▪ I. peggy, n.
(ˈpɛgɪ)
[Altered from Meggy, Maggie = Margaret, of which it is a familiar equivalent (cf. Peg n.2); hence in various local and dialectal uses.]
1. A man of feminine habits, a molly, a simpleton.
| 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Peggy, a simpleton. |
2. A local name of various species of the Warblers (Sylvia) and allied genera of birds; also of the Pied Wagtail. See quots.
| 1848 Zoologist VI. 2137 (Leicestersh.) The whitethroat [is] a ‘peggy’, which term includes also the garden warbler. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. s.v., The Willow Warbler;..the Chiff-chaff; and..the Wood Warbler, are respectively and alike called Peggy and Peggy-Whitethroat. 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss., Peggy, a name given to the garden warbler, the black-cap, both the whitethroats, the sedge⁓warbler, and probably others of the family. 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 44 Pied Wagtail..Peggy dishwasher (Kent). 1887 Kentish Gloss., Peggy.., Peggy-wash-dish. |
3. = dolly n.1 4 a. Hence peggy-tub.
| 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 153 Family linen or home-made cloths may be bleached with much less..wear-and-tear, than is experienced in the use of the Yorkshire Peggy-tub. 1860 Brierley Tales Lancs. Life, Traddlepin F. ii. 144 How well she looked at a tub—how dexterously she twisted her fat red arms about when..plying the ‘peggy’. 1885 Fenn Patience Wins (1886) 169 Clothes were washed in the peggy tub, and kept in motion by a four-legged peggy..with a cross handle. |
4. Peggy-with-(her-)lantern = Jack-a-lantern.
| 1855 Shevvild Ann. 9 (E.D.D.) As bad as follerin Peggy wit lantern. 1869 N. & Q. 4th Ser. IV. 508/2 Occasionally in the plashy meadows ‘Jack or Peggy-with-lanthorn’ was visible after dark. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 31 Dazed..so as not to discern the flicker of a peggy wi' her lantern from the light of day. |
5. Naut. slang. A ship's mess-steward or menial.
| 1902 A. B. Lubbock Round the Horn iii. 105 An institution on board a sailing-ship is ‘peggy’. Each of us take it in turn, and peggy has to fetch the grub from the galley. 1929 F. C. Bowen Sea Slang 102 Peggy, the man who looks after the seamen's and the firemen's messes in a modern liner. In the old sailing days it was applied to the ship's boy or to a hand who was called upon to do all the odd jobs in a watch. 1930 ‘Greenhorn’ Tinker, Tailor viii. 191 The sailors' Peggy is a kind of fo'c'sle steward, and..he has to wash up the pots and pans in the forrard galley, clean out the fo'c'sle, make the bunks, and generally keep the sailors' quarters swept and garnished. 1946 J. Irving Royal Navalese 133 Peggy, an Ordinary Seaman detailed to act as Petty Officers' mess-man. 1967 S. Waters Indentures Indorsed i. 11, I was initiated into the mysteries of acting as ‘Peggy’. As the name implies this menial does all the domestic chores. 1972 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 19 July 24/3 Some waterfront employers think Peggy should do other work..between tea breaks and lunch. |
6. (See quots.) [Perh. a different word.]
| 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 622/2 Peggies, slates 10–14 in. long. 1959 Archit. Rev. CXXV. 292 Peggies, small sizes of slates of random sizes which are sold by weight. |
7. peggy bag, a style of women's hand-bag orig. having side handles and outside pockets; peggy-work Naut. slang, the work of a peggy (sense 5).
| 1920 Scot at Hame an' Abroad 1 July 5/3 Mirren had a wheen peppermints in her *peggy bag. 1922 Daily Mail 11 Dec. 13 (Advt.), Peggy bags with side handle and two outside pockets. 1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 874/4 Peggy Bag, in plain Calf..with divided inner compartment and mirror. 1974 Trafford Catal. Spring-Summer 182/2 Classic ‘peggy’ bag with twin easy-to-get-at compartments..twin handle length straps. |
| 1959 Scott-Shawe & Wykes Mariner's Tale i. iii. 29, I was escaping my *peggy-work in the Ashmore's galley. |
▪ II. peggy, a.
(ˈpɛgɪ)
[f. peg n.1 + -y.]
Of the form of or resembling a peg.
| 1882 Quain Med. Dict. 1595/1 The lower incisors are peggy and pointed. |