3. (venery).—To deflower. Hence, to scuttle a ship = to take a maidenhead.
4. (thieves').—To stab.
To scuttle A NOB, verb. phr. (pugilists').—To break a head.
c. 1811. Maher, Night before Larry was Stretched. I'll scuttle your nob with my fist.
1818. Randall, On R.'s fight with Turner. As he offered to scuttle a nob o'er again.
On the scuttle, phr. (common).—On a round of drinking or whoring.
Scuttling, subs. (Manchester).—See
quots.
1890. D. Telegraph, 13 Dec. 'Scuttling in Lancashire.' Scuttling was a practice very prevalent within the county of Lancaster. The offence was committed by a body of young persons, male and female, belonging to one part of the city, who had a real or fancied grievance against another similar body of persons from an adjacent part. The opposing forces were armed with belts with large buckles to them, knives, pokers, stones, and the like, and the mobs so armed turned out at times for a regular affray, and inflicted serious injuries upon one another. Not only did these roughs enter into conflict with others of a similar class, but they frequently attacked unoffending passers-by.
18[?]. Lancet, 3499, 643. Manchester is becoming notorious for a form of street ruffianism known locally as scuttling. It consists of gangs of youths going about certain districts ostensibly to fight with similar gangs of adjacent districts.
Scuttle-mouth, subs. phr. (costers').—See
quot.
1851-61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., 1. 77. The "big trade" was unknown until 1848, when the very large shelly oysters, the fish inside being very small, were introduced from the Sussex coast. The costermongers distinguished them by the name of scuttle-mouths.
Sea. At sea, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Puzzled;
wide (q.v.):
cf. Half-seas-over.
1864. Cornhill Mag., Nov., 577. 'What is he?' I asked, still more at sea.
1889. Polytechnic Mag., 24 Oct., 263. For the first ten minutes the B's were all at sea on the rough and peculiarly shaped ground.
Phrases and Combinations.—Sea-crab = a sailor (Grose); sea-dog = (1) a privateer (temp. Eliz.), and (2) a sailor: spec. an old SALT (q.v.); SEA-GALLOPER = a special correspondent; sea-grocer = a purser; sea-lawyer = (1) a shark (Grose), and (2) a captious or scheming fo'csle hand: whence sea-lawyering = argument with officers; sea-legs = ability to walk the deck of a rolling ship without staggering; SEA-WAG = an ocean-going vessel; sea-rat (old) = a pirate: cf. river-rat; sea-rover = a herring: see Atlantic ranger; son of a sea-cook = a nautical term of abuse; sea-connie (or cunnie) = (1) the helmsman on an Indian trader, and (2) = a Lascar quartermaster (Clark Russell); sea-coal = money.
c. 1835. Dana, Before the Mast, ii. I had not got my sea legs on, was dreadfully sick . . . and it was pitch dark.
1836. Scott, Cringle's Log, xvi. Ay, you supercilious son of a sea-cook, you may turn up your nose at the expression.
1864. Kingsley, Hillyars, xxiv. It made her stand firmer on her . . . had I been speaking of an English duchess I would have said her sea legs.
1874. Green, Short Hist., 406. The Channel swarmed with sea-dogs . . . who accepted letters of marque from the Prince of Condé.
