or noser, nosegay, subs. (pugilists’).—A bloody blow on the nose.
1823. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue [EGAN], s.v. NOSE-GAY. A blow on the nose. Pugilistic cant.
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, I. 14. A bloody nose however is required to show that the blow was veritably a NOSER.
1860. REV. E. BRADLEY (‘Cuthbert Bede’), The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, II. p. 25. ‘You see, sir,’ said the Pet, ‘I ain’t used to the feel of it, and I could n’t go to business properly, or give a straight NOSENDER, no how.’
1868. WHYTE-MELVILLE, The White Rose, xxxvi. He told his neighbour at the Blues’ mess, how ‘It was a regular NOSE-ENDER for the Dandy, and he was glad of it!’
1876. C. HINDLEY, ed. The Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, 190. Giving the man such a NOSE-ENDER that sent him all abroad.
