bottle (and glass), n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

bottle (and glass) n.

[rhy. sl. = arse n. (1), which, in turn, plays on bottom n.¹ (2)]

1. (UK Und.) the hip pocket (which is near the buttocks).

1930		(con. 1910s) D. Mackenzie Hell’s Kitchen 42: He had added the ‘It’s on the bottle.’ In other words, it is in his hip-pocket.
1931		‘English Und. Sl.’ in Variety 8 Apr. n.p.: On the bottle — In hip pocket.
1938		F.D. Sharpe Sharpe of the Flying Squad 329: bottle (the): The hip pocket.

2. the buttocks, the anus.

1930		(con. 1914–18) Brophy & Partridge Songs and Sl. of the British Soldier.
a.1945		L. Payne private coll.
1962		R. Cook Crust on its Uppers 41: Lifting one leg and scratching his bottle.
1969		S.T. Kendall Up the Frog.
1979		R. Barker Fletcher’s Book of Rhy. Sl. 27: I have more than enough to cover my bottle and glass.
1988		J. McDonald Dict. of Obscenity etc.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 69: What it would be like to [...] spin her over and bite her firm little bottle.
2002		D. Shaw ‘Dead Beard’ at www.asstr.org 🌐 Which means punching a hole into her as far as I need to while she yells out as though she’s got a bottle and glass full of Nuremberg trials.
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 158: ’It was up his arse’ [...] ‘You didn’t check his bottle?’.

3. courage, bravery, ‘spirit’.

1929		(con. 1916) F. Manning Her Privates We (1986) 243: ‘Captain ’ad no right sendin’ you like that.’ ‘’E’s no bloody bottle, anyway.’.
1959		J. Gosling Ghost Squad 24: Thieves’ argot, spoken properly, is a foreign language which needs to be learned [...] Among the words and phrases derived from rhyming slang are: [...] ‘He's no bottle’, equals ‘He's no bottle and glass’ (class).
1970		‘Metropolitan Police Sl.’ in P. Laurie Scotland Yard (1972) 321: bottle: nerve, acumen.
1979		F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 121: I’ll betcha ain’t even got the bottle.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 187: bottle: courage; for example, ‘he lost his bottle’.
1989		in G. Tremlett Little Legs 39: It doesn’t matter how much muscle you’ve got [...] you’ve gotta have the bottle as well.
1998		I. Welsh Filth 72: That’s my boy! You’ve got bottle Brother Blades.
2000		I. Rankin Set in Darkness 396: Your bottle’s gone. I can see you shaking from here.
2005		B. Hare Urban Grimshaw 80: In a way you were doing what everyone else wanted to do but didn’t have the bottle for.
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 59: Your bottle ain’t gone, has it?

4. a person, usu. in a derog. sense.

2000

J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 158: This bottle next door reckon someone give him two grand in readies to drop the bird out.

In derivatives

bottled (adj.)

frightened.

1980

T. Lewis GBH 204: I’d been too bottled to move.

bottler (n.)

a coward; one who fails to face their responsibilities.

2017

Twitter 16 June 🌐 [1] Theresa May criticised for not meeting Grenfell Tower survivors during visit while Jeremy Corbyn spoke to residents. [2] She's a bottler, pure and simple.

In phrases

bottle (it) (v.)

to back down, to act in a cowardly manner.

1983		A. Payne ‘Get Daley!’ in Minder [TV script] 61: He’s agoraphobic, and that don’t mean he hates aggro, he loves it, it means he bottles if he leaves his gaff.
1989		M. Amis London Fields 111: No way will I crap or bottle it on the night.
1993		I. Welsh Trainspotting 89: We start oaf wi high hopes, then we bottle it.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 419: NME had ducked it. They’d bottled it.
2000		N. Barlay Crumple Zone 166: You never surfed no roof an’ you know it. Cos you bottle it everytime.
2000		P. Howard Miseducation of Ross O’Carroll-Kelly (2004) 180: Gerry Thornley’s report [...] said I bottled it.
2005		P. Howard Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress 283: The other three saw what I did to him and bottled it.
2009		T. Black Gutted 71: If he hoped I’d bottle it under the harsh lights [...] he was going to be disappointed.
2017		Observer New Rev. 5 Feb. 16/1: She accused Matthews of devising a plan with Donovan and then ‘bottling it’ .
2018		G. Gilmore Base Nature [ebook] He didn’t want to bottle in front of her.

bottle out (v.)

to be a coward, to run away, to back down from a challenge.

1977		G.F. Newman Villain’s Tale 75: Like so many men, Gibbs always fancied schoolgirls, but guessed if it came right down to it, an opportunity to give any of them one, he would bottle out.
1993		I. Welsh Trainspotting 314: She takes one look it the weepin sores n boatils oot.
2000		Guardian Rev. 26 Feb. 8: At the last moment he bottles out of this.
2006		D. Mitchell Black Swan Green 151: Pluto Noak, Gilbert Swinyard and Pete Redmarley bottled out.

has your bottle fallen out?

are you afraid?

1958		F. Norman Bang To Rights 62: What’s the matter Frank, your bottle fallen out?
1962		F. Norman Guntz 21: Wot’s up wiv ya; ya bottle fallen out or somfink?

have one’s bottle fall out (v.)

to be frightened, to act in a cowardly manner.

1959

F. Norman in Encounter n.d. in Norman’s London (1969) 60: It’s alright for you, you’re laughing (all right). You haven’t got a W out for you. If you had I bet your bottle would fall out (you would be scared).

lose one’s bottle (v.) (also lose one’s hold on the bottle)

to back down, to turn cowardly.

1900		Flynt & Walton Powers That Prey 237: There’s no knowin’ how little ’ud make me lose my hold on the bottle.
1978		F. Norman Dead Butler Caper 65: There was a tense silence and when she spoke again it sounded like she’d lost her bottle.
1982		P. Theroux London Embassy 157: I think he lost his bottle.
1996		K. Lette Mad Cows 119: You’re parallel parking [...] A team cream. You’re having a bloody affair! Cassells lost her bottle. Came back. Grabbed him. Then had it on her toes.
2007		N. ‘Razor’ Smith Raiders 61: He would lose his bottle and go home with nothing.
2012		R. Milward Kimberly’s Capital Punishment (2023) 218: The only real fear was losing my bottle.

on the bottle (also at the bottle)

1. (later UK black) working as a pickpocket.

1935		Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 1: At the bottle: picking pockets.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak 29: On the Bottle – [...] a pickpocket [...] now used principally by black pickpockets on the underground.

2. working as a male prostitute.

1960		see sense 3.
1972		Dodson & Saczek Dict. of Cockney Rhy. Sl.

3. (US) working in any form of prostitution.

1960

J. Franklyn Dict. of Rhy. Sl. 41/1: Bottle and glass Arse [...] In English usage ‘on the bottle’ refers to male prostitution; in America, to general prostitution.