subs. (old cant).—A scabbard. [The word is used nowhere in English save in Romeo and Juliet. It seems to be a ‘literal’ due to an Elizabethan ‘comp.’ Perhaps Shakespeare wrote ‘pilch, Sir’; perhaps he didn’t. Anyhow ‘pilch’ = a leathern coat, or overall, and was good enough business for a leathern sheath.]
1595. SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet, iii. 1. Will you pluck your sword out of his PILCHER by the ears?
