of me, and were taken in by my swagger, I always knew that I was a lily-liver, and expected that I should be found out some day.
Lily-livered, adj. (old).—cowardly;
dastardly.
1605-6. Shakspeare, King Lear, ii. 2. Osw. What dost thou know me for? Kent. A knave; a rascal; a lily-livered, action-taking knave.
1857. A. Trollope, Barchester Lowers, xiv. You will not be so lily-livered as to fall into this trap which he has baited for you.
Lily of St. Clements. See St.
Clements.
Lily-shallow, subs. (common).—A
white driving hat.—Grose (1823).
Lilywhite, subs. (old).—1. A
negro; a chimney-sweep.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lilly white, a chimney sweep.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib, 45. Show the lilywhites fair play.
2. in pl. (military).—The Seventeenth Foot [from its facings]. Also, Bengal Tigers (g.v.). Also, the Fifty-ninth Foot.
Lillywhite groat, subs. (common).—A
shilling. For synonyms see
Bob.
1894. Daily Bourse, 13 Sept., p. 1. For instance, a 'man,' starting with 6s. a week, and, after six years, finding himself in possession of weekly wages amounting to 19s., say nineteen shillings, can assuredly have no legitimate cause for complaint. . . . Fancy nineteen 'Lillywhite groat' a week, and not to be satisfied!
Limb, subs. (old).—1. A mischievous
child; an imp. Also (in depreciation
to older persons) Limb of
Satan &c.
1589. Nashe, Martin's Month's Mind [Grosart (1883-4), i. 155]. He that is termed Satan . . . and a very limm of him.
1625. Jonson, Staple of News, iii. 2. She had it from a limb o' the school, she says, a little limb of nine year old.
1706. R. Estcourt, Fair Example, iii. 2. p. 34. Blood and thunder! I'll broil ye, you limb of Satan.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, xxxiv. Meg Merrilies, the old devil's limb of a gipsy witch.
1862. Calverley, Verses & Translations, p. 7. He was what nurses call a limb.
1864. Derby Day, p. 68. You limb of brimstone; just let me get hold of you.
1880. G. R. Sims, Ballads of Babylon (Little Jim). Our little Jim Was such a limb His mother scarce could manage him.
1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall Songs, p. 94. Now I've grown into an awful young limb.
2. (American colloquial).—A leg.
1720. Ramsay, The Scribbler's Lashed, p. 8. If Nellie's hoop be twice as wide As her two pretty limbs can stride.
1857. Rev. A. C. Geikie, Canadian Journal, Sept. If we know anything of English conversation or letters, we speedily find out, even if stone blind, that British men and women have arms and legs, But in Canada . . . he would learn that both sexes have limbs of some sort . . . but he could not tell whether their limbs were used to stand on or hold by.
1858. Pittsburg Chronicle, June. The poor brute [a horse] fell . . . fracturing his limb.
1861. O. W. Holmes, Elsie Venner, vii. 'A bit of the wing, Rovy, or of—the under limb?' The first laugh broke out at this.
1867. Upham, Witchcraft, ii. 248. One of her lower limbs was fractured in the attempt to rescue her from the prison walls.
1870. R. G. White, Words & their Uses, s.v. Limb for leg. Perhaps these persons think that it is indelicate for women to have legs.
