crack-rope en · NOUN
Etymology
From crack + rope.
Meanings
-
(obsolete) A person who deserves to be, or is likely to be, hanged; a gallows bird.
Hark ye, ye crack-rope padder, born beggar, and bred thief!
1818, Sir Walter Scott, The Heart of Midlothian (Waverley Novels; 7), London: Adam and Charles Black, published 1898, page 307:Jack. Master, I handled you not, but who did handle you very handsomely, you can tell. Carisophus. Handsomely, thou crack-rope?
1564, Richard Edwardes, Damon and Pythias; republished in King, Ros, editor, The Works of Richard Edwards, Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2001, page 153:Then let him be led through every ſtreete in yᵉ towne, / That every crackrope, may throw rottē egs at yᵉ clown.
1584, Anthony Munday, edited by Percy Simpson, Fidele and Fortunio, the Two Italian Gentlemen, The Malone Society, published 1909, page [55]:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| crack-ropes | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| crackrope | alternative | lexicographic |