Dictionary

fullam en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈfʊləm/

Etymology

From Fulham, a London suburb, which during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I was the most notorious place for blacklegs in all of England. Loaded dice were supposed to have been chiefly made there.

Meanings

1. (UK, archaic, slang) A false die; a die intentionally loaded, or unevenly weighted, so that it always rolls a specific number.
   • Let vultures gripe thy guts! For gourd and fullam holds / And high and low beguiles the rich and poor. a. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, act 1, scene 3:
   • Who! he serve? 'sblood, he keeps high men, and low-men, he! he has a fair living at Fullam. 1599, Ben Jonson, Every Man out of His Humour, act 3, scene 1:
   • Captaine, you perceiue how neere both of vs are driuen, the dice of late are growen as melancholy as a dog, high men and low men both prosper alike, langrets, fullams, and all the whole fellowshippe of them will not affoord a man his dinner, some other means must be inuented to preuent imminent extremitie. 1594, Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller:
2. (UK, archaic, broadly, colloquial) A sham; a hoax; a make-believe.

Forms

Hyponyms

lowmen (false die) · highmen (false die) · uphills (false die)

Synonyms

langret (false die) · gourd (false die) · loaded dice (false die) · deception (sham)