Bishopping, a horse is made to appear younger than he is. The expression is derived from the name of a person who initiated the practice, and has no connection with 'to bishop,' a provincialism for 'to burn.' For synonyms, see Fig.
1727. R. Bradley, Family Dict., vol. I., s. v. 'Horse.' This way of making a horse look young, is by Horse Coursers called Bishoping.
1884. Ill. Lon. News, 23 August, 171, col. 2. To bishop . . . a term . . . signifying the use of deceptive arts to make an old horse appear like a young one.
In French the process is called masquer en alezan; also maquiller un gayet.
2. To murder by drowning. The term, now obsolete, is like burke and boycott from the name of an individual. A man named Bishop drowned a boy in Bethnal Green, in 1831, to sell the body for dissecting purposes.
1837. Barham, I. L. (Account of a New Play). I burked the papa, now I'll bishop the son. [d.]
1864. Athenæum, p. 559, col. 1. We have 'to burke,' and 'to bishop.' [m.]
Bismarquer, verb (familiar).—To cheat; to play foul at cards or billiards. A word formed from the name of Prince Bismarck, the German Chancellor, whose policy in 1865-6 roused the indignation of a large section of European thought.
Bit, Bite, Byte, subs. (old).—1. An old cant term for money. For synonyms, see Actual.
1532. Use of Dice Play (Percy Soc.). Now waxen is he so proud of his gain, because he hath gotten a new chain, fyer new apparel, and some store of byte.
1592. Defence of Conny-Catching, in Greene's wks. XI., 44. So some that would not stoope a farthing at cardes, would venter all the byte in their boung at dice.
1607. Dekker, Jests to make you Merie, in wks. (Grosart) II., 328. If they follow you in the street, and once know where the bung and the bit is, as much as to say your purse and the money.
1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart) III., 122. To learne before he play what store of Bit he hath in his Bay, that is, what money he hath in his pursse.
1789. Geo. Parker, Life's Painter, p. 149. Snack the bit. To share the money.
1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. He is caught—he must 'stand and deliver'; then out with the dummy [pocket book], and off with the bit.
2. (colloquial)—The name given to coins varying in value according to locality—usually, however, to the silver piece of the lowest denomination. Four-penny pieces are still called bits in English slang, but are more popularly known as Joeys (q.v., for synonyms); and in Demerara the term is in general use for the same coin; in America a 12-1/2 cent piece is called a bit, and a defaced 20 cent piece is termed a long bit. A bit is the smallest coin in Jamaica, equal to 6d.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Bit (s.) . . . In the West Indies, it is the least piece of silver coin, which goes current at 7 pence half-penny.
1875. Scribner's Magazine, July, p. 277. For a young city, San Francisco is very much wedded to petty traditions. It clings to the bit with a deathlike tenacity; clings to it against all reason and against its own interests. The bit is a mythical quantity. It is neither twelve and a half cents, nor half of twenty-five; it is neither fifteen cents nor ten cents. If you buy a bit's worth, and throw down twenty-five cents, you get ten cents back; if you offer the same ten cents in lieu of a bit, you are looked upon as a mild sort of a swindler. And yet, the bit is the standard of minimum monetary value.
Bitch, subs. (low).—1. An opprobrious term for a woman,
