Clank Napper, subs. (old).—A thief whose speciality is silver-plate.
[From clank, subs. + napper (q.v.), a thief.] For synonyms, see
Thieves.
Clap (or Clapper), subs. (common).—1. The tongue. [From clap = chatter;
a babbler’s tongue is said to be hung in the middle, and to sound with
both ends.] For synonyms, see Clack.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 72. Þeone kuðen heo neuere astunten hore cleppe.
1609. Dekker, Guls’ Horne-Booke, ch. vi. And to let that clapper
(your tongue) be tost so high, that all the house may ring of it.
1633. Massinger, New Way to Pay Old Debts, III., 2. Greedy. Sir
Giles, Sir Giles! Over. The great fiend, stop that clapper!
1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VII., ch. xv. My landlady was in
such high mirth with her company that no clapper could be heard
there but her own.
1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xix. I thought I should
have snorted right out two or three times ... to hear the critter
let her clapper run that fashion.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. vi. But old Murdoch was too
pleased at hearing his own clapper going, and too full of whiskey,
to find him out.
1878. John Payne, tr. Poems of Villon, p. 139. Enough was left me
(as warrant I will) To keep me from holding my clapper still, When
jargon that meant ‘You shall be hung’ They read to me from the
notary’s bill: Was it a time to hold my tongue?
2. (vulgar).—Gonorrhœa; once in polite use. [Origin uncertain; cf., Old
Fr. clapoir, bosse, bubo, panus inguinis; clapoire, clapier, ‘lieu de
débauche,’ ‘maladie q’on y attrape’]. For synonyms, see Ladies’ Fever.
1587. Myrr. Mag., Malin iii. Before they get the clap.
1706. Farquhar, The Recruiting Officer. Five hundred a year besides
guineas for claps.
1709. Swift, Adv. Relig. Works [1755] II., i. 99, s.v.
1738. Johnson, London, 114. They sing, they dance, clean shoes, or
cure a clap.
1881. In Syd. Soc. Lex.
Verb (vulgar).—To infect with clap; see subs. Also figuratively.
1658. Osborn, Jas. I. [1673], 514. Atropos clapt him, a Pox on the
Drab!
1680. Butler, Rem. [1759], I. 249. [They] had ne’er been clap’d
with a poetic itch.
1738. Laws of Chance. Pref. 9. It is hardly 1 to 10 ... that a
Town-Spark of that Age has not been clap’d.
Clapper-Dudgeon, subs. (old).—A whining beggar.
1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 26. These Palliards be called also
Clapper dogens, these go with patched clokes, and haue their morts
with them which they cal wiues.
1625. Jonson, Staple of News, II. Here he is, and with him—what? a
clapper-dudgeon! That’s a good sign, to have the beggar follow him
so near.
1705–7. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. V., p. 10. Says he,
there is an old curmudgeon, A hum-drum, preaching, clapperdudgeon.
1863. Sala, Capt. Dang., II., vii., 225. Rogues, Thieves ... and
Clapper-dudgeons ... infested the outskirts of the Old Palace. [m.]
Clap of Thunder, subs. phr. (old).—A glass of gin: a variant of Flash
of Lightning (q.v.).
1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry [Ed. 1890], p. 79. I have not exactly
recovered from the severe effects of the repeated ‘flashes of
lightning’ and strong claps of thunder, with which I had to
encounter last night.
Clap-Shoulder, subs. (old).—A term applied to the officers of justice
who laid their hands upon people’s shoulders when they arrested them.
Cf., Catch-pole.
1630. Taylor, Workes. Clap-shoulder serjeants get the devill and
all, By begging and by bringing men in thrall.
Clapster, subs. (vulgar).—An habitual sufferer from gonorrhœa; by
implication, one much and often in the way of getting clapped.
Claras, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Caledonian Railway Deferred and
Ordinary Stock.
1887. Atkin, House Scraps. For we have our Sarahs and Claras. Our
Noras and Doras for fays.
Claret, subs. (pugilistic).—Blood, Variants are Badminton, Bordeaux,
and Cochineal-dye. French le vermeil or le vermois.
1604. Dekker, Honest Whore, II., 45, wks. [1873]. This should be a
Coronation day: for my head runs claret lustily.
1819. Thomas Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 25.... This
being the first Royal Claret let flow, Since Tom took the Holy
Alliance in Tow, The uncorking produced much sensation about, As
bets had been flush on the first painted snout.
1878. Besant and Rice, By Celia’s Arbour, ch. xxxix. The lieutenant
picked him up, and placed him—because he declined to stand; and,
indeed, the claret was flowing freely—in the President’s arm chair.
To tap one’s Claret, phr.—To draw blood.
Claret Jug, subs. (pugilistic).—The nose. [From claret, blood, + jug, a
receptacle.] For synonyms, see Conk.
1859. Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 22. ‘A Chapter on Slang.’ A man’s
broken nose, is his claret-jug smashed.
Clarian, subs. (Cambridge University).—A member of Clare Hall,
Cambridge; also a Greyhound (q.v.).
1889. C. Whibley, Cap and Gown. E’en stuke-struck Clarians strove
to stoop.
Class, subs. (athletic).—The highest quality or combination of highest
qualities among athletes. He’s not class enough, i.e., not good enough.
There’s a deal of class about him, i.e., a deal of quality. The term
obtains to a certain extent among turfites.
1884. Referee, March 23, p. 1, col. 3. The elasticity necessary for
anything like class at sprinting departs comparatively early.
Claw, subs. (prison).—A lash of the cat-o’-nine-tails. Cf., Clawed-off,
sense 1.
1876. Greenwood, A Night in a Work-house. Oh! cuss that old Kerr,
who condemned me to twenty-five claws with the cat.
Claws for Breakfast, subs. phr. (prison).—See quot.
1873. Greenwood, In Strange Company. A ruffian being uncertain as
to the morning when he is to have, as he himself would say, claws
for breakfast, is in the habit of lying night after night in a
sweat of terror.
Clawed-off, adv. phr. (old).—1. Severely beaten or whipped. Cf., Claw.