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Bless

.

He has not a [sixpence] to bless himself with, i.e. in his possession; wherewith to make himself happy. This expression may probably be traced to the time when coins were marked with a deeply-indented cross. Cf. To keep the devil out of one’s pocket.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Blé
Blear-eyed (The)
Bleed
Bleeding of a Dead Body (The)
Blefuscu
Bleidablik [vast splendour]
Blemmyes (of Africa)
Blenheim Dog
Blenheim House (Oxfordshire)
Blenheim Steps
Bless
Blessing
Blest
Blikiandabol [splendid misery]
Blimber (Miss)
Blind
The Blind:
Blind Alley (A)
Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (The)
Blind Department (The)
Blind Ditch (A)