Troll, verb. (B. E. and Grose).—'To loiter or saunter about': cf. Trull. As subs. (or troll-*ocks) = a slattern: see Trull.
Trolloll, verb. (old).—To sing
in a jovial, rollicking fashion
(B. E. and Grose).
1740. North, Examen, 101. They got drunk and trolloll'd it bravely.
Trollop, subs. (old).—1. 'A lusty,
coarse Ramp or Tomrig' (B. E.
and Grose); a hedge-whore:
also (2) a generic reproach: of
women. Whence trolloping
(trollopish or trollopy) =
wanton, filthy, draggletail. As
verb (or to trollop about) = to
gad about: spec. (modern) = to
quest for men. Also trollopee
= a loose dress for women: cf.
loose-bodied.
c. 1641. Milton, Apol. for Smectym. Does it not argue rather the lascivious promptnesse of his own fancy, who from the harmelesse mention of a Sleekstone could neigh out the remembrance of his old conversation among the Viraginian trollops?
1675. Cotton, Burlesque upon Burlesque (1770), 191. Had either so much Grace or Wit, Manners, or Shame, or altogether, As not to bring thy Trollops hither.
d. 1704. Brown, Works, ii. 273. I tell thee, thou insignificant north-country trollop . . . that one soldier is better than a thousand . . . stiff-rump'd parsons.
1706. Vanbrugh, Mistake, i. We are no fools, trollop, my master, nor me; And thy mistress may go—to the devil.
1754. Lady M. W. Montagu, Letter, 28 June. Yet the virtuous virgin resolves to run away with him, to live among banditti, to wait upon his trollop, if she had no other way of enjoying his company.
1759. Goldsmith, Bee, No. 2. There goes Mrs. Roundabout—I mean the fat lady in the lute-string trollopee.
1771. Smollett, Humph. Clinker (1900), i. 91. To take up with a dirty trollep under my nose. . . . I ketched him in the very fact, coming out of the housemaid's garret,
1814. Austen, Mansfield Park, xxxvii. A trollopy-looking maid-servant, seemingly in waiting for them at the door, stepped forward.
1816. Scott, Antiquary, i. Yes, you abominable woman . . . all will see the like of it that have anything to do with your trolloping sex.
Trollybags, subs. (provincial).—Tripe.
Trolly-lolly, subs. phr. (old).—A
'Coarse Lace once much in fashion,
now worn only by the meaner
sort' (B. E., Grose, and Halliwell).
Trollywags, subs. (common).—Trousers,
breeches: see Kicks.
Tromboning. To go tromboning,
verb. phr. (venery).—To
copulate: see Ride.
Tronk, subs. (S. African).—A
prison: see Cage.
1875. Lady Duff Gordon, Letters from the Cape. He informed me that he had just been in the tronk, and on my asking why, replied, 'Oh, for fighting and telling lies.'
Trooper, subs. (Old Cant).—A
half-crown (B. E.).
Phrases.—To swear like a trooper (a simile of hard swearing), 'to volley oaths till the air is blue'; 'You'll die the death of a trooper's horse' ('a jocular method of telling anyone he will be hanged, i.e. will die with his shoes on'—Grose).
Trork, subs. (back slang).—A
quart.
Tros, subs. (back slang).—Sort:
spec. of anything bad or not to
one's liking. Thus trosseno =
a bad day, coin, etc.; also dab-*tros.
