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 1884. W. C. Russell, Jack's Courtship, i. It takes a sailor a long time to straighten his spine and get quit of the bold sheer that earns him the name of shell-back. That is not all. Lobscouse eats into the system.

Lobscouser, subs. (nautical).—A sailor [An eater of lobscouse q.v.)].

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack's Courtship, xix. 'And besides, how many bunks does an old lobscouser like you want to sleep in?'

1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, 148. 'He is superstitious, like most old lobscousers, no doubt.'

Lobsneak (or -crawler), subs. (common).—1. A till-robber; a till-sneak (q.v.).

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

2. (cricketters').—A lob (q.v.).

Lobsneaking, subs. (common).—Till-robbing. Fr. un coup de radin.

Lob's-pound, subs. (old).—1. A prison; a pound; the stocks: generic for any place of confinement.

1603. Dekker, Batchelor's Banquet [Grosart (1886), i. 156]. He ran wilfully into the perill of Lob's Pound.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, i. 3, 909. Crowdero whom, in irons bound, Thou basely threwst into Lob's pound.

1671. Crowne, Juliana, i. 1. Between 'um both he's got into Lobb's pound. [Note (Maidment, 1870)]. Jocularly, a prison or place of confinement. The phrase is still used and applied to the prison made for a child between the feet of a grown-up person.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lobcock, In Lob's Pound, Laid by the Heels, or clap'd up in Jail.

1694. Plautus, made English [Nares]. But in what a fine pickle shou'd I be, if Mr. constable and his watch shou'd pick m' up and in wi' me to Lobs-pound? Out o' which damn'd kitchin, to morrow must I be dish'd up for the whipping post; and not ha' the benefit o' the layety to plead i' m' own defence.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1819. Moore, Tom Cribb., p. 18. The cull broke away, as he would from Lob's pound.

2. (old).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

1623. Massinger, Duke of Milan, iii. 2. Who forced the gentleman, to save her credit, To marry her, and say he was the party Found in Lob's pound.

Lobster, subs. (old).—A soldier. [See quots.]. Also boiled lobster in contradistinction to raw lobster (q.v.) which formerly = a sailor. Unboiled-lobster (q.v.) also = a policeman. For synonyms see Mudcrusher.

c.1642. Somers, Tracts (1811), v. 289. The nickname of lobsters now misapplied to soldiers seems to have been first applied to Sir A. Hazilrigg's regiment of cavalry, completely armed with corslets—the first body of cavalry on that side which would be brought to stand the shock of the king's horse.

1662. Rump Songs, ii. 70. Sir William on Run-away-downs had a bout, Which him and his lobsters did totally rout, And his Lady the conqueror could not help him out.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. A red coat, a soldier.

1748. F. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Lobster (S.) also a mock name for a foot-soldier.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lobster, a nickname for a soldier, from the colour of his clothes 'I will not make a lobster kettle of my ': a reply frequently made by nymphs of the Point at Portsmouth, when requested by a soldier to grant him a favour.

1803. T. Brown, Works, i. 73. The women exclaim against lobsters.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, 5. Lobsters will be such a drug upon hand.