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To Sing Small (Grose 1811 Dictionary)

To Sing Small

To be humbled, confounded, or abashed, to have little or nothing to say for one’s-self.

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

To Sing * Single Peeper

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.

Silent Flute
Silk Snatchers
Silver Laced
Simeonites
Simkin
Simon
To Simper
Simpleton
Simples
To Sing
To Sing Small
Single Peeper
Singleton
Singleton-1
Sir John
Sir John Barleycorn
Sir Loin
Sir Reverence
Sir Timothy
Sitting Breeches
Six and Eight-pence