1870. Bret Harte, Society on the Stanislaus (in Poems and Prose). It is not a proper plan, to lay for that same member for to put a bead on him.
188(?) S. Clemens ('Mark Twain'), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, p. 48. I was pretty close to the Shanty, and I thought I heard the old man coming all the time; but I got her hid; and then I out and looked around a bunch of willows, and there was the old man down the path apiece just drawing a bead on a bird with his gun.
1889. Albany Journal, Aug. 6. If Jake's not careful I'll draw a bead on him. Very little more will make me go for him tooth and nail.
To raise a bead.—To bring to the point; to ensure success. The figure is taken from brandy, rum, or other liquors, which will not 'raise a bead,' unless of the proper strength.
1846. N. Y. Tribune, Letter from Ohio. The result was, if the convention had been then held, the party wouldn't have been able to raise a bead, [b.]
Beagle, subs, (old).—A spy; informer;
man-hunter; policeman;
also a general term of
contempt. [From beagle, a
small hound, which tracks by
scent, formerly used for hunting.]
1599. Myrr. Mag., Jack Cade, xix., 2. That restless begle sought and found me out. [m.]
1607. Dekker, Westward Hoe, Act iii., Sc. 4. Mon. I beseech you, Mistress Tenterhook,—before God, I'll be sick, if you will not be merry. Mist. Ten. You are a sweet beagle.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Beagle (s.) . . . also a contemptuous name given to a boy or man, as to say, you are a special beagle, is the same as, you are good for nothing.
1837. Carlyle, French Revolution, III., vii., v., 377. Attorneys and Law-beagles, which hunt ravenous on this Earth.
Beak, subs, (old cant).—1. A policeman
or guardian of the peace.
As far as is known, this (as
'beck') is the oldest cant term
for a member of a class of men,
who, perhaps, above all ohers,
have been the recipients of
nicknames and epithets, and
these, be it noted, not always
of a complimentary character.
In Harman's Caveat (1573), harman
beck is explained as 'the
counstable,' harmans being 'the
stockes.' The derivation of
beck or beak is doubtful.
Especially vague seems that
which finds its source in the
Saxon beag, a gold collar worn
by civic magistrates, and an
emblem of authority. This
genesis appears to be based on
the later and secondary sense
of beak, a magistrate, a meaning
which it still retains. But,
against this must be placed the
fact that, as the name for a
watchman or guardian of the
peace, beak boasts a much
older usage. Sir John Fielding,
half brother of the author
of Tom Jones, and an active
Middlesex Justice in the last century,
was popularly known as the
'Blind Beak' [c. 1750]; but
beyond this date no instance of
this sense has been found. If,
therefore, beak originally signified
a policeman, it is difficult to
discover any connection with
the Saxon beag, inasmuch as
watchmen are not known to
have been decorated with gold
collars. The following quotations
will give other illustrations,
and also show that,
meaning a policeman, the term
has not long been obsolete.
1609. Dekker, a Gypsy song, in Lanthorne and Candlelight, etc.
The Ruffin cly the nab of the Harman beck, If we mawnd Pannam, lap or Ruffpeck,
