† ˈdry-fist Obs.
[cf. dry a. 15 b.]
A niggardly or stingy person. So † ˈdry-ˌfisted a., niggardly, miserly, stingy.
| 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 28 Of all filthy dryfisted Knights. 1607 ― Knts. Conjur. (1842) 76 Nash inueyed bitterly..against dryfisted patrons. 1633 Ford Love's Sacr. iii. i, Why, wise madam Dry-fist, could your mouldy brain be so addle? [1674 Cotton Compl. Gamester in Singer Hist. Cards (1816) 334 Throwing..at a good sum with a dry fist (as they call it); that is, if they nick you, it is theirs; if they lose, they owe you so much.] |