Whitechapel or Westminster brougham, a costermonger’s donkey-barrow.
Whitechapel, anything mean or paltry. Potting one’s opponent at billiards is often known as “Whitechapel play.”
Whitechapel, in tossing, when “two out of three wins.” See [SUDDEN DEATH].
Whitechapel fortune, a clean gown and a pair of pattens.
White eye, military slang for a very strong and deleterious kind of whisky, so called because its potency is believed to turn the eyes round in the sockets, leaving the whites only visible.
White feather, “to show the WHITE FEATHER,” to evince cowardice. In times when great attention was paid to the breeding of game-cocks, a white feather in the tail was considered a proof of cross-breeding.
White horses, the foam on the crests of waves, seen before or after a storm.
“Now the wild white horses play.
Champ and chafe and toss in the spray.
Children, dear, let us away,
This way, this way.”—Matthew Arnold.
White lie, a harmless lie, one told to reconcile people at variance. “Mistress is not at home, sir,” is a WHITE LIE often told by servants.