subs. (obsolete).—1. The dea ex machinâ evolved from trades-unionism at Sheffield, to the utter destruction of recalcitrant grinders. Cf. MOLLY MAGUIRES.
2. (dressmakers’).—A dress stand.
3. (common).—A sodomite. For synonyms, see USHER. Sp. manflorito.
1895. Reynolds’s Newspaper, 2 June, p. 1, col. 4. I remember when residing in Oxford having pointed out to me in ‘the High’ more than one professional catamite; just as waiting for a ’bus at Piccadilly-circus a few years later I heard prostitutes jocosely apostrophizing the MARY-ANNS who plied their beastly trade upon the pavement beside the women.
