| 释义 |
▪ I. policy, n.1|ˈpɒlɪsɪ|
Forms: 4–7 policie, 5 -ecye, 5–6 -icye, -ycie, -ycy(e, -ecy, -esy, 6 -ecie, -esie, -esye, -izy (Sc. -acie), 5– policy; (also 5 polleci, -isye, 5–6 -ecy, 5–7 -icie, 6 -icye, -yci, -ycy, 6–7 -icy, 7 -ecie).
[In Branch I, ME. policie, a. OF. policie (14th c. in Oresme) civil administration, government, ad. L. polītīa (Cic.), a. Gr. πολῑτεία citizenship, government, constitution, polity, f. πολίτης citizen, f. πόλις city, state. See police n. Branch II appears to be due to the association of this Græco-L. word with L. polītus polished, refined, pa. pple. of polīre to polish, adorn, refine, cultivate, and late L. polītiēs, polīciēs polish, elegancy (Quicherat Addenda), Romanic type *polītia, whence It. pulizia cleanness, neatness: cf. Sp., Pg. policia police, politeness, neatness.]
I.
1. a. An organized and established system or form of government or administration (of a state or city); a constitution, polity. Now rare or Obs.
1387–8T. Usk Test. Love ii. ii. (Skeat) l. 78 To sene smale and lowe governe the hye and bodies above. Certes, that policye is naught. 1488–9Act 4 Hen. VII, c. 19 To the subvercion of the polecy and gode rule of this lond. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (1895) 33 Suche peoples as do lyue to gethere in a cyuyle pollycye and good ordre. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 433 He furnished his realme both with good learnyng, and Ciuile pollicie. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. x. lvii. (1612) 251 French Pollicie consists of Three Estates, The Princes, Nobles, Commons. a1651Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 41 Consultatioun was had how a good and godlie policie might be established in the church. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. vi. Wks. 1813 I. 461 The forming of a system of discipline, or ecclesiastical policy. 1836J. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. v. (1852) 136 In well constituted policies provision is always made for the exercise of clemency.
†b. An organized state, a commonwealth. Obs.
1390Gower Conf. III. 141 With the wyndes whiche he bloweth, Ful ofte sythe he overthroweth The Cites and the policie. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 28 Hym that was be tyrannye That tyme prynce of ther polycye. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B viij, The diminyshing of the auncient Polycie of Rome. 1558C. Goodman Obed. Superior Powers Pref., Most discreet governors of commonwealths and policies.
†2.
a. Government, administration, the conduct of public affairs; political science. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Pard. T. 272 If that a Prynce vseth hasardrye In alle gouernance and policye He is..Yholde the lasse in reputacion. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xv. (1885) 148 Thies counsellors mowe..delibre vppon..þe materes off þe pollycye off þe reaume. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 45 Turne him to any Cause of Pollicy The Gordian Knot of it he will vnloose. 1641Milton Reform. ii. Wks. 1851 III. 33 There..is no art that hath bin more canker'd in her principles, more soyl'd and slubber'd with aphorisming pedantry then the art of policie. a1651Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 514 We are now left as a flocke without a pastor, in civill policie. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 625 By policy I mean not the modern art of deceiving mankind,..but..the antique art of governing them, which is a great virtue.
b. Court of Policy: the Legislative Council in British Guiana (which already existed when that country was a Dutch colony).
1769E. Bancroft Guiana 353 The lands are granted gratis, by the Governor and Court of Policy. 1824Mackintosh Sp. Ho. Comm. 1 June, Wks. 1846 III. 432 They resolved, that the King and Parliament of Great Britain had no right to change their laws without the consent of their Court of Policy. 1903Whitaker's Almanack 528 British Guiana... The Government consists of a Governor and a Court of Policy of 15 other members.
3. Political sagacity; prudence, skill, or consideration of expediency in the conduct of public affairs; statecraft, diplomacy; in bad sense, political cunning.
c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 304 Of worldly wysdom, sate the forteresse Callyd Othea, chyef grounde of polycy. c1470G. Ashby Active Policy 643 But to youre richesse make neuer man liche, If ye wol stande in peas and be set by. So wol god and polleci sykerly. 1555Eden Decades Pref. (Arb.) 56 By the pollicie and wisedome of the Frankes, it came so to passe. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 108 Neuer did base and rotten Policy Colour her working with such deadly wounds. 1715South Serm., 1 Kings xiii. 33. 126 Jeroboam being thus advanced, and thinking Policy the best Piety. 1728Eliza Heywood Mme. de Gomez's Belle A. (1732) II. 220 He had the Policy to discharge his new Subjects from the Impositions which their former Masters had laid on them. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles vi. vii, King Robert's eye Might have some glance of policy. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. I. v. 435 In this..he was actuated by policy rather than by sentiment.
4. a. In reference to conduct or action generally: Prudent, expedient, or advantageous procedure; prudent or politic course of action; also, as a quality of the agent: sagacity, shrewdness, artfulness; in bad sense, cunning, craftiness, dissimulation.
c1430Lydg. in Pol., Rel. & L. Poems 15, I Counselle,..Off polycye, forsight, and prudence. 1477Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 187 It weer not polesy for me to sett that maner in suche case for alle maner of happis. 1533More Debell. Salem v. Wks. 941/2, I wyl peraduenture..here after..vse the same circumspeccion & polycye that I learne of his ensample here. 1587Mirr. Mag., Malin x, Secretly by pollecy and sleight Hee slewe mee with his swoord, before I wist. 1599Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 102 Our grosse conceipts, who think honestie the best policie. 1604Drayton Owle 419 In this base Bird I might well descry, The prosperous fruit of thriving Policy. 1752Fielding Amelia ix. ix, Tom, Tom, thou hast no policy in thee. 1791Burke Corr. (1844) III. 255 Have they no way of convincing this..illustrious person,..that her only policy is silence, patience, and refusal? 1868Helps Realmah iv. (1876) 56 If this is policy, then are the ways of children politic. 1883Law Times 20 Oct. 409/2 The policy of allowing this sweeping right of appeal was doubted by many.
†b. A device, expedient, contrivance; a crafty device, stratagem, trick. Obs.
1406Hoccleve La male regle 252 Whan þat Vlixes saillid to and fro By meermaides this was his policie, Alle eres of men of his compaignie With wex he stoppe leet. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xxxv. 152 The besegers haue commonly one manere of a polycye. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts xxvii. 87 They used other policies to preserue the shyp. 1640Yorke Union Hon., Battells 18 By policy of these Iron stakes against the English horse, King Edward's battell was discomfited. 1678Worlidge Bees (1691) 23 A swarm [of bees] drawn from one place to another by stales, baits, calls, or such like policies. 1849Hare Par. Serm. II. 194 When a man is sharpening his policies he will grind them away to nothing.
5. A course of action adopted and pursued by a government, party, ruler, statesman, etc.; any course of action adopted as advantageous or expedient. (The chief living sense.)
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 82 Wherfor late soverayns use this policye, What ever they do late it in mesure be. 1544Supplic. to Hen. VIII in Four Supplic. (1871) 35 Thys was the crafty polycye of the clergye. 1599Thynne Animadv. (1875) 1 Eche one..did, in the begynnynge of the monthe of Januarye..presente somme gyfte unto his frende..a pollicye gretlye to be regarded. a1687Petty Pol. Arith. (1690) 23, I now come to the first Policy of the Dutch, viz. Liberty of Conscience. 1751Earl of Orrery Remarks Swift (1752) 64 France, by her policy, has done the same. By policy, I mean the encouragement of arts and sciences. 1840Thirlwall Greece lv. VII. 75 The project attributed..to Alexander, is not the less in perfect harmony with his general policy. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 41 Edward's foreign policy led him to draw closer the ties which connected our country with Germany.
II. Scotch senses influenced by L. polītus polished, late L. polītiēs, polīciēs elegancy. (Cf. police v. 1.)
6.
†a. The improvement or embellishment of an estate, building, town, etc. Obs.
1475St. Giles' Charters (1859) p. lxviii, For reparacioun, beilding and polesy to be maid in honour of..sanct Johan. 1535Sc. Acts Jas. V (1814) II. 343/1 Item for polecy to be had wtin þe Realme In planting of woddis making of Edgeis orchartis ȝardis and sawing of browme. 1536Bellenden Cron. Scot. xi. x. (1541) 163/2 Scho knew the mynd of kenneth geuyn to magnificent bygyng & polesy [Boece, Magnifica ædium structura atque ornatus delectaret]. 1555Sc. Acts Mary (1814) II. 491/2 It salbe lesum for policie and eschewing of deformitie of the towne.
†b. The improvements and embellishments so made; the buildings, plantations, etc. with which an estate is improved or adorned; property created by human skill and labour. Obs.
1535Sc. Acts Jas. V (1814) II. 349/1 All or souerane lordis burrowis are..waistit and distroyit in þeir gudis and polecy and almaist Ruynous. 1536Bellenden Cron. Scot. vii. vi. (1541) 84 b/2, The Pychtis spred fast in Athole, & maid syndry strenthis and polecyis in it [arcibus, munitionibus castellisque plurimum ornantes]. 1562Winȝet Last Blast Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 45 Quha..trampis down the heuinlie incres and all decent policie of the samyn winȝarde. 1563― Four Scoir Thre Quest. lxxx. ibid. 128 Quhy hef ȝe wappit doun the monasteriis, and principal policeis of this realme? 1564Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 279 Apperandlie the haill polecie in that part is lyke to pereis, without sum substantious ordour and remedie be prouydit. [Note. A declaration that the woods are decaying through cutting and bark peeling.] 1594Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1816) IV. 71 Oure souerane lord..apprevis the actis and statutis maid..for the..reparatioun of the decayed policie wtin burgh;..and gif the samyn be found auld, decayed and rwinous in ruif, sklattis, durris..to decerne that the coniunct fear.. sall repair the saidis landis and tenementis.
c. The (enclosed, planted, and partly embellished) park or demesne land lying around a country seat or gentleman's house.
1775G. White Selborne i. xlii, Lord Breadalbane's seat and beautiful policy are too curious and extraordinary to be omitted. 1775Johnson Journ. West. Isl., Aberbrothic, A small plantation, which in Scotch is called a policy. 1791T. Newte Tour Eng. & Scot. 207 The policies about the Noblemen and Gentlemen's houses..are but thinly scattered. 1842J. Wilson Chr. North (1857) I. 242 The gravel-walks of our policy. 1875J. Grant One of the 600 iii, The demesne (Scotice ‘policy’) around this picturesque old house, was amply studded with glorious old timber. 1883Pall Mall G. 15 Nov. 9/1 The Prince of Wales went out yesterday with Lord Fife and party, and enjoyed some splendid shooting in the policies.
†7.
a. The polishing or refining of manners.
b. Polish, refinement, elegancy; culture, civilization. (Cf. the Latin words rendered.) Obs.
a.1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 160 Plutarchie sa artificiouslie quha could illustir histories, and was sa notable in the policie, dekking, and outset of maneris and honestie [L. historiæ illustrandæ, morumque excolendorum insignis artifex].
b.1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. 9 In this north parte [of Scotland] ar sum prouinces sa plentifull and of gretter Ingines, that throuch thair policie [L. politia] thay ar athir to mony in the South compair, or than thay excel mony in the South. Ibid. 131 His people..allutterlie rude, and wtout all policie and ornat maneris [L. rudes, nullaque morum elegantia politos].
III. 8. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 5) policy decision, policy document, policy-maker, policy-making, policy statement; policy-making adj.; policy science (see quot. 1951); hence policy scientist.
1960I. Jefferies Dignity & Purity iv. 66 Their purpose is the application of scientific method to policy decisions. 1964Gould & Kolb Dict. Soc. Sci. 510/1 Current interest centres on such questions as the nature of policy decisions... Policy decisions are contrasted, for instance, with judicial decisions by reference to the relatively greater freedom of choice in the former. 1974S. Gulliver Vulcan Bulletins 11 A policy decision had meant more careful buying. 1976Burnham-on-Sea Gaz. 20 Apr., Mr Shore..can hardly have had time to read the policy documents before he was expected to stand up and defend them in the House.
1948J. Towster Political Power in U.S.S.R. iii. xiii. 314 High-income executants, not policy⁓makers. 1975Times 19 Feb. 14/6 American energy policy⁓makers find their own outlooks discouraging. 1978Dædalus Fall 50 As citizens and policymakers, we can make explicit the potential personal and societal consequences of legislation.
1943J. S. Huxley TVA xix. 137 The Board was always a policy-making body. 1946Nature 9 Nov. 646/1 Authoritative information which those..at the policy-making or executive level might be expected to need. 1950N.Y. Times 20 Apr. 1/3 The cataloging of persons eligible for policy-making positions would be..done without regard to their party affiliations. 1968E. A. Powdrill Vocab. Land Planning ii. 5 Policy⁓making and technique are a symbiosis, but it must be supported by wise and sound administration. 1976Times 21 May 4/1 Mr. Len Murray..told the policy-making conference of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades that the T.U.C. would expect the Government to take action.
1951H. D. Lasswell in Lerner & Lasswell Policy Sciences i. 4/1 We may use the term ‘policy sciences’ for the purpose of designating the content of the policy orientation during any given period. The policy sciences includes (1) the methods by which the policy process is investigated, (2) the results of the study of policy, and (3) the findings of the disciplines making the most important contributions to the intelligence needs of the time. 1964I. L. Horowitz New Sociology 30 Sociology cannot be a ‘policy science’ until and unless there is a sociology of ethics. 1977Dædalus Summer 59 It should move away from the contemporary, toward the past;..away from the impossible quest for stability; from the glide into policy science.
1970Nature 19 Sept. 1189/2 There will have to be changes in the ways in which ‘prime television time’ is allocated so that the policy scientists can have their say..when people are most likely to be glued to their television sets. 1979Bull. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. Mar. 28 International consultants and policy scientists serve as the conveyors and preservers of these untested staff papers until their ideas, approaches, and methodologies develop a life of their own.
1960Times 1 Feb. 11/2 Mr. Macleod's speech..will be the most important policy statement that has been made on East Africa for many a long year. 1966N. Nicolson Diaries & Lett. H. Nicolson 1930–1939 258 He wrote the main policy-statement of the National Labour Party.
▪ II. policy, n.2|ˈpɒlɪsɪ|
Also 6 police, 7 -cie, -zy.
[ad. F. police (1371) bill of lading, contract of insurance, etc., according to Hatz.-Darm. ad. Pr. polissa, also polissia (1428 in Diez), podiza, Cat. police, = Sp. póliza, Pg. apólice, OIt. póliza, pólisa, also polizia, It. polízza, ‘schedule, bill, note, writing, remembrance, bond, inuentorie, obligation, ticket’ (Florio), also in 16th c. ‘bill of lading’; according to G. Paris Romania X. 620:—med.L. apódissa, apódixa, ‘a receipt or security for money paid’, altered from L. apódīxis, a. Gr. ἀπόδειξις a making known, demonstration, evidence, proof. The word appears to have had in Italian a very general sense, being applicable to a writing setting forth or serving as evidence of any kind of transaction.
The form-development apódissa, pódissa, pólissa, is supported by Pg. apólice:—L. apódixem, and the Prov. form podiza. The Eng. final -ie, -y, either represents the variants apodixia, polissia, or perhaps merely followed policy n.1 as a representative of F. police. Earlier suggestions of a derivation from L. polyptichum rent-roll, register, schedule, pl. polyptycha (5th c. Vegetius), registers, account-books, or from pollex thumb (as the supposed means of sealing a document), or from pollicērī to promise, are all untenable.]
1. a. More fully, policy of assurance or insurance policy: A document containing an undertaking, in consideration of a sum or sums paid down at the time, or to be paid from time to time, called a premium or premiums, to pay a specified amount or part thereof in the event of a specified contingency, such as the loss of property at sea, or its destruction by fire, or, in the case of a life insurance, on the death of the person named in the policy.
Also called bill of assurance in Lumbard Strete in 1562 (Marsden Sel. Pl. Crt. Admir. II. 52). floating policy, open policy: see quots. wager policy or wagering policy, a policy of insurance taken out where the insured has no real interest in the thing insured: declared illegal by various statutes as a species of gambling.
[1523in Pardessus Collect. Lois Marit. (1837) IV. 609/1 Non..essere tenuto a mostrare alcuna polizza di caricamento.] 1565in R. G. Marsden Sel. Pl. Crt. Admir. (Selden) II. 56 [transl. of French document] Any order made..agaynst the tenor of this present Police of Assuraunce. 1601Act 43 Eliz. c. 12 By meanes of which Policies of Assurance it commeth to passe, vpon the losse or perishing of any ship, there [etc.]. 1641Termes de la Ley 219 Policy of Assurance is a course taken by Merchants for the assuring of their adventures upon the sea. 1681Lond. Gaz. No. 1668/4 That all Persons that Insure their Houses shall have liberty till the First of January 1682, to bring back their Policies, and the Insurers will oblige Themselves and their Security by Indenture on their Policies, to accept of a Surrender, and repay their Premium. 1710Tatler No. 241 ⁋2 In all the Offices where Policies are drawn upon Lives. 1828–32Webster s.v. Policy, Wagering policies, which insure sums of money, interest or no interest, are illegal. 1848Arnould Mar. Insurance I. i. ii. 17–19 A wager policy is one which shows on the face of it, that the contract it embodies is not really an insurance, but a wager... An open policy is one in which the value of the subject insured..is left to be estimated in case of loss... A time policy is one in which the limits of the risk are designated only by certain fixed periods of time. 1901Ibid. (ed. 7) I. 11 A floating policy is one in which there is no limitation of the risk to a particular ship, as where goods ‘on ship or ships’ are insured for the same voyage. 1902R. G. Marsden in Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc. XVI. 83 A policy of 1545 is the earliest known example of a policy entered into in England. It is a remarkable document, the body of it being in Italian, and the subscriptions in English.
b. A conditional promissory note, depending on the result of a wager.
1709–10Steele Tatler No. 124 ⁋1 If any Plumb in the City will lay me an Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds to Twenty Shillings..that I am not this fortunate Man, I will take the Wager..having given Orders to Mr. Morphew to subscribe such a Policy in my Behalf, if any Person accepts of the Offer. 1832J. Taylor Rec. My Life I. 338 Policies were opened to ascertain his sex, while he appeared in male and female attire.
c. A form of gambling in which bets are made on numbers to be drawn by lottery: cf. policy-shop in 3. Freq. in phr. to write policy. U.S.
1830[see policy certificate]. 1879Rep. N.Y. State Court of Appeals LXXIV. 64 He testified that he paid to the defendant, at different times, sums amounting to $3,601.08 for tickets in a Kentucky lottery and in ‘playing policy’, as it is called. 1890Webster s.v., To play policy. 1890J. A. Riis How Other Half Lives (1891) xiii. 155 The game of policy is a kind of unlawful penny lottery. 1944Crisis June 189/2 He even tried writing policy, but the players didn't like him. He couldn't shop the proper degree of sympathy when someone played 341 and 342 came out. 1949Amer. Speech XXIV. 190 The oldest of the games, and very likely the parent of most contemporary forms, is policy, which is believed to have been in existence in England as early as the first half of the eighteenth century. 1968P. Oliver Screening Blues 133 During the Depression..many impoverished Negroes wrote policy in the hopes of winning sufficient to feed their families. 1972Times 23 Nov. 9/8 Its most spectacular proposal is that gambling, prostitution and ‘policy’—an illegal betting game—should all be legalized.
†2. = It. polizza, ticket; voting-paper; voucher, warrant. Obs.
1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals iii. ii. 261 In this Scrutiny, all the Cardinals put in their Polizys open. Ibid. 285 Each of the Cardinals orders his Conclavist to bring him a Polizy, or Ticket of the vote he desires to give in the morning. 1675tr. Machiavelli's Prince (Rtldg.) 285 Having received a new policy from three months to three months, the pensioners..go then to the receivers.
¶ Johnson, as his only recognition of this word, has (1755) ‘a warrant for money in the publick funds’ (ed. 1785 adds ‘a ticket’); and this is repeated in mod. Dicts. as a distinct sense; Mason (1801) drew attention to its incorrectness: ‘Neither of these definitions extend to the most usual meaning of this word ‘policy of insurance’. The interpretation should have been A warrant for some peculiar kinds of claim’.
3. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1 a) policy-book, policy business, policy-holder; (sense 1 c) policy certificate, policy game, policy player, policy-playing, policy racket; policy play vb. trans.; policy blues U.S., a blues melody concerning the game of policy; policy king U.S., one who has profited greatly from running policy games; policy office U.S., = policy-shop; policy-shop, in U.S. a place for gambling by betting on the drawing of certain numbers in a lottery; policy-slip, in U.S. ‘the ticket given on a stake of money at a policy-shop’ (Cent. Dict.); policy wheel U.S., a revolving drum used in the selection of winning numbers at policy; policy writer U.S., one who collects bets from those playing policy.
1928J. Jackson (song-title) *Policy Blues. 1968P. Oliver Screening Blues iv. 134 Reflecting the popularity of the numbers game were innumerable policy blues.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Policy-book, a book kept in an insurance office for making entries of policies granted.
1844G. Wilkes Mysteries of Tombs 52/2 He is an old offender in the *policy business. 1883‘Mark Twain’ Life on Miss. xliii. 437 Dull policy-business till next fire.
1830Baltimore Amer. 26 Aug. 3/2 To Adventurers and the Public, Policy Certificates, in the greatest variety.
1885Rep. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court CXXXVII. 250 The defendant has been convicted of setting up and promoting a certain lottery for money; and the only question raised by his exceptions is whether the jury were warranted in finding that a game popularly known as the *policy or envelope game is a lottery within the Pub. Sts. c. 209, §1. 1934Sun (Baltimore) 30 Apr. 6/5 Skilled investigators have revealed that the slot machines and the policy games take $2,000,000 out of Richmond each year. 1964A. Wykes Gambling 344 In 1957, nearly 12,000 people were convicted on policy-game charges.
1851C. Cist Cincinnati 98 Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co... All the profits divided among the *policy holders every year. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Policy-holders, the persons insured in an office. 1906Times (weekly ed.) 31 Aug. 549/4 Three leading American insurance companies will discontinue granting rebates on the annual premium to British policy-holders on account of British income-tax. 1915[see chinchy a.] 1970J. Hansen Fadeout i. 4 My company—every insurance company—sends out investigators in cases like this... Where the policyholder's body can't be found.
1949Collier's 15 Jan. 21/1 Thousands of other suckers..are not only making millionaires out of a few dozen *policy kings, they also pay for the corruption of many police officials. 1968P. Oliver Screening Blues iv. 133 Policy kings made occasional magnanimous gestures with large donations to charities or churches and a mystique developed in which they were viewed as benefactors rather than as parasites.
1843J. H. Greene Exposure of Arts & Miseries of Gambling 283 These swindling shops are numerous, and are sometimes called *policy offices.
1693Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 17 Grand jury of London..presented the *policy officers about wagers.
1926C. Jackson in P. Oliver Screening Blues (1968) iv. 130, I looked in my purse t'see if I had a little dough, So I could *policy play 4-11-44.
1847C. White (title) The *policy players. An Ethiopian sketch. 1901E. Harrigan Mulligans 65 A policy player's chances are a hundred to one against him. 1972Sci. Amer. Oct. 112/3 Thousands of Manhattan policy players bet on 932 and won.
1887Gen. Statutes Connecticut cliv. 563 The court of common council of any city..shall have power to make, alter, and repeal ordinances or by-laws to suppress and punish all kinds of gambling and gaming, pool selling, *policy playing, [etc.]. 1949Amer. Speech XXIV. 190 In the early days policy playing was associated with the regular number lotteries, being a device whereby people unable to afford a regular lottery ticket could wager small amounts on the outcome of the drawing.
1938Sun (Baltimore) 1 Sept. 1/4 Davis, the broken mouthpiece of the once-powerful Dutch Schultz *policy racket, swore..that James J. Hines..was paid thousands of dollars by the mob. 1968P. Oliver Screening Blues iv. 133 The policy racket had a folk-lore of its own.
1858‘Q. K. P. Doesticks’ Witches of N.Y. 54 The propinquity of the ‘lottery agency’ and the ‘policy-shop’, just round the corner. 1879Webster Suppl., Policy-shop, an office opened for gambling in connection with lotteries. 1903Daily Chron. 3 Nov. 5/3 He..has closed every gambling-den, pool-room, disorderly house and policy-shop that the extreme of vigilance could discover.
1934Sun (Baltimore) 30 Apr. 6/5 The second fact can be done away with by making it a criminal offense to sell *policy slips to minors. 1972‘T. Coe’ Don't lie to Me xi. 103, I knew..he could make it stick. Find heroin in my car. Shake me down and find policy slips.
1906Southwestern Reporter XCI. 785/1 Evidence that accused was seen..in the house where people were betting at a lottery, and that he at one time turned the *policy wheel. 1968Sunday Tel. 1 Sept. 13/6 An excursion into the cabalistic number symbolism employed by bettors on the ‘policy wheels’—those intricate gambling devices surreptitiously played by millions of Americans.
1949Collier's 15 Jan. 21/2 In Detroit, one auto-plant *policy writer explained to me, ‘I been in this racket for twenny years.’ 1968P. Oliver Screening Blues iv. 142 Within the lower class the policy writer was considered a parasite who lived off his fellows.
▪ III. † ˈpolicy, v.1 Obs.
[a. obs. F. policier (1540 in Godef.) to administer, f. obs. F. policie; see policy n.1, police v.]
trans. To organize and regulate the internal order of, to order; = police v. 2. Hence † ˈpolicied ppl. a., civilly organized.
1565Smith in Froude Hist. Eng. (1863) VIII. viii. 165 There is no realm in Christendom better governed, better policied. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. vi. 302 Canaan and ægypt;..which he found well peopled and policied into Kingdomes. 1647–8Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 2 Well policied Government. 1788Priestley Lect. Hist. v. xliv. 324 We are not..to consider all countries as barbarous that are not policied as ours. 1824Landor Imag. Conv., Pericles & Soph. Wks. 1853 I. 147/1 A wide and rather waste kingdom should be interposed between the policied states and Persia.
▪ IV. † ˈpolicy, v.2 Obs.
In 5 poll-.
[f. policy n.2 or F. police, in its early sense.]
trans. To furnish with a certificate; to examine and certify to the purity or quality of. Hence † policier (in 5 poll-), the officer who performed this function.
c1450Oath in Cal. Let. Bk. D Lond. (1902) 196 The Office of Garbeler and pollicier of wex within the Citee of London... And after that ye have garbeled any bale or merchandises ye shall mark and signe the same bale by you garbeled and wex by you pollicied wt a mark to thentent that the common weyer may have knowledge thereof &c.
▪ V. ˈpolicy, v.3 U.S. slang.
[f. policy n.2 1 c.]
1889Farmer Dict. Amer. 429/2 To Policy, to gamble with the numbers of lottery tickets. |