subs. (old cant).—Plunder; booty. TO COLLECT RENT = to rob travellers on the highway (BEE). Hence, RENT-COLLECTOR = a highwayman: specifically one whose fancy was for money only.
RENTS COMING IN, phr. (old colloquial).—Dilapidated; ragged.
1708–10. SWIFT, Polite Conversation, i. I have torn my Petticoat with your odious Romping; my RENTS ARE COMING IN; I’m afraid, I shall fall into the Ragman’s Hands.
TO PAY ONE’S RENT, verb. phr. (old).—To PUNISH (q.v.); ‘to pay out’ (q.v.).
1370. Romance of Richard Coer de Lion [WEBER] [T. L. KINGTON-OLIPHANT, The New English, i. 86. Richard PAYS the Saracens their RENT; like our “give them their bellyfull”].
