subs. (common).—1.  A penny, or (in pl.) pence; e.g., two D; three D, etc., = two-pence, three-pence, etc. [The initial letter of the Latin denarius.]

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  1880.  Punch’s Almanack, p. 3.

        Go the doldrums dreadful, that is clear.
Two D left! must go and do a beer!

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  2.  (common).—A detective; among thieves, a policeman. For synonyms, see BEAK and NARK.

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  1879.  J. RUTHERFORD (‘Thor Fredur’), Sketches from Shady Places, p. 16. Still I play shoeblack at odd times. I have a few friends among the D’S (detectives), who give me the job to watch a house occasionally.

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  TO USE A BIG D, verbal phr. (common).—‘To swear’; the ‘D’ stands for ‘damned.’

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  1878.  W. S. GILBERT, H.M.S. Pinafore, i. What, never USE A BIG, BIG D?’

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  1890.  H. D. TRAILL, Saturday Songs, p. 3.

        Do we fight the senseless duel? do we SLING THE BIG, BIG D?
No; our strongest word is ‘Bother!’ and revolvers all we see.

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  THE TWO D’S, phr. (military).—Army regulations enact that a soldier’s pay must not be so docked in fines as to leave him less than two-pence a day. Hence, if a man, from any cause, is put on short pay, he is said to be ‘ON THE TWO D’S.’

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