Browse dictionary
Showing 1-20 of 76 results in 76 entries
1. Ananias, n. View full entry 1876
...Name of a man who, ‘with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price’ (Acts v. 1, 2); used allusively for a liar....
2. Armageddon, n. View full entry 1811
...The place of the last decisive battle at the Day of Judgement; hence used allusively for any ‘final’ conflict on a great scale. Also attrib....
3. ˈBenjamin, n.3 View full entry 1840
...The name of the patriarch Jacob's youngest son. Hence allusively, the youngest (and, consequently, favourite) son of a family; also transf.; Benjamin's mess or portion: the...
4. boot-strap | bootstrap, n. View full entry 1891
...A strap sewn on to a boot to help in pulling it on or looped round a boot to hold down the skirt of a lady's riding habit; a boot-lace....
5. Boswell, n. View full entry 1858
...Used allusively for: a constant companion or attendant who witnesses and records what a person does....
6. Box and Cox, n. View full entry 1881
...Applied allusively to an arrangement in which two persons take turns in sustaining a part, occupying a position, or the like....
7. Bunbury, n. View full entry 1899
...An imaginary person used as a fictitious excuse for visiting a place or avoiding obligations (see quot. 1899). Hence used allusively in various formations (see quots.)....
8. bus, n.1 View full entry 1832
...A large public vehicle carrying passengers by road, running on a fixed route and typically requiring the payment of a fare; = omnibus1. Also: this as a form of...
9. cavendish, n. View full entry 1839
...Tobacco softened and pressed into solid cakes....
10. Chorasmian, adj. View full entry 1816
...Belonging to the Chorasmii, a tribe of Sogdiana. Chorasmian waste (poet.), the desert land south of the Sea of Aral and about the lower course of the Oxus; also ...
11. Cindeˈrella, n. View full entry 1840
...Applied allusively to a cinder-woman, scullery-maid, etc.; also, a neglected or despised member, partner, or the like. Also attrib. Also, (more fully Cinderella dance) an early dancing party...
12. cloud-cuckoo-land, n. View full entry 1824
...In translations of Aristophanes' word (see above)....
13. Colney Hatch, n. View full entry 1891
...allusively. A hospital for the mentally ill; a ‘lunatic asylum’, a ‘madhouse’....
14. Comstock, n. View full entry 1866
...In full, Comstock lode: a very rich lode of silver and gold discovered in Nevada in 1859; hence, allusively, a rich mine or ‘find’....
15. Crichton, n. View full entry 1807
...allusively. More fully Admirable Crichton. A person who excels in all kinds of studies and pursuits; (in later use esp.) a person of an inferior social status...
16. diplodocus, n. View full entry 1884
...An individual of the extinct genus of gigantic herbivorous dinosaurs of the order Sauropoda, of which remains have been found in the Upper Jurassic of western North America. Also allusively....
17. Dogberry, n.2 View full entry 1801
...Allusively: an ignorant, self-important official....
18. Exeter, n. View full entry 1835
...The name of an English city, used attrib. in Exeter-elm (see quot.). Also, as the name of a bait for salmon....
19. eye-glassy | eyeglassy, adj. View full entry 1871
...Pertaining to or characteristic of one who wears an eye-glass; allusively, haughtily superior or contemptuous....
20. Fagin, n. View full entry 1847
...Allusively: a thief, a trainer of thieves, or a receiver....
