dope n.3
(orig. US)1. horseracing tips.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Barkeep Stories 6: Been too busy figurin’ dope an’ countin’ money [...] I s’pose?’. | |
| John Henry 55: All I can do is to squeeze into a pool-room, bury my face in the dope, and crawl out [...] with a hatful of money. | |
| Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 17: Wilhelmina had been born on Avenue A, and she read the dope like all up-to-date persons. | |
| Door of Dread 128: Yuh gotta change your dope, or the wire-gang’ll tap into your circuit and steer yuh for an early fall! |
2. any information.
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 1 Sept. 11/1: ‘Dope,’ as the system of handicapping winners is called. | |
| Down the Line 13: I’m a dub on the dope, but it was my play to be a Wise Boy [...] on this particular occasion. | |
| Butte Inter Mountain (MT) 4 Oct. 4/4: I might almos’ say that little Johnny is the ark and covenant o’ de whole business. ... Dat’s de straight dope. | |
| Reno Eve. Gaz. (NV) 11 June 1/3: The above is the true dope and only an earthquake or a cyclone can disarrange the plans of the railroad people. | |
| Shorty McCabe 179: I was sittin’ right here in the front office, readin’ the sportin’ dope. | |
| Sun (N.Y.) 12 Apr. in Unforgettable Season (1981) 38: Pittsburgh’s team, on pure dope, seems good enough to finish in the first division. | |
| You Know Me Al (1984) 117: The peace in the papers was the right dope and Comiskey did not have no right to sell me to Milwaukee. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Over the Top 119: I was to send the dope to Cassell and he would transmit it to the Battery Commander. | |
| White Moll 18: I wonder if de dope dey hands out about youse is all on de level? | |
| West Broadway 42: ‘Maybe the members of this Intelligentzia Club are all right. Maybe they got the right dope about the Great American Revolution’. | |
| Flirt & Flapper 22: Flapper: The dope [...] means the low down on things. | |
| ‘Blackmailers Don’t Shoot’ in Red Wind (1946) 79: You know too much, copper. And you didn’t get your dope from Miss Farr. | |
| ‘One, Two, Three’ in Penzler Pulp Fiction (2006) 4: I had most of my dope on Healey from him. | |
| Sexus (1969) 74: He would have just garnered the latest dope on a new and startling pest. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Till Human Voices Wake Us 104: ‘Who’s that,’ he said, and I gave him the dope. | |
| letter 7 Feb. in Leader (2000) 460: If there’s any special point you’d like some dope about, please don’t hesitate to write again. | |
![[WI]](/static/img/flags/wi.png "West Indies") | Lonely Londoners 111: I will tell him that you can give the people the real dope on the [colour] question. | |
| Godfather 91: That call I just got gave me dope we needed. | |
| Serial 30: Naomi was the person to give her the straight dope. | |
| ‘Radio Suckers’ 🎵 Crazy as a gun scope, I speak the pure dope. | |
| Guardian Guide 24–30 July 51: Want the dope on the real rogue traders? | |
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 60/2: dope n. information about one’s criminal past, esp. one’s criminal record: ‘What’s the dope on you, mate?’. | |
| Hurricane Punch 20: It’s the straight dope [...] They’re never going to catch Serge without turning the big screws. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Drawing Dead [ebook] Chenko had no dope on the situation and if he didn’t there wasn’t a sucker who did. |
3. fraudulent information.
| Pitcher in Paradise 118: The two fully-dressed men and the girl with her hat [...] supplied the ‘dope’ and completely turned the trick. | |
| Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 27 July 1/1: It was Gilbert’s word against Watterson’s, and Gilbert’s dope went . | |
| Aussie (France) VIII Oct. 2/2: ‘What rot! [...] It’s no good putting that kind of dope over on me.’ [...] ‘There’s no dope about it. I can sit down in my skin alright, but – struth! – it’s impossible to sit down in these bags.’. | |
| (con. WWI) Soldier and Sailor Words 81: Dope: [...] False Information. |
4. nonsense.
| ‘Words from Northwest Arkansas’ in DN III:ii 134: dope, n. Cajolery; optimistic talk; humbug. ‘He’s just givin’ you dope’. | |
| My Life in Prison 301: That ain’t mush; it ain’t any weepy dope. | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Plough and the Stars Act II: That’s all dope, comrade. | |
 | Rector of Justin (con. 1940) 21: ‘It’s a vision of beauty. And James transmits it. That is art. And therefore it must be life’ ‘Or dope!’. |
5. (Aus.) behaviour.
| Enemy to Society 343: He’s only followin’ your dope, you know! | |
| Treat ’Em Rough 87: I figure its bad dope for the officers to mix up with the men and play games with them and etc. | |
| Hand-made Fables 114: It was the approved British Dope, however, and he had to go through with it. | |
| (con. WWI) Gloss. of Sl. [...] in the A.I.F. 1921–1924 (rev. t/s) n.p.: dope. [...] line of conduct. |
6. a plan, a scheme, an idea.
| God’s Man 367: If those pirates who’re running things expect us to harness up like horses for no pay [...] they’ve got the wrong dope. | |
| ‘Hurry Kane’ Coll. Short Stories (1941) 91: Dave’s dope was good, but you can’t [...] prevent a bunch of ball players from kidding a goofer like Kane. |
7. (US) the right thing.
| ‘Easy Picking’ in Taking the Count 308: ‘No hard feelings [...] May the best man win.’ ‘That’s the dope!’ said Old Bird. | |
| Iceman Cometh Act III: Stay passed out, that’s the right dope. |
8. publicity material.
| Portland Guardian (Vic.) 11 Oct. 3/3: Editors, especially country editors, get a great deal of ‘dope‘— that is, a lot of publicity matter. |
In compounds
a prescient person.
| Torchy, Private Sec. 129: I’m beginnin’ to suspicion I ain’t such a human-nature dope artist as I thought, for I’ve made at least three fruity forecasts on Ruby, and the returns are still comin’ in. |
(orig. US) a book of information on any subject, although mainly horseracing.
| Sun (NY) 18 Mar. 1/6: Some interesting information for racegoers concerning an improved index of racing and ‘Dope Book’ will be published in tomorrow’s Sunday Mercury. | |
| Tales of the Ex-Tanks 235: I didn’t pack around any dope book or handicapping outfit. | |
| People You Know 111: When he arrived at the Track he gave up for a Badge and a Dope-Sheet and a couple of Perfectos. | |
| Globe and Commercial Adv 4 May 1/1: ‘What are dope books?’ asked counsel. ‘Well, they are cards showing the horses racing and their histories and weights, and so on,’ replied the [police] captain. | |
| ‘McCluskey’s Prodigal’ in Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm 256: His dope sheets, and his methods of beating the races. | |
| ‘The Wild Man’ All-Story 28 Aug. 🌐 One of those untrue-to-form teams which disrupt dope books. | |
| Sun (NY) 1 July 11/8: Enfilade, who, according to the dope sheets, hadn’t a chance. | |
| Leather Pushers 35: A flash at the dope-book on any sport [...] will show you what happens then! | |
| (con. 1920s) Judgement Day in Studs Lonigan (1936) 648: Ma, there, smoking another cigarette, with dope sheets sticking out of her pockets. | |
| Und. Speaks 32/2: Dope book, published performances of horse race results. | |
| Long Day’s Journey into Night Act I: If it takes my snoring to make you remember Shakespeare instead of the dope sheet on the ponies, I hope you’ll keep on with it. | |
| Run, Chico, Run (1959) 23: The fat man was behind his counter, hunched over a dope sheet. | |
| Scrambled Yeggs 13: Dope sheets, showing what pigs are running at what tracks and how they’ve been running and a ton of other information in an abbreviated code. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | (con. 1920s) Legs 143: If you’re not interested, make believe it’s a dope sheet. |
1. any information.
| Pardners (1912) 41: Hold up! Your dope sheet is way to the bad [...] Who told you all that? |
2. a menu.
| Davenport Democrat and Leader (IA) 28 May 32/2–3: They hit the dopesheet for the boston chow that a goofy greaseball served as we listened in on the feathers and clothesline scandal. |
In phrases
to find out about someone or something.
| Kappa Alpha Order 45:1 78/1: Alumni everywhere showed a fine spirit in helping us get the dope on perspective rushees. | |
| Doctor’ Son 114: Get the dope on what kind of people she comes from. | |
| ‘Good Luck is No Good’ in Federal Agent Nov. 🌐 I have to kid the sapolo along in order to get the dope on the payroll. | |
| Three to Make Murder 120: We’ll get the dope on Ulmer and put the pressure on Swanson. | |
| Case of the Vanishing Beauty n.p.: O.K. How soon can you get the dope on this if there’s latent prints you can lift? | |
| Bride That Got Away 41: I invited you here to get the dope on Lynn Kelly. | |
| Policing 301: Just take him back to the car and sit on him while I get the dope on his boyfriend here. | |
| Spin Apr. 99/3: If they get the dope on you, they get the truth. So you have to avoid some truths. | |
| Baxter Trust 30: Get the dope on the girl. Find out if she really saw her uncle. | |
| Lazarus Operation 220: When we get there I'm going to get the dope on O'Connell and Devito. |
(Aus.) to tell a good story, to ‘read the cards,’ as a fortune-teller.
| Haxby’s Circus 126: Gina [...] could ‘spin the dope’ as he said, her prices were changed to one shilling for palm or card reading. |