molln.2
/mɒl/, U.S. /mɑl/ 1. A girl, a woman; esp. a prostitute. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [noun]
wifeeOE
womaneOE
womanOE
queanOE
brideOE
viragoc1000
to wifeOE
burdc1225
ladyc1225
carlinec1375
stotc1386
marec1387
pigsneyc1390
fellowa1393
piecec1400
femalea1425
goddessa1450
fairc1450
womankindc1450
fellowessa1500
femininea1513
tega1529
sister?1532
minikinc1540
wyec1540
placket1547
pig's eye1553
hen?1555
ware1558
pussy?a1560
jade1560
feme1566
gentlewoman1567
mort1567
pinnacea1568
jug1569
rowen1575
tarleather1575
mumps1576
skirt1578
piga1586
rib?1590
puppy1592
smock1592
maness1594
sloy1596
Madonna1602
moll1604
periwinkle1604
Partlet1607
rib of man1609
womanship?1609
modicum1611
Gypsy1612
petticoata1616
runniona1616
birda1627
lucky1629
she-man1640
her1646
lost rib1647
uptails1671
cow1696
tittup1696
cummer17..
wife1702
she-woman1703
person1704
molly1706
fusby1707
goody1708
riding hood1718
birdie1720
faggot1722
piece of goods1727
woman body1771
she-male1776
biddy1785
bitch1785
covess1789
gin1790
pintail1792
buer1807
femme1814
bibi1816
Judy1819
a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823
wifie1823
craft1829
shickster?1834
heifer1835
mot1837
tit1837
Sitt1838
strap1842
hay-bag1851
bint1855
popsy1855
tart1864
woman's woman1868
to deliver the goods1870
chapess1871
Dona1874
girl1878
ladykind1878
mivvy1881
dudess1883
dudette1883
dudine1883
tid1888
totty1890
tootsy1895
floozy1899
dame1902
jane1906
Tom1906
frail1908
bit of stuff1909
quim1909
babe1911
broad1914
muff1914
manhole1916
number1919
rossie1922
bit1923
man's woman1928
scupper1935
split1935
rye mort1936
totsy1938
leg1939
skinny1941
Richard1950
potato1957
scow1960
wimmin1975
womyn1975
womxn1991
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute
meretrixOE
whoreOE
soiled dovea1250
common womanc1330
putec1384
bordel womanc1405
putaina1425
brothelc1450
harlot?a1475
public womanc1510
naughty pack?1529
draba1533
cat1535
strange woman1535
stew1552
causey-paikera1555
putanie?1566
drivelling1570
twigger1573
punka1575
hackney1579
customer1583
commodity1591
streetwalker1591
traffic1591
trug1591
hackster1592
polecat1593
stale1593
mermaid1595
medlar1597
occupant1598
Paphian1598
Winchester goose1598
pagan1600
hell-moth1602
aunt1604
moll1604
prostitution1605
community1606
miss1606
night-worm1606
bat1607
croshabell1607
prostitute1607
pug1607
venturer1607
nag1608
curtal1611
jumbler1611
land-frigate1611
walk-street1611
doll-common1612
turn-up1612
barber's chaira1616
commonera1616
public commonera1616
trader1615
venturea1616
stewpot1616
tweak1617
carry-knave1623
prostibule1623
fling-dusta1625
mar-taila1625
night-shadea1625
waistcoateera1625
night trader1630
coolera1632
meretrician1631
painted ladya1637
treadle1638
buttock1641
night-walker1648
mob?1650
lady (also girl, etc.) of the game1651
lady of pleasure1652
trugmullion1654
fallen woman1659
girlc1662
high-flyer1663
fireship1665
quaedama1670
small girl1671
visor-mask1672
vizard-mask1672
bulker1673
marmalade-madam1674
town miss1675
town woman1675
lady of the night1677
mawks1677
fling-stink1679
Whetstone whore1684
man-leech1687
nocturnal1693
hack1699
strum1699
fille de joie1705
market-dame1706
screw1725
girl of (the) town1733
Cytherean1751
street girl1764
monnisher1765
lady of easy virtue1766
woman (also lady) of the town1766
kennel-nymph1771
chicken1782
stargazer1785
loose fish1809
receiver general1811
Cyprian1819
mollya1822
dolly-mop1834
hooker1845
charver1846
tail1846
horse-breaker1861
professional1862
flagger1865
cocodette1867
cocotte1867
queen's woman1871
common prostitute1875
joro1884
geisha1887
horizontal1888
flossy1893
moth1896
girl of the pavement1900
pross1902
prossie1902
pusher1902
split-arse mechanic1903
broad1914
shawl1922
bum1923
quiff1923
hustler1924
lady of the evening1924
prostie1926
working girl1928
prostisciutto1930
maggie1932
brass1934
brass nail1934
mud kicker1934
scupper1935
model1936
poule de luxe1937
pro1937
chromo1941
Tom1941
pan-pan1949
twopenny upright1958
scrubber1959
slack1959
yum-yum girl1960
Suzie Wong1962
mattress1964
jamette1965
ho1966
sex worker1971
pavement princess1976
parlour girl1979
crack whore1990
1604 T. Middleton Ant & Nightingale sig. D3 None of these common Molls neyther, but discontented and vnfortunate Gentlewomen.
1753 Discov. J. Poulter (ed. 2) 34 To nap the Slangs from the Cull or Moll; that is,..to take the Things from the Man or Woman.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Moll, a whore.
1819 T. Thompson in Coll. Songs Newcastle Dial. 10 When the Malls began their reels.
1846 R. L. Snowden Magistrate's Assistant 345 The flash or cant language... A girl, (old phrase): Moll.
1914 L. E. Jackson & C. R. Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 21 Buzzard,..a timid or amateur or low life ‘gun’ who operates on ‘molls’, women.
1923 G. McKnight Eng. Words iv. 61 In the vocabulary of modern youth, chivalry is dead... A girl is a jane, a dame, a moll, [etc.].
2009 A. Goudsouzian in S. W. Freeman & B. G. Bond Tennessee Women 309 Sportswriter Paul Gallico once famously described competitive woman athletes as ‘Muscle Molls’.
2. A girlfriend, a sweetheart; spec. the girlfriend or female accomplice of a gangster or criminal; a female pickpocket or thief.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > a lover > [noun] > one who is loved or a sweetheart > specifically a female sweetheart or girlfriend
lief971
ladya1393
ladyshipa1393
speciala1400
amiec1400
womanc1400
amoreta1425
mistressc1425
paramoura1450
fair ladya1470
girl?a1513
sooterkin1530
Tib1533
she1547
lady-love1568
jug1569
young lady1584
pigeon1592
love-lass1594
lass1596
dowsabel1612
swainling1615
lucky1629
Dulcinea1638
Lindabrides1640
inamorata1651
baby1684
best girl1691
lady friend1733
young woman1822
moll1823
querida1834
sheila1839
bint1855
tart1864
babykins1870
Dona1874
novia1874
fancy-girl1892
girlfriend1892
cliner1895
tootsy1895
dinah1898
best1904
twist and twirl1905
jane1906
kitten1908
patootie1918
meisie1919
bride1924
gf1925
jelly1931
sort1933
a bit (also piece) of homework1945
beast1946
queen1955
momma1964
mi'jita1970
her indoors1979
girlf1991
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > companion of thieves > female
monnisher1765
moll1823
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang Molls are the female companions of low thieves, at bed, board, and business.
1840 H. D. Miles Dick Turpin xxi. 250 You might ha' knowed his moll, a spicy, swellish sort of a bit o'muslin.
1872 G. P. Burnham Mem. U.S. Secret Service 190 Doctor Blake and his ‘moll’ visited the town of Toms River.
1891 J. Baron Blegburn Dickshonary 44 ‘Aw'm gooin' to meet mi Moll to-neet’ is a varra common sayin' wi' factory lads: some o' th' better soort say ‘woman’ i' th' place o' Moll, but nooan so mony.
1934 D. Thomas 18 Poems 22 In this our age the gunman and his moll, Two one-dimensioned ghosts, love on a reel.
1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) i. 19 He went off with that bloody moll whose name I wouldn't speak.
1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. No. 24. 99 A woman pickpocket is..a moll.
1995 Loaded July 49/3 We are finally admitted..and head downstairs to a lavish ballroom full of aged pornsters and their youngster molls.
Compounds
C1. Forming mock proper names (cf. etymological note), or words connected with female members of the underworld.† mollsack n. Obsolete slang a woman's bag or basket.† moll-tooler n. Obsolete slang a female pickpocket.
Moll Blood n. slang (now historical) the gallows.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > [noun] > gallows
gallowsOE
gallows-treea1000
warytre?a1200
gibbet?c1225
gallow-forka1250
forkc1275
juisec1320
forchesc1380
crossa1382
treec1425
patible1428
justice1484
potencec1500
haltera1533
turning-tree1548
potentc1550
three treesa1566
chates1567
mare1568
furel1587
bough1590
gibe1590
derrickc1600
hangrella1605
cross-tree1638
Gregorian tree1641
wooden horse1642
timber-marec1650
triple tree1651
furca1653
nubbing1673
a horse that was foaled of an acorn1678
nub1699
Tyburn tree1728
raven-stone1738
picture frame1785
crap1789
lamp-iron1790
Moll Blood1818
stifler1818
scragging-post1819
government signposta1828
leafless tree1830
shuggie-shue1836
doom-tree1837
stob1860–62
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian viii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 209 Three words of your mouth would give the girl the chance to nick Moll Blood.
ΚΠ
1839 H. Brandon Dict. Flash or Cant Lang. in W. A. Miles Poverty, Mendicity & Crime 164/1 Mollsack, reticule.
1864 J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed.) 180 Mollsack, a reticule, or market basket.
moll-shop n. slang a brothel.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > brothel
houseOE
bordelc1300
whorehousec1330
stew1362
bordel housec1384
stewc1384
stivec1386
stew-house1436
bordelryc1450
brothel house1486
shop?1515
bains1541
common house1545
bawdy-house1552
hothouse1556
bordello1581
brothela1591
trugging house1591
trugging place1591
nunnery1593
vaulting-house1596
leaping house1598
Pickt-hatch1598
garden house1606
vaulting-school1606
flesh-shambles1608
whore-sty1621
bagnioa1640
public house1640
harlot-house1641
warrena1649
academy1650
call house1680
coney burrow1691
case1699
nanny-house1699
house of ill reputea1726
smuggling-ken1725
kip1766
Corinth1785
disorderly house1809
flash-house1816
dress house1823
nanny-shop1825
house of tolerance1842
whore shop1843
drum1846
introducing house1846
khazi1846
fast house1848
harlotry1849
maison de tolérance1852
knocking-shop1860
lupanar1864
assignation house1870
parlour house1871
hook shop1889
sporting house1894
meat house1896
massage parlour1906
case house1912
massage establishment1921
moll-shop1923
camp1925
notch house1926
creep joint1928
slaughterhouse1928
maison de convenance1930
cat-house1931
Bovril1936
maison close1939
joy-house1940
rib joint1940
gaff1947
maison de passe1960
rap parlour1973
1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 196 Moll-shop.
1957 M. K. Joseph I'll soldier no More (1958) 181 Pretty faces..peered shyly into the street. ‘Looks like a moll-shop,’ said Connolly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > pickpocket or cutpurse > [noun] > pickpocket
fig-boyc1555
foister1585
foist1591
pickpocket1591
bung1600
diver1608
pocket-picker1622
pocketeerc1626
bung-nipper1659
file1673
filer1674
shark1707
hoister1708
knuckle1781
knuckler1801
buzzgloak1819
cly-faker1819
fingersmith1819
knuck1819
fogle hunter1821
buzzman1832
nobbler1839
wire1851
gonoph1853
wirer1857
dip1859
moll-tooler1859
buzzer1862
hook1863
snotter1864
tool1865
pocket-cutter1885
dipper1889
pogue-hunter1896
pick1902
finger1925
whizz1925
whizzer1925
prat diggera1931
whizz-boy1931
whizz-man1932
reefer1935
1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang 63 Moll tooler, a female pickpocket.
C2. In the names of plants and animals.† moll-washer n. English regional Obsolete the pied wagtail, Motacilla alba yarrelli.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Motacillidae > genus Motacilla > motacilla alba (pied wagtail)
washerc1325
washstarta1400
wevesterte14..
water swallow1544
dishwasher1575
water-wagtail1593
dishwater1674
seed bird1675
pied wagtail1744
willy wagtail1780
washerwoman1817
wash-dish1825
moll-washer1847
deviling1853
devil's bird1853
tinner1866
peggy1885
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II Moll-washer, the water-wagtail.
1857 T. Wright Dict. Obsolete & Provinc. Eng. II. 679/1 Moll-washer, the water-wagtail. South.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 44 It [sc. the pied wagtail] has received the titles of Dishwasher... Moll washer [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† molladj.n.1
Obsolete.
A. adj.
1. Soft. Of weather: mild.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > [adjective]
softc1175
mild-hearteda1200
moll1386
tender-hearted1539
melch-hearted1552
tenderly1567
feeling1583
frail1590
tender1595
tender-minded1608
sensible1631
high-strung1653
emollid1656
tender-natured1656
sensitive1735
sentimental1749
soulful1837
weak-hearted1841
1386 in A. H. Thomas Cal. Plea & Mem. Rolls London Guildhall (1932) III. 118 (MED) [In] swef [and] mol [times when the] scoue [of smelt and gudgeons drew closer to the land, which it did not do in cold and hard times].
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. v. 124 It happeth ofte tymes that the nature of them that ben softe and mole, taketh sonner Inpression than the nature of men that is rude and stronge.
1483 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 242 To make Molle, puluerizere.
2. Early Music. = flat adj. 11b. Chiefly in B moll, ♭ moll. See also bemol n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > [adjective] > low > lowered by semitone
molla1450
flatted1938
flattened1948
a1450 L. Power Treat. on Counterpoint in Speculum (1935) 10 245 (MED) Mi, sol, la be ♭ molle.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 5 Phi. What is ♭ molle? Ma. It is a propertie of singing, wherein fa must alwaies be song in ♭ fa ♭ mi, and is when the vt is in F fa vt.
?a1610 A. Montgomerie Poems (1887) 129 Sing sho tua notis, the one is out of tone, As B acre lau and B moll far abone.
1667 C. Simpson Compend. Pract. Musick 113 B Molle was when they sung fa in B.
1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony vi. 134 The Diatonick had 2 Colours; it was Molle, and Syntonum.
1740 J. Grassineau tr. S. De Brossard Musical Dict. 140 Guido's scale was divided into seven hexachords, of which two were by B♭, and placed in a column by themselves, called the column of B Molle.
B. n.1
A soft or weak thing or person; spec. an effeminate man.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > sick person > [noun] > weak person
dwininga1400
molla1425
impotenta1513
gristlea1556
weakling1576
puler1579
puling1579
shadow1588
shotten herring1598
doddle1681
sickrel1699
seven-months1724
wandought1726
wallydraigle1736
wreck1795
werewolf1808
windlestraw1818
weed1825
shammock1828
sickling1834
forcible feeble1844
dwindle1847
weedling1849
crock1876
feebling1887
asthenic1893
dodderer1907
pencil-neck1956
burnt-out case1959
weakie1959
the world > people > person > man > [noun] > effeminate man
badlingeOE
milksopc1390
cockneyc1405
malkina1425
molla1425
weakling1526
tenderling1541
softling1543
niceling1549
woman-man1567
cocknel1570
effeminate1583
androgyne1587
meacock1590
mammaday1593
hermaphrodite1594
midwife1596
nimfadoro1600
night-sneaker1611
mock-mana1625
nan1670
she-man1675
petit maître1711
old woman1717
master-miss1754
Miss Molly1754
molly1785
squaw1805
mollycoddle1823
Miss Nancy1824
mollycot1826
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
ladyboy1857
girl1862
Mary Ann1868
sissy1879
milk1881
pretty-boy1881
nancy1888
poofter1889
Nancy Dawson1890
softie1895
puff1902
pussy1904
Lizzie1905
nance1910
quean1910
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
lily1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
queerie1933
palone1934
queenie1935
girlie-man1940
swish1941
puss1942
wonk1945
mother1947
candy-ass1953
twink1953
cream puff1958
pronk1959
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
pansy-ass1963
weeny1963
poofteroo1966
mo1968
shim1973
twinkie1977
woofter1977
cake boy1992
hermaphrodite-
a1425 (a1400) Northern Pauline Epist. (1916) 1 Cor. vi. 9 Neyþer fornicatourys nor seruande to ydolis, nor auoutrers, nor molles: molles [L. molles] ar seyd þoo þat dyshoneeste þe vygor or þe strengþe of þe kynde of þe body eneruyd.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 38 Wiþ cauteriez punctale vpon þe molle [L. molle] or þe softe of heued.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
mollv.
/mɒl/, U.S. /mɑl/ slang. Now rare.† 1. to moll it up: to associate or socialize (with a woman). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1826 R. Morley in Universal Songster II. 194 When I..promised to become your wife, You molled it up with..Sall.
2. transitive (in passive). Of a man: to be accompanied by a moll or female companion. Frequently with up.
ΚΠ
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 310/2 ‘There is a great many furnished cribs, let to needys (nightly lodgers) that are molled up’, (that is to say, associated with women in the sleeping-rooms).
1882 Sydney Slang Dict. 6/1 I see yer the other night when yer was Molled up and too proud to speak.
1935 Flynn's 19 Jan. 87/2 With each man molled, and his moll posing as his wife, they would not attract the suspicion which would be directed against a mob of men living together.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.21604
adj.n.11386
v.1826