Devotional-Habits, subs. (stable).—Said of a horse that is apt to ‘say
his prayers,’ i.e., to stumble and go on his knees.
Dew-Beaters, -Dusters, or -Treaders, subs. (old).—1. Pedestrians out
early in the morning, i.e., before the dew is off the ground.
1692. Hacket, Life of Williams, i., 57. It is not equity at lust
and pleasure that is moved for, but equity according to decrees and
precedents foregoing, as the dew-beaters have trod their way for
those that come after them.
2. (common).—The feet. [An extension of sense 1.] For synonyms, see
Creepers.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
1823. Scott, Peveril, ch. xxxvi. First hold out your dew-beaters
till I take off the darbies. Is that usual? said Peveril,
stretching out his feet.
3. (tramps’).—Shoes. [Cf., senses 1 and 2.] In Norfolk, heavy shoes for
wet weather.—Forby.
Dew-bit, subs. (common).—A snack before breakfast. Cf., Dew-Drink and
Dew-Beaters.
Dew-Drink, subs. (common).—A drink before breakfast. Cf., Dew-Bit and
Dew-Beaters. Fr., une goutte pour tuer le ver, i.e., ‘to drown the
maggot,’ or ‘to crinkle the worm.’ Not, of course, the ‘early worm’ of
the proverb, but his spiritual cousin, the worm that never dies.
Dewitt, verb (old).—To lynch. [The two De Witts, opponents of William
of Orange, were massacred by the mob in 1672, without subsequent
enquiry.] Cf., Boycott, Burke, Cellier.
1690. Modest Enquiry into the Present Disasters (Life of Ken, p.
561). It is a wonder the English Nation ... have not in their fury
de-witted some of these men who have brought all this upon us. And
I must tell them that the crimes of the two unhappy brothers in
Holland (which gave rise to that word) were not fully so great as
some of theirs.
b. 1664, d. 1721. Prior, The Viceroy. To her I leave thee, gloomy peer,
Think on thy crimes committed; Repent, and be for once sincere, Thou
ne’er wilt be de-witted.
1849–1861. Macaulay, Hist. of England. One writer ... expressed his
wonder that the people had not ... dewitted the nonjuring prelates.
Dewse-a-Vyle.—The country.—See Daisyville. Cf., Rom-vile = London.
1567. Harman, Caveat, etc., s.v. 1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and
Candlelight, in wks. (Grosart), iii., 200, s.v. 1610. Rowlands,
Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Repr., 1874), s.v. 1714. Memoirs
of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12, s.v.
Dewskitch, subs. (tramps’).—A thrashing. For synonyms, see Tanning.
1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 244. It
means a dewskitch (a good thrashing).
Dial or Dial-plate, subs. (common).—The face. To turn the hands on the
dial = to disfigure the face.
English Synonyms.—Frontispiece; gills (the jaws); chump (also the
head); phiz; physog; mug; jib; chivy, or chevy; roach and dace
(rhyming); signboard; door-plate; front-window.
French Synonyms.—La binette (familiar: quelle sale binette = what an
ugly mug); un abcès (pop. = ‘a red or bloated face’); la fertille
(thieves’: also straw); la fiole (fam. = phial); la bobine (pop: from
O. F. bobe = grimace); une balle d’amour (prostitutes’: a handsome
face); une balle (pop.: also = a franc piece and head); une glutouse
(thieves’); une gargouille, gargouine, or gargue (popular); une
gargarousse (thieves’); une gargagoitche (thieves’); une frime
(thieves’: une frime à la manque = ugly face).
German Synonyms.—Bonum or Bunem (Hanoverian: from Heb. ponim = face);
Ponim (see preceding); Rauner (also = the eye; im Rauner halten = to
keep an eye upon one).
Italian Synonyms.—Berlo; baleffo (literally, a gash or scar: primarily
= the mouth).
Spanish Synonyms.—El mundo (also = the world); el geme (a woman’s face.
Properly, the space between the extended ends of thumb, and
forefinger).
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
1889. Bird o’ Freedom, 7 Aug., p. 3. An absinthe tumbler which
caught him a nasty crack across the dial finally convinced him that
discretion was the better part of valour.
1890. Polytechnic Magazine; 21 March. ‘Boxing Brutalities.’ Now if
there is a rule that no competitor may strike another with a force
greater than a fixed number of pounds, it will be easy to
disqualify a man whose opponent’s dial shows a greater amount of
punishment.
Dials, subs. (prison).—Convicts and thieves hailing from Seven Dials.
Diamond-Cracking, subs. (Australian thieves’).—1. Stonebreaking.
1885. Australian Printers Keepsake. He caught a month, and had to
white it out at diamond-cracking in Castieu’s Hotel [Melbourne
Gaol].