1855. Tennyson, Maud, xxvii. 3. To tickle the maggot born in an empty head.
2. (old).—See quots.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Maggot, a whimsicall Fellow, full of strange Fancies and Caprichio's. Maggotty, Freakish.
1725. N. Bailey, Erasmus, 177. You were as great a maggot as any in the world.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.) Maggot (S.) . . . also a whimsical fellow that is full of strange freakish fancies.
Maggot-boiler, subs. (old).—A tallow
chandler.—Grose (1796).
Maggoty (Maggot-headed or -pated),
adj. (common).—Fanciful;
eccentric; full of whimsies.
1687. Bishop, Marrow of Astrology, 60. A fantastick man wholly bent to fool his time and estate away in . . . maggot-pated whimsies, to no purpose.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Maggot.
1706. Farquhar, Recruiting Officer, ii. 2. I should have some rogue of a builder . . . transform my noble oaks and elms into cornices, portals, sashes . . . to adorn some magotty, new-fashioned bauble upon the Thames.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed), s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1817-26. Kirby and Spence, Int. to Entomology, 85. The common saying that a whimsical person is maggoty, or has got maggots in his head, perhaps arose from the freaks the sheep have been observed to exhibit when infested by bots.
1882. Rev. J. Pickford, in Notes and Queries, 6. S. v. 238. Be it observed that maggoty is a Cheshire provincialism for 'crotchety', like the expression used in other parts, 'a bee in the bottom.'
Magistrand, subs. (Aberdeen University).—A
student in arts of the
last year: cf. Bejan.
Magistrate, subs. (Scots').—A herring.
For synonyms see Glasgow
magistrate.
Magnet, subs. (venery).—The female
pudendum. For synonyms see
Monosyllable.
Magnificent, subs. (colloquial).—High
and mighty. In pl. = a state
of dignified resentment.
1886. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xxvii. Nevertheless, Jack walked his first watch in the magnificents, as all middies do when they cannot go on shore, and turned in at twelve o'clock, with the resolution of sticking to his purpose, and quitting his Majesty's service.
Magnify. It doesn't magnify,
phr. (common).—'It doesn't signify.'
Magnum, subs. (colloquial).—A
double quart. Cf. Jeroboam,
Rehoboam etc.
1796. Burns, Election Ballads, vi. High-wav'd his magnum-bonum round With Cyclopean fury.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Magnum Bonum. A bottle containing two quarts of wine. See Scotch pint.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, xxxvi. Discussing the landlord's bottle, which was, of course, a magnum.
1829. Edinburgh Review, xl. 378. Daily washing down turtle and venison with quarts of sherry and magnums of claret.
1837. Dickens, Pickwick, xix. They . . . ordered a glass of brandy and water . . . with a magnum of extra strength.
1850. Thackeray, Pendennis, xxxi. They had a magnum of claret at dinner at the club that day.
1888. Athenæum, 21 April, 449. 1. Your noble magnum of Lafitte, E'en Rothschild would have deemed a treat.
Magpie, subs. (old).—1. A bishop.
[From his vestments of black and
white].
