Brewer's: Commons

To put one on short commons. To stint him, to give him scanty meals. In the University of Cambridge the food provided for each student at breakfast is called his commons; hence food in general or meals.

To come into commons.
To enter a society in which the members have a common or general dinner table.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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