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1758 O. Goldsmith tr. J. Marteilhe Mem. Protestant II. 200 Players at Slight of Hand; others who invite the ignorant to prick in the Belt.

1763 Brit. Mag. 4 548 Prick in the Garter,..a knave well known By silly rusticks,—when their money's gone; For near his side, to make the cheat go down, Stands his accomplice, like a simple clown, Who pricks, and ev'ry time is sure to win; But if another pricks—he's taken in.

a1772 Ess. from Batchelor (1773) II. 66 This is the identical Jack, who played prick in the loop with so many Lord Lieutenants, and cheated them all.

1786 H. Lemoine Kentish Curate II. vi. 84 Pollard mentioned pricking the belt, selling the horse, throwing the dice, hiding under and hustling in the hat.

1815 Sporting Mag. 45 234 He had better lose his money in a more fashionable way than by pricking in the garter.

1826 in W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1827) II. 1309 Here is pricking in the garter.

a1861 R. Rae in W. Hunter Biggar & House of Fleming (1867) iii. 37 To prick-the-garter gaed the law.

1891 R. Ford Thistledown xvi. 313 Prick-the-loops, wha are sae familiar wi' the hangman's loop that they've turned the idea into business, and set up wi' their garter.

1896 Eng. Hist. Rev. 11 359 There are..a number of references to popular sports, traditions, and customs, e.g...tenir les correies (to hold the strap at ‘prick the garter’).

1995 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 22 Mar. 18 In fast-and-loose (also called prick-the-garter), ‘a belt or strap was doubled and rolled up with the loop in the centre and placed on edge on a table.’