A · Dictionary · of Slang · and · its · Analogues
Cab, subs. 1. (University and school boys').—An adventitious aid to study; a 'crib'; a PONY (q.v. for synonyms). [From cabbage (q.v.) = pilferings.]
1853. Rev. E. Bradley ('Cuthbert Bede'). Adventures of Verdant Green. Those who can't afford a coach get a cab, alias a crib, alias a translation.
1876. Academy, 4 Nov., p. 448, col. 2. The use or translations, 'cribs,' or 'cabs' as boys call them, must at some time or other engage the serious attention of schoolmasters. [m.]
2. (old).—A brothel: in use during the early part of the present century; now obsolete. [Probably a contracted form of 'cabin,' some of the older senses of which (e.g., a small room, bedroom, or boudoir) are in correspondence. Parallels exist in other languages, and comparison may be made with the Fr. cabane, and Sp. cabaña; also with the Latin taberna = cabin, hut, and brothel. The It. bordello (Eng. bordel) was originally precisely equivalent to taberna and cabaña, being a diminutive of borda = cottage, cabin, shed, house of boards. All these words, and many similar [e.g., Latin cella, cellula, the petite maison of the French) came to be applied in the specifically esoteric sense under discussion, by an obvious euphuism or familiarism, which left the nature of the hut, booth, cell, or cabin to be supplied by those who understood. Further, 'cabin' = an Eng. rendering of the Latin cella, cellula = brothel. Also Cab-Moll (q.v.), a prostitute, originally the moll or molly of a cabin, cabane, or brothel, the present meaning being a popular misuse founded on a mistaken analysis.] For all synonyms, see Nanny-shop.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Mother, hew many tails have you in your cab? i.e., how many girls have you in your bawdy house?
Verb (colloquial).—1. To proceed from one place to another by means of a cab; Cf., 'to foot or hoof it,' 'to tram it,' 'to train it,' or 'to 'bus it.'
1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers. He's a cabbing it, I suppose.
