Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. the legs.

1881		Newcastle Courant 2 Sept. 6/5: Turning the corner he set his sticks going at the double quick.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 211/1: Sticks. 1. Feminine legs.
1997–2000		Da Bomb 🌐 27: Sticks: Legs.
2004		T. Dorsey Cadillac Beach 258: ‘What jumps into your head?’ [...] ‘Chicago overcoats, Harlem sunsets, a jorum of skee, a chippie with boss getaway sticks [...]’.

2. a thin person.

1911

E. Dyson ‘The Rivals’ in Benno and Some of the Push 161: This is the chuck fer yow, Sticks. I’m otherwise engaged fer the future.

3. a person missing one or both legs.

1918		‘A-No. 1’ Mother of the Hoboes 43: The Rating Of The Tramps. 12. Sticks. Train rider who lost a leg.
1923		N. Anderson Hobo 100: [From A No. 1, The Famous Tramp] 12. Sticks. Train rider who lost a leg.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 183: sticks.– [...] a man with an artificial leg or legs.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).

4. (US black) matches.

1933		Ersine Und. and Prison Sl.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 211/1: Sticks. [...] 2. Matches, in prison where they are contraband.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 820: sticks – Matches.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 sticks Definition: matches or a matchbook. Example: Me: ‘Gimme a pack of reds.’ Storeclerk: ‘You need sticks?’.

5. in horse-racing, a fence.

1980

T. Lewis GBH 251: ‘[I]t’s as different as over the sticks is from the flat’.