Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a drink of whisky or other strong liquor.

1806		Balance 13 May 146/3: I have heard of a jarum, of phlegm-cutter and fog driver [DA].
1815		Gent.’s Mag. Apr. n.p.: Do you love your glass, every hour brings with it a fresh bumper. There [i.e. the US] you have the gum-tickler, the phlegm- cutter, the gall-breaker, the antifogmatic.
1818		H.B. Fearon Sketches of America 249: Drinking [...] is effected by individuals taking their solitary ‘eye openers,’ ‘toddy,’ and ‘phlegm dispersers’ at the bar.
1821		R. Waln Hermit in America on Visit to Phila. 2nd series 207: Why do we not abandon our gum-ticklers and phlegm-cutters,—our cocktails and clear-comforters [?].
1827		Wyoming Herald (Wilkes-Barre, PA) 5 Oct. 1/2: The man who takes his frequent drams, his slings, his gall-burster, his phlegm-cutter.
1843		T. Haliburton Sam Slick in England I 262: The drinks ain’t good here; the hante no variety in them nother; no white-nose [...] gum-ticklers, phlem-cutters, juleps.
1848		Calif. Star 3 June 4/1: At the first grogshop Billy took what he called an ‘eye-opener,’ made of gin and bitters, then a ‘phlegm-splitter’ of rum and water, and lastly a ‘nor-wester’ of raw whiskey [DA].
1849		A. Mackay Western World II 67: He alternated pretty frequently between the julep, the cobbler, the phlegm-cutter, and the gin-sling [DA].
1860		T. Haliburton Season Ticket 9: They ain’t no compounds here, no mint juleps [...] sherry cobblers, gum ticklers, phlegm cutters, chain lightening, or sudden death.
1875		Petaluma Wkly Argus (CA) 14 May 1/7: Vitrtuous Philadelphians get fuddled on ‘Centennial phlegm-cutters’.
1877		Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (4th edn) 357: Liquor [...] Phlegm Cutter.
1909		Boston Globe (MA) 14 Mar. 43/7: He has a lovely list of American drinks [...] phlegm-cutter.
1964		Calgary Herald (Alberta) 27 Nov. 34/3: He was equipped with a large bottle of phlegm-cutter, glasses [...] and a bucket of ice.
1976		Auburn Jrnl (CA) 5 May 37/2: If you adults feel like downing a phlegm-0cutter or two [...] stop by the Historic Community Centre.
1981		Boston Globe (MA) 10 May 269/2: That means I can rule out you had a few phlegm-cutters on the way.
1998		Guardian 3 June 32/7: Ian Botham, another not totally unfamiliar with an occasional glass of phlegm-cutter.
2017		M. Forsyth Short History of Drunkenness 194: You take the bottle of phlegm-cutter and pour yourself a drink.

2. the first drink of the day, usu. that taken by an alcoholic soon after waking up; thus cut the phlegm v., to take a first drink.

1810		J. Lambert Travels through Canada (1813) II 299: A phlegm-cutter is a double dose just before breakfast [DA].
1834		W.A. Caruthers Kentuckian in N.Y. I 23: Here’s a public house, let’s go in and cut the phlegm.
1854		Spirit of the Age (Raleigh, NC) 26 July 3/1: Bar-keepers have popularized a new drink. It is composed of raw whiskey, strychnia [...] tobacco and bar soap [...] t is said to be a famous phlegm-cutter.
1859		W. Kelly Life in Victoria I 336: By breakfast-time all the local Yankees [...] had paid their devoirs at the bar, swilling ‘phlegm-cutters’ to the glory and greatness of the stars and stripes.
1887		Indiana Wkly Messenger (PA) 27 Apr. 6/2: That would give him sex drinks a day — an eye-opener, a phlegm-cutter about 10 o’clock [etc].
1950		Courier-Jrnl (Louisville, KY) 28 Aug. 19/2: [P]hlegm-cutter [...] the dram a man takes upon arising, to clear his throat.
2007		S. Maloney Sucked In 79: Cutlett woke the others about seven [...] Merv consumed a ‘phlegm cutter’ of Bundaberg rum.

3. a cigarette.

1920

Illus. London News 27 Nov. 15/1: M.S. (producing a packet of Gold Flake cigarettes) Have a phlegm-cutter?