subs. (colloquial).—1. An exact counterpart.
1590. H. CONSTABLE, Diana, iv.
| Fooles be they that inveigh ’gainst Mahomet, | |
| Who’s but a MORRAL of loves monarchie. |
1726. SWIFT, Gulliver’s Travels, v. ‘I have seen the MORAL of my own behaviour very frequent in England.’
1771. SMOLLETT, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 385. The long chin is the very MORAL of the governor’s.
1789. G. PARKER, Life’s Painter, ‘The Bunter’s Christening.’
| Brought forth a chopping boy; | |
| Which was, as one might say, | |
| The MORAL of his dad, sir. |
1851. DOUGLAS JERROLD, St. Giles and St. James, 110. She’s the very pictur—yes, the very MORAL of Dick Turpin’s Bess.
1882. Graphic, 9 Dec., p. 643, col. 2. They are, for the most part, very dungeon-like rooms; and the ventilation of the ordinary prison cell—yes, we have tried it—is a MORAL by comparison.
2. (racing).—See quot. 1869. [Abbreviation of ‘moral certainty’: see CERT.]
1869. GREENWOOD, The Seven Curses of London, 397. Everything that is highly promising becomes, in the slang of the advertising tipster, a MORAL.
1877. Belgravia, April, 241. To invest a sovereign or two for her on what they may consider a ‘MORAL.’
1879. PAYN, High Spirits (Number Forty-seven). ‘Come, Bob,’ said my master, ‘that disposes of your friend Adamson’s having had anything to do with it, which you thought such a MORAL.’
1880. A. TROLLOPE, The Duke’s Children, lxxiv. ‘I think that we shall beat Cambridge this year to a MORAL,’ said Gerald.
1883. Referee, 25 March, p. 1, col. 1. She landed the stake with much ease, and thereby upset what at first appeared one of the biggest coursing MORALS upon record.
1888. N. GOULD, The Double Event, p. 178. Lord Mayfield went into ecstasies over him, and said the double looked a MORAL.
1889. Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday, 6 July. Cucumber was, to use the words of a sporting friend of Pottle’s, a MORAL.
1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 3 April. An idea of the strength of the MORAL may be gathered when it is stated that in a field of fifteen 6 to 4 was freely taken about the Danebury horse.
1892. MILLIKEN, ’Arry Ballads, p. 62. Hangling isn’t my mark, that’s a MORAL, and fishermen mostly is fools.
