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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Miss, subs. (old).—1. See quot. 1662.

1662. Evelyn, Diary, 9 Jan. She being taken to be the Earle of Oxford's misse, as at this time they began to call lewd women.

1675. Cotton, Scoffer Scofft, in Wks. (1725), p. 268. It is mettle carries misses.

1675. The Character of a Town Miss, 3. 'A miss is a new name which the civility of this age bestows on one that our unmannerly ancestors called whore and strumpet.'

1678. Butler, Hudibras [Johnson]. All women would be of one piece, The virtuous matron and the miss.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant, Crew, s.v. Miss, a Whore of quality.

1691-2. Gentlemen's Journal, Jan. p. 37. As subject to mistake an affected sorrow for a real grief, as our cullies, the fawnings of their misses for a true passion.

d.1701. Dryden, in Wks. [Johnson]. This gentle cock, for solace of his life, Six misses had besides his lawful wife.

1714. Lucas, Gamesters, 197. Not sufficient to support his extravagancy in keeping several misses.

1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, i. 174. Then bring the miss for Morning Bliss.

1729. Gay, Polly, i. xix. Abroad after misses most husbands will range.

1775. Ash, Eng. Dict., s.v. Miss a strumpet, a prostitute, a concubine.

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

1786. Burns, The Inventory. I hae nae wife, an' that my bliss is. An' ye hae laid nae tax on misses.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

2. (old).—A very young girl.

1695. Congreve, Love for Love, ii. 2. Madam, you are too severe upon miss; you must not find fault with her pretty simplicity.

1712. Swift, Corinna [Chalmers, English Poets (1810), xi. 386]. She made a song how little miss Was kissed and slobbered by a lad.

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

3. (dressmakers').—A girl from about 10 to 15 years of age. Before and after, a 'child' and a 'young lady' respectively.

A miss is as good as a mile, phr. (colloquial).—A narrow escape is as good as an easy one.

To miss the cushion, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Armeggiare to raue or commit some foolish part, to misse the cushion, or to be wide from the purpose.

To miss one's tip. See Tip.

To miss the figure. See Combination and Slump.

Miss Brown, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms see Monosyllable.—Grose (1785).

Miss Laycock, subs. (venery).—See quot. For synonyms see Monosyllable.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Miss Laycock. The monosyllable.

1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.

Miss-Nancy, subs. (colloquial).—An affectedly prim person: male or female. Hence, Miss-Nancyism = affected nicety; effeminacy.

1883. Philadelphia Times, 2 July. The milksops and Miss-Nancys among the young men, etc.

1886. Harper's Weekly, 20 March. Ineffable silliness, sneering at the demand for honesty in politics as Miss-Nancyism.

Missus (The), subs. (vulgar).—1. A wife: sometimes written as in quot. 1864; and (2), among servants, a mistress.