Imperfectly cooked, underdone.
1655. A rare Egg any way dresst is lightest of Digestion, a hard Egg is most rebellious.—Moufet and Bennet, ‘Health’s Improvement,’ p. 137.
1823. Accommodations at Siasconset are hardly get-at-able, wood is a scarcity, wine a mystery, and a rare beefsteak a despaired-of treasure.—Nantucket Inquirer, Oct. 28.
1833. I ’ll trouble you, General Armour, for a slice of that venison,—take it rare, if you please.—James Hall, ‘The Harpe’s Head,’ p. 40 (Phila.).
1836. [Certain persons] in calling for boiled eggs, instead af ordering them to be done rare, order them to be boiled soft.—Phila. Public Ledger, April 19.
1836. Roast beef, and let it be rare, screamed another.—Id., Nov. 7.
1840. Let your pork be rare, and your beefsteaks burnt up to a cinder.—Advice to “Helps,” Daily Pennant, St. Louis, April 13.
1847. Touching the raw meat, our rare roast beef will serve instead.—J. K. Paulding, ‘American Comedies,’ p. 25 (Phila.).
1855.
| I hate a ‘’Skeeter’ as I do the devil: | |
| It is a very flying fly of evil. | |
| You ’re dunned for ever by its bill of fare, | |
| And fairly over-done, or done too rare. | |
Knick. Mag., xlvi. 312, ‘To a ‘’Skeeter.’ |
1856. ‘Do you like your eggs done rare?’ asked the good landlady, who was cook and waiter beside. I had never heard the word in my life, yet I answered Yes without hesitation.—Id., xlvii. 249 (March).
1859. After a sponge bath, we sit down to breakfast with a huge appetite, and the rare beefsteak and eggs disappear at a rate which would alarm any but boating men, and which raises the market price at every mouthful.—Yale Lit. Mag., xxiv. 306 (June).
