Public . . . Bouncers and Besters defrauding, by laying wagers, swaggering, or using threats.
2. (thieves.')—A thief who steals goods from shop counters while bargaining with the tradesman. The exact French equivalent is dégringoleur, and the practice itself is termed dégringoler à la carre.
3. (common.)—A lie; a liar. For synonyms, see Whopper. [This usage in many instances completely overlaps sense 4.]
1762. Foote, Liar, II., i. He will tell ye more lies in an hour, than all the circulating libraries put together will publish in a year . . . he was always distinguished by the facetious appellation of the bouncer.
1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxxi. 'He's . . . such a bouncer!! . . . I mean that he's the greatest liar that ever walked a deck.'
1872. M. E. Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, ch. xxii. 'In that case, I should say wait, and put your trust in Time—Time, the father of Truth, as Mary Stuart called him when she wanted to go in for a bouncer,—and oh, what an incredible number of royal bouncers were carried to and fro in the despatches of that period!'
4. (common.)—Anything large of its kind; a 'whopper'; a 'thumper'; a 'corker.'
1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in wks. III., 140. My Book will grow such a bouncer, that those which buy it must bee faine to hire a porter to carry it after them in a basket.
5. (American.)—A man who ejects; a 'chucker-out' (q.v).
1883. Daily News, July 26, p. 4, col. 8. The other fresh American type is less remarkable—the bouncer. One might suppose that a bouncer was a noisy braggart; but no. A scientific writer in the Nation describes a bouncer as a 'silent, strong man.' Every one who mixes much in society in Whitechapel will understand the functions of the bouncer when we explain that he is merely the English 'chucker-out.'
6. (harlotry.)—A prostitute's companion; ponce; bully. For synonyms, see Ponce.
7. (naval.)—A gun that 'kicks' when fired.
Bouncing, ppl. adj. (common).—Vigorous;
lusty; exaggerated;
excessive; big. This word has
manifold meanings, referring,
in its various senses, to largeness
of size, vigour of action,
with the idea of ungainliness
rather than elegance. It is,
as will be seen, of long continued
use.
c. 1563. Jacke Jugder, p. 42 (ed. Grosart). And made you a banket [banquet], and bouncing cheare.
1588. Marprelate's Epistle, p. 14 (ed. Arber). For there must bee orders of ministers in the congregation where you meane this bounsing priest should haue superiortie.
1611. Middleton, Roaring Girle, Act iii., Sc. 3. The duck that sits is the bouncing ramp, that roaring girl my mistress.
1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xix. While I was at work in the shop, a bouncing damsel, well dressed, came in.
1846. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. ii. By the side of many tall and bouncing young ladies in the establishment, Rebecca Sharp looked like a child.
Bouncing Cheat, subs. (old).—A
bottle. [Bouncing, probably,
says Grose, an allusion to the explosive
noise made in drawing a
cork, + cheat, a thing = Anglo
Saxon ceat of the same meaning.]
The French equivalent is une
rouillarde or rouille, said to be
derived from rouler. Empty
bottles, it may be mentioned,
are known as dead-men; camp-*candlesticks;
dead-marines;
fellow-commoners, etc. For
other synonyms, see Dead-men.
