1888. New York World, 22 July. West Point, N.Y., July 21.—The fourth class entered camp on Monday, but are still wearing their plebeskins.
Pledge, subs. (colloquial).—A
baby.
1622. Fletcher, Sp. Curate, i. 3. 'Tis the curse Of great estates to want those pledges which The poor are happy in.
1751. Smollett, Per. Pickle (1895), iii. 122. In a few hours a living pledge of my love and indiscretion saw the light.
Verb. (Winchester School).—To give away. 'Pledge me' = 'After you'; 'I'll pledge it you when I have done with it: cf. poste te.
Plenipo, subs. (old colloquial).—1.
A plenipotentiary.
1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, iii. 1. I'll . . . say the plenipos have signed the peace, and the Bank of England's grown honest.
1740. North, Examen, 297. Whiteacre . . . was the treason plenipo at that time.
1815. D'Arblay, Diary, 329. We were buoyed up . . . with the hope that G neral Laurington was gone to England as plenipo.
2. (venery).—The penis: see Prick.
c.1786. Capt. Morris, The Plenipotentiary [Title and passim].
Plier, subs. (common).—The hand:
see Daddle.
Ploll-cat, subs. (old).—A whore:
see Tart.
Plough, verb. (University).—1.
To reject in an examination. [See
infra Smyth-Palmer on Pluck.]
1863. Reade, Hard Cash, Prol. Gooseberry pie . . . adds to my chance of being ploughed for smalls.
1877. Driven to Rome, 68. These two promising specimens were not ploughed, but were considered fit to teach that . . . of which they were so lamentably ignorant themselves.
1895. Pocock, Rules of the Game, i. I knew one of that lot at Corpus; in fact, we were crammed by the same Tutor for 'smalls,' and both got ploughed.
1900. White, West End, 148. 'I'll pay you back directly I have passed' . . . 'But suppose you're ploughed.' 'Well, then, I suppose you'll have to wait.'
Verb. (venery).—To copulate: see Greens and Ride.
1608. Shakspeare, Pericles, vi. 6. Bawd. Take her . . . use her . . . crack the glass of her virginity . . . Boult. She shall be ploughed. Ibid., Ant. and Cleop., ii. 2, 232. Royal wench! She made great Cæsar lay his sword to bed: He plough'd her and she cropped.
To plough the deep, verb. phr. (rhyming).—To sleep.
To put the plough before the oxen, verb. phr. (old).—To reverse; 'to put the cart before the horse.'
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, 1. He would put the plough before the oxen, and claw where it did not itch.
Proverbial phrases are:—To plough with ass and ox = to sort or do things ill; to let the plough stand to catch a mouse = to neglect weighty matters for small; to plough the air (or a rock) = to attempt the absurd or impossible.
Ploughed, adj. and adv. (common).—Drunk:
see Screwed.
Ploughshare, subs. (venery).—The
penis: see Prick.
1865. Swinburne, Atalanta, &c., 107. Thou, I say Althea, since my father's ploughshare, drawn Through fatal seedland of a female field, Furrowed thy body.
Plover, subs. (old).—A wanton:
cf. partridge, pheasant, and
grouse: see Tart.
