subs. (venery).—1. The female pudendum. Also THE MIRACULOUS PITCHER (‘that holds water with the mouth downwards’). Whence, CRACKED-PITCHER = a harlot with a certain pretension to repute; TO CRACK A PITCHER = to deflower. See MONOSYLLABLE.—GROSE (1785).
1672. WYCHERLEY, Love in a Wood, iii. 2. My daughter is a girl of reputation, though she has been seen in your company; but … she is resolved never more to venture her PITCHER to the well.
1771. SMOLLETT, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker [Works (1899), III. 92]. Though my being thought capable of making her a mother might have given me some credit, the reputation of an intrigue with such a CRACKED PITCHER does me no honour at all.
2. (old).—Newgate prison: also the STONE PITCHER or (JUG): see CAGE.—VAUX (1819).
3. (thieves’).—See SNIDE-PITCHER.
PITCHERS HAVE EARS! phr. (colloquial).—‘Listeners may overhear’: also (of children) LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE LONG (or GREAT) EARS = What children hear at home soon flies abroad: Fr. Ce que l’enfant oit au foyer, est bientôt connu jusqu’au Monstier.—HEYWOOD (1546); BAILEY (1728).
1593. SHAKESPEARE, Taming of the Shrew, iv. 4.
| Bap. Not in my house, Lucentio, for, you know | |
| PITCHERS HAVE EARS, and I have many servants. |
Other colloquialisms are:—TO GET THE SHEARDS AFTER THE PITCHER IS BROKEN (RAY, 1760) = to receive a kindness after others have no need of it, or to get the refuse; TO BANG A PITCHER = to drain a pot. See also CROCUS-PITCHER.
