Heading
To make a napkin of one's dish-clout, verb. phr. (old).—To marry one's cook; to contract a mésalliance.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
Dished, ppl. adj. (printers').—Said
of electrotypes when the centre
of a letter is lower than its edges.
Dismal-ditty, subs. (old).—See
quot.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Dismal Ditty . . . also a cant expression for a psalm sung by a criminal at the gallows (s.v. Ditty).
Dispar, subs. (Winchester College).—See
Cat's-head.
Dispatches, subs. (old).—False
dice; so contrived as always to
throw a nick.—See Doctor.
1811. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v.
1866. Times, 27 Nov.
Dissecting-job, subs. (tailors').—Garments
requiring extensive
alteration.
Distiller, subs. (Australian
thieves').—A man easily vexed,
and unable to dissemble his condition.
Ditto-blues, subs. (Winchester
College).—A suit of clothes all of
blue cloth. Cf., Dittoes.
Ditto Brother, or Sister, Smut.—See
Brother Smut.
Dittoes, subs. (colloquial).—A
complete suit of clothes of the
same material. Fr., un complet,
Occasionally applied to trousers
only.
1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. x. A slight, dark man, of middle height, clad in an ordinary suit of dittoes, entered the room.
1882. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. ix. His attire, though quite as faultless and more equable—he was never seen in dittos even in September—was not so splendid as of some members of the Aglaia.
Ditty-Bag, subs. (common).—A
handy bag, used by sailors as a
'huswife.' [From deft, dight
= neat, active, handy.]
Dive, subs. (American).—A drinking-saloon;
also a brothel.
1888. Troy Daily Times, 7 Feb. A plot to entrap young women for the dives of Northern Wisconsin has been discovered at Eau Claire, Wis.
1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat, 27 Feb. Even fallen women, when the rose is gone from their cheeks, are pushed aside, and from a gilded house to the lowest dive is the last and quickest step of all.
Verb (old).—To pick pockets. Cf., dip, and for synonyms, see Frisk. Also diving = picking pockets.
1631. Ben Jonson, Metam. Gipsies. Or using your nimbles [fingers], in diving the pockets.
1712 Gay, Trivia, bk. III., l., 80. Guard well thy pocket; for these sirens stand To aid the labours of the diving hand.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Dive (v.) . . . and in the Canting Language, to pick pockets in a crowd, church, etc.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or The Rogue's Lexicon, s.v.
A dive in the dark, subs. phr. (venery).—The 'act of kind.'
To dive into one's sky, verb. phr. (common).—To put one's hands into one's pockets.
