1685. Crowne, Sir Courtly Nice, ii. 1. You may proclaime at Mercat-cross, how great an Adorer you are of such a Woman's Charms? how much you desire to be admitted into her service; that is, how lusty a Centaur you are.
1692. Dryden, Juvenal, x. In form of law, a common hackney-jade Sole heir for secret services is made.
1720. Durfey, Pills, v. 227. To shew be could a Lady serve, As well as the Hollander.
1772. Bridges, Homer Burlesque, 392. And all the virgins in the town Expect they shall be ravished soon . . . At any time they'll let you serve 'em.
Serve, verb. (old).—1. To rob:
e.g., 'I served him for his
thimble' = 'I robbed him of his
watch' (Grose and Vaux).
2. See Servant and Time.
3. (thieves').—'To find guilty, convict, and sentence' (Grose).
4. (old).—To maim; to wound; to punish (q.v.): whence to serve out = to take revenge; TO SERVE OUT AND OUT = to kill (Grose and Vaux).
1819. Moore, Tom Crib. Whoso'er grew unpolite The well-bred champion SERVED HIM OUT.
1821. Egan, Life in London, 11. ii. Squinting Nan, full of jealousy . . ., is getting over the box to sarve her out for her duplicity.
1837-40. Haliburton, Clockmaker (1848), 12. Now the bees know how to sarve out such chaps, for they have their drones, too.
1853. Bulwer, My Novel, xii. 25. The Right Honourable Gentleman had boasted he had served his country for twenty years . . . He should have said SERVED HER OUT.
1868. Greenwood, Purgatory of Peter the Cruel, i. 22. I am doomed to become a blackbeetle because of the many of the sort I have hurt and smashed, and more especially because I served this wretched cockroach out.
To serve up, verb. phr. (American). To ridicule.
See Slops.
Sessions, intj. (common).—An
exclamation of surprise.
Set, subs. (cricketers').—1. A determined
stand; to get set =
to 'collar' the bowling.
2. (common).—A grudge; a sustained attack: in argument or conduct. Also dead-set.
Phrases. To set the hare's head to the goose giblets = to balance matters; to give tit for tat; to set jewels (see quot. 1874); all set = 'Desperate fellows, ready for any kind of mischief' (Duncombe).
1607. Dekker and Webster, Westward Hoe, v. 3. They came to Brainford to be merry, you were caught in Birdlime, and therefore set the hare's head AGAINST THE GOOSE GIBLETS.
1874. Hotten, Slang Dict, s.v. Setting jewels. The taking the best portions of a clever book not much known to the general public, and incorporating them quietly in a new work by a thoroughly original author. The credit of this term belongs to Mr. Charles Reade, who explained that the process is accountable for the presence of some writing by one Jonathan Swift, in a story published at Christmas, 1872, and called The Wandering Heir.
See Cap; Dead-set; Ears; Hard-set; Shoulder; Wheel.
Set-Back. See Back-set.
Set-down, subs. phr. (colloquial).—1.
A snub; an unexpected or
overwhelming reply. Also as
verb. = to take to task; to rebuff;
to get the better of.
1749. Smollett, Gil Blas [Oliphant, New Eng., ii. 166. Among new substantives are a set-down, blinkers,. . .].
