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Brewer's: Wan
means thin. (Anglo-Saxon, wan, “deficient”; our wane, as the “waning moon.”) As wasting of the flesh is generally accompanied with a grey…Brewer's: Ephesian
A jovial companion; a thief; a roysterer. A pun on the verb to pheese—A—pheeze-ian. Pheeze is to flatter. “It is thine host, thine Ephesian, calls.” Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor,…Brewer's: Fare
meaning the expense of a journey or passage across water, is the Anglo-Saxon fare or fær, a journey; verb, faran, to travel. (Archaic, feriage, the fare for crossing a ferry.) Source:…Brewer's: Flare-up
A sudden outburst of anger; a gas-jet or other ignitible body flares up when lighted with a sudden blaze. Flare-up (A). A rumpus or row. Also a banquet or jovial treat. The first…Brewer's: Flirt
A coquette. The word is from the verb flirt, as, “to flirt a fan.” The fan being used for coquetting, those who coquetted were called fan-flirts. Lady Frances Shirley, the favourite of…Brewer's: Fork Out
Hand over; pay down; stand treat. Fingers are called forks, and this may suffice to explain the phrase; if not, we have the Anglo-Saxon verb feccan (to draw out, to take), and “fork out”…Brewer's: Guildhall
The hall of the city guilds. Here are the Court of Common Council, the Court of Aldermen, the Chamberlain's Court, the police court presided over by an alderman, etc. The ancient guilds…Brewer's: Lamb-pie
A flogging. Lamb is a pun on the Latin verb lambo (to lick), and the word “lick” has been perverted to mean flog (see Lick); or it may be the old Norse lam (the hand), meaning hand-or slap…Brewer's: Alms
Gifts to the poor. Dr. Johnson says the word has no singular; whereas Todd says it has no plural. Like riches, it is wholly singular in construction, but is used both as a noun singular…Brewer's: Business
Busy Saxon, bysgian, the verb, bysig (busy); Dutch, bezigen; German, besorgniss (care, management); sorge (care); Saxon, seogan (to see). From the German sorgen we get the French soigner (…Trending
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