nabs slang.
(næbz)
Also 9 knabs.
[Of obscure origin: cf. nibs.]
A term used with possessive pronouns as a slang or jocular designation of a person; my nabs = ‘my gentleman’, † myself. Also as pl.
| a 1790 Potter New Dict. Cant, Nabs. a person of either sex. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., His-nabs, him, or himself, Mynabs, me, myself. 1823 in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. 248 Sought out the road where Toley's turnpike lay, And came upon his nabs just as he rose. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 149 (Hoppe), Your nabs sparkle my nabs a drop of bevare. 1895 Emerson Birds, etc. 203, I do a bit of stuffing, and as sure as I get gutting a bird, in come my nabs and steal some. |