or griff, subs. (common).—1. A new-comer; a raw hand; a GREENHORN (q.v.). See SNOOKER and SAMMY SOFT. [Specific uses are (Anglo-Indian) = a new arrival from Europe; (military) = a young subaltern; (Anglo-Chinese) = an unbroken horse. GRIFFINAGE (or GRIFFINISM) = the state of greenhornism.
1859. H. KINGSLEY, Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn, ch. xxviii. All the GRIFFINS ought to hunt together.
1878. BESANT and RICE, By Celia’s Arbour, ch. xxx. We were in the Trenches; there had been joking with a lot of GRIFFS, young recruits just out from England.
1882. M. E. BRADDON, Mount Royal, ch. xxii. There was only one of the lads about the yard when he left, for it was breakfast-time, and the little GRIFFIN didn’t notice.
1883. Graphic, 17 March, p. 286, c. 3. Many a youngster has got on in his profession … by having the good fortune to make a friend of the old Indian who took him in as a GRIFFIN or a stranger.
2. (colloquial).—A woman of forbidding manners or appearance; a GORGON. Also a caretaker, chaperon, or SHEEP-DOG (q.v.). [A reflection of the several griffins of ornithology and of heraldry: the former a feeder on birds, small mammals, and even children; the latter (as in Milton) a perfection of vigilance.]
1824. R. B. PEAKE, Americans Abroad, i., 2. It is always locked up by that she-GRIFFIN with a bunch of keys.
3. (thieves’).—A signal: e.g., TO TIP THE GRIFFIN = to warn; TO GIVE THE OFFICE (q.v.), TIP (q.v.). THE STRAIGHT GRIFFIN = the straight tip.
1888. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 22 Dec., p. 305. Plank yourself at the corner to give the GRIFFIN if you hear or see owt.
1891. N. GOULD, The Double Event, p. 22. He’s got the STRAIGHT GRIFF for something.
1891. J. NEWMAN, Scamping Tricks, p. 95. When he wanted to GIVE the chaps in the office THE STRAIGHT GRIFFIN, he used to say, ‘Nelson’s my guide.’
4. In pl. (trade).—The scraps and leavings from a contract feast, which are removed by the purveyor.
