To Amuse (Grose 1811 Dictionary)

To Amuse

To fling dust or snuff in the eyes of the person intended to be robbed; also to invent some plausible tale, to delude shop-keepers and others, thereby to put them off their guard. Cant.

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

Ames Ace * Amusers

Nearby

Nathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang

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

Buy a modern reprint of this book from Amazon CA; US;

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.