1709. Matthew Prior, The Thief, etc. There the squires of the pad
and the knights of the post, Find their fears no more balked and
their hopes no more crossed.
To play a cross, verbal phr.—See Cross, subs., sense 1; and verb, sense
1.
1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 257 (ed. 1864), Zoroaster was
just the man to lose a fight; or, in the language of the Fancy, to
play a cross.
To shake the cross, verbal phr. (American thieves’).—To quit the cross
and go on the square (q.v.).
1877. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Life on the Mississippi, ch.
lii., p. 459. The day my time was up, you told me if i would shake
the cross and live on the square for three months, it would be the
best job i ever done in my life.
To be crossed, verbal phr. (University).—Thus explained in a University
Guide:—For not paying term bills to the bursar (treasurer), or for
cutting chapels, or lectures, or other offences, an undergrad can be
crossed at the buttery, or kitchen, or both, i.e., a cross is put
against his name by the Don, who wishes to see him, or to punish him.
1853. Rev. E. Bradley, (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II.,
ch. x. Sir!—You will translate all your lectures; have your name
crossed on the buttery and kitchen books; and be confined to
chapel, hall, and college.
See also Cross, verb, sense 1.
On the cross, phr.—The opposite of on the square (q.v.). Cf., On the
Crook.
1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xxxv. [Chas. Ravenshoe to
Shoeblack] ‘Have you any brothers?’ ‘Five altogether. Jim was gone
for a sojer, it appeared; and Nipper was sent over the water, Harry
was gone on the cross.’ ‘On the cross?’ said Charles. ‘Ah,’ the boy
said, ‘he goes out cly-faking and such. He’s a prig, and a smart
one, too. He’s fly, is Harry.’
1868. Ouida, Under Two Flags, ch. v. Rake had seen a good deal of
men and manners, and, in his own opinion at least, was ‘up to every
dodge on the cross’ that this iniquitous world could unfold.
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 244. We went down
to a bloke I knew up in one of the streets leading off the Euston
road who did a little on the cross now and again, to see what he’d
stand for the £300.
1884. Echo, 1 March, p. 3, col. 6. Prisoner knew they were stolen,
and said he could get rid of any quantity of similar articles that
were got on the cross, a slang expression for stolen goods.
1889. Answers, 8 June, p. 25. One of them then came a little
nearer, and produced a good gold scarf pin, worth, perhaps, £2 or
£3, and asked if I would buy it, adding it was on the cross
(stolen), and I could have it for 2s., as they wanted a shilling to
get a bed.
Cross-Belts, subs. (military).—The Eighth Hussars. [The regiment wears
the sword belt over the right shoulder in memory of the Battle of
Saragossa, where it took the belts of the Spanish cavalry. This
privilege was confirmed by the King’s Regulations of 1768.]
Cross-Bite, subs. (old).—See Cross-biting.
Verb (old).—To cheat; to scold; to hoax. [Nares thinks it a compound of
cross and bite. It has suffered a double abbreviation, both its
components being used substantively and verbally in the same sense.]
For synonyms, see Stiff.
1581. Riche, Farewell to Militarie Profession. She was such a
devill of her tongue, and would so crossebite hym with suche
tauntes and spightful quippes.
1593. G. Harvey, New Letter, in wks. I., 274 (Grosart). If he
playeth at fast and loose ... whom shall he conny catch, or
crosbite, but his cast-away selfe.
1717. Prior, Alma, canto iii. As Nature slily had thought fit For
some by ends to cross-bit wit.
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. I know—I know—ugh—but
I’ll cross-bite him.
Cross-Biter, subs. (old).—A cheat; swindler; or hoaxer. [From
cross-bite, verb (q.v.), + er.] Fr., un goureur.
1592. Robert Greene, Blacke Bookes Messenger [part of title].
Laying open the Life and Death of Ned Browne, one of the most
notable Cutpurses, cros-biters, and Coneycatchers.
1669. Nicker Nicked, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), II., 108, s.v.
1681. A Dialogue, etc., in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), II., 126. I
think nobody knows what he is; but I take him to be a cross-biter.
Cross-Biting, verbal subs. (old).—A deception; cheat; or hoax. Cf.,
Cross-bite, verb.
1576. Whetstone, Rocke of Regard, p. 50. Crosbiting, a kind of
cousoning, under the couler of friendship; and in his epistle to
the readers, The cheter will fume to see his crosbiting and cunning
shiftes decyphered.
1586. Marlowe, Jew of Malta, IV., v. Like one that is employed in
catzerie [knavery] and crossbiting.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 53 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). He
[Lawrence Crosbiter] first vsed that art which now is named
crosbiting, and from whose name this damned art (crosbiting) tooke
her first call, as if Laurence Crosbiter first inuented the same.
1839. W. H. Ainsworth, J. Sheppard, p. 126, ed. 1840. ‘The devil,’
ejaculated Jonathan. ‘Here’s a cross-bite.’
Cross-Buttock, subs. (athletics’).—A peculiar throw in wrestling. Also
used as a verb and verbal subs.
1690. D’Urfey, Collin’s Walk, c. ii., p. 74. When th’ hardy Major,
skilled in Wars, To make quick end of fight prepares, By Strength
or’e buttock cross to hawl him, And with a trip i’ th’ Inturn maul
him.
1742. ‘Handbill,’ in P. Egan’s Boxiana, vol. I., p. 45. I doubt not
but I shall prove the truth of what I have asserted, by pegs,
darts, hard blows, falls, and cross-buttocks.
1760. Smollett, L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. viii. He was on his legs
again ... but, instead of accomplishing his purpose, he received a
cross-buttock.
1836. M. Scott, Cringle’s Log, ch. xii. While the old woman
keelhauled me with a poker on one side, he jerked at me on the
other, until at length he gave me a regular cross-buttock.
1860. Chambers’ Journal, vol. XIII., p. 347. He is initiated into
all the mysteries of ‘hitting’ and ‘counterhitting,’ ‘stopping’ and
‘infighting,’ ‘the suit in chancery, and the cross-buttock.’
Cross-Chap.—See Cross, subs., sense 2.
Cross-Cove.—See Cross, subs., sense 2.
Cross-Crib, subs. (thieves’ and vagrants’).—A thieves’ hotel. [From
cross (q.v., subs., sense 2), a thief, + crib (q.v., subs., sense 2), a
place of abode.]
Cross-Drum, subs. (thieves’).—A thieves’ tavern. [From cross (q.v.,
subs., sense 2), a thief, + drum, a house or lodging.]
Crosser, subs. (sporting).—One who arranges or takes part in a cross
(q.v., subs., sense 1).
1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood. The mill is o’er, the crosser crost, The
loser’s won, the vinner’s lost!
Cross-Fan or Cross-Fam, subs. (thieves’).—Robbery from the person done
cross-fammed, that is, with one hand (fam) across, and dissembling the
action of, the other.
c. 1869. Broadside Ballad, ‘The Chickaleary Cove.’ Off to Paris I
shall go, to show a thing or two, To the ‘dipping blokes’ what
hangs about the caffies, How to do a cross-fan for a ‘super’ or a
‘slang.’
Verb (thieves’).—To rob from the person.—See subs.
Cross-Kid or Cross-Quid, verb (thieves’).—To question; cross-examine.
[Kid = to quiz; hoax, or jest.] Fr., faire la jactance; also faire
saigner du nez.
1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macmillan’s Mag., XL., 502. A reeler
[policeman] came to the cell and cross-kidded (examined) me.
Cross-Man.—See Cross, subs., sense 2.
Cross-Patch, subs. (colloquial).—An ill-natured, ill-tempered person.
As in the old nursery rhyme:
Cross-patch, Draw the latch, Sit by the fire and spin.—Lit.
Not mentioned in Ash.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Cross-patch: a peevish boy or
girl.
1841. Comic Almanack, p. 258. Miss Pigeon’s trying to look shy,
He’s calling her crosspatch!
Cross the Damp-Pot, verbal phr. (tailors’).—To cross the Atlantic.—Cf.,
Big drink, Damp-pot, puddle, and Herring-pond.
Crow, subs. (thieves’).—1. A confederate on watch whilst another
steals. Generally a man, but occasionally a woman acts as a crow; the
latter is also called a canary (q.v., subs., sense 4).
1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 286. One keeps a
look-out to see there is no person near to detect them. This person
is termed a ‘crow.’ If anyone should be near, the ‘crow’ gives a
signal, and then decamps.
1862. Cornhill Mag., VI., 648. Occasionally they [women] assist at
a burglary ... remaining outside and keeping watch; they are then
called crows.
1889. Answers, 18 May, p. 390, col. 2. A crow (confederate) is next
planted outside, or in an upper window, if there be one, to give
notice, by means of signals or a cord reaching to the workers, of
the approach of a peeler or chance passer-by.
2. (common).—A piece of unexpected luck; a ‘fluke’; generally ‘a
regular crow.’ [Originally billiards’ in which it = a hazard not played
for, i.e., a ‘fluke’: no doubt a corruption of the Fr. raccroc.] A
French equivalent is mettre dans le mille.
To eat crow.—See Broiled crow.
A crow to pluck, to pull, or to pick with one, phr. (colloquial).
Something demanding explanation: a misunderstanding to clear; a
disagreeable matter to settle. Sometimes, a bone to pick, etc.
1593. Shakspeare, Comedy of Errors, iii., 1. If a crow help us in,
sirrah, we’ll pluck a crow together.
1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in wks. V., 302. So I coulde plucke a
crowe wyth Poet Martiall for calling it putre halec.
1659. Howell, Proverbs. I have a goose to pluck with you.
1664. Butler, Hudibras, pt. II., 2. If not, resolve before we go,
That you and i must pull a crow.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. To pluck a crow: To reprove anyone
for a fault committed; to settle a dispute.
1819. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, ch. xv. If these Ravenswood cases
be called over the coals in the House of Peers, you will find that
the Marquis will have a crow to pluck with you.
Crowd, subs. (old).—A fiddle.
Crowder, subs. (theatrical).—1. A large audience.
1883. Referee, 18 March, p. 3, col. 2. If the proprietors want, in
the way of audiences, to be able to boast of crowders, they should
take care to avoid giving pain.