[?]. MS. Rawl., C. 86. So toty was the brayn of his hede, That he desired for to go to bede.
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxxii. I was somewhat totty when I received the good Knight's blow.
1855. Hammond, Wild Northern Scenes, 207. Our little boat was light and totlish; and, as I pressed the trigger of my rifle, it rolled slightly over.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, vi. When I looked up and saw what a tottery performance it was, I concluded to give them a wide berth.
1895. Harper's Mag., lxxxix. 116. I find I can't lift anything into this canoe alone—it's so tottlish.
Tottie, subs. (common).—A high-class
harlot: somewhat of an
endearment: cf. tot.
Touch, subs. (old).—1. Worth;
value; cost: usually in combination,
as a guinea-touch = something
costing a guinea; a penny-touch
= a penn'orth. Also
(Eton) = a present of money.
1720. Sir Erasmus Phillipp, Diary, 22 Sep. At night went to the ball at the Angel, a guinea-touch.
d. 1745. Swift [Century]. Print my preface in such form as, in the book-*seller's phrase, will make a sixpenny touch.
1864. Hotten, Slang Dict., s.v. Touch . . . Sometimes said of a woman to imply her worthlessness, as, 'Only a half-crown touch.'
2. (old colloquial).—A trick; a dodge; a contrivance: cf. verb. 1. To do a touch = to make shift; to manage somehow.
1530. Palsgrave, Lang. Fran. Touche, a crafty dede, tour.
1535. Joy, Apology to Tyndale [Arber], 25. [The word touche is used for trick.]
3. (colloquial).—Generic for the minimum of effort or effect: e.g., a touch (= suspicion) of frost; a touch of the tar-*brush = slightly coloured (of mixed white and black blood); a touch (= a spice) of humour; a slight touch = a gentle reminder: hence to touch upon = to dwell lightly on a matter; a touch (= a pricking) of conscience; a touch (= a trace) of pity; a touch (= a foretaste) of spring; a touch (= a twinge) of pain; to touch off = to out-*line, draft, or produce hastily or by a few strokes of pen, pencil, or brush; to touch up = (1) to gently jog the memory, (2) to urge, egg on, or spur forward, (3) to improve, mend, or add to (cf. to touch off and touchy): also see verb. 4: hence touch-up, subs. = (1) a reminder, (2) a spur to action, (3) a finishing or improving stroke.
1597. Shakspeare, Richard III., i. 2. 71. No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity.
1648. Gauden, Eikon Basilike. I never bare any touch of conscience with greater regret.
1715. Addison, Freeholder, No. 44. What he saw was only her natural countenance, touched up with the usual improvements of an aged coquette.
d. 1774. Goldsmith, Clubs. I was upon this whispered . . . that I should now see something touched off to a nicety.
1821. Galt, Ayrshire Legatees, viii. He's such a funny man, and touches off the Londoners to the nines.
1851. Hawthorn, Seven Gables, x. Give me a rose that I may press its thorns and prove myself awake by the sharp touch of pain!
d. 1878. Bryant, Song Sparrow. While the air has no touch of spring, Bird of promise! we hear thee sing.
1886. Field, 22. Jan. A touch of frost.
1890. Notes and Queries, 7 S., x. 118. Faint in some parts, very dark in others. If the plate was worn it has been touched afterwards.
