1897. Mitford, Romance Cape Frontier, ii. xv. Better fan than pegging out with only the sooty-faced niggers prodding away at you.
2. (colloquial).—To be ruined; quisby (q.v.)
To be pegged out, verb. phr. (common).—See quot.
1886. Tit-bits, 31 July, 252. Being pegged out (i.e. too notorious) in the neighbourhood, he begged by proxy.
On the peg, phr. (military).—1. Under arrest; roosted (q.v.).
2. (military).—Under stoppage of pay; fined.
To put on the peg, verb. phr. (military).—To pull oneself up (or together); to be careful: as of drink, behaviour, etc.
To peg up. See verb., sense 7.
There are always more round pegs than round holes, phr. (colloquial).—There are always more candidates than places.
Old Peg., subs. phr. (old).—See quot.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Peg. Old Peg, poor hard Suffolk or Yorkshire Cheese.
Pegasus. To break Pegasus's
neck, verb. phr. (old).—To write
halting verse.
1728. Pope, Dunciad, iii. 161. Some, free from rhyme or reason, rule or check, Break Priscian's head, and Pegasus's neck.
Peggy, subs, (common).—A slender
poker, disposedly bent at right
angles for the purpose of raking
the fire: cf. rector and curate.
Peg-leg, subs. phr. (common).—A
wooden legged man or woman.
Pego, subs, (venery).—The penis:
see Prick. [Gr. pege = a fountain.]—Grose
(1785); Halliwell
(1847).
1709. Ward, London Spy, ii. 8. Pego like an upstart Hector . . . Would fain have rul'd as Lord Protector, Inflam'd by one so like a goddess, I scarce cou'd keep him in my codpiece.
Peg Puff, subs. phr. (Scots').—An
old young woman: cf. old
ewe dressed lamb-fashion.
Pegtops, subs. (obsolete).—In pl. =
Trousers: very wide at the hips
and narrowing down to a tight-fit
at the ancles.
1859. Farrar, Julian Home, xx. His . . . tailor . . . produced . . . the cut-away coat, and mauve-coloured pegtops.
1861. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, lxvi. Pegtops, and a black bowler hat.
1864. Le Fanu, Uncle Silas, xlvi. Dudley, in a flagrant pair of cross-barred pegtops . . . approaching our refined little party with great strides.
1892. Milliken, 'Arry Ballads, 24. 'Im with the peg-tops and pipe.
1892. Gunter, Miss Dividends, iii. Trousers that are cut in what was then called the peg-top pattern.
Peg Trantum. Gone to Peg
Trantum's, phr. (old).—Dead:
see Hop the Twig. [Peg Trantum
(provincial) = a wild romping
girl.]—Grose (1785).
Pek. See Peck.
Pelican State, subs. phr. (American).—Louisiana.
[From its
armorial bearings, the bird being
common in the State.]
Pell-mell, adv. (old: now recognised).—In
confusion; 'higgledy-piggledy.'—B. E.
(c. 1696); Grose
(1785). Also as subs. and verb.
