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 can be run. Commonly called getting round.—Hotten.

Bettor Round, subs. (racing).—One who is addicted to betting round (q.v.).

1882. 'Thormanby,' Famous Racing Men, p. 75. He [John Gully] worked on gradually as a layer of odds—a 'bettor round,' or 'leg,' as he was called in those days. [c. 1820.]

Betty or Bess, subs. (old).—A small instrument used formerly by burglars to force open doors and pick locks. Now called a jenny; also jemmy; tivvil; twist; or screw. For synonyms, see Thieves, etc.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 47 (1874). Betty, an instrument to break a door.

1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus. vol. II., pt. IX., p. 7. So Ruffains, who, with Crows and Betties, Break Houses, when it dark and late is.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bring bess and glym; i.e., bring the instrument to force the door, and the dark lanthorn.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 339. Expert burglars are generally equipped with good tools. They have a jemmy, a cutter, a dozen of betties, better known as picklocks.

Verb (colloquial).—To potter about; to fuss about. Usually said of a man assuming the domestic functions of a woman.

All betty! intj. (thieves').—cry of warning; 't's all up; the game is lost!'

Betty Martin.—See All my eye.

Betwattled, ppl. adj. (old).—Surprised; confounded; out of one's senses; also bewrayed.—Grose.

Between You and Me and the Bedpost.—See Bedpost.

Bever, Bevir, Bœver, subs. (Eton, Winchester, and Westminster Colleges).—An afternoon meal served in hall. An old time term for a repast or snack between meals, especially in the afternoon; it is still dialectical in some parts of England. Murray gives examples of its use dating back to 1500.

1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 83. In summer time we were let out of afternoon school for a short time about four p.m., when there was a slight refection of bread and cheese laid out in Hall. It was called beever-time, and the pieces of bread beevers.

1884. M. Morris, in English Illustrated Magazine, Nov., p. 73. [At Eton, we] came up from cricket in the summer afternoons for beaver.

Beverage or Bevy, subs. (old).—tip; a vail; equivalent to the French pourboire; money for drink, demanded, says Grose [1785], of any one having a new suit of clothes. For synonyms, see Tip.

Beware, subs. (theatrical).—Explained by quotation.

1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, vol. III., p. 149. 'We [strolling actors] call breakfast, dinner, tea, supper, all of them "numyare"; and all beer, brandy, water, or soup, are beware.'

B Flats, subs. (common).—Bugs. Cf., F sharps, and for synonyms, see Norfolk Howards.

1866. Dickens, Household Words, xx., 326. Mrs. B. beheld one night a stout negro of the flat-back tribe—known among comic writers as b flats—stealing up towards the head of the bed.

1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. B flats.—Bugs. The pun is 'B' (the initial letter), and 'flat,' from the flatness of the obnoxious insect.