Heading
upon coming to his cottage door had tried hard to get some chuck out of him, but had failed.
1877. Five Years' Penal Servitude, ch. i., p. 4. Two large slices of bread, . . . the allowance given out to some prisoner who . . . had forgotten to eat what in prison slang is called his 'toke' or chuck.
1877. S. L. Clemens ('Mark Twain') Life on the Mississippi, ch. lii., p. 463. i wish i was nere you so i could send you chuck (refreshments) on holidays.
2. (common).—Scraps of meat; block ornaments (q.v.). For synonyms, see Duck.
1871. Echo, 11 Dec. 'Sunday amongst the Silk Weavers.' Few regular butchers ply their trade on Sunday morning—money is only to be made by the vendors of nauseous substitutes for wholesome meat—the refuse portion of beef and mutton, tough, coarse, and meagre pork, flaccid tripe, lean little sheeps' chuks, as the natives call them, the savourless saveloy of Old England.
1887. Standard, 20 Jan. 'The Poor at Market.' From a sort of ludicrous spirit of snobbery a labourer will term a fellow he dislikes a 'beggar who eats chuck,' chuck being a low-priced part of the carcase.
3. (Billingsgate).—See quot.
1851-61. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 73. Sprats . . . are sold at Billingsgate by the 'toss,' or chuck, which is about half a bushel, and weighs about 40 lbs. to 50 lbs.
4. (colloquial).—A toss or throw.
1883. Punch, June 2, p. 264, col. 1. The average number of chucks at cocoa-*nuts before achieving success is six.
5. (nautical).—Sea biscuit. Cf., senses 1 and 6. A sailor's variant is 'chow-dow.'
1864. Standard, 13 Dec. Of naval slang Mr. Hotten has missed the words chuck, used by sailors for biscuit, and barge, the box or cask in which the chuck is kept by the messes on the lower deck.
6. (military).—Mealy bread. Cf., nautical usage, sense 5.
7. Westminster School).—A schoolboy's treat.
1864. Hotten, Slang Dict., p. 101, s.v.
Verb (colloquial).—1. To throw; especially to throw away; to pitch.
1593. Prodigal Son, iv., 112. Yes, this old one will I give you (chucks him old hose and doublet). [m.]
1627. Drayton, Agincourt, 63. In the Tauerne, in his cups doth rore, chocking his crownes. [m.]
1753. Adventurer, No. 43. I . . . was kicked about, hustled, tossed up, and chucked into holes.
1771. Smollett, Humphry Clinker, I. 36. Dirt and trash chucked into it by roguish boys for the joke's sake.
1820. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, tour II., ch. i. Yes, faith, as I've a soul to save, I will for nothing dig her grave; Yes, I would do it too as willing As if her hand had chuck'd a shilling.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxix., p. 342. I'm not only ready but villin' to do anythin' as'll make matters agreeable; and if chuckin' either o' them sawbonesses out of winder u'll do it, I'm the man.
1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 150. Many a time I walked through the streets and picked a piece of bread that the servants chucked out of the door.
1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. IV., ch. i. 'When you're ready for your snooze,' said the honest creature, 'chuck yourself on my bed in the corner.'
2. (vagrants').—To eat.—See subs., sense 1. For synonyms, see Grub.
1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 192. Mo and his man were having a great breakfast one morning . . . Mo exclaimed to his man, 'Chuck rumbo (eat plenty), my lad.'
3. (pigeon fanciers').—To despatch a pigeon. Cf., sense 1, and To chuck it; also Hard chuck.
4. (general).—To spend extravagantly. For synonyms, see Ducks and Drakes.
