Dictionary of Americanisms, by John Russell Bartlett. (NY: Bartlett and Welford, 1848)

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CAB. A small one horse carriage, lately introduced into our principal cities from England.

CABBAGE. A cant word for shreds and patches made by tailors in cutting out clothes.--Todd. From this comes to cabbage, to steal in a small way.

CABOOSE. The common pronunciation for camboose (Dutch kombuis), a ship's cooking-range or kitchen.

CACHE. (French.) A hole in the ground for hiding and preserving provisions which it is inconvenient to carry; used by settlers in the West.--Webster.

CADDY. A small box generally made of laquered ware, and lined with sheet lead, for keeping tea in.

CAHOOT. Probably from cohort, Spanish and French, defined in the old French and English Dictionary of Hollyband, 1593, as "a company, a band." It is used at the South and West to denote a company or union of men for a predatory excursion, and sometimes for a partnership in business.

CALASH. (Fr. calèche.) A two-wheeled carriage, resembling a chaise, used in Canada.

CALASH. A covering for the head, usually worn by ladies to protect their head-dresses when going to evening parties, the theatre, etc.

TO CALCULATE. This word, which properly means to compute, to estimate, has been erroneously transferred from the language of the counting-house to that of common life, where it is used for the words, to esteem; to suppose; to

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believe; to think; to expect; intend, &c. It is employed in a similar way to the word guess, though not to so great an extent. Its use is confined to the illiterate of New England.

CALABOOSE. (Fr. calabouse. Span. calabozo.) In New Orleans, the common jail or prison.

CALIBOGUS. Rum and spruce-beer. An American beverage.--Grose.

CALICO. Supposed to be derived from Calicut in India. The word was originally applied to white cottons from India. In England, white cotton goods are still called calicoes. In the United States the term is applied exclusively to printed cotton cloth. Dr. Webster says, to printed cotton cloth having but two colors. This is a mistake. Calicoes may have two or ten colors in them. The number of colors does not change the name.

TO CALK. In some parts of America, to set upon a horse or ox shoes armed with sharp points of iron, to prevent their slipping on ice.--Webster.

CALLITHUMPIANS. It is a common practice in New York, as well as other parts of the country, on New-Year's eve, for persons to assemble with tin horns, bells, rattles, and similar euphonious instruments, and parade the streets making all the noise and discord possible. This party is called the Callithumpians, or the Callithumpian Band. On wedding nights the happy couple are sometimes saluted with this discord by those who choose to consider the marriage an improper one, instead of a serenade. See chiravari.

CALUMET. (Old Fr.) Among the aboriginals of America, an pipe, used for smoking tobacco, whose bowl is usually of soft red marble, and the tube a long reed, ornamented with feathers. The calumet is used as a symbol or instrument of peace and war. To accept the calumet, is to agree to the terms of peace; and to refuse it, is to reject them. The calumet of peace is used to seal or ratify contracts and alliances, to receive strangers kindly, and to travel with safety. The calumet of war, differently made, is used to proclaim war.--Webster, Dic.

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CAMP OUT. To encamp out of doors for the night.

CANADA RICE. (Zizania aquatica.) A plant which grows in deep water along the edges of ponds and sluggish streams in the Northern States and Canada. It is called in some places wild rice and water oats.

CANDLE. Hold a candle. To hold a candle to one, is to wait on him. Hence, 'yon are not fit to hold a candle to him,' is equivalent to, you are not fit to be even his servant; or not to be compared to him.

CANE-BRAKE. A thicket of canes. They abound in the low lands of Louisiana and Mississippi.

CANOE. (Canóa, West Indies.) And Indian boat made of bark or skins.

TO CANT. To turn about; to turn over; a common use of the word, not mentioned by Johnson or Todd. It is, however, in Ash's Dictionary, who defines it, a sudden kind of turn in moving a piece of timber.

CANT-HOOK. A wooden lever, with an iron hook at one end, with which heavy articles of merchandise or timber are canted over.

CAN'T COME IT, is a vulgar expression for cannot do it. "You can't come it over me so," i. e. you cannot effect your purpose. Mr. Hamilton notices this expression among the provincialisms of Yorkshire.--Nugæ Literariæ, p. 353.

CANTELOPE. A species of muskmelon.

CANTICOY, or Cantica. An Indian word, denoting a dancing

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assembly, still used by aged people in New York and on Long Island. Also, a noisy conversation.

CANYON. (Span. cañon.) A narrow, tunnel-like passage between high and precipitous banks, formed by mountains or table lands, with a river running beneath. These occur in the great western prairies.

TO CAP. To excel; to surpass. Ex. To cap all. Used in familiar language in New England. Mr. Hartshorne, in his Shropshire Glossary, has the expression, to cob all, meaning the same.

TO CAP THE CLIMAX, is to surpass everything. A letter from Mexico, in speaking of the excesses of the American soldiers, says:

TO SET HER CAP FOR HIM. To direct her attentions to him; to endeavor to win his affections. Dr. Johnson notices the phrase, which he says belongs to modern times. It is common in the United States, and may be heard in the best society, in familiar conversation.

CAPSHEAF. A small sheaf of straw forming the top of a stack.--Dorset Glossary. Figuratively used in the United States to denote the highest degree, the summit.

TO CAPSIZE. To upset or overturn.--Webster. Originally a seaman's word; but now often heard among landsmen.

TO CAPTIVATE, v. a. (Lat. captivo, from capto, to take; Fr. captiver.) To take prisoner; to bring into bondage.--Johnson. To seize by force; as an enemy in war.--Webster.

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How ill-becoming is it in thy sex,
To triumph like an Amazonian trull
Upon their woes whom fortune captivates.--Shakspeare.

The Edinburgh Review, in its notice of the American Mineralogical Journal, published in New York in 1810, after speaking of other words, says, "Other examples, proving the alteration to which our language has been exposed, chiefly by the introduction of gallicisms, may be noticed in the rest of this Journal, resembling expressions found in American newspapers, where for a "ship taken," we read of "a ship captivated!"

In his remarks on this word, Mr. Pickering says it was new to him, and that he had never seen it in the newspapers. Subsequently, however, he discovered it in two or three of our authors. It cannot be said to be in use among writers at the present day. It is well known that Congress, in adopting the Declaration of Independence prepared by Mr. Jefferson, omitted certain passages contained in the original draft. Among these was the omission of the paragraph relating to the slave trade:

In noticing the above passage, Lord Brougham says, The word "captivating" will be reckoned an Americanism (as the Greeks used to say of their colonists a Solæcism). But it has undoubted English authority--Locke among others.--Statesmen of George III.

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CARDINAL. The name of a woman's cloak; from the red or scarlet habit worn by cardinals.--Todd's Johnson. The cardinal worn by ladies at the present day is a short cloak usually made of velvet, satin, or other rich material.

But we've no time, my dear, to waste,

Come, where's your cardinal, make haste.--Lloyd, Chit-chat.

CAROLINA POTATO. The sweet potato (convolvulus batata), so called in the Eastern States.

CARPET WEED. A small spreading plant, common in cultivated ground (molugo).--Bigelow's Plants of Boston.

CARROTY. Carroty-hair, red hair. A term common alike to England and America.

While "Tall-and-thin," with his hair all carroty,
Looks thrice as red, with fright, as his head,
And his face bounds plump, at a single jump,
Into horror, and out of hilarity!--New Tale of a Tub.

CARRYALL. A four-wheeled pleasure carriage, capable of holding several persons, or a family; hence the term, carryall. The name is common in the Northern States. In Canada it is applied to a sleigh.

TO CARRY A HORSE TO WATER, instead of lead or ride him to water. A Southern expression.--Sherwood, Georgia.

TO CARRY ON. To riot; to frolic.

TO CASCADE. To vomit--from the resemblance to a waterfall. It is a common word in England.

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CASSAVA, or CASSADA. (Cassabi, W. Ind.) The native name of a shrub of Central and South America, from the root of which the tapioca and mandioca arc extracted.

CATAMARAN. In the State of Maine, a raft for crossing rivers.

CATAMOUNT. Although this animal is peculiar to North America, a similar name, that of catamountain, for the wild cat, is common in the old authors from which we probably borrowed it. The catamount of North America is a larger and very different animal from the wild cat of Europe.

Would any man of discretion venture such a gristle,
To the rude claws of such a cat-a-mountain?--Beaumont and Fletcher.

CATAWAMPTIOUSLY CHAWED UP. Completely demolished, utterly defeated. One of the ludicrous monstrosities in which the vulgar language of the Southern and Western States abounds.

TO CATCH A TARTAR. To attack one of superior strength or abilities. This saying originated from the story of an Irish solder in the Imperial service, who, in a battle against the Turks, called out to his comrade that he had caught a Tartar. "Bring him along then," said he. "He won't come," answered Paddy. "Then come along yourself," replied his comrade. "Arrah," cried he, "but he won't let me."--Grose.

TO CATCH A WEASEL ASLEEP. It is a common belief that this little animal is never caught napping, for the obvious reason that he sleeps in his hole beyond the reach of man. The expression is applied to persons who are watchful and always on the alert, or who cannot be surprised; as, "You cannot deceive me, any sooner than you can catch a weasel

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asleep," or, "You can't catch a weasel asleep." The expressions are common.

CATERWAUL. The wailing of cats in the night-time; and hence, any ludicrous, disagreeable noise that resembles it.

CATFISH. (Genus Prinelodus. Cuvier.) This fish in several varieties is common throughout the Atlantic States under different popular names. It is also called by the name of Horned-pout, Bull-head, Mud-pout, and Minister. There is a very large species called the channel cat-fish, which is noticed by Dr. Kirtland in his Report On the Geology of Ohio.

CATMINT, or CATNIP. (Nepeta cataria.) A well known medicinal herb.

CATS-PAW. To be made a cats-paw of. To be made a tool or instrument to accomplish the purpose of another; an allusion to the story of a monkey, who made use of a cat's paw to scratch a roasted chestnut out of the fire.--Grose.

CATSTICK. A bat or cudgel bused by boys in a game at ball. It is known by the same name in England, though used for a different play. I have never heard the word here except in Rhode Island.

CAT-TAILS. Hares-tail rush (erophorum vaginatum). So called from its resemblance to a cat's tail. This name is

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common alike to England and America. It is used as a material for stuffing bed-ticks.

The cat-tails whiten through the verdant bog;
All vivifying Nature does her work.--Davidson's Poems, p. 10.

CAT-TAIL GRASS. Herds grass, or timothy.

CATTLE-RANGE. In Kentucky, a park.

CATTY-CORNERED. Diagonally. In his Craven Glossary, Mr. Carr gives the word cater corner'd.

CAUCUS. A private meeting of the leading politicians of a party to agree upon the plans to be pursued in an approaching election.

Gordon's History of the American Revolution, 1788, contains the earliest account of this word.

"The word caucus, and its derivative caucusing, are often used in Boston. All my repeated applications to different gentlemen have not furnished me with a satisfactory account of its origin...... More than fifty years ago, Mr. Samuel Adams's father, and twenty others, one or two from he north end of the town, where all ship-business is carried on, used to meet, make a caucus, and lay their plan for introducing certain persons into places of trust and power. When they had settled it, they separated, and used each their particular influence within his own circle," &c. Vol. I. p. 240.

"From the above remarks of Dr. Gordon on this word," says Mr. Pickering, "it would seem that these meetings were in some measure under the direction of men concerned in the 'ship business;' and I had therefore thought it not improbable that caucus might be a corruption of caulkers', the word meetings being understood. I was afterwards informed that several gentlemen in Salem and Boston believed this to be the origin of the word."

On the whole, this may be called a very useful word, the sense being so well understood in every part of the Union.

CAUSEY. A causeway, or way raised above the natural level

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of the ground, by logs, stones, earth, etc., serving as a dry passage over wet ground. This word is seldom used now.

TO BE A CAUTION. To be a warning. A common expression used in familiar language.

CAVALLARD. (Sp. caballardo.) A term used by the caravans which cross the prairies, to denote a hand of horses or mules.

TO CAVE IN. Said of the earth which falls down when digging into a bank. Figuratively, to break down; to give up.

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CAVESON. (French caveçon.) A muzzle for a horse.--New England.

CAVORTIN. (Span. cavar, to paw, applied to horses.) A word chiefly used in the Southern States. The following illustrations will show the sense in which it is used:

CENSUS. In the United States, an enumeration of the inhabitants of all the States, taken by order of Congress, to furnish the rule of apportioning the representation among the States, and the number of representatives to which each State is entitled in the Congress; also, the enumeration of the inhabitants of a State, taken by order of the Legislature.--Webster.

CENT. A copper coin of the United States, whose value is the hundredth part of a dollar.--Webster.

CHAIR. In the Southern Stares, this name is given to that kind of one-horse pleasure carriage, which, in the Northern States, is generally called by the old English name, chaise.--Pickering. The same word, in England, is applied to a vehicle drawn by one horse.

E'en kings might quit their state, to share
Contentment and a one-horse chair.--T. Warton.

TO CHALK OUT. To mark or trace out as with chalk.--Johnson. To chalk out a plan or proceeding, is to devise or lay out a plan.

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The Liverpool Times, when speaking of Sir Robert Peel's Tariff, says:

CHALK. Not by a long chalk. When a person attempts to effect a particular object, in which he fails, we say, "He can't do it by a long chalk."

CHAP. A boy, lad; a fellow.

For you are to consider these critical chaps
Do not like to be snubb'd; you may venture, perhaps,
An amendment, where they can see somewhat amiss;
But may raise their ill blood, if you circulate this.--Byron, Critical Remarks.

CHAPARRAL. In Spain, a chaparral is a bush of a species of oak. The termination al signifies a place abounding in; as, chaparral, a place of oak-bushes; almendral, an almond orchard; parral, a vineyard; cafetal, a coffee-plantation, &c. &c.

This word having recently become quite common in our newspapers in consequence of the lamental war with Mexico, the following description of a chaparral was given last year by a correspondent of the New Orleans Picayune, then at Matamoras: It is a series of thickets of various sizes, from one hundred yards to a mile through, with bushes and briars, all covered with thorns, and so closely entwined together as to prevent the passage of anything through larger than a wolf or hare. When they are in the course of a traveller, he must travel around them, sometimes four or five miles before he can make half a mile on his route. In the middle of most of them you will find a small prairie, with numerous beds of prickly pears, the fruit of which is often ventured for by those who are accustomed to its use, and "know the ropes."

CHATTER-BOX. One whose tongue runs incessantly.--Todd.

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TO CHAW. (Saxon, ceowan; German, kawen.) To champ between the teeth; to masticate; to chew.--Johnson. Webster. This, according to all lexicographers, is the legitimate word, and should be so written and pronounced. Custom and fashion, however, have changed it to chew, which is now invariably used among educated people.

I home returning, raught with foul despite,
And chawing vengeance all the way I went.--Spenser, F. Queen.


The man who laught but once, to see an ass
Mumbling to make the cross-grained thistles pass,
Might laugh again, to see a jury chaw
The prickles of Unpalatable law.--Dryden.

TO CHAW UP. To use up; demolish.

CHAY. A chaise. Common in New England, where these vehicles are chiefly used.

CHEBACCO BOAT. Probably the same as the xebec of the Mediterranean. A description of fishing vessel employed in the Newfoundland fisheries. They are also called Pinksterns. The word may be a corruption of chedabucto, the name of a bay in Nova Scotia, from which vessels are fitted out for fishing.--Adams on the Fisheries, p. 220.

CHECKERS or chequers. The common name for the game which is called draughts in England. Mr. Todd, in his edition of Johnson's Dictionary, has the word checker, a chessboard, or draught-board.

CHEQUER BERRY. (Mitchella.) A handsome little creeping plant, the only species of its genus.--Bigelow's Flora Bostoniensis.

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CHEWINK. The ground robin; so called from its peculiar note. On Long Island it is called the towhee goldfinch; and in Louisiana, from its plumpness, grasset.--Natural History of New York.

CHICKABIDDY. A young chicken. Used also as a term of endearment to children, and not peculiar to America.

I'm a chickabiddy see,
Take me now, now, now.--Nursery Rhymes.

CHICKADEE. The black-cap titmouse, a very common little bird so called from its peculiar note.--Audubon, Ornith.

CHICKAREE. (Lat. sciurus Hudsonii.) The popular name of the red squirrel.

CHICKEN-FIXINGS. In the Western States, a chicken fricassee.

CHICKWEED. (Stellaria media.) A very common plant, growing in every situation, even between the bricks in the side-walks.--Bigelow's Flora.

CHIGRES (commonly called jiggers). Sand-fleas, which penetrate under the skin of the feet, but particularly the toes. As soon as they accomplish this, an itching sensation is felt when the chigre ought to be removed by means of a needle breaking the skin. No uneasiness follows; but should this precaution be neglected, the insect breeds in the toe, and produces sometimes dreadful sores. These insects are found in the West Indies, and the adjacent shores of the Gulf of Mexico.--Carmichael's West Indies, Vol. I. p. 188.

TO CHINK. To rattle, jingle; to cause to rattle or jingle. Used especially of the noise of coin shaken in a purse or bag.

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He chinks his purse, and takes his seat of state;
With ready quills the dedicators wait.--Pope, Dunciad.

CHINK. A term used for money; used in various paris of England, as well as in the United States.--Grose. Forby.

Though never so much a good huswife doth care 
That such as do labour have husbandly fare; 
Yet feed them and cram them, till purse do lack chink, 
'No spoon-meat, no bellyfull,' laborers think. 
Kill crow, pie, and cadow, rook, buzzard, and raven, 
Or else go desire them to seek a new haven.--Tusser, Husbandry.


When joyful tidings reach the ear,
And dad retires by Heaven's commands,
To leave his chink to better hands.--Somerville, Fables, 2.

CHINKING AND DAUBING. The process of filling with clay the interstices between the logs of houses in the new countries. In the north of England it is called daubing and filling.--Moor.

CHINQUIPIN. (Castanea pumila.) A species of chestnut. The water chinquipin of the United States, is the 'sacred bean' of the Egyptians (nelumbo nucifera).

CHIP. "A chip of the old block," a child who either in person or sentiments resembles his father.--Grose. A common expression in the United States.

CHIPMUK, or CHIPMONK. The popular name for the striped squirrel (sciurus striatus). Probably an Indian word.

CHARIVARI. (Commonly pronounced shevaree.) A custom

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which prevails in those parts of the United States which were originally colonized by the French, as Louisiana, some parts of Florida, Missouri and Michigan. It is also common in Canada. When an unequal match takes place, when an old bachelor marries, or a widow or widower soon after the death of his or her partner, their friends assemble on the night of the marriage, with tin horns, bells, pans, kettles, and everything that will make a discordant noise. This "serenade" is continued night after night until the party is invited in and handsomely entertained.--See Calithumpian.

TO CHIRK. To make a peculiar noise by placing the tongue against the roof of the mouth, to urge horses on.

CHIRK. Lively; cheerful; in good spirits; in a comfortable state; as when one enquires about a sick person, it is said, he is chirk. The word is wholly lost except in New England.--Webster. It is doubtless derived from the old verb to chirk (Ang. Sax. cercian), i. e. to chirp, which is found in old English writers.

TO CHIRRUP. To cheer up; to quicken or animate a horse by a peculiar sound or chuck, or by chirping. It is not noticed by Johnson, though it is common in England.

TO CHISEL. To cheat; the same as to gouge. A Western word.

CHITLINS. Fragments; small pieces.

TO CHOCK. To put a wedge under a thing to prevent its moving; as, to 'chock a barrel,' i. e. to put a piece of wood or something under it to keep it steady.

CHOCK UP. Close, tight; said of a thing which fits closely to another.

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CHOCK-FULL. Entirely full; see also Chuck-full.

CHOKE-CHERRY. The popular name of the prunus Virginiana, so called from its astringent properties.

TO CHOKE OFF. A figurative expression borrowed from the act of choking a dog to make him loosen his hold. To arrest or stop a public speaker when addressing an audience, is called choking him off. This is done by shuffling the feet, applauding where applause is uncalled for, by putting questions of order, or in any way impeding or arresting the speaker. It is sometimes resorted to when a tedious man occupies the floor, and when vacant seats do not satisfy him that no one will listen to him.

TO CHOMP. To champ; to chew loudly and greedily. Champ is an old word, but not often used now, except in connection with a horse.--Forby's Vocab. Chomp is quite common in New England and is applied to persons who eat fast or greedily.

CHOO! interj. (Old Fr. chou.) Used to drive away pigs and set dogs upon them. Cotgrave says, "Chou is a voice wherewith we drive away pullein." And why not pigs?--Forby's Vocab.

CHOP. A Chinese word signifying quality; first introduced by mariners in the China trade, but which has now become common in all our sea-ports. Originally the word was only applied to silks, teas or other goods from China; now it is applied to everything, for we hear of first chop teas, first chop tobacco, and first chop potatoes.

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TO CHOP. "To drop and change," is an old expression which we still make use of, meaning to change often, to shift about. It is also applied particularly to the wind, so that a 'chopping wind or sea' is one that is constantly changing its direction.

CHORE, or CHAR. The word chore, which has been thought peculiar to America, is without doubt the same as the word char, which, both as a verb and a noun, may be found in the English dictionaries. "In America," says Mr. Webster, "this word denotes small work of a domestic kind as distinguished from the principal work of the day. It is generally used in the plural, chores, which includes the daily or occasional business of feeding cattle and other animals preparing fuel, sweeping the house, cleaning furniture," &c.

According to the English dictionaries char means work done by the day, a single job or task; from which has arisen the words char-man and char-woman. In Jenning's Glossary of Somersetshire, is the word choor, a job, or any dirty household work; choor-woman, a woman who goes out to do any kind of odd or dirty work. In Wiltshire, it is pronounced cheare. This as well as the Somerset word is very near the American word in pronunciation.

A woman, and commanded
By such poor passion as the maid that milkes
And does the meanest chares.--Shakspeare, Ant. & Cleop.

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The editor of the Boston Daily Star, in relinquishing his editorial charge, gives the following notice:

TO CHOUSE. The origin of this word has been referred by Etymologists to the Swed. kiusa, the old French joucher, and the Dutch kosen, to cozen. Skinner, and Gifford in his notes to Ben Jonson, think the word is of Turkish origin, from chiaous, a messenger of the Turkish emperor. A messenger, or chiaous, from the Grand Senior, in 1609, committed a gross fraud upon the Turkish and Persian merchants resident in England, by cheating them out of £4,000. Hence from the notoriety of the circumstance, to chiaous, chause, or chouse, was to do as this man did, i. e. to cheat, or defraud. This origin of the word seems quite probable; for the name of a notorious defaulter in New York has recently been used in a similar manner.

Dap.  And I will tell, then?  By this hand of flesh,
Would it might never write good court-hand more,
If I discover.  What do you think of me,
That I am a chause?

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Fac.  What's that?  The Turk was here,
As one would say, do you think that I'm a Turk?--Ben Jonson.


Freedom and zeal have chous'd you o'er and o'er;
Pray give us leave to bubble you once more.--Dryden.

CHOWDER. A favorite dish in New England, made of fish, pork, onions, and biscuit, stewed together. Picnic parties to the sea-shore generally have a dish of chowder, prepared by themselves in some grove near the beach, from fish caught at the same time. Grose describes the same as a sea dish.

CHRISTIANIZATION. This substantive is to be found occasionally in our religious publications. The verb to christianize, which is in the dictionaries, is in use among the English writers; but the substantive is never employed by them.--Pickering, Vocab.

CHUCK-FULL. Entirely full. Common in familiar language as well as chock-full, which see for other examples.

CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW. The common name of a bird of a bird of the whippoorwill family (capimulgus Caroniensis). Mr. Audubon says, "About the middle of March, the tile forests of Louisiana are heard to echo with the well-known notes of this interesting bird. No sooner has the sun disappeared, and the nocturnal insects emerge from their burrows, than the sound 'Chuck-Will's-widow,' repeated with great clearness and power, six or seven times in as many seconds, strike the ear."--Ornithology, Vol. I. p. 273.

TO CHUCK. To throw, by a quick and dexterous motion, a short distance.--Dorsetshire Glossary. Todd. This word is noticed by Dr. Webster as a vulgarism.

To chuck under the chin is a common expression here as in England.

Who loves no hurries, routs, or din;
But gently chucks her husband's chin.--Fawkes, The Vigar's Reply.

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CHUCKLEHEAD. A fool. Not peculiar to America.

CHUFFY. Blunt; surly; clownish.--Todd's Johnson.

In New England, says Mr. Webster, this word expresses that displeasure which causes a swelling or surly look and grumbling, rather than heat and violent expressions of anger.

The etymology of this word is uncertain. Shakspeare applied the term fat chuffs to rich and avaricious people, as a term of contempt. In old French, joffu has a similar meaning to our chuffy.

The goddess drank; a chuffy lad was by,
Who saw the liquor with a grudging eye.
And grinning, cries, She's greedy more than dry.--Ovid. Met. b. v.

CHUK. A noise made in calling swine. Always repeated at least three times.

CHUM. A chamber-mate; a term used in colleges.--Junius Etymologicon. We sometimes use it in the more extended meaning of companion, fellow.

CHUNK. A short, thick piece of wood.--Webster. Ihis word is provincial in the South of England.--Ray. Grose.

It is sometimes called a junk in this country, as well as in England. The English dictionaries have the word chump, which is used in the same sense as chunk. This word is also applied to other things besides wood. I have often heard the butchers in market say, 'chunk of beef.'

CHUNKY. Short and thick. This word, formed from chunk, is only used when speaking of the stature of a person, as 'a chunky little fellow.'

CHURCH. Mr. Pickering has the following remarks on this word: "A church, as a body of persons, is distinguished in New England, from a congregation, by the privileges which the former in general reserve to themselves of receiving exclusively in that church the sacrament and baptism, in consequence of their having publicly declared their assent to the creed which that church maintains. Marriage, burial,

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and public worship, are open to the members of the congregation at large, according to the forms and methods employed in each church; as are also catechizing for children and visits to the sick."--Vocabulary.

CIRCUMBENDIBUS. A circuitous, roundabout way, either of getting to a spot, or of telling a story.--Holloway's Dic. of Prov.

CISCO. The popular name of a fish of the herring kind which abounds in Lake Ontario, particularly in Chaumont Bay at the east end, where thousands of barrels are annually caught and salted. I do not find this name mentioned by Dr. DeKay, in his work on the fishes of New York, in the Natural History of the State.

TO CITIZENIZE. To make a citizen; to admit to the rank and privileges of a Citizen.--Webster. Rarely used.

CITESS. This word, Mr. Pickering says, as well as citizeness, was used during the first years of the French Revolution, as a translation of the revolutionary title, citoyenne; but it has for several years been wholly disused.--Pickering's Vocabulary.

It is unnecessary to recite the discussions on this word by the British critics, the Quarterly Review, &c. as it was never adopted into our language. Dr. Webster and the English lexicographers have the word citess in their dictionaries, but only in the sense of "a city woman."

CIVISM. Love of country; patriotism.--Webster. This, like the preceding word, is one of the productions of the French Revolution, though frequently used several years ago, is now obsolete here as well as in France.--Pickering's Vocabulary.

CIVILIZEE. A civilized man; one advanced in civilization.

CLAM. The popular name of a very common shell-fish. "As happy as a clam at high water," is a very common expression

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in those parts of the coast of New England where clams are found.

CLAM-BAKE. The baking of clams on those parts of the sea-coast where they abound, particularly in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, furnishes one of the most popular dishes as well as most favorite amusements of which the people partake. The method of baking is as follows: A cavity is dug in the earth about eighteen inches deep which is lined with round stones. On this a fire is made; and when the stones are sufficiently heated, a bushel or more of clams (according to the number of the persons who are to partake of the feast) is thrown upon them. On this is put a layer of rock-weed gathered from the beach, and over this a second layer of sea-weed. This prevents the escape of the steam, and preserves the sweetness of the clams. Clams baked in this manner, are preferred to those cooked in the usual way in the kitchen.

Parties of ten or twenty persons, of both sexes, are the most common. Often they extend to a hundred, when other amusements are added; and on one occasion, that of a grand political mass-meeting in favor of Gen. Harrison on the 4th of July, 1840, nearly 10,000 persons assembled in Rhode Island, for whom a clambake and chowder were prepared. This was probably the greatest feast of the kind that over took place in New England.

CLAM-SHELL. The lips, or mouth. There is a common though vulgar expression in New England, of "Shut your clam-shell," that is, Shut your mouth, hold your tongue.

TO CLAP, or CLAP DOWN. To set down; charge to one's account.

CLAPBOARD. A thin narrow board, used to cover the sides of houses, and placed so as to overlap the one below it. In

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England, according to Bailey's Dictionary, a clapboard is a thin board formed ready for the cooper's use, in order to make casks or vessels.

CLAPE. The common name of the golden-winged woodpecker in the State of New York. Dr. DeKay thinks it "a provincial word, introduced by the early English colonists." It is elsewhere called High-hole, Yucker, Flicker, Wake-up, and Pigeon woodpecker; in Louisiana, Pique bois jaune.--Nat. Hist. of New York.

CLAP-TRAP. An artifice for attracting applause. Used chiefly in theatrical or political language.

CLEAN, adv. (Ang. Sax. clæne.) Quite; perfectly; fully; completely. This sense is now little used.--Johnson. In the United States it is common among the illiterate, but rarely seen in composition.

THE CLEAN THING. A low expression denoting propriety, or what is honorable.

CLEARING. A place or tract of land cleared of wood for cultivation; a common use of the word in America.--Webster.

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TO CLEAR OUT. To take oneself off; to depart, decamp. A vulgar expression.

CLEAVAGE. The state of being cleft.

CLEVER. Good-natured, obliging. In Great Britain, a clever man is a dextrous man, one who performs an act with skill or address. Mr. Pickering says, that 'in speaking of anything but man, we use the word much as the English do. We say a clever horse, &c.; and it is common to see in the London newspapers advertisements in this form--"To be sold, a clever gray gelding," &c.

CLEVERLY. "This is much used in some parts of New England instead of well or very well. In answer to the common salutation, How do you do? we often hear, I am cleverly. It is also applied to other things, as well as to health, and means either adroitly or exactly; according to the case."--Pickering. It is also used in the sense of fairly, completely. Dr. Johnson's definition is dextrously, fitly, handsomely.

CLEVERNESS. Mildness or agreeableness of disposition; obligingness; good nature. Used in New England.--Webster.

CLEVIS, or CLEVY. An iron bent to the form of an ox-bow, with the two ends perforated to receive a pin, used on the end of a cart-neap, to hold the chain of the forward horse or

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oxen; or, a draft-iron on a plow. Provincial in New England.--Webster.

CLINCHER. A smart reply.--Bailey's Dictionary. This word is used in a figurative Sense. To clinch a nail, renders it immovable and impossible to draw out. So a clincher in conversation is an argument or opinion which cannot be controverted.

CLING.}
CLING-STONE.} A variety of the peach in which the flesh adheres, or clings, firmly to the stone. When the stone readily separates from the peach, they are called free-stones. The word peach frequently designates the free-stone, while the others are called clings.

CLINKER. A vitrified substance found in grates and stoves where anthracite coal has been burnt.

CLIP. A blow or stroke with the hand; as, He hit him a clip.--Webster. Provincial in New England and the Northern States.

TO CLIP. To cut, to run. Probably from the motion of a bird's wings, which strike or heat the air as it flies or runs.

Some falcon stoops at what her eye designed,
And, with her eagerness the quarry missed,
Straight flies at check, and clips it down the wind.--Dryden.

CLIPPER. A cutter; a small schooner with raking masts, built and rigged with a view to fast sailing. Larger vessels are sometimes built after their model, when they are called clipper-built.

CLITCHY. Clammy, sticky, glutinous.--Pickering's Vocab. Mr. Pickering says, he has "heard this word used in a few instances by old people in New England; but it is rarely heard." In Devonshire, in England, the word clatchy, meaning the same, is provincial. In Holloway's Dictionary of Provincialisms is clit, clayey, stiff, applied to the soil.

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CLOCKMUTCH. (Dutch, klapmuts, a night-cap.) A woman's cap composed of three pieces,--a straight centre one, from the forehead to the neck, with two side pieces. A New York term.

CLODHOPPER. A rustic; a clown.

CLOSE-FISTED. Stingy, mean. Common in various dialects of England.--Halliwell.

CLOSURE. A shutting up; a closing.--Pickering.

Mr. Pickering observes that he has never seen this word, except in the extract quoted, in any American publication. Dr. Johnson gives the word in the same sense from the French closure, and cites several authorities for its use.

CLOTHES-HORSE. A frame-work for hanging clothes on to dry after they have been washed and ironed, in the form of an opening screen.

CLOTHIER. A man whose occupation is to full and dress cloth.--Webster. In England, a clothier is one who makes clothes, which seems to have been the meaning of the word in the time of Shakspeare. Mr. Pickering observes that "although we use clothier for fuller, yet the place where the cloth is cleansed and dressed is called a fulling-mill."

CLOUT. A blow or strike, most properly with the fist. This word is found in several old English authors, and in the Shropshire and Dorset Glossaries of the present day. With us it is a vulgar expression frequently heard.

The kynges sone, one and proud,
Gaf king Richard swylke a ner clout
That the fyre of his heyen sprong.--Richard Cœur de Lyon, v. 768.

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CLOUT-NAILS. Short nails with large heads for the soles of strong shoes.--Hartshorne's Shropshire.

CLUB-TAIL. (Genus alosa.) The common shad, the fatter portion of which have the tail swollen, and on the coast of Carolina where they are taken, are called club-tails.--Nat. Hist. N. Y.

COAL-HOD. A kettle for carrying coals to the fire. More frequently called, as in England, a coal-scuttle. Mr. Halliwell in his Dic. of Prov. has coal-hood, which is used in the eastern part of England.

CONCERN. In mercantile usage, an establishment or firm for the transaction of business. It is provincial in England, and denotes a small estate; from whence our use of the word is derived.

TO CONDUCT, instead of 'to conduct oneself;' leaving out the reflexive pronoun. This offensive barbarism is happily confined to New England, where it is common both in speech and writing. Like many other expressions in the same predicament, it has received the tacit sanction of Dr. Webster, himself a New England man.

CONGRESS. This term is applied by us especially to three differently constituted bodies of representatives of the people that have succeeded each other in the government of the country. The first is the Continental Congress, assembled in 1774, and which conducted the national affairs until near the close of the Revolution. The second is the Federal Congress, which met under the Articles of Confederation, adopted March, 1781, and ruled the country till 1789. The third is the Congress of the United States, which first met under the Constitution, on the 4th of March, 1789.

Mr. Pickering remarks, that English writers, in speaking of American affairs, generally say, "the Congress," using the article. Such was formerly our own practice; but in the course of time it has acquired with us the force of a proper flame, so that we now speak of Congress, as the English do of Parliament. When the present Constitution was adopted, the usage was still fluctuating, as the following examples will show:

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CONGRESSIONAL. Pertaining to a congress, or to the Congress of the United States; a Congressional debates.--Webster.

CONSCIENCE. Reason, reasonableness. A common use of the word in familiar language, even in the best Society as, "What in conscience are you doing that for?" "That's enough, in all conscience."

CONSIDERABLE, used adverbially for very, is a common vulgarism.

CONSIDERABLE. This word is frequently used in the following manner in the Northern States, "He is considerable of a surveyor;" "Considerable of it may be found in the country."--Pickering.

CONSOCIATION. Fellowship or union of churches by their pastors and delegates; a meeting of the pastors and delegates of a number of congregational churches, for aiding a[nd] supporting each other, and forming an advisory council in ecclesiastical affairs.--Webster. Consociation of churches, is their mutual and solemn agreement to exercise communion in such acts as aforesaid, amongst themselves, with specia[l] reference to those churches, &c.--Result of the Synod, 1662.

TO CONSOCIATE. To unite in an assembly or convention, as pastors and messengers or delegates of churches.--Webster.

CONSTABLE. Mr. Webster notices the following distinction between the application of this word in England and in the

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United States: "In England there are high constables, petty constables and constables of London. In the United States constables are town or city officers of the peace, with powers similar to those possessed by the constables in Great Britain." Mr. Pickering says that "in many of the cities, boroughs, and other local jurisdictions in England, they have peace officers called constables, whose powers are not materially, if at all, different from those of our constables."

CONSTANTS. Quantities or data that are constant, not subject to variation or change.

CONSTITUTED AUTHORITIES. The officers of government collectively, in a kingdom, city, town, &c. This expression has been adopted by some of our writers from the vocabulary of the French Revolution.--Pickering.

CONSTITUTIONALITY. Used chiefly in political language, to signify the state of being agreeable to the constitution of a State or of the United States.

CONTEMPLATION. The phrase, "I have it in contemplation to do so and so," instead of "I intend," &c., has been transferred by us, like many other Latinisms of a like kind, from the language of books to that of common conversation.

TO CONVENE. This is used in some parts of New England in a very strange sense; that is, to be convenient, fit, or suitable. Ex. This road will convene the public; i. e. will be convenient for the public. The word, however, is used only by the illiterate.--Pickering. I have never heard the phrase.

COODIES. The name of a political sect in the State of New

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York, which originated in the year 1814. At that time a series of well written articles appeared in a New York paper signed Abimeleck Coody. He professed to be a mechanic. "He was a federalist and addressed himself principally to the party to which he belonged. He endeavored to show the impropriety of opposing the war, and urged them to come forward in defence to their country. He also attacked De Witt Clinton with great severity." The writer was ascertained to be Mr. Gulian C. Verplanck, then as now distinguished for his talents. He was replied to by a writer under the signature of "A Traveller," said to be De Witt Clinton, who thus speaks of this party: "The political sect called the Coodies, of hybrid nature, is composed of the combined spawn of federalism and Jacobinism, and generated in the venomous passions of disappointment and revenge, without any definite character; neither fish, nor flesh, nor bird, nor beast, but a non-descript made up of 'all monstrous, all prodigious things.'"--Hammond's Political Hist. of N. Y.

COOKEY. A cake. A Dutch word used in New York.

COLD AS PRESBYTERIAN CHARITY. I know not the origin of this saying, and am not aware that there is less charity in this sect than in any other.

COOL-WORT. (Tiarella cordifolia.) The popular name of an herb, the properties of which are diuretic and tonic. It is prepared by the Shakers.

COOL. Used in familiar language, in England and in the United States, in the sense of impudent. Punch gives a dialogue between the years 1845 and 1846, which is a good illustration of this word.

1846.  "Come, answer me, answer me, old  Forty-Five,
As an old man a young should answer;

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I've much to learn; so, while you're alive,
Just resolve me this point if you can, sir:
What's the coolest thing that you've seen Forty-Five?"

1845.  "Why, Peel, when he said to Commons and Peers
That the Income Tax should end in three years--
That was, p'raps, the coolest thing."

1846.  "What else have you seen that was cool, Forty-Five?"

1845.  "Why, Jonathan threatening that he'd annex us,
If we grumbled about his annexing Texas--
That struck me as rather cool."

COON. A popular contraction of the word raccoon. A nickname applied to those who belong to the Whig party.

COONERY. Whiggery. See preceding article.

COPPER. A copper coin, especially a British halfpenny or American cent.

COOT. The name of a small water-fowl. It is often applied to a stupid person, as, "He is a poor coot." Mr. Halliwell notices the old proverbial saying, "As stupid as a coot."

CORDUROY ROAD. A road or causeway constructed with logs laid together over swamps or marshy places. When properly finished, earth is thrown between them, by which the road is made smooth; but in newly settled parts of the United States, they are left uncovered, and thereby are extremely rough and bad to pass over with a carriage. Sometimes they extend many miles. They derive their name from their resemblance to a species of ribbed velvet, called corduroy.

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