mahogany flat en · NOUN
Etymology
From their colour and shape.
Meanings
-
(UK, obsolete, slang) A bedbug.
When ready for sea we went up to Greenhithe, that their lordships might inspect us, and then to Portsmouth, to take troops to Cork, a pleasant trip; but the troops left us a legacy of "mahogany flats," with which their beds were so swarming that we never got them under.
1892, Sir George Giffard, Reminiscences of a Naval Officer, page 45:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| mahogany flats | Number=Plur | lexicographic |