Used up. Killed: a military saying,
originating from a
message sent by the late General Guise,
on the expedition
at Carthagena, where he desired the commander
in chief
to order him some more grenadiers, for
those he had were
all used up.
WABLER. Footwabler; a contemptuous term for a
foot soldier, frequently used by those
of the cavalry.
To waddle. To go like a duck.
To waddle out of
Change alley as a lame duck; a term for
one who has not
been able to pay his gaming debts, called
his differences,
on the Stock Exchange, and therefore absents
himself
from it.
Wag. An arch-frolicsome fellow.
Waggish. Arch, gamesome, frolicsome.
Wagtail. A lewd woman.
Waits. Musicians of the lower order, who
in most towns
play under the windows of the chief inhabitants
at midnight,
a short time before Christmas, for which
they collect
a christmas-box from house to house.
They are said
to derive their name of waits from being
always in waiting
to celebrate weddings and other joyous
events happening
within their district.
Wake. A country feast, commonly on the anniversary
of
the tutelar saint of the village, that
is, the saint to whom
the parish church is dedicated. Also
a custom of watching
the dead, called Late Wake, in use both
in Ireland and
Wales, where the corpse being deposited
under a table,
with a plate of salt on its breast, the
table is covered with
liquor of all sorts; and the guests, particularly,
the younger
part of them, amuse themselves with all
kinds of
pastimes and recreations: the consequence
is generally
more than replacing the departed friend.
Walking Cornet. An ensign of foot.
Walking poulterer. One who steals fowls,
and hawks
them from door to door.
Walking stationer. A hawker of pamphlets, &c.
Walking the plank. A mode of destroying
devoted
persons or officers in a mutiny or ship-board,
by blindfolding
them, and obliging them to walk on a plank
laid
over the ship’s side; by this means,
as the mutineers suppose,
avoiding the penalty of murder.
Walking up against the wall.
To run up a score,
which in alehouses is commonly recorded
with chalk on
the walls of the bar.
Wall. To walk or crawl up the wall; to be
scored up at a
public-nouse. Wall-eyed, having an
eye with little or
no sight, all white like a plaistered
wall.
To wap. To copulate, to beat.
If she wont wap for a
winne, let her trine for a make; if she
won’t lie with a
man for a penny, let her hang for a halfpenny.
Mort
wap-apace; a woman of experience, or very
expert at the
sport.


