▪ I. lard, n.
(lɑːd)
Forms: 4–6 larde, 5 laard, 5 laurde, 4– lard.
[a. OF. (mod.F.) lard bacon (= It., Sp., Pg. lardo):—L. lārdum, lāridum, usually believed to be cogn. w. Gr. λᾱρ-ῑνός fat, λᾱρ-ός pleasant to the taste.]
† 1. The fat of a swine; (fat) bacon or pork; rarely, other fat meat used for larding. Obs.
| c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 12 Take larde of porke, wele soþyn. Ibid. 26 Take tho ox tonge..Sethe hit, broche hit in lard yche dele. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 288/1 Larde of fleshe, Larda. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. iii. (1885) 114 Thai eyten no flesshe but yf it be right seldon a litle larde. 1552 Huloet, Larde, succidia. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 532 The fat of Swine they commonly call Lard which groweth betwixt the skin and the flesh. 1615 [see lard v. 1]. 1626 Bacon Sylva §997 She got a Peece of Lard with the Skin on, and rubbed the Warts all ouer with the Fat Side. 1693 Dryden Ovid's Met. viii. Baucis & P. 107 By this the boiling kettle had prepar'd And to the table sent the smoaking lard. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Swine, Feeding a Hog for Lard or Boar for brawn. |
| fig. a 1613 Overbury A Wife (1638) 290 Patience is the lard of the leane meat of adversitie. |
† b. ? A slice of fat.
Obs.| c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 49 Take lardez of Venysoun. |
2. a. (Often
hog's lard.) The internal fat of the abdomen of a swine,
esp. when rendered and clarified, much used in cooking, and in pharmacy as the basis of unguents. Also, in
mod. use, any edible pig-fat, and (in commercial use) a fatty preparation containing or resembling lard.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. I. 433 Frote hit wel with larde ffaat & decoct. 1556 Withals Dict. (1568) 18 b/1 Axungia propriæ, is larde or hogges greace. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4026/3 Lading, consisting of..Dry Codfish, Dry Jack, Hogslard. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1708) 189 If Hogs get a Swelling on the side of their Throat..anoint it with Hog's Lard. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 728 The addition of the metallic solution to the melted mixture of lard and oil. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 76 A kind of sweet cake fried in lard. 1836–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 232/2 When hog's-lard becomes rancid, a peculiar volatile acid forms in it. 1873 E. Smith Foods 139 Lard is derived from the loose fat of the pig, and is a very pure fat. 1881 Analyst VI. 233 Watered lard being now used extensively, owing to the high price of the pure quality, we are giving our special attention to its manufacture. 1887 Buck's Hand-bk. Med. Sci. IV. 380/2 Commercial lard is so universally impure, either being mixed with water or salt, or having a portion of its liquid oil removed, that it is in general unfit for medicinal use. 1906 L. L. Lamborn Mod. Soaps iii. 44 Two grades of neutral lard are made—one from the leaf, the other from the back fat of the hog. 1913 Bolton & Revis Fatty Foods iv. 100 Lard is often adulterated with a judicious mixture of beef fat and vegetable oils. 1944 H. G. Kirschenbauer Fats & Oils vi. 63 After a Congressional investigation the compounded products which up to then had been sold as ‘pure lard’, ‘refined lard’, etc., were required to be labelled ‘lard compounds’. 1974 Guardian 27 Dec. 9/2 Rub 4 oz butter and 2½ oz lard into 10 oz flour sifted with a pinch of salt. |
b. transf.| 1486 Bk. St. Albans C v b, Yeue hir larde of a gote. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies 306 Fritters of flour fried in bear's lard. 1849 Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia III. 162 In the Greenland whale the layer of this subcutaneous lard varies from eight or ten to 20 inches in depth. |
c. earth lard (see
quot.).
| 1801 Trans. Soc. Arts XIX. 175 The Grubs of the Cock⁓chafer..appear like lumps of white fat. Hence the British name ‘Earth-Lard’. |
3. attrib., as
lard-cake,
lard-pail,
lard-slice;
lard-bladder colloq., a fat person;
lard-butter,
-cheese, substitutes for butter and cheese made from lard;
lard compound, a substitute for lard made from lard stearin, oleostearin, or
esp. cottonseed oil;
† lard-house = larder;
lard oil, ‘a valuable oil made from lard, used for burning, and for lubricating machinery’ (Ogilvie, 1882);
lard stearin(e, the solid residue left after the expression of lard oil from lard, used for stiffening soft lard, as an ingredient of some lard substitutes and margarines, and in the manufacture of some soaps;
lard-stone, a kind of soft stone found in China;
cf. agalmatolite.
| 1891 Kipling Life's Handicap 195 Mulcahy confused the causes of things, and when a very muzzy Maverick smote a sergeant on the nose or called his commanding officer a bald-headed old *lard-bladder..he fancied that rebellion and not liquor was at the bottom of the outbreak. 1928 W. Gibson Between Fairs 19 Ay, but I'd have you know there is offence, when an old lard-bladder of a circus-clown, the likes of you, tries to teach her own business to Nanny Ragtag. |
| 1881 Chicago Times 16 Apr., Very little *lard-butter is now sold in Chicago. |
| 1858 C. M. Yonge Christmas Mummers v. 59 Mrs. Harper was..preparing a *lard cake for tea. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas M. x. 160 Some small lard-cakes, flat paste-like articles. |
| 1881 Chicago Times 16 Apr., Large amounts of butterine and *lard-cheese were sold here as the genuine article. |
| 1904 L. L. Lamborn Cottonseed Products ix. 172 The ingredients of *lard-compound are summer white cottonseed-oil and oleo-stearin. 1913 Bolton & Revis Fatty Foods iv. 103 We have found products described as ‘lard compounds’ in which no lard was present at all. 1946 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) VII. 189/1 Under pressure of reformative legislation..the term ‘refined lard’ was replaced by the expressions ‘compound lard’ or ‘lard compound’..; later the term ‘lard compound’ was still further restricted to products containing more than 50% of genuine lard. |
| 1555 Richmond. Wills (Surtees) 85 All the salting vessell in the *lardhouse. 1599 Minsheu, A Lardary, or lard-house. |
| 1843 Rep. Comm. Patents 1842 (U.S.) 82 The article of lard offered for sale in the market for domestic use, and now about to be so much in demand as material for the manufacture of *lard oil and candles, is prepared from the adipose matter of the omentum and mesentery of the hog. 1920 Oberg & Jones Gage Design vii. 198 When a very slow cutting abrasive is required and the amount to be removed by lapping is small, rouge and lard oil may be used. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 723/2 Lard oil is the limpid, clear, colourless oil expressed by hydraulic pressure from pure lard after it has been ‘grained’ by storage at a temperature of 45°F. |
| 1891 Fur, Fin & Feather Mar. 195 Two empty *lard pails with their covers..will complete the culinary outfit. 1968 R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 178 Soon the tea-pail—an old lard-pail, smoked and blackened by hundreds of camp fires—was singing, swaying a little over the flames. |
| a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xxiii. 193 Some Lackey, snatching at the *Lard-slices. |
| 1885 W. L. Carpenter Treat. Manuf. Soap ii. 26 The so-called ‘*lard-stearin’ left in the presses is frequently used as a substitute for tallow in the soap-pan, when the price of it is suitable. 1906 L. L. Lamborn Mod. Soaps iii. 46 Lard-stearin of non-edible quality is a soap-stock for certain grades of soap. 1944 H. G. Kirschenbauer Fats & Oils vii. 109 Lard stearine and lard oil for edible purposes are obtained from lard by graining and pressing. |
| 1811 Pinkerton Petral. I. 374 The rock called *lard-stone, used by the Chinese. |
Add:
[3.] lard-ass slang (
orig. N. Amer.), (a term of abuse for) a person who has large buttocks or is fat (especially when attributed to laziness);
freq. attrib.| [1959 R. A. Hill First Mate of ‘Henry Glass’ iii. 40 All they do is eat and sit on their lard asses around the guns.] 1962 M. Richler in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd. Ser. 169 Hey, big writer. *Lard-ass. How many periods in a bottle of ink? 1969 R. Jessup Sailor 256 Let them find a way of getting out from under lard-ass bastards like yourself. 1986 Weekend Australian (Brisbane) 21/22 June 8/5 The happy-go-lucky young ‘lard-ass’ had become a very serious Henry Ford. 1993 R. Shilts Conduct Unbecoming iii. xxvii. 270 Airmen had come back from Vietnam with a serious attitude problem towards any REMFs or stateside lard-ass officers who had not seen any tough action overseas. |
so
lard-assed a.| 1946 T. Heggen Mister Roberts p. xv, He is bow-legged and broad-beamed (for which the crew would substitute ‘*lard-assed’). 1984 A. Maupin Baby Cakes xxxviii. 183 How can you just..surrender Easley [House] to that lard-assed bitch down there. |
▪ II. lard, v. (
lɑːd)
[ad. F. lard-er, f. lard (see lard n.).] 1. Cookery. (
trans.) To insert small strips of bacon (
† or of other fat meat) in the substance of (meat, poultry, etc.) before cooking. Also
absol. (
Cf. interlard v. 1.)
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15756 He schar a pece out of his þe, & lardid & rostoid. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 21 Perboyle the hare and larde hit wele, Sethyn loke thou rost hir everydele. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 18 Take Conyngys..& sethe hem, oþer larde hem & Rost hem. 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. ii. ii. (1664) 73 If you will Roast any Venison,..if it be lean, you shall either lard it with Mutton lard, or Pork lard. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 73 The skinn being pulled off, the flesh larded, & stuck with cloves, may be rosted. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece i. ii. 136 Flea your Hare, and lard it with Bacon. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 127 Take three young ducks, lard them down each side the breast. 1884 Girl's Own Paper June 491/1 Nearly all lean meat may be larded with advantage. |
† 2. To enrich with or as with fat; to fatten. (
Cf. enlard.)
Obs.| 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb. 110 A goodly Oake..Whilome had bene the King of the field,..And with his nuts larded many swine. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 116 Falstaffe sweates to death, and Lards the leane earth as he walkes along. 1607 ― Timon iv. iii. 12 It is the Pastour Lards the Brothers sides, The want that makes him leane. 1607 Dekker Whore Babylon Wks. 1873 II. 221 This lards me fat with laughter. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. to Rdr. (1651) 7 They lard their lean books with the fat of others works. 1624 Sanderson Serm. I. 184 Thou hast larded thy leaner revenues with fat collops sacrilegiously cut out of the sides or flanks of the church. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 240 [Wheat-ears] Naturally larded with lumps of fat. a 1687 Cotton Noon Quatrains Poems (1689) 235 The lagging Ox is now unbound, From larding the new turn'd-up ground. |
† b. intr. for refl. or pass. 3. transf. To stick all over
with; to cover, line, or strew
with.
Obs. or
arch.| 1543 Sir J. Wallop in State Papers IX. 457 Divers of the Frenchemen's horse killed, and well larded with arrows. 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, i. iv, He weares a short Italian hooded cloake, Larded with pearle. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. v. 37 White his Shrow'd as the Mountaine Snow..Larded with sweet flowers. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xv. §55 Their sides were altogether larded with arrowes. 1631 H. Shirley Mart. Souldier ii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. I. 190 A Soldado Cassacke of Scarlet, larded thicke with Gold Lace. 1641 Milton Reform. ii. (1851) 70 His Navall ruines that have larded our Seas. a 1658 Cleveland Times 13 A Land..Larded with Springs, and fring'd with curled Woods. 1843 Lytton Last Bar. i. ii, Larding himself with sharp knives and bodkins. |
† b. fig.| 1565 Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 407 Yee thought it good, thus to lard the same, by a proper Parenthesis. 1660 tr. Amyraldus' Treat. conc. Relig. iii. iii. 362 His gross follies wherewith he hath larded and strewed it. 1687 Settle Refl. Dryden 81 But to lard his gross oversights with some more pardonable mistakes. |
4. To intersperse or garnish (speech or writing) with particular words, expressions, ideas, etc.; to interlard.
| 1549 Compl. Scot. Prol. to Rdr. 16, I thocht it nocht necessair til hef fardit ande lardit this tracteit vitht exquisite termis. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 53 They say, the Lirick, is larded with passionate Sonnets. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. vi. 14 The mirth whereof, so larded with my matter, That neither (singly) can be manifested Without the shew of both. 1602 ― Ham. v. ii. 20 An exact command, Larded with many seuerall sorts of reason. a 1661 Fuller Worthies xxiv, Monkes began to lard the lives of their Saints with lies. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 158 How mean a skill to lard every sentence with an oath. 1702 Eng. Theophrast. 52 A few modish lewd words to lard his Discourse with. a 1797 H. Walpole Mem. Geo. II (1847) I. xii. 404 Lord Egmont..always larded..his speeches with speculative topics of government. 1823 Scott Quentin D. x, Unable to refrain from larding them with interjections of surprise. 1837 Howitt Rur. Life (1862) i. iv. 39 Their conversation was larded and illustrated with the phraseology of their own favourite pursuit. |
5. To smear or cover with lard or fat; to grease.
rare.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 436 Vp walle hit euery side In lyke maner, eek larde it. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol ii. 306 His Buff Doublet, larded o'er with Fat Of slaughter'd Brutes. 1842 Tennyson Will Waterproof xxviii, Old boxes, larded with the steam Of thirty thousand dinners. |
† 6. intr. To ooze with lard or fat.
Obs. rare.
| 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1650) 161 His whole body larded and distilled much like unto..melting wax. |
7. trans. To adulterate with lard.
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 20 Sept. 3/1 The Mahommedans fear that their ghee may be larded. |
▪ III. lard obs. form of
laird,
lord.