liberty boyn.
/ˈlɪbətɪ bɔɪ/, U.S. /ˈlɪbərdi ˌbɔɪ/ Chiefly in plural.† 3. A free-ticket holder at the theatre. Obsolete. rare.† 4. Nautical. A sailor having leave to go ashore. Cf. liberty n.1 3c. Obsolete.
1. Chiefly with capital initial in the first element. A member of a disorderly gang of weavers from the Coombe area of Dublin. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a criminal or law-breaker > gangster > specific
liberal1638
liberty boy1733
gang leader1775
Camorrist1863
mafioso1875
gangster1900
amalaita1908
dada1917
paesanoa1930
skolly1934
Mafiaist1948
oyabun1948
yakuza1964
mafiosa1965
goombah1968
rascal1978
yardie1986
new jack1988
lynch man2004
1733 St. James's Evening Post 24 Apr. 1/1 The most desperate Skirmish that has been of late, was fought in Kevan's Fields, between the Liberty Boys, and those of the Town.
1760 S. Foote Minor Introd. 6 A Dublin mechanic..heading the Liberty boys in a skirmish on Ormond Quay.
1765 Ann. Reg. 120 Several soldiers and the liberty boys (that is, journeymen weavers living in the earl of Meath's liberties adjoining to the city) broke open Newgate.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary III. viii. 170 Edie Ochiltree..stands up for the liberty–na, I maunna say that neither—I am nae liberty-boy—I hae fought again them in the riots in Dublin.
1885 C. H. Crookshank Hist. Methodism in Ireland I. vii. 97 The Ormond boys seized him, and threatened to throw him into the Liffey; but the Liberty boys rushed to his assistance.
1904 J. McCarthy Irish Lit. V. 1916 Several men were killed..in savage feuds between the Ormond and the Liberty boys.
2005 R. Hylton Ireland's Huguenots 201 The Huguenots have sometimes been linked to the durable saga of being participants in gang warfare..as members of the so-called ‘Liberty Boys’.
2. † b. A member of any of various other groups zealously defending or fighting for liberty. Obsolete.
a. Chiefly with capital initials. A supporter of the American cause prior to and during the American War of Independence (1775–83). Now historical.
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > American politics > [noun] > principles or policies > adherents or supporters of
well-born1629
liberty boy1766
federalist1787
anti1788
Fed1788
monocrat1792
anti-federal1805
blue light1814
dough face1820
colonizationist1823
slavite1831
hunker1849
states' righter1861
slavist1889
Little American1899
New Frontiersman1923
America Firster1927
new federalist1969
angry white male1991
angry white man1993
AWM1994
1766 Let. 9 Jan. in Lloyd's Evening Post 21–24 Mar. 1/1 Our Liberty Boys, being content to keep out the Stamps, do not injure but protect the town.
1774 in C. F. Aspinall-Oglander Admiral's Widow (1942) 51 They are distinguished here by the name of Tories, as the Liberty Boys—the tarring feathery gentry—are by the title of Whigs.
1781 S. Peters Gen. Hist. Connecticut 393 The liberty boys were..honoured with the presence of ministers, deacons [etc.].
1821 J. G. Forbes Sketches of Floridas 26 Colonel Brown, having been tarred and feathered in Georgia by the liberty boys..did not feel much affection for them or their cause.
1875 Galaxy June 799/1 Paul Revere, the active and patriotic Liberty Boy.
1920 Elem. School Jrnl. 21 299 Read the inscription on the tablet commemorating the fight between Liberty boys and British soldiers.
1961 S. H. Holbrook Yankee Loggers iv. 28 Colonel Samuel Thompson and a party of Liberty Boys attacked Edward Parry.
2003 D. D. Volo & J. M. Volo Daily Life during Amer. Revol. iii. 41 Each town had a Liberty Tree under which the Liberty Boys met.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > [noun] > zeal for > advocate of
liberty boy1767
libertarian1796
emancipationist1822
libertist1826
1767 London Chron. 14 Feb. 168/2 The gentlemen proprietors have made a great noise upon this occasion, and threatened to prosecute the Liberty Boys.
1788 V. Knox Winter Evenings I. ii. xvii. 223 A Greek political ballad, which used to be sung by the Athenian liberty-boys.
1837 Times 11 May 5/3 Who supported them but those wonderful liberty boys the Radicals, who dared to call themselves the only friends of the people?
1858 Texas Almanac 1859 33 The Liberty boys..joined Austin's Company.
1871 J. Irving Ann. of our Time (new ed.) 8/2 Colonel Wetherall thereupon marched against St. Charles, where the Papineau party or ‘Liberty boys’ had taken refuge.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > charges > freedom from charge > [noun] > practice of admitting free of charge > one admitted free of charge
liberty boy1826
deadhead1841
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > theatre-going > theatregoer > [noun] > theatre audience > one who receives free pass
liberty boy1826
paperer1885
1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times I. vii. 269 While the paying spectator..applauded, when his feelings prompted, the liberty boy.., if he clapped at all, would clap with gloved hands.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > sailors involved in specific duties or activities > [noun] > one who goes ashore > sailor allowed to go ashore
liberty man1758
liberty boy1826
Jack ashore1834
1826 M. H. Barker Greenwich Hosp. 118 Another coach came driving in astern of us, well manned with liberty-boys, and cheering with all their might.
1842 N.Z. Gaz. 2 112 People from ships called ‘liberty boys’ are only allowed to come on shore on Sundays for recreation.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1733