subs. (old).—A spitfire; braggart; bully. [From the Latin cacare through the Spanish cagar, ‘to void excrement,’ + Spanish fuego, fire.] This word, once literary, has long fallen into desuetude. It was regarded as vulgar after the middle of the last century, and thereafter was only included in slang dictionaries.
1625. FLETCHER, The Fair Maid of the Inn, III., i. She will be ravisht before our faces, by rascalls and CACAFUGOS, wife, CACAFUGOES. [M.]
1678. E. PHILLIPS, The New World of Words, s.v. CACAFUEGO, a Spanish word signifying Shitefire; and it is used for a bragging or vapouring fellow. [M.]
1725. A New Canting Dictionary, s.v.
1811. GROSE and CLARKE, Lexicon Balatronicum. CACAFEUGO. A sh-te-fire, a furious braggadocio or bully huff.
