wrong 'unn.
/ˈrɒŋ(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈrɔŋən/, /ˈrɑŋən/ slang.
1. Horse Racing. Of a horse: Held in check so as to cause him to lose the race. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > horse by performance
lightweight1773
sticker1779
maiden1807
favourite1813
mile-horse1829
outsider1836
heavyweight1857
stayer1862
stoner1862
rank outsider1869
pick1872
pot1874
timer1881
resurrectionist1883
short head1883
pea1888
cert1889
stiffa1890
wrong 'un1889
on the mark1890
place horse1890
top-weight1892
miler1894
also-ran1895
selection1901
loser1902
hotpot1904
roughie1908
co-favourite1922
readier1922
springer1922
fav1935
scratch1938
no-hoper1943
shoo-in1950
scorer1974
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > racehorse > that finishes in particular position > in fixed race
wrong 'un1889
shoo-in1928
1889 Sporting Times 29 June (Farmer) Isabel and Maudie knew the Turf and all its arts—They had often blewed a dollar on a wrong 'un.
1895 E. C. Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable (rev. ed.) 1315 A Wrong 'un, a horse which has run at any flat-race meeting not recognised by the Jockey Club.
1935 H. Spring Rachel Rosing xxv. 301 Hansford had never been known to tip a wrong 'un.
2. A bad, dishonest, or untrustworthy person, a rogue or crook; one who has gone wrong (see wrong adv. 2b).
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [noun] > person of bad character
argha1275
noughty packc1520
dunghill1542
land-rat1600
black sheep1640
cacodemon1711
mauvais sujet1793
bad lot1835
badmash1843
rotter1879
wrong 'un1892
wrongo1937
1892 I. Zangwill Children of Ghetto I. xi. 243 ‘What! aren't you froom?’ she said... ‘No, I'm a regular wrong 'un,’ he replied. ‘As for phylacteries, I almost forget how to lay them.’
1896 B. L. Farjeon Betrayal of John Fordham iv. 299 It don't make black white, 'cause I'm a wrong 'un.
1902 Daily Tel. 11 Feb. 10/7 A welsher can be had up for fraud, and anyone who is known as a wrong one is excluded from the racecourse.
1908 A. Bennett Old Wives' Tale iii. ii. 295 She was a tremendous—er—wrong 'un here in the forties. Made a lot of money.
1920 D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl vi. 107 The policeman was now convinced the man was a wrong-'un.
1925 E. Wallace King by Night xiii. 63 I don't suppose there's a ‘wrong one’ in London that you don't know.
1951 L. P. Hartley My Fellow Devils 194 She could not..expect him to confess in so many words that he was a wrong 'un.
1978 J. B. Hilton Some run Crooked ii. 15 It seemed quite a hobby with her—Teds, and drop-outs and wrong 'uns.
3. Cricket.
a. A ball that calls for defensive play on the part of the batter.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > types of delivery or ball
full toss1826
long hop1830
twister1832
bail ball1833
bailer1833
grubber1837
slow ball1838
wide1838
ground ball1839
shooter1843
slower ball1846
twiddler1847
creeper1848
lob1851
sneak1851
sneaker1851
slow1854
bumper1855
teaser1856
daisy-cutter1857
popper1857
yorker1861
sharpshooter1863
headball1866
screwball1866
underhand1866
skimmerc1868
grub1870
ramrod1870
raymonder1870
round-armer1871
grass cutter1876
short pitch1877
leg break1878
lob ball1880
off-break1883
donkey-drop1888
tice1888
fast break1889
leg-breaker1892
kicker1894
spinner1895
wrong 'un1897
googly1903
fizzer1904
dolly1906
short ball1911
wrong 'un1911
bosie1912
bouncer1913
flyer1913
percher1913
finger-spinner1920
inswinger1920
outswinger1920
swinger1920
off-spinner1924
away swinger1925
Chinaman1929
overspinner1930
tweaker1938
riser1944
leg-cutter1949
seamer1952
leggy1954
off-cutter1955
squatter1955
flipper1959
lifter1959
cutter1960
beamer1961
loosener1962
doosra1999
1897 K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket iii. 130 Stockwell steadies himself after this and will not pick another ‘wrong 'un’.
b. spec. = googly n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > types of delivery or ball
full toss1826
long hop1830
twister1832
bail ball1833
bailer1833
grubber1837
slow ball1838
wide1838
ground ball1839
shooter1843
slower ball1846
twiddler1847
creeper1848
lob1851
sneak1851
sneaker1851
slow1854
bumper1855
teaser1856
daisy-cutter1857
popper1857
yorker1861
sharpshooter1863
headball1866
screwball1866
underhand1866
skimmerc1868
grub1870
ramrod1870
raymonder1870
round-armer1871
grass cutter1876
short pitch1877
leg break1878
lob ball1880
off-break1883
donkey-drop1888
tice1888
fast break1889
leg-breaker1892
kicker1894
spinner1895
wrong 'un1897
googly1903
fizzer1904
dolly1906
short ball1911
wrong 'un1911
bosie1912
bouncer1913
flyer1913
percher1913
finger-spinner1920
inswinger1920
outswinger1920
swinger1920
off-spinner1924
away swinger1925
Chinaman1929
overspinner1930
tweaker1938
riser1944
leg-cutter1949
seamer1952
leggy1954
off-cutter1955
squatter1955
flipper1959
lifter1959
cutter1960
beamer1961
loosener1962
doosra1999
1911 E. W. Ballantine in Evening News 18 Dec. 1/3 I see Hordern got Woolley with a ‘wrong 'un’. For the benefit of those who may not grasp what a ‘wrong 'un’ is, it may here be stated that the ‘wrong 'un’ is the ball which breaks the opposite way to that indicated by the bowler's action.
1926 H. Strudwick 25 Years behind Stumps 239 It is very difficult to detect his [sc. C. V. Grimmett's] ‘wrong un’!
1931 Daily Tel. 31 July 17/2 Weir deserved better of fate than to be bowled by Peebles' wrong 'un in the last over of the day.
1956 N. Cardus Close of Play 142 These devices were of no use against the mysterious and seemingly illogical spin of the ‘wrong 'un’.
1977 World of Cricket Monthly June 42/2 Neil showed who was the boss by repeatedly stepping out and driving Gupte's wrong 'uns to the fence.
4. A counterfeit coin.
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society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > false coin > [noun] > a false coin
bad pennyc1400
countera1529
slip1592
black dog1665
swimmer1699
Brummagem1838
sinker1839
smasher1851
wrong 'un1899
wooden nickel1927
wrongo1937
1899 C. Rook Hooligan Nights iv. 58 Billy the Snide produced a wrong 'un, and bade young Alf plant it at a big house near the Walk.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1889