whistle-belly vengeance

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From whistle +‎ belly +‎ vengeance.

Noun[edit]

whistle-belly vengeance (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) Poor-quality beer.
    • 1861, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford[1], London: Macmillan and Co., published 1883, page 449:
      While East was making his toilet, Tom turned to the table, and made an assault on the bread and bacon, and then poured himself out a glass of beer and began to drink it, but was pulled up half way, and put it down with a face all drawn up into puckers by its sharpness.¶ "I thought you wouldn't appreciate the widow's tap," said East, watching him with a grin. "Regular whistle-belly vengeance, and no mistake! Here, I don't mind giving you some of my compound, though you don't deserve it."

Synonyms[edit]