mollyn.1
/ˈmɒli/, U.S. /ˈmɑli/ 1. A girl, a woman, esp. a lower-class one; (occasionally) a prostitute. Cf. moll n.2 Now chiefly Irish English.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [noun]
wifeeOE
womaneOE
womanOE
queanOE
brideOE
viragoc1000
to wifeOE
burdc1225
ladyc1225
carlinec1375
stotc1386
marec1387
pigsneyc1390
fellowa1393
piecec1400
femalea1425
goddessa1450
fairc1450
womankindc1450
fellowessa1500
femininea1513
tega1529
sister?1532
minikinc1540
wyec1540
placket1547
pig's eye1553
hen?1555
ware1558
pussy?a1560
jade1560
feme1566
gentlewoman1567
mort1567
pinnacea1568
jug1569
rowen1575
tarleather1575
mumps1576
skirt1578
piga1586
rib?1590
puppy1592
smock1592
maness1594
sloy1596
Madonna1602
moll1604
periwinkle1604
Partlet1607
rib of man1609
womanship?1609
modicum1611
Gypsy1612
petticoata1616
runniona1616
birda1627
lucky1629
she-man1640
her1646
lost rib1647
uptails1671
cow1696
tittup1696
cummer17..
wife1702
she-woman1703
person1704
molly1706
fusby1707
goody1708
riding hood1718
birdie1720
faggot1722
piece of goods1727
woman body1771
she-male1776
biddy1785
bitch1785
covess1789
gin1790
pintail1792
buer1807
femme1814
bibi1816
Judy1819
a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823
wifie1823
craft1829
shickster?1834
heifer1835
mot1837
tit1837
Sitt1838
strap1842
hay-bag1851
bint1855
popsy1855
tart1864
woman's woman1868
to deliver the goods1870
chapess1871
Dona1874
girl1878
ladykind1878
mivvy1881
dudess1883
dudette1883
dudine1883
tid1888
totty1890
tootsy1895
floozy1899
dame1902
jane1906
Tom1906
frail1908
bit of stuff1909
quim1909
babe1911
broad1914
muff1914
manhole1916
number1919
rossie1922
bit1923
man's woman1928
scupper1935
split1935
rye mort1936
totsy1938
leg1939
skinny1941
Richard1950
potato1957
scow1960
wimmin1975
womyn1975
womxn1991
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute
meretrixOE
whoreOE
soiled dovea1250
common womanc1330
putec1384
bordel womanc1405
putaina1425
brothelc1450
harlot?a1475
public womanc1510
naughty pack?1529
draba1533
cat1535
strange woman1535
stew1552
causey-paikera1555
putanie?1566
drivelling1570
twigger1573
punka1575
hackney1579
customer1583
commodity1591
streetwalker1591
traffic1591
trug1591
hackster1592
polecat1593
stale1593
mermaid1595
medlar1597
occupant1598
Paphian1598
Winchester goose1598
pagan1600
hell-moth1602
aunt1604
moll1604
prostitution1605
community1606
miss1606
night-worm1606
bat1607
croshabell1607
prostitute1607
pug1607
venturer1607
nag1608
curtal1611
jumbler1611
land-frigate1611
walk-street1611
doll-common1612
turn-up1612
barber's chaira1616
commonera1616
public commonera1616
trader1615
venturea1616
stewpot1616
tweak1617
carry-knave1623
prostibule1623
fling-dusta1625
mar-taila1625
night-shadea1625
waistcoateera1625
night trader1630
coolera1632
meretrician1631
painted ladya1637
treadle1638
buttock1641
night-walker1648
mob?1650
lady (also girl, etc.) of the game1651
lady of pleasure1652
trugmullion1654
fallen woman1659
girlc1662
high-flyer1663
fireship1665
quaedama1670
small girl1671
visor-mask1672
vizard-mask1672
bulker1673
marmalade-madam1674
town miss1675
town woman1675
lady of the night1677
mawks1677
fling-stink1679
Whetstone whore1684
man-leech1687
nocturnal1693
hack1699
strum1699
fille de joie1705
market-dame1706
screw1725
girl of (the) town1733
Cytherean1751
street girl1764
monnisher1765
lady of easy virtue1766
woman (also lady) of the town1766
kennel-nymph1771
chicken1782
stargazer1785
loose fish1809
receiver general1811
Cyprian1819
mollya1822
dolly-mop1834
hooker1845
charver1846
tail1846
horse-breaker1861
professional1862
flagger1865
cocodette1867
cocotte1867
queen's woman1871
common prostitute1875
joro1884
geisha1887
horizontal1888
flossy1893
moth1896
girl of the pavement1900
pross1902
prossie1902
pusher1902
split-arse mechanic1903
broad1914
shawl1922
bum1923
quiff1923
hustler1924
lady of the evening1924
prostie1926
working girl1928
prostisciutto1930
maggie1932
brass1934
brass nail1934
mud kicker1934
scupper1935
model1936
poule de luxe1937
pro1937
chromo1941
Tom1941
pan-pan1949
twopenny upright1958
scrubber1959
slack1959
yum-yum girl1960
Suzie Wong1962
mattress1964
jamette1965
ho1966
sex worker1971
pavement princess1976
parlour girl1979
crack whore1990
1706 in H. Playford Wit & Mirth (new ed.) IV. 67 Town follyes and Cullies, And Molleys and Dolleys, For ever adieu.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Peter Bell III vi, in Poet. Wks. (?1840) 245/1 'Twould make George Colman melancholy, To have heard him, like a male Molly, Chaunting those stupid staves.
1865 Leaves from Diary Celebrated Burglar 149 They.., like love-sick ‘mollies’ hastened to see and ‘collar’ us ‘to rights’.
1890 J. D. Robertson Gloss. Words County of Gloucester 97 The men and girls [at a hiring-fair] are called ‘Johnnies and Mollies’.
1980 R. Butler Against Wind ii. 19 He played with the idea of..half an hour with this molly in return for… Then he remembered..he could buy any number of trollops in Cork for eight shillings.
1993 R. Doyle Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (1994) 63 Kevin..told us later that Ian McEvoy was smiling in his sleep.—Dreaming about a molly, said James O'Keefe.
2. slang. An effeminate man or boy; a homosexual man. Also: a man who performs work typically associated with women, or who concerns himself with women's affairs. Cf. Miss Molly n., mollycot n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male
badlingeOE
nan1670
molly1708
Miss Molly1754
Miss Nancy1824
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
Mary Ann1868
pretty-boy1881
cocksucker1885
poofter1889
queer1894
fruit1895
fairy1896
homosexualist1898
puff1902
pussy1904
nance1910
quean1910
girl1912
faggot1913
mouser1914
queen1919
fag1921
gay boy1921
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
punk1933
queerie1933
gobbler1934
jocker1935
queenie1935
iron1936
freak1941
swish1941
flit1942
tonk1943
wonk1945
mother1947
fruitcake1952
Mary1953
twink1953
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
arse bandit1961
leather man1961
booty bandit1962
ginger beer1964
bummer1965
poofteroo1966
shirtlifter1966
battyman1967
dick-sucker1968
mo1968
a friend of Dorothy1972
shim1973
gaylord1976
twinkie1977
woofter1977
bender1986
knob jockey1989
batty boy1992
cake boy1992
the world > people > person > man > [noun] > effeminate man
badlingeOE
milksopc1390
cockneyc1405
malkina1425
molla1425
weakling1526
tenderling1541
softling1543
niceling1549
woman-man1567
cocknel1570
effeminate1583
androgyne1587
meacock1590
mammaday1593
hermaphrodite1594
midwife1596
nimfadoro1600
night-sneaker1611
mock-mana1625
nan1670
she-man1675
petit maître1711
old woman1717
master-miss1754
Miss Molly1754
molly1785
squaw1805
mollycoddle1823
Miss Nancy1824
mollycot1826
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
ladyboy1857
girl1862
Mary Ann1868
sissy1879
milk1881
pretty-boy1881
nancy1888
poofter1889
Nancy Dawson1890
softie1895
puff1902
pussy1904
Lizzie1905
nance1910
quean1910
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
lily1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
queerie1933
palone1934
queenie1935
girlie-man1940
swish1941
puss1942
wonk1945
mother1947
candy-ass1953
twink1953
cream puff1958
pronk1959
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
pansy-ass1963
weeny1963
poofteroo1966
mo1968
shim1973
twinkie1977
woofter1977
cake boy1992
hermaphrodite-
1708 E. Ward London Terræ-filius No. 5. 11 He behaves himself more like a Catamite, an Eunuch, or one of those Ridiculous Imitators of the Female Sex, call'd Mollies, than like a Son of Adam.
1726 London Jrnl. 21 May Our hearty Thanks for endeavouring to suppress the notorious Practice of the Mollies, by which Abuse of Nature we may properly call ourselves the greatest Sufferers.
1728 J. Dalton Narr. Street Robberies 32 A Man who was what they call a Bug to the Mollies,..picking 'em up, as if to commit that damnable Crime of Sodomy.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Molly, a miss Molly, an effeminate fellow, a sodomite.
1879 L. B. Walford Cousins III. 172 Simon is not a molly, whatever he may be.
1884 Illustr. London News 18 Oct. 363/3 When a man makes a ‘molly’ of himself by describing the work of the housemaid.
1901 ‘R. Connor’ Man from Glengarry vii. 80 The Langfords are regular Mollies.
1980 E. Jong Fanny iii. xiv. 452 He mimickt a Molly mincing along the Strand in his high-heel'd Shoes, waggling his Arse seductively.
1993 Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Sept. 24/1 For two centuries, the mollies were erased from the historical record: it is a pleasure to see this injustice redressed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > container for food > [noun] > basket > for fruit or vegetables
fraila1382
top1440
tapnet1524
fig-frail1608
flat1640
raisin frail1669
chip basket1758
pottle1771
sievea1800
punnet1822
trug1836
bodge1876
molly1883
handle1900
1883 in N.E.D. (1907) (at cited word) Pears, 2s. to 4s. per molley;..walnuts, 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. per molley.
1885 Standard 11 Sept. 2/1 Innumerable ‘mollies’ (big baskets) of plums.
1898 Gardener's Mag. 3 Sept. 581/1 Dutch [pears], 2s. to 2s. 6d. per molly.
4. U.S. With capital initial. A proprietary name for: a type of expansion plug which can be inserted into a hole drilled in a hollow wall in order to anchor a screw or bolt; a Molly bolt.
ΚΠ
1934 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 17 July 524/2 Molly... For expansion bolts. Claims use since January, 1934.
1981 Verbatim Autumn 6/2 Molly,..a sleevelike expansion plug for fastening a screw into plaster or plasterboard.
1995 Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) Should I use anchoring mollies or would a toggle bolt work in that situation?
5. Chiefly U.S. slang. Chiefly with capital initial. A name for the synthetic hallucinogen 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; (now also) any of several chemical substances related to this. Cf. MDMA n. at M n. Initialisms 1, ecstasy n. Additions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > hallucinogenic drug > MDMA or ecstasy
MDMA1978
disco biscuit1981
Adam1983
ecstasy1985
molly2000
2000 Entertainm. Weekly 13 Oct. 78/1 Undercover narcotics officers..baited pharmaceutical entrepreneurs with entreaties for ‘Molly’ (Ecstasy).
2003 D. Lipsky Absolutely Amer. iii. 226 For ecstasy, they substitute Molly—the telltale hard e.
2011 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 24 Nov. (News section) 39 He was planning to ‘experiment’ with the drug, known on the street as Molly or TFMPP.
2012 Guardian 3 Aug. (G2 section) 7/3 Even the drugs have been rebranded: ‘molly’, the big new chemical craze, is just ecstasy in powder form (and reputedly purer and stronger) as opposed to pills.
2013 Lima (Ohio) News 15 Mar. a3/1 Miami Dade police have found that Molly also can contain methylone, a chemical found in bath salts.
Compounds
Molly bolt n. U.S. (a proprietary name) = sense 4.
ΚΠ
1960 J. Updike Rabbit, Run (1970) 99 He always meant to attach it [sc. a mirror] to the plaster above her bureau for her but never got around to buying molly bolts.
1992 Family Handyman Jan. 45/2 Mount the ladders to the wall with Molly bolts or toggle bolts.
molly cottontail n. U.S. regional (chiefly southern) = a cottontail (rabbit), genus Sylivilagus.
ΚΠ
1835 A. B. Longstreet Georgia Scenes 188 When I went into the neighborhood..the common appellation of the rabbit, was ‘Molly Cotton-tail’, as it still is, elsewhere in Georgia.
1885 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) V. 78 Molly Cotton-tail.
1890 Harper's Mag. July 231/1 Mule-eared rabbits and ‘mollie-cotton-tails’.
1944 This Week Mag. 23 Dec. 5/4 You know that the little old molly cottontail does more crop damage than all other species of game combined.
mollyhead n. slang rare a simpleton, an idiot.
ΚΠ
1902 Munsey's Mag. Jan. 492/1 Stephens is in it to pass the stuff to the mollyheads that can't be got at without him.
molly-house n. now historical (in 18th- and 19th-cent. England) a public house, tavern, or other establishment used as a meeting place by homosexual men.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tavern or public house > other types of tavern
soaking club1694
molly-house1728
night house1728
tide-house1764
rathskeller1768
morning-house1781
free public house1793
lust-house1818
gin palace1833
free and easy1842
schooner-house1893
gay bar1947
tasca1957
singles bar1969
pub theatre1971
theme pub1983
brewpub1985
gastropub1996
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > house used for other specific purpose
mourning house1535
pleasure house1590
meeting house1656
molly-house1728
noon-house1845
maneaba1944
1728 J. Dalton Narr. Street Robberies 36 They fell in amongst a Company of Sodomites; one..[named] a noted Molly-House.
1984 Amer. Hist. Rev. 89 422/1 The Molly houses and their customers were subject to periodic bursts of public outrage.
1988 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Nov. 1234/4 He overlays the map of our own disco-studded London on the restaurants and molly-houses of Wilde's.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun] > effeminate man
badlingeOE
milksopc1390
cockneyc1405
malkina1425
molla1425
weakling1526
tenderling1541
softling1543
niceling1549
woman-man1567
cocknel1570
effeminate1583
androgyne1587
meacock1590
mammaday1593
hermaphrodite1594
midwife1596
nimfadoro1600
night-sneaker1611
mock-mana1625
nan1670
she-man1675
petit maître1711
old woman1717
master-miss1754
Miss Molly1754
molly1785
squaw1805
mollycoddle1823
Miss Nancy1824
mollycot1826
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
ladyboy1857
girl1862
Mary Ann1868
sissy1879
milk1881
pretty-boy1881
nancy1888
poofter1889
Nancy Dawson1890
softie1895
puff1902
pussy1904
Lizzie1905
nance1910
quean1910
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
lily1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
queerie1933
palone1934
queenie1935
girlie-man1940
swish1941
puss1942
wonk1945
mother1947
candy-ass1953
twink1953
cream puff1958
pronk1959
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
pansy-ass1963
weeny1963
poofteroo1966
mo1968
shim1973
twinkie1977
woofter1977
cake boy1992
hermaphrodite-
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male
badlingeOE
nan1670
molly1708
Miss Molly1754
Miss Nancy1824
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
Mary Ann1868
pretty-boy1881
cocksucker1885
poofter1889
queer1894
fruit1895
fairy1896
homosexualist1898
puff1902
pussy1904
nance1910
quean1910
girl1912
faggot1913
mouser1914
queen1919
fag1921
gay boy1921
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
punk1933
queerie1933
gobbler1934
jocker1935
queenie1935
iron1936
freak1941
swish1941
flit1942
tonk1943
wonk1945
mother1947
fruitcake1952
Mary1953
twink1953
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
arse bandit1961
leather man1961
booty bandit1962
ginger beer1964
bummer1965
poofteroo1966
shirtlifter1966
battyman1967
dick-sucker1968
mo1968
a friend of Dorothy1972
shim1973
gaylord1976
twinkie1977
woofter1977
bender1986
knob jockey1989
batty boy1992
cake boy1992
1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer II. vi. 182 I'll disrate you,..you d—d Molly Mop.
Molly washdish n. English regional the pied wagtail, Motacilla alba yarrelli.
ΚΠ
1864 Notes & Queries 21 May 424 The Molly Wash-dish: I take this to be a provincial name for the Motacilla. It is commonly called the water-wagtail.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 44 Pied Wagtail (Motacilla lugubris)... Molly washdish.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
mollyn.2
/ˈmɒli/, U.S. /ˈmɑli/, Scottish English /ˈmɔlɪ/ Now chiefly English regional (northern) and Scottish.
The fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis. Cf. malduck n., mollymawk n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Procellariiformes > [noun] > member of family Procellariidae (petrel) > member of genus Fulmarus (fulmar)
noddy1663
mollymawk1694
fulmar petrel1698
malduck1803
John Down1813
malmarsh1831
molly1857
mollyhawk1880
1857 F. O. Morris Hist. Brit. Birds VI. 237 Fulmar..Mallemoke. Molly.
1866 C. E. Smith Diary 4 Sept. in From Deep of Sea (1922) v. 60 To-day we have caught a few mallies (Fulmar Petrels) with hooks.
1874 A. H. Markham Whaling Cruise 144 The voracity of the ‘mollies’ swarming round the ship is perfectly astonishing.
1882 Nature 24 Aug. 387/2 Other birds were..seen, including..the molly.
1918 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 552/1 These birds are fulmars. The whalers call them ‘mallies’.
1959 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles VIII. 199 As far as we could see in every direction the sea was covered with birds, mostly white mollies sitting close together.
1965 Jrnl. Lancs. Dial. Soc. Jan. 12 Fulmar. Mollie: Fleetwood fishermen.
1975 A. Deyell My Shetland 20 There were only one or two pairs of maalies, but no doubt they have increased there now.
1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. 51/2 Mallie, fulmar petrel.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Mollyn.3
/ˈmɒli/, U.S. /ˈmɑli/ Now historical.
1. = Molly Maguire n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > specific societies or organizations > [noun] > other specific associations or organizations
Tityre-tu1623
Peep o' Day Boys1780
law society1821
kongsi1839
B'nai B'rith1862
Molly Maguire1867
Kennel Club1874
Ethical Society1877
Kyrle Society1877
Molly1877
Sierra Club1891
subak1897
Workers' Educational Association1905
senior1906
W.E.A.1910
Lions Club1922
godless1927
F.P.A.a1940
Diners' Club1950
amnesty1961
Sealed Knot1971
Greenpeace1972
lions1972
Gaysoc1976
Group of Eight1977
Group of Seven1977
meeja1983
G71986
G81988
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > specific societies or organizations > [noun] > other specific associations or organizations > members of
steward1614
Tityre1648
hougher1712
sea-sergeant1744
Molly Maguire1867
Molly1877
buff1879
woodward1886
Downsman1924
lions1949
cruelty man1954
Muslim Brother1957
1877 Harper's Mag. Nov. 924/2 A man was killed in that region, of whose murder..the Molly Maguires were suspected. But so great at one time was the fear of the people at large of the Mollies, that 200 or more revolvers were sold in one day.
1910 Amer. Hist. Rev. 15 547 Many of the Mollies were miners... If a Molly applied for a soft job and was refused, his anger was great and not infrequently in due time the offending boss was murdered.
1937 Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. 23 583 The desire..of the mine owners to discredit organized labor was obvious, and the excitement over the outrages of the Mollies enabled them to do so.
1970 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 57 168 The author..aims to show..third, that John J. Kehoe, sometimes called the ‘King of the Mollys’, was ‘innocent [in 1862] of the crime for which he was charged’.
1997 Éire—Ireland Spring 8 Yet contained within the scandalous shadow that the Mollies threw across Irish America..is a broader intimation of the pain, rage, confusion, dislocation, and struggle of a rural tenantry.
2. = Molly Maguire n. 1. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > secret society > [noun] > other secret societies > member of
Ribbonman1813
Ribandman1817
ribandist1824
apostle1829
Molly Maguire1844
Molly Maguireite1853
Camorrist1863
mafioso1875
Black Hander1905
Molly1917
leopard-man1929
Mafiaist1948
mafiosa1965
1917 M. H. Franks Let. 5 Mar. in P. Buckland Irish Unionism (1973) ix. 360 Chaps who at one time were Redmondites..have now become ardent supporters of Sinn Feiner policy. Hundreds of these have altogether left the ‘Mollies’.
1980 C. Lincoln Steps & Steeples 109 Connolly was knocked from his soapbox as the mob charged to cries of ‘up de Mollies’.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mollyn.4
/ˈmɒli/, U.S. /ˈmɑli/ Any of several small, multicoloured, live-bearing fishes of the genus Poecilia (family Poeciliidae), found in fresh and brackish waters from the southern United States to northern South America, which are popular aquarium fishes and have been bred in many colour varieties. Frequently with distinguishing word.
ΚΠ
1933 W. H. Chute Guide to John G. Shedd Aquarium 187 Another cool water live-bearer is Mollienisia latipinna [sic], the Sail-fin or Molly.
1936 Discovery Aug. 236/1 Very strange fish are the ‘Mollies’ (Mollienisia formosa), which are found along the coast of north-east Mexico and the southern tip of Texas.
1952 G. F. Hervey & J. Hems Freshwater Trop. Aquarium Fishes i. 3 The Swordtail (Xiphophorus), the Platy (Platypoecilus), and the Molly (Mollienisia), with the help of man, show many deviations from the wild types.
1970 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 21 June 2/3 Tipped into the creeks when their owners lost interest, goldfish, mollies and swordtails, who are all live bearing, are gobbling up the eggs of native fish and taking over in their hundreds.
1989 D. Leavitt Equal Affections 90 One of the black mollies had given birth; the tiny fry swam round and round the little nursery tank.
1994 W. Gaddis Frolic of his Own 570 A crew of new arrivals..brought a Chinese algae eater,..two black mollies and four neons.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mollyv.1
/ˈmɒli/, U.S. /ˈmɑli/ΚΠ
1726 [see mollying adj. at Derivatives].
1744 Ordinary of Newgate, his Acct. 24 Dec. 14/2 Ruggles..seizing upon the Gentleman, cry'd, D—n your Blood you Dog, what are you a Mollying one another?.. But C—— soon silenced him, by crying out, indeed he seduced me hither to Molly me.
1744 Ordinary of Newgate, his Acct. 24 Dec. 16/1 They..asked them..Whether they were Mollying of each other.
1746 Proc. Old Bailey 17 Jan. 58/2 I was coming down Fleet-Street, so Molly says he; I said, I never mollied you. My Lord, I never laid my Hand upon him, nor touch'd him.
2. intransitive. English regional. Of a man: to act effeminately, to do work typically associated with women. Cf. molly n.1 2.
ΚΠ
1884 R. Lawson Upton-on-Severn Words & Phrases 23 Molly, to do woman's work indoors, being a man. ‘'E were a good un to molly for 'isself, were old Joe.’
Derivatives
ΚΠ
1726 Proc. Old Bailey 20 Apr. 6/2 They..call'd him a treacherous, blowing-up Mollying Bitch.
1744 Ordinary of Newgate, his Acct. 24 Dec. 16/1 We don't value your bawling out, had you twenty of your Mollying Rascals about you, they should not save you.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mollyv.2
/ˈmɒli/, U.S. /ˈmɑli/ transitive. = mollycoddle v.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > foolish affection, excessive love or fondness > be infatuatedly fond or love to excess [verb (transitive)] > pet, indulge, or pamper
daunt1303
cocker1440
cherisha1450
pomper1483
daut?a1513
to cocker up1530
pamper1530
pimper1537
tiddle1560
cockle1570
dandlea1577
cotchel1578
cockney1582
fondle1582
coax1589
to coax up1592
to flatter up1598
dainty1622
pet1629
cosset1659
caudle1662
faddle1688
pettle1719
coddle1786
sugar-plum1788
twattle1790
to make a fuss of or over (with)1814
mud1814
pamperizea1845
mollycoddle1851
pompey1860
cosher1861
pussy1889
molly1907
1907 M. C. Harris Tents of Wickedness ii. ii. 138 Paul hasn't been mollied, and I hope he's a nice fellow.
1990 J. McGahern Amongst Women 91 They've mollied you for far too long. You'll have to grow up and fight your corner.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11706
n.21857n.31877n.41933v.11726v.21907