ˈBoston2
[The name of the city of Boston in Massachusetts.]
1. A game at cards, allied to whist, named after the siege of Boston in the American War of Independence, to which the technical terms of the game refer. [a. F. Boston: see Littré, and the Académie des Jeux.]
| 1800 Sporting Mag. XVI. 185/2 (heading) Rules for the Game of Cards called Boston. Ibid. 186/1 The eldest hand..if he thinks..that he can get five tricks or more, played as at Whist, says Boston. [1805 Académie Univ. des Jeux s.v. Whist, Tarif du jeu de Boston Whist.] 1820 in Hoyle. 1850 Bohn Handbk. Games 295 Boston..very much resembles Whist, and is somewhat like Quadrille. 1866 Daily Tel. 10 June 5/1 The French national game of Boston, which was invented in honour of a certain Transatlantic infusion. 1880 Libr. Univ. Knowl. II. 791 Boston, a game at cards, played by 4 persons, with 2 packs [one dealt, the other cut for trumps]. |
2. A variation of the waltz. Also
Boston dip (waltz) (see
quot. 1885);
Boston two-step, a variation of the two-step.
| 1879 Amer. Punch Oct. 116/1 The Hardshell Baptists will not dance even the Boston Dip Waltzes. 1885 A. Dodworth Dancing 73 Boston... When stepping with the right foot, the left knee is slightly bent, producing the dip, from which the name Boston Dip was derived. 1887 Courier-Journal (Louisville) 8 May 12/8 The young English baron..[was] dancing the Boston with Miss Bazaine. 1913 E. Scott All about the Boston 21 Mr. Henry Zay wrote: ‘I have danced the {oqq}Boston{cqq} for twenty years (I am an American) and say emphatically that there is no set figure that can be called the {oqq}Boston{cqq}. It is a series of steps or figures—such as the ordinary waltz-step, the {oqq}dip{cqq}, the {oqq}run{cqq}, the {oqq}reverse{cqq},’ etc. Ibid. 24 At the present time the term ‘Boston’ is applied to the kind of movement that in its best and most graceful form would be far more consistently described as Rectilineal or Diagonal waltzing. 1918 A. Bennett Pretty Lady iii. 11 Do play for me. Play a boston—a two-step. |
3. Boston baked beans chiefly
U.S., a dish consisting of haricot beans baked with salt pork and molasses;
occas. in
sing.;
Boston (bull) terrier, a small smooth-coated terrier originating in Massachusetts from a crossing of the bulldog and terrier; also
ellipt. and
attrib.;
Boston crab, a wrestling hold (see
quot. 1961).
| 1853 Mrs. A. L. Webster Improved Housewife 147 *Boston baked beans. 1904 Omaha Bee 16 Aug. 4 The maker of Boston baked bean pots is dead, but the fame of the Boston baked bean is perpetual. c 1938 Fortnum & Mason Price List 60/2 Boston baked beans..per tin 1/3. 1982 S. B. Flexner Listening to Amer. 62 The dish of beans cooked with saltpork and molasses wasn't widely called Boston baked beans until the 1850s. |
| 1894 Outing (U.S.) Mar. 465/1 After much discussion the name of *Boston Terrier was finally selected because all other names indicating the origin of the dog were more or less in conflict with those of older breeds. 1907 F. T. Barton Terriers ix. 90 The so-called Boston terriers appear to be but indifferent specimens of the bull-terrier cropped. 1945 C. L. B. Hubbard Observer's Bk. Dogs 31 Boston Bull-Terrier... The breed was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1893. 1948 Chicago Tribune 4 Apr. (Grafic Mag.) 20/4 The Boston originated from a cross between the English bulldog and the white English terrier. 1955 W. W. Denlinger Complete Boston i. iv. 112 The correct Boston neck fits neatly into and between long shoulders. |
| 1961 Webster, *Boston crab, a professional wrestling hold in which the aggressor sits on the buttocks of a prone opponent and pulls upward on the opponent's legs. 1962 Spectator 13 Apr. 480 The Boston Crab looks pretty agonising. 1985 Time 15 Apr. 105/1 It can be no small feat of strength and precision to execute an atomic knee drop, a figure-4 leg lock, or the dreaded Boston crab. |
Hence
ˈBoston v. intr., to dance the Boston.
colloq.| 1913 A. M. N. Lyons Simple Simon iii. vi. 328 He was saying to her ‘Do you Boston?’ 1920 S. Lewis Main St. i. 2 Scores recited more accurately and dozens Bostoned more smoothly. |