Brock's benefitn.
colloquial.
From the spectacular display of fireworks held annually at the Crystal Palace from 1865 to 1936: (a) fireworks; (b) a brilliant illumination at night, esp. in war, from searchlights, flares, artillery, etc.; (c) figurative any comparable outburst (of excitement, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > war > [noun] > illuminations of war
Brock's benefit1920
the world > matter > light > firework > [noun] > collectively
feu d'artifice1699
squibbery1824
Brock's benefit1920
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [noun] > bursting violently from rest or restraint > instance of
outbreakinga1387
breaking-out1552
outbreak1562
eruption1598
storm1602
out-breach1609
fulmination1623
outflying1641
outburst1657
float1763
overboiling1767
irruption1811
gush1821
outflash1831
outflush1834
shooting forth1837
outbursting1838
blow-off1842
outblaze1843
upburst1843
upthrow1855
upbreak1856
spurt1859
outlash1868
spitfire1886
Brock's benefit1948
1920 P. Gibbs Realities of War iv. vii. 188 They..opened such a Brock's benefit that the enemy must have been shocked with surprise.
1921 ‘I. Hay’ Willing Horse ix. 159 The Germans were furnished with bombs which exploded on impact; ours were of the Brock's Benefit type, and had to be lit with a match.
1929 Melody Maker Jan. 19/1 The engines puff out.., a regular Brock's Benefit of sparks.
1930 E. Blunden Poems 173 Thence Brock's Benefit commanded endless fireworks by two nations.
1942 New Statesman 19 Sept. 186/2 The searchlights and anti-aircraft fire and bursting bombs are collectively referred to as..Brock's benefit.
1948 Economist 26 June 1060 The third reading of the Representation of the People Bill produced a regular Brock's benefit of insults and expletives.
1957 Sunday Times 20 Oct. 13/3 The whole of the southern flank..opened up and it looked like a real Brock's Benefit.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.1920