rantipole

English

Etymology

From ranty and pole, poll (“head”).

Noun

rantipole (plural rantipoles)

2. A rude, unruly young person.

   Synonyms: hoodlum, yob; see also Thesaurus:troublemaker

   • 1829, [Frederick Marryat], chapter V, in The Naval Officer; or, Scenes and Adventures in the Life of Frank Mildmay. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 150:

     Tom was to be sure, what is called a good boy; he never soiled his clothes, as I did. I was always considered as a rantipole, for whom any thing was good enough. But when I saw my brother tricked out in new clothes, and his old duds covering me like a scarecrow, I appeal to any honourable mind whether it was in human nature to feel otherwise than I did, without possessing an angelic disposition, to which I never pretended; and I fairly own that I did shed not one-fiftieth part so many tears over Tom’s grave as I did over his dirty pantaloons, when forced to put them on.

3. A rakish person.

   Synonyms: hood rat, rake, rizzler; see also Thesaurus:libertine

   • 1757, by a Lady, A Letter to the Natural Historians, containing some Account of the Rantipole, etc., The London Chronicle, number 11, Jan 22–25:

     Your modern Rantipole, then, is of high Birth, or considerable Fortune, or great Beauty, either of which may entitle her to do that which others are ashamed of, who have not those superb Qualifications, and enable her to reverse the true Estimation of Things, and value herself upon being good for nothing.
     A young Rantipole, as soon as let out of the Cage, most commonly enters the Order, and opens her first Scene of Life with the Choice of a Gallant, whom she reizes egregiously for a Number of Years, and then marries and torments him without Mercy.

   • 1798, Thomas Holcroft, He's Much To Blame‎^[1], act II, scene I:

     For example: that my wife, Lady Vibrate, is an extravagant rackety rantipole woman of fashion, can I doubt that? No. That she squanders my money, disturbs my peace, and contradicts for contradiction's sake, can I doubt that? No.

4. (archaic) A prostitute.

   Synonyms: harlot, strumpet; see also Thesaurus:prostitute

   • 1740, “Song XLV”, in The Tea-Table Miscellany: or, a Collection of Choice Songs, Scots and English, 10th edition, volume 3, London: A. Millar, page 265:

     Farewell to the change, / Where rantipoles range; / Farewell cold tea, / And ratafie, / Hide-park, where pride / In coaches ride,

5. (archaic) A sex position with the woman on top of the man.

   Synonyms: cowgirl, St. George

Derived terms

• ride rantipole

Verb

rantipole (third-person singular simple present rantipoles, present participle rantipoling, simple past and past participle rantipoled)

1. (intransitive) To act in a rude, unruly fashion.

   Synonyms: act up, misbehave, show one's ass, take liberties

   • 1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “How the Guardians of the Deceas’d Mrs. Bull’s Three Daughters Came to John, and what Advice they Gave Him; wherein is Briefly Treated the Characters of the Three Daughters: Also John Bull’s Answer to the Three Guardians”, in John Bull in His Senses: Being the Second Part of Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], Edinburgh: […] James Watson, […], →OCLC, page 21:

     The Eldeſt vvas a termagant, imperious, prodigal, levvd, profligate VVench, as ever breath'd; ſhe uſed to Rantipole about the Houſe, pinch the Children, kick the Servants, and torture the Cats and the Dogs; […]

   • 1822, Daniel Bryant, “Oh, Cruel! Or, The Vagabonding Vagrant, and Rantipoling Wife”, in Hodgson's New Skylark, London: Hodgson & Co, page 94:

     Oh, cruel vas^[sic] the splinter that broke my poor love's leg, / Now he's obliged to fiddle for't, and I'm obliged to beg; / A vagabonding vagrant, and a rantipoling wife, / We fiddles, and we limps it, thro' the ups and downs of life.

   • 1863, George Augustus Sala, The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, volume 3, London: Tinsley Brothers, page 269:

     'Twas no Ramping, Rantipoling, Fiery-Furnace kind of Calf Love on my part, but a matured and sensible admixture of Gratitude and Sincere Affection.

Adjective

rantipole (comparative more rantipole, superlative most rantipole)

1. (obsolete) Rude; unruly.

   Synonyms: churlish, irrepressible; see also Thesaurus:impolite, Thesaurus:wanton

   • 1820, Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow‎^[2]:

     This rantipole hero had for some time singled out the blooming Katrina for the object of his uncouth gallantries, and though his amorous toyings were something like the gentle caresses and endearments of a bear, yet it was whispered that she did not altogether discourage his hopes.

   • 1850, Elizabeth Margaret Stewart, Royalists and Roundheads, volume 2, London: William Shoberl, page 94:

     "I wish, lady Adelaide," he said, "that all my customers, be they rantipole Cavaliers, or canting Puritans, […] that either of these would at all times leave in my hands security for the money which they demand, as good as this which you offer […] "

   • 1871, James Grant, Only an Ensign: A Tale of the Retreat from Cabul, volume 2, London: Tinsley Brothers, page 106:

     Then as he paused irresolutely with cap and pipe-clayed gloves in hands, he heard more than certainly even Rose, in her most rantipole mood, ever meant he should hear.

   • 1917, James Branch Cabell, “In Pursuit of a Whisper”, in The Cream of the Jest, New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, page 132:

     And everywhere, in every age, it seemed to him, men stumbled amiable and shatter-pated through a jungle of miracles, blind to its wonderfulness, and intent to gain a little money, food and sleep, a trinket or two, some rare snatched fleeting moments of rantipole laughter, and at the last a decent bed to die in.

References

• “rantipole n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

Anagrams

• prelation, prolinate