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Brewer's: Ducks and Drakes
The ricocheting or rebounding of a stone thrown from the hand to skim along the surface of a pond or river. To make ducks and drakes of one's money. To throw it away as stones with which…Brewer's: Dunce
A dolt; a stupid person. The word is taken from Duns Scotus, the learned schoolman and great supporter of the immaculate conception. His followers were called Dunsers. Tyndal says, when…Brewer's: Depart
To part thoroughly; to separate effectually. The marriage service in the ancient prayer-books had “till death us depart,” or “till alimony or death us departs,” a sentence which has been…Brewer's: Diogenes
(4 syl. g=j). The cynic philosopher is said to have lived in a tub. The whole world was not half so wide To Alexander when he cried Because he had but one to subdue As was a paltry narrow…Brewer's: Cock-a-hoop
or Cock-a-houp. To sit cock-a-houp. Boastful, defiant, like a game cock with his houpe or crest erect; eagerly expectant. (French, coq à huppe.) And having routed a whole troop, With…Brewer's: Bombastus
The family name of Aureolus Paracelsus (1493-1541). He is said to have kept a small devil prisoner in the pommel of his sword. Bombastus kept a devil's bird Shut in the pommel of his sword…Brewer's: Luz
or Luez .The indestructible bone; the nucleus of the resurrection body. “`How doth a man revive again in the world to come?' asked Hadrian; and Joshua Ben Hananiah made answer. `From luz…Brewer's: Rump Parliament
Oliver Cromwell (1648) sent two regiments to the House of Commons to coerce the members to condemn Charles I. Forty-one were seized and imprisoned in a lower room of the House, 160 were…Brewer's: Scorpion
It is said that scorpions have an oil which is a remedy against their stings. The toad also is said to have an antidote to its “venom.” `Tis true, a scorpion's oil is said To cure the…Brewer's: Pennyworth
or Penoth. A small quantity, as much as can be bought for a penny. Butler says, “This was the penoth of his thought” (Hudibras, ii. 3), meaning that its scope or amount was extremely small…Trending
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