clear adj.1
(UK Und.) very drunk.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Squire of Alsatia I i: Yes, really, I was clear: for I do not remember what I did, or where I was. | |
| Relapse IV iii: I suppose you are clear – you’d never play such a trick as this else. | |
| Lives of Most Notorious Highway-men, etc. (1926) 204: Clear, very drunk. The cull’s clear, let’s bite him, i.e., the fellow is very drunk, let’s rob him. | |
| New Canting Dict. | |
| , , , | | Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. |
| , , | | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
| Lex. Balatronicum. | |
 | Pomes 75: She was thick in the clear, fairly sosselled on beer – In the sun is poetical license [F&H]. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
any clear spirit, e.g. gin, but also ext. to brandy or rum.
| Dict. of Sl., Jargon and Cant. | |
| Sl. and Its Analogues. | |
| True Drunkard’s Delight 229: Perhaps, gin is your tipple: then you are for [...] clear crystal. |
1. stylish clothes.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.]. |
2. pure drugs.
| Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.]. |
(US) an unimpeded opportunity, esp. for making contact with or pursuing a member of the opposite sex.
| ‘Sl. of Watts’ in Current Sl. III:2. |
(drugs) a variety of LSD.
| et al. Recreational Drugs in Spears (1986). | |
| Bk of Jargon 337: clear light: LSD. | |
| (con. 1970s) Out of Time (ms.) 161: The nibble I’d taken of the Clear Light tab was starting to hit me, and the pavement was turning into sponge beneath my feet. |
see cleanskin n.
(US) a dismissal, a rejection.
| ‘No Greater Love’ in Harlem Stories May 🌐 I thought I told you to give that rat a clear steer before he gives you a bum steer. |
In phrases
1. (also clear as ditchwater, ... mush) completely unclear.
| John Bull II ii: Don’t be bothering my brains, then or you’ll get it as clear as mud. | |
| Yankey in England 32: You are tarnation bright—clear as mud. | |
| ‘The Merchant of Venice’ in Ingoldsby Legends (1842) 57: The words are ‘A pound of flesh,’ – that’s clear as mud. | |
| Westmorland Gaz. 8 July 6/5: Proverbs improved. Instead of ‘as clear as mud,’ say, ’as clear as the Thames’. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Dundee Courier 16 July 3/6: The editor [...] was told that his article was as clear as mud. | |
| County Paper (Oregon, MO) 25 Mar. 3/2: An editor was told that his last article was as clear as mud. | |
| Southern Reporter 9 Nov. 4/4: That is how it stand with us, Mr Grainger — clear as mud in a wine-glass. | |
| Folk-Phrases of Four Counties 7: As clear as mud. Ironical. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bulletin (Sydney) 8 Dec. 27/2: That’s what the interpreter said? [...] It’s about as clear as mud; but go on. | |
| Lichfield Mercury 27 Sept. 5/1: The case which came before his Honour [...] was about as clear as ditchwater. | |
| Eve. Statesman (Walla Walla, WA) 3 Mar. 4/5: Now that is just about as clear as mud. | |
| Torchy, Private Sec. 293: ‘You—er—get that, I trust, Torchy?’ ‘Clear as mush.’. | |
| ‘Digger Smith’ in Chisholm (1951) 94: ‘As clear as mud,’ I sez. ‘But I can’t work / Me brains to ’old yer pace. Say, wot’s the lurk?’. | |
| Babbitt (1974) 248: He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s just as clear as mud. | |
| Cool Customer 11: Yeah, you want it clear as mud, don’t you? | |
| Sexus (1969) 463: It’s as clear as mud. | |
| Dream of Peter Mann Act I: alex: Is that quite clear? peter: Clear as mud. | |
| Outcasts of Foolgarah (1975) 92: ‘It’s a plain case of [...],’ he told them, making the issue as clear as mud. | |
| Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 126: What you told me up the office the other day is clear as mud. | |
| In La-La Land We Trust (1999) 141: The honey left the sergeant’s voice. ‘That’s as clear as mud.’. | |
| Split Decision [ebook] he was angry, that much was clear. What he might do about it was clear as mud. |
2. (also clear as ditchwater) absolutely clear.
| Americans Abroad II iii: I’ll make it as clear as mud to you. | |
| Liverpool Mercury 24 Apr. 5/4: Q. This is the first lesson, do you you fully comprehend it? A. Perfectly — It is as clear as mud. | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Legends and Stories 248: The inference is as clear as ditchwater. | |
| Cruise of the Midge I 257: It is as clear as mud that we shall be minus your own beautiful self and the boat’s crew in a jiffey. | |
| Sam Slick in England I 253: He would have been popular to home, and respected abroad, that’s clear as mud. | |
| Biglow Papers 2nd series (1880) 69: An owl by daylight [...] / Sees clearer ’n mud the wickedness o’ eatin’ little birds. | |
| Arizona Sentinel (Yuma, AZ) 1 Mar. 4/2: Clear As Mud. The wise men of the Prescott Miner [...] proposes to enlighten the Sentinel. | |
| ‘’Arry on Marriage’ in Punch 29 Sept. 156/1: They ain’t in no dashed ’urry to church themselves out of good fun. / And why? Clear as mud, my dear feller. The cash keeps ’em fair on the run. | |
| ‘The Big Drunk Draf’’ in Soldiers Three (1907) 35: ’Tis clear as mud you’ve forgotten me. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Oct. 48/1: It seems to me that Babe must have an attendant to whom she is attached, and the only person who fills the bill is Carrie. That’s as clear as mud. | |
| Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (1955) 226: Anyone would agree to that much! It’s as clear as mud. | |
| Men in Battle 198: It’s plain as mud; everything’s shaping up that way. It’s in the bag. | |
| Reinhart in Love (1963) 145: ‘It’s as clear as mud.’ Meaning, rather, as glass, ice, cellophane, spring water, etc. | |
| (con. 1943) Coorparoo Blues [ebook] ‘You got me?’ ‘Clear as mud, sport,’ he grunted. |
to work out a situation to its logical conclusion.
| Serial 15: Leonard, I need you. I want you to help me get clear. |