1882. Century Mag., XXV., 192. He was bareheaded, his hair banged even with his eyebrows in front.
1888. Detroit Free Press. Bang, Sister, bang with care; If your poker's too hot you'll lose your hair.
3. To surpass; to excel. So also banging, adj., great or thumping.
4. (Stock Exchange.)—To loudly offer stock with the intention of lowering the price.
To be banged up to the eyes, phr. (common).—To be drunk. For synonyms, see Screwed.
Bang-Beggar, subs. (old).—A constable
or beadle. It is not quite
clear whether this is not merely a
dialecticism. In Lowland Scotch
it signifies a strong staff.
Banger, subs. (common).—A lie.
Generally, that's a banger!
This elegant phrase is sometimes
varied by 'that's a whopper'
(q.v.); or the now classical
'thumper' (q.v.), an invention
of the late Lord Iddesleigh.
(Yale College).—A club-like cane or stick; a bludgeon. This word is one of the Yale vocables.—Hall's College Words and Customs.
Yale Lit. Mag., vol. XX., p. 75. The Freshman reluctantly turned the key, Expecting a Sophomore gang to see, Who, with faces masked and bangers stout, Had come resolved to smoke him out.
Bang-Off, adv. (familiar).—Without
stopping; right away; e.g.,
'I wrote as promised bang-off,'
i.e., without delay. [From
bang, a loud, sudden sound
+ off, movement from a place
or thing.]
Bang-Out. To bang-out, verbal
phr. (common).—To depart
hurriedly and with noise.
Adv. phr.—Completely, entirely, combined with suddenness; e.g., 'the candle went bang-out.'
Bang-Pitcher, subs. (old).—A
drunkard. Possibly only dialectical.
Bangster subs. (provincial).—According
to Jamieson:—1. A
violent and disorderly person,
who regards no law but his
own will. 2. A victor. 3. A
braggart. 4. A loose woman.
1820. Scott, The Abbot, ch. xix. If the Pope's champions are to be bangsters in our very change houses, we shall soon have the changelings back again, [h.]
1825. Scott, St. Ronan's Well, ch. xxiii. If you are so certain of being the bangster—so very certain, I mean, of sweeping stakes, what harm will Miss Clara come to by your having the use of her siller.
Bang-Straw, subs. (old).—A nickname
for a thresher of corn; a
provincialism.
Bang-Tailed, adj. (popular).—Short
tailed. Usually applied
to horses.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. vi. 'These bang-tailed little sinners any good?' said Drysdale, throwing some cock-a-bondies across the table. 'Yes, I never like to be without them and a governor or two.'
Bang-Up, adj. phr. (common).—First-rate;
quite up to the
mark; A 1; slap up; in the
height of fashion. Also banged-up.
1812. H. and J. Smith, Rejected Addresses, p. 188. Dance a bang-up theatrical cotillion.
