1604. Marston, Malcontent, i. 6. Pas. You will know me again, Malvole. Mal. O ay, by that velvet. Pas. Ay, as a pettifogger by his buckram bag.
1610. Webster, Devil's Law Case, iv. 1. Ari. Are you her knave. San. No, sir, I am a clerk Ari. You whoreson fogging rascal.
1618. Rowley and Middleton, Cure for a Cuckold, Dram. Pers. Pettifog, an Attorney.
1627. Minsheu, Guide to Tongues, . . . A pettie fogger, a sillie aduocate or lawyer, rather a trouble-Toune, having neither law nor conscience.
1709. Ward, London Spy, i. 191. It may not be improper to conclude our Remarks of this Place with the Character of a Pettyfogger [then follows a description of upwards of two pages].
1749. Smollett, Gil Blas [Routledge], 138. A plodding pettifogger's worthless brood might have gorged . . . on the love of a young nobleman . . . like yourself. Ibid., 193. He practised as an attorney at Valencia, and bore his faculties in all the infamy of pettifogging.
1837. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxi. 'Ah, they're smart fellows; very smart indeed' . . . Messrs. Dodson and Fogg. 'They are great scoundrels,' said Mr. Pickwick.
1886. Oliphant, New English, i. 596. Pettie fogger of the law; this strange word is the Dutch fokker, a monopolist.
Petty, subs. (old).—A scholar low
in the school.
1692. Hacket, Archb. Williams, 1. 37. Mr. Lamb . . . came, by holding fast to Fortunes' middle finger, from a schoolmaster that taught petties, to a proctor in a Christian Court, and so to an official.
Pew, subs. (colloquial).—A place
of abode, or business; a crib: see
Diggings. Formerly a box at a
theatre: see Room. In quot.
1659 = a sheep-pen.
1605. Shakespeare, Lear, iii. 3. Poor Tom whom the foul fiend . . . hath laid knives under his pillow, and halters in his pew; set ratsbane by his porridge.
1613. Webster, Devil's Law Case, iv. 1. In a pew of our office . . . I have been dry-founder'd . . . this four years, Seldom found non-resident from my desk.
1659. Milton, Means to Remove Hirelings. His sheep oft-times sit the while to as little purpose of benefitting, as the sheep in their pews at Smythfield.
Pew-opener's muscle, subs. phr.
(medical).—A muscle in the palm
of the hand. [Sir Benjamin
Brodie: 'because it helps to contract
and hollow the palm for the
reception of a gratuity.']
Pewter, subs. (nautical).—Generic
for money: specifically prize-money:
see Rhino.
1842. Egan, Macheath, 'The Bould Yeoman,' v. Hand up the pewter, farmer, you shall have a share.
1857. Whitty, Fr. of Bohemia, 9. In these days it's the pewter makes the rank—and no mistake. By pewter Dwyorts meant gold.
1888. Academy, 24 Mar., 202. Another trifle to be noticed is the anxiety for pewter or prize-money which . . . animated our officers and men.
Pewy, adj. (sporting).—-Enclosed
by fences so as to form small
fields.
1885. Daily Telegraph, 11 Dec. Sixty or seventy years since the fences were stronger, the enclosures smaller, the country more pewy, and the hedges rougher and hairier than is now the case.
Pfotze, subs. (venery).—The female
pudendum: see Monosyllable.—J.
Hall Stevenson,
Crazy tales (1762).
Phallus, subs. (literary).—The
penis: see Prick. [Latin.]
Pharaoh, subs.—1. A corruption
of 'faro.'
d.1732. Gay, To Pulteney [Davies]. Nanette last night at twinkling Pharaoh play'd, The cards the Talliers sliding hand obeyed.
