▪ I. † ˈslugger1 Obs.
[f. slug v.1]
A sluggard.
| 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 40 With sluggers or unhardye persons, it is alwayes holy daye. c 1560 Bp. Cox in Abp. Parker's Corresp. (Parker Soc.) 130 Satan is no slugger, nor Judas no sleeper. |
▪ II. slugger2 orig. and chiefly U.S.
(ˈslʌgə(r))
[f. slug v.3]
1. = slogger n. 2. Also in Baseball, a hard-hitting batter.
| 1877 [see coon n. 4 b]. 1883 Chicago Tribune 3 July 6/5 Poor Burns fell an easy victim to the Cleveland sluggers. 1884 Harper's Mag. Jan. 300/1 Let the young disciple beware of those teachers [of boxing] who are known as ‘sluggers’. 1894 G. Meredith Let. 19 Feb. (1970) III. 1155 Harrison is a controversial slugger. I did not expect he would descend to the use of street missiles. Your answer hit the right tone. 1895 Daily News 6 Mar. 6/4 The champion slugger at football. 1946 Sun (Baltimore) 27 May 15 (caption) Charlie Keller, the Yankee's slugger, is shown being caught in a rundown. 1952 Manch. Guardian Weekly 16 Oct. 2/1 Their team includes Mr. Gromyko and the notorious slugger Vyshinsky. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. ii. 3/1 Tony has the build of a slugger... Maybe some club will make an offer for him, giving a dependable pitcher in return. 1970 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 9 Oct. 27/3 No amateur karate exponent stands a halfway chance against an old-fashioned slugger and kicker who has real experience of street brawls. 1972 J. Mosedale Football vii. 100 One of the National League's most powerful sluggers as a Cincinnati Red. 1977 Times of Zambia 7 Sept. 10/7 The new holder of baseball's all-time Home Run record, Japanese slugger Sadaharu Oh. |
2. A flat-surfaced boss, knob, or projection on a roll for crushing ore. Also attrib.
| 1903 R. H. Richards Ore Dressing I. 105 These sluggers and knobs are cast upon segments. Ibid., The slugger roll has 16 knob segments and two slugger segments. |
3. Usu. pl. Ear-to-chin whiskers. Also called slugger whiskers. U.S. slang.
| 1898 F. P. Dunne Mr. Dooley in Peace & War 211 Ganderbilk he was there, too, standin' out on th' steps in th' cold, combin' his whiskers... He wears a pair iv sluggers..with his fingers. 1900 G. Ade More Fables 118 The mild old Gentleman with the straw-colored Sluggers..came near. 1960 Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 489/2 Slugger.., an ear-to-ear chin beard, as worn by a stage Irishman. 1960 B. Keaton My Wonderful World of Slapstick i. 12 A fright wig, slugger whiskers, fancy vest. |
▪ III. ˈslugger3
[f. slug n.2]
1. (See quot.)
| 1892 Labour Commiss. Gloss., Slugger, a machine which makes and drives into the bottoms of boots very thick rivets or sprigs called slugs, muds, or studs, to make the soles wear longer. |
2. One who attaches the top piece of the heel of a shoe to the seat.
| 1911 Rep. Labour & Soc. Cond. Germany (Tariff Reform League) III. vi–vii. 30 The average wages paid in the district were:.. Sole layer 20s. to 32s. Slugger 30s. to 35s. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §414 Slugger,..operates, by means of a lever, slugging machine, which attaches top piece of heel to seat. |