1852. Judson, Mysteries of New York. iv. I don't know nothin' about no persuits, 'cept the nab's persuits. Ibid., s.v. Nab, an officer or constable.
Verb. (Old Cant).—1. Primarily, to catch; but also a general verb of action. E.g., To nab the rust = (1) to take offence, to turn rusty; (2) to receive punishment unexpectedly; to nab the snow = to steal hedge-*linen; to nab the stifles = to be hanged; to nab the stoop = to stand in the pillory; to nab the teize = to be whipped; to nab it on the dial = to get a blow in the face; to be nabbed = to be arrested; to nap a cog = to cheat (at dice); to nap the bib = to cry; to nab the regulars = to divide a booty; to nap a winder = to be hanged; to nap it at the nask = to be lashed at Bridewell; etc. See Bib, Regulars, and Rust.
English synonyms (see also Cop and Prig when = to take or receive). To bag; to bone; to box; to claw; to collar; to cop; to grab; to nail; to nap; to nibble; to nick; to nim; to nip; to pinch; to pull over; to rope in; to scoop; to smug; to snabble; to snaffle; to snake; to snam; to sneak; to snitch.
French synonyms. Aganter (popular: agenter une claque = to warm the wax of the ear); agrafer ( = to hook); arcpincer (or arquepincer); attrimer (thieves'); cintrer en pogne (thieves'); colletiner (thieves'); coltiger (thieves'); enflaquer (thieves'); graffinger (common); griffer (a falconry term = to claw); grifler (thieves'); gripper (Rabelais); harper (popular); harponner ( = to harpoon); pagourer (thieves')
1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight [Grosart, Wks. (1886) iii. 233]. This hearbe being chewd downe by the Rabbit-suckers almost kils their hearts, and is worse to them than nabbing on the neckes to Connies.
1676. Warning for Housekeepers [Farmer, Musa Pedestris (1896), 30]. But if the cully nap us, And the lurries from us take.
1688. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, iii [Works (1720), iv., 56]. Our Suffolk heir is nabbed, for a small business; and I must find him some sham-bail.
c. 1696. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Nap and Nask.
1708. Memoirs of John Hall, s.v. Nap and Nask.
1723. Capt. Alex. Smith, Lives of Bailiffs, 5. The bailiff, though he had long waited for him, could not nap him.
1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v. Nab . . . to surprise, to take one napping; also to cog a dice.
1733. Fielding, Tom Thumb, ii., 1. Were he a bully, a highwayman, or a prizefighter I'd nab him.
1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, xxiii They embraced the prisoner . . . and asked how long she had been nabbed, and for what.
1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, 37. Nap my kelp (hold my hat) whilst I stall at the jigger.
1755. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. Nab. To catch unexpectedly; to seize without warning. A word seldom used but in low language.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Nab. To nab the rust. A jockey term for a horse that becomes restive. Ibid. (1796). To nab the snow; to steal linen left out to bleach or dry. To nab the stoop; to stand in the pillory.
1789. G. Parker, View of Society, ii., 30, note. Nap the stoop, pilloried. Ibid., ii, 75. To nap the teize is to receive this correction (whipping) privately.
1789. Geo. Parker. Life's Painter, 153. Napt a couple of bird's eye wipes. Ibid., 163. Nap the bib, a person crying.
d.1817. Holman, Abroad and Home, iii, 2. Bravo! Nab 'em, have 'em tight, Merry then well be at night.
