Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also rear-admiral) the buttocks.

1768		Gentleman’s Bottle-Companion 8: Have a care, says he, of the rear, says she, / To the right and left open, my dear, says he.
1785		‘Peter Pindar’ ‘The Lousiad’ Works (1794) I 199: He found his front attack’d by fierce Miss Vernon; Who meant [...] To pour her foot in thunder on his rear.
1834		Ely’s Hawk & Buzzard (NY) Mar. 22 2/1: The noble deed of planting his foot in the daughter’s rear-admiral.
1847		G.W. Harris ‘There’s Danger in Old Chairs!’ Weekly Nashville Union XIII Oct. in Inge (1967) 71: I say, did that feller get a swing at your rear?
1900		Marvel 21 Dec. 16: Then kame a sound like tarin tripe on a frosti mornin an i felt a draft in mi rear.
1928		M. Bodenheim Georgie May 20: Servants were all alike [...] wanted to forget they were low-down, slaving nobodies by kissing the rears of the people they worked for.
1934		H. Roth Call It Sleep (1977) 146: The worst we can get is a kick in the rear.
1942		H. Miller Roofs of Paris (1983) 199: I didn’t have such a big rear when I was little.
1951		(con. 1920s) S. Longstreet Pedlocks (1971) 147: Damn nice gals in Paris. My eyes been hangin’ out on stems all mornin’ just watchin’ ’em wriggle their little rears.
1965		W. King ‘The Game’ in King Black Short Story Anthol. (1972) 307: Sweet Mac gave her rear a light pat.
1979		B. Gutcheon New Girls (1982) 105: He reached over and squeezed Sally’s rear.
1994		G. Indiana Rent Boy 30: Chip has an endless list of johns who like it from the front and rear simultaneously.
2000		Guardian Rev. 9 June 9: Don’t forget, the Buffer Belt does not protect your rear.

2. (orig. campus, also rears) a lavatory [the position in the rear of a college or ref. to sense 1].

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1940		M. Marples Public School Sl. 112: Other synonyms [for lavatories] are rears, lats [...] and dubs.
1946		B. Marshall George Brown’s Schooldays 170: And now let’s raid the rears and rout out any of the other new swine that are hiding there.

3. (Aus. drugs) a packet containing a measure of a narcotic drug.

1932

New Call (Perth, WA) 21 Apr. 12/7: ‘I want some “Angie”.’ ‘How much do you want?’ inquired the voice. ‘Oh! better give me eight “rears”,’ was the reply.