1896. Lillard, Poker Stories, iii. The most interesting jack-pot in the history of the game, as she is played in the land of steady habits, has been raked into the coffers of the Goddess of Justice in a lively Connecticut borough.
Steal. See Brewer's-basket, and
Stale.
Steam, subs. (colloquial).—Force;
energy; go (q.v.).
Steam-engine, subs. phr. (Manchester).—Potato-pie
(Hotten).
Steamer, subs. (old).—A pipe: a
swell-steamer = a long pipe
(Grose).
Steaming, subs. (military).—A
steamed pudding.
Steam-packet, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A
jacket.
Steel, subs. (old).—The House of
Correction, Coldbath Fields,
London (Grose): latterly, any
prison or lock-up. [Originally
(Hotten) The Bastille].
1851-61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 457. The only thing that frightens me when I'm in prison is sleeping in a cell by myself—you do in the Old Horse and the Steel.
1877. Five Years Penal Servitude, i. The steel, a slang name for the large metropolitan prisons.
1888. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple. "And the Steel—the place to which Mr. Eggshells alludes in connection with his retirement?" "Coldbath Fields," responded Mr. Badger, promptly, "quod—gaol—prison—that's the Steel."
1889. Thor Fredur, Sketches from Shady Places. He pitched into the policeman, was lugged off to the steel, had up before the magistrate, and got a month.
Steelbacks (The), subs. phr.
(military).—1. The 1st Batt.
Northamptonshire Regiment, the
late 48th Foot; and (2) The 1st
Batt. Middlesex Regiment, the
late 57th Foot.
Steel-bar, subs. phr. (old).—A
needle. Hence steel-bar
driver (or flinger) = a needle-man
(or woman): spec. a journeyman
tailor (Grose). See
Trades.
Steel-boy, subs. (Irish).—See
quot.
1772. [Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, xvi.] The kingdom of Ireland was at this period ravaged by various parties of banditti; who, under the name of Whiteboys, Oakboys, Steelboys, with captains at their head, killed proctors, fired stacks, houghed and maimed cattle, and took the law into their own hands.
Steel-pen coat, subs. phr. (common).—A
dress coat: a swallow-tail
(q.v.).
Steenkirk, subs. (old).—'A Muslin
neckcloth carelessly put on,'
'from the manner in which the
French officers wore their cravats
when they returned from the
Battle of Steenkirk' [1692],
'afterwards a Fashion for both
sexes' (B. E. and Grose). Likewise
applied to other articles of
dress, as wigs, buckles, &c.
Steep, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—A
general intensive: cf. tall.
Thus a steep (= high) price;
steep (= excessive) damages; a
steep (= a difficult or forlorn)
undertaking; a steep (= heavy)
tax, &c. Too steep = too absurd
(bad, idiotic, or impudent)
for acceptance. Hence, in the
same sense precipitous (q.v.).
Fr. raide.
1841. Emerson, Essays, 1 S., 302. Perhaps if we should meet Shakspeare we should not be conscious of any steep inferiority.
1857. Chicago Tribune, 17 Oct. At the election in Minnesota, one hundred and ten Winnebago Indians . . . voted the Democratic ticket; but the agent thought this was rather steep, so he afterwards crossed that number from the list.
