▪ I. vice, n.1
(vaɪs)
Forms: 3– vice (5–6 Sc. wice), 4–6 vyce (5–6 Sc. wyce); 5 vise, wise, wisse; 5 vys, vijs (vyhs, Sc. vis), 6 vyss, Sc. wys.
[a. AF. and OF. vice mod.F. vice, = Pr. vici, Sp. and Pg. vicio, It. vizio), ad. L. vitium fault, defect, failing, etc.]
1. a. Depravity or corruption of morals; evil, immoral, or wicked habits or conduct; indulgence in degrading pleasures or practices.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4025 Hit is ney vif ȝer þat we abbeþ yliued in such vice, Vor we nadde noȝt to done, & in such delice. a 1300 Cursor M. 24701 (Edinb.), If ani man in vice be cast He mai him draw fra þat last And be þat he was are. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4116 In wham al þe tresor of malice Sal be hidde with alle maner of vice. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 7 Tho was the vertu sett above And vice was put under fote. c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483) iv. xxiv. 70 Vyce destroyeth the myght and the rygour of the sowle. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 18 God.. heryth alle men gladly Wych to hym preye, puryd from vyhs. a 1500 Ratis Raving, etc. 3662 Quhen thai tak it our mesour, Thai turne in wys and in arroure. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xi. (Percy Soc.) 46 Fy upon slouth, the nourysher of vyce, Whych unto youth doth often prejudice. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 119 b, That churche..is replenyshed with theftes, robberies, and all other kynd of vice. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 123 As, vertue is to be insued: Ergo, vice is to be eschewed. 1644 Milton Educ. 5 Instructing them more amply in the knowledge of virtue, and the hatred of vice. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 104 It is impossible but that Vice must reign, where People are so ignorant of the commands of God. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 109 Vice is vice to him who is guilty of it. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, iv. Wks. 1813 V. 395 In order to avoid vice (says he), men must practise perpetual mortification. 1821 Byron Mar. Fal. ii. i, Vice cannot fix, and virtue cannot change,..For vice must have variety. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 406 To exist by beggary or plunder, in idleness and vice. 1873 ‘Ouida’ Pascarel I. 6 You, who blush for your mirth because your mirth is vice. |
b. Personified.
| c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 602 A son of myn bastard, Whos name ys Vyce—he kepeth my vaward. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 154 Vertue it selfe, of Vice must pardon begge. 1634 Milton Comus 760, I hate when vice can bolt her arguments, And vertue has no tongue to check her pride. 1739 R. Bull tr. Dedekindus' Grobianus 78 Oft in the mingled Scene, I've chanc'd to see A rev'rend Vice, a grey Iniquity. 1754 Gray Progr. Poesy 80 Alike they scorn the pomp of tyrant-Power, And coward Vice, that revels in her chains. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 106 Vice has such allowance, that her shifts And specious semblances have lost their use. 1813 Shelley Falsehood & Vice 11 Where..War's mad fiends the scene environ,..There Vice and Falsehood took their stand. |
c. ellipt. for vice squad, sense 8 b below. slang.
| 1967 C. Drummond Death at Furlong Post iv. 42 From his days on Vice Reed remembered the large free-spenders. 1976 New Society 4 Mar. 481/2 A woman they know is a junkie... She proceeds to tell them how she got picked up by the ‘vice’ the night before. |
2. a. A habit or practice of an immoral, degrading, or wicked nature.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23286 Þai..Ne wald noght here bot þair delices, Þat drogh þam vntil oþer vices. 1340 Ayenb. 17 Vor prede makeþ of elmesse zenne, and of uirtues vices. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 308 Þat loue myȝte wexe Amonge þe foure vertues and vices destroye. 1422 Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 205 Als often [as] he is touchid wyth any wyce. Ibid., Ofte Prayer quynchyth the Pryckynges of vices. 1474 Caxton Chesse i. i. (1883) 9 Whan he reccheth not ner taketh hede unto them that repreue hym and his vices. 1545 Brinklow Lament. 79 They sett vp and mayntayne idolatrye, and other innumerable vices and wickedness. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 452 Such unaccustomed vices..semed not so muche to be forboden, as shewed. 1605 Shakes. Lear v. iii. 170 The Gods are iust, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to plague vs. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §3 Nor [to] speak of Persons otherwise, than as the mention of their Virtues or Vices is essential to the work in hand. 1729 Law Serious C. ii. (1732) 16 How it comes to pass that Swearing is so common a Vice amongst Christians. 1771 Junius Lett. xlv. (1788) 257 There are degrees in all the private vices. 1818 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) II. ii. 46 An Englishman's worst vice is more human than a Roman's best virtue. 1841 Emerson Ess. i. x. (1905) 180 The virtues of society are vices of the saint. 1878 J. C. Morison Gibbon 160 Madame de Maintenon,..a woman, cold as ice and pure as snow, was freely charged with the most abhorrent vices. |
b. Const. of (the vice in question).
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5967 Þou art falle þan yn þe vyce Of coueytyse, þeft, and auaryce. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints Prol. 7 Thru þe vicis of ydilnes, gret foly.., & vantones. a 1450 Mirk's Festial 118 Þer may no man fynde a payne, forto poynych dewly þe vyce of vnkyndnes. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlix. 1 In vice most vicius he excellis, That with the vice of tressone mellis. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 325 How subiect wee old men are to this vice of Lying. a 1637 B. Jonson Underwoods lv. Ep. to Friend 8 Not like their country neighbours that commit Their vice of loving for a Christmas-fit. 1754 J. Edwards Freed. Will iii. v. 171 The Vertue of Temperance is regarded..as a necessary Means of gratifying the Vice of Covetousness. 1859 Tennyson Geraint 195 The dwarf..doubling all his master's vice of pride, Made answer sharply that she should not know. |
c. In horses: A bad habit or trick. Also without article (cf. sense 1).
| 1726 Dict. Rust. (ed. 3) s.v., Bad Horsemen occasion most of these Vices, by correcting unduely or out of time. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., The rider is first cautiously to find whether this Vice proceeds from real stubbornness, or from faintness. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 154 The horse was warranted sound, free from vice, and not more than three years old. 1847 T. Brown Mod. Farriery 377 Of all the vices incidental to the horse, shying is one of the worst. a 1901 F. W. H. Myers Hum. Personality (1903) I. 200 Those defects of stability which in a horse we call vice. |
3. A character in a morality play representing one or other vice; hence, a stage jester or buffoon.
Very common c 1560–1630; now only Hist.
| 1551–2 in Feuillerat Revels Edw. VI (1914) 73 One vyces dagger & a ladle with a bable pendante..deliverid to the Lorde of mysrules foole. 1553 Respublica (1905) 1 Avarice... The vice of the plaie. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 147 His face made of brasse, like a vice in a game, His iesture like Dauus, whom Terence doth name. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 156 He stands at their deuotion, and is but like an Ape, a Parrot, or a Vice in a play, to prate what is prompted or suggested vnto him. 1627 Hakewill Apol. (1630) 162 Luceia a common vice in playes followed the stage and acted thereon an hundred yeares. 1645 Milton Colast. Wks. 1851 IV. 377 For I had rather..not to have to doe with Clowns and Vices. 1767 S. Paterson Another Trav. I. 113 Tom was the vice of every comedy, and the punch of every puppet-shew of his time. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iii. ii. 140 note, I remember to have seen a stage direction for the vice, to lay about him lustily with a great pole. 1886 A. W. Ward Old Eng. Drama (1901) 297 A favourite piece of horse-play in the old miracles and morals, when the Vice belabours the Devil. |
| transf. 1565 J. Calfhill Answ. Treat. Crosse (1846) 210 When the Vice is come from the Altar, and the people shall have no more sport [etc.]. |
4. Moral fault or defect (without implication of serious wrongdoing); a flaw in character or conduct.
| 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 106 Sir Henry mad þe fyne, & mad þe mariage. Þe may withouten vice, his weddyng was wele dight. 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 355 For hardyment vith foly is vis; Bot hardyment, that mellit is Vith vit, is vorschip ay. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vi. 161 Ye forgiue me God, That I doe bragge thus; this your ayre of France Hath blowne that vice in me. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 229 Whilest they thinke it enough to be without vice, they fall into that same maine vice to lacke vertues. 1794 Paley Evid. iii. iv. (1817) 319 Contempt, prior to examination, is an intellectual vice. 1827 Macaulay Ess., Machiavelli (1897) 44 Ferocity and insolence were not among the vices of the national character. |
5. a. A fault, defect, blemish or imperfection, in action or procedure or in the constitution of a thing.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 93 He with a manly voys seith this message,..Withouten vice of silable or of lettre. a 1400 Bk. Curtasye 131 in Babees Bk., In salt saler yf þat þou pit Oþer fisshe or flesshe þat men may wyt, Þat is a vyce, as men me telles. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 911 The vesare, the aventaile,..Voyde with-owttyne vice, with wyndowes of syluer. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 100 The londis fatte, or lene, or thicke, or rare, Or drie, or moyst, and not withouten vice. 1548 Cooper Elyot's Dict., Anacoluthos, a vice in writyng or speakynge, whan the wordes aunswere not the one to the other. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxii. (Arb.) 257 The foulest vice in language is to speake barbarously. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xxii. 188 There growes neither bread nor wine in these Ilands, for that the too great fertilitie and the vice of the soile suffers them not to seede. 1700 Rowe Ambitious Step-Mother Ded., I will engage not to be guilty of the common Vice of Dedications. 1729 G. Shelvocke Artillery iii. 166 The first and most remarkable Vice in Rockets. 1781 J. Moore View Soc. Italy (1790) I. xxxvii. 405 In edifices..capable of sublimity from their bulk the vice of diminishing is not compensated by harmony. 1810 Southey in C. C. Southey Life (1849) III. 274 The vice of the Friend is its roundaboutness. 1854 A. W. Fonblanque in Life & Labours (1874) 513 Tenacity to fopperies and neglect of essentials is the vice of our Service. 1881 Armstrong in Nature XXIV. 451 The vice of the steam-engine lies in its inability to utilise heat of comparatively low grade. |
b. A physical defect or blemish; a deformity; a taint, imperfection, or weakness in some part of the system.
| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's T. 99 Myda hadde vnder his longe heres Growynge vpon his heed two asses eres; The which vice he hydde, as he best myghte. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 181 If it so be þat allopucia comeþ of vijs of humouris,..þanne vlcera wole be in þe skyn. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 81 Iuyse of caprifoile þat is called licium availeþ bi itself to al þe vicez of þe mouþe. c 1440 Alph. Tales 218 Demostenes..laburd so agayn a vice & ane impediment in his mouthe, þat no man myght speke fayrer. 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terap. 2 F j, Nat that the dyuturnyte indyketh the curacyon, but the vyce of the blode. 1552 Huloet, Vice of a shorte breath, or winde, apnæa. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §41, I perceive I doe anticipate the vices of age. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 693 Launce the Sore, and cut the Head; for 'till the Core be found, The secret Vice is fed, and gathers Ground. 1743 tr. Heister's Surg. 303 Physicians..attribute most Disorders of the Body to some Vice in the Blood. 1830 R. Knox Béclard's Anat. 65 The numerous vices which consist in a disunion or separation in the median line. Ibid. 104 Vices of conformation are observed in some of these membranes. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. iii, Shall I take a thing so blind, Embrace her as my natural good; Or crush her, like a vice of blood? |
† c. A spoiled or vitiated condition. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. vi. (Bodl. MS.), Mete and wyne ikept in suche a vessel takeþ an horrible sauoure and smelle of þe vice of bras. |
6. Viciousness, harmfulness.
| 1837 [Miss Maitland] Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 162 The poison..will dry up,..but..will not lose its virtue, or rather its vice. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. v, In fact, half the vice of the Slogger's hitting is neutralized, for he daren't lunge out freely. |
7. Comb. a. With pa. pples., as vice-bitten, vice-corrupted, vice-created, vice-haunted, vice-polluted, vice-worn; also vice-sick adj.
| 1603 Harsnet Pop. Impost. 115 For a Devil to be so Vice-haunted as that he should roare at the picture of a Vice burnt in a pece of paper..is a passion exceeding all apprehension. 1614 Gorges Lucan ii. 56 These our vice-corrupted times. 1735 Thomson Liberty ii. 496 Independence stoops the head, To Vice enslav'd, and Vice-created Wants. 1754 Richardson Grandison V. xxx. 186 What a paltry creature is a man vice-bitten, and sensible of detected folly. 1777 Potter æschylus, Choephorœ 337 Rouse, sting, and drive the vice-polluted wretch With brazen scourges tortur'd thro' the city. a 1849 H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) II. 223 He has converted..the over-grown coxcomb boy, into the vice-sick, dispirited debauchee. 1884 ‘Edna Lyall’ We Two iv, The usual careworn or viceworn faces. 1890 E. Johnson Rise Christendom 104 Many a vice-haunted monk must have gone mad but for this resource. |
b. With pres. pples., as vice-loathing, vice-punishing, vice-rebuking, vice-taming, vice-upbraiding.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. Imposture 506 Vice-loathing Lord, pure Justice, Patron strong, Law's life, Right's rule; will he do any wrong? Ibid. ii. Babylon 35 Such vice-upbraiding objects Who..Spares neither mother, brother, kiff, nor kin. 1611 Cotgr., Satyre, a Satyre; an Inuectiue, or vice-rebuking Poeme. 1619 A. Newman Pleas. Vision (1840) 5 And still, vice-punishing Authority, He (outlaw-like) would slight. 1642 H. More Song of Soul iii. iii. v, Religious Plato, and vice-taming Orpheus. |
8. a. attrib., as vice-complexion; also spec. (orig. U.S.) with reference to certain crimes, esp. organized prostitution, as vice den, vice racket, vice trade, etc.
| 1635 Quarles Embl. ii. x. 4 A Hagg, repair'd with vice-complexion, paint, A quest-house of complaint. 1903 McClure's Mag. Nov. 89 In New York, Croker has failed signally to maintain vice-bosses whom he appointed. 1915 Sci. Amer. 30 Jan. 98/3 The Puritan conception of life, like that of vice-crusaders, suffragettes, and most crusaders, scorns all trifling with its weighty realities. 1937 Vice society [see strip-teasing vbl. n. s.v. strip-tease]. 1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad vii. 78 Lots of the other men in the vice racket..were pulled in and interviewed. 1952 Manch. Guardian Weekly 8 May 3 The relations of one of these with a Chicago vice-syndicate may be merely an unfair reflection on Governor Warren. 1962 Spectator 6 July 12/2 The vicelands of Notting Hill. 1971 It 2–16 June 1/1 (heading) Vice girls of Princedale Road—the shocking truth! 1975 J. Gores Hammett (1976) v. 37 In a vice raid..police..trailed a group of three boys..to the house of prostitution..and jailed the inmates of the..vice-den. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 30 June 4-a/1 Suppose that you..prevented vice officers from arresting a drug suspect. 1981 P. O'Donnell Xanadu Talisman v. 100 His wife was..sold into the vice trade. |
b. Special Comb.: vice ring, a group of people criminally involved in organized prostitution; vice squad [squad n.1 4 c] orig. U.S., a police unit concerned with the enforcement of laws relating to prostitution, drug abuse, illegal gambling, etc.
| 1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xi. 125, I don't think..they were..connected with any vice ring. 1981 C. Scott Heavenly Witch vi. 80 Men in charge of vice rings spread rumours that the converts were paid to testify. |
| 1905 N.Y. Times 22 June 8/6 Six of Capt. Cottrell's Tenderloin detectives will report to Capt. Egger this noon for duty on the Vice Squad. 1939 Daily Tel. 18 Dec. 8/4 Scotland Yard's vice squad..has been instructed to give special attention to small clubs opened in Soho since the outbreak of war. 1978 L. Heren Growing up on The Times v. 167 The vice squad might have had a beady eye on me, but I was glad to hold his hand. |
▪ II. vice, n.2
(vaɪs)
Forms: (4 viz, vicz), 4–6 vys (5 vijs, 6 Sc. wys), vyse, 5–6 Sc. wise, 6– vise; 4–6 (9) vyce (6 fyce), 4– vice.
[a. OF. vis (also mod.F.), viz, vitz, etc.:—L. vītis vine, with reference to the spiral growth of the tendrils. So Pr. vitz, It. vite screw.]
1. A winding or spiral staircase. Obs. exc. arch.
| [1334–5 Ely Sacr. Rolls (1907) II. 73 In j serrura empt. pro hostio in le Viz in novo Campanile, ij d.] 1382 Wyclif 1 Kings vi. 8 Bi a vyce [L. cochlea] thei stieden vp into the mydil sowpynge place, and fro the mydil into the thridde. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 87 He ordeyned games and plaies, and made walles and vices, and oþere strong places. 1435 Contract for Fotheringhay Ch. (1841) 28 In the said stepill shall be a Vice towrnyng, servyng till the said Body, Isles and Qwere. c 1450 Contin. Brut 347 An aungell come doun fro þe stage on high, by a vice, and sette a croune of golde & precious stonez & perles apon þe Kingez hed. 1525 Bury Wills (Camden) 244 The byldyng and fynysshynge of the vise of Seynt James's Chirche. 1543 Dunmow Churchw. MS. fol. 36, vi. days warke and a half abowt the sowth ile and the vyse off the stepull. 1648 Hexham ii. s.v. Spille, A Vice to gett up on, or a Winding⁓stares. |
| 1886 Willis & Clark Cambridge I. 16 A handsome stone vice or spiral staircase. 1900 Hope in Yorks. Archaeol. Jrnl. XV. 334 In the north-east corner is a vice, partly built of glazed bricks. |
† b. The case or shaft of a spiral stair. rare.
| 1466 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 93 Thei shal make..the Roofe of the vice of the staire. And..shal..fynde alle the bord and tymbre..for the Roof of the vice aforsaid. a 1500 Chaucer's Dreme 1312, I rise and walkt..Till I a winding staire found, And held the vice aye in my hond, And upward softly so gan creepe. |
† 2. A device of the nature of a screw or winch for bending a crossbow or catapult. Hence bow (etc.) of vice. Obs.
| 13.. Coer de L. 3970 Richard bent an arweblast off vys, And schotte it to a tour. [1371–3 Acc. Exch. K.R. 397/10 m. 3, ij. vicz ad tendendum balistas.] ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2424 Thane they beneyde [read bendyde] in burghe bowes of vyse. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. 4227 Awblasteris, and bowis of wise, And al thynge þat mycht mak serwice. |
† b. A mechanical contrivance or device by which some piece of apparatus, etc., is worked. Obs. (common in the 16th c.).
Orig. no doubt implying some application of a screw, but in later use employed more loosely and perhaps associated with device 7 (cf. vice n.5).
| a 1400 R. Glouc. Chron. (Rolls) II. 780 Man mai..þinche muche wonder hou hij were arerd For nis þer noþer gyn ne vys þat hit myȝte do. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. iii. (Percy Soc.) 15 The little turrets with ymages of golde About was set, whiche with the wynde aye moved, Wyth propre vices. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vi. clvi. 145 Imagys on horse backe aperyd out of sondrye placis, and after departyd agayne by meane of sertayne vyces. 1547 Wriothesley Chron. (Camden) II. 1 He shewed a picture of the resurrection of our Lord made with vices, which putt out his legges of sepulchree..and turned his heade. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. p. xiii b/1 The vice, or meanes, wherby this Instrumente is opened and shutte agayne. a 1614 Overbury A Wife, etc. (1638) 169 His whole body goes all upon skrewes, and his face is the vice that moves them. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 49 Idolles, and Statues, which artificially are moued by vises & gynnes. 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres viii. 20 All the power was in the Burgesses, at whose pleasure they were nominated and moved, like wooden Puppets with a Vice. |
† c. A clasp or fastening for a hood. Obs.—0
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 510/1 Vice, hood sperynge, spira. |
† 3. A screw. Obs.
Not always clearly distinguishable from sense 2 b.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. 6282 Many vys and many sotyl pyn In þe stede he made aboute goon, Þe crafty lokkes vndoynge euerychon. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xvii. (1869) 184 Þe anguishe þat so harde presseth troubel herte, þat it thinketh it is streyned in a pressour shet with a vys. 1450 Fysshynge w. Angle (1883) 8 [A staff] with a pyke yn þe neþer ende fastnyed with a remevyng vise. 1527 Inv. Goods Dk. Richmond 18 in Camden Misc. III, A Bedstede of waynscote..well kerved, with vices and garthes to the same. 1551 Sir J. Williams Accompte (Abbotsford Cl.) 73 Paid for viij paier of vices of iron made for the saied seven images. Ibid. 76 An other paier of candellstickes..lackinge a vice. 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xxvii. H iij b, In his backe prepare a vice or scrue to be fastned in the top of some staffe. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 484 A broad goblet or standing peece there was..with a devise appendant to it, for to be set too and taken off by a vice. 1605 Stow Ann. 1281 A Pinnace was made by an house Carpenter;..this was made to be taken a-sunder, and set togither with vices. 1611 Coryat Crudities 134 He is pourtrayed in white stone,..his deske with a vice turning in it, and his bookes vnder it. |
b. A screw-press. rare.
| 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Agony ii, Sinne is that presse and vice, which forceth pain To hunt his cruell food through ev'ry vein. [1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xxi. 548 Apples were pressed in a mill with a screw or vice.] |
c. spec. (See quot.)
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2716/2 Vyce (Coopering), a gimlet-pointed hand-screw employed to hold up the head while the staves are closed around it. |
† 4. A tap of a vessel; a screw-stopper. Obs.
| 1530 Palsgr. 158 Vne vis,..a vice of a cuppe, or suche lyke. Ibid. 284/2 Vyce to putte in a vessell of wyne to drawe the wyne out at, chantepleure. 1564 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 174 One vice of gold enameled, one sylver spone doble gilt. 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. xlii. lxxv, This took the water from the azure skie From whence, with turning of some cock or vice, Great store of water would mount up on high. 1612 in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 305 Flagones of glase with vices covered with leather, the dozen, xii li. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. v. (1664) 26 The bottle is stopped and shut up with a stoppel, but the flaggon with a vice. |
5. A tool composed of two jaws, opened and closed by means of a screw, which firmly grip and hold a piece of work in position while it is being filed, sawn, or otherwise operated upon; used especially by workers in metal or carpenters. Cf. hand-vice.
The spelling vise is now usual only in U.S.
| 1500 Nottingham Rec. III. 72 Unum vise et diversa files. 1584 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) I. 145 All my stiddes,..one vice, all my naile tooles and all my hammers. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. i. 5 The wider the two ends of the Spring stand asunder, the wider it throws the Chaps of the Vice open. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 321/2 The Vice, called the Bench Vice,..holdeth all sorts of Iron work that requires Fileing. 1745 Eliza Heywood Female Spect. No. 10 (1748) II. 201 There is no doubt but a pair of globes will make a better figure in their anti-chambers than the vice and wheel. 1797 Phil. Trans. LXXXVII. 258 In this machine the body to be pulled asunder is held fast by two strong vices. 1827 N. Arnott Physics I. 177 It is a screw which draws together the iron jaws of a smith's vice. 1857 Dickens Dorrit xxiii, A long low workshop, fitted with benches, and vices, and tools, and straps, and wheels. 1867 F. Francis Angling xiii. (1880) 464 The vice for trout flies is a small brass table vice. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 284 For nearly all operations connected with watchmaking either the work or the tool is gripped in the vice. |
| fig. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 24 If I can close with him, I care not for his thrust... If I but fist him once: if he come but within my Vice. 1866 B. Taylor Poems, The Waves, Bound in the vice Of the Arctic ice. 1901 Munsey's Mag. XXIV. 803/1 The doctor's hands, picking at the iron vise at his windpipe, grew feebler. |
b. Used in similes or comparisons.
| 1828 Scott F.M. Perth ii, To secure him with a grasp like that of his own iron vice, was, for the powerful Smith, the work of a single moment. 1846 A. Marsh Father Darcy II. v. 110 Catesby stretched out his hand across the table; took hold of that of his friend, and held it with a grasp as of an iron vice. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. xii. 363 The jaws of a gigantic vice appear to have closed upon them. 1885 Harper's Mag. Dec. 90/1 The other hand..was crossed upon my breast, and held there as if in a vise. |
6. A tool used for drawing lead into grooved rods for lattice windows.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Vice,..an Instrument with two Wheels made use of to draw the Lead in Glazing-work. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., There are some of these Vices double, and that will draw two Leads at once. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 638 A vice, with different cheeks and cutters, to turn out the different kinds of lead as the magnitude of the window or the squares may require. |
7. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) † vice-door, vice-foot; (sense 3) † vice-candlestick, vice-hasp, vice-nail, vice-pin, vice-turcas; (sense 5) vice-bench, vice-block, vice-board, vice-end, vice-jaw, vice-leg, vice-maker, vice-pin, vice-post, vice-screw, etc.; † vice-arch (see quot.); vice-hand (see quot.; in mod. use = next); vice-man, a workman who manipulates a vice (cf. quots.). Also vice-like a.2
Also vice-cap, vice-clamp, vice-press (Knight, 1875–84).
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 71 Þere were somtyme buldes wiþ *vice arches and fontes [v.r. voutes] in þe manere of Rome [L. Romano more cocleata]. |
| 1850 Weale Dict. Terms, *Vice-bench, the bench to which a vice is fixed. |
| 1895 Model Steam Engine 94 *Vice Blocks.—Of various sizes, shapes, and patterns, used as supports upon which to bend tubes. |
| 1808 A. Scott Poems 140 An' Vulcan loud, wi' squeakin clang, Was at the *vice-board rispin Fu' soon that day. |
| 1572 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 176 *Vice candlesticks xii, xii s. 1576–7 Ibid. 263, vj vice⁓candlestickes at xij{supd} the peece, vjs. |
| 1687 Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. i, Mâchoires d'Etau,..*Vice-chops, or the Chops of a Vice. |
| 1354 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 91 In mercede..reparantis serur. et claves del *Vicedores in ecclesia. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 29 Seynt Marie preest to haue a keye of my cost of the vys dore goyng vp to the candilbem. 1501 Yatton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 125 A Key..for y⊇ fyce door. 1512–3 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 281 Nayles for þe garnettes on the vyse dore in the steple. |
| 1875 Carpentry & Join. 35 At the left hand or *vice-end of the bench. |
| 1533 in E. Law Hampton Crt. Pal. (1885) 348 The dore at the *vyce fote goyng up to the bartyllmentes of the haull. |
| 1644 Bulwer Chiron. 76 The *Vice-hand or Thumb, extended out with the Eare-Finger. |
| 1612 in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 332 *Vice haspes the dozen, xii s. |
| 1793–4 Matthews's Bristol Directory, Austin, Aaron, Clock and *Vice-maker, Old-market. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Vice-maker, a manufacturer of iron vices. |
| 1837 W. B. Adams Carriages 179 The business of the *vice-man is to file and smooth the work from the rough marks of the hammer, to fit joints, and finish screw-bolts and nuts. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Vice-men, smiths whose work is at the vice instead of the anvil. |
| 1488–92 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 85 A grete *vice nail maid of siluer. 1501 Ibid. II. 26 For mending of ane vice nale of the Kingis cowp that was brokin. |
| 1622 F. Markham Bk. War i. ix. 34 His screwes, with which he shall unloose euery *vice⁓pinne or engine about the musquet. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 353/2 They neither want Vice-Pins nor Scourers. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. vii. 28 The Hole for the Vice-pin. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 145 The vice-pin intended to be screwed..is placed in the stock. |
| Ibid. 146 A very simple machine used for cutting *vice⁓screws. |
| 1549–50 Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) 58 The gret scheris, ane taingis, ane *vice turkes. |
▪ III. † vice, n.3 Obs.
Also 4 viis, vijs, wijs, 4–5 viys (4 uiys, 5 vyys); 4 vis, vys(e; 5 vyce.
[a. OF. vis:—L. vīs-um, visus face.]
Face, visage.
Common in the first half of the 14th century.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 18841 His vice [v. rr. vijs, viys] sumdel wit rede was blend; On nese and muth was noght at mend. a 1325 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 144 As we..went toward paradys; þus he bot him in þe viis. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 104 Vnto þe se side chaced þei Sir Lowys, He durst not abide, no turne Thebald his vis. ? c 1400 Emare 742 Leue we at þe lady, clere of vyce. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 7733 His vice was red as any fir. |
▪ IV. vice, n.4 Obs. exc. dial.
Also 4 vyse, 6 vise, Sc. wice, vyce, 9 dial. vize.
[Aphetic f. avise, avyse, etc., advice.]
Counsel; advice.
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. ii. (Skeat) l. 60 Now thou comest goodly by thyn owne vyse, to comforte me with wordes. a 1500 Lancelot 1909 Mot euery king have this wice in mynd In tyme. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) v. 23 Sic senȝeoris tymis our weill this sessone; Vpoun thair vyce war lang to waik. |
| a 1847 Isle of Wight Gloss. (E.D.S.) 40 Vice, or Vize, advice. |
▪ V. † vice, n.5 Obs.
Also 5 vyce, 6 vyse.
[Aphetic f. device.]
Design, figure, device.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 1539 (D.), A vesture of vyce of vyolet flourez. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. (Percy Soc.) 180 On the fourth head, on the helmet crest There was a stremer ryght white,..Wheron was written with vyse of the best, My name is Variaunce. a 1650 Sir Lambewell 116 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 148 In that pauillion was a bed of price that was couered ore with goodlie vice. |
▪ VI. vice, n.6 Chiefly Sc.
(vaɪs)
[a. L. vice, abl. of vicis (gen. sing.), change, turn, stead, place, etc.]
1. Stead or place (of another). Now rare.
| 1598 Florio, Vece, stead, place, liew, vice, standing for another. 1607 Hume Admonit. (Bannatyne Cl.) 13 If suche a man, indewed with so gryte giftis, did so, Who ar ye litle ones to succede wittinglie in his vice? 1672 Burgh Rec. Aberdeen (1872) 283 Nominating and setleing ane postmaster..in the deceist John Wells his vice. 1681 Stair Instit. i. xix. §55. 397 Succeeding in the vice is a kind of intrusion, whereby after warning any person comes in possession, by consent of the parties warned. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 1027 The person succeeding in the vice..will be subjected as an intruder, unless he have a colourable title of possession to protect him. 1868 Act 31 & 32 Vic. c. 101 §105 The mediate over superior, as acting in the vice of such superior. |
† 2. Turn (of sequence or alternation). Obs.
| 1637–50 Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 356 It was Mr Thomas Sydserf his vice to have sermon that day in the Grayfrier kirk. 1672 Burgh Rec. Aberdeen (1872) 279 Ane..watch of the inhabitants [to] be setled,..and no person to be absent in their vice without sicknes..or vther lawfull excuse. 1711 Ibid. 344 That the saids elementarians..be taught for this vice be Mr. William Mestone. 1775 L. Shaw Hist. Moray 357 After this, the Family of Seafort claimed a Vice [of nomination]. 1793 Statist. Acc. Scot. VII. 34 Messrs. Alexander Hamilton..and Cunningham of Sea-bank are vice-patrons [of the parish]. The former has the next vice. |
▪ VII. vice, n.7
(vaɪs)
Also 6 vise.
[Absolute use of vice- prefix.]
One who acts in the place of another; a substitute or deputy. Also prefixed by Mr. as a form of address to a vice-chairman or vice-president.
In mod. use the second element is usually implied or expressed in the context, as in quot. 1852.
| 1597 Harvey Trimming T. Nashe Wks. (Grosart) III. 17 The Barbers were serued and they cut them, and were as Ioues Vises to make them fit for warre. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Deputy, is..frequently used among us, for an Office, or Employ, not a Dignity; and stands indifferently for a Vice, or Lieutenant. 1811 Ora & Juliet II. 180 Lord Berlington offered himself as Henry's Vice, to conduct the other end of the table. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. v. iii. 66 The few..shall fawn Round a barbarian Vice of Kings' Vice⁓gerent. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. x, He solaces his imagination, too, by thinking of the many Chancellors and Vices, and Masters of the Rolls, who are deceased. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkb. 140 It was indirectly a proof of the estimation in which the Vice [= Vice-Chancellor] was held. 1894 G. du Maurier Trilby II. 102 A table..at one end of which sits Mr. Chairman..and at the other ‘Mr. Vice’. 1916 M. Diver Desmond's Daughter ii. iii. 61 The President at the far end of the table had lifted his glass. ‘Mr Vice—the Queen,’ said he. 1976 T. Jeal Until Colours Fade xxxvii. 325 The president of the mess rose..and brought down his silver mallet. ‘Mr Vice, the Queen,’ that officer said, addressing the vice-president at the opposite end of the table. |
▪ VIII. vice
obs. Sc. form of wise n. (manner).
▪ IX. vice, v.1
(vaɪs)
[f. vice n.2]
† 1. trans. To fix on with a screw. Obs.—1
| 1542 in Archæol. Jrnl. XVIII. 144 Item oone Cuppe of glasse with a cover, the fote being of silver and gilt and viced on. |
2. To force, strain, or press hard as by the use of a vice; to fix, jam, or squeeze tightly.
In early use only in highly figurative context.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. ii. D j, I see false suspect Is vicde; wrung hardly in a vertuous heart. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 416 He sweares, As he had seen't, or beene an Instrument To vice you to't, that you haue toucht his Queene Forbiddenly. 1637 N. Whiting Albino & Bellama 12 Who viceth honour, lyes. 1806 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life vi. iv, You find yourself suddenly viced in, from the shoulder to the hip. 1849 De Quincey in Blackw. Mag. LXVI. 748 The coachman's hand was viced between his upper and lower thigh. a 1859 ― Aelius Lamia Wks. X. 306 The glory may envelop one in a voluminous robe,..or may pinch and vice one's arms into that succinct garment [a spencer]. |
3. intr. To employ or apply a vice. rare—1.
| 1612 Sturtevant Metallica (1854) 99 Pressing or impressioning of things is performed..secondely by screwing or viceing. |
Hence ˈvicing vbl. n.
| 1648 Hexham ii, Een vijsinge, a Vicing, or a Screwing. |
▪ X. † vice, v.2 Sc. Obs.
Also wyce.
[app. ad. OF. vicier, med.L. viciāre, L. vitiāre to spoil, vitiate, but with change of meaning.]
trans. To treat arrogantly or oppressively.
For the explanation of walentyne see volentine.
| c 1450 Holland Howlat 918 Thus wycit [v.r. viciit] he the walentyne thraly and thrawin, That all the fowlis..plenȝeit to Natur. |
▪ XI. ‖ vice, prep.
(ˈvaɪsiː, vaɪs)
[L. vice: see vice n.6]
In place of; in succession to.
| 1770 Scots Mag. Jan. 55/1, 6th reg. of foot: Capt. Mathew Derenzy to be Major, vice John Forrest; by purchase. 1787 Gentl. Mag. Nov. 1015/1 The Lieutenant-Governor has appointed..James Miller..Lieutenant of the said fort, vice Frederic Gottsched, who is gone to Hallifax. 1806 Beresford Miseries Hum. Life iii. ix, A jarring bat;—a right-hand bat for a left-handed player;—a hat, vice stumps. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis xxii, He was gardener and out-door man, vice Upton, resigned. 1886 C. E. Pascoe London of To-day xi. (ed. 3) 111 It was..soon afterwards reorganized, with Mr. Randegger, vice Mr. Leslie, as conductor. |