Forms: 1 fǽt(t, 2–4 fet(t(e, south. vet(te, 3–7 fatt(e, 3 south. vat(te, (4 faat), 4– fat. [OE. fǽtt, corresp. to OFris. fat, MDu., Du., MLG. vet (mod.G. fett adopted from LG.), OHG. feiẓẓit (MHG. veiẓet, veiẓt, mod.G. feist);—OTeut. *faitido-, pa. pple. of *faitjan to fatten (OHG. veiẓẓen, ON. feita), f. *faito- adj. fat, represented by OS. feit, MHG. veiẓ, ON. feitr (Da. fed, Sw. fet); the existence of the primary adj. in OE. cannot be proved, as the form fæt in MSS. is prob. only a variant spelling of fǽtt.]
A. adj.
I. With respect to bulk or condition.
1. Of an animal used for food: Fed up for slaughter, ready to kill, fatted.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke xv. 27. Þin fæder of-sloh an fæt [c. 1160. Hatton Gosp., fet] celf.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3643 (Cott.). O kyddes fatt þou fett me tuin.
1382. Wyclif, Isa. xxv. 6. A feste of fatte bestes.
1386. Chaucer, Prol., 349. Ful many a fat partrich hadde he in mewe.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), xvii. 179. Ȝif thei [the children] ben fatte, þei eten hem anon.
c. 1420. Liber Cure Cocorum (1862), 38.
| And sethe a mawdelarde, þat fat is þenne, | |
| And cut in peses, as I þe kenne. |
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 151/2. Fat fowle, or beste, mestyde to be slayne, altile.
1552. Huloet, Fatte by feading, as in a francke or penne, altilis.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe (1840), II. iv. 79. The party concluded it was to see whether he or she was fattest and fittest to kill first.
1849. Ld. Houghton, in Life (1891), I. x. 439. Farms are thrown on the landlords’ hands; labourers discharged; fat beasts sold for the price they were bought lean; and so on.
1890. Daily News, 21 Nov., 5/3. Animals which … have won prizes as ‘fat,’ that is to say, as ripe for the butcher.
2. Of animals or human beings, their limbs, etc.: In well-fed condition, plump; well supplied with fat (see B).
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., IV. xiii. § 5. Ge sindon nu utan fætte & innan hlæne.
a. 1000. Deut. xxxi. 20. & þonne hiȝ etaþ & fulle beoþ & fætte.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 81. [He] luueð his sunnen alse deð þet fette swin þet fule fen to liggen in.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 138. Hit regibbeð anon, ase uet kelf & idel.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 429. Ballede he was, & þycke of breste, of body vat also.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4566 (Gött.). Þe seuen of þaim … were selcuth fat and fair ky.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. X. 208. Faitours in frere cloþynge hadde fatte chekus.
c. 1450. Merlin, 227. Her flessh whitter than snowe, and was not to fatte ne to sklender.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., V. v. 14. A Windsor Stagge, and the fattest (I thinke) i’th Forrest.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 899. There be diuers Creatures, that Sleepe all Winter; As the Beare, the Hedge-hogge, the Bat, the Bee, &c. These all wax Fat when they Sleepe.
1668. Davenant, Man’s the Master, II. i. The chief reason why I am not fat is … because I am in love with three of our neighbours’ maids.
1731. Arbuthnot, Aliments, vi. 190. You may see in an Army forty thousand Foot-Soldiers without a fat Man amongst them; and I dare affirm, that by Plenty and Rest twenty of the Forty shall grow fat.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), V. 45. Their bodies are fat and muscular.
1864. P’cess Alice, in Mem. (1884), 78. My fat Baby … is a great darling.
1883. Gilmour, Mongols (1884), 108. The Mongols like to be careful of their camels, even when they are fat and strong.
absol. c. 1205. Lay., 19445. Ne durste þær bilæuen na þæ uatte no þe læne.
b. In unfavourable sense: Overcharged with fat, corpulent, obese.
a. 1000. Riddles, xli. 105 (Gr.). Mara ic eom and fættra, þonne amæsted swin.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 3068. A necke … nawþer fulsom, ne fat, but fetis & round.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg. (MS. B), 5. Of seknesse of a wommans tetys to grete to fatte oþere to lene.
1494. [see CORPULENT 2].
1598. Shaks., Merry W., IV. v. 25. Fal. There was (mine Host,) an old fat-woman euen now with me, but she’s gone.
1646, 1791. [see CORPULENCY 2].
1856. Mrs. Carlyle, Lett., II. 294. So fat a man one rarely sees, but he looks kind, and has the character of being ‘most benevolent.’
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 173 b. He is fatte of my benefytes and good dedes.
1558. Bp. Watson, Sev. Sacram., i. A j b. By the Sacramente … wee are nourished to everlastyng life, and made fatte with God.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., I. iii. 48.
| If I can catch him once vpon the hip, | |
| I will feede fat the ancient grudge I beare him. | |
| Ibid. (1596), 1 Hen. IV., III. ii. 179. | |
| Our Hands are full of Businesse: let’s away, | |
| Aduantage feedes him fat, while men delay. |
1611. Bible, Prov. xi. 25. The liberall soule shalbe made fat: and he that watereth, shall be watered also himselfe.
1620. May, Heir, I. i., in Hazl., Dodsley, XI. 515. ’Twill feed me fat with sport, that it shall make.
d. fig. in vulgar phrase To cut up fat: see CUT v. 59 k.
3. transf. Of things: Thick, full-bodied, substantial; spec. of printing types. Also † To beat fat (Typog.): see quot. 1683. † Of the voice: Full.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2104. vii eares wexen fette of coren.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIX. cxxxi. (1495), 942. The voyces ben fatte and thycke whanne moche spyryte comyth out as the voys of a man.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, II. xlii. 200. The white lillie his leaues be … somewhat thicke or fat.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., I. ii. 141. There are … Traders riding to London with fat Purses.
1676. Moxon, Print. Lett., 5. The very Draughts of the Letters will shew him what parts of a Letter must be fat or lean, streight or circular. Ibid., 7. The Stem or Broad stroke in a Letter is called the Fat stroke, as the Right Hand stroke in Letter A, and the great Arches in Letter B, are Fat strokes.
1683. Moxon, Dict. Printing, Beat Fat, If a Press-man Takes too much Inck with his Balls, he Beats Fat. The Black English Faced Letter is generally Beaten Fat.
1787. Winter, Syst. Husb., 247. The leaves of the seeds … appeared twice as fat or thick.
1841. Savage, Dict. Printing, Fat Face or Fat Letter is a letter with a broad stem.
1867. G. P. Marsh, in The Nation, 3 Jan., IV. 8/2. The substitution of full-faced—I have heard it called fat by printers, though Webster gives no such meaning to the word—small letter for capitals in the general alphabet is an important change for the better.
b. Naut. (see quot. 1704).
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram. ii. 4. If it [the Tucke] lie too low it makes her haue a fat quarter, and hinders the quicke passage of the water to the Rudder.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., s.v. If the Trussing in, or Tuck of a Ships Quarter under Water, be deep: They say she hath a Fat Quarter.
1867. in Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., s.v.
II. With respect to the component parts.
4. Containing much fat, oil, etc.; consisting of fat, greasy, oily, unctuous. To cut it (too) fat: lit. referring to a slice of meat, fig. (vulgar) to make a display.
See CUT v. 8 b.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. lxxx. 15 [lxxxi. 16]. He hi fedde mid fætre lynde, hwæte and huniȝe.
c. 1200. Ormin, 995. Bræd … smeredd wel wiþ elesæw & mukedd fait & nesshe.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XII. 264. Þe larke … of flesch, by fele folde fatter and swetter.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 159/1. Fet, or fatte, as flesshe and oþer lyke, pinguis.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. (1586), 147. Fatt and newe Milke.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., V. v. 143. If you be not too much cloid with Fat Meate, our humble Authour will continue the story.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1673), 332. It shall be needful … to use some fat broth.
1638. Rawley, trans. Bacon’s Life & Death (1650), 7. Bladders, and Parchments, hardened also, become tender, with warme water, mixed with Tallow, or any Fat Thing.
1662. J. Davies, Voy. Ambass., 201. The Milk, I mean of the Females, is so fat, that it makes a Cream two fingers thick, of which they make excellent Butter.
1701. Addison, Lett. Italy, 134. The fat Olive.
1824. Mrs. Cameron, Marten & Scholars, vii. 43. This nice fat cheese which brother gave me.
1836. W. Irving, Astoria, II. iv. 40. Some small pieces of horse flesh which he began to relish, pronouncing them ‘fat and tender.’
1836–9. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Scenes ix. Promenading about … with surprising dignity, or as the gentleman in the next box facetiously observes, ‘cutting it uncommon fat.’
1842. Comic Almanac, 49. A goose, even tailors have, who cut it fat.
† b. transf. Of figs: Full of juice, juicy. Obs.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xv. (1495), 121. Leues of trees in whyche is fatte humour fallith not.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 212. Medle þerwiþ fatte figis.
1656. Ridgley, Pract. Physick, 292. Take fat Figs 12 oz.
† c. fig. ? Indecent, ‘smutty.’ Obs.
1758. W. Toldervy, Hist. Two Orphans, III. 157. He … sings as many fat songs as the best man in the Garden.
d. Of wood: Resinous (U.S.); also † of amber. Of coal: Bituminous.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Pastorals, VIII. 74.
| Fat Amber let the Tamarisk distil: | |
| And hooting Owls contend with Swans in Skill. |
1831. Macculloch, Syst. Geol., II. xliv. 356. A resinous plant such as fir … would produce a fatter coal than an oak, because the resin itself is converted into bitumen.
1836. Backwoods of Canada, 234. The resinous substance called fat-pine being usually found in places where the living pine is least abundant.
1856. Olmsted, A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, 335. The room was filled with smoke of the fat light-wood.
1877. Dodge, Hunting Grounds Gt. West, xxxvi. 393. They [the Indians] procured some ‘fat’ pine knots.
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal Mining Terms, Fat Coals, those which contain volatile, oily matters.
5. Of mould, clay, etc.: Containing much soluble or plastic matter; having a ‘greasy’ feeling to the touch; sticky. Of limestone: Containing much lime, and few impurities; hence, Pure.
1502. Arnolde, Chron., 168. Ye erthe muste be ordeyned soo that it be neyther too fat ne to grauelly.
1546. St. Papers Hen. VIII., XI. 335. The grounde of the countrey … is so fatte, that if it rayne there three dayes … the ordinaunce wolde sticke … in the myre.
1563. Fulke, Meteors (1640), 14 b. A Comet is an Exhalation hot and dry, of great quantity, fat and clammie, hard compact like a great lumpe of pitch, which by the heat of the Sun is drawn out of the Earth into the highest region of the Air, and there by the excessive heat of the place is set on fire, appearing like a star with a blazing tayl.
1611. Bible, Song, 3 Child. 22, marg. Naphtha, which is a certaine kind of fat and chalkie clay.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 687.
| Fat Pitch, and black Bitumen, add to these, | |
| Besides, the waxen labour of the Bees. |
1703. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 238. A fat Earth full of Allom.
1787. Winter, Syst. Husb., 332. It appeared very fat between the fingers.
1794. Kirwan, Min., I. 116. The distinction of fat and meagre limestones.
1843. Portlock, Geol., 682. The fat clay, procured at depths varying from 6 to 30 feet, is nearly white, and is mixed with a meagre or sandy clay, of a yellowish tint, obtained at a depth of about two feet.
† 6. Full of stimulating elements, rich. Obs.
1707. Curios. in Husb. & Gard., 268. Fat, warm and subtile Nourishments.
1797. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Livery of London, Wks. 1812, III. 441.
| For Pine-apples ne’er grow on cold raw Clay, | |
| But fat Manure; amid the solar ray. |
7. Of fluids: Charged with solid or extraneous particles. † a. Of water: Thick, turbid.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 259. Fatte water.
1587. Harrison, England, II. vi. (1877), I. 160. The fattest standing water is alwaies the best.
1607. Topsell, Serpents (1653), 744. This Serpent is bred in fat waters and soils.
1713. Phil. Trans., XXVIII. 233. When the Water is fattest and fullest of Foam.
† b. Of wine or ale: Fruity, full-bodied, sugary.
1609. Bible (Douay), Ezek. xxvii. 18. The Damacene was thy merchant … in fatte wine.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., III. 102. These Cloysters haue a brauer life for good cheare [and] fat Wines … than any … Friers can elsewhere find.
1816. Scott, Antiq., xi. A sort of beverage, called mum, a species of fat ale, brewed from wheat and bitter herbs.
c. Of air, mist, etc.: Charged with moisture or odours; dense, rare. † Of a room: Full of dense air.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., II. iv. 1. Come out of that fat roome and lend me this hand to laugh a little.
1659. Lovelace, Poems (1864), 186.
| When a fat mist we view, we coughing run; | |
| But, that once meteor drawn, all cry: undone. |
1697. Dryden, Virg. Pastorals, VIII. 91.
| Make fat with Frankincense the sacred Fires; | |
| To re-inflame my Daphnis with Desires. |
1837. Emerson, Addr., Amer. Schol., Wks. II. 189. Public and private avarice make the air we breathe thick and fat.
† d. See quot. Obs.
1683. Moxon, Dict. Printing, Fat Ashes, Founders call their Ashes Fat, if they are considerably Heavy, because then they have much Mettle in them.
8. Fat oil or oils: in various senses (see quots.).
c. 1790. Imison, Elements of Science and Art, II. 37. Take four ounces of fat oil, very clear, and made of good linseed oil.
1838. T. Thomson, Chem. Org. Bodies, 433. Of Fat Oils. These oils, like the preceding, become solid by long exposure; but the solid formed has the appearance and properties of tallow.
1875. J. C. Wilcocks, The Sea-Fisherman, 179. Train-oil, a name given to it on the spot to distinguish it from whale, or seal oil, which is called fat-oil.
1877. Watts, Dict. Chem., IV. 179. Fat or fixed oils … resemble one another in not being capable of distilling without decomposition.
III. With reference to the amount of produce or supply.
9. Yielding or capable of yielding excellent and abundant returns. a. Of land: Fertile, rich.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XIII. 224. On fat londes and ful of donge foulest wedes groweth.
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., I. 72. To see thi lande … fatte and swete.
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. 112 b. The fat ground.
1672. Cave, Prim. Chr., I. i. (1673), 5. The blood of Christians making the Churches soil more fat and fertile.
1777. W. Robertson, Hist. Amer. (1783), II. 98. The roots … multiply amazingly with the heat of the climate in a fat soil.
1827. Pollok, The Course of Time, III.
| Turned fat lands | |
| To barrenness. |
1851. D. Jerrold, St. Giles, xi. 103. The broad, fat fields of Kent lay smiling in the sun; the trim hedges, clothed in tender green; the budding oaks, the guardian giants of the soil; the wayside cottage, with garden-strip brimming with flowers; all things wore a look of peace and promise.
b. of a source of income (e.g., a benefice, office).
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 519. Ȝif þe benefice be faat.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, xli. (1887), 250. Neither will he thinke it any great losse to leaue his old poore place, for a fatter rowme, which for such a one will abandon the vniuersitie & all.
1642. Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus (1851), 305. I would wish him the biggest and the fattest Bishoprick.
1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 228, 23 Sept., ¶ 1. A worthy Gentleman has lately offered me a fat Rectory.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, I. iii. ‘Church! priesthood! fat living!’
1883. The American, VI. 28 April, 38/1. Every session will see ‘log-rolling’ in behalf of districts, such as The Record describes. It is this that turns men’s eyes to Washington, and fixes their regard on Congress as the creator of fat jobs.
1884. Manch. Exam., 17 Nov., 5/3. His fat sheriffship.
c. of a dispute or suit at law.
1644. Milton, Educ. (1738), 136. The promising and pleasing thoughts of litigious terms, fat contentions, and flowing fees.
1646. J. Cooke, Vind. Law, 26. A recreation which they have … to recreate the spirit of the Judges and Advocates, which they call a Fat case.
1858. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt. (1865), I. III. xiii. 219. Never was such a Lawsuit—so fat an affair for the attorney species.
† d. Of a prisoner: That can pay a good ransom. Obs. rare.
1548. Hall, Chron., 123 b. So with greate riches, and fatte prisoners, he returned again to Paris.
e. Typog. Fat take, fat work, in type-setting, work or a piece of work especially profitable to the compositor who works by the piece. Hence, Fat page: one having many blank lines or spaces.
10. Well supplied with what is needful or desirable. † a. Of a person: Affluent, wealthy. Obs.
1611. Bible, Ps. xcii. 14. They [the righteous] shalbe fat, & flourishing.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Fat Cull, a rich fellow.
a. 1716. South, Sermon, vi. Terrible astonishing alarms to persons grown fat and wealthy by a long and successful imposture.
a. 1764. Lloyd, Fam. Epistle fr. Hanbury’s Ho., 19. Mark the fat Cit, whose good round sum, Amounts at least to half a Plumb.
b. Of things: Abundant, plentiful; esp. of a feast, pasture, etc. Also, Well-stocked.
1563. Homilies, II., Gluttony & Drunkenness (1859), 306. He that loveth wine and fat fare shall never be rich.
1577. Holinshed, Chron., I. 185. The best and fattest pasturages.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., V. (1887), 267. Finalie [he] returnes With a fatt praii.
1611. Bible, Ezek. xxxiv. 14. In a fat pasture shall they feede vpon the mountaines of Israel.
1677. Yarranton, Eng. Improv., 28. Scotland is a thin and lean Kingdom … England is a fat Kingdom.
a. 1790. Franklin, Way to Wealth. A fat kitchen makes a lean will.
IV. 11. Displaying the characteristics of a fat animal; slow-witted, indolent, self-complacent.
1588. Shaks., Loves Labour’s Lost, V. ii. 268.
| Rosa. Wel-liking wits they haue, grosse, grosse, fat, fat. | |
| Ibid. (1602), Ham., I. v. 32. | |
| Duller should’st thou be then the fat weede | |
| That rots it selfe in ease, on Lethe Wharfe, | |
| Would’st thou not stirre in this. |
1611. Bible, Isa. vi. 10. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their eares heauy, and shut their eyes.
a. 1616. Beaum. & Fl., Wit without Money, I. i. Grounding their fat faithes upon old Countrey proverbes.
1790. Burke, Wks. (1871), II. 373. The fat stupidity and gross ignorance.
1819. Shelley, Peter Bell, IV. xxi.
| And all the while, with loose fat smile, | |
| The willing wretch sat winking there. |
a. 1854. J. Wilson, The Genius and Character of Burns. How could it enter into his fat heart to conceive [etc.].
1879. Temple Bar Mag., LVII., Oct., 216. The Duke leant back in his chair, a fat smile of complacent wisdom on his face, and announced that if he could assist his dear friend he would only be too happy to tender advice.
V. 12. With the senses mixed.
c. 1325. Poem Times Edw. II., 188, in Pol. Songs (Camden), 332. The frere wole to the direge, if the cors is fat.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., II. iv. 559–60. Sher. A grosse fat man. Car. As fat as Butter.
1611. Bible, Ps. cxix. 70. Their heart is as fat as grease: but I delight in thy law.
1642. Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., V. xix. 437. These countreys were fat enough to be stewed in their own liquour.
a. 1732. Gay, Songs & Ball., New Song on New Similies. My cheeks as fat as butter grown.
VI. Combinations.
13. Parasynthetic (chiefly in sense 2), as fat-backed, -barked, -beneficed (sense 9), -brained (sense 2 or 11), fat-cheeked, -eyebrowed, -fleshed, -hearted (sense 2 or 11), fat-kidneyed, -legged, -paunched (sense 2 b), -rumped, -tailed, adjs. Also FAT-FACED, FAT-WITTED.
1607. A. Brewer, Lingua, III. ii. Your smooth-belly *fat backt, barrel-pauncht, tun-gutted drones are euer without him.
1616–61. Holyday, Persius, 297.
| ‘Armes, and the man I sing,’ Perchance you’l dare | |
| To call this frothy, *fat-bark’d [L. cortice piugui]! |
1634. ‘E. Knott,’ Charity Maintained, I. vi. § 21. Such *fat-beneficed Bishops.
1597. Drayton, Mortimeriados, 69.
| Three thousand Souldiers, mustred men in pay, | |
| Of Almaynes, Swisers, trustie Henawers, | |
| Of natiue English fled beyond the Sea, | |
| Of fat-braind Fleamings, fishie Zelanders. |
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Joufflu, *fat cheeked.
1591. Percivall, Sp. Dict., *Fat eie browed.
1863. Miss Power, Arab. Days & N., 109–10. What is all this beside the vast proportions of those *‘fat-fleshed’ fair ones?
1607. Hieron, Wks., I. 230. If with the *fat-hearted Israelites, they may sit by the flesh-pots.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., II. ii. 5. Prin. Peace ye *fat-kidney’d Rascall, what a brawling dost thou keepe.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills, VI. 351.
| And there’ll be hopper-ars’d Nancy, | |
| And Sarcy fac’d Jenny by Name; | |
| Glud [sic] Kate and *fat legged Lissey, | |
| The Lass with the codling Wem. |
1891. R. Kipling, City Dreadf. Nt., 72. Full of quaint houses, with fat-legged balustrades on the roofs.
1563. Foxe, A. & M., 1691/2. So long as the *fat panched bishop could endure with breath.
1842. Bischoff, Woollen Manuf., II. 289. The head is like that of the *fat-rumped [sheepj. Ibid., II. 320. The Doomba, or *fat-tailed sheep of Cabool.
14. Special comb., as fat-bird, a name (a) of the Guacharo Steatornis caripensis; (b) of the Pectoral Sandpiper Actodromas maculata (U.S.); fat-face, (a) a term of abuse; (b) Typog. fat-face, less commonly fat letter (see quot. 1841), and attrib.; fat-fed a., fed up to fatness: of a man, full-fleshed; also transf.; fat-guts, one having a big belly, used as a term of abuse, also attrib.; fat-headed, (a) having a fat head; (b) dull, stupid; fat-lute; fat-rascal (see quots.); † fat-sagg a., hanging down with fat; † fat-ware, cattle fatted for market. Also, FAT-HEAD.
1741. Richardson, Pamela (1824), I. 179. Answer me, *fat-face!
1841. Savage, Dict. Printing, Fat Face or Fat Letter is a letter with a broad stem.
1871. Amer. Encycl. Printing, 169/2. Fat-face Letter.—Letter with a broad face and thick shank.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 181. This kind of Dog … is mighty, grosse, and *fat fed.
1616. Trav. Eng. Pilgr., in Harl. Misc. (Malh.), III. 329. Fat-fed friars.
1648. Herrick, Hesper., I. 204. The fat-fed smoking temple.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., II. ii. 32. Peace ye *fat guttes, lye downe.
1682. N. O., Boileau’s Lutrin, IV. 278. Till fat-guts Everard open’d, and quite marr’d it.
1853. Hickie, trans. Aristoph. (1872), II. 536. Cha. Will you not then, pray, sit down here, you fat-guts?
c. 1510. Gest Robyn Hode, II. 38. With that cam in a *fat-heded monke.
1603. H. Crosse, Vertue’s Commonwealth (1878), 99. The lazie Monkes, & fat-headed Friers, in whom was nought but sloath & idlenes, bred this contagion.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa, Wks. 1883, VIII. 188. This I leave to thy own fat-headed prudence.
1768. The Life and Adventures of Sir Bartholomew Sapskull, II. 66. The fat-headed majority, intoxicated by the fumes of excess.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch Bk., Christinas Dinner (1865), 276. A fat-headed old gentleman next him, who was silently engaged in the discussion of a huge plateful of turkey.
1883. W. Bromley Davenport, Salmon-Fishing, in The Nineteenth Century, XIV., Sept., 402. A few obese fat-headed carp.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, *Fat-lute, a mixture of pipeclay and linseed-oil for filling joints.
1868. Atkinson, Cleveland Gloss., *Fat-rascal, a kind of rich tea-cake compounded with butter or cream … and with currants intermingled.
1604. Middleton, Black Bk., Wks. 1886, VIII. 12. With her *fat-sagg chin hanging down like a cow’s udder.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XVII. xxiv. These forsooth they feed in mue, and franke them up like *fat-ware, with good commeale.
B. sb.2
1. The adj. used absol. The fat part of anything. † Rarely in pl.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XXII. 280. That cast for to kele a crokke and saue þe fatte aboue.
1535. Coverdale, Lev. xvii. 6. Burne the fat for a swete sauoure vnto the Lord.
c. 1540. in Vicary’s Anat. (1888), App. ix. 222. Take the fatte of capons or hennys.
1616. Surfl. & Markh., Country Farme, 31. He shall make prouision of Fats, or of the marrowes of the bones of Mutton.
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 439.
| Then sacrificing, laid | |
| The Inwards and thir Fat, with incense strowed, | |
| On the cleft Wood, and all due rites performed. |
1796. Mrs. Glasse, Cookery, xiv. 238. Pour the fat out of the pan, and pour in this sauce.
1890. Mrs. Beeton, Cookery Bk., 19/1. Droppings of fat and gravy … fall from the roast meat.
2. In various transf. senses: † a. The soft part of a fruit or tree.
1575. Turberv., Faulconrie, 278. Anoynting the ende of the borowed feather in the fatte of a figge, the yolcke of an egge, or suche like stuffe.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. (1586), 110. The fat, the softest and the woorst part of the tree.
† b. The fat of glass: = Fr. suin de verre, SANDIVER, GLASS-GALL. Obs.
1578. Lyte, trans. Dodoens’ Herbal, 116. That which … swimmeth upon the stuffe whereof Glasses are made, is now called in Shoppes Axungia vitri: in English, the fatte or floure of Glasse.
c. The richest or most nourishing part of anything; the choicest produce (of the earth). Hence also, Plenty, superabundance. Obs. exc. in phrase (To eat, live on) the fat of the land.
1570–6. Lambarde, A Perambulation of Kent (1826), 223. This Realme … wanted neither the favour of the Sunne, nor the fat of the Soile.
1611. Bible, Gen. xlv. 18. I wil giue you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Ibid., Deut. xxxii. 14. The fat of kidneis of wheat.
1623. Massinger, Bondman, I. ii.
| In this plenty, | |
| And fat of peace. |
1640. J. Dyke, Worthy Commun., 188. The fat and moysture of the earth.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., Introd. Sulphurs, which are the fat of the earth.
1832. L. Hunt, Poems, Preface, pp. viii.–ix. We have the poetry … of the ‘fat of the land’ in Thomson.
1857. Trollope, Three Clerks, xiv. For thirteen years he has lived on the fat of the land.
3. a. The oily concrete substance of which the fat parts of animal bodies are chiefly composed; any particular variety of this substance. Often modified by a sb. prefixed, as beef-, candle-, cow-, mutton-, ox-, etc. fat. b. Chem. Any of a class of organic compounds of which animal fat is the type.
1539. in Rogers, Agric. & Prices, III. 285/4, 1593, Ludlow. Candle fat 123/4 lb. @ 21/2.
1552. Huloet, Fatte or grease, sagina.
1731. Arbuthnot, Aliments, ii. 44. This Membrane separates an oily Liquor call’d Fat, necessary for many Purposes of Life.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), IV. 4. The muscles of the body are very strong, and without fat.
1841–71. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4), 848. But, beneath the skin, fat has been accumulated in prodigious quantities.
1860–1. Flo. Nightingale, Nursing, 50. Butter is the lightest kind of animal fat, and though it wants some of the things which there are in milk, yet it is most valuable both in itself and in enabling the patient to eat more bread.
1884. Athenæum, 12 April, 465/1. Fats were dear in the early time. Are we, therefore, to believe that our forefathers were accustomed to do almost entirely without artificial light?
1884. Syd. Soc. Lex., Fat, a greasy substance consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and a little oxygen…. Fats are contained in both plants and animals and are compounds of glycerin with acids, chiefly palmitic, oleic, or stearic.
1891. Brit. Med. Jrnl., Suppl. 78/1. Fats are digested with the expenditure of a small amount of energy.
c. Phrases: † To lick the fat from the beard of: to forestall the results of (a person’s) enterprise or industry. † The fat flits from (a man’s) beard: he lets go the advantage he has gained. (All) the fat is in the fire: in early use expressing that a design has irremediably failed; now used when some injudicious act has been committed that is sure to provoke a violent explosion of anger.
1548. Hall, Chron., 169 b. Other … marchantes … sore abhorryng the Italian nacion, for lickyng the fat from their beardes, and taking from them their accustomed livyng.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 6.
| Than farewell riches, the fat is in the fire, | |
| And neuer shall I to like riches aspire. | |
| Ibid., 7. | |
| Blame me not to haste, for feare mine eie be blerde. | |
| And therby the fat cleane flit fro my berde. |
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Sept., 123.
| But they that shooten neerest the pricke | |
| Sayne, other the fat from their beards doen lick. |
1644. Ormonde, Lett., in Carte, Life (1735), III. 281. I hear nothing of the armes, ammunition, or provisions; without all which, all the fat is in the fire.
1797. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Livery of London, Wks. 1812, III. 449.
| Lord bless us! should we once complain, | |
| The fat will all be in the fire. |
1850. Carlyle, Latter-d. Pamph., iv. 4. The fat in the fire will be a thing worth looking at.
4. The habit of body marked by the deposition of fat; corpulence, obesity.
1726. Adv. Capt. R. Boyle, 45. The two first [women] were very handsom, a little inclining to Fat.
5. In the phraseology of various trades or occupations, applied to especially lucrative kinds of work. † a. (see quot. a. 1700). b. Printing (see quot. 1841). c. Newspaper (see quot. 1890). d. Theatrical, a part with good lines and telling situations, which gives the player an opportunity of appearing to advantage.
a. a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Fat, the last landed, inned or stow’d of any sort of Merchandize … so called by the several Gangs of Water-side-Porters.
1785. in Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue.
b. 1796. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3), Fat amongst printers means void spaces.
1841. Savage, Dict. Printing, Fat, with compositors, short pages, blank pages, and light open matter: with pressmen, light forms, forms that require one pull at wooden presses.
c. 1890. Answers, 6 Dec., 24. If he [the liner] has a piece of ‘fat’ (that is, a good piece of exclusive news).
d. 1883. Referee, 18 March, 2/4. They have nothing to do, all the fat having been seized by Terry.
1885. W. C. Day, Behind the Footlights, 116. Lest any of his ‘fat’ should be lost through the self grimaces of his fellow comedian.
6. attrib. and Comb. a. attrib., as fat-basis, -cell, -corpuscle, -deposit, -drop, -gland, -globule, -granule, -vesicle; fat-like adj.
1847–9. R. B. Todd, The Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology, IV. 129/1. Growths of *fat-basis.
1845. G. E. Day, trans. Simon’s Anim. Chem., I. 355. Lymph-corpuscles and a very few chyle-corpuscles were observed; some of the latter were of a remarkable size, and presented a resemblance to conglomerate *fat-cells.
1847–9. R. B. Todd, The Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology, IV. 96/1. Deposition of peculiar altered *fat-corpuscles. Ibid., The relationship of *fat-deposit to the morbid changes in Bright’s disease.
1841–71. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4), 44. Dark globules, resembling *fat-drops.
1866. Chambers’ Encycl., s.v. Skin, The sebaceous or *fat glands.
1846. G. E. Day, trans. Simon’s Anim. Chem., II. 326. *Fat-globules were detected under the microscope.
1847–9. R. B. Todd, The Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology, IV. 130/2. We have occasionally seen *fat granules in these tumours.
1709. Blair, in Phil. Trans., XXVII. 95. A *fat-like Substance.
1845. Todd & Bowman, Phys. Anat., I. iii. 82. The *fat vesicle of the human subject.
b. objective, as fat-engendering; -reducing adjs.
1883. Knowl., 20 July, 34/2. *Fat-engendering repose. Ibid., 27 July, 49/2. Dangerous *fat-reducing systems.
c. Special combs., as fat-free a., free from fat; fat-gude, Shetland dial. (see quot.); fat-trap, a device for catching fat in drains, etc.
1869. E. A. Parkes, A Manual of Practical Hygiene (ed. 3), 160. Though the dog and the rat (Savory) can live on *fat-free meat alone, man cannot do so.
1860. Balfour, Odal Rights & Feudal Wrongs, 114. *Fatgude, a term used in Zetland for the Butter or Oil paid to the Donatary.
1884. Health Exhib. Catal., 55/1. Gullies and *Fat-Traps.
