Bite the Ear, verbal phr. (thieves’).—To borrow. Formerly, a term of
endearment; to caress fondly. For synonyms, see Shins.
1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 502. He used to want to
bite my ear (borrow) too often.
Bite the Thumb, verbal phr. (old).—To make a gesture of contempt, which
was formerly regarded in the light of an insult. Nares says the thumb
in the action represented a fig, and the whole was equivalent to ‘a fig
for you.’ There are several gestures of this kind. That best known is
probably taking a sight (q.v.). A similar gesture of contempt is used
by the lower orders in France which, there is little doubt, is the
‘biting the thumb’ spoken of in Romeo and Juliet. The person using the
gesture placed the nail of his thumb under the front teeth of the upper
jaw, and then jerked the thumb forward, using at the same time an
expression equivalent to ‘I don’t care that for you.’ Another
contemptuous action is placing the thumb between the closed fore and
middle fingers; while according to Darwin’s Expression of the Emotions,
it appears that with the Dakota Indians of North America ‘contempt is
shown ... conventionally by the hand being closed and held near the
breast; then, as the fore arm is suddenly extended, the hand is opened
and the fingers separated from each other. If the person at whose
expense the sign is made is present, the hand is moved towards him and
the head sometimes averted from him.’ This sudden extension and opening
of the hand perhaps indicates the dropping or throwing away a valueless
object.
1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, i., 1. I will bite my thumb at
them; which is a disgrace to them if they bear it.
1596. Lodge, Wit’s Miserie. Behold next I see Contempt marching
forth, giving me the fies, with his thombe in his mouth.
1638. Randolph, Muses’ L. Glass, O. Pl., ix., 220. Dogs and
pistols! To bite his thumb at me! Wear I a sword To see men bite
their thumbs?
1678. Rules of Civility, transl. from French, p. 44. ’Tis no less
disrespectful to bite the nail of your thumb, by way of scorn and
disdain, and drawing your nail from between your teeth, to tell
them you value not this what they can do.
Bite Up, subs. (tailors’).—An unpleasant altercation.
Bit-Faker or Turner Out, subs. (thieves’).—Coiner of bad money. [From
bit, an old canting term for money, + faker, one who makes, or does.]
Also bit-maker.—See Turner out and Faker.
Bit Faking, subs. (thieves’).—Manufacturing base coin; counterfeiting.
[From bit + fake + ing.—See preceding.] Cf., Turner out.
Biting Up, subs. (tailors’).—Grieving over a loss or bereavement.
Bit-Maker, subs. (old).—A counterfeiter.—See Bit-faker.
1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 447. Coiners—bit-makers.
Bit-o’-Bull, subs. (old).—Beef. The French say un gobet; formerly, a
dainty morsel.
Bit of Blood, subs. (common).—A high-spirited horse; a thoroughbred.
The derivation is obvious. For synonyms, see Prad.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 10.
’Mong the vehicles, too, which were many and various,
From natty barouche down to buggy precarious,
We twigg’d more than one queerish sort of turn-out,
C—n n—g came in a job, and then canter’d about
On a showy, but hot and unsound, bit of blood,
(For a leader once meant, but cast off, as no good).
1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, II., p. 156. Not that we slacken
in our pace the while, not we: we rather put the bits of blood upon
their mettle.
Bit of Cavalry, subs. (old).—A horse.
1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act i., Sc. 6. Tom. You are
now at Tattersal’s, Jerry, a very worthy fellow, who made his
fortune by a horse called Highflyer. Jerry. Hum! and if one may
judge from the splendour and extent of his premises, he seems to be
no small highflyer himself. Tom. You are right, Jerry—I shall here
buy a bit of cavalry—that is a prad, on your judgment.
Bit of Ebony, subs. (common).—A negro or negress. For synonyms, see
Snowball.
Bit of Fat, subs. (common).—1. An unexpected pecuniary advantage in a
transaction.