TO DYE SCARLET, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

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  1598.  SHAKESPEARE, 1 Henry IV., ii. 4. They call drinking deep, DYEING SCARLET.

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  TO WEAR SCARLET, verb. phr. (old).—1.  To win the higher university degrees; (2) to attain sheriff or aldermanic rank. [Which were scarlet-robed.]

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  1610.  JONSON, The Alchemist, i. 1.

          Sub.  This summer
He will be of the clothing of his company,
And next spring CALL’D TO THE SCARLET.

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  1613.  WEBSTER, The Devil’s Law-case, ii. 3.

        Your patience has not ta’en the right degree
OF WEARING SCARLET; I should rather take you
For a bachelor in the art, than for a doctor.

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