A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words / Used at the Present Day in the Streets of London; the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; the Houses of Parliament; the Dens of St. Giles; and the Palaces of St. James.

by John Camden Hotten

WALL-FLOWER,

a person who goes to a ball, and looks on without dancing, either from choice or not being able to obtain a partner.

WALL-FLOWERS, left-off and “regenerated” clothes, exposed for sale in Monmouth-street.

WALLOP, to beat, or thrash. Mr. John Gough Nichols derives this word from an ancestor of the Earl of Portsmouth,

one Sir John Wallop, Knight of the Garter, who, in King Henry VIII.’s time, distinguished himself by WALLOPING the French; but it is more probably connected with WEAL, a livid swelling in the skin, after a blow.—See [POT WALLOPER].

WALLOPING, a beating or thrashing; sometimes in an adjective sense, as big, or very large.

WAPPING, or WHOPPING, of a large size, great.

WARM, rich, or well off.

WARM, to thrash, or beat; “I’ll WARM your jacket.”

WASH, “it won’t WASH,” i.e., will not stand investigation, is not genuine, can’t be believed.