chickaleary, a. (n.) Costers' slang.
(ˈtʃɪkəlɪərɪ)
[f. chick n.1 + leery a.2]
Artful, ‘downy’. Also n., a ‘downy cove’.
| 1839 W. A. Miles Poverty (Partridge), He's a right down chap, a chickle-a-leary chap. c 1869 Vance Ballad, Chick-a-leary Cove (Farmer), I'm a chicka-leary cove..; Whitechapel was the village I was born in. 1908 Daily Chron. 3 Aug. 4/4 It's the chickalearies and their donahs that are responsible. |