1600. The Maydes Metamorphosis, I'll take a nap and come annon.
1625. Massinger, Parliament of Love, ii., 3. I here shall take a nap.
1664. Cotton, Scarronides, 102. And whilst he taking was a nap, She layed him neatly in her Lap.
d. 1796. Burns, Awa, Whigs, Awa. Grim Vengeance lang has ta'en a nap.
1842. Tennyson, Day Dream, 156. 'Twas but at after dinner nap.
3. (colloquial).—See quot. 1867.
1858. Lytton, What Will He Do With It, 309. He would not have crossed a churchyard alone at night for a thousand NAPS.
1867. Latham, Dict., s.v. Nap. Abbreviation for Napoleon, i.e., the coin so called.
4. (Scots').—See quot 1808; an abbreviation of nappy (q.v.).
1804. Tarras, Poems, p. 24. Nor did we drink o' gilpin water; But reemin nap, wi' houp weel heartit.
1808. Jamieson, Dict., s.v. Nap. A cant term for ale, or a stronger kind of beer. Aberd.
5. (old).—See quots. Also as verb.
c. 1606. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Nap, a clap or pox.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Nap. You have napt it, you are infected.
Verb. (old).—1. See quots.
c. 1996. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Nap. By cheating with the Dice to secure one chance.
d. 1704. Tom Brown, Works, III., 60. Assisting the frail square die with high and low fullams, and other napping tricks.
1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v. Nap, to cheat at dice.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Nap.
TO CATCH (or TAKE NAPPING. verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To take unawares; to take in the act.
1587. Greene, Tritameron, II. [Grosart, Works (1886), iii.]. With that Panthia, & the rest, tooke them NAPPING.
1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, iv., 2. Nay, I have ta'en you napping, gentle love.
1606. Ret. fr. Parnassus, iii., 5 [Dodsley, Old Plays, ix., 286]. Now may it please thy generous dignity To take this vermin napping, as he lies In the true lap of liberality.
1663. Butler, Hud., 1., iii. I took thee napping unprepared.
c. 1696. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.
d. 1727. Defoe, Tour through Gt. Brit., III., 143. Hand-napping—that is when the criminal was taken in the very act of stealing cloth.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Nap. He caught him napping as Morse caught his mare.
1847. Porter, Quarter Race, 120. They'd caught the old man napping once.
To GO NAP, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To risk everything on a single point; 'to go the whole hog' (q.v.) [From the game of cards].
1860. Glover, Racing Life, 38. Look here, you go nap—now, hear that? nap—on Royal Angus.
1883. W. Black, Yolande, xxxix. After dinner the familiar and innocent sixpenny nap was agreed upon. But even at this mild performance you can lose a fair amount if you persistently go nap on almost any sort of a hand that turns up.
1888. Barnet Press, 1 Dec. He could say that Elstree and Shenley would go nap for Mr Todhunter.
1891. Answers, 28 Mar. In the innocence of my heart, I adjured all readers of the paper to go nap on Nostrils for the 2.30 race!
1898. Pall Mall Gaz., 20 Sep., 2., 2. It is permissible to doubt whether it was wise to go nap—if an Orleans can go nap—on Dreyfus's guilt and the infallibility of the court-martial which condemned him.
TO NAP TOCO FOR YAM, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.
1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Nap . . . to get more beating than is given.
See also Regulars, Slap, and Teize.
