Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
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The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue dates from 1811 and this is probably the only full, uncensored and searchable version of this dictionary on the internet. All the original crudities have been restored and it offers an interesting perspective on Common English from the time of the Regency and Jane Austen.

Select a letter or type a word and click Find. Searches are automatically wild-carded and clicking on words in the first column will look for all occurrences of that word, or related word.

Example:You click A and one of the results is ARSE. If you now click on ARSE the full list of related content will be displayed.

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Entries releated to WASH

 

BARBER'S SIGN  A standing pole and two wash balls.
 
BIDET, commonly pronounced BIDDY  A kind of tub, contrived for ladies to wash themselves, for which purpose they bestride it like a French poney, or post-horse, called in French bidets.
 
DOLLY  A Yorkshire dolly; a contrivance for washing, by means of a kind of wheel fixed in a tub, which being turned about, agitates and cleanses the linen put into it, with soap and water.
 
EXECUTION DAY  Washing day.
 
HARE  He has swallowed a hare; he is drunk; more probably a HAIR, which requires washing down,
 
LICK  To beat; also to wash, or to paint slightly over. I'll give you a good lick o' the chops; I'll give you a good stroke or blow on the face. Jack tumbled into a cow t - d, and nastied his best clothes, for which his father stept up, and licked him neatly. - I'll lick you! the dovetail to which is, If you lick me all over, you won't miss - .
 
LION  To tip the lion; to squeeze the nose of the party tipped, flat to his face with the thumb. To shew the lions and tombs; to point out the particular curiosities of any place, to act the ciceroni: an allusion to Westminster Abbey, and the Tower, where the tombs and lions are shewn. A lion is also a name given by the gownsmen of Oxford to an inhabitant or visitor. It is a standing joke among the city wits to send boys and country folks, on the first of April, to the Tower-ditch, to see the lions washed.
 
UNWASHED BAWDRY  Rank bawdry.
 
WASH  Paint for the face, or cosmetic water. Hog-wash; thick and bad beer.
 
WHITEWASHED  One who has taken the benefit of an act of insolvency, to defraud his creditors, is said to have been whitewashed.