1829. Buckstone, Billy Taylor, i. 1. I . . . am no more a dull drab-coated watchman . . . Mary . . . Thou unboiled lobster, hence!
1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots (April). I don't think in the course of my whole military experience I ever fought anything, except an old woman, who had the impudence to hallo out, 'Heads up, lobster!'
1845. Buckstone, Green Bushes, i. 1. Geo. You must lead the soldiers to the very door . . . Mur. And where am I to meet the lobsters?
1848. Punch, xiv. 256. He (a soldier) avoids a lobster-shop, for fear of vulgar companions.
3. (cricket).—A bowler of lobs (q.v.).
1890. E. Lyttelton, Cricket, p. 36. The gentle and sensitive lobster, whose success depends so largely on facts he is ignorant of and conditions he cannot control.
Verb. (Winchester College).—To cry. [Notions: Probably a variation of 'lowster' or 'louster' = (Hants) to make any unpleasant noise].
To boil one's lobster, verb. phr. (old). See quot. 1819: of churchmen only. Cf. Japan.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lobster.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib, 5. To boil one's lobster means for a churchman to turn soldier; lobsters which are of a bluish-black, being made red by boiling. Butler's ingenious simile will occur to the reader:—When, like a lobster boiled, the morn From black to red began to turn.
Lobster-box, subs. (common).—A
barrack. Also a transport.
1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle's Log, ii. We landed in the lobster-box as Jack loves to designate a transport.
Lobster-cart. To upset one's
lobster-cart. To knock one
down. See Apple-cart.
1824. Mack, Cat-fight [N. Y.], p. 153. Ready up to take his part, I'd soon upset his lobster-cart; Make his bones ache, and blubber smart.
Lobster-pot, subs. (venery).—The
female pudendum. For synonyms
see Monosyllable.
Lobtail, verb. (nautical).—To sport
or play: as a whale, by lifting
his flukes, and bringing them
down flat on the water.
Local, subs. (American).—In pl.:
an item of news of local interest;
a chip (q.v.).
Lock, subs. (old).—1. See quot. 1690.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lock-all-fast. . . . The Lock, the magazine or Warehouse whither the thieves carry stolen goods to be secur'd.
1727. Gay, Beggar's Opera, iii. 3. At his lock, Sir, at the Crooked Billet.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
2. (old).—See quots. 1690 and 1718; a fence (q.v.). Also Lock-all-fast.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lock-all-fast, one that buys and conceals stolen goods.
1714. Memoirs of John Hall, 13, s.v.
1718. Higgin, True Discovery, p. 16. That woman they spoke to as they passed by is a lock, alias Receiver and Buyer of stolen goods.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
3. (old).—A line of business or conduct. Cf. Lurk.
[?]. [Nares], Trum s. Why look you, colonel, he's at old lock, he's at's May-bees again.
1800. Parker, Life's Painter, p. 116. What lock do you cut now?
1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
4. (old).—See quots.
