Page:Farmer - Slang and its analogues past and present - Volume 3.pdf/224

 Grinding-mill, subs. (common).—The house of a tutor or Coach (q.v.) where students are prepared for an examination.

Grind-off (or Grindo), subs. (common).—A miller. [From a character in The Miller and his Men.]

Grindstone, subs. (common).—1. A tutor; a coach (q.v.).

2. (venery).—The female pudendum.

To bring (hold, put, or keep) one's nose to the grindstone, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To oppress, harass, or punish; to treat harshly. To have one's nose kept to the grindstone = to be held to a bargain, or at work.

1578. North, Plutarch, p. 241. They might be ashamed, for lack of courage, to suffer the Lacedœmonians to hold their noses to the grindstone.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hold. Hold his nose to the grindstone, to keep him Under, or Tie him Neck and Heels in a Bargain.

To have the grindstone on his back, verb. phr. (common).—Said of a man going to fetch the monthly nurse.—Grose.

Grinning-stitches, subs. (milliners').—Slovenly sewing; stitches wide apart; ladders (q.v.).

Grip (or Gripsack), subs. (American).—A hand-bag or satchell.

To lose one's grip, verb. phr. (American).—To fail; to lose one's control.

Gripe, subs. (old).—1. A miser; a usurer. Also Griper or Gripe-fist (q.v.). For synonyms, see Hunks and Sixty-per-cent. Griping = extortion.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Gripe, or griper, s.v. An old covetous wretch. Also a banker, money scrivener, or usurer.

2. in. pl. (colloquial).—The colic; the stomach ache; the Collywobbles. For synonyms, see Jerry-go-nimble.

1684. Bunyan, Pilgr. Prog., Pt. II. He concluded that he was sick of the gripes.

1705. Char. of a Sneake, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 356. He never looks upon her Majesty's arms but semper eadem gives him the gripes.

1714. Spectator, No 559. Meeting the true father, who came towards him with a fit of the gripes, he begged him to take his son again, and give back his cholic.

1812. Coombe, Tour in Search of Picturesque, c. xxvi. That he who daily smokes two pipes, The tooth-ache never has—nor gripes.

Gripe-fist, subs. (common).—A miser; a grasping broker. For synonyms, see Hunks. Also Gripe-penny.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Grist, subs. (American).—A large number or quantity. [Swift uses grist = a supply; a provision.]

1848. Cooper, Oak Openings. There's an unaccountable grist of bees, I can tell you.

a 1852. Traits of American Humour, i., 305. I got pretty considerable soaked by a grist of rain.

To bring grist to the mill, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To bring profitable business; to be a source of profit.

1719. Poor Robin's Almanack, 'May. Lawyers pleading do refrain A while, and then fall to 't again; Strife brings grist unto their mill.

1770. Foote, Lame Lover, i. Well, let them go on, it brings grist to our mill.

1804. Horsley, Speech, 23 July. A sly old pope created twenty new saints, to bring grist to the mill of the London clergy.

1817. Scott, Ivanhoe, c. 16. Some three or four dried pease—a miserable grist for such a mill.