subs. (old).—1. A sixpence. For synonyms, see BENDER.
2. (old).—A beggar.
1857. SNOWDEN, Magistrates Assistant, 3 ed., p. 444, s.v.
3. (common).—A dying person.—See CROAK, verbal sense.
4. (common).—A corpse. [From CROAK, verb, sense, through CROAKER, sense 2 and 3.] For synonyms, see DEAD-MEAT.
5. (provincial).—See quot.
1886. Ulster Echo, 31 July, p. 4. The inspector of nuisances said the meat was known as CROAKER, or the flesh of an animal which had died a natural death.
6. (prison).—A doctor [connected with CROCUS, but influenced by CROAKER, subs., senses 2, 3, and 4.]
1889. Evening News [quoted in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant). One man who had put his name for the ‘butcher’ or CROAKER, would suddenly find that he had three ounces of bread less to receive, and then a scene would ensue.
7. (common).—A person, male or female, who sees everything en noir, and whose conversation is likened to that of the raven, which is a bird of ill-omen.—See Goldsmith’s The Good-Natured Man. Fr., un glas = also a passing bell.
