1809. Irving, Knickerbocker, 270. He who perseveres in error without flinching gets the credit of boldness and consistency, while he who wavers in seeking to do what is right gets stigmatised as a TRIMMER.
1885. D. Teleg., 6 Nov. Lord Hartington is not the sort of statesman to trim his opinions according to the expediency of conciliating or not conciliating.
1885. D. Chron., 5 Oct. They wanted no such aristocrats or trimming Whigs for that constituency.
See Trim.
3. (colloquial).—Anything specially decisive, of good quality, or noteworthy; a SETTLER (q.v.): spec, (cricket) = a well-delivered ball. Hence trimming = large, big, etc.
1816. Scott, Antiquary, xi. I will show you his last epistle, and the scroll of my answer—egad, it's a trimmer!
Trimming, subs, (colloquial).—1. In pl. = accessories: spec. those accompanying any dish or article of food.
1837. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxvii. A boiled leg of mutton with the usual
TRIMMINGS.
1839. Kirkland, New Home [Bartlett]. A cup of tea with trimmings is always in season, and is considered as the orthodox mode of welcoming any guest.
1845. Knickerbocker Mag., Aug. The party luxuriated at Florence's [eating-house] on lobster and trimmings.
1848. Thackeray, Snobs, xx. Whenever I ask a couple of dukes and a marquis or so to dine with me, I set them down to a piece of beef, or a leg of mutton and
TRIMMINGS.
1860. Holmes, Professor, iii. Champion, by acclamation of the College heavy-weights, broad-shouldered, bull-necked, square-jawed, six feet and trimmings.
1899. Whiteing, John St., xxi. Amerikins is all right. . . . Theirs is a big country, too—bigger than ours: but we make it up in the trimmins like.
2. See Trim and Trimmer.
Trim-tram, subs. phr. (old).—A
trifle; an absurdity; folly; nonsense.
As adj. = foolish, nonsensical,
trifling. Also (Grose)
'like master, like man.'
1547. Patten [Arber, Eng. Garner, iii. 70]. Our consciences, now quite unclogged from the fear of [the Pope's] vain terriculaments and rattle-bladders, and from the fondness of his trim-trams and gewgaws.
1583. Stanyhurst, Æneid, ii. 113. But loa to what purpose do I chat such janglerye trim trams.
1760-2. Smollett, Sir L. Greaves, xiii. They thought you as great a nincompoop as your squire—trim-tram, like master, like man.
1772. Bridges, Homer, 411. He's telling some long trim-tram story.
Trincum (or Trinkum), subs.
(old).—A trinket.
Trine, verb. (Old Cant).—1. To
hang: see Ladder (B. E. and
Grose). Trining-cheat = the
gallows. [That is, trine = three
+ CHEAT (q. v.), generic for thing.]
Also TREYNE.
1567. Harman, Caveat, 31. Their end is either hanging, which they call Trining in their language, or die miserably of the pox.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all (H. Club's Rpt., 1874), 37. If you will make a word for the gallows, you must put thereto this word, Treyning, which signifies hanging; and so Treyning Cheate is as much to say, hanging things, or the gallows.
1612. Dekker, O per se O, 'Bing Out, Bien Morts.' On chates to trine, by Rome-coues dine for his long lib at last.
2. (old).—To go.
1360. Allit. Poems (Morris). [We see the Danish trine (ire), which Scott used as a slang term, 'trine to the nabbing cheat.']
