powder n.1
1. semen.
poem in | (ed.) New Pelican Guide to Eng. Lit. I (rev. edn 1982) 588: I have a powder for to selle, / Quat it is can I not telle; / It makit maydenys wonbys to swelle [? image of ‘gun’ and ‘gunpowder’].
2. (US) a drink of liquor, thus powdered up, drunk [joc. use of SE powder, a medicine or a dose of medicine].
Indoor Sports 22 Apr. [synd. cartoon] Yes the chef at the Grunewald in New Orleans showed me how to build this [i.e. a cocktail] and it’s some powder. | ||
St Louis Post-Despatch 16 Jan. 25/2: Now, if you want to stick around here, you cut out the powders (whiskey). | ||
Pittsburgh Press (PA) 14 June 11/7: ‘I drank $10 worth of brew [...] and I was all powdered up’. | ‘A Tale of Two Fists’ XXVI in||
Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 150: Powder.– A drink of liquor, seemingly taken from the fact that a drink often braces one up much as would a powdered medicine. | ||
Pal Joey 99: I [...] was having a quiet powder. | ||
Harder They Fall (1971) 123: It’s part of my racket to sit around [...] enjoying a friendly powder with the boys. | ||
World’s Toughest Prison 813: powder – A drink of liquor. |
3. (drugs, also baking powder) any form of powdered drug, e.g. heroin, cocaine, amphetamine.
Kid Scanlon 54: I’m not goin’ to stop anywheres for no powders. | ||
L. Bogan [song title] Baking Powder Blues . | ||
Gangland Stories Feb. 🌐 ‘Sniff another powder and forget it,’ Smooth advised. ‘You’re nuttier ’n hell.’. | ‘Facing the Mob’ in||
Traffic In Narcotics 314: powder. A powdered drug. | ||
Diet of Treacle (2008) 112: He never sold a grain of powder. | ||
Property Of (1978) 189: He deals in powders. Cocaine and speed. [...] And some smack. | ||
Cocaine Kids (1990) 7: By 1984 [...] only a few customers were asking for powder. | ||
Powder 59: Sort us some powder? | ||
Pimp’s Rap 110: (specifically heroin) I’ll move all the weed you want, but don’t ever dump any coke or powder on me. Never. | ||
Royal Family 353: She got five dollars’ worth of powder from a dealer [...] and after taking a little snort for heself [etc.]. | ||
Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 144/2: powder n. = speed sense 1. | ||
🎵 On parole well I’m a pistol packer, drugs sold, powder jacker. | ‘Gravy’||
Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] Danny [...] had his father’s weakness for the powder. | ‘In Savage Freedom’ in||
Gospel of the Game 20: Let’s have a drink and some powder. | ||
Glorious Heresies 38: The smart ones [...] stayed within the realms of pills and powder. | ||
Dead Man’s Trousers 23: His voice high, fuelled by powder. | ||
Cherry 155: You could get a little weed in. You could get a little powder. Prescription drugs were wide open. |
In compounds
a wholesale distribution centre for narcotics.
Boston Blitz (1974) 133: Knocking over two ‘powder factories’—wholesale distribution centres for hard narcotics. |
see separate entry.
(US) a bar, a tavern.
Two & Three 4 Nov. [synd. col.] Getting a snifter in this man’s town is a tougher job than keeping a crease in a mail order catalogue suit [...] All the powder works are now United Cheroot stores. |
In phrases
see separate entry.
(US) to drink alcohol; to become drunk.
Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 150: Powder Up. – To drink; to become intoxicated. | ||
World’s Toughest Prison 813: powder up – To drink; to become intoxicated. |