A
ABRAHAM. To sham; to pretend sickness.
ABRAHAM COVE. A naked or poor man; a beggar in rags.
ACADEMY. A penitentiary, or prison for minor offenses.
ACCOUNTS. To cast accounts; to vomit.
ACE OF SPADES. A widow.
ACKRUFFS. River-thieves; river-pirates.
ACORN. A gallows.
ACTEON. A cuckold.
ACTIVE CITIZEN. A louse.
ADAM. An accomplice; a pal.
ADAM-TILER. A fellow whose business it is to receive the plunder from the "File"—the one who picked the pocket—and get away with it.
ADDLE-COVE. A foolish man.
AGOG. Anxious; impatient; all-agog.
AGOGARE. Anxious; eager; impatient; be quick.
AIR AND EXERCISE. To work in the stone quarry at Blackwell's Island or at Sing Sing.
ALAMORT. Confounded; struck dumb; unable to say or do any thing.
ALBERT. A chain.
ALLS. The five alls. First, the monarch's motto, "I govern all." Second, the bishop's motto, "I pray for all." Third, the lawyer's motto, "I plead for all." Fourth, the soldier's motto, "I fight for all." Fifth, the farmer's motto, "I pay for all."
ALTEMAL. All in a heap, without items; the sum total.
ALTITUDES. A state of drunkenness; being high.
AMBIDEXTER. One who befriends both sides; a lawyer who takes fees from both parties in a suit.
AMERACE. Very near; don't go far; be within call.
AMPUTATE YOUR MAHOGANY or TIMBER. Be off quick; away with you.
AMUSE. To amuse; to invent plausible stories and thereby rob or cheat unsuspecting persons.
AMUSERS. Fellows who carry snuff or pepper in their pockets, which they throw into a person's eyes and then run away; the accomplice rushing up to the victim, pretending to assist, robs him while suffering with pain.
ANGLERS. Small thieves who place a hook on the end of a stick, and therewith steal from store-windows, doors, etc. It also applies to fencemen; putters up, etc.
ANKLE. "A sprained ankle;" the mother of a child born out of wedlock.
ANODYNE. Death; to anodyne, to kill. "Ahr say, Bill, vy don't yer hopen that jug and draw the cole?" "Vy, my cove, aren't you avare as how a bloke snoses hin it?" "Vell, vot hof it, aren't yer habel to put him to hanodyne?"
ANOINTED. Flogged.
APPLES AND PEARS. Stairs.
AQUA. Water.
ARCH-COVES. Chief of the gang or mob; headmen; governors; presidents.
ARCH-DUKE. A funny fellow.
ARCH-GONNOFF. The chief of a gang of thieves.
ARK. A ship; a boat; a vessel.
ARTFUL DODGERS. Lodgers; fellows who dare not sleep twice in the same place for fear of arrest.
ARTICLE. Man. "You're a pretty article." A term of contempt.
ARTICLES. A suit of clothes.
ARTIST. An adroit rogue.
ASSAY. Go on; commence; try it.
ATTLEBOROUGH. Not genuine; made to imitate. At the town of Attleborough jewelry is manufactured from the baser metals, or so alloyed as to deceive those who are not good judges of the genuine article.
AUTUM. A church.
AUTUM-BAWLER. A parson.
AUTUM-CACKLER. A married woman.
AUTUM-COVE. A married man.
AUTUM-DIVERS. Pickpockets who practise in churches.
AUTUM-JET. A parson.
AUTUMED. Married.
AWAKE. To know; to let know.