lace, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

lace v.

[SE lace, to set upon with a whip or lash]

1. to beat.

1615		Merrie Dialogue Between Band, Cuffe, and Ruffe A1: : Well, Band, looke to thyselfe, for if I meet thee, I will lace thee roundly. band: Lace me? thou wouldest be laced thy selfe.
[1694		French Rogue 176: [They] were hurried to Prison, and [...] had Scarlet Laces fixed on their tender white backs by the Lictor or Publick Whipper].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1821–6		‘Bill Truck’ Man o’ War’s Man (1843) 69: Give the quibbling scoundrel a starting; lace him up smartly!
1859		Matsell Vocabulum 49: lace To beat; to whip.
1832		Spirit of the Times (NY) 4 Feb. 1/2: Trim his jacket — lace him — aim at his fifth button.
1896		G.F. Northall Warwickshire Word-Book 129: Lace. To beat, thrash, castigate.
1914		Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 118: Lace. – To punch, beat or manhandle. Transplanted from England, where it was used as early as the 18th century.
1946		(con. 1912) B. Marshall George Brown’s Schooldays 6: They bend over you and lace you for nothing and it’s pretty sucky I can tell you.
1956		H. Ellison ‘Students of the Assassin’ Deadly Streets (1983) 189: Pepper would lace him [...] with a glove-ful of half-dollars.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 807: lace – To punch, beat or manhandle.
1987		(con. 1920s) L. Redmond Emerald Square 61: He gazed along the lines of scared boys, looking for a chance to lace one of them, a Kerry expression we had come to understand without the aid of a dictionary. It simply meant he would beat the daylights out of you.

2. (US) to beat in non-physical sense.

1929

W. Winchell On Broadway 5 Aug. [synd. col.] Arnold Rothstein [...] laced Nick [the Greek] for several hundreds of thousands, which he settled in cash.

3. (US) to swindle.

1971

(con. 1940s) J. Brown Monkey Off My Back (1972) 74: I’d laced me one joker for eleven hundred dollars.

4. to shoot.

1981

D. Ballenger Terror at Sea 54: I thought sure they’d lace us after they got the photos.

In phrases

lace into (v.)

to attack, to beat, to thrash; also fig. use.

1923		H.C. Witwer Fighting Blood 292: When the sport writers find out I am not kidding, why, they laced into me with a gusto!
1961		T.I. Rubin In the Life 10: I get you. Like lacing in to someone. Like putting on the screws.

lace someone’s jacket (v.) (also lace someone’s coat)

to beat up, to thrash.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: I’ll Lace your Coat Sirrah, I will Beat you soundly.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Lacing, beating. I’ll lace your jacket handsomely.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1842		‘The Bill Sticker’ in Nobby Songster 7: There are some coveys in our trade, deserves their jacket laced, sir.
1853		W.G. Simms Sword and the Distaff 507: Lace my jacket! Hickories! I dare you.
1859		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 57: I’ll lace your jacket.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict. [as cit. 1859].
1873		Sl. Dict.