1791. Antient and Modern Scottish Songs, ‘My Jockey is a Bonnie Lad,’ ii., 325. And then he fa’s a kissing, clasping, hugging, squeezing, tousling, pressing, winna let me be.
d. 1796. Burns, The Jolly Beggars. And at night in barn or stable, hugs our doxies on the hay. [[375]]
Hugger-mugger, subs. (colloquial).—Muddle; confusion.
1868. C. Reade, Foul Play, ch. vii. Why didn’t you tell me, and I’d have tidied the room: it is all hugger-mugger, with miss a leaving.
1885. T. E. Brown, The Doctor, p. 36. And every place as neat as a pin, And couldn’t stand no hugger-mugger.
1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 28 Oct., p. 2, c. 2. He wrote some lampoons in the papers at the time, in which he ridiculed the hugger-mugger of the prosecution.
Adv. (old).—See quots.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hugger-Mugger, Closely or by Stealth, Underboard: To eat so, that is, to Eat by one’s self.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hugger-Mugger, by stealth, privately, without making an appearance; they spent their money in a hugger-mugger way.
Adj. (common).—Confused; disorderly; hap-hazard; hand-to-mouth (q.v.).