Heading
Cent. Not worth a cent, phr.—See Care and Fig.
Cent Per Cent, subs. (common).—A
usurer. [Literally one who
charges an exorbitant rate of
interest, here symbolized as a
hundred for every hundred.
Quoted by Grose (1785).] For
synonyms, see Sixty per Cent.
Centre-of-Bliss, subs. (common).—The
female pudendum. For
synonyms, see Monosyllable.
Centurion, subs. (cricket).—A
batsman who scores a hundred
runs. [From centurion, the
commander of a 'century,' in the
Roman Army.]
1886. Graphic, 31 July, p. 107, col. 2. Some other centurions have been Chatterton (108) for M.C.C., Shuter (103, not out) for Trent.
Century, subs. (turf).—A hundred
pounds; or at cricket, etc., a
score of a hundred. Originally
a division of the Roman Army
numbering 100 men. In English
it was and is in common use to
signify a group of a hundred.
Shakspeare, in Cymbeline, iv.,
2, 391 [1611], writes a
'century' of prayers. See also
A. C. Swinburne, A Century of
Rondels and W. E. Henley,
A Century of Artists (1889). Cf.,
Monkey, Pony, etc.
1864. Derby Day, p. 131. 'I'm open to a bet. I'll lay you an even century about Nimrod.'
1869. Daily News, July 29. 'Police Court Report.' After this he said he searched the breeches pockets that were lying by the side of the bed, and took half a century worth of property from them.
1883. Echo, Nov. 1, p. 4, col. 2. Golding . . . purchased Passaic from F. Archer for a century.
1883. Graphic, August 11, p. 138, col. 2. His batting this year has been of the highest order, as witnesses among his many good performances that against the Players, when he marked his century.
Cert, subs. (sporting).—A certainty,
of which it is an abbreviation.
With special reference
in racing circles to events looked
upon as absolutely sure. Variants
are a dead, or moral, certainty;
A dead 'un; and a moral.
1859. Letter from Edward S. Taylor to John Camden Hotten, 22 Dec. This edition will sell to a dead certainty.
1889. Man of the World, June 29. 'Love-in-Idleness is bound to take the Rous Memorial, and I hear Pioneer is a cert. for the St. James's.'
Certainties, subs. (printers').—Infants
of the male sex.—See
Uncertainties.
Chafe, verb (old).—To thrash
soundly. [Chafe = 'to warm,' 'to
rub with the hand.' Cf.,
Anoint.] For synonyms, see
Tan.
1673. R. Head, Canting Acad., p. 36
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Chafed: well beaten.
Chafer, verb (common).—To
copulate. [Probably a corruption
of chauver.] For synonyms, see
Ride.
Chaff, subs. (colloquial).—1.
Ironical or sarcastic banter; fooling;
humbug; ridicule. [A word
of uncertain derivation, which,
except in two instances, both
doubtful, does not appear in
English literature, in either its
substantive or its verbal form,
before the beginning of the
present century. Of the two the
substantive seems to be the
