brolly colloq.
(ˈbrɒlɪ)
1. Clipped and altered form of umbrella 2.
| 1874 Hotten Slang Dict., Brolly, an umbrella. Term used at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. 1885 Punch 6 June 273/2 Pair o' pattens and brolly are more in your line. 1899 Kipling Stalky 209 What are you stealin' the gentleman's brolly for? 1925 Sunday at Home July 595/1 The lass was a clever thief who had hooked his brolly. |
2. slang. A parachute. Also attrib. and Comb., as brolly-hop, a jump made with a parachute; so brolly-hopping vbl. n.
| 1934 Daily Express 27 June 10/4 A brolly hop is a hop into space—with a parachute! Brolly-hopping will become a commonplace to the younger generation. 1934 G. P. Olley Million Miles in Air ii. 72 Never having made what pilots refer to..as a ‘brolly hop’. 1940 J. M. B. Beard in Michie & Graebner Their Finest Hour xii. 180, I was floating still and peacefully with my ‘brolly’ canopy billowing above my head. |