Brewer's: Doit

(1 syl.). Not a doit. The doit was a Scotch silver coin = one-third of a farthing. In England the doit was a base coin of small value prohibited by 3 Henry V. c.1.

“When they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian.” —Shakespeare: The Tempest, ii.2.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content