subs. (pugilists’).—1. The head; (2) a sharp blow on it; and (3) in pl. the fists.
4. In pl. (old).—See quot. 1696.—HALL, Memoirs (1708); GROSE (1785).
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. NUT-CRACKERS. The cull looked through the NUT CRACKERS, the rogue stood in the pillory.
5. In pl. (common).—A curving nose and protruding chin.
6. (common).—The teeth: see GRINDERS.
7. (military).—The Third Foot. See BUFF HOWARDS.
1871. Chambers’s Journal, 23 Dec., 802. The 3rd Foot, best known as the ‘Old Buffs,’ their accoutrements having been the first that were made of buffalo leather, possess two other sobriquets, the ‘NUT-CRACKERS’ and the ‘Resurrectionists.’
