▪ I. pav1
(pæv)
Abbreviation of pavilion n. (sense 6): spec. (a) the London Pavilion (a music-hall and theatre, later a cinema); (b) a cricket pavilion.
| 1864 Hotten Slang Dict. 197 Pav., the Pavilion Theatre,—sometimes called the P.V., i.e., pe-ve. 1892 Idler Mar. 127 One Saturday night, I wended my way to the ‘Pav.’. 1901 To-Day 26 Sept. 266/1 The retiring victim [sc. a stumped batsman] came back to the Pav. 1903 [see cart v. 1 d]. 1934 Observer 1 Apr. 18/1 That long-established landmark, the London Pavilion (better known to its habitues as ‘the Pav.’) is following the example already set it by the Empire and the Alhambra and ‘going over to the pictures’. 1978 Guardian 20 Mar. 9/1 St. B's always had them, especially behind the cricket pavs. 1978 L. Meynell Papersnake i. 10, I had gone over to the sports pavilion, ‘the Pav’..to make sure the gear was all right for the match. |
▪ II. pav2
Abbreviation of pavlova. Austral. and N.Z.
| 1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. Austral. & N.Z. viii. 173 Pavlova cake, a meringue sweet, sometimes shortened to pav. 1974 Herald (Melbourne) 5 Apr. 23/1 The pavlova (now fondly abbreviated to the ‘pav’). |