SPARROW. Mumbling a sparrow; a cruel sport frequently practised at wakes and fairs: for a small premium, a b.o.o.by having his hands tied behind him, has the wing of a c.o.c.k sparrow put into his mouth: with this hold, without any other a.s.sistance than the motion of his lips, he is to get the sparrow's head into his mouth: on attempting to do it, the bird defends itself surprisingly, frequently pecking the mumbler till his lips are covered with blood, and he is obliged to desist: to prevent the bird from getting away, he is fastened by a string to a b.u.t.ton of the b.o.o.by's coat.

SPARROW-MOUTHED. Wide-mouthed, like the mouth of a sparrow: it is said of such persons, that they do not hold their mouths by lease, but have it from year to year; i.e.

from ear to ear. One whose mouth cannot be enlarged without removing their ears, and who when they yawn have their heads half off.

SPATCH c.o.c.k. [Abbreviation of DISPATCH c.o.c.k.] A hen just killed from the roost, or yard, and immediately skinned, split, and broiled: an Irish dish upon any sudden occasion.

TO SPEAK WITH. To rob. I spoke with the cull on the cherry-coloured prancer; I robbed the man on the black horse. CANT.

SPEAK. Any thing stolen. He has made a good speak; he has stolen something considerable.

SPECKED WHIPER. A coloured hankerchief. CANT.

SPICE. To rob. Spice the swell; rob the gentleman.

SPICE ISLANDS. A privy. Stink-hole bay or dilberry creek.

The fundament.

SPIDER-SHANKED. Thin-legged.

TO SPIFLICATE. To confound, silence, or dumbfound.

SPILT. A small reward or gift.

SPILT. Thrown from a horse, or overturned in a carriage; pray, coachee, don't spill us.

SPINDLE SHANKS. Slender legs.

TO SPIRIT AWAY. To kidnap, or inveigle away.

SPIRITUAL FLESH BROKER. A parson.

SPIT. He is as like his father as if he was spit out of his mouth; said of a child much resembling his father.

SPIT. A sword.

SPIT FIRE. A violent, pettish, or pa.s.sionate person.

SPLICED. Married: an allusion to joining two ropes ends by splicing. SEA TERM.

SPLIT CROW. The sign of the spread eagle, which being represented with two heads on one neck, gives it somewhat the appearance of being split.

SPLIT CAUSE. A lawyer.

SPLIT FIG. A grocer.

SPLIT IRON. The nick-name for a smith.

SPOONEY. (WHIP) Thin, haggard, like the shank of a spoon; also delicate, craving for something, longing for sweets.

Avaricious. That t.i.t is d.a.m.ned spooney. She's a spooney piece of goods. He's a spooney old fellow.

SPOIL PUDDING. A parson who preaches long sermons, keeping his congregation in church till the puddings are overdone.

TO SPORT. To exhibit: as, Jack Jehu sported a new gig yesterday: I shall sport a new suit next week. To sport or flash one's ivory; to shew one's teeth. To sport timber; to keep one's outside door shut; this term is used in the inns of court to signify denying one's self. N.B. The word SPORT was in great vogue ann. 1783 and 1784.

SPUNGE. A thirsty fellow, a great drinker. To spunge; to eat and drink at another's cost. Spunging-house: a bailiff's lock-up-house, or repository, to which persons arrested are taken, till they find bail, or have spent all their money: a house where every species of fraud and extortion is practised under the protection of the law.

s.p.u.n.k. Rotten touchwood, or a kind of fungus prepared for tinder; figuratively, spirit, courage.

SPOON HAND. The right hand.

TO SPOUT. To rehea.r.s.e theatrically.

SPOUTING CLUB. A meeting of apprentices and mechanics to rehea.r.s.e different characters in plays: thus forming recruits for the strolling companies.

SPOUTING. Theatrical declamation.

SPOUTED. p.a.w.ned.

SPREAD. b.u.t.ter.

SPREAD EAGLE. A soldier tied to the halberts in order to be whipped; his att.i.tude bearing some likeness to that figure, as painted on signs.

SPREE. A frolic. Fun. A drinking bout. A party of pleasure.

SPRING-ANKLE WAREHOUSE. Newgate, or any other gaol: IRISH.

SQUAB. A fat man or woman: from their likeness to a well-stuffed couch, called also a squab. A new-hatched chicken.

SQUARE. Honest, not roguish. A square cove, i.e. a man who does not steal, or get his living by dishonest means.

SQUARE TOES. An old man: square toed shoes were anciently worn in common, and long retained by old men.

SQUEAK. A narrow escape, a chance: he had a squeak for his life. To squeak; to confess, peach, or turn stag.

They squeak beef upon us; they cry out thieves after us. CANT.

SQUEAKER. A bar-boy; also a b.a.s.t.a.r.d or any other child.

To stifle the squeaker; to murder a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, or throw It into the necessary house.--Organ pipes are likewise called squeakers. The squeakers are meltable; the small pipes are silver. CANT.

SQUEEZE CRAB. A sour-looking, shrivelled, diminutive fellow.

SQUEEZE WAX. A good-natured foolish fellow, ready to become security for another, under hand and seal.

SQUELCH. A fall. Formerly a bailiff caught in a barrack-yard in Ireland, was liable by custom to have three tosses in a blanket, and a squelch; the squelch was given by letting go the corners of the blanket, and suffering him to fall to the ground. Squelch-gutted; fat, having a prominent belly.

SQUIB. A small satirical or political temporary jeu d'esprit, which, like the firework of that denomination, sparkles, bounces, stinks, and vanishes.

SQUINT-A-PIPES. A squinting man or woman; said to be born in the middle of the week, and looking both ways for Sunday; or born in a hackney coach, and looking out of both windows; fit for a cook, one eye in the pot, and the other up the chimney; looking nine ways at once.

SQUIRE OF ALSATIA. A weak profligate spendthrift, the squire of the company; one who pays the whole reckoning, or treats the company, called standing squire.