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damber. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
damber, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
damber in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
damber you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
Possibly a blend of damme + boy.
Noun
damber (plural dambers)
- (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) A rascal; a dishonest person; a man belonging to a criminal gang.
1994, Amanda Scott, Dangerous Illusions, →ISBN:Happen we seen there was a damber in the ruffmans, and since we'd no yen t' deck the chates, we'd ha' binged a wast but for the rhino we was promised.
2010, Eric Berne, What Do You Say After You Say Hello?, →ISBN:The gallows laugh is the dying man's joke, or famous last words. As already noted, the crowds of spectators at Tyburn or Newgate hangings in the eighteenth century used to admire people who died laughing: 'I was the capper, see,' says Daniel Then. 'We had the cull all set up and then something went wrong. The others got away but I got nabbed, ha ha ha!' And 'Ha, ha ha,' roars the crowd in appreciation of the jest as the trap is sprung, 'the damber died game.'
Synonyms
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References
- [Francis Grose] (1788) “Damber”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, London: S. Hooper, , →OCLC.
- Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “damber”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant , volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, page 293.
- John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1891) “damber”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. , volume II, Harrison and Sons] , →OCLC, page 249.
- Eric Partridge, The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang. Routledge, 1973. →ISBN.
Anagrams