white, the central circle on an archery butt. Tam. Shrew, v. 2. 186; ‘Blanc, the white or mark of a pair of butts; Toucher au blanc, to strike the white, to hit the nail on the head’, Cotgrave.
white, used in expressions of endearment: white boy; ‘Such a brave sparke as you, that is your mother’s white boy’, Two Lancashire Lovers (Nares); Knight of the Burning Pestle, ii. 2 (Mrs. Merrythought); Ford, ’Tis Pity, i. 3; Yorkshire Tragedy, iv. 120; Two Angry Women, iii. 2 (Mall); ‘I shall be his little rogue and his white villain’, Return from Parnassus, ii. 6 (end).
whitemeat, food made of milk, eggs, bread, and the like. Northward Ho, i. 2 (Philip); B. Jonson, Every Man out of Humour, iv. 1 (Fallace); used attrib. and metaph., ‘Your whitemeat spirit’, Beaumont and Fl., Four Plays in One, Pt. II, sc. 2. 13.
white money, silver coin. Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, ii. 2 (Galatea). In use in Scotland, see EDD. (s.v. White, 1. 160).
white-pot, a dish made of milk, eggs, and sugar, &c., boiled in a pot. Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, v. 4 (Eyre); Butler, Hud. i. 1. 299; Spectator, No. 109, § 4. ‘Whitpot’ is the name of a favourite dish in Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, see EDD. (s.v. White, 1 (64)). See Nares.
white powder, a white kind of gunpowder. It does not appear to have existed; but there was a theory that a white gunpowder would explode without noise. Discussed by Sir T. Browne, Vulgar Errors, bk. ii, ch. 5, sect. 5. Beaumont and Fl., Honest Man’s Fortune, ii. 2 (Laverdine). See Nares.
whiting-mop, a young whiting. Beaumont and Fl., Love’s Cure, ii. 2; metaph. a fair lass, Massinger, Guardian, iv. 2. So whiting, Skelton, El. Rummyng, 223.
whiting-time, bleaching-time. Merry Wives, iii. 3. 140.
whitleather, white leather, leather dressed with alum, and very tough. Tusser, Husbandry, § 17. 4; ‘In thy whitleather hide’, Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, v. 1 (Elder Loveless).
whitster, a bleacher of linen. Merry Wives, iii. 3. 15; Pepys, Diary, Aug. 12, 1667; whitstarre. Palsgrave. ‘Whitster’s Arms’ is still a common alehouse sign in Lanc. (EDD.). ME. whytestare, ‘candidarius’ (Prompt. EETS. 526, see note, no. 2565). See Bardsley’s Surnames, 328, 329.