subs. (old colloquial).—1. A tie; a hold; an advantage; a difficulty. [IN A HANK = in trouble].
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. He has a HANK upon him, or the Ascendant over him.
1725. A New Canting Dictionary, s.v. He has a HANK upon him; He … will make him do what he pleases.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. He has a HANK on him; i.e., an ascendancy over him, or a hold upon him. A SMITHFIELD HANK; an ox rendered furious by over-driving and barbarous treatment.
1859. G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. HANK. To know something about a man that is disreputable. ‘He has a HANK on the bloke whereby he sucks honey when he chooses,’ he knows something about the man, and therefore induces him to give him money when he chooses.
2. (common).—A spell of rest; an easy time.
1888. Sporting Life, 7 Dec. So quiet was the first round that the ire of the company was raised, and they called out, ‘No HANK!’
Verb (common).—To worry; to bait; to drive from pillar to post.
