[In 16th c. chock; of uncertain origin; cf. F. choquer in sense to give a shock to, to knock; but prob. mainly onomatopœic.]
1. ‘To give a gentle blow under the chin, so as to make the mouth strike together’ (J.); to give ‘a bob under the chin’ (Cotgr.).
1583. Golding, Calvin on Deut. lxxxvi. 532. They were stil chockt vnder the chinne.
1594. J. Dickenson, Arisbas (1878), 62. She would vse oft his company, kisse him, coll him, check him, chuck him.
1658. Lennard, trans. Charron’s Wisd., I. lii. (1670), 188. You chock them under the chin.
1692. Wagstaffe, Vind. Carol., xii. 84. A prudent Father, who seldom chucks one Child more than another.
1752. Fielding, Amelia, IX. ii. The doctor smiled on the child … chucking him under the chin.
1881. Besant & Rice, Chapl. of Fleet, II. iii. (1883), 137. You and I … do not want to chuck farmers’ daughters under the chin.
2. To throw with the hand with little action of the arm; to throw underhand; to toss; prob. at first said of throwing or tossing money, or anything light; now used somewhat playfully or contemptuously of heavy things, as suggesting that they are thrown with ease or contempt; by workmen substituted for throw in all senses.
1593. Prodigal Son, IV. 112. Yes, this old one will I give you (Chucks him old hose and doublet).
1627. Drayton, Agincourt, 63. In the Tauerne, in his Cups doth rore, Chocking his Crownes.
1798. J. Jefferson, MS. Lett., 19 March, to Rev. J. Boucher. To chuck a stone, etc. = to throw.
1801. Mar. Edgeworth, Knapsack (1832), 302. I’ve seen him chuck his money at those poor children.
1825. J. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, III. 13. They’ll cut our throats, for us—they will so,—and chuck us into the sea.
1846. Lytton, Lucretia (1853), 261. He chucked the rein to the ostler.
1862. Kingsley, Water-Bab., ii. It seemed as if he could have chucked a pebble on to the back of the woman in the red petticoat.
1862. Mrs. Browning, Died, in Last Poems, 70. We chuck our flattery or abuse … I’ the teeth of some dead sage or fool.
1878. Tennyson, Q. Mary, III. i. 85. England now Is but a ball chuck’d between France and Spain.
b. with adverbs away, down, over, up, etc. Chuck up (the sponge), said of a second in a prize-fight; hence, To give in, give up, yield: see SPONGE. (Chuck it is also said for chuck it up.) colloq.
1850. J. H. Newman, Diffic. felt by Anglicans, II. § 9. Though the minister baptized without water, though he chucked away the consecrated wine. Ibid. (1866), Dream Geront., iv. Chuck’d down by the sheer might of a despot’s will.
1873. Slang Dict., Chuck in, to challenge—from the pugilistic custom of throwing a hat into the ring. Obs. Chuck up, to surrender, give in, from the custom of throwing up the sponge at a prize-fight in token of yielding.
1881. J. Grant, Cameronians, I. vii. 100. Cut in for the girl, if you are determined to chuck yourself away.
1884. Cheshire Gloss. (E. D. S.), Chuck over, to discard, to disinherit.
† 3. intr. [cf. CHUCK sb.3 2.] Obs.
1705. Vanbrugh, Confed., II. i. Something will make your heart chuck within you.
4. intr. To play chuck-farthing.
1735. Pope, Donne Sat., IV. 146. Shortly no lad shall chuck, or lady vole, But some excising Courtier will have toll.
1775. Ash, Chock, to play at pitching money into a hole.
5. In combination with a sb., forming names of games, as CHUCK-FARTHING; also chuck-board (see quot.); chuck-button, pitch and toss played with buttons; chuck-halfpenny, = CHUCK-FARTHING; chuck-hole, (a.) = CHUCK-FARTHING; (b.) ‘a deep hole in a waggon-rut’ (Webster). = Chock-hole.
1880. Jefferies, Gt. Estate, 67–8. In the ‘tap’ of an evening you might see the labourers playing at ‘chuck-board,’ which consists in casting a small square piece of lead on to certain marked divisions of a shallow tray-like box.
1863. Teacher’s Monthly Mag., Nov., 352. When he discovered children playing at chuck-button he knew that their next step would be toss-penny.
1801. Strutt’s Sports & Past., iv. § 7 (1881), 493. Even or odd—Chuck-halfpenny—Duck and Drake.
1837. Boston, Lincoln, etc. Herald, 21 Feb., 3/5. ‘What money?’… ‘Why, that what I won o’ ya’ at Chuck-hole!’
