▪ I. marry, v.
(ˈmærɪ)
Inflected marrying, married. Forms: 3–4 (6 Sc.) mari, 3–7 marie, 4 mariȝe(n, 4–5 marie(n, 4–6 marye, 4–8 mary, 5 marye(n, (maryyn), 6 mareye, marrye, (mariy), 6–7 marrie, 6– marry.
[a. F. marier = Pr., Sp., Pg. maridar, It. maritare:—L. marītāre, f. marītus ppl. adj., married (also as n. masc., husband, whence F. mari, Pr. marit-z, Sp., Pg. marido, It. marito; and as n. fem. marīta married woman), f. mari- (nom. mās) man, male; the L. ppl. a. must have been originally used of women, and acquired its wider sense by a later extension.]
I. trans.
1. To join in wedlock or matrimony; to join for life as husband and wife; to constitute as man and wife according to the laws and customs of a nation. Const. to (unto, Sc. on, upon); also together. a. in pass. (with ref. either to the act and ceremony, or to the wedded state as a result).
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 709 Þe fader..bad ire vnderstonde To ȝwan sse wolde imaried be. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 815 His two dere doȝterez..Þat wer maydenez ful meke, maryed not ȝet. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xli. (Agnes) 102 Þane agnes sad hym schortly: ‘certis, gud sir, maryt ame I’. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xviii. 193 Ȝif a man, that is maryed, dye in that Contrie, men buryen his Wif with him alle quyk. 1533 Bellenden Livy i. (S.T.S.) 100 Ȝoung tullia,..was maryit on Aruns terquyne. 1536 ― Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 127 The eldest of hir dochteris wes married upon.. Marius. 1536 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 43 The King was maried secreetlie at Chelsey..to one Jane Seymor. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. iii. 183 They would..haue married me to the rotten Medlar. 1722 De Foe Relig. Courtsh. i. i. (1840) 4 Well, girls, you little think now, which of you all is like to be first married. 1888 Howells Annie Kilburn xi. 133, I presume she isn't very happily married; he's too old. |
b. Said of the priest or other functionary who performs the rite. Also absol.
| 1530 Palsgr. 633/1 What preest was it that maryed them togyther: quel prestre fut ce qui les marya ensemble? 1559 in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) I. xiv. 183 As to minister the Holy Communion to them that shall be thereto disposed, as to mary and baptize. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. i. 125 Come sister, you shall be the Priest, and marrie vs. 1714 Gay What d'ye Call it ii. viii, Tell him..that he [the Curate] shall marry the Couple himself. 1891 Century Mag. Nov. 64 He asked if I could marry people. |
c. marry up: to tie up or preoccupy in matrimony. colloq. Also fig. (const. with).
| 1698 J. Collier Short View Immorality Eng. Stage iv. 154 This Spark..makes a lucky Hand on't at last, and marries up a rich Lady. 1822 J. Flint Lett. Amer. 225, I believe that the girls there are all married up. 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago II. 8 Married up, when a girl, to a man for whom she did not care. 1865 ― Herew. xvi, I would have married her up to my poor boy, if he had but lived. 1865 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 274 My only fear about her is that she will be married-up away from me. 1942 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 97 They already have had the idea of taking photos of the countryside and marrying them up with similar areas on a map. 1958 Times 15 Feb. 7/3 Now that poverty-stricken Jordan is married up with a rich relation. 1970 Bakewell & Garnham New Priesthood iv. 44 If a writer..is not ripe for TV drama, then we would certainly sit down with him, pull his script to bits, send it away, come back, try again, try it on an editor, marry them [sic] up with an editor if possible. |
2. a. To give in marriage, cause to be married. Said esp. of a parent or guardian.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 700 Ich þe wole marie [v. rr. mariȝen, marien] wel..To þe nobloste bacheler þat þin herte wile to stonde. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2338 In þys tyme..He mariede þe oþere doughtres boþe. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 1074 And richely his doghter maryed he Vn-to a lord. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 35 He wolde have maryed me fulle highely, to a gret Princes Daughtre, ȝif I wold han forsaken my Lawe and my Beleve. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour 18 She knew welle that folke were aboute to marie us togedre. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxii. 2 The kyngdome of heven is lyke unto a certayne kinge, which maryed his sonne. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. iv. 87 Good mother, do not marry me to yond foole. a 1633 G. Herbert Jacula Prudentum 149 Marry your sonne when you will; your daughter when you can. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 141 Y⊇ Earle having just marry'd his Eldest daughter..there was Company to wishe her joy. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 33 The same influence led him..to marry his daughter to Henry the Lion. 1894 Baring-Gould Deserts S. France II. 248 Napoleon married him..to his youngest sister. |
b. With off.
| 1860 Queen Victoria Let. 18 Dec. in R. Fulford Dearest Child (1964) 292, I do wish somebody would go and marry her off—at once. 1865 M. C. Harris St. Philip's viii. 59 If the young girls did not mind being..finally married off to some of her protégés, it was all very well. 1894 V. Hunt Maiden's Progress i. 2, I sincerely hope you will be married off before I come on, or I shall have no peace. 1908 Smart Set June 14/1 Mr. Hardcastle was insisting upon marrying off Aunt Ella to Señor Dominguez y Aguirra. 1973 ‘E. Ferrars’ Foot in Grave viii. 150 I've worked quite hard at trying to get you married off. |
3. a. Said of either of the contracting parties: To take in marriage; to accept as husband or wife.
Now the most familiar use.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 439 He [Alexander]..suffrede his knyȝhtes and men to mary [1387 Trevisa wedde] women whom he had taken in captivite. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 40 [He] had maryte king Latynis sister. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 228 That vsuall Prouerbe: Marrie a wife of thine owne degree. 1611 Bible Mal. ii. 11 Iudah..hath maried the daughter of a strange God. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 94 ¶8 He married a Woman of great Beauty and Fortune. 1830 Tennyson Mermaid 46 The king of them all would carry me, Woo me, and win me, and marry me. 1888 F. Hume Mme. Midas i. i, He had added to his crime by marrying a pretty girl. |
b. To obtain (something) by getting married. Esp. in phr. to marry money: to marry a rich spouse.
| 1858 Trollope Dr. Thorne I. xiv. 297 He must marry money, or he will be a ruined man. 1911 L. J. Vance (title) Marrying money. 1914 Joyce Dubliners 98 There'll be no mooning and spooning about it. I mean to marry money. 1934 Harrap's Stand. French & Eng. Dict. I. 329/1 {Eacu}pouser..une grosse dot, to marry money. 1936 Herzog & Blooah Jabo Proverbs from Liberia 180 If you marry a beautiful woman, you marry trouble. |
† 4. refl. and reciprocal. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10698 Here-of in consail suld þai spek, And depeli..þai suld lok hu Sco moght hir mari and hald hir vou. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xi. 281 Maydenes and maydenes marieþ ȝow to-gederes. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1632 Þey þat marien hem for muk & good Only, & noght for loue of þe persone. 1535 Coverdale Wisd. viii. 2, I dyd my diligence to mary my self with her, soch loue had I vnto hir beutye. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 454 The young Princesse soone after tooke her minde and former resolution, marrying her selfe with her chosen loue. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece (1715) I. i. xxvi. 170 No Athenian Woman shall marry herself to an exotick Family. a 1774 Goldsm. Song Intended for ‘Stoops to Conq.’, Ah me! when shall I marry me? Lovers are plenty; but fail to relieve me. 1818 Scott ‘Proud Maisie’, Tell me, thou bonny bird, When shall I marry me? |
5. transf. and fig. a. To unite intimately, join closely or permanently.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 293 b, This conformyte of loue maryeth the soule to god. 1576 Fleming tr. Caius' Dogs in Arb. Garner III. 261 The natures of men are so moved, nay rather married to novelties. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. iii, Svb. Are you sure, you loos'd 'hem, I' their owne menstrue? Fac. Yes, sir, and then married 'hem. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 137 Lap me in soft Lydian Aires, Married to immortal verse. 1649 Ogilby Virg. Georg. i. init., In what Cœlestial Signs 'Tis good to Plow, and marry Elms with Vines. 1673 Grew Acc. Veget. Roots §30 It is then the Oyl, chiefly, by which these Vessels are Tough: for being of a tenacious Nature, by taking hold of other Principles, it marries them together. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 115 They must be joyn'd together neatly, plaining and proportioning the Extremities that are to be Marry'd together exactly. 1796 Burke Let. Noble Ld. Wks. 1842 II. 273 Revolutions which consolidated and married the liberties and the interests of the two nations for ever. 1835 Thirlwall Greece I. 360 The unequal lines of the couplets to which he married his fiery thoughts. 1890 Saintsbury Hist. Elizab. Lit. ix. 342 This hybrid and bizarre vocabulary is..admirably married to the substance of the writing. 1908 Daily Chron. 19 Aug. 4/7 By ‘marrying’ or blending the wine from different vineyards he discovered that there resulted an effervescing wine. 1919 Kipling Years Between 63 With a thin third finger marrying Drop to wine-drop domed on the table. 1925 Belloc Mr. Petre vi. 150 A genius who could marry the commonest tricks to unheard rapidity and daring. 1942 L. Bennett Jamaica Dial. Verses 44 Pumpkin? yuh wi Haffe buy cho-cho wid i, Dem married, same like 'ow cassada Married to yampi. 1952 M. Kerr Personality & Conflict in Jamaica 59 Soap and rice are popular gifts, as the shopkeepers in the country tend to ‘marry them’. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Oct. 567/4 It is always something of a problem with a heavily illustrated book to know how best to marry a long text with the illustrations relating to it. 1960 O. Skilbeck ABC of Film & TV 82 Marry, to combine related mute and sound negatives in printing, or different picture negatives in optical work. 1963 Times 24 Apr. 12/7 Rolls-Royce believe that their success with a combination of silica and aluminium opens up the possibility of ‘marrying’ different types of ceramics and metals. 1967 Cassidy & Le Page Dict. Jamaican Eng. 294/1 Marry, to couple something in short supply (and much in demand) with something not much wanted, so that one must purchase the latter in order to have the former. 1969 Daily Tel. 11 Nov. 6/7 Scientists are ‘marrying’ strains, such as the Hongkong virus, to other influenza viruses that are known to reproduce and spread faster. |
b. Naut. To fasten (two ropes) end to end, in such a way that the joining may not prevent their being drawn through a block. (See also 1867.)
| 1815 Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), To Marry, in splicing ropes, is to join one rope to another, for the purpose of reeving it, which is performed by placing the end of each close together, and then attaching them by worming. Ibid., To Marry two Ropes, is to knot the yarns together in a kind of splice, so as not to be thicker at the juncture than at any other part. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 29 Marry both ends together. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To Marry the Ropes, Braces, or Falls, to hold both together, and by pressure haul in both equally. Also so to join the ends of two ropes that they will pass through a block. |
c. In certain card games. Of the king or queen, to be married: to be declared as held in the same hand with the queen or king of the same suit. Cf. marriage 7.
| 1870 ‘Cavendish’ Game of Bezique 20 The bézique queen..having been once married..cannot be married again. |
d. Stockbrokers' slang. To set (one transaction against another).
| 1931 Economist 10 Oct. 675/1 The shareholders..can do nothing, for the Trust only agrees to ‘marry’ buying orders for clients against selling orders. 1959 Ibid. 21 Mar. 1099/1 The brokers in these shares then find it convenient to ‘marry’ the buying and selling orders. |
II. 6. intr. a. To enter into the conjugal or matrimonial state; to wed, contract matrimony; to take a husband or wife. Const. with (formerly very common); occas. to, also (Sc.) upon. Also to marry into: to enter (a family, etc.) by marrying; to obtain by getting married; to marry well: to have a successful marriage (in terms of harmony, material gain, or social standing).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10653 Þan did þe biscop command þar, þat all þe maidens..Be send all to þair frendes dere, For to mari and forto spus. c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 31/2 They mareye but ones in theyr lyfe. 1526 Tindale 1 Cor. vii. 39 Yf her husbande slepe, she is at her liberte to mary with whom she woll, only in the lorde. 1530 ― Answ. More iii. xiii. Wks. (1573) 313/2 For, when the husband is dead, the wife is free to mary to whom she will. 1590 Greene Never too late i. (1600) C 3, Such as marry but to a faire face tie themselues oft to a foule bargaine. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 29. 1604 [see well adv. 6 c]. 1614 Day Festivals (1615) 282 Marrying in hast, and Repenting at leisure. 1639 Drummond of Hawthornden Consid. to Parlt. Wks. (1711) 187 That the church-race marry only among themselves, ministers sons upon ministers daughters. 1602 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ ii. ii. §9 Especially when he..married into that branch of the family that was remaining there. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) I. 319 Beseeching him..never to permit his daughter to marry with any man beneath noble. 1819 Byron Juan i. lvii, She married..With an Hidalgo. 1845 Punch's Almanack Jan., Advice to persons about to marry.—Don't. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis viii, Gentlemen..occasionally marry out of their kitchens. 1871 Geo. Eliot Middlem. (1872) I. i. iv. 61, I wish you to marry well; and I have good reason to believe that Chettam wishes to marry you. 1876 C. M. Yonge Womankind xxxi. 281 Mothers..cherish wishes that their girls may ‘marry well’; i.e. richly. 1899 O. Wilde Importance of Being Earnest i. 39 You can hardly imagine that I and Lord Bracknell would dream of allowing our only daughter..to marry into a cloak-room, and form an alliance with a parcel. 1904 H. O. Sturgis Belchamber i. 10 They both married, and married what is called ‘well’, while many of their fairer..sisters were left ungathered on the stem. 1905 A. Burvenich Eng. Idioms 224 Marry... To—into a fortune; épouser une fortune, een rijk huwelijk doen. 1923 R. Macaulay Told by Idiot i. xiii. 50 What chances does a girl want, except to marry well? 1931 Daily Express 21 Sept. 19/1 He married into money, so that I find it difficult to credit that his contemplated return is for the purpose of restoring his balance at the bank. 1933 R. H. Lowie in Encycl. Social Sci. X. 146/2 No Masai of good standing marries into a blacksmith's family. 1946 [see brouhaha]. 1963 Listener 14 Feb. 274/1 A socialist politician who has married into a farm. 1974 ‘J. Melville’ Nun's Castle i. 19 Among the other luxuries life provided for Lady Dorothy were kindred on the eastern seaboard of the United States... Probably she had someone married ‘well’ into the Kremlin if the truth were told. |
† b. To contract a matrimonial alliance with. Obs.
| 1476–7 Paston Lett. III. 168 My husbonde..wold that ȝe schuld go un to my maistresse yowr modur, and asaye if ȝe myght gete the hole xx li. in to ȝowr handes, and then he wolde be more gladd to marye with ȝowe, and will gyffe ȝowe an C li. |
c. transf. and fig. To enter into intimate union; to join, so as to form one. Also, (of wine, etc.) to mature. Now esp. to marry up with, to link with.
| 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 296 Syne merreit with the Diuill for dignite. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 138 And since he first divorced knowledge and practice in our first Parents, he is loath they should ever marry againe. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxxv, First love, first friendship, equal powers, That marry with the virgin heart. 1855 ― Brook 81, I..crost By that old bridge..where the waters marry. 1960 T. McLean Kings of Rugby xi. 170 Risman began to bear to the left to marry up with the outside backs. 1963 Harper's Bazaar Aug. 26 Blended..the whisky must now ‘marry’ another year before bottling. 1969 New Yorker 27 Sept. 120/2 The juices are the foundation for a generous gravy, in which blanched vegetables like carrots, onions..are heated and then allowed to marry for an hour or more. 1969 [see gazpacho]. 1971 C. Bonington Annapurna South Face App. C. 257 Even though there were indications that the British mask used on Kanchenjunga and the American mask used on Everest were superior in design, I preferred to keep things as simple as possible, eliminating any risk of parts failing to marry up. |
d. to marry above, marry below or marry beneath, (oneself): to marry a person of higher or lower social position.
| 1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scottish Proverbs 252 Marry above your Match, and you get a Master. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1742) III. 4 For who will offer to reproach me for marrying, as the World thinks, below me. Ibid. IV. 246 A Man, who..marry'd beneath him. 1860 A. J. Munby Diary 21 Feb. in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 51 Saw Mrs Lock (herself considerably reduced in the world, being in fact a lady who married beneath her). 1876 Trollope Prime Minister III. xx. 336 He had married much above himself in every way. 1895 A. W. Pinero Second Mrs. Tanqueray iv. 160 All my family have chucked me over... Jus' because I've married beneath me. |
e. to marry out: to marry a person of a different clan, group, religion, etc.
| 1842 Southern Lit. Messenger VIII. 331/2 ‘Marrying out’, as the Friends call one of a different faith, is regarded by them with especial horror. 1923 C. Roth Hist. Marranos xii. 316 His son, Jacob Israel Bernal, married out of the faith and left the community. 1954 E. E. Evans-Pritchard Inst. Primitive Society vi. 68 The rule of exogamy—the rule of marrying-out—which required that a man must not marry inside a defined set of his own kin. 1957 V. W. Turner Schism & Continuity in Afr. Society ix. 287 Most women marry out at least once. 1959 F. M. Wilson They came as Strangers iii. iv. 212 When his daughter married a Gentile..he never reproached her for marrying ‘out’. 1964 E. Huxley Back Street New Worlds ii. 20 Jewish women stick much closer to their own kind, with only between one-tenth and one-fifth marrying ‘out’. 1973 Jewish Chron. 19 Jan. 23/4 The smugness..may be one of the reasons for the apathy among Orthodox Jews which leads to marrying out. |
Add: [5.] e. trans. To assemble (an antique object) by joining two or more components differing in provenance, date, etc.; to join (distinct components) in this way.
| 1949 [implied at *married ppl.a. 1 c]. 1958 Connecticut Hist. Soc. Apr. 53 This last piece..was once offered to several dealers and collectors, but was turned down as suspect. The chest itself is undoubtedly old and so are the feet, though the two are obviously married. 1973 Washington Post 13 Jan. E16/4 Outright fakery is less prevalent than misrepresentation—such as marrying pieces. 1986 J. Bly Is it Genuine? 53 The presence of veneer does not necessarily mean that the two parts have been married, but the absence of veneer is always a good sign. |
▪ II. marry, int. Obs. exc. arch. or dial.
(ˈmærɪ)
Forms: 4–6 marie, 4–7 mary, 5–7 marye, 6 marrye, 6–7 marrie, (9 dial. marrey), 5– marry.
[Originally, the name of the Virgin Mary used as an oath or an ejaculatory invocation. In the 16th c., when marry had prob. ceased to be commonly apprehended as anything more than a mere interjection, the sound of the oath by Mary Gipcy (i.e. ‘by St. Mary of Egypt’) seems to have suggested the addition to it of the interjections gip, gup; and, as these were commonly used in driving horses, the equivalent come up (come v. 74 k) was afterwards substituted.]
An exclamation of asseveration, surprise, indignation, etc. a. Simply. (Often used in answering a question, and implying surprise that it should be asked: = ‘why, to be sure’.)
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 4840 ‘Marie, sire’, sede þe messageres ‘ȝe mowe vs wel trowe, þe milde mayde meliors in palerne now dwelles.’ c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 509 Ye sire, and wol ye so? Marie ther-of I pray yow hertely! c 1450 Dial. Husb. & Gent. in Roy Rede me (Arb.) 136 Husbondman. Howe dyd they youre auncesteres compell? Gentillman. Mary in threatnynge the paynes of hell. 1550 Lever Serm. (Arb.) 128 Yea marrye, why should we not kepe oure corne in oure owne barnes? 1552 Latimer Serm. (1584) 227 b, What is that? Marry fayth: and beliefe. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 170, I will say marry trap with you [? = ‘be off with you’], if you runne the nut-hooks humor on me. 1605 Willet Hexapla Gen. 405 Many suddenlie will say (marye) hauing no intent to sweare. 1693 Congreve Old Bach. i. iv, Marry, quotha! I hope, in heaven, I have a greater portion of grace. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xii, Marry, hang the idiot..to bring me such stuff. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxxv, Marry, my lord, the phoca had the better. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., One person says, ‘It is coming on rain,’ the other will add, ‘Ay Marrey! it is, sure enough’. |
† b. with asseverative words: marry (a) God, marry (and) amen. Also marry of God, God's marry, marry a me, marry of me (all in Look About You, 1600). Obs.
| c 1574–5 G. Harvey Story M. Harvey Wks. (Grosart) III. 94 By y⊇ Marie-god. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. v. 8 God forgiue me: Marrie and Amen: how sound is she a sleepe? 1600 Look about you E 3 b, Mary a god my wife would chide me dead. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iv. ii. 109 God buy you good sir Topas: Marry Amen. I will sir, I will. 1606 Heywood 2nd Pt. Know not me Wks. 1874 I. 267 Shake hands; by the marry-god, Sir Thomas, what else? 1695 Congreve Love for L. iii. i, Miss! miss! miss Prue!—mercy on me, marry and amen!—Why, what's become of the child? |
c. with interjection or exclamatory phrase: marry gip, marry (and) gup (gap, gep, guep, in Scott erron. quep): see gip, gup, quep ints. Also marry faugh, marry-go-look (in quot. used as n.).
| [1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 1455 Thynke what ye wyll Of this wanton byll; By Mary Gipcy, Quod scripsi, scripsi.] 1590 Greene Never too late ii. (1600) K 3 Marry gep giglet, thy loue sits on thy tongs end. 1592 Lyly Midas v. ii, Melancholy? marie gup, is melancholy a word for a barbars mouth? 1598 E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 44 Mary and gup! haue I then lost my cap? 1600 Dekker Shoemaker's Hol. ii. (1862) 12, I..looked at him, he at me, indeed spake to him, but he to me not a word, Marry gip, thought I, with a wanion! He past by me as proud—Marry foh! are you grown humorous, thought I? 1601 Munday Downfall Earl Huntington i. i. (1828) 15 He thinketh all lost In tumbling of books Of marry go looks. 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. vi. D, Marry fah, hang-em. 1605 Chapman etc. Eastw. Hoe i. i, Quick. Mary fough goodman flat-cap. 1607 Heywood Fayre Mayde Exch. Wks. 1874 II. 43 Mary gip Minx. 1621 J. Taylor (Water P.) Taylors Motto Wks. (1630) ii. 44/1 Marry gep With a horse night-cap doth your Iadeship skip? 1631 Celestina xviii. 179 Imbrace him? Mary gup with a murraine! I had rather see him under the power and rigour of the law. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 202, I thought th' hadst scorn'd to budge a step, For fear. (Quoth Echo) Marry guep. Am not I here to take thy part? 1676 Wycherley Pl. Dealer iii. i, Marry-gep! if it had not been for me, thou hadst been yet but a hearing-counsel at the bar. 1699 ‘Misaurus’ Honour of Gout (1720) 34 Marry Gap, quoth she. |
d. marry come up: used to express indignant or amused surprise or contempt: = ‘hoity-toity’.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. v. 64 Marrie come vp I trow, Is this the Poultis for my aking bones? 1608 ― Per. iv. vi. 159. 1642 J. Eaton Honey-c. Free Justif. 14 Taunting and reproachfull termes, as, Marry come up. 1663 Cowley Cutter of Coleman St. Wks. 1710 ii. 804 Marry come up; won't one of my chusing serve your turn as well as one of your own. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews iv. i, Slipslop..departed tossing her Nose, and crying, ‘Marry come up! there are some People more jealous than I, I believe’. ― Tom Jones x. iv, Her tongue..muttered many ‘marry-come-ups’..with other such indignant phrases. 1862 Borrow Wild Wales I. xxiv. 276 Unworthy? marry come up! I won't hear such an expression. |
▪ III. marry, marryce
obs. ff. marrow n.1, marish.