Boong.—See Bung.
Boorde.—See Bord.
Boost, subs. (American).—A hoisting;
a 'shove'; a 'lift'; a
'push up'—a New England
vulgarism.
1858. Dow, Sermons. Office seekers ask you to give them a boost into the tree of office. [m.]
1866. T. A. Richards, Rice Fields of the South. [A negro-preacher in South Carolina, loq.] 'For, my bredderen, little Zaccheus was bound to see the Lord for once, dough he had to climb up de tree to do it. And how did he get up der tree? Ah, how did he get up der tree, my bredderen? Did he wait for some lazy nigger to bring him a ladder? Ah, no, my bredderen. Did he wait to be boosted? Ah, no, my bredderen. Not a boost! He climbed right straight up der tree hisself, like de possum, by his own hands and feet and de grace of God!'
1888. Puck's Library, May, p. 11. A genius took hold of the business, and gave it a little boost. He was a man of the times, and he applied his reasoning faculties to the problem presented to him. 'What,' he asked, 'is the chief means of success?'
Verb.—To hoist; to lift up; to shove.—See subs.
1848-64. J. R. Lowell, Biglow Papers, II., 106. Whereas ole Abram 'd sink afore he'd let a darkie boost him.
1872. S. L. Clemens ('Mark Twain'), Roughing It, ch. vii. You ought to have seen that spider-legged old skeleton go! and you ought to have seen the bull cut out after him, too—head down, tongue out, tail up, bellowing like everything, and actually mowing down the weeds, and tearing up the earth, and boosting up the sand like a whirlwind!
1884. Harper's Magazine, Aug., p. 481, col. 1. To boost a jurist of so much helpless avoirdupois in through the carriage door.
Boosy.—See Boozy.
Boot, verb (military).—To beat;
to punish with a strap. The
punishment is irregular and
unconventional, being inflicted
by soldiers on a comrade discovered
guilty of some serious
breach of the unwritten law of
comradeship, such as theft, etc.
The beating was formerly inflicted
with a bootjack—hence
the name.
Booth, subs. (thieves').—A house;
'to heave a booth,' i e., 'to
rob a house.'
Booth-Burster, subs. (theatrical).—A
loud and noisy actor. A
variant of barn-stormer (q.v.).
Booting, subs. (military).—A punishment
administered with a
strap. Cf., Colting.
Boot-Joe, subs. (military).—Musketry
drill.
Boot-Leg Plan.—See On the
boot-leg plan.
Bootlick, subs. (American).—A
flunkey; hanger-on; or doer of
dirty work. [In England such
a one is called a 'bootlicker,' of
which bootlick is probably an
abbreviated form.]
Verb.—To toady; to hang on; to undertake 'dirty' work.
Boots, subs. (colloquial).—1. The
servant at hotels and places of
a kindred character who cleans
the boots of visitors. Formerly
called boot-catchers, because in
the old riding and coaching days
part of their duty was to divest
travellers of their footgear.
2. (military.)—The youngest officer in a regimental mess.
Like old boots—beans—bricks—blazes, etc.,phr. (com-
