d. 1863. Thackeray [quoted in Annandale]. Accommodating the
youngster, who had just entered the regiment, with a glandered
charger at an uncommonly stiff figure.
1864. London Society, Oct., p. 480. She had saved ... about four
hundred a year out of the wreck ... and so, on the whole, did not
do badly in life. Happiness has been found at even a lower
‘figure.’
1883. Sala, Living London, p. 184. The ‘figure’ to be paid to
Madame Adelina Patti for her forthcoming season.
1886. Cornhill Mag., March, p. 304. ‘About what is their figure?’
asked Mr. Corder. ‘Slim and graceful,’ answered the lady. ‘I don’t
mean that,’ said the ex-smoked-mother-of-pearl-button manufacturer;
‘I mean, what is each of them worth in money?’
3. (colloquial).—Paps and posteriors; said only of women. No figure =
wanting in both particulars.
Verb (billiards’).—To single out; to spot (q.v.).
[Figure, like fetch, comes in for a good deal of hard work in
America. It is colloquially equivalent to ‘count upon’; as, ‘you
may figure on getting a reply by return mail’; also = to strive
for. To figure on [a thing] = to think it over; to figure out = to
estimate; to figure up = to add up; to cut a figure, see cut; to go
the whole figure = to be thorough; to go the big figure = to launch
out; to miss a figure = to make a mistake.]
Figure-dancer, subs. (thieves’).—A manipulator of the face value of
banknotes, cheques, and paper security generally.—Grose [1785].
Figure-fancier, subs. (venery).—An amateur of large-made women.
Figure-head, subs. (nautical).—The face. For synonyms, see Dial.
Figure-maker, subs. (venery).—A wencher. [In allusion to the enlarged
‘figures’ of pregnant women.] For synonyms, see Molrower.
Figure (or Number) Six, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A lock of hair brought
down from the forehead, greased, twisted spirally, and plastered on the
face. For synonyms, see Aggerawator.
1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, v. I., p. 36. As for the
hair, they [coster-lads] say it ought to be long in front, and done
in figure-six curls or twisted back to the ear, ‘Newgate-knocker
style.’
Filbert. Cracked in the filbert, adv. phr. (common).—Crazy; a variant
of wrong in the nut (q.v.) or upper storey. For synonyms, see
Apartments to let and Tile loose.
Filch, verb (Old Cant: now recognised).—1. To steal: specifically to
pilfer in small ways [Dekker: from the ‘filches’ or hooks used by
thieves in stealing out of open windows; Skeat: for filk from O.E.
fele, Icel. fela, to steal, like talk and tell, stalk (verb) and steal
where k is a formative element.—See Phil. Soc. Trans., 1865, p. 188.]
For synonyms, see Prig. Filch, properly filchman (q.v.), = a hooked
staff; on the filch or filching = stealing.
1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. To fylche, to robbe.
1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 63, st. 13, p. 143 (E.D.S.). The
champion robbeth by night, And prowleth and filcheth by day.
1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, Act iv., Sc. 1. What she leaves Thou
shalt come closely in and filch away.
1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 4, p. 35 (2nd ed.). The servants
having all that time to themselves to intrigue, to junket, to filch
and steal.
1830. Marryat, King’s Own, ch. x. I could filch a handkerchief as
soon as I was high enough to reach a pocket, and was declared to be
a most promising child.
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 246. She were an
out-and-outer in going into shops on the filch.