1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 16 Aug., p. 4, c. 2. Signs of the so called ‘silly season’ which has been somewhat delayed this year owing to the political crisis, are now beginning to appear. The readers of the Daily Telegraph are once more filling the columns of that journal with ‘Is Marriage a Failure?’ The hardy annual is called ‘English Wives’ this time.
Hare, verb. (old).—To dodge; to double; to bewilder.
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 92. Running, haring, gaping, staring.
1672. Marvell, Rehearsal, Tr. (Grosart), iii, 372. They amaze, shatter and hare their people.
To hare it, verb. phr. (American thieves’).—To retrace one’s steps; to double back. [From the way of a hare with the hounds.]
To make a hare of, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To make ridiculous; to expose the ignorance of any person.
1830–32. Carleton, Traits and Stories, ‘The Hedge-School.’ What a hare that made of him … and did not leave him a leg to stand on!
1844. Lever, Tom Burke of Ours, ii., 393. It was Mister Curran made a hare of your Honor that day.
To swallow a hare, verb. phr. (old).—To get very drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.