▪ I. † fat, n.1 Obs.
(fæt)
Forms: 1 fæt(t, 2–4 fet, south. vet, (3 feat), 4–8 fatt(e, 5–7 fate, (5 faat), 4– fat. See also vat.
[OE. fæt str. neut., corresp. to MLG., Du. vat, OHG. fa{zced} (MHG. va{zced}, mod.G. fass), ON. fat (Da. fad, Sw. fat):—OTeut. fato-m:—Teut. root *fat- (:—pre-Teut. *pod-, pōd-) to hold, contain; cf. OFris. fatia, MDu. vatten, OHG. fa{zced}{zced}ôn (MHG. va{zced}{zced}en, mod.G. fassen) to grasp; also, Lith. pudas (:—pōdos) vessel; OE. fętel, OHG. fe{zced}{zced}il (MHG. ve{zced}{zced}el sword belt, mod.G. fessel, fetter), ON. fetell band.]
1. a. In early use gen. A vessel.
| Beowulf 2761 Geseah..he..fyrnmanna fatu. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John ii. 7 Gefylleð ȝie ða fatto of uætre. a 1000 Elene 1026 (Gr.) Heo þa rode heht..in seolfren fat locum belucan. a 1000 ælfric Gen. xl. 11 And ic nam þa winberian & wrang on þæt fæt and sealde Faraone. c 1050 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 347 Acerra, fæte oððe gledfæte. a 1225 St. Marher. 18 Þe reue..bed..bringen forð a uet ant fullen hit of wettre. |
| fig. c 1230 Hali Meid. 13 Þe uertu þat halt ure bruchele feat þat is ure feble flesch..in hal halinesse. 1340 Ayenb. 231 Hi bereþ a wel precious tresor ine a wel fyebble uet. |
b. spec. A vessel of silver, or other metal, of a particular form;
esp. one to contain holy-water.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1054 A fende..pelt me in an holy fat. 1454 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) ii. 175 A gylted cop called a fate covered. 1484 Churchw. Acc. Wigtoft Boston (Nichols 1797) 79 For saudryng of the holy water fatte. 1536 in Antiq. Sarisb. (1771) 198 A Fat of Silver for holy water. 1571 Grindal Injunct. Clergie & Laytie B iv, The Churchwardens..shall see..that all..Holy water stocks or Fattes..be utterly defaced. |
2. A vessel of large size for liquids; a tub, a dyer's or brewer's vat, a wine cask.
Cf. vat.
In the
A.V. esp. the vat in which grapes are trodden.
| [a 1225 St. Marher. 17 Saloman þe wise..bitunde us in ane tunne, ant comen babilones men..ant breken þæt feat. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 802, I schal fette yow a fatte your fette for to wasche.] c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 3152 Kinge Charles..bade him ordeyne a grete fat To baptyse the Sowdone yne. 1469 Bury Wills (Camden) 46 The occupier..shall haue his wetyng of his barly in the fate of the seid Denyse duryng maltyng tyme. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 100 3 [He] made hym to be caste in to a fatte or a tonne full of hote oylle. 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 447 Whan ale is in the fatt. 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. ii. (1593) 27 Harvest smeard with treading grapes late at the pressing fat. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. vii. 122 In thy Fattes our Cares be drown'd. a 1610 Healey Theophrastus To Rdr., A great water⁓pot like a Diers fat, or chaldron. 1678 J. Phillips Tavernier's Trav. v. viii. 219 The golden Fat out of which they take the water. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Wine, The Liquor..should stand in the Fatt about fifteen days. 1755 N. Magens Insurances I. 521, 5 Fatts red Wine {pstlg}1661: 16. |
b. Proverb.
| 1583 Babington Commandm. vi. (1637) 53 They would have every fatte..stand on his owne bottome. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 37 Every Fatt must stand on his own bottom. |
3. A cask or barrel to contain dry things.
Occas. more explicitly,
dry-fat.
| 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 14 For the freight of a drie fatte of the biggest sort .vi. s. viii. d. sterling. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 134 Our pipes and fatts of bread. c 1647 A. Wheelocke in Lett. Abp. Ussher (1686) 546 The Lambeth Books..as yet..remain in Fats, or great Chests. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 227 Wares, That come in dry Fats o'er from Francfort Fairs. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 260/1 All Goods..in Barrels, Hogsheads, Fats, Chests or Packs. 1715 tr. D'Anois' Wks. 386 The Fairy..return'd with a huge Fat full of Feathers. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs 37 Battery, in fats. |
4. Used as a measure of capacity (see
quots.).
| 1413 Act 1 Hen. V, c. 10 Un mesure use deins la dicte Citee appelle le Faat. 1433 Act 11 Hen. VI, c. 8 Une vessell appelle le Fat, que conteient viij busselx dez blees ou un autre bussell mys a ycell pur une quartier. 1600 Heywood Edw. IV, i. iii. i, I would give..a fat of leather, to match her to some justice. 1607 J. Cowell Interpr., Fate or Fat: is a great wooden vessell..vsed..to measure mault by, containing a quarter. 1660 Act 12 Chas. II, c. 4 Sched. s.v. Books, The basket or maund, containing 8 bales or 2 fats. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Fat of Ising-glass, a Quantity from Three Hundred Weight and a quarter to Four Hundred Weight. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Pr. I. x. 166 This measure [of 9 gallons] called a fatt was prohibited by statute. |
5. Comb.| 1483 Cath. Angl. 123/2 A Fattmaker, cuparius. |
▪ II. fat, a. and n.2 (
fæt)
Forms: 1
fǽt(t, 2–4
fet(t(e,
south. vet(te, 3–7
fatt(e, 3
south. vat(te, (4
faat), 4–
fat.
[OE. fǽtt, corresp. to OFris. fat, MDu., Du., MLG. vet (mod.G. fett adopted from LG.), OHG. fei{zced}{zced}it (MHG. vei{zced}et, vei{zced}t, mod.G. feist):—OTeut. *faitido-, pa. pple. of *faitjan to fatten (OHG. vei{zced}{zced}en, ON. feita), f. *faito- adj. fat, represented by OS. feit, MHG. vei{zced}, ON. feitr (Da. fed., Sw. fet); the existence of the primary adj. in OE. cannot be proved, as the form fæt in MSS. is prob. only a variant spelling of fǽtt.] A. adj. I. With respect to bulk or condition.
1. Of an animal used for food: Fed up for slaughter, ready to kill, fatted.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xv. 27 Þin fæder of-sloh an fæt [c 1160 Hatton Gosp. fet] celf. a 1300 Cursor M. 3643 (Cott.) O kyddes fatt þou fett me tuin. 1382 Wyclif Isa. xxv. 6 A feste of fatte bestes. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 349 Ful many a fat partrich hadde he in mewe. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xvii. 179 Ȝif thei [the children] ben fatte, þei eten hem anon. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 38 Sethe a mawdelarde þat fat is þenne And cut in peses. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 151/2 Fat fowle, or beste, mestyde to be slayne, altile. 1552 Huloet, Fatte by feading, as in a francke or penne, altilis. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. iv. 79 The party concluded it was to see whether he or she was fattest and fittest to kill first. 1849 Ld. Houghton in Life (1891) I. x. 439 Fat beasts sold for the price they were bought lean. 1890 Daily News 21 Nov. 5/3 Animals which..have won prizes as ‘fat’, that is to say, as ripe for the butcher. |
2. a. Of animals or human beings, their limbs, etc.: In well-fed condition, plump; well supplied with fat (see B).
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iv. xiii. §5 Ge sindon nu utan fætte & innan hlæne. a 1000 Deut. xxxi. 20, & þonne hiᵹ etaþ & fulle beoþ & fætte. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 81 [He] luueð his sunnen alse deð þet fette swin þet fule fen to liggen in. a 1225 Ancr. R. 138 Hit regibbeð anon, ase uet kelf & idel. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 429 Ballede he was, & þycke of breste, of body vat also. a 1300 Cursor M. 4566 (Gött.) Þe seuen of þaim..were selcuth fat and fair ky. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 208 Faitours in frere cloþynge hadde fatte chekus. c 1450 Merlin 227 Her flessh whitter than snowe, and was not to fatte ne to sklender. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 14 A Windsor Stagge, and the fattest (I thinke) i'th Forrest. 1626 Bacon Sylva §899 The Beare, the Hedge-hog..wax Fat when they Sleepe. 1668 Davenant Man's the Master ii. i, The chief reason why I am not fat is..because I am in love with three of our neighbours' maids. 1731 Arbuthnot Aliments vi. 190 You may see in an Army forty thousand Foot-Soldiers without a fat Man. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 45 Their bodies are fat and muscular. 1864 Princess Alice in Mem. (1884) 78 My fat Baby..is a great darling. 1883 Gilmour Mongols (1884) 108 The Mongols like to be careful of their camels, even when they are fat and strong. |
| absol. c 1205 Lay. 19445 Ne durste þær bilæuen na þæ uatte no þe læne. |
b. In unfavourable sense: Overcharged with fat, corpulent, obese.
| a 1000 Riddles xli. 105 (Gr.) Mara ic eom and fættra, þonne amæsted swin. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3068, A necke..nawþer fulsom, ne fat, but fetis & round. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. B) 5 Of seknesse of a wommans tetys to grete to fatte oþere to lene. 1494 [see corpulent 2]. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. v. 25 There was..an old fat woman euen now with me. 1646, 1791 [see corpulency 2]. 1856 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 294 So fat a man one rarely sees. |
c. fig.| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 173 b, He is fatte of my benefytes and good dedes. 1558 Bp. Watson Sev. Sacram. i. A j b, By the Sacramente..wee are nourished to everlastyng life, and made fatte with God. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 48, I will feede fat the ancient grudge I beare him. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 180 Aduantage feedes him fat, while men delay. 1611 Bible Prov. xi. 25. 1620 May Heir i. i. in Hazl. Dodsley XI. 515 'Twill feed me fat with sport, that it shall make. |
d. fig. in vulgar phrase
to cut up fat: see
cut v. 60 k.
e. Of larger size than is usual; large in comparison with others of the same species.
| 1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 368/2 The Fat Dormouse (Myoxus glis) is larger than the British species. 1877 A. B. Horton in C. A. Moloney Sk. Forestry W. Afr. (1887) 38 Nuts well supplied with flesh, or what is technically called ‘fat nuts’. |
f. fat herring = matie.
| 1863 [see matie]. 1883 F. M. Wallem Fish Supply Norway 15 The Norwegian fat herring is considered to be the very best herring in the world. 1967 Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. V. 436 The ‘fat’ herring fishery, exploiting one-to-four-year-old, adolescent fish. |
3. a. transf. Of things: Thick, full-bodied, substantial;
spec. of printing types. Also
† to beat fat (
Typog.): see
quot. 1683.
† Of the voice: Full.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2104, vii eares wexen fette of coren. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxxi. (1495) 942 The voyces ben fatte and thycke whanne moche spyryte comyth out as the voys of a man. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. xlii. 200 The white lillie his leaues be..somewhat thicke or fat. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. ii. 141 There are..Traders riding to London with fat Purses. 1676 Moxon Print. Lett. 5 The..Draughts of the Letters will shew him what parts of a Letter must be fat or lean. Ibid. 7 The Stem or Broad stroke in a Letter is called the Fat stroke. 1683 Moxon Dict. Printing, Beat Fat, If a Press-man Takes too much Inck with his Balls, he Beats Fat. The Black English Faced Letter is generally Beaten Fat. 1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 247 The leaves of the seeds..appeared twice as fat or thick. 1841 Savage Dict. Printing, Fat Face or Fat Letter is a letter with a broad stem. 1867 G. P. Marsh in Nation 3 Jan., The substitution of full-faced—I have heard it called fat by printers..small letter for capitals. |
b. Naut. (see
quot. 1704).
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 4 If it [the Tuck] lie too low it makes her haue a fat quarter. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. s.v., If the Trussing in, or Tuck of a Ships Quarter under Water, be deep: They say she hath a Fat Quarter. 1867 in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v. |
II. With respect to the component parts.
4. a. Containing much fat, oil, etc.; consisting of fat, greasy, oily, unctuous.
to cut it (too) fat:
lit. referring to a slice of meat,
fig. (vulgar) to make a display. See
cut v. 8
b.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. lxxx. 15 [lxxxi. 16] He hi fedde mid fætre lynde, hwæte and huniᵹe. c 1200 Ormin 995 Bræd..smeredd wel wiþ elesæw & makedd fatt & nesshe. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 264 Þe larke..of flesch, by fele folde fatter and swetter. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 159/1 Fet, or fatte, as flesshe and oþer lyke, pinguis. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 147 Fatt and newe Milke. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. v. 143 If you be not too much cloid with Fat Meate. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 332 It shall be needful.. to use some fat broth. 1638 Rawley tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1650) 7 Mixed with Tallow or any Fat Thing. 1662 J. Davies Voy. Ambass. 201 The Milk..is so fat, that it makes a Cream two fingers thick. 1701 Addison Lett. Italy 134 The fat Olive. 1824 Mrs. Cameron Marten & Scholars vii. 43 This nice fat cheese which brother gave me. 1836 W. Irving Astoria II. 205 Which he began to relish, pronouncing them ‘fat and tender’. 1836–9 Dickens Sk. Boz Scenes ix, Promenading about..with surprising dignity, or as the gentleman in the next box facetiously observes, ‘cutting it uncommon fat’. 1842 Comic Almanac 49 A goose, even tailors have, who cut it fat. |
† b. transf. Of figs: Full of juice, juicy.
Obs.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xv. (1495) 121 Leues of trees in whyche is fatte humour fallith not. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 212 Medle þerwiþ fatte figis. 1656 Ridgley Pract. Physick 292 Take fat Figs 12 oz. |
c. Of an actor's part, offering abundant opportunity for skill, display, etc.; of speeches, etc., impressive, effective.
| 1758 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans III. 157 He..sings as many fat songs as the best man in the Garden. 1901 C. Morris Life on Stage xix. 139 What is vulgarly known to-day as a ‘fat’ part, ‘fat’ meaning lines sure to provoke applause. 1929 Wodehouse Gentleman of Leisure xv. 119 True acting part, the biggest in the piece, full of fat lines. |
d. Of wood: Resinous (
U.S.); also
† of amber. Of coal: Bituminous.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. viii. 74 Fat Amber let the Tamarisk distill. 1831 Macculloch Syst. Geol. II. xliv. 356 A resinous plant such as fir..would produce a fatter coal than an oak, because the resin itself is converted into bitumen. 1836 Backwoods of Canada 234 The resinous substance called fat-pine being usually found in places where the living pine is least abundant. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 335 The room was filled with smoke of the fat light-wood. 1877 Dodge Hunting Grounds Gt. West xxxvi. 393 They [the Indians] procured some ‘fat’ pine knots. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining Terms, Fat Coals, those which contain volatile, oily matters. |
5. Of mould, clay, etc.: Containing much soluble or plastic matter; having a ‘greasy’ feeling to the touch; sticky. Of limestone: Containing much lime, and few impurities; hence, Pure.
| 1502 Arnolde Chron. 168 Y⊇ erthe muste..be neyther too fat ne to grauelly. 1546 St. Papers Hen. VIII, XI. 335 The grounde of the countrey..is so fatte, that if it rayne there three dayes..the ordinaunce wolde sticke..in the myre. 1563 Fulke Meteors (1640) 14 b, A Comet is an Exhalation..fat and clammie, hard compact like a great lumpe of pitch. 1611 Bible Song 3 Child. 22 marg., Naphtha, which is a certaine kind of fat and chalkie clay. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 687 Fat Pitch, and black Bitumen, add to these. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 238 A fat Earth full of Allom. 1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 332 It appeared very fat between the fingers. 1794 Kirwan Min. I. 116 The distinction of fat and meagre limestones. 1843 Portlock Geol. 682 The fat clay..is mixed with a meagre or sandy clay. |
† 6. Full of stimulating elements, rich.
Obs.| 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 268 Fat, warm and subtile Nourishments. 1797 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Livery of London Wks. 1812 III. 441 Pine-apples ne'er grow on cold raw clay But fat manure. |
7. Of fluids: Charged with solid or extraneous particles.
† a. Of water: Thick, turbid.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 259 Fatte water. 1587 Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 160 The fattest standing water is alwaies the best. 1607 Topsell Serpents (1653) 744 This Serpent is bred in fat waters and soils. 1713 Phil. Trans. XXVIII. 233 When the Water is fattest and fullest of Foam. |
† b. Of wine or ale: Fruity, full-bodied, sugary.
| 1609 Bible (Douay) Ezek. xxvii. 18 The Damacene was thy merchant..in fatte wine. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 102 These Cloysters haue a brauer life for good cheare [and] fat Wines..than any..Friers can elsewhere find. 1816 Scott Antiq. xi, A species of fat ale. |
c. Of air, mist, etc.: Charged with moisture or odours; dense.
rare.
† Of a room: Full of dense air.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen IV, ii. iv. 1 Come out of that fat roome. 1659 Lovelace Poems (1864) 186 When a fat mist we view, we coughing run. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. viii. 91 Make fat with Frankincense the sacred Fires. 1837 Emerson Addr., Amer. Schol. Wks. II. 189 Public and private avarice make the air we breathe thick and fat. |
† d. See
quot. Obs.| 1683 Moxon Dict. Printing, Fat Ashes, Founders call their Ashes Fat, if they are considerably Heavy, because then they have much Mettle in them. |
8. fat oil or
fat oils: in various senses (see
quots.).
| c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art II. 37 Take four ounces of fat oil, very clear, and made of good linseed oil. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 433 Fat oils become solid by long exposure. 1875 J. C. Wilcocks Sea Fisherman 179 Train-oil, a name given to it on the spot to distinguish it from whale, or seal oil..called fat-oil. 1877 Watts Dict. Chem. IV. 179 Fat or fixed oils..resemble one another in not being capable of distilling without decomposition. |
III. With reference to the amount of produce or supply.
9. Yielding or capable of yielding excellent and abundant returns.
a. Of land: Fertile, rich.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xiii. 224 On fat londes and ful of donge foulest wedes groweth. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 72 To see thi lande..fatte and swete. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 112 b, The fat ground. 1672 Cave Prim. Chr. i. i. (1673) 5 The blood of Christians making the Churches soil more fat and fertile. 1777 Robertson Hist. Amer. (1783) II. 98 The roots..multiply amazingly with the heat of the climate in a fat soil. 1827 Pollok Course T. iii, Turned fat lands To barrenness. 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles xi. 103 The broad, fat fields of Kent lay smiling in the sun. |
b. of a source of income (
e.g. a benefice, office).
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 519 Ȝif þe benefice be faat. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xli. (1887) 250 To leaue his old poore place for a fatter rowme. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. (1851) 305, I would wish him the biggest and the fattest Bishoprick. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 228 ¶1 A worthy Gentleman has lately offered me a fat Rectory. 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. iii, ‘Church! priesthood! fat living!’ 1883 American VI. 38 Congress as the creator of fat jobs. 1884 Manch. Exam. 17 Nov. 5/3 His fat sheriffship. |
c. of a dispute or suit at law.
| 1644 Milton Educ. (1738) 136 The promising and pleasing thoughts of litigious terms, fat contentions, and flowing fees. 1646 J. Cooke Vind. Law 26 A recreation which they have..to recreate the spirit of the Judges and Advocates, which they call a Fat case. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1865) I. iii. xiii. 219 Never was such a Lawsuit—so fat an affair for the attorney species. |
† d. Of a prisoner: That can pay a good ransom.
Obs. rare.
| 1548 Hall Chron. 123 b, So with greate riches, and fatte prisoners, he returned again to Paris. |
e. Typog. fat take,
fat work, in type-setting, work or a piece of work especially profitable to the compositor who works by the piece. Hence,
fat page: one having many blank lines or spaces.
10. Well supplied with what is needful or desirable.
† a. Of a person: Affluent, wealthy.
Obs.| 1611 Bible Ps. xcii. 14 They [the righteous] shalbe fat, & flourishing. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Fat Cull, a rich fellow. a 1716 South (J.) Persons grown fat and wealthy by a long and successful imposture. a 1764 Lloyd Fam. Epistle fr. Hanbury's Ho. 19 Mark the fat Cit, whose good round sum, Amounts at least to half a Plumb. |
b. Of things: Abundant, plentiful;
esp. of a feast, pasture, etc. Also, Well-stocked.
| 1563 Homilies ii. Gluttony & Drunkenness (1859) 306 He that loveth wine and fat fare shall never be rich. 1577 Holinshed Chron. I. 185 The best and fattest pasturages. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. v. (1887) 267 Finalie he returnes with a fatt praii. 1611 Bible Ezek. xxxiv. 14 In a fat pasture shall they feede. 1677 A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 28 Scotland is a thin and lean Kingdom..England is a fat Kingdom. a 1790 Franklin Way to Wealth, A fat kitchen makes a lean will. |
c. a fat lot: a large amount, a great deal: always
ironical and implying ‘very little, hardly anything’. Similarly
a fat chance, implying ‘hardly any opportunity (or possibility)’; also (
N.Z.)
a fat show.
| 1892 I. Zangwill Childr. Ghetto (1893) i. ii. 24 ‘I von't sell you no more tickets,’ said Sugarman... ‘A fat lot I care,’ said Becky, tossing her curls. 1899 C. J. C. Hyne Further Adv. Capt. Kettle i. 5 Shows what a fat lot of influence this {Eacu}tat du Congo has got. 1906 F. Metcalfe Side Show Studies 99 The Proprietor..suggested sending the announcement..to the papers. ‘A fat chance I'd stand of having it printed,’ he grumbled. 1908 ‘I. Hay’ Right Stuff vi. 83 Rot! Fat lot you know about it, Dilly. 1914 D. H. Lawrence Widowing Mrs. Holroyd iii. 72 Some women could have lived with him happy enough. An' a fat lot you'd have thanked me for my telling. 1916 J. S. Clouston Two's Two ix. 69 ‘And a fat lot of good they'll be!’ scoffed Archibald. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt v. 63 Fat chance! 1933 W. S. Maugham Sheppey iii. 75 Fat chance I've got of going to France now. 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas viii. 88 A fat chance, of course. I should have known his psychology better. 1947 A. Vogt in D. M. Davin N.Z. Short Stories (1953) 374 The men from the mill..had a fat chance of getting in [to the pub] before that [6 p.m.]. 1948 D. Ballantyne Cunninghams (1963) i. xii. 63 It would be corker if he could go outisde with Carole Plowman... Fat show! 1951 E. Coxhead One Green Bottle i. 23 Idiot, thought Cathy. Fat lot you know. 1962 Coast to Coast 1961–62 87 You're a fat lot of help to me, moping about alone all the time. 1967 B. Wright tr. Queneau's Between Blue & Blue xix. 208 Fat lot of use it was me getting my posterior frozen for a whole night to do my host a favour. |
IV. 11. Displaying the characteristics of a fat animal; slow-witted, indolent, self-complacent.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 268 Wel-liking wits they haue, grosse, grosse, fat, fat. 1602 ― Ham. i. v. 32 Duller should'st thou be then the fat weede That rots it selfe in ease..Would'st thou not stirre in this. 1611 Bible Isa. vi. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their eares heauy, and shut their eyes. a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Wit without Money i. i, Grounding their fat faiths upon old country proverbs. 1790 Burke Wks. (1871) II. 373 The fat stupidity and gross ignorance. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell iv. xxi, With loose fat smile, The willing wretch sat winking there. a 1854 J. Wilson (W.), How could it enter into his fat heart to conceive [etc.]. 1879 Temple Bar Mag. No. 227 A fat smile of complacent wisdom on his face. |
V. 12. With the senses mixed.
| c 1325 Poem Times Edw. II 188 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 332 The frere wole to the direge, if the cors is fat. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 559–60 Sher. A grosse fat man. Car. As fat as Butter. 1611 Bible Ps. cxix. 70 Their heart is as fat as grease. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xix. 437 These countreys were fat enough to be stewed in their own liquour. a 1732 Gay Songs & Ball., New Song on New Similies, My cheeks as fat as butter grown. |
VI. Combinations.
13. Parasynthetic (chiefly in sense 2), as
fat-arsed,
fat-backed,
fat-barked,
fat-beneficed (sense 9),
fat-brained (sense 2 or 11),
fat-cheeked,
fat-eyebrowed,
fat-fleshed,
fat-hearted (sense 2 or 11),
fat-hipped,
fat-kidneyed,
fat-legged,
fat-paunched (sense 2 b),
fat-rumped,
fat-tailed adjs. Also
fat-faced,
fat-witted.
| 1891 J. S. Farmer Slang II. 377/1 *Fat-arsed, broad in the breech. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo xvi. 351 Slaving to keep this marvellous Empire going, with its..fat-arsed hypocritical upper classes. |
| 1607 A. Brewer Lingua iii. ii. in Hazl. Dodsley IX. 386 Your..*fat-backed..drones. |
| 1616–61 B. Holyday Persius 297 ‘Armes, and the man I sing.’ Perchance you'l dare To call this frothy, *fat-bark'd [L. cortice pingui]? |
| 1634 ‘E. Knott’ Charity Maintained i. vi. §21 Such *fat-beneficed Bishops. |
| 1597 Drayton Mortimeriados 69 *Fat-braind Fleamings. |
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Joufflu, *fat cheeked. |
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., *Fat eie browed. |
| 1863 M. A. Power Arab. Days & N. 109 Those ‘*fat-fleshed’ fair ones. |
| 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 230 The *fat-hearted Israelites. |
| 1921 D. H. Lawrence Let. 26 Mar. ? (1962) II. 647 The *fat-hipped soft fellow we saw at Anticoli last year. |
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 5 Peace ye *fat-kidney'd Rascall. |
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills VI. 351 Glud [sic] Kate and *fat legged Lissey. 1891 R. Kipling City Dreadf. Nt. 72 Quaint houses, with fat-legged balustrades on the roofs. |
| 1563 Foxe A. & M. 1691/2 The *fat panched bishop. |
| 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 289 The head is like that of the *fat-rumped [sheep]. |
| Ibid. II. 320 The Doomba, or *fat-tailed sheep of Cabool. |
14. Special comb., as
fat-back U.S. local, a strip of fat from the back of a pig;
fat-bird, a name (
a) of the Guacharo
Steatornis caripensis; (
b) of the Pectoral Sandpiper
Actodromas maculata (
U.S.);
fat cat slang (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.), a political backer; also
transf.;
fat crab U.S., a crab ready to shed its shell;
fat-face, (
a) a term of abuse; (
b)
Typog. less commonly
fat letter (see
quot. 1841), and
attrib.;
fat-fed a., fed up to fatness: of a man, full-fleshed; also
transf.;
fat-guts, one having a big belly, used as a term of abuse, also
attrib.;
fat-headed, (
a) having a fat head; (
b) dull, stupid;
fat-headedness, stupidity;
fat lamb N.Z., a lamb bred to be exported as refrigerated meat;
fat-lute (see
quot.);
fat-rascal (see
quots.);
† fat-sagg a., hanging down with fat;
fatstock,
fat-stock, marketable live-stock;
fat-tail, a fat-tailed sheep;
† fat-ware, cattle fatted for market;
fat-wood U.S. local = lightwood2 a. Also,
fat-head.
| 1903 Sears, Roebuck Catal. (ed. 113) 18/1 Clear back pork. This pork is made from the *fat backs of prime hogs, is free from lean and bone. 1932 E. Caldwell Tobacco Road i. 8 Salty soup Ada had made by boiling several fat-back rinds in a pan of water. 1941 A. F. Raper Sharecroppers All 24 The great majority bring for lunch cold baked ‘taters’ and sandwiches of soda biscuits and fat back. |
| 1928 F. R. Kent Pol. Behavior vi. 59 These capitalists have what the organization needs—money to finance the campaign. Such men are known in political circles as ‘*Fat Cats’. 1949 Sat. Rev. Lit. 16 Apr. 4 Hollywood celebrities, literary fat cats. 1960 Economist 8 Oct. 157/2 Methods of exhorting [sic] money which..harry so-called ‘fat-cats’—rich supporters—to an extent which looks like cruelty to animals. 1966 New Statesman 21 Jan. 78/3 The kind of balance-sheet fat cats who characterise the worst side of ITV. 1971 Flying Apr. 34/1 Those who view the business jet as a smoke-belching, profit-eating chariot of the fatcat. |
| 1905 W. P. Hay in Rep. Bureau Fisheries 1904 (U.S.) 411 The individual bearing it [sc. a narrow white line] is classed as a ‘*fat crab’, or more vulgarly as a ‘snot’. |
| 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 179 Answer me, *fat-face! 1841 Savage Dict. Printing, Fat Face or Fat Letter is a letter with a broad stem. 1871 Amer. Encycl. Printing, Fat-face Letter, Letter with a broad face. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 181 This kind of Dog..is mighty, grosse, and *fat fed. 1616 Trav. Eng. Pilgr. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 329 Fat-fed friars. 1648 Herrick Hesper. I. 204 The fat-fed smoking temple. |
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 32 Peace ye *fat guttes, lye downe. 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin iv. 278 Till fat-guts Everard open'd, and quite marr'd it. 1853 Hickie tr. Aristoph. (1872) II. 536 Pray sit down here, you fat guts. |
| c 1510 Gest Robyn Hode ii. 38 With that cam in a *fat-heded monke. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 99 The lazie Monkes, and fat-headed Friers. 1748 Richardson Clarissa Wks. 1883 VIII. 188 This I leave to thy own fat-headed prudence. 1768 Life & Adv. of Sir Barth. Lapskull II. 66 The fat-headed majority, intoxicated by the fumes of excess. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk., Christmas Dinner (1865) 276 A fat-headed old gentleman next him. 1883 W. Bromley Davenport in 19th Cent. Sept. 402 A few obese fat-headed carp. |
| 1840 A. Bunn Stage I. 272 Such is the *fat-headedness of John Bull. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed viii, The fat-headedness of deliberately trying to do work that will live. 1915 Wodehouse Something Fresh iii, If you want any further proof of your young man's fat-headedness, mark that. |
| 1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xxvii. 369 Any of the various breeds or crosses now in the country [sc. N.Z.] will supply suitable mothers for *fat lambs, provided they are good milkers. 1923 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. 20 Jan. 50 Which breed of sheep is best for fat-lamb production? 1928 R. G. Stapledon Tour Austral. & N.Z. viii. 58 Fat lambs are also largely produced on a Romney basis. 1956 G. Bowen Wool Away! (ed. 2) xii. 147 On the flat country..fat-lamb and mutton production predominate. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Fat-lute, a mixture of pipeclay and linseed oil for filling joints. |
| 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., *Fat-rascal, a kind of rich tea-cake compounded with butter or cream..and with currants intermingled. |
| 1604 Middleton Black Bk. Wks. 1886 VIII. 12 With her *fat-sagg chin hanging down like a cow's udder. |
| 1880 Trans. Illinois Dept. Agric. X. 65 The success of the *Fat Stock Show. 1906 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 30 Jan. 5/4 It was decided to hold a fat stock sale in this city in the middle of March. 1907 R. Wallace Farm Live Stock Gt. Brit. (ed. 4) 281 Steers slaughtered at the Smithfield Fat-Stock Show. 1912 Jrnl. Bath & West & Southern Counties Soc. 5th Ser. VI. v. 175 For many years the Middle Whites carried off the highest awards at the fat stock shows. 1955 Times 13 July 12/5 The fatstock marketing scheme had been working successfully for the past 12 months. |
| 1888 Castle Line Handbk. S.A. 55 (Pettman), The *fat-tails held their own for many years. 1909 Webster, Fatwood, any pine wood full of pitch. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny xvii. xxiv, These forsooth they feed in mue, and franke them up like *fat-ware, with good corn⁓meale. |
| 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling vii. 67 She unbanked the fire on the hearth and threw on *fat-wood. 1963 Times 19 Mar. 10/7 All kinds of wood, including fat-wood. |
B. n.2 1. a. The
adj. used
absol. The fat part of anything.
† Rarely in
pl.| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxii. 280 That cast for to kele a crokke and saue þe fatte aboue. 1535 Coverdale Lev. xvii. 6 Burne the fat for a swete sauoure vnto the Lord. c 1540 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. ix. 222 Take the fatte of capons or hennys. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 31 He shall make prouision of Fats, or of the marrowes of the bones of Mutton. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 439 Then sacrificing, laid The Inwards and thir Fat..On the cleft Wood. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xiv. 238 Pour the fat out of the pan. 1890 Mrs. Beeton Cookery Bk. 19/1 Droppings of fat and gravy..fall from the roast meat. |
b. pl. or (in
attrib. use only)
collect. sing. Fat cattle or sheep.
Austral. and
N.Z.| 1886 C. Scott Sheep-farming 137 Sheep intended for the fat market. 1894 A. Robertson Nuggets 132 What say ye to him goin' to Melbourne to see the flock o' fats sold at the Flemington Yards? 1907 W. H. Koebel Return of Joe 20 The only different thing you'll see, I hope, will be a larger mob of fats. 1921 H. Guthrie-Smith Tutira xxxvi. 362, I remember..watching the well-known dealer, Andrew Grant, picking ‘fats’. 1936 I. L. Idriess Cattle King ix. 77 Drovers with their plants were coming in increasing numbers to drove to distant markets the growing herds of ‘fats’. 1954 B. Miles Stars my Blanket xxiii. 199 Their four-year-olds..will be trucked to the factories as ‘fats’. 1969 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 5 Oct. 2/1 We were mustering fats along the channels of Cooper's Creek. |
2. In various
transf. senses:
† a. The soft part of a fruit or tree.
| 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 278 Anoynting the ende of the borowed feather in the fatte of a figge. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 110 The fat, the softest and the woorst part of the tree. |
† b. the fat of glass:
= Fr. suin de verre,
sandiver, glass-gall.
Obs.| 1578 Lyte tr. Dodoens' Herbal 116 That which..swimmeth upon the stuffe whereof Glasses are made, is now called in Shoppes Axungia vitri: in English, the fatte or floure of Glasse. |
c. The richest or most nourishing part of anything; the choicest produce (of the earth). Hence also, Plenty, superabundance.
Obs. exc. in phrase
(to eat, live on) the fat of the land.
| 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 223 This Realme..wanted neither the favour of the Sunne, nor the fat of the Soile. 1611 Bible Gen. xlv. 18 Ye shall eat the fat of the land. ― Deut. xxxii. 14 The fat of kidneis of wheat. 1623 Massinger Bondman i. ii, In this plenty, And fat of peace. 1640 J. Dyke Worthy Commun. 188 The fat and moysture of the earth. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd., Sulphurs, which are the fat of the earth. 1832 L. Hunt Poems Pref. 9 We have the poetry..of the ‘fat of the land’ in Thomson. 1857 Trollope Three Clerks xiv, For thirteen years he has lived on the fat of the land. |
d. Phr.
a bit of fat: (an instance of) good fortune; (an opportunity for) profit.
colloq.| 1923 Brewer Dict. 419/2 A bit of fat, an unexpected stroke of luck; also, the best part of anything. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid ii. 19 ‘Where did you graft in Wandsworth?’ ‘Cleaner.’ ‘Blimey, that was a bit of fat for you, wasn't it?’ ‘Yeah, but you couldn't pinch no grub.’ 1951 P. Branch Wooden Overcoat i. 6 He had been acquitted... Cor! What a bit o' fat! I got away with it! |
3. a. The oily concrete substance of which the fat parts of animal bodies are chiefly composed; any particular variety of this substance. Often modified by a
n. prefixed, as
beef-,
candle-,
cow-,
mutton-,
ox-, etc.
fat.
b. Chem. Any of a class of organic compounds of which animal fat is the type.
| 1539 in Rogers Agric. & Prices III. 285/4, 1593 Ludlow. Candle fat 123/4 lb. {at}/2½. 1552 Huloet, Fatte or grease, sagina. 1731 Arbuthnot Aliments ii. 44 This Membrane separates an oily Liquor call'd Fat. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 4 The muscles of the body are very strong, and without fat. 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 848 But, beneath the skin, fat has been accumulated in prodigious quantities. 1860–1 F. Nightingale Nursing 50 Butter is the lightest kind of animal fat. 1884 Athenæum 12 Apr. 465/1 Fats were dear in the early time. 1884 Syd. Soc. Lex., Fat, a greasy substance consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and a little oxygen..Fats are contained in both plants and animals and are compounds of glycerin with acids, chiefly palmitic, oleic, or stearic. 1891 Brit. Med. Jrnl. Suppl. 78/1 Fats are digested with the expenditure of a small amount of energy. |
c. Phrases:
† to lick the fat from the beard of: to forestall the results of (a person's) enterprise or industry.
† the fat flits from (a man's) beard: he lets go the advantage he has gained.
(all) the fat is in the fire: in early use expressing that a design has irremediably failed; now used when some injudicious act has been committed that is sure to provoke a violent explosion of anger.
to chew the fat: see
chew v. 3 g.
| 1548 Hall Chron. 169 b, Other..marchantes.. sore abhorryng the Italian nacion, for lickyng the fat from their beardes, and taking from them their accustomed livyng. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 6 Than farewell riches, the fat is in the fire. Ibid. 7 Blame me not to haste, for feare..the fat cleane flit fro my berde. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 123 But they that shooten neerest the pricke Sayne, other the fat from their beards doen lick. 1644 Ormonde Let. in Carte Life (1735) III. 281, I hear nothing of the armes, ammunition or provisions, without all which all the fat is in the fire. 1797 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Livery of London Wks. 1812 III. 449 Should we once complain The fat will all be in the fire. 1850 Carlyle Latter-d. Pamph. iv. 4 The fat in the fire will be a thing worth looking at. |
4. The habit of body marked by the deposition of fat; corpulence, obesity.
| 1726 Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 45 The two first [women] were very handsom, a little inclining to Fat. |
5. In the phraseology of various trades or occupations, applied to especially lucrative kinds of work.
† a. (See
quot. a 1700).
b. Printing (see
quot. 1841).
c. Newspaper (see
quot. 1890).
d. Theatrical, a part with good lines and telling situations, which gives the player an opportunity of appearing to advantage.
| a. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Fat, the last landed, inned or stow'd of any sort of Merchandize..so called by the several Gangs of Water-side-Porters. 1785 in Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue. |
| b. 1796 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3), Fat amongst printers means void spaces. 1841 Savage Dict. Printing, Fat, with compositors, short pages, blank pages, and light open matter: with pressmen, light forms, forms that require one pull at wooden presses. |
| c. 1890 Answers 6 Dec. 24 If he [the liner] has a piece of ‘fat’ (that is, a good piece of exclusive news). |
| d. 1812 Dramatic Censor 1811 440 Mr Dowton..did not exhibit any propensity to give us too much of the fat. 1883 Referee 18 Mar. 2/4 They have nothing to do, all the fat having been seized by Terry. 1885 W. C. Day Behind the Footlights 116 Lest any of his ‘fat’ should be lost through the self grimaces of his fellow comedian. 1933 P. Godfrey Back-Stage iii. 36 An expression which is likely to puzzle the uninitiated is the term ‘fat’. Theatrical ‘fat’ is determined not by the size of the part, but by its effectiveness. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. attrib., as
fat-basis,
fat-cell,
fat-corpuscle,
fat-deposit,
fat-drop,
fat-gland,
fat-globule,
fat-granule,
fat-mass,
fat-vesicle;
fat-like adj.| 1847–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. IV. 129/1 Growths of *fat-basis. |
| 1845 G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. I. 355 Some..presented a resemblance to conglomerate *fat-cells. |
| 1847–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. IV. 96/1 Deposition of peculiar altered *fat-corpuscles. |
| Ibid., The relationship of *fat-deposit to the morbid changes in Bright's disease. |
| 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 44 Dark globules, resembling *fat-drops. |
| 1866 Chambers's Encycl. s.v. Skin, The sebaceous or *fat glands. |
| 1846 G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. II. 326 *Fat-globules were detected under the microscope. |
| 1847–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. IV. 130/2 We have occasionally seen *fat granules in these tumours. |
| 1709 Blair in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 95 A *fat-like Substance. |
| 1872 G. M. Humphry Obs. Myol. 5 In addition to the four *fat-masses disposed with the longitudinal series of vessels are four deep fat-masses lying beneath the four lateral muscles. |
| 1845 Todd & Bowman Phys. Anat. I. iii. 82 The *fat vesicle of the human subject. |
b. objective, as
fat-engendering,
fat-formation,
fat-former,
fat-forming,
fat-reducing,
fat-splitting adjs.| 1883 Knowl. 20 July 34/2 *Fat-engendering repose. |
| 1909 Daily Chron. 8 July 6/4 *Fat-formation in the body..is not to be regarded as a mere accretion or addition of the fat we consume to the tissues of the frame. |
| 1886 C. Scott Sheep-farming 41 A ton of good linseed cake contains of *fat-formers 1508 lbs.; of flesh-formers, 582 lbs. 1893 F. F. Moore I forbid Banns xxxiv, She knew the flesh-formers from the fat-formers, and partook of both. |
| 1848 Rep. Comm. Patents 1847 (U.S.) 116 With respect to the *fat-forming principle..the proportions of the different parts of the grain stand thus. |
| 1883 Knowl. 27 July 49/2 Dangerous *fat-reducing systems. |
| 1890 Billings Med. Dict., *Fat-splitting ferment, steapsin. 1907 Practitioner Aug. 320 The steapsin, or fat-splitting ferment of the pancreatic juice. 1955 J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying (ed. 2) 181 Tributyrin is extremely bitter, and certain fat-splitting bacteria may cause bitterness by producing this substance. |
c. Special combs., as
fat-body, in arthropods,
esp. insects, and amphibians: a mass consisting of connective tissue and globules of fat, forming a reserve store of nutritious matter;
fat boy (see
quots.);
fat-cake (see
quots. 1865, 1898);
fat-free a., free from fat;
fat-gude,
Shetland dial. (see
quot.);
fat-liquor, a mixture of soap and oil used in leather manufacture for softening hides; also as
v.; so
fat-liquored ppl. a.,
-liquoring vbl. n.;
fat-soluble a., soluble in fats or oils;
fat-trap, a device for catching fat in drains, etc.
| 1869 A. S. Packard Study of Insects 37 In the larva of insects is found the corpus adiposum, or *fat-body, in the form of large lobes of fat-cells. 1927 Haldane & Huxley Anim. Biol. iv. 113 In the frog fat is stored in special fat-bodies. 1964 V. B. Wigglesworth Life of Insects ix. 136 It may be the ‘fat body’ or the blood that is coloured. |
| 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 324/1 *Fat boys or fatters, boys or men employed to lubricate axles of tubs or wagons and rollers of haulage gear. 1955 Evening News 28 Sept. 3/8 Fat Boy, a boy who greases wagon-axles and does odd jobs in a quarry. |
| 1839 ‘T. Treddlehoyle’ Sum Thowts abaght Nan Bunt's Chresmas Tea-Party 19 A great pile of muffins an *fat-cake browt up at table. 1865 W. Howitt Hist. Discov. Austral. II. 15 Fat-cakes, made of flour, and fried in their pan, a bush dainty. 1898 Morris Austral Eng., Fat-cake, a ridiculous name sometimes applied to Eucalyptus leucoxylon. 1953 P. Abrahams Return to Goli vi. 200 After this we had fat-cakes and coffee. |
| 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 160 The dog and the rat can live on *fat-free meat alone. |
| 1860 Balfour Odal Rights & Feudal Wrongs 114 *Fatgude, a term used in Zetland for the Butter or Oil paid to the Donatary. |
| 1903 L. A. Flemming Pract. Tanning 22 The leather is then ready to be stained or colored, *fat-liquored, put out on the grain and treated in the finishing operations. Ibid. 127 The leather treated with it [sc. palmetto] takes even cooling and carries the fat-liquor well. 1931 Wilson & Merrill Anal. Leather xi. 395 In both fat liquoring and finishing, most of the fatty constituents of the soap are absorbed by the leather. 1945 McLaughlin & Theis Chem. Leather Manuf. xxiv. 723 Soap emulsions are used in some special cases for fatliquoring leather. Ibid. 739 It [sc. egg yolk] clarifies the fatliquor and..gives a drier, or a less oily and greasy feel, to the surface of the leather. Ibid. 742 A sample of fatliquored, chrome-tanned calf skin. |
| 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 932/1 These [vitamins] are (1) the anti-scorbutic factor; (2) the water-soluble B.; (3) the *fat-soluble A. 1926 J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. viii. 88 Fat-soluble vitamin A. 1956 Nature 21 Jan. 123/2 The chlorinated compounds which are fat-soluble and chemically stable tend to accumulate in the fatty tissue. |
| 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 55/1 Gullies and *Fat-Traps. |
Add:
[A.] [VI.] [14.] fat-mouth n. U.S. slang, one who talks extravagantly, a loudmouth.
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §537/3 Criminal lawyer,..*fat-mouth. 1961 J. Heller Catch-22 (1962) xii. 126 Okay, fatmouth, out of the car. |
fat-mouth v. U.S. slang (chiefly
Black English), (
a)
intr., to talk a great deal about something, with little or no action or result; (
b)
trans., to talk excessively to,
esp. in order to cajole or sweet-talk.
| 1970 Atlantic Monthly May 61 They have to do something, have to move,..they can no longer sit back and fat-mouth about it. 1971 B. Malamud Tenants 71, I ain't asking you to fatmouth me, just as I am not interested in getting into any argument with you. |
▸
fat camp n. orig. U.S. a residential (summer) course with an emphasis on weight reduction, usually for children.
| 1975 N.Y. Times 4 Aug. 34 It's not a *fat camp... It's a ‘weight control community’ where women between the ages of 16 and 45 can spend their summer vacations and, they hope, take it off, take it all off. 1998 Guardian 22 Dec. i. 8/6 Up to 150 teenagers and pre-teens with a serious weight problem will spend six weeks on the pioneer course, adapted from US ‘fat camps’. |
▸
fat client n. Computing (in a client-server network) a client terminal with significant processing capacity, on which system applications may be stored and run,
spec. one with a hard disk;
cf. thin client n. at
thin adj. and
n. and
adv. Additions.
| 1991 PC Week (Nexis) 18 Nov. 47 Spiraling prices for RAM, hard drives and other workstation components have made the ‘*fat client’ approach cost-effective. 1996 Computing 19 Sept. 29/1 Instead, British Gas decided on a fat client solution based on Pentium PCs. 2001 Toronto Star (Electronic ed.) 29 Jan. Back in the mid-1990s, both men referred to the PC as a fat client that hogged resources and regularly crashed. |
▪ III. ‖ fat, n.3 (
fat,
fa)
[Fr., a stupid, conceited person, f. Pr. fat stupid, ignorant, f. L. fatuus: see fatuous a.] A presumptuous, conceited dandy; a fop.
| 1832 F. Trollope Dom. Manners Amer. i. xx. 333 ‘Monsieur,’ said my young fat, with an indescribable grimace. 1853 C. Brontë Villette I. xiv. 265, I took my revenge on this ‘fat’, by making him as fatuitous as I possibly could. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. III. v. xxxv. 316 How that fat Deronda can bear looking at her. |
▪ IV. fat, v. (
fæt)
Forms: 1
fǽttian, 3
south. vetten, 4
fatten, 4–6
fatte, (5
faat, 6
fate), 3, 6–
fat.
[OE. fǽttian, f. fǽtt fat a.] † 1. trans. As
lit. rendering of
Heb. dishshēn,
Vulg. impinguare: To anoint, ‘make fat’ (the head); to load (an altar) with fat.
Obs.| c 1000 Ags. Ps. xxii[i]. 5 Ðu faettades in ele heafud min. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xxii[i]. 5 Þou fatted in oli mi heved ywhit. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xxxv. 8 The offring of the riȝtwis fatteth the auter. 1698 Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 114 The Sacrifices with which they fatted their Altars. |
† b. To bedaub with fat or grease; hence,
transf. to cover thickly.
Obs. rare.
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal iii. 42 Durt fats my thighs. |
2. intr. To grow or become fat. Also
to fat up.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 128 Nout ase swin ipund ine sti uorte uetten & forte greaten aȝein þe cul of þer eax. 1398 Trevisa Barth. D.P.R. v. xli. (1495) 158 Yf the mylte mynysshyth and fadyth, the body fattyth. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 161 The harder they [fowl] lie, the sooner they fatte. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 466 If they fat of their own accord, it hath been found that the tail of one of these Sheep have weighed ten or twenty pound. 1794 Washington Lett. Writings 1892 XIII. 24 The hogs which have been fatting. 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 355 Proper time being allowed, [they] will commonly fat to six score per quarter. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides 467 They were fatting on the grass. |
| fig. c 1000 Ags. Ps. lxiv. 13 [lxv. 12] Faettiað endas woestennes. a 1300 E.E. Psalter ibid., Fat sal faire of wildernes. c 1300 Song Husbandm. 32 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 151 Falsshipe fatteth. 1596 J. Norden Progr. Pietie (1847) 139 The heaviness of sin, wherein they lie fatting in all delights. 1631 R. H. Arraignm. Whole Creature xv. §1. 251 Vanities, on which our Prodigall eates, but neyther feeds, fils, nor fats. |
3. trans. To make fat, fatten; usually, to feed (animals) for use as food. Also
to fat up.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 56, & my fėdde foulez [arn] fatted with sclaȝt. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 562 To faat hem is avayling and plesaunte. 1515 Barclay Egloges i. (1570) A vj/3 When they [our hogges] be fatted by costes and labour. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 137 b, A heard of swine: which they [Anabaptistes] fondly faine to haue ben fatted vp by the Lord. 1612 Dekker If it be not good Wks. 1873 III. 275 Churles..fat their rancke gutts whilest poor wretches pine. a 1633 S. Lennard tr. Charron's Wisd. iii. xiii. §5 (1670) 436 The..presence of the Master, saith the Proverb, fatteth the horse and the land. 1769 Gray Jrnl. in Lakes Wks. 1884 I. 278 Numbers of black cattle are fatted here. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 172 The first who fatted up the peacock for the feasts of the luxurious. 1877 Baring-Gould Myst. Suffering 48 His ideal of beauty..was woman fatted on milk till she could not walk. |
| absol. c 1440 Secrees, Prose version (E.E.T.S.), Þese fattys and moystes: Rest of body, gladnesse of wyl [etc.]. 1584 Lyly Campaspe i. ii, [Apelles] proueth that muche easier it is to fatte by colours, and telles of birdes that haue beene fatted by paynted grapes. |
| fig. c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 172 Who so wol preye, he moot..fatte his soule and make his body lene. 1553 Short Catech. in Liturgies, etc. Edw. VI (Parker Soc.) 525 If they be watered, and fatted with the dew of Gods word. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Odour ii, This broth of smells, that feeds and fats my minde. |
b. refl. lit. and
fig.| 1567 Drant Horace Epist. iii. C vj, A long deuoued cowe Which graseth here..And fattes her selfe for you. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 43 Fatting themselves with great and gainfull offices. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. ii. v. (1692) 179 She..hath fatted herself with the Flesh of Saints. |
c. Said of the food.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 61 Dieting þat fattiþ & makiþ him glad. 1528 Paynel Salerne's Regim. Q iij b, The substance or meate of cheries..fattethe the bodye. 1633 J. Fisher Fuimus Troes Prol. in Hazl. Dodsley XII. 451 Making your huge trunks To fat our crows. 1708 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. i. iii. (1743) 24 Knot-grass..its long knots will fat swine. 1829 Bone Manure, Rep. Doncast. Com. 25 This improved and fatted the sheep. |
| absol. 1528 Paynel Salerne's Regim. G ij, Grene chese nourysheth and fattethe. |
d. trans. In the manufacture of leather, to smear over with fat-liquor.
| 1903 L. A. Flemming Pract. Tanning 166 The leather is now treated as usual, and fatted or oiled. |
4. to fat off: to fatten for sale or slaughter.
| 1789 Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts (ed. 2) II. 90 Bull steers..fed with hay during the labouring part of their lives..then fatted off. 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. ii. 679 Decided to fat off the wethers as early as possible. |
5. To enrich (the soil) with nutritious and stimulating elements; to fertilize.
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 52 b, Horned clauer..fatteth the grownde. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. v. (ed. 7) 564 The floud Nilus, which by his inundations doth yeerely..fatte the country of Egypt. a 1639 W. Whately Prototypes i. iv. (1640) 30 If the sheepes dung did not fat the ground. 1648 Gage West Ind. xviii. (1655) 135 Which with the ashes left after the burning fatteth the ground. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. v. 660 Till Austria's titled hordes, with their own gore, Fat the fair fields they lorded long before. |