1882. McCabe, New York, ch. xxxiv., 509. Gilt-dubber, a hotel thief.
3. (thieves').—Formerly a pick-lock or skeleton key; now a crow-bar. For synonyms, see Jemmy.
1671. R. Head, English Rogue, Pt. I, ch. v., p. 50 (1874). Gilt, a picklock.
1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Gilt, c. a pick-lock.
1839. W. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 183 (ed. 1840). We shall have the whole village upon us while you're striking the jigger. Use the gilt, man!
To take the gilt off the gingerbread, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To destroy an illusion; to discount heavily.
1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 171. You see we had a rattling good year all round last, bar the Dancing Master. He took the gilt off the gingerbread considerably.
Gilt-dubber, see gilt, sense 2.
Gilt-edged, adj. (American).—First-class;
the best of its kind;
a latter-day superlative. For
synonyms, see A1 and Fizzing.
c. 1889. Chicago Tribune (quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant). He's a gilt-edged idiot to play the game.
1891. Standard, 18 June, p. 2, c. 1. 'Gilt-edged mutton' is the latest of glorified and 'boomed' American products.
1891. Tit Bits, 8 Aug., p. 286, c. 2. Another accomplishment, peculiar to the gilt-edged academy, is learning to eat asparagus, oranges, grapes, etc.
Gilter, see gilt, sense 2.
Gilt-tick, subs. (costermongers').
Gold.
Gimbal- (or gimber-) Jawed,
adj. (common).—Loquacious;
talking nineteen to the
dozen (q.v.). [Gimbals are a
combination of rings for free
suspension; hence applied to
persons the joints of whose jaws
are loose in speech.]
Gimcrack (Gincrack, or Jimcrack),
subs. (old).—1. A
showy simpleton, male or female;
a dandy (q.v.).
1618. Beaumont and Fletcher, Loyal Subject, iv., 3. These are fine gim-*cracks; hey, here comes another, a flagon full of wine in his hand.
1637. Fletcher, Elder Brother, iii., 3. You are a handsome and a sweet young lady, And ought to have a handsome man yoked to ye. An understanding too; this is a gimcrack That can get nothing but new fashions on you.
1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Gimcrack, a spruce wench.
1706. Mrs. Centlivre, Basset Table, II., Works (1872), i., 122. The philosophical gimcrack.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
2. (colloquial).—A showy trifle; anything pretty to look at but of very little worth.
1632. Chapman and Shirley. The Ball, Act iv. Lu. There remains, To take away one sample. Wi. Another gimcrack?
1678. Butler, Hudibras, pt. 3, ch. i. Rifled all his pokes and fobs. Cf., gim-*cracks, whims, and jiggumbobs.
1698-1700. Ward, London Spy, pt. 7, p. 148. I suppose there being little else to lose except scenes, machines, or some such jim-cracks.
1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. i. There was the harp of Brian Boru, and the sword of some one else, and other cheap old gimcracks with their corollary of lies.
1892. Milliken, 'Arry Ballads, p. 63. Such rum-looking gimcracks, my pippin.
3. (provincial).—A handy man; a jack-of-all-trades (q.v.).
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A gimcrack also means a person who has a turn for mechanical contrivances.
