subs. (prison).—1. Bread; meat; in fact, refreshment of any kind.
1850. Lloyd’s Newspaper, Oct. 6. ‘Inquest on murder of Rev. Mr. Hollest, Frimley Grove, Surrey.’ Macey, the village constable, staged that the prisoner, upon coming to his cottage door had tried hard to get some CHUCK out of him, but had failed.
1877. W. H. THOMSON, Five Years’ Penal Servitude, i. 4. Two large slices of bread,… the allowance given out to some prisoner who … had forgotten to eat what in prison slang is called his ‘toke’ or ‘CHUCK.’
1877. S. L. CLEMENS (‘Mark Twain’) Life on the Mississippi, ch. iii., p. 463. I wish i was nere you so i could send you CHUCK (refreshments) on holidays.
2. (common).—Scraps of meat; BLOCK ORNAMENTS (q.v.). For synonyms, see DUCK.
1871. Echo, 11 Dec. ‘Sunday amongst the Silk Weavers.’ Few regular butchers ply their trade on Sunday morning—money is only to be made by the vendors of nauseous substitutes for wholesome meat—the refuse portion of beef and mutton, tough, coarse, and meagre pork, flaccid tripe, lean little sheeps’ CHUKS, as the natives call them, the savourless saveloy of Old England.
1887. Standard, 20 Jan. ‘The Poor at Market.’ From a sort of ludicrous spirit of snobbery a labourer will term a fellow he dislikes a ‘beggar who eats CHUCK,’ CHUCK being a low-priced part of the carcase.
3. (Billingsgate).—See quot.
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, vol. I., p. 73. Sprats … are sold at Billingsgate by the ‘toss,’ or CHUCK, which is about half a bushel, and weighs about 40 lbs. to 50 lbs.
4. (colloquial).—A toss or throw.
1883. Punch, June 2, p. 264, col. 1. The average number of CHUCKS at cocoanuts before achieving success is six.
5. (nautical).—Sea biscuit. Cf., senses 1 and 6. A sailor’s variant is ‘chow-dow.’
1864. Standard, 13 Dec. Of naval slang Mr. Hotten has missed the words CHUCK, used by sailors for biscuit, and BARGE, the box or cask in which the CHUCK is kept by the messes on the lower deck.
6. (military).—Mealy bread. Cf., nautical usage, sense 5.
7. (Westminster School).—A schoolboy’s treat.
1864. HOTTEN, The Slang Dictionary, p. 101, s.v.
Verb (colloquial).—1. To throw; especially to throw away; to pitch.
1593. Prodigal Son, iv., 112. Yes, this old one will I give you (CHUCKS him old hose and doublet). [M.]
1627. DRAYTON, The Battle of Agincourt.
| And in the tavern in his cups doth roar, | |
| CHOCKING his crowns. |
1753. The Adventurer, No. 43. I … was kicked about, hustled, tossed up, and CHUCKED into holes.
1771. SMOLLETT, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, l. 36. Dirt and trash CHUCKED into it by roguish boys for the joke’s sake.
1820. COMBE, Dr. Syntax, tour II., ch. i.
| Yes, faith, as I’ve a soul to save, I will for pothing dig her grave; | |
| Yes, I would do it too as willing As if her hand had chuck’d a shilling. |
1836. DICKENS, Pickwick Papers, ch. xxxix., p. 342. I’m not only ready but villin’ to do anythin’ as’ll make matters agreeable; and if CHUCKIN’ either o’ them sawbonesses out of winder u’ll do it, I’m the man.
1851. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, vol. I., p. 150. Many a time I walked through the streets and picked a piece of bread that the servants CHUCKED out of the door.
1864. DICKENS, Our Mutual Friend, bk. IV., ch. i. ‘When you’re ready for your snooze,’ said the honest creature, ‘CHUCK yourself on my bed in the corner.’
2. (vagrants’).—To eat.—See subs., sense 1. For synonyms, see GRUB.
1876. C. HINDLEY, ed. The Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 192. Mo and his man were having a great breakfast one morning … Mo exclaimed to his man, ‘CHUCK rumbo’ (eat plenty), ‘my lad.’
3. (pigeon fanciers’).—To despatch a pigeon. Cf., sense 1, and TO CHUCK IT; also HARD CHUCK.
4. (general).—To spend extravagantly. For synonyms, see DUCKS AND DRAKES.
1876. BESANT and RICE, The Golden Butterfly, ch. xviii. Next to unlimited CHUCKING of his own money, the youthful Englishman would like—what he never gets—the unlimited CHUCKING of other people’s.
5. (old).—To desire (sexually); to be ‘warm,’ or a HOT MEMBER (q.v.).
TO CHUCK, CHUCK IT, or CHUCK UP, verbal phr. To abandon; ‘turn up’; dismiss; turn out of doors; to give up. Also CHUCK IT UP = ‘drop it.’ [From the custom of throwing up the sponge at a prize fight in sign of defeat. Often corrupted into JACK UP.—See SPONGE. A French equivalent is laisser tout en plan.
1869. Daily Telegraph, 6 Sept. ‘Season at Baden.’ Why is it that Englishwomen can never combine their colours, or put on their clothes? Are their maids used to haymaking when at home, and do they ‘pitch’ on the petticoats, and give three cheers and have beer when they finish the work by CHUCKING UP the dress?
1883. HAWLEY SMART, Hard Lines, ch. xxvi. ‘But here, Cis, if you mean business, take my advice and CHUCK that corps.’
1883. M. E. BRADDON, Phantom Fortune, ch. xxv. She knows on which side her bread is buttered. Look how easily she CHUCKED you UP because she did not think you good enough.
1889. The Sporting Times, quoted in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant. And I shall GET THE blooming CHUCK as well as fourteen days.
CHUCK UP THE SPONGE.—See SPONGE.
TO CHUCK [ONESELF] ABOUT or INTO, phr.—To move expeditiously. For synonyms, see AMPUTATE and SKEDADDLE. Also, to fall into.
1860. Funny Fellow, 7 May, p. 1. Hollo, my kiddy, stir your stumps, And chuck yourself about.
1860. Funny Fellow, May 7, p. 1.
| Hollo, my kiddy, stir your stumps, | |
| And CHUCK YOURSELF ABOUT. |
CHUCK HER UP, phr. (cricket).—An expression of delight. [From the practice of throwing the ball into the air after a successful catch.]
[The verb, TO CHUCK, is attached in an active sense to any number of objectives, and may be taken as equivalent to ‘to perform’ or ‘do.’ Thus ‘to chuck a fag’ = to ‘give a beating’; to ‘chuck a turd’ = to ‘rear,’ to evacuate; to ‘chuck a tread’ = to have intercourse; to ‘chuck a jolly’ = to undertake a bout of chaff; to ‘chuck a fit’ = to have an epileptic, or apoplectic, seizure; to ‘chuck a cram’ or ‘a kid’ = to lie, etc.]
HARD-CHUCK (pigeon fanciers’).—A long distance; also a trying flight. From Gravesend to London is considered a HARD-CHUCK, as the low, flat country is bare of landmarks.
