old mann.
/ˌəʊl(d) ˈman/, U.S. /ˈoʊl(d) ˈmæn/ I. A person.
1.
a. A man who is old; a man who is past middle age.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > old person > old man > [noun]
old maneOE
bevara1275
beauperec1300
vieillard1475
Nestor?c1510
old gentleman1526
haga1529
velyarda1529
old fellow?1555
old sire1557
granfer1564
vecchioc1570
ageman1571
grave-porer1582
grandsire1595
huddle-duddle1599
elder1600
pantaloon1602
cuffc1616
crone1630
old boya1637
codger?1738
dry-beard1749
eld1796
patriarch1819
oubaas1824
old chap1840
pap1844
pop1844
tad1877
old baas1882
senex1898
finger1904
AK1911
alte kacker1911
poppa stoppa1944
madala1960
Ntate1975
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. ii. 30 Ealdes mannes eagan beoþ unscearpsyno.
OE Vercelli Homilies (1992) xvii. 281 Ðær wæs þa sum eald man in Hierusalem in þære byrig in þa ilcan tid se wæs haten Simeon.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 He wæs eald man & forbroken man.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 13212 To gan biforenn alde menn Inn alle gode þæwess.
?a1300 Iacob & Iosep (Bodl.) (1916) 335 (MED) Þo wrong he his honden, Iacob þe elde man.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 755 (MED) Þis tueie kinges nome hor ost..& binome þis oldemannes lond.
?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford Chron. (1940) 145 (MED) Forqwy I am a nold mane, Despyse thy fadyr sone þou begane.
c1480 (a1400) St. Andrew 207 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 69 Myn barne,..to þis aldman enerthand is.
a1500 Gesta Romanorum (Gloucester) (1971) 726 (MED) Þer þou schallt fynde a noldeman with a staffe.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Sam. ii. 31 There shal no oldeman be in thy house.
1656 J. Smith Compl. Pract. Physick 10 Old men are lesse nourished: also generation and augmentation ceaseth.
1683 W. Kennett tr. Erasmus Witt against Wisdom 44 For an old man to marry a young wife..is become the A la mode of the times.
1709 S. Centlivre Busie Body ii. i. 16 These young Fellows think old Men get Estates for nothing but them to squander away, in dicing.
1781 J. Moore View Soc. Italy (1795) I. 189 A Duo performed by an old man and a young woman.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy I. i. 14 An old man's stories of a past age.
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations II. vi. 99 There, we found, sitting by a fire, a very old man in a flannel coat.
1915 M. J. Cawein Cup of Comus 16 An old man, leaning on a cane, Comes slowly down the locust lane.
1959 P. O'Brian Unknown Shore xiv. 280 The governor of Valparaiso was an avaricious old man.
2001 Independent 18 May 16/7 Even as an old man, he was kept under ‘city arrest’ in Jakarta.
b. colloquial. A person's father; a woman's husband or male partner. Frequently with possessive adjective.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married man > [noun] > husband
churla800
lordeOE
werec893
husbanda1275
mana1325
masterc1325
sovereign1390
maritea1398
husbandman?a1439
goodman?1507
baron1595
spouse1604
husband of one's bosom1611
old man1673
hubby1682
sposo1741
hub1809
master-man1825
pot and pan1900
mister1931
DH1993
1673 J. Dryden Marriage a-la-Mode i. i. 5 My old man has already marry'd me; for he has agreed with another old man, as rich and as covetous as himself.
1707 C. Cibber Comical Lovers v. 71 You must, and shall love me, and all that; for my old Man is coming up, and all that; and I am deses peré au dernier, and will not be disinherited.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 191 His wife..joined her old man again as their children and grand-children danced before them.
1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home xii. 75 I had yet to learn that in Michigan, as soon as a man marries he becomes ‘th' old man’.
1871 E. Eggleston Hoosier School-master iii. 28 My ole man's purty well along in the world.
1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-talk 81 ‘T' au'd man—t' au'd woman’ are synonymous with father or mother.
1914 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xix. 171 Not bad work,..bagging your Old Man's ship.
1946 R. Allen Home Made Banners xiii. 163 My old man says Quebec or no Quebec they'll have to send the Zombies over.
1974 ‘J. le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor vi. 47 She was a sight better qualified than her old man.
2000 M. Herman Purely Belter 153 Did he learn you lots of stuff like that? Your old man?
c. Theatre. The role of an old man; an actor playing the role of an old man, esp. one who specializes in such roles. Cf. old woman n. 1e.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > part or character > [noun] > types of part or character
underpart1679
persona muta1714
travesty1732
soubrette1753
old man1762
small part?1774
breeches-part1779
character part1811
fat1812
chambermaida1828
fool?1835
raisonneur1845
ingénue1848
villain of the piece1854
stock character1864
feeder1866
satirette1870
character role1871
travesty1887
thinking part1890
walk-on1902
cardboard cutout1906
bit1926
good guy1928
feed1929
bad guy1932
goody1934
walkthrough1935
narrator1941
cameo1950
black hat1959
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > actor > [noun] > actor playing specific type of part
ruffy1502
chorus1561
prologuer1570
prologue1579
turquet1625
woman actor1633
underpart1679
epilogist1716
prologist1716
epiloguizer1748
old man1762
prologuizer1762
buffo1764
extrac1777
jeune premier1817
primo buffo1826
character actor1841
utility man1849
deuteragonist1855
character comedian1857
bit playera1859
utility actor1860
serio-comic1866
juvenile lead1870
serio-comique1870
heavy1880
utility1885
thinker1886
onnagata1889
serio1889
juvenile1890
tritagonist1890
oyama1925
juve1935
1747 T. Whincop Scanderbeg 243/1 An Actor of great Humour in low Comedy, especially in the Parts of Old Men.]
1762 J. Love Let. 5 July in D. Garrick Private Corr. (1831) I. 144 His feeble old men, which he has only tried one season, will increase your hopes.
1775 T. Holcroft Let. 1 June in Memoirs (1816) I. ii. iv. 236 I have succeeded best in low comedy and old men.
1849 Theatr. Mirror 24 Sept. 31 Mr. Basil Baker..is engaged for the first old men at Drury Lane.
1901 C. Morris Life on Stage vii. 39 A company was generally made up of a leading man.., first old man, second old man, heavy man, first comedian, [etc.].
1957 Oxf. Compan. Theatre (ed. 2) 772/1 The old stock company was formed of a group of actors each of whom undertook some special line of business... The Old Man played Sir Anthony Absolute and Sir Peter Teazle, and was a person of consequence.
d. colloquial. A familiar or affectionate form of address for a man of any age. Cf. old adj. Compounds 5b.
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the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun] > familiar form of address
mon amic1425
matec1500
boy1532
old lad1594
old boy1602
captaina1616
mon cher1673
old chap1823
old man1828
ou maat1838
boysie1846
old top1856
boetie1867
bra1869
cocker1888
mon vieux1888
face1891
yessir1892
George1903
old sport1905
old bean1917
segotia1917
babe1918
bro1918
tovarish1918
old egg1919
midear1921
old (tin of) fruit1923
sport1923
mush1936
cowboy1961
coz1961
wack1963
yaar1963
John1982
1828 C. White Almack's Revisited I. iv. 100 I say, old man, do not frown so grimly, and look so dismal!
1870 ‘M. Twain’ Let. 22 Mar. (1917) I. 172 I can make the money without lecturing. Therefore, old man, count me out.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 204 Take another tumbler, old man.
1929 E. Linklater Poet's Pub vii. 91 ‘Tell me the truth,’ she says. ‘Spill the beans, Holly, old man!’
1941 W. Lewis Vulgar Streak (1985) i. x. 73 You really will have to do a bunk to-night old man!
1981 P. Larkin Let. 11 Jan. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 635 Gratters on the CBE, old man. Should have come years ago.
2001 B. Broady In this Block there lives Slag 153 ‘Sorry I've been so long, old man!’ Bryn said as he plunged back into his seat.
e. Chiefly U.S. colloquial. A familiar title used before a man's name, standing for ‘Old Mr. ——’. Used esp. to distinguish a man from his son.
ΚΠ
1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase I. xii. 92 It ain't more nor a mile to ole man Sturgisses.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 301 In the South and West, instead of saying..‘Old Mr. Smith’, it is customary to say, ‘Old man Smith’.
1862 R. R. Butler Let. 8 Jan. in Congress. Globe (1868) 4 Mar. 1664/1 I send a few lines to you by old man Jesse Price.
1902 A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden in Maine xvii. 126 There is old man Spencer who had always been poor.
1930 Chicago Daily Maroon 28 Oct. 1/3 Old Man Stagg spoke a few words in commending..the students for their show of enthusiasm.
1961 ‘E. Lathen’ Banking on Death xv. 123 Old man Michaels didn't like him.
2001 Christian Sci. Monitor 28 Dec. 23/1 Old Man Lavers had the mail boat to Busin Island.
2. Theology. Humankind (or a person) representative of unregenerate human nature; the primitive or violent aspects of a person's character (cf. old Adam n.); (esp. in biblical translation and commentary) a person prior to acceptance of Christ (cf. new man n.1 1a). Frequently with the.Based on the Pauline theology of salvation propounded in Romans 5:17ff., 6:6ff., etc.
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society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [noun] > degeneracy consequent on fall > unregenerate character of man
old manOE
old leaven1537
Adama1569
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > soul > regeneration > [noun] > absence of > human nature
old manOE
OE Ælfric Homily (Vitell. C.v) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 216 Ðurh Moysen wæs gesett þam ealdum mannum iu æ, & open lagu, & se leofa Hælend gebrohte us niwum mannum gife & soðfæstnysse.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Eph. iv. 22 Do ȝe awey vp the firste lyuyng, the olde man.
a1450 Pater Noster Richard Ermyte (Westm. Sch. 3) (1967) 52 (MED) Þis olde man is þat is geten in synne, born in synne, norischid in synne..þat is þe olde man þat schulde be nayled on þe crosse.
a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 110 (MED) Allas! yit liueþ in me þe olde man; he is not all crucified.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 146 The haly Spreit vs geue, Quhilk may our auld man mortifie.
a1628 F. Greville Treat. Monarchy xii, in Remains (1670) 149 Heralds sent by God to work progression From Sin, to Grace, and make the old Man new.
1691 B. Keach Spiritual Melody v. 258 Let sin be cover'd, the old Man Be slain, O Lord, by thee.
1732 Compl. Coll. Rep., Lyes, & Stories ii. 40 You provoke me to Wrath, and if you should raise the old Man, you can't tell what mischief may ensue.
1837 F. M. Trollope Vicar of Wrexhill I. xv 311 If the talk does but go about heaven and hell,..and reprobation and regeneration, and the old man and the new birth, that is all papa cares for.
1888 P. Schaff Mod. Christianity in Hist. Christian Church 219 Faith is the submerging of the old man, and the emerging of the new man.
1903 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 13 495 The new conception brings with it regenerative power, the ‘old’ man gives place to the ‘new’ man.
1952 Philos. Rev. 61 256 In the language of St. Paul, our old man has to be crucified and a new man born within us.
1997 Renaissance Q. 50 833 The devil is at home in the world, in the territory of what Paul calls the ‘old man’.
3. colloquial. A person in authority over others.
a. A master, overseer, or foreman; a senior official; a person in charge.
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society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > one who is in charge
gaffera1658
old man1668
governor1783
head woman1799
boss1806
oyakata1818
guv'nor1843
head-worker1846
jossc1860
Guv1861
Maluka1905
big guy1921
skip1921
kingfish1930
boss-man1934
pitch-and-toss1942
honcho1945
head honcho1952
1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all iii. iii. 32 Do you think your Master has not done wisely? first to mistake our old mans humour, then to dispraise the Plays; and lastly, to discover his Acquaintance with my Mistress.
1827 R. Montgomery News of Night i. i, in America's Lost Plays (1941) XII. 145 Here's the regular board and bar bill. The old man swears if you don't pay, he'll sue you.
1844 Knickerbocker 23 83 The ‘old man’ himself came to the door, and looking down at his apprentice, shook his head sorrowfully.
1887 C. B. George 40 Years on Rail ix. 167 They feel that if they can only lay it before the ‘old man’ it will be properly dealt with.
1913 C. E. Mulford Coming of Cassidy xii. 197 ‘Is there any chance to get a job here?’ he asked anxiously. ‘You'll have to quiz th' Old Man.’
1967 E. Radford & M. A. Radford No Reason for Murder xii. 80 The Old Man is the traditional police name for a Chief Constable.
1997 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 26 Jan. 18/2 The Old Man, a boss capable of sending an employee on a business trip and turning his office into a stockroom.
b. The captain of a ship.
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society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > [noun] > captain or master
skipper1390
master shipmana1393
master mariner?a1400
shipmanc1405
shipmasterc1440
commanderc1450
patron1490
shipper1496
ship-governor1526
reis1585
nakhoda?1606
sea-captain1612
malem1615
manjee1683
captain1705
patroon1719
old man1821
owner1903
1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 427/2 Bad luck to the hour, and the day, and the old man, and the boat that first brought me among you!
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxxi. 374 The ‘old man’..was determined to carry sail till the last minute.
1865 Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. 445 The term ‘old man’, so much applied by sailors to their commander,..was hardly aptly applied, seeing the captain was only twenty-five.
1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous vii. 143 The Jennie Cushman..cut clean in half—graound up an' trompled on at that! Not a quarter of a mile away. Dad's got the old man.
1924 ‘P. Blundell’ Confessions of Seaman ii. 22 You'd better come along and see the ‘old man’ now. He's just off ashore.
1968 Daily Tel. 14 Aug. 15/4 ‘It was just like a furnace,’ said Mr. Martin Jones, deckhand... ‘The old man was grand.’
1987 W. Hagelund Whalers no More x. 151 Rust shook down from the deckheads every time the old man fired the gun.
2002 Lloyd's List (Nexis) 13 Aug. 3 The charterers will not pay for a second navigating officer and the Old Man and the Mate are..collapsing of fatigue.
c. A commanding officer in the army or air force.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer or soldier of rank > [noun] > commanding officer
commanding officer1758
thanadar1802
company commander1820
old man1830
C.O.1889
skipper1906
commandant1915
1830 J. P. Martin Narr. Adventures Revolutionary Soldier viii. 190 They and some others of the men..were about to have some fun with ‘the old man’, as they generally called the Captain.
1846 G. Meade Let. 4 Mar. (1913) I. 51 I was much complimented by being invited to join General Taylor's mess... In fact, I believe the old man has taken something of a fancy to me.
1891 R. Kipling Courting Dinah Shadd in Life's Handicap 41 An' whin I'm let off in ord'ly-room through some thrick of the tongue an' a ready answer an' the ould man's mercy, is ut smilin' I feel?
1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 311 ‘The Old Man’, captain of a company. He is called ‘the old man’, because generally his age is about twenty-eight.
1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 24 It was preposterous to think of the Old Man on a bicycle.
1977 ‘D. MacNeil’ Wolf in Fold xiii. 137 The Old Man had commanded longer than most lieutenant-colonels.
2002 Sunday Mail (Scotland) (Nexis) 4 Aug. If the guys [sc. marines] know that the bloke in charge has done some of this before they take the view that it can't be so bad if the old man knows what he is doing.
II. Figurative and extended uses.† 8. U.S. regional. A grizzly bear. Obsolete. rare.
4. Mining.† b. Iron ore containing nodules of iron carbonate. Obsolete. rare.
a. An old vein or working which has become exhausted or has been abandoned for a long time. Also: waste material left over from the working of a mine.
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society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > working face or place > disused
old man1653
waste1695
guag1778
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > mineral material > [noun] > mining refuse or rubbish
rough1677
old man1747
small1778
stent1778
vestry1784
gobbin1811
spoil1838
stowing1860
dump1865
muck1883
spoil-heap1883
mine-dump1909
1653 E. Manlove Liberties & Customes Lead-mines Derby 225 No miner ought of an Old man to set To seek a Lead-mine, or Lead oar to get, Untill the Burghmaster a view hath taken And find such work an Old work quite forsaken.
1685 in E. Cooper Hist. Swaledale (1973) 46 How farr the oulde man hath gone they could not tell, neither was they come to the vaine.
1710 Bp. Nicolson in W. Hutchinson Hist. Cumberland (1794) II. 214 A new belly was happily discovered before the forehead of the Old Man, which proved so rich, that in less than twenty-four hours they had filled several sacks with fine and clean-washed mineral.
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. Nivb Crusht Wholes sometimes may be mistaken for Oldman.
1866 W. S. Jevons Coal Quest. (ed. 2) 300 The thousands of tons of cinder and slag—‘old man’ as it is locally called..left by the Romans.
1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill i. 29 This led to his explaining the Old Man as a term applied both to miners of another age and the underground workings excavated by them.
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the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > iron ore > others
bloodstone1504
haematite1543
yellow share1590
keel1596
brush-ore1678
mush1686
brush-iron-ore1695
iron glance1792
specular iron (also iron ore)1796
steel-ore1796
oligistc1803
black band1811
old man1811
spathose iron-ore1823
pitticite1826
siderose1834
blink klip1835
pharmacosiderite1835
sphaerosiderite1837
fossil ore1846
jacutinga1846
vignite1846
siderite1848
junckerite1865
needle iron-ore1867
xanthosiderite1868
specularite1892
pitch ore1896
minette1902
taconite1905
1811 J. Farey Gen. View Agric. Derbyshire I. 399 The Black-shale flake..produces a bed of Ironstone, that has a good deal of Spar in veins or Septa in it, called Old-Man.
1829 S. Glover Hist. County of Derby I. 61 Ironstone, in cheeseshaped nodules, containing septariæ of carbonate of iron (Old man).
5. The chestnut-bellied cuckoo, Hyetornis pluvialis, of Jamaica, which has dull brown upperparts and a grey face and breast. Now Jamaican.
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [noun] > family Cuculidae > piaya pluvialis
old man1694
rain-fowl1694
rainbird1725
rain cuckoo1782
hunter1847
1694 J. Ray in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 200 The referring of the Old-men, or Rain-fowls, to the Cuckow.
1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. 313 They are called Old-Men from the light brown, or grey colour their downy feathers are of.
1847 P. H. Gosse & R. Hill Birds of Jamaica 277 Old Man.—Rainbird.
1894 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. III 654 Old man, the name in Jamaica for Hyetornis pluvialis, one of the cuckows which is also called Rain-bird.
1960 J. Bond Birds W. Indies 116 Chestnut-bellied cuckoo. Hyetornis pluvialis. Local names: Old Man Bird; Hunter; Rain Bird.
6. The herb southernwood, Artemisia abrotanum.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > southernwood
southernwoodOE
southworta1300
averoynec1350
southernwort1510
sullenwooda1626
boy's love1810
lad's lovea1825
old man1824
1824 L. L. Cameron Hist. Marten & Two Little Scholars (new ed.) ii. 13 She tied up two or three pinks and a rose with a bit of old-man and some sweetbriar.
1863 E. C. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers I. i. 7 A few ‘berry’ bushes, a black-currant tree or two..with possibly a rose-tree, and ‘old man’ growing in the midst.
a1917 E. Thomas Coll. Poems (1920) 97 Old Man, or Lad's-love—in the name there's nothing To one that knows not Lad's-love, or Old Man, The hoar-green feathery herb.
1973 F. A. Boddy Foliage Plants iv. 62 Old world charm and sentimentality can be further satisfied with the grey, feathery, aromatic leaves of Artemisia abrotanum, commonly called southernwood, lad's love or old man.
1999 Guardian 4 Dec. (Weekend Suppl.) 87/3 Have a go with..honeysuckles. Also with spiraeas, forsythia, sambucus (elder), old man or southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum).
7. Australian. A fully grown male kangaroo.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > kangaroo > male > large male
old man1827
boomer1830
1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales II. xxvi. 160 He..relates..that he has been fortunate enough to kill an old man as he came along.
1873 J. B. Stephens Black Gin 39 The ‘old man’ fleetest of the fleet.
1927 ‘S. Rudd’ Romance of Runnibede 199 While the half-growns, or ‘flyers’, were swifter than greyhounds, many of the ‘old men’ were in difficulties after spurting a few hundred yards.
1978 E. Harding A. Marshall Talking 171 I saw the kangaroos coming up from the gully..led by a big old man in front.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Ursidae (bear) > [noun] > genus Ursus > ursus arctos > brown or grizzly bear
bruin1481
Russian bear1607
game-beara1640
white bear1791
grizzly bear1807
grizzly1808
old man1886
silver-tip1886
1886 Outing Nov. 108/1 Good boy! You've got more sand than I thought you had to tackle the old man on the open plain.
9. slang. The penis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sex organs > male sex organs > [noun] > penis
weapona1000
tarsec1000
pintleOE
cock?c1335
pillicock?c1335
yard1379
arrowa1382
looma1400
vergea1400
instrumentc1405
fidcocka1475
privya1500
virile member (or yard)?1541
prickc1555
tool1563
pillock1568
penis1578
codpiece1584
needle1592
bauble1593
dildo1597
nag1598
virility1598
ferret1599
rubigo?a1600
Jack1604
mentula1605
virge1608
prependent1610
flute1611
other thing1628
engine1634
manhood1640
cod1650
quillity1653
rammer1653
runnion1655
pego1663
sex1664
propagator1670
membrum virile1672
nervea1680
whore-pipe1684
Roger1689
pudding1693
handle?1731
machine1749
shaft1772
jock1790
poker1811
dickyc1815
Johnny?1833
organ1833
intromittent apparatus1836
root1846
Johnson1863
Peter1870
John Henry1874
dickc1890
dingusc1890
John Thomasc1890
old fellowc1890
Aaron's rod1891
dingle-dangle1893
middle leg1896
mole1896
pisser1896
micky1898
baby-maker1902
old man1902
pecker1902
pizzle1902
willy1905
ding-dong1906
mickey1909
pencil1916
dingbatc1920
plonkerc1920
Johna1922
whangera1922
knob1922
tube1922
ding1926
pee-pee1927
prong1927
pud1927
hose1928
whang1928
dong1930
putz1934
porkc1935
wiener1935
weenie1939
length1949
tadger1949
winkle1951
dinger1953
winky1954
dork1961
virilia1962
rig1964
wee-wee1964
Percy1965
meat tool1966
chopper1967
schlong1967
swipe1967
chode1968
trouser snake1968
ding-a-ling1969
dipstick1970
tonk1970
noonies1972
salami1977
monkey1978
langer1983
wanker1987
1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang V. 99/1 Old man,..the penis.
1968 R. Lait Chance to Kill xxii. 139 There was David getting out of bed in his shirt, his old man hanging out.
1986 T. Barling Smoke vii. 134 Pimlico broke off to watch the girls on the stage... ‘I could use some of that, Chas. My old man's nudging my collar-stud.’
2001 Arena Aug. 152/4 She once knocked on the Ig's hotel room door; he answered it ‘completely naked, except for a large bath towel..that he was draping over his old man’.
Phrases
P1.
old man's darling n. a younger (sexual) partner or wife of an elderly man. Frequently in proverbial phrases.
ΚΠ
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. vii. sig. Iiiiv It ys better to be An olde mans derlyng, then a yong mans werlyng.
1697 E. Ravenscroft Anatomist III. i. 27 O Madam, you know not what a fine thing it is to be an old Man's darling.
1738 J. Swift Polite Conversat. 45 It is better to be an old Man's Darling, than a young Man's Warling.
1805 T. E. Hook Soldier's Return i. ii To pass my life A happy wife, Make me an old man's darling.
1878 H. J. Byron Partners for Life ii. 17 Never mind, sir. Better be an old man's darling, than a young man's slave.
1958 G. Bellairs Corpse at Carnival (1964) ix. 123 She's little more than a kid and he was sixty—I don't like old men's darlings.
1976 L. Black Healthy Way to Die ii. 14 The wife..was younger... It was obvious that her husband doted. The old man's darling.
1995 San Francisco Chron. (Nexis) 29 Oct. 37 I'd rather be an old man's darling than a young man's slave.
P2.
old man eloquent n. (originally, in Milton) Isocrates (436–338 b.c.), an Athenian orator who killed himself in despair after the defeat of Greece at Chaeronea; (later) (gen., in echoes of Milton) a man of great eloquence; spec. (U.S. historical) John Quincy Adams (1767–1848), sixth U.S. President, 1825–9.
ΚΠ
1645 J. Milton Sonnet x, in Poems 51 As that dishonest victory At Chæronéa,..Kil'd with report that Old man eloquent.
1795 W. Gifford Baviad & Mæviad (1827) 83 We roved..o'er Troy's devoted shores, Or follow'd, while he sought his native soil, ‘That old man eloquent’, from toil to toil.
1827 J. Mitford Sacred Specimens p. xi That old man eloquent, Whose Song made Scio's rocks relent.
a1843 H. Ware Our Societies Authors in Misc. Writings (1846) I. 255 That true ‘old man eloquent’,—Adams,—in age Filling up the strong lines of the Lecturer's page.
1848 Congress. Globe 24 Feb. 388 Let not the grave of the old man eloquent be desecrated by unfriendly remembrances.
1862 W. C. Bennett Poems (new ed.) 500 You have look'd on Landor and have heard His agèd lips utter Miltonic thought... O, old man eloquent, your place is sure..amid thought's sceptred kings.
1901 L. Morris Harvest-tide 147 Thou livest still, Brave soul, undaunted will. Thou silvery tongue, thou old man eloquent.
1908 E. C. Stedman Poems 465 Give me to die unwitting of the day,..as that old man eloquent made way From Earth, a nation's conclave hushed anear.
1956 Jrnl. Southern Hist. 22 522 The most important..phase of Adams' ‘Second Career’ is his crusade for freedom, liberty, and human rights in the House of Representatives. Here he won..the proud title of ‘Old Man Eloquent’.
2002 Hill (Nexis) 10 Apr. 25 Adams became known as ‘Old Man Eloquent’ in the House for his fight against slavery.
P3.
old man of the sea n. (in the story of Sinbad the Sailor in the Arabian Nights) the sea-god who forced Sinbad to carry him on his shoulders for many days and nights until he was thwarted by being made so drunk that he toppled off; frequently as the type of a person whom one cannot get rid of, or a troublesome burden or task.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > types or manners of hindrance > [noun] > encumberment > that which or one who > hard to get rid of
bur1600
old man of the sea1712
Old Man of the Mountain1841
albatross1883
1712 tr. Arabian Nights' Entertainm. (ed. 2) III. lxxxiv. 57 You fell say they into the Hands of the old Man of the Sea, and are the first that ever escap'd strangling by him.
1809 W. Scott Let. 7 Aug. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Sir W. Scott (1837) II. vii. 252 Such odious deceivers are these invalids. Mine reminds me of Sinbad's Old Man of the Sea, and will certainly throttle me if I can't somehow dismount him.
1850 C. M. Yonge Henrietta's Wish viii. 112 Uncle Roger has got hold of him, and he is as bad as the old man of the sea.
1899 Strand Mag. Mar. 308/1 When a man once gets a Cavalanci and plays to it, it sticks to him like the Old Man of the Sea.
1927 Times 22 July 15/4 The bad habit into which we slip almost unconsciously fixes itself about our necks as firmly as any Old Man of the Sea.
1965 N. Freeling Criminal Conversat. ii. xx. 186 I am tired. I find you like the Old Man of the Sea.
1991 W. Beechey Reluctant Samaritan (BNC) 4 She fastened on to the person whose house it was like the Old Man of the Sea in ‘Sinbad the Sailor’.
P4.
old man's milk n. (also old men's milk) Scottish a drink resembling eggnog, usually made with brandy, eggs, sugar, and (sometimes) cream.
ΚΠ
1754 E. Burt Lett. N. Scotl. II. 42 A little brandy, water, sugar, and yolks of eggs, beat up together; which I think they call Old man's milk.
1793 Aberdeen Bk.-lover IV. iii. 64 We drink ‘Old Men's Milk’; it is a perfect remedy.
1814 C. I. Johnstone Saxon & Gaël II. 78 Flora made me a bowl of ould man's milk, but nothing would bring me round.
1929 F. M. McNeill Sc. Kitchen 232 Auld man's milk... Cream, rum, whisky, or brandy, eggs, nutmeg or lemon zest... This morning dram is the same as the egg-nogg of America.
1995 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 23 Dec. 17 Other drinks which visitors..may sample are mulled wine and Old Man's Milk. The latter turns out to be more appetising than its name suggests, made as it is from a pint of single cream, a quarter-of-a-pint of brandy, sugar, and egg yolk.
P5. U.S. slang. so's your old man: (as a retort) expressing disagreement with or indifference to a previous statement, insult, etc., or derision towards the speaker.
ΚΠ
1925 P. Kearney Man's Man i. ii. 51 Mabel: I wanna drink... Le's dance... Hazel: So's your old man.
1929 E. L. Rice Street Scene ii. 139 Rose. You can't go to school looking like a little street loafer. Willie. Aw, you gimme a pain in de——... Rose. There! Now you look very nice. Willie. So's your old man!
1950 B. Schulberg Disenchanted xii. 178 There were righteous accusations and angry words... ‘Aw—so's your old man,’ Manley was saying.
1989 S. Fish Doing what comes Naturally xx. 484 An outrageous assertion that flies in the face of common sense, the equivalent in debate of ‘so's your old man’.
2000 N.Y. Times 12 Nov. iv. 6/4 ‘The so-called American democracy is giving other democracies, not as mature, some U.S. precedents to cite.’ Sure, and so's your old man.
Compounds
C1. † old-man-house n. [after Dutch oudemannenhuis (late 17th cent. as oude mannenhuys, now rare)] Obsolete a hospital for old men.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital for the old
old-man-housea1661
old-woman-housea1661
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 49 Here [sc. at Haarlem] is a most dainty curious old-man-house.
old man snapper n. (also old man schnapper) Australian a squirefish, Chrysophrys auratus, that is large and mature.
ΚΠ
1882 J. E. Tenison-Woods Fish & Fisheries New S. Wales (caption) An ‘old man schnapper’.
1965 Austral. Encycl. VIII. 169 Full-grown specimens develop a large bony protuberance on the nape, and a peculiar flabby and fleshy nose, which produces a somewhat human appearance and has earned for them the name of old-man snapper.
1974 J. M. Thomson Fish Ocean & Shore 126 A squire becomes a snapper at about one and a half kilos and thereafter matures to the old man snapper stage which may reach eighteen kilos.
C2. With old man's in plant names.† old man's eyebrow n. Obsolete rare the sundew Drosera binata of Australia and New Zealand.† old man's head n. Obsolete (a) a variety of dianthus; (b) the old man cactus.† old man's mustard n. English regional Obsolete the common Eurasian yarrow, Achillea millefolium.
ΚΠ
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 809/1 Old-man's eyebrow, Drosera binata.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pinks or carnations
gillyflower1517
carnation1538
clove gillyflower1538
incarnation1538
William1538
pink1566
John1572
Indian eye1573
sops-in-wine1573
sweet John1573
sweet-william1573
tuft gillyflower1573
Colmenier1578
small honesty1578
tol-me-neer1578
London tuft1597
maidenly pink1597
mountain pink1597
clove-carnation1605
musk-gillyflower1607
London pride1629
pride of London1629
maiden pink1650
Indian pink1664
Spanish pink1664
pheasant's eye pink1718
flake1727
flame1727
picotee1727
old man's head1731
painted lady1731
piquet1731
China-pink1736
clove1746
wild pink1753
lime-wort1777
matted thrift1792
clove-pink1837
Cheddar Pink1843
Dianthus1849
bunch pink1857
perpetual-flowering carnation1861
cliff pink1863
meadow pink1866
musk carnation1866
Jack1873
wax-pink1891
Malmaison1892
grenadin1904
the world > plants > particular plants > cactus and allies > [noun] > other cacti
hedgehog thistle1597
Opuntia1601
mescal1709
Barbados gooseberry1756
night-flowering cereus1789
vygebosch1795
night-blooming cereus1799
rhipsalis1819
pigface1830
window plant1838
old man cactus1845
cholla1846
fish-hook cactus1846
spleenwort1846
epiphyllum1858
old man's head1858
rainbow cactus1860
green snake1864
torchwood1866
queen of the night1870
vingerpol1875
nipple cactus1876
niggerhead1877
rat's tail cactus1878
rat-tail cactus1878
Christmas cactus1880
barrel cactus1881
peyote1885
mistletoe cactus1889
schlumbergera1898
pincushion1940
opuntioid1944
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Caryophyllus The varieties of these [pinks] are, the Damask Pink, White Shock, Scarlet, Pheasant's-ey'd Pink; of which there are great varieties, both with single and double flowers, Old Man's Head, Painted Lady, with several others.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 321 Old Man's Head, Dianthus.
1786 J. Abercrombie Gardeners Daily Assistant 63 Old man's head.
1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingdom 341 Another curious species of this genus is what is popularly termed The Old Man's Head (Cereus senilis).
ΚΠ
1880 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Old Man's Mustard, Achillea Millefolium, L.—Linc. (Bottesford).
C3. Australian, New Zealand, and South African slang. attributive. Designating a thing, esp. an animal or plant, that is especially large or significant. Cf. sense 7 and old man saltbush n.
ΚΠ
1834 G. Bennett Wanderings New S. Wales I. xv. 286 Many persons when alone are afraid to face a large ‘old man’ Kangaroo.
1845 R. Howitt Impressions Austral. Felix 233 I stared at a man one day for saying that a certain allotment of land was ‘an old man allotment’: he meant a large allotment, the old-man kangaroo being the largest kangaroo.
1887 D. Macdonald Gum Boughs 7 Who that has ridden across the Old Man Plain.
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xv. 199 Two 'underd ole-man rats that 'ad bin glued on t'Bunyip in mortil combat.
1930 J. Devanny Bushman Burke i. ii. 17 [He] had once taken an Old Man pig with a slasher.
1934 A. Russell Tramp-royal in Wild Austral. xxix. 190 An ‘Old Man’ sand storm. Lashed up and hurried along by a forty-mile-an-hour gale.
1941 I. L. Idriess Great Boomerang xi. 82 Fifteen years may pass before an old man flood brings a miracle to the land.
1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. xxxi. 259 I was the owner of a large boarhound which killed a great many ‘old men’ baboons.
1953 A. Upfield Murder must Wait xviii. 157 An old-man red-gum growing close to the track.
1972 P. Newton Sheep Thief ii. 17 The homestead..was fringed with a towering belt of real oldman pines.
1989 Alasian Post (Melbourne) 4 Nov. 56/1 ‘Old man’ is also used to describe animals, including the ‘Old Man Emu’ in the song by John Williamson.
C4. attributive. Preceding a noun: designating something personified as familiar, respected, or influential. Old Man River n. spec. the Mississippi.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > specific rivers > [noun]
Thamesc893
Father of waters (also rivers, floods)1567
muddy1825
Old Man River1902
1897 Macmillan's Mag. Oct. 423/2 A broadshouldered giant, rejoicing in the name of Old Man Trouble, stalked pompously to and fro upon the bridge.]
1902 N.Y. Times 5 Dec. (advt.) Old man Winter likely to arrive any moment.
1910 W. M. Raine Bucky O'Connor iii. 37 When Old Man Trouble comes knocking at the door.
1919 C. P. Thompson Cocktails 252 Why, being officially booked to meet Old Man Death on ground, I had kept the appointment in the air.
1927 O. Hammerstein Ol' Man River (song sheet) 5 Ol' man river, dat ol' man river, He must know sumpin', but don't say nothin'.
1930 I. Gershwin But not for Me in Compl. Lyrics (1993) 167/1 Old Man Sunshine—listen, you! Never tell me Dreams come True!
1932 Sun (Baltimore) 24 Sept. 16/3 Old Man River Sinking... The north branch of the Susquehanna river is lower than it was 112 years ago.
1937 I. Gershwin Stiff Upper Lip (song) in Lyrics on Several Occasions (1959) Pip-pip to Old Man Trouble.
1949 Nat. Hist. Nov. 427/3 At last they have succeeded in vaulting the natural barriers between the Great Lakes and Old Man River.
1976 B. Bova Multiple Man v. 55 St. Louis is a dull town... Old Man River is wide and sluggish.
1987 F. Flagg Fried Green Tomatoes 349 Of course, old man whiskey plays a role.
1991 Life 11 Mar. 67/2 Old Man Winter is blowing up another snow storm, due to hit big time later tonight.
1992 Chicago Tribune 22 Dec. iii. 1/2 That old man river, the Mississippi, is one of the natural forces that has shaped the U.S. economy.
2002 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 31 Aug. 27 Old Man Snowy is where I learnt to swim and I used to swim every day with the platypus.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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