Drawers, formerly the ancient cant name for very long stockings.
Drawing teeth, wrenching off knockers.—Medical Student slang.
Drawlatch, a loiterer.
Draw off, to throw back the body to give impetus to a blow; “he DREW OFF, and delivered on the left drum.”—Pugilistic. A sailor would say, “he hauled off and slipped in.”
Draw the long bow, to tell extravagant stories, to exaggerate overmuch; same as “throw the hatchet.” From the extremely wonderful stories which used to be told of the Norman archers, and more subsequently of Indians’ skill with the tomahawk.
Dress a hat, TO, to rob in a manner very difficult of detection. The business is managed by two or more servants or shopmen of different employers, exchanging their master’s goods; as, for instance, a shoemaker’s shopman receives shirts or other articles from a hosier’s, in return for a pair of boots. Another very ingenious method may be witnessed about eleven o’clock in the forenoon in any of the suburban districts of London. A butcher’s boy, with a bit of steak filched from his master’s shop, or from a customer, falls in with a neighbouring baker’s man, who has a loaf obtained in a similar manner. Their mutual friend, the potboy, in full expectation of their visit, has the tap-room fire bright and clear, and not only cooks the steak, but again, by means of collusion, this time with the barman or barmaid, “stands a shant of gatter” as his share. So a capital luncheon is improvised for the three, without the necessity of paying for it; and this practical communistic operation is styled DRESSING A HAT. Most likely from the fact that a hat receives the attention of three or four people before it is properly fit for wear.
Dripping, a cook.
Drive, a term used by tradesmen in speaking of business; “he’s DRIVING a roaring trade,” i.e., a very good one; hence, to succeed in a bargain, “I DROVE a good bargain,” i.e., got the best end of it. To “LET DRIVE at one,” to strike out. A man snoring hard is said to be “DRIVING his pigs to market.”
Drive at, to aim at; “what is he DRIVING AT?” “what does he intend to imply?” a phrase often used when a circuitous line of argument is adopted by a barrister, or a strange set of questions asked, the purport of which is not very evident.