or shoes, verb. phr. (old).—1.  To be hanged. For synonyms, see LADDER.

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  1653.  URQUHART, Rabelais.

2

  1837.  R. H. BARHAM, The Ingoldsby Legends. ‘The Execution’ (ed. 1862), p. 196.

                And there is M‘Fuze,
        And Lieutenant Tregooze,
And there is Sir Carnaby Jenks, of the Blues,
All come to see a man ‘DIE IN HIS SHOES!’

3

  1888.  Denver Republican, 9 April. When in liquor he was quarrelsome and the prediction was commonly made that he would DIE WITH HIS BOOTS ON.

4

  2.  (American).—To ‘die standing’: at work, ‘in harness,’ in full possession of one’s faculties.

5

  1887.  Scribner’s Magazine. These stiff prairie plants never wilt—they DIE IN THEIR BOOTS.

6

  1888.  Cincinnati Enquirer, Title: DIED WITH HIS BOOTS ON. The killing of the notorious Desperado Leo Renfro.

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