1593. Shakspeare, Titus Andron., ii. 3. Two of thy whelps, fell curs of bloody kind.
1854. Dickens, Hard Times, iii. 7. On one of the back benches . . . sat the villainous whelp, sulky to the last, whom he had the misery to call his son.
2. (old).—A ship of some kind.
1630-40. Court and Times Chas. I., ii. 186. Captain Plumley was sent thither with one of the ships royal and two whelps to seek out Nutt the pirate.
1635. [Brereton, Travels, 164.] Aboard one of the king's ships called the ninth whelp.
When. Say when! phr. (common).—That
is, 'Say when I
shall stop': the dovetail reply
is 'Bob!'
1889. Modern Society, 6 June. 'Say when,' said Bonko, taking up a flagon of whiskey and commencing to pour out the spirit into my glass. 'Bob!' replied I.
Whennymeg, subs. (provincial).—In
pl. = the testes, cods (q.v.):
properly trinkets (q.v.).
Where. See You.
Wherefore. See Why.
Wherewith (or Wherewithal),
subs. (colloquial).—The necessary,
requisites: spec. money (generic):
see Rhino.
[1390. Mandeville, Travels [Halliwell], 3. A man that hath wherof (opes).]
1659. Milton, Touching Hirelings. We ourselves have not wherewithal; who shall bear the charges of our Journey?
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas [Routledge], 260. How the devil doos she mean that I should get the wherewithal?. . . Does she take me for . . . treasurer to a charity?
1855. Spenser, Prin. of Sociology, 15. Heavily taxed in providing the wherewithal to meet excessive loss.
1864. Tennyson, Enoch Arden. The wherewithal to give his babes a better bringing-up.
1887. D. Teleg., 8 Dec. M. , however, had not the wherewithal to furnish a marriage portion of seven camels.
Wherret. See Whirrit.
Wherry-go-nimble, subs. phr.
(common).—A looseness of the
bowels, a back-door trot (q.v.):
cf. Jerry-go-nimble.
Wheting-corne, subs. phr. (old).—The
female pudendum (Halliwell):
see Monosyllable.
Whetstone. To give (deserve,
win, lie for, etc.) the whetstone,
verb. phr. (old).—To
give (get, or compete for) the
prize for lying: a whetstone,
i.e. a wit-sharpener, regarded as
a satirical premium for what nowadays
would be called 'naked'
(or 'monumental') lying. [Nares:
There were, in some places,
jocular games, in which the prize
given for the greatest lie was a
whetstone. Halliwell: The
liar was sometimes publicly exhibited
with the whetstone
fastened to him.]
. . . Bulleyn, Prose Morality [Waldron, Sad Sheph., 162. 220]. My name is Mendax, a younger brother, linially descended of an auncient house before the Conquest We geve three whetstones in gules, with no difference.
1570. Ascham, Scholemaster, 26. I assure you there is no such whetstone to sharpen a good witte and encourage a will to learnynge as is praise.
1580. Lyly, Euphues and His England, C. 4. If I met with one of Crete, I was readie to lie with him for the whetstone.
