Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. seduced.

1678		J. Ray Proverbs (2nd edn) 58: Wives must be had, be they good or bad.
1889		C. Deveureux Venus in India I 28: I should have said that this lovely girl had never known a man, had never been had, and never would be had, unless she met the man of men who pleased her.
1896		‘Science and Experience’ in Cabinet of Venus 113: Ladies [...] are often over 20 when they are first had .
1929		J. Lait Broadway Melody 102: They can all be had. There are 345,678 ways, and no gal can stand out forever.
1939		in G. Legman Limerick (1953) 71: Said a girl being had in a shanty, / ‘My dear, you have got it in slanty.’.
1943		in G. Legman Limerick (1953) 62: There was a young lady named Gloria / Who was had by Sir Gerald Du Maurier.
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 193: Mister, are you interested in a girl who’s never been had?
1967		in E. Cray Erotic Muse (1992) 165: I’ve been had by the army, the navy, / By a bullfighting toreador, / By dagos and drongos and dingos.

2. tricked, hoaxed, deceived; usu. as to be had, to be tricked.

1770		R. King Frauds of London 30: Beware of betting or engaging in company you or your friends have no knowledge of, for if you do, ten to one but you are had.
1789		G. Parker Life’s Painter 150: Flats. Men who are easily taken in, imposed on, or in their language, to be had.
1808		G. Andrewes A Stranger’s Guide or Frauds of London 11: If you do, ten to one but you are had, a cant word they make use of, instead of saying as the truth is, we have cheated him.
1812		Spirit of Irish Wit 100: The wits found they were completely had.
1821		Egan Life in London (1869) 352: Upon this suit some of the best judges in the kingdom have been ‘had’.
1825		Egan Life of an Actor 127: ‘He’s not to be had,’ said Gag, in an audible whisper.
c.1830		‘Birmingham Boy in London’ in Holloway & Black II (1979) 60: A Birmingham lad was not to be had.
1846		Thackeray Diary of C. Jeames de la Pluche in Works III (1898) 420: I wasn’t to be ad with that sort of chaugh.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor III 396/2: I wasn’t to be had like the likes o’ them.
1889		J.K. Jerome Three Men in a Boat 275: But they are not to be ‘had’ by a bit of worm on the end of a hook, nor anything like it—not they!
1893–4		H. Lawson ‘Stiffner and Jim’ in Roderick (1972) 124: He loves a fight even more than he hates being had.
1900		Boy’s Own Paper 1 Dec. 138: You’ve been had again, Harris!
1914		Joyce ‘The Boarding House’ Dubliners (1956) 64: He had a notion that he was being had. He could imagine his friends talking of the affair and laughing.
1920		‘Sapper’ Bulldog Drummond 115: We’ve been had for mugs.
1931		Basil Bunting Complete Poems ‘Attis: Or, Something Missing’: (O Sis! / I’ve been ’ad! / I’ve been ’ad proper!).
1940		W.R. Burnett High Sierra in Four Novels (1984) 414: Even judges can be had, I know.
1953		T. Williams Camino Real Block Sixteen: Had for a button! Stewed, screwed, and tattooed on the Camino Real!
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 166: Not until then did Finnerty see he’d been had.
1962		R. Cook Crust on its Uppers 155: Calmly telling my father that wasn’t a Jordaens after all, he’d been had.
1975		L. Rosten Dear ‘Herm’ 247: I know when I’m being had!!
1985		G. Norman in Norman (1921) 103: To make extravagant claims [...] would only alienate the audience and give them the feeling of being ‘HAD’.
1997–2002		Alt. Eng. Dict. 🌐 have (verb, transitive) to take unscrupulous advantage of. ‘John was had by the salesman.’.
1999		Guardian G2 10 Aug. 22: Tam, I’ve been had!
2000		Guardian 25 Jan. 6: We were kippered—well and truly had.
2010		(con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 254: If Louis hass the money and takes off, she’ll know she’s been had.