3. (venery).—To ‘have’ or ‘possess’ a woman. [Properly used of a
stallion and a mare.]
1653. Urquhart, Translation of Rabelais. Madam, it would be a very
great benefit to the commonwealth, delightful to you, honourable to
your progeny, and necessary for me, that I cover you for the
propagating of my race.
Cover-arse Gown, subs. phr. (Univ., obsolete).—A gown without sleeves.
1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, s.v.
Cover-Down, subs. (thieves’).—An obsolete term for a false tossing
coin.—See Cap.
Cover-Me-Decently, verbal phr. (old).—A coat. For synonyms, see
Capella.
1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, p. 5. (Dicks’ ed., 1889.) Tom.
This, what do you call it?—this cover-me-decently, was all very
well at Hawthorn Hall, I daresay.
Covess, subs. (old).—A woman.—See Cove.
1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 144. He was well acquainted
with the cove and covess.
1827. Sir E. B. Lytton, Pelham, p. 310 (ed. 1864). Ah, Bess my
covess, strike me blind if my sees don’t tout your bingo muns in
spite of the darkmans.
Covey, subs. (common).—A man; a diminutive of cove (q.v.).
1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Tom. Well
there’s a flimsy for you; serve the change out in max to the
covies.
1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. Upon this, the boy crossed
over; and, walking close up to Oliver, said, ‘Hullo, my covey!
what’s the row?’
1854. Aytoun and Martin, The Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘The Laureate’s
Tourney.’ ‘Undo the helmet! cut the lace! pour water on his head!’
‘It ain’t no use at all, my lord; ’cos vy? the covey’s dead.’
1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 19. Ah!
Ah! you half-starved, hungry, ugly-looking covey, why, if they had
you in the country where I came from they’d boil you down for the
pigs.
Cow, subs. (old).—1. A woman. The term is now opprobrious; but in its
primary and natural sense the usage is ancient. Howell [1659] says:
‘There are some proverbs that carry a kind of authority with them, as
that which began in Henrie the Fourth’s time. “He that bulls the cow
must keep the calf.”’ For synonyms, see Petticoat.
2. (general).—A prostitute. [By analogy from sense 1.] Fr., une vache.
For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.
3. (sporting).—A thousand pounds. Other slang terms for sums of money
are:—
Pony = £25.
Century = £100.
Monkey = £500.
Plum = £100,000.
Marigold = £1,000,000.
but for complete list, see Monkey.
1870. Athenæum, 10 Sept. ‘Liverpool.’ All over Lancashire a horse
is called a cow, which everywhere else where slang prevails is a
cant term for a thousand pounds.
To talk the hind leg off a cow or dog.—See Talk.
Tune the cow died of.—See Tune.
Cowan, subs. (common).—A sneak or prying individual. Among masons the
uninitiate in general.
Cow-and-Calf, verb (rhyming slang).—To laugh.
Coward’s-Castle or Corner, subs. phr. (popular).—A pulpit. [Because a
clergyman may deliver himself therefrom without fear of contradiction
or argument.] For synonyms, see Hum-box.
1883. Notes and Queries, 6 S., viii., p. 147. Coward’s Castle....
An epithet ... in use not inaptly for a pulpit. Ibid. p. 238. I
have often heard the pulpit called the Coward’s Castle, it being
said to be ‘six feet above argument.’
Cowcumber, subs. (vulgar).—A corruption of ‘cucumber.’
1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Bob. Very
vell, two pound, vith a pickled cowcumber, and a pen’orth o’
ketchup.
1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxv. In case there should be
such a thing as a cowcumber in the house will you be so kind as
bring it, for I’m rayther partial to ’em myself, and they does a
world of good in a sick room.
Cow- (also Bushel- and Sluice-) Cunted, adj. phr. (venery).—term of
opprobrium applied to women deformed by parturition or debauchery.
Cow-Grease or Cow-Oil, subs. (common).—Butter. For synonyms, see
Cart-grease.
Cow-Juice, subs. (popular).—Milk. Cf., Bung-juice and Cow-grease. For
synonyms, see Sky-blue.
Cow-Lick, subs. (common).—A peculiar lock of hair, greased, curled,
brought forward from the ear, and plastered on the cheek. Once common
amongst costermongers and tramps. For synonyms, see Aggerawators.
Cow-Oil.—See Cow-grease.
Cow-Puncher, subs. (American).—A cowboy or herdsman.
1888. Detroit Free Press, 21 July. He was a cowboy, or, in Western
parlance, a cow-puncher.
Cow-Quake, subs. (Irish).—The roar of a bull.
Cows-and-Kisses, subs. (rhyming slang).—The ‘missus,’ or mistress; also
women generally.
1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. Come, cows-and-kisses, put the
battle of the Nile on your Barnet fair, and a rogue and villain in
your sky-rocket.
Cow’s-Baby or Babe, subs. (common).—A calf. In Old Cant bleating-cheat
(q.v.). For synonyms, see Mooer; Cf., Cow-juice and Cow’s-spouse. Also
a poltroon; Fr., un fouinard, un fouetteux de chats, un fouailleur, un
foie, un flemard or flaquadin, or un frileux.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
Cow-Shooter, subs. (Winchester College).—A ‘deerstalker’ hat: only worn
by præfects and ‘candle-keepers.’
Cow’s-Spouse, subs. (old).—A bull.—Grose [1785].
Cow With the Iron Tail, subs. phr. (general).—A pump; the source of the
‘cooling medium’ for ‘regulating’ milk. Thus, Dr. Wendell Holmes, in
The Professor at the Breakfast Table (1860):—It is a common saying of a
jockey that he is all horse, and I have often fancied that milkmen get
a stiff upright carriage, and an angular movement that reminds one of a
pump and the working of a handle. Also black-cow; one-armed man; and
Simpson’s cow (q.v.).
1867. Punch. The Rinderpest does not affect the cow with the iron
tail.
1872. Standard, 25 Dec. Simpson ... is, however, universally
accepted as the title for that combined product of the Cow natural,
and the cow with the iron tail.
1876. Once a Week, 23 August. Every drop of milk brought into Paris
is tested at the barriers by the lactometer, to see if the iron
tailed cow has been guilty of diluting it; if so, the whole of it
is remorselessly thrown into the gutter—the Paris milk is very pure
in consequence.
Coxy, adj. (public schools’).—Stuck up; conceited; impudent.
1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 202. He’s the coxiest
young blackguard in the house—I always told you so. Ibid, p. 214.
‘Confoundly coxy those young rascals will get if we don’t mind,’
was the general feeling.
1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. iv. ‘Now then young Bultitude, you
used to be a decent fellow enough last term, though you were coxy.
So, before we go any further—what do you mean by this sort of
thing?’
Coyduck, verb (old).—To decoy. [An ingenious blend of conduct and
decoy.]
1829. A Laconic Narrative of the Life and Death of James Wilson.
That awful monster, William Burke. Like Reynard sneaking on the
lurk, Coyducked his prey into his den And then the woeful work
began.
Coyote, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see
Monosyllable.
Cozza, subs. (cheap Jacks’).—See quot.
1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack. p. 28. Mo ...
declared he would never eat another bit of cozza, i.e., pork, as
long as he lived.
Crab, subs. (auction).—The same as bonnet (q.v.), subs., sense 1.
Verb (thieves’).—To expose; to inform; to offend or insult; and
especially to interrupt, to get in the way of, to spoil. [Properly to
render harsh, sour, or peevish; to make crabbed.] Also used
adjectively. For synonyms, see Peach and Rile, respectively.
1825. The English Spy, vol. I., p. 179. Liveryman, Eglantine. What
coming crabb over us, old fellow? Very well, I shall bolt and try
Randall, and that’s all about it.
1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. If
a patterer has been crabbed, that is offended at any of the ‘cribs’
(houses), he mostly chalks a signal on or near the door. Ibid, vol.
II., p. 568. ‘We don’t crab one another when we are sweeping; if we
was to crab one another, we’d get to fighting and giving slaps of
the jaw to one another.’
1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, pp. 5–6.
Others, however, would be what we termed crabbed.
1880. Millikin, Punch’s Almanack. Crab your enemies,—I’ve got a
many, You can pot ’em proper for a penny.
To catch a crab; also to cut a crab; to catch or cut a cancer or
lobster, verbal phr. (common).—There are various ways of catching a
crab, as, for example, (1) to turn the blade of the oar or ‘feather’
under water at the end of the stroke, and thus be unable to recover;
(2) to lose control of the oar at the middle of the stroke by ‘digging’
too deeply; or (3) to miss the water altogether.
Crab Louse, subs. (old).—The pulex pubis, the male whereof is called a
cock, the female a hen.—Grose [1785].
Crabs, subs. (thieves’).—1. The feet. [A punning comparison of the feet
and ten toes to the ten-footed, short-tailed crustaceans popularly
known as ‘crabs.’] For synonyms, see Creepers. In Haggart (see
Glossary, 1821) crabs = shoes.