victualling-office

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

victualling-office (plural victualling-offices)

  1. (archaic, humorous, slang) Synonym of breadbasket (the abdomen or stomach, especially as a vulnerable part of the body in an attack)
    • 1818, Pierce Egan, Boxiana; or, Sketches of Antient and Modern Pugilism, page 292:
      His strength and stamina were doubted; he was a youth of not more than 19 years of age, nearly six feet high, 12 stone in weight, but thought to have more gristle than bone: his victualling office had also been some time out of commission; []

References

[edit]
  • John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary