moleyn.
/ˈməʊli/, U.S. /ˈmoʊli/ British slang. Now rare.
A potato in which razor blades are embedded, used as a weapon.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > other sharp weapons > [noun]
bidowe1362
harrow1548
tiger's-claw1891
moley1950
malky1973
1950 J. D. Carr Below Suspicion xi. 132 ‘Use the moleys when you catch 'im.’ The moley was an ordinary potato, its surface jagged with the edges of safety-razor blades. They ground it into your face, [and] twisted it.
1959 Spectator 6 Mar. 314/1 I suppose if I go on criticising him I shall end up by having the boys with the moleys call on me one dark night.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
moleyadj.
/ˈməʊli/, U.S. /ˈmoʊli/ Of the nature of or characteristic of a mole (mole n.3); infested with moles.
ΚΠ
1758 O. Goldsmith Hist. our own Lang. ii, in Wks. (Bohn) IV. 449 I am far from saying that Parker was a fine..writer of the English language, but he certainly did it infinite service in discouraging..the moley, creeping style, which, at that time, infected all the ranks both of the laity and clergy.
1949 D. Thomas Let. 17 Feb. (1987) 700 I wish I could speedily return to Scotland: here it is low and sodden, moley and owly, rheumatic, cloddish, gustless.
1992 Working Woman (Nexis) Dec. 98 A moley woman with bifocals.
1994 Smithsonian (Nexis) Mar. 52 Then they [sc. young moles] get the heave-ho, and everyone goes off to the chief business of moley life, which is gathering worms.
Compounds
moley hill n. rare = molehill n. 1a.
ΚΠ
1899 Living Age 1 July 37/2 The lapwing..lays its eggs on the bare ground,..sometimes in a dent on the top of a moley hill.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1950adj.1758