Slaughter, verb. (trade).—1. To sell at a sacrifice (q.v.). Hence slaughter-house = a shop or auction-room where goods are bought or sold for what they will bring; slaughterer = (1) a vendor at cost, and (2) a buyer for re-manufacture: as books for pulp, cloth for shoddy, &c.
1851-61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. . . . One East End slaughterer used habitually to tell that wet Saturday afternoons . . . put £20 extra in his pocket . . . Under such circumstances the poor workman is at the mercy of the slaughterer.
Slaughter of the Innocents. See Innocent.
Slave-driver, subs. (colloquial).—1.
A harsh taskmaster; a strict
master.
2. (Harrow cricket).—See quot.
1890. Great Public Schools, 95. The upper ground on these days is given up to practice at the nets for the eleven and the 'Sixth Form' game, and to practice in fielding and catching. Boys below the Removes have to fag for them, and these fags are managed by slave-drivers, three or four boys appointed for the purpose.
Slavey, subs. (common).—A
drudge: male or female; 'a servant
of either sex' (Grose). Also
(old) slaving-gloke.
1821. Egan, Life in London, 11. i. The slavey and her master—the surgeon and the resurrection-man . . . they are "all there."
1851-61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., 1. 472. The first enquiry is for the missus or a daughter, and if they can't be got at they are on to the slaveys.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, xi. The boy Thomas, otherwise called slavey . . . has been instructed to bring soda whenever he hears the word slavey pronounced from above.
1879. Horsley [Macm. Mag., xl. 501]. I piped a slavey come out of a chat, so when she had got a little way up the double, I pratted in the house.
1886. D. Telegraph, 1 Ap. No well-conducted English girl need be a slavey at all.
1893. Emerson, Lippo, xvi. She knew all the cant, and used to palarie thick to the slaveys.
1901. Free Lance, 16 Mar., 586, 1. Joan Burnett . . . has inherited both her mother's and her father's talent, as all will have noticed who saw her play the curiously pathetic slavey in "The Wedding Guest."
Sledge-hammer, verb. (colloquial).—To
hit hard; to batter.
1834. Lewis, Letters, 32. You may see what is meant by sledge-hammering a man.
Sleek. See Slick.
Sleek-and-slum shop, subs. phr.
(Bee).—'A public house or tavern
where single men and their wives
resort.'
Sleep, verb. (colloquial).—To provide
sleeping accommodation: cf.
room.
1887. Ribton-Turner, Vagrants and Vagrancy, 399. They were to have a double row of beds, 'two tire' high, to admit of sleeping 100 men and 60 women.
To sleep on bones, verb. phr. (old).—To sleep in a lap: e.g., 'Let not the child sleep on bones, i.e., in the nurse's lap' (Ray).
To sleep on both ears, verb. phr. (old).—To sleep soundly, without a care.
1633. Massinger, Guardian, ii. 2. Sleep you secure on either ear.
Sleep-drunk, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Drowsy;
confused: as
on waking from heavy sleep.
Sleeper, subs. (American).—A
sleeping-car.
1886. Referee, 26 Dec. Our . . . sleeper as the natives prefer to call these much-vaunted American inventions.
2. (American gaming).—Unclaimed money.
