Level. To work (or act) on a broad level, verb. phr. (American).—To be stable and trustworthy. Broad-level price = the lowest fixed price.
Level-best, adj. phr. (colloquial).—The
best one can do; the utmost
of one's power.
1879. E. E. Hale, His Level Best [Century]. I said, 'I'll do my level best,' Doctor.
1882. McCabe, New York, p. 217. I was listening to the aged cove, and trying to do my level best in replying to him.
1889. Ally Sloper's Half Holiday, 1 June. When that core of my heart does her level best to send the toe of her satin boot through the ceiling, then I somehow think the word Daisy is misapplied, however well it may look on a playbill.
1890. Sporting Life, 8 Nov. Both tried their level best.
1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 154. But you'll do your level best, Loudon; I depend on you for that. You must be all fire and grit and dash from the word 'go.'
1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger's Sweetheart, p. 106. I have done my level best to cater for them.
Level-coil. To play level-coil,
verb. phr. (old).—To copulate.
For synonyms see Greens and
Ride.
1662. Wilson, The Cheats, iv. 2. Mop. She is the Constable's wife, whom, to be short, the Alderman cuckolds. Jol. Hah! Are you sure of it? Mop. I made her confess that the Alderman and one Bilboe play level de coile with her.
Level-headed, adj. (American).—Well-balanced;
steady; judicious.
1870. Golden City (San Francisco: quoted in Orchestra), 12 Aug. Miss Markham is rather quiet off the stage, agreeable in conversation, and doesn't care much what the censorious world says about her—and herein her head is level!
1870. Orchestra, 12 Aug. To tell a woman her head is level is apparently a compliment in America, though to call a man a 'square head' is to insult him in France.
1879. Bret Harte, Gabriel Conroy, xxxix. A strong suspicion among men whose heads are level.
1895. N. Y. Press, in Pall Mall Gazette, Sept. 13, p. 7. This people had taken him for a gallant, persistent, even-tempered level-headed gentleman.
Levite, subs. (old).—1. A parson.
For synonyms see Devil-dodger.
1663. Killigrew, Parson's Wedding, ii. 4. You uncivil fellow, you come hither to tell my lady of her faults, as if her own levite could not discern 'em.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ch. iii. A young Levite—such was the phrase then in use—might be had for his board, a small garret, and ten pounds a year.
2. (old).—A fashionable dress for women (c.1780). [Horace Walpole: 'a man's bed-gown bound round with a belt'].
Levy, subs. (common).—1. A shilling.
2. (American).—See quot.
1834. Atlantic Club-book, ii. 120. How is flour up country? They say it is six and four levies, and corn seven and a fip.
1848. Bartlett, Dict. of Am., s.v. Levy. Elevenpence. In the State of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, the Spanish real, or eighth part of a dollar, or twelve and a half cents. Sometimes called an elevenpenny bit.
1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. 76. 'How much do you ax for 'em?' ses I. 'Eight boxes for a levy,' ses he.
