1791. Carew, Life and Adventures, q.v.
1837. Disraeli, Venetia, ch. xiv. Flick the bread, cut the bread.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum or Rogue's Lexicon, s.v. Flick the Peter and rake the swag for I want to pad my beaters.
2. (colloquial).—To strike with, or as with, a whip.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xliii. Near him, leaning listlessly against the wall, stood a strong-built countryman, flicking with a worn-out hunting whip the top-boot that adorned his right foot.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxvii. Who . . . receives this compliment by flicking Mr. George in the face with a head of greens.
1854. Our Cruise in the Undine, p. 103. It appeared to us that one of the most frequent, and therefore we supposed the principal stroke aimed at (in a Heidelberg duel), was to strike your sword low down, perhaps four inches from the handle, upon your adversary's bandaged arm, so that the end of the weapon (the only part that is sharpened) should flick itself against your opponent's face.
1863. Hon. Mrs. Norton, Lost and Saved, p. 29. Drivers shouting, swearing, and flicking at the horses.
Flicker, subs. (Old Cant).—A
drinking glass.
1690. B.E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flicker, c., a drinking-glass. Flicker snapt, c., the glass is broken; Nim the flicker, c., steal the glass; Rum flicker, c., a large glass or rummer; Queer flicker, c., a green or ordinary glass.
French Synonyms.—Une lampe (masons'); un guindal (popular); un godet (very old); une gobette (thieves'); un gobeson (thieves').
Verb. 1. To drink.—Matsell.
2. (old).—To laugh wantonly; also to kiss, or lewdly fondle a woman.—Palsgrave. For synonyms, see Firkytoodle.
1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. Flicker, to grin or flout.
Also Flicking = (1) drinking, and (2) wanton laughter.
Let her flicker, phr. (American).—Said of any doubtful issue: 'let the matter take its chance.'
Flicket-a-Flacket, adv. (old).—Onomatopoetic
for a noise of
flapping and flicking.
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 20. Their bellies went flicket-a-flacket.
Flier or Flyer, subs. (racing and
yachting).—1. A horse or boat
of great speed; also (American
railway) a fast train; hence, by
implication, anything of excellence.
Cf., Dasher, Daisy, etc. Also
adj., = keen for.
1865. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. xxii. The mare's in splendid condition; well, you saw her take her trial gallop the other morning, and you must know she's a flier, so I won't talk about her.
1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 156. Atalanta might be a flyer, but an artist like Pycroft, with a clever colt like Newsmonger under him, was quite likely to outride whatever boy Mr. Pipes might now be able to pick up.
1888. St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 2 Mar. In spite of the strike passenger trains, what are known as the flyers, are running with reasonable regularity.
1890. Bird o' Freedom, 19 Mar., p. 1, col. 1. Clearly the G.O.M. is no flier over this course.
1891. Licensed Victuallers' Gazette, 20 Mar. Although he may doubtless be made a good deal better he may turn out to be no flier.
1891. Bury and Hillier. Cycling, p. 6. A moderate rider, not being an athlete or a flier . . . can . . . get over in an hour seven or eight miles of ground on a tricycle.
