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Cloven Foot (Grose 1811 Dictionary)

Cloven Foot

To spy the cloven foot in any business; to discover some roguery or something bad in it: a saying that alludes to a piece of vulgar superstition, which is, that, let the Devil transform himself into what shape he will, he cannot hide his cloven foot.

Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.

Cloven * To Chuck

Nearby

Nathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang

John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes

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About

Francis Grose was independently wealthy, having inherited money from his father, a jeweller. Finding himself overspending, he published a number of books; his Provincial Glossary seems to have been the starting-point for the Vulgar Tongue reproduced here.

Cloak Twitchers
Clod Hopper
Clod Pate
Clod Pole
Close
Close-fisted
Closh
Cloth Market
Cloud
Cloven
Cloven Foot
To Chuck
Clout
Clouted Shoon
Clouting Lay
Clover
Clowes
Cloy
Cloyes
Club
Club Law