Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. stimulated rather than intoxicated by drink; thus prime v.

1817		Lancaster Gaz. 27 Sept. 4/1: I could not enter your house in the dead of the night, and take the chance of your shooting me [...] unless i was to get well primed first.
1821		‘An Amateur’ Real Life in London I 412: They were by this time all well primed—ripe for a rumpus—bang-up for a lark or spree.
1825		N.-Y. Eve. Post 4 June 2/4: [Rowdies] assemble at their different haunts or porter houses, get well primed, and sally out in squad to regulate the city.
1838		J.C. Neal Charcoal Sketches (1865) 48: Never go thumping and bumping about the streets, when you are primed and snapped.
1848		North-Carolinan (Fayetteville, NC) 18 Nov. 1/6: Drunk [...] primed, slewed, half-slewed, half-snapped [...] a drop in his eye.
1854		G.J. Whyte-Melville General Bounce (1891) 112: A fat little man, primed with port, but who, when not thus bemused, is an influential member of his committee.
1864		‘Edmund Kirke’ Down in Tennessee 87: My new friend would have to engage this sentry at the fire long enough to ‘prime’ him so ‘tight’ that he would be oblivious to my movements.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 61: Primed, [...] having drunk enough of liquor.
1902		Ade ‘R-E-M-O-R-S-E’ in Verses and Jingles (1911) 2: I was pickled, primed, and ossified.
1913		P. Macgill ‘Ballad of the Long Dam’ Songs of the Dead End 95: [He] got boozed as he often did down at the nearest pub, / Primed to the neck he weltered back.
1928		M. Prenner ‘Sl. Synonyms for “Drunk”’ in AS IV:2 102: basted [...] primed.
1934		O. Strange Sudden 37: Pretty well primed too, bedad.
1940		R. Service ‘The Ballad of How MacPherson Held the Floor’ in Bar Room Ballads (1978) 610: Now what we want’s a kiltie lad, primed up wi’ mountain dew.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 163/2: Primed. Under the influence of alcohol or drugs. (‘Primed to the ears or nuts’ – very drunk; exhilarated by drugs).
1966		Current Sl. I:1 3/2: Primed To have something to drink but not intoxicated.
1971		Ed Bullins ‘Dandy’ in King Black Short Story Anthol. (1972) 84: Them sisters of mine have got some home brew ready, and we might as well git primed.

2. prepared, ready.

c.1849		‘One of the Boys’ in G.S. Jackson Early Songs of Uncle Sam (1933) 58: Cocked and primed, I was bound for a spree.
1873		Sl. Dict. 261: Primed [...] crammed for an examination.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 61: Primed, crammed for an examination.
1896		W.C. Gore Student Sl. in Cohen (1997) 14: primed a. To be ready, to have made up one’s mind.
1897		T.J. Henry Claude Garton 370: ‘I can't refuse to answer your question. Luckily, I'm primed up and can sustain my reputation’.
1910		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘Longevity Jujubes’ Sporting Times 23 July 1/3: A lady, well primed for a ‘tiff,’ / Darted in at full speed, seized the cove with the ‘weed,’ / And said, ‘Come to the home you have wrecked!’.
1935		R. Chandler ‘Spanish Blood’ in Spanish Blood (1946) 46: After I went up to the cabin I knew Donny was primed for trouble.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 185: A couple of other blokes were primed up to do the same.
1977		S. Berkoff East in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 77: All ready primed and juicy.
1990		(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 126: I want this guy primed to fold.
2017		A. De Bruyn Escaping the Amazon 25: Goodbyes were said, tears were shared, high-fives swapped [...] I was pumped and primed.

3. intoxicated by drugs.

1934		D. Hammett Thin Man cap. xi: ‘What's a junkie?’ she asked. ‘Hop-head.’ She looked at me. ‘Was Morelli—?’ ‘Primed to the ears,’ I said.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 182: primed to the ears Drugged.
1950		see sense 1.
1959		G. Sparrow Great Swindlers 137: Sitting there, primed with the drug [i.e. opium] itself, he believed every word he said .
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore 150: Primed to the ears – Of a drug addict, saturated by a massive dose of a narcotic.