or mush-topper, mushroom, subs. (common).—1. See quots.
1821. D. HAGGART, Life, 62. In one shop they robbed two MUSH-TOPERS.
1856. H. MAYHEW, The Great World of London, p. 6, note. Fanciful metaphors contribute largely to the formation of slang. It is upon this principle that the mouth has come to be styled the ‘tater-trap’; … umbrellas, ‘MUSHROOMS’ (or, briefly, ‘MUSH’).
1859. G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. MUSH. An umbrella; the mouth, in pugilism.
1870. London Figaro, 15 June.
| What pretty faces, MUSH of mine, | |
| I’ve sheltered ’neath thy shade! | |
| What jolly walks in ‘auld lang syne’ | |
| Beneath thy ribs I’ve made! |
2. (old).—The mouth.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
1811. GROSE and CLARKE, Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
1859. G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.
1887. Walford’s Antiquarian, 252. s.v.
