Heading
Claret, subs. (pugilistic).—Blood, Variants are Badminton, Bordeaux, and Cochineal-dye. French le vermeil or le vermois.
1604. Dekker, Honest Whore, II., 45, wks. [1873]. This should be a Coronation day: for my head runs claret lustily.
1819. Thomas Moore, Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress, p. 25. . . . This being the first Royal Claret let flow, Since Tom took the Holy Alliance in Tow, The uncorking produced much sensation about, As bets had been flush on the first painted snout.
1878. Besant and Rice, By Celia's Arbour, ch. xxxix. The lieutenant picked him up, and placed him—because he declined to stand; and, indeed, the claret was flowing freely—in the President's arm chair.
To tap one's Claret, phr.—To draw blood.
Claret Jug, subs. (pugilistic).—The
nose. [From claret, blood, +
jug, a receptacle.] For synonyms,
see Conk.
1859. Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 22. 'A Chapter on Slang.' A man's broken nose, is his claret-jug smashed.
Clarian, subs. (Cambridge University).—A
member of Clare
Hall, Cambridge; also a Greyhound
(q.v.).
1889. C. Whibley. Cap and Gown. E'en stuke-struck Clarians strove to stoop.
Class, subs. (athletic).—The highest
quality or combination of highest
qualities among athletes. He's
not class enough, i.e., not good
enough. There's a deal of class
about him, i.e., a deal of quality.
The term obtains to a certain extent
among turfites.
1884. Referee, March 23, p. 1, col. 3. The elasticity necessary for anything like class at sprinting departs comparatively early.
Claw, subs. (prison).—A lash of
the cat-o'-nine-tails. Cf., Clawed-off,
sense 1.
1876. Greenwood, A Night in a Work-house. Oh! cuss that old Kerr, who condemned me to twenty-five claws with the cat.
Claws for Breakfast, subs. phr. (prison).—See quot.
1873. Greenwood, In Strange Company. A ruffian being uncertain as to the morning when he is to have, as he himself would say, claws for breakfast, is in the habit of lying night after night in a sweat of terror.
Clawed-off, adv. phr. (old).—1.
Severely beaten or whipped. Cf.,
Claw.
2. (old).—Venereally infected.
Claw-Hammer, subs. (Irish),—A
dress coat. [From a
supposed similarity in the
cut of the tails to a claw hammer,
one end of which is
divided into two claws, for
extracting nails from wood.]
Also called steel-pen coat and
swallow-tail. For synonyms
of evening dress generally, see
War-paint.
1863. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Passages from English Note-books, I., 538. Sea-captains call a dress-coat a claw-hammer.
1883. Punch, July 21, p. 29, col. 2. An 'Impressionist' is not impressive In a claw-hammer on a public platform.
1889. Pall Mall Gazette, Nov. 11, p. 7, col. 1. After the claw-hammer crowd had been exhausted, he sent up an invitation to the great army of unvarnished.
CLAY, subs. (colloquial).—A clay
pipe. Cf., Yard of clay, but
for synonyms, see Churchwarden.
1859. Fairholt, Tobacco (1876), 173. Such long pipes were reverently termed aldermen in the last age, and irreverently yards of clay in the present one.
