or iron, subs. phr. (university).—The mace carried by an esquire bedel (of Law, Physic, or Divinity) as a badge of authority. [The term, which is applied to the bedels themselves, is very often used as an oath.]
1840. The Comic Almanack, ‘Tom the Devil,’ p. 214. A hotel’s the place for me! I’ve thried ’em all, from the Club-house at Kilkinny, to the Clarendon, and, by the HOLY POKER, never wish mysilf worse luck than such cantonments!
1870. London Figaro, 8 Oct., p. 2, col. 2. The bedels of a University are very important persons, although derisive undergraduates familiarly term them HOLY POKERS.
1886. R. L. STEVENSON, Kidnapped, p. 169. I swear upon the HOLY IRON I had neither art nor part.
2. (venery).—The penis (by a play upon words). Cf., HOLE, sense 1, HOLY OF HOLIES, sense 3, and POKE. For synonyms, see CREAMSTICK and PRICK.
