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Brewer's: D
D This letter is the outline of a rude archway or door. It is called in Hebrew daleth (a door). In Egyptian hieroglyphics it is a man's hand. d Indicating a penny or pence, is the…Brewer's: Copper
(A). A policeman. Said to be so called from the copper badge which Fernando Wood, of New York, appointed them to wear; but more likely a variant of “cop” (q.v.). “There were cries of `…Brewer's: Nicker
One who nicks or hits a mark exactly. Certain night-larkers, whose game was to break windows with halfpence, assumed this name in the early part of the eighteenth century. His scattered…Brewer's: Twopenny Dam
(A). A dám was an Indian coin and weight. Originally a gold mohur contained sixteen dáms; a punchee was = the quarter of a dam, and a bárahgáni = half a punchee. Putting this in a tabular…Brewer's: Penny Saved
(A). A penny saved is twopence gained. In French, “Uncentime épargné en vant deux.” Well, suppose a man asks twopence a piece for his oranges, and a baggler obtains hundred at a penny a…Brewer's: Flemish Account
A sum less than that expected. In Antwerp accounts were kept in livres, sols, and pence; but the livre or pound was only 12s. In Notes and Queries we have an example of a Flemish account,…Brewer's: Knights o' the Post
Persons who haunted the purlieus of the courts, ready to be hired for a bribe to swear anything; so called from their being always found waiting at the posts which the sheriffs set up…Brewer's: Farthing
A fourth part. Penny pieces used to be divided into four parts, thus, farthing, and two a halfpenny. (Anglo-Saxon, feor- thung.) I don't care for it a brass farthing. James II. debased…Brewer's: Halifax Law
By this law, whoever commits theft in the liberty of Halifax is to be executed on the Halifax gibbet, a kind of guillotine. At Hallifax the law so sharpe doth deale, That whoso more than…Brewer's: Thirteens
Throwing the thirteens about. A thirteen is an Irish shilling, which, prior to 1825, was worth 13 pence, and many years after that date, although reduced to the English standard, went by…Trending
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