process is usually commenced with a chi-ike
(q.v.). Also to undertake a bout of chaff.
Chuck a Stall, verb phr. (thieves’).—To attract a person’s attention
while a confederate picks his pockets, or otherwise robs him. [Stall =
an accomplice; and as a verb, to keep watch or spy upon.]
1884. Greenwood, Seven Years’ Penal Servitude. I said to my pal
‘chuck me a stall and I’ll have that.’ What did I mean? Why, keep
close to me, and cover what I’m doing.
Chucked. To be chucked or chucked up, verbal phr. (thieves’).—1. To
escape committal; to be acquitted or released.
1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail, Rit from 7 dials; remanded
innocent on two charges of pokes, only out 2 weeks for a drag,
expects to be fullied or else chucked.
1889. Evening News [quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant, p. 251, col.
1]. When I was chucked up they took me to an old Jew’s in Dudley
Street for my clothes.
1889. Answers, 9 Feb. He was fortunate enough to get chucked, to
escape, that is to say, as the evidence against him was not strong
enough.
2. (common).—[Generally chucked out.] To be forcibly ejected. [From
chuck, verb, sense 1, + ed + out.] Cf., Chucker-out.