1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. i. I shall … blow off as much of the froth as I can, in order to present the residuum free of flummery.
1846. Thackeray, Yellow Plush Papers. She swallowed Lord Crabs’ flumery just as she would so many musheruims.
1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xii. None of the dubious, half-expressed, sentimental flummery.
2. (American nautical).—A kind of bread pudding.—Nordhoff.
3. (old).—Oatmeal and water boiled to a jelly.—Grose (1785).
Flummox, Flummocks, or Flummux, verb. (colloquial).—1. To perplex, dodge, abash, or silence; to victimize; to best (q.v.); to disappoint. Also conflummox. To flummox (or conflummox) by the lip = to outslang (q.v.), or talk down; to flummox the coppers = to dodge the police; to flummox the old Dutch = to cheat one’s wife, etc. For synonyms, see Flabbergast.
2. (theatrical).—To confuse, to queer (q.v.). Cf., Corpse.
3. (American).—Used in the passive sense = to abandon a purpose; to give in; to die.
Subs. (American University).—A bad recitation; a failure.
Flummoxed, ppl. adj. (thieves’ and general).—1. Spoilt; ruined; drunk; sent down (q.v.); boshed (q.v.); defeated; disappointed; silenced; floored (q.v.).