Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(UK Und.) to pay a bribe so as to have a case dropped; to drop an argument, to abandon a court case.

a.1790		H.T. Potter New Dict. Cant (1795).
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
1821		Flash Dict.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.