Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. drinking, usu. to excess; thus lushings, quantities of alcohol.

1826		Bell’s Life in London Dec. in Fights for the Championship (1855) 103: Ward [...] has not the fault of being fond of lushing.
1833		‘Will You Come To My Crib?’ in Funny Songster in Spedding & Watt (eds) Bawdy Songbooks (2011) III 42: For you swore to me only last night, / That you would not, by jingo, a lushing go more.
1844		J.W. Kaye Peregrine Pultuney I 228: ‘I can’t stand all this lushing at nights; it makes one’s hand shake’.
1845		Sporting World 19 Apr. 50/2: Mother Conroy’s cellar [...] where you may get supper, tobacco, lushings of beer [...] and a roaring boy to help it off more freely.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 5/2: They again made their appearance and commenced ‘lushing’ as before.
1877		A. Smith Street Life in London (1969) 81: A friend to lend him a shilling, when he’s down in luck, or been lushing.
1931–4		D. Clemmer Prison Community (1940) 333/2: lushing, inf. To drink heavily; to stay drunken.
1949		N. Algren Man with the Golden Arm 102: Doin’ time or lushin’, dead ’r drunk ’r dyin’.
1950		N. Cassady letter in Charters (1993) 201: The hard habit of lushing I was then addicted to.
1957		M. Shulman Rally Round the Flag, Boys! (1959) 68: His lushing on the 5.29 was a matter of record.
1967		K. Kolb Getting Straight 87: Drinking was no escape for him; he didn’t dig lushing.
1976		N. Thornburg Cutter and Bone (2001) 260: But the people do most of their lushing at home, uh?

2. as a drink or drinks.

1882

Manchester Courier 28 Jan. 10/5: ‘Scribbling Scotty’ had promised the old hawker as ‘lushing’ if he would help.