Ship, subs. (printers' colloquial).—A body of compositors working together; one acts as clicker, takes charge and makes out the general bill which is shared and shared alike. [An abbreviation of "companionship."]
Verb. (common.)—1. To dismiss; To sack (q.v.) Also (2) to expel; to rusticate (American Univ.); (3) to turn out of bed, mattress on top (Sherborne School); and (4) to turn back in a lesson (Shrewsbury School).
1857. Trollope, Three Clerks, xviii. I'm to stay at the office till seven o'clock for a month, and old Fools-*cap says he'll ship me the next time I'm absent half-an-hour without leave.
Ship blown up at Point Nonplus, phr. (old).—'Exemplifies the quietus of a man when plucked penniless; or, genteelly expelled. Oxf. Univ. cant' (Grose).
See Anno Domini; Home; Pump.
Ship-husband, subs. phr. (nautical).—See
quot.
1842. Marryat, Percival Keene, xviii. He was, as we use the term at sea, a regular ship-husband—that is to say, he seldom put his foot on shore; and if he did, he always appeared anxious to get on board again.
Ship-in-full-sail, subs. phr.
(rhyming).—A pot of ale.
Ship of the Desert, subs. phr.
(common).—A camel.
1869. Notes and Queries, 4 S. iv. 3 July, 10. By whom was the camel first called "the ship of the desert?"
Ship-shape, adj. (colloquial).—Spick
and span; smart above and
below: originally ship-shape
and Bristol fashion. [Bristol's
fame as a port in early days
was far higher than now] (Grose).
1835. Dana, Before the Mast, 25 Aug. Everything was ship-shape and Bristol fashion. There was no rust, no dirt, no rigging hanging slack, no fag ends of ropes and 'Irish pendants' aloft, and the yards were squared 'to a t' by lifts and braces.
1848. Dickens, Dombey and Son, xxiii. Wal'r will have wrote home . . . and made all taut and ship-shape.
1874. E. L. Linton, Patricia Kemball, ii. Though we can go on very well as we are, she must have everything shipshape and nice when she comes.
1891. Lic. Vict. Mirror, 3 Jan. 7, 2. No time was lost in putting the ring shipshape.
Shirk, verb. (Eton College: obsolete).—See
quot.
1857-64. Brinsley Richards, Seven Years at Eton (1883). Shirking was a marvellous invention. Fellows were allowed to boat on the river, but all the approaches to it were out of bounds; we might walk on the terrace of Windsor Castle, but it was unlawful to be caught in the streets of Windsor which led to the terrace . . . If, out of bounds, you saw a master coming, you had to shirk, which was done by merely stepping into a shop. The master might see you but he was supposed not to see you. The absurdity was . . . that to buy anything in the shops in High Street, where all the school tradesmen dwelt, we were obliged to go out of bounds.
To shirk in, verb. phr. (Winchester).—To walk into water instead of plunging. To shirk out = to go out contrary to rules. Whence shirkster = one who shirks.
Shirker, subs. (hunting).—One
who prefers the road to cross-country
riding: cf. skirter.
1885. Field, 4 Ap. Once in a way the roadsters and shirkers are distinctly favoured.
Shirallee, subs. (Australian).—Swag
(q.v.); a bundle of
blankets.
