darkmans

darkmans

English

Etymology

dark +‎ -mans[1]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːkmənz/

Noun

darkmans (uncountable)

1. (obsolete, Britain, thieves' cant) The night.
   • 1611, Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girl, Edward Lumley 1840, p. 538:

     I have, by the salomon, a doxy that carries a kinchin mort in her slate at her back, besides my dell and my dainty wild dell, with all whom I'll tumble this next darkmans in the strommel […]

   • 1815, Sir Walter Scott, Guy Mannering, Penguin 2003, p. 148:

     Men were men then, and fought each other in the open field, and there was nae milling in the darkmans.

   • 1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham, BiblioBazaar 2007, p. 481:

     Ah, Bess, my covess, strike me blind if my sees don't tout your bingo muns in spite of the darkmans.

Antonyms

• lightmans

Derived terms

• bene darkmans

References

1. Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of the Underworld, London, Macmillan Co., 1949